People in Charge, Two Armies

There are two sets of soldiers in the ancient world, along with a group of radicals in the modern world that play into events in my book, On Black Wings.

War controls two of these forces. The first is a group of corrupted Teutonic knights who hold Azrael, inhabit the castle, and who capture Jessica the first time they meet. It is the same group BEcks' men tear through in the rescue. War also has a group of mercenaries in the modern world who appear late and attempt to stop them from saving the world.

King Tanas has an army as well who treats Jessica as a savior, the new angel of death they were promised by the false king. They do not play a role in the end of the book, and are curiously absent at the climax.

They are both the enemy, but they have two different faces.

War's armies are belligerent, sinister, evil forces corrupted by hatred and death. They fight Jessica and the good guys fiercely, swinging swords, taking lives, and doing everything imaginable to further the apocalypse. In the end battle, War corrupts more, and his mercenaries descend on the final battle to extract a terrible toll.

Jessica can do nothing about it either. She picked her fight, her sacrifice, and in that act another terrible thing happens to the forces of good. This sacrifice turns out to be a blessing, an unknown gift, and Jessica turns everything around in that moment with a single prayer.

Tanas' armies are subtle, loyal forces. We do not know where they are, what they have to do with this, and what role they play at the end of the book. This is on purpose, there is an open question as to Heinrich's and Tanas' loyalties at the end of the book, and this goes unresolved. She sees them as liars, but did they really? Were they really trying to help her? We don't know, and her thoughts are left adrift in uncertainty about these two.

This is life. Loss, questions unanswered, and thoughts of true intentions go adrift. She doesn't know, nor shall I answer for the reader's benefit. It's up to you, really.

Or me should I write a sequel, which I don't have an intention to.

There is a third army here, and another loyalty to consider, Death's armed zombies and the massive monster at the end of the book. We know a little better where Death's loyalties lie at the end of the book as he throws his gold in with War in an attempt to stop them all from saving the world. War shall always ally with Death in a way, even though the two of them may part in intentions, they will always be together in their aims and goals, inseparable.

Kings and those who profit from death and war? We may never know their intentions, yet we have our suspicions, and our vigilante to control these forces of ruler-ship and profit must always be resolute. As a people, we must come together with those forces, to put them under the people's control, and to steer our course as humanity together to peaceful waters and times.

Again, my choices, and why I made the loyalties and aims of half of the Horsemen vague at the end of the book. Two of these horsemen humankind can control, and we should reign them in to the will of the people for peace and a future we want to control.