Coureur – A Game of Fate

2nd story about the Coureur. Read the first

“How did we end up in this situation anyway?” said Ashlandis as she pushed human-sized chess piece, a rook piece on the chessboard in a straight line to line 6. “I.. I could tell you but.. You are the 1 that got us into this mess, ” Luna said hesitantly, looking down at the huge chess board from atop of a V-shaped library ladder. On the other side laid a dragon, Paithyss the wise. 

Ashlandis turned her head at Luna with an annoyed expression on her face – “yes yes miss ‘hey why don’t you guys take me treasure hunting I want this magic ball’, sure, blame the shift on me!” Luna sighed – “look.. I.. was told you are the best dragon hunting crew around and the artifact was said to be in a..” Ashlandis pointed at Paithyss on the other side of the huge chessboard on which she found herself – “yeah, in HIS lair!” 

Paithyss let out a low growl – “you surely did not expect to come to my lair, steal MY artifacts and get away without entertaining me?” said the dragon in an amused, but a bored tone as he moved a queen piece out of his line and put the previously moved rook in a dangerous situation – “Now tell me, how did you happen to come to this decision?” Ashlandis sighed  – “What now?” she looked around the board, but as one would expect, it was a little difficult to grasp the situation on a board when you are the size of the chess pieces. 

Luna stared at the board, lost in thought, focused on figuring out the next move, meanwhile Ashlandis proceeded to tell the dragon the story of how they ended up in his lair – “It was a sunny afternoon on a regular day. My Coureur and her crew were ready to set sail, we were waiting for someone though.” She pointed with her thumb over her shoulder at Luna – “We got orders from the hunting guild to escort that 1 in her…treasure search or something”

Paithyss smiled, as welcoming and kindly of a smile as a massive, building-sized, bored, deadly mythical creature such as himself could – “and?” Ashlandis continued – “Right, so we were to escort her on a mission we knew nothing about. I stood atop the rail of my Coureur, she was all fixed up after the last battle, and she was eager to set sail! The winds were in our favor, the skies were clear and the view was spectacular!” the dragon nodded – “Tell me more!”

“We were at the dragon hun..” she paused, gritted her teeth, and with fright in her eyes looked up at the mighty beast before her, he squinted – “I know, you humans hunt my kin, but most of the hunts are not for pleasure but due to threat.. My kin are not exactly friendly” He bared his fangs at her, each larger than her head would be, she shivered 

“rright.. So we were at the guild docks, a massive floating fortress that travels between continents! At an astonishing height of 500 meters, hosting upon it 4 sub-sections. Residence, farming, entertainment, and training grounds!” Dragon nodded in amusement – “views must be spectacular! How does it float?”

Ashalndis’s story was interrupted by luna – “Move pawn at B3 up” Ashlandis walked over to the pawn and pushed it ahead, and as she did, behind the pawn a trail of gold appeared. The dragon laughed in amusement – “my! What a curious move!” his gaze darted to the au’ra girl sitting atop the v-shaped ladder, overseeing the giant chessboard – “you are an amusing one, you’ll tell me a story as well!”

Ashlandis hesitantly looked at the gold and then back at the dragon – “so, it floats through the use of..” the dragon raised its claw in a ‘shushing’ gesture and grinned – “more prizes shall appear the more you entertain me, your desired artifact I will grant you if you beat me” 

Ashlandis knelt by the gold trail and picked it up coin by coin – “well, if you’re so generous, I shall not deny your gift! So, the guild island floats through the use of magitech! Combining magic, constant supply of mana, and technology to focus the mana into engines that produce thrust! And also, of course, hot air balloons, massive balloons! Redundancy is key in assuring safety of 10 000 hunters who are stationed at the base at all times!”  

The dragon let out a growling ‘hmmm’ “that many?” Ashlandis nodded, watching as he moved his queen to take the rook. As he tapped the rook with his queen, the rook’s piece disintegrated into dust and the dragon smirked – “how curious” Ashlandis looked over at luna – “Are you SURE you’re good at this?” Luna shrugged – “I.. uh… w..well usually!?? When I’m not sitting on top of a 5 meter ladder and battling a dragon that could kill us!”

