The first evidence of Darik's mana pool had appeared by early morning, a great mountain standing just behind his forest. There was still some distance between the mountain and forest, so there was no immediate threat.
He'd been woken early by the Essence Warden, informing him that a Flametongue Kavu was being summoned. It had been hastily looked up, and it was deemed safe to allow. The Counterspell would be better saved for something more dangerous, such as a certain red creature that had caused the most damage in their last game – Crimson Hellkite.
Roxas started to regret the decision later. Riku called him to the window quickly.
"Look – over there! That red thing."
"It is the Kavu," The Warden identified it.
"He can't attack this turn. He only just played it."
"It is not attacking," she replied.
The red creature resembled a lion, but was too large. It ran into the fields nearby, found the bears and burnt them to a cinder with a single breath. Then it left again.
"That wasn't an attack?"
"I believe it is an innate ability of their kind when they are summoned."
"An ability. Inconvenient. Did you..." he trailed off, then she nodded.
As if to confirm, Riku went to the lectern. "Yeah. 21 to 18. Looks like you're still ahead."
The gems pulsed, and yet another card joined the hand, one he recognised.
For lack of any other land cards, another Island joined the previous two in the ocean to the south, bringing his total mana available to four.
He was left with several cards he couldn't play yet, and three he could.
Dancing Scimitar was a four mana colourless artifact that could fly. It had little in the way of attack power, but was a powerful defender.
An alternative route could see two spells played instead
Index, costing only a single Island, would allow him to examine and re-choose the order of the next five cards he would draw. It could be played alongside the Prodigal Sorcerer, a card Darik had affectionately nicknamed 'Tim'. It would use up his remaining mana, and wasn't all that powerful. It had the ability to deal one damage directly to the creature – or player – as he chose.
Both routes would cost him the ability to cast Counterspell, but he doubted Darik could put anything major into play this soon.
Given the lack of creatures in play, the Dancing Scimitar was put into play. It turned out to be exactly what it said it was, a Scimitar that seemed to wield itself. It took no commands, but instead seemed to fight against some unseen enemy, as if there was an invisible warrior training with it.
The Flametongue Kavu was looked up next. The index – not to be confused with the spell he could have played – seemed to have a kind of meta-game context, being able to display cards in play.
It had four power, two toughness, and just as the Warden had said, when it came into play it dealt 4 damage to it's summoner's choice of creature in play. Inconvenient, but the Scimitar could handle it for now.
No attacks could be made by him this turn, so with nothing else to do the turn was ended early.
Over the next few days, it was suspiciously quiet. There was one attack by Darik's Kavu, easily beaten off by the Scimitar. It alone lacked the damage to destroy the Kavu. Riku could have changed that, but despite the game's ignorance of him he'd steadfastly remained away from the Kavu.
Another Forest was added to the collection, extending the already existing forest considerably. Roxas had run out of land cards to play temporarily, but this only delayed things.
The Prodigal Sorcerer joined the ranks of creatures available, and on the turn after it was joined by Roxas' own Kavu, the Rooting Kavu. Unlike the Flametongue, this one was a green 4 power, 3 toughness creature. If Darik ever managed to destroy it, Roxas could turn that to his advantage by removing it from the game, which in turn allowed him to shuffle all creature cards in his Graveyard back into the library, giving them a second chance to cause trouble.
On the same turn the Rooting Kavu was summoned, the Essence Warden informed them of another creature summon, Drudge Skeletons. While they were discussing this development, the Flametongue Kavu turned up again.
As it had last time, the Dancing Scimitar had rushed to the defence. Without even consulting Roxas, his Sorcerer used his ability for the turn to deal one more damage to it, destroying the Kavu. Darik was having a bad run of luck with his creatures this time.
The day after dawned quietly as well, though a swamp had made it's appearance in the open lands between the oceans containing Roxas' Islands, and the Forests to the north. There was an attack by the Drudge Skeletons, though as they were low-power, the Dancing Scimitar once more dashed off and defeated them. A check on the card for them revealed that this wasn't the last they'd seen however, as the Skeletons could be regenerated for just a single black mana.
Roxas put the next high-power creature into play on his next turn. He'd asked Riku to gather dead wood and plants from the forests for him in preparation.
"Why am I gathering all this junk for you?" he asked after delivering the final load.
"Because I'd be putting myself at risk if I did it myself," Roxas shrugged.
"Yeah. But what for?"
"Watch."
He flicked a card into the jumbled mass of plants and wood. It seemed to come alive, reorganizing itself until a giant creature stood before them. It looked vaguely human, and very angry.
"Tell me I don't have to fight that," Riku asked.
"Don't be silly. This is a Tangle Golem." As had become a habit with Riku, he ran through the description with him. Having Riku know was sometimes beneficial. "Artifact creature, like the Scimitar. Normally seven mana, but it's got an affinity for forests that cuts the cost by one for each of them, making it playable sooner. Five power, four toughness, and all bark."
"So I see. Can it talk?"
"I'm not sure actually. What I've read so far about Golems says they can't, but I'm sure I can find a way if we need to. It's good for smashing right now. Have the Kavu returned?"
"You sent them out?"
"You were here when I told them to go attack Darik."
"I guess I forgot. Doesn't look like it yet."
"I hope he hasn't destroyed them. I've got some plans for them."
Riku checked the lectern. "No. It's not here in your Graveyard. Darik's life count shows 14 to your 25, so they made it to him."
"Must be on the way back then."
The attack came suddenly and unexpectedly. The Golem had been put into storage until it was needed, and Roxas had turned to one of his many tomes, stood at the lectern engrossed deep in it, and it was only by chance Riku glanced out the window to see an axe of lava shooting straight for the tower. He stared at it for a few moments before realising exactly where it was headed.
