by Yajat Sharma
“Where have you come from?” the Scavenger asked.
“From the White City,” Heth replied.
The Scavenger nodded at once, but seemed surprised. “Oh, yes. We were wondering why warriors from the White City hadn’t come. But why are you so few, given the huge population of White City?”
“It’s our King,” Heth said worriedly. “He is scared stiff of the Skull Warrior and is acting foolishly. He doesn’t want to risk the lives of our people by sending them to help you. We are the only ones who dared to escape from the city and come here.”
The Scavenger thought for a while. “I appreciate your courage. Please rest. Don’t worry. I will try and convince your King.”
Heth nodded and left with his band of warriors.
“What is the White City?” James asked.
“It’s the biggest city with the most powerful warriors,” the Scavenger said. “If we get their help, it will be mightily beneficial.”
The Scavenger acted at once and called for a Unicorn. He sent him to go to the White City and convince the King. The Unicorn shot off at lightning speed.
“There he goes,” the Scavenger said. “He will be back in an hour, at the most.”
Sure enough, an hour later, the Unicorn returned, looking dejected.
He informed them that the White City’s King wouldn’t come. The Scavenger said to the children, “We need to go to the White City and personally meet the King. It’s important.”
He, along with Lynx and the children, went to the Gods and told them about the whole situation. The Gods put their hands on everyone’s shoulders and, a second later, teleported them to the White City.
They emerged in a beautifully decorated chamber, where the King of White City was sitting on a chair, reading a book.
The King recognized the Scavenger. “No,” he said at once.
The Scavenger just looked at the King. “I haven’t spoken to you yet.”
“There’s no need to,” the King said. “I won’t help you. And that’s final. Nothing you can do will change my mind.”
“Just have some patience and respect to listen to me,” the Scavenger said firmly.
The King sighed and then waved a hand for the Scavenger to go on.
“We have the help of the Gods,” the Scavenger said. “The Gods, you hear? We have a fair chance in the war to wi -”
The King interrupted. “We are outnumbered. It’s a lost cause. I choose to withdraw from the war so that my people will remain safe and we will live to see another day.”
“Fear has clouded your mind. Your best bet is to fight alongside us,” the Scavenger said matter-of-factly.
The King shook his head. “Over-confidence has clouded your mind. I will not fight. I can’t put my people’s lives in danger.”
“Don’t you get it?” the Scavenger yelled, losing his calm. “You are sealing your fate and your people’s fate. The Skull Warrior will destroy everything in his path. You too.”
The King shrugged. “I won’t change my mind.”
The Scavenger gritted his teeth. “All right, then. Be a coward. And when the Skull Warrior comes for you, remember that you alone are responsible for your fate.”
The King chose to remain silent.
Without a word, the Scavenger turned and sent a mental signal to the Gods. The Gods teleported them back to the chamber of the Kings almost instantly. The Scavenger narrated his interaction with the King of White City.
The Kings of Necron were saddened.
“We can’t do anything about that, I am afraid,” Othos said. “Our hands are tied. We can only hope that -”
A man burst into the room. “Forgive me, my lords, but I bring news of dire circumstances. The Trolls and the Ogres are leaving!”
The Scavenger rushed outside. He was just in time to see the Trolls and Ogres outside the walls, walking away.
“Wait!” the Scavenger yelled. “Where are you going?”
They turned to face him. A Troll stepped forward. “We are walking away from this war.”
“But why?”
The Troll replied. “We know that the King of the White City is not coming. He is doing the right thing by not putting his people’s lives in danger. We are leaving. We know how to live in secret and survive.”
“No, you won’t,” the Scavenger said. “The Skull Warrior will find you. And you will be slaughtered.”
“Then so be it. At least we will have a little more time to live.”
Without further ado, the Troll turned and joined the other Trolls and Ogres who were walking away from the castle.
The Scavenger’s shoulders slumped in despair. He stepped back from the wall.
“What now?” James asked. “Two of the strongest groups of fighters have left. Are we still fit for this war?”
The Scavenger’s eyes hardened, and he stood up straight. “Of course. No matter what, we will fight. We have to. We are the last line of defence for the Dark World.”
The Scavenger looked at each of them. “Rest for now. Tomorrow, you must start practising again.”
They went back to their rooms and slept.
20
A week passed. The children spent their time practising with determined vigour. The Scavenger and Lynx, the Gods, the children and the Kings of Necron all had worked hard in placing the traps appropriately. The Sorcerers had treated each of the traps with magic spells. There were still three days to go for the Tyhorox, and their preparations were in full swing.
The next two days passed in fine-tuning the war preparations. The Unicorns informed the Scavenger that the Skull Warrior’s army was marching on schedule and would reach the Castle within a day.
The Scavenger called a meeting of all the leaders, and they assembled in the Dome. The children took a seat to the side and were a little disheartened by seeing the empty seats at the far back, where the Trolls and Ogres usually sat.
