by Wesley Brown
“What do I do with the scythe, then?” Reaper asked.
“Leave it with the bike when we land.”
“Land?”
“Yes, this is a flying machine.” Blink mounted the hover bike and turned it on. It made a sound like television static, then lifted up a foot off the ground. Reaper stared in awe at this wonder. There was a blue light coming out from under the hovercraft. The static sound was gone, followed by a light humming noise.
“Hop on the back.”
Reaper cautiously mounted the bike. The craft then moved straight up into the air. “You’ll want to hold on tight; this will go fast.” Reaper threw his arms down and gripped the sides of the bike. Initially, it was not that bad. After all, Reaper had been thrown off a mountain top before. The height even seemed to clear his mind. He took in a deep breath and let it out.
Then came a loud boom.
Reaper dropped his head as if he were being shot at with a cannon. “What was that?” he yelped.
“A sonic boom! Don’t worry, this model sucks, so that’s as fast as it goes!” Blink shouted back. “Scan, mutant gene,” he commanded his eyepiece. It searched where he looked below.
Reaper’s hands were clenched so tightly to the seat of the bike, his knuckles were beginning to turn white. “What’s a sonic boom?”
Blink grinned. “It means we are officially moving faster than sound!”
“That makes no sense!”
“Yes it does, you just need some time to figure it out!” Blink scoffed. “There’s going to be a lot of ground to cover! I think it will be best to search at night! Good news—I think we should be in the right area by nightfall! Can you see in the dark?”
“Yes!” Blink yelled. “I picked it up from killing Asterion!”
“Perfect.”
They traveled a significant distance even though they were flying the whole day and into the night. Blink had his own personal belief that between twelve and six a.m. were the best times to catch bad guys. He believed that the witching hour brought out the crazies in all corners of the Earth. More specifically, he also believed that Anansi was nocturnal.
“We’re going down,” Blink said over his shoulder to Reaper. Blink slowed the bike and lowered the altitude until they came to a full stop on the ground. Reaper stepped off the moment the bike touched down, as if it were an involuntary movement. He staggered a few feet, then fell forward, catching himself on a tree. His whole body kept shaking uncontrollably.
“That will pass. Just give it a moment. Here, cover yourself with this.” Blink tossed a rolled-up blanket at Reaper.
“I do not need it. I have become familiar with cold,” Reaper said.
“Yeah, I bet, but that’s not what it’s for,” Blink said. “I want you to cover the bow and arrows. Those are silver sunlight harnessed into the forms of a bow and arrows. If this thing is weak to sunlight, he’ll bolt the moment he sees any.” Blink’s eyepiece showed him a figure in the distance, “It’s this way.”
“How can you know that?” Reaper asked in a whisper.
“I can do a lot with this eyepiece—even more than my first one,” Blink whispered back. Did you change your eyes to see in the dark?”
“Yes, I have,” Reaper answered.
“Good. I have a signal not too far up ahead,” Blink said. “Keep low. We don’t know what we’re walking into.”
“Would it matter if I kept low? I cannot die,” Reaper said.
“Right—you should be in the front. Still, stay low; the element of surprise would be good,” Blink said. As they crept toward the mutant signal, they entered into an area with tall grass and a horrible, musty smell. It tickled Reaper’s nose.
“It smells like a rotting corpse, but it feels the way honey tastes,” Reaper said with a delighted look on his face.
“What are you talking about, man?” Blink asked. “It stinks like a skunk’s butt and feels…” He paused. “…wow. It does feel like honey tastes. That’s nice.”
“Where is that aroma coming from?” Reaper asked and started smelling the grass on either side of him.
“I’m not sure,” Blink said. “Do you feel funny?”
“Funny how?” Reaper asked. Blink closed his eyes tight for a second, then opened them. His eyes watered, and he blinked repeatedly.
“Reaper, I think I’m high,” Blink said, and looked up to see Reaper standing tall.
“I’m higher than you are,” Reaper laughed.
