The ownership of all characters related to and involving the novels of The Vampire Academy and Bloodlines Series remain the sole property of Richelle Mead, the Penguin Group and any affiliates.

No copyrights have been infringed on maliciously.

A/n: Sorry for such a long delay, everyone, but I was introduced to Reylo six weeks ago, and haven't been able to get them out my head since. It's taken a little while to get back into Dimitri's POV without confusing him with Kylo Ren.

A Conflict of the Soul

Chapter Three

First light the next morning dawned bright, clear and bitterly cold.

A thin layer of late winter frost had settled over everything just before sunrise, and had turned the landscape brittle and crystalline. It was undeniably beautiful, with the light glistening over every smooth surface, but it was already slippery under foot as it began to melt, and would make what we had set out to do more treacherous than it needed to be.

We had left for the caves an hour ago.

Our return had been decided late last night in a vote more volatile than the one that had sent us in the first time. Having found Gregor not long after leaving Rose, he had been so distracted by gathering everyone that thankfully he hadn't bothered to ask what I had been doing, where I had been, or more importantly, with whom. Arriving at housing, the vote had already begun as we walked into the crowded lounge, only it hadn't been Alberta this time who had been standing up to ask something of us, but Janine.

Arguing against the objections raised noisily by those unwilling to make another trip, Janine had eventually managed to calm the situation with her quiet confidence and the assurance that those who would return would be strictly on a voluntary basis. She had reminded everyone that whilst our main objective in returning was to make certain that none of the Strigoi left behind still hid there; it was also to retrieve our dead.

Six had been left behind when we had fled in the fading sunset yesterday; Molly Harper and five guardians, and whilst the main argument against Janine's suggestion had been about risking more life to bring back our dead, she had countered that they deserved better than to be left to rot in an unmarked grave, and that their families deserved something more than just a memory to bury.

None at the meeting had argued with that.

Asking quietly of everyone in the room, a dozen guardians had committed to returning, whilst she herself had committed to leading us. None of us were in the best shape; physically or mentally, but we were more than willing to do what we knew others would have done for us. Decided quickly on when to go, Janine had been adamant about just one more thing: no fire-wielding Moroi or any of the senior novices would be involved, or would even know about it until we had returned.

Again, there had been no arguments raised as most had thought that after Janine's suggestion of including them yesterday, she had finally come to her senses, but I knew that it had more to do with Rose than safety concerns. Given the way Janine had acted with her when we had reached the safety of the wards last night, it was clear that seeing her only child in the caves had frightened her more than she was willing to admit.

Knowing exactly how she felt, I was more than willing to agree with the exclusion of the novices, even whilst knowing how angry Rose would be when she found out. Her irritation we could all live with for as long as we had to…what we couldn't live with, was watching something happen to her.

Setting out in secret under the cover of pre-d awn darkness and equipped with collapsible stretchers to make the journey home with those we found easier, we were now roughly half a mile away from the mountain range that housed the caves. Slowing our approach to watch carefully for signs of hidden tracks and trails, we silently broke off into the groups assigned by Janine before leaving housing.

"What do you think we'll find in there?"

Glancing to my right, Konrad walked lightly beside me, treading carefully over the slippery ice whilst shivering and shrugging deeper into his coat. Not answering him immediately, he took my silence as his answer, and muttered in Russian before yawning tiredly and shaking his head to try and clear the exhaustion that all of us felt more keenly this morning.

Volunteering for the return, Kon, like the rest of us, had been awake well after midnight as Janine outlined her plan in detail, and like the rest of us, probably hadn't slept much after the meeting had ended. When I had found him in the lobby earlier, he had been on his third cup of coffee, but was no closer to being awake than he had been before the first.

Wrapping my own coat tighter to ward off the cold and for the umpteenth time missing the leathery protection of the duster, I decided to answer Kon's question. Not because it needed to be answered, but maybe because it would keep him awake a little longer.

