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before he continued on through the ravine. He was on his guard, and had his stick at the ready to clobber any clawed toad that turned up. But no further adversaries appeared. Instead a noise became audible in the background, rhythmic and rebounding off the ravine walls. Hoof beats.
    He made Nameless slow down and creep very cautiously around the next curve, behind which, however, nothing more than further precipitous rock walls and even more scree was revealed. A few moments later the hoof beats broke off. Nick sent Nameless skirting along the rock wall, past thorny bushes as tall as a man. On further, until another rock wall rose up in front of him. Halfway up the wall – but still way above Nameless’s head – a wide over-hang towered over the ravine. At the back was the narrow mouth of a cave. In front of this entry, on a giant armoured horse, sat a gaunt figure in a grey tunic, who beckoned to both Nick and Nameless. Nick noticed only in passing the figure’s bald, pointy head and the excessively long, bony fingers. All his attention was focussed on his pale yellow eyes.
    â€˜You have been very skilful.’
    â€˜Thank you.’
    â€˜However, your life force isn’t looking too good.’
    â€˜I know.’
    â€˜You need to be mindful of that in the future.’
    The messenger’s businesslike way of speaking stood in bizarre contrast to his gruesome appearance.
    â€˜It is time for you to be named,’ he continued. ‘Time for the first rite.’ With an unhurried gesture he indicated the cave behind him. ‘I wish you luck, and the right decisions. We will meet again.’ He turned his horse around and charged off.
    Nick waited until the hoof beats had faded away before he took his figure over to the rock face. Steep steps, cut into the stone, led to the plateau. ‘Time for the first rite.’ Why were his hands damp again? He left-clicked on the darkness of the cave entrance. Nameless marched up to it and disappeared. The next moment the screen went black.
    Darkness. Silence. Nick shifted around on his chair. Why was it taking so long? He hammered at the keyboard just in case, which achieved precisely nothing.
    â€˜Oh come on,’ he said, and banged the monitor. ‘Don’t flake out.’
    The darkness continued, and Nick’s nervousness increased. He could take the DVD out of the drive and put it in again, or he could press the reset button, but that was risky. That might mean he’d have to start again right from the beginning. Or the game mightn’t start again at all.
    Suddenly there was a sound. Tap tap. A knocking sound, like a heartbeat. Nick opened the top drawer of his desk, got out headphones and plugged them into his computer. Now he heard the noise more clearly, and he thought he could make out something else in the background too. Horns that were playing a succession of short notes. It reminded him of a hunting call. It sounded full of promise. As if, in the background, the game was in full swing without him. He turned the volume up, feeling annoyed that he hadn’t thought of the headphones earlier. Perhaps he had missed important information – warnings or hints. Perhaps he hadn’t caught the one crucial tip about how you kept the game running!
    More from impatience than in the hope that it would speed things up, Nick hammered on the enter key.
    The tapping stopped, and now the red letters started to emerge out of the black background again.
    â€˜This is Erebos. Who are you?’
    Nick made a quick decision. He would choose the same name that he had already used in a few other computer games.
    â€˜I am Gargoyle.’
    â€˜Tell me your name.’
    â€˜Gargoyle!’
    â€˜Your real name.’
    Nick was stunned. What on earth for? Fine. Then he would supply a first name and a last name, so he could finally move on.
    â€˜Simon White.’
    The name was there, red on black, and for a few seconds nothing