56. Hull - On the Brink (Patreon)

Chapter 56

On the Brink

The chuckling huffs of my Marauders flanked me as I walked slowly toward Ticosi and Basil. I absent-mindedly pulled and summoned my final source and a card from my Mind Home, but I couldn’t pull my eyes away long enough to see what it was. The Big Man had let the slender noble boy splay out on the ground and was going through his pockets. He fished out the Night Terror Basil had won from me, gave me a flat, ugly, loaded look as he waved it at me, and then tucked it back into the pouch hanging around his neck. You don’t deserve this, that look said. I wondered just how close he’d been to my mother. Had he slept with her? Had he loved her? I’d have plenty of time to ask once this was all done and I was working for him, but I wasn’t sure I wanted the answers.

Ticosi’s knife jutted proud and quivering from Basil’s belly. His silk shirt was already stained scarlet in a large ring around it. I’d seen men stabbed like that before – I’d been stabbed like that before – and most of them died slow and hard. The noble boy’s fingernails scrabbled at the stones beneath him as he endured the pain with scared, shallow breaths and closed eyes. He hadn’t yanked the knife, which was probably smart. His sources still circled his head and were ever so slowly refreshing, but what did it matter? He was going to die and I was going to have to do it. It felt like the Hammer should have been heavy as a boulder in my hand, but in truth, it quivered with readiness. It didn’t care what it hit. Damn you, Basil. Why didn’t you let me walk away?

As if he’d heard the thought, he opened his eyes and looked at me. The pleading I’d seen earlier was gone. All that was left was the dull resignation of the dying. He looked like he belonged in the Lows with eyes like that. He hardly looked like the boy I’d known these last few days. His lips moved, but no sound came out. He could have been asking me for mercy, or praying, or doing arithmetic in his head for all I knew. He’d never get the chance to tell me.

What did it matter?

“Have the demons eat him,” Ticosi said casually, standing up. “Or, if you actually care about convincing me that you’re worth half a damn and I should ever trust you again, use your Hammer and do it yourself. Don’t think I failed to notice you hanging back a moment ago.”

The two Marauders clawed at me as the moment stretched on, trying to do their damage to me, but the Sucking Void was still coating me. I couldn’t look away from Basil, from the sad, defeated look in his eyes. Ticosi jabbed me hard in the chest, forcing me to turn and face him. He had turned his full attention to me, that lizard gaze driving into me, his eyes more bloodshot than ever, the ruby flecks glinting a brighter shade of red in the midst.

“It’s now or never, Hull. My soft spot for you is hardening fast. Do this and you can be at my side as we watch the King die and build something better. Fail me and the little lord dies anyway, but I will never trust you. Not ever.”

My hand tightened on the Hammer. He was right. Now or never.

I spoke to my Marauders. “Kill him.”

I pointed at Ticosi.

“You worthless piece of shit!” he roared, rage flaring as the demons bounded toward him. “I’ll kill you!”

I’d been the worst kind of stupid – I’d dithered and given his Souls time to refresh a step. If I’d set my big boys on him while he’d been occupied looting Basil’s dying body I could have stripped him of a dozen cards or more right off the bat and maybe even killed him outright. But no, I’d had to sit there wrestling with myself like an idiot and let him recover. I raised my Hammer and dashed in after the Marauders. I’d thought I could follow this man; thought that the fact he could help me accomplish my goals justified whatever I had to put up with in the meantime.

I’d been wrong. When he’d stabbed Basil, when I’d seen the shock on his face and the blood on his clothes, something had switched inside me like a key turning in a lock, and everything changed. I’d let him stab the only person who’d ever called me friend – I’d helped him do it – and suddenly I could not tolerate the Big Man of the Lows. I couldn’t undo the awful thing I’d just done, but I could kill the man who’d done it. That, or die trying.

The latter seemed more likely; Ticosi sneered viciously and snapped a finger at his 2 Orcs holding their chain-and-ball weapons. Fast as an eyeblink, they both tossed their chains, tangling them in the legs of my Marauders, who ground to a halt in a hissing fury to free themselves. They would deal no damage this turn. I was still moving forward with my Hammer, and I cursed myself for not thinking to power myself up with Nether. I had all 7 available – what was wrong with me? I’d been so desperate to jump to the attack that I hadn’t thought it through. He’d likely block with his beefy Orc warrior and take no damage whatsoever.

