St. Vladimir's Academy | Monday Afternoon
In all the preparations, no one had noticed Rose and Dimitri's absence, they were too busy with planning the rescue mission and gathering enough guardians and adult Moroi to have a veritable army. The group assembled an hour before departure and went over the plan. It seemed sound and with their increased numbers with the senior novices and Moroi, Dimitri believed they could do this.
The cave had a large chamber near the far side, and it was only logical that the Strigoi would be there in order to head out the moment night came. The plan was a simultaneous attack from both ends, trapping the Strigoi and their victims in the middle. Fifteen guardians and three Moroi would go in from each side while ten guardians would remain at each entrance to hold back any escaping Strigoi. Dimitri was on one of the teams heading into the cave and he was admittedly relieved that Rose was assigned to watch an entrance. His fear had nothing to do with her abilities and everything to do with his selfish need for her survival. In the end, Dimitri yanked on his metaphorical guardian mask and hid his feelings in the back of his mind, knowing now that there would be more than enough time for them when this was over.
Moving briskly to cover the five miles between the Academy and the cave, the teams had set out with enough time to enact the plan and return to the safety of the Academy's wards before nightfall. There would be no Strigoi outside the caves during the day lest they burn up, putting the bad guys at a disadvantage - this plan was nothing the Strigoi would ever expect.
It was only natural that the Moroi accompanying Dimitri's team appeared nervous about their role. Unlike him and the other guardians, they'd not been trained for this since they were five years old. Fighting was frowned upon to the point where even physical self defense was rare with Moroi, let alone using their magic for such a dangerous purpose. And still, Dimitri was proud to have them with him; taking their presence as a sign of the changes coming to their world.
The entire group was radiating tension as they approached the entrance to the cave. Janine took the lead, guiding the team into the cold darkness. Dimitri flipped the switch on a light hanging from his shirt, leaving his hands free for carrying his stake and fighting. Just past sight of the entrance, they came across their first pair of unsuspecting Strigoi guards. With the Moroi's help, the guardians decimated them in an instant, pushing deeper into the cave to repeat their attack again and again, cutting through the Strigoi with barely a casualty. Fighting their way through the cave, Dimitri and his team endeavored to keep their ranks strong, not letting the Strigoi get behind them before they could find where the taken were being held.
When they found them, well, that was when it seemed all hell broke loose.
____
Rose was stationed at the back entrance to the caves with five guardians and four other novices. She itched to be inside, to be fighting instead of waiting, but this was important too. Someone had to make sure the Strigoi couldn't try to escape...well, escape into daylight, but still. Dimitri was fighting in the caves. Dimitri and her mother, but Rose couldn't let her fears and worry for them emerge. She was in battle mode. All of her emotions were boxed in a tiny part of her mind and shoved way in the back. If she let them out, she'd maybe prove that she hadn't been ready to be picked to come out here - and she might get someone else killed.
The sounds of fighting had been echoing out through the caves for several minutes before fleeing footsteps alerted them to someone's presence. All of their stakes were at the ready, but it wasn't a Strigoi who came out of the cave, it was Abby Badica, weeping and terrified. A minute later, it was one of the Moroi teachers then two more Moroi and a dhampir. Each time they heard footsteps, Rose's hopes rose that it would be Eddie. She told herself he must be escaping through the front entrance.
Her hand ached. Rose looked down, realising she'd been clenched her stake so hard, her fingers had locked up. Concentrating on relaxing her hands, Rose passed the stake from one hand to the other, making sure her grip was secure. She was soaking with sweat as nerves threatened to overwhelm her. Finally the leader of their team, Emil, broke the silence, ordering three of the novices to take the kidnapped back to the school and three of the guardians to go into the cave to try to alleviate the stalemate there.
More time passed, and the tension was so thick between the four remaining dhampirs that it was almost hard to breathe. No one else came out of the caves, no reports came through Emil's earpiece, and the sun was just beginning to touch the tops of the trees. It was getting late in the day. Rose almost jumped as Emil flinched at a message finally coming through.
"We need more in there to cover the escape on the other end. It doesn't sound like we've lost many. They're just still having trouble with the retreat." Rose caught her breath. Many meant at least one person had died. Emil nodded to the other guardian. "Stephen, you go in." He paused, weighing his option. "Rose, go with him."
