Hope.

The one thing I was afraid to put any more faith in out of fear that it would let me down.

I should have known better than to ever lose hope, especially from a person like Dalton.

If there was anything he was good at, it was defying any odds laid out in front of him.

I blink hard a few times, almost afraid I'm imagining it all, the horses, the little lights, the man of my dreams running for me. But even after a few blinks he was still there, running down the hill and towards the little city opening. Towards me.

I slowly let go of my dad as my strength crept back into my limbs. It was shaky at first, but finally I broke out into a run, shoving through hordes of people until I came out in the front, just in time to meet him as his boots hit the gravel.

I crash into his chest and his arms circle me, holding me to him desperately. "I was afraid I'd be too late." He whispers into my ear and I cry out at the joy of hearing his voice again.

"I was afraid I'd never see you again." I grab his neck and pull him closer.

"Oh, baby, me too." He nods against me, holding me so tight that it hurts but I don't even care about the pain. The pain means I'm still alive and so is Dalton. For how long, I don't know, but for now it's all that matters. "I'm so sorry."

That statement brings me back and I step back enough to punch him in the middle of the chest. "How could you just disappear like that?" I slap his chest again. "Do you have any idea how-." I don't get to finish because he grabs my shoulders and turns me to look to the side.

"I had to find them." He whispers into my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.

I can't focus on that though, not with the sight in front of me.

Horses.

Dozens of them.

Black and white horses race forward encircling the perplexed armies.

As if that wasn't alone strange and crazy enough, each horse held a rider, and each rider wore a glowing stone. Some were necklaces, some head bands, others were bracelets.

"You found others like Rawul?" I glance back at him.

He looks rough, his skin and clothes covered in dirt, little bits of leaves stuck in his hair and his eyes are heavy with exhaustion, but he laces his fingers through mine. "I did." He nods. "I took the bracelet back in the ambush and immediately went to find the others. I knew there had to be more." He explained quickly. "I didn't know if I'd be able to though, and I didn't want to give anyone any false hope, so I made Rawul promise not to tell anyone what I was doing."

"I was so scared, Nathaniel and I tried to find you but couldn't."

"That's because I had the bracelet and then I was with them. They can't be tracked or seen. They are completely immune to all supernatural powers. I'm so sorry." He kisses the side of my face and I grab him, pulling him back in to kiss his lips. I never thought I'd see him again, much less kiss him.

"You're forgiven." I smile against his lips, then turn back to the strange people he brought with him. "Who are they?" I ask in awe. Each one looks so powerful even though they are really pretty ordinary. Their ages very from very young like Rawul is, to straight up elderly, but they hold themselves with such authority.

"They call themselves Custodes." Dalton tells me. "They're the guardians of this world."

"Guardians?"

Dalton nods, leading me back down towards the groups where they have naturally split into two sides again, a mix of bodies in between the two armies. The Doctor stands in front of his own side, not looking the least bit surprised, but instead defiant.

Dalton and I rush over to where Dad stands with Mom tucked under his arm. He looks much calmer now that he has her with him again and he pulls over to them too. I sigh gratefully when I see Pedro and Mathew standing with Fallon off to the other side and Dalton's parents over across the crowd.

Everyone seems to be powerless, even Logan where is sits in a crouch down by the Doctors feet. His face is wrong, he looks crazed and I'm glad I don't see Octavia nearby because I wouldn't want her to see him like this.

I watch as a woman comes forward, her horse just a little larger than the rest. She stops her horse just to the left of the Doctor, both sides of the armies lurching back to be away from her.

She's beautiful and just screams power. Her dark curls pulled back and tied into a long ponytail at her neck and headpiece that reminds me a little of Wonder Woman across her forehead. The red stone in the center glows brightly as she glares down at the Doctor.

Something tells me I should step forward and I glance back at Dad and he nods.

I don't let go of Dalton though as I walk forward to stand in front of my people and across from the Doctor like we were at the beginning of the battle just minutes ago.

The woman barely spares a glance my way before she glares back at the Doctor.

