Page 6 of Conquest (The Four Horsemen #1)

5

Conquest muted the news channel he had been watching as War and Famine came through the fog.

War rounded the sofa opposite Conquest and peered down at Raziel. The Angel had collapsed as soon as they had arrived there, hours ago. It seemed fog travel didn’t agree with it, which was utterly impractical since it was the only travel option for Immortals, especially ones who had no wings.

“Is this it?” War asked. “Doesn’t look like much.”

“It’s not.”

Paul climbed the side of the sofa and hung his front four legs over the arm, tilting his head as he stared at Raziel. His pedipalp vibrated and Conquest sneered in disgust.

War absently patted the spider’s head, and Paul preened under the touch. “It’s cute.”

“You want to tangle with an Angel, War?” Conquest asked.

“Fuck off.”

Famine handed Conquest a stack of papers before hiking himself up on the counter that separated the living room from the large open kitchen. He summoned a box of small, chocolate delicacies and popped a few in his mouth.

War lifted a hand and Famine tossed him a chocolate.

Conquest skimmed through the information. They were a list of names and details of all of the most powerful people in the entire world, from politicians to military personnel, in every country that existed.

“And you’re sure the Angel has no wings?” Famine asked.

War leaned closer. A rush of flame swept over Raziel’s body.

“Keep your flames to yourself,” Conquest growled. The Angel was his captive.

War dramatically rolled his eyes but raised his hands in surrender. “He feels almost human.”

“Yeah,” Conquest said. “He’s barely immortal. I have no idea what God is doing with him.”

War shrugged and sprawled out beside Conquest. “Maybe he’s fucking him.”

Conquest snorted. “Maybe he’s doing it because he can’t have you.”

“You’re a real fuckin’ riot tonight.” War nudged Conquest’s knee with his own. “What are you going to do with it?”

“You should use it as bait,” Famine suggested. “Lure an Archangel in and interrogate it.”

It wasn’t a terrible idea, all told. They needed information and who better to torture for it? Conquest hadn’t whetted his blade on an Archangel for far too long.

“I’m in,” War said. “Let’s get Uriel.”

Famine bit a chocolate in half. “You can’t choose which Archangel answers the call,” he pointed out. He threw another chocolate and War caught it in his mouth.

“You’re sure it isn’t Diablo?” Conquest asked.

“Positive.”

Conquest stroked his beard, frowning. He had no doubt in Famine; if he said it wasn’t Diablo, it wasn’t. But if it were God… “Why the tricks?” Conquest mused. Archangels should have been waiting for them the second they set foot in the Mortal Dimension. They hadn’t partnered with the Archangels for eons, not since long before Diablo had summoned them last time. But it did happen on the odd occasion. Each summons had a purpose, and it depended on where the Mortal Dimension sat as to who required the Horsemen. “No, if it was God he would have approached us.”

“He’s more direct than that,” War agreed, “even for a Divine Being.”

Conquest tapped his fingers on the arm of the sofa. “Who else has the power to summon us?”

His brethren had no answer for that. Because, if it wasn’t either of them, that left them with no-one. It took immense power to pull them from their dimension and set their path in motion. They had been defeated the last time they had set foot here - something that still rankled them all - but that didn’t have any bearing on who chose to summon them next. Regardless, no side truly considered themselves a winner in the last war. The losses had stacked up on every side of the board.

Conquest shoved the papers at War. “These two on top; follow them, see what they’re doing.”

“I ain’t your errand boy,” War groused.

“You’ll enjoy this one,” Conquest promised.

War narrowed his eyes and scanned the paper. His blank expression morphed into a devilish grin. “You serious? I’m there. Catch you later, guys.”

He was through the fog and gone before Conquest could say a word.

“How much do you want to bet that he topples a city by himself?”

Famine put a chocolate in his mouth and bit down. “Hmm… four Angel wings?”

“Deal.” There was no fucking way War would be able to help himself in that city. Those were easy winnings.

Paul crawled over Raziel and used his legs to twist Raziel’s robe into a circle. He settled himself into the circle, curling his legs under him and resting his head on Raziel’s chest.

Conquest and Famine glanced at each other in bemusement.

“Odd,” Famine mused. He lifted his bowl. “Chocolate?”

“No.” Conquest leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest as he contemplated the Angel. Pauls curled up form was slowly rising and falling in time with Raziel’s deep breaths.

