In an instant, Rich found himself back in the entry hall, with the gray-armored knight standing guard. He lifted the visor, though Rich could still not see his face. "Back so soon, are we? Did you have time to get past a few rooms, at least?"
“Just two," Rich said with a sigh. "I ran into this huge creature like a Minotaur, only with more arms, and horns made from stone. It chased me, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. It was be smashed to bits or use the key."
The knight shook his head, making a clicking noise with his tongue. "Oh, that's unfortunate for you. I've never heard of someone meeting a Gigantaur so early. Unless you're practically a force of nature, I wouldn't even dream of trying to fight one of those. They’ve put a dent in many a good knight’s armor. You’re lucky you got out when you did.”
Rich didn’t feel lucky—only embarrassed. He’d spent all his time preparing for this grand quest to find his father, and now he’d proven that he didn't have what it took. He couldn't go back in there now. He might run into the Gigantaur, and then where would he be?
Then again, if he left the Corridor, he’d have to face his grandparents and Aaron, and they would know he’d failed. There didn't seem to be a good way out of this one. "Well, what are those things? Do they have any weaknesses?"
The gray knight only sighed. "Not so much, according to what I’ve heard. Usually, those who come up against them don't live long enough to tell anybody what they learned. The Gigantaurs are the guardians of the maze, and seek to make it a fair fight for anyone who enters. If you met one so early, it's actually kind of a compliment. They must see you as someone who needed to be cut down to size a little bit, if you take my meaning."
Once again, it wasn’t easy to stay positive. The Gigantaur really would've cut Rich down to size with the simultaneous whack of all four weapons. “Once I leave here, can I come back?”
"Oh, any time, any time," the knight said. "If I were you, I’d see if I could rustle up another one of those keys. Not easy to do, but well worth the investment. Don't worry—the maze isn’t going anywhere."
The knight broke his stance and lifted a gauntleted hand to the far wall. Another portal of blue light appear where he pointed. "That's the way out. Whenever you're ready.”
Rich thanked the knight and walked toward the portal. He hesitated for a moment right in front of it, not ready to step back through so soon.
"Oh, and please come again. I'd like to say that our door is always open, but that's really not the best description of this place."
Rich nodded silently and forced himself to walk back to the door.
Not long after, he and Aaron sat in a car driving back to Rich’s house, which was still a few hours away. One of the other knights, having taken on a solid, mortal form, like Aaron, served as their driver. He appeared to be in his twenties, with shoulder-length black hair and pale skin. He didn't say much, and at that point, Rich didn’t feel like talking anyway.
"It's not your fault, Rich," Aaron said. "Just be grateful you survived to try again. There are things we can do to prepare you for next time."
Richly leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. "I'm not so sure there's going to be a next time," he said. “I'll have to come a long way before I’ll try that again."
All his grandmother's words about him being too hasty during his first quest kept coming back to him. She had been right the whole time—she and Aaron. Luckily, his friend wasn't waving the "I told you so" flag in front of his face, but he didn't need to.
"Take a few days to rest, and I’ll talk to your grandparents. We'll figure this out. It might take some time, and you might want to find something to do in the meanwhile.”
Rich opened his eyes for a moment and stared at the ceiling. "I've been thinking about getting a summer job. A lot of the other kids at my school have them.”
Aaron gave him a friendly punch in the arm. "Exactly the sort of thing I mean. What sorts of jobs do children your age have these days? Do they still have you work in factories?"
Rich snorted that remark. "Not in this country, they don't. Not anymore. There’s not much I can do at my age, but I could work fast food or maybe do something at the community center."
They continued their ride in silence, and Rich watched the landscape going by. They had tracked the Corridor to a place a few hours away from his house, so he had plenty of time to think. Really, that was fine with him. The longer he could think about how to explain things to his grandparents and the other knights, the better. This was going to be a long summer.
Chapter 4: Choosing a Piece
A week later, the golden knight piece on Rich’s desk glowed brighter, vibrating again and again. The shaking movement made it dance around on his nightstand as though it had entered a dance competition, something Rich would never do himself.
With all his paladin artifacts lying around, Rich stopped envying the richer kids with their expensive smartphones. Who cared if you had a new iPhone when you could communicate telepathically with the ghosts of dead knights? That probably wasn’t covered in their basic plans.
Rich rose from where he’d been nearly passed out on the bed and snatched up the knight piece, holding it in his palm, concentrating on the message being sent. It was already two weeks into summer vacation, and he’d heard nothing from Grandma Minerva about going to look for his dad. He’d almost marched in there a few times and brought it up himself, but every time he’d thought about it, he’d lost the nerve.
Sure, he had conquered a dragon, but then again, it’s sometimes easier to conquer a monster than to deal with family.
“Please let this be it,” he muttered, clutching the knight piece tighter.
At last, his grandmother’s voice came into his mind, as clearly as though she stood right there. “Heinrich, I need you to come visit me. We should talk.”
