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By the Baring of my Soul

~ Chapter Thirty-Seven ~

Blood-curdling screams ripped through the darkness.

Flattening my back along the cold walls of a secondary tunnel leading off the main chamber of the caves, the sounds of terror boomed through the stale, dank air. Muffled voices and bursts of static sounded through my earpiece as hoarse orders were frantically shouted and the battle to rescue the thirteen began.

Blinking rapidly against the cold sweat of adrenaline running over my forehead and temples, the sound of my heartbeat echoing in my ears was almost as loud as the screams, and in the impenetrable darkness, it felt almost disorientating. Impatiently wiping away the moisture and blinking again to refocus, the dense, black abyss was too dark for even my eyes to adjust to.

Catching a faint glimmer of light in the distance, it was too far away to see what it was, but the burning acridity of ash in the air meant it was more than likely a wood fire. I wanted to investigate…I wanted to help those I could hear screaming, I wanted to get them out to safety; I wanted to see for myself if Eddie was still alive, but I couldn't. I had my orders. Counting the seconds as they dragged, my position against the wall shifted as I tried to find a better position for the radio frequencies.

"…Petrov! Petrov, can you hear me!...Dammit, these things…." More interference followed the frustration that was clear in Janine Hathaway's voice before the signal cut out completely. Static hissed noisily before there was a burst of high-frequency whine that had me yanking out the earpiece. Wincing slightly before rubbing at my inner ear and replacing the small, plastic insert, I sank to a crouch and tried again.

"…Yes, yes, I can hear you…What?...No, no, no…I said no, Chase. We don't have the clearance room for that – there's been some sort of cave in from the other end. We're pushing on, get those you've found alive out, then find Belikov and his team. I made him wait in one of the outer tunnels for any escaping Strigoi, but now I can't contact him, and Hathaway and I had to split up…yes, I'm sure. Get Belikov to…"

Losing the signal again, I couldn't be sure of what it was that Alberta wanted, but I knew that staying in the tunnel wasn't an option anymore. She had been very clear on what she wanted from us…what she expected from us all, and what she would do to us if we didn't live up to her expectations before leaving the Academy, but right now, disobeying those orders seemed worth risking her wrath.

Running over the mapping of the tunnels in my head, I knew that we were roughly north-west of the main chamber, and that the tunnels would intersect just before it opened up. Pivoting quickly, I double backed on myself to where I had left the other members of my team.

An hour before leaving, Alberta had split us into groups and assigned us as attacking, recovery, or support. She, Stan and Janine would lead the attacking guardians into the main chamber of the cave with some of the Moroi teachers that had volunteered. Another team lead by Gregor, and accompanied by more Moroi, would follow directly after to check for survivors, whilst the next team in – mine – would split up, and spread out through the tunnels to stop any Strigoi from escaping, or backtracking and attacking.

So far we had found none, but if any got past us, the guardians stationed at every exit point would deal with them, but not alone. They had the novices with them. Ten in total had been included in the rescue, but it was only one of them that occupied my thoughts. Even here, in the bowls of a Strigoi nest, where death and terror lurked around every bend, of every tunnel, it was Rose's safety I was concerned with, rather than my own.

Leaving her at the entrance of the cave hadn't been easy, but watching her walk into the cave would have been harder, and as much as I still felt that she had more right than any to be in here, I couldn't say that I regretted that she wasn't. Rose of course felt differently about it, and during our walk here, I could feel her frustration as keenly as if it were my own.

The look she had given me before I had disappeared into the darkness hadn't just communicated her frustration, but also her fear. She was no happier watching me walk into the cave, then I would have been watching her.

"Belikov?"

Shielding my eyes against the sudden glare of a flashlight beam swung up into my face as I rounded a jagged bend in the tunnel, it was almost as quickly swung away and pointed up at the low ceiling. Casting a faint glow of white light that spread out over only a few feet, it was enough to illuminate the tense faces and battle-ready bodies of my teammates.

Smaller than the offensive groupings, my own consisted of only five, including myself. Alan Gregorovich, Mateo Ramirez, Brandan Wilcox; one of the replacement guardians sent in from Court and one other from Court…one who's dark green eyes were grimily serious for a change.

"These things are fucking useless, Dimitri. We can't hear shit." Yanking aggressively at the earpiece, it dangled over Konrad Medvedev's shoulder. "What's our next move?"

