by Barry Reese
A scraping sound from above caused Emma to look up, and her heart suddenly dropped like a stone in her chest. The aperture through which she’d entered had been a roughly carved hole into the ground, but it was seemingly sealing itself up. Kayla’s face appeared for a moment, but Emma’s friend was suddenly gone as the hole closed up completely, slicing through the rope that Emma had been clinging to.
The Peregrine fell quickly, making the mistake of trying to grab hold of one of the shelves on her way down. The impact ripped the shelf out of the wall and nearly dislocated Emma’s shoulder.
Down into the abyss she fell, trying to keep her wits about her. She forced herself to relax, knowing that this could help with the rough landing that was inevitable. To her surprise, she reached bottom earlier than she had thought she would. She landed—quite hard—amongst a pile of rocks and bones. One of the rocks was sharp enough to pierce her jacket and scrape her back, but after lying still for a moment, she was able to carefully test every limb, finger, and toe, assuring herself that nothing was broken.
The Peregrine sat up, checking through her pockets. She had a short-wave radio, but even in the darkness she could tell it was shattered beyond repair. Hopefully Kayla would find some way to reopen the aperture, though she couldn’t imagine how it had sealed itself off. One thing was clear, though—removing the Mayan tablet had set off some kind of trap. Now that she was on the bottom, she could tell where the wind had come from. It flowed freely through several cavernous openings that must have been revealed when the trap was sprung. In the dim light, Emma could barely make out that the openings led to other tunnels, possibly linking the Devil’s Pits together.
The sound of bones crunching beneath bare feet made Emma straighten up quickly. She held the Knife out in front of her, its mystic light illuminating several inches but not much more. “Is someone there?”
“Why do you come to my Bower?” an old woman asked, her voice sounding vile and cold. With every word, the stench from her breath assaulted Emma’s nostrils and the scent of rotting flesh intensified.
“I came looking for a tablet,” the Peregrine answered, moving towards the voice. Her magical blade continued to light the way and she stopped when it revealed the outline of a figure a few feet away. The woman couldn’t be seen fully, but she was cadaverous and mostly nude, with only the skins of a number of animals tied about her waist. Her hair was unkempt and white, but it was the brief glimpses of the woman’s teeth that froze Emma’s blood: they were razor sharp and blackened, with yellow stained on their surface. “You live here?”
“I do. I do, indeed,” the woman cackled. “It’s not often I get such a tasty morsel as yourself.”
Wonderful, Emma mused. I find my way into a cannibal’s den. I must be the only one in the world with this kind of bad luck. “Let me find the tablet and I’ll leave you be,” she warned. “But if you bother me, I’ll cut you into very tiny pieces.”
“Such threats, when you’re the one invading my home. Do you have a name, child?”
“I’m the Peregrine. How about you?”
“The Peregrine,” the woman gasped, backing away slightly. “I’ve heard that name. But I thought it was a man, not a little girl in a skirt.”
“Guess you haven’t realized it’s the seventies. A woman can do anything a man can.” Emma moved forward quickly, shining her blade in the crone’s face. The pale gray skin and red-tinged eyes confirmed her worst suspicions. She’d wandered into the lair of a Black Annis, one of a series of hags that had once plagued the countryside of Leicestershire in England. The Black Annis creatures lived in caves and hillsides, preying mainly on small animals and children. Their tendency to steal sleeping children from their bedrooms led to the windows of the area being built too small for the hags’ arms to fit through. “A bit far from home aren’t you, Annis?”
The hag hissed, crouching and exposing her clawed hands. Her shriveled breasts swung low. “My clan spread across the world, hiding on ships and planes. Better hunting in other lands, you know.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” The Peregrine caught a glimpse of the Mayan tablet, lying just behind the hag. “Why was the tablet set up as a trap?”