He did me one worse: instead of sending in a blocker, he tossed out a Spell.

My muscles jerked and bucked just like they’d done the first time he’d tracked me down on the streets earlier this week – a lifetime ago – and I fell to my knees with a groan, unable to move. 

“You miserable lying sack of fish spunk,” he spat. “You turn coat and don’t even do that right.”

He wasn’t wrong. I hadn’t so much as scratched him, and my Sucking Void was about to run out of steam, taking my Mind Home with it. I pulled 2 cards while I still could, adding a Ravening Hatchling and the Vampiric Blade to the other cards I had in hand. I was suddenly grateful I’d forgotten to use my Nether to strengthen my blow – I still had a split second in which I could do something. Devoting 2 source, I flung one of the Spells he’d given me with spasmodic fingers.

A gout of purple energy spurted up from the stones right at Ticosi’s feet, and he threw up a startled hand. It stripped his last 2 cards out of hand and pulled a shower of card confetti from his Mind Home. Reflexively I tried to squint to see what he’d lost, but all that happened was that my eyes crossed and everything went blurry. You’re not under the Dueling Dome, stupid. You’re playing blind.

I still had plenty of source. Given my dire straits, it didn’t make any sense to summon my Ghastly Gremlin or the Ravening Hatchling; I needed to be able to block from hand once my Mind Home emptied itself here in a moment, and I didn’t have time for another attack right now anyhow. However… I drained nearly all of my remaining source to make the one final play that might help save my sorry, idiotic ass.

I set my hand on the floor and wrapped my gradually-calming fingers around the sword’s hilt. My Hammer might be focused, but this one was fresh, and anything that hit me would only bring me cards in return. My Marauders, slinking back to my side with a disgruntled air, swiped me with their claws, and a bare heartbeat later the Sucking Void shimmered away to nothing.

My Mind Home emptied itself. I was well and truly fucked.

“I’d say it’s a shame, what you’ve done,” Ticosi said quietly, “but instead I feel impressed to thank you. It’s the height of stupidity to move against me now, when my doubts are fresh and my suspicion roused. Had you waited even a single week you might have lulled me into thinking I could depend on you.” He twitched his head toward me in a mock bow. “Allow me to show you the tokens of my regard.”

He flicked two cards up out of hand, smirking as a couple of his Chaos source went dark. 

I felt a wrenching inside myself, and one of my Nether source spun away from me and sailed over to hover over Ticosi. A split second later, the cards hovering in front of me flew away as well, landing in his outstretched hand.

“You son of a bitch, what did you do?” I gasped, doubling over. It felt like I’d been punched in the chest by an invisible man and had my insides scoured with sand all at once.

“I showed you what happens when you choose the wrong side,” he said, serious as a judge. “You die.”

He sent all his Souls rushing at me. He’d stolen my hand. I had nothing to block with. 

I felt like I’d swallowed ice. This was it. I was going to die. I’d betrayed the Big Man and this was how it turned out. Feeling numb, I raised the Vampiric Blade out of habit, lashing at Basil’s stolen Master Assassin even as it stuck its knives into me.

I felt power flow from the sword into my Mind Home and then immediately out as a burst of card shreds as the Lifesap exactly matched the damage he dealt me. He burst into shards, leaving me gasping. The two Orc Slingers were right on his heels, but now the sword was heavy and useless in my hand. One of them swung its chain at my legs, and I felt a horrible crack as my right leg broke and folded underneath me. I screamed, my world going white as I fell to the floor. The second one slammed the brass ball of its bolas into my chest, and my scream cut off with a strangled gasp. I heard something else snap inside me and tasted blood on my tongue. 

Sorry, Basil. I really messed it up. Head swimming with pain, I turned to watch the final Orc, the Warrior, raise its long-hafted axe. This would be a killing blow. There was no escaping it.

Its brow wrinkled in confusion as its knees hit the floor. Someone had focused it before it could complete its attack.

Looking over to Basil from where I lay, I saw his hand fall back and the glitter of a freshly-summoned Spell vanishing on the air. One of his Order source was dark and hanging low. How? He was out of cards! I didn’t even think he was still conscious! 

