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Book 3: Chapter 43: Second Core

The last of the adrenaline that had carried Arthur this far was fading, and he wanted nothing more than to find a bed and sleep. Pure will and a healthy dose of his Exhaustion Resistance helped him continue to stand.

Cressida, meanwhile, was visibly wilting with one hand on Joy to keep standing up. Brixaby still perched proudly, on Arthur\'s shoulder, but his head was drooping.

“Are you sure?” Arthur made himself ask. After all, if the council discovered the theft of the combat cards, all of this might be for nothing.

“I came in on a later wave and haven\'t been fighting as long as you,” Laird reminded him, simply. “Besides, I need to get ahead of the investigation. Shadow\'s death, unfortunately, will lend weight to my story.”

“What story will that be?” Arthur asked.

“What else?” Laird let out another long sigh, and abruptly Arthur wondered how old the dragon was. Under the harsh moonlit sky, he seemed positively ancient. “I’ll report that these were Kingdom hive dragons—probably not your Kingdom. I\'m sure I\'ll find a mark on their hides or identifying trinkets, or I\'ll claim there\'s one on the report. While they haven\'t moved to wipe us off the map, it\'s not unheard of for a hive to take an occasional sideswipe.”

“All the more reason why you should defend yourselves,” Arthur said, thinking of the combat cards.

Laird gave a single nod and turned away in obvious dismissal.

Arthur glanced at Brix to see if he was about to take exception to that – A Legendary being dismissed by a Rare. But it was a mark of how tired Brixaby was that he didn\'t comment.

Besides, Laird had a good point. Reluctantly, Arthur turned to the hive.

The Free Hive lay on the other side of the large mesa to the north. They had gotten here by flying on Joy. But, seeing the pink dragon so exhausted that her normally vivid scales were dull, Arthur knew he couldn\'t ask her to fly them back.

They would have to walk it. And, judging by the way the moon and the stars wheeled in the sky, they only had a couple of short hours before sunrise.

“Well,” he said, "let\'s get going."

Cressida pushed off of Joy and, gesturing to her dragon to follow, walked up to him. “I have a better idea.”

Then she placed one delicate hand on Arthur\'s shoulder—the one without Brixaby on it. Her second hand pressed to Joy\'s scales.

A moment later, they were enveloped in darkness.

No, not darkness, shadow. And those shadows were boiling with monsters… though they seemed far away.

They erupted at the base of the mesa at the deepest point of shadow.

Arthur had no time to exclaim in surprise, or mentally slap himself for forgetting so fast she had a new teleport power.

Cressida\'s knees started to buckle, and Arthur caught her right before she hit the ground.

“That was the last of my mana,” Cressida gasped. Judging by the harsh way she breathed, that little stunt had likely cut into her life force, too.

It wasn\'t a permanent problem, but she would need a good, rich meal and a long night of sleep to recover what she had just spent.

“Take your time,” Arthur said, “you just saved us a long walk.”

And likely discovery. He doubted they would have been able to travel back across the desert without being seen.

Turning, he looked back the way they came. They were so far from the tip of the peninsula that Laird wasn\'t visible, and he couldn\'t pick out the bodies of the dragons among the boulders.

“Poor Shadow,” Joy said, mournfully. “He deserves so much better than to die like that.”

Arthur looked back at her and realized that her scales weren\'t dull from exhaustion—at least, not only from exhaustion. She looked to be honestly grieving for the other dragon.

“I\'m sorry,” he said, awkwardly, “I didn\'t know you two were friends.”

“Oh, we weren\'t. I don’t think he liked us very much.” But she sounded still sad enough that she might as well have said that they had been the best of friends. “That\'s fine. I still liked him, and I thought he would have been a very good addition to Brixaby\'s retinue. But maybe Cressida having his card would be the best way to honor him.”

“I would still rather have Ghost in my retinue,” Brixaby said. “Though,” he gave a speculative look to Cressida, “your stealth and new teleport card may mean Ghost isn\'t needed. I chose well when I accepted you into my retinue.”

Cressida let out a breathless chuckle and tipped her head to the dragon in a surprisingly elegant gesture. “Thank you, Sir,” she said with only the slightest sarcasm.

Brixaby flipped his wings in satisfaction, clearly not picking up on it.

