Chapter 4
The sun had fully set by the time Despair came to a stop. The broken moon was out and served as the only bit of light for a good distance. Not wasting the opportunity, Mercy hopped down from the undead horse, wobbling a bit on shaky legs. Steadying herself she took a second to look around.
They, girl and zombie demon horse, stood in the ruins of an old town, devastated by both time, and some sort of monster. What few buildings remained were dilapidated and looked one swift breeze away from complete collapse. Crushed cars lined the roads, their metal, a treasure for the taking, yet left untouched. There was zero sign of life save for the rampant overgrown plants, and the fresh scent of blood in the air. Otherwise, for Mercy, there was only silence.
She felt a deep chill in the air that touched her bones. In an effort to save off that cold, Mercy pulled her jacket in closer to her body. It didn't really help all that much. To take her mind off the ominous sense of unease crawling up the base of her spine she looked to the Nightmare.
"So, why'd you bring me here?" Mercy asked, once again not expecting an answer. So colour her surprised when she got one.
"He brought you here to see me." Came a chilling deep voice thrumming with power.
Spinning on the spot, Mercy found herself looking at a very tall man. If she had to guess, she'd put him at somewhere around 8'ft. He was also very skinny. Damn near skeletal.
The mysterious man was rocking a plain black suit with a bone white shirt, and blood red pocket square. Glancing down, Mercy saw that his shoe game was also on point. They were polished almost to the point where Mercy could see her face in them.
"And, who exactly are you, if you don't mind answering?" Mercy asked attempting to not seem afraid, despite being absolutely terrified. She had been around plenty enough strong people in her life to know when to fight and when to be polite. Just from the passive pressure he exerted, Mercy knew him to be in the latter category.
"The original owner of that ring on your finger." He said, dark eyes peering at Mercy's hand. "Your grandfather and his little groupies stole it from me some time ago. For centuries he had it locked away in that amusing little vault of his. Now, thanks to you I find myself with an opportunity."
Mercy looked down at her hand, then back up the man. "And, um I suppose you want it back?" She asked nervously.
"Not necessarily." He replied. "The ring you can keep, but I would like my horse back. I've quite missed him."
Mercy felt speechless at that pronouncement. A spike of emotion hit her that she didn't expect. a mix of anger and sadness. Still there was little she could do to stop the guy if he pressed the issue. Which he did a moment later. In a flash Mercy found her wrist in his cold bony grip.
She tried fruitlessly to pull away, but he held firm. His bony fingers against her skin sent a million shivers through her body. However that was nothing compared to the heat she felt coming from the ring around her finger.
It felt as though her finger, no her entire hand was being roasted. She wanted to scream, but no sound came out. She squeezed her eyes shut not wanting to see her flesh being burned.
"Aw there we go." He said, signalling an end to the pain a moment later. Well, most of it.
Opening her eyes Mercy looked up at the tall man. His unblinking eyes stared down at her. She flicked her gaze to Despair. Finally she flicked her eyes to the System prompt.
[Attention! Due to the actions of @_#84!$+3)$!_ the entity known as Despair has been removed from the "Ring of the Pale Rider".]
Mercy sucked in a breath. She breathed in and out slowly. She knew a thing or two about enchanted items, particularly enchanted items with spirits bound to them. Not enough to be an expert, but enough to know it took some serious juice to unbind a spirit.
"Ok, so you have your horse back. That's great. Kind of defeats the purpose of having this." Mercy said waving her unmarred hand. She decided not to focus on that. "So you might as well just take it."
"Hmm, no, I'd rather not." He said. "The burdens associated with that particular piece of tacky jewelry is something I think best left in the hands of someone else."
"By that someone else, you mean me, don't you?" Mercy asked, to which the man simply shrugged.
"It isn't all bad. Certainly not for an ambitious young woman such as yourself."
"And, just how do you know I'm ambitious?" she fired back.
The tall man snorted. "Please, I can see it in your eyes. It's an annoying quality that too many of your brood seem to possess. As such, in thanks for returning my Despair, if somewhat reluctantly, I shall give you due compensation."
Before Mercy could ask what sort of compensation, the tall man with the indecipherable name once again grabbed her hand. He touched the ring, and Mercy was overcome with a near overwhelming sense of nausea.
"I believe that should be enough." The tall man said.
Mercy opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but before she could she was greeted with a system message.
[Attention the being known as @_#84!$+3)$!_ has removed the curse from the 'Ring of the Pale Rider', and has instead blessed it.]
Mercy brought up her ring's information.
[Ring of the Pale Rider (Blessed)
Type: Ring Rank: Legendary
Description: An item that once belonged to a powerful being known to many by as the "Pale Rider" and served as their mark of office. It had once contained his personal steed, Despair, until it was returned by the current owner,
"Mercy Phillips". As such the curse on the ring was removed and instead blessed.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
While wearing the ring the user can use the skill ~ Life Drain on living targets that are no higher than 10 levels above, or use the skill ~ Purification on non-living targets that are no higher than 10 levels above.
A sleeping nascent soul resides within. Feed it the souls of the slain to awaken. Souls until awoken - 0/10,000
Soulbound to Mercy Phillips.
Effect unlocked: Spacial Storage. - 45/1000 slots
Effect #2 - Locked
Effect #3 - Locked
Blessed: This ring cannot be removed by anyone below level 900. While worn, the wearer can see the spirits of the dead distinguishing them from the living, and act as a psychopomp between the material world and their destined afterlife. The wearer is unaffected by entropic forces.]
