Chapter I

Opening chapter to Blackjack

Chapter I

My eyes open, but I squint as I see a blurry light on the dull, clay-like grey ceiling. I'm not at home. This isn't good. I turn my neck slowly as my pillow squidges and something is knocked out. Am I just dreaming? I try to sit myself up, and my bicep knocks against a drawer next to me, inflicting an overwhelming amount of pain. I fall back onto the pillow, holding my arm with my eyes closed until I hear a scream. These aren't unfamiliar; they're my father's. I bolt up and look down, I'm dressed in an abnormally large hospital gown. Where the hell am I? Sliding my legs to the side of my bed, I pull up the sleeves to see my arms are bruised. There are wounds all over my body, my legs clean of any scars. The screams continue, my head surges, leading me to scream,

"FATHER! FATHER! WHERE ARE YOU?" but I am greeted with nothing but the echo of my own words. Clearing my head of these thoughts, I finally get off the bed feeling only the pain in my arm from earlier, but it fades eventually. I focus on where I am and why. A lock begins to click, followed by 5 others.

The door opens, and a cloaked figure emerges. He says,

"Greetings Tristan," his voice deep and loud but altered by the mask he wore under his hood, which was soon lowered. A long blade pulsing with energy lies on his back, and he is armoured well. My curiosity gets the best of me, I speak loudly,

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" He doesn't hesitate to say

"I am The Sentinel, protector of the great Lord Davarkov and leader of his very ranks. Of course, for you, there is no use of my name to you."

My voice quietens,

"What? Why?"

"Of course, you should know this. You are scheduled for execution in 6 days, and you're lucky, you get to be executed in the presence of the great Lord himself! I will leave you to your worrying for now, I shall await you at the execution centre. By the way, you will be escorted down to the canteen by guards in 3 hours." He left the room with a slam of the door and a devilish chuckle.

So, I have 6 days left. I lie on my bed to try to sleep, but my mind fills with thoughts. Who the hell is Lord Davarkov? What did I do to get here? Since I can't sleep I finally open the drawer that I hit my arm off of. In it I find a watch, a deck of cards, and a note saying "I hope you know how to play Blackjack, or you're in for a treat." A gust of wind blows into the room, and I stare at the door. The Sentinel forgot to lock it. I bolt off my bed and run as fast as I can out the room, and I collide with a highly armoured man wielding an axe. I fall down. He turns around,

"Rookie mistake. They always fall for that one. Off to The Sentinel!" He looks at the guard behind him, "Are you coming with us or keeping guard? You'll miss The Sentinel kill someone with his own blade!" The guard shakes his head and the man smirks at him. He restrains my arms with rope, and my mouth is taped. Another man puts his spear behind me and pokes lightly, signalling for me to move. I follow on after the man I bumped into, until minutes later we arrive at a dim room.

        ******

Purple flames light up along the walls, and when I look forward I see 'The Sentinel' sitting on a dark seat, like a throne but it lacks the elegance of one. On a stand to the right of his 'throne' a shield is propped up.  To the left, the sword that was pulsing with energy is no different. The Sentinel is dressed in robes instead of his usual armour, he steps off of his seat and looks back at the two men behind him who seem to be his advisors and raises his hand at them telling them to stay back. I see that he is still wearing his hood and mask. He turns back and looks at the guard holding me. The guard walks slowly towards him and opens his mouth but is quickly stopped when a shout from his leader.

“Sistite! Dic graviorem!” From my many lessons in the past I could translate this from Latin to Halt! State your business! However, the guard did not reply to The Sentinel in full latin, he said,

“Imperatorem, we have caught the prisoner scheduled for execution in 6 days. Shall we execute the subject where he stands?” The guard behind me raises his axe over me as if I will die today.

