The Brave Rook

[DungeonMaster]

A wizard sits across the table
From a ghost; they're playing chess.
Minds intertwined like the strands of a braid
With every moment they fill with duress.

The first move was a pawn,
The next one was a knight,
Then the queen took the board,
And the ghost began to fight.

The pawns marched forward
Across crystalline board,
And with each passing second,
The wizard's army outpoured.

The wall of pawns was nearly in place
When the wizard drew the first blood.
The knight he sent impaled the poor pawn
And stomped him down into the mud.

Then the pawn behind him grew enraged and attacked,
Taking the knight by surprise on a flank.
And the cavalry fell, pinned down by his horse
Already, the heavily armored horseman stank.

The pawn drew out his pike,
But was soon taken aback
As the bishop ruched across the field
In a wild, fanatic attack.

Blood was spilt for three hours that day
Until the poor crystalline board was red.
Shattered pieces lay on the floor,
But still both kings held onto their head.

It was down to a knight and a king for the ghost
And a stately bishop to top off the few.
But under the wizard's control there were five,
Two bishops, a king, and both the rooks too.

Slowly they closed in,
Then the knight took to suicide.
He took down both the bishops,
Before he finally died.

Standing on his cold remains,
Was the dark and infamous king.
With double rooks at front and flank,
The three of them sarted to sing.

So full of himself, the black king was,
That he forgot about the priest.
He sent his rook to trap the king in.
It was put down like a lame beast.

In the wake of demise the black king did mourn,
But the battle was far from its end.
The rook took down the last white priest
Leaving the king in the bend.

So desperately that king did try
To kill the spirited rook,
But in the end, alas it ran
And the king was cornered and took.

The blood dripped down to the feet of the players,
Who both sat in shock at the side.
But then the black king went to the side
Of his brother, the white king and cried.

He told a sad tale of their rivalry and
Then he drew forth his dagger and called,
"So help me god, I'll burn forever
For the betrayal that this day has falled."

With that he plunged the dagger deep in
To the heart still beating inside him.
Leaving the rook, the last standing witness
Of this battle hat had been so grim.

He stood there in shock, then cleaned up the field,
And two brand new brothers stepped in.
Everyone else in the battle quaked fear,
But the brave rook, his face held a grin.