Chapter 28 - Chess Troubles

Chapter 28 - Chess Troubles

"A yoo!"

Two energetic voices chimed out in perfect unison.

Reyna pulled open the heavy front door, looking down at the porch with a warm, welcoming expression.

"Good morning, Mrs. Samsworth!"

Two sets of brown, furry ears and two furry tails swung back and forth in unison, hitting the wooden floor of the porch in perfect synchronization. The boy was wearing brown shorts and grey tunic shirt, and the girl was wearing a cute yellow dress. It was Nathalie and Nathan. In Nathan’s arms was a wooden chess board.

"Is Kyro home?" Nathan asked, his eyes practically gleaming with anticipation.

"Oh, Nathan, Nathalie!" Reyna’s face lit up with a sweet smile. "Come in, come in! Kyro’s just upstairs. Go ahead and take a seat in the living room, and I'll go fetch him for you."

"Thanks, Mrs. Samsworth!" Nathalie chirped.

The beastkin twins took off their shoes by the porch as they stepped inside, settling onto the cozy wooden bench near the entryway while Reyna closed the heavy front door behind them. As Reyna headed up the stairs, the twins glanced around the warm, spacious living room, their ears turning at every creak of the floorboards.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Kyro...?" Reyna called softly from the hallway.

In my room, I was crouched down near my desk, concentrating entirely on directing a small stream of mana into Verdant Touch. The knocking of my mother disrupted me, and the faint green light emanating from my fingers suddenly died out.

"Mom?" I called out, wiping a trace of sweat from my forehead as I walked over and pulled the door open. "What's up?"

"Your friends are here," she said, her eyes crinkling with amusement. "They seem very eager to play with you today."

"Friends...?" I blinked, taking a second to process it. Then a realization hit me. "Oh... let me guess. Nathalie and Nathan?"

"The very same," she nodded, letting out a soft chuckle. "They brought a chessboard and look ready for battle."

I couldn't help but smile, shaking my head. "Well... they're persistent, I'll give 'em that."

"They certainly are," she laughed softly, patting my shoulder. "Go on down and greet them."

"Alright, coming."

As I stepped down the final wooden step into the living room, two pairs of blue eyes locked onto me instantly.

"KYRO!" both twins shouted together, practically bouncing on their heels.

They were already seated at the small table in the living room, the folding chessboard spread between them, all of the pieces arranged perfectly in rows of wood.

I chuckled softly as I pulled up a chair. "Wow. You guys really didn't waste any time, did you?"

"Nope!" Nathalie grinned, resting her chin in her hands. "Because today's the day we finally wipe that smug look off your face!"

Over the past two years, the twins had made a habit of dropping by our estate at least twice a week, armed with that exact same chessboard, very determined to dethrone me. And every single time, they left defeated. So far, my winning streak remained completely unbroken.

I took my seat across from the board, glancing quickly at the set-up. The ivory colored pieces were set on my side because today I played as white. I lifted my head to look at my rival; I found Nathan looking at me in fierce concentration.

Nathan interlocked his fingers, pushing his palms outward with a sharp, satisfying crack of his knuckles.

"Ready to cry in defeat this time, Kyro?" he grinned, his tail swishing behind him in eager excitement.

I leaned back, resting my elbows on the table with a confident smirk.

"Daring today, aren't we? Show me what you've got."

***

--Lyra--

"Gah..." I gasped, wiping a thick layer of sweat from my forehead with the back of my sleeve.

I collapsed backward onto the soft grass of the pasture, my heart hammering against my ribs. I’d been training with Saul all morning, and unlike Kyro, who only got to drill with him five times a week, I trained with him every single day without fail.

"You did well today, Lyra," Saul said, giving me a slow, approving nod.

I sat up, pushing my sky-blue hair out of my eyes, and flashed him a confident smirk. "Heh, well... just you wait! I'm gonna surpass you and Dad, and become the strongest person in the whole world!"

"I don't doubt it," Saul replied. He extended his single hand down to me.

I grabbed his hand and let him pull me back onto my feet, giving him a respectful bow.

"You're dismissed from training for today," Saul instructed, pointing his thumb toward the house. "Go inside, rest up, and hydrate. Tomorrow we focus on footwork drills."

"Got it!"

I jogged over to the wooden fence gate, slipped through, and made my way around to the backyard. Pushing open the backdoor, I stepped into the cool house and headed straight for the kitchen. I grabbed a wooden mug, filled it from the pitcher, and chugged it down in three long gulps.

Gulp... gulp... gulp.

