Gaining board control over someone like Mond would’ve felt a whole lot better if Tay wasn’t absolutely certain that it wasn’t going to last. Mond’s eyes darted from one card in his hand to another, as he muttered to himself.

“Hang in there, Tay,” Atro said.

“Keep at it,” Sally added.

Tay suspected that if he had had support like this back when he had faced Rantho, he would’ve done a whole lot better. It was easier facing down the impossible with people to remind him that possibility was just a play away.

Better than that, Sally’s words seemed to really bother Mond. His eyes glanced up when she spoke. Even though he wanted her to leave the shop, Mond still wanted her on his side. It must have killed Mond to know that each play that he made against Tay only turned Sally against him all the more.

But he still made plays, like the Neo Tamsian he just threw down.

(10) Neo Tamsian Wrangler Stable Whenever a non-Fragment Tamsian revenant is summoned, summon 1 Tamsian Steed Fragment (1 Power). Echo 2 >

If ever a duality existed, it was here in this card that showed an armor-clad soldier wielding a lasso and chasing after a whole herd of horses. He seemed such a trained man, for having to make a mad dash after the horses which had gotten away from him.

“Then, I’ll attune to Order 2,” Mond said, and he invested a card to both attune himself to it and return himself to 75 Life. “Next, I think I’ll bring out a card that’s not a Tamsian, but still likes to play games more fairly than you, Tay.”

Tay took offense to that, scowling. “I’ve not cheated yet.”

“We've not exchanged play advice,” Atro added, to be sure.

But Mond shook his head and then said, “You began cheating the minute you brought my daughter into this shop.”

“I deserve to be here,” Sally said.

Mond’s glower softened as he said, “You deserve to be safe, dear.”

“She deserves to be wherever she wants,” Tay said. “Now play your card and maybe we’ll see just how fair it is.”

But the second Mond put down the card on the table, Tay wanted to eat his words. It was fair, in a sense. It just wasn’t going to be fair to him.

(20) Honorable Blademaster Stable Dormant: obliterate target foe revenant with 4 Power or less. Flurry 4 >>

Before Tay could even begin to hope that maybe Mond didn’t have a play to follow that up, another card came down. And it came down right on top of the Honorable Blademaster, definitely triggering its Dormant effect.

And this new card was a Tamsian. And not a Neo Tamsian either. But a winged-plated soldier, covered from helmet to boot in a thick layer of dirt, ripped cloak fluttering in the breeze behind him. He stood upon a small rise, and had a banner planted into the ground before him.

(20) Tamsian Reclaimer Stable Shout: summon 1 ally Tamsian revenant from Oblivion. Replenish 2 >>

Mond was muttering to himself again, but now his blue eyes were turned up toward the ceiling, as if he was trying to visualize something that wasn’t there.

“Incredible…” Atro breathed. “There are so many triggers that you need to get through. How are you going to order them?”

“Order them?” Tay asked.

Atro scratched at his chin, and then nodded to Mond. “I wouldn’t want to give any play advice here.”

Mond shrugged, and then stopped his muttering to address Tay. “Right, so this is more advanced, but because certain triggers are going to happen at the same time, I’m allow to order them in whatever way I choose. And, well, that’ll all happen after the Dormanet effect on my Blademaster, because that’s always going to resolve first.”

Mond leaned over the table, and then said, “That’ll be cutting down your Dark Siphoner, Tay.”

“But then I’m going to have a trigger,” Tay said. “From my Grimoire of the Warlock’s Echo, which returns it to the arena.” Which, in the end, wouldn’t accomplish much, but it would save him from one potential attack.

“But now to the fun part—my Tamsian Reclaimer’s now resolves and enters the arena. It has its own trigger from its Shout, but I’m going to order it after my Neo Tamsian Wrangler’s trigger, which’ll have me creating a Tamsian Steed Fragment.”

Tamsian Steed Fragment 1 >

After having seen plenty of Mond’s Tamsian cards using Skywings as mounts, it was strange to see just a plain warhorse. Warhorses definitely weren’t anything to scoff at when it came to battles, but they weren’t as grand as Skywings. How would Tay have reacted if instead of Skywing Lord saving him from Rantho’s guards, it had simply been a mere Tamsian Steed?

He still would’ve been grateful. Definitely less astounded, but grateful nevertheless.

“Then I’ll resolve my Reclaimer’s Shout, and that brings back my Tamsian Swordsman,” Mond continued, fishing the card back out of his Oblivion pile.

