Death & Decay (Lucien)

Mini Fic Prompt: Decay

People seem to be confused by my presence. Is it my clothes? Is it the sword at my side? Is it the fact I’m dead and yet still roam the world of the living? Luckily Shadowmere doesn’t seem to mind my new appearance, I still look more or less the same, after all. The only difference is I’m a semi-see-through blueish color now. There is no body left to decay in the ground, or rise up again at the hands of some nefarious necromancer up to no good. Only a small container of ashes is left, sitting on a shelf undisturbed. Shadowmere and I walk along the road late one night, the darkness illuminated only by the moons above and the torch of the occasional rider passing by, who is stunned to see the two of us. A terrified courier rides past as fast as he can, cautiously looking back to be sure the ghostly figure and jet black horse with red eyes were in fact real. I look at the courier unmoving who quickly turns back around and rides even faster. “You’d think they’d be less scared seeing me like this than if I were a decaying body wandering around mindlessly.” I say to Shadowmere who snorts in agreement. Eventually we stop for a brief rest at a ruin just off the road. Shadowmere rests and munches on a spare apple I had found in my pocket while I poke around the ruin. This was once a fortress, much like Fort Farragut, though this one has fallen into considerable disrepair. I find a small area marked with weathered gravestones that hold the former inhabitants of the fortress. They are long gone, drawn into the earth to decay and rest in eternal slumber. I did not meet such a fate, instead I shall remain trapped in an otherworldly state, neither to roam among the living, nor to rest with the dead. My fate is to wander endlessly, as a poor wayfaring stranger.