Hello everyone and thank you to those who reviewed.

Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it.

"Guardian Panin reporting in, over," Shade almost yelled in his mouthpiece. The surge of panic was running down his veins. This wasn't in the plan. Better yet, it could destroy everything that was in the plan. What if Lissa died? Fuck! It would destroy everything. Everything!

"Petrov. Copy that." Alberta's voice was muffled as she struggled with a female Strigoi. There were total eight strigois in number and ten guardians to spare. Though the ratio may look that it was in favor of the guardians, odds were very less that they would actually make out.

It wasn't dark yet, no. But they were in the middle of the woods, the sunlight fairly obscured by the greenery, which provided enough light for the dhampirs to see everything clearly but not enough to kill the strigois.

"I have Hathaway with me. We'll cover the west part, over." And soon enough, they arrived at the site. Shade wasted no time in joining the fighting making a run to engage one of the two strigois battling with Janine. Aditya's car was parked a few meters away from the fighting scene while two guardians stationed on either side to defend. Rose could see Natalie whimpering and clutching on Aditya's shirt in fear while the older moroi looked no better himself.

This was it. Rose thought. Her first fight, her first real fight. She had to fight and protect. She was about to join the fight with Alberta when a battle cry broke her attention.

In spite of having heard stories and seen the clips of the monsters thousand times before, when she saw the pale figured man approach her with an unnatural speed, Rose froze.

"Rose!" Janine shouted. There was a hiss and loud cry of pain as she found the opening she was looking for and drove the stake straight through the strigoi's heart.

"Don't freeze! We need you. You can do this!" she encouraged, moving to grab the back of another Strigoi, deftly pulling him off another guardian, and engaging him into a fight.

Her mother's voice and encouragement was the only thing needed to pull herself out of her frozen stupor and she ducked just in time the attacker dove to catch her by her hair.

"Ooh, a pretty dhampir," the Strigoi snarled as they circled each other. The man looked young, probably turned in his late teens. By his looks and stupor, he had been a moroi prior to his conversion. His pale white skin was almost translucent and his once blue eyes now rimmed with red gave her creeps.

Rose lunged switching on offensive, throwing a couple of kicks in his lower middle portion to take him down. It was clear that the strigoi had no real technique to own the fight and was relying totally on his unnatural strength and reflexes. He went down but only after a second was back up throwing his full body weight at Rose, making her trip. But luckily, she caught the trunk of a tree nearby to steady herself before launching again at him.

"Tell me darling," the strigoi ducked as she tried to shove the stake into his face. "Wouldn't you enjoy being my blood whore, huh?" he teased clearly trying to get a rise out of her, compelling her to do something stupid in her wake. Rose snorted, not taking the bait as she continued to fight, desperately looking for an opening to finish this hideous creature off the face of earth. In her peripheral vision, she could see her mother finishing off another strigoi while Alberta took her first kill. Three down. Five more to go.

The motivation pushed Rose as she turned around, landing a deadly roundhouse kick on the strigois jaw, making him stumble over the dried leaves on the ground.

"You bitch!" he snarled, baring his fangs at her. Rose leaped upon him, scratching his cheek with her silver. He growled inhumanly in pain and tried to jerk her off his torso, but Rose pinned him back down with her body weight, trying to get that stake through his heart. The bastard wasn't making things easy. He twisted his body, trying to get her weight off him. "Get off me you stupid bitch!" he yelled. "Or else I swear…."

Rose didn't hear the ending of his sentence as in a fraction of second; her stake was buried clean in his chest through his heart.

She saw the man's eyes widen in surprise as he stared square into her eyes. His skin slowly turned a lesser shade of pale and his eyes slowly returned to their original blue color. Rose almost gasped as she caught the thankful expression on his face.

"Rose! Over here!" Alberta gasped trying to pull a female strigoi off her body. Rose wasted no time in rushing over to help the woman she had for all intents and purposes considered as her second mother. She grabbed the strigoi by her face, momentarily freeing Alberta from the grasps of her fangs. Alberta staggered and almost fell down before gaining her balance and continuing the fight.

