The Sunwalker- Heirs of the Night

24

The two opposing forces ran at each other. This was it. Nadja threw herself repeatedly at any and every enemy she saw. Her knives too found the hearts of many. Or at least she hoped so. Nadja didn't waste time checking when the target had fallen. She was not holding back, not with all the frustration built up inside. Alisa fought Dracula somewhere behind her. An Upiry vampire ran at Nadja and they started wrestling.

"Alisa!" Lars yelled somewhere behind them.

Nadja tossed the Upiry away and turned to see Dracula holding both Lars and Alisa by their throats. They were both struggling against him and hurt by his grip. Nadja saw red. No one hurt her brother like that. She ran at them, oblivious to the fights going on around them.

"You won't be able to protect her from me, little boy." Dracula taunted.

"Let them go!"

Nadja bellowed as she took hold of Dracula's ears and kicked him hard from behind. Something seemed to click into place in her mind, as she suddenly felt the presence of everyone in her vicinity. Lars pulsed warmly in her mind. Dracula fell forwards and lost his grip on both the young vampires. The Pyras ruby lay in Nadja's hand. She ran over to Lars to check up on him and saw the Dracas ruby back in his possession, where it should be. Something suddenly tightened around her, squeezing her hard. It felt like a giant hand tried to cut her in half. By the grunts he made and the pained expression on his face, Nadja deduced that Lars was experiencing the same. One look over her shoulder confirmed Nadja's suspicion. The Vikla ruby was glowing, Dracula was using its power on them. A gunshot sounded and the tightness around Nadja's chest vanished instantly. She fell forwards and dropped the Pyras ruby as she caught herself. Dracula fell to the ground with a thud, but Nadja ignored him.

"Lars, are you alri-" She followed his gaze and broke off.

Alisa was staring at her own hand, a black hole forming on it. Then, just as Dracula had, she fell, only Nadja caught her before she hit the floor.

"She's unconscious.."

Nadja whispered as she laid Alisa carefully down. When she turned back to Lars, she saw van Helsing standing over him, pointing his gun at his chest. Lars was frozen in fear, but Nadja was not. She got out a knife and prepared to run at van Helsing. To her surprise, he lowered his gun and prodded Dracula with his foot.

"Redmasks! Stop!" He yelled.

And that they did. Every Redmask suddenly stopped fighting at once. Nadja helped Lars to his feet, hissing angrily at van Helsing as she did so.

"Upiry!" Abraham continued. "If you want your revenge, get me the rubies!"

The whole of the Upiry clan leapt forward and ripped the rubies off of Dracula. Nadja pulled her brother back, away from the madness, the Pyras ruby laying forgotten behind where Nadja had fallen. They rushed out of there. The Heirs left, while the Shadows remained to get Alisa as well. To Nadja's surprise, Dracula was brought along too, as were Calvina and, by extension, Nicu. Once safely on board the Elisabetha, tables were cleared for Alisa and Dracula, who were both still unconscious.

"Wake her up!" Tammo yelled, wild in his gaze.

Hindrik held him back. He too was fighting an inner battle. "We can't Tam, you saw what happened!"

"Yes we can!" Tammo rounded on Dracula. Nadja was pleased to see the same anger in Tam that she herself had felt when Ragnar had taken Lars. "You monster! Bring her back to me!"

"Stay away from him." Hindrik pulled Tam away from Dracula. "It's going to be alright, we'll find a way." Hindrik returned to Alisa's side.

"Hva skal vi gjøre nå? What are we supposed to do now?" Inger asked, approaching Lars.