It arrived in a flash of lightning.

A rumble of thunder echoed through the once quiet forest.

The cloudless sky allowed the sun to peek through the treetops, illuminating the figure of a warrior. Their pitch black armor lined with glowing turquoise accents stood out against the natural green of the forest. The futuristic samurai-like form stood out against the disrupted harmony of nature around them.

They were, in every sense of the word, unnatural.

The warrior instinctively took in their surroundings. The beautiful forest would lull most into a sense of security, but the details the warrior saw left them on edge. While most of the trees reached to the sky like gigantic sentinels, a row of them were obviously damaged. Massive tree trunks with large chunks taken out of them, trees completely toppled over… something was thrown through them.

A small glint of light on the ground caught the warrior's eye. A shattered sword's remains were scattered across the forest floor, only the hilt remaining undamaged.

All this information was taken in and processed in an instant. And in a single instant after, the warrior heard a loud coughing behind them.

Turning around, the warrior saw a young boy leaning against a toppled tree. The boy couldn't be any older than seven, at best. His very simple gray clothes were blotted by blood, and his bright blue cape sprawled out over the debris surrounding him.

He didn't look like any child the warrior had seen before. His dark indigo hair stood out as unusual, but that wasn't the strangest part of him. What grabbed the warrior's attention the most was the boy's bright red eyes. A striking color, one that didn't occur in normal humans. That really only meant one thing.

This child was unnatural.

The boy stared back at them, but… it wasn't a look of fear or curiosity like one expected in this situation. It was a calculating look, one that was taking in all the information and processing it in an instant.

It was instinctual when the warrior's grip tightened on their sword.

The boy's body tensed up without a second thought.

A quiet, tense moment passed. Time ticked by slowly as the two stared at each other, neither daring to move.

Finally, the warrior spoke. Their voice was distorted and almost robotic sounding, neither masculine or feminine.

"I ask of you… are you my—"

A loud screeching noise suddenly split through the air. The sound would send chills up the spine of ordinary men.

Turning around, the warrior could barely make out a figure through the trees. As the sound of hooves galloping filled the air, it became obvious a man on a horse was approaching the two.

The warrior's grip only tightened even more. The closer the man came, the more the warrior could see what he truly was.

The 'man' had no legs. His torso was fused to the top of the horse's back. His arms were unnaturally long, his hands reaching all the way to the forest floor. The 'horse' head only had one gigantic eye in the center of its skull, while the 'human' head only had two tiny orbs of black masquerading as eyes.

These were frightening features, of course, but what was truly disgusting was the creature's lack of skin.

They could see every exposed, powerful muscle flexing as the creature moved. Its yellow veins were easy to see, and the black blood pumped erratically through those veins.

It was obvious this creature was a horrible mockery of life, a monster.

The warrior took a step forward, finally drawing their sword. The loud sound of steel scraping against wood filled the air as the black blade's edge reflected the sun. Black lightning began to crackle around the blade threateningly.

The monster howled angrily at the sight. It moved, faster than the wind. The trees, the roots, the stumps, nothing slowed the monster down.

The warrior raised their blade over their head, the black lightning crackling more intensely as they went to swing it down.

But suddenly, the boy took off.

Instead of running away like most would expect, the boy ran straight at the monster. Without fear, he rushed in front of the warrior and their sword. His cape flowed with the wind as he leapt into the air.

He landed on the monster's torso, latching to it tightly. His left fist cocked back. With a scream more fitting an animal than a human, the boy launched his punch. It crashed perfectly into where a human liver would be.

The monster let out a roar of pain. It reared up on its hind legs, the front horse hooves flailing wildly.

The boy punched again. And again. Each blow caused the creature to roar wildly. The boy's yells mixed with the monster's roar, filling the air with cacophonic noise.

The monster began to buck like a wild stallion trying to throw a rider off its back. Despite the wild movements, the child held on, hammering its non-existent liver.

Finally, the monster had enough. Its unnaturally long arm whipped around, a loud cracking sound filling the air. Its fingers slapped around the young boy's stomach, striking like small whips. The boy let out a cry of pain as the monster pulled him away.

The monster raised the boy to its 'human' face, its black eyes burning with hatred. It wasn't hatred aimed at the boy, no. It was a blind hatred of anything that lived.

