Time for the big event – Redemption vs. Death! Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 5 – The Choice

I walked among the weapons that Aurora had to offer. According to her, the weapon that I would ultimately choose would feel like it was made for me to wield. Not just a weapon, but a natural extension of my body. I just want something that would kick Death's ass into the next century.

I finally settled on a hammer. It had three runes carved into the side, almost resembling Egyptian hieroglyphics. The shaft itself was dark silver, like a ring viewed in a cave with a dim light. It felt a little heavy, but I was used to lifting heavy things back on my farm. It should take no time at all to readjust.

I wielded the hammer backhanded, like my favorite comic book super hero. Thanks for letting me borrow those Silverclaw comics, Tiana! I practiced a few swings, just to make sure I had it right. Satisfied that I was, I headed towards the fighting arena.

The Horsemen and Aurora weren't the only people watching. Apparently, word of my match with Death had spread throughout the village, and the stands filled with people. It reminded me of pictures I'd seen of a football stadium over in Berkeley, California. That is, if Berkeley had trenches that separated the stands and the playing field. Plus, there were two glass cases right where the announcer's stand would have been. One contained a sword that had highly advanced technology – metal plates that shifted and slid along the length of the blade and handle, and electricity that arced from a gap from the tip. The other glass case contained a… wait, that's fire! The fire was in the general shape of a sword, but it still flickered and waved the way normal fire does. It's probably because of the heat that no one is standing by either case.

Turning to Aurora, I asked, "What are those weapons doing in the glass vases?"

"Those?" She seemed surprised I asked. Then I saw that she was returning her attention to me. What did she see that made her so interested? "Those are weapons made from the greatest Maker who ever lived. We've longed since forgotten his real name, but we remember the nickname we gave him – Dragon Scythe."

"He must have been one heck of a guy," I commented, trying to sound casual. Please, please don't think I'm a lovesick puppy!

"He was far more than that. He's the one who made Death's scythe. The one who killed the Nephilim King."

"Is it red and black, with spikes on the outer edge? Black handle, with lots of narrow points?"

"How did you know?" I didn't have to see her to tell Aurora was surprised.

"I think Death is going to try to kill me with it."

Death was in the center of the arena. He wasn't moving an inch, his eyes focused entirely on me. The scythe that I had described was practically trembling in his hands, and I didn't have to be a mind reader to tell he wanted to use it very badly. He had put on some armor, which consisted of yellowing bones forming a chessboard pattern on purple cloth. It concealed his shoulders and chest, but that was it.

Theme – "United We Stand, Divided We Fall" by Two Steps from Hell

Stepping onto the arena, a cheer went up from the crowd. Cheering hardest of all was Hadaver, who was missing a few teeth. I couldn't if he was cheering because he wanted to see me dead, or Death. Probably both.

"I hope you had a chance to say goodbye to Shield, boy," Death told me, twirling his scythe before bringing it to a backhanded position. "You won't be seeing him ever again."

"Could you come up with some better lines, please?" I told him, taking a stance that seemed appropriate. "Those didn't even make me blink."

"I may not be able to inspire terror with my words," he conceded, shrugging his shoulders, "but that's because I prefer to let my actions speak for me."

He dashed forward, taking me completely off guard. I barely had enough time to raise my hammer as he brought down his scythe. The force of the impact generated wind, enough to tear some of the flags from their posts. Digging in my heels, I gripped my hammer in two hands and pushed Death back.

He wasn't ready to let up, though. He redirected the force of the push into another swing, spinning in a full circle and swinging his weapon towards my head. I ducked at the last second as the scythe cut off a centimeter of hair. I swung the hammer with one hand toward his stomach, ready to crush some ribs.

It connected, but it didn't seem to do any damage. Looking at me with something resembling pity (damn him), he told me, "First combat lesson – if someone changes their outfit from what you usually see them in, it probably serves a higher purpose."

"Another lesson," I retorted. "Don't talk in the middle of a fight." I kicked at his knee, forcing him down. Instead of pressing the advantage, I jumped back several times in order to get some breathing room.

