The Complete Darkwar Trilogy: Flight of the Night Hawks, Into a Dark Realm, Wrath of a Mad God

Bek’s face lit up as he smiled. ‘That’s what I hear, too.’ Then he lost the smile. ‘That and other things.’

‘What other things?’ asked Nakor.

‘I don’t know.’ Bek shrugged and looked down. ‘Sometimes they’re not really voices, but … feelings that I need to do something. Hurt someone. Take something. Go somewhere.’ He looked back at the cave. ‘That’s how I felt when I heard about this cave. Some of the boys with me didn’t want to bother, but I knew I had to come here.’

Nakor nodded. ‘When did the dreams start?’

Bek closed his eyes, as if something suddenly pained him. ‘I don’t remember not having them.’ He opened his eyes and again stared into space. ‘They’re—’

After a moment of silence, Nakor said gently, ‘They’re what?’

Bek looked at Nakor. ‘It’s like I’m looking through a window or standing on a tower looking down. I see things … places … people doing things.’ He looked away again. ‘Violent things, Nakor. I see battles, rapes, burning cities … Sometimes it can be too much for me. It’s like when you meet a girl who likes to be slapped when you’re coupling, and so you slap her. And then you reach the point where she wants you to stop … and you’re there, with your hand held back and you know that she’s not enjoying it any more, but you also know that hitting her just one more time will feel so good. She gets frightened and starts crying, but that only makes you feel even better. But if you hit her now, she’ll stop being afraid because she’ll be unconscious—’

‘Or dead,’ said Nakor softly.

Bek shrugged. ‘Or dead. It’s that place in the middle, it’s being on the edge of it, knowing that in an instant everything could change. It’s like jumping your horse over something that may just be a little too high, or the feeling of running through a door, knowing that just inside the room someone’s waiting to kill you.’ His eyes were wide now and he stared at Nakor with a manic expression. ‘I always wake with a sense of dread and, as if I’m waiting for something to happen?’

‘Constant anticipation?’

‘Yes! Anticipation, as if those scenes are … just out of reach … you know?’ He lost his frenzied expression and his face resolved into a mask of thoughtfulness.

‘Yes,’ said Nakor softly. ‘I know.’

Bek’s features distorted once again. ‘But if I do the things—’ He held his hand open and looked at his palm. ‘If I hit the girl. Hard. Really hard. Or if I ride the horse over the jump – even if it guts itself on the fence or breaks a leg landing – or if I run through the door and kill whoever’s there—’

‘The dreams stop for a while,’ finished Nakor.

‘Yes!’ said Bek, standing up. ‘You do understand! How do you know?’

‘Because many years ago I had dreams, too.’

‘Did they make you do things?’

Nakor shrugged. ‘If I acted on them they did stop for a while, yes. I became a gambler and if I cheated someone out of a lot of money, then the dreams would stop for a few days. I became a confidence trickster, and if I swindled someone, they would stop for a week or so. The greater the harm I did by cheating, lying and stealing, the longer I went without the dreams.’

Bek shook his head. ‘If I start a fight, or get someone to do something—’

‘Bad?’

Bek shrugged. ‘I don’t understand bad or good, just know what I want to do. If I force someone to do something they don’t want to do—’

‘Such as?’

Bek said, ‘About two years ago Drago and me were in a town near Lanada. Drago was this man I met at a whorehouse down there. We were both drunk and we took these two girls upstairs – I don’t know whose idea that was, his or mine.’ Bek’s eyes grew distant once more, as if he was seeing what he remembered. ‘One of the whores liked being slapped around – I always ask for those. This one was a tiger. She’d whoop and holler and scratch and bite.’ He fell silent for a moment, then shrugged. ‘Anyway, somewhere along the way it got rougher than she liked, I suppose, because she went from whooping and hollering to crying and screaming. Drago grabbed my arm and told me to stop, so I killed him. Then both girls were screaming, so I killed them, too.’ Bek looked at Nakor. ‘I really don’t know how things got so out of hand, but they did.’

‘Yes, they did.’

Bek smiled, then said, ‘But it feels good when things get out of control, you know?’

Nakor stood. ‘I do.’ He stepped over to stand next to Bek, who looked up at him with no change in his mad expression.

‘You’re going to hurt me now, aren’t you?’

‘Yes, I am,’ said Nakor, putting out his hand over Bek’s head. As Bek began to move to defend himself, a light sprang from Nakor’s palm, freezing the large young warrior where he sat. His teeth clenched and his eyes started to roll in his head, and he began to make an odd sound. It began deep in his chest, a low grunting noise that rose in pitch as it made its way up to his throat where it became a raspy exhalation. The noise became louder, a higher-pitched shout of pain, which rose into agony.

It continued until Bek had no air left in his lungs to exhale, and could only shake uncontrollably. His teeth were still clenched and his face turned red. His eyes had now completely rolled backwards in their sockets, showing only the whites. Then he started turning a darker colour – from red to purple – and when his complexion approached blue, Nakor removed his hand.

A ragged gasp cut through the quiet as Bek shuddered and fell over backwards. He lay on the ground quivering and twitching, his eyes finally closed.

Nakor remained motionless, watching the huge youth shake like a man in a seizure. After a full five minutes, the frenzy subsided. Then Bek’s breathing slowed and he became still. He lay as if asleep for another five minutes, then groaned and opened his eyes.

He blinked twice, then settled his gaze on Nakor. Sitting up slowly, he said, ‘That was … amazing.’ He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then he grinned. ‘I liked it!’

Nakor extended his hand and helped Bek to his feet. ‘You enjoy pain?’

Bek patted his body to ensure that nothing was damaged as he said, ‘Sometimes I do. Pain … wakes things up. It makes you alert, aware. At first there’s that desire to pull away, to make it stop, but when it doesn’t stop, you can … go deeper into it, I suppose you could say. You break through the pain and on the other side there’s …’ He looked at Nakor as if fighting for the concept or word.

‘Clarity.’

Bek’s eyes widened and he nodded. ‘Yes! Clarity. Then you see things differently! It’s like nothing else. The pain turns into a feeling like nothing I can describe. But you know what I mean!’

Nakor nodded. ‘Sadly, I do.’

‘What did you do to me?’

‘It’s just a trick I know,’ said Nakor. ‘There’s something inside of you, the thing that makes you the way you are. I had to find it, then I had to … confine it.’

Bek stood with his hands on his chest as if feeling for something. ‘Confined? I don’t feel any different.’

Nakor turned, looking over the horizon. ‘I know. But for a while you’ll find yourself less inclined to cause trouble. And you won’t dream either.’ He turned back towards Bek. ‘The day is still young and I need to do some work. I’m going to leave you here for a few minutes. I’ll be back shortly.’ He reached into his rucksack and took out a golden-coloured orb. He pushed a preset button and vanished.

Pug looked up as Nakor appeared in his study. ‘What is it?’

‘Remember that youth I mentioned in my message yesterday?’

‘The one who tested Tomas? Of course.’

‘I’ve had suspicions about him since the moment he arrived at the cave, and now I’m certain.’

‘Certain of what, Nakor?’

‘I told you about the gods’ dreams and memories. But what have I told you of … fragments?’

Pug said, ‘That occasionally a god will manifest his power directly in a mortal. A tiny piece of the god is placed within the soul of a person. Why?’

‘I don’t believe it any longer. I know it. Bek is such a person.’

‘You’re certain?’