Cursed Draw

Chapter 25: The End Of The Silver Sea Deep Hunters League

Darius

Blue light exploded from the old man’s form in the beginning of a familiar process. Darius knew the light would solidify into a circular arena with walls of energy ten feet tall, but first, it flung Alley like a man skipping a stone. Sending him tumbling and skidding across the hall. Confident that his friend was fine Darius had to repress a smirk at the loud and quickly cut off yelp Alley let out.

That same force lifted Darius from the old man and gently deposited him standing on one side of the circular arena that was now forming.

Approximately thirty feet away the heavily armored man was moved the same way, coming to rest on his feet just before the glowing blue outer wall. An inner barrier of blue light instantly rose to separate them, but it wouldn’t last long.

“You’re friend’s Truey can’t help him in here. When I’m done with you, beating him will be like swatting a fly.”

Darius felt his face go blank as he replied “Huh?”

“The hall” Grunted the old man “ Is protected against manifestation, didn’t your captain warn you before he sent you in here to die?”

“I’m not a pirate you senile coot.” Darius snapped.

“Riiiiiiight.” Came the disbelieving reply.

The old Man pulled another little spear from his waist and reloaded the launcher.

“Stradivarius Bron, Pride Of The Abyss Walker. Tenth Rank.”

Darius cracked his neck and gestured with his bone spear at the old man.

“ Darius Knots, Prince Of The Dawn Hunt. Eleventh Rank.”

“Knots….Dawn Hunt.” Murmured the old man squinting a little in Darius’ direction. Honestly, the red-headed boy felt like it was the first time the oddly armored man actually saw him.

“Not Leshy’s boy?” He asked slowly.

“Yes” Replied Darius rolling his eyes. “ that's my dad, and my mom is Artunis”

The old man paused and lowered his Pressure weapon a little.

“Well, I’m sad to see you having fallen in with these Shattered Hull scum.”

Darius pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“We. Are. Not. With. The. Pirates.” he replied putting extreme emphasis on every word.

“Ohhh!” Said the old man with a genial smile. “ Why didn’t you say so? In that case, I yield.”

To Darius’ utter shock, the blue light all around them vanished in an instant.

“Didn’t know you could do that eh?” Said the old man in his far north-westerner accent. “If someone yields before the ante is selected, the Dealers assume you meant to do a practice Challenge instead, and cancels the whole thing.”

Recovering from his surprise Darius finally got a proper look at the hall they found themselves in. It was a large oddly sparse circular hall. The walls of which were lined with statues of heroic-looking men, mostly with beards. There were the many doorways, and one staircase of stone so smooth it practically shone. Alley sat waiting impatiently on the second to bottom step. The floor was a strange sort of seastone inlaid with runic symbols Darius didn’t recognize.

“That was qui-” Started Alley before pausing in surprise.

“He canceled the Challenge cause he knows my parents.” Said Darius with a shrug. This made his dark-haired friend blink a few times.

“ You can cancel a Challenge?”

“Apparently.”

The exchange brought a snort of amusement from the elderly man. With a series of clanks, he walked his bulky armor over to Alley, who stepped aside to grant passage up the stairs. Still clanking away he began his ascent and for the first time, Darius realized just how decrepit the man really was.

He had been putting on a good show whilst fighting what he thought were pirates, but now that the threat had passed Stradivarius seemed to almost deflate. With that huge tube and crystal bedecked armor covering him, it was impossible to tell if the man was hurt or just old.

“Come on you two” Grunted Stradivarius over his shoulder. “If you aren’t a pair of sackless raiders, tell me what you are doing here?”

In the upper level of the structure, form gave way to function, where the hall below was all open space and intricate carvings. The upstairs was clearly a place where people lived, or at least had lived. At least half of the twelve personal quarters had been converted into grizzly shrines of sorts. Each with a man obviously and brutally killed in combat, but had now been laid out on their respective beds in fragile imitations of peace.

