Carly asked for some more time by the pyre which I assented to as I still needed to pass direction on to my people. Eli rode up with a thick furred mountain lion alongside him. He slid off Felix and joined me and Freya while Junipher stood arms spread as she was wont to do and basked in the morning sunlight. Our children were strangely growing as fruit along her hips and lower abdomen, it looked like there would be almost a dozen. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I’d gone 43 years in the old world without having any child I knew of, now I was going to have enough to make a Mormon family envious.

“Sir.” Eli offered the simplest greeting he knew how.

“Well, since I got you all gathered, here’s what I’m thinking. I’m going to take my team and scout Show Low, according to Veep there’s supposed to be a pre-placed System City Core there. We should be able to communicate from here but we’re not getting anything.”

“Why wouldn’t we be able to speak with them? Are they radio silent?”

“Veep?”

She appeared for everyone and responded to my question, it had been a long time since she presented herself. Once I gained the council of Freya, Shubin, and Gregor I relied on her less, though I still bounced my thoughts off of her occasionally and she constantly made revisions to possible loadouts and purchases as I used my gear and equipment. I won’t lie though, I was hoarding, after I saw the availability of power armor and giant robots, I really wanted one, but they were expensive.

“FRESH AIR!” She exclaimed and everyone chuckled, “So, I can communicate with the Show Low City Core, but it’s in sleep mode. Which can only mean one thing.”

“A failed settlement.” Freya supplied.

“Ok, what’s a failed settlement?”, Eli asked, the curiosity clear on his face.

“It’s what we would have been if we’d not beat back the Gnolls.”

“Oh. Well then, you think everyone is dead?” Eli asked rhetorically.

“I do, and I want to know why. If anyone lives, we’ll direct them back here or to Winslow. If we don’t find anyone, we determine the threat and whether or not we can remove it ourselves or if we’ll need more forces.”

“And if you need more men, Sir?”

“Then we’ll come back with a larger force if need be. Though for now, I want you, and you Queen Freya, preparing to march South in say, a week?”

“How many do you think you will need?”

“A thousand minimum, expect more. I’m giving that scout of mine a few more days to give me a report, if he doesn’t deliver, Captain Devers and Samantha should reach Phoenix in the time frame we’re planning for. Eli, I say we bring all the cavalry, also, I’ll need you to get a commitment from Shubin, his mages and archers would be useful”

“I’ll get on it, he’s been complaining about being left out of our adventures, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Daemon Lord joins us himself.”

We all chuckled at that and Carly quietly joined us. The large cat that Eli had brought along came around and sniffed her and she stiffened, then it curled it’s tail around her legs and rested at her feet. She looked at it in a bit of wonder before taking a seat on the ground. “I’m ready.”

“As are we I think, anyone have anything to add?”

“None, sir, good luck on your expedition, see you soon.” He walked over to Carly and added, “Percival here lost his rider to the Prophet, he wishes to join you.” With that said Eli left to attend his duties.

She thanked Eli and reached up to scratch behind Percival’s ear. The cat purred and pressed its head against her hand. She smiled sadly then rose and climbed into his saddle. “Light’s wasting.”

“Well then, as the lady says, light’s wasting.” I said and found Kaia already waiting with Junipher on his back.

The rest of my team joined us at the south gate of the city. We rode out on our respective mounts and headed for the city of Show Low. We travelled in silence for an hour. The landscape was quickly changing as we went. Arizona was a dry place, or it used to be. Grasses grew tall and green, bushes were thicker with larger leaves and the trees were more abundant. Thicker. Taller. Fuller.

Our pace slowed as the road before us became more uneven and broken, cracked and shattered. After staring at the rough road for a long moment I raised my head and realized that the entire landscape had shifted. The trees now withered and cracked sparsely littered the landscape. The ground smoldered, blackened and vile with a green pestilence hanging heavy across the ground. Just as I was about to say something a notification sprung into my vision.

