Chapter 14

Klaus gasped as he regained consciousness. Caroline turned to him right away, and asked worriedly, "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

Klaus replied drily, "Well, I'm not dead."

Caroline said, "Hey, of course you're not. Come on, I was the one who turned you." She gave him a half-hearted wink. She wanted to cheer him up. When Klaus's expression didn't change, she sighed and continued, "Let's be optimistic about this. I know it must be hard, but you can do this."

Klaus said sourly, "Let's just make our first priority getting out of this ditch."

"Sure," Caroline answered. "Hmm… at first, this looked way deeper than what it seems like now. It was probably because I was panicked at the time. I think we can jump up and get out of this place using our vampire strength. Come on."

She and Klaus jumped up and successfully got out of the ditch. Klaus seemed the slightest bit unsteady, so she steadied him. Klaus was not pleased when he noticed his weakness. "I'm fine," he said. "You don't have to help me."

Suddenly, an array of arrows flew toward them. Caroline counted 9 in total. She caught the first one and threw it back at one of the archers. They were made of wood! Concerned, she turned to Klaus for a split second. She saw that he had successfully dodged all of the ones that flew in his direction. She was pleased to see that his many years of life experience were allowing him to be safe, even though he no longer retained his Original hybrid strength. She dodged all of the arrows as well, but all of a sudden, a dozen more arrows were launched toward them. One stabbed her in the abdomen. She cried out in pain. She tried to dodge the other ones, and she was successful for most of them, but another arrow pierced her, this time in the arm. Klaus cried, "NO!" and started making his way toward her.

"No, Klaus, don't! Don't come here! Just go somewhere and be safe for now." She winced at her injuries, and then put on a brave face. "I'll be fine!"

Klaus, being himself, didn't listen. He ran to where she was, accidentally getting stabbed in his side by an arrow. He grunted in pain. Then, he took a deep breath. This is Caroline, he thought. I have to save her no matter what. Fighting as hard as he could, he caught all the arrows that came at their direction, and with superb aim, finished off all of their attackers. They both sighed in relief to themselves.

Caroline whimpered as she took out the arrow in her hand. Then, after taking a quick breath to calm herself, she removed the arrow stuck in her abdomen. She began to feel better. The arrows were wooden though, so it would take longer to heal than usual. Klaus grabbed his own arrow deep in his side, and grimaced as it came out.

"Let's go find shelter," Caroline said.

After another hour of traveling, Charlotte and Legolas had reached the Varden. When they approached the guards, Legolas said, "Greetings. I am Legolas, son of King Thranduil. And this is Charlotte, a friend."

The guards seemed to recognize Legolas's name and bowed to him. "Sir! Please come in." They opened the door for them.

I wonder how they recognized Legolas, Charlotte thought.

Then they were warmly met by a beautiful lady. She was the leader of the Varden, Lady Nasuada, whom Charlotte had heard so much about. She was so excited. From what she had heard, she held so much respect for the lady and all the feats she had achieved, as well as all the incredible obstacles she had overcome. Legolas and Charlotte bowed.

"Ah, Prince Legolas," Nasuada greeted, bowing back. "It is good to see you again."

"It is good to see you well and healthy," Legolas returned.

Nasuada smiled and then turned to Charlotte.

Charlotte bowed her head again, a smaller bow this time, and introduced herself. She said, "My name is Charlotte, my lady. I am a member of the Gard."

"Yes, Charlotte… Kili has told me about you. I have heard that you are a good agent." She gave Charlotte a warm smile, which she returned.

"Follow me," Nasuada said to both of them, leading them inside. Charlotte looked around in awe. It was so spacious, and the architecture of the whole place was very interesting indeed. The ancient style of it was also very fascinating. But then again, in this world, what isn't made in this style?

Nasuada said, "As welcomed guests, I would be rude not to show you entertainment. There is a concert today in the main hall. Feel free to attend. I assure you, it will be a delight. Food will also be served there." Then, she turned to the side. She beckoned to a servant, "Marie, show our guests to the spare guest bedrooms."

"Yes, milady," Marie answered, bowing. "Please follow me," she said, as she lead the pair up the spiral staircase.

I wonder where Eragon is, Charlotte thought briefly, before her mind and senses became overwhelmed by the elegance of her surroundings.

Eragon came downstairs from his room. He had heard sounds. People were whispering about two new guests, who had only just arrived an hour ago. He grew curious of these newcomers, and decided to ask Nasuada about them. He went up to her and greeted her. Then, he asked, "Lady Nasuada, who are those two newcomers that everyone is speaking about?"

Nasuada raised an eyebrow and questioned, "Eragon. Why does that pique your interest?" with a slight smile.

