“Here we are,” Ren says, grasp on his rod tight. “Mount Hilbeck.”

It’s probably only been three days since they set out from Gravelle, but it feels like they’ve been travelling for forever. The place is eerily silent, lacking the incessant chitters of insects and other cave dwellers that they encountered before. A shiver runs down Ren’s spine. They’re going to have to traverse this mountain, aren’t they?

“If we’re lucky, the Horseman will be out patrolling,” Vane says. “And all we’d have to do is to kill his heart.”

“That’s if we’re lucky,” Gridel says. “He may be waiting for us at the top.”

“Then we’ll just be extra careful,” Penny says, hands on her hips. “Come on. Let’s go in.”

The inside of the mountain is unlike anything Ren has ever seen before. Alcoves of all shapes and sizes are carved into the walls, each niche occupied by an urn. These urns are decorated with all kinds of embellishments and paintings—no one urn is the same. Below each alcove are letters, etched into the stone wall.

“What are these?” Penny wonders, giving an urn a little poke. It doesn’t even so much as move.

“Ashes, probably,” Ren says.

“Indeed. This seems to be the graveyard of believers of Ignis,” Vane says. “It is said that by cremating the dead, Ignis would be able to receive their souls on the other side and to guide them to reincarnation.”

Ren eyes the urns warily. They’re not going to aggregate and form some kind of ash demon to attack them, right?

Thankfully, nothing eventful happens. They pass from one rocky chamber to the next, past the urns, to a giant spiral staircase that takes them higher and higher into Mount Hilbeck.

Apart from the sound of their footsteps, the only sound Ren can hear is silence. Not even the whistle of winds, not even the sounds of critters. The spiral staircase ends at the summit of the mountain, when the air gets a little too thin to breathe and when the cold curls around Ren like a blanket of ice.

“There it is.” Gridel gestures to a rundown building ahead, surrounded by clouds of black. For some reason, there are no guards, not even a zombie, or a ghost. What kind of trick is the Horseman playing here? Or is there no trick at all?

“The heart should be inside, right?” Penny says. “Let’s get to it, then.”

They cross the mountain path, the little narrow road—wall on one side, a thousand-metre drop on the other—delivering them straight to the mouth of the cave. The palace is bigger up close, held up with pillars of black, the entire archway a charcoal colour fitted with a pale emerald jewel in its middle. Through the archway, the fog of black, is a large chamber with no roof. Just red sky above their heads. At any moment now, the Horseman…

As if on cue, a whinny echoes in Ren’s ears, bouncing through the mountain’s walls like a whole-hearted yodel. The fog then thickens, and Ren lifts his head seconds before the Horseman lands on the ground, sitting astride his trusty steed. With him, his team of horses neigh and whinny as they stare the group down.

Vane draws his sword, and Penny, her dirk. Gridel loads her crossbow.

“Luminaries. You have come at last,” the Horseman says. He stays his hand, the hand with his sword dropped to his side.

“Yeah, we have,” Penny says. She stabs her dirk in his direction. “What are you gonna do about it, huh?”

“Such insolence.” The Horseman laughs. “Luminaries, bearers of Zenthos’ Ring, I shall slay you where you stand.”

Zenthos’ Ring. Is that what that artifact is called? The one that summoned them here to this godforsaken land?

The black fog lifts, and it is then that Ren is able to clearly see the menace they are dealing with. The Horseman, dressed entirely in a black outfit, sits upon his growling stallion. There are probably four other horses with him, stomping their hooves, waiting for the Horseman’s command.

“Kill the other two,” the Horseman says. “Leave the Luminaries to me.”

And with that, they are thrust into battle. Vane makes the first move, driving his sword into the ground and launching a wave of stalactites at the horses. The horses scatter at the assault, taking to the skies, manes flaring.

The Horseman makes for Penny first, raising his sword over his head and bringing it down. Penny meets his sword with her dirk, but only for a fraction of a second second, before the Horseman overpowers her. Penny stumbles and lands on her butt, at the mercy of the Horseman’s blade.

A fireball springs forth from Ren’s rod, the ruby burning a bright crimson. The Horseman deflects it with his sword, but the moment of distraction is enough for Penny to raise her dagger and plunge it into the flank of his horse.

The horse whinnies, rearing, but it remains upright. The Horseman swings its sword, and Penny swerves in time, the blade sailing right by her head and cutting off a few hairs. She rolls away, straight into the path of a charging horse, hooves clopping against the rock floor.

“Your Reverence!” Gridel shouts.

An arrow zips through the air, stabbing into the horse’s eye. The horse neighs and screeches to a halt, head angled away and all but collapsing. Penny picks herself up f and charges at the Horseman with a fearless battle cry.

