by Yajat Sharma
6
Lynx closed his eyes and placed his hands, palms upturned, on Archer’s head. One by one, he did the same to James, Matt and Daniel.
As he touched Daniel’s head, his eyes opened, and he gasped. “I sense something in you.”
Daniel felt a spark of hope.
Lynx looked at the Scavenger, pointing towards Daniel. “Their Elemental Powers are gone. There is no easy way to say it. But this boy... I sense that there is a little left. A little... Can he use his Earth power to find some herbs or something that will cure his problem and that of the others? I think the arafflesia plant can help.”
“Daniel, you must try,” the Scavenger said. “Concentrate hard and see if you can find the arafflesia plant.”
“Okay.” Daniel closed his eyes and concentrated, but nothing came to his mind. He tried again, this time trying to locate the arafflesia plant.
Nothing.
He searched for a commonly available rose. But, to his frustration, nothing happened.
He opened his eyes and shook his head. “It’s of no use. I can’t find even a rose.”
The Scavenger turned to Lynx. “Could you be wrong about him?”
Lynx shook his head firmly. “No. I am sure that I felt a sense of power within Daniel. It must be very faint.”
Lynx moved towards a bookshelf. “Don’t worry. Let me find out if something can be done about the lost Elemental Powers of the children.”
Lynx started studying a parchment with a magnifying glass. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers and looked at the Scavenger. “Hmmm! I need to get some ingredients for my research. Archer and Matt, you need to go to the village of the Isle of the Beast. Here, take this list.” He handed a scrap of paper to them. “Get all the things mentioned here. And remember, if you see Aronicle, avoid him at all costs. Let me repeat myself. AVOID HIM AT ALL COSTS. Don’t let him touch you.”
“Don’t worry, I will go along with them and ensure that Aronicle doesn’t even come within a metre of them.” The Scavenger reached behind the chair he was sitting on and pulled out two swords, two bows and two quivers full of arrows. Matt and Archer quickly strapped themselves and waited.
Lynx raised his hand. “Please, sit back. You and James aren’t going anywhere.”
“You must be kidding,” the Scavenger said. “Three children out in the wild world alone? They will be killed.”
“Don’t assume things, Mr Scavenger. It’s two, not three. Daniel isn’t going with them either. I expect the village to be deserted,” Lynx said. “Except if Aronicle appears there by chance.”
Archer said, “And anyway, I think we have been trained well enough to fight against the lone Aronicle, even without our Elemental Powers. I think you can trust us.”
Daniel wailed, “But, I want to go with them. I don’t want to miss all the fun.”
Lynx glared at Daniel. “I need to research you, so you can’t go anywhere. I need a person with even a little amount of brain to work with me, and James fulfils the criteria.”
“And why do you need me?” the Scavenger asked.
“Well, there are a lot of menial tasks to do, like picking up books, rearranging them and stuff,” Lynx said. He looked at all of them and said firmly, “If you all want to succeed in your mission, you need to do what I say.”
The Scavenger groaned. “What has a warrior been reduced to?” He muttered, “I used to battle bloodthirsty monsters, whose mere appearances could paralyze people, and fight in wars against huge demons. Now I have to pick up books like a labourer.”
Lynx ignored him and looked at Archer and Matt. “Although I am confident you can protect yourself, you need to be careful about Aronicle. I reiterate – don’t touch him. Now go.”
Lynx summoned a portal, and Archer and Matt disappeared into it.
Lynx asked James to skim through a book – ’The History of Earth Magic’ – and find anything that could help the children regain their power. Lynx continued to sift through the pages, reading small bits and moving fast.
The Scavenger, on the other hand, went from shelf to shelf and table to table as Lynx ordered him to bring this thing, then that. He was the perfect one for the job because he wouldn’t get tired.
Time passed quickly. Suddenly, Lynx shouted, “AHA!”
“What is it?” James raised his head.
