Awakened

A Forgotten War

“I'm sorry?” Blue asked the zombie, who was facing him and difficult to make out when relying on energy alone.
“Really bad for villagers.” Horror explained, stumbling to his feet.

“How do you know about these riders?” Blue questioned, concerned.
“Lightning when it's sunny.” Horror explained quickly, tottering out the door with his hood low over his face. Blue didn't miss the slight hiss of pain.
“There's one, get too close and the lightning makes it five.”

Distantly Blue heard the sound of a much less concussive boom, likely from Killer. It finally set in then, why Horror was so antsy.
The other liked protecting the village too.
He was aware of a threat to the village, skeletons. Even though logically they shouldn't be a threat for very long in the daylight?

Then he saw them past the fence, shooting at one another. They weren't atop spiders like he'd assumed they would be.
No, it looked like.. horses? Skeletal horses?
One just shot one of the horses to death aiming at the rider.
Blue suddenly realized there was just one horse left. A horse just as skeletal as himself.

He bolted to the fence, catapulting over it with a bow in hand before he even hit the ground again. In two shots, the helmeted rider fell back, dropping off its steed as he turned and shot another skeleton. Their aim, as always, was largely inaccurate, as his own was straight and true.

He turned to one of the remaining skeletons, only to notice the blob of Horror's energy lunge, tackling it and breaking several bones.
Note to self, Horror was way stronger than he appeared.
Turning again, he saw Dust standing over the other skeleton, dark sword in hand with its skull removed.

The final skeleton wasn't even shooting at any of them, just firing at a green shape lumbering closer from the downward slope. Blue took his chance, chasing after the now aimlessly wandering horse and gently climbing on.
He always wanted to ride a horse, but they would always buck him off.

“I'm on a horse!” He suddenly cheered as the skeletal equine stood still. The others glanced at him as he hesitantly urged it forward- he wasn't sure how he knew what to do, he just did.
It cantered forward, huffing with an almost metallic sound.
“Yes! A horse! Finally!”

“You.. want one of those?” Horror questioned, still crouching.
“I've always wanted to ride a horse. They just never liked me. But this one's just like me, how could I not?” He beamed, noting that the spare skeleton had shot down the creeper, a strange dark shape slipping out of the viny thing as it collapsed.

Dust glanced at the strange horse Blue was riding, then shrugged, lifting one leg to violently kick the skeleton into the fence, where something in it snapped and it went limp. Blue nodded thankfully to him, guiding the horse to walk around excitedly. He circled the growing lump of reforming creeper before suddenly taking off full speed along the hillside, laughing gleefully.

It was so fast, blowing steam from its gaping nasal cavity as he turned around to come galloping back. This was incredible. He had never been so fast before. The wind whistling through his armor and ribcage- and the horse's- was delightful.

He returned to see Dust staring in shock and Killer mostly reformed, Horror still invisible and hunching over. Blue hesitated, aware of the other's state. He slowed before the zombie, hesitantly sliding off with a slight scrape of bone.
“Do you want to go back in the dark, Horror?”

He grunted in affirmation, swiping wildly until his hand landed on a collarbone, the horse jumping with a startled whinny. It angled its skull to peer in Horror's direction, though clearly couldn't see him.
“Why don't you climb on and I lead you both back, hmm?” Blue suggested. As giddy as riding a horse made him, it could wait a minute for a friend's welfare.