Jshagen, Intyala, and Dimika's chick- it was great to hear from you guys. JhadaLove, Smiles, and Delicious, thank you so much for always reviewing and telling me what you liked and giving me ideas.

TwilighternProud and Smiles- thank you for congratulating me on my exams. ;) smiles- Relax, You will do fine. Just don't over study. I did that my freshman year and…well, I didn't do that great on the exam.

This chapter is dedicated to my biggest fan: Smiles!

Dimitri and I went to face the crowd, but held hands as we faced them. We had to get everyone's spirit up. Everyone has to feel the need to kick some strigoi ass.

I looked out into the crowd and saw a good handful of moroi all armored up to fight, and in a few clusters across the field. Clusters as big as ten to fifteen, and there seemed to be about five or six groups. The moroi had on a guardian's gun holsters (the only difference between a regular gun holster and the guardians, is that the guardians have a spot to put in a couple knives and a stake- some have a second stake holder) around their waist, stakes and knives. Their hair was up if they were girls with long hair, and they were just observing this, as if it was all knew to them. I was pretty sure it was. I had great respect for them, staying behind and fighting.

I analyzed who I knew and who I didn't, but when I realized a very important part of my family wasn't here; Dimitri's family. I began to wonder if they stayed for the war, or got out to safety. I hoped, I prayed, they hightailed it out of Court.

Dimitri let go of my hand. His arms stayed at his side, his guardian mask on display, but on that mask, showed compassion and respect.

Dimitri looked at Gideon and held out his hand for the microphone. Gideon took a step to Dimitri and to give the microphone to him. Gideon put his free hand on Dimitri's shoulder and squeezed it in encouragement, as he handed the microphone to Dimitri.

When Gideon's hand went to his side, Dimitri gave a nod to Gideon and looked back into the audience to silence them, but there was no need. Everyone's were already clued to them, wondering what other words will be said.

"You stayed." Dimitri stated but then paused, letting that sink into everyone's mind. I heard Denis translating to the gang. I taught him well.

"You stayed, not because you are fighting to protect the moroi, but because you want freedom." Another pause, but this one was shorter. His eyes roamed the crowed, making everyone listen and look at him. I looked out in the crowd too, and everyone's eyes were on him. In most of everyone's eyes shinned with respect for Guardian Belikov.

"You all have heard what the strigoi are planning," his voice was made of disgust, "unmerciful annihilation of the dhampire and moroi race! We are not here to defend the moroi this time. We are here to defend ourselves and our freedom!" His voice is loud and animated so that you could easily paint a picture of what a world of slavery and horror would be like. With his tone, you knew how bad the war was going to be, and yet, that very tone made you want to make all the difference in the world.

"YEAH!" A couple people shouted out in the crowd.

"Do you want to roam the streets during the day, afraid for your life?"

"No," most shouted; some shook their head. The moroi in the back just starred.

"Do you want to die and possibly be turned into an evil being like them?"

Again, some yelled no, while others shook their head, but this time they shook their head more vigorously.

"Well, today, you are going to be defending yourself! Today, you are going to be defending your very freedom, your very being! It's time for us to put an end to what the strigoi want. We will not let them get what they want."

More cheers erupted, and suddenly, the majority of the crowd was ready to fight. They saw Dimitri's logic, but the rest were either too scared or had other view points. Dimitri waited a few minutes before speaking again.

"My partner, Guardian Rose Hathaway, would like to say a few words." Dimitri looked at me, beckoning me to the crowd. His eyes shinned with determination with everything he said to the crowd. Dimitri handed me the microphone.

I got a few 'Wahoo's, and 'yeah's,' while the rest clapped.

I waited until it was dead silent. I wanted everyone to hear me.

Seconds later, it was so quiet, that I heard the wind blew and the crickets sing.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, but loud enough so that everyone could hear it through the mic (usually when people do that, it's annoying and hard, but when I did it, it was soft, not hard). I looked out into the crowd, and when I spoke, I spoke softly. "Take a good look around you." No one moved. "Do it. Take a look at who you are standing by. Say hello and introduce yourself to the people you don't know."

A few people did that, but not many. Most people just stared at me. Did they think I was a blabbering idiot? I sure hope not.

"Now, think about what you want to do tomorrow, envision it. Because that," I brought my elbow up and with my forearm and index finger, I pointed it to the ground as I said "that is what freedom is."

I raised my voice. "Freedom is to plan your day out without someone wanting to sink their fangs in you. Freedom is when you walk down the street, carefree with your friends and not hiding in a hole, afraid for your life!"

Most cheered that I was right, others nodded, but everyone's eyes were on me and their shoulders were back, arms to their sides.

"Guardian Kingston and Guardian Belikov are right." I walked slowly to my left, my eyes still on the audience. My shoulders and back were straight, but relaxed as I walked. I knew I had everyone's undivided attention as I walked with the hilts of my two swords shinning in the twilight rays. "Today we are defending our freedom. But for me, it's more than just defending our freedom." I turned the front of my body back to the audience. "WE ARE TAKING A STAND!" I yelled the last part. My nerves were already on edge and ready for war just from Dimitri's speech, but when I yelled that last part, my whole body and every single nerve fiber and cell ached to do some damage to the strigoi. I was ready.

"I," I turned my whole body towards the audience, "am not going to let these filthy bloodsucking demons take over my home! Who do they think they are?"

The crowd was shouting in agreement. Some faces were red with pent up energy just waiting to be released. I continued on.

"I am sick and tired of seeing the strigoi win matches against us and gaining new fiend friends!" I turned and walked a little faster to my right. "Someone we knew and loved has lost a fight against one of these monsters." I stopped and faced the audience when I was three feet in front of Dimitri and by Eddie. I looked at Eddie, who was holding Mia's hand in the front row, by my gang. I was thinking of Mason, and when I looked into Eddie's eyes, I knew he was thinking the same thing.