"Nothing but death, I'm afraid. The surviving Strigoi aren't going to be stupid enough to wait until tonight to make their escape. They probably left right after we did. It would explain why they didn't follow us last night."

Slipping a little on a smooth patch, he righted himself quickly before squinting at me and the rising sun at my back. "Do you think that they left the bodies?"

"I hope they did, for the sakes of their families, but there's no guarantee. These Strigoi have been unpredictable from the start, and could have done anything by this stage."

Predators were notorious for leaving behind the ravaged carcass of their victim once they had finished feeding, and Strigoi were normally no exception, but there had been sporadic reports over the years that had suggested in some cases that they carried off their kill. Whether it was because they wanted to finish feeding in peace, or to turn their victim at a later stage, none of us knew, but the bodies were generally never found.

Grimly quiet because he knew that what I was saying was what he had expected to hear, Kon yawned again, and rubbed at his gritty eyes before changing the subject. "I don't think I've ever been this tired. The inside of my eyelids feel like they've got sandpaper stuck to them. Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Not much."

After the meeting had concluded, we had been ordered by Alberta to rest as the shift swung. None of us could of course, not with thinking about what the coming dawn would bring, but we had dutifully returned to housing to try anyway. Standing beneath the shower, the blood and dirt that had dried from the cave had been washed away as sore muscles unwound beneath the scalding water, but exhausted as I was, I still couldn't sleep.

Lying awake in bed, part of my preoccupation had been created by the possibilities of the horrors that awaited us in the cave come morning, but most of it had been centred on Rose.

Still a little giddy that she had been so readily accepting of a side of my nature she had never seen, the euphoria of it still sang so loudly through my bloodstream that it was all I could hear at times. Reliving the eroticism of the cabin had kept me achingly hard for hours, and when I had eventually drifted off into a fitful sleep, the dreams that had tortured me couldn't have felt more real than if Rose had been beside me in the bed.

Eventually giving up and leaving behind the attempt to sleep, I had found myself with boxing gloves on in the gym. Punishing the bag for my frustration instead of myself, even then I hadn't been able to think of anything else. Not duty to the Moroi, or the loyalties that still felt divided. There had only been Rose and how distracted I was by her and the love that seemed to govern everything.

Even now when I should have been concentrating on what we were about to do, she was what I was thinking of. Eager almost to be done with this so that we could return and I could see her, it was only common sense, and a returning sense of self-preservation, that kept my perspective from being completely warped by everything Rose.

There was also a danger to it, I realised, but that didn't really seem to stop me from doing it.

"There it is."

Forcing myself to focus, my gaze followed Kon's as the entrance to the cave came into view. It looked the same, but there was a sinister pull to it now that hadn't been there before. We knew what it held, and what it had cost us, and it made the sight of the innocuous mountain seem more like a tomb.

Bathed in bright light, the angle of the sun penetrated deeper within the shadowed tunnel than it had yesterday, and it lit up the spot where Celeste had lost her life. Her mutilated body, along with the Strigoi that had almost cost me mine should have been there, but the there was nothing. Disturbed by the thought of what had happened to it, there was no time to dwell as our groups split silently and Janine took charge.

Indicating to follow her, she slowly made her way deeper into the tunnel, keeping safely to the sun for as far as it would take us. Stakes drawn, we were tensely guarded against a surprise attack, but as we reached the edge of the sunlight, there was nothing ahead of us but darkness.

Passing over the place where I had been attacked and dragged to the floor, the reminder of the merciless rage that had consumed me, made me shift uncomfortably. There had been no controlling it at the time, but now that I could think clearly around it, I knew how stupid I had been, and that I should never have allowed it to happen in the first place.

Glancing around, Janine frowned when she found the tunnel empty. Crouching, she sifted through dirt and debris with the tip of her stake, but all that was left in the place that had once held Celeste's body was dried blood stains, small slivers of drying flesh, and tatters of clothing. She knew, like the rest of us, that it wasn't a good sign the body had been moved.

