Book 5: Life Siphon

    Warning: Extra meaty chapter ahead!

    Arthur and Brixaby weren''t the first ones to arrive at the meeting, but they certainly were not the last.

    Arthur already carried his wealth of shards within his Personal Space—and Brixaby had his own stash as well—but he and Brixaby still made a show of stopping at their room on the way up, just in case somebody was watching. He wanted to keep as much knowledge about his Personal Space secret as possible.

    As they exited the rooms, he said to Brixaby, "I''m sure we''ll have somebody sneaking into these rooms sooner rather than later."

    "All the more reason to increase our Rune Locking and Enchantment skills." Brixaby replied. "A few corpses by the door of those who should not have entered may send the appropriate message."

    Arthur winced. "Perhaps we should set it to stun, first."

    His dragon snorted. "I insist on extreme pain at the minimum. The lesson must be learned.”

    Arthur hoped he was kidding, but he didn’t sound like it.

    Setting that aside, he remounted Brixaby and they started to ascend to the top levels.

    As they went, Arthur thought furiously about the meeting to come. This was going to be tricky on multiple levels. Rares were much more numerous than Legendaries, though their population was eclipsed by Uncommons. Commons, of course, made up the bulk of the hive.

    Still, there was every chance that one of these other Rares would have some tie with Flower Moon Hive and wonder why they haven''t heard of a Purple Rare hatching there.

    He was counting on the fact that Blood Moon was so insular to shield him. That, and many people on the outside just didn''t want anything to do with their hive. Now he’d learned about the blood price, he knew why.

    But even if that wasn''t the case, there was every chance someone would see Arthur as competition and try to take him out. That he was a Purple rider—and less threat to anybody—made it a lot less likely.

    Still, the entire culture of the hive was meant to foster bloodthirstiness, so he could not entirely rule it out. He had to be on his guard.

    His last worry was soon reinforced. When they arrived, he saw the space the Rare dragons kept between one another. Several dragons had landed on the ledge just before him and Brixaby. The Rares dropped their riders off, then took off again, but there were still a few moments where several dragons vied for the same ledge space, and there seemed to be no love lost between them. Their body language was outright hostile.

    Thankfully, Brixaby did not need a lot of space to land, and his pinpoint flying accuracy meant that he could go virtually anywhere. It seemed he was also out to prove a point.

    He buzzed forward and touched down, neat as a pin, on the very edge of a ledge just before a circling yellow had time to land. She aborted her descent at the last moment and snaked her head down to hiss at him as she passed by.

    In reply, Brixaby fanned his four wings as if to make himself bigger and then started to swell as if he were preparing a stunning shout.

    "Brix," Arthur muttered, touching his neck.

    Brixaby held the pose for a moment, just on the verge of letting out his stunning shout... before he subsided, grumbling, "If she really knew who she was hissing at.”

    "I know." Arthur quickly dismounted. "Don''t let them bait you."

    "I will not let them push me around," Brixaby said.

    "Of course," Arthur replied. "If it comes to that, we''ll both show them what we''re really made of."

    That seemed to mollify Brixaby. He nodded and the moment that Arthur was clear, he took off again, which finally gave the yellow dragon enough space to come around and land.

    Arthur did not intend to seek out fights, but he was not going to turn the other cheek and allow himself or his dragon to be outright bullied. In a place like this, that could easily escalate. He wasn’t going to allow himself to be at the bottom of the pack when people were fighting to keep from getting drained.

    With that in mind, he strode down the length of the ledge and toward the tower.

    Once again, the three Legendary leaders lounged on the back on couches. They had small nibbles of food and drinks at hand and didn’t seem to have a care in the world.

    The Rare riders weren’t offered food or drink. Instead, they gathered in a loose semicircle around them, some at attention, and others turned away in little gossip groups.

    As Arthur approached, he caught a few hard stares and curious looks, along with a few nods of greeting. He ignored the first two and returned the nods. At least some people were attempting to be friendly.

    As he took his place in the semicircle, the man next to him spoke. "So you must be the fresh meat from Flower Moon." He smiled, flashing very white teeth at him and extended a hand. "I''m Kai of the Raindrop Dancer Wing,"

    “Ernest of the Purple Wing,” he answered, returning the handshake. Luckily, Kai did not do that thing where he tried to squeeze Arthur''s hand too tight to prove a point. "The, uh, Raindrop Dancer Wing?" He wasn''t exactly in love with his own wing’s name, but Kai’s seemed a bit... over the top.

    "We’re the blue heavy wing, if you haven''t guessed," Kai said. "We specialize in the water element. Our powers can get rather focused."

