Author's Note

Hi guys!
Welcome to my new fanfiction!
This story has nothing to do with T.A.S.S or Ghostrider! This is a whole new universe i've been working on for the past months and I really hope you'll like it!
Before you start reading this, I need you to know that my main story remains T.A.S.S so I might not be regular for the release of the chapters.
But i'll at least try to give you guys a chapter monthly.

I took my inspirations for this story from the Elder Scrolls games, The Witcher books and games and a bit of the Lord of the Rings, three franchises I love from all my heart.

This being said, i really hope you'll like it guys!

Here is an opening (it is actually this song that gave me the idea for this story):
Bring Me The Horizon ft. BABYMETAL - Kingslayer

Prologue: Tale of a Queen, a Knight and a Goblin

Twenty years ago...

Traveling by horse drawn wagon wasn’t the most comfortable thing, but it sure was the cheapest -and the stealthiest- way to get past the border between Draquuis and the Shadowlands. As time went by and the wagon continued its endless journey, the woman sat on a leather seat rested her head on her hand, her arm resting on the window surround. She dragged her sleepy gaze across the desolate plains filling the landscape, and she sighed.

“It’s my fault if I was sent here.” A tear rolled on her cheek but couldn’t reach her chin as the tear evaporated on her heated skin. She grabbed the hood covering her horrible face with a hand and brought it down, biting her lips, fighting her urge to cry.

She felt a cold hand slowly and gently resting on top of hers. She raised her gaze and looked at the armored man sitting next to her, she couldn’t see his face due to his helmet, but she could see concern in his gaze. “My lady,” The man stated, “Is everything alright?”

The woman tightened the grip on the man’s hand, and she said in a sob, “This is all my fault Red… I…”

She couldn’t keep it to herself much longer and another tear ran down her cheeks, quickly followed by another, and another, before she could understand she was crying, she threw herself on her guard chest and cried from all her soul.

“I shouldn’t have done that!” She cried, punching against the man’s armor, “She forbidden me to do it, and I did it anyway!”

As she exclaimed herself, she rose her head up to look at the man in his eyes. He had red eyes, and she also could see hers reflating in the iron helmet the man was wearing. She could see the cyan of her eyes, the only thing that hasn’t changed about the way she looks.

“And look where it got me!” She said, pointing at the window from which could be seen desolate land as far as the eye can see. She then rose her hands up and watched them with disgust, “And… Look what happened to me…”

Her hands, if it could still be called in this way, were looking more like claws now. Large red blood claws, from which could be felt an evil magic emanating from the fingertips. She brought them to her distorted face and grabbed her cheeks as if it was an attempt to rip them off. “I’m a monster…” She said between two sobs.

“All I see is the lady to whom I have sworn to give my life for.” The knight replied with a neutral voice.

The woman gritted her teeth at his statement and, in an outburst of fury, she ripped her hood off with her claws and looked right in the man’s eyes. She could see, in his helmet’s reflection, her horrible face. Her face red as blood, her big and sharp teeth, her hair moving like it was an actual fire that couldn’t burn. “Am I?” She screamed at his face. She saw the reflection of her horrible face distorted by the pain showed on her face, pain caused by sadness, sorrow and remorse. “Look at me Red! I’m a demon! A heartless monster!”

The man didn’t reply right away, instead he grabbed one of her hand and slowly, he put her own hand on her chest. “Wh-What are you doing?” She asked, incredulous.

“Shh.” He said in a hushed tone, “Feel it.”

She listened to him, and gently, she felt something beating under her chest, something that proves that she was alive.

“Please my lady,” He continued, “You are indeed a lot of things, but a heartless monster isn’t one of them.”

He was too good for her and she knew it, it was like that since her childhood. From as far as she could remember, Red always used to be here to help her, protect her or even listen to her. He had never judged her, and she knew he never will.
His real age was a total enigma for the woman since he didn't aged a bit in all those years but she remembered the day of her tenth anniversary, when he vowed to be her sword and her shield. He promised her that, whatever happens, he'll always be here to support her, even if it cost his own life.

