Chapter 344 - Blue and Black

Crackling with blue energy like lightning bolts, the vampire Princess's dagger slashed through Chris's shield.

"What the --" Chris jumped back avoiding the dagger. She jerked to Rosaline's left to attack her but Rosaline was fast. With inhuman speed, she twisted around and her blade almost grazed Chris. Chris wobbled around, again and again, barely managing to defend herself.

The vampires on the stand screamed and cheered for their Princess and Chris tried to ignore the noise and focused on Rosaline's weapon. But even with her full concentration, she could hardly go offensive on Rosaline. Chris knew vampires were fast but seeing Rosaline in the fight was a different story. She bent and twisted her body so fast and effortlessly that soon Chris understood she was going to lose if she couldn't slow her down. As Chris's frustration grew, she felt the darkness living inside her increasing. Till now she had managed to keep it together, but multiple times it had tried to take over her, and right now it was getting hard for Chris to surpass it. The more her anger rose because of Rosaline, Chris's power felt darker. But Chris tried to shake it off.

Okay, time to change the strategy.

Chris had already observed her surroundings, now she decided to use them in her favor. She quickly created five walls of protection to distract Rosaline and while she got busy tearing down the magic walls, Chris transfigured the sands near Rosaline's legs into big spiders and intensified the burning torches around the arena. The vampires watching screamed. As Rosaline got distracted by the fire and started to reduce it back, the spiders started to climb on Rosaline's legs. Rosaline suddenly jumped back feeling the big spiders crawling on her legs and Chris finally got an opening and attacked her. Chris planned to disarm Rosaline but as soon as she cast the disarming spell, Rosaline twisted around and attacked Chris again. But this time, Rosaline didn't attack her with her dagger, she used her air magic and suddenly Chris was completely out of breath. Chris doubled over feeling exhausted. But painfully she dragged herself and cast the bubble charm on herself. Chris took a long breath, getting up. She had a pretty good guess that the vampire Princess will use her elemental magic, so she was prepared.

Seeing Chris's bubble, Rosaline lunged forward with her dagger to blast the bubble, her brows furrowed in frustration, but Chris didn't let her get so close. This time Chris was fast, she quickly counter-attacked Rosaline with the stunning spell. The spell gazed past Rosaline's shoulder as she whirled around. Now, both of them were several feet away, they circled each other looking into each other's eyes. Rosaline looked as if she was noticing Chris for the first time, she could see Rosaline sensing her powers, and realizing this Chris felt some unnatural happiness inside her. She knew it was unnatural because she realized that her emotions were bringing the darkness to an edge of breaking point. A misstep and it will take over her. Fighting Rosaline was already difficult, and with that and fighting something inside her was taking a toll. But Chris had promised herself after everything that happened last year, she wasn't going to let the darkness win. She calmed herself down again and again.

The fire around the arena was calm again and Rosaline had buried the spiders with her magic, now she was waiting for an opportunity, and as soon as she saw the uncertain look on Chris's face, she attacked her. Her blade finally touched Chris's arm.

Chris jerked back as Rosaline's magic dagger cut a deep wound on her left arm. She looked at her wound hoping to see blood but there was not a single drop of blood but the place where the dagger touched was turning black.

"Did you poison me?" Chris asked shocked and saw Rosaline looking surprised for a split second. But then it was gone and Rosaline thrust her dagger again. The bubble around Chris's head burst and Chris felt dizzy. She could hear the crowd shouting but for a moment all her surroundings faded away. Everything felt like she was watching and hearing them from underwater.

All of sudden a vision flashed through her mind. A dark room and four silhouettes surrounding a small figure sitting in the middle of the room. The figure felt very familiar. Everything about that room felt familiar. She knew that place. . . . And then, just like that, the vision was gone.

Chris was again in an arena full of vampires. As her eyes focused back she saw Oziyat climbing down from the stands hurriedly. Chris looked back at Rosaline and saw her creating some kind of magical bolts to attack her. Sensing the danger Chris automatically raised her wand, muttering all offensive spells she could think of. The result was so powerful that it practically slammed on Rosaline and she went flying back and hit the ground hard.

A stunned silence filled the arena. Chris felt her entire body humming with magic, it wasn't the dark unnatural energy inside her but something else. She could feel the power and use it according to her. The Magic felt her own.

Chris was busy feeling the free-flowing magic inside her when Rosaline stood up and thrust her dagger into the ground. The ground shook and out of nowhere vines came out of the sands and wrapped around Chris. The wand dropped from Chris's hand and the vines bind her so tightly that she was turning blue with suffocation.

"What are you . . . doing?" Chris shouted, now, her entire body was covered with the vine. She had a horrible flashback when in her third year Barty Crouch jr had bound her with poisonous vines and left her in the middle of the maze.

Chris squirmed and tried to kick her legs as Rosaline's vines lifted her from the ground. A cheer went around the crowd but it was less enthusiastic. Something had shifted in the atmosphere.

Rosaline's eyes looked bloodshot as she glared at Chris. She looked so angry that just by looking at her Chris shivered. She looked like a crazy person as she walked closer to Chris. Chris tried to free herself with magic but it was magic vines and Rosaline was controlling them. Rosaline moved her dagger towards Chris's throat and Chris realized she was about to lose. As soon as Rosaline touched her dagger on Chris's throat it was going to be over and honestly, by the looks of it Rosaline didn't look like she was going to just touch the dagger tip on Chris's throat. Chris could die, right here, right now. . . after coming this far?

No.

Chris gritted her teeth and tried to channel all her new power into freeing herself but it wasn't working. The vampire elemental magic of Rosaline was far powerful. Chris needed something equally powerful. Some kind of weapon that can cut through the vines.

And suddenly it was there. The gleaming silver sword with the long ruby-encrusted hilt. It fell out of nowhere and sliced through the vines binding Chris's upper body, freeing her hands and arms. Working on her instinct Chris grabbed the sword before it can hit the ground. The Sword of Gryffindor again came to her when she needed it. With another swift motion, she cut through the other vines around her and held it up to stop Rosaline . . . only to find Rosaline frozen in her place. Her eyes trained at the Sword of Gryffindor in Chris's hand. Chris didn't stop, she pointed the sword tip very close to Rosaline's chest.

"Drop your weapon, Princess Rosaline," Chris ordered.

Rosaline still looked stunned and let go of her dagger. Chris looked at the stands and saw some vampires clapping, some screaming and in the royal seats, Queen Vasilisa standing with her mouth open. The others in the royal box also looked uncomfortable. Chris looked back at Rosaline and gave a small gasp of surprise. The first Princess of the royal vampire clan, the most powerful vampire . . . was on her knees. Her head bowed in respect as she muttered,

"Great Protector, I pledge my loyalty to you."

"Wait -- what?"

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To be continued. . .