Ren clutches his rod tightly, and the ruby now swirls with red. Ren holds his staff out, summoning a shield of fire just above Penny’s head. The Horseman slices, but this time, his dark sword is repelled by Ren’s fiery veil.

The Horseman recoils from the blaze, and Penny jams her dirk up into the Horseman’s torso. The blade breaks metal and plunges deep into his chest. Ren’s eyes widen. That shouldn’t be possible, so how…?

Penny twists the blade and the Horseman roars in pain. He loses his grip on the reins. Ren whips up a fireball and sends it hurtling towards the Horseman’s horse. At the strike of fire to its front, the horse bucks and rears, and the Horseman cleanly tumbles off his steed. The horse neighs, galloping back into the cloud of black where the rest of the horses are fighting Vane and Gridel.

Penny dives at the Horseman, dirk over her head and ready to hit him where it hurts. However, the Horseman recovers quickly, bringing his blade up to clash with hers. There was no contest in strength. The Horseman forces Penny away with a sweep of his sword, slicing her cheek and drawing blood.

Penny goes flying, smacking into Vane’s back. The Horseman hops to its feet, glancing around and whistling for his horse. With a snap of the horse’s reins, the duo barrels towards Vane and Penny, the both of them barely recovered from the collision.

“Oh, Mira. The day has come at last!” the Horseman bellows.

“Penny!” Ren screams. He jams his rod to the ground, ribbons of flame forming a dragon, soaring towards the Horseman. Please, please make it in time!

Ren’s hopes were dashed as the Horseman fast approaches the duo, but Vane steps in out of nowhere. He blocks the Horseman’s swing, forcing him away, pebbles and dirt spraying from where the blades clashed. The Horseman retaliates with another swing, but this time, Penny is the one who deflects it. A wave of water bursts from the dirk, morphing into a sickle and slicing into his breastplate.

The Horseman is thrown back from his horse, armoured body landing on the ground with a loud clang. A line is seared across his armour, looking as if the water itself corroded the metal.

Penny sprints up to him, her dirk swirling with ribbons of water. Ren’s never seen anything like this before. After all, Penny’s not meant to be a mage. There shouldn’t be any water unless it’s upon contact.

The Horseman remains unmoving, arms fallen to its sides. Something’s not right. Why isn’t he getting up? Did Penny really knock him out…? Or is it…

It’s a trap!

“Penny! St—!” Ren starts, the words dying on the tip of his tongue as Penny reaches the body of the Horseman. With a battle cry, she leaps onto him, her dirk held up and prepared to spear him through the chest…

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In a swift move, the Horseman grabs Penny’s arm—the one with her dirk—and wrenches it to the oddest angle he can manage. An agonized scream rips from Penny’s mouth, accompanied by a crack that turns Ren’s stomach upside-down. He grabs Ifrit and summons a fireball, launching it straight at the Horseman.

The Horseman casts Penny aside like a rag doll and lifts his sword. The fireball ricochets off the blade, crashing into the rock wall. Embers splash every which way, smoking as they dissolve into nothing but ashes. The Horseman then makes for the dirk that now lies on the ground, metal boots clanking against the stone floor.

With no time to waste, Ren bursts into a sprint as well. The dirk is equidistant from them, and he must reach it before the Horseman can. The Horseman clearly wants to get rid of the dirk, if Ren’s intuition is right…

And yet, despite Ren’s best efforts, the Horseman is faster. It reaches the dirk before Ren can, sword drawn and about to bring it down on the weapon.

Not if Ren has any say in it.

Ren drops into a slide, robes caught on the rock and tearing, but he skids straight towards the dirk. He kicks it out of the way, seconds before the blade comes down on the dirk. The weapon goes spinning, landing right by Penny’s broken arm, the girl slumped and barely conscious against the wall.

What the Horseman’s sword does come down hard on is Ren’s leg. It pierces flesh as easily as a hot knife cuts butter. Pain explodes in Ren’s calf, eliciting a most guttural scream from the depths of his heart. The Horseman’s blade sinks deep, so deep that it utterly punctures through Ren’s leg.

“Ren!” Gridel shrieks.

The sword exits the wound, and the searing pain has his vision turning white. Ren gasps as he falls backwards, head hitting the rough rocks, Ifrit tumbling from his hand. Warm blood oozes from Ren’s leg, seeping into the soil. The world pulses around him, the din of battle ringing in his ears like an incessant alarm clock in the mornings.

Someone’s bent over him, shouting into his face, but in the moment of grogginess, Ren can hardly make out who that is.

