by Matthew Fish
“I made new cover!” Emily shouted as she ran to a large boulder that had tumbled down from the landslide. She reached into her backpack and pulled out another rocket and loaded it into the chamber.
“You alright…?” Mark asked as he looked to Emily’s wound on her left shoulder.
“Just a bullet to the shoulder,” Emily said as she finished reloading the launcher. “I’ll sleep it off.”
“How are we doing over there?” Mark shouted over to Cain who was cowering with a wounded arm. Maddie tore a piece of her shirt away and wrapped it around the small wound on her leg. Christopher seemed concerned about Jenna as he continued to look over at her lifeless body laying face down in the stream. Lily stood at the far end, her bow in hand—ready for the moment she would face the Ankou.
“Could be better…!” Cain shouted back as he shook his arm. A Perpetual appeared around the corner; Cain quickly lunged at the man and sliced the arm carrying his assault rifle cleanly off in one swift motion. “1933…”
Maddie sent coin up into the air as the man attempted to flee back to whatever remained of his group. He turned to ash just as he reached the stream. “Doing alright here…”
“Stand your ground, you worthless inutiles!” Tany Zampa shouted as the small group of the twelve remaining Perpetuals began to panic. He stood in front of one of the White Stags. The one on the left was vulnerable. The Ankou stood there, breathing heavily as his blue eyes watched. However, he did not act. The small group of Conductors looked around, confused.”
“Project the injured back to the stairs near the fort,” Lily said as she placed her arm on Cain’s back. “Bring the White Stags…it is time.”
“You won’t have a spotter,” Cain said as he shook his head.
“We can handle what is left, the Ankou can feel defeat—he will attempt to run soon. We need the stags.”
“Alright,” Cain said as he nodded. He made a wide sweeping gesture as a gust of wind filled the air. Cain disappeared in a wisp along with William and Jenna’s bodies.
Lily ran over to Mark and Emily. Maddie and Christopher followed closely behind her. There was no bullet fire—there was too much confusion amongst their enemies.
“Stand down,” Christopher said as he got up from cover and looked to the Conductors. “Whose side are you on?”
The four conductors looked around nervously; one of them stood forward and spoke. “We are with the Ankou…”
“Wrong answer, dumbfucks,” Emily said as she pulled Christopher down and brought her rocket launcher up. She pointed it at the group of Conductors beside the Ankou and pressed her finger against the trigger. The area erupted in a brilliant explosion as debris flew all around. The White Stag engulfed in flames as the body parts of the conductors rained down upon the Ankou, covering his pale skin in dark red blood. The Ankou let out a terrible roar as it shielded itself from the blood and fire. The group of Perpetuals got up to their feet and picked up their weapons.
“Kill them!” Tany Zampa shouted as he attempted to cover the remaining White Stag from harm. “Now…! They’re all just mortals!”
“Mark,” Lily said as she reached for his dagger and handed it back to him. “This was not what I had intended…but may I ask you for some of your blood?”
“Fuck…” Mark said as he nodded.
“What now?” Maddie asked as she turned her attention to what Mark was doing.
“He’s going to put his barrier up now—and see if the Perpetuals can kill us,” Lily said as she spoke plainly despite all the chaos that reigned about them. “We don’t have a spotter, but we can kill them…with the blood of a Conductor.”
“Well…I do heal easily,” Mark added as he sliced his left arm. Lily began to dip the tip of a few arrows in the blood that began to flow out. Maddie shook her head as she did the same. “Is that good? Because this isn’t pleasant…”
“Thank you, Mark,” Lily said as she nocked an arrow upon her bowstring. She rose from behind the boulder and took aim at a Perpetual’s head. Just as she released the arrow it disappeared and in an instant reappeared in the woman’s head. She dropped the rifle she had aimed at the Lily and started to convulse violently. Lily pulled up another arrow as she flinched as a bullet flew past her. Emily tossed out a handful of lighters to provide a smoke screen. The area erupted in fire as both Maddie and Lily loosened arrows into the small crowd of Perpetuals.
