You wake up in a dream, and see a familiar face you haven't seen, in ages.
Then again, you did pray to him, before you closed your eyes, to sleep.
"Well." He says, simply. "I didn't expect it to take this long, but I suppose, I'm just glad the time finally came."
He looks at you closely. Searchingly. Trying to figure out what you were thinking. How you were feeling."Are you finally ready? To break free of your lord and master?"
He gives you a sad smile.
"Yes." you reply, simply. "It's time."
"Why are you asking me for help?" He asks. "I'm sure you know, you're no vampire spawn. You can actually walk out of this castle, and there's very little he could do about it. I mean, he can chase after you, but you could always fight him or say no. Did you want to break the soul binding he performed?"
You keep your expression neutral, but here it was, finally. Confirmation.
"Yes."
"What changed?" He asked, quietly. "I saw it all, you know. I know you love him. Even without the binding."
"If I stay with him any longer, I'll forget." you answer, quietly.
"Forget?" He asks.
"Forget the person I was. Forget the person I really am. Forget the man I fell in love with. The person I chose all this for."
He gets a strange look on his face. Gone as quickly as it came. "Very well."
"But, unbinding you from him will come at a cost." he adds. "When I'm done, you won't be a druid. You won't be a daywalking vampire. I need to unravel the parts of you he recognizes. The parts of you he holds."
"What does that mean?"
"Your memories. Your love." He answers. "In other words, you'll be losing all of the things you wanted to keep, in the first place."
You close your eyes and take a deep breath. "At least, I can start over. I can find myself again. If I stay here any longer, pretty soon, I won't be able to tell the difference. Between me, and a mindless thrall."
He stares at you for a long, hard moment. "I'll probably have to change your appearance." He says, quietly. "As well as place you somewhere far, and safe. With someone you can trust."
"Isn't that a little excessive?"
"Excessive?" He laughs mirthlessly. "You're giving up everything. Excessive? You let him publicly treat you like a plaything. For decades. It's been what? 40 years? I thought you'd ask me to do something about this, about 10 years after you picked him, and I still felt that was too long."
He takes your hand in his. You meet his gaze, and you see something you didn't think you would. Not after all this time.
"Look. I'm...I'm fine. I'm glad you're finally choosing yourself. I just want to make sure that this time..."
He takes a deep breath.
"That this time, you can pick someone who deserves you." he finishes. "Now sleep. When you wake up, you'll be somewhere safe, but with no memories, other than maybe an underlying feeling of danger. "
"With all the changes you're making, is this really necessary?" You ask.
His face is serious when he asks.
"The moment the tether snaps, what do you think will be the first thing he does? Especially without the sun to hinder him?"
And with that, he touches your forehead.
"Thank you, Gale." you whisper, as you slowly sink into nothingness.