To his extreme irritation, apparently whatever powers that be ruled over fucked up dream-visions decided that it Mohammed wouldn't go to the mountain, then the mountain would damn well swallow Mohammed. The swirling waterfall of colors lashed out like a wave, rolling over his head and dragging his body forward. He fell for a brief moment, landing somewhere dark. As his eyes adjusted he scanned his surroundings, unable to contain a shudder—he recognized this place. He'd seen it before, it was one of the visions from the forgotten dream.
It was bone chillingly cold, the kind of temperature that ate away at you, slowly wearing you down. The darkness began to fade and sounds reached his ears, drawing him further into the tunnel, which opened into a cavern. A fire burned in one corner providing light. Adrian spun around, wondering why he was here, and what he would be forced to witness.
Part of a wall had fallen in, creating a pile of stones that blocked the opening to the other side of the cave. Seven guardians—including Belikov and Alberta—were trapped by ten Strigoi. There were flashes of light coming through the opening in the caved in wall, and he instinctively knew it was a Moroi fire user, probably Ozera. The floor was strewn with bodies, but he couldn't tell if they were Strigoi or not.
Rose and an adult male guardian raced towards the group of Strigoi, three of them immediately turning towards the newcomers. Two jumped the man, and the other went for Rose.
In an instant she was in battle mode. Her beautiful face took on a mask of pure rage, as she threw punches and ducked around, evading the Strigoi's blows. She stayed out of his reach mostly, though he did grab her once and slam her against the wall. She acted as though she felt nothing, moving immediately, her body still fluid and graceful, showing no sign she'd just been hurled into a sheet of solid rock. She reigned blows on him, pummeling his face and chest then slipped down staking him before his next attack. Pulling out the silver spike in one smooth motion, she turned to help the man who'd accompanied her—he'd taken out one of his attackers, and between them, they finished the last one.
That left six Strigoi. The trapped guardians—who were pinned—had killed another. The man and Rose jerked the Strigoi closest to them out of the circle. This one seemed to be a fighter, they had a hard time taking him down. Eventually they did, immediately looking for the next threat. The other guardians started freeing themselves from their trapped position, quickly taking down the remaining Strigoi one by one. When the Strigoi count was down to two, Alberta yelled out it was time to start escaping.
The last two Strigoi were surrounded, leaving a path clear for some of the guardians to escape via the way Rose had come in. Her companion, meanwhile, crawled through the hole to the other side.
With Rose relatively safe, Adrian turned his attention to the Russian. As furious as he was with the man, he had to admit he was amazing in battle. Like Rose, every movement he made was graceful, his face a mask of intense concentration, only his eyes betraying his rage. Watching he understood why the novices around campus called the man a God—Rose channeled the spirit of Zorya, and likewise Belikov overflowed with the spirit of Zorya's husband, Perun. He staked one of the two Strigoi, moving immediately to the remaining one, his movement an elegant twirl.
The man stuck his head back in and shouted something to Alberta that wasn't discernible to Adrian, even with his advanced Moroi hearing. She yelled something back without looking at him. She, Dimitri, and two others were closing in on the last Strigoi.
"Rose," yelled the guardian, beckoning her over.
She left the fray, scrambling through the hole more easily than he had, another guardian immediately following after her. Adrian walked towards the cave in, and stuck out his hand, not surprised when the wall of rock rippled. He placed himself directly in the middle of the thick fluid that made up the rocks, wanting to have a view on both sides of the barrier. No one was on the other side except Rose and the guardians who'd just crawled through. Apparently, the fight had either ended or moved on. Bodies showed that things had been intense, however. One of the bodies he recognized as one of the few guardians who'd always appeared cheerful. He closed his eyes for a moment, wishing he knew the fallen man's name. They were helping another guardian through the wall—it was Alberta.
"They're dead," she called. "It sounds like there are a few more blocking the retreat down here. Let's finish this before the sun comes up."
Belikov came last of all through the gap. He and Rose exchanged brief, relieved glances, and then they were on the move. This was a long tunnel, and they hurried down it, seeming anxious to get everyone out. At first, they encountered nothing, and then flashes of light indicated a fight up ahead. Ms. Carmack and Janine Hathaway were fighting three Strigoi. Belikov's group closed in, and in seconds, the Strigoi were down.
"That's it for this group," Janine gasped out. "But I think there are more here than we thought. I think they left some behind when they went to attack the school. The rest of our people—that survived—have already made it out."
"There are other branches in the cave," said Alberta. "Strigoi could be hiding in there."
Janine agreed. "They could be. Some know they're overwhelmed and are just going to wait us out and escape later. Others may come after us."
"What do we do?" Someone asked in a fearful voice. "Finish them off? Or retreat?"
Everyone looked to Alberta. Adrian watched the woman with a feeling of pride. She was his friend, and she was in charge. In his opinion, it looked like she was doing a damned good job.
She made a quick decision. "We retreat. We got as many as we could, and the sun is dropping. We need to get back behind the wards."
They took off, Dimitri beside Rose as they moved. "Did Eddie get out?" she whispered.
Shit. The Strigoi must have captured the Castile kid. Did that mean Lissa was in danger? He'd been playing her guardian.
"Yes," said Dimitri, breathing ragged. "We had to practically force him out. He wanted to fight."
"I remember this curve," Janine said as they rounded a corner. "It's not much farther. We should see light soon."
Rose's hand clenched at her stomach as the Strigoi attacked.
