Conquest: Rise of the Fifth Horseman (The Fifth Horseman Series Book 1) (8 page)

BOOK: Conquest: Rise of the Fifth Horseman (The Fifth Horseman Series Book 1)
12.41Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

 

Chapter Thirteen: Unbridled Powers

And
all the Malakhim of heaven wept: Lo, he is fallen! Is fallen, even a Morning
Star! And this Satan follows the direction of that great darkness, the greatest
of God’s enemies - the Leviathan, and doth continually make war with the
Malakhim of God…


Methuselah 8:5 –

 

 

High above their damp
dungeon through multiple layers of cement, the sun was dipping below the
horizon. Allan’s head was still throbbing from being knocked unconscious
several hours earlier, and he found it extremely difficult to keep his eyes
open. Without warning, he had fallen asleep on the cement floor. Another
nightmare had engulfed him, of which he couldn’t escape. He was very much aware
that he was dreaming, but yet he couldn’t force himself awake no matter how
many times he tried.

“Kill him.” the dark
voice echoed in his mind, “Kill him now!”

He found himself
hovering over an unfamiliar fallen opponent, holding a knife high above his
head. It took every ounce of his will to restrain the muscles that desired to
plunge down to finish the deed. The terrifying voice grew louder and louder,
but he forced himself to concentrate. With a surge of willpower, he dropped the
knife and stared at his unfamiliar chubby hands.

In the real world, his
hands fidgeted uncontrollably as he struggled to awaken. The nightmare was
causing such intense anguish and rage that a small sliver of light escaped from
his glowing closed eyelids. Slowly a silver aura began to encircle him about as
more and more light seeped from between his eyelashes.

Without any warning,
his eyelids flew open with an explosion of light. Just as suddenly a loud crash
echoed off of the walls as a large radius of the barbed-wire fencing shattered
into dust. Around the edges of John’s cage was a gaping hole where the remains
of the barbed wire glowed red with an intense heat.

“My dear boy!” John
exclaimed, “You’ve done it!”

Allan moaned in pain as
John staggered over to him. Placing his hand on Allan’s shoulder, he carefully
turned him over. The silver glow was dissipating from his eyes while his face
portrayed a look of intense pain.

“What happened?” he
groaned as John helped him sit up.

“You’ve Awakened.”

“I know, but what
happened?” his left hand moved to cradle his forehead.

“No, I mean you’ve
truly Awakened as the Final Seraph.”

What’s
that
supposed to
mean?

“It means that your
powers have finally manifested.”

“Get out of my head!”

“I’m sorry. I can’t
help it.” he explained as he dragged Allan to his feet, “We need to get out of
here. I’m surprised Timur hasn’t come for us yet.”

Together they staggered
toward the entrance of the chamber. Cautiously, John peeked around the corner.
No guards. The next room opened up to a series of dimly lit hallways that
followed multiple large pipes attached to the ceiling while several smaller
pipes with various valves ran down walls.

“I think we’re in the
underground pump room of Buckingham Fountain.” Allan guessed.

“Buckingham?” John
stammered, “We’re in London?”

“No, Chicago.” Allan
corrected as they moved down one of the hallways.

John looked confused,
but didn’t comment. Allan recognized the distant humming sound of the pump. As
they traveled further along, the humming sound grew louder. Before long the
hallway opened up to a familiar large chamber. It was here that Allan had been
knocked out cold earlier. This time however, there were no cloaked men within
it. It was as empty as if the event had never occurred.

After a few minutes
they were able to locate an opening to a large overflow drain with sunlight
peeking through the end. John led the way though the dark tunnel. It was fairly
difficult to maneuver because of its slippery downward slope.

Upon reaching the end
of the tunnel, John sloshed ahead and quickly climbed the rungs of a ladder
with ease and dexterity. He waved to Allan when he reached the top, and didn’t
even look the slightest bit winded. By the time Allan reached the surface of
the Chicago boardwalk, John was out of sight.

“Psst!” he whispered
from behind a trash can, “Come on! Let’s go!”

Allan scrambled to keep
up with John. When he finally caught up to him at Lake Shore Drive, John was
standing on the side of the road with his thumb out: hitchhiker’s style.

“No need for that.”
Allan began crossing the street, “We can just take my car.”

Judging by the orange
and pink hues of the sky, Allan was surprised how long he had been trapped down
there. As Allan neared the spot where he had been attacked, a cold chill spread
down his spine. Surrounded by yellow police tape was a small crew of men from
the fire department. Each of them had a badge on their left shoulders that
stated they were members of the Hazardous Incident Team. It looked like they
were cleaning Allan’s blood spill.

“Leave it alone.” John
advised, knowingly.

But Allan couldn’t
resist. As he began to approach the yellow tape, John grabbed Allan’s arm
forcefully.

“I said,” he repeated, “Leave
it alone. You’ve got blood all over your shirt. You’ll only attract suspicion.”

“Who do you think you
are, anyway?” Allan ripped his arm away.

“Can I help you
gentlemen?” an officer approached them.

“Now you’ve done it.”
John murmured.

“Yes, as a matter of
fact.” Allan stammered, “I’d like to report an attempted murder.”