“Just a day more, my friends,” the Scavenger said. “Though some warriors have left us, we don’t have to worry. Our Castle walls are strong, and we have created the finest of traps. The side gate has been painted white and with a type of magic, we were successful in making it invisible. The defence placed for the main Castle gate is adequate. And the energy serum is ready.” The Scavenger looked around. “I see some faces full of doubt. Doubt cannot be allowed to fester now, not just a day before the war. Be strong.
“I will keep this talk short. Should the enemy breach the wall, we will have to fight at close quarters. I can honestly say that I have faith in our strength. Let’s trust our unity.” He nodded. “That’s all. Sleep at once, because at midnight, you all should be bright and awake. The enemy approaches.”
As he finished, there was a roaring sound. Each warrior present there appeared determined. The children felt goose bumps. The electrifying atmosphere in the Dome was a rare feeling.
At the stroke of midnight, the Scavenger, along with the children and all the others, assembled near the Castle walls. There were towers all around on which soldiers with bows and arrows stood alert.
Cannons and similar artillery were already placed in the small holes in the walls. Bags of food and water were laid alongside the walls.
While the Sorcerers frantically chanted various spells welcoming the Tyhorox, the warriors encircled them. The Amozaks, along with their masters, were on a large platform that extended miles away from the walls. The massive Octerpillers and Turtoons were at the front of the platform. The Octerpillers could produce millions of tiny and poisonous caterpillars within seconds, and they would throw these caterpillars at the enemy. The Turtoons’ shells were full of poisonous reptiles through which they would hit the enemy. The medics had made all preparations to treat and cure the injured.
“What’s the latest on the Skull Warrior’s army?” Lynx asked.
“I have been informed that it will be about four hours before the Skull Warrior reaches the castle. It’s good for us that we strike them just at the dawn,” the Scavenger
said.
A few minutes after dawn, they caught the first glimpse of the army.
It was just a black line across the horizon, and then they heard the rhythmic sound of the marching of an army – thick, thock, thick, thock.
As the Skull Warrior’s army came closer, they all gasped in shock.
The morning sky had gone black, littered with all sorts of flying creatures – ranging from black rats with wings to large pterodactyls with long pointed tails.
The sheer size of the enemy army was mind-boggling. The growl of the ferocious dogs could be heard from far, and that made the Amozaks restless.
After a few moments, the giants with the Dark Sorcerers on their shoulders were seen marching with energy. The archers and chariots followed. They seemed endless, lines after lines emerging from the horizon.
Shock and disappointment were visible not only on the faces of children, but also on the faces of the assembled army.
The Scavenger turned to look towards them. “My friends, it is the call of destiny,” he said, looking around the area. “This is the time to rise and fulfil our fate.” The Scavenger raised his hands. “ATTTAAACCCKKKK!”
His army roared back in response. The children could already sense the mood becoming energetic again. The Scavenger’s short message proved to be enough to rejuvenate the warriors once again.
“AND IT BEGINS…” Paragon shot a single arrow from his bow, signalling the start of the war.
The arrow was not just a normal one. It flew through the air and landed short of the marching army. The arrow plunged into the ground, hurting no one, but its effects were to activate the traps.
The enemy was caught unaware by the waiting traps. As the traps got activated, steel poles fell on the front lines of the army, crushing many. The poles’ mechanisms allowed them to pull back and then fall again, causing multiple casualties for the enemy.
The giants had to step forward and catch these poles. As they caught the poles, the steel needles dug into their hands and they roared. Even then, they pulled the poles out of the ground and threw them behind them, not caring that they were crushing some of their soldiers.
The traps were carefully planned. As the enemy army moved forward, hundreds of warriors, including the mighty giants, fell into the dug-out pits.
Back at the Castle walls, the sight of the enemy falling into the pits was a big morale booster for the Scavenger’s army.
But the enemy numbers were far too many. As the pits filled themselves up with warriors, the army just trampled over them and kept marching forward.
The traps continued to get nastier. The spikes, which suddenly protruded out of the ground, killed and injured many enemy warriors. As the enemy marched further ahead, it started into get the range of the arrows.
“READY YOUR ARROWS!” the Scavenger yelled.
The children and all the others drew back the arrows in their bows as far as they could.
“Shoot the flying creatures!” the Scavenger ordered.
Thousands of arrows struck the flying monstrosities that started dropping like stones.
The children were excited, as their training seemed to have paid off. Archer was especially pleased with his accuracy.
The element of surprise on the Scavenger’s part started to wear out as the enemy started to retaliate. Arrows shot towards the wall, and the warriors on the Scavenger’s side ducked and dodged.
Archer was surprised to see that his friends were all summoning their Elemental Powers. Archer immediately ditched the bow and called upon fire. The Scavenger was summoning bolts through his Lightning Sword.
The combined attack of the Scavenger’s sword and the children’s Elemental Powers proved useful. As the Lightning bolts rained down on the enemy, roots captured the legs of the warriors. The clouds erupted in torrential rain and tornadoes started swirling around the enemy warriors. Archer used fire to burn the armours of warriors, and the archers from the walls of the Castle were precise in burying their arrows in the enemy’s chests.
The enemy army, however, kept getting closer to the Castle.
“SORCERERS!” The Scavenger raised his hands and shouted.
