Nightmare Realm Summoner

There was no time for Alex to explain his plan any further. The Riftwarped Granite Soldier had already started to lift its enormous weapon away from the ground and ready another attack.

Climbing the statue normally was no longer an option. Claire had been able to pull it off because the monster's attention had been focused on him — but now it was watching both of them.

Alex had no doubt he'd get crushed like an insect if he tried to climb the monster normally. Fortunately, there was another way up to the soldier's head.

"Distract it!" Alex yelled.

"Working on it!" Claire grabbed a rock and flung it at the monster. It bounced off a stone knee.

For a brief instant, everyone paused. The monster stared at Claire.

"Seriously?" Alex asked.

"I said I'm working on it!" Claire yelled, grabbing another rock and pelting the monster in the knee again. "Go!"

Alex burst into motion, running straight for the sword. "Spark! Get to Glint! And Glint, kill Spark!"

Neither of his monsters questioned his orders for a second. The Echo Wraith flitted to Glint, who abandoned his work of gouging the soldier's ankle to slash his mirrored claws straight through Spark's body.

They scraped against the chitinous plates, but Spark made no move to stop Glint and the attack carved through his nebulous body without stopping. Blue energy sputtered and hissed as something shattered in the center of Spark's body.

The storm within Spark collapsed. Chitinous plates of armor split apart. They fell to the ground, turning into a streamer of blue energy that swirled through the air and poured into Alex mid-step.

Magic coursed through his muscles and worked its way into his chest, continuing down through his legs and out into his shadow. Alex nearly tripped over his own feet as he realized he could feel his shadow.

His distraction nearly killed him. A rush of wind warned Alex to an oncoming wall of stone, and his eyes widened as he spotted the massive sword hurtling toward him. It was only a few feet above the ground and far too close to dodge to either side.

Alex dropped to his knees and slid. His back hit the ground and his head followed after it, sending a flash of pain through him. The sword roared through the air overhead, passing just inches above him.

"What happened to distracting it?" Alex yelled.

"I'm still working on it!"

Alex shoved himself back upright even as the soldier brought the sword to a halt. It hoisted the massive sword and swung it once more, this time in an overhead swing. He dashed to the side — but not all of him left.

His shadow rose up from the ground where he'd been standing, a rippling, indiscriminate figure that watched his moves with sightless red eyes. Alex didn't celebrate his success. The soldier's sword smashed down, passing within feet of him.

He stumbled but managed to keep his footing, then closed the distance between himself and the sword and leapt onto it. He grabbed onto the jutting stones, clinging to the side of the sword as it lifted into the air.

Wind howled past his face. It drove into his body and tried to throw him free of the sword. His fingers trembled as they fought to maintain his grip on the stone. Beads of sweat slicked his hold.

He felt himself start to slip.

Alex pushed away from the sword as it reached its apex, spinning his arms as he arced through the air and headed straight for the Granite Soldier's head. The monster's burning purple eyes tracked him and its head turned to follow his path as he crashed into its shoulder feet-first.

Rubble shot free. Alex's heart plummeted and for a brief instant, he lost his footing. He tripped back, tumbling off the giant's shoulder. The sky spun above him and Alex twisted his body as hard as he could, slamming his hand into a large crack between the stones.

He held on for dear life. A painful jolt tore through his body as he slammed to a halt, nearly ripping his arm free of its socket. He heaved himself up with a grunt, grabbing onto the monster's shoulder and pulling himself back upright.

A keening groan filled the air. Stone trembled beneath Alex's feet and he scrambled over to the monster's head, clutching onto the craggy gray rock. Far below him, Glint was still tearing away at the monster's ankle.

His Shardwalker had actually made solid progress. Alex caught a glimpse of a thick gouge running through the back of the Granite Soldier's ankle as it lifted a foot into the air. It seemed to have switched its focus to Claire, who was still flinging rocks at it.

It only goes after what it's actively looking at, huh? Good to know.

Unfortunately, Alex couldn't revel in his newly found knowledge for long. A foot that rose was one that fell, and this one was no different. Alex tried to brace himself for the footfall. It accomplished nothing.

His legs bucked as what felt like a thousand pounds of pressure slammed up from the monster's shoulder and into his knees. His stomach flew up into his throat. He managed to keep his grip on the Soldier's head, but only just barely.

Alex gritted his teeth and worked his way around the monster's head until he clung to its side, dangling directly before one of the molten purple pools that was its eyes. The giant jerked to a stop.

The sudden halt in movement finally managed to knock Alex's legs out from under him. He clutched on with his hands, managing to keep his spot as he re-found his footing. Alex glanced over his shoulder as a huge hand reached up for him.

"Glint! Kill yourself!" Alex screamed, in what was rapidly becoming what may have been a bad habit.

Shadow washed over Alex as the hand blotted out the swirling red glow of the Mirrorlands sky. A huge palm plummeted toward him, bearing death in its wake. The sheer wind displaced by its movement was enough to make Alex's hair fly back.

Icy power drove into him when only seconds remained. Alex didn't waste a second in yanking free nearly every drop he could muster. He pressed his hands together and pushed the magic out from within himself. The largest mirror blade he'd ever formed jutted out from between his palms. It rapidly expanded to five feet long and nearly half as wide before snapping under its own weight.

He grabbed the huge shard before it could fall. He hissed in pain as the razor-sharp glass carved clean through his palm and into the bone of his hand, but he didn't let the shard fall. He hoisted it up, bracing it against his chest and lining it up with the huge monster's eye.

