Apocalypse's Horsemen (Devil's Assistant Series - Book 3)

Apocalypse's Horsemen [9]

Chapter Nine

It was eerie, walking along the empty streets with nothing but a child as a guide. I suspected that she was something more. Yet when she skipped along and hummed her own merry tune it was difficult to fit the sinister reality with the adorable exterior.

My lips clamped together to hold back the sigh that I wanted to let loose.

“Come on pretty angel,” the young voice urged as she danced over glass and corpses as if they were simply skipping stones.

 A shudder coursed through my body and I looked away.

I was lost. My one visit to the city several years before was no help right now. I was sure that most of the features I might have recognised were gone. The shop fronts had been demolished destroyed or disfigured by the city’s residents. It was terrifying that if you give people a big enough dose of fear then all rationality flew out of the window.

“Where are we going?” I asked when the little girl gave no signs of slowing.

“There.”

She gestured to nowhere in particular instead choosing to dance over a flaming piece of wood with a jaunty skip. The sight had my heart leaping in my throat and my mouth opening to warn her – to urge her to take care. But it was pointless, she was not a human child and there was no sense in treating her like it.

I nodded my head in response before replying in kind to the cute smile she sent my way.

And yet unease filled my heart and flooded through my veins as if it was my lifeblood. Her non answer helped no one. It was clear that this being was testing me but I had no idea what for. The only comfort I had in that moment was my blade just waiting to be summoned and the fact that I could sense that Lucius was close, watching our progress but he made no effort to be seen.

My feet had slowed at some point and I hadn’t even noticed. But the little girl had. She had back tracked and suddenly I found my hand in her tiny grasp. Her hands were soft like you would expect a child’s to be, and yet they were strong – too strong. I darted a glance down at my skin and released my breath through my teeth and I grinned merrily at the little girl.

I had almost expected my own skin to become covered in pustules at contact. The fact that I didn’t made me question my own convictions. It was clear however that this child was not normal.

“Come on silly angel, we have to hurry!”

Putting one foot in front of the other, I allowed the small person to pull me onwards through the maze of Cardiff. The stench of death and decay got heavier and more cloying as we moved further away from the stadium. We had only been walking for a short while when she stopped. Her red locks swayed as she turned her head to the side and giggled. My eyes followed hers and I sucked in a breath.

It was a sight of pure beauty in the desecration around us. The building was covered in stone, standing tall and strong, untouched by the violence that had occurred around us. The red colouring around the high arched windows was attractive in the dreary greyness that existed all around.

“Come on, come on.” The little girl at my side whispered, her eyes wide and glee shining in her eyes. “We’re late, we’re late.”

I frowned at her. All I could do was follow the young girl inside.

And then the air left my lungs.

While the outside did not look as if it had been affected by the violence that had spread across the city, the inside was another story. All of the riches and beauty had been ripped from the interior so only the empty shell of the church remained. I felt something lodge in my heart at the desecration. It felt wrong to see it, felt wrong to stand in it.