by Yajat Sharma
“We are there,” the Scavenger announced to the army. “Get ready. Eat to your fill and rest. Tomorrow at dawn, the prophesied children and I will go to the Death Lord’s Palace for the meeting.” They all pitched their tents and rested for the night.
***
The Death Lord was angry. He had never been comfortable with the thought of failure. Being the ruler of the Dark World, he had the whole Dark World under his control. However, he appeared restless. His enemies had slipped from his clutches more than once. His only hope was that his enemies would come to get the two pieces from him before proceeding to the Pyramid of Destiny to assemble all the pieces into the Arcane Crown. He had no other option than to just wait for them to arrive.
The Death Lord decided to summon the most hateful creature of the West – the King of Goblins – with the help of his dark magic.
With eyes closed, he began chanting an evil prayer. The King of Goblins appeared almost at once in front of him.
I have an important task for you, the Death Lord said in his dark, evil voice. He was happy to see fear in the Goblin’s face.
The Goblin stammered out, “Oh, I will be honoured… but what will I get in return?”
Goblins were greedy creatures, something the Death Lord knew. Anything that you want.
“Maybe all the red gold you have…”
The Death Lord smiled inwardly. He could promise anything to the Goblin. How did that matter? Once he won the war, he would just kill the Goblin and get his gold back.
You will have it. That’s my word, said the Death Lord.
The Goblin bowed to him. “What is it that I have to do?”
I want you to summon all the evil forces in the Dark World and assemble them at the Moor of Death. Tell everyone that I have called. I want all of them to be present here in one day.
“What? In one day! That is impossible! How will I be able to do it so fast?”
I don’t care! Call other Goblins to assist you. I want all of them prepared and ready to fight for me. If you can’t commit, that’s okay. I will find many other takers for the red gold. The Death Lord laughed.
The Goblin muttered something under his breath and then disappeared.
Next day at dawn, the Death Lord stood in the balcony of his room in the Palace, glancing at the barren land in front of him. He was impatient waiting for the Goblin to return.
Then he spotted, far away in the horizon, something flying towards him, something small and fat...
The Goblin landed in front of him. Grinning, he said, “I fulfilled my promise.” He pointed behind to the thousands of warriors marching in unison towards them, as the ground shook, armours clanked, and weapons clinked. In a few hours, the evil army stood before the Death Lord.
The Death Lord addressed the evil army. Warriors! You all have chosen to support me. You will not regret this decision.
The warriors cheered in reply.
Raising one fist in the air, he shouted, We will win!
The evil army roared.
We will wait here. I am sure that our enemies will be arriving soon. We will intercept them here at the Moor of Death!
Suddenly, there was a commotion.
“A spy,” someone shouted. “Unicorn!”
The warriors at the extreme back of the army started falling and tripping. Soon, the place was in chaos.
Stop! The Death Lord’s harsh voice shook the warriors to the bone. They stopped. The Unicorn has a white flag. Allow him to come to me.
The Unicorn greeted the Death Lord and stated the purpose of his visit. The Death Lord replied to him, Come over for the meeting, three days from now.
The Unicorn left. The army dispersed and got busy putting up camps. While retreating to his Palace, the Death Lord was angry. The Unicorn now knew about the size of his army and, thus, the surprise he was planning was now lost. The enemy had outwitted him once again.
The Death Lord clenched his fists in anger, his heart burning with thoughts of vengeance.
***
Archer blinked as the Scavenger woke them up. It was not dawn yet. It was the day for the meeting at the Death Lord’s Palace.
They began to put on their armour, but the Scavenger ordered them not to take any weapons or armour.
“Why?” Archer asked, shocked.
“The rules of war are clear in the Dark World,” the Scavenger said grimly. “Since we are going for the meeting to frame rules of war, we cannot carry any weapons or protection. It is a rule, and I don’t break the rules.”
“But the Death Lord can seize this opportunity and kill us at first sight,” James said.
