Tay watched the iron coin flip through the air over the hand of Ranthomandir’s guard. Time couldn’t have seemed more compact as the coin tumbled up and up and up, and Tay almost hoped that it never came down.

But he also couldn’t wait.

When the guard caught the coin and then flipped it, he announced heads for all gathered to hear, and Tay cursed to himself. Heads meant Ranthomandir would start and he’d wanted to go first. He was more than eager to show Ranthomandir what he’d learned all through the night, playing Runicka against Cari until they’d passed out from the exhaustion. He wasn’t some chump who didn’t know what they gotten into.

But going second had its advantages—he’d be able to respond to whatever play Ranthomandir threw at him. So, instead of letting himself be bothered, Tay placed his cards face down on the table and rested his chin on his palm. All in all, it felt relieving just to be able to take the cards out of the chest permanently. Now, despite whatever happened in this duel, he wouldn’t have to worry about them.

All he needed to focus on was beating Ranthomandir, who’d drawn and then declared he’d be attuning to Chaos 1. He then played a Statue card, like the ones he’d played against Mond during their duel. This one, seemed almost broken though. What was left of its head was crumbling into dust, and it was missing a whole leg. In its hands was merely half of a pole, that, at one point, might’ve been a spear or sword, but was now entirely useless.

(5) Crumbling Statue Latent Dormant: draw a card. < 0

Before Tay could even take a moment to comment on its pitifulness, Ranthomandir smirked and then slid another card on top of it. Without even registering its name, Tay could tell it was a gargoyle by its long features coupled with its horns, fangs, and wings. But it had one key difference from the other Gargoyle cards he’d seen—this one didn’t have any legs. Instead, just below its waist, the gargoyle’s body ended in a block of pure stone.

(10) Gargoyle Bust Stable

Can only be fused on top of Statue revenants.

Uproar: this revenant gains +2 Power.

Flying < 1

“So, because of the Uproar effect, my Gargoyle Bust now has 3 Power,” Ranthomandir said. “Not that you’re capable of summoning anything stronger than it.”

Cari had taught Tay that Uproar effects were basically the same as Shout effects. They triggered whenever the card entered the arena. The difference between the two was that Uproars only went off if the card came in as part of a fusion.

From what he’d seen of in his duel against Mond, Ranthomandir’s deck was all about fusion. His plan was to probably lay these Statue cards as bases, which weren’t all that powerful on their own. But then he’d fuse Gargoyle cards into them, which not only animated these statues to their fullest power but unleashed power effects.

If Tay was going to have any hope of winning, he’d have to make sure that these Statues didn’t get too out of control. But, at the moment, all he said was, “You know as well as I the sort of power this deck contains, Rantho.”

Ranthomandir’s face twitched for a moment at the sound of his shortened name. “Don’t call me that,” he said.

“Really? Not one for nicknames then? What’s so wrong with Rantho, Rantho?”

“You arrogant thief,” Rantho exclaimed. “Fine, if you’re so focused on angering me, then I won’t let you off easy. You remember my Stone Homunculus?”

(25) Stone Homunculus Stable Whenever a Chaos revenant is obliterated, target foe revenant loses -1 Power. Then, if its Power is 0, it is obliterated. < 2

Of course, Tay remembered the Homunculus—he remembered all the cards Rantho had used to bash Mond into the cobbles. However, he hadn’t seen it unfused. The artwork depicted a squat humanoid creature with skin so dark and jagged that it was definitely made of rock. It had small horns on its head and an arrow-shaped tail that creeped up and fell over one shoulder. It sat on a floating boulder which was crumbling from underneath.

“Make whatever move you’re going to make, Taygion—Tay. I’m waiting.” And Rantho smirked, actually seeming proud of himself for giving Tay a nickname of his own.

Tay rolled his eyes and said, “Well then, I best not keep you waiting, Rantho.”

Rantho winced another time as Tay drew his first card in a game of Runicka where something was actually at stake. For a long minute, his mind went blank looking at the cards. What were any of these? He couldn’t even focus on them. He was out of his depth.

But he couldn’t lose here—not if he wanted to make things right with Mond. So, he exhaled and again slowly inspected his hand, one single card at a time. There were more than just mere Chaos cards in his deck, but after having combed through it several times, most cards were Chaos. So, it only made sense for him to declare that he was attuning to Chaos 1.

Rantho nodded to that, and waved his hand. “Get on with it.”

Tay ignored him. In his hand, he had two cards that were Chaos 1. That meant he could make up to two plays on his first turn—a fine start. And it gave him options.

On the other hand, he’d also drawn one of those strange cards which he and Cari had spent hours just trying to understand. Neither of them had been able to come up with anything that they could do with them.

