Conquest: Rise of the Fifth Horseman (The Fifth Horseman Series Book 1)

by Richard M. Mulder

  “What do you mean, prepare the people?” Allan stammered, “For what?”

  John stopped and locked eyes with Allan, “For the end of both worlds, and the Judgment Day thereof.”

  “Wait… WHAT?” he choked.

  “As prophesied in the book of Malachi, ‘Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.’ This is your ultimate purpose, to repair the ancient machine and transport this people back to Mother Earth.”

  “Hang on,” Allan backpedaled, “First off, I’m not any prophet. Second, I know for a fact that I’m not the ancient prophet Elijah. You’ve definitely got the wrong man.”

  “On the contrary, Elijah isn’t just a name, but a title. It means Forerunner, or Preparer. You hold the powers necessary to bring these lands back to Earth, you just need to learn how to harness them.”

  “How are you so sure I’m this so-called Forerunner anyway?”

  “There is yet another prophecy in the book of Revelation which identifies he who shall complete these tasks. It is found in the seventeenth verse of the second chapter. It states, ‘To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.’” John paused, “Allan, you overcame death in the face of it. The hidden manna is eternal life, which prevents you from being killed. The white stone you held earlier this morning which focused your powers and transported us to this world is your Amulet.”

  He took the seer stone out of his pocket and tried to hand it to Allan, “Look into the stone and tell me what you see.”

  Allan hesitated, remembering the searing pain he had felt in his hand the last time he had held it.

  “Relax.” he insisted, “Your anxiety will trigger a transport. If you remain calm however, you can carry your amulet with you. You must learn to control your powers.”

  Reluctantly, Allan took a deep breath and accepted the stone. Nervously, he opened his eyes. As he stared at it, he felt a warm sensation as his eyes were drawn deeper into the milky surface. Slowly a single word formed. In shock, Allan dropped it.

  “What did it say?”

  Allan stared incredulously at the stone laying in the foliage beneath their feet. It truly had formed a word. More specifically it had formed a name.

  Elijah.

  “Can you see clearer now?”

  Allan nodded, his eyes wide in fear. Slowly he mustered the courage to speak again.

  “How…” he stuttered, “How could you possibly know all of this?”

  “I told you I have many names. I have been known by the names Beloved, Revelator, and Divine.” his glowing white eyes bore deeply into Allan’s, “I am the first horseman. I am he who was commissioned by God to write the Book of Revelations. I am John.”

  Chapter Thirty One: Unto Dust

  These Watchers shall witness the slaughter of their beloved ones; and over the destruction of their sons, the Nephilim, they will lament and petition forever. But they will have neither mercy nor peace…

  – Methuselah 11:6 –

  Timur shook his head in consternation as he stewed over the events of this evening. He was frustrated that he had been unable to kill Abner, but his emotions were even further muddled as he mourned the loss of Lily. His many fantasies of forcing her into a relationship with him had died the instant his newly-acquired steed went rogue and dragged off Lily’s lifeless body into the evening sky. By now, her body had likely been devoured by the wild dragon.

  He couldn’t understand this obsessive fascination he had with her. The only logical explanation he could determine was the fact that he had always gotten exactly what he wanted – until he met Lily.

  As he continued to mull over his mixed emotions, one of his priests strode into the chamber, “Your Holiness?”

  “Yes?”

  “High Priest Abner requests thy audience.”

  Timur nodded, “Take me to him.”

  Timur followed as the priest led him out of the chamber, down a series of tunnels, and stopped at the entrance of the dungeon.

  “Leave me.” Timur instructed as he stepped into the archway and began descending the stairs.

  A guard stood at the entrance to the cell. He could see Abner’s crouched body chained to a chair in the middle of the cell.

  “Open the gate.”

  The guard obliged, and unlocked it.

  “You may leave us.”

  Timur waited until the guard had ascended the stairs and left the dungeon. Timur studied Abner’s countenance, and felt confused. His hair was suddenly shock white, and he had wrinkles on his face that Timur was absolutely certain weren’t there before.

  “Abner,” Timur queried, “what’s happened to you? You look weary and very old.”

  Abner refused to meet his gaze but spoke hoarsely, “I requested to meet thee before I die.”

  “Don’t worry, my friend.” Timur kneeled down to face him, “I haven’t come to kill you.”

  “No,” Abner finally raised his head and clarified, “I am dying.”

  Timur staggered backward in surprise. It appeared as though he were staring death in the face. Abner’s eye sockets were sunken in and his eyes were bugging out. His face was ashen white and the skin was shriveled. The skin on his hands and arms were similarly shriveled. His hair was thin and white, and his scalp was peeling with dead skin.

  “Yea, ‘tis clear to me now.” he spoke slowly, “My successor hath Awakened.”

  “Your successor?” Timur stammered, “For what?”

  “As I hath explained to thee, I wast thine Oracle.”

  “What does that even mean?”

  “I wast thine counselor, revelator, and historian.” he explained.

  “Why haven’t you ever explained this to me before?”

  “I hath tried, but thou hast never had any interest.”

  Timur shook his head in frustration, “Why were you in the Village of Udom? Were you rallying the rebels against me?”