Arthur took a few moments to look around. His night vision was rather good—a benefit of his Master of Body Enhancement, though he was still at the minimum level 3.

They were in a hollow scooped out by the wind and blowing sand. He didn\'t see anybody around him, but he knew that dragons, and sometimes people, used different exterior hollows of the mesa to curl up and fall asleep during the relatively cooler night.

“Brixaby,” he said, “take a quick look around and see if there\'s anybody close enough to eavesdrop?”

Brixaby might be tired, and overly full, but he was always up to show off his flying skills. Buzzing straight up into the air from Arthur\'s shoulder, he flew out, and then around. Everybody stayed silent; the only sound in the still night air was the droning of Brixaby\'s wings. There weren\'t even any crickets in this desert landscape.

Weirdly, for a second, Arthur felt intensely homesick for the Wolf Moon hive — its winding canals, the city that always had something going on outside the hive, and the general sense of life and purpose.

He had gained much by being here in the Free Hive, but he didn\'t want to stay forever.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Brixaby returned shortly, landing back on Arthur\'s shoulder. “Two dragons are asleep fifty feet above, but they\'re only Commons,” he said, dismissively. “And they\'re snoring.”

Arthur nodded. “We\'ll keep our voices down.”

Joy managed to perk up. “Secrets?”

“I wanted to know about that other card that Laird gave you,” Arthur said to Cressida. “If you feel comfortable, of course.”

He added that part because it was true that Cressida and Joy were part of his retinue, but they were also his friends. A card deck was an intensely personal thing.

Joy perked up. “Oh yeah,” she said, shedding her grief for Shadow in an instant, “I kind of wanted to know too. What did he give you, Cressida?”

Cressida pulled it out of her card anchor purse. “It is a Rare card, but not nearly as exciting as you\'re likely imagining.”

The back of the card was interesting. The illustrations moved, as all Rare cards did, but they didn\'t just move... they slithered and twined and twisted around. Were those... snakes?

Cressida flipped the card over to show them.

Slithering Shadow Sender

Rare

Utility

The wielder of this card will be able to conjure snakes and serpents made of shadow and deliver a message to any individual. There is no restriction on distance. The wielder must be able to clearly visualize this individual and be able to speak his or her message out loud. The messenger serpent will be able to carry back a reply message on its return. Sending the message does not require any mana; however, a donation of mana is required by the recipient to send a reply. The amount required depends on the distance from the sender.

It was easy to see why this was a Rare card. If there was no limit on distance for the sending, Cressida could send a message to Wolf Moon Hive -- to anybody– without the cost of mana. Yes, it wasn\'t a combat or a craft spell, but it was very useful.

“Oh good,” Joy said, “another spell in the form of an animal. Cressida, I like your theme.”

“It\'s not a theme, dearest,” Cressida said, perhaps sounding a little more prim than usual. “These are merely coincidences.”

“She has a point,” Brixaby said, stroking his chin. “I wonder if they are from the same set?”

“I don\'t think that they are,” Cressida said, then looked around at all of them, visibly surprised. “So, you think that I should add it to my card deck?”

“Why not?” Arthur asked.

“It\'s not exactly useful. Brixaby can speak into our minds.”

“Only for a short distance, and you can\'t speak back. Though that makes sending orders easier," Brixaby said.

"Oh, Cressida, you have to add it to your deck," Joy gasped, clearly alarmed that Cressida thought otherwise. "You heard Laird before. This was poor Shadow\'s rider\'s card. This was the card that they created together through their link. You have to reunite them. You just have to!"

That made Arthur wonder what Shadow\'s rider\'s card had been. Something with snakes, perhaps, to create this linked card?

“Cressida, those things you see when you teleport…”

She gave him a wan smile. “They’re mentioned in the card description, as a warning. I’m able to teleport myself and others at a 90% reduced mana rate, but we’re ‘Trespassing where mortal beings dare not tread’. That’s the risk for every teleport.”

“Shadow mentioned something like that once. He said they caught his scent.”

She shivered. “I get the feeling I shouldn’t use it too often. And though the linked card doesn’t have that warning, I fear there will be some other drawback.”

