Quest for the Arcane Crown

by Yajat Sharma

  Aronicle stood up. “People of the Clan of Daggers,” he said, raising his arms. “These are prophesied children, destined to take on the Death Lord. They have come here, trained in sword fighting, but they would remain unequipped without…”

  Aronicle gave a dramatic pause. “…the Elemental Powers!”

  People cheered loudly, and Aronicle had to shout over their voices.

  He yelled, “It will be an honour to bestow the Elemental Powers on them.” He looked at the children. “One by one, please come to me.”

  “I’ll go first,” Archer whispered and walked up to Aronicle, feeling a mixture of nervousness and excitement.

  Archer stopped in front of Aronicle and the latter moved his hand over Archer’s head. Aronicle closed his eyes and muttered a spell. Archer could not understand anything of it. After some time, Aronicle’s eyes opened. At first, nothing happened. Then Archer’s body racked with agony as he quivered.

  “OWWWW!” he cried. The audience watched in rapt silence.

  “Don’t worry, child!” Aronicle whispered. “It will be over in no time.”

  He was right. Archer felt a strong force within him… the desire to rule the World, the urge to sail the seas, to capture people, to enslave them and conquer the World.

  “Control it, son!” Aronicle whispered.

  It took all his determination to overcome it, and Archer sighed as it receded.

  The audience waited for something more, angling their heads.

  And then his body began to glow red.

  “The Power of Fire!” Aronicle declared. Turning to Archer, he said, “Can you please demonstrate it?”

  Archer suddenly knew what he had to do. He raised his right hand and fire shot out of it, straight to the other end of the playground, setting the grass on the ground ablaze.

  A loud cheer came from the crowd.

  “Who comes next?” Aronicle asked.

  Daniel stepped forward and walked up to Aronicle, who performed the same sacraments on him. Daniel went through the same experience as Archer, but his body didn’t glow red. Instead, it shone green.

  “The Power of Earth!” Aronicle announced. Daniel raised his hands and the earth shook, a tree got uprooted and flew to the ground.

  The crowd roared in delight.

  Matt went next. His body glowed grey.

  “The Power of Wind!” Aronicle shouted. Matt raised his hands and everyone’s hair floated with the force of the wind.

  Next, James walked up to Aronicle.

  Aronicle muttered some incantations and James’s body glowed blue.

  “The Power of Water!” announced Aronicle and asked James to demonstrate.

  James raised his hand and water flooded the place, soaking the audience. The people felt cold and started shivering, but still, they clapped loudly.

  Aronicle addressed the children, “Dear prophesied boys, the Elemental Powers in you have been awakened. I request you to stay for a celebratory feast.”

  The Scavenger refused the offer. “I am sorry, but we don’t have time. We have to embark on our quest.”

  Aronicle said, “I understand. I would not hold you back. Bring peace upon us. May you be successful in your quest!”

  The assembled people cheered and bowed before the children and the Scavenger as they started walking out of the village.

  Archer remembered something. “Hey, you said that if we survived the awakening, there would be a surprise waiting for us. What is that?”

  The Scavenger shook his head and laughed. “Oh nothing! I told you that just to motivate you!”

  Archer frowned. “Aw! I really thought there was a surprise!”

  “Isn’t the awakening of Elemental Powers a big surprise in itself?” the Scavenger asked, grinning. “I never thought all four of you would be such powerful Elementals. You all look so innocent.”

  Daniel blushed and asked the Scavenger, “What are we to do next?”

  The Scavenger rubbed his hands in excitement. “It’s time to take out the riddle.”

  The children nodded.

  James took out the box from his pocket and gave it to the Scavenger.

  The Scavenger closed his eyes and concentrated.

  The lid of the box opened.

  Almost simultaneously, an arrow shot out from nowhere and hit a tree, just an inch away from Matt’s face.

  “Someone is here!” the Scavenger whispered. He clicked his fingers and the box disappeared.

