Chapter Text
"Another challenger... It has been ages. Perhaps you have forgotten how this game is played. Allow me to remind you."
Parker’s ears rang so badly that she hardly heard what the enshrouded man was saying. All she could make out was that she was a challenger, and that a game was being offered. Without much other choice, she blinked her eyes open and listened as the ringing sound dimmed.
She was sitting at a stool, in front of a wooden table, rife with knots and rough edges, yet the top was smooth. Markings made themselves apparent on the previously blank table; two rows of four rectangles, decorated by bear paws in the middle.
The hands of the man opposite of her were just barely visible as it inspected a stack of cards, but not ones that Parker had seen before. They looked to be made of a thick, yellowed, paper, somewhat torn around the edges. When they were passed to her face up, they bore illustrations in ink, not of clubs, spades, hearts, or diamonds, but two wolves, a river snapper, and a stoat, as well as a small stack of squirrels.
“That will be your starting deck,” the deep voice croaked. “More beasts will join your band as you progress.”
A finger reached out and tapped near the squirrel stack. “Put a squirrel down.”
Parker gave him a sideways look, but otherwise didn’t object. With deft fingers, she pulled one of many squirrel cards from its dedicated stack. She looked at the shadowed man, then set it down on the second space.
“Squirrels are free to play. But they are weak. That is because they are not your weapons. They are your fodder. Take out your stoat.”
From the cards in her right hand, Parker singled out the sleeping stoat. Kind of an ugly thing. Her eyes gravitated towards the symbol in the illustration’s top corner.
“That has a blood cost of one. One animal must be sacrificed in order to play it. Sacrifice your squirrel to play the stoat.”
Parker raised her eyebrow challengingly at the man, but directed her attention back to the table-turned-board. Then as she hovered the stoat close to the squirrel, a symbol had manifested on the squirrel card, shaped like a blood drop. With a tap of her finger, the card was burned away, and the stoat was set down where it once laid.
“On the left side of the card is your attack power, on the right is your health. Keep those in mind when playing your cards. Now, use the bell to end your turn.”
Now that her left hand was empty, Parker tapped her finger against the bell, making a light ding.
After the ding, the stoat card shifted, then lunged forward, as if to attack. Promptly, there was a clink onto the scale next to the bell. An old fashioned one, with five ticks on either side.
“You dealt one damage to me directly. It takes five direct damage points to fully tip the scale. Once you do…”
The man placed a finger on his side of the scale, pushing it down all the way.
“You win. But if I get five points on your side… You lose.”
“What happens if I lose?”
Parker didn’t hesitate for a second before she asked. Her eyes stared into wide, yet not bloodshot ones, belonging to a hidden face. They shifted into pondering orange swirls for a moment, then returned to normal.
“You will see.”
“What if I don’t?”
“You will.”
Was that a threat? Was this mysterious figure really so confident that Parker would lose so quickly? And just like clockwork, Parker was on a newfound mission to prove him wrong.
After her turn was taken, a coyote was placed down on her opponent’s side. 2 attack, 1 health. Placed in front of the stoat, it dealt some damage, leaving the battered stoat with only one health point left. “Draw a card. A squirrel, or another beast from your deck.”
For Parker, it was no contest. She needed more damage on the board to win. It didn’t look like her opponent would be playing much more, so she pulled her river snapper to have all of her options in her hand.
“How bold,” her opponent commented, but said nothing more on the matter.
Since she couldn’t play anything, she rang the bell and ended her turn. Just like before, the stoat attacked first, killing the rather frail coyote.
Since no other cards opposed her, it was Parker’s turn again. She grabbed a squirrel, since there was nothing else to grab.
On one hand, she could simply wait to get another squirrel to play the wolf, but on the other hand, the stoat wasn’t doing much. Why not just get this over with?
So with her wolf in one hand and placing the squirrel with the other, she hovered over the two cards on the board. With two swift taps in succession, the squirrel and the stoat were sacrificed.
But as the stoat disintegrated, the drawing opened its eyes. In the top space where its name was written, words formed.
“Huh? Hey, sto—!”
They cut off as the card disappeared.
"Fear not... the beast is sacrificed, but not removed from your deck. But its suffering was real. You will see it again."
“What— What the fuck was that?! Can these cards talk? Then— What about the squirrels?” Parker looked from the empty space to the wolf card, then back to the gamemaster, who stared at her, silently urging her to continue on.
Hesitantly, she placed down the wolf. A ding of the bell ended her turn once again.
Once again, nothing stood in her way. The wolf dealt 3 unbidden damage, three clinks sounding on the scale, tipping down on the gamemaster’s side.
“Are those teeth in here?” She asked, taking a closer look at the weights that dropped onto the plates.
“Yes. They will be useful down the line, but that will be explained later.”
Parker rolled her eyes and huffed. Couldn’t this guy just explain all the mechanics from the get-go? It would sure save a lot of time.
“Impatient, are we?”
“Whatever.”
This next turn, she drew a squirrel, then did nothing more. The wolf attacked once again. Two more teeth on the scale, then one more dropping into a bowl. Then the vessel and everything else retreated into the nothingness. The marks faded from the table.
“You've won this match. They won't all be so easy,” the man said, eyes swirling. It appears his eyes did that every time he spoke, or he was deep in thought. Parker took note of that.
There was a rustling on the other side of the table, then a piece of parchment was rolled out. In the same ink as the cards, browned with age, there was an outlined path, and symbols dotted along it. On the sides were carved wooden pine trees, ensuring that the little wooden figure would stay on its path. Speaking of the figure, it was about the size of Parker’s palm. It represented a tall, slender skeleton adorned in a robe, carved in a lighter wood than the table, and looked to be untouched by polish. Handmade.
After absently examining it in her hand, Parker set the figurine down. There was only one thing in front of her. A hand-drawn skull. Probably a fight. She wondered what the others might be, but her line of thinking was quickly interrupted once her figure was moved forward, and the map was taken.
Just as she thought, it was another battle. The markings reappeared, the scale and the bell were placed, and cards were shuffled back into her deck, and into her hand. Including the stoat. But unlike before, its eyes were now open. And instead of its title being displayed, it once again began to speak.
“You sacrificed me. While I was sleeping.” If the stoat had arms, it’d probably be crossing them right about now. “…But it was the right play. I get it. Maybe… Maybe you can help me.”
“Help? With what?” Parker asked, still very very confused about what was happening here.
