《The Orderly Powergame (Dodeca's Short Stories)》


 A Girl and The Dragon

    ?As the village chief, I sentence thee to the mercy of the dragon.¡± said the man in a farmer¡¯s outfit. Beside him was most of the village, 2 children in particular both crying but stopping themselves from looking her in the eyes. Looking the witch in the eyes, their former sister. The socalled witch, was a 6 years old girl. Her hair was blonde, contrary to his brothers¡¯ whose were brown. She wore a simple robe made of something akin to a potato bag. The allegation held little truth though. The tiny girl did not understand the weight of her sentence, that she was wronged, that she was being punished even! She was just woken up and dragged out here. No one answered her when she asked for her mommy. She was feeling weirded out, but then was left there in the cave. She looked around, ?Must be an adventure!¡± she thought.


    The more she walked into the cave, the more dank and dark it got. The deeper she walked into the cave, the louder the snores were. Deep and menacing snores. As her little feet walked down the cave, she finally hit resistence. She looked up. As the large thing started to move, torches came alive. It was a gigantic black dragon! It was at least 50 times bigger than her! Fear and realization hit her. She realized her fate. The dragon¡¯s mouth closing in. She didn¡¯t close her eyes, she couldn¡¯t. Her eyes darted around- Whatever will she do?! She noticed something, and spoke up before her time came.


    ?Mister Dragon, your eyes are so pretty!¡± she shouted enthusiastically. The dragon staggered back to his back feet. Him? Called beautiful by a human? How odd. He regained his composure and asked, ?Whatever could you mean human child?¡±.


    ?They are pretty! What could I mean by that? Let¡¯s see¡­ Beautiful! Err¡­ Beautifuller than my family¡¯s!¡± she said. Her voice was filled with genuinity. The dragon was confused. ?It wasn¡¯t a tactic to make him not eat her? She genuinely thought that was a good idea to do in the face of death? Even claiming her family¡¯s eyes are worse looking¡­ What a strange girl.¡± What a strange girl indeed.


    He decided not to eat her, he¡¯ll need some apetizers anyways, this one child won¡¯t be enough to satisfy his hunger. Were those excuses? Were those unbiased thoughts? Only god knows the answer to that. What he was thinking about was how could anyone let a child be treated like this. However he could guess. The monologue the socalled Village Chief kept going on about, was about how she scared her mother and her mother was convinced that she was a witch! And to save her two sons, she needed to get rid of this sinner. Though based on what he said, it was evident that her mother and her step father didn¡¯t want a piece of a broken marriage looming around their house.


    He laid his body on the ground. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, he needed to sleep. However, a certain someone kept nagging him. She finally stopped and gave him peace. After about 10 minutes, the child spoke up.


    ?Mister Dragon! I found these eggs, could you prepare them? Let¡¯s see, I kinda like them boiled but I can¡¯t see any water nearby, how about-¡± kept monologueing the child. The dragon looked up and saw something horrifying. Those weren¡¯t regular bird eggs, they were his and his beloved¡¯s eggs! How dare she?! Handling these miracles like filthy bird eggs! ?How dare you? You human tragedy! These are my eggs! My children will hatch from that! I¡­ I didn¡¯t even eat you! I let you go! Yet you treat me to this?! Ungrateful brat! Leave my cave!¡± The dragon shouted. The girl was in tears. He realized his mistake, but it was too late anyways. That night, he kept making excuses for himself, like the girl being a menace.


    To his horror the next day he awoke to a child humming. A very familiar voice. He quickly snapped his head to check if his eggs were safe. They were. They were being protected by a layer of leaves, and a dirt pillow to keep them warm. The girl was hugging the egg, slightly drooling on them. Humming a children¡¯s melody. Even to the untrained eye, it was evident the girl worked hard on making the dirt pillows and the leaf layer. Her hand¡¯s skin hardened up, and she had rings under he eyes. The craftsmanship was also belowpar, but the dragon didn¡¯t mind.