“Because that’s the way it works. I found these tunnels and claimed them as my own. Soon I began to make deals with the men from above. They would bring me things to protect for them. In exchange, their prizes brought fools like you, eager to claim them. Instead, you are trapped here with me.” Black Annis bared her teeth and lunged forward, having tired of the back-and-forth banter. She missed the Peregrine, who dodged aside. The close quarters favored Annis, but Emma wasn’t prepared to lie down and die just yet.
The Peregrine spun around and slashed out with her Knife, which caught Black Annis on the shoulder. The blade did extra damage to supernatural entities, and the hag screamed like she’d been run through. She picked up a pile of bones and threw them at Emma’s face, momentarily blinding her. The hag then charged, wrapping her arms around the Peregrine and lifting her off the ground. She slammed Emma downwards with all her force and Emma coughed as the air was expelled from her lungs.
Black Annis began biting and stabbing, but Emma fought back like a she-devil, finally knocking her foe away with a powerful kick to the chin. The Peregrine then sheathed her blade and drew a powerful automatic pistol. They’d been improved over the years since her father’s first models, and these new pistols could each hold six hundred mini-rounds, each of which were specially designed to pierce even the most powerful of defenses.
The hag roared and was about to spring once more at the Peregrine when the gun began spitting out bullets. The noise was deafening in the echoing chamber and the flash of the gun briefly cast the scene in bright light. Two dozen bullets ripped through Black Annis, leaving her with holes throughout her body. The hag staggered under the onslaught and then collapsed.
Emma stood panting for a moment before putting away her gun and retrieving the tablet. She tried not to think about the bones her boots shattered with every step. How long had the hag been killing people in these mountains?
A tiny ray of light shone down upon her and the Peregrine looked up to see Kayla peering down through the aperture. “Emma! Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” the Peregrine shouted back. “I just had to kill a Black Annis, that’s all.”
The shocked look on Kayla’s expression made Emma chuckle. “Are you serious?” her friend demanded.
“Yes. Look, do we have a rope long enough to drop down to me? Or am I going to have to risk going through the tunnels down here in hopes of finding a way out?”
“I’ll get you something. Be patient.”
Emma smiled as her friend disappeared from view again. Her body was beginning to really ache now… without the flood of adrenaline she’d been feeling, the pain of her fall was returning. Still, it was all worth it. The tablet was safely in her hands.
CHAPTER X
Fathers and Daughters
Three days after the expedition to Brazil, Emma Davies sat in her father’s study, both pleased and amused that the old house really hadn’t changed much over the years. Since her mom’s passing in ’67, her father had slid into a sort of suspended animation, not bothering to keep up with the changing nature of the world. It had only been six years, but it felt like a lot more.
Max sat near her, holding the Mayan tablet. He was in his seventy-third year of life, but looked like a spry forty-five, if that. He retained the handsomeness of youth, but it was now tempered by a sad cynicism that haunted his eyes, the result of having lost his wife and his son in a short period of time. “Good job, Em,” he said, using the nickname he’d given her when she was a little girl. “I feel much better knowing that it’s safe.”
“I still think I should hold on to it,” Emma said. “Or at least let Kayla put it in one of her safehouses.”
“You don’t think your old man can protect it?” Max asked, teasing Emma.
“You know that’s
not what I mean. It’s just… you’re retired. Let me handle the dangerous stuff.”
Max set the tablet on a nearby table and leaned forward, taking his daughter’s hands in his. “I’ve told you before, I don’t want you to handle this kind of thing. At all.”
“Dad… we’ve been through this.”
“Your brother killed himself, Emma. I don’t want you to getting yourself shot, or raped, or whatever. You’re all I have left.”
“Please, look at you. You’re as fit as a man half your age. You could find someone new. I miss Mom, too, but it doesn’t mean you have to become a monk. And it doesn’t mean you have to expect me to get married and start pumping out babies. I’m the Peregrine now, and I have responsibilities.”
Max’s faced twisted in an expression of sorrow. “The world’s all screwed up, Em. I’m not sure how much of a difference you can make.”
