Nightmare Realm Summoner

Spark straightened from his crouched position before Alex. The shadows attached to his arms stretched taut and his gauntleted hands flexed. Bubbles roiled across the dark beneath him. A perfect clone made of black energy rose from the ground, pulsing ripples of purple energy traveling through its eyes and running throughout its body like dim veins.

The Gibbering Treant moaned from a dozen mouths in unison. Its arms jerked up, as if it were a marionette pulled by strings, and the sap weeping from the monster's orifices rushed down its body like a yellowish-brown river.

It crackled and hardened within moments, turning to two jagged blades in the monster's palms. They glistened with a sickly energy and droplets of sap rolled down their length before dripping to the ground.

Definitely don't want that touching me. It couldn't be more clearly poison unless it was literally screaming it into the wind.

The treant's wooden legs bunched. Then it exploded forward, springing straight for the group.

A muffled whump echoed across the rolling hills. The clay beneath Spark's feet was compacted in an instant as the Knight Wraith met the other monster's charge, his shadow a foot behind him.

Sap blades sliced through the air with a whistle. They carved straight for Spark's throat, but they met nothing but inky darkness as the monster swapped locations with his clone without so much as a sound.

He lunged forward, driving a fist for the treant's side. The monster swept its other hand at him in retaliation. The blow forced Spark to abandon his prior attack and jump back, narrowly avoiding getting cut.

The Treant spun away from the shadow and lurched at Spark — only to find its hands passing through air once more. Spark had swapped positions a second time. He arrived in the spot his clone had been in with a crackle of purple Rift energy.

A tingle took root in the base of Alex's neck, where his brain met his spine. He could feel the faintest draw of power. Not from him, per say, but from Spark's energy pools. The previous teleportation had taken so little power that it might as well have not needed any at all.

This one had used more. It wasn't a significant amount yet, but it was more than nothing.

Spark drove a fist into the treant's side. Wood cracked and splintered. The monster staggered to the side with a cacophony of roars and the shadow darted behind him.

With a dozen roars and a few moans, the warped monster swept its sword at Spark in a blur. He vanished; reappeared in place of his shadow behind the treant; brought his closed fists down on the monster's head in a hammer strike.

The treant stumbled forward. One of its heads silenced and sap poured from it like blood as it swung its swords all around itself in a mad craze, not leaving room for anyone to grow close to it.

Even more energy tingled in Alex's mind. The third teleportation used even more magic than the second one had.

He must have a way to push that ten second limit between teleportation. Each consecutive teleportation before the cooldown is up costs more energy. Great ability for a pinch, but you'll burn through all your magic really quickly.

Alex's assessment was correct, and Spark seemed to know it too. The Knight Wraith backed away from the treant as it lumbered after him, its blades cutting through the air just inches away from the wraith.

He was buying time. And, as soon as ten seconds had passed, he blurred into motion again. Bark crunched. Splinters of white wood tumbled past metal wreathed in shadow and illuminated by purple energy.

Spark struck from the shadows in a flurry of blows and then retreated again, buying time for his ten-second timer to end so he could strike again. Each blow he struck was precise and powerful.

Unfortunately, the treant was a glutton for punishment. It pushed through every strike and continued to press toward Spark. It was losing the fight right now, but Alex could sense his summons' magical energy depleting. If things continued as they were… Spark would lose.

It only took Alex a few more seconds to process why that was the case. A flicker of embarrassment passed through him for taking this long to realize the issue.

He was using Spark the same way that he would have used Glint. A head-to-head fight like this was perfect for the Glasmir. He could dance circles around the treant and cut it to piece strike by strike until nothing was left but a pile of firewood.

But Spark's power wasn't one meant for constant combat. It was perfect for hopping into a fight, ensuring a powerful blow connected with a target, and then slipping away.

He was treating his monster like a warrior when it was really an assassin.

If that's the case, then Rift Flood should make that even more apparent.

Alex drew on his own magic, though he opted to leave his Qi alone for the moment. He wasn't just trying to defeat the treant. The biggest benefit he could get from this fight was learning exactly what the Knight Wraith was capable of.

Calling on Qi would be overkill until otherwise proven. It wouldn't show him anything.

He extended his senses to the Knight Wraith, feeling the monster's presence lurking at the edges of his mind, and unleashed Rift Flood. The connection between them buzzed to life with renewed intensity. Power flooded out of Alex and into the monster.

Spark's ignited a deep purple and energy coursed down his arms. The monster's gauntleted hands tightened on the ground — then slipped into the darkness beneath him. When he rose again, there were two black daggers edged with buzzing purple energy buzzing within them.

His stance shifted into something between a crouch and a proper standing position. He was so low to the ground that it felt like it should have been impossible for him to balance.

The treant lumbered toward him.

Spark and his shadow shot out in opposite directions, moving to flank their wooden opponent. They both accelerated to blurred streaks.

Faces moaning and screaming with a mixture of agony and fury, the treant lurched for the real Spark and swung one of its blades. The weapon flashed through the air with such speed that it howled.