Warning! You are Entering the Dead Wood, formerly known as The Petrified Forest. The Dead Wood is now an Advanced ranked hunting ground. Adventurers who haven’t yet reached their Advanced Class are advised to turn away.

Dead Wood perimeter map is being uploaded to your Virtual Personal Assistant.

“Well, shit.” I huffed from my perch atop Kaia.

“Yeah, this isn’t foreboding at all.” Stephen added from his motorcycle, “I don’t know if we can get farther in on this.”

“Yeah, it’s getting rough back here.” Courtney commented wryly from the back of the bike.

“Karl! I can’t go in there!” Junipher cried out in front of me, “I can feel the taint. We can’t let it near our saplings.” The look on her face was pure terror and it shook me to the core. We halted on the spot at the point where the lush greenery behind us gave way to the broken and blackened landscape in front of us.

“Alright, alright.” I looked into her big black eyes and only saw fear. A bit of anger rose up in me that anything would cause my woman to show fear. She shivered in my arms and curled into my shoulder. “It’s getting close, isn’t it, for our children to be planted?”

She forced a shaky smile up to me and nodded, “Yes, a week at most, I can’t go in there. But I feel like there’s something else in there besides a normal hunting ground.”

I kissed her hard and some of the fear left her face, “I- I’m sorry, I’m, my instincts are heightened while I carry our seeds.”

“It’s alright, Kaia, take her back to Winslow.” I scratched behind the big coyote's ear as I slid off, “I’ll be back in a couple days, then we’ll visit your father and the Grove.”

She looked at me in apology, “Be careful, my loving brute. I won’t be there to fix you up.”

“We’ll take care of him, be safe, Junipher.” Courtney offered cheerily. Carly watched the exchange without saying a word. Then she rode over and reached across to give Junipher a hug, the women embraced and separated with whispered words and then Kaia was devouring the pavement back towards Snowflake.

We dismounted our respective modes of transportation and began walking down the broken State Highway 77. As we walked it was like someone decided to go scorched earth. Nothing grew or even tried, a green hued mist hung close to the ground and small basalt looking geological formations spewed more of the potentially poison mist into the atmosphere. I noticed everyone had slowed and were checking their notifications so I checked mine.

Status: Unidentified Pestilence, -5HP per minute.

“Well shit.” I muttered out loud.

“Yeah, me and Courtney bought some rebreathers just in case, what about you Carly?”

I looked over at the young woman while pulling my Ballistic Mask on, it had a built in air filter so I was good to go, Carly simply powered up and the mist that had been creeping around Carly’s feet turned to ice crystal and fell to the ground. As she walked a rolling wave of poison ice crystals fell like snowflakes and drifted lazily to the ground in a five meter radius around her.

“I’m good.” She smiled at the green tinged snow flurry she created around her. Then she turned to Percival and the cat retreated out of the Dead Wood.

“Well, alright then, let’s go, we have about a five mile hike before Show Low is visible. Let’s scout it and see if there’s anyone around. If not, maybe there’s some loot and levels to be had.”

“Yeah, it’s been a while since we did some legit dungeon runs.” Stephen said with a sparkle in his eye. Definitely a geek.

“The stuff on the Kiosk is alright, but it seems the dungeon and field boss stuff is far better.” Courtney said then looked at Carly, “Maybe we can get you some proper gear too!”

“Let’s get to it then.” I said as I took the lead.

We walked for a couple hours, the closer we moved towards Show Low the thicker the mist was. When we were five miles out the Pestilence, as Courtney and Stephen had begun calling it, had thickened enough that it blotted out the sun to create an eerie green haze.

I spotted several large animal corpses short distances from the road that appeared to have been turned inside out. They oozed green pus and large white maggots wriggled amongst their torn flesh. Ivory bones exposed in gaping bloodless wounds, vital organs spilled across the ground coated in a green slime.

“That’s fucking disgusting.” Carly screwed up her face as she followed my gaze.

“Indeed.”