  “No. I hath kin there.” he spoke mournfully and glared at Timur with hatred in his eyes, “Alas, ‘twas so until thou didst slaughter them!”

  “I cannot allow rebels to exist.” he stated flatly, “No matter who’s family might be involved.”

  Abner shook his head disdainfully, “I hath called thee here to give unto thee a warning.”

  “What kind of warning?” Timur stopped pacing and faced him.

  “Yea, ‘tis an ancient prophecy.”

  “Of course there is.” Timur rolled his eyes, “There’s always another prophecy with you.”

  “I shall tell thee the prophecy: a beast shall rise up out of the earth who hath two horns like a lamb, and shall speak as a dragon. This beast shall exercise all the power of the first beast, whose deadly wound hast been healed.”

  “I don’t understand…” Timur began.

  “Yea, this prophecy ‘tis intertwined with another.” Abner’s explained painfully, “Verily, aye two beasts; aye two souls with complimentary powers.”

  “You mean me and Allan.” Timur nodded, “I know this already.”

  “No, I speak not of two Seraphim.” he continued, “I doth speak of the Final Seraph and his Oracle.”

  “No, no, no.” Timur insisted angrily, “I intend to kill Allan! I won’t let him steal my throne!”

  “This prophecy also doth make reference to the first beast who shall survive a wound by sword.” Abner interrupted and coughed up some blood, “Lo and behold, the second beast shall also be wounded by a dragon’s talon yet shall survive and shall gain the ability to speak as a dragon and gain divination powers like unto mine.”

  “Wait,” Timur struggled to comprehend, “What does this mean?”

  “It doth mean that the woman thou hast brought from Earth hast surviv
ed the dragon’s venom...” he had a fit of coughing, “this woman is destined to become the Last Oracle, and together with the Final Seraph they shall one day obtain the power to overthrow thee.”

  “But I saw that wild dragon carry away Lily’s body!” Timur stammered, “Clearly she’s been devoured by now.”

  “My commission hath expired,” Abner struggled to speak his last dying words, “by this ye should understand that the woman hast survived and hast Awakened to her divine calling.”

  “But how is that even possible?”

  Abner exhaled slowly as his eyes rolled to the back of their sockets. Timur attempted to shake his fail frame, only to watch in horror as flesh sloughed off his body in chunks. The body rotted before him within seconds, exposing his bones. Soon all that sat before him was a hollow skeleton covered with ratted clothing. This too quickly gave way as the bones thinned and turned to dust.

  Timur mourned as he gaped at the pile of rotted dust and flesh that sat at his feet.

  My dearest friend and comrade…

  The Creed and local priests had been gathered in the main chamber again. One of Timur’s most loyal priests stood before him at the altar.

  “I anoint you High Priest, and commission you to protect this city and its people.” he spoke as he poured a small amount of olive oil from a hollowed-out horn onto the crown of the man’s head, “You will hereafter be called by the name of High Priest Matityahu.”

  Everyone in the room bowed before them, and there was silence in the room for several minutes.

  “Rise.” he paused and waited for their attention, “The time has come for my Creed and I to depart. We have much more work to accomplish on Earth, but we will return in a few days’ time. Prepare yourselves, for the End of Days is nigh at hand.”

  The new High Priest moved back into the crowd of priests as the Creed members assembled around the altar. Timur removed the pouch of ashes from his waist as the Creed locked arms with each other and began swaying and chanting in Hebrew. Timur poured the ashes onto the altar and joined hands with them. The sickly green light soared out of his eyes and surrounded them. With a flash of brilliant green light, they were gone.

  Chapter Thirty Two: Spirit Animal

  The height of these Nephilim were three thousand cubits, and they didst devour all the toil of men until men were unable to sustain them. And the giants turned against man, and there was much blood shed amongst the inhabitants of Earth…

  – Methuselah 11:7 –

  Lily awoke from unconsciousness the following morning and had to suppress a gag reflex from the putrid odor of her own rotting flesh. She groaned and lifted her head slightly to see the festering sores on her chest. In her brief moments of consciousness yesterday, she had ascertained that her likelihood of survival was dismal. She had accepted the seemingly inevitable fate that she would die sometime in the middle of the night.

  How am I still alive?

  As her groggy eyes came into focus, the view was breathtaking. She was perched on a cliff overlooking a beautiful valley below. She climbed to her feet and looked over to the edge and saw the sheer drop to the sea below. Raising her gaze she saw the massive city looming in the distance, filthy with soot and ash.

  She heard a snort from behind her and felt a blast of warm air. Startled, she whipped around to face an enormous beast with a menacing face. Her eyes went wide and she screamed in sheer terror as she stumbled backward. Not realizing how close she was to the ledge, she lost her footing and slipped. Another scream issued from her lungs as she plummeted toward the water below.

  Just as she was about to hit the water however, her body jerked upward as the dragon’s talons enclosed around her. Sea mist sprayed on her face as one of the dragon’s wings dipped into the water. She continued to scream relentlessly as she imagined that her last few agonizing moments of life would consist of being torn apart limb by limb before finally being chewed to death.

