Chapter 3

JASPER

He slowly shook his head.

"Stay away from me."

The knight's attempt to warn Mephisto was laughable apparently as he chortled and then sighed. 

"I'm afraid you and I are past that point, Jasper, oh, pardon me, Ser Jasper." said the man, slowly making his way towards him, Vairon following behind him. This newfound loyalty his horse had to the man puzzled Jasper greatly. What was the meaning of this?

"You are probably wondering why and how Vairon brought you here," said Mephisto as though his thoughts were laid bare. He gave a quick whistle to the black steed, which had him trotting over. Mephisto ran his left hand through a black mane. "Our mutual friend here was not always so mutual. I found him in Skagos of all places!" He laughed while Jasper's eyes narrowed. "Not the best environment for such creatures, especially with the tribes of cannibals huddled over there. I had matters to attend to there, when I found a mare in the snow, dying from lack of proper care. Surprise, surprise, out whelped Vairon here! Like the circumstances of your birth, Jasper.

Clenching his fists in response, Jasper remained where he was as the other man continued.

"Our dark, yellow-eyed beauty was hardly much more than skin and bones, moments away from joining his mother. I wouldn't call myself a bleeding heart by any means, but I can't stand to watch potential to be snuffed out. So, I saved his life and gave him something extra to help him grow. Sent him off to a lord I knew had a fondness for horses. Years of switching homes across the continent until he was sent to your father as a reward during one of the last tourneys he attended. The rest…"

The man glanced at Jasper.

"…well, the rest is history, I say. My influence over him may have withered over the years, but it was enough to bring you here to me. You've taken good care of him, despite your reluctance to."

Jasper stared at the man while listening to his story on Vairon's origins, trying to wrap his head around it. The man in front of him could be pulling a mummer's tale on him, of course. But it made sense, in some peculiar way. The source of Vairon's strength and speed compared to the other horses was a question that pestered Jasper for a long time now, but he left it as one of life's greatest mysteries. He really wished it remained that way.

"What do you want? What compelled you to show your face to me this night?" Jasper immediately questioned Mephisto, who began to slowly stroll around him.

"Oh, you make it sound as if I went away, but I was always there, Ser Jasper. Watching. Lannisport, which you almost lost to Jorah Mormont. Kings Landing, Duskendale. Making sure your head remained on those broad shoulders of yours. Protecting my investment."

"…You were keeping me alive." Jasper said suddenly. The man grinned and slowly nodded his head.

"That's right. What good are you to me dead, after all? You honed your skills, and your reputation grew and grew until I almost couldn't see an end in sight. The realm's biggest pouch of coin, getting fatter by the day. The time for me to collect is tonight, Ser. I will be taking need for your services."

Jasper couldn't help but snort at the audacity. This man was mad.

"I'd be more inclined to listen if you had lived up to end of the bargain you once proposed. My father was meant to be healthy and standing today, fiend." Jasper growled at the man. He raised an eyebrow in mocking confusion.

"I recall I said I would cure is ailment and I did, as per the contract. It is no fault of mine that he chose to ride through a ring of fucking fire."

Mephisto laughed at that, while Jasper sneered and marched towards his horse. No longer would he entertain this mockery of his father. The man knew exactly what he did and thought it amusing.

"You will have to find someone else for these 'labor' of yours. I am yours to toy with no longer."

"Sure, sure. But that's not how it works. Your world is about to be on the precipice of change unlike any other. Forces from the pit underneath are making their way up, if they haven't done so already, and I need my rider to remind them of their place."

The Knight stopped not too far slowly turned his head back, wondering what foolishness he was going on about. The pit? His rider? What forces did he speak of? And where did this blasted cold erupt from? The chill outside did nothing to calm his nerves. There was something about what this man spoke of that left questions he wasn't sure he ready to learn the answers to. These thoughts made him move his hand to his blade's pommel.

"Speak clearly, you kna—"

"Be silent and listen," ordered Mephisto, all pretenses of politeness vanished. There was a sudden amplification to his voice, low and monstrous from within him that Jasper couldn't help noticing and kept silent immediately. The grip on his blade tightened. "Mankind's ignorance of what lies in the dark shall be answered for soon. I have it on good authority that one of mine is planning to stir conflict within the Riverlands. Like all her kind and mine, she is undoubtedly ambitious. Unfortunately, she doesn't care if her ambitions that, if realized, will spell disaster for the realm. Dangers will come that will most assuredly eclipse the conflicts that have already plagued this continent before. The fact that she has intertwined her goals with that of lesser men has not improved matters. Much innocent blood will be spilled.

Mephisto eyes focused on Jasper, irises glowing vividly red. 

"But you can stop that, Jasper. Find the one named Nocturna and destroy her. You do this for me, and you will be compensated generously," he promised to the knight, who began to look down and see his hands glowing with unnatural heat once more. "Fulfill any future tasks I have for you, and I will eventually return your soul."

"Now for this next part Ser, I would start praying to those Seven absentees your people hold their convictions to, because this is going to hurt."

Holding his cane above the grass, Mephisto slammed down while a strike of lightning danced across the sky. Jasper didn't have time to respond before he fell to the ground, his chest erupting in pain. Steam began to rise from his torso, his hands and face soon followed. Jasper's grunts turned to screams of agonizing pain as the only sensation he felt was his skull on fucking fire. Mephisto watched on with carefully concealed glee. 

"This affliction of yours was one of the terms listed in the contract you signed years ago. Never pleasant, but necessary. It will pass.

Mephisto turned his back on Jasper writhing figure, his screams echoing into the night. Before he vanished out of sight, he glanced one more time at the knight, a grin plastered on his face which complemented his terrifying now completely red eyes.

"Good hunting, Jasper Blaze. Be sure to give Zarathos my regards."

Then, he was gone.

Howls of agony turned to inhumane cackling, the pain destroying what sanity remained. Soon enough, Jasper's flesh melted off his body like cheese, his eyes burning hot from the fire building within. The grass beneath him scorched, giving way to the soil as he rolled over. Hair and what remained of his face was incinerated, revealing a white skull that was consumed within moments by flames. His eyeballs fell to the ground not long ago, hollow empty sockets immediately filled orbs of fire. Cackles subsiding, something begins to make its way to its feet. The outfit of a newly dubbed knight survived the hellish transformation, but one thing was clear:

Jasper Blaze was no more.

An otherworldly voice that belonged to a creature from the pits of the hells beneath voiced out.

"FREE…"