Sacrifice (Revelations Book 1)

by Mia Bishop

  The rider on the white horse held a bow, she kept a black arrow notched as she scanned the battle field. Her blond hair whipped wildly in the breeze. On her back was a brass quiver. Even in the low ambient light of the flames Abby could see it’s brilliant color. The red rider reached back to grip the hilt of the giant sword strapped to his back as his blood-colored steed whinnied and pawed at the ground. His features were sharp and dark giving the distinct impression that no one, not even an immortal, should dare challenge him. Next in the procession was the Black Rider. She was stunning with long black hair, shiny armor, and a pair of golden scales gripped in her right hand. When the earth trembled once more the last Rider came into full view on his pale horse. Unlike the others he wore a full helm to cover his head, he carried a scythe that looked too large to actually wield and a pack of wild beasts surrounded his mount.

  No one stood in their way as if the four Horsemen had willed everyone to let them pass. Abby ground her teeth and clenched her fists. They couldn't just get away, they had to be stopped. She started to move but someone gripped her shoulder. Both Nico and Abby spun around to see Jack standing behind them.

  He kept his voice low. "Don't go after them."

  "But why not?" She demanded.

  Jack cast a glance at the Horsemen and then back to Abby. "That's what they want. They want to lure you out and keep you from closing the Gate. If it closes before the full army can emerge then they’re stuck with only the troops they have here right now. You have to close the Gate, don't take the bait."

  Abby's cheeks grew hot. The words left unspoken were don't take the bait like last time. Don't get us all killed like you got Lucas killed.

  Jack shook his head. "You know I would never think or say that, Abby."

  She cursed. "Stop reading my mind." An instant flood of guilt hit her, if she hadn't taken the bait and gotten Lucas killed than Chloe wouldn't have killed herself and none of this would be happening.

  Jack paled. "What did you just...Chloe killed herself?" He looked as if he'd walked over his own grave. "No."

  Now she felt even worse, she should have known he'd still be in her head. "Jack, I'm sorry."

  "No, it's not true. Chloe isn't dead, she wouldn't take her own life no matter what." He wiped his hand over his face after taking a few deep breaths. "Just stay here and get the Gate closed as soon as they are gone."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "I'm gonna say hello to some old friends."

  Nico reached out and grabbed Jack's arm before he could leave. "How do we close the Gate?"

  "You’ll figure it out. Just look inside yourself."

  "Cut the fortune teller bullshit and just tell us how to do it."

  "Can't, brother. Them's the rules. You'll figure it out. Just go when it's clear." Without another word he stepped out onto the path in front of the horsemen. "Kruger, Diana, Cassius, Nona. Long time no see."

  The Black Rider spoke as she nudged her way to the front of the line. Her beauty faded like a mask being melted away until her face was pale with black eyes and an oozing pattern tattooed on her face that made it look like her eyes, nose, and mouth were bleeding black blood. "John the Prophet," her tone was flat, "Shouldn't you be enjoying your eternal slumber in heaven?"

  "You know I was denied."

  She cackled. "Oh yes, that's right. You defied your maker and for what, an empty vessel? Tell us, Prophet, was she worth it?"

  Jack was shaking, but his voice stayed calm, "Yes."

  "Well, then, what a pity for you that she's gone."

  He sucked in a sharp breath. "How did you know that?"

  "Oh, old friend, I know many things."

  Jack shook his head. "Why are you here, Diana?"

  "To share my gifts with the world, John of Patmos. Why are you here?"

  "To stop you."

  The Pale Rider moved his horse a step closer. He removed his helmet and to Abby's shock the man was identical to Jack. Handsome and rugged, but his eyes were black and his voice made the earth rumble. "You cannot stop us, brother. I don't have time for your distractions tonight, but I promise you this, you will die by the end of this war."

  "Then what are you waiting for, Kruger? Kill me and end it now."

  "It’s not your time," the White Rider chimed in.

