All The Skills - Book 3: Chapter 42: A Sword Cuts Both Ways

The yellow dragon died moments later, burned alive by Laird’s candle-topped flames.

The only one of their enemies left alive was the brown dragon.

“Give me the card,” he sang, pushing through a new storm of purple-topped candle flames to lunge at the dead blue dragon. The flames sizzled on his scales, but he didn’t react at all. Looking closer, Arthur saw his scales were reinforced with either hard-packed dirt or stone.

The brown’s focus was absolute, his yellow eyes open and manic as he ran toward the blue.

“Stop him!” Arthur yelled.

Joy spun around to face him, teeth and claws bared.

Brixaby got there first. He swooped over to the brown’s chest. The brown was so focused on retrieving the other dragon’s card that he didn’t even glance down at the Legendary.

Big mistake. Brixaby plucked a card right out of his core.

That got the brown’s attention.

He spun around with a wheeze. “Give me my card! My card… my card… Give me my card… My rider’s card,” he said still in that odd lyrical cadence.

Joy lunged, but Arthur had sensed Brixaby’s plan and had changed his mind. “No, wait! Joy, stop! We need him alive.”

All the other dragons were dead, and at the very least, they needed somebody to be able to answer questions.

“What card? This card?” Brixaby waved the brown’s card in front of him and deftly avoided a snap of the dragon’s teeth.

The brown was in bad shape. Laird’s candle-top flames had still made an impact. Several clusters of scales were burned through to the skin, leaving red welts. He was clumsy, and with every other step, he kept looking back toward the blue dragon as if fighting a compulsion. The desire between his rider’s card and what the Mind Singer was telling him. He staggered over every step, one foot going one way, the other pointing in a different direction.

All in all, he made a pathetic sight for such a large, stolid dragon.

Joy came to stand between Cressida, Arthur, and the brown dragon, her wings spread in defiance in case he turned his anger toward them.

But Brixaby was doing his best to keep the brown’s attention, waving the card in front of his snout and generally working the other dragon into a froth of anger.

“What kind of dragon lets their rider’s card fall into the claws of another?” Brixaby said, pitilessly. Then he openly stuck it into his Personal Space. “You want it? Come in here and retrieve it.”

With a roar, the brown dragon closed in on Brixaby.

For a heart-stopping second, Brixaby led him.

The moment the brown dragon touched him, however, he disappeared.

“Wait…” Cressida swung around to look at Arthur in accusation, as if he had just pulled that trick, “Didn’t you say you needed permission to put someone sentient inside your Personal Space?”

Arthur nodded, eyebrows raised. He was impressed. “He must have wanted to go in there after his rider’s card—Brix!”

Brixaby dropped like a stone, hitting the ground and groaning, holding his head.

Arthur rushed to his side. The little dragon waved him off.

“There’s too much in my Personal Space. Between that dragon and the cards… I’m full.” He rubbed his stomach, looking like he was ready to burst.

“Will you be okay?”

The dark dragon looked at him, his blood-red eyes full of defiance. “I am Brixaby! Of course I can handle a mere Uncommon in my Personal Space.” He flapped his four wings, a little feebly, and barely managed to lift himself into the air.

Arthur reached down and picked him up. “Why don’t you take a break?” he suggested.

Brixaby grumbled but climbed onto Arthur’s shoulder.

He returned to see Laird standing over Shadow’s body. The dragon stared down, a bleak look on his face.

“He was one of my dragons,” he said, as Arthur, Brixaby, Cressida, and Joy joined him. “I am only a Rare; our bonds are not the same as it is between a Legendary and their retinue, but… He had sworn himself to follow me.”

“I didn’t know that,” Arthur said. Then he asked the question that had been bothering him since seeing Shadow arrive with Laird in the dungeon. “Has he always been one of your dragons?”

“Do you mean, was Shadow a spy for Wolf Moon Hive?” Laird asked. “No. But he quickly saw the value of joining the cause.” He looked to Cressida, “You have inherited his cards, then?”

Arthur stiffened, wondering if they were about to fight. After all, Laird had just said that Shadow was his friend. Arthur hadn’t had time to process what he’d seen: Cressida had used Shadow’s teleport power.

Cressida faced the large dragon. Standing at her side, Joy bared her teeth in an unsubtle threat.

“Only because of a great need,” Cressida said, and from her anchor, which looked like a tiny jeweled purse, she pulled out seven other cards. “I was pressed for time,” she said. A tactful way of mentioning they were in the midst of a battle, “and was forced to take one, but as his friend and leader, you should have the rest of his deck. I’m certain that’s what he would have wanted.”

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Brixaby sat up straight on Arthur’s shoulder. “You’re giving back the Shadow Teleport?”

Cressida steadily held out the other cards— several of them were Rare from what Arthur could discern, though he couldn’t read the titles. “Unfortunately, the teleportation card had to go into my heart to use it.”

Arthur was certain that was a lie, but he admired her steely resolve.

Laird’s eyes narrowed, and Arthur wondered if he was going to contest this or if he would let it go. The Shadow Teleport was a valuable power—Arthur should know; he and Brixaby’s powers had copied that card’s power on several occasions.

But Cressida was offering a deck of cards as a gesture of goodwill. That wasn’t insignificant. She held Shadow’s wealth of a lifetime in her fingers.

With a delicate shifting of his claws, Laird took the cards and looked them over.

