by Yajat Sharma
A man in black armour jumped onto the platform. He cut James’s ropes, and James tumbled to the ground.
The man freed the other children too and carried them into a chariot. As the chariot rushed out, James blacked out.
***
James saw himself in a tomb with walls depicting paintings of war scenes.
A large lid closed the top of the tomb. James could make out some designs etched on the lid. Then he looked down at himself and gasped.
There was a curved tail protruding backwards, where his legs should have been, like that of a genie. He inserted a finger into his palm and it went right through.
He was a ghost!
Maybe he had died. But he did remember someone rescuing him. Maybe he was so bruised that he couldn’t survive the journey and had died.
“So, you have returned,” a voice startled him.
Taken by surprise, he turned and saw a young warrior wearing golden robes, holding swords and lances, standing in front of him. An ugly looking demon stood beside the warrior. Green vines covered his upper body. But as James looked closer, he saw that the vines were actually… snakes?
The demon’s legs were burning with fire. James could make out the faces of angry animals in the fire – lions, tigers, bears, wolves, and many more.
The demon bowed to the young warrior. “I have news.”
“Blaze of Glory,” the warrior said, “tell me.”
The demon, Blaze of Glory, straightened. “They have managed to annihilate the Black Hoods.”
James drew a sharp breath. These two were talking about them.
“Where are they now?” the warrior asked.
“They are in the Forest of Gloom, Master.”
The warrior stroked his chin. “Could they possibly come here to the Tomb of Death? Do you think we should be worried about them?”
Blaze of Glory shook his head. “Certainly not. Once they cross the Forest of Gloom, they will have to cross the Mud Marsh, which will be… ah, challenging. If they manage to cross the Marsh, they will have to make their way past the Well of Eternal Misery. After that is the Lake of Blood, where the Loch Ness Monster lives. It will easily crush and eat their bones. But if they succeed in defeating that also…”
The warrior intervened, “They will have to confront the Lord of the Mountains – Krisis. Krisis won’t leave them alive. You are right, Blaze of Glory. They will surely die!”
And with that, James was ripped out of his dream.
The Scavenger was shaking him. “Come on! Wake up. We are halfway there.”
James sat up. Daniel, Matt and Archer grinned at him. “Where are we now?” he asked. “I thought I was dead. I had a very weird dream.”
The Scavenger looked at him incredulously. Pointing behind him, he informed, “We have crossed the Forest of Gloom. I was waiting for you all to get conscious. We need to open up the first riddle and plan our moves.”
“Where are we going now?” James asked groggily.
“That we will decide after going through the first riddle,” the Scavenger replied and opened the box.
James took out a scroll and unrolled it. He started reading aloud,
“The place where a great soul died,
The kingdom was in grief.
In here, the first piece hides,
In memory of the Golden Chief.”
The Scavenger gasped, “The Golden Chief! Mascae, Lord Arcane’s son! He was called the Golden Chief.”
James intervened, “The place where a great soul died – it must be the place where Mascae died...” James and his friends looked at the Scavenger.
He sighed with grief. “The Tomb of Death is indeed the place where Mascae died.”
James looked at him, puzzled.
“What is it?” the Scavenger asked.
“I had a dream about a tomb,” James said and narrated the whole dream.
“So,” the Scavenger said, “according to your dream…”
“We have to go to the Mud Marsh,” James finished.
Daniel frowned. “But if we go to the Mud Marsh, won’t that be playing straight into the enemy’s hands – well, assuming they are the enemy? Shouldn’t we pick another route?”
“No,” the Scavenger said, surprising the children. “We will go through the Mud Marsh.”
“But why?” Archer asked.
“There are only two routes to reach the Tomb of Death. One is through the Forest of Gloom, which we just passed. Another is in the east, via the Volcano Smoke Wave, but that is dangerous. The Volcano may erupt at any time. That leaves us only with the Mud Marsh.”