"Roxas!" he called quickly. "Duck!"
Roxas glanced up, saw it coming, blanched and tried to jump aside, but the axe tracked him. Hastily he called on the keyblades to block it, rolling to his feet again, but the axe caught him before he could get anything in it's way. It impacted him full in the chest, sending him flying as if struck hard. He didn't catch fire as the smoking lava would have suggested, but it did have enough force to almost hurl him fully out the tower and off the edge. Only a quick reaction and a memorised spell saved him from falling all the way down.
Roxas climbed back up and into the tower, muttering angrily under his breath. Riku helped him the last of the way back in.
"Are you alright?" Riku asked him.
He ignored him, going to the lectern. His life total now showed 20 again.
"A one use spell," he muttered. "Five life lost."
"I wonder why he didn't use it on a creature?"
"Maybe he couldn't. I'm going to get him for this," he threatened.
"Don't look at me like that, I didn't do it."
"Sorry. I'm just a bit annoyed at him right now."
"I wonder why," Riku murmured.
Before Roxas could reply, a figure appeared from the light in the center of the tower. It wore chain mail with a sword at her belt, and a conical helmet. Attached to the mail was a badge proclaiming her to be a member of the watch.
Roxas took this in and sighed, "Go on, what bad news have you got for me?"
"Why, Wizard," she answered, an eyebrow arched. "What makes you think I bear bad news? I'm Captain Ariel," she introduced herself, removing her helmet with a bow. "The Commander of the Watch asked me to check on you after seeing the axe of lava head for your tower. Oh, and he gave me a message for you too."
"I'm touched he's so concerned about me," he replied somewhat tartly.
"Be nice," Riku murmured. "The message?"
"We've apprehended a suspicious individual in the town who claims to know you."
Roxas' irritability all but vanished. "Sora?"
"I don't believe that was the name she gave."
"She?"
"Indeed. She was found in the Merfolk sector, apparently lost and with a poor memory. All she seemed to know for certain was her name, and your name. The Merfolk attempted to bring her to us, but the nearest Watch-house was in the Elven part of town. A few unscrupulous elves attempted to take advantage of her, and so she was taken into custody for her own safety."
"Her name? What is her name?"
"Naminé, I do believe."
Roxas eyes widened with a sharp breath.
"Well, well," Riku murmured. "Isn't that interesting?"
"Stay here," he told Riku, a little more commandingly than he'd intended, then turned to his guest. "You, take me to her."
"Whatever you want, Wizard," she answered, stepping back into the light.
"Is she safe?" he pressed, following her out.
"I sent someone running for a physician to get her checked, but she had no sign of physical injury if that's what you mean. She's a little upset for not remembering."
"Wait a moment. I'll be right back."
She paused looking puzzled as he dashed back in, retrieving the bottle of medicine he'd used to restore Riku's memory, then caught up with her again.
"I assume there was a reason for that."
"Naturally. You don't think I was running back up there for the fun of it do you?"
"Aren't we touchy today?"
"Naminé and I are close," he answered shortly. "The idea of someone trying to take advantage of her..."
"Easy," she warned. "She's fine. She was found before anything actually happened to her."
"Yeah, but if she hadn't been-"
"Don't start brooding over what-if's, Wizard. I know from experience they don't make things any better. She's fine, leave it at that."
"Thanks Ariel."
"Trust me. If you're having issues with your girl, I'm the best Watchman on the force to talk to about them."
Roxas hesitated, then asked, "Don't you mean watchwo-"
"No." She interrupted. "Watchman. We think of everyone in the watch the same no matter who they are. One term fits all, so to speak. It cuts down on inter-species rivalries. There's still the odd incident, but very rarely." She held out an arm briefly to stop him, as a tavern door banged open. Two humans ran out of it with two elves looking after them, clearly angered. One drew his bow and nocked an arrow, but his friend pushed it aside and jerked his head toward Ariel.
"Nothing wrong I hope?" she called to them.
One of them disappeared, the other said something in a language Roxas didn't recognise. He and Ariel talked for a few moments in that language, then he too disappeared.
"What was that about?" Roxas asked.
"They're the owners of the tavern," she shrugged. "Those two were drunk and getting violent, so they kicked them out. We'll probably see them again tonight if they're still looking for drink – or violence."
"You don't seem surprised."
"It happens from time to time. People like to drink, and people who drink get drunk. Here we are."
She led him into a bleak, stone watch-house, a stark contrast to the wooden buildings of the elves around it. It was like a miniature fortress.
Inside was slightly more welcoming with the fireplace lit giving out warmth and light. Ariel nodded to the watchman on duty at the desk and headed to a door behind that lead to the upper floor. Various offices were here, most of them with closed doors. From the one at the far end, voices could be heard.
"I wish I could remember..." It was Naminé, he couldn't doubt it.
"I'm sure the Wizard will have something for you," someone was telling her reassuringly.
"Are you sure?"
"He's very wise. If he can't help you himself, he'll know where to find something that will."
"Wise isn't something I've been called often," Roxas murmured to Ariel.
"You're generally assumed to be. You might want to wait outside just a moment."
He nodded, and she slipped into the room.
"How is she?" Ariel asked the other watchman.
"Worried, and frustrated still," he reported. "No new memories have surfaced."
"I am right here, you know," Naminé said.
"Sorry," Ariel apologised gently. "I just wanted to be sure you hadn't forgotten anything again. I've brought someone to see you."
"Who?"
"Our resident Wizard, of course, the great Wizard Roxas."
"Roxas?" She said it faintly as he stepped in. "It's you! I remember you!"
Naminé jumped to her feet and hugged him tightly. Ariel prudently took the bottle off him and set it on the table before it got damaged.