Death stayed on one knee, not going for me at all. In fact, he was completely still. What the hell's he up to?

I got my answer when skeletal hands grabbed my legs, anchoring me in place. Death got up, casually twirling his scythe like an old Broadway performer. "Forgot about my magic, did you?" he taunted. I knew he had some twisted smile under his mask.

"I thought this was supposed to be a weapons only match," I growled, swinging my hammer down on the skeletal hands.

"You wanted an opponent that wouldn't go easy on you. You got one," he replied.

He brought up his scythe, ready to take off my head. What he didn't see was that the hammer had already taken off one of the hands keeping me in place. I threw myself to one side just as he brought his scythe down, where it lodged in the stone. Getting up quickly, I took out Forgiveness and sliced Death's arm, sending a fountain of black blood into the air.

As Death backed off once again, I used my gun to blow away the remaining skeleton hand. I quickly glared at Death. This isn't just a regular fight – he's furious enough to want my head.

"Why do you hate me so much?" I demanded. "I've done nothing wrong to you or the others! I didn't help the other Nephilim commit genocide on multiple worlds! I have done nothing!"

He looked up from his arm, his orange eyes blazing just like they did the night before. "You know exactly what you've done, murderer. I recognized their scent on you the moment I found you in your hometown."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I yelled. Why does everyone hate me for things I have no control over and no memories of?!

"Liar," he spat. He disappeared in a flash of green smoke. While I looked around wildly for him, I felt a tap on my shoulder just as a scythe stabbed me in the heart.

"After you die, I will bring you back as a spirit to make you tell me where the townspeople hid that Grand Abomination," Death whispered into my ear.

Gotta… live… Shield… Liam… Tiana…

Theme – "Solace" by Audiomachine

There was darkness everywhere. The floor, the ceiling (if there was one), the walls… I couldn't see any of them. I couldn't see anything, as a matter of fact. Wasn't there supposed to be a light at the end of the tunnel? Talk about false advertising.

Wait… that's impossible! Liam! Tiana! I see you guys!

"Guys! It's me!" I yelled, running towards them.

When they turned to face me, I stopped in my tracks. Liam looked exactly the same as he did when he was alive, with blond hair, jeans, and a red t-shirt, but his eyes had been replaced with flames. Tiana had the same deal. Same black hair with roses braided in, overalls, and black polo shirt, but her eyes had been replaced with gears like the ones you'd see in a grandfather clock.

"Well, about time you started hearing us, numbnuts," Liam said. As if things weren't weird enough, his voice sounded different too. It was as if his tongue was made of fire.

"Don't be so rude, Trueflame!" Tiana scolded. She sounded like she was speaking through a grandfather clock. Turning to me, she smiled sweetly (which only made it more creepy), and said, "Welcome, Redemption. We have been waiting for you for a long time."

"Waiting… for me?" I asked. No way could these guys have known I was coming.

"Not for you, stupid," Liam snapped. "We were waiting for someone who would finally be able to hear us. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable those glass cases are?"

Wait – glass cases?! Then these guys…!

"You're the swords in the glass cases?" I gasped.

"No, we're Batman and Robin… OF COURSE WE'RE THE SWORDS!" Liam/Trueflame yelled. He would have said more, but Tiana kneed him in the groin. As Trueflame lay gasping for breath, Tiana spoke to me again.

"You've already met Trueflame. My name is Gearina. (Author's note: pronounced GEER-EENAH) And yes, we have been waiting for someone to hear us. You see, our maker gifted us with sentience. We are every bit as alive as you are. Or were, thanks to the Pale Rider."

"So you saw what happened?" I mumbled.

"Pretty hard… to miss it," Trueflame gasped out.

Pause music

"Two Nephilim fighting each other is something the entire world takes notice," Gearina told me. "And yes, you're dead. However, it doesn't have to remain that way. We can save you."

"Really? How?"

"If you claim us as your weapons, we can tap into your Nephilim power to heal your body. Thankfully, most of it seems to be for peaceful purposes, like healing."

