Four Horsemen: Chapter 13 Part 1 of 1

Chapter 13: End scenes

“How did you know we were coppers?” Petor asked.

“The board on the side of the room, there were notices for adventurers, the most requests were for coppers, then silvers and golds. More copper request, means that it is the easiest to fulfil,” Desari said.

“For a holy city they sure do have a lot of defenses,” Mya’s voice echoed through the tunnel under the wall.

“Gods wage their own wars for the faithful. It is just that nations are shorter lived and willing to fight more often. A god-war is liable to alter the very world,” Desari said.

Petor turned in his saddle, her expression showed she understood the words, but not where the information came from.

We’ve got a lot of things to figure out.

The sunlight rained down on him, warming his skin as they exited onto the mountain paths.

“Daylight’s a burnin’,” Valter clicked his tongue, his mount picking up pace to a trot. Petor followed, Come on girl. He patted his mount, fearful how the trot would wear on her, she was just before he could see her ribs.

They weaved among the carvans and groups on the road. People scowled at them, before seeing Valter and catching their tongues.

The other travellers thinned out as they started to reach the ever green, blue and yellowed trees at the base of the mountain.

The forest covered the sky and blocked out the city behind, the great trees leaning over the road creating boughs.

Desari mumbled some words coming together as if song.

“What’s going on?” Petor rose higher, his mount’s coat becoming a luxurious black, her mane flickering green flames, mimicking the colors of his armor. She stood a powerful beasts of raw power and muscle, toned and well-fed.

Tossing her head she let out a whinny, increasing her pace.

“Holy shit,” Valter’s horse ahead, wasn’t a horse at all, but some creation of metal weaved into the form of a horse, glowing red, as if stoked by and internal fire in her chest. Mya’s horse changed the least, with black rends down her coat, her eyes filled with undying flames. Those same milky white flames made up her mane.

Desari’s horse was of finest white, her eyes a swirling raindow of colors, the words that had blurred on his coat, now a design of runes running down her sides in burning gold.

His mount’s muscles contracted and pulled, drawing him forward, an eagerness, and excitement running through her and transmitted up his legs.

His face spread in a smile, mimicked by Mya and a hint of it on Desari’s lips. “Come on Ami.” He clicked his tongue.

She responded instantly, stretching out her stride, her hoofs beating upon the ground, eating up the ground to close with Valter. Mya and Desari flanked them.

Valter let out a chuckling huff, increasing his speed.

“People up ahead,” Desari said.

“Forest?” Valter asked.

“What of the horses’ legs?” Desari said.

“I think they can do it,” Petor said from some assurance deep in his gut, Ami snorted as if unimpressed by their words. “Follow me.”

Ami leapt over the drainage ditch running down the side of the road, landing among the fallen leaves and roots of the forest. Petor’s stomach remained lodged in his chest. Don’t break your legs, oh stars why did I do this?

She barely slowed, weaving through the trees, her hooves landing among roots and missing holes, her pace barely slower than that on the road.

Petor’s stomach settled somewhere in his mid-ribs, fear turning into heart pumping adrenaline. A glance showed the other four following Ami’s path.

“Shall we cut back to the road?” Petor called out to them.

“That’s the first place the champion’s going to check after the cathedral,” Valter said.

“Why would he do that?”

“Looking for us. We’re the only ones we know that made it out of there alive,” Desari said.

“Great another damn cloak,” Mya groaned.

“Cloak?” Petor called back.

“I guess its my term for those god champions?”

“Lets keep going,” Valter said. “Wish there was something we could do about our path.”

“Don’t worry I’ve been repairing and settling the path behind us as we go, not my finest work, but in a day or two no one will see it,” Desari raised her voice over the sound of hoof falls.

“Good work.”

They thundered on through the forest, the sun sliding by into afternoon.