Daniel nodded, and the Scavenger started to mount a horse.
“Why the hurry?” Archer asked. “Can’t we rest for a while?”
“Every second we lose,” the Scavenger said, “makes the Death Lord closer to getting one of the pieces of the Arcane Crown.”
Matt had a doubt pricking him. “You said the Death Lord is chasing us and trying to find the seven pieces of the Crown. How could he be at two places at the same time?”
The Scavenger’s face grew dark. “He is a Necromancer and can create his duplicate. Use of Necromancy turns one’s soul dark. Now enough of the questions. Let’s leave.”
***
“We are almost there,” the Scavenger announced, pulling the reins. The horses stopped and in front of them was the Mud Marsh, full of sticky and smelly mud.
“Ew!” Daniel said, swatting a mosquito aside. “Disgusting!”
“How do we cross this?” Archer asked.
“Well, we can’t fly over it,” the Scavenger said.
“Why not?” Matt asked.
“Obvious, isn’t it. Neither are we birds, nor do we have those machines… What do you call them? Oh yes, airplanes. And we can’t try to cross it by taking a turn around it. It will expand itself with magic. That leaves only one option for us. And that is to swim.”
“Are you crazy? We can’t swim through… through that!” Daniel shrieked.
“Of course we can,” the Scavenger said as he readied himself. “And we will! It’s your choice. You can come with me or you can wait here until something kills you.” With that, he jumped into the Marsh.
8
The Marsh was cold. Daniel felt his arms grow heavy. Voices seemed to whisper to him, telling him to give up, stop struggling and sink in the marsh. Daniel shook himself hard. He just had to concentrate on the swimming. Each stroke felt like a huge weight that hurt and pulled down his arms. He urgently needed air, and so he moved up. The mud fought against him, but he refused to give up and struggled harder. His head broke through the surface and he inhaled profoundly, but then again got pushed in the marsh.
His leg got caught in something and he panicked. He struggled to break free, but the more he moved, the more the vines tightened around his legs. His lungs screamed for air. He knew he needed to act fast if he wanted to live.
Completely ignoring his burning lungs, he let his body go limp. The idea worked like a charm. In another ten seconds, the vines fell away. Just as the last of the vines fell off his leg, Daniel swam upwards, his mouth almost opening for air.
He broke the surface of the water, made it to the shore and lay on the ground, completely exhausted. He took deep breaths.
“We crossed it,” he said finally and grinned when he saw the others waiting for him, regaining their strength.
The Scavenger allowed them the luxury of only ten more minutes to recover.
“Where now?” Daniel asked the Scavenger.
“The Well of Eternal Misery,” the Scavenger replied.
“Who chooses these names?” Daniel muttered, groaning with frustration.
“You need to respect them,” said the Scavenger, frowning. “These are ancient names which have power. The Well of Eternal Misery is named so because misery rules it! Sad spirits wander there, suffering eternal misery.”
“Refreshing,” James said.
After a few minutes of travel, Daniel said,
“Let’s rest now.”
His legs were burning with fatigue.
“We don’t have time,” the Scavenger said, looking at the sun, which was beginning to set. “We have to cross the Well of Eternal Misery before it is dark.”
“Just give us five minutes,” James said. “We need to recover.”
The Scavenger couldn’t stay still for long and, after five minutes, he stood up. “Time to continue.”
The children pulled themselves up and readied their backpacks.
James asked, “You know magic, don’t you?” The Scavenger nodded.
“So why don’t you summon some horses? We can ride them!”
The Scavenger looked surprised. “Hey, why didn’t I think of that?”
He closed his eyes and chanted some spell. He opened his eyes – and… lo and behold! Five white horses with golden manes stood there waiting for them. He saddled the horses.
Daniel hesitantly asked, “Are they safe?”
The Scavenger helped them mount the horses, but Daniel’s horse didn’t seem to like him; he neighed loudly and stamped his hooves.
