“And you said Kate hangs out with these people here?” Andrew sat across from Oliver in the library restaurant.

  “She doesn’t just hang out. You haven’t seen her yet, have you?”

  “No.”

  “I won’t spoil things then. That’s a surprise you will have to experience for yourself.”

  “I don’t know if that bodes well.”

  “It bodes very well. Now, how did your games go?”

  “I won two total… One against the vampire dy, who I am almost convinced might be a real vampire, holy shit. And one against that one person who I am quite sure is the only real human here.” He was merely joking, not knowing how close he actually was to the truth or how much truth had even been presented to him.

  “Adelina and Evelyn. I beat them too and then got a close win against Yumi, the one with the mask.”

  “She beat me quite handily. What’s up with the all-women crew anyway? Not that I’m compining.”

  “There are no male librarians here and several of the people you pyed against I would describe as, hm… support staff? Those are all female as well.”

  “I see. So, I won’t be pying against any guys today?”

  “Nope, unless we py a round ter.”

  “That’s quite neat actually. The other events we went to were always such sausage fests, it was almost sad”

  “Yea, the overall Heroes community can be nasty that way. To say that the gals here have made their own community would be an understatement. Not only do they have their own withdrawn little corner of society but they also dominate the local Heroes scene. They have become quite respected.”

  “I want to hear more.”

  Oliver smiled. “I won’t take away from them teaching you stuff ter, if you are up for that, but their whole philosophy, the way they engage with the game is unique and has rubbed off on people. Add to that their generosity and you get a perfect group of friendly and incredibly skilled pyers who are beloved by most who py at the store here. They win very often and then ask for the prizes to be given to other pyers. You know what, I’ll spoil one aspect of what they taught me. Don’t focus too much on the winning, that comes naturally. Focus on just pying and what that means to you. In their way of seeing competitive things like Heroes, you will get to winning without trying too hard just by pursuing your thing with all your heart and being open with that heart.”

  “Hm… I see, I think? I will have to let that sink in.”

  “While you think about that, there is one sentence I was told over and over again that carries the most meaning and is the most helpful once you understand it. Competition is conversation.”

  “Okay, what does that even mean?”

  “I had years to figure that out and I think I did. I will let the librarians expin it to you.”

  “Olli, you absolutely vilin.” Andrew ughed.

  “I learned from the best.”

  “You spent too much time with the people here, I can tell.” He chuckled. “Let’s get back to being beaten by highly skilled demon librarians.”

  “Good luck.”

  “I was instructed to smear you across the floor. I am of the opinion that that was a joke.” Sariel was circling around Andrew, who was just unpacking his deck.

  “I sure hope so. You look like you could do more than just paint the floor with my insides.”

  “You are right, but I was made to promise that I won’t reduce anyone to a fine red mist. At least today. Today, you will suffer defeat by my cards not my bde. Tell me, do you believe in a higher power?”

  “A god? Not really.”

  “You are smarter than your friend. He nearly demanded divine guidance as he faced me. Insulting, but also foolish. The divine is dead. Defeated by my hands as you will be.” Sariel sat down and quickly shuffled her deck. “I will leave it to you to choose who begins.”

  “I will. I doubt I have much of a chance, given my experience with the others, but my deck likes going first.”

  “I enjoy your realistic vision of this encounter. Very well, you shall begin.”

  Andrew drew his opening hand, readying himself for a fast and brutal game. He was wrong. Sariel took her time, metaphorically pinning him against a wall and carefully carving away his life points. What her control deck did wasn’t a sughter, it was a careful vivisection. Just to learn how this all came to pass, he faced his inevitable defeat.

  After nearly forty minutes, he finally got to pack up his cards. “Bloody hell, what a monstrosity.”

  “Inevitability is enough to bring most opponents to their knees. I am impressed that you chose to let this py out. Your defeat was assured mere minutes into our game.”

  “It was, but it’s just interesting to see how things work, you know?”

  “I see why you have sought out these sorts of gauntlets before. Have you learned what you wished for today?”

  “Partially. I need to ask a few questions ter, but I already have so much to think about.”

  “Good. You should move on. I have more challengers to ‘smear across the floor’.”

  Andrew chuckled. “Have fun with them.”

  “I will.”

  The next room held another loss for Andrew, Lucifer beat him handily and left him with a warning for the next four opponents: the Riders.

  Pestilence was a pale demon with piercing green eyes. She was sharpening her cw-like nails as Andrew entered her room. By this point, all pretence of being in a library had been dropped. This was a boratory of vile creations, each bottle on the shelves looking deadlier than the st.

  Pestilence put her nail file aside and gentle tapped on the table, prompting Andrew to quickly take his seat.

