20

She stopped mid sentence and I screamed because her blood splattered onto my cheek. A red patch was going fast on her shirt and Dimitri looked torn between wanting to protect me or supporting Riya. Riya bit her lip and a moment later I saw something drop behind her. The glittering metal had me shaking in fear, it was silver, there was no doubt about it. She'd just been shot with silver…

"Riya!" I screamed.

"Buria!" she hollered at the same time. I guessed that code words were similar even all the way over here. It was the same word that Dimitri had told me to shout back then with the attack on St. Vlad's. The others immediately rushed out and were at her side in an instant. Riya span on her heels and focused on something far away before cursing. "Everyone, remember the procedure I explained to you earlier? We need to put it all to action right now. Roza, I'm sorry but it seems your peace is over. Welcome to war," she smiled grimly just as Zana sent a fire ball flying into the sky. "Let's go help in the town. Dimitri, take care of Roza and good luck everyone."

Riya had just been shot with silver and yet she was still moving as though nothing happened. I realised that she must've been through a lot of training to train her body to ignore such pains since I was sure it must've been excruciating.

"Riya you should - "

"Not now Cain." Riya whispered gently. "I can't, not now that they've made their move. It's time to step things up everyone. Let's just hope that all our training's enough to protect this town."

"Where are Konstantin and Aleksandr?" Luka asked curiously.

"They're off protecting the remaing Belikov family." Riya smiled grimly. "I have no doubt that they'd be attacked." Dimitri looked shocked but gave her a grateful look. "Val, I place you in charge."

"What? No I refuse to listen to this - "

"Shut it!" Riya growled glaring at him and I saw her as a powerful being and she was somewhat threatening right now. "She did not beat up Zana all those years ago so stop your fucking unjustified hatred for her this instant! We don't have time for this, we don't have time for us to be fighting amongst ourselves. So please, just trust in those we have left."

"Yes Riya." Luke said with a shamed tone. Guilt played on his features but it passed when she touched him on the shoulder.

"Let's get this show on the road." Riya smiled ruefully. We scattered in pairs and I somehow found the strength to move.

"Here. Zana told me to let you drink this." Dimitri said holding up a bottle. I took a large gulp and nearly choked. It was absolutely revolting and I fought back the gag.

"What the hell is this?" I demanded. A few moments later, I felt the pains in my body fade to a nulling ache rather than blazing pain. "Okay, that worked miracles. Did she say what it was?"

"She said that she apologises for the horrendous taste but it was the best she could come up with at such a short notice. It's meant to speed up your healing process."

"It worked alright, I feel like I could run a marathon." I grinned. "So what are we up against?"

"Guardians." I froze.

"What?"

"Guardians."

"So that's why Riya was training me so hard… She wanted to make sure that I didn't hesitate when I attacked the guardians. They're corrupted aren't they? Or at least they're blindly following the queen's orders."

"Riya is going to try and isolate those who do not have the thrill to kill from those who do and try to talk some sense into them. We're going avoid killing innocents if we could." Dimitri explained.

"She'd already had all of this planned out…" I trailed off in wonder. She really was an amazing leader, no wonder she'd graduated at such a young age. She wasn't just skilled and strong, she was also highly influential and quick on her feet. She was prepared for anything, even something as abrupt as this. Although, there was also the possibility that she'd been forewarned and that's why she'd left for those days to make preparations. It also explained her desperation. I remembered the fight with the guardian's who infiltrated the house back then. They were going to rape then kill me. It was practically gleaming in their eyes. Many of these guardians were going to be the same no doubt. Guardians who've wanted the chance to destroy and harm.

By the time I reached the town, everything was in chaos. The few children who lived in this town were being urged into the underground tunnels. Buildings were on fire and anyone who could were fighting. Many of the corrupted guardians wielded guns and I saw body after body crumble to the ground in shock as they were shot. They might've been fast and trained, but they were never prepared to fight against an opponent possessing a gun. After all, what could they have done? We dhampires didn't have the speed Strigoi had, there was no chance for us to dodge a bullet if aimed correctly.

