Nightmare Realm Summoner

An icy breeze ran its fingers through the enormous, frost-covered stone hall. It swept in from the open ceiling, howling as it wove between the great statues that filled the room. Each of the statues was large enough to be a centerpiece on its own — the shortest of them stood more than four stories tall.

But not a single one of the statues was still whole. They were all destroyed to varying degrees. There were few that still stood past the legs, and fewer still that had a torso. None of them had been left with a head.

The remnants of what had once been mighty weapons and bodies laid at their feet in huge piles of rubble. Huge and small chunks of stone alike littered the entire hall like craggy waves. But not so much as a pebble or speck of dust had fallen upon the thin path running through the room.

It was as if, even in death, the statues could not bear to mar the way forward.

No matter how hard the mighty wind blew, not even the dust of the great statues allowed itself to float across the plain stone walkway. It remained as perfectly clean and spotless as the day that it had first been built.

That pathway led up to the far wall of the hall and just past it. It led to a balcony that hung over the edge of the world.

There was no railing separating the balcony and the seemingly infinite drop beneath it. There were a few paces of stone, and then there was nothing at all.

The balcony itself was only large enough for one man to stand on but calling it comfortable would have been a misnomer. While the statues had refused to disgrace the path with their presence, the wind had no such reservations.

It screamed like a scorned god, dragging its claws through the balcony in attempt to pull anyone that dared stand upon it down over the edge of the steep mountain and into the darkness beyond.

But all the wind’s efforts were insufficient to pull the lone man upon the balcony away from his place. The man’s eyes were closed, his features calm if not serene. He floated a foot into the air, legs crossed beneath him, plain clothes snapping around him with loud snaps like striking whips.

A thin layer of frost covered his body, running all the way up to his pure white hair, and his breathing was so faint that it may as well not have been there at all. It was evident that he had not moved for a long time.

The screaming wind was split by a crack so faint that it may as well have not even happened at all. But it had — and a second one followed after it. A dozen more followed. Then, slowly, the man’s shut eyes twitched.

His features remained unchanged, even as his legs uncrossed beneath him. He dropped from the air, landing on his knees as if in prayer. The man remained in that position for a moment.

Then the ice covering his eyes shattered.

Fragments of shimmering frost fell away as his eyelids lifted, and beyond them was nothing but freezing blue. It was a frost that made the layer of ice covering his body look like the desert heat, so insufficient and lacking that it should not have even been able to think of itself as ice in the presence of his gaze.

The man rose to his feet. Then, slowly, he turned to the entrance back to the hall at his back. Standing at the hall’s center in the shadow of the great statues was another man.

There was a long silence.

Then the frost-covered man stepped into the hall. The fragments of ice encrusting his body fell away with every step, twinkling faintly as they shattered against the ground. He continued until he stood directly before the intruder.

The two men stood in silence for a moment longer.

Then the newcomer bowed his head slightly. He said nothing more.

More ice cracked. The pieces of frost around the other man’s jaw cracked and shattered, finally freeing the rest of his face from their grip as they fell to smash on the cold stone at his feet.

“Vincent,” the man said. “Why are you here?”

“I was… outmaneuvered,” Vincent said. His jaw clenched in anger. “The Empty Court was at the Ancestry. With a Banishing Scroll. They were expecting my presence. I nearly lost myself in the void, but I managed to crawl back. Forgive me. I underestimated Absolution. I have failed.”

Vincent went to drop to one knee.

He never got the chance.

Before he could hit the ground, a hand slammed into his shoulder. It tightened, locking him in place and leaving no room to escape.

“Stand,” the other man said simply. “Starfallen do not kneel. Not to kings. Not to gods. And certainly not to me.”

Vincent swallowed. Then he unbent his knee, rising back to his full height. “But the Ancestry. Both it and Absolution. I—”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Your heart is turmoiled,” the other man said. He released Vincent’s shoulder. “Seclude yourself until your conviction has returned. You may use my seat.”

Vincent’s eyes widened. “But… that — I don’t deserve such an—”

“Few in this world receive what they deserve,” the other man said. “So why not accept that inequality and take advantage of what you have been offered? I will ask more of you in return for it. An equivalent exchange.”

Vincent inclined his head. “Thank you. Then I will do as you say. But the Ancestry—”

“Not every battle can be won. I do not care,” the other man replied. “But before you steady yourself — who was it that saved Absolution? That man is not powerful or smart enough to defeat you on his own.”

Vincent’s eyes narrowed. “Stargazer. A man with the Empty Court.”

“Stargazer.” The man’s head tilted to the side. “That name… I do not know him. A new player. This planet is truly more interesting than I had initially thought. It is little wonder I was sent here. Remind me of the Subsector you resided in?”

