Cursed Draw

Chapter 26: Proxies

Alabaster

The old man let out a long sigh and pushed his chair back from the table. Slowly rising he eventually responded.

“If you wait about five minutes for that bell to stop ringing they will show you.” As he said it Stadivarius pointed towards a large pair of double doors which he began stomping over to.

“I uhh guess we follow again.” Said Alley quietly.

Darius shrugged in response but both boys rose and followed the elder. When the doors were flung open Alley wasn’t sure what he was expecting to see. It certainly hadn’t been the airy balcony overlooking the bay of the crescent island that greeted him.

It seemed the coastal side of The Deep Hunter hall opened almost directly onto the water. Below the balcony was an enormous ‘S’ shaped pier; the town’s only one, that extended hundreds of feet out into the sea.

Every few dozen feet or so Alley could make out strange metal cages large enough to hold five people each. They hung from huge chains connected to a lever apparatus that presumably lowered them.

The cages couldn’t have been a recent edition, so the Deep Hunters must have used them for something. Lower themselves or bait to the ocean floor maybe? It had to be something like that as there were at least twenty of them.

The whole area was lit by a combination of the huge moon’s reflection on the water supplemented by braziers on high poles near each cage, along with what seemed like a bonfire from atop the deck of a massive galley docked on the outer curve of the ‘S’.

The same flag bearing the icon of a Clash Ram skull pierced by three spears that marked the empty town flew atop the highest mast of the ship and was accompanied by the enormous swinging bell they had been hearing.

Alley’s breath caught when he noticed the nine cages closest to the vessel were occupied., and definitely not by hunters gearing up for a deep sea expedition.

“Darius” Alley all but hissed.

“I see them.” Came the flat reply.

The mystery of the missing townsfolk may have been solved, but it had been replaced by the far more scary and pressing. ‘Why the hell are the Shattered Hull Raiders putting people in diving cages?’

“What is this!?” Alley asked spinning about to look at Stradivarius. There was anger in his voice though he knew the old man wasn’t to blame. The already defeated edge to the way he spoke, the slouch to his shoulders. All of it annoyed Alley more than it should, but the last deep hunter didn’t have time to feel beaten with his people still alive out there.

Stradivarius spat in disgust before he replied.

“The captain will come out with the crew and give a big speech about it soon. He’s feeding them to a Card in order to cross the mountain.”

Alley blinked a few times.

“Cross the mountain…You mean get past rank nine?”

Alley’s mother had spoken about the process of reaching the eighth rank to him only on rare occasions and when she had it was only sparse detail. Even among the strong, skilled, or well-funded, very few people made it past Rank nine or even attempted the process.

“Did you say feeding a Card?” Asked Darius who had been leaning over the edge of the balcony’s railing, but now rejoined the other two.

“ I did.” said the old man sadly. “ The mountain is different for a True Deck but it's still difficult to cross. You have to evolve a unique card to its final form.”

Alley didn’t need to see his own face to know he shared a look of bewilderment with Darius.

“Which is done how exactly?” Asked Alley as he considered the idea. You could hardly get copies of a unique card, but he knew it was possible somehow. His Mother’s TerraNullis had been both unique and fully evolved.

“That depends. The card gives you a quest somehow and it grows as you complete it.”

“Okay,” said Darius with a frown.” And this captain’s quest is to what? To feed the Card a bunch of people?”

The old man rubbed his face tiredly. “ I didn’t get a chance to interview the man, but the Card in question is a big shark and the man’s speech mentions how many days in a row they have done this.”

At the shared questioning looks from the boys he elaborated. “ Tonight will be seventy-seven.”

Alley was stunned; He could understand the desire to grow in rank, but there were lines a person shouldn't cross. Capturing an innocent town that had offered you nothing but hospitality was past that point for Alley. To then brutally sacrifice them for personal gain virtually spat on the concept of morality in its entirety.

“That…” Said the dark-haired boy. “ Is the craziest shit I have ever heard.” Beside him, Darius was smirking and had already begun to stretch out his limbs and roll his shoulders. “ And I’m not letting it happen.”

Stradivarius guffawed at Alley’s declaration but his eyes shone even as he tried to gainsay the boy.

“There are at least thirty regular crew left, not that they matter much. But both the captain and his mate are rank nine, do you really think your Truey will make more of a difference than my entire hunters league?”

Alley grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, and Darius let out a little snort.

“I uhh use a Cursed Deck.”

The old man blanched at that. “ What in the hells could a kid your age have done to get cursed already?”

Alley rolled his eyes at the man. “ I found it in a magic castle, I didn’t know it was Cursed when I took it.”

“Riiiiiiight” The hunter’s disbelief annoyed Alley a little but he didn’t care enough to press the issue and there really wasn’t time.

“Look It doesn’t matter if the two of you can get me to the captain, I can Challenge him.”

Stradivarius scratched his chin considering the words of the youth in front of him.

“Now are there any True Deck cards here?” Alley Pressed. “Any at all I don’t care what they do, or cost, or even what Resonance they are. I just need some cards to fill the empty slots in my library.”

“Careful lad you will get Resonance poisoning that way”

‘Resonance poisoning?’

Alley filled that away for later. Right now he didn’t have the time.

“I don’t care.”

“Some of the men had the occasional True Card lying around, but can you beat him with a bunch of cursed draws stuffed into your deck?”

Alley grinned viciously. “I’ve never seen the man, but if I can’t play around a few cards I can’t use I’m not Arcadia Roe’s son.”

The old man repeated the name as though searching his mind for its owner.

“Arcadia..Ohh the MuckLands regional champion?”

“Deep River Country” Alley corrected the commonly used name for his homeland flatly. “Now show me where I can find these Cards and get ready, I don’t think we have much time.”

Out on the galley, the bell had stopped ringing.

Alley tore his way through the rooms belonging to the deceased hunters. He felt more than a little disrespectful rifling through and carelessly tossing aside the belongings of dead men but he hoped they would forgive his rudeness as it was in the service of saving lives. He was already stealing from them so he supposed it wasn’t that bad.

It thankfully hadn’t taken long to fill the remaining fourteen slots in his deck. The Cards were practically useless, or even unplayable with the increased cost from not harmonizing with his Dealer. He hadn’t expected to find cards for Undeath, Shadow, or Curse. They were rare Resonances to the point of being nearly mythical, and he still wasn’t quite sure how one made Cards out of something that was already dead.

Alley was just going to have to live up to his claims and play around a huge number of cursed draws in his Deck. For once the increased Library minimum might actually work in his favor by diluting the chances he would draw useless garbage.

When he headed back downstairs Alley found the other two in the large ornate hall waiting for him. Stradivarius’ armor was now complete with a bulbous helmet featuring a strange and surely not overly protective glass window at the front. On the other hand, Darius’ preparations had included placing his backpack against one of the stone walls and nothing else.

“Find what you need?” Asked The old hunter; As he spoke the Sky and Pressure crystals on his armor glowed and his voice came out booming and distorted.

“It will do. You two ready”

“Always.” Said Darius before giving his spear a little flourish and bringing it to rest on his shoulder. With his other hand, the boy called forth the little card images of his first draw.

Through the little window, Stradivarius grinned.

“A giant shark, an evil pirate lord, a sword-wielding fish monster, and terrified civilians in need of saving. Fair play lads, if The Silver Sea Deep Hunters League has to die, let the last member go out with a grand hunt instead of rotting to death of brandy and dark thoughts!” Declared the old man with ear-deafening ferocity

“Sword-wielding fish monster?” Asked Alley with a raised eyebrow. This was the first anyone had mentioned that to him.