Nightmare Realm Summoner

“Who?” Alex asked, blinking in surprise. “Hazel?”

“Of… House Crimson?” Claire coughed into her fist. “You can’t be serious. She’s from the Outworlder Family we robbed? Multiple times, I might add?”

“Do you think she figured out that we’re not too friendly with Crimson right about now?” Alex asked with a snicker. “That’s hilarious. I can’t believe she’s with Brandon. I think that dude might hate our guts more than anyone else on the entirety of 274-50 right about now. He’s got to still be fuming about getting his kills stolen right out under his nose.”

“You met her in the Ancestry?” Finley asked. The merchant wrung his hands together uneasily. “That’s bad. Why would someone from an antagonized family be sending you a letter? It may be a threat.”

“She owes us her life,” Claire said. “How strongly do Outworlders take their promises?”

Finley shrugged one shoulder. “About as much as anyone else does. Promises are promises. They’re only as good as the person giving them.”

“Well, I suppose we might as well see what it is she has to say,” Alex said. “It’s not like letters can pose any manner of danger to us.”

“That’s true,” Claire said. “But how did the letter even get here in the first place? Hazel doesn’t know your name. We gave her a fake.”

“That’s a good question,” Alex said. He looked to Finley. “Was the letter addressed directly to me?”

“No,” Finley said with a shake of his head. “It was addressed to Nobody. It was actually sent directly to Mirrorwane.”

Nobody? Oh. That’s the bullshit name I made up when we were in the Ancestry. Well, that’s good. I’m glad she somehow hasn’t managed to figure out who I am within the span of a week. That would have been a bit embarrassing.

“That makes more sense,” Claire said. “You should definitely look just to see what it is she’s got to say. At the very least, it might give us some information to work with. We know precious little about the Outworlder Families as a whole.”

“Yeah,” Alex said with a nod. He extended his hand. “Let me see it, then. 1 Credit, right?”

“1 Credit,” Finley confirmed. The merchant took Alex’s hand. Their rings shimmered as the currency passed between them.

Finley then took a step back. A gray crystal materialized above his palm. He crushed it without hesitation. It exploded into a tiny puff of dim energy, and then there was nothing but silence.

This time, Alex knew what to expect. He watched expectantly as a shimmer of gray energy spilled through the air before him to form into the rough shape of a person. It was another few moments before the magic let out a sharp snap and everything abruptly shifted into focus.

A translucent version of Hazel stood before him, and she didn’t look pleased in the slightest. She stood straight-backed, her lips thin and arms crossed before her chest with a faint clench in her jaw.

It was another moment before she said anything.

“I am sending this letter with intent to commune with an individual associated with Mirrorwane,” Hazel said stiffly. “He goes by the — obviously fake — name of Nobody. I trust you know who I am talking about. If he is not the one currently receiving this message, then go retrieve him as quickly as possible. I will wait for a short while so that you can locate him. If that is not possible, then record every single part of this message down and ensure he receives it.”

She fell silent.

Alex let out a snort.

“What?” Claire asked.

“She’s waiting for me to go get Nobody,” Alex said. “Who would have known I could turn someone into a cyclops so easily? No poking-out of eyes needed.”

Claire’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“Never mind. Stupid old reference,” Alex said with a shake of his head. “She did say to record the message, though. It might be wise if Rhyss—”

A pop beside Alex cut through his sentence. Rhyss snapped into being, his lone eye boring into Alex.

“Yes?”

“Ah. Good timing,” Alex said. “We’re getting a letter from an Outworlder. She wanted to make sure it gets recorded. I don’t think you can hear her, so I’ll just repeat any parts she says that might be important. Could you keep track of them somehow?”

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“Quite easily,” Rhyss said with a nod. “I am prepared.”

Hazel shifted her stance. “Okay. I’m done waiting. I will assume that you are either ready to record my message or Nobody is present.”

“She’s going to start now,” Alex said.

“As you have likely already figured out, I am of House Crimson,” Hazel said. She glanced over her shoulder. Then she looked back forward — though her eyes weren’t even close to directed at Alex — and let out an irritated sigh. “And Nobody has managed to piss off a rather sizable portion of my house. He stole multiple kills from Brandon during the Ancestry, and somebody managed to complete the Legacy before we could spend almost all of our points. It seems he’s put a lot of the blame of his failure on your shoulders.”

Alex snickered before summarizing her words for the others. “Brandon didn’t even get a chance to spend the most points he did get. Crimson is not happy with us.”

“But I’m not leaving this message out of displeasure or because Brandon wasn’t strong enough to secure his kills,” Hazel continued. Her expression grew sharper. “Brandon is incompetent. The only blame for failure of a mission lies on the shoulders of its leader. He doesn’t deserve his position.”

