Chapter 15: Tales of the twilight Lotus
"Did I just challenge a witch to a game I barely know the rules of?" Alistair panicked inwardly, having realized the severity of the matter after foolishly getting himself into this death challenge.
The thought of it made his heart race. He could see her walked towards the end of the board with the white skulls, and sat down with a loud thud.
"In your situation, even a failed attempt at survival is the best thing you could wish for." She said, then gestured at him to come. However, there was an evident hesitation in his steps. "Already doubtful, I see! Ye men of little fate!"
What was he to do? Seal his fate in a game he was more than a 100 percent sure he had lost? Or perhaps, humor a witch or troll or whatever she was, into letting him go.
"How do I even begin to entertain a witch whose only interest lies within the morrow of my bones?" Alistair asked himself, shuffling forward at a snails pace.
"It's no good! I would have a heck of a story to share, if I live through this. I would be called the valiant knight who outwitted death..."
He smirked, knowing what an expensive pipedream he just went on about. Alistair finally approached the end with the black skulls, and plunged down, wiping beads of sweat from his face.
"Finally, I was starting to think you were naturally slow." She growled, then pointed at the black skulls already laid out on the board. "Make your move!"
Alistair was dumbfounded. "But I thought the game of 'Go' begins with a fresh board." He asked, since the pieces from her previous game that nearly caused his death in the marshes, were still laid out on the board.
"Yes, it does. But you see, this wager isn't merely a game, it represents your lifeline and therefore has to begin at the standpoint of your current situation." She said rubbing the waves of wrinkles on her head. "You are in my den now, so the game begins with a handicap."
"Whoa! There goes my chance!" Alistair heaved a sigh, realizing this being was just prolonging the inevitable, she never intended for him to walk out alive in the first place.
"And why am I even the black skulls?" He thought out loud.
"You see, I belong in this world, everything you see around you belong here." She said. "You are the outside, summoned to tip the balance. That makes you a disease, hence, it's only fair that you use the black skulls."
"Another one of your creepy lines, huh!" Alistair frowned, but saw a glint of hope. "I remember seeing the white skulls surrounded, and their territories stolen. This witch wasn't as smart as I thought. She just gave me the winning pieces."
Taking a deep breath, a smirk appeared on Alistair's face. He stretched out his hand, aimed for a straight checkmate move.
"I see you have taken me for a fool, despite my generosity." He heard her growl, causing him to hesitate.
"Heck, she just read my mind!" Alistair panicked.
Right before his eyes, he saw the skulls gradually changing colors. The surrounded whites, became blacks, and the black ones became white.
He wiped off the fog on his eyes, thinking he was somehow hallucinating, but it was real. The game pieces had just swapped out, and he was now on the losing side.
"Make your move!" She commanded, her growls intensified.
"Damn! The witch is pissed. What do I do now...?!" His panic intensified.
"B-But I have already lost my territories on the board. You've already claimed everything. I might as well quit!" He declared.
"In a life and death situation, you would willingly accept death because the odds are not in your favor?" She asked, this time with a surprised look, as though she hadn't calculated this turn of event.
"This isn't just not in my favor, can't you see my fate is sealed?" He asked, looking frustrated.
"We decide our own fate, it isn't done for us. Now make a move!" She commanded against.
He hesitated. "B-But I don't know where to begin..."
"Well, that hasn't deterred you, since you entered this world, has it?" She growled. "You kept moving even when your survival was thin."
"While you are at it, I will humor you with tales." She said, her voice transforming from growls to the voice of a narrator. "Tales of the twilight Lotus."
"Wait, what...?!" Alistair exclaimed, almost falling over. "I don't recall telling this witch about the lotus, so how does she know?" He thought.
"Oh don't be surprised, of all the seven beings that could have summoned you, I have a feeling in my bones, that it's the most depraved of them all." She frowned, as if to voice out her disgust.
Staring deftly at the game for awhile, Alistair maked his first move. He started by placing a black skull in an empty corner point.
"Hmmm, would you look at that." She observed. "A cunning move for a boy your age, but a risky gamble. You aim to secure the little territories left by playing into a strategic position on the board. But territories are not built overnight!"
She responded by playing a white skull close to Alistair's move, reducing his potential territory.
"She maintains control over the board by extending her influence." Alistair thought, as he tried to recall all the tutorial videos he had watch about this game in his past life.
"Darkness trembles in the presence of light. But, when the light is as measly as a tiny ember, the darkness still remains, circling the light." She said, rubbing her head ones more.
"The lotuses that grew in this world, were the perfect balance between light and darkness. They bloomed every twilight."
Alistair listened while planning his next advance in the game. "So the plant that almost killed me is from this world." He thought, as he extended a black skull towards the center, aiming to create more territory.
"But my meal, this world is all about claiming territories." She said, placing a white skull on the right side, two intersections near Alistair's black skull, aiming to prevent further expansion.