At a T intersection, seven Strigoi jumped them, three on one side and four on the other. One guardian never saw it coming—a Strigoi grabbed him and snapped his neck so quickly that it looked effortless. Rose doubled back, trying to throw herself into the fray. Fortunately, in Adrian's opinion, she was stuck in the back. Ms. Carmack was beside her, and she had enough visibility to light up a couple of the Strigoi, making it easier for the guardians involved in the fight to stake them.
Alberta caught a glimpse of Rose and the others, calling out to them. "Start retreating!"
Another guardian fell, and Rose stared at him, her face pale. In seconds Janine was on the Strigoi attacker, driving her stake through his heart.
Rose rounded another corner on the tail of three guardians. She'd made it. Adrian spun, looking back the way they'd come from—where were the others? Something wasn't right. Something was—
Moments later, Janine's party came tearing down the hall. By the numbers, one more had gone down. Rose stood staring, fear filling her brown eyes—she felt it too, the sense that something was about to happen. Tension flowed through every part of Adrian's body. He had a bad feeling. A very, very bad feeling. He tried to calm himself—this was just a dream, a vision. It could be averted. It hadn't happened yet.
Belikov and the others tore around the corner, his eyes searching the assembled faces. His worried expression turned into one of intense relief as soon as his eyes locked on Rose, the corner of his lips lifting slightly. He was so intent on her face that what happened next appeared to take him completely by surprise.
Three Strigoi lay in wait in one of the alcoves. It all happened so fast; no one could have reacted in time. One of the Strigoi grabbed Celeste, his mouth and fangs going for her cheek. She let out a strangled scream as blood sprayed everywhere.
One of the Strigoi went for Ms. Carmack, but Janine jerked her away and shoved her towards the group of guardians.
The third Strigoi grabbed Dimitri, who had just torn his gaze away from Rose. The bad feeling intensified, accompanied by an electric tingle that shot through Adrian's entire body. A Strigoi had caught Belikov by surprise, and that slight edge was all it had taken.
It was the blond Strigoi who had been taunting Rose in the battle.
He grabbed Dimitri and pulled him to the ground. They grappled, strength against strength, and then those fangs sank into Dimitri's neck. The red eyes flicked up and made contact with Rose's, and her screams began.
Rose let out a cry of unmitigated horror, immediately attempting to move back towards the cave, only to be restrained by Guardian Dick. Her cries kept on, unending, as if her heart were being ripped from her chest, increasing in volume as she called out his name, over and over again.
Adrian felt her pain as if it were his own, throwing himself through the vision, forcing his way back to Belikov's side. He forgot in that moment that this was a dream. He forgot that the fallen man was his nemesis. His sole thought was to save the man his Rosebud loved, the man she needed as desperately as she needed the air she breathed. He threw himself of the Strigoi, only to find himself falling through colors, rematerializing back outside the cave. He tried to move towards the cave again, but this time he found he couldn't move his feet, couldn't move a muscle, he was frozen in place, forced to watch the horror unfold before him.
Janine started to double back toward the fallen, but then five more Strigoi appeared. Indecision flashed over her features as she tried to decide to flee or fight, and then, regret won out—she kept running toward the exit.
"What are you doing, Rose? More are coming." Dick was trying to calm Rose down; she was fighting against him as if he were a Strigoi, trying to break free so she could rescue Belikov.
Janine and Alberta burst out, dragging Ms. Carmack. A group of Strigoi were after them, skidding to a halt just on the edge of the waning light. Rose was still fighting Stan. He didn't need the help, but her mother grasped a hold of her, tugging her away.
"Rose, we have to get out of here!"
"He's in there!" She screamed, her voice panicked as she strained against their hands. "Dimitri's in there! We have to go back for him! We can't leave him!"
Her mother shook her hard, leaning close. "He is dead, Rose! We can't go back in there. The sun will be down in fifteen minutes, and they are waiting for us. We're going to be in the dark before we can get back to the wards. We need every second we can get—it still may not be enough."
But he wasn't dead—Adrian could feel it. Not yet. The Strigoi was toying with him—keeping him as bait, trying to get Rose to come back in. Adrian attempted to call out, trying desperately to alert them, but no sound escaped him, no matter how loud he screamed.
They were sentencing him to death! He could be saved. They had to fight, damn it! Together they could all save him—
The Strigoi gathered at the entrance, their red eyes gleaming with anticipation. They completely filled the opening, at least a dozen of them. Rose's face was filled with horror.
"No! Dimitri!" Her scream was a lament, a dirge. She sounded as if her soul were dying.
Her mother slapped her. "Run!" she yelled. "He is dead! You are not going to join him!"
Rose stared at her with uncaring eyes, looking as if she would willingly run into the mass of Strigoi, embracing death, if it meant she could be by Belikov's side again. Tears streamed down her face. Adrian felt his own tears sliding free. He could feel Belikov in his head, like a second personality. He could feel the other man's thoughts racing, could hear them as if they were whispered in his ear in Dimitri's thick Russian accent. He could feel the other man's intense pain and great sorrow in each word.
'Don't scream. Scream and she'll come running back in. She's safe—Thank you God, she's safe. I love you, Roza. I love you so much, always. I'm sorry, so sorry, Roza. My beautiful—'
Adrian attempted to tear himself free, screaming out—begging them to do something. "HE'S ALIVE GODDAMN IT!"
"Run!" Janine cried again. Holding onto one of Rose's arms she nodded to Guardian Dick, who grabbed the other. They drug Rose from the clearing, with tears streaming down her face.
At that moment, he felt Dimitri Belikov's soul die.