CHAPTER 30
The Nameless King
Levi found himself back in the same barren field filled with square yellow buildings, just like the last time he had come to Ahoratos. That was weird. He couldn’t remember ever having returned to the same place twice. Ahoratos always had new surprises for him, new challenges. But since he’d been here before, he knew that all he had to do was walk to the other side and kneel before the dry lake bed and the Water would appear.
Levi started walking straight down the first row. But then he stopped, remembering the one building that had been open, and the voice that had spoken to him. He wondered if that voice was still there. He went to the door and tried the knob. It turned, unlocked.
I shouldn’t go in, he thought to himself. I should just get to the Water. But his curiosity got the better of him—he wanted to know who—or what—that voice really was. If it was still there.
He opened the door. It was as dark as it had been the last time, the light from outside failing to penetrate it. He stepped inside, keeping one hand on the doorknob, in case he had to leave quickly. The smell of dead worms filled his nostrils.
“Hello?” he said into the blackness. “Anyone there?”
“You’re back,” said the voice. It sounded amused.
“Yeah.” Levi paused, at a loss for what to say next.
“Why are you here, Levi?” said the voice.
“You know my name?”
“Of course.”
“I want . . . to know who you are.”
“No, you don’t.”
Levi took a deep breath. “I want to see you. I want to see . . . your face.”
“Close the door.”
Levi hesitated. Then he slowly closed the door. To his surprise, the room brightened, a pale light rising up from the dusty floor. Levi gasped at what he saw.
The building was littered with what appeared to be broken toys: deflated balls, dolls with no heads or arms, stuffed animals—lions, bears, dogs—with the stuffing bursting from their sides, toy train cars and pieces of track thrown into tall piles. It was like a Christmas morning nightmare.
In the center of the room, sitting on a very large pile of broken toys, was a small, aged figure with a gaunt, yellowish face and wisps of white hair that sprouted from the top of his head. His deep-set, droopy eyes were pure white with no irises. Levi realized that the man must be blind. He was dressed in a tattered robe that looked as though it had once been the royal garment of a king. The velvet lining was worn off, the fur trim matted and clumped.
The oddest thing was that even though the man was small, he cast a very long shadow that reached all the way to the corner of the room. Levi couldn’t see any light source that would have created such a shadow. He wondered how that was possible.
Lying on the floor at the bottom of the junk pile was a crown. It was large and appeared to have been magnificent once, but now it was discolored and bent, and all the jewels were missing.
The man opened his mouth, which contained no teeth. “Now you see me.”
“Who are you?” Levi asked.
“I was once a king. But now I am here.”
“Did Ruwach put you here?”
The man nodded slowly.
“Why? What did you do?”
“I didn’t do. I simply was. And still am. Though I am not.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Do you have a name?”
“I once had a name. But no more. You can call me Nameless.”
“Nameless. So . . . you just sit here, all the time?”
“Not always. I get out once in a while.” The strange man smiled a toothless smile. “I’ve been out quite a bit lately. Because it is Winter.”
“Did you bring the Winter?” Levi asked.
“No. The Winter brought me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Yes. That is for the best. It was nice of you to stop by, Levi. I don’t get many visitors.” Nameless let out a long sigh. “Most who come through here don’t even try to open the doors. They don’t want to know what’s behind them.”
“Why not? Are they afraid?”
“I suppose they are. With good reason.”
“Are you dangerous?”
“To some, I am. But not to you.” Nameless paused. “Or your father.”
“My father? You know about my father?”
“Of course.”
“Are you the one who . . .”
Levi didn’t finish. He studied the withered face of the person before him, feeling as though all the questions in his mind were coming together, falling into place like pieces of a puzzle. He suddenly knew exactly who this worn-out king really was. “You can’t have him,” he said, his voice rising in fury. “I won’t let you take my dad!”
“That is not for you or me to decide,” said the old king wearily. “You should go now. The dark is soon to come. You do not want to be caught here in the dark.”
Nameless rose slowly and stepped down from his throne of broken things. He unfolded his arms from his robe and reached down with crooked fingers to the crown lying on the floor. He put it on his head, but it was too big and fell over his blank, unseeing eyes and rested on his nose. He opened his mouth and laughed. It started as a wheeze but grew into something shrill and terrifying, like a maniacal clown.
Levi rushed for the door, threw it open, and ran outside, slamming it hard after him. He paused, breathing hard, his heart racing. He could feel the shadow coming as it had before, rushing over the rooftops toward him. He ran with all he had to the dry lake bed and dropped to his knees. Instantly the lake bed filled with water—the Water. He held his breath and dove in without looking back, disappearing as the water began to turn red and close in around him.