He realized then that this was going to be very different. Even if one of his pieces won a battle, it would take a lot of energy from that piece. He’d have to consider which pieces were getting tired or had gotten injured.
He continued to move pieces out, strategically protecting his pawns with his knights and bishops. He kept himself away from the action and waited before moving in with his rooks or queen just yet. Soon, he found himself in position for one of his pawns to attack one of Mallory’s. More than anything, he wanted to see what would happen. He drew in a deep breath and commanded his pawn to attack.
He didn't know either of the two guys very well, though he’d seen them both at school. They squared off against each other, each raising a slender spear. Though they were both moving now, their eyes looked like they were doing this in a dream state.
Mallory’s pawn made the first move, and his dodged and launched a counterattack, bringing the back of the spear down hard on his opponent’s shoulder. Mallory’s pawn stumbled backwards, but even as Rich’s tried to lunge with the tip of his spear, Mallory’s pawn landed a blow directly on the other pawn’s chest.
The boy gasped and fell over, landing on the square next to where he been standing. He lay motionless, but Rich couldn't see any blood or anything from the wound. He lay there without being removed from the board. "Does he just stay there?" Rich asked. “Can’t the other pieces move there?"
Mallory shook her head. "You really don't know the rules of this game, do you? There he falls, there he stays. Your other pieces can move over him, but no one can occupy that square again. That is, unless you employ your bishop. If the bishop is directly next to a fallen warrior, instead of moving, that bishop may remove the fallen from the field."
Rich rolled his eyes. "Any other rules you forgot to mention?"
"Only that rooks fight with the strength of their bodies, the bishops with the strength of their minds, and the knights with the strength of their hearts. But really, I assumed you knew all that.”
Rich groaned, knowing that anything he said right now wouldn't make much of a difference. But he immediately regretted making Trent one of the knights.
A few moves later, Rich saw that he could use one of his knights to attack an enemy bishop. The identities of the pieces, however, made him pause. The knight was Trent, and the bishop was the advanced math teacher, Dr. Grindle. If a bishop got his strength from his smarts, the man would be a powerhouse.
Trent, a thief and a liar, obviously had problems with his character. But then again, Rich felt there was more to Trent than he realized. Only Nadia knew him well enough to tell. Rich looked over at Nadia, still frozen in place. He hadn’t moved her from her starting position yet, so she still stood right next to him, close enough to touch.
"Nadia, I need to know everything you know about Trent. I know he’s done some bad stuff, but does he actually have a good heart? Just think about it, and I'll know."
He reached over and touched her arm, activating his paladin gifts.
Right away, Rich saw the image of a little girl who looked like she might be related to Trent. They had the same kind of hair and facial features. He saw Trent taking care of her, feeding her, helping her get dressed, and waiting with her at the bus stop. Time passed in a flash. A few times he saw what he thought was Trent's mother, but he didn’t see his father even once.
His mom was a single mother who relied on Trent for a lot. Maybe money was tight. Maybe that's why he’d taken those things. The images kept coming, and it was like he was watching a totally different person. Tough-guy Trent from the community center wasn't anything like the kind big brother he was at home.
Rich drew back, feeling a bit ashamed of himself. He had a real advantage as a paladin, being able to get this kind of insight into people. How many times in the past had he jumped to conclusions about someone?
“Heinrich, darling," Mallory called from across the room. "I really thought we had a rhythm going. Let’s not slow down now."
"Don't worry," he called back.
In his mind, he commanded Trent in his mind to strike the bishop/math teacher. Instead of spears, the bishop carried a pole with a short blade attached to each end, and the knight carried a club with sharp bits of metal and rock jutting out of it.
The bishop raised his hands, and plumes of fire shot out at the knight. Trent raised his shield just in time to keep from getting turned into island barbecue. Trent struck back several times with his club, barely missing the bishop, who leaped from side to side, flinging his robes as he went.
The bishop curled his hand, conjuring up bolts of white energy mixed with dark colors, and flung them at the knight. The bishop’s attack sent the knight toppling to the ground. Rich forced himself to keep watching, wondering if he’d made a terrible mistake. Did Nadia see the truth about Trent? Or did she see him as much better than he was because she liked him?
The bishop raised his staff, and dark, pulsing energy engulfed it. He cried out and brought it down so quickly that it whistled through the air. At the last second, Trent lashed out with his club and sent the staff whistling off into the darkness. This stunned the bishop long enough for Trent to leap back to his feet. He smashed his club into the bishop’s side. The man crumpled, lying motionless in the square next to where he had been standing.
Rich let out a whoop of triumph as Trent returned to his frozen state. "Take that, math!" Rich called.
But before Rich could finish his victory dance, Mallory made another move, taking herself out into the battlefield and moving to a place where he’d left one of his pawns vulnerable. Mallory attacked, swinging a dark scepter that also gave her magical powers.
With a flick of her hand, she lifted the pawn into the air and slammed him down to the ground—hard. He didn’t get up. The sight made Rich sick to his stomach. He’d never look at playing chess the same way again.
