The New Horsemen

by Nikolai Swartz

  “Why did you leave him all alone…?” she shoved him with both hands, but the difference in weight caused her to take a step back.

  “The main priority was to get you to safety”

  “… and now he’s dead and you could have saved him”

  Suddenly the tears began flowing from her eyes. She couldn’t hold back.

  “I’m sorry…” was all he managed to say before the door opened. Her parents were standing before her with teary eyes. They leaped at her with prolonged hugs and laughs mixed with weeps, before leading her into the house by her arms.

  She managed to steal a glance back before her dad closed the door… but Warren was gone.

  CHAPTER 22 – STEP UP

  Warren walked into the Hall of Fate, with the sisters floating gracefully at the other end. AS expected, Charon was floating calmly by their side.

  “H-How is this possible?” Charon exclaimed, watching as War approached them.

  “His power became a need… so he claimed it back” the sisters responded, “… and being the rightful heir to the Rider War, they were his to claim”

  “This is against the rules…” Charon protested.

  “The riders are not confined to rules…” the sisters spoke in unison, “That was part of their creation…” they turned their attention to Warren, who had now stopped just a few feet ahead of them at the foot of the steps, “… speak, rider”

  “I am here to challenge Justice to a dual…”

  “That is insanity…” Charon responded, “You do not stand a chance against him… it would be suicide”

  “Without me…” Warren spoke, “… the world does not stand a chance against him. You know as well as I do that no amount of firepower can stop him”

  “All the more reason for you to delay this, and for me train you further” Charon responded, “You are not ready for this”

  “I am not ready…” War agreed coldly, “I am prepared”

  “For death?”

  “For a fight” War quickly inserted, “Justice is getting impatient… I can feel it. Who knows what he might do next. Look at the lengths that he went through to get Conquest to come to him. I will not let my brothers’ deaths by in vain. Let me face him. One of One.”

  “You know that this is a battle that you cannot win” the sisters spoke carefully

  “Yes…” War replied respectfully, “But me not trying is just as bad”

  “What if Justice wins?” Charon replied

  “Then the rest of mankind will suffer the consequences” Warren replied with more confidence than ever before. This was outside his comfort zone. He was not use to volunteering for things… especially not anything that could cause him serious bodily harm. Yet, here he was, in his full suit of armour. The red seemed to glisten in the low light of the chamber. His focused glare did not leave the sisters as the silence fell across the room.

  “Then…” the sisters finally spoke, “if you understand the consequences of this choice, then so it shall be done. The challenge has been extended to Justice” they spoke together as they always did, “You shall meet after dark, when the streets fall silent to minimalize casualties”

  “I assume this is tomorrow night?”

  “Correct…” they answered, “In the meantime, we shall prepare for your possible defeat…”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence”

  “Your defeat is still a possibility and we shall do what is needed for the continued wellbeing of mankind”

  “Trust me…” Warren responded confidently as he walked away, “You will see me again”

  CHAPTER 23 – THIS COULD BE THE END

  Warren climbed up to Kimberley’s window. Something that he had done so many times before, yet this time it felt different! He feared what she would say, now that she knew what he was, yet he felt relieved that he no longer had to hide anything from her.

  He reached the landing with a happy sigh, but was reminded of everything when he saw her sitting on her bed with her back against the wall. He arms lassoed around her knees and her chin resting on her forearms.

  He watched her through the window just long enough for his armour to disperse into the wind in the form of dust particles.

  With a vastly different sigh from the one he released just moments before, he tapped lightly on her window, trying not to startle her. She stared at him through the glass for a moment with an unchanged expression.

  “Hi…” he said when she finally opened the window for him. He thought that she’d be too upset to even let him in, but was pleasantly surprised when she stepped aside, allowing him to leap into her room.

  “What do you want?” She demanded as she closed the window behind him.

  “Just to say that I’m sorry…” he said, “I should have told you the truth from the beginning… but you would have thought that I’m crazy… and possibly never speak to me again”

  She went back round her bed and sat in the corner again with her arms wrapped around her knees once more. This gave her a full audience of the room, allowing her to watch his every move as he walked around.

  “At least say something…” He pleaded, “… anything that could at least let me know how you’re feeling”

  “Well…” she spoke, “Everything has kinda been thrown into a tailspin. Things that I couldn’t possibly have imagined to be true, is now a part of my life”

  “I could imagine that this is a lot to take in at moment” he tried to ease her, “… it wasn’t too long ago that I felt the same way”

  “Is there anything else I should know of…” She requested, “… is half the school a horde of vampires just waiting for me to let my guard down?”