All Runicka cards sought to make their text and images unknown to all who’d look upon them, but this single card did that on a whole different level. There was no text on it, so far as Tay could tell. There was just a spiral rainbow pattern, that began at the card’s edges and moved toward the center. And it never stopped, not even after reaching the center. Because the card itself was more like a doorway into an infinite corridor than any flat Runicka card.

As eye-catching as it was, without knowing its uses, it would just be a dead card in his hand. Which was why having two plays was more than great, so Tay picked one card up and placed it onto the table.

(10) Astral Prophet Latent Shout: look at the top four cards of your deck. Add 1 Rune Wyrm among them to your hand (place the rest on the bottom of your deck in a random order). < 1

Latent-type revenants, like the Astral Prophet, were handy because unlike certain other revenant types, they did not need to be played as a fusion and could simply enter the arena on their own. Astral Prophet’s art symbolized this independence by depicting a robed figure striding up the side of a tall and cold mountain, with nothing but a starry sky to keep him company.

Tay sat back, and then noticed that Rantho had raised an eyebrow. “What is it?” Tay asked.

“Haven’t you read your own card?” Then Rantho started, and repeated, “Haven’t you read my card?”

Tay realized what he’d forgotten—the Shout effect, which always triggered when the revenant entered the arena. “Oh yeah,” he said. “Now I can look at the top four cards of my deck and add a Rune Wyrm to my hand.”

Not that he even knew what a Rune Wyrm was. In the whole deck, there wasn’t a single instance of the word on any of the cards. But still, he plucked the top four cards from his deck. Among them, two were just regular revenants, but the other two were of the same sort of card as the rainbow-spiraling one in his hand. Except, for some reason, there were two words printed in the middle of the card, as if they were floating in front of the never-ending spiral.

Rune Wyrm.

These two cards were Rune Wyrms, somehow, though he didn’t know what any of that meant. But Rantho coughed and asked if he was done wasting their time, so Tay just grabbed one and returned the three other cards to the bottom of his deck.

Once Tay checked his hand again, he noticed that the original rainbow card now also had the words Rune Wyrm inscribed upon it. He then recalled how Quincy had said the more one knew about a card, the more that card revealed itself. Maybe, just by playing with them, he could learn more about these cards?

Because if he didn’t, they were just going to be obstacles in his way to victory. But he at least had a revenant on the table. He’d played games last night against Cari where that hadn’t even happened, much to his embarrassment. Not willing to throw out another card, Tay passed the turn.

Rantho's Life: 60 Tay’s Life: 90

“Finally,” Rantho exclaimed, drawing his next card. “I’m going to invest this card and attune to Chaos 2.”

Rantho slid a card from his hand, face down, onto the table just in front of him. While during battle duels, runekeepers absorbed the cards into their bodies, during regular play, the cards were placed down on the table and used to keep track of how far one had attuned.

“Then I’ll play another card you’re familiar with,” Rantho said.

He placed Gargoyle Darkwing upon the Gargoyle Bust fusion, making it a stack of three cards. Now, just like with the Stone Homunculus, Tay got a clear look at how the Darkwing was supposed to look while not merging with other monsters.

It was a thin humanoid, carved completely out of stone, except that it was swooping out of a dark sky with claws extended. Vibrant blackness emanated from its palms, and it had a wicked grin set in its face. Two massive wings extended from its back and kept it airborne.

With how realistic and terrifying some of these artworks were, Tay wondered who originally had drawn and come up with these cards. How anyone could manage to conjure up creatures of such darkness from the recesses of their mind seemed beyond Tay. And why would anyone ever want to put something so horrible out into the world?

(15) Gargoyle Darkwing Surging Uproar: obliterate target foe revenant. Gain its Power as Life. Flying << 4

Too little, too late did Tay remember the Darkwing’s actual Uproar effect. He only had one revenant that Rantho could even obliterate. So, before the Polamund could even get the words out, Tay slid his Astral Prophet to the edge of the table, where it would wait in Oblivion until the end of the game.

“And next I’m going to play this Gargoyle Nightblade on top of my Stone Homunculus.”

Rantho slammed down a card which depicted yet another gargoyle, except this one was made out of a blacker stone than the rest of them. It had twin short swords drawn in its hands, and was swooping out from the horizon.

(15) Gargoyle Nightblade Surging Oblivion: give +2 Power to a Statue revenant or +1 Power to a Gargoyle revenant. Flying << 6

“Really like cards made of stone, don’t you?” Tay said.

“Gargoyles sit at the top of buildings and look down at all the people who pass by them underneath. They weather all storms, and are made to last. The only deck I’d rather play over this one is the one you stole from me, Tay. You don’t even know the power you truly possess within those cards.”

“I have a feeling I will after I beat you with it, Rantho,” Tay said.

