The Four Horsemen

The sky is clear tonight, clearer than the freezing waters of Norway. Even the farthest of the stars burned brightly, but they could not compare to the lights of the market below. The streets were bustling with people of all kinds and ages. They were happy. I could sense the joy coming from them. I looked upon them sadly, for I knew what was coming, while they were blissfully unaware.

I forgot my name a long time ago, along with the reason I was punished with immortality. All I remember was a voice, a harsh voice booming in my head, dictating the terms of my punishment. I was made immortal, a condition which many would consider a blessing, but it was the Bane of my existence. I was made immortal, but I was made to witness each and every single tragedy that would occur in the world, without any power to provide any help. I could only watch. That's why people began calling me the Witness.

Knowing that I was there in the City at that moment, I knew that the place would be facing a great calamity. I was correct, unfortunately, for the next day it came. The town was waking up. People were getting ready to get on with their daily jobs. That's when a dust cloud rose in the distance. The people could not make out what it was, but I could. I have seen that same dust cloud thousands of times. I narrowed my eyes and the cloud became clearer. In front of it, was running the most beautiful white horse you would ever see. Long white hair, a shiny coat, beady black eyes. It was the rider of that horse that worried me.

The one riding that horse was a cloaked figure wearing a bird mask and holding a bow and arrow. It was the first rider. Pestilence. Long ago, in a remote village there lived a healer, a physician. He had trained under the best healer of his era. Although he was not as capable as his master, he was able enough. Trouble came to his village in the form of a disease that had never been seen before. Try as he may, he was not able to heal anyone with any conventional method. He developed a concoction that he believed would heal each and every diseased person. He was successful. He did heal every single person of that disease, and kind as he was, he distributed the medicine for free to anybody that needed it. All was good for a while, but then people started falling sick again. This time, there was no disease, but a reaction of the cure that he had made. One by one, each and every single person of his village died. He was not able to save them. In his grief, he took his own life. He was not dead for long, though, for he rose again as the first Horseman, riding a white horse. He became Pestilence.

Pestilence nocked an arrow on his bow and pulled the string back. After aiming carefully, he launched his arrow, which travelled farther than any arrow could and landed right in the middle of the town square. A horde of locusts flew from a chamber in the arrow. They attacked anyone they could find and killed almost half the population of the town. The First Horseman passed through the town, retrieved his arrow and then sped away. No one was able to stop him.

Night came and I watched. The healers of the town tried to help the people. But none of them were able to cure anybody. The locusts had unleashed a plague upon the people, and nobody was able to heal. Those affected with the disease died till next morning and that was when the next dust cloud arose.

I narrowed my eyes again and saw the second rider, the Second Horseman, War. In an era before Pestilence was even born, there ruled a warrior queen. She was one of the most battle hungry Empresses that the world had ever known. Her stories of conquests became legends. Alas, she was not able to rule for long. A civil war broke out in her own kingdom, one which she was not able to win. The commoners killed her in her sleep and threw her body off a cliff. She didn't stay dead for long either, for she resurrected as the second Horseman, the Horseman of War. She rode a sturdy red horse through what was previously her kingdom and brought forward the rage that was hidden in her people. They began fighting and killing each other, till none of them remained. She picked up a sword from the remains of her kingdom and rode on.

It was this very sword that she was brandishing as she rode towards this town. She swung her sword in an arc and a wave of dark red aura spread across the entire town. The eyes of the people began glowing red and they started fighting. They fought and killed over the littlest things. The children and the elders tried to hide, for even though they were angry, they knew that they stood no chance against the heftier ones. The adults fought and fought and fought, until only one remained. At this moment War entered the town on her horse and beheaded the victor herself. She then sped away in the same direction that Pestilence went.

Night came again and this time only the weaker individuals remained. I had witnessed this scene so many times, that I wanted to cry out to God to stop this madness, but I knew that none of my cries would work, for they haven't worked before.

The sun rose again, and with the sun, rose another dust cloud. The third Horseman was arriving. Perched atop a well adorned black horse, dressed in violet regal clothing sat a merchant carrying a pair of balancing scales. In a time before the second Horseman, in one of the richest kingdoms in the world lived one of the richest merchant. He was a devilish fellow with a sharp mind for business, a love for money, and not even a shred of kindness. There was nothing that he wouldn't do for money. When drought hit his kingdom, he hoarded all the food and charged the highest prices for it. None of the commoners were able to afford it, and died of hunger. The rich and the nobles, who had bought the food were not able to eat it, for it had been infected by worms, and they died of hunger too. Now only the merchant remained, with all the wealth in the kingdom, but nobody to share it with. All the different foods that he could ask for, but none to eat. Soon, he died of hunger too. But once again, he did not remain dead for long.

He now raced towards the town that had already been visited by Pestilence and War. He stopped in the centre of the town square and held up his scales. As soon as they balanced, a smile spread across his face, as did drought. Cracks appeared in the ground and any food that was in the town got spoiled. All the water in the town disappeared and all the animals died. He laughed haughtily, and then raced after Pestilence and War. The third Horseman of Famine was now gone.

I watched throughout the night as one by one, all the remaining people in the town died. I said a quiet prayer for them, and then waited for the final Horseman. They arrived the next morning, riding a frail, pale horse. There was no dust cloud this time. They rode in quietly and looked at all the bodies lying around. They wore a long, black coat with a hood over their head, so none could see their face. All the spirits of the dead humans and animals rose from their bodies and went to him. He took out a jar from one of his pockets and opened it. All the spirits went into it. Then, the final Horseman looked at me and beckoned me to follow.

This Final Horseman was the only one that had ever looked at me, after all the times that I had seen the Four Horsemen bring destruction to so many places. This was the Horseman of Death, and about him I knew the littlest. I didn't even know if he was a human at all. All I know is, that he is the oldest out of all the beings that have walked the Earth. He is the final guide to the people that had departed this realm, and that even though he was perhaps the most powerful, he was also the calmest. They had seen the death of each and every single living being, and would continue to see it till the end of time.

I looked at Death and then at the horizon. Death started riding their Horse after the Three Horsemen and I followed him. I started running, for I already knew where they were going. I ran, because I had to reach the place before any of the Horsemen arrived. I ran, because I had to again bear witness to the Harbringers of the Apocalypse.