ATS B5 Ch12 - Into Blood Moon (2) (Patreon)

With a firm hold on his Stealth and Acting skills, Arthur carefully walked along the narrow corridors. He had been exceptionally lucky that the drunk rider he had helped had either been too intoxicated or too unworldly to notice he was a Legendary card wielder.

Arthur was still getting the hang of identifying people’s ranks by their cards. His new Master of Cards helped, but he had only added that to his heart deck a few weeks ago.

Most of it was educated guesswork based on their body language. No one strode around like they were invisible, quite like a Rare or Legendary wielder. But beyond that there was a subtle sense of power — very subtle — that he was still learning to identify.

Dragons picked up on it immediately, but humans had to actively train themselves.

Until Brixaby added the Knock back cards, he was vulnerable.

That’s why I’m sneaking around in the dead of the night, he reminded himself.

Though... now he was here, he wished he insisted Brixaby had added that card. Arthur had not pushed as he thought he would have a few more days until they truly needed it, and despite his bluster, Brixaby was not exactly enthusiastic about that card.

Arthur shook his head. He knew he had to do better — he was supposed to be a leader, which meant he needed to plan for everything.

Too bad he had mostly gone through life by flying by the seat of his pants.

Scouting out the Hive was part of planning, he reminded himself, and firmly set aside his regrets to agonize over later.

Moving so slowly through the tunnels didn’t help his inner angst. The walls were so close that at points he had to turn to walk sideways, or else hunch to keep from scraping the top of his head. 

Sometimes doors led off the sides, which opened to reveal narrow bedrooms like the one he had dumped the rider. But more often, every time the tunnels opened — usually around a bend — someone had placed another cot. Arthur had to inch past those with barely enough room to keep from scraping his shins.

And more often than not, those cots were filled with people sleeping off the night.

He heard movement down other branching tunnels: shuffled steps, slurred, confused speech followed by an authoritative voice. More people were being added by the guards.

This was insane.

Wolf Moon wasn’t a stand-up hive or anything, but this was a lot of drunks for a random night.

What was more, as Arthur concentrated on the people he passed for practice, he realized most were Uncommon rank with a few Rares scattered here and there. He couldn’t identify them all, but he still had yet to find a Common among them.

That was... odd.

Commons were the most... well, common of the card wielding population by far. Arthur had done some reading in his brief time learning leadership administration back in Wolf Moon. By some estimates, over two-thirds of all new cards were Common, with the vast majority of the remaining third being Uncommon. Rare took up a tiny slice of what was left. Legendary cards weren’t even considered in the few texts because they were that infrequent.

So where were the Common riders? The Common staff?

He was just turning this over in his head as he made his way forward, looking for an exit, when he heard footsteps in the gloom not far away.

Quickly, Arthur dropped his stealth — hiding up close would only be suspicious.

Then he reached down and picked up a thankfully empty bucket that sat next to a cot. The person loudly snoring in it didn’t stir a muscle.

Arthur’s Acting skill whispered advice in his mind. He rounded his shoulders, slumped a little, and did everything to appear tired and run down.

A half breath later, a guard dressed in the scarlet and silver colors of Blood Moon hive rounded the next bend. He stopped and stared hard at Arthur. 

Was he trying to recognize his face, or determine his card rank? It was everything Arthur could to stay still and impassive, as if he didn’t only not care, but he had nothing to hide.

“Why are you skulking around?” the guard barked.

In reply, Arthur held up the bucket.

The guard scowled. “You’re not stealing, are you?”

“What’s there to steal?” Arthur replied in a sullen voice. “Riders spent all their shards in the taverns, didn’t they?”

The man put a hand to his short sword. “Answer me direct!”

Arthur couldn’t put it into words, but he had a sudden insight into what was going on. It likely came from his Master of Cards.

The guard wasn’t staring at Arthur like that to determine his rank — he was using his own card power. One that likely sensed the truth in some way. Though it was low grade and probably restricted to yes/no questions. He’d been lucky he had not answered the bucket question in words.

“No,” he muttered. “No stealing.”

Immediately, the guard relaxed, and his hand fell from his sword. He nodded to the bucket. “Then make yourself useful and fetch clean water. It’s a bad night. They’re vomiting all up and down the east tunnels.”

Wrinkling his nose, Arthur nodded and moved forward. The tunnel was so narrow that the guard had to turn aside to let him pass.

As he did, he heard the man mutter to himself, “Probably will need some healers down here, too.”