"Well, today" I whipped my arm and index finger out into the crowd "is not only going to be our revenge, but we are taking a stand and saying" my arm sliced through air, emphasizing how serious I was when I yelled "ENOUGH!"

The whole crowd was screaming with 'yeahs,' 'wahoos,' and 'let's do this!' The moroi were yelling this too, not just the guardians.

"It's time to step up to the plate and keep what is ours. We will not go down without a fight! And I don't know about you guys, but I am willing to fight to the death! I value my freedom!"

More cheers.

"I value my life and my family with everything that I am!"

More cheering.

"I. Say. Enough!" I had to wait for a few seconds, because guardians and moroi were cheering wildly. Not only that, but my breathing was a little bit shallow. I was feeling the pressure.

"Are you ready to take that stand today?"

Everyone, including the moroi shouted "YES!"

"Alright, then get ready! Let's show them they are messing with the wrong races!"

Gideon and Dimitri came up beside me. Gideon's face shinned with extreme determination. He winked at me when he saw me looking at him. I couldn't help but smile at him.

"Take your positions people. They are almost here. Get ready!"

Everyone shouted and quickly started moving to where they should be. "Cobra's" I said into the microphone in Russian, "meet me in Princess Vasilisa's tent."

I turned to Gideon after I put the microphone back into the stand's holder. "The Cobra's and I are going to determine where we should be, we need your help at analyzing things. I also have a few things I need to say to you before the strigoi get here."

He nodded. Dimitri grabbed my hand as we walked of stage. Gideon followed beside us.

"Where did your family go?" I asked Dimitri on our way to the tent. We passed by tables with metal stakes and a Gatorade cooler filled with water, with cups by its side.

Dimitri kept his eyes in front of him. "I convinced them to take the last plane out here. They left five minutes ago."

I let out a big breath that I didn't know I was holding in. "Good. I am relieved they got out."

A ghost of a smile was on his lips, but he was too nervous to give me a real one. I couldn't blame him. Viki wasn't too happy with the idea of fleeing Court when it was about to get attacked, but she wasn't aware of the C4 being used, and when my mother found out, she wanted her hundreds of miles away from here."

"C4 is dangerous. I would have said the same thing." Adrian, Lissa, and Mia should have been on that plane too, I thought.

By then, we arrived to Lissa's tent. Dimitri, being the gentleman he is, held the tent's flap up for me and Gideon. I found that my gang was standing in a circle. They looked at us when we arrived.

"I think I can get use to that name." Gabe smirked as I stood beside him. I looked at him and his leather jacket suited him very good.

"In a woman's point of view," I started, "you look hot in that jacket."

Everyone chuckled.

"It's true." Larisa said, coming to my rescue.

Gabe had a twinkle in his eye- a twinkle of amusement. "Thank you, both of you."

"Alright," I said in English, turning to Gideon who was at Lissa's table with the map of court already laid out. I walked up to Gideon. "Where do you have guardians stationed at?"

He pointed inside of Court, near the north and south walls. "I have people near the gate, and I am going to get more people to leave the west and east walls, and get to the south wall."

I nodded in agreement. "Are you going to place people for backup? Have certain number of people holding back on grenades? Are you going to have the moroi paired up with a couple guardians and have say…a water-user drown the strigoi while the guardian stakes the strigoi? Or a fire-user light the strigoi up while the guardian stakes the strigoi?"

Gideon looked at me like he was at lost for words. "Sure…" he paused to collect his thoughts, but Dimitri intervened before Gideon could start talking.

"This is a new tactic that Rose and Lord Ozera had tried when St. Vladimir's Academy was attacked two years ago."

"I see that tactic has worked." Gideon observed, not from the records that were recorded, but from the fact that Christian was still alive.

"I'd say it was extremely effective. I had fun frying their ass." Christian commented. We all turned to look at him. He was leaning against a chair, where Lissa, who was sitting and talking to Tammy in Russian. Lissa looked up and rolled her eyes at him. He winked at her. She went back talking to Tammy.

"Lord Ozera has experience?"

"Duh." Christian said, but he straightened his spine. "While Rose was in Russia for the last year, the Queen had issued moroi to practice defensive magic. She had invited me, hearing of the St. Vlad's attack and what Rose and I had accomplished. In other words Rose," he looked at me and smirked, "I have gotten loads better."

Christian walked up to me and extended his hand. "I got your back, chief."

I smiled and clasped his hand. "Sounds great, Flamy." Should I call him a Cobra? He is fierce like any Guardian.

"I prefer 'Sparky.'" He said.

I raised an eyebrow. "You want a dog's name?"

Before 'Sparky' could agree, Gideon interrupted. "Rose, back to business."

I faced Gideon. "Right, sorry."

"We should make an announce-" Gideon started talking, but Dimitri interrupted him.

"There isn't enough time. The guardians are already in line for battle."

"There really is no need for anyone to be making any kind of announcement." Christian replied, looking at Gideon. "Sir, all the moroi that had stayed behind is from the defensive magic class. They know that they are to find a guardian so they can do the staking."

"Have they already chosen someone?" I asked.

Christian shrugged. "Most likely; they are not stupid."

Gideon turned to me. "Where are the Cobra's going to be?"

"Where we are needed most, but I am going to be waiting for a signal from Mason." His faced showed confusion, just as I had anticipated. "Listen, I am shadow kiss, which means that I can make contact with the dead. My friend Mason is-"

"What? The dead?" He looked at Dimitri, whose face was impassive. "Is she serious?"