The Scavenger shook his head. “Don’t worry, he won’t. I am sure he won’t even show himself. We have the five pieces – don’t forget that. He can’t afford to kill us. And even if he tries, I have a spell ready. I will apply it and we will disappear in seconds.”
Archer shrugged. “As you say.”
The Scavenger looked at the rising sun in the sky. “I think we should leave.”
“Wait!” Daniel said. “You forgot to wake up Matt!”
The Scavenger shook his head. “No. I did it intentionally. Matt had fooled the Death Lord and, plus, the Death Lord suspects him to be the One. If at all he chooses to betray us, he would target Matt first. We can’t take the risk of taking him along. Don’t worry, I have briefed him yesterday and he is okay with the decision.”
The Scavenger led the children to a glorious chariot, carrying a white flag hoisted high that fluttered with the wind.
“Good luck, Lord,” the Unicorn King said as he bowed to the Scavenger.
“Pray for our success,” the Scavenger said and took off, directing the chariot through their camps and tents. They headed straight to the Moor of Death.
The horses ran fast. The Death Lord had constructed a war base with a makeshift palace at the Moor of Death. The palace appeared dark and sinister, the sky above the palace murky. Indigo clouds hovered over it and occasional tendrils of energy spiked. The guards saw the white flag and allowed the chariot in.
A brute looking guard, who had two horns, walked up to them. “The Lord is waiting for you. Follow me,” he croaked in a deep booming voice and turned around, walking briskly.
The Scavenger and the children followed.
They entered a hall where a man dressed in black armour was waiting for them. The Scavenger saw him and hissed under his breath, “A Black Sorcerer!”
The Sorcerer seemed to radiate darkness. “Welcome. Follow me.” With that, the Sorcerer turned and left the hall. The Scavenger and the children followed him closely.
The interior of the makeshift palace was equally frightening. The pictures hanging above the black marble floor felt alive. There were occasional bursts of dark energy, as if a dragon was spewing fire. The place smelt of death and destruction. The Black Sorcerer stopped in front of a large door.
“The Death Lord will meet us here,” he said hesitantly. A voice echoed, Who is here?
Everyone shivered visibly at the dark, evil voice of the Death Lord. The voice shook their hearts and filled them with fear.
Even the Black Sorcerer looked frightened. “Your adversaries, my Lord!” the Black Sorcerer said shakily. “They have come to the meeting.”
The Sorcerer gathered all the chieftains and brought them to the Council Hall. Soon, everybody was sitting around a large table, occasionally glancing at the children. The Death Lord was nowhere to be seen.
“Welcome, warriors and enemies,” the Black Sorcerer said. “We are here to discuss the rules of this war. You may give suggestions.”
One war chief proposed to settle the duration of the war. “The fighting begins at the first rays of the suns and ends with dusk every day. All agree?”
The warriors nodded. As the meeting progressed, the Scavenger took up the clauses of participation, the type of weapons and powers allowed, the theatre of war to be only in the Moor of Death, and more. The seasoned and experienced Scavenger was doing
all the talking and therefore the children soon lost interest.
Archer looked around his gloomy surroundings, which left him dispirited. The walls glistened red, like blood. A sudden bang on the table shook Archer out of his reverie. He looked to his side and saw the Scavenger had risen and was leaning over the table.
“It’s absurd. You can’t do that!” the Scavenger protested angrily.
The war chief glared at him. “What’s wrong with it?”
The Scavenger took a calming breath and tried to keep his voice low. “I simply cannot accept it. No war has ever administered this ridiculous rule. It isn’t fair.”
The war chief raised his hand. “It is completely fair. Backstabbing will be allowed for both the armies, not only ours.”
“I simply don’t agree.” The Scavenger spat out each word. He gritted his teeth. His fingers hovered around his waist, where his sword usually was. He suddenly realized that he hadn’t brought any weapon. He withdrew his hand.
The Death Lord’s cold voice boomed around. I politely request the Scavenger to accept this rule.
The Scavenger remained firm and shook his head in disagreement.