Nevertheless, Daniel didn’t feel deterred as he walked towards the horse warily and, in a flash, jumped on its back.
The horse shook itself violently in an attempt to shake Daniel off its back – and then shot off.
The air whistled past him as if they were riding on the wind. He didn’t know how much time had actually passed, but it seemed like only a minute when the horse finally stopped.
The horse shook itself again, and this time did manage to throw Daniel off. He came crashing onto the ground, and the horse disappeared in a puff of smoke.
The others also reached beside him and got off their horses, watching them disappear too.
“That was amazing!” Archer commented.
James paid attention to his surroundings. The trees had grey branches and leaves, and the grass was also grey. No birds were flying over. Everything looked gloomy and sad.
And in front of them was a deep well.
The Scavenger walked up to the well and cautiously looked inside. Suddenly, he moved back in a state of shock.
“Don’t look inside,” he warned. “The haunted spirits inside this well are active. They will grip you with grief and take you with them if you lose your concentration.”
James tried to walk around the well. But he was pushed back – as if there was an invisible wall around it.
The Scavenger shook his head. “No use. I can sense heavy enchantments here.”
“But then how will we cross this well?” Matt asked.
“Unfortunately, there is only one way,” the Scavenger said. “We have to jump into the well.”
“What?!” James exclaimed. “But you just said…”
“I know what I said, but we have no choice. Brace yourself for all sorts of torturous temptations. Keep your eyes closed. Voices will whisper to you. Use your willpower. My advice – think of someone important to you. Through them, keep yourself anchored to the World. Now let’s go!”
The Scavenger took a deep breath and took the plunge.
“After you,” James said to Daniel.
Daniel gulped. Without wasting any time to think, he leapt inside the well.
Help us!
Join us! Forget all your troubles! Yes! Let us unite!
The melancholy spirits spoke of troubles of the World and promised a luxurious life and a heaven, with no dangers, no bloodshed, no fight. Daniel ignored them as much as he could. He thought of his parents and brother, Logan, and his friends. He thought of how much they loved him. No… he simply couldn’t lose now.
CRACKKKKKK!
He landed on his left leg.
“OWWWWWW,” he cried as pain shot up his leg.
“Don’t worry,” the Scavenger by his side, “It will last for just a minute or so and will cure itself. You are okay. We did it.”
With pats on each other’s backs and a cheerful celebration, everyone, exhausted, drifted off to sleep.
“Wake up!” a voice whispered in Daniel’s ears. He opened his eyes and found himself lying on the ground. Everything came back in a flash – the Well of Misery and their triumph over it. He shook his head, looked all around and asked, “Where are the others?”
“They are practicing,” the Scavenger replied, pointing beyond the bushes.
Daniel walked up to them. They stopped the fighting practice and drew closer to him.
“Hey,” Archer said. “Are you okay?”
Daniel nodded. “Yes. Are you?”
“We are fine,” Matt said, smiling. “Come on, join us for practice.”
They had just begun when the Scavenger approached the children. “We need to push off now. We have to get to the Lake of Blood, where the…”
“Loch Ness Monster lives, yeah,” James finished.
“How does it look like?” Daniel interrupted him.
The Scavenger shuddered. “It’s huge and… terrifying. Soon you’ll see it for yourself. I have fought with it once and won.”
“Why don’t you summon the horses again?” James asked as they walked.
“Tried,” the Scavenger replied. “It seems the horses are taking rest.”
As they walked, Archer asked. “I am curious to know how you defeated the Loch Ness Monster.”
The Scavenger said, “Ages ago, when Lord Arcane was alive, some news came that the Loch Ness Monster was terrorizing people. Lord Arcane sent me to handle it. I managed to get it out of the water and trapped in the land after a long struggle. I was about to kill it when it escaped back into the Blood Lake. Since then, it has never returned.”
The Scavenger continued, “The land is the only weakness of the Loch Ness Monster. If we manage to get him out of the water, we could kill him. But it won’t be easy.”