    "Bunch of sissies," another rider muttered over Kai''s shoulder.

    Kai seemed to know who it was immediately. "I''ll remember you said that next time it rains during an eruption. Who was it that saved your Reds, Dolan? Oh yeah, it was my Rare. You''re welcome," he threw over his shoulder. Then, without waiting for a reply, he turned back to regard Arthur. "So, what''s your play?"

    "My play?"

    A woman with long dark hair braided up into coils around her head stepped in to include herself in their conversation. "He means to ask if you''re keeping it to only Purples. Rumor has it that you''re trying to elbow in on the supply game."

    "I can respect that," Kai said. "It''s not like Purples are good at fighting." His words were matter-of-fact and without any aggression, so Arthur didn''t take offense. Besides, it was the truth.

    He was also aware that other wing captains were listening in, openly curious.

    This, he realized with a start, was the wing captain equivalent of shop talk.

    How should he approach this? He thought for a moment and then decided that he should be a bit braggy. That would let them know that he wasn’t meek and wouldn’t be easy to be pushed around. But would have to balance that with also implying that he wasn''t out to muscle in on any of their shards. Arrogance was fine, threatening their livelihood was not.

    Arthur reached for his Acting skill and subtly altered his body language, keeping himself relaxed and yet still upright. He wanted to imply swagger without outright swaggering. It was all in the set of his shoulders, the tilt of his neck, and the slight arrogance in the tilt of his chin.

    "My Purples will make up the spine of my wing," he said. "Led by my own, of course. But I''ll have a few other colors in the ranks too. I just got a Green hatchling on board, and a Silver that I plan to get some use from. They''re both utility focused, which I think should fit in nicely."

    He didn''t mention Soledad’s hatchling just in case someone tried to poach them for their own wing. Soledad and Equinox were just barely collecting their card set, but they had the possibility of being a strong combat-based pair.

    Arthur’s plan earned a derisive snort from Dolan. "Greens and Silvers," he said with nothing but sarcasm. Moving past Kai, he looked down at Arthur. That was easy to do. He was a bear of a man, tall and broad. He even looked a little bit like a bear, with a round face and small, close-set eyes.

    "You want my advice, Ernest? You get some combat dragons on your side and let them do the hard work for you. Then your little Purple fellows there can come in and clean up."

    "Why?" Kai asked lightly. "The last thing we need is another brainless combat wing."

    "Or an assassin wing," someone else muttered, too quietly for Arthur to pinpoint who spoke.

    To Arthur''s surprise, grimaces and nods went around the group. So, the idea of assassins weren’t exactly popular around here, huh? It was noticeable that no one copped to being part of that wing. He wondered if it was something that people were only driven to do when they were truly desperate.

    Kai turned back to Arthur. "So, are you keeping the name as Wing Purple?"

    He nodded. "It''s a decent name. Straightforward." And he couldn''t think of anything better. If he gave Brixaby the ability to name it, he would name it Brixaby''s Dark Revenge or something.

    "Why? Do you think that he should be the Purple Dancers?" Dolan sneered.

    Kai ignored him, and, wanting to keep the conversation from turning ugly, Arthur stepped in and said, "Wing Purple is a good name, though not as straightforward as Left Fore."

    Kai rolled his eyes in an exaggerated gesture. "Oh, well, he''s a traditionalist, isn''t he?" He nodded to a man who stood just outside the group. He was older, with a white beard who did not engage in the chatter and gossip everybody else was.

    "What do you mean?" Arthur asked, eager to get some insight on this wing. It was the one where Horatio and Cressida had joined. Joy''s quest, as well as her advanced insight, rarely led her wrong. But he still worried.

    A beat of hesitation went through the group, and Arthur grew concerned that he had asked a dangerous question.

    Kai started to speak, but Dolan was the one who answered him. "Back in the day, before the current leadership stepped forward and took us to new heights—" he cut his eyes to the Legendary rankers who were still lounging and sipping drinks on the couch. His tone was carefully respectful in a way that set off all the alarm bells in Arthur''s mind. "The wings here were all named like that."

    Kai nodded. "The entire hive functioned as one unit, and the wings were named according to their position: Left Fore, Right Fore, Front, Tail, Upper Wing, Lower Wing—based on positions in the air, you know?"

    "I think see what you mean," Arthur said carefully, "but I don''t still understand. Why would an entire hive join up like that?"

    Kai scoffed. "Legend has it that when they fought like that, they could take on an entire scourgling eruption by themselves. But," he waved a hand in the air, "that''s all bunk. If they were that powerful, then all the hives would have been doing it, and we wouldn''t have gone on to new, modern tactics."