There is only one way to solve this matter, the Death Lord stated, and that is by voting.
The Scavenger protested, “We are in the minority. The voting process would not be fair.”
But everyone ignored him. Instead, they all voted in favour of the rule. The Scavenger could do nothing. He was left fuming.
“It is settled,” the Black Sorcerer said. “Backstabbing will be allowed in this war.”
The Scavenger was seething with anger, but he controlled himself.
The Black Sorcerer again said, “So be it. The meeting concludes, then. We will meet in the war, gentlemen.”
Saying this, everyone arose and bowed at each other.
The Scavenger and the children boarded their chariot and rode back to their camp.
Daniel turned to the Scavenger. “Why did you not favour the rule of backstabbing? After all, we would be able to use it too.”
The Scavenger’s face contorted in anger. “Backstabbing is not the art of a true warrior. It should not be used even in the most dangerous situations. No good warrior uses it. The Death Lord knows that we will never use it. It will give him the upper hand.”
Daniel understood and nodded back, saddened.
Soon they reached their place, where the warlords were gathered in a council area, waiting for them to arrive. Matt was also waiting for them. The Scavenger greeted everyone and then narrated the details. Upon hearing about the backstabbing rule, all of them spat out cuss words, cursing the Death Lord.
The Scavenger continued, “As you all know, the war commences the day after tomorrow. We need to decide battle formations, plans to attack and defence, and a lot of other things. Let’s start with battle formations.”
One warrior, dressed in black, stood up and bowed.
Archer figured that he was a Ninja.
“We can make an arrow formation,” the Ninja said. “It will cause maximum damage.”
Another warrior stood up and expressed his doubts, saying it would be a weak strategy given that the evil army had a huge advantage of numbers on their side.
The Scavenger nodded. “You are right, of course, but I have a solution. We can put a maximum number of warriors in the arrow formation and form a circle at the back of it for defence. Adding two spike formations on both sides of the arrow will lead to a perfect battle formation.”
Murmurs and whispers ensued in the hall. The Ninjas spoke, “It is an effective formation, indeed. We agree.”
Most of the warriors raised their hands in agreement.
“Then, it is decided. We will use this formation,” the Scavenger concluded. “The Trolls and the Ogres will be at the front of the arrow.”
Everyone looked satisfied with the strategy.
“Now for the weapons,” the Scavenger said. “Let us make a list of the weapons that we have. However, it’s a wise idea to construct more. We have the field experts with us – the Anvil Heroes.”
Archer frowned. He whispered to the Scavenger, “But you had once said that you and the leader of the Anvil Heroes weren’t friends.”
The Scavenger nodded and whispered to him, “Although most of the Anvil Heroes have decided to not help anyone and have retreated into hiding, a section of them have arrived here to help us. And that includes their Chief.”
Archer nodded.
The Chief of Anvil Heroes detailed the list of the weapons, which included tiger claws, brass knuckles, gauntlets and iron fans. He also listed various types of swords such as short swords, broadswords, ninja swords, cutlasses, hunting swords, sickle-swords, scimitars, backswords, long swords, side-swords, curved two-handed swords, boar swords, flame-bladed swords, axe-like swords, machetes, hook swords and katanas. There were hundreds of weapons apart from these. The children stopped listening after a point of time.
That is good enough!” the Scavenger praised him. “Please also explain the traps at our command.”
The Anvil Hero replied, “At midnight, we will show you the traps because at that time there is minimum chance of any enemy spies around.”
Everyone settled on the plans. The Scavenger asked everybody to rest and the assembly dispersed.
22
Matt had never seen such a huge army standing in formation.
The Anvil Heroes had demonstrated the traps to the Scavenger and the children at midnight and the Scavenger was full of praise for their genius.
At the crack of the dawn, the soldiers readied themselves for the battle.
The army made the battle formation as per plan. The Scavenger placed the children and himself on a high chariot, allowing themselves the benefit of a vantage point to command and manage the attacks.