Now, she was banished from her homeland, and therefore, he was too. She said to him that he didn't have to follow her, but he didn't wanted to hear otherwise.

A part of her was glad that he had decided to come with her, at least, she wasn't alone.

She avoided his glare by turning her head and said, “Even if that’s the case, I’m still hideous.”

“You are…” He agreed, the woman felt pain from where her hand used to be a second ago. She felt the tears coming back, “Only for those who are blind enough to not see the fabulous woman you are.”

He pointed at her heart as she slowly rose up her glare, “True beauty resides here.” Then he pointed at her face. “Not here.”

She was surprised at the view of her reflection cracking a smile. Even if she wasn't a child anymore, he was still here to brighten up her mood.

She then, lets out a chuckle and then it transformed itself into laughter. It was the first time she laughed since she left home.

“You know, Red,” She said in a much-relaxed voice than before, “I already told you, when no one’s here besides us, call me by my name.”

“And I already told you, my lady,” He said, slowly shaking his head from right to left, “That I’ll never disrespect you in this manner.”

The woman sighed, “Red, I-”

But her sentence was cut short by the abrupt stop of the wagon, the woman would have fallen if her knight wouldn’t have catch her. She frowned and knocked on the wagon’s wall vehemently. “Hey! What was that?!” She almost yelled towards the driver.

“We arrived at our destination milady, ye?!” He called from outside.

The woman and the knight both looked at each other before the knight gets up and opened the door. He pulled out his head to see if the path was cleared, and then he pushed himself aside, “After you my lady.”

The woman walked past him, and gets off the wagon. She stretched her arms and yawned, but not in a lady-like way.

"Well, that was quite da ride don' ya think, ye?" The rider said, joining them, his accent showing that he came from the crystal empire. He was a small man, bald with a long brown beard. The weirdest part about him was that every sentence he made sounded like a question. "Now, ah don't usually go in those weirdo places reeking dark magic, ah sure don't like it, ye?" He lets out a hand in front of the knight, expenctantly, "But mah wife, love of mah life, she always say, if ya keep rindin' ya keep feedin', ye?"

The knight gave him a few coins, it seemed not much, but the rider smiled nonetheless as he put them in his pocket.

The three of them turned around to face their destination.

The woman looked in front of her and sighed at what she saw, “So, this is our new home I guess?”

Infront of them was a massive, gothic castle, the kind of castle you only hear about in spooky stories. He was bult in dark stones, and something sinister was emanating from it. It could easily be guessed that no one came here in years.
It was surrounded by a massive garden that must've been beautiful, a long time ago. Now it was filled with dead trees and no flower could ever bloom again on this dead ground.

“It is my lady,” The knight replied, “Or should I say,” He kneeled next to her. “My Queen.”

"A queen?" The other man said in surprise, "Well, ah'll be, ye?! I knew you weren't a usual woman, with that weird face of yours. But to guess ye're a queen?"

The woman rolled her eyes, ignoring him. She quickly grabbed Red by the arm to help him get up, “I’m not Queen yet, Red.” She added, “My coronation is in five days, until then I’m just… me.”

She walked towards the huge entrance door leading to the garden, built in a dark wood, followed closely by Red.

"Stay here." Red said to the driver.

"Sure do, ye?" He replied with his joyful tone.

They walked quietly in the dead garden, the knight looking straight forward but the woman took her time, examinating every dead plant on her way, wondering if she could ever revive this garden.
She kneeled in front of a dead flower that was in her way. She took it in the palm of her hand, but just from her touch, the flower turned to ashes. In a suspire, she slowly let the ashes fall from her hand, and she watched it as the dust gradually fell to the ground.