Using him as bait was not one of the worst ideas. An Archangel knew when one of their own was in pain. It was why Conquest either took them behind wards to torture them, or took them out quickly. Unless, of course, he wanted an Archangel to find him.

Conquest decided not to disturb Paul. He’d wait for the Angel to wake by himself; the look on his face when he opened them to Paul would be worth the wait.

* * *

Raziel ran as fast as he could, with no idea where he was going. Everything was so dark he couldn’t see his feet, or his surroundings. He didn’t know why he was running, or even what he was running from, but he knew that he couldn’t stop.

If he stopped they would find him.

If he stopped he was dead.

He slammed into an invisible barrier. His head spun but he pushed off the barrier, wobbling, and took off the left. Don’t stop. Never stop .

“Raziel.”

The whisper echoed all around him and made him stumble. He righted himself and kept going. Don’t stop.

“ Why are you running? We’re just getting started.”

The presence was getting closer, slowly boxing him in. He was getting out of breath, was at risk of slowing down, but he couldn’t, he couldn’t.

“Where are you going? You can’t hide from me.”

“Get away!” Raziel yelled. Something reached for him in the darkness and he skittered away from it, trying to keep his pace.

“Don’t you want to play with me? I want to play with you.”

Black swirls danced in front of Raziel. He waved his arms to make them go away. They moved around him, unfazed. He ignored the burn in his legs, pushing to make them go faster.

“It’s time to give it back.”

Hands grabbed at Raziel’s ankles, and he fell forward with a wordless cry.

Raziel bolted upright, heart hammering. Eight eyes peered at him, so close they were almost touching his face.

“ Ahhh!” Raziel scaled the back of the sofa, scrambling to get away. It tipped under his weight and everything went down. The spider made a strange screeching noise and clung to Raziel, its legs sharply digging in, all eight of its eyes comically wide.

Sprawled uncomfortably between the floor and the back of the sofa and breathing heavily, Raziel stared wide-eyed at Paul.

Paul collapsed onto Raziel’s chest, trembling. Raziel twitched. Was it going to bite him? Grab him? Wrap him in a web? Spiders did that to bugs, and flies. Did Paul see him as a bug?

Paul nuzzled into Raziel’s chest. Guided by instinct alone, Raziel lifted his hand and patted him gently. It felt weird, but not unpleasant. And he wasn’t getting eaten, which was always a bonus.

“Paul.”

Paul sprung off Raziel and scurried over to where Famine was standing, his arm out. Paul climbed Famine’s frame and perched on the Horseman’s arm. Famine watched Raziel for a long, tense moment, before he waved a hand and opened the fog. He was gone in seconds.

Raziel was roughly hauled to his feet and spun around to see a torso in his face.

“We’re going on a trip,” Conquest said.

Raziel wished he was strong enough to resist. He wished he was brave enough to even try. But all he could think about was how big the Immortal was in comparison to himself, and how much Conquest could hurt him. How much he was going to. Waiting for the inevitable was almost worse than the inevitable itself.

A giant white horse materialized beside him and Raziel almost jumped out of his skin. For pity’s sake, he wished everyone would stop doing that.

Raziel recognized the horse instantly; she was Victory, Conquest’s mare. There wasn’t a lot of information in the Heavenly Library on the Horsemen, or their past, but their mares were documented. The pictures in the small Horsemen tome didn’t do her justice.

She was magnificent. Pure white, with a braided mane and tail, black ribbons threaded through it. Her armor was similar in style to Conquest’s, all the way down to the white lining. And he could see the intelligence in her eyes. Eyes that matched her rider’s; that strange, liquid grey.

Raziel froze as she nudged his shoulder and sniffed him, snorting warm air onto his exposed skin. She moved up to the top of his head. Raziel thought at first she was just smelling him. It took him a second to realise she was nibbling on his hair, trying to eat it. He pulled away and winced at the sharp pain when she refused to relinquish her hold.

“Hey!” Raziel protested. “That isn’t food!”

She let go abruptly, and sneezed in his face.

Disbelief held Raziel in suspension for a second. Had she just-was he covered in- “Oh, gross,” he said, frantically wiping away the snot with the sleeves of his robe. He grimaced at how dirty the sleeves were becoming. He could barely even call them white anymore. In the Heavens nothing got dirty. Would he have to request a new robe? Had that ever been done before?

Conquest stroked Victory’s mane and she pushed her neck against his head in greeting. He mounted her in one fluid movement. “Get on.”

