The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Book I: War

Who forthwith from the glittering staff unfurled

Th' imperial ensign, which full high advanced

Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind

With gems and golden luster rich emblazed,

Seraphic arms and trophies: all the while

At which the universal host upsent

A shout that tore hell's concave, and beyond

Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night.

John Milton: Paradise Lost, Book I

A squad of knights approached the Moonscare from the south. They rode on their black steeds flawlessly. Never deviating more than a few inches from their formation, it was easy for any outsider to see that they were the best. The horse's hooves hit the ground on after the over exactly in tune with the other six of them. The pace they kept was fast too. The best way to get to their destination quickly and without need to stop or delay was always chosen. Argon employed these former enforcers in his ranks. They were invaluable assets.

The climate became more and more hostile as the more north they traveled. The captain was at the head. He was recognizable by the colors he wore. The others wore black with various silver decorations. His was black as well but streaked with a brilliant red. It was always best fro any one to get out of their way. They were unforgiving to bystanders, or to anyone. Slowing them down was a not very smart idea. The blizzard surrounding became fierce as the Moonscare appeared faintly in the distance.

The captain went by the name Bashar. He rode faster and increased the pace of the other knights. He was edgy. Rumors were traveling wide. Bounty hunters were running this way and that. His squad had been sent on several rounds into the frozen tundra and found nothing but the frost covered dirt. Then extremely west to where the abandoned city was. Something…The only there was packs of wolf demons, who at several times tired to massacre his team. It made no sense to him. Then he heard the rumor of Tanneth's disappearance. "No one has been to the Moonscare for months but some are saying Tanneth has gone missingk,"one nervous soldier had said. Then the words that Tanneth betrayed Sincion. That can't be true. He wouldn't betray him. They're…comrades…brothers in arms like us. This began to frustrate him and again he rode faster and the others fell behind slightly. The more he though the faster the pace became for the knights. His horse grunted as he edged her forward. Anyway, you can't betray the Master of Assassins and live to go missing. Tanneth is good but Sincion…Bashar crossed his horse over the frozen bridged. Five miles down the rode he could see a figure standing against the cold. He saw it holding a mace and resting it on his right shoulder.

"Argon," he spoke softly. They came up to their commander in perfect formation. Each rider was straight behind Bashar as they rode forward. The young captain wondered if he should ask of the whereabouts of Tanneth. He has done so much for our kind Sincion wouldn't just dispose of him or maybe…so much of what goes here is kept secret form anyone, even the fools in spirit world. Argon stood directly in front of them. The back riders came out along side the others and they in a line. Then slowed and stopped. Bashar dismounted and gave the respectful gesture to acknowledge Argon's superiority. He then removed his helmet, revealing his long draping black hair. "Reporting as requested, Sir."

Argon nodded. "Your reputation precedes you Bashar. I have called you to the Moonscare for a statement on your status."

"My status, Sir," asked Bashar.

"You have been doing your rounds as ordered. Have you not?"

"Ye…"

"And you have completed each of these with no deviation?"

"Of course sir bu…"

"Then what is your status, knight?"

"We found nothing, Argon, nothing but the frozen soil of this dead place. To be perfectly frank with you, sir, we did not know what we were watching for," Bashar became more irritable and frustrated by the minute. He needed answers.

Argon was not angry by this behavior. Bashar normally would never have spoken like that to any superior. All his training should have stopped him, but he had never been so frustrated by his orders, even when he served the Master. Argon sighed deeply, and then shook his head. "I wasn't expecting you to. I just needed confirmation before and I gave a statement to Sincion. You have confirmed he is not here. Now at least."

"Pardon me sir, but who are we speaking of?"

"I know you have heard talk. It has been difficult even for Sincion to keep this quiet without resorting to unreasonable measures. It is true. Tanneth has betrayed and stole the sphere stone from Sincion. Now we know he is defiantly in the human world which will prove to be very difficult to remove him from. We can't just kill him. I need you to be on alert in the Moonscare. When we have confirmation of his location we'll have to send groups to get him. You obviously find this hard to believe. Tanneth will not be forgotten for what he has done for our kind. We may be able to convince him to help us once again."