“Mira…” Ren chokes out, resisting the urge to gnash his teeth to contain the pain. He doesn’t know who he’s talking to, but that doesn’t matter right now. “Horseman…weak to…water…”

“I’m going to need you to stay still.” Gridel stuffs a cloth into his mouth, something that Ren bites gratefully on. “It’s going to hurt.”

Oh, that doesn’t sound—

Ren’s screams are swallowed by the cloth as Gridel swiftly wraps a bandage around his wound, flaking leaves leaving tiny pinpricks where they brush against his wound. Ren slams his fists against the ground, tears squeezed out from his eyes as the pain grows ever stronger, like someone just thrust a hundred needles into his leg.

“Look out!”

In Ren’s peripheral, Vane stabs his sword into the ground once more, forming a cage of rock that protects them from the Horseman’s attack. By now, there remains only a single horse, the others lying slain on the ground and fading to black. Gridel lays Ren on the ground, before running over to attend to Penny.

Ren glances around, relief washing over him when he realizes that the dirk, Mira, is clenched tight in the fingers of Penny’s other hand. However, the crunch of stone has Ren snapping his head over to the source. With a single swipe, the Horseman renders the rock wall useless, the hardened cage crumbling to dust.

“Penny, you have to kill him!” Ren calls, before gasping in pain and doubling over, quashing the bile rising in his throat. “Use Mira!”

He meets Penny’s widened eyes, and for the first time, he sees fear.

The fear of responsibility.

Never before has she worn that singular expression before. Never when she stood beside her mother during ceremonial events, not even when she had to give a speech to the whole school as the mayoress’ daughter. Penny was never afraid of responsibility. And yet…

If she does not take care of the Horseman, they have no second chance.

She must have realized this, because she staggers to her feet. The Horseman tosses Vane against the ground, stomping harshly on his midsection with its boot of steel. Vane coughs, the air forced from his lungs, and Ren sees red.

Oh, this Horseman will get his just deserts. Ren will see to it.

The Horseman then turns his attention on Penny, his last, loyal steed right behind him. Penny stares him down, even though she is, probably, half his height. The Horseman doesn’t act immediately. Instead, he raises his sword, perpendicular to the ground. Is he…bowing to her?

“It is time to sever your attachment to this world, Mira,” the Horseman says.

Penny’s dirk emits a blue aura, sparkling like the clear sea. Penny, as broken as her body may be, needs to be the one who deals the final blow. After all, it’s with her dirk, or rather the spirit within, that this Horseman has a vengeance with.

“Yeah, not if I kill you first!” Penny snarls.

The Horseman harrumphs, then leaps to strike. He rushes Penny, swinging his blade down, but missing Penny as she jumps to the right. A bolt zings through the air, slamming against the Horseman’s helmet and producing a most piercing clang.

In the Horseman’s movement of disorientation, Penny slashes, casting a wave of water towards the Horseman. Metal sizzles as the water falls upon it, and the Horseman leaps away as if burned.

“Ren, help Vane!” Gridel calls, firing another arrow.

Ren glances over at where Vane has picked himself from the ground, now doing battle with the lone black horse. Ren grabs Ifrit and jabs it in the direction of the horse, firing off yet another stream of fire, dragon bursting from the ruby orb.

The fire dragon just misses the horse, singeing its mane. The horse whinnies, whipping its head about as it tries to douse the flames. Vane drives his sword into the ground, throwing up another wave of stalactites that stab upwards into the rampaging equine.

It was at that moment, when they subdued the horse, that a bright flash of blue draws Ren’s attention. He turns back to where Penny has engaged the Horseman, dirk driven right through the chink in its armour, a fountain of water bursting from where it enters the Horseman’s body.

“No…no!” the Horseman screeches, body and armour crumbling to dust. “Mira!”

“Vane, now!” Gridel calls.

Without a second to lose, Vane makes for the pedestal at the back of the palace, the pedestal where the Horseman’s heart stands. Already, the Horseman is beginning to form again, wisps of black fog coalescing between themselves and Vane.

In one swift strike, Vane jams his blade into the black crystal. Upon contact, the crystal cracks, a loud snap reverberating throughout the palace. With a battle cry, Vane forces the sword deeper into the gem, and rays of black light burst from it. Ren shields his eyes from the glare, flinching at the ear-splitting shatter.

Shards of it shoot every which way, and Vane yelps as a piece stabs him in the arm. The wisps of fog that gathered disperses once more. The Horseman of Death is gone at last.

On cue, the atmosphere shifts. A gentle breeze caresses Ren’s face, and the dark fog dissipates entirely. The sky retains its ominous red shade, but for some reason, it seems almost…lighter now. From beneath Ren’s fingers, plants begin to spring forth, welcoming their new chance at life.

