Gambits

The board trembled. The two men kept on playing. Their faces haggard, lines drawn like so many dots in the sand. Their eyes still twinkled, but now it was with a manic light. The board trembled, the pieces shivered. It was all coming to an end. But when? The men moved the pieces still, played their game fast and played their game slow. The shadow was now fully formed. An object, a black man, a genie, heaving, heavy chest, narrow torso, barely any legs. Around him, his minions, some of them, slithered. They hissed and whispered, almost as loud as the thunder that crackled above, the rain that shattered through the clouds, the fire that screamed and raged below. The arid wind tasted dry and felt moist and humid. The rot of decay was permanently in the air. The new world order was coming. The men kept playing, occasionally, they would stare at one another, occasionally, their twinkling eyes would look at one another as they moved the pieces, not needing to see where they were on the board to know. They would look at one another, once they had been friends, they still were. But now the stakes of their friendly games were tied to something more urgent, something neither could explain, and yet they were tied together. Forever. Shadow rajah, the shadows hissed. Their Rajah was fully formed, he was strong, soon he would walk the earth instead of hovering around it. Soon, he would walk the earth and it would shudder. Each step would be felt across the land. Shadow Rajahi, they hissed. Soon he would rule the earth. Their king smiled. Sharp teeth stretched out across a wide dark grin. Eyes black as night twinkled with stars of white which slowly being choked, suffocated. The king was almost upon them. The men kept playing. Knight to g4. Takes rook. Rook sacrificed for a greater position. Gamble successful. They keep playing. Queen takes bishop. Queen is taken. Position is improved. Gamble works. King is in trouble. The shadow rajah smiles. The game is over. A new one begins, the pieces set faster than the eye can catch up. The fire outside crackles. Everything has been charred, burned to a crisp. Everything has been flooded with water. The air is electric. The ground below trembles, shaking, almost screaming, as if being tortured. The men keep playing.

They had been friends once. They still were. Yet now, their lives, their purpose was tied to a greater cause, their existence was tied to that of the planet. Their games decided the battles being played out on every square inch of the planet. Each battle, who won it, what won it, that was what the board was deciding. Above them, the celestials watched. Locked up as they were, they could not interfere, but they could see. The board knew all. It had achieved a life of its own through the power imbued from within it, just as the shadow rajah had used the same power. The beings watched.