“I didn’t know Shadow for long,” he said, “but anybody with eyes could see that the death of his rider broke something inside him. It was why he did not mind so much coming to the Free Hive. With that said, I think he would be angry if the linked card that he and his rider created together were separated.”

Brixaby shuddered on Arthur’s shoulder as if disturbed by the thought.

Laird plucked one card out and returned it to Cressida. “And, of course, as the lead investigator for the council, I will be required to look at the cards of our attackers.” He turned to gaze around at the dead dragons meaningfully, eyes lingering on the scarlet which would likely have a natural card to match his flame power. Then his gaze focused on Brixaby. “Can that brown escape your Personal Space?”

“No, it’s timeless in there. He is my prisoner,” Brixaby said, standing proudly. Only Arthur knew how much that, along with all the other combat cards, was straining him.

Laird snorted. “Then we have another issue to discuss, Arthur Rowantree.”

“The Legendary card,” Arthur said.

“Yes. Interestingly, I have run across the same issue, both times in your presence. A Legendary card in the Free Hive represents an imbalance. Every scruple around not having a combat card will grow wings and fly away if the humans hear there is a Legendary for grabs. And, I suspect, you would fight me for it,” Laird added, wryly.

“I would never fight an ally,” Arthur responded, albeit not entirely truthfully, “but I understand as a Rare dragon you can’t have it.”

“Stop being so diplomatic, Arthur,” Brixaby said. “He saw Uncommon become core-poisoned. That’s the only reason he didn’t keep Master of Skills. He won’t keep the Legendary card now. I will take care of it.”

Brixaby attempted to rise into the air as if to retrieve the card himself, but he quickly dropped to the ground again, panting.

“Is he okay?” Laird asked.

Once again, Arthur picked up his now disheveled-looking dragon. “He has a lot in his Personal Space, and we’re sharing the card,” he explained, and helped carry Brixaby to the blue dragon.

Since the dragon was dead, with its cards ready for harvest, they didn’t need Brixaby’s ability to extract cards from decks. Once they were some distance away from the others, Arthur took the opportunity to activate his Stealth Class skills and ask quietly, “Why didn’t you take out his card in the first place? You went for the nose. Not his core.”

“I intended to,” Brixaby grumbled. “But my danger sense warned me away.”

Arthur hesitated. “Is it going off now?”

He cocked his head as if consulting an inner voice. “No.”

“Let me pull the cards, just in case,” Arthur said.

He harvested them without an issue. The blue had two additional Uncommon cards besides the Legendary.

Naturally, Arthur read the Legendary first.

Full of Sound and Fury

Legendary

Combat (Elemental – Sound/Force)

The wielder of this card will be able to emit a sonic blast that vibrates molecules in air, water, solid matter, and living flesh. This sonic blast will vibrate molecules at increasing speeds, and at its most potent, may tear apart molecular bonds. In such cases, this card will provide a fifty percent damage reduction due to any backlash. This power travels out in a cone-shaped attack, though the wielder may be able to choose allies to be immune to the power. Objects may be damaged up to one mile away.

This card both uses and unlocks mana.

The mana pool for this card is set apart from a secondary pool, so that the user may always have access to this card even if all other mana is drained. With practice, the user may be able to extend or refine their attack range.

Seek cards within the same set for additional elemental powers.

That was terrifying. Arthur wasn’t sure what a molecule was, but he understood that tearing it apart would not be a good thing. He guessed that these molecules, whatever they were, likely existed in living beings like Shadow. The poor dragon had been torn apart from the inside out.

Off balance and unthinking, Arthur shoved the Uncommon cards Brixaby’s way. “Can you hold these cards?”

Brixaby’s dark complexion somehow managed to still look green. “I… would rather not.” He looked like he was so full he wanted to throw up.

“Oh. Of course.” Arthur’s Personal Space was so full he couldn’t even fit in one of the Uncommon cards, let alone bear the magical weight of the Legendary card. So, he retrieved an empty leather satchel from his Personal Space—one of the few items he had kept there because of its compactness. The satchel was simple with a drawstring top. No one would ever guess there was a Legendary card inside.

Out of curiosity, he glanced at the Uncommon cards.

The first was likely the blue’s core card. ‘Humidity Into A Cup’ was an Uncommon power to condense the air’s humidity into an ice glass filled with fresh water.

It might seem like a trivial power, but in a dry desert place like the Free Hive, it would be extremely valuable.

The second Uncommon card, however, made Arthur pause.

A Sword Cuts Both Ways

Uncommon

Trap

On the occasion this trap card is ever stolen or forcefully taken from a heart deck, it will release a pulse of pure death energy, instantly killing both the thief and the wielder. This card becomes inactive upon the death of a wielder and may be harvested normally.

Arthur’s face went pale. He resisted the urge to grab Brixaby from his shoulder and wrap him tightly in his arms. If he’d used his card-plucking power…

Thankfully, Brixaby’s danger sense had steered him clear.

A shiver of cold fear down his spine, immediately followed by hot rage. The trap had been intentional and targeted. The Mind Singer was aware of Brixaby’s abilities, and she had anticipated their next move once they saw the effect of the Legendary card. Only Brixaby’s danger sense—and a good deal of luck– had spared his dragon.

And at that moment, Arthur’s timer on his bonus luck ran out.

If he hadn’t picked that attribute to boost…

He didn’t want to think about it. Instead, he turned his thoughts to the Mind Singer. She’s tried to kill Arthur, which he could accept. But now she’d turned her attention to Brixaby.

He already hated her.

Now, she had to die.