Beneath the blood-red moon, I rode through a terrifying forest drowned in mist. It felt as if I had entered into a silent pact with the night itself—the deeper one went, the more the light was swallowed whole.
The crimson moon hung overhead like a suspended drop of blood, and I—crossbow strapped to my shoulder, reins clenched tightly in my fist—advanced alone through this unfamiliar wilderness.
The fog was so thick that even my horse's breath dissolved into it.
Then—
From the distant mountains came a sound.
Thump… thump… thump.
Hooves stumbling forward.
Fast.
Furious.
Hungry.
My horse stopped abruptly, ears standing straight, letting out a sharp hiss. It had sensed something long before I did.
I narrowed my eyes and stared ahead. Inside the fog, a shadow emerged—slowly growing larger, heavier.
The shape of a rider became clear.
But—
It was not human.
It was not alive.
It was a legendary fear made flesh.
The rider's body was decayed, corpse-like. Between his shoulders there was nothing—no head. Under the dark moonlight, only torn remnants of flesh hung loosely where it should have been.
His head was clutched in his right hand—a pale human skull. Inside the hollow eye sockets, white flames flickered violently.
His black, tattered garments fluttered in the wind, as if ripped straight out of someone's nightmare.
In his left hand, he wielded a weapon—a whip made from a spine. With every movement of its tip, a sharp crack—crack echoed through the forest.
And his horse…
It was not alive either.
A skeletal steed—skin torn away, no flesh remaining, eyes burning with ominous red light.As they advanced, the surrounding fog tore apart, as if even the forest itself feared his presence.Suddenly—WHIP!
The bone whip sliced through the air just above my head. I ducked instinctively, yanking my horse sharply to the side.
The horse bolted forward.The ground rushed beneath us.Moonlight flickered wildly.
The Headless Horseman was right behind me, his horse's hooves crashing like thunder.
Thump… thump… thump… THUMP!!!
I raised the crossbow, hurriedly loading a bolt. My hands trembled. The horse was running at full speed. The target wouldn't stay still.
Still—I fired.
Thap!
The bolt pierced straight through his chest.
He didn't stop.
As if pain meant nothing to him.
Instead, he raised the skull in his hand and aimed it toward me. The skull's jaw stretched unnaturally wide, thick white smoke pouring out from its hollow mouth.
In an instant, darkness swallowed everything.
Only white light and the sound of bones remained.
Then—
The Headless Horseman slammed into me with brutal force.
I was thrown from the horse, rolling hard across the frozen ground. My heartbeat thundered in my ears.
As I forced myself upright—
WHIP!!
The bone whip grazed my neck. A fraction closer, and it would have torn straight through.
I leapt backward, taking cover behind a tree, struggling to breathe.
The Horseman slowed his mount and stopped before the tree. From his headless neck came a deep, grinding sound—grrrrrr...
Under the moonlight, I noticed the special engravings etched into the crossbow.
Alexander's words echoed in my mind:
"This weapon can destroy the enemies of darkness."
I loaded another bolt and held my breath.
The Horseman stood directly in front of me.
I fired.
The bolt flew straight into the skull's eye socket.
Then—
Thud.
The skull shattered as it hit the ground.
At once, the Horseman's body began to glow from within. White light flooded his form, and slowly—like smoke—it dispersed into nothingness.
Only his skeletal horse remained, collapsing into dust and fragments upon the frozen earth.