Anastasia Romanov

by Svetlana Ivanova

"I'll do my best to hold them off," she said. There was nothing else I could do except nodding.

  "Take care, sister," I said. With a look of determination, she rallied the others into battle.

  We got to the other side of the castle. It was deserted. But my heart burst with gratitude when I spotted Stardust waiting. The huge white horse was saddled and ready.

  "Let's take you over to my horse," I said to Anastasia, who gave me a weak nod. Once we reached Stardust, Anastasia just swung herself onto the saddle without my help. I guessed she tried not to hinder me and delay our escape. I got behind her, holding her body against me to support her and urging the eager animal towards the outer walls. At last, we were heading into the wood.

  Chapter 29

  Stardust dashed through one of the secret routes in the dark forest. My heels jerked on the mount constantly but it wasn't long before I heard the sounds of feet stomping over leaves and saw flashing movements flitting through the trees.

  My adrenaline-induced heart pumped faster as my eyes spotted several vampires appearing from behind. They moved unobtrusively like shadows and swiftly like panthers. I kept a firm grip on Anastasia and the reins while my other hand quickly unclasped the holster to pull out the loaded pistol.

  Turning myself slightly on the sprinting horse, I fired a few bullets in my attempt to stop those glowing red eyes that were following us, but my bullets missed the targets completely. I gritted my teeth in frustration. It wasn't easy to shoot one of the fastest predators on earth. I realized I must not waste the ammunition because of my headless panic.

  Digging my heels into the horse's flanks, I steered Stardust off the track and urged her to go faster into another path. Up ahead was a snow-filled meadow with nothing but frozen grass. Suddenly one of them spurted to my right side like a ghost, catching me by surprise. His horrible thirsty eyes glowed like scarlet flames. The vampire kept up with our pace — his feet barely touching the ground. He bared his dagger-shaped fangs.

  I did the only thing I could think of. I raised my left leg and swung my right boot backward in a roundhouse kick and crushed the vampire's temple, cracking his facial bones with a force. The vampire fell to the ground. Every hunter had done this trick countless times while training on a pommel horse.

  The moving horse swayed to keep my balance as I swiftly righted myself onto Stardust again. It had slowed us down only for a moment, but it was enough for the other fanged pursuers to forge forward in their relentlessly inhuman speed.

  Then many more of the black-coated vampires appeared out of the wood in front of us. There was about twenty of them with flashing teeth. I had to skid Stardust to a halt. The ones behind us were also gaining their advancement. I realized the only way to take them down was to plunge into a full combat.

  I glanced down at Anastasia, who was growing limp in my arms as the vitality of my blood wore off. The winds blew through her blonde strands like golden sunlight against the snow. Her long black lashes collected tiny flakes over her closed eyelids.

  No, I could not let them take her way from me.

  As there was no further need to think, I took off my red cape and draped it over Anastasia before I jumped off the horseback. Landing on my feet over the frozen ground, I bent my knees with outstretched arms on either sides. The two nearest vampire soldiers fell in an instance — a dagger pierced one of them in the eye as the blade pushed deep into his skull, while the other one was felled in the forehead. Dark viscous liquid trickled down their faces as my throws had delivered death to them.

  I turned and watched Stardust galloping off with Anastasia on her back.

  Then two vampires more came forward but I shot them down without batting an eye. They collapsed and writhed in agony from the quick-silver bullets.

  Suddenly, there was a fresh danger as a platoon of blood-sucking soldiers sallied forward. Some of them were feral-looking. They were hardly human in appearance anymore. These soldiers stood upright but they had long ears, claws and sharp teeth like animals. Their skins were lizard-like. Their eyes held glint of devilish green menace.

  I drew a sharp breath at the sight of them. What on earth were these hideous things? Then I remembered the rumor of the Russian Sleep. Before we captured Anastasia from Ostankino Palace, I thought she had given order to shut down this cruel experiment. How could this still be happening?

  I reckoned it was Konstantin who was in charge of the project. Anastasia should have known that he wouldn't let his evil plan be discarded easily. The general must have carried out the experiment in secret behind her back. It looked like he had made a breakthrough using science and technology—a new breed of monsters was born.

