Ghree looks at me blankly for several moments, then her face contorts into a mix of disgust and extreme hatred. It's not a good look. Like Mother Theresa about to let rip with a gigantic arse-whoopin'. I cringe slightly and close my eyes, preparing myself for whatever is about to happen, hoping Fluff will be able to protect me. But who am I kidding? This is a Horseman of the Apocalypse. I are way out of my league here.

After an awkward silence, during which nothing much particular happens, I open my eyes again. Ghree is staring at me, still with that look of pure hatred, but there is something else there too, now. Something that gives me an inkling that maybe I'm not in quite as much trouble as I thought. I stare back, looking for signs. Yeah - I'm certain of it now. Under that mask is just a teenie tiny bit of fear. That's interesting.

"What do you want of me?" croaks Ghree. Her voice is deeper than I expected, and has a hard-edged ring to it, like the sound of pebbles knocking together. Above and around us, the locusts continue their rustling, ceaseless flight. Thankfully its dark enough for me not to see them clearly, but a flash of lightning crossing the skies above lights the swarm from within with an eerie blue-white glow. I shiver again, trying not to think of the number of insects there were above me and what it might be like to be pressed into the ground under the weight of several millions of them.

"I've come to ask for your help," I say, furiously trying to think up with some form of words that would make Ghree agree to help me in whatever the hell it was I was going to do.

"Help you?" she says, somewhat unhelpfully.

"Yeah. I've sort of got to, you know, save the world ... and stuff. And I was told that maybe you would be able to help me do that."

"Save the world..."

"Yeah. That." I'm beginning to feel really uncomfortable with the way this is going, and look around for something to help focus my mind. Ghree is squatting down on the ground, her shawl held tight around her head like it would hide her from sight, and between us is a log from some long fallen tree. I gesture at it and say, "Mind if I sit down?"

Ghree nods slightly, and gestures with her hand that I can sit. I step cautiously closer, aware that Fluff is also moving in, staying just behind me and to the left so that he can keep a space clear between him and Ghree. It's sweet that he's so protective, even though I wonder what a hell-hound might be able to do against a horseman of the apocalypse. Surely they would be near the top in the pack of top-trump cards of immortal beings? The thought makes me smile, which only seems to increase the fear edging its way ever closer on Ghree's features.

"Who sent you?" Ghree asks.

"The Devil," I reply, looking to see if that nugget of information makes any impact. Apparently it does. Ghree's eyes widen fractionally, and she sits back a little, appraising me again.

"Not Charles? You aren't his herald?"

"Noooo.... I have no idea what a herald is. Why, are you expecting one?"

Ghree looks incredulously at Fluff, and to my surprise, addresses him directly.

"Who is this being, who doesn't know the purpose of a herald?"

Fluff glances at me, then fixes his stare on Ghree. A frown grows on Ghree's face at whatever passes between them. Eventually, Ghree breaks her gaze and fixes it back on me. I seek out Fluff in my mind and ask him, "Wtf?"

"I told her all about you, and your mission. I assumed that is what she want's to know. I said you were nice."

"You assumed?" I queried. "Didn't she just ask you?"

"No. She, like the other horsemen, is rooted in too high a dimension for me to connect with myself. She can, of course, listen in to me. I made the assumption that she was listening, and divulged what I know."

Well, that was news. So, beings from higher dimensions were out of reach telepathically? Interesting. That would mean... I reach out around me to see what's there. Fluff is there, of course, dark and coal-glow red close behind me. If what he said was true, there should be no other presence.

Except there is. Around Ghree, there is a darkness. Not like Fluff's, but more like a void. Cold, empty, there is no light of any kind emanating from it. I could reach out, but decide not to. For some reason, it frightens me.

"Woah," I send to Fluff. "Her aura's really weird."

Fluff seems to mentally choke on his next words. "You can see it? Really?" I'm amazed by the amount of surprise he's expressing. "That's totally rad! Wait... if you can see her..."

Oh, wait a moment here. I can see Ghree's aura, which means I must be... "Are you suggesting I'm on the same 'dimension' as Ghree? As a horseman?"

"Well, no. If you were, I wouldn't be able to connect with you. Only beings on the same plane can do that... Those above can reach into the minds of those below them, but not the other way around. If you can see her, and still reach into me... You must be something else."

Time for shivers again. Wow. Fluff makes me sound like some kind of super-being. A new thought comes into my head. "Think she can see me?"

