Cursed Draw

Chapter 6: The Killer

Alabaster

Alabaster stared at the ghostly form of his sister. Her face and hair had been given a luminous quality. The girl who had always been famous for her looks had been perfected somehow. Almost as if the idea of her ultimate self had supplanted the reality of her.

As with the creation of any card her power and vitality hovered above her head. But Alley didn’t even glance at them.

Her dark hair flowed like spilled ink in water, as the ghostly form of Hecatia Roe turned and smiled a sad farewell to her brother.

"No!" He screamed when she vanished a moment later.

The figure who was crouching over what Alley now realized was his sister’s body reached out and plucked something from her corpse. ‘Her card’. The thought came to Alabaster unbidden, cutting through his disjointed mind with painful clarity.

The figure held the card up to his face, inspecting it.

"Tsk" The figure made a disappointed sound and tossed the card aside. The flat item fluttered randomly about as it fell to the ground.

Alley couldn’t help but follow the card's path with his eyes as it landed near a second body.

She was covered in splinters and dust, her upper body and head so brutalized even her own son would struggle to recognize her. He did though, there could be no question who the body belonged to. In all of Valeton, there was only one person who had blue hair.

Arcadia Roe; his mother.

Alley’s breaths came quickly, but no matter how many he took in his chest felt tight and empty as though he was holding his breath. All but Hyperventilating trying to pull open his shirt for more air. In his panicked state, the task was impossible thanks to the coresteel chain he had wrapped around his torso after the fishing was done.

Seeing his sister dead had been a devastating blow, but it hadn't shaken Alley the same way seeing his mother’s mangled form was shaking him now.

Alabaster’s mother was the regional champion; she held an eighth-rank deck with unique spells and legendary monsters. She was the strongest person Alley had ever known, she couldn't be dead.

Yet that was the reality of the situation. His mother, sister, and uncle were dead, his father was unaccounted for, and the village he had lived his entire life in had been converted to ash, splinters, and mud.

Unable to process its own grief, Alley's mind took the only route it could to stay sane. It flooded the boy with a rage so profound it blotted out the darkness of his thoughts and made the edges of his vision shake.

"You did this "

Alabaster stated as shock and despair gave way to rage. It wasn't a question. Even if it wasn't the case, he needed it to be true. Needed to be able to lash out at someone, needed to destroy something. This horrid reality that his life had suddenly become demanded it.

"I did," replied the figure, seemingly noticing Alley for the first time.

He stood and turned, revealing the killer to be only a little older than Alabaster. He was a handsome blonde boy, with hair that fell just past his eyebrows. His clothes really did resemble those of the southern priest caste, but lacked the holy insignias that adorned those men.

This stranger was clearly a monster. If he had the power to defeat Alley’s mother his deck had to be unimaginably strong. Yet Alley didn’t back down, this might be his only opportunity to avenge his family. The Blonde teen had just created a card. Outside of a Challenge match, he would be unable to manifest any cards for an hour or more. An hour was a very long time to lack defenses when someone was trying to kill you.

“I don’t know why you did this,” hissed Alley through gritted teeth. “But it is the last decision you are ever going to make.”

The stranger's eyes flicked to the bracelet on Alabaster's wrist, just as the last Roe child activated his Deck.

The ethereal form of the five random cards Alley was dealt from his Deck appeared in front of him. It almost didn't matter what his hand was. Any creature would do, so long as it could attack this boy.

With the ease of long practice, Alley inspected his hand while also watching his enemy through the translucent cards.

The hand was a healthy mix of monster and spell cards.

DockSide Gull, Washed Away, Pack Shark, RiverRush SnapJaw, Tidal Cage.

“Tidal Cage!” Alley activated the spell card as soon as he saw it.

Deck- Aegis Of The Fisher Lord

Resonances:Water, Pressure

Spell

No Cost

[Play Only During Your Turn]

Target Creature cannot attack or defend for two turns.

When a Challenge was declared both Decks fueled the magic of the battle. This was what allowed a Deck to still take part in a Challenge whilst awaiting the hour after creating a card. There were other reasons too. The two artifacts working together would prevent either Deck from burning out from overuse. It also meant the nature of how spell and relic cards acted was different. As the opposing Deck wasn’t going to aid in the destruction of itself or its wielder. There were all sorts of restrictions about how spells worked, what they could target, when they could be used, and how they could hurt the opposing player.

Outside of a Challenge Spells and Relics acted closer to how they were originally intended. Usually too much greater effectiveness.

