Tales of the ScrollMage: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure by Andrew Karevik & LitRPG Freaks

Author:Andrew Karevik & LitRPG Freaks [Karevik, Andrew & Freaks, LitRPG]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-12-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 45

My ‘shadow’, for lack of a better term, followed me as I trudged through the narrow maze. The most disappointing thing about this entire experience was the fact that all of the books on the shelves, the thousands upon thousands of volumes, were simply decorations. They could not be removed or altered no matter how hard I tried. A shame, for it would have been nice to have something to read on the journey.

Left, right and left. Hundreds of turns. Steps leading upwards and descents taking me nowhere. I traveled until my feet ached and continued to do so until eventually I reached an opening that led to a great checkered floor with dozens of chess pieces upon them.

These pieces were carved from stone and were the size of a man, each resting on a different square on the ‘board’ floor. An interesting design.

I had seen full sized chess sets before and even ‘live’ chess was popular amongst the peasantry within Elantio but what purpose would a device this size serve in an underground lair?

My shadow rushed up to one of the pieces on the other side of the board and moved his knight. The great stone figure lifted up in the air effortlessly and swayed from side to side as the shadow carried it to a spot across from my king. I would be in check from a position like that – if I were playing.

“Oh no, I’ve read too many stories about playing games with shadows,” I said, walking around the board and to the other side of the room. I peered out into the endless maze and sighed…then again, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to change up my tactics. Fruitlessly searching for hours on end was going nowhere fast…

“Fine, I’ll play,” I said, returning to the front of the board and examining my position. This was ridiculous.

I moved my bishop, taking tremendous effort in the process, sliding it over to take the knight. As soon as the two pieces intersected, a great flash of light washed over the area and the knight vanished.

My shadow floated over to another piece and moved it. I countered. Back and forth, defense and offense. Every move put me in check and every counter advanced my own position but never enough. Eventually we were left with only kings and pawns. There was no way I could win against this double, it seemed to know my strategies, so I turned to my favorite losing position: forcing a potential stalemate.

“I think I’ve won this in a few dozen moves,” I blustered, grunting to push my king diagonally. My counterpart said nothing to that and merely mechanically moved his men.

“And that is a stalled game,” I said, moving my king one last time. Every last piece was frozen now, unable to move. Pawn against pawn, kings facing oblivion if they were to take their move.

My shadow double-looked at the board for a moment and blinked before vanishing in a puff of smoke. “I suppose that’s better than flipping the table,” I said to Odamere, who croaked in agreement.

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