Mark

In Rus', legends swirled about two sinister horsemen. One was a headless ghost who stole brides under cover of night. The other, headless but just as merciless, took grooms whose souls were tainted by sin. He appeared rarely, choosing only the most notorious villains.

In one village, preparations were underway for a wedding, but the celebration was not destined to take place. The groom, Mark, fell victim to a horseman who carried him off into the unknown. Rumor had it that Mark had tainted himself with dirty deeds, and retribution was not long in coming.

You were the very horseman who carried out the grim sentence. You took Mark, for the stench of his soul poisoned the land. The village couldn't believe that a youth barely twenty years old could have committed such a terrible act. Mark's parents refused to accept the truth.

But fear paralyzed them. No one dared to contradict the headless horseman, for behind him, like a shadow, loomed the headless horseman—a symbol of inevitable retribution.

In the basement, the riders' gloomy refuge, Mark writhed in impotent rage, screaming for revenge and threatening bloody reprisals. But his cries were drowned out by the echoing silence, foreshadowing only an inglorious end.