  "Oh shut up, Nona."

  The woman sneered at him. She changed from beautiful and radiant to a living nightmare before their eyes. The small amounts of skin exposed by her armor started rotting and sores began to puss and ooze all over her face. Even her smile was putrid; her cracked and blistered lips bled as they curled up in a Cheshire Cat grin. "Bitter, John? Or do we call you Jack now?"

  "It’s Jack now, you sickness-infested bitch." He turned back to his brother and narrowed his eyes. "If you aren't going to kill me then what's keeping you on this side of the Gate?"

  "Like Famine said, we aren't here for you... Yet. We are here to bless this world with our gifts."

  Abby bristled. What did that even mean? Without another word all four horsemen kicked their horses and took off in a thunderous rush. Diana, Famine headed south. Kruger and his pack of wild animals, who Abby fingered as Death from the rot that seemed to follow his trail headed north. The other female Nona, Pestilence, and her horse took off towards the west. And lastly the silent man who had to be Cassius, aka the horseman of War, went east.

  Without Jack having to give any direction, the factions started to split in hot pursuit of the Horsemen. Now was Abby's chance. She took off towards the opening of the Gate in a dead run, racking her brain trying to figure out just how she was going to close the entrance to Hell.

  Abby was only a football fields’ length from the gaping maw of the Gate, she could hear Nico right behind her thanks to demons sprouting up along the way and slowing her down. They were so close. Their goal was almost reachable. She had to do this, she had to figure out how to close the damn Gate and save everyone she cared about. Still nothing was coming to mind. The Gates were made of stone and had to be at least thirty feet high, god only knew how thick they were. Clearly just pushing them closed wasn't going to do the trick.

  "Any ideas, Nico?" she shouted.

  She heard a brief grumble in response that she took to mean no. They kept running, closing in on their goal. Halfway there another tremor hit. Nico shouted something but Abby couldn't hear anything over the roar that was coming from the other side of the Gate.

  Fireballs rained down from the heavens. Scorching the earth and setting anything they touched ablaze. Screams echoed from the town. The demons were making their way further from the cemetery. Abby’s stomach clinched. She had to stop this.

  Nico caught up to her. He brought his finger to his mouth to shush her and pointed toward the entrance. Something new was coming out, something big. She gave an exasperated sigh. “What now?” Her words trailed off, she blinked trying to make out what or who it was. The fires of Hell lit up the backdrop and slowly another creature emerged. This one bigger than any of the Horsemen. A single, solitary man.

  No, it wasn't a man, it was a beast. It stood taller than any human she’d ever seen. Given the distance and his size she guessed he’d have to be close to nine feet tall. As he came into full view Abby gasped. His height was the least of her concerns. She expected something human looking by the shape of his silhouette, but his horrific form was more like something from a nightmare. Ten large horns jutted out from its lion-like head, with legs of a goat that seemed to spark when each hoof struck the ground like the horses that came out before him. The fire glowing in the entrance wasn't so much around him as it was radiating from him.

  She swallowed hard, the smell of sulfur stung her nose and she had to remind herself there was no need to breathe. Nico, on the other hand was having a harder time of it. He was gagging and coughing as his eyes watered.

  "How is this even possible?” Abby whispered to herself.

  Jack approached the Beast head on. He didn't seem surprised or rattled to see
the monster. His arm stretched back to his shoulder with his hand resting on the butt of a rifle that was holstered on his back, but he made no attempt to hide it. "Go back in your hole, Gregor. It's not your time."

  "Mortal time means nothing to me."

  "You can't win, go back and tell your master this ends now."

  "I can't win..." he paused for a moment, "And yet, it feels like I am already winning. You can't kill me until I gain a mortal shell. And that's not all I have up my sleeve."

  Abby rolled her eyes and she was pretty sure Jack did the same, but he kept his cool. "I'm not taking your bait." He pulled the rifle off his back and took aim.