“The world was screwed up when you were the Peregrine, too. Remember Hitler? A little thing called World War II? But you muddled on and you saved a lot of lives.”
Max relaxed a bit and touched his daughter’s face. “My God, sometimes you look just like your mother.”
Emma kissed Max on the forehead and stood up. “I better go. I have to be someplace tonight.”
“A date?” Max asked hopefully, walking his daughter to the door. “I know you don’t want to—what did you call it? Pump out babies? But you do need someone you can confide in.”
Emma playfully rolled her eyes. “I promise, the second I meet a guy I’m interested in, I’ll let you know.”
“No chance of you and Tom getting back together?” Max inquired, knowing he was treading on thin ice. Emma and Tom had been engaged when William died. In the aftermath, Emma had broken off their marriage plans to become the Peregrine. Max had argued against it, pointing out how important Evelyn’s support had been to his own career, but it had fallen on deaf ears.
“Tom and I… weren’t right for each other. I’ve told you that.” Emma stopped at the door and hugged Max. “I needed to go find myself, and I did.”
Max watched her go, wondering when his daughter would finally be honest with him. He knew damned well that her reasons for leaving Tom weren’t quite so vague, and he just wished she’d admit it so he could tell her it didn’t matter.
Max moved back into the den and retrieved the tablet. He stared at it for a long moment, letting his fingers run along the carvings. In approximately thirty-five years, this tablet’s powers would be called into play…
“Hello, Max.”
Max jumped at the sudden intrusion, but calmed quickly when he recognized the emerald-clad figure on his couch. “Nathaniel?” Max asked.
Catalyst nodded, gesturing towards the tablet. “I came to pick that up.”
Max frowned, holding the tablet firmly. “I don’t understand. You were the one who came to me a few months ago and said that I needed to have it. That’s why I mentioned it to Emma and set her off to find it.”
Catalyst rose and approached his old friend. “Actually, what I said was, the Peregrine needs that tablet.”
“Oh,” Max answered, wondering how he’d missed that. “You want to give it back to Emma. I guess I should have let her keep it.”
“It’s not for her.” Catalyst took the tablet from the confused Max and turned to leave. “It’s complicated, Max. Just trust me.”
Max started to protest but he held his tongue. In the end, he did trust Catalyst. When the magician vanished in a green-tinged cloud of smoke, the former Peregrine shook his head and went to make himself a drink. It was days like this that made him miss Evelyn all the more.
* * *
Emma found Kayla waiting for her at their favorite Atlanta restaurant. It was a private place, and the manager always let them sit in a booth that wasn’t visible to the majority of customers.
“How was your dad?” Kayla asked.
“Fine. He wanted to know if I was going on a date.”
Kayla smiled. “And what did you say?”
“I told him that when I found a man I was interested in, I’d let him know.”
“Please let me know, too, if you don’t mind.”
Emma leaned forward and kissed her lover on the lips. “You know, if the world is going to end in thirty years like my dad says… I hope I get to spend the rest of my time with you.”
Kayla returned the sentiment… and the images began to fade away into nothingness.
CHAPTER XI
Revelations
London, 2012
Ian rubbed his eyes and released a sigh that had been building within him. “Wait a minute,” he began, trying not to sound overly hostile. “You have this tablet? You’ve had it all the time, and yet you forced me to watch all these psychic movies… Why?”
Catalyst drained the last of his coffee and looked upwards, studying the ceiling. “I wanted you to see the people who came before, to understand a little bit of what they went through as the Peregrine. The loss of loved ones, the self-doubt, the sacrifice.”
“You think I didn’t know all this? Maybe not the specific instances you showed me, but I know firsthand about how hard it is to be the Peregrine.” Ian stood up, his face growing red with anger. “Stop playing games with me. If you want me to take the damned tablet, then give it to me.”
This time Catalyst turned his eyes directly towards those of the Peregrine. “And what will you do with it?”