"She is telling the truth. Listen to her."

Gideon turned back to me and listened, even though I knew he was only half listening. Great, I should have warned him before hand. "Today, you asked me how many and from which direction, and you believed me without a doubt. You asked me where I got the information from, I got it from Mason. Mason had once told me where the strigoi's layer was at. This time, he had told me where they are coming from and how many. Mason has never once let me down, and I can feel that he isn't letting me down now."

Gideon's face told me that he was having a very hard time believing this. "Did he tell you that war was coming?"

I nodded. "He was the one that told me they are almost here."

Gideon's face looked like I had betrayed him.

"Gideon, I swear-"

"Bonehead, listen to her!" Christian yelled at Gideon. Christian's face as stern as I have ever seen. His icy blue eyes were glaring at Gideon.

"Why should I-"

"Because she saved my life!" Eddie said calmly, coming into the tent. But there was a quality to his voice that rang both truth, and that he wasn't to be questioned about it. "I am living proof that she is telling the truth. If it wasn't for her seeing Mason, I would be dead or undead."

Gideon still had on that betrayed look.

"No one knew where the strigoi were hiding." Dimitri said, coming to my rescue. "Once Rose realized where they are at, she immediately suggested a rescue mission. Her mother led it, but it was Rose who found out they were attacking and where they were hiding."

Images of the cabin when Dimitri and I were leaving popped into my head; the strigoi literally flying over to us.

"People called me crazy until it happened. They believed me when it was too late. Do you want to be one of those people who believed me when it was too late to do anything? You said so yourself that you believed me. Are you taking that back now after you learned my secret?" I swallowed hard, hoping I was wrong, but by the way he was looking at me right now, it was clear that he was.

He starred at me for a few long, tense moments. He shook his head and mumbled, 'I am so getting fired for this.' I don't think I was supposed to hear that, though. He is definitely getting old if he thought that I wouldn't pick up on that.

"Alright Hathaway." He let out a breath, and I could tell that he thought that he was going to regret this; quite the opposite actually. He will be on his hands and knees thanking me. Funny how that works out, right?

"But if you-"

"I won't be letting you down on this. But back to what I was saying, I will be waiting for Mason's signal to use the C4."

Gideon was wearing a dark blue Colombia coat. He put his hand in the coat's pocket and then handed me a remote with a red button and a blue button. I instantly knew what it was. The trigger.

Well, that made everything a hell of a lot easier.

"The red trigger activates the C4 in the wall, all at the same time. I would suggest waiting until the strigoi are climbing the walls and hit the trigger." He pointed down to the map, on the outside of court's lawn. Fifty yards before court walls, he made a zigzagged imaginary line with his index finger all around Court.

"Fifty yards before Court's walls, I had put small doses of C4 around Court's perimeter. The blue button activates those doses of C4."

I looked at him. "Here I thought you didn't want to blow things up."

He gave me a hard chuckle. "Well, the way you were talking, I was expecting the worst."

I wiggled my eyebrows, then went back to business. "That was a genius idea, Guardian Kingston, but I thought that you used most of it in walls, then stored the rest for the future?"

He shook his head. "A little bit of C4 goes a ways. We have to be careful on how much we use. I want to kill the strigoi, but not the Guardians inside. So, in a safe maneuver, I came up with this."

I looked him in the eyes. "Well, it is a genius plan."

Suddenly, I got an all too familiar headache, though it wasn't as near as strong as it used to be. Mason appeared and looked down at the map. My hand went to my forehead, as if to rid the pain. Mason's index finger made the same zigzagged lined, and looked at me with a wink.

"So I take it you approve?" I asked. I saw Gideon's eyes widen. Dimitri came over and told him what was happening. Gideon glanced between me and where my eyes were at. He swallowed, suddenly freaked out. I couldn't blame him.

Mason nodded.

"Are you going to tell me when to use the trigger for both the wall and the new explosives?"

He nodded, and then put up one finger, indicating number one. His other index finger went to Court's walls. Then he put up his middle finger as well, indicating number two, and his index finger went from Court's walls to the zigzagged line.

"Okay, number one, Court's walls. Number two, the perimeter." I said in summary. Mason nodded. Then he tapped his wrist as if he had on a watch.

"Do we have a half our left?" I asked, hoping we had more. He pointed his thumb down, indicating less.

"Twenty?"

He nodded. Ah, shit. We needed to hurry up.

I turned to Gideon and he had on a look that said I had escaped from a mental hospital. I promptly dismissed it.

"We have approximately twenty minutes. We need to hurry."

Gideon straightened out his spine. "Where are the Cobra's going to be?"

"They are going to be with me." Dimitri said, stepping up as King Cobra. "They are going to be where the strigoi are hitting the hardest. We, unfortunately, won't know where the strigoi are going to be hitting the hardest, so we will be at the north gate."

"Why the north?" Christian asked before I could.

Dimitri faced Christian. "Since I was strigoi, I how tough and macho they feel. Most feel like they are invincible, so they would try to walk through Court's gate."

"Well, they won't exactly be walking through the gate, seeing on how there is a big and thick metal plate in front of the court's iron gates."

"So they would have to get through the metal plate and the iron bars." And the iron bars thick and close together. No one could get through the bars, unless if they are as skinny as a chipmunk."

Well, then that would buy us some time, but to do what? To sit around?

"Guardian Hathaway, it will buy us some time to get everyone into position, but with eight thousand strigoi, the plate will be down sooner than you think."

I knew he was right.

Gideon straightened his spine and told me what he understood of what is going down. "Okay, then this is what is going to happen: Hathaway is going to be waiting for Mason's signal, but will be with the Cobra's…?" I nodded, and he continued on. "Belikov is with the Cobra's, and they will be at the gate. I am having half of my men at the north, and the other half is at the south."

