Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Riley
I find myself standing in front of the Door, surrounded by dilapidated buildings and hundreds of wolves.
They don’t come at me and instead circle around me, snarling and snapping their fangs, but none get close enough to touch me.
I’m not quite sure what I’d do if they did since none of my magic seems to affect them, other than the strange magic that I can’t quite manage to control.
The last ones I touched were the beings in the cage, but when I hold my hand out, all I can feel is Mickey’s necromancy magic.
I reach out and feel the way the magic entwines within the earth, pulling out any and all dead that I can access.
The ground splits as undead crawl out from beneath it before it settles back down and I’m left standing among them, needing to find Torin.
“Kit, can you hear Torin?” I ask, but she doesn’t leap off and lead the way.
Instead, she stands up on my shoulder and sniffs the air until her eyes fix on an area to my right.
I rush toward it, well aware that I’ll be plunging right into the wolves, but instead of coming after me like they did last time, they flee, scrambling to get away from me.
The medallion in my pocket is so hot, I feel like it’s going to burn me, but something inside of me doesn’t want to let it go.
I can’t let it go for some reason. It’s similar to the urge I feel to go back through that Door.
There are so many wolves that not all of them can escape me, and one slams into me. The wolf jerks away as it trembles, staggering back on large black paws, and then it turns to mist, dispersing and leaving behind a white orb that floats toward me.
I hesitate when I see it and find myself reaching down to pull out the medallion, but when I stick my hand into my pocket, I discover that it’s so hot that it burns me.
I yank my hand back, deciding against that.
Nervously, I look around, feeling uncertain but knowing I need to find Torin. That’s more important than anything.
The road beneath my feet has cracked, making it hard to run on while I move in the direction that Kit stays focused on until I can hear the sounds of their fight.
When I reach Torin and the horseman, I see that they’ve pulled apart, both bloody and holding weapons tightly in their hands as they sit astride their mounts.
Torin looks over at me, but the horseman does as well. His fixation on me unnerves me. He turns his horse toward me, like I’m now more interesting to him than Torin who has put him in this state. Is it because I’m the one who hurt him so badly last time?
Torin and Quill dash in front of me, cutting me off so I can’t get any closer to the horseman.
And the horseman does the very last thing I expect.
He starts laughing.
“You’re going to protect him?” he asks, sounding almost giddy. “You’re really going to protect him? Do you know who he is? I didn’t realize it before—his magic was so locked away that it was nearly impossible to tell—but it’s clear now.”
“Stay away from him,” Torin growls.
Conquest laughs again. There’s blood on his face and his glee makes him look manic. I can tell by the way Torin is holding himself that he’s hurt. “Do you know who he is?”
Torin glances back at me, and I feel like there’s something that he’s caught on to that I haven’t. Turning back to the horseman, he asks, “You think I’m going to abandon him because he’s one of you? He’s nothing like you.”
“No, he’s worse,” Conquest says with a grin. “You’re really going to protect the man who slaughtered everyone you love? Who destroyed your realm? Who killed all those you held dear to you? You want revenge, then take it. He’s right there.”
Torin’s body stiffens as I stand here, confused by what they’re saying. “No. I killed him.”
Conquest smirks. “You think we horsemen can die? We’re the bringers of the apocalypse. We can’t die.”
I feel like I’m drowning in their words and struggling to pull out any useful information from either of them. He’s declaring that I’m… a horseman? And not only that, he’s claiming that I killed all of Torin’s people?
I shake my head. “Torin, he’s just trying to get in your head.”
The horseman is relentless. “You recognize that magic, don’t you, now that he’s getting stronger? It’s the same magic that ravaged your land.”
Torin’s attention is fixed on the man. “He can borrow magic. He’s just…” Torin grits his teeth, but his body is still rigid. He can’t truly believe him, right? He can’t believe that I would do such a horrible thing and take everyone he loved from him. That I would…
Conquest chuckles. “He’s not borrowing magic. He’s connecting to their souls. He is Death, after all,” he says while his horse paws at the ground.
I shake my head again, refusing to believe the bullshit this man is spouting. “No, he’s lying. Torin, he’s lying.”
