Vampire Academy: Last Sacrifice (Dimitri's POV)

Chapter 8

I raised my stake and slid closer to Sydney, scanning the faces. They were Moroi, thankfully, but that didn't stop them from being a threat. However, I didn't doubt that Rose and I would be able to take them out. In the light, which was coming from a ball of fire in a Moroi's hands, I could also pick out dhampir faces intermingled with them. Who were these people? One of the Moroi walked forward with a silver stake in his hand. His beard was bushy and brown and his eyes were narrowed. He reached out for Sydney and I started, aiming to pull her away as soon as possible. Rose was too. We were held back, not just by the hands of others, but by Sydney's strangled, "Wait," as the man gripped her chin. He turned her head and the other side of her face lit up.

"Lily-girl," he grunted, and seemed satisfied enough to let her go. I immediately returned to her side. "You're here to join us?"

"We need shelter," Sydney explained, rubbing her throat. "They're being chased by-by the Tainted." The Tainted? What on Earth? Rose looked impossibly more puzzled than I was.

"More like spies for the Tainted," the fire user muttered.

"The Tainted Queen is dead. They think she did it." She nodded towards Rose. The bearded man smiled, which took me by surprise. Wasn't he going to turn us in?

"And so, another usurper passes us on. Is there a new one yet?" he asked.

"No. They'll have elections soon and choose." Mumbling and mutters circled around the clearing.

"How else would they choose a new king or queen?" Rose blurted out, her eyebrows pushed together.

"In the true way," somebody from behind me answered. "The way it used to be, long ago. A battle to the death." Oh no. This wasn't good. I didn't want these people giving Rose ideas. However, there was no crazy smirk, instead a look of astonishment. The bearded man turned and walked down another path and I assumed we had to follow. Rose was still speechless.

After a while we arrived at a huge bonfire. People were congregated around it, chatting amongst themselves, and small shack-like houses were scattered around. They stretched far back into the woods, making me wonder how big this civilisation really was. On the other side of us, mountains stretched high into the sky, their peaks standing out against the stars. I thought that I could see caves in the mountains, but convinced myself I was seeing things. After all, was that humans I saw? Talking to the Moroi casually? Never. I caught Rose murmuring to Sydney but didn't manage to hear much. All I could get was something about Keepers. Was that these people? The Keepers? I would have to ask her myself sometime soon.

"Why are they here, Raymond?" a human woman by the fire addressed the bearded man, who I took to be Raymond. "Are they joining us?"

"No," he replied, shaking his head. "The Tainted are after them for killing their queen." Rose was about to protest but Sydney elbowed her sharply. From the look of the crowd, they seemed pleased, so this was our only hope. "We're giving them refuge. Although you are welcome to join us and live here. We have room in the caves." I glanced over at the mountains and saw that they really were caves. I couldn't imagine Rose living in one of them. She'd be grumbling about not having cable for the rest of her life.

"We only need to stay here..." Sydney began, "A couple days, probably."

"You can stay with my family. Even you." He said this to Sydney, and I realised that they didn't like the Alchemists much, either.

"Thank you. We'd be grateful to spend the night at your house." Obviously meant for Rose. After this conversation, we had many awkward discussions with the Keepers about the queen's murder, before I couldn't take much more.

"Enough," the human woman ordered, "It's getting late and I'm sure our guests are hungry." I tried to conceal my stomach that was rumbling heavily. We wandered down to their house and the woman introduced herself as Sarah. "Did you bring anything?" she asked Sydney.