The Sentinel grins and signals for the axe to be sheathed. The guard holding me looks bewildered, but he chooses not to question The Sentinel. He approaches me and puts his hand onto my head while saying,

“My good guard, this boy will be our source of propaganda, to kill him privately would be like killing our leader and not spreading news of his death. For now however..” nods his head, I'm confused, and then the guard behind me pummels me with the handle of his axe. I fall unconscious.

Later, I wake up with the same blurred vision I had when this all started, when it clears, I see a guard staring down at me. He grabs me and stands me up, poking me with his spear to make me start moving,

“To the canteen, now!” I walk faster, through dark corridors, guards focusing their gaze on me. Minutes later, we finally arrive at the canteen. It is swarming with muscular men, no imprisoned women in sight, everybody seems to be beaten up but still in good condition. I realise how badly I have to get out of here. Guards crowd every table, and the one behind me slips something into my pocket, which appears to be a deck of cards. He whispers into my ear,

“Hurry the hell up!” and pushes me in the direction of the women handing food plates out and they shove a mixture of watery rice, a piece of beef, apple juice, and an orange onto my plate and chuck it at me. I go to the least crowded table slowly and begin to eat. I peel the orange and  take two big bites to attempt to  finish it quickly. I grab a spoon and begin on the rice.  

After my second mouthful a tall, strong-looking man grabs my knife and stabs the slice of beef. Another man is behind me grabs the back of my prison jumpsuit, which I realise is on me. He moves his hands to lock tightly on my shoulders, which makes me let out an awkward noise signalling pain. The pain forces me to spit out the rice, making the men around me laugh uncontrollably. I get pushed onto the floor, the impact on my back extreme, I shout,

“GUARDS! AGH!” they continue to laugh at me and one of them shouts,

“This weakling is probably gonna die before his execution!” The guards look over to me and smirk. The man who seems to be the leader comes forward,

“WHAT HAVE YOU IDIOTS DONE? STOP! HE’S his SON!” I know what he’s saying, as the men around me back off, I get back up and try to maintain my balance. I correct him with a,

“Don’t you mean Char-” My mouth is covered,

“Shh! The guards will beat you!” I push his hand down and nod. He sits me down and seats himself next to me. He grabs my beef slice and takes a bite out of it. His men stand around him and he signals them to leave.

“The name’s Nicholas, or Nick for short. I’m a leader of what we call our division, we go by the name ‘The Raven Syndicate’ our members called Ravens, if you didnt see. A good amount of us have been imprisoned and scheduled for execution.” I mutter,

“Well, where are we, who are these guys?”

“They call themselves the ‘Domino obscuro legio’

which translates roughly  from Latin into ‘The dark lord’s legion.’ We’re in the prison for people, as you can see, who are lined up for execution for committing crimes in the eyes of Darius Davarkov and his followers.” and he takes a bite of the beef once more.

“Alright, erm.. How come the guards didn’t stop your men from beating me up?” He chuckles,

“We play Blackjack with them, you lose, you get beaten, you win, you get more canteen time or more food. Us Ravens only leave this place for sleep, every other person hates us for our Blackjack luck. If you win against your fellow inmates, you’ll be granted the permission to beat the living hell out of them. We aren’t allowed to kill people who have an execution of significance to the legion, and that’s only you right now. But I wouldn’t kill you anyway, I’ve heard of your father, Charles Morgan, a great man who would not be forgotten by many if not all of the resistance. Sad news, his death was.”

“My father’s.. dead?”

“Yep, beaten to death by the legion’s biggest brutes, sorry for your loss.” I look to the ground. I NEED to get out of here and kill every single one of this 'legion'. I bother not to speak about anything related to my father's death due to where I am, so I change the subject after I take my last swallow of apple juice.

"So, tell me about this Blackjack game."