I used to think that Strigoi were the only monsters out there. But now? Now I knew that these so called guardians were the only monsters in the area. They were killed shamelessly and many didn't even give the people of this town a chance of survival. Suddenly large gust of wind swept through the town and the guns were wrenched from the guardian's hands. Riya and Luka stood side by side mischievously with disfigured guns at their feet. They nodded at each other with grins before both span and disappeared into the crowd to fight.

"Rose duck!" I heard a familiar voice shout and I dropped listening to the advice. I felt the air above me stir as the guardian missed my head. Lashing out I punched his stomach as hard as I could and he went down wheezing for breath. We needed some way of throwing them out of town and keeping them out. At this rate we were most likely going to tire ourselves out. "Who'd have thought that this would actually be happening?" Mark grunted as he knocked out another guardian.

"This is just ridiculous!" I growled. "There are so many of them, how are we going to get them out?"

"Riya will find a way. She must've been prepared for this when she rebuilt this town."

Suddenly a wall of fire sprang up between Mark and I and the guardians. They cried out in surprise and tried to get close but the flames slowly moved towards them. They slowly moved backwards and suddenly the disappeared. It took a while for me to realise they'd fallen into the ditch. The wall of fire dispersed and I leaned over the hole to see a pile of guardians groaning. The ditch was quite deep and the edge curved in a way that none of them could crawl out no matter what they tried. As I saw the earth moving slightly, I knew that the earth specialists were at work. The fire must've weakened the earth to make it easier for the earth users to break the earth. And I had to suppose that Riya had the tunnels already planned out too. Suddenly I heard a large gush of water and just like that the guardians were being flushed out.

Of course that wasn't all the guardians, just some of them. Or rather a large number of them. I gave a relieved sigh as they were flushed away. Riya really was a true leader. I never would've thought about something like this, a strategy that combined everyone's talents together. A punch to my gut caused the air to rush out of my lungs. Without looking, I span away from my opponent and turned to face him or her. She was a relatively tall looking guardian with brunet hair tied in a tight bun. Her expression was tight and filled with hatred.

"I can't believe you sank so low as to run with those monsters," she spat. Whoa, back track a little there. This bitch didn't even know me and she was insulting me? Was I missing something? "You look like a respectable guardian but I guess not. Are you just a blood whore for them? Is that why?"

"The only monsters here are you guys. These people haven't caused you harm and yet your hurting the very population you're meant to protect."

"We do not protect the monsters."

"I'm not talking about the Strigoi; I'm talking about the Moroi." I rolled my eyes as I dodged another move.

"They're just as bad as you, they're all blood whores for these monsters," she growled. This bitch was so narrow minded, I didn't even know why I was trying to make small talk with her! No matter what I said nothing was going to get through to her, that much was obvious. I twirled and at the same time lashed out with a leg. She dropped and I had to jump to avoid her next attack. We tumbled to the ground as she tackled me and we rolled around both trying to gain the upper hand. Unfortunately, she was more experienced than me but I'd also had great teachers. I managed to hook my leg around her and with as much force as I could twist so that I threw her off. I jumped up and threw my entire weight at her without giving her a chance to recover. Then, I punched her hard in the face. Her head snapped back and blood dripped. I kept my weight on her for a few moments more just to make sure she was really down for the count.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a child running out into the fight and he ran towards a male guardian harassing a lady. The kid gave out a dramatic battle cry and fire scattered around randomly. It was obvious that the child was a Moroi and a fire specialist too. It was also obvious that he hadn't been trained. The guardian gave a surprised shout when fire suddenly started on his arm. Then anger flared in me when I watched him pulled his arm back. I ran without another thought and stood in front of the child to take the hit that was meant for him. I didn't expect the hit to be so hard and I fell to the side from the impact. Pain bloomed on my cheek and tears stung at my eyes but I held them back. I didn't have time to feel the pain, didn't have the time if I wanted to protect the child and I presumed that the woman was his mother. The anger fuelled me and I jumped up before the guardian could do anything.

