Chapter 12

He seemed to take a deep breath before letting it out. "That day of the attack six years ago, one of the best Guardians died along with the last surviving Moroi Ivashkov."

"Ivashkov is one of the royal names right?"

"Right. That was one of the things that made me realise, just having dhampirs fight won't be enough. They might be generally built to be physically stronger, but it didn't have to be like that. That day, I watched from my window as some of the senior Moroi fought alongside dhampirs to take down Strigoi. It was what made me realise that even though sustaining royal lines was an important thing, fighting with the dhampirs instead of standing there and doing nothing while they risked their lives is even more important and would increase the chances of both the survival of Moroi and dhampirs. So after that attack and everything calmed down enough for us to attend classes again, I switched courses and took on combat class with the dhampirs. At first I was on my own but then a couple of weeks in, the other three joined in. With us four royals in that class, it seemed to bring in other Moroi to come and try it. A lot of them dropped out because they couldn't handle it."

Which was fair enough. Classes were hard enough for us dhampirs who were born to be able to cope with this sort of thing, never mind the Moroi who were generally born less muscularly capable.

"Wow… that's a pretty inspirational story." I marvelled. I never would've thought that the attack was what made Drew the kind of person he was now. But I suppose that everyone had to start somewhere and I suppose my turning point had been that attack as well.

"The ones who really persuaded me to take on the combat training was the Ivashkov family."

"The Ivashkov family? I thought you said there was only one surviving."

"He was the last Moroi Ivashkov. But he had a wife and a daughter. The daughter was a dhampir with elemental magic which has never happen before. I never saw her much but I saw her the day she made her escape through a weak spot in the wards." Drew told me with a heavy gaze as though there was something he was holding back.

I thought back for a moment to my own recollection of that day and tried to think of whether there was anything that happened that could've left such a deep impression on Drew Ozera. I came up with nothing. Perhaps there had been something that he'd seen through his eyes that I hadn't at that moment. Whatever it was, I had no clue about it but it seemed to mean quite a lot to him.

"I wish that she could've stayed. If she'd stayed, it would've been pretty awesome to train with a dhampir who could wield fire."

"As much as I hope that nothing had happened to her after she left, but she was only ten so I doubt she's managed to survive." I told him with a sympathetic voice.

"No, I think she managed," he shook his head. I didn't know why he seemed to certain, but it seemed to make my heart skip a beat. The firm belief that he held for me was unexpected for sure. I wonder how he would react if he discovered that he'd just revealed all that to the same girl that he was talking about. How would he feel once my secret became exposed? Would he feel betrayed that I'd lied to him all this time? There were far too many things that he could possibly feel once the secret was out. Just thinking about the possibilities made my head spin.

"Really? Well… anyway this is a bit of a morbid topic…" I laughed nervously and rubbed the back of my neck. "Have you managed to get practice in with your magic yet?"

"A couple of times yeah," he nodded. "There've been a few lucky times when a fire user visited the academy and offered to help me out."

"That sounds awesome, the ability to fight both physically and magically I mean. I can imagine quite a few cases where it could definitely save butt."

"I've been meaning to ask this before but, do you have some kind of a music career by any chance?"

"Pardon?" I stuttered in shock.

"When you sang in the bar, although you were slightly drowned out by the other two girls which I think was on purpose, I could vaguely recognise it. You're that singer from Vampire Hunters aren't you?"

"Well I suppose you being the ridiculously stubborn and observant guy that you are, there's no point in me lying since you've figured it out." I sighed and smacked my forehead at my own idiocy for not being careful enough. "How did you find out?"

"At all the parties that we have, your songs are always being played and during other times as well I would sometimes hear the girls playing your songs so it's not unfamiliar to me," he gave me a surprised smile. "So I'm right then? You are that singer aren't you?"

"Yep and my manager screamed at me for a good ten minutes when I told her that I would have to pull out."

"You pulled out? That's a shame. I was curious to know what your next song might be."

"Well it's a little complicated at the moment but I may not actually have to pull out. The Headmaster found out about it and he might be considering helping me out. Nothing's been decided yet so who knows what's going to happen. So you've heard my songs huh? What do you think of them?"

"I think they're very unique to your voice and you're surprisingly talented for someone our age."

"Hey, I've had some pretty tough competition against other singers who are our age. It seems like the popular people seem to be getting younger and younger." I commented.

"Then you'll probably be glad to hear that you're have no female competition at this school when it comes to singing talents."

"Really? None at all?"

"Oh I've heard my fair share and have nearly gone deaf as a result," he grimaced as he seemed to recall unpleasant memories.

"That is definitely a relief." I smiled. "I mean, Moroi girls are definitely captivating so they'd probably gain a good audience with looks alone."

"What's it like out there?" he asked suddenly.