The horseman looks at me. “Brother, come home. You’ve been lost and confused, but it’s time for you to come home,” Conquest says as he holds a hand out to me. The wolves circle around me and Torin. They want to usher me back toward that Door… I want to go through that Door. I want to—
But my mind focuses on Torin.
Does Torin believe him? He can’t actually believe him, right?
Torin’s expression tells me all that I need to know, and I stagger back.
“Torin, I wouldn’t. He’s just getting in your head,” I say, but my voice comes out sounding so pleading.
“Brother, do you think the magic lies? Do you think this god doesn’t remember the very magic that destroyed his realm and nearly took his life? Come home, Brother. Come back to where you belong. You don’t belong here among these parasites. Come home.”
My mind is reeling, and the wolves are closing in on me. I feel like I can’t breathe while my world crashes around me, and I try to fight off the words the horseman is shouting just to fuck with us. To weaken us. To make us fail.
But some part of me can’t. I can’t push those thoughts away with this magic rippling around me and the Door calling to me—or, more precisely, whatever lies beyond it. It’s as though I left a part of myself through that Door.
Breathing is becoming more difficult as I step back, unable to handle the way Torin won’t look at me. My chest hurts, and when a wolf gets close, I shove it back from me. It turns to mist before a second white orb joins the first that still floats around me.
“That’s it, Brother. Let’s go home,” Conquest says.
Torin’s head snaps around like he’s afraid I’m just going to throw myself at that Door. He rushes toward me, and Quill cuts me off from the Door while Torin tries to cut away the wolves surrounding me.
My hands land on the cool scales that run down Quill’s neck. “Torin, I didn’t… I’m not… he’s just fucking with you.”
“He knows I’m not,” Conquest says before charging Torin, who already looks so worn down. Yes, he’s gained some strength since I first met him, but he’s still not strong enough. Anxiety wells up inside me, and I lunge in front of Quill.
Conquest yanks hard on the reins connected to the white horse, and it jerks back just before it would’ve slammed into me. His expression hardens. “If you enjoy the god’s company so much, you may take him back with us. You can enjoy him as you please.”
“And let you destroy my world?” I ask.
“Your world? Your world is with us, not them.”
“Why are you doing this?”
His horse throws its head while Conquest watches me closely. “You really remember nothing? This is your fate, little brother. This is what you must do. You have no choice. Now go home. If it so pleases you, take the little humans you enjoy home with you. They are not all needed.”
“Riley,” Torin says, but nothing follows it. I don’t know what to do, and I feel like everything is spiraling out of control.
I don’t want to believe anything this asshole is saying, but how can I not start to question it?
“I didn’t do it,” I whisper, begging Torin to believe me.
“Riley, we have to stop him. Please, stay focused.”
I glance at him and he nods at me.
Torin looks over at Conquest, who appears to be contemplating how to get through me to Torin, before turning back to me. “My power is so weak right now that I’m not certain I can stop him. But in all of the lore and all of the books, the strongest of the horsemen is Death.”
“I’m not Death,” I protest as I shake my head. “I’m not—”
“Do you want to save these people? Then use the power for something good,” Torin says.
Conquest laughs. “He can’t even control his power in this state. He’s weak and doesn’t have his horse. Without his horse, he is filled with uncontrollable power. And that power will grow and grow until it consumes him if he doesn’t come with me. So go through the Door. Go to your destiny, Brother.”
I feel a hand in my hair, and I turn my attention to Torin. “You can do this,” he tells me.
“I’m not sure I can. I’m being told that I’m a monster who killed everyone you love, that I’m the one who ruined your world and slaughtered hundreds of thousands of innocent people.”
“Everyone here is counting on you,” Torin says, voice steady. “I can distract him, but you have to stop him. Let’s focus.”
I give him a nod, having absolutely no idea how I’m expected to focus, no clue how he expects me to do anything against this man who calls me his brother.
Torin swings the chain that’s connected to his scythe as Quill charges forward, and I realize that I have no fucking plan.
One of the orbs bounces into me, and I reach out and touch it. Can I make my own wolves? Can I make something to fight with me?
The orb simply feels warm in my hand while I watch the horseman and the god clash. The chain from Torin’s scythe wraps around the horse’s leg and Quill lunges, ripping the horse off its feet as Torin draws a sword and drives it toward the horseman.