Nightmare Realm Summoner

Alex and Claire returned to the Mirrorlands with the Warped Embassy, then wasted no time at all in setting off in the direction of Valley Ford. It was fortunate that Claire still remembered where it was. If it wasn’t for her sense of direction, Alex was pretty sure he never would have seen the former Hub city again.

That might not have been too bad of a thing. The last time they’d been there, things had been… bad. Granted, that was kind of his fault. But the Void Goliath was probably long since gone. There was no way a monster that powerful had nothing better to do than just sit around and watch over a flattened city.

Alex supposed they’d find out soon enough.

But they only made it about a half an hour away from Mirrorwane before Claire’s jog slowed to a stop in a field of swaying purple-black Riftwarped grass. Alex matched her, his head tilting in confusion.

“Why are we stopping?” He asked, looking around. “We’re not there yet. Is there a monster somewhere?”

“Still a ways out,” Claire agreed with a nod. “And no. Not that I can see, at least. There’s probably one sitting around somewhere or another, though. But that’s not why. That is.”

She nodded over her shoulder. Alex turned to follow her gaze. Then he blinked.

Someone was jogging after them.

For a brief moment, a spike of adrenaline shot through Alex and he drew on his magic. He squinted in the person’s direction. Then he let his magic drain away to make way for confusion.

“The hell?” Alex asked. “Is that…”

“Aaron,” Claire finished. “Yeah. I smelled him coming when the wind shifted.”

“What is he — wait.” Alex glanced to Claire. “You can smell people coming? Seriously? Why have you never mentioned this? That sounds super useful. Does it also mean you can smell everything super well?”

“No. Just blood, and not really all that well,” Claire replied. She smirked. “It’s practically useless. It’s like… you know how a room smells when someone cooks something that smells tasty?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s like that,” Claire said. “And it’s practically impossible to use unless you happen to be in a place where literally nobody has blood other than one other person.”

“Oh. Right,” Alex said, still watching Aaron’s steady approach. He was gaining on them fast. “The Mirrorlands. Guess that’s useful.”

“I think it’s just an old remnant from abilities that Dhampirs used to have. It’s more amusing than anything else, but I guess I can’t complain. Honestly, I don’t remember it being anywhere near this strong. I never could have noticed someone from that far away a while ago.” A frown pulled at the corners of Claire’s lips. “Actually, yeah. He’s really far. I can’t believe I managed to notice him.”

“You think it’s an effect from the body tempering?”

“It must be,” Claire said. “But why would it be? I thought that just made us tougher. Why would my nose be better?”

“Maybe it’s enhancing our natural capabilities or something? Like it’s a way to amplify all our natural abilities?” Alex suggested. “It could be like super-evolution or something.”

Claire let out a thoughtful grunt. “Hm. Yeah. Maybe so. You haven’t noticed anything like this yourself?”

“Not yet.” Alex paused for a moment to see if he’d somehow missed some major change in his physiology, but he didn’t even know where to start looking. Everything felt roughly the same. “Maybe humans don’t have any cool things to make more powerful. We might just get tougher.”

Claire sent him a look that said she didn’t believe that for a second. They didn’t have time to continue the discussion any longer. Aaron was finally upon them.

“Thanks for waiting,” Aaron said, raising a hand in greeting as he slowed to a stop a few feet away from them. He gave them a sheepish grin. “I — uh, sorry. I probably should have asked before I ran out here.”

“You’re a free man. You can do what you want,” Claire said. “But why are you here? Did we forget something?”

“No.” Aaron cleared his throat. Then he shifted his stance uncomfortably. “You’re going to some kind of Mirrorlands dungeon, right? I, uh, was wondering if I could come with you.”

“This isn’t just some random dungeon,” Claire said. “It’s a very dangerous one. We’re going to test how much stronger we’ve gotten after a lot of advancements that came from opportunities that not everyone in Mirrorwane has had access to. It probably isn’t the smartest dungeon for you to start with.”

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“I’m not weak anymore,” Aaron said, setting his jaw. He pressed a hand to his chest. “I’ve been training. Every waking moment. I’ve used the Cultivation Array constantly. But I can’t get stronger by just training. You have to take risks, right? And the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.”

“I fuck with the logic there, but this is a pretty steep jump in difficulty,” Alex said. “What Stage have you gotten to?”

“Initiate 9,” Aaron replied. There was a hint of pride in his voice. “With a completely full Mind Palace. The only thing I’m missing before I can advance are the Soul Gems.”

Wow. He’s actually advancing pretty damn fast.. Still, the Aspect Gems and unlocking a Partial Soul Manifestation are a huge advancement. Not having those as well as missing out on a lot of the other advancements that Claire and I have gotten are going to put him pretty significantly behind.

“That’s good progress, but…” Claire trailed off as Aaron raised his hands.