“Take your turn,” the gamemaster’s tone had noticeably hardened, its swirling gaze seeming more intent.
“Just play along for now. And stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re hallucinating. I’m not a figment of your imagination. If I was, this would be a lot more bearable. Anyway, keep playing.”
Parker looked through the cards in her hand. A squirrel, the stoat of course, the river snapper, and a wolf.
This time, there was an extra row behind the paw-marked spaces with arrows inside instead.
“Now you may see what my moves are ahead of time. For better strategizing.”
This fight was as simple as the last. Only a few creatures were brought out by her opponent, and the five ticks of damage were acquired in only a few turns.
Once again, after the battle ended, the markings and equipment disappeared, replaced by the map on the table. Now Parker had two splitting paths in front of her. A card marking with a question mark on it laid to her right, and a backpack marking to her left. She wasn’t sure what the backpack was for, but she figured the former was a new card, and she could use that right about now, before the fights escalate.
So she moved her figurine to the left, and the map was rolled up. In front of her were three face-down cards. One at a time, she turned them over. Kingfisher, Elk Fawn, and Bullfrog.
“What do these symbols mean? At the bottom of the cards,” Parker pointed to one of the drawn symbols on the kingfisher card, looking to the gamemaster for an answer.
“Ah, the sigils. They’re quite the fascinating things. Here. The rulebook. This should assist you.”
Slid across the table was a thickly bound book that littered dust wherever it went. When Parker picked it up, it was much heftier than she thought, wheezing with effort as she tried to keep it held up like a real book. She ended up propping the spine on the table’s edge to give her arms a break as she flipped through the pages.
“Airborne… Sprinter… Mighty Leap…” The mysterious figure stared at Parker as she rifled through the guide.
“Take care not to dog-ear the pages. I do not mind you taking an extra moment to find your place if it means my book remains in good condition.”
“Yeah yeah, I won’t. I’m not a philistine.”
Another moment or so was spent perusing the sigils and finding the ones that matched the cards, then Parker closed the front cover, letting the weight of the pages make a quiet thump as they fell back into place. Her eyes swept the three cards again. In the end, she chose the elk fawn, and the other two were taken away, making room for the map.
The next stop in her path was a campfire. A campfire? What would she need rest for?
After the map was taken away to god knows where, the cabin went dark. After a second or two, it was lit up again by the light of a faux-campfire. Though Parker wasn’t alone there. There were other people in the form of figurines similar to her own gathered around the fire.
“You came across a small group of survivors,” the man spoke. “Faces shrunken from starvation, they huddled around a campfire. They looked upon your group of creatures and beckoned.
"Come, warm one of your creatures by the fire..." One said.
"Warm it by the fire. That will enhance its power…" Said another.
You noticed one of the survivors wiping drool from their mouth.”
“Ah, so there’s a chance of anything I put here getting eaten in exchange for an extra damage boost…” Parker surmised, hand on her chin. She leaned back in her stool, propping her foot on the table’s edge.
“Shoes off the table.”
Parker begrudgingly lowered her leg, resuming her previous sitting position, which was already straining her back.
All of her cards, with the exception of the squirrels, were laid out in front of her, waiting to be chosen. Waiting to be warmed. Unaware of the consequences that may follow. All except for the stoat.
“Pick something else,” it said.
Parker didn’t know enough about the elk fawn and how it played to want to upgrade it just yet. The wolves were already a high-cost high-reward card, so that would be pointless. Hmm… Increasing the stoat’s attack by one would actually make it a little more usable. Same with the river snapper.
In the end, Parker went with the stoat; that way she could easily get rid of most enemies right off the bat, and get an early headstart.
The stoat’s card trembled with fear as it was placed by the campfire. But nothing bad happened. It simply flipped over, and showed off its new stats. Not a bad upgrade for now.
“You’re so dramatic, stoat,” Parker remarked to herself.
“The fire warmed the poor stoat, enhancing its power,” the gamemaster narrated. “One of the survivors reached toward it. Another gnashed their teeth. Without a word, you pulled the stoat away from the fire and left.”
Parker took the stoat back and slid it into her deck as the props were taken back. A fight was ahead on the map. With nowhere else to go, she went forward. The figurine moved with a quiet thunk against the wood underneath the paper, and the map was rolled up to give way for the battle.
The stoat was again one of the first shuffled into Parker’s hand. He took that opportunity to speak.
“He's completely insane. You see that, right? No care for the rules. Pathetic, really,” the stoat said with what Parker could only assume was a scoff. “Only keeps me around to watch me suffer. If he had his way, I’d—”
“Enough.” The gamemaster said.
A slight scrape from his side of the table gave the mental image of nails scratching against the wood in suppressed frustration.
The stoat said nothing more. The last card was drawn from Parker’s deck, and she was ready to take her first turn.
However, instead of immediately powering through the fight as she always did, she looked up from her cards and smirked at her opponent.
“What got you so riled up, huh? Don’t like stoats?”
“That is not relevant information. The creatures wait with bated breath and dripping teeth for their next meal.”
“You sure are vague. For a dungeon master, you’re sure not doing a good job of it. Normally the players are supposed to know what’s going on, or at least what all the rules are. In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that stoat knows more about this game than you do.”
Parker kept that smug look on her face as she stared at the gamemaster’s bright, now-orange eyes. The way they moved were like maelstroms, ready to sweep away anything in their path. What would he do? Retort? Lash out? Or would he climb across this table and give her what for? Unfortunately, his response was nothing that satisfying.
“Your turn, challenger.”
Parker’s shit-eating grin dropped faster than a corpse in water. She returned her attention to her cards.
Her and her opponent’s first turns went by without Parker batting an eye. She didn’t notice it at first, but slowly, the other side of the board was being overtaken. Elk fawns, then elks after a turn, all unable to be killed fast enough.
“…shit. Shit shit shit…” Parker muttered to herself, rifling through the cards she had.
Her river snapper was on the board, but what good would that do…?! It wasn’t going to be able to kill the elk in front of it in time, and the surrounding elks and the elk fawn were doing too much damage.
“The stoat can kill that elk after this and one more turn… Then maybe I can draw another squirrel and play the wolf…”
Sacrificing the river snapper, she placed down the stoat in front of an elk.
“Bad play.”
“You know what, you shut the fuck up,” Parker snapped, glowering over it. “Let’s see you do better, you little rat.”