The fiery haired woman rose up her gaze and scrutinized the castle, “Who could’ve guessed that the thing I wanted the most in my life… Was the thing I would've hate the most.” She said with a sigh as she gets up and resumed her walk, closely followed by her knight.

As they arrived in front of the door, Red stoped her as she was going to push the door open. She gave him a weird look and she rolled her eyes when he opened it himself. The door opened slowly with a cracking sound. He let his head in and, when he saw no danger, he opened the door completely and let her lady walk through.

As they both passed the entrance door, they arrived in a sinister hall, the only source of light was provided by the small windows, the red carpet on the ground was dusty and the woman swore she saw something move in the shadows when they entered, must've been a wild animal. The walls were pure black rock but the floor was in a feverish dark wood, it made Red wonder how long it has been for this floor the last time someone has step on it.

It was silent, the only sounds were coming from the woman footsteps and the noises coming from the knight’s armor.

“I already told you that you didn’t have to come with me, right?” The monstruous lady asked him, looking at the ceiling filled with spider webs, a cold chill in her spine remembering her that she was scared of those little creatures.

“Yes, you did, my lady.” He replied, looking around him.

“Okay, just to be sure.”

The woman walked slwowly and quietly towards the stairs of the castle as they both heard a strange sound behind them that made her flinch. Quickly, the demonish lady turned around and cast a fireball spell in her hand, but sighed in relief when she saw nothing. She felt a hand on her shoulder and glare at her knight who was standing next to her.
"My lady, it's better if you don't... Use any firespell here."

She nodded in a chuckle, "Anyway, what was that strange noise?" She asked him.

He put his hand on the handle of his sword tied on his waist. It was a magnificent sword, the handle was in a nice and refined wood. It was actually an enchanted wood coming from the Everfree forest in Equuis, giving the sword magic properties. There was also a big ruby on the edge of it. "I'll take a look, just wait here."

She nodded in agreement when he said that. He quietky walked down the stairs, in the direction of the left corridor, where the sound came from.

She watched him slowly disappear in the darkness of the castle, the sound of his footspeps becoming more and more complicated for her to hear. She wasn't scared for him, she knew he could take care of himself, but this was a totally new land for both of them, and she didn't know what kind of strange creatures lived here.

As she waited a few minutes, she got tired of it and started to follow her knight, slowly. "Red?" She called, "Are you okay?"
No response. She walked towards the long and dark corridor hopping for the best, "Red? I'm coming, okay?"

But just as she said that sentence, the wall to her left exploded in a deafening noise. She raised her arms, protecting herself from whatever was coming, and preventing the dust from coming in her eyes. When she opened them, she saw Red standing above a small creature, that creature was trapped on the ground with a sword planted on the left of the creature shirt and another sword planted on his pants. Red's magical sword was on top of the creature's throat, threatening him and warning him to not make any moves.

"Please!" The creature begged him.

"What are you doing here?" Red asked him, "I didn't know there was goblins in the Shadowlands."

In fact, this creature was a goblin. A small trappy creature with green skin, big nose, small eyes and sharp teeth. They were very dangerous when they were in groups. But a goblin alone wasn't as dangerous as a puppy.

"There isn't!" The goblin quickly said, "I'm f-from Draquuis! Please i'm begging you!"

Red wasn't going to move an inch but the woman put her hand on his arm handing his sword. "Let him go, Red."

He frowned but did as he was told and slowly lowered his sword, the two other swords preventing the goblin from standing up disappeared like they never existed.
The goblin sighed from relief and sat on the ground as the woman kneeled before him, looking at him in the eyes. Surprise could be seen in his eyes, but no fear.

"Aren't you afraid?" She asked him.

The goblin chuckled and pointed in Red's direction, "Yeah, afraid of him! But you..." He slowly rose his hand, wanting to touch her face but Red quickly make a step forward.

"Let him." She ordered her knight, he growled but didn't do anything.

The goblin put his hand on her face, she was hot but it wasn't burning him. "You're... cursed." He stated.

