Book 2: Chapter 37: Fists of Steel

Book 2: Chapter 37: Fists of Steel

Arthur's stomach felt like it turned to ice. "Why would he do that?" he said but his words were lost over Penn and Echo's exclamations of horror.

"The king?"

"He's coming?" Echo's face paled. "No... no, he wouldn't. Not for this!"

Penn turned to her. "What do you mean?"

Arthur was just glad that Penn seemed out of the loop for once, and it wasn't just him.

Marion didn't answer. His eyes were still unfocused -- still nearly an hour into the future. Hopefully, he was seeing some better ones.

Echo looked around. "It... it's not that bad. He wouldn't come for this little city. It's not lost!"

"Lost?" Arthur repeated. He and Penn exchanged a look and a mutual shrug. Neither one knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Yes, lost," Echo snapped. She backed a step away from Marion and rang her hands anxiously. She looked far more upset now than she had during battle. "It's the king's duty -- his onus and responsibility to raze the land when it's fallen to the scourge. To keep it from spreading and taking over the kingdom like a living rot." Her words were stilted like she was repeating something learned in a lesson.

That ice in Arthur's stomach extended into his veins. Again, he and Penn exchanged a look. Penn didn't look as surprised -- he'd clearly heard of this before -- but he did seem confused.

"This land hasn't been overrun. We're sitting in the middle of a field." He turned to Arthur. "Can you see the city walls? They haven't been breached, have they?"

"I would have mentioned it." Arthur could see walls in distant flashes between the trees. They looked whole.

Marion gasped like a man surfacing from the air. His eyes were wild, white around the edges, but focused on them. "The king's coming," he said hoarsely, "but only if the white dragons fail..."

The white dragons. Then they were dealing with mind mages.

Several separate puzzle pieces clicked in Arthur's head. He reached out and caught Marion as the prince's knees began to buckle under him.

With a thought, he stored him in his Personal Space.

Then, mentally, Arthur followed.

He wasn't exactly sure what he would find -- would he be able to talk to Marion? After all, Arthur had practiced his skills without a problem.

Time seemed to be a wishy-washy concept inside his Personal Space.

Marion was there, utterly frozen in the same half-crumpled position he'd been moments ago in the outside. He didn't move. He didn't blink. He only existed.

It was eerie and Arthur edged to the side to be out of his line of sight.

Then he reached for what he'd been meaning to grab -- several metal cooking pans and spoons.

Incidentally, he received notifications of a Spoon Skill from Marion's card. What a shame he didn't have time to discover what that meant.

"Why can't we all go away now?" Echo asked, sounding every year of her age.

"Because the Trap card only works for one person. You'd have to be in my Personal Space and... well... I might be wrong." He shrugged and resisted the urge to rub the back of his neck. "This is all a guess, and I hope I'm wrong, because if I'm right..."

"What if you are wrong?" Penn asked, "Or this is a plot to disappear us in your storage space?"

Arthur couldn't blame him for his paranoia. He held out his hands. "If you don't believe me, you have the pot and spoon."

"Yeah." Penn jutted out his chin aggressively. "So we make enough noise to attract every damn scourgeling within a mile! Marion's camouflage spell isn't going to last long now that he's stored--"

Echo screamed. Both Arthur and Penn turned to see her pointing up.

There was a new rip in the sky followed in short order by another and another.

White dragons poured out: The type never seen in the hive as they were marked as too dangerous.

Arthur was right about one thing. And if Marion's visions were correct... the king would follow.

He turned to the others. "It’s your choice. If you have a better idea, I'm listening."

"I... I don't know," Echo said weakly.

By now Penn's jaw was clenched so tightly he looked like he was ready to break a molar.

"What happens to us if we're in your personal space, and you're killed?"

"I don't know," Arthur admitted. "I guess that's up to whoever gets my card next."

"You can't fight and putting your Wind Release in your card anchor is a shitty idea," Penn said flatly. Then, to Arthur's flat shock, he reached for his own chest.

Was... was he about to give him a card out of his heart deck? The card? A brother to Arthur's own?

Instead, Penn pulled out a fine leather bag from a pocket tucked under his shirt. It had a card anchor mark. From that, he pulled out a card.

"I expect this back, Kane."

Arthur took it.

Steel Fists

Combat

Rare

The wielder of this card will have unbreakable skin and bone from the tips of their fingers to elbow joints. Any strikes using a closed fist will deliver injury compatible with twice the wielder’s base strength.