My vampire queen.

14. Savior

"General, we're being attacked!" Sandra's dark blue eyes expanded greatly as she tightened her teeth and controlled her fright as the guards howled through the high walls. Her voice was strong and calm, "Circle the palace and secure all exits!" was her demand.

Following Sandra's dash up the stairs and her unexpected entrance into Vanya's study, the guards nodded and proceeded to inform the others. Concern covered the queen's features, her blond eyebrows threading together. "What's wrong?"

With a gasp, Sandra said, "The palace is under attack," going for the sword she had hanging at her side. With a start, Vanya sprang to her feet, reaching for the sword hanging on the wall, taking hold of its handle, and fastening it around her waist.

"Shouldn't we get Warr—"

Sandra took hold of her arm and dragged her along. "There's no fucking time to wake him up—either we fight right now, or we lose again." With a roar, she dashed towards the army and swiftly cut through the invaders, vanquishing Vanya in the process.

With that blade in her hands, Vanya almost started to tremble. She gulped hard, terrified of losing the kingdom once more. She had let her people down once before, so why is she doing it again?

They were outnumbered, and Sandra was the only one weakening their position—she could easily defeat a hundred of them—but she wasn't able to get rid of them all. Vanya felt something sting in her chest before she could even respond. She groaned and felt the blood rush down her face in a powerful surge.

Her fangs expanded and touched her lower lip as her body fell to the ground, every bone in her body hurting. "Fuck." She let forth a painful growl. "They have silver arrows." A vampire like her would die from silver. She was becoming weaker by the second as she felt the poison seeping into her veins.

When Sandra saw that Vanya was no longer even able to stand, her eyes grew wide, and she ordered the soldiers to surround her with a circle of retreat. "We can't win—they've cornered us." With a frustrated murmur, she saw the attackers as they approached them.

Sandra thought that Warrin would come to their rescue, but when they saw him, Irene, and Archie tied up by the hands and forced to the ground, they all froze. Since Clara couldn't wield a blade like the Gauthiers could, she was treated with a little more respect.

They've won.

Vanya's mind was racing with ideas—her tears began to fall, and her worry was exploding inside of her. She has once again failed her people and is lost. The poison was wearing off her body to the point that she didn't even have the power to get herself up.

They fired numerous silver arrows at Sandra because they assumed she was the strongest among them; she deflected several of them, but one of them hit her in the leg. Sandra clenched her teeth and gave Vanya a stern glare despite the excruciating agony.

The attackers had their faces covered, and before Sandra could tell Vanya anything, she was assaulted with another wave of arrows, struck in the chest and shoulder twice, and then, with unnatural force, slammed into the wall with a ferocious punch. Her lips tightened together as her mind shut down on her, the poison burning inside of her body making her blood vessels snap.

"Emmy...." She slurred lightly, forcing herself to stay awake, grabbing the arrow and trying to pull it away from her flesh, hissing as she tried. She grunted loudly when she had it out, but it was already late—the venom had already done its damage. "I'm..." She choked on her own blood, tears blurring her eyelids. "So sorry."

The guards were slaughtered, and Vanya barely managed to get on her feet, only to be punched down, her back colliding with the ground as she tried to stand on her arms. He stood above her, the masked man, his sword tightly held in his hand as a wicked laugh erupted from his mouth.