The New Horsemen

by Nikolai Swartz

  CHAPTER 9 - ELEMENTS OF WAR

  Warren dropped his backpack on his bedroom floor. His body was aching from the training that Charon had put them through.

  Charon had been pushing them harder over the last few days, believing that Justice has been this quiet because he is waiting for a chance to strike.

  To make things even worse, he has been personally training them, due to the fact that they had discovered their telepathic bond.

  Warren dropped onto his bed. He still had perspiration running down his cheeks. He could even feel beads of sweat running down his back.

  He lifted his hands to his face to wipe the perspiration away, but they were on fire. His hands were literally engulfed in flames while his fingers were bright red. The flames lit up his room brighter than the afternoon sun peeking through the window.

  It took him a second to realise what was happening when he let out a yelping scream. Leaping out of bed, he shook his hands wildly, but the flames just weren’t dying. He was uncertain why he was screaming because he could not feel the heat at all. In actual fact, his hands felt cooler than usual. His scream was more because he didn’t understand what was happening.

  “Warren…” a gentle female voice called from downstairs, “Is everything okay? We heard a scream”

  “Everything is perfectly fine…” he lied in a panic, unable to remove the distress from his voice. He was too busy doing short paces trying to think of a solution to the fact that his bed was on fire where he had collapsed earlier.

  He instinctively grabbed his bedding and threw it over the flames, forgetting that his hands are still on fire. Now with a heap of blanket burning at the centre of his bed, Warren began scanning the room, seeking a solution. He quickly ran to the window, hoping to allow enough of a breeze in to quench the flames, but, without realising, he accidently set his curtains alight while trying to move them out of the way. Warren fiddle with the latch on his window, trying to get it open, but the bright light from the curtain immediately caught his attention, forcing him to jump back. He looked around, with mouth ajar, as he helplessly watched the flames creep up the linen.

  At a greater loss for action than before, Warren leaped into the bathroom attached to his room. He opened the tap to allow the water to flow, but the faucet exploded in steam and launched itself at him, hitting him in the head, knocking him onto his back.

  Water sprayed across the room from the location where the faucet once was, showering the entire bathroom, which appeared to be enough to douse the flames that emitted from his hands with singeing sounds. He slowly got back to his feet and checked his hands to make sure that they were no longer on fire before returning to his bedroom.

  Still dizzy from the blow he suffered moments earlier, Warren grabbed the edges of his blanket that was not on fire, and dragged it to toward the bathroom, but before he could reach the door, the door to his bedroom swung open and Warren was staring directly at his shocked mother and father.

  He looked down to realize that he was still holding the flaming blanket, his bed was still on fire and the sleeves of his long sleeve shirt was burnt from the flames that was emitting from his hands earlier and water came flying out of the bathroom at him. The curtains behind him let of a glow that traced around his body.

  “Mom… Dad…” He said, after surveying the situation, “I can explain…”

  The second faucet on the sink exploded in the bathroom, causing more water to fly out of the bathroom and the smoke alarm activated.

  Warren dropped his head, realizing that that did not help his situation any further.

  “Okay…” Warren said with a hint of sadness, “I can’t explain”

  CHAPTER 10 - THE WAR WITHIN

  War stood calmly on the field, his eyes closed and his hands together. He was putting tremendous focus into summoning his horse, but nothing was happening.

  Every so often, he peeked through his eyelids, but nothing was happening. He wasn’t even sure what exactly he was supposed to be doing.

  He opened his eyes and saw Conquest nearby, standing in front of his own horse. His horse was pale, like a cloud. The horse galloped around him as he stood motionless.

  Warren was beginning to feel left out. It had been a week since they were told about their horses. He was uncertain as to when Seth had learnt to summon his. He tried reading the thoughts of the silent Goth to determine how and when, but he came out feeling like he just had an hour of Physical Training. Seth’s mind was a dangerous place to be.

  ‘I can’t do this’ Warren thought to himself

  ‘It’s simple’ came another voice, but he could tell that it was in his head. He looked over to Victor, who was just staring at him, with his horse still running circles around him.

  ‘You need to visualize that horse appearing before you’ Victor explained telepathically, ‘The horse will only appear when you really want it to’

  Warren took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He tried his best to visualize the horse in front of him, but still nothing appeared.

  He had been trying to do this the whole week and still nothing was happening. Frustration had started to settle in. he felt despair when it would be time to come for the training. It was yet another thing for to hate about coming to school.

  At the end of his tether, Warren began ripping the armour off of his body. Every piece that he pulled off broke into a cloud of red dust that faded into the gentle breeze.

  He threw his sword into the ground and walked away as it too faded into dust from top to bottom.

