Darksiders: Age of Creation (Book 3)

Chapter 14: A New Day; A New Perspective

Gasping out in painful throes, Damiana rolled onto her side and gripped the smooth grass with her gloved hand. When she moved her left arm, the young horseman screamed out and flipped onto her back.
"Son of a damn bitch and back!" She hissed angrily, looking at her forearm.
"Stupid bastardized- why?"
Damiana growled quietly to herself and stumbled onto her knees. She felt...stronger, if that made any sense. Her arm still burned...if felt as if scorching fire was smoldering her very skin...but it felt good at the same time. When she looked down at her throbbing arm, she sighed angrily at the glowing red symbol that seemed to pulsate a vibrant orange.
"Great..." Damiana stood up and brushed herself off.
"Well that happened...and damn what happened to me!" Damiana gazed into the puddle beside her.
Her left eye was now a persimmon orange, glowing bright with a tinge of yellow. Across her eye area was crack like imperfections on her smooth skin, undulating with waves of bright yellow.
When she felt something prick her tongue, Damiana hesitantly parted her now bright red lips. When she saw her two pair of incisors were sharpened, Damiana recoiled from her reflection and shook her head.
"Damn...I got even paler...oh well, I better go back to Abbadon...." She shook her head again and stood up.
In a flash of lighting, Betrayal galloped towards her rider, stirring up small puddle like shapes of darkness as its hooves hit the ground.
"Betrayal!" Damiana smiled happily and reached out to touch the approaching Betrayal.
Betrayal reared up and roared loudly, slamming it's hooves into the ground as it landed. Damiana smiled nervously and went to gently touch her mare's muzzle, only to have the mare shake it's head violently and snort air through her snout.
"Betrayal, what the hell?!" Damiana ran over to comfort the mare.
   Betrayal sniffed at Damiana and instantly calmed down.
"Why were you so...jumpy?" Damiana mumbled, heaving herself into the saddle.
   As soon as she slid into the smooth saddle, Damiana noticed a glowing blue object in her saddle bag.
"It's...the necklace! I thought Demetrix threw it away...?"
             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(I was being dumb lazy at this point, so, please don't judge the time skip :3)
      Gripping the blue amulet close to her chest, Damiana sighed angrily as her brothers all gave her annoyed glances.
"This is what the Council calls protecting?! She locked me in the dungeon for hours on end!!" Abbadon screamed at the horsemen, whom all glared at Damiana in unison.
"It was the-"
"Shut UP!" Death growled, shutting the youngest horseman up.
"I will speak to the Council about this, but Fury and Strife, you are to be the newest guardians of Abbadon."
The two horsemen nodded once in understanding, not even bothering to argue with their eldest brother.
      Damiana rolled her eyes and stomped away towards the door.
"Come back here!" Death called after her.
"Shove it! You're not the boss of me!" Damiana screamed over her shoulder.
              ~~~~~~~
"I cannot even begin to describe the amount of disappointment I have in you." Death started, scowl apparent in his eyes as he slowed Despair down to a canter.
Damiana rolled her eyes and stayed silent, just as she did when the three rode out of Heaven.
Snarling angrily, Death steered Despair in front of Betrayal, blocking the large Black Forest Horse's path. Betrayal snorted at Despair and squealed in agitation.
"What?" Damiana hissed, looking away from Death's glare.
He couldn't see her face fully...not yet...
"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Death made Despair stomp at the mare and its rider.
Sighing, Damiana gently nudged Betrayal's sides and turned her head towards an alternate route. When Death took up Harvester to block the Mare's way, Damiana stopped and glowered in the eldest horseman'a direction.
"You have something to say I assume?"
"Yes. You are going to put your scythe back up your ass," Damiana leaned towards Death in the saddle, long bangs slowly parting to show her newly gained orange eye.
"And get the fuck out of my way." Damiana slowly hissed, eyes not faltering at the slightest.
"What...happened to you...?" War muttered, catching a glimpse at Damiana's face.
"This?" Damiana looked over at War and smiled wickedly, showing her sharp fangs.
"This is what happened: you beg for help, you scream for it," Damiana slowly turned her glare back to Death.
"But no matter how much it hurts no one will come for you." She growled.
"Are you insinuating I failed you at some time?"
Damiana went to say something else, tongue itching to spew the venom festering in her throat. But when she looked up at Death, really looked up at him, her anger quickly vanished, replaced with agonizing despair. His eyes seemed to be emotionless, but after a few seconds of searching through their orange depths; Damiana saw a small hint of his crestfallen thoughts.
"No...no you didn't. You try-"
"Doesn't matter, what happened to you? Who did this? When did it happen?" Death asked quietly, slowly losing his intimidating stance.
"Nothing...it's nothing." Damiana turned her head in quiet shame, urging Betrayal into a slow trot.
'Why can't I be strong...? Strife doesn't get kidnapped, Fury doesn't stand helpless while she's captured, Death wouldn't have given his kidnappers a chance to catch them! And War-' Damiana thought mourning-fully, glancing back at the red horseman, who looked away as soon as she met his gaze.
'They wouldn't even live long enough to touch him...I'm weak as hell...' Damiana smiled sadly to herself.
"War, I'm going to need you to ride farther ahead of us, I have something to discuss with Damiana..."
War only simply nodded and urged Ruin to gallop faster, passing the silent Damiana.
After a few moments, Damiana finally broke the silence with a short snivel. When Death looked at her from the side, Damiana brushed her hair to the side.
"What-"
"You know exactly what. All of this lying, these little outbursts you have no and then, your disobedience, and now this? What is happening to you...?" Death started.
"Maybe I'm not who you think I am...this is who I am." Damiana sighed, not meeting his gaze.
"And what prey tell are you?"
"A monster, a brat, the anti Christ...I'm what All the kingdoms hate...yet I'm the weakest one you've probably ever met..." Damiana started, laughing to herself.
"You're not weak...you haven't unlocked your true...potential...." Death began.
"What is that in your bag?" Death glanced down at her saddle bag, obviously unsure of how to deal with this.
   Damiana sniffled and opened her bag to glimpsed down at the glowing amulet. When she held it to the moonlight, a map like hologram erupted from it, startling Despair and Betrayal.
  Betrayal came to a skidding stop and snorted angrily. Death stopped Despair and turned back at Damiana, who's eyes widened at the sight.
"This is where the...shards...they're-"
Damiana glanced at Death and made Betrayal turn around and gallop off.
"I'll be back! Nice talk!!"