Nightmare Realm Summoner

Invictus took Alex and Claire onto his water platform, which bore them all into the air and across Valley Ford over to a large, white-tiled building covered with glistening blue mosaics. The Town Ruler led them into a small room near the entrance of the house.

It was plain gray stone, with a circle of glossy green stones inlaid in what almost resembled a runic pattern in the floor. The stones glistened in the light from a lantern that flickered with pale blue flame and hung suspended from a chain in the center of the room.

Invictus reached into his pocket and rifled around it for something. Alex took the moment to steal a glance with Claire. She gave him the smallest of shoulder-shrugs. Invictus was powerful enough to have killed them where they’d been if he’d wanted to — and if the System actually allowed for that.

Alex focused on his breathing to make sure it remained steady. He wanted to spin and glance around wildly, readying himself for the knife that felt like it lurked in every shadow. Summoning one of his monsters would have been nice as well, but he couldn’t afford to do any of that.

Walking around with someone powerful enough to kill an entire horde of monsters was nothing short of terrifying. If Invictus realized that he and Claire weren’t actually Outworlders… well, Alex was pretty sure the families weren’t the most forgiving sort.

Right now, the best defense they had was sheer, dumb confidence. It was clear that the Outworlders worked together to at least some degree. They wouldn’t be having big fancy meetings of some sort if they didn’t. That meant that his and Claire’s best advantage right now was a mixture of confidence and making sure they didn’t draw too much attention.

Well, that and the restrictions on Outworlders.

Alex still wasn’t sure as to the extent of those limits. Finley and other merchants couldn’t attack other things at all. Invictus obviously wasn’t a merchant, but he had no doubt that someone powerful enough to wipe out a monster horde in a single attack wasn’t just walking around unrestrained by the System.

If that was possible, then no Native would ever have had a chance to fight back against the Outworlders. Something had to be staying Invictus’ hand. But, whatever the reason, it didn’t look like they were in imminent danger. There was no way to slip away from him now, so the best they could do was turn the situation to their advantage.

“Ah,” Invictus said, pulling a small pouch out and brushing it off. He undid the drawstrings and pulled out a pinch of ground up blue powder. “My apologies for the delay. I will open the soul-link now.”

I’m not sure I love the sound of that.

Invictus snapped his fingers. The friction ignited the powder in his fingers, sending it up in a tiny ball of flames. Greenish-blue tongues of fire licked out from his palm with a crackle. He flicked it onto the ground and it splattered across the surface of the circle like water.

The flames raced across the glistening stones and sank into their surface. A dull hum filled the room, joined by a distant ringing noise as light ignited within the tiled pattern on the ground.

Alex squinted as the magic intensified and wind rolled out from the circle in a swirling gale, driving into his chest and trying to force its way down his lungs.

A shimmer passed through the circle and there was a loud pop. The hair on Alex’s arms jerked upright as an electrical charge raced through the room. At the same time, a buzzing blue mirage formed in the center of the room, just beneath the lantern.

It was something in between a portal and a projection. Vague forms made of condensing blue mist sat in what seemed to be a small auditorium, shifting and gesturing as muted conversation, too distant to make any of the words out, tickled the edges of Alex’s hearing. The edges of the projection rippled with energy that was reminiscent of the Mirrorlands portals.

Invictus gave them a pointed glance. He made no moves, but Claire didn’t seem to mind. She grabbed Alex’s wrist and strode forward without hesitation. They entered the mist — and the world twisted.

It flipped on its head and Alex’s stomach dropped out through his feet as color inverted itself. A howl tore past his ears and freezing cold fingers enveloped his body, shutting out his sight entirely.

There was a sharp twang like the snap of a guitar string snapping. All the breath was knocked from his lungs as his eyes snapped back open and he inhaled sharply.

They weren’t in Valley Ford anymore.

He sat in a chair within an open-topped auditorium. The night sky rose above, lit by massive glistening silver stars that seemed so close that it almost felt like he could have touched them.

Hundreds of stone seats just like the one he sat in were padded with plush cushions and arranged in a large, circular pattern. Each row of chairs was higher than the previous, making an inverted cone shape. At their center, in lowest point of the large room, was a silver-tiled platform.

A few dozen of the chairs in the room seemed full. Not a single name appeared, though. Everyone must have had a concealing item or this location was otherwise defended from prying eyes. People were yelling and shouting about something — but before Alex could even try to get a look at what was going on or even properly situate himself, Claire’s grip tightened on his wrist and he was yanked out of the chair he sat in and to his feet.

