Page 8 of Conquest (The Four Horsemen #1)

7

Raziel stumbled through the fog, and out onto a sandy beach. He bent, bracing himself with his hands on his knees as he tried to calm his churning stomach.

“The rest of your immortal life is going to be very unpleasant if you don’t get used to travelling like that,” Conquest told him.

He had done just fine for a hundred years. All he had to do was stay in one place. Who knew never being given a task on the Mortal Dimension had been a blessing?

An uncomfortable pulling sensation in the center of his stomach had Raziel gasping for breath. Conquest was walking away, was only halfway up the stairs that led to the streets above the beach, and the tether was grasping for him.

“W-wait.” Raziel struggled to catch up, his new shoes sinking into the sand. Running on sand was more difficult than it looked. The mortals around him seemed to be doing just fine. Was there a trick to it?

He found Conquest waiting at the top of the stairs, Victory beside him. He was playing with her braid as he spoke quietly to her.

Conquest had looked strange when Raziel had first seen him in his Demon ‘vessel’, as he had called it, but Raziel almost couldn’t see the Demon now; Conquest was all he saw. Raziel wasn’t sure if that was normal, or whether Conquest’s power meant that how he looked differed depending on who was looking at him. It certainly couldn’t have been because Raziel was powerful enough to see through the Demon form.

Raziel paused, watching them for a moment. Conquest seemed different, gentler somehow, when he was interacting with his mare. There was love, and kindness and all the things he didn’t want to see from such a monster. Conquest was none of those things; it was jarring to see him behave as though he were.

Conquest’s eyes turned cold when he looked at Raziel, his entire demeanor changing. “If you don’t keep up, I’ll let the tether drag you.”

The Conquest Raziel was coming to know was definitely none of those things.

Raziel fell into step beside him as Conquest moved into the throng of people going everywhere. Raziel worked out that if he stayed close to Conquest’s large form then the mortals moved around them, and he didn’t have to dodge.

He faltered, craning his head to see behind himself, as he noticed that Victory kept stopping every few meters, before coming back to them.

She slowed almost to a stop, snapped up a piece of food from someone’s plate outside of a food venue and then trotted happily away.

Raziel jumped when a hand came down on his shoulder.

“If you think I was kidding, continue to try my patience.”

“I got distracted!” Raziel protested.

Conquest sent an unamused glance at Victory. “Victory, what have I told you about consuming mortal food?”

Victory snorted, and proceeded to snatch another piece of food. It took the mortal a moment to realise that a part of their meal was gone. They looked around in confusion, Victory invisible to their eyes.

“Does she need to eat?” Raziel asked.

“No,” Conquest said shortly. He gave Raziel’s shoulder a light squeeze. “I won’t stop again,” he warned.

Except…he’d already said that and he’d stopped twice now? Raziel didn’t want to test him a third time though, and broke into a jog to keep up with Conquest’s long strides.

A block of walking later and Raziel wanted to ask where they were going. They were heading further into the city and away from the gorgeous beachfront. Conquest was scowling so Raziel decided not to ask.

Conquest placed a hand on Raziel’s chest, the touch searing. Raziel was unsure what the warm sensation that he got every time Conquest touched him was. It felt nice, and he didn’t know what that said about him. Maybe the torture had done something to his brain?

“Something is following us,” Conquest said.

Raziel’s heart skipped a beat. “F-following us?” Had he said some thing? What did that mean? He looked around but all he saw were mortals, so many of them it was nauseating. Why were there always so many of them? There were millions of Angels on the Heavenly Dimension, and yet he’d never felt boxed in or cramped like this.

“Keep walking. I’ll take care of it.”

“What?” But Conquest had already turned a corner and was gone.

Raziel let out a quick breath. It was fine. Conquest had said keep walking. So he would just…keep…walking. Everything was fine. He wasn’t about to die.

He wasn’t - he let out a cry of terror as a figure materialized in front of him. The hideous creature sneered at him. It could have almost passed for human - its body was identical - if not for the tiny red horns sticking out of its chin, all the way up its jaw and across its cheeks and nose. The blood trickling from the corner of its mouth and the blood red eyes only added to the horror.

Demon.

It went to grab for him and Raziel jumped backwards until he hit the wall of the building behind him.

“Don’t hide, little morsel,” the creature said. Raziel wondered if they thought that tone of voice was in any way soothing.

It wasn’t.

Where was Conquest? Had he abandoned him like the Archangels? Had he been left to die?

The Demon came closer, grinning to reveal jagged teeth that were dripping with blood. “You smell good,” it hissed. “What are you? Angel? Something else?”