  There was little chance I could fight them all, but it didn't stop me from giving them one hell of a challenge. I unsheathed my trusted kinjal, a curved sword-dagger.

  There was barely a hundred feet between the oncoming soldiers and me. Suddenly, they stopped in their tracks when they heard an order being shouted out. That was when I saw a tall figure emerged from the crowd.

  The man was dressed in a black uniform with gold-rims around the collar and sleeves. He wore an imperial military helmet made of shiny metal. His gloved fingers curled around a decorated Shashka. It didn't help lessen my anxiety either when I recognized him. The vampire was the merciless General Konstantin himself.

  Every hunter would want this blood-sucker dead if they had a chance. For years, the gruesome general was responsible for the loss of countless human lives. He was the reason why our families were slaughtered. Some of us had witnessed how dexterous he was during the act of massacre. This was probably why we hated the imperial princesses in the first place. Although my feelings had gone through a dramatic change ever since I met the youngest of the Romanov sisters, my hatred for this man had never ceased.

  He killed my parents.

  The thought echoed in my head as if from a deep abyss. The General gave me a long deadly look with his cold violet eyes. I tried to calm my nerves and stayed focused on my archenemy, but it still caused the chill to prickle up my spine like ice.

  "Vernyite prinsessu," he said in a low deadpan tone. The others let out warning growls around me but I unflinchingly stared back. My hands gripped tightly on my weapons, ready to slash and hack at any moment.

  "Nyet," was all I said. Konstantin smirked in amusement with a hint of pity.

  "Suit yourself then." The vampire almost satisfied for he now had an excuse to butcher me without any complicated bargain. After a minute of silent dare, he made a dignified motion with his hand and the rest of the soldiers charged forward.

  I held my breath before shooting the ones on the front line down. They crumpled and writhed in obvious pain as my special bullets drew life out of their immortal bodies. Still the others wouldn't rest until they had me. They spread out and came at me from all directions.

  With lizard-like swiftness, the Sleepers charged at me, but I managed to sidestep their claws and delivered several shots into their chests. I could see they were indeed humans who got turned into monsters in a kind of twisted trance-like madness.

  Their claws and pointed teeth snapped at me like wild beasts. I continued to block each bite with my bullets and the keen edge of my kinjal blade. Swirling around like I was performing the Sword Dance, I kept slashing through the muscular wave of bodies.

  My pistol fired again and again, downing both of the Sleepers and the vampires in my path. But soon I ran out of quick-silver bullets and was forced to abandon the weapon in the heat of the frenzy.

  Drawing out my hidden blade from my belt, I cut one sleeper's throat in a swift stroke. Foul dark blood squirted out angrily from his wound. I kicked the others in the jaws and stabbed them through their hearts.

  The Sleepers seemed to be more aggressive than skillful. Their lethal claws and teeth with their inhuman strength were easily deflected by the edge of my flashing blades. I quickly pressed forward, not allowing myself to be surrounded. My training days had indeed paid off, otherwise I w
ould be dead by now. By then the black-coated soldiers seemed to have a second thought about continuing their attack.

  I realized that I myself was also breathing laboriously. My hands ached and were trembling from exhaustion. I had killed only a handful of them, but there was still too many left. Then I heard a laughter like nails scratching on the chalkboard. I turned to Konstantin again, who was clapping as if in admiration.

  "What a strong little huntress," he said. "You're not an ordinary one, are you? What do they call you, Beta? Princess of the Wild?"

  "How did you know that?" I hissed.

  "You have your spies and I have mine," he said. "So the game is fair, don't you think?"

  "How could you do this to innocent people?" I growled. "You turned them into your killing machine, you monster!"

  "Da! Krasivitsa," he said with an easy smile. "As you can see, this is my greatest contribution to the empire. Too bad no one has yet to recognize my potential. The Grand Duchesses are too naive and soft-hearted. They are blind to this wonderful creation of mine. I bet these girls have inherited their father's stupidity to reject such a powerful army."