The army began to march towards the Moor of Death. Soon, Matt could see the Death Lord’s massive evil forces, waiting for them on the battlefield.
The Death Lord’s army comprised the Black Sorcerers, who were power hungry wizards, unhesitant to spill the blood of their own. There were the ferociously lethal Cracken Haurs – Dinosaurs that dominated islands – along with the Dark Clans, like the Hooves, the Moles, the Lions and the Snakes, known to be savages who could tear apart their enemies within the blink of an eye.
There were tens of more Clans – the greedy Goblins, the deadly Serpentines, the fierce Griffins and many more.
The Ace Warriors were tasked to lead the vicious army of the Death Lord. They were the only ones who could be considered as a match to the powerful Panthers fighting with the Scavenger’s army.
At the Moor of Death, both armies assembled, facing each other. The bloodthirsty armies, ready to pounce, waited for their leaders to unleash hell.
The Scavenger roared, “AATTTTACCKKKKKKKKKK!”
And the armies clashed.
***
The Scavenger’s chariot plunged straight into the battle.
The arrow formation proved to be a wise strategy. Breaking the Death Lord’s square formation, the Scavenger’s army fought ferociously, demolishing hundreds of enemies in the early hours of the war.
Matt summoned the wind and sent a massive tornado into the middle of the enemy’s army. The tornado, however, only withstood for a few seconds and quickly disappeared when the Black Sorcerers cast spells to counter it.
“Don’t use your powers only!” the Scavenger roared, pulling out his Lightning Sword. “Fight with your weapons too. If you use only your Elemental Powers, they will drain your energy out quickly.”
Matt nodded and pulled out two katanas. Accustomed to the leather grip, Matt was ready for one-on-one combat.
The light and slender frame of the katana swords made them a lethal combination to hold and manoeuvre. They could penetrate through armours like butter.
The others too pulled out their respective weapons.
“Can we fight on the ground?” Archer asked. “I want to go up to them if the
y are not coming to us.”
The Scavenger nodded. “Do whatever you deem fit. But just don’t die, Archer. You are no good to me dead.”
Archer nodded, grinning. “Don’t worry. We will be fine.”
He looked at the children. “Challenge. The one who defeats the most enemies today will be the winner.”
The children leapt from the chariot chuckling to themselves.
As soon as Matt landed amidst the chaos, a Goblin with sharp claws came roaring at him. Matt flicked his hands and the Goblin slammed against the chariot, crumbling to dust.
Almost at once, a Serpentine jumped on him, carrying a broadsword that gleamed in the light. Bending on his knee, Matt swung the sword at the creature’s waist. He barely had time to breath when a warrior in black charged at him and then suddenly stopped. The warrior took off his hood. He was none other than the Ninja.
They bowed to each other. Suddenly Matt’s eyes widened as he saw a creature slashing at the Ninja from behind.
In a split second, the Ninja somersaulted, landing behind the creature, cutting him down.
While Matt watched the Ninja in awe, he didn’t realize that he was being surrounded by enemy monsters. Before Matt could use his Elemental Powers, someone shoved him from behind and then many monsters piled down on him.
He lost hope of ever getting out when the weight began to lift. Matt looked up at the face of the Scavenger as he helped him to get up.
“You fine?”
Matt nodded. Huffing and puffing; he replied, “Good as new. What about the others?”
“All good. Daniel, Archer and James seem to be enjoying this war.”
Matt chuckled. “How much longer before we rest for the day?”
The Scavenger, looking at the skies, guessed, “Oh! It’s only afternoon. Come on. Let’s keep fighting.”
Matt went into the war again. He spotted Daniel firmly standing, summoning his power. Thousands of roots entangled the evil soldiers, making them fall and hit each other.
Matt yelled out to Daniel, “That’s amazing!”
Suddenly they saw a dark cloud of smoke. Assuming Archer to be behind it, they moved towards it. Sure enough, it was Archer. He was sheathed in a shield of fire, illuminated and ablaze. Blasting fire, he wreaked havoc everywhere.