  Her eyes began to blur, and the water below unexpectedly transformed into land. Her face contorted as unfamiliar memories of soaring through the sky flooded her mind. One beautiful sunset after another flashed through her mind’s eye in rapid succession. A feeling of serene tranquility overwhelmed her as the wind billowed through her red hair. She became distracted as the beautiful images filled her mind, and without realizing it she had stopped screaming.

  Fear not, dear child. I shall not consume thee.

  The unfamiliar voice in her mind took her off guard and snapped her mind back to the present.

  I am Tiamat. My name doth mean “Mother of Life.”

  Confused, Lily was suddenly convinced she was hallucinating. Where was the voice coming from?

  It grieveth me to know that thou hast suffered much pain from the venom of my talons.

  “This is impossible…” Lily whispered.

  When I carried thee away from my nest, I didst sense something different about thy countenance. I knew ‘twas thine destiny to become the next Oracle.

  Lily couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  I know that thou mayest find this difficult to understand. An Oracle hath the ability to hear the thoughts of their Totem whilst they maintain physical contact.

  Lily blinked as if to wake up from a strange dream.

  ‘tis not often that two different species of sentient beings doth find a means to communicate. I art thine Totem, or in other words, I am thine Spirit Animal.

  “Is… is this really happening?” Lily stuttered.

  Tiamat stopped gliding and began to flap her wings as she descended to what at Lily’s first glance appeared to be the summit of a large mountain. Tiamat released her grip, and Lily fell a few feet to the surface below. The instant they broke physical contact however, Lily’s eyes blurred again and the mountain suddenly transformed into the same cliff where she had awoken and first encountered the dragon just moments earlier.

  There was silence for several minutes as Lily struggled to understand everything that had just happened. She stood at the edge of the cliff again and looked down at the valley below. The massive city still loomed in the distance. Her eyes followed to a lush forest below the city where she could see smoke ascending from a patch of charred earth in the middle of the forest below.

  “What’s on fire?”

  Tiamat didn’t respond.

  She turned around and faced the dragon, this time without fear, “Don’t you see the smoke?”

  Tiamat snorted, but still didn’t respond. Lily then remembered that Tiamat had told her that they could only communicate while maintaining physical contact. She approached the dragon timidly, and with hesitation she reached out and extended her palm. The dragon slowly leaned her head forward and met her palm with the bridge of her massive nose.

  Lily’s eyes blurred again, only this time far below in the valley she could see a small village where the charred earth had been moments before. Several dragons were circling the village, and she could hear screaming even from this distance.

  “What’s happening?!”

  An Oracle seeth past, present, and potential future. Thou art seeing events that hath transpired this past eventide. I was among the dragons that thou dost see below.

  Lily was horrified, “You burned down that village?!”

  No. My young fawns were murdered by a wicked man. In wrath I attempted to kill him, however he doth have powers of persuasion wherewith he didst control my mind. Whilst under this wicked man’s control, his men didst set fire to the homes. I smelled that thou wast nearby and found thee forthwith, and didst escape the wicked man with thy body in tow.

  “I know the man. His name is Timur, and he is indeed a very wicked man.” Lily nodded in understanding, “Why did he destroy that village?”

  Timur believeth they hath been harboring a traitor, the Oracle who wast thine predecessor. He believeth that the inhabitants of the village were traitors, so he didst massacre them all.

  Lily turned her eyes away, “I can’t watch this.”

&nb
sp; Her eyes blurred again and the landscape suddenly changed. No longer were they standing on the edge of a cliff, but at the precipice of the tall mountain she had seen earlier. The trees on top of the mountain were too thick to see down into the valley.

  Thou hast a very different smell. Methinks, pray tell, that thou art not from this world?

  “No. I’m afraid I’m not.” she paused, “I’m from a world called Earth.”

  Verily, the prophecy didst foretell this…

  “The what?” Lily queried.

  Climb upon the saddle, and I shall show unto thee thine destiny.

  Lily mounted Tiamat and they kicked off. As they soared through the sky, she felt more liberated than she had ever felt in her entire life. Scanning the horizon, she felt that she could see further than she had ever been able to before. All of her senses were heightened, and she felt connected somehow to the beast she sat upon.

  Airborne, she was able to see the valley from a better vantage point. Somehow the wide sea was gone, and it had been replaced with lush valleys and mountains. The village in the center of the forest was non-existent, and the city in the distance looked white and glorious. The beauty of the city was breathtaking. Thousands of people were amassed at the northern gates of the city, pouring inside the walls as quickly as possible. She could faintly hear what sounded like a tuba blowing a long low note.

  ‘tis the warning horn.

  At the summit of the city an orb began to glow a brilliant blue luminance at the top of a tall spire. It glowed brighter and brighter, and Lily had to shield her eyes. With a slight pop, beams of blue light shot outward and connected with several similar orbs surrounding the city. The light bounced off of these orbs in a spiral across the land reaching out to unknown destinations. Within seconds the beams of light appeared to have bounced back in a reversed spiral form. She could hear a humming sound, and then in a brilliant flash of blue light the land disappeared leaving a small strip of land behind surrounded by a massive crater.

  “What just happened?!” Lily stammered.