Aveline and the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse

Part 26 - Known Knowns, Known Unknowns, and Unknown Unknowns

Here we are again, another Horseman of the Apocalypse. 

Horseman of War. 

Yipee!

It went so well the times I met Ghree and Grimmoire, I'm confident that I can screw this up too. After all, I wasn't capable of stopping them running away. But when I think about it, surely having two Horsemen of the Apocalypse running away from me is a good thing, right?

Then there's Death, of course. That one thinks he's in love with me. Actually I'm not going to think about that; too weird.

Recap: I've been dead about a week and a half, discovered I'm not the weirdo I thought I was, but actually the daughter of a fallen angel and a risen demon, found I have some awesome and potentially deadly powers, and been recruited by the Devil to rescue God, who's been kidnapped by the fifth Horseman - the Horseman of Commercial Enterprise - and stop Charles Hathershaw bringing on the End of the World in a takeover bid. No pressure.

Those are the known knowns. Standing in front of Torkin, the Horseman of War, I realise that I have a load of known unknowns on my side; Vlad the Vacant (wild card, practically opaque in terms of motives and knowing who's side he's on), Deimos (probably looking after number one, and totally unreliable), Boudicea and Grant (I think they're on my side, but the angels at least are clearly holding their noses while doing it, and Grant? Can a demon really be a reliable ally?

Dr Huntley, Frieda and her sons; they're the only ones I can really trust. And they are almost completely powerless to help me in a fight. The pain of losing Fluff is still raw. I wish he was here with me.

So, onto the unknown unknowns; Death; pretty much a complete mystery right now. Death has got some kind of weird attachment to me, and is actually trying to help it seems. But does Charles know that? Have Zet, Temul, Crimson or Junk told their superiors? Does the Devil know? I realise I've not being paying attention to my own team and our information security, and all this goes through my mind in the moment Torkin walks up to me, pauses, then smiles. It's a smile that says 'I know more than you'.

I'm in deep trouble.

Torkin stares at me for a few moments, then looks up and takes in all the angels, demons and others standing behind me, and his smile gets wider.

"Well, well. Look-ee here. If it isn't Heidi and friends. What exactly are you intending to do now, Heidi? Charm your way through the line? There's no way you can beat me, little lady. The others might run away in fear of your, er, powers... but they ain't me. I'm War! I'm unstoppable!"

"Kind of certain of yourself aren't you?" I can't help it. This man (of course the Horseman of War is a man, right?) is so full of himself it just pops out. "You and me, one on one, mano-a-girly." What the hell am I doing?

Torkin laughs. "Seriously? Is that it? That's your plan?" His laughter rings out and the soldiers all raise their weapons. The tanks roar into life and start moving forward. Behind the line of tanks, helicopter gunships lift up into the air. Jets scream overhead and start circling. "I'm sure you'd like to try fighting me, and maybe you'll even win. But I'm not stupid, and I'm not taking any chances. You want a fight? You have to fight me and my army."

I take a step back, about to reach for Damocles, then notice something odd. Vlad the Vacant is creeping around behind Torkin with an almost comically ludicrous tipee-toe gait, like he's trying not to make any noise. For a second I think Vlad's going to creep up behind Torkin and shout 'boo!' The whole thing has such a childish feeling to it that I start to laugh. Torkin frowns. I see a drop of sweat form on his forehead. He's nervous. Ah ha...

Vlad creeps on, ignored by Torkin and his soldiers. Vlad passes through the line of tanks and disappears from view. I wonder if he's making an escape, but I guess there's nothing I can do about it now. Like always, I feel somewhat out of control. Chaos and confusion seems always to follow me around. I decide that delay is the best tactic.