With more force than she needed to, she rang the bell.
“ …wait. If that fawn turns into an elk this turn— FUCK.”
And so Parker tasted her first defeat. Bitter, sour, and stinging the back of her throat.
Clink clink clink. One tooth after another dropped into her side of the scale until it was fully weighed down. Parker stared at it angrily, until the teeth vanished and the scale reset.
“A shame. Taking this as a learning experience may be the only way to mitigate my disappointment,” her opponent said, voice low. “Get up. Retrieve the candlestick.”
Still seething, Parker pushed the stool out from the table with a loud scrape. She hopped off, then walked around the dim cabin.
“Sure would be nice if you had some more lights in here. A lamp at least,” Parker grumbled, examining the safe and locked cabinet with furrowed eyebrows and fiddling fingers.
“Unnecessary.”
Parker took her sweet time looking around the room. Several items caught her attention, including the safe and the cabinet. There was also a wooden sculpture containing a squirrel, but the other spot seems to be meant to hold another creature. The wolf figurine encased in a cage, she guessed, but how to get it out… The cuckoo clock also seemed out of place, since the hands didn’t move, at least on their own. Perhaps those little knobs remedied that… Then finally, the door. The only door visible in this cabin. It flashed white in alternating patterns and intervals. Where did it lead to? Outside? Another room? She gave the knob a jiggle. No leverage. It didn’t budge.
After feeling thoroughly like she’d wasted her adversary’s time, despite his lack of annoyance in his stare, Parker picked up the stick holding two candles and brought it to the table. She set it down on the spot that was pointed out to her.
“These candles indicate your chances. You’ve already lost once….”
With a pinch of his fingers, one of the lit candles was snuffed out.
“Now you have one more chance to prove yourself. We may continue.”
“But what happens if both candles are put out?”
Parker was tempted to ask, but that would require entertaining the possibility of her losing. And that was not a thought she wanted to stay in her head. She would not lose. She could not lose.
The backpack was the next stop on Parker’s journey. It turned out that she could also get items to help her win fights more easily. A squirrel in a bottle allowed for a fresh sacrifice without waiting a turn to draw, the fan allowed her creatures to attack above her opponents’ for one turn, so on and so forth. Though one item evaded her as to its use. The pliers. When prompted to describe its use, the figure only said, “You will add an additional weight to the scales. The pain is temporary.”
Yeah, that wasn’t ominous at all. Nevertheless, Parker took it and two squirrels in a bottle, and continued on her way.
Next was a card, hopefully she would get a decent one this time. Thankfully, there were no kingfishers again. Offered to her was a Sparrow, another Bullfrog, and a Grizzly.
Her first thought was the grizzly; four damage could easily win a match, or tip a losing battle to her favor. But it required three sacrifices. Too much setup, too much time spent, too many cards wasted. So instead she opted for a sparrow.
At the following campfire, the sparrow was increased to 4 health.
The trail once again branched off, one side with a fight then a new card, the other an event she hasn’t done before, then a fight afterwards. She chose the latter. She needed to know what that strange icon was for.
When her figure was shifted forward, what was put in front of her was not cards or items, but two rocks. One lying down, the other standing above it, both with markings on them, similar to the iconography of it on the map.
“You may present a card to be sacrificed, and another to receive its essence,” the gamemaster said. “But bear in mind, any card sacrificed here is completely removed from your deck. So choose wisely.”
When focused on the bottom stone, the altar of the sacrificial lamb, Parker was presented with her sparrow and her elk fawn. She had just buffed her sparrow, but… If this worked how she thought it did… That mark on its card could be vastly useful for another.
In the end, she decided to risk it. She set down the sparrow, then above it, a wolf. The cards were tapped, and just as the man promised, the sparrow was gone. But in its place, the winged sigil was now on the wolf, imbuing its drawing with a supernatural glow.
“The soul of the sparrow will now live on in your wolf,” he spoke.
The rocks were taken away, and replaced by the map.
From there, the only option was to battle. After hovering her hand over the figure in a split second of doubt, she moved it forward, onto the drawn skull.
The battleground was laid out in the blink of an eye, and with her opponent’s cards placed in the back row, ready to come up, it awaited Parker’s first move.
Four starting cards were put into her hand. A squirrel, the elk fawn, a wolf, a river snapper, and the stoat.
“Nice topdeck,” it commented. How it could see her first draw, Parker had no idea.
“If it weren’t for the power-up I gave you, it wouldn’t be.”
“Shut up. Okay, listen, there’s a way out of here. For both of us. It’s somewhere in this… foul cabin,” the stoat said.
“Be silent, or I will tear you to shreds.”
The stoat’s muzzle looked… afraid as it fell silent. This was also the first time the gamemaster addressed the card directly. Parker shot a suspicious look at the shadowed man, to which he of course didn’t react.
“Seriously, what are these things? Why does this card talk but the others don’t? And why does this guy seem to be chomping at the bit to get rid of it?” Parker, instead of focusing on her cards, was focused on her opponent. She watched for any flinch, wince, or twitch. But there was none. Only swirling eyes as he broke his silence.
“Pay no mind to the rodent in your hand. Its existence is a… necessary error. Do not heed its desperate drivel.”
“The only one who sounds desperate here is you,” Parker’s eyes flicked from her cards, then looked sharply at the gamemaster.
She kept eye contact as she placed down her squirrel, sacrificed it, then played the elk fawn.
“Your move.” she said, her fingers lingering near her cards.
Her adversary’s eyes swirled. Nothing more was spoken. Only a quiet tilt of his enshrouded head towards the bell.
Keeping eye contact, Parker rang it. She only looked away to watch the board as her elk fawn got the first tick of damage. Promptly, it shifted to the right as its sigil directed. A sigil she got very familiar with during her first losing match.
As expected, the coyote in the space now opposing the elk fawn killed it without hesitation. Prevented damage at least. And now it left the coyote open for attack.
In the first column where Parker had put her elk fawn, her adversary was now placing a full-grown elk. For now it shouldn’t be a problem, due to its sigil, and the coyote blocking the path imminently facing death after Parker drew her squirrel and played the stoat right in front of it.
Without much else to do, she ended her turn. The coyote met its end, and the elk shifted up and attacked the open board. It moved right, in front of the stoat, then did nothing more as the turn ended. A sparrow meekly approached from the end of the board.
