Book 4 Chapter 26: Three Of A Kind (Again)

Book 4 Chapter 26: Three Of A Kind (Again)

At first, Arthur and Brixaby carefully dug around the corpse, wanting to keep as much of it intact as possible. But it became clear that there wasn't much they could do to hurt the thing. It was desiccated and mummified, dried out completely so that the scales were as hard as stone and the skin underneath tougher than boiled leather. Arthur had no chance of getting through it without a heavy-duty cutting tooland no desire to do that.

Frowning, Arthur rocked back on his heels. "There's no smell.

Brixaby gave him and the vinegar rag tied around his mouth and nose a disbelieving look.

Arthur explained, "I mean, there is no smell of dragon death. It smells like scourge rot in here, which is bad enough."

Because nothing can live in the dead lands, Brixaby rumbled. Even the insects that get into and rot corpses. He leaned forward and gave the corpse a good sniff-down. Yes, this was once a Common dragon I can still sense a visage of its power, though it had been minor.

That twigged something in Arthurs mind. This is a brown dragon.

Yes?

The nest was filled with mole-type scourgelings.

Yes Brixaby said again, more impatiently.

What if its connected no, Arthur shook his head sharply. What if its the reason why this nest is here?

Brixaby narrowed his blood red eyes at him. Youre suggesting dragons are the reason for scourge-nests? he asked with an edge in his voice that said the answer had better be no.

Of course, Arthur plowed on.

Its been bugging me why there are the nests in the dead lands? If they're coming from the Dark Heart, they should be closer to the city, don't you think? This dragon has been dead for a long, long time. Centuries, maybe. Any card that it had in its core would have long been rotted by now, but maybe there is enough magical residue leftjust enough that it could be given a push or kick-started by the presence of a Dark Heart when it's at the top of its power."

Brixaby was silent for a moment, thinking about it. What if the corpse was not the only thing that did not rot?

What do you

Arthur stopped as Brixaby reached forward and made a pinching motion to the corpse. When his claws drew back, it was with a card pinched between them.

But not any card Arthur had seen before. It was so thin that it was translucent, almost like the ghost of a card. The markings on it were long-since faded so that Arthur couldnt read a word or make out any of the pictures on the face. But the fact that whatever was left was still implied that this was indeed a Common card.

Brixaby held it up for them both to see. As he did, sparks of dying power cascaded off the card. It looked like it was disintegrating in his claws.

Brix Arthur started, though it was already too late. With a cascade of sparks like the magic inside were ripping itself apart, the card disintegrated into separate shards. Those shards were gone, faded away before they hit the floor.

The bioluminescent mold around them faded so only a hint of light remained.

The card was gone, and with it, the last vestiges of the dragon.

It was a Common, very weak, Brixaby said dispassionately.

That card shouldnt have been therewhy didnt anyone harvest the dragon? Arthur asked but saw Brixaby shrug in the dim light. It was a Common, it should have rotted away ages ago, instead it fueled a scourgelings nest

Arthur stopped. He and Brixaby looked at one another, and Arthur could see the same realization dawning in his dragons eyes.

Arthur was the one to speak it. "Which means that each nest we see has a dragon corpse under it."

"And this nest is merely a minor one and was barely able to produce adult Common scourgelings," Brixaby said. "But the last one generated many Rares."

He and Brixaby traded another look, then immediately turned and started jogging for the entrance.

New skill gained: Mining (Mining Class)

Due to your cards bonus traits, you automatically start this skill at level 5.

Level 5, not level 3? That had to be an effect of the Endless Grindstone card he had consumed.

Previously, he would only start at level 5 if he either had somebody actively teaching him the skill, or he had a lot of knowledge about it before.

That helped explain why he had gained mining when he was barely digging.

Nevertheless, the next swing of his pickaxe dug in more deeply and easier than before.

Arthur grinned to himself, then checked his expression as he tasted scourge dust on his teeth.

After spitting to the side, he continued digging down.

He didn't know how long it took him, and he was sore from his muscles to his still healing soul. He also knew if he stopped, he wouldn't be able to start again until he had a good long rest, and perhaps a soak in a hot tub.

Even Brixaby was looking bored at transferring up extra soil. That was when Arthur's shovel finally struck something different.

Arthur fell to his knees and started digging with his hands. That feeling of being pulled forward, of on the edge of discovery, only grew. He was frantic as he clawed away the soil.

Brixaby, who had just freshly returned from his last run dumping soul, gave him an odd look, but he helped out the best he could, though his claws were better at cutting through the tough dirt than actually moving it.

That was when Arthur uncovered the edge of a dragon's ridge either one of the spikes that grew off the neck, or a smaller one from the body. It was hard to tell.

You have another torch in your Personal Space, right? Arthur asked, breathless.

His dragons answer was to grab one. Already lit, he brought it closer so they could both see.

The ridge gleamed silver in the light, weirdly clean for something that had been buried for who knows how long.

Silver. It had been a dragon of pure magic.

Arthur continued to dig around it with his hands, using the ridge as a guide to find the dragon's body. This was a mature beast, and the ridge itself was the length of Arthur's forearm, but finally, he reached the wide base, and started to uncover the dragons scales.

Arthur sat back on his heels. "Brixaby, can you feel" He trailed off, almost too nervous and excited to finish.

"I can," Brixaby said, his head cocked, "I can feel its power, but it's indistinct. This dragon was a Rare."

"See if you can grab the card," Arthur said.

Cards, Brixaby corrected. He reached down with clawed tips and then grunted in surprise. He came up with nothing, but immediately tried again.

When he retracted his claws, this time, when he pulled back, it was with three ancient cards pinched between his claws.

Though they werent translucent to the point of falling apart like the last one, they were still visibly damaged. Arthur caught sight of the Rare card titles, all written in the same flowing script:

Card Sympathy

Card Shard Insight

And the last and most startling:

Repair Cards