The Return of Nightfall
Read The Return of Nightfall Online
Authors: Mickey Zucker Reichert
Table of Contents
Raves for Nightfall’s Return!
“Nightfall, the mythical assassin featured in
The Legend of Nightfall
is back and badder than ever! In the vein of R. A. Salvatore’s dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden and Michael Moorcock’s albino sorcerer Elric of Melni boné, Reichert’s Nightfall is arguably the most complex and thoroughly entertaining antihero to come along in decades, a master of disguise who alters personas as easily as changing clothes. This adventure—which includes evil sorcerers, rowdy pirates, scheming politicians, and enough nonstop action to satisfy the most zealous swashbuckler fanatic—is his most exciting yet, and hopefully not his last.”
The Legend of Nightfall
is back and badder than ever! In the vein of R. A. Salvatore’s dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden and Michael Moorcock’s albino sorcerer Elric of Melni boné, Reichert’s Nightfall is arguably the most complex and thoroughly entertaining antihero to come along in decades, a master of disguise who alters personas as easily as changing clothes. This adventure—which includes evil sorcerers, rowdy pirates, scheming politicians, and enough nonstop action to satisfy the most zealous swashbuckler fanatic—is his most exciting yet, and hopefully not his last.”
—
The Editors of Barnes and Noble
The Editors of Barnes and Noble
“The former thief and master of disguise makes his long-awaited return in this absorbing, fast-paced high fantasy. Reichert’s well-conceived and well-executed world, including its salty seafaring side, will leave fans hoping they won’t have to wait so long for a third Nightfall book.”—
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
“Finally, a new Nightfall story! This is a great story. There’s adventure on land and sea, vivid characters, sarcastic humor and a charmingly befuddled but deadly hero.
The Return of Nightfall
is a welcome homecoming.”—
Starlog
The Return of Nightfall
is a welcome homecoming.”—
Starlog
THE
RETURN
OF
NIGHTFALL
RETURN
OF
NIGHTFALL
Be sure to read these other
extraordinary DAW Fantasy Novels by
MICKEY ZUCKER REICHERT
extraordinary DAW Fantasy Novels by
MICKEY ZUCKER REICHERT
FLIGHTLESS FALCON
THE LEGEND OF NIGHTFALL
THE RETURN OF NIGHTFALL
THE RETURN OF NIGHTFALL
SPIRIT FOX
(with Jennifer Wingert)
(with Jennifer Wingert)
The Books of Barakhai:
THE BEASTS OF BARAKHAI
THE LOST DRAGONS OF BARAKHAI
THE BEASTS OF BARAKHAI
THE LOST DRAGONS OF BARAKHAI
The Renshai Trilogy:
THE LAST OF THE RENSHAI
THE WESTERN WIZARD
CHILD OF THUNDER
THE LAST OF THE RENSHAI
THE WESTERN WIZARD
CHILD OF THUNDER
The Renshai Chronicles:
BEYOND RAGNAROK
PRINCE OF DEMONS
THE CHILDREN OF WRATH
BEYOND RAGNAROK
PRINCE OF DEMONS
THE CHILDREN OF WRATH
The Bifrost Guardians
Omnibus Editions
Omnibus Editions
Volume I:
GODSLAYER
SHADOW CLIMBER
DRAGONRANK MASTER
GODSLAYER
SHADOW CLIMBER
DRAGONRANK MASTER
Volume II:
SHADOW’S REALM
BY CHAOS CURSED
SHADOW’S REALM
BY CHAOS CURSED
Copyright © 2004 by Miriam S. Zucker.
All rights reserved.
DAW Books Collectors No. 1303.
DAW Books are distributed by the Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious.
All resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.
All resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.
The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
Chapter 1 of this novel previously appeared in a different form as the short story, “Nightfall’s Promise,” in DAW 30th ANNIVERSARY FANTASY, Edited by Elizabeth R. Wollheim and Sheila E. Gilbert, copyright © 2002.
First Paperback Printing, September 2005
DAW TRADEMARK REGISTERED
U.S. PAT. OFF. AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES
—MARCA REGISTRADA
HECHO EN U.S.A.
U.S. PAT. OFF. AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES
—MARCA REGISTRADA
HECHO EN U.S.A.
S.A.
eISBN : 978-1-101-15754-1
To Jody Lee,
friend, artist, and loving mother—
from her biggest fan.
friend, artist, and loving mother—
from her biggest fan.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following people:
Sheila Gilbert, Mark Moore, Sandra Zucker,
Jonathan Matson, Tim Larson, Jackie, Koby, and Carly.
Sheila Gilbert, Mark Moore, Sandra Zucker,
Jonathan Matson, Tim Larson, Jackie, Koby, and Carly.
Also, to all the persistent fans of Nightfall for
demanding a sequel—sorry it took me eleven years
to get the message.
demanding a sequel—sorry it took me eleven years
to get the message.
The Legend of Nightfall: A Nursery Rhyme
A demon wakens with the night,
Reviling sun and all things bright.