Once again, Parker drew a squirrel. After looking between her cards and the board, she decided to take the leap and sacrifice the squirrel and her stoat.
“Oh come on!”
“Yeah yeah, sorry.”
In the third column, where nothing stood in the way, she played a wolf. Quickly, she made up for the elk’s damage, putting her two ticks ahead on the scale. Unfortunately, her opponent’s elk still stood unopposed, and with the sparrow’s assistance, reset her progress. But now the elk was in front of her wolf.
With not much else to do, she drew a squirrel, then ended her turn.
The wolf gravely injured the elk, leaving it one hit away from death. But the elk, with all of its strength, killed its attacker. Then, unable to run to the next space because of the sparrow, it remained frozen in fear. All while a raven had perched itself behind the first lane. That wasn’t good… Parker hated ravens. Did too much damage, it was airborne, and couldn’t be killed in one hit. Even worse still…
“Shit, if I don’t do something, this is it for me,” Parker’s teeth ground together, leaning her chin on her hand propped up on the table, staring at the hopeless board. “I can’t lose, not now. I need to go further, I need to see what lies at the end of this game.”
She drew from her meager deck. Her flying wolf. Okay that, hopefully, will help her regain damage. But it wouldn’t be enough, she’d still be outmatched. Unless…
In the blink of an eye, her scar-riddled, bony hand snatched the squirrel in the bottle, cracking it open and retrieving the valuable card inside. With that and her other squirrel from last turn, she played her river snapper. Yes! The elk would die shortly, taking a massive weight off the other side of the board. But the raven would quickly replace it, and with the sparrow… Was she screwed either way? Was there really no way out of this?
It was now that her eyes finally gravitated towards the last item she had. The pliers. She still had no idea how they worked, but if they were able to add weight to the scales, they were her ticket to victory. Or at least not dying.
She reached over and grabbed the hefty metal tool from its spot near the candles. It would be more than heavy enough to weigh down the scale. She tried to hand them to her adversary so he could put them down on his side, but… he didn’t reach out. Instead, his eyes swirled, and he said.
“That is too big to fit on the scale. But if you are able to use it to attain something smaller…”
Of course. That’s why he chose pliers of all things. Parker, with a glance at the golden teeth weighing down the scale, now understood what the item was really for.
“…fuck me.”
Part of her wished she had hesitated, refused to partake in this madness. She wished she was safe in the knowledge that she wasn’t used to this. But that’s not what happened. That would not win her the match, that would not ensure that she evaded the unknown consequences of losing for as long as possible.
Within a few seconds, the tarnished metal pliers were inserted into Parker’s mouth. The two ends clamped down on a top right molar. With an unyielding yank, the molar was ripped out of her mouth. Her cry of pain was gargled with the blood that had already started flowing from the empty space. The molar itself was wet and stained red. And yet, the gamemaster took it, and placed it onto the scale. One tick. Perfect.
Parker’s head grew fuzzy from the throb of her gums, and the ache of the tooth’s root so violently being extracted from its place.
“A well earned point of damage. I didn’t think you could actually do it.”
Parker shot him a snarling look, slamming her hand on the bell, the sound reverberating around the small room. The elk was rammed by the snapper, and the raven and the sparrow pecked their beaks. The scale was tipped four points her way, but she survived. And she still had a chance.
She drew another squirrel, and used her other squirrel in a bottle to play the flying wolf. It couldn’t attack the birds, but at least it couldn’t be attacked by them either. And with the one extra damage from the snapper…
By the time both sides made their attacks, Parker was one point ahead. However, before she could continue…
“You have me here. I concede.”
“What—?”
Before Parker could finish her vocalized confusion, her adversary held something out in his hand. An olive branch. A little on the nose, but whatever.
She looked from his face, to the branch, to the board. On one hand, she didn’t trust this guy as far as she could throw him, which judging by the fact that he dwarfed her in height, she doubted it was very far. But on the other hand, did she really want to take the chance of losing?
So she took the branch, and the board was reset.
The match was over. She won. Though she didn’t really feel like it when blood still dripped from her mouth, dribbling down her lips and chin.
“That was way too close for comfort… Fucking hell…” Parker wheezed, cradling the right side of her head with her hand, not caring that her blood was now getting on the map and muddying the ink below.
“I did warn that they would not all be so easy,” the gamemaster croaked.
“I swear, you did that just to get back at me. For what I said.”
“…”
“Well, did you?”
“…with exhausted, trudging steps, you grew close to your final obstacle. There appeared to be an abandoned backpack ahead. It should have some supplies to replenish your own pack.”
“Go fuck yourself,” Parker’s voice had lost its bite as she moved her piece towards the aforementioned item-replenishing spot.
From there, she again grabbed two squirrels in a bottle and yet another set of pliers. She hated them. She hated how the shadowed man wanted her to use them. But they could be the difference between winning and losing. And possibly… life and death. She could lose a few teeth.
This was it. The end of the map. A large skull, decorated by a hat and two pickaxes. A boss battle, most likely.
“Alright, let’s do this.”
The figurine was shifted forward, and… something a little different happened.
As well as the board being laid out, a skull was placed on the gamemaster’s side of the table, containing two burning candles coming out of its eyesockets. Two lives. Naturally.
Tree branches began to creak and crackle to life as they hung over the edges of the table, casting everything in a green light.
“The trees seemed to close in around you as a chill mist descended,” the figure narrated ominously. Well, more ominously than usual. “In the distance you could hear the clinking of metal on stone. A hobbled figure stood in your path…”
Of all the things that Parker expected to happen, the gamemaster putting on a wooden mask and talking in a high-pitched old west voice was not one of them.
“Heeeeeeee-haaw! 'Twas the Prospector!”
“You’re kidding. After I just— You know what, it’s fine.”
Her starting hand contained a squirrel, the stoat, her elk fawn, her river snapper, and her unsigiled wolf. The board was empty, except the final column, which was blocked by a boulder on Parker’s side.
“The Prospector? Easy boss, as long as you pop that mule.”
Parker nodded, silently acknowledging the stoat’s advice. There must be something in the pack underneath it that will either help her or help her opponent if left for too long. Either way, it wouldn’t be easy getting that mule… It has five points of health.
To start herself off, of course the stoat was played in front of the mule with the squirrel, the coyote standing unblocked. She could take the hit for now, as long as the stoat stayed alive, she could regain the advantage. The turn ended, the mule moving forward along with the coyote, doing nothing, and the coyote dealing two hits directly to the scale.