I lashed up with a foot and caught him unaware. He went down wheezing in pain clutching at his nether region and I turned to the mother and child. "You shouldn't be here. Go to where it's safe." I commanded firmly. I yelped when I felt the blade dig into my leg and nearly collapsed from the impact of his attack. This was so not what I needed! With my other leg I kicked him in the stomach and he rolled away coughing. Reaching down I readied myself before pulling the object protruding from my leg. The mother reached out with a cloth and kindly wrapped it around my leg tightly to reduce the blood flow. "Thank you." I smiled. "Now go before you two get attacked again." The mother picked up her child and ran as fast as she could towards whatever shelter she could find.

I followed them just to make sure they didn't get caught again. When I was sure they were in safe hands, I ran back to the fight and ran into Shane and Claire fighting with a bunch of guardians. Through their week of training, both had developed their skills with fighting and they seemed to be handling themselves well. Nevertheless, neither had been taught how to fight before their 'deaths' and one week certainly wasn't enough to prepare them for a proper fight against a band of guardians even with their extra speed and strength. It also didn't help that we were avoiding the deaths of these guardians which meant that they couldn't strike as hard as they normally might have. I joined in their fight and knocked out a guardian as I approached the couple.

"Hey, how're you guys holding up?" I grunted as I ducked to dodge a punch aimed for my face.

"This is harder than we thought it would be." Shane grumbled.

"We're not allowed to hit them hard enough to kill and we don't really know the extent of our strength yet." Claire complained.

"Considering this is your first fight against experienced guardians, you guys are holding up brilliantly. Guardians are trained to kill your kind. Well, kind of, they're trained to fight the evil Strigoi. Most are trained since the age they could walk if they choose to go down that route. Or when their family chooses the path for them." I explained as I dropped, lashed out with a leg as I span and knocked over another guardian. His knees buckled and Claire successfully punched another guardian in the face knocking him out cold.

"Oh dear… Is he still alive?" Claire asked worriedly. She was about to bend down and inspect him when I saw the stake aimed for her.

"Claire watch it!" I shouted and threw the rock I picked up off the ground. It struck the guardian in the shoulder hard enough for him to break his stride and drop his stake. Claire's eyes widened and without warning she bitch slapped the guy. He stumbled backwards as a disorientated expression fell across his face. The next second he was lying on the ground unconscious. "Nice hit. I suppose slapping works well enough." I laughed.

"I think I'll stick with the punching and kicking thanks." Shane grunted but amusement was laced in his tones. "I reckon when he wakes up, his pride is going to go down the drain. I mean, he got knocked out from a bitch slap. From a Strigoi no less."

"You have a point there." I grinned. "Any guy would be humiliated from getting knocked out by a bitch slap."

Claire gave a shy laugh before resuming with the fight. There was a bang and I flew back from the impact. These guardians were carrying bloody bombs. They were using bombs! How unfair was that?!

"Air users, you know what to do!" I heard Riya's command clearly through all the thunderous fighting. As more bombs fell, I watched with amazement as gusts of wind swept them up and threw them high into the air. Watching the explosion was almost like watching fire works. Only these were probably more destructive.

As more and more of the guardian's strategies failed, I remembered that Riya used to be one of them; therefore she probably knew most of their strategies. Konstantin and Aleksandr would've known a lot about the way the guardians manoeuvred too. During the course of the fight, another thought occurred to me. Even if we did successfully knock out most of these guardians and drive the rest away, what were we going to do with the unconscious guardians? They would no doubt attack again as soon as they wake. This was another issue that was different to fighting Strigoi. With Strigoi, you fought to kill and all you'd have to do afterwards is to burn the corpses. With this fight, there weren't really going to be many corpses - if any at all - to burn. So what were we going to do with them? And the ones we do manage to drive away, if they really were following the queen's orders, then it was likely they wouldn't stop attacking until their mission was accomplished.

