Part 1 Chapter 25
RPOV
Song: Absolution by Pretty Reckless
"What are you saying, Rose?"
At the start of the day, I left Dimitri's chambers and immediately went to Victor's office. I didn't want to waste another minute. I was done hiding. When I first arrived my uncle was welcoming and intent to indulge in pleasantries with me. I guess he had a right to be after I'd basically helped him seal one of the greatest alliances our kingdom had ever made, but as I dove into why I was really there his voice no longer had that genial tone.
"I'm saying that I won't do it. I won't marry him."
Victor regarded me seriously for a moment, letting my words hang in the air. He slowly rose to stand from his seat and began walking towards me from around the desk. "Listen, Rose. I know you think you love him, but it's just infatuation. You're still young. You'll see over time that this was just a flitting thing and you would have thrown away your entire future for something that will easily fade."
Anger began to rise inside me as he tried to belittle what Dimitri and I had—a love like ours could never fade. "Don't speak to me like I'm a child," I gritted through my teeth. "What I feel for Dimitri isn't just some little crush that can be washed away by the promise of ships and riches from some foreign lord. Do you really think I'm so naive to give up on my responsibilities for something so trivial? I love him. With every part of me. And I'm not letting him go."
There was a finality in my voice that I never used around my family. It was if I was back on the battlefield commanding the respect that I'd earned, but this battle wouldn't be won with the usual techniques and Victor made it very clear that he was not an easy adversary.
"I'm sorry Rose, but I cannot accept this. As a successor of the Dragomir line, you must uphold your duty to this kingdom. Your parents left me in charge for a reason and it's time for you to fall in line."
Victor didn't normally use his position as a weapon, but I could tell that he was beginning to feel backed into a corner and was desperately grasping for control. I took a step towards him and fixed my eyes with his as I lowly spoke, unsheathing a weapon of my own. "You forget, Victor. I am not a true heir of the Dragomir family."
His posture went rigid and a small breath caught in his throat.
"You and I both know what damage would occur if others found out. If they knew that you tried to set up an arrangement with a common Dhampir rather than a Dragomir Princess. It would bring chaos and disgrace to our kingdom."
Victor's dark brows rose to his forehead. "You wouldn't," he stammered. "You can't. How could you do that to Vasilisa?"
I'm not sure if it was another ploy to use my best friend against me or not, but either way, the mere mention of her name caused my austere countenance to falter just a little. I thought back to the other day when she had offered the same thing I was now and filled my argument with confidence. "I can say without a doubt that she would support me in any choice I made, just as I would her."
"HOW COULD YOU BE SO SELFISH," Victor shouted. "I have dedicated these past years to make sure you and your sister were setup to rule St. Vladimir's peacefully and you are willing to throw it all away for some Dhampir foreigner? You're a stupid, stupid girl Rose. I can't and I WON'T let you get away with this!"
Victor's insults fueled my rising anger until I felt like I would explode with rage. I opened my mouth to fire back at him, when suddenly the tower walls filled with the sounds of the watchman's horns.
Our heads whipped to his window at the sounds as we silently counted the deafening blares. One blow for friendly visitors, two for strangers approaching, three for invaders, and four for Strigoi.
I held my breath as the snaring sound echoed throughout the room. One. Two. Three. When the horns stopped at three I let out a sigh of relief that we weren't about to go up against our deadliest enemy. However, reality sunk in that we were under attack and I moved to leave the room.
"Rose! Wait," Victor called out to me. After everything he had just said I wanted to slam the door behind me, but the smallest hint of worry in his voice caused me to pause. "You don't have to go. You should stay behind the walls where you can be protected."
I turned to face him, bitterly wondering if the only reason he even wanted me safe is so he wouldn't lose the chance to marry me off, but when I saw the fear in his green eyes, I knew his concern was absolute. But whether he cared for my well being or not, there was nothing that could stop me from upholding my duty as Marshall.
