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  Rook: Revenge

  Book III of Chess Quest Series

  Michael D. Young

  Copyright Michael D. Young 2017

  Published by DigiTerra Publishing

  www.blackrosewriting.com/digiterra-publishing/

  © 2017 by Michael D. Young

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publishers, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine or journal.

  The final approval for this literary material is granted by the author.

  First digital version

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  PUBLISHED BY DIGITERRA PUBLISHING

  www.blackrosewriting.com/digiterra-publishing/

  Print edition produced in the United States of America

  To Bryson and Jarem, my little knights

  Acknowledgements:

  My deepest thanks to my wife and children for supporting my writing, and to Tristi and the rest of the team at Trifecta for bringing this series to life.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 1: The Gray Knight

  Chapter 2: The Gargoyle Twins

  Chapter 3: A Gigantic Problem

  Chapter 4: Choosing a Piece

  Chapter 5: The Few, the Proud

  Chapter 6: Golf Golem

  Chapter 7: New Aaron

  Chapter 8: Steamed Up

  Chapter 9: Breaking the Silence

  Chapter 10: Definitely Not a Date

  Chapter 11: Thick Skin

  Chapter 12: Overcoming Obstacles

  Chapter 13: A Dance in the Islands

  Chapter 14: The Duel of Sixty-four

  Chapter 15: Rich the Rook

  Chapter 16: The Skeleton Key

  Chapter 17: In Check

  About the Author

  Chapter 1: The Gray Knight

  Rich stood under the Corridor of Keys, holding up his Mickey Mantle baseball card. It was something of his that had been lost and found again, which made it possible for him to enter the strange-looking building that held his father prisoner. The Corridor, which floated above him in the air, looked like it might have had Picasso for its architect, pieced together from many other buildings with architectural styles that ranged from medieval castle to modern skyscraper. Though he thought the outside looked strange, Aaron had told him to expect even stranger things inside.

  He only hoped he was ready. Rich took a deep breath and then said the words his mother told him would open the first door. "As a paladin, I request entrance to the Corridor of Keys." Rich jumped back as the floating building stopped moving with a sound like grating stone

  He almost expected the Corridor to split in half like the jaws of an enormous dragon, breathing fire and smoke from its belly. For a few seconds, nothing happened, and Rich wondered if he'd said something wrong.

  He was fishing about in his pocket for his mother's letter when he heard a creaking noise, like a door opening on a rusty hinge. He looked up, and he thought he could see the movement of a door swinging open.

  An instant later, he found himself in a stone room lit by torches, taken into the corridor by its strange magic. On the far side of the room stood a massive stone archway guarded by a knight in gray armor, standing at attention with both hands on his broadsword.

  On seeing him, the knight lifted his visor and leaned in slightly. "Yes, you are indeed a paladin. Good. Means I don't have to throw you off the Corridor without a parachute. Dreadful business that, though it does give some variety to my otherwise boring job. What's your name? I need it for the log."

  Rich didn't move, still a bit dazed by how quickly he had entered the Corridor. "I'm Sir Heinrich Witz.”

  The guard nodded, his armor creaking slightly as he moved. "Yes, I can see that. Reason for entering the Corridor?"

  Rich’s eyebrow shot up. This was turning out to be more like a doctor’s visit than a knightly quest. "Looking for my father, who was lost here many years ago."

  The guardian nodded slowly. "We get plenty of that. Glad to see that a young man like you is risking life and limb for something worthwhile. I just shake my head at those who come for the treasure. If only they knew."

  The guardian straightened up with another creak of metal on metal and offered Rich a salute. "Well, Sir Heinrich Witz, I wish you all the best. Before you go in, I'm obligated to ask if you have an escape key, though I'm sure that's not all that likely."

  "What would it look like?" Rich asked. The knight held out his gauntleted arms, forming a tiny space between his two hands. "Generally very small, parchment paper, but you just can't scribble one with a quill, you know. Like I said, I doubt you've got one —"

  Rich silenced him by holding up the paper key his mother had included in one of her letters. The knight simply stood there for a moment, and Rich thought he heard a low whistle echoing in the man's armor.

  "Well, now I've seen everything. So you do have one. Know how it works?"

  "No," Rich admitted. "Are you allowed to tell me that? I'm not sure whose side you're on.”

  A laugh came from within the darkened visor. "I'm on no one’s side, Sir Heinrich. Not sure how much you know about our history, but we’re from the third and least well-known branch of the family. We come from the line of the daughter, Temperance, and are the Knights Temper. And I already know what you’re going to ask, and no, it has nothing to do with the Knights Templar. Big difference. As a branch of the family, we decided not to take sides, and so we are sort of referees, making sure everyone plays fair and that it is all written down for posterity."