The absence of Ghree in my mind is an intriguing point. I bet if she could have, she would have been in there the moment I turned up. Perhaps I ought to just ask?

"Ghree?' I speak out loud, "Can you see me, in your mind?"

Ghree shakes her head. "No."

I file that away for later use. I can tell she want's to know if I can see her, but I'm not giving up that information in a hurry.

"So. Want to fill me in on this 'herald' business, and why you think I was one? 'Cause I am really confused by what's going on here. Which, by the way, is really unfair. I'm the one who came looking for your help."

"You are a strange girl," said Ghree. "How could you not know about the heralds? But you must tell me if what the hound says is true. Are you going to try and stop Charles?"

"Yes." Possibly, I say to myself.

Ghree stands and her eyes flicker about, as it looking for something.

"Think she'll run?" I ask Fluff, our minds linked together and watching for any sign the old lady might bolt on us.

"I reckon," he says. "She scared of you, that's for sure."

Ghree fixes me with her stare once more, then raises her hands up to the swarming hordes of locusts above.

"Each of us is bound by our master to bring forth the means of humanity's destruction. Apart, we are powerful, vengeful beings. Bringers of misery and destruction. Together, we are unstoppable."

Ghree holds out a hand a fat locust, easily a foot long and a sickly green-black colour in the light of the phone's torch, lands on her outstretched palm.

"Together, we can destroy the Earth. But we cannot choose to do so by ourselves. We are not able to join forces without being invited. For that, we must receive a visit from one of the heralds. They are the conduit through which we can become as one. A herald must be obeyed. Through them, our masters can force us to their will." Ghree lowered her hand slightly and looked into the bulbous eyes of the locust. "But you, however, are not one of them."

With a flick of her hand, Ghree launches the locust at me, its huge wings springing out and buzzing furiously. It hits me in my stomach and disintegrates, smothering me once more in slimy gizzards and scaly bits. I fly backwards and land hard on my back, all the wind knocked out of me. My chest feels as if it's been rammed into my spine, and pain briefly flows through me before quitting as if turned off like a switch. I think for a second that my spine must be broken, but then realise I can still feel my feet.

Fluff was sat back on his haunches, ready to let fly at Ghree, but hundreds of large locusts had descended from the swarm and were battering him about the face and head. The sound of wings and skittering competed with the chomp of Fluff's cavernous mouth as he bit at the locusts willingly putting themselves within reach of his mouth. I sit up, my ribs screaming in agony as they pop back into place with a weird snap and click, healing almost as quickly as they'd been broken. Fluff seems a little preoccupied to notice my predicament.

"Goddammit, Ghree, what was that for?" I yell, my voice sounding a little strange as my insides return to their normal places, bumping into my lungs as they moved. "That was seriously uncool!"

Ghree fixes me with an intense stare. "Don't take the Lord's name in vain."

The ground underneath Ghree heaves upwards once, then erupts with an explosion of earth and rock. I leap back, as a horse, huge and wild eyed, rears up out of the ground directly beneath her. With a surprising degree of nimbleness, Ghree remains standing on the horse as it rises out of the ground, then drops onto its back as it takes off into the darkness.

"Fluff! Stop playing with your food and go after her!" I jump onto Fluff's back and grip tightly to the chains around his neck as he takes one last bite at a locust, then we're off once more through the swarm. I've learnt my lesson from last time, and lie flat against Fluff's back, looking through his eyes as we charge across the oasis, leaping over bushes and jumping ravines and rocky outcrops.

"Can't see her," chirps Fluff breezily. "Want to help a hell-hound out a little?"

"What? Oh..." I seek out Ghree's consciousness with my mind, looking out for the cold vacuum of her soul, and find it some way ahead and off to our right. I let Fluff see via through me, and he ups the pace, occasionally charging straight through bushes and trees rather than go round or over them. Branches slap me on the head and shoulders and I switch off the pain, trusting to my body's newly discovered ability to heal itself astonishingly quickly. We seem to be catching up.

The ground starts to rise, and it becomes rockier underfoot. The locust swarm still assaults us, but either Ghree is distracted or unable to concentrate properly, because they aren't beating into us with the same force as before. Through Fluff's eyes, I glimpse the occasional star as gaps appear in the mass of insects around us, and before long the swarm has thinned out so much I can see the drop to the oasis floor on our left. The ground is getting steeper all the time, leading up to the heights that surround the oasis. Ghree is still some way ahead, but Fluff increases his speed once more now the locusts have eased off their blattering attacks.

