She'd changed overnight, had taken a risk and had left behind everything else in her wake. The footsteps of the darkness no longer trailed behind or in front of her, instead they got out of their way to let her past.
"Do you feel different at all?" he finally said after allowing her the chance to feel the way every Night Hunter did. She still couldn't believe she had changed, had given up her life in The Luna Academy, had given up the thoughts of having Kit by her side and as her best friend. She given up everything, even mortality.
"Yes," she breathed, feeling the way the cold fell down her throat. She felt alive like she'd never felt before. She felt brilliant like a renewed life that would never crumple. "I still can't believe it. I would never have thought this would happen-" she broke off mid-sentence.
No more dancing in the dark, she told herself mentally after years of being held in The Luna Academy, following everyone else's orders and trailing behind them. She was finally free from that.
"I have to tell Kit and Levi, but how could I possibly tell them that I've been completely changed? How could I tell them that I've risked being by their side? I promised Kit that I would always help her, that I would always be there. How can I face her?"
Dorian was at her side in an instant like a dark silhouette against the fading darkness. She'd just met him recently but could already feel like she could trust him. She'd been spared her life for the chance to start over. She had to thank him but couldn't bring herself to admit that she was no longer a Night Walker.
"You're still adjusting to this new life and it will take time. Believe me, I've been in your exact same position many years ago and ever since I was changed I have stayed the same. My soul may be long forgotten, my face may have never changed from being a mere seventeen-year-old, but inside I still care."
She whipped around to face him, to see the soft features that made his face. His hair was slightly tattered and ever so slightly brushed passed his beautiful long lashes that she thought would make a soft "bat, bat, bat" sound every time he blinked if she really listened. His massive blue-green eyes watched her with an air of innocence that every seventeen-year-old must have carried that many years ago. When she looked at him, she nearly lost her breath because of his ethereal beauty.
"Come," he finally said, giving her a small hopeful smile on the corner of his lips, "we should be getting back. You'll need time to adjust and meet everyone else. We still have too much to teach you a about our ways."
"B-but I have to help Kit and Levi!" she quickly mused, already starting to make way towards the aid of her best friends. Dorian carefully reached out to stop her has he lay his hand on her shoulder which made her flinch slightly.
"Debra," he whispered. That whisper sent shivers crawling up her spine and sent echoes reaching the darkens corners of the woods they were in. She knew from the saddened look in his eyes that he was about to say something to her that she thought she'd already known the answer to. "You can't see them anymore, they aren't like us. Our kind and their kind have had far too many withdrawals in the past."
She nearly stopped breathing to stare at him. "What do you mean?" the tone in her voice rose to an angry one that reminded her of a wild fire running through the trees after a long summer. "I have to, they're my friends!"
"We have an alliance and if you make one move into their territory, they'll know, they always do." Something in his look spoke pity and even a bit of understanding. Maybe he had to leave behind some amazing friends. Maybe even a lover.
Debra stared at her shaking hands as she tried controlling the rage boiling inside her. "I have to see them, what if they're hurt? What if Kit's been scratched by a Hybrid and then you can make her a Night Hunter as well and we'll all be able to help her just like you're helping me-"
"It doesn't work like that."
"What do you mean? It worked on me, didn't it? You knew you had to help me and you did, so why can't you just help one of them and maybe you could even help them by ridding the hybrid's like you're meant to."
"Debra, I used all the cure we had on you. We needed knew recruits and when I saw you in the woods you looked lost. You looked like you didn't want to be there anymore. I followed you as you walked beside the stream, blood dripping down your arm and I thought that I couldn't let someone as strong and capable as you die to one of the. I've already seen far too many to count."
She opened her mouth to say something, only to close it a moment later. She felt awed, sad, angry and even a small bit happy that he had risked all of that to help her. Maybe he didn't know whether the cure worked, but it did and here she was. "Thank you." She finally said.
A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, "I nearly got lost to that. If I hadn't of saved you then you'd be a hybrid, wanting to do evil things and kill innocent people. Not to mention you'd be controlled by an evil psychopath called Claudius. We've been trying to kill him for around fifty years now, but the bastard keeps getting away before we can kill him."
She smiled and really meant it. "Well when you put it that way I'm even more glad that you didn't just kill me and instead risked everything."
Instead of answering, Dorian just gave her a small little smirk that said everything she needed to know. "We better get back and I can tell you that there is a heap of Night Hunters dying to meet you."
* * * * * *
(Levi's P.O.V)
He'd never cared so much for someone in his life. The scared girl who walked behind him seemed so innocent and fragile, it was simply unfair for something like this to have to happen to her. Kit was always caught in the middle of things and now as they walked through the tunnels of space inside the cave, wondering what was going on.
"Levi," interrupted Kit was behind him. He whipped around, having been caught off guard with all the uncanny vibe that the ridiculous darkness created around him. He was always choking on the darkness that surrounded him and Kit was the only thing keeping him from drowning in it.
