Shadow Rider (Vampire Academy Fanfic)

Chapter 8 - Rose

Dimitri and I did not end up going to my room, after all. Believe me, we both wanted to. But Mikhail had told us in bypassing that there was to be a showdown at the gym, and no matter how wrapped up in each other Dimitri and I were, we were both crazy about anything that had to do with gyms, exercises, or progressive offensive magic.

Right then, my phone started buzzing. I dug it out of my pocket and answered.

‘Guardian Hathaway,’ I said briskly.

‘Rose?’ Lissa exclaimed, voice light and almost breathless.

‘What’s up?’

‘You’ve gotta come to the arena. Something amazing is about to happen. You need to see this!’

The Royal Court had quite a formidable indoor sports arena designed for all sorts of remarkable occasions. I had no idea what could be going on there right now, but from Lissa’s tone, I was guessing it would be good. Dimitri and I shared one look before we took off at a light jog.

‘What do you think is gonna happen?’ I asked. I had thought Dimitri would be as ignorant of the matter as I was, but when I saw his lip twitch slightly, I began to suspect something. ‘What?’ I prompted.

‘Christian,’ he simply said, and that name was self-explanatory. I groaned.

‘Christian is up to something,’ I deduced, regarding Dimitri speculatively.

‘You could say that. We haven’t exactly been inactive while we’ve been gone. He’s been planning this all along.’

‘I should have known. This is when Christian burns the Court to the ground, isn’t it?’

‘You wish, Rose.’

‘Yeah, the room I’m in right now does kinda make me wish for that.’

Dimitri actually snorted. ‘Ha. You should have seen the conditions Christian and I have been living in.’

‘I’m not sure I would want to. Christian feels like the type that never cleans up after him. Bet he turned you into his maid.’

Dimitri’s silence confirmed it, but he was far too disciplined and well-mannered to complain.

At last, we reached the arena and entered the back area with the stairs that led towards the stands. Dimitri mentioned for me to walk in front of him, and after a moment announced, ‘I see her,’ to which I responded, ‘Thank God for your height.’

When we neared the middle, I too saw Lissa waving frantically to call our attention to her. I smiled warmly as we seated ourselves beside her. She smiled back fondly.

‘So where’s Christian?’

Without a word, and a very apparent glint in her eye, she inclined her head towards the field of the arena. I turned my head slowly, letting my eyes sweep over and take in the spectators before settling on what was happening on the field. I was shocked to see how many people had turned up; everybody looked completely attuned to whatever was occurring.

Fire. Fire was occurring.

Christian stood in the centre, wielding incredible amounts of fire magic. He was clad in all-black, his attire contrasting widely to the orange-red of the violent flame that circled him like a tornado. Wow, was my first thought. My second was: what a show-off. There was something powerful about the demonstration, something promising. Christian was one of the few Moroi who had learnt how to use offensive magic since he was a child; largely thanks to Tasha Ozera. I didn’t doubt for a second that he would grow into becoming one of the most powerful fire-wielding Moroi anyone at Court had seen in centuries.