"You're not going to have backup?"

"Yes. They will be scouting the east and west walls of Court." I agreed with that plan.

"I will be fighting in the South part of Court. If something goes wrong, you will hear a siren, which means evacuate into Court if you can."

I sighed. "Okay. How many civilians are left in court?"

He looked grim. "Hard to tell, but word spread out fast when the moroi heard that strigoi were coming to invade Court. Most of the moroi hightailed it out, but a few thousand are left."

Great. A few thousand. He made those numbers seem so small.

"How many are fighting with us?" I sure hoped it was eight thousand.

Gideon looked away. "Less than eight thousand."

"Which is?" I wanted a number.

"Around seven thousand four hundred." At least it was more than seven hundred. That was a start. Plus, we had wards, which will no doubt last about five seconds, unless if we kill the humans–

Oh great. I guess I really am evil.

"Gideon, I want you to tell every Guardian to kill any human siding with strigoi."

He looked at me confused. "We should try to at least prevent the strigoi from coming in. If we kill the humans, they won't be able to stake the wards."

He nodded, and to my surprise, he pulled out a walkie-talkie. Gideon made it crystal clear to kill any human, and to spread the word to all guardians as quickly as possible. The walkie-talkie had twenty other connections, but that was still small. Somehow, I knew that word will reach everyone in time.

"Alright," Gideon said, turning back to me. "It's time to get into places." He held out his hand. "It is a pleasure working with you Guardian Hathaway."

I shook his hand. "And it is a pleasure working with you. I hope to work with you more in the future."

He nodded. "But hopefully under different circumstances."

"Yes," agreed. We let go and he turned to Dimitri and shook his hand.

"Be careful, Guardian Belikov." He seemed to know Dimitri, I realized. I wonder why Dimitri didn't say anything.

"You too, Guardian Kingston."

Before he turned, he looked at us. "Again, reminding you both on what we agreed before your wedding ceremony, the tornado siren will go off when the first sighting of strigoi."

We both nodded, then they parted, and so did we.

Gideon and I both left the tent. Dimitri stayed to tell the Cobra's what was said between us. I wanted to see someone. I hadn't the slightest clue where they were, but I found that I didn't have to look for them for long. I rounded the corner and bumped into a muscled chest. I stumbled back a few feet.

Man, I was letting Mason down with not feeling my surroundings. I needed to get back on that, or he will make me go deaf again! I so do not want that. Especially now.

"Kiz, what on earth do you think you are doing?"

I looked up, and saw who it was, but once I saw who it was, I quickly wrapped my arms around my father, Ibrahim Mazur, before he could do or say anything.

I hugged him tight, remembering everything that he has done for me. He came and found me in Russia. He went down that dangerous road just to help me. He bribed the school to let me back in. And to top that all off, be bought me and my gang grenades and other weapons for fighting, not to mention my expensive leather outfit.

"Thank you." I said against his chest. My forehead was in his chest, my eyes squeezed tight. "Thank you for everything you have done for me and the Cobra's." I seriously didn't expect anything from my Dad, but the more unsuspecting things he says and does, made me love him even more.

That's when it hit me. I realized that he does love me, but has his own way of telling me. Even though I would have been content with him just saying 'I love you.'

He pushed at my shoulders, holding me at arm's length. I looked up and he was giving me a gentle smile. I hardly ever seen him give anyone a gentle smile. "Rose, it was the least I could have done."

Why does everyone keep saying that?

I shook my head. "I mean it Dad, thank you." I looked down, suddenly embarrassed at what I was going to say next. "Do you know where the wards are?" I was informed earlier, by the Queen, that the Council did initiate Viki's idea of the wards. They put several wards up in surrounding towns, roads and even on trails in case the strigoi ran moroi or dhampires off the road. They are easily spotted, because there are flags, checkered flags (like a chess board), where there were put up at.

"Yes. I know where everyone of them are at. I helped put them up. Why?"

"You should get out of here before they get here."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shook his head. "I don't think so."

"I do."

He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "No, Rose." And his tone was adamant and final, meaning to end the discussion. He wouldn't be leaving, not until it's over with.

"Are you fighting?" God, I hoped not!

"Yes, with your mother."

Is he serious? My eyes about popped out of my skull. Oh, dear. What if he got hurt? I wouldn't be around to protect him! Wait- where are his guardians? He shouldn't even be fighting. Does he even know how? If I said anything negative, I would be a hypocrite. So, I kept my mouth shut about safety and how moroi shouldn't be fighting.

My hand went to my pocket. I felt the midnight ring in my pocket. I pulled out the last ring Ronda gave me, which was for my father. I held onto it with both hands, looking at it and observing it. It really was as black as midnight. The surface was smooth, hard and cool. I wonder if it heats up when it is being used.

"This isn't gold for a reason," I told my father, thinking he might give me a hard time wearing it because it wasn't a flashy gold color.

"Oh?" He said with amusement in his tone. "And why's that?"

I looked up at him and my mother. They were watching me with careful eyes, probably wondering where I was going with this. "Give me your dominant thumb." Just like Christian, he raised an eyebrow but didn't question me and held up his thumb, giving me the thumbs up sign.

I put the ring on before he could object. He tilted his head back in shock, and looked at the ring. "Mmm." He murmured.

"That is what Christian said. He will be with me." I thought about that for a moment. "That's an understatement: he said 'holy shit.'" I shook my head, thinking of Adrian's comment. Who in the right mind would think that was funny? There is a difference between 'shit' and 'holy shit.' Besides, you can't 'holy shit' yourself.

