Rourke stared out the dusty window onto the dimly lit streets of Notnuats. The moon shined brightly overhead while the stars captured its light, filling the sky like little shards of glass.

It was still early in the night, villagers roamed the winding twisting lanes and alleys of Notnuats, passing through the many shops and trinket stores available to them. Two blocks to the left stood the Knights Head Pub, a group of guards could be seen around the building, one of the local authorities was in the process of questioning a grumpy black haired dwarf that happened to pass by

Staring out the window of the two story room, Rourke leaned up against the old bisque colored walls of the Brown Mug Alehouse. The room was small and cramped complete with; one bed, a small table, and one rickety wooden chair. It was also very brightly lit though due to the many floating candles that hovered overhead. Rourke was not alone, on the far side of the room across the window sat two other teenagers.

Cole and Katherine were at the moment passing their time playing a game of chess. They had shoved the small table next to the bed, Katherine sat on the bed while Cole slumped in the rickety chair. They were not playing any kind of chess though, they were playing Wizards Chess, a game far more complicated and amazing then its one deminsional counterpart.

The game is materialized magically, instead of your usuall flat board, the wizards board is created with a total of three levels, all connected by magicall minature stairwells or small interconnected ropes. One side would start on top while the other opponet would start on bottom. Having your normal set of King, Queen..Knight, pieces, the game would also have unique pieces like Assassin, wizard, or thief and other amazing types as well. It is quite a site to see, the pieces look and act like individual realistic beings all having their own special ablilities to conquer the board. It would take days to explain all the details, taking years to master, but in the end the objective is the same, kill the king before the opponet kills yours.

Cole was in a sad state indeed, he had already lost three pieces and it was only the second turn. Katherine couldn’t help but smile, “I thought you were good at wizards chess…the way you boasted about the game” Cole scratched his head, gritting his teeth, he was a sour loser and he was still stumped on how she pulled the last move without him realizing it. “The game isn’t over yet”, he whispered a command, a ghostly black knight galloped up a flight of stairs, ramming a white smoked foot soldier off the side of the board. The falling footsoldier gave a small cry as he fell, magically dissapereing before it touched the ground with a wisp of smoke. “Hmm”, Katherine inspected the board for her next move.

Cole took this time to talk to Rourke, “So why are we not going to this Gathering thing tonight”
Rourke finally looked away from window eyeing him coldly “Because, we want the Rogue King on our terms not theirs, anyways the elf said it was blocked by magical charms and even if we did get through, there’s the problem of so many hundred knights to deal with”

“Yeah, about that,… what keeps that elf spirit thing from lying to us” Another scream came forth from the magical board, Cole turned around just in time to see a small black cloud of smoke rise from the table. “What did you do?”, moving his eyes across each level of the board in concern, Katherine just gave another short smile, laughing softly.

Rourke moved his hand onto his brooch, “spirits don’t have a choice, they are bound to tell the truth”

Katherine looked up from the board, looking Rourke up and down. He stood straight with perfect posture, toned muscles trained to perfection, a man that had stood for nothing else then first place, the best of his craft. His soul was empty though, his mind old, hidden under his young adolescent features. She asked Rourke a unexpected direct question

“Was he more than you expected”
Rourke looked back, his eyes darkened, he didn’t have to be told who, “I admit he is powerful and not what I had expected” he took a moment to touch the magical brooch "now we are even playing fields"

“You have to admit, the card flying trick was pretty cool how he dissapered in all”
Rourke just gave him one of those looks, Cole knew those looks, those were the shut up Cole if you want to live looks, he quickly turned around back to the board

Cole made his move, speaking a silent enchantment, he watched his dark thief as it scurried up one of the ropes towards the second level, before it could reach the top a ghostly white archer, bent on a stairway between first and second level, picking him off with an arrow, the thief evaporating into smoke.

“Wha, bloody hell” Cole slapped his face, he was starting to wonder wether it was a good idea of asking Katherine to play wizards chess