"Yes?" he asked. His mind was completely on the thought of finding sally that he nearly forgot to keep a mind on Kit. He was reminded of the time when he first saw Kit, when they were doing that mission with her to get to doing that massive quest. She seemed so small. Now she had formed into something so much more capable and powerful that it had begun to astound him.
"Are we going to be able to get Sally back?" she was looking at him with so much hope and longing that it made his heart clench with worry that there might not be a chance that they'd be able to get Sally back. Who knows where she was now.
"I think we have to get back to everyone else," was what he said as he bent down to press his lips against her head. Kit pulled away slightly, tears almost about to spill down her cheeks.
"You came here for me. We are getting Sally back and if you don't, I will."
"Kit, I made a promise to myself that I would help you and I will bide to that promise. Please, don't make this harder than it already is. We will go out there, look for Headmistress and find Syria and she will help us to get Sally back. Right now, our focus is to take down Claudius and as soon as that happens, we will be able to get Sally back." His eyes were looking at her, pleading for her to understand where he was coming from.
Kit bit her lip and breathed in. "We may not have that long," she looked away as if it pained her to admit the words that were coming out of her mouth. "I don't want to leave Sally alone in the darkness wherever she is. I know what you mean, and I know that’s our main focus-"
"Then come with me, I'm going to march out there and take Claudius down for good."
"You don't know whether he will get to you first, Levi. He's dangerous, if he so much as lies a claw on you then you're bound to die and turn into a hybrid, they’re mean, they're evil and they cannot be trusted. If you turned into one..." she trailed off and looked as though she couldn't even think of anything.
"If I turned into a Hybrid, you must promise to kill me, spare me the pain of being one of them because I don't think I'd be able to b
e one. If I was, I'd want you to kill me." His hand went straight to hers and she instantly laced her small fingers through them and rested her head against his hand.
"I'm scared," she admitted simply and dug her head into his chest. "I want to kill Claudius, I want to kill him so bad and end his days because he has taken too many people. I never thought I'd hate something so much and I once told you that there was no one on this planet worth hating. Now I'm not so sure."
"We are going to kill him, we are going to kill him for Stacy and for Sally and for everyone who has ever been take away. Come on Kit, we're going to get out of here, kill him, go back and get Sally out from wherever she is. Do you promise to go with me?"
She looked away slowly and he watched her face as it changed into an angry look. "I promise," she finally said as she stared after the place where Sally had been taken.
* * * * * *
(Kit's P.O.V)
Kit wasn't sure what time it was when they finally got out of the cave. But when they did, she almost regretted it because of the scene that structed out before her. She stared in shock, feeling Levi's held breaths as he, too, watched what was happening before them.
There were Night Walkers that all had their weapons out, feebly fighting against the dying light in the distance and the moon above them shone like a million dying lights as the harsh curdling sounds of screams were heard above the terror visible.
"Come on," Kit said, pulling Levi by the arm, 'we have to help them!" She pulled out the sword from the sheath at her waist and yelled something that was barely audible above the high-errored screams in the distance. The hybrids had officially all come out of hiding and they had spread everywhere, their large shadows barely visible against the haunting dark.
"Help!" someone called, instantly snapping Kit's attention. It was a relatively young girl, she had blond hair and blue eyes. Even though she was an initiate, Kit didn't recognize her - partly because she was covered in blood.
"I'm going to help that girl," Kit pointed to the struggling girl who was yelling with terror as her sword battled against the hybrid. Kit began to run forwards, but Levi stopped her, lying his hand on her arm as he did. "What are you-"
But her words were cut off as Levi bent forwards and pressed his lips against hers. He cupped her face with his and she closed her eyes. Suddenly, everything around her vanished, there was no fighting, no dying and no screams, just Levi and she was practically vanishing away with him loving the way her lips glided across his in an endless synchronization of need.
When he finally pulled back, she was left looking into his eyes. "Be careful."
"I love you," she whispered, watching his beautiful features as he smiled that same perfect crooked smile.
"I love you more," he whispered back and with that he vanished into the crowd of fighting, silhouette barely visible against the darkness. She watched as his figure cascaded through the crowd, his sword came up over his shoulder as he brought it down with a slice.
Kit shook her head as she ran forwards, watching the girl who was just about to be killed by the hybrid. With her sword blazing above her head, Kit sprinted forwards, leapt out of the air just as the hybrid was about to bring its claws down atop the girl’s head. She let out a scream, just as Kit's sword sliced along the top of the hybrids head.
Kit screamed with anger. She swore as the hybrid growled, blood dripping down the side where it had been cut. The girl lay on the ground, face covered because she must have thought was would be killed then and there. With one final roar, Kit got the same sword, now covered in black and anchor and dug it completely in through the hybrid fur.
The large beast let out a final growl as it crumpled to the ground in a heap, all signs of living now erased from her mind. After a few seconds, the girl finally uncovered her eyes and she looked up at Kit who stood over the large beast.