  Rich nodded, thinking of the time Aaron had disguised himself as a family scribe. That must be someone from this third branch of the family. "All right, then. Just tell me how to use it and I'll be on my way."

  The gray knight nodded and held out his hand for the key. "You leave the key with me. And if at any time, you wish to leave, simply hold up your hands and yelled the word ‘Escape!’ This will activate the key’s magic, and I will know to cast it into the flames. You will then end up back here. Of course, it's a one-time thing, so use it wisely."

  Rich handed over the key and took a step back, straightening himself up to look brave.

  The knight placed the key on the small table next to the door. "Welcome to the Corridor of Keys, Sir Heinrich. I would say, enjoy your stay, but I know that would be wishful thinking.”

  Rich thanked the knight and walked with steady steps to the stone archway and into the darkness.

  Chapter 2: The Gargoyle Twins

  Rich entered the first room with no idea what to expect. He found himself in a round chamber with a domed ceiling. Everything, from the walls to the floor, and to the ceiling and columns, seemed to be made out of the same light brown stone. On the far side of the room stood a tall metal gate with a conspicuous keyhole, and a pair of statues standing to either side of it.

  The statues looked like gargoy
les with open mouths. Each held a bowl in their hands, the type that was big enough to serve a large salad. The gargoyles looked the same shade as rest of the room, except for their eyes, which had been set with gemstones—one gargoyle with rubies, and the other with sapphires.

  From the ceiling dangled an enormous cocoon of ice, about the size of a small car, in which he could see a large key made of the same metal as the gate. When he turned around, Rich saw that the portal behind him had been replaced with smooth, sandy stone. There was only one way out, and that was through the gate.

  Reminding himself that he had an escape key should things go wrong, Rich approached the statue with blue eyes, and noticed that it had a depression on its head shaped like a human hand. He didn’t know what it might do, but figured he might try this one out before checking the red one. He placed his hand there, and the gargoyle spewed water from its mouth into the bowl on its lap. Letting out a sigh of relief that nothing dangerous had happened, Rich let the bowl fill for a minute before taking his hand back, which stopped the flow of water.

  He then walked over to try the red-eyed monster. He immediately jumped back as flames shot from the creature’s mouth and ignited a thick liquid in the bowl, probably some kind of oil. Rich looked back and forth between the two statues and then at the key dangling from the ceiling. Apparently, these gargoyles were going to help him retrieve it.

  It looked like the bowls were separate from the rest of the statues, so he tried to pick one up. It was heavy, but not unmanageable. He took the bowl that was still burning and carried it to the center of the room, all the while lifting it high above his head.

  He stood on his tiptoes and reached his arms as far as they would go, but the flames were still too far from the ice. He held it for a long as he could before his arms got too tired, and he couldn’t hold the bowl up anymore. With a grunt, he stooped and set the bowl on the floor. He glanced up at the ice—it didn’t seem any smaller. He'd be here a very long time if he wanted to try to melt the ice like that.

  He ran over to the basin of water, trying to think of how he could use it. Maybe he could flood the room by letting the water spill over the sides of the bowl. Then he could swim up to the ice and chip away at it with his sword. One look at the gates and he realized the water would flow through, preventing it from getting high enough. He then ignited the fire bowl again.

  "Hey, Zahn, mind if I heat you up a bit?" he asked, withdrawing his sword.

  "Not at all," Zahn said. "Might actually feel nice. Heat to your heart’s content.”

  Rich held his sword over the burning liquid and waited until his sword glowed. He then thought about using his powers to conjure up something so he could get closer to the block of ice.

  He reached into a pouch around his waist and took out one of the things his grandfather had passed on to him before he left for the maze. They were called conjuring stones, things that could be used to create other objects without having to use something from the environment. They each held an enchantment to hold their shape longer and be sturdier once created. He took one of the smooth, red marble stones in his hand and thought of a ladder, applying his power to stone. Nothing happened

  "What's going on?" he asked no one in particular.

  Zahn, the only one to have actually heard the question, responded. "Well, that's the funny thing about the maze. Each room has its own set of rules. Some of your powers might be limited or might not even work at all, depending on the room you’re in. Often, you’ll be forced to use what you have in the room in order to solve the puzzle and move on. Helps level the playing field or something like that.”

  Rich jammed the stone back into his pouch and gripped the hilt of the still-glowing sword. Things had just gotten a lot harder, but he was determined not to lose in the very first room.

  He drew his arm back and flung his superheated sword at the cocoon. It embedded itself in the ice and stop glowing entirely before it dropped back to the ground, looking as though it had been stuck in a glacier for a few thousand years.

