Nightmare Realm Summoner

Alex’s monsters exploded into motion as one. Princess charged at their lead. Her claws screeched against the ground with every loping movement she took. The huge monster’s gait was so ungainly that it didn’t look like it possibly could have been classified as fast — but the bubbling black wall of flesh bearing down on Zeal begged to differ.

Spark and Glint took up the back, dashing behind her to take advantage of any openings that she could create.

Claire didn’t stick around to let Alex do all the work. Her wings exploded out from her back and snapped down, launching her forward in a blur of motion. She held her sword close to herself and kept its tip pointed straight at Zeal as she shot at him like a stinging bee.

The huge dragon rising through the air above Zeal shimmered, each individual scale somehow just separate enough from the others to be clear that they had been hand-drawn. Everything down to the faintest details of the long whiskers curling from the dragon’s nose was beyond intricate. It was impossible to determine how long it had taken to create such a horrifyingly beautiful monster.

It twisted around its master, completely blocking Zeal from view for a moment as everyone from Alex’s team arrived as one. Claire thrust her blade forward with a yell. Princess brought her claws streaking down. Glint slashed with his shimmering wing and Spark ripped a spear of shadow up from the ground to pierce into the dragon.

And every single blow rang off the monster’s scales. Ringing clangs echoed through the air as each of them were sent stumbling back, their strikes completely ineffective against Zeal’s domain.

The dragon spun, sending its long body thrashing across the arena and slamming Alex’s monsters and Claire to the side like stray bowling pins. They were all sent skidding back across the platform.

”Good!” Zeal exclaimed, clapping his hands together. ”I can see your progress! But it is still not enough. You have much farther to come before you can challenge me!”

The old man blurred, closing the distance between him and Alex in an instant. His fist snapped out, driving straight through the skull of one of Alex’s mirrored clones. The spell shattered, sending fragments of magic raining through the air harmlessly.

Zeal clicked his tongue and spun — this time, blurring straight toward the real Alex. Perhaps it was luck. Perhaps he’d managed to see through the magic. There was no time to question which.

Alex teleported.

The world lurched as he vanished an instant before Zeal’s fist passed through the air where he’d been. He reappeared to the side, already spinning to send a kick into Zeal’s side. It was a move that Claire had spent a fair amount of time teaching him.

Alex was satisfied to find the blow connect solidly with the old man’s side. He was considerably less satisfied to find that it didn’t so much as make Zeal budge. The old man just slowly turned toward Alex, the grin on his lips growing wider.

Shit.

Alex teleported.

He re-formed on the far end of his domain just in time to watch Zeal’s dragon slam down on the ground where he’d been, crushing every single one of his mirror images in an instant. Zeal spun to look straight at Alex.

”You’ve got an interesting ability there, boy,” Zeal said. ”Instantaneous relocation? That’s a mighty powerful skill if you learn to master it. But it doesn’t seem very well suited for a summoner. You need to be able to do damage for an ability like that to be effective. If you can’t… you’re just running away.”

Alex’s monsters charged at Zeal. He could feel their time growing short. Even with Qi empowering it, Encore would only last for another second or two at most. Alex gritted his teeth as he dug through his mind. Adrenaline pumped through his body and pounded in his ears. He wasn’t down to the last trick in his deck, but he didn’t exactly have a full hand anymore either.

They still hadn’t managed to find a single way to land a good blow on Zeal.

Zeal’s dragon twisted. Its long body lashed out and swept into the monsters like a cracking whip. Glint leapt over it, but the other two summons weren’t nearly as lucky. They were sent hurtling right past Alex — and toward the edge of the platform, where they would plummet to their deaths in the Mirrorlands skies.

Shit!

Summoning them back wasn’t an option. The monsters were already dead. They only had maybe one more second left in them.

Zeal didn’t stick around to let Alex watch his monsters vanish over the edge of the platform. He blurred, appearing directly before Alex with the excited smile still plastered across his lips.

No!

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Panic spiked in Alex. There was a lurch somewhere deep within his gut. Power exploded forth in a roar.

Zeal sent a punch hurtling straight up for Alex’s jaw in a streak.

His fist never made it.

A massive black fist of sludge and porcelain claw slammed into Zeal for the second time that day. His eyes widened in a brief instant of surprise before he was sent rocketing back.

Zeal bounced once on the ground before spinning midair to right himself. He skidded several more feet before finally coming to a halt, a hand pressed against his cheek. Then he blinked.

Glint exploded toward him with a shriek of rending glass. His claws flashed toward Zeal’s throat — and he exploded into a hail of glass shards that spun past the old man harmlessly. Smoke twisted up from his body to flow back to Alex.

The Glasmir wasn’t alone. Princess collapsed into a puddle of black liquid at Alex’s side. Spark, who had been about to rise behind Zeal, similarly dissipated.

