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

by Richard M. Mulder

  Why hasn’t she made contact with the base?

  He remembered looking at her data files several days ago when she went missing. Upon the disappearance of her GFID signature, he sent a detail team to her home where they found the home cordoned off by police tape. He contacted Chief Herbert for an explanation, and learned about the pool of Lily’s blood. This concerned the commander immensely, for her GFID signature registered high levels of anxiety just prior to her disappearance. He knew she couldn’t be dead, for the GFID signature would have indicated it. Instead, her signature had simply disappeared off the face of the planet until it blipped back on the radar late last night.

  He didn’t learn of her re-emergence until he arrived this morning. The entire office scrambled to study the reports that had auto-generated last night. Her signature had originally appeared off the coast of Pakistan, and throughout the night she had travelled a great distance westward. At the speed she was travelling, she had to be in a commercial jetliner; but yet he hadn’t been able to locate a single airliner following her trajectory. His frustration had reached the point where he was about to dispatch the Air Force to intercept her.

  Suddenly a red light began strobing overhead as an automated voice squawked over the intercom repetitively, “WARNING. UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY DETECTED.”

  By instinct, Commander Arlington whipped out his gun and ducked behind his desk. He heard several gunshots ring out from another room as he stealthily crawled out of his office.

  “Stay here.” he whispered to his secretary, who was cowering behind her desk.

  She nodded fearfully as he continued to crawl across the floor and then stood up quickly on the other side of the wall. With gun drawn in front of him, he peeked around the corner. A hailstorm of bullets was being exchanged between several of his agents and a group of hooded individuals near the elevator. Between the alarm sounding above and the bullets ricocheting off the walls, he couldn’t hear himself think. He popped off multiple rounds from his handgun and quickly downed several of the assailants. As he reached around for another shot however, a bullet suddenly implanted itself in his chest.

  He gasped for air as he stumbled backward in shock. Blood spilled out onto the carpet where he lay, and it took every ounce of effort he had to continue breathing. His mind flashed images of his beautiful wife and daughter. His wife’s blonde hair shined brilliantly in the sunlight as they walked hand in hand along the shore of Santa Cruz beach. It was their honeymoon twenty years ago, and they were young and in love. His mind flashed forward four years to the birth of their only child. Melissa was a beautiful baby, and he remembered she was born with a layer of thick black hair on her tiny head. The hair shed after about a week, but it gave them the opportunity to capture some beautiful photos.

  His mind continued to flash memories of his little family as he rasped for breath. It was his daughter’s sixteenth birthday next week. He and his wife had planned the perfect party for her. He had reserved a wedding hall to use for a dance, and had hired decorators and a deejay. He had also arranged for a caterer to bring food from her favorite Italian restaurant. Though it would be expensive, he knew she was worth every penny.

  After several minutes of extreme agony, the bullets in the other room died down. A cloaked individual stepped around the corner with his gun drawn.

  “My, my.” he spoke menacingly, “What do we have here?”

  Commander Arlington struggled to focus, “Who… who are you?”

  The man removed his hood to reveal a shockingly familiar face.

  “Senator Davies.” he choked in horror, “What… what are you doing?”

  “I’m just following orders.” he cocked the pistol and aimed at the commander’s head, “Any last requests?”

  “Why? What…” he stammered in confusion.

  “Let me guess.” he flashed an evil grin, “Why would a Senator be involved with the Creed of Nephilim?”

  He took the commander’s silence as confirmation.

  “I think the real question should instead be: how did a member of the Creed become a U.S. Senator?” he tilted his head menacingly, “You see, I wouldn’t be in such a position of high prominence if it wasn’t for the help of the Creed.”

  Commander Arlington was unable to think rationally anymore, “But my daughter’s party…”

  “You’re not even listening to me, are you?” the senator huffed and cocked his pistol, “Don’t worry. I’ll see to it personally that your family receives my deepest condolences in regards to your untimely death.”