The woman sighed and nodded, "Indeed."

"And not just any curse... A powerful one."
She nodded again.

"Who did that?" He asked.

The woman slowly gets up and helps the little creature to get up too, "What is your name?" She asked, ignoring his question.

"I'm..." He finished his sentence in a hushed tone, preventing his two interlocutors to hear him clearly.

The knight stomped loudly on the ground, "Louder!"

"I'm Sigil!" He yelped in fear.

The woman gave him a weak smile, "And what are you doing here Sigil?"

"You mean... here in this castle?" The goblin now known as Sigil asked.

"Here in the Shadowlands. It is known by everyone that no magic creatures lives in this land."

Sigil avoided her look and said, "The truth is... I ran away."

She raised up an eyebrow, "Ran away from what?"

He chuckled, "From what? From the war of course!"

She turned around facing her knight with an interogating glare, he responded with a shrug from his shoulders. "W-What war?" The woman asked. "There is no war here."

He looked around him and make a sign to the woman to come closer, as she did he said in a whisper, "Not yet."

"What do you mean?"

He gulped and slowly said in a hushed tone, "The... The shaman, he showed me what'll hapen in a near future..."

The woman saw he was starting to sweat vehemently, his green skin slowly turning to white.

"I-I can't say more!" He quickly said, jumping to his feets. "I'm sorry milady, but if i say another word, bad things are going to happen to me."

"Bad things are going to happen to you if-" Started the knight, slowly raising up his sword again.

"Red!" The woman yelled at him giving him a warning look. She then turned to the goblin and nodded, "I understand. It's not that you don't want to tell me, but you can't, right?"

When she saw the goblin nodded she gave him a sympathethic smile.

"Something is preventing you to tell me more about that, am I right?"

He nodded again.

"Do you have a home, or anywhere you could rest?" She asked him.

"No milady, I do not." Sigil admitted.

She chuckled and turned to her guard, "We're keeping him, I like him."

"What?" Red and Sigil asked in unisson.

"C'mon, it'll be fun! Besides, it's going to be sad here with just two person. I don't mind if there is another one."

The goblin laughed, "Well, milady, it'll be an honor."

"I'm against." Red said. "But I guess it doesn't matter."

The demonish woman laughed, "Come on Red, stop being like that."

She took a deep breath and watched her castle once again. She didn't know what the future holds for her, but her curse was made to make her miserable. She wasn't going to let it do that, she was going to fight it, and she was going to win.
And she wasn't alone for that, she had her body guard, her knight and her best friend, Red, by her side. And she didn't knew why, but this goblin seemed like he could be useful in the future.

"Why are you smiling my lady?" Red asked her with an interrogating glare.

"Oh..." She held up a hand on her face, realizing that she was wearing a smile. "For nothing Red, for nothing..."

Present days

Walking among the dark corridor of the castle, every step making echoes through the empty halls, the woman stopped in front of a wooden door. She took a key from one of her pockets and opened it quietly before entering the dark room. The room in question was an attic, shelves filled with scrolls were fulfilling the stone walls, on some of them stood relics, trinkets or some knick-knacks that a person not affiliated with magic couldn’t understand their usefulness. She quickly glanced at theses trinkets and ignored them.

The thing that interested her was that sword, standing on the altar on the other end of the room. She frowned as her demonic hand took it, she felt the light magic emanating from it. She also felt that this sword wasn't belonging to her, but she didn't care, it wasn't like its master was going to come back for it anyway. She gets it out from its sheath and growled at the view of her face in its reflection.

She turned around and leaved the room as quick as she came, she quickly crossed the corridor and walked down the stairs, looking through the windows she saw the moon had rose up in the sky... The thing was, it was actually noon.
It only meant one thing, and she was prepared.
Just as she arrived in the main room, the front door of the castle opened itself.

The woman stayed on her guard, handing the sword with both of her hands. The opening lets in the moon light, lightening the normally dark room.

