Her eyes grew wide with horror as she was able to see what had happened. Ben's body was being held aloft over Zubriel, the flaming sword piercing through his stomach and out his back. His guns fell from his now limp grasp and clattered against the concrete surface of the road. Blood was pooling from the wound onto the ground. And his eyes were wide and distant.

And it was obvious, even from the distance between her and them, that Ben was dead. Tears started to stream down as she shook her head back and forth in disbelief. 'No, no, no,-no, no, no,no, no. He can't be...Ben can't be dead. He just can't be' she though over and over again.

Zubriel looked at her and smiled as he said "That was even easier than I thought."

Beth clutched her head with both hands as she screamed into the storm.

"BBBBEEEENNNN!"

Zubriel looked at Beth with his cold eyes and smiled at her. He then made a small motion with his blade before swing around his body hard. Ben's limp body went sailing clear off, moving high and far across the sky over what felt like an impossible distance. His body quickly faded from Beth's sight as she stood there frozen.

Zubriel, on the other hand, seemed to still be watching it as his head stayed tilted up for another moment before it lowered just a little. He then turned back at Beth and smiled, saying "That was a really good distance his body made. It actually landed back inside the walls of that school of yours."

As Zubriel began walking towards her, Beth just stood there, unable to will her body to run away. 'What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? Ben...this guy...killed him. There's no way I can...'

BETH, RUN

The sudden voice in her head seems to unfreeze her body and she finds herself turning around and running as fast as she could. 'Ben...was that you?' she thinks about the voice in her head.

Zubriel stops and chuckles just a little. "As if running is really an option with me after you. Oh well, I'll let her tire herself out for a bit before I take her. It's not every day I get to have this much fun" he says before laughing, continuing to follow her with out breaking his stride.

The Harbinger's

tome 4: 4th of Four

As Beth ran down the empty streets towards Gracie's Place, as Ben instructed her to do, she realized just how quiet and empty the town was. Shouldn't there be more people out and about right now? Maybe that Fallen had done something. She wasn't sure, but she knew she had to keep moving.

After turning two more corners, she found herself on a long stretch of road. Just four more blocks, then another turn followed by another three blocks would see her arriving at Gracie's Place and hopefully, find Ben's friends from the Vatican.

However, just as she mad it half way through the second block, the air around her suddenly became thick and heavy, forcing her to stop and fall to her knees, breathing hard. She managed to look over her shoulders and saw Zubriel standing at her last turn point, slowly walking towards her.

As he approached, she said allowed "I'm sorry about that little release of my power there, but I can't let you get to far ahead of me. And besides, as much as I'm enjoying this little chase, we really must be leaving soon. After all, the one who sent me claims to not be very patient."

Zubriel finally fished walking up to her, looking down at her smaller form. Just being this close to him made her shake in fear. He extended a hand to her and said "Now, come with me. If you do, then maybe what's to come won't be so bad for you."

But, just as his hand was about to touch her shoulder, Zubriel's head jerked to his right, just in time to see the incoming sniper shot hit him dead center between the eyes. Zubriel's whole body jerked violently as it was thrown back away from Beth by several feet.

"Huh? What just...?" asked Beth, fear giving way to confusion.

She then jumps as she feels a hand touch her shoulder. Looking back quickly, she sees a boy wearing a similar garment that Ben had on before looking at her.

"Hurry, you need to get up so we can run. That last attack won't kill a Fallen so easily" said the boy as he grabbed Beth's hand and forced her back to her feet.

"Who are you?" asked Beth.

"Names David. I'm a friend of Ben's and a fellow Paladin. Are you OK?" asked David.

"Ye...yes, I'm fine. But Ben..." Beth starts to say, but is cut off by the sound of Zubriel groaning.

"Damn, its been a long time since I was hit that hard" said the Fallen as he slowly returned to his feet, the hole in his head slowly closing up as he stands again.

"Damn, and here I thought that might have killed you" says an annoyed David.

"Sorry kid, I have survived the Angelic Wars. So there is nothing your kind could do to kill me. Though that attack just now did hurt like hell. Tell me, what was it?" asked Zubriel.