Arriving shortly before we had left the Academy, he, like the others that had been brought in, hadn't actually believed the stories of the devastation until they had seen it with their own eyes. Finding me as I had walked Rose back to housing, there had been nothing of the playful mockery I had seen at Court; all teasing had been overshadowed by grief and anger at our losses. Volunteering immediately to join the search party, his inclusion, as well as almost two dozen of the other replacements, had pushed our numbers up to nearly fifty.

We were practically an army – there was no other way to describe it, with numbers unheard of in a modern age, but that didn't guarantee that any of us would make it out the cave alive.

"We're pushing forward."

"I haven't heard anything about that, Belikov."

Tapping at his earpiece, the stubborn set of Ramirez's jaw was enough to tell me that he still wasn't happy with following my orders, but as I wasn't any happier having him with me, our dislike was mutual. Pinning him with a glare that even in the semi-dark couldn't have been mistaken, my voice was softly chilly.

"And you're not likely to hear anything either, Ramirez. There's too much interference in here for the signal to carry properly."

"Then how do you know that they want us to move?" Belligerently defiant, his black eyes shone with aggression and triggered my own. About to order him out, as none of us could afford a mutiny of any kind, there was suddenly something that I saw beneath his defiance that stopped me….a soul-crippling fear that he was struggling to hide from the others. Understanding it better than he probably thought I was capable of, it gentled the irritation and reminded me that I had to stay focused.

"Before the signal cut out, I heard that there had been some kind of cave-in. Alberta wants us to back her up whilst Gregor gets survivors out. That's all I heard, and obviously I can't know exactly what it is that Alberta wants, but I can read between the lines, Ramirez – we're going."

"They found survivors?

"By the sounds of it, yes."

Blowing out a deep breath, Alan shook his head in wonder or in disbelief, I couldn't know, and there wasn't time to question it now. Walking away from the others, he stood at my side and looked down the tunnel; squinting into the darkness before his shoulders squared. Clapping him on the shoulder, I looked back over my shoulder at Ramirez once more; expecting more arguments, but it seemed as though Alan's determined courage had sparked his own.

Motioning the others to follow in silence, we walked further into Hell.

Finding the source of light a few yards in, the fire was slowly guttering beside ribbons of shredded clothing, garbage and large stains of fluid and blood so foul-smelling it was difficult not to gag in the putrid air. Muttering in Russian behind me, Konrad swung the beam of his flashlight over the small alcove in the tunnel wall, but it was empty.

Following the curve of the tunnel, it narrowed so much that we had to squeeze through sideways, one person at a time. Opening up again into a larger chamber shrouded mostly in darkness, but faintly lit at the end by a fire, it wasn't the lack of light that made me pause in the narrow passageway, but the sounds I heard…the sounds of feeding.

Raising my stake in a silent signal, Kon tilted the beam of the flashlight above my head, and with a flick of his wrist, he swung the light from the left of the opening slowly across the right until it found what I had heard, and illuminated the horror of our discovery.

Three strigoi, too intent on their feeding to hear us, were crouched over a body; hungrily devouring the life of their victim with sickening sounds of slurping and suckling that echoed through the cave. Boiling with rage at the sight, Konrad tapped my left shoulder quickly to get me to move to the left. Stooping slightly to squeeze through the narrow aperture, he followed closely behind me and moved to right.

Stakes raised and ready as we silently stalked, Brandan flanked us whilst Alan and Mateo protected our backs. Fanning out, we approached cautiously and slowly, wanting to catch them by surprise at the last moment, but as we got to within striking distance, a small pebble skittered out from beneath a booted heel behind us and rolled across the cavern floor. The sound was almost lost by the noise of their feeding, but it was just enough for the Strigoi's superior hearing to pick it up.

Jerking up and around, the three growled and snarled from between dripping, blood-drenched lips that pulled back over gnashing teeth. Launching at us, Kon and I tackled ours to the ground before making short work of them, but the third – the largest and fastest of the trio – had managed to tackle Wilcox before he could stake it.

Hearing a warning called out by Ramirez, it wasn't soon enough. Lunging forward, the snarling creature bit into Brandan's throat and ripped out the Jugular and a large chunk of flesh. Drenched by the gush of spraying blood, it began feeding as Wilcox writhed on the ground and began drown in his own blood.

Rushing forward with Kon at my side to help him, it was Alan that got to him first and hauled the frenzied Strigoi away. Dropping to his knees beside him and putting heavy pressure on the gushing wound whilst Alan staked the Strigoi, Mateo tried to staunch the flow of blood, but the wound was too large, and a few moments later, Brandan's frightened struggle ended in gurgling death.

