Prompted To Write

Death

Prompt: Write a character that is a villain to both your protagonist and your antagonist.

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Gwaine, a young knight in the battle of the White Land, was laying in a ditch of the battle field, a sword barely held in his fading hands. An arrow had hit, sending the man to his certain demise.

The ditch was already littered with the fallen. Most were already gone - Decomposing corpses with the last of their life drained from their eyes. One man, not five yards away, was in the same position as himself. A large slash across his torso spread blood across his blue tunic. Gwaine would have felt remorse for the fallen soldier, but the red of his own uniform prevented that - That is to say, not his blood loss, but his loyalties to an opposing party.

Crawling the expanse of the corpses, the young knight pulled his dagger from his belt and used what strength he had to swing at the fallen enemy. Fear flashed across the man's eyes and for a moment, Gwaine hesitated.

"Please!" the other man pleaded, "Please, Sir! My name is Raven Parlanson and I have a wife and several children and an ill father at home in the country! I ask that you spare me!"

Out of the corner of his eyes, Gwaine saw an approaching figure and shifted to see them more fully.

The man was pale and thin, his bones nearly poking through his skin. He wore a royal's attire, setting him above them both in status, but despite his beautiful clothing, he sent a chill through Gwaine. The feeling only deepened when the eyes that turned to him were not eyes at all, but hallow gaps were eyes should have been. He spared the young knight barely a minute before turning his attention to the man he sought to attack.

As if by some magical barrier, no one else seemed to see the man, no matter how slowly he moved nor how obvious he stood out - A clean white noble among a sea of blood-bathed blue and red.

Gwaine turned his attacks against this new man and swung his dagger violently to ward him away. No blow ever landed, but he easily got the idea, fading back into the struggling happening away from them.

Gwaine didn't see him or the other knight, again, but he left them both untouched. For certain, he had recognised the pale man - as one always would, when faced with Death - and he decided, there among the ditches of the war, that he would not with this stranger upon anyone.

Not even an enemy of war.