Chapter 238: The Legend of the Horsed Reaper
(Anathema POV)
Location the Feudalworld Earth-Eras before the Dawn of the Renaissance Age/Celtic Territories
I rushed towards the west of the region.
I witnessed the aftermath of a battle, countless of knights and men, slain and scattered in the remnants of the battlefield, as the entire area was dark...felt as gloom, and doom itself was marking the entire area.
I walked into battlefield turned grave only noticing the holy symbols and sychonagraphy of the Church, along with the mark of the Ahearn Monarchy on the knights equipment, my only thought was for these poor lost, misbegoten souls wasting themselves for a false deity, not knowing that all they're doing is feeding vile spawns in the Warp.
I carefully avoided crushing these bodies underfoot, as much as I could but their was soo much and I needed to find and banish whatever daemon has dared to enter my world.
While travertine this field I spotted a man screaming and running away from something.
Then the sounds of horse galloping as a skinless horror came rushing in, a horrific cross between a humanoid creature and a giant horse as it long clawed arm reached out and grab the knight, as he screamed and struggled I drew my blade.
A blade I crafted long ago using my own psychic might to not only forge it but, this master-crafted sword is lit from hilt to tip with leaping flames, arcs of psychic flames lit the massive, elegant sword, I recall many times when I swung it, the burning blade draws pyrotechnic arcs through the air, able to slice through anything with ease.
[Lore states that the Emperor did make the Sword of the Emperor, but not when or how so I just debut it now since this will be the first actual battle for him against a non-human entity.]
This will be the first time I've used it on a non-human opponent but I must purge this abomination from my home!
Before I could challenge or face this monster, it banished like a mirage taking the poor knight with it.
But still with my sword in my hand, I focus my psychic power and sensed not only more living people in the mass grave, but more of these daemons along with a more powerful source of Chaos moving around deeper of this force battleground.
Now I know the source of these atrocities, I tightend the grip of my blade's handle and start making my way deeper into the battlefield to face my enemy...
(General POV)
Location the Earth-Celtic Lands/Remnants of a Battlefield
A giant of a man was wielding a massive, flaming sword as he spotted several more of those horse-daemons taking the bodies of fallen knights away, as they faded from existence and return to take more of the dead.
The Anathema sensed another survivor, also sensing that this soul was wounded and overwhelmed in pure terror as another of these daemon, which he has assumed to be minions of the vile Dark One, for they don't emenate overflowing anger and bloodlust, and neither foul oder nor felt utterly revolting.
So the only conclusion was these were spawns of Carnage, Darkness, and...Horror.
Refusing to abandon and forsake these wounded warriors as more signs of life are being detected by the future Emperor of Mankind, he released his psyker might causing a burst of force that did exactly as he intended...alerting the daemons to his presence.
But then what happened next shocked, the Anathema...
With his power and the emence size of his souls all the daemons should be either drawn to him or fleeing, but instead these daemons stopped moving for a moment and...ignored his presence, continuing their vile hunt for humans.
This surprised turned to anger, causing the area to rumble and his sword to burst into greater flame, as he rise said blade high and lunged forward, all the while thinking that if these abominations, won't come to him, he'll come to them!!!
In another part of the gravesite that once was a man, a knight crushed under the weight of some bodies including that of his former horse as well.
Unable to move or receive any sorts of response from his cries of pain, or his pleading for help, he remain there amongst the broken and dead.
That's when the celtic knight, heard the sound of approaching galloping hooves at first he felt some hope believing it was his fellow knights coming to rescue him, but that hope will soon turn to horrific despair.
As a behemoth, that resembled a flayed nightmare muscle and tissue was clearly seen by the man, as it calmly galloped towards him the skinless half horse monster reached out its very long arm, as it four clawed hand stretched out to grab him...
When the eyeless creature stopped and both naid and roared as it back away and a divine giant figure, wielding a flaming sword emerged in front of the broken knight.
The monster horse back away using it long arms to shield itself from the light that emenated from both the giant and his sword, as the knight heard the powerful, and majestic voice of his savior, "Foul daemon of Chaos!! Begone from this world...or face me!!!"
The lesser nuckelavee have little sentient and persona, only doing the will of their Dark God and their progenitor.
But even then they can still feel danger, like the nuckelavee that was backing away from the vile Anathema, the nuckelavee roared and tried to shield itself from the vile light of the anathema to nature.
The Anathema seeing that his giant enemy was clearly afraid and unwilling to listen to his commands, he changed forward with his sword low, near the ground as the Nucklelavee watching the threat approach it banished away before the future Emperor and mortal enemy of Chaos could hit it with his enchanted/psychically enhanced, daemon slaying blade.
All the Anathema hit was air from his rising slash, still on guard he shifted his gaze from side to side, and also used his psyker senses to detect any of these daemons and to his relief they've banished from the area, with a clear look of content he sheathed his blade and went to the knight, healing his wounds and setting him free, as he traverse the remains of the battlefield he searched for more survivors and information on these vile daemons.
Eventually after he found and rescued around twenty survivors of both the war and those daemons, the Anathema quickly probed their minds to find more information of their new daemons, and why they were so brazen into coming to the Earth?
Especially knowing he was there to guard it, as he began to see the memories of these brave knights...
[The following battle is fiction, never occurred in celtic history, all names are fiction any resemblance to known knights and history figures is purely coincidence.]
FLASHBACK...
(Knight Commander POV)
Location the Earth-Celtic Lands/Battlefield
My name is Hallan Vak MacCann, a proud knight of King Ahearn, of the western kingdom.
He bestowed me with the greatest of honor to lead my brothers into battle against the vile bandits and rogues plaguing my king's land and people.