Obviously he was, because he was laughing weakly even as he clutched at the knife in his belly. He forked his fingers in the air at Ticosi in a gesture of defiance. Another second’s thought and I understood: his Mind Home had been empty when Ticosi stabbed him, but he’d still been gradually recovering cards from our duel. He’d gotten the last of them back, played dead, and waited for his moment. My heart clenched hard enough that I felt it even past the pain of my broken bones. I’d betrayed him, and he still stuck around to save my sorry hide.

“Twins take you,” Ticosi grated, pale face going red. “This is what happens when you don’t finish the job properly!” Working furiously, he devoted all the rest of his source, doing several things at once while he still could. One of the 2 cards remaining in Basil’s hand flew away and shattered – is that the Chaos source ability? I can’t remember – and then the two Souls he’d stolen from me shimmered into being to serve as blockers.

My Marauders were finally back at the ready, bouncing eagerly on toes and knuckles despite their wounds. “Kill him,” I pled. “Quick.”

I wanted to rush in with my Vampiric Blade to heal my own wounds, but even as I wondered whether the Fated nature of the card would drag me along with a broken leg and shattered ribs to connect – I suspected it would – I realized that it was the worst possible thing I could do. Ticosi would just block me with my own Ghastly Gremlin, and it would deal more damage than the single health my Blade could pull from its death. I felt in my bones that even a single additional damage would be the death of me. I had to stay put and let the Marauders do the job for me. Can they finish it? I don’t even know how many cards he has left. If it was too many, then Basil had bought me a reprieve for nothing.

I watched helplessly, pleading with my whole soul to the Twins as the two Marauders clashed with the Ravening Hatchling and the Ghastly, one apiece. They’d both already taken another point of damage from Ticosi’s Diadem of Ruin once they moved in to attack, and while they both mowed effortlessly over the smaller demons, turning them into sparkling shards, each one took deadly damage while doing it.

Even so, their momentum and their Overkill ability let them take heavy, raging blows right at Ticosi’s body. The first one tore at his chest right before it died, bringing forth a flurry of card confetti, and the second lasted a little longer, the Hatchling’s Venom taking its time. It was long enough for the Marauder to swipe at his face, destroying even more cards… and then tearing out his throat in a gout of deepest red.

Ticosi’s eyes went wide, and at the very last second his hooded lizard gaze held shock and fear. Then he crumpled, fell, and died. The rest of his Souls shimmered into nothing.

The Marauder turned back to me, and I saw the promise of pain and retribution in its grinning face, but then it too turned into sparkling dust.

The room fell silent, and I slumped back in exhaustion and pain. After a moment I heard someone crying softly. After another, I realized it was me. It had all happened so fast. I couldn’t take it in.

How long I lay there in a haze of pain, regret, and confusion I could not say. At some point, though, I heard Basil’s quiet voice from across the room.

“The smart thing would be to pull this knife out and finish you with it.”

I closed my eyes, tears still leaking out of me. “That’s smart, you’re right.”

“I can’t believe you sided with him. After everything.”

There was something peaceful about finally having all our cards in play. “I’m sorry, Basil, about all of it. I was wrong.”

He sounded as weary as he was pained. “I suppose you did try to tell me. Twins twist me for being a trusting fool. Try to help a friend and get a knife in the stomach for your trouble.”

I wanted to go kneel by him, to see to his wounds and beg his forgiveness, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t hardly breathe, for that matter. I wished I still had that stupid Healing Potion. He could use it, we could wait for it to refresh, and then I could use it.

That thought sparked another in my slow-churning head: the Vampiric Blade would fix us both up in a trice, and it was still in my hand. “Basil, you don’t still have an Ice Wall you could summon, do you?”

“No. Shut up.” Then, a moment later, “Why?”

I sighed in defeat. “It’s the only thing either of us could summon that we could use the Vampiric Blade on without taking any damage in return.”

“Shame someone hit me with their Hammer so many times,” he said bitterly.

“Yeah. Right. Sorry.”

“Someone will be along shortly to see why I’m missing my match,” Basil said. “We’ll just have to wait.”

