CHAPTER 7 THE VOLSKY ACADEMY

Once inside the gate I turned to Maksim. "Is everyone okay? Are they all safe and getting treatment?" Maksim nodded. "Thank you, for getting them all here safely." I turned to see about 50 guardians standing in front of me. One of them came forward, someone who I thought I recognised. "Guardian Tanner, is that really you?" Mikhail smiled widely at me. "Rosemarie Hathaway, I see you have not changed much since the last time I saw you." With that comment I scoffed at him. "I have changed. I'm not the same girl, I'm surprised you even recognised me." And I rolled my eyes at him. "Well Rosemarie Headmaster Litvak wants to speak with you. I'm sure you have quite a story to tell, seeing as how you ended up here with 2 vans full of survivors, as I am informed." He said turning his head towards Maksim. I nodded. "Well Tanner, if you show me where to go I have some things I need to discuss with him as well. But before I go, when was the last time your wards were updated?" I could still hear the strange humming from the ghosts, when I let my senses down I could see them as well. I knew that inside the wards I was suppose to be cut off from all that. "Rosemarie, why do you ask this?" "I ask Tanner, as I have already been through one attack on my old school and I am here to prevent it from happening again. You need to redo the wards now. There may not be an attack tonight those strigoi were following us, but they are coming. Please Tanner, trust me on this get the wards repaired tonight. And please call me Rose. You know I hate being called Rosemarie." "Well Rosemarie, I will speak to the head of the guardians here about that. But first I will take you to the headmaster's office." "Thanks. But make sure you get the wards repaired and get the guardians to patrol the borders until they are. I don't want the school overrun with strigoi. It wasn't fun the first time. Believe me. Can you take me there now then please."

I followed Mikhail to the headmaster's office. As I walked in the headmaster gestured with his hand that I take a seat, with that I removed my jacket and placed it on the chair beside the one I was about to sit in. I heard both men gasp as they took it my appearance. With that I took a seat in front of a big desk that was just like Kirova's. I was smiling thinking of these 2 men staring at me mouths wide open. "Headmaster Litvak this is Rosemarie Hathaway. She is the girl attributed to bringing those 2 vans full of survivors here. Rosemarie Hathaway, Headmaster Litvak." Mikhail introduced us. "Headmaster Litvak, please call me Rose." I said offering out a hand to be shaken. "Rose. Pleasure to meet you." He replied shaking my hand. Well at least he seems halfway decent. Better then Kirova at least. I thought to myself. "Well it seems Rose you have some explaining to do." I nodded. "How much have you been told already?" I asked. "Well truth be told nothing, the van's pulled up and 9 moroi and 5 damphires got out, many in need of medical attention. They were taken to the med clinic and Maksim came racing here and said that they left you behind and needed all the guardians out as there were strigoi coming. I called the head of the guardians and told him to assemble the all guardians. I was also informed you had a radio and would call if you needed help. Other then that nothing, Maksim raced out of here as soon as he had informed me of that, saying he had to help you, that he owed you his life."

"Well as you already know who I am I'll start with about 3 weeks ago there was a strigoi attack on St. Vlad's and many lives were lost but many more were saved because of the early warning. In the attack some were taken and we sent a rescue mission to find them as I was able to, with a little help know where they were waiting for the sun to set. There we rescued many that were kidnapped and lost a few in the process. One of the ones we lost was my mentor. Once I turned 18 I dropped out because I made a promise to someone, I came here to keep that promise. I have killed many strigoi on my journey here. While I was here I decided to go hunting. I have the ability to sense strigoi that was when I found the Conta family and Maksim and Damya. I have been looking after them for a few days, I had things to do before I could come here.

I killed the 12 strigoi holding them, before attacking I found out that there was going to be an attack on the school. From there I stole some papers that lead me to a warehouse that they had converted into a training facility. That is where I found the other captives. I blew the warehouse up with a little help from Maksim. He got me the explosives. After I got everyone feed and a little blood I had the hotel we were staying at supply me with 2 vans to bring us here. On the way I had a strange feeling. A few minutes later I sensed the strigoi. I got out and told them to keep going. I was not going to risk them all. I needed Maksim and Damya as the only two able to fight to make sure to get everyone else to safety.

