Friendly Game

By: Dortheron Posted on: July 29, 2012

"It's your move"

The words shook me out of my daydream and back into the smoke filled hall of the Brass Lantern Inn. We were sitting at one of the middle tables in the room, idly watching Cherry flirt with guests while my campanion and I played a game of chess.

My companion. It was barely more than a year ago that I approached this stranger, offering a modest sum if he would act as my guard and guide. A rather large troll, with dark red hair neatly braided into a long pony tail and bright yellow eyes, wearing simple black clothes under a sturdy set of ringmail, well used. He doesn't talk much about himself, but he had given me no reason to dislike him. It just took a small group of bandits attacking that proved him courageous and loyal.

I take a look at the chess board as he shifts in his chair, and wince inwardly. While I usually give as good as I take, my heart just wasn't in it today and as a result I got crushed. Conceding the game, I call out to Cherry for another ale and stare off in the distant, thinking about my recent failures.

"Where to next?" Ternal asks me from the other side of the foresaken game. I sigh loudly, and faced him, expecting to meet sarcasm but only found an honest expression. I'll give him a break this time.

"There is no where left to go. I tried every library, every archive, every known scholar, most places I've never heard of until someone pointed it out. I don't have anywhere else to turn. Unless you have an idea?" I reply softly. While he hardly seems like the scholarly type, I was getting desperate. But a small shake of the head ended that tiny hope. "Well, I don't know what to do at this point."

"What were you looking for? I only caught snippet here and there. Something about Seleucar?" he asked in a low, soft voice, with an accent I had never noticed before. I thought about it for a moment, the muffled conversation of the bar sweeping over us.

"Okay, you deserve an explination." I reply as I reach into my jacket, and pull out a bundle of cloth. I untie it quickly, to reveal an old, tattered and slightly charred journal. "This is the journal of my ancestor, Ludias Shant." He nods sliently, listening intently. "Who lived long ago, before and after the fall of the Seleucar Empire."

I lean back, mindlessly flipping through the ancient pages as I continued. "I had discovered it a few years ago, and I loved it. It told a story of a young man, and his struggle with life, first as an undervalued citizen of Seleucar, and then..." I trail off, unsure how to proceed.

"And then his fight to survive in a monster filled Meropis. As you have had to do until recently" Ternal filled in for me, his face empty of all expression as always.

"You knew?" I was shocked. I had tried to keep such personal information out of hearing, even when talking with the librarians and scholars.

"I've spent a lot of my life travelling, from Istar to Orilla. And when I first heard your accent, I knew it was slightly different from any I had heard before." I was stunned! From both my accent, and from him speaking so much. First time I've heard that many words come out at once.

"Well, anyways" I continued "The important part that matters now, is that Judias had a brother. They were each other's best friends and rivals, fighting and challenging everything they did. And while they naturally grew apart, they still loved to compete with each other when they had the chance." I pointed down to the board and the messy pieces "Especially chess, which is why I have played with you so much recently."

"But after the fall...they were seperated for the rest of their lives. Grieg, the brother, had moved to Ashtan a couple of months before the Siege of Seleucar to be with his newly wedded wife's family for a few seasons, while Judias had moved to a small estate on the western sea, north of Aster."

I set the book down gentle, the stories of Judias' struggles and loses. Trelan bows his head, a soft whisper of prayer for the souls of those who has passed on reaching my ears. The moments stretched to minutes, until at last I drew myself out of the dark cloud that had settled over us.

"Well, I am attempting what Judias never got the chance to, what he desired most after safety for his wife and children; knowledge of what happened to his brother and wifey. Their other relations has passed away previously, so they were all they had left of the Shant family. I was going to find out what happened to Grieg."

I stopped talking and look over to Ternal. He looks at me, a different look in his. Respect for what I am doing for my anscestor? Pity for not being able to find out? I grow restless, and just as I was able to say something, he leans forward and starts to arrange the chess set, speaking softly as is his way.

"My family has a history of loving chess, even going so far as to name us after a piece." I notice he sets them up to a peculiar way, almost as if continuing an unfinished game. "And each child is taught to play while listening to the family legends and stories."

He moves the board so that I play black, and picks up a knight and takes one of my pawns. "And one in particular is a favorite. About one ancestor who didn't love the game, but the time he spent with his brother while playing. One who later moved to Ashtan, leaving an unfinished game between them, until they would see each other again. A story about a man afraid for his Seleucar past hurting his family, and so changed his name to Rook to protect them."

Tears stream from my eyes, sobs slowly rising up, as he loudly places the pawn with the rest of the taken pieces. "Jerrel Shant, it is your move."

It was over quickly, and we left the inn in each others arms, old bonds renewed and the strongest friendship I ever had beginning. And it was, by far, the best game of chess I have ever lost.