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The alchemist shivered as the silent knight packed a horse. He had been imprisoned under the charge of heresy, and had been looking at living in a cell for the rest of his short days at best when the old knight had walked up and freed him without a word. Now they stood in the forest where the knight had pulled up a horse and provisions like...like magic, though the alchemist knew perfectly well that wasn't how magic worked. It was like the old knight had planned this.
The alchemist was young and didn't know much, but he did know what his parents had told him: to avoid the Church and knights both. It kept you safe in these trying times, when no one wanted to explore the mysteries of God's creation and even priests wore their ignorance like a crown. It was hard to believe a devoted knight who wore the cross on his tabard would free even someone simply accused of heresy, especially not when it would mean going against Father Roche, the priest even surrounding priests went to for advice on God's wishes.
"There you go." It was the first words the knight had spoken the entire night, and the alchemist was startled to hear them. The horse was ready, laid down with enough for a few weeks journey. "Ride to the west and start a new life. There's money and food in there, and you seem like a smart young man, if not sensible." The reins were shoved into the alchemist's face, and he had to take a step back. He had ridden before, a bit, but only on his father's broken down old nag... The knight noticed his discomfort. "He won't throw you. Go. Before anyone notices."
"Yes, of course, sorry sir." He shyly took the reins from the knight's gnarled hands and looked up at the very large horse. It was...very large. Yes, very large indeed.
"Do you need help mounting?"
"N-no, that's not it. Ah...sir?" It was now or never, and if he didn't ask this would haunt him for the rest of his life. "Sir, why did you help me? I've been accused of heresy, and-"
"Are you a heretic?"
"No, not at all! I have my faith in God as much as you, sir! But you have status, and I'm just a blacksmith's son who ran afoul of a priest. I wanted to know why you'd help me."
The knight stared him then, with a look that may have been resignation, or sorrow, or regret before turning away to the forest. When he spoke, his voice was distant, as if reading off words written in the leaves and the stars.
"I had a friend, once. He was an alchemist, and never told me. There was...trouble later, and I found out how much he had been keeping from me all along. Perhaps he thought I wouldn't understand, or would have turned against him. And then he walked down a dark, dark path where I absolutely could not follow. But I would've helped him if I could, to have shared his burden and stopped him from walking into the darkness. That's why I wanted to help you, to stop anyone else from following that path. And to prove I would have stood by him, even if all of Christendom was against him. If I had been able to do that... then perhaps no one would've had to suffer."
-v-
"I have found you, vampire!"
It had taken months for the knight to track the vampire here, to his lair. After following countless rumors and half-remembered sightings, stories of people waking up weakened, with odd marks on their neck and tales of a stranger that walked during the night, finally the knight had run the foul beast to the ground.
The least the devil could do would be to look angry about it. Instead he looked at the knight with calm curiosity, as if furious men brandishing swords ran into his library all the time. He placed his book down with no particular hurry and stood up, but made no move to fight. "And why have you tracked me, hunter?"
The knight was aware this wasn't how it was supposed to go, but rallied. "You have been a plague on this lands, drinking the blood of innocents and cursing the land with your presence! My son cannot sleep for nightmares, and my wife fears to step outside! I will kill you, and ease everyone's torment!"
The vampire considered these words before replying. "I have killed no one. I bear no love for God, but I care not for what people do. Tell your loved ones they have nothing to fear from me."
"I know enough not to listen to the words of a devil! May God help me strike you down!" And the knight rushed to slice the vampire in twain.
He rushed, but did not hit. Somehow the vampire disappeared from right in front of him, and before he could turn around a great burning pain hit his back with the scent of charred leather and burning hair. Yelping, the knight rolled along the floor only to have his sword knocked away and to be pinned to the ground one-handed by the beast.
The vampire stared at him through a mass of dark hair, with the same considering expression on his face. At last he stood up and jerked his head toward to door. "I told you, I bear no hatred to humanity. Go. Though I will feed, I will not kill."
"You're...letting me live? Why?" It was terrible to be so beaten. It was worse to have the monster show him mercy, as if the creature had an ounce of Christian charity in him. It was the worst of all to know what he would likely take the chance to live.
"I had a friend like you once, knight. Brave and noble, ready to run into battle without even a sword to protect his loved ones. We parted acrimoniously, and perhaps...perhaps he did not deserve it. I would've taken him with me, to be at my side for eternity that we both would not be alone. He chose his own path, away from me. Now... he is likely dead. But I remember him, and his gentle friendship. And in honor of his memory, I will not kill you. Go in peace knight, and protect your wife and children well."