Kind of cheated with this one and took it from a story that I've been slowly working on. But I couldn't think of something to write so I went with this.

Failed Rescue Attempt

We weren't prepared.

Whoever had given us the intel was wrong.

Five Moroi were kidnapped from a party, and two were Royal, so guardians were sent to save them.

They told us that there were only two Strigoi, none others sighted, they only sent five guardians.

It should've been an easy job.

There wasn't just two Strigoi. There were seven.

Two of the guardians with us were new, and this was an easy mission to test their skills on but instead turned into their death scene.

Riley, a guardian I had fought alongside on other missions, and I took the lead, fighting off the Strigoi while the others protected the Moroi that cowered in the corner screaming. But it was too much for us to handle. They slipped past us. The two young guardians died first, leaving the Moroi exposed, killing two of them.

I managed to gain the upper hand again, as terrible as it was, with them focused on the Moroi, it gave me the chance to stake the Strigoi. There was just one left; Riley was fighting him. I thought that she was winning and took a second to breathe.

I was already struggling; killing four Strigoi had taken its toll on my body. One had kicked my knee at a weird angle, and now it hurts to put pressure on it. My left arm hung limply, dislocated shoulder. I wasn't moving as quick as I once was.

That second cost her her life.

I turned to help just as the Strigoi ripped out her throat. Her blood splattered on my face.

One second, she was fighting, and then the next, her body fell to the ground, eyes wide and lifeless.

The Strigoi backhanded me across the room, my body impacting the wall.

I forced myself to my feet, knowing that if I am downed, the last guardian and Moroi were as good as done. I yelled for him to get them out of the room as I threw myself at the Strigoi.

They come first.

I kept repeating it in my mind as I forced my body to keep fighting.

I glance at the death that surrounded me, the guardians that didn't deserve to die—Riley, who was so full of life.

I had to kill the thing that caused their deaths. Everything that Dimitri had taught me was what kept me alive.

Finally, I was able to stab my stake through the Striogi's heart, his body falling to the ground with the others.

I crumbled in the middle of the room, surrounded by bodies and blood.

That's how the other guardians found me, crouched next to Riley's body and barely holding onto my consciousness.

My guilt, anger, and sorrow clouded my mind and set heavy in my chest.

Five had died today, and I should have done better.