Hi, again! I'm really sorry for so long and even more for such a short chapter. I was thinking about one difficult thing about the ending, but … later, okay? Keep reading!

Chapter 19

The cannon fodder

"Seline, listen!"

"Why should I? You've never tried to understand my feelings!"

The vampires had given way to the negative and became tired of this; while walking, or better to say jumping in Seline's case as she broke a heel, to the war camp they were exchanging comments.

"Marinette means nothing to me!"

"Really? That's why you … Oh, don't know what to say!" she then stopped und rubbed her leg.

"Want me to carry you?" he offered his help, but she hissed and then turned into her hell-beast form. "I'm trying to work here and you go to serve to your master!"

Dracula watched her flying, thinking. 'You wrong, Sel, he's your master now.'

He knew what he meant. The Council decided to join Lucifer to fight against the Holy Order and angels. So Selin with thousands of other vampires and werewolves were under Devolio's control. The demon as the devil's right hand now owned the great power; what for Dracula, Lucifer had other plans on him.

"Sel! Heard the news?" Lora ran to her friend and told everything. Seline stayed calm, but as an experienced warrior she knew that Lord Devolio won't be kind to creatures he hated so.

"That's awful! But, hey! Irvin Maple asked to return you the place of our captain. Guess what! They agreed and you'll command the great force of fifty of us!" smiled Lora, happy with this elders' decision.

"Touching, very …"

"Yeah, they're waiting for you in the main tent."

"So I won't make them to wait too long. Later, okay?"

"Aha, captain!"

The new captain visited her tent first to take off her high boots and put on the other one with very sharp heels and bladders hidden in them.

Selin was worried. This purpose meant nothing good, reminding the fact of her breaking the order by releasing Van Helsing. She entered the tent and bowed to the elders nervously. One of the elders, she saw on the meetings in Victor's time, walked to her with a bowl of blood. Sel sighed: she knew this ritual, which called 'Mark of a Shield' in the noble society and 'Sentenced to death' in turned ones.

"Seline Cale, assassin, your soldiers were chosen to start the battle."

'Damn!' the woman thought, while the elder sunk his fingers into the blood and then drew three lines on her neck in the area where vampires use to bite their victims.

"Congratulating you! Now go and see your army!"

Seline looked even paler than usual. Her unborn child was in her minds. 'My poor little girl, your mother is going to be killed …' she then put hand on her abdomen rubbing it carefully.

The ritual meant that Sel and her soldiers would be in the first column in the Grand Battle for the Earth, without any weapons – the cannon fodder. In past such trop were created from turned vampires, who did something wrong at nobility's face. In some cases the reasons of antipathy were love and disobeying the master. Saving Gabriel, Sel knew that it would be so. But why to punish her friends?

The vampiress wiped away the tears and walked where her guys gathered to meet their new leader, her hands clasped formally behind her back. Soldiers, besides Lora and Alex, were all young and inexperienced. Seline looked into each face captiously, then stopped and said so loud so everyone could hear.

"Listen, you, suckers, I'm not in mood to say some nice words to raise your combat spirit. You were chosen to die, not to become heroes. Until tomorrow we'll celebrate it! Take one or two humans and bring them to the Victor's Castle, I know it wasn't ruined; there we'll sink our minds in blood! Understood?"

Vampires greeted with joy. They all were too young to believe in death, too self-confident to listen anyone. Only Lora with Alexander noticed how upset she was.

"Oh, Sel …"

"Let them to have fun. We all going to die … I'm afraid only because of my daughter. Damn Lucifer, it could be so good if Diana awoke and show him her power."

"Have you told the count about the child?"

"No. Should I?"

"Of course!" Lora shook her by shoulders. "He can save you!"

"I won't leave you all! Nothing matters now."

Van Helsing with a box in his pocket entered the stone hall of Victor's Castle. He couldn't open the box by himself and Angelica, first found Seline using mental powers, offered him to speak with the vampiress about it. The hunter was quite surprised when came in and saw that everything was red. Almost everything … Walls, floor and the ceiling were covered with blood and corpses of humans were lying or held by numerous vampires, who were drunk of blood and plenty of alcohol. They hissed angrily when noticed him, but Selin stopped them.

"Relax, guys, he's a bore, but quite alright." she smirked, sitting crossed legs in a chair with a goblet of blood in her hand. "We have a party here, you see."

Gabriel stepped over the corpse and walked to her, his boots sank in blood.

"Are you drunken, Seline?"

She laughed at him madly, then turned head a bit, showing three stripes on her neck. All of the vampires in the room had the same marks.

"Know what this means? We're chosen for the first to start the battle tomorrow night. The cannon fodder."