THE THREE ANCIENTS

In this post we relive the final scene but with some never before seen and very rare Simon Sherry   Drafts and Works In Progress


High above obscured by the white mist the three ancient Elders looked down in disbelief.
“Didn’t see this coming” said one as he quickly leafed through the large tome resting on his lap.
“Never seen such a battle fought like this one brother, it defied all the rules of common sense” said the other scratching his head with the hourglass he held.
“What happens now brothers?” said the other his staff tapping against his sandal impatiently.
There was silence as each thought about this last enquiry.
“We can’t clear the board, the battle’s not won”
“But there is always a winner brother it is how it should be, it is our rules and our rules by nature of who we are, are infallible”
“But brother, there is your proof that our laws are infallible, look they cannot strike each other, thus no one can fall to be declared beaten. They must remain until someone does. That by my reckoning, should take eternity”
”But that is impossible, infallible is exactly that. There is no contradiction to our laws”
“Well judging by those two warriors standing nose to nose down there, I think you may be mistaken”
The Elder holding the staff suddenly struck by a sudden awareness, dropped it, and as it fell its stone shone brightly.
“I think we have a serious concern brothers”
The Elder holding the hourglass realized that all of a sudden it felt bottom heavy, he held it high to discover all the sand had rested in the bottom chamber and it was now too heavy to turn.
“This is not looking good brothers” he said.
The Elder holding the book started to flick the pages of the book faster and faster, searching for anything to contradict or clause that may negate the situation on the field. Then he slammed the book shut realising, as his brothers had already surmised that the laws off the game were flawed.
“You know what this means don’t you brothers “ he said.
This simple sentence had completed a path.
All three Ancients had admitted that their laws were not absolute.
This realisation by all of the three ancient and almighty Elders meant that their existence though thought to be absolute for eons, had shown that they were indeed fallible thus denying the very essence of their power and might. By being proven wrong they could no longer absolute, which was the sole purpose of their existence, they would become nothingness and thus their world was unmade.
There was light no more.
From below, the two Kings momentarily looked skyward to see the mist swirl into a vortex and quickly spin at dizzyingly speed.
In the centre were three figures who appeared to be screaming, the White King recognised thousands of choirs of angels being thrown about around them being ripped apart in the maelstrom.
This was accompanied by a cacophony of sound like a million horns and souls screaming in tandem.
Then it just stopped.
The silence was a shock.
The two Kings still faced each other, still unable to touch one another, their weapons still in their hands.
They were suspended in nothingness, as far the eye could see in every direction.
Two Kings, unable to touch unable to move locked in stalemate for eternity.

The Entry

This is the last sequence before the start of Phase Two of the Game of Kings story: The Battle.

When the White King eventually emerged from his campaign tent, the whole army seemed to sense his arrival and a sudden hush came over all those assembled.

He walked over to the Bishop Angel – who gave no acknowledgement – stood next to him and stared in the same direction.

As if following some unspoken order the rest of the army stared off in the same direction in total silence.
In a matter of seconds the cloudless mid afternoon lilac sky deepened to a dark purple and a mist formed unnaturally fast, making the area above and around them seem encased in fog.

As quickly as the fog appeared it withdrew, but in doing so revealed that the landscape had changed. The mist still swirled and lifted, hiding the sky.

Before them lay a field as flat as a table, covered in lush green grass, kept liked a mowed lawn which stretched to the horizon where it too became engulfed in mist. Behind them the lush lawn did the same but in this direction to only a distance of about two hundred metres.

A glance to the left and right held the biggest shock, for the lawn was bordered on either side by steep rocky outcrops that rose to peaks concealed/hidden by the mist.

It didn’t take long for the experienced Generals to realise they were bound in, trapped one could say.

The army was in danger of breaking ranks when the White King announced “Calm” and when he had his army’s full attention declared: “Behold your opponent!”

As if by divine decree (and who said it wasn’t) at a distance of about four hundred metres away the field began to shimmer with light. Most of the army members shielded their eyes but the light dimmed as quickly as it had appeared – revealing another army.
Even from such a distance, they appeared a mass of darkness and flame and unholy noise.

The collective thought going through the mind of every member of the army of the White Wing, other than the King and his Angel themselves was: “What in hell are we fighting?”

Three leaders’ thoughts, although also in unison, were nothing short of treasonous.

The Skeleton General, the Equilord and the mighty Rock Titan no longer believed they could put their trust in their leader for this battle.