    His delusions about her were broken. They had to be. This child is no brat, no menace. She¡¯s just young and inexperienced. The dragon smiled as he remembered his time as a tiny addition to his family. After a few hours the girl finally awoke. Expecting the dragon to shout at her again, she started to apologize, but contrary to her belief the dragon actually asked her, ?You have done my children great service. You may have one thing that I can obtain.¡±. He felt bad about shouting at her last night, so he had to make up.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The girl looked confused, then it turned to embarassment. The beast reassured her that anything is fine. The girl finally spoke up. ?Can I¡­ Can I fly on your back?¡± she asked nervously. The dragon was astonished. Shouldn¡¯t she wish for something grand? Well, it matters not to him. If this is her heart¡¯s will, he will complete it. The dragon lowered his head to the ground. The child still had trouble getting on, but managed. Soonafter, the dragon took off. The girl couldn¡¯t compare this to anything. This feeling, was truly magical. She felt free, no longer confined by the constraints of a two dimensional and mean world. They reached seemingly the peak of the world, above the clouds. She felt as if her lungs were having trouble, but she didn¡¯t mind. All good things come to an end though, and so did this. To her surprise the dragon landed near a lake. She asked him if she could sleep here for a bit.


    The dragon agreed to it, and said that it was his plan to make her sleep here anyways. The girl was a tad confused, but gracefully fell asleep. While she was dreamingof flying more with the dragon, and having a good time with him, the dragon flew back to his cave. Leaving all the nescassaties to survive for a month at the side of the girl. He knew it was the best for her. He knew it was the best for himself. A day passed. He slept in as there was no one to wake him up.


    Another one passed. He went for a hunting trip as he was bored. What a weird thing that flying felt so confining this time. Another day passed, then another, yet another day passed before a figure came walking into the cave. A figure clothed fully in rain water, and her eyes visibly crying. The child found her way back to the cave and she asked the dragon, ?Why did you leave me there! I¡­ I thought¡­ I¡­ Jerk!¡±. The dragon was visibly distressed. This was very embarassing, but why did he feel so comfortable like he was back at home? The dragon put his gigantic finger next to her, it was as big as her tiny body. The child hugged hugged the finger.


    As if her soul left her body, she collapsed while still hugging his finger. She was saying over and over in her sleep ?Don¡¯t leave me¡­ not again¡­ not like the village chief¡­¡±. The dragon sighed, he thought she couldn¡¯t understand the subtext. He was right. He yawned as he went to sleep too. As the dragon awoke, he realized something was burning. He looked around, the dragon was no fool. He knew a large fire could make him suffocate in a cave with such a little opening and no ventilation. Since he couldn¡¯t find the source, he started making ventilation by flapping his wings.


    Suddenly, a tiny figure approached and started to go on and on about how irresponsible that was and how he ruined their breakfast. He knocked the makeshift pot over with his wings¡¯ flapping. The prideful dragon contrary to what he usually does, he lowered his head and apologized. His punishment was using his flames to keep the ?soup¡± cooking. The soup itself turned out bitter as expected. It only had a type of blue grass, meat and¡­ large eggs? He looked back to his nest, his eggs were intact. Wherever could she have gotten that? The dragon thanked her for the uhh¡­ ?meal¡±, and went back to sleep. The night was already out by the time he was woken up yet again by the girl.


    She was feeling homesick. ?Can¡¯t you take me back to the village and help my family get out of the village? They must be feeling terrible under the chief who took me!¡± she exclaimed worriedly. The beast could only sigh. He forbid her from going back to the village. He told her, ?Do not go back child. It will only end in hardships.¡±. The girl, didn¡¯t act as he expected her to. She agreed, though she did have quite the stubborn face. They both went to sleep.


    When he awoke he was greeted with nothing. The girl wasn¡¯t there. He looked frantically, what happened?! He took to the air, he looked near the lake, near to woods, in the woods, in the lake, on the trees, everywhere. Only one place was left unchecked in this valley.


    The village. The dragon sighed. ?Foolish girl¡± he thought. He went back to his cave to sleep however someone ran into the cave in the middle of the night. The dragon looked up, at first he could only see a silhoutte as outside of the cave the village was loud and bright. As his eyes adjusted he realized it was the child. However, much to his dismay her body was in a terrible shape.


