61. Basil - The Greatest Good

Chapter 61

The Greatest Good

I was impressed by Hull. He wore shock on his face sure enough, clear as day even with his skin covered in starlight, but he readied himself to charge when I beckoned him forward. Not before I did an Order Source Explosion, though. Having fought against Felstrife, I knew both the considerable strength and weakness of being able to access a second Mind Home: namely, how short of cards it left you in hand. I had mulliganed aggressively at the start of our match to pull this Explosion off, and even so, it was only for two Source. Still, a calm, centered feeling suffused me from crown to toe-tip, which I relished for the few seconds it lasted, just as much as the new cards that I gained. I then repeated the effect on a smaller scale by using the Power of my Order Source in play to draw another card. 

I had made sure to fill my second Mind Home with plenty of defensive cards – a bit of deckbuilding consistency I was sure Griff would have appreciated if he was in the stands to see it – so I managed to get what I needed despite it being a small draw. And before Hull reached me, I had a chunky summon in play to block his path.

However, on his way to me, Hull did some summoning of his own, bringing forth a Spell Drinker and Targu’Thal himself, the Mythic general Hull had nicked from our enemies’ wall of the fallen. 

Hull impressed me again by keeping the Spell Drinker back to stop any defensive Spells I might use, he and the green war thane thundering toward me. With my Fluid Grace having been lost when I switched Mind Homes, I had no choice but to stop Hull with my Bearkin, who he tore through with his 5 attack, and Targu’thal with a Headsman from hand.  

“Where’d you learn that Mind Home trick,” Hull asked from where the blowback of the bear had left him. He looked somewhat offended, like I had been keeping secrets from him. Such was the nature of card duels, but there was no need for him to stay in the dark. 

“Felstrife,” I answered, and I watched a flicker of understanding pass over his face. “But I couldn’t piece together the how of it until I spoke to an old friend. Just before this, in fact.” 

“Lucky you,” Hull said with a grunt. “I only got a pep talk.” 

My lip twitched at the quip while at the same time I considered my future moves. His Ravening Hatchlings would be back to ready soon, which meant I required more defenses. So, with the help of my next turn draw, I summoned two Zephyrs and my trusty Helmet. 

Hull drew his last two cards, which I had no doubt would be his Talisman and Hammer. Once I weathered these, the match was all but mine. Sure enough, he slapped his Talisman on his chest, growling, “Finally.” 

And in his hand appeared none other than… a second Vampire Blade?

He came at me, Hatchlings bounding at his sides this time. I traded Souls for Souls with his Venom-tipped demons, the Zephyr’s destruction refreshing some Order Source I had used again for card draw. However, my eyes never left Hull’s. Was that a smirk on his face as his Vampire Blade snaked forward, destroying my Helmet? 

“Where is your Hateful Hammer?” I asked, coughing as I breathed in some shards from my Helmet. “I’ve never seen you without it.” I could hear the tang of bitterness in my voice but didn’t care. Against the Hammer, the rest of the duel would have been a foregone conclusion, his resources run thin. Now I needed to contend with Lifesap, a deck replenisher. The only saving grace this moment held was that my Helmet had denied the effect, but I would now need to find similar answers on every turn hence!

He shrugged, not bothering to hide his pleasure at catching me off guard. “Can’t be a king unless you’re willing to make a change when it’s needed, can you? ‘Sides, you don’t run enough Relics to make it worth it.”  

The Armor he was wearing did its end of turn effect – damage his Sucking Void Spell had been protecting him from – which triggered his Talisman, blasting me in the face for 2 more damage. 

I could have blocked from hand, but the only card I held was one I refused to give up, even though it wasn’t one that would overcome Hull’s abilities. The cards I had that could were still buried somewhere in my deck, but there were two of them, so the chances that the 2 damage would find both were slim. Despite how small the risk was, Twins twist me if it wasn’t like losing my lifeblood as I watched the shards go – followed by a grim relief when I saw that neither were ones I required.  

I kept digging on my turn with Order Source Power while summoning a Pantherkin that I immediately Transformed. The lithe elf morphed into the cat mid-stride before leaping atop the Spell Drinker with Pounce. She hissed and spat, ripping the demon apart with savage efficiency.  

I could have used my remaining Air Source Power to refresh her but chose not to, leaving the Soul vulnerable. I did however use a last bit of floating Life Source to Transform her back to her elven form. 

Hull caught the decision right away, eyeing me. “Just leaving her to die are you?”

“Sacrifices are part of kingship, too.”