“I… I don’t know.” Ian shook his head, growing frustrated. “Look, I’m not sure using that tablet is the right idea. Shouldn’t we be focused on preventing the end of the world instead of worrying over how it can be shaped to someone’s ends?”
“It would be shaped to your ends,” Catalyst reminded him.
“And maybe I don’t want that kind of power!” Ian exploded. “All I want to do is save people’s lives, not become some sort of god!”
Catalyst raised his hands, trying to calm the vigilante. “Ian. Listen to me. We have time before the end of the world. I can train you, help you master your willpower until we can use that tablet to do anything you want it to do. This time we’re going to make it work.”
Ian blinked. “What do you mean? This time?”
“This has happened before—not just the destruction and rebirth of the world, but this very same conversation. You’ve always been the one to use the tablet, Ian. Every time. And every time we get one step closer to getting it right. If we fail, we go through this vicious cycle again… but if we get it right, we can move the world forward. No one realizes it, but the entire universe had been caught in a loop for eons. How it started, I have no idea, but I know that you are the one to finish it. With enough will exerted on the tablet, we can erase this pattern from existence. I’m not telling you to rewrite history so that Hitler doesn’t come to power or that there’s peace throughout time, but we can eradicate the loop. Let the world dictate its own destiny from this point forward.”
Ian began to pace, trying to sort out all that he was thinking. He felt annoyed, frightened, and excited all at the same time. If Nathaniel was right, then he could save the world in a sense; it would continue forward, with no one the wiser for its near destruction. But there still seemed to be something missing, some catch… “Why didn’t you just tell me this from the beginning? I still don’t see why you played this game.”
Catalyst looked hesitant to explain but finally spoke after realizing there could be no alternative. “If we succeed in this, I’m fairly certain that it will kill you. You’ll be expending every bit of your mental and spiritual energy. I’d do it myself, but that’s not the way it works. All of us are bound by destiny here. My best guess is that at some point in the past, we worked together on this tablet—you were going to use it to undo some awful event and something went wrong. The tablet was thrown through time and ended up back in the time of the Mayan Empire, and the loop was begun.”
“So you wanted me to see how much the other Peregrines had suffered… so I’d be inspir
ed to commit suicide with this thing?”
“I’d prefer you thought of it as a sacrifice,” Catalyst admitted. “But basically… yes.”
The Peregrine thought about his lover, Fiona, and the children they had hoped to have. When he’d received the visions of the future, of the death and torment that they all faced, he’d been overwhelmed with an urge to save Fiona’s life. He could do that, if Catalyst could be believed. And really, it wouldn’t cost him anything—do nothing and his future with Fiona was lost, regardless. “I’ll help you,” he said at last, confirming what Catalyst already knew he would say. “But I don’t plan to die doing this. I’m going to survive it and I’m going to get married and I’m going to be a father, damnit.”
Catalyst couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll do everything I can to make sure you live through this, Ian. I promise you that.”
The Peregrine donned his mask once more and nodded. “I’m going home to see Fiona. I’ll be back tomorrow and we can get started. We’ve got six months to get me up to par, right?”
“Six months to save the world,” Catalyst agreed.
CHAPTER XII
To Remake the World
December 2012
It had been six months of intense meditation and study, much of which had been mind-numbing for Ian. He’d learned how to master his emotions and focus through the distractions of the world. He felt centered for the first time in his entire life, but every day had taken them all closer to Armageddon.
As he stood in Catalyst’s warehouse home, surrounded by dust, debris, and the occasional tiny Fairy, flitting about on gossamer wings, Ian couldn’t help but think about Fiona. She’d wanted to be with him for this, but he’d convinced her to stay with her family. She’d be a distraction for him at this moment and he couldn’t risk that. Not if he wanted to live to see tomorrow.
The Peregrine stood before a large pentagram that Catalyst had drawn on the floor, the white chalk standing out starkly against the concrete. In Ian’s hands was the Mayan tablet, a product of both the future and the past, through some bizarre time paradox.