A Hero's Journey: Checkmate

     Roothless’ white Grarrl-shaped bishop advanced, brandishing its crozier, and took aim at a black pawn carved to look like a Gelert.

     “Take the pawn, bishop,” the Green Blumaroo said, steepling his fingers together and cackling as, with a popping sound not unlike that of a holiday cracker, a smoking blast erupted from the little crozier, reducing the hapless pawn to ashes.

     Mipsy, who had been standing two squares away from the pawn, jumped and let out a small shriek. “That’s two pawns Roothless took from you, Rohane! What are you going to do now?”

     “Yes, what are you going to do now? I had hoped for more of a challenge, but…”

     “Mipsy, take one step back so the bishop can’t chase you anymore,” said Rohane. “Talinia, stand by.”

     “Sounds like the boss has a plan,” Velm commented, nodding sagely as he sat on his square, his staff levelled menacingly at a white rook close by. He looked over at Mipsy – who did as she was told – and Talinia, and added, “Did we forget? Out of the four of us, Rohane is the best at chess. Even if it’s a bit hard to believe.”

     The White Blumaroo scowled. “I heard that!”

     “How nice.” Roothless made a show of yawning, sparing only a brief glance at Scram, who was rearranging his Kacheekers pieces on the floor for another round against himself. “Hmm, you, knight, jump here. Yes, good. You’ve got a front seat to watch my next victo – “

     “Talinia,” Rohane interrupted, “take the knight.”

     Roothless’ next words became a sound which was a cross between a gasp and a snarl.

     “What?”

     “With pleasure,” the Green Eyrie said, and shot an arrow straight into the white knight’s wooden heart.

     “What? What’s this?” Roothless spluttered. “What are you doing?”

     This time, it was Rohane’s turn to smile, as the knight toppled over with a single bow shot, while Roothless breathed in and out, grasping his side of the table.

     “You…I’ll show you how a real game master does it.” The Green Blumaroo growled as he gestured to his white rook and a nearby pawn. “You two. Swap places.”

     The smile vanished from Rohane’s face like a candle blown out. “Wait! What are you doing? That’s not how you castle!”

     “It’s how I castle! What, you don’t have any answers for this?”

     * * *

     Time seemed to slow down as Reuben lifted his queen and placed it two squares away from Rohane’s king. The older White Blumaroo smirked and declared, “Checkmate.”

     Rohane examined the board for several seconds and stared at his king, which had been cornered by Reuben’s queen and knight. He groaned.

     “I can’t believe I didn’t see that. Yeah, that was a good game, Reuben. You won fair and square.”

     “Oh, I know that look on your face. You want a rematch.” Reuben stood up and stretched. “But I can’t, not today. I did say I had to run to the market afterwards, didn’t I?”

     “I know, I know – hey, are you patting my head?”

     “Heh, Father used to do this to us, didn’t he? Well, I’m not Father, but I’m sure he’d be proud of you. That was the best game of chess you’ve played so far.”

     “But I lost.”

     “With each game, you learn, even if you lose. You’re going to beat me one day, and I’m going to hate it and love it at the same time, Rohane.”

     * * *

     “Mipsy, target the pawn on H3.”

     “Copy that!” the Blue Acara said. “Obliterate!” A beam of light blasted from her wand, destroying the Grundo-shaped pawn.

     Roothless snarled. “Say good knight to your knight! Bishop to G4!”

     A white Grarrl carrying a curved staff strode over the board to the G4 space, but it veered away suddenly and charged Mipsy, lowering its staff toward her.

     “A bishop can’t move like that!” said Rohane, moving to try and pick up Mipsy. “That’s an invalid move!”

     “It’s not if it will stop at G4, because according to the rules, it can move there,” sneered the Green Blumaroo.

     “Don’t worry about me, Rohane! Just play!”

     The Acara dove aside to avoid the Grarrl, which, after missing her, targeted the black knight on G4. Near the edge of the board, Talinia drew her bow and took aim at the Grarrl.

     “Oh, and if she shoots, you’ll be making an invalid move, too.”