"Ahhh~!" I let out a long breath, wiping my mouth. Then, lifting my arm, I leaned in and took a quick sniff of my armpit.

"Eugh..." My nose crinkled in disgust. "Yeah, I definitely need a bath."

Shaking my head, I left the kitchen and moved towards the living room, where I froze at the sight of three individuals clustered around a table placed near the entrance. They were bent over some square board and were thoroughly engrossed in what I found totally confusing.

Ugh, they're playing that super boring board game again... What was it called again? Chess?

"Check..." Kyro murmured, calmly sliding a white, carved wooden piece into place. "...and mate."

"AHHH!" Nathan grabbed a fistful of his own hair, letting out a horrified yell. "AGAIN! SET IT UP AGAIN!"

"HEY!" Nathalie barked, shoving her twin brother so hard he slid right off the bench and tumbled onto the wooden floorboards with a loud thump . "GET OUT OF THE WAY! IT'S MY TURN NOW, YOU SORE LOSER!"

"Rghhh..." Nathan's eye twitched as he scrambled back up, dusting off the seat of his shorts with an embarrassed glare.

Kyro couldn't contain his chuckle, his shoulders shaking as he reached over to reorganize his captured pieces. "Okay, okay, calm down, you two. Let's reset the board. Nathalie goes next, and then you can have another rematch, Nathan."

"Tch," Nathan grumbled, crossing his arms defensively. "Fine... And hey! Stop talking to us like we're little kids, Kyro! We're two years older than you! It's super disrespectful!"

"Right, right, my bad, little guy." Kyro laughed softly, setting his white pawns back into their neat row.

They're literally the same height..

"You're doing it again!" Nathan whined, his dog ears twitching in annoyance.

"All set!" Nathalie announced proudly, slamming her dark pieces into position.

"Same here," Kyro nodded, looking up to meet her fiery gaze. "Ready when you are."

"I was born ready!" she declared, pumping her fist in the air.

"Good," Kyro smirked, reaching out and sliding his knight forward. "Good luck."

I stood by the wall with my arms crossed watching as Nathalie charged right into the game with a pawn, her tail wagging confidently. She was moving quickly, almost throwing her pieces down on the board as though to scare him.

Kyro, on the other hand, barely moved a hair. He just sat there, resting his chin in his palm, making calculated moves that made no sense to me. Two minutes in, Nathalie's confident smirk started to flicker. Three minutes in, she was staring at the board with sweating eyes, biting her bottom lip so hard it looked like it might bleed.

"Wait... no, hold on..." she muttered, hovering her fingers over a bishop. "If I go there, then you..."

"I’ll take your rook in two moves if you make that move," Kyro said nonchalantly, without a shred of arrogance.

"RGH! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

"I am not in your head, Nathalie," Kyro said, sighing, with the corners of his mouth twitching up slightly. "Totally not in your head..."

Nathan choked back a laugh, and Nathalie shot him a look for a brief second before glancing back at the chessboard, looking for some way to get out of there, but Kyro calmly moved his queen along a free path.

"Checkmate."

Nathalie froze in shock and opened her mouth wide. "WHAAAAT?! HOW THE HELL DID THAT EVEN GET THERE?!"

"It happened four turns ago," Kyro grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head at the three of them. I will never, ever understand why they find staring at wooden blocks so exciting.

"Hey, nerds," I called out, stepping out from behind the corner.

All three of them turned their heads toward me. Kyro blinked, taking in my sweaty, disheveled appearance and messy hair.

"Oh, hey, Lyra. Done with training?" Kyro asked.

"Yup. And you guys are loud," I said, putting my hands on my hips. "If you're done breaking these animals' hearts with your nerd game, I'm taking the bath first."

" ANIMALS?!" Nathan and Nathalie barked in outrage, their ears standing straight up in indignation. "WE ARE BEASTKINS!"

"Po-TAY-toe, po-TAH-toe," I shrugged off their concerns with a dismissive wave as I headed toward the staircase with a smug expression. "But don't go breaking the floorboards as Kyro wins you again!"

I got a towel and fresh clothes to wear and then went to the bathhouse that was in the backyard. I could feel myself relax after bathing because the water was so soothing to my body muscles after all the sweating I had done in my morning training sessions with Saul. After drying myself up, I put on a soft blue shirt and wrapped a heavy towel around my sky-blue wet hair.

"NOOOO!" Nathan screamed, clutching his head like he was in agony. "HOW?!"

Kyro chuckled softly, leaning back. "Well, you're improving, to say the least. That was actually a solid opening."

"But still nowhere near beating you..." Nathalie sighed, her shoulders sagging as her tail drooped onto the floor.