By the time the smoke screen cleared, only three Perpetuals remained. They looked around at the twisted, twitching bodies and quickly dropped their weapons. Cain reappeared with the three White Stags. He saw that only three remained and quickly projected behind the group and started to cut them into pieces. They would awake from their injuries—however not this day.
The Ankou let out a scream as it mounted the remaining White Stag.
“Fuck me,” Zampa said as he jumped upon the back of the stag and clung to the Ankou as they began to climb up the rubble pile that Emily had created.
“Quickly,” Lily said as Leaf, Sun, and Justin approached. “To your Mounts…”
Mark and Emily ran to Leaf. Mark bounded himself atop the stag and helped Emily up. Maddie easily vaulted atop Justin as Lily climbed atop Sun. Lily readied her bow and fired a shot that struck the arm of the Ankou, missing Zampa by a mere few inches, as it let out another terrible shriek. It reached the top of the canyon.
“Fly!” Lily shouted as Sun began to dart up the rock surface.
“I still hate this shit,” Emily muttered as Leaf and Justin followed swiftly behind Sun.
Once the Ankou reached the top it disappeared in a shimmering glow just before the bridge. Lily grabbed a hold of one of Sun’s antlers as she lowered her body and passed through the rainbow passage. They passed the large lake as the sun shone brightly down through yellow leaved oak trees with white bark. Maddie raised her bow and fired off an arrow that blinked out of existence and returned to strike a tree just as the Ankou and Zampa darted past it.
Another passage shimmered ahead as the Ankou disappeared in a glow that shuddered the rainbow woven fabric of time. Mark and Emily lowered themselves against Leaf as they watched as Lily and Maddie passed through. Leaf bounded as they felt that odd pulling feeling. They were pushed out the other side as nighttime filled the view ahead. The Ankou looked back and knocked Zampa from the White Stag, sending him rolling to the ground.
“Guess he was dead weight,” Emily said as her stomach turned.
“Do not spare your hooves against him, Leaf,” Mark whispered. As they approached Zampa he raised his arm up to guard his body as Leaf’s hooves came crashing down upon him, splitting his head open and leaving bloody footprints behind them. Mark reached to his standard and pulled the 1932 quarter out, he sent it up into the air.
“No time,” Emily spoke as another shimmering barrier appeared ahead as they approached a road.
“Fuck,” Mark said as he shook his head and grabbed a hold of Leaf’s antler. He lowered his body as they passed into another time.
They entered a large field as a brilliant red sunset filled the air, illuminating the tips of the high grass in a beautiful orange glow. Lily raised her bow and fired another arrow. It flashed out and struck the Ankou in the back. Maddie readied an arrow and released it; it struck the creature in the right shoulder as a strange flash of blackish blood sprayed out from the wound. The Ankou screamed out in pain as it began to ride faster. Mark pulled out the dagger from it’s sheathe and threw it up into the air. He could feel its strangely light weight—the unusual contents of the feather within the hilt. With a simple, clean gesture he brushed his hand forward and pointed his fingers tightly towards the target. He struck the Ankou in the side as the dagger buried itself into the creature’s flesh. It let out a horrible cry that echoed through the empty plain. Another shimmering wall appeared as they approached a town. They passed through time again and again. The Ankou sped up more and more.
‘Will this shit ever end?” Emily asked.
“I can’t get a shot!” Maddie shouted. Every time she even thought to bring up the bow they were just upon another rainbow shimmering passage. The world changed around them swiftly from day, to night—seasons passed. They rode through snow, thunder, and rain.
“We are travelling too fast,” Lily shouted as she brought herself low against Sun’s body as they passed through another time. “It is injured—it cannot keep this up for much longer. Then I just need to strike its heart.”
Mark began to feel lightheaded as the passages came one after the other. He felt as though he might pass out at any moment. He attempted to look back to Emily who gripped him tightly. She was out cold. Leaf jumped high into the air as they passed through one more passage. Then everything came to a jarring halt.
