Checkmate, Sister
Checkmate, Sister
The study in the abandoned house felt like a tomb. Its walls were lined with dusty bookshelves that seemed to groan under the weight of so much forgotten
history. The shine of the moon filtered through cracks of several boarded windows. It cast many long silver beams of natural light across the antique oak desk where the chessboard sat like a field of battle, waiting to be fought on.
The air was thick. It was stale, carrying the musty scent of old leather, mildew and the lingering perfume of dried roses and aged mahogany. Motes of dust hover through the lights and the floorboards would creak every time anyone would take a step, and it echoed like ghost from the past. Orishirishi sat across from her sister. Her restored body was a vision of cold beauty. Long silver hair cascaded down her back like liquid moonlight, her golden eyes sharp and predatory. The chessboard was already moving, but it didn’t stop the demoness from stating the restlessness of her mind toward what they were doing.
Orishirishi’s golden eyes narrowed. “You think this game will decide anything? I have waited centuries for this moment—when I would finally take back what you robbed me of. I will crush you.”
Moriah smiled, slow and dangerous. “You said that last time too, sister. You lost that time too. And yet here we are again. Enough talk. Play, sister. Or are you afraid to be bested once again by your better?”
Orishirishi moved again—a white pawn sliding forward two spaces with a soft click. “I am not afraid of you. I never have been. You stole my victory in the Underworld. You always take what is mine, but this time I will take it back.”
Moriah responded immediately, moving her own pawn two steps forward. “I earned what I took, never once did I steal it. You were always the weaker one. The jealous one. The one who could never accept her place, and that place was beneath me.”
The game continued, piece by piece. Orishirishi captured a knight early, her smile widening. “See? Already you bleed. Just like the old days when Father favored me.”
Moriah laughed softly, capturing a bishop in return. “Father favored no one, you delusional rat. He used us both. He used everyone of our siblings. You were always too emotional. Too desperate. Too eager for things you weren’t ready for. That is why you lost… and that’s why you’ll lose even now.”
Orishirishi’s golden eyes flashed with rage. “Desperate? I built an empire in Hell while you played games on Earth. I defeated legions of demons who were paired against me and I survived encounters with angels. I forged weapons from souls and blood. You? You hide behind curses and borrowed bodies.”
Moriah moved her queen aggressively, threatening Orishirishi’s rook. “And yet I am the Tormentor here. I have ruled Greenly Bay for decades. You? You ran back to Hell with your tail between your legs. You lost to me and I sit on the playground that you covet.”
The tension in the room thickened. Orishirishi captured the queen with a pawn, her voice dripping with venom. “I will take this town from you. That is what this entire battle is for after all. I will make every soul scream your name as they die. You will be nothing but a forgotten memory.”
Moriah’s crimson eyes burned brighter. She moved a knight, forking two pieces. “You always talk big, sister. But when the Taskmaster called, you crumbled. You always crumble.”
Orishirishi slammed a piece down, capturing another. “I will not crumble this time. I have my body back. My power. My daggers. You will beg for mercy before I am done. I assure you this.”
Moriah countered, her voice low and mocking. “Mercy? From you? You who mixed souls with blood and fire to make toys? You are a child playing at being a queen. I am the queen. And you have disrupted my reign long enough. Your insolence that you hold so proudly… It will no longer be tolerated.”
The game swung back and forth. Orishirishi gained the upper hand, capturing several pieces in quick succession. “See? I am stronger. I always was. Father knew it. The Taskmaster knew it. You were just a lucky thief that stole my place.”
Moriah’s smile never faded. She sacrificed a rook to open a devastating line. “Stole? I claimed what you could not hold. You are weak. Emotional. Predictable. Stop your whining and accept your nature.”
Orishirishi’s hand hovered over the board, trembling with rage. “Predictable? I will end you here. On this board. In this town. Everywhere.”
Moriah moved her bishop, putting Orishirishi in check. “Check.”
The word hung in the air like a death sentence. Orishirishi’s golden eyes widened. She moved her king, but Moriah was already closing in.
“You cannot win,” Moriah said softly. “You never could.”
Orishirishi captured another piece, but it was too late. Moriah’s pieces closed in like wolves. The game reached its climax—Orishirishi with only three pieces left, Moriah with two, but hers far more powerful and positioned perfectly.
Orishirishi panicked. Her hand shook as she moved her last knight. “This is not over. It cannot be. I will not lose to you again.”
Moriah moved her queen. “Checkmate, sister.”
The word fell like a hammer. Orishirishi stared at the board, her golden eyes wide with disbelief and fury. She had lost. Her King had been put in checkmate and there wre no more moves to make on the board.
Moriah leaned back, smiling triumphantly. “You lose. Again. Leave my hunting ground. Return to the Underworld in shame.”
Orishirishi stood abruptly, grabbing her daggers from the table. “I will not!”
She lunged at Moriah, blades flashing. But vines of pure Hellfire erupted from the floor, wrapping around her wrists and holding her hands fast. The daggers dropped to the ground with a clatter. Orishirishi screamed in rage as the earth opened beneath her, sucking her down into a crack that sealed itself with a final, deafening boom.
Moriah remained seated, looking at the daggers on the floor. She smiled softly. “Goodbye, sister. Forever.”
She stood, leaving the daggers where they lay, and walked out of the house, eager to resume her onslaught on the town of Greenly Bay.