Evil’s friend and virtue’s foe—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Reviling sun and all things bright.
Evil’s friend and virtue’s foe—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Eyes darker than the midnight shade;
Teeth sharper than the headsman’s blade.
When he smiles, a cold wind blows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Teeth sharper than the headsman’s blade.
When he smiles, a cold wind blows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
When shadows fall and sunlight breaks,
What Nightfall touches, Nightfall takes.
Lives and silver, maids in bows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
What Nightfall touches, Nightfall takes.
Lives and silver, maids in bows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
A demon cruel; a monster stark,
Grim moonlight, coldness, deepest dark.
Nightmares come to those who doze
In darkness where old Nightfall goes.
Grim moonlight, coldness, deepest dark.
Nightmares come to those who doze
In darkness where old Nightfall goes.
Nightfall laughs, and death’s ax falls.
Hell opens wide and swallows all.
He rules the depths where no light shows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Hell opens wide and swallows all.
He rules the depths where no light shows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Lock up your children after dark,
Lest Nightfall find an easy mark.
For safety ends at twilight’s close—
And darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Lest Nightfall find an easy mark.
For safety ends at twilight’s close—
And darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Razor claws and fiery eyes;
Leathern wings to cleave the skies.
His soul within stark midnight froze—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Leathern wings to cleave the skies.
His soul within stark midnight froze—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Those who brave the night will find
Horror, dread, and demon kind.
He slays them all and rends their souls—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Horror, dread, and demon kind.
He slays them all and rends their souls—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Birthed within the black abyss,
His silent gift a deadly kiss.
Gone before the rooster crows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
His silent gift a deadly kiss.
Gone before the rooster crows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Counting years like grains of sand.
Countless fall beneath his hand.
Time, his minion; night, his clothes—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Countless fall beneath his hand.
Time, his minion; night, his clothes—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Where Nightfall walks, all virtue dies.
He weaves a trail of pain and lies.
On mankind heaps his vilest woes—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
He weaves a trail of pain and lies.
On mankind heaps his vilest woes—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Wolves and bats and beasts of night,
Spirits black that flee the light,
Cringed in fear when he arose—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Spirits black that flee the light,
Cringed in fear when he arose—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
He feeds on elders and children,
On soldiers, kings, and beggarmen.
He never stops and never slows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
On soldiers, kings, and beggarmen.
He never stops and never slows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
The Evil One, the demon blight
Who hides in day and stalks the night.
He steals the stars and drags them low—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Who hides in day and stalks the night.
He steals the stars and drags them low—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Alternative verses:
Three kings and their armies rode
To hunt the demon in the cold;
But where they’ve gone, no mortal knows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
To hunt the demon in the cold;
But where they’ve gone, no mortal knows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
A dragon laughed at Nightfall’s fame,
Rained curses on the demon’s name;
The dragon’s bones now lie in rows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Rained curses on the demon’s name;
The dragon’s bones now lie in rows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
A wizard hoped to slay the beast.
He conjured up a poisoned feast.
The demon fed him to the crows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
He conjured up a poisoned feast.
The demon fed him to the crows—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
A gambler bet the tales were lies
And scorned the wisdom of the wise.
The odds were not the ones he chose—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
And scorned the wisdom of the wise.
The odds were not the ones he chose—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Six princes fought him in the night.
Their fortress of unequaled might
’Twas gone before the sun arose—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Their fortress of unequaled might
’Twas gone before the sun arose—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
The Evil One, the demon blight
Who hides in day and stalks the night.
He steals the stars and drags them low—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Who hides in day and stalks the night.
He steals the stars and drags them low—
Darkness comes where Nightfall goes.
Prologue
N
IGHTFALL AWAKENED to the first rays of sunlight trickling through the open window of his room in Alyndar Castle. As always, he woke without stiffening, without changing the pattern of his breathing, without providing any hint to anyone who might be watching that the level of his alertness had changed. He assessed the status of his injuries from weeks-long habit; and, to his delight, found nothing amiss. For the first time since he had fallen the equivalent of nine stories, locked in battle with a flying sorcerer, nothing hurt.
IGHTFALL AWAKENED to the first rays of sunlight trickling through the open window of his room in Alyndar Castle. As always, he woke without stiffening, without changing the pattern of his breathing, without providing any hint to anyone who might be watching that the level of his alertness had changed. He assessed the status of his injuries from weeks-long habit; and, to his delight, found nothing amiss. For the first time since he had fallen the equivalent of nine stories, locked in battle with a flying sorcerer, nothing hurt.
Nightfall opened his eyes. He knew every detail of the room by heart, secure in the knowledge that, if anything had changed in the night, he would immediately be aware of it. He lay on a real bed, its ticking softened by thick, fuzzy blankets fit for royalty. His furniture consisted of a massive wardrobe, currently containing exactly two changes of clothing and sparse toiletries. An empty chest took up most of the space at the end of the bed, and a chamber pot sat in the corner.
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