Disclaimer: I do not own, Only play with the characters as my mind sees fit.
The woman lay bleeding, dying on the battlefield that now lay soaked in blood and corpses. In her mind all that fell that day was her enemy, in the way of her path in life. They all deserved the gruesome death that they received. Her black hair and pale skin covered in blood form where she fell. She tried to raise her hand to still the flow of it that ran from her body and bit back the scream of frustration. Fear ran through her body as scarlet tears fell from her eyes. 'I don't want to die, please someone keep me from death's embrace.' She tried to fight the cold that was creeping through her body, as her sight was growing dim. Thoughts swarmed her mind of all the battles, the years fighting to find the way to escape the embrace of deaths cold hands. Was this all for naught then or will she be given a new life to search once more for that elusive peace that will save her from her fear. In the next life, will she still have the sickening fear that first sent her to slaughter hundreds of thousands? She knew that she was not innocent and deserved to burn eternally in the fires of the underworld.
Does the reaper of men fear death?
"Who is there?" the woman spoke as the blood trickled from between her lips, the metallic taste bitter in her mouth. She tried to move her body into a sitting position so she could look for the person to which the voice belonged. Could this voice be death itself playing with her as she faded from this world into the next? Shouldn't the answer have already been painfully obvious since she was willing to beg for help?
Does the reaper of men fear death?
The woman closed her eyes as the pain shot through her body and the cold seeped further into her. The heat from her blood gushing a crossed her skin was cooling and fear gripped her stronger. The woman could tell her time was running short, soon death would come. "Yes I fear Deaths embrace."
Do you wish to live Reaper of men?
"Yes"she barely whispered before she started to cough up more blood and the bitter taste of metal grew in her mouth. The woman started praying that this being would help her, save her the way she has sought for years.
There is a way to save you from death's embrace reaper of men. Make a pact with me and I will save you.
"What will be required to repay my debt to you"?
You will become one of my riders and do as bid. You will never have to fear deaths embrace again. Never again, will you have to obey the laws of time and mortal for you will transcend those laws as my rider.
"What do I need to say for this pact to take place"?
By all that transcend time and mortal laws, you have your rider, for I shall ride. Do not take long to think about this reaper of men for soon death will come to collect your soul and then it will be too late.
The woman smiled, as she already knew what she would do. This is what she had fought so hard to obtain and she laughed, as she knew death would never touch her. "By all that transcend time and mortal laws you have your rider for I shall ride." The woman felt the pull of power she never thought could exist in this realm or the next take hold of her. She watched as her hair lengthened, as it changed from black to a dark green, far longer than she wished it to be, as it curled form its straight length. The searing pain in her back made her scream out as it felt like she was being branded. Pain ripped through her body was worse, then when she was impaled repeatedly with the sword. As the pain finally started to fade, she felt her heart stop and her breath leave her body. 'Why didn't it work, did he lie to me? Why am I dying when he said death would never take me'? She could feel her soul being ripped from her body and gazed down to where it lay. She felt the shock run through her for she could not recognize herself anymore. She knew about the change to her hair but now her eyes where the color of silver and she looked human. What had that person done to her? She no longer held the appearance of one of the Dragon Blood, her dragon like features now gone forever.
Never did I say the body would not die. Soon you will be reborn into this world and when I call, you shall ride the tides of war as the rider of death. You have made that pact that binds your soul into servitude to me and my will. This is what you will look like when you ride as death.