I let my head fall to the side and saw the bloody mess of Ticosi leaking into a pool of red nearby. “You think they’ll heal us when they see all this?”

“They will me,” he said. “They might not you when I tell them you’ve been claiming noble relation and conspiring with a Chaos user.”

I deserved that and then some. “I really am sorr–”

“Don’t,” he said sharply. “I will not tolerate more lies. If you’re not well enough to go fetch help, sit there in silence and leave me be.”

I looked over and saw him glaring at the ceiling, jaw jutting stubbornly, hands still clutching his wounded stomach. I’d never seen him look so angry. I shut my mouth, and we sat there in our own private prisons of pain.

Finally he stirred. “I may have to crawl off to find someone,” he admitted. “I thought certainly the ruckus would have brought some attention.”

I wanted to offer to go instead, but the slightest movement sent stabbing pains up my leg and stole what little breath I had. “Careful of that knife,” I said. “Don’t pull it out.”

“I’m not an idiot,” he said sharply. “Just… give me a moment.”

We were not given a moment. Right at that moment there was a knock at the door.

“In here!” Basil called weakly. “Help!”

The handle jiggled, but the bar Ticosi had dropped into place held fast. A second later there was a resounding crash, and the locking bar splintered into kindling as the door slammed open. The jerk of shock I felt from the sudden noise sent a fresh wave of pain through me, and I nearly vomited.

A huge white Kobold stood in the gap.

“He’s here,” it rumbled, its basso voice more felt than heard.

“Thank the Twins,” came a musical voice, and Esmi rushed into the room. Her hand flew to her mouth when she saw the destruction, and she cried in alarm when she caught sight of Basil. She stepped right over the top of me as she ran to him, not even acknowledging me.

“My dear Basil, what happened?” she cried. “What is all this?”

“There was a bit of an altercation,” he said weakly. “My apologies for inconveniencing you.”

“Hush,” she said, reaching into a pocket and sifting quickly through a slim pack of cards. One of them she put behind her ear, and with several Fire source already overhead, she summoned it. A ruby-red potion not all that different from my old one shimmered into her hand, and she immediately put it into Basil’s. “I’m going to pull this knife out, and it’s going to hurt like blazes,” she warned, “but you have to drink immediately.” She got an arm under him, heedless of the blood. “Ready?”

He nodded, and with a deep breath, she pulled Ticosi’s knife from his gut. He yelped in pain, but she helped him lift the potion to his lips. He gulped it down greedily.

I tried not to feel jealous. Of course she’d go to him first; he was her fiancee. What’s more, this was all my fault. He deserved to be seen to first even if my wounds were a little worse.

Basil got to his feet, looking shaky and still holding a hand to his belly at the memory of the pain. His shirt was soaked from hem to mid-chest with his own blood.

“Oh, and he’s a mess too,” Esmi said, hurrying to my side. “I have another potion here somewhere, just hold on.”

Basil walked up and stood over me. “I’m not sure you should,” he said darkly.

Esmi looked up in shock. “Why ever not?”

His face was hard and cold as he gestured to Ticosi’s dead body. “He helped the man who attacked me.”

She went still and considered me with a new distance in her eyes. “Is that true, Hull?”

The judgment in her gaze cut almost as deeply as Basil’s did. “Yes. I thought I had to.”

“He did come to my aid once I’d been stabbed,” Basil admitted grudgingly. “Nearly got himself killed too.”

Esmi shook her head, businesslike. “I’m not going to let him die on the floor one way or the other. If we need to call for the guards after that, then we’ll do so.” She got out another card and put it in her Mind Home, pulling forth a second potion. “Try anything funny once you’re on your feet and I’ll have my Kobold break you again,” she warned.

“I’m out of cards,” I croaked. “And I wouldn’t anyway.”

She still watched me carefully as I downed the thick sludge in the bottle. It tasted far better than my potion had, and energy surged through me, leaving me gasping and shaking. It was a disconcerting thing to feel my leg knit itself back together, but it felt like bliss once it was done.

“Thank you,” I sighed, climbing to my feet. Neither of them helped me up.

“Oh dear,” Esmi said, finally getting a good look at Ticosi. “How horrible.”

“Don’t look,” Basil said, drawing her away.