“You idiot, you’re stoned,” Blink said. “Son of a—Reaper, it’s not mind control. This is some kind of aerosolized hallucinogen.”
“Meaning?” Reaper asked.
“Stop breathing,” Blink said.
Reaper gasped. “I would die if I stopped breathing.”
“Holy crap, shut up,” Blink said, then thought to himself, I can’t believe I have to do his mission.
“Blink!” Reaper shouted.
“What?” Blink shouted back. “Good work at blowing our cover, moron.”
“I can’t see,” Reaper said, covering his eyes with his hands.
“I swear, I just might kill you myself. Don’t you dare think I haven’t considered it,” Blink said.
A deep voice began to speak a language that neither Blink nor Reaper knew. Reaper spun like an idiot, demanding to know where the voice was.
“You may not understand me,” Blink said as he slowly moved in a circle, using his eyepiece to scan the area for the creature. “You may be wondering why I’m not trippin’ balls like my friend here. I come from a place where people put chemicals like your air toxin into their bodies on purpose on a daily basis. What I mean to say is, I am somewhat immune to your powers. Why not come out and face us?” The voice was close, but there was no sign of its owner. Blink had moved in a full circle, and there was nothing.
“What is that?” Reaper shouted, pointing down near Blink’s feet. There sat a fluffy white and gray rabbit.
“It’s a freaking bunny, man,” Blink said, bothered with how Reaper was acting. “How can you even be affected by drugs? Shouldn’t your cells be able to fight this?” Blink stopped for a moment and thought. He looked down slowly at the rabbit that stared right up at him. “It could be the drugs, but is that rabbit having a stare-down with me?”
Reaper squinted. “Yes, that rabbit is looking at you.”
Blink gulped and pointed down at the rabbit. “Anansi?”
The rabbit’s little black eyes were cold and angry.
“You know. How? It is impossible,” Anansi said. Of course, Blink and Reaper could not understand it’s language. Reaper was far too high at that moment to look for it, or even fight.
“That’s a really deep voice for such a little rabbit,” Blink said, looking over his shoulder at Reaper.
“That is no rabbit,” Reaper said, pointing. Blink turned back, and there was a large spider’s body standing in front of him. Where the mouth and eyes should have been instead towered the muscular torso of a black man.
“Anansi,” Blink said.
“Hungers for flesh,” Anansi said and licked his lips. Although Blink did not speak the language, he recognized the sinister tone. Anansi let out some kind of hiss as he reached down toward Blink. His hand was already on the hilt of the golden sword, but when Blink saw the imminent attack, he pulled out the gold blade comprised of sunlight. Blink held the sword up, and Anansi shrieked like he was already dying, then fell back so hard that the ground shook.
“Reaper, get the bow and arrows out!” Blink shouted.
“I can’t, the bug man might see them!” Reaper shouted back.
“Are you kidding right now?” Blink was ticked off, especially after Anansi knocked him into the air several yards. Blink teleported over to Reaper. He did not fall, but he was slightly off balance.
“How did you get there?” Reaper asked.
“Shut up!” Blink shouted. “Can you fire an arrow?” Reaper shook his head. “Just get ready to fire a bunch, then. One’s bound to hit him.
”
Anansi charged at Blink and Reaper. Blink charged back. He leaped into the air at Anansi, then teleported onto his back. Anansi turned at the waist and grabbed Blink before he was able to stab the abdomen. He was about to bite Blink, but Blink teleported away. Anansi became furious when his teeth chomped hard against each other. Blink barely had a moment to catch his breath. He retrieved the golden sword from where it had fallen.
Blink looked up, and Anansi was above him, spraying a green gas out of his mouth. Blink’s eyes widened. He teleported away and appeared in the air above Anansi. He was high enough to not be in the fresh and strong concentration of the toxin. From up above, Blink thrust the sword down. It was a long shot, and a lucky one. Anansi had held still just long enough for the blade not to bounce off his tough abdomen. Anansi screamed in pain. Blink teleported at the right height to throw a midair spinning kick to Anansi’s face. On anyone else, that kick would have broken their jaw, but not with Anansi. It barely fazed him. Blink dropped to the ground, disappointed far from giving up, rolled away. He considered a different approach. He teleported onto Anansi’s back and attempted a sleeper hold. This was not working as well as he would have liked. Anansi spun in circles, trying to get Blink off. Blink, wanting an upper hand, started pushing the sword down farther into Anansi’s abdomen. Anansi cried out in pain. Amidst his screaming he managed to pull Blink around again.
