Two figures sat over a chessboard. The figures themselves were indistinct, shifting, changing, and the pieces seemed to alternate between simple pieces, and representations of real figures. Much more was at stake than a simple matter of pride.<br/><br/>The silver side was clearly in a losing battle. Half of their tokens had been removed from the board, and what remained was scattered, vulnerable, and likely to be taken apart, piece by piece, over the following turns. The black side's forces were coordinated, and, while they'd lost a number of power pieces, they clearly controlled the flow of the board. The room sat in silence, neither side moving, or speaking, for what seemed an eternity. Then, the silver side reached out, and moved a simple pawn forward, placing it on black's last row, swapping out the humble pawn, with another unit. Perhaps... they stood a chance.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Caiaphas Murphy Kilgore, Knight of the Summer Court, returned to the relatively simple abode he shared with a fey woman, Blossom, and a... respectable harem of unusual women he'd acquired through his journey. He had just left the cave of the powerful gold dragonness, Aurelia, who had brought him from his home Earth to this strange, fantasy world, with whom he had just had a terrible argument, regarding his role, and the future of the world. Their enemy, the goddess of evil dragons, Tiamat, had just struck a powerful blow, shattering holes in the very fabric between worlds, and causing bits and pieces of other places, other times, to leak through; but Caiaphas had finally stood up for himself, and rejected the constant abuse and harassment, and left her service, leaving the dragon to fend for herself.<br/><br/>The world was beginning to crack at the seams, but for now, Caiaphas was free of most of his responsibilities. Which could only mean that something especially bad was about to come his way.