The day was warm and the sun shone brightly, there was a mild breeze, but it was warm and intermittent. Mikel Alvarez sat on a stone bench that, despite the sun, still held a bit of night’s cool from the shade of the tree overhead. He'd put on his khaki cargo pants and a plain, grey long-sleeve shirt. Beneath his shirt was his telescoping baton, strapped discreetly to his side, and he wore his other magical tool around his neck, the piece of shrapnel hanging on a leather cord beneath the shirt.
Before him sat a stately gentlemen, renowned among these parts for his chess game. Aegis hadn’t sat down actually hoping to beat the guy. He knew the rules, but certainly wasn’t a chess master. If he had a bit more of the Mysteries under his belt, he might’ve cheated a bit, to at least be able to put up a fight. As it was, the old man didn’t exactly hand him his ass, but seemed to play to Aegis’ level. He kept the younger man guessing, but left enough bread crumbs for him to follow.
Aegis was sure that there was a name for the maneuver his opponent had set up, but he didn’t know it. Hell, he had only just seen it for what it was. The only two moves he had to take a piece would open his King, and while he’d managed to protect his Queen, she had only one move that didn’t leave her threatened. He’d already lost both Knights, one Rook, and two thirds of his Pons. He had both bishops, still, and he felt like he saw a possibility there.
It wasn’t a random move, and it did leave him more than one possibility, depending on how this old master reacted. Racking his brain, Aegis strove to try and find a path to victory, though he now saw it more as a battle of attrition, forcing the other man into sacrifices. So that was Aegis’ strategy, or what he had left to him for strategy.
Three moves later, sharing a hearty chuckle with the older gentleman, the Awakened player laid his king down. ”Thank you for taking it easy on me,” he laughed.
”I didn’t exactly take it easy on you. You really started stepping it up at the end there.” The fellow stood, shaky on his spindly legs, and Aegis stood as well, leaning over to meet the older player halfway. ”It’s always nice to meet a young man who doesn’t need to be spoon fed. Learn hands on, getting dirty.”
”Well, I definitely have more to learn, perhaps I’ll try and stop by more often.”
The park-chess king gave him a nod and a wave, already leaning in to cajole another pensioner hanging around into a game. He seemed to be having to bully a little, and Aegis got the impression that the rest of these codgers didn’t enjoy losing to him as often as they probably did. It was with a happy shake of his head that Aegis turned to wander a little deeper into Capital Park, deciding to just wander a bit and see what he could see.
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