Pain burned into Alex''s palm as he pulled the ck mote free of the mirror. It wormed through his veins and worked its way toward his heart. He gritted his teeth and took a step back, clutching his arm. His skin prickled like he was standing directly under the molten desert sun and he squinted as strands of white energy twisted into existence and circled the Soul me.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The me lifted into the air and folded in on itself to form a glossy ck marble. Ripples of force rolled off it and into Alex. Every wave came stronger than thest. The light intensified as a dull hum filled the room. His ears throbbed as the pressure repeatedly shifted as if it were chained to two hyperactive children on a seesaw.


    Alex squinted and lifted his hands to cover his eyes. Brush strokes of ck energy painted themselves across the canvas of burning light that was flooding the room. The pressure changed onest time. Something popped in the back of his head. Pressure mounted, forced the breath back into his lungs. He stumbled and the wall found his back.


    Wind howled past Alex. Light followed, drawn into a swirling vortex forming at the center of the room, and from it, waves of pressure rolled out to keep Alex and ire pressed into the walls. The air vibrated with energy and Alex squeezed his eyes shut just in time to avoid a brilliant sh.


    ire let out a slew of curses and sped her hands to her face. Alex opened his own eyes, squinting through the dots floating in his vision, and was rewarded with his first look at his newly summoned Echo Wraith. Wispy ck veinsposing an ethereal form floated and churned beneath chitinous tes like bubbling, smoky flesh. Distant crackles of muted ocean blue energy lit it from within. Its hands were like gauntlets slipped over a storm, fingers floated in istion held in ce only by swirling shadow. Two molten red eyes peered at Alex from monster''s nebulous head.


    Echo Wraith (Initiate 1)


    Pressure relented its assault on Alex, freeing his lungs from its grip. He and ire drew in a breath as one and Alex pushed away from the wall, eyes fixed on the Echo Wraith, heart racing in his chest. ire wiped her face with the back of a torn sleeve and peered at the newly formed monster from behind frazzled hair.


    "Whoa. That looks pretty bleedin'' different from the one we killed. Is that normal?" Her voice was muted and airy from missed breath.


    "I''m not sure," Alex replied, simrly winded. He strangled down a cough even though the effort was likely pointless. Summoning the Echo Wraith had been far from discreet. Anything that may have been in the area had certainly taken notice of them by now. "This was the first time I''ve summoned something I killed before."


    "Does your ss change the monsters you summon somehow?"


    "Sure looks like it. I''ve barely got any idea as to how my powers work. I''m kind of figuring them out as we go." Alex sent a nce past the suspended fragments obscuring the doorway and into the street beyond. It seemed empty from where he stood, but he wasn''t willing to take bets on how long that wouldst. "I think we should relocate before doing anything else."


    ire grimaced and nodded in agreement as Alex summoned his Echo Wraith back into its Spatial Mirror. They both approached the door and took another nce at the street. Warped shadows cast by buildings in various stages of deconstruction danced as crimson streamers flowed through the nebulous air above, but there was no sign of anything lying in wait. They were both all too aware of just how little that meant in the Mirronds, but when the options were limited to remaining where they stood to let a monster find them while they were trapped in a house or setting out and running into something on the streets, the answer was clear. At least there was a chance to make a run for it if they ran into something in the open city.


    ire nudged thergest of the fragments in the doorway away with a finger and stepped out, other hand on the hilt of her sword, eyes squinted in search for anything that lurked in the darkness. Alex followed after her and they slipped back into the ill-lit streets of the warped city.


    ***


    Perhaps it was a miracle. Perhaps the incredibly "inconspicuous" summoning had ended up making enough noise that it had scared away any potential predators instead of attracting them — or perhaps somethingrger had just already eaten everything of worth.


    No matter what the reason may have been, Alex and ire were able to slip out without stumbling straight into a monster that had been drawn in their direction. They only made it a single street away before a crackle of energy split the air and forced them to dart for cover. A City-Eater Centipede emerged above the space where they''d been standing just moments after they dove into an open doorway to take shelter.


    The massive monster crawled through the air above them. Its shadow washed across the street like encroaching night. A low buzz filled the air and Alex peered out from the edge of the doorway as a long fissure sliced through the smoky sky.


    A long, needle like beak pierced through the line. It oscited, piercing through the flesh of the City-Eater Centipede''s hard carapace, striking a dozen times in the time it took Alex to blink.