  "Yes," Zahn said. "Enchanted ice. Brilliant. I haven't felt this cold since that one time on the mountain pass when…"

  Zahn droned on about being caught in a blizzard with nothing but a goat for company, and Rich looked from one gargoyle to the other. He couldn't fill the room with water, and he couldn’t get the fire close enough to melt the ice. What he needed was a way to get the heat closer without using any of his paladin abilities.

  How am I doing so badly on the first room? If I get stuck here, I’ll never find my dad!

  His mood darkened, and he imagined a personal storm cloud forming over his head.

  As he did, the answer struck like lightning. He knew all about the water cycle, and apparently, these gargoyles did too. He ran first to the red-eyed one and stoked the flames as high as they could go. He then took the bowl and placed it directly beneath the crystal cocoon on the ceiling. Hoping he was on the right track, he ran over to the blue-eyed gargoyle and filled that basin until water trickled over the side.

  He sloshed some water over the side as he carried the bowl, but most of it reached its destination. He placed the bowl with the water on top of the bowl with the fire, and watched as clouds of steam rose toward the trapped key.

  After about a minute, the ice cracked, and the key fell into the water bowl with a splash. Rich bent down and snagged it. He fitted it into the lock for the gate and was about to turn it when he heard a second splash.

  Returning to the bowl, he found a much smaller key that had been released by the steam. He fished in his pouch and withdrew a metal key ring which his grandmother had given him. He was supposed to keep any keys he came across, and so he started his collection with this tiny one.

  With one turn of the large key, the gates swung wide. At a flurry of motion behind him, Rich looked back and saw that everything had been reset to how it was before, with the bowls in the hands of the gargoyles, and the key magically flying back to the ceiling.

  I’m not too bad at this, he thought. Maybe I'll find my father yet.

  Through the gate, he found a dim hallway with a distant light at the end. He crept down the passageway, using his hands to feel along the sandpaper-like walls. He emerged into a room that looked like the long hallway of an art gallery. Directly in front of him stood an enormous statue, easily twice his height. It depicted a creature that could have been the Minotaur’s cousin, with huge muscles and the head of a bull. Instead of just two horns, it had two sticking out on the side and then two that curved over the back of his head. The creature also had an additional set of arms, each hand clasping a weapon—a sword, a mace, an ax, and a spear.

  It made sense that you might find a guardian beast in a labyrinth like this one, like the ancient labyrinth of Greek mythology. Rich really wanted to know what to do to stay on this guardian’s good side. Perhaps this was just a warning about the real creature that lurked within.

  Rich approached the creature, his hand sweating as he tightened his grip on Zahn. A sound like steady breathing came from somewhere nearby. When he was close to the statue, it twitched, and Rich stiffened. The head of the massive statue tilted downward and its eyes glowed, shifting with the colors red, violet, and blue.

  Rich seriously considered using his escape key right then. One direct hit from this monster, and he would be nothing but a bag of crushed bones.

  Then the statue spoke. "Run, run, little knight, run—or your journey stops before it has begun.”

  It sprang to life. Rich turned to run, taking off down the hallway as quickly as his armored shoes would let him.

  Chapter 3: A Gigantic Problem

  Rich ran as fast as he could, trying to put as much distance between himself and the creature as possible. It didn't take long f
or him to remember that running was not one of his specialties. Even Aaron, who had been dead for centuries, had bested him in track tryouts, and now he was wearing a full suit of armor.

  One of the creature’s weapons whizzed by, impacting the ground a few steps ahead of him. The ground exploded, sending jagged shards of rock in Rich’s direction, along with a shockwave of magical energy. He had barely enough time to bring up a shield before the shards hit him. Rich tried running again, but still, the clanging footsteps of the statue drew ever closer.

  Another weapon landed so close that the impact threw Rich against a nearby wall. He hit hard and crumpled to the ground. His vision blurred for a moment, but when it came back into focus, he could see the creature closing in on him, trapping him between its massive body and the wall.

  Hoping that this room didn’t have the same restrictions as the last, Rich reached down for one of his conjuring spheres and turned it into a grenade. He pulled the pin and lobbed it at the creature, bringing up a shield so he wouldn’t be hurt by the falling debris.

  When the dust cleared from the explosion, Rich couldn’t see much of a difference. Though his conjuring power worked in this room, it had done him little good. Rich rolled his eyes as he imagined just about every video game boss he’d beaten growing up. There was probably just this one little weak point that he had hit just right in order to do any damage. Or maybe this thing was invincible. He couldn’t rule that out.

  Rich backed away and tried to get on his feet, but the creature brought his club down not far away, knocking him to the floor again.

  The statue spoke. “Foolish knight, I said ‘run.’ Like the father, like his son.”

  The beast raised all four of his arms—he had somehow gotten all his weapons back. This was the kind of blow that could finish Rich off. Seeing no other way, Rich shot his hands into the air and yelled, "Escape!"