Sighing angrily, Janine rose and narrowed her eyes; glaring into the dark. "Where did Wilcox fall, Belikov?"

"In one of the secondary tunnels leading from the smaller antechamber." Pointing to a slight bend in the tunnel on the left, his body, if left alone, would be a few hundred yards in. "Molly Harper isn't far from him, and neither is the two others brought in from Court; Nicholson and Kovalev."

"If they're still there," Janine corrected. "Can you go in as a group?"

"No. Single-file. The tunnel widens and narrows at different points all the way through."

"Damn."

"What's the hold up?" Joining us, Dustin stayed carefully within the light, but he wasn't as cautious. He had been kept within the boundaries of the Academy during the rescue because of his seniority and experience on the ground, but this time around he had made it clear he wasn't going to be left behind.

"Celeste isn't here."

"Shit."

Walking past us and away from the light, Dustin stopped abruptly and gagged at the odour wafting through the passageways. The dank, foul-smelling air was still as oppressively suffocating as it had been yesterday, but when mixed with the decay, it was now far worse.

"Where would they have moved her to?"

"Probably the main chamber. That's were the largest congregation was. We have to go in any way to get Gregorovich's body, so we'll be able to see. If not, we're going to have to look for her." Not sounding happy about it, Janine knew that the longer we were here, and the farther we walked in, the more danger there would be, but she wasn't about to leave until we had the six.

Flicking the switch of a small, but powerful torch, Janine directed the beam and swung it around before she began to walk in, talking quietly over her shoulder as Dustin followed closely after her.

"Take Belikov, Medvedev and Stapleton to the antechamber to get Wilcox and Molly Harper's body. I'll take Hendricks, Anderson, Ruiz and Alto to the main chamber to get Gregorovich, and then Nicholson and Kovalev. Look for Celeste as you move through the cave, and gather any of the Strigoi bodies that have been left behind. Chase will send his team in to collect them specifically for the Alchemist's to dispose of, but we might as well help where we can. Once you find them, get out and regroup."

"Understood." Breaking left from the main tunnel, Dustin moved aside for me to lead the way as Janine continued on with the others.

Guided by torches, we searched quickly through the maze of tunnels in silence, too tense to make any small talk whilst the stench of death became a palpable awareness around us. Leaving Morgan and Kon to gather the Strigoi bodies we came across, Dustin and I found what was left of Brandan and Molly exactly where I had expected them to be, and wrapped them in sheeting before loading them onto the stretchers.

"Still no Celeste," Dustin muttered, listening over his earpiece as we joined the others and helped them load the Strigoi, but as with before, there was still too much static for anything to be heard clearly. "Is there anything else this side, Dimitri?"

"No." Crouching, I peered into the dimness. "The tunnel tapers off until it's too small to do anything other than crawl through it to the other side. It would mean we're vulnerable." Looking back at him over my shoulder, I nodded back towards the larger end of the tunnel. "We should make our way back to the main chamber."

Dustin's bushy brows met over the bridge of his nose in irritation. He didn't like that we couldn't go any further, but he nodded his head at my judgement call and didn't second guess me as I rose. Meeting up a few minutes later with the team led by Chase in the main passageway, they carried out the Strigoi bodies found. Telling him where to find the ones we had left, the guardians Janine led weren't far behind.

Stretchering out three shrouded figures, I couldn't see who they were, but judging by the size, they were male. Added to our two, that made up five, but not six. Following after them, Janine's dark brown eyes darted alertly around our surroundings as the beams of the flashlights momentarily lit up her face, but there was nothing but death in the cave now. None of the living Strigoi had lingered.

"Celeste?"

Holding my gaze, Janine slid her hand into her coat pocket, and took out a folded square of white cloth. Looking a little like a handkerchief, she unfolded it slowly. Once open, the beams from our torches threw light onto a grisly sight. Lying in the palm of her hand, a blood-dried piece of flesh with a single gold-stud was all that was there. The stud was a simple earring, and one that we both knew was the only jewellery that Celeste had ever worn.