“Reaper, fire!” Blink shouted. “Arrows, fire the arrows!”
Anansi struggled with Blink, who could have easily teleported away, but wanted to keep Anansi still—at least as still as possible, so that Reaper could deliver the finishing shot.
Reaper began to fire one arrow after another, while Blink teleported out of the way. The first two arrows passed by Anansi without even nicking his skin. Then, Reaper, despite his impairment, had a good idea. He readied three arrows at once and fired. Two hit their mark. One slit Anansi’s right side just below the ribs. The other struck him just below his clavicle. Anansi hissed and pulled the second arrow out.
“The arrows aren’t having any effect other than being arrows,” Blink said. It occurred to him that if the arrows and the sword where made from sunlight, they must be holding massive amounts of energy. If one was broken, it would probably destroy Anansi. It also could potentially kill him, but Reaper would be fine, and that was the most important part of the mission.
The sword was still in Anansi. Blink thought that if he could break it open from a distance somehow, it might work like nuclear fission, in that the splitting of an atom would set off a massive surge of energy. In this instance, the sword was the atom. Reaper’s scythe would certainly be able to break the sword open to release the energy inside, but it had been left back at the hover bike. The arrows held practically the same amount of power as the sword, though.
Blink teleported to Reaper and took the bow and an arrow from him. Blink then teleported behind Anansi, who was charging at Reaper.
“One time,” Blink said to himself while setting his shot. “One time. One time.”
He breathed slowly and touched his tongue to his front teeth. He closed his eyes and opened. He had successfully stopped time. Reaper, high as a kite, was frozen, still falling backwards. His face would say that he was scared. Anansi was up on his back two legs, his front two ready to come down on Reaper. His face looked like he was almost growling. Blink’s fingers slipped off the back of the arrow. It shot, and time went on. The arrow cracked the sword, and the cracks lit up. Suddenly, light shone out. Blink threw his hands up in front of his face. As Anansi’s front legs came down, the sword exploded. With Reaper lying on the ground, Anansi was blasted over him.
“Blink,” Reaper said, looking straight up. Blink jogged over to Reaper.
“What’s up, man?” Blink asked.
“The stars are beautiful.”
Blink laughed. “Yeah, yeah, the stars are great, man.”
“Where am I?” Reaper asked.
“You’re in Africa,” Blink said. “I’ll stay with you ‘til morning. We should get back to Boesmansgat. Don’t take it personally, but I’m gonna tie you up while we fly over there.”
“You can fly?” Reaper asked.
“You are gonna fit in well with the seventies.” Blink tied Reaper up and tied him to the hover bike. Reaper made odd noses the entire way back to Boesmansgat. It was early morning by the time they returned. Blink untied Reaper and left him with his scythe, overlooking the underwater cave. Reaper sat quietly as Blink left. More for effect than anything else, Blink flew on his hover bike, then disappeared back to his own time.
As Reaper sat looking down at the water, his senses came back to him. Due to the drug’s influence he had no memory of the night before. It would come back to him in pieces, over time.
When the younger Blink came to see Reaper, they were both confused as to what he was doing sitting there.
“Reaper, hey pal,” Blink said, sitting next to Reaper. “I’ve been calling you the whole way over here.”
“What?” Reaper asked in Tibetan.
“Huh?”
“I’m sorry,” Reaper said. “I’ve been feeling strange.”
Blink looked at Reaper’s eyes. “You kinda look like you got high. Must have been some weird effect of the water.”
“What am I doing here? Where is here?” Reaper asked.