It lunged and Raziel screamed, clenching his eyes closed.

He opened one tentatively when nothing happened.

The Demon was frozen inches from him, its red eyes wide. Conquest was standing behind it with a hand on the top of its head, pushing down so hard that it had begun to crumple beneath the pressure.

“He’s not yours to play with,” Conquest said menacingly.

A dagger suddenly protruded from its stomach, spraying blood across Raziel’s face. Raziel tried to regulate his breathing, tried not to scream again as the hot, thick liquid dripped from his nose, his chin, his eyelashes.

Conquest pulled the dagger out and then pierced the Demon’s skull clean through, down from the top until the hilt was level with his scalp and the tip of the blade glinted beneath his chin. Its eyes rolled into the back of its head and Conquest threw it to the side like a ragdoll.

He held out a blood-covered hand to Raziel.

Raziel turned to look at the Demon’s body but it was gone, already recalled back to the Hells. Raziel wasn’t sure whether Conquest had truly killed it, or whether it would just need time to heal.

Conquest’s hand was still hovering, waiting for Raziel’s decision.

He understood in that moment what they meant when they said that sometimes, it was worth choosing the lesser of two evils. The Heavens had abandoned him, and the Demon would have killed him, maybe worse.

Conquest was all he had.

Raziel lunged forward and grabbed the bloodied hand with both of his, shaking violently.

“You did good,” Conquest said.

Did good at what? Being bait? “What was it?”

“They don’t have a name,” Conquest replied. He kept his pace steady, allowing Raziel to keep up without having to let go of him. “They’re the scavengers of the Hell Dimension. They come here to hunt, and to feed.”

“F-feed?” Raziel wasn’t sure he wanted to know what that meant, or whether he had been on the menu for that day. Had it been after him, or Conquest?

“They live off fear, souls, and human flesh.”

Raziel shuddered. That sounded all kinds of unpleasant. Were there really creatures out there that fed on human flesh? In some ways he was glad he had steered clear of Demonic studies, but in other ways he realized how helpful that knowledge might be right now. He’d never expected to be here, had never expected to be let out of the Heavens, so he hadn’t bothered with information that meant nothing beyond the paper they were written on. A poor decision, in hindsight. “Why did it come for me?”

“A good question. This encounter was pure chance; nothing on Earth could track you right now with the shield I have around you, especially something that low on the food chain.”

Raziel wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be comforting or not.

* * *

Conquest turned and gave Victory a stern glare when they reached their destination. “You aren’t allowed in here.”

Victory shook her head and stamped a hoof.

“If you destroy one more priceless artifact in there he’ll hike up the prices, and I don’t want to have to kill him. Stay out here, or go home. Your choice.”

With a huff, she sat, folding her legs under herself. She laid her head down and closed her eyes.

Conquest squinted, waiting, but she didn’t move. Whether she continued to behave was something he would worry about later.

“Let’s go,” Conquest told Raziel.

The Angel looked up at the sign above the antique door. “ Solomon’s Treasures and Bookshop. What is this place?”

Conquest opened the door. “Inside. Now.” If they were going to be attacked again, it would be here. They couldn’t create a fog portal within a four-block radius of this place because of the protections the owner had around it. The shop itself had been here since before Conquest had even existed. The only thing that had changed in the years was the structure it was built around, the antiquities that were sold, and the price requested for services. War had killed him once, but Conquest hadn’t needed to. Yet.

Conquest made sure to stand close to Raziel as the Angel passed, one hand on his small waist. He sent a pulse of soft energy from his palm. Raziel shivered and Conquest smirked.

The interior of the shop was dark, dusty and had the slight scent of the Hells. Along with the protections, the scent deterred mortals from entering. This place wasn’t for them.

The shop was two floors, one a mezzanine, full of cramped bookshelves and counters of varied antiques and weaponry. Conquest recognized some of them, had supplied some of them when he’d killed their original owners.

“Stay down here, and don’t touch anything.”

“Where are you going?” Raziel asked curiously.

“I need to speak to someone.” Conquest cupped Raziel’s cheek, forcing the Angel to look at him. He swiped his thumb over Raziel’s bottom lip. It was so unbelievably soft. He wondered what it would taste like. Someday, soon, he would find out. “You may touch the books. Do not touch anything else. They may look harmless, but most of the artifacts in here will kill you.”

Raziel’s lips parted, his warm breath rushing over Conquest’s thumb.