  Chapter Forty Five: Unexpected Visitor

  And God said: Restore the Earth which the Nephilim have ruined. And announce the restoration of the Earth. For I shall restore the Earth so that not all the sons of men shall be destroyed…

  – Methuselah 12:5 –

  Timur was watching the sunset from the balcony of his penthouse when Senator Davies arrived to deliver his report.

  “I trust the extraction went well?”

  “Without a hitch.” Senator Davies greeted him, “We were able to obtain the necessary codes to activate the machine.”

  “Excellent.”

  “And here’s something else that might interest you.” he pulled a laptop out of the bag on his hip, “Do you mind if I sit?”

  Timur nodded.

  Senator Davies booted up the laptop, and logged into the NSA’s GFID Nano-chip tracking software. He then slid the laptop toward Timur.

  “It seems that not only is a certain friend of ours still alive,” he smiled, “but she seems to be flying an unregistered aircraft in our direction.”

  Timur stared that the screen in shock.

  Abner was right. She survived!

  “Assemble the Creed.” Timur commanded, “Looks like we’ve got a woman and her dragon to catch.”

  Senator Davies looked alarmed, “She brought a dragon to Earth?!”

  “It would appear so, yes.”

  “How are we supposed to catch that?”

  “Get creative.”

  Chapter Forty Six: Motive Ascertained

  And it came to pass that I, Methuselah, the son of Enoch, returned to Earth, that the covenants of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he made with my father Enoch; that the prophet Noah should be of the fruit of his loins…

  – Methuselah 13:1 –

  Lily guided Tiamat as they flew northbound toward downtown Chicago. Two days had passed, and the sun was setting on the horizon as Lily and Tiamat flew high above the Chicago Skyway. She knew Commander Arlington had to have tracked her GFID Nano-chips by now, and was likely awaiting her arrival despite the late hour.

  As they approached the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building where the secret headquarters of her district of the National Security Agency (NSA) was hidden however, Lily’s eyes blurred and she saw a most disturbing sight. It was daytime in the vision, and nearly twenty cloaked men climbed out of the back of a large delivery truck and entered the building from the service entrance.

  “Take me down there.” Lily spoke with alarm, “I need to go inside.”

  I cannot go with thee. Thine entrances art too small. Where shall I await thy return?

  Lily’s eyes blurred again and the darkness of the night returned. She looked around for a moment and determined that there shouldn’t be many stragglers in the offices this late, so the parking garage should be a safe bet for Tiamat to hide.

  “Down there.” she pointed to the garage entrance.

  Tiamat snorted in reply and descended to the garage. Lily guided her to a set of stalls between a wall and a stairwell that would help conceal Tiamat from any potential stragglers still remaining in the Federal Building.

  “If anyone spots you, get out of here.”

  Yes, dear child.

  “Don’t worry. I shouldn’t be long.”

  Lily dismounted Tiamat and made her way to the garage elevator. Upon entering, she struggled to turn the ‘Fire Service’ keyhole past the ‘On’ slot using just her fingernails. Un
fortunately, the nail on her index finger snapped in the process, and now it throbbed as blood oozed out from underneath the jagged remains of her nail. With a considerable amount of effort, she was successfully able to get the retina scanner to pop out from the wall.

  Upon completing the scan, the elevator plummeted to the hidden subterranean offices of the NSA. When the elevator door opened, she was greeted by a horrifying sight. Bodies of NSA agents riddled with bullets lay crumpled to the floor, and the smell was nauseating. She stumbled through the graveyard of bodies in shock.

  “I’m too late…”

  Turning a corner she found Commander Arlington’s body lying in a heap. She stumbled to the ground and began vomiting violently without warning. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she knew without a doubt that Timur and his Creed were the culprits of this carnage.

  After several minutes she wiped her tears away. Her face was rigid, and her eyes were set. Timur had gone too far. These colleagues had been her friends, and arguably the closest thing to a family that she would ever have. Now they were all gone.