  The children had already pulled out their swords.

  “Put down your weapons,” a voice boomed. “Or the next arrow will be on your face!”

  The children looked at the Scavenger. The Scavenger shook his head.

  “I will count to three!” “One… two… thr -!”

  Mid-sentence, the enemy attacked. An arrow shot out towards the Scavenger’s face. He was quick to bend down, and the arrow impaled the tree behind him.

  The Scavenger gritted his teeth. If the arrow had been aimed at the children, they wouldn’t have been able to dodge.

  He nodded at the children and they reluctantly dropped their weapons.

  A man wearing a black hood stepped out from the bushes. He appeared majestic.

  The Scavenger snarled, “Slither.”

  The man smiled. “Hardly. I am his grandson, Python. I am surprised to see that you remember Slither. But on second thoughts, well, of course, you will. After all those days of torturing…”

  The Scavenger winced.

  It was a tale of a century ago. The Scavenger had been captured by a man named Slither, who was at that time a General of the Death Lord’s army. Tortured for days, the Scavenger somehow managed to escape his prison, but he could never erase Slither from his mind.

  “Stay away, Python!” the Scavenger said. “These are not your grandfather’s times. I am much more powerful now. You will be crushed.”

  Python pulled out his sword. “You don’t have your legendary weapon, the Lightning Sword. You are nothing without it.”

  The Scavenger winced again. He never wanted anyone to mention the topic of the Lightning Sword at all.

  “How about you, then?” The Scavenger said, stalling for time. He could see the children with their eyes closed. They were most probably concentrating their powers. “Still living on the streets?”

  “Ha ha!” Python laughed. “I have joined the Clan of the Black Hunters! Our leader is the legendary Triton. And we are in service of the Death Lord!”

  Python nocked an arrow on his bow and aimed at the children. He let the arrow fly.

  “NO!” the Scavenger shouted. He lunged at the arrow but missed. The arrow hurtled through the air towards the children.

  Just as it was about to hit them, it changed direction and retreated towards Python. Matt was focusing his power to control the wind.

  Python’s eyes narrowed in surprise. He ducked quickly and narrowly escaped.

  Those few moments gave the Scavenger enough time to recover. He lunged at Python.

  The two of them crashed to the ground. Python flung the Scavenger aside, and put another arrow in his bow.

  “Give me a sword!” the Scavenger shouted at the children.

  Daniel threw a sword. The Scavenger caught it in mid-air and deflected the arrow that Python shot towards him.

  The Scavenger brought his sword down. Sparks flew as the two swords clashed.

  Python used a series of attack combinations that drove the Scavenger towards a tree.

  Python was continuously swinging his sword at the Scavenger, trying to dominate him.

  The Scavenger had an idea. He intentionally placed a strike on Python that missed the target and left his head area unguarded. The Hunter caught the bait and slashed his sword at the Scavenger’s head.

  The Scavenger was waiting for this and ducked just in time. Python’s sword hit the tree. He tried to pull it out, but in vain.

  The Scavenger pressed his sword against Python’s neck and looked at the children. “Will
you do the honours?”

  Archer shot fire at Python, who shrieked as he started burning. James put it out with chilled water that left Python shivering with cold. Daniel made roots that slapped against Python several times, and Matt shot him into the sky.

  Their fun had just begun when several Black Hunters burst out of their hiding places. They soon surrounded the group.

  Their leader Triton, wearing a grey hood, stepped out from the crowd of the Hunters. He shouted at Python, “Shame! These puny little boys scaring you.”

  One of the Black Hunters piped up, “They are the prophesied children, Lord!”

  Triton’s eyes widened. “And how do you know that?”

  “I saw them fight, Lord!” the man said breathlessly. “They have control of the Elements. They blasted our brother into the sky!”

  Triton grinned widely. “How wonderful! Our master will be pleased if we capture them. He will reward us with gold!”

  Triton announced, “Bind them and take them to our lair.”