"Hmm..."

I paused by the doorway, leaning against the frame for a second before strolling over to the low table.

"Hey, nerds. Done being sore losers?"

Nathalie gasped, her head snapping up. "The audacity !" she huffed, brandishing a tiny fist in my direction.

"Eh." I glanced down at the grid. Kyro was humming a cheerful tune to himself as he carefully reset the pieces in their starting rows.

I crossed my arms. "Can I give it a try?"

Kyro’s hand froze mid-air, holding a tall, pointy wooden piece over the board. He turned his head sharply toward me, his eyes wide with genuine shock.

"W-what did you say?"

"I said, can I try?" I tilted my head, resting my hands back on my hips.

His mouth hung open for a second before a disbelieving laugh escaped him. "Y-yeah... sure. Go for it."

Nathalie and Nathan stared at me in disbelief as I stepped past them and dropped onto the wooden bench directly across from Kyro.

"So, how do you play this boring game?"

***

I was honestly so thrown off by the sudden request from Lyra that my brain frickin' glitched. I didn't even register what she'd just asked.

"Excuse me?"

Lyra gave me an annoyed look. "Kyro, are you deaf? I said, how do you play this game?"

"W-well... sorry, I just..."

She raised a brow, tilting her head. "What? Is there something on my face?"

"Heh... no. I just wasn't expecting you to actually have the energy to try something like this, y'know?" I scratched the back of my head, still trying to process it.

"Well, I was just bored ," she muttered, adjusting the towel on her head. "Besides, I just finished my drills with Saul. I guess it's not the worst thing in the world to give this a shot."

“That’s shocking,” interjected Nathan, leaning his head against his fist as he looked at her. “You actually have an interest in a strategy game? I’m sure that your puny muscle brain is incapable of comprehending tactics.”

A sharp vein practically popped on Lyra's forehead. "What did you just say, Pipsqueak ?!"

"O-okay, okay!" I laughed, clearing my throat before a full-blown wrestling match broke out on the rug. "I'll teach you how to play, Lyra. But let's make this interesting."

"Oh yeah?" Lyra raised an eyebrow, her golden eyes flashing with sudden curiosity. "Like what?"

"I'll teach you magic if you manage to beat me. Just once."

Lyra instantly leaned clear across the table, her eyes wide as saucers. "For real?!"

"Yeah, for real," I nodded with a confident smirk.

Beside us, Nathalie and Nathan looked at each other in total bewilderment before whipping their heads around to stare at me.

"You know MAGIC?!" they yelled in perfect unison.

"Oh... uh... yeah," I rubbed the back of my neck, suddenly feeling two pairs of intense eyes burning toward me.

"We've known each other for two years and you never told us?!" Nathalie gasped, her hands clenching into fists.

"Hehehe... well, you guys never asked, y'know?"

"..."

Nathan tapped his chin, his furry tail flicking thoughtfully. "Our older brother is a mage. Boy, I can't wait to tell him there's another one like him in the village!"

My head jerked up instantly, my eyes locking onto Nathan. "Y-your older brother is a mage?!"

"Yep! Right, Nathalie?"

"Yep, yep!" she nodded enthusiastically alongside her twin. "He's the best mage in the whole—"

"Shut up and let us play," Lyra interrupted, slamming her hands onto the table, completely unable to contain her impatience. "Kyro, teach me already!"

I found myself unable to suppress my laughter at how fiery she was. Over the next fifteen minutes, I introduced her to the basic rules regarding how the pieces moved on the board, including the pawn, bishop, knight, and queen.

Both Nathalie and Nathan could not help themselves from leaning forward, offering her unwanted advice every two seconds. After giving her some practice on how to make a simple checkmate, I took a step back and released a sigh of relief.

"You got all that?" I asked, raising a doubtful eyebrow.

"I guess?" Lyra muttered, scratching her cheek, her forehead scrunching into a hesitant frown.

"Alright then. Let's play a real game now," I said, pointing to her side of the board. "Do you remember how to set up your pieces?"

"Uhm..." She paused, her eyes darting back and forth across the vacant squares.

Nathan immediately jumped in. "Lyra, you're such a blockhead. Fine, I'll assist you."

"No! I don't need your help, you annoying pest!" Lyra snapped, shoving her open palm directly into his face to push him back.

"Ugh! Stop that or I'll bite your hand!" Nathan growled, his tail fluffing up in irritation.

"Do that and I'll grind your skull!" she shot back at him, her golden eyes giving a menacing look.

