Lady Dhampir
Chapter 313

She heard an echo to her husband's scream. Milena's eyes were already closed, preparing herself for the impact. She felt the heat of the flames caress her face, almost gently, first. Then, it slapped her. She felt the burn on her face, on her limbs. The sound of the fire wasn't like she had imagined, it wasn't loud, just... surrounding her. Like another world about to grab her.

She felt a violent bite on her arm, and her body suddenly changed directions. She felt her body violently hit something and roll down, for what seemed a long time. A very long time. It hit her on all sides, everywhere, without warning, randomly. There was no rest, no way to protect herself. Milena grimaced, the pain was just everywhere. Her head felt the worst, as if she had just been hit by a mountain. Suddenly, it had stopped. She only realized because the pain was more regular, and stuck to the same areas. Against her cheek, she realized she had gone from the slap of the fire to the bite of the ice... Her head was spinning. She could still hear the flames, but she couldn't feel their bite anymore. No, in fact... She couldn't feel much at all now. Only the snow under her cheek felt real, as if everything else had simply gone numb. She struggled to open her eyes, her vision covered by a dark shadow. Something sticky and liquid was covering one of her eyes. She blinked again, trying to make sense of what she saw. There was white and red ground, and further away, the darkness, nothing but a wide, dark field. In the midst of this, something moved. She saw it come towards her, limping. It groaned at every move, visibly struggling. It was hard to understand what she saw. She couldn't focus properly... "Blanche..."

She couldn't tell if that had come out of her lips, or been lost in a gentle white mist that had come out instead. Milena was almost sure that it was Blanche... The white wolf from her memory. She heard the wolf grunt, and pull some more on her arm, for some reason, dragging her along. "Blanche...?" she muttered again.

The wolf whimpered, and suddenly laid down, her face close to Milena's. She whimpered some more. She was hurt...Blanche was hurt. Milena wanted to do something about it, but none of her body would move, at the moment; She was left to cry silently, her tears melting the snow under her. The black snout was so close to her face, Milena could feel its slow breathing, against her cheek, along her own breathing.

"B-Blanche..." she cried. "I'm... Sor...

The wolf's whimpers in the night were breaking her heart. She didn't want her friend to risk her life for her... Milena kept crying, unsure about Blanche's state, worried. They could hear the fire still burning close, but she couldn't move to check how close. All the two of them could do was lay down, and wait.

That wait felt like it lasted for a very long time. Perhaps she lost consciousness a couple of times. Blanche seemed to be asleep, her body not moving at all. At times, Milena worried she would not be breathing anymore, but then, by some miracle, she'd feel that hot breath against her face again. She tried to stay awake, just to be sure Blanche would be alright. She was too terrified of the alternative. Bit by bit, the sensations of her body were coming back and going again, like a strange cycle. She had no idea how badly injured she was; she could only tell it had to be bad from how most of her body didn't respond, and worse, how she couldn't feel some parts at all. Her entire right arm was gone. Whatever had happened to it, she couldn't feel a thing. It took her a while to realize there was something off with her ear on the same side too. The sounds were coming to her in a strange way, as if from a distorted echo. It was rather quiet. Past the fire's sounds, the Capital was calm again. The fights had all stopped, there was no more need for shouting, cannons, or gunshots. The war truly was over.

Milena didn't care. All she was focusing on was Blanche. She couldn't tell if they'd both survive or both die here, but she couldn't imagine her friend would die on her own; Strangely, she felt like they were going to survive this night together, or both pass. It was like they were both back in that tiny cage. That fateful moment when she had bound their destinies together without knowing... When a scared cub and a terrified little girl's feelings had echoed like one. She was dying to touch Blanche's white fur. Just, one last time, to feel the comforting, warm fur of her friend under her fingers. Her best friend was lying right there, and yet they felt miles and miles apart. She didn't even have the strength to call out her name anymore. All she could do was stubbornly look at Blanche, refusing to give up. Milena felt that if she just blinked, she'd be gone... So she held on, for a long time, not knowing how many hours and minutes had passed.

"Millie!"

The voice came from afar, right when Milena was about to pass out. She should have reacted, shouted back, or moved, but nothing happened. Her cheek was so stuck against the cold ice that it had begun to sting, and froze her tears, threatening to turn her body to ice as well. "My God, Millie! Blanche!"

