Legacy of the White Raven: Volume II

Chapter Ten: Amends

    Sebastian's legs were a little wobbly when Gideon dropped him off on the front lawn of Allender Manor. After hours of dangling flight, the young mage was finding solid ground to have a strange feel. Being flown over night-soaked landscapes in the clutches of a vampire's talon-like feet was exhilarating to say the least, and he needed a moment for the thrill to subside so he could steady himself. Watching the winged vampire land beside him and revert in a seamless morph from an imposing monstrosity to a dashing blond-haired man didn't help to curb the excitement coursing through Sebastian.

    "That was...amazing," the young mage remarked, as wide-eyed as a kid coming off his first roller coaster ride.

    "Glad you enjoyed it," Gideon replied as he slipped into his suit jacket. "Most who find themselves in my clutches don't have so pleasant a trip," he hinted, smirking devilishly as he buttoned up the jacket. 

    The pair strode away towards the manor with Gideon leading the charge. Upon opening the front door, the first thing the tall vampire noticed was Ethan's lifeless form sprawled out on the hallway floor. A panicked wave of alarm swept over him instantly, and he shot from the door in a blur of speed to reach the fallen man. Sebastian peeked inside, becoming cautious after the way Gideon suddenly disappeared in whirlwind before him. When he saw the sturdy vampire kneeling beside the motionless man, he rushed inside too.

    "Is he alive?" Sebastian questioned, his voice brimming with concern as he knelt down beside Gideon.

    "Yes, he is just unconscious," Gideon diagnosed, after sensing the steady thumping of Ethan's heart with his vampire ears. Gideon quickly scanned the surrounding area for any sign of the others he'd left behind at the manor, but the great house was suspiciously calm.

    Scooping the fallen man up in his arms with ease, Gideon carried him off into the living room with a worried pace as Sebastian followed. He laid Ethan down gently on the couch, being extra careful when he propped the man's limply rolling head against the armrest. Patting him firmly on the cheek, the anxious vampire tried to rouse the only person who might be able to tell him what had happened to the others. 

    "Ethan!" Gideon summoned, his deep voice resounding in the spacious room like the toll of a church bell.

    Sebastian stood by, watching intently as Gideon called out again while patting Ethan's cheek a little more rapidly. The bespectacled man lying motionless on the couch finally began to stir, but weakly. His arms and legs writhed slowly as his face contorted with a grimace that was struggling against his unconscious state. Gideon called out once more and Ethan's heavy eyes rolled open, flitting about groggily as his mind rebooted. Moaning from the soreness in his limbs, he stared up in glazed confusion at the tall vampire looming over him.

    "Here, this will help you to recover faster," Gideon said as he bit into his wrist then hovered it over Ethan's slightly gaping mouth so that a few drops of blood found their way in.

    Sebastian kept silent as the scene unfolded. Ethan smacked wearily with disapproval of the unwelcome taste in his mouth, but soon after he swallowed  a noticable clarity returned to his soft eyes.

    "Where's Gale? And Lydia and Corbin?" Ethan suddenly blurted out in a panic as he sprang up to a sitting position, glaring at Gideon with a desperate need for an answer.

    "I was hoping you would be able to tell me that," Gideon worriedly admitted, slumping down on the couch beside Ethan with a deflated sigh. The stark realization that those he'd left behind had been taken, snatched away from his watchful eye began to settle on him with crushing weight. Never in all his years of watching over the children of his beloved Emma had things ever seemed so bleak. He had failed miserably at what he had vowed to do, he had lost them all.