by Yajat Sharma
Suddenly, he noticed a wad of blue paper on a table beside a large tank. The Scavenger knew they were blueprints and thought that they could be useful. He snatched the blueprints and continued on his way.
The Scavenger and Aronicle reached the door and stepped outside, into the warm air. The Scavenger ducked into the dark shadows under the wall and removed the white coat. The driver’s clothes were lying there, where he had thrown them before. He quickly got into them.
“Stick close by me,” the Scavenger said to Aronicle. He pointed to the truck nearest to them. “That’s the one. Come on.” He walked up to the truck and bundled Aronicle inside. They were just in time. The air was filled with the rumbling sound of engines. One by one, the trucks passed through the outer gate and outside the Brentinute.
The Scavenger’s truck started to pass through the gate and he sighed, his nerves starting to calm down. But when he was halfway, a voice called from behind the truck. “Hey! Stop right there!”
The Scavenger’s heart sank. He looked out the window and, to his horror, saw a guard shouting at him. The Scavenger called back to him, “You talking to me?”
“Step out of the truck.” The guard had an Oculus aimed at the side of the truck. “And raise your hands.”
The Scavenger stepped out of the truck, his hands raised. “Is this some joke?”
“Stop speaking,” the guard said. “You speak one word, or you move one step, and I fire. I saw something move in your truck. What’s your name?”
The Scavenger remained silent. A few more guards had surrounded the truck by now and they entered it.
“I asked you something,” the guard said.
“You told me not to speak a word,” the Scavenger replied.
“Well, now I’m ordering you to,” the guard said.
“Bones,” the Scavenger answered.
“Bones, step away from the truck and let us search it.”
The Scavenger moved four paces away from the truck. “I am telling you, there’s nothing in that truck.”
“I am not blind,” the guard said. “I saw something.”
The Scavenger gritted his teeth.
After about five minutes, the guard emerged from the truck. “It’s clean.”
The Scavenger glared at him. “See? I told you.”
“All right, all right, no need to get touchy,” the guard said.
The Scavenger got back inside the truck. His searching, trained eyes immediately found Aronicle hanging from the ceiling of the truck, camouflaged in the darkness.
“Good day, Bones!” the guard called out. The Scavenger looked down and saw him waving at him.
“Good day, man!” the Scavenger shouted at him. A moment later, his truck passed through the gate and outside the Brentinute. He wanted to shout out in excitement but somehow controlled himself, and continued to drive the truck into the dense forest.
After about an hour, he stopped. He and Aronicle started to cover the truck in leaves and dense foliage.
“Now what?” Aronicle said.
“Wait.” The Scavenger chanted something and a portal appeared. “Lynx and my friends are waiting for us. Let’s go.”
The Scavenger and Aronicle jumped into the portal.
16
The atmosphere in Lynx’s cave was tense. Everyone was praying for the safe return of the Scavenger along with Aronicle. A few minutes later, there was a swishing sound, and a blue portal materialized in the cave. Amidst clapping from everyone, the Scavenger and Aronicle stepped out from the portal.
Lynx hugged the Scavenger. “Your plan was good.”
“Thanks,” the Scavenger replied in a dignified tone.
They all had a hearty meal, during which the Scavenger shared the entire sequence of Aronicle’s rescue.
Aronicle spoke to express gratitude. “I would like to say thank you,” he said, “for rescuing me and for giving me a second life. I am forever indebted to you. Though I can do nothing to pay this huge favour off, please tell me if I can be of any help.”
Lynx pulled out Urrax from under the table and made him sit him on the desk. “It’s your help which we want the most at this time, Aronicle. Do you recognize him?”
Aronicle’s eyes grew wide. “Of course! This is him! The one who possessed me, the one who controlled my mind and, of course, the one who I transferred your Elemental Powers to.”
“Exactly. Which means...?” Lynx began.
Aronicle looked at Lynx, then at the children, then Urrax and then back at Lynx. “I can transfer the powers back to the children.”
“That’s precisely the help we want,” Lynx said.