"Jesus." Mateo breathed, horrified at the sight of the blood on his hands and the sightlessness of Brandan's dead eyes. Getting to his feet quickly, he ran his hands over his jeans in jerky, agitated motions, trying to erase the feeling of death from them as he breathing became jerky and his panic became an attack. Reaching him, Alan roughly shook him to snap him from it, but he couldn't look away from Brandan's body.

Knowing there was nothing I could do for him, I grabbed Kon's flashlight and crossed to where the Strigoi's original victim lay. Crouching, I gently brushed aside the long, honey-blonde hair matted with blood and exhaled at the sight of yet another senseless loss.

"Who is it, Dimitri?"

"Molly Harper."

One of the Moroi taken, there was no need to check for a pulse; she had been dead for a few hours. Making room beside her as Alan carried over and gently placed Brandan's body besides her, I shrugged out of my jacket and covered them in a makeshift shroud as he said a quiet prayer. Listening to Kon trying to shake Mateo from his panic, a sudden burst of static from the otherwise dead earpiece caught at my attention.

"…Belikov! Belikov, can you hear me…?...BELIKOV!"

Hearing the frantic edge to Alberta's voice even though his earpiece was still dangling over his shoulder, Kon latched onto Mateo's jacket and pulled him after Alan and I as we slide through a small gap in the opposite wall and into another tunnel. Picking up the pace as the tunnel became wider and more light was visible, we passed the bodies of five Strigoi and another two guardians – both of them replacements brought in from Court, and both of them recognised by Konrad who swore savagely.

Jogging down a slight incline, I almost stumbled over a prone figure lying face down across the width of the tunnel. Not expecting to find anything more than another dead body, my fingers pressed against the fleshy junction of neck and shoulder, and surprisingly, found a pulse. Gently turning the body, the light over my shoulder lit up sandy-blonde hair and the strong, youthful features of someone I had never expected to find alive.

"Eddie!"

"Castile? Shit, the kid is still alive?" Sinking to his haunches beside me, Alan checked his neck and found multiple bite marks, but not enough to have killed him. As he probed, Eddie's eyes snapped open and he lashed out, punching Alan hard enough to knock him backwards. Clearly in shock, Eddie then turned on me before he realized who I was.

"Eddie! Eddie, calm down. You're safe. It's okay."

"Guard…Guardian Belikov?" He stuttered, shaking his head and groaning. Sitting him up, he was still too weak from blood loss to sit on his own. We needed to get him out. Glancing back over my shoulder at Ramirez, he was calmer, but the wild-eyed look about him unsettled me. If we came up against more Strigoi, I didn't know how he would react, and it could endanger not only him, but all of us.

Hauling Eddie carefully up off the floor, I shouldered his limp weight and passed him on to Mateo, who had no choice but to grab hold of him or he would fall.

"Get him out of here, Ramirez."

"No…no, I want to fight. Let me fight."

"Eddie," I said calmly, gently. "You're too weak; you know you are. I understand what you want to do, but right now, the most responsible thing is to get to safety. Rose is outside; she'll get you back to the Academy, all right? There will be other Strigoi to kill, I promise you. No one is going to think you're a coward for being smart."

Clearly not happy, both he and Ramirez wanted to argue – Ramirez seeming to know that I was talking about him, as well as Eddie, but one look at my face kept both of them quiet, and they left without another word.

Leading the others on through the tunnels, we followed the sounds of obvious fighting, and found what we were looking for. Trapped in the largest chamber of the system by a cave-in and backed into a corner, Alberta, Celeste, Stan, and Morgan Stapleton – a guardian who had been taken, but had obviously recovered enough to fight – were struggling against a large group of Strigoi.

Flares of bright light and intense heat – more than likely Moroi fire – coincided with more shrieking and flashed through the only tunnel not blocked by the cave-in. Joining the others, Alberta threw a harried look in my direction before she was attacked and thrown up against a cavern wall. Seeing only one other exit, a small hole in the cavern wall that was lit on occasion by flashes of fire, it couldn't be used by us, not when we were outnumbered.

Having to crawl out, it would create a dangerous situation that would leave us vulnerable to attack.

