CHAPTER 48: CH 48: THE GENERAL.

He fell back onto the snow in an exhausted pant. Turned to the mountain in the distance, "Next up, Everest."

He slumped there for about thirty minutes, reassessing his situation. He’d burnt the gloves off his hands when he used his fire and now, resulted to stuffing them in his pants for warmth.

"Mmph!" After a few more minutes, he dragged himself up and turned around him to take in the landscape.

The raging storm had settled, the broken black ice waters were still, save for the wind which cried incessantly. He turned his sights to the mountain, the wind blowing his hair, as he marched on.

*

Distance from far away had indeed been misleading, even after walking her what felt like hours, he still hasn’t reached the foot of the mountain.

Turning his eyes to either side, the Hollowmen were still nowhere to be found, they’d ran off from the storm, but now that it had settled he felt the constant pit in his gut that they’d return.

As exhaustion began to creep into his mind once more, his pace slowed and his breath dragged.

"HIIII-NEEIGH!"

The neigh of a horse startled Aegon as he turned in it’s direction, the persistent feeling of dread slowly returning.

Far away, stood a top of ridge of elevated snow, a deformed horse— too distant for Aegon to study it’s features other than two things,

One; It’s eyes were dead blue like those of the Hollowmen and two; someone or something was definitely riding it.

It’s rider sat still, same blue eyes but unlike the Hollowmen— this one seemed intelligent, almost sentient. In its right hand it held a long spear.

Stretching it out, it stamped the spear onto the snow twice then waited—

A second later a retinue of neighs could be heard coming from behind that same hill, a herd of death-horses each with their respective riders came into view.

All standing behind the first like he was their general. The horses finally settled down as all eyes fell back on the intruder— a being unfit for the lands, disrupting their ecosystem.

Aegon.

The general’s spear rose up from the ground and aimed steadily at the tiny figure standing in the snow, the trespasser, his spear finally settled on him and with the faintest poke—

The horses roared to life and the chase was on.

"Fuck this trial." He cursed as he sprinted for the mountain, it wasn’t far away anymore, if he could climb up then he’d be saved.

Not another second was wasted as he raced to the mountain, the sounds of galloping horses filled his ear but he refused to turn back.

The general had not moved. His platoon of riders had already taken charge and were on the hunt for Aegon’s head.

There was no back up, his Aether had been exhausted, the beast underneath wouldn’t come unless the ice was weakened and he had nothing left up his sleeve.

Either his legs would save him or nothing else would.

He turned back to see one of the riders had made leeway and was metres ahead of the others.

He could finally observe the horse’s features—

The horse wasn’t a horse— not anymore.

Up close, its body looked sunken, like something had drained all the fat and warmth out of it, leaving only a leather-wrapped skeleton forced to keep running.

Its mane thrashed wildly in the wind— stiff and jagged together like the wrap on a blade.

As they steadily closed the distance between itself and Aegon, the rider unsheathed the sword at its hem and clasped his hands on the handle of the slash.

’Shit. Shit. Shit.’ His thoughts panicked, he was no where near fast enough to escape the blade— with the impending doom looming over him—

He ducked and jumped.

The blade whistled past him. The momentum of the swing upset their balance and sent, both rider and horse spawling onto the snow.

Aegon, never one to waste a good opportunity, stood and raced for the sword. His hand met the hilt of the sword just as the rider rose to its knees.

With a gut wrenching scream, he raised the blade and drove it through its heart in a quick motion. Watched as the glow died it’s eyes before turning back to the rest.

His eyes darted fast— between the platoon barreling towards him, the blood soaked sword in his hands and, finally, back to the mountain.

There was not a chance in hell.

But with the smile of a man who had nothing left to lose, sanity included, he clasped the sword in his hands, turned back to wait for them and raised the blade.

"COME ON!" His voice crackly, his breath foggy but his eyes strong.

"NEEIGH!"

The killed rider’s horse, startled by his scream, stood to its feet.

A shaky lightbulb of an idea flickered in his mind as his eyes lingered on the stallion’s figure.

"Fuck this." He dropped the blade, threw himself a top the horse even as it protested.

The horse wiggled and screamed for freedom but Aegon’s hands were steady and unrelenting. He finally grabbed a handful of the stallion’s mare and aimed it’s head towards the mountain.

~PAA!~

The sound echoed as he slammed the stubborn horse’s ass and sent it sprinting towards the mountain, finally.

~SCREEEE!~

A mind racking scream tore through the tundra. The general had been utterly disgusted when Aegon had hopped onto one of its horses.

It finally whipped his own horse into motion, faster than all others, leaving his platoon behind as his dead blue eyes locked on Aegon’s figure.

"Come on, girl." Aegon glanced back to see the general scurrying towards him in record time. He slapped the horse’s behind once more, hoping for more speed but the stallion had reached its peak.

The gap slowly became worrisome. Not yet though, he could make it, just a little more and he’d reach the foot of the mountain.

His pleas came too soon as the general rose his spear and shot it forward.

His back was turned, his eyes completely fixed on the mountain at the point— just a few steps away.

He whipped his head back to see the spear in the sky— inches away from his back.

’LEFT!’ His thoughts screamed in unison with his hands as he, abruptly, pulled the horse’s mane left.

They tumbled across the snow, thrusting them forward, sending him flying back first onto the foot of the mountain.

He gritted his teeth in pain as jagged stone tore through his back, without looking he already knew it was bleeding.

But it didn’t stop the general from unpinning his spear stuck in the snow and still coming straight for him.

Aegon twisted himself into a ball, next to the stone, at the foot of the mountain.

"HIIII-NEEIGH!"

The horse’s front legs rose off the ground just an inch away from him as the general dragged its mane, pulling it back.

The general’s eyes remained fixed on the top of the mountain, as if even he was afraid to cross the threshold. He pulled the horse back as his platoon stood a few meters behind him, waiting for him.

He spared Aegon a last glance before turning back and disappearing into the white.

Before he could fully comprehend what had happened, the system’s message snapped him out of thought.

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