Smoke exits the portal in the shape of a man carrying a lantern. Two more Nightmares fly through the portal shortly after. The lantern-bearing shadow raises a finger to point at me.

  A feeling of dread strikes me. I reflexively dive and roll to get away from my current position. A sphere of darkness grows and contracts in that location. This is a Benighter, an abyssal creature who manipulates darkness.

  The irony.

  Spheres of darkness grow out of thin air and shrink back to nothing. I fly to avoid them. The Nightmares are nowhere to be seen. I spot two more Nightmares emerge from the portal. This is getting worse.

  I set my eyes on the Benighter and dive, lances ready. It conjures a darkness bubble in my way, but I swerve around it, and get caught by another. Inside, it is so intensely dark, my light-branded lances produce only a dim glow. I curl into a ball, covering my weak points, until I exit the darkness.

  I hear that uncanny cackle from before, closer than I’d ever heard it. Impacts, burning, and sickness. I’ve been hit with WOUND. I turn to see two pairs of glowing eyes. I cast AREA LIGHT. It dimly lights the area, just enough to make out the Nightmares’ silhouettes. I try to fly faster to leave this bubble. How big is this thing?

  I emerge from the bubble. The edge was up against the cobblestone road. I crash and grind to a stop. The Benighter releases its own laugh, a twisted call. It sweeps its hand, a sheet of darkness forms between us, and accelerates toward me.

  *

  I take off and float over the sheet, only to see the Benighter project more sheets. The next sheet would have fit right into the last one, so I dodge it by moving behind the last sheet. The next sheet covers the same area as the first, so I hardly need to move to… Shit! This is a trap!

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  I speed toward the Benighter, and a bubble of darkness spreads on my heels. After a short pause, it starts throwing sheets of darkness, but now it’s placing them to block my path. But a path remains open: up.

  I soar upward, the bubble still growing, until it starts to contract. I dive toward the Benighter, prompting it to start throwing sheets, and veer away. Why does it still attack me at this distance? I circle it and watch as it keeps sending sheets of darkness toward me, measured so they slot together almost perfectly…

  It’s afraid of a beam spell. This is not an attack, it’s a defense! If I enter its maze, it can hem me in and capture me in a bubble. If I stay out here, I’m safe, but toothless. I dive directly toward it.

  A series of sheets obstruct me, each of them featuring a single small gap in an inconvenient place, but always more convenient than going around. The gaps get closer, each not far from the one before it. RADIANCE!

  A sphere of blinding light spreads out from me as I continue. RADIANCE is a spell that counters magical darkness. Unlike DAYLIGHT which dispels magical darkness, RADIANCE it blocks all new darkness from being made in its zone. It lasts only a few seconds, but…

  The Benighter tries to open a bubble of darkness on top of me but it’s foiled. SUNBEAM! An incendiary ray of light dissolves the Benighter. As I thought, it can’t produce sheets immediately after a bubble.

  *

  Once the light faded, I notice a swarm of Nightmares. So many of them had come through the portal and hidden in the Benighter’s darkness. AREA L-

  Everything comes to a sudden halt. I can see, but I can’t move my eyes. A complete silence menaces my ears.

  The portal deforms. A silhouette with an incredible gravitas looks directly at me. It’s uncanny like looking at a summoned creature, but that’s as far as the similarities go. It turns its gaze away. I don’t know how, but I know it’s looking toward the temple.

  It passes back through the portal. Time starts again, but the Nightmares, the portal, and the dark cloud overhead have completely vanished.

  *

  It was difficult to believe at first, but the battle was over. I watched over the temple until soldiers patrolled the streets and re-established order.

  Dismissal Request

  Request Accepted

  Since the job was done early, the client wanted to get back some of their mana. The mana cost is prorated: the time elapsed is paid in full, but the remaining time is paid at half the rate, in exchange for taking off early.