Defense Against The Dark Lords

The sky was darkening and I could barely detect the sun behind the hills. I lay flat on the ground, the battlefield, wounded within and without. I was painfully aware of the outcome yet painless, blissfully unaware of the injuries. I patiently waited; my consciousness slowly receding as I saw vultures prowling above me, ravenous, waiting to strip me bare to the bones.

Allow me to introduce myself. I am Artemis, a Greek soldier solider and my birthright is protecting the King, then come the rest. I engage myself, rather am engaged, in fierce battles and no battle can be won with valor alone. Some say winning wars is a gamble and has no element of intelligence involved. Wise are the ones who realize that the name of the game is strategy.

The dark lords are our sworn enemies and I would do anything it takes, even giving up my life, to protect my king, Rex, who is fair in all respects. During the course of war, every move decides our fate and experience has taught, rather trained, us to face checkered changes in career. I believe in take single steps in defeating the opponent while there are others who can think ten ahead. The Dark Lords have conquered many kingdoms and our king was wise. Tactically using offense, he realized the only way of conquering them was to make the first move and take them off guard.

Soldiers formed the lowest base in the battalion and are skilled swordsmen. Talented, a soldier can sidestep and lash out the enemy to take his place. Next in the hierarchy were knights, marksmen who rode the horses. Mighty with their leap, knights can go over the opponents and overcome them. We were moments within the beginning of a great battle, one that could seal our future. Mate!! My fellow soldier Eris yelled and startled me. Scowling, I screamed, “You shall not use the forbidden word for we are not pirates. It signifies apocalypse.”

The battlefield seemed to lack color and was flat in terrain. I could see them lined up in the horizon. They seemed impenetrable, but soldiers were trained to be fearless. The conch shells blared and the king screamed as everyone became silent. “I am Rex Decimus, sworn enemy of the dark lords, and a loyal servant to the northern region. I shall have my vengeance, either in this life or the next.” He continued, “Attack and skin them alive.” The battlefield echoed with a tumultuous roar while the soldier ahead of the king initiated the gambit. With a rush of blood, holding my sword above, I ran with the intent of decimating their troops.

Step by step we advanced each other and it was anybody’s game, no one could predict the war’s outcome. Within moments, I confronted a dark soldier, my first quarry. “Prepare for death you lone warrior,” he echoed, his sword gleaming in the midday sun. “I serve King Rex, and my blood shall not be put to waste,” I said clenching my teeth. We circled each other and I thrusted my sword aimed at his navel. He brilliantly sidestepped and lashed hard, the sword barely missing me by nose, while my ears detected a whoosh. Thinking I was off balance he went for my heart, but I was well poised and ducked low going for his legs. He was quick and sensing his mistake he was immediately up on air and both were ready for the next move. Not striking and facing each other, both were aware of the situation, a deadpan had occurred and we couldn’t break it ourselves.

Whoosh!!! A knight flew over me and the opponent was headless as I gaped at him, “how did you manage it?” The knight, Kronos, radiantly smiled at me eying the opponents, ”who’s next?” while Eros stepped besides me. We changed the game plan and decided to advance together to give more freedom to the Kronos on covering ground. While Kronos decided to attack their soldier on the right, he had failed to detect the dark knight approaching him. Being caught unawares, it was unlikely that the Kronos could save himself. Eros, the soldier and my dear friend, darted across from his place and made a suicidal move to sacrifice himself.

I gritted my teeth as I looked back to see if the King was safe. Three soldiers and the bishop protected Rex. Under extreme circumstances, it wasn’t uncommon for Bishops to take part in the battle for protecting the king. Another bishop, Zeus, saw Eros’s downfall and raced towards me. The battle went for hours and half our soldiers were wiped. Their elephant gladiators were emerging strong and were partly responsible for our soldiers’ death. We had to do something.

Kronos hinted and I moved ahead and made myself obvious to their elephant gladiator. He fell for the decoy and positioned himself to attack me. Kronos, yet again, came from nowhere sailing over their soldier and the elephant gladiator fell. Amidst the confusion, I saw that their king was now unguarded and yelled, “Check king Vulcan Zeus.” I stood ahead of the king, Kronos moved to the side while Zeus was along the diagonal. “You’re doomed Vulcan, I thought,” When queen, Venus, slashed Kronos appearing from nowhere. She could travel ten times mightier than Vulcan I felt.

While rapidly advancing, our defense had weakened and I turned back. The other elephant gladiator placed himself on the corner aiming straight at Rex. Their knights were both on his two sides, the bishop again aiming him at an angle. Queen Venus moved and was in line of his sight. King Vulcan roared pulling his sword, “Rex, you’re corned my friend, and as I step forward there’ll be yet another heroic death.”

I looked at Erin’s slumped body and babbled, “Do you think Anand was better?” Erin holding his last breath muttered, “I still feel Karpov is the best with black – The perfect checkmate.”