"It's not like the one played in casinos, but it is quite basic. It's played by many who oppress the legion. We brought it to the legion and have earned a somewhat good reputation with them, almost to the point where we won't be executed. The key of the game is to get rid of all your cards. Each player starts with 7 cards. The dealer places a random card down, and whoever goes first must place another on top with the same suit or number. You can then place something of the same suit but a number lower or higher than your last card. If you have no cards you are able to place at the time, you must up another from the deck. If someone places a 2, you must pick up the corresponding amount. If a Blackjack is placed, the other player must pick up 5 cards. However, this can be negated if you have another 2, then the other player will have to pick up the consecutive card chain. This can be done with all 2s in hand. The same happens with a Blackjack, the player will have to pick up 10. If you do not have a Blackjack in hand, a red jack can be used to cancel the effect, however this does not work on 2s. When you reach 1 card you must knock against the table or wall. If an 8 or a 10 is placed, the other player will miss a turn. If you place an ace you may change the suit That's about it, up for some games with the guards? Just get your deck on the table and guards will approach you."

As I push my tray forward, one of the Ravens kindly remove it. I place my deck on the table and I see Nick shuffling his, so I do the same. A pack of guards approach us, and sit down opposite us.

"Newbie eh? Well, we can play one game but it's nearing night, so you'll have to scram and we'll pick you up earlier for breakfast tomorrow and you can stay from there. So then, let's check out your luck." He grabs the shuffled cards and hands them to Nick, Who then hands out 7 cards to me and another 7 to the guard. He places down a 6 of hearts and the guard looks at me to say,

"Your turn rookie." I look at my hand and make the decision to place a 6 of spades. I place my hand on the table and look opposite to the guard. He yells,

"DAMNIT!" And takes a card from the deck aside. I place an 8 of spades and an 8 of diamonds, but then have to pick up a card. I form a smile on my face, and the guard places a Blackjack.

"Pick up 5." I negate it with the jack I just picked up,

"Pick up 10."  Me, the other guard, and Nick burst into laughter while the guard punches the table. He reluctantly picks 10 cards up as I place a 2 of clubs and say,

"You know what to do." He throws all the cards in the air and shouts,

"FINE! YOU'LL GET SOME EARLY CANTEEN TIME, NOW SCRAM, ALL OF YOU!" Whilst the guard next to him tells me,

"I like your luck kid, and don't worry about him, he's not one who takes losing easily." He hands me my cards and Nick continues to laugh,

"Good win there, see you tomorrow!" As we are both escorted to our cells.

While we leave the canteen, a Raven resists and says,

"No, we ain't leavin." And the angered guard bursts out,

"You have 10 seconds to leave or else you'll have to see what's gonna happen." The Raven stands still and crosses his arms. A guard grabs him from behind and he is slanted, his body straight as a ruler. Another guard smashes his foot on his leg, the other guard mirrors the action. He shouts

"ARGH! OKAY!" And is soon dragged away. This does not affect my mood.

I go straight to sleep, eager for the next day to begin. Who thought being in prison for 6 days until I’m EXECUTED would be so much fun? I wake up, and take my watch off of the desk, it reads 7:57:49. My grin starts to form, almost 2 minutes until breakfast! I get out my deck and shuffle it continuously. A guard barges in,

“You know what to do, get outta here.” I walk quickly to the canteen, satisfying the guard. I run to get my food, they put a burnt sausage, a fried egg that seems to be the only properly cooked food, 2 stale waffles and some orange juice in a tray and throw it at me. I search for Nick and catch his eye, he sends 2 Ravens to escort me to the table and I sit next to him. Shoving a mouthful of of egg in his mouth, he speaks in a loud voice,

“Hey. Tristan.” I take a bite of the sausage,

“Hi.” and he looks as if he remembered something, which he did. I take multiple bites to finish the sausage and end up choking, everyone around me bursts out with laughter. Nick says something, but his mouth is so full I can’t understand it.

