As the Twin Assassins moved towards the old man, Raven jumped in front of him. “You will not hurt my father,” he said bravely.
The Twin Assassins laughed at the boy. “And how do you plan to stop us?”
“He will not,” a voice spoke from behind Raven. “I will.”
A figure wearing dark black armour jumped down from the branches and landed beside Raven.
The Twin Assassins laughed again. “And who are you?”
The figure straightened up to his full height. “I am the servant of Lord Arcane. They call me the Shadow Warrior.”
“The Shadow Warrior!” one of the assassins said, his voice cracking in fear. “Why are you here?”
“I must protect Mascae and his son.”
Daniel realized the old man was none other than Mascae. Daniel kept his eyes closed and kept watching with concentration.
“That’s not going to happen,” the other said. “Instead, join us to kill Mascae and you will be well rewarded!”
“I don’t want any rewards.”
“We will give you the Lightning Sword!”
“I don’t want it,” the Shadow Warrior snarled. “Leave my masters alone, or face death!”
“Let us do our work, warrior!” one of the Twin Assassins said. “Don’t interfere.”
The Shadow Warrior pulled out a sword and assumed a battle stance. “I won’t let you kill my master.”
The Twin Assassins had a hurried conversation among themselves. The twins had the power to transmit thoughts through their brains.
“This man is a devoted man,” the first assassin said in his mind. “No rewards would make him betray his masters.”
“Then we shall use… delusions!” the twin whispered his plan to his brother’s mind.
The Shadow Warrior moved forward towards the Twin Assassins. Raven tried to attack from the other side, but the Twin Assassins shot an arc of fire that surrounded him and prevented him from moving.
The Twin Assassins ran for Mascae, who was lying on the ground, helpless.
Suddenly, the Shadow Warrior saw a sword lying on the ground. He recognized it. It was the Lightning Sword.
And it was joined!
The Shadow Warrior was surprised but knew he had to seize the golden opportunity and use the sword to kill the Twin Assassins.
The Shadow Warrior picked the Lightning Sword up. As he turned toward the assassins, he froze.
He saw the Twin Assassins holding half parts of the Lightning Sword. As they brought the half parts over Mascae, Raven screamed and burst through the ring of fire, breaking the concentration of the Twin Assassins. One of them turned and flicked his fingers, and Raven flew through the air, striking a tree. The other conjured up a bigger ring of fire around Raven.
The Twin Assassins again turned to Mascae.
The Shadow Warrior aimed and threw the sword straight at the Twin Assassins. The sword passed right through them as if it were an… illusion.
The Shadow Warrior realized his mistake, but he was too late. The Twin Assassins struck Mascae with the two half-swords.
Mascae, the great King, was dead.
As the Twin Assassins disappeared into the woods, the Shadow Warrior realized that the assassins had tricked him.
“NOOOOOOOO!” Raven cried.
Daniel kept watching the scenes in his mind.
The Shadow Warrior looked shattered. He knelt beside Mascae’s lifeless body.
“I am sorry.” Tears fell from the Shadow Warrior’s eyes as he looked at Mascae lying still. “It is my fault…”
“TWIN ASSASSINS, YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS,” the Shadow Warrior thundered.
But, by that time, the Twin Assassins had vanished into the deep forest.
The Scavenger carefully took out two pieces of swords from Mascae’s body and joined them.
There was a blinding flash of light as the two halves united to form the Lightning Sword.
The Shadow Warrior suddenly remembered … Raven.
Raven had managed to disable the arc of fire the Twin Assassins had thrown around him and was kneeling on the ground beside Mascae with his head bowed.
“I am sorry. I couldn’t save Mascae,” with brimming eyes, the Shadow Warrior mumbled.
Raven started yelling at him, “You were my hero once! I thought you were the best warrior! And you were! You were the loyal servant of Lord Arcane!”
“Calm down, child.”
“How can I? Lord Arcane trusted you, Mascae trusted you, I trusted you. And you betrayed us all!”
“What?” The Shadow Warrior exclaimed, flabbergasted. “I betrayed no one!”
“YOU ARE LYING! YOU COULD HAVE SAVED MASCAE BUT FOR YOUR GREED TO TAKE THE LIGHTNING SWORD!”
“GREED? How can you say that?” the Shadow Warrior shot back. “I was tricked!”
“LIAR! I don’t believe you!”
Raven was paranoid with rage and grief. As he turned to walk into the forest, he raised his finger at the Scavenger and said, “Mark my words, you betrayer! I will avenge my father’s death! I will first kill Pharaoh, and then it will be your turn! I swear to the gods.”
The Shadow Warrior watched Raven disappearing into the woods. He muttered, “I wish you knew the truth.”
Daniel jerked back to reality and opened his eyes. As his eyes focused, he saw himself staring at the Scavenger’s sword.
“What happened?” James asked. “You were paralyzed for almost an hour. We were dead bored waiting for you to come back.”
Archer asked Daniel, “What happened?”
Daniel took a deep breath and, occasionally glancing at the Scavenger, narrated his visions.
When he finished, they turned to look at the Scavenger. “So, you…?” James muttered, “You were… misunderstood?”
The Scavenger nodded. “I never wanted to take the Lightning Sword. I was tricked by the Twin Assassins. It’s just… it’s just that Raven was too much in distress to understand. He thought I had betrayed Mascae. But I am clear in my heart.”
“That’s exactly what I saw,” Daniel said. “We believe you.”
“He’s right,” Matt said. “We believe you did the right thing. Raven was wrong to -”
“Wait!” The Scavenger said, his face turning white. “I sense evil, a great evil. And it’s not very far from the tomb!”
“Enough, then,” Daniel said. “Let’s find out the way to reach the first piece of the Crown.”
James walked towards the statue and leaned down to press the thumb of Mascae’s hand.
The throne revolved with a creaking sound and sunk below the ground as they watched in wonder.
The Scavenger