On Lynx’s desk was a sphere. It glowed red, then green, then grey and then blue.
“Archer, Daniel, Matt and then me,” James muttered.
“You are right. Impressive. Now you know why I retained you here. Red, green, grey and blue are the colours of the Elemental Powers of Fire, Earth, Wind and Water respectively,” Lynx said to James.
“What is this spherical thing?” James asked.
“This is the Sphere of Knowledge,” Lynx said, wiping the sweat off his face with a cloth. “This grants the maker an answer to the question he asks only once.”
“Then ask it!” James said.
Lynx put his face in front of the sphere. He closed his eyes and muttered something.
Suddenly, Aronicle’s face flashed on the sphere. The face disappeared within a moment.
Lynx sat back, frowning.
“What did you ask and what did you get?” the Scavenger asked.
“I asked about how to gain back the Elemental Powers of the children,” Lynx said. “And it showed me the face of Aronicle.”
“Of course.” James clicked his fingers. “Aronicle gave us our powers. He was the one who also took it back from us. And he would be the one who could give them back.”
Lynx stood up from his chair, his face filled with excitement. “We need to get Aronicle here, somehow. We need to free him from... whoever controls him. But it can take a lot of time.”
“Doesn’t matter.” The Scavenger banged his fist on the table. “We have all the time in the world. If you can free Aronicle, he could again give Elemental Powers to the children. BANG! All would be well and may the Skull Warrior go to hell.”
Lynx nodded. “It’s a strange dilemma. Even if Archer and Matt find Aronicle, they will not touch him as per my advice. How are they expected to bring him here without engaging him? I only wish they don’t meet him. At least if I get those ingredients, which I have told Archer and Matt to bring, I can speed up the process -”
“Wait!”
They turned to see Daniel with a panicked expression.
“What is it?” Lynx asked.
“It’s been five hours! Why aren’t Archer and Matt back yet?”
Matt and Archer landed in front of a hut, back in the village of the Isle of the Beast. The village wore a deserted look. Archer looked at his list. “Okay. So there are nine things that we have to find.”
“What are they?”
“An antique sword, five blue scrolls, a diary which shines, a Crown, and a – okay, I am not joking about this one – a pink pillow.”
“So where do we start?”
Archer pointed at the hut directly in front of them. “Let’s explore inside. Must be some reason or the other we landed right in front of this.”
“Could be.”
They made their way to the front door and pushed it. It opened easily. Inside, it was dark.
Archer stepped to the side and bowed with a flourish of his hands. “Ladies first.”
Matt sighed. Without any hesitation, he barged inside and fumbled his hand across the wall for a switch. He found one and pressed it and at once lights came on.
Archer followed him inside, and they closed the door behind them.
He and Matt searched the hut for anything they might find. It was a waste of time; they found nothing.
When they reached the terrace, Matt spotted a pink pillow at the edge of the roof.
He took it, and they went outside.
“What a strange fluffy pillow it is. Anyway, that’s one thing done. Eight more to go.”
For the next half hour, they searched a few more houses and found the five blue scrolls, all in
one house. They also found the antique sword on the roof of one of the houses. Now only the diary and the Crown were left.
“Hey, look.” Matt nudged Archer and pointed at a house which was way more prominent than the rest. “Let’s look there. Maybe we will find something.”
The house was huge. The boys searched the house meticulously and managed to find the diary. They went up to the terrace.
To their horror, they saw Aronicle.
Aronicle’s back was towards them. He was wearing a small crown and was staring at the village in front of him.
“Oh, no.” Matt pointed towards him and said to Archer, “Now that is one big problem. Lynx has warned us not to touch him.”
Archer shook his head. “Wait and watch. We will get the Crown from his head. You are about to see the epitome of stealth.”
Archer walked up to Aronicle from behind. As he neared him, he quickly swiped the Crown from his head.
As Archer turned to smile smugly at Matt, Aronicle pitched forward and fell from the roof.