(15) Tamsian Swordsman Stable Gains +1 Power while attacking, so long as you control another Tamsian revenant. Barrier 2 >

Mond’s fingers lingered on his Swordsman card, almost like he was caressing it. It was plain that he had a lot of attachment to his older cards. But his hand eventually left it and placed down another Tamsian Steed Fragment upon the table. Mond then cracked his knuckles.

This man was the man who’d been the former Champion of Runicka. The man lurking in shadow with nothing but brilliant white cards to illuminate his massive frame. Mond had gone from having nothing on his board, to five cards against practically nothing from Tay’s side.

Mond’s attack went about as well as one could expect too. Tay’s Grimoire managed to protect him against a single Steed, but everything else cut into his Life.

Tay’s Life: 52 Mond’s Life: 20

“Tay, you can’t lose,” Sally said.

“Easier said than done, Sally,” Tay said. She had said it herself—playing Runicka had made Mond who he was, and who he was was incredible at Runicka.

Atro landed a firm slap against his back, and said, “You have this, Tay.”

“How do you know?”

Atro leaned in. “Because, if you don’t, then I’m going to want your Bronze card.” It was plain that he said this in jest, but the truth was still there. Tay had to win, or else he’d have nullified Atro’s Ranking Card all for nothing.

When he’d faced Atro, Tay’d almost been too caught up about doing wrong. He’d been scared that he’d wrong Atro and end their friendship in his pursuit of Iron. But that wasn’t what he was trying to do here.

No, here he was trying to do right. He needed to win this game, because he couldn’t let Mond dictate what Sally could and could not want from her life. She could very well have been getting in over her head by declaring her intent to become the next Runicka champion, but that was her choice to make.

And if Tay had to win this game to champion that, he would. This next draw, would be for her.

Tay’s fingers curled against the top card of his deck. Warmth jolted through his fingertips and blasted into his chest. It felt like a snowball had been jammed into his ears and froze his very mind.

Yesssss…

Tay forced himself to pluck the card from his deck, and beheld the rainbow-wreathed card in all its glory. He kept it close to himself and low to the table, so that Sally and Atro would happen to see it in passing.

Even then, it glowed magnificently against the wood of the table and in the lowlight of the shop. It looked as beautiful as it always did before he went to bed. He’d taken to staring at it for hours on end, and each time, his mind was taken on a different color-filled adventure.

And all that lost sleep hadn’t been for nothing either. The only part of the card still unknown to him was its name. Everything else was as clear as the specks of dirt within the lines on his palm. Maybe he could try playing it without the name though. No, he would try playing it without the name. It would come to him. It had to—for Sally.

The only problem was that he needed to keep himself in the game long enough to play it.

From what he could tell, he’d need to be at Chaos 3 in order to get it out, and he could only get to Chaos 2 this turn. So, it was time to build up the best defense he could against Mond’s insane board.

“It wasn’t all for nothing,” Tay said to Atro. And to Sally, he grinned, and she clapped her hands in return. “I can’t lose with you at my side, Sally.” And to Mond, he said, “We’re only as strong as our adversaries make us, so let me introduce you to the Rival Warlock, Mond.”

(20) Rival Warlock Stable Shout: target foe revenant loses its auras. It also loses -1 Power for each aura lost. Decay << 3

Even though Rival Warlock wasn’t Chaos 3 like its Midnight Darkness counterpart, it did not lack for power. In her hands, she wielded a staff tipped with the symbol of a crescent moon. And that would be able to chip away at Mond’s revenants just enough to open up a world of impossible possibilities.

Tay focused her magic on the Tamsian Reclaimer, which with its two auras left it burned down to a total of 4 Power. Which would prove perfect, for Tay was only getting started with his turn, fusing down a second card on top of the Rival Warlock.

(20) Headhunter of the Warlock Stable Shout: target foe revenant loses Power equal to this revenant’s Power. Then, add a card from your deck to your hand, with Power equal to or less than the Power Lost. << 2

With his two revenants combined, that left his Headhunter with a total of 5 Power. And that was before the Shout trigger too, which meant he’d be able to search for anything with 5 Power or less from his deck. And, of course, Tay enjoyed telling Mond that his Tamsian Reclaimer was now as strong as his Grimoire had been—0 Power.

Tay enjoyed adding his Warlock of Midnight Darkness to his hand even more than that.

But above all, Tay enjoyed hear Sally’s squeals of sheer joy as he swung his fused Headhunter into and through Mond’s Tamsian Reclaimer. She spun and danced about the table.

