Children of the Apocalypse Complete Trilogy, page 49
part #1 of Children of the Apocalypse Series
I didn’t know if his words were true. As I stood here drinking a beer and celebrating releasing the Horsemen of the apocalypse. I was underage for drinking, and I had killed demons to get where I was. My mother hated killing anything. She condemned drinking, especially underage. All the times she lectured me about not drinking until I was twenty-one, all those times she rolled her eyes at violence in a movie and turned the news off at the mention of a murder…and here I stood.
I hadn’t thought about it much until now. I glanced out the window at the setting sun. I had enough time to go feed the horse before it completely sunk below the horizon.
I pushed away from the wall and put my beer on the table. Pete gave me a knowing nod, and I walked out of the house.
My dad stood a few yards away, watching something in a globe. Judging by the movements, I assumed it was something in the human world. He glanced over his shoulder and dismissed the orb with a wave of his hand.
“I’m just off to feed the horse. I don’t want to disturb your alone time.” I kept walking.
He didn’t say anything until I was right next to him. “Mary is bringing Katie back to earth. She was assigned as her guardian angel since the world is returning to normal.”
“Thanks for letting me know.” There was a small part of me that was relieved. “Mary needs something to focus on since Zacharia is gone.” I turned to face him. “Was that what you were watching in the globe?”
He hesitated for a moment, and I frowned. “You’re hiding something. You’ve been acting odd and closed off since we found Famine.”
“There’s a lot going on that you and the others don’t need to know about. Things that the Horsemen see and handle that weigh on us.”
I raised a brow. “Then tell us, if we’re supposed to replace you, hiding things isn’t going to help.”
“I can’t. My burden to carry, you’ll understand when you take my place.” He pulled me into a hug. “Go feed the horse and spend some time with her.”
I wrapped my arms around him for a moment and then pulled away. “Go catch up with your friends. It’s been a year.”
He chuckled. “It’s been longer than that; we don’t normally get together.”
“Why not?”
He grinned. “Because sometimes the mischief gets out of hand.”
I rolled my eyes and headed down to the stables. I noticed the wind had died down and the weeds didn’t dance as much as they normally did.
The horse was at the gate nudging it with her nose. I slowly approached her, holding my hand out with the palm facing down.
“Hey, girl.”
She nibbled on my hand before nudging it. I titled my head to the side and slowly ran my hand up the length of her muzzle. “Feeling especially friendly tonight are we?”
She nodded as if she understood. I bent down and picked up an apple on the hay pile and held it out in my hands. Her lips peeled back as she took the fruit out of my palm.
I stroked her neck. “See we can be friends, can’t we?”
She nudged my head, and I slowly wrapped an arm around her to hug her. “Next step, riding, eh?”
She whinnied, and it sounded more like a laugh.
“Oh don’t worry, I’ll wait a long while before we do that. I promise.” I put my head against her. “I’m just glad we’ve gotten this far.”
She took a few steps back, and I used the pitchfork to put a few slabs of hay in the corral for her. “I’m sure you’re hungry, you’re always running around.”
I watched her eat and then she pranced into the pasture and I went to sit on the fence to watch. She danced through the green grass, her white tail and mane dancing behind her, catching the fading light.
A smile crossed my face as my body relaxed. This was what quiet time was all about, just me, an empty mind and a happy horse.
34
Aeron came down at me with his sword, and I dodged, blocking his blade with the staff of my scythe. The clang of metal against metal echoed through the abandoned field we were using to spar.
“Remind me again why we’re down here and not in Death’s realm?” I panted a little, trying to catch my breath before another blow came.
Aeron turned and struck with his sword, almost hitting me in my midsection, I blocked it again and shoved him away.
“Because I’m trying to give you a break from all the drama that having the Horsemen around seems to have caused.”
It pleased me to hear him just as out of breath; it meant I was doing something right. After the fight with Greed, I still felt a little bit rusty, but Aeron was working on changing that.
He lunged forward, and I darted out of the way, hitting him in the back with the staff of my Scythe.
“That would have been first blood.” I bounced between my feet as he turned around.
He nodded and went to attack me again, but a dagger went flying between us. We paused and looked at each other. We knew exactly what the dagger meant. Sloth was nearby, and we needed to take care of him.
Aeron mouthed. “Go get them.”
I nodded and disappeared to Death’s realm. I didn’t want to leave him alone for too long. I didn’t waste any time to explain the situation I was in. “Sloth’s in the human world.”
All the Horsemen looked at me, and before they could respond, I took myself back to help Aeron out.
I appeared where he and I had been sparing and didn’t see him right off the bat. The first thought that came to me was that Sloth had managed to kill him. The second thought was the area was too quiet.
I could still feel the barrier in place, so I knew that I wasn’t the only one around. A whistling in the air told me that a dagger was heading toward me.
I ducked as the blade skimmed over my head. With Death back, we had to be careful about the blades, or there would be hell to pay. We had the antidote to Sloth’s poison, but there was no telling how much was on the daggers.
I wanted to call out for Aeron, but I knew better. If he was hiding, it was for a reason.
