Quest for the Arcane Crown

by Yajat Sharma

  Notion Press

  No.8, 3rd Cross Street

  CIT Colony, Mylapore

  Chennai, Tamil Nadu – 600004

  First Published by Rising Sun Publishers in July 2018

  Revised Edition by Notion Press 2021

  Copyright © Yajat Sharma 2021

  All Rights Reserved.

  eISBN 978-1-63745-514-2

  This book has been published with all efforts taken to make the material error-free after the consent of the author. However, the author and the publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

  While every effort has been made to avoid any mistake or omission, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that neither the author nor the publishers or printers would be liable in any manner to any person by reason of any mistake or omission in this publication or for any action taken or omitted to be taken or advice rendered or accepted on the basis of this work. For any defect in printing or binding the publishers will be liable only to replace the defective copy by another copy of this work then available.

  Dedicated to my caring sister Jagriti and my inspiring parents – Ritu Dwivedi and Anish Prasad – without whose steadfast support and encouragement, this first book in my trilogy of THE FOUR ELEMENTALS, would not have been possible.

  “I congratulate the very young author, Yajat Sharma, on the launch of his first book, Quest for the Arcane Crown. For a twelve-year-old, Yajat has shown remarkable creativity and imagination. Simple in style, the book makes for exciting reading. I wish him all the best. May God bless him!”

  – Shovana Narayan, Padmashri and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, Kathak guru and IAAS

  “Beautifully woven and sequenced, Quest for the Arcane Crown transposes children to a world of their own with all its quirky fantasies. Yajat, I am sure, will send shock waves that will resonate through the literary world.”

  – Amitava Ghosh, Educationist and Consultant

  “A fantastic story of dangerous uncertainties, magic moments in a bewildering quick succession… every reason to be pleasantly impressed, especially when coming from a twelve-year old author… wonderful new genre fantasy novel to besiege a great part of literary world… enough to invite world attention.”

  – Manas Pal, Author and Journalist

  “This book is so good, it is almost difficult to believe that this is the work of twelve-year old. The story has all the elements of a great classic. Material fit for a movie or a show on Netflix. Can easily imagine the book being made into a serialized graphic novel as well... Congratulations, Yajat. The world, please take note – a promising author has just made his debut.”

  – Ameen Haque, Founder, Storywallahs

  About the Author

  Yajat Sharma, born on 30th May 2006, has been an avid reader since the age of three. His passion for reading inspired this book through which he gave life to his creative imagination. Typing skills gained at an early age of five helped him in being a published author at the young age of 12 years.

  Yajat has conceived the story of “The Four Elementals” as a Trilogy. On 29th July 2018 at the India International Center, New Delhi, India, the young author began his writing journey with a grand launch of his first book titled “Quest for the Arcane Crown” published by The Rising Sun Publishers, New Delhi. The book touched #No. 2 on the Amazon’s Bestselling List in its listed category. This creative work of Yajat also gained entry into the India Book of Records under the Appreciation Category with a medal and citation.

  The readers received the book with unprecedented love and gave feedback along with suggestions. Yajat has incorporated the feedback and suggestions in this revised edition of the book being published by Notion Press.

  Yajat has completed the other two books in the Trilogy titled – THE SKULL WARRIOR and THE PAGES OF DESTINY which are being published shortly.

  Yajat is imaginative, focused and expansive. He is happy, congruent, and possesses a mature and optimistic outlook towards life. As a young adult, he exhibits a never-say-die spirit in whatever challenges he takes up in life.

  Yajat resides at New Delhi along with parents Dr. Ritu Dwivedi and Anish Prasad and sister Jagriti.

  Yajat can be reached at:

  authoryajat@icloud.com

  www.facebook.com/authoryajat

  www.instagram.com/authoryajat

  www.twitter.com/authoryajat

  www.youtube.com/authoryajat

  1

  MILLENNIA AGO, there lived a great magician named Lord Arcane. He was one of the most legendary wizards of all time. He derived his powers from a mystical and magical Crown.

  Using the power of the Crown of Magic, he created an entire world deep inside the Earth – the Dark World – that remained hidden from the Earthlings. Lord Arcane filled it with people and strange creatures. After him, his son, Mascae, ruled the Dark World.

  Apart from being a magician, Lord Arcane was a great seer too. While meditating, he could visualize the future. He foresaw that great troubles would occur in the Dark World in the future.

  He saw that an evil sorcerer would rise to destroy the Dark World and the Earth by harnessing the powers of the Crown of Magic. Lord Arcane also saw the faces of four prophesied children from Earth who could save these worlds from destruction.

  Anguished by the visions, Lord Arcane devised a plan to make the Crown of Magic challenging to acquire. He broke it into seven pieces and hid them in different places in the Dark World. Anyone intending to use the Crown of Magic had to find all the seven pieces and combine them to make the Crown. He entrusted seven of his most trustworthy warriors to guard and protect each of these pieces.

  A thought dawned on him that the prophesied children would also need the power of the Crown to win over evil. The children should be able to locate the pieces and form the Crown when the need arose. So he designed complex riddles containing clues to lead the deserving ones to the pieces, for only the worthy could decode the riddles. With each piece found, the riddle for the next would pave the way.

