The Chess King VI

"The King's Checkmate"

   Going through the doorway Romeelus encountered a set of stairs made of granite. They wound up and around and out of sight. Wiht a mere shrug of his shoulders he plungers upward. Each stair is more grueling than he realized at first glance. His muscles by now are tired, sore, and refusing to budge. It takes his every last will and strength to keep going. finally on the thirty-sixth stair he hits the landing. "36 stairs, 36 squares on a chess board. This guy is certifiably a chess wierdo." On the landing there is a sign on a doorway. "THE KING'S ROOM"

"Not for long" he mutters. With a calm assurance he steps inside.

"Greetings! Romeelus! Greetings!" Felkinor says warmly upon his entry.

"You must be Felkinor, King of the Peasants!" he insults. The king waves his hand non-chalantly. Again the room is extremely huge, with a chess table sitting in the middle. Whimpering, bound and gagged in the far corner he spies Sasha. Fixated on her beauty he stares for a satisfying minute. In appearance Felkinor was about 40 years old six feet one and around 200 pounds. Taking an interest in the black and white tiles that he has gotten so accustomed to Romeelus speaks "I hope you beheaded your architect!"

"Not at all. I rather like the decorum. But enough of the small talk. I have something you want and You have something I want. One of us is going to get our way."

"What do I have that you want?"

"Your HEAD! ha ha ha." The king states this in a blaise manner. He is already envisioning the bounty-hunter's head in his trophy case. "Before we battle let's have a chat. I am sure you are curious to know who I am and why I went to great lengths to get you here."

"Not really!" he says not wanting to play the king's game.

"You must sit and listen!" With a shrug and a sigh Romeelus does so.

"Two years ago" the king begins. "You, Sasha, and others engaged yourselves into combat with King Belghar. Who as you recall originally hired you to kill a thief named Thadden. Dishonorable as you are you breached that contract and instead joined up with this thief and eventually murdered my uncle; Belghar. I kidnapped your woman so that I could you here. You were the first one to betray Belghar so you will be the first one to die." His eyes narrow at Romeelus. "Did you know that when Belghar was to rule I was to get some? NO!" he states before receiving a response. "No matter once your head is on my wall your other friends will soon follow. Who knows maybe Sasha will enjoy me more and spare her life. Being alive is better than dying for some lizard-man who almost cheated on his woman." He sneers at Romeelus. "Are you ready to battle?" He nods. "Good! Now listen to the rules."

"Rules!" he asks incredulously. "There are no rules in a fight."

"AHHHH! I see you haven't figured it out yet." He pulls out a seat at the chess table. "Were going to play a game of chess. I'm not a fighter. My underlings did all that. I know you can fight. But can you play chess?"

"What if I refuse and just shove my axe right through your cold heart?"

"Well then you would lose your prize1" he motions to the corner. The man in black notices Sasha has a henchman holding a knife to her throat. "If you don't play then she gets a new smile." Having no other option he sits. Felkinor sits across from him gloating massively. "It's your move" the king states.

The bounty-hunter remembers his old days when he was at the academy where you had to play to enhance your memory as well as fighting skills. He starts out moving his queen's pawn forward. The game

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is on. Immediately there is a flurry of activity as the openings come to a close. Romeelus clearly has a better position. As the mid-game comes on Romeelus trades his one knight for two rooks. The king nods at the move. Romeelus feels himself getting drained. "I must be reaching over-exhaustion stage" he reasons. Two pawns less Felkinor finds himself at a major dis-advantage and romeelus is well ahead. Romeelus thinking the same thing notices that the room is starting to spin. Struggling to keep his eyes awake he tries to focus on the match. "Something is not right!" he thinks to himself. Perhaps getting too much pleasure out of himself and his brilliant idea, Felkinor makes a blunder. His queen he leaves in line with a pawn. The bounty-hunter is about to take it but then he hesitates. He stares at it and at the king. His mind knows the king would not make this kind of blunder as obsessed with chess as he is. Then he thinks: "every time I take a piece I get woozy. If I take this queen I will probably be done. I will be helpless for anyone to kill me. In his attempt to be sneaky he got too obvious. Let's see if I can turn the tables..." He remembers an old chess game.

"Have you ever played give away chess?" he asks the king.

"No!" is the response. Felkinor never takes his eyes off the queen.

"Good!" the bounty-hunter states smiling. Give away chess is when you must force A guy to take your pieces. The only way to do this is to place a king in jeopardy where his only move is to take your piece or lose the game. It is this game that Romeelus is now pursuing.

"CHECK!" he states to the king. The knight has the king trapped. Felkinor takes with his queen. A slight bit of energy returned to Romeelus when his piece got taken. As the game ensues Romeelus focuses on giving his pieces away quickly. "CHECK!" he again says. This time his rook is gone. The energy hits him like adrenaline. The king starts to have a worried look on his face. Romeelus then exchanges queens so he loses the energy but then quickly gets it back. As the game progresses King Felkinor realizes what Romeelus is doing but he is too late to prevent it.

"What happens to the loser?" Romeelus asks innocently.

"In your case you can kill me and get your prize. In mine I get to kill you and do what I like to Sasha."

"Oh! I SEE!" the bounty resumes his thinking. Felkinor sees his danger and now knows he underestimated the crafty bounty-hunter. He knew that bounty hunters had to learn to chess as part of the training so he knew Romeelus could play, He just didn't think Romeelus would be able to figure out a way out. The lowly pawn advances its way to eighth rank. Beads of sweat burst onto Felkinor's brow.

"QUEEN PLEASE!" the smile of victory flooding the bounty-hunter's face. With nervous, shaky hands the king puts the Queen onto the board. Instant energy floods Romeelus' system. "CHECKMATE!" romeelus watches as Felkinor tips his king over in defeat. With his newfound energy he throws dagger which sticks in the throat of the guard watching Sasha.

"Now for you!" he states to the King. He un-sheathes his axe. "You like games! Well here is a game for you! If you can make it to the end of the room just four rows away I will let you live....if not...." Felkinor starts running with complete terror in his heart. With a smooth motion the axe turns end over end connecting with the back of Felkinor's skull. He falls over dead. With cruelty in his eyes he stands on the back of the dead king and removes his axe. After freeing Sasha who hugs him and kisses him long and hard; they leave the castle. The game is finally over...