The booming of thunder sounded out as the warrior's sword flashed forward. Bone and muscles were rended by the blade. A foul smell from charred flesh filled the air as the monster's arm fell to the ground.

The boy dislodged himself from the amputated arm, gracefully flipping and landing on his feet. He leaped back to avoid the monster's wild flailing. He landed by the warrior, giving them a quick nod of appreciation. The warrior didn't respond, instead moving forward to attack.

The warrior swung its sword down again, intent on cutting off the horse head. The monster's remaining arm whipped forward with another loud crack. Its fingers gripped the warrior's wrists, restraining its movements.

The two began to tug back and forth. It was obvious to anyone watching that the warrior was physically stronger than the monster, but not so much that they could just rip themselves away instantly. The two were locked in a struggle, neither willing to give up.

The boy reached behind his back, pulling a small dagger. He jumped up, kicking off a tree to gain even more height. The boy soared through the air, raising the dagger over his head. With a yell, he plunged the dagger into one of the monster's eyes.

The monster roared out in pain, its grip loosening. The warrior took this opportunity. Their foot shot out as they kicked the monster right in the horse's chest. A loud cracking sound echoed out as the monster was launched back. The sheer force of the attack caused the boy and his dagger to get dislodged from the monster's eyes.

The two could see black blood oozing out of the crack on the monster's chest. A single drop fell to the ground and caused the grass surrounding it to wilt and die. The monster took no moves to tend to its wound. Instead, it charged forward with a hateful scream.

It would kill them or die trying.

The warrior and the boy charged to meet the monster, their blades reflecting the sunlight.

The warrior's final step cracked the earth. Lightning sparked to life around them as they twisted their hips. Their sword swung through the air like lightning, cleanly slicing through the horse's neck like butter.

The boy leapt once more, spinning through the air to build power. His dagger lodged into the humanoid neck. A loud hissing sound filled the air as the black blood made contact with his blade. Gritting his teeth, the boy pushed. The blade dug deeper and deeper into the monster's neck.

Finally, the dagger cut all the way through, sending the head flying through the air. The monster's body lifelessly fell to the ground.

The boy landed, turning to face their kill. A silent several seconds passed as the two took in the view of the dead monster.

The boy suddenly let out a mighty shout of victory, his eyes facing the treetops. He then fell on his back, breathing hard and closing his eyes. The warrior stood next to the resting child, staring down at them. A few seconds passed before the boy opened his eyes again, staring straight at the warrior.

"Thanks for your help… uh… whatever you are." The boy had a confused look on his face as he took in the warrior's looks.

"... 'Whatever you are'?" The warrior repeated, the confusion evident despite their neutral sounding tone.

"Well, yeah, you ain't human." the boy reached over and tapped on the warrior's armored leg. "You look kinda human, but I ain't ever seen a human with skin like a beetle."

The warrior took a few seconds to process this before answering. "This is not my skin. I am wearing armor."

"Ar… mor?" The boy pronounced the word slowly, letting the word sit on his tongue. "Never heard of anything like that before."

The warrior took a few seconds more. According to the knowledge granted to it about this time period, armor should be a pretty basic concept for any warrior. "It is… like…" The warrior spoke, trying to find an easy way to explain the concept. "It is like hard clothes that protect you."

The boy stared blankly at the warrior. "Huh. Neat. What's it made of?" He rolled over onto his stomach, reaching out to poke the warrior's leg. The warrior took a step back, right out of reach of the boy.

"We have something important to talk about." The warrior tried to steer the conversation back on track. "Are you the one that summoned me to this world?"

The boy paused as he thought about it. He got back up to his feet and folded his arms. The warrior could see the boy's brow furrow as he thought. The sound of the boy's foot tapping filled the now quiet forest.

"Summoning… is a type of magecraft, right?" The boy asked. "I didn't cast any magecraft during that fight… but… I don't think there's anyone else who could have summoned you." His eyes drifted to the monster on the ground. "Unless that thing summoned you?" He pointed to the corpse.

The warrior spared a glance at the dead monster before responding with a flat "No." The boy walked over to the monster, dagger in hand.

