Alan Price and the Horsemen of the Apocalypse

by Jonathan Yanez

  Raphael gave her a disapproving look. “That is impressive, Gideon, and I’m sure we’ll find a power source for you when the time comes. Now, however, is not the time. We need to know if the collars you fashioned to inhibit the use of supernatural gifts can be calibrated to be turned on and off remotely.”

  “Curious,” Gideon said, stroking his white beard. “The question here isn’t if I can create a remote to turn on and off the device. I can do that easy enough. What I need to find out is, if when the collar is off and Gabriel has his powers, how to keep the collar from being destroyed if he so chooses.”

  Danielle took a step back and even Raphael started at the mention of the fallen Archangel’s name. Neither one of them had even hinted as to who they wanted the collar for. Gideon took in their expressions with a twinkle in his eyes. “I may be a mad inventor, but I’m intuitive as well. You do realize the uproar this will cause if I’m able to provide you with a solution.”

  “I am well aware,” Raphael said. “I refuse to believe Gabriel is past saving.”

  “But you still want to make sure you can turn him off if he is, is that right?”

  “If I’m wrong, I can’t risk the lives of other innocent angels and demons on my gambit.”

  “Fair enough,” Gideon said, motioning the two to follow him to his workbench alongside the far wall of his workroom. “I’ll tell you right now, I don’t think even celestial metal would survive the onslaught from Gabriel if he chose to melt it from his neck. His use of fire would destroy the collar long before you were remotely able to turn it on.”

  Danielle’s heart sank at the news. Their plan had seemed like a good compromise to both Gabriel and those who would believe he didn’t deserve another chance.

  “But …” Gideon said, reaching his desk and clearing a spot to work. He pushed away tools, books, and half-finished projects Danielle could only guess at. One item looked like a large gem, another like some kind of wand, and a book that was open to a picture of dragons. “I may be able to set the collar to self-destruct if tampered with.”

  “Wait,” Danielle said, surprised at the shock she felt at Gideon’s words. “We don’t want to kill Gabriel.”

  Gideon was already tampering with a dark grey collar and a remote on his desk. “I don’t want to kill him either,” Gideon said, “but unless you can think of another option, there’s no way to guarantee we can control him. Once the collar is off and he has full use of his powers, he’ll be able to rip the collar apart. If there is a charge in the collar set to detonate if the collar is tampered with, he won’t be so willing to recant on his word.”

  Danielle looked from Gideon to Raphael. Her internal moral compass was spinning as she was faced with questions she never thought she had to answer.

  “I think Gideon is right,” Raphael said. “We can only do our part to give him another chance. He’ll have to choose to follow through on his word.”

  “Or else we kill him?” Danielle asked.

  “Or else he’ll kill himself,” Raphael said. “It’s a temporary solution until he can prove he’s changed or at least until this conflict is over and we can have a trial for him. Who knows, if he helps and we survive this, maybe his action in the fight will provide him with a more favorable sentence.”

  Danielle grew silent as she watched Gabriel continue to tinker with the collar and remote. The last person she wanted to defend was Gabriel, but still, having someone walking around with a collar ready to detonate seemed wrong on a variety of different levels.

  “There,” Gideon said. He lifted the collar for both Raphael and Danielle to see. A green light lit the middle of the collar. “Green means he’s harmless.” Gideon lifted a slender black box in his other hand and pressed a button. The collar transitioned from green to red. “Red means we’ve given him back his powers and he’s ready to go. In either mode, if he tries to break the collar, it will detonate with a small explosion but large enough to kill him.”

  Gideon flipped the switch back from red to green. “I’ll help you place the collar on him for the first time. I don’t want there to be any accidents.”

  ---

  Leaving Seraphim’s body behind drove the knife Alan already felt in his heart even deeper. He wanted to take her with them even though he already knew she wasn’t there anymore. She was in a much better place; all that remained was an empty shell. It still felt wrong as they dragged the unconscious guard’s body inside the cell.

  “We’ll come back for her,” Kyle said.

