Nightmare Realm Summoner

Glint streaked through the sky far too fast for Raijin to have any hope of catching him with a blast of lightning breath. But, to Alex’s surprise, the dragon didn’t even try to bat Glint from the air with its arms or tail. Instead, it tucked its wings in and dropped.

The evasive maneuver wasn’t enough to take Raijin out of Glint’s path. He slammed into the dragon’s leg, his claws shrieking against scale as he, the dragon, and Samuel all hurtled toward the ground.

Wow. They’re really moving fast. How is Samuel going to stop before they hit the ground?

Then Alex’s eyes widened.

There wasn’t time at all — and Raijin was hurtling straight down toward him. There was a wild grin on Samuel’s face that made what he was planning all too clear.

Shit!

Princess grabbed Alex, flinging him to the side.

A massive crash shook the earth behind him an instant later. Alex hit the ground in a bouncing roll, skidding across the sand as a huge wave of wind and dust particles battered him from the back. He felt energy trickle into his body even as he spun and rose back to his feet, squinting through the thick cloud.

Princess was dead. She’d been crushed beneath Raijin, all three of her masks destroyed in an instant. But Glint and Spark were still alive. He just couldn’t tell where Samuel or his dragon were. The dust was so thick that it had completely obscured his—

A shadow carved out toward him.

Alex leapt back. His heel caught on a mound of sand and he fell, landing in another roll and shooting back to his feet. Samuel emerged from the shadows, his dagger drawn and the vicious grin still splitting his features. He darted for Alex, forcing him backward with a flurry of blindingly fast strikes.

“You’re fast,” Samuel said casually, as if they were having a chat over a cup of tea. He drove his foot into Alex’s chest, sending him stumbling backward. “And it seems you’re not inexperienced with hand-to-hand combat. Good. A little sloppy, but good. A lot of Evokers ignore that.”

Alex drew on his power as he caught his balance. He activated Armament Elegy and ducked under another one of Samuel’s cuts, driving his shoulder into the other man’s chest even as coils of black sludge twisted down his right arm to form into the blade of his chainsword.

The weapon roared to life as Alex thrust it forward in hopes of catching Samuel off guard. But, out of nowhere, the other Evoker jerked back as if yanked by a string attached to his back. Alex stumbled, his blow going wide, and Samuel landed safely several feet away from him.

A shadow loomed behind Samuel. The dust cleared, revealing Raijin just behind the other Evoker. The dragon’s claw was hooked into the back of its summoner’s shirt. A flicker of awe passed through Alex.

“That’s some serious coordination,” Alex said. “How many times has he speared you through the back doing that?”

Samuel’s lips curled in amusement. “More than I would care to admit. And that’s quite the weapon you’ve got on your arm. Not typical for one of our kind at all.”

“Chainsword,” Alex said. He raised it slightly. “Badass, right?”

“It does not seem the most… nimble,” Samuel replied.

A crackling whine filled the air as Raijin’s maw opened. Hissing red lightning sparked and popped within it — and Glint leapt from the remnants of the dust, his silverly blade-cloak screeching as it carved against the dragon’s hard scales.

He didn’t even make the dragon budge. But, as the whine grew louder, there was a shimmer of faint gossamer blue in the air. Near invisible threads jerked taut.

Raijin’s head jerked upward right as a blast of lightning tore from its reptilian lips. The attack went wide, sailing through the air and vanishing into the clouds overhead with a thunderous crash.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Threads,” Samuel observed, turning to look back at Spark, who still stood at the same spot he had during the start of the fight. “Raijin, deal with that one first.”

The dragon spun, its huge wings snapping up. There were several bright flashes as Spark’s threads were severed, lighting a brilliant blue for an instant before they faded away into nothing more than motes of dim light. The dragon let out a roar, launching another bolt of powerful lightning.

It cracked the air and slammed into the stone behind Spark — passing through him completely. Spark didn’t even budge. There was no need for him to.

Alex’s lips curled upward. The attack wasn’t a soul-based one. And that meant it couldn’t do anything at all to Spark. But he didn’t waste the surprise that had crossed Samuel’s features. He dropped into a charge.

