After the opening of the dimension and the end of the war, the name of Derse faded into obscurity. After his audacious ‘rescue’ of Captain John Fentiman from under the noses of the council, he was never seen again. It was not long before the connection between him and the Nightwalker was discovered but by then the fear of the Nightwalker within the city was growing and Derse was nowhere to be found. The darkness continued to grow within the city, but unlike before the dark was not absolute, but a lengthening of the shadows and a deepening of the dim twilight that kept out the sun. The Nightwalker and his shadow minions stalked the streets, blood ran in the gutters and people became more and more afraid to leave their houses as the unstoppable tide of night expanded.
Finally a group gathered ready to beat back the darkness and rid the world of the Nightwalker once and for all. Lead by a mage of Light calling herself Photas, the group ventured forth into the centre of the dark to fight the Nightwalker. No one had ever seen his face but the mark of his presence was clear. The battle was fierce and for hours the skies over the Quarter of Iron bells flashed with sheets of light. Finally there was a sering blast of white and then utter, utter quiet. The shadows faded slowly but neither the Nightwalker or Photas were ever seen again.
Three years later a woman by the name of Penelope Gardner, made a name for herself as a navigator on a trading planet within the empire. Shortly afterward rumours of people disappearing from the streets arose, blood ran in the gutters and the name of the Nightwalker was whispered from frightened lips that hid from the shadows. Ten years after that a man calling himself Sidney Porter turned up on a fringe world, medicine bag in hand, and set up a clinic. He always had plenty of people to treat, once the Nightwalker started attacking the neighbourhood. Wherever the Nightwalker went, fear and darkness followed. Sometimes he stayed for years cultivating a reputation and making people fear the dark, other times he’d stay for just a month but a month full of devestation and death. His shadows can be found everywhere, if you know what to look for, and in every world the name of the Nightwalker is whispered in hushed tones.
The Nightwalker stalks towards his prey. He can smell the fear rolling off the young man. It’s worship to his form and he drinks it in. His shadow puppets move along side him, they love the thrill of the chase, instinct over intellect but it doesn’t matter, they get the job done and the blood flows. Corner turned and a blind alley entered. The boy is cornered and there is no escape now. Fear turns to terror as he turns to face the monster in the shadows. This isn’t the City, he’s not been back there for decades, but it reminds him of it. The time spent there so thick with fear all flowing into him.
“Few ever see my face young man. You are so very very lucky.”
“Please, please just let me live. Please, you’re the Nightwalker, I know you are, please just let me go, have mercy!”
The shadow laughs at that. The puppets mimicking their master. “Mercy? What a thought. Oh, now I can’t do that now can I. You’ve seen my face. No one ever lives to say they’ve seen my face.”
There is a scream cut off suddenly and blood runs in the gutter.