  Alan shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. She’s not there. She’s gone.”

  Bobby was already in the hall, looking in both directions for more guards. “Hey, will you three hurry up? I don’t want to push our luck here.”

  Alan and Kyle turned to join him. Rana lingered near the unconscious body of the guard. A snap echoed through their cell. Alan turned around as he reached the door to see Rana drop the head of the downed guard. His neck was twisted in an unnatural position.

  A sick feeling crept through Alan’s stomach. Half of him wanted to kill the guard himself for the pain he still felt at Seraphim’s death. The other half knew it was wrong and to remember Seraphim’s last words. “What was that?” Alan asked.

  Rana shrugged as if she had just crushed a spider. “If he would have woken while we escaped, he’d raise the alarm. It needed to be done.”

  “No more,” Alan said. “Killing when you have no choice is one thing. Snapping the neck of a helpless man is a line we won’t cross.”

  Rana raised an eyebrow. Alan thought she was about to protest, instead she nodded and shrugged. “We can try it your way, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “Hey you two,” Bobby whispered from a position down the hall, “hurry up.”

  Alan obeyed with a sideways look at Rana. He had to remind himself that these weren’t the same kind of warriors he was used to fighting beside. As demons, their rules of combat were as different as day and night.

  These thoughts were running through his mind when he reached a crouched Bobby and Kyle as the two peered around a corner. “The coast looks clear,” Kyle said.

  Alan took a look for himself and agreed. A dark hall led a few yards down until another sharp corner obscured their view. “I’ll go first,” Alan said. “Stay quiet.”

  Three heads nodded in consent. Alan took a long breath and began quietly jogging down the dirt path. Back hunched to provide any guards a smaller target, Alan moved down the hall as fast as he could. Cells soon began appearing on either side of the path. Each of them was empty except one.

  “Hello? Hello, is someone there?”

  Alan flinched. The voice sounded familiar. It was coming from a cell he was passing on his left. Alan paused, looking into the darkness of the room. A shadow approached. He couldn’t see the figure under the rags, but the familiar female voice came again. “Alan, is that you? Oh, it is. You have to let me out of here.”

  Triana’s sleek figure came into view just as the other three members in Alan’s escape party reached him. “Hey, what’s the hold up?” Bobby asked.

  Alan was lost for words as he struggled with the right thing to do. He knew Triana as one of Gabriel’s right-hand soldiers. It was she who had led Kyle to Gabriel in hopes of stopping him. She had betrayed the forces of the Light, offering Kyle to Gabriel instead. The events following had proven painful for Kyle, as Gabriel tortured and twisted him, revealing him as the Horseman of Death.

  “You,” Kyle said in an emotionless voice.

  “Yes, it’s me,” Triana said, summoning her best smile. “Now let me out.”

  “We should leave her here to rot,” Kyle said, his expression blank.

  “Ahhh, we had some good times, didn’t we?” Triana said.

  “How did you get here in the first place?” Alan asked.

  “Sodom’s forces picked me up after I fled the battle with Gabriel. But never mind that—you must free me quickly; the guards have a timed rotation. They’ll be bac
k soon.”

  “And why would we do that?” Kyle asked.

  “Well, that’s simple, isn’t it? Because I know the way out.”

  It would have been hard to leave anyone behind. Turning your back to someone in a place like this was sentencing them to death. Now with the extra incentive of finding a way out, Alan looked to Kyle for consensus.

  “Hey, what’s the hold up?” Rana asked, looking into the cell then back into the deserted hall.

  “Nothing,” Alan said, still searching Kyle for some kind of response. “We’re taking her with us.”

  Kyle sighed. “Don’t believe a word she says.”

  “I’m not.” Alan motioned for the guard’s keys Rana still held in her hand. “But she won’t lead us into a trap as long as she wants to get out of here herself.”

  Triana nodded eagerly as Rana found the correct key and opened the cell door. “I can show you the way; follow me quickly.”

