Release me. Now. Or I ust make you my last meal." Nix made the mistake of turning to glance behind him. "What are you?" he demanded. The wizard pointed to the window, directly behind Nix, and smiled. "Your worst fear." Nix did not reply. His attention was not given to the wizard as he watched the approaching clouds. "Are you sure you're not too big for these old shoes?" asked the wizard, a touch of desperation in his tone. "Maybe the child-sized ones would fit a lot better." Nix did not turn to look at the wizard. He closed his eyes and raised his sword, knowing it would do no good. "What are you?" "One more thing you don't want to know," said the wizard. "I may be only a shadow, but you have been at odds with the shadows for some time, haven't you? They've been after you since you first arrived. They know where you sleep, Nix. And they want you out of the picture. Me, too. See, that's where we're alike. We both know I can't get what I came here for without you out of the picture. So you, too, are on the list. We'll both take care of that soon. The good people of the Pits know to let things settle for the summer. That means they'll be distracted for a while, enough to make it look like an accident." "So you're going to kill me for you?" asked Nix. "No," said the wizard. "You'll be my ticket out. I'll be there, with my papers, as soon as you meet your maker, Nix. We'll be in opposite cells. I'll wait till all the other bodies are removed, the guards will probably clean it up before they know what happened. Then I'll meet you on the other side. I've got a letter from your mother and it says you've been doing my bidding. I'll have just enough support to tell the nobles that I was trying to help you. It'll be a sad story, though. I was just about to take you in when your sword went and cut off my hand. I can still be executed for disobeying a citizen's orders. I imagine that'll be my punishment for not killing you. It's fitting. I don't know what kind of man you are. I don't know what happened to you before you arrived here. But I do know you had to know what kind of person I really am, if you knew that much, to come here in the first place. I thought you were supposed to be some kind of hero. You're not. You're a murderer, the same as me. Or as far as the nobles are concerned, maybe you're worse than I am." Nix laughed at that, his sword still raised. "You think you're worse than me? What a joke. There are no worse criminals, just people without a conscience." "I should have known," said the wizard. "I can't tell you what I've been through to reach this moment. You have no idea what kind of torture you've inflicted on me over the years." "You've said that before." "Yes, I did," said the wizard. "But I wasn't lying when I said it. You don't understand a thing about my life and I doubt you've seen a tenth of what I've been through. But you've been the worst, that's certain. You've killed all kinds of people. Including your fellow travelers. And I've seen you kill every one of them more than once." "They deserved it," said Nix. "No," said the wizard. "And that's just the point. That's the point that's been killing me for the past few decades. That's what I'm here for. I wasn't after you because you were any threat to me, any more than I was to anyone else who has died in the pits so far. I was after you because you took my daughter's life." "Stop it," said Nix, moving slowly toward the wizard. "She didn't have a life. What did she do to you? Tell me and then I'll put you out of your misery." "It's not enough that you killed her?" asked the wizard, moving out of the door and over toward the center of the platform. "No, she took every last one of my secrets and passed them on to you. She got the better of me. She tricked me, and then she tricked you. And now she's after me. I can't hide. I can't avoid her. I can't even figure out how to punish her." Nix charged him. The wizard parried the blow. He held up a hand to stave off Nix's next strike, then stabbed Nix's sword through his chest. Nix felt his heart racing and his mind racing with it. "She's my daughter. I would do anything to protect her from you," the wizard told him. Nix fell to his knees. "I'm sorry," he said. "Just kill me already," said the wizard. "I can't stand this much longer." "I can't," said Nix. He shook his head. "I can't kill you." "You have to. She's made you a target, and now I have to see you suffer. I can't let her get away with this." "I don't want her to suffer," said Nix. "She took my sister from me. She took her away from me. She took her away from all of us." He pulled the sword out of the wizard's chest. "Leave me alone." "She took her away from you," said the wizard. "I know what that's like." He took Nix's sword from him and pointed it at the wizard's own heart. "So this has to end here and now." "No!" The wizard's eyes twinkled. "You can't kill me, Nix, because she took your sword. You can't kill me because I took your sword and then gave it back to you." He looked at the tip of the sword. "That's the sword she used to kill me." Nix looked at his own sword. "I'm not going to do it," he said. "I have to die," said the wizard. "It's the only way to punish her." "What are you talking about? Kill yourself?" asked Nix, incredulous. "That's one of the things she's made me," said the wizard. "I'm responsible for the people who died here, my wife and daughter and son. You don't understand. Even if they didn't die here, she did. And I can't stop what she's doing here. The nobles are getting worried. They think I'm a threat. They think I'm trying to take over their kingdom and take control of the Shadow. She's made me a target. She's not supposed to be alive." Nix lowered his sword and looked at the wizard. The wizard looked back at him. Nix took his eyes away. "I'm not a murderer," said the wizard. "But I was once and I still have nightmares about it. That's why I'm alone, now. The last two people I wanted to die took their own lives out of despair. I can't die. Not while there is someone out there for me to protect. She has to pay for it all. I'm not talking about her. But she killed my wife and daughter. The other two died in the pit. She had something to do with all of it. I was her target." Nix could feel tears in his eyes and did not want to give the wizard the satisfaction of seeing them. "It's too much," said the wizard. "I just want her to suffer. I just want her to suffer so badly I can't stand it." Nix nodded. "You know how I feel," said the wizard. "You know how this feels. Remember." Nix swallowed. "I'm not a killer. I'm not like you." "Nix, kill me now. Don't kill me, don't go after her, and let us both out of this." Nix did not move. He felt something in his chest. Anger, hate, and pain all mashed together in his chest. "I won't do it," he said. "I'm not going to kill you." "I know," said the wizard. Nix lowered his sword and turned his back on the wizard. He took a few steps away, pulled out his whetstone, put it to his sword, and gave a rough, quick stroking to the blade. "It's got to be done," said the wizard. "I can't make it any clearer." "No," said Nix. "It's your world. I was nothing but a nuisance for you." "It is not my world!" the wizard bellowed. "Well, you made it your world and you've brought it crashing down, now. What can I say? It's not my fault." Nix wiped his nose with the