Hauling away the Strigoi pinning Alberta, I restrained him long enough for Alberta to stake him. Turning back to the others, Konrad staked another with an upper-cut thrust that it never saw coming. Remembering what an upper-cut punch from him to the jaw felt like, I wasn't surprised. Trying to manoeuvre the Strigoi away to gain distance, they wouldn't budge, and kept closing in until the seven of us were clustered together in a corner beneath a low ceiling.

As the eight crouched and prepared to spring, movement to the left of us caught my eye. Watching peripherally as Stephen barrelled into the chamber, I felt immediate relief that our odds had improved with the arrival of another guardian, but as he stood to the side to make way for the person behind him, my relief turned to horror as I saw Rose.

Numb with terror, I could barely remember how to breathe as I watched the pair kick into action when three of the Strigoi broke away and turned to attack.

Taking on two at once, Stephen tried to block the third from Rose, but he was driven back and away from her. Striking out blindly as a Strigoi closed in; my eyes were focused on Rose's attacker rather than my own. Taller than her by about a foot – almost as tall as I was – he was massively built, but not slow or lumbering. Sidestepping Rose's first lunge with the stake, he wasn't fast enough to evade her return swipe as it sliced across his waist.

Bellowing, he rushed her, but knocked his head against the low ceiling. Outraged, he swiped out, but she dodged, slashing as she evaded, repeatedly cutting into him, but in the position she was in, she couldn't clear a killing blow. Trying to outmanoeuvre him, Rose made to push him away, but he grabbed her and threw her against the rock face. Hair flying around her from the impact, she grunted, but lunged forward almost immediately.

Knowing that if the situation was different, I would have felt pride rather than fear, the Strigoi close enough to me tried another attack, but with a single impaling move, I dropped it to the floor. Stephen had already taken out one of his, and Alberta had killed the closest to her, but we were still effectively trapped.

Dropping to her knees as the Strigoi tried to close his arms around her; Rose jumped up as he tippled forward and shoved her stake through its heart. Dodging his falling body, she scooted out of the way and helped Stephen to eliminate his second. Moving together, they yanked at the back of the shirt of an older Strigoi.

Age of course meant nothing with Strigoi, and was a strength, rather than a weakness. Watching as the pair fought, and gained ground; they were repeatedly driven back as they counter-attacked, but it was only a matter of time, and eventually, he too fell.

Celeste, spurred by her frustration of being trapped in a tight corner, led the counter-attack as she killed another. Leaving only two, Alberta was able to squeeze past both of them and fell to her knees; sticking her head through the whole only big enough for one person to wriggle through at a time. Checking that it was clear, she pulled back and began yelling.

"Alto, Stapleton, Medvedev…get into that tunnel and make sure it's clear. Hendricks, get into that hole and protect our retreat."

Diving for it with a sort of sliding tackle, Stephen was through it in seconds as the others ran at a dead sprint. Desperately wanting him to take Rose with, I was whirled around and attacked by one of the two remaining Strigoi before I could shout it. Driven by rage, fear and hatred, my stake struck out and penetrated its heart on its second swing.

Hearing Stephen calling for Rose, she ducked and slide through the hole easily. Following immediately after, Celeste was joined by Alan and then followed by Morgan, until it was only Alberta and I left. Killing the remaining Strigoi quickly, she rested with her hands on her thighs briefly before taking the hand I offered and letting me pull her to the opening. Waiting for her to clear it, I was through a second later, though the fit was tight.

Finding our people, I also saw bodies littering the floor…all Strigoi. Yuri crouched over one; pulling his stake from its flesh. Crossing to him, Alberta rested her hand on his shoulder before trying to hear whatever information was coming through the earpiece.

"They're dead. It sounds like there are a few more blocking the retreat down here. Let's finish this before the sun goes down."

Calculating quickly after a glance at the luminous dials of my watch that we had roughly half-an hour or so of light left, and it would take twice as long just to get back to the Academy unless we did it at a run. That wouldn't be easy dragging the injured back, so Alberta was right – we had to finish this now.

Leading the way out, Alberta had Yuri and Alan close on her heels as the rest of us followed, but at the entrance to the tunnel, Rose paused and looked back at me as Stephen rushed past her. Nodding at the concern I could read in her eyes, I smiled briefly before nodding at her to go. Nodding back, she tried to return the smile, but every muscle in her body was too tense to respond.

Almost jogging out the main tunnel, our group came to an abrupt stop in the middle of a fire-fight. Eliza Carmack, a fire-using Moroi teacher that had gone in with Janine Hathaway's group, stood beside her, setting a Strigoi ablaze. Screaming in agony, Janine staked it before it could turn to run. Two more attacked immediately, but Alan and Yuri took them out before they could get very far.