  Triana wasted no time in running down the maze of halls beneath the coliseum. Alan followed close behind with Kyle, while Bobby and Rana brought up the rear. A voice in his head began nagging at him the longer it took to find the exit. What if this is nothing more than another of Sodom’s sick games? What if Triana was planted for you to find?

  Alan’s thoughts drifted off as Triana rounded a bend and came to a halt in front of a large wooden door.

  “What’s this?” Alan asked. “Are we here?”

  “Yes,” Triana said, “inside is the force that is impeding our supernatural powers. Through the room is the exit. I caught a glimpse of the chamber as they brought me in.”

  “Great, let’s go,” Kyle said, reaching for the handle.

  Triana caught his wrist in her hand before he could touch the door. “Caution, there is a contingent of soldiers guarding the stone that is inhibiting our abilities.”

  Kyle shook off Triana’s grasp with a look of disgust.

  “It’s a stone causing all of us to turn back into humans?” Alan said.

  “Yes.”

  “Well then, let’s get in there and destroy it and teach these suckers a lesson,” Rana chimed in.

  “We’ll have the element of surprise,” Bobby added, “and if we don’t have powers, that means they won’t either.”

  Alan readied himself for another fight. “All right, Triana goes for the stone and destroys it since she knows where it is. The rest of us make sure she gets there.”

  A series of head bobs followed his words as they prepared themselves to crash through the door.

  “One...” Alan said, reaching for the door handle. “Two…” Alan’s palm tightened on the door, every muscle in his still aching body poised and ready to explode through the door. “Three!”

  Alan ripped the door open and rushed inside. Bright light momentarily blinded him. He blinked a half dozen times, trying to gain his bearings as he ran forward. Shouts and yells from guards around the room accompanied his returning vision.

  The room was a massive circle with a podium in the center, where the source of the light sat. A huge stone that looked like it was made out of glass was shining as bright as a star.

  More yells, and Bobby’s figure dashing past him to collide with a group of armored warriors brought Alan back to the present moment. Soldiers were pouring into the room from all directions.

  Kyle hurled himself into a large guard carrying a club. They were still more than twenty yards from their target. Alan chanced a glance behind him and wished he hadn’t. Triana and Rana were still following, but now the room was thick with guards.

  One of the soldiers reached out to catch a handful of Triana’s dirty blonde hair as she passed. Rana wasted no time in catching the extended arm with both her hands and twisting it in a quick motion that popped. Rana fell on top of the guard, who was screaming in pain by the time he hit the floor.

  Ten yards from their goal, a wall of soldiers formed to protect the stone. Alan caught sight of Trubic organizing the defense. Alan recognized him from their multiple encounters. As Sodom’s nephew, he was a leader in his uncle’s army. Alan seriously doubted he had actually done anything to achieve the status.

  “Here, stand here,” Trubic yelled to his men although Alan couldn’t help but notice he stood behind them.

  Five yards from the pedestal the stone rested on, Alan collided with the wall of soldiers. The impact made Alan’s teeth chatter as he boiled over two guards and reached for Trubic.

  The demon’s eyes were wide in horror as he backpedaled, falling on the pedestal steps. A second later, Alan felt a heavy foot on his back. He looked up as he fought with the guards around him. Triana had used his back as a springboard to reach the stone.

  Looking away and squinting under the stone’s brilliance, Triana lifted the rock with both hands until it was high overhead. Then she slammed the rock onto the stone ground below.

  To Alan’s dismay, the rock didn’t shatter; it actually bounced. He had a chance to exchange a shocked look with Triana, who looked just as confused as he felt. A heavy fist from one of the many guards dragging him to his feet brought blackness.

  Chapter 13

  A few miles from the scene of the battle, Ardat had chosen a hill to make their camp for the night. Tracy sat beside Ardat and her own horse, eating a meager dinner of human food the Shaman had brought with him. As a supernatural being, Ardat had neither the need for food nor sleep. They were luxuries she enjoyed; however, tonight would not be one of these times.

  “Hurry and finish your meal,” Ardat said as she stared into the deep shadows the night brought. “We’ll need to practice into the early hours of the morning to prepare you.”

