"What will you do now, my lord?"
Mathias considered his new servant's words. He had no reason to return home. He'd taken the book of alchemy and his sword with him when he'd left. No need for provisions, fresh water, a tent, or even a horse.
All the things he spent years worrying over, every tiny detail he needed to consider when planning a campgain...all irrelevant to a vampire.
He laughed with the freedom of it. No obligations, to God or man! Nothing, no one to hold him back!
"I know not. Come Death, let us see what we shall find."
"What will you do now, my lord?"
Mathias - though he thought of himself less and less by that name - considered his faithful servant's words as he paced down the mountain path. He'd studied alchemy in the mountains and valleys of the east, and seen more than any could in the span allotted by God. He studied, he gained in power, and he studied yet more. The mysteries of creation unfolded before him, beautifully alluring.
He was tired of it.
Researching alone, without Elisabetha by his side, was empty.
"Let us head back west, Death. Perhaps there will be something there."
"What will you do now, my lord?"
Mathias - but more called him Dracula nowadays - felt the most recent vampire's soul become power and tried to think of an answer for his friend. He had striven all his life for something greater than himself, and it all came to this.
Endless days, each like each other. He rose, he killed whichever vampire or human wanted to kill him this day, he slept. Research had lost its allure centuries ago. Power had faded shortly thereafter. It was all meaningless. He'd sacrificed everything for an eternal, empty future.
"Nothing. There is nothing left."