As strong and independent as this town was, it could withstand only a limited number of battles. Soon the people will start tiring and through each fight there would be those who become injured. We didn't have people who could replace those unable to fight again whereas the queen did. She could dispatch an order and any guardian would rush to complete her command. If the queen continuously battered at this town and focused her armies of guardians at this place, it would only be a matter of time before we are conquered. Then who knows what would happen to its inhabitants afterwards…

A hammering blow to my head stopped my thoughts and I tumbled to the ground. Pain seared from my head and I bit back a scream of agony that was climbing up my throat. I rolled over and threw myself just in time to avoid another strike. The guardian who was attacking me held a rather nasty look piece of a branch. I was fairly certain that there would be splinters where the branch connected with my head. Dizziness rushed through me as I rolled and my focus blurred. As he brought the branch down again, I narrowly avoided the worst of it but it struck my shoulder. This time I couldn't help but yell in pain as my shoulder burned with the pain.

He was just about to hit me again, this time aiming for my head when he suddenly disappeared. Leaning up slightly I saw him lying unconscious a few meters away with blood dripping down his face. The next moment Dimitri was crouching beside me holding a bottle to my lips. It was the same mixture as before. Again the vile liquid rolled down my throat and I nearly gagged but it did sooth the searing pain enough for me to be able to see clearly again. I wiped the tears away from my face and Dimitri gave me a soft kiss on my forehead before kissing away my tears. "Take it easy for now if you can. Let the mixture settle through your system more before making any drastic actions," he warned.

"I'll try but I can't guarantee anything." I smiled weakly.

"I wish I could carry you away from all this madness."

"But you can't because I won't let you." I stated firmly. "I want to help protect the people here."

"I know, that's why I never mentioned the thought until now," he smiled grimly before giving me a hand up. Out of nowhere, a net fell on us and from the gleam and Dimitri's hiss of pain, I could tell that it was threaded with silver. The net closed around us and we were being dragged. I struggled with the knife trying to cut it but it was no use. We were dragged through the woods and we ended up at the cliffs leading to the sea. Fear rushed through me as I realised the guardians' intentions. I'd drown if I got thrown into the sea and Dimitri would starve because he wouldn't be able to get out of this net. Just as we were on the edge of the cliff, there was a flash of black and red and we stopped moving. Dimitri and I were lifted off the ground for a moment before the net disappeared.

Several more guardians emerged from the trees and Cain and Valentine appeared to help with the fight. Everything seemed to turn into a blur as the fight went on. Dimitri had a few burn marks on his skin from where the silver had dug into his skin. His face was shadowed with pain and his eyes were dilated. I also noticed that the ring of his around his eyes were thicker than usual. As blood spewed from the guardians, I didn't have a chance to even blink before Dimitri was on them and draining them. I screamed and launched myself at him. He batted me away with a crazed and desperate look in his eyes. He bit the guardian again who cried out in pain.

This was bad, this was catastrophic. I had to stop him. I knew that I had to. If I didn't I knew that Dimitri would be horrified with himself and he'd be likely to try and seclude himself which meant that I wouldn't be able to stay beside him. With my new resolve I launched myself at him just as his head dipped down to bite another spot. I placed my arm between his open mouth and the guardian's neck. Pain seared up my arm as his fangs dug into my flesh and the iron scent of blood filled the air. For a moment Dimitri drank but then as I forced him to look at me he froze. Sense rolled back into him and gently he released my arm. He did however lick at the remaining blood and applied pressure at the punctures when he was done. He stared at me with both shame and wonder in his eyes. He'd managed to stop. He stopped and that was all that mattered.