 

Chapter Fourteen: Unturned Stones

And
Lucifer didst yield his soul unto the Leviathan to be consumed, and Lucifer
became Satan evermore. Satan and his Malakhim didst retreat unto the Earth,
cursed forever as Watchers of and not partakers of the glory bestowed upon man…


Methuselah 8:6 –

 

 

Allan was somewhat of a
neat freak, so his home was typically kept in pristine condition. This
afternoon however, the place was a disaster. As Timur toppled another set of
books from the bookshelf in the front room, he roared in frustration.

Where is it?!

He had spent the first
twenty minutes searching carefully for something unique to jump out at him,
because he didn’t exactly know what he was looking for. The only clues Abner
had given him were that Allan’s Amulet would be ancient and that Timur would
subconsciously recognize it immediately.

“Hello?” he heard Lily
suddenly call hesitantly from the doorway.

Timur froze as several
more books toppled from the bookshelf.

What is SHE doing here?

“Umm…” Timur stammered
in consternation, “Good evening, Lily.”

“How did you get in
here?” she looked around frantically, “And why are you destroying Allan’s
house?!”

“That’s a bit
complicated…” he searched his mind for a valid excuse, “When does Allan get
home?”

“I’m not sure…” her
eyes betrayed utter confusion, “Why are you here?”

“I might ask you the
same thing. Shouldn’t you be locking up the office about now?” he redirected
the questioning.

“Well, about that…” she
fumbled with her words, “I was going to talk to you a little later, but I guess
now is a good time too.”

He picked up a few
books and placed them carefully back on the shelf, “Talk to me about what?”

“I quit.” she gave him
a nervous smile, “Today.”

“Excuse me?!” he
erupted, “I don’t think so. Besides, you haven’t given me proper notice.”

“On the contrary,
Illinois follows the rule of Employment-at-will,” she cited, “which means that
an employer or employee can terminate the relationship at
any
time,
without
any reason or cause, with or
without
notice.”

“Oh, come off it.” he
rolled his eyes, “This is about what I said this morning, isn’t it?”

Her eyes lit up
suddenly as if the thought hadn’t previously occurred to her, “Yes. Exactly.”

“You can’t be serious.”
he huffed, “We’ve had this mutual playfulness for years. Why are you throwing a
tizzy fit now?”

Her eyes narrowed defiantly,
“There’s been nothing
mutual
about your constant harassment!”

Timur forcefully
grabbed her chin and shook her face violently, “I demand
respect
from my
employees!”

“In that case, I guess
it’s a good thing that I’m no longer one of your
groveling employees
!”
she mocked.

“You stupid worthless
wench
!”
he screamed in her face.

He shoved her angrily
and she toppled over the backside of the couch. Her face collided with the
hardwood floor in a resounding crack. She moaned, unconscious.

Good. I’m through with
listening to your whining.

He ignored her lifeless
body and returned to ransacking the home. The amulet had to be somewhere in
this house, he could feel it. He had half expected that Allan owned a hidden
safe behind a photograph or within the numerous bookshelves that overcrowded
the home. The man owned far too many books, that was for sure.

An hour passed, and it
had turned dark outside. Despite the efforts he had spent ransacking the home,
his search had turned up fruitless. Exhausted, he slumped down upon the couch.
A small puddle of blood had formed by Lily’s face. He kicked her limp body, and
she let out a moan once again.

Good. You’re not dead.
I’m not done with you yet.

As he stared at her, a
sudden realization hit him. Allan must have the Amulet with him.

Brilliant.

Passing through a
shadow, he reappeared in the underground pump room of Buckingham Fountain with
Lily in tow.

“Your holiness!” he was
greeted by one of the creed members.

He dropped Lily’s body
roughly onto the floor, “Take this woman to the main chamber.”

“I assume you want me
to send this body down the drainpipe like all of the others?”

“No!” Timur insisted, “No,
she’s not dead. I need her alive.”

“As you wish.” he bowed
slightly and carried her away.

Timur began walking
toward the dungeon chamber when another creed member stopped him.

“Your holiness,” he
spoke hesitantly, “You’re back so soon!”

“Yes…” Timur looked
around the empty chamber, “Where is everyone?”

“Well…” he cringed, “they
are all out looking for Allan.”

Timur stared at him
blankly, “I don’t follow.”

“It seems John helped
him escape…”

“WHAT?!” he shrieked in
an outburst of rage.

The creed member
recognized the sickly green light seething from Timur’s eyes and took off in
terror, but it was already too late. Suddenly, an explosion of light erupted
from Timur’s core as he screamed in rage. The creed member was caught within
the blast radius and became incinerated on contact. Only a small pile of ash
remained.

 

BOOK: Conquest: Rise of the Fifth Horseman (The Fifth Horseman Series Book 1)
12.41Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Forbidden Boy by Hailey Abbott
Jump Zone: Cleo Falls by Snow, Wylie
Columbus by Derek Haas
Rise and Fall by Kelleher, Casey
Damaged Goods by Stephen Solomita
Heart by Higginson, Rachel
Riptide by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
Corsarios Americanos by Alexander Kent