Me and Nathalie, two of us gave each other a lengthy look without any trace of alarm at the violent threat that had suddenly been raised. After a further half minute of heated arguments, Lyra sighed, crossed her arms, and sulkingly let Nathan place her black pieces in rows.

"Okay, all set," I said, meeting Lyra's gaze. "Ready?"

"I'm good to go," she declared, sitting up straight, her focus narrowing down to the grid. "Your move, pipsqueak"

"Alright." I gave her a relaxed smile, sliding my king's pawn forward two squares to open up the center.

In my head, this was an easy game. Lyra was a pure force of nature type player, who excelled through instinct, strength training and momentum. The game of chess required patience and clever traps. I was sure that she would make a mistake with her pieces within five moves and give me a simple win.

I'll just take it easy on her, I thought, carelessly developing my knight toward the center without really reading the board.

"Hmm," muttered Lyra, staring intently at my pawns. With no delay, she took one of her knights and slammed it down on the chessboard, placing it in a threatening forward position.

I blinked. A bit reckless, but expected.

I subtly pushed my bishop out to create a usual opening pressure setup. "Are you sure about this move? Your knight is a bit vulnerable."

"I know what I'm doing," she muttered, her eyes darting across the squares.

Lyra didn’t go into a defensive position and protect her knight like an amateur would have done, but she moved her dark square bishop diagonally forward to pin my knight against my king.

My breath caught for a split second. Wait. Did she just...?

I shook my head, suppressing a nervous chuckle. No, it's just beginner's luck. She probably didn't even realize she pinned me.

In order to get out of this bind and take control of the game once again, I advanced my queen’s pawn, creating an opportunity where she either backs down or has to give up her bishop through exchange.

Lyra didn't back off. She didn't even pause to think. She grabbed her pawn, swept my defending piece off the board, and snapped her wood down with a clack!

"Check," she said flatly.

My eyes grew wide. I gazed at the board and then back up into her face. Lyra didn't have that cocky smile on her face. She didn't have the smug smile that Nathan and Nathalie usually had. She was all locked up and breathing steadily, just like when she fought with Saul.

"Hold on... what..?" I murmured, feeling a sudden drop in my stomach as I realized my king was actually forced into an uncomfortable retreat. I had to sacrifice my pawn just to protect my back line.

"Heh," Nathan whispered beside us, smirking. "Look at Kyro's face... he's sweating."

"She's... she's pushing him back?!" Nathalie gasped, grabbing her twin's arm.

I attempted to stabilize my position, desperately constructing a wall with what little was left of my bishop and rook, but my careless early moves meant there were huge holes in my defense. And Lyra saw it.

With terrifying ferocity, she advanced her pawns forward as an unstoppable shield, clearing off my outer defense one pawn at a time. Everything she did was with great noise and weight, without any give whatsoever.

Clack! My knight was captured.

Clack! My bishop was wiped out.

"Wait, Lyra, hold up—" I stammered, my fingers trembling slightly over my remaining rook as my brain scrambled to recalculate a thousand possibilities at once.

"You said if I ever beat you, you would teach me magic," Lyra murmured, her tone laced with a deep, reverberating weight that seemed to shrink the room around her.

She picked up her dark queen, hovering it over the board.

My heart pounded against my rib cage. I gazed at the chessboard, trying to find any square to escape, some counter move, some defensive move. But all paths were completely blocked. The knights guarded the sides, the rook guarded the vertical line, and the queen was attacking my king.

I had underestimated her. My arrogance had handed her the entire center stage on a silver platter, and she had turned a game of quiet intellect into a full-scale siege.

Lyra brought her queen down with a decisive, booming thud that echoed off the living room walls.

"Checkmate."

Silence fell over the darn room.

Nathan's jaw hit the floor. Nathalie literally stopped breathing, her hands covering her mouth in shock. I sat there frozen, staring down at my cornered, helpless king, stripped of his battalion. I looked up slowly. Lyra was leaning over the table, her golden eyes burning into mine with a fierce, triumphant light, a massive, victorious grin spreading across her face.

"So..." she purred, resting her chin on her hand. "When's my first magic lesson, teacher ?"

My jaw stayed clamped shut for a long second as my petty pride flared.

I just lost to a ten-year-old who learned how the knight moves twenty minutes ago. I can't let this slide!

"Again." I said, my voice serious.

I didn't even give her the chance to answer me. I swept all the pieces that I had taken with great aggression and started placing them with such speed that my hands became a flash of ivory and ebony.

Nathan and Nathalie moved slowly away from the table, feeling the change in the atmosphere around them.

