The Messenger Part 5

With 5 hours left until his boat leaves for Alfheim, Rodrick left the Cenobium with a hop in his step as he limped down the road. He believed that he was close to finishing his delivery, all that was left was to simply make his way to a nearby stable, pay for a horse, and ride it to the far east where the Azariah River artificially flowed powerfully into the Deodalion Sea. It would take him 15 minutes to get to the nearest stable, another 15 to wake up and prepare the horse to move, as well as hussle and negotiate with the horse tamer. And at least 2 hours to get to the Azariah River and the only port town on the river of Lily Pad. With enough luck, he'll be able to probably sneak himself into the bar and buy a drink or some food at least. Then be on the boat with at least an hour or so left, take a nap, go to Alfheim and deliver the letter to Prince soon-to-be King Richmond. Take a small vacation in Alfheim while he waits for a boat to return, probably get Richmond to agree to marrying his younger sister Joan.

Rodrick was overcome with joy as he thought of his plan for the next day or so. Despite him not sleeping for New Year, he believed that he had changed a bit inside. Like he had some new found confidence, and as he approached the horse tamer just outside of the stable, and opened his mouth to ask, "Do you have any horses?" He felt as though he could take down even a dragon.

"No."

Rodrick's neck pulsed, "What do you mean no?"

"I mean no horses, kid. None. Not even a Nil'ch," the man said as he started sweeping the hay left on the ground.

"What happened to them? Was it a plague or some kind of extinction?"

"By the Great King! No, child don't you speak of tragedies when thou arn't have yet to experience true ones."

"Sorry."

"They were all sold for a great cause."

"For what cause?"

"Have thee faith in Pandora's box?" The man said, smiling.

"I don't know what Pandora's box is."

" 'Tis Tragic," the man said, lowering his smile, "Anyway, you want to get a horse. That is what thoust come to me for. I'll tell you this, up in Lavender there is a shamrock horse, bred from Amenti-Aaru and imported from Gradipid, it's the fastest horse you'll ever find."

"Why has no one bought it?"

"People say it's a luck-based horse. That it randomly allows people to ride it, else they suffer."

"Suffer what," Rodrick asked as he held his throat.

The man simply laughed in response and cocked his head as he continued sweeping.

Troubled, Rodrick took his leave, gripping onto his hat and leather bag as he traversed down the path he was originally on. He had to go to the east, but the Lavender Settlement laid in the north. He dreaded the fact he had to go, but not due to the fact it would take away time from him being able to go to the bar, instead it was due to the many rumors he heard about.

A mining site cursed with Tyche's blind eye and the Great King's Neziahthan wrath. As Rodrick limped to the mining site, he recalled all of the conspiracies and troubles that surrounded the settlement.

First was the King's unwillingness to approve of its township. Which was strange as the past 5 kings refused to approve it, despite the fact that they were approving almost every settlement to become a town. Second was the amount of accidental deaths that surrounded the site. Of course there would be danger in a mining site, but the staggering non-mining accidents were astonishing. Cases of people bleeding to death without ever being in a fight, they would have mysterious cuts all over. Cases of people falling to their death despite there not being any high enough structure. Cases of people being hit with some kind of force while they are doing some menial task. Some people say it was magic, but it is a general rule for no damaging spells be used within any Deodalion town, city, or settlement. With a shamrock horse, perhaps there will be less of these random gruesome accidents, or that is what Rodrick thought.

He arrived at the Lavender settlement with 3 hours and 20 minutes remaining. His injured leg seemed to slow him down considerably more than he thought. The air was gray when he arrived, the miners at the time were eating breakfast at a small brown wooden table that was placed just outside the entrance of the settlement. They ate with their mining tools. Behind the table was a rectangular stone open gate with a wooden sign (that was falling off) that hung off of the top of the open gate. Beside each side of the gate was a long stone fence that seemed to create a barrier around the whole settlement.

"Yee who comes forth, who art thou," one of the miners asked while using their dig shovel (with some dirt in it) to pick off bits of fish from between their teeth. All the miners had a mixed variety of clothing, some were shirtless, others wore a shirt typical of a miner, and some even wore their mining gear accompanied with the dirty leather hat, gloves, and yellow suspenders. They all reeked of dust and blood, and looked as though they hadn't even seen a river to bathe in for months.

"Rodrick Messenger, sirs. I come with a message for Prince Richmond. I must-"

One of the miners chuckled, another beside him punched him in the shoulder. "Thoust be respectful in the presence of a Messenger," the puncher said, "Glorious family they are, delivered me love letters for half a marisol. Generous service thou art," the puncher pointed toward Rodrick and continued, "finish."