"So what'll it be?" Trueflame asked, finally having recovered enough to stand and talk. "Become another stiff, or go back and kick Death's ass?"

I should have been happy to know that I can live again, but one thing has been bugging me.

"Why do you guys look like Liam and Tiana?"

"Gearina and I thought it would be the best way to get you to talk to us," Trueflame answered, dropping the harsh attitude. "We're sorry that you lost your old life, we really are. All we can offer is a new life, with us helping you out as best we can."

These guys… actually seem to care. If I didn't know better, I'd swear Gearina cried one drop of oil.

"Alright, guys. Consider yourselves part of the club. Now let's go back and show Death that Redemption is beyond his reach."

Resume music

Death's POV

It seems that my brothers and sister do not agree with my killing Redemption. I want nothing more than to explain to them, but how can I? Doing so would run the risk of unleashing the most devastating weapons Creation has ever seen. How this child had gotten his hands on one, I have no idea. But I intend to find out.

I started chanting in the language of the First Necromancers, a language that hasn't been spoken since the Creator first walked among us. I could feel the black oil-like substance bubble behind my mask, but I had long since learned to ignore it.

A scream went up among the crowds. At first I thought that they were terrified that I was performing Necromantic magic, which was hated at best and hunted and killed at worst. That was before I was hit from behind by two swords, one of which felt more like fire than anything else.

I cursed in the language of the first world we Nephilim destroyed. Those swords are the very same ones that are housed in the Clan Chief's sitting area! This means that this child is the one that Dragon Scythe had hoped would come along!

As I backed up, readying my scythe, the two swords flew into Redemption's hands. The more technologically-focused sword's handle started to rotate rapidly, like the propellers on some of the human's inventions. Blood that had spilled out of Redemption's chest started to flow back in, like a river in reverse. Once all the blood had crawled back in, the fire sword bent and traced its point along Redemption's wound, its heat cauterizing the wound. Redemption used both swords to prop himself up, where he promptly took a fighting stance.

"Ready for round two?" He asked, smirking.

"You must really like dying," I commented, hoping to find some sort of weak spot. "I'll be more than happy to help you on your way again."

I went for his left side, the same side where he was wielding his fire sword. During our first match, I noticed that he always kept his left side open, always attacking from the right. As I brought my scythe down, he caught it halfway with the fire sword.

"That's not going to work," he said. "I've learned some tricks from my new friends."

As if to prove his point, the fire sword turned into flames and passed through my scythe. It proceeded to hit my shoulder where it… dammit, that hurt! It turned solid long enough to cut me to the bone!

My scythe arm hung limply, so I jumped back a few yards, careful not to completely tear my arm off. As I started chanting another spell, he raised his other sword. Pieces of the blade started shifting, some sliding horizontally and other sliding vertically. From the depths of the trenches, weapons of all kinds started to fly towards the tip of the sword, where they all twirled like a tornado. Before I could move, Redemption brought down his sword, sending all of the flying weapons towards me.

Argh! It's… too much!

Boss defeated

By the time the weapons had buried themselves into the wall, I was on the ground, barely conscious. Redemption walked up to me, getting down on one knee and looking me straight in the eye. He didn't hold any malice in them, nor did he hold victory. Instead, he was… sad?

"I wasn't lying to either you, the Charred Council, or anyone else I've told this to," He told me. "There are a lot of things I don't remember. I don't know what my name was before I was Redemption. I don't know why my town new so much about the other worlds. And I don't remember anything about a Grand Abomination."

"None of that matters anymore. I'm a Horseman now. I have friends that are an absolute blast. I have brothers and a sister who would die for me. I have the power to help people. And for once in my life… I can control what happens in my life. Do you know what I'm going to do with it?"

He got under my good arm and hoisted me up, shocking me and a good majority of the audience. "I'm not going to let any of my friends and family die… brother. Please, let me help you stop the Grand Abominations."

For the first time in thousands of years, I think I'm going to shed a tear. I was completely wrong about this boy. He is worthy of being a Horseman and the name Redemption.

What did you guys think? I had so much fun writing that chapter! As always, please review! Until next time, viva Templar!