And no, taking a crap in the church count doesn't count. And we are changing the subject; back to reality now.

I turned to my mother, and she was looking at my father, and the ring.

"Don't worry," I said, looking at her. "It won't hurt him. If anything, it will help him. It enhances his power, so that he won't have to use as much, making it to where he won't be as drained and tired."

"That's a very good tool then."

"Yes. Thank Ronda."

"Who is that?" She asked, looking at me.

"A..physic. She's an air-user, though." I looked around camp. Some guardians and moroi were grabbing last minute weapons and hurrying back to their post. "Good luck, and be careful." I said to them both, still not looking at them.

"I guess her being physic would explain why she knows he's a fire-user."

I shrugged. I guess.

I felt my mother give me a slow smile, but I didn't look. I was afraid. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders, crushing me to her chest.

"Of course we will, Rose. You know that."

I let out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding in. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, Rose. You be careful as well. Don't do anything stupid."

Me? Do something stupid? That was always rule number one. But, that was until I found the Cobra's. They made me responsible. I turned around and headed back to my family.

I just took three steps before my father called my name. "Rose."

I turned my head, but not my body. "Yeah?"

He walked up to me and stopped when he was a foot away. Then he just stared at me. "I mean it," his dark brown eyes shinned with solicitous. "Be careful. Don't do anything temerity."

Normally I would roll my eyes, but my Dad was truly concerned. Again, for the second time today, I wrapped my arms around him; he immediately did the same, but his posture was still stiff. Stiff with worry. "I love you, Dad."

He sighed and rested his chin on the top of my head, showing that he relaxed a little bit. "Don't worry about me. You should be more worried about yourself, or whoever crosses my path." I joked on the last part.

"That's my girl." He paused a moment, then spoke again. "I know that my future son-in-law will protect you, and that you will protect him and the Cobra's, but promise me you will protect yourself first."

I wanted to shake my head no, but I wondered why he would ask me to do that. "Why?"

"Because you are my only daughter."

Oh. My shoulders dropped. My heart sunk, and I swear I felt my heart tear a little bit in disappointment.

"And I love you." He said. He finally said it; he finally admitted that he loves me.

My throat was thick, and I knew if I said anything that it would crack and wouldn't be understood. So, I settled for tightening my arms around him. He chuckled a little bit.

"Be careful."

"How many times are you going to say that?"

"Until I am satisfied that it is that thick head of yours." He said with a smile in his voice.

"You still haven't told me what you do for a living." I said, pulling back from the hug and dropping my arms.

He gazed in my eyes, probably wondering if I could handle the truth or not. Finally, he came to a decision. "When the war is over, I will take you on a field trip and show you."

That was even better. Or is that even worse?

"Abe." My mother warned.

He turned his head to my mom and his eyes showed that he had his mind made up. "Jane, she deserves to know."

"Abe." My mother warned again, but with more anger in her tone.

"I already offered. Sorry."

My mother crossed her arms over her chest and let out an annoyed sigh. "We need to have a serious talk."

My father looked at her, and from what I saw, I saw a little bit of anxiety. It was comical. The taunting smile in his eyes disappeared and the small smile on his lips vanished. "Janine, sweet Janine. You are the light in my eyes that shines like the North Star. Your red hair that is as red as August leaves that could make any man burn inside like the animal they-"

She put her hand up. "Oh stop it, Ibrahim. You are not fooling me with that line anymore. You. Me. Talk. Tonight."

"Of course." His shoulder slumped.

A sick- a very, very sick- answer entered my mind when I wondered why he looked so disappointed. He's not getting laid tonight.

I wanted to dry heave. I even gagged. My mother looked at me questioningly. I waved her off.

And I have wanted to do that a lot lightly. Why on earth do I want my parents to be back together?

I shook my head.

"I need to get back. The strigoi are going to be here any-"

Suddenly the tornado sirens went off.

"They are here." My mother and I said in unison.

I gazed at my parents. "One last thing before I run off." I looked at my mom, her red hair swaying in the cold day-or human time, night- air. Then I looked at my father. He had on the flashy gold jewelry. He wasn't wearing any tailor clothes; he was wearing dark grey jogging pants and a black t-shirt.

"You are both great parents, and I love you both." They smiled at me, and before they could say anything, I bolted for my family.

I found my family in the tent, waiting for my command. They were standing in that V form, talking amongst themselves. When I entered, they immediately went silent. Dimitri spoke before the others.

"Gideon called me; strigoi were spotted at the gate."

"How many?"

"At least sixty."

I let out a quick breath. "Did he say sixty was enough to knock down the metal barricade plate?"

"He said it would take at least a hundred strong, to knock it down. He's not too worried, but he wants you to watch for Mason." He grimaced. "He still doesn't believe."

"Please tell me what is being said." Eddie voiced, sitting on the couch next to Adrian, Mia, Lissa and Christian. I was startled, and quickly questioned my guardian skills. Really, I need to observe my vicinity more.

"I'm sorry Eddie." Like always when my gang and I were around, we talked in Russian. "He just told me how many strigoi were at the gate, and that Gideon asked me to look for Mason."

"Sparky and I," I still wasn't on board with his nickname. It sounded like a dog's name, "will keep an eye on how bad the strigoi are getting. If any get through, he fries, I stake."

"You make it sound like were on a cooking competition." Christian commented, arms crossed over his chest and standing on his feet. He wore similar clothes to what my father was wearing, except he was wearing Abercrombie sweatpants and a white t-shirt. I just now realized that Christian wasn't as boney as I thought. In fact, he actually had muscles on him.

"If that calms down your nerves," I said seriously, "then think that this is what it is: a cooking competition."