I lead hundreds of the king finest knights, all in iron and silver armor with the yellow bear banner of Ahearn in proud display!!
We were marching to the last location of these vile criminals, but I felt a weird chill in the air...like something dark, and malignant wad watching me and walking over my grave itself...I turned to my fellow knights, and saw the same look of disturbance on their faces...
My horse reared back, as all our horsemen's steeds were acting iratic as well.
Took me and the other riders some time to calm down our horses and resume the march...not knowing of the wicket presence that was watching intensely at us from a far.
Resuming the march, it took some bit more time before we arrived at the field just before a thick forest, that the bandit scum have being using as a hideout against our previous troops, but not anymore...
Holding formation, I noticed movement as hundreds of bandits armed with various blades, axes, and other weapons and barely wearing armor stormed out the forest, with bloodlust clearly staining their wicket eyes.
Seeing that our query came to us, I responded in kind, unsheating my longsword I pointing at our enemy, I yelled out, "To battle!!! For the King!!!!"
Pulling the reigns of my horse, as we charged forward letting out a mighty battle cry as the battle began...
The battle was fierce as me and my men struck down the scum of lowlife bandits, swinging my blade I gutted many, cut down several rogues and stabbed others to death from on top of my horse.
This battle was soaked in much blood of both vile criminals and sadly some of my fellow knights fell but our spears, swords, axes, and fails were more than struck down and were bathized in the blood of our enemies than they ever did to us.
Eventually the outcome was obvious...our enemy was not only being defeated but broken as their spirit and will were starting to break under our might and chivalry!!!
But then something...horrific...happened next...
As the battle raged, and we were killing every last bandit and rogue, our dead started to pill alongside our wounded but in the end victory was just within our grasp.
When the echoes of galloping hooves were sounding throughout the battlefield.
They were loud, that even through the clashing of steel, the breaking of metal and bone, and all the chaos occurring around me I could still hear it...and then I realized others were starting to hear the galloping as well...
Then came the chill, I shuke and tremble as something felt very wrong.
This approaching...presence...actually stopped all the fighting as the galloping sound grew closer, louder, more numerous and...faster.
Never have I felt such fear in my life as a knight, a veteran of many battle under the service of King Ahearn, but whatever was coming wasn't normal...it wasn't no man.
As I forced myself under control and tried to regain command, the once mid-day blue sky, started to darken and turn grey...not like a approaching rain or turning evening, no it felt as the very heavens didn't want to see what's about to happen.
Then came from the forest these horrific behemoths, vile flayed monsters with long limb humanoid creatures which are fused to a giant fleshless horses.
They're were around a dozen of these monstrosities waiting at the edge of the forest, their meer presence sends chills, uncomfort, and fear to my very soul!!!
Their very sight made the bloodthirsty bandits actually coward and rush in between our rank, never taking their eyes off of the creatures.
Their eyeless gaze, their long arms that almost dragged beside the giant horses, their disturbing teeth and breathing it all seemed horribly wrong!!
But the one that appeared last was the worst among them!!!
Slowly emerging from the wood was a even giant one of these creatures, unlike the smaller, skinless one this one had pure dark aura and a daemonic Visage around it.
Blazing crimson eyes and mouths, covered in dark skin and darker fur, devil horns adorning it skeletal like face...but then it spoke to us in a dark, daemonic voice "Such as glorious battlefield, perfect for collecting souls...and the dead for our Dark Master..."
We watched as it somehow crossed its massive, long arms over it chest...there was no doubt in my soul...this is one of the spawns of Hell!!!!
A daemon, from the abyss, a vile servent of Satan, but what this daemon said next both caused great terror and confusion, "Poor fool. Your partially correct. I do come from a "Hell" but not the one you imagine. And this little devil, you all fear...he is nothing compared to me our my father, hehehe."
Once this daemon said those words to us, many of my weaker brother in arms and faith began to ran along with some of the bandits, before I could stop them they were caught by these monster three appeared right behind us!!
Holding up screaming men, some still on their horses, struggling to escape these daemons grasp as they faded away from our sight, most likely my brothers were dragged to hell.
And just as those daemons dissappear, they reappeared in the middle of our forces accompanied by more of their unholy kin!!!
Praying to God, for strength I rode at the fiends with my sword held high, with my faith and will as my guide I swore to strike these daemons down!!
My Valor, inspired my fellow knights and even our temporarily allies the bandits to fight back...as I still hear the black daemon, laughing as he knew...he knew, we couldn't match these creature of the Abyss.
PRESENT TIME...
(General POV)
Location the Earth-Celtic Lands/Remnants of a Battlefield
Now that the Anathema, knew what these daemons looked like, and the abilities they possess he was more interested in the "Greater Daemon" that leads these new laharlish daemons.
Seeing that the knowledge of these men was too dangerous to be allow them to keep, he quickly erased all memories of that might involve the Warp, changing it to a local folklore of a horse-reaper that haunts battlefields, along with any memories involving himself he left them.
He went further west, in search of these daemons for his power tells him that their still on Earth, and he must slay them all to insure mankind's protection and salvation...
This was the start of the legends of the Nucklelavee and the Black Reaper that haunt the Earth and beyond.
Not only haunting the Earth, but other worlds as well as long as War, Despair, Hopeless, and Fear emenate Phobos and his minions shall stalk the stars collecting souls to become daemonhosts or bodies for the Dark Lady, Scalpel.
This also lead to many encounters between the Sixth Elder Daemon of Carnage, and the Anathema a sick game of cat and mouse as Phobos toys with the greatest enemy of the Chaos Gods, and despite his efforts to destroy him and his minions as long that their are battlefields, the galloping of hooves belonging to the Equinox and his kin shall sound be heard.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone