"The biggest mistake most deckbearers make is forgetting that there are other ways to hurt them besides their cards," Jake said. He looked up from the tablet and met Dani's eyes across the cracked laminate countertop of the kitchen peninsula. He sat on a wooden stool, hunched over the tablet and a giant bowl of breakfast cereal and milk. Next to him, Machairi sat playing with one of his weird knives.

Can a card cut himself? Dani wondered as she finished pouring herself an equally giant mug of coffee and replaced the pot. She decided against asking the question and turned to the fridge for the heavy cream Berto had bought just for her.

"Is that another strategy guide?" she asked, keeping her voice neutral while she poured the appropriate amount of cream into her beverage. In the weeks that they'd been at the cabin, Jake had proceeded to do an alarmingly deep dive into the bowels of Internet lore on the Great Game. For the most part, Jake had done a decent job of filtering through the bullshit, but he was still a fourteen-year-old kid, and a little too willing to believe what he read. Everyone could easily learn the basic rules, but anything past that could be random opinions and junk.

"Yeah," he said, his eyebrows pinching together in a slight frown. "But it's kind of a weird one. It's really short, for one thing, and it just cuts off in the middle, like whoever was writing it just…stopped."

"Or got interrupted," Dania said with a smirk of dark humor as she stirred her coffee. "Potentially by a deckbearer who didn't appreciate having their underbelly exposed?"

Jake looked up at her. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just that you're probably right about what you said. Deckbearers are by definition powerful because of their cards, right? So it makes sense that they'd disregard other threats that aren't based on their cards. Especially because their mantles offer so much protection." She grimaced and shrugged, then put the spoon aside and took a deep, appreciative sip of her coffee. The caffeine hit spread through her and she let out a sigh.

Gonna need a lot more where that came from, she reflected as she took another sip before lowering her mug.

"So," she said, changing the subject. "Rough night, huh?"

Jake let out a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob, and looked up at her with an expression that said he was clearly still shaken from the night's events.

"I've never…I never want to be paralyzed like that again," he said lowly.

"I will not let that happen," Machairi said. "We have a plan."

"We do," Dania said. She put her mug down and stretched. "And it's a good one. If Hush shows up again, we'll be ready."

"Hush?"

"The monster."

"You know his name?"

Dania shrugged. "It was on his stats. You didn't see it?"

"I was distracted," Jake said. "I had to get mantled and… it was creepy, right, the way he talked to you?"

"Creepy?" Dania's eyebrows went up. "I didn't get creepy out of it. I mean, he's a nightmare monster, so I guess he's overall kinda creepy but…" she trailed off, thinking of the single claw tracing the side of her cheek.

"He did not threaten your guardian," Machairi said, surprising them both. "I am not very experienced with overland monsters, as I am only two weeks and five days old, but I have some instincts about my mother's creatures. Hush did not attack the guardian or me. That is significant."

"Significant how?" Dania pushed. Machairi turned to look at her, an odd expression creasing his face. After a second, she recognized it as frustration.

"Hush speaks his own words. As I do."

"His own…oh!" Dania's eyes went wide. Jake turned to her with a frown.

"What?" he demanded.

"I think what Machairi means is that Hush…is more like him than like other overland monsters. He is…sapient, for lack of a better term. He has his own mind, and acts according to his own will?" She looked at Machairi, who met her eyes with a grave nod.

"He serves my mother, as should all who dwell in the shadows. But Hush chooses how he serves, and is not bound to a pattern…or a deckbearer."

Jake whipped his head to look at his companion. "Machairi," he said, worry threading through his voice. "You don't… I mean. Is it all right? That you're bound to me, I mean? I know I put you back in the deck before, but—"

"I am content to be your companion, Deckbearer," Machairi said. "As I said before, everyone needs a knife in the dark. My mother chose you to fulfill her purposes, and me to protect you. I am, you might say, having the time of my life."

"All two weeks of it…" Dania muttered into her coffee mug.

Machairi grinned his psychotic grin up at her. "Two weeks and five days."

"I stand corrected. Anyway, as fascinating as this is, I do think we have other things to discuss besides potentially sapient overland monsters who may or may not decide to attack us if we ever see them again." She drained the last of her coffee, and turned to begin pouring another mug.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Like what?" Jake asked.

"Well, honestly, like what your strategy guide said. I think there's truth there. You defeated that first deckbearer's cards, but I took him out with mundane means. He wasn't expecting that. Maybe he's not the best example, but he's what we've got to go on."

"Okay," Jake said. "So what does that mean?"

Dania took a deep breath. I'm sorry, Kaylie. I know this isn't what you'd choose for your boy, but I just don't see another way.

"It means," she said slowly. "I think you need to learn to fight. Like really fight. Fire a gun, use knives, improvise weapons…and unarmed combat as well. Berto's got a bunch of training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I'm going to give him a call."

"Will you have him bring me a gun?" Jake asked. Dania looked sharply at him, and he shrugged. "I mean, I can learn on yours if not, I guess. But if I'm going to learn to use one, I might as well have my own, right?"

Dania nodded. "Yeah, okay. That makes sense. Gotta use whatever's available, right?"

"Right."

"I am available."

Dania paused in the act of pulling her phone out of her back pocket and stared at Machairi.

"What do you mean?" Jake asked. "I said I wouldn't put you back in the deck."

"If I must go back, I will go back," Machairi said. "But while I am out, I am available to help you learn. I am quite skilled with knives, as well as unarmed strikes. I can teach Jake, and you."

"I think I'm good with what I've got," Dania said.

"More knowledge is never a bad thing," Machairi countered. Dania met his eyes again, and he smirked at her, but fell silent. She rolled her eyes and tapped Berto's contact on her phone.

It went directly to voicemail. Dania frowned and hung up without leaving a message. She hated to text him, in case someone else saw his phone, but she didn't see much of an alternative.

Hey bro, got a question. Call me b4 ur next run up, k?

"He's probably scored on one of his Tinder dates and has his phone off," Dania said, earning a snicker from Jake. "He'll call me back later. In the meantime, finish eating and meet me outside. We can start with what I know and whatever Creepy over there can teach us."

Machairi, as it turned out, could teach a lot. It had been years since Dania's own very basic unarmed combat classes in the Army, but she recognized that the companion card seemed to have a deep understanding of teaching progressions and building block concepts.

He demonstrated a few simple strikes and dodges for Jake, then had him face off against Dania to practice. The movements may have been simple, but that didn't stop them from working up a sweat by the time the noonday sun glittered off the snow packed yard. When Jake missed a block for the third time, Dania called a halt.

"You must practice in order to progress," Machairi said from his vantage point in the bluish shadow under a nearby pine.

"Yeah, but we have to eat and rest as well. We're not cards, remember," Dania retorted.

"That is a fair argument." Machairi stepped out into the light, though somehow the shadows seemed to move with him, even as he crossed the open yard to the door of the cabin.

Dania shared a wondering glance with Jake, and then shrugged and just followed the card back into the cabin.

"You know," she said as they stamped the snow off their boots and hung their coats up in the mudroom. "I suppose I should take a look at my stats. I made some levels last night."

"Did you?" Jake asked, interest replacing the fatigue in his face. "How many?"

"Two. I'm level three now, just like you."

"Cool! What are you thinking?"

Dania let out a sigh and walked down the hallway to the living room, where she let herself flop onto one of the long leather couches.

"I don't know," she groaned. "I know I need to figure it out, but to be honest, thinking about spending pips and stacking cards and everything just makes my head hurt. Give me something to shoot, I can shoot it. Or someone to fix up? I'm all over it. But this shit?" She shook her head, closing her eyes briefly.

When she opened them, Machairi stood over her, staring down into her eyes. She swallowed hard and huffed.

"Fuck, Creepy! Warn a girl, willya?"

"Warn you about what?"

"Just… nevermind. What do you want?"

"I want to watch."

"Watch what?"

"The rest of your pity party."

Jake's snickers filled the air as Dania reached out to snag one of the throw pillows and fling it at Machairi. He smirked and bent backwards like that old movie from the '90s and the pillow sailed right over him to thud against the glass of the picture window.

"Fine," Dania said. "I guess I was feeling a little sorry for myself. Point taken. This just isn't my strong suit."

"It's okay," Jake said. "We're all beginners at something. I…have some suggestions, if you're interested."

"Absolutely."

"Okay, but first, can we look at the card you got last night again?"

"Sure." Dania hadn't wanted to leave the card unattended, so she'd slipped it into her pocket along with her phone. She pulled it out now and laid it on the coffee table in front of her.

"Okay," Jake said after a moment. "Here's what I think you should consider. You've got two Dire Wolf Trackers, and this Best Beta has some cool synergies with other canine types. I think you should trade out your Fossil Bloom for this card for the time being. Fossil Bloom also adds some cool stuff—including your card-changing chance—but you only have one Nature power right now and you need it to play Tar Pit, which allows you to bring out your Short-Faced Bear."

"What if I spend a leveling pip on a Nature Power?"

Jake looked from the card up to her. "Is that what you want to do?"

Dania shrugged. "I don't know, it's an option, though."

"You should do what you want with your deck, obviously. But if I were you, I'd take a Beast Power instead. Your whole purpose is to protect me, right?"

"Always and forever, kiddo."

"Right, well, that means you need offensive capability, and more Beast Power will give you that right now. But you should work toward leveling up your Nature as well."

"Okay, you convinced me." Dania sat up and touched her chest in the splay-fingered gesture that brought out her deck. She flipped through it, waiting until she found the Fossil Bloom card. Then she picked up the Dire Wolf Best Beta card, and willed it to replace Fossil Bloom. As she watched, the card in her fingers faded to a stream of tawny light, while Fossil Bloom faded to a glistening, icy green and flowed into the shape of an inert card on the table.

"Now that's a rare," Jake said. "So hang on to it. We're probably going to want to put it back in your deck pretty soon, especially if we start getting more cards. But for right now, just keep it close."

"Got it," Dania said, smiling at how self-assured her kiddo sounded. "Okay, pulling up my stats now…and that's one more Beast Power."

"Good deal. You should have one more pip left. You could spend it on deck size and put Fossil Bloom back, or hang on to it and save for your Nature power. Or do like I did and increase your hand size. I'd say they're all equally good options."

Dania pursed her lips and thought for a moment, her eyes tracking to the rare card she still held in her hand.

"Deck size," she said after a long moment. "I don't want to take the risk of losing this card or missing the chance to get better matches." As she said the words, the numbers of her status sheet reconfigured, and the Fossil Bloom card dissolved again and flowed up from the table to her chest. She waited until it was done, and then dismissed her status sheet and looked over to meet Jake's eyes.

"Plus," she said, "If we're going to have so many overland monsters hanging around, I should hopefully have a chance to collect a few more, right?"

"Yes," Machairi answered. "And also, there's the dungeon."

Jake's eyes widened, and he and Dania both spun to look at Machairi.

"What dungeon?" they asked, in perfect stereo.