A/N: Oh look! A NEW DPoV! Yeah so I was wondering what would have gone through Dimitri's head after the change... I don't know if I did it justice (and there are probably a lot of mistakes) but there was something theraputic about writing a DPoV after all this time!
[Standard Disclaimers apply] And as always, the cover is on my profile!
There was an upheaval in the still air of the night. The guardians were here. They were quick, but that was to be expected with Rose on the lookout. I narrowed my eyes at the door as I heard the guardians make there way through the lines of defense. In all honestly I had come with few, I didn't want an all out war.
I wanted Rose. I wanted to feel her in my arms as the life left her. I wanted to the air as I crushed it from her throat. I wanted to end her life. It wasn't my first choice, but I had come to terms with her fate. She wouldn't allow me to awaken her, and honestly at this point I wasn't sure if she would be strong enough to rule with me.
So this night would be her last.
I hid my smile as the door burst open and guardians came flooding into the impossibly small room. It reminded me of the westerns… the Calvary had arrived. They pushed in and between the ranks, Rose emerged all but glowing.
Ana went after Rose first, as I had been hoping. It would be easier for Rose to kill her now, then me doing it later for her complaining. My lover ducked out of reach as Ana lunged at her and in one fluid motion; her stake was in the Strigoi's chest. She looked at me then and narrowed her eyes… her target had been acquired.
She made her way toward me, dodging and shoving the others in their fights. She wasn't going to assist in dispatching any of my beings. Her eyes were on me. With my heightened senses, I watched her approach in what seemed like slow motion. I saw every muscle tense under her skin as she shoved the remaining people out of her way. The way her chest rose and feel as she gulped in air as she strode toward her final end.
"You're beautiful in battle," I called to her above the roar of the battle around us. "Like an avenging angel come to deliver the justice of heaven."
"Funny" she called back. I saw her muscled flex under her skin, and her grip tighten on her stake. "That is kind of why I'm here."
I was amused that she still thought she had a fight. I had proven that she was weak time and time again, and yet here she was, pretending that she stood a chance. I would humor her. "Angels fall, Rose," was all I said.
I could suddenly smell something burning slightly behind me. Christian had burned Lissa's ropes. A cute trick that would amount to nothing in the end. After I killed Rose I would simply kill these two Moroi. A Dragomir and an Ozera were probably extremely satisfying.
"You've gone to a lot of trouble to get me here," Rose said, pulling me from my previous thoughts. "A lot of people are going to die- yours and mine."
I simply shrugged, slightly irritated that she hadn't heard a word I had said in the past. If these warriors couldn't survive against this weaker species than they deserved what they got.
"It doesn't matter," I said. As Rose cleared the last of the battling people and came to stand before, I stiffened, ready for her rash attacks. "None of them matter. If the die, then they obviously aren't worthy."
"Prey and predator," she said quietly. Ah, so she did remember.
We were directly in front of each other, and my body was humming with excitement. I would wait. Rose would make the first move. She'd have to. It was hard for her to look at me… to see me as the monster she thought I had become. I reveled in the disgust that shone on her face. It meant I was truly a god. Something to be feared.
She wasn't moving, and I didn't have all night.
"All this death is because of you, you know. If you'd let me awaken you… let us be together… well, none of this would have happened. We'd still be in Russia, in each other's arms, and all of your friends here would be safe. None of them would have died. It's your fault."
"And what about the people I'd have to kill in Russia?" she shot back, angrily. I shifted a bit when I heard the two Moroi bumbling around. "They wouldn't be safe if I-"
Christian made his move then, and just as I had hoped, Rose looked. A rookie mistake that would sadly cost her her life. It would be easiest the snap her neck, making it a quick death. I would have liked to have drawn it out a bit but with the war waging around us, time wasn't a luxury I had. I went for her neck, getting close before she managed to dodge.
Rose steadied herself and I couldn't help the laugh the erupted from within me. "I'd be impressed if that wasn't something a ten-year-old could do. Now your friends… well, they're also fighting at the ten-year-old level. And for Moroi? That's actually pretty good."
"Yeah, well, we'll see that your assessment is when I kill you." I watched the muscles in her right side tense a bit, giving away her movements long before she feinted to the right. I mirrored her to make it clear she had reached the end.
"You can't, Rose. Haven't you figured that out by now? Haven't you seen it? You can't defeat me. You can't kill me. Even if you could, you can't bring yourself to do it. You'll hesitate. Again."
She glared at me, trying to set herself up to go through with whatever murderous plot was swimming in her head. This waiting was getting tedious. I may have been immortal but I didn't have time to go waiting around for her to make a move.
I launched for her neck, which she again dodged using her shoulder. I clung to her shoulder, satisfied. I would drain her, here and now. I could devour her and forever have her with me in some way.
From my left Stefan pushed through the fighting masses and reached for Rose. My Rose. I growled loudly, losing a bit of the control that had gotten me to this position. No one was going to take this from me. No one was going to touch Rose but me.
"Mine!" I hissed swatting him away. Suddenly, I had realized my mistake. My eyes shot back to Rose in time to see the stake moving toward my heart. This was my end. I found it sort of fitting that it was at her hand.
Suddenly the stake was gone. Rose was gone. In her place was Lissa. The princess trying to be the savior. Then I saw the stake and wanted to fall to the ground in hysterics. I was almost willing to let her try just to see if she was on par with Rose… almost. Her attack resembled a drunk with limp, and dodged it, amused.
"No!" I heard Rose scream before I was engulfed in fire.
I felt the flames on my skin before I saw the flames. I could feel death circling me, threatening to turn me to ash. It was the worst pain I had ever experienced in either of my lives. Through the literal blaze of hell, I could feel the pain close to my heart. Was I regaining humanity? I managed a glance down in time to see two singed hands holding a stake. I didn't have time to react when the stake finally pierced my once beating heart.
I had expected to feel nothingness, when I died. But here in this death, I could have sworn I felt my heart beat, for the first time in months. I felt like I had been rolled in ice to heal my burning body and I could breathe again.
Then I felt something more than the ice, more than the hear beat. I felt my soul slam back into me like a physical object. Suddenly I remembered my actions the past few months. It felt like a dream. I felt as if this stranger had used my body to commit these horrible acts on people. Innocent people who hadn't done anything.
No, it hadn't been a stranger. It had been me. I was the stranger. I was the monster that deserved death.
I was dimly aware that I was clinging to something. To someone. Was it my angel? The one who would take me to my place in hell? Why did this death feel so peaceful? I continued to cling to my angel of death as a child would cling to their mother. And my angel did as a mother would, and stroked my hair, softly. I wondered how long I could stay here before I had to leave for my hell. Where were we anyway? It was silent in this limbo.
I turned my head slightly to see what I could make out. That's when I saw her. My Roza, staring at me in shock and horror. The memories of the torture and feeding I put her through pounded against my chest making it hard to breathe. I must have killed her, and now she was here to pass judgment on me as well. I turned away from the face of my lover and buried my head in my angel once more.
I could keep the tears from coming and broke down, grasping onto my angel who stroked my head and whispered soft assurances to me. She held me as I wept freely, waiting for the judgment that would soon come.
