"This has truly been quite the spectacle you foul creature!" ,the nameless rider announced as Shakti took down another pack of skeletons with just a swing of his spear. Shakti stood in front of Cuthbert without giving an inch of ground to the horde of skeletons that continued to march towards it. "But this ends now!"
The skeletons all dropped at once as if they were being held up by invisible strings. The horseman made its way towards Shakti. Each step of the horse either snapped some bones or kicked some out of the way.
"To think a lowly troglodyte would make me cast the last of my mana reserves."
Before Shakti could register what he meant a bolt of electricity coursed through its body knocking it back towards one of the ruins. The shock left Shakti on the floor struggling to get its body to do as it wanted. The rider continued its controlled trot towards Cuthbert. He dismounted to collect the unconscious Cuthbert.
"You'd best be worth my eternal patience, mortal."
The clearing in the forest began to brighten up with the full moon finally reaching its zenith. The cloud cover from earlier finally made its way east over the ocean. The rider grabbed Cuthbert by his cloak and tossed him over the rump of the horse. As he finished securing Cuthbert on the horse something began to glow behind him.
In fear, he turned towards and hurled another magic arrow towards the trog, expecting a counter attack by the beast.
Shakti braced itself for the impact.
Talons dug into the dirt with its spear shaft placed defensively in front.
The spear splintered in two as the arrow hit its intended target.
Shakti fell backwards and grasped the loose dirt with one claw and spear point with the other. Only the bottom of the spear shaft and four lines left in the dirt stayed behind as a reminder of the trogs tenacity.
The troglodyte vanished into the light.
In disbelief the rider walked up to the light to see if the trog was on the other side yet found nothing lying there.
"What sort of sorcery is this?"
The archway that earlier was just ruins and rubble to everyone present now emitted a glowing pink light that swirled in hues of green and white. He studied the arch and noticed glowing inscriptions around the portal.
Encryptions that were older than even the undead was familiar with. The archway blazed with light, but what intrigued the knight most was the heat radiating from it—a warmth he hadn't felt in over a century.
Some of the few senses he's lost since becoming an Undead Knight.
He stuck his hand in the light only to retract with the nub of each finger missing. Erased right off. The Dread Knight stared at his hand in untainted curiosity. The flesh and bones fully exposed as if cut off cleaning with a knife. Moments like these made him grateful that his sense of pain in his hands were gone now too.
Nerve endings were hard to take care of with these sorts of bodies.
The sound of his horse galloping towards him awoke him from his sudden intrigue. Cuthbert shuffled around on the horse as he fought with the makeshift knots between him and freedom.
He managed to untie the end of the rope that was tied to the horse and rolled off the horse. The death Knight watched the vessel to his Lord's disciple rolled right into the archway with barely any hesitation.
The Knight dodged the passing horse and lunged for the rope that was quickly being fed into the archway.
"Not so fast you pathetic little man!" He managed to grab the rope as it continued to disappear into the light. The rope grew taut under his grip, dragging him forward—until it pulled free completely. He hit the ground, grasping at empty air. The light swallowed its prize whole, and then… silence.
The undead knight lifted his arms, expecting to grip the rope, but saw only ruined stumps.
The battlefield was still. His soldiers lay in useless heaps around him. His horse was gone. His mission, his promise, his victory—gone.
"Such a simple task." he murmured, watching the rope slither into the portal. "Take hold of a broken man's mind, and he does the rest himself." He remembered the arrogance he expressed as he volunteered in front of all his peers.
The rope quickly finished slithering into the light leaving the death knight laying there handless with its cohorts of bones scattered around him.
Embarrassment.
A sensation he wished he'd left behind with his heartbeat.