“Where is he?” Lily said as she dismounted Sun.
“Where are we…?” Maddie said as she shuddered from the intense cold. A storm raged around them as small particles of snow fell against her skin and melted away.
“I’ve been here before,” Lily added.
“Is this…” Mark whispered as he got down from Leaf and pulled Emily to the ground. He attempted to wake her, but she would not move—the passages were too many for her to deal with. She had passed out completely.
“This is the end of all our existences,” Lily said as she placed a hand upon Sun. “Stay with Emily and Leaf—stay safe here. We will return.”
“This is where our father came…” Justin said as he emerged from the leafless forest in human form. “Where he turned our mother into one of our kind…”
“Just over there,” Lily said as she pointed to the burning Red Manor.
“There is nothing around us…” Mark said as he noted what looked like a sea of frozen ice covered by a thick windswept layer of shifting, dancing snow.
Lily kept an arrow notched in her bow as she walked over a small hill. Beside a hut she saw a young man walking towards them. He was naked in the cold. He had green eyes and used the large Scythe as a cane. Arrows protruded from the man’s back.
“The Ankou,” Maddie said as she pulled back an arrow and trained it on the man who continued to slowly advance.
“I concede,” the man said as he reached to his back and pulled out an arrow. “That was a good shot, Madeline Willbell…”
“I cannot let you live,” Lily said as she pulled the arrow back and released it into the man’s chest.
The man stumbled back to a moment. He looked down and shook his head. “That was a good shot as well, Lily…do you not realize? I have consumed too many souls…too many old ghosts with memories of life—to die so easily. It will take a lot more than that.”
“We have plenty of arrows,” Maddie said as she released a shot. It reappeared in the man’s chest right next to the arrow Lily had loosened.
“Another good shot,” The man spoke as he pulled the arrow from his flesh and continued to slowly walk forward. “Do you not see that you have won? You are victorious…look upon your victory and be proud. Be proud like I was when I arrived here.”
“We do not trust that you are surrendering,” Mark said as he pulled out a few nails and threw them up into the air. He gestured with a direct point with his finger out like a gun and shot the nails into the man’s hand, causing him to drop the scythe.
“I would have disarmed if you would have asked,” the man said as he looked to his deformed hand as nails protruded out from the flesh. “This is the victory that you wanted. This is what you shall have. This is the end…an end that happened because of your kind…Mortals, Perpetuals…when I feasted upon the memories of the ghosts, I saw what happened here. This is not winter—this is not just snow that flies around you. The trees past beyond this small sanctuary are all dead, all life has been burned away…the dust and snow that swirls beneath your feet is the ash and remains of burnt life…flesh and skin…animals…all creatures.”
“This is a future—we do not know how far it is off or what happened,” Lily said as she readied another arrow. “It is not of our business to mettle in manners concerning time.”
“How did you know to come here?” Justin asked as he looked curiously at the man. “Very few in existence even know about this part of time.”
“There…look,” The man pointed with his left hand. “There go your mother and father now.”
Lily turned as she watched a white stag and a white doe running off towards the small wooded forest on the island. Red Manor erupted brightly into dancing flames as it collapsed to the ground.
“Your father told you stories about this place,” the man said as he looked to Justin. “So did my father—he also told me to not come here…but our family is not known for sticking to rules.”
“Who is your father?” Lily asked as she lowered her bow.
“Justin,” the man said with a short nod. “My mother is here as well…” He added as he swiftly reached back and pulled the dagger from his back. With all of his remaining strength, he launched it at Maddie. Just as it was about to strike, Justin stepped in front of her, taking the blow to the forehead. He fell down to the ground, lifeless.
Lily raised her bow and fired a succession of arrows into the man’s chest. Tears came streaming down her eyes as she continued to do so until her quiver was empty. The man fell to the ground, let out a sigh and shook his head as he looked at all the arrows that riddled his chest.
