Chapter 16: The Horseman of Death

28 years ago, there was a child abandoned in front of the army camp, no one knew his name, his parents or any of his relatives. The soldiers there decided to raise the boy and named him Zed Whitney after the old soldier who found him. Zed as a child did all sorts of things at the barracks including: cleaning weapons and armor, making arrows, cleaning bedrooms and toilets,... Although he was young, he didn't care and can do it all. Zed since the age of four had been as strong as an adult and lived by the rules of a soldier. The soldiers loved Zed and raised him like their own son, so he never let them down. At the age of six, Zed served as a squire for many knights. The children of those noble knights bullied and threw stones at Zed because of his cold personality. Zed didn't care and was ready to fight them back. The children said to Zed:

"The orphan, a boy without parents who was raised by mean and useless soldiers. What a shame!"

That day Zed was so angry that he punched the boy who dared to say that. And the punishment was that Zed was detained in his cell for three days. But in those three days, sadness, hatred and anger about his own life and desire to restore honor to those humble soldiers. Zed sat leaning against the wooden wall and for the first time, a dark wolf appeared in the night. Zed looked at it fearfully and said:

"Who are you? Those noble children let you in here to kill me?"

The wolf said nothing but stared at him. Zed raised his hands in a defensive posture and said:

"Anyway, I'll still fight you to stay alive and hit those kids in the face."

The wolf got closer to Zed, the more scared he became, and leaned against the wall. The wolf stood near Zed and licked his hand, Zed also gently patted his head and said:

"You won't harm me, so how did you get in here?"

The wolf replied:

"Because you summoned me, master."

Zed was very surprised, he said:

"You can talk? But how?"

The wolf replied:

"I was made of your sadness, anger, loneliness, and hatred. You wanted to get revenge on those children so I was summoned out so I could help you."

Zed said:

"That's strange. If you're my pet, what should I name you? Or..."

Zed and the wolf looked at each other, and Zed continued:

"The Knight, for my dream is to become a knight that protects the justice of the innocent."

And that night the duo Zed and The Knight began their journey to become a true knight. Information that Zed had an Elemental Spirit spread throughout the barracks. Zed was respected and taught by the knights he served. He was trained in swordsmanship, formation of troops, tactics and many lessons in the military. Little did he know he was being used as a weapon of war. Ten years after Vansing Gloria became king of the Gloria kingdom, he built his army to prepare to invade the Highland Continent. The battle of the kingdoms began, the first battles were too terrible and cost many soldiers. But among those thousands of soldiers and knights, four still stood their ground and slaughtered so many enemies. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, they called them by that name. Those four include: Zack-Horseman of War, Reaper-Horseman of Plague, Exos-Horseman of Famine and Zed-Horsemen of Death. Zed was only sixteen years old at the time but had already become one of the four strongest knights. Zed had trained an army under his command, the Wolf Army, they were belligerent and unkind warriors to their enemies, they wore black armor with cloaks made of wolf fur and black flags with white howling wolf symbol. But they were taught by Zed to fight with honor, not to kill children, women and the elderly, not to plunder or destroy everywhere they go, to fight honestly with the enemy not to cheat. Zed had achieved his long-held dream, to be one of the best knights, had honor and glory, money and companions on the battlefield. But those were from the blood, sweat and tears of war. During a battle to protect an important castle from the Lanxter army, Elf soldiers had surrounded the castle and were about to attack it. Zed and the warriors of the Wolf Army had jumped down from the wall and simultaneously slayed any enemies in sight. That day was a bloody battle between a hundred Wolf warriors and a thousand Elf soldiers. The blood of our troops and our enemies wet the grass, the screams, the clash of weapons, the voices of those begging for forgiveness, all turned into a Symphony of Death. True to the name Horseman of Death, Zed slaughtered a thousand Elves warriors. After that battle, only twenty Wolf warriors remained. Zed stood in the middle of a battlefield filled with corpses, intestines, slashed limbs everywhere. The crows flew to nibble on the carcass, a fishy smell that made the air impossible to breathe. Zed looked at the scene in front of him and thought:

"What did I just do to them? Am I a knight?"