“Continue!” demanded Paithyss as he rested his head on his paws, laying down. Ashlandis shrieked a little – “S..say.. How’s my crew?” Paithyss sighed – “They’re watching a dream, here, go check in on them” the dragon whispered something in a tongue that neither Luna nor Ashlandis could understand, or ever heard before. And just like that, Ashlandis found herself standing on a grass field, watching her crew play blitzball. 

“Here it COMES!” yelled her sternman as he pitched the ball. The cook hit it with his bat. The moment he hit it, the ball exploded into confetti, and at that moment, a shadow covered the ground. The crew looked up at the skies to see a massive meteorite heading towards them – “BAD PITCH! NEXT! NEXT NEXT NEXT!” shouted Ashlandis’s 2nd in command, her right-hand man. 

She sat down, remembering that the dragon said it was just a dream, and observed. The next pitcher was the navigator, weak throw, the batter was 1 of the hunters, a powerful precise swing. The ball exploded into confetti again. At the moment of the explosion, the earth shook, but the massive shadow and impending doom looming over them disappeared, and exploded into millions of tiny fragments which burned up in the atmosphere in the most spectacular light show one could imagine!

Ashlandis gasped – “What..?” and then she was brought back to the world where she stood on a giant chessboard, playing a game of chess against an ancient dragon. “Well?” groaned the dragon. She nodded – “they’re well..” he nodded – “indeed they are, for.. Now” Ashlandis’s expression changed slightly – “Where were we in the story?” 

Dragon pondered for a moment “10 thousand hunters at the guild?” Ashlandis nodded – “Right, the crews on standby are only 20, approximately 10 to 20 people per vessel. The rest of the people are just ever-rotating masses of hunters as they return, dock for repairs, rest, accept new quests and requests and set out again.” The dragon chuckled a rumbling, thunderous chuckle – “hahaha, you realize you’re telling your FOE about the strength of your guild, right?” 

Ashlandis’s eyes widened as she remembered that her life is at stake in this game, but then she grinned a confident grin at him – “I..well it’s been a tremendously pleasant chat with you, I almost forgot that normally you’d have killed me and my entire crew, were we to meet in the wild. So what? You plan to attack the hunter’s HQ?” Dragon shook his head – “NO, i’m not a f.. CAREFU…” his speech was interrupted by Luna who leaned too far on the ladder, causing it to tilt and fall on top of the dragon.

The dragon’s instincts called out to him, his reflexes fast as lightning! His response was “ouwwww” as the ladder impacted him on the head, and an au’ra girl landed on top of his head, rolling off his rough scales and down his neck to his back- “ow ow ow!!” whined Luna. Ashlandis, all the while, observed the clumsiness with an obvious look of disappointment – “You wouldn’t make it to the Coureur’s crew..” 

The dragon rose his head and turned his long neck, pushing the ladder aside which fell on the chessboard, shaking it up and moving some pieces around ever so slightly. He squinted at the au’ra on his back “Little missy, I am no horse, get off, NOW!” demanded the dragon.

 Luna was struck by fear and a moment of embarrassment – “i w..wasn’t.. I didn’t mean to of…of course you’re not a h..horse! What a silly… thing to uhhmm say!” At that moment, Ashlandis took her chance and considered trying to cheat by moving a piece or 2 over. 

Should she??

*****Audience Input*****

Lunamana Zhongxin: Hmm, it’s nothing i haven’t done before..

Presea Diamond: Oh oh, nope

Lumisael NoblefrostOdin: Absolutely not

Orlena Frex: Hell yeah!

Lumisael NoblefrostOdin: That dragon has the board memorized one hundred percent

Crashh Boi: Definitely don’t cheat a dragon

Orlena Frex: Ashy can certainly outsmart the way larger dragon!

Rapu Riverstone: Yeh naw

Leona Lucifra: So, you are a cheater, Luna?

Crashh Boi: but i guess the other audience members want her dead

Lunamana Zhongxin: I’m no cheater!

