Lucius Orlock was a quiet man. The group of three adventurers soon found that out. They made it to the nearest village, just on the edge of the forest of fireflies.

The first thing they did was go to the nearest inn and rent rooms. The boys got one for themselves, and Lucius and Diana each got a separate room. Lucius because they wanted to butter him up so that he could in turn butter his father, and Diana because it would not have been proper otherwise.

The night was pleasant and warm inside the inn, but bitter cold outside it. The adventurers were all huddled in front of the big fireplace downstairs, and they were making plans for what they needed to do.

“We have to take a wagon. Lucius barely made it here.” Said Diana.

“True, he is rather weak. And we need to get him new clothes. But there is no seamstress in the village. I already asked.” Said Dereck.

“Maybe the innkeeper could spare a set? He is of a similar build to Lucius.” Said Elmar. The size wouldn’t be the problem, but the innkeeper had fleeced them for all he could when they were renting the rooms. The chance that he would demand a big sum again for something as simple as clothes was too great.

“Maybe one of the villagers can spare a set?” Asked Dereck. The villagers were better off than expected. There were bound to be people of Lucius’ size among them too.

“Ok, tomorrow, Diana, you take Lucius and ask around for clothes. Dereck and I will go search for a caravan that goes towards the capital.” Said Elmar. He extended his hand, palm up. Two hands were placed over his own.

With the agreement made, the three realized how tired they were. Elmar yawned and he stood up.

“Well, goodnight. See you both tomorrow.” He said, and then he began to climb towards his room. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was asleep. And yet not.

Inside the dream, he opened his eyes and saw the land of plenty. There was a board in front of him placed on a table with elephant and soldier figurines on top of it.

Another puzzle, this one of the mind. Elmar was sure. He regarded the elephants and pawns. The elephants were black and the soldiers white.

“Chess has more pieces, Hades.” Called Elmar, but nothing answered him. An elephant moved in a straight line, as if it was a pawn. Two paces it made and stopped.

“They are not equal in strength.” Said Elmar to himself. “And yet, they are pawns. But there is a difference between a pawn and a pawn. An elephant can take out a lot more soldiers than the soldiers elephants. Hades has the blacks, so I need to win with the whites.”

Elmar picked up a solder from the back row and moved him like a horse. Then the soldier become alive and hopped back to the starting position.

“Hades, this is unfair. Your pawns are stronger than mine.” Said Elmar. Again, there was no answer. He moved a soldier one step so that he could be protected by two other pawns and waited for Hades’ next move.

The same elephant from before moved two more paces. Then it roared, issuing a challenge. What Elmar needed was to get a single soldier to the end of the elephant line. Then the pawn would become Queen, or rather King, in his case.

He moved the right soldier to the first one, he moved one step forward, so now the first soldier was protecting it. Then the black elephant did something unexpected. It moved two paces diagonally.

“That is cheating! What are you trying to teach me?” Asked Elmar. Silence.

Elmar tried to move his soldiers diagonally too but found that he could not. This game was all wrong. The whites were supposed to start, yet the blacks did so. The elephants looked like rocks, yet they moved like pawns and bishops. What was the lesson in this?

“Are you trying to tell me to cheat?” Asked Elmar, now completely losing his patience. “Then I won’t play, since I can’t anyway. You win. Come out now, Hades.”

The board melted into the table and blue flames appeared. From them came Hades. He looked disappointed.

“You are going to the Imperial court. Everyone will try to cheat a life-extending ring from you there for next to nothing in return. The duke included. You need to learn how to cheat without cheating, Elmar.” Said Hades. Two chairs appeared at the table, and he sat down. Elmar followed suit.

“I was taught not to lie.” Said Elmar. This all left an unpleasant taste in his mouth. All these games that Hades played. What was the point?

“The point is that I know how to play the Great Game and I try to teach you. You prove to be a subpar student. You could have exchanged your soldiers for dragons and then moved them like Queens. Then my elephants would have been defeated.” Said Hades. Elmar sighed.

“I tried to move the soldiers like bishops. It didn’t work. How do I exchange them for dragons?”

“By asking, my boy. No one knows how powerful you are. Yourself included. Ask and you shall receive. You are my champion. There are few lines that are forbidden for you to cross.” Said Hades. He waved his hand and the board appeared again. This time with had regular chess pieces.

“Do you know how to play at all?”

“I do. You don’t need to teach me. Until when do we play?” Asked Elmar, moving a pawn one pace.

“Until you wake up. One can learn plenty from chess. Unless, you are bad at math. Then you will be bad at chess too. Queen to dragon Queen.” Said Hades and the Queen piece turned to a dragon. He moved it and took the pawn that Elmar had moved.

So, Hades wanted to cheat even now? Well, Elmar could cheat too.

“Pawns to dragon slayers!” Said Elmar and his pawns became rougher. Hades smiled at him. Despite Elmar’s best efforts, Hades still won. When Elmar woke up, he groaned and buried his face into his pillow. Here’s to a failed test.