The mule wiggled for a moment, then went still. It must have tried to move right because of its sigil, but was blocked by the coyote.
Parker stared at the mule, then at the weak spot the coyote was taking advantage of. The mule would definitely move as soon as the coyote died, but she couldn’t let herself become too behind, or refuse to scale until it was too late.
So she took one of the squirrels she drew, placed it in front of the coyote, then replaced it with the elk fawn before the card’s remnants had even disappeared.
The bell was rung, and the stoat made one final lunge at the pack mule, before the fawn stomped out the coyote, and the mule frantically fled to its spot. Behind it, another coyote was approaching, waiting, stalking.
The fawn shifted over to the right as well, to the third space on the board.
After drawing yet another squirrel, Parker ended her turn, seeing no reason to change her setup. Her stoat swiped for two damage, and her fawn grew into an elk and rammed with its horns for another two damage. That sent her ahead by two points, making up for the coyote’s attack.
The pack mule once again moved, but because her elk was blocked by the boulder, preventing movement that turn, the mule and the elk were perfectly lined up. The coyote behind it shifted upwards in its newfound absence.
The following minutes felt almost mundane, even as Parker played a wolf in front of the coyote and killed it with overwhelming force. It was only on one particular turn, when the stoat’s attack on the open space in front of the incoming wolf cub finally tipped the scale, that Parker’s attention had been regained.
“Okay, that’s one candle down. Now the question is, what’s the Prospector gonna—”
“Thar’s gold in them cards!”
The pickaxe that was held in the Prospector’s wobbling hand was suddenly brought down point-first on her stoat, then her wolf, her elk, then finally the boulder, turning them into inert, unsacrificable gold nuggets.
“Fuck, ugh, I shoulda known there would be a gimmick,” Parker groaned aloud, trying to lean back in her stool, but just ended up nearly falling over. Getting back up, panicked, she looked at the man. He was indeed still staring at her, but there was no hint of amusement or laughter at her mistake. Her expression resumed its cold nonchalance as she stabilized her posture.
Once she looked back at the board, she noticed that all the cards except for the pack mule had been taken off, replaced by a bloodhound, with 2 attack and 3 health. A formidable obstacle for sure, and easily able to clear out a spot for itself amidst the useless gold.
Since there was nothing that could be done, Parker ended her turn with the bell. The sound of which was growing more and more grating to Parker’s ears. Her jaw clenched in annoyance, but quickly unclenched as her missing molar made itself known again. Her free hand ghosted that side of her face before returning to the table.
Almost on command, the bloodhound’s card lurched forward, completely demolishing the gold nugget ahead of it.
“Git ‘em, girl!”
What followed was probably the most boring sequence of plays Parker had seen thus far. At least losing that match before wasn’t a total bore. All she could do was wait until enough of the gold spaces were freed. And as soon as an adder came on the board and eliminated a second gold nugget, Parker felt a strange sort of relieved glee that she could finally play cards again. Yes she was down four points, but who cares? Now she had a chance.
Thanks to her squirrel-hoarding, she played her river snapper in front of the bloodhound, ensuring it wouldn’t deal a killing blow. Since she had a leftover squirrel, she blocked the adder as well. With no damage able to be done right now, the adder alone would send her side of the scale over the edge.
The bloodhound took the hit, then dealt it right back, along with the adder putting the squirrel down like a sick dog. But the important thing was that the snapper would be able to kill the bloodhound, and thereby allow her to make up for lost time.
Two dull turns and thrown-away squirrels later, the bloodhound was dead. Now the river snapper could be discarded along with another squirrel for the final card she had. The airborne wolf, placed in the same spot as the late snapper.
Another squirrel blocked the path of the adder as the flying wolf worked its magic. Over the next few turns, the arrow moved further and further away from Parker and towards the gamemaster. Even as the pack mule blocked the path, and a wolf cub came and started chipping at another of the gold nuggets, the wolf sailed right over the mule and dealt the final blow. Exactly five teeth difference.
With the scale having been fully tipped for the second and final time, the boss fight was over. Though it barely registered as the trees retreated, and the mask disappeared. The pickaxe was drawn back, leaving the mystery man’s hand cloaked by shadow.
“Need a light?”
The second candle that had been put out earlier had sprung back to life, resuming her two chances. Hopefully she won't fumble it this time.
“You’re looking rather weary, challenger. Have you lost your confidence already?”
Parker didn’t want to admit it, but… The figure wasn’t lying. That victory over the Prospector didn’t feel like a well-earned, well-planned win, it felt as if her fate was desperately wrested from the hands of her true opponent, the one remaining cloaked by shadow in front of her, no matter what masks he puts on.
“…what are the teeth for?”
“Hm?”
“The teeth I’ve been collecting from doing extra damage.”
“Ah, overkill damage. Though it may seem like an unnecessary measure, I reward such feats. You will get to use these teeth to trade with the Trapper down the road.”
“And what will the Trapper give me? Items? Cards?”
“You will see.”
“I reiterate, go fuck yourself.”
Seemingly ignoring Parker’s insult, the gamemaster’s eyes disappeared for a moment, retrieving something. A chest. He slid the wooden box onto the table and undid the latch.
“It’s been a long time since someone has beaten a boss… Perhaps one of these rare cards will entice you?”
“Rare cards? Now we’re talking.”
Parker leaned over the chest as it creaked open on old hinges. Three cards lay inside. However, they looked nothing like the cards that had previously been offered to her. The solid borders had turned into thin thorned vines curling around the illustrated creatures. The Mole Man, the Urayuli, and the Daus.
Parker’s eyebrows knit together as she examined each card, almost giving herself a headache with her confusion.
“Is something amiss?” The man asked, voice even.
“…you said these were rare. They look like shit,” Parker replied bluntly.
“Appearances are deceiving, challenger. I implore you to give them a chance.”
“Fiiiiiine…” Parker really didn’t want to, but in the end, she chose a card from the box. The one whose stats looked… the least terrible. The Daus. A two attack and two power for two cost wasn’t great, but it was better than her options that either couldn’t attack at all, or cost way too much.
The box was taken back, and the gamemaster ducked down beneath the table.
“Where did I… Ah, here it is.”
With a rustling from below, he reemerged, with a new map. The parchment that was rolled out had a sickly green tint to it, and along with the carved trees, had little ferns and shrubs decorating the path as well.
