A/N: The soundtrack for the last part of this chapter is 'Immortalized' by Hidden Citizens, featuring Keeley Bumford
Chapter 25
Isaac had not made it far from Hector's tent before he was stopped by a spear that rushed past his face. He had managed to duck and roll at the last second. He was up again immediately and on guard. He was facing off against one of the vampire women he had seen with Carmilla. One of the four 'sisters' that ruled Styria.
She had to be the biggest woman he had ever seen, as she was even larger than he was. She snarled at him before she lunged again. Isaac frowned as he dodged one attack after another. He finally managed to get back far enough that he was able to speak. "I do not wish to fight you. I hadn't wanted to kill the other female, either. I am only here for Hector and Carmilla. Once I deal with them, I will leave you in peace."
Striga snarled at him again. "To attack one of us is to attack us all. You will die."
Isaac swallowed his frustration as he dodged once again. He realized he would need to deal with her before he could move on. He then quickly changed tactics to be on the offensive. Striga dodged his blow and managed to twist to strike at him as he passed. He barely managed to avoid the hit as he rolled to the side. However, he did not make it to his feet. Before his dodge was even complete, a swift kick sent him flying.
He groaned quietly as he absorbed the blow and still came up with a frown. Carmilla had joined her 'sister,' and they were both facing him with scowls. Isaac's expression quickly mirrored theirs, though for entirely different reasons. He focused on Carmilla. "You will pay for your betrayal. Do not think I will let you walk away again."
Carmilla sneered and chuckled darkly. "Oh, such a faithful dog. It must be hard to live without a master. I suppose we should just put you out of your misery."
Isaac snarled as he lunged toward the vampires, though his hit never connected. All three of them were distracted by a sudden calamitous uproar from the battlefield. Despite the danger, they all looked over to something that just didn't make sense.
It was only a few moments later that they were all blinded by a bright flash of light. The two vampires were also knocked back, though they were too far to be any more affected than that. When they got back to their feet, Carmilla's voice was full of grudging awe. "What the fuck just happened?" No one bothered to answer. Instead, the two groups ignored each other as they raced to the middle of the battlefield.
Both Sypha and Eva had agreed to follow the rest of the men in. The troops would form a vee and try to penetrate as far as possible. None of them had expected to see Taka headed toward them before they even made it down the ridge, but his presence did not change their plan. Eva sent up a quick prayer that the little bit of light she had imbued everyone's weapons with would help keep them alive.
As she dodged through the fallen demons, she was glad that much seemed to have worked at least. The fact that their foes had not been expecting that level of deadliness out of pitchforks and clubs worked to their advantage at first.
Taka fumed as he watched the demons around him getting slaughtered, but he didn't really care what happened to them. They were only a means to reach the two that had murdered Sumi. He roared in frustrated rage as he slashed through anything or anyone that got in front of him once he caught sight of blonde hair. None of them mattered if he could get to Alucard. Surely his bitch would be near him as well.
It took him a few moments to realize that the demons had all stopped. When he did, he looked around to see what had drawn their focus. Every one of them had turned to a spot inside the ring of men that had formed. He also noticed it wasn't just the few that had been with him. They had neared the main battlefield, and monsters from both sides had stopped to look. It did not take him long to figure out why.
Above them, circles of ice had started to form, even before the ring had closed. That had been ignored, as none of them thought rings of ice falling would be that detrimental. No, what finally caught their attention was when a figure appeared and shot up from the center of the ring. That was when every demon that was nearby seemed to roar at the same time.
Eva's heart had been in her throat since they started into the valley. From that moment, she knew they would only have one chance. If she failed, she had no doubts that they would all probably die. That thought nearly had her locked up, but as she saw Sypha tossing out fireballs as they ran, she swallowed dryly and pushed on. Her gaze then found Trevor and Adrian near the front. The two of them were cutting down any demon that got near them. She knew they had probably seen Taka as well, but their goal lay beyond the ex-monster hunter.
It was not long before all forward momentum halted. When that happened, all of the men circled back around to form a ring around the two women. As soon as the ice started to appear in the sky, Trevor looked over at the vampire next to him with a frown. He wasn't usually one for sentimental words, but when he knocked a demon away from where Sypha was standing, he caught Adrian's eye and spoke. "Ah damn, I might as well admit it. We both know that's my world in there. Try not to fail."
Adrian paused as his sword flew back to him from cutting down one of the night horde. Despite his usual snark with Belmont, he only nodded before he spared a glance back as well. He watched as Eva shot into the sky and touched the center ice piece before he looked back. "You think it is not mine?"