“Come on,” Claire hissed as she pulled him away from the chairs they’d arrived at. She pulled a few scraps of a torn shirt out from her pockets and hurriedly wrapped them around her face. “We can’t stick around until Invictus shows up. We need to get lost in the crowd first.”

They wove past several rows chairs and headed down toward a group of people near the platform.

“What exactly is going on?” Alex hissed. “Do you know what this—”

“Yes,” Claire said in a low whisper. “And no. I can’t say. Damn it, Alex. I want to, but I can’t. My information won’t be that useful. Everything will be pretty obvious soon, but I haven’t even been to one of these before. Not worth damaging my chances on the trial over.”

He threw a glance over his shoulder in the direction of the chairs they’d arrived in. There was a fuzzy outline of a silhouette starting to form in the spot next to where they’d arrived. It would only be a few moments before Invictus arrived, but they were already gone. They slipped into the crowd and snagged chairs near the center platform, using a group of arguing Outworlders as cover.

“You only managed to send one person onto 274-50. The Firesong family shouldn’t have even bothered showing up to this,” one man was saying as he thrust his finger into the armored chest of another. “Really, the only thing you’re going to be able to do is sit back and watch. You might as well tap out or join in with another family to get some of the crumbs when all is said and done.”

“We only need one person to deal with a family like you. The Crimson family hasn’t managed to have any real significant winnings on any planets for over two hundred years,” the first man said through a bark of rough laughter. “I’m not intimidated by your threats, Brandon. Now, if you want to put some action behind your words, the arena is open. I’d be thrilled to accept your challenge.”

The first man — whose name seemed to be Brandon — faltered. He let out a few words that Alex couldn’t quite make out but was fairly certain to be curses, then slunk away and flopped into a chair.

“Isn’t Brandon kind of a… normal name?” Alex whispered to Claire. “I was expecting something more.”

“Probably gets translated along with the rest of his language,” she replied in the same tone. Her eyes were fixed on the empty platform below them.

Alex nodded. He resisted the urge to look over his back to see if Invictus was behind them and focused his attention on trying to figure out what was going on. They’d clearly showed up halfway through some sort of meeting, but every conversation was about a Town Token.

There was a lot more attention on the item than Alex had expected. Every single person in the room wanted it, but he didn’t get to listen in for long.

“The Great Tide is here!” a woman yelled. Yells rose up from all the others in the room as they erupted in complaints.

“Turn the damn portals back on!” a man yelled.

“We’ll pay you ten thousand credits for the Token!” another called.

“Oh, be calm,” Invictus snapped, his voice ringing through the room like thunder. He leapt into the air, sailing over the chairs and alighting on the platform.

Everyone abruptly went quiet. It was so sudden that it almost made Alex flinch. He could have heard a pin drop from across the auditorium. Alex slunk down in his chair, hiding behind the group before him as Invictus’ gaze swept over the room.

“I’m just a little late,” Invictus said. “We don’t have to become uncouth about things.”

“You shut your damn Hub City’s portals down.” A woman emerged from the crowd and leapt down onto the stage, landing across from Invictus before straightening to reveal she stood nearly a head taller than him.

Long black hair ran down her back and ended in what almost seemed to be wisps of shadow rather than flesh. Her skin was a tanned brown and her features soft — which couldn’t have been farther from the icy cold winter that was her voice. Two daggers hung at her sides, held against the gray leather armor that covered her lithe form.

“They were damaged, Leah,” Invictus said. He scanned the room, but it didn’t look like he found what he was looking for. His expression didn’t even flicker. The man was definitely a professional. “You know as well as the rest of us how problematic new integrations can be. Especially when 14 different families all arrive on a single planet. The System is not pleased with us.”

“It’s a wonder that all the lies you spit haven’t rotted out your tongue,” Leah said. “The Token is near your city.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Invictus said, holding his hands up. “We have no clue where the Token is. We’re a Merchant family, Leah. Not everyone is like the Gentle Shadow Family, with all your fancy machinations and plans. All we like is money. If I knew where the Token was, I’d be selling that information.”

“Then why did you shut down your portals?” Brandon, the member of the Crimson family that had taken a seat a few rows in front of Alex and Claire, said. “If you want us to believe you, then grant my family passage.”

“Fuck them. Grant the Firesong passage,” the other man from earlier said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I won’t believe anything else.”