  “Timur will pay!” she seethed through gritted teeth.

  Rising to her feet she resolved to defeat Timur at whatever cost, even if it meant sacrificing her own life in the process. She ran past the strewn bodies and back into the elevator. Her nose burned from the smell of decaying flesh, and she was happy to breathe the stale air of the parking garage when the door finally opened. She rushed back to where she had left Tiamat, and was relieved to see that she hadn’t been spotted. Without realizing what she was doing, she found her arms wrapped around Tiamat’s torso and the tears began to flow freely.

  Pray tell, what is the matter?

  Tiamat paid careful attention as Lily’s recent memories flashed through her mind.

  Forgive me, but I understandeth not the images I doth see in thine recent memories.

  “They...” Lily continued to sob uncontrollably, “They’re all... they’re all dead.”

  Tiamat stood in silence as Lily’s breathing slowly returned to normal. After a few minutes Lily regained her composure again, and her eyes were set with a fierce determination.

  “Timur did this.” she spoke matter-of-factly, “And I suspect he’s the one who killed Jason Bridger too.”

  Over the past several days she had seen many visions of the past, and she had quickly figured out that in order to see these visions she had to be standing in the precise location where the event had once occurred.

  Together they left the garage and took off into the sky. Lily guided Tiamat toward Grant Park, knowing innately that she would find the answers she needed there.

  As they neared the park, Lily’s eyes blurred again as if on cue. It was still night in the vision, and cascading turrets of Buckingham Fountain glowed brilliantly.

  Art thither fish in danger?! They doth dance in fiery waters!

  “No.” Lily chucked, “First of all those are statues of dolphins and giant seahorses. They aren’t real fish. Second, that’s not fire. It’s light powered by electricity.”

  Pray tell, is this a form of Earth magic?

  “I guess you could put it that way, yes.”

  They touched down on the north side of the fountain just as Lily heard Jason’s voice approaching from the dark. She watched the vision play out as Jason walked briskly toward the fountain with his cell phone against his ear. He seemed jittery, and appeared not to have gotten any sleep that night. It was disturbing for Lily to know that she had rescued him from the headquarters of Motif Global Encryption just the night before.

  “Allan, this is Jason. I know we haven’t spoken in a long time, but I need your help. I’ve stumbled across some disturbing information that involves one of your firm’s clients. I need to speak with you in private immediately. As soon as you get this, meet me on the east side of Buckingham Fountain. There’s little time.”

  She watched Jason spin around with his concealed pistol cocked and ready, “Back off, old man!”

  “Ah,” Timur brandished a handgun of his own, “Not until you return what belongs to me.”

  “I’m not letting you get away with this.”

  “This scene is all too familiar.” Timur chuckled and cocked his handgun, “This is exactly how your colleague died.”

  Jason fired immediately, and Timur fell backwards. Lily watched in confusion as a strange greenish glow surrounded the body, and then it disappeared. From out of nowhere, Timur reappeared behind Jason and fired his weapon twice. Jason fell to his knees, clutching his wounds as blood pooled around him.

  Timur picked up the thumb drive that had fallen out of Jason’s hand and placed the tip of his handgun against Jason’s forehead.

  “As I said earlier, you indeed have very little time.” he sneered, “And I might add, your friend Allan has very little time as well.”

  Lily watched the scene in horror as he embedded another bullet in Jason’s skull.

  Timur then approached a park bench to the east of the fountain. As he curiously held up the small object he had picked up, Lily recognized it immediately. It was the mini R2D2 thumb drive that she saw plugged into Timur’s laptop several days ago when she came to present her morning report.

  “No wonder he was acting so strange that morning.” she shook her head in disgust as the vision faded and her eyes blurred once again.

  Timur still sat on the park bench, and the sky was turning a dark blue as sunlight was just barely beginning to peek over the horizon.

  “Jason?” Lily spun around in surprise when she heard Allan’s familiar voice approaching.

  Timur stood, “I’m afraid Jason won’t be joining us today.”

