Nightmare Realm Summoner

Alex and Claire rejoined Absolution a few minutes later. Neither of them said anything about their suspicion of the manner in which his Soul Manifestation worked — and he made no moves of his own to strike up any manner of conversation. He really wasn’t the talkative sort. And, for situations like this, that was by far for the best.

The rest of that day passed quietly and without any real occurrence of interest. It wasn’t long before they had rested for the night and the following morning had dawned upon them. Absolution’s energy returned with the rising sun, and it wasn’t long until they were on their way once again.

Their next jump didn’t quite take them up to the Empty Court. They found themselves on a rocky hill, but there didn’t seem to be any monsters lurking around in wait this time around. Fortunately, at least according to Absolution, they were incredibly close now. There was no need to wait another day for his magic to return. He just needed a few more hours.

And so they waited. It wasn’t long at all before Absolution informed them that they were moving once more. Then he swept his scythe through the air, carving open one last magical pathway, and the three of them were on their way.

Alex emerged from the portal behind Absolution to find himself standing in a cobblestone hallway. Faint light trickled into it from a distant entrance behind him. They were underground, somewhere.

This is definitely a first. He’s always taken us somewhere aboveground with his magic. I kind of figured teleporting underground would be kind of dangerous or something. Wouldn’t want to materialize inside a wall. I guess he’s got some kind of way to avoid that.

“We have arrived,” Absolution said in his ever-flat tone.

Alex glanced around the hall. There were no branches or splits. It was just a straight line. To their right, the path sloped up to aboveground behind them. To their left, it descended into pitch black darkness. They hadn’t exactly been given a great deal of choices to pick from.

“Here?” Claire asked. She didn’t sound particularly impressed.

“That is what your coordinates said,” Absolution replied. “I should hope they are correct. Do not ask me if I got the position right. I did.”

Well, at least we can say for sure that he doesn’t have self-confidence issues.

Before Alex could say anything, something shifted in his stomach. It rose up into his chest and simmered there like a heartburn. He grimaced, swallowing in attempt to get rid of it. But the sensation didn’t leave. Instead, it grew stronger. It felt like there was something burning inside of him.

The hell? Did I eat something so spoiled that my strengthened body somehow can’t deal with it?

But it quickly became apparent that this wasn’t any sort of physical reaction at all. The intensity of the discomfort grew a dozen-fold in moments. It pressed against the inside of Alex’s chest as if trying to drag him forward — and straight into the wall.

“Alex?” Claire asked, her eyes narrowing slightly as she registered the discomfort in his features. “Are you okay?”

“I — yeah. I’m fine,” Alex said, rubbing his chest. The sensation was still somehow getting stronger. “There’s just something weird going on in my stomach.”

“Those two sentences appear to be exclusive,” Absolution said. “Perhaps you should not have bathed in rotting monster guts.”

“This has nothing to do with that. I didn’t eat it,” Alex said through a grimace. The sensation was still getting stronger. Queasiness built within him in a rising tide. He gritted his teeth, trying to push the sensation back, but it was futile. The sensation grew stronger and stronger, faster and faster.

He almost felt like he were about to throw—

Alex doubled over. Something bubbled up from within his stomach. He retched. But, instead of liquid, the only thing that emerged from between his lips was a mote of brilliantly burning white light.

The discomfort vanished in an instant.

Alex stared down at the shimmering dot in the air before him, still bent over.

“Alex?” Claire asked, staring at the light in confusion. “What is…”

“Meiderly,” Alex muttered, realization finally striking him now that the discomfort had passed. He straightened back up. Half of him finally realized what this mote of energy was. The other half was just happy that he didn’t feel like his gut was boiling anymore. “It’s the gift he gave me.”

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“Who?” Absolution asked, his head tilting to the side. “And if this is your idea of a gift, then whatever planet you are from is even more wretched than I believed.”

“Oh, shut up, you sourpuss,” Alex said. He cupped a hand below the light. “Looks like you took us to the right place after all.”

“Of course I did,” Absolution snapped. “Who do you think I—”

The mote of light jerked up. Everyone fell silent as it lifted into the air above their heads. Then it zipped into the wall, exploding in a shower of tiny little white sparks. They all stared at the spot where it had been for a second. Not a trace of the light remained.

Another second dragged by.

“Impressive,” Absolution deadpanned.

Alex raised his hand to the wall. He let his fingers brush across the cold stone. Then he frowned. It just felt like stone. There was nothing at all special about it. It was just stone. But he was absolutely certain that he’d just felt Meiderly’s magic. He didn’t just go around spitting up balls of magic light for fun.

“The entrance is this way,” Alex said. He pushed his hand against the wall. “Through here.”

“That is solid wall,” Claire said carefully. “Do you mean around it? Or into the darkness?”

