The man in the student uniform thrust his hand out towards Balyn even as the hunter was sweeping his long-handled cleaver down in a savage arc. At the last second, Balyn saw the swelling pinprick of darkness against the man's palm, growing in an instant to the size of a marble, then a snowball, a gap into the abyssal cosmos lurking behind reality.
He flung himself aside just in time as tentacles lashed out from the darkness, whipping through the space Balyn had just occupied. His shoulder hit the stone-flagged floor, pain shooting up his arm, but he managed to turn aside, to roll back to his feet.
"Ahhh, majestic!" crooned his enemy. "A hunter is a hunter, even in a dream!"
Balyn snapped the cleaver shut into its saw form and lunged forward.
"Yeah, well, prepare to wake up."
"But alas, not too fast." The man whipped his hands up above his head, something small and glowing blue cradled in them.
Oh, crap, Balyn thought. He'd seen this before, from the blindfolded woman in Byrgenwerth. Even as his saw tore into the host of the nightmare, stars of brilliant blue exploded from the man's hands and blasted into the hunter's body, burning him to ash with raw star-born energy.
~X X X~
"Welcome home, good hunter. What is it that you desire?"
"You know, I'll tell you what I desire," he said to the Doll, pointing squarely at her. She tilted her head to one side, her expression curious. "That guy, Micolash, he fights you in this arena-like room that he locks you into, and then after you beat on him for a while, he runs off and you have to chase him down and do it all over again."
"I'm afraid that I do not understand."
"It's just this:" He rubbed his hands together. "Sure, it's a royal pain for me, but it's a perfect set-up for an audience. Just widen the hole in the top of the room and put seating up there for people to watch. It's just the right size for everyone to get a good view of the action, and that guy really knows how to play to the crowd with his over-the-top antics, too. We could make a fortune to spend when the night of the hunt is over! I'm telling you, Micolash, Host of the Nightmare is the perfect opponent for a good, old-fashioned cage fight!"