Now that brings us to now. I need you to order that the wards be updated/repaired whatever you call it. As I told you before I can sense strigoi. Well there is a reason for that, I am shadow kissed. This means I am like Anna, Saint Vladimir's guardian. I died once and was brought back to life. I have a special bond with Vasilisa Dragonmir and I also have a connection to the world of the dead, all this is because I am shadow kissed.

I would also like to ask that you send a warning to all other schools and maybe even the royal court warning of a possibility of an attack. The strigoi said they were going to try and wipe out a generation almost at once, this to me suggests that they will attack the other schools and that the attack on St. Vlad's wasn't the first and nor shall it be the last. " I finished this long speech and waited for some sort of comment.

Headmaster Litvak picked up his phoned and called some one. Speaking very quickly in what I assumed was Russian he nodded then placed the phone back on the hook. "Rose the wards are being replaced as we speak. Any other suggestions you wish to make at this time?" he asked not at all seeming phased with anything that I had just said. "Well I would suggest that the wards are updated more often, also that you double the guardians patrolling during the evening. I would have them pay attention to the space near the wards and where students are not permitted. This is because I believe you have student organization here called the mana. They are royal moroi students you use there magic against another student until that student is able to use compulsion on them to stop. So I would suggest you have them keep an eye out for any of these students being out of bounds. Also you will find them turning up at the med clinic or around school with burn welts, bruises and cuts on there face and arms. I suggest you talk to them. That is how the strigoi were able to break into our school. The use of offensive magic on or near the wards negates the wards good magic, the same way as if a stake is driven into the wards. I can't allow another attack. I have already been through one and lost a great deal in that one." As I finished this I hung my head down. I didn't need them seeing me weak as tears were brimming my eyes.

"I had heard that the humans thought the warehouse had contained explosives and blew up on it's own as no one was around. I am surprised that it was full of strigoi planning an attack here. Rose, thank you for the suggestions I will make the guardians aware of them and suggest that they follow them. When this meeting is over I will place a call out to warn everyone. This is important. But why are you here in Siberia?" "I am in Siberia because this is where my mentor grew up. You probably know of him. He was Dimitri Belikov. Unfortunately he was not killed in the attack he was turned into a strigoi. We made a promise to each other long ago that if one of was turned then the other would track them down and kill them, taking them from living a soul less existence. That is why I am here. That is the task I must complete before going back to become Vasilisa guardian." With this comment Mikhail came over and placed a hand gently on my shoulder. I remembered he knew what this was like. He had tracked down Mrs. Karp.

"Well that said Rose I would like to offer you a job here as a guardian." I looked up to him. Shock must have been written all over my face. "Um…. I don't know how long I will be staying here headmaster. I need to find out a few things but I need do what I set out to do." "Rose that is fine, we have guardians that come and go. But I would still like to offer you the job." "Um… Thank you. Yes I will accept your offer, I would like to stay here a while and make sure the attack doesn't happen and that those I saved are all going to be alright." "Well I will organise that tomorrow you receive your promise mark and your marks for your kills, as well as one for the warehouse. How many have you killed since leaving?" I stood up and reached into a pocket in my jacket. I pulled out two handfuls of cloth and placed them on the desk. "Each one of these represents a strigoi I have killed." I counted them out and continued "That is all of them except the three I killed just before I walked in, that and those in the warehouse. So the total is 47 plus the warehouse." I saw the headmaster's mouth fall open again. "47 and the warehouse and I can see you also have 2 molinja marks and a mark of great battle already. All this from one so young." "Well what can I say, I'm just that good." More Rose bravado. I thought. "Well Guardian Hathaway I suggest you get to the med clinic and get yourself checked out. I can see some fresh bruises already. That and I'm sure you want to check on the people you brought here. Guardian Tanner please escort Guardian Hathaway to the clinic." Mikhail nodded. "Excuse me Headmaster Litvak, but Guardian Hathaway is my mother. I would much rather be known as Guardian Rose if that is not too much to ask. I know we are suppose to use our last names, but I am not mother and I would prefer not to be called Guardian Hathaway." "I don't think that will be a problem. I will send word as to when you will be receiving your marks and you will also need to meet with Guardian Oleksandr, he is the head guardian here. Guardian Tanner will also show you to your room when you are finished at the clinic. Good day." With that he motioned for us to leave.

