A Guardian's Promise

Chapter 11 - Strigoi Break-in

(DIMITRI'S PERSPECTIVE)
The strigoi were after the 'last' Dragomir. They must have seen Rose fight those two before and tailed her back here. They somehow knew that Rose is Queen Vasilisa's guardian, therefore followed her in hopes of getting lucky and taking the young moroi queen down. Well they wouldn't be satisfied today. Instead, they got two strong guardians who wouldn't let the strigoi do anything, and my family, who all got the same training as Rose and me, although they just aren't promised.
"Where is the Dragomir princess?" One strigoi-the leader-asks.
"Up your ass." Rose growls. She was heading towards him, a scowl on her face as she pulls out a torch. He lunges for her, but as fast as he went for her, he jumps back with a scream. Rose used the torch as a distraction before going for his heart with her stake. I couldn't stand there and watch and see if he was dead, because one of the strigoi had run off to search the house-probably in hopes of finding Lissa. Rose and my sisters would be fine with the two strigoi, and even Mama and Babushka could pack a pretty decent punch, enough for Rose to finish the strigoi off.
The 'youngest' strigoi-youngest being newest to strigoi life-had gone down the hallway where mine and my sister's rooms were. That wouldn't be a problem if Karolina and Sonya's children weren't down there, but they were and there was no way they could defend themselves, even ten-year-old Paul hadn't had enough training. In front of me, the strigoi beings his search for the Dragomir Queen. 'Rose's' strigoi had said princess, but no one corrected him-one because we were too busy fighting-and two, it would make her a much more valuable target to the strigoi, one where they would get a lot of praise for it with their kind. Not that it would be easy to take out the lead monarch, but they would try.
If we got Lissa back.
Back to the now, the strigoi still hadn't noticed that I was stalking him, and I easily closed the gap between us before he realised someone was on this tail. But he had noticed, and I couldn't get my stake in from behind in time. Instead, he spun around with such speed that I could feel where his movement broke the air around him. With almost the same amount of force, he pushes me away towards the door. My balance slips for a second, but I regain it and move towards him swiftly.
He had reached Karolina's door. But before he could open the door, I throw my entire body weight between him and the door, shoving him back. He hadn't anticipated this, and I caught him by surprise. His heart was in line with my stake, and use that as my advantage, killing him. He gives a choked gasp and slumps lifelessly to the floor.
All was quiet from what I could hear, and there were only three possibilities that come to mind. One, everyone was dead and the strigoi escaped. Two, the strigoi were dead and everyone was just quiet. And three, the battle went somewhere else, like outside. One was almost impossible considering the circumstances. Even a novice like Viktoria was strong, and given a stake, she could kill strigoi. And there was Rose. Well, she was capable of anything I could do, despite her lacking in height and weight. But at the same time as being impossible, it was also possible. Just unlikely. And as I walk into the room, my thoughts were proved right. I release the deep breath I hadn't realise I was holding in as I study the room. Two strigoi lay dead on the floor, and my family were sitting on the lounge looking somewhat worn out. Only Viktoria, Rose and I did regular fighting and training, so all the others weren't quite as fit or used to it as we were. But with a second glance around the room, I get a feeling that something-someone-was missing. And someone was.
That someone was Rose.
Thoughts flowed into my head. She could be hurt or worse... no. I push the thoughts away, closing my eyes and taking a very deep breath. It took all my power to stay in control, and I wasn't surprised when my voice came out raspy and tremulous. "Где Роза?" I ask.
Mama nods towards the back door, and I almost drag myself outside-and run into Rose. Her eyes widen with shock for a second, then her previous expression-stressed-returns to her face as she wraps her arms around my neck.
"We make a good team Comrade."
I laugh. "That's what I thought from the beginning Roza." She gives me a half-smile, and that is when I notice bruises on her shoulders.
"Rose what happened."
Rose sighs. "I killed the first one I was fighting, but as I did, the other one threw me towards the wall and I tossed my stake to Viktoria before he pinned me against the wall. He was about to bite me, but she got him from behind."
My eyes widen. "Are you okay?"
"Yes."
Questions filled my head, and I sort through them unconsciously, and come up with some. They were unimportant. "Why were you outside then?"
"I called the alchemists." As soon as she said it, I realised how dumb my question was. In my worry about Rose I had forgotten what we did with dead strigoi. Unfortunately, we couldn't wait for an alchemist to arrive.
"Rose we need to leave." The sun was rising, and our plane left tomorrow morning. To get from Baia to there would take pretty much all day.
"I don't want to leave." I could tell Rose was thinking. "But I also want to get out of here. Plus, we need to find Lissa."
I laugh at her indecisiveness. "That we do."

Word Count: 998