Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy. All characters in the original stories belong to Richelle Mead. This disclaimer covers all chapters. Any songs used in this story belong to their respective writers and performers.
Chapter 10
Mel POV
We trained and practice practically nonstop the next few days. As the time for the attack drew closer, I went to the wards to talk to my mother's ghost.
(How close are they?)
"The fight will be on you within the hour. They have amassed more numbers." She said.
(How many?)
"They have gained more factions. There are approximately 1000 strong." She said sadly. "Do what your heart tells you and you will survive. Use your skills and your powers. Now is not the time to be discreet."
I nodded and ran back to alert Guardian Croft. I knocked on his office door and entered.
"Guardian Croft, we need to raise the alarm and get the Moroi to their designated safe zones. The Strigoi will be here within the hour." His eyes widened. "They have also gained greater numbers. We are expecting 1000 at this time."
Hans went into action and was barking orders to the other guardians. I ran to my room and grabbed my sword. Then I went to find Adrian and Lissa. I found everyone in her suite.
"Lissa, Adrian. I need you guys to go to the safe zones. It won't be long now. Christian, gather the Moroi that are fighting and get them into positions. Rose, Dimitri, Eddie you three escort Lissa and Adrian to the safe zones and stay close. If any get by the first line they are all yours." Everyone nodded and got to work doing what I had asked. Every guardian was equipped with an earpiece so we could communicate with each other.
At the gates there were guardians everywhere. Someone asked about lighting the trench and I took charge.
"No. We will not light it until they are closer. The fuel only lasts so long. Keep a watch for them and light it only when it is time." They nodded and got into positions. Scouts were on the roof giving reports of anything they saw. Twenty minutes later there were reports from the scouts on the roof. "When I give the signal, light the trench." I could feel the nausea coming, getting stronger and stronger. The Strigoi advanced and when they were twenty yards from the trench I gave the order. By the time it was lit some of the Strigoi were so close that they were ingulfed in flames. We watched as the Strigoi tried to jump the trench, only to be burned to a crisp. It went like that for a while and the fire slowly began to die down. Strigoi and humans advance once the fire died down. "I need the shooter to take out all the humans with them. Get them before they stake the wards." I ordered. Several minutes later, one of the humans made it to the wards. I pushed with my air magic, throwing him back several feet from the wards. That only slowed him down a little. Eventually they succeeded in breaking the wards. "Be prepared. The wards are down around the perimeter. Keep them off the Moroi."
I pushed forward with air, sending the Strigoi flying back only to be replaced by more. I drew my sword and swung on the first Strigoi. Everything happened in a matter of seconds. I blocked out the crippling nausea, struck down Strigoi left and right with my sword and set fire to the heads of the Strigoi within twenty yards of me. I saw a Strigoi in the fray that I knew as a human, Richard. He looked at me with an evil sneer and I put away my sword. I wanted that bastard to pay for all the hell that he had caused me. The guardians were fighting around me and were doing well for the moment. So far we hadn't lost anyone on our side yet. I advanced towards Richard.
"Ah Melissa my dear, you have become quite deadly haven't you?" He sneered. "It will give me great pleasure to turn you and make you mine again." Ugh gross.
"Not a chance in Hell Richard." I said and I lunged for him pulling my stake at the same time. I punched toward his right shoulder pushing him back a little making him stumble. I kicked him in the stomach but he recovered quickly. I dropped, swinging my leg out knocking him to the ground. I threw my weight on him and tried to send my stake to his heart. He shifted me off of him and flipped us over. My stake landed several feet away.
"My dear, I'm disappointed. I thought that you were better than this." He sneered and pulled my head roughly to one side. I saw my stake and concentrated on it. "Let's see if your blood tastes as good as the rest of you." As his head dropped down to my neck my stake moved across the ground towards me. Moving things with my mind sure comes in handy. I gripped the stake as I felt the bite. I reached up, plunging the stake into his back and through his heart. His body stopped moving and became dead weight on top of me. I pushed him off of me with all I had. I got up shakily from the endorphins. The adrenaline burned off the endorphins quickly and I jumped back into the fray. After hours of fighting, all of the guardians were tiring. We needed help and fast. I saw my mother's ghost several feet away. I spoke to her in my mind. (We need help.) She nodded and disappeared. Seconds later there were ghosts everywhere, distracting the Strigoi.
