Lady Dhampir
Chapter 305

"Lock the room!" She shouted.

The men who had just walked in, completely confused, reacted late to her order. Something about the their other peer coming up in the corridor. There were now six men and Milena standing in the room. white. Her free wrist was tightly held in his grasp, both of them battling with all their strength to over the relief of finally finding the Duke, alive too, had made her lower her guard. She had been foolish. S away. Was he still fighting?

Milena was trying to think, fast. What were the chances of him turning back? Every time she had mana dryness of the blood on the floor, she could guess it had been a little while. In fact, from the bit she c seconds ago. She really was stuck with an awful decision to make, and each second more she waited However, the strength he was displaying to hold her in his grip was even more worrisome.

"...My Lord?" Called one of the knights.

"Don't approach," Milena warned them.

From where they stood, the situation was probably quite difficult to grasp. The Duke and the Grand Pr Milena couldn't free herself, and she didn't dare to shout, in case it would trigger the Duke's hunting i "...Duke," she whispered.

in her expression must have made them move though, because two of them reacted quicker than the rest to slam the doors back closed, even to the face of

s very little to face an experienced vampire about to turn into a Wendigo. She turned around, her fingers so tight on her sword her knuckles were turning he other. The Duke was already changing. Was it too late to turn him back? Milena got shivers. It was a nightmare. He had been coherent just seconds ago, so to pull her wrist again, but his grip was strong. Incredibly, scarily strong. He kept growling at a low tune, but he didn't jump on her despite being just inches

prevent someone's transformation, she had fed them blood in the first few seconds after the bite. The Duke De Nova was already far past that. From the member about Wendigo transformations, it was already a miracle that the Duke was still himself, and even able to answer her question correctly just ean her doom. The Duke De Nova really was in a bad state. Some of his injuries were bleeding out, and he couldn't even seem to stand straight by himself.

were facing each other, their knees soaked by the blood on the floor, dangerously close, visibly still as stone. However, there was a real struggle going on.

5.

na was trembling, not only from the physical struggle against the Duke, but of anger. Those people were stooping lower and lower, and she would never ble man. This was a horrible end for a respectful vampire, a father and a nobleman older than most people out there... She felt the tears coming already. It the situation firsthand.

ist to torture, but there was one thing he had foreseen, and he had said it himself. He'd rather die than be used by their enemies.

An angrier growl answered her. She had never heard a male vampire sound like that, but a Wendigo, y forgive the atrocious things they had done to her people, to her allies. The Duke De Nova was a proud was a nightmare. Moreover, the knights who respected this man above any other were right there, wit Milena took a deep breath. They had talked about this. The Duke had been confident he would be abl "Duke De Nova," Milena repeated, trying to control the shaking in her voice. "Please say something." She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to be the one to have to do this, not to a man she respecteuch, not in front of his men, and not when he was perhaps just hours away from being reunited with his one and only child, his beloved daughter. Her throat was tight with sorrow, and rage.

The man growled again, and his grip on her wrist tightened. She saw him slowly open his mouth, a mouth that was less and less human, more beast-like. She could see all his teeth replaced with fangs sharp as knives, and his traits being slowly deformed into a horrible grimace. Her heart fell to her stomach. She was going to be sick if neither of them moved soon, and she was going to miss her chance to stop him at all if she couldn't get herself to make a decision quickly. Still, Milena's hand was hesitating. What if he could still bite her and be saved? How could she really be sure...? "Duke! You're a-"

