Darksiders: The Abomination Vault Read Online Free

surprises. Could be a useful thing to know
. “What do you
want
, Panoptos?” he repeated. “I have work to do.”
    “Indeed you do. I’m here on behalf of the Council.”
    Death just looked at him.
    “Ah, well … Yes, I suppose you guessed as much. Listen well, then. A phalanx of the White City’s finest soldiers was ambushed recently, by an unknown enemy. The Charred Council wishes you to learn who and why, and to—”
    “No.”
    Four or five of the creature’s eyes threatened to pop from his face. “What do you mean,
no
?”
    “I wasn’t aware the word had multiple meanings,” Death said.
    “When you returned,” Panoptos growled, “after
half a millennium
, you told the Council you were finally ready to assume your duties!”
    “And I am, when necessary. But I’m not required for this. Angels under attack? That’s hardly the Council’s affair at all, unless it represents a violation of the treaties with Hell. Assign one of the others; War and Fury are always eager to—”
    “The Council sent for
you
,” Panoptos said. His voice had gone so cold, frost practically formed along the edges of the words.
    “I’m busy trying to make a home for myself.” Death began to turn back to his endeavors.
    “You’ll want to look into this yourself, Death.”
    “Oddly, I don’t.”
    “Oh. Did I neglect to mention that this happened at the borders of Eden?”
    Death spun back quickly enough to dislodge Dust from his shoulder. The crow offered an offended caw and fluttered over to perch, sulking, on the half-built structure.
    Even without a mouth, Panoptos gave the impression of a sly grin. “I suppose I probably ought to have mentioned that first thing, shouldn’t I?”
    The Horseman’s fist were clenched around the haft of Harvester; he didn’t even remember summoning it back to him. Had Panoptos been nearer, it might well have been his throat in the weapon’s place.
    “What were the angels doing
there
? Did anyone breach the garden? Did the assailants get in?”
    “I don’t know.” Perhaps realizing he’d pushed a bit furtherthan was safe, Panoptos rose even higher, and his tone softened a touch. “Honestly, I don’t. The Council’s only now hearing first reports of the engagement.”
    “Anything else you’ve
neglected
to mention?” Death rasped up at him.
    “Only that the Council wants your report the instant you have an idea of what’s happening. They need to know if this is just another random skirmish at the edges of the treaty, or if something larger is underway.”
    Without another word, Death began striding across the desert of ash, leaving the ghouls to finish the work on his home-to-be. A whistle pierced the air, shrill and painful, one as much spiritual as physical.
    And something both spiritual and physical answered the call.
    If the reek of decay and the crushing weight of hopelessness took physical form, they would have been the same putrid green as the mist that billowed out of nothing a dozen paces distant. A growing staccato beating resolved itself into the sound of hooves.
    Other than the grubby mane and tail, the horse that finally appeared was hairless. Its skin was nearly the same corpse gray as Death’s, and hung open in ragged tears, displaying bone and rotting muscle. From those wounds, from its nostrils and between its broken teeth, and from cracks in its hooves, that mist seeped in constant clouds. The saddle was black leather, worn and tattered; the bridle, a rusted chain.
    Death hauled himself into that saddle with a single smooth motion. Harvester, despite its length, never once impeded him. Scarcely had he settled when Dust landed once more on his shoulder. Death nodded once to the crow, a second time to his mount. The horse broke into a gallop that should have been impossible on the soft and shifting surface.
    For the first time in five hundred years, the eldest of the Horsemen rode out into Creation to do the bidding of the Charred Council.
    B EFORE THEM ,