Their time was up.

”You teleported… your monster?” Zeal let his hand drop. ”So you’re capable of that as well?”

”I’m about as surprised as you are,” Alex muttered. He lowered his stance, bracing himself for another attack. Trying to match Zeal’s speed was pointless. He just had to wait for the other man to attack and then try to teleport out of the way before any blows could connect.

I’ve got enough power left for a few teleports and a number of spells. But I don’t know what the hell I could do against this guy. He’s too fucking cool.

”You could look a little less excited about our asses getting handed to us,” Claire said as she edged along the arena, not taking her eyes of Zeal once, to stand beside Alex. ”Someone would think you’re on his team.”

”I can’t help it,” Alex said, shifting from foot to foot. His body wouldn’t stay still. There was just too much adrenaline tearing through it — and if he didn’t start moving again soon, he was worried that he’d literally tear himself apart.

Do I have a problem? I might have a problem.

”It’s unfortunate you don’t have your Partial Soul Manifestation yet, girl,” Zeal said. ”If you did, the two of you might have been able to overwhelm me. But you seem to be holding back. Is that really wise?”

”Not a personal choice,” Claire replied tersely. ”I’m working with restrictions.”

Zeal’s smile faded slightly. The dragon coiled around him once more. ”Aren’t we all? Very well. If that was what you wanted to show me… then I suppose it’s my turn again. Brace yourselves, children.”

He raised his brush into the air.

Then, with a flick, he brought it slicing down. Zeal might have been holding nothing more than a mere paintbrush, but it descended with what could only be described as the force of a falling mountain.

Pressure slammed down on Alex’s shoulders with a buzzing roar. He staggered, then dropped down to his knees as he suddenly found himself unable to resist the pull of gravity. The air squeezed from his lungs like toothpaste from a wrung tube.

Claire collapsed beside him. Her sword fell to the ground before her as she pitched forward, catching herself with her hands before she could fall flat.

A loud crack tore through Alex’s mind. He felt his domain shatter like sugar glass. The gate in his soul slammed closed.

Both of them forced their eyes up, unable to do anything but stare up at Zeal as he lifted his brush once more, this time holding it out to his side. He looked down at them. There wasn’t a single ounce of contempt or anger in his eyes.

There was only curiosity.

”I would like you to aid me with my next painting,” Zeal said. ”Do please try your hardest. There’s nothing in this world I hate more than a lackluster effort.”

A wave of red exploded out from Zeal like a tsunami of blood. The black-and-white outlines that made up everything within Zeal’s domain evaporated in an instant. There wasn’t even time to blink. All other color vanished.

The only thing that remained was deep, ruddy red. It covered the world in a thick sheen and spared absolutely nothing from its grasp.

All sense of sight evaporated. There was nothing to see. No shades. No differences between one point and the next. Alex’s own body was completely indistinguishable from the ground at his feet.

There was only red.

But sight wasn’t the only thing that left Alex.

His connection to his magic evaporated.

The blood rushed out of his face as he desperately grasped for power that should have still been there — and found nothing. His connection to his magic was gone. All of it. Everything from his Qi to his Mind Palace was completely inaccessible.

What the hell is this?

Alex tried to reach even deeper in himself and activate Armament Elegy, but it was pointless. He couldn’t access his powers at all.

Shit. I need to think. Is Zeal also blind? Probably not. And his dragon is huge. Even if it can’t see, it could just start blindly swiping and kill us without even trying. But the fact that it hasn’t means either Zeal is giving us a chance… or he can’t see either.

We need to be quiet.

Alex fought to slow his pounding heart. It wasn’t easy. The adrenaline tearing through his body urged him forward, demanded that he charge blindly in hopes of connecting with Zeal. But that would give their spot away.

This is one giant game of hide and seek. Claire’s already figured that out. That’s why she hasn’t said anything—

”Alex?” Claire called. The tone in her voice was one Alex had never heard before. Chills gripped Alex’s spine like the tightening hand of death itself. Claire was scared. He heard her footstep scuff against the ground behind him. ”Alex? My senses. They’re gone. I can’t see. I can’t see anything.”

I’ve never heard her sound like that before.

Alex turned to Claire. ”Don’t make any more noise. Zeal is listening. I’m coming. Just stay—”

A whump tore through the air before Alex, passing so close that he felt wind rip through his hair. A sickeningly loud, disconnected crunch tore into the air an instant later as the platform beneath his feet shuddered from an immense impact.

And then there was nothing.

His heart pounded faster still in his chest as his own warning was forgotten. He couldn’t hear anything at all. Not Claire. Not the dragon. Not Zeal. Nothing.

”Claire?” Alex whispered.

There was no response.

There was nothing but him and the dragon and the endless sea of red.