The knight didn't finish his sentence, and gasped. The Duke suddenly raised his head, his face looking almost nothing like the Duke De Nova anymore. Instead, his eyes had gone terribly dark, wide and ready to jump out of their sockets, while his nose had flattened and his jaw doubled in size to let the horrible void of a mouth appear. It was as if he had briefly forgotten all about Milena to look at the more alluring prey right in front of him. The Knights De Nova were beginning to understand the situation just now, and they slowly stepped back, visibly afraid of the man that had once been their master. No, perhaps the horror of the situation itself had them retreating in disbelief. Milena couldn't blame them. All of them had been so hopeful to find the man just minutes ago... "Sir..." The one man who had dared to speak was met with an even louder growl, the Duke's dark eyes suddenly going to him. It was a younger knight than the rest, more impressionable, and he made the mistake to step away. The Duke's grip on Milena's wrist suddenly lessened, and he jumped, aiming for the young man, with a strength his body couldn't possibly have had just seconds ago. That boy's eyes opened wide in horror, and all the men began shouting at the same time, struggling to find a proper reaction. Milena was faster. Despite her painful wrist, she took out her g*n in a blink, and fired two shots. One hit the wall, far too high above the knight's head, but the second one hit the Duke's shoulder. He groaned like a hurt beast and fell on the floor, tripping just steps away from the young knight. Milena raised her g*n, ready to fire again, but she ran towards the Duke first, ready to use her sword. She had to stop hesitating, or those men would die, and the Duke wouldn't forgive her from the other side. She had been foolishly sensitive. She couldn't afford to make that mistake twice, or there would be more than one life sacrificed in this place.

"Move!" She angrily shouted. "Don't get in the way!"

One of the knights grabbed his younger colleague and pulled him away from the Duke. Now, all the knights had raised their swords, and while it was unlikely they'd be really willing to step forward and use it first, at least they wouldn't be defenseless and exposed anymore. Sadly, the hardest part of the task fell on Milena's shoulders.

A single bullet wasn't enough to put a Wendigo down, either. At least not one as strong as the Duke. She watched him get back on his knees with the weirded guttural sounds, like a wounded beast. His movements were more of a four-legged creature than a male vampire already. Milena prepared her sword, standing tall and between the Duke and his men. The knights were reluctant to attack, but they soon wouldn't have much of a choice left. The wendigo soon jumped to another corner of the room, climbing the walls like a four-legged, overgrown spider. Even more disturbing was the blood it splattered everywhere it went, on the walls and dripping down to the floor like a gruesome trail. The smell of blood was sickening, even for the vampires in the room.

"Don't let him jump on you!" Milena warned the others.

She shouldn't have been locked up with other vampires, it was the worst possible scenario. Either the Duke would bite and transform them, or bite and murder them. Only she was safe from transformation, but she had to survive at any cost. Milena didn't even dare blink, and kept following the Duke's movements, her g*n pointing his way the whole time. She wanted to save her bullets, and that thing was moving too fast. She needed to fight and take him down from up close, with her sword if she could. For now, that Wendigo was hurt, and just rampaging through the room, eyeing its prey and evaluating the risks of another attack. Every time it tried to approach, Milena would raise her sword, so did the knights, and it would scutter into another corner with beast-like noises. There was nothing left of the Duke, that was for certain. Milena was just waiting for the right moment, the perfect window to take that thing down, and let the Duke rest in peace.

Suddenly, the Wendigo jumped again, running towards them this time. It was clear it was trying to dash through their defensive line to get to them, probably hoping to at least grab one of them to bite and kill. Milena's g*n was ready, but she ran out of time. That thing was too fast. She only had a second, and she jumped at the right moment to avoid those fangs aiming at her neck. She rolled on the ground, and stood back on her feet right away to assess the situation. The Duke had dived in the middle of his men, the worst scenario. She saw huge gushes of blood suddenly shooting in the air, and she heard the horrible screams of a man. This time, she ran. There was a short distance between herself and the Duke, and while all the other knights stepped away, she ran to get her chance while that thing was busy with its victim. The violent biting was one of the most gruesome scenes she had ever witnessed, and if she had still been hesitating, this would have sealed its fate. With a perfect movement, she swung her sword, and the head flew across the room. She kicked the Duke's headless body away from the poor victim. She stepped forward, to see the young knight, its eyes still wide open in horror and pain, staring at her.

"Th-... Thank you..." He cried.

Milena stabbed him in the heart. She f****d herself to watch, until the last second, the little light of life disappearing behind that man's red, shocked eyes. Then, he was dead. She glanced to the side, out of breath. The Duke was definitely dead too. His head was on one side of the room, the knights staring at the deformed expression in horror.

"...That's what a wendigo's like," she muttered. "Those creatures take over the mind of the vampire they once were, and they attack their victims relentlessly. Until they are dead, or one of them..."

Her eyes went back to the poor young knight. His death was also her fault. She should have been more decisive. She had stepped right into the trap their enemies had set out for her, hoping she'd be reluctant to kill the transformed Duke. They had been right, and another life had been lost because of this. As much as she knew who was the enemy and behind this, Milena saw her own mistake first. She wouldn't do it twice...