“Raziel.” He made sure to put a warning tone in his voice. He would hear the Angel speak the words he wanted before he left him unattended. Even War wasn’t stupid enough to mess with some of the objects here.

“I won’t touch anything,” Raziel said. His pupils were dilated, and he was fixated on Conquest. Conquest was sorely tempted to lean in.

“Conquest.”

When Conquest looked up, Amii was leaning over the banister with one eyebrow raised. The Demon's hair was bright red and the tips of it were alight, as were the tips of his eyelashes. Everything about him looked like fire, from his sparking eyes to the blood red robe that was the only thing Conquest had ever seen him wear. Wrapped around his neck and over one arm was his python, similarly aflame.

“Touch nothing. Don’t forget,” Conquest said, before making his way up the winding stairs.

The python hissed at him and then slithered off when Conquest approached. Good, he didn’t want to have to cut it in two. He disliked the Demonic creature even less than he liked Famine’s pet spider.

“Slumming with the Angels, Con?” Amii asked, eyeing where Raziel was pulling books from the shelves. The corner of Conquest’s mouth lifted when Raziel got a face full of dust and sneezed.

“Something like that.”

Amii wrinkled his nose. “What are you wearing?”

“Demon vessel,” Conquest answered. Raziel opened a book, grimaced at a grotesque picture inside, and hastily shoved it back onto the shelf. “I had to make a stop before here.”

“That murder was you? It caused quite a stir in the mortal Underworld. How delicious. Is War coming soon? I have a bone to pick with him.”

Conquest just bet he did. “I’ll tell him you asked about him.” War would enjoy paying him a visit. He couldn’t guarantee Amii would enjoy it, however.

“I do enjoy the rare occasions when I don’t have to make a house call. That island you live on is so dreary. Have I told you that?”

“You’ve mentioned it a time or two.” Thousands of times, in fact. Conquest would worry that the Demon was going senile, but he’d been like this for as long as the Horseman had known him.

“I keep telling Death if he wanted to liven the place up, I know the right people.”

The island that Amii visited when he was delivering his cargo in their dimension was a decoy. Their home wasn’t anywhere near it. “I’ll mention it to him. Do you have what I need?”

“That all depends.” Amii smiled, revealing razor sharp teeth. “Do you have my payment?”

“I do, and it’s worth double our initial agreement,” Conquest said.

“Oh?”

Conquest didn’t respond. He wasn’t going to explain himself, Amii knew better than to push. Conquest may have already killed twice today, but he was always up for more bloodshed.

Amii stroked his chin as he flicked a tongue over his canine. “Okay, okay. Deal. Now show me.”

Conquest produced a single white feather. It was bigger than his hand and freezing to the touch, the tips frozen solid.

Amii’s eyes widened. He took it gently, gazing upon it as though it were the greatest gift in all the dimensions. “Uriel’s feather! How did you get this?”

“We’re old friends,” Conquest deadpanned. It wasn’t a complete lie; just the friends part.

“It’s so potent, so powerful, so beautiful.”

“Yeah, they’re a real treat,” Conquest said sarcastically. He personally preferred them when they were coated in blood, but to each their own. “My metal?”

Amii snapped his fingers and a large sealed wooden box appeared on the table beside them. “Double the amount, as agreed.”

Conquest wished he knew where Amii got the goods. Death had tried to find the metal for years, and had come up empty handed. It wasn’t that the price was outrageous; Angel feathers were easy to come by, but having to bargain for anything made Conquest bristle.

Conquest pulled a dagger from the inside of his jacket pocket and touched the point to his crown, lighting it up with a purple glow. He carefully used it to scratch a symbol on the wood. The symbol lit up and the box disappeared.

“A pleasure, as always.”

“Do browse my wares before you go. It looks like your Angel has found a few things it might like.”

A few things was putting it mildly. Raziel was sitting cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by stacks upon stacks of books. He had a finger on one stack, tapping lightly, the pad of it lighting up every time it touched the book. His other hand was holding a black-spined book in his lap, the pages turning without him touching them.

Conquest tugged his earlobe, just below his stud. “How much?”

“For all of them?” Amii asked, his eyes turning curious. “Tell me again, who is this Angel?”

“How much?” Conquest requested. He didn’t owe this Angel-wannabe Demon anything, least of all an explanation regarding his newest conquest.

Amii plucked an empty jar from a shelf nearby and placed it in front of Conquest. “Fill this with your energy, and he can have any book he wants.”

Conquest glanced to where the Angel was humming to himself as he exchanged one book for another, before browsing through it.

He unscrewed the jar and placed his hand over the top. Energy pulsed from his palm into the small container. When it was filled he placed the lid back on and shoved it at Amii. “Are we done here?”

