by Yajat Sharma
They started to fall back towards the moat.
Everyone activated the blasters in their armour. The children felt disappointed as they rose in the air and flew towards the moat. The moat was well fortified and kept as a last resort. If the enemy reached the moat, the Castle would be considered lost.
The Scavenger’s army successfully retreated to the moat.
Archer looked around and saw scared faces. He gulped. “Is this how we will die?”
“Don’t think like that. We will fight to the last man. Very few of us are now left. I am a man of faith. We stand by the side of truth!” The Scavenger raised his hands and made a silent prayer for help. In his heart of hearts, he realized the futility of a prayer and lowered his hands to summon lightning bolts again.
A horn blew.
The Scavenger grinned.
His prayer had been heard.
Archer was confused on hearing the horn. What was that? He used his blasters to rise to the air.
And saw the most beautiful sight ever.
The sky was full with large griffins. Big falcons and eagles followed, and more flying creatures started to appear. They held sea creatures in their claws, who spewed powerful bursts of water into the army.
The Scavenger had almost lost hope that his request to call for the griffins, sea creatures, falcons and eagles to join the war would be responded to by them.
Another horn blew.
The children looked to the east and their spirits soared. Ogres and Trolls ran straight into the enemy army, swatting warriors with their hands and roaring in delight.
Suddenly Lynx shouted in excitement. “Look westwards!”
Hundreds of thousands of warriors in blue armour were marching straight towards the Skull Warrior’s army from the western side. They were the warriors of the White City, led by the King, who was in a beautifully adorned chariot. The White City’s King had changed his mind.
The Skull Warrior’s army was surrounded from all sides. Everyone in the moat felt a sudden elevation in mood. Their hopes had been rekindled once again.
“CCHHHAAARRRRGGGGGEEEEEEEEE!” the Scavenger roared.
They charged with renewed energy.
The Scavenger’s army trampled through the enemy warriors, who were shocked at being attacked from all sides.
The King of the White City was attacking the enemy with high energy and precision. The Scavenger met him in the field.
“Thanks for coming,” the Scavenger greeted the King.
The King nodded. “I am sorry that I took time to decide. I was a fool to be scared.”
“We all make mistakes,” the Scavenger said. “What’s important is that we learn from them.”
The King nodded again as he slashed his sword on an enemy warrior that tried to stab him.
The Scavenger turned to see the leader of the Trolls and the Ogres greeting him.
“Good to see you. I am glad you decided to fight with us.”
“The men of White City crossed us while we were retreating,” a Troll said. “And we realized that it was wrong for us to turn our backs.”
“Don’t worry,” the Scavenger said. “The tide will turn. Join the war, my friends!”
With a roar, the Scavenger’s army launched a renewed attack on the enemy.
21
As the Trolls and Ogres leapt into the fray, Lynx turned to the Scavenger.
“We need the Slayer, and fast,” he said. “Despite all the support, we will not be able to hold for long. And if the Skull Warrior comes -”
Suddenly the Scavenger clutched his head. He saw everyone else holding their heads. A sharp whistle penetrated the air due to which there was a momentary burst of sharp pain in everyone’s head.
“That’s the darkness of the Skull Warrior,” Lynx said. He closed his eyes, concentrating. “I sense him.”
“And so do I,” the Scavenger said.
“Fate awaits,” Lynx said. “It’s time for the final battle.”
The Scavenger snapped his fingers and muttered a spell. A chariot appeared and the group clambered over it. With a grim expression, the Scavenger accelerated the chariot forward. As the chariot moved forward, everyone inside drained the final energy serums left. They were going to need every ounce of the energy.
The chariot burst through the ranks of warriors and emerged near a small circular land. Warriors were fighting all around this land, but as they tried to enter the circular land, they were somehow repelled.
A small group of people assembled there.
There was Urrax, decked in blue apparel with two swords in each of his hands.
There were ten Demons in their armour and weapons.
And then, there was the Skull Warrior.