"The most valuable asset of ours, beings of this world, is our territories. It represents our influence and power. The more we have, the wider our influence on lesser beings and nature itself."
Alistair's mind was split between listening and strategizing, causing beads of sweat to form on his forehead.
He decided to extend further into the center, creating more potential territory. Somehow, Alistair was subconsciously learning how valuable territories were.
"A feisty move, indeed. You plan to build infrastructure and strengthen your position." She said, placing a white skull two intersections near his. "But not at the expense of mine."
"Shucks! She keeps preventing me from reclaiming lost territories." Alistair thought inwardly. He dragged a black skull to the left side, three intersections away from the corner, in an attempt to invade her territory.
"As I was saying, we care a lot about our turf. The twilight Lotus does as well. And as elusive as she was, she tried to trespass on territories that did not belong to her, by spreading her seeds and blooming on them." She said, defending her position by pushing a white skull in between Black skulls and connecting it to the side skull.
"But just like how I have minimized your invasion, the owner of the turf she invaded, crippled her advances, while preparing for a counterattack, like I am now." She smirked.
Alistair realized the difficulty in invading when his opponent was holding up a strong defense. "In any case, I am the one exposing myself." He thought. Therefore, shifting focus, he started building a strong defensive line to secure his own territories.
"Up till now, I don't understand why a being as fragile as the twilight Lotus, will try pulling tricks on Ignitius-the-Venomous, in order to claim his territory." She said, playing near Alistair's defensive skulls, creating pressure and aiming to erode his territorial potential.
"Perhaps, it was because he had more territories under his wing, due to many conquests. She thought she could creep into his heart with her elusive ways, but no one knows Ignitius better than I do. He is a vile king."
Alistair was out of strategies, with just one move from her, he was losing fast. "So at this point, I represent the twilight Lotus and the witch represents the vile king." He realized.
"Who is this...vile king?" Alistair was curious.
"He is the man whose goblins chased you into my marshes. His influence is so widely spread, that his subjects could trespass anyone's territory, except for mine, because we are such good friends." She revealed.
"So what happened to the twilight Lotus?" Alistair asked, a bit more engrossed in the tale.
"She was subdued and enslaved, her body became the playground of Ignitius's venomous pleasure, her territory claimed." She replied, gesturing at Alistair to make his next move.
With no other option, he made a desperate move, three intersections to the left, hoping that she would fall for his little stunt.
"And just like this, she tried to evade his mind, but it only triggered the worst." She said, stealing yet another territory from Alistair. "Ignitius found pleasure in her body. That pleasure grew into an insatiable thirst for more. This led him to conquer six other beings, solely for that purpose."
"So the bastard has a harem now, what has that got to do with me." Alistair snapped before he could bite on his sharp tongue. "Sorry!" He felt the need to apologize.
"Sorry for you, my meal!" Was her next line.
"Just like you, so many had been summoned here by the twilight Lotus. But none of you had made it an inch far, much less grant her wishes for which she summoned you." She said, rubbing her fat belly.
"All of those before you, have ended up being smothered by my swamp. And that swamp, is an extension of my stomach. Anyone who gets swallowed by it, ends up in my belly."
Alistair cringed, as he recalled how he was almost sucked in by the swamp. "So I escaped being eaten indirectly, only to get eaten directly through your mouth." He asked.
"Yes! Yes! Hilarious, right?" She grinned, revealing her uneven teeth. Alistair felt hideous things creep under his skin just by staring at them. "In as much as I was looking forward to how you would taste, I can't eat you."
"Huh!" Alistair jumped. For awhile now he had already accepted his fate. Only to hear this. "But it's evident that I have already lost the game."
"No! Young man. For the first time, I have lost a game of 'GO' in the most disgraceful way." She said sadly.
"But how...?!" Alistair asked, looking at the game in front of him which was a clear victory for the witch.
"To think I lost to such a blind person." She grieved. "Can't you see you won the game even before we started? You won even before stumbling into my room. The swamp is my belly, and somehow it's gone. You wiped it! So even if I want to eat you, I can't. You have cursed me to eternal starvation."
"W-Wait what...?!" Alistair stuttered. "You mean I used an endgame move, even before starting the game?" He asked with widened eyes.
"Correct! You have made history." She revealed.
"Ok! Ok! So how do I get out of here?" Alistair asked, not even caring about her starving.
"Through that door." She pointed to the same doorway he slammed into.
"No! No! I mean out of this world entirely." He muttered.
"Oh that...by fulfilling the quest you were summoned here for." She replied.
Alistair felt a bad feeling in his gut, "And what might that be?"
"Well, freeing the twilight Lotus from the clutches of the vile king - Ignitius-the-Venomous!" She implied
"W-What the f*ckk!!!"
***
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Sirsleepsalot
Sirsleepsalot How frightening and utterly unnerving, do you think going up against an entity like the vile king, is? Much more from the standpoint of a young boy like Alistair... share a comment after reading this chapter and stay glued for more breathtaking thrills. Thanks a bunch!
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone