Chapter 10:

Dimitri, Christian and I were on our stomachs on a hilltop looking out across the edge of the city. The structure in front of us was the most likely place where Lissa could be held. Both Sage's scouts and Lissa's quick description seemed to match this place. It was close to the church but not associated with it. It didn't hold supplies for the church yet the scouts had seen several Witch hunters come and go over the past several days. This was our best bet.

I wasn't religious, certainly not now with zealous Witch hunters after us, but I prayed to any God that would hear me that we weren't wrong.

Dimitri and I had asked Christian to stay behind, but he had outright refused. He might not be as well trained as us, but he was no stranger to a battle. He had been in several when facing Strigoi. And when you have faced Strigoi, humans seem a little underwhelming.

That didn't mean we underestimated them, their swords were sharp and their numbers were vast. But I knew the three of us wouldn't stop until we had Lissa back safe and sound.

Of course it wouldn't be the three of us. We had a couple of gypsies with us, including Sydney and her father. They would be powerful. I didn't really know how to work their particular skills into our battle strategy, but Sydney had informed me that we would be taking out the leader and getting Lissa out. They would deal with any number of underlings getting in the way from the outside.

That plan worked for me.

The sun was just rising in the east. There was something beautiful about it. It painted the city in a golden glow. I always felt better fighting in daylight even though I knew this time our opponent didn't care. They probably prefered it. But my soul rested a little easier knowing we would be protected by the golden rays. Despite the early morning, the sun was warm. I closed my eyes for a moment basking in its glory.

How could the gypsies think we were evil? We welcomed the same sun. Although when I looked to my left I was reminded why. The early hour meant that Christian would be fine in this sun. But in a few hours he would be struggling. That still didn't make him evil, but it did make him a vampire.

The early hour also meant the guard would be light. The night shift would be tired and the day shift was probably sleeping.

"Rose and I will go in first. We will take down the first row and push through as the gypsies take over from the outside. You will cover our retreat." Dimitri said to Christian. Dimitri and I had gone over the plan a hundred times together last night, but he felt Christian needed another reminder. "Our first task is to get to Lissa. Once we find her, you will get out of there and towards the sun and the horses as quickly as possible." Christian nodded. His eyes were trained on the building. He would do anything to protect Lissa. "Rose and I will see if we can find the leader and end this."

The sheer determination in his voice gave me the faith I needed for this to succeed. I was ready to go home. I actually missed the palace life a little even if normally it was a little boring for me. But this was a bit too much excitement. Maybe if Lissa hadn't been captured, learning about gypsies and wicked schemes would have been fun.

We heard some bird sounds. It sounded like a nightjar, but it was actually our sign to attack. Our allies were in place. Dimitri and I started to descend the hill. We kept out of sight as long as possible. You think Dimitri's six foot seven frame would have made that difficult, but his natural grace and his training actually made him blend in with the ample long shadows cast by the morning light. With my coloring and stealth I blended in perfectly too. I had been sneaking in and out of places since I was little and although I had had the same training as Dimitri, I hadn't needed it. Christian was the one we were worried about, he didn't know how to blend as well as us, although he was staying close and mimicking us rather well. I must admit he was good. Only his stark light blue eyes could give him away, they practically seemed to glow in the light. But that wasn't something he could help.

We stopped a few meters away from the entrance of the building. We were obscured in darkness but I still could see Dimitri signal to be quiet and to wait for his signal.

I looked around but didn't see any of our gypsy allies. A moment of fear, wondering if we were being betrayed. But we had discussed it last night. We had a common enemy and until Lissa was safe and the Witch hunters were dealt with, we were on the same side. Even Mr Sage couldn't deny we were an asset in a fight.

But that I couldn't see Sydney and her people didn't mean they weren't there. I could feel that slight coldness seeping into me. No doubt they were keeping a couple of spells ready to attack.

There were two guards at the door. We could see another two in a window overlooking the street. The guards were positioned under the window. We couldn't afford for the guards in the window to see us take down the guards below or they would immediately sound the alarm. And although that would be inevitable eventually, we wanted to delay that as much as possible.

When the guards were turned slightly away Dimitri and I moved, both taking a guard each. We had them in a silent choke hold before they even knew what happened. We pushed our backs as close to the door as possible so the guards above us didn't see. I felt my guard slumb to the ground and we gently and quietly placed them against the door.

Christian moved along the wall towards us. I opened the door only as far as necessary for us to slip through and get inside.

Once inside it took my dhampir eyes a few moments to adjust to the darkness. The morning light hadn't reached this part of the building yet. Once adjusted we quickly moved to a secure position where we could observe. There hadn't been any guards on the other side, but there will be some more in this building. We needed to figure out where they could hold Lissa. There didn't seem to be a sign pointing 'prisoners this way', so that meant reconnaissance.

Dimitri and I moved from door to door silently, quickly and efficiently. Each time we expected more guards behind the doors we picked but nothing so far. Christian moved with us, taking up defensive positions with each new door we tried.

We came to the end of the corridor. We could turn right and go up or we could go left and go down. We never saw them take anything from this building so they didn't have any food storages down there, even if that had been its original purpose. I assumed the cellar for wine and potatoes was down there.

But if they weren't keeping potatoes down there, what would they store there?

I motioned that we should go left and Dimitri agreed.

That was when we heard some noise coming from our back. They had discovered the unconscious guards outside and were searching the grounds. I heard some shouting and orders, although the man shouting the orders didn't get to finish them as I assumed our allies took them down.

"Come on, we need to move." Dimitri pulled me and Christian along.

Christian was in between us. With Dimitri at the front and me bringing up the rear. It was standard Guardian procedure. And we fell into step without a word between us.

When we rounded a corner we found our first victims. Two guards. Dimitri started to engage them. Two humans won't take him very long.

"Go". Dimitri had made a path so we could move past him as he engaged the guards. It was the quickest way. I knew Dimitri would be joining us very soon, but we couldn't afford to wait for him.

The end of the hallway came into view and two guards were in front of a wine cellar. When I got closer I saw several people being imprisoned there, including Lissa.

My heart nearly lept out of my chest. She was alive and by the looks of it, she was okay. Christian saw her a second later and sprinted towards the bars, apparently hoping and assuming I would deal with the guards.

Of course I did. Two human guards were nothing. Although I must admit they were skilled. And we were still trying to keep from using lethal force. They may be Witch hunters, but Guardians took killing very seriously. Killing Strigoi, that was always a no brainer, but any other killing was frowned upon. When you fight the undead you value life that much more, even human life. There had been only a few casualties when the Witch hunters had stormed the palace. The rest had been taken into custody for questioning and sentencing. I wonder if they would serve in a human prison and how we would arrange that. We had almost no ties to the human world. Any crossing over between humans and Moroi or Dhampir had stopped centuries ago. But maybe we did need a few contacts among humans to sort this kind of stuff out.

But we could figure out later what to do with them. First I needed them out of the way. I had the first in an oh so familiar choke hold while trying to keep the second one engaged. I wondered how many more ways there were to incapacitate someone safely. Maybe I should read up on that.

It also seemed to be Dimitri's favorite way, because he had joined us and had the second on in a choke hold similar to mine. Although he only needed one arm to apply pressure whereas I needed my second hand to keep pressure with the first.

Our respective guards slumped to the ground almost simultaneously. "You okay?" He asked scanning me quickly before doing the same to Christian and Lissa.

I nodded, feeling over the moon he had checked me first. Some things were instinctual.

I checked him out too, but found no serious injuries and then turned to Lissa and the rest of the prisoners. Although the rest I hardly saw. I only had eyes for Lissa.

There were still bars in between us. Christian was too preoccupied with looking Lissa in the eyes to have looked for the keys, but Dimitri and I started to search our unlucky victims. I found a large ring of keys. There were at least ten of them on the ring. Some of the keys were smaller and wouldn't fit in the lock. So I quickly discarded those. That left me with three keys, all looked rather similar and all could be a match to this door.

"Hurry Rose, we need to get out of here. They say the leader was coming. That was what they were waiting for. He wanted to be around for our execution personally." I could tell Lissa was spooked. She had believed in us, but she had also known the clock was running out. I know once we got her out of here, she would have nightmares about being hanged. "He will have brought reinforcements."

I just smiled. He could bring all the reinforcements he wanted. "We also brought reinforcements." Although we had sent a message to the Guardians. We had no idea when the message would reach them or if they could make it in time. I hadn't been willing to risk Lissa's life by waiting any longer. Our first priority was to get Lissa to safety. The Guardians could do some clean up with the Witch hunters later.

"Got it." The second key fit and I opened the door to the wine cellar, turned prison. Lissa launched herself in Christians arms. He gave her a quick but deep hug.

Then my stomach dropped. A nauseating cold feeling crept inside of me. It was different from the magic of the gypsies. The magic felt like rejection. As if their magic couldn't process whatever Moroi effects lingered in our bodies. But the cold feeling I had now was different. It was the dead part of me that called to the dead part of them.

I had died twice and although the second time had released me from my bond with Lissa, the connection to the dead, or undead in this case remained.

I grabbed Dimitri by his arm as I tried not to keel over. "Strigoi. There are Strigoi nearby."

He was immediately on alert. We had relied on my instinct several times in the past. He took a stake from underneath his jacket, and he handed me his spare. "How many?"

I shook my head. I couldn't tell. It wasn't an exact science. The feeling seemed to be associated with distance but also with age. The older they were, the more death had settled in and the more I felt them. "Either many young ones, or a few old ones."

"Christian, get Lissa and the others out of here now. To any exit with sunlight." Dimitri instructed.

He started to question what it was about, but the bit about sunlight snapped him back into gear. Sunlight has always been a bit of both worlds for Moroi. On the one hand it hurt them if they were in it too long. They preferred the dawn or dusk or even night time. But it also meant safety. And Moroi children were all taught that when in danger, seek the light. Because there was ever only one danger. Strigoi. And if a Guardian told you you had to go to sunlight, you went.

Except we were backed into a corner. We were at the end of a hall in a basement. No window to go through, no back door. The only way out was the way we came. "We have to move… now!" I said as I was rallying up the other prisoners. That feeling in the pit of my stomach just intensified.

I turned to Christian. "Plan is the same. Get them out of here. You protect them and if a Strigoi comes at you, flame on. And keep going." I grabbed his shoulders. "No matter what, Christian, keep going and get her to safety."

He swallowed, understanding the implications. Even if he heard or saw us die, he had to keep going. I knew Christian's flame would protect Lissa, even from an army of Strigoi if he needed to. He didn't need to keep her in it for long, he just had to get her and the others in the sunlight. But if he had to divide his attention, he would divide his power. And we couldn't afford that.

We started to move. I didn't want to be trapped in the hallway. Anywhere was better than here. Dimitri and I could use any advantage we could. High ground, more room to fight, or escape. Anything is better than this.

We were up the stairs and down into the corridor on the first floor when I saw him. He must have been in another cellar somewhere. The building didn't connect to any others that we knew of, and he had been far enough away from me not to feel him. Either he was on the opposite end of the building when we came in or this place had other cellars.

I didn't know if I was relieved or petrified that it was only one strigoi. The sheer amount of death around him was staggering. He also had a lot of other Witch hunters around. Humans in such vast numbers would be a challenge for Dimitri and I. But we had to take on this challenge. Lissa and Christian were behind us and they needed to move past the Strigoi and his lackeys to get to the exit. The distance wasn't far, but it might as well have been miles for all good it did us.

The human Witch hunters waited for their master's command to engage us. And he was their master. The clear adoration and devotion these humans had for this Strigoi was mind boggling. More so because they must know he wasn't human. And weren't the Witch hunters supposed to take out anything supernatural?

But I started to see the elaborate ruse the Strigoi had fed his men. He was taking out the competition. There will always be people that would prefer violence to accomplish their goals. A whisper here, a nudge there and these weak minded fools would follow him. They probably revered his strength as a gift from God, strengthening his message that he had been sent by God to eliminate all witches and other non-God-fearing men and women. The Strigoi probably took a few prisoners to be 'sacrificed' for himself as food and hanged the rest.

He had made a good deal. It gave him a steady stream of food and he had minions to do his bidding.

It would have been hilarious in any other situation. A Strigoi leading a religious cult. How any of them hadn't noticed he never set food in a church was beyond me.

But he did look the part. He was wearing a long robe with a collar at the top. The robe was adored with several crucifixes, all of them elaborate and worth a fortune. His outfit would make it hard to fight. But he either hadn't expected a battle or he didn't care.

I looked over to Dimitri. The two of us could engage him. It would at least distract him long enough for Christian and Lissa and hopefully the other prisoners to escape. Maybe we could too. We didn't have to fight to the death. All we had to do was make it to the sunlight.

We just had to pass an army to do it.

I felt a flash of heat from beside us and it was Christian who was creating a passage between him and the army, so he could get Lissa to the exit.

I had expected people would get out of the way and let Christian pass, if not out of shock then out of self-preservation, but they didn't.

They prayed and labeled him a Witch and the flames made Christian all the more a target. "Go." he yelled towards Lissa as he raised the wall of flames even more. Christian was powerful, but he wouldn't be able to handle that for long.

A few people of the army started to move towards Christian, and Dimitri and I intercepted. We engaged the guards, and they quickly fell. This seemed to enrage the leader.

"Leave the fighters to me. Go after the witches. I want them back." He spat the last bit.

And I realized something. Even if he was the biggest threat and he couldn't follow Christian and Lissa out into the sunlight. His army could. We had some gypsy allies, but he had the numbers.

My eyes locked with Dimitri. The only way to stop the army was to take them all down. Starting with the leader. I hoped if he fell, the rest would be in chaos and stop their pursuit.

We turned towards the Strigoi and gripped our stakes. He flashed his fangs and some of the nearby Witch hunters flinched in shock. Okay, so maybe they didn't know the full truth of the monster they served.

Perhaps if we killed him and exposed him as an undead vampire, maybe the army would fall.

I heard a loud creaking sound and I saw Christian opening the front door. He still kept the wall of flame high, so no humans could follow, although there was the occasional arrow they tried to get through. Through the flames I saw his blue eyes meet mine and for a moment he hesitated. Dimitri and I were in a very precarious situation. He was leaving us with a Strigoi and an army and walls of flame. He gave us a silent command, survive and then he closed the door. I saw flames licking the ground from underneath the door and when one of the soldiers wanted to grab the door handle he pulled back in pain. The metal would only stay hot for a few more moments, but it would give them a head start.

The Witch hunter army was working their way through the door and we focused on the biggest threat in front of us.

"I will have that bitch back and drain her. I have been waiting for her for so long. The last Dragomir, the Queen. And you two will not be in my way. Although I appreciate the snack."

Oh, if I had a leu everytime a Strigoi had said that to me, or a male who had meant it differently, I would be rich.

He leaped forward and it took everything I had to block the blow. I realized Dimitri had the same problem. This Strigoi was fast. I had only had a split second to react. The strength of the impact send us backwards and on our asses.

So he wasn't impaired by his robe.

He didn't give us time to get up. But we were a few meters apart so he focused on Dimitri. He wanted to take out the big guns first. Which I understood. Dimitri was a threat. But his divided attention meant I had time to get up and take my stake. He realised at the last moment that turning his back to me might not be a good idea and he leapt off of Dimitri. I engaged the Strigoi to give Dimitri time to get up. And seconds later we were fighting him together.

Dimitri and I often took on an opponent together. It is something covered in our training, but most Guardians prefered to fight one on one. Because paying attention to both your enemy as well as your partner could be difficult and cost you precious seconds. And in a fight with a Strigoi, those seconds were very dangerous.

But Dimitri and I didn't need seconds to keep tabs on each other. We felt where the other was, knew where the other would be. Instinct compelled us to protect the other and take down a joint threat. We seamlessly moved to the front and then the back, alternating our hits, conserving energy and protecting our most vulnerable places.

The Stigoi might be strong and old, but he couldn't defend against four arms and legs who worked as if they belonged to one person.

We saw we were getting the attention of the army too. They were thankfully watching in silence instead of trying to help their leader. Because if the extra limbs would give us an advantage in a fight with a Strigoi, the same was true with humans in a fight with dhampirs.

Simply the added numbers would tip the scale. But they either didn't think their leader could lose, or were simply too awe struck to engage.

Because Dimitri and I in motion was pure poetry. Poetry of death.

But the Strigoi wasn't making it easy for us. Everytime we had an opening he would move at the last minute. The stake would graze him. I could see it hurt him, but he was old enough to shrug it off, or maybe desperate enough. Even he would realize that if he allowed himself to feel the pain and stumble he would die.

He was able to get a hit in on Dimitri who fell backwards a few feet. His eyes met mine. We needed to get this done now, The Strigoi was starting to adjust and was moments away from getting the upper hand.

I took a few steps backwards and Dimitri was already on his feet. We circled the Strigoi. His gaze went to Dimitri to me and back. I smiled, he felt trapped. We were circling our prey. I almost laughed at the irony that a Strigoi was feeling like prey. But to us he was.

We launched at him at the same time, through some unspoken signal and gave it everything we got. I was at the Strigoi's back and Dimitri at the front. We both took a few punches, but like the Strigoi we had to power through, because if we took a moment to feel the pain, he would attack and we would be dead.

And then I saw it. His back was exposed, staking a Strigoi in the heart from the back was hard. The spine was a lot harder to get through than the sternum. Also on the front you could sort of move under the ribs and sternum and strike up. The back didn't have that option, everywhere there were ribs or spine. You could try and strike in between, the heart was slightly bigger on the left and did give you a target, but it was small, very small. It was almost impossible staking a Strigoi from behind.

It was probably why he hadn't expected me to and left that piece of him undefended.

I slammed the stake in and I could feel the ribs part, that was one obstacle down. Then it slid in deeper. I heard a gurgling scream, but it was labored, confirming I had hid a lung. Further in the stake went and I felt it hitting something hard. In my mind I knew it was too hard to be his heart, but the Strigoi went motionless anyway.

I always knew when I had hit home, because that death that I sensed in them disappeared and with it the nausea.

He fell to the ground on his side. Then I noticed Dimitri's stake in the front of his chest. We had hit him at the same time. Our stakes were perfectly aligned. I had hit the front of Dimitri's stake. They looked like a solid piece of silver. Even the angle matched.

He had noticed too and took a single moment to smile at me as we surveyed the area.

Too bad we were the only Guardians here. This was one for the books.

When we turned we had an army looking back at us. And they didn't seem like they were scared or were on the verge of running off now that their leader was dead.

I hunched over, my hands on my knees and I was breathing heavily. Dimitri was struggling too. This battle had taken a lot out of us. We couldn't take on an army, even when they were all human. I was a little glad, the more were here, the less went after Lissa and Christian.

If we had any chance at winning we couldn't waste time incapacitating them. Quick and dirty. The first ones attacked. I had just enough to take a deep breath and find strength from... somewhere.

Dimitri and I joined the fray. We were dispatching Witch hunters left and right. Some were knocked out and we didn't bother to make sure they didn't get back up, some we killed because it was the fastest way to take them out.

But there were too many. Dimitri and I found ourselves surrounded. We went back to back. I could feel his labored breathing. I knew if he hadn't been there to sort of hold me up, I might have keeled over. Dimitris' right arm laid a little awkward to his side, unmoving. I was a little off balance because my left leg wasn't working properly anymore. We had reached our limit. With still about twenty Witch hunters left.

Most of the gypsies went to cover the retreat of Lissa and Christian as we discussed. They were the priority. They would be safe. That meant very little gypsies were left to cover our retreat. They were mostly stationed outside. We were meant to travel to the belly of the beast, take him out and they were meant to make sure none of the Witch hunters escaped. And that is exactly what they have done.

My hand found Dimitri's and he squeezed with what little strength he had left. "I love you Roza."

I couldn't see his face, his back still glued to mine as we kept our eyes on our enemy. But I could imagine the look of love in his eyes as he said them.

"I love you too. Always have, always will."

He didn't respond. But I practically felt his small smile.

I felt his muscles tense and his body coil for the next onslaught. It wasn't over until the fat lady sings.

Even when we were severely bloodied, exhausted and sore, humans really weren't a challenge. We were still taking them down, just not as fast and with each one we took down, it took longer and we were taking more hits. All those hits added up. We were moments from being overrun, when suddenly the load of Witch hunters seemed to lighten.

The ones we were inganging and were losing to, were suddenly gone and ran towards the door. That is when I saw them. An army of Guardians. Guardians led by Sydney. She was showing them the way.

I fell to my knees, part exhaustion and part relief. Guardians, Lissa was safe and so were we.

I looked to my left and I saw Dimitri was on the ground on his back, looking at the ceiling. He was breathing heavily, his face a grimace but he was alive. I laid down too, because I didn't have the strength to sit or stand, or be conscious anymore.

The last thing I saw before I passed out was Sydney's face and that of douzen Guardians.