The group of sorcerers, which had been chanting till now, stopped chanting and at once, a blue dome formed around the Castle. As the enemy warriors touched it, the Dome went flying away.
Everyone was fighting hard. The Turtoons and Octerpillers shot bugs and animals at the enemy who was on their side of the Dome.
The Gods were fighting on another level. Paragon was waving his hand from side to side, and a whole line of warriors went flying to different sides. Oni was shooting magical arrows, which, when striking the ground, burst into grenades or shot blobs of ice and fire everywhere. Rath had bared his claws and was shooting thorn after thorn, picking off one warrior after the other. No One was aggressively attacking the Demons in the Skull Warrior’s army.
The enemy army seemed infinite. In a change of tactics, the enemy started firing cannonballs on the Dome. The Sorcerers were using all their power to hold up the Dome but not for long. As the cannonballs struck the Dome, the Sorcerers started to drop to the ground, unconscious. The Dome shattered to pieces.
The enemy warriors roared as they moved forward, getting closer to the Castle.
All of a sudden, the Dome formed again, just in time to stop the enemy warriors before they neared the Castle gate. The Scavenger knew what had happened. One look behind confirmed his thinking. The Sorcerers had drunk whole bottles of energy serum, and it had given them the energy to create the Dome again. But the Scavenger also knew that the Sorcerers had limited bottles, and if the Dome collapsed again, it was gone for good.
Archer used firepower to burn away the enemy cannons but slumped to the ground, totally spent. Somehow, he pulled out a bottle of energy serum and gulped it down. He was at once flooded with more energy. Daniel, Matt and James too were doing the same. All the children were thanking the herbologists profusely in their minds for this boon.
Meanwhile, the Demons started chanting spells. A blanket of darkness started covering the Castle Dome and, suddenly, it broke apart. The Sorcerers dropped unconscious, and this time the Scavenger knew they wouldn’t get up again anytime soon.
As the darkness started to come nearer to the Castle, the Scavenger turned to the Gods. “Your show.”
As the Gods started chanting spells, the darkness started to wane. But as the Gods’ attention was taken up by the Demons, the enemy warriors started to gain more ground. They reached the Castle gate and suddenly the Castle gate shook as giant logs of wood crashed against it. But the magic-induced Castle gate held on.
Suddenly, Archer looked up and, to his horror, he saw the flying creatures carrying animals in their claws. Archer knew that they would drop the animals off behind the walls.
Meanwhile, the Castle gate was getting weaker, so the archers couldn’t focus on striking off the flying creatures. They had to attack the enemy warriors on the ground, or else the gate would break.
The flying creatures were too many in number. Despite the best efforts of the children and the Scavenger, they covered the sky above the Castle and started dropping off wild animals. Further, the flying creatures, after dropping the animals, swooped down and snatched a warrior each and threw them into the enemy army.
The Scavenger yelled to the falling warriors, “Use your armours!”
The tactic worked and, as the warriors fell into the enemy army, they activated their in-built boosters and flew back to the Castle.
The Scavenger looked around at the chaos that was unfolding owing to the ferocious animals dropped in the Castle. Meanwhile, a swarm of flying creatures holding animals was again approaching the Castle.
The Scavenger shouted in rage, “This has gone on long enough.”
The Scavenger pulled out his Lightning Sword and with a yell, brought it to the air. Lightning crackled and then hit the flying creatures. It zapped from bird to bird, turning them to ashes.
Then
all of a sudden, the Scavenger fell to the ground and the lightning stopped. A medic rushed to him at once.
“Is he all right?” Archer asked him.
The medic turned to him. “He’s just unconscious. The effort proved too much for him. But don’t worry, two bottles of energy serum will get him up in no time.”
Archer looked to the skies and grinned. “He blew up most of those annoying flying monsters.”
The Castle gate jerked again and now, there was a crack in the gate. Lynx, seeing that the Scavenger was unconscious, took charge. “Cover that up! Quick!”
Warriors rushed to the gate. The enemy was frantically striking the gate with logs.
“We can’t hold this long enough,” Archer said to Lynx. “We need to think of something, fast.”
The Gods finished their spell and a strong shockwave rippled through the enemy army. The Demons fell like dry leaves.
“That was a death spell.” Paragon smiled at the children. “It is one of the greatest spells. We will not be able to do such a spell in a hundred years.” With that, Paragon, along with the other Gods, started to concentrate their efforts on the approaching warriors at the Castle gate.
But they were too late. The Castle gate shook as a giant ran towards it and kicked at it. It crumbled. The enemy rushed in.
“SWITCH TO CLOSE COMBAT!” Lynx shouted.
At this time, since two bottles of energy serum had been poured into the Scavenger’s mouth, the Scavenger woke up with a grunt.
“The enemy has breached!” Matt shouted to him.
The Scavenger stood up at once and led the charge. “DRIVE THE ENEMY BACK!” he yelled.
Everyone was trying hard, but the animals dropped by the flying creatures were proving to be an annoying distraction. The Scavenger realized that they were losing ground.
“RETREAT!” the Scavenger yelled. “We need to re-plan, and quick.”
