Chp.3: A game of cards

Darbi admired his brother, and probably would have continued to admire him until the day he died, but sometimes he really got on his nerves. He was a genius in any field, but when it came to emotions and social relationships, he seemed to take two steps forward and one step back.

He knew that he was right, and that Misune would be better off away from them, but she didn't see why that should stop him from acting like he would do anything to get her away. After all, Haku had to care at least a little for her, he had demonstrated it when he had slaughtered the bastard who had dared to touch her and had tried to console her. It was unlikely that Misune cared much about the dragon, most likely hers was just an attempt to find protection, or Haku was a handhold to hold on to avoid falling into despair... but in any case he cared about her, at least a little. So why not delve into that connection? Why instead do everything to destroy it?

Darbi knew that Misune couldn't stay with them; sooner or later they would have to part with her. After all, Misune was a newcomer and they were dragons. They lived in two completely different worlds, and there could be no true friendship between them, only alliances or enmity. But that wasn't an excuse for not enjoying the little time they had to be together, in that arena where the cruel laws of the world could momentarily be ignored. Darbi, too, had grown fond of the twin girls they had captured, Lisah and Martha, all year long, and he was sure that Rhaegal, Corgorin and Serengal had also grown somewhat fond of Efren, Carlos and Sarah. It was a very different affect from what newcomers usually meant, since they could still kill them without batting an eye, but it was there nonetheless. Darbi was convinced that those moments, however quick they were and were due only to mutual benefits or blackmail, were still important.

But he seemed to be one of the few who felt that way. Most of his siblings agreed with Haku's view that it was best to keep their distance from the newcomers as much as possible. After all, why get attached to someone they already knew they would have to say goodbye to? It was stupid. They would only risk feeling bad when the time to part came. But Darbi saw it differently. From Darbi's point of view, in that unforgiving world nothing was given for free: for everything there was a price. And being sad when it came time to part was the price of loving each other. But if they didn't love anyone, then what was the use of not paying the price? Sooner or later even one of their siblings would leave them, Darbi knew for sure: whether it was tomorrow from an arrow shot or in thousands of years from old age, someone was bound to die one day. Still, Darbi would never give up spending as much time as possible with her siblings, sharing every happy and sad moment with them, because that was what made his life happy. So why couldn't this also apply to newcomers? Why not take advantage of those occasions when they were forced to interact to get to know each other better? Why not share love and joy with them too, even knowing that they would last for a very short time, an infinitesimal part of a dragon's long life?

But Haku and almost all of their other siblings didn't think so. Darbi knew he wasn't exactly the smartest of the family, so maybe there were reasons he didn't understand. Or maybe, more simply, they didn't want to risk hurting themselves any more than the unforgiving world they'd had the misfortune to be born into was already hurting them every single day.

In any case, that wasn't the time to think about that. He would scold Haku later; at the moment, the important thing was to make sure their plan worked. For that, he just had to follow his brother's instructions and find the right person. It seemed to be back in time, just like the first time they had hunted: Haku the mastermind that planned the perfect strategy, Darbi the one who with his muscles made sure that strategy came true. This time it was the same thing, with the only difference that instead of muscles Darbi should have used words. But after all, he'd always been a very social dragon, so he had no problem doing that.

He decided that the best thing to start with was to rely on someone who already knew gladiators. Luckily, he already knew where to turn. "Hey, Gord! What are you playing at?"

The lizardman was sitting at a table with at least a dozen other gladiators and all of them were holding rectangles of paper with strange figures on them, and every now and then they threw them in the middle of the table or took others from a deck. As he approached, everyone turned to him. "Oh, hello Darbi!" Gord exclaimed. "I didn't expect you to join us!"

"What happened? Is the dragon tired of talking to you?" another gladiator, a minotaur, asked in a hostile tone.

Darbi didn't take that comment well. He knew the gladiators would be suspicious of him because of his relationship with Haku, but he didn't tolerate them addressing him that way. "I may have other friends besides Haku, sir. If you don't like it, stand up and say it to my face"

The minotaur let out what sounded like a low bellow, but he didn't get up. Maybe under normal circumstances he would have accepted the challenge, even if Darbi was almost as big as he was, but this time he wouldn't risk it. Since Darbi was Haku's friend, then he wouldn't take kindly to him being hurt, and the minotaur didn't want to become the next meal of the dragon.

Luckily for both of them, another gladiator, this time a human, stopped the hostilities: "Come on, guys! There's no reason to be so defensive. Who we're friends with doesn't matter at this table. It only matters how many times you manage to lose!"

The other gladiators burst out laughing, and suddenly the atmosphere seemed to become less tense. "He's right! Come on, Darbi, come and play! At this table, the only law that matters is that of the cards!" Gord exclaimed, pointing a chair to Darbi.