He stared at me, neither of us willing to give an inch. As we did, I saw the Vampire Blade jerking in his hand in my direction, as if the Relic could tell how much more power it could bleed off of me than the Soul – at Epic, perhaps it could. In the end, however, Hull pulled the blade to the side, marching over to the prone Pantherkin. When the sword speared through her, the reddish bits of the blade flared briefly to life, and I saw the ghostly image of a card float around Hull. 

I knew it was a Ghastly Gremlin that had been returned to him – of that I was sure. And if I hadn’t re-Transformed the Pantherkin, Hull would have gotten his Marauder too, which would have made his end of turn damage unmanageable. Targu’thal grunted on his way back to me, attempting to cave in my chest with his axe. But a Defensive Kata let me easily bat the blow aside, and I deflected the Talisman blast that came on its heels with a Headsman from hand. 

This turn, this turn I had to put more pressure on Hull. With his Spell Drinker removed, I could finally use Spells freely. My first draw was, disappointingly, another Defensive Kata – the double-edged sword of consistency – but the next was one of my two victory conditions. Without hesitation, I devoted all of my Order Source to summon the card, adding my Potential Unleashed ability to the mix to lift the Soul up to Legendary. As my power wove around with the card, I gained a brief sense of its essence, feeling shifting scales slotting into absolute perfect alignment.

When Esmet appeared, her hazel eyes locked on mine and then Hull, and I felt something pass from me – no doubt her Arrival taking effect. Hull, of course, wasn’t prepared for it and stumbled, cursing up a storm. 

“What in the bloody Twelve…” He looked at himself, then me, then Esmet. “This is some horseshit.” 

I did smile then, just a touch. “I thought it time we make this a fair fight.”

“Fair?” Hull said. “That’s the most broken card I’ve ever laid eyes on.” He squinted at her. “Goes to the bottom of your Discard… so she Heals herself every time??”

“That’s right. You could always lower her attack to zero before you destroy her,” I explained, knowing full well he didn’t have a card like that. “Or do more than 6 damage in one swing.” Was I having a bit of fun taunting my friend at that point? Yes, I think I was. I had earned as much, fighting tooth and nail to at last reach some stability.

“More than 6 damage you say?” I swear all of the Nether Source circling Hull’s head pulsed as one. “That can be arranged.” His eyes flicked sideways. “Actually…” Targu’thal leapt across the intervening distance, wrapping Esmet in a bear hug. 

“Not bad,” I allowed, readying myself to face Hull’s charge. He pumped all the damage he had promised into his body and thus the blade, enough he could have probably stripped my deck a second time even without his base 5 attack. Suddenly, that Defensive Kata wasn’t disappointing at all to have as I used it to slip out of the way. 

“If you’re trying to annoy me,” Hull spit as he slid past, “it’s working.”

“Trying to win,” I told him again. I was friendlier about it this time, though, now that I could tell he was taking it seriously. “I’m glad to see you doing the same.”

The following turn I summoned my last Zephyr, which did allow Hull to finally Heal some with his Lifesap; I didn’t mind, because the next turn I was finally able to play the card from hand I had been protecting all this time: Dallon.

With the Legendary Bodyguard’s Armor of 4, the end of turn damage that had slowly been chipping away at me was no longer an issue. And when Hull put his returned Marauder on the field, bumping that damage up to 5, I used Life Source to Heal Dallon the extra 1 he was taking each time. 

Hull impressed me yet again by using my elevation ability – his now too for the duration of our match – to summon a Legendary version of Yveda the Endless.  

He kept the talkative demons back, waiting for two to turn into six, but on my turn I used a dual throw of my brother’s Whirling Edge to remove them.  

“Not enough Relics, you say?” I couldn’t help but comment, to which he grunted. 

By now, I had also Destroyed Esmet with my own Execution, so I was starting to Heal.  

After that, I didn’t need her Arrival again, so I started using her to block from hand, which still triggered her rejuvenation of my deck. But Hull was Healing too with his Vampire Blade, demons coming and going. 

Back and forth like this we went, and sweat slicked my face by the time my Executioners Blade dropped into my hands. 

Hull had attacked the previous turn, pumping himself with Nether Source again, so he could get over the top of Dallon’s Armor. That left him focused, which meant my Blade would hit him for 8, slicing right through that Iron Maiden Plate. His demons were destroyed or focused, and Targu’thal was wrestling with Dallon to keep him from using the Fluid Grace I had cast on him.

I hefted the weapon to indicate my intent. “It’s over, Hull.” I was finally able to say it and have it be true, after what had to be a solid hour of dueling. “Concede.”

