A Game of Chess

Checkmate and the others reacted quickly, in a matter similar to what they'd done with the antlion. The main difference of their current situation, however, seemed to be that what they were facing now was far more animalistic than the predator had ever been, not even showing a single hint of the odd grace that he'd revealed to them out in the desert, and instead attacking with that mad, flailing charge that they'd thought was his style.

"Hyahahaha!" Hecatoncheir laughed as he struck out at them. "Are you brats really this weak?! Really, I was hoping for a challenge!"

Dusk countered another strike from the vile sleipnir, and slashed back towards the creature. In response, Hecatoncheir leapt into the air, jumping overtop the mercenary, and striking out at him from behind.

Checkmate jumped into the attack, blocking the strike, and sending Hecatoncheir backwards, as Dusk repositioned himself. "Weak?!" Shouted the earth pony. "I assure you, Hecatoncheir, that we're not weak by any means!" He rushed towards the sleipnir in question, striking out towards him. "We've fought through this damned desert" - He struck from on high - "We escaped from Deun the Whirlwind" - Checkmate countered an attack, slashing diagonally and surprising his enemy - "We challenged an antlion and tamed it" - This time, he dodged Hecatoncheir's attack, and stabbed the Glacius into one of his side-legs - "And we did it all over the course of a few days! So if you want to call us weak, then you should know just how powerful we truly are!"

Hecatoncheir let out a gasp as blood ran from the hoof stabbed by Checkmate, and he screamed as the transparent form he used became opaque. "Damn you!" He hollered. "Damn you, Checkmate Vigarde, and the lot of you! I'll tear you all to shreds for my brother!"

Checkmate held out the Glacius. "You're going to be the one who is ripped apart!" He declared.

Dusk rushed out towards Hecatoncheir, slashing with Constellation out towards the sleipnir. "He's right," said the mercenary, as their enemy dodged. "You can't best all of us. Perhaps if Checkmate or Twilight or any of them alone, but together? We overwhelm you by sheer numbers."

Hecatoncheir leapt back, so that he stood at the edge of the platform. "Well, then," he said, smirking even as the blood ran down his leg, "perhaps it's time that I even the odds, wouldn't you say?"

Immediately as these words left his mouth, eight long, spindly arms burst from the magma behind him. They swayed to-and-fro, and the molten rock that composed them dripped off their fingers like blood. "Well?" asked Hecatoncheir, "how is this? I think that this makes it quite a bit more fair, wouldn't you" - His eyes glimmered - "Checkmate?"

"You're good at making enemies, aren't you?" Valice asked, casually, although the twin daggers were in her hooves. "I mean, Wendigo, Deun... now even this guy you didn't know until just earlier. Maybe that's actually your special talent."

Checkmate grimaced. Even if Valice was actually a changeling, her sense of humor was still as dry as ever. Whether that was a blessing or a curse could be decided after they'd gained the Ignis.

"Of course he is," said Asgard, his eyes reaffirming themselves. "Checkmate Vigarde, you are an interesting creature, truly... A shame that my brother and I must slay you now. I had been hoping for a more peaceful way of settling this dispute, but after the injury that you imparted, I feared that such a thing would be but a dream."

"It seems that you were right," growled Twilight, her horn lighting up. "No matter how much you love your brother, we can't let you both get away with what you've done!"

Asgard sighed, and flipped the dagger over so that its blade was inverted. "I understand," he replied. "As much as I wish I could say his hooves were clean, I am afraid that would be but another fallacy. So come, all of you! Let us bring this to an end, now, in this place of light that I despise!"

His eyes became those of Hecatoncheir once more, who grit his teeth. "You'd dare threaten my brother?" he asked, enraged. "Well then, I think it's time that I up the ante a bit, wouldn't you? Oh, I know! First, I'll rip out your damned tongues so that you can't scream. Then, I'll take your eyes, one-by-one, and your ears shall follow. You'll have no sight, no sound, and nothing shall remain but agony as I burn you lot to death!"

The sleipnir lunged towards them, as yet another blade blocked the strike. "Come on, now," said Cora, the short-sword holding back the beast of light, "do you honestly expect us to just sit back and let you do that?!"

"Perhaps not," admitted Hecatoncheir, as he held the now inverted blade, "but I don't exactly need that, now do I? I'm armed after all!" He laughed at this, as the eight arms began to move, launching themselves at the platform, gripping onto it, and tearing off small stones that were embedded in the walls to throw at the group.

Checkmate was about to ask how arms made out of magma could hold rocks without causing them to melt. He decided to leave that line of questioning until after Hecatoncheir was dead, instead dodging one of the arms as it reached towards him.

Dusk grimaced. "Of course," he muttered. "Now that we're here, it seems that our luck is beginning to run dry..." He leapt to the side, and slashed upwards, severing one of the magma arms and causing it to fall back into where it came from, joining the molten rock. "However, perhaps we can make use of this..."

"How so?" Valice asked, blocking several pieces of a flaming rock with her daggers. "This isn't like out in the desert, Dusk; we're in an enclosed area, and we're surrounded by magma on all sides!" Her eyes glinted, as she raised the daggers just in time to block yet another throw from the remaining seven arms.

"That's right," said Dusk, and he rushed towards Hecatoncheir, who proceeded to block the strike. "However, what if we don't perform as we're expected to?" He dodged a strike from the sleipnir. "What if we take advantage of this area, rather than let it defeat us?"

Checkmate's eyes widened, and he severed yet another arm. "Of course," he said. "Sleipnirs aren't the only ones who can take advantage of this situation!"

"Really?" Rainbow asked, looking confined and pained that she couldn't fly as much as normal. "Who else can, then?"

"Simple," Dusk said, and his eyes flashed. "Twilight! I need a favor!"

"Bad time, Dusk!" replied Twilight, her born blasting magic into the stones and fire as they flew towards her.

Dusk leapt back, dodging yet another strike from Hecatoncheir, and countering once more. "No, it's the perfect time," he said. "I need you to use your magic to gather up as much magma as you can!"

Twilight, still dodging, began to do just that, her magic raising a large amount of molten rock from the pool below. "Okay," she said, "what do I do now?"

"Shoot it towards Hecatoncheir!" Dusk replied, his blade and the sleipnir's meeting once more, and sparks flew from the connection between the two metallic weapons.

"What -" The sleipnir didn't even have time to finish that thought, as molten rock began to slam into his now-corporeal form.

Hecatoncheir let out a scream as the magma connected with his flesh, and as it began to burn. While sleipnirs were mostly resistant to fire, magma - especially magma that had been sitting in the core of a volcano for centuries - had the same effect as if one were to throw boiling water onto a pony; literal burning pain.

The sleipnir clutched at his face and screamed, the arms in the magma falling back into where they'd originated from due to his lack of focus. Hecatoncheir fell to the ground, then, still clutching at the burns that had now appeared on his face and legs, and the dagger in his hooves had since fallen to the ground.

Everypony simply stared in awe at what Twilight had just done. In one move, she had reduced the sleipnir from a sadistic, murderous psychopath into a screaming, burnt mess. Cora visibly winced at the wretched creature that stood, screeching in agony.

"Impressive," Valice admitted. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"You already have," said Twilight, bitterly.

"CHECKMAAAATE!" screamed Hecatoncheir, then, as he stood back up. His face was scarred very badly by the molten rock, and his hooves were so wretchedly burnt that he looked as if he were to collapse. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

The sleipnir stumbled towards them, then, and his eyes showed nothing but pure, unfiltered hatred. The dagger was returned to his hoof, and four new arms had burst from the stone around his newest target, who happened to be his original target.

The new arms each gripped one of Checkmate's legs, holding him down to the platform as Hecatoncheir slowly advanced. The other ponies stood, simply staring in shock, as this horrific display occurred before their eyes.

Hecatoncheir stood above the bound earth pony - his head positioned so that he had to look up at the monstrosity, as the dagger was held just above his stomach. "I think it's time I REPAID YOU for what YOU DID TO ME EARLIER, DON'T YOU?!" His screams of agony were so audible that Checkmate saw the others shudder in horror. "But how about we make this more FUN, EH, CHECKMATE?! I'm going to RIP YOU OPEN, and I'm going to SPLIT YOUR DAMNED HEAD SO THAT YOU CAN SEE IN TWO DIRECTIONS!"

The dagger was held above Checkmate's eyes, between them, in the same way that Wendigo often used his weapon before a pony's death.

Checkmate felt his heartbeat raising, the sweat on his brow beginning to emerge and spread all over his forehead, his legs and stomach begin to feel light, and his eyes became unfocused as the sweat dripped into them.

"Oh, are you afraid, Checkmate?" Hecatoncheir's voice had returned to its normal volume, but the pain was still evident. "Oh, how absolutely beautiful... This terror is unlike anything I've fed on before, and it's perfect in every way... Perhaps I should leave you alive just so I can feast, but I think I'll get the same result from your idiotic friends."

"Ch-Check...!" Rainbow gasped, but her hooves seemed glued in place. Even she, in all of her bravery, couldn't force herself to try and help him, but Checkmate didn't blame her.

"Time to DIE, Checkmate Vigarde!" Hecatoncheir held the blade up high, just above Checkmate's head, and thrust it downwards -

The next thing the earth pony felt, however, wasn't pain, but a warm, wet fluid that ran down his face, just below his left eye. Blood was on his face, and it was running down towards his neck...

But the blood wasn't his.

Instead, a figure was above him, and blood ran from where the dagger had plunged into its back, where the tip exited its chest, and down onto Checkmate's head from there.

"Wh-what?!" hissed Hecatoncheir. "How DARE you interfere?!"

"I-I suppose..." wheezed the figure, but Checkmate couldn't quite place the voice, "it was just a... spur-of-the-moment thing, really..." The figure coughed, and the earth pony felt blood from its mouth on his forehead.

Checkmate's eyes began to clear, slightly, and he could see the creature better. It was somewhat tall, dark-in-color, and had eyes that were shut tight against the agony that it likely felt.

The agony that he was supposed to feel...

Checkmate began to tremble, and he could feel tears mixing with the blood, and running further down his face, towards his chest.

The figure was now perfectly in his life of sight, and was now perfectly visible him. It was as tall as he'd thought, still dark, even in the light of the magma, and its eyes had since opened, and met Checkmate's own. In addition to this, however, something else caught his attention; something that was far too evident to not be mentioned.

Scars. Scars that ran across the figure's back, chest, and legs were in his line of sight, and, as he saw them, Checkmate knew all-too-well just who had done this to themselves for his sake.

"D-Dusk..."