The Queen

The Queen
Sera's POV

I swallowed the huge lump in my throat, turning around to the eyes on me. All the vampires were staring at me, an uncomfortable sensation crawling up my arms from the massive pairs of eyes staring at me. Some seemed genuinely expectant. Most, like Sigurd and Roman, were praying for me to fail, and others just seemed outright confused.
I felt overwhelmed and confused. My chest heaving as my heart drummed hard against it, my breathing stilled. I tried to move my lips, but only a whisper came out at first.
I tried to speak a second time when Fabian grabbed my shoulder. He gave a warm, reassuring smile. “Don't worry, don't be scared. You are the queen. Carry yourself like one and command you people. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes. We all do.” He said.
I shrugged off his hand. “I don't make mistakes, and I am not scared.” I said, putting some conviction and resolve in my voice, yet I heard my voice tremble a bit.
Fabian just grinned. Somehow, that grin got to me, and I returned his smile. Strangely, I felt calmness in my chest.
I shut my eyes for a moment, and then I opened them once again. I steeled my nerves, quieting the chaos in my chest, and raised my gaze to everyone, every one of the vampires. “Since we have reinforcement now. We should retreat! We can't fight…”
“Retreat…” Sigurd scoffed, throwing his head away.
“We don't retreat, hunter. We are vampires. Vampires don't fear. We face…”
“You can keep fighting head-on to your deaths.” I said, and I gave Sigurd and Roman a sad smile. They were getting on my nerves. If they wished to die. Then I wouldn't stop them.
Fabian scolded Roman and Sigurd with his eyes, and they quieted, but not with Sigurd mumbling some unintelligible things that seemed almost like curses.
I ignored him just like Fabian did. “We can't defeat the hunters fighting head-on, especially not now when half of our forces have fallen. They are far greater in numbers now, and they have weapons that are far more advanced than your vampire claws...”
“You still haven't told us how we can defeat them.” Fabian interrupted, smacking his teeth and staring back at the battlefield.
“Then wait, let me get to that,” I chided softly. “We have to fight strategically. First, we have to pull everyone back, retreating, and make them chase us around. You all as vampires would avoid them by tracing away. The Hunters have weapons, but what they don't have as humans is super stamina. Even the potions from the witches can't give them that. Instead, the potions sap their strengths the longer the fight. And stamina is something you vampires have in abundance. The longer the war drags on, the harder it is for the hunters to keep up. So we have to let the war drag on until the hunters are weak, then we will attack.”
Fabian thought about it, nudging his head to the air, a proud grin staining his lips. “That sounds like a brilliant plan, my queen.”
I ignored his interruption and continued. “And during the time while we are trying to avoid them and make the fight drag on, we systemically deplete their numbers by attacking their vulnerables. And for this, I need you, Fabian, and also Roman and Sigurd too, and a couple of the strong and fit elites to each lead a team of at least ten to twenty fighters.”
Sigurd grumbled, muttering his disapproval, but no one paid him any attention now, not even Roman.
“We will all split into groups and attack the Hunters vulnerables, while the others trace around to get the hunters tired. The Hunters force is split into different categories, all marked by different colors of armbands. Avoid the ones with the red, white, and black armbands, and rather focus on those with purple, green, blue, and orange. They are the vulnerables. After we are done, we will then move for the others. When they are tired, we will begin with the old geezers, who have black armbands, then move to those with white, and finally, the strongest, those with red.”
I didn't get an applause, but the heads bobbing in respect and admiration of my plans were enough to cause a flutter in my belly.
Fabian moved around, giving the others. And soon, we had everyone organized in teams and ready. At the same time, the main force was pulling back from hunters.
Fabian refused to choose a team for me, and instead he put me in his, comprising mostly elite vampires. I had no idea if it was because he wanted to flirt with me non-stop, or because he knew I wouldn't be able to fully control the vampires since most of them still distrust me, or maybe both. But I said nothing. At least, now, I had a chance to save Adrian and Cassian's empire from falling in their absence. That was all that mattered.
I tried not to think about how they were faring with the goddess, and I shook off the thoughts from my head. I nodded in resolve to myself. They were going to be fine. I was sure of it. They were the two strongest vampires alive, so they should be fine.
“Let’s go, my queen,” Fabian called, leaning his hand to me. Before I could take his hand, he snatched my hand, pulling me to his body, and he traced me away.