Eragon said, "No one new has come in for a while now, and I'm just curious, my lady."

Nasauda said, "It's Legolas, the son of King Thranduil. You've heard of him. His companion is a member of the Gard, and so, she is one of us as well."

A member of the Gard, Eragon thought. He grew hopeful. What if it was Charlotte? "What is her name?" Eragon asked innocently, trying not to arouse more suspicion from Nasuada.

"She is called Charlotte."

Eragon couldn't believe it. He would finally be meeting her! He was so excited. All those dreams they had shared together were such treasures, and they were the most fun he had had in a long time, especially in these stressful times.

"Thank you, milady," Eragon said to her. He bowed slightly, and then left. He turned around as soon as he could, determined not to let her see his silly, wide grin of a child that was plastered on his face.

Caroline and Klaus had found shelter. It came in the form of an abandoned warehouse. After making sure that it was really abandoned, and no one was hiding around the area, they entered. There, they nursed their injuries together.

Caroline looked over at Klaus. Klaus wore an expression that contained a flurry of emotions. There was frustration, pain, annoyance, desperation, shock, denial, and guilt.

"Hey," Caroline reached for his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "It's okay. We're all safe now."

Klaus looked at her and met her eyes. "I'm sorry, Caroline."

"What do you mean?" she said, emitting a slight, surprised laugh. It was not the type of laugh that came with humour.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. That's what I'm supposed to do, but you got hurt, and I couldn't even stop it." He threw a chair in frustration at his own physical weakness.

"Klaus, it's not your fault. These things happen. It was a sneak attack. We didn't see it coming. Don't blame yourself, because it wasn't your fault. At all."

Klaus didn't look convinced. Suddenly, he exploded, "Yes, it is! Normally, I would have been able to get us out of that situation, completely unscathed! Today, look what's happened!"

"Klaus!" Caroline shouted. "Blaming yourself won't help the situation. Just stop that!" she said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"I can't!" Klaus yelled in a frustrated, desperate, and hopeless voice. "I'm now a mere shell of what I used to be." Then, another thought just occurred to him. "I've made a few enemies over the years too. A few… as in a few thousand. Being a regular vampire, it's not going to be a pickle I can escape out of, love. I might as well go and stake myself now. Ha!" As he said that, he released a crazed, nervous laugh devoid of joy.

Caroline's eyebrows scrunched up in concern. In a soft voice, she said, "Klaus, don't talk like that."

"Wouldn't it be the smart thing to do? I thought that maybe it would all work out, that this weakness would prove not to be that severe, but we've both seen the proof, haven't we? Just now."

"Klaus," Caroline said in a strong voice. "You are not staking yourself. I won't let you. I've finally found the one person I want to be with for all of eternity. I'm sure it's you. This is just an obstacle in your life- in our lives. You can get through this! You've gone through so many other obstacles in the past, and every time, you've come back, stronger than ever. Remember, there's ALWAYS a way. I'll help you. I'm never giving up on you, so just remember that."

"Caroline," Klaus murmured with watery eyes. Then, he slowly kissed her. Unlike their first kiss, which turned passionate, this one stayed slow, delicate, and sweet.

Charlotte and Legolas walked down the stairs to eat and watch the concert. Charlotte was famished. She hadn't eaten in hours, and she had travelled a long way. She was so excited to see what food they would have.

The concert was nice. First, a man with a stringed instrument began playing. The tune was lovely, and strangely heartrending. It reminded Charlotte of the Lord of the Rings soundtrack in those aspects. Then there was a duet between two women, a solo by a man, a choir of young children, and now, a young man had come up to take his turn on the stage.

The man who was about to sing caught Charlotte's eye. There was something about him that kept her eyes from looking away from him, and it wasn't just the fact that he was extremely handsome. He had charming boyish features. His straight black hair was styled so that it was sticking up slightly. It was perfectly styled. He looked to be about 21. He was Asian, and he had a light tone to his skin.

Then, he began singing. He sang a soft ballad, which turned powerful. At that moment, as his golden honey-like voice spread its delicious sound waves across the room, a realization struck her. She recognized the song. The reason she couldn't look away from him was because she knew him.

When the song ended, the audience applauded very enthusiastically. "Thank you, thank you," he accepted the applause graciously. Then, his eyes wandered over the crowd. He was looking in her direction. A second after his eyes skimmed over her section, Charlotte saw him slightly frown and do a double take at her. They locked eyes.

He ran toward her. She started toward him too. She screamed in delight. She was so excited. Could she really be seeing him again? Especially after all this time? When they reached each other, they took a second to just smile widely at each other. Then they embraced.

"Davie!" Charlotte yelled, smiling at him fondly.

"Charlotte!" Davie shouted back, happiness brightening up his features.