Arlo watched the burning piles of dead, the stink of it an accustomed scent at this point. Similar fires from around the city lit up the sky in a reflection of the dying world below. A handful of Doves tossed what diseased remained of this particular block into the flames. Each wore white, which made little sense to him, seeing the soot and blood stains covering each. Perhaps to see what needed to be cleaned at the end of the day.

He let them do the work alone. Arlo had done what needed to be done while others watched on in silence; let them take care of the cleanup.

More kindling for the hungry blaze.

He watched them haul a young girl dressed in blue, her skin blackened around the lips and hands. It was a beautiful dress, he mused, likely made by her mother. Arlo looked on with detached interest as they tossed her in with the rest. The fabric caught first, replacing the blue dress she wore with a gown of flame, painting her pale skin with new life for one brief instant. In that moment the girl became someone else, and Arlo looked away.

In the distance, he could hear the rioters on the other side of the city where the store houses could be found. Wasn’t enough that the Blight was wiping them out in droves, the lack of food from a failed crop yield sent them into a frenzy. Neighbors killed neighbors in order to provide for their own, hoarding what food they could before realizing the Blight had wrapped its fevered hands around their throats. 

The rioters were of little consequence at the moment, focused as they were on the single food source in the city. At least, what they suspected to be the only source. Arlo knew better. He’d been in service to Baron Taegis of Brightridge for half a decade. Having risen in power alongside the man’s ambitions, Arlo was privy to his trust. His liege was a planner, always preparing for the worst situation. The man had secured several additional hidden food stores throughout the city in bottlenecked areas where holdouts could be made in the event of the city being compromised; be it by a rioting population or foreign threat. 

Of course, not even the most meticulous mind could have foreseen the Blight.

With the rest of the nation’s nobel aristocracy dropping like flies, Baron Taegis’ claim to rule increased dramatically. The Blight saw no man’s station in life as it claimed prince and pauper alike. The king was dead, along with his sons and first cousins. 

Had the disease only stopped with mankind, the world might not be so terrible a place. 

Arlo looked up at the once lush trees in this part of the city, seeing empty branches and cracking bark. It hadn’t been named the Evergreen District without cause. In summers, families would walk the cobbled roads, enjoying the shade and birdsong. In autumn, the leaves became a myriad of color, a wonder to behold for the young. A fine place in a better time.

There was no birdsong now.

The Blight didn’t settle for humanity. It was a greedy thing, robbing the very life from the earth itself. Hundreds of thousands of livestock took ill and fields of once healthy crops began to wither and die. It was one thing for people to die off, it was another for the land to join them. From that point on, people began to lose hope.

Without hope, people became ugly things.

But not in his domain.

In the midst of the chaos that seemed to overtake the world, Arlo kept a semblance of order. With his liege in tow Arlo returned to his estate, putting distance between them and the disease ridden keep. Arlo ordered the Evergreen District to be locked down, closing both gates leading in and out of the area. Anyone showing signs of the Blight he evicted, by their own accord, or violently if need be. 

The Doves, so named by the Baron, had been assembled to help him in this task. Made up of former soldiers or willing volunteers, they helped to clear the area of infected. No one wanted to risk a chance at catching the pestilence that had befallen the world, but it was a job that needed to be done. His liege implored him to withdraw to the estate and send out orders from there to lessen his chance of infection. 

Arlo had refused. 

He walked into every single home, putting down the blighted and diseased without a care for himself. It had to be done. If not for his actions, the Evergreen section would be as overrun with Blight and madness as the rest of the city.

Because of this, he was feared. It was a small price to pay to maintain the peace he’d established. Even roving bands of looters avoided the Evergreen District, which belonged to the Baron and his Death Knight.

That’s what they’d taken to calling him.A name well earned, he supposed.

Of course, the bodies hanging from the walls surrounding the Evergreen District proved an effective deterrent as well. Any man or woman caught sneaking over the walls had a rope tied about their neck and was tossed back over.

“My lord,” came a voice nearby.

Arlo turned, seeing one of the masked Doves waiting nearby. He gave the man a look that suggested he speak.

“We’ve a runner come in. Says there’s another family showing signs of Blight on Isive Block. We’ve got it quarantined for now, however…”

Arlo raised a hand, “I’ll be there within the hour.”

The Dove dipped his head, “As you wish lord.”

Arlo watched the man leave, never bothering to ask his name, let alone be bothered to remember it. Very few Doves lasted. They seemed to come and go like mayflies, either dying off or disappearing without a word. Somehow people kept filling their place. Perhaps out of necessity or some odd sense of duty. He didn’t much care, as long as the clean-up was handled and the bodies burned.

He stretched as best he could in his armor. It had been a week since he’d been out of it. Smoke permeated most of what he could smell, but occasional traces of his own body odor seeped out. The tabard of his liege was in ruins, ripped apart by the fevered hands of the diseased. Small dents from workmen hammers, bits of rust from lack of attention. Only his longsword remained in pristine condition, save for the handful of recent notches.

Worries for another time.