Mikhail came over and hugged me. I cringed. He noticed. "Sorry Guardian Rose." "Guardian Tanner please just call me Rose. We've known each other for years. Please no guardian, just Rose." "Okay Rose, call me Mikhail then, just like old friends. And I guess you have changed. You are not the same reckless rule breaking girl I remember. What was it you were either in detention or on some kind of suspension right? Hey have you got enough fire power there?" "Yeah truth be told I was always in some kind of trouble. But I'm not so bad now. I'm still me. And trust me there's more weapons then you can see. Trust me. I don't do things by half measures. Also trust me, what you see is not all that I own. But how about you lead me to the clinic, I want to check on everyone." Mikhail simply nodded and I followed. I entered the clinic and Mikhail introduced me to the doc. "Dr. Zharov this is Rose she is a new guardian here. Rose, Dr. Zharov." I asked the doctor how everyone was. She replied that they were all fine and all going to recover soon. They were mostly dehydrated and starving. I thanked her. She looked me over and motioned for me to follow her into one of the rooms. "Guardian Rose, I need to check you out. You will need to strip and put this on for me." She handed me a gown. Great I thought. Mikhail took a seat. I started removing all my weapons. First I removed the sword and the guns placing them on the chair. Then the two stakes at my back, and the silver knives between my thighs. I took of the two holsters then. Next I bent down and removed the 2 stakes out of my boots as well as the knives there. I placed them onto the seat on top on my other weapons. Next I removed the boots and sat them as well. "Got anymore weapons hiding on you?" Mikhail asked. I rolled my eyes. "Nope that's all of them, even the boots." I walked behind the screen to the side. I stripped off my pants and the corset top I was wearing. I looked down. Shit I'm covered in bruises. I thought. I put on the gown and walked back around. I sat on the small bed and waited for the doc to come back.

The doctor came back in and had Mikhail leave while she was going to check me over. She had me lie down and checked me all over. "There are many bruises here Guardian Rose." "Please just call me Rose." "Well I can tell you Rose that you have 3 broken ribs which I am going to have to brace. You have multiple bruises and by the looks a seriously sprained wrist. I am going to be sending you for x rays in a moment. I need to see exactly how much damage there is." The doctor walked out and Mikhail walked in. "What's the prognosis?" "Broken ribs, sprained wrist and lots of bruises. I didn't even realise I had that many bruises. I knew about the ribs, well actually I felt them crack but other then that I had no idea about the rest. I gotta get some x rays though. Yeah for me. And I've got to take it easy, no training." With that thought I pouted. I had grown to love training, honing my body into the weapon it is. Mikhail chuckled at me. I rolled my eyes back at him.

When I was finally allowed to leave I was in a brace. I had three broken ribs. 1 was cracked in 2 places. I had my wrist strapped as it was sprained and the doctor told me I had to go get something to eat. I got dressed and rearmed myself. Mikhail chuckled at me the whole time seeing where I hide every thing. "Do you want to go to your room and clean up before you get something to eat and meet the other guardians?" "Nah I'm good I just want to drop off my jacket and get my bag. I forgot how hot the school was." We headed to the guardian building and Mikhail walked up to the reception there. He found out my room number and grabbed my bag which had been left here when the vans arrived. He walked me to my room opened the door and then handed me a key. Mikhail dropped my bag on the bed and I tossed my jacket over the back of the chair at the desk. I decided that I wasn't going to unarm myself. As safe as we were in the academy I didn't feel safe enough with what I knew to take any of it off. "Where we heading to now?" Mikhail eyed me up and down. "Aren't you going to remove any of that?" "No I feel safer with it on. Not saying that we aren't safe here but prefer to stay armed." "Rose, at least drop the guns and the sword. You are not going to need those." "I'll make you a concession, I'll leave the guns but the sword comes. I'm not going anywhere without my sword." With that I pulled them from the holster and placed them on the bed as well. Mikhail rolled his eyes at me. "Okay Rose. Let's go."