Suddenly, another shot from the sniper is fired, but Zubriel sees it coming soon enough to raise a hand and block it, though the attempt does leave a slight burn in the palm of his hand. As he looks at the burn with some curiosity, another figure emerges through the rain.

"David, get the girl out of here. I'll deal with him" said Vicenzo as he reaches into his long coat and pulls out a silver and colored colored cylinder that resembles a sword hilt.

Nodding at the order, David says "Come on and try to keep up" to Beth as he turns and runs as fast as he can move while keeping a hold on his hand.

Vic looks to his right and sees Rosa stand from her sniper position and follows them from the roof tops before turning his attention back to the Fallen.

"I must say, you Paladin sure have some interesting toys. Mind telling me what I was shot with and what it is your holding?" asked Zubriel.

"Redeemer LSC Gospel. It draws in high amounts of spirit energy from the atmosphere and turns it into a deadly, high speed and powered bullet. Even your kind can be hurt with it" said Vic.

Zubriel nods, but then says "To bad the draw back is recharge time between shots, huh? If you could fire a rapid volley, then even I might be in danger. And, that little piece of metal in your hands?"

Vicenzo answers his question by placing both hands on it, then focusing his thoughts to make the device activate. From the tip of the cylinder, a gold colored blade of about two feet in length appears.

"Sacrament; high frequency spirit blade that draws in spirit particles much like the Gospel to create a blade. The stronger the particles in the area, stronger the blade. And Salem has some very high level particles" says Vic as he brings his sword out and readies it to fight.

Zubriel forms his black flame blade into his hands again, then says "Impressive. But, I wonder who's swordsman ship skills will be the better? Yours or mine?" And with that, both opponents charge at one another, their blades striking fast and hard as their battle begins.

(St. Claire's)

"Why didn't I take Beth up on her offer?" Whitney asked herself as she ran across the grounds.

It had taken her a few minutes to get out of the library seeing as that old man kept chewing her out about getting one of his books wet. He had been so annoyed by this, that he had refused to let her check anymore books out. So Whitney had made a hasty retreat, knowing that if she waited a few days, he'd likely change his mind. Maybe.

As she approached the dorms, her eyes fell onto a figure laying on the ground. As she came to a stop, she noticed a stream of red water coming from the figure, flowing into a storm drain. She wasn't sure why, but something seemed familiar about this person and she approached the person slowly.

"Um, hello? Are you OK?" she asked as she finally reached the person.

She could tell it was a boy as as she leaned down to check him, she finally saw the rip in the back of his shirt and the deep opening in the skin. She slowly reached out with trembling fingers and touched the boy's body. As she made contact with his skin, a weird pulse went through her body.

'What the...what was that?' she asked herself mentally. In her mind, it had felt like seeing someone toss a rock into a pond and ripples being created upon the waters surface.

She then pulled on the body, turning it so she could see his face and when it came into view, Whitney let go quickly, jumping back to her feet and taking several steps back as her right hand cupped her mouth and her eyes went wide with shock..

"Ben...? Oh my god" she said in disbelief. Ben's lifeless face stared vacantly into the sky as Whitney's mind tried to process this. Then, she screamed as loudly as she could while turning and running towards the girls dorm yelling for Ms. Hobbin's to get out here.

As she disappeared into the dorm, a finger on Ben's body twitched ever so slightly as a weird greenish glow began to fill his eyes.

(Vicenzo)

The Sacrament and Hell Fire blades clashed against one another as Paladin and Fallen battled one another. Zubriel had to admit, his opponent was good. Very good.

"Well, at least you're a better fighter than that boy from earlier" said Zubriel as he parried a swipe to his face.

"I've been a Paladin for over twenty years. To survive that long is a miracle for many of us" said Vic as he jumped back from a swing at his gut, then sent the blade swinging in wide at Zubriel's shoulder.

They continued back and forth for several more moments, then Vic saw an opening he couldn't afford to miss. He knew that a Fallen needed their wings to gather spiritual energy to survive upon seeing as they had lost their connection to the source when they had lost the status of the Providence.

