Atem's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

The two sets of tracks ran side by side down the trail. Atem walked beside the spirit horse, reading the ground. Yugi kept close. Ahead, a figure stood where the path narrowed between two boulders. He was not the servant. He was tall, with a long coat and a card held ready in one hand. He blocked the way on purpose. "The servant you chase went through here," the stranger said. "He is still ahead. But you do not pass unless you duel me." He smiled. "Refuse, and I waste your time. Every minute, he gets farther away." Atem felt the trap close. If he argued, the servant's trail would go cold. If he dueled, he might lose the lead anyway. He looked past the man. The far tracks were already faint. "Atem," Yugi said quietly. "We don't have time for a long fight." "Then it won't be long," Atem said. He stepped forward and drew. "I accept." The duelist moved first. He summoned a knight, then a second, building a wall of blades. "You rush," he said. "Rushing makes mistakes." He was right that Atem needed speed. He was wrong about why. Atem watched the man's free hand. It hovered near one facedown card and never touched it. A guarded card. A fear. Atem had seen it before in the servant. He would not charge that wall. He would make the man flip the card himself. "I call my strongest spellcaster," Atem said. The air cracked. A figure in purple robes stepped from the light, staff raised, blue eyes sharp. Mahad. He looked once at Yugi, then at the knights. "You pulled me into a corner," Mahad said. Flat. No complaint. "Fine. Who do I burn?" "The wall," Atem said. "But not yet. Hold." Mahad lowered his staff and waited. He trusted the order without asking twice. Atem attacked a single weak knight, the easy target. The duelist grinned and flipped his guarded card to punish the move. A pale dragon burst up, white scales, blue eyes blazing. It had been his secret all along. That was the mistake Atem wanted. The card was spent. "Now," Atem said. Mahad's staff flared. The blast tore through the dragon and both knights at once, while their master had no shield left. The duelist dropped to one knee. His life points hit zero. "How—" "You guarded one card too hard," Atem said. "It told me when to wait." Mahad faded back into light. "Keep him safe," he said, meaning Yugi, before he was gone. Atem climbed onto the spirit horse and pulled Yugi up behind him. The path was clear now. But the servant's tracks had split again at the boulders. Fresh prints led two different ways, and only one led to the master. "He planned this," Yugi said. "The duel was to make us pick wrong." Atem stared at the two trails. He had won the fight. Now he had to win the guess.