Even if a little confused by the situation, Darbi didn't miss the opportunity. "I never back down from an honest challenge" he said proudly. "But I have to ask you to spend a few minutes to teach me how to play"

"Ah ah! Don't worry, most beastmen have to ask the first time" the human who had spoken earlier laughed. "The cards are a game that we humans invented. Let me explain you the rules..."

The human quickly explained to Darbi how the cards (which apparently was the name given to those paper rectangles) worked. The game turned out to be not very complicated: each player simply had to take turns putting a card on the table, based on the color and number of cards already present, and if he couldn't, he took another. There were also some special cards that allowed you to perform some particular moves. The goal of the game was to remain without cards in the hands. In short, a very easy game to understand, but which turned out to be quite fun.

Darbi quickly learned the game and soon a fierce competition began at the table to beat all opponents. Even the peaceful and likable Gord turned into a ferocious player who aimed to outrun everyone else. Unfortunately for them, though, Darbi had one advantage: while he wasn't the smartest of the family, he was still a dragon and as such had a photographic memory and a quick calculation (if he concentrated). As a result, by observing which cards had already been played and weighing the odds, he was able to predict which cards were going to come out. That wasn't enough to make him always win, of course, but that wasn't a bad thing: if he always won, the other gladiators would get suspicious and accuse him of cheating. Instead, achieving a good number of victories, but interspersed with some defeats, their reaction was only laughter and compliments.

"Ah ah! Crotokor smiles at you, Darbi! You have a knack for this game!" Gord exclaimed as Darbi won yet another game. He obviously refrained from revealing that he had no idea who Crotokor was.

"I agree! If we ever get out of here, I'll take you to a gambling club!" laughed the human who, as Darbi understood, was called Lucian. "With your luck and skill, we'll fuck them all! We'll make a lot of money!"

The gladiators burst out laughing. Lucian was obviously making a joke, so Darbi laughed too, even though he had no idea what a gambling club was.

"Tsk! Don't be so sure of yourself, lizard! I'll always be the king of this game!" exclaimed the minotaur who had initially tried to send him away. His name was Brenno and during the course of the game he seemed to have mellowed, despite maintaining a certain rivalry with Darbi as he was trying to 'usurp his throne', but he never again made a mention of him being friends with Haku. "So far, I was just warming up. I wanted to give to you rookie time to get ready. But now I'm going to start playing for real!"

"Oh yeah? Then do your worst! I welcome your challenge!" laughed Darbi, who was really getting a taste for that game by now.

The minotaur smiled in anticipation of the game and began shuffling the cards, but before he could begin dealing them another gladiator arrived and slapped the table. "Can you please stop it? It's night now! If you want to play, do it in silence!" he said in anger.

Darbi didn't know how the gladiators kept time, since they couldn't see sunlight, but they sure had a way since most of them had already gone to sleep. And judging by what that gladiator was saying, their shouting as they played was disturbing the others. Brenno gave a bellow of dissatisfaction. "Absolute not, half the fun in the game is laughing and teasing your opponents! Besides, if you can't sleep it's Norris' fault. I can hear him fucking his slave from here!"

The gladiator didn't look happy at all. "You're keeping half of us awake! Either play quietly or stop playing!"

"Oh yes? Otherwise what are you doing?" Brenno asked rhetorically, making the others laugh.

Feeling the tension in the air for a moment Darbi expected that a fight would break out, but suddenly a voice stopped everything: "STOP NOW!"

Immediately everyone fell silent, and immediately all signs of hostility vanished. Darbi looked in the direction of where the voice had come from and what he saw was a lizardman. He was slightly taller than his kin (although still shorter than him) and had several scars on his scales. He wore very simple clothes, just trousers and a shirt, and he had a calm and determined gaze, but at the same time extremely authoritarian. "Guys, Olom is right, you're making too much noise. So please, that's enough now. You can continue the game tomorrow"

Darbi expected some resistance, instead everyone immediately listened to the lizardman. Even Brenno didn't express the slightest disagreement and put the papers away. Very quickly, the gladiators stood up and walked back to the dormitory. Darbi took Gord by the shoulder and whispered: "Who's that?"

"His name is Zamor. He's recently arrived, but he immediately put everyone in line" the lizardman replied. "Trust me, when he wants he can make you submit to his authority with a few simple words. It's thanks to him that fights rarely break out here now. Before, there were at least one a week, and they didn't always end well"

As Gord spoke, a smile crept onto Darbi's face. He watched Zamor for a while, and saw that indeed everyone seemed to respect him. Perhaps, he had found the perfect candidate for the role of leader of the rebellion.