"Well, then I guess it was me. I wonder how though…" He muttered as he plunged the knife into the tough muscle.

"If you did not mean to call me forth, then do you not intend to fight in the Dagda Cauldron Ritual?" The warrior continued its line of questioning. The boy didn't look up as he inspected the meat of the monster. With his other hand, he wiped the dagger across the grass. His blade was cleaned for the cost of a dead patch of grass.

"The… Dagda Cauldron Ritual?" The boy muttered to himself as he tossed away a rotten piece of meat. "There's a ritual for that? I thought Dagda just… shared the stuff inside his cauldron. Why is there a ritual now?"

The boy grunted as he slipped his hands under the monster's body. With only a miniscule amount of effort, the boy lifted the corpse into the air. Surprisingly, he had far more trouble balancing the massive body with his small arms than he did supporting the weight.

The warrior grabbed the body from the boy, throwing it on their shoulders.

"The Dagda Cauldron Ritual is for more than the food." The warrior made sure they had the boy's attention before they continued. "The ritual will allow the cauldron to achieve its true purpose. Once completed, It will turn the cauldron into a true wish granter."

The boy listened intently. He could tell by the way the warrior was speaking that this was something very important. 'A true wish granter' was not something to take lightly, after all. With a nod, the boy knew deep down how to respond.

"I don't get it."

The warrior only stared blankly at the child. To be frank, as much as they wanted to blame the child's own lack of intelligence, they knew that this was their own fault. Keeping their composure, they changed the subject for just a second. "What are you going to do with this body?" The warrior adjusted the monster's corpse as they spoke.

"Oh, I was gonna try to eat it, but the meat's all rotten. So I'm gonna take it out of the forest and burn the body." The boy explained. He looked down at the ground, seeing shards of his sword on the ground. "Mom's gonna kill me if she finds out about this…" He muttered as he picked up the bladeless hilt.

Carefully, he slipped off his cape, laying it on the floor like a blanket. He carefully picked up every sword shard he could find, placing them on the fabric. When he finished cleaning, he turned his cape into a sack and threw it over his shoulder.

Without another word, he began to retrace his steps through the forest. He followed the path of destruction he and the monster created. The warrior silently followed behind them.

"What is it that you don't understand?" The warrior asked as they walked.

"Well, you said that this was some sort of ritual to make the cauldron into a 'true wish granter'." The boy explained. "I don't get why I would be involved in this. I'm not a druid, I don't know a lotta magecraft."

The warrior nodded. "You do not have to be a druid to contribute to the ritual. The fact I stand before you is proof enough of that." The boy nodded, stopping to look at a tree.

"Okay then, what even is this ritual?" He asked as he put his sack down. With boundless energy, the boy jumped on the tree and climbed it. The warrior stopped to watch the boy climb.

"It is a simple matter." The warrior explained. "In this Ritual, there are two kinds of participants. The Servants and the Masters."

"Ser… vant…" The boy repeated the word slowly, like he was tasting it. "Mas… ter…" He stopped climbing when he reached a green spear lodged into a tree. "Weird words. Wonder what they mean." He muttered as he pulled out the spear. The warrior noted it looked rather hastily made, but sturdy despite that.

"Servants are legendary people pulled from all throughout time." The warrior explained. "We answer the call of those picked as Masters to help them achieve their wish."

"So someone like me is a 'Master'?" The boy asked as he leapt out of the tree, landing right by his sack. The warrior nodded.

"Yes. Masters are living people that act as an anchor for Servants. Without a Master, a Servant can not manifest for long." The warrior continued, pausing when the boy snapped his fingers.

"Oh, I get it. You're a spirit that wants a wish from Dagda's Cauldron, and you need me to keep you anchored to this world. You'll pass on to the otherworlds without me." The boy summarized, nodding his head.

The warrior could only look at the boy as he attached his spear to his back. Why did this child understand matters of the supernatural easily but had no clue what armor was?

"That is correct. But please do not misunderstand. Your own wish will be granted as well, when we win." The warrior stated.

"'When we win'…" The boy repeated as he picked up his sack again. "So, this ritual is a… competition?"

"Correct. Seven pairs of Servants and Masters will battle against each other. The victorious pair in the end will be granted their wish from the cauldron."