After that battle, Zed and the Wolf Army returned to Gloria city. The tragedy at that castle made Zed's name famous as a god of death, a man who had the power to decide everyone's death and it seemed that no one called him Zed anymore but Horseman of Death. Two years later in an important mission that could determine the fate of the Highland Continent, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse will bring their armies to attack the three cities of Sandx, Newlaphaine and Lanxter. Zack attacked Lanxter city, Reaper attacked Newlaphaine city, Exos stayed in the kingdom to protect Gloria city and Zed attacked Sandx city. Zed sent five thousand Wolf Warriors deep into the Sandx desert to find the city. But on hot days, the hot sun shined on even the strongest warriors had to give up, everywhere they go they only saw illusions and there was no oasis to save them. They also had to deal with sandstorms, sudden nomads and cold nights. There were several warriors who fainted from heatstroke, but Zed did not leave them in the middle of the desert, but took them with him even though it was uncertain whether they would survive. And after five days lost in the desert, the Wolf Army reached the city of Sandx, but the strength and morale of the soldiers had decreased, making it impossible for them to attack the city. Zed with three decisions at that time: one was risked all his life to attack the city so there would be no survivors, two was retreat to the kingdom but they would be stuck in the desert again and more people would die and was finally accepted to surrender before the army of Sandx, had to become a prisoner but his people's lives were most guaranteed. Zed made a decision in those difficult hours. He ordered the soldiers to form a defensive formation and only gathered in front of the city gate. Zed stepped in front of the giant city gate and shouted:

"I am Zed Whitney, Horseman of Death. I have come to invade this city but we surrender here. Please help us, you can do anything to me but give it to me. food and water to save my warriors."

The soldiers behind were surprised by Zed's decision to give up, many people objected, including Hatai who was Zed's subordinate at that time. But there were also a few people who understood his thoughts of wanting to protect his warriors. The archers on the wall laughed and fired arrows at Zed all at once. More than a thousand arrows charged at Zed, he summoned Devil Sword Dante and with a dark slash, Zed destroyed all the arrows without breaking a sweat. Zed put down his sword and said loudly:

"We will not wage war until you accept our surrender."

Suddenly the city gate opened and a warrior stepped out, he was wearing a powerful armor with tiger design and holding the Spirit Sword Loyalty in his hand. The warrior approached and stood in front of Zed, he took off his tiger helmet and revealed his orange hair and golden eyes. His face was that of a brave warrior ready to defend everything important to his kingdom. A face of loyalty, greatness, intelligence, full of experience despite being very young and a man of honor. Zed said:

"Who are you?"

He replied:

"I am the prince of the Sandx kingdom Edengaz Corput. I have come to challenge you the Horseman of Death."

"Challenge me? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Everyone in the continent knows about the evil of the Horseman of Death and your invincible power. I want to confront you to prove you're not as invincible as they say."

"What if we win?"

"Then you will have food and water for your people. But I will never lose to you."

"If I lose, I want to make sure my people are only taken prisoner and get home safely."

"Does the Horseman of Death care about the lives of lowly soldiers?"

"We fight with honor, slaying our enemies because we are enemies on the battlefield, but not letting an innocent life be harmed."

Zed and Edengaz nodded at each other and put on their wolf helmet and tiger helmet and then they stepped back, swords up and ready to fight. Hatai picked up Zin hammer and said:

"Let me finish this so that Sir Horseman won't tire of fighting."

Hatai rushed to attack Edengaz, Zed hurriedly said:

"Hatai, don't."

Hatai hit Edengaz with his hammer, but he blocked it with his sword. Hatai pressed down on the hammer but nothing could be done, he said worriedly:

"Damn it, no one can withstand a hammer blow from me."

Edengaz gently pushed the hammer away and punched Hatai hard in the stomach sending him flying back to the army. Zed said:

"I told you, he's very powerful."

Zed and Edengaz looked at each other and immediately jumped into battle. They swung their swords and parried each other's attacks. Zed slashed, but Edengaz dodged and swung his sword at his back. Zed jumped up and kicked Edengaz. He blocked it with his sword and pushed Zed away. The two rushed forward and slashed at each other. Edengaz crouched down and turned his leg to knock Zed down and then swing his sword at him. Zed dodged and immediately spun in midair and kicked Edengaz in the chest. He took the hit and stepped back. Edengaz jumped up again and slashed at Zed's leg. He dodged and swung his sword over Edengaz's head. Edengaz parried and pushed Zed's sword away. Then he punched Zed in the face, stunning him. Edengaz continued to punch Zed in the chest but Zed caught the punch in time. Zed and Edengaz slashed at each other and pushed each other, the two were very strong and not inferior to each other. They put aside each other's swords and immediately slashed. Zed slashed Edengaz's left shoulder and Edengaz hit Zed's right shoulder. Their blood came out but they didn't give up. Zed and Edengaz smiled and said:

"Let's end it together quickly."

