Vazeiros leaves no time for further banter: their blades meet, and a dagger materializes in his off hand. He immediately uses it to lash out at Stephen's stomach, driving him back with a series of quick jabs. They're a match for skill and power even though Vazeiros is the stronger, better adept with a blade: Stephen is the more gifted at magic, and warps the Fade with an ease of will Vazeiros can't match. Ness only ever knew her father to be capable of a drow's inherent tricks; whatever arcane, opaque rules the dream-drow is governed by, the creature wearing his face now is beholden to the same limitation.

Stephen parries another thrust and Vazeiros retreats, considering, still like a spider waiting for its web to tremble with prey. Killing Stephen won't be as easy as he had hoped, it appears... but he's not giving up quite that easily.

He hisses something in Undercommon, and opaque, jet-black smoke spills around the elf like an overturned inkwell. It creeps forward to obscure Vazeiros, and then the stacks, and then Stephen's flaming sword, and finally Stephen himself.

From somewhere within the cloud, he hisses again, and violet motes of sparkling light fall into the darkness, sticking to Stephen like fiberglass. He shines, a pinky-purple beacon in an ink-black cloud, while Vazeiros is lost to the darkness, and the dream goes silent around them.