     “That’s unfair! Talinia, wait, not the Grarrl.” Rohane scanned the board frantically. “Take two steps forward.”

     “What?” Roothless’ grin instantly vanished from his face. “There’s a piece in front of her. She cannot jump over it!”

     “Oh?” It was the White Blumaroo’s turn to smirk. “Your bishop just ran straight into Mipsy on its way to capture one of my knights. It shouldn’t have been able to jump, either.”

     “That Eyrie is a pawn, not a bishop.”

     “And this is no longer chess!” Rohane shot back. “You said we would be playing chess. But you started making invalid moves! You swapped two pieces and called it castling when it wasn’t! You gave your king the powers of a queen so you can park it in a corner!”

     He paused, breathing hard as though he had gone on a sprint instead of a tirade. Then, his smirk returned – wider and more knowing.

     “Wait. Are you this desperate to win?”

     Roothless opened and closed his mouth.

     “If you’re so confident you’re the ‘master of all games’ like you said, then why don’t you play by the rules? Unless…unless you think…you’ll lose to me?”

     “Lose to you? Never!” snarled Roothless as he pointed to a pawn on the board. “You! Two spaces forward! Your wizard friend ought to watch her back!”

     “Velm, get the pawn!”

     “Aye, aye, captain! Celestial Hammer!”

     The Green Blumaroo dragged his hands down his face as he watched his pawn explode into bits. “No! Fall back! Fall back!” One of his rooks withdrew to the relative safety of another pawn and a knight. “I already got your queen, remember? Try winning without her!” He jabbed a finger at a black queen shaped like a Kougra, which had been consigned to the side.

     Rohane shook his head, a determined, confident glint in his eyes. “You may have taken my queen, but I’m about to get a new one!” Instead of commanding one of his pawns, he picked it up and slammed it down onto the end of the board with a decisive clack. “And you know what this means, don’t you?”

     Roothless breathed in and out heavily as Rohane swapped out his pawn and returned his queen to the board.

     “Scram!”

     “Your Highness?” the Wocky asked, looking up from his Kacheekers game against himself.

     After getting up and scraping his chair against the floor in the process, Roothless stormed over to Scram and grabbed the Kacheekers pieces.

     “W-Wait, boss, I was winning!”

     “You can win later!” said Roothless, shoving the pieces into his pouch and shaking it.

     “What are you doing?” Rohane demanded, shaking in his seat. “You said I could change a rule if I queened a pawn!”

     Roothless cackled and upended his pouch onto the board. More chess pieces fell out of it – chess pieces in the shapes of familiar faces. A bishop carved to look like Hubrid Nox. A knight resembling the Faerie Thief. A rook with the visage of Siliclast. A particularly large piece that took up four spaces by itself, a Draik with four arms that dwarfed all others on the board…

     And they all began to move, at once, in pursuit of Mipsy, Talinia, and Velm.

     “It means, as the master of all games, I’m always in control!” Roothless shrieked. “Now, bow to me, Rohane of Meridell!”

     * * *

     Dread filled Rohane as he watched Reuben take his white queen. He scrutinised the board between them; he had five pawns left, both his knights, one rook, two bishops. His king stood behind one bishop and several spaces away from the lone rook.

     Reuben smiled as he twirled the queen in his fingers.

     “Okay, little brother, what will you do now? If you want a new queen, you won’t be getting one for a while, your nearest pawn is three spaces away and in my line of fire.”

     Rohane gritted his teeth. “I already know that! Are you trying to teach me?”

     The older White Blumaroo shrugged. “Remember what I said about learning with each game you play? I didn’t even have to say anything. Now, c’mon, what have you got? Surprise me.”

     * * *

     “Rohane, what do we do?” Mipsy asked as she, Talinia and Velm stood back-to-back in the middle of the board. The Red Techo was already casting shields around them that sizzled and sparked when touched by the moving chess figurines, while the Green Eyrie drew her bow and fired, striking the Terask piece.