“Justin…” Maddie said as he cradled his head her arms as he lay lifeless against the cold ash and snow. “Why…?” He was dead—he was in human form. He would not awake from this state no matter how long he was given.
“Well…I suppose it was either or,” The man said as he shrugged.
“Why!” Maddie shouted as she got to her feet and stood in front of the man who averted his eyes from her.
“My father, Justin, told me the story of Elise…how his father had saved her. He also spoke of this place…”I came here out of curiosity. I saw what the world had become and I grew angry. I could not calm the anger…I tried but I could not. As I said, I ate the memories of others…to become what I needed to be—I found out what happened to the people of this time and I knew that I had to kill all the Perpetuals—return the Mortals back to lives of respecting nature, take away their greed for land and love for technology and destruction…in order to stop this from happening. My Aunt, Lily…she came at the wrong time. Though she was of my blood—I could not let her live. I did not know that it would bring me to the same time that my mother and father first met…ironic, in a terrible way.”
“You should not exist,” Lily said as she fell to her knees. “You should not have been able to alter time. It is not possible for us to do so—it is forbidden. No matter how hard we would want to, Cernunnos would not allow it.”
“I still exist because I am not one singular person—not anymore, I am the will of thousands,” the man spoke as he looked to Maddie. “It is forbidden…but yet Cernunnos permitted it. I believed him to be on my side...until a Chimney Swift told me that my own blood was tasked to hunt me. Perhaps we were both played.”
“You are…my son,” Maddie whispered as she looked down to Justin’s lifeless body. “But I never even…we never had any kind of relationship.”
“I am sorry, mother,” the man spoke as he nodded. “I realize I must be quite the disappointment to you. In another time…Lily was drawn to Red Manor after its previous owner’s passing. Justin was already protecting the place—you would have met in time.”
“But…now,” Maddie said as she took a step back and placed her hand upon her bow. “You’ve taken that from me…”
“If I cannot change the world, I do not wish to exist in it. I broke the loop.”
“It didn’t have to be this way,” Mark whispered as he was floored by the idea that they were speaking to Maddie and Justin’s child.
“How do I kill you?” Maddie said coldly as she raised her bow to the man and aimed an arrow at his chest.
“I am ready to release what I have taken,�
�� the man said as he closed his eyes. “Simply strike one more time, mother.”
“Do not…call me that,” Maddie said as she released an arrow into the man’s chest. It flashed brightly as the man’s skin began to fall away. Thousands of bright orbs of light escaped forth from the body and flew high up into the air and then streaked across the horizon like meteorites.
Glowing orbs lingered around them, filling their cold bodies with warmth. Maddie silently walked past the orbs as Mark and Lily followed behind her. They walked until they reached the two remaining White Stags. Emily was still completely passed out.
“Leave me here,” Maddie said as Lily climbed atop Sun and reached a hand out.
“We will not,” Mark said as he pushed Emily atop Leaf. “That is completely out of the question.”
“I don’t…understand what happened. I feel like I lost something—but then again, I feel like it was hardly there…it’s all twisted in my head. I don’t…I can’t go back from this.”
“Time has changed for you, it has changed for us all,” Lily said as she grabbed Maddie’s hand and forced her atop Sun. “A better future may yet lie ahead, you can return from this.”
“We need you, Maddie—“Mark added. “Emily would not know what to do without you.”
“Yes,” Maddie said with a single nod as she wiped away a tear from her eye. “I understand. Let’s…let’s go home.”
Chapter 6
Maddie stayed in her room until the next evening. She thought long about what had happened and could not really get a firm grasp upon the idea. Had she loved Justin? She barely knew him. Then again, she would have—given time. That much, she was clear on. It was the rest that confused her and left her feeling full of despair. She realized that she could not exist forever in such a sad state. After all, she was still young. Life could have different plans for her…perhaps even better plans. She felt robbed—but she would not let it consume her.