The Assembly

Always displaying a great sense of awareness, he observed the sights and odours around him. The odours he could do without, his keen sense of smell being assaulted by the collective stench of those around him, not the least being the Seam City heavy metal and grease. This and the irregular sulphurous farts from the Rock Titan made the air quite uncomfortable to those with sensitive noses.
The Equilord couldn’t remember the last time he had seen the entire forces of the army of the White Wing assembled in one spot, it was normally only gathered like this on very special occasions – the army so strong that only sections were ever needed to take on other combatants.
The Equilord often wondered why the King needed such weapons, why bring back the dead and awaken old giants?
Why did the University have to make these massive, belching steam engines and those bastardized anomalies of nature, the berserkers and hounds.
In the past the Equilord and his clan had been enough to take whatever the King wanted.
He had heard tales, rumours really that the King’s massive stockpiling had really only begun after the Bishop Angel arrived in the Kingdom. The Equilord had only been in his presence a few times and each time he felt as if the Angel was a powder keg waiting to explode at any minute such was the air of tension and intensity that surrounded him.
The Equilord feared and respected the Angel far more than his King.
Many things were happening in the field now as an air of impatience not becoming military personnel became apparent.
The Equilord watched with a grin as the Skeleton General slyly tripped one of his more severe and upright sergeants causing him to fall and scatter, setting the University hounds into a frenzy, running off with various parts of his body.
Occasionally the big Steam Cities would relieve the pressure from their bellows with a loud, ear splitting cry causing the berserkers to leap about like startled monkeys.
In the centre of these happenings the King and his Queen stayed inside their respective campaign tents and the Angel just stared patiently into the horizon as if waiting for someone or something.
They were – according to King – going to meet a formidable foe and the price of victory was unimaginable, defeat not an option.
The Equilord as well as the other generals weren’t quite sure whether the Kingdom was being invaded, border patrols would surely have long since sighted such a large army, or whether they had been gathered for a march to some neighbouring Kingdom that had been invaded. Either option seemed highly unlikely given the King’s stranglehold over the whole dimension.
It was all these factors that led to the uncertainty in the ranks.
The Equilord wished he were a million miles away in a green forest with his kin, far away from the mad king and his strange army. Little did he know how soon his wish would become reality?
The entire White army had assembled outside of the Kingdom perimeter in a large field adjacent to where the Rock Titan and his people resided.
The army stretched out across the green open spaces with the massive Steam City taking up the other flank.
The Equilord was concerned.

The White Army Announcement.

The White King summoned all his bishops, generals and auxiliary staff to congress, there were things that needed to be explained. Not all things however. No matter how absolute and despotic his reign may be, certain things could still cause rebellion and mutinous behavior given the conditions they would be bound to under the laws of the celestial battlefield.
Questions had been asked of course.
“Where is this campaign?”
“How shall we arm against this enemy, for we know nothing of them or their lands”
“Ummm….who are we fighting again?”

The White King had duped his subjects. His collective memory was greater than the Bishop Angel who had totally wiped all memories from its conscience regarding it’s crime and subsequent punishment. The Angel didn’t even have the ability to recognize the King as one of its own, something the King had been aware when he had found the fallen Angel all those centuries ago.

The King had watched the battles millennia before and knew that it had been the ruination of Kingdoms and worlds foolish enough to attempt it.
He also knew it may be a way home.

The Black King's announcement

When word had spread through the Nations of the Black Spear that they were to return to the celestial battlefield it was if Christmas, New Year and everybody’s birthdays had come at once. To the people of the Black Spear nothing could surpass the glory of battle except perhaps dying in it, but then being able to return again and again to see if you die the next time round came a pretty close second.
Celebrations spread all over the land with many a thing being killed in sheer happiness, though not many citizens. That of course would mean you would miss out on the glory of the battle be it as victim or slayer. So it was mainly small squeaky animals and birds, the larger beasts saved for the feasts to come after the victorious return.
It never occurred to the Black Spear nations that they could ever lose.
It had been announced that all armies who face each other on the battlefield were equal but the Armies of the Black Spear with their Warrior culture and lifestyle seemed to adjust better than any of their opponents.
It even seemed to quite a few that winning and celebrating and getting promoted was better than dying but they generally kept those thoughts to themselves.