The boy quietly contemplated as he began to walk again. "Well, that… sounds interesting. But… I don't need the cauldron to grant my own wish." He shrugged. "And as much as I'd like to repay ya for helping me fight the Nuckelavee, I just don't got time to do this whole ritual. I got things I gotta do. Sorry. You should try to find a different Master before you pass on."

The warrior followed the boy through the forest. To the warrior, the boy was obviously trying to put on a brave face by lying. There was no way the boy didn't have a wish, otherwise there was no way the warrior could be summoned. And there was no way anyone could be too busy to fight for the chance to grant their own wish. So there was only one possible explanation for the boy's attitude.

Fear.

"I understand that asking a child to stand against some of the mightiest warriors of your time and other times may be unreasonable to most. But rest assured, if you were to join, none will come close to harming you. Until the Cauldron is won, I will make sure you are protected." The warrior promised.

The boy stopped in his tracks as he listened to the warrior speak. "Did… did you say the mightiest warriors of my time?" He asked slowly. The warrior paused. The way the boy spoke… that didn't sound like fear or indecision. But what emotion the boy's voice carried was foreign to the warrior.

"Yes." The warrior answered simply. The boy's grip on his sack tightened at the answer. His whole body began to shake. Before the warrior could ask any questions, the boy threw his head back and let out an excited yell.

His voice echoed through the forest, scaring away the birds. The warrior noticed a happy expression on the boy's face as he hollered. Finally, he stopped and looked at the warrior.

"Alright, how do I join the ritual?" The boy's voice was filled with… excitement. The warrior only felt confusion at this, but decided to ignore it. Time was of the essence, after all.

"We must provide two clauses for our contract… I believe your people call them a geas." The warrior explained. The boy paused, his face grimacing.

"Really? Aw… I have enough of those, I don't want mooooooore." he whined. He folded his arms, pouting as he leaned against a tree. "I need to think of a good geas…" He muttered. "Maybe 'Don't eat grass'?"

"It can not be just any geas." The warrior interrupted the boy's thought process. "It must be our conditions for working together in this ritual. They will be the foundation of our connection."

"Okay, so something better than grass eating…" The boy muttered.

"Keep in mind, that if we break these geas three times, then our connection will be severed, and we will no longer be able to participate in the ritual." The warrior added. "Do not pick an impossible condition."

"Euuuuuuuuugh." The boy let out a disgusted noise as he racked his brain. The warrior was almost sure they saw smoke coming out from the boy's ears. Finally, after several minutes of thinking the boy spoke up. "Okay. My condition is this. If we are to work together in this ritual, then we must not run away from any challenge." He looked up at the warrior's masked face. "Is that okay?"

The warrior pondered on that. To them, it wasn't a particularly difficult request. With their overwhelming power, any challenge they ran across would be blown away like insects incinerated into ash. It was just an odd request.

Best not to question when a blessing fell into your lap.

"That is acceptable." The warrior replied. The boy grunted as he suddenly felt a burning on his right hand. Looking down, he could see golden etchings carving itself into his skin.

"What the—?" The boy mumbled as he stared at the strange markings.

"Now for my condition." The warrior stated. The boy looked up to them again as the warrior continued. "We will not become close. You and I are Master and Servant. Nothing more. Nothing less. Is that understood?"

The boy tilted his head at that. What did the warrior mean by that? Of course they would be Master and Servant, what else could they be? Unless they meant something else? Like literally standing close to them? Or maybe it was just that simple?

Best not to question when a blessing fell into your lap.

"Okay, that sounds good to me." The boy said as he took a step back. Suddenly the burning returned with a vengeance. Looking down at his hand, the boy saw what appeared to be golden markings vaguely making the shape of a spear going through a ring.

"With that, our connection is created. I swear on my entire being we will win this ritual, my Master." The warrior stated as they got on one knee, bowing respectfully to the boy. The boy stared at the warrior, unfamiliar with the gesture. There was only one way to deal with unfamiliar gestures.

He gave the warrior a thumbs up.

"Cool." he said with a smile. "Now, let's get outta this forest before the sun goes down." The warrior watched as the boy turned around, retracing the trail of destruction. After a slight pause, the warrior stood back up, dusting off their knee.

