"I still can't believe you agreed to do this," Mydren said as they waited. Mydren was dressed in luxury clothes just like the other casino goers. "Nero won't even give us our reforms until after his reelection."
"Keep your voice done, lest you blow our cover," Draven whispered, wearing a fur coat and large red boats. It's bad enough that I had to get into this obscene custom," Draven gestured to the clothing making up his disguise. I don't want all this effort to go to nothing."
"He swore an Oath on the Weave. He couldn't go back on his word even if he wanted to, less he wants to face the consequences," Pami whispered.
Draven watched as Mydren crossed his arms, an angry expression still on his face. He looked to Sygvar, standing beside him, and said, "You sure we couldn't do this ourselves? I know we need Pami and her people's information about Raylen and his faction. But now that we know the location of his main headquarters, why do we have to have them on the mission?"
Sygvar paused momentarily, moving forward with the rest of the line as another group was granted entry into the casino. "To build trust," Sygvar whispered so only Draven could hear. "We will likely be working with them for a while. We should be on more friendly terms."
The line gradually moved forward, and eventually, it was their turn to enter the casino.
"How many people are in your group?" A bald guard in a pink suit asked.
"Four," Draven answered.
The guard peered up from the tablet he was looking at, shooting a questioning stare at Draven. He then glanced at Sygvar, Mydren, and Pami. "One four adults." He started typing on his tablet again. Now, are any of you members of the casino?"
"None of us are members," Sygvar replied.
"Then you will be paying full price," the bald man said, hitting another button on his tablet. That will be five thousand dollars."
"So much to just enter?" Draven asked, his voice disbelieving. You must be joking."
"This is one of, if not the best, casinos in Urith. Our prices are proportional to the services that we offer. Now, are you going to pay or not?"
Sygvar handed over his card, allowing the guard to bill it. The guard then gave it back and gestured towards the inside of the casino, "Enjoy your stay."
Draven, Sygvar, Pami, and Mydren climbed the stairs and entered the Black Star Casino. Instantly loud music pounded against their eardrums, threatening to destroy them. The casino was packed with clients and prostitutes. Laughter bombarded their ears, and the scent of drugs was on their noses.
Draven eyes drifted from the games of luck, the alcoholic drinks being served, to the drugs lining the tables and the beautiful women he saw with every glance around the casino. He wanted it all.
"Keep your mind guarded. There is some kind of long-term spell that makes you want to give into your base desires." Sygvar said.
Draven dove into the Weave and located the Thread connecting him to the spell. He used apathy to distract himself from the magic, focusing on everything that made him dissimilar to whatever medium the spell was used to attach to humans. Instantly, the impulse to indulge in sin disappeared.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Come on, let's get this over with," Pami said as she made her way to the gigantic stairway leading to the upper levels of the casino. "I want to get this over as fast as possible."
Draven, Sygvar, and Mydren followed after Pami. The group pushed through the crowd of people populating the casino floor. They ascended the stairs, not bothering to stop at the second floor, but stopped at the third floor once they saw the guards blocking the way up to the fourth floor.
"Why are their guards positioned here?" Draven asked Pami. I thought you said our passage all the way to the fourth floor would be uninterrupted."
"I don't know, let's just go over and find out," Pami said.
The group approached the door leading to the fourth floor. The guards immediately grabbed the pistols they had hidden in their suits. "Do you have a ticket for the private games held on the higher floors?" one of the guards asked.
Pami stepped forward and cleared her throat, "No, but we're willing to buy one."
"The tickets are invitation only." The guard responded, "Now step away from this area."
They stepped away from the fourth-floor door guards and merged back into the crowd of people mingling on the third floor.
"What now?" Draven asked.
"You and Mydren go to one of the tables furthest away from the fourth-floor door and start a fight. Do either of you know how to cheat at the card games?" Pami said.
Draven sheepishly raised his hand.
"Draven, I thought you stopped playing when you were kids," Sygvar asked, confused and a little angry.
"I just told you that so you would leave me alone."
"Good, you cheat and win as many games as possible. Draven, you accuse him of cheating and start a fight with him. Drag as many people around you into the fight as possible. We want a massive brawl that will draw the attention of all the guards on the floor. Me and I will take down the fourth-floor door guards once everyone is distracted. You two sneak over once you're finished," Pami said.
Draven, along with Mydren, followed Pami's plan. They went to the furthest table from the fourth-floor doors that they could find. They took two empty seats at a table that had three other players already playing a game.
Draven waited until their game was over. "Deal me in," Draven said to the dealer standing in the center of the table. Draven added a hundred dollars to the pot.
She dealt him two cards, moving on to the next player and finally ending at Mydren. Draven picked up his cards slightly, finding them pretty good. He connected himself to the Weaving, binding himself to his opponents. He checked how his cards compared to each of his opponents. The feeling that he went from each was a success.
"Are you in?" The dealer questioned.
He smiled, "I'm staying in and adding a thousand dollars to the pot."
The dealer dealt him another bad card. Draven used telekinesis to take a good card from the dealer's deck and replace it with the bad card he got. He looked around the table. One of the players decided to fold. Two players checked him and added a thousand each to the pot. The last, Mydren, decided to raise the pot by two thousand.
Draven stayed in the game, and the dealer dealt him another card. This one was good, as the Weave told him that his hand was better than everyone else's. He decided to raise the pot by three thousand.
The other players fold, but Mydren and the last player stand in. Each chooses to check Draven and throws in three thousand.
"Okay, reveal your hands," the dealer said.
Draven revealed his cards at the same time as the other players. He smiled, finding that his cards were better than the others. Draven reached for the pot of dollars in the center of the table and added them to his card.
Draven laughed, "Another game!"
They played another four games. Each time Draven won, the smile on his face grew more prominent, and his laughter grew louder. Slowly, the players grew more angry at him, glaring at him with rage. Mydren had the most anger. Draven wondered if some of the hatred Mydren showed on his face was genuine.
Mydren slammed his fist on the table and threw back his chair as he stood up. "You're cheating!" he pointed an accusing finger at Draven.
"I'm just lucky," Draven responded with a relaxed smile, a euphoria plastered on his face.
Mydren laughed darkly. He slowly circled around the table, coming ever closer to Draven. "Winning five games in a row? No one is that lucky unless they are cheating." Mydren stopped moving once he was standing over Draven.
Draven smiled at Mydren, "We, I guess I'm-" Draven's head flew back from the lightning-fast punch that Mydren threw. His head was ringing as he was thrown from his chair and hit the ground hard. Real anger bloomed within Draven. The fucker hit me too hard. Is he trying to kill me? Draven thought.