Chapter 13 – God Does Not Play Dice With The Universe
909 Words
Leo nods his head as a gesture for the dealer to issue one card each to Skylah and himself. The cards smoothly slid across the table to the respective players, face down and unknown.
Skylah places his wounded left hand on the card and picks it up with a frown. At the same time, Leo Eta bends his card for a brief peek.
Overwhelmed with joy, Leo flips his card the moment he has a glimpse of his card.
Leo Eta :
"Ace of Hearts!"
Skylah stares expressionlessly at Leo for 10 full seconds before revealing his card.
Skylah :
"Ace of Spades. You lose."
Leo Eta, shocked with disbelief, looks at his card as a final hope that there would still be a way to win the game. Slowly, disbelief turns into despair, and despair, into determination.
Leo Eta :
"Under different circumstances, Skylah, I would admire your courage. I would applaud you. Alas, I cannot let you win.
GUARDS! CEASE THEM!"
Apart from the 2 guards who are already in the room, 10 more men rush into the room with various different weapons, ranging from long knives to iron clubs.
Julianna :
"Finally, something for me to do!"
In an instant, Julianna shuffles around the room, with movements so fast they are untraceable to the untrained eyes, knocking each guard with a single palm strike to the face.
Leo Eta slumps back into his chair in defeat, seeing how his men got taken out in a heartbeat.
Skylah :
"Time for you to fulfill your end of the bargain, Leo."
Leo Eta :
"I can't...….. Just kill me here...…."
Skylah :
"If there's anything that's plaguing you, we can help. What you can't do, can be done by us. You've seen what we are capable of. Trust us….. trust me."
Leo Eta :
"I...….. My wife is locked up in a church. Please save her….."
Skylah :
"What church?"
Leo Eta :
"The Church of Micah….. It's an hour's horse ride from here….."
Ambie :
"My brother! What about him? Aden!"
Leo Eta :
"He's actually taken there too...…. All of the losers in this casino are taken to that church…. Locked up there.....
It all started two months ago when my wife lost all of our savings in this establishment. I thought we were done for, but a mysterious man showed up and told me to manage this casino on his behalf to pay off the debt.
He instructed me to run it with his rules and promised to return my wife to me if I were to obey him. I have not heard from my wife since then....
That's all I know…. I promise…
..
Please save my wife….. please save Catena..."
Skylah :
"I give you my word, Leo, that we will do anything within our power to save Catena."
Ambie :
"Thank God my brother is still alive! I will prepare a wagon so we can head there."
Ambie runs out of the room with hope and excitement before John, Julianna or Skylah can say anything.
Skylah stands up from his chair, and does a gentleman bow to Leo as he walks out of the casino together with Julianna and John.
As they step out of the entrance, Julianna immediately strides in front of Skylah confrontationally.
Skylah :
What's wro...
Before Skylah can finish his sentence, Julianna swings a swift and angry slap across his face, as tears well up in her eyes.
Julianna :
"Is this a joke to you? We just got you back! How could you gamble your life like that!!!!"
Skylah lifted up his wounded left hand and wiped Julianna's tears with his index finger.
Skylah :
"Calm down. I wasn't planning to die. God does not roll dice with the universe….. and neither do I."
Julianna :
"What are you talking about...?"
John :
"You cheated, didn't you?"
Skylah :
"I prefer the word "tricked".
As justified as what Jacob did to Esau."
Julianna :
"What…? How….?"
Skylah :
"What can I say? I'm a fast learner. John turned sand into glass. I'm pretty sure erasing ink with alcohol is much simpler. I merely changed the card I was holding into an Ace of Spades."
Julianna :
"Where did you get alcohol....from the beer you drank! In your blood! You folded during the first round so you could sever your finger on purpose for that!"
Skylah :
"Yes, and it has another purpose. I painted the card with an Ace of Spades with my blood instead."
Julianna :
"Wait..... but Ace of Spades is black."
John :
"Oxidation. Blood turns black with it. He must've fused his blood on the card with oxygen using his powers."
Skylah :
"The fact that Leo was far away at the opposite end of the table helped this little trick of mine."
Julianna :
"Wait...…. This whole plan would've failed if Leo drew an Ace of Spades too, right?"
Skylah :
"That's true, but the odds are 1 out of 52.
It's a well-calculated risk to grant us important information to track down Johannes."
Julianna :
"Wow.....as crazy and....I'll admit it.... brilliant, as the plan was, why didn't you just allow me to fight my way and threaten the same information out of Leo?"
Skylah :
"The thing about extracting information is....."
The conversation gets interrupted by a distant but approaching galloping of horses as Ambie looms into view with a wagon.
- Writer