M’iyu Fhey: Cheating against an ancient smarty, that can only end bad

**********

Ashlandis decided against attempting to cheat and instead pushed the pieces into their rightful positions, the best she could. Luna jumped off the dragon hastily, apologizing a hundred times no less – “Sorry! I’m so sorry about that!” the dragon put the ladder back up and then turned, squinted as he scanned the board, then leaned his snout close to Ashlandis and let out a sigh, his giant, glassy, silver eyes, pierced into Ashlandis’s soul and deepest parts of her mind as she gulped.

“Mmmhh! You did not try to cheat?? Such a perfect opportunity! Very well, you’ve amused me once more little thing. I will return you 1 of crew, pick wisely for a lot is at stake.” Ashlandis pondered as to whom to return. Her 2nd in command seemed quite busy commanding people around in that dream.. Maybe a navigator could be a good idea? Or an engineer.. Somebody smart. She couldn’t recall anybody who was particularly good at chess in her crew though, it wasn’t a common game to play.

*****Audience Input*****

Lumisael NoblefrostOdin: That’s quite a hard choice not only for the possible expertise in chess…but also cause the others will witness someone assumingly disappear

Vikiridi Mikwel: i wonder!? dragon didn’t specify

Lunamana Zhongxin: I’d assume that’s the point of the offer

Presea Diamond: Obviously if there is a cute catgirl to free there is no real choice here

Vikiridi Mikwel smirks.

Misuzu TakaneCerberus: could use a cook

Orlena Frex: I have nothing to add to that.

You burst out laughing at Misuzu TakaneCerberus.

Vikiridi Mikwel: what the catgirl or the cook?

Misuzu TakaneCerberus: what if the cook is a catgirl?

Presea Diamond: Maybe a cute cook catgirl

Vikiridi Mikwel: any cook catgirls in the audience? presea is looking for 1

Orlena Frex: Catgirl obviously~

Leona Lucifra: An engineer would make sense. Unless a cook can sway the dragon with their skills?

Lumisael NoblefrostOdin: A cute cook catgirl who is good at chess?

Lunamana Zhongxin: I think an engineer makes most sense as well!

**********

“Quarterma.. ENGINEER” spoke Ashlandis, just to get interrupted by a shouting Luna who was in process of nervously climbing up the ladder again. “Engineers fix things, not strategi..” “YEA! Well maybe he can fix this ladder!” Ashlandis sighed – “Quartermaster of my crew, Winfred!” Dragon nodded and whispered something, once again in a tongue they didn’t understand, a spell of sorts. 

Before her, on the chessboard, on top of a piece, appeared Winfred, mid-swing, he swung his empty hands, lost balance, and fell over, toppling over a pawn piece he had spawned on top of. The dragon laughed in amusement – “So then, you set out on a journey to..” Winfred looked around – “Wait hold your horses! Huh?? Where am I capt?” 

She turned and gestured him to be silent – “Luna presented us with a map..” Winfred turned to see the massive dragon, stumbled backward, fell over again, and scrambled away until his back was against another chess piece. The dragon ignored the frightened man, his focus was on captain Ashlandis. 

“She presented us with a map she had obtained from scholars, designating the dragon lair with hidden artifacts, and thus my Coureur set sail with a…” her glance darted at Luna – “Clumsy yet pretty adventurer at our side”. Luna, hearing that, almost fell off the ladder again – “Aahh!? Eh? Uhmm!” she coughed – “Game uhh.. Windread? Come here..” the quartermaster got up slowly, knees shaking – WinFRED!”

Ashlandis shrugged at him – “I’ll explain later, but all our lives are at stake quartermaster Winfred, WIN US THE GAME!” she ordered. He nodded – “aye aye capt, wouldn’t be the first impossible thing you had me do..” he rushed over and climbed the ladder from the other side, overlooking the board and sighing, all the while Ashlandis continued her story, entertaining the dragon with her descriptions and the adventures they had on their way to Paithyss’s lair. The storms and difficulties they had to overcome. 

