Devil's Heart

Chapter 20: The Night Before Battle

Skaii stayed with Jacy, they sat on the sofa together and he put his arm around her.

"So," he asked, "how'd the Twins do?"

"Well... they did good but they got really distracted... by everything" Skaii said, "even a leaf..." Jacy smirked.

"Yeah they do that," he said, "not when it matters though, when they're fighting, they're laser focused" Then after a moment he added, "and then they listen to no one for about three hours afterwards" Skaii giggled.

"We best give them plenty to do tomorrow then," she said.

"Yeah," Jacy said, then turned the topic to the game itself. "The basic strategy of a Rating Game stays the same, but the battlefield changes"

"So what do we have to do to win? Wipe out all of the pieces on the board?"

"Not necessarily, just Korman," he said, "It's back to chess again, take out the King and that's the game won"

"But we'll at least have to take out Carla too, right?" Skaii asked,

"Most likely," he replied, "she'll probably be out fighting the rest of us, but she won't stray far from Korman in case he needs her. Misty will probably be doing the same for me"

"Will there be any other of his pieces that will also put up a fight?" Skaii asked

"They'll all try, if they don't give everything they have then they'll probably have to answer to Carla, although if Kamalia hears that she's the prize she might not fight so hard, she'll want to lose so she can escape him."

"And Korman won't try anything?"

"Rating Games are highly honourable fights, you scarcely ever see anyone try to cheat, and when you do it's pretty much always seen by the observer's and punished accordingly"

"So who am I paired with? What's the plan?"

"I can't draw one up until we get there," Jacy explained, "the games are held in special pocket dimensions, specifically built for the match. There will be two bases at opposite ends of a battlefield, a few strategic points to capture, and likely some obstacles littered around for cover and flanking. But the layout will be unique. We'll have a map in our base that will show us what we're working with, from there it's up to us to figure out how to play" Misty, hearing the discussion, came over to chip in,

"We'll need to try and predict his moves and how we should play around it," she said.

"We have to balance advancing on his base with protecting our own," Jacy explained, "remember Pawns can promote if they get far enough in enemy territory, and that will be our base. They have a numbers advantage on us, and we can't have nine Queens running around. Even untrained that would be checkmate for us," Skaii nodded. "Anyway, let's just relax for the evening so we've got the energy tomorrow, we'll have to be up early"

"Okay," Skaii said still anxious,

"I think I'm gonna go to bed now, if I have to use my Balance Breaker, I'll need my strength" Misty said.

"Okay sure," Jacy said with a knowing tone, "see you tomorrow morning"

"Sleep well," Skaii said smiling, Misty waved goodbye as she turned to leave.

"Your camera's on charge on your dresser," Jacy called after her without looking at her, Misty didn't respond, but stopped still for a second and left a little quicker. Skaii blushed pink, realising what he meant.

"Oh?" Jacy said, noticing Skaii's reaction. "She told you about that then I take it?" he smirked, Skaii blushed more at his teasing tone and nodded shyly. "She must trust you then, I don't think she's told anyone else. I only know about it by accident" Skaii blushed again at the thought.