The Riders of Wrath

Casamir wasted no more time on that portside town and took off in the night. He took nothing but what he'd brought with him and his newly acquired horse. A great horse, well-bred and full of athleticism, it was a beautiful steed. It stood almost the same height as Casamir himself. Casamir named the beast and the two took their time together as they went along the countryside. 

Note: He never wrote what he named the beast until later within his journal, so many scholars do not mention it until later in his story. 

Casamir kept himself fed off of the countryside while heading further and further inland. The countryside was a beautiful sight for him. The land made slow winding movements against the horizon as green fields mixed and clashed against the farmland. Trees dotted the green sea like stars in the night sky. 

A few days into the journey, under the night sky of the twelfth month, Casamir heard the neighs of horses. The sound of clinking metal ran through his ears. He awoke at once, his hand going straight to his blade. While his heart beat in his chest, he heard it more within his ears. The clinking got closer and closer and in the near distance, he could see figures on horseback. 

At first, Casamir assumed them to be human, they looked the part, and they smelled the part. It was not though, and the Voice spoke the truth to him. It was something he'd heard of, and with such knowledge, he kept himself even quieter. These were the riders of Wrath, recognized generally as a force in the world and one that had controlled the north for hundreds of years. The quietness did not keep the monsters away from him, and as his breath lay eerily still they launched an attack. 

Their eyes were red and their bodies steaming with the stench of dead men. Their horses were barely up, entire patches of flesh missing from their legs and some were missing one or more. So Casamir did the most logical thing he could, he jumped upon his horse, and he rode. 

The sounds did not dissipate, the clinking metal followed him. All through the night. Then the morning began, and howling joined the sound of clinking metal. His poor destrier was not ready for such an extensive flight from foes and soon Casamir could hear its breaths. As they continued inland he saw a castle in the distance and Casamir breathed a sigh of relief. 

The castle stood out like a sore thumb and was the most beautiful one Casamir had ever seen. As he and his steed came closer, with the riders of wrath coming closer, he realized that it would've been better to keep going. As he approached the world turned darker and the skies closed to the light of the sun. 

Sounds of clashing swords could be heard from the town, a battle was taking place. The breath of the riders of Wrath was only getting closer. The castle's left side was engulfed in flames of bright white and there Casamir saw the beast. A massive winged creature, the like of a lizard, its wings unfolding in the dark night. Flames were erupting from its wide mouth into the air, lighting the world with blue. 

Casamir's horse shrieked and suddenly stopped throwing its rider near off of it. Casamir turned, it would be the flames of the beast or the blades of Wrath. Casamir was not the one to decide, from his left a band of young men, came riding towards the rider of Wrath. Their swords glistening with silver metal and their souls aflame with passion, they slew the riders of wrath. 

The shrieks of the creatures were loud and only served to cause the dragon to turn its wrathful eyes towards them. Casamir spoke, "There is not a man or beast that shall stop me from my throne, and so come you fell beast!" 

Then the beast turned its gaze like that of killing steel. Yet it did not move, not for a long moment. It kept its gaze on the young king, for it would be making a decision. However something changed within the beast's mind, and it flew off. The beast exited the white-hot flames of the castle and took off into the sky, flames faintly trailing behind it. The beast's wings carried it into the distance, till it was no larger than that of a bird. Then and only then did Casamir turn to see the men who'd saved his life so thoroughly.