Mikhail was leading me to the guardian dining room. "Rose, Guardian Oleksandr is not going to put up with your attitude or anything." "Come on Mikhail, I have been that much of a smart ass since I got here. I've been behaving. I have learnt some control you know. Give me a break." "Rose I know you and your attitude. I know it's still there. Please behave yourself, he could stop you becoming a guardian. Is that what you want?" I rolled my eyes at him "Okay, okay. Mikhail give it a break. I'll be on my best behavior. Happy now? Come on let's go, I'm starving." With that we continued heading to the dining room.

As we entered no body looked up. I was staring. I followed Mikhail to the buffet. Yeah, they had spaghetti and meatballs, one of my fav's. Plus I found a little further down doughnuts. Chocolate glazed ones. They were my favorite food. I piled up my tray and grabbed a soda and a bottle of water and followed Mikhail to an empty table. I sat down and started eating. I noticed a few minutes later the room went utterly quite. Not that there were many of us in here as it was. A tall well muscled man entered, he looked like he was in his late forties. He had the weirdest combination of black hair (graying slightly) and brilliant blue eyes. I could sense the power ripple of him with every fluid movement he made. I knew he may old but he was still deadly. He scanned the room and spotted Mikhail and I. I notice him make a small head nod to Mikhail before he went to get his own tea.

He walked over to us. "Is this seat taken?" I looked up at him. I wasn't the shy type of girl. "No. It's not." I nearly snapped. Mikhail shot me a 'behave yourself rose' look. I rolled my eyes back at him. "Please join us, if you would like." I added glaring at Mikhail. He smiled at me. "Mikhail, would you be so kind as to introduce me to this young lady." "Guardian Oleksandr this is Rosemarie Hathaway. Rose this is Guardian Oleksandr. I'm sure Danil that you have heard from headmaster Litvak that Rose has accepted a guardian position here, and that she was the one who rescued all those in the 2 vans that arrived earlier this evening." "Rosemarie it is a pleasure to meet you." Guardian Oleksandr said extending his hand out to me to shake it. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well Guardian Oleksandr. And please call me Rose." I replied as I was shaking his hand. "Well Rose you can call me Danil, well that is when there are students around and we are not in a formal setting." With that he sat down at the table with us.

"So if you are going to be a guardian here I guess I need to get to know you." Great the Spanish inquisition all over again. I don't need this. I need to sleep and rest. I thought to myself. "Well I should start by asking what you have already heard Danil. That will make this a little quicker if I'm not repeating things." "Well not much I haven't spoken to anyone. I have been busy organizing the wards and the other requests the headmaster made, I believe on your suggestions." "Well then here I go again. Three weeks ago there was a large strigoi attack on my old academy St. Vlad's. Many lives were lost. But due to the early warning I was able to give many more were saved. I ended up in the fight for the school. I had some help though. We managed to kill many that attacked but they did manage to kidnap a few. I proposed a rescue mission and with some help I was able to locate where the strigoi were hiding until the sun set again. We went out and attacked, saving many of the ones kidnapped but losing a few more in the process. My mentor was taken and turned. That leads me to why I am in Siberia instead of in America and at the academy. He grew up not far from here. While I was in Irkutsk I decided to go hunting. I wanted to find out any information on him and also I just wanted to. The first night I found a house with strigoi in it. Before I attacked I heard them talking about a plan to attack the school and wipe out a whole generation at once. I killed them all and searched the house. That was when I found the Conta family and Damya and Maksim. I brought them back to the hotel I was staying at. I had a few other things I had to do before bringing them here to safety. In the house I found some papers and Maksim translated them for me and one lead me to a warehouse. That is where the rest of the survivors are from. The warehouse I believe was a training facility. It is no more. I blew it up and all the strigoi inside. I took all the survivors back to the hotel and feed them and everything before bringing them here. One the way I sensed the strigoi, I knew they were following us and going to attack. I got out to stop them and to save those in the van. The rest you pretty much know. I fought my way here, and here I am. Anything else you wish to know Danil?"