The Skull Warrior wore black robes with no hood. His face was just a blob of darkness with small skulls surrounding the blob.
He held nothing – no weapons, no armour, no magical orbs or anything. It was evident that he didn’t need any of them.
The Skull Warrior had a gloved hand up sideways. Rays of darkness emitted from them, forming a dome around him, which couldn’t be seen but was very much there, preventing anyone from entering.
Welcome to your graveyard. The cold and dark voice echoed all around. It was the Skull Warrior speaking, but how, no one knew.
“We are not the ones to die,” the Scavenger said in a fearless voice. “We will end your evil regime. You will not be successful.”
I have only one purpose – to bring the Death Lord back. The Skull Warrior’s voice echoed. And that is what I will do until my last breath.
“Not on our watch.” The Scavenger pulled out his Lightning Sword.
Urrax and the ten Demons rushed forward. The Gods, along with No One, the Scavenger and Lynx, clashed with the Demons. Urrax rushed to attack the children, while the Skull Warrior just stood there watching everyone, doing nothing.
From the corner of his eye, James noticed that two Demons were holding Venoz and Urrax was bringing his sword down on Venoz. James moved his hands forward and powerful jets of water flew all around, hitting the two Demons and Urrax just in time. Urrax slammed to the ground. Daniel intervened and thick branches started to wrap around Urrax’s arms and legs while Archer kept up a steady flow of fire to Urrax’s face.
Urrax yelled and burst free. As five Demons surrounded Venoz, Urrax came from behind and plunged a dark sword into Venoz’s back. Venoz fell to the ground.
The Gods roared as their fellow God lay on the ground, dead. They attacked Urrax. Urrax was powerful, but the combined attack from the Gods full of rage was too much for him.
The Skull Warrior moved towards Urrax to help him, but the Scavenger and the children obstructed him.
The Gods attacked Urrax like they were possessed; they were enraged at Venoz’s death. There was a blast and the Gods flew backwards. Where Urrax was before was now silvery dust and it evaporated slowly into the air.
Paragon shouted, “We have avenged Venoz.”
The Scavenger and the children sighed as a weight got lifted from their shoulders. Aronicle’s death had also been avenged.
The Skull Warrior leapt ahead in rage. The Scavenger, Lynx, the children and the Gods all attacked the Demons and the Skull Warrior.
The Skull Warrior chanted spells. The atmosphere started becoming hazy. The Skull Warrior was just too powerful. He raised his hands and shot dark waves here and there. The Gods were somehow able to counter these waves, but it seemed like it was a matter of time before the dark waves consumed everybody. Soon, the dark waves started clouding everyone’s minds, making them weaker with every passing moment. The Skull Warrior inched closer to win the war.
The children were so far proving effective from stopping the Skull Warrior from reaching his full potential. They summoned their Elemental Powers and sent waves of powerful attacks towards the Skull Warrior, distracting him from time to time.
As the children and the Gods engaged the Skull Warrior and his Demons, Lynx dragged the Scavenger to the side.
Suddenly, the Skull Warrior raised his hands and roared. It was deafening. A dark wave slammed against the children. The children flew away, landing with painful thuds on the ground.
James suddenly caught a glimpse of Lynx and the Scavenger at the side. The Scavenger was crying profusely as Lynx whispered unknown words to him.
“NO!” the Scavenger was saying in a shaky voice. “I can’t let you do that!”
James could hear this.
Before James could make sense of what was going on between Lynx and the Scavenger, the Skull Warrior moved forward, straight towards Paragon, and as fast as lightning, sent a sword towards Paragon’s chest. Paragon escaped by a whisker.
Suddenly, Lynx rolled away, and held a knife in his hand. He brought it to his neck. “There have been enough deaths.” Lynx looked at the Scavenger. “You know there is no other choice.”
The Scavenger yelled, “No, Lynx, no! Not you!”
He took a deep breath. “If things aren’t right in the end, take the help of Pyros.” He readied his knife. “Don’t let my death go to waste.”