Spark swapped with his shadow.

The treant struck out with its other blade. Spark swapped a second time, but the treant knew where he was going. One of its knees shot up for his armored chest, only for spark to strike it with the back of a blade and knock the blow astray. The wooden monster stumbled past Spark before it had even realized what happened.

At nearly the exact same moment, there was a loud thunk.

When the treant turned, it had changed. A blade protruded from the center of its chest. It was lodged deep within the wood. Crackling purple energy wormed against the treant's skin, hissing and crackling as it burned.

Spark exploded into motion in unison with his shadow. The other monster swung its swords defensively. Metal rang on metal as Spark deflected the blow with a dagger and grabbed the stuck blade, ripping it free with a crunch.

He swapped with his shadow and drove both of the blades into the treant's back, darting to safety before the other monster could try to counter him.

There was no denying that the treant was a tanky monster. It absorbed strike after strike, cut after cut, and continued to press on. Sap poured down its body in rivers and slicked the clay ground.

Spark never so much as missed a step. He wove in and out of range, delivering measured strikes to the treant with his daggers. The fight was still clearly not in his favor, but Alex had confirmed that the Knight Wraith was indeed an assassin.

Sending him up against a tank was never going to be the strategy, but he was still clawing his way to victory. The daggers let him deflect some of the treant's blows so he didn't have to waste energy constantly teleporting.

A thought struck Alex and he reached into the deck at his side. He pulled Spark's card out and glanced at it.

Bonded Creature: Knight Wraith (Initiate 3)

Combining Spark with the Night King had made his level raise, but not by a significant margin. Most of the power came from the increases and changes to his abilities rather than extra magical energy to work with.

And still, an Initiate 3 was slowly but steadily cutting down an Initiate 9. The difference between the skills and abilities of the two monsters was enormous. It didn't matter if the treant was tough to kill.

It only had that — and presumably poison — to work with. And when it couldn't land a blow on Spark, the fight was as good as done.

The treant knew that too. It lurched toward Spark, trying to take advantage of a moment of opportunity as the knight swapped locations with his shadow, and flung one of its swords in the direction of his shadow, attempting to cut off Spark's ability to teleport to safety.

Spark blurred into the strike. He twisted past the strike, letting it cut past him harmlessly, and slammed both of his weapons into the center of the treant's body.

There was a loud snap. Spark jerked his weapons free, splitting the treant's upper torso straight down the middle, and stepped back.

The other monster pitched backward and crashed to the ground. It did not move again. Sap pooled around its wooden corpse and energy trickled into Alex. He strode forward and scooped the monster's Soul Flame up without a word.

"What?" Alex asked as he turned back to Orchid and Derek's gazes. Claire was already more than used to how his powers worked and did nothing but give him a nod.

"Nothing," Orchid said, shaking her head and holding her branch closer to her chest. "Thanks for the stick."

"It is a good stick." Derek scratched the back of his neck and shrugged. "Good fight, too. Would have liked a crack at that thing. Looked fun. Can we touch more trees?"

"Not right now," Alex replied, dismissing Spark with a thought so the monster could regenerate some energy. A smile pulled across his lips. "I think it's time we head back to 274-50."

***

Alex used Riftsense to help guide them back to the portal they'd come in through — though he did almost get sidetracked by different portal in the near vicinity. He didn't know what would happen if he went through a portal and ended up on an entirely different planet to 274-50. Alex would pretty sure that would make him an Offworlder — and he had no desire to become one of those at this point in time.

They managed to make it back without any issue and were soon all standing in a circle, staring at the portal they'd entered the Mirrorlands through. It wasn't a moment too soon. Alex's stomach was clenched in hunger and his throat was parched. He could have made it a fair bit longer if he'd had to, but it would have been rather uncomfortable.

And so, after making sure that everyone was prepared, he ripped open the portal. The four of them then readied themselves and stepped through it. Even though Orchid was rather convinced that the Offworlders wouldn't just be sitting around waiting for them to return, Alex had his doubts.

He called upon his monsters the instant solid ground materialized beneath his feet.

By the time his bearings had returned to him and his gaze had lifted to scan the surroundings, his monsters were already ripping themselves into reality all around him.

"Well," Derek said as he looked around the empty hill. "They're gone."

Alex turned in a circle, scanning to see if he could spot anyone waiting in hiding, but the area around them did seem empty. They were far too close to Valley Ford to relax, but there was nobody readying an ambush.

I suppose they didn't think we'd actually be able to get back from the Mirrorlands. That or Orchid was right and they really didn't want to waste time once one lead evaporated. I guess all the families went right back to competing with each other once we were off the board.

He opened his mouth to speak — and a powerful wave of energy grabbed his attention like it were jerking the reins of a horse. The breath caught in Alex's chest and his back stiffened. An invisible energy tugged Alex to the north, away from Valley Ford and parallel to the massive mountains.

A message shimmered through the air before him.

[Ascending Forerunner]: A Region Boss is waking.