Nightmare Realm Summoner

Alex, along with all the others watched the door’s outline forming on the back wall of their room. The auction continued at their backs. Sofia was currently selling another weapon, but it hadn’t been significant enough to catch their attention — and even Claire was focused on the door rather than gathering information. There were only so many things that one could juggle at once without starting to drop some balls.

And right now, the only thing anyone in the room cared about was whoever was stepping through the door before them. The entire way this would play out would very significantly depending on who it was. A meeting with Crimson, especially now that Hazel had taken charge, would be a lot more pleasant than one with Starfallen.

Then again, we did kind of steal Hazel’s dungeon key. That was Wess’ fault. We didn’t ask him to. But we aren’t going to walk it back. So maybe Starfallen might actually be slightly preferable in this scenario. It’s not like anyone would come all the way to the auction just to break the rules by attacking us, right?

Alex wasn’t so sure he was willing to count on that. But he doubted the auction house would fault them for self defense. They certainly weren’t going to stand around and do nothing if they got attacked. That would just be something they’d have to deal with if the time came.

The door opened.

Into the room stepped a tall man with shoulder-length blonde hair the color of wheat. It certainly wasn’t Edward, and at least as far as Alex could tell, it wasn’t anyone he’d ever laid eyes on before. He wore intricately crafted golden-yellow clothes that looked to be made out of silk or some equivalent material. Patches of hardened material had been woven directly into them, seemingly in some form of unrestrictive armor for his vital organs.

The man hadn’t even bothered with a mask or any manner of disguise for himself. His sharp features were clearly visible, and in a way that made it quite apparent that he was at least a little proud of them. He may as well have been a living statue in his near-perfection.

But something about him set Alex on edge instantly. For all the undeniable beauty in the man’s features, there was something sharply alien about them. It set his hair on end instantly. In an instant, before either of the two parties could say a word, Alex knew one thing without a doubt.

The man before them wasn’t human.

There was a soft thud as the door closed behind the newcomer. Its outline vanished into the wall, leaving behind nothing but smooth stone in its wake. It seemed that Bleak Night didn’t have any plans of spying in on their conversation. Overtly, at least.

“Good day. I hope you’ve been enjoying the auction,” the man said with a faint smile. “It certainly sounds like you have been.”

“It’s far too early to tell,” Claire replied. She nodded to one of the extra chairs. “But we welcome you to our room. What prompted the meeting request? Was there something you wished to discuss?”

“Of course. And thank you for the offer,” the man said. He pulled a chair out and sat down across from them in a smooth motion that almost seemed practiced. “The subject is the one at hand. You.”

“You’re going to have to be more direct than that,” Claire said. “And though we don’t mind entertaining you, I’m going to go ahead and preemptively request that you get directly to whatever it is you want from us. There is an auction going. We didn’t come here purely to socialize.”

“What family are you with?” the man asked simply. “That is all I wish to know right now.”

“It’s not very polite to come here asking that when you haven’t even shared your own,” Claire replied. Her voice sounded a little more aloof than usual. It almost sounded like she were a noble talking to some bothersome peasant.

“Ah. My manners have been forgotten.” The man bowed his head slightly, but his words didn’t sound even slightly apologetic. “I am of Myrmidan. My name is Thorn.”

Haven’t heard of them before. I guess they’re one of the other Fourteen. But that’s a good thing. I think it means we probably haven’t pissed these guys off directly. Probably.

“Not the most welcoming name,” Claire observed.

“First appearances aren’t everything,” Thorn replied with a smile. “And now I have given you my family name. Will you return the favor?”

“No,” Claire replied. “But thank you for telling us. We appreciate being direct. Now, what was it other than our name that you came here for? Because this wasn’t just a social visit.”

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Thorn paused for a moment. His head tilted ever so slightly to one side. “I’m sorry?”

“We’re not giving you our name,” Claire replied simply. “I don’t see any reason to.”

“You said—”

“I said it wasn’t polite if you came here and didn’t share your family name,” Claire interrupted, raising a hand. “Not that we would do the same when you gave it to us.”

The corner of Thorn’s lip curled. It was hard to say if it was amusement or annoyance the man was feeling. He was definitely good at hiding his emotions. “I see. And if your name was the only thing I came to discover? There are treaties, after all. I would not want to—”

“The treaties ended the moment we set foot on a Tier 1 World,” Claire said flatly. “There are none. Not right now. So do as you will, Thorn. We are not so petty as to hold you to a standard that we ourselves are not going to follow.”