    Her pale skin was now filled with black and purple bruises, even bleeding at some places. Her clothes like they were completely torn and her face was just terrible, she was missing an eye. Was she stoned and beat? She looked up to the dragon with pleading eyes. The dragon was confused, what could she ask? She wanted to ask, but she was visibly anxious to ask. The dragon reassured her, ?Anything is fine to ask, just ask please.¡±.


    The child only spoke a sentence, ?Take me flying again like last time, but this time make me sleep forever¡­¡±. The dragon understood, he complied. He never in his life felt so in shackles while flying. They landed near the lake in the forest. The dragon opening his mouth, preparing to bite. The girl spoke one last time, ?Your eyes really are the prettiest.¡±. The dragon bit down. The girl met his fate the world destined her to. To be abandoned by those who she thought were her family. His eyes filling with tears. He spoke one thing before going back to his cave. ?Yours will always be more beautiful.¡±.


    END

 Everything Starts With A Lovely Game of Chess

    In a large room, under a bright light sat a humming little girl. She would have to be around 9 years old, her hair black and her iris white. Her legs were swinging below the chair as she was seemingly bored. Suddenly a door opened revealing a very, very bright room and a middleaged man. He had brown hair, a baige vest, blue eyes and khakicoloured pants. He was filled with regret as she saw the girl. The girl on the other hand was beaming. In front of her, the chess board and on the other side of the magnificiently crafted table, was another beautiful wooden chair.


    As the man sat down, the girl finally talked, ?How much can you give?¡±. The man looked in his pocket, the money jiggling and hitting eachother. He only took out one coin which had a silver tinge to it. The girl looked surprised, ?Surely you jest.¡±. The man looked worried and suddenly took out 2 gold coins and 7 copper ones on the table. The girl finally smiled, ?Neat. You know the rules probably, I¡¯ll be white! It¡¯s my favourite colour ya¡¯ know.¡±. The man nodded faintly. The girl looked a tad frustrated but the man still refused to say a thing.


    The girl after declaring start immediatly moved one of her pawns to d4. The man looked surprised, ?How conventional.¡±. The girl looked surprised, but asked back, ?You mean to disobey convention and go with a better move even I don¡¯t know of?¡±. The man laughed weakly and stated, ?No.¡±. He moved one his pawns to d5. The girl giggled. The man looked questioning. He doubted the girl would beat him yet again. Of course, the girl moved a pawn to c4 while the man moved one to e6. He made a sigh of relief, she didn¡¯t have an advantage so far. Not for the coming 5 moves at least.


    The girl moved her knight to c3. The girl then looked up and asked, ?How¡¯s it been going with you lately?¡±. The man gave a warm smile and answered, ?Just like how you¡¯ve planned.¡±, he moved a pawn c6. The girl made a wide grin and said, ?Is that so? Well, I¡¯m not better off all I get to do is sit here waiting for players while Jonathen is probably playing some card game with the others.¡±. She moved a pawn to e3.


    The man frowned and said, ?Your life must be terrible.¡±. He moved his knight to f6. The girl laughed for a second and said while wiping away the tears of joy, ?It is- Ya¡¯ know, you could¡¯ve been the one playing here but you played when you shouldn¡¯t have.¡±. She moved one of her knights to f3. The man looked haughtily at the girl and said, ?Means so much coming from the fucking devil.¡±, he moved one his knights to d7 to protect his king. She said, ?Yeah, the devil. Naming someone you don¡¯t like the devil is kinda mean ya¡¯ know, I might cry!¡±, she moved her bishop to d3. The man rolled his eyes and simply muttered ?Bullshit.¡±, he moved one of his bishops to d6.