In a flash, Lynx moved the knife across his neck.
The Scavenger acted at once. His mind was frothing in turmoil because of what Lynx had done. He was the only one who understood what Lynx had done.
Everyone was shocked. Without wasting a second, the Scavenger rushed towards Lynx, raised his hands and opened the Magic Compartment.
The Poison, the Bolt and the Trident fell on top of Lynx’s body and started to merge.
Lynx was the Sacrifice.
The Slayer was about to form.
But it didn’t.
The Scavenger was shocked. For a moment, he blacked out. He couldn’t understand where he had gone wrong. Here was the Warrior with the Poison, the Bolt and the Trident merged together after the great Sacrifice. The five things required for the Slayer were all there. But the Slayer did not form.
The children’s hearts sank as they lost hope.
Something had gone horribly wrong. They were too shocked to understand what.
Time seemed to stop.
Suddenly, a figure leapt in front of the Scavenger, and smacked him away. The hit was massive in impact. The Scavenger went flying. The Skull Warrior was standing tall at the exact spot where the Scavenger had been a moment before.
The laugh of the Skull Warrior was deafening.
You are not the one. You fool!
The Skull Warrior put a hand to the blob of darkness – his face – and started to pull out half of it.
James was the one who got it first, and as the realization struck him, his knees grew weak. He understood what a huge mistake they had made. Soon, the others realized.
The Skull Warrior was the Warrior.
All along, their assumption that the Scavenger was the Warrior was fallacious.
The situation was so urgent that there was no time to think and plan. Everyone had to trust his instincts.
The children, the Gods and the Scavenger rushed forward in desperation towards the Skull Warrior. They had to stop the Skull Warrior from forming the Slayer. In whatever way required.
But it seemed they had lost crucial moments. The Skull Warrior had already pulled out half of the blob of darkness from his face. With a monstrous roar, he put the half blob of darkness over the body of Lynx, over which the Poison, the Bolt and the Trident had almost combined by that time.
There was a burst of light. Everyone had to close their eyes due to the intense light rays. When the light normalized, there was the Slayer, resting in the hands of the Skull Warrior.
The Slayer was just like any other sword. It appeared like a wooden sword, which didn’t even look dangerous.
But it was the Slayer, and that was all that mattered.
And it was in the Skull Warrior’s hand.
The Skull Warrior raised the Slayer. It is time.
He began to chant. Darkness started emanating from his hands and started to cover the Slayer. The sky up above filled with clouds. A hole appeared in the sky and started to widen.
They all knew what was happening.
The Skull Warrior was summoning the Death Lord by harnessing the power of the Slayer.
The Gods leapt at the Skull Warrior. The Skull Warrior blocked every attack with ease, all the while chanting in his cold evil voice.
Branches spread from the ground and entangled the Skull Warrior’s legs as Daniel worked his Elemental Power. James threw ice spears and Archer sent fire blobs at the Skull Warrior, but they could not stop him from chanting spells.
The ground shook. The clouds roared. A single figure dropped from the hole and, with a powerful sound, the hole closed.
The figure raised his head and smiled.
The Death Lord was back.
And he had the Arcane Crown on his head.
The Death Lord smiled, looking at the Skull Warrior.
Thank You, my loyal warrior, the Death Lord spoke. You have proved your utmost loyalty to me.
The Skull Warrior bowed. Master. It is my pleasure.
The Death Lord put his hand on the Skull Warrior’s head. Choose any number of worlds you want to rule. But first, let us destroy our greatest enemies.
Suddenly, all hell broke loose.
While the Death Lord and the Skull Warrior were talking, James was summoning water with extreme concentration. Now, he let loose a strong tidal wave of water that was focused only on the Slayer.
The Skull Warrior held on to the Slayer with all his power as he stood against the strong wave of water.
The Scavenger attacked at once and pounced on the Death Lord. In a lightning-fast move, he sent the Arcane Crown flying. James leapt towards the Crown as the Skull Warrior retaliated with a kick at the Scavenger’s face.