"Alberta! Go and help that guardian," Rose shoved her chin in the general direction of a young guardian who looked almost lost as the strigoi threw him away like a rag doll. "I got this, GO!" Rose yelled, pushing the woman and the planting a rough kick in her abdomen, making her double over with pain. Alberta left without a word, confident that Rose could handle it herself.

The woman recovered quickly and pushed herself on her feet, trying to asses her opponent's next moves. By the looks of her, she had not been a moroi in her prior life. She could have been a dhampir but her fighting skills told a different story. If Rose had to place a bet, she would get in for that either was a girl from one of the dhampir's communal or a human.

"Come on, monster!" Rose mocked, going for another combination of punches but the woman used her super fast reflexes to duck those.

"That's sloppy," she teased back. "I would've loved a bit more competition." she said suddenly taking her in a headlock and pinning her arms by a tree nearby. "Good bye sweetheart," she hissed and suddenly sunk her fangs on the delicate skin of her neck. Rose cried out in pain as she felt her skin tear up but just after a second, all the fight left her body as she slumped against the strigoi, her stake slipped out of her grip.

She had heard about the endorphins present in the moroi's and strigoi's saliva. She knew about its effects. She had seen the sated expressions on the face of the feeders when Lissa dug her fangs in their necks, but never in her whole life had she expected it to feel so good! She felt euphoria sweep off her feet and wrap her around like a warm blanket. She felt as if she was on cloud nine. Her breathing accelerated as she fell herself slip away from her own body. She moaned as someone licked on her neck to wipe off the extra blood. A goofy smile painted on her lips as she felt herself getting lost in the oblivion.

"Get off her! You monster!"

Dimitri had never run like that in his entire life. He could feel the wind whipping on his face giving him the illusion of freedom as he ran right into the face of death.

"Mitya!" Christian hollered racing behind him, trying to catch up. Suddenly, Dimitri came to a halt, not appreciating he got company.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he gasped, panting.

"I…I'm not letting you go alone," Christian panted, clutching his stomach from the exertion of running all the way from the car to the battleground.

"The fuck you are!" Dimitri roared. "Go back to the car at once!"

"You are not the master of me!" Christian yelled back. "I'm coming with you whether you like it or not. I can help, you know I can!"

"But..."

"Shut it and move your ass now," Christian said breaking into a sprint to separate the foliage on the either sides to make it to the clearing from where the struggles of the fight could be heard. Dimitri cursed under his breath in Russian, before following him.

The scene in front of him was nothing like he could have ever imagined in his whole life. He had heard about the struggles Guardians went through, trying to protect the moroi from the ugly blood sucking creature but watching the struggles live was eye opening. Alberta and Janine were fighting tooth and nail with their respective strigois, but the signs of tiredness were clearly written on their faces and their moves. Another guardian was trying to fight off a bulky male while Shade too was engaged with his strigoi. Two guardians lied on the floor, their heads and ankles twisted at an odd angle, their eyes wide open looking into abyss.

"Mitya," Christian whispered, his voice shaking. Dimitri stood frozen; he couldn't tear his eyes away from the deceased dhampirs. How unlucky they were?! Spent their whole life training to defend and in the end, it didn't even mattered for them!

He tried to move closer, to close their eyes. It was the least he could do, but a pale arm caught the sleeve of his shirt.

"What?" he hissed at Christian whose eyes were wide open as saucers and he was looking straight at something in his left. Annoyed, Dimitri turned his attention towards whatever caused Christian to go into a shock and he froze himself.

There on the side of a tree, was his Roza with a goofy smile on her face while a female strigoi was latched at her jugular, sucking every inch of life out of her. All the empathy for the guardians earlier left Dimitri's body as panic filled him. If he didn't do anything, then soon his Roza will too be joining them on the floor. Dead.

He shook his head. He had to save her and he will save her! With almost an unnatural growl, he roared, "Get off her! You monster!"

His voice was so loud that it almost caught everybody's attention, even the strigois. The fight seemed to stop for a moment as the female dropped Rose like she was some rag doll, kicking her abdomen. She smiled as she rushed towards her new prey. Moroi's blood outranked Dhampir's any day! The fight continued, except this time, every strigoi, instead of lunging at the guardians, lunged all together at him. The Guardians now, unconsciously formed a protective circle around him to defend.