"Thy prince no here," the punchee said laughing, causing every other miner to laugh except for the puncher.

Once they all settled down, Rodrick cleared his throat and rubbed it as he said with as much confidence as possible, "I must deliver a message for Prince Richmond, however I must get to the Azariah River on the far east. I have limited time and require the shamrock horse that I have been told is in your possession."

The puncher rose to his feet, he directed everyone to go, and they all got up with their food and mining gear. The puncher reached into his dirty pocket, and with his dirt filled nails chipped away at a carrot he pulled out of his pocket. As he chipped at it, it began glowing gold. Once a little bit of gold was shining, he took out one of his chisels and handed the chisel and the carrot to Rodrick. "Go up the path, at the end of it will be the shamrock horse. Feed it, but do not abuse it. Yee must approach with thine patience and will fortified. By the Great King, I pray for your success."

Rodrick nodded his head and limped past the miner to walk down the path. "I'm surprised I don't have to pay for anything. This is better than paying for a horse that would have barely made me make it on time. However this is a luck-based horse. How and why is it luck-based? What is this carrot?" While Rodrick walked down the path he kept chipping away the dirt and weird sticky substances with the chisel he was given. It only took a few minutes before he reached the marvelous shamrock horse.

It had the shape of a donkey or mule, shaded in green all over. With lighter green patterns of a shamrock randomly rotated throughout the fur of the beast. Its legs seemed to pulse as though awaiting to begin running at any time.

Rodrick slowly approached the horse, he extended the golden carrot out to it, and paused as it approached him. It neighed before sucking the golden carrot out of his hands using only its inhale. "What the fuck is this thing," Rodrick yelled, before it started chewing and swallowing with the same movement and breath. After it finished eating the carrot it belched and started screaming angelically, causing Rodrick to completely freeze and reconsider his whole life. He had no exact way to actually respond to all of this, so on his face was a half smile and neutral expression that seemed pained and confused in a way.

The horse bowed down to Rodrick, and he took it as an indication to ride it. He hopped on its back, and felt a sudden surge of energy go through his whole body. He felt as though his whole soul screamed in pain. It was weird, but he held onto the reins of the horse and whispered into its ear, "Let's go shamrock. Mush mush," he then whipped the horse with the reins and the beast started slowly moving. Slower than even Rodrick's limping.

Rodrick waited a minute thinking, "This horse must need some time to speed up," but after that minute he began to think, "This is a scam isn't it. DAMN IT! I need to go to Lily Pad! Move!" The horse neighed, and took an even slower step forward, before pushing against it with impressive might, and accelerating at an alarming rate. Within 3 seconds, it had run out of the Lavender settlement, and it continued to gallop with the same speed. Meanwhile Rodrick was hanging off of the horse, gripping on the reins so hard that it indented his hands and burned it. Once his body got comfortable with the sudden growth in acceleration, he climbed back onto the horse and laughed. He took a look around all the blurry greens and browns that he rushed past. He looked behind him to see a cloud of dust rise from behind him, accompanying the dust were small green clouds that he rather not question. As he rode his heart beat that rose from the sudden burst of speed started to slow down as the horse sped up. He was even going the right direction, "This is quite marvelous," he yelled.

"Bem, Lah, Une, Une, Daj"

Rodrick looked around, "Who just said that-" Suddenly without warning, Rodrick fell off of the speeding horse, who stopped instantly the moment he hit the ground. His royal hat fell off of his head. As he laid on the ground he started convulsing, veins seemed to harden and rise to the surface of his skin. He felt his neck pulse painfully, and he screamed as he looked up at the horse who came close to him and opened its mouth. Drops of blood graced Rodrick's face, flinching as each drop fell on to his face.

"When did its mouth start bleeding? Was it when it ate the carrot? Who the hell said that strange noise. It did not sound human, did the horse say it? How the hell can a horse-"

Rodrick screamed as he felt a burst of pain from all over his body. Holes began appearing all over his body, each of varying size, his blood escaped from them, rushing out like a broken dam. Tears flowed down his blood-shot eyes as he looked over his own body. "I can't die now. I haven't finished my job. What is my father going to say? How else is Joan going to get some practice in? What about mom? Gertrude, Rose, Nancy? My legacy cannot end at this-"

Rodrick coughed up blood, shifting his body all about, his muscles tensed up while his blood slowed its flow out of him.

With all the movement he was doing, some of the shamrock's blood dripped into his mouth, each drop of blood was ingested by Rodrick accidentally. With each drop of blood, his bleeding slowed down. He coughed up more blood, before he finally stopped moving, and closed his eyes.