CHRONICLES OF THE FOURTH HORSEMAN

DREAM

It has taken me a few moments to get a perfect place to bury the body, a few moments to use my angelic powers to dig up and the job was done.I even took time to walk back into the old buildings.I felt good now that I knew where to start looking for the artifacts.It seemed like it wasn't a bad call going after him after all.I walked in whistling happily.Then I saw Ophie on the floor.He was slithering on the ground in pain.I ren up to him.It took me a moment to see the wound on his stomach.He caught up on the nails way during the struggle.What I couldn't understand though was why the wound was not healed already.Ophie was one of the fastest healing people I know.Not as fast as the rampo though but that wound should have been gone, almost as if it never happened.He was also starting to turn and I knew I had to carry him back home as soon as possible.If he turned right then it could be hard to carry him.When he was turned he was slippery and almost impossible to hold.That was how he could slither around easily and without getting hurt.

I needed to take him home and figure out a way to explain what happened to everybody.My stupid actions were starting to cause me and they caused me dearly.Ophie was the strongest musle for the moment and I relied on him to teach and train the rest.If the magix came out to our world I had with me untrained people.I was lucky being an angel and all that but not even my angelic powers could round every magix up and save the world.

The flight back was not good at all at all.Ophie was turning quick.Much more quicker than I could handle.Deep down I knew he was trying had not to but it seemed like he had lost control over his own body.He was also slowly loosing his consciousness.A flight that was supposed to take a few seconds took us almost a minute.All this while I was struggling to keep my grip on him.I almost dropped him at some point and amazingly enough I felt something.For the whole of my long, long life i knew that angels weren't capable of having feelings.After all we had have no free will and that means we don't need conscience.We do what we are told and even though we are capable of other things, having feelings is not one of them.It isn't unheard of but it rare.For the first time I felt something.My angelic heart missed a bit and I felt a bad kind of warmth in the pit of my being.It was a horrible feeling.One I never. felt even as a human.

When I got to the bunker, the boys were as expected.Training themselves crazy.The last hunt at home made them realize the s**t was real.They were among the very few who knew about it and the weight of the wild rested on their shoulders.The two were training without a break.Ophie had a schedule for them which he updated every week and he had them on a new one that very morning.By that time Ophie was completely turned.We was still unconscious.I had known him for all his life and there was no point in it he ever needed medical care.That was one of the reasons I never researched on him.There was no book in the library that told how to help him.The ones I compiled only told how to tame or kill creatures.I never researched on him as I knew he was the only creature of his kind.I had stopped his creator just after he created him and none like him was ever brought to exsistence, ever again.I knew he was not a threat and for that reason I let him be.There was no way o could have given the world a way to kill my friend.

The only other person who knew about his existence was a witch by the name MacMahon.An imortal witch with the knowledge of making portions and medicine.She knew things that people would only dream of.She had gone into hiding ever since she learned that the magix world was about to spill into our world.She had played part in discovering the Magix dimension and imprisoning of the creatures.Some of them way more powerful than she could ever be.She did not plan on waiting them to find her.Up to that moment Duke had tried in vain to locate her.Now I needed her more than anything.

Explaining my story to the boys led to questions and questions led to a fight.Tom had grown to love Ophie.He was not comfortable with his other form but he was slowly learning to live with it.Explaining to them the reason as to why Ophie was lying on the ground unconscious was had.Even harder was the fact that the two were mad at me for not telling them about my plan.Maybe they would have talked some sense into me.I tried to explain to them that I deed it behind their backs to save them from the danger, they didn't understand.Then looking at it I knew I couldn't either if I was on their shoes.

The one reason I loved them was because of their mature reasoning.I knew I would need it in times like this.The were willing to put down our differences for a while to help Ophie.But I knew the fight was not over.We called Duke and told him and as expected he was furious but willing to help.We were about to have a long day.I knew MacMahon's scent I knew i could follow it.But I needed to track it first.Knowing her, she was a super smart lady, and she had lived long enough to learn from her mistakes.And I guessed she had many.She must have found a way to mask her scent.She could hide it from all the beings magical and otherwise, maybe even angels, but I had one card that most of them didn't have.Being the angel of death gave me one access that most didn't have.

It took me almost the whole day but I found her eventually.It also took sometime to get her to talk to me and even more to get her to help me.The flight back was the only simple part.It was hell but it was worth it.After all I brought it unto myself.She took one look at Ophie and I could tell she knew what was happening.She asked for some water and salt.She said some words that even i with my language experience could tell what they meant.Ophie turned back to human but then he started to sweat.He had one crazy fever.The look on the witches face changed from curious to woried."Hephas," she said under her breath.I was surprised, I had not told her what happened."Did he get caught on Hephas's craws way?,"She asked.I answered with a slight nod.I expected a pretty bad answer from the looks on her eyes.

