Iron Horsemen

by Brad R. Cook

  Cannon fire and clashing metal echoed along the narrow street. I signaled Genevieve, and rounded the corner.

  Mr. Singh’s Iron Templar stood before the four Iron Horsemen. Demons covered in bronze plates and tattered, colored shrouds whipped up by the wind. The ground crumbled beneath their hooves. A deep inner fire shone through their hauntingly absent eyes and through every joint. Tendrils of black smoke spilled out from their nostrils.

  The horses were similar to the one we’d seen on Malta, but bigger and meaner looking. The bronze plates, spaced further apart, exposed more of the iron underneath. Two cannons stuck out of thir chests. On the back, the riders sat not on a saddle but within one. Who were the other riders? I was still to far away to see, but I wanted to know their names before I fought them.

  My smile faded, as the throbbing in my temples matched the beat of the engine.

  This was not about proving I was not a child, this was about doing what was right. Doing what was needed. I couldn’t cower or hide as I’d done at Eaton. All London depended on us. I would think like a knight. I would be a knight. I thrust the controls forward hoping this surge of confidence would carry me through the battle. Well, at least the charge.

  The four Iron Horsemen surrounded the Iron Templar, but Mr. Singh raised his shield, blocked a striking hoof, and locked swords with Hendrix.

  As we drew closer, I could see that upon the red-shrouded steed of war, the Colonel carried a huge broadsword sword and screamed a ferocious battle cry. His iron horse not only held cannons within its chest but also a multi-barreled Gatling gun.

  Lord Kannard rode the white-shrouded horse; his white robes and cape whipped about in the quickening wind. A golden crown sat atop his head and he held the reins tightly in one hand.

  Captain Zerelda rode the black-shrouded horse with a wild gaze in her eyes. Her raven hair and clothes, the color of night, merged with the iron beast whose tail split in two like a tuning fork.

  Tobias, Zerelda’s first mate, rode the pale-shrouded steed. He wore a gas mask with canvas and brass coiled hoses that stretched into the metallic beast. Two large tanks sat on the hind flanks. Would that have been my steed if I’d accepted the Colonel’s offer?

  The four of them sent shivers up my spine. My hand flexed repeatedly as I tried to release the tension building within.

  No matter what the outcome, I wouldn’t let Mr. Singh face it alone. I raised the Black Knight’s arm and yelled, “We should announce ourselves. Isn’t that what knights do?”

  Genevieve stopped. “Let our cannons herald us.”

  We raised our left arms, aiming at different horsemen. I eyed Col. Hendrix, but hesitated. The weight of this machine nagged at my doubts. Could I really fire? This wasn’t a game. Genevieve hadn’t fired yet either, I wondered if she felt as I did.

  Col. Hendrix slammed his sword against Mr. Singh’s shield.

  I gasped. “I am the Black Knight!”

  Genevieve and I fired simultaneously. The long cannon tucked behind my shield belched smoke. My round smacked into the side of the red steed’s head. The explosion ripped past Col. Hendrix and knocked off his hat, but as the smoke cleared, the steed and rider appeared unaffected by the blast.

  Genevieve’s round impacted Captain Zerelda, but her steed reared up and it exploded harmlessly against the chest plates. The iron horse slammed to the ground. Everything shook and my iron knight wobbled. Fear engulfed me like the cloud of kicked-up dust. I pushed the forced, unnatural, feelings aside as if this fear emanated from the Iron Horsemen and not from within.

  Lord Kannard rotated his steed and opened fire. Genevieve and I dodged the shots by weaving down the street as explosions blew cobblestones into the air.

  Pebbles rained against the iron skin of my machine, and a feeling of invincibility overtook me. Sitting on the back of their steeds the horsemen looked vulnerable, but encased in iron, I knew no one could touch me.

  The horsemen pulled back from Mr. Singh and formed a line across the street.

  The Iron Templar bore the order’s cross on the shield and chest plate. It was the most complete, the most heavily armored and impressive looking of the three machines. Its crest, made of real horse hair, blazed like a red streak, unlike the Black Knight which had no ornamentation or the Bronze Knight which had bronze plates rising out of the helmet.