“Sally, dear, is that necessary?” Mond asked.

“Yes,” Sally said. “Yes it is. Keep it up, Tay.”

He would try his best, but that would be entirely up to Mond, as the big man drew for his turn.

“You want something to cheer for?” Mond was saying. “I’ll give you something to cheer for. First, I’ll invest two cards and attune myself up to Order 3.”

And then he placed down a radiant white card on top of his revived Tamsian Swordsman. On their head, they wore that Tamsian helmet all the cards shared, but from their hands spewed forth stars and sparks the likes of which the very sun in the sky would’ve been boggled by.

(15) Neo Tamsian Hopecaller Surging All Tamsian Fragments gain +2 Power. 4 >>>

That was entirely about right. Tay had expected Mond to have an Order 3 play, and he hadn’t been betting on his Headhunter of the Warlock sticking around for a full turn. He could’ve played more cards last turn, but he’d decided not to over-extend himself, as Atro would’ve put it. Better to preserve cards in his hand for when he really needed them, then throw them out onto the board where Mond could pick them off in his own time.

“The Hopecaller is going to obliterate your Headhunter,” Mond said. “And the rest are coming straight for you, Tay.” Even as he said it, Mond glanced over to Sally, as if he was expecting her to root for him.

Sally scrunched her face up and said nothing, keeping her white eyes fixed to Tay’s side of the board as he moved his only revenant to Oblivion. She wouldn’t have to worry for long though. Tay could already feel the warmth bleeding out of his rainbow-wreathed card. It wanted to be played.

And so, he would oblige it.

Tay’s Life: 44 Mond’s Life: 20

The first step to doing that was to attune up to Chaos 3, and so Tay placed two cards face down in front of him, which helped heal him back up to 59 Life. The board was nearly ideal for the rainbow-wreathed card now—it just needed a little nudge to be perfect though.

“I’m going to activate my Talisman,” Tay said, gesturing to his bracer. He tapped the ruby-red robonicle socketed into the front.

(5) Sharp Robonicle Target revenant loses -1 Power until the end of the turn. @1

“That reduces your Neo Tamsian Hopecaller’s Power to 5.” He pointed at the Hopecaller with his right hand, and in his left, he could feel the rainbow-wreathed card surging in warmth. It was practically wiggling to get out of his hand now.

It’s time, was ringing over and over again in his mind. But what was its name?

Tay grasped a hold of the card, and began to move it down onto the table, when the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but its name echoed in his mind, like it had been recalled from a distant memory. It was like he’d known it his whole life, and when he said it, it was like saying the name of a very old friend.

“I bring forth Garudigas, Eternal Devourer!”

(25) Garudigas, Eternal Devourer Rune Wyrm Shout: obliterate all foe revenants with less Power than this revenant; it gains their auras. Slow >>

In the center of the table, Garudigas shined like a lantern filled with infinite colors. The very artwork that had captivated Tay for weeks seemed to grow deeper again. It showed a great reptile, striding forward on two massive legs. It had two more, in its front, and then tendrils growing out of its back, each one covered in spikes. Its maw was another thing—rows of sharp teeth looked like they were hungry to put its Eternal Devourer title to the test.

“It’s both Order and Chaos?” Atro exclaimed. “How is that even possible? Tay, what is this card?”

“No play advice,” Tay said, then raised an eyebrow at Mond.

Mond was staring down at it with a furrowed brow. It was like he questioned the very existence of the card itself.

“Oh wow,” Sally said. “Now that’s a powerful card.” She was practically jumping up and down. “Mond loses all his revenants!”

“And my Eternal Devourer gains both Echo and Barrier,” Tay finished. Though, he wasn’t sure what the Echo aura would accomplish on a Rune Wyrm. He was just thankful he could play the Rune Wyrm as it was, and he wasn’t sure if it could accept another revenant as a Fusion Base or not. An instinct told him that he couldn’t place any of the cards he had on top of it though.

Mond grumbled to himself as he cleared the board. But then, he said, “You ought to learn that you cannot beat me, kid. Even with cards that don’t belong to you.”

Tay crossed his arms. “And you ought to learn that you cannot tell us what we can and cannot do anymore.”

“Yeah!” Sally said.

Mond drew for his turn, and then proceeded to flood the board with Neo Tamsian revenants. The first was a merchant that remind Tay a bit of Qallaz, if because they were lugging around a wagon if nothing else. They still had on that helmet symbolizing their loyalty to the Neo Tamsian banner though.

