Chapter 342

Vorbuk tried to prepare himself mentally for his duel against the headless horseman. From the side he could hear the siren, Raene, coming to talk to him. He was standing outside the cabin trying to prepare himself for what was soon to come. They were giving him time to collect himself before the duel.

"By the way," The siren spoke to him as she walked up to him, "I was curious about something."

"What would that be?" Vorbuk asked her while he tried to find a gap in the fog. He wanted to find some sign of how long it had been since he got separated from the others. No matter how much he tried to concentrate he could not find a method of telling the time of day in Death's passage. It made him wonder just how much the passage tried to play with someone's mind.

Raene could sense that he was getting agitated and asked regardless, "Why would you ask for such a thing from him?"

"I already have two marked as my servants. Why should I miss an opportunity?" Vorbuk answered honestly. There was no reason for him to deny himself a chance to gain the loyalty of the headless horseman. He could benefit him greatly in the future.

The siren did not understand, "You made the bet to attempt to enslave him."

"That is not what I asked from him." Vorbuk felt like he was being insulted from her remark.

Raene looked at the exhaustion slowly building up on his face. She could tell that he was already using much of his mana. The beast did not change back into his beast form because he needed a method to communicate with them. It was not something he could do in the form of a beast. He also h ad to fight the duel in his human form and that made things more of a risk for him.

Why would he want to serve this beast? Raene felt like it was a deal not worth taking this duel for either of them. How could he accept such an unfair duel?

"Anyways," Raene did not want to discuss further, "Creed wants you to rest for the time being until your mana is refueled. He does not want to fight dishonorably against you."

"He wants me to rest?" Vorbuk paused when he heard the siren talk about him having respect for the duel. The headless horseman wanted to fight against the beast fairly. Knowing it would be impossible to get a fair duel out of the beast if he was exhausted. He could could only send the siren to make the beast get some proper sleep.

After a moment of thought he realized he had heard an unfamiliar name, "Wait, Creed?"

"That was his name before he became known purely as the headless horseman." The siren explained.

Vorbuk had not considered the idea of the headless horseman having a name. That was the first thing that should have crossed his mind when he was talking with him. It felt like he had been disrespectful towards an elder. He was uncertain of how old the headless horseman was but he was sure that he was much older then himself.

She could tell from his silence that he was carefully trying to understand everything he learned about the headless horseman, Creed. It was difficult to figure out why the beast would be curious about learning new information about him. There was the possibility that he was a threat. Yet Vorbuk did not seem like an irrational beast.

"Come with me inside for now. I will show you to a room you can rest in." Raene said while refraining from using her siren melody on him. Since he had already accepted Creed's request there was no reason for her to force him to move at her will. If he died on his own it had nothing to do with her.

Vorbuk followed the siren back inside the old cabin. Heading up a stairway to the second floor. The headless horseman paid them no attention as they walked by him on the first floor of the cabin. He had remained motionlessly sitting in his chair. If one was ignorant of their surroundings you could almost not recognize him as a living being.

It could give someone nightmares when they realized he was really sitting there the whole time. Vorbuk thought to himself. It might even give me nightmares.

They entered a vacant room on the second floor. It was one that could have once been used by another tenant of the cabin. Though he was unsure who would live so far out in death's passage aside from the demons. The room was decorated for that of a female guest.

"I wonder who once used this place." Vorbuk thought out loud.

The siren flinched when she heard his mumbled thought and replied, "She was once his love."

"The headless horseman was once married?" He asked in a surprised tone from hearing Creed had once taken a lover.

The siren replied calmly, "He was once a normal mortal before he became a headless demon. After he was cursed to be he headless horseman everything was lost. Creed had no choice but to outlive everyone important to him including his own wife and child."

"He had a family?" Vorbuk looked around the room and saw that it was still taken care of. Nothing was dirty and out of place. It looked as if the entire room was cared for very deeply. The headless horseman seemed to show signs that he still dreamed of the days he was a normal mortal.

Raene smiled and walked up close to Vorbuk, tracing her fingertips slowly up his chest until her fingertips were brushing under his chin, her body leaning in close to his as she stood up on her toes like she was about to kiss him as she whispered, "He was once a knight of Yiven Kingdom."

The headless horseman was once an elf who served as a knight of the Yiven Kingdom. He had a wife and child of his own. Vorbuk felt a bit of pity towards the man. Somewhere along the line in his life everything he had was lost. He was trapped in an immortal state with the Drethia King controlling him.

The headless horseman did not want to simply get his head back from the king. There was something deeper that he desired. He did not know what it was exactly. It was a feeling that he felt the more he learned about the headless horseman.

"Sleep well." The siren said without giving him any time to process the information he had put together on the headless horseman.

Her body leaned up more in an attempt to plant a kiss on him. Vorbuk instinctively moved his hand to block her way. The palm of his hand clasped against her mouth to stop her from coming any closer to him. Confusion filled her eyes as her brows furrowed at him.

"Thank you for showing me a place to rest." Vorbuk said while trying to avoid her anger over his hand covering her mouth.

Raene's brow twitched as she pushed his hand away and replied, "You may call me if you need anything."

Vorbuk smiled politely as he casually saw her out of the door to the room. Shutting the door before she had a chance to say another word to him. He knew it was disrespectful but he could not handle another moment alone with the siren.