"Is that it?" Mercy asked, noticing the subtle differences.
"Hmm, you're right, Despair is worth more. Here." he said scratching a piece of lint off of his suit and flicking it at Mercy.
She flinched as it hit her. What she had assumed to be lint began to wiggle and squirm. Her hands darted to it, in hopes of brushing it off, only for to start growing and eating. Mercy let out a scream at the same time her actions becoming more frantic, flailing in a vain attempt to rid herself of the strange substance. It avoided all attempts to be dislodged, burrowing through the material of her jacket. Moving from trying to get the thing off of her via her hands, Mercy moved to just remove her jacket, and had she tried that first, it might have worked.
Instead she felt the bite of tiny but razor sharp teeth against her chest. She yelped, and looked down at the small leach attached to her cleavage. Her eyes bugged out and she rushed for it. Sensing this, the leach sank into her supple flesh.
"What in the hells is this thing?" Mercy asked.
"Hopefully, something you'll survive. It would be such a waste otherwise." The tall man said.
"Wait, what do you mean survi-" Mercy started before losing all feeling in her legs. She crumpled to the ground, breathing shallowy. Her eyes, just about the only thing she could control, little looked up at the man on hourse. All sorts of words came to mind as she lay there. None were suitable for polite company, or for mouthing off to someone that could render her to such a condition by just flicking dust off their lapel.
Her body shook. It spasmed violently. She flipped on the ground like a fish out of water. She wanted to scream, her body in pain, but no sound came out. System messages flashed across her vision, all of them coming and going to quickly for her to catch. She felt hot, over heated. It was a sensation she was unused to being somewhat heat resistant. The edges around her vision began to blur, until at last darkness took her.
The tall man gazed down from a top Despair, his expression unchanged. The horse itself made a loud snorting noise which got a small raise of an eyebrow from the tall man.
"Really, why bother?" The Tall Man asked.
Another snort from Despair.
"Yeah, I still don't see the point." he said, only for Despair to stomp one of his hooves. "Ok, fine. I don't recall you being so sappy."
The Tall man waved his hand. A swirling vortex of dark blue on black energy opened up above Mercy. It pulled her from the ground, sucking her in. Another wave of his hand, and the vortex closed.
"There are you happy now?" The Tall man asked.
Despair snorted and looked back.
"Right, right. Well, then partner, where should we go now?" The Tall Man asked. Despair gave a final snort. "Yeah, that does sound fun."
Reigns appeared in the Tall Man's hands. His impeccable suit shifted on his body, becoming a hooded cloak of impenetrable darkness. With a quick whip of the reigns Despair did a quick trot before galloping off into the distance, amd soon from that reality itself.
____
Mercy awoke. Or at least she thought she had. She couldn't discount that she may have been in a dream as she floated in a void set in dark grey scale. Up and down did not seem to exist. Nor, it seemed, did her body. She looked down at herself, seeing nothing but an indistinct outline. She attempted to touch herself, and while there was substance, that substance was transient, with Mercy needing to concentrate on her form.
"What in the hells is going on?" Mercy asked herself.
Her answers came soon enough.
Mercy spun in place going neither forward or backwards seeking out the origin of the voice she was hearing.
Mercy listened as the numbers rose higher and higher, without being able to do anything. Fear seeped into her mind at the frightening connotations.
Something inside of Mercy felt a small spark of hope. Then came the pain. It felt intense as it ripped through her, yet it was an echo of something she'd already experienced. That fact dulled the sensation a littled bit. It also brought with it the realisation, that the whomever, or whatever was speaking wasn't doing so in real time. It too was an echo.
Mercy gasped, not likeing the sound of that proclomation. What did it mean she was shutting down. More then that, how could System functions be disabled. She had never before heard of something like that happening.
On and on it continued for what seemed liked forever. Just the same two words. Mercy didn't know what to make of it. She attempted to drown out the sound. She tried running. She tried connecting to her magic. None of it worked, one big fruitless endeavour that was slowly driving her insane.
A string of gargled words and discordant sounds exploded through her ears and mind, too fast to and alien for her to properly comprehend them. It overloaded her mind. She felt something crack. Mercy didn't know what, but it did not feel good, much less sound good. Pain hit her like a charging electrified rhino on drugs. She screamed loudly, until just about blue in the face.
The world shifted around her, and the sensation of falling overtook her. Mercy fell, her body dropping from a swirling vortext fairly high in the sky. She fell fast, and landed hard on the ground, creating a small crater under her from the impact. Her body was a mess of blood and broken bones. She lay on the verge of death, just managing to hang on by a thread. Mercy looked up, her eyes barely open, her lungs unable to breath in properly.
[Warning, critical damage obtained. It is recommended to seek aid.]
"Yeah, no shit." Mercy's mind, as foggy as it were couldn't help but comment on the obvious message.
[Warning, several life functions shutting down. It is recommended to seek aid.]
[Warning...]
Mercy didn't get to read the last message as she once more blacked out. Though she did get in some final words.
"Fucking horse..."
Mercy blinked as a System message popped up before her eyes.
[Attention, you have -]
Mercy's eyes closed once more before she could read it.
Moments later a figure appeared. He was dressed casually in a printed shirt and shorts. He walked with his hands behind his back, in a manner of nobility that belied his appearance. Stopping to gaze down at Mercy he could only shake his head.
"So it's another one of that man's brats. Of course it is." He said, about to turn away before noticing something that had partially interested. "Hmm, well that's different."