The White King-Bishop's Story

The only person the White King had directly informed about the invitation to battle was the Bishop Angel.
The Bishop Angel had been persuaded to come to the Kingdom many centuries ago by a King who offered enlightenment, freedom of prayer and a tolerant society.
At first these enticements had been realized, but as the years progressed the scholars and engineers turned their attention away from architecture and domestic sciences to more medical experimentation and manufactories that built war machines.
The University of the Gears no longer advanced healing, it raised the dead for information that could have been derived from books and giant monsters that should have remained extinct. Abominations to the Angel’s mind and senses but tolerable, because the true King and its Master had said so.
The Bishop Angel dealt with these things it’s own way. By creating its own religious order of devout, some say fanatical soldiers.
Together they prayed for the souls of their blasphemous colleagues and brothers in arms.
Continue reading here.....

The Black Army Bishop - Part 2

No one questioned the Shaman, even the King let it do what it wanted most times unchallenged.
There was good reason for this, the Shaman was mad.
Not angry mad but loopy, few sheep short in the paddock, stark raving type of mad.
Having dual personalities didn’t help the situation, especially when half male the other female.
It was always in conflict with itself and ironically only ever felt whole when it could split its personalities and fight for its master and mistress on the glorious battle field.
But since there were usually decades between each challenge the Shaman continued to dual internally with itself to do what made it happy and upset itself at the same time..
It was a lonely existance.
Since both personalities of the Shaman hated each other with a passion this internal seething resentment and anger to either go out shopping with girls or play poker with the guys had driven the dark magician insane.

The White Queen , Her Bishop and the University of the Gears.

The steps to leading up to the University doors were imposing, they’d even have an air of respect it weren’t for the dog turds everywhere.
The Queen’s Bishop was witnessing first hand one of his greatest triumphs and failures in one hit.
Having pioneered gene slicing and genetic engineering, as Dean of the University his most brilliant achievement had been to create his Lone Wolf battalion.
A genetic combination of human and wolf, years of trials had created the most fierce and loyal fighters outside of the King’s own personal guard.
The only problem was that no matter how he tried , even after giving the Werehounds the power of free will, speech, the ability to educate themselves and breed, the Bishop still couldn’t stop them from going to the toilet wherever it suited them.

The Bishop who was the military chief of the Werehounds was also responsible for their mess and the King’s Bishop was always there to remind him of the consequences of playing with God’s tools.
Angel’s were just so damn self-righteous.
Continue reading here.............

Black Army Bishops - The Shaman Part 1

The Shaman floated around the study come laboratory, deep in conversation with itself.
“I know black is great for evening wear but really, for everything? Even weddings?”
“I don’t see the problem, last week you said it was great because it looked slimming”
“You just like it because it makes you look mean and ruthless”
“I am mean and ruthless, how do think we have held the field for so long?”
contiue the story here......

The story continues: The White King's Knight

The General Knight looked at his ribs again and flicked the third one down with his bony finger.
It made a high “pingy” noise.
“Oh how I wish I could tune these things, it could make a fine musical instrument”
he thought out loud to himself .
“Oh, who am I kidding – I am so bored”
The General Knight was sitting on his trusty steed Watebuscuit watching his charges practice their battle formations. Which they did each and everyday over and over and over again.
The Men under his command were just like him, a Risen Hero, an army of soldiers and leaders reanimated by the University of the Gears to help in the leadership of the White King’s army.
They were a very controversial bunch to start with and would have been sent back to the mausoleums and Necropolis that held them if it hadn’t been for the Queen and the King coming to an accord and making a strict set of protocols.
No reanimated member of the Risen Army could have memories other than that of the battlefield. No personal recollections of their lives prior to military service, of loved ones or their histories, not even their own deaths. These skeletons with armour and fighting styles from several centuries only lived for battle, and that was all they did.
Over and over again ad infinitum.
The General wished he’d had that privilege.
He was different, he remembered everything.
He remembered falling off his horse in the middle of a battle and before he could right himself, looking up at a massive barbarian holding a somewhat bigger axe, next thing he knew he was standing in front of the Queen and her Bishop in ceremonial armour and with see through hands.
He was a skeleton.
The Bishop did something that took away the shock and utter disbelief and briefed him on what his new role would be.
But then they started asking questions.
“Did he remember the King and where he came from?”
and stuff about his past.
continue reading here.......

The King and his Bullrock

The King of the Nation of the Black Spear was never alone, even when he was physically by himself, he still had the collective memory of countless generations of his peers in his head. Usually he called on them for advice or some long lost knowledge, otherwise they said nothing. Since the army of the Black Spear had held the celestial battlefield for decades now and had been victorious in three challenges the old men in his head wouldn’t shut up.
Every one of them had a view or an opinion that had to be expressed, or worse a brag about who was responsible for the winning moves in any of the victories.
Respecting your Elders was one thing, but this was getting out of hand.
He often wondered if it would be any use sticking a dagger up his nose and doing some cranial clean out.
At least he knew of one way to get rid of them without taking one of the Shaman’s toxic smelling mind blockers.
The King was heading towards a large heavily fortified gate cut into a huge rock face.
As he approached the gate slowly swung open and as if synchronized, was completely open by the time the King arrived as not to keep him waiting.
Inside the rock wall, which on entry revealed itself to be a large animal pen was a seat made of the same material as the wall. On this seat, in the centre of the enclosure sat a creature. . The creature was humanlike in body – though of giant proportions but on its shoulders was the head of a Mammoth.

continue story here.....

The White Kings story

The King made a beeline for his personal chambers; at least there he couldn’t be disturbed.
Following in his wake were a dozen advisors, chefs, university representatives and embassy staff all battling each other for his attention, none game enough to actually touch him or stand before him.
Behind them, scuttled an assortment of pale misshapen dwarfish creatures.
They were the King’s personal guard.
Each was similar to the next, with such a slight difference that took a bit of study to recognize. Though they all appeared hunchbacked it was more due to small knobs each had on its back, which looked more like large shoulder blades. The real reason they were hunched was due to the large implements they had attached below their wrists. Some had large maces, others what appeared to be boulders or even cannon balls.
The guard scurried a short distance behind the advisors.
One word from the King and the guard would annihilate the advisors without question.
Actually with one word the guard would turn on itself if the King ordered it, so strong was their fierce loyalty to him.
Both these thoughts were going through the King’s mind as he reached the door to his chambers.
He turned to the throng trailing him who stopped immediately in their tracks, all questions ceased.

“I am now going through this door to have some privacy and also to stop a Rex inspired genocide. So please go away and wait for me in a place that is at least one hundred metres from this door. I will call when I am ready”

“Yes your Majesty” said the advisors in unison and in one quick action turned and left.

The guard stood still staring at the King.

“You go to sleep” the King said realizing threats against the guard were useless.
The guard dropped where they were in a clattering pile. Unconscious.

continue the story here........

Prelude to the setting of the board

In a universe where the laws of evolution,

majik and science do not apply there are

armies whose need to prove themselves

in battle transcends dimensions.
In this universe warrior worlds can fight

incredible rivals in fantastic battles in locations

that we can only perceive to be real.
Unknown to all combatants is the fact that

their armies are all equal in power and ability.
These battles are more than power and accrual

of wealth, they are about strategy,

bravery and assessment.
The battle is never over until the ultimate ruler

of either side is met and defeated.
There is no good or evil
There is no right or wrong
There is no ultimate power of strength
There is only black and white and the will to win.

But with this desire for the ultimate prize

comes ultimate conditions,
hidden in the contracts.
The ultimate prize is to hold the field until

you lose.
There can be no ultimate winner.
Two ancient army have been chosen to face

each other on the celestial battlefield.
The longevity of each race's existence depends

on the outcome.
Defeat means the extinction of the species.
Winning means another suicidal run at glory.
One, a kingdom where lies and deception have

been built on top of each other for so long that the

thought of loss is becoming equal to the glory of
winning.
The other, a race living in a dystrophic society

where war is the very essence of life and survival;

where dedication to battle is a way of life.
In the end it's one will against another

A Game of Kings.

Let the games begin....

What's it all about? The Game of Kings starts very soon and to get an idea of the narrative behind the artwork check out the introduction for some clues to this exciting concept.

Let the games begin....

It was somewhere but nowhere, it was neither up, down, forwards nor back.

It was there.

The place just existed.

It was the Hollywood version of the after life or maybe heaven in appearance.

Everything was white and a swirling mist seemed to obscure anything within three metres of eyesight.
Within this scene sat three ancients on identical thrones.
They were dressed in white robes with flowing hair beard and moustaches that seemed all to morph into each other to become one shiny mane obscuring their faces.
The only striking physical feature was their diamond pink eyes.
Their chairs were high backed that extended above their heads and had wide armrests.
The ever-present mist obscured the ancient’s feet.
As if to distinguish between them each held a different item in their hands.

read the whole story here.....