Samuel recovered instantly. He dipped back as Alex swung his chainsword, spinning to keep his momentum and bringing the whirring blade down vertically for the other Evoker’s head. Samuel dipped to the side to avoid the strike, then swept his leg out.

It connected with Alex’s side with a thud.

Neither of them budged.

“Refined body,” Samuel said approvingly. “Well done.”

Alex brought the chainsword whirring down on the other man.

The Evoker vaulted away, launching himself into a handstand to avoid the blade and then springing back to maintain his distance. Before Alex could follow up, Raijin spun, batting Glint across the ground with its tail as it unleashed another blast of lightning toward him.

He drew on his magic, shattering the air before him as he used Funhouse, narrowly casting it fast enough to avoid getting fried into dust. The lighting carved past him and smashed into an arena wall off to the right with a deafening crack.

“Ranged attacks really aren’t too effective on you, are they?” Samuel asked with a wry smile. He walked backward several steps closer to Raijin before springing into the air. The monster extended its wing, catching Samuel and sliding him into place on its back. “That’s a convenient ability you’ve got. Completely negates pretty much any targeted attack. And you’ve got quite the range of summons as well. Very respectable. I can see what got someone interested in you.”

“Thanks,” Alex said, sending another series of mental commands to Glint. He didn’t want to reveal that Glint was actually intelligent enough to speak with yet. And, thus far, even as powerful as Glint’s blade was, it hadn’t managed to penetrate Raijin’s defenses.

They were going to need to improve their strategy.

“That said,” Samuel continued, his smile fading. “You haven’t shown me anything extraordinary either. Let me see what you’re truly capable of. I don’t much appreciate people that only do the bare minimum. I’m not going to hold back any more. If you don’t go all out… this isn’t going to last any longer.”

Raijin’s wings snapped down. The dragon launched into the air, tearing through the near-invisible threads that Spark had been trying to entangle them with like they were made of paper. Arcs of red electricity raced along Raijin’s scales as the dragon turned to look back down at Alex.

A sudden chill raced down the back of Alex’s neck and continued into his spine. Every single one of his senses screamed a warning.

He clapped his hands together, then twisted his palms so they faced in opposite directions and pulled back until his curled fingers interlocked. The gate within his soul slammed open.

“Partial Soul Manifestation. Edict of the Shattered King.”

Power exploded out from Alex. The world warped and wavered as a hazy reflection of the Mirorrlands wavered into being in a wide dome around him. Energy cut through him, filling his next breath with a hungry, electric charge.

A shrill whine cut through the air above him as Raijin’s mouth yawned open, unimpressed by Alex’s Soul Manifestation. Coils of red lightning appeared before the dragon, layering over themselves in concentric circles. The whine filling the air grew louder and louder until it was a piercing shriek in Alex’s ears.

Then there was a deafening crash.

Alex teleported.

He appeared in the air to Samuel’s side.

And, at the same instant, the ground where he’d been standing vanished in a sea of roaring red electricity. The ground where he’d been standing and a wide circle around it turned to glass instantly, and everything else was blackened as a torrent of devouring power poured out from Raijin’s open maw to wash over the entire arena.

Holy fuck.

But Alex didn’t let his disbelief distract him. Samuel and Raijin had already turned toward him, and the dragon’s tail was hurtling for Alex’s side in a blur of impossibly tough scale.

He teleported.

This time, Raijin didn’t try to follow him. The dragon spun in the air like the worlds largest and scariest ballerina, more electricity gathering at its maw as it twisted.

Horror enveloped Alex.

Holy shit. Is it just going to shoot lightning out in every direction and hope something hits me?

But it wasn’t going to be an if. He’d seen what Raijin had done to the ground. Something would hit him.

Alex gritted his teeth, teleporting once more to position himself in the air above and to the right of the spinning duo. This attack took time to charge up. There was enough time for him to make a move. But, if it didn’t work, it was going to be the last one he made.

He was already reaching deep within his soul by the time he reappeared. He released his hold on all of his magic, even letting his Partial Soul Manifestation shift back. Then he reached deeper still.

A manacle slammed down on his wrist. More followed after it, snapping into being one after the other until they came to a head in a massive bladed white anchor that materialized above him.

Then, as he plummeted back toward the ground — directly toward the spinning Rajin and Samuel — Alex drew on the Singularity Core and pulled.