Chapter 14

Cally's divination class was the best. It was set up more like a Greenwich Village underground coffee house. Dozens of low tables draped in colorful scarves were placed around the room, each one had big comfortable pillows strewn around them, incense burned in every corner, and soft classical music drifted through the tranquil space.

Each section of the room was dedicated to the various forms of divination. There was a section for mainstream recognizable methods such as: ruin stones, palmistry, crystals balls, tarot cards, tea leaves, numerology, and astrology.

And others for the little known methods such as: Pyromance the use of fire, hydromancy the use of water. Right down to the ancient Roman practice of haruspicy, the study of animal entrails to the more modern study of megapolisomancy or tasseomancy the study of coffee grounds or wine sediments left in a cup or glass.

There were literally hundreds of ways to discern the future each one more entertaining than the last.

But if you asked her  . . . any class that allows you to sit sipping a cup of herbal tea, coffee or a glass of red wine while you learn about the ancient art of I Ching is alright in her books.

Today they were learning about Enochian Chess. On each of the low slung tables sat a board similar to a chess board, but instead of two players this board was built for four. That explained the four comfortable pillows that sat opposite each other around the dozen or so round tables in the room.

Kelly took the table closest to the door and found herself sitting cross-legged next to a gorgeous halfblood Japanese girl. Kelly didn't normally pay much attention to her classmates, but she was trying to change that. Something about having become friends with Donnie made her want to be a better person. Still she wasn't one hundred percent sure if the Japanese girl's name was Mae or something else entirely, in her defense though she had only just met the girl. Apparently she was another late bloomer like Zach, because she had only manifested her powers this year, and by the look of her she was perhaps only a year younger than Kelly.

Most halfblood's powers manifested with puberty around the age of twelve of thirteen. Zach's hadn't shown up until last year when he turned fifteen. He was the last in their class to get his powers, which made their class the first class to experience a full manifestation in over one hundred years. A feat the teachers never ceased to mention whenever the kids got in trouble.

Kelly stared at the girl trying to guess at her magical heritage. Judging by her unnatural beauty and the lotus flower that she wore in her long black hair, add to that her overly colorful outfit, and it was a dead giveaway. Kelly could see only three reason for anyone to wear five different colors in one ensemble, one) they were celebrating Pride or two) they were just plain color blind, or three) the raven haired beauty obviously was wearing the five colors of spiritual enlightenment, marking her as a Japanese halfblooded Tennin.

Tennin literally means heaven's messengers. They are spiritual beings similar to nymphs or faeries in our culture. The Japanese fullblooded varieties are solitary creatures that reside on mountain peaks, and are known for their ability to fly.

Usually they wear silk kimono's that enable them to take flight. Many of the tales told through history tell of the unfortunate Tennin who unwittingly take the time to bath in a stream and come out to find their kimonos stolen, some creep has come along and stolen it to keep them as wives. In doing so, they have essentially robbed them of their ability to fly back to the heavens.

Instead of a kimono this girl was wearing a colorful red satin lettermen jacket with wings depicted on the back in stylish Chinese embroidery. Kelly was a little envious of the piece, but she knew this wasn't any ordinary piece of clothing it was the magical construct that gave this Japanese halfblood deity the ability to fly.

Cèilidh (pronounced Kaylee) a halfblood female korrigan sat next to her. The diminutive Cornish Fae sat cross legged and eager to play. Her thick luscious shiny red hair lay over her shoulder and rested in her lap.

Many magical beings dispel their glamours in the magical wing. This girl was no exception; her eyes were like brilliant rubies they sparkled with a red glow. These gorgeous creatures, not unlike sirens, sing and brush their luscious long hair to draw humans to them, and they are known to haunt waterways through the Cornish countryside. They can predict the future, can change shape, and move with lightening speed.

The beautiful fae looked pleased to see the game in front of her giving Kelly the impression that she knew her way around the board.

Wilhelm a fiery drake took a seat with them. This German Kobold who preferred to be called Will looked pleased with his table companions and she had to agree with him they were an attractive bunch. He too decided not to bother with his glamour. A pair of large pointed ears shot straight up like a German Sheppard's from his fair head. His hypnotically large upturned yellow golden eyes sat in a delicate face, and his cheek bones looked sharp enough to give you a paper cut if you got to close. His skin had a honey tone and it glowed inhumanly. Everything about the boy made you want to reach out and touch him, just to see if he was real.

Oh the Fae she thought: what beauty they possessed.

But don't let their allure fool you; it's no accident -- most Fae are predatory. Their attractive nature is there to draw you in and give you a false sense of security. Kobolds may manifest as animals, fire, human beings, and objects

They were an attractive group to say the least, and when their male companion looked around at the girls at the table he looked please with his lot in life.

Who could blame him he had three beauties sitting at his table and they were going to spend forty-five minutes in school playing an ancient game designed to not only tell the future but pit one opponent's wits against another. And what Fae doesn't live for the chance to one up someone?

Cally, the immutable Greek Muse, explained to them from her pillow at the front of the class, "Enochian chess is a four-player chess-variant, similar to Catur, but this game is associated with the Enochian system of magic created by a renowned magus and astrologer of Queen Elizabeth I."

The Muse sat behind her own low table and as she moved her pieces on the board in front of her so too did the corresponding pieces move on each table in the room.

"The game is four-handed," she explained," because each set of pieces corresponded to one of the four classical elements and their several watchtowers . The game itself was used not only for divination purposes, but also competitions between magical beings."

