Chapter 9: 9 Die

Tario followed his best friend and his liege Prince Arev to make sure no dangers lurked in the cave the Prince would be sleeping in.

That was really an excuse, Tario was powerful sure, but the Prince was many times more so. What he wanted to do was check up on the Princes mental well being away from the prying eyes of the other Knights, squires and porters. The FallingBird tribe had not been the first for them to kidnap then slaughter the young children of.

Arev had killed each of the children by hand with a knife. He hadn’t been happy about it, but he’d still done it. They had finally achieved their goal and were now going to be heading back to the city in preparation for The Shuffling.

Since then the Prince had become more stoic, not smiling as much as he used to. Which Tario understood, he’d been having nightmares since they first set out on this mission.

But with this they would be able to increase their standing with the Queen and the Princes chance of becoming King should the Queen pass were much higher. Especially if the Card they had gotten from killing the children did what it was suppose to the Prince might even be able to overthrow the Queen one day. Not that he wanted to, Arev was a mommas boy through and through.

“Your Highness.”

“Yes Tario?” the prince responded, by calling Tario by name only he was giving permission to be less formal.

“… Would you like to come and eat with us tonight Arev? Some company may do you good.”

He didn’t want to say that the prince looked like shit out loud.

“No, I’ll eat in here then go to sleep,” Arev said, then gave Tario a kind smile. “Thank you for worrying about me.”

Tario returned it, but still as he left and set up the privacy door Tario couldn’t help but worry for his prince. Perhaps once The Shuffling was over they could arrange a trip back to the capital where his mother was could improve his mood.

Outside the rest of the knights were making camp, well the squires and porters were the knights were sitting around an unlit campfire and were telling stories to one another.

Like Arev and Tario there was a slight haunted look to some of their eyes. They had witness and been a part of what happened, but they had sworn an Oath on the Prince’s Epic Card to never reveal in any way what truly transpired on their trip

If they did break their Oath they would die. Sure there were ways to break the Oaths hold on them, but by the time they did enough time would pass that most people would write it off.

—

I quietly listened to the prince’s and his knights conversation. Anger bubbled up inside of me as I listened. How dare they act human. Like they hadn’t killed the children of my tribe brutally.

My body was stiff from not moving for hours, and I had begun to feel claustrophobic from all the dirt and leaves covering my body. The only thing not completely covered was a small pile of leaves over my mouth and nose so I could still breathe.

I could feel scuttling bugs and creeping worms crawl through the dirt and touch my skin, but I still stayed as motionless as possible as the prince did whatever he was doing.

I heard a whoosh and suddenly the noises from the Prince’s movements echoed more loudly and the voices from outside quieted.

The knight guy must’ve put up the magical wall thing.

I heard a deep weary sigh that must’ve come from the Prince, and the rustling of clothing that must’ve meant he was taking off his clothing to get ready to sleep.

A slight tremble in the ground made my heart clench, but it was over a moment later. The Prince must’ve felt it too because I heard the door open and a few words just out of earshot be spoken. I almost flinched as someone gave a hearty laugh.

I made myself rest, making sure not to actually fall asleep, but more in a meditative trance as the hours passed.

In the back of my mind I registered as the prince finished getting ready for sleep and laid down. Still I made sure not to move. Ever so slightly I could hear the voices of those outside slowly die out.

It was then that I began to move, I didn’t want it to be so silent that movements from me would stand out as odd.

Taking my time I spent a few minutes to sit up and let the dirt and leaves fall off my body. A few pops of stiff bones was both relieving and worrying, the noise seemed too loud in the dark and quiet cave. I swiped a large insect off my leg and suppressed the shiver from the memories of dozens of disgusting bugs crawling around me.

I had already taken off my boots and put them with my pack a few feet away so I could walk silently through the cave.

Pulling my sleeve up I let my Hand become visible. A soft grey and green light was now lighting up the area around me slightly from the two rectangles on my arm. I pitter pattered across the cold stone ground, I saw the prone form of the Prince in a sleeping role and had to stop myself from trying to slit his throat right there.

He could have a Body Card that would stop my blade from even cutting his skin as he slept. I moved instead to the mouth of the cave where the magical stone wall was put up. There was a vent up top, just out of reach, to keep airflow for the room, as well as the cracks from the door.