Raziel didn’t move. Conquest couldn’t possibly mean - Victory was huge. Raziel guessed she would have to be, considering Conquest’s size, but…there was no way.

He took a small step back. How would he even get up there? He couldn’t fly, couldn’t levitate. And trying to awkwardly climb up sounded like a whole lot of humiliation he wasn’t prepared to experience.

Conquest leaned down and held out a hand. “You do not want to find out what will happen if you don’t do as you’re told.”

Raziel agreed with that sentiment. He most definitely did not want to find out. But one of Victory’s legs was almost as big as he was. It was debatable which would be worse; Conquest’s wrath or being crushed by a giant horse.

“Now, Raziel.”

Raziel swallowed hard as he gingerly put his hand in Conquest’s giant one. It was cold to the touch and completely engulfed Raziel’s small hand. He squeezed his eyes shut as his stomach dipped uncomfortably.

He flinched when an arm wrapped around his waist, holding him securely against Conquest.

“Easy, baby Angel. She won’t like it if you throw up on her.”

Raziel didn’t think he’d like it much either.

“Go, Victory,” Conquest murmured. “You know where.”

As they ventured into the fog, Raziel turned his head and buried it in Conquest’s white dress shirt, gripping tightly to the arm around him. He didn’t care what Conquest thought of it. Raziel would rather face his anger than fall off in the fog. What would happen if he got lost in it? He had travelled in it a total of three times, one of which he had been unconscious, and he could safely say that he detested it with every fiber of his being. The speed, the sensation, the wooziness, he was not a fan of any of it.

“You can let go now,” Conquest whispered in his ear. A cold breeze rolled down Raziel’s spine and he shivered. It was almost… nice. He jerked away so abruptly that he slipped. His eyes widened in horror as he fell off Victory.

He landed on something soft. He twisted to find himself suspended above a swirl of purple. Raziel was learning that the purple energy was Conquest’s power.

Raziel looked around, his heart sinking at the scene around him. White as far as the eye could see. It was like Conquest had taken him to the middle of nowhere, where life ceased to exist.

The Horseman didn’t even acknowledge him as he slid from Victory’s back.

The purple energy pushed Raziel to his feet and then wrapped around his arms, pulling them tightly to his back and securing him in place. “Hey, wait!”

“Watch your knees,” Conquest said as he pushed Raziel down.

Frantic, Raziel tried to move his arms but they were locked tight to his sides.

“Stay.”

Stay? Stay? He was stuck, where was he going to go?!

Oh dear God. What was happening? Would this be his final resting place? Was Conquest going to kill him here, execution style?

They said that when an Immortal died it depended on the severity of their death as to how long it took them to return, and what they retained when they returned. He thought about that sometimes, when he thought of Archangel Michael. Everyone was waiting for him to come back, but it had been so long. How horrific must his death have been for him to still be gone?

How horrific was Raziel’s death going to be?

Panic took over and he pulled harder, twisted, tugged, tried anything he could to get away.

A heavy hand landed on his shoulder. “Stop. Moving.”

Raziel froze.

Conquest crouched beside him, and Raziel was almost too afraid to even look. Curiosity won and he peeked, just a little. Conquest was scowling, his crown in his hand. Raziel was mesmerized by its beauty. It was the most enchanting thing Raziel had ever seen. The black glass gleamed from within and the white crystals embedded in it were so powerful that Raziel could almost feel them.

Raziel bet that only a handful of people had ever seen it in person. And he knew he was only being allowed to see it because he was about to die.

“Scream, baby Angel.”

Purple streaks of energy rose from the crown, and then Raziel felt it. Like a sharp jolt of electricity.

He shrieked, pain radiating through every cell in his body. He wanted to beg for it to stop, but he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.

It stopped abruptly and if it weren’t for Conquest’s power holding him up he would have fallen.

“Where are you?” Conquest murmured, pacing in front of Raziel.

Raziel wanted to ask who he was talking about but he had lost all ability to use his words, still dealing with the aftershocks of the pain.

Conquest turned back to Raziel and power enveloped him again.

His mouth opened in a silent scream as he twisted in unbearable pain.

Raziel didn’t know how long it went on, how long he was forced to endure it, stopping and starting, over and over, Conquest becoming more agitated each time. It could have been minutes, could have been hours, days. All he knew was that every inch of him was in agony.

When it stopped for what felt like the millionth time, Raziel slumped forward. The energy no longer held him and he braced, as much as he could, for the inevitable impact with the ground.

