LITMIR.BIZ

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I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s been here,’ he tapped his chest, ‘since I was a boy.

      ‘I am like Bek in some ways. But I think that whatever it is inside of me, it is not a piece of the Nameless One. But it is similar. I think that’s why I can do all my tricks.’

      Pug nodded. ‘We’ve drunk many a cup of wine before the fire whilst discussing this sort of thing, Nakor.’

      ‘But this is not a theory anymore, Pug. He is real.’ He pointed in Bek’s direction. ‘And when I touched that thing within him, there was no doubt about what I found. No doubt at all.’

      Pug nodded, saying nothing.

      ‘One of our favourite discussions is about the nature of the gods.’

      ‘Many times,’ said Pug.

      ‘I once told you that I suspected that there is an ultimate god. A being that is connected to everything – I mean everything, Pug. And everything below him, her or it, is also connected.’

      ‘I remember. It’s as good an explanation for how the universe hangs together as any I’ve heard. Your theory is that the Greater Gods, the Lesser Gods, and all other beings, were this ultimate god’s attempt to understand himself.’

      ‘I’ve said that he’s like a baby before – pushing things off a table to watch them fall, over and over and over. Watching and trying to understand what is happening. But we are talking about a time scale of millions of years; billions, perhaps. This supreme being has all the time in the world, more – it has all the time there ever was or will be.

      ‘Would it then not make sense that the gods beneath this one might also somehow reach down and touch lesser beings, so they too might come to understand their place in the universe?’

      ‘So the Nameless One placed a tiny piece of himself inside Bek in order to learn about his place in the universe?’

      ‘No,’ said Nakor. ‘It’s possible, but I don’t think that is his intention.

      ‘I think the Nameless One has had many agents like Varen working on his behalf over the years.’ Nakor looked at Pug. ‘Tell me about him.’

      ‘You’ve heard all I know already.’

      ‘Tell me about the time you first encountered him.’

      ‘When I first got word of him, he was already an accomplished practitioner of the dark arts. Arutha was the prince in Krondor then, and Duke James his principal agent, a young Baron at the time; he, my son, and one of my most able students confronted a magician named Sidi, who I now believe was Varen in a different body.’

      ‘I remember that story about the amulet,’ said Nakor. ‘No one’s ever found it, have they?’

      Pug shook his head. ‘It’s still out there somewhere. Until the assault on Elvandar and our island last year, seizing the Tear of the Gods was Varen’s last overt attempt at bringing chaos to our world.

      ‘Between those events he was content to work in quiet, out-of-the-way, places.’

      ‘Like Kaspar of Olasko’s Citadel?’ asked Nakor with a grin.

      ‘Hardly an out-of-the way place, I’ll grant you, but how many people knew he was there? It was a very well-kept secret outside Kaspar’s household,’ Pug said. ‘His necromancy has given him the power to move from body to body. My research indicates that somewhere there is a vessel in which his true soul – for lack of a better term – resides. This allows his mind to capture bodies and use them at will.

      ‘He will not stop until he destroys the Conclave or any other opposition to his mission, which is simply to propagate evil at every hand. So, he is a problem.’ Pug pointed in Bek’s direction. ‘And now, from what you say, we have another one right over there.’

      ‘But I don’t think he’s like Varen,’ said Nakor, tossing aside the orange peel. ‘Varen was recruited, or seduced, or trapped, conned, or whatever term you like, either with the promise of power or eternal life or something. No sane man gives himself over willingly to evil.’

      ‘There is nothing sane about Leso Varen.’

      ‘But he may have been at one time,’ said Nakor, ‘merely a luckless man who blundered into the wrong place at the wrong time. That amulet you spoke of can take over a weak-willed man and drive him mad. And sanity is all that stands between good and evil.

      ‘There is no possibility that this young man will be remotely sane in a few more years. He’s already lost any sense of morality; he is driven by impulse and little else.’

      ‘What possible use can we have for a man with no morality, no moral compunctions against doing evil?’

      ‘We found a use for Kaspar, didn’t we?’ asked Nakor.

      Pug was silent for a moment, then said, ‘Point taken, but he was under Varen’s influence. This lad is directly touched by the Nameless One. Isn’t that a difference?’

      ‘I don’t know, Pug, but I know we either have to kill him soon, before he becomes too dangerous, or try to change him somehow.’

      ‘I can understand your reluctance to kill him outright, Nakor, but why the desire to change him?’

      ‘Because what if my surmise is correct, that the gods put tiny pieces of themselves in us to learn?’

      ‘Fair enough, but you said you doubted the Nameless One was motivated by such.’

      ‘Yes,’ said Nakor with another grin. ‘But there are often unintended consequences of our acts. What if we can send back this tiny message that without a balance, and without good, evil can not exist?’

      ‘From what you’ve surmised, would it make any difference?’

      ‘It must, for it is the nature of reality. Consider the ancient symbol of the Yin and Yang, the circle contains both black and white, but within the white is a spot of black, and within the black a spot of white! Opposing forces, but each with a touch of the other within. While he may be mad, the Nameless One must recognize it as a fundamental truth.’

      Pug laughed ruefully. ‘We may never know, and that is fine, for the gods have given us limited scope in our powers and knowledge. I’m content with that. But I must put those things I can understand and control ahead of your theories, no matter how wondrous they may be.

      ‘In the end, should Bek prove a threat to the Conclave, I will destroy him as I would step on a cockroach. Without hesitation. Are we clear on this?’

      ‘Very,’ said Nakor, losing his grin. ‘But I think we need to study this youngster for a while longer before destroying him.’

      ‘Agreed, but I want you to consult with others back at the Island. And before that, I want you back in Novindus with the Talnoy. They are a real and immediate threat. We need to find a way to control them without using that ring.’

      Nakor nodded in agreement. The ring that controlled the Talnoy had the unfortunate side effect of driving the wearer mad.

      Pug looked around. ‘Now, let’s see if we can find that trail.’

      ‘It’s over there,’ said Nakor, pointing to a tiny shimmering fragment hanging about five feet in the air, among some brush. ‘I noticed it while we were talking.’

      Pug hurried over to the tiny fragment of energy, less than eight inches long, floating in the air, between two branches of a bush. ‘We could have been out here for years,’ said Pug. ‘How do you think the boy knew?’

      Nakor shrugged. ‘This is a very evil thing, and given his nature …?’

      ‘You think he’s somehow attuned?’

      ‘Apparently,’ replied Nakor. He studied the tiny energy fragment. ‘Do you have any idea how this thing works?’

      ‘When I fought against

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