Chapter 3

Quiet as a ghost, Nightwatcher slipped away from the rest of his group, watching the night as the Kodax announcer repeated the death toll for the first day. So Iruka, Ghost, and the rest of the Fallen Six had survived. A pity. And there was that Toa of Light too, Lekhop or whatever his name was. He was with them.

Harlen was dead, and, other than the Fallen Six, his most dangerous opponents were the loners Brominax and Zaeron, along with Tetrack, Antidax, Velnax, and Valtrahk, his erstwhile allies. All of the Kodax and their Glatorian ally, Phoenix, were at the cache of weapons. Antidax was out scouting, and Nightwatcher was supposedly doing the same.

Suddenly, a voice boomed out over the arena. It was the Kodax announcer, announcing the kills that day. In a cold, impassive voice, he read off the names of the dead. "Harlen, Ravdev, Spiruk, Sen, Kental, Isran."

That was all. Six dead, thirty-four left alive. Most beings had either fled the battles or sustained wounds before they were killed.

I'm done here. I have everything I need from those Kodax, the Toa of Shadow thought as he slipped away from his group. Tetrack and Velnax were resting, while Valtrahk stood guard. For a split second, Nightwatcher thought about murdering them all. But no, Tetrack would be roused quickly, and even though he was confident he could overcome all of them, Tetrack could deal nasty wounds. And when Antidax returned from scouting, his wrath would be the death of Nightwatcher.

No...besides, they may still be useful, Nightwatcher decided, and vanished into the darkening gloom. Soon the arena would be roused, and the fighting would begin. Nightwatcher raised one blade, and then slashed a square on the board completely in two. Satisfied, the Toa of Shadow walked into the forest, were the game board ended. He would wait for someone to kill here.

Spiruk had never meant much to him. He was a fool who charged into battle without hesitation, without ever even considering whether or not the strategy would immediately get him killed. Still, Spiruk had been his brother, and now things had become personal.

Spirak didn't care about the Eternal Game. He didn't care about winning. All he cared about was staying alive long enough to escape the terrible place. That, and vengeance on Fairon for his brother's death.

He'd sat in the undergrowth and watched, silent as a phantom, as the Toa of Light moved quietly under the light of the massive red sun. He listened carefully, not making a move, even as his target vanished from his sight. He could still hear him, and that was enough to make a rather good estimate of his position.

Spirak felt a small insect bite at his neck, but knowing all too well that the slightest motion would alert Shardak of his presence, allowed the burning pain to spread through his body. It was a particularly painful bite, and he dimly wondered what kind of insect that was.

Then he felt a growing weight on his shoulder, and knew that it was no insect.

Forgetting all about his target, he turned around and rubbed the steadily growing creature — something that appeared to be a miniature green Rahkshi — from his shoulder. As he watched, stunned, it grew to his height, then higher, then higher. It towered above him like the sun itself, its hands large enough to crush him like a twig, its eyes gleaming at him like massive emeralds.

"Why, hello," said the voice of the being that he recognized as Nightwatcher.

He turned around, but in all directions there was nothing to be seen, save the trees, the sun, the sky, and the massive Rahkshi. He turned around again, and found himself looking at the Toa of Shadow's leg.

"This here is my pet," the new arrival said as Spirak began to stutter in terror. "It is what is called a Rahkshi of Growth. Convenient little things to have around. They also are particularly good at scaring beings out of their wits." he leaned down, so the faces of the Toa and Glatorian touched.

"Then again, so am I."

"W-w-what do you w-w-want?" said Spirak, his teeth chattering.

"What do I want?" said Nightwatcher. "I want to get out of this miserable game, much as I enjoy it. And, if I understood correctly, the winner of this game can leave. So far as I know, the only way to win the game is to make sure no one else is left to attempt to do so. And so, to answer your question, I can quite definitely say that what I want is for you and the rest of my 'rivals' to die."

Spirak was so terrified now that he was incapable of making any more noise, nor of moving as Nightwatcher picked him up.

"I have been holding myself back for the last few days. I thought it would be enjoyable, picking them off one by one like maggots. But there is no time left for enjoyment. Tomorrow, every last one of my foes will be ground into dust."

Nightwatcher began to squeeze, his fingers wrapping around the Toa's chest.

"And if you wanted to know why I decided to kill you before everyone else," growled the being who had once been Toa Charon, "that's just too bad."

A sickening explosion. Blood shot out in all directions from the body of his helpless victim as Nighwatcher's powerful hand crushed his helpless victim's torso.

"There's something going on here," Nightwatcher growled, staring at the horrible-looking corpse as he dropped it back on the ground. "Something beyond what any of us can fathom, except possibly me. And once all of you weak scum are grounded into dust, I'm leaving this place."

He looked up at the sky. The sun had gone now, and now the only visible lights were those of the eyes of Nightwatcher and his pet.

"Come, Girahk," he said to the Rahkshi. "It's time to go kill some more dangerous enemies."