“The rank smell of rot and mold permeated the humid air. Every step forward was answered by some nearby slip or slither. You tread cautiously into... the Wetlands.”
“New area, huh? Makes me wonder what other tricks you got up your sleeve,” Parker uttered, looking at the trail that lay ahead of her.
A new symbol was the first stop on the path. A cave, with what looked to be two eyes peeking out of it. Now what on earth could that be for? At least the others could be somewhat assumed based on introduced gameplay mechanics, but this? Parker had no idea. And she hated being clueless.
She wanted to ask what it was before she moved toward it, but she knew how the man would answer. Vaguely and unhelpfully. He must have sensed her displeasure, because then he said,
“You might as well keep going. After all, I explain as you progress. Besides, where else can you go but forward?”
Parker breathed sharply in annoyance, then slid her figurine towards the marking. As usual, the map was rolled up and taken away, replaced by a ring of rock simulating a cave mouth. The gamemaster leaned down with his face on the other side of it, his eyes now glowing a green color, and his voice lowering to a growl.
“Pass one of my trials, and I'll be yours.”
Three face-down cards were slid in front of it.
"Three creatures will be drawn from your deck; they will decide your success or failure.”
One by one, Parker flipped the cards.
“The Trial of Blood. Three of your creatures must have a cost of four blood combined to pass. Trial of Wisdom. Your creatures must have three sigils combined. Trial of Power. Your creatures need four power amongst three to pass.”
“Do I get to choose?” Parker asked, carding through her deck.
“No choice. You will win if fate allows it.”
“Of course, nothing can ever come easy, can it?” Parker sighed. All three trials were considered, and all of her cards were checked. In the end, she chose the Trial of Power. Probably the only viable option.
From her hand emerged her stoat, her elk fawn, and… river snapper! Four power.
“2 from the stoat, 1 from the fawn, and 1 from the snapper. You pass.”
After her cards were put back in her deck, three face-down cards replaced them. Once face-up, Parker saw what this was all for. Three creatures, all with additional sigils. This could be useful, very useful.
She was presented with a raven with the guardian sigil, a mole with the many lives sigil, and an adder with the stinky sigil.
“So we have a raven with a grudge, a mole that refuses to die, and an adder that just ate a skunk. What great— Actually, some of these could be good…”
A second more of deliberation, and the mole was chosen. Slipped in with the rest of her cards as the others were taken away, out of view. The rocks disappeared along with them, and the gamemaster raised his head, his eyes going back to normal. Not to say that his eyes looked normal in the slightest.
Next stop, items. But wait, she already had the maximum of three items…
“Hm, it seems as though your pack is full. Oh well. Take this.”
Scampering from behind the prop backpack was the biggest rat Parker had ever seen. It sniffed around, poked its head out to look at her, then held out a card in its little paw. Parker took it with careful fingers.
“A pack rat. Always useful.”
Two blood’s cost, with 2 health and 2 power, and a sigil that gave her an item whenever it was played. Not terrible, but… Could have been better. Though it served to remind her of her unfavorable choice of rare card. Seriously, what was special about it?
The next choice she had to make was between a new card and a fight… However, after the fight, there was an open beartrap symbol. Was that where she could meet the Trapper? Well, only one way to find out.
She went into the battle, and came out a few teeth richer thanks to the sacrificial mole. Yet the Daus still eluded her, being relegated to the bottom of her deck that combat.
Now it was time to finally meet the Trapper. At least one of Parker’s questions would be answered. Or maybe it wouldn’t. She wouldn’t put it past mystery man over there.
Parker moved the figure up a few inches on the map and landed on the open bear trap. The map was rolled back up, and wooden faux walls were propped as the gamemaster slipped on another mask, similar to the Prospector’s.
“Are you here for me pelts? I’ll give ye some for those teeth you got there!”
The bowl of teeth was put on the table, some of its contents spilling out and clinking on the wood. Beside the bowl were three stacks of cards with price tags on them. Rabbit pelts for two teeth, wolf pelts for four teeth, and shimmering golden pets for eleven teeth. They appeared to have health points, but no attack.
“Okay. What are they for?”
“The Trader is up ahead, she might be interested in these fine pieces!”
“The Trader… And what will she trade me for them?” Parker crossed her arms.
“I’m afraid I ain’t wise to that. She do her business and I do mine.”
Parker chuffed. “Just wait and see… Well I’m waiting. And I’m not seeing a lot. Anyways, I guess I’ll take some of these.”
Nine teeth in total were in the bowl and on the table. One wolf pelt and one hare pelt, plus the one the Trapper handed her, ‘the first un’s free’ he said. Three pelts in total. Useless in battle no doubt, so they’d better reveal their purpose down the road, otherwise Parker would have no qualms with throwing her stool at the son of a bitch.
Parker put away the pelts in her deck, shuffling it up, not that it’d matter, since the gamemaster would be shuffling them again anyway.
“Ye have me gratitude.”
The Trapper mask was taken off his face, and the map reappeared.
“So— What’s with the masks?”
“The masks allow me to get into character. It’d be rather boring to just have me handling every interaction. Well, in a manner of speaking.”
“They’re creepy.”
“But do they not fit the atmosphere?” The man’s hand briefly came into the light to gesture around the room.
“Yeah, you look like you’d care about atmosphere.”
“You seem to have many questions regarding me and my game. Perhaps you wouldn’t mind if I asked you some of my own.” The gamemaster leaned forward in his chair, though still careful not to reveal his features.
“I never said you couldn’t,” Parker rolled her shoulders in a half-shrug.
“If you are so dissatisfied with this game, why keep playing? Why continue to humor me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, I’m not doing this to humor you. But you’re not boring either. And neither is that curious little thorn in your side. The stoat. You’re just lucky that the idea of not knowing all the answers annoys me more than your drawn-out odyssey of a DnD campaign.”
“It’s hardly my fault that you have no appreciation for build-up,” the gamemaster’s eyes swirled, stating it as if it were a common fact rather than an insult. “You remind me of someone. Someone that… deeply irks me.”
“I get that a lot,” Parker fiddled with the mottled edges of her cards. “So is that all? Just wanted to ask me why I’m being a little bitch? And if you’re going to ask why I can’t play this game for shit, I don’t think even I can answer that.”
“…who are you?”
