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The novel sucked. I'm finally editing it, so maybe it will be less suck. I'm using Word so I can track changes, just for funsies. I'm in the process of editing it, so I won't post the whole thing at once.
This is the opener. It's short, I'm sorry, but I think it's best to post this and the next part separately.))
The Four Horsemen.
OR
A Tale in which the Apocalypse is averted.
Orlick Thompson was, arguably, the most talented and dedicated Agent of the Cog in recent history. When he graduated at the top of his class from the Academy, he was almost immediately put into active duty. He soon expressed tremendous skill in the fields of mental agility, leadership, and social interactions, epitomizing eveything the Agency strove for. He quickly advanced in the ranks, and was soon allowed to take on an apprentice.
That apprentice was Othello Buccarri.
Orlick Thompson and Othello Buccarri made an incredible pair. A Tori’muuk with a Gakkurri made for an odd-looking duo, what with one’s green skin, large lower mandibles and red eyes, and the other’s coarse skin-wrappings, sparkling eyes and awkward buckteeth, but the two were quickly identified among London civillians as a popular pair for settling disputes and solving problems. The two patrolled often and stopped criminal activity by the truckload. They even used similar beam weapons, both based upon an ancient guard-shoto sword, with the blade perpendicular to the hilt
The day Othello died was, possibly, the only day anyone has ever seen Orlick’s BloodRage. The inseparable pair had been following a report of a break-in at the museum. They arrived shortly after the bandit fled the scene and saw him scamper off with only one artifact. Immediately, the pair of Agents gave chase. They chased the bandit up and down the Thames until they finally cornered him in an alleyway off the Blackfairs Railway Bridge. As Orlick and Othello closed in on the bandit, the Tori’muuk was able to identify the stolen artifact: the Bow of Souls.
“Yes,” he had said into his handheld telecommunicator, “It’s the InflectoAnimus,” radioing back to headquarters. The bandit had raised the Bow then (oblivious to its true power) and pointed it at the Agents . Othello had cried out as the bandit let fly the arrow, which burned through the London night air like a candle negative. The bolt flew at Orlick and would have struck true, had Othello not leapt forth and shoved his master out of the way. Orlick watched as the Effectus Tellum ripped into Othello’s body. The young apprentice’s soul and body was ripped apart and brutally destroyed by a spear of demonic energy.
No one remembers what, exactly, happened after that, not even Orlick. Some Agents found Orlick at the scene in early morning, covered in blood, with what was left of Othello’s head in his lap. The Tori’ would not leave his apprentice’s body until he passed out from sheer exhaustion around midafternoon. He would not speak until a few days after that.
In short, it changed him.
Orlick was required to undego therapy and see many a psychiatrist before he could resume active duty. He is to be accompanied by another Agent at almost all times, to monitor his actions and mental state after such a traumatic event.
Orlick has requested to resume active duty unmonitored many a time, only to be turned down by the Council.
However, what with the rising tensions in China, we are in need of any and all Agents we can get. The Council approved Orlick’s last request on one condition: he take on another apprentice. Orlick refused at first, but the deal was non-negotiable. With much grudge and contempt, the Agent agreed to another apprentice..
That new apprentice is me.
