And that was exactly what we had to do to get free. There was no turning back; the flames effectively blocked any chance of escape behind us. The exhaustion of the others beat against me, but I had a feeling the horsemen would regret coming at us now. We were all too pissed off for their shit.
As we got closer, I recognized Pestilence because of the hundreds of flies buzzing around his head. Quarter-sized, blistering sores covered his cheeks; he was missing the tip of his nose, and something black festered on the skin around what remained of his nose. His horse was the greenish-brown color of snot, and the blistering sores on it had eaten through its hide to reveal ligament and bone in some areas.
Pestilence’s fingers were the same black color, and I speculated that he had leprosy or gangrene. He wore no clothes, and his flesh rippled as if blowing in a breeze. And then I realized the movement wasn’t from a breeze but something movingbeneathhis flesh.
Lust sat beside Pestilence with a smug smile on her luscious mouth. Her white hair spilled past her waist and across the ass end of her gray horse. Her emerald eyes twinkled in amusement as she threw her shoulders back to reveal more of her bare, voluptuous body.
Unlike the last time I saw her, I only experienced a small stirring of desire, but it wouldn’t be the same for most of the others. Because of the Chosen bond, Aisling and I had a better chance of withstanding these monsters, and so did Corson and Wren, but their effect would be a lot stronger on everyone else.
I didn’t know who rode the third horse, but judging by the scarlet color of the mount and the unnatural rage clawing at my chest, I assumed it was either War or Wrath.
As we got closer to the horsemen, some of the humans fell back while a couple of the demons stopped. Then one demon leapt onto the back of another, took him to the ground, and punched him in the face. We were already losing our fighters to the horsemen’s effects, and the one on the scarlet horse was more powerful than the other two.
I almost grabbed Aisling and told her to run back into the fire. As long as she avoided the minotaur, she would be better off in there, but it would be a waste of time as I knew she wouldn’t leave me.
We were a hundred feet from the end of the cave when the scarlet horse broke free of the other two and charged into the cave. Its hooves rang against the steel as it galloped toward us.
“Look out!” I shouted and pulled Aisling out of the way of the rider.
I hugged her against me as the horse thundered past us. Some of the others couldn’t get out of the way in time, and the rider ran them over. As the rider swept us, I realized it wasn’t trying to attack but was spreading its maliciousness through the cave. I still wasn’t sure if it was Wrath or War when the others turned on each other like a pack of rabid dogs.
“Oliver,” Aisling whispered.
Randy and Nadine stood away from the others, but the shaking of Nadine’s shoulders and the clenching of Randy’s fists indicated the horsemen were affecting them too.
“I have to get Oliver,” Aisling said.
I was reluctant to release her, but I had to let her go; it was impossible to fight the horsemen with her in my arms.
Aisling sprinted across the cave and took Oliver from Nadine’s arms. She cradled the boy against her chest as Nadine practically salivated while eyeing her. “You try anything, and I’ll torch your ass,” Aisling promised her.
Enough reason remained in Nadine that she didn’t turn her hostility on Aisling but focused it on the brawl growing inside the cave.
“Close your eyes, baby,” Aisling told Oliver as she pushed his head onto her shoulder.
The boy stuck his thumb in his mouth as Nadine and Randy jumped into the fight.
“Ihatethe horsemen,” I snarled.
“You and me both,” Wren said.
She was paler than before, and her lower lip quivered, but she didn’t wade into the fight to separate Nadine and Randy from it; she must have known it was useless. The effects of the horsemen wouldn’t ease until they were dead or gone from here, and fighting our allies wouldn’t help achieve either of those goals.
“They’re not making it out of here alive,” Lix said.
Lifting his sword, Lix charged forward. With a loud battle cry, he leapt into the air and sliced Pestilence’s horse’s head straight down the middle. The sickly-looking creature didn’t move as the two pieces of its head bobbed awkwardly before starting to fuse themselves back together.
“Holy shit,” Aisling breathed.
Lix’s movements slowed with every passing second, but he didn’t stop attacking Pestilence. When his head bowed and his shoulders slumped, I realized Pestilence was doing something to him.
I removed one of the guns strapped to my waist, and before Pestilence’s horse could completely heal, I fired a series of bullets into it and its rider. The shots did nothing to stop whatever the horseman was doing to Lix as his sword tip fell to the ground and he stumbled back.
Corson charged forward, leapt into the air, and buried his talons in Pestilence’s leg. Wren ran in from the other side and sank her talons into Pestilence’s other leg. The hundreds of flies buzzing around the monster’s head became frenzied. Their wings beat so loudly, their noise drowned out the sounds of the battle.
When my gun emptied, I slid it back into my holster. Two demons beat at each other as they rolled past me. One of them had a battle ax strapped to its back. Stepping forward, I planted my foot on the demon’s hip and pulled the ax free.
“Stay with Oliver,” I told Aisling before charging into the battle.