     “Wait, if I can move my rook to – “

     He yelped when miniature lightning arced from Hubrid Nox’ hands and caused the black rook to explode into ash.

     “Oh, it looks like I took out your rook,” said Roothless smoothly. “By the way, check.”

     Rohane’s voice caught in his throat before he could give his next order. On the board, Mipsy summoned a storm that blew aside several white pieces, including the one made to look like Ramtor. But Ramtor brandished his staff, which emitted a beam of yellow and orange light that pierced through the clouds. Talinia crouched behind a fallen knight, while Mipsy and Velm scampered aside.

     “Check, is it?” said the White Blumaroo with barely stifled fury. “You never would have checked my king if you hadn’t boosted your numbers! So, you’re really that desperate, huh?”

     “’Desperate’?” Roothless spat.

     “If this were a normal game of chess, I would have beaten you already. Isn’t that right?”

     “How dare you insinuate that I, the king of all games – “

     “Oh, I’m not just insinuating!”

     “Perhaps I was wrong about you! You’re a fool, like all other Blumaroos!”

     “Did you forget that you’re a Blumaroo too? And I’m waiting for my free rule change.”

     “What – “

     Rohane shook his head, his every word dripping with mock sympathy. “Oh, now I get it. You could’ve shrunk all of us for your little game, but I wonder why you kept me off the board. Is it because…I’d really beat you if I were there? Talinia, now!”

     With her beak set in grim determination, the Eyrie shot several arrows in succession that turned the Nox piece into a Nox pincushion shortly after Mipsy countered his fireball spell. He toppled onto the board while Rohane moved his king away for good measure.

     “That was two moves in a row!” shrieked Roothless.

     “Oh, now you care about the rules, when it’s come back to bite you in the tail. If you care so much, then – “

     “Faerie Thief! Take his pawn!”

     “Go ahead. Take it, because the Faerie Thief just walked into my bishop’s path!” The White Blumaroo glared at his opponent. “Some King of Games you are! Now, if we’re both breaking rules, shrink me onto the board!”

     Roothless’ face twisted into a scowl. “What?”

     Rohane pointed to his pawn at the end of the board. “That’s my rule change, so do it! Unless you’d rather surrender?”

     “I surrender to no one!”

     “And if you try anything funny – “

     “Shut up! You asked for it!”

     With a roar, Roothless pointed a finger at Rohane, and blasted a single bolt of magic at him. A few seconds and a lot of multicoloured smoke later, the White Blumaroo landed onto the chessboard, the same size as his pieces, and looked up at Roothless with an expression of disdain mixed with determination. He rubbed his wrists and clenched his fists.

     “Fine,” sneered the Green Blumaroo. “Let’s see what you’ve got!”

     Mipsy, Talinia and Velm hurried to regroup near him.

     “Yeah, I want to know what you’ve got, too,” the Blue Acara said, grinning. “You’ve got a plan, right?”

     * * *

     ”A discovered check,” said Reuben.

     He blinked as he surveyed the board. Rohane had just captured the last black bishop, opening the path for the white rook to chase the black king.

     “It looks like you’ll be able to turn this game around after all, little brother. But you know I won’t go down that easily.”

     “No, but let’s try to finish before dinner anyway.”

     * * *

     The Siliclast piece made the fatal mistake of lumbering within range of Rohane’s sword and was cut in half. Next to him, Talinia sent an arrow toward Anubits, knocking the Desert Blumaroo piece down and leaving it vulnerable to a combined spell from Mipsy and Velm.

     “To your left!” Talinia called out to Velm. In response, the Red Techo whirled around and clocked the Scuzzy piece in the stomach with his staff before blasting Scuzzy off the board. Meanwhile, Mipsy dodged the Sand Grundo lunging at her clumsily, only to watch as it fell in front of her, Rohane’s sword embedded in his wooden back.

     Chess pieces fell – reduced to ash, or splinters, or simply knocked off the board – before the four of them as Roothless watched in horror.

     “Terask, exact your revenge!” he cried. The giant Draik piece reared up and howled a battle cry in response, rushing in front of the white king.

