Summoner of Nightmares

The four symbols wriggled across the ancient walls of the vault.

Lilith stared slightly grossed out at them as Athena scanned the markings.

“These symbols predate every current known Dreamseer record… attempting to archive for later studies,” Athena reported.

Great Teacher, through Selene, nodded.

“These were not the enemies recorded in the later histories.”

“These were the enemies that existed before history even had a name.”

The Black Gem pulsed.

The entire chamber seemed to breathe.

Lilith moved closer to Gene.

“That sounds bad.”

Gene looked at her.

“When the ancient dragon starts a sentence with ‘before history,’ it is usually bad.”

Great Teacher almost smiled.

“Your humor remains intact during danger.”

“I’ve found it helps.”

“That is why you tend to survive.”

The dragon turned toward the four symbols.

“Long before the Hollow King threatened the worlds of Summoners and Dreamseers, four beings existed beyond ordinary creation.”

“They would be considered gods in the way mortals understand the word.”

“They are forces that are hard to explain… They are more conceptual ideas given shape.”

The first symbol ignited.

A crown surrounded by endless cracks became illuminated on the wall.

“The Hollow King.”

“The Lord of Emptiness.”

“The Devourer of Creation.”

Gene’s expression hardened.

“He was the first one?”

“One of the oldest.”

Great Teacher continued.

“He believed that our existence itself was a mistake. That all things were doomed to suffer just because they existed.”

“His solution was very simple, in fact he decided that he needed to remove everything.”

Lilith frowned.

“But that sounds very stupid.”

Selene looked at her.

“Very advanced analysis.”

She beamed.

“Thank you.”

Great Teacher continued.

“The second…”

The second symbol appeared.

A white mark resembling a blade cutting through a circle.

“The Pale Huntsman.”

Gene froze slightly.

“The Pale Huntsman?”

The dragon noticed.

“You recognize the name.”

Gene looked away.

Images flashed in his mind.

A memory from another life.

A cruel laugh.

A pair of hands.

The feeling of helplessness.

Elias Crowe.

The monster who had ended his old life.

Gene clenched his fist.

“Could that man be connected?”

Great Teacher was silent for a moment.

Then nodded.

“It is possible. The Pale Huntsman was always connected to the Hollow King’s shadow.”

“Where the Hollow King sought to erase worlds…”

“The Pale Huntsman hunted those who attempted to stop him.”

“ She was an endless force that never stopped.”

Gene looked at Selene’s borrowed eyes.

“She?”

“Yes. The Pale Huntsman was the Hollow King’s elder sister.”

Lilith blinked.

“They were family?”

The dragon’s voice became colder.

“Among the four, the Pale Huntsman was often considered the more dangerous. The Pale Huntsman always sought to find something to hunt worth her time.”

⸻

The third symbol appeared.

A twisting shape covered in branches and roots.

“The Verdant Maw.”

“The Hunger That Grows.”

Great Teacher explained.

“It consumed life and recreated it incorrectly.”

“Forests became monsters.”

“Animals became nightmares.”

“Entire worlds became living experiments.”

Gene thought about the corrupted creatures created by the cult.

“So some of the monsters we fought…”

“May have traces of its influence.”

“Possibly even more?”

The fourth symbol appeared.

A blank circle.

Nothing inside.

Nothing around it.

Gene frowned.

“That’s unsettling.”

“That is because that is the most difficult one to understand.”

Great Teacher’s voice lowered.

“The Nameless Dream.”

“The thing that exists between thoughts.”

“The creature that erases memories, histories, and even the idea that something had ever existed.”

Lilith looked horrified.

“How do you fight something if nobody remembers what it is?”

Great Teacher looked at her.

“That was exactly the problem.”

⸻

The symbols faded.

“The Dreamseers fought all four.”

Gene looked around.

“And they won?”

Great Teacher was quiet.

“…they won right…”

“Well… some of them survived.”

The answer chilled them.

“Those are different things.”

“Yes. The Dreamseers discovered they could not actually destroy these beings. Thus they created prisons.”

“The Hollow King was sealed.”

“The Verdant Maw was buried.”

“The Nameless Dream drifted until they were completely forgotten.”

“And the Pale Huntsman…”

The dragon paused.

“Was captured… but no one was sure where she was buried.”

Gene’s eyes narrowed.

“So she could still be out there?”