"Eddie," he looked at me with his business face on. He was ready to kick ass. "Stay with Mia. You two work together."

"Like, say, I whip the strigoi's face with water boiling water, which will stun him, while Eddie goes in with the stake?"

I nodded with a smile, though didn't know that she could control the temperature of the water. "Precisely; better yet, do what you did to Isaiah." She nodded in understanding.

"Lissa and I are heading to the Aid tent." Adrian said as he realized I turned my attention on him.

I nodded. "Do not leave that tent."

Lissa and Adrian nodded.

"If you think for one moment that something bad is going to happen, you two," I looked at Lissa, "say something through the bond immediately. Even if you think it's nothing, tell me. Me or one of the Cobra's, if they are not busy-"

"We both have guardians, Rose." Adrian said with a smile, clearly liking the fact that I am worried about them.

"How many?"

"Two each."

Before, it seemed enough, but my nerves were on edge and now the amount of guardians seemed like a joke. I bit my tongue. Four guardians total, plus the others that they would enough.

Let me rephrase that: I prayed that would be enough.

"Fine. The Cobra's," I addressed them in Russian. I gave Eddie a small, sympathetic smile. He rolled his eyes in annoyance. The Cobra's looked at me, even though they all had their attention on me since the second I entered the tent. "All of you are to stick together when I depart. I don't want half of you to go to the South end, and the other half to stay at the North end. No. That is dangerous. Eight thousand strigoi are going to be here and trying to get in. You are not to separate. Understood?"

They nodded, and I looked at Tammy, thinking of our earlier fight about Lissa. Tammy looked nervous. She looked to the ground every once in a while, then to me and Lissa. I could tell she tried to hide her glances.

"Tammy." She looked at me like a deer caught in the headlights. "Stay with Lissa."

Immediately, her nerves went away and she gave me a relieved smile. "Thank you." She said. I was relieved too. I didn't know who the four guardians that were going to be watching Lissa and Adrain, but I didn't trust them. I trusted Tammy. I knew what she was capable of, and having her stay with them made my anxiety lessen too. Though she was staying behind, I still was down one Cobra. And that, I knew, was going to bite me in the ass. I just hope it wouldn't leave a scare.

I nodded. "Lissa and Adrian have four guardians total, plus you that makes five. Work something out with the others. Have one or two scout the area, while one stays at the door and the other by the moroi. But be careful, okay?"

She nodded, still giving me that relieved smile of hers. Again, I hoped that bite wouldn't leave a scare. "If you guys need me, just call. I will be there as soon as I can."

I nodded. I liked the fact that she offered, instead of me telling her that was what she was to do. It made me feel like we were all equals again and I liked that better.

"Alright." I scanned the crowd. The rest of the Cobra' is to go to the north gate. Remember to watch each other's back as well as stay to concentrate. Watch your surroundings; feel, smell, observe and listen. Remember, that I love you. Most importantly, remember why we are doing this. Is this something worth fighting for?"

"Yes." They all agreed in unison.

"You ready to kick some ass?" I asked with a smile, looking at everyone.

"Yes!" They shouted with smiles, though some of them were nervous.

"I want you guys to promise me one thing before we part." I looked every single one in the eye, especially Dimitri. My eyes lingered on his a little longer, then I went to Denis. "Retreat to the West wall when it gets bad. Retreat when I say to. I will be using the C4," I held up the trigger. "So when I say to retreat, what are you going to do?"

"Retreat."

"Where?" My eyes scanned my family again.

"The West wall."

I nodded. "Remember the speeches that were said earlier today between, Gideon, Dimitri and myself. Remember how pumped up you were? Well, get that feeling back inside you before you kick some strigoi ass."

I went up to Denis and gave him a hug. Next was Gabe, Larisa, Tammy, Lev. Lev gave me a kiss on the cheek, which surprised me. He hardly showed affection. I gave him an extra hug. I went to Zena and gave her a hug.

"Don't worry so much, Rose." Zena whispered in my ear, though everyone was so close they could hear. "You taught us well. We are strong separately, but together we are army strong, remember?" It was my lame version of a combination of the U.S's catchy phrase and mine. I wanted to make everyone feel powerful. And it worked, it seemed like.

"Yeah." I agreed half-heartedly.

"Don't be so uptight, sister." Gabe said, putting his hands on my shoulders and messaging them. "Yeah," he said when he felt my muscles tense under his hands and my skin, "you definitely need to relax."

I reached up with both my hands and entwined his fingers with mine, I turned around (which made our arms cross) and faced him. He quickly switched his hands into the right order. I couldn't help a smile. Gabe was also a perfectionist. Everything has to be clean and in order.

"I will always worry about you guys." Though in truth, whenever we went out hunting, I was never that stressed. I had faith in them. But when you had eight thousand strigoi coming at you with less than seven thousand, four hundred guardians…

It was time to be concerned.

And I was very concerned. The C4 is a wonderful thing, but that doesn't mean it is going to eliminate all the strigoi. We needed help. We needed more force, but no one is going to be suicidal and come to our rescue. If they wanted to fight, they had to be here a couple hours ago. It was too late, and now we are… well, not quite sitting ducks, but close to it.

Gabe stepped in. "I love you Rose. You are truly the sister I never had."

I gave him a shaky laugh. "And you're the brother I've always wanted."

He laughed, though it wasn't as shaky. In fact, he didn't seem all that nervous. Definitely a little bit, but not as much as me.

I stepped out of the hug and looked up at Dimitri, whose eyes never left mine while I was talking or giving everyone my love. One step brought him to me. I stood on my tip toes, brought my left hand and entangled my fingers in his hair and he dipped his head to touch his lips to mine.