"That's where you're wrong, Vic," I sternly spoke. "I do have to go."
Without giving him a chance to respond I flew from the room and raced down the stairs. Once I made it outside, the city was already in chaos. There were townsfolk panicked and fleeing from their homes, trying to get to the Southern point of the wall to safety. The Guardians were trying their best to maintain order, but I could see a similar look of fear behind their stone masks. I began barking out orders to some of the men as I moved towards the watchtower and they immediately obeyed.
Once I arrived some of my top men were already there, including Dimitri. "What's happening," I hurriedly asked. "Who is it?"
"It's the humans," the Guardian on watch spoke. "Almost a thousand of them. One of the scouts says he saw banners with the gold lily emblem."
"The Sage King," I muttered to myself. I wasn't exaggerating when I said they could outnumber us ten to one. Luckily, with the advancement of our new recruits and some craftier methods, we may be able to pull this off, but I didn't want to fight them. I had hoped taking out the pack of Strigoi would have prevented this from happening, but it appeared I couldn't have been more wrong. I looked up to see the men all staring at me, waiting for orders from their commanding officer. I glanced at Dimitri, hoping to find the answer in his eyes, but the same thoughts of reluctance I had seemed to be coursing through him as well.
As much as I didn't want to fight these humans who were only taking orders from their king, I knew that the threat to our own home was far more important.
"Constable Belikov, I think it's time you went and got your armor."
DPOV
Songs: Burn the Witch by Queens of the Stoneage, Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy, Zombie by Bad Wolves
"Return the Sage Princess or we will attack!"
It was the same thing the humans had been shouting for the last hour. We had no idea what they were talking about. Rose had sent men throughout the kingdom to question the human girl's whereabouts, but no one even knew who she was. It was well into the night by now and if she had indeed gone missing somewhere between our kingdom and their's, it was likely Strigoi had found her. God help her soul.
Rose had tried to hail their leader to approach for negotiations, but they were refusing to come anywhere near us. They claimed we would try to use our witchcraft on them and render their submission against their wills. Although Moroi had the ability, compulsion was not something they used for frivolity. Many rarely used it at all and only when absolutely necessary. But it seemed these humans were especially skeptical and radical in their beliefs.
"Return the Sage Princess or we will attack!"
"You'd think after an hour they'd come up with something better to say," Guardian Castile scoffed beside me.
The majority of our men were positioned right outside the gates primed for attack while the rest lined the top of the walls with their bows and arrows at the ready. The walls of St. Vladimir's would hold against an attack, but we still wanted to show our strength so they wouldn't be tempted to try. The humans had at least three times as many men as we did, and Rose told me that they had even more back at their kingdom, but our strength was a definite advantage...and by the look on some of the human soldier's faces, they knew.
Chris and Tasha requested to come with us to fight as well, but Rose insisted they stay behind. Not only was their safety imperative, but the use of magic on the battlefield would only cause more maliciousness with the humans. I had also made Daisy stay behind, not wanting to make this fight more bloody than need be.
"Hold your positions," Rose shouted from the other end of the line. Despite the obvious threat the humans were presenting, she didn't want to attack unless absolutely necessary—a sentiment I shared. Even if the best case scenario played out and we were met with a swift victory, lives would be lost today. I just hoped the humans came to their senses and those lost lives didn't have to be at my hands.
The array of torches flickered in the distance as the wind picked up and an eerie whistling air fell upon the valley. A few of the men behind me began shuffling uneasily as a strange feeling washed over me. I glanced to my right to see Castile rolling his shoulders before he turned to me as well.
"Do you feel that," he asked.
"Yes."
Something in the air changed again, creating even more restlessness in the men.
"What is it?" I could see Castile's hand move to the hilt of his sword nervously.