  “Mister Demyan?” Allan stammered, “I thought we were meeting in a few hours?”

  “I’m afraid we’ll have to postpone that.”

  Lily watched in horror as Timur raised his handgun, “No!”

  Allan threw up his hands and staggered backwards, “Wha...”

  “What else did Jason tell you?”

  “He didn’t... didn’t tell me... didn’t tell me anything.”

  “I don’t like people who lie to me.”

  “All he said... he said that one of my clients... you?”

  “That’s what I was afraid of.” Timur sighed heavily and aimed his handgun, “It’s a shame I have to kill you now.”

  “Wait!” Allan stammered too late as the bullet pierced his chest and his body was thrown violently to the concrete.

  Tears streamed down Lily’s cheeks as she realized to her horror that Allan had likely been dead for a week. Several days ago Commander Arlington had announced that Allan was their primary suspect for Jason’s murder because they had tracked Allan’s phone to the scene of the crime. Now she knew the truth. Timur had killed both of them, and had likely dragged Allan’s body away. She turned her eyes away and sobbed against Tiamat’s scaly chest.

  Alas, I doth understand. ‘twas thine companion and love interest. Thine sorrows are mine as well.

  Lily cringed as she heard several more bullets dislodge from Timur’s gun.

  “Impossible!” Timur shrieked.

  She heard Timur pop off several more rounds of bullets, followed by the audible click of unsuccessful attempts.

  Confused, she stopped sobbing and turned to face the scene again. To her surprise, Allan was sitting up on the concrete with a silver bubble of light surrounding him. Allan then opened his eyes as well, and the aura of light dissipated, sending the full round of spinning bullets clacking to the ground. Allan appeared to be breathing normally again, and somehow unwounded.

  “How is this even possible?” Lily stammered.

  Timur tossed the gun and raised one arm in the sky toward the rising sun and aimed the other at Allan. The green glow of his eyes burned brighter, and with a flash, a beam of white light burst from his extended fist. Lily watched in horror as Allan shrieked in pain with the searing of his flesh.

  But then an aura of silver light ballooned around Allan, sh
ielding him from the inferno blasting from Timur’s fist. Allan stopped screaming, and then Timur began to shriek in rage.

  The blinding light stopped flowing from Timur’s fist, and he instead raised both hands high in the air. Shadows all around them began to stretch and grow ominously. Several tentacles reached out from a shadow next to Allan and grabbed him by his ankles.

  Allan kicked and screamed in terror as the tentacles dragged him into the heart of the shadow. Seconds later, Timur disappeared.

  Lily’s eyes blurred and the vision faded from her mind. Tiamat faithfully stood by her side as she looked on at the police tape that cordoned off the section of sidewalk where the scene had taken place.

  “How did…” Lily shook her head in confusion, “What just happened?”

  Verily, I doth suspect this Allan art the Final Seraph. Only Seraphim have powers to avert death while they are commissioned as a Guardian.

  “You’re kidding.” Lily scoffed, “So you’re telling me that my boyfriend is supposed to somehow go up against Timur and save the world? I’m sorry, but I’m having an extremely difficult time imagining that.”

  Verily, but didst thou ever imagine that one day thou would become an Oracle and see visions of the past, present and future?

  “Okay. You have a valid point there.” she nodded, “We need to get to Timur’s penthouse. I need to see what’s on that thumb drive.”

  Lily mounted Tiamat’s saddle again, and they were airborne. Moments later they arrived on the balcony of Timur’s penthouse. Lily’s eyes blurred and she found herself enveloped in another vision. Dawn was breaking across the sky, and Timur sat at his patio table with the familiar thumb drive plugged into his laptop.

  A surveillance video was playing, and Lily leaned over to get a better view while still holding her left hand against Tiamat’s scaly chest. The video portrayed Timur aiming his gun at a man who Lily recognized almost immediately. It was NSA Agent Michael Thornton who had gone missing several years ago.