“With all pleasure.” Aronicle put a hand on Urrax’s head and started muttering a spell. Urrax started writhing inside the chains, struggling hard, but the chains held. After a few minutes of tense silence, Aronicle jerked back in his chair and opened his eyes. They were full of terror.
“I can’t control these powers,” he said. “I will spontaneously combust! The power is too much. Quickly, take back your powers.”
Aronicle turned to the nearest boy next to him – Archer – and put a hand on his head.
Archer waited, but nothing happened. Then a crunching pain tore through his body. He opened his mouth to scream, but he couldn’t speak. Archer’s throat was burning, and he couldn’t breathe. His whole body was paralyzed.
A second later, he blacked out.
When he regained consciousness, Archer realized that he was lying on a table. He tried to move his hands and legs, but in vain. He was finding it very difficult to speak.
“I can’t move.” Archer almost screamed at the pain in his throat.
“It will stay for a while or so,” Aronicle said. “Your body is trying to accept the Elemental Powers you gave up. It will take time.”
Archer saw Daniel among the faces. “Then how’s he able to move?” he asked, ignoring the growing pain in his throat.
“He had some powers left in him, remember,” Aronicle said. “His body accepted the powers easily. James also, surprisingly, recovered very fast and can use his Elemental Powers to the full. But Matt is still like you.”
Archer stayed silent. Everything seemed blurred. It was almost after an hour that Archer was finally able to move both his arms and legs. He stood up and realized that he was the last one to recover fully. Matt had recovered.
“I am not having my powers taken away again. It’s damn painful,” Archer said. Though he could move, his body was still in pain.
“Hey, why don’t you try it?” Daniel said.
“Try what?”
“Your power.”
Archer raised a finger and concentrated on it. A flicker of bright orange scrambled across his fingertips but disappeared as soon as it came. Archer concentrated harder, until the point where his face turned red. All of a sudden, Archer’s hand was engulfed in flame. Archer sighed, losing focus, and the fire died away.
“I have to focus a lot,” Archer said. “I won’t be able to use my power in a battle, that’s for sure.”
“Don’t worry,” Aronicle said. “The power will take time to adjust with your body. Maybe minutes, maybe hours, maybe days, maybe weeks, or even years.”
“That’s motivating,” Archer said. “What’s our next step?”
“The Trident,” the Scavenger said, looking at Insanity. “Will you tell us where it is?”
Insanity nodded. “Under the Sea of Trion.”
“Wow, that makes it so clear,” James said. “Come on then, let’s go under the sea of Trion and get the Trident. Life is so simple, right?”
“Under the sea where?” Lynx stressed.
Insanity shook his head. “It’s not as you think. There is no place where the Trident is. The Trident is in possession of the guardian, and it goes where the guardian goes. The legendary Hothel has the Trident.”
“The legendary Hothel?” the Scavenger interrupted. He had a frightened expression. “Not him.”
Insanity nodded. “I
’m afraid to say yes, but it is the truth.”
“The legendary hotel?” Matt was confused. “A hotel owns the Trident?”
“No!” Insanity sighed. “It’s Hothel, not hotel! What intolerable disrespect is this? How dare you disregard the name of one of the most powerful beings in the Dark World by comparing it to a simple hotel?!”
Matt apologized sheepishly. “Um... sorry…”
The Scavenger interrupted, “Please continue.”
“Anyway,” Insanity continued, calming himself. “Hothel lives deep under the sea of Trion. The first problem: you can’t reach there. You’re not fish. You can’t breathe in the water.”
“We can take breathing pills or something,” James said.
Insanity glared at him. “Pills won’t work. Even if you get one that can make you breathe in the water, as soon as Hothel sees you... Well, what can I say? Hothel is the most powerful being inside the sea. He can control water as easily as if it’s a... a... two-year-old child.”
“I don’t think a two-year-old child is easy to control,” James said.
“Whatever,” Insanity said. “You get my meaning, don’t you? If Hothel catches you in the sea, there is no escape. Hothel will have a hearty meal out of you.”
