The Four Horsemen 3 - Famine (15 page)

He brought his fingers up to his nose, and inhaled the coppery scent. How could that be? Had his blood cursed the spot? It would explain why nothing seemed to grow in that area.

“I wonder, if you continued with the sacrifices every time the crops didn’t grow or the rain didn’t come,” he said as he straightened up, and glanced around. “How many other people did you kill when you were in danger of losing your power and position in the tribe?”

Lightning streaked across the sky, and Famine grimaced. It was rare for him to be out in the rain. He tended to stay indoors when it stormed. He reached up to his medicine bag, and took it off.

“I’ve hated you for centuries because of what you did to me. How you took my life because you were scared of me. You took everything away from me, and suddenly I found myself travelling the world as a Horseman. I leave drought and famine in my wake.” Famine opened the pouch, and tugged out the small black horse carving.

He held it up to the rain, letting the water wash over the stone. Famine used the carving as a way of remembering where he’d come from, and how he came to be the Black Horseman. After dropping to his knees, he dug a hole and stuffed the horse in it. He covered it up, and patted the dirt in place over it.

Famine pushed to his feet, and glanced around him, trying to remember how the village had looked before the drought had started. He thought about his friends and family, or at least those who had survived the first year of starvation. How many more had died after him? Had the rain been enough to make the crops grow for the year after? Death had never sent him back to the area, so he’d never found out anything about what had happened.

“I forgive you,” Famine called out into the rain. “I don’t care about why you killed me, or how you tricked the others into letting you kill me. It’s time for me to move on. I’ve found someone to love me, no matter who I am and what I do. Ekundayo is my future, and I have to let go of my past.”

A weight lifted off Famine’s soul, and he smiled, feeling free for the first time since he’d opened his eyes to see Death standing over him. He put the medicine pouch back around his neck, and stretched his arms out to embrace the rain washing down on him.

He whirled to see Death standing behind him with a slight smile on his face. The Pale Rider’s ash grey hair gleamed silver under the water. Grinning, Famine reached out and slapped Death on the shoulder.

“Ekundayo made me realise I had to let the past go before I could move on.” Famine shrugged. “I love Ekundayo, and he’s right. I can’t waste my time on what happened before.”

Death nodded, and moved away from Famine’s touch. “See, forgiveness goes both ways, and sometimes we’re blocked from moving on by our emotional baggage.”
“What about you? Are you blocked? Do you need forgiveness or to forgive someone?” Famine wasn’t sure why he asked, especially since he didn’t expect Death to answer.
“Neither. I have no guilt for what I did, and no one hurt me in any way to make me forgive them.” Death ran his hand over his face, and clenched his jaw for a moment. “You have no need to hear about my life or past. You should consider heading back to Ekundayo. I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear you’re ready to move on. Have you decided where you’re going to live?”
Famine grinned. “Yes. We’ll be living on the Zambezi River, close to the falls, but not close to any of the resorts. Ekundayo is going to get some cattle and we’ll grow our own food.”
“Sounds like fun,” Death drawled.
“Why do I think you’re being sarcastic?” Famine chuckled. “You’re still very much a city boy, even though you died in the seventeen hundreds. Has Paris always been your city?”
Death shot him a burning glance. “How do you know where I live?”
Famine shrugged. “My fellow Horsemen and I have always known where you live. Lam told each of us shortly after you became Death. It wasn’t like we were going to come and visit you, but we had to know where to find you if need be.”
“I should have known Lam couldn’t keep his nose out of my business. Yes. I’ve always lived in Paris, though not always in such a nice neighbourhood.”
Death’s gaze became distant, and Famine wondered if the Pale Rider was remembering his mortal life. The way the Horseman carried himself often made Famine think Death must have been an aristocrat during the French Revolution. Maybe he’d died at the guillotine, cursing the peasants who’d brought him so low. Yet a small part of Famine couldn’t help but think Death might have been one of those peasants, overthrowing the monarchy and rich for a better life.
“Do you miss it?”
“Miss what?” Death blinked, and looked over at him. “My mortal life?”
“Yes.” Famine scrubbed the nape of his neck, and snorted. “I do once in a while. It wasn’t the easiest life, but at least I had friends and family. Now they’re all gone.”
Death dismissed Famine’s sadness with a quick wave of his hand. “Your family might be gone, but you have Ekundayo now. Forget about all of this and go to him. It’ll be fine, I’m sure.”

Famine did as Death ordered him. He mounted his stallion, and nudged the horse with his heels. He lifted a hand to say goodbye to the Pale Rider as they leapt into the air. After they’d disappeared, Death turned to look around the scene of Famine’s death, and subsequent rebirth.