“You almost killed the Loch Ness Monster before. And now there’s five of us, against one. We can easily bring it down,” Matt said confidently.
The Scavenger shook his head. “It’s not that easy. Monsters grow more powerful as they age. It has been millennia since we fought. I had injured it to the verge of death that time, but monsters can form themselves again, like a phoenix rising from its ashes.”
“So, even if we manage to kill it,” Daniel whined, “It will just grow back.”
The Scavenger shook his head. “Not exactly like that. The process takes time. Smaller monsters can form in months, but larger and powerful ones, like the Loch Ness Monster can take time up to centuries or even millennia.”
As they walked in silence, Daniel thought of James’s dream. He mainly wondered about the young warrior wearing a golden robe. The Scavenger said that the first piece was in the Tomb of Death. And the warrior was there too. So, the warrior might have been the guardian of the piece.
Then it dawned upon him. The warrior must be thinking that they were there to steal it for the Death Lord, and that was why he didn’t want their hands on it. He thought of sharing this with everyone, but he couldn’t.
“DUCK,” the Scavenger yelled.
Daniel bent as an arrow whistled past him.
The others lunged for cover as a barrage of arrows rained down on them. The Scavenger pulled out a sword and deflected the arrows aimed at him, quickly advancing towards the source.
The arrows suddenly stopped. The Scavenger disappeared into the bushes. A minute later, a warrior tumbled out of the bushes. He quickly got up, just as the Scavenger jumped from the bushes and gave him a flying kick, knocking him to the ground.
The warrior stood up and almost immediately attacked the Scavenger, breaking his sword into two. Cursing, the Scavenger quickly pulled out two short knives – perfect for close combat.
The warrior was well trained. He brought down his whole body to crush his opponent, but the Scavenger rolled away just in time, retaliating with a hook punch straight at the warrior’s head.
The warrior sidestepped and kicked the Scavenger backwards. He moved forward for the final blow.
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The Scavenger jabbed his finger at a nerve point on the warrior’s thigh.
Shrieking in pain, the warrior quickly went down. The Scavenger gave a blow to his head, knocking him unconscious.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, the Scavenger couldn’t help but admire the fighter.
“Who is he?” Daniel asked, eyeing the warrior warily.
The Scavenger knelt and scanned the man, who was wearing a black-blue armour and a red helmet. The Scavenger took off the man’s helmet and spotted a skull mark on his cheek. The skull mark was surrounded by swords in a cross-bone pattern.
The Scavenger drew in a sharp breath. This symbol was so familiar; it was the symbol of the Death Lord.
Next, he examined the warrior’s sword. The word – ‘ELITE’ – was prominently etched on it.
“I know these warriors,” the Scavenger said, taking a startled breath. “They are the Elite Warriors of the Death Lord.”
“But what is he doing here?” Daniel asked.
“Hunting us, of course,” the Scavenger said. “The Death Lord must have got wind of our plan. This warrior will not be the last we meet.”
The Scavenger paused and looked towards the unconscious warrior.
After a while, he turned towards the children and said, “Do you remember the Lightning Sword?”
Matt said, “I remember Python mentioning it. But I don’t know the details.”
The Scavenger breathed deeply. “Well, let me tell you. The Lightning Sword belonged to me. It was stolen from me by none other than these Elite Warriors.”
The Scavenger was visibly excited. It was an opportunity to extract information about the Death Lord from the Elite Warriors and also to get information about his Lightning Sword. He woke the warrior up by slapping him and held a sword at his throat.
The warrior froze.
The Scavenger pressed the sword against his neck and said menacingly, “Answer our questions truthfully if you wish to live.”
The warrior nodded in fright.
“What is the Death Lord planning to do?”
“He is trying to make a time machine and go into the past and change…”
“Are you not scared for your life, warrior?” The Scavenger growled, raising his sword.