The knights stood there like they were in shock. Tanneth the rebel, it made no sense, what were his reasons. Bashar felt horrible about hunting him…again. Maybe this time it will turn out for the better of their people.


The ship rolled from side to side on the stormy water. It wasn't that bad of a storm really. Of course it rained but the water was not as bad as it could have been, and the ship wouldn't go to far of course. Below deck the cabin door opened and hooded woman walked out. She wasn't that tall bellow five and a half. She stumbled as she walked; she still really didn't have her "sea legs." Several times she wondered if it was worth ridding on this thing. Maybe not, but she knew she could not screw up after waiting two weeks on a ship. She pulled her self back up and walked up the stairs. It was better out there than below. There was an ominous odor floating around. After two weeks. She could guess what it was from but didn't want to think about it. She got to the top of the stairs without too much tripping. The deck was soaked and she leant against the wall to help from slipping overboard. Keeping close to the cabin she crept her purple eyes around the corner to see.

Sure enough he was there. Always since a week and a half ago he was there good to bad weather looking out into the distance. She wondered if he would do this all the way until they got to Singapore. He must be. He always kept away from the crew. He never seemed interested in having fun. She never seemed him eat, only the occasionally drink he had no and then. She thought of the talk of the crew and what they were planning. If he was the man than they could be made for a long time, but she could tell he was strong and could them a lot. It would be a shame, but the bounty was a big one. I wonder who misses him so badly. She was suppose to keep an eye on what he did, but that was becoming redundant he was so predictable on this ship. They stop before they got to Singapore maybe they could bag him then? She began to lose concentration and stepped out a little more to see him. She realized he wore little to nothing to protect him from the cold. This made it obvious he wasn't human but he looked it. You couldn't tell what he was. She pulled her hood more over her head to hide her cat like ears better. It was getting even more could it is got latter. She began to lose interest in watching him. If she only knew more about him maybe it would be better. Like his name or what he did to get such an asking price for his head. She stepped out a little further revealing her head. The man she watched turned his toward starring directly into her eyes. Her heart jumped a bit and she moved back behind the cabin. Idiot. How had she lost concentration? That was a sign of stupidity. She sat on crate lashed to the deck and starred up into the sky. Trying to get her mind of him. He wasn't so dead maybe… Her thoughts were cut short when tow demons came up to her.

"We're getting anxious about this Emerald. Why don't we just take him now? We're not that far from shore," the first complained.

"No, we just waste energy, and we don't want him to escape before we reach Singapore," Emerald snapped at him.

"He doesn't have any where to go. This is a ship. The only problem with him escaping is when we get to shore."

"Anyway Singapore is a long way away. What if he gets suspisious and jumps ship before we get there," the second said?

"He might not be going to Singa…"

"Would you two shut up," she said quietly, "he isn't that far away you know?" Emerald stood up and starred fiercely at both of them. "I will watch him until we get there if he gets suspicious we will grab him. But we spent a week making sure he is the right guy and I don't want to lose him to anyone eyes. Anyway this isn't our ship. The captain decides where we go and…just stop bothering me." The two demons growled and walked away whispering curse about her. Emerald held her head. She really didn't know if he was the right guy. "I hope I don't make another mistake."

She leant back once again and starred at the storm. Lighting flung every which way accompanied with thunder. She thought of what they could do with that kind of pay. It seemed too good to be true, but too promising to ignore. She stood up and at the exact moment the ship rolled over another swell the ship swayed and she fell forward. Emerald got up a little pissed. The sooner off this ship the better. She walked again to where she would spy on him. Then he walked around the corner and she jumped. He stopped and starred at her. He was drenched from head to tow. His presence was imposing. He had the physic of an elite soldier. His eyes seemed sad as she starred at him and even slightly disappointed. Had he heard us in this storm? He doesn't seem worried. "Uh…hi!"

