The only castle in the entirety of Zenthos that Ren has ever stepped foot in is the one in Gravelle. He still remembers living in luxury—yes, it was not as comfortable as his bed and room back home in the U.K., but those are still much better living conditions than most of the places in this world that he’s been to. He still remembers the impeccable infrastructure, the walls of crystals, and the ornaments hanging from the walls, studded with jewellery. If only he knew how to appreciate those then.

The abandoned castle of Heliola is on the other end of the spectrum. If Gravelle’s castle represented luxury, then this castle is the very picture of destitute. Torn tapestries drape the walls, as do shredded banners, in such a terrible state that Ren can no longer make out what was on the fabric. Smashed pottery and earthenware have been left untouched, their shattered remains scattered about on the carpeted floor. The carpet is awash with sand, dried out and bristly under their feet.

The hallways are long and tall, the arched ceiling stretching many metres above Ren’s head. Most of the light fixtures are broken, braziers slung to one side and having created craters in the walls. Flecks of coal dripped to the ground, smouldered black against the carpet. There is only one way to go: down the hallway and into the grand foyer.

The foyer is bigger than Ren anticipated, even bigger than the courtyard in which they tussled with the skeletons. An altar stands on the far end, where the Horseman’s heart lies. The final heart that they need to destroy, and then they can focus their efforts on Pandora’s Citadel.

Of course, it’s not going to be that easy. Their adversary, the Horseman of Famine, stands before them in all his dark knight glory. His team of horses whinny and neigh behind him, lifting their hooves and scuffing them against the ground. Ren readies his staff, and the others, their weapons, save for the Batlings.

“So, you have come again, Kish’ver.” The Horseman’s voice is a rumbly lilt, much unlike the rougher baritones of his brethren.

Grandmother harrumphs. “Save your breath.”

“Was it not enough to see your children crumble before you?” the Horseman goads. He unsheathes his sword from its scabbard, and his horse steps forward with hardly a sound. But that intense gaze sears into Ren’s very soul. When Grandmother doesn’t answer—not with anything more than a grimace—the Horseman turns to Shih’van. “And you… yes, I can see the resemblance.”

Shih’van growls, the first noise of hostility and animosity that Ren has ever heard from her. She clenches her fists tight, and she is about to step right up to the Horseman when Af’rik puts a hand on her shoulder. She stops in her tracks, and then backs down. Ren can almost see the smirk behind the Horseman’s helmet.

“I know that you have done away with my brethren,” the Horseman says, his attention flitting to Ren, Penny, Vane, and Gridel. “My associate of the land tells me as much.”

“Your… associate?” Gridel asks, narrowing her eyes. The last Horseman had an associate as well, one well-versed in the arts of magic.

The Horseman nods, his helmet clanking against his breastplate. “Indeed. My associate tells me things that happen far and wide, across the entirety of Zenthos.”

“But who…” Vane starts. He does not get to finish his sentence, for he is silenced by the Horseman driving his blade into the ground. Vane clamps his jaw shut, instead putting all his strength into glaring at the bringer of Famine.

“That is not important,” the Horseman says. Tendrils of dark energy rolls off his blade in waves. Ren can feel their invisible, slimy forms curling up his skin, wrapping around his limbs, as though trying to immobilise him. “What is important is that I slaughter you right here, and right now. All living beings fear death, after all.”

And with that, he is off. Ren must admit, this Horseman is fast. Either that, or he is utilising some sort of teleportation magic. One moment, he and his horse were right in front of them, and in the next, he’s beside Grandmother. Yet, Grandmother must have predicted his movements, because she ducks away, aiming a strong kick at the horse’s legs.

The horse rears back, just as her foot slides under it. The Horseman bats away a bolt hurled his way, and he makes a slice at an incoming Af’rik. Af’rik changes course, leaping into the air and backflipping. He lands just before two of the horses from his team. Shih’van rushes to his rescue, planting her clawed foot in the flank of a horse and slamming it to the ground.

Vane drives his blade into the cracked concrete, drawing up a wall between them and the Horseman’s swinging sword. The Horseman’s sword cuts nothing but stone, making a giant slice across the width of the wall. Penny bursts from behind, leaping out at the Horseman in a full frontal assault.

She meets the Horseman’s blade, metal clashing against metal. Ren whirls his staff, sending fireballs flying at their enemy. The Horseman merely ducks, and Penny lunges forth, crying out in surprise when her face smacks right into the horse’s neck.

The steed stomps its hooves, and Penny scrambles away from the fireballs that soar just over their heads. The horse twists its body like a contortionist, much more than a horse should ever be able to, and it dodges the blazing projectiles easily. Goodness, just what manner of supernatural creature are they dealing with here?

Penny aims a cut towards the horse’s legs, slashing wildly at the horse’s hooves. However, the stallion is hardly affected, raising its legs with such perfect timing, in accordance with each slice, that it looks like it’s dancing. The horse prances away from the assault, diving back into its team of horses, three of which bound towards Penny.