Feeling physically ill at the sight, my next question was quiet, and probably unnecessary. "Is that all that you could find?"

Looking as queasy as I felt, Janine nodded just once before folding the linen around the flesh, and re-pocketed it. "All that was recognizable. There are other bits in there, but they could belong to anything or anyone. It's not much to give to Cybil, but it's something at least."

A little surprised at how sentimental the normally pragmatic Janine Hathaway was being, her manner turned business-like so quickly I thought I had imagined it. Following her out into the open, the clean air didn't settle my stomach, but it helped to ease the feeling of suffocation. The others questioned Janine about Celeste as she walked to where they had gathered, but she merely shook her head and instructed them to return to the Academy.

Walking to a squatting Dustin, he was carefully pulling back the edges of a shroud. Revealing Alan's cold, pale face and the mangled spinal column that had been the cause of his death, he looked at it for a moment before covering him again. Muttering softly in Swedish, I vaguely recognized the same kind of prayer I had used with Grier.

The words were different, but the sentiment was the same.

Squeezing his shoulder once, I moved to grab one end of the stretcher, knowing he would take the other, but it was Janine who picked up the other end. Waving away his protests, she hefted her side, and looked back over her shoulder towards me. Wanting to point out that with our height differences, she would take most of Alan's weight; the deadpan expression on her face told me she wasn't going to listen to any arguments, and so I lifted my end, and we began our return.

Automatically shortening my strides to keep pace with Janine, we were slower than the others, and fell slightly behind. Seeming in no hurry to catch up to them, which was unusual for her, I tried to figure out what was going on inside her complicated head, but it was never easy with Janine. Unlike her daughter, who usually had no problem in letting you know exactly what she was thinking, she was so hard to talk to, you practically had to pry information from her.

The one thing she was willing to talk about, at least to me, was Rose, and normally it was to complain about her reckless behaviour. Usually I didn't want that kind of conversation, but now, I wished she would start it. I didn't know what I was trying to accomplish with it, all I knew was that it still irritated me that she wouldn't give her daughter the credit she deserved.

Travelling carefully over the slippery terrain, it took us longer to return than our original journey as the ground continued to thaw, and still Janine said nothing. Preoccupied, like the rest of us, with the sombre nature of what we were doing, I left well enough alone, but as the heavy iron gates of the Academy became visible in the distance just before midday, Janine finally spoke.

"I was very impressed by the way that Rose handled herself in the cave yesterday."

Startled by the direction I wasn't expecting, I slipped a little on a patch of ice before righting myself quickly. Typically Janine had to be prompted by others to give her daughter praise of any kind, so to hear her give it without wasn't normal, and for some reason, it made the fine hair at the nape of my neck stand warily on end.

"She shouldn't have been in there in the first place of course, but what's done is done." Shifting the weight of the stretcher, Janine glanced over her shoulder just once, checking, I was sure, as to what my expression would give away. "I know that people think that I don't always give her the credit she deserves, and I don't, but that's because I've had a lifetime of problems from her. It's difficult to accept now that she's changed so radically in so short a time."

More than just wary now, I kept quiet as Janine's pleasant behaviour set off alarm bells in my head. There was something very, very wrong with this conversation because the underlying reason for it felt like she had an ulterior motive.

It felt like a setup.

"Still, I suppose that maybe with maturity, she has changed," Janine continued on, despite my silence. "She'll be eighteen in a week, and I have to admit, if you'd asked me last year if she would be ready by the time she graduated, I would have said no, but now, maybe I have to admit that I was wrong." Pausing for a long moment, Janine added softly. "I also know that I haven't given you any credit either, Belikov."

Feeling like a carrot was being dangled in front of my face; I knew that I couldn't remain silent. She would read too much into it, but I also had to be careful not to give anything away. "I don't need credit for anything, Guardian Hathaway. Rose was assigned to me for training, and that's what I've done."

