Daring Do and the Griffin's Seed

Daring Do pulled poison darts out of her pith helmet and dusted it off. She cautiously stepped past a white statue with a stallion's head in the dusty root-lined corridor and approached the great room at the end. Light from the jungle above filtered in through gaps in the stone ceiling. A beam of golden sunlight shone down on the object of her quest, a pillar of red stone with a glittering crown atop it near the far side of the room. “That's more like it,” she said to herself. She began to drool. It was such a lovely crown with a heart-shaped ruby right on top. It was so sad that such a lovely treasure was hidden away in this place instead of glittering atop a heroic mare's head. There were other large objects in some squares. Several were shorter pillars with balls on top, and two looked like miniature fortresses. One taller pillar had a tall sort of hat with a cross on top.

The room was perfectly square and about fifty hooves across. She could see the floor was alternating squares of dark and light stone. The doorway spanned two squares, one light, the other dark. She counted eight squares by eight squares. “Sixty-four squares?” she asked herself aloud, “That's a chess board. That pillar is a queen with her crown! The others are pawns and rooks and one bishop.” She noticed the chess pieces on the board were made of red stone.

She tapped the white stone statue next to her with her hoof. It sounded solid. It probably wasn't another hollow statue full of snakes or scorpions or poison joke flowers. There was no sign of a dart launcher or hidden crossbow or other trap. She also noticed it was a chess piece; in fact it was a knight.

She surveyed the room. There were little openings all over the walls. That made her suspicious. She picked up a loose stone and tossed it high up into the room. It triggered a flurry of darts and one crossbow bolt that stuck in a far wall. When it hit the floor it triggered a second volley. “It's never simple, is it?” she asked herself. Her words echoed back to her from the far side of the room. “No flying this time,” she said with a sigh.

“Now this is a chess board and the pieces on the board are red. This piece here is white so I guess I'm the white knight against the red. Now how does the knight move?” She puzzled about this for a moment before remembering. “Two forward and one to the side,” she told herself. Reassured, she picked up another rock. The pegasus tossed it onto a square right next to the doorway. Nothing happened. She tossed a second stone two squares forward, and one square to the side. It bounced across the square harmlessly. Then it rolled onto an adjacent square and was met with a volley of darts that sent it sliding onto another square which triggered more darts. One went astray and splintered against the knight next to her. The mare squealed in terror before recovering herself.

Daring picked up yet another stone and tossed it more carefully. This time it landed on a square and stayed there. Nothing happened as the echoes of the falling stone died away. Then she tossed another onto a square two up and one over from the first square. Again nothing happened. Then she did it again. This time the stone skittered across the floor and triggered more darts when it touched a square with one of the pawns on it. Daring grinned to herself. This wouldn't be so hard after all. Then she looked at the layout of the board. Pieces on the board were blocking most every path a knight could take.

She sat on her haunches and scratched the figure of a chess board in the dirt. She marked the place of the queen with a crown and the occupied squares with little pawns and rooks and the bishop. She placed her hoof on one of the first moves she could make from the doorway then made a second move and a third was blocked by the pawn the stone had touched. That was no good. She tried another set of moves and another. Each one was blocked by one piece or another. Then she found a route that wasn't blocked but just went in circles around the board without ever reaching the queen. She could backtrack to the door but not ever reach the prize. She tore at her monochrome mane in frustration.

After dozens and dozens of attempts she hit on one route that finally reached the queen after wandering around the board for thirteen moves. She hoped she could remember it. If she messed up it would be the usual poison darts and crossbows and giant rolling stones. She sighed and practiced the moves again and again until she could get it right every time. Then she looked at the room and visualized actually hopping from square to square. Could she make those hops? She grinned. “If I could jump across collapsing stone pillars to reach the treasure of the seven cities I'll be doomed to Tartauros if I can't manage this,” she said confidently. She strode forward and prepared to jump.

She leaped and landed flat on all four hooves on the first square. That was the easy part. She wouldn't have a running start from here on. She balled up her muscles and crouched. She jumped and flapped her wings just a little bit and landed perfectly in the next square then the next and next without stopping. She paused on the seventh square to make sure she was in the right place. She stood right next to the bishop far from the queen. She was in the right square. From here she also had a short way to return to the doorway. From this point on she wasn't sure if she could remember the way back without setting off the darts.

The mare of adventure took a deep breath and jumped onto the next square in the sequence. Nothing happened. The room was completely still. She jumped a second time. That was nine squares. She was against a wall. She could see the tips of darts dipped in poison poking out of openings between the stones. She gulped and leaped again and again. She was so close now. She made one leap and her hooves skidded on the smooth floor. She flapped her wings to stop herself and a dart flew over her head. She crouched low on the square and panted. Her heart was beating so hard it felt like it was in her neck. She took a few deep breaths and gazed upon the ruby crown on the red pillar. It was so lovely it made her rapidly beating heart leap. There was just one move left and she would be on the square with the queen and that beautiful crown.

Daring gulped down one last deep breath and jumped. She landed on the pillar and embraced it. “Yes, yes, yes!” she shouted, “You're mine now you lovely glittery masterpiece.” Then it was as if the world dropped out from under her. Daring Do found herself and the pillar falling together with the wind rushing past. The pillar fell through the floor and took her with it. The mare fell into a pit of darkness grabbing for the crown.