The war between the Legion and the Hellbourne spread across the land; involving many innocent civilizations and causing them to be homeless and without a shelter. Among many, the Kingdom of Insects has to be the most notable one. When the battle spread to their doorstep, their queen stepped in to battle, Moon Queen. Known for her powers to call forth the powers of the moon itself, she joined the fray as part of the Legion. The entrance of Moon Queen changed the tide of battle; Hellbourne was not pleased at all. Losing battles after battles, Legion was beginning to see the end of the war, guided by a moon light.
In the midst of all of the battles, Moon Queen was still the queen of her people. And her council of fellow insectoids was her assistance. Among them, most notable council member is Pestilence, known for his mark on the battlefield with his ruthless and cunning battle tactics, provided Moon Queen with strategies to handle her people and to settle any disputes that might erupt amongst them. He was a quiet one. He was the one to stay back and let Moon Queen take charge. He was loyal. He was getting sick and tired of it. He wanted to be in charge, the one to hold absolute power. So he sought…for power. He sought and sought until he came to the very doorstep of the Hellbourne hordes. There he met with their “king”, Maliken. “What is an insect scum’s councilman doing here?”
“I…seek power.” replied Pestilence, kneeling down slowly in front of Maliken.
“Power, you say?” Maliken grinned as he began to rub his bearded face. “How badly do you desire for power?” stared directly at Pestilence.
“I’ll do anything for it!” exclaimed to Maliken’s face.
“Very well! I shall grant you the very power you so desire…IF! You do a favor for us.” Maliken replied with a big smirk across his face. Behind him, his fellow Hellbourne soldiers appeared from the shadow: Lord Salforis, Sand Wraith, and Warbeast; all known for their brute strength and savage-like nature in the battlefield. Pestilence was stuck with fear; in front of him were the very central powers of the Hellbourne.
“W-what…do you need of me to do?” stuttered Pestilence staring at Maliken.
“Your people have with them a…certain object that we desire, the very object that granted Moon Queen her very power, the Moon Stone.” Maliken stated his condition to Pestilence.
“What?! That stone contains too much value and power! Even for someone like yo-” Pestilence was interrupted by Maliken, pushing him against the wall, choking him.
“Do you want power or not?!” shouted at his insect face.
“V-very well…” Maliken let him go. “You’ll hold true to your end of the bargain?” questioned Pestilence.
“I was a King before joining the war as Hellbourne. You have my word.” Maliken sat on his chair, his fellow soldiers beside him. And with a nod, Pestilence was off on his way. “Prepare yourselves, brothers. Our time of conquest is at hand.”
Pestilence rushed back to the kingdom of insects, with the intention in his mind. As he walked into the gates of the kingdom, his people greeted him with a smile and respect and children rushing over to greet their hero. All of these things were about to come crashing down…but he had no regrets. He approached the sacred halls, where his fellow council members greeted him with a nod, he returned the favor. Finally, he stood in front of the Hall of Mystics, where the legendary “Moon Stone” lied, the very stone that granted Moon Queen her powers. Thinking back, he thought about all of the times he was left in the shadows by Moon Queen, tonight…it was all about to change. He quickly grabbed the stone, and placed it within his bag. He began to walk out of the halls, constantly looking back for anyone following him, and looking back at his past. “Hello, Pestilence.” familiar voice rang in front of him. He turned around to see Moon Queen standing in front of him with a smile.
“Milady.” He bowed lightly as a sign of respect; he gripped the bag containing the stone firmly. “What brings you here at this hour?”
“Just on a patrol, I must say, it has been a very long time since I looked at the city ever since I joined the battle with the Legion. Makes me think of all of the achievements our people have accomplished, and we could not have done so without you, Pestilence. Thank you.” the Queen bowed lightly as a thank you. Pestilence was speechless, with hesitation, he bowed back.
“I’m in a quite a bit of a hurry, so I’ll be on my way, milady.” he bowed once more and he was well on his way. He looked back to see the Queen waving him farewell, he made a small gesture of his hand back, it wasn’t a farewell back to her, it was a goodbye; to her and to his people. He spread his wings and flew into the night sky, returning to the man who can grant his wish, Maliken.