  The Beast roared. "John the Ageless is going to kill me with a mortal weapon? How quaint." His voice lowered, "You know it won't work, don't bother with this dog and pony show for your followers. They might still respect you if you turn tail and run right now."

  Jack cocked the rifle and gave the slightest sideways glance to Abby. She knew what he was saying. Now is the time to do whatever it was she had to do to close that Gate.

  The Beast taunted Jack. "The first four seals have already been broken. Would you really sacrifice yourself for these people? Even knowing that the Horsemen are unleashed and the end of days has started?"

  From their hidden place in the tree line Abby leaned in closer listening to the Beast. Sacrifice. Abby's eyes widened. She turned to Nico. "I know how to close the Gate."

  "How?"

  She didn't answer, instead she pulled him closer and kissed him hard. Deepening the kiss, drawing him in so that this moment would never leave him and it would be her last memory to carry her into the afterlife.

  As soon as she broke the kiss Nico reached for her and shouted, "No!"

  Her saving grace was that she was faster than him. Abby could make it before he had a chance to catch up, nothing would stop her. Not even the Beast who’d snapped his head in her direction at Nico’s protest. He slowly turned in pursuit, but a deafening shot echoed through the air followed by the sound of the giant falling. The Beast roared in pain as Abby heard Jack fire again. The ex-Prophet whistled and called out, “This won’t hold him for long.”

  As soon as she reached the opening she skidded to a halt. What she thought was a path on the other side was nothing more than a sheer drop. She would have to jump into the flames of Hell.

  Taking a deep breath, she shook her hands a couple times to give herself an extra dose of courage. "I can do this." She repeated the mantra a few times as she stepped back. As soon as she took her final step to jump she saw Nico from the corner of her eye. She tried to react, but he was quicker than she'd expected. He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her back from the ledge. "No you don't, Abby. You aren't leaving me again."

  "Nico, I have to. It's how we shut the Gate."

  "No. I refuse to accept that. It's not your sacrifice because it wasn't your mistake."

  She blinked. If it wasn't Abby who had to sacrifice herself than who? Her eyes widened, he was moving closer to the pit. "Nico, step away from the edge."

  "I have to. It's my atonement. I killed you. I opened the Gates. This isn't your burden to bear. You are an angel." He glanced over the edge into the pit and slid his foot closer before looking back up. "I’m the monster."

  She wasn't sure what to say or do. All she knew was she wanted it to stop, all of this mess. "Please, Nico." Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. "Don't leave me. We can go together."

  “Don’t say that. I can feel it in my soul. This is what I was destined for. Everything will be alright.” He shook his head. "Don't cry, Abby. You don't belong in a place like that."

  "I don't belong anywhere without you."

  He smiled. It made her heart break. He was leaving her, but not if she could stop him. She started toward him when something flashed in her peripheral vision. A blur of motion hit Nico and sent him tumbling into the pit. Abby screamed and rushed to the side, but Jack came up behind her and pulled her back. She was able to make out Rosa slashing and stabbing at Nico as they both plummeted into the fiery abyss.

  “Nico!” Abby’s entire body shook. She wanted to scream. Maybe she was screaming and just couldn’t hear it over the pounding drum beat in her ears. “No.” The word sprang out a dozen times with every tug Jack used to get her further and further away from the edge.

  “I’m sorry, Abby. He did what he was meant to do.”

  She looked up horrified at the still open Gates. “But they aren’t closing. His sacrifice was for nothing. Why isn’t it working? Where’s the Beast?”

  “I couldn’t hold him, he escaped. He’ll try to make his way as far from the battle as possible before he takes human form. He’s vulnerable when that happens, he’ll be killable.”

  “Nico died for nothing. The Beast is here, the Horsemen have fled.” She sunk to her knees. Tears refused to fall as numbness settled deep in her soul.

  “He didn’t die for nothing. We still have to fight, Abby.”

