Lady Dhampir
Chapter 281

Unlike most of the men lined up at the windows, Milena really took her time to secure the shot. Those

ures were too fast for the eye to follow from behind a g*n, and soon, she realized she'd have to wait for that thing to actually stop to aim and fire. Sadly, there was only one thing that would have one of those nightmarish creatures stop. Perhaps all the gunfire h aged them, because one seemed to hit the first barricade like a cannonball, wrecking all the pieces of wood that had been gathered in a split second. Milena only saw wood flying from all sides, some chunks even flying so violently they injured more soldiers. Despite Alexis' shouting, her men that had been prepared in scouting units literally ran in all directions as soon as the creature was on them. Unlike their commanders, none of those men had been exposed to the terror of a wendigo before, and despite their best efforts, there was little an unprepared man could do but panic. "Stay with your unit!" Alexis shouted. "Stay together and fire as soon as you can!"

Some of her men finally regained their focus and did as told, quickly regrouping in small groups, back to back instead of trying to flee or hide by themselves. Sadly, it was already too late for some of them. The wendigo was creating an absolute c*****e in the snow, jumping from one body to another like a restless beast. Although the creature seemed to have hardly any intelligence aside from its l**t for blood, it knew to keep moving to avoid getting shot. Milena estimated five men had died already, but the limbs were so scattered around from the butchery, she couldn't even tell for sure. The only good point was that atta hose men slowed down the creature, leaving room for their peers to take the shot each time it struck a new victim. While this one was already pretty much mped out of the forest. She had quickly understood one painful truth; she had to wait for those things to stop moving to take a shot, and for them to stop, she was sure one of those things would stop, finding their target a split second before they did. The moment the Wendigo stopped, she took one clear, neat ed at it, either for good measure or because they hadn't even realized that thing had been fatally shot already. Then, they realized, and rejoiced for a couple

secured by Alexis' troops trying to take it down, Milena was more focused on the two others that had j they had to attack one of the soldiers on the ground. Taking deep breaths, she waited, until the very s shot. She saw something flying off the creature's head, and it dropped to the ground. Several men aro of seconds, before moving again.

The remaining two wendigos in sight were still on a rampage, though, and to be watched out for. Miler had completely wrecked the first East barricades, running towards the De Nova knights already. Perha

gotten the first kill, but Alexis' men had only heavily injured the first. It was still moving. The third one was the one causing the most trouble, though, and cause of the lack of supervision, the ranks were completely scattered, and couldn't regroup no matter what they tried. Those men would be done for if no one stopped that thing. Trusting Alexis to get rid of the first wendigo, Milena tried to focus on this one. The weather conditions were the absolute worst for a long-range shoot, though. She had perhaps gotten a hint of luck for the first shot, but now, it felt like the wind was picking up and the snowfall getting heavier, which made it worse for her and the sharpshooters at the windows, but also for the men on the ground who tried to flee. She fired three, four, five times, without even managing to hit that thing once. "Keep an eye out for the fourth one!" She shouted at the other sharpshooters lined along the window

They all answered affirmatively, and while some were trying to shoot the visible wendigos down like her, others watched the forest, looking out for the one missing. Milena couldn't help but grow nervous as the time passed with two of those wretched creatures still moving. How many minutes had passed? Ten? Perhaps more? She couldn't tell, but they had to buy themselves as much time as they could before Arseus and his men returned. And when they were done with all four, what should they do? She couldn't believe Arseus had simply unleashed four of those creatures on her domain, without a back-up plan in case they defeated all four. What was the point? Even if he reduced their numbers greatly this way, how could he be certain Milena wouldn't retaliate? Or did he have possibly more of these things to release? Unless he hoped they'd all turn into wendigo or die? She had too many questions running through her head, and everything was happening too fast. Milena f****d herself to take a deep breath, and prepared to aim and shoot again.

"...It's over there."

She looked up from her g*n, and turned around. She had forgotten about Raphael. Her brother's golden eyes were riveted outside, on a point in the horizon, with a slight frown between them. "What?"

"The other one. I can hear it. It's over there. It... found something to eat."

Milena frowned. By something, Raphael probably meant someone, but judging from his fearful expression, he just couldn't get himself to say it. Had they left someone in the domain? Perhaps someone from an ally House had been sent on patrol and got trapped? A spy from the enemy, perhaps? Either way, that explained why one of those things was missing. And Raphael could feel them, too. His new telepathy thing was completely baffling Milena, but perhaps, it would be a greater help than she thought.

"I understand. Raphael, please warn me if that thing gets closer to the Manor, alright?"

"I will."

Her golden-eyed brother seemed strangely calm, and determined. He seemed to be purposefully not looking down from the window, most likely because of the gruesome m******e going on. Milena sighed, and got back into position, hoping Raphael's gift could help prevent more deaths. She was already infuriated from the lives already lost...

The remaining wendigo was still going on rampage, while the one under Alexis' men fire had considerably slowed down. They were now filling that thing with bullets, and it just barely moved from where it was. That thing had left a trail of bodies behind, but at least, that was another one of those horrible creatures down. Two to go. Milena tried to shoot again at the third one, still without success. She was now pondering about going down to the ground floor to try and take a better aim, but the windows were most likely already blocked. It wouldn't change a thing about the terrible weather, either. All she could do was keep shooting, like the other men, and wait until someone finally got rid of that thing.

"Millie, it's coming," Raphael suddenly said.

"Tell me where."

"On your left. It's... I think it's somewhere behind that grand tree."

Milena immediately lowered her weapon, and bent over the window frame, looking from the Duke De Nova with her eyes.

"De Nova! Fourth one incoming on the left! Behind the great oak tree, at ten o'clock!"

The Duke didn't even lift his head at her. The experienced vampire looked right in the direction she had said, and raised his g*n, ordering his men to get in position. The De Nova knights immediately got ready to fire. The gunshots began long before Milena even saw that thing. She guessed the vampires on the ground had spotted that creature long before her, so she ignored it and took aim at the third one.

Someone finally got it. She had no idea who had made the shot, but the creature was suddenly violently hit in the head, and fell back in a strange position, screeching horribly. Just like before, the knights on the ground kept firing at it, worried that thing would be able to move again. Milena let out a faint sigh of relief. With the one Alexis had finished just before, that was one to go, and they knew where it was... "Watch out!"

Her blood went ice-cold. Horrible screams came from behind the invisible line of Alexis' units, and before anyone could understand, blood flew and stained the snow around like a red wave. Milena understood first; one of Alexis' men had been bitten, and sent at the back, but it was too late. It was transforming, and already craving fresh blood to feast on.

Without any hesitation, Milena fired. She was the first one to react, while many soldiers were still baffled by their peer's sudden rage. She didn't have this much consideration, or perhaps her experience was speaking. Soon after her, Alexis took the shot too, aiming to shoot the new wendigo down. The Marquess was firing at one of her own men, but if anyone was shocked by her action, no one tried to hinder her. Most men were too busy fleeing, or still grasping the situation. Luckily, the two women's quick decision-making probably saved lives. There were only three bodies around when the new wendigo finally stopped moving, and Alexis didn't even hesitate before shooting them too. Even for Milena, it was hard to see the Marquess blow her already dead men's brains out, but it was indeed most likely necessary.

"Watch out for those who have been bitten!" She shouted. "All survivors need to be kept under surveillance at any costs! Do not bring them back to the medics!"

It was probably the hardest order she had ever had to give, but it was true. Right now, an extra wendigo could literally appear at any moment amongst their troops. The little they knew about it meant that any vampire could be turned, the question was how long before it happened, and if it happened at all. Some of the vampires that had been bitten indeed looked down at their injuries, visibly worried. Not only that, but they were immediately isolated from their peers, some even raising their weapons at their former allies. It was the absolute worst. Fear was guiding those men to be ready to fire at their own companions...

They didn't have time to double-check, though. There was still one wendigo on the loose, the fourth one that had come late out of the forest. Milena tried to fire, but the Duke De Nova's knights were much closer, and more efficient, too. Just like they had been ordered, they were keeping their ranks close, shields lifted to create an extra barricade between the manor and the attackers.

Suddenly, they heard another screech, coming from Alexis' injured troops again. Milena swore, and got ready to aim again. This time, they were too late. The new infected vampire had been among the survivors of the first attack, located on the opposite side of where the action currently was, and it was able to move quick enough to dodge the first shots. It was nerve-wracking, but by then, all the men knew what to do, how to act. No one hesitated anymore. For a while, it was a complete confusion of gunfire shots, seemingly coming from all directions. Milena realized that if they could transform that fast, they would have to be on the lookout for any survivors. Sadly, there were more than a dozen. Some were currently dying, one, two or more of their limbs torn off, and their bodies had been abandoned. Those wouldn't be much of a threat even if they changed, but sadly, a handful were still doing fine, still standing and their injuries were not too bad either. Milena grimaced. What should they do? At this rate, if each wendigo managed to bite three more people before they were shut down, they would have to be murdering their own troops without even waiting to confirm who turned or not!

"De Nova!"