"Alright, muscle-brain," I muttered, my eyes narrowing into razor-sharp slits as I locked onto the board. "No more playing nice."

Lyra cracked her knuckles, a cocky smirk plastered across her face. "Bring it on, sore loser!"

Two minutes later.

Clack!

"Checkmate," I said flatly, leaning back and folding my arms across my chest with absolute satisfaction.

"H-HOW?!" Lyra shrieked, her golden eyes bulging out of her head as she stared at her trapped black king. "You were completely open on the left side! That's cheat—AGAIN!"

"Gladly."

Clack-clack-clack!

It was a massacre.

Clack.

"Checkmate," I muttered, resting my cheek on my hand with a serene, terrifying smile.

"WHAT?!" Lyra grabbed a handful of her own blue hair, tugging on it in absolute disbelief. "HOW DID MY QUEEN DIE AGAIN?! IT WAS JUST THERE!"

"You fell for the same fork three turns in a row," I pointed out smoothly.

"RGHH! AGAIN!"

"Hey," Nathan growled, "What about us?!"

"Shut it, Pipsquek!"

Clack-clack-clack-clack!

The table shook under the fury of our moves. Lyra was sweating now, her tongue sticking out slightly as she stared at the board like she was trying to burn holes through the wood with her mind.

Clack!

"Check," I smirked, sliding my bishop into place. "...mate."

"RRRHHGGGGGHHH!" Lyra made an animalistic growl, bringing her head right down to meet the sharp corner of the table in a dull THUD!

Nathalie gulped, her furry ears flattened completely against her head. "W-what just happened...?"

"Dead," Nathan whispered, pointing a trembling finger at Lyra. "I think he broke her."

I let out a long, dramatic sigh, dusting off my hands with an insufferably smug grin. "Well, well, well. Look at that. A four-game streak for me. Guess that first one was just luck, huh?"

Lyra lifted her head off the table, a bright red square imprinted on her forehead. She glared at me with enough heat to ignite the curtains.

"You did that on purpose!" she accused, pointing a trembling finger at my chest. "You threw the first game just to humiliate me!"

"I did no such thing," I said without blinking. "Honestly, you just caught me off guard. But a true grandmaster adapts."

"A true grandmaster is a STINKY CHEATER!" she roared, grabbing a rogue wooden pawn from the table and hurling it directly at my face.

I casually tilted my head to the side, letting the pawn whiz past my ear and bounce off the living room wall.

"A deal's a deal, Lyra," I chuckled, resting my elbows on the table. "You beat me once, and it was fair and square."

Lyra froze mid-tantrum, her eyes widening. "Wait... you're actually gonna teach me?!"

"Of course," I smiled, leaning in slightly. "Like Dad said, a Samsworth always keeps his word. Besides, if I don't teach you magic now, you'll probably try to challenge me to a wrestling match to settle the score, and I value my bones, thank you very much."

However, Lyra’s scowl was quickly replaced by a smile that was so big it was blindingly bright.

“YES!” Lyra exclaimed excitedly, raising her hands high in the air. “I’M GONNA LEARN MAGIC!”

"Wait, wait, wait!" Nathan yelled, barging back over to the table and slamming his hands down. "If she gets to learn magic, what about us?!"

"Yeah!" Nathalie chimed in, practically jumping over her brother's shoulder. "We've been losing to you at chess for two whole years! That has to count for something!"

I raised an eyebrow, looking at the two chaotic dog beastkin bouncing in front of me.

"Well..." I tapped my chin thoughtfully, a mischievous smirk playing on my lips. "I suppose if you guys can clear the board in under ten minutes next time... maybe I'll show you two a trick or two as well."

"DEAL!" the twins screamed in unison.

"Alright, settle down, all of you," Mom's gentle voice called out as she stepped into the living room, holding a tray with four tall wooden mugs of lemonade. "I could hear the wooden pieces clattering all the way from the kitchen."

She set the tray down on the side table, giving us all an amused look. "Who won?"

Lyra puffed out her chest proudly. "I beat him first!"

"And then he beat her three times in a row!" Nathan added helpfully.

"Nobody asked you, Pipsqueak!" Lyra barked, reaching for a mug of lemonade.

I took a sip of my own drink, leaning back against my cushion as the living room filled with the familiar noisy chatter of my sister and our friends. My pride was still recovering from that brutal first loss, but watching Lyra beam with excitement made it worth it.

Teaching her magic, huh? I thought to myself, watching her gulp down her drink. This is either going to be the best idea I've ever had... or our house is going to end up in flames by Tuesday. If her affinity is fire.

[End]