His cheek hit a warm solid shape instead. He blearily opened his eyes, white in his vision. Victory. Her leg. She had positioned her leg to stop him from falling.

Why?

“Ah, Uri, there you are. Thought you’d never show,” Conquest said.

Raziel turned his head, unable to shift his aching body, to see the Archangel Uriel. Would there finally be a rescue?

Raziel tried pleading with his eyes, silently begging for Archangel Uriel to take him home. He didn’t want to be here anymore. He hated the Earth, he hated this Horseman, he just wanted to go home.

Archangel Uriel’s gaze flicked briefly over Raziel, disinterested.

Raziel’s heart sank, every second that passed reinforcing that there would be no rescue. No one was coming to save him.

He was, as he had always known, truly alone.

* * *

Uriel was putting on a good show, acting like he didn’t give a shit about Raziel. Conquest gave him high marks for his performance. But it was all a lie.

The second the Archangel had seen Raziel, his entire demeanor had shifted. Oh, it was a minuscule shift, but after millions of years fighting, on the same side or opposites, it didn’t matter. He knew Uriel. Conquest couldn’t read him like War could, but Uriel was an open book all the same.

“What do you want, Conquest?”

“I found something that belongs to you,” Conquest said, glancing in Raziel’s direction.

“I can see that. Your point?”

Conquest laughed, throwing his head back. “This one means something to you, and I want to know why.”

“All Angels are important to us.”

The response was so scripted , Conquest almost laughed again. Uriel didn’t believe those words any more than he did.

Conquest wrapped his energy around Raziel and tugged. The Angel landed in front of him in a tangle of limbs. Raziel groaned once before his head dropped and Conquest could sense that he was no longer with them. He’d never seen an Immortal be so prone to fainting before. Such a stupid, vulnerable response to stimulation; one that would make him an easy target.

Uriel twitched. “What do you want?” he repeated.

Conquest smirked. “An answer to a question. Even you can handle that, right?”

The Archangel twitched again. Conquest knew his wings were itching to come out. But they both knew bringing them out this early was a risk, one that Uriel wasn’t willing to take yet. Conquest bet it had taken him a long time to grow them back after what Conquest had done with them the last time they had fought.

Uriel had retaliated against the Horsemen after Michael had been killed during the Holy War. He’d attacked them in their own dimension. They had tried to tell him they weren’t responsible for what happened to Michael. He hadn’t listened. Conquest had sent him packing with his wings in pieces, and taken his bow for good measure. Conquest could admit that Uriel was the strongest of the three Archangels, but he had been no match against all four of the Horsemen, even as wounded as they had been. Conquest still wasn’t sure why he had even attempted it.

“Where’s my bow?” Uriel asked.

“So concerned over a piece of wood, Uri. Thought we taught you better than that.” Conquest knew that Uriel’s bow was much more than just a piece of wood - it wasn’t even made of wood, but pure angelic essence; it was one of the most divine weapons Conquest had ever wielded. It was powerful, exquisite and utter perfection. But, Conquest loved to yank his chain whenever he had the chance. And he was never giving it back.

“I don’t have time for your games, Con. Where. Is. My. Bow?”

Conquest smirked. “What took you so long?” he asked, instead of answering. He’d had Raziel’s aura pulsing, tormenting him, for over an hour. The Archangels were the protectors of all Angels and they should have been faster than that. Conquest had even made sure to amplify the pulses, make them appear far worse than they were, to ensure that they were noticed. And he knew that the tremors had been excruciating enough on their own. He was mildly impressed that Raziel hadn’t passed out from the pain in all that time. He was so weak, it was likely he felt it the same way a mortal would have.

“You aren’t our sole focus.”

Conquest made a ‘tut tut’ sound. “Don’t lie to me, Uriel. You expect me to believe you didn’t know we were here?”

“I’ve learned not to expect anything from you,” Uriel replied. “Hand over my bow, and the Angel, and then leave, Conquest.”

Conquest summoned his glaive and twirled it once in his hand, the wood gliding over his palm and around the back of his hand. “What is he, Uri? He’s not a normal Angel. What the hell are you doing up there?”

“Whatever answers you’re looking for, you won’t find them here.”

“Still following orders like a good dog?”

Uriel sneered. “We use you and your brothers as an example for why rules are meant to be followed.”

Conquest grit his teeth. “I’m going to enjoy this,” he promised.

“Is that why you brought me here? To teach me a lesson ?” Uriel said haughtily.

