Divorce | Desmond & Mona Libera (itsnotyouitsme) wrote in forgotten_gods, @ 2009-09-22 12:13:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | divorce |
And there went out another horse that was red:
Who: Divorce [Narrative]
What: Following Nuclear Power's yellow brick road. Separating horse from Horseman.
When: Tuesday morning.
Where: Northern California.
Warnings: Brief language.
Following Enola's coordinates, he traveled from SoCal to NoCal following a GPS yellow brick road in a rented SUV. Divorce had a sneaking suspicion that he would need a practical vehicle for this little job.
When he parked and made his way out to the desolate field where War's horse lay chained and furious, he patted himself on the back for foresight.
"Hel-lo, Rufus," Desmond breathed. The horse was a behemoth, even tied down so that it was forced to tuck its legs beneath its body. Crouched and vulnerable under heavy chains, it met him for height. It was covered in hand-shaped burns, its face and powerful neck a ruin of charred flesh and hair. Malachi glared at him, powerfully self-aware and filled with an incredible amount of hate. Desmond grinned at the rust-red creature, a beast the color of dried blood. It was adoration at first sight.
The horse's eyes rolled into the back of its head, white and wild while Divorce walked a slow circle around it. His hands shook. He was overwhelmingly excited at the opportunity Enola had given him. She'd been right; he knew exactly what needed doing here.
Without a thought, he pulled his cellphone from a pocket and dialed Mona. He forgot his hate for his other half.
"We've got to stop this. People will talk," she answered, droll as could be.
He stopped beside the Horseman's horse, ignoring Mona's distaste and Malachi's rage alike. "I'm standing in front of War's horse. I'm going to rip it away from her." His grin nearly split his face with its intensity. He felt high when he heard Mona's breath catch.
"Desmond." She said his name quietly. It was the kind of breathless tone one used to call their lover.
"Shh. Listen." He put the phone on speaker and tucked it into his shirt pocket. Malachi's teeth snapped when Desmond moved close enough to touch, but the beast's head was bound just as securely as the rest of it. War's mount could not stamp its huge hooves to crush the New God's skull, nor bite deep to tear flesh from bone. It was sick from too much radiation, woefully weakened beneath heavy chains that tied it to the ground as firmly as it was tied to War herself.
Desmond sang nonsense words, purred Latin as he ran hands over Malachi's flanks. Hatred radiated from the horse and blood-flecked snot hit the dust as it snorted its displeasure. When he reached out and plucked that first thread which tied horse to Horseman, Malachi tried to bellow but was left hacking instead.
Divorce laughed. "You're my test run, big guy. You just keep shouting it out. Let me know where it hurts." The first thread snapped under pressure. Divorce shivered when Malachi tried to buck. He soaked up its loathing, watching it test its bonds one more time before moving in close to spread his arms along its back and press his cheek to its side. Malachi raged and roared and bled while Divorce hooked long-clawed fingers over each fine thread that connected it to War.
They stretched on thin and immeasurable, going back over millennia. War had ridden Malachi after the war in Heaven. War had ridden Malachi across bloody sands in the desert. War was locked away with cruel and impatient New Gods, and Malachi was under yet another's tender ministrations.
When the last thread snapped with a twang only audible to Divorce and perhaps War herself, the horse was still. Its screams had cleared out every living creature for miles. After one last fond pat, Desmond stepped back with a smile. The Christians were predictable -- chances were that Yahweh would eventually reforge the connection between horse and Horseman if the New Gods didn't bring the religion to its knees sometime soon. But for now? For now, the two were just that. Two, divided and incapable of sensing one another.
The Red Rider was without sword and steed. War was one-third of herself. Malachi went into a seizure of suffering, and Divorce laughed.