Gridel drives them back with arrows to their heads, knocking down two which tumble to the ground, legs spasming. The remaining one dodges her bolts, neighing and leaping at Penny. Penny cuts it down with a blade of water, shimmering in the dim light. The horse crashes to the ground, blood pouring from the gash across its neck.

Ren conjures another barrage of fireballs, aiming the fiery spheres at the Horseman’s horse whilst he is locked in combat with Grandmother, Af’rik, and Shih’van. He’s somehow holding his own against three Batlings, who also executes fast and furious punches and kicks to counteract his own.

Af’rik leaps out of the way of an incoming fireball, and Shih’van hurls herself back. The Horseman ducks and swerves, avoiding each splash of cinders as they come. Grandmother slaps it towards the Horseman, the sudden change in the fireball’s trajectory catching the horse off guard. It hits the horse’s muzzle straight on, and the horse whinnies as the fire consumes its face.

The horse thrashes about, bucking so wildly that it almost throws its rider off. As it loses control, Af’rik comes up from behind its rider and kicks him hard in the back. The Horseman screams as he hurtles off the horse and falls to the ground. He gasps for breath, propping himself up on his elbows, his sword still gripped tight in his hand.

“Gridel, now!” Penny shouts.

Gridel aims her arrow, and she shoots. It flies right towards the shining crystal on the altar. If they can just shatter the Horseman’s heart, then they can end the fight and—

A wall of earth rises just before the crystal. The arrow snaps when it hits the rock, falling to the ground in two halves uselessly. Ren whips his head around to look at Vane, eyes wide. Did he—

But when Ren sees Vane’s face, the latter fending off a bunch of horses, he finds his shock mirrored. It doesn’t seem like Vane was the one who erected that rock wall. Yet, he’s the only one with a command of the magic of earth in their merry little band. If not him, then who?

The Horseman throws his head back, and he laughs. “Yes, I knew I was right to make a pact with you!”

“Who…?” Gridel starts, readying another bolt, but Penny rushes past her before she can fire it. She chases after the crystal, Mira drawn.

“Ren, get ready!” Penny cries.

Get ready? Get ready for what?

But Penny doesn’t elaborate. Her feet patter quickly against the floor as she races up to the altar. The Horseman must have spotted her—of course, he did—and he tears away from the Batlings to focus on her. His horse crosses the room easily, stomping till its right in front of her, impeding her path.

Penny digs her heels into the ground, screeching to a halt. Ren draws his arm back, prepared to sling fireballs at their adversary. But Vane is faster, slashing at the Horseman from the side, spears of earth stabbing into his arm, through his gauntlet. The Horseman gives a cry of pain, raising his sword as he prepares to retaliate.

Unfortunately for him, Grandmother grabs his wrist before he can, and she yanks him backwards. The Horseman yelps, the force causing him to fall from his horse, the stallion whinnying and rearing onto its hind legs. Shih’van leaps into the air, claws outstretched.

She comes crashing down on the Horseman’s chest, her claws piercing his armour like a drill. The Horseman splutters, gasping for breath. He stiffens, body spasming grotesquely, before he bursts into a cloud of dust, armour and all.

“D-Did we do it?” Shih’van stares at the pile of dust on the ground. She’s panting, her chest heaving as she struggles to take a breath. Ren would like to celebrate, but there’s no time now. If they don’t destroy his heart, then he’s going to come back, and then they would have to contend with him again.

Af’rik’s already beat him to it, it seems. The Batling races towards the altar where the crystal shines. He readies his punch, balling his claw into a fist, and then he thrusts forward.

His fist meets an earthen wall, knuckles smashing painfully into it. He recoils, biting back a strangled scream of agony. There it is again—a barrier of sand that stops them from reaching the heart. This is the work of the Horseman’s associate, as he calls them, but who can that be? Someone who has command over the earth, forcing it to do their bidding as they see fit—

That doesn’t matter now. They need to do something about the earth wall, or they’re never getting to the heart.

“What’s taking so long?” Grandmother growls. Already, the Horseman is beginning to regenerate his body, black particles coalescing into the shape of a humanoid, sword, armour, and all. Even his stallion has already taken shape.

“Ren!” Penny calls. She draws her arm back, Mira clutched tight, swirling with water. She slashes, forming a blade of water that cuts across the earth and slices it in two. Ren twirls his staff, forming a barrage of fireballs. With a wave of his hand, he hurls them at the exposed heart.

But the rock wall is faster. It reforms too fast for his fireballs to sail past it. Instead, the crimson orbs are deflected off it, crashing into the ground and fizzling into cinders. Ren grits his teeth. Penny leaps away, water splashing by her feet, darkening the soil around them.

Shit, that was close, but… They’ve just got to be faster. The next time—they’ll get it the next time.

