564 The Queen’s Gambit
“You should use another one of your pets. Maybe Glitz would know.”
Elena shut him up with a sharp glare. “I can’t stand seeing my pets getting hurt anymore. I’ll take my chances.”
Ren shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
Ren watched as Elena’s frustration grew, her determination to find the correct hole intensifying. He could see the conflict within her, torn between her desire to protect her beloved pets and her eagerness to overcome the puzzle.
Finally, in a fit of anger and impatience, she impulsively used her whip to halt the spinning urn. Ren’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at her audacious move.
“Is that allowed?” Ren asked her, but his eyes were on the Wizard.
The Wizard overseeing the trial remained silent, neither approving nor disapproving of Elena’s actions. Elena’s frustration turned into a mischievous grin as she interpreted the Wizard’s silence as acceptance.
“Ha! No objections, huh? Looks like I found a loophole!”
Ren could only shake his head with a wry smile on his face.
As the urn came to a sudden stop, the once chaotic spinning motion ceased. Elena’s eyes scanned the holes, her mind racing to recall the one Tiki had entered earlier. But to her dismay, the memory eluded her. Frustration threatened to consume her once more.
“You need help?” Ren asked.
“I got this,” she replied snappily.
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Her nose picked up a scent, a familiar scent that she didn’t pick before because of the spinning. Poison! There was one hole that didn’t’ smell of poison, and she knew that the Scorpion didn’t resided in that one.
She pointed towards a particular hole with a cocksure smile. “I choose this one! I have a feeling it’s the right one.”
Ren didn’t comment and stared at the Wizard for the right answer.
Elena took a deep breath, her hand trembling slightly as she extended it towards the chosen hole. The air seemed to hold its breath as her fingertips made contact. Time stood still for a brief moment, and then, to their relief, no venomous strike came forth.
“Yes! I did it! The right hole!”
A mixture of relief and triumph washed over her as she withdrew her hand unscathed. The Wizard’s silence seemed to confirm her success. Elena couldn’t contain her joy, a jubilant laugh escaping her lips.
“Haha! Did you see that, Ren? I found the way! We’re one step closer!”
“It’s only one puzzle. We have more ahead.”
Elena’s smile fell. “Can you just pretend to be happy for once?”
Ren didn’t rise to her words and instead watched as the doors opened before their eyes.
“Great job, you have passed the first test. You may now enter the White Queen’s domain,” the Wizard said and disappeared.
Ahead of them lay an expansive dragon chessboard, its mesmerizing black and white marble tiles stretching into the distance. The translucent chess pieces, ethereal and glowing, adorned select tiles as if a game of epic proportions was unfolding under the watchful gaze of unseen giants.
However, even to an untrained eye like Ren, the arrangement of the pieces seemed nonsensical. They were haphazardly scattered across the board, defying any logical strategy or pattern.
The room before them stretched 40 feet by 40 feet, its expanse filled with a mesmerizing arrangement of black and white marble tiles. Each tile measured 5 feet by 5 feet, forming a captivating checkerboard pattern across the floor.
Mirroring this intricate design, identical tiles adorned the ceiling, positioned 20 feet above them. The air crackled with enchantment as some of these tiles shimmered with concealed power, charged with the arcane energy of lightning.
Above the marbled floor, illusory chess pieces hovered, their semi-transparent forms casting ethereal shadows on the polished tiles below. The room’s layout offered only one route to traverse — the path across the chessboard. An entrance beckoned from one side while the promise of an exit awaited at the other.
“Caution and precision are paramount, for any misstep upon an enchanted tile or the space between the floor and ceiling would trigger a perilous trap,” Elena told Ren before she went ahead.
Ren was going to stop her, but Elena was fuelled by her confidence in her previous win and fearlessly stepped onto the chessboard.
A sudden and blinding pillar of lightning descended upon her. In an instant, lightning pillars surge forth, stretching from the ground to the ceiling, engulfing the area with crackling bolts of energy.
Elena’s life was instantly half, and she was pushed back off the board. The acrid stench of burnt flesh permeated the air, a haunting reminder of the danger that lurked within this perplexing puzzle.
Elena blinked, trying to clear her head from the aftermath of the lightning strike. She could feel the tingling remnants of the electrical surge coursing through her body. Ren’s concerned voice cut through the haze.
“You okay?” Ren asked, his worry evident in his tone.
Elena shook her head vigorously, attempting to dispel the lingering disorientation. The ringing in her ears slowly faded, replaced by the sound of her own voice.
“I’m fine,” she replied, her tone laced with a hint of embarrassment. She instinctively reached within herself, drawing upon her healing abilities to mend her wounded body.
With a renewed sense of vitality, Elena straightened her posture and flashed a wolfish grin at Ren, masking her momentary lapse in caution. “Just a little careless,” she admitted, her words laced with a touch of self-deprecating humor. “But I’ve learned my lesson. No more missteps from now on.”
Ren doubted that. “Let me take care of this.”
“You sure?” Elena blinked rapidly, crackling of electricity sometimes sparkled around her.
“I’m sure.” Ren analyzed the chessboard before him.
The enigma of the misplaced pieces and the lethal nature of certain tiles posed a formidable challenge.
Stepping onto an enchanted tile meant risking the wrath of the lightning pillars. Each pair of activated tiles generated a formidable column of electrical power. To withstand this onslaught, they had to rely on their agility and reflexes, striving to evade the searing current, which was near impossible.