The City He Once Knew
The sound of bones crunching underneath his feet as he stepped towards the Pale Rider, echoed in the still night, only cut off by the clap of thunder and the breathing of the horse his companion rode. Death's Scythe blocked his path from going any further near the desiccated city.
"Why can't I go in?" he pushed against the scythe, trying to get the old Bone king to move his weapon to let him through the gates. It was near impossible to move the strong arm of the reaper.
"Because you don't even know who you are yet. You really want to end up like these guys below?"
Dirge looks down at the moaning torn apart bodies under the horse's hooves. Dirge's dialogue is from out of frame.
"Point taken. So, what do you want from me, no wait, just who the hell are you?" The moans of the undead at their feet, Johnathan wondered if it was Death's Power keeping them at bay. It must have been.
Death removed the scythe and grins down towards Dirge. "Wonderfully put. I'm simply Death. No more, no less."
"And am I, in Hell?" Death extends a hand out towards the city behind him still on the back of his horse.
Death leads him towards a bar with a neon sign, Embers. There is a skinny black haired man having a cigarette outside, the guy looked familiar to him, but when he turned to
"What is this place? Everywhere I go I see my own face, like I'm lost in a thick haze."
Death was dismounting from the horse as Dirge is looking up at the sign glowing above him. The other man had disappeared. John was sure it was just a trick of the eyes at that point, like a shadowy monster playing tricks on his mind.
"You ponder a lot don't you?" Death's hand ushered the man towards the door with a sense of urgency and force he was not accustomed to.
"Where are we?" the man asked his new friend.
"A place. Somewhere, I am sure you will become familiar with."
The bar is dark and dirty looks more like a dungeon but the drinks and furniture are all cyberpunk style.
Dirge came face to face with a creature upon opening the door. A wide grinning, drooling mouth with several teeth missing, and there seem to be leather straps around the mouth holding it open/smiling almost. He is one of the Bound and a ruler of the cult that the Bartender of Embers is a member of. He is filthy and large.
"Nghh, heh, fresh meat, I was just saying I was hungry."
Death walks behind Dirge placing his hand on the man's shoulder as the creature wiped his drooling open mouth.
"Not today worthless one. This one belongs to me. Samael, back to your post." Death's Voice rattled with his aggression and rage, causing both Samael and Dirge to recoil a bit.
"Ahh Master of Nothing, you don't want him, he's not truly dead. Slurp!" the drool stank of rot and meat, it probably was his last meal coming back.
Death hold out a set of dice as Sameal begins to walk away from them back into the bar.
"Care to wager that statement?"
"Good thing for you I don't enjoy the taste of ink that much."
The big demon walked to the corner stool near the door, and began to chew on something that looked like an arm of a small child.
"What was that thing?" he looked back at his friend.
"Someone you had best steer clear of. This place, this place isn't exactly demon free." Death simply replied as the sounds of teeth gnashing and crushing bone caused a shiver down Dirge's spine. Turning to face the barkeep as he was trying to place where he recognized him from.
"You do realize, of course, we have limited supply of those."The Barkeep pointed towards the arm as Sameal continues to eat throwing a glowing card onto the empty tray the man is holding.
"Did you come here just to chastise my personal habits, Barkeep, or do you have something to say?"
The Barkeep leans in whispering to him as we see 5 other demonic creatures looking like Sameal chained up to the wall behind him thrashing about. They are blindfolded and gagged.
"As it happens, I do. I have located a candidate. One with great…"
Death is drinking from a stein mug as Dirge quickly turns his head from looking at Sameal and the Barkeep back to Death. They are over the other side of the room.
"I wouldn't pry into that conversation if I were you. Not only are you fresh from the earth but that thing is far more danger than you want coming your way." Death is looking at Dirge through the bottom of his mug, bottom is glass. Tiny bit of drink is left in the bottom.
"Death, I need to know answers. What happened to me?"
"Now for me to answer that question, I'm going to need a stronger drink." Dirge knocks the mug out of Deaths hand in anger.
"Drink? You're really drinking at a time like this? I just rose from my own grave! I'm covered in tattoos, I'm wet and I have no idea where the hell I am!" Death calls the Barkeep over and orders another drink.
"Keep your voice down already. There is no need to yell. You're in a bar, Embers. One of the house specials please." The Barkeep turns to look down towards Dirge who is looking at Death.
"Excuse me but do I know you? You seem really familiar." Dirge looks up with half the hood covering his face.
"I wish I knew myself let alone who you are." The Barkeep goes away to get the order as Death goes back to speaking with Dirge.
"Rather depressing aren't you? You should learn not to dismiss people so quickly. "
"Enough with the riddles already. I want to know what happened to me. " Death leans over the table towards Dirge.
"What happened to you? That I don't know. What happened to you and what happened to the rest of the world are two different things.
Both sides of Heaven and Hell are ready for war on either side of the Earth's surface.
There was a time when all things were just myth and legend. We existed between those layers of Heaven and Hell, neither good nor bad. A seal like a giant glowing gateway appears on the Earth plane between them. When the decree was passed, the great gate was opened. The presence of both good and evil were commanded to stand together to set us free. My brothers and I rode out into the realm of man. We had one task, to destroy and judge the souls upon the Earth.
The apocalypse began – as they ride different clouds stream out behind them for each horseman, War, Death, Pestilence and Famine. As horsemen, we rode across the world, our judgment to be carried out without prejudice. Nothing escaped our rapture beating from beastly hooves.
The sky has turned dark and people are screaming begin effected by the different horsemen, some are turning to dust and bones, some are diseased some are slaughtered. Our pestilence, death, feminine and war cascaded down upon the human souls infecting all of God's children.
Some of the humans are divided being marched into Hell or into Heaven but most are left on the earth. But something unexpected happened. Many were sent above and below and yet many remained.
The Necropolis cities are now fusing with the original cities. Unable to cross the dividers on Earth, a new world arose around the shattered limbo that once was paradise.
Death is the only horsemen to willingly return to the seal gate but the others ride off. Our task completed, I stood alone at the gateway as my brothers wished to rule this new land. They parted from me and I was left standing alone, a new ruler to a rotting kingdom."