Releasing one hand from holding the Sacrament and grabbing his Redeemer revolver from it's holster, he aims it at Zubriel's chest and opens fire before he can react. As the Fallen stumbles back, he lets go of his gun and grips his blade with both hands as he rushes in and thrust the sword forward at one of his wings.

The blade made contact, but it did nothing to the Fallen's wing what so ever. "Wha..." says Vic before he feels a stabbing pain in his sides. He looks down to see the Hell Flame blade cutting into his waist, just barely avoiding be a fatal injury.

As Vic slumps forward against Zubriel, his Sacrament slipping from his hand, he looks up and ask "How?"

"Your plan was sound, human. Going for my wings was a genius move on your part. But, what you failed to realize is that your Sacrament's power is more than just spiritual energy from an outside source. You must also use the power of your soul to further empower it. You failed to do this and that will cost you dearly" said Zubriel as he placed a finger against a spot between Vicenzo's chest and shoulder.

"Omni-ga" says Zubriel as a beam of pure white light shoots from the finger, hitting Vicenzo, and sending him flying back hard, screaming in pain as he moves.

The older Paladin's body crashes through the window of a house with a for sale sign outside of it. Zubriel keeps his eyes locked on the house for several seconds before turning away. He had held back quite a bit of the full power Omni-ga, but it was still enough to kill a human if they were unlucky.

"If you survive that one Paladin, then know I spared your life on a whim. If not, then never mind" says Zubriel as he goes to continue his mission, only stopping long enough to pick up the Sacrament.

"This little toy could be useful" he says before disappearing into the rain.

{IV}

As David and Beth ran down the street with Rosa jumping along the roof tops, Beth took a moment to watch her, then looked back at David and asked "How is she doing that?"

David smiles as he says "Who, Rosa? Well, she's always been very athletic in her abilities. And from what I hear, she was enhanced in some way to make her even more capable combatant. And her skill as a sniper is among the best in Paladin. Now, what were you trying to say about Ben?"

Beth hesitated, not sure how to tell him this. She felt a tear slide down her cheek, the sorrow at feeling it was all her fault filling her mind and heart as she said "He's dead. That...that Fallen killed him while he was protecting me."

"Oh" was David's reply.

Beth's turned quickly to look at his. The way he had said that sounded like it was nothing special or important. Almost like he didn't care all that much.

"Oh? Is that all you can say, oh? What the hell's wrong with you? He died saving me and all you can say to me is "oh?" I thought he was your friend?" shouts Beth, her anger having momentarily replaced the fear in her mind.

"Sorry" said David, looking down. "I...this isn't the time or the place for me to be feeling anything about this. Ben...died to protect you and you're still in danger. Once I know you're safe, then I can grieve."

Beth now felt bad about what she had just said. Of course he must be hurting by this. But, as he said, he had a duty to protect her from that Fallen and if he failed, then Ben would have died for nothing. They made another turn and entered into a small park, though still staying close enough for Rosa to spot them.

"No, I'm sorry. I..." Beth starts to say, but is cut off by the sound piercing through the sound of rain.

Both David and Beth come to a quick stop as Vicenzo's Sacrament comes sailing out of the sky with it's blade active, embedding itself into the ground before them. David quickly has Beth get behind him as he starts looking every which direction, looking for Zubriel.

"Is he here? Where's that other guy?" asked Beth, the fear having returned to her voice.

"I don't know" said David before bringing a hand up to the small device around his ear and presses a button on it. "Rosa, can you see anything from your vantage point?"

"I'm looking, but this shitty weather isn't helping my field of vision any. No are any of these damn trees" complained Rosa as she used one eye to scan around the area while the other stayed looking through the scope should she need to fire quickly.

'Damn, were is this guy?' she mentally complains till she feels something approach her from behind.

Taking a deep breath, she spins around quickly, firing a shot at the moment she completes her turn. Zubriel easily dodges the attack and swats the Gospel from her hands before she can fire another round. Rosa attempts to grab a Redeemer from around her waist, but her hands falter as Zubriel grabs her by the neck and lifts her into the air.

"Mother...fucker, let me go" she gets out through her throat being crushed as David's voice is heard yelling through the Blu-tooth headset.