We had already travelled roughly five miles and a thick black cloud could be seen in the distance hanging over where the city of Show Low should stand. I was getting agitated, we had seen plenty of signs of monsters, but nothing yet came for us and it didn’t add up. When we finally crested a low ridge that overlooked the city my gut feeling was confirmed.

The black cloud was smoke from the multiple smoldering blocks. The entire city had been pretty much smashed and burned. Only the largest vegetation remained, the giant Douglas Firs that dotted the Arizona forests, and they were blackened and dying, soon to collapse from their own dead weight. What struck me the most of the scene in front of me was that the city seemed to be moving. My vision was pretty much superhuman at this point but it still had its limitations. And I couldn’t see completely through the smoke and Pestilence but I was pretty confident something was moving in the streets.

“Is it just me or does it seem like something is moving down there?” Courtney asked the group.

“Maybe, can’t tell from here.” Carly added from our left, she was keeping her distance so not to freeze us out.

“City looks like it’s breathing.” Stephen added. “You got the best Perception of us all, what do you see, Karl?”

“Oh, something is definitely -” SNAP!

My axes instantly appeared in my hands as I spun to face the sudden noise of a dried twig snapping behind our group. Everyone turned to look behind them at my unexpected movement. A trio of large shapes began to slowly resolve themselves within the Pestilence. Hellhounds similar to the ones we fought in the prison dungeon. Same bony faces and red skin, but that’s where the similarities ended.

These bastards were bigger and meaner looking with a spiky bone tail. Instead of the yellow eyes of the dungeon type these had dark green eyes with a faint illumination behind them. These weren’t the stand out features of this type of Hellhound. These ones all looked like they had already been in a vicious fight that left them with chunks of skin and muscle missing from their bodies. Large maggots wriggled beneath the exposed areas and equally large flies buzzed around the wounds feasting on the clearly decaying flesh. Where their internal organs were exposed a faint green glow similar to the one behind their eyes emanated softly from inside. I took a moment to analyze the lead hound.

Undead Hellhound Lvl 10 (A). Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuckin, fuckety, fuck. “Undead.” I muttered in irritation.

“Ah, hell, that means…” Stephen let the thought hang unfinished.

The hounds chose that moment to attack. My team didn’t hesitate to respond as the undead monsters charged towards us. Stephen was the first to attack, unleashing a [Void Beam] into the flank of one of the beasts. A dinner plate sized hole appeared through its chest and it tumbled to the ground. Just when we thought it dead, the monster hopped back to its feet and growled in anger.

The lead hound leapt for my neck and I spun low while swinging my axes in an upward arc. My first axe took the beast in the neck and severed its head, my second caught it in its bloated, pus and maggot filled guts. Rancid entrails fell over me wriggling from the carrion invaders inside them. I stumbled backwards and quickly flung the opposing organs and critters from my person, “Eugh! FUCK!”

Carly meanwhile had frozen the third undead hound and was lining up a [Hoarfrost Lance] to pierce it’s brain. The large spike of ice shot through one of the monster’s large emerald eyes causing it to twitch and spasm before it’s head hung limp across the block of ice it had been trapped in. “Yeap, definitely gotta kill the brain, so cliche’”

The bastard with a hole in its side attempted to lunge again but fell flat when Courtney stepped around the stunned Stephen and pointed her laser pistol at the resilient bastard and shot a laser beam down its wide open throat. The monster stumbled forward then fell sideways, truly dead.

“That was far less difficult than I thought it would be.” Courtney commented, looking absently at the dead beasts.

Veep made her presence known at that moment, “Yes, Undead are vicious though not particularly resilient. Karl, I’ve established a solid connection to the city core, I’m placing it on your map, just as I suspected it is in hibernation. I did pull the activity logs though, it’s not good. You may not want to bother with the place.”

Everyone was focused on Veep now and I asked the obvious question, “Why’s that?”

“Well, a very ancient being has taken up residence south of the city. This is the kind of being you don’t kill, you just run him off and hope he doesn’t hold a grudge.”

