Free Epoch by Timothy Carter

employee entered through the main doors. “Look, he had to show those guards a pass, then he had to use another pass to get in the doors.”
    “Wasn’t that the same pass?” Nod asked.
    “No,” said Vincent. “Definitely a second pass.”
    “No problem,” Nod said. “We’ll wait until someone comes out, then beat them up and take their passes.”
    “I don’t think that will work,” Vincent said. “Those passes probably have photos on them. Besides, you’re a pixie and I’m fourteen. We’ll look a bit suspicious.”
    “Okay, so we beat up the security guards,” Nod said.
    “That might work,” Vincent said, “but look at those security cameras. We wouldn’t get very far, even if we did make it inside.”
    “Well, what do you suggest?” Nod asked. “The ventilation system?”
    “That only works in movies,” Vincent said. “We need something subtle, something unexpected, something … clever.”
    “But I like beating people up,” Nod said.
    “I’m sure you’ll get the chance soon,” Vincent said. “Listen up. Here’s my plan.”
    • • •
    Vincent waited outside in the parking lot while Nod did his stuff. They’d had to wait almost an hour for someone to come, but when a woman approached the two security guards Nod had swung into action. He’d flown along behind her, invisible to the guards, and followed the woman inside.
    Perfect, Vincent thought, and he moved into position. Any second now the fire alarms would go off and all the employees would evacuate. When that happened, Vincent would make his way to the side of the building. Nod would smash out a window a few floors up, fly out and disable the nearest cameras, then drop down and pick up Vincent. While all the building’s employees were milling about outside, Nod would carry Vincent up to the broken window and they would sneak inside.
    And when all the employees returned to the building, well … Vincent hoped he and Nod would be done by then.
    So, he waited for the sound of the alarm. He stayed low beside a minivan, watching the front entrance with such intensity that he didn’t notice the creature sneaking up behind until it licked him.
    “Hey!” Vincent cried, spinning around and kicking the licker.
    “Yow!” cried the creature, reeling back and clutching its head. It was an elf-sized creature, round of body with a huge mouth. In fact, most of its body was mouth. It was a red-skinned basketball of a thing with arms, legs, and a tail sprouting out from its sides and back. It would have been funny looking if it weren’t for the three rows of jagged teeth.
    “What did you do that for?” Vincent said, wiping his leg.
    “Oww,” the creature said, shaking its head. Which basically meant it shook its entire body. “That really … you can see me!”
    “Yeah, and I can kick you,” Vincent said, and he did. The creature bounced away, then rolled under a car.
    “Good riddance,” said Vincent, who was starting to think that fantasy creatures were nothing but trouble. He checked his leg to make sure he wasn’t getting a rash, then he turned to see if the guards had heard anything. To his relief, they remained at their posts, oblivious.
    “Hey! You!” the creature said, crawling out from under the car. “You’ll pay for that, you will. Just because I can’t bite you now doesn’t mean I can’t munch you later.”
    “What,” Vincent asked, “are you talking about?”
    “It means I’ll remember you, boy,” the creature said. “And I will, never fear. We demons have very long memories.”
    “Well, remember this,” Vincent said, raising his boot to kick him again. Then the creature’s words got through to him, and he stopped. “You’re a demon?”
    “Darn tootin’,” the demon said. “My name’s Rennik. Remember it. I like my prey to know who’s eating them.”
    Vincent remembered all the pixies had told him about demons. They would destroy the world at the end of each epoch to make way for the next