Paragon and the other Gods engaged the Skull Warrior in combat. The Scavenger and the children could clearly make out that the Death Lord had become weak. While he was trapped in the broken pieces of the Arcane Crown, he’d had to spend almost all his strength and energy to summon the Skull Warrior.
The children and the Gods quickly leapt at the Death Lord.
The Skull Warrior roared. Enough! He raised the Slayer and started to speak again. Take me -
But, before he could complete, suddenly, a beam of light hit the Skull Warrior in the chest. The Skull Warrior staggered and fell.
Everyone looked to see where the beam of light had come from and gasped.
James was wearing the Arcane Crown. He was roaring as he wielded the power of Arcane himself. His whole body radiated with light that shone in all directions.
James ran towards the Death Lord.
Before the Skull Warrior could realize what was happening, James snapped his hands forward. The Arcane Crown broke into pieces – the original seven pieces. Each of them flew towards the Death Lord, encircling him.
The Death Lord cried, No! Not again!
The broken pieces of the Arcane Crown formed a cage and then disappeared along with the Death Lord.
The Death Lord was trapped again.
The shocked Skull Warrior roared in anger as his plan started to fall apart. He raised the Slayer again.
Suddenly, a figure appeared right over the Skull Warrior.
Thunder, the wolf, enveloped the Skull Warrior’s head. The wolf howled as it started to burn. However, the wolf’s efforts were successful, as the Slayer dropped from the Skull Warrior’s hands.
The Gods attacked the Skull Warrior at once, without allowing him any chance to recover. The Scavenger was quick to join them, but he could not save the wolf from burning to ashes. The children used all their Elemental Powers to throw water, fire, wind and trees at the Skull Warrior, trying to subdue him.
The Skull Warrior stomped his feet on the ground and rushed to pick up the Slayer.
Oni came in between and slashed his sword at him.
The Skull Warrior dodged easily and, at the same time, pulled out a spear and plunged it into Oni’s chest. Oni tried his be
st to dodge, but the spear went through his stomach. Oni collapsed.
As the Skull Warrior was about to pick up the Slayer, Matt moved quickly and summoned gusts of winds. The Slayer drifted towards the Scavenger. But before it could reach the Scavenger, the Skull Warrior leapt at the Slayer.
Matt acted without thinking, just one thought embedded in his mind.
The Skull Warrior must not take the Slayer.
A second later, the Slayer was in Matt’s hand.
Matt screamed. The Slayer suddenly started turning black. The blackness spread across Matt’s body. With every passing moment, Matt was getting engulfed in the evil blackness.
Matt slammed the Slayer into the ground and the Skull Warrior flew backwards. As Matt pulled out the Slayer from the ground, a portal appeared. Actually, it wasn’t a portal, it was a dimension.
“Matt, what are you doing?!” James yelled.
Matt turned to look at his friends. “The Skull Warrior is too powerful. He must be stopped. I have to go. It’s the only way to stop the Skull Warrior.”
Before anyone could react, Matt plunged the Slayer into the Skull Warrior’s chest and pushed him with all his might towards the dimension.
The Skull Warrior roared with a loud sound,
Live for me, Osay!!!!!!!!!!!
Matt turned to look one last time at his friends and the Scavenger. He smiled and shouted, “Goodbye.” The next moment, the blackness had covered him all over.
Matt and the Skull Warrior disappeared.
22
The setting suns looked down onto a fleeing army. As soon as the Skull Warrior disappeared in the dimension, his army turned and took tail. Within seconds, they were gone, leaving a battlefield filled with bodies and the victorious army of the Scavenger.
The children and the Scavenger walked around, shocked. Matt’s departure had left a hole in their hearts. Venoz was gone. Dead. Oni was grievously injured.
The Kings of Necron approached the Scavenger.
“We won,” they said softly.
“Yes,” the Scavenger said. “But at a high price. A price too high to pay.” Tears rolled down the Scavenger’s eyes as he gazed upon Lynx’s body and thought of Matt.