A Dark RIder

The rain from the previous night had colored the afternoon sky grey, with mud everywhere. The hooded rider on his mount cast his glaze about as the beast he sat on found it difficult to tread up the soggy soil, groaning in displeasure.

"Just a little ways more, boy.", the rider assumed it with a pat its dark fur. "How much more do we have to go?!"

"Just up ahead!", an old man shouted from behind to the rider, making sure to stay a good length away from him and his beast as he followed behind.

The rider lifted his glaze through the fog to see an old, run-down shed in the woods up ahead. He narrowed his eyes, somehow sensing the impending danger he was about to find himself in. His mount growling in the same.

"T... this is as far as I can go! These woods have become dangerous with bandits seen going in and out of that shack up afar!", the old man exclaimed, trying his best to speak out to the rider without showing fear. "You should turn back now if-"

"I'll be fine.", the rider interrupted him as he moved forward into the woods. "Tell everyone to stay a ways away from here." Slowly, the old man seemed to vanish into the fog as the rider moved further in.

The forest was quiet enough that you could hear every twig crack under his mount's feet, and a cold breeze filled with malice howled through the trees. As he got closer to the shack, he dismounted and whispered a single word, crouching past his mount.

"Stay", he whispered. His eyes swept through the area again. No treats in sight so far.

The shack was as run down as it looked from afar. It was large and secluded enough to serve as a hideout. But there was still no sign of anyone so far. Gripping the holster of his sword, the rider entered, passing a few bowls of spilled food on the ground.

In one of the rooms, a campfire had a few embers still lit, looking as though it had been recently put out. As he crouched to inspect it, another clue lay in the corner of his eye. Two dead bodies lay lifeless at the corner of the room and another halfway through the door on the right. They all had their swords drawn out with blood smeared over it. The walls behind them were painted red to the point that it made it hard to tell what happened. It would have made anyone lose their morning meal, yet the rider kept looking at it. On the floor were golden rings, coins, and jewels, all covered in blood.

"A fight?", the rider voiced out to himself as he still looked at the bloody scene.

It wasn't uncommon in the line of work for bandits to get a little greedy with the spoils. With what seemed to be a sigh from him, he moved close for a good look but quickly jerked to the sudden noise from the previous room. His hand readied his sword, though it was just mole rats wrestling over a bowl of food. There were rats the size of both hands combined that liked dark and smelly places. With another sigh, he released his grip from his holster, looking somewhat disappointed. However, the feeling slowly faded as another sound came from behind a door further in that room. The sounds continued, with irregular intervals. A crash, then silence, followed by muffled noises, then silence. Cautiously approaching it, his hand moved his holster once more. He pushed the door once, twice, and with all his might, the third. The door swung open.

The foggy afternoon sky and dark shed made it hard to see, but there was no doubt about it. Right there lying in front of him was a child. This was a scene he couldn't continue to look at twice. He closed his eyes with a breath of sigh before opening them up to move closer to the child.

"Hey, stay calm, ok?", he said quietly, trying to sound as meek as he could. The child clung to the wall, pushing more into the shadows. Their legs and hands were to be tied. "I won't hurt you, ok? I am here to help. Let me get you out of those-"

The squeak from the mole rats called his attention. At once, a sword swings down towards his head from behind, with him barely dodging away with a roll and grazing his left arm. Without giving him breath, the attacker parried forwards towards him with fear and without hesitation. Their hand and face were covered in blood. Noticing how similar the attacker's garb was to the previous three, the rider's hesitation wore off as he drew his sword to clash with his.

Oozing out pines of blood, the rider pulls out his dagger from his attacker's neck, falling his opponent in an instant. As he turned back around, he gasped as he realized the child was still there, having witnessed such a brutal sight. Slowly once again, he moved closer to the child. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness as he saw the child's tattered dress, their arms bruised and bound with ropes. Her eyes, mouth, and hands were tied with rags. The rider sighed in relief that she hadn't seen what happened. Yet even with her eyes covered, you could already tell she was terrified.

With his arms moving closer to her face, she instinctively tensed up.

"It's ok. The bad people are gone now.", the rider voiced out under his breath, trying to be meeker than before. Yet even with that, the girl resisted, pulling further away until he managed to pull the rag from her eyes. Her eyes were hazel-colored but made bloodshot red from tears. She trembled, even more scared with her eyes now being able to look around her. They darted to the dead body behind the rider and quickly looked back at him with his blood-stained hoody over his head. The girl trembled even more as tears flowed again over her red cheeks.

The rider did nothing and only let silence be the mediator between them. He slowly took his hood off, showing his long blonde hair and a burn scar across his left eye. It made it a different color from his right eye. He wiped the little blood he had on his face and simply waited for her to calm down.

"I am going to remove these now.", he said as he brought his dagger close to her. She flinched, but not in the same way she did the first time. With both the hands and legs free, he slowly pulled the rag over her mouth and her words, almost as though they had been stuck and sealed. They came right out in a half-audible whimper.

"P-please. Save me.", she said tearfully. At that moment, the rider seemed to have frozen, his eyes never leaving hers as they went misty. Her hand seemed to be the only thing trembling as it held on to the rider's clothes with her dear life. The rider bit his lower lip, seeming to calm himself down. Making sure not to stain her dark hair with blood, he slightly patted her head, responding in a similar whisper of voice.

"You are safe now."