"There's no need for false modesty, Belikov," she reproved quietly. "We all know what you did. You took a rash, volatile teenage girl, and straightened her out to the point where now instead of being thought of as a liability by her peers, she's almost respected amongst them."

"She proved herself, Guardian Hathaway," my voice reasoned evenly, even as my hackles rose at the almost part. "She had the skills, the knowledge and the drive; I only helped her in refining them."

"Refining? Is that what you call it? Well, I suppose that's one way of looking at it."

"What other way of looking at it is there, Guardian Hathaway?" I asked, even whilst knowing that I shouldn't have because I could hear the irritation creeping back into my voice.

"That you're in love with my daughter…that's another way of looking at it."

Said so quietly that the others wouldn't hear it, the menace in the answer was loud enough not to be mistaken for anything else, and chased away any trace of being pleasant. Understanding now why she had deliberately isolated us from the others, everything had been leading up to what was more than just a warning to stay away from her daughter…it was a threat.

I had expected this to happen, and had warned Rose that when it did the conversation wouldn't be pleasant, but I hadn't expected it this soon. It made it more than just ugly…it made it dangerous. Having it after graduation meant that we would be protected to a certain extent, but we were exposed now, so the only thing I could do to protect her, to protect us, was to deflect.

It was lying really; I could call it whatever I wanted, but there wasn't any other word for it. Hating that I had to do it, especially to Janine, I knew that I didn't have any other choice. The last thing I could do now was tell her the truth.

"Rose is my student, and as my student, we've spent a great deal of time together, and because of that, we are close, Guardian Hathaway. I obviously care for her, but honestly, you're reading more into this than you should."

Laughing more to herself, the sound had no humour in it. "You're very good at deflecting, Belikov. You always have been, but I've heard it enough by now, especially when questioned about Rose, to know what it sounds like."

"I don't know what you mean, Guardian Hathaway."

"Of course you do. We both know you do. There have been too many instances where you've given yourself away, although I must admit, you're always very careful to downplay it. I'm only amazed that no one else has picked it up yet. Or…maybe they have, and just haven't said anything. Which one is it, Belikov?"

"Neither, Guardian Hathaway."

"I don't believe you, but that's a different matter to the one we're discussing right now. I want an answer, and I want it to be an honest one. I've never trusted you around my daughter, you see. I don't have Alberta's unfailing belief in you, and I know there is more to your relationship with Rose than anyone knows, so I want an answer, Belikov, and I want it now. Remember, my influence in Court is far greater than yours will ever be, and I can use it to make life very unpleasant for you."

Stiffening at the reminder, I knew what Janine was threatening me with, but scare tactics hadn't worked on me with I was younger and had nothing to lose, and they certainly wouldn't work now that I was older, and had everything to lose. I wasn't going allow her to ruin what we had because she didn't approve.

She didn't understand what we had…she didn't understand what we had gone through to have it.

"With all due respect, Guardian Hathaway, the answer that I've already given you is the only answer you're going to get. You can threaten me all you like, but we both know that right now experienced guardians are hard to come by. The council isn't going to be stupid enough to bench me just to do you a favour."

Stopping abruptly, Janine threw a look over her shoulder full of seething disbelief as she heard the uncompromising edge to my voice. She had used her best bait for the trap, and had expected me to take it, but I wouldn't be intimidated by her, and now she knew that. Narrowing her eyes, the rancour I could see building there told me that she wasn't about to give up that easily.

Turning away without another word, I followed after her at a faster, angrier pace, and braced myself for what would come next. Janine was a formidable guardian, and one that would make a formidable opponent. I wasn't expecting her to give up easily.

"And what about Rose? Are you thinking about her when you're refusing to answer me?"

Pinpointing with unerring accuracy the one thing that I would react to in order to get what she wanted, Janine didn't disappoint. "This doesn't affect Rose."

