Death - Fall

No bridges or protrusions near enough for Death to reach. Nothing he could do but ride it out until he reached the closest level of ground, some five or six full layers down. Oh, yes, Semyaza had chosen his spot very well.
No way around it; this was going to hurt.
But Semyaza would hurt a lot worse afterward. If only briefly.
Earth shattered at the impact. A column of dirt and debris roared upward, slowly mushrooming out as wind and gravity reached for the particles that had so briefly escaped their grasp. The stained-glass windows in several nearby walls blew out, scattering the courtyard with glittering shards.
Death crouched in the midst of it all, kneeling in a massive crater, one hand on the ground, the other wrapped around Harvester in a clutch that not even the end of Creation could loosen.
He displayed no visible injury, other than a few bloodless lacerations that were almost invisible against his cadaverous skin. From a fall like that, however, not even the eldest Horseman could walk away entirely unscathed. He began, unsteadily, to rise to his feet, trying to focus past the pain and the deep ringing in his head. He heard the swoop of air behind him, saw the ambient dust swirling—yet his disorientation rendered him just a hair too slow.

***

Chapter 12