  "Or it could be that they have more soul than you," I said bitterly.

  "You're right about that, little huntress. I have no soul. I have no need of one. But many thanks to you for capturing the Duchess. I now know where to recruit my new soldiers."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "You are outnumbered now. It's better for you and your people to surrender. Then maybe you can join us afterward? What do you think? I'm sure you would make a fine soldier for me."

  "You wish," I muttered back. Konstantin laughed again and then clicked his tongue sympathetically at me.

  "How sad." He sighed and shook his head. "What a waste of talent and beauty."

  With that said, the vampire general signaled to his remaining undead army.

  "Kill her!" he growled.

  The vampire soldiers formed a cordon. It was like a never-ending battle. I would be driven into exhaustion, no matter how competent my fighting skills were. But out of nowhere, I heard the piercing howls of wolves. My head swept around. Glowing in the dark wood were white fanged teeth that could shatter bones and eyes that gleamed like sapphire in the snow.

  I felt my heart perked up in relief. There were so many of them charging out from behind the trees. Each one was as large as a grown man. Their hackles bristled in fury. Swiftly the wolves began to encircle the soldiers with loud barks and snarls.

  The vampires looked on in surprise. Then an alpha male sprang at them and the other wolves joined in with jaws full of razor-sharp teeth. Each member of the pack would bite and hold or tear flesh to wound a soldier to bring him down while others finished him off by the neck. The sounds of ripping and screams erupted throughout the forest.

  "What the hell is this?!" The general cried. His undead army may have had the strength of the insane, but the wolves were innumerable. The wild animals kept coming and attacking vampires in all sides.

  Konstantin unsheathed his sword when one of the wolf lunged at him, but the vampire sidestepped the wild dog and grabbed its neck from behind before slitting its throat.

  "No!" I cried.

  The wolf fell dead instantly. I gripped my weapons in rage as I looked on. Suddenly, Konstantin was in front of me. I stepped back with a gasp as he raised his blade and began to hack in my direction. I dodged the blow, missing the blade by an inch. The vampire growled and slashed at me again. His swordsmanship was impressive, coupling with the speed and strength in his maneuver, I could barely find recess. I was able to block some of his attacks, but it wasn't long before he backhandedly slapped me across my face, knocking me down onto the snow.

  "I tell you a secret before you die," Konstantin said as he walked towards me. "Once I'm through with you, Anastasia Romanov will be next."

  My mouth sagged and eyes widened as I stared at the vampire in disbelief.

  "What?"

  "You heard me right, huntress," the general said and laughed maniacally. "You think I have come all the way here to rescue her? I can tell the princess is fond of another castle now. The ignorant and the passive like her make the empire fall. Unlike the duchesses, I will finish what I started. You and your assassin friends will perish once I get a hold of Russia. It's just a matter of time."

  "Does the new Czarina know about this?" I asked, mainly to buy me time to think of way to defeat this malicious man.

  "Of course, not! She still doesn't know that her coronation is also her funeral," Konstantin said and boomed a laugh. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time. After I get rid of little sister here, I will bring the older one to her knees for the Kaiser, too."

  "You’re a traitor," I growled in disgust.

  "Call me whatever you like," replied the vampire general. "In any case, I'm going to be the new Czar, and the last Grand Duchesses of the Romanov Dynasty will be erased from the history forever."

  He raised his sword, intending to end my life, but a familiar golden voice sounded.

  "Vale, step back!" Anastasia cried. I turned my head around to find Anastasia riding the horse back. Her golden eyes looked reddish in a feverish rage. There was this fierce, merciless look in her face, and I did as I was told just a few seconds later.

  She didn't know my horse well but she knew exactly what she could do with it. The blonde princess tugged on the reins hard, causing Stardust to raise her front hooves and kick the general right on the chest.

  The man was knocked off some distance away. He fell to the ground, rolling over the snow-covered earth several times before he came to a stop. Anastasia turned Stardust back towards me. She got off the horse and helped me up.