The center of what Stradivarius confirmed was the hall of The Silver Sea Deep Hunters League, was ostensibly a kitchen. It played host to an armory, a dining table of gnarled dark wood, and a set of tables and iron apparatus the purpose of which Darius knew intimately. This was where the league made their trophies, trophies that had been proudly displayed on the walls of the personal quarters. Skulls of huge sea beats that dominated walls, spines, and bones carved into various items. They had no Resonance, but every hunter knew the magic of carving a trophy or knickknack out of slain prey.

The boys sat at the dining table and communicated silently while the old man got to work making the three of them some tea. Gesturing with his head Alley raised and lowered both eyebrows. ‘You trust him?’ Darius nodded in response, he did trust the old man. There was a sort of aggressive gregariousness to him that Darius knew appealed to his parents, all of their friends were like that in one way or another.

An assessment the red-headed boy was forced to immediately reconsider when he saw what Stradivarius was adding to steaming tea.

‘Milk?’ he mouthed to Alley, eyes going wide with confusion. Alley shrugged and looked equally bewildered.

‘No idea.’ He mouthed back.

The old man had already slipped off his heavy iron gloves, but otherwise, he remained covered in the bulky suit. Even as he passed out the warm wooden mugs and sat down in a chair that creaked but managed to hold up. Taking a sip of the drink Darius had to admit it wasn’t bad, but calling it ‘tea’ seemed like a little bit of a stretch.

The trio traded stories. Darius and Alley somewhat abashedly relaying how they had come to the island they now knew was called Tolldomha. The old hunter seemed suitably impressed at their escape from the Abyss God Kraken but chastised them with great amusement about their attempts to steer The Bay Runner with just the sail. Apparently, they were lucky not to have ended up just going around in circles.

When Stradivarius launched into several tales about Darius' parents he listened intently, though he couldn’t shake the feeling the old man was avoiding talking about what happened here. It was still nice, even if the story about his previous visit to this island twelve years ago was full of the embarrassing moments every story about childhood seems to be made of.

Darius tried to remember what the hunter described. A grand hunt for the Albino Monarch leviathan, the festival to celebrate the venture, and the ways his mother and father had distinguished themselves bravely during the hunt itself. None of it was familiar in the slightest, but he had also been five at the time, and it was one of countless events like it he had been to since infancy.

It was Alley who finally forced the issue, politely but firmly pushing to find out what had happened here. At the questioning, the older man played with his mustache quietly for a little while before responding. His words were stilted and his tone grave when he did.

“They arrived a few days ago flying a peace flag. We knew they were pirates but..” the old man paused and smiled sadly. “ The Deep Hunters have never judged a person based on their jobs, so long as you follow our rules while on Tolldomha it isn’t really our business.”

Darius didn’t consider himself to be the sharpest spear on the rack or anything but you had to be pretty stupid not to see where the story was going. The Silver Sea Deep Hunters League and the township they ruled had opened their doors to a large galley that belonged to the Shattered Hull Raiders; the pirates had played at friendliness before turning on their hosts that very night.

“We were arrogant, I see that now.” Said Stradivarius who had switched to brandy without offering the boys any. “All eight of us had Trials Decks, while their entire crew of almost a hundred only had a single True and a single Trials Deck.”

Darius and Alley shared a look. Even accounting for the aid of the deckless and the ability of a True Deck to create its own little army. Eight deep sea hunters armed with Trials Decks should have been more than enough to fend off an attack.

Seeing the silent exchange the old hunter nodded. “ I see what you boys are thinking, we thought the same. I want to say they caught us by surprise and granted they did, but truthfully lads the crew was simply willing to die to keep a barrier between us and their Deck Wielders.”

He shrugged helplessly. “ You have a True Deck,” he said to Alley. “ You know, if you can't get close to a Truey they will beat you with monsters or magic eventually. “

Darius hadn’t noticed but he’d begun to play with the little metal bar through his ear that was his Dealer.

“So you and the townspeople tried to fight your way back here because the floor blocks Manifestation.” Finished Darius for him. That all made sense, and he had seen signs of such a conflict throughout the town. There was one thing that was still bothering him though.

“But why did the pirates take literally everyone? They didn’t even leave bodies behind?”