“Brazen as ever, even when you’re about to take 10 damage. My Nightblade and Darkwing both attack you directly.”

10 Life shouldn’t have been a huge loss, but even then, Tay felt with every attack taken, he was a little further from the victory he wanted. Cards cost Life to play, and the more attacks Rantho got in, the less he’d be able to actually play. He needed to take out those revenants Rantho controlled, and then he could worry about returning Rantho the favor of damage.

But as he calculated himself down to what was 80 Life in his head, he had no idea what Life total Rantho was at. No sooner had he brought up this point than the guard from behind him slammed a handful of twenty-sided dice onto the table.

“Use these,” the guard said.

Tay fixed Life totals for both himself and Rantho as the turn passed back to him and he drew a card. He then placed one card from his hand face down on the table and declared that he was attuning to Chaos 2, just the same as Rantho. He also made sure to adjust his dice, to account for the 10 Life gained.

Then, with that newfound Life, he gave up 25 of it to play two cards, the first of which was Wyrm Channeler. It was another robed figure, but with a staff that was crowned in a pearl large enough to look like a full moon. He had an arm raised and from his fingertips flew millions of tiny stars off into the sky.

(10) Wyrm Channeler Latent Rune Wyrms cost 10 Life less. The cost of a Rune Wyrm fusing with this card is 0. << 2

The other card that Tay placed next to Wyrm Channeler was Roaring Dracomancer. It, for lack of a more apt description, was a hideous lizard-man, hidden only by its full suit of spiky steel plate armor. It crouched unnaturally on all fours, and from its maw, flames erupted.

(15) Roaring Dracomancer Latent Shout: give another target ally Latent revenant +2 Power. Dormant: trigger this revenant’s Shout. << 3

“So,” Tay said, “that brings my Wyrm Channeler’s Power up to 4. And I’m going to use that 4 Power to take out your Gargoyle Darkwing.”

“They’ll both be obliterated then,” Ranthomandir said.

But at least Rantho wouldn’t be able to send it into his Life total. And Tay really wanted to see the Darkwing out of the arena, considering what it had specifically done to Mond. He also needed to get some value out of Wyrm Channeler before Rantho ran over it with his Nightblade.

So, both cards ended up in Oblivion and Tay passed the turn over to Rantho. He hadn’t made the strongest plays in the world again, but he was still in this game and that was all that mattered. Still, just seeing how the rainbow cards swirled mysteriously bothered him. What did he need to know about them that he already didn’t?

After drawing, Rantho declared he was attuning to Chaos 3, setting two more cards down from his hand next to the one that got him to Chaos 2. Then, surprisingly, he played a card that only required an attunement of Chaos 1.

(15) Dark Obelisk Inert You may play Gargoyle revenants unfused, regardless of their revenant type. Passive < 2

It looked like a floating pillar of polished onyx, but with unseemly orange glow emanating out from its core. When Tay looked closely enough, he thought he could make out a face in the colors, but then Rantho stole his attention by slapping down another card next to it.

(20) Gargoyle Overlord Surging

Other Gargoyle revenants gain +2 Power.

Uproar: target foe revenant’s Power becomes 0 until the end of the turn.

Flying <<< 4

Here was a Chaos 3 card, and even the artwork captured how powerful this creature seemed. It was a bulkier gargoyle than the other depictions, and it wielded a greataxe which was even larger than itself. Its horns were elongated, and its tail could probably smash a boulder in a single crack.

“Since you’re not playing it as a fusion, that means my revenant doesn’t get its Power reduced to 0,” Tay said.

“True, but I don’t need to weaken your revenant to kill it. I’m going to use my Overlord to swing into your Dracomancer and obliterate it. And then I’m going to swing at you with my Nightblade. And since my Overlord is empowering it, you’re taking 8 damage this time.”

Which then left him at 57 Life. That was almost halfway to 0—halfway to a loss. Rantho’s Life was also getting pretty low, but he had a strong board presence, whereas Tay had nothing. By the Fourteen above, this game was harder than it seemed. Cari must’ve been going easy on him last night, because he hadn’t felt this far behind in terms of ability.

At the end of his turn, Rantho drew three cards to return to the minimum hand size and then passed.

Rantho’s Life: 21 Tay’s Life: 57

This was the turn where Tay had to turn things around. If he couldn’t get some presence to stay out on the board, Rantho would most definitely run wild on his next turn and there would be no hope of winning. Looking over his hand, he did have a card that was Chaos 3, but he carefully considered his options.

Tay’s previous turns had been more of him finding a possible play than considering the best possible play. Maybe just because he could attune to Chaos 3 didn’t mean that he had to. He felt he was missing a great part of this deck. Almost all the cards referred to these Rune Wyrms, and yet he didn’t know how to play them at all. He’d brought swords to a battle, but forgotten his troops back in the keep.