  Seth and Victor watched as he walked right passed them. Victor tried calling him back telepathically, but Warren was not in the mood to respond. He was frustrated that he could not summon his horse. In fact, he was starting to doubt his capability to be a horseman. Victor and Seth were leaps and bounds above him in almost every department. He has yet to summon his horse and he had yet to defeat either of them in sparring matches.

  Warren kept his distance from the other two for the next week. When he would see them in the hallway, he would take the longer way around. He sensed them trying to communicate with him, but ignored everything they had to say.

  The hallways were busy, and Warren found himself continuously scanning through the crowd for Victor and Seth. It was a familiar feeling.

  He was about to enter the classroom when he felt someone poke him in the side. He flinched, realising that he hadn’t checked the hallways for over 5 minutes.

  “Hey…” the soft and sweet voice immediately put a smile on his face. He wasn’t sure if it was a smile because it was not the horsemen that found him or if it was a smile because it was Kimberley that found him.

  “Hi…” he responded, moving out of the doorway to allow the other children to enter.

  “What’s been going on with you guys lately?” She asked, “I can never find you or Victor anywhere. Are you guys avoiding me?”

  He laughed nervously with an awkward smile, “No…”

  “Warren…” she said sternly, “… Don’t lie to me… there is something going on that you are keeping from me… and I will find out”

  “Kim…”

  “Fine then…”

  She stormed passed him, disappearing into the crowd. Warren turned to follow after her when he saw Victor and Seth standing in the crowd, just watching him. Both of whom had a very bitter expression on their faces. Realising that going after Kimberley would mean going passed them, Warren quickly side stepped into the classroom, knowing that they would not follow him there.

  Whenever things got too hectic, Warren found himself sitting in the tree that was in his backyard. He spent a lot of his childhood in the tree. Sometimes just standing in between the V-shaped bark, not doing anything in particular… He often promised himself that he would build a treehouse to make it easier to spend time there, but the furthest he got was building a ladder. The sun was setting and the view was magnificent. He sat with his back against the bark to ensure that he can’t fall off. The branc
h that he sat on was rather large and reached his bedroom window. This allowed him to easily transition between the tree and his bedroom.

  He sat in the tree, listening to the life around him. He could hear the neighbour kids playing in their backyard and the birds singing as they flapped around above him. He enjoyed this place so much because everything was so simplistic.

  “Warren…”

  He looked down and saw Kimberley standing at the base of the tree. She had not noticed him and was calling at his window. Her voice was shaky and her arms crossed as if she were getting cold.

  “Hi” she startled slight before finding him in the tree, “Wait there...”

  Warren darted across the branch and through his bedroom window. He shuffled through the clothes hung up in his closet. He grabbed a thick bomber jacket and leaped back through the window. Looking down, he saw that his yard was now empty. He was stunned and confused, questioning whether or not he was going insane.

  “Hi…” her voice came from the same branch that he was on just moments ago. She was balancing toward him over the branch. Helping her off the branch and onto the small roofed area, he flung the jacket over her shoulders and sat her down.

  “What are you doing here?” he finally asked.

  She remained silent, clutching the jacket closer. “Vick… Victor broke up with me”

  “What…” he was legitimately surprised at the announcement, “What happened?”

  “He just said that I’m smothering him and that he might be in love with someone else”

  Warren was uncertain about how to respond to the matter. He found himself just staring at the horizon as if the answers would appear like credits at the end of a movie.

  “We were supposed to go watch a movie tonight…” she added, “… but when I got to his house, Seth was there… you know, that Goth kid from school”

  “Yeah…” Warren finally spoke, “I’ve seen him around”

  “Well, then he said that he cannot go watch a movie because he’s busy. When I tried to find the reason why he’s blowing me off for about the tenth time this week, he said that I’m smothering him and that it’s over”

  “That’s terrible” Warren put his arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer

  “I don’t know what has been with him lately…” she said through her sobs, “he has changed so much in such a short time and I can’t understand why”

  ‘It figures that she would go running to you’ the voice rang in Warren’s head like it were being called through a loudspeaker at point blank range. It was not the voice of Victor, but instead the thicker and deeper voice of Conquest.

  ‘I think you’ve done enough damage’ Warren replied with an intense stare into a very dark corner. He looked down to make sure that Kimberley was not paying attention to what he was staring at. To his delight, she was staring at random patch of ground. Warren looked back at the dark spot but could not feel anything. Victor was gone.

  The two remained on the roof for about an hour, just discussing her relationship with Victor when her mother arrived to fetch her. She climbed back down the tree and he followed.