“Epitome of stealth,” Matt mouthed at Archer.
The two boys rushed below.
Aronicle was lying on the ground, seeming, by all accounts, dead.
Archer and Matt sat down beside him.
“Look at his neck,” Matt said. “There’s a wound there.”
“It seems to be made from this knife.” Matt pointed towards a knife dangling out of Aronicle’s pocket. “There are two possibilities. One is that he was killed by whoever controls him, and the other is that he suddenly became a psycho and committed suicide.”
“The first option appears to be more reasonable.” Archer shuddered, “Don’t touch anything. Let’s go back. This scene is creeping me out.”
“Me too,” Matt quipped.
Archer stood up and started walking away from Aronicle. “At least we found all the things we were told to get. That’s good, isn’t it?”
There was no reply.
“Matt?” Archer turned.
Matt had disappeared.
Archer’s hand crept towards his sword and he pulled it out. He looked around warily.
“Matt?” he called again.
No reply.
He was sweating and was feeling very scared. Where was Matt?
Then he realized that Aronicle’s body was missing too.
Suddenly, something struck Archer’s head. He fell to the ground, dizzy. The world spun around him.
And he got knocked out.
Matt opened his eyes slowly. He was in a dimly lit room.
His arms and legs were numb and his head was hurting. The last thing he remembered was getting hit by something and then being dragged on the ground before fainting. He couldn’t even shout for Archer.
Matt looked up and saw that his hands and legs were tied to shackles, which were in turn bound to the wall.
As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he saw that he was not alone.
Archer was bound in the same way as Matt on the opposite side of the room. His head was down and he appeared to be unconscious.
Aronicle was standing at the side. At first, Matt didn’t even see him; but his brightly coloured clothes gave him away.
“I thought you were dead,” Matt croaked out. His throat was dry, and he desperately needed water.
Aronicle didn’t reply.
“That cut might be fake,” Matt went on. “But how could you survive the fall from the roof to the ground? That is impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible,” Aronicle finally spoke. “You should have understood that by now. You didn’t notice me hovering an inch above the ground.”
“Oh. But still... Are you the evil Aronicle speaking?”
“I don’t understand.”
“The one who controls you is the one who is speaking, isn’t it?” Matt asked again.
Aronicle remained silent.
“He’s the Skull Warrior, isn’t he?” Matt was relentless.
“Who?”
“The one who controls you.”
“You don’t need to know.”
Matt was silent. Of course, it had to be the Skull Warrior. Who else could it be?
After a few seconds of silence, Aronicle spoke again.
“He’s not the Skull Warrior. Rather, I have captured you two as a gift for the Skull Warrior. He will be so happy,” Aronicle said with excitement.
“What? Then who controls you?” Matt was getting desperate.
“Why should I tell you that?” Aronicle laughed. Matt noticed that Aronicle’s face was changing expressions very fast, and he was visibly uncomfortable.
Matt spoke. “You are a good soul, Aronicle. Come on, be strong. You can defeat your controller. Try hard. Do something.”
Matt was right. Aronicle was struggling. He said in a desperate voice, “I cannot do anything.”
Matt found a ray of hope. He continued, “Of course you can. You had the power within you to awaken your Elemental Powers. You can break your controller’s control if you try hard enough.”
Suddenly, Aronicle twitched. His head shook and he shuddered.
He looked around. “Where am I?”
Matt was hopeful. He persisted, “Are you the real Aronicle speaking?”
“Yes...” Aronicle looked at him and a flicker of recognition shot through his face. “Matt? But... what are you doing here?”
“You were in control of someone else, and -”
Aronicle shivered again. “Yes, he controls me… but I keep struggling. I just pushed him back for a while. I hope I haven’t harmed you.”
“You have,” Matt said, shaking his head sadly. “You took our Elemental Powers back.”
“Oh, no. He’s coming back.”
“Who?”
