Fatherly Pride

Ceriden followed Sabina, her horse, and Gareth, not really caring where they were going at the moment. After all, the wraith was destroying their tracks, so hopefully Commander Styliane's hunters would be unable to find them.

Then it occured to Ceriden that he had no idea where exactly he was in the forest, nor did he have any idea how to get out. Perhaps the wraith would be able to help him find his way around as well. Then again, Sabina wanted him to destroy the wraith after they were done with it. Frankly, Sabina probably wouldn't mind if he got lost in the forest and got eaten by werewolves after he helped her with her precious spell, and he had no intention of doing that, so well, he would keep using the wraith until he got out.

As the group continued hiking into the forest, Ceriden looked back and caught glimpses of his wraith, which was dutifully hanging back and demolishing their footprints. He felt a sense of pride from what he had created. He could sense Sabina's and Gareth's disgust at what he had done, but they didn't understand. Sabina was a good-for-nothing consumer as far as Ceriden could tell. And Gareth had been a slave. He did what he was asked, and anything he had built was probably designed by someone else. They didn't know what it was like to create a masterpiece. They didn't know what it was like to create life, well, unlife he supposed. Still, Ceriden had accomplished something magnificent, and if Sabina and Gareth were too close-minded to see it, he didn't care. Much.

Actually, if Ceriden was being honest with himself, he kind of wanted Gareth to understand. Sabina was just a walking purse that happened to possess a tome that he very badly wanted, but Gareth had the potential to be a potent ally. Ceriden was going to need a partner to support his plans, and he very dearly wanted that partner to be Gareth. For one thing, Gareth, simply by nature of being a vampire, was going to be stronger, faster, and all around more dangerous than most people Ceriden could find to do the kind of work he had planned. Secondly, Ceriden knew that he was one of the few people in the region that understood and respected vampires. Gareth needed someone like him, whether he knew it or not, and thirdly, Gareth knew too much. Letting Gareth walk free after he finished this task was a risky move, but it was a necessary one. If Ceriden was to have any hope of befriending the vampire, he was going to have to do so as a partner and not as a master.

The mage sighed. He needed to talk to Gareth about this. Privately. Although doing so exacerbated the headache he was experiencing from his excessive magic use, Ceriden telepathically whispered to the vampire. "Gareth, this is Ceriden. I need to ask you something. How do you feel about what I just did, or well, what I just made?"