"I don't—"
Before I could finish, the entire field that was illuminated by the moon mere seconds ago slowly began to turn black. Everyone's faces simultaneously shot up to the sky to see a dark mass covering the full moon. We watched in awe as the shape painstakingly crept across it until there was nothing left but a small glowing white outline. No one made a single noise. Not one panicked question or even a shaky breath seeped out as we all stared up at the dark sky.
After a few moments of blackened silence, the large mass began inching away, but this time a bright red color took shape in its path. The men could no longer hold in their shocked reactions and I could hear rising whispers and gasps as the now blood red moon was finally revealed. I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, I looked down at my arms and exposed hands, wondering if the red color was affecting us in some unnatural way, but everything else seemed to be perfectly normal.
"It's them," one of the humans across the field shouted, pulling my attention back up.
"It's their demon witchcraft! They are trying to put a spell on us," another called out fearfully.
I looked up to the red moon again, wondering if this could be a result of Moroi magic, but I had never even heard of such immeasurable power. And even if it were possible, what would be their motivation for doing so?
The human's cries grew louder and fiercer, saying that they needed to stop us before we killed them all. Rose glanced around to our men, telling us to remain steady before her eyes flicked up to the archers above. She knew just as well as I that pacifism was beginning to no longer be an option for us. The leader of the Sage Army raised a banner above him as he sat on his horse, calling something out to his men behind him before turning back to us with a determined glare in place. Not a moment later he charged forward with the front line of his army.
"Ready men," Rose called out as she raised her sword above her head. We all pulled our weapons out and sank into a defensive stance as one. Those short moments as the humans charged at us were some of the longest seconds of my life. The ground shook as their feet and horses pounded into the earth, the red light of the moon creating a fire and brimstone atmosphere. Rose waited in the middle of the troops, staying perfectly still as they gained ground only dropping her hand at the last possible second.
As her sword came down, an array of arrows launched into the sky, briefly covering the reddened moon before plunging into the swarm of approaching humans. This went on a few more times as the men tried to inch closer to us, and each time I heard those arrows loose, my blood pumped faster in my veins. A good portion of their forces was knocked down with every wave, but eventually, some of them managed to make it through. Only then did Rose give the signal to attack—and without a moment's hesitation, we charged forward at full speed, a simultaneous roar sweeping towards our assailants.
...
The battle had lasted hours before the humans finally retreated. We had hoped after seeing there was no way they would even get past us to make it to the wall that they would quickly surrender, but they were relentless. Many of the men screamed, "For the princess," as they ineptly ran towards us. Their love and devotion to their princess were somewhat admirable, but the dedication to the idea that we had taken her lead to their ultimate downfall. If they just would have talked to us. If they just would have listened.
By the time the battle was over, I was completely exhausted. Each time my sword sunk into another body I could feel my heart lurch for them. I tried my best to remain impassive and ruthless, remembering that these people were here to cause us harm, but it was hard not to feel something. Blood coated my armor and sword, the red of the moon almost making the splatters look black. I unbuckled one of the straps near my neck, my armor suddenly feeling too tight around me. I wiped some of the excess blood from my neck and ran my hand along the damp earth to clean it.
"Dimitri."
Rose's voice caused my head to whip up towards it. She still had half of her hair pulled back in braids and as she stood above me she resembled a fierce battle goddess. However, her expression was anything but vehement. I could see her eyes worriedly rake over me, inspecting me for injuries.
I stood from my crouched position and took a step towards her. I placed a hand on her shoulder, wordlessly letting her know I was alright earning me a tight nod in response.
"The humans have fled. I plan to send a small party to the Sage King's kingdom when the sun comes up to see if they are willing to negotiate. It's likely they will return with more forces if they still believe we have their princess."
I nodded in agreeance to her plan, but I think we both knew that trying to reason with them at this point would be useless. We just had to hope that either the princess was found, or they would give us a small reprieve before attacking again.
"Thank you for fighting Dimitri," Rose's focus moved to my blood-soaked sword, her voice growing graver. "I—I wish it didn't have to be this way. I didn't want it to be."