    The girl muttered, ?Getting all aggressive won¡¯t fix your shortcomings, that includes the literal ones and the figurative ones.¡±, she moved a pawn to e4. The man looked surprised, ?Did you actually insult my masculinity? That¡¯s new. Did you check me out while I was working?¡±, he moved his pawn to take down one of her pawns on e4. She once again looked surprised, ?Did you grow even more senile than you were?¡±, she moved one of her knights to take down his pawn on e4. The man smiled, ?Nah, I just take what I get.¡± he moved his knight to e4, thus capturing one of the girl¡¯s knight.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    The girl smiled, ?I can see that.¡± she stated quite mockingly as she moved her bishop to e4, to take down his knight. The man smiled back, ?Hehe, are you growing senile too?¡±, he moved his knight to f6. The girl just looked a tad frustrated and stated outright, ?Nah.¡±. She moved one of her bishops to c2. The man without saying anything moved one of his pawns to h6. The girl grinned, noting the man¡¯s silence, she moved one of her bishops to e3, in response to this the man moves one of his rooks to e8. The girl smiles once more and moves her queen to d3. The man says, ?Hmm, we might be here for a while¡±, and he moved his queen to c7. The girl giggled at this move and moved one her pawns to c5. The man had gone pale, but quickly regained his colour and continued.


    He moved his bishop to f8. Without a word she moves her knight to e5. The man moves his bishop to take out the pawn at c5. She laughes outright for 5 seconds before finally moving her bishop to h6. The future was looking grim for the man but he restarted the smalltalk, ?So, what do you do when no one¡¯s playing.¡± he says as he moves his bishop to d4 thus continueing the murdering of the pawns. She moves her queen to d4 and answers, ?Nothing really, it¡¯s boring you should come more!¡±. The man laughs moves a pawn to take out the other pawn on h6 and answers, ?If I could, I would believe me. Not for you that is, but for my freedom. Seriously work sucks!¡±.


    The girl nods her head and moves her queen to f4. ?Maybe, but for me it¡¯s really good because I get 10% of the profits.¡±. He moves his knight to d5 and says, ?Yeah, it¡¯s a jolly good time for me too. You know, mining crystallized mana while demonspawns are torturing you is my ideal image, they should rename Hell to Heaven.¡±. The girl mockingly furrowed her eyebrows and said ?I didn¡¯t take you for a masochist, but ya¡¯ know that explains your actions from when you were alive perfectly ya¡¯ silly demigod.¡± she moved her queen to h6 to take out the pawn.


    The man looks frustrated, ?Says the mighty midgod of order am I right? At least I almost achieved divinity while you fucking stole it. Order, my ass.¡± he moved a pawn to f6. The girl grinned, ?You know? Theft and sins are part of order, natural events while someone rising to the top isn¡¯t natural it¡¯s quite disorderly!¡±, she moves a pawn to f4. The man rolls his eyes, ?Yeah, yeah. With your shitty midgod badge you must be all enlightened. I bet when I¡¯m back, in a 1000 years of work you¡¯ll still be working here begging for the promotion that won¡¯t come.¡±, he moved a rook to e7.


    The girl laughed haughtily, ?Big words coming from a mere demigod. This is our last game as the high god of order is sick because of all the disorder in the world caused by a certain someone. Order will be rejuvinated once I take his place. This is our last game wiseass.¡± she moved her knight to g6. The man rolled his eyes. ?I won¡¯t keep the mighty high god of bitchery salivating for the promotion. I would¡¯ve lost anyways. Now take all of us back to hell.¡±. The girl raised an eyebrow, ?You resign?¡±. The man nodded. The girl¡¯s eyes filled with surprise and started tearing, she asked ?Chris¡­?¡±. The man once again nodded. The girl smiled and ran to the man and hugged her. She was crying and said ?Been a while Chris, mid god of disorder. Finally you regained your powers.¡±. The man sighed, ?I¡¯m no hero who rised to the top from a mortal am I... Hehe, that¡¯s my girl. You did good. Now, let¡¯s go get our promotions. Poor guys wagered their souls for me, yet it turns out I have no need for them and I even lost. How comedic.¡±.


    The midgod of order smiled. His brother was finally back to his godhood. The highgod of order and disorder will pay for sabotaging their love. The girl giggled, they won¡¯t be highgods anymore though will they?