That bad? Arthur frowned to himself but continued down the hall in a slow shuffle. After a moment, he heard the guard continue his patrol.

He had been lucky the man had depended on his card to tell him what he thought was the “truth” instead of using his other good senses to figure out Arthur’s rank.

He had to get out of these tunnels. Fast.

On a hunch, he turned down the same branching curve he heard the guard appear from. He didn’t seem to be the type of man who would overly involve himself in any mess brought on by overindulgence. He’d probably just reported what the other guards were saying about the east tunnels.

Sure enough, there were no cots or doors this way. After another bend, this tunnel took on a sharp rise. After another snaky S-bend, he found a short staircase.

The tunnel at the top of the stairs widened out to a comfortable width and was illuminated with card anchor lights.

Carved on the wall just ahead was the number 2.

He had reached the second floor.

Back in Wolf Moon hive, the lower levels were dedicated to areas that required the most space: Training arenas, baby dragon nurseries, civilian gathering points and so-on.

Blood Moon’s narrower, tower-like shape didn’t seem able to support those at the lower levels.

And to Arthur’s eyes, it was also utilitarian to the point of starkness. No murals or paintings decorated the walls. The few windows he found to look to the outside were just holes cut into the wall with cheaply made panes of glass fit in. Not a colorful curtain to be seen. Not even random graffiti carved into the stone.

The only thing of note were more side doors. Arthur peeked in a few that were unlocked and found small, impersonal bedrooms.

This was a residential level, though by the size of the rooms — which were barely long enough to support a cot with a shelf on the other side — he guessed this was for workers and not riders.

No guards were on active patrol, either. So now that Arthur had a moment to think, he slowed down and double-checked behind himself to make sure he wasn’t followed. All was clear.

Then he closed his eyes, concentrated all his will and desire on finding the next card in Brixaby’s heart deck, and accessed the Call of the Heart between himself and his dragon.

A map multi-level map popped up in his mind. He expected the card to be high in the tower — if not near the top. After all, that was where those of high rank or with the best connections lived.

To his shock, he found the card was only three floors up from his current position. He could reach it tonight if he hurried.

Arthur didn’t pause to consider. He hadn’t come this far without trying to get his hands on that card.

Dismissing the map, he turned on his heel and hurried back to where he had last seen a window.

No sooner did he round the next corner did someone stagger right into him.

Is everyone in this hive drunk? he thought, frustrated.

Arthur tried to push the man away, but the man reached out and grabbed him like he needed an anchor to hold on to a swaying ship.

But there was nothing vicious about it. Only a few years older than himself, the man was tall and willowy and gasping as if he had run a mile up a hill. His skin was sickly pale, his cheeks hollowed out as if he did not eat regularly.

He also had the feeling of a Common. The first Arthur had seen in this hive so far.

The man must have gotten a feel for the power in Arthur’s heart because in the next moment, he recoiled, jerking back from him as if he had been burned to lean heavily on the wall instead.

“Are you alright—“ Arthur started to say.

The man cut across him. “Sorry, sir! I... I...” His washed out blue eyes were staring and terrified. Then he turned to run down the hall in the opposite direction.

He’s going to tell someone there’s a Legendary here! was Arthur’s first thought.

He knew what he needed to do — what Brixaby and likely everyone else would want him to do. He could dash after the fleeing man. With his Running and Sprint skills, he had a chance of catching up. Then he could rip out his cards. That would cause the man to collapse and likely pass out from shock.

But if he screamed — if he was bonded to a dragon and Arthur ripped out the card that linked them...

The terror in the man’s eyes had cut Arthur deeply. He didn’t want to hurt him.

All this flashed through his mind, and Arthur hesitated. In that brief hesitation, the man turned the corner and was away.

He’s running from me — not to warn others, but to save himself, Arthur told himself and hoped it was the truth. But if he spread rumors there was a Legendary in the lower levels...

... And why were people so afraid of the higher ranked around here, anyway?

He had to move. Arthur broke into a jog and took the next Y-junction. His sense of direction told him this would lead him to the outside, and it was proved right a few bends in the tunnel later.

Sure enough, the tunnel dead-ended to a window. He opened the latch, checked to make sure no one was coming down the tunnel behind him, then crawled out. Once on the sill, he twisted upward and searched for a crack or small ledge sticking out of the wall. When he found it, he concentrated on his Climbing skill and heaved his way up.

There were usually guarded checkpoints between every important floor in Wolf Moon. He imagined this dark place could be worse. But the card was only three more levels up, and he could get there from the outside.