  "Are you alright?" she asked. I nodded back as my mouth was too dry to speak. The remaining soldiers were already dead. A few of them had tried to flee, but they were chased after by the wolves. I could still hear their shrilling cries echoed in the dark wood.

  "Bliad!' Konstantin cursed in fury and spat out blood from his mouth.

  "You can't fight him, Valerina. Take the horse and leave," Anastasia said and then turned to the vampire general.

  "No! I can't leave you alone," I protested, but Anastasia didn't seem to hear me. Her gaze was locked onto the vampire on the ground.

  "Is that true, Konstantin...everything you said?"

  The general stared back at her with a hint of fear. But since everything had now been revealed, he would have to complete his ambition.

  "I did it for the Empire. You had consented to setting things in motion, Grand Duchess, but you didn't have the courage to see them through," the general ranted with a look of accusation, "just like your father! Russia will be destroyed because of a weak and coward ruler like you!"

  "And your treachery is a sign of bravery?" Anastasia said. Her voice was slightly hoarse. I realized she wasn't as strong as she appeared to be. “I knew there was something revolting about you.”

  "Well, it seems I'm not the only traitor here, am I?" Konstantin said. "We have something in common, Grand Duchess Anastasia. Aren't you and your hunter friends plotting to kill your own sister? Tell me who's the real traitor now!"

  "What?" Anastasia said. Her face looked paler in shock and disbelief. Then she turned to look at me. Deep confusion was stirring in her feverish eyes. "Vale, is what he said true?"

  "Anastasia, I..." My words died in my mouth. There was nothing I could say to alter the truth. All I could do to respond was with a shameful nod of 'yes' in the end. I ran over to hold her but she wouldn't look at me.

  "Anastasia, please listen to me!" I said. "I didn't want to do it. I couldn't bring myself to betray you like that! You have to believe me!"

  It seemed my words were wasted since Anastasia pulled herself away from my grasp. The gesture hurt me like a thousand blades to my chest.

  "Just go, Valerina," was all she said. Those words felt like hot iron rods plunging into my heart. She hated me now. She really hated me. The notion mad
e my feet froze in despair. Anastasia pried my arms off, and I watched her walk towards the smiling general.

  "This time I'll put you back into the grave for good," she muttered.

  "I'll kill you first, wretched girl!" Konstantin snarled and drew his sword.

  "Anastasia!"

  In one big blur, they ran headlong into each other. Then the two of them got into an armlock only for a moment before I felt my heart stop beating. My eyes widened when I saw the sword piercing through Anastasia's body. Her blood gushed out where the blade had burst to the other side. In that moment, everything slowed down to a crawl in my vision. My mouth flung open in shock. Hot tears sprang up from my eyes.

  "No!" I cried as I pulled at my hair with both hands. Regrets and pain hit me all at once.

  This can't be happening.

  I should have stopped her.

  Konstantin started laughing, but then he choked and stopped. His face started to turn as white as snow before he fell to the ground. I realized Anastasia's hand was holding a chunk of red flesh, dripping in blood. It was a heart she had ripped out of Konstantin's chest.

  Anastasia tossed it aside and proceeded to pull the sword out of her body. All the while, she made no sounds. I quickly staggered onto my feet and rushed over to her. By the time I reached Anastasia, she had already fallen to the ground. Crimson blood soaked her white gown.

  My heart screamed out before I could find my voice. I watched her bleeding in my arms after I picked her up and held her head to my chest. Her eyes were closed and her face was the palest shade.

  I pulled my dagger out and made a slash along the inner side of my arm. Then I pressed the dripping wound to her lips. My heart sank when I saw dark blue veins started to appear, crawling up all over her body like spider’s web.

  "No, no, no! Anastasia...please, no! Don't go!" I cried and sobbed and stroked her cold cheeks frantically. "Don't do this to me. Oh god, no, please!"

  I went to kiss her parched cold lips, but she remained unresponsive. All those times we were together flashed through my mind: Her enigmatic golden eyes and the way she could make my heart flutter with just her stare. The closeness —the closeness — and also the keen silence of our longing for each other. How could I deny her for so long, even when all I craved was to lie in her arms and keep her safe in mine?