The Duke looked up.

"Nobody moves until we're sure we're clear!" She shouted.

The Duke nodded, immediately understanding what she was talking about. Right now, the mess had been more or less contained to Alexis' troops. The Marquess was almost done with the Wendigos, but, until they were sure no one else would rise as one of those monsters again, they had to consider all of her men as a danger. They had to wait until all wendigos were dead, and even longer to be sure none of the injured one turned. Perhaps the Duke would even take the decision to kill them preemptively, but that was on them. Only Alexis would make the final decision, pending on the situation.

For a few minutes, the whole nightmare continued. They would fire relentlessly at the wendigos, almost get rid of them, and then, among the injured, another one would rise. As time went on, Alexis' troops got more and more experienced, and their movements were gradually adapted to the situation. They now knew how to scatter around in case of an attack, and move in small groups of three or four, while ready to leave anyone bitten that would potentially turn. In fact, those who were injured purposefully removed themselves out of the way, and laid down, preferring to make themselves an easy target in case they changed, rather than go to the medical units. Milena was shocked by the bravery of those men, and at the same time furious at Arseus' wretched idea. There wasn't a scum on this planet that deserved to live after such a thing. She promised she'd fill his body with bullets or, even better, feed him to the same monsters he had created...

After a while, the gunshots stopped. Milena caught a breath, like everyone on the domain. Alexis and her remaining men were touring around the area, guns still ready to fire at anything, but for a few minutes, only a heavy silence followed. It did seem like they were done. "...Alexis! Are you alright?" She shouted.

"I'll get over it, my Lady," answered the Marquess, still scrutinizing her surroundings with her red eyes. "But I need to keep a bullet or two for that bastard De Winter!"

"Well get in line," muttered Milena for herself.

She sighed, and handed her g*n to Olivia, massaging her aching shoulder. Some of the shooters at the windows did the same, while others still watched the ground, ready for anything. "...Millie. She's back."

Milena took a second to realize what her brother was saying, and she turned around, just in time to spot Blanche flying high above the domain. A sigh of relief appeared on her lips. Finally! At least, she hoped her friend was coming back with some good news, and perhaps, reinforcements coming from Henry's side. The white owl had no choice but to fly slowly, and landed on the window frame a couple of minutes later, visibly unharmed, and shook her large wings to get the snow off of it. It ought to have been a long journey for an owl in that weather... Finally, she opened her beak, dropping a large letter. Milena frowned, a bit surprised Henry had taken the time to write a long reply in these circumstances.

She quickly opened it, her fingers even trembling a bit. She had a feeling. A good feeling, for once. Her purple eyes ran across the paper, reading his lines quickly, then a second time, to make sure she hadn't missed anything. Then, a smile appeared on her face. "...Is it good news, my Lady? Is the Duke De Boreal sending us help?"

"Better than that," said Milena. "Not only is Henry sending us some knights, but he now has her Majesty and her daughter, the princess, with him."

"Her Majesty... You can't mean, her Highness the Queen is at the De Boreal Residence!"

Indeed she was, and this was the best piece of news she had received in a while. Philomenie officially leaving the Royal Castle was the last straw to confirm she did not stand by her husband's actions, but going to the De Boreal Residence instead of her own family's house spoke even louder about how she felt about her brother and her own family. That wasn't all; on top of Philomenie leaving her husband to stay with a vampire Duke, her move actually hid something else; she had brought Prudence, Briseis and Euphoria over with her. There was nothing the King would be able to do to these three women if they were both hidden and protected by Philomenie and Henry De Boreal now. This was a considerable relief. Even if Philomenie had control of the Royal Castle, the King still had many spies there, putting Milena's allies in considerable danger. Now, there were none of her allies left in that place, and she trusted her remaining ladies-in-waiting knew how to take care of themselves. If they managed to take the fight back to the Royal Castle, Ellias would be left alone with the Church and his De Winter allies. The war wasn't over yet, but it had just taken a good turn for them.

Milena smiled, feeling a bit better. This was Philomenie's message to her; she had not chosen her husband's side, and would be helping Milena, even if she had to go against her own husband and family for it.

"Olivia, get me something to write a reply with. Quickly!"

Blanche protested loudly, probably already tired from her trip, but Milena couldn't entrust her response with any other bird, nor delay it. She had to tell Henry and their other allies to stay away from the De Crescent Manor. She had a feeling they would need more allies to get ready, away from their domain, and right now, this whole place was still trapped under the threat of more Wendigos. Moreover, Milena's plan was taking shape, and she needed them all to be ready. The tables were going to turn, and soon.