"Doesn't it? She's come a long way, but she still has a long way to go. She needs to concentrate on her future, which, despite all that she's proven, is in no way set. Can you honestly tell me that she can do that when you're a distraction? Have you given any thought to how it would affect her if this somehow jeopardised her graduating, or her placement with Princess Vasilisa?"

Silent for a moment, Janine seemed to gather herself. "I know you think that I'm hard on her, and I am, but it's because I know how good she already is, and how much better she'll become, but she has to stay focused until she graduates, and she can't do that if her attention is divided."

Glancing over her shoulder, there was a different look now to the tight features of her face. One that wasn't accusatory, but almost desperate. "You know I'm right about this. No matter what you think of me, I am her mother, and I only want what's best for my daughter, Belikov. Can you say the same?"

Turning away, Janine said no more, but she didn't need to…the damage had already been done.

Was she right? Was I being selfish because I was only thinking about what I wanted?

When Father Andrew and Alberta had raised similar concerns about my relationship with Rose, I had listened to them because I knew they had her best interests, and mine, at heart, but I knew that there wasn't anything that either of them said that could influence me, but this was different. This wasn't a church elder, or the Captain of the Guard, this was her mother.

If there was anyone who had her best interests at heart, surely it was Janine?

Right now, there was nothing more important than getting Rose through trials, and graduated. If we continued our relationship, and it was discovered, then everything would be in danger, and nothing else would matter…not everything we had survived, not my decision to be reassigned, not even our commitment to each other.

I had been worried that my perspective had become warped by Rose, and foolish enough to believe that I could control it, but could I? Everything about her, about us, distracted me. How could it be any different for her? What if that distraction become too much for her? What if it did affect her and that cost her something that she would resent me for later?

That was something I couldn't live with, but I also couldn't live with going back to the way we had been before. I couldn't go back to waiting until after graduation to be together, but what choice did I have? The thought of separating myself from Rose felt like a punch to the gut, but the bigger problem was how did I go back to keeping her at arm's length after everything I had just promised her?

Staring blankly at the back of Janine Hathaway's head as I tried to come up with a solution and failed miserably, I wondered numbly if she realised she had won?

The heavy metallic whine of the gates being opened to allow us through did little to focus my attention, but as we carried Alan's body through, the sight of Rose waiting for us made every muscle in my body clench tightly in painful awareness. Dressed for the cold, the long tangles of her hair hung loose over her shoulders and swayed in the light breeze as she stood talking quietly to Emil.

Knowing that I wasn't anywhere near ready to have this conversation with her, I focused instead on the people standing with her, thinking absently that our secret return to the caves hadn't stayed a secret for as long as others wanted it to. Dean Barnes lounged to her right with a few of the other seniors lingering behind them, and a very pale looking Eddie was on her left. He was still a little unsteady on his feet, but he looked considerably stronger than yesterday.

Meeting the relief guardians coming forward to take the stretchers, our dead would be taken to join the others moved to the church, whilst the Strigoi would be taken to join the pile in the woods waiting for the Alchemists. Handing over Alan, Rose walked towards us. I could see how worried she was, and for the time being it overshadowed her anger at being left behind, but with the decision I had just made, that wouldn't last very long.

"Belikov?"

Turning to Janine, the effort in keeping my face neutral tested my discipline to the limit. Viewing me dispassionately, she seemed to know that she had made her point. "You're a good man. I know you'll do what's right."

Walking away before I could reply, she headed straight to intercept Rose as I thought bitterly that there was no need to guilt me into anything. She already had. Turning away whilst the two talked quietly, it would have been better for me to slip away without Rose noticing, but Dustin had other ideas. Ordering the relief guardians not busy with our dead to start transporting the Strigoi, he turned to me.

"The Alchemists are here for the disposal. Why don't you and Emil take the seniors with you? They'll need to learn sooner or later about this part of our world and Alberta doesn't have any problem with it. Talk to them and explain, but don't let them interact with the Alchemist's. You know they're a little spooked at the best of times. Keep them on the fringes, mmm?" Patting my shoulder, he walked off with Gregor before I could argue.