“All right,” the Scavenger said. “The bottom line is, Hothel inside the sea means the game is over.”
“Exactly,” Insanity said. “We need to come up with an out-of-the-box idea. And the out-of-the-box idea is that you need to lure him out of the sea, anyhow.”
“Okay.” Lynx held up a hand. “Wait a minute. Let’s first hear his weaknesses. Are there any?”
“Of course,” Insanity said. “Sea animals. Sea animals are his biggest and only weakness. He has a passion for collecting sea creatures.”
“All right, I have an idea,” James said. Everyone tuned in to listen. James’s ideas were the best.
“Is there any sea animal he has not captured?” James asked.
“The Scoshag,” Insanity replied at once. “It’s the only one he has not been able to capture.”
“The Devil of the Lake,” Lynx whispered in awe.
“The Jaw of Death,” the Scavenger said.
“The Amanthian Devil,” No One added.
Archer clutched his head. “All right, any more names and I am seriously going to faint.”
Insanity continued, “The Scoshag lives in the Gokru Lake, which merges into the Sea of Trion.”
Matt interrupted, “Gokru Lake! What kind of a name is Gokru?”
Insanity took a deep breath and looked at the Scavenger. “What kind of frustrating children are these?”
The Scavenger controlled his laughter. “I know they can be irritating, but most of the times they are not like this. Really.”
Insanity turned back to a scowling Matt. “How do I know? I haven’t kept this name for the lake. Well, just leave the name aside.” Insanity took another breath and spoke again, “Let’s focus on what’s important. The Scoshag is known to venture into the Sea of Trion to catch its prey. It is said that Hothel has made several attempts, but he has not been able to capture the Scoshag. Each time Hothel attempts, the Scoshag changes its shape and rushes back to Gokru Lake in which Hothel doesn’t enter.”
“Well, it’s easy, then,” James said. “We capture the Scoshag from Gokru Lake, get it to lure Hothel out of the Sea of Trion, then take the Trident from him.”
There was silence for a while. Then Insanity shook his head. “It can’t be done.”
“Why?” James questioned.
“Well, you wouldn’t be able to capture the Scoshag just like that,” Insanity said. “Even Hothel himself hasn’t been able to. The Scoshag is a shapeshifter. It will just change its shape and escape.”
James asked Lynx, “Do you have a picture of Scoshag’s original form?”
Lynx said, “I have a picture in which it looks like a crab. A bad crab.”
Lynx got up and went to the shelves. After a minute of rummaging around, he found a picture of a crab that looked unsettling. The crab was half-green, half-black with seventeen claws curved at the top that looked sharper than a razor.
“I can vouch that this is the picture of Scoshag in its original shape. I have seen it once. It is massive in size,” Insanity said. “As you can see, it has seventeen claws. The claws are so sharp that they can cut through steel easily.”
“What does it eat?” James asked.
“Sea animals, of course,” Insanity replied. “But it has a strong craving for humans. It is believed that once a fisherman fell into the sea accidentally, and the Scoshag ate him. From that day, it loves human meat.”
“How many Scoshags are there?” James asked.
“There were two.” Insanity said. “One died a long time ago. The only one left lives in the Gokru Lake.”
“I don’t understand,” Matt said. “If Hothel has the Trident, then he has access to great power. Why doesn’t he use his Trident to capture the Scoshag?”
“The Trident would be of no use. It can control water, but the Scoshag can shape-shift. Even in the water, it can jump to great heights. It will just turn into a bird or something and fly away. And also, Hothel doesn’t like to bring his Trident along when he goes to hunt for prey. He treats the Trident like a prize or something and keeps it very safe.”
Daniel cleared his throat. “So if Hothel hasn’t managed to capture the Scoshag so far, then what chance do we have?”
“I have a cage,” Lynx said. “It was given to me centuries ago, when I was very very young. I had got this cage from my trainer – a very learned sage. Before dying, he gave the magical cage to me, as a souvenir.”