  Genevieve and I rolled around Mr. Singh and stopped. Rodin jumped off the bronze knight’s shoulder and soared over to the Iron Templar. I held up my shield to defend us while Rodin delivered the message around his neck. Genevieve wrote it, and it detailed our plan.

  All four Iron Horsemen opened fire. Three rounds slammed into my shield. I struggled to keep my arm in place, but I gritted my teeth and forced my arm to hold. The fourth round impacted Genevieve’s shield, but she appeared unaffected.

  I cheered. “These knights are amazing!”

  As I rolled forward Mr. Singh yelled, “Wait,” but the sound of the engine and the whirring tracks drowned the rest of his words. Col. Hendrix’s red steed opened fire with the Gatling gun which sprayed my shield with bullets.

  Lord Kannard cried out as the three Iron Knights charged. “You cannot defeat the Horsemen, the time has come. The heavens herald our victory!”

  I drew the huge blade from the Black Knight’s side and it rang like a church bell when I struck Col. Hendrix’s sword.

  Hendrix locked his eye on mine. “The professor’s brat! Should’ve taken my offer, boy. You can’t stand against my power. When I level this world, I’ll make all of you my slaves.”

  Close enough to smell the mix of sulfur, sweat, and metal, I wanted to say something profound, but all I spit through my gritted teeth was, “Never!”

  Soldiers of the Royal Army appeared at the end of the block and opened fire with their rifles.

  I shouted. “It’s soldiers of the crown!”

  The colonel’s iron horse leapt backward. Kannard laughed with a dismissive tone and pulled a flare-gun from his belt. He fired and the burning red ember drifted in the wind.

  I looked up; dozens of balloons dotted the sky with bombs suspended underneath. A loud whistling sound ended in three explosions, dirt and chunks of cobblestones rained down on my armor. Balloon bombs? I couldn’t believe it.

  Soldiers ran for cover. I heard another whistling sound and seized up as it impacted Mr. Singh’s machine. The smoke cleared to reveal the Iron Templar’s dented shoulder.

  Mr. Singh’s armor still moved. I exhaled my held breath and hoped he was okay.

  Genevieve fought both Zerelda’s Black Horseman and Tobias’ Pale Horseman. She swung the Bronze Knight’s sword in a large arc, keeping both at bay, then turned her left arm toward Tobias and fired point blank into his steed’s chest. The rounds bent and mangled his cannons. Zerelda fired at Genevieve’s chest plate.

  I only saw a dent, but my heart jumped into my throat and stayed there, choking me. I wanted to roll over and save her. I grabbed the slits of my visor, pulled myself forward, and saw Genevieve still fighting the scythe wielding pale steed.

  She was still standing, still okay. Lord Kannard rode past, and I fired my cannon. The round hit the side of the shroud tearing it to shreds.

  My heart raced and my temples throbbed. I remembered Captain Baldarich’s words, and the training I’d received from every member of the Sparrowhawk’s crew. When I aimed, I heard Hunter’s words. When I swung the sword, I remembered that first day of training, and as we moved through the streets I pictured Baldarich standing on the bridge before the armada.

  We held the Iron Horsemen along the banks of the Thames, but we weren’t making any progress attacking the giant electromagnet. Maybe that was Kannard’s plan?

  Zerelda smacked her steed’s tuning fork tail against the ground. A swarm of insects burst out of the joints of the horse and engulfed me. They poured through my visor and clung to every surface of the Black Knight. I pulled my arms out of the machine’s limbs to swat them, and spit them from my mouth. Th
eir painful bites pinched, the buzzing drove me mad, the thousands of little legs crawling over me sent terror through every nerve in my body.

  An orange flickering glow burned through the swarm as Rodin landed on the Black Knight’s helmet. Two more columns of fire cleared enough of the bugs to allow Rodin to crawl in beside me.

  “Am I glad to see you.”

  The little dragon gorged himself on insects, as he climbed down me and then back up onto my shoulder. His flailing tail, flapping wings, and snapping jaws forced the bugs out of the armor.

  An explosion shook the Black Knight. One round and then another. I saw Kannard and Zerelda. I raised my shield and ignored the irritating bugs. Rodin clung to the visor and shot a small column of flame through the swarm.