Rich studied the board again, seeing that this had put them in a pretty bad position. There were a lot of different ways Mallory could go, and none of them were good. He wondered if any of his pieces had what it took to stand up to Mallory, even his rooks and bishops. He really didn't want to send his own queen out there if he didn't have to. Strong as Nadia was, she was no Mallory—in a good way.
He set his other bishop in front of his queen, making sure the bishop landed on a square protected by his other knight. It might take a few battles, but perhaps he could wear Mallory down so she wouldn’t be quite as much of a threat.
Instead of retreating, Mallory rushed at the bishop. They launched magic at each other that met in the middle and created an enormous explosion. Mallory remained on her feet, but the bishop was bowled over.
They cast spell after spell, but in the end, it wasn’t really a contest. The bishop barely scratched Mallory before toppling over on the board. Rich winced, hoping that the bishop wouldn’t remember this when he woke up. If he woke up.
Rich’s frustration growing, he launched his knight at Mallory. The knight attacked right away, but Mallory swatted him aside like he was nothing. The battle lasted a little longer than with the bishop, and he managed a single good hit on Mallory, tearing up her queenly costume. In the end, however, he too lay face down on an adjacent square.
As the match went on, Rich saw that the battlefield was quickly becoming clogged with fallen soldiers, most of them his. He was already down a knight and a bishop, not to mention a pawn from earlier. He knew what he had to do. This wasn’t going to end well unless he went after Mallory himself.
Rich moved the pawn in front of him out of the way, lessening his protection. But instead of running over to attack him, Mallory moved right in front of Nadia at the diagonal. Rich could now choose to have his queen fight her queen, but was that what he wanted to
do? If Nadia lost, Mallory would be right next to him, and then he could attack her himself. But did he want to risk letting Nadia fall in battle? Mallory said that no one would actually die, but she also said there would be consequences.
He could move Nadia to safety and see what Mallory did from there, but something about that didn't feel right. Nadia was a fighter, not a wimp. Rich didn't know if Nadia was aware of what was going on, but imagined that if she could speak, she’d say something like, "Let me at her!"
Rich drew in a deep breath and held it as he ordered Nadia forward.
Nadia held up her royal scepter, and Rich smiled when he saw her choice of magic. Globes of water rose up around her like her own personal stash of magical water balloons. She shot her arm forward, and the globes smacked into Mallory one after another, putting her off balance.
Mallory responded by summoning a ring of fire around her, which instantly dried up the rest of the water. Her scepter became covered in dark flames. Nadia did the same, though hers looked like energy that flowed like water bubbles around a light sword, like something out of Star Wars.
Neither of them actually said anything, but screamed and grunted as they struck at each other over and over. Rich could hardly believe how incredibly well Nadia was doing. He realized that he hadn’t asked where the power of the queen came from, but wherever it was, it was pretty strong.
Just then, Mallory whirled her staff around an instant faster than Nadia. The blow caught Nadia on her side, making her stumble as she tried to recover. Mallory showed no mercy. She jabbed her scepter right into Nadia’s chest, and all the dark flames circled around Nadia for a terrifying second. Then Nadia collapsed to a nearby square and lay perfectly still.
Mallory smoothed her tattered clothing and turned to smirk at Rich. "You know where the queen’s power comes from, don't you? What am I saying? Of course you don't."
She motioned with her scepter to her fallen opponent. “Her power is a mixture of physical strength and intelligence, but it also comes from one other thing." She looked up and met Rich’s eyes. "It depends on how she feels about the king. The stronger the connection, the stronger the queen. And vice versa for you. One more thing you should know about the king. He gets most of his power from his subjects. The fewer you have, the less power they can give you. What a pity that I've already captured so many pieces.”
Rich looked around the board and saw that it was true. He also saw for the first time that one of his enemy’s rooks, who had once been the Samoan DJ with the air horn, looked ready to attack Angela. Now, he knew that Angela was just about as smart as they came, but the DJ was a giant of a man. He held a huge war hammer over his head, and Rich didn't like the thought of Angela ending up on the wrong end of that.
No, if Rich’s power came from how many pieces he had left, he couldn't risk losing any more. He ran forward, crossing the boundary between his square and Mallory’s. She chuckled and elaborately twirled her scepter between both hands. "Oh, is that how it's going to be? Very well, then, let's end this so we can all get back to dancing."
Rich withdrew the broadsword strapped to his back. Though it was in the style of a medieval weapon, it still had an island feel to it. The hilt was wrapped in seaweed, with mother of pearl on the ends of the hilt in the crossbar. The blade itself look like it'd been made out of seashells sharpened to an edge. It was a blade worthy of an island king.
Mallory wasted no time letting lightning fly. Rich lifted his massive shield just in time. The time for talking was over.