"What'd you mean?" I frowned in confusion.

"In the human world. Is school just like this but without the magic and the vampires?"

"Well I guess the social side of things is pretty much the same. That's the only reason why I've managed to cope so well so far. I've had pretty good experience with how to handle cocky people." I smiled. "It's one of those things that you can't really describe very well so you'd have to experience and see it for yourself."

"That's kind of impossible for me unless I drop out or something," he sighed.

"Hey Raphael! I still can't get this to work!" I heard a female voice call out in frustration and a man I somewhat recognised gave a sigh before walking back into a classroom.

"You're in luck, the pair of them are still here together." Drew laughed.

"Thanks a lot for showing me where to go." I lightly punched his shoulder in appreciation. I walked up to the classroom and knocked on the door. Both Moroi glanced up from the computer and gave me a surprised glance. "Hi, I'm Kylie Valentine and I was wondering whether I could have your signatures as part of a training exercise I'm doing for Guardian Maxwell and Guardian Jenson." I smiled politely as I remained by the doorway, waiting for their permission to walk into the classroom.

"Oh yes of course, I did get a call about that." Jill nodded with a warm smile and beckoned me towards them.

"So you're the new dhampir girl they were talking about in the common room. The one who managed to beat Andrew Ozera." Raphael openly examined me and eyed me up and down.

"That would be me." I nodded with a small proud smile. I plucked the signature slip from my hair again and handed it to them for signing.

"Not much longer to go Miss Valentine, I wish you good luck with the rest. If I recall correctly, you should be able to find Guardian Black at the assault course with the seniors." Jill smiled encouragingly.

"And I think Guardian Castile is at the elementary division for the week so you should find him there somewhere." Raphael added.

"Thank you both so much for the help." I beamed. Not much longer to go now! All I have to do is remain uncaught. I bade them both goodbye and ran out of the classroom.

"Got it?" Drew asked and ran alongside me.

"Yep and I know where the other two are as well now." I nodded. "Who've you got left?"

"Headmaster Hunt."

"You would probably find him in his office right?"

"Yeah, I'll see you at the finish line Valentine. Don't get caught."

"And the same goes for you Ozera." I grinned and we knocked our fists together before running in separate directions. I dashed through the white high ceilinged halls and headed back out onto the cemented paths to head towards the assault course. I reckoned I ran for around five minutes before I crashed into my next challenge. I had turned a sharp corner when two guys crashed into me and we fell in a tangle of limbs.

"Ow…" a voice that I could recognise groaned and sat up with me on his stomach.

"Ow is right." I complained and got up to see a group of both Moroi and dhampirs around us.

"Well this sure is lucky. Now there's three of them we could catch and any one of them would do." Nick smirked as he eyed me with a leering glance.

"Oh don't even think about it O'Connor. You couldn't bring me down when I was only using one finger." I scoffed as I helped the Dragomir twins stand. "Sorry about the crash by the way."

"Not a problem, it was as much our fault as it was yours." Quinn shrugged and rolled his shoulders.

"It seems that we've got ourselves into a little fight situation." Jackson grinned.

"It sure does seem like it." I smirked. "Oh this is going to be sweet. I get to take asshole down for a second time without breaking any rules. This couldn't get any better."

"Don't count on it hot stuff, you're completely outnumbered," another Moroi commented with an equally leering glance as Nick.

"In some cases numbers could matter." I agreed and eyed up the group. Three Moroi and six dhampirs. It might be a little effort, but definitely easily doable. "But this isn't one of them."

"Oh really? We'll just have to see about that."

One of the Moroi must've been a fire specialist because we were suddenly enclosed by flames. They weren't quite touching, but certainly close enough for us to feel the burn ever so slightly. The twins and I stood back to back and Jackson made some sort of a swirl motion with his wrist before a wall of earth shot up and blocked off the flames. He created a save path for us to get out of the flames and as soon as I saw my opportunity, I leapt out and knocked out two of the Moroi within the space of ten seconds. The pair of them dropped to the ground, one only having been punched in the stomach and the other being struck in the back of his neck.

I made my way towards Nick with a determined glance but one of the dhampirs jumped in between and blocked me off. I tilted my head to the side for a moment and waited for her to make her move. Her movements were fast, I'll give her that and they were also precise. Her main problem was that she left far too many openings. When she made her next charge at me, I ducked down at the last second, grabbed her legs and flipped her over my body and pinned her down.

When I was sure that it was safe for me to look up, I saw that both Jackson and Quinn had taken care of the other three dhampirs. All three were knocked out and left tied to a tree.

"Hey Jackson, I don't have the heart to knock her out so wanna give me a hand and tie her to a tree by any chance?" I called out.

"Aw, well aren't you a big softie," he chuckled but nodded. I stood up but made sure I had a firm grip on her wrists and locked them behind her back before walking her to a tree where Jackson tied her up with roots that he summoned with his magic.