    The centipede didn''t even get a chance to react. It pitched from the sky, curling in on itself as it fell amidst huge droplets of its own blood.


    Energy thrummed from the fissure as gnarled, gray talons tore out from within it. They mmed into the back of the plummeting City-Eater Centipede and tightened around its body. A crunch rang out as the monster''s armored shell shattered beneath their grip.


    The talons yanked the centipede into the fissure, which snapped closed soundlessly. Arcs of energy spiderwebbed out where it had been before the churning crimson fog filling the air swallowed them whole and left nothing behind.


    Several drops of the kidnapped monster''s blood sttered against the ground and burst with enough force to paint the walls of the buildings around them. They were joined by chitinous armor tes crashing to the streets with a sound like ss rain.


    Alex and ire exchanged a mute nce as they crouched lower and backed away from the door. Nobody had ever said the Mirronds were safe. It was just startingly easy to forget just how powerful some of the beings that called it their home truly were. The massive centipedes, creatures of power so immense that Alex couldn''t evenprehend their Stage and level, were the bottom of the food chain. A tired grin pulled a corner of his lips upward.


    Really puts things into perspective. If they''re the bottom, then what are the monsters that hide in the streets? What are ire and I? des of grass that managed to gain sentience? And more importantly, what can the Mirronds help us be? What am I going to be capable of aplishing the day I get strong enough to actually fight a City-Eater Centipede?


    Augh nearly pushed its way out of Alex''s mouth before he caught it in his throat. He was going to have to make sure he didn''t get turned into worm food before he started letting himself daydream about power anywhere near the City-Eater Centipedes. It was certainly humbling to realize he was so far below the bottom of the food chain that an oversized bug ced leagues ahead of him.


    "Should we go?" ire whispered.


    "Let me buy a few more seconds to rest," Alex whispered back. His hand lowered to his side and brushed across the surface of the metal box holding his Spatial Mirrors. "Glint still hasn''te back yet, and I''d rather be as close to full strength as possible when I open that rift again."


    ire inclined her head. She nced around the room again, then scooted back against the wall and leaned against it, drawing one knee up to her chest and resting her chin upon it.


    Alex crossed his legs beneath him and sat down on the other side of the room. He pulled his new Spatial Mirror from his side, tilting it to catch the dim red light streaming in through the entrance before lifting his gaze to the ground before him.


    "Come out," Alex said. He didn''t have a name for the Echo Wraith yet, but the monster understood hismand regardless. A shimmer of blue energy arced through the air before him. Spidery veins twisted out from the energy. The air bulged as the imprint of a buzzing hand pressed against it.


    Pressure popped in Alex''s ears and, with a sharp snap like a rubber band giving way, his Echo Wraith crackled into existence. The monster floated above the ground, its molten red gaze boring into Alex''s eyes in wait of amand.


    "You need a name," Alex informed the monster.


    The Wraith, predictably, did not answer him.


    "Crunchy?" ire offered.


    Alex nced over at her. "Crunchy?"


    ire coughed into her fist. "It kind of looks crunchy, doesn''t it? With all the blue electricity and the chitinous tes. If you had jaws strong enough to eat it, it would be crunchy. I don''t have any desire to test that theory out myself, but feel free to give it a shot."


    "I think I''ll pass on that one. Do you really think electricity would be crunchy? I feel like it would be more… like an allergy, or something," Alex said with a thoughtful frown. "Like you ate something prickly, maybe."


    "Prickle?"


    "That just gets shortened to Prick. I''m not calling my monster a Prick."


    "Good point." ire scratched at her chin and tilted her head to the side. "Shadow Storm?"


    "Shadow — where did you evene up with that?" Alex choked back augh and shook his head firmly. "That''s way too edgy. I am not calling my Wraith Shadow Storm. I''d get stabbed halfway through saying his name."


    "What about Spark?"


    Alex paused for a moment. That was actually a pretty good name. It fit fairly decent with Glint''s name as well, which was a definite bonus. He gave ire a small nod. "I like that, actually."


    "What do you mean, actually? I''m bleedin'' great at naming things."


    "Let''s not get too ahead of ourselves," Alex said with a dry smile. He looked to the Echo Wraith. "How do you feel about that? Spark?"


    The Wraith floated in ce.


    Alex gave ire a thumbs-up.


    "He loves it."


