DARKSIDERS: Return of the Horsemen

Chapter 4: War Awakens

The horse known as Ruin charged across the Ashlands with his passenger and airborne companion. Alli gripped onto the chains as the large horse ran. The time was now coming upon mid to late afternoon. The young woman hoped that they would reach War before sundown. Ruin continued to run until they came upon what looked like a cavern entrance. He came to a stop as he, Alli and Dust glanced into the dark entrance. “Guess this is our stop.” The tracker said. The fiery horse motioned his head towards the entrance, hoping this human would take the hint. Alli nodded as she hopped off Ruin’s back. Dust landed on her pack, but she said, “Dust, you stay here with Ruin. I need you guys to keep watch out here while I get War out of there.” The raven seemed to understand, then swiftly flew to Ruin’s saddle. Gripping both her flashlight and one of the daggers, she entered the cavern. The ground seemed a little uneven, which was probably why Ruin chose not to go any further.
Thankfully, there were no crossroads or alternate paths to take. There were also a lack of traps. It was probably due to the fact that the Charred Council believed that no one would figure out where to find the Horsemen. Alli kept going until she arrived in a large chamber. As she took another step, she slipped down a steep but shallow incline. She landed on her front, which caused her flashlight to break. “Damn it.” She muttered as she got up off the ground and placed the broken item into her pack. Luckily, there was a lot of phosphorus rocks around, giving off what light they could. Alli took a look around the large chamber and saw something in the middle of it: a large slab of stone surrounded by chains and petrified roots. Encased in the chains and roots was a single figure with a dagger impaled into their chest. Alli approached, still gripping her dagger until she saw more features: this figure was wearing something akin to armor, a tattered red cloak with the hood up, long white hair and a gauntlet on the left arm. Sheathing her dagger, Alli figured out immediately who this was.

She began to speak, in hopes he would hear her. “I’m not sure if you can hear me or not, but you have no clue how relieved I am to find you. It may have only been a year since you  and the other three vanished, but humanity needs all of you more than ever, big guy. The angels, the demons, the Endwar, it’s all going out of control. Other settlements sent trackers like me, but they all met an early grave. That, and they didn’t come across a certain demonic merchant.” She hopped onto one of the petrified roots that got her in reach of the dagger. “War, if you can hear me, I promise to get you out of here. I’ll take you to my settlement, Valor, and there, I’ll tell you where we can find Fury, Strife and Death. We’re going to have to work together because these daggers can’t be removed by angels or demons and they sap the strength of a Nephilim.” She told him, gripping the dagger with both hands. “Just don’t try to kill me when you’re free, okay? Oh, c’mon, Alli. He probably didn’t hear a word you said.” She said, muttering the last part to herself as she began to pull. It was a bit of a struggle, but slowly, the dagger began to dislodge itself from War’s chest.
With one final tug, the dagger became freed. Alli hopped off the root and got a better look at this dagger. It looked more like it was made for design and not function. Suddenly, there was a brighter light coming from where War was. Glyphs had appeared on the roots, chains and the stone slab. The glyphs seemed to be a mix of angelic and demonic. The roots began to dissolve and the chains fell to the ground. Alli’s eyes widened as she saw War land on his feet, his glowing blue eyes opening. Not wanting to stick around and see if he heard her words, she took off back to the chamber entrance and vanished into the darkness. War turned to the stone slab. Using his gauntlet, he punched into the slab he had been against. It cracked, shattering into tiny pieces, and revealing his weapon: a large sword known as the Chaos Eater. Alli kept running until she made it back to Ruin and Dust. “He’s awake, Ruin!” She yelled as Dust took off after her. The horse stayed, awaiting his rider, as the raven caught up to the tracker. “Yeah, he’s awake, Dust! But, I don’t know if he’s going to help me or kill me!” She said, running for her life.

Back at the cavern entrance, the Horseman walked out of the darkness he was previously trapped in. Ruin approached his rider, greeting him. Gripping the chains, War asked only one single question, “Which way?” Meanwhile, Alli was still running across the Ashlands. She kept going, but she turned her head back, only to see War and Ruin charging in her direction! Alli whipped her head back with a yelp and broke out into a sprint, even fully knowing that she wouldn’t be able to outrun them. The tracker kept going until she felt her feet leave the ashes beneath her. War had lifted her effortlessly with his right hand and placed her in front of him on Ruin’s back. He held onto her as Ruin kept running. ‘Seems like he heard me.’ Alli thought, before saying, “We have to get to the serpent hole! It’s the only way to get back to Valor!” She told him. War grunted in response as Ruin began running to the portal with Dust flying overhead.
Luckily, Ruin, with Dust’s aid, knew which paths to Vulgrim’s “shop” and to the Serpent Hole. Once they arrived, Ruin vanished. He could go no further for now. Alli, now standing alongside War, decided to walk up first to the awaiting demon. He took notice of the both of them. “Welcome back, dear tracker. I see you have found one of the Horsemen.” He said. “You can call me ‘Wolf’, Vulgrim. But, yeah. I did what I told you I’d do. Now, mind opening the portal back to the toll gates? We don’t have much time.” She responded. Suddenly, the soul catcher glowed as the souls of the slain went to him. With a chuckle, Vulgrim responded by opening the dark blue portal to the pocket dimension. “Safe travels to you both.” He said before disappearing. Dust landed on Alli’s pack as she and War walked into the portal. The stone pathways began to form at their feet as the portal behind them closed. The sound of a makeshift wind chime echoed all around. If it weren’t for the glyphs along the stone pathways, Alli probably wouldn’t have been able to see where she was going.

“You did not have to flee.” She heard War say, kind of surprised by how deep his voice is. “Can you really blame me? I didn’t know if you would think I was an enemy or not.” She replied. “I did hear your words, Alli. I am grateful that you were able to free me from my prison.” He responded. The tracker looked back at him, giving a small smile. “I’m glad to hear that, War. I’m gonna keep my promise by helping you find the others. But, Valor’s council of nine need to know what Vulgrim told me yesterday.” Dust shook, ruffling his feathers. Glancing at the red rider. “I do not think it was coincidence that Death’s raven found you.” He said. This came as a surprise to the tracker. “Wait. Dust belongs to Death?” She asked. He nodded as they continued through the Serpent Hole to the portal leading to the toll gates.

(A/N: Sorry for the late update. Between finding work and thinking up the next part. Currently, I'm working on how to find Strife.)