“Have a good life, Kibwe. You won’t be needed any more. You’ll have a good life with Ekundayo, and slowly forget about who you were for centuries.”
Death whistled, and his stallion appeared, snorting and pawing at the ground. He swung astride, and patted the horse’s neck before simply thinking of the next place they had to be.
Lightning flashed and thunder boomed as Death disappeared from the area.

He turned to send the black horse on its way, but before he could say anything, his horse tore the medicine bag from around Famine’s neck with his teeth.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing?”
Famine grabbed for it, but the horse danced out of the way, holding the leather pouch in its teeth. It snorted at him, and disappeared. Famine rested his hand on the spot where the bag had laid for centuries. He’d never thought he’d feel so naked without it. Why had the horse taken it? What did that mean?
“What’s wrong?” Ekundayo rushed up from the stream with wet clothes in his arms.
“Nothing really.” Famine frowned and looked at the spot where his horse had stood. “My horse stole my medicine pouch, and disappeared.”
Ekundayo laid the clothes out on various rocks before coming to stand next to Famine. When Famine turned to meet his lover’s gaze, Ekundayo gasped.
“What?”
“Your eyes,” Ekundayo gasped as he grabbed Famine’s hand and dragged him down the trail to the edge of the stream. “Look for yourself.”
What had got into everyone? If Famine didn’t know better, he’d think it was a joke played on him by Death, Ekundayo and his horse. But Death didn’t have a sense of humour, and his horse didn’t listen to anyone except whoever had created it. He stared into the clear water, and his reflection looked back at him.
At first, he didn’t notice anything different about his image, except that he didn’t have the pouch. He glanced over at Ekundayo.
“What am I looking for?”
“Your eyes, man. Look at your eyes.”
Famine looked back, focusing on his eyes, and he fell back on his ass with a shout.
“What the hell happened? Why are my eyes back to the way they were when I was mortal?”
He pushed himself back on to his knees, and scrabbled to the stream. Looking at his reflection again, he saw golden brown eyes staring back at him. He hadn’t seen the original colour of his eyes in centuries, since the day he’d opened them to see a pale man standing over him.
“I don’t know. Did you see Death when you went back to where you died? What did he say?” Ekundayo dropped down next to him, and wrapped his arm around Famine’s waist. They studied the rippling image on the surface of the water. “Do you think you’re mortal again? Is there any way for a Horseman to go back to what he was before he died?”
“Sure. Death told me about it when War returned to being mortal. I didn’t think it would happen to me, though, because nothing changed when we told each other ‘I love you’.”
“Maybe it wasn’t just us falling love. Maybe your change had to come from you forgiving the man who killed you.” Ekundayo rested his head on Famine’s shoulder. “You did forgive him, didn’t you?”
Famine nodded. “Yes, I did. Spoke the words aloud in the very spot where I died. Do you really think it was that easy for me to become mortal again?”
“I don’t know if it was easy,” Ekundayo said. “But you did it, and maybe that freed you from the past, and now we can look forward to our future together.”
Famine wasn’t completely sure if he was free of being a Horseman, but he was willing to believe in his mortality until he was proven otherwise.
“You are free, Kibwe. Enjoy your mortal life.”
Death’s voice echoed through his head. The Pale Rider rarely spoke to him mind-tomind like that, and for him to do so let Famine accept the truth of his freedom.
“Thank you.”

He didn’t know if Death had heard him or not, and ultimately he didn’t care. Famine shot to his feet, dragging Ekundayo up with him. He embraced his lover with shaking arms, and laughed.

“I’m free. No more travelling the world, leaving drought and famine in my wake. I can be a farmer or whatever I want with you here in Africa.” A thought hit him. “We could even leave Africa. We could go somewhere and start over.”