He spit to the side. Otherwise, he kept his mouth shut tight. 

“Only seven cards against my second twenty, you put up quite the fight,” I tried again, softening my tone. “You should be proud.” 

“Less talking, more hitting,” he said, stubborn as I’d ever seen him.

I firmed my grip and my face. “I will do it, Hull.”

“Go on then.”

He’ll concede, I told myself as I picked up the pace, running toward him. It was set now, I could feel Fate’s hand guiding the Blade as much as my own, but I was equally sure that if Hull but spoke the word the Twins would end it all. 

The Executioners Blade crashed through the few cards Hull threw between us and then the ones in his body, before cutting into his flesh, blood spraying me in the face.

“Hull. Hull,” I shouted, trying to push what Life Source I had free into him, but of course the Twins denied it. And yet, somehow, Hull remained standing – wobbling, yes, but standing. It must have been through sheer grit because he no longer had the extra Health of his Soul. “Hull, what have you done?” I whispered, reaching out to steady him.  

“A king can’t flinch,” he answered with a wheeze, “can he?” His eyes swam up to meet mine, and I froze. “You test me, so I test you, too. Only fair, right?” He winked at me. Actually winked. “You didn’t flinch either, Basil.” He was wheezing harder now. “You’ll make a fine king. I conc –”

“Queit, Hull, just be quiet.” I stalked back to my side of the arena, dragging the Blade behind me, thoughts a whirl. I had been so sure, so sure he would concede. True, he had been about to, but not in the way I had predicted, not in the way I had wanted. Just like I had been so sure I should be king: because I had the power now. Because I could be.

“You look ill at ease, grand nephew,” Dallon commented from the arena floor. “What troubles you?” He didn’t sound like a man who was wrestling with a giant orc, half again his size. 

“How did…” I wiped blood from my face. Hull’s blood. “How did you know that it was your charge to protect? To set our family on that path?”

“Well,” he grunted, shoving an elbow of Turgu’thal’s aside. “I did not realize that my actions would lead to such, but over the centuries it has warmed my soul to know of it. At the time, it was what I knew, what I could do –”

I darkened inside. That reasoning was of no use to me.

“– it was an act that resonated with my very nature, an act that… for lack of better words, made my heart sing.”

“Your heart sing?” Targu’thal growled in Dallon’s face, his long tusks inches from the man’s cheeks. “That is Chaos if I ever heard it!”

“You heathen! How dare you question my honor so?!”

The Souls continued to brawl, but I pushed their words aside. Esmi was about the only one in this world who made my heart sing. But my nature, did it lean toward kingship? Hull was right: I hadn’t flinched when striking him, and he hadn’t flinched when taking the hit. But which trait was it that a king should possess?

“What are you doing over there, Hintal?” Hull asked, taking me from my thoughts. Some demons were actually licking his wound – cleaning it? – and shockingly, he had managed to preserve a card from our recent exchange. Hull wasn’t just made of spit and grit but nails of the most unbending iron. With his Armor of 3 and ready Vampire Blade, future combat trades would be in his favor. Even Targu’thal was disentangling from Dallon, so I couldn’t use my Executioners Blade on the orc for an easy kill, and Whirling Edge was cycling through my Discard, so attacking from afar wasn’t an option either.

After everything, Hull was gearing up to fight again, and it would still be a fight at this rate. 

It was his horns I noticed then. It was a strange thing: one would think that growths of bone protruding from a friend’s brow would be impossible to miss, but up until now, I had hardly cared. Now though, it made me think of his mother and the Primarch. Not that I questioned Hull’s humanity, but our enemies had come from without. A king couldn’t fly off at a moment’s notice to deal with such things; that was the type of ruler the Sun King had been, and Treledyne had suffered for it. A king needed to be stable and present for his people. Did that role resonate in me? 

“If you’re not coming here, I’m coming to you,” Hull said, waving his last card meaningfully. 

“Peace, Hull,” I said, holding up a hand. “I’ve seen enough.”

“And what’s that mean, exactly?”

“It means…” I hesitated for only a moment but then I could see it, our paths spread out before us, and they did feel right. I knelt before him. “That I concede. All hail Hull, first of his name, king of us all.”

No sooner had the words left my mouth than a shock ran through me, rocking me to my core and slamming my forehead to the floor. I thought I heard Hull calling to me – his pained voice full of worry. Something burned in my chest, like when I had tried to kill myself on a metal spike. My eyes watered, but in that blurry vision of mine something green came to the fore, green and beautiful.