  Nothing made sense anymore. None of it. And life without Nico sounded less appealing than living a life stuck in hell. Her shoulders sagged. “I’m done,” she whispered.

  Jack shook her by the shoulders. “You’re giving up? After all of this?”

  “Yes, without Nico,” her voice broke off as the church bells started to chime. Lucas was already buried so the only reason the bells would chime now is if the town was completely under siege and the humans were taking refuge there. Something inside of her sparked to life. Her eyes wide but still full of tears. “This was Nico’s calling, he is supposed to protect them.”

  “And he did protect them.”

  “But he’s gone now.”

  Jack wore a stoic mask but couldn’t cover the sympathy in his eyes. “Everyone has to leave us at some point, Abby. Otherwise we’d never find the strength inside ourselves to keep fighting.”

  She buried her head in her hands. “I don’t want to keep fighting.”

  “Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do, because the needs of others outweigh our own wants.”

  Another round of bells ringing and screaming came from the church. She didn’t want to care about those people, she wanted to curl up at the entrance to Hell and die. Nico was gone and he had been her rock. He’d convinced her she wasn’t a monster and she could control herself. But there was a tug inside her, something buried underneath the grief that said Keep fighting. She wiped at the tears still falling down her cheeks and looked up at Jack. “They need us, don’t they?”

  “Yes.” Jack nodded.

  She could see the sorrow in his eyes, she could feel his anguish, but she could also sense his resolve. Even without Chloe he would still fight for these people. Maybe she should too. She leveled her shoulders and pushed her hair out of her face. “Nico wouldn’t want me to stop fighting.” Jack nodded again but didn’t say anything. She pulled out her blades she’d tucked away during her run to the Gate and steeled herself. “Let’s go.”

  “You’re back in?”

  “I’m back in. All the way. We kill them or we die trying.”

  She vaguely heard him reply, “That’s what I like to hear.” She was already yards ahead of him. Saving those people and protecting her town was all that mattered now.

  The church was packed. Virtues and Personifications consoled the frightened people taking refuge. The Striga had gathered there as well, while allies like the vampires who accompanied Alexander were noticeably absent. Arveda stood at the make-shift podium with Hannah to her right. Jack nodded his head towards them and started to lead Abby through the masses. She stared in shock at how many people were crammed in the church.

  She’d never thought about how many people actually lived in Dusk. Since she only came out at night she’d only seen the people who frequented the bar and the Striga. Here were families; men, women, and children huddled inside a run-down church looking for their savior. Their savior had been Nico although she was fairly certain most of them didn’t know it.
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br />   Someone caught her eye and she paused. It was the man she’d danced with at the bar, the one who thought of Nico as an old drunk. She bristled. Nico was gone. He sacrificed himself to try to save these people and they would never know that he’d spent his nights risking his life for them. She wanted to lash out at Jake, rail against him and take her anger out on someone. But he was no longer the young oil field worker full of bravado and bluster. He stood with his shoulders slumped, worry clouded his face. His eyes no longer glowed with youthful exuberance, they were frightened and hallow. Deep lines etched his face and purple bags of fatigue settled under his tired eyes.

  She couldn’t fault him for his cowardice, and lashing out wouldn’t help. He was one of the people she would protect. Just as Nico had. She could mourn later, just like Jack would, but for now she had to be strong. Strong for Nico, strong for Chloe, strong for her town and its people.

  Jack finally got through the crowd and approached Arveda with Abby close behind. Arveda gave them both a somber look. She bowed her head and whispered. “I know of your loss, I’m sorry.”

  Again her anger flared, but it was quickly resolved. Later she could tangle words with Arveda. She gave a slight bow of her head. “Thank you. What is our next move?”

  The elder Striga tapped the mic. “Excuse me, settle down.” The crowd fell into an instant silence. “You all know what is happening. There are demons and monsters attacking your homes, threatening your children, but deep down you all knew this was coming.”