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Chapter 1

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[Chess (Passive) - Skill Unlocked!]

You have learned to play chess without being checkmated in four moves. Keep progressing to unlock the deeper mysteries of En Passant. (Oddly useful for dealing with dragons.)

Sarah hugged her left knee and leaned back to look up at the sky. She suppressed a shiver. Her wool dress and poncho were not inappropriate for a mountain summer’s day, but she had not expected to be away from her camp this late. She spotted the first star peeking through the gathering gloam.

A click of stone on stone sounded in front of her, and a baritone voice rumbled, “Check.”

Sarah brought her attention back to the large stone chess board before her. Twenty-seven intricately carved stone pieces were arrayed across the board. The dragon had made his (her? Sarah didn’t know, she hadn’t checked) move and now her king and queen-side rook were forked by the dragon’s knight. Sarah groaned, she could tell this would be yet another slaughter.

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The day had started fine. The morning sun burned away the mists and warmed the high, mountain valleys. Sarah coaxed her flock of sheep over a pass and into a new valley she’d never visited. From the ridgeline, she beheld a lush, grassy meadow surrounding a heart-shaped, azure lake. Sarah and the sheep poked their way down the stony couloir above the lake. She found a flat rock by the lake on which to rest while the sheep began to browse.

Ah…, Sarah folded her hands behind her head and leaned back, sunning herself on the rock, this is the life.

Contentment lasted for about half an hour before it was rudely ended by a giant Kersplash! and a wave of water deluged Sarah.

[Elder Dragon - ????]

Startled from her reverie, she sat bolt upright and found a dragon in front of her, its head just breaking the surface of the water. Sarah immediately scrambled to her knees and bowed her head to the rock.

“Forgive me, lord,” she said, “I did not realize this is your pasture.”

The dragon raised its head from the water till it loomed above Sarah on its long neck.

“Hmm,” came a deep rumble, “What have we here?”

Sarah trembled from cold and fear.

“Tell me, little one, which dragon lord do you serve?” asked the dragon.

“Lord Tarx’wargle, your majesty.”

“The whelp to the south, that nests at the head of Lonelarch Valley?”

“Yes,” squeaked Sarah.

“Hmmm,” the dragon tapped a tooth with a foreclaw, “Tell you what. If you can beat me at a one game of chess, you may graze your sheep in this valley. However, for each game I win, I will eat one of your sheep.”

“Um..,” Sarah shuddered and stammered, “I don’t know how to play chess.”

The dragon opened its maw and let forth a toothy guffaw. “Then little one, I guess you’ll have to learn!”

Thus, the dragon picked Sarah up in its claw and whisked her away to its lair. The sheep slowly reconnoitered in the meadow and went back to chomping on the grass.

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“Checkmate.”

[Chess (1 > 2) - Level Up!]

For the fifteenth time, the dragon beat Sarah. This time its two rooks chased her king to column A, ending the game when the king had no further retreat. The dragon rocked back and rested its head on its front claws. It moved its eyes to see the sky. The three bird constellations were rising towards the zenith, signalling the beginning of the summer.

“Well,” the dragon rumbled, “I guess we’ll play our last game tomorrow.”

“But,” Sarah gazed down at her lap and clenched her hands under her poncho, “lord dragon, I have no more sheep.”

“Is that a fact,” chuckled the dragon, “then tomorrow, the wager will be you.”