~~

Dietrich

~~

The last two nights were, without a doubt, the best two nights of my life. And considering that I have had a lot of nights in my life that is definitely saying something. My mate and I had finally come together, we had finally become one in the most intimate of ways.

And oh, but my mate was so expressive. After he had gotten over (most of) his embarrassment he had started to quite enjoy it all. Then, when we found out that we had the day off from training the next day, I couldn't think of a better way to spend it than by making up for lost time.

We spent an entire day and two glorious nights in each other's arms and there is nothing I would do to change it. It was perfect, special, and life changing. I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of my life in his arms.

The day that training resumed I could not get the smile off of my face. All day I was grinning happily, especially when I looked at my love. But for some reason he would blush every time that I looked at him. I wasn't the only one grinning either. Reece was smiling happily, just as happily as I was. I could only guess that he had had as much fun recently as I had.

Training moved pretty quickly from that point onward. We all managed to unlock an added power or ability. It was like an upgrade to what we already had. We trained hard to learn more and to be the best fighters we could all possibly be. And I got to enjoy the sight of Shawn training everyday.

But soon, we had come to the point where we were supposed to go back home. Trinity had learned all that she could from the Sentinelle and we were all stronger, faster, and more efficient than we had been before.

The bad thing was, before we could even leave to head back, Trinity had a vision. She was sent a message that warned her of Edmond's imminent attack on the city. We needed to hurry and get back so that we could defend our territory.

All of us refused to bow down to that sadistic Warlock. We would all do our best to stop his heinous acts against both the shadow world and the human world. The trip home may have been rushed, but we were all ready and raring to go.

Less than a day, that's all we had. Less than a day to prepare. The morning after we got home we were notified that more of those monstrous beasts were on their way. Somehow those monsters were cloaked from human sight and were traveling from every possible direction.

Those of us that had gone to France, those of us that had entered the Goddess Guard first, we were Generals, sort of. That was my name for it. We headed up our own divisions of troops, and prepared them for the upcoming battle. We were the top of the top and only answered to Trinity and Reece. To me, that made us their Generals.

The only thing that gave me pause during the whole fight was that I didn't get to fight alongside Shawn. I knew it was for a specific reason, that we were needed elsewhere, but that didn't stop me from worrying and feeling like something bad was going to happen.

I wouldn't stop worrying until I saw him again, safe and sound.

~~

Shawn

~~

The battle when we got home was intense. I hadn't known what to expect when we had arrived on the battlefields, but these beasts were even more fierce than the last ones we had faced. The first wave of them were elemental in some way. They needed to be attacked and destroyed in a certain way.

The fight was proving difficult for many and I watched as far too many of my comrades fell around me. I only hoped that they weren't hurt too badly, and I wanted desperately to check on them but I was much too busy with the second wave of the beast.

Second wave was probably not the right way to put it. These new monsters were not the same as the first wave so it couldn't be counted as a second wave, it was more like a new assault altogether.

The newest creatures, the things that we were fighting now, they looked like giant spiders. Sort of. It was like people molded into giant spiders that were lethal and very fast. Three heads, eight misshapen limbs, and weird looking extending and retracting necks. They were nightmares to say the least.

I was dispatching a beast when I was ambushed by three of those spider things at once. I don't know how I had managed to survive it as well as I did.

One moment I was sending sharp branches, pieces of debris, and my daggers flying through the air toward the enemies, and then the next moment I felt a sharp pain sear across my abdomen. That first pain was immediately followed by another even more intense flash of fiery pain that ran down the side of my face. I sent all the projectiles I had left flying at that moment. I sent them to hit any and all of the monsters that were surrounding me.

The last thing I saw before I blacked out was a barrage of arrows joining my attack. With the combined effort all the beasts around me dropped to the ground, dead.

"That's good." I barely managed to make the words audible, I was losing strength and fast. "Dietrich." I called out his name but it was barely a whisper. "I love you."

That was the last of the strength I had. I was gone after that. My last conscious thought had been that at least I had shown him how much I loved him. And that I wasn't dying a virgin.

~~

Dietrich

~~

There had been a shower of arrows that had flown across the battlefield, taking the rest of the monsters we were fighting with them. There was a flurry of activity almost immediately following their disappearances. There were so many people lying on the ground injured and needing help. I did my best to help and assist them, knowing that it was what I needed to do. But all the while I was feeling nervous and scared. I couldn't wait until I saw my mate, until I saw Shawn again.

While I was busy with those who had been hurt I was summoned by Noah. Trinity had apparently been taken to another place with Edmond and had killed him. She brought his head back as proof of his demise.

That was wonderful news, there was nothing else for us to worry about. Edmond was finally gone and would no longer be able to harm anyone else in this place or any other.

So, why was it that I was still nervous when I got back? Scanning the area told me right away that my Shawn was not here. Where was he?

I saw Shane, David, Noah, Vincent, Reece, Trinity, but no Shawn. I listened to the words being spoken around me, trying to hear if anyone said anything about my love. This had to be the reason I still felt like something was wrong.

"Shawn!" Trinity yelled my mates name with a look of fear and horror on her face. She was holding the head in her hand still and tossed it without paying attention. "Here, David, catch."

"What the hell. Eww, that's fucking gross. Don't throw severed heads at people. That's just common courtesy." I heard his stream of complaints in the back of my mind but they weren't important right now.

"Trinity, where are you going?" Reece took off after her.

"Shawn is hurt." She screamed back. "I saw it before I was taken to the shadow land. I have to go and make sure he is alright." The panic in her voice made my heart sink and my adrenaline kick into overdrive.

"Did you say Shawn was hurt?" I immediately started to follow her. "Mein Liebhaber." I felt as if my world had just come crumbling down around me. What was going to happen to my love?

"We have to hurry." She urged us all on.

"How do you know? How do you know that he is hurt?" I was not doubting her but I was hoping that she was wrong. But I knew that she wasn't, it was the only thing to explain why my love was not back yet.

"I saw it. I saw that he was attacked by the spider freaks before I was taken by Edmond."

"Oh Mein Gott, Oh my Goddess, please let him be ok."

"I will make certain of it, Dietrich. I refuse to lose anyone else. But we need to hurry. We've got to get to him." There was an indescribable pain and a biting edge to her voice as she spoke. "We're coming Shawn, just hang in there."