Vladimir's P.O.V

Darkness. That was all he saw, all he felt. Except, there was something, a small rumble; a shake, had disturbed his darkness. Silence befell him again, yet something was wrong, terribly wrong. He knew it. Then, suddenly the darkness gave away and a piercing light hit him, followed by another shake, but just as quickly as it had come it stopped and the light vanished. Fear swept through him, though he wasn't sure why. He searched through his mind trying to find an answer, when his thoughts were cut off by another rumble. The light came back but this time he found himself seeing colors, bright red and orange colors that flickered like . . . like fire. He felt as if someone had slap him in the face as his memory came back. Suddenly the brightness moved and a figure blocked out the light. He stared trying to remember who was looking at him, when another rumble gave way. The figure he saw was panicked and fear flickered in his eyes, he seemed to be yelling at him, yet he could not hear it. It suddenly occurred to him that he could hear nothing. There was an unexpected burst of light behind the figure and the ground shook. He saw the figure flinch at the light and reached for him. He felt the figure grab his arm and was trying to hoist him up. Still yelling from the looks of it the figure pulled him to his feet. But at that very moment a blinding light shot toward them, it seemed to be a cause and effect for every time there was a sudden bright light the ground would seem to shake and with a great strength, they went falling back to the ground. This sudden jolt though didn't go unnoticed for as soon as he hit the ground his ears seemed to burst, as sound entered them. He froze he could hear everything, he could hear the sounds around him, hear the figure yelling at him and the sudden sound of something breaking or exploding. He looked at the figure.

"Vladimir!" it shouted "Vladimir ridica, ridica acum!" ("Vladimir get up, get up now!") That voice, yes he recognized it, and a name suddenly followed, it was his brother, Stefan. But the comfort he usually got from his brother wasn't there as he pulled them both up again. Something about the look in Stefan's eyes told him he was right and something was wrong. It was only when he really looked around himself did he remember the last few hours of what had happened. He stood frozen as if time had stopped; Stefan by his side seemed frozen to. The bright light, he now saw, was fire, but it was everywhere, the walls, the floor. The burst of light had been explosions, many were still going on as they stood there, and after every explosion the floor seemed to give off a shock of its own as it shook fiercely. They didn't stay long as Stefan was pulling at his arm for them to go and soon they were running, but as they were Vladimir's mind spun as his memory returned. They, the Romanian's, had been the rulers of their world, the commanders of power, the gods of the human world, had never once been challenged. Yet, here they were running for their lives, only hours earlier had they been sitting on their thrones thinking how quickly, how smoothly this was all going to go. How wrong they were.

They kept running, thick, black smoke covering their way, making it hard to see, though this was no problem for they had lived in this palace for centuries and could have ran through it blind and still know where they were going. But just as they were turning a sharp corner that led into the great hall, Stefan stopped, making Vladimir run into him hard. "Stefan – " Vladimir started but stopped as he suddenly saw what had made Stefan stop dead in his tracks. The great hall, which was now engulfed in flames, was in ruins, as the walls were scorched or on fire, some lay in piles of broken stone and sediment. But that was not the worst part the upper part of the great hall was crumbling down around them, other vampires, their vampires, lay askew on the burning floor, body parts here and there, they could hear the screams of those who were still alive fleeing, the upper part which was still crumbling, was full of magnificent balconies to which people were falling out of as it gave way. Shocked and full of sorrow, they watched silently and helplessly as their coven, their friends, their family disappeared in flames around them. Vampires in gray cloaks seemed to be invincible as they took on the once great Romanian coven, destroying anyone and anything in there sight. Suddenly a new aroma wafted in their noses and they both stiffened. Stefan and him turned in the direction of the scent and waited. Silently and swiftly the thick smoke parted and three hooded figures steeped out. Their cloaks were not gray as the others wore but black, black as any night when the moon is new. There was something different about the three than just their cloaks though, and Vladimir knew it. This was them he thought these were the leaders of the coven who had challenged them, and a sudden rage filled up inside him. The figures on the other hand didn't even seem to notice them as they looked around the great hall with expressions of indifference. When, out of the blue one of them saw them, and Vladimir meet his gaze. Time seemed to slow down once more as this happened. Vladimir glared at him but, was surprised to see that the vampire who looked back at him was strangely calm, though this only added to his rage. The vampire was standing in the middle of the three; he looked young and had long black hair, yet he didn't look like someone who would want to take over or dare challenge their coven, but then again he didn't look innocent ether. Suddenly there was hand on Vladimir's shoulder and he spun around quickly only to find Stefan staring back at him, he didn't look happy though and gave a brief glance at the hooded figures. "să ne lase" ( let us leave) he whispered urgently to him and again they started running, weaving silently around the black cloaked figures, Vladimir could easily see the one in the middle watching them, though he made no pursuit, nor did anyone else.

They quickly left the great hall and started running down a labyrinth of corridors. When suddenly a loud boom sounded and a giant light flashed making them blind momentarily, and the ground beneath them began to shake so violently that it cracked and rose and fell several feet in several different places. Slightly dazed and covered in soot and ash they rose trying to make a run for it when the wall next to them gave a mighty tremble and toppled down toward them. Vladimir took in a sharp gasp as he saw it fall and felt Stefan grab his arm and try to pull him away, but it was too late the wall fell and crashed into them, burying them under it. Vladimir, a sudden memory coming to his mind as he lay there under all the rubble, the memory of hours early, of how this should have never happened, he could almost picture the black cloaked figure in the middle smiling now, it was over he thought, his rule, his coven, his family, his life, all lost to a simple mistake, his and his brothers' mistake, they, the great and powerful Romanian coven had underestimated the facts, the fact that they had lost, that someone would dare challenge them and win. And darkness had consumed him once more.