Flawed and Tainted

CHAPTER 8. Checkmate

Sam

"Myrkers begin to appear once the barrier starts cracking. Because of their constitution, which is merely a shadow, they cannot be killed by men. The only way to temporarily stop them is with the opposite element to their essence: light. Since they are unable to step into the sunlight, they are never seen during the central hours of sunny days, when the sun is at its highest point. Instead, they'll frequently appear at night, or anywhere dark." I kept on reading while annotating all the important information I could find.

"Stepping into the light will surely make them disappear. Once freed from the barrier, they'll only have one thought in mind: tracking the White One and getting rid of them, bringing havoc to anything they find in their way. If by any chance, the Myrkers succeed in their mission, we will all be doomed."

I closed the book, millions of thoughts coming to mind at once, only one solution to all of them: we had to find the White One, right away.

I figured we could use the Myrkers as guides to lead us to the White One, but not only would that be dangerous for us, but we would be risking the only life that could bring peace once more by putting it in grave danger letting the Myrkers get so close to finding them. We needed to be quicker.

It had been a day since we announced the first visible crack in the barrier. Since then, many complaints had been reported by different villages, the ones closer to the barrier being the most persistent ones, naturally. No blame, they were scared. We were too though, we just didn't have the pleasure to show it.

I lifted my gaze from the pile of books I had been reading for the last hours, all about darkness and it's "creatures". After feeling a slight crack on my upper spine, I proceeded to scan my room, barely visible by the scarce rays of sunlight that remained, yielding it's charge to the moon for the hours to come. My eyes stopped on the chess board I had placed on top of the lower left shelf of my bureau just an hour earlier.

***

“Chess is like life.” my dad said as we played. “We are all pieces on a board, waiting for someone to make a first move for us to only then counterattack. It’s all about strategy and understanding what pieces are most important and must be protected at all costs. You must also envision before time how you can turn certain possibilities into a reality. Sam, which piece do you think must be protected above every other?”

I didn’t answer right away. I thought about the question before answering, my eyes focused on the board, a bit confused.

“I guess the king and queen are the ones that must be protected at all costs.”

He nodded.

“All the pieces must be protected. Some might have a priority, like the king, as you said, but all are important. Less pieces sacrificed, more opportunities of winning. You see, you must change your mindset son. Ask yourself which piece on this board has the power to do the most damage to the other party with the least moves possible and without risking the other pieces’ safety, but protecting them.” As he said this, his fingers slowly hovered above the pieces, from one to another, as if analyzing every possible move. He didn’t answer until his fingers stopped dead, getting a hold of the piece he was planning on moving. “The answer is simple once you think about it. Many of them can only go a few steps at a time. Some can move to any place horizontally and vertically, while others do the same diagonally. Some pieces need to be lead in an ‘L’ form itinerary, having a more reduced activity but sometimes catching the enemy off guard due to its unusual movement. So these are all good, but if you look further, there’s one piece that can do almost everything combined; the queen.” He then lifted the piece and moved it on top of the board, demonstrating every possible move the queen could execute.

“The queen has the power to easily move around and turn the tides quicker than any piece on the board. It is true that it can be taken out from the game as easily as any pawn, but that is why you need to make use of it before it is taken from you.” He put the queen on the board again, sliding it towards one of my bishops and killing it in the process.

I made my move as he continued. “The queen can easily be thought of as a mere piece to be protected besides the king, but she is capable of much more if you just know how to use her.” He paused once more to move his queen.

“The White One, is the queen.” I lifted my gaze towards him. Curious for what he would say next. “We, as players, have to know and understand what she is capable of and use it to our advantage. That’s why it exists anyway. In the end, we are just giving the queen it’s purpose, as well as saving pawns and other pieces that can’t stand a chance. We all have a role in life, son, and we must live by it”.

I looked back at the board, shifting my rook from the right side of the board to its center, foreseeing a clear kill for his knight on the next move. My dad chose to move his queen again a few squares to the right.

“We use the queen to reach our target,” he spoke once more after a few moves “and when we have reached the target, we sacrifice her if we need to. She has already fulfilled her purpose”

I glanced at the board suspiciously, seeing how easily I could kill his queen with my knight and be closer to winning the game. I kept on looking for any loopholes, unsure what the consequences for killing the monarch would be. I saw nothing. After a few seconds and still not sure about my move, I killed his queen. It only took a few more moves from my dad to turn the tides and surround my king without even sacrificing any other of his pieces. I was in awe.

“Checkmate”

***

An assembly had been summoned to take measures against the Myrkers that could reach Verlian any time now. My father always had the last take on decisions concerning the White One everywhere around the nation. This time, however, it didn’t directly concern solely the White One, but also the townspeople, so the elders were called to join the debate. I was to be there too, of course, to learn about my fathers charge, for I was to succeed him once I turned 18. Although not particularly pleased, my grandfather William joined the assembly as well.

I never knew why, but my father and grandfather became very distant over time. I assumed it was because of their radical and opposite opinions, two very different views that didn’t correlate at all, being totally rejected by my dads strong character.

The elders were currently discussing what they should do about the gates and permits. They were balancing the possibility of locking them until the situation had been solved or just letting it be for the moment being.

“It would be safer to close the gates” someone replied amongst the chattering, transforming it into silence for a brief minute. “We don’t know when the Myrkers could arrive here.”

Another spoke right after him, raising his voice to refute what the previous man had said “I need materials for my business. There are a bunch of merchants in town that need to import goods from elsewhere. We need the gates open.”

I stared at the woman. Then over to my father. He was listening to everybody, assessing every word and taking in both sides in the matter. He had to understand and make a decision. That’s what was expected of him. His purpose.

He then silenced everyone by lifting his hand and spoke for the first time since the assembly had begun.

“After listening to both sides on the matter, I completely understand your worries. I believe I may have come up with a solution that could be of your liking. You all know it’s impossible to please everyone, but I really do hope it pleases most of you.” he declared convinced. Everyone was quiet, listening to every word he articulated and curious about what was on his mind. I could tell by moments like these, how much the locals respected my father for his years of service as a Guardian.

“We shall leave the gates open” he added, already receiving some complaints and protests “but only until it’s no longer safe. Once Myrkers are spotted in the nearby villages, the gates will be closed temporarily. Please try to understand that the gates may close tonight, tomorrow, in a few weeks or in a day, that’s certainly not up to me. My job is to do my best in keeping Verlian safe. It’s all for your safety.”

The room fell once more into a profound and unexpected silence, with everyone pondering his last words.

“If there are no objections, I hereby declare the end of the assembly. Thank you.”