The cart rushed over the melting snow, calm and fast. Filled with the bodies of the dead men, killed for their crimes and sins. Mercy was sitting on Rush, riding through the slightly foggy night with a cart tied to its back.
His sand brown cloak and head wrap were flying in the air, this was generally worn by desert travellers, as told to him by River before borrowing it. The ride was long and he had travelled this path before, so he was wondering what the rest of the group was doing.
"Hopefully bonding well and forgetting past wounds, before they start going through hard times. I have given Reva more than enough information, maybe that will allow them to decipher my illusions." A small bit of fog touched Mercy's cheek and brought him back to the darkness of the world around him.
"Rush, sometimes it feels good to move slow and easy. This feeling of nature, and time passing feels good, and of course the feeling of impending danger."
Mercy looked in the cart behind, the white cloth covering the bodies of the dead, covered in red in some parts. The bodies of the dead priest sang no prayer, only the whispers of the insects of nature to come and feed on his corpse.
"21 corpses in total." The priest and sacrifices, all tugging along as one. All 20 had died in protecting him from Mercy's two-hand hammer, that's why he was able to kick him in the face.
"Maybe, Alone forgot to realise that himself." Mercy started at the corpses once again," Not that, I wouldn't spare anyone if they survived."
His destination was reaching closer, ever since his ability to look in the past had been sealed, Mercy gained a new appreciation for trying to search things to get answers.
In the past reaching for treasures was easy, just like how he found the treasure he was riding on.
"I still remember, when Alsana and I ruined the dragon cultist's plan to bring back the immortal stone dragon, and who knew that there was just a Rush hiding beside the sacred door." Mercy rubbed Rush's black through his golden armour.
"I still don't know how you do your fading magic, but still the best horse I can ever get. Perhaps, maybe some things should be a secret never known to others." In Rush's eyes always a sense of happiness and excitement, but there was a sense of unrelenting urge to move.
To run forever, maybe that was the wish Rush wanted. "Your speed may be the reason, I named you, Rush."
The small magic prism in Mercy's lap was giving out a small light, and the relentless were visible in the eyes. Maybe he remembered the time and Mercy were together, while Mercy had long forgotten them in the past, becoming a man of the present.
"Even these days at the Ravine, sometimes I forget to track what is an illusory memory and what has actually happened." Mercy was going deep into remembering his memories, but the light of torches through the fog got to him first.
"We have reached the capital city of Horizon." Mercy's focus shifted elsewhere, the walls of silver were right ahead of him. "No shouting and drinking at the doors, like the past few days."
The feast was a week long, when it began but after what Mercy had done the celebration seems to have been decked down. Mercy rode ahead to the gate, instead of magic prisms.
The torches lit the path from afar, and Mercy knew archers were standing on the high wall, waiting to draw and let loose their arrows.
"Why do they even try, if I can kill someone like Alone, would a human stand a chance?" He whispered to himself. Soon, the torches lined the floor to meet the gate of the northern gate of the city.
"Who are you? And why are you here?" A soldier, most probably a dragonsteel warrior from his sheathed greatsword, and brisk red armour shining in the minimal lighting of the torches, he had no cover for his bald head in the cold winter wind.
"I am a traveller from the Dynasty. I am travelling to the capital for the feast-"
"The feast is over, and the city has been sealed. One is allowed to enter or exit until King Mathers and his council approve. Now, go back from where you came from."
Mercy was pretty sure that the man had his nose blocked due to the cold, the stench of the corpses older than 2 days, even when kept in the cold, would spread far. Or, maybe he didn't see the blood on the cart cloth due to the fog and dim lighting of the torch.
"Sir, but where do I go now? Beasts are coming out of forests ready to hunt. Perhaps you could open the doors for me for the night. The goods in my cart might be of great importance to the King."
The bald man rubbed his chin and bald in for a few heartbeats, and came to his decision.
"You can stay near the wall for safety tonight, but return back from where you came from in the morning. I have no interest in what you bring in your cart, if it's food, maybe feed that to the beasts to protect yourself."
At least, there was a shred of kindness in the gatekeeper that Mercy appreciated, "Maybe, I shouldn't use illusion magic and get you in trouble." He told himself.
"Sir, I believe you do not understand me, this small traveller brings a very significant delivery, I want you to look out inside the cart just once, please." Mercy got down from Rush and removed his clock, revealing his travelling dress. "I cannot say it aloud, but there are reasons why I cannot go back. Please hear me out."
Hearing his pleas the gatekeeper had another thought, "Drag your horse and cart forward, I would like to take a look for myself at what you bring." He ordered and Mercy smiled inside.
He grabbed Rush by the reins and walked him forward, the horse was nearly at his mouth from its spine. Just the right amount of steps, so that the gatekeeper could see the colour of blood on the cloth.
"?!" The gatekeeper held his face like stone, but his heartbeat was rising by the second. "Whose corpses are you bringing into the city?" he announced.
"Tch.." Mercy made the small mistake of thinking that the council would have told the world he was missing from the city… they ought to hide it a little longer. He needed to make up an excuse now.
"These bodies…these belong to the the" Mercy released a bit of aura towards the gatekeeper, mixing his aura with his own. The spread of soldiers standing at the gate did not know that every man next to them was in Mercy's control and so were they.
"Would you please let me in? These corpses have a great purpose to the king." Mercy babbled the words for a formality and the soldiers all agreed to each other in a second, without a second thought in their minds. "Come inside, make sure to behave properly. Or, your head will roll on the ground."
The words came out as with the noise of the chains falling down, with the large silver-painted gate blending with the wall coming down into the ground, and the well-lit path inside the kingdom walls came in front.
"My thanks to you for giving this poor traveller a space inside your walls." Mercy acted the way he needed to because she was definitely watching, through the eyes of a dwarf at the top of the gate.
Mercy sat back on Rush once again and rode his cart into the Horizon's walls. The street in front of the gate is lined with soldiers, all holding swords or greatswords in their hands ready to kill anyone they want.
"Such a stench.." "Did the gate commander allow a butcher inside?" "Look at the size of that horse…"
There was small talk among the soldiers, the stench of the corpses was definitely hurting their noses. But he distracted himself to the large building he saw afar.
All the way to the end the large stone castle of Horizon stood tall home to the king, alongside its 9 pillars, home to the king's councilmen, all warlords shining in light on all floors. Large enough that the Mercy could see above the nearby abandoned houses and shops the soldiers were guarding.
"They have really sealed his place. Is Alone's absence the only reason for this happening?" Mercy wasn't so sure now, something else was also going on. Still, he threaded through the streets making sure that he rode Rush not too fast than a normal horse of his size.
Mercy was not a fan of making everybody his illusion subjects to lessen the scent of the corpses and make more chaos to push the world into more death. The winter storm will run its course with death.
Mercy's eyes watched the street ahead become narrower and denser with soldiers. Archers with bows and arrows enchanted by some power were standing on the walls, hiding beside walls of wood and stone. It left like an entire sector was turned into a containment zone for a plague.
"Stop right there, Traveller." Front the path ahead, the soldiers standing in the way called out to Mercy, surrounded by his soldiers already with their greatswords in position.
Mercy pulled Rush's reins and stopped moving. "Get off your horse and follow me. Don't you dare argue further?" The soldiers dressed in clean plate armour, looked angry and sharp his hair and cheeks hidden under his helm. Ready to attack and kill and maybe, bothered by the stench of corpses.
Mercy did as he followed, he could sense something, but the feeling was fleeting. "Looks like I have been called by the warlords."
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