Sloth appeared in front of me. His torn, dirty clothes and uncut hair that hung in his face gave him the look of how I imagined the Sin would look.
“Little Death, Little Death, abandoned by the Son of War and with the way things look, you don’t have your back up.”
I couldn’t help but wonder why the others hadn’t shown up yet. They could have easily taken Sloth with all of them here
I twirled my scythe and motioned for him to come forward. I couldn’t take him alone, but I could at least keep him busy.
He tilted his head to the side and watched me. He wasn’t attacking which meant he was waiting for something.
From previous battles, I knew Sloth would take the easiest way out. I also knew better than to let him too close to me. If he waited much longer the Horsemen would be here, which would not be the path of least resistance.
His wrist flicked, and the dagger flew toward me. I blocked it with my scythe and watched him. He was playing with me, but why? He didn’t have any other Sins to back him up, and I was willing to bet that Lucile wasn’t going to come and save him.
“Little Death, all alone.” Sloth said again. “The Son of War has gone to get the others because they wouldn’t listen to you.”
I didn’t want to believe him, but I gave him no response.
He teetered between his feet. “You know, Little Death, you could just come with me. Do away with all this fighting. Don’t work against Lucile; there’s no point in it. You can’t defeat her.” His head tilted to the side. “Joining her would be the easiest thing you could do.”
“Not happening.” I lunged forward with my scythe and sliced down, but he disappeared, reappearing behind me.
I swung around and knocked him away before he could trap me or wound me with one of his daggers. He grunted at the force of the blow but flipped away before I could cause any real damage.
I growled and tried to follow him, but he seemed to disappear and re-appear within seconds of each movement, making it look like he was flickering in and out.
“Just imagine, Little Death, no one to lead, no need to feel guilty about who lives and dies because of your choices. Just follow Lucile blindly and then you’ll be free of these burdens you carry.”
I tried not to let his words get to me; it was like he’d been there for the conversation about me leading.
“You wouldn’t have to step into your Father’s place at all. You could just be Little Death forever.”
He appeared in front of me, and I swung my scythe around. He flickered in and out around the area and then popped in front of me, a dagger poised for my throat. “There’s no escaping a mortal wound now, Little Death.”
I jumped back, just as the tip of the dagger broke the skin. Hopefully, there wasn’t enough poison in it to affect me.
Where the hell were the Horsemen?
I wiped the drop of blood off my neck and watched Sloth. A wicked grin crossed his face, but Death and War appeared behind him, each grabbing an arm and disappearing.
I stood alone and let my scythe disappear. I felt the barrier fall. A sigh of relief left my lips. The last Sin. Now all we had to do was lock Lucile away, and all of this could be over. We could go back to whatever normal was now.
Aeron appeared next to me. “Sorry.”
“You left me against Sloth.” There was no anger in me. Something in me told me that the team was falling apart, but I knew that wasn’t true. Aeron was the son of War; if he left, he had a good reason for it.”
“I knew that when you returned and the Horsemen weren’t with you that I needed to go get them. Famine—”
“Thought that I shouldn’t be making the call.” I locked my jaw. “So what? They all listened to him and didn’t come?”
Aeron hesitated for a moment, and I turned to him. “What?”
“Famine wanted Pete to make the call, and Pete suggested we follow your lead for this battle, and that just caused an argument.”
I thought about what Sloth had said. I could just give in and have everything I wanted, the only thing it would cost me was my soul. And who knew what the consequences would be.
“What are you thinking about?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. I just feel like I’m being left out of the loop on a lot of things. Dad was acting weird last night, and Famine basically started an argument that left me to face Sloth alone.”
“Wishing for a simpler time?” He offered and laughed. “If only, Little Death, if only. Come on, let’s head back. I want to make sure Pete gives you a dose of the antidote in case there was some poison on the dagger. You held up pretty well.”
I shrugged. “Beats going up against Greed’s gold thread.”
“You didn’t freeze either,” he noted. “Getting back to normal.”
I shrugged and took myself back to Death’s realm. Aeron appeared next to me. Famine, Pete, Pest, and Kaleb were sitting at the table talking in low voices. They all stopped talking and looked up when I appeared.
I gave a tiny wave. “Sloth’s taken care of. Now we can start on Lucile.”
Famine opened his mouth, and I held up my hand. “Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m not leading the team anymore. It was a general statement.” I looked at Pete. “Oh fearless leader, Sloth nicked my neck.”
“On it.” He stood and disappeared down the hall.
I nailed Famine with a glare. “How am I supposed to trust you to have my back if you cause an argument when I’m dealing with a Sin?”
“You came out of it just fine. We were using you to draw Sloth out of hiding so that Death and War could grab him. We were up here watching the whole time. The Children wanted to go in and help you. Sloth was just toying with you, so I said it was fine to wait.”
I wasn’t sure if I could believe him or not with the odd vote of confidence. Pete came back with a small batch of antidote. “This should be enough. It doesn’t look like you’re infected at all.”
“Nope.” I took it from him and downed the nasty liquid. I didn’t take my eyes off Famine, trying to figure out what his intentions actually were.