“Then that tells me quite a few families that you are not part of,” Thorn said with a twinkling laugh, almost like the sound of wind chimes ringing against each other. He definitely wasn’t human. Thorn leaned back slightly in his chair and arched an eyebrow. “So you will not speak to me?”

“We didn’t say that,” Claire said. “Only that you should be curt. Which you are failing to do, I may add. It was not our name that you came here for. And you don’t care about the treaties. Nobody does. That’s the half the benefit of a Tier 1. So I will ask you one last time. Speak plainly and directly… or leave. We have better things to be doing.”

Thorn smiled. “Oh, fine. Permit me to ask one more question then. I can assure you that it has purpose. What is it in this auction that you seek?”

Claire let the question sit for a second before she responded.

“Whatever we desire.”

“No particular object?” Thorn pressed. “You haven’t come for one thing more than another?”

“Whatever we desire,” Claire said again. “There is nothing we find ourselves in desperate need of. We only came to offload some unneeded resources while seeing if there was anything worth our time… and to have a little bit of fun.”

“That last part, at least, I could tell,” Thorn said. He let out a small chuckle. “Very well. That is sufficient. I simply wished to confirm that you were Outworlders. I am satisfied. There are two things of which I would like to speak. The first is of an item at the end of the auction. A weapon by the name of Wind’s End.”

“What of it?” Claire asked. “You need assistance getting it?”

“No. I need assistance in keeping you away from it,” Thorn said with a wry smile. “We have it on good authority that it will be up for auction. We would prefer to avoid wasting a ludicrous amount of Credits, but we want it. I am asking that you stay out of the bidding.”

“Why would we?” Claire interlaced her fingers. “We came here for interesting pieces.”

“It will be of little use to you. The weapon itself is worthless,” Thorn said. “But within the weapon is an item that Myrmidan will stop at nothing to have. If you bid against us on this item, then we both waste our money. I tell you now that we will not back down.”

Claire nodded slowly. “Then you will do the same for us, on an item of our choosing at any point during the auction.”

“That is hardly a fair trade. One item that has been already stated versus any potential one? There could be a great deal of valuable objects available.”

“I never said it was fair,” Claire said. “But you came to us for a favor, not other way around. And it is clear the item you want will be powerful. Part of the payment of us staying out of the bidding is that we will not be prying to figure out why you need it.”

Thorn was silent for a second. Then he nodded.

“Done. When you mention the word ‘indifferent’ while any item is up for bid, we will immediately step back from bidding on it. I trust that is satisfactory?”

“Perfectly,” Claire said. “Best of luck winning your bid. If you need assistance, you may free to let us know. We are not opposed to lending Credits for the right price.”

Thorn didn’t laugh at that. He simply nodded. Then he rose from his chair. “I will keep your offer in mind. That brings me to the second point of what I wished to discuss… though it is more a warning than anything else.”

“And what’s that?” Claire asked.

Thorn started for the wall. The door outline appeared in the wall the moment he approached it. He only paused when his hand was just inches away from the stone to turn and glance back at them.

“I have it on good word that there are Nativeworlders present in this auction.”

Alex’s stomach tightened.

Did Hazel leak that we were here?

“In what room?” Claire asked smoothly.

“4,” Thorn replied.”And it seems they have gotten their hands on a powerful artifact. One which they do not understand the value of. They have not even put it up for auction, but they refused our attempts to get the item. Do with that information what you will.”

Then Thorn pulled the door open and swept out of the room. It closed behind him silently, leaving them alone once more.

Alex and Claire exchanged a glance.

“More Nativeworlders,” Mite breathed. “Shit, man. We aren’t the only ones that got this far?”

“Evidently not,” Claire replied. “Well. We know what to do. Alex?”

“What?” Alex blinked. “Me?”

“I’m working,” Claire replied, nodding back to the auction, which was still going on. “And my skills are useful against people that know what they’re doing. When you’re up against an idiot, they’ll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.”

“Are you implying that we’re dumb?” Mite asked.

“No,” Claire said. “You’re inexperienced. But unfortunately, those read the same way at certain stages. Alex can handle this just fine. It’s just a bit of talking. If things work out, then we can figure out how to handle things from there.”

Alex nodded. Then he rose from his chair and strode for the spot in the wall that Thorn had just left from. Its outline still hadn’t even had a chance to completely fade.

He knocked on the wall.

The door materialized in full. It swung open to admit Edward into the room.

“Yes?” Edward asked. “How may I be of service?”

“Please contact Room 4,” Alex replied. “Tell them that we’d like to speak.”