Title: The Search 1/2 Author: ShadoutCarver TV verse
Disclaimer: Dresden Files belongs to Jim Butcher
and Scifi Channel who threw it away anyway so :p
Summary: Harry searches for a way to help Bob
Part 1 - Harry
I watch him - my mentor, my old tutor, my friend. He's full of sarcasm and wit He has a tongue that could put surgical scalpels to shame. He was my rock after my father died and my Uncle brought me to his cold and lonely mansion. My untouchable rock.
He is an ancient ghost who became my teacher after I was left orphaned. No one knows how long he's been dead. Certainly five hundred years at least. He wasn't young when the high council killed him, assuming the white-haired just over middle age aspect he wears is what he looked like at the time of his death. How old is he? Six, seven hundred years? A thousand? He isn't saying. He never tells me much about himself – and I think he's told me more than he has any previous owner of his skull.
I watch him, as I have since my uncle introduced us. His approval or disapproval can still affect me. I am an adult now, and the owner of his skull, and he obeys me (for the most part) but he still grades my work. He can still cut or praise with his words alone and his voice can cause me pain or pride.
I watch him, as he flashes smiles, sneers or stands stiff in indignation. As he concentrates on one of his equations or one of my problems. He'll pace and think aloud. He'll badger me, prod me, and become snide out of sheer frustration when I ignore his warnings of danger. He's almost always right, of course.
Sometimes he stops, though. His face grows slack and he'll stare into nothingness. I watch him, and it's obvious he is not with me. It can last for seconds or minutes. When he returns... when he returns, I see the pain. Soul searing pain that takes my breath away. It hurts me to watch and I can only imagine what my friend feels. I don't delude myself that I can imagine it well.
I will find a way. What the council did is wrong. Hrothbert of Bainbridge may have been steeped in black magic and greatly feared in his lifetime. What he did when his beloved Winifred died – several times – crossed the line. He may have deserved execution. He may even have deserved some time spent as a spirit bound to earth; but no one can dispense eternal justice. No human or group of humans can dictate the eternal fate of a soul. The High Council went too far. They crossed the line themselves.
I will find a way. I will find a way to free my friend. I will find a way end his pain and send his soul on. No matter what I have to do, or where I have to go; if it takes the rest of my life. If I have to do it from the other side of the grave – I will find a way.
