[Wyborn]

OoC: If you need a mental image of what my FL looks like, just look at my avatar.

And Shadow_Kirby, I hope you'll forgive me for making my interpretation of the undead considerably more...sinister. -OoC

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The horse's shorn hooves beat a steady rhythm against the dirt path; the animal could move with rapidity and speed that defied its size and its shape, revealing its origin from within Castle Burmunica. He had not wanted to take the thing, had been repulsed by it and was loathe to leave his own horse in the care of the undead, but the pay was good and they had sworn that no ill would befall his animal. Just as well: this black thing was as swift as he could have dreamed, and strong enough to carry him in his full armor. In the end that was all that mattered.

The Knight cut an impressive sight in his plate: he was not recognizably Hylian while he wore it, as his armor enhanced the perception of his size and the helmet was spacious enough to accomodate his ears, obscuring his face entirely and crowned with two enormous, twisting horns. His cape painted the air behind him, the two swords at his hip, which he had learned to use in the Gerudo style, were brighter than the polished sheen of his armor.

"Ride, you beast! Ride! We must arrive before midday!"

The horse should not have made a sound, should not have been able to, and even at the most extreme end of plausibility it should have neighed or whinnied - but it roared, roared as a cat or a bear would roar, pushing past the realm of what natural sounds should have been able to produce. The Knight flinched atop the animal, tightening his grip on the reins.

"Gods, what have I gotten myself into..."

He rode, passing beyond the boundaries of the Fences. A hawk was circling the air above him, constantly following.

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The sun was still high when he reached the southwestern area of the tactical Hyrule Field - his map told him that he was near the westernmost end of it, as his orders dictated. Nothing was here yet, but in the far distance he knew they were coming - the Gerudo, the Hylians, the Zora. All of them might pass through here.

He dismounted without effort, taking a long moment to look around before opening the pack on the horse's saddle, from which he drew forth three objects: the first, a medallion in the shape of a human skull, carved from ivory, he placed around his own neck. The second required more care, and the third more than the first two combined.

With his left hand he withdrew a leather message tube, sealed at both ends with iron stoppers rimmed in black wax; with his right he withdrew a jar of what looked like brackish water. The former he held to his breast while he set the latter on the ground, backing away from it, waving his hand as if trying to rid himself of some invisible detritus.

The seals were broken at both ends, twised off and thrown to the ground, as he had been instructed. As he pulled the ends apart he noticed a thread was tied between them, and that when it broke it evaporated; seconds after the breaking of that thread, the two caps hissed and melted and ran like melting ice, burning through the grass that they were resting on.

For a long moment he paused, considering his situation. If anyone without his instruction had tried to open it, the scroll within it would have been ruined beyond words. What in the name of all the gods was he dealing with?

His gauntleted fingers moved automatically, drawing the scroll out of the message tube with practiced dexterity, and he tossed the tube back into the horse's pack before unrolling the parchment.

The sight that met his eyes surprised him: it was a series of interconnected shapes, the lines of which his eyes could not quite follow. This was black magic, the likes of which he had never seen, and it took some time before he could look past the glyphs and shapes and see the instructions printed on the page. The words he read there filled him with a fear that he did not entirely understand.

Firstly, let the amulet be draped about your neck; do nothing else until this is so.
Secondly, place this parchment flat upon the ground, facing the Sun.
Thirdly, place the jar upon this parchment, centered by the largest circle inscribed hereon.
Fourthly, remove the lid of the jar.
Fifthly, take your sword and out of the earth pry a handful of soil.
Sixthly, place this earth into the jar, replacing the lid immediately thereafter.
Seventhly, hold the amulet to your chest, and pray to whatever gods you serve.

"What is this? What trickery are the undead playing at?" The could not be doing anything which would kill him: his price was too high to eliminate him on an errand that could just as easily be carried out by one of the slavering damned. It did not make sense. He was safe, all reason said; his contract meant he had to do it, regardless; why was he so afraid?

The whole process took only a minute, and that only becuase of the extreme care he took for every step; wiping his blade clean before replacing it in its sheath, he dropped the soil into the water, which did not splash, and slammed the lid back into place. He backed away, and waited.

The last words of the instructions struck him, then, and he fell to his knees, clasping the amulet in both of his hands and closing his eyes.

"Din, watch over your sons, blessing us with firm ground to tread upon and the strength for the battles yet to come. Keep my blade sharp and my arm strong; every day I live is by your blessing, and every life I take will be by your fire in my heart."

The amulet was growing hot in his hand; the air was growing heavy, but he did not know why.

"Nayru, clear my eyes and steady my head; give me the wisdom not to fear that which cannot harm me, and the wits to escape that which can. Watch over the fields, guiding the fates of our nations to such an end as best serves your purpose. Cause us all to remember ourselves; may no one who falls be forgotten in battle."

The wind had stopped, and the heat of the amulet was searing his hands, but he tightened his grip. He knew that, were he to open his eyes, he would go mad.

"Farore, blessed mother, keep watch over us all. Give me the courage to do my duty; instill in me the richness of soul to know what is right from what is wrong. All my days I live in your name, greatest of the sisters; if I fall, take me to your breast and bear me for wherever I am bound. Let me remember what love I have known, for all my life and until the end of all days."

He opened his eyes.

The jar and parchment were gone.

The land was dead; the grass blown away from grey ground that could support nothing at all, hissing and bubbling as if it had absorbed some evil inent, ready to be unleashed by any fool who would touch it. He realized the enormity of the situation: the burning amulet had protected him, in some way he did not understand, but any living creature whih set foot here would not be so lucky. The wind had died; the sun itself would not shine over this blotted land.

It took a long time for him to take in the fullness of that sight; in the inerim, he had to swallow the urge to scream more than once.

"What did I do?"

After a time he rose, mounting his horse and riding away: he did not need to go far to find a place to make camp.

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OoC: Long story short?

I traveled to Hyrule Field SouthWest and set up a trap; the blight of the undead is on that land now, and any living creature which steps upon it will absorb the blight into themselves, which will naturally be fatal. There is only just so much blight....the exact enormity of this danger I will leave up to Boo's discretion.

See you guys next round. -OoC