  Tracy looked up from her meal of bread, cheese, and dried meat with a grimace. “It’s bad enough I have to eat this stuff, now no sleep?”

  Ardat looked at Tracy with a hard stare. Although the lighting was poor, it was enough for Tracy to wish she hadn’t spoken. “Okay, okay.” Tracy stood up, wiping crumbs from her hands. “I’m willing to learn, but how are we going to train in the dark? Maybe we should just go to sleep and wait until morning?”

  Even as the last words escaped her lips, the phoenix landed on the ground next to the pair and lit a small bush with fire. The dry wood sparked into flames and burned bright against the ebony darkness of the landscape.

  Tracy fixed the mythical bird with a hard stare of her own. “Great, thanks for that.”

  The phoenix rustled its feather and took a seat next to her horse. The two animals stared at Tracy as if to say, “There you go. You have light now; no more excuses. Get your booty in gear, lady.”

  “Your exploits today are not without merit,” Ardat said, hiding a smile as Tracy stuck her tongue out at the phoenix in case he missed her sarcasm. “Still, you’ll need a basic knowledge of spear strikes and blocks. We really should go over an assortment of weapons but, given the time we have, we’ll only be able to study the spear.”

  Tracy raised a hand.

  “Yes?” Ardat said.

  “Why a spear? I’d like to use a sword or knives or something cool like that.”

  “I’m sure you would. A spear, however, is the weapon of a Horsewoman. Seated on your animal, you’ll need a weapon that will provide you reach. The safest place for you, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, is on his back,” Ardat said, motioning to the large horse who watched the women with interest.

  “Fair enough,” Tracy said.

  Ardat studied a group of trees that lay just within the reach of the fire’s light for a moment before selecting two branches and breaking them from the trees with her mind. The long pieces of wood snapped with loud cracks and began to float to the teacher and student. As they came closer, Ardat pulled any stray branch or twigs from the wood until they were smooth poles. Ardat grabbed one from the air and directed the other one toward Tracy.

  “I’m still getting over the fact that you can do things like this,” Tracy said as she gripped the pole floating in front of her. As she studied the weapon, a lo
ok of remorse crossed her face.

  “What is it?”

  “What?” Tracy said.

  “You look like you’re regretting something you haven’t done yet.”

  “Oh, sorry. It’s just that—I—at least I think I killed those people—er—demons in the fight today. Everything happened so fast, but I’m sure I killed a few.”

  “You did what you had to do.” Ardat’s tone was firm. “They would have captured you and killed you when they were done with you.”

  “Oh, I know. I know we didn’t have a choice. It’s just scary how fine I am with it. How natural the battle seemed.”

  Ardat realized then the issue Tracy was struggling to come to grips with. “You’re not just anyone, Tracy. You are the Horsewoman of Disease. The power that has been trapped inside of you your entire life is alive and finally released. You’ll process things faster and accept things that would numb most people’s minds. I mean, look at you now. We’ve just been through a battle on the supernatural plane.”

  “Fair point,” Tracy said.

  “Now, no more questions. We reach Sodom’s camp tomorrow. I’ll help you as much as I can, but ultimately, it will be up to you and the other Horsemen to quell the rising Apocalypse and defeat Sodom.”

  The two women sparred into the early hours of the morning. Ardat could see the strain the practice was taking on Tracy after the already long day of travel. Despite this, Ardat was pleased with her protégé’s performance.

  You’ll need it, Ardat thought to herself. Everything we’ve done has led to tomorrow. You’ll be ready; you have to be.

  ---

  “And this—” Gabriel eyed the piece of technology with amusement on his lips. “This collar is going to keep me in check, is it?”

  Danielle exchanged a nervous look with Gideon. Raphael was the only one who seemed unfazed by the Fallen Archangel’s tone.

  “Gabriel,” Raphael said, “it’s only a precaution until you prove yourself trustworthy. I think you can understand there are those who would rather see you stay here and rot than receive an opportunity at redemption.”