Mallory waved her scepter, and suddenly changed into the creature of darkness Rich had seen the first time he had encountered her. She reached out to him with hundreds of dark tentacles. Last time he'd seen this creature, he’d felt only fear, but now he knew what to do. Rich slashed out with his sword, severing an enormous bunch of the tentacles, which broke apart like fog before sunlight and disappeared.
Mallory's form changed. She now looked like the dark warrior he’d fought underground after the spelling bee. She launched a ball of flame at him, and Rich instinctively activated his new rock power, turning himself temporarily into a statue. He didn’t even feel the flames as they curled around him.
He changed back to himself and struck with his weapon. Mallory barely caught the strike with her scepter and teetered off balance. "I won’t need a scribe to save me this time," Rich said, trying to knock her over. A second later, she tumbled back and Rich jumped, placing his sword at her throat. "Yield," he said, his voice firm.
Mallory vanished, her smoke body reforming into another familiar adversary, a shadowy version of the three-headed Hydra.
"And you don't have any lemonade, do you?" she said, her voice coming out as a vicious growl.
Rich knew better than to lop off heads, as new ones would grow in their place. He danced around the creature as each of the three heads snapped at him, bringing up his paladin shield so he could move, but still have protection. He slashed with his sword every chance he got, trying to wear the creature down.
All of a sudden, he saw that someone else had come into the battle. It was the DJ with his war hammer. The man charged him with his weapon raised, and Rich dodged as the man brought it down. "Another rule you forgot to mention?"
"Not my fault!" she roared.
Rich already knew that the bishop had a special power—clearing fallen pieces from the battlefield. Maybe a rook or a knight had special powers too. He tried commanding his rook to come defend him, but nothing happened. He then tried the same thing with the knight.
At once, Trent stood by his side, already charging the DJ. So, it appeared that the rook defended he queen, and the knights defended the king.
Rich turned his attention from the DJ and back to his shape-shifting opponent. Not for the first time, he wished the paladins had a skill like that. The dragon’s heads spewed something else noxious toward him, probably poison. His paladin shield blocked things for now, but he couldn't keep it up forever.
. Rich mixed things up by flinging assorted objects at his opponent, using his paladin powers to create makeshift missiles from the stuff lying around the dance floor. He’d just scored a direct hit with a punch bowl when he heard Trent cry out behind him.
He turned and saw Trent pinned to the ground, the DJ raising his hammer for the finishing blow. In that instant, Rich remembered the other rook power he was supposed to have—castling. He focused on being in Trent's place, and suddenly, he was. Rich raised his sword to deflect the hammer’s blow.
The DJ dropped the hammer on himself, falling to the ground. Just as Rich was about to celebrate, however, he felt an intense blast from behind. His shield failed, and he felt his entire world go up in flames.
Chapter 15: Rich the Rook
From the Quest Log of Phillip Witz, Entry 5
After many days of dead ends, we finally entered a room that looked familiar. There are certain places that act as hubs, connecting different sections of the maze. You can’t think of this place as a regular maze because space doesn’t work the same here. If you enter a door and then go back through the same door, much of the time, you won’t end up in the same place you left.
I had stumbled across this hub room before—a massive dark room that looked like the night sky, complete with suns, moons, stars, comets, and everything else you might think of from space. In the center of the room sat an enormous basin full of glowing orbs, twinkling like miniature stars. I remembered that I was able to arrange them on the floor into a constellation to open a portal to different parts of the maze, depending on the constellation made.
Jezreel stepped up, claiming that she knew the way to make it point toward the exit—by forming the symbol of Orion the Hunter. She warned us, however, not to just start throwing orbs around, as a sl
ight variation could put the portal off, and we might end up in the farthest reaches of the maze. She put us all to work, moving orbs, placing them, and adjusting them over and over again.
To make matters much more difficult, the more stars we put in, the more “shooting stars” harassed us. These flying stars exploded on impact and burst into hundreds of stinging sparks. Most of the younger ones ran from them, greatly reducing our workforce. One of the teenage boys took a direct hit in the chest, which burned an enormous red welt into his skin. Takka wanted to call the whole thing off, though it took only a few words from Jezreel to change his mind. He looked almost hypnotized to a point that made me nervous. She was using some sort of nemesis power on him. I think I went along solely because it served my purposes well.
We neared the end, and the stars fell around us so rapidly that only a few of us dared to get close to the constellation. In the end, all of us had fled except for Takka and Jezreel, who spoke to him constantly, keeping him on task though the sparks stung his skin again and again.
Above the roar of exploding stars, Jezreel instructed Takka to make the final placement. No sooner had he done it than we all found ourselves in another room. Instead of the entrance hall with the gray knight, however, we found ourselves in a long room with a high ceiling and amphitheater seats. More importantly, I found it infested with Gigantaurs, with the largest one I had ever seen in the center.
There was no question of fighting. We laid down our weapons and put up our hands. All except Jezreel. I’ll never forget the words she spoke to the leader of those monsters.
“Master Gigas, I have finally made good on our bargain. All of these in exchange for my passage out. We still have a deal, don’t we?”
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