We need to talk, huh? His grandma liked to talk all the time, and he was used to that. It was the topic he was more worried about.
He made his way to his grandmother’s room and into her closet, which he had cleaned out to make it much easier to access the chessboard in the back. After taking a second to think about it, he placed his piece on the board.
Though the first time he had traveled to the sanctuary like this had been a huge shock, now he didn’t even flinch. He took his seat at the knights’ table, his grandparents taking their usual places at the head. They appeared to be in the middle of a conversation with St. George. “And then, I grasped the creature by the neck just as flames spewed from its foul mouth. With expert precision, I burned the sign of the cross into its demonic hide with its own fire!”
Apparently, this was as a great knight joke because both of his grandparents nearly fell out of their chairs, laughing. They noticed him a few moments later and straightened. “Ah, hello, Rich!” his grandmother said. “Thank you for coming so quickly. If Georgie here tells too many more stories, my sides will be hurting for a week.”
Rich smiled at hearing the famous knight being called “Georgie,” but decided not to comment on it. “No prob. It’s not like I’ve got homework to do. Do you guys have some sort of summer reading program here?”
His grandfather held up a finger. “Ah, yes. I’ll get the scrolls.” He started to stand, but then sat back down, waving an arm. “Nothing like that, though it’s not a bad idea. It might be helpful for you to catch up on your ancestors’ exploits. Why, I was reading up on Joan of Arc just the other day, and—”
Minerva elbowed her husband, who cleared his throat and continued. “Another time, then. Rich, of course you’ve been thinking about the mission to rescue your father. We all have.”
Rich stiffened. After all this time waiting, were they ready to let him
go again? He was a full-fledged knight now, and maybe they’d send some other knights with him this time.
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it. Is it time to go? I mean, I’m ready when you are.”
His grandfather shook his head. “I’m sorry, Rich, but the task of entering the Corridor of Keys is extremely dangerous, which you learned the first time you were there. There is another task left for you to do to prepare yourself for the journey.”
Rich felt his cheeks turning red. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. All of this waiting, only to be told he couldn’t go yet? What else was he supposed to do with his summer vacation? “Don’t tell me my nemesis is back or something. I’ve had enough of her.”
“Your nemesis will take much longer to regain her strength after the beating you gave her,” Minerva said. “But we have met together as a council and are unanimous. You must undertake further training before you set out, and seeing as you are out of school, there’s no better time to do it.”
“This time, you have a choice,” his grandfather said before Rich could interject anything. “Every pawn can become a knight, but where you go from there is up to you.” He reached under the table and came back with two chess pieces—a rook and a bishop. He first held up the rook. “You can choose to take the rook’s path, the path of greater strength. You would be a fortress, overcoming your enemies through great strength.”
He set the rook down and picked up the bishop. “On the other hand, you could choose the path of the bishop, the path of greater wisdom. You would be a healer, an illusionist, overcoming your enemies through sleight of hand.”
His grandfather slid both pieces toward Rich. “It is possible to learn both paths eventually, but before you go back into the Corridor, you will need to choose one. It appears that conditions in Corridor have worsened. It will take more than a regular knight to conquer it.”
Rich looked from one white piece to the other, trying to take it all in. At first, the rook seemed like a better path, but then again, the first choice wasn’t always the best one. “Uh, I don’t know. What do you think?”
Minerva shrugged. “Both will serve you well in the Corridor. If you chose to be a rook, we will send a bishop to go with you, and vice versa. I insist on this now so we can get started as soon as possible. Believe it or not, we’re very anxious to see you on your way, but I’m not sure how many chances we’ll have at this, so we need to make it count.”
Rich looked back and forth at the figures again. He couldn’t get the rook out of his mind. “I think I’ll take the rook.” Standing, he reached out and took the piece. It looked much like his knight piece had before it lit up as he completed his tasks.
“Let me guess—more quests,” he said, trying not to sound annoyed. “What do I have to do this time?”
Minerva held up three fingers. “This time, there are only three. Look around the sides of the rook.”
Rich held up the piece and saw that it was shaped like the usual tower, but it also had three swords attached to its walls. “One sword for each quest. I get it.”
“Patience, virtue, and discipline,” his grandfather said “One for each. Just like before, when you have proven yourself, another part of the piece will illuminate and grant you new abilities. Return here once you have completed them all, and we will launch the offensive. In the meantime, we will plan and prepare so we can go the moment you’re done.”
“Patience,” Rich mumbled. “I think I deserve that one already.”
Chapter 5: The Few, the Proud
Later that day, Rich stood outside the community center, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He knew he should go inside and shook his head. It was silly to be scared of something as routine as a summer job when his life included things like slaying three-headed dragons.
A familiar voice startled him. "Hey, Rich, need me to check out the life-size chess pieces for you again?"