I down the waffles, eager to play Blackjack or just socialise, everyone around me does the same and we ignore each other until we both take out last swallow of juice. The Ravens nearby notice our trays and take them away. I begin the conversation,

“I wonder why the guards are so nice to us, considering we’re prisoners about to be executed.” He turns his whole body towards me and begins to explain,

“Well, I guess the legion want our last days to contain a limited amount of fun before we get brutally tortured and murdered.” I nod in agreement, because that sounds fairly logical to me. He carries on,

“So, what’s up with you and Blackjack? You get the hang of it? I feel like a successful tutor.” He chuckles and smiles broadly at me. I grab my pocket and search for my deck,

“You see, I already knew how Blackjack works, in fact, I’ve been playing for years.” I see a bewildered look on Nick’s face as he slowly mutters,

“Huh? I spent all that time explaining a game to you that you already knew?” I  let out a laugh that is distinguished as evil.

“Well, my trick is to be 5 cards ahead, even when you’re about to place the winning ace.”

The Ravens around me nod their heads,

“Philosophy, I like it!” comes from one of them. Nick notices,

“Your father’s words.. wise ones..” I don’t know how to feel, but I later have an accomplished feeling,

“Yeah, they are.”  I grab my deck from my pocket and begin to shuffle, a guard with a proud look on his face pushes the Raven off the seat and sits down opposite me,

“Up for a game? You can stay here until night if you win, he signals to Nick for the cards to be dealt, they are seized from me and 7 are passed to each of us. I hear a whisper,

“Careful, he’s one of the luckiest people here!” A 9 of clubs is placed, and the guard drops down an 8 of clubs and picks up a card, making him grin.

“Your turn, wipe that scared look off of your face mate.” I place down 2 eights, and a queen of hearts. He laughs,

“Hah! Having fun there? Well I have a little surprise for you,” He drops down a Blackjack, “Pick up 5” I burst into a somewhat evil sounding laughter, nearly falling off my seat. The guard looks dazed. I throw down my Blackjack,

“Pick up 10!” The guard punches the nearby Raven in the jaw as he reluctantly picks up 10. I place an ace of spades,

“I change to diamonds.” A wide grin forms on the guard’s mouth, he drops down a 2 of diamonds and then of hearts,

“Pick up 4.” I hear ‘oohs’ of excitement coming from the men crowding us. I smile widely and pick up 4. These cards seem hard to play, with the kings and the queen and all, but I don’t give up. He places an 8 of hearts, followed by a 5 of the same suit, and a 5 of spades. As he has 7 cards and I have 5, I decide to place down only one of my queens, and he drops down a queen of clubs. I sit still for about half a minute trying to decide what to do. An awkward silence passes until I finally place my 10 of clubs.

“Back to me.” I pick up a card after realising I have no cards to place. The guard sends out a mild laugh at my pick up. He places a red jack, since it has no other use. I place a 9 of diamonds. He chuckles and drops two 9s. We now hold 4 cards each. I stare at the guard, slowly placing down my 3 of spades. But this part ruins my whole mood; he picks up a card and then looks at it. A guard taps on my back and I turn around, he runs away. I hear a Raven shout,

“Hey, you cheated!” The guard looks around and loudly tells them to

“Go away!” but I saw him grab a second card. I burst out,

“Hey, you DID cheat!” I stand up, my inmates surrounding the guard.

“No I didn’t.” He mutters. “Why should it matter to you anyway? You’re going to win no matter what happens.” I can feel the rage building up in me.

“Well, you STILL CHEATED!” I stand up, and walk around the tables to the guard and he rises. He walks backwards, until he bumps into one of the Ravens who are now standing in a semi-circle. I stand in his former position as the inmates push him around, he grabs his baton and tries to repel the inmates, failing as they vastly outnumber him. He snatches back his baton and presses a button on his belt, triggering alarms and causing the entrances of the canteen to lock down. Luckily, there are only around 10 guards and hundreds of inmates. The guards take our  their tasers and charge at the inmates, avoiding me. They all grab their batons and start attacking the Ravens, I see a baton being grabbed and tasers being robbed from pockets, the inmates attacking in any way possible.