Ekundayo around in circles until they fell to the ground, laughing and hugging. “All right, Famine. I won’t burst your bubble today.” Ekundayo ran his hands down
Famine’s back and under his shorts to cup his ass.
Famine froze, and realised something. “You can’t call me Famine any more. It’s not my
name. My name is Kibwe, and I’m very pleased to meet you.”
Ekundayo stared up at Famine, and a big smile graced his face. “Kibwe, huh? I can get
used to calling you that.”
They met in a crushing kiss, teeth clacking, and tongues teasing. Kibwe rocked his hips
into Ekundayo’s, and they moaned together. He suddenly wanted to bury himself inside his
lover, feel Ekundayo move around him. Kibwe pulled away and jumped to his feet, holding
out his hand for Ekundayo.
“What are you doing?”
“I want to fuck you, but we don’t have any lube out here. Plus I want to make love on
blankets, not hard ground.”
Ekundayo took Kibwe’s hand and allowed him to pull him to his feet. Kibwe led the
way as fast as he could back to the cave, and their blankets waiting there for them. Ekundayo
tackled him, but made sure they landed on the pile. While Kibwe stripped, Ekundayo dug
through their bags of stuff to find the lube.
When Kibwe was done, he wiggled around, and pinned Ekundayo to the ground.
“Where’s the lube?”
“Right here.”
He grabbed the bottle from his lover, and popped the top. Kibwe squirted some on his
fingers, rubbing them to coat three fingers. Ekundayo placed his hands behind his knees, and pulled them up to his chest, exposing his hole. Kibwe didn’t want to wait, but he didn’t want to hurt Ekundayo either. So he slowly worked one finger in, and when Ekundayo nodded, he
pressed the second one in alongside the first.
Kibwe groaned as Ekundayo’s body welcomed him in, and he got busy stretching his
lover. He looked up when Ekundayo grunted.
“I want you in me now,” Ekundayo demanded.
“Your wish is my command.” Kibwe grinned as he snatched up the lube and poured
more out in his hand.
He coated his cock, and smeared the leftover lube over Ekundayo’s hole, hoping to ease
the way even more. Ekundayo let his head fall back on to the blankets as Kibwe sank into his
body, claiming him in the most primitive way possible. Kibwe froze when he was as far
inside Ekundayo as he could be.
Bracing his hands on either side of Ekundayo’s head, Kibwe looked down at his lover,
and all the love he felt for the man welled up in him. Tears filled his eyes, and Kibwe
swallowed down all the emotion. He didn’t want to turn into a sobbing mess while making
love to Ekundayo.
“I know,” Ekundayo whispered, cupping the side of Kibwe’s face. “I love you too.” With those words and the spell holding him still broken, he began to thrust in and out
of his lover’s ass. As he could see Ekundayo’s pleasure build, Kibwe’s did as well until the
sound of skin slapping skin and their harsh breathing filled the air of the cave. “Touch yourself,” he ordered Ekundayo.
Two firm tugs of his cock, and Ekundayo came, spilling cum all over his stomach and
hand. Ekundayo lifted his hand to his mouth and licked it clean. Watching his lover come
and then taste his own seed shoved him straight over the edge. Shouting, he flooded
Ekundayo with cum. As Ekundayo milked his last drop from him, he collapsed to the side,
not wanting to crush Ekundayo.
With arms and legs entwined, they held each other as their trembling eased, and their
breathing steadied. Sleep pulled at Kibwe, but he didn’t want to close his eyes. He worried
that he would wake up and discover all of this was a dream.
Ekundayo ran his hand over Kibwe’s braids. “Don’t worry. Nothing will change while
you sleep. Rest, and when you wake up, we’ll leave to find a new place to live.” The steady beat of Ekundayo’s heart resounded in Kibwe’s ear, and he allowed his eyes
to close. He had to trust that all of this wasn’t just wishful thinking. Kibwe drifted off, happy
for the first time in centuries.

Kibwe went to the door of their hut to spy Ekundayo striding across the campsite, a bright smile on his face. Kibwe’s heart leapt as he watched his lover approach. During so many centuries as Famine, Kibwe had never thought he’d have a chance at happiness and love. Yet love was a possibility, even for a Horseman.

“Did you have a good outing?” he asked as Ekundayo gave him a hug. “Yes. The tourists were all very happy to see elephants and zebras. The pride of lions was lounging under some trees, so we even got to see them as well.” Ekundayo crowded him back into their hut. “What about you?”
“We’re going out this afternoon to see if we can’t tag one of the rhinos in the park.”
“Be careful,” Ekundayo warned as he stripped out of his sweat-soaked shirt.
Kibwe licked his lips as his lover’s muscular chest and stomach appeared from under the shirt. “We always are.”
During the day, and while they were out in sight of the tourists, they kept their hands to themselves, but in the privacy of their own hut they could touch and kiss. Kibwe slid his arm around Ekundayo’s waist, and pulled Ekundayo to him. Their lips met in a ‘missed you’ kiss.
After Kibwe had become mortal again, they’d decided to get jobs with one of the safari companies running in Kenya. Ekundayo spent most of his time taking tourists out on to the savannah to see the magnificent animals that called Africa home. Kibwe did that too, but he also guided scientists on different exhibitions to help the animals and humans of the country.
Kibwe enjoyed his life now, more than he ever had when he was a Horseman.
“Do I have time for a shower before lunch?” Ekundayo removed his pants.
“Only if you’re willing to share it with me. Remember, we have to conserve water.” Kibwe grinned as he dragged Ekundayo to the small bathroom.
“Sounds good to me.”
As they stepped under the water, Kibwe sent a silent thank you up to whoever had chosen him to be a Horseman. Without that decision, Kibwe would have been dead, and would have missed out on the love of his life. He also sent up a wish that Death would find someone to love, because no one deserved to carry the burden of being the Pale Rider for all eternity.