I could almost feel the pain in her voice as she spoke, the shadows of dead bodies filling the field around us no doubt fueling her guilt.
"I know, Rose," I moved my clean hand to her chin and gently raised it. "You did what you had to do."
She took a shaky inhale as her eyes met mine and drew her lips between her teeth. After a lingering moment, she opened her mouth to say something else, but her words faltered as her eyes flicked behind me, something suddenly catching her attention. I turned around to see what had drawn her only to spot a lone man standing at the top of a hill on the west side of the wall. Rose's eye narrowed at him in deep concentration before shooting wide.
"Dimitri, look!"
I looked him over again, wondering what could possibly be so intriguing about this man, other than the fact that the majority of his troops had vanished and there he was still as a statue within our boundaries. However, as the red color of the moon finally began to fade back to a golden white, the light illuminated something on his vest. A symbol I had seen once before. A symbol that signified the hatred for the Dragomir line.
"The íonachta," I whispered under my breath.
He stared at us motionlessly for a moment and I began to wonder if he was in a state of shock, when he finally turned around and began slowly walking over the hill's edge.
"We have to go after him," Rose rushed out, taking three long strides towards him before I managed to latch on to her arm.
"Wait, not alone," I pressed. "We aren't sure how many more of them are over there."
I could tell she wanted to take off and ignore all rational thought, but she headed my advice and turned back towards the front of the wall.
"Baker, you four," she called out, pointing to a group of men piling up some of the dead bodies, "come with us. Walsh, O'Connor, and Kelly follow us about twenty paces behind. You two on the right, and you on the left."
They straightened up and began making their way towards us. I could tell they were just as exhausted as I felt, but we all pushed those thoughts aside and followed our leader over the hill.
It was a strange sight. Where we had just left was full of destruction and death, the moist ground now covered with mud and blood, but this small patch of land mere yards away was completely untouched. A thick layer of white snow covered the lowland, the only thing marring the perfect, smooth surface were footsteps from where the human had tracked. We looked around for a moment, trying to see if there was anything awry but the only thing in our line of sight was the human sitting alone in the snow.
"Stay close," Rose said to the men behind us as we carefully made our approach.
The man didn't turn around as we grew closer. In fact, he didn't even move. I glanced over at Rose curiously, unsure what to make of this scene, but her eyes were fixed ahead on her target. When we were a few steps away Rose held up her fist, signaling the other men to stay put. Our feet crunched into the ground as we walked around to stand ahead of him. I leaned down a little to the side to try and get a look at his face as Rose crouched beside him. The human still didn't move, even without proper clothing for this weather and his lower body buried in snow, he wasn't even shivering.
"Rose, something isn't right," I quietly said.
She reached her fingers out towards his vest and traced the Celtic spiral etched into it. "I know," she supplied. "But I had to see if it was really them. Do you think they had something to do with the Sage Princess?"
"It's possible. Try asking him."
She leaned closer to his face and asked him a short series of questions: his name, what he was doing here, where he was from. No answer came. After a pause, Rose lifted her hand and waved it in front of his face. His glazed eyes didn't move. It was only then I realized what was going on.
"He's compelled," I nervously bit out.
"I think you're right," she rose to stand beside me and finally looked away from him to regard me. "But who would—"
Without warning Rose's body stiffened and her hand shot to her side. Recognizing the familiar tell, I immediately unsheathed my sword and called out to the men that we were under attack.
A couple of them looked at me curiously, but before they could even register what was going on our enemies were upon us. Two Strigoi seemed to materialize out of nowhere as they launched out of the woods, landing on top of the troops and dragging them down into the snow. Red splashed across the white surface as sharp teeth sunk into the men's throats and the others began moving towards them to attack the assailing beasts. Two more Strigoi ran up behind Rose, and I sprinted to her side to stop one from landing a deadly blow. Rose took out the other in a few swift strikes, but for every Strigoi we took down, four more seemed to appear.