Another woman entered, she wore a black armor, a dark iron crown resting upon her head with a red horn that was standing in the middle of it. She had a dark cape, and red fur on her left shoulder. Her long blue hair were floating in the hair even if there was no wind inside of the castle.

"Well, well, well," The woman started, walking inside, spotting the other woman on the stairs, glaring at her. "If it isn't my dear Daybreaker."

The demonish woman hardened her grip on the sword as she said, "It's Queen Daybreaker, for you."

The other woman snickered, "Lovely."

She continued her walk and stopped at the first stair steps, a cocky grin on her face. Every step she made, the temperature dropped a bit and the atmosphere became heavy, darkness could be felt from this lady. Pure darkness and evil.

"What do you want?" Daybreaker asked her harshly.

The armored woman took her time, watching her surroundings, "Last time I came to your... home, there was more people here. Where are this little goblin of yours? Or this brave Red, who thought he could handle me in one on one combat? It was cute now that I remember it." She finished in a chuckle.

In fact, a few years ago this woman came here to talk to Daybreaker. Red thought she was going to attack them, and to quote him 'best defense is more offense'. It resulted in a violent fight were the dark woman almost lost an eye, and Red almost lost his life.

"It is none of your business!" Daybreaker yelled, scattering her memories away.

"Oh, I see. I take that they leaved you then." She laughed, "How surprising."

Daybreaker greeted her teeth and took a step forward.

"Don't do something you might regret, dear." She slowly made her way up the stairs and stood infront of Daybreaker, "I have something for you, actually."

"And I probably don't want it." Daybreaker said, lowering her sword, if this woman wanted to attack her, she would have done it already.

"Don't you want to, at least, hear what i've got for you?" The other woman asked, walking right past her up the stairs.

She was now standing on the second floor, looking down at Daybreaker. She wore a dark smile when she saw the demonic Queen watching her with an interogating glare.

"I'm here to give to you," She then took a dramatic pose, opening her arms, "Equuis!"

Daybreaker watched her and frowned, glaring daggers, "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that, I'm going to take Equuis, by the force! And if you want to, I don't know, give me a hand with that, I might be able to give it to you..." She walked down the stairs, towards the other woman, "Just imagine, two of the four most powerful beings this world has ever known, joining forces together. We will be unstopable!" She stated. "And I know how much you must hate her, for what she did to you."

She then lets out her hand to Daybreaker, sign for a handshake.

"So, Queen Daybreaker, what do you say?" She finally asked, insisting on the 'Queen'.

Daybreaker looked at the hand in front of her, then at the woman, and then at the hand again. "I say..." She then rose up her sword, just an inch away from the armored woman's throat. "Get the hell out of my castle, and don't ever, EVER, dare to do anything to Equuis!"

Within one second the woman frowned, but her smile reappeared again like it never leaved her face. "Your loss." She said platly, walking down the stairs, Daybreaker watching her closely, scrutinizing every steps she make.

"I'm really disappointed," The woman said, finally arriving at the end of the stairs. "Anyway, it's not like you can actually stop me..." She turned around and then Daybreaker saw her real face. A wide dark smile and black eyes showing her dark powers. "Soon, Equuis will fall to Nightmare Moon! And I guess, the Shadowlands are next! Behold... The endless Night!"

She finished with a sinister laugh, in pure wrath, Darkbreaker jumped at her with her sword but just as she was going to hit her, Nightmare Moon disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke.
She looked around her but knew it was pointless, Nightmare Moon was gone.

Reality hit her as she finally realized what Nightmare Moon told her, she slowly let the sword drop from her hands, falling on the ground with a loud 'clang'.

She glared at the void in front of her for a second and frowned as she stomped on the ground, her strength making a big hole on the ground.

"The endless night..." She whispered. She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip as the night disappeared through the windows, letting the sun take back its rightful place, "Red... Sigil... Where are you?"