It took her a few seconds to put a face back on that familiar voice. Lucian. Lucian was shouting, trying to call her. She felt like he was far away, but he suddenly appeared in her field of vision, looking absolutely panicked. "Oh s**t, no, no, no, no Millie, please don't do this to me! Here! She's here! Come on Millie, please, you have to hold on. HERE!"

He grabbed her, lifted her gently. Milena was confused by the expression of extreme panic on his face, but his blue eyes kept going over her body, almost on the verge of crying like she had never seen him before. When he moved her, he was moving her gently, yet looking completely alarmed.

"You're going to be alright," he kept muttering to himself. "You have to be strong, Millie... Stay with me, please. I can't lose you too..."

She wondered what he was talking about. She could vaguely tell he was gently moving her, but she was like an inert doll in his arms. She couldn't even control her eyes, her sight had to be what they simply set on. She felt in a strange state where her body wasn't really her own anymore.

More voices came behind him. Too many for her to identify in her current state. The sound was again too strange, as if she had a pillow over her ear, muffling most sounds. The one she could hear more clearly was Lucian, perhaps because he was the closest, and speaking loudly too.

"Hurry the f**k up!" He shouted, his voice deformed by anger and tears. "Send someone to tell His Majesty we found her! Quick!"

She heard voices, more voices, but her thoughts were on Blanche, her Blanche. She tried to say her name, but Milena was out of strength. Nothing would come out. She was trapped in the shell of her body, barely holding on to that last thread of consciousness. The vague sensations that came to her weren't enough anymore. She didn't even realize she had closed her eyes until only sounds came. Even those sounds grew fainter and fainter, until... nothing.

"MILENA!"

The familiar voice pulled her back. She had really fallen unconscious this time. Milena tried to open her eyes, but once again, nothing obeyed as she wanted, nothing moved. She could only listen to the bit she could hear. That familiar, angry and broken voice was all she could hold on to... She heard rushed steps, more clearly than anything else, and erratic breathing.

"My God Rayan, are you alright? You look like you just came back from h-"

"How is she? Tell me!" The loud voice ordered. "W-we're doing our best, Your Majesty."

"You have to save her!...Is she....?

"Rayan! Rayan, calm down, please. She can't hear you right now, She... She's unconscious, she's been unconscious since I found her....Rayan, calm down. They're doing their best, I swear. I haven't left her side for a second. It's just... She won't wake up for now, it's too soon, and her state's not... It's not really good....You need to know, she lost a lot of blood. We don't know if her arm can be saved, either. Her legs have a better chance, hopefully, they will be able to recover. And... she inhaled a lot of smoke too. Rayan, it's not up to the doctors at this point. They've done what they could. We can only wait."

"... Anything. Do anything you can to save her," ordered his angry voice. "I'm not losing her, Lucian. I'm not..."

"I know. Don't worry, she'll make it. She'll make it... It's our Millie, she's tough as hell. Whatever it takes, she'll survive this, I'm sure... Rayan, you need to get your wounds tended to, you look like you're about to pass out any minute. What happened? Raelius just appeared out of f*****g nowhere and screamed to go and grab her from the North Wall... He passed out right after, somebody shot him. The Castle was locked down all along, too... Did you just get out?"

"Yeah... As soon as we were sure we got rid of the last Wendigos. Milena was right... It was the High Priest all along. King Silvius, he was the one using bodies. Any dead body. Milena managed to win us some time, and thanks to the men she left at the Castle's entrance we caught what was going on. I ordered them to lock down the Castle until we were sure we'd burned them all, inside and outside. We burned all the bodies we could find in the Castle and made our way upstairs. I found him with Milena... He did this." "The son of... Please tell me he's done and not coming back."

"He's dead. Dead for real, this time. Milena f****d him to destroy his main body by jumping in the fire with him... As she suspected, he tried to come back using the last bodies in the Hall. I managed to get rid of those, while she had sent Raelius to warn Rachael and Alexis to stop the fight and burn the rest of them too. When he returned... That's when I told him about Milena, and he tried to find her. He and Blanche managed to grab her out of the fire before he went to get you." "...The King?"

"... The Queen shot him."

"Holy shit... Is he...?"

"I don't know....I'm not sure I want to know. I don't know what I would do to him if it was up to me right now. The last time I saw him, the Queen was with him. If she wants to finish him, I won't oppose it. If he survives... We'll see later." "...I can't blame you. Why didn't you..."

"Milena told me not to."

"What?"

