Wizards of the coast owns Magic The Gathering and all its characters and trademarks and stuff. I'll humbly own the characters of my own creation.
I actually planned for this chapter to contain the prelude, but I thought I'd split them up for more depth.
It had been a year, and Braskaras has returned to its former image of a bustling, hustling port town. During peak periods, the port would be filled with traders and ships from all corners of Dominaria. Recently, strong gales had redirected many ships to other more fortified forts, and Braskaras displayed a tinge of silence from the former desolation prior to Yawgmoth's campaign.
Aron wet the tip of his feathered quill with ink, and started his report of this year's earnings. With a few strokes, Aron recorded the new arrival of Powerstones from Koilos. Mentally, he complained about the recent price stake due to a high demand by other areas as well. Urborg ships had been closing trouble as of late and pirates have been known to sneak up on wealthy merchants once in awhile.
A small ripple form inside the bottle of ink. Aron lifted his head away from the scroll. It's them again.
From the distance, hooves on cobbled road reverberated throughout the port town. Aron slowly got up from his chair and straightened his clothes.
Within minutes, the pounding hooves stopped. The neighing and snorting of horses were quelled by loud shouts and strict commands by their riders. The riders had stopped right in front of Aron's adobe and he recognised the impatient hammer on his door.
Another round of clobbering echoed loud and clear, and Aron picked up annoyed mumblings by the initiator of ruckus. Aron sighed. Time to put on that insincere smile.
Aron undid the locks, and pulled the door aside to reveal the irritated face of Captain Gray. The captain was adorned in shiny armor and his unkempt beard further complemented the authoritative figure. Aron pulled a wide smile.
"What brings you to our humble town once more, captain?" Aron emphasized the 'once more', owing to their visit just days ago.
Gray threw an irritated glance at Aron, disapproving his sarcasm. Aron returned in kind, his stare lacking the intensity of the captain's though. Gray's hands seem to creep closer and closer to his waist, where his burly blade laid idly in its sheath. Instead, he pulled out a scroll wedged into his belt, now ruffled and disfigured.
Talk about brutish folk, Aron mused with a grin. Gray's eyes narrowed, the pupils never leaving the face of Aron even as he unrolled the scroll. With a deep, resonating voice, Gray then announced the contents of the scroll.
"By orders of Noble Lady Eileen, every town must contribute 10,000 gold coins to the efforts of New Agrivia to rebuild and restructure the once, mighty land. Failure to comply will result in arrest of the town elder and prosecution in court."
Aron couldn't believe his ears. 10,000 gold coins was robbery! The army might as well march right in and loot the town. And to think just days ago, Aron had presented the same captain with 5,000 gold coins for 'the drafting of Agrivia's royal army'.
Aron remained a calm face and cleared his throat. "My pardon good captain. But this small port town is already suffering from the turbulent weather. Anymore contributions and we would run dry."
The captain merely grunted. "That is not of my concern old man, your town is the most pathetic of the lot. Save me the unpleasant stay here and hand over the money." Gray gestured to his subordinates and they produced a large chest, already brimming with gold coins from other towns.
Diverting his view, Aron also spotted a large cage, being pulled by a large muzzled Kavu. Three fearful faces stare out of the confines. It would seem Aron wasn't the only one rejecting the proposal. Gray caught the straying of Aron's eyes, and grinned. "That's right old man. Refuse us and you join those three inside."
The lesser soldiers smirked as well, as though eager to put Aron behind bars.
There was a certain fire in Aron's eyes.
It had been but a minute or so, but Daniele felt that it had been hours. Father Time was playing mind games on him as usual, especially during dire times like this. Daniele wiped off the sweat on his hands with his handkerchief, not letting his gaze leave the lanky fellow before him. Slouching shoulders and tired eyes were common traits for one who have endured a long battle of wits. Cards laid scattered around the table between them, all arranged in their odd fashion .
Closer to Daniele, were cards depicting beasts of strength and speed. Ferocious fangs and threatening claws were the least of the defending army's worries. In Daniele's hands, the winning card was ready to be dispatched. Daniele could only grin in pleasure as his opponent tried to drown himself in a pool of sweat.
The odds were definitely stacked against the poor fellow.
A single dragon sat idly on the other side of the table, accompanied only by a peculiar enchantment. But it was no ordinary dragon. The dragon was of shiny blue hue, and its name was sung by many, all fixated by the creature's magnificence. In one fell swoop, the merciless Dromar would send soldiers and cowards alike departing for the world of non-existent, banishing them to the far corners of an unknown abyss. Yet, Dromar's credentials has been undermined for the dragon is now needed as guardian.
On the other end, Daniele commanded a slew of Kavus. A Kavu Titan prepared to led the final attack. Daniele held the card in his hand with glee. This was worth the wait. Turning 4 lands sideways, Daniele declared the addition of four mana to his mana pool. The opponent flinched, fearing the worst from Daniele's hand. Arithmetically, Daniele can't win this turn, lacking a total of 4 damage to finish the job. Despite the comforting thought, heartbeat stopped when Daniele declared the attack.
Dromar swoop forward to halt the advance of the Kavu Titan, both magnificent beast battling it out for supremacy. In the midst of a battle of such titanic proportions, the lesser kavus were ignored, and they eagerly awaited the chance to strike. The opponent played a prevention spell to save his pet dragon, willing to take the risk and withstand the less significant damage.
Daniele's grin grew in boundaries. He dropped the last card from his hand. The opponent, who surprisingly didn't look a tad surprised, was nonetheless unnerved. It was over. He extended a congratulating hand, and Daniele squeezed it gladly.
The onlookers cheered the victor and consoled the loser. Distracted by all the ruckus, Daniele and everyone else in the hall, failed to notice the winning card, being a Might of Oaks, produce a hint of light and radiance, before falling back to its original state of dull colour.
Away from the crowd, peering from behind a corner though, was a mysterious hooded figure. When the card shone, he absent-mindedly charged out, but stopped to hide behind a pillar, avoiding wandering eyes. The figure's very own were not-of-this-world. Unlike most people, it glinted of purplish tint. Above all, it failed to hide the anger within his heart, both eyes slanting down towards the middle.
There was a certain evil in the eyes as well.