  He shot an arrow towards the ground near the Scavenger.

  A cage expanded around them.

  The cage seemed magical. At once, the swords in the hands of the children and the Scavenger stuck to the wall and fell out. The cage was then attached to five horses. The Black Hunters – with Triton in the lead – proceeded to their lair.

  “We have to do something,” Matt said. “There must be a way to free ourselves…”

  “Of course there is,” the Scavenger said. “It’s quite easy to escape. But we won’t. Let the Black Hunters take us into their lair.” The Scavenger surprised them.

  “What?” Archer asked. “This is so stupid of us. Should we not escape while we still have the chance?”

  The Scavenger shook his head. “The Black Hunters terrorize and torture people on behalf of the Death Lord. Many Clans have tried to defeat them, but have failed. They can’t find their hidden lair.”

  “Once we know their lair, we can inform the other Clans!” James finished. “Yes, it’s a brilliant idea.”

  The Scavenger smiled. “Exactly.”

  “But how will we escape the lair?” Archer queried.

  “Don’t worry about that,” the Scavenger said, and turned silent. It looked like he was already planning something.

  After a few hours, they reached the lair. Triton raised both hands and chanted something. The lid of the cave started sliding to reveal the darkness inside.

  They trudged on.

  The lair was a vast fortress, surrounded by dangerous fences.

  They reached a magnificent gate that swung open at Triton’s command, and the group marched in.

  Guards surrounded the courtyard and they all bowed to Triton. He commanded, “Take the prisoners in.”

  The guards took the children and the Scavenger into the prison cells and slammed the door shut.

  The children turned to the Scavenger. “Now what?”

  The Scavenger, rubbing his hands, gleefully responded, “Now we escape!”

  7

  “Somebody needs to get out of here and share the location of the lair with the nearest clans. The attack on the lair should be organized within three hours,” the Scavenger said.

  “Why only three hours?” Matt asked.

  “Here in the Dark World, execution of captives is done only at noon. It’s only three hours left to noon. So, who’s up for it?”

  “Someone who is the most experienced,” James said, “and who knows how to fight.”

  James looked at his friends, and they said in unison, looking at the Scavenger, “You, of course.”

  The Scavenger nodded while examining the prison bars. “I knew that. As it is, I would not have risked any of you in this.”

  “Serpentine steel,” he muttered. “Its main component is drone bee wax. I can use fire, but there’s the risk that it could burn us alive. The Root of Menea, however…”

  He turned to Daniel. “I need your help. You have the Magic of the Earth. Can you find me the Root of Menea?”

  The others didn’t understand what he meant, but Daniel nodded and closed his eyes. He ventured mentally from tree to tree, branch to branch, root to root…

  He opened his eyes and there in his hands was the Root of Menea.

  The Scavenger nodded. “Now I will just need a little water in the root to…” Before he could finish, James raised his hand and water poured on the Root.

  The Scavenger touched the root on the bars. The bars softened. The Scavenger parted the bars and came out.

  He turned and pressed the bars back into position.

  The Scavenger rushed towards the door and noticed two guards outside with their backs to him.

  With a sudden move, he hit the two guards on the heads, and they fell on the floor unconscious. He changed into the guard’s uniform and ran towards the front gate. The front gate was heavily guarded. Creeping into the shadows, the Scavenger stealthily made his way to the back gate.

  He was surprised to see that there was no one guarding the entrance. Perhaps Triton had too much faith in his prison wardens.

  Just as the Scavenger was about to cross the gate, several guards darted out from the bushes and ambushed him.

  One of them laughed. “You think we are fools. We know you hit our guard. Surrender.”

  Thoughts went lightning fast through the Scavenger’s mind. He needed to neutralize all these guards before the other guards got to know of it. In a split second, he threw the guard’s uniform off, revealing the steel armour he had originally worn.

  Assuming a battle stance, he readied himself. The guards surrounded him.

