Aveline and the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse

Part 11 - The First Horseman

Ghree looks at me blankly for several moments, then her face contorts into a mix of disgust and extreme hatred. It's not a good look. Like Mother Theresa about to let rip with a gigantic arse-whoopin'. I cringe slightly and close my eyes, preparing myself for whatever is about to happen, hoping Fluff will be able to protect me. But who am I kidding? This is a Horseman of the Apocalypse. I are way out of my league here.

After an awkward silence, during which nothing much particular happens, I open my eyes again. Ghree is staring at me, still with that look of pure hatred, but there is something else there too, now. Something that gives me an inkling that maybe I'm not in quite as much trouble as I thought. I stare back, looking for signs. Yeah - I'm certain of it now. Under that mask is just a teenie tiny bit of fear. That's interesting.

"What do you want of me?" croaks Ghree. Her voice is deeper than I expected, and has a hard-edged ring to it, like the sound of pebbles knocking together. Above and around us, the locusts continue their rustling, ceaseless flight. Thankfully its dark enough for me not to see them clearly, but a flash of lightning crossing the skies above lights the swarm from within with an eerie blue-white glow. I shiver again, trying not to think of the number of insects there were above me and what it might be like to be pressed into the ground under the weight of several millions of them.

"I've come to ask for your help," I say, furiously trying to think up with some form of words that would make Ghree agree to help me in whatever the hell it was I was going to do.

"Help you?" she says, somewhat unhelpfully.

"Yeah. I've sort of got to, you know, save the world ... and stuff. And I was told that maybe you would be able to help me do that."

"Save the world..."

"Yeah. That." I'm beginning to feel really uncomfortable with the way this is going, and look around for something to help focus my mind. Ghree is squatting down on the ground, her shawl held tight around her head like it would hide her from sight, and between us is a log from some long fallen tree. I gesture at it and say, "Mind if I sit down?"

Ghree nods slightly, and gestures with her hand that I can sit. I step cautiously closer, aware that Fluff is also moving in, staying just behind me and to the left so that he can keep a space clear between him and Ghree. It's sweet that he's so protective, even though I wonder what a hell-hound might be able to do against a horseman of the apocalypse. Surely they would be near the top in the pack of top-trump cards of immortal beings? The thought makes me smile, which only seems to increase the fear edging its way ever closer on Ghree's features.

"Who sent you?" Ghree asks.

"The Devil," I reply, looking to see if that nugget of information makes any impact. Apparently it does. Ghree's eyes widen fractionally, and she sits back a little, appraising me again.

"Not Charles? You aren't his herald?"

"Noooo.... I have no idea what a herald is. Why, are you expecting one?"

Ghree looks incredulously at Fluff, and to my surprise, addresses him directly.

"Who is this being, who doesn't know the purpose of a herald?"

Fluff glances at me, then fixes his stare on Ghree. A frown grows on Ghree's face at whatever passes between them. Eventually, Ghree breaks her gaze and fixes it back on me. I seek out Fluff in my mind and ask him, "Wtf?"

"I told her all about you, and your mission. I assumed that is what she want's to know. I said you were nice."

"You assumed?" I queried. "Didn't she just ask you?"