Cursed Draw

An extra two or three? Perhaps had you brought another four of five hundred it would matter.

-The Book Of Creeds

Chapter 27: Strategic Mastery

Alabaster

“Don’t worry about it.” Said Darius. As the Trio strode towards the front entrance of the Hunters League hall. Easily the most heavily armored Stradivarius took the lead.

“He’s talking about the Trials Deck wielder, at Rank Nine weird things happen to your body.”

Alley shot his friend a quizzical look while they moved and the old Hunter made some minor adjustments to his Pressure launcher.

“Like I said, don't worry about it. We will handle the first mate.”

“Alright,” Alley replied with a nod. He knew his friend was right, they were about to battle their way through dozens of pirates and Manifested creatures. He needed to focus on his role and leave the rest up to the other two.

“Did you two come up with a plan?”

“We did.” Replied Darius with a wry grin.

“The Plan is just run right at them isn’t it?” Asked Alley already knowing the answer.

Still smiling, his redheaded friend explained. “ Well it’s not like we are stalking something in the woods, they are just over near the end of that pier.”

Alley let out a long sigh but didn’t argue the point.

Exiting the hall the trio strode into the flickering light of the town’s dock. It was a cool night but in a pleasantly crisp cloudless way. Not the bone-seeping cold of winter but an electrifying chill that made one feel especially awake.

The three of them moved onto the pier which was wider than it had appeared from the balcony, at least fifteen feet across. That wasn’t ideal as Alley realistically needed to stay behind the pair of Trials Deck users until a reasonable path presented itself. If they could be circled around that became dramatically more difficult.

Alley was no slouch in a fight, as a Deck Wielder even a one on the twelfth rank he was a little stronger than your average person of similar build. Even more so of late, it had seemed since the encounter with the krakens, but compared to being able to Manifest cards like the other two? There was no question who made the softest target.

The group of pirates were gathered in front of their docked galley in a loose crowd. There might be more aboard the vessel Alley couldn't see, but he didn’t think so. The thirty or so men and women might be well short of what the ship could support but the number matched with Stradivarius’ story about the pirates taking significant losses.

Standing with a single foot atop the prow of the galley, long black hair, and an even longer cloak flowing in the wind behind, sword in hand and Card images floating in front of them. Stood the captain addressing his warriors. As much as he hated to admit it, Alley thought the man cut quite the dynamic figure, very… captainy.

“Twenty-three more nights my friends, and our long struggle will be over!” It seemed they had come in mid-way through the man’s speech. It occurred to Alley that he probably didn’t want to give a speech every night. The pirate was just killing time as he worked through his deck to draw the unique card in question.

It was obvious from the way he would pause and then play something before continuing. Alley couldn’t make them out well from this distance and angle but a gaggle of Manifested creatures was slowly appearing behind the man.

“Twenty-three more nights and we can return to The Combine, heads held high as we stride into The Shattered Hull upper echelon!”

The crowd of pirates gave a half-hearted cheer which Alley suspected was more out of obligation than anything else. If he had to guess they had heard some variation of this speech quite a few times.

That is except for one figure dancing about enthusiastically at the front of the crowd.

“Yes! Hurry! Feed the god!” It shrieked up at the captain figure. The voice was shrill and oddly feminine; Completely at odds with the…person’s? Appearance. This must be the fish monster that had been mentioned earlier. They looked like a bipedal piranha with braided silver hair, if anything they reminded Alley of his old ‘Abominable Flounder’ Card.

“Patience Siendra.” Admonished the captain “ I will draw him sooner or later, and then we can continue the banquet.”

Alley wasn’t really concerned with the man’s speech or what percentage of his followers it managed to entertain. The important thing was that the crowd of pirates was facing away from the trio’s approach. The captain would eventually see them as they made their way jogging along the pier but until he did they could use the speech as a distraction to get as close as possible.

“COME AND HAVE A GO IF YOU THINK YOU’RE HARD ENOUGH!!” The Sky and Pressure crystals on Stradivarius’ armor glowed as his voice boomed out across the bay. The old man had obviously drawn a lot more Resonance from the crystals than he had inside the hall, as it was many times louder.

From deeper inland a flock of birds broke into screeches and took flight. To a man, the crowd of pirates turned to face the trio. There was a moment of stunned stillness before a jeering roar came back in response and the crowd broke into a ragged charge without even waiting for the order.

