You touch a small or larger corpse, causing a Nightmare to burst from its body, destroying said corpse if its medium or small. You immediately mount the nightmare after casting, and must choose a second corpse or body within 50 feet, which the nightmare speeds towards at breakneck speed, dealing 1d6 bludgeoning damage to anything it collides with on it's course. The nightmare isn't controlled by you, and takes the shortest route possible along the ground. The nightmare can only run across ground, so if a target isn't within 50 feet of ground distance, it can't be chosen as a target.
When the nightmare reaches its destination, it either disappears into the corpse in a similar fashion to its entrance, destroying a medium or small body, or collides with a living creature, dealing 2d6 bludgeoning damage to that creature. If the creature dies from the damage, the nightmare will disappear into it's corpse, but if it survives, the nightmare bursts into flames briefly before disappearing, dealing 3d6 fire damage to anyone mounted on the nightmare as it ignites.
At higher levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the distance the steed can travel increases by 5 feet per each slot level above 2nd. At 5th level, the nightmare can gallop through the air to reach elevated areas like balconies or even corpses hanging from chains. It's your choice whether the nightmare travels by ground or by air.
Art Credit: Plague Mare by G-host Lee
* - (horse hair)
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