Gasping for breath, Janine wiped at the damp hair falling over her forehead, but her eyes were on her daughter. Not seeming surprised to see her in the cave, though she had made it clear she didn't want her there, the relief at her safety was so thickly present in the air I could taste it. She loved her daughter more than she was willing to admit to even herself.

"That's it for this group, but I think there are more here than we thought. I think they left some behind when they went to attack the school. The rest of our people – that survived – have already made it out."

Nodding, Alberta added. "There are other branches in the cave. Strigoi could be hiding in there."

"They could be," Janine agreed. "Some know they're overwhelmed and are just going to wait us out and escape later. Others may come after us." Glancing around Janine's expression hardened.

"What do we do? Finish them off? Or retreat?"

"We retreat," Alberta replied to Stephen's question, making a snap decision that clearly didn't sit well with her, but it was the one she knew was the safest for those who had survived. "We got as many as we could, and the sun is dropping. We need to get back behind the wards." Turning quickly, she and Janine led our retreat.

Running beside Rose, I kept her as close as possible, past caring at this point if anyone became suspicious, only caring that I saw her safely out into the sun. "Did Eddie get out?" she asked, panting as our paced increased, spurred by the literal light we could almost see at the end of the tunnel. Glancing down, her body was tense, but her expression was hopeful.

"Yes. We had to practically force him out. He wanted to fight."

Chuckling weakly, she smiled up at me as Janine called out. "I remember this curve. It's not much father. We should see light soon." Picking up the pace, the palpable excitement continued to increase as we approached a T-junction, and I expected to see it reflected in her expression, but for a second, Rose's sure step seemed to falter, and the look she had worn before – the one I know knew meant Strigoi were near – contorted her sweating features.

Too late to stop our momentum, the seven Strigoi lying in wait knew that. Springing out from either side, they attacked, and scattered our group. Four attacked Alberta, Janine and Stephen, whilst the other three came at Yuri and Alan. Pushing Eliza towards Rose as she set fire to the Strigoi closest to her, I leapt into the skirmish. Reaching out to the Strigoi at Yuri's throat, I heard the unmistakable snap of a spinal column to my right, and watching in disbelief as Alan fell dead to the ground.

"Start retreating!" Alberta screamed, staking another as she cleared a path. Rose, seeing the opening, turned towards it, but didn't immediately leave. Whipping her head between her mother and I, she wanted to stay…she wanted to be at our sides, to fight and avenge, but she wouldn't disobey Alberta in this, not when she was all but shoving her out. Turning on her heel, her long, dark hair flew about her as she ran.

Continuing on, we grouped together and within minutes had killed off the last of the Strigoi. Reaching out to loop an arm around Eliza Carmack's arm, Janine ran with her to the right. Glancing once more at Alan's lifeless body, every part of me ached for him, but there was nothing more that could be done, and so I followed the others out.

Rounding a final bend, we saw the exit and those who waited for us just beyond it. "Hurry," Alberta shouted, seeing that the light of sunset was almost gone. At this rate, we would have no other choice but to run back to the safety of the wards, but I didn't think that anyone would argue against that. None of us wanted to be anywhere near these caves at nightfall.

Pushing hard for the entrance of the cave, I could see Rose just beyond it. She stood with Stan, Emil and Konrad; all of them anxiously waiting for us to complete the final steps that would signal our safety.

I knew it was stupid at this point to feel elation of any kind, but as we closed the distance, it was only Rose I could see and the happiness of that sight was indescribable. Every detail of her was in sharp focus…her tangled, sweaty hair, the steaks of dirt covering her face, the small cuts and scratching that didn't detract at all from the perfection of her beauty, the glowing hope in her eyes.

We had done it. Together, as I always knew we could. We had survived.

A terrified scream pierced the air and broke my fantasy a second before I saw Celeste tumble to the ground, a Strigoi on top of her with his teeth sunk deeply into the bone of her jaw and lower cheek. Tugging viciously as she fought at him, the snap of her jawbone was cut off as it bit at her lips and spilt her blood over the floor.

Another leapt out of the alcove they had used to hide in, reaching out for Eliza, but Janine was faster and pushed her out the opening and into the waiting arms of Stan as she was followed by Alberta and Stephen.

