Vampire Academy is all Richelle Mead's...
Dimitri's hand tightened around the stake. He couldn't let himself get taken in by Zeklos's charm. Some part of him wanted to believe it, but he knew from hard experience that it could change in an instant. He made himself focus on Malina's safety – not the horrors of his childhood.
As if she could feel the effort it took, she turned her head and met his eyes. Her green eyes softened to gray in the lights from the physical plant, and this time he read the emotion in them clearly. For reasons he couldn't fathom, she looked frustrated - and he wanted to fix it, whatever it was. Before he could act, she took a deep breath and smiled brightly at him, confusing him even more.
He missed the hand gesture that signaled the guardians to change formation, but luckily his place was with Malina. The guardians crossed in front of them, seeming to move in all directions at once. The flurry of movement resolved in seconds into a protective line of guardians that faced outward, crisp and straight and professional, two meters beyond the ward. Dimitri noted the spacing. Just as he'd been taught, they stood almost arms' width apart: close enough to give aid if attacked, but with enough room to fight without any accidental friendly interference.
"Cool," Ivan murmured to Katya. Dimitri clenched his teeth.
The Moroi professors and their guardians took their position next, and Dimitri almost jumped to stop the earth specialization professor from stepping over the ward boundary. Nikitin's warm, heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"I thought you said 'no one step over the line'," Katya murmured to Nikitin.
"Inside joke," he murmured back.
The professor for fire and her guardian crossed next. The professors for water and air took their positions on the protected interior. "Go," Nikitin said in Dimitri's ear.
Dimitri's instincts screamed at him, but he followed orders. He crossed the line and Katya followed. Malina and Ivan joined them almost immediately. The Moroi students stood next to their professors, the professors' guardians close behind them; Dimitri placed himself and Katya between the Moroi and the guardian line, adding a third layer of protection. Though they were inside the magical protection of the ward, Catherine's and the Badica twin's novices did the same.
"You've got my back, right, Princess?" Ivan asked quietly. His words were flippant, but the charming lilt was gone.
"I've got you," Katya answered, just as quiet.
Outside the ward's protection, Dimitri couldn't spare the attention or the energy to worry about Zeklos. Malina's safety came first: his training made everything else fall away. She stood straight and confident, and he was almost fooled – until he saw the fear in her eyes. But she didn't back down - she didn't even reach for his hand. She watched her professors, serious and focused and determined to learn. Her shoulders relaxed slightly when he stepped closer to her. She trusted him to keep her safe.
Nikitin and another guardian took their final position a few meters behind the novices. Their placement seemed to be a signal: seconds later the air was filled with flying bits of earth and roiling steam. Nikitin had been right; visibility was compromised, badly. Dimitri squinted, watching Malina as closely as he could, frustrated that his line of sight was restricted but reassured by the solid presence of the guardian line.
The process took much longer than Dimitri expected, almost twenty minutes to protect only two hundred meters of the academy's boundary. He stayed alert, struggling with the added challenges of the elemental storm, ready to assist Katya if needed and keeping regular eye contact with Nikitin. But nothing else happened – no Strigoi. The professors finished repairing the wards and crossed back over the line. Without being told, Dimitri and Katya coordinated quickly and wordlessly, pair-guarding to get their Moroi back to protected ground.
Malina stumbled a little on the inside of the line and Dimitri caught her hand. He didn't let go. They were being watched, but the test – and more importantly, the danger - was over. If he'd been less reserved, or if they'd been alone, he might have picked her up and spun her around, but he settled for holding her hand. A hint of that sweet, shy smile rewarded him.
Nikitin's voice rang out, carrying to include Dimitri's group and the rest of the class. "Thank you all for your careful attention. I think the rest of Comparative Literature can wait for tomorrow. Novices, debrief with one another. Moroi, see your professors with questions and concerns." He re-joined the rest of the guardians, closing the operation. Most of the guardians scattered and faded into different directions toward different parts of campus; just a few stayed, still guarding the class and herding them slowly back to the classrooms and gymnasium.
The four Moroi students clustered together and Dimitri and the other novices stayed close, subconsciously continuing to guard them. Ivan easily commanded their small group's attention as they moved slowly away from the ward.
Ivan dipped his head slightly, first to Katya, then to Dimitri. "Thank you," he said formally. Dimitri tensed again. Royal Moroi didn't thank their guardians.
Zeklos looked at the other three Moroi. "That was fun," he said. "Kind of anticlimactic. I'm almost disappointed that we didn't get attacked." Katya elbowed him and he grinned. He laid his arm across her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. "Not that disappointed," he whispered, and if he'd been anyone else, Dimitri would have truly believed the protective note in his voice.
"Any ideas?" Ivan asked at a more normal volume. "I'll buy that it was useful, but we didn't have to learn the warding process less than twelve hours after a Strigoi sighting."
"Guardian Nikitin said your professors were just taking advantage of the extra guardian protection," Katya said, sliding her arm around Ivan's waist. He wrapped his arm around her a little tighter, tucking her closer to his body. Dimitri flashed back to a similar scene from his childhood. Malina held his hand more tightly, but he barely felt it.
"Damage control," Catherine spoke up, providing Dimitri a small, very welcome distraction. "They should never have allowed a Strigoi to get so close. They're scrambling, trying to prevent panic, from having your parents pull you out of school to somewhere where you're less protected." Harsh, but possibly accurate, Dimitri agreed silently, gratefully retreating to a guardian mindset. "They want you to tell your royal parents about our little exercise. The faculty wouldn't risk Moroi unless it was safe, and your parents know that. Putting us on the line proves there's no danger."
The Badica twin practically sneered at her. "You're not royal, how do you account for that in your little theory?"
Catherine didn't back down, unapologetic and matter-of-fact. "My parents are teachers over on the elementary campus." Dimitri made a mental note to check on his sisters. "My parents can reassure the other parents with more conviction and evidence since I was put on the line."
Zeklos was looking at him intently, and Dimitri tried to focus on the inconsistencies in the explanations instead of Zeklos's hands on Katya. Taking advantage of the extra guardian protection made sense – except for just how recently the Strigoi had been seen. As a lowly novice, Dimitri couldn't know the specific standard operating procedures for campus security, but personally, he would have expected students to be on lockdown so soon after an attempted campus breach. Reassuring parents made more sense - even the choice of royal students and Catherine fit that guess - but Dimitri's instincts protested: it was simply too soon to risk any Moroi. Therefore, both explanations had to be wrong – or at least incomplete. Zeklos was right to question the uncharacteristic guardian response.
"Belikov, what do you think?" Ivan asked. The muscles in Dimitri's back, neck, and arms knotted painfully. He wanted to disagree with Zeklos, and he couldn't. Katya looked very small with Zeklos's arm around her shoulders.
"I think you should stop questioning your guardians and let us do our job," Dimitri snapped. He broke off from the group and walked away.
Thanks for being patient in these beginning chapters, and thank you for reading!
I'm trying very hard to stay in canon, but all the descriptions and speculation on the wards and elemental magic is all guesswork on my part. I'm sorry if I've got it wrong!