Fear Among The Shadows

Chapter XVI - Bound in Blood

Jonathan was tired, my friend. He was so, so tired. I should be moving, he thought, and planning the next course of action. I should be figuring out new battle strategies to win. I should be researching more about my legendary beast. I should be trying to save my servants, my friends, my people. I should never have sent them to their doom. I should...I should...I should...

There were too many things he should be doing, should have done, or should have done differently. There were too many actions he's taken that he couldn't help but regret. There were too many ghosts haunting him, reminding him that he caused their deaths, he may as well have been the sword that pierced their hearts.

I could tell you now, dear reader, that it does no one any good to dwell on the actions of the past. That drowning yourself in everything that might've been and everything that'll never be will amount to nothing but lungs filled with water, gasping, searching for one last, quick breath of air. The past can be so tempting, it is so easy to lose oneself in its depths but let me tell you, I have seen men and women, mortals and immortals, humans, lesser beings and warlocks of the greatest power and none have gained from traversing its endless misery. I was unlucky enough to witness gods grow senile, their minds circling over and over and over again over what they could have done differently. I will never forget the people who tossed themselves from cliffs, from mountains, their eyes set on the horizon that could have been their future but they only knew their past. Oh, if only I could tell Jonathan 'There is no shame in admitting mistakes, but there is no joy in never removing the shackles of those mistakes.'

Jonathan couldn't recall how many hours it'd been. The conversation he'd had with that soldier seemed days ago and he could only remember bits and pieces.

***

"What?"

The soldier took a nervous step back, understandable considering the rage emanating from Jonathan.

"We cannot find Joah, milord. We've searched the mansion and sent messengers into town. No one has seen or heard from him since the others left."

Jonathan could not believe what he was hearing. Did that bastard go to the Shadow Palace anyway, deliberately disobeying a Blood command? No, it couldn't be. Jonathan would have felt that. Then, what? Did he go somewhere else? Would that not count as disobeying still? Jonathan couldn't recall the exact command he had given Joah at that moment, but he was still incredulous. What the hell was Joah thinking? Going somewhere and not informing anyone of his whereabouts? What if he was killed? Or worse?

He shook his head. Damn, he was going to kill Joah when he found him. And yes, he would find him. Did Joah forget that Jonathan could simply tap into their Blood bond and locate him?

So, Jonathan closed his eyes, prepared to focus his mind and delve into the blood that connected him to his servants. For a second, they were all intermixed, a frenzy of fear, panic, exhaustion, surprise, anger, misery and pain, pain, pain –

"Aghg!" The soldier jumped back as Jonathan doubled over, grasping his head in his hands. His breathing was heavy and all he could do was shake his head. Shake his head as a feeling of emptiness suddenly washed over him. Shake his head as the thin, fading scar on his right palm sliced itself open, blood sliding down his fingers, blood he knew wasn't his. Shake his head and then his hands and then his whole body could do nothing but shake as he thought of what this meant.

Thought of the life that just ended.

The life he had sent to an early grave.

Eric.

Oh, Eric. Jonathan remembered the day they made the Blood Oath. A sprite of a darredh boy looking at him with a determination in his eyes, fierce anger, a desire to avenge himself.