“Of course. I’ll let you know when another shipment of your metal comes in.”

Conquest wasn’t expecting that call for at least another thousand years. Wherever Amii found it, it took him a long time to gather enough to make it worth their time. It didn’t matter, Victory’s ribbon and his gauntlets would last.

Amii sat sideways on the railing and slid down the stairs that way, while Conquest took the actual steps. He wasn’t sitting his ass on anything in this place. It was liable to bite.

Raziel barely noticed as Conquest walked up behind him.

Conquest took in the contents of the book he was currently reading. “Cook books?” He glanced at Amii, who shrugged.

“I know a few Demons that like to cook,” he said. “Who am I to judge an Immortal’s personal habits?”

Conquest conjured a piece of parchment with a single address written on it. “Send them here,” he told Amii, handing it over.

“Ooh, good choice. Nice neighborhood there.”

“If I see one creature sniffing around that smells even remotely like you, I’ll be sending Famine your way.”

Amii visibly swallowed. “Duly noted.”

“We’re leaving,” Conquest said. He gripped the invisible tether in his hand and tugged Raziel to a standing position.

Raziel flailed, grasping at the book that tried to tumble to the floor. “Should I put these back? I’m sorry,” he said, glancing at Amii, who, to anyone who didn’t know him, looked terrifying and just a tad on fire. Anyone who knew him wasn’t terrified in the least. His python was more dangerous than he was. His talents lay in acquiring things, not battle. “I’ll put them back right now.”

“No need,” Conquest said. “Amii will handle it.”

Amii wiggled his fingers at them as they left.

Conquest crossed his arms when he spotted Victory, who was not where he had left her.

She was following a mime street performer. When the mortal stopped and pretended that he was stuck behind a wall she crouched like a dog, and sniffed at it. The mime gasped silently and Victory jumped, snorting energy power from her nose. She kicked her back legs and then trotted circles around him, utterly fascinated by his every action.

“What is she doing?”

“Victory, time to go.”

She gave the mortal one last sniff before she galloped across the road. Cars passed right through her. The humans in the vehicles would have felt a shiver pass through them, with no idea of why.

Victory nudged the side of Raziel’s head. Raziel giggled and scratched underneath her chin. She preened at the touch.

Conquest ignored them both and headed in the direction of the nearest area he could travel from.

* * *

Conquest deposited Raziel in what looked like the library of the estate with a warning not to stray too far, and then left.

Raziel waited for the unpleasant tug of the tether but it didn’t come. Either Conquest wasn’t far or he had loosened it for whatever reason.

Raziel looked around the room he had been left in. It was stunning. Large bay windows, glass doors that led into some kind of outside courtyard and dozens of mahogany bookcases lined the walls. Some were filled with books, others were only half-filled and even more of them empty.

A desk was in the dead center of the room. Raziel touched the only object on the empty surface.

Lamp; an electric device that produces light, through the use of power or batteries.

Images of different kinds of lamps filtered across Raziel’s mind. He tilted his head in fascination and felt around until his finger touched the small switch at the base of the lamp. He flicked it on and smiled as light flooded the small space.

Leaving it on, he continued to wander the room. A long wooden box was leaning against the far wall with ‘War’s property; touch if you want to die’ scrawled messily across the side. Raziel gave it a wide berth.

A standing bird perch was near one of the large windows, the curtains tied to the sides. Raziel peered at the white bird that was standing on it. Was it real?

He hesitantly reached out a hand and pressed the tip of his finger against a feather.

It didn’t move.

Raziel gave it a pat, marveling at its soft plumage. What was it made of? He tried to pull up information about it.

Red flames, burning from the inside. Screaming. Anguish, despair.

Raziel jerked his hand away. Breathing heavily, he stared wide-eyed at the bird and stumbled away from it. He didn’t know what had happened but he didn’t want to repeat it, ever again.

He bumped into a stack of boxes as he took another step back and turned in surprise. He could have sworn they hadn’t been there a few minutes earlier.

He pressed his fingers against the label stamped on the side of them. Solomon’s Treasures and Bookshop.

Raziel glanced around but Conquest didn’t come out of the shadows to berate him so he ripped off the tape from the top and opened them up.

His mouth dropped open when he spied the contents. They were all the books he had been looking at in the shop. He began pulling them out. It was literally all of them, plus a few extra.

Had Conquest bought them for him?

He grabbed an armful of them and checked the rest of the area for somewhere to sit. He found a corner that was piled high with large square cushions.