The two were quiet for the rest of the walk, neither knowing how to speak to the other. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon as the two finally walked out of the forest. The sky looked as if it was set ablaze as night came.

The air became chilly as they created distance between them and the forest. When they made it far enough from the forest to not risk a spark igniting it all, the warrior dumped the body on the ground. The boy took his spear and struck the ground. With a grunt, he dragged the weapon around the body, creating a ditch around it.

Once the ditch was dug out, the boy put away his spear. He then cracked his fingers, the popping sound filling the air. He placed his finger on the body, tracing a symbol with his digit.

The warrior watched as the boy's finger left a glowing trail of blue behind. After he finished drawing out the symbol, the blue symbol's glow intensified. It burst into flames, which began to consume the body.

A foul smell began to fill the air, causing the boy to stumble back, gagging and retching. He covered his nose as he turned away, doing his best not to throw up.

The warrior stood there, watching the boy make a fool of himself. They stood dignified and stoic in the face of the awful smell.

A few minutes passed before the boy managed to stand up straight and attempt to look unaffected by the smell. "Hey, I kinda forgot to ask, but what's your name?" The boy asked, looking up at the warrior's mask. The warrior was silent for a few minutes, deciding how to go about this.

"I do not believe I should tell you that, my Master." The warrior answered. Only the sound of the fire crackling filled the air as the boy stared at the warrior's mask.

"Huh? Why not? Are you not allowed to or something?" The boy pushed back, trying to find an answer.

"It is nothing like that. This is simply what I believe is for the best. You are but a child." For the first time, the warrior's voice changed. For a singular word, it sounded as if they were spitting venom. "No matter how you try to hide it, there are many ways to gain such information from you." Their voice had returned to normal, like nothing ever happened.

The boy folded his arms angrily, staring up at the warrior. "I wouldn't tell." He insisted.

"A Servant's name is their greatest weakness." The warrior stated. "If my name was known, it is possible that an enemy would be able to plan my demise. I will not risk that. This is for the sake of your victory, Master."

"I wouldn't tell." The boy mumbled again, only half paying attention. He shook his head.

"I know it will be difficult to work together without something to call me, so you may call me Rider." The warrior ignored the boy's pouting.

"Ri… der…" The boy muttered. "Another weird word…"

The two fell silent after that. The boy looked at Rider expectantly, waiting for the inevitable question. To his surprise though, it never came. Even as the fire's crackle died down, even as the body was consumed slowly by the flames, the question never came.

By the time the body was completely ash, the moon hung over the sky. The boy looked up, seeing the full moon shine brightly.

"Well, I guess we better tell that village the monster is dead…" The boy muttered as he walked away from the ashes. Rider followed, their movements silent despite their heavy footsteps.

It didn't take them long to find the village. The homes were made of wood, with bundles of hay as their roofs. The village rested along the coastline, with several boats tied up at the homes. Rider could tell this village made its living off fishing.

They couldn't imagine why a creature with a horse's body would disturb a coastline village.

In the center of the village was a massive bonfire which lit up the night brilliantly. Around that fire were the people of the village, all dressed up with animal skins and wearing masks over their faces. They danced around it joyfully as food cooked around the massive bonfire.

A slapping noise caught Rider's attention. Looking down, they could see their Master slapping his own forehead.

"Oh, duh. It's Samhain. No wonder why you were able to appear in front of me." The boy muttered to himself.

"Samhain?" Rider asked automatically, before they realized they probably already knew the answer to that. It was too late to take it back now though.

"Yeah, it's when, uh…" The boy paused, snapping his fingers as he looked for the right words. "It's the one day a year when the divisions between this world and the otherworlds are at their thinnest, so spirits and monsters can pass through." He answered, sounding like he was reciting a lesson from memory. He motioned to Rider. "And you're a spirit. The ritual's gotta be set up around this so the Servants can be summoned easily." He said with a nod.

That made sense to Rider, even if they had no way to confirm this theory.

The two walked into the village. Rider was surprised to see that the villages didn't seem alarmed at their appearance. Perhaps the villagers just assumed they were a spirit?

As they approached the bonfire, a large man wearing the most extravagant costume and mask approached them.

