A Tale of Two Cities

I looked across the battlefield at the opposing army. They weren’t big, but then again, neither were we. They came from the city of Walnut, a land of dark wood and even darker intentions. It was no surprise to see them on the battlefield again. Our two cities had an eternal feud, always clashing, always competing. Maybe one day we’d sort things out and make an alliance, but today was certainly not that day. Today, we fought.

To the right I saw my friend Leonard take the first charge forward. Like me, he was one of the foot soldiers on the front line. He was quick on his feet and wasn’t afraid to make the first move. Our army usually moved first. We came from the city of Maple, a land of light wood, bright futures, and glorious motives. We refused to let the Walnuts push us or anyone else around. Led by our Deity, the Mighty Hand, we knew nothing could get in our way.

Shortly after Leonard moved a foot soldier from the opposing army charged forward as well. Typical Walnut strategy, wait for the real strategists to start and then copy them. Even their formation resembled ours, with a line of foot soldiers leading the charge, and the specialized forces protecting the royalty in the back. Of course, the specialists could move a bit quicker than we pawns could, so they often ran ahead and made the first strike. But we were always there to support them, blocking the opposition and opening pathways for our team to get through.

Several more foot soldiers advanced from both sides. After a couple minutes I felt the urging from the Mighty Hand that it was my turn, so off I went. It felt good to approach the enemy, knowing I was fulfilling my duty to the king and to the Mighty Hand. Usually known to only take one step forward at a time, I boldly took two steps on this first approach. The Walnuts needed to know that us Maples didn’t fear them one bit.

A moment later I heard a thundering of hooves from behind me and to the right. I looked back and saw one of our majestic knights leap over the pawns in front of him and join the fight. Our knight was one of the cleverest soldiers I knew, always attacking from unexpected angles and directions. Riding on his powerful steed, he was practically unstoppable, able to jump over those in his way to land the killing blows.

The Walnuts saw the knight move too, (who could miss it?), and they decided to send one of their specialists out in return. It was a bishop, sliding at an angle across the field. They call him a bishop, but I don’t know what religion he could possibly claim. Unlike our noble Maple bishops, I’d only ever seen Walnut bishops lie and scheme and backstab, always selfish and deceptive.

Nonetheless, he was a powerful foe that one must keep an eye on. Now that specialists were on the field the real fighting was about to begin. A few more moves from both sides, and then our knight gloriously jumped up and came down on an opposing pawn, knocking him down in a single hit. The Walnut’s Deity (whom we refer to as the Lesser Hand), picked up the defeated pawn and laid him to rest on the grounds next to the battlefield. Our Deities show great respect for the dead, and they like to keep the battlefield open for those still engaged in the conflict.

Unexpectedly, an opposing bishop struck next, ruthlessly slaying one of our pawns, my fellow foot soldier. Her name was Eleanor, she was a strong woman on and off the battlefield. Her presence would be greatly missed. I bowed my head for a moment as the Mighty Hand removed her, but then looked back at our enemies. The battle was far from over, and I couldn’t waste time grieving now. I had a job to do.

The battle continued, growing fiercer every minute. Soon specialists started falling, as well as several more pawns, including my friend Leonard. I was slowly moving forwards, but hadn’t had any action yet. Right when I thought I might need to lunge diagonally at an opposing pawn, I heard gasps of surprise and delight behind me, and then I saw our queen rush by, slaying the soldier ahead of me.

I cheered in glee with the rest of the army. Our queen had entered the battlefield! Queen Maple was a woman of extraordinary strength and speed, and a firm protector of her people. She wasn’t afraid to step up and get her hands dirty when needed. We all aspired to become like her one day.

The battle continued for several intense minutes, and right when I thought we had the upper hand I heard a shocking cry from behind.

“Check!” One of the opposing knights yelled, maliciously laughing out our king, who was now in mortal danger. Our army froze for several moments at the unexpected turn. We had been so focused on advancing against the Walnuts that we had almost forgotten our most important duty, that of protecting the king. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that there were still a few pawns and specialists diligently guarding our king, but they were unfortunately in all the wrong places to stop the evil knight who had snuck in.

Our king was a man of grace and wisdom, and although he didn’t have much agility anymore, he knew how to use the strength he did have. He courageously stepped to the side, out of the way of the approaching knight. The plan of the Walnuts had failed. Or so I thought.

To the front left I heard a strong, female voice yell “Check!” I nearly fainted when I saw the Walnut queen step out of her hiding place, walking right into the perfect position to fly past our defenses and destroy our king. That conniving little jerk! Unlike our queen, she had been hiding from the battlefront until the moment she could get all the glory. If I had been closer, I’d have spat at her feet. She was the lowest of low.

Although I would have gladly fought their queen myself, I was too far away to do anything, so I looked around to see who else could help. I saw our Queen Maple to the far right, looking in horror at the other queen. A firm look of determination then crossed our beautiful queen’s face, and she knew what she had to do. She rushed across the entire battlefield in righteous anger, ready to sacrifice herself for her king.

The opposing queen had strategically placed herself in front of a pawn. She knew that it would be suicide for anyone to try to kill her, and thus she was confident in her move. But she had grossly miscalculated. Queen Walnut, a selfish and cowardly royal, didn’t know what true loyalty could do. She turned in shock and fear when she saw our majestic queen approach. She hadn’t counted on Queen Maple’s love for her king and for her people to be greater than the love of her own life. The evil queen screamed in agony when Queen Maple cut her down, and then our queen turned and gave us all one last smile before the Walnut pawn stabbed her from behind.