“It looks like there’s some infighting,” Alex said. “Hazel doesn’t seem to like Brandon much. She’s talking shit about him now.”

“But not everyone in Crimson is aligned with Brandon,” Hazel said. “This isn’t the first time he’s failed to reach expectations. I’ll be straight with you, Nobody. I want his spot. I might not be the most competent warrior, but I can lead far better than Brandon can. And, Crimson aside, Mirrorwane is in a dangerous spot right now. A lot of Outworlder families are pretty displeased with you. You’re going to need some backing.”

Alex blinked. “Hold on. I think Hazel is offering us a treaty of some sort.”

“A treaty?” Finely asked, his eyes widening. “Are you serious?”

“I’ll cut to the chase,” Hazel said. She crossed her arms behind her back as a cold glint shimmered in her eyes. “I want you to help me kill Brandon, Nobody. Mirrorwane isn’t affiliated with any Outworlder factions. Bringing you in won’t break any treaties that my family has. You’re a perfect wildcard. If you kill Brandon, I’ll take his spot — and I’ll have Crimson back Mirrorwane. We’re pragmatic. Old issues are nothing in the face of new opportunities.”

“She wants us to kill Brandon so she can take his spot as leader.” Alex tilted his head to the side. “And it looks like, in exchange, she’ll help keep the other Outworlder families off our backs. But that will also mean we’re kind of throwing our eggs into their basket. I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“Given the fact that Mirrorwane is still unaffiliated with every Outworlder family, I’d imagine my offer isn’t quite sweet enough yet,” Hazel continued. Her lips pulled into a faint grin. “So I’ll sweeten the offer with a free piece of information. Brandon will be leading a delve into a Dungeon in a few days. An Adept Tier one, with some pretty good rewards at the end. You’ve already stolen a few kills from him. How about one more? If you finish him off, the boss and its loot is yours. My supporters and I will be there. We’ll hold his men off, and anything else that happens will be silenced. Nobody will ever know you associated yourself with Crimson unless you want them to.”

Alex burst into laughter. “There’s no way. That’s hilarious.”

“What is?” Finley asked. “This is a terrible translation. It’s like trying to watch a drama through a distracted child’s retelling.”

“Give me a bit,” Alex said, still laughing. “I’ll summarize later. There hasn’t been anything pressing—”

“We can discuss further terms if you decide to make an appearance. Keep in mind this dungeon is not a large one. Though it is a significant target, I don’t imagine it will take more than one day to clear it. Do not be late,” Hazel said. “I will now be sharing the Astral Map coordinates of the town nearest to the dungeon. Prepare yourself.”

Hazel rattled off a lengthy list of numbers.

Alex missed just about half of them.

“Oh, shit,” Alex said, choking off his laughter with a cough. “Crap. Uh—”

“I’m going to repeat that,” Hazel said. “Please ensure you’re recording this.”

She rattled the list of numbers off once more.

This time, Alex managed to repeat what she said. He didn’t have a chance to give Rhyss much warning, but the Advisor probably didn’t need it. Hazel repeated the numbers one last time, and Alex repeated them again.

“We will enter the dungeon in the morning, 2 days after this letter was sent,” Hazel said. “It won’t be hard to track our path from the town. Brandon does not try much to hide his tracks. I hope to see you there.”

Then her form sputtered out.

Alex turned to Rhyss. “You… got that, right?”

“An Astral Map location,” Rhyss said. “Yes. I have recorded it.”

“Good,” Alex said.

“So what did she have to say?” Claire asked.

“In summary? She wants us to ambush Brandon and steal yet another kill from him,” Alex said. “He’s doing an Adept Tier dungeon with Crimson in 2 days. Hazel and her supporters are going to be there, and she plans to use us to kill him and wrestle control of Crimson’s presence on 274-50 in the process.”

“Classic,” Claire said with a knowing nod. “A knife in the back using an unaffiliated party as leverage. But this could also be a trap.”

“It could,” Alex said, his smile fading slightly. “There’s a chance that Crimson could be trying to lure us out so they can just kill us.”

“A highly likely one,” Finley said. “This is pretty risky.”

“But stealing another kill from Brandon would be pretty funny,” Alex said. “Not that I’d risk our lives over just that. But it’s an interesting proposition.”

“Is it?” Finley asked with a furrowed brow. “Wouldn’t it be better to stay out of Outworlder business as much as possible?”

“No,” Claire said. “Because they won’t be staying out of ours. Taking the first move can be quite beneficial so long as we have some degree of control over the situation. That said, you’re right that this is quite risky. I don’t know if the honey is sweet enough to risk the bear.”

Alex nodded slowly. Then his head tilted slightly to the side. “You know what? I think I might have an idea… but we’re going to need to get a little help.”