Attrition of the Gods: Book 1 of the Mystery Thriller series Gods Toys. by P.G. Burns Page A

here?”
    Leo doesn’t answer the question and instead turns his attention to the chessboard, seeing that it is set up, ready to go.
    “Let’s hope you do better today,” mocks Shane good-naturedly.
    Over the last two months Leo and Shane have played over thirty games of chess. Leo won the first game in less than five moves. He won the second easily too. The third game took over an hour and Leo commented on how much Shane had improved in such a short time. Then, after a five-hour marathon for the fourth game, Shane had his first victory.
    At first Leo thought he had been hustled but he soon realised that Shane had barely known the rules of chess before the first game. As the days went by Shane beat Leo consistently and quite easily, with their last three games not lasting more than half an hour each. Even stranger was the fact that Johnny-No-Legs had played Shane only two days ago. Leo had watched the game and although Johnny was a competent player Leo hadn’t expected him to last more than five minutes with Shane. To Leo’s surprise Johnny beat Shane. How could this happen? As a lifelong member of the London Chess Society, Leo knew that luck played no part in chess. Shane assured him he didn’t let Johnny win. Leo had played Johnny and beaten him many times. It didn’t make sense, until Leo watched Shane play against Johnny for the second time. Shane had won with checkmate coming in less than eight moves.
    It was then that Leo really started to believe. When the Djinn named Simeon had prophesied to Leo that he would meet a unique man with the attributes to lead and protect the masses, Leo often wondered if this man would be a warrior, or a scholar, or maybe a great orator who could stir up the consciousness of the people and open their eyes to the truth. Now he was seeing that Shane was much more than this. When Leo asked Shane what he believed was his greatest virtue, Shane thought for a long time before answering.
    “I never tell lies. Well, not since I was a small boy. Oh, and I help old people like you and I am a great lover!”
    Not impressed by the other two answers, Leo questioned his first declaration. “You never tell lies?”
    “No. Maybe because I never felt the need to, or perhaps because of Chloe’s death. I know that bullies thrive because of lies. Sometimes I wish I had told lies. I mean, even in court my brief did everything to stop me testifying. Some child psychiatrist once told me I was most likely autistic or something, like it’s a disease to tell the truth.”
    When Shane says he never tells lies, he means never for his own personal gain. Leo was a good man brought up to believe in God and by honest, hard-working parents. He had worked in the Vatican, the epicentre of virtue. He had met many, many honest men and yet he had never met a man who wouldn’t tell a lie for his own benefit. Leo realised how unique this was. Watching Shane play chess brought another realisation: Shane was not a great chess player, in fact he was barely competent. So how was it he could beat Leo, a very accomplished player, so easily? Shane was not conscious of his ability to read people, it was an instinctive action. Simply put, after the first few games with Leo, Shane was able to predict what Leo would do and use his own moves against him. Eventually he was able to work out in his mind every move from start to finish that Leo would play just from the first couple of manoeuvres. The same happened with Johnny, who was more predictable and was not an accomplished player.
    This ability to calculate an opponent’s moves had dictated events throughout Shane’s life. When he boxed he often lost the first round only to completely annihilate his opponent in the second. His commanding officer in Afghanistan was convinced he had a sixth sense. Often he would listen in awe as Shane would explain to him what the local rebels’ strategy would be next. One red-hot summer day Shane had lain out in the desert with no fear