"Fall back," she shouted between strikes. "Save yourselves." But her commands were no use. The men fell one by one within minutes, only taking down a handful of Strigoi with them before they perished.
There were three encircling me with Rose a few yards away battling another three. I resisted the urge to look at her and directed my focus on my own enemies—I would be no use to her if I went down too—but our odds weren't looking good.
I swung my sword across a lanky Strigoi's chest, the charmed silver burning his skin, causing him to scream out in pain. The wound would only slow him for a short while so I used the opportunity to lunge my weapon at another's chest but my armor was slowing me down and I missed the strike. One of the beasts dug his foot directly into my back sending me straight to the ground. Before I could even flip over another kick landed directly into my side sending me soaring through the air. I landed hard and rolled across the snow as my face smacked against a protruding rock.
I took in a deep gasp of air, trying to catch my breath and align my vision. When I looked back up, the three Strigoi were leering at me with self-assured grins marred by fangs. I quickly glanced to Rose to see one of her assailants try to latch on to her shoulder from behind, but as soon as his hand made contact with her armor a revolting sizzling sound and a screech of pain erupted.
Her armor was charmed.
Her attacker desperately gripped his wrist and Rose used the moment of distraction to take him down.
I shook my head and pushed myself up to make my way back over to the Strigoi, but before I could reach them, something latched on to me from behind and flung me back to the ground. It had been a while since I was so blatantly caught off guard, but when I looked up it became painfully obvious why. Other than my overbearing exhaustion, before me stood the largest Strigoi I had ever seen. He cleared my height by a good five inches and looked like he could eat a sheep whole if prompted to. In his hand was a thick handle connected to the chain of an iron flail. Suddenly I was glad to have my armor. The Strigoi began swinging the metal ball beside him, making a threatening whooshing sound as it cut through the air.
The other three Strigoi began making their way towards us and I was quickly coming to the realization that I was out of options. I looked behind the giant Strigoi hoping to catch Rose's eyes as she desperately tried to fight off the remaining two assailants. I saw those beautiful brown orbs widen with fear as she noticed the situation I was in, but I refused to let this be the last way she saw me. If I was going down, I'd go out fighting, not battered and broken on my knees.
I latched on to my sword and dug it into the ground, using the hilt to pull myself up.
"Dimitri," Rose called out to me, and I took in a deep breath as the circle of monsters began to close in. I spared her one last glance as she shoved one of the Strigoi off of her and gave her a small nod. There wasn't much else I could do in that moment, but I wished there was at least some way for me to convey my undying love for her. Maybe going out fighting would be enough. Maybe I could distract them enough for her to make an escape. Either way, I had to try.
"COME ON," I roared at the giant, eliciting a menacing smile.
They all simultaneously took one more step towards me, ready to end me once and for all, when suddenly a horrific sound froze us all in place.
And then chaos erupted.
The Strigoi began gripping their skulls and batting the air in front of them as if they were under attack, but I couldn't see anything in their way. I looked back to Rose again and realized the bloodcurdling noise was coming from her. She was screaming out in agony, the sound ripping at my insides the longer it went on. Her eyes were screwed shut and tears were seeping out of the corners. One of her hands was clutched against her head as she screamed, the other grasping tightly around her ripped necklace.
The Darkness. The Spirits. She had unleashed them.
There was nothing I could see that would indicate how many there were or what they were doing, but whatever was happening, it was obviously affecting the Strigoi. I leveraged the moment and lunged my weapon at the Strigoi closest to me and brought him down with just enough time to duck a female's counter attack. I crouched down to the ground and shot my sword up as her arms flew over me, making contact with the sweet spot at her chest. She fell limp beside my knees and without a moment's hesitation I whipped around and sliced my sword across another Strigoi's neck, his decapitated head rolling across the snow.