I cocked my eye and waited for her to continue, “Pestilence, the First Horseman of the Apocalypse has claimed pretty much all of northeastern Arizona as his domain.”

“Get the fuck out!” Carly blurted in disbelief. Courtney and Stephen bobbed their heads echoing her sentiment.

“You’re trying to tell me that the biblical horsemen of the Apocalypse are walking the Earth now? And maybe the worst one is in my own backyard?”

Veep continued, “Some things are just Universal, as it is, Earth’s dominant religion only expresses a fraction of the actual End Bringers. Some religions speak of hundreds of End Bringers.”

“Ok, End Bringers? Ok, so these guys are created by the System, or what?”

“Well, not exactly, They are simply powerful beings that have been designated by the System as such, basically, they’ve killed a lot of sapient beings, and usually by using specific techniques, such as famine and disease, in the case of Pestilence. They are immortal, and they act as trials and tribulations for budding populations. In most cases you don’t have to defeat the End Bringer, only complete certain tasks or challenges.”

“Shit, so attempting to kill this ‘End Bringer’ is pointless, is it possible he’ll just go away?” Stephen asked.

“Mmmm, maybe, though it’s more likely he’ll spread his influence, until someone comes to face him.”

“Are there any others around here?” I asked, hoping like hell we only had one super being to deal with.

“Now that we have identified that an End Bringer is present, you have been offered a World Quest. Would you like to view it now?”

“Sure.” I stated wryly.

WORLD QUEST DISCOVERED!

DRIVE THE FOUR END BRINGERS FROM EARTH, Earth has found itself resident to the End Bringers known as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Find them. Defeat them. Drive them from your planet. Do you accept? (Yes/No)

I looked at everyone else and saw that they were viewing the same message I had received. “So, feel like facing down some immortal beings hell bent on the destruction of Earth?”

“Why not.” Courtney responded rhetorically, “Got shit else to do.”

“I go where she goes.” Stephen added while Courtney blushed a bit, though I noticed her arm came up to rub his back.

“I already said I’m with you at least until I find that bastard that killed my sister. What’s one more asshole to fight?” Carly looked off towards the city as she spoke.

“Whatever, it’s just one more thing to add to my plate. Fuck it!” I selected ‘Yes’ and four more quest notifications appeared.

QUEST ACCEPTED - DRIVE THE FOUR END BRINGERS FROM EARTH

Linked Quest Accepted - Defeat the First Horseman of the Apocalypse, Pestilence. Pestilence has taken up residence in the city of Show Low, AZ and claimed all of the Dead Wood as his domain. Face his challenges and force him to capitulate his foot hold on the Earth.

Linked Quest Accepted - Defeat the Second Horseman of the Apocalypse, War. Location Unknown.

Linked Quest Accepted - Defeat the Third Horseman of the Apocalypse, The Conqueror. Location Unknown.

Linked Quest Accepted - Defeat the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse, Death. Location Unknown.

“Hmmm, Pestilence, War, The Conqueror, and Death. I thought the third was supposed to be Famine?” Courtney asked.

“There’s a lot of interpretation on which comes first and the names of them, though Pestilence and Famine are a bit redundant, I read somewhere that the Conqueror is possibly the Antichrist.” I commented offhandedly as we headed towards the city.

“Makes more sense, actually, you send in Pestilence to weaken the people. Then War comes in and stirs the pot created by Pestilence. Then the Antichrist shows up to claim it all. And finally, Death. To end it.” Stephen began to ruminate out loud.

Carly held her hand out pointing to a building that still stood, “What was that? There! Again!”

I followed her outstretched hand and saw a flash of light as a mass of what I could only assume were zombies was pushed back. Smaller flashes of light indicated someone was shooting into the mass of undead. Another bright flash of light and I was just able to make out a dozen or more bodies hit the ground in a radius.

“Guess someone’s still alive, let’s go say hi.”