As if just realizing what had happened, the girl stood up with her arms and legs shaking. Tears were had welled up in her eyes as she stared from Kit to the hybrid lying dead on the ground. "D-did you kill it?" she stammered.
Kit smiled and nodded her head, watching the girl's expression as it changed. "I had to, or else you would either be dead, or you could have been scratched by it and turned into a hybrid."
Tears began to spill down the girl’s cheeks. "Thank you."
Kit realized that she had seen the girl around school but had never spoken to her before.
"My name is Layla." The girl smiled shakily as though she hadn't quite gotten over the fact that she wasn't dead.
"I'm Kit."
"Thank you, Kit. I freaked out, I've never seen anything like that before and there was no one around to help me and I didn't know what to do." She looked weak and Kit suddenly realized something. Everyone who had ever attended The Luna Academy had never seen anything quite like this and it was hard because no one had ever completely realized that there was something out there that was as un-natural as these hybrids. For the entire time everyone was fighting and going on assignments, they were stealing stuff, but never killing anything quite like that.
"You should probably go to the base camp. They'll look after you until you're able to go back and fight again. I have something important to do."
Layla didn't ask what Kit had to do, she just smiled and nodded her head. "I will. Thank you for everything and good luck," and with that she began to walk away towards the base camp where Syria had organized for everyone to go if they were sick.
When Kit turned around, she saw Levi with his sword in a hybrid, she watched as he let out a large battle cry and sent the great beast into a flurry of terror as he dug the sword deep enough to kill it. He watched as it crumpled to the ground with all the other bodies around it.
Kit had never seen so much death and tragedy as she watched the scene around her. It was unmistakably sad to see everything, and she watched it all with terror. Night Walkers were sent running towards the hybrids, trying to corner to heap of them as they had kept doing.
There were so many though and even as Kit ran forwards and killed more and more alongside them, nothing seemed to help, they just kept coming back and there were so many.
"It's because of me," a dark voice said from behind her. Kit turned around, mouth feeling dry and her heart beat in her chest so hard and fast as she stared into the dead eyes of Claudius. "They won't stop coming back as long as I'm alive."
Kit couldn't say anything back as she drew her sword, lungs fighting for air.
This was it, she was going to kill him and once she did, she was going to get back everything she lost, and she would never let it go again. She watched him, he was in his beast form, black fur and great big wolf-like legs standing on the ground on all-fours. He was breathing steadily, huffing like the-big-bad-wolf.
"You're mine to kill," she whispered fiery as she swung the sword over her shoulder and stepped forth into the light of the moon.
CHAPTER THIRTY
(KIT'S P.O.V)
She swung the large blazing sword around as she gently bent forwards to dig the blade deep into a charging hybrid as it came towards her. Before her eyes flashed the big figure of Claudius as he roared with rage with his large golden eyes. She watched him, completely devastated by everything that was going on.
"You know," he huffed, looking around at the many Night Walkers that wished to uphold their fighting position but didn't quite look as though they had it in them. They stepped back into the shadows, wishing to god that something else would help them but more and more hybrids came from the cave and all hope seemed lost. "If you kill me, all these hybrids will die because if you kill their creator, then they all shall die."
Kit didn't hesitate as she aimed the sword at every figure, watching as they swarmed around her. "Even all those Night Walkers that have been turned? They will all die because you turned them." She stared at him, he was a great big beast and the more she looked at him, the more she feared and resented his existence.
She looked away, unable to k
eep her eyes fixed cleanly on him. "I want you dead," she whispered, "more than anything in the world." She glared at his black eyes as his monstrous figure eyed her back with all the hate a beast like him could create.
"I find that amusing because I want you dead more than anything as well." A laugh escaped his mouth that mimicked a madman's loud laughter in those asylums people stayed when they were insane.
She swallowed bile in her throat and raised her swords slowly above her head. "There's no place for your kind on this earth. I am a Night Walker, I guard the world from evil, your kind only tears that down so you can ruin everything and everyone who has ever found peace. If you leave and promise to disappear, I will save you the embarrassment of losing to me."
Claudius smile with his sinister smile as he strong legs beat against the cold ground. "I'm not made for cowardice," and with that he launched off his hind legs and was racing through the air.
Kit's eyes widened, and she ducked and rolled underneath him. She whipped around, watching how her eyes gently caught the beautiful moon that raised above her head. In the back of her mind she gently whispered a soft prayer:
Thank you for guarding me all these years.
She turned her head back to Claudius who had ran into a group of bushes. He turned around and looked back at her with his teeth snarling into a position of rare fierceness. She watched as he began to bind towards her with his hair gently catching the spindling wind.
She raised her large sword over her head and swung it at him as he leaped through the air with a large growl. Kit seemed to freeze momentarily before realizing where she was and just like that the sword scraped alongside Claudius's leg. He let out a large growl of pain as she watched black ichor beginning to sweep across the big cut.
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