  “Rodin, let’s share with Lord Kannard.” I pressed the pedal all the way down and hooked the Black Knight’s arms around the white shrouded steed’s neck. The insects attacked Kannard. He screamed until choked by the bugs. I laughed, still wrestling with the steed. If I had to endure these pests, so would he.

  “Zerelda, recall your swarm and get this brat off of me.”

  I heard the tuning fork sound and the bugs retreated.

  Kannard blasted the Black Knight’s chest plate with his cannons, and the force pushed the armor back on its treads and rattled me around inside. I saw the plate dent inward and panic seized me.

  I turned to Rodin. “I think it’s time to get out of here, what do you say?”

  Rodin nodded, or at least something that looked like a nod, and I let go of the steed. I rolled back and slammed my sword down but Lord Kannard and the rest of horsemen had disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

  I checked on Genevieve. Her Bronze Knight pointed to the sky. The last balloon bomb floated away, but behind it, German zeppelins cut through the clouds.

  “Can things get any worse?” I shook my head as water dripped down the visor and thunder rumbled overhead. “I need to start keeping my mouth shut.”

  CHAPTER 37

  COMET SLINGING

  Charred bug guts rolled off the iron visor as the rain poured down in sheets. Water fell in streams from each open slit. Streaming down the inner walls, it pooled around my shoes.

  “I wonder if the joints will rust or will I drown first?” I wiped my face. “Did the Tinkerer even think of weather when drawing these machines?”

  Lightning lit up the darkened sky.

  I followed Mr. Singh and Genevieve down a couple of blocks, and cautiously peered around corners trying to find the demonic horsemen.

  I heard an odd sound and my stomach tightened. Whipping around I saw a grappling line secured to one of the nearby buildings. Above me several German soldiers in their single-studded helmets slid down the zip line like fruit on the vine.

  I raised the Black Knight’s sword, cut the wire, and the German soldiers tumbled into the Thames River. More zeppelins anchored to whatever would hold. They dropped on either side of the Thames and fanned out. The landing, unlike anything I had ever seen or read about, made me marvel at the legendary German innovation.

  But they had to be stopped.

  Calling to Genevieve, I raised my sword and charged the thick tethers. “Cut the lines, they’re landing on the Thames.”

  “Big Bend and Parliament are nearby and on the river.”

  I charged through the German’s fortified landing zones as pings of rifle fire rattled my iron hide. A large shadow passed over me. I looked up as two soldiers secured a box to the zip line. Stenciled black lettering below the double-headed eagle read ‘explosives’ in German.

  I lined up my arm cannon and pulled the trigger. Gray smoke trailed to the box and a gigantic fireball incinerated the Zeppelin. The concussive blast shattered the windows around me, as the flaming remnants crashed into the Thames.

  “Woah, I didn’t think that would happen.”

  I started to cheer, but thinking of the airship’s crew wrenched my insides. War wasn’t fun; it didn’t have the excitement I’d always thought it would. War was required, not desired.

  Mr. Singh rolled by and cut two more tethers. I shook my mind back into the battle and raised my cannon to salute.

  Soldiers from Her Royal Highness’s Army formed lines at the end of the block. I pulled back to their line and kept my shield up to block the German gunfire.

  Shade came from a large tree, the same one I’d seen by Kannard’s. I stood only a few blocks from the house where Genevieve and I had found the electromagnet. I rolled over, coming face to face with her Bronze Knight.

  She threw open her visor, and I laughed. Grease smudged her porcelain skin.

  I liked it, and watched her lip curl even higher … no, Alexander, focus on Kannard, not Genevieve! I flipped open my knight’s own visor and pointed, “Lord Kannard’s house isn’t far away. I bet they’ve headed for the machine.”

  Genevieve nodded. “I noticed that as well. Sinclair and the duke can coordinate the defense of the Thames. We should focus on the Iron Horsemen.”

  “Agreed. Want Rodin back? Thanks for the loan.”

  Genevieve patted her chest. “Come here, Rodin.”

  The little dragon flew out and landed on her knight. His color matched perfectly with the bronze accents. Rodin climbed inside and snuggled around her shoulders.