    Dolan frowned at that, and Arthur realized that as friendly as he was, Kai didn''t seem to mind the current way that things were run. Possibly, he even preferred it.

    However, Dolan, while he wasn''t openly dismissive of it, seemed much more wary.

    "That''s not all," the woman with the braids said, "this was before there were twelve full hives. But we didn’t have as many legendaries to fight any scourge gods that erupted. It was said that this hive took on a scourge god by themselves—with no legendaries to back them up.

    "Like I said," Kai scoffed, "bunk."

    Before Arthur could ask any more questions, they were interrupted by a sweet bell tone. It seemed that the rest of the Rare riders had arrived, and the meeting was about to begin.

    Kai nudged Arthur with an elbow. "Just do what we do and try not to screw up."

    "And if you do screw up," Dolan muttered dourly, "it''s painful, but don''t worry. It happens to everybody and we all get over it."

    Kai and Dolan''s attempts to reassure him were not very reassuring.

    Arthur followed the Rare riders as they arranged themselves to stand in a semicircle in front of the couches.

    Desmond and Sybil smiled vaguely up at them, but neither got up or acknowledged any of the Rares.

    Chester, however, was the man who was clearly running the show. He was all energy, standing up and addressing them all.

    "Welcome, welcome," he said, grinning broadly and clapping his hands once. "Let''s get this over with so you can continue on with your training and preparation. News first, yeah? The seers have reported in to say that we have approximately thirty-six hours until the next eruption."

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    That caused a little grumbling in the ranks. From what Arthur picked up, some people wanted the next eruption to happen soon, while others would have preferred a rest.

    Chester let out a put-upon sigh, "Turning in an ungraded card will be at least a five-shard fee, just to let you know."

    "I''ll remember that for next time," he added mildly.

    Chester tisked, but handed over the card to Desmond. Neither he or Sybil had not moved nor made one comment this entire meeting. He had simply sat like a lump on the couch, just watching the show.

    To Arthur''s surprise, Desmond gripped the card between two fingers, and with barely a glance at it, cast a spell.

    Arthur must have been within the man''s aura because his Counterfeit Ciphon instantly activated.

    New Counterfeit spell obtained: Card Appraisal

    Remaining Time: 9 Minutes 59 Seconds

    "Sixty shards," he said, with a slight air of detain. "It''s a bottom-of-the-barrel card—barely worth what you could get from the shards alone."

    Yeah, it was a pretty useless card. That was why Arthur had offered it up.

    “Almost the entire fee," Chester said. “What do you wish to do for the rest?”

    Again, Arthur pretended to reach into his pocket, only this time, he came out with a Rare shard. "And this, of course.”

    "I won''t be able to provide change for that," Chester said.

    "I wouldn''t want to shortchange my leaders, now would I?" Arthur said.

    For the first time, he got an actual smile out of Chester. "I like the way you think, Ernest. And now that you know how things work," again, his eyes flashed dangerously, "make sure that you let one of my Green riders know ahead of time that you intend to use a card to pay your fee so we can get it graded without this... disruption. Other people are waiting after you."

    Arthur was so angry, he could have spit, but he only said mildly, "Of course."

    He wanted that card grading skill with such passion that he felt like Brixaby.

    And for a dangerous moment, he wondered what would happen if he grabbed it from Desmond''s useless heart. The card would go so well with his card smith class...

    Arthur made to calmly turn and retake his place among the other Rare riders. But inside, he felt a little sick. Just a couple days at Blood Moon hive and his wealth from the Dark Heart was finally running on empty.

    Two more Rare riders were called up and paid their blood price without any additional drama.

    Finally, the last was called. He was a visibly older man, past middle age with some gray in his brown hair. And unlike everybody else, he trembled as he stood in front of Chester.

    He was ten shards short of his blood price.

    Chester shook his head as if in regret. "Nine shards short. I thought you said this wouldn’t happen again.”

    “Sir, I—”

    “It doesn’t matter. How do you intend to pay me, Erik?"

    Erik licked his bottom lip and said, "The nine shards will come from the usuals.”

    “Name them."

    The man closed his eyes as if he was in pain. “The Commons in the wing—same as last time.” Then he went on to rattle off names that meant nothing to Arthur.

    One of the Green riders wrote down the names, tore off a piece of paper and gave it to another who saluted and ran off. Presumably, to collect the unfortunates.

    Chester shook his head as if in regret. "They will pay their price for the next three days, and you will have to work harder to get them out of that debt. And of course, I will have your penalty fee."

    "No—" the man started to protest in a whispery voice.

    He got no further than that before Chester placed his hand on top of his head.