Rose was still gripping her head with the Strigoi beside her relentlessly trying to get through the invisible blockade towards her. I reached into my harness and flung a knife at him, landing it directly into his chest. Rose seemed to finally come to and launched her foot backward, sending the knife further into his heart. I could tell she was quickly losing a battle with consciousness and I had to get through this last giant assailant to reach her. He was still somewhat distracted, but not nearly as much as before.
I ran towards him and slid across the snow on my knees, slicing at his shins as I brisked by. He swung his flail directly at my head and I leaned my back against the ground to avoid it just in time. I deftly hopped up and sunk another knife into the space between his neck and shoulder, making firm contact, but despite the excruciating pain the maneuver caused him, he used the opportunity of my weapon lodged into him to swing at me once again. The spiked ball made direct contact with my chest, knocking the wind out of me as I soared to the earth and sending sharp pieces all the way through my armor.
My hand came up to my chest, warm liquid completely covering it as I brought it back down. The ground began to shake under my other palm and I flipped over just in time to see the Strigoi pouncing on top of me. I caught hold of his shoulders and cried out as his sharp nails sliced a deep gash into my bicep. I tried to push back against him, but his weight and strength were bearing down on me. I looked around, desperately searching for something I could use when I noticed the hilt of my knife still sticking out of the Strigoi's neck. I channeled the last bit of strength I had and rammed my forehead into his nose, the cracking sound revealing my success in breaking it. He inched back the slightest bit, giving me the room I needed to reach up and lurch the knife out of his skin before flipping it over and shooting it straight up into his chest.
A furious snarl formed across his face and I thought for a moment I may have missed my target, but that look quickly fell flat and the Strigoi's body went limp on top of mine. I cried out as his weight landed on top of my open wound and did my best to squirm out from under him. I managed to get my upper body free, but my legs were still trapped.
Spotting my sword nearby, I squeezed my hand, happy to find that the wound in my arm wasn't completely immobilizing my grip...yet. I tugged and twisted, trying to get out from underneath the dead body, but the more I moved the more blood began to ooze out of my chest and arm. I could still hear Rose fighting behind me and increased my attempts to break free.
I had to get to her. I had to help.
The entire front of my body underneath my crumpled armor filled with warm liquid and my good arm started to fall weak as I tried to hold myself up. I looked over to see Rose grappling with the last Strigoi. She seemed to have the upper hand and was close to beating him, but then out of the depths of the treeline beside us, another began stealthily creeping towards her.
"Rose," I hoarsely called out to her in warning.
I wasn't sure if she was too focused on her attacker, or if she could even hear me, but the Strigoi was gaining ground and she wasn't turning around. I began desperately clawing at the snow as I tried to reach my sword. I could only hope that her charmed armor would be enough to save her if the Strigoi got too close. Then a silver glint of something caught my eye. I looked up again, blackness increasingly outlining my vision and spotted a long shape behind the Strigoi's back, clasped between his hands.
Rose sunk her stake into the Strigoi in front of her just as the other began lifting the object above his head. I realized all too late that it was an enormous, widened sword.
"ROZA," I shouted with every ounce of air I had left in my lungs, but the Strigoi was too fast.
Before she could turn around his hands came down and one swift motion, slicing through her armor and down her back. Blood immediately poured from the fatal wound and Rose sunk to her knees, her body swaying slightly before her chest hit the ground. I screamed her name over and over as the Strigoi's hands came up again, begging her to get up. But this time his hands never came down. An arrow suddenly sunk directly between his eyes and the Strigoi fell back with a yelp.
I called Rose's name again, hoping to at least hear a semblance of a response to tell me she was still alive. When I was met with silence I reached out to her still body willing her to me before darkness completely took over my vision and my face landed in the cold, bloodied snow.
Then there came the darkest battle of the war. The princess and her peasant boy stood, side by side, and vowed that they would be separated by nothing less than death itself. She fell to an enemy sword and died before his eyes.
And those who heard the story cried for the death of love.
- Excerpt from The Death of Love
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