"Gladly" says Zubriel as he swings back, then forward, letting go of Rosa who screams as she's sent flying towards the ground.

"ROSA" shouts David as he rushes towards her, just barely catching her before she hits the ground.

"Hey, you OK?" asked David as he cradles her against him.

"I'm in your arms, aren't I?" asked Rosa, grinning a little.

David blushes, then says "Now's not the time for..."

He doesn't finish as Zubriel appears before them, a wing drawn in around his chest. Both David and Rosa swear a rather nasty word as Zubriel send the wing swinging outwards, hitting them both hard and sending them slamming into a tree.

Beth watches as they both slump to the ground, unconscious, then back at Zubriel who begins to advance towards her.

'Oh no, what I am gonna do?' thinks Beth as she starts to back away, knowing that running was useless.

(St. Claire's)

"He's over here" says a panicked Whitney as she and Ms. Hobbin's come running out from the dorm room. But, as they arrive at the spot Ben's body had been, they both stop when they seeing nothing at all.

"Where is he? Ben, he was right here" says Whitney, even more panicked than before.

"I don't see a body. Are you sure that you just didn't get confused by lightning and thunder?" asked Hobbin's.

"NO" shouts Whitney as she turns to look at the older woman. "He was right here, I'm telling you. There was a deep gash in his chest, going right through him. And he was bleeding to. He was...he was..." said Whitney, but stopping when Hobbin's placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Tell you what, I'll go over to the boys dorm and see if he's there or if anyone else found him here. You just go back to your room and I'll come tell you what I find when I get back, alright?" said Hobbin's.

Whitney wanted to say no, that she wanted to go to. But the look Hobbin's was giving her was more than enough to tell her that she was not going to change her mind. So, Whitney simply nodded and turned back and returned to the dorms.

Once Whitney had reentered the dorms, Hobbin's turned back and leaned down onto the ground and placed her hand onto the ground where Ben's body had been. She then stands up again and pulls out her cell phone, auto-dialing a number in her contacts.

"Father Cunningham, we may have a situation involving the Paladin. And also, Ben's power has likely been triggered."

(Vicenzo)

Consciousness slowly returned to Vic as he opened his eyes. Through his blurry vision, he sees a figure standing over him for a second and he hears "You'll be fine now, captain", though a bit distorted through his ears before the figure turns and walks away.

As Vic finds more of reality returning to him, he groans from the discomfort along his chest and shoulder as he thinks 'I really need to retire. I'm getting to old for this shit, as Rosa would say it.'

Finally back to full reality, Vicenzo gets back onto his unsteady feet and begins to move, albeit slowly, towards his team to rejoin them.

(Beth)

As Beth kept stepping back till she came into contact with a tree. She tried to move around it, but Zubriel came upon her quickly, planting an arm against the tree right next to her face.

"So, ready to come with me yet?" asked Zubriel, failing to notice the figure behind him grabbing Vicenzo's Sacrament and running at him.

It wasn't until the figure was upon him that Zubriel here's the approaching person and spins around, only to get slashed across his chest. Zubriel jumps back, his Hell Blade forming into hand as he just barely countered another blow from Ben.

"What? You're still alive?" said Zubriel in shock. Never had anyone human he had ran through with his sword actually survived to tell the tale. As they went back and forth, Zubriel sent his blade swing in close and hitting Ben above his right elbow.

But Ben pulls away before he can be cut and stabs the Sacrament into Zubriel's stomach, causing the Fallen to stumble back, making space to allow himself to recover. Luckily, Ben didn't continue his attack, but move back to Beth's side.

"Ben...is it really you? I...I thought..." Beth started to say, feeling both relief and great joy at seeing him, but Ben cuts her off and says"Beth, I want you to get behind this tree and stay there. Understood?"

"Huh? But what about him?" asked Beth.

"He won't hurt you again. I'm gonna finish this fight now" said Ben, no doubt present in his voice.

As Beth nods and does as Ben instructed, Zubriel scoffs as his wound finishes healing and then says "Considering how easily I defeated you last time, I think you're over estimating yourself. But tell me, how did you survive anyways?"