The woman now wished she could take the words back as the world faded from view as she waited. A new world appeared around her soon after and she gasped at the garden she was in. She doesn't know how long she waited in that place, days, weeks, months, years for all she knew. One day she found a man, with hair dark of red as blood, wondering her garden. "What have you done to gain the attention of the master?" she softly asked him. The man turned to her and glared at her as if it was her fault. The golden color of his eyes surprised her. "And what was it you did?" he growled at her. "I destroyed three races and slaughter even more men than any other. It was my fear of death that drew the master to me. I was once known as the reaper of men, my real name lost to time. After all this time I can no longer recall it to mind." She watched his face as shock took hold. "It has been 50 years since the reaper of men has disappeared. It was rumored that the reaper was killed by a lover and that the reaper was male not female." She smile at him and shook her head. "Time changes the story to fit what it wants." She watched as he nodded and looked at her once more. He glared at the ground and sighed before looking at her once more. "I started wars because I could not stand the feel of peace. If I was not fighting and spilling blood then what was the purpose of my life. When my death was finally time to come, I denied it. I think that is what drew him to me. They called me the warlord. " She smiled sadly at the man and felt the tears fall once more. "When we ride, I will ride as death. What will you be called when the time comes to ride."
"War." She nodded as she turned and headed back to her home. Time once more consumed her as it flowed by. She barely spoke with the man for she knew he would need the time to understand that he no longer controlled his life. The unseen master decided everything for them now and he was a cruel, twisted, and sadistic master for sure. She waited patiently for the time that she would be reborn and free of this place. Once more, she found a man wondering her gardens and sighed, another had fallen to her masters' trap. This time the man had yellow hair and the color of his eyes reminded her of copper. "And the master claims another for his twisted pleasure. What have you done to draw his eye." The man smiled at her and then laughed. "Probably worse then you girl. I do not know what it is that drew his eye but I refuse to die. Now in the next life I will be able to return to my work." The man moved closer to her and she smirked. "Please do tempt me to see if the master spoke true and death cannot reach us. I have been denied the pleasure of the kill since coming here." The man stopped and glared at her anger in his eyes. "When we ride, I will ride as death. What will you be called when the time comes to ride." She saw his confused look before he growled at her. "Famine." She smiled and turned away from him. As she walked, she looked back at him. "Welcome to the family. I wonder if war would be more to your liking." She looked forward once more as she felt the tears fall. Would the hell she resides in never end.
She no longer wondered how long it had been since her master brought her to this place. She no longer cared about anything and the two men she ignored. They held no interest for her any way. It was by the spring that she found the woman crying, and yet she could not bring herself to care. The woman hair intrigued her, as it was so light a shade of blue. "If it has brought you to tears this badly then maybe you should not have spoken the words and sold your soul." She heard the woman gasp then glare at her. "Did not know this would be the outcome of the pact. I acted rashly since I was on the verge of death from being poisoned. If I had known that I would still die I would never had agreed." The woman smiled at her and shook her head, her bronze colored eyes still held tears. "Too late to regret that choice in life. Seems the master likes to collect souls from those who wish to escape deaths embrace. When we ride, I will ride as death. What will you be called when the time comes to ride." The woman by the spring smiled sadly at her and sighed. "Pestilence shall be my name when we ride." She smile at her then turned and started walking once more. "Join me for a walk before you meet the rest of this little family then." She heard the woman stand and the footsteps follow her as she walked in her gardens.
Once more time seem to pull her into its snare until finally a new hell started for her. In each life, she always knew who she was, what she had done, and what she was forced to do. Never was she the same gender in each life, one she was male the next she was female once more. The woman always stayed true to her pact and rose when the master called them to ride. She learned much about the world she once truly lived in. in each life she was born into she would always find her brothers and sister. They would always come together when it was time to ride, always knowing that the master would call in that lifetime. One lifetime they built a school for the children, even that peace was shattered by the master. In another, they found love and refused to ride, but in the end the ones they loved where killed and destruction almost claimed everything. She learned from that lifetime the punishment for disobedience and swore to never, allow it to happen again. She sighed as she felt the pull of rebirth once more and wondered if this lifetime they would be together again. Tears fell as she hoped the master would not call them to ride again. She no longer feared death but the call to ride as death. For there was a price to pay when they rode for the unseen master, she took it upon herself to pay it. It was fitting to her that death would pay the price in blood for the others to find peace in life. Peace that shall never be hers for the sins she committed in the name of fear.
A/N: this story demanded that it be wrote. I'm also not using a Beta so all mistakes are mine.