Chess in Words | The Beginning
Derek felt it all. The pain, the misery, the worry. He couldn't take any of it any more, so finally, after years of contemplation and sleepless nights, he decided to run for it. Overwhelmed by life in King Kayden's kingdom, as a lowly foot soldier, mistreated and inhumanely used, he found the courage to take a stand against the tyranny of his fatherland. Step by step, he thought, running through two cities despite the pain and tiredness he felt in his body. Finding that it was physically impossible for him to continue, he booked a one-night stay at the local hotel owned by the fourth-generation Defor family. Collapsing on the bed, still in full armor, he wouldn't realize just how long he would be staying Defor.
* * * * *
Denis, unlike Derek, was a forever loyal soldier, allowing himself to be manipulated and pushed around willingly. Blinded by the prospect of the glory of delivering his kingdom from the oppression of Kayden's army, he would do anything for Karter. King Karter, though not a tad less autocratic and greedy a king than Kayden, knew Denis's devotion to his land and would have no second thoughts about exploiting him. So when a lone soldier still bearing Kayden's insignia was spotted creeping into Defor under the cover of night, Denis was sent forth to scout. Defor was right on the border of the two kingdoms, and so far neither Kayden nor Karter had penetrated the barricades. Denis saw Derek over the border, but as if there was an invisible wall, could go no farther.
* * * * *
Soon, Kayden, a dedicated perfectionist and hoarder, got wind that one of his soldiers, apparently named Derek, had embarked on a solo mission to spy on Karter near the border of Defor and Diphive. In his disbelief that one of his typically indifferent and bored soldiers would risk themselves for the good of the kingdom, he vowed to never disrespect or show contempt for his lowly militants. From then on, he would see the explored world differently, instead of seeing a square, look upon sixty-four cities and each of his army's divisions. With his new values, he realized that he couldn't allow Derek to be out in Defor alone, or Karter's forces would soon come for him. Cesar, one of Derek's brother-in-arms was sent out to assist Derek on his honorable journey. Cesar ran to Cefor, and soon the two found each other. As good friends do, they forgot all about the past and looked into the future. Derek forgot what he was doing at Defor, and Cesar was just told that he would meet Derek there. Nothing more than a couple of friends meeting in their eyes.
* * * * *
Karter realized Kayden's extremely subtle plan of massing soldiers on the border to prepare for an invasion. Denis was having a staring contest with Cesar, who he had just met at the pub. For some reason there was no invisible wall between Cesar and Denis, whose staring contest was growing in intensity and could blow up at any moment.
* * * * *
Charlie was sent to protect Denis in case of a squabble that went too far. He stayed in Ciisiix and watched over the situation.
* * * * *
Kayden understood that the time had come to pressure Karter into giving them resources. Unfortunately it wouldn't be a quick process. He decided first to send out Knox the knight to Effrey to keep an eye on Eyfyv and lend a hand to Derek if needed.
* * * * *
Karter followed suit, understanding that he must advance his troops too. Knick was commissioned to Ephyiv to watch over the growing tension between Cesar and Denis, who have upgraded from a staring contest to a dramatic thumb war.
* * * * *
Knoll is desperate part of the action and sticks his knightly lance in between Cesar and Denis, making the thumb war match official. They were only on their 68th match. He perched on a nice tall tree in Ciethri.
* * * * *
Karter sent Ezekiel to Eissix. Denis was very comforted.
* * * * *
Kayden loved playing copycat with his imaginary friends when he was a child and thought that it would be a good idea to mess with Karter by copying him. Eddy hopped to Eithrei. Bailey found her holy powers diminished as she glared at Eddy's circular base.
* * * * *
Knork's horse bounded to Desyvn, narrowly avoiding flattening his Quinn, his queen. She looked at his dirty horse with a disgusted face. Scrunching up her nose, she told Knork that no one likes him. Betty was blinded when Knork's sword accidentally poked her eyes. Everyone hoped that she could be cured eventually.
* * * * *
Bella glided to Diithrii. She had recently taken some ballet lessons with Bailey and had a lot of fun. She pirouetted through Ieto, showing off her graceful legs, and landed on Diethrii in third position.
* * * * *
Cesar and Denis had finished arm wrestling and were having some fun kickboxing until Cesar accidentally punched Denis's midsection a bit too hard. Denis had expert training in taekwondo, judo, karate, and kung fu from an exotic-looking foreigner he only knew by the name of Wu. With anger coursing through his veins and steam blasting from his holes, he went full sicko mode on Cesar and knocked him out cold. Later it was found that Cesar had deceased and mysteriously disappeared.
* * * * *
Bella was feeling a bit uncomfortable and violated as Denis entered Karter territory and threatened her. Denis was soaking up the glory and eating up his king's praise. Unfortunately Bella promptly swallowed him. There was a weird Denis-shaped bulge in her stomach for a few minutes. Thankfully for her future as a dancer, Denis evaporated much like Cesar had. More stubborn, though, and probably why he won the thumb wars.
* * * * *
Bella was now feeling a bit lonely and exposed out on Cifor, with only Knoll back on Ciethri to look at. She would never be able to join him on Ciethri as much as she wished to. Buddy ran with the speed of a hyperactive adolescent child who plays too much bullet chess and eats too much sugar. He ran out of adrenaline at Befiv, but Charlie was right there with some reinvigorating gummy bears. Bella was already weary of the constant pressure while Buddy was happy to attack her.
* * * * *
Summoning some of her energy, Bella managed to crawl back to Diethrii again. Welcoming the comforting embrace of Derek and Eddy, she fell asleep.
* * * * *
Bonnie had the courage to give up her old apartment building and move into a condo in Desyks. She soon found it had a very nice view and could even shout at Harry.
* * * * *
Fear may be the mind-killer, but stress is the mind-dissector. It picks you apart bit by bit, swapping a morsel of your sanity for a shred of a nightmare. Kayden felt very stressed. Bella had left his side. She was always comforting. Eddy, talkative Eddy, energetic Eddy, funny Eddy, had also moved away from him, leaving him with only Quincy, his wife and queen. Kayden also sensed that he would have to transfer from Eijun soon or Karter would find some sneaky underhanded way to take him. He was especially wary of knights. So unpredictable and tricky. He heard from his late friend Kurt how he had captured a free piece and out of nowhere a knight had spooned him. Or was it forked? Kayden wasn't growing any younger and he couldn't care less about memory. So many things to stress about. He wanted to retreat to his little, unknown bunker to the east. So a plane carried Roger over Kayden's head and plopped him left next to the king. Ah, Kayden was feeling much better now. Harry, George, and Fred cocooned him, and he knew Roger would protect him no matter what. Always the stone-faced, impassive rook, who had a heart - if only people would look for it.
* * * * *
Karter was bored. He couldn't sit still. Nothing to do. A change of scenery would have been nice. He looked around online and found out that there was a nice mini-palace near him in Geate-Hecheit. He needed money to buy it, so he printed unlimited money, placed a positive exponent next to the inflation rate, and moved into his new home. It was nice to have a castle right next to him. The safety was much appreciated. But he didn't realize for a long time that he forgot about Quinn.
* * * * *
Kayden and Karter could both feel the end coming. The end of the beginning. They had both read about war strategy on Wikipedia and knew that they had only just began.
To be continued...
Confused? Me too. But this is only the beginning... for now see if you can figure out what opening this is - soon you'll be able to guess the game!
Writing about a war game, but hoping for peace - stay strong!
✌