Danil had sat very quietly through my whole speech. He looked up at me. "Rose how old are you?" "I'm 18. Is that a problem?" "No, it's not. I was just curious. Why are you not at St. Vladimir's finishing your education and graduating there?" "I made a promise Danil. I made a promise to my mentor. We agreed that if either of us was ever turned we would rather die than live that way. It was also understood that we would be the one to kill the other." "Rose, who was your mentor?" Danil asked me. "He was Dimitri Belikov." I turned my head down to prevent them from seeing the tears forming in my eyes. I quickly wiped them away and looked back up. "That is a great loss. I knew him, he was well respected." Damil replied. "How long ago did you leave the academy Rose? And how many strigoi have you killed so far?" "I left nearly 2 week ago. I have killed 47 strigoi since leaving the academy, that plus those in the warehouse. But I already have molinjas." I turned my head then and shifted my hair out of the way so he could see. I heard Danil and Maksim gasp. "Rose you already have two plus one for a great battle in which you killed to many to count. How did you come by them?" "The two molinjas are for Strigoi I killed in Spokane, but that is another story I would rather not share. The one for the great battle is the one for the attack on the school." "I heard about the incident in Spokane. You are Janine Hathaway's daughter aren't you?" "Yes." I replied stonily. I really didn't like my mother. I knew that she was furious with me for dropping out and running away as she put it. I also knew she was furious with me for the relationship I had with Dimitri.

Danil didn't say anything else after that. I went back to eating my dinner. It was cold now, but I was so hungry I ate it anyway. I finished everything. "Rose, your promise mark ceremony will be taking place tomorrow at 2. I'll be there of course, Mikhail are you coming also?" Mikhail smiled at me. "I would be honored to join you." I rolled me eyes at him. "Danil, I don't want to make it a big deal out of it or anything." "Rose it is an important occasion. Not only are you getting your promise mark, which I must admit you have earned, you are getting 47 more molinjas and another for a great battle, like the one you already have. You must be honored for your efforts." "Thanks Danil, I would prefer that it be kept small though. I do not need the marks. I do what I do because I have to Danil, I do not do it for the marks or the glory or anything else. I do what I do to protect those that I love and to keep the promises I have made. There is no other reason then that. There will never be any other reason then that. A wise man once told me 'that not all marks are badges of honor'. So please I would like to insist that this ceremony remain small." With that I stood up and was heading out to leave and get some much needed rest I was exhausted.

I heard Danil gasp. I turned back to look at him, his face was one of shock. I smiled. I remember I was still heavily armed. "Danil, is there a problem?" I asked with a smirk plastered on my face. He seemed to remember his self then. His face returned back to the normal composed look that guardians always wore. "Rose, what, why, why are you so armed? We are safe here." I heard Mikhail chuckle. I turned and glared at him. Before I had a chance to respond Danil asked "Mikhail, what is so funny?" "Danil you cannot see all that she is carrying and this is not all she usually carries either." Mikhail chuckled again. Danil turned back to me, "Explain Rose." "Yes Danil, I carry more weapons then you can see. Also you may feel safe within the wards that are surrounding you, but I have already been there when they failed and we were attacked. I will always be armed. I will not risk anybody's safety by being unprepared. I have lost too much already. Now if you guys will excuse me, I need to rest. I have injuries that need time to heal and I have had a couple of long days and am in need of some much needed sleep." With that I left and headed back to my room. I was exhausted, mentally and physically. I had a long day of fighting, 2 Spanish inquisitions and a trip to the doctors to be pocked and prodded. I had more then enough.