"Hephas nails have a poison stronger than anything I have ever seen.It have no effect on humans and those like you but it have one bad effect on the Magix.It attacks the mind, creating a life like dream that one can't wake up from.A labyrinth.Ophie is somewhere inside there scared, maybe reliving a bad memory.He have no control over what happens.That is how the venom works.If we don't do something, he will die in the dream and since he doesn't know it is a dream, he will die in real life,"The witch looked up at all of us Scanning us as if she was looking for something.All that while I was standing there judging and condemning myself.How could I be so thoughtless.

"What can we do to save his life?," Tom asked."I am going to need someone to go in and tell Ophie to wake up.All he need to know is that whatever he is seeing in there is not true.Someone who can guide you through," she said looking straight at John."Any risks or dancers," Tom went on."Yes, whoever goes in there will also get caught up in their own nightmare but they will still have the knowledge of it being a dream.The problem is, once in there they can't get out until Ophie wakes up.Which is why I will be sending you two.Together you will stand a chance," She was now preparing to send John and Duke.In her opinion Tom was too soft to be put in that position.

"But I should be the one to go in, I am the reason why he is in this state.We can't risk their lives too," I protested.I was not ready to let the two go in knowing that I could lose them too."I am immortal after all and I can handle whatever nightmare the venom will.throw my way easy," I said not sure whether I was trying to convince her or myself." You can't go in.Even though Ophie is a magix, he still can't hold your angelic strength.you go in there, you will blow his brain into tiny bits and that will be the end of him for sure.Only the two gentlemen can," she answered showing the two to sit on each side of Ophie.She then reached out for their hands.She closed her eyes and the next moment she opened them they were all black.She chanted words and suddenly there was a tiny whirlwind in the room throwing everything about.The books started to fall from the shelves and the tables and chairs started to dance in the air.The smell of apple pie filled the room and there was a cloud forming over her head.It was a scary moment and Tom edged back to where I was.The craziness went on for a moment and then stopped.John and Duke's body fell back slowly as the witch was holding them. She put them into a sleeping position next to Ophie and then she asked for something to eat.She seemed unbothered by the cloud that was now settled over the boys.Tom went to the kitchen but I was left standing there looking at the three men lying on the ground.They were the teams strongest, sharpest and most dedicated.Don't get me wrong ,Tom was also a good soldier, fast thinking, smart and all that but he had a super soft heart.Hurting people or things was never his first option.He was the brains in the group and we needed him as much.His knowledge of the computer was also exemptionary and we knew we were going to need that.

" The cloud will help us monitor their vitals if that is what you mean to ask," She said at last."How," Tom asked.He had just walked back from the kitchen with some food and a beer.There is always a first time for everything and that was the first time I ever saw Tom go for a beer on his own consent."If the cloud remains as calm and clear as it is, that means the boys vitals are okey. if it gets dark, their vitals are getting low but not dangerously.If there is lightning...,"She had not completed her sentence when the cloud color started to darken.She out the plate on the table where she had walked about two minutes earlier to enjoy her meal.She got up.

She went towards the three men and held John's hand, the Duke's."It have started," She said.We were all at the edge now waiting to see what would happen.Tom walked up to one of the chairs.He turned it around to face the three gentlemen and sat.He placed his elbows on his knees and put his head into his hands.I was soo taken away that I sat onto nothing and I stayed in what one could say a levitated position.The witch noticed but she didn't say anything .

Inside Ophie's mind a war was going on.He had spent the few past days thinking of what would become of the world when the the Magix spilled into it.It was bothering him but he never shared with anyone and now he was living his fears in there.In his nightmare, he was fighting the strangest war he has ever seen.He had other form and he was just fighting as a human.I was in it too and I was also a human.John and Tom were our friends in the nightmare but Duke wasn't.Soo when his brain registered the two unexpected guests it marked one as an enemy.

Creatures from the magix world we're all over.Some Ophie was killing while others he was locking up, from the vampires to the gods to the rampos to popo bawa and ammit.He could see himself injured on the right side of his ribs and he was bleeding badly.He went round and round looking for a hospital but they were all empty due to the ongoing war.Most of the humans had been killed and those that remained were too scared to even go out of their houses.Some were dying of hunger inside their locked homes as they could not risk going out.I was also badly injured and he was carrying me around with him.