Lynx’s eyes filled with tears on remembering his tutor. The Scavenger placed his hand on Lynx’s shoulder to give him strength. Although the children couldn’t relate to what Lynx was going through, they still sent a prayer to the departed sage.
Lynx regained his control. “Anyway, the cage is one of its kind. It’s a magic-reducing cage. It prevents the occupant inside from practising magic, so the Scoshag wouldn’t be able to shape-shift. Also, the cage can expand or contract. We just have to get the cage near the Scoshag, and the job is done.”
“Okay.” James thought to himself for a while and nodded. “Yes. I think I’ve got it. It’s quite easy. We lure the Scoshag out of the Gokru Lake, capture it in the cage, then use it to lure Hothel out of the Sea of Trion, take the Trident, and that’s it.”
“But how do we lure the Scoshag out?” Insanity asked.
“That’s easy, isn’t it?” James said. “It loves humans. We use someone as bait.”
“The plan seems okay,” the Scavenger said. “Who will be the bait?”
Everyone turned silent.
James looked around. “Um... why is everyone looking at me?”
“No!” James exclaimed. “I am not doing this!”
The Scavenger sighed for the millionth time. “James, you have to.”
“I have no doubt whatsoever,” James retorted. “I am not becoming a bait for a deadly mega crab!”
“Look, I can give you many reasons for doing this,” the Scavenger said.
“Oh, is that so? I want to hear them.”
“One, you need to do this to save your family, friends, the whole Earth, to say out loud. Two... um...”
“See? You can’t even think of two reasons.” James sat down on a chair. “Why not someone else?”
“Because you are the quickest one,” the Scavenger pointed out.
“Yeah,” Matt said. “I am not the quickest.”
“Me too,” Archer said.
“Me three,” Daniel butted in.
James thought for a while, fuming, then said, “What would I have to do if I chose to become bait? Emphasis on ‘if’.”
“We would submerge you in the water,” Lynx said. “With a rope. If you feel out of breath – which you won’t – because, thanks to your Elemental Power you can breathe underwater – or see the Scoshag – then t
ug on the rope and we will pull you out. The Scoshag will follow you, and we will be waiting for it with the cage. As soon as the cage touches the crab, it will expand and capture the crab inside it.”
“What if the Scoshag falls back into the water?” asked James.
“It can very well do that,” Insanity said. “It has acute senses, so as soon as it comes out of the water, it will figure out that it’s a trap. It will fall back down into the water.”
The Scavenger said, “James, you are the only one among us that can control water. In case the Scoshag falls back, you need to pull the water out somehow so that the crab lands on the lake bed. Then one of us with the cage jumps in, and that’s it. The lake isn’t that deep.”
James thought again. “You know, I would do it, but I have ostraconophobia.”
James cleared his throat. “In English, it means fear of shellfish. Scoshag is like a shellfish. So, I fear it.”
“James,” the Scavenger said. “We are not buying that.”
James held his head with his hands. “But I don’t want to do it.”
“I didn’t want to go into the Brentinute,” the Scavenger said. “But I did. You need to step out of your comfort zone, James. How else would you survive in this world?”
“All right, all right, no need to give me a lecture,” James said. He was silent for a long time as he thought about it. Archer could see that James knew that he had no choice.
“Okay,” James finally relented. “I will do it. But don’t think your ‘leave your comfort zone’ speech did it. I am volunteering myself.”
The Scavenger grinned. “Okay.” Then in a milder voice, he said, “My speech did it.”
17
James stepped out of the portal and onto the banks of the Gokru Lake, the others beside him. Aronicle remained in Lynx’s cave to keep watch on Urrax.
The water in the lake was muddy. The lake merged into the Sea of Trion at some distance.
James said, “I have a question. Why can’t I lift the water from here? Then someone goes in and catches the unsuspecting Scoshag. Why do I have to be submerged?”
The Scavenger laughed. “James, now you’re just scrambling for something. If you lift the water, the Scoshag will just change shape and vanish.”