     “Don’t let any piece get past you,” said Rohane, bracing his feet and raising his sword. “My king is behind us.”

     “What’s the plan?” Velm asked.

     “You three need to keep the Terask piece, and Roothless’ other pieces, busy. Because I’m going to run for the white king.”

     “That’s crazy!” Mipsy cried as she summoned a storm that collapsed onto a hovering, cackling Pant Devil piece.

     “I don’t have time to think of a less crazy plan! Talinia, behind you!”

     The Green Eyrie unleashed a salvo of arrows at Terask, peppering the Draik’s entire left side. Velm shouted an incantation and a gossamer shield settled over himself and the girls, while Mipsy blew the damaged Pant Devil piece off the board with a gust of strong wind.

     “You won’t get my king that easily!” Roothless lifted his king from its position – and paused, noticing the black queen, a black rook, and of course, Rohane charging toward the white king while Terask staggered backwards from a particularly nasty Obliterate spell.

     “Well? What’s your next move?” the White Blumaroo shouted, drawing his blade.

     “Why, you – “ Roothless gritted his teeth and moved his king over one square, then another, breathing hard. Finally, he put it down.

     “Checkmate!” Rohane shouted, sprinting the last several steps, stabbing the king piece with his sword and kicking it off the board.

     “What?” At the same time Roothless spoke, the Terask piece finally crumbled into bits as Mipsy and Velm cheered. “No! No! This wasn’t supposed to happen!” He banged his fists against the table, jiggling the chessboard and causing the four adventurers to wobble. Two of the remaining black pieces toppled.

     “Boss, can I have my Kacheekers – oh.” Clutching his Kacheekers board with one hand while walking his yo-yo with the other, Scram peered at the scene. The chessboard began to shudder and shake even though Roothless had stopped throwing his temper tantrum, and the whole chamber was bathed in blinding light.

     Several sounds of stumbling and falling chairs later, Roothless was sitting on the floor, staring up at Rohane, flanked by his companions, all of them back to normal size.

     “I can detect another teleportation spell here,” said Velm. “If we find it, it should take us back to that fun house.”

     “I’m not telling you where it is!” Scram wailed, brandishing his yo-yo. Talinia expertly dodged it before dropping down to kick his ankles, causing the Wocky to tumble to the floor, where Mipsy whispered a spell that created a small nimbus of sandy, sparkling dust that settled on Scram’s face. In seconds, he was snoring, lying on the stones.

     “Who asked you?” Mipsy asked acidly.

     Roothless leered as he stared down an unsheathed broadsword. “Congratulations. You and your friends have escaped my chessboard. Are you going to ask me for a trophy now?”

     “No,” said Rohane, his voice dropping half an octave; it was hard to tell whether it was from exhaustion, or exasperation, or simple annoyance. “But there’s one thing I’d like to give you, for kidnapping us and forcing us to play your game.”

     He dropped his sword, swung back, and punched Roothless in the face so hard that the Green Blumaroo crumpled, clutching his jaw. Without another word, Rohane retrieved his weapon, knocked Roothless out with the hilt, and turned to his friends.

     “So how do we get back?”

     “Found the teleportation spell!” Velm said triumphantly, gesturing to a tapestry that depicted the Virtupets arcade in Little Neopia. He patted the cloth, which rippled with golden magic. “Well, that was fun, but I think we should go look at something else at the park next.”

     Talinia nodded. “And you did say you still needed to buy some souvenirs, didn’t you, Rohane?”

     “Yeah. Let’s go – but no more fun houses.”

     * * *

     The game resumed, both Reuben and Rohane silently moving pieces almost like clockwork. The younger Blumaroo’s brow was furrowed deeply as he braced his elbow on the table, gazing at the board. Meanwhile, Reuben leaned back in his chair, no less attentive.

     The black king was pursued across the board, as several of its allies fell, one by one.

     Then, the silence was broken by a decisive clack of a white rook, followed by a single, triumphant word from Rohane.

     “Checkmate.”

     The End.