  “Thanks Rodin.” I bowed my head and flipped my visor down. “But the celebrations will have to wait. We have to kick Lord Kannard, the Knights of the Golden Circle, and the Germans back across the Channel.”

  Lightning flashed across the sky accompanied by rumbling thunder and the explosions of cannon fire. Rain blanketed the streets and the wind whipped it into a misty spray. The city around Genevieve and I darkened. As the shelling lulled for reloading, I heard a transmission line spark in the rain.

  “It has to be the generators powering the electromagnet” I said as I stepped on the pedal. The Black Knight roared to life and sped down the street with Genevieve rolling alongside.

  Three blocks from the house, I heard cackling laughter reverberate down the street with a demonic resonance. I turned, and saw the four Iron Horsemen lined up a block away.

  Kannard’s white-shrouded steed smashed its hooves upon the ground. The cobblestones broke free in a shower of rock. The street split in two. I rolled around, but as Genevieve continued the ground heaved up in front of her and blocked her way.

  Col. Hendrix’s red-shrouded steed stepped closer and spewed fire from its mouth and nostrils. I raised my shield. Flames licked the edges and danced across my chest plate. My courage faltered as a spot of orange light burned a hole through the shield that grew to the size of an apple.

  Doubt threatened to overtake me, creeping in from the dark recesses of my mind. Pushing the fear back down, the Black Knight powered forward. I swung my left arm to the side, flinging fire off the end of the shield. I fired at the Colonel. The steed intercepted the shot with one of its bronze plates, swatting the round as if it were nothing more than an insect. Then the plate slid back into place. I lowered the shield, raised my sword arm and charged through the next blast of fire.

  Lord Kannard shook his head. “Pathetic, do you really think your pitifully built contraptions can kill us. Soon those piles of scrap will be destroyed along with London and the rest of your industrialized world. Out of the ashes … the great rebirth … New Rome shall rise again, and I’ll make certain you all have a special place as my house slaves.”

  I couldn’t listen any longer. “Quiet your tongue!”

  Kannard’s face contorted with rage as his dark locks whipped wildly in the wind.

  A flare soared into the sky, and he cackled with a sickening smile. “It is done. Soon the comet will smash this world out of the Industrial Age and back to the Age of Men. Real men. Not boys and girls playing at adventures.”

  “Not if I have anything to say about it!” I stepped on the pedal but continued to slow down. The Black Knight’s engine chugged faster than ever, but I couldn’t reach Lord Kannard. Ever
ything still moved so I hadn’t rusted. I twisted to see if I was stuck on something. The sign on the building beside me stretched out horizontally, but my armor was clear.

  A few British soldiers ran into the street. Their rifles wobbled until ripped from their hands. The guns skidded down the street, and the soldiers tumbled after them. The electromagnet had been fully charged, drawing everything metal toward it. Including me.

  I rolled down a side street. The buildings blocked the effect of the magnet, but I couldn’t hide here forever. I had to stop them. The Iron Templar pulled in the other end. I turned the Black Knight toward Mr. Singh. “I’ll attack the house and destroy the electromagnet. You cover me.”

  Mr. Singh flipped open the visor of the Iron Templar. “I should be the one to face the ultimate danger, not you.”

  I popped my visor. “You have to stop Kannard or none of us will reach the magnet.” I reached out. “Be careful, the closer you get the stronger the magnet pulls.”

  Mr. Singh nodded and flipped the visor down.

  Zerelda’s black-shrouded steed and Col. Hendrix’s red-shrouded steed, whipped around the corner and blocked the end of the street. Mr. Singh rolled off to intercept them. He slammed his sword down, but the colonel and Zerelda’s narrowly avoided his slashes.

  Backing up I spun around. I heard fighting behind me, but entering the main street meant being pulled toward the house.

  A shell slammed into the Black Knight’s left shoulder, and the whole armor shook. The German zeppelins had gotten creative with their cannon fire. The magnet curved the rounds and set the fuses, making them explode wherever they wanted. Another round slammed into the building beside me. Their aim was improving.

  Zerelda’s black-shrouded horse rode around me. Her beast moved without restriction, and didn’t appear affected by the magnetism at all. Her tuning-fork tail rose to strike the ground and I tensed.