We catch up with Ghree at the top of the rise, where a narrow ridge of dark rock connects two sides of a sheer sided ravine a hundred feet wide running across the path. The skies are suddenly clear of locusts, and the absence of their sound is almost as disorientating as their first arrival had been back at the camp. Ghree is sat astride her huge horse the other side of the ravine, watching us approach. Fluff slows and stops just short of the ridge, looking around. I can sense he's wary. I find myself wondering briefly if he's scared of heights. I lean out over Fluff's shoulders and look over the edge. Wow. That's a long way down. A memory of me falling from the bridge pops into my mind and I tighten my grip on Fluff's chains. I may be dead already, but I really don't want to go through that again.

Ghree's horse stamps its feet and snorts impatiently, skipping sideways in its eagerness to be off. Ghree holds the reins tightly in one hand and stares at me, but now her face betrays confusion and fear in equal measure. I have no idea why I should be affecting her so much - if anything it should be me who's scared to death. The thought makes me laugh.

"Hey Ghree!" I yell. " I just want to talk! I've been sent by the big red one himself to find you and ask your help, the least you could do is give me five minutes!"

"And what kind of help do you think I can give you, child? I am bound to do the bidding of my masters. I cannot disobey."

"You know, that's a really good question. To be honest, I have no idea. I was kinda hoping you could tell me?"

Ghree's laugh was haunting in it's despair and hollowness. "I have nothing to give you, child. I gave my soul long ago to serve God's vengeance. Now that God has been struck down, and my soul stolen to serve another beings ambition. And I cannot do anything to change that. What powers do you possess that can possibly challenge the way of things? I see nothing of substance in you. You say you mean to put an end to Charles' plans. Yet you cannot even catch me."

She had a point. But I sensed she was skirting round the thing that really worried her. She was plainly wishing to keep some physical distance between us, and I had a pretty good idea why that was. Ghree's fear wasn't due to the hold Charles had over her. It was because she couldn't see into my mind, and I was willing to bet she'd never come across that little oddity before. I began to wonder if I shouldn't just pop over there into her consciousness, even though that felt like a profoundly dangerous thing to do.

"Look, why don't I come over there and we can just talk. You don't have to agree to anything. Just listen and, maybe, help me understand a little better. A few days ago, I didn't even believe in all this heaven and hell stuff, and now I'm right in the middle of it. I just found out I wasn't even a human being before I got killed, so cut me a little slack, okay?"

At least she didn't run again. Instead, Ghree sat back on her horse, a resigned look on her face, then nodded agreement.

"Come on, Fluff, let's get over there."

"Hmmm."

"Did you just 'Hmmm' me? What's up? Don't like the height?" Trust me to be get a hell-hound that was afraid of heights. Probably a joke by Grant. I bet he's chuckling right now.

"Not heights, no," says Fluff. "There is something wrong here."

"What, apart from the horseman of the apocalypse waiting for us on the other side? Come on you big wuss."

Reluctantly, and with a sound that seems very like a sigh, Fluff steps out onto the ridge of rock that connects both sides of the ravine. Ghree watches impassively as we edge across. About half way, Ghree asks me a question.

"How did you manage to follow me so easily? You hound does not appear to be anything special, judging by his timidity."

I feel more than hear Fluff growling at this slight on his prowess. I feel a strong urge to protect his feelings, so decide to tell the truth. This should make her sit up and take notice.

"He couldn't see you. I could. I followed your mind."

I realise that might have been a mistake, when Ghree nods with her eyes closed, and says, "Yes, that's what I was afraid of."

Then she kicks her horse, and takes off once more into the darkness. I just have time to think a few choice words and to tell Fluff to go after her, when suddenly the ridge of rock we are crossing is no longer there. At first I think Fluff must have slipped, but then we're surrounded by locusts and we are both falling into the ravine towards the rocks hundreds of feet below. Not again! I think, as we hurtle towards the ravine floor. Acting on instinct, I reach out to Ghree's mind. Maybe I intended to call her a bitch, or swear at her for tricking us or something, but when I enter her mind I'm so overwhelmed by sadness and grief, and overwhelming fear, I choke on my words. I feel Ghree mentally recoil in shock at my presence, and before she can push me away, or I slam into the ravine floor (which I was not looking forward to one bit), I tell her 'Trust me.'" I have no idea if that would mean anything to her, but it's all I've got.

Then I hit the ravine floor, and everything goes black.