“Possibly.”

⸻

Selene’s hand suddenly moved over and reached over towards the stone table.

Black light formed around her fingers as she began drawing.

Lines.

Symbols.

Equations.

“A blueprint?” ,Gene stepped closer.

“The creation that the Dreamseers believed would end the war.”

The blueprint soon took the form of a massive sword.

This was designed to not be a normal weapon at all.

It contained a core chamber.

A magical engine.

There was also a vague idea on the summoning framework needed to make it work.

“This…”

Gene whispered.

“This summon blueprint….”

“Yes.”

“This is weapon summon.”

“More specifically…”

Great Teacher looked at him.

“The Seven Star Sword.”

Gene studied the design.

“This is so incredible.”

“It was my predecessor’s greatest creation.”

“Selene’s grandmother’s?”

Great Teacher nodded.

“Selene’s grandmother created the first version.”

“But the Dreamseers could never complete it.”

“Why?”

Selene circled an empty section.

“Because they lacked the required equipment to make it work.”

The blueprint changed in front of them.

Three items appeared.

“The first requirement… The completed mirror.”

The Mirror of Fantastic Illusions appeared.

Gene nodded.

“We are already searching for the pieces.”

“The second…”

A picture of a mountain appeared.

Deep beneath it was a helmet.

“The Crown Helm of the King Dwarf. Hidden deep inside the Heart Mountain.”

“The third one is the Trident of Eternity. This one is deep under the sea.”

“Last but not least the final requirement…”

The image changed into a dark shape.

A strange egg-shaped block of metal appeared.

“This was said to be an enchanted celestial alloy. The material was only known to be shaped like an egg.”

Gene froze.

“Wait.”

The dragon looked at him.

“You know something about the last item?”

Gene slowly thought about the hidden levels beneath the Nightmare Hotel.

The strange object only a few people know the secret of.

“The hotel has something like that.”

Lilith looked excited.

“ Wait, we have treasure?”

“Possibly.”

Great Teacher nodded.

“Then the Dreamseers’ creation may finally be completed.”

⸻

With The blueprint finished, Great Teacher looked at Gene.

“You must understand something.”

Gene listened carefully.

“The Sword is not merely a weapon.”

“Only someone capable of understanding both fear and wonder can awaken it.”

Gene glanced toward Selene.

“That’s why you chose us.”

“That may be why fate brought you both together.”

The black glow in Selene’s eyes began fading.

“The communion between us is ending.”

Gene looked concerned.

“Will she be okay?”

“Yes.”

The dragon’s voice softened.

“She is stronger than many Dreamseers before her.”

The glow disappeared.

Selene blinked.

She looked around.

“Wow that was so strange. It felt like a dream… what happened?”

Lilith immediately smiled.

“The dragon lady went inside of you! You turned all noble and stuff! You were all like -Wham -bam- kerpow! How did you draw like that? Your magic smelled very nice! Can you show me, you were pretty awesome.”

Selene blinked both eyes separately…

“I did what?”

Gene laughed.

“We’ll explain later.”

Great Teacher’s voice echoed quietly from the ring.

“For now, everyone rest.”

Selene looked at the Black Gem.

“Do you think the great teacher will  stay in there for now on? I could feel things happening but I really couldn’t do anything.”

Gene nodded.

“Yes. They said that they would only posses you with your permission.”

A small smile appeared on her face.

“Good. We will need all the help we can get.”

⸻

As they prepared to leave the vault, Gene looked back at the blueprint.

The Seven Star Sword.”.

The Mirror.

The King Dwarf’s Helm.

The strange egg-shaped metal.

Another ancient mystery had opened.

But now Gene understood something.

The war against the Hollow King was never just about stopping one enemy.

It was about uncovering the forgotten history that once plagued the world.

And somewhere beyond the stars…

Ancient forces waited.

A portal opened.

The familiar halls of the Nightmare Hotel appeared beyond the glowing doorway.

Lilith stepped through first.

“Food time!”

Gene laughed.

“Of course that is your first thought .”

“It is an important topic.”

Selene followed behind them, smiling.

But beneath her smile…

The Dreamseer Ring quietly pulsed, deep within the Black Gem, the Great Teacher rested and meditated. 

They needed to make sure that they would grow their strength to help in the final battle.

Because, the final battle may not have begun yet… but the time for preparation is definitely now.