“How do you know my name?”

Again, the rotting rictus appeared.

“I know many things…many things indeed. But what do you know?”

Tim opened his mouth to respond but instead managed only a choked, empty utterance. He remembered nothing, and yet, somehow, he sensed the knowledge with him, floating just beyond the reach of his conscious mind; the cloaked figure’s snarling smile deepened.

“Has it truly been that long, ageless one? Surely you’ve not forgotten your friends? Nor your…beloved?”

The creature reached into its cloak and removed an ornate dagger with a zigzagging blade. Its gilded, bejeweled hilt glinted in the crimson sky-fire as scarlet tears fell from its blood-soaked tip. Seeing it, Tim felt the wind escape him as a torrent of...

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