Zed and Edengaz punched each other in the face, destroying their helmets and falling back while their swords dug into the sand. Zed wiped the blood and said:

"You have it too, don't you? I feel that power."

Edengaz spat out blood and said:

"Unexpectedly, let's summon them."

Zed and Edengaz said aloud:

"The Knight/The Warrior."

The Knight was summoned, it released darkness for Zed to absorb. The Warrior was a tiger that was also summoned, it looked very majestic and powerful. The wolf and the tiger looked at each other and prepared to rush at each other like two predators. Edengaz told The Warrior:

"The Warrior, Sandstorm."

The Warrior swept his tail into the sand creating three sand tornadoes that charged at Zed and The Knight. Edengaz jumped onto a tornado and rode it to their swords. Zed and The Knight also ran to their swords. The Knight created two orbs of darkness from his mouth and fired it, destroying two sand tornadoes in front of them. Zed and Edengaz lunged for their swords and slid past each other. The Knight and The Warrior pounced on each other and competed. The Knight scratched The Warrior in the face but it was bitten back in the neck. The Warrior bit into The Knight but was hit by the tail so hard that it released the wolf's neck. The Knight stepped back and unleashed so much darkness, it turned its tail into a blade of darkness and said to The Warrior:

"Hey, I still have a lot of tricks."

The Warrior covered its whole body in sand, it replied to The Knight:

"Great, because I'm still very energetic."

The Knight jumped up and slashed the blade down on The Warrior. Suddenly the blade slashed through The Warrior like sand. The Knight said:

"Didn't hit? That's even better."

The Knight continuously slashed at The Warrior, but the tiger's body was only sand and could not be hit. The Warrior blasted sand into The Knight's face blinding it. The Knight couldn't see anything, but it said:

"Thought that made me weak?"

The Warrior rushed to attack The Knight. It turned its right foot into a giant sand claw and scratched at The Knight. The Knight immediately slashed the sand claws in half and charged towards The Warrior. The Knight and The Warrior banged their heads together and then they backed away. Zed and Edengaz raised their swords together and said:

"Enter the sword."

The Knight and The Warrior immediately ran towards their master and jumped to merge with their swords. Zed took out Devil Wolf sword and Edengaz took out Albedo sword (It was a sword with a tiger head guard, a blade with tiger stripes, and a tiger hair hilt). Zed and Edengaz smiled excitedly, they said together;

"I have never felt such joy and excitement."

Zed and Edengaz rushed to fight each other continued. Their slashes imprinted in the sand, the sound of their swords clashing was the first time they were no longer rivals but friends on the battlefield. Zed punched Edengaz in the chest and he punched him back in the face. The two jumped up and kicked each other pushing them back down. Zed and Edengaz said aloud:

"Let's end together."

Zed launched a big wave of darkness at Edengaz and Edengaz launched a large sand tornado at Zed. They collided and exploded around Zed and Edengaz. After that explosion Zed and Edengaz were still standing even though their armor was damaged before the sudden eyes of the soldiers on both sides. Zed said:

"Do you have strength? You said you would defeat me."

Edengaz replied:

"I was just exercising."

Zed said:

"Great.'

Zed and Edengaz continue to fight each other. And that battle became history, three days and three nights the two strongest warriors fought without rest, eating, but always holding the sword in their hands and cutting non-stop. Their Elemental Spirits were no less than helping their masters in battle. They fought like a pair of strong, evenly matched opponents and they waited until that moment to throw everything they had. On the fourth day, Zed and Edengaz lay on the sand, they put away their swords and let the Spirits withdraw. Zed laughed and said:

"Hahaha, we draw this battle? Unbelievable."

Edengaz also laughed and replied:

"You fought well. Now let me answer your request."

Zed said:

"Thank you Edengaz. You gave me a very enjoyable battle."

Zed slowly closed his eyes. Edengaz slapped Zed in the face and said:

"Are you dead?"

Zed shouted angrily:

"No I'm just tired and just want to sleep."

Edengaz lifted Zed up and said:

"Then let's go into the city and rest."

Zed put his arm around Edengaz's shoulder and replied:

"Let's go."

After that battle, Zed brought the Wolf Army into the city safely. They were given food, drink, and medicine and preserved their lives. The Wolf Army also kept their word and did not attack the city and kept a gentle attitude. And after that battle Zed and Edengaz became two brothers side by side.