"What does he want us to do?" Frowning, Emil glanced at me. He still didn't look much better than before, but the stark look of despair was slowly starting to fade.

"To take the seniors to watch the Alchemists work."

"So soon? They're not meant to learn about the Alchemists until closer to Trials."

"I don't think he's worried about keeping to a normal syllabus right now, Emil."

"Probably not." Watching as the shrouded figures were carried off, Emil looked around them, and frowned again when he noticed the obvious. "Celeste isn't here." Sighing heavily as I shook my head, he hung his for a second, and repeated a prayer in Romanian.

Leaving me to gather the seniors, he began to herd them towards the woods, but Rose wouldn't move to join them. Her gaze was locked on the stretchers heading towards the church. Having been part of the rescue party, she knew who they were. It made it a more personal sense of loss than if they had been random guardians she had never met.

"Hathaway? Come on."

Turning to Emil's call, Rose jogged over to join the group, but I knew that she kept me in her peripheral vision. Walking slightly behind the group, we were deep within the woods when she started to slow her stride down. With mine being far greater, it wasn't long before we were almost beside each other, and I had no excuse good enough to stop it from happening.

"There wasn't anyone left alive, was there?" She murmured, watching my expression carefully.

"No."

Glancing around, Rose waited until everyone's attention was occupied before she whispered. "What happened to 'I'll see you after breakfast', and why the hell didn't you tell me you were going back to the cave this morning?"

"It was decided last night, and the novices were left out."

"Why were we left out? We could have helped like yesterday."

"The novices being involved in yesterdays rescue was a one time exception. We needed the numbers then; we didn't need them now."

Frowning at my brusque manner, it would be confusing to her after the way we had parted last night, but she didn't have the chance to question me further as Eddie noticed our conversation and joined us. "Hey, how come none of us knew about this?

"Because apparently we're not needed now." Rose spat out sarcastically to him, but her frown at me had turned into a scowl. It was better that way…anger was better than hurt, and I didn't have any way of avoiding the hurt I was about to cause her.

"Were any of the Strigoi still there?"

Eddie's question was quiet, but I could hear the strain. The others might not need it, but I was going to push for him to see a therapist. "No, Eddie. They had probably fled last night."

"Where are we going now? Guardian Dalca said something about expanding our education."

"You'll see when we get there. It's hard to explain."

Clearing the last patch of dense forest as the upper campus came into view, Emil and the other seniors could be seen on the edges of the woods. Standing partially behind the large Yews and Spruces, Emil glanced back at us and put his index finger to his lips to keep us quiet. Guiding Eddie to a Pine, I pulled Rose into the shadow of a giant Sycamore, but before I could move away from her, she latched onto my arm and kept me with her.

"What's going on, comrade?"

Keeping my eyes forward, I didn't answer at first as I watched the last of the Strigoi dead being piled with the rest. Clearing the area, the guardians retreated to the edges of the forest, but they had left behind another group. This group wasn't made up of guardians, but of another sect altogether, and one that neither Rose, nor any of the students here knew anything about. "You'll soon see."

"I don't mean with this," she persisted, glaring up at me. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing's going on with me, Rose. Look over there, please." I replied, trying to direct her attention in the hopes that she would see what was happening, and stop pushing for a conversation that neither of us was going to enjoy.

"Bullshit! Don't lie to me…you promised. I know something's wrong."

"I don't have time to discuss this now, Rose."

"Why not?!"

Cupping her chin gently, my fingers turned her head towards the gathering as a Strigoi body was dragged from the pile. A few seconds later, yellowish smoke began to sizzle and engulf the length of the body until it was completely encapsulated, then in a series of constricting movements, the cocooning shape shrank to nothing more than a fist-size ball. Dissipating as quickly as it had formed, all that remained of what was once a full-sized Strigoi was a pinch of ash.

Stunned into silence at the sight, Rose stared wide-eyed as I bent to her ear and whispered. "Because the Alchemist's have arrived."