(15) Neo Tamsian Marketeer Stable Whenever a non-Fragment Order revenant is summoned, summon 1 Tamsian Urchin Fragment (2 Power). Barrier 2 >>>

The second Neo Tamsian that came down looked like he was having trouble reading a giant scroll in his hands, if only because he still bore that same Tamsian helmet. There was a wide expanse of grey clouds behind him.

(10) Neo Tamsian Recorder Stable Whenever a Tamsian revenant is obliterated, this revenant gains +1 Power. 2 >>

The Recorder hitting the arena meant the Marketeer could go to work at generating fragile, but not weak, Tamsian Urchins. Mond placed these off to the side, and they seemed little more than albino shadows. But the looks in their eyes were something all too familiar to Tay. After all, he’d seen the very same look for years whenever he’d looked into mirrors.

Tamsian Urchin Fragment 2 >>>

And the final card that came down also had on that Tamsian helmet, but had on a wide-brimmed hat over it. This one also had a wagon, but it was much bigger than the one belonging to the Marketeer.

(10) Neo Tamsian Wagonmaster Stable Shout: summon 2 Tamsian Steed Fragments (1 Power). 1 >

If a board could have ever been flooded, Mond had done it. Not only did he had his three imposing Tamsian revenants front and center, two of those had been able to summon two Fragments a piece.

Tamsian Steed Fragment 1 >

“I’m also ordering my effects so that both Tamsian Steeds can fuse onto the Tamsian Urchins from my Marketeer,” Mond said.

Which effectively meant that Mond have five revenants for Tay to deal with. But while he may have had advantage in numbers, it didn’t matter to Tay. No, it was all according to his plan.

All he needed was the right draw, and when Mond passed the turn back to him, he didn’t even hesitate. Maybe it was Atro saying that he could still win. Or maybe it was the way Sally was smiling at him.

Or maybe it was simply because he knew he had to prove Mond wrong.

There were just over ten cards left in his deck, and of those, in order to win this turn, Tay needed a revenant that could act as a Fusion Base for his Warlock of Midnight Darkness. About a third of the cards left in his deck were Stable, which meant one out of every three draws would win him the game.

Well, it wasn’t as optimized as Rantho had claimed his deck was in their duel together, but Tay had survived this far on worse odds. With a grin to Sally, he decided that these odds were not only perfectly fine, but truly extraordinary.

Tay drew. And then slammed down that very same card onto the table.

(5) Apprentice of the Warlock Stable

Shout: reduce target foe revenant’s Power by half until the end of the turn (rounded down).

Uproar: add Warlock of Midnight Darkness from your deck or Oblivion to your hand.

< 2

He’d gotten it—just the card he needed. When the master needed an assistant, the apprentice came running. How ironic that it was ultimately this dynamic that would help Tay defeat his own master.

“And now,” Tay began, “I wish I could say I was sorry to do this to you, Mond.” Sally started clapping her hands rapidly and giggling. “But I’m not. I’m truly not.”

(20) Warlock of Midnight Darkness Unstable

Shout: reduce all foe revenant’s Power by half (rounded down).

Uproar: obliterate all foe revenants with less than 3 Power.

Decay <<< 3

The instant Tay placed the Warlock of Midnight Darkness down upon the table, Sally screamed hoorays and cheers, and Atro broke out laughing, citing how perfectly tactile and perfectly lucky Tay’s play was. The shadows cloaking Mond broke too, as other runekeepers began to gather around to witness the end of the game.

Mond stared down at the Warlock of Midnight Darkness for a long while, before beginning to move each and every one of his revenants from the arena to Oblivion. He didn’t say anything. He just did it, refusing to look up and meet Tay’s eyes.

Tay wished he could feel bad. But he’d been wanting to say this next part for a while now. Hand down on Garudigas, feeling its pure warmth bleed up and into the bones of his arm, he moved the Rune Wyrm forward to the middle of the table. Gathered folks gasped as they beheld the card in its rainbow radiance. They now saw what had been captivating Tay for weeks.

But that didn’t matter, because Tay got to say, “With Garudigas, Eternal Devourer, I swing for game.

Mond didn’t concede right then and there, like he had against Rantho. He didn’t burst out laughing, pulling off the veil of frustration that had taken him during this game. He simply sat there and stared down at his empty side of the table. Finally, once people began cheering and laughing at Tay’s victory, he said, “Yes, that’s fine, Tay. I lost.”