  When the car pulled away, Warren decided that it was time to retire to his room. When he turned around, he was standing inside the caves… the same caves that he was first brought to by Seth when they had to accept being the horsemen. The same caves that housed the Moira Sisters

  He pushed open the doors and saw the sisters, Charon, Death and Conquest all waiting for him. He walked to the centre of the room, shooting an intense look at Conquest before stopping in front of the sisters.

  “Rider War…” the sisters spoke in unisons as per usual.

  “Yes…” Warren answered, uncertain how to respond.

  “You were given the option of choosing your destiny” their transitive voices echoed in the chamber, “Now we present with that option once more”

  A bright orb materialized between him and the sisters.

  “Select your path. If you no longer wish to be a rider and fight alongside your brothers, place your hand in the orb… you will no longer have any of your abilities and in time, your memories of this place will fade away. Should you wish to still fight alongside your brothers, turn and walk away. You will keep your abilities and continue training with Charon and the riders”

  Warren remained silent, staring at the ground before him. He was torn between the two worlds. He didn’t feel like a belonged in either of them. If he lived a normal life, he could be with Kimberly, but the horsemen might not succeed without his assistance. It was these type of questions that he has been asking himself.

  ‘But please note…” the sisters continued, “Should you choose to give up your destiny, this place and the people you see will slowly fade from your memory and in time, you will not remember meeting us or being a rider”

  “I understand” Warren announced with a sigh, “I thank you for everything, but I believe that you made a mistake in choosing me” Warren punched his fist into the orb, causing it to pulsate. He felt an intense burning sensation throughout his body that was not designated to a single area. Everything hurt all at once and his stomach turned upside down. An incredibly bright explosion of light knocked him onto his back.

  His body felt weak… to the point of struggling to lift himself off of the ground. He had become so accustomed to the increased strength that he forgot what it felt like to be a normal human. Feeling his consciousness slowly slip away, he allowed himself to fall back.

  CHAPTER 11 - CHAPTER OF DEATH

  Seth stood on the field, watching as Victor calmly walked towards him with Charon floating beside him.

  “How do you always manage to get here before me?” Victor asked as he got closer. When he got no response, “Just the answer that I was expecting…” he said as he threw his back pack beside Seth’s.

  He watched as Seth walked to their usual training location and finally said “What about Warren…?” despite being able to sense that Seth also didn’t know the answer to the question.

  Victor waited for an answer that he knew Seth didn’t know, “I know it was his own choice, but he is our brother…” Victor responded to the thoughts that filled his head, “We can’t just leave it like that… leave him to forget that all this ever happened…. And you know as well as I do that we cannot do this without him… Justice is stronger than the two of us… we need a third Rider just to have a chance at succeeding”

  “I sense doubt…” Charon said in his charred voice as his body adapted to appear as a normal human being. “If you doubt one another and yourselves, then your death is guaranteed… I sense that Justice is back on earth… it appears he has discovered a way to travel between Earth and Purgatory. While he is that side, we cannot sense him, we cannot find him and as a result we cannot properly prepare for his assaults. I believe that this is his game. He travels between the worlds to incite fear”

  “So, what do we do?” Victor asked

  “Be ready for anything at any time…” Charon responded, “He has only gotten stronger throughout the generations that he has spent in purgatory”

  “In all honesty…” Victor said, “Do we even stand a chance?”

  “Not without War…” Charon said sternly, “But he has made his choice and it is not our place to say anything…”

  “But aren’t we supposed to be brothers?” Victor insisted, “We’re supposed to be guiding each other and standing together when one of us in trouble”

  “It is still his choice…”

  “What if Seth and I can’t do this on our own…?”

  “Then the human race will perish” Charon said this with the most disturbing calm voice, “Therefore, you have to continue your training before Justice decides to make his next move”

  Seth did his long walk home as he did every night. This was nothing unusual for him. This thirty minute long walk was something that he did on a daily basis. But lately, he would see the sun go down in the midst of this walk thanks to the lengt
hy training that Charon would subject them to. He finally got into his room, it was dark enough to warrant him to switch on the bedroom light. Everything seemed to be routine, except that this time, something he had an odd feeling in his gut. Something felt strange. He couldn’t describe the feeling but knew that something was out of place. He couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. The feeling that something was lurking nearby.

  He threw his bag on his bed that was standing against the wall and peeked out through the white curtains on the other side of the room. The back yard seemed clear. The outside light did not cover the entire area, making the walls hardly visible through the thick darkness. Though he could not see anyone, he knew that someone or something was in the dark. He strained his eyes trying to determine any unusual outlines, when he saw it. The bark of the tree was unusually shaped. This was a tree that he was all too familiar with. But familiarity was not needed to notice that the side of the bark outlined half a body, as if the other half was concealed behind the tree.