“You know, I won’t lie,” Blink said. “I know there was a reason we came here, but it may have just been nothing. As to where you are, you are in South Africa.”
“Africa?” Reaper asked, puzzled.
“Yes, and there’s more. You need to get to England,” Blink said.
“England,” Reaper said. “The Romans went to England once—I remember that.”
“That is true, but you didn’t go. You’ve never been to England. Those aren’t actually your memories. You do know the difference, right?” Blink asked.
“Yes, of course.” Reaper stood.
“Great.” Blink pushed himself to his feet as well. “Here’s what I suggest: go up to Egypt. You’ve been there, so you’ve got an idea of how things work. Try to get on a merchant ship to France, From there, work your way to the north coast. Try to find another merchant ship or something. This will take you years. Do not take your time, but don’t stress yourself out.”
“I may need you to repeat some of that,” Reaper said.
“Really?” Blink whined.
“My head is feeling strange.”
“Maybe you should go for a walk, clear your mind. I think you should walk north. Toward Egypt.”
“I think I might just go for a walk to Egypt,” Reaper said.
“See—now that is the first thing you’ve said today that makes any sense,” Blink said with a big, patronizing smile.
Reaper began walking without even asking what he was supposed to be doing once he reached England. He just walked, without a word. This left Blink, feeling underappreciated. The Reaper, after all, was the closest friend Blink had ever had.
“I’ll see you in England in a few years, okay?” Blink called, hoping for one last chance for even a wave. Still, there was nothing.
Reaper walked like a starved zombie, meandering north. For a very long time, Reaper had no food and no water. Of course, he did not need it, but it was still good for him. He got one of these two essentials one day—Reaper had nothing but his fill of the water for quite some time after he fell into the Nile River. From that point on, he floated with the current.
There came a day when Reaper was found by some men on a boat who thought he was dead. They fished what they thought was his corpse up out of the water. He thanked them in their language, and they dropped him. One man jumped into the river, thinking that a cursed man was aboard. To be fair, Reaper was technically a walking dead man. Reaper explained where he was going and asked if they could help. One of the men had a brother who he thought would likely help him into Italy. After their business up the river was finished, they took Reaper to Alexandria, where he
hitched a ride aboard an Egyptian smuggler’s ship. After trying out his sea legs once more, Reaper parted with them and continued his walk north.
Chapter Eight:
Enter Vanguard
Reaper finally stepped foot on the southern shores of Great Britain. As it turned out, not many people were very willing to help ship him there—let’s just say Matthew Webb was not the first to swim across the English Channel. On the other side, Reaper felt legitimately weak. He plopped himself down on the sand and rocks face-first, taking in a few deep breaths.
Reaper stood to his feet and stared out at the water. He did not realize that Blink was standing behind him by only a few inches, until he heard an obnoxious crunching and crackling. Reaper looked over his shoulder with his eyebrow raised. Blink smiled at Reaper, his mouth full of popcorn.
“Why am I not surprised to see you there?” Reaper asked rhetorically.
“Do you want me to answer that?”
“Why not go into the future to see how this conversation will end for you if you keep that up?” Reaper said.
“Dude. Did you just threaten me?” Blink asked, surprised.
“I did,” Reaper said. “I have lived for a long time and seen many strange things. I just swam across a sea to be here, and I am unclear as to why I am here.”
“Alright, I can see how that might bother you,” Blink said. “Technically, it’s called the English Channel, not a sea. Popcorn?” He held his small bag forward.
“As good as it smells, no. Tell me why I am here. If you feel there are things I do not need to know, you are wrong. Tell me everything,” Reaper said sternly.
“Okay, so there’s this guy. He is actually a king.” Blink paused. “He and pretty much everyone else believes he is the king by divine right for pulling a sword out of a stone.”
“That is stupid,” Reaper said.
“I know, right?” Blink said with a big grin. Reaper’s expression had not changed, so Blink returned to his briefing. “This guy’s name is King Arthur Pendragon of Camelot. He holds a very powerful and dangerous weapon.”