    Instantly, the man went stiff and staring, every muscle locked up. His trembling increased until he he started to outright shake, and he made a sound like he was trying to scream. Nothing but a gurgle came out.

    In the distance, a dragon roared.

    Arthur’s Counterfeit Siphon caught the spell:

    New Counterfeit spell obtained: Life Siphon

    Remaining Time: 9 Minutes 59 Seconds

    Meanwhile Chester had his eyes closed and looked utterly at peace. It was as if he was giving the man something and not taking away from him.

    Other than the dragon''s roar of protest, it was so quiet, Arthur could have heard a pin drop. It seemed that even the whistling high-altitude winds stopped. All had fallen silent in the face of what Chester was removing from Erik.

    Finally, Chester lifted his hand.

    The man fell boneless like a sack of potatoes to the ground. His skin was pale and he looked even gaunter than before. And as he turned his head, his hair caught the light... Did he have that many gray hairs before?

    Arthur had noticed a few earlier, but he could swear there were more. And the crow''s feet around his eyes were more visible. It could be the stress and the pain, but he didn''t quite think so.

    "Rest up," Chester said to Erik. "The next eruption is coming soon, and I''m sure you will want to pay your price for the next cycle."

    Arthur suspected Erik was not going to be at his best for the next eruption. The Commons he had given up to pay the blood price were not going to be, either.

    Were those Commons even the ones that had run short? Arthur wondered. Or were they just taking the fall for others in the wing?

    He suspected he knew the answer.

    The Green riders put away the writing equipment and helped the Erik back to the hive—though they more carried than assisted him.

    No one stepped forward to help him, and Arthur was torn between anger and disgust. Erik had just thrown his own Commons under the wheel cart, but under a certain light, it made a terrible type of sense. He would need the stronger firepower of his Uncommons in order to get the best shot at killing scourgeling and harvesting them their shards.

    If I run short, it will only be because I failed my wing riders. I won’t let someone else pay for me, Arthur silently swore.

    Chester clapped his hands. "Well, that''s done. Make sure that you and your wing riders are all at your best for the eruption. I understand from the seers it will be an eventful one."

    The meeting broke up and Arthur swiftly checked the time he had remaining on Chester''s spell.

    He dearly wanted to test out the spell himself and find out its limits.

    If he had the card, he could simply read his description and know immediately what Chester was taking and its limits. But with Counterfeit Siphon, he only had the name and the rank.

    Three minutes were already gone.

    "Please, stay and eat your fill," Chester said grandly.

    Then he gestured and Common ranked assistants came out. Many were scantily dressed and all carried platters of food and drink.

    Some of the Rare riders peeled off immediately from the rest and started flirting with the newcomers. And some, like Arthur, look like they were trying to keep the contents of their stomachs down after that little display with Erik.

    Unfortunately, Arthur could not simply get away. He was still the new man and people had questions and opinions on Wing Purple that they thought he should hear.

    Arthur tried to parry them the best he could, but it seemed now that the blood price was paid and relief had swept through the wing captains, they were all ready to party. People wanted to chat to the new guy.

    By the time he was finally able to shake the last of the people free, and he strode out to the ledge, the Counterfeit Siphon had expired.

    Brixaby buzzed down to his side. "I saw what happened," he said in a very low, though dangerous voice. "They required you to pay extra."

    "They attached some fake fees," Arthur confirmed, "and they almost wiped me out.”

    Brixaby was silent for a moment. “You have an idea, of course, on how to replace the shards?”

    “I do,” Arthur said. “You’re going to love it.”

    And anyone with good sense will absolutely hate it, he thought.

    ****

    Arthur and Brixaby walked out of the dark portal entrance onto the ledge of their own cave. The portal to the dark rower’s world snapped shut behind them.

    Dragon and rider glanced at each other.

    Arthur sighed and his shoulders sagged. "It''s not guaranteed."

    Brixaby looked amused. "What in this life is? But I believe that your theory is sound." He paused as if realizing that he might have gone too far with his praise. "At the very least, I don''t think you would make too much of a fool of yourself."

    "We cannot be the only ones who have thought of this," Arthur said.

    "Perhaps, perhaps not." Brixaby looked like he had just tasted something distasteful. "Knowledge is lost when it''s not shared, and it would only take one unfortunate mistake for somebody to perish down there. Then, who would dare carry on? Besides," he added, "it is only accessible by Purples or perhaps some extremely talented blues. And not many people find uses for Purples and Blues. Their mistake, of course," he added.

    Arthur nodded, then looked out to the hive. "Now we just have to convince everybody else. Okay Brix, I want you to call a meeting."