“735,” Vincent said.

“I see. I suspect you are not at fault for your defeat.”

Vincent blinked. “What? No. I will not throw away the blame. My honor will not permit me to. My failures are just as much my own as my victories are.”

“Very good,” the other man said. “But this was not a failure of anything other than your lineage.”

Vincent’s eyes widened. “What? I am—”

“A Starfallen. And we are great.” A smile pulled across the man’s pale lips. “But with honor comes ego. How can a mighty warrior fear a mouse? If they did, they could not be a warrior of respect. To fear one beneath us goes against your very nature. It is impossible. Thus, you cannot be blamed for your defeat. There is no family greater than ours upon 274-50.”

“But what use is a warrior that loses to a mouse?” Vincent asked.

“I do not know. Perhaps you will be able to tell me when your contemplations are complete. A month should suffice, I think. I will arrange for your return to Subsector 735 in that time.”

“Thank you.” Vincent pressed a fist to his chest. “I will not disappoint you a second time.”

“You did not disappoint me the first time.” The man’s lips twitched into the faintest of smiles. “But before you go, tell me one more thing. This Stargazer… he claimed the rewards of the Ancestry?”

“I don’t believe he did. That should have gone to a group of Nativeworlders. Ones that came in with the River King himself. They knew each other.”

“Nativeworlders. Interesting. Their names?”

“Concealed,” Vincent said. “But they bargained well. Among their number were some that could become quite powerful if given the time.”

“Such is always the case. The universe does not want for potential. It is everywhere we look. But potential and the ability and chance to capitalize upon it are two greatly different things. Still, though…”

The man trailed off for a second. Then his head tilted to the side. His lips curled.

“Ah. I believe I may have found them.”

Vincent blinked. “What? So quickly? How? I didn’t know you possessed such an ability. I suppose I should have expected…”

“Vincent?” the other man asked. “I do not.”

“You don’t? Then—”

“Not everything is an ability. You rely too heavily on your magic. Perhaps you should focus on the other aspects that your existence has gifted you, yes?”

Vincent swallowed. His cheeks reddened slightly. “I’m sorry. I do not understand.”

In response, the other man lifted his hands. A shimmer of gold danced through the air as the System manifested itself between the two of them. It wove into a shimmering screen that spun around to face Vincent.

Global Leaderboard — Wealth Ranking

1. Crux
2. Cold Iron
3. Nighteyes
4. Ash
5. Ardent
6. Bloodied Blade
7. ICBC Asset Management
8. Eagle
9. Starforger
10. United Front

“Dead,” the other man said with a nod. “And it seems another has taken what remained of his wealth. There is a newcomer.”

“But how do we know this person is the one who I saw?”

“We don’t,” the other man replied simply. “But it is likely. It has only been a week. I have not heard rumors of any of the other Outworlder families making direct moves against the River King yet. I would suspect a personal connection to be the most likely reason that someone would seek him out at this point. It could be unrelated… but this is not the first time we have seen this name.”

“No,” Vincent agreed. “It isn’t. Ash is on the Town leaderboards as well.”

“A curious individual. A Nativeworlder on the top 10 of two leaderboards… even though we Outworlders still haven’t been able to bring in the full might of our holdings, that is a very impressive feat. That is tempting indeed.”

Vincent hesitated. “This isn’t my place to ask, but you don’t mean—”

“No. Not yet. It would be too early for me to leave this place.” The other man smiled. “The Leaderboards are not worth fighting over. Not yet, at least. And the other Outworlders know it too. We have time before those ranks will truly be relevant.”

“That is true,” Vincent said. “And I suspect your position as rank 1 will be quite safe.”

“Don’t be so confident. The stronger I am, the more the System will provide opportunity for others to contest me. This is a Tier 1 planet, after all.” The man’s smile grew wider still, and a glint of something hungry passed behind his eyes. “I certainly hope that 274-50 can bring up someone worthy of challenging me. Perhaps it will be Ash. Perhaps someone else. But I can still hope. After all… that’s the crux of the matter, isn’t it?”

The man laughed, clapping Vincent on the shoulder as he stepped past him.

Vincent turned. But behind him was nothing more than the empty hall and the wind howling through it. He swallowed.

Then he turned and started toward the ledge hanging over the edge of the world. It was rare that Crux allowed anyone to use his personal training grounds, and he wasn’t about to waste the opportunity.

But even still, a shiver that had absolutely nothing to do with the cold ran down his back.

The last time he’d seen Crux look excited for just about anything had been at the end of the previous world they’d visited. And, Starfallen or not, there were some things that Vincent never wanted to see again