  Silently, the demon drew her cards and the game began. Her human opponent was quite confused by this, but pyed along, silently pying his best. The only sound Pestilence made before Andrew decided to break the silence was a disappointed groan when she struck the winning blow.

  “I take it you aren’t much of a talker, but I want to thank you for the game anyway.”

  The demon looked at her deck, then at Andrew. Her voice was almost ethereal. “You pyed adequately. You won’t disappoint.” She gestured to the door forward.

  “I will take that compliment, thank you. And have fun against the rest.”

  Once again, she took a few moments to answer. “Thank you.”

  Famine’s room was barren. Two rickety chairs and what barely counted as a table sat in the centre of a space that was closer to a desert than a room. Despite the vast emptiness that surrounded her, Famine was casually snacking away at a bowl of sweets.

  “Come, come. I have coins to hand out.”

  “And I assume no one managed to snatch one yet?”

  “You would be right assuming that. You are my fifth opponent today and maybe you will fare better than the others.”

  “I have hopes.”

  “They had those too.”

  “Right… let’s get to pying then. Actions are better than hopes after all.”

  “Indeed.”

  The game was a slog. Famine’s deck was designed to remove Andrew’s gem cards from the game, a resource he needed to even py his more powerful creatures or even just his hero. Famine had just decred an attack that would allow her to use her hero’s ability to deal damage equal to the amount of destroyed gems.

  “Hold on, I still have something. I cast Stifle, negating the effect of your Vardrin the Desecrator, so I don’t take extra damage buying me another turn.”

  Famine smirked. “Maybe more than one other turn. I move into my second main phase and cast Recrystalize. Now we both sacrifice all cards on the board and put new gem cards from our decks onto the field equal to the number of cards we have sacrificed.”

  Andrew picked up his deck to search through it for the gems. His expression grew more and more worried as he flipped through the cards. “Wait… you made me put them into the discard pile. All of them.”

  “Exactly. You will have a few more turns to live while I rebuild my board to do enough damage to finish you off, but you won’t be able to do anything anymore.”

  “That is evil. Good game, I concede.”

  “Good game indeed. Two more to go before you get to face mistress Apollyon, you should ready yourself for her.”

  “Right. I’ll get going then, have fun.”

  “I will.”

  War was happily drumming on the table as Andrew entered the room.

  “Nice of you to finally come around, let’s have some fun.”

  “Fun like Famine had or fun like actual fun?”

  “Ever met your nemesis in what is supposed to be honourable combat and then you surprise them by pulling out a secret knife to cut open their throat and watch the blood make cute patterns on the ceiling? That sort of fun.”

  Andrew stared and blinked a few times. “I can’t say I have but you seem to have experience with that.”

  “It’s been a while, give or take a few centuries.”

  “Let’s hope our game was worth the wait.”

  “Let’s find out.”

  From War’s giddy bouncing in her chair, it was quite clear she was enjoying herself. Andrew did too, despite being beaten once again.

  “Ah, good fun. Make sure to py me again if we meet in the future. Ya did good.”

  “Still lost though.”

  “Nah, that doesn’t matter now, does it? If you had a good time, winning doesn’t matter. You’re not saving the universe here.”

  “Fair enough and yes, I had fun. See you around.”

  “See ya kiddo.”

  The game against Death had begun like all the others did. Andrew was on the back foot quickly and it seemed like he would lose again. But this time someone made a mistake.

  “Oh, that’s unfortunate.”

  Andrew instantly looked up from his cards. “What?”

  “I underestimated the worst scenario that could have been caused by the randomness of the deck. I have made a mistake.”

  “Wait, really? You people can do that?”

  “Make mistakes? Yes, quite often. Too often even. Unless you make a mistake now as well, I have lost.”

  “I can’t believe it. I have been so thoroughly beaten today that this feels a bit wrong.”

  “I understand, but my mistake means that you have pyed better than me.”

  “Wow. I mean, I don’t know if I should say good game or something? Feels a bit wrong since you already said you made a mistake.”

  “You pyed a good game, I did not. Here, take your coin.”

  “Thank you and while it would be foolish of me to wager a coin for a rematch, maybe we can have one after the gauntlet and dinner?”

  Death took a moment to think. “Find me in the library, I will be in the adult fiction section.”

  “Awesome, thank you.” He too paused as he neared the door forward. “Your door said your name is Death, right?”

  “Yes.” She smiled. “You can tell people you have beaten Death at a game.”

  “Heh, nice! Good luck with the next rounds and thank you, you’re awesome.”

  “Thank you and good luck as well.”

  Behind this st door, Apollyon and Kate eagerly awaited the arrival of their challengers.