“Listen quick. Greater forces are interfering. Dimensions are broken. Strands of time are random. The fate of the universe lies in oblivion. Liberate me and get back your powers. I don’t know where my controller is. If you succeed in finding him, his control will be broken, but I will be trapped. To free me, approach me in the Brentinute.”
“But who controls you? Please tell his name,” Matt pleaded.
Aronicle tried to speak but couldn’t. Suddenly, there was a loud sound and ‘evil Aronicle’ returned. Matt cursed silently. He was so close to knowing the controller of Aronicle, but luck wasn’t with him.
The evil Aronicle spoke, “You know too much. I had decided to offer you as a gift to the mighty Skull Warrior, but I have now decided that it will be your dead bodies. Your presence is hurting me. You are inciting Aronicle to fight back. You don’t deserve to live.”
Archer was still unconscious. Aronicle moved towards Matt with a sharp knife in his hand.
Matt’s heart skipped a beat. He started getting a sinking feeling.
The concern for Archer and Matt was enough to spring the Scavenger, James and Daniel on their feet at once. Lynx quickly made a portal, and the trio jumped into it.
They landed in front of a house. The Scavenger turned to James and Daniel. “You two search this house, while I burn the other houses down.”
“What?” James exclaimed. “What do you mean by that?”
“If I burn them, I can easily see if Matt and Archer were there or not. And you think I am not intelligent! Hah!”
“Well, Mr IQ, what if they were in the house you burned... then they would die as well.” James pointed out.
The Scavenger looked at him sheepishly. “Oh... I didn’t think of that. Never mind! And haven’t your parents told you that you should never find fault in the words of a warrior!”
“I’m pretty sure they haven’t,” James muttered, as Daniel started walking to the house.
“Wait!” James said. “Look at that house. That house is huge. Let’s search that first.”
“Why?” the Scavenger asked.
“Haven’t you seen movies?” James asked. “Things always go down in the big things. That’s a universal rule.”
“We are going,” Daniel
said, and he and James made their way towards the house. “With or without you.”
“Haven’t your parents told you to obey warriors?” the Scavenger yelled. He ran after them. “Wait for me!”
“Say goodbye, mortal.” Aronicle laughed as he moved the knife straight towards Matt’s skull. Matt whipped his head to the right. The knife stuck to the wall beside him and Aronicle grunted.
That’s when the Scavenger burst into the room.
Seeing the Scavenger, Aronicle, in a lightning fast motion, moved his knife towards Matt’s throat, “Stop right now or I kill him.”
The Scavenger paused.
“Drop your sword,” Aronicle shouted.
The Scavenger hesitated, as Aronicle’s knife pressed more. A thin line of blood appeared. Matt cried out in pain.
The Scavenger dropped his sword.
Daniel, meanwhile, was trying hard to concentrate on his Elemental Power. He took a deep breath and tried to block out the noises of the atmosphere around him. He shook himself and begged for his Elemental Power to answer.
Or Matt would die.
Daniel shrank back to the recesses of his mind and focused on the fact that he needed to keep Matt alive. He felt a spark inside him, but it disappeared as soon as it came.
Daniel suddenly became furious. He would not let Matt die in the hands of a psychopath only because his stupid Elemental Power refused to act when it was needed the most.
He let out a shriek of fury, focusing all his energy. All of a sudden, roots broke out from Daniel’s hand and shot out towards Aronicle. Aronicle’s knife moved across Matt’s neck at the same time as the roots struck Aronicle on the head, twisting him and sending him sprawling backwards. He struck the ground and lay still.
Daniel slumped to the ground, exhausted. Summoning his Elemental Power had taken all the energy out of him. But he was excited that he had been able to muster the Elemental Power at the crucial time it was needed.
The Scavenger rushed towards Archer and quickly cut through the chains that bound him. Archer was slowly regaining consciousness.
The Scavenger and the children raced towards Matt, who was on the ground.