  Lord Arcane kept all the clues to these riddles in a box and handed over the riddle box to his only son, Mascae, whom he trusted with his life. He told Mascae that only the most courageous and ingenious could solve these riddles. Lord Arcane kept the location of the pieces from his son as well because he believed that if the time came, Mascae would be able to solve the riddles and find the seven pieces.

  Lord Arcane knew plenty about strange magical elixirs and enchantments. He had spent most of his life searching for the potion of immortality. He collected rare herbs, animals’ horns, teeth and skin, and had endangered his life many times doing so.

  After years of research, he discovered the right mystic ingredients and created eight drops of the potion of immortality. He tried to consume one of the drops, but couldn’t. Mascae, too, failed to consume it. Lord Arcane realized that he and his generation’s blood couldn’t ingest the potion. So he decided to put it to good use. He administered seven drops of the potion to the seven guardians tasked with protecting the pieces of the Crown. The guardians could now live for eternity and protect the Crown of Magic. There was just a last drop left, which he stored carefully to give away to someone worthy.

  As the years passed, Lord Arcane grew old. One night, the nightmare of the destruction of the Dark World and the Earth resurfaced in his dreams. However, this time, he could also foresee that within three centuries the evil would take over the Dark World. Three centuries, three centuries, three centuries…kept playing in Lord Arcane’s mind.

  He was worried. Who woul
d live for three centuries to save the Dark World and the Earth? Who would find the prophesied children on Earth and lead them to the Dark World? He needed to find someone urgently.

  Only one person came to his mind. ‘The Scavenger’ was his faithful and loyal servant. He was not known by his real name, if he had one. He was an orphan, and had survived by scavenging his way through the Dark World. He had been serving Lord Arcane since he was a teenager, and Lord Arcane treated him not like a servant but like his own son. Lord Arcane decided to assign the critical task of leading this mission to the Scavenger.

  “My loyal servant,” Lord Arcane said to the Scavenger, “you have selflessly served me for long. I trust the purity of your soul. I may not survive for long. I have one important favour to ask of you.”

  “Your wish is my command, my Lord,” the Scavenger said.

  Lord Arcane told the Scavenger about everything – the evil, the prophesied children, the immortality potion and the nightmares occurring to him.

  “But before you embark on this life-changing journey, you need rigorous training with the most proficient of the warriors. I need to be sure that you are the worthy soul to whom I can entrust the onerous responsibility of protecting the Dark World and the Earth.”

  “Why me?”

  “No one in my family has eternal life, and the immortality potion doesn’t work on us. I have complete trust in you. I wish to administer this last drop to you so that I can die peacefully. If you do not take up this challenge, then I am afraid the fate of the two Worlds is dangerously uncertain.”

  The Scavenger agreed bravely.

  Lord Arcane summoned the most skilled warriors of the Dark World, and assigned them the task of training the Scavenger in all kinds of war skills. He also tasked the best sorcerers to train the Scavenger in magic. The Scavenger was a remarkable fighter, learning quickly, sharpening his skillsets and passing the tests one after another.

  Lord Arcane was relieved to know that he had indeed made a wise decision to choose the Scavenger.

  After several years of intense training were over, Lord Arcane summoned the Scavenger. “Congratulations on becoming the greatest warrior of the Dark World.” Lord Arcane chuckled in admiration. “The name Scavenger does not suit you. You will be called the Shadow Warrior from now on.”

  “I am forever indebted to my Lord for offering me a chance to prove my abilities, but the change in my name, I humbly deny. I desire to be called the Scavenger. It keeps me connected to my roots.”

  Lord Arcane smiled and agreed to his request. He administered the last drop of the potion of immortality to the Scavenger.

  He then gave the Scavenger a box and said, “This box contains the riddle to get the first piece of the Crown. I have given the same riddle to my son Mascae as well.” Simultaneously, he drew sketches of the four prophesied children from Earth and gave it to the Scavenger.

  Lord Arcane said, “I had created an ideal environment inside the Dark World, where no evil existed. But as it happens, evil cannot be stopped. I was only successful in delaying it. As I can foresee, within a few hundred years, the evil will spread. You are now a great and immortal warrior. When you feel that evil has grown too much, you need to go to the Earth to find and bring the four prophesied children here. You may not be able to handle the situation alone without their help. I trust that you will make a wise decision at the right time.”

  Lord Arcane also taught the Scavenger how to make a portal to reach Earth and come back from there.

  Years passed and, as destiny would have it, Lord Arcane died. Mascae ruled his kingdom with vigour and grace for decades, and with the Scavenger by his side, they were invincible.

  But as Lord Arcane had foreseen, evil began to grow and infest the Dark World and the minds of its people. The Scavenger regularly cautioned Mascae about the growing evil, but Mascae took no heed.

  A gifted sorcerer named Pharaoh also kept warning Mascae about the growing evil, but Mascae never saw any threat to the Dark World. Instead, he used to mock Pharaoh.

