The future waits for no one

Thorn wasn’t overly worried about if any of it came true though his imagination certainly was enjoying the novelty of it.  How cool would it be if he really read the future?  Either way, he was getting to spend some time with his dad at the party and that already was something to enjoy.  Dad had taken the required deep breath to focus on the magic too.  Great!

Art’s reaction to the first card didn’t sound the most promising for Thorn to really get a sword from it.  Well, the card didn’t say when and they weren’t home yet to get a sword from dad.  So, maybe something would happen and dad would change his mind at some point soon?  Unless the future was like, eternally far away or something and it was a grown-up Thorn he’d give it too.  Nah, better to assume sooner over later. He just nodded to his dad’s quizzing on the sword, “Probably a real nice one too if it's worth mentioning here.” Might as well add that in.  

Dad’s enjoyment of the game seemed less at the card with the firey castle.  Thorn had a second of confusion as to why the game was less fun but, looking at the card for a moment he imagined the fire in the great hall and what if that was all over the castle without control.  Thorn had pulled out the card and imagined the excitement of an attack but a trickle of reality over imagination slipped in.  Well, this was all for fun anyway.  If the fire did happen the pack could all put out the fire quickly and kill off whoever set it.  

The taste of real-world concerns was put to rest as the next card was ready to be drawn and Thorn flipped it over.  The card was the King of cups.  It shows a wolf sitting on a throne.  One paw holds a cup, and the other holds a scepter.  Thorn had never seen the scepter before to know what it is.  Still, the cup and crown clearly said it all in the pup's mind.  He regarded the cards solemnly as a happy child can before looking up to finish his prediction.

“See?  We won.” The boy put his paw on the cup, “you wouldn’t be drinking from a cup sitting on a chair if we’d lost.  You’d be, well, fighting until you did win.” You don’t really lose until you quit the fight after all.  Really, as tough as his dad was who could take him down?  He wouldn’t let them get to the castle to even get a spark going.

What was the thing in his other paw though? Oh! “and look, in that paw, you have the hilt of the enemy's sword.  See? No blade so when you won you made a symbol of it by breaking their sword and showing it off at the celebration party.” Thorn grinned up at his dad, “Sooo, no one told me exactly how far out in the future these are.  

A thought came to the boy, a question to ponder then glancing up at his father curiously.  “So, do you know who might attack?  I mean if this was right and you knew who, we could take the fight to them.” We; as obviously Thorn got to go along in this attack.  “If we did that though, and won, then they wouldn’t get to attack.  Then this wouldn’t be accurate though sooo…”  Knowing the future could stop the future and thus make it not the future?  Or was there no way to stop the enemy from attacking even if they knew it?  The notion circled about his head.

"Thorn Carpathius"