“Ah, you have returned, you have the stone, I presume?” Maliken greeted Pestilence.
“Yes.” he handed him the bag, clenching onto his fists.
“Thank you, now follow me.” Maliken lead Pestilence into a chamber where the other members were. “Stand here.” he pointed to one of the circles drawn onto the pavement. Beside him were Warbeast, Lord Salforis, and Sand Wraith. Maliken placed the stone in the middle with various other trinkets and began to mumble an incantation of sort. Pestilence was scared, of course, he feared for the worst.
“What’s happening?” questioned to Salforis.
“…” he did not reply to his question, only stared at Maliken at this otherworldly ritual. The mumbling continued, but there was a surge of energy flowing through the room. All of the sudden, there was an explosion. All things disappeared in front of him. His mind fluttering with impure thoughts, his body changing, he opened his eyes. He felt the power, the otherworldly, almost god-like power flowing through his body. He stood with him, his newest comrades, but things were different before the big flash; they all stood on top of a horse, Pestilence included, with their body morphed into a demon-like flesh.
“The hour of apocalypse is upon us, my brethren, and our newest member, Pestilence!” screamed Maliken, sitting on top of his newly found horse, like a conqueror. This was what Pestilence dreamed of, obtaining this absolute power. “We shall now be known to the scumbags of the Legions as nightmares, the very foundation of their demise, the Five Horsemen of the Apocalypse!” there was screams and cheers all over the room. They were the ones that was going to conquer Newerth, bringing war, death, famine, and pestilence to the inhabitants and making their marks onto this battlefield.
Next morning, they rode toward the battlefield in which Legion was dominating. “This war is coming to an end, Moon Queen.” exclaimed Gladiator to his fellow commander in charge of this battle.
“Yes, it is. But the moon signals a bad omen…” shrugged Moon Queen, after since missing Pestilence and the relic, “Moon Stone”, has put Moon Queen under a lot of stress.
“Fall back!” there was screams and panic from the frontline.
“What happened?!” soldiers asked one another.
“A-a-apocalypse! The horsemen are here!!” soldiers panicked as they ran away from the battle field. From faraway, they can hear the screaming torment of their soldiers. Gladiator and Moon Queen quickly set out to the frontline trying to assist and find out what was the meaning of all this. Along their travel, they saw many soldiers on the ground injured and mourning for death; it was too painful to look at them. The very earth at their feet was trembling, splitting across hill to hill, tree to tree. They both looked around to see the source of all these havoc. Between the shadows of the trees, they saw a figure striding across.
“Halt!” screamed Moon Queen as she threw her weapon between the trees, missing the target entirely, and the figure replied with a devious laugh. They chased after it, dodging branches and roots at their sides and feet. They came to a stop as they approached the edge of a cliff, where they confronted the figure, sitting on his demonic horse. “You have nowhere to go! Show your face!” she pointed her weapon at the figure’s direction.
“Kekekeke…time has not been kind to you, not being able to recognize your former council member…” it slowly turned around and showed its face to its foes.
“P..pestilence?!” Moon Queen fell to the ground in shock, “what…what has happened to you!?”
“I’ve chose this path out of my freewill. I’ve obtained this overflowing power, enough to kill you and your friend there!” he turned about and leaped over the cliff. Moon Queen rushing over to see where he had went to. There she saw the very faces of Hell, Maliken in front of them staring up with a smirk across his face. He was leading the four horsemen behind him; she almost could not recognize any of them-Lord Salforis, Warbeast, Sand Wraith, and, her former ally, Pestilence.
“Joyed to see your former ally, my Queen?” laughed Maliken, “Make mark of this day, you Legion scums! Today is only the beginning of the end!” he threw his sword into the yell as roar erupted behind him and clouded gathered above them.
“Godspeed to us all…” whispered Moon Queen as she stared at the fading moon in the sky.
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