Aveline and the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse

Part 25 - The Second Trumpet

Okay, I hadn't forgotten Ogunwe's text; "...you must gather the other Horsemen to your side, quickly!" So now I'm speeding along the highway in a Range Rover driven by Crimson, with Vlad the Vacant in the back with Junk, who's trying to engage the Vampire in a conversation about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I'm trying not to think of how dangerous it must be to have a massive, powerful, recently desiccated blood sucker who hasn't had a drink of blood in who knows how long, with vague motivations, stuffed into an enclosed space with us. In the rear view mirror, I can see Vlad's head bent over sideways to fit himself into the car, and it's slowly turning to look down at Junk who seems utterly oblivious to the threat inches above his head. Hard to tell an expression on a face that's nothing but a wide mouth filled with teeth, but I'd bet my life it's not one bonhomie.

I turn in my seat and open my mouth to interrupt Junk's gushing monologue before he loses his head when the car starts violently shaking about. "What the hell?"

"It's not me," says Crimson, wildly swinging the steering wheel to keep the car on the road. "Something's happening to the ground!"

That can't be a good sign. "Stop, pull over!"

As soon as I open the door, I hear it; a loud, keening sound, kind of trumpet-like, but how a trumpet might sound if played on a cheap electronic keyboard with built-in special effects. It seemed to be coming from everywhere all at once. A particularly violent shudder threw Crimson and Junk off their feet and in the distance near the horizon, a red glow appeared, pulsing brighter, then darker.

Grant and Boudicea cars pull up and they leap out, both talking over each other; I get the jist though - the sound of the trumpet means Charles Hatherwshaw has unlocked another portal, and the repercussions are being felt all over the world. "What's that?" I ask, pointing at the red glow in the far distance.

"Lava," says Grant.

Boudicea is glaring at the eruption, her eyes hard and her expression harder. "The earth has sundered. Volcanoes will be erupting. New fissures have opened up in the ground. Many will die if we do not stop this madness." Boudicea turns her gaze to me. "We are wasting time, Aveline."

Back on the road, I switch the radio on to hear what's happening elsewhere.

"...We go over to our eyes on the ground reporter Corey Cornerstone for an update on the remarkable events of the last hour. Corey, what's happening right now where you are? ... Astonishing scenes here in the Carrizo Plain where the ground has literally opened up and a lake of red hot lava spewed up to cover a large area of the valley. Experts have said the San Andreas fault appears to be where the fissure appeared, and an earthquake of 8.4 on the richter scale has caused huge damage to buildings in LA and towns north of the city. Rescue services are overwhelmed at the scale of the disaster and it is feared that many people may have been caught in the destruction. Loss of life is feared to be in the hundreds, if not thousands. Back to you Tracey in the studio... Thanks Corey, and we're getting reports here that similar events have been happening all over America and in many other places around the world..."

"The End of the World, no?" Vlad the Vacant has stuck his head between me and Crimson and is staring (if such a thing can be done when you have no eyes in your face) at the car radio.

"Yeah, something like that. Hey Diemos! How far?"

Diemos's head pops up from the boot where he's been unceremoniously stuffed before we set off. "Um, not far. You can't miss it. There's a sign."

"Er, Aveline?" Crimson is slowing down and looking ahead. I follow his gaze and try to work out what I'm seeing at first. Across the road and extending out in a line across the scrub either side as far as the eye can see are blocky objects, and it takes me a few seconds to register that they are tanks. As we approach, their gun barrels all turn to point at us.

We come to a halt a hundred meters away and a man gets out of a jeep and walks towards us. I get out and walk forwards to meet him. As I get nearer I realise it must be someone important; he has four stars on his jacket. When I'm close enough to read his name tag, my mouth goes dry.

It says; TORKIN. 

It's the Horseman of War.