___
At some point during the battle, part of the wall had fallen in, leaving a pile of stones to almost entirely block the opening to the other side of the cave and allowing ten Strigoi to trap Dimitri, Alberta, and five other guardians in a small space. It was nearly impossible for the guardians to attack with so little space to move, giving the Strigoi a serious advantage. Things were looking grim up until three of the surrounding Strigoi turned away from the trapped guardians to deal with fresh attackers. Not realizing who was coming to their aid, Dimitri's heart paused in his chest when he caught sight of Rose getting thrown against a wall for her efforts. At the same time, he saw an opening to knock out a distracted Strigoi and had to focus, coordinating his efforts with the others to stake the Strigoi and lower the numbers surrounding them.
With Rose and Stephen as reinforcements, the group of guardians were able to gain ground and stake the remaining Strigoi, allowing several of the injured to escape back the way Rose had come while the others crawled through the stones to verify the rest of the teams were able to retreat from the caves with the kidnapped victims. Dimitri was the last through the gap, forever bringing up the rear. He hated to think anyone would be left behind and breathed in relief to see Rose alive on the other side of the wall.
The next minutes passed in a blur of running hard through the shadowy cave, fighting Strigoi when they attacked despite Dimitri feeling his energy rapidly fading after so much strain over the past twenty-four hours. He refused to pay attention to the effort each hit took, all the time trying to reach the exit before the quickly dropping sun set and they lost all sense of future safety from the lingering Strigoi.
They were so close to the cave entrance that they could see the light reflecting off the stone walls and Dimitri pushed on, fueled by adrenaline alone, taking up the rear again as their group started slipping out of the cave. He heard Celeste's scream, saw her blood spraying the wall and just as Janine yanked the last of their group out into the light, Dimitri faltered. A blond Strigoi had caught him by surprise, yanking Dimitri to the cave floor where they grappled, strength against strength until suddenly, one gained the upper hand and the Strigoi's fangs sank into Dimitri's neck. Dimitri winced as his skin broke and an avalanche of bitter agony and darkness tore through his body. All he could hear was a scream that didn't belong to him.
[NFB, NFI, OOC A-OK, warnings for violence and character death, Shadow Kiss: Post 1 | Post 2 | Post 3 | Post 4 | Post 5 | Post 6 | Post 7 | Post 8 | Post 9]
The cave had a large chamber near the far side, and it was only logical that the Strigoi would be there in order to head out the moment night came. The plan was a simultaneous attack from both ends, trapping the Strigoi and their victims in the middle. Fifteen guardians and three Moroi would go in from each side while ten guardians would remain at each entrance to hold back any escaping Strigoi. Dimitri was on one of the teams heading into the cave and he was admittedly relieved that Rose was assigned to watch an entrance. His fear had nothing to do with her abilities and everything to do with his selfish need for her survival. In the end, Dimitri yanked on his metaphorical guardian mask and hid his feelings in the back of his mind, knowing now that there would be more than enough time for them when this was over.
Moving briskly to cover the five miles between the Academy and the cave, the teams had set out with enough time to enact the plan and return to the safety of the Academy's wards before nightfall. There would be no Strigoi outside the caves during the day lest they burn up, putting the bad guys at a disadvantage - this plan was nothing the Strigoi would ever expect.
It was only natural that the Moroi accompanying Dimitri's team appeared nervous about their role. Unlike him and the other guardians, they'd not been trained for this since they were five years old. Fighting was frowned upon to the point where even physical self defense was rare with Moroi, let alone using their magic for such a dangerous purpose. And still, Dimitri was proud to have them with him; taking their presence as a sign of the changes coming to their world.
The entire group was radiating tension as they approached the entrance to the cave. Janine took the lead, guiding the team into the cold darkness. Dimitri flipped the switch on a light hanging from his shirt, leaving his hands free for carrying his stake and fighting. Just past sight of the entrance, they came across their first pair of unsuspecting Strigoi guards. With the Moroi's help, the guardians decimated them in an instant, pushing deeper into the cave to repeat their attack again and again, cutting through the Strigoi with barely a casualty. Fighting their way through the cave, Dimitri and his team endeavored to keep their ranks strong, not letting the Strigoi get behind them before they could find where the taken were being held.
When they found them, well, that was when it seemed all hell broke loose.