Still though, regardless of whether or not these Rune Wyrms came through for him, Tay needed a big play here. Something that could really shake up the arena in his favor. So, instead of playing the Rune Wyrms, he set them onto the table face down.

“I’m attuning to Chaos 3.” And he added 15 Life back accordingly. “Next, I’m going to summon the Astral Summoner.”

(15) Astral Summoner Inert Whenever you summon a Rune Wyrm, add 1 Rune Wyrm from your deck to your hand. < 2

This card seemed the strangest of the lot, as it was simply a man standing in a field with nothing but the night’s sky as the background. He wore a simple cloak and simple clothes.

But behind him, the night’s sky stretched into infinity. And bisecting it was the many-colored celestial road known as the Astral Path. According to the Faith of the Fourteen, the Astral Path led all the way to Castle Unseen and only souls could tread upon it, in their journey to finally join and serve in the House of the Gods.

So why was the Astral Path on a Runicka card that had nothing to do with the gods?

“Your plays frighten me, Taygion,” Rantho said.

“They should,” Tay replied. “Because now I’m going to summon the Warped Dracomancer.”

(20) Warped Dracomancer Latent The type of this revenant is also considered a Rune Wyrm. You may sacrifice an Inert revenant for this revenant to gain +2 Power. <<< 4

Like the previous one he’d summoned, this Dracomancer appeared half-reptilian, half-man in nature. Somehow though, this one proved more monstrous than the last, as its scales were melting away from its body as flames burst out its back and chest. Its left arm had all but dripped to the ground, but its right ended in a massive axe-like blade.

“Since this card also counts as a Rune Wyrm, it triggers my Astral Summoner’s effect, and I’ll be able to search my deck for another Rune Wyrm.”

Ranthomandir gave that a nod, as if he expected as such. And Tay reached for his deck, turning it over to reveal the cards underneath, unsure of what he’d find.

In the remaining cards of his deck, Tay found four more cards that glowed with rainbow spirals and bore the words Rune Wyrm. There were no differences between the four, so Tay supposed it really didn’t matter which one he chose. Except, when his fingers snagged on to the first one, he felt something brush the inside of his ear.

Instinctively, he reached up to knock out whatever bug had flown in, but there was nothing there. He still felt something assuredly rubbing up against this ear drum though. It was warm, and—and breathing?

The next one…

Tay jumped at the soft voice and looked to his right. Ranthomandir’s guard was still behind him, but the man was standing up and couldn’t have just whispered to him. But then, who’d spoken just now?

Tay looked down at the four cards and blinked. Nothing had changed about them at all. And yet, the card behind the other which he’d grabbed was swirling more violently than the rest. When he clasped his fingers to it, it was a great deal warmer too, like the others were merely rocks left out in the sun while this card was a burning coal.

Tay added the strange card to his hand and returned the others to his deck. He stared at the Rune Wyrm for a while longer, before Rantho began to tap his fingers against the table loudly. The crowd took up Rantho’s annoyance and called for Tay to hurry with his plays.

“The Warped Dracomancer’s effect allows me to sacrifice an Inert revenant for it to gain 2 Power, so I’m going to sacrifice my Astral Summoner,” Tay said. “Then I’m going to play this Blood Addict.”

(20) Blood Addict Inert

Oblivion: add 1 Rune Wyrm from your deck to your hand.

When a Rune Wyrm is obliterated, double this revenant’s Power.

<< 3

If the Astral cards were people who studied the stars, and the Dracomancers were reptilian abominations, this Blood Addict was caught somewhere in the middle. She sported a head of horns and hands of claws, and a heavy crimson aura—not unlike flames—swirled around her entire body.

Too bad Tay didn’t plan on using her though, as he had only played it to activate the Dracomancer’s effect again. So, no sooner did he add another mysterious Rune Wyrm card to his hand, than he said, “And with my Blood Addict sacrificed, my Warped Dracomancer has 8 Power, and is more than capable of defeating your Gargoyle Overlord, Rantho.”

Rantho grumbled as he moved his Overlord over into Oblivion, where it could cause Tay no further harm. Which meant the Nightblade now only had 6 Power—a whole 2 less than his now-empowered Dracomancer.

“Done enough yet, Tay?”

Tay had begun his turn wanting to make a big play, and this was it. Now, looking at the board, he finally controlled the strongest revenant and had a higher Life total than Rantho. So, as he ended this turn Tay sat back and didn’t care that he was surrounded by scummy merchants, hungry thieves, and brutish guards.

He’d finally made a good play in Runicka, and there’d be a million more he’d make yet.

“Oh, Rantho, you’ve no idea.”