Dimitri could hear Alberta and Janine yelling at him to go back and Shade was cursing loudly at him, "You stupid cur! I told you to stay back!"

None of this registered in Dimitri's mind as he ran towards where Rose was lying. As soon as he approached the strigoi, he ducked, getting on his knees, before sliding to grab the stake that had fallen out of Rose's grip. He stood up facing the strigoi with the stake in his hand. Dimitri couldn't understand why, but seemingly the strigoi found the sight amusing. "Are we here to play, kiddo?" she laughed evil.

"Afraid?" Dimitri smirked. Heck! He wouldn't let a lowly monster get away mocking him. The strigoi didn't find it funny as she lunged at him He ducked, moving away from her trying to get away from the threat. The strigoi snarled at him, following him quickly. Dimitri wasn't dumb; he knew if it came to strength, he would surely be defeated. A quick strategy formed in his mind as she looked at Christian, trying to convey his message silently. He held his gaze before flicking his eyes above to the sky. Christian smirked as he got what his friend was trying to say.

He looked up in the sky to see it covered with leaves from the trees which were blocking out the rays of the sun. One flick of his fingers and the leaves above caught fire, burning rapidly to let the sunlight hit the ground.

The strigois stopped fighting as they saw the development with wide eyes. Before it could catch a big forest fire, Dimitri flicked his fingers, and suddenly the water from a ditch nearby splattered over the angry flames, calming them down instantly.

There was now, a big spot on the ground with heavy rays of sun. Using this as the perfect distraction, the guardians kicked their opponents into the lighted region. Taking the lead with the element of surprise, Dimitri knocked the strigoi in front of him with all his might into the burning light. Screams filled the surroundings as the sun bit the creatures' skin, perforating and burning their flesh. Soon, there was nothing but ashes left on the ground.

Everybody was still shocked at the sudden change in events, still staring at the burnt forms of the strigois, when suddenly Dimitri broke out the silence.

"Roza!" he yelled, rushing towards her, dropping on his knees to hover her limp form.

"Rose, wake up milaya. Roza!" he yelled frantically, not liking the stupid goofy grin spread over her and the thick red liquid oozing out of her jugular. It may sound overly sadistic and completely weird but his sense of worry were being shadowed by the equal urge to taste her sweet blood. He mentally berated himself as soon as the thought entered his mind.

"Lord Belikov! We need to take Rose back to the academy," Janine said stoically, her speech tinged with worry.

Dimitri's face twisted in a frown as 'the' thought registered in his head, it was the best and easiest way. Rose…His Roza could be safe…..

But before he could put more thought or any action to it, Shade pulled him aside yanking him roughly by his arm and pushing him through the clearing towards the van much to the surprise of others. For a guardian to behave in this way to the moroi was considered highly disrespectful and was often punishable.

"Are you out of your mind, Belikov?! What were you thinking?" Shade's voice boomed through the area as shame registered on Dimitri's face.

"I…Roza…"

"What Roza? Huh? You...You…" Shade was at loss of words. He knew everything about Dimitri, his past and the reason why he left Russia in the first place. He was Ivan's guardian after all and they too shared a certain level of friendship between them.

"Do you realize what would have been the consequences? You would have broken the royal decree! And I doubt that Tatiana was going to take it easy on you this time, Fuck!"

"I know, but…"

"You. Are. Not. A. Normal. Royal!" Shade whisper yelled on his face, "When will you get that?"

"I know that okay! I do!" Dimitri yelled back. "I know who I am! I know what I'm capable of. But I love her and I can..."

"No you can't!" Shade said calmly this time, straightening up to his full height. "Listen here, I'm in America right now so that I can enjoy a good vacation, a peaceful break. I'm not going to babysit a sill moroi who can't even think straight, who himself is keen on dying. And if you still think you can do anything to help your little girlfriend, go ahead. I'm not stopping you."

Dimitri hung his head, knowing that he was helpless right now. "Shade, please. I…I don't know what got into my head. It was a spur of the moment thought. But please, let's get Roza back to the academy. Or else…"

Shade's eyes grew sympathetic, "She'll be fine Dimka," he said softly. "We'll get her back. Now come on."