His vampire vision must be stronger and sharper, because he traced me to just before a large group of low-rank Hunters, the blue, orange, and green colors of their armbands darkened by the dark moonlight.
He dropped me onto the fluffy bed of snow. I swept fast with my Kitsune-induced speed. The coat of orange darkened around me and rippled with streaks of lightning. I charged into the midst of the Hunters, slicing and cutting as easily as cutting through vegetables. I was strong, more than I was with even Nix’s potions.
I remembered Nix’s death, and that pumped me full with more adrenaline and rage. The Hunters dared choose the side with the goddess that took my friend from me, took my brother, took my family, and even planned to take my grooms from me.
Hell! I was going to kill them all. I grunted with the whole of my lungs, yelling battle cries as I moved faster between the enemy and swung harder. Blood sprayed around everywhere, heads falling off the snow, rolling like balls, bouncing into the snow. Limbs fell off too. I struck anywhere and everywhere, cutting down any damn hunter before me, until Fabian came to take me away to another fresh batch of low-rank hunters.
With most of the vampires retreating and running away from the hunters, it decreases the possibility of striking at a vampire, giving us more space to maneuver and strike from. That made everything easier than I thought it would be. I kept slicing down, cutting down hunters, blood flowing around me like rain, body parts dismembering from hunters, agonizing cries, yells, and moans of pain following my wake. And yet I didn't feel even the least bit tired. Rather, I felt invigorated, felt alive.
Fabian kept tracing me around, and we kept cutting and slashing until finally, we had depleted most of the low-rank Hunters, and the others were already showing signs of weakness.
The zapping and whooshy noises of hunters as they sped around like streaks of blurs from the nitro kind of energy their potions gave them began to stop. Even the great-grand hunters relied only on their natural, human speed now.
Then we moved as planned, going for the elders at first. The elite vampires matched cleanly with the Hunter elders, and I, with my Kitsune powers, realized I could hold my weight against two and even three.
I swung my sword high and dropped it fast. The Kitsune force wrapped around the steel and hit the elder first, even before the steel end of the sword met his neck. Blood gushed out like a tap let loose, spraying into the air like a can of soda that was burst open. 
“I told you, you will be able to fight better with your kitsune powers.” Fabian grinned, checking out my kills on the floor—a total of seven dead hunter elders, four of whom had their heads severed from them.
“Turns out you were right.” I replied, looking around at the dark orange glowing cloak on my body.
I was still on it when he grabbed my waist again, tracing me away. I grunted, clenching my teeth hard. “One more attempt at grabbing me when I am not ready, and you will be kissing your head goodbye.”
“Why not castrate me, instead? Like you promised earlier.” He said, teasing me again.
“I would do that after taking your head.” I answered, my voice surprisingly calm. I even almost chuckled. Though he was encroaching and overbearing, I tried to condone him. Because he was real, and somehow, he seemed like a friend, she reminded me of Nix. She was just as playful, stubborn, and overbearing as he was.
He dropped me before a couple of elders again, and soon heads were rolling down the snow again, blood flowing like rain. Fabian struck the last of the elders, and we moved to the great hunters, who by now were already tired.
The Hunter clan had depleted so much, they were the ones now retreating and being chased by the vampire warriors.
“Told you were a natural as queen,” Fabian grinned down at me, reaching through my Kitsune cloak and tapping my shoulder gently.
He slanted me a smile with his full face as he charged after the retreating hunters.
I was about to move after him when something bumped me from behind. I wanted to swing my sword for it until Sigurd and Roman popped into my view, each standing by a side of me.
“Turns out your plans worked,” Sigurd said, “and turns out I won't be able to make fun of you.“ His voice was a bit scornful, yet I felt a little admiration from it.
He made a quick glance at me and forced a grin. He disappeared to chase after the retreating hunters.
“Thank you for helping us win the war, Hunter.” Roman said, making me a half smile. His face darkened instantly, a frown stealing the smile. “But this doesn't still mean I forgive you for what you did to Adrian,” he said, and he went after the retreating hunters, just like Sigurd and Fabian.
I smiled to myself then, bowing my head, feeling my cheeks heating up from an emotion I just couldn't put a name to. Now, I wouldn't have to be a cause of rift between my grooms and their people. Speaking of my grooms. Why the hell are they taking so long? The war here was as good as being won already.