But it won’t be so easy to get a next time. A sharp neighing has Ren turning towards the source, jaw dropping open in a gape when he sees the blade hurtling his way. He snaps his head to the side, the Horseman’s sword barely grazing his cheek. Warm liquid oozes from it, and Ren topples to the ground as the Horseman rushes past.

“You thought you bested me,” the Horseman gloats.

Already, they are tired. They’ve faced off against his team of malicious horses, and they’ve killed the Horseman once already. However, he has returned with a vengeance, and those damn earth walls aren’t letting them through!

The Horseman’s horse lunges at Ren again. Ren ducks, his hands flying over his head to protect himself. The impact does not arrive, though, because when Ren opens his eyes, Af’rik’s landing on the ground, having kicked the horse away from him. The horse stumbles, but it soon rights himself. Unfortunately for them, the Horseman remains firmly seated on his saddle.

“You okay there?” Af’rik offers him a hand, just as Shih’van and Grandmother jump into the picture to deal with the Horseman. He pulls Ren to his feet.

“I’m fine,” Ren says.

“Great. You guys figure out how to get rid of his heart. I’m going back to help Grandmother and Shih’van.” The words come rapid-fire out of Af’rik’s mouth, as though they were bullets in a gatling gun.

He heads off to join Shih’van and Grandmother in their efforts to subdue him again. Meanwhile, Ren turns his attention to the heart, still encased in an earthen box. Penny’s plan may work to allow them to penetrate the box, but they have to be fast, and fast is something that Ren isn’t sure they can do.

But they have to try, no matter how hard it is. And he knows that Penny knows that. She’s already rushing the earthen prison once more, Mira wrapped tightly in her grip. Ren prepares Ifrit for the assault—the power of flames gathering around the red orb. He cannot afford to miss this time.

Penny slashes, launching the water blade towards the earth. It slices through the soil and the sand, crumbling as the water dissipates. Ren swings his staff, and two jets of fire, coiling around each other like the snakes of a caduceus, shoot towards the crystal heart.

The flames curl around the crystal heart, in an attempt to roast it. Sure, it stops the earth wall from forming again, the heat strong enough to melt whatever rock tries to form. However, the crystal is not burning—in fact, it hardly seems like Ren’s flames are affecting it in any way.

Is it so used to the desert heat that it is no longer susceptible to the scorch of fire? Is that even possible?

Ren grits his teeth, already feeling the magic draining out of his system. He cannot keep the fire going for much longer. With the flame present, Penny can’t do anything either, since she wields a blade of water that would evaporate as soon as she touches the fire. But the moment he lets the flames go, the earth wall will just come back up…

A “shing” cuts through the air. Ren stiffens as he feels something whoosh by his head, his ear. Like a boat slicing the water upon which it moves. That something is surrounded by the flare of green, viridian winds whirling around it. It flies into the burning flames, protected by its shield of tornadoes.

It slams right into the crystal, planting its arrowhead into the hard material. Bright light shines from within its earthen cage, just as Ren releases his hold over the fire. The wreaths of flames dissolve into nothingness, but the deed has been done. From behind him, he can hear the Horseman’s agonised cry, and the thump of metal to the ground.

He can see the blinding rays of light shining from the cracks in the earth wall. Then, a grand shattering noise, like someone’s smashed a vase to the ground. All that remains in Ren’s ears is the Horseman’s desperate scream before he vanishes, armour and sword, leaving nothing behind but a pile of dust.

And, just like that, the Horseman is gone. Poof, just like that. He glances back, to find Gridel having lowered her bow, her arms limp at her sides. The Batlings have ceased their fighting as well, since there is no longer an adversary to best. Penny wobbles, almost collapsing to the ground, Mira still clutched tight in her hand. Vane sheathes his sword, shoulders heaving as he takes in much-needed breaths.

“That’s… That’s that.” Penny grins. “We defeated all of them! We got rid of all the Horsemen!”

Ren’s smile widens. Indeed, they’ve cleansed the world of those despicable creatures. All four Horsemen, subdued, and the path to the elusive Pandora’s Citadel, revealed. Well, they still have to head back out of the castle, and to somewhere with an open sky so that they can see it.

“Is it over?” Af’rik asks.

Ren nods. “For now. For Ruk’vahn, it’s over.”

And, indeed, it is.

Shih’van joins Grandmother where they stood over the heap of ash that was the Horseman. Both of them wear melancholic expressions, hands put together in prayer. They turn away from the dust almost simultaneously, probably never wanting to have anything to do with the Horseman ever again.

“It’s time to go back,” Penny says. “We gotta tell the rest of the Batlings.”

Ren cannot agree more. But there’s something that he’d like to check out first, before they return for good. He informs the others as such.

“What could there be that you’d want to see?” Vane asks.

“I want to try to get as low as possible,” Ren says. “Because what I’m looking for is underneath this castle.”