    "I think he wants to kill you."


    "I don''t think he thinks much of anything, actually," Alex replied. He turned back to Spark. "You can teleport, right? Demonstrate for me."


    Spark moved to the side — or at least, most of him did. A shadowy rendition of the monster rippled in the air where it had been a moment before. Its form rippled like it were reflected through a murkyke, making it difficult to make out any true detail in the swirling darkness. The only part of it that remained identical to the original monster were its two red eyes.


    Alex was still examining the shadow when it snapped, reced by Spark''s true form in the blink of an eye. He jerked back and suppressed a curse. The Echo Wraith watched him silently. Alex would have suspected the monster were ying a trick on him if he hadn''t known better.


    "That scared the shit out of me," Alex said with a quietugh, shaking his head and looking over to where the Echo Wraith had been. The shadow had taken its ce. He nodded to it. "Can you swap back?"


    Spark didn''t move.


    "Swap back," Alex said.


    There was no response. The Wraith just floated silently. Several seconds ticked by. Alex and ire exchanged a nce.


    "Unless he''s suddenly decided to be rebellious, it looks like he can''t just keep using that ability," ire said. "There''s probably a d—"


    Spark snapped, his body reced by shadow as he swapped ces once more.


    "Ten seconds," Alex said. "Good to know. You can go back, Spark. That''s it for now."


    The monster extended a gauntleted hand. Air bent before it and the monster slipped betweenyers of reality, vanishing with a dull crackle of blue electricity. The faint smell of ozone lingered in its passing.


    "I''d love to see what its capable of in an actual fight," ire said.


    "I don''t think we''ll have to wait long," Alex replied, letting his head rest against the wall behind him. "It won''t be long until Glintes back. We can set out as soon as he does."


    They both fell silent. Minutes slipped by. And, eventually, though it was far from a surprise, Glint returned to his mirror.


    Their rest was over.


    With both of Alex''s monsters returned to him, he and ire slipped out of their hideout and made their way through the streets of the warped city, keeping close to the walls and moving slowly to avoid drawing the attention of anything on their way out.


    There were several close calls with monsters passing just by their hiding spots, but they managed to remain undetected all the way out of the city and out into the field beyond it. It was fortunate that the City-Eaters seemed to congregate exclusively in the areas around the actual city. If one of them ever appeared in the open air, Alex doubted they''d have any chance of avoiding its attention — if it even cared enough about people of their strength to attack them in the first ce.


    Alex was saved from having to waste energy using Riftsense on the way back. He remembered the direction they''de from, and it didn''t take long until they''d arrived at the crack in reality that they''d slipped through just a short while ago. It certainly didn''t feel like a short time. He was tempted to stay longer, but there was too much on the line right now. They had to get back to Earth and level up again before the next part of the System Initialization.


    "Ready?" Alex asked.


    ire nodded.


    He grabbed onto the purple cracks floating before them. Jolts of electricity drove into his palms, but he was ready for them. Alex''s teeth chattered as electric energy poured into his body and crackled within his muscles. His jaw clenched and he pulled as hard as he could.


    A dull buzz split the air. A vertical line split through the air and lengthened as his hands split it farther, churning purple energy twisting within its depths. The portal grew farther as Alex continued to push. He dragged it open until his arms could pull no longer, then took a step forward and shoved his palms to his sides.


    With a sound like tearing paper, the portal snapped fully open. A faint tugging force yanked at Alex''s chest from within the portal. He took a stumbling step forward — and his hand met a t, ck sheen as hard as ss. Their way forward had been sealed.


    "Shit," ire said.


    "Spark, Glint," Alex barked, lowering his stance as he scanned the surroundings. The air around him warped as his monsters arrived at his sides.


    Purple light washed down on Alex and ire from above. They both craned their necks back as one as a craggy line raced through the air. It peeled open. Tongues of lightning leapt out from within the split in reality.


    "Get ready," ire muttered, raising her sword before her.


    A hand of gray stone connected to an arm easily asrge as a small human reached out from within the churning energy, grabbing onto the edge of the buzzing portal. Pressure drove into Alex like a physical weight as the passageway vibrated. It bulged and warped, edges losing cohesion as they stretched outward. A second hand dug into the portal and a low groan echoed out from within the storm beyond.


    Something enormous was pushing its way into the Mirronds.


    Riftwarped Granite Soldier (Initiate 4)