Where Is Your Rider?

Chapter III: The Riderless Horse

I went under for a moment and I nearly lost my contact lenses, which was surprisingly annoying. I placed my feet on the ground again and carefully began to rub my eyes, hoping I could put them back into place. I blinked a few times and my vision was clear again. And yet, I doubted what I saw, for before me, was a horse. A pale horse with marbled hooves standing steadily on top of the water. It was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, I thought. With its pure lack of colour, I could trace the lines of its strong muscles. Its tail looked to be made of bone and its legs shone like pearls.

But nothing of beauty was completely pure, as you had proven to me. From its front feet to its shoulders, it was formed of obsidian. On top of its shoulders settled a man's torso with its back bent like a crescent. The head rested near its chest and the long black arms hung limply. The arms moved softly in the faint breeze of the wind. I moved less than the unearthly creature.

The horse-man was alone, and yet I knew he was not supposed to be.

"Where is your rider?" I asked the ungodly creature.

Its head raised slowly. It had piercing black eyes, slightly darker than the rest of its face. The only signs of any pupils I could find were two spots of the moon's reflected light. It made no sound as it came closer to me. It appeared before me faster than July did this year, and yet that sensation of fear I felt I endured for a century. Without you, time moved both slower and faster.

"Where is your rider?" I asked again without thinking.

It began to walk towards me. It stopped not far away from my frozen body.

The pale white horse with the face of a man was there for me. Like Aegeus, I had drowned myself, I thought. I had not felt the sensation of dying; how dull.

"I am the horse of the Child of Night and Darkness", its disembodied voice aired deeply into my ears. "How lonesome have you become, Rider of Flesh?"

My eyes pulled away from its beauty and saw the night and darkness.

"I am all alone", I uttered.

"Are you certain?" it asked. Its eyes left mine and stared over me, to look at the world I had been trying to leave behind. "No one visits us. Not even the Sun. We've never been adorned by its rays of glory. Not as it leaves the heavens, not as it returns to the heavens. Are you certain you have been swallowed by loneliness, such as us?"

I think this was the deciding moment. I could have told it, "no, I am not alone", and this all wouldn't have happened. But I did not. In my moment of wallowing in my self-pity, I cursed myself and those I still had love for.

"Yes."

That simple answer was the beginning of the end.

The Riderless horse, the horse of the Child of Night and Darkness, stared deeply into my wicked soul. I had lied to myself when I had answered, but I had failed to lie to the creature. I made sure to get one final look at its gorgeous face before it walked away. With each step, its body sank deeper into the water until it was consumed by the ink.

Back in the hotel, I took a shower and threw away the clothes I had worn. They had been heavy and itchy as I had walked back home. I had been very fortunate a kind soul had been driving past and was sympathetic or perhaps curious enough to bring me back to the city.

Evangeline had not noticed I had left. She had slept like a child, wiggling around in the bed like a little worm. But of course, the next morning, she knew something was wrong. Perhaps my nightmares and screams gave it away. I dreamt of butterflies and a wreath of poppies. Both were normally so pure, and yet they haunted me.

"Are you okay?" Evangeline asked me in the morning.

"Yes", I lied to her.