“Nay capt we’re screwed! Nice knowing ya!” Ashlandis looked up at the ladder – “WINFRED! WIN! US! THE! GAME! Or I’ll have you hanging off the bow of the Coureur during A STORM!” The man shivered at the mere thought of that punishment – “Queen diagonal to H6” Luna looked at the board – “uhh… that will” he nodded – “yeah but then” he leaned and whispered something in her ear. The dragon, amused, watched as Ashlandis put her full trust in her crew member and did as he suggested.

The dragon quickly killed the queen with a bishop. In response to this, a few more, seemingly random moves which Luna and Winfred discussed in whispers led to that same bishop getting baited and killed. Dragon grinned – “Three vs 1 isn’t fair, let’s SPICE THINGS UP A LITTLE!” he whispered once more, and a few tiles on the board fell through into a seemingly endless fall into the void. He smirked – “now, how well will your strategy work?”

Ashlandis frowned – “Hey! That’s not fair!” Luna sighed – “did not expect the famous wise dragon to be such a cheater” He grinned – “Oh no no, no no no! I am not cheating, merely giving you a CHALLENGE!” Winfred laughed – “I’ll give YE a challenge if ya bring our crew and ship and our hunters shove lances where they don’t belong!” Ashlandis barked at him a commanding order- “STOP!” He quickly shut up and proceeded to analyze the board. 

The dragon smirked for a minute – “No no… he’s onto something! How about it?” He whispered once more, and in a bright flash, they found themselves aboard the courier, a whole fleet of hunter’s vessels, the battlefield was above an ocean, a raging storm all around them! Around the dragon, swarms and other dragons appeared. He himself had a giant crown on his head. 

The dragon’s voice rumbled through the battlefield – “Ah! Right! Captain Ashlandis, Quartermaster Winfred, and adventurer Luna, UP YOU GO!” and suddenly the three stood atop a platform hovering well above the battlefield, in the same arrangement as the chessboard they had been at a moment ago. Before them, a smaller board appeared. 

And so the game went onwards. “Pawn B5” the quick strike vessel moved forth on the battlefield below, it quickly found itself engaging a dragon queen, and the vessel was destroyed without much chance for resistance, a quick strike vessel is meant to chase and take down smaller, agile targets. Manned by merely 5 men, it was no competition to an elder dragon it came against. Smaller drakes were killed, and vessels were lost

The board was down to a king, queen, 3 pawns, and a rook from the dragon’s side. 2 Pawns, a king which the Coureur represented, a rook, and a bishop from the hunter’s side. The dragon’s voice echoed through the battlefield once more – 

3 pawns

Rook

Queen

King

VS

2 pawns

King

Rook

bishop

“Ahh! Important to mention, these are REAL people you’re playing with the lives of. Oh, I guess I should have said that before you sacrificed so many, in your sneaky strategy” His laughter rumbled like thunder, echoing through the skies and the silence of the battlefield. Ashlandis bit her lip, hard enough to puncture the skin, blood dripped from her lip, but not a word escaped her mouth. 

Winfred watched his captain playing with the lives of her fellow hunters. He opened his mouth in an attempt to calm her down, but couldn’t bring himself to speak up. Luna, seeing his hesitation stepped up, placed her hand on Ashy’s shoulder and smiled a hesitant, worried smile – “Hunters are doing what they’re meant to do.. Battling their foe against all odds.” Ashlandis turned to glance at her. If looks could kill, Luna would be dead, fortunately, that is not the case. 

Luna squeezed her shoulder harder instead – “Captain.. We must continue this wretched game of life and death” Ashlandis only gave her a nod, a confident and cold nod. Even more, blood dripped from her lip as her firm gaze fixated on the dragon – “Kill! THAT! BASTARD!! COUREUR MOVE FORTH 1 STEP!” 

Winfred winced at her decision – “Cap.. uh.. Do..don’t move the king unless absolutely necessary!” Ashlandis glared at him – “THEN YOU COMMAND!” Winfred gulped – “uhm.. Ye..yea.” In that moment, as they lost another pawn and responded by taking out a pawn from the dragons, something hit Ashlandis on the back of her head. 

At it hit her head, it exploded into confetti. She angrily turned and gazed at Winfred who just shrugged and pointed down at the Coureur. On board the Courier, her crew stood, grinning confidently at her while looking up. Her 2nd in command was tossing a blitzball between his hands – “MAY THE FATE BE IN YOUR FAVOR CAPTAIN!! AND IN TURN, OUR FATES ARE IN YOUR HANDS AS ALWAYS!” 