Shouldering his longsword, Arlo began his way toward Isive Block. He could feel the eyes of the people as they watched him pass. He pressed on, ignoring the way drapes were pulled and doors closed at his passing. As if he would burst in and kill them without cause. He’d been a champion once, hailed throughout the city as a bloody hero. Now he was little more than an executioner.

Arlo knew he’d reached the diseased home when he caught the sound of laughter peel out from inside. There was no joy in it. The fevered cackling of fluid-filled lungs made those standing around the house turn away or shudder. Outside the house stood several Doves, white clothes reminding him of angels of death, waiting to bring more home. 

In his mind, he saw the girl in blue once again. Remembering the casual disregard as they tossed her body in the flames. They’d likely throw him in as well, he thought, whenever the fell disease decided to claim him.

“There’s at least a dozen, m’lord,” said a Dove as he approached.

“How was it allowed to progress this far?” Arlo asked, calmly he thought, but the man immediately avoided his gaze like a hound too often struck.

“One of our own lord. He’s been keeping it from us by performing daily checks in this part of Evergreen. He’s gathered a few more families here. Soldier families sir. They’ve threatened violence for anyone coming close.”

Of course they had. It was because of this that the Blight was allowed to spread. Unwilling souls selfishly clinging to what little time they had.

“What man wouldn’t?” asked another.

Arlo felt his anger rise so fast and sudden that he couldn’t stop himself.

“Weak men that don’t give a flying shit about those they love. Selfish bastards that would rather see their families rot before their eyes than give them peace.”

Arlo found himself striding toward the hapless Dove, continuing to march toward him as the man backed away. His hand shot out, gripping the young man by his clothes and pulling him in close.

“They’re cowards of the worse sort,” Arlo hissed, face to face with the bewildered man, “And cowards deserve what they have coming.”

The man nodded vigorously, squirming in Arlo’s grip until he was released. The knight strode toward the door and pounded his armored fist against it, feeling the fragile hinges shake with the action.

“Leave my district willingly or I’m coming in,” he called.

There was more laughter within. Not at his threat, but the continuous fever babblings of the diseased. He could hear hushed voices, caught the words, ‘Death Knight’ as one man seemed to be shouting.

“Your time is,” he began, catching the faint sound of a latch opening above him. 

Looking up, he had just enough time to step back as a large rock was dropped from above. It clattered on the cobblestone where he’d been standing just seconds before. His would be killer’s eyes went wide.

“So be it,” Arlo said, and charged the door.

The frail hinges and thin cut of the door caved in as he burst into the interior. There was a moment as the men inside froze at the sight of him. Unfortunately for them, Arlo was not one for hesitation. In the confined space, he quickly switched to half-sword, gripping the blade of his sword in his gauntleted off-hand.

The first man went down with a sharp jab of the sword’s point to the neck, igniting the remaining three into action.The first came at him, swinging a short arming sword overhand. Arlo caught it on the center of his blade and rammed the cross guard into the man’s eye. Even as he fell Arlo moved to the next, ramming the pommel into his assailant’s skull with a sharp crack. Something struck him in the back, doing little more than cause him to stumble forward.

Whipping around, he saw a man with a hammer, dressed in the same white as the Doves outside. Another, also dressed as a Dove, rushed down the stairs and burst through the window. Running out the back alley as fast as he was able. Let the Doves find their traitor and put him down without him.

The one who remained, eyes fever bright, skin already beginning to blacken around his mouth, stared at Arlo. Realizing there was no chance, the man lowered his weapon.

“I… I couldn’t do it.”

“I know,” Arlo said, driving his longsword through the man’s heart.

The once proud knight looked around the room, seeing the writhing forms of the men he’d soon finish off. A woman lay in bed, her laughter seeming to build as her unfocused eyes stared at the ceiling. 

Arlo made short work of the rest of the house. Putting them down quick and painless as he could. Not looking too long at their faces if he could help it. The same for those upstairs. Once the dirty business was done, he took up a chair and sat in the middle of the room. In the middle of the disease and death.

Removing a gauntlet, he reached into a pouch at his belt and pulled out a blue piece of fabric. He brought it to his face and breathed it in. A small piece of his daughter’s favorite dress that had long ago lost any scent of her. 

He remembered it though. 

Lavender and oil. His wife had always put it in her hair before they left to walk the streets of Evergreen. He smelled it in for a time, and remembered. One last walk when a few leaves still remained. Kissing them goodnight as they struggled to breathe, as their skin began to darken and their minds slipped away. 

He remembered taking their lives that night.

Arlo breathed in, distantly hoping the fell disease in this place would finally claim him. Begging it to take him, yet somehow knowing it wouldn’t. His chest seemed to squeeze tight, his breathing coming out ragged as he fought for control. Their loving faces flashed in his mind. He sat there for a long time, waiting for the pain to subside and the memories to fade.

The pain never went away, but eventually he regained a sense of himself. Locking away the turmoil within, he stood.

Walking out the door he’d destroyed, Arlo approached the first Dove he saw.

“One ran out the back. I expect him to be found come nightfall. Remove the bodies and check the houses on this block. If you find that it has spread, burn it down.”

“The house, lord?” asked one.

“The entire block. Inform me if there proves to be an issue.”

With that, the fallen knight walked away, leaving only death in his wake.