"Halston, we meet again." She says with a twist of disgust in her voice.

"It was you who made that inevitable if I recall." The Doctor, Halston, responds quickly. "What do you plan to do about it? I've been quite unruly as of late."

He looks up to her with pure defiance written all over his face. The woman is not the least bit phased by his stance. "I won't give you what you want just because you throw a tantrum like a child." She tells him.

Halston sneers at her, his face stony and eyes black as coals. "Then I will continue." He turns to Logan. "Rise." He whispers and Logan stands, I try not to look but I can't help it. His clothes are tattered and covered in blood. He stares at Halston blankly. "Do it." He whispers to him but the woman laughs.

"Halston, it will never work." She tells him. "You can't create something that can touch us. We are of the Gods of this world and we will never be overcome unless the Gods themselves chose to do so, not by some sad little man."

"I don't care about you." He snaps at her and holds out his arm in front of Logan and Logan opens his mouth, his fangs still dripping with the blood of his previous victims and he bites down hard into Halston's forearm. He screams out in pain, falling to his knees and Logan releases, dropping back into his submissive crouch.

Halston howls in pain and his arm turns black slowly like it's rotting away from the inside out. I watch as the poison spreads and he continues to cry in pain. "Please." I hear him whispering under his breath.

"Your curse cannot be broken." The woman mutters, looking down at Halston where he lies twisted up on the ground in agony. "You will live."

It suddenly makes a little sense to me and I step forward. "Wait." I say, getting her attention. "You did this to him?"

"He did this to himself." She says coolly and then extends her hand to me. I shake it once, but don't let it linger. "My name is Raysmith, and I am the enchantress of the Custodes. I apologize for the shock and I'm sure you have many questions but sadly I cannot give them to you. We do not usually operate in this type of way, so openly. Our job is to guard the supernatural of this world against each other and the humans from you all. We cannot let this go on and thus we have had to intervene. One supernatural being cannot have precedent over another. It leads to war and destruction as you probably well know, young queen."

"I can't thank you enough for showing up when you did." I tell her, bowing my head.

"It is our duty to this world." She turns back to look down at Halston on the ground where he weeps. "I will clean up this mess, you and your people will not be punished, the others however." She turns to the army behind Halston and they all fall to the ground, Logan too.

"No!" I scream, running to his side but Dalton jerks me back quickly. "Please," I turn back to the woman. "He wasn't a part of this. He's my family. Can you help him?"

"I'm sorry." She shakes her head. "He was a part of something evil, and true evil cannot live in this world."

"No." I say firmly. "This man is far from evil. He'd never had a drop of human blood before this. He is truly good and this world without him in it would be lacking without his kind of light. Please, I beg of you."

She purses her lips and frowns at me, then down at Logan where he lies. "I don't know what can be done for him, but I will take him with us and if we find his heart to be as true as you say. We will do what we can for him." She nods to me. "This you have my word on."

"I need to be with him!" I hear a voice shout over the crowd and I turn in time to see Octavia forcing through to the front, she's covered in blood like the rest of us but she still looks beautiful as ever. She falls to the ground in front of Logan and puts his head in her lap.

"Careful girl, he may still be dangerous." Raysmith warns, but Octavia doesn't move.

"I love him and I will stay with him."

Tears sting my eyes as I watch her brush his hair back over his face. "Very well." Raysmith nods and a man with a glowing green stone on his wrist comes forward to help Octavia lift Logan's body up onto a horse and he leads her away after she hugs my neck.

Raysmith pulls the reigns on her glorious white horse and turns. "Be sure to dispose of the bodies correctly." She says over her shoulder as she begins to trot away with the rest of the Custodes.

The army behind me erupts into cheers that still don't quite make sense to me. I can't fully comprehend that we've actually survived. The moon will rise again on a new night tomorrow. I hug Dalton at my side and he kisses my face over and over as others around us move to getting rid of the bodies of our enemies. My fingers shake in pure euphoria until I look down and see Halston still lying on the ground.