The guardians were confused because the Strigoi were swatting at nothing they could see. I got on my comm. "They are fighting the ghosts, stake the Strigoi while they are distracted. I can't keep the ghosts here for long." I set my sights on groups of Strigoi, burning them. The nausea was less but the ghost headache was increasing. There were still roughly 200 Strigoi based on the nausea. I got on the comm. again. "Guys I can't hold the ghosts here any longer. Be prepared for them to engage you again. We still have about 200 to go." We still needed help. I thought about Vlad and Anna. (Vladamir, Anna. What do I do?) I got an answer almost immediately.
"Melissa focus on the Strigoi as a group. Picture the sunlight burning them. Imagine a bright light pulse from you and send it outward and that will finish the fight.) I did as Vladamir suggested. I pushed the sunlight out in all directions, blinding myself and the other guardians. All of the guardians fell to the ground while the Strigoi, and the bodies of the fallen Strigoi turned to dust. I was the only one left standing. The guardians shook off the disorientation and were back on alert.
"It is over." I stated through the comm. "There are no Strigoi bodies to dispose of so tend to the injured and the dead guardians. Croft, are you there?"
"Yes, Guardian Mazur." He answered.
"I need a report on our Moroi and guardian fighters."
"All Moroi are alive and well, just exhausted" He said. "We lost two court guardians. Guardian Sellers and Guardian Wilson were killed. Head over to the infirmary. That is where everyone is being directed to assess injuries."
"Be there in a few." I said. "We have a few hours till sunrise. Do you have someone replacing the wards?"
"Yeah I have two teams setting up wards right now."
I walked towards the infirmary where there were dozens of guardians waiting to be patched up. Lissa and Adrian were there healing some of the major injuries. Adrian spotted me and immediately wrapped his arms around me. I whimpered at the pressure on my ribs and he immediately pulled back.
"Mel, are you ok?" He asked and I gave him a one word answer.
"Ribs." I stated. He started to heal me and I stopped him. "Adrian there are others that are in far worse shape than me. Heal the others first Adrian. Once I rest, I can heal myself." He smiled at me and continued healing others. I looked at their auras and saw too much darkness. "Lissa, Adrian." I called to them. Once they came to me, I pulled all of the darkness from them and held it inside. "I'll be right back." I stated and left the clinic. I walked to the practice fields and released the darkness onto some targets. I vaguely noticed that someone was watching me. I walked back towards the clinic and noticed that the person watching me was Ambrose. I greeted him and he gave me a small smile.
"What was that Mel? How did you do that?" He asked.
"That was the darkness of spirit that I took from Lissa and Adrian. I just push it away from me to destroy it. I could probably do more with it but I haven't practiced with it."
"Wow, Rhonda said that you would be one of a kind."
"Thanks." I said. "Sorry Ambrose, I have to get back to the infirmary." He nodded and we parted ways. I walked back down to the infirmary. I met up with Adrian and Lissa and when they finished at the clinic we had dinner with the gang.
Adrian POV
I was so worried about Mel. Lissa and I were directed to one of the safe zones. Once the fighting started it was chaos. We could hear the fighting outside but they never made it through the wards. As the hours went by my anxiety increased. Some of us watched the fight through security cameras feeds. I spotted Mel on the Main feed and she was amazing. She wielded her sword like a pro, setting fire to Strigoi within twenty feet or so of her. Later in the fight something caught her attention and she put her sword away. I saw her advance on one of the Strigoi and I recognized him immediately. Richard was now a Strigoi. She pulled her stake and they fought. Just when I thought that she had him down, he flipped them over and she lost her stake. I watched in horror as he pulled her head roughly to the side. Just as he bit her she somehow retrieved her stake and pierced his back. I sent a silent thanks to God when she pushed his body off of her.
"Thank God she killed that asshole." I said.
Lissa and I watched the screen as the Strigoi stopped fighting and began swatting at the air around them. The guardians staked them taking advantage of their distraction. Some of the Moroi in the room were confused but Lissa and I shared a knowing look.
"What are the Strigoi doing? They stopped fighting the guardians." One said.
"The Strigoi are being attacked by the ghosts." I stated.
"Ghosts?" He asked. "What do you mean?"
"The Strigoi are fighting off the ghosts that Guardian Mazur sent to them. Those that are shadow-kissed can communicate with and see ghosts." I explained. "She won't be able to keep them there for long though. It causes her to have extremely severe headaches. The longer they help her, the worse the headache. If she holds them too long, she will pass out from the pressure of the headaches they cause."
"She is holding them longer than I thought she would." Lissa stated. One of the guardians in the room started to speak.
"I just heard her tell them over the comm. that she was going to have to send the ghosts away. She said she couldn't hold them any longer." I nodded and turned my attention back to the screen. Minutes later there was a bright flash of light that came from Mel. It was as if she was her own sun.