Deprived of its victim, it sunk to the floor besides Celeste's body to feed, and so didn't spare me a second thought as I ran towards them. Only feet away, Rose, Emil and Konrad held out their arms; yelling to me, willing me to move faster, but it wasn't enough…I wasn't fast enough to not be caught by surprised as I saw another, the last of the Strigoi, spring into the air to tackle me a moment later.

Landing hard on my back, we rolled until my head faced the cave entrance. Knocking the stake from my hand, I punched and fought my way through his strength and speed. Lips curling back over gleaming, bloody teeth, I fought as I had never fought before, desperate to live, desperate to begin the life that I had only just realised I could have…the life I wanted more than anything

Hearing the frantic screams and pleas from somewhere behind me, I struggled on even as I felt my strength begin to drain. Realising on some numb level that I had lost, that this was all inevitable, my nightmare became a reality as I felt teeth sinking deeply into my neck, and the euphoria of a Strigoi bite raced through my pounding veins.

Gasping for breath as the languor spread rapidly, my head tilted backwards to view the last of my world through eyes that seemed to slow everything down second by second, prolonging what little life I had left.

Janine was there, running almost in slow motion back towards me, but she stopped as horror dawned in her eyes, before looking at me once more with sorrow and regret, and turning to flee. I didn't blame her, there were too many of them now. I could feel them all around me now.

Blinking slowly, one Hathaway was replaced by another trying to reach me. Rose – frantic, crying, screaming – Rose, was almost at the cave's entrance, but she was stopped by Stan before she could run in. Clutching at her waist, he hauled her away, yelling something at her that I couldn't hear, whilst looking at me with a different kind of regret to Janine's.

His was regret for not being able to save my life, when I had saved his.

I could see them all now, standing in the open. Alberta, Gregor, Yuri, Stephen, Mateo still holding up Eddie, Emil, Konrad…they were all watching, shouting something I couldn't hear; their faces contorting in rage or grief, but they didn't hold my attention – only Rose did.

Janine was with her now, shaking her, screaming at her, but the agonized heartbreak on her face was still there. It didn't matter what any of them said to her, she knew what this meant. Shrieking at her mother to let her to…to let her get to me, Rose tried to pull away from her, but Janine wouldn't let her go – wouldn't watch her daughter kill herself for the man she had no idea she loved.

Slapping her hard, Rose jerked backwards and flinched, and for the first time, looked away from me. Sobbing uncontrollably, Janine continued to shout at her, pushing her further away, pointing to something in the distance, maybe it was the sun…the sun, I would never feel it again. I would never be able to simply sit in its heat and enjoy its uncomplicated joy.

Closing my eyes as my thoughts wondered, when I opened them again, they had gone. None of them remained, and I was alone as darkness closed in. I wasn't afraid of that, or sad that they had left me. I was happy that they would live. I was happy that Rose was gone, not only because I didn't want her to see this, but because it meant she would survive, and for one brief moment, I felt like gloating, because Rhonda had been wrong.

I hadn't lost what I valued the most; Rose would live, she would survive this. She would survive me, because she was strong…so, so strong. She would live her life the way it was meant to be, by serving the Moroi, by protecting Lissa, and she would prove what I had always known…that she would one day be the best.

As my eyes closed one final time, my last conscious thought was that I could die happily knowing that. I could die knowing that it hadn't all been for nothing…

A/n: Geez, that was awful to write, and he's not even my character.

Sorry, guys. I read the reviews about changing the ending, but I couldn't. I've stuck so faithfully to the original book events that it would be completely out of place if I did (not because it isn't something that I didn't want myself).

All of that being said and done, I hope you've enjoyed reading BTBOMS as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Thank you for your patience over the past two years (actually 25 months), and all your wonderful reviews. They really have made everything so worthwhile.

Up next will be a full-story continuation of BTBOMS, called A Conflict of the Soul. Told again from DPOV (because I can't seem to even try it from RPOV), it's about the progression of Rose and Dimitri's relationship as it should have gone after the battle, through the aftermath, trials, graduation etc., if the poor man hadn't been done in by RM. It's why I spent so much time setting up the events in BTBOMS – so that I could have another story, with characters already established, and a plot line that didn't seem rushed or made up.

Oh, and I've tried my hand at writing about another couple, though not in this genre, but from the DC Comics genre…Nightwing and Starfire. I've started out with a one-shot which I will post next weekend. Let me know what you think.

Once again, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.

Much love and appreciation, T.