The snow glamed in the moonlight, like mountains capped with diamonds. It was so bright that the clouds appeared as grey shilouettes. The rock mountain cliffs were visible in flashes through the bare-boned trees. The dappled brown horse trotted out of the trees, where the trail ran down by a lake. The clouds sailed low over the still water, so that they almost skimmed its surface. Lights from a small village on the other side of the water twinkled through the mist. The horse was halted by its rider, who had stopped to admire the view. He breathed out slowly, the cloud of his breath hung in the air for a moment before vanishing into the night.
Shouts echoed from around the bend in the trail, where five horseswith jet black coats cantered down, close to the water. The kings men. Five of his dark knights, programmed to hunt a target until they were eliminated. Their bodies were sheathed in black armour, trimmed with crimson. Their visors with a dim purple glow.
No one knew what they looked like without the armour.
Orange lantern light flooded onto the trail, which the first rider was now fleeing from at full speed. The rider leaned foreward on his horse, willing it to go faster. The five knights appeared swifter no matter what he tried, their reflection like shadows on the water. The first rider veered suddenly to the right onto a small trail, up a shallow slope, into the crowded trees, a canopy hiding the rider from the sky. The knights followed silently. Bursting out from the cover of the trees the first rider twisted to look behind him.
A gunshot rang through the night air. So loud the moon seemed to shake in the sky.
The rider was thrown back off his horse, landing heavily in the snow. Black oil pooled out onto the crisp white snow aound where the bullet had hit. A few cogs ground slowly to a halt. Wires and circuitry parts were visible amongst the torn metal. The rider shut down. A knight leaned over his body, "deceased" the metallic voice stated. He turned his back to the rider and mounted his horse.
The knights rode away.
The rider woke up.