The guardian that Dimitri was drinking from had already passed out and was lying ungracefully on the grass. With grace and skill, Dimitri blocked a hit aimed for his head and with a flash he'd punched the man in the stomach and thrown him halfway across the clearing. The man skidding and Dimitri resumed with caring for my arm as though the interruption never took place. Throughout the day I'd noticed the dark clouds occupying the sky and had wondered when it'd let loose. Apparently the sky chose that moment because all of a sudden, water began falling in little drops before pelting it down. Rain and hail fell from the sky pelting with such force that it hurt. I could barely see through the storm that suddenly struck. It was just as abrupt and brutal as the attack from these guardians. I watched with relief as they collapsed one by one. With this storm, the Strigoi had better sight than they did which gave them the upper hand. Also, with Cain here helping with the fight and Valentine being a skilled experienced fighter, the guardians went down twice as fast.

I saw a shadow creeping up behind Dimitri and without warning someone yanked my hair. Whoever held me dragged me towards the cliffs and fear rose again. Dimitri was being held back and I looked up through the rain to see the guardian staring down at me maliciously with a silver stake in his hand. I noticed throughout the fight that none of the guardians had ordinary traditional wooden stakes, they were all silver. My fear churned and swirled as I watched hopelessly while he lifted the stake. I couldn't move anymore. All my strength fell away and it didn't help that Dimitri had just bitten me. I should've known that all those times I lost blood through this fight would catch up with me. Now it did when it mattered most. How ironic that when I need my strength most, it seems to evade me. I struggled helplessly and somewhat pathetically I had to admit in his grip. He held my neck in a secure choke hold.

"This is for all my comrades you brought down you bitch," he snarled. "And for defying the queen."

Fear gripped me tightly and swirled around me. I was going to die, after all of this I was going to die. I choked back a sob and forced myself to be strong. If I was going down, I would go with pride. I wouldn't cry like a pathetic snob, I would keep my head held high with the proud and warm feelings of protecting those in the town from the corrupt. I had deep faith that Riya would be able to win this war and help restore the world so that friendly Strigoi didn't have to live in fear and certain guardians wouldn't have to hide any more.

I waited for the pain to hit but it never did. I heard a squelch but I still didn't feel the pain. Then several things happened at the same time. I heard a gasp of pain from the person in front of me and two growls not so far away. Through the rain I saw the red and black streaks of hair and realised with horror that Riya had taken the blow for me. The plunge had been meant for me, but instead she'd gotten between me and my opponent. She'd saved me again. Again her blood splattered on my face as I stared down at her. The guardian was still holding onto my neck with one hand while the other was holding onto the stake that had dug through Riya's back. I could see the blood coated tip of the stake protruding from her chest. She gave a guttural groan as the guardian shifted the stake. Her pale face was contorted with agony and her fringe stuck to her forehead. The glow that always used to be in her eyes slowly faded and pain flooded through me. The deep ache ate at my heart as I saw her face twist in pain every time the guardian twisted the stake. She'd had to save me again because I wasn't strong enough. Because I didn't have enough strength.

Her eyes rolled shut and a small and somewhat regretful smile stretched across her face.

"Riya!" I screamed with shameless tears running down my face.

Valentine's growl of pure ferocity and rage matched Cain's and together they lunged at the guardian who was twisting the stake in Riya's chest. The force of their attack had me skidding across the grass. Unfortunately, Riya fell to the other side; the side of the sea where the waves crashed against the rocks. No!

"Stay strong Roza, you can make it through this and please keep the others filled with - "

Her message was cut short and I scurried to the edge searching the waters for her but I couldn't see anything. I couldn't see a damn thing in the dark waters.

End of Secret War…

Mwah!!!! Hope you guys like the horrid cliff hanger!!! For those who like this story, yes there will be a sequel and it'll be called Hidden Secrets. However, I have no idea when I'll have time to start writing it thanks to exams and school work and all that jazz. Thanx very much to those who've been reading and reviewing this story! Any comment is appreciated and I'm glad you've liked it! XxX Merlyn