CHAPTER 29

  Reduke scratched his head. A hard thing to do, as Nightmaster held him upside down and bounced his head against the ground in gentle rhythm. Plop. Ow. Plop. Ow. Plop. Ow. The fair buzzed like a kicked yellow jacket hive. Oh they were shaked tonight!

  "--kill you!” that glasses guy Valens has been screaming at Nightmaster for a bit. The kid paced around the fire-barrel and wiped the soot from his suit breast.

  Fake! Reduke thought. Kid was too fake for the Fair. The Fair was as real as it gets. Plop. Ow.

  "Drama,” replied Nightmaster. "I didn’t do anything. It was one of the others.”

  "You think I believe that?”

  "I don’t care.”

  Plop. Ow.

  "Cal and Dom are on their way. Are you stupid? They could be here any day. Any moment! Why will you not even try to work with me on this?”

  Nightmaster just laughed.

  Valens shook his head. "You still want to play this like it’s a game, huh? It’s not a game, Geta. This is life. My life!”

  "Fake," said Reduke. Plop. Ow.

  "STOP!” Valens screamed. "STOP DOING THAT!"

  This time Nightmaster and Reduke both laughed. He didn’t think about iy. So much of him was bound up with Nightmaster now. Nightmaster released him, dropped one last time. "Ow."

  "The reason you will lose, Valens, is that it is a game. To a HeavenEye, it’s all only ever a game.”

  Valens turned away, clasped his hands behind his back. "This is over.”

  "You’ll play my game and like it, four eyes. You need me. You can read all the books, crack all the systems, get all the data on the surface of the entire Nameless world, but you’re hopeless with people. You see numbers where you should see souls, statistics, not hopes, dreams, fears. That’s also why I’ll win, Valens. I know what vermin want. That’s true manipulation. That’s a HeavenEye.” Nightmaster hiss-laughed. "You have no chance alone.”

  Reduke felt Nightmaster calling to the Fair. Many, many more than even a few days ago. They came, shuffling through darkness, drawn to Nightmaster like flies to a corpse. Valens' glasses began to pulse purple and Reduce knew through Nightmaster that the boy had seen them.

  Valens didn’t stop, but over his shoulder he said, "People can’t be trusted, no matter what spells you cast. They will always abandon you when you need them most. That’s why you’ll lose, Geta. I don’t need anyone. Ever.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  "Oooh,” Nightmaster’s robes shook, "there’s biography there.”

  Now Valens laughed. It was a brittle, harsh thing. A joke of a laugh. As if he knew not how to laugh and was only now just trying it out. "You’re the one who caused those rogue shiners to solidify around that kid, right? Standing up there and whipping these rokkish rabbles into that frenzy? I know this hooded nonsense isn’t really you, Geta. Tell me the truth. We could have taken him then if you hadn’t done that. There didn’t need to be more blood.”

  "If I did, it’s only because I’m that good.” Nightmaster’s power increased within Reduke, and he was a little afraid it might burn him out, like dried paper, and was just about to say so, when Nightmaster continued, "and I don’t care how much blood the rokkae from Ovon require. I’ll fill and fill until they're glutted, swollen and bursting. It is literally nothing to me.”

  "I’m done with you Geta. Next time I see you it will either be to kill you or exult over your corpse.”

  "Promise, promises.”

  Reduke wondered if Nightmaster would attack, but like smoke the kid faded away into the air.

  Nightmaster scoffed. "Shinasshu. Talking to me of deception.”

  Reduke found himself right-side up and moving toward Nightmaster. "Shouldn’t Reduke kill him?”

  Nightmaster’s hood folded from side to side. "He’ll be watching from the shadows. He needs my intel. Besides, for some reason the lad thinks he understands me. I can use that. However, if he locates the prize and gets back to Ovon, or even worse, if Cal and Dom get here too soon. . .”

  Reduke felt Nightmaster’s fear. "Cal? Dom? These people scare--”, he caught himself, "people who Nightmaster really doesn’t want to see?”

  Nightmaster nodded.

  "Nightmaster is lord.” Reduke felt he had to say it.

  Nightmaster studied him. "Reduke, what I originally considered to be a series of marvelous, even comical, disasters has all cycled into working in my favor. Really it couldn’t have been written better. Maybe those Given are onto something withe their stupid Rokk! Not good for them though. How much better an author I’ll be for them.” Nightmaster raised two cloaked hands, and welcomed Reduke’s friends with wagging fingers. They sat just beyond the edge of Nightmaster’s purple light, and even in the dark Reduke could see, could feel, the greed. Many cried, tear streams on filthy faces. Newbies. Others smiled so widely their faces looked about to crack. Still, they arrived. More than even Reduke had known.

  Nightmaster stood, stretched for the dark, "Oh Cal. CAL! MY Cal, if only you could see me now! it's mine all mine.”

  The friends stopped, began to chant, "Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine.”

  "You will see me soon enough, spider-bitch!” Nightmaster spoke faster, louder,. "HeavenEyes, come! What happened today in Central has driven more to me than ever I could have sought, and I thought the Given would be the problem! Amazing how all you have to do is yell at them a bit. Show them a little truth and they shatter like glass. The truth of how small and meaningless they are.”

  Reduke’s heart quickened. "Reduke wants to kill them, Nightmaster. You promised Reduke could kill her, but Reduke wants the other baby-oven meat, too.” He rubbed his wrist. "And the scarf! Mine, mine, mine.”

  "Mine, mine, mine,” they all screamed.

  Nightmaster dropped a hand, and all were slient. "Almost as many as I need. A wave across the world. They still come. A wave across the world! Across Ovon!”

  "But can Reduke kill them?” Froth dripped from the corners of his mouth. Reduke didn’t care.

  Nightmaster’s fingers wiggled and Reduke was propelled back against the wall.

  "Shut up, fat-boy.” Reduke spun upside down and Nightmaster dropped him onto the ground. Plop. Ow. "Of course, you can. We’re going to kill everyone in these stupid cities. Every,” Plop, "last,” Plop, "one.” Plop.