He was growing tired and he could feel his strength leaving him.The wound was also getting infected fast and he was sure it would kill him.In the same moment Duke and John were navigating his mind.Following the trails of blood and dead magix, ever ones in a while the could encounter a magix and together they fought it.Their mission was to get to Ophie and let him know that this was just but a bad dream.But before they deed they were going to have to fight their way through to him.They were still walking through when they came across tunnels, probably made to provide cover during the war.When they got out on the other side, each one of them was alone and in different sides of a huge wall.The agreed to look for the end of the wall and meet there.The two then started on the new different paths.On his side, Duke came across a group of gargoyles.These were good Magix, a little crazy, unpredictable,fierce but harmless to the humans.In fact, they protected the human kind from the magix mind.Made by the elements themselves back in the magic days.They were a mixture of all the elements magic.In appearance, the looked more like dragons but with the body build close to that of humans, their eyes were round and red hot and they could burn by just looking.They spit ice cold water from their mouths.They also had a set of wings on their backs.They were huge and Scarry but they meant no harm to humans.In this war however, they were a little bit different.They were conjured by Ophie's mind to keep Duke away as it took him an enemy.He was not being faced by one or two, no, it was like ten of them.He was all alone given the separation from John earlier.Even for him, he knew it was almost impossible to fight them.Even if he could kill them which was impossible, he could never be able to kill all of them.The only way to survive was by getting to Ophie and making him.wake up.There was no other way.He cursed a little before making a run for his life.

He knew he couldn't get all that far as the beings had wings and they were strong enough to go through walls.The also could see through everything.His one shot was to move low, fast and quietly.On the other side, John was dealing with a popo bawa.A creature with the body of a sickly human, thin and horrible, wings af a bat and teeth of a snake.It lived on blood both human and animal, but it loved human blood better.It was a creature of ningt but in the nightmare it was out there in broad daylight.Those were killed by decapitation, the one bad thing was the fact that John had to be completely close to them in order to s***h their heads.

The walls were closing in on Duke as one gargoyle was closing in on him.It was soo close that he could feel the wind coming from the flapping wings.With one forward move it slashed the left side of his head, taking his ear with it.The wing had also touched his shoulder and there was a deep cut on it.Duke dropped to the ground due to the impact force.He was bleeding profusely and the left side of his upper body had gone numb.His brain was whimpering.He knew it was just but a dream but if felt soo real.The pain he was going through was almost impossible and his body outside the dream could register it.The cloud now had some lightning flashes all over not just on Duke's side but John's.I knew then the boys were in more trouble expected.The witch was still.calm and she never even stopped eating.She had clearly told us the risks and the fact that there was nothing more she could do to help and we went on anyway.She had also seen soo many things go wrong that it no longer bothered her.Not even a little bit.

In there John and Duke were fighting for their dear lives.John let out a huge cry and Ophie heard it from where he was kneeling trying to talk to me.Apparently I was dying on him and he was trying his best to help me but I still died.He heard the cry and immediately he could yell it was John.He left the dead body on the ground and ren towards the direction that the shout came from.He got there just as a popo Bawa was digging into John's throat with its long fangs.Ophie tried but he could not get to John there was a glass keeping him back and he had to break it first.By then John would be dead already.Just a few meters across the wall, Duke was being feasted on by two gargoyles and a third one was the way, need i tell you this all was happening while he was awake.The cloud was going crazy outside here, Tom was shaking badly, but the witch was still enjoying her meal.

John saw that everything was about to go sideways and he called for Ophie.He came by the window and John told him everything starting from the fight with Hephas, he told him about the venom and just as the cloud was about to turn the room into a storm ranged area Ophie woke up.The two then followed him shortly.Tom was on his feet heading towards John.The witch was on her heels to take back her cloud and belongings.Before she whooshed out, she looked at me and told me I owed her one and she would be collecting soon.I knew that was a promise and for a moment I wondered about it but then I stopped.I would worry about that later.At the moment I had apologies to make and an angry mob to cool down.While still at the thought, Duke got up from the sleeping position and walked towards me.He slapped me had in the face and then walked back a few steps.He looked at me and then bent to look underneath me.When he was satisfied with what he was seeing, he then started cursing me for putting them in the position they had just come from.

At that point, I was about to make my apology when I realized everybody was staring at me.I looked around the under and before I could comment about the situation I fell on the ground on my butt.I had no idea I was seated mid air even without my wings out all that while.Anyways, the boys were mad at me for a while.Ophie was however cool and he never showed his anger.He was just glad the dream was over.