The card vanished from Alabaster’s hand, and the spell began its effect. A sphere of water the size of a small room enveloped the stranger. The tidal cage was a pressure spell and did more than create an area of water. The liquid pushed in on you from all directions with enough force to keep the target locked in place.

A savage smile crossed Alabaster’s face. This murderer might be powerful, but if he couldn’t hold his breath for two minutes he was about to have a very bad time. And if he could Alley would be ready for him.

“Pack Shark” he declared, manifesting the creature from his hand.

Deck- Aegis Of The Fisher Lord

Resonances: Water, Beast, Scalekin

Power: 1500

Vitality: 1

When Pack Shark is Manifested Reveal the top two cards of your Library. Put any copies of 'Pack Shark' or 'Pack Shark Alpha' revealed this way to your hand.

Send any other Cards revealed this way to the bottom of your Library

The predatory fish was huge. Its massive maw hung open in an expression that always struck Alley as looking like a goofy grin. In truth, there was nothing funny about the monster. A vicious hunter that swarmed the leviathans of the deep sea, forcing them near the surface with pack tactics before ripping them apart.

Once the shark had manifested fully, its stats hovered above its head. The beast began to swim about in the air, circling the imprisoned boy. Half a second after that the Pack Shark’s ability activated. The ethereal image of two cards appeared in front of Alabaster. Separate from his hand these two were revealed cards, and visible to both him and his opponent. Though Alley doubted the murderer could make them out through the Tidal Cage.

‘Pack Shark Alpha, Feeding Frenzy’

Not Bad. Per Pack Shark’s effect, Alley would lose the Feeding Frenzy spell to the bottom of his Library, but it was well worth it to add Pack Shark Alpha to his hand. Naturally, he couldn’t play the Alpha, and as soon as the creature card entered his hand translucent chains covered it, just as they did the other cards Alabaster couldn’t play yet.

From within his watery prison, the stranger tilted his head and then smirked. While the man looked serene and suspended in the sphere of water, Alley knew it would buy him enough time to flood the wreckage of the village with creatures. While the manifested monsters couldn’t attack the boy through Tidal Cage, once the spell ended they would tear him apart.

On some level, Alley knew it was not to be. If a meager no-cost spell like Tidal Cage was enough to contain this man, he would never have been able to defeat Arcadia in the first place.

Bubbles left the blonde boy’s mouth, as he grunted in effort. A moment later, a blinding flash of golden light and a pair of flaming wings sprouted from the boy’s back. A halo of similar flame appeared above his head.

Neither manifestation appeared affected by the water surrounding them. Quite the opposite. As the flaming wings spread out from the boy’s back the Tidal prison seemed to dissolve around him. The magical water didn’t even bubble or boil. Simply converting directly to steam as the flaming wings passed through it. The wings seemed to grow spreading wider and wider until the tips pierced the edges of the sphere. The moment they did, the construct collapsed.

The blonde teen and the water both dropped to the ground with a loud splash. Leaving the boy’s clothes, and hair hanging limply, and a wide puddle on the ground.

As soon as his feet touched the ground the killer surged forward, leaping back into the air. Alley was so shocked he almost didn’t react at all. He couldn't understand how the stranger had broken free. Even linked items shouldn’t be able to activate so soon after creating a card.

“Geh…Pack Shark, Rending Bite!” shouted Alley.

The scalekin card which had already been moving to intercept sped up swimming through the air as fast as any shark cut through the ocean.

Just as the monster was bearing down on him the stranger tilted his wings and turned in mid-air. The Pack Shark surged past its target harmlessly.

Before it could come around for another pass the blonde boy was flying at Alabaster. He couldn’t believe how fast this boy could move, let alone his ability to fly. In the air, like he was Washed away wouldn’t affect the stranger, and there wasn’t time to activate the spell anyway. Still, Alley was the son of a regional champion. He wasn’t defenseless even without his Cards.

As the blonde teen closed the final few feet between them Alabaster grasped the meathook he had been fishing with from his belt and swung it up to plunge into the killer’s side.

With contemptuous ease the murderer knocked the hook aside with one hand, simultaneously slamming the palm of his other into Alley’s chest. Alabaster was hurled backward. Barely managing to keep his feet the teen skidded through the mud, catching himself with a single lowered hand.

Still standing or not, it was too late. The killer had met his goal having softly spoken three words when they collided which now caused both the Pack Shark and the ethereal cards before Alley to disappear.

“I Challenge you.”