  The Scavenger could feel the rush of adrenaline inside him. Leaping upward, he twirled and planted two kicks on two guards, making them fly away. As he landed on the ground, he swiped his leg, making more guards fall.

  The Scavenger punched a guard on his stomach, making him bend in pain. He put his leg on the guard’s head and kicked forward. The momentum was enough to propel him through the air, making him land behind the group of guards.

  Before the guards could turn, the Scavenger kicked their head with lightning speed. Within moments, all the guards were thrown on the ground, beaten.

  Hiding them under the bushes, the Scavenger realized an hour had passed already.

  The Scavenger knew the area. The nearest place was the Clan of Red Pythons led by King Avocado, which was about fifty miles away. The Clan of Daggers and the Clan of Tigers were close by too. Although the Scavenger had never met King Avocado, he had heard many stories about his helpful nature. He decided to approach the King. But the distance was long and there was no way he could reach to the King in time, unless…

  He stole a chariot, rendering five guards unconscious.

  He whipped the horses as they neighed and shot towards his destination.

  The chariot moved fast, at a speed of about fifty miles per hour, trampling over the obstacles that came in its way.

  In an hour, the Scavenger entered the village of the Clan of Red Pythons. He zipped past the guards as they tried to stop him and stopped the chariot in the presence of King Avocado.

  “What… Guards… who is he...?” the King began.

  “No time!” the Scavenger said, jumping down from the chariot. “My friends are in danger! The Black Hunters have captured them. Help me!”

  “Why should we trust you?” King Avocado shot back. “We don’t even know you!”

  The Scavenger removed his headgear and revealed his face. King Avocado’s eyes beamed. “The Scavenger, the servant of Lord Arcane. What a pleasant surprise…”

  “No time for this. My friends are none other than the four Elemental children. You need to help us. The children will be executed at noon after about an hour.”

  The King got up from his throne. “But we don’t know the location of the Black Hunters…”

  “The Black Hunters made a big mistake. They captured us. I know the location. Please, summon the Clan of Daggers and the Clan of T
igers!”

  The King nodded at once. He shouted, “Minister, send the Unicorns to the Clans. Send them Unicorn chariots. Tell them to come armoured for war. And ready our forces too.”

  ***

  Matt frowned at his watch that showed ten-thirty.

  “We should stop worrying so much,” James said as he sat down on the wooden bed. “He will come back on time.”

  The doors flung open and the guards flooded in. They opened the prison gate and pulled out the startled children

  “Where is the Scavenger?!” one guard roared.

  Archer spat out, “He escaped!”

  The guard’s face was filled with rage. ‘He might have escaped, but you won’t. We will not wait until noon to behead you. Twenty minutes is all that you have.”

  ***

  “Bad news, Lord Avocado,” the minister said. “The Clan of Tigers is out raiding. But the Clan of Daggers are ready.”

  King Avocado stroked his chin thoughtfully. “That’s worrisome. The Clan of Tigers had a good number…”

  He turned to the Scavenger. “What do you think?”

  The Scavenger banged his fist on the wall. “I have a plan, but you have to have faith in me. Listen…”

  ***

  The guards took the children to an enormous terrace. People had assembled there in large numbers to watch the execution. Triton, standing on a raised platform, addressed the crowd. “Today, we gather here, to watch these prophesied children get sacrificed in the Death Lord’s name.”

  The crowd roared in approval.

  “When we execute them,” Triton continued, “we will send a message to the traitors to let them know how easily we can kill the prophesied saviours! And they should be ready for their chance.”

  People clapped as Triton signalled to a hefty executioner to begin. The executioner lumbered towards the children and raised his axe.

  The man brought his axe down on James’s head.

  James closed his eyes, his head held high, waiting for his death.

  But nothing happened. James looked up and saw the executioner cry out in pain.

  Then, all hell broke loose.

  The large crowd scattered and people screamed as arrows pinned them to the ground. Explosives burst and smoke enveloped the area.