"It is a useful utility," Brixaby agreed. Then he glanced at Arthur. "But you may want to save space in your deck. We have other cards to choose from."

"What do you mean? Wait… Oh, Arthur," Cressida said, her voice heavy, "Did you do what I think you did?"

He looked directly at her. He wasn\'t going to apologize. " I didn\'t want to take any chances that Laird or Shadow would betray us or fight us for the best cards."

She nodded, and while she didn\'t exactly smile at him, she didn\'t seem upset, either.

Cressida was from a minor noble house. She knew how to play the politics game, but he was still relieved she didn’t seem angry.

Joy seemed too tired to bounce up and down, but she still weaved from side to side. "Well? Well?! What did you get us? What did you get us?"

Arthur produced the cards that they had held back.

Supernova Unleashed

Elemental

Common

The wielder of this card will gain the ability to release a massive explosion of fire and kinetic energy in a 360-degree ring. This release will not damage allies or the wielder’s existing card effects. Cool down: 30 minutes.

Sharp as Nails

Body Enhancement

Common

This card grants the wielder the ability to lengthen finger and toenails to sharp knife points using mana. Higher mana costs will result in sharper nails. Advanced levels allow the user more control over this body enhancement.

"This is good," Cressida said. "Really good. Also, no animals. Arthur... It’s perfect. Thank you."

"Oh, I like this," Joy said, looking over her card with equal enthusiasm. "This will let me poison people so much easier! Thank you." She looked at Cressida, then at Arthur and Brixaby. "I think that I\'d like to try it now."

"Wait, Joy, your core —" Cressida started.

"I\'ve been thinking a lot about my cores, and even if the second one isn’t super solid, I think it’s good enough. It’s ready for a card."

"But are you sure?"

"She is the dragon," Brixaby said, "she\'s the one who knows if she is sure. Not us."

"There is no rush," Cressida said.

Arthur winced, but said, "Actually… there is."

Cressida swung around to glare at him, but he wasn\'t going to back down.

"This is the second time that the Mind Singer has attacked us. Maybe the third if the boiler room explosion wasn\'t an accident. This time it was with a Legendary card. What do you think will happen next time?"

"She’ll attack us with two Legendary cards?" Joy asked.

Brixaby looked briefly excited about that but then with a shake of his head he said, "No. She won\'t give us the pleasure of possibly obtaining two more Legendary cards from her."

"No," Arthur agreed. "I think next time, she\'ll send all of her troops—or thralls, or whatever you want to call it-- and try to overwhelm us en masse. It may not work, especially with the cards we just received… But if we\'re here in the Free Hive, that means that a lot of people and dragons will be in the way."

Joy looked properly horrified at this. "Then I have to have this combat card.”

“What about the one you picked earlier?" Cressida asked. “Strike Where They’re Going to Be?”

"I like that one too, but it’s mostly focused on my ability as a Meta dragon. This one will enhance my poison ability. I think… I think that I\'d better only try poison, first," Joy said.

Arthur watched Cressida visibly struggle with herself. She loved her dragon and felt protective over her. But she couldn\'t argue with this logic either.

"If you feel anything is wrong, you take the card out immediately. It\'s not your primary core the card will be going into; it\'s your secondary deck, so that won\'t be a problem."

"I know. That\'s the whole point of a secondary deck." Joy sounded so positive and matter-of-fact that it didn\'t come out sarcastic at all. She leaned forward and rubbed the bottom of her jaw against the top of Cressida\'s head in a parody of a head pat.

And she immediately stuck the card into her core.

Joy\'s eyes went very wide, and everybody stared at her for a few seconds.

Brixaby crouched on Arthur\'s shoulder, half-poised as if ready to snatch that card out of her core at a moment\'s notice.

But then Joy relaxed. "Oh, it\'s no problem at all. But… there is only room for one for now."

Cressida breathed out something that Arthur was fairly sure was a northern city swear word, and sagged in relief.

"Well, that\'s all very well and good. You are even more useful to us now as retinue riders. I am very pleased," Brixaby said, "Now, Arthur, while we\'re here, we might as well address what we\'re all really thinking about."

Everyone looked at him. Arthur decided to take the bait. "What\'s that?"

"The Legendary card, of course," Brixaby said, "and when will be the most optimal time for me to eat it."