Tanneth sighed and turned his head forward and walked. It hadn't been a very pleasant journey getting out of Makai. Now his easy boast ride was going to get a lot more complicated. Sincion has put a bounty on my head. That explains why it was so hard to move around here. I will have to be careful. He looked back at the girl he just passed. So her name is Emerald. He walked forward toward the back of the ship. Now I will haft to get off this ship as fast as I can. A shame really Singapore sounded nice. He put his hands in the pockets of the coat he was wearing and walked not paying any real attention to the demons that were also back there even though he had just found out that they've planned to capture and take him back to Sincion. They were bold and seemed to have good intentions otherwise he concluded from their behaviors and from their supposed leader Emerald. If they attack I won't kill them. It should be fun to see how they fight. He noticed that Emerald was walking in the opposite direction of him. Probably very nervous that he knew of what she had planned. Emerald reminded him of her a bit. She acted almost the same way she had before. He almost smiled at the thought. Maybe she could help me if I…

Two demons stood in front with there arms crossed. He recognized that they were the same that argued for Emerald to capture him early. They were not a lone. Others came closer to Tanneth. It seems they are very anxious. He took his hands from his pockets and hanged them at his side. The first demon shot his fist at Tanneth's face. Tanneth grabbed him and through him over his shoulder sending crashing into the deck. He then shot his elbow into the jaw of the second then knocked hi, out with a kick. E turned around and a dozen more of them armed with sword and axes stood. Tanneth exhaled. He could tell they were frightened after seeing him take the other tow in less than a second of time. Tanneth took of the coat and drew his knife. On charged with his sword up Tanneth kicked him in the jaw then cut the top of hand with the weapon causing the demon to drop it. He then knocked him into the others. They all then charged at him the melee began.

Emerald heard this. She looked back. It had been barely a minutes since she told those damn fools off and already they got the others to disobey her. She threw back her hood and coat and brought her bow. Holding it in her left hand she ran aft. Too late. Now we have to get him sooner. She stopped suddenly and starred at the seen.

Tanneth grabbed the hand of the demon pushed him into the legs of the other that was charging. He tripped and Tanneth punched his jaw knocked him out. Another demon charged and Tanneth hooked the sword with his knife then wrenched it from his hand and hit him with a spinning kick. Attack after attack Emerald watched as he held off all fourteen of them with out any hardship. Emerald knocked her bow and aimed. It hard to get a shot. Tanneth moved quickly and all the others trying to bear him down made it even more. She got one as Tanneth blocked a swipe. The arrow went straight and fast. Fast enough to pierce solid rock. Tanneth brought his knife and parried the shot knocking the arrow into the sea. He's real good!

Tanneth repelled another attack and stated to run to the front of the ship. He didn't want to get trapped on the back of the boat. Three more attacked. He grabbed the first and threw him aft. Then he punched the second and rolled over his should and shank his fist deep into the gut of the third. He ran again and stopped when he met a huge figure. It was at least ten feet tall. With black skin that bones showed through like there was no muscle at all. It brought its fist up to crush Tanneth. Tanneth jumped quickly a way from the blow which would have surely killed him. It hit and broke through the deck. He ran through the legs and ran for ward. He stopped as he saw more demons appear. This entire crew is in on it.

Emerald got up onto the bridge and fired a shot at Tanneth legs. He heard it barely in time to parry. All right I'll to use some bigger artillery. Tanneth bent his knees and every muscle in his body seemed to flex. Electrical energy emanated from him and traveled down his right arm to form a glowing blue sphere. It grew to the size of a watermelon then shot from his hand like a comet. It traveled down the deck burning and knocking the demons away. It cleared the ship and raised high in the air then circled and cam back. Demons screamed and panicked. Emerald nearly jumped off the bridge and landed on the deck before it came. The night was light up by it. It flew down and hit the ten foot tall demon sending flying into the Indian Ocean. IT then shot out a mile or away and exploded. No amount of fireworks or bombs made by human matched its magnificence. Tanneth used the opportunity and ran foward on the deck. Emerald drew her sword and ran after him. Tanneth jumped over the guard rail and dived into cold water.

Emerald sprinted to the nose of the ship. Panting she scanned the water. There was no sign of him. "Damn it!" She slammed her fist into the rail. "Why didn't you listen to me?!" She kicked one of the fallen demons and walked off.

Special thanks to Emey for creating the character Emerald.

Author's Note (IMPORTANT) I'll do better than this. Suggestions welcome. I really need more characters people. There is still a lot of space to fill in the plot. Please send me detailed information and enjoy the story.