I kissed him hard. There was no need for him to ask entry. I gave him it. My other hand went to the side of his cheek, and I pressed my hand on his cheek a little harder than necessary. Our tongues danced fiercely; anxiously. Both of his hands were cupping my face, though his hands gently slid up to my ear, and slid back down, cupping my face again.

Images of losing him danced in my mind, and I squeezed my eyes shut and kissed him harder. I promised myself that I would protect him, but I couldn't watch his back at all times. I have no choice but to leave his safety to my family to watch his back, as well as for Dimitri to watch theirs.

He broke the kiss and his hands went to my waist, pulling me in for a hug. A tight hug too. I felt his pulse hammering. At first I thought it was mine, because mine was hammering erratically, but no. It was his. He was nervous too.

I felt his lips at my ear. He gave it a kiss before he spoke in English. "It's going to be okay. Relax. Clear your mind. Picture winning. Better yet, picture our wedding, how great it will be."

At a time like this, it seemed ridiculous, but my stomach was doing summersaults.

"Then focus on the battle at hand. You are a great guardian, Rose. Know that."

I nodded and kissed his lips, then pulled back. "Go." I said, and that was all I had to say. They left the tent, looking at me with heavy eyes. Christian soon followed, meaning I would meet up with him when I was done giving orders to the rest.

"We will be okay, Rose." Lev winked at me right before he exited the tent, giving me no time to reply, not that I would have. Despite my earlier pumped up energy, I wasn't as angry- I was more worried.

Dimitri was the last to leave the tent. He moved to the exit of the tent, and looked back at me. "Remember, I love you."

I smiled. "Only because I love you."

He gave me one last smile. It stretched across his face, and light up the tent. That smile, those smiles I use to live for back in the academy, would help me through this war.

He then left the tent. The siren was still going. I began to wonder if they invaded already, because shouldn't they have shut it off by now? I looked over at the couch and the moroi were still there.

"Adrian, Lissa and Tammy, go." I said in Russian.

"Eh?" Adrian and Eddie said. Then the siren shut off.

"She said to go." Lissa said. The three of them got up. Lissa came up to me.

"Be careful." She said. "I know you are good at this kind of thing, but still…"

"I know."

Adrian came up to me and gave me a hug and a kiss on the forehead. "Just for luck, Little Dhampire." Then they left.

Eddie and Mia stood, holding hands. "I want you both to stay far away from the Gate and the South wall. Your job is to take care of any strigoi that sneaks past the other guardians. Remember to watch each other's backs."

The both nodded. Eddie came up to me and gave me a tight hug. "Call me if you need anything." He said.

"You too." I said, looking him in the eyes.

They both left after Mia gave me a hug and a slap in the face for making her nervous.

When I was alone, I concentrated on the bond. I felt that Lissa and the others were already in the tent. But I went to the bond for something that I knew I shouldn't- spirit darkness. If I was going to win the fights, I needed some. It made me stronger, but if I took too much, it would cloud my judgment.

I left the tent after they departed and went to my gang at the gate. Guardians were lined up in rows. They made a semi-circle, a football field away from the gate, so that when the barricade breaks, and if it goes flying, it won't crush or hit anyone.

I didn't count how many rows and columns there were, but I was guessing ten rows of twenty. It seemed very small. Nothing like two thousand, two hundred. Gideon was supposed to break them up in half. Half in the north and half in the south.

Every guardian had a stake in their hand. The moroi stood close to their partner that they have chosen to fight with.

As I walked by, some guardians and moroi nodded to me in respect without a smile on. I nodded back, with no smile on my lips either.

Some people were going to die and we all knew it. There was nothing to smile about.

I looked for my family, and to my relief, they were not at the front line. They were towards the beginning of the end. I walked up to them, and as I walked up there, I saw a familiar a dhampire-Delos- stepped to the side, at the front. I guess he was going to give the signal and a speech.

"Be ready," Delos said, his voice loud so that everyone could hear. He was wearing his guardian attire. Black slacks and white shirt. "Don't give any mercy. Like what Guardian Belikov and Hathaway had said, they are out for the kill. So must we."

We didn't really say that, but it was pretty much the sum of what we had said.

"When that barricade breaks down and they come in, don't go after them. Let the bow and arrow get to them first.

Bow and Arrow? I looked behind me and saw no one. Denis tapped me on the shoulder and pointed up to several buildings rooftops. I saw several guardians on top of them, with bow and arrows. Buckets and buckets of arrows, with an oil cloth foundation on top of the pointed end.

I felt my smile slip in place. They listened to me! They actually listened to me that day in the conference room when I said that they needed to find a better weapon.

"Let the fames wrap around their bodies, then stake them. Remember to stay fifty feet away from the walls, so when the Guardian that has the trigger pushes the trigger and the C4 goes off, you won't get caught in the explosion."

I was liking Delos. Did he come up with this? If he did, I feel like I could kiss him.

Suddenly, there was a very loud bang at the gate, and several dents were made in the metal barricade. I heard hissing and screaming coming from the other end…and that was a long ways away.

I looked at Denis, and his shock mirrored mine.

Get to the rooftop. A voice inside my head said. It was most definitely not my self-consciousness. It was the same voice from that one day I was walking in the street.

This time, I didn't question it- mainly because it was Mason's voice.

My hand went to Denis's shoulder. I looked him in eyes and he nodded, knowing it was almost time. "Get into position." I told him, squeezed his shoulder. I turned to Christian, who had come up beside me as soon as I arrived.

"Follow me." Then we left, running for the nearest building for the rooftop.

The building ended up being familiar, so I knew exactly where the stairs to the roof were. I took two at a time, going up four flights of stairs. Eventually I made it to the top and opened the door. The cold days crisp air hit me in the face, making me shiver. Christian was a flight behind me, but emerged five seconds later.

