Nightmare Realm Summoner

Alex tried not to look like too much of a tourist as he followed Liam through the streets of the Empty Court. It was a tough challenge. There were a dozen thoughts all spinning through his head and fighting to be heard all at once… and the foremost of which was wondering what the fuck Stargazer was doing in the Empty Court.

Isn’t Stargazer the asshole that got Absolution set on my trail in the first place? Half of the issues I’ve had since the start of the apocalypse wouldn’t have ever happened if this guy didn’t just randomly have it out for me. Why would he, of all people, be the one to invite me here?

But Liam hadn’t answered any of Alex’s questions. He hadn’t answered Claire’s either, for that matter. The huge man had just turned and started ambling down the beautiful streets, leaving the two of them no option but to follow after him in hopes of finally getting some idea of what in the world was going on.

A part of Alex suspected that Stargazer had just invited them here so he could kill them. But that really felt like a hell of a lot of work for someone to go through for no particular reason. Either way, the truth was going to be making itself known soon.

Relatively soon.

They’d been walking for just about thirty minutes now and Liam had shown absolutely no signs of stopping. He’d also ignored every single one of their inquiries as to exactly where they were going and how long it would take them to get there.

Liam had led them past quite a few other people.

At least, Alex was pretty sure they were people. He’d never really considered what one called a sapient being as a general term. That information had suddenly become quite prudent, as only around half of those they passed were human.

The rest were anything and everywhere in between. Alex nearly caught himself staring at the back of a man so hairy that he looked more like a gillie suit before he realized that the man was actually looking straight at him, and his back was actually his front.

Some of the passersby looked more like floating blobs of liquid than flesh, while others walked on all fours like animals. Most of them were roughly humanoid, though there were very few that looked perfectly human.

Alex even saw a dragon fly overhead at one point. But there was one thing that every single being they passed had in common.

They were strong, and pretty much every single one of them was armed.

It was pretty clear that everyone here had some manner of item or another to conceal their status. The System hadn’t identified a single one of them, but Alex didn’t need it to. He could literally feel the intensity of the power from those passing him by, as if he were walking through constant electric fields.

Several times, he felt his heart literally skip a beat as they passed someone by. The air here felt thicker. Heavier. Breathing felt considerably harder than it had back on 274-50, though Alex wasn’t sure if that was because of the strength of those surrounding them or the height of the mountain that they were slowly making their way up.

Nobody bothered them on the climb. Most of them didn’t even acknowledge their presence. One or two people gave Liam a small nod as he passed them, but that was the extent of it. Everyone seemed to be busy with… well, whatever it was they were doing here.

Alex had high hopes that Stargazer would be willing to tell him exactly what that was. But, somehow, he suspected that all he would get would be more useless bullshit.

That was fine. For the time being, he was more than happy just looking around the immensity of the Empty Court. He squinted through the windows of buildings they passed, and what he found was more than enough to satisfy his curiosity.

He spotted shops filled to the brim with weapons that he’d never seen and potions that were certain to probably do at least something impressive. A part of him was tempted to break away from Liam and just try to figure out what was for sale, but Alex pushed it down.

The shops would still be here when they finished up dealing with this.

What he wanted right now was answers.

But he still took note of the most interesting locations — as well as a few buildings that stood out in particular. A large, circular colosseum full of people at the base of the mountain. A huge floating pavilion made up of a dozen beautiful cubes that had been connected by an intricate pattern of glowing pathways. A rather ominous looking square building with a doorway ten times taller than it needed to be.

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There were so many that he could barely keep track of it all. Alex got the feeling that his attempts to fit in weren’t going very well. But nobody had bothered them about it or challenged him and Claire to a fight to the death, so he figured it was probably okay.

He nearly ran straight into Liam’s back when the larger man ground to an abrupt halt in the middle of the street. He only managed to stop because Claire grabbed his shoulder.

“We’re here,” Liam said.

“Where?” Alex glanced around. There were a few random buildings around them. It was impossible to say if they were important or not, but they weren’t exactly standing at the entrance to any of them. They’d just stopped in the middle of a random crossing.

Liam pointed up.

Alex’s gaze followed his finger. Sweeping through the air toward them, at little more than the speed of a casual stroll, was the bottom of a glowing golden pathway.