Aeron clapped me on the shoulder. “Why don’t you rest up. I’ll brief the others on what happened, and we’ll meet back up after you’ve had a good nap.”
The antidote held one hell of a drowsy kick to it so I knew I’d need a nap, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to take it and miss something. No, certainly someone would wake me if something important went down.
Something crashing in the kitchen woke me. The rattling of plates and loud voices had me wondering if I woke up to a battle. A moment of relearning how to breath told me that there was just a heated discussion, and judging by the voices, it was just the Horsemen. Where were my fellow Children of the Apocalypse?
I threw on clothes and walked out into the kitchen to find the Horsemen sitting around the table. War’s hand pressed against the wood, dishes were upset, one rolling on the ground near my door. Aeron, Kaleb, and Pete were nowhere to be found.
I crossed my arms. “A disagreement?”
They all looked at me, the look on Famine’s face went from wide-eyed to narrow, and he pointed a finger at me. “Out, you don’t belong in this conversation.”
I raised my hands in the air. “You guys were the ones who woke me up. I was sleeping peacefully. Just point me in the direction of the others, and I’ll gladly get out of your way.”
“No, she needs to be here for this.” Death looked at me. “We’re discussing sealing Lucile.”
Dread filled me. “So why do I need to be here? The way I understood it, Pete was now leading us, and it had to be the Horsemen who seal Lucile.”
They all went quiet, and I nodded. “My point proven. Now, where are the others?”
“They are all in the human realm.” Famine motioned. “Now go, so that we can get this figured out.”
Dad put his hands on his hips. “She should be staying.”
I looked at him. “Let me just be me for a little while? No extra responsibility until I have to take it on?”
He pressed his lips together and his gaze swept around to the other Horsemen. “Fine, go enjoy some time with the others. We’ll call you back when we come to a conclusion.”
I closed my eyes and took myself to the human world. Kaleb was sitting on a bench looking over the empty lot where Aeron and Pete kicked around a soccer ball. I sat next to him. “So, we get kicked to the curb once the Horsemen are back in power?”
He laughed. “Something like that. They have their own way of doing things. Older ways. They don’t like the younger generation in their affairs, not right now anyway.”
“When we’re older and have more experience. I’m sure.” I crossed my arms and leaned back on the bench. “Looks like clean up here is going well.”
Kaleb looked around. “Has it changed much since your last visit?”
“This lot was still filled with rubble.”
“I’ll be happy when they get the Internet back up and going. It’ll be nice to have information at my fingertips again.” He gave a dramatic sigh. “I miss my tablet and technology.”
I swung my legs. “So you’ll be staying in the human world then?”
“Of course, most of us will be. It won’t be too hard for us to get established again, shed the old facade and take up a new one until we’re needed again.”
The soccer ball rolled over to me, and I stopped it with my foot. A life of being whoever and whatever I wanted had its appeal, and I could visit dad when I needed.
“I’m not as established as you guys are at this.” I sighed. “Hell if I know what I’m going to do.”
Pete jogged over and motioned for me to kick the ball. I stood and kicked it towards him, but Aeron jumped in front and dribbled the ball away.
“Just keep your eyes open to your options. We’d love to have you here with us. Where ever we end up at.” Kaleb stood and stretched. “Now that you’re here, we can play two on two.”
I shook my head. “Oh no, field hockey was bad enough.”
“If you’re going to hang with us, you’re going to learn how to play,” Aeron called from the other side of the lot, his foot on top of the soccer ball.
I jogged onto the field with Kaleb behind me. Aeron passed me the ball with the side of his foot. I stopped it and passed it to Kaleb, it hit a rock and bounced into the air. I caught it, and we all turned to the west when we heard laughter.
Mary stood there with Katie, both holding their hands over their mouth laughing. I tucked the ball under my arm. “Oh come on now it wasn’t that funny.”
“Have you never just kicked a soccer ball around?” Mary walked over to us with Katie with her.
I shook my head. “You should have seen me trying to play field hockey a few months ago. My mother wasn’t big on letting me play sports. She was afraid I’d get hurt. She was content with me sitting on the couch and reading books.”
“Well, in that case, let’s educate you.” Katie grabbed the ball from me and tossed it back into the field.
For the first time in a year, my heart lifted, and joy filled me. Kicking around a simple ball with friends old and new told me that I belonged in the human world. I could figure life out with them in this crazy world.
I jumped to catch the ball as it went over my head. My fingers grazed it, but big hands caught it. I turned around to see War standing behind me.
“Holy hell, who are they.” Katie’s eyes were wide, and she stepped to my side as Mary moved in front of her.
“Mary, we need to talk to the prophet.” My dad stepped up, and I had to make sure I didn’t step in front of Katie as well. It was Mary’s job to protect her, not mine. I wasn’t sure why I had the urge to protect her against the Horsemen. It wasn’t like I could do a whole lot against them.
“She’s untrained, Death. She’s not ready to serve you or anyone at this point.” Mary summoned a staff.
I knew the determined look on her face. The creased brow, the pressed lips, and narrowed eyes, it was the one Ruthie wore when she was prepared to protect me.
