They sat in a quiet corner of the rooftop terrace, with all of Hamerza glittering below them. Dusk was giving way to night, while small ruby-red birds fluttered between the tables, sparkling in blue and gold with each wing beat. Kafrim leaned back in his chair and twirled his glass between his fingers.

Hannah sat across from him, looking happy and content. She regarded him with an ironic smile.

“Is this your new life style?” she asked. “Dining with the glitterati?”

“Glitterati?” he said. “Have you seen yourself in a mirror?”

She picked a crumb from her dessert off her plate, and threw it at his head. One of the small birds darted up and took it, pecking it his head with its sharp beak as it did so.

“Ow!” he said. “That’s cheating. Have you lost your sharp tongue?”

“Sharp beak, sharp tongue, same difference,” she said, but her smile was warmer. “I might have looked less out of place if you’d allowed me to go home and change,” she pointed out.

He shrugged. “You look good as you are,” he said. “I’m not very fancy either.” He glanced down at his combat trousers, and formed an image in his mind. The trousers vanished, replaced by glittering gold pants.

Hannah laughed. “The cloak suits you better than I thought, Kaf. Stylish and cool to the eye, but rough and worn beneath.”

“Hey,” he said. “I’m not worn!”

She stuck out her tongue at him. “Thanks for taking me here,” she said, looking out over the sprawling city around them. “This is a beautiful place.”

“It is,” he said. “And they have really good food.”

“Some of the best fish I’ve ever had,” she said. “And now?”

“You just can’t sit still for long, can you?” he said. “I haven’t made any detailed plans,” he lied, “but if you’d like, we could go to a place I know and watch the moon rise over the ocean.”

“You said this wasn’t a date,” she said, but her eyes twinkled. “But... I’m sorry Kaf. I can’t relax that much. I’m worried about the Hollow God.” She’d glanced around and lowered her voice.

“I said I’ll go see him tomorrow. If he’s running around like you said, he’s not hurt.”

“Mm,” she said.

“Okay,” Kafrim said. “I’ll take you home then. Is that good?”

“That’s good,” she said softly, and looked away, then back. “Like I said, Belonde moved out.”

“Yeah, you said that,” he began, and then tried to push his eyebrows back down. They’d started climbing as he realized what she was saying.

“Two days ago. She left with that guy she’s been seeing, so the other room is empty.”

“I see,” he said, although he didn’t, not quite. “I got you something,” he said, and reached down to fish out the necklace.

She gasped when he held it out. “Kafrim! That’s... where did you get that? You didn’t buy it, did you?” Her tone was suspicious, but she stared at the necklace with unabashed desire.

“If I wanted to buy stuff I’d have stolen the Hollow God’s money machine in his basement,” Kafrim said. “Nobody will miss it.” The necklace would be replaced by the game at some point. Heck, it might already have been.

She held it up and stared at it, lips parted in delight. He grinned at her. “Put it on,” he said.

“No,” she said and sighed.

“What?” he said. “Put it on!”

“No,” she said again. “I can’t. I can’t wear something like this.” She ran her fingers along the chain and shook her head slightly. “It’s too beautiful.”

“Then it suits you,” he tried, but she shook her head more firmly.

“No, Kaf,” she said. “Thank you, but... I’m a simple girl. I’m not beautiful, I’m not glamorous, I’m not... this looks like it belongs on a princess. I’d look like someone threw this out the window and it landed on a pile of trash.”

He stared at her, open mouthed, but she laughed and held it up again.

“No, I can’t wear it,” she said, in a tone that brooked no argument. “But I might find some use for it. You’re sure it’s for me?”

“Of course,” he said, completely confused.

“Then I’ll keep it,” she beamed. “It’s so pretty.” She held it up, making lights sparkle from the stone. A small bird flew near to see what was glittering, and she swung the diamond towards it. Then she held it still and peered through it, at Kafrim.

“It’s amazing,” she said, and trailed off. “Hey.” Her tone was suddenly worried. “Why are you blue?”

----------------------------------------

They stood in a dark alley down on the street, and there was no question about it. He was blue. His whole body shone softly, in an eerie, otherworldly blue light.

“I have no idea what this is,” he said, as he looked at his fingers. The light wasn’t strong to see by, at least not yet.

“It can’t be good,” Hannah said. She looked scared, which annoyed Kafrim. He wasn’t scared. Sure, this was unexpected and very strange, but - he was a professional thief and adventurer. He ate unexpected and strange, and slightly scary, for breakfast.

“It’ll help in dark places,” he said, flashing a smile at her. She did not smile back.

“Kaf,” she said, quietly. “I know this is all very exciting to you, but I’m - I’m scared. You didn’t see the Hollow God. He looked exactly like you.” She looked away. “He didn’t walk like you, though. That’s how I recognized you. But - he eats people, you know.”

“Yeah,” he said. “People, and things.”

“Will you do that to?”

“Eat people?! No! Ew! Come on, Hannah! I won’t eat anyone.”

“What if you can’t help it?” she said. “What if it’s the cloak? You don’t know how it works,” she said. “You didn’t know about this light.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“No, but... ah, heck. I get it. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m not going to hurt you, or anyone else. You know me. I only steal from those who can take it.”

She shrugged. “Maybe he started out with high ideals too.”

“Dammit!” he burst out.

“It’s just a surprise, that’s all. I’ll figure it out. Come on,” he said, holding out his hand. “I’ll take you home. Than I’ll go see the Professor.”

She didn’t reply, but she took his hand and stepped in close, and he held her hand firmly as he closed his eyes and shifted them out.

The Professor’s door was almost-closed like usual, and there was light coming from within. Good thing the Professor rarely traveled.

“Come in,” he shouted from inside.

The man was sitting in his computer room, at his rickety old computer. Kafrim had found it for him, in an old game teaching computer stuff. He found newer, better stuff too, but none of that would work in the magical part of this world. It would probably work down in the high-tech levels, but the Professor wasn’t interested in moving down there.

Therefore he sat with his big old lumbering computer, with a weird old display that flickered green and could just barely run any kind of graphical stuff. The Professor preferred typing commands, he claimed.

“Kafrim!” the Professor said and looked up. “You’re back! If you are. Are you?”

“What do you do if I say no?” Kafrim said and sat in an old office chair. “But yeah, I am. I’m me. And I got the cloak.”

The Professor nodded. “I thought so. I heard the Hollow God was here, and was really angry that you stole his cloak.”

“I heard that too,” Kafrim sighed. “I’ll go talk to him. I need your help first, though. Can you turn off the light?”

The Professor looked surprised, but rose and blew out the lamp hanging in the middle of the room. In the darkness, the blue glow coming from Kafrim was clearly visible.

“What’s that?” the Professor said, his voice fascinated.

“I hoped you could tell me that,” Kafrim answered.

Unfortunately, the Professor had never heard about anything like this, but he dropped whatever else he was doing for this interesting mystery. He lit the lamp again and got some strange instrument. Then he blew the lamp out and tried to measure whatever the instrument measured.

“Huh,” he said, lit the lamp, and went to get another instrument. He continued like this until he’d tried five or six things, and finally admitted that he couldn’t detect anything strange about it.

“It’s just light,” he complained. “How boring.”

“Not when it’s coming from me,” Kafrim retorted. “I wasn’t supposed to turn blue, was I? How can there even be a light from the cloak? You said it was a black hole something, not a light hole!”

“Event horizon,” the Professor corrected. “It’s made from an event horizon, in the game.” He pointed to the computer. “I found the manual for the game yesterday,” he said happily.

“Great,” Kafrim said. “Does it say anything about blue light?”

“No,” the Professor said. “It just says some vague and scary stuff about the Hollow God, and mentions his cloak is made from....” He trailed off, frowning deeply. “Hmmm,” he said. “I wonder...” He moved over to the computer and began typing.

Kafrim controlled his irritation and waited. He knew the Professor had to be left alone when he got ideas like this, but it still annoyed him.

“Ha,” the Professor said after a while. “It’s almost right, but not quite.”

“What isn’t?”

“Cherenkov radiation,” the Professor said, absentmindedly. He was still scrolling through text on the screen. “The blue color reminded me of that, but that’s from nuclear radiation. Although...” He fell silent.

“Black holes leak, though,” the Professor said after another while. “It’s called Hawking radiation, but it doesn’t say it’s blue.” He gestured at the screen.

“Leak?” Kafrim said. “I thought they absorbed everything.”

“Well, they do. Kind of. But they leak too. A little, but over time, it seems they evaporate completely. If they don’t get enough stuff to feed on, so to speak.”

“Evaporate?” Kafrim said, alarmed. “What does that mean for me? This cloak - what is it, exactly? Is it a black hole?” Am I a wearing black hole? The thought was so ludicrous he nearly laughed out loud.

“Kafrim,” the Professor said, wagging his finger at him. “You know I don’t know the answer to that. We talked about it.”

“Yeah,” Kafrim said reluctantly. They had talked about it, and the Professor had been very annoyingly clear that all he could do was make best guesses. No certainties.

“I really don’t know,” the Professor said. “I don’t think anyone does. Except maybe…”

“The Hollow God,” Kafrim said. The Professor nodded.