I went back to where my pack was and carefully removed it from its own pile of leaves and dirt. Then I pulled out from it the bright green grass I had put inside only hours before as well as the strips of cloth I had cut from my own sleeping roll.

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With a slight grimace I took a hand full of grass and placed it into my mouth, I chewed, resisting the urge to gag, until the grass had become a paste. I did that several more times until I had a good amount of it and layered it around the largest strip of cloth.

The vent was larger than I was expecting it to be, but I had made sure to cut the cloth into big enough pieces just in case.

Standing on my backpack I closed off the vent, making sure to be as quiet as possible so both the Prince and the people outside didn’t hear.

After I held it long enough to stick and hold up on its own I repeated the process with the large crack at the bottom part of the door leaving just a little bit open.

I took a small piece of leather wrapped in a tube and slid it in the gap I had left at the bottom of the door, then stuffed my nostrils with more grass paste. With that my preparations were complete.

I placed my mouth over the tube of leather and held out my hands. It was an awkward position, the stone floor was digging into the side of my head and shoulder, but it would work, hopefully.

I activated Smokey Hands, and with the light of my Hand still active I watched it rise up to the top of the cavern.

The small cavern began to fill with smoke, because I had closed off the vent and the crack in the door the people outside wouldn’t notice the smoke and it would be able to gather up and eventually suffocate the Prince.

I had assumed the wall would have a vent because my parents had told me once that there was such a thing as good air and bad air, and if there was nowhere for the air to flow then eventually all air would turn bad. So that had to of meant that there was a hole somewhere in the wall for the Prince to keep the air good, especially if it was a rainy day and the entire party had to go in and make a fire.

Cleanse might be able to take away the bad air, but not only would that take a lot of energy I also was not completely sure if it would work. The better understanding I had of what I was trying to Cleanse the better the effect, and I didn’t think classifying good air and bad air would be enough.

For several minutes I did my best to breathe quietly through the tube, the paste in my nose stopping any possible toxic air from entering my body. It was only when my eyes started to sting that I closed them.

I was exhausted when I finally felt something happen. There was a slight tingling sensation on my left arm. I opened my eyes, and Cleansed the area around them of smoke. My Lotto Box was shining. I breathed in deeply and let go of the tube so I could look towards the Prince. From his right arm several glowing lights could be seen.

It was not the soft glow from showing the Hand, instead it was a bright glow that came from the Cards being physically manifested in reality. Something that happened either when the person wished it, or they died.

I had done it, it might have been the most dishonorable way of killing someone, especially a prince, but that was what he deserved.

I took another breath from the tube and stood up, walking towards the Prince. Cleanse was still active around my eyes so I could see somewhat clearly among the smoke.

I lifted my left arm and let the Lotto Box complete. A person could hold a full Lotto Box for as long as they wished, but I didn’t really see the point in doing so.

The Box detached from my arm and floated in front of my face and the box began rapidly blink and shift in color. Mostly it was grey, but I saw a few flashes of green and even a blue.

In only a couple of seconds the box finished its roll and landed upon my newest Card.

-Far Away Hands-

-Common-

-You can create up to two ethereal hands that move on your command. They are unable to lift anything exceeding what you yourself cannot lift.-

That was… actually quite useful.

I kept the card outside my Hand for now. After all the Prince surely had better Cards. Standing over his corpse I saw that from his right arm underneath his sleeve was a brightly purple glowing light. Epic Cards, maybe all of them.

In death the Prince looked, pathetic, not some royal with dignity. That filled me with some happiness.

I was about to reach for them when I saw another glow coming from his left sleeve. For a moment I thought it was a common grey Card that he kept for some reason, but then I saw that it was white instead of grey light and there were even shimmering flecks of color in the light.

I remembered my initial guess for why the Prince had killed the children of our tribe, because he was farming for a specific Card.

Was this a Legendary Card? Rumors among the tribe said that the card was gold, not white, but then again those were just rumors, no one in our tribe had ever seen a Legendary Card. Also why was it on his left arm instead of with the rest of his Hand?

I put my hand inside the dead Prince’s sleeve, and the door to the outside burst open.

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