"How's she?" Dimitri inquired settling himself down on the small chair beside the bed on which his Roza was lying.

"She's fine now," the moroi nurse replied, checking her vitals. "She's lost a lot of blood and has a concussion, apart from that; she seems to be doing well."

Dimitri hesitated before asking the next question, "Is she… you know, going to feel the withdrawals?"

The nurse eyes softened as she replied, "Maybe, maybe not. She was drained for somewhat around a minute or two. Normally this time is enough for a Strigoi to drain enough blood to convert, but luckily, there's no trace of it in her blood. But she may experience the withdrawals. Strigoi endorphins are much stronger than moroi's."

Dimitri nodded and took her small hands in his. "Вы будете в порядке Роза," he murmured sweetly, kissing her knuckles. "I'm sorry milaya, I love you."

"Where's she? I demand to see her right now!" Lissa's shrill cry woke up Dimitri from where he had fallen asleep with his head on Rose's bed, her hands still firmly clasped in his.

He tried to listen more, but all he could hear was a nurse's voice softly telling her off. He sighed and kissed Rose's forehead. "I'll be back milaya."

"What's going on here?" Dimitri asked as he exited the room Rose was admitted in. Both, Lissa's and the nurse's head snapped towards the newcomer as relief filled both their eyes.

"Lord…" But before the nurse could reply, Lissa pushed past her, running straight to Dimitri. "Is Rose alright? Can I see her?" she asked, hope filling her cracked voice.

"Lissa, Rose needs to rest. You may see her in the morning," he replied as calmly as possible. He had heard that Lissa had tried to follow them (him and Christian) into the clearing. Guardian Alto had tried tooth and nail to contain her but she wouldn't budge. As the last measure, Eddie had to knock her unconscious.

"But,"

"No Liss. She needs to rest and you need to do calm down here." Dimitri said. "She's fine. Go back to your room. You can see her in the morning, I promise!"

Lissa wasn't sure that it was Dimitri's reassuring voice or her own tiredness that took over, but she agreed to what he said.

"Lord Belikov. You need to leave too. Let the patient rest," the nurse said, not unkindly. Dimitri nodded and asked her to inform him if there was any change in Rose's stable condition.

"Come on Lissa. I'll drop you back to your dorm." Dimitri volunteered.

"No thank you. I think I can manage on my own."

"It's no problem. Come on."

They followed the gravel path, Dimitri holding a black out umbrella to shield them from the sunlight, in silence and in no time had reached the female moroi dorms.

"Thank you so much Dimitri. It was very brave what you did." Lissa said timidly. "You really do love Rose."

"I do." Dimitri said softly. "She means the world to me."

Lissa hesitated before her nest words. "Do you have to say something?" Dimitri asked seeing the nervous expression the blond girl's face.

Lissa took a deep breath, "Actually yes, I have to."

"I'm all ears."

"I…You…You can have her, Rose, I mean."

Dimitri raised an eyebrow in confusion at her words. Had she really gone crazy or what?

"I mean, I'm not going to request her as my guardian if you really want to be with her. And from what I've seen, she loves you too. I'm not going to stand in your path if you want to be together. I love her as my sister."

Dimitri smiled; glad to hear the kind words from Lissa. "Thank you very much Liss," he said "but it's really not your or mine decision to make. It's up to Rose. If she wants to be your guardian, I won't stop her. I'll gladly follow her around."

"I know…"

"Lets save this discussion for some other day. We both need some rest."

"You're right. Good night," Lissa smiled and waved him goodbye.

Dimitri hadn't even taken four steps in the direction of his dorm room when a familiar shrill cry broke through the air. His eyes widened at the déjà vu and he forced his legs to move to female moroi dorms.

He reached Lissa's wide opened door and froze at what he saw inside.

…here you go.

So what do you think he saw? ooh this is getting interesting by the moment, ain't it?

I would love to hear your thoughts about Shade and Dimitri's argument earlier. Please, leave me a review. Lemme know what's going on your heads!

Love,

Lara.