by Yajat Sharma
It wasn’t long before the allies started coming in. The Kings accorded them with a befitting welcome.
One fine day, in the late afternoon, while they were standing at the castle wall, the children became curious when they noticed dots against the setting suns. The Scavenger announced that these dots were nothing but the massive armies of ogres and trolls who had joined hands for the cause, despite being mutual enemies.
As they got closer, the Scavenger shouted in excitement, “Amozaks!”
Amozaks were gigantic wolves with red eyes and long claws. They had ropes around their necks and were controlled by warriors in heavy armour. There were also things the size of elephants with green reptilian bodies and bristles sticking out of it. They were Octerpillers. Sphinxes were also there. And then there were Turtoons, gigantic turtles with the head of a mammoth.
The children were filled with excitement. The castle gates opened and the army of allies entered.
A silver-armoured warrior stepped forward and greeted the Scavenger. His armour shone in the sunlight.
“Thank you for answering our call,” the Scavenger said. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am.”
“The pleasure is ours,” the warrior said. “We have heard so much about you. Your presence here instils courage in us. We will make the Skull Warrior pay for all he did to us.”
The Scavenger nodded. “You must have travelled a long way. Get a room, have food and rest. And yes, feed these Amozaks well.”
The warrior bowed and moved to the designated resting areas.
As the days passed, various warrior groups kept arriving from all over. Along with different creatures, warriors from villages also arrived. The Scavenger was pleased to see Huro and Crimson along with the huge army.
A week later, the Scavenger addressed the leaders of every group at the Castle Dome.
“First of all, I would like to make something very clear.” The Scavenger looked around and paused. “Let me tell you clearly that we won’t all survive this.”
There was murmuring in the Dome before the Scavenger held up a hand to silence everyone. “The effort has to be voluntary. We don’t want to force anyone to join us. If anyone wants to leave, please do so now.”
There was pin-drop silence. No one stood up to leave.
“Thank you. I am highly honoured.” The Scavenger broke the silence. “The enemy’s army will reach here in exactly a month and twenty-three days from now. The Tyhorox, as you may have realized. The days of magic. Keep that in mind. The sorcerers, especially.” The Scavenger’s gaze went to the far left side of the Dome, where the sorcerers, wearing coats and hats, were sitting. “We will depend heavily on sorcerers on the final day.” The Scavenger looked around. “We have a lot of time to plan things.”
He took a long breath. “We will need heavy machinery.” He looked at Lynx. “The Man of the Rock, along with the sorcerers, is tasked to create Oculuses. We would also need tanks.”
“We will need blueprints for tanks,” Lynx said.
“That’s no problem,” the Scavenger said, pulling out a wad of blueprints. “I got this from the Brentinute.” He tossed them into Lynx’s hands. “Make good use of it.”
The Scavenger faced the audience and carried on, “I would also like the Mountain Trolls, along with the Dwarves, to make the advanced traps. The Ogres should…”
The Scavenger spent the next hour assigning tasks to the people assembled there. Matt tuned out after some time, and looking at the bored faces of his friends, it appeared that they had too.
“I feel very demotivated,” James said abruptly.
“You’re right,” Matt said. “Aronicle used to cheer us up so well.”
James said, “Previously, when we were fighting the Death Lord, we never worried about any of us dying. What Aronicle said changed a lot of things. Death used to scare me a lot. I mean, when I was seven years old, reading and watching things about terrorist attacks, car accidents, plane crashes, and I used to think, I am so lucky I wasn’t that guy.” James paused. “Now any of us can be that guy.”
“If I die,” Daniel said, “please tell my -”
“Daniel, don’t say that,” Matt interrupted. “We can’t go on like that. It’s best not to think about the future.”
“All right, but if I die, please tell my brother not to take my room,” Daniel said.
Maybe it was his serious expression, or they were all very nervous, but they all suddenly burst out laughing. Daniel looked around, bewildered. “Hey, I wasn’t joking.”
Matt wiped a lone tear from his eyes. “You sure know how to diffuse a situation.” He chuckled again.
Daniel shrugged. “Well, okay, but I wasn’t joking.”
“Wait,” Matt said. “Let’s make a pact.”
“What pact?” Archer asked.
“If one of us... separates from each other in any manner whatsoever, the others won’t return to Earth till they get him back,” Matt said.
“You mean...” James said. “That if we return to Earth, we return as all four of us. Not just three.”
“Yes,” Matt said. “Because if we go home without one friend, what would we say to his parents?”
“You are right,” James said. “Let’s make a promise.”
“But what if one of us dies?” Archer said.
“Then the rest have to return,” Matt said. “But we should not get emotional and always remain happy and strong. We should promise that we will support the dead child’s parents forever so that they don’t miss him.”
“All right,” James said, extending his palm forward. “I promise.”
“I promise too.” Daniel put his hand on James’s hand. Matt and Archer followed.
“That’s done, then,” Matt said. “Now remember, this pact is not casual. We will honour our promise. Repeat after me.”
“We’ll honour our promise,” they repeated.