Penny falls to her knees, and she drops her dirk. Her hand hovers over her other arm, as if afraid to touch it. Gridel rushes over to her, and Vane hurries back to the entrance of the palace.

“Can you stand?” Vane asks, kneeling by Ren’s side.

“Uh…” Ren glances down at his leg. “I could try.”

Vane is having none of that. He manages to get Ren onto his back—not easy, but they did it somehow—and Gridel helps Penny to her feet. It’s time to head home and to get the rest they so rightfully deserve.

*

The road back to Gravelle is less arduous than the trip to Mount Hilbeck. Hobbling into the Ashen Plains—a more apt name would be “Viridian Plains” now—Ren spots a congregation of people waiting for them on the surface. Elvira and Rayfel stand at the front of the crowd, bright smiles on their faces.

“Welcome home,” Elvira says, with a spread of her frail arms. “You have done well, dear Luminaries, Vane and Gridel.”

The crowd bursts into cheer. Ren offers a tired smile.

“You appear to have…suffered atrocious injuries,” Rayfel says, tapping his sceptre upon the ground. No longer does the grass dissolve into ash, but only bend under the touch. “Come. Gaia will grant you respite from your pain.”

Ren can only hope so.

They follow Elvira and the others down the mouth of a small cave—not that Ren really expected people their age to hop down a rabbit hole—which brings them back into the colony of Gravelle. The citizens of the colony stand off to the side, pumping their fists in jubilance, calling out to the Luminaries of lore that saved them from the Horseman’s tyranny.

The giant stone castle and shrine is a sight for sore eyes. Vane ferries Ren, and Gridel does Penny, into Gaia’s chamber. The smell of incense fills Ren’s nostrils. Elvira stops before Gaia’s statue and puts her hands together in a prayer.

“O Mother Gaia, the Luminaries and their companions have returned from their crusade. They have slain one Horseman of the Apocalypse, but have suffered massive injuries. We ask for your benevolence in relieving them of their anguish.”

The statue rumbles, and the jade that are the eyes of Gaia glint in the light of the chamber. A cooling wave washes over Ren, and, just like that, his leg stops hurting. Not even as he bumps the site of the injury against Vane’s hip. The pain is completely and utterly gone.

“Whoa.” Penny rubs at her arm which was slung in a cast. An elated grin spreads across her face. “Oh my God. I can move it again!”

“A reward for your tenacity and courage, dear Luminaries,” Gaia says. “You have done well in ridding Zenthos of the first of the Horsemen. It is time to journey across the lands in search of the other three.”

“Do you know where they are, Mother Gaia?” Elvira asks.

“There is one in every quarter of Zenthos. In the wintry lands of Frosgott, in the raging seas of Ilecthia, in the forsaken volcano of Ruk’vahn. Seek them out and destroy their hearts, and the path to Pandora’s Citadel shall appear before you.”

With that, the spirit of Gaia disappears, and they are once more plunged into silence.

“Uh,” Ren says, tapping on Vane’s shoulder. “You can let me down now.”

Vane jolts, and it must be the first time Ren has ever seen him so caught off guard. Was he thinking about something?

“It appears,” Rayfel says, turning to the Luminaries, “that you have a long path left to walk.”

“But how do we get to these places?” Ren asks. “We don’t have maps of the surrounding area, right?”

“The sea of Ilecthia is the nearest to Gravelle,” Elvira says. “It lies in the opposite direction from Mount Hilbeck, and you will require a vessel to traverse it.”

“Do we have that?” Penny asks. “A vessel?”

Rayfel nods. “We do. It is old, but sturdy. I’m sure it will take you safely to the colony in Ilecthia.”

One of the four surviving colonies. Ren wonders what it’s like. Is it as bustling as Gravelle, or is it clinging onto its last vestiges of hope? Or has it already been ravaged to the ground, just that Elvira is unaware of its fate?

“Let’s leave the day after tomorrow,” Penny says, rolling her shoulder and glancing over at Elvira and Rayfel. “If…if that’s alright with you. I mean, we’re”—she yawns—“about to drop dead on our feet.”

“I will need the time to find a captain as well,” Vane says. “And to make sure that Seastar is in working condition.”

Elvira nods. “Of course. You deserve the rest, Luminaries and companions. We’ve arranged for rooms to be prepared for you. Please, do take the time to rest up and to regain your strength.”

And with that, everyone goes their separate ways. Penny and Ren to their respective rooms, Vane and Gridel to their posts, and Elvira and Rayfel to the throne room. The day after tomorrow, they will be heading out to sea.

Heading out to slay the second Horseman.