"She figured out Silvius was aiming at my brother's body all along. She let me know what she was about to do... And that I had to stay behind, to save my brother and take that bastard down if he rose amongst the bodies left again." "Wait... When did you guys have time to make such a last-minute plan?...You knew my sister was going to... jump?"

"She didn't leave me a choice," he scoffed. "She used Chess Pieces and vague metaphors to let me know... I only had minutes to figure it out, less than that, even. She didn't give me much of a choice, it was do or die. We didn't have any time for better....I wouldn't have accepted her to do this otherwise."

"Chess Pieces... Damn, that's so like Millie for sure."

She heard a grunt and a heavy sound.

"Hey, you really need to see someone. You're... bleeding out on the floor and you... Got bitten, too."

"I took the antidote already. I kept one on me, just in case."

"....You still need someone to look at these. Hey, find someone to look at His Majesty. Hurry!"

"Yes, sir."

She heard hurried steps, and there was a few seconds of heavy silence. No, not a real silence. She could hear more steps, more voices, coming from far away. She couldn't hear them well... Not as well as those in the room.

"Rayan, talking about Wendigo bites... There's this, too."

She heard steps, and a faint movement.

"... Is that going to be a problem?"

"No idea. I noticed just a while ago, too. I told them to keep their mouths shut, just in case. I have no idea what's going to happen when she wakes up... It might be nothing. I'll ask the Saint once he's got a minute, but the lad's been running everywhere." More silence. She felt another faint movement, closer this time. And... something warm, wrapped around her hand, gently.

"Everything's going to be alright," he muttered. "Whatever happens... As long as she survives, it will be alright."

"We'll have to wait and see if she wakes up at dawn, I guess."

"...She has to, Lucian. She has to. Because I have no f*****g idea what I'll do if I lose Milena. ...I can't even imagine it."

More voices. Someone to examine the King, they said. Then, faint, scared voices, and small noises, until one of them spoke again.

"... Is it really alright for you to stay here?"

"Rachael can take care of the rest, I think I earned the rest of my night... They're still clearing out the castle and putting out the fires. They don't need me for that." "Fair enough... We couldn't even give them a proper funeral because of that bastard."

"They got their funeral. They got better than most get in times of war... Those who won't get any are all those bastards we arrested. I'm going to make them all pay." "Well... At least it's over....Did you check on your kids yet? The babies?"

"No. I want to wait until we're absolutely sure every body is cleared, and there are no more wendigos. Rachael's on it. ...I'll get them here before their mom wakes up." "Right... You guys earned some family time. s**t, it's going to be hell all over again after that. It's going to take a while to get everything back on track... The Capital's a f*****g mess."

She heard him take a deep breath. Something grazed past her forehead, gently. She wanted to smile, but nothing happened. Instead, her body was just feeling heavy, and struggling to stay awake again. She didn't want to go back to sleep, she just wanted to stay with them, and listen to their voices... Most of it didn't make much sense and she surely wouldn't remember it, but it was making her feel a bit better. Better than everything else... Than that pain that was waiting to overwhelm her like a wave growing ahead of her. It was scary, and at times, it managed to poke a horrendous amount of pain to her.

"I'll stay here," he muttered.

"... Got it. I'll go and check on... everyone else, I guess. See you later."

"Lucian?"

"Yeah?"

"...Thank you."

"...She's my sister. I'd do anything for her. ... And I consider you my brother too."

"I think we got past that a while ago."

A chuckle answered him, and somebody walked away. She heard a faint sigh, and the warmth that was wrapped around her hand got a bit tighter.

"....You have to hold on, my Queen," he whispered. "To see our Victory... I want all four of us together. You won't need to do anything, you can just rest and I'll handle it all. But I can't do it without you. I need you... I need my Queen by my side. I'll go mad if you leave me. Take all the time you need to heal, but please wake up. I want to see your eyes again. You can't leave me, not like that. Not when we just got together again. I need... I want to see our beautiful children with their mother. I'd be one shitty father without you..." Again, that faint sigh. Some gentle lips, pressed against her forehead, one of the very few areas that didn't hurt...

"...Y-your Majesty? I was called here to treat you. Do you want to go next-"

"Treat me here. I'm not moving from here until she wakes up."

"I-I understand. Then, if you'll excuse me... Uhm, y-your arm?"

"Just do with it. I won't let go of her hand."

She wanted to smile, but couldn't remember how. However, she was finally able to let go, and drift towards a night of deep, quieter sleep. She knew that this warmth wouldn't leave her. Now, she could just let it all go, and rest.

She wanted to see his eyes again soon, too.