“No.” Alex patted the wall. “I mean through it.”

“You mean to dig your way to the Empty Court?” Absolution asked. His lips curled ever so slightly. “Now that is a good joke.”

“Of course not,” Alex said. “It’s not literally here, is it? This is a magical doorway.”

“No,” Absolution said. “It is a rock wall.”

“Right now it is,” Alex said. “But secret entrances wouldn’t be any good at all if any old chump could figure out where they were, now would they? You’ve got to do it the right way.”

“By transforming into a ball of light and exploding?” Claire asked.

Alex glared at her. She grinned.

“Really?” Alex asked. “You’re siding with him?”

“Sorry,” Claire said with a small snicker. “I couldn’t help myself. I’m with you. Did Meiderly happen to say what to do after his magic light, uh, guided you?”

Alex cleared his throat. “No. But my world had a lot of media about things like this. I have a few ideas. There are only so many ways you can disguise a magical entrance. And we’ve already got permission to enter the Empty Court. That just means we have to figure out how to get in. I bet it’s a test.”

“I would venture that it is a wall,” Absolution said.

“I do not need the sass from you. Why don’t you go back to literally never speaking? I think I preferred it that way,” Alex said.

“Forget him,” Claire said. “What exactly are the ways you know to get into the passage?”

“Open sesame,” Alex said.

Claire and Absolution stared at him.

“What?” Claire asked.

“Just clearing my throat,” Alex said. He coughed into his fist. Then he kicked the wall lightly.

It felt like kicking a wall.

Absolution didn’t say anything. But, somehow, Alex could practically feel judgement radiating out of him. It was equally as annoying as him being sassy. His eyes narrowed.

There’s no way we’re at the wrong spot, right?

No. Shawn wouldn’t have scammed us. And Meiderly’s magic activated. We’re here. I’m certain. I just need to figure out how to get inside.

“So…” Claire trailed off.

“Hold on,” Alex said. “I think I’ve got it. It’s a test of faith. I read about one of these before.”

“In a training manual?” Claire asked.

It’s a fantasy book with an author that really needs to learn how to keep her mouth shut.

“Yeah,” Alex said. “For what not to do. Check this out.”

Then he strode straight into the wall.

His face met stone with a very unsatisfactory thud. He stumbled back, his nose throbbing slightly, biting back a curse.

Absolution coughed.

Claire looked like she was trying very hard not to say anything.

“Okay,” Alex said as he rubbed at his nose. “I really thought that would work.”

“That was quite apparent given the sound of the thud,” Absolution said. “Nobody can ever claim that you do not have conviction.”

For some reason, it almost felt as if there was the tiniest note of genuine respect somewhere with the sarcasm dripping from Absolution’s words.

“I’d love to hear if anyone else has a better idea,” Alex said. He poked the wall. “Because this is where the Empty Court is. I’m absolutely certain of it. It’s here.”

Absolution studied him for a moment. Then he looked to the wall. “Perhaps there is some manner of key required to open it?”

That was a horrifying concept. The idea of having to turn around and go all the way back purely because they hadn’t brought the damn key to get into the Empty Court was not a great mental image.

“I’m going to pretend that is impossible because I hate the idea of it,” Alex said. He crossed his arms and looked back at the wall. Then his head tilted to the side. “Maybe it can tell that you’re not meant to be here, Absolution. You don’t have an invite yet. Claire and I do.”

Absolution sent him a look. “I doubt that to be the case.”

“Why?” Claire asked. “That’s actually a pretty good reason. The Empty Court is supposed to be really selective. An entrance might not show itself if someone without passage is present.”

“Do you want me to stand outside?” Absolution asked, eyes narrowing. “That’s actually how you believe this works?”

“Might as well,” Alex said. “It can’t hurt.”

Absolution sighed. Then, with a shrug, he turned and strode out of the passageway. Alex and Claire watched him walk until he’d stepped into the light and vanished from view.

Then they turned back to the wall.

It was still a wall.

Most walls did tend to do that, but Alex had really been hoping this particular one would have been different. He gave the stone a poke just to make sure.

“Damn,” Alex said. “You know, I really thought that would—”

A shimmer of light cut through the dark.

Both Alex and Claire jumped back as brilliant white lines exploded out across the stone. They flashed across its surface, tracing the outline of a glowing doorway within moments. Then the entire section ignited with brilliant light. The doorway swung inward, opening into a path of pure white magic.

Alex and Claire exchanged a glance.

“Huh,” Claire said.

“Huh,” Alex agreed. He looked back to the passage. His heart was already starting to speed up. After all this time, they’d finally managed to make it. He grinned, holding his hand out. “Shall we?”

Claire took it.

Then, as one, they stepped into the Empty Court.

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