“There,” Liam said.

Alex squinted up the path. It ran up to a large, rectangular marble building that strongly resembled a very upscale apartment.

“Seriously?” he asked. “You have to wait for the street to come to you? What kind of system is that?”

“Don’t ask me,” Liam replied. He crouched slightly, then leapt.

The huge man sailed nimbly through the air to alight upon the golden pathway without the slightest hint of effort. Then he started up it without even checking to see if they were following him.

Alex and Claire exchanged a glance. Then, without a word, both of them leapt.

They landed on the golden pathway as it continued on its way, slowly passing by where they’d stood on the street. It quickly lifted into the air and started to pull away from the mountain as it continued in its orbit around the mountain. Alex was tempted to stand there and watch the rest of the Empty Court from his perch.

Unfortunately, Liam was almost at the building’s entrance already. Alex and Claire were forced to hurry down the path after him.

“You know, they should really add some rails or something to these,” Alex said as they drew up alongside the larger man right as he stepped through the building’s entrance. He threw a glance over his shoulder. “Someone could fall.”

“Oh, they do. Quite often, actually. A few of the paths are pretty hard to get on. This one was simple,” Liam replied. He continued deeper into the building.

Alex and Claire followed.

The interior was marble, but pathed by soft red carpet that had clearly seen some years. Alex got the feeling the flooring was about five times as old as he was. A few shelves and doors lined the inside hall, but Liam ignored all of it. He took them up a winding staircase onto the second floor. This one was another hall, similar to the first, lined by a few sparse dust-covered windows scattered between a dozen doors.

They passed several more doors — none of which had anything to identify them from one another before coming to a stop before one at the far end of the hall.

“Right,” Liam said. “We’re here.”

“Right,” Alex repeated, considerably less convinced than Liam sounded. He squinted through one of the dusty windows. The Empty Court was now nothing more than a murky smudge dotted by shimmering lines of faint golden light. It almost felt like they’d stepped into a different dimension.

And, between the two of them, he preferred the former.

At least it hadn’t smelled like dust.

“In you go,” Liam said.

“I notice you are not opening the door,” Alex said.

“I’m not your servant,” Liam said.

“Never said you were. But you’re guiding us,” Alex said. He sent a look at the door. “Seems a bit odd that you’d suddenly stop and stick around to watch. Is it going to explode when we touch it or something?”

Liam stared at him for a moment. The man’s scarred, hairless face was completely impossible to read. Then his lips cracked in a grin.

“I get the feeling that you’ll do just right here.” Liam clapped Alex on the shoulder, then reached over to the door and turned the handle. There was a clunk and a thud, and the door opened ever so slightly, though he didn’t push it all the way. He released the handle. “There you go. Open. Happy?”

“Actually, I think I’m even more suspicious now,” Claire said.

“Look. You two are the ones that have to meet him. Not me,” Liam said. “I’m going to head off. Got things to do. He said I wasn’t welcome in the meeting. And when Stargazer says something, it’s generally wise to listen. Even if you don’t agree with it.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed. That sounded dangerously like a threat. “What’s—”

Liam turned on his heel and strode back for the exit, raising his hand in farewell. “Best of luck. Maybe we’ll run into each other some time. I’d love to see just how strong you two are. I’m sure there’s something we all stand to learn from a good fight.”

Then he was gone, striding down the stairwell and vanishing from view.

Alex and Claire exchanged a glance.

Then Claire shrugged. “Might as well. We’ve come this far.”

“So we have,” Alex agreed. He turned back to the door, which was still cracked ever-so-slightly open to let a faint trickle of light spill out from the room beyond. At the very least, it seemed like someone had cleaned at least one window somewhere in it.

Alex pushed the door open.

Bright light, far stronger than he’d been expecting, washed over him.

He blinked furiously to clear his vision, raising one hand before his face.

And then he froze.

There was indeed a well-cleaned window taking up a fair portion of the room’s back wall.

And sitting in a chair that had been spun around backward, his arms draped over the backrest and a faint, shit-eating grin on his lips, was a young man with glasses and well-cared for blonde hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail.

“Hey, man,” Teddy said, raising a hand slightly in greeting. “Been a while.”