Ben doesn't reply at first, instead looking back and seeing Beth peaking out from behind the tree, her eyes focused on him. "Beth, I'm about to do something that I never wanted you to know about. But, know that I am your friend and I will protect you."

Beth wanted to ask him what he was talking about, but Ben had already turned back to looking at Zubriel and say "You really want to know, do you? Fine, here's your answer."

Ben drops the Sacrament onto the ground and bring his left hand up to his face, his index and middle fingers outstretched over to cover his eyes. As both Beth and Zubriel watch from their respective spots, both could feel the air becoming heavier and colder quickly.

"It begins...with the eyes" says Ben as he moves his fingers off his face, sparks of energy being created as he did so. And then, it began. His eyes close as his skin starts to turn bone white, crawling from his eyes and moving across the rest of his body.

He pulls the damaged right sleeve of his jacket off, revealing his arm up to just above the elbow. As his skin finishes turning white, his right arm from just below the elbow to his finger tips goes from white to pitch black in color. As the change finishes, Ben opens his eyes, revealing that they have changed color. The eyeball was a pale green color and his irises a deep, glowing crimson.

As Beth looks at him like this, she feels herself becoming afraid, deathly afraid for some reason as Ben holds his pitch black colored right arm out before him, the pitch black melting forward and forming into a sphere held before his open hand. Once it has finished forming into a sphere, it shifts shapes again, this time taking on the form of a scythe that he then brings into being ready to fight with.

With out realizing it, Zubriel takes a few steps back as his instincts tell him to run. At his very core, he knew now what he was facing. "Paladin, are you...it can't be?"

"I am" said Ben, his voice deeper and more gravely than before.

'I...I know this" thinks Beth as her mind remembers her dreams of the Four. But this time, her mind shoots in to a close up of the fourth rider who now looks very familiar to her. Then, remembering what Ben told her after the incident with the Oja, she says "Ben...are you...?"

"A Harbinger; a Horseman of the Apocalypse" finished Zubriel, his voice filled with both awe and fear.

"I am the Death" said Ben before turning back to look at Beth. Seeing him look at her causes Beth to shake slightly, pulling away as if to make some distance from Ben with out realizing it. Ben notices this and looks down for a second, then he turns back to looking at Zubriel, then says.

"I'm sorry. You must be really scared right now, seeing me looking like this. But, like I said before, don't worry. I will protect you, Beth. I'll end this quickly" says Ben before launching himself at Zubriel, his scythe raised to strike his foe.

'Ben' thinks Beth as she watches this, not sure how she should be feeling now.

Zubriel brings his blade out before him and striking it against the scythe, but finds his attack easily knocked back at him. As he moves back, Ben keeps on the pressure, swing his weapon with brutal speed and power at the Fallen.

It was truly now that Zubriel fully understood the power of the Harbinger's. Not only did he understand how his fatal attack to Ben from earlier failed, but also how the other Paladin had survived. Ben had obviously used his power to protect them.

And the stories he had heard about the Harbinger's was indeed. Among both the Angels and the Demons, the Harbinger's with equally feared by both as the four swords of God. Forces of nature forged by the hand of God to fulfill a specific role and defeating them was next to impossible.

And worse yet was the fact this Harbinger wasn't even fully awakened yet as the 4th Seal of the Seven that ruled over him had yet to be broken. And if this Horseman was this strong while in this weakened state, then he never wanted to face a fully realized one.

Realizing this battle was next to lost for him, Zubriel decided to try one final attack. Recalling his weapon, he fires off an Omni-ga at Ben, who swiftly dodged under the attack, and swinging his scythe in low as he rose back up, the blade of the scythe giving off a faint glow as he then swung it up into Zubriel's face.

"Mido Banshin" says Ben as the scythe makes contact with Zubriel. The attack unleashes a green energy wave that sends Zubriel skyward. As the Fallen stops his movement while still in mid air, he decides to swoop in and grab Beth while he still could and escape. But, it was already to late.

Looking down at the ground, he sees Ben has recalled his scythe into its pitch black mass on his right arm which his held out before him, a dark glow forming at the center of his open hand.