Amidst their discussions, the children didn’t realize that the Scavenger was about to conclude his speech. The Scavenger said, “Exactly after six weeks from today, I will test all the things – traps, etc. Please get on with your respective tasks. We can’t miss the deadline.”
The meeting ended and everyone started leaving the Castle Dome. As the children and the Scavenger started walking from the Dome, a group of intelligent-looking persons approached them.
“My Lord, we have something which can be instrumental for us to win the war,” one of them said, but he appeared unsure.
The Scavenger frowned at them. “Who are you?”
“We are the herbologists,” the same person said. Seeing the blank expression on the Scavenger’s face, he elaborated further, “Not many people know about our clan. For many years, we have been experimenting secretly, living in secluded caves and forests. But now, for this war, we have decided to come out and help.”
The Scavenger nodded. “Please go on.”
The man continued, “We are very few herbologists alive and none of us knows how to fight with weapons. But we have something else in our arsenal. You see, through the decades of experimenting, we have discovered a liquid, formed by a mixture of specific herbs and some magic, which we call energy serum.”
The man pulled out a small tube filled with a red liquid. “Here it is.”
“What does it do?” the Scavenger asked.
“This replenishes the energy in no time,” the man explained. “That’s really it, but you can realize its importance in the war. Exhaustion takes a heavy toll on the warriors. The exhausted warrior gets a flood of energy almost instantly after drinking it. The only problem is that one has to drain the whole tube at one go to get the energy inflow.”
The Scavenger and the children were amazed. The Scavenger, being a war veteran, knew the need for the warriors to be exhaustion-free. The Scavenger knew he had to grasp the opportunity. If he used this energy serum with his army, they would have a definite advantage in the war.
The Scavenger tried to control his excitement but coul
dn’t. “This is amazing!” he shouted out aloud, but then calmed himself. “And this seems too good to be true. What would you want in return?”
The man just shook his head. “Nothing. We always prefer to be unknown and stay secluded from the others. For several years, we were successful in living that way, but I don’t know how the Skull Warrior came to know about us. He sent dark forces to capture us. He forced us to make herbs and potions for them. We didn’t tell him the secret of the energy serum though, but our mental peace was destroyed and our lives became miserable. We had no choice but to leave the place we have been living in for years. We just want this war to be won by your army, so that we can live peacefully once again.”
The Scavenger nodded. “Don’t worry. If this energy serum works well, we have a pretty fair chance to win the war.” He nodded again. “How many of these bottles do you already have?”
“We have brought with ourselves all our stock – at least fifty large bags full of energy serums, which means at least thousands of such serums. But one tube is finished in just one intake, so we need to have millions more, considering the size of the army. After all, the war may continue for long, and one warrior might need more than one energy serum. So, even if we plan for three tubes or bottles per warrior, we still need to make a lot of these.”
The Scavenger nodded. “With your clan’s guidance, our herb-makers can accomplish the task.”
The man seemed energized by the Scavenger’s assurances. “We are thankful for your help.” His companions bowed to the Scavenger.
The Scavenger stopped them. “Please don’t do that. In fact, I am the one who should bow to you, for your invaluable assistance.” The Scavenger bowed.
The herbologists seemed overwhelmed after seeing such a legendary warrior bowing to them.
The Scavenger requested Lynx and the Gods to take the herbologists to their makeshift laboratory.
Before leaving, Lynx turned to the children, “Don’t think you are lucky.” Lynx handed sheets of paper to the children. “Take your timetable. From tomorrow onwards, you will just practice and practice and practice. For now, you can rest, or do whatever you want. I have urgent tasks at hand.” Lynx ran ahead to catch up with the Gods and herbologists.
The children left the Castle Dome with the Scavenger and sat outside on the green grass, reading the timetables.
Matt groaned. “Will you look at this?! It is torture. I am sure the actual war with the Skull Warrior will be much easier.”
The timetable was hectic. The children had to wake at five and run two miles. After a fifteen-minute break, there was a session of sword practice for two hours. A half-hour break, then two hours practice of their Elemental Powers. Another half-hour break, then three hours of shooting practice. Post lunch, there were hand-to-hand combat practice sessions till late evening. After dinner, they had to sleep at precisely eight o’clock, and the whole cycle repeated each day.
There would also be days in which there would be an obstacle course, combat using only their Elemental magic, shooting competitions, and more.
“How’s that? There will be a lot of excitement,” The Scavenger smiled as he stood up to leave.
“Excitement!” Matt spluttered. “This is torture!”
“Rubbish!” the Scavenger said, waving a hand dismissively. “There’s no option. You should get used to it. From tomorrow, you need to be responsible. No One will be supervising you.”
“No one?” Matt asked.
“I mean No One, the King of the undead!” The Scavenger said as he walked away from the Castle Dome. “I suggest you go and rest. Tomorrow onwards, your exercises begin.”
The next morning, Archer awoke to cold water. He jerked upright, yelling, “What?! What?!”
As his eyes adjusted to the early morning light, he saw an empty bucket hanging above him.
“Rise and shine, sleepyhead. It’s time for the training.” No One snapped his fingers while holding a bucket filled with water. “If you don’t want more water on you.”