"Alex!" Claire screamed from below. "Move!"

The hand was nearly upon him. It was so close that he could have reached out and pressed his palm to that of the soldier's an instant before it turned him to paste.

He was out of time.

Alex shoved every last drop of magic he could into the shard, then cut his connection to it. He extended his senses to the shadow he'd left on the ground behind him. Its presence rose up to meet him without hesitation.

He swapped positions with it.

Grass slammed into Alex's feet and he staggered, turning just as the Granite Soldier's palm slammed into its face. The monster's hand hadn't been moving fast enough for it to truly hurt itself. It should have been no worse than a human slapping an irritating mosquito — but there was no mosquito present. There was only a massive shard of razor-sharp glass lined up directly with the giant's eye.

A grating scream of agony tore through the Mirrorlands. It tore free of the statue's mouth with such intensity that a wave of wind drove into Alex and blew his hair back. He held his hands up, gritting his teeth and squinting at the towering monster.

Claire sprinted forward as the huge monster took a step back. Black veins carved down her arms and she drove her blade at its already-injured foot with all the force she could muster, driving it point first into the back of the monster's heel.

It might have been no more than a toothpick, but with the large crack already present, it bit deep.

The Granite Soldier cried out once more. Horrible, screeching noise filled the air as it stepped away from Claire. It brought all its weight down on its bad leg. A loud snap echoed out, split the air like a calving glacier, and the monster's ankle broke.

The statue pitched backward. It seemed to fall in slow motion, barely even aware that it was falling until it slammed into the ground, head striking the top of a large hill with an earthshaking crash. A wave of dust and dirt rose up from it, roaring past Alex's face and dissipating into the air all around him.

His knees trembled as the ground bounced and tried to throw them up into his chin. He fell to his backside, his heart thundering in his chest and the back of his throat burning from the sharp breaths his adrenaline had been forcing him to take. Alex coughed, musty dust forcing its way into his lungs and threatening to choke him.

The dark sheen covering the portal back to Earth shattered.

He didn't even get a chance to gather himself before an ocean of icy energy drove into his heart. His back stiffened and he choked on his own saliva, doubling over into a hacking cough. It was several seconds before his senses returned to him and he managed to look straight ahead once more.

A gray flame burned at the feet of the dead Riftwarped monster.

Low-Mid Grade Initiate (Riftwarped Granite Soldier)

Alex swallowed. He wiped the sweat from his brow and pushed himself upright again, rubbing at his backside. A relieved breath slipped free from his lips as he spotted Claire stepping out from where the statue had fallen, her hair covered with dirt and skin gaunt.

Her eyes fixed on his palm. It still wept blood from where he'd cut himself catching his own mirror. Alex held his hand out wordlessly and Claire dashed to him, grabbing onto her meal and greedily drinking every last drop she could save.

She released his hand thirty seconds later, the tension draining from her shoulders as she wiped her mouth with the back of an arm.

"Thanks." Claire's voice was raspy and dry. "I needed that."

"I got the feeling you weren't going to survive the portal if you didn't have something to drink before we left."

They both looked over to the crackling disk of energy. The black sheen had vanished, leaving it open to use as they wished. Claire glanced back to the dead monster lying beside them. For several moments, they were both silent.

Then the Dhampir started to laugh.

"You know what? That was goddamn incredible," Claire said through her laughter. She pushed her hair out of the way of her face and shook her head. "I've never felt a rush like that before."

"It wasn't half bad," Alex agreed with a relieved grin. The adrenaline of a fight was only dwarfed by the elation and relief that came after what had almost seemed like an impossible victory. "You ready to do it again?"

Claire pulled herself back under control and prodded Alex in the shoulder. "Don't get too ahead of yourself. I'm not crazy enough to actively seek this out. But if it happens… well, we're all going to die somehow anyways. Might as well make good with what we can."

Alex grinned. He held up a fist. Claire studied it with a confused expression. "Are you trying to punch me?"

"No. It's a fist bump. It's like a greeting. But… cooler. I guess. It's a lot less cool now that you've made me describe it."

Claire punched him in the fist. Their knuckles collided with a heavy, painful thunk.

They both cursed and shook their hands off, glaring at each other.

"That greeting sucks," Claire muttered, cradling her hand.

"You're not supposed to punch it! You're supposed to bump it! Lightly!" Alex exclaimed.

They both locked eyes for a moment. Then they burst into laughter again.

Alex headed over to where the soul flame floated, still chuckling to himself, and drew it into his Spatial Mirrors. He then rejoined Claire at the portal.

"Ready?" Alex asked.

"More than." Claire nodded. "Ready to go… and ready to come back. I want to see what I can do when I get my abilities upgraded. I'm a ton weaker down here than I am in a location where I can actually drink blood, but I get so much more energy here because the challenge is higher. Fighting here is so stupid for me that it's actually genius. Assuming I don't die, that is."

"If it's stupid and it works, then it's not stupid — until it doesn't." Alex held his hand out. Claire took it and rolled her eyes.

"Very sage. I'll keep that in mind. Shall we?"

Alex grinned and nodded. "I'm looking forward to it. First, we head back to town and level up. Then we've got a monster horde to crush and a leaderboard to top. I'm looking forward to this."

They stepped into the portal as one, and the Mirrorlands folded itself up into a thousand tiny fragments as they slipped through space, hurtling back toward Earth.