...Save yours truly.
I bring my hand up to grip the end of the whip and try not to wince. Doesn't do good to show weakness here, though the Horse Master is less of a dick then most otherworldly gods.
Man likes his horses, I can respect that.
"Horse Master. My name is-."
"-I know who you are. Where you came from. I know all about you boy, and let me tell you there are a Hell of a lot of ways easier to die then what you chose now."
He spat to the side and flicked his gaze up and down, looking me over. I reigned in the urge to ask if he was going to check my teeth before he spoke.
"Digging the hat though. At least you'll die pretty. You just about spent all your power getting here, didn't you?"
I shrugged self-consciously, but he was right. All my ghosts, all my powerful spirits I had bound to my service, including my new monkey? All gone. I had burned through them all to open a stable portal to the Far Fields realm and the only way back now, was to accomplish what I came here for. It was literally do-or-die for me.
I like to go all-in, keeps life interesting.
The Horse Master shakes his head and gestures out towards the distance at the horses running. I follow the direction of his hand and for a moment, forget to breath. Its beautiful here, in the Far Fields...But what makes it beautiful are the horses this realm belongs to, older then Eden if you believe the stories. The winds of eternity flow through the manes and their hoofbeats are what I imagine the hammer of creation sounded like, smacking on the anvil once upon a time. These are the Horses the legions of Hell ride, that the Valkyries choose, that draw the chariots of sun gods and the Four Horsemen themselves.
And here I was, a mortal Dampyr with a few tricks, thinking to tame me one of them.
I try not to think, I never get stuff done otherwise.
Without a word, I begin to disarm myself. I know the stories and I know the tales, around the campfires of the Lakota Tribe a long time ago. The Horse Master says nothing, he seems content to observe as I ensure everything on me that was a weapon is gone. No weapon forged, no spell created will ever bring these great beings down. Its a battle of will on will.
This is a really dumb idea.
But its the only game in town.
I leap off the side of the cliff, right before the stampeding herd.
----
Now and then, you had someone try their hand at mastering one of the horses. He rarely had to lift a finger in that regard, the horses usually could take care of little details like that. Mortal sorcerers with blown up senses of their own importance, demonic raiders, alien visitors, angelic assholes- The list went on and on. He had lost count of the times his horses had been assaulted, though he barely had to stand in to help.
And watching without a trace of remorse for the dead mortal, the Horse Master shook his head slowly and turned to head back to his rest...Before pausing as he looked back and whistled low.
"Well I'll be damned."
Among the herd of white, a flash of black would be seen as gripping the mane of one, the necromancer galloped upward to the Horse Masters side, the horse calmly allowing himself to be rode. Looking him over, the Horse Master whistled low.
"Boy, you must have been born under some lucky star. Chances of that actually happening were less then ten percent."
Lucifer grinned and patted the neck of his new friend.
"But there was a chance. All I needed to know."
The Horse Master laughed, a rich rolling sound like the hills and the plains he ruled as he shook his head once more.
"You need to name him. It has known no name, till the one you're about to give him."
The new rider considered thoughtfully before finally speaking.
"Shadow."
And the horse burst into flame.
With a laugh of fierce joy, Lucifer patted the neck of his new friend with awe as the Horse Master chuckled aloud.
"Way you act, you never had a horse before."
"Not one like this." Lucifer said fervently, with another trace of joy...The world was strange and new. Too many new variables, too many strange and double sided talk. Now? Forever and always, he'd have something that had a connection to his old life, his old friends.
And slinging himself on Shadow, he paused and looked embarrassed.
"Umm, I don't suppose I could-?"
The Horse Master rolled his eyes as he drew on his power.
A portal crackled open and revealed the Earth, as the Horse Master spoke.
"It had been far, too long since a mortal up and tamed one of the herd. For this unusual sight? I grant you passage home. Your friend shall lead you places you otherwise could never go, but be warned...Not all paths were meant to be trod."
"Much obliged Horse Master." He touched the brim of his hat. The Horse Master made a gesture of respect in turn.
"Safe trails, Drakul's Legacy."
His weapons returned, Lucifer looked at the portal in consideration. A horse beneath him, the road before him and the wide plains....He finally felt like himself again and with a sudden laugh, he clicked his tongue and galloped away.
Into whatever new adventure beckoned.