  One day, at Mascae’s court, Pharaoh shared his dream and warned Mascae of a massive attack on the kingdom by evil powers. Mascae laughed and made fun of Pharaoh in front of the entire court. The Scavenger was away or else he would have acted. He came to know of the incident much later. Feeling insulted and anguished, Pharaoh left the Palace of Mascae for an unknown destination.

  After a few years, Pharaoh’s warning came true. Evil forces attacked Mascae’s kingdom. The Scavenger securely took away Mascae and his son Raven into the forests. Mascae and Raven blamed Pharaoh for it all, even to the extent where they thought that he might have conspired with the evil souls just to prove his predictions right.

  The trio was now living in exile. Mascae remembered about the Crown of Magic. He asked the Scavenger to visit Earth and find the four prophesied children, and meanwhile, he and Raven would get the seven pieces one by one and assemble the Crown of Magic.

  But the Scavenger refused. “It’s my duty to protect you. I cannot leave you at such a critical juncture, when there is such a grave danger to your life. Instead, I suggest we should take help from the Unicorns.”

  Mascae agreed and the next day, they set off for the Land of Unicorns.

  They rested at a spot in the middle of a dense and dreary forest. The Scavenger went to get food.

  While the Scavenger was away, two assassins attacked Mascae. The stealth and surprise in the attack didn’t give Mascae a chance to retaliate and he was killed. However, his son Raven managed to escape.

  When he returned, the Scavenger was shocked on seeing Mascae’s dead body. Tears filled his eyes, but he knew he could not grieve. He had to act and save Raven.

  The Scavenger searched for Raven everywhere for many days, but in vain. The Scavenger decided to go to Earth to find the prophesied children. Evil had spread to a great extent. The Scavenger made a portal to the Earth and leapt into it.

  ***

  Raven was left fuming and enraged at his father’s death. He blamed the sorcerer – Pharaoh – and swore to avenge the loss.

  One day, Raven found Pharaoh, who was living peacefully in a village, oblivious to the wrath he was about to encounter.

  What ensued next was a duel between Raven and Pharaoh that continued for six days and six nights. At the dawn of the seventh day, Pharaoh, exhausted of all his powers, used the deadliest spell of all times – the Death Curse – upon Raven. But, due to exhaustion, he failed to cast the spell appropriately. Instead of killing Raven, the spell turned Raven into a deadly immortal evil. The dark powers of the Death Curse raved inside Raven, and with a renewed energy, he killed Pharaoh.

  Raven, bestowed with new evil powers, went back to reclaim his kingdom and began ruling the Dark World. He was the worst King ever in the Dark World. The noble souls present in the kingdom went into hiding. People named Raven ‘the Death Lord’, as he was the product of the failed Death Curse.

  For many years, the Death Lord ruled the Dark World. But he wasn’t content. He wanted to conquer Earth, but he needed immense power to do that. And the only thing that could give him such stupendous power was the Crown of Magic. He remembered where his father had hidden the box that secured the clue to the first piece. He went to the place where it was buried and took it out. He opened it and read the first riddle.

  The Death Lord smiled. It was time to conquer the Earth.

  2

  The Scavenger emerged on Earth on frozen ground with snow all around. There was no one around.

  It was unlikely that the prophesied children would be in such a cold barren place, he thought.

  The Scavenger visualized a busy and crowded place and snapped his fingers. He immediately disappeared and some moments later, appeared in the middle of a bustling street. A car was coming towards him. He leapt aside just before getting crushed. A bit unsure, he clenched his fist and decided to start search for the prophesied children.

  While roaming on a busy street, the Scavenger could make ou
t that the city was called London. It quite literally was another world altogether, he thought, admiring the tall spires and immaculate buildings.

  He started his search, moving from place to place. It was frustrating as several days passed by. At times he thought of giving up but couldn’t. Not now. The commitment that he had given to Lord Arcane bound him.

  As days turned into months, the Scavenger kept hopping from continent to continent on the Earth. He searched Africa, America and China but couldn’t locate the children. Going by the facial features of the children’s sketches, he decided to concentrate on every city in Europe.

  One day, he decided to visit the Dark World mentally to check out the situation there. He sat silently in a park and meditated. By now, he had got a good idea about human life. Humans were always busy. They were not bothered about some old loser sitting on a park bench.

  After some moments of meditation, the scenes from the Dark World started flashing in his mind.

  The Dark World had once been a beautiful and affluent place under Lord Arcane’s rule. The sprawling houses, with well laid out gardens that bloomed with colourful flowers and the parks carpeted with lush green grass looked stunning in all the colours of the rainbow.

  Alas, nothing seemed as it was.

  The Dark World appeared grey and shadowy. The houses seemed dark and gloomy, the streets thronged with ugly and dangerous looking creatures in armour, torturing children and women. The place looked like a living nightmare.

  He remembered the words of Lord Arcane. Whatever Lord Arcane had seen in his dreams was proving to be real hundreds of years later.

  The Scavenger was livid on seeing the plight of the Dark World. He wanted to do something immediately, but he was feeling helpless, as he was not able to find the prophesied children.

  The Scavenger clenched his fist. He had to find the children somehow. If he failed, he would have to watch the destruction of the Dark World in front of his eyes.