“I’ll be more than thrilled to welcome any of you to Valley Ford as soon as the portals come back up, but there’s just nothing I can do about it yet.” Invictus held his hands up in a placating manner. “We’ve always dealt in good faith, but we simply can’t do anything about this… unless someone is willing to supply the materials to accelerate our repair of the waystation? The portals are unstable and can’t be used while it’s damaged.”

Alex glanced at Claire. He was starting to piece together what was happening. The Outworlder families didn’t know where the Town Token was yet, and Invictus had managed to cut off their access to the area of Valley Ford. They suspected the Town Token was somewhere near him, but they couldn’t get there to actually confirm for themselves.

Controlling portals and travel between cities is ridiculously powerful. If these people are all Outworlders, they all have to be pretty damn strong — and they’re still beholden to Invictus being a prick. So far, it doesn’t even look like he’s stronger than any of them. They kind of act like they’re all roughly equals. It’s pretty clear they all know each other already. Invictus just has the cards. I wish I had more context, but I can’t ask anything without completely blowing our cover.

“Liar,” Leah spat, stalking toward Invictus like she was about to rip his throat out. She stopped an inch away from him, her lips so close to his that she could have kissed him — or ripped his throat out — with little more than a twitch.

“Let’s not sling accusations around like that baselessly,” Invictus said. He didn’t even acknowledge Leah’s proximity. There wasn’t a flicker of worry in his expression. He was either very confident in his defenses or he was a very good bluffer. “You’ve always been a bit… acidic, Leah. Our families have a working relationship. Let’s not taint—”

“She’s right,” a tall man clad in beautiful silver armor said, rising from his seat. His voice was somehow simultaneously as smooth as a still lake and as deadly as a striking adder. It sent uneasy chills down the back of Alex’s spine.

A stout woman rose beside him, a large hammer in one hand and a tower shield in the other. She was clad from head to toe in matching silver armor, to the point where the only exposed parts of her actual body Alex could see were her rugged face and a few hints of wispy blonde hair beneath her raised helm.

Almost instantly, a thought lodged itself in his mind.

I don’t like him.

“You’re from the Broken Sword, Drake,” Invictus snapped, waving a hand dismissively. “Why would someone listen to a mercenary? Leah could have paid—”

“I have proof,” Drake said. He strode forward to stand in the center of the silver platform and crossed his arms behind his back as he turned in a circle to look over the audience. The man’s features were thin and angled, with raised cheekbones that were oddly reminiscent of a snake. “But I will not reveal it until we remove the stains marring our ranks.”

Drake’s gaze turned until it was pointed right in Alex’s direciton. His stomach dropped, but he turned to realize that there was a man rising behind him. A heavy cloak obscured his entire form, but he carried a massive scythe at his side.

Wait. Isn’t that —

“Please,” the man said, his tone flat as he rose from his chair. “I’ve been called far worse than a stain. Your family has no more power here than a Crestless. If you wish to call me to Challenge, then I will be more than willing to accept.”

He stepped forward and the world seemed to collapse before him. The man shifted, and his cloak fluttered to the ground where he’d been standing as he abruptly appeared on the platform across from Drake.

His white pants were baggy and plain, tied taut just above his bare, gray-skinned feet. His chest was similarly colored and bare — but Alex was far more concerned with the enormous, melon-sized hole in its center.

You can’t be serious.

“Absolution,” Drake said, his lip curling in distaste. “Your presence is distasteful as usual.”

“Accept the challenge and I will rectify the sour taste in your mouth, Hound,” Absolution said, bringing the scythe up to rest it on his shoulder. “We will not need long. You may have a keen nose, but that will not keep me from cutting it off.”

“You’re scum, Absolution, but you aren’t my concern right now. I will accept your attempted insult as a compliment to my abilities. I am the Hound. My purpose is to hunt — and I smell rot in our midst.”

A few murmurs of confusion rose up through the crowd, and the unease in Alex’s stomach doubled.

“No Outworlder would ever bear the corruption of the Mirrorlands out of its wretched domain. We’ve all seen what it can do, yes?”

The blood rushed out of Alex’s face as voices of agreement rose up from the crowd. Absolution’s head tilted to the side. Nobody else seemed to know what Drake was talking about, but Alex did.

And an instant later, so did Absolution. The man’s gaze snapped to follow Drake’s, landing on Alex. Something within his pitch black eyes shifted like the tides of a stormy ocean; hungry, deadly.

“My problem is the infiltrator that was sitting in front of you, Absolution. Someone seeks to play us all for fools.” Drake raised his blade. “There is a Nativeworlder bearing the vile energy of the Mirrorlands in a Harvester at his hip.”