Chapter 17:

Amelie's POV:

It was the day of the fight.

It was the day that her life would change forever—it was the day that she would become the oldest vampire in the world.

The meeting had been called the week before, due to a massacre of Elders in eastern Germany, and Amelie knew then that the preparations they had been making would be required; they would need to be well-nourished, well prepared and above all, confident in what they were doing. She couldn't fight with Oliver and Myrnin if she felt that they would run away when the going got tough—but she trusted them. She had been with them for an extended period of time now, and she knew that although Oliver had his plans for the future, he would fight alongside her for now.

The only issue was with the enemy they faced. Her father would have trained them to be vicious and cruel; they would be loyal allies in the fight against the Elders, Amelie was certain, but the moment that she and her friends turned on them, the fight would be close. With all their skills, Myrnin and Oliver would be able to put up a good fight, but only if Amelie defeated her father quickly would they be able to survive.

"Are you quite alright?" Myrnin asked Amelie from the house they lodged in, having (regrettably) killed the owners the previous night. They were merely a five minutes' walk from the meeting grounds, and their meal was going to be easy enough to access, given that most of the humans around here fell asleep before the sun set.

"Yes, yes," she murmured, her eyes still distant as she imagined the evening's events. "I just…victory needs to be mine. I have never sworn to my father, and this evening will not change that; he will make me swear fealty to him if I lose—I must not lose."

"You will not," Oliver added in, and Myrnin forewent his customary look of disgust as the two men agreed. "You are good and worthy of victory, two things your father is not. Your success is guaranteed."

Amelie could only hope that he was right.

~x~

The evening was colder than usual, though naturally, it didn't make a difference to the three vampires as they made their way to the meeting place as usual. Amelie had no clue as to whether or not the meeting would get underway before her father emerged with his army, or whether he would even turn up with them; they may have been 'scheduled' to arrive later than him, to avoid suspicion as he approached Oliver—she just didn't know.

The three of them sat a way apart from the rest of the Elders, not that they were particularly noticed; they were young, and amidst the stress of what had occurred in their world over the course of only a few months was scaring them to drop their poise, and to be openly admitting their fear that they may be next.

If only you know, Amelie thought, and it was at that exact moment that she heard the movement of vampires—as no human would be approaching Stonehenge at midnight—from the village where they had slept.

The army was coming.

She turned surreptitiously to count that all the vampires were present, and that it wasn't just merely latecomers, but they were there; the advancing group were Bishop's, ready to slaughter whomever got in their way.

Thankfully, the position herself, Myrnin and Oliver had chosen was easily out of the way of the others, those who were the targets, but due to their loud and unruly arguing about what to do—one vampire's solution was to swim as far away as possible, and to be alone in the world, so that their allies couldn't turn out to be their enemies swathed in sheep's clothing—they hadn't heard the near-silent procession towards the Elders. None of them were facing in the correct direction, also, another reason why they weren't noticing the invaders.

It wasn't until the first Elder was being grabbed by the hands of a blonde haired woman who looked slightly like Amelie, did they realise that there was anything at all amiss.

Immediately, Myrnin and Oliver stood up, remaining where they were as they waited to see what happened to Bishop's force. Nobody bothered them in the opening minutes of the quiet fight; their fellows were too busy defending themselves, and Amelie presumed that Bishop's army—almost one hundred vampires, she thought a rough estimate would be—had been ordered to leave them be, as per her agreement.

"May all the luck in the world be with you," she murmured to Myrnin and Oliver as she stood up and advanced towards the raised point where Bishop and Jonathan were now facing one another.

"And you, my dear," Myrnin replied, watching as Amelie moved away. She could feel his eyes on her back, and sighed, knowing that this could be the very last time that she saw him alive.

In front of her now, merely ten metres or so away, the fight between Jonathan and her father began, the same as the fight between Bishop's men and the Elders below, save for one difference: they were matched for one another; those fighting below were not. Here, Bishop's savagery and planning were a match for Jonathan's superior strength and agility, due to his age.

Amelie felt that the silent fight could last hours—if it wasn't for the atmosphere caused by those below.

Most of the Elders were already dead, and this distracted the Eldest vampire; whenever he had the upper hand and could afford to, he looked across at the situation beneath him—and that ended up being his downfall.

Bishop feigned injury, Jonathan looked across, and in those seconds, Bishop made his move. He laughed himself at the Eldest vampire, knocking him to the ground and rolling on top of him, pinning him down.

"You've lost," he growled in Jonathan's face, and Amelie felt a brief wave of fear pass over her as she watched. "And now, you get to die."

And with that, he brought a knife from his pocket and threw it into Jonathan's neck, all but severing the head from his body.

The Eldest was dead.

The Elders were dead.

Bishop was now all that stood in Amelie's way to getting the thing she desired the most.

"Hello, Father," she said as she approached him on the raised area, in the foreground of Stonehenge. "I see you have come here to die."

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The next chapter shall be the last, and it shall be up shortly!