“That’s an odd question. Especially coming from you,” Parker replied, still not looking up at the man on the other side of the table. “I think a better question is who are you? Because all I know about you right now is that you’re way too dedicated of a dungeon master. You got a name or what?”
“…Leshy.”
“Okay. What else?”
“Receiving my name this early is already a rare courtesy. Do not push it.”
“Fine. If we’re dealing in first names only, I’m Parker.”
“…you left the Trapper’s little hut laden with pelts. Their lifeless fur brushed against your skin as you continued on your path. You couldn’t help but feel their weight on your shoulders. Ahead of you were a pair of familiar etched stones. Your beasts, big and small, crowded behind you, in fear.”
Parker pushed her figure onto the sacrifice symbol with her finger like it was a chess piece. The stones were set in front of her, and so were her cards.
The only cards that could be sacrificed were her elk fawn and her pack rat. And since the elk fawn was too versatile of a card thanks to the Fledgling sigil, naturally the pack rat was the first choice to put on the chopping block.
With the other card chosen and one quick tap, the rat was gone, its sigil now on the stoat.
“What an honor,” it said.
“It’s really not. I didn’t want that thing anyway.”
“Sigil could be useful though. On— On me, not on the rat.”
“We’ll see.”
Parker’s cards were put away, and the next event was upon them. A campfire.
The room crackled with fire that wasn’t there, and instead of the symbol for power being on the card’s space, it was a heart. Probably health. The survivors also didn’t hold spears in their inanimate wooden hands.
“A group of starving survivors stood around a dying campfire,” Leshy narrated. His voice dipped and rose for each survivor. "There is room for a creature around the fire..." One said. "The warmth will enhance its health." Said another. One of the survivors said nothing at all, but could not stop licking their lips.”
“Hmm… So whatever card I choose gets two more health points…” Parker’s middle finger tapped against the table in thought. “Ah, I know what to choose.”
With no hesitation, the elk fawn was slipped into the space, in front of the proverbial fire. One confirming touch, and it now bore three health. Now it could live long enough to actually grow into an elk.
“The health of the elk fawn was enhanced by the warmth. As one of the survivors began pulling a knife from their pocket, you withdrew.”
Parker was faced with yet another splitting path on the parchment map. Either a card then a fight, or a fight and then new items. She did not want to get another pack rat after she had just gotten rid of her previous one, and she wanted to get at least one more card before the boss, which she saw coming up on the paper horizon.
The usual three face-down cards were provided, when flipped, they revealed a ringworm, a wolf cub, and an elk.
“…what the fuck is with the ringworm?” Parker squinted at the card, then at Leshy. “Isn’t that a fungal infection? It’s not an actual worm. Damn, and its stats are ass.”
“Ah, the underappreciated Ring Worm. Its value is not readily apparent.”
“Yeah no kidding. Well, I’m not taking it. I’m grabbing the wolf cub.”
Parker snatched the little wolf from the set, now ready for the fight that followed.
As her cards were delegated into her hand, one card in particular finally made an appearance.
“Finally, the Daus. Maybe now I can see what it does.”
When she had the proper set-up after a few turns, she finally could play the rare card. As the sigil said, two chime cards were created on either side of the pig. Two health, but no attacking capability. Parker supposed they made for good block so the Daus and her other card could chip away at the board, but that was hardly worth beating a boss for.
She ended her turn. The Daus attacked and killed the raven in front of it, and the stoat dealt two damage, unopposed.
There was an adder opposite of one of the chimes, striking the metal bell with its fangs. But as fast as it retreated, the Daus leapt from its spot and ravaged the adder.
“What—?! But it’s not my— Oh my god. The Daus, it creates bells, and when they’re rung… Holy shit. Then that means the others… Leshy, I take back everything I said about the rare cards.”
“I did say appearances are deceiving. These creatures are quite secretive, their nature elusive to all except their master,” Leshy’s eyes swirled.
The Daus’ and the stoat’s force combined won the brief match. Now all that stood between this new boss fight and Parker was a campfire. The fire offered one additional power, which she gave to the wolf cub.
“I wonder what bullshit gimmick this boss’ll have. Hopefully Leshy doesn’t just repeat what the Prospector did last time. Though… I doubt it. He’s been thorough thus far, and I don’t think he’d skimp on the bosses.”
Wow, Parker’s really on a roll with how little she’s insulting Leshy now. I didn’t know she was capable of not being an asshole.
The boss’ icon featured two fish hooks in place of the pickaxes from its predecessor. And given that this area is the wetlands, it wasn’t hard to figure out who she would be facing. The only question was how ugly was the mask going to be?
This time, Parker did not hesitate to enter the domain of her final obstacle. The lights dimmed, and… one of her candles went out.
“Boss battles are high-stakes tests of your aptitude. You succeed or you die,” Leshy explained, hands steepled judging from the slivers of skin lit up by the lone lantern hanging above them.
A new card was slipped into Parker’s hand. The Smoke.
“I’ll let you keep the smoke of your extinguished flame.”
Judging from the cards stats and the lack of cost, Parker figured it was basically just getting an additional squirrel in her hand. Though she couldn’t help but feel like there should be more to the card…
With that feature out of the way, Leshy began the foreboding introduction.
"A foul smell invaded your nostrils and caused your throat to seize. A hulking man sat by a brackish pond with his feet submerged in the dark water. He pulled a hook from a pile of rotting fish and rose to his feet."
The wooden mask lay flat in Leshy’s careful hand before it was put on his face. He looked back up, his other hand occupied by a large fish hook.
“I am The Angler. Go fish.”
Parker’s nose wrinkled and her face scrunched, and not just because of the rotting fish smell that emanated from the trout and salmon that now hung from the walls, ungutted. But also because dear god the Angler was ugly.
“Not even a mother would love that face,” Parker ended up covering her nose as she cast the boss a sideways look. “Alright, lets get this over with, and hope I don’t have to look at that mask for too long.”
The board started mostly empty, with only a kingfisher in the first lane. Part of Parker thought the lack of initial force was a trap, that as soon as she took her turn, the boss would play a row of absolute tanks. Regardless, she used her squirrel and her smoke to play the flying wolf she had in her starting hand. Might as well start off strong when she has other decent attackers waiting in the wings. Perhaps she could wrap this up quickly.
She rang the bell, and the wolf lashed with gnashing, vicious teeth. Three teeth on the scale. A good start, and a decent safety net for any unexpected factors.