____
Rose was stationed at the back entrance to the caves with five guardians and four other novices. She itched to be inside, to be fighting instead of waiting, but this was important too. Someone had to make sure the Strigoi couldn't try to escape...well, escape into daylight, but still. Dimitri was fighting in the caves. Dimitri and her mother, but Rose couldn't let her fears and worry for them emerge. She was in battle mode. All of her emotions were boxed in a tiny part of her mind and shoved way in the back. If she let them out, she'd maybe prove that she hadn't been ready to be picked to come out here - and she might get someone else killed.
The sounds of fighting had been echoing out through the caves for several minutes before fleeing footsteps alerted them to someone's presence. All of their stakes were at the ready, but it wasn't a Strigoi who came out of the cave, it was Abby Badica, weeping and terrified. A minute later, it was one of the Moroi teachers then two more Moroi and a dhampir. Each time they heard footsteps, Rose's hopes rose that it would be Eddie. She told herself he must be escaping through the front entrance.
Her hand ached. Rose looked down, realising she'd been clenched her stake so hard, her fingers had locked up. Concentrating on relaxing her hands, Rose passed the stake from one hand to the other, making sure her grip was secure. She was soaking with sweat as nerves threatened to overwhelm her. Finally the leader of their team, Emil, broke the silence, ordering three of the novices to take the kidnapped back to the school and three of the guardians to go into the cave to try to alleviate the stalemate there.
More time passed, and the tension was so thick between the four remaining dhampirs that it was almost hard to breathe. No one else came out of the caves, no reports came through Emil's earpiece, and the sun was just beginning to touch the tops of the trees. It was getting late in the day. Rose almost jumped as Emil flinched at a message finally coming through.
"We need more in there to cover the escape on the other end. It doesn't sound like we've lost many. They're just still having trouble with the retreat." Rose caught her breath. Many meant at least one person had died. Emil nodded to the other guardian. "Stephen, you go in." He paused, weighing his option. "Rose, go with him."
___
At some point during the battle, part of the wall had fallen in, leaving a pile of stones to almost entirely block the opening to the other side of the cave and allowing ten Strigoi to trap Dimitri, Alberta, and five other guardians in a small space. It was nearly impossible for the guardians to attack with so little space to move, giving the Strigoi a serious advantage. Things were looking grim up until three of the surrounding Strigoi turned away from the trapped guardians to deal with fresh attackers. Not realizing who was coming to their aid, Dimitri's heart paused in his chest when he caught sight of Rose getting thrown against a wall for her efforts. At the same time, he saw an opening to knock out a distracted Strigoi and had to focus, coordinating his efforts with the others to stake the Strigoi and lower the numbers surrounding them.
With Rose and Stephen as reinforcements, the group of guardians were able to gain ground and stake the remaining Strigoi, allowing several of the injured to escape back the way Rose had come while the others crawled through the stones to verify the rest of the teams were able to retreat from the caves with the kidnapped victims. Dimitri was the last through the gap, forever bringing up the rear. He hated to think anyone would be left behind and breathed in relief to see Rose alive on the other side of the wall.
The next minutes passed in a blur of running hard through the shadowy cave, fighting Strigoi when they attacked despite Dimitri feeling his energy rapidly fading after so much strain over the past twenty-four hours. He refused to pay attention to the effort each hit took, all the time trying to reach the exit before the quickly dropping sun set and they lost all sense of future safety from the lingering Strigoi.
They were so close to the cave entrance that they could see the light reflecting off the stone walls and Dimitri pushed on, fueled by adrenaline alone, taking up the rear again as their group started slipping out of the cave. He heard Celeste's scream, saw her blood spraying the wall and just as Janine yanked the last of their group out into the light, Dimitri faltered. A blond Strigoi had caught him by surprise, yanking Dimitri to the cave floor where they grappled, strength against strength until suddenly, one gained the upper hand and the Strigoi's fangs sank into Dimitri's neck. Dimitri winced as his skin broke and an avalanche of bitter agony and darkness tore through his body. All he could hear was a scream that didn't belong to him.
[NFB, NFI, OOC A-OK, warnings for violence and character death, Shadow Kiss: Post 1 | Post 2 | Post 3 | Post 4 | Post 5 | Post 6 | Post 7 | Post 8 | Post 9]