It was perfect.

Raziel made a few trips to gather as many of the books as he could.

He sat in the cushion pile and pulled the nearest book onto his lap, flipping it open.

An hour later and he was sure that if he were mortal, looking at all of the food pictures would have made him hungry. As it was, they still made him want and wonder. What would it taste like? What did they mean when they said ‘melt in your mouth’, or ‘crunchy’ or ‘having a party in your mouth’? Raziel wanted to try everything.

In the span of just a few hours, Raziel had made his way through all of the books from Solomon’s and moved on to the other books in the room.

He learned more about the Mortal Dimension that afternoon than the Angels had ever bothered to teach him in a hundred years.

All because of one of the most feared beings in existence. A Horseman had taken him in, and if you took away the torture - which Raziel was beginning to suspect wasn’t about hurting him at all - he had treated Raziel with more kindness than any being in the Heavens ever had. At least Conquest saw him.

Raziel jumped in fright as one of the Solomon’s book piles toppled over. He gripped the book in his hands tightly, his heart beating rapidly. Should he call for help? Was Conquest nearby?

Victory came into view and Raziel deflated.

“You did that on purpose!” he accused the mare.

Her ears flicked as she made her way over to him. Her nose nudged at the book he was holding.

“It’s about Ancient warriors called Samurai,” Raziel told her. “They were warriors most prominent in the Edo Period in Japan. They revered loyalty and discipline above all else.” The Archangel Raphael reminded Raziel a little of the Samurai.

Victory sat and stared unblinking at him.

Raziel took the hint and tentatively rested beside her, his thigh against her large body. She didn’t move or try to bite, maim or kill him, so he relaxed.

He opened the book and began reading about the rise and fall of the Samurai Warriors in Ancient Japan.

Over time he leaned more and more into her, and ended up resting completely against her, the warmth of her body and her steady breathing soothing.

Despite the fact that Angels didn’t require sleep, Raziel fell into a deep slumber against Victory’s side.

He woke when Victory abruptly stood and shook herself.

One hand braced on the ground to stop himself from head-planting he tried to get his eyes to open properly. “Vicky?”

She shoved her nose into his ear and puffed a breath of air into it.

Raziel cried out, startled. He glared at her as he stood. “That was uncalled for!”

Her tail swished. She trotted merrily to the glass doors that led to the courtyard outside and nudged them open.

Pausing in the entryway, she turned and gave him an expectant look.

“I don’t think I’m supposed to go outside,” Raziel said. Conquest had said ‘don’t stray far’ which hadn’t been much of a direction, but still. Victory might have been able to get away with dismissing Conquest, but Raziel doubted he would get the same leeway.

Victory snorted and headed outside.

Raziel tentatively poked his head out of the open doorway. No Horseman was waiting to murder him.

He put a single foot onto the gravel outside, and quickly pulled it back in.

Nothing.

He glanced back into the room, certain that Conquest would be watching him. It was empty. Well, empty according to his senses. He guessed that meant there was a chance it wasn’t empty, but he would never know.

He stepped out into the courtyard, smiling up at the warmth of the sun. The circular area filled with small white pebbles was surrounded by bright green grass, and a tall brick fence on the outskirts. It was breathtaking.

The crunch of pebbles beneath his shoes was loud as he made his way further out.

Victory looked at him out of the corner of her eye as she munched on a white rose planted beside the high brick fence.

“That’s not food,” Raziel remarked. He didn’t think it was, anyway. He plucked a petal from the rose next to it, one that didn’t have horse slobber on it.

It smelled pretty. None of the information he gathered from it said it was used for food, but Victory was eating it. Raziel shrugged and popped it into his mouth.

The texture was soft and it didn’t have much of a taste. All in all not horrific, but not the sensory overload he expected other foods would give him.

He finished the entire rose off while Victory ate three more, until the bush was empty of the flowers.

Victory bumped his shoulder and Raziel turned with a, “What?”

She shoved her head against his spine and pushed.

“Do you want me to walk?” Raziel asked, unsure what she wanted from him.

For a moment Conquest’s ‘you’re so stupid’ face reflected back at him, and the connection between horse and rider had never been more obvious.

“Did he teach you that, or the other way around?” Raziel grumbled as he did as he was told. By a horse . “I don’t think I’m supposed to be walking around freely,” he felt compelled to point out.

He almost stumbled and fell when he was shoved again. “Stop that! I’m going. Jeez.”

Well, at least it was an opportunity to see beautiful scenery. When would he ever get the chance again?

He was on borrowed time, and he knew it.