The kingfisher came up, flapping its wings, and pecked its long thin beak for one damage point. Then the card flipped, and the bird was underwater. Parker never understood that sigil. It allowed the card to stay alive, yes, but it also allowed her to attack Leshy’s side freely. But she knew well enough not to correct her enemy when he was making a mistake. Or at least what she perceived as a mistake.
Another kingfisher was placed in the back of the last line, and that ended off the Angler’s turn.
“Hm… Stale fish. Hard choose.”
The Angler pointed his hook at the wolf, but remained still.
“Oh, I get it. Every other turn, he steals a card from your side of the board. Inconvenient, but workable. So if I draw a squirrel, and then play it in front of the kingfisher, maybe it will— Wait a minute. One two… …I win on this turn anyway. Well— I suppose a backup plan never hurts.”
Parker slotted the squirrel in the first lane, in front of the kingfisher. The hook symbol now laid on the small rodent, ready to snatch it up. Not that the Angler would get a chance to.
She rang the bell, suppressing a smirk as the wolf attacked the still-empty board. Three more teeth weighed down the Angler’s end of the scale. Three minus one, then three more was five.
“Alright, first phase was easy. Now let’s see what the second phase does,” Parker cracked her knuckles and leaned intently over the table.
All the teeth disappeared, resetting the scale back to normal. One of the candles in the skull’s socket was blown out by an invisible gust.
Parker’s vision lapsed. Once. Twice. Flashes of the dark blue lighting, then bright red spots appeared in a distorted blur. She hissed in pain at the sudden headache, closing her eyes until the throbbing subsided.
But when she opened her eyes again…
“What the fuck?!”
“Too fast, too soon.”
Grizzlies. Every square, every inch of the board. Blocked by two rows of towering grizzly bears. The red Parker saw before were sigils, mighty leap sewn on all eight cards, preventing even the highest of flyers from getting past them.
The red matched the glow that had filled Leshy’s eyes, the mask still firmly on his face. His body went still, like a man caught in the gaze of Medusa, staring at Parker with lifeless red eyes. There was no expectation or insistence in his gaze anymore. Just the chilling obduracy of something that did not want her to pass, at any cost.
“No— No no no, I made it so far,” Parker scrambled for her cards, looking at her squirrel, her stoat, her Daus, and her elk fawn.
“…what a cheater.”
The stoat spoke with a resigned bitterness, then said nothing more. Even it knew Parker’s fate was sealed.
“This can’t be the end— My squirrels! Yes, maybe I can still do this!”
Parker sacrificed her squirrel that was drawn for the stoat, who didn’t comment on the play. Its gaze just fell, and its name was replaced by mere ellipses instead of speech. The two squirrels in their bottles were shattered, the glass scattering every which way. But that was ignored in favor of the two cards being placed on the board, and Parker’s finger practically slamming down on them to give the Daus its fuel. Only one chime was created, but that was okay. It would block the hit from the bear ahead of it
Parker’s hand tremored as she rang the bell, watching with suppressed horror at how little her beasts injured the wall of grizzlies, then at the subsequent mauling of each and every one of them. Now her board was empty. All she had in her hand was a single lone fawn.
Her shoulders slumped. Her head fell into her open hand. She tilted the fawn card to take a better look at it. The two additional health still wouldn’t be enough to withstand the raw power of her opponent’s grizzly bears. And when her defeat was so overwhelming no matter what she did… She couldn’t bring herself to play the poor thing anyway.
So the bell was dinged for the final time. Each strike from the grizzlies landed hard and fast, piling more and more teeth on her side of the scale, until there was sixteen total.
Just like that, the final candle Parker worked so hard to keep lit, that she ripped out a tooth for, went out.
“Huh… Go fish.”
Leshy’s hands finally reached out into the light. Covered in callouses and smudged with dirt and moss. They were warm as they wrapped around Parker’s neck. As she coughed on the strategically placed fingers on her throat, she pushed and shoved and scraped. On Leshy’s arms, on the table. But nothing worked. The tightening grip was unyielding. If not for the heady warmth of Leshy’s hands, Parker would think it was a machine.
Her temple collided painfully against the table, but the sensation was short-lived as she slumped over the surface.
— — — — —
Bright white light flickered just beyond Parker’s closed eyelids, making her squint as she opened them. She held up her arm to shield against the flashes as her eyes adjusted.
“…Leshy?”
“Do not worry, you are not dead yet. This isn’t purgatory. Though it may seem like it.”
Parker was no longer in the main cabin. Judging by the door’s design, she was in that locked room from earlier. But what’s with that light? Not that she could look at it anyway, her eyes hurt just drifting towards it.
“So you’re just gonna keep me locked in your closet?” Parker asked wryly, cradling her head.
“I assure you, I fully intend on ending your life,” Leshy’s eyes swirled orange. There was no malice in his voice, or his stare. Just practiced, almost clinical statements of fact. “But I want a memento.”
Placed on the floor where Parker was collapsed was… a blank card? It was similar to the others of its kind, but with no illustration, name, or numbers. Waiting to be filled out.
“Your very own deathcard.”
Parker sat and listened as Leshy continued to explain.
“I will sift through your deck, allowing you to choose your card’s components. First, choose a cost.”
Three cards fluttered down next to the blank death card. Her elk fawn, her Daus, and her rabbit pelt.
Though Parker’s brain was running basically at half mast, she was able to put two brain cells together and pick the zero-cost pelt.
“Zero cost from the rabbit’s pelt.”
No blood drops were drawn on the cardstock.
Three new cards were presented. Her river snapper, her other rabbit pelt, and her wolf.
“Choose your stats.”
The wolf was selected. Three power and two health were etched onto the card.
Now, Parker’s many lives mole, her flying wolf, and her wolf cub lay in front of her.
“Finally, choose your sigils.”
The mole was chosen. The many lives and the burrowing sigil were copied onto the complete death card. Well, almost complete.
“Now for the final touch. The portrait.”
Parker nearly made a snorted remark about what paint Leshy may or may not have, but before she could, he pulled out a camera. An old model, the kind that printed photos that required a red room to develop. However, she doubted it needed even that.
Leshy held the camera up to his face, pointing the lens directly at Parker.
“Leshy, I mean this from the bottom of my heart,” Parker grunted, trying to sit herself up against one of the heavy crates behind her, to resume some semblance of control over the situation. “Fuck you.”
“You do not need to smile.”
The camera’s flash went off.