I see the cheating guard staring at the fights around us. I kick him in the back and he turns around, attempting to hit me with his baton, I grab it and throw it to Nick, who charges at the other guards in order to protect his fellow Ravens. He throws a successful swing and hits me directly in the ribs. I grab his neck and attempt to bring him down with the part of my arm that isn’t bruised and drag him down. He’s on the floor and I drop my elbow at his face which connects to his chin. I don’t know if it hurt me or him more. I unworldly swing at his face, but he bobs his head to the side rapidly.

Eventually, I feel my arm being grabbed as he attempts to force me to the side. Using his advantage of upper body strength, I’m pushed to the side with no chance of resisting it, he bolts up and attempts to kick me in the jaw. I push his leg back and he stands on my arm with his other. He kneels down and grabs the collar of my prison jumpsuit, he raises me slightly and misses a punch to my face as I bob my head the same way he did. He grabs my collar with both his hands and raises me up, my arm too weak to successfully get him off of me, he hurls me across the room into the nearby swarm of inmates on the floor. I lose my balance and fall over again, but I dart up. I see the guard charging at me, I run towards his side and grab his shoulder, he swings at me in attempt to break free. I dodge, as he struggles to get out of my grip. I let go and grab his uniform in the same place under where he grabbed my jumpsuit. I knee him in his lower abdomen and he shoves me into the table where this all started, I grasp onto it quickly, and run at the guard, he aims a punch at my collarbone but I grab his arm and pull him towards me, he grabs me and slams me straight into the floor, my vision now blurred in my right eye, I feel blood trickling down my cheek and lift myself to my knees. My breathing quickens, I stay there kneeling as the guard rushes over to me, he’s about to kick me.

I stand myself up quickly and as he raises his leg I grab it and grab his uniform collar. He struggles with all his might and grabs my arm, forcing it off of his leg. I let go of his collar and quickly use all my strength to deal a blow to his abdomen, targeting his solar plexus. He grabs my arms and brings me towards his knee, it collides with my stomach and I spit out blood onto his uniform this time, he’s probably used to that. Holding my stomach, I quickly back away. I run to the guard and shoulder barge into him with excessive force, causing him to fall over. Hastily, I go down to send multiple blows to his face, standing on his leg and using my spare foot to restrain his arm, doing the same to his left arm with my left arm. I ignore the pain coming from the punches I send to his jaw. He finds it hard to resist, and struggling fails him. His breathing turns irregular and then he whispers,

“Fight like a man!” and his head tilts to the side with a grin. I’ve beaten a Legion guard to death with my bare fists.

I stand up and stare to see Ravens applauding me. Someone grabs my arm and raises it. It’s Nick. A smile forms on my face and Nick lets go. I raise both my arms in joy, and inmates cheer for me. I hear a Raven scream,

“WATCH OUT!” I look to see a platoon of guards dressed in masses of armour marching slowly towards us. Leading them is The Sentinel. The room bursts into chaos, and before I can do anything, I feel something being pressed against my back; it’s a taser. I feel a shock that forces me to fall onto my knees and lose consciousness.

   ******

Like when I first arrived here, my vision is blurred but this time I am injured a lot more,my upper body and abdomen most affected. The blurred vision restores in minutes, so I sit myself up as quick as possible, holding my stomach. To my side I see a document, but it’s so long I put it aside. I see a note saying,

“NO MORE CANTEEN, NO MORE BLACKJACK.” After everything that’s happened, I’m not surprised. But I feel a weird feeling upon the Blackjack ban. I read part of the document and it says,

“Blackjack between inmates if forbidden and may be punished by death.” I am angered, but I feel to weak to express my anger physically. I run around my cell and try to figure a way to play Blackjack, until I finally hear someone shouting uncontrollably in the cell next to me. I hear a banging sound. Suddenly, a crack appears in the wall.