"What the hell did she just do?" one of the Moroi asked.
"I don't know but look." I pointed to the screen and all of the Strigoi were gone. There were no bodies or live Strigoi anywhere. Then the guardian gave us the best news I've ever heard.
"It's over. Only two guardians fell and all of the Moroi are ok." He said and the whole room cheered. We waited anxiously for a few more minutes until the guardians gave the all clear.
Lissa and I went to the infirmary so that we could heal the injured guardians. When Mel got there I ran to her, forgetting that she could be hurt. I tried to heal her but she refused. She always puts others before herself. She took the darkness from us and left to get rid of it. Later when we were done healing the guardians, we left to Lissa's suite for dinner. After dinner we sat and talked. I had to ask Mel about her role in the battle.
"Mel what did you do at the end of battle? That was unlike anything I've ever seen."
It's better if I just show you." She grabbed my hand and I grabbed Lissa's and so on. Once we were all linked together she showed the battle from her perspective. I heard the voices in her head telling her how to use this new power. "That's freaky I know but extremely useful." She laughed.
" I guess so." I said.
Mel POV
Adrian and I walked back to our room and I went straight to the bathroom. Adrian detoured to the bedroom and pulled out some clothes for me, laying them on the bed. He came to the bathroom as I was getting undresses for a quick shower. He entered the shower right behind me. I had healed the bite from Richard and my other injuries, but exhaustion was setting in. Adrian helped me wash the dirt and grime from my body and washed the blood from my hair. We both got out of the shower shortly after. Adrian never pushed me sexually and I think that he realized that all I needed right now was for him to be close. I was never as ready to fall into bed as I was after the attack. Adrian crawled in beside me and wrapped his arms around me.
"You don't know how scared I was of losing you today." He said and he smiled at me. "Get some sleep Mel." He kissed me softly and I drifted off into darkness. After some time the darkness changed to the same cliff that Adrian and I last dreamed of Vladamir and Anna. Shortly after that, a figure appeared on my right that I knew to be Adrian. Several feet away two more figures came into view. Anna and Vladamir were dressed the same as they were the last time. Both of them smiled at me and stepped closer.
"You have done well child. Your power is increasing faster than we ever imagined." Vladamir stated with a broad smile. "Your powers are not at full potential yet but soon you will fulfill your destiny. The battle that you have just experienced is only the beginning my dear."
"What do you mean only the beginning?" I asked. Adrian looked at me, concern and love flashing in his eyes.
"These attacks are going to get stronger and greater in number. You must gather those that you trust around you and prepare them for the battles to come. Moroi must fight alongside the guardians in order for our world to survive the Strigoi. Moroi have much more power than they think, they just have to learn how to tap into it." Anna said. "Build on their element and teach them to aid in the fight."
"I don't understand. How am I supposed to teach the Moroi and fight off attacks of that magnitude?" I asked, slighty overwhelmed at the concept.
"You will understand soon my child. Communicate with the ghosts. Have them track their movements and teach the Moroi their true potential. Call to us if you need guidance." Vladamir said. They both approached and placed a kiss on my cheek. Vladamir placed a small celtic cross pendant around my neck. It was elegantly scrolled in designs and had a bright red stone in the center. Inside the stone there were two images, the sun and the moon. I looked at Vladamir confused and he smiled at me.
"This pendant will help you. It will help you to access you powers easier and allows you to hold any darkness you take without it harming you. You have already learned how to pull the darkness and send it out immediately. This allows you to hold and collect it until you can use it in battle." Anna said. Okay that is really useful.
We said our goodbyes and the dream surrounding us faded. When we woke up I showered and dressed quickly. I told Adrian that I wanted to go outside the wards to talk to the ghosts and then meet with the guardian. He really didn't like this at all. I was putting myself directly in danger, but he also knew that it was what I was supposed to do. Adrian allowed for me to go to the wards but asked that I take other guardians with me. I decided that I would call Rose to go with me. I picked up my phone and dialed her number.
"Hello." Rose answered.
"Rose, its Mel. I was wondering if you were busy right now?"
"Not really, Dimitri, Eddie and I are in the gym right now. Why?" She asked.
"I wanted to go to the wards but I'll come to the gym first. Adrian insists that someone go with me to the wards." I stated.
"Okay, see you in a few." She said and hung up. I told Adrian where I was going. He smiled and kissed me softly. He was meeting Lissa to practice with spirit. We walked out of the room together and went our separate way agreeing to meet later for lunch. I told him that if I found out anything useful I would find them sooner and walked towards the gym.