  “That’s not possible, as they are all at school during the day”

  She giggled slightly, but returned to her sober expression, seemingly upset that she laughed, “How did none of this freak you out?”

  “It did at first…” realising that she was no longer upset, he decided that it was now safe to sit down beside her, “We freaked out… in fact, we thought that Faith was insane… but then we saw her get killed… she was attacked by the guy that kidnapped you”

  “Justice; right”

  “Yes…” he confirmed, “We would later find out his name, but at that time, he was just a very scary man that killed Faith. We kinda hoped the next day that it would all be a dream and that the whole thing would simply blow over… but it didn’t”

  “So what changed…?” she probed, “What made you just accept it?”

  “Forcefully, I guess” he said, “Seth accepted it along the way, and then he took me and Victor to see the Moira Sisters”

  “Who…?”

  “The sisters…” Warren couldn’t remember if he had mentioned them to her, but her facial expression answered the question, “They are the Fates of Mythology. I guess they are also real.” He added, but more for himself then for her. He just realised how easily he had accepted everything, “At this point so much had happened to us that we didn’t bother to question their existence… we just accepted it. In mythology, they are said to control the fate of everyone on earth, including the gods. I’m sure you’ve seen the images of the three sisters, who control the threads of life”

  “Oh…” she responded, “I’ve seen them in movies and stuff…”

  “Yes…” he answered, “They actually exist! I guess you could say that they are our bosses. They gave us the Horsemen abilities”

  “Why, though?”

  “I don’t know exactly…” he explained, “They tell us that we are the reincarnations of the horsemen, but that’s just what they tell us.”

  “So, what happens now?”

  “Now…?” he said, “… now I am on my own. I am his last target.”

  “Do you think you could defeat him…?”

  “No…” he responded honestly, “… but I have to still try”

  “Wait…” she interrupted, “… what do you mean by still have to try?”

>   Warren hesitated. He contemplated whether or not to tell her the truth or not.

  “We can run...” he said, “… get away from here. We can find a place to hide.”

  “I can’t hide” he said, “No matter where I go, he can find me. Even in the middle of the ocean, he can find me. There is a link between the horsemen, that forever has us to linked to one another… so I can never escape. I have two options; fight him or spend the rest of my life running away from him

  And even if I decided to run from him, he will just threaten to kill people until I face him… I cannot allow that. I need to face him.

  I’m sorry… I know that’s not what you wanted to hear, but that’s the truth”

  “I guess I understand…” she replied, “at least as well as I am ever going to understand”

  “I just wanted to come by and see you one last time before I go off and face Justice”

  “When…?”

  “Tomorrow…”

  They watched each other for a moment…he wished with all his might that he could see what she was thinking at that very moment. Her eyes were still glistening with tears. At that moment, Warren forgot everything. Everything from school to the crazed immortal murderer that was waiting for him… in that exact moment, nothing else mattered.

  Kimberly eventually broke the stare, “You know, something has been bothering me for a while now”

  “Yes…” Warren responded, silently cursing himself for not taking advantage of the moment.

  “A few weeks ago…” she continued, wiping away a tear with her sleeve, “… there was a day where you bumped into me and knocked me over. You looked very worried. What were you worried about? Or did you bump into me intentionally?”

  “Would it be a problem if it was intentional?”

  “Yes…” she laughed, “It would mean that you dirtied by clothes intentionally”

  Warren laughed in response, “I think I remember that day…” he said, sitting back, “It was the day after Faith was killed. I was feeling very nervous, and I think something was following me”

  CHAPTER 24 – ANOTHER OPTION

  Warren outside Kimberly’s house, taking one more moment to stare up at her window, hoping that she was still asleep. Hoping that he hadn’t woken her up when he snuck out the window. Hoping that when he jumped from the small landing outside of her window, that the thump when he hit the ground didn’t wake her or her family up. But most of all, he was hoping that he would get a chance to climb up to her window again; that he would get a chance to knock on her window once more; that he would get to see her again.

  His horse appeared from the ground behind him and neighed calmly.

  He leapt onto his horse and rode off down the street, fighting every temptation he had to look back.

  He reached his house, with the sun starting to peep out from behind the city skyline.

  Warren stood in front of his desk. The curtains in front of the window waved with the cool morning breeze. The walls around his curtains were still blackened and charred. Warren looked down at the armour that had formed on the table in front of him. He looked at the armour, remembering the training that he had with Conquest and Death.