"Didn't realise that you were an earth specialist." I smiled at him gratefully.

"There's a lot you don't know about me chick," he winked.

"Are you trying to flirt with me? In the middle of class?" I laughed.

"You can't blame a man for trying."

"You're not a man just yet." I waggled my finger in a 'no' motion. "And where do you think you're going O'Connor?" I asked cheekily when I saw him edging away. "Don't tell me that you're backing away from a challenge that you started?"

"Don't kid yourself, there's no way that will ever happen!" he snapped. Unfortunately for him, he didn't notice Quinn sneaking up behind him and Quinn didn't take pity on him either. He simply smacked the back of Nick's head and he lurched forward in pain. He then proceeded to drag him towards a tree where he was tied to the ground.

"Are you guys nearly done?" I asked the twins.

"We've both got one left. I have to get Dr Salvatore's." Jackson held up his list with a grin.

"I've got Belikov and she'll probably be in her office." Quinn shrugged. "How about you?"

"I need to get to Black at the assault course and Castile at the elementary division apparently." I sighed. "It's not too bad."

"Good luck with the rest of the game."

"You too." I nodded and sprinted off again. Finding Guardian Black was easy since I remembered where the assault course was and I saw Ingrid's brother there along with his friend so I gave them both a small wave when they noticed me and gave me a smile. Then I headed to the hardest one of the list.

Alistair Castile.

Finding my way to the elementary division was a little tricky since I had almost no recollection of where it would be. So I had to ask for directions from a patrolling Guardian who kindly pointed out the way.

As I was heading towards a relatively large training area, I heard the loud squeals of smaller kids. Just as I stepped in, I was almost instantly tackled by about three different small six year old looking kids. I fell to my ass as they clung to my waist, neck and leg.

"Well hello." I smiled sweetly at them as I made sure that none of them had been hurt during my fall.

"Hello big sister! Who are you?"

"My name is Kylie, who might you guys be?"

"I'm Jen." Jen was an adorable little girl with sandy blonde pig tails tied with sparkling red hair ties. Her wide innocent chocolate brown eyes stared up at me and she had a huge childish smile that was stretched across her face.

"I'm Trace." Trace was an adorable little boy with messy black hair and surprisingly bright jaded eyes that eyed me with curiosity.

"I'm Pat." Pat was a young girl with ginger ringlets framing her childishly round face and her grey-blue eyes shone as she stared at me.

"Well nice to meet you three." I smiled again and patted their heads as I stood. I noticed how Trace didn't seem to want to release his hold around my neck so I placed an arm under his thighs and supported him on my hip as I carried him along with me while holding Jen's hand with my spare hand. Pat seemed to settle with holding onto my trouser leg. "I'm looking for Guardian Castile, do you know where I can find him?"

"Do you mean Al?" Pat asked and tilted her head to the side.

I thought for a moment and nodded.

"He's this way!" Jen squealed and tugged my hand. I let her take the lead and followed her to a small adventure playground with a jungle gym and various monkey bars. There were some other prep school styled adventure courses and I smiled as I recalled my memory of practicing on those when I was that young. I watched with a soft smile as my eyes instantly landed on the child loving man whom I recognised instantly. Sure he had grown since the last I saw him, but I could still recognise him.

He'd matured in the past six years, his masculine features were even more defined than they used to be when he was just seventeen. His face seemed firmer and he had definitely gotten more muscular over the years. I could see the muscle defined arms as he effortlessly carried three kids in one go while they clung to his neck and head. The kids laughed and giggled as he played those childish games with them.

His hazelnut coloured hair was wild and tousled, most likely from the number of times kids had clung to him. His animated green eyes shone with amusement and joy as several kids tackled him in an attempt to bring him down but he struggled playfully against them all. Pat and Jen released me to join in with the massive pile on and I gently set Trace onto his feet. He seemed a little shy and unsure of whether to join in or not so I gave him a small nudge and gestured with the nod of my head to encourage him to join in.

I smiled at him and crouched down so that I was eye level with him. "You want to join them right?"

"But… am I really allowed to?" he asked nervously as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

"Of course you are. You're every bit a monkey as the rest of them are." I laughed. "So go ahead and join them. It'll be fun."

"Promise?" he asked innocently.

"I promise." I nodded and held out my pinkie for him to shake.

He seemed to hesitate for a moment longer before running off and joining in with the pile of kids trying to hold Ali down. I stood up and patted myself down. When I lifted my head up to look at them again, I found Ali staring at me first with surprise at the fact that a stranger was there, but then several emotions seemed to flash across his expression.

Familiarity, confusion, anger, back to confusion, and then sheer joy.