She noticed that the dragon’s rook, twisted, turned, and flew straight across, killing instantly 1 of their own 2 remaining pawns. The dragon’s rook piece, on the board before them, turned color to white. Winfred swiftly moved their own rook into a position to assist the newly turned dragon, but also to trap it, should its color change again. Paithyss grinned madly – “FASCINATING!” 

He whispered something and the dragon turned normal once more. The Coureur’s 2nd in command pitched the blitzball with all his might at 1 of their own ships, it disappeared, in its place, at the back lines of the board, a queen appeared, a hunter carrier, a ship designed as a mobile base with mighty firepower. Replacing their bishop. The dragon grinned- “who’s cheating now?”

Their rook instantly took out the turned dragon rook. Leaving the dragons with 1 pawn, a queen and a king left on the board. Luna suggested moving the queen straight to the middle of the field, from there she could attack just about anything, but Winfred proceeded with more caution. Trying to make sure the dragon queen was powerless as the dragon scrambled to defend himself, the king on the field. 

Some shuffling later as the pieces moved around the board for the next few hours in an intense waltz of trying to outsmart each other and not lose any more forces, and at last the dragon lost his pawn, and then the queen fell victim to the trap set up by the cunning duo of Luna and Winfred. And suddenly, just as before, they found themselves standing on the giant chessboard in a cave where they had been before. The dragon smiled a satisfied smile – “That was a phenomenal game of chess” 

Ashlandis gritted her teeth, trying not to let the anger and sadness take control – “So..many were lost..” She stared at the dragon – “We won I take it?” The dragon smiled – “Not so fast little ones.” His size shrunk and he walked over the board towards Ashlandis – “Slay the king, and win your prize” Her thoughts filled with naught but anger and bloodlust to spill the blood of the creature that had just killed so many hunters. 

A sword appeared in her hand, and she brought it to his neck – “You foul beast.. Caused so many deaths! You..” she gritted her teeth and bright her hand back, in an arching swing she swung her body around, putting momentum and her weight into the swing as she brought it at an angle towards the dragon’s neck. The beast smiled, as the blade barely scratched the scales on his neck, she turned on her foot and cut a king’s chess piece in half. 

She dropped the sword and turned – “The king.. Has been slain..” Her body shook, as did her voice. Tears rolled down her cheeks – “In a fair match the lives were lost, but you kept your word.” The dragon returned to its original size, his voice rumbled through the cave, shaking the ground as he laughed and laughed and laughed – “YOU! FOOL!” He walked around and lowered his head, bringing his snout almost right up against Ashlandis – “But an honorable one” 

He pulled back – “You earned your prize little one, and now, you make awake” just like that, Ashlandis jumped up from her bunk, hitting her head on the ceiling above, and then slowly rolled off her bed – “Awhh! Wha? What?” Upon exiting her quarters and talking with the crew, she learned that all had seen the same dream. The blitzball in the field, the battlefield against the dragons. The chess game too was seemingly a dream. Upon returning to her quarters, she saw a pearl on the bed, or, to be more precise, a blitzball. 

She picked it up and heard the dragon’s voice – “Reward you sought and fought so bravely for. Your composure amused me and your stories entertained me, but should this be misused, reality will be so much worse than those dreams. You have been warned” And just like that, the crew of Courer, returned to the guild, bringing along.. Absolutely nothing. Ashlandis chose to hide the artifact in face of the warning she had received.

———
Did you find all 4 trials the dragon put Ashlandis through?
Read if you think you have
1 The test of honesty – will she cheat when the opportunity arises?
2 test of patience – will she keep playing when the dragon removed fields from the board?
3 test of courage – will she continue the game and maintain composure when lives of her fellow men are at stake?
4 test of honor – will she kill him despite being uncertain of the deaths the drag may or may not have caused? He tells her ‘slay the king’

Do you want to read more about the Coureur and Captain Ashlandis? Then have a look at When two oceans meet