----------------------------------------

Kafrim was in no mood whatsoever to run through the jungle, so once he’d left the Professor’s house he concentrated on the great doors leading into the courtyard at the Hollow God’s keep. He’d been there once, so he could visualize them, and then let his mind slither through space-time, until... there.

He couldn’t describe it, but he folded the world, folded until it was here, and shaped the fold into a round opening. Then he stepped through.

The double doors rose above him, ten meters tall or more. The Hollow God liked big things. Big ego, big things, Kafrim thought sourly. He wasn’t really scared, but he was a bit peeved that his grand triumph had been warped like this. Blue light, really.

He didn’t think he’d get far, and he didn’t. He’d taken two steps and wondered if he would have to find his way inside the keep by using windows and portals, when he felt the world fold, and a portal appeared right in front of him. The Hollow God waited for him on the other side. Kafrim stepped through.

The god didn’t speak. He was sitting on a throne made of something glass-like, which shone faintly with the same kind of blue light. Kafrim walked up to it and looked up at the god.

“So,” the Hollow God said, “you came back.”

“I have some questions,” Kafrim said. He wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

“Which you think I can answer. Or want to, after what you did.” The Hollow God leaned forward. His eyes were large and pitch black.

“Do you know how much that hurt?”

“No,” Kafrim said. “I thought I was just taking your cloak.”

The Hollow God sat back up and snorted. “You’ll find out,” he said.

“Are you threatening me?” Kafrim said.

“No,” the god said. “You’re safe from me. I will admit I was angry for a while, after I respawned, but it passed. It was actually a very cheeky theft. I like that.”

“Respawned?” Kafrim said. “You died?”

“Of course I died! You took my skin away!”

Kafrim stared. Oh. So that sticky feeling, like the cloak was glued on, wasn’t far wrong...

“No matter,” the Hollow God continued. “I will say this. I have no idea what happens if we fight. If we both try to rip up space-time at the same time -” the god shrugged. “Perhaps we rip up all of it. All the worlds. If we touch each other, do we try to absorb each other, and collapse into nothing? I don’t know.”

“I see,” Kafrim said, slowly. It sounded strange, but good. If it meant he was safe.

“I was going to ask about the light.” He nodded at the throne, with its faint blue light.

“Yes,” the Hollow God chuckled. “The blue light.”

“Yeah. What is it?”

“It’s you,” the god replied. “Leaking away.”

“What?” Kafrim said, despite himself. It couldn’t be true...

“The cloak is made from a black hole. That’s what gives it its powers. Black holes leak. So does the cloak. So do you, now.”

“But…”

“It’s slow, but you’ll leak away in about five hundred years. If you don’t consume anything before that.” The Hollow God leaned back and regarded him coolly, with those black eyes.

Kafrim stared back at him, thinking furiously. Five hundred years was a long time - but not when you had expected to become immortal.

“I had hoped to live forever, actually,” he said.

The Hollow God threw his head back and laughed. “Live forever,” he said, wiping tears from his eyes. “Immortality is a myth. Boy.”

Kafrim almost snapped at him, but stopped himself. “I don’t believe that.”

“Suit yourself,” the god said. “You’ll keep shining at night. It’s very hard to hide, even with the cloak. And you won’t age while you wear it, but you’ll leak.” The god leaned forward again, his face intent. “There are only two things you can do about it. One, replenish the black hole. I’m not talking about food. I’m talking about absorbing things. Living things.”

Kafrim grimaced, but the god continued. “Two, you might not have to do that. If you can find the right wavelength. Then you can replenish the black hole with light instead.” The god rose from his throne and gestured towards it. “If you find the right light, tell me. I’ve been trying for two thousand years. This is close, but not quite.”

Kafrim shook his head in dismay. This was... not what he’d wanted. The windows and portals were good, and the illusion-making, but - he couldn’t go around eating people. Or things.

“There has to be something else,” he said. Although it would make a good research project for the Professor.

“Perhaps,” the Hollow God said. “If you find something, tell me.”

Kafrim frowned deeply. “I have some more questions,” he said.

“Even after you didn’t like the answer to your first one?” The Hollow God shook his head. “Okay, two more. Then - get out.”

“I was going to ask why you eat people,” Kafrim said, “but you told me that. What’s it like when you do? And - are you a game character?”

“I can’t answer the first,” the Hollow God. “You’ll have to try it. I can’t describe it. For the second - I don’t know. I’ve been here for a long time. I don’t remember how it started.”

“But,” Kafrim said. The Hollow God cut him off.

“Two questions,” he said. “Now get out.” Kafrim felt a portal open behind him, but he had no desire to be sent somewhere. He needed to go somewhere quiet, to think.

“Thanks,” he said, closed his eyes, and shifted out.