"Wait!" I call out, rushing behind Raysmith's horse. She turns to look at me over her shoulder. "What about the Doctor. You can't really be letting him live."

She raises her chin and blinks slowly. "It is his punishment." She tells me. "It was him who first tried to push a supernatural species out of existence, and because of his crimes he is punished with an eternally eternal life as what he hates."

She turns to go again but I can't let it go. "No, this isn't right." I call back. "On so many levels this is wrong." She looks putout as she turns back to me.

"He doesn't concern you anymore." She says. "He will be far too weak to cause any other trouble any time soon."

"That is so not the point." I almost shout. "He did what he thought was right at the time." I point out. "He wasn't a supernatural. He was just a human who was trying to protect his human family and friends from dying at the hands of the vampires that were plaguing his village. Is that so wrong? We would all do things to protect the ones we love. Was it bad? Sure. But did he deserve to be forced to watch the deaths of his family and then turned into this?"

"This isn't your decision, young queen. You're people need you now, not this man. He is our problem, not yours."

"Um, no." I cross my arms over my chest and Dalton holds my elbow to keep me in place. "All of two minutes ago he was very much my problem as he has killed hundreds of thousands of my people and was just about to kill me too before you rode in here." I uncross my arms and try to be a little less hostile. "I don't mean any disrespect and again I can't explain how thankful I am to you and your people, but this could have all been avoided. Had he been simply killed in the first place, we could have all been saved all of this pain and death. It was all unnecessary."

"This isn't your place or decision." Raysmith shakes her head. "As you said, this man is responsible for killing so many of your own, why do you fight for him now?"

"Because it's the right thing to do." I say without a thought. "His suffering is no less important than my suffering or yours. He only wants to be set free from this life. I don't think that's asking too much. Instead you'd rather wait until he comes up with a new plan to try again? When does it stop? Give him peace."

I hadn't noticed the quietness of my people or the fact that everyone was tuned into our exchange, but now that I was I was feeling a little less feisty. I'm really not trying to be ungrateful for their help or overstep but I just don't want to sit by and watch this. Halston is a bad person, but all he wants is to die. Forcing him to live is crueler than anything he's done in his overextended life.

Raysmith looks down at me with a mix of appreciation but also annoyance, but then her eyes cut away from mine and her expression softens into a smile. I turn to see who she's looking at and I watch as Dalton pulls out the bracelet from his pocket and hands it over to Rawul.

He puts it on, a smile growing on his face and then he turns to look up at Raysmith. "I-I um, I agree with Rose." He says at my side.

Raysmith's expression softens even more. "You do?" She asks him and he nods once nervously. She looks over her shoulder and I follow her gaze to where her people have all split into smaller groups. Everyone with a red stone together, blues in another spot, and so on. She looks to the others with glowing green stones like the one on Rawul's wrist and she tilts her head. "You all?" She asks and they nod collectively. "Very well. Come on now, Rawul. We have much to discuss." She smiles down at him and he walks away as he follows her horse.

I look back to Halston and notice he's gone still. Dalton runs over and kneels at his side before looking back to me. "He's gone." He tells me and for some reason a little more of the weight is lifted from me.

"Oh, Rose?" I turn at the sound of my name and find Raysmith is looking back at me again, smiling.

"Yes?" I ask nervously.

"I am profoundly glad that you've found your way to your people." She says evenly. "You will go down in history as the Queen of change." She smiles again. "I can feel it in my bones. Big things will come from you. Your people are lucky to have you." I open and close my mouth a few times to try to think of something to say, but thanks just doesn't seem like enough. She laughs. "Go on now," She points behind me. "Your family is waiting for you."

I nod and turn, finding that she was right.

My family is right there, alive and well.

I fall into their collective hugs and finally let the significance of what has just happened sink in. We did it. Despite it all, we made it out alive. Each one of us.

Was there loss? Definitely. I know we've suffered losses and it will take a while to rebuild and grow back what was lost, but I know that together we can do it.

Together we can do anything.

And today, I'm counting this as a win.