Eternal Hunt Rider

The joint of right hand cracked dryly, and the spear flew past the target. Despite this, the Horseman of the Eternal Hunt overtook the fleeing peasant, but did not kill him himself. The dead horse opened its mouth unnaturally wide and on the run bit off a good part of the skull of unfortunate one. Since the insides of the horse had long since rotted away, the human bones immediately fell out of the hole in the stomach onto the ground. A couple of horse ribs and a handful of carrion beetles fell out with them. The bodies of the Rider and his horse were decomposing. Luckily for them (and unfortunately for Styx’s enemies) this wasn’t much of a problem.

The problem of undead cavalry has been discussed by necromancers for a long time. Ordinary zombies were too stupid and clumsy even to stay on a horse, even if it was just as dead. The resurrected horses moved slowly, they could not switch to a banal trot. After long and unsuccessful attempts, a very original idea was born. It was decided not to resurrect the horsemen, but to instill the souls of skilled cavalrymen into the corpses. There was only one nuance: before death, the warrior had to be so mad from the battle that he could carry the desire to kill even into the afterlife. Together with the desire to survive, this gave a powerful effect. The riders of the Eternal Hunt were tormented by two lusts – the lust for blood and the lust to ride forever.

Having dealt with the inhabitants of the border village, the Horseman turned his horse to the south, he needed a good body, and he could get it either in the Holy Gripharim Empire, or where the Empire sent its warriors. In any case, the path was not a short one, but the horse and rider, who did not need food and rest, had no problem with this.

The right body caught his eye not far from the border. A detachment of three riders on thoroughbred bay stallions slowly paced along the path in a stunted grove, feeling completely safe. Not surprisingly, raids from neighbors in these parts were extremely rare, so noble youths were sent here to get used to the service. For the Rider, this meant great bodies, great horses, and no decent resistance. It was too risky to engage experienced fighters now, when the dead flesh was falling off in pieces.

This time, the spear thrown by the dead hand hit the target. The first of the trio gasped, grabbed the shaft protruding from his stomach, and slid off his horse. The animal under the second rider bucked in fright, the young man could not stay in the saddle and flew down to the stones, breaking his head on them. The third took off running, but was quickly overtaken. With a precise blow to the heart, the Eternal Hunter took the life of the rider, the decomposing horse tore the jugular vein of his still living relative, and then what happened dozens of times before happened.

Doomed to an eternal ride by the necromancers of Styx, the furious spirit flowed into a new, fresh and strong shell, like water flows from vessel to vessel. The old bodies of the Hunter and the horse shrank, began to decompose before eyes, and now a pile of fetid flesh lay on the ground, in which worms and carrion-eating beetles swarm.

A young strong rider riding a luxurious stallion galloped towards Styx. The Eternal Hunt continued.