"Hey, Mr. Chief sir." The boy said with a wave, "I took care of it." The boy placed the sack on the ground. "Lost my sword though."

"That explains why our livestock are slowly recovering… I'll be damned. You actually did it." The chief mused. "To think, the monster that cursed us for years, fell by a small child." He looked over to Rider. "Of course, unless you helped him?"

"Only at the end." Rider stated. "And it was the boy that landed the killing blow." The man nodded understandingly.

"Well, either way, our village thanks both of you." The large man bent down, looking at the shards. "Hmm… this sword was well made… are you sure you still only want a boat?"

"Yeah, that's all I really need. I— I mean, we need to get to Erinn as fast as I can." The boy explained, motioning to Rider.

The man's eyes drifted up to look at Rider. "Are you sure you need to go to Erinn, boy?" The chief asked. "Alba's a fine country, and we could use more boys like you." The boy only shrugged.

"Sorry, but I got important business in Erinn. It's not something I can just drop."

The man nodded, eyeing Rider before putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Just be sure to not be misled by any spirits, alright?"

"Ah, don't worry about me, old man." The boy laughed, picking up on the man's implication. "This was something I had to do even before I met Rider."

"Alright, if you're sure." the man relented as he stood up. "Well, let me show you where we're keeping the boat." The large man headed out towards the sea. The boy and the warrior followed behind closely. The sounds and lights from the festival died out as they walked to the coast.

As they approached the ocean, the boy took it all in excitedly. He looked in wonder as he took his first steps in the sand. The smell of the salt filled air caused him to crinkle his nose. And he looked at the ocean in awe, staring at the water extending all the way to the horizon.

The man led them to a small hut. Its state of disrepair made it obvious that no one had lived in it for a long time. Next to it was a small boat. It was in a much better state of repair, looking almost like new. It was a small thing, maybe fitting three people at most.

"There it is then. I can teach you how to use it when the sun rises." The man said gently.

"There is no need for that." Rider suddenly spoke up. "I know how to ride a boat, and the sooner we leave, the better it will be for everyone."

The man looked baffled, even with his mask on. "B-but, it's the middle of the night! That's dangerous! What if—"

"It will be fine." Rider interrupted. Without another word, they picked up the boat with one hand. They knew showing off their strength like that would intimidate the man. They then walked to the ocean, setting the boat in the water.

"W-well, I suppose I can't stop the two of you…" The man muttered. "I wish you good luck on your travels, boy." The man rushed back to the village, eager to return to the safety of the bonfire.

"That was kinda mean." The boy stated as he watched the man run off.

"The truth often isn't kind." was Rider's response as they sat in the far side of the boat, waiting for the boy.

The boy could only shrug before he walked towards the boat. He barely took a step before he noticed someone approaching them, also dressed up in animal skins. A colorful mask also covered their face. Despite this, the boy recognized them.

"Oh, what are you doing here? You should be celebrating with the others, yeah?" He asked as he walked.

"I just… came to see you off." A young girl's voice came from the figure. Her voice seemed sad, although the boy couldn't imagine why.

"Oh… well… thanks, I guess…?" The boy replied awkwardly.

Rider sat in the boat, mentally trying to block out the conversation. It was so awkward that even they were beginning to have a hard time keeping stoic. The two children were quiet as the boy finally made it to the boat.

"Do you think you'll ever come back?" The girl finally mustered up the courage to ask as she watched the boy climb into the boat. The boy looked back, looking the girl straight in the eyes.

"Nope!" He answered with a cheerful smile and an innocent tone. Rider was sure that the girl was extremely thankful for the mask on her face right now. She ran off back to the village, quietly sobbing as she ran. "That was weird…" The boy muttered as he watched her run off. He pulled himself up, finally sitting in the boat.

"Worry not about it." Rider commented as they took an oar in their hands. They pushed off, and the boat was finally in the ocean. The boat bobbed as the waves pushed against it, but Rider's skill allowed them to keep pushing forward. The boy could only grin even wider as he kept his eyes ahead, not even looking back at the shoreline they came from shrinking into the horizon.

He stood up, moving next to Rider as they rowed. The boy pointed to the horizon ahead and shouted excitedly,

"Alright, to Erinn we go! Let's win this ritual!"