“What game are you playing?”
“Watch.” He moved a Raptorpilot upward onto a space occupied by a Jaiparian pilot. TheJaiparian playing piece vanished. Michio gasped as overhead a WingedWarrior blew up.
Condor moved the same Raptorfigurine onto the space occupied by another Jaiparian piece, whichalso disappeared. Another ship exploded in a ball of red flames.Michio realized somehow there was a connection between this game andthe real battle.
Samrat Condor gestured to theempty chair across from him. “Do you wish to play? If you beat me,you will win the war. But if you lose the battle, not only will allof Borko be lost, I will own your Soul. Already I have seduced youinto coming here.” Samrat Condor held out his hand palm up and afigurine of Michio appeared in it. “Shall I add this piece to theboard?” he asked, toying with the figurine in his hand.
“I was already in the game.”
“Yes, as a player, but join thegame and you will have control of Borko’s defense air fleet andmake the moves.”
Dread shot through Michio. “Whyshould I fight you?”
“You have no other choice ifyou wish to win the war. You either fight me in this game or fight mein combat.”
Samrat Condor rose to his feetand the table, chairs and game board disappeared. He extended hisarms out on either side of his body; his loosely cut sleeves hungdown several feet and his brocade robe extended all the way to theground. He stood at eight-and-a-half feet tall and weighed threehundred pounds. Fire leapt in a circle around him. “Do you care totest my power in combat?”
Michio felt dwarfed by Condor andwas painfully aware he was no match for the sorcerer’s dark,supernatural powers. Wind whipped through Michio’s hair and tore atthe blue robe that cloaked his body. A stream of light flowed throughhis body from the austra stone and with it came renewed confidence inhis abilities. “Youhave earned the right to use this stone”, MasterJadock, said inwardly. “Withit comes the protection of the Masters of the Eagle.”
“I’ll play your game, SamratCondor,” Michio said.
The fire died and the tablereappeared. Samrat Condor sat back in his chair and placed a figurinethat looked like Michio on the board. The board changed shape and thefigurine instantly moved to another place on the intricately shapedformation. Michio sat in the seat across from Samrat Condor.
Samrat Condor moved a soldier.“Let us begin.”
“How do I play? What are therules?”
“Rules? There are none, as inlife.”
Michio spotted the figurine ofSamrat Condor on the board. “What’s to prevent me from landing onyour piece and eliminating it?”
“Try it and find out.”
Michio reached for the figurineof himself, then thought better of it and moved a soldier toward thefigurine of Samrat Condor. The soldier disappeared before reachingCondor.
“A soldier is not powerfulenough to destroy a powerful black magician,” Samrat Condor said.“My move.” He moved a pilot onto the space occupied by one ofMichio’s pilots and the figurine disappeared.
“Can a pilot destroy a king?”Michio asked, staring at the figurine of King Zanton.
“If he gets past the king’sguards.”
Michio carefully studied theguards around King Zanton. He was about to move one of his soldierswhen he felt an inner nudge to look back to where Samrat Condor madehis last two moves. He noticed a fighter pilot the Samrat pilots wereconverging on. Michio picked the piece up for a closer look andturned it in his hand so he could see the face. His chest tightened.
It was Erling! He studied theboard, trying to figure out where Erling would be safe and yet stillstrategically located. He put the piece back down in a new locationand the board twisted and changed shape again. Michio glanced up atSamrat Condor in surprise.
“You can’t move an importantpiece without affecting the entire game.” Samrat Condor movedanother pilot.
Sweat broke out on Michio’sbrow. How could he play the game when he didn’t know how it worked?Samrat Condor said there were no rules, but that wasn’t quite true.It resembled life in some ways. There must be a way to set SamratCondor up whereby the sorcerer wouldn’t realize where the moveswere leading until it was too late.
Samrat Condor reached out andmoved one of Zanton’s pilots.
“Wait, it’s still my turn!”Michio exclaimed.
“No, it isn’t. Your time ranout.”
A flash of anger sliced throughMichio. “I thought you said there weren’t any rules!”
“I said the game is like lifeand it is. If you wait too long to do something in life, the decisionis made for you.”
“So how much time do I havebetween moves?”
“It depends on how importantthe last piece was.” Samrat Condor reached out to move anotherpiece, but Michio quickly moved one of his.
As the game continued, Michiogradually learned how the game was played by trial-and-error. Hefound it hard to remain detached from the outcome of his moves whenhe could see Borko ships being destroyed in the sky every time one ofSamrat Condor’s pieces landed on one of his.
Finally, Michio came up with anidea; he would make Samrat Condor think he was after him while inreality closing a net around his ships. Samrat Condor was toopowerful to eliminate, but his fleet wasn’t. On another part of theboard, Michio left the figurine of himself open as a decoy, so SamratCondor would be lured after him.
Michio lost pilot after pilot toSamrat Condor as Raptor starships moved into Jaiparian territory,then he sprung the trap, destroying one of the Raptor starships. Thewhole board changed shape. Samrat Condor moved one of his starshipsout of the area.
On Michio’s next move, hedestroyed another starship. The board changed shape once again.Michio glanced up at Samrat Condor. The man’s mouth curved into atwisted smile. Michio studied the board and saw the board’s newposition left the playing piece of himself completely surrounded bySamrat Condor’s sorcerers.
Michio had been so intent on theair battle that he hadn’t concentrated enough on his own position.He’d been careless. Samrat Condor would never have made such amistake. The sorcerer always kept the figurine of himself fullyprotected so no matter how the board twisted and turned, he was stillout of harm’s way.
Samrat Condor moved a magiciantoward the figurine of Michio. Without conscious thought, Michiofilled himself with raw power so he could