That was not what Trevor had been expecting, but he realized the vampire understood better than he thought he would. They shared one last look before they both turned to try to push back the rush of demons that had surged forward when Eva took to the air.
Sypha looked up with a grin at the sight of the ice rounds. There had to be nearly a hundred of them, and they were all crystal clear. She didn't even lose the look when she heard the demons roar and turned to see them pressing forward from all over. That just meant more of them would get caught in the trap when it was sprung.
Her expression didn't fall until she caught sight of a few winged demons that had managed to make it past the front line. She knew she had to maintain the ice in position for Eva to do what needed to be done, but it would all be for naught if they reached her friend. She didn't hesitate to push out a ring of fire to blast them before they got higher.
There were two that managed to evade her attack. She then sent a flurry of ice lances toward them that impaled them before they fell to the ground. When she heard another roar, she turned to see more headed their way. Her eyes flashed as she used her fire to propel herself upward. They would not pass.
Eva had to focus past the sound of the roars as she spread her wings. This was it. She could not fail. She bent her legs slightly before she shot into the air. She knew that people were falling around her, but she couldn't think about them. Not yet. She refused to let their efforts be in vain.
When she reached the center ice platform, she cupped the point at the bottom and concentrated. Her heart was in her throat as the light slowly penetrated before it burst out in rays.
She almost lost her focus when she caught sight of Sypha in mid-air near her. As much as it tore her to pieces not to stop and help, she couldn't. They were all depending on this to work. She closed her eyes and gave another mental push. When she did so, light seemed to explode across the sky. She opened her eyes with a gasp to see that each round was glowing with a pulsing, living light.
The sight was a relief, though she knew it wasn't over yet. She looked to where she had last seen Sypha. The Speaker grinned at her as she dropped to the ground. It was only a moment later that Eva felt the ice start to melt. Within a matter of seconds, a brief rain flashed down.
None of the demons seemed to have been prepared for it, as a collective roar went up again. This time, it was one of anguish as across the battlefield, demons started to expand and explode.
As soon as Eva was on the ground, Sypha threw her arms around her. "You did it!"
Eva pushed her friend back, though she was grinning too. "No, we did it."
They turned when they heard a cheer from the group of men that were still standing. Their relief was short-lived as they noticed the few stragglers that had been too far away to be caught by the holy rain. Eva also remembered that there was still a group in hiding, that would likely not be long in coming as well. Thankfully, it seemed as though their successful strike had given the men renewed hope. They all rushed forward with a cry.
Eva knew that her part in the battle was far from over, but she would be less effective on the front lines. Instead, she rushed to the closest fallen man. She turned him over gently to see if he was even alive, and was shocked to find David. His eyes fluttered open, and he grimaced at the sight of her. When he started to open his mouth, she shushed him. "Be still. I can't heal you if you bleed out before I can."
She didn't give him a chance to do more before she put her hand over the wound in his side and released her power once more. She had practiced healing with Sypha along with everything else, but she had never had to work on something as grievous as David's gash. Still, she gritted her teeth against the feeling of her power draining from her and pushed harder.
It seemed as though it was taking forever, but it was only a few seconds later that David grabbed her wrist. He was gentle when he pushed her hand back and sat up. The look he gave her was conflicted, but he finally gave her a nod as he stood. "Thank you." That was all that needed to be said before he rushed to rejoin the battle.
Eva had no doubt that healing the rest of the men would exhaust her, but it was a small price to pay. She immediately went to the next man that she could still see breathing.
She had managed to heal several others, but for every one that got back up, there were just as many that were already gone before she could reach them. It wasn't just tiredness that dragged at her as she moved to the next man, but she somehow managed to harden her heart. There would be time for tears later when death wasn't haunting them all.
She had barely had time to start healing the thigh wound in front of her when she was dragged up and back. She didn't even have time to scream before a sharp pain tore into her shoulder. She did scream then but didn't have time to react before she was thrown down.
She shakily pushed herself up and turned to see it had been the vampire female in red that had attacked her. The one Adrian had called Carmilla- Dracula's missing General. The female had a hand on her throat and almost seemed to be gagging.
Eva sneered as she caught the woman's eye. "You're no Țepeș bitch. I hope you enjoyed it since it's the last thing you'll ever taste."
Carmilla's eyes had gotten wide as she watched Eva stand up and face her. She wanted to scream, to fight off the burning that rushed through her, but she was able to do none of that. Her last thoughts were filled with rage as she collapsed into a pile of ash.