Alley repressed another sigh. As much as he’d like to he really couldn’t blame anyone other than himself.

‘This is what I get for leaving the strategy up to Darius and a guy I only just met.’

There was nothing for it now, Alley had already loosened the chain around him far enough that he could throw it if need be. It meant keeping the loose portion of the chain tucked into his belt to avoid tripping himself up but the hook was in about as versatile a state as it was going to get.

The group of pirates was armed with a motley assortment of weapons that matched the hodgepodge nature of their clothes or armor. Most had melee weapons of some sort or another but several were armed with bows. These last began launching arrows in their direction, but it was far too early to bother. To a one the arrows fell short, falling harmlessly onto the wooden pier or plunging into the dark water around the ‘S’ shaped pier.

The same could not be said for Stradivarius’ Pressure Launcher, deep green crystals glowing in the darkness of the night before it hurled a spear forward with frightening speed and air-rippling force. A couple of the more aware raiders hurled themselves to the ground or off the sides of the pier. The first four or so who didn’t instantly had a terrible time as the Resonance-fueled projectile punched through one after the other.

After that all bets were off as Alley and the two hunters broke into a charge. Stadivarius was slow in his bulky armor but once he got going he seemed all but impossible to stop. With Darius two steps behind supporting the man with his spear they were about as effective as a wedge of two could possibly hope to be.

Alley was intimately familiar with Darius’ Deck and fighting style but had never seen a Trials Deck fueled by Pressure resonance before and it was quite a sight.

“Frequency Of The Colossus!” Called the old man in between harsh laughs distorted by his suit. If Alley hadn’t realized it was a Card activation due to the unusual words he would have known a second later when Stradivarius’ body began projecting rapid pulses of force. Each one stopped men or attacks and let out a booming yet somehow barely audible thrum as it did.

Alley was far from helpless, whirling the bladed hook and chain above his head before whipping it out over the pair in front of him to strike at some pirate or another that managed to find a favorable angle of attack. Yet he felt a little inadequate at the destruction wreaked by the two Trials Deck users.

His whole life he had considered the enhancement decks lesser to the power of a True Deck. They might not be able to manipulate reality, but Alley was starting to think he had been underestimating Trials Decks. An opinion that only intensified when Darius Activated his ‘Harpoon Rain’ Card.

It was clearly intended as a ranged card as the potential to hurt yourself with the Manifested weapon copies was extremely high if you hadn’t practiced fighting with one spear in hand and two floating alongside you to an obsessive degree.

Alley had been there last winter when Darius had begun practicing with all three to an obsessive degree. It had made the boy a lot less fun to hang out with for practically the entire season. Now it had made him into a whirlwind of destruction that carved through men and women like a Resonance-powered food dicer.

Alley had to respect the way the pirates continued to hurl themselves with swords or improvised weapons at the advancing trio. It was costing them lives at an astounding rate, but they came on anyway. Maybe respect wasn’t the right word. Be aware of their weirdly suicidal fanaticism and account for it might be more accurate.

He supposed it might make sense that they wanted to close the distance with the Pressure launcher but he couldn’t understand why so few were fleeing or throwing themselves off the pier given the horrific number of casualties.

The archers at least seemed to be acting like normal non-berzerk people, having moved onto the galley to pepper shots at the trio. Against the movement of the boys and the Resonance-fueled armor of Stradivarius, the arrows proved even less effective than the suicidal charge of the crowd.

This was all the easy part Alley knew. Behind the collapsing pirate assault came a gaggle of Manifested sea beasts swimming through the air above the pier their Resonace runes and stats floating above them.

Finally getting a chance to reload his Pressure Launcher the old hunter boomed at the boys through his armor's ability. “This is where the fun really starts lads.”

Alley took a steadying breath and looked out at the six charging Manfested Creatures.

‘Pack shark, Cunning Octupi, some sort of swimming lizard I don’t know, Abyss Prince baby Kraken,uhhh mer-guy with a trident?, Glaive Fish.’

From there he shot a look at the caged people who had begun to call out what he thought was encouragement. This was their last hope to survive the night and Alabaster Roe had absolutely no intention of letting the captured people down. He had been utterly powerless to save Valeton, he would not be powerless here.