I walked slowly to my room. I was exhausted I and just wanted to sleep. I heard footsteps behind me but thought nothing of it, just someone else heading to their room. I got to the door opened it walked in and relocked it, without a second thought. I went and laid down on the bed, I needed to unwind from dinner and the day I had currently had. Knock, knock came from my door. I groaned internally and sighed. I was in no longer in the mood to talk to anyone. I wanted a hot shower now and bed. I got up and walked to the door unlocking it and opening it as I growled, "What is it?" I hadn't even bothered to look up to see who it was. "Rose, why didn't you tell me you were injured? What injuries do you have" It was Danil. I heard concern in his voice. "Please do not worry Danil, I am going to be fine." I hated when people worried about me, I was not a little girl anymore. I didn't need looking after. "Rose." This time I knew he was getting annoyed. "Alright, alright," I sighed "come in and I'll tell you about it. I am not going to discuss it with you in my doorway." I moved and allowed Danil to enter my room. "Danil if you don't mind I would like to finish unpacking while we have this little discussion." "That is fine. So Rose explain to me please what your injuries are." I walked around the room and was finishing unpacking my belongings, while I was telling Danil. "Danil, I have a many bruises, a sprained wrist and 3 broken ribs which the doctor has braced for me." "Rose what were the doctors orders on your recovery?" By this time I had finished unpacking, I decided I was going to continue to get ready for bed. "I have been told to take it easy and rest, I will need about 3 weeks for my ribs to heal. The wrist and bruises will be fine in about a week." While talking again I had waked over to the bed and began to disarm. I had removed my sword and the holster that carried it and my guns normally. I then was disarming the second holster. I had removed 2 stakes by the time I had finished. "Okay, Rose I want you to follow the doctors' orders. I want you to take it easy. Get the rest you need." I had continued to disarm while Danil had spoken. I had removed the 6 knives from the holster, and also removed that holster. Then I lifted up one leg to rest on the edge of the bed. From the boot I withdrew another stake and 3 more knives. Then I unzipped the boot and took it off sitting it on the floor beside the bed. I did the same with the other boot. "Danil, I plan to follow the doctor's orders. Though I still intended to do what needs to be done. Whether that is running patrols or whatever, don't think that just because I am injured I am unable to do my job." I replied as I was still disarming. Danil chuckled at me then. "I see what Mikhail said now." "Well excuse me, I like to be prepared. Now Danil if you don't mind I need to rest. Unless there is something else you need of me?" "No, Rose that's fine, please take it easy. I'll see you tomorrow. Remember the ceremony is a 2. I'll meet you there. I'll get Mikhail to meet you and to show you where to go. Okay" "Yeah, I guess that is fine. Seeing as I still need to learn my way around. Until tomorrow." With that Danil stood and left my room. I walked over to the door and locked it again. I walked my bathroom and turned the shower on. I walked back out ad stripped down and place my clothes in the hamper. I went back an showered then got ready for bed. I feel asleep very quickly. I was exhausted.

I looks around and I was in Adrian's grandmother's garden. "Adrian, come out please, I'm exhausted and I really, really need to sleep." "Silly little damphire you are asleep." Replied Adrian walking out from behind an arch covered with climbing roses and jasmine. He smiled at me. I rolled my eyes in return. "Well little damphire how are things? I've been waiting to contact you. I sent out your urgent information from earlier. The school is on full guard and Kirova sent out the message to the other schools, but only after the call she got from someone. She didn't believe me about you, but Guardian Petrov did. She was the one who put the guardians on alert. But it is all done now. All the schools are on alert. We had already increased security here but I think the guardians are now going to be working harder now, and they even have some of the senior novices running patrols." "Thank you Adrian." I walked over ad to my surprise as well as his I hugged him. It took him a minute to realise what I was doing, but he eventually hugged me back. This is nice I thought. Comfortable. Rose, stop these thoughts. I chastised myself. You don't even like Adrian. There is no reason that you would like this or think this is comfortable. I stepped back out of the hug. "Guess what Adrian, I have some great news. I'm becoming a full guardian as of tomorrow. I'm getting my promise mark and everything. Can you please tell the guys. I know they will be excited." "Ohh, Rose I am excited for you as well. Where are you so we can come and see you?" "Adrian, I can't have you guys come here, I can't have any distractions. I will be back. I made a promise. I'm here to recover and I want to learn more about St. Vladimir and Anna. I need to understand more about my bond and how I am connected to the land of the dead. Hopefully there will be more information here." "But little damphire, we miss you. We all want to see you, even Christian. Please Rose, can we come. Maybe we could just for the weekend or something. Please, please little damphire. Let us come." "Well I'm sure you could find me anyway Adrian. It's not like you don't those kinds of resources. Find me first then see what Kirova says and I'll think about it. No promises. Now Adrian please I need to go. I need to rest, well sleep actually. Message me later. Goodnight." "Night little damphire." With that everything went black and I spent the rest of the night in a blissful emptiness