The battlefield fell silent as the Deities removed the queens. The two key players were gone. This battle was just going to get uglier and uglier now that our champions of skill and grace were absent. So, I gritted my teeth and got ready to fight. It was time to avenge our queen!

As the battle waged on, I had the chance to slaughter one opposing pawn, but other than that the worst of the fighting didn’t get close to me. At one point, when most of the attention was elsewhere, I looked forward and was surprised to see an opening to the opposite side of the battlefield. Legend stated that a pawn who could make it to the other side would be endowed with the powers of their late queen. If I could just touch the far side of the field, I would gain her powers and turn the tide of the battle in our favor for good!

I took a sneaky step forward, waited a moment, and then took another step. I was slower than the specialists, so stealth was my greatest ally. The closer I could get before they saw me, the higher the chances of completing my mission.

Unfortunately, they had a pawn in my way that I had to eliminate, and I was too loud when I took him down. Three steps from the edge of the battlefield and suddenly all eyes were on me. Everyone knew in an instant what would happen if I reached the edge. Every warrior on both sides immediately started moving in my direction, putting their ferocious attacks towards the kings on hold.

I took a step forwards, now only two steps from the edge, and everyone got closer. I managed to take another step, now only one step away from the powers of my queen! I was just about to take it when the opposing rook sprinted to his edge of the battlefield, to my far left. No! If I took a step forward now I’d get the powers and then be slaughtered immediately. What could I do? I stood still for a moment and offered a prayer to the Mighty Hand.

One of my fellow warriors started to approach, but then I heard the dreaded sound of hooves behind me. I turned, and behind me to the right was an evil Walnut knight. He was in the killing position. I was doomed! If I took a step forward I’d die by the rook, and if I stayed where I was I’d die by the knight. My noble quest had failed! I cried out in agony. The only thing I could do now was admit defeat and pray that the few Maple specialists remaining had what it took to win the battle.

But wait, what was that? I felt a gust of wind behind me and saw the final Maple bishop rush forward and kill the knight who threatened me! The bishop had no time to gloat though, because immediately the pawn who had been protecting the knight stepped forward and slashed our bishop down. The bishop knew that he was sacrificing himself for me, yet he did it anyway. It was a rare day when a specialist would do such a thing for a pawn like myself, and I didn’t plan on letting his sacrifice go to waste. Now no longer in immediate danger, I just had to figure out how to avoid the opposing rook.

Suddenly, with another rush of wind, our final rook appeared in front of me to the left. Yes! He chose the perfect position! Now the opposing rook couldn’t reach me. If he tried to take our rook (nicknamed The Castle, due to his strength and fortitude), he’d be within perfect striking distance of me, and I’d be able to kill him and win our queen’s powers.

The look of shock on the Walnut rook’s face when he realized his predicament was nearly comical. I could tell he wanted to kill The Castle out of anger, but sacrificing himself would cripple his team, so he rushed away to safety instead. I looked around the battlefield at the few remaining warriors, and then triumphantly stepped forward onto the edge.

Suddenly I started to glow, and I was lifted up in the air by the Mighty Hand. I could feel myself changing, getting taller, faster, and stronger. When the Mighty Hand placed me back down, I felt like a new person, in the image of the queen.

The opposing rook wasted no time and took out our last pawn in a desperate effort to still win. But me and The Castle were hot on his tail. It was amazing to have the powers of the queen! I could move from one end of the battlefield to the other in the blink of an eye, and in any direction too! The Walnut rook fought hard, but he was no match for me and The Castle together. We soon knocked him down then looked to see where else we could help.

Several paces away our last knight was battling their last knight and pawn. Our knight fought nobly, as all Maple knights do, but the other knight cut him down before we could intervene. Me and The Castle then swiftly ran over and easily disposed of the Walnut knight and pawn.

There was silence on the field for a moment, and we realized that there were only four of us remaining. Me, The Castle, our noble Maple king, and the wicked Walnut king. The Walnut king was evil, but he was no coward. He immediately moved forward to attack, putting The Castle in mortal danger.

We reacted quickly though, and for the next several minutes we went back and forth with the king, trying to gain the upper hand. We eventually pushed him into a corner, and I made the final move, making it impossible for him to retreat.

“CHECK…. MATE!!!” I yelled triumphantly, with cheers from The Castle and our king. The Walnut king grimaced in defeat, and then fell, joining his bested army on the sidelines.

It had been a brutal battle, but the Mighty Hand was with us, and victory was finally ours. Our king was protected, and we would live to see another day.

Now that the battle was over, I returned to my normal pawn form, and I felt the exhaustion of the day set in. We celebrated briefly, and then the Mighty Hand and the evil Lesser Hand returned us to the resurrection box with our fallen comrades. My spot was right between Eleanor and Leonard, my good pawn friends and soldiers. They awakened from the sleep of death as soon as they entered the box, and then congratulated me on the courageous win. I reminded them that their sacrifices were even more noble than my transformation, and that their efforts were needed just as much as mine. With a team like ours, the Maple city of light and righteousness would always prevail over the wicked city of Walnut.

I smiled as the resurrection box closed, ending this chapter of our eternal war. The evil Walnuts would surely challenge us again, but right now, with my noble teammates at my side and the Mighty Hand up above, we could rest.