Chapter 63: The Board Is Set
The gathered Chosen exchanged uneasy glances, while Azrael’s thoughts raced.
’Of course we are just Marked on our way to becoming Proven, so we have to slay the monster that had created the connection to this and our world. Since the abomination has to be one Level higher than us, it would be of the Savage Danger Level. It’s a similar story for the Proven who are on their way to becoming Champions; they have to beat a Reaver Danger Level monster to advance.’
He thought of the knights he’d been forced to fight. ’There are knights... and a kingdom. So it’s only logical there would be a king leading them. That must be the monster who opened the Rift the Proven entered from.’
He was beginning to see the larger pieces of the puzzle. But one thing still eluded him—why Thandor had taken out a chessboard. Since Azrael had never experienced a normal upbringing, raised by a Skinwalker and all, he wasn’t familiar with the game or its rules.
"I believe most of us know what these pieces are called," Thandor said, arranging the pieces in a row, "but for those who don’t, let me refresh your memory."
"If we rank them by strength, the weakest is the Pawn, then the Knight and Bishop that are roughly equal. Then comes the Rook, followed by the Queen—the strongest piece—and the King, the one that commands them all."
Azrael’s breath hitched at hearing the names. ’Now that I think about it... The Unworthy Knight, the weakest of them all, was labeled a Pawn. Then there were Duskguard and Nightfletch—the Knight and Bishop, equal in strength. And finally, the Death Knight—the one that nearly ended me—was called a Rook.’
The resemblance was uncanny. And the most terrifying part? The Queen and King were still unaccounted for, the two that were supposed to be far stronger than the rest.
Thandor continued, summarizing the known Rook-named monsters and their distinct traits. Unlike the other abominations, these were unique, each one was different from the others. So far, only four have been proven to exist.
By the time he finished, Azrael’s eyes were wide.