Fandingo stretched his arms feeling the sore muscles in his back twinge after a full day of digging. He gave a small nod of his head as he looked back at the trench he had been working on, proud of the progress that he had made. It was satisfying to have made so much progress in just one day. Last year it would have taken him two or three days to get so far, but with his growth spurt during the winter he was now almost able to do the work of a grown man. “Fan, are you ready to call it a day?” Fandingo looked up to see his father, Drendal, standing by the door of their small hut, a pile of wood in his arms. “Yep, just give me a minute to wash up and I’ll be right in.” His father nodded and went inside as Fandingo walked over to the small stream near the house.

Bending down Fandingo cupped the water to his face, shivering as the cold water dripped down his sleeves and neck. It had been a hard, hot year and the small stream was the only reason he and his father had not been forced to leave their small farm. The thought wasn’t comforting though, with so little water the crops had struggled to grow and the harvest was meager at best. Fandingo sighed, he and his father had hoped to grow enough food to see them through the winter but now that wouldn’t be possible. They would have left two weeks ago but Drendal had wanted to finish the fall chores in preparation for spring so that when they came back they would be able to get an early start on the next season’s planting.

Walking back to the house Fandingo could now feel the slight nip in the air that hinted of winter and shivered. “Father, I finished the trench” Drendal looked up from the fire he was starting in the hearth. “Good, we can leave tomorrow then.” He gave a weary sigh as he turned back to building the fire. Fandingo nodded, there wasn’t anything to say, either they left or they stayed and starved. Fandingo knew how hard it was for his father to leave the farm but it was way better than starving and, though he wouldn’t admit it to his father, he was actually excited to see the world outside their farm.

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After dinner, Fandingo and Drendal sat playing chess in the warmth of the fire smoldering in the hearth. “Tell me more about the Ardren plains.” Drendal looked up from the board where he had been considering his rook, “The plains? Well, the plains are the primary providers of most of the world’s food. They are large fertile tracts of land that have been farmed for over three thousand years. They say that the lands were blessed by the Avelen to ensure that the land stayed rich and fertile. Unlike us, who were not lucky enough to have the heralds of the gods bless our land.” Drendal and Fandingo laughed while smiling ruefully thinking about the last two weeks of backbreaking labor they had endured to move piles of manure and the ditches they had dug to carry water to their fields.

Drendal moved a pawn forward to attack Fandingo’s bishop, Fandingo smiled as he replied by moving the bishop and taking his father’s knight. “I can’t imagine a farm so large that they have to hire people to work on it.” Drendal shrugged sliding his queen through the gap in Fandingo’s defenses that had been created when Fandingo moved his bishop, “The Arden farms are almost their own country. They have a small standing army, multiple cities, and enough money to rival any king's treasury. Checkmate.” Fandingo looked down at the board seeing now the clever trap his father had woven that had lead to his defeat. He laughed shaking his head “Beat me again, and I was positive that I had you this time.” “You lost sight of the final prize when offered immediate rewards.” Drendal leaned back in his chair, “Remember son, winning has very little to do with who’s ahead. Most of the time it’s those who are willing to sacrifice and have less in the beginning who end up with the most in the end.” He laughed “Of course, it helps if your mind is on the game as well.” Fandingo smiled and laughed again. “Yea, I guess I could have been a little more focused.” “Well son, I guess we’d better get some sleep. We have quite the adventure ahead of us don’t we.” The two of them put the game away, turned out the light, and went to bed.