“All right, all right, I am getting up,” Archer grumbled. “This is not the way you treat prophesied children!” He shivered in the cold water.
No One pretended he did not hear what Archer had said. He woke the rest of his friends, and they all went outside after freshening up.
“Let’s start the training. It’s a hectic day.” No One stretched his body.
“Follow me.” No One turned and started running. The others followed.
The Scavenger and Lynx were already up and training the village people in the art of war. Archers occupied the castle wall, and the moat looked as deadly as ever.
The day passed grindingly slow. The training seemed unending. When they returned to their camp in the evening, the children were so tired that they preferred to sleep rather than have dinner.
The next day was just as hectic. The Scavenger had decided that they would mostly shoot arrows during the day. Archer didn’t understand why they were wasting their time practising shooting. In the war, they wouldn’t need to aim at the enemy and shoot. They would just use their Elemental Powers. He voiced his protest before the Scavenger, but the Scavenger just ignored him.
As the days passed, the children became proficient in various war skills. Their shooting skills were being admired by one and all. Their precision in using the Elemental Powers left their trainers awestruck.
Meanwhile, more creatures trickled in, coming from different parts of the Dark World. There were sea as well as land animals, flying creatures, and more. The Scavenger welcomed them and assigned them tasks as per their skillsets.
Everything was not going smooth, though. Lynx informed the Scavenger that the Oculus tanks could not be formed. The blueprints were in the primitive stage and couldn’t be utilized.
Also, the Dolphin King told the Scavenger that although they were with him till the last, many others from the massive army of sea animals had become afraid and decided not to help.
The Scavenger said to them, “I suggest some of you should go and try to persuade them. We can only try. Try to tell them about how we have energy serums, the help of the Gods and such a huge army.”
Lynx shrugged. “We can only hope that they arrive. Any help would be awesome.”
The Dolphin King agreed, and along with many flying creatures and sea organisms, he left to persuade his fellow friends.
Six weeks passed by in a jiffy. Eleven days were left until the arrival of the Skull Warrior’s army. The Scavenger, Lynx, the Gods and the children made their way to the building to check weapons and traps.
They entered a hall where some people were waiting for them, for the outfitting of the armour. The all-black armour looked cool.
A man started to explain.
“The armour has magical properties imbued in it,” he said, “which makes it very light.” He gave the Scavenger an armour to try on. The children tried them on too and were surprised at how light they were.
The man pointed to a table, on which lay various parts of the armour – the helmet, the breastplate, the leg casing, and more.
“There will be two swords hung on your back. The helmet will have many small knives.” He picked up one and, sure enough, knives were sticking out. “You want a knife, hold one and pull it out. Like this.”
The Scavenger was impressed by the demonstration.
The man continued, “The armour has retractable claws, which can tear through the opponent’s armour easily.” He pressed a button, and the claws appeared and disappeared. He pressed another button, and a ball of energy shot out from his palm, making a hole in the ground. “Magical orbs. They can dissolve the enemy’s armour easily. But remember one thing – once you press the button, it takes two seconds for the orb to leave your hand.”
The man pressed another button. A short sword emerged in his palm. “If your swords are disarmed, then you can press this button to get another one.”
The man pushed down on a button on the left side of the armour. A ligh
t blue shield emerged in front of his body. “Magical shield. Lasts for fifteen seconds, then has to cool down for ten seconds.”
The man then picked up the body of the armour, which consisted of the breast and the waist plates. “Made of highly resilient steel. No sword or any other melee weapon can break it.”
The man picked up the legs. “The legs and the hands and the back armour are equipped with small but sharp needles. There are also levitation properties imbued in the armour.”
James grinned. “Oh, yes!”
The man smiled. He pointed to two buttons on the knees. “Press these and in-built blasters will launch you into the air. You move by leaning in the direction you want to go. It can, however, only sustain for about fifteen minutes, before it has to cool down for a minute. There are holsters in the waists for Oculuses. There are also grenades hanging from the belt.”
The man took a breath. “And finally, there are tubes full of the energy serum hanging from the belts. As soon as any warrior needs the energy serum, he would just need to pick a bottle out and drink from the bottle.”
“Well, it is terrific,” Matt said. “I think the energy serum in bottles rather than tubes are easier to consume. There isn’t any doubt that we are winning the war.”
The Scavenger glared at Matt. “Don’t get over-confident.” Then, he turned towards the man who had shown them the armour. “The armour is amazing. You have done great work.”
The man bowed. “It’s my honour.”
“Make sure you construct enough armours for everyone in the Castle,” the Scavenger said. “Now, don’t let us keep you. Go on.”
They left and went to check on the traps. The Scavenger was disappointed and grew impatient after being informed that the traps were not ready. The trap architects requested a couple of days more, which the Scavenger had to grant reluctantly.
They moved ahead and inspected the weapons. The Scavenger appeared satisfied with the progress.
Suddenly, a messenger came and informed about a gathering in front of the Castle gate. The Scavenger found that a group of fifty warriors was standing outside the big gate. The Scavenger brought them inside the Castle and talked with the leader, Heth.