The guardians turned to the door, looking at who joined them. Some nodded to me, most turned back to the gate. Christian and I stayed in the middle, not wanting to get shot at by accident.

"Get ready." I said. "I have a feeling it's not going to hold up as long as we wanted."

No one second guessed my command. At once, they all went to the buckets and grabbed an arrow. I smelled oil from the arrows.

"What are you lighting them with?"

Guardians held up matches and cigarette lighters.

"Rose, tell them to let me light them up. Let them use their fire when we leave." Christian said.

I nodded. "Put it away, let Lord Ozera light those candle sticks up for you. It will be much quicker."I said in authority.

Everyone nodded as there was a big boom from the gate. Huge dents, the size of arms and elbows were indented in the metal wall.

I heard scraps and looked at the top of the walls. I saw ropes and metal nails flying over. I turned to see if anyone else heard. No, it was just me.

"Guardians, watch the top of the wall. They built something to climb the wall" I said. "Look."

Light the arrows. The voice said.

"Christian, now!"

Like lighting up a birthday cake, they were lit one by one, but were light thirty times faster. It took Christian a total of six seconds to light up every single arrow that was ready to launch. The guardians, who were all in the ready position, were slightly startled, but quickly recovered.

Only then did I realize how big the bows were, and how long the arrows were. The arrows were as longer than my arm, allowing the oiled fabric (which will be on fire) to go through the strigoi and out. If I was a strigoi, I would be terrified.

Watch the top of the walls.

"Watch the top of the walls. Aim there, but keep an eye on the metal barricade."

Not two seconds after I said that, strigoi appeared at the top and arrows were being released towards the Strigoi immediately. As soon as the arrow made contact, the fire spread quickly, sending the the unlucky strigoi into flames immediately.

It was like seeing shooting stars. All of them fell down to the ground, trying to get the fire out, but they all died before they could put it out.

Consider them BBQed! I thought.

"Shall we barbeque strigoi today?" I yelled down to the crowd in English.

"Only if they are well done!" Delos commented, yelling from below.

Laughter erupted from up here and down to the ground.

"Well done it is!" I heard a female yell. I turned to look at who said that and saw Tina. She winked at me. "Didn't see this coming, did you?" she laughed, and nodded to Christian, who immediately lit up another arrow. She made a perfect shot into a strigoi who was about to have one foot over the wall. The strigoi dropped to the ground, screaming in agony. Seconds later, it shut up, but the body kept burning. Dozens of other bodies lay beside that one, but more were littered, stretching out across the wall.

It pierced my heart to see a tormented soul like that, but it was better put out of its misery now, rather than later. It was a very sad part of life, and I wish I could stop it. No one deserves to have their life taken away like that.

I quickly went to one of the guardians that had a walkie-talkie. He was busy shooting arrows.

"Can I use this for a moment?" he turned and I saw it was George from my training.

The George nodded and I took the walkie-talkie from his guardian belt.

"Kingston, are you there? This is Hathaway, over."

Immediately, he responded. "Hathaway, is everthing okay?"

"They started attacking now, have they attacked there yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Do you have bow and arrow people up on rooftops?"

"Yes."

"Get a fire user up there and have them light the arrows on fire. It saves time."

"Abe Mazur is over here, do you want me to send him up?"

"Yes. Tell him that the job requires a lot of fire, and that Hathaway said to do it. Watch the strigoi climbing up."

"Okay. 10/4"

Suddenly a harder, more urgent banging noise drew my attention back to the barricade. There were more dents, but these ones were circular dents, and much, much bigger and wider than a body part.

They were using a tree to bring it down.

I immediately cursed Pennsylvania for having so many trees that are big and thick.

Boom. It echoed.

Boom. Another echo, but the tree hit in the same spot as the last time. I had a feeling someone was using their head.

Boom, and this time, I saw a hole. It was small, bit big enough to where someone could take their hand through it.

And just as I thought that, someone put their hand through it and tired to bring in the metal. Fortunately, the strigoi wasn't strong enough.

BOOM! This time, the strigoi put muscle behind it and the tree went right through that big dent.

The tree went through quite a bit, and I saw that the strigoi were trying to pull it back through.

"YOU MORONS!" I hear a female's icy cold scream. It made my skin crawl. Then, with force that I have never seen before dealing with strigoi, the tree pulled back, leaving shreds of bark everywhere.

I looked down on the ground, and saw everyone read to lung at the strigoi.

"Let them come to you!" Delos said, voicing what I was about to say.

Yes, I definitely love this guy.

One by one, strigoi came through the whole, while more booms echoed off the wall, warning everyone that they are making another hole.

And they were smart about it too. They made another dent right next to the hole, knowing that the metal near the hole was already weak.

"Get ready people." Delos shouted on the ground. His voice was gruff and husky.

Arrows were still being shot through the air with fire, going to the hole where strigoi were coming in from, while the rest were going to the wall where the strigoi were climbing over.

Before anyone could act, there was a loud screeching noise that made everyone halt and over their ears. Then, right before my eyes, the barricade came off its hinges and fell with a boom and clattering noise.

In some buildings, I heard women and children scream blood murder at what they just witnessed.

Then, the strigoi ran through, with a big, masculine black guy in lead.

Please review. I didn't get many reviews last time. Give me any ideas if you have any. Sorry that I didn't post the other half yet- it's not finished, this one is.

I was planning on doing this all day, but…well, the word 'crush' is just what it is. You get crushed when you realize that the person you wanted to be with, you have no chance with. So, sorry that I didn't feel like writing more.

I will get over it tho. :/ Please review. It's all I ask. Thank you.