The guard opened the gates. The Scavenger and the children went inside. One of the guards accompanied them.
Everything was going as planned.
“Wait a minute!” the guard said abruptly to the children. “Aren’t you too small?”
The Scavenger suddenly attacked one of the guards. The children followed with the remaining ones, using their Elemental Powers to knock out the guards.
The place wore a deserted look. Matt followed the Scavenger around a turn and discovered a place buzzing with activity.
Strange creatures scurried around. Goblins wandered, around carrying huge pots of reddish-blue liquids. Small dwarves trod on their tiny feet, writing notes on paper. Big demons blazed fire from their mouth to warm the pots. But no one noticed the children and the Scavenger dressed as guards.
“Find the Weapon Room,” the Scavenger whispered to the children.
Matt looked around the huge place. There were many doors, and on one was hung a sign – WEAPON ROOM.
He pointed it out to the others. They walked up to the door casually, so as not to arouse suspicion, and slipped inside. Giving it a quick scan, the Scavenger helped himself to some useful weapons.
“Grenades, tear gas, fire arrows, oil, micro knives, thorn sticks, visor for head…”
Once the Scavenger had his fill, he said, “Now to the compound. It’s a long way, but now’s the time to use these weapons.”
They walked out of the room, mingling among the fiends. No one gave them a second look.
The Scavenger led them up the stairs to a cave-like hole engraved in the wall, closed by a lid.
“There are guards inside,” the Scavenger whispered. “We open the lid, throw the unconsciousness-inducing gas shells, close the lid, wait for a minute, and then get in. Got it?”
“Got it,” the children replied in unison. The Scavenger did the job and they waited, holding their breath.
Moments later, they opened the lid and went in to find the passage lined with the guards lying faint. They quickly walked straight ahead. The passage grew wider and wider and, at last, they reached five closed doors.
“Now,” the Scavenger said, “each of us will go down each of the holes. We all will land around the area below, trapping the guards. We will take them by surprise and knock them out. You ready?” The children nodded.
Matt bent down and entered the hole. It was dark inside. He crawled and crawled until he saw the light and moved towards it to find that it opened out to air. Five feet below were guards, thirty or so, holding stun guns in their hands.
Matt could see a door being guarded by them.
Occasionally, one of the guards would toss a glance at it.
Matt looked ahead and saw four other holes with four familiar faces peeking out of them.
As Matt watched, the Scavenger pulled out one smoke- inducing grenade. Unpinning it, he raised it overhead and prepared to throw it below.
Matt pulled out another grenade too, and so did the others. They had to throw it at the same time, to cause disorder among the guards. Also, throwing the bombs from different directions would cover a larger area.
Matt threw the bomb. Four more grenades landed on the area and exploded, releasing smoke everywhere.
Matt jumped from the hole, unsheathing his sword, ready to attack.
The Scavenger had also made them wear special lenses, which allowed them to see through the smoke. Matt found it very irritating at first, but now he was thankful for the idea.
The smoke was beginning to diminish. Matt saw the guards on the ground, unconscious or injured. All his friends, except James, seemed fine.
They all surrounded James, who had been hit by a stun gun.
Matt looked at the Scavenger expectantly.
The Scavenger shook his head sadly. “I am sorry, but this is beyond my magic. The only way to cure him is through special medicine.”
“Where can we find it?” Archer asked.
“In the factory itself. We will get the medicine and cure James.”
“Archer, come with me. Matt and Daniel, take care of James,” said the Scavenger. He opened the door, revealing a well-lit narrow passage.. The Scavenger and Matt rushed inside.
They stopped at the end of a passage, where there were three guards and three rooms.
The guards were dealt with quickly, and the Scavenger pointed to the doors. “As far as I remember from the maps, the middle one is to proceed with our mission, the left one is for the weapons, which we have already taken, and the third one is for the medicinal chamber. Come on.”
They sneaked into the third room. It resembled a laboratory, where people in lab-coats were testing chemicals.
One of them gave the Scavenger and Archer a puzzled look. “What do you want, guards?”
The Scavenger was quick to reply, “This fool accidentally fired himself with a stun gun. We need an antidote urgently.”
The man nodded and turned to a shelf that had various test tubes lined up. He took one out, filled it with some orange liquid and directed, “Just two drops.”
The Scavenger and Archer rushed towards James. As soon as the two drops entered James’s mouth, he snapped awake.
“What happened? Did we knock out those guards?”
Before anyone could reply, a voice came. It was the lab scientist who had followed the Scavenger and Archer. His expression turned stormy. “Wait a minute! You are impostors -”
Sensing that he was alone, the scientist turned and ran. Before the Scavenger could neutralize him, the scientist had pressed an emergency button on the wall. Suddenly, the lights started flickering. The Scavenger and the children quickly rushed out of the room in the confusion that ensued.
Matt looked around in wonder at the crowded place, maybe the hall, swarming with beings.
One of them walked up to them and reprimanded, “Well, well, well. What do we have here? Why are you not in your positions? Don’t you remember the last time when an intruder broke in and almost blasted the whole factory?”
The Scavenger was about to say something when a big screen appeared on the wall.
“Workers of the Dark