"Get the Duke's body," she muttered. "Find... something to wrap him in."

"A-are you sure?"

"He's dead," she nodded. "But his daughter will be back soon and she deserves to bury her father. Make sure he's wrapped tight, she doesn't need to see... what they made of him."

The knights remained silent for a second, before nodding strongly, and running to their Master's body. Only one of them went towards the dead knight. The respect they had for their master ran deep, and it showed in how they carefully took his head and his body, and rolled it into a curtain. Milena sighed. This was a horrible, terrible loss. She walked to one of the tables of the room, grabbing some napkins to wipe some of the blood off her face. It was also an excuse not to look at those men, whom she felt sorry for. She didn't know, however, that the respect these men had for her had actually doubled in the past few minutes. Not because she had killed their master or saved their lives, but because even when he was like this, she had been mindful of the Duke's dignity, and the House De Nova's pride, until the very end. Most noble houses hang on to their pride no matter what, and the House De Nova most of all. It only took a few seconds for the body to be prepared and gently put on a table. They couldn't carry him right now, so they just had to leave him here, and they'd retrieve it later. Milena glanced outside. This time, she could clearly see the battlefield in the North. Rayan was gaining ground, and his army was progressing steadily. The battle was raging, and many bodies were lying in the red- tainted snow. It was horrible to think both sides were their own citizens, soldiers bound by their duty... The Royal Guard wasn't doing so well. Unlike Rayan's army, they were trained to patrol and guard a place, not to fight through the snow against lines of enemies running towards them. Despite being slightly bigger in numbers, the Royal Army also lacked the strategic lead to get the upper hand. Both armies were fighting violently, but if things went on, Rayan would get to the Castle very soon. Perhaps this battle really wouldn't last until dawn...

It was far too soon to say, though. After this first trap she had run into, Milena was to be more careful than ever. Whoever had thought they could stay away from the battle and hide here under such underhanded strategies deserved a good lesson, and she was ready for one hell of a lecture. "We need to keep moving," she said to the men. "One of you needs to warn the others that we might find other wendigos around, but until we're sure to be done, we'll close those doors and keep going. We are the first ones to face them. We need to clean this place, make sure our allies won't run into Wendigos once they get here. If they made one, they probably didn't stop with just the Duke. Remember, if they bite you, you're done. I know it's hard, but your best friend could be the one to eat you next if he's bitten. Do not take any chances, or we'll have to face another tragedy like this. We need to get to our enemies and make them pay tenfold for this."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

She was surprised by the men's sudden determination to follow her and her every word. One of them ran back to warn the others, but all of the other men seemed ready to keep going. Milena gave them a slight nod, quickly recharged her g*n, and they moved to the next room. These floors were surprisingly calm and quiet compared to the one below. Not only did they not see a single Royal Guard, but even the servants supposedly working on the upper floors were all gone. Milena's main worry was the many closed doors. She was now fearing to find another Wendigo behind any of them. After what had happened to the Duke, she just couldn't calm down. After all, they still hadn't found his lieutenants...

There had to be eight of them. If they had all been transformed like their master to become a trap for their former allies, that meant eight Wendigos were running rampant in the Royal Castle, possibly hiding anywhere. This whole place had suddenly turned into a horror house, a dangerous maze, and she was alone with six men against eight nightmarish creatures. The one woman who could stop the madness of those monsters being released into the world. She pushed the next door. She had taken the decision to keep going, and now, she knew she had been right. Of course Milena and her men were in danger, but if Rayan and his men had barged into the Castle and ran around trying to conquer it, who knew how many of them would have been transformed? It would have been an epidemic of Wendigos, ready to spread through the Kingdom. No, the thought was absolutely terrifying. The whole Kingdom would have been at the mercy of those creatures... Who was horrible enough to be ready for that?

Milena took a deep breath, and prepared herself again. No more crying. As sorry as she was for the Duke, she had to bury him in her heart, and keep going, so she'd get to mourn his death later. There was a whole Castle to clean, full of Wendigos and rats. They had to be sure nobody else would fall prey to those creatures of nightmare.

Luckily, she had always been one of the very best hunters.