"Many disputes have been settled peaceably in this way." She continued.

"The four sets of pieces are variously colored, and identified with Egyptian deities or  their 'God-forms'. The main identifications of the pieces are: Osiris (the king), Isis (the queen), Horus (the knight), Aroueris (the bishop), Nephthys  which symbolizes the rook or castle."

Cally moved each piece as she named them off.

"The chess board itself is also varicolored, and divided into four sub-boards in which each of one of the four elemental colors dominated. The rules of the game were partially derived from Shatranj and other historical forms of chess; the queen is played like a fers, with a two square diagonal leaping move. The four players would form pairs of two, giving each player a partner.

Like a chess board there are 64 squares on an Enochian board, but unlike a chess board there are four subsections, these 64 squares are divided into four quadrants equaling 16 squares each, representing the elements. Air is yellow, water is blue, fire is red and earth is black. There are a total of 36 chess pieces in Enochian chess.

Let's look at the pieces of each set, "she continued," these are the kings they represent the spirit aspect of each quadrant." She placed the kings on her board and in turn they moved on all the other boards in the room.

King may move one square in any direction.

Kings capture enemy pieces where they land.

Each king shares a space with another piece at the beginning of the game called a throne square.

If the king captures control of an allies throne square that king assumes control of his allies pieces as long as he holds the square.

The knights of each quadrant represent the fiery aspect of each quadrant.

Knight move three spaces in right angles, they only capture enemy pieces where they land. Knights also skip over pieces that impede progress to the third square.

The queens of each quadrant represent the watery aspect of each element."

Kelly look at the queen on her board. The piece reminded her of the once and powerful queen Nefertiti.

"Queens can move two spaces in any direction, and capture enemy pieces they land on, and skip over pieces that impede progress to the second square.

The bishop represents the air aspect of each quadrant, the bishops move diagonally in any direction for any number of squares. Bishops capture pieces on which they land but they cannot skip over pieces.

The rooks represent the earth aspect of each quadrant, rooks move vertically and horizontally in any number of squares, rooks capture enemy pieces on which they land they cannot skip over pieces.

The pawns of each subset represent the guardians of their respective aspects. Pawns can move one square forward per turn. Pawns cannot skip over pieces only caprute pieces that are diagonally adjacent.

Each player rolls the dice the player with the largest roll pick the first quadrant and makes the first move.

The player with the next highest number will pick from the remaining quadrants and so on until all opponents have assigned quadrants.

In a four player game each player will be paired with another player as an ally.The player playing air and fire are allied.

And so that leaves the players playing earth and water to be allied. As you can see they are diagonally apposed sides of the board..."

...The game just got more complicated by then but thankfully she had the Korrigan as her partner and they ended up winning the first match.

The next game they played was for divination purposes.

Cally announced, "Now children you must choose a quadrant based upon the subject of your query."

"Some examples for the earth board would be: Air of earth for a query about business or in your case: school, or water of earth for a query about relationships, fire of earth for a query about quarrels, earth or earth for a query about money or home."

"I've placed a list of various queries and there corresponding elements in your course work for today. Please decide amongst yourselves what question you want to ask and write it down in the form provided."

"The Ptah piece represents the spirit and does not move and is also invisible to the other pieces. Once the appropriate quadrant is selected the Ptah is places on the square that is most appropriate for the divination."

"Each square on the board is actually a 2D pyramid with glyphs reflecting its personality or alignment."

Cally moved her piece to the water quadrant which just happened to also be the new relationship square which make Kelly wonder if she was after some answers of her own.

Kelly looked around and saw that most of her classmates chose the same square whether for simplicity sake or whether they wanted answers of their own she couldn't say. Maybe being a halfblood didn't preclude you from worrying about relationships.

Kelly Marie Armstrong, she chided herself, are you seriously going to play he loves me, he loves me not on an ancient divination device no less, but apparently she was and so were many others?

Cally went on to explain that playing the Ptah in this square would be good should the querent want to know if a new relationship will be a good one.

"The object of the game," Cally announced, "is to maneuver the king to take the Ptah square and holding it for one full round. Doing so indicates a favorable outcome.

To determine which piece each player will move during their turn players will roll a six sided die. In essence fate determines all.

"1 moves a king or a pawn, 2 moves knight, 3 queen, 4 a bishop, 5 rook and 6 a pawn.

Each player takes a turn in succession just like in a regular game.

"Everyone please record your moves on the sheet provided and we will analyze the outcome after.

When the game started Kelly could roll nothing but 1s until she finally got her king to the Ptah then she held the square for three entire rounds until her king was finally taken.

She didn't know if that was definitive proof of a favorable outcome but Cally thought her results to be very definitely a positive result.

Cally had even smiled at her knowingly before she left the class, which made Kelly blush six ways from Sunday.

On the way down the hall to her next class Kelly came up with an idea to lay this dilemma to rest -- once and for all. She would challenge Donnie to a duel. If he won she'd go with him, but if she won her wasn't to ask again.

And there was no chance he'd win; even though they'd spared together every day after school ever since his incarceration in her room and she had to admit he was getting remarkably good,  he had never come out on the winning end of a match against her, and there was no reason her to think he would start now.

Welp it looks like Kelly is still deluding herself that she doesn't want to go with Donnie.

I wonder if she will --accidentally on purpose-- lose the match?

What do you think?

Tune in tomorrow.

A/N

I apologize for the long winded explanation of the game. This chapter will have to be heavily edited in the future. *HUGS*