I felt myself melt at the joy that sparkled in his eyes and an even wider smile spread across his face. The smile was so fond, so loving and so familiar. I felt tears prickle in my eyes but I forced myself to hold them back. I lifted my hand and gave a small wave and a smile.

He somehow managed to hastily detach himself from all the kids who protested and moaned in frustration for not being able to hold him down. And then he ran towards me. Before I knew it, I was in his arms and squashed against his chest. There was barely any air between us and I could hear him murmuring almost incoherent sentences over and over again.

I laughed a little and wrapped my arms around his waist. I snuggled slightly into his embrace, wanting to feel the warmth that I had missed for so long. We stood there for god knows how long before he finally broke the hug but kept his hands on my shoulders and held me at arm's length to inspect me with an intent gaze. I shifted slightly awkwardly under his gaze but he didn't let me go. When he inspected me around three times from head to toe, he finally gazed deeply into my eyes and I could see tears beginning to gather.

His hands reached up from my shoulders to my cheeks and I gently placed my hands over his as we seemed to stare at each other for so long. And then he leant down and starting kissing all over my face. My forehead, my cheeks, my eyes and even brushed over my lips a few times! A blush crept onto my face and I stuttered in embarrassment.

"Ali! You still have a class!" I squealed in surprise. I managed to push him away and I noticed that a tear managed to escape and trailed down his face. "Oh Ali…" I whispered and gently wiped it away.

"Al? Is that your girlfriend?" Pat asked innocently as she ran over towards us.

"Well now, wouldn't that be incredible?" he eyed me again and chuckled. "But no, this little beauty is not my girlfriend. But she is someone very important to both me and the world."

"Ali!" I protested.

"It's true and you know that there's no point in denying it," he winked at me and draped an arm around my shoulders.

"You're mean." I pouted and childishly stuck my tongue out at him. "By the way, you need to sign this." I plucked the slip from my hair and handed it to him.

"Huh?"

"Just sign it Ali." I rolled my eyes and pointed at where his name was.

"Wait… I was told that there would be a girl novice called Kylie Valentine."

"That's me." I gave him a cheeky smile and a wink.

He stared at me in confusion for a moment longer before realisation dawned. "That's why I didn't know of your return… We have a lot to catch up on."

"I know, we can do that after my classes. Arrange something through either Martin or Joey." I told him. "Now please hurry and sign it Ali. I need to be back soon before Joey decides to think I've disappeared again."

"Hm… speaking of disappearing," he grumbled and I suddenly found his knuckles drilling into the side of my head as he gave me a noogie.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" I complained as I tried to pry his hands away.

"We will definitely have a talk later about this," he told me with a slightly angry tone before taking my slip and signing it.

"I'll be seeing you around then Ali." I nodded with a small apologetic smile.

"Ah big sis! Are you leaving us already?" Jen complained.

"Sorry but I have to get back to class." I ruffled her hair.

"No! Stay with us!" Trace shook his head and launched himself at me and clung to my neck again.

"Please big sis!" Pat stared at me with pleading wide eyes.

I turned to Ali and pleaded for help with my eyes.

"Come on kids, big sis can come back to visit you three little monkeys." Ali lifted Jen and Pat into his arms in a comforting gesture.

"Really?" Jen and Pat chimed.

"Of course I can." I nodded. "You'll have to go so I can head back to class Trace." I told him.

"I don't want to," he pouted and tightened his grip slightly around my neck and buried his face in the crook of my neck.

I patted his back and ran my hand through his hair soothingly. "I promise I'll be back soon okay?"

"That's what my mama said," he whispered with a teary voice. I stiffened in surprise before patting his back a little more.

"How about this?" I shifted him so that I supported him on my hip and took off my necklace which a small ring hung from. The ring had become too small for me to wear since it was something given to me as a kid. It was a silver band made of flower embroidery. Ali's eyes widened in recognition and a small smile graced his lips again. "You must keep this safe for me and I promise that I'll come back to visit you. This is a very important thing to me. Do you think you can protect it for me while I finish combat class?"

Trace lifted his small head from my shoulder and glanced at the ring. "It's very pretty, it suits you."

"Thank you." I smiled.

"You promise to come back?" he asked as he took the ring carefully in his small hands.

"Yes I promise." I nodded and placed the necklace around his neck. I kissed his forehead and set him on the ground again. "I leave this cute kid in your capable hands Ali."

"Be back soon or else these three will run to hunt you down," he teased me but I could hear that underlying warning in his tone that stated that they really would if they didn't see me soon enough.

"What time is their curfew?"

"Eight."

"I'll come back after dinner." I told him. "See you later Guardian Castile." I winked.

"Don't get your ass kicked," he scoffed.

"Haven't you heard?" I arched a brow at him.

"Heard what?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll hear enough from Joey when you confront him about this." I shook my head and ran off before I could be delayed any longer.