“He was worse when he was breathing,” I assured her. “This is the best I’ve ever seen him look.”

“We have to call my father,” Basil murmured. “It will be a horrible scandal.”

“Who was that man?” Esmi asked.

“A criminal of some sort,” Basil said. “Hull says he ran the slums. A Chaos wielder.”

Esmi looked at him sharply. “What scandal is there, then? You defeated a traitor who attacked you in your own rooms. You’ll be a hero once it’s known.”

Basil scowled at Ticosi’s body, thinking hard, and then looked away, seeming to want to change the subject. “I presume I missed our rematch?” he asked her with a crooked smile.

She rubbed his shoulder reassuringly. “I’m afraid so. I made them wait as long as possible, but they wouldn’t let me go look for you until they’d already called the forfeit.”

He nodded calmly. “I don’t imagine I’d have won at any rate. I’ve reached top 5; I’d considered conceding as the match begun regardless.”

“I’d have given you an earful if you had,” she said archly. “If we petition the Games Council, they might allow for a replay.”

“I’m afraid I’m in no shape at this point,” he sighed. “I’ve never nearly died before. I want to sit in a quiet corner for a week and not see anyone but you, if I’m being honest.”

“Oh, Basil,” she said, enveloping him in a comforting hug. “If that’s what you want, then that’s what we’ll do.”

He laughed into her mass of curly hair. “I’ve changed my mind. I want to sit quietly for a week after I watch you humble Prince Gerad in the finals.”

I wished I could creep away and let them have their moment, but the Albino Kobold stood in the doorway, and I didn’t think they’d let me go quietly.

When I looked back they were both regarding me solemnly.

“What’s to be done?” Esmi asked him.

I opened my mouth to offer an opinion, but Basil held up a hand, forestalling me. “I said I don’t want to hear from you,” he said, stern. “I’m far too angry. And let me tell you: I will not allow you to drag me and my family into disrepute yet again because you chose to consort with traitors. I am going to leave with my fiancée to clear my head and you are going to stay here. You will clean this up and dispose of that body.”

“Basil,” Esmi said, sounding shocked. “Are you certain?”

“No,” he said, sounding troubled but still firm. “Regardless, I’m beginning to believe that obeying all the rules all the time will keep me bound hand and foot for the rest of my life. It’s time I learned the lessons the Twins keep trying to teach me.”

“How am I supposed to get rid of the body?” I asked.

“Have your demons eat it and lick up the blood,” he said coldly. “Collect his cards first and I’ll take charge of them when I return.”

That didn’t sound even remotely fair, but now was not the moment to argue.

“Put the room in order as best you can,” he ordered. “When I return… we’ll discuss what’s to be done.”

I shrugged and nodded. I owed Basil; I’d clean up the mess I made. When he found me gone once he returned, it would simply confirm to him that I was a bad seed, and that’d be that. It hurt, but it was better than going into the Palace cells for conspiracy and treason.

He stepped forward and looked me in the eye. “If you leave before I return, I will hunt you down. I will tell my father what you’ve done and have him scour the city. I am not finished with you, Hull. I have things to say.” He opened his mouth as if to say more, shook his head angrily, and then drew Esmi away by the hand.

She followed him, giving me an unreadable look on her way out. The Giant Kobold’s red eyes were unfriendly, but it pulled the door shut gently as they all left.

I looked at Ticosi’s broken corpse on the floor. There lay my dreams of killing the King, of maybe teasing out some information about my mother. I’d given it all up to save a boy who was going to hate me for the rest of his life, and I couldn’t even say he was wrong to do so. 

Strangely, the only thing I really regretted was not turning on Ticosi when Basil had first suggested it. Or earlier even – what if I’d admitted the whole mess with the Big Man the night before when we’d stayed up late drinking and talking? If I’d have worked with him from the beginning, I’d be sitting in the stands watching him fight Esmi right now, and we’d all be friends. Or Ticosi would have tracked me down and killed me already.

It was done; there was no point in wasting more thought on the matter. I found a soaked, overturned chair and set it on its feet, waiting for my cards to refresh. Once I could summon my Sucking Void and my Marauders, I had a messy job to do.

And after that… well, we’d see.