  He swatted one of the bracers off of the table and turned to walk away, but found himself face-to-face with Charon.

  “The Sisters wish to speak with you…” he said calmly

  “I don’t have the time…” Warren said calmly and pushed passed the floating man.

  “Well, you don’t have the choice either…” Charon grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him to turn around, but by the time that Warren turned to Charon, they were standing in the Chamber of Fate.

  “You really need to stop doing that…” Warren commented, as he followed the floating the being, “It’s really disorienting. Could give someone a heart attack or something”

  “Rider…” the sisters spoke.

  Warren stopped and watched them as Charon floated to their side.

  “We have spoken with Tarturus” the sisters continued in unison

  “Luckily for you and the mankind…” Charon interrupted before the sisters could say anything further, “… Tarturus enjoys making deals”

  “He is willing to give you back your brothers…” the sisters continued

  “No…” Warren responded

  “How dare you refuse?” Charon cried out before the sisters could respond and floated at the horseman.

  “I know this kind of thing…” Warren explained, “I have dealt with bullies my entire life. If he is giving me something this good, it means that he wants something even bigger in return”

  “Well…” Charon responded, “… The fates have convinced him to trade your brothers in exchange for a single soul”

  “Still sounds too good to be true, but you have my attention” Warren watched the sisters carefully, waiting for the catch.

  “Tartarus will trade the souls of the other riders in exchange for the soul of one mortal…” they continued

  “Why would Tartarus do something like that?” Warren asked, “You would think that having three of the Four Horsemen would be great”

  “No…” the sisters spoke in unison, “The only souls more valuable than all four the horsemen put together is a sacrificed soul.”

  “Okay” Warren spoke calmly, “But who’s soul does he want?”

  “That is where the problem lies…” Charon replied, floating toward Warren, and then began slowly floating around him in a circle, “He had requested the soul of Kimberly Anne Kurban”

  “What…?” Warren exclaimed, “No…”

  “The fate of all of humanity lies in your hands” Charon continued, “But this choice has to be made by you”

  “Yes…” Warren responded, raising his voice to match that of Charon, “But I will not be the one to decide hers. I will face Justice and I will defeat him”

  War walked out the room, ignoring an outraged Charon calling behind him.

  CHAPTER 25 – WHEN THE MAN COMES AROUND

  Warren sat atop his horse in front of Kimberly’s house. He couldn’t believe that the Moira Sisters would even suggest such a ridiculous option. How could he be expected to make a decision like that?

  The horse reared with a neigh and took off into the darkness of the night.

  War’s horse marched through the quiet streets. He couldn’t hear a single sound other than the sound of the hooves of his charger. He looked back and forth, trying to find his challenger, but all that he found was a few homeless people stepping out of their shadows to stare at him. He half wished that he had taken the time to learn how to make himself invisible to all the people.

  Warren was starting to give up when he heard a window break a few floors up the nearby skyscraper. He looked up just in time to see Justice flying at him, surrounded by shards of glass flickering like pixy dust. Warren dove into a roll, missing the blade of his attacker by inches, but his horse was not as fortunate. The blade caused the horse to explode into a billions of pieces of dust that divided the two men.

  Warren only had half a second to regain his footing when he noticed Justice launching himself at him. He raised his arm. The dust particles floated toward his hand with haste, forming his sword just in time to meet the downward lash from Justice.

  “I was starting to think that you wouldn’t show up…” Justice said as their swords locked.

  Deciding to remain silent, Warren flicked his blade, forcing them apart. He swung wildly, but Justice was prepared. He flicked the attack away with his own sword, and sliced the young horseman across the arm.

  Grunting heavily, Warren stepped back and grabbed at the wound. Frustrated, War launched himself at Justice and the two began matching attacks. Slice after slice, was met with the opponent’s blade. Every jab was avoided by the other.

  Without warning, Justice delivered a big right hook to War. The impact of which sent him stumbling back. Using the distance to his advantage, Justice planted his blade in the ground and
used that elevation to launch himself at Warren feet first. His right foot hit the red horseman square on the metal breastplate. The impact of which bent the metal, to the imprint of the steel boot.

  Warren stumbled back, and only had enough time to raise his blade to block another attack from Justice with a Horizontal blade. This time the impact forced him into a crouching stumble. He rolled to the side to avoid another downward slash from Justice; the strike being strong enough to lodge the blade into the concrete, sending pieces of asphalt flying in all directions.