Eva barely noticed the woman's final moments. A roar caught her attention. The voice was frighteningly familiar, and the sound immediately had her heart in her throat. She spun around to see a scene out of a nightmare.
Adrian had been thankful when Eva's light shot across the sky. Even more so when Sypha's rain carried it to decimate the demon armies. He nearly smiled when the men cheered, but he knew things were far from done. He only spared enough time to see his lover race to help the downed men before he turned back to the remaining enemy forces.
Somehow, he and Trevor had gotten split up in the second rush. Part of it was the fact that the Forgemaster's demons that had been hidden rushed from the far side of the battlefield as well. Not that he was shocked it had happened. Even so, they were not nearly as outnumbered as they had been. With the consecrated weapons each man held, things no longer seemed as dire as they did when they started.
He had little time to wonder where the last Belmont had gotten to. It was not long before he came face to face with two familiar, yet unknown faces. The first was the Forgemaster that had hidden half his troops. The other was one of the females that had been with Carmilla.
Isaac had hardly been able to believe how quickly most of the demons were annihilated. The boy had told him Alucard's pet was part angel, but he hadn't really believed it. Even when he saw her wings, he had no idea how powerful an ally for the humans she would be. Nephilim were no more than legend. Or so he had thought. Still, it could not be undone. Besides, he could forge more later. For now, he had found Dracula's whelp, and it was time for a reckoning.
Adrian, Striga, and Isaac all circled one another. It didn't take long for Adrian to figure out that the other two were not allies, as the woman tried to attack them both when Isaac finally lunged. After that, it became a blur of motion as the two vampires and the Forgemaster each attempted to get the upper hand.
Isaac was at a disadvantage, and he realized that if he had to face Alucard alone, it would have been difficult. When that thought came to mind, he changed his focus to the young dhampir. Once he was taken care of, he could handle the female alone. She was powerful, but not more so than any of the others he had faced off against.
He growled in frustration when Alucard managed to call his sword and cut off the female's arm. She jumped back with a snarl, but Alucard did not let his guard down, so Isaac still could not find an opening. At least not until they all heard a piercing scream. They turned almost as one to see that Carmilla had attacked the Nephilim.
Isaac could not believe what he was seeing when Alucard dropped everything to race to the girl's side. It was the opening he needed. He ignored the vampire female and chased after the dhampir. He did not hesitate to take the opportunity when he reached the other man.
Adrian would have recognized Eva's voice in his sleep. The rending sound of her scream immediately had the hair on the back of his neck standing. When he turned to see her pushing herself to her feet, with blood dripping down her shoulder, he snarled before he raced toward her.
He hadn't made it to her when he saw Carmilla fall to dust, but that didn't slow him down. Even if she had not been able to do more than bite Eva, that was enough. He could tell, even at that distance, that the bite would take time to heal, even for her.
Eva still had her back turned to him, but he was nearly there when he finally stopped. He didn't want to throw her off balance by rushing her. He had barely taken more than a couple of steps when he felt a fiery pain pierce his back. He roared as he barely managed to teleport forward, but he fell to his knees. The wound was too close to his heart.
Eva had no idea how she made it, but she was in front of Adrian a few seconds after he fell. The rest of the battlefield seemed to fade into nothing more than muffled noises as he reached out to her before he fell back. She barely even noticed that the Morningstar had cut across her vision, followed by a fireball. Trevor and Sypha had found them, and Isaac was once again hard-pressed to stay alive. Both his new opponents fought with nearly unparalleled fervor.
Eva didn't notice any of it. All she could see was Adrian as his blood flooded from the wound on his back and soaked the ground. His face blurred as she grabbed him and tried to lift him into her lap. Her tears fell unheeded as she called out in a broken voice. "Don't you dare die! Take my blood."
She pressed her wrist to his mouth and fought another sob when there was no response. She was almost ready to slice it herself, but before she could, pain exploded through her chest, and the world seemed to stand still.
A/N: First I will beg you not to kill me for the cliffhanger. I know it was a bad one, but remember that things aren't always what they seem. I also want to apologize for the long delay. Part of it was the fact that there is just so much going on in this chapter that I wanted to figure out the best way to lay it all out. I hope it makes sense to you all. There are more reasons, but the rest are in my last profile update, if you're interested. As for the story, the battle will conclude int he next chapter and then we will have a couple to tie up some loose ends. We are hearing the end finally, so I hope you all enjoy the exciting conclusion!