CHAPTER 311: GIVE ME A SECOND CHANCE

Kaelthorn didn’t raise his head this time. "I did not even bother to ask around about you. I simply assumed everything and took the first chance I got to kill you and free myself."

Kaelthorn’s shoulders shook and then slumped. "All those years of being shut inside that dark room with no end in sight... it was easier to believe that you were also one of those pigs. I just wanted to kill more, to vent my anger. I didn’t care who you were." He swallowed hard.

"But I was wrong. And the worst part is... it took watching you care, not just for Ellora, but for that fragile human girl, to realize just how wrong I’ve been. It is too late now. No one can be that merciful to grant forgiveness to someone who had tried to backstab him multiple times, especially when he was at his weakest."

"I know that." Kaelthorn trembled. "You are probably going to toss me back into that prison anyway. I know that, and I still stayed back instead of fleeing from here and disappearing. That was the only way I had left to show my sincerity, and I did it. Now it is up to you to trust me or not."

Kaelthorn let out a slow, shuddering breath, and for the first time since he’d spoken, he truly sounded broken. "I couldn’t protect the person I loved. I couldn’t avenge her. And when I had the chance to serve someone who might actually change everything, I spat in his face and tried to stab him in the back."

He bowed again, lower than before, pressing his forehead to the cold stone floor.

"If you still want to dismiss me... do it. I won’t resist. But if there’s even a sliver of use you can find for a broken weapon like me, then give me another chance. Please, my Lord."

Damon paused, looking at the man with an indifferent expression. Everything he said was fine, but there was one thing that still did not add up. "You are still not honest with me." Damon let out a sigh. "Don’t you think you should be open about everything, especially when you are trying to beg for forgiveness?"

Kaelthorn trembled. "No, my Lord. I did not hide anything from you. I really do not intend to do anything else before confirming whether it would harm your future plans or not."

"Come on. Don’t bullshit me." Damon sneered.

"My Lord, I won’t hide my intentions anymore. I want to follow you. I want you to give me another chance only because I believe that following you would give me more strength and power than I can manage to scrouge up myself." He admitted.

That wasn’t all. Kaelthorn continued resolutely. "And I want to become stronger because the person I want to kill is so much stronger than I, even you. He is someone whom you cannot afford to make an enemy of. This was why I wanted to wait to tell you about this. If he truly becomes your ally or remains neutral to you, if he does not cross paths with you, I was prepared to let go of my vengeance even though it means everything to me."

Damon’s eyes narrowed. "You were prepared to completely forget about your revenge? Even after all this?" He simply couldn’t believe something like that. If it were him, he could and would never let go of something like that.

Kaelthorn lifted his head just slightly, just enough for his gaze to meet Damon’s again. "No," he said softly. "I wouldn’t have forgotten. Never. But I would have buried it so deep that even I couldn’t reach it. Because you... you are giving me another chance and a small hope."

"Maybe not in this decade. Maybe not in the next, but someday, sometime in the future, I believe your strength will vastly surpass that bastard’s, and when that time comes, when he is as insignificant as an insect to you, perhaps then you would consider this humble servant’s small request. Until then, I will serve you sincerely, my lord."

"I am willing to stake everything on my words, my lord. I am ready to take the blood oath. If I betray you again, I will become crippled, something worse than a corpse."

Damon didn’t answer right away.

He stood still, unmoving, the system interface still open in front of him. The "Dismiss Follower" button gleamed red under his finger, a single tap away.

Kaelthorn remained on his knees, exposed and vulnerable in every way that mattered. There were no defenses left in the man, no lies, no bravado, not even dignity. Just a broken sword begging to be reforged.

Damon stared at the glowing button. So simple. One touch and it would all be over. No second chances. No extra burdens. He could erase Kaelthorn from his list of worries, walk away clean, and never have to think of the man again.

But the vampire was willing to take a blood oath. Would he be so crazy to cripple himself just to have another shot at backstabbing him and killing him? They didn’t have any personal enmity between them. No matter how he thought about it, it was just not logical.

Not that the madman had to be logical. There was no point in trying to search for logic in the crazy. There was also the deeply emotional sob story he had made up.

Damon knew he was probably a dick, not readily believing and sympathizing with the guy, but it was still a hard no. He wasn’t going to hand out forgiveness like candy to every sobbing bastard who crawled up to him with a tragic past and wet eyes.

And yet...

His gaze dropped to Kaelthorn again, the vampire still kneeling with his forehead to the floor.

Since he was willing to take the Blood Oath, and their next destination would be ’that’ place, then he really had nothing to lose in this deal. It was a win-win situation, and there was nothing stopping him from accepting it.

***

Please thank Syphatrol for the mass release