Rich spun around and saw Angela standing there, wearing one of the tan polo shirts that showed she worked here. He tried to smile, but worried that the expression probably just showed how nervous he was. "Oh, hi, Angela. No, I don’t need the chess set. I … I just got a job here too."
Angela walked over and grinned. "Oh, you’ve been chosen to wear a tan shirt? Congrats!"
“Thanks,” Rich mumbled. “The few, the proud, right?”
Angela placed a hand on Rich’s back and led him toward the building. "Well, you're in luck, Richie. I’ve been doing this for a while, so they made me a supervisor. Come with me and we’ll get you figured out."
She led him inside the one-story brick building that held the sunburst logo of the Suncrest Community Center, walked over to the iPad on the front desk, and tapped the screen. "So, looks like we have a spot as an elementary school activities coordinator. It's pretty much just seeing what the kids want to do, getting the gear out for them, and making sure they don't fight. Stuff like that. Sound good?"
Rich thought that sounded about as good as anything. “Sure. Um, lead the way.” He followed Angela down the hallway until she stopped in front of a closet labeled “Outdoor Games.” She opened her mouth to talk just as Rich caught sight of another familiar face.
“Nadia?” he called. “Do you work here too?”
Nadia turned, giving Rich her signature eye roll. “You colorblind? Does this look like a tan shirt? I just volunteer.”
Rich was about to ask what she did when he noticed a young girl next to her, tugging on her sleeve.
The little girl had a round face, blond hair pulled back into pigtails, and almond-shaped eyes. When he looked over, the girl smiled, but said nothing. She was probably about five or six years old. He bent to her eye level and returned her broad smile. "Hey, I'm Rich. What's your name?"
The girl shied away. Rich turned to Nadia, who filled him in. "This is Bianca, one of the special kids here. Doesn’t usually talk a whole lot, but these days, we haven’t been able to get her to say a word at all. It’s not just you."
Bianca glanced back at Rich and smiled again. He got a better look at her face. "Does she have Down syndrome?"
"Yeah, that's right. I have a cousin with Down syndrome who used to live next door. But he moved away, and I thought I’d still like to work with some of the special needs kids. They’re really nice as soon as you get to know them, and that usually doesn't take long."
As Rich looked at the little girl, he couldn't help noticing something sad in her eyes that conflicted with her bright smile. Probably his paladin instincts kicking in. If there was something he could do to help, he needed to do it. He stooped down again and looked directly in her eyes, trying to use his empathy to figure out what he could do.
What happened next felt like bouncing his head off a rubber wall. He didn't get a single feeling or impression out of her, but instead, felt like something was actually pushing back. He shook his head, no less dazed than all the times he’d taken a dodgeball to the brain in gym class.
Nadia put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you all right, Rich? You skip breakfast or something?"
Rich straightened as quickly as he could, trying to look normal. "No, I think I just need a drink. Nice to meet you, Bianca.”
Nadia led her away, and Angela opened the supply closet, rapidly explaining all sorts of stuff from the Frisbee golf set to the archery supplies. He only half listened. Why hadn’t he been able to see inside the girl’s mind? He'd never tried reading someone like her before, but he didn’t understand why that would make a difference. After all, she was still just a person.
Angela held out her arms, full of belts for flag football. “Got that?"
"Got it," Rich said, the words out of his mouth before he could really put his brain in gear.
He followed Angela outside, still carrying the belts he taken from her hands to the large park behind the community center. The area housed several open areas for playing sports—volleyball nets, horseshoe pits, basketball hoops, and even a few tennis courts. A couple of trees sprang up here and there, though these were mostly around the edge of the park. In the middle stood a big pond where people could check out paddleboats. Already, a huge group of elementary-school-aged kids had separated themselves into two teams.
"All right, Rich, you hand out the blue flags to those guys and the red flags to the rest. Remember, kids, it's called flag football, which means no tackling."
"What about tickling?" called one of the girls from the group.
Angela put her hands on her hips. "We can try tickle football some other time. Everybody remember the rules?"
Angela answered a bunch of questions, and Rich started handing out the flag belts to the kids, but his gaze kept wandering to one person who had her back up against a tree.
It might have been just another of the students, but no one else seemed to be paying attention to her. Once again, his paladin instincts kicked in. The more he looked for people to help, the sooner he’d finish his quests, and the more powerful he would be. Apart from all that, it was the right thing to do. How many times had he been left out when somebody was picking a sports team? Rich sighed as he realized the answer to that was "every time.”
After he finished giving out all the belts, Rich jogged toward the tree with the last one. "Hey, you wanna play? I've got one more belt. I —"
He could see she was a young girl, even with her head turned away from him, and he could hear the sound of muffled crying. He walked a little slower, still holding out the belt for the moment she turned around. "Hey, sorry if someone was picking on you. I know what that's like. But if you'd like to play, I want you on my team. How does that sound?"
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