“I know it’s not enough,” Aaron said. “But I need to take risks. I have to. The System gave me a Trial. One that depends on the difficulty that I myself set. I’ve been sitting on it for a while because I didn’t want to waste the opportunity. But this is it. It has to be. What could be better than a dungeon that’s strong enough for the two of you? I’m certainly not going to survive anything more dangerous. This is the best shot I’ve got.”

Alex and Claire exchanged a glance.

If Aaron had a Trial, that changed things. They both knew all too well just how significant the rewards for those could be. The risks were obviously huge… but they hadn’t gotten this far by being overly cautious about all their choices. Denying Aaron the option to try his own hand would have been hypocritical.

“You’re sure about this?” Alex asked. “There’s a really strong chance things go wrong. It’s not a normal dungeon. If you’re that determined, I don’t think we can say no. You just need to know what you’re getting yourself into. We’ve been put up against someone with a full Soul Manifestation in this dungeon, and the only reason we survived is because he ended up not wanting to kill us.”

Aaron swallowed. Then he reset his jaw and nodded. “Yeah. I’m sure. You wouldn’t be going again if you didn’t think you had a good chance of doing well. And if you do, then I can help. It’ll be enough to complete my Trial. And if I can do that, I’ll get an Aspect Gem. One that suits me perfectly. I have to try. The alternative is just sitting around and watching my baby sister surpass me. I can’t let that happen. She needs someone she can rely on. Now more than ever.”

There wasn’t even a scrap of doubt in his voice. He was dead serious. The Aaron standing before Alex and Claire now couldn’t have been more different from the one that Alex had first met, terrified and running for his life from a weak monster.

“Don’t die,” Claire said simply. “I’d hate to have to explain to May what happened if you do. The monsters we’ll be up against are going to be much stronger than anything else you’ve seen, even in the Mirrorlands.”

Aaron grinned. “Thank you. Don’t worry. I’m not planning on playing fair. You aren’t going to have to explain anything at all to her.”

“Then keep up,” Alex said. “We’ve got a tight schedule to keep if we want to do this and make sure we get back before the auction has a chance of starting. It would really fucking suck if it kicked up while we were in the middle of the dungeon.”

“Right,” Aaron said with a sharp nod. “I won’t hold you back.”

The three of them set off at a jog once more.

“We’re going to the remains of Valley Ford,” Claire said as they ran. “There are going to be a lot of monsters in the area because the Disruptor was destroyed. There’s also a really powerful one in particular. It might still be chasing Alex.”

“Chasing?” Aaron asked, able to keep up the conversation easily even at the speed they were jogging. “What do you mean?”

“There was a creepy puppet monster thing after me and Claire for a while,” Alex replied. “The thing controlling it is probably still out here in the Mirrorlands. But we don’t know where. Don’t worry. You’ll know if it’s coming. Just be on the lookout for any primeval terror or feelings of rapidly approaching death.”

“Oh,” Aaron said. There was a moment before he said anything more. “What happens if it does?”

“We run, probably,” Alex replied. “One of the most important things to know when you’re a dumbass actively seeking out deadly challenges is when to turn and abandon ship. That goes doubly so in the Mirrorlands.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Aaron said. “Run away from the primeval terror. Gotcha. Anything else I should be aware of?”

“Nah. Probably not. If there is, I’m sure we’ll remember and let you know soon enough,” Alex said. “We should fill you in on the Cracked Steps, though. It’s not a normal dungeon. It’s basically as a series of challenge fights where you can keep getting put up against stronger opponents…”

***

The group arrived at the Cracked Steps without all too much trouble. They ran into a number of monsters along the way, the vast majority of which they defeated without any real fights of note. The three of them kept a cautious approach all the way up to the base of the tree with the swirling green portal, making sure not to accidentally draw the attention of anything too powerful.

Valley Ford still looked like how it last had in the Mirrorlands. It was unsettling, looking at the warped, ruined version of the city that was now nothing more than a crater back on 274-50. It was like a mirror into the afterlife. A very twisted afterlife.

“Okay,” Claire said. “Everyone ready? Magic all filled?”

“I’m good,” Aaron said.

“As am I,” Alex said. “Let’s do this. Remember the plan.”

All three of them nodded, then interlinked hands.

And, without another word, they plunged into the portal leading to the Cracked Steps.

The portal rippled in their wake, then went still once more.

Seconds turned to minutes. Valley Ford was silent once again.

Then a droplet of purple liquid fell from the branches of the tree far above. It splattered against the ground with an acidic sizzle. A moment later, a massive sword crashed down from the heavens to land in the earth with a crunch. It sank more than a foot into the stone.

A huge man dropped from the branches of the tree, landing on the ground with a deafening crash beside the sword. Acidic purple liquid dripped from where his flesh had been fused with the warped metal of the armor entombing him. He drew in a rattling breath, then slowly straightened up to his full height.

He let out the breath he’d drawn in with a painful rattle. His warped gauntlet tightened around the hilt of the sword, then pulled it free from the ground as easily as drawing a knife through butter. The man’s eyes burned like two miniature purple suns as his gaze bore into the rippling depths of the portal before him.

And there he waited.