"No, it can't be?" said Zubriel, shocked at knowing a Harbinger could use THAT.

"It's over Fallen. Omnega!" shouts Ben as a beam of black energy, the exact opposite of Zubriel's Omni-ga shoots forth, slamming into Zubriel, who screams in pain as he's sent rocketing further into the sky and disappearing from sight.

Ben keeps his eyes focused on the spot where he saw the Fallen vanish for a few more moment's before turning his attention back to Beth. She had come out from behind the tree, but she had not moved any closer to him. He then turned his attention to David and Rosa, seeing them coming around and getting back to their feet. And then, he turns one last time to look at Vicenzo as he walked up to the younger man.

"Did you get him?" asked Vicenzo.

"He's not dead, if that's what you're asking. But it will be a while before we see him again" replied Ben as she shifted back to normal.

Vic nods, then looks over to Beth as the other two Paladin walk over to her to see if she's alright. He then looks back to Ben and asked "She saw all this, didn't she? How did she take it?"

"Just like I thought she would. Captain, I can't detect any other threats right now. So, with your permission, I shall report back to Father Cunningham and report on what happened here and make the necessary plans with him" said Ben.

Vicenzo doesn't respond with words, but nods his OK for Ben to leave. As Ben walks off, Vic turns back to study Beth's face and reactions. As David and Rosa come up to her, Beth struggles to speak up, but the fear from seeing Ben like that linger with in her. He had saved her, protected her, and yet she couldn't even say thank you for that.

Just as his form starts to disappear through the rain, she's finally able to say his name aloud, but it was to late for Ben had already passed earshot and faded into the rain.

{IV}

The girl's guilt

The boy's story

The fated day

next: The Harbinger's

tome 5: Ben's Story pt.1

What's wrong with you?

Character bio:

Whitney Candle:

age: 15

height: 4'9

weight: 99lbs

hair: blonde

Whitney, though she may not look it, is a fifteen year old girl who attends St. Claire's academy with her friends Bethany and Eliza. As many have pointed out, she appears to be around ten or eleven do to her small size and flat chest. Her hair is usually worn in either a pony tail or pig tails, depending on her mood in the morning.

She is very kind hearted and a bit of a worry wart who likes to draw and day dream. She's very interested in Ben, though she doesn't speak of it aloud. Besides feeling drawn to him for some unknown reason, she seems to be present to see some of Ben's more interesting moments and they both discovered (Whitney first, then Ben later) that skin to skin contact between them causes a weird ripple like pulse to pass through their bodies. If this means anything or not is currently unknown right now.

Weapons bio:

Redeemer LSC Gospel: The LSC in the title stands for long-range sniper channeler. This high powered sniper rifle draws in high amounts of spiritual energy, forming it into an energy bullet that can pierce even the strongest of defense, so long as there is ample spirit energy present in the air. There is a period of 7.8 seconds that one must wait between each shot, but its effectiveness in battle is unparalleled.

Sacrament: At first glance, this weapon looks like a light saber from the Star Wars movies (depending on the design, that is), this blade device also draws in spiritual energy to form a high density blade capable of cutting through solid steel in one swing. The draw back is, like with the Gospel, that if their isn't strong spirit energy present in the air, then the weapon is useless. Also, a human factor is also needed to make the weapon strong as stated by Zubriel.

Spirit attacks:

Omni-ga: A holy attack energy in the form of a high speed beam. Commonly used by the Angel's races known as the Providence and the Fallen. However, the Fallen can only use this attack at half its full power due to their connection to God having been severed do to their betrayals.

Omnega: A reverse variation of the Omni-ga, the Omnega is an attack of negative darkness, commonly used by the higher ranking Demon races. A Fallen can also use an Omnega, but only if they allow themselves to start taking on a more demonic change to their bodies, something most are unwilling to do.

Horseman info:

EnGreiver: The name of Ben's scythe weapon that grows from the pitch black shroud that covers his right hand and arm up to just below the elbow. Much about it is unknown, but the weapon is said to be feared by Demons greatly. The attack used by EnGreiver; the Mido Banshin unleashes a pale green colored wave of spiraling energy. More will be revealed on its abilities in time.