“Oh, I wasn’t aiming for you specifically,” Conquest said, laughing darkly. He wouldn’t mind getting his hands on the arrogant one, Zadkiel. “But I can’t say I’m disappointed.” He always found a sinister kind of pleasure in plucking this particular Archangel. He embodied everything that Conquest hated about the Heavens. For Guardians of the Mortal Dimension, they had no heart. They were as cold as the wings that Uriel was so proud of.

“I won’t ask you to leave again, Conquest.”

With a flick of his wrist, Conquest replaced his glaive with Uriel’s bow, loving the way the Archangel’s eyes darkened when he saw it.

Conquest hummed a little mocking tune as he notched an arrow into it and pointed it towards its owner. He knew he would miss; Uriel’s reflexes were far too good to let such an easy shot hit him. Hitting him wasn’t the point.

He let the arrow go. It disappeared into the abyss as Uriel stepped out of the way.

“Stop with these childish taunts, Conquest. I have neither the time nor the inclination to play with you.”

“Well, that’s just too bad,” Conquest said. “You want your bow?” He held it out, letting it dangle over his wrist. “Come get it.”

Uriel advanced, his wings spreading wide to help his speed.

Conquest pushed the bow back into the fog and raised his arm to stop Uriel’s ice sword from slicing him in two. The black metal on his wrist - identical to the ribbons Victory wore - shattered the sword.

Conquest twisted Uriel’s arm and kicked him square in the chest. The force of it broke Uriel’s elbow and flung him a good twenty feet away.

Conquest conjured a sword from the fog and flipped it in his hand, balancing the steel blade between two fingers before flinging it towards Uriel.

Uriel’s massive wings propelled him out of the way as he sent three large, deadly sharp icicles at Conquest with his good arm.

Conquest kicked one away and destroyed another with his energy. The third sliced across his cheek as he stepped to the side, just in time to stop from being impaled. He pulled a strong pulse of energy from his crown. He threw waves of his purple energy at the Archangel as he advanced on him. One of the waves sliced across Uriel’s right wing, spraying blood.

Conquest grinned. There was nothing more satisfying than spilling blood from an Archangel’s wings. It was a thing of beauty. “Ready for some more?”

“What are you doing here, Conquest? Why now? What does Lucifer want?”

Uriel thought Diablo had summoned them? Wasn’t that an interesting piece of news. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He conjured his glaive and placed the end of the pole on the ground. “Tell me about Raziel, Uriel.”

Uriel flung himself into the air, his injured wing lagging slightly. His broken arm had already healed itself and while the wing would take longer, in a matter of minutes it would be like it had never happened. The sight of the red dripping from the brilliant white was still immensely satisfying.

“This isn’t a joke, Uriel. If you don’t fight for your Angel, I will kill him.”

“You won’t.”

“Are you willing to stake his life on it?”

Uriel glanced to Raziel’s prone form. He was still out cold; Conquest didn’t think he would wake for a few more hours at least. He had been put through his paces.

“Go home, Conquest. You aren’t needed here.”

“I beg to differ.” The corruption of this new age on Earth told him in many ways how much he and his brothers were needed. It was rotting from the inside out, and only a cleansing such as theirs could create a new slate for them to regrow from. To achieve a proper balance.

“This conflict doesn’t concern you.”

“ What conflict?”

“This is beyond your petty purpose. There is far more than just the Mortal Dimension at stake here. You are only making things worse. Leave.”

“I don’t answer to you.” What the fuck was Uriel talking about?

Uriel snarled. He dove forward, towards Raziel.

Conquest created a barrier around Raziel’s body and Uriel was forced to abruptly stop before he hit it.

“You’re playing with things you don’t understand,” Uriel warned, his lip curling in a sneer. “You don’t want him, trust me.”

“Why don’t you explain to me why?”

Uriel landed softly, out of reach of the barrier and Conquest. “You want him? Fine. I don’t care . Keep him.”

He was gone through the fog before Conquest could formulate a response.

Conquest cursed. What the hell had just happened?

He studied Raziel for a long moment, searching his aura. But there was nothing unusual about him. The only unusual thing was the fact that there wasn’t anything unusual. He was completely ordinary, so drained of power he was as close to mortal as he could be without fully tipping over that line.

Victory snorted and stamped her foot.

“Yes, time to go.”

He picked Raziel up bridal style and used his energy to levitate up onto Victory’s back. He settled Raziel against him and grabbed a rein before Victory trotted carefully into the fog.