The Demon King turned to them and grabbed Archer. He cut his ropes and the guards threw him into the fire by order of the Demon King.
They didn’t know … Archer controlled the Power of Fire.
A moment later, a blazing fire covered Archer. He shot wisps of fire towards his friends, burning their ropes. Daniel got up, grinning. He could already feel the magic of the ropes leaving and his Elemental Powers returning in full force.
“YOU ANGERED ME,” Archer said in his most creepy voice. “NOW FACE MY WRATH.”
Archer shot bursts of fire towards the demons, leaving them running around in fear. The Scavenger clicked his fingers and the chariot appeared, fit with refreshed horses. They got inside and fled the scene as fast as they could.
Daniel complimented Archer. “I liked the creepy tone.”
“Good work, Archer,” the Scavenger told him. “Did you look at the Demon King’s face? He was like – HELP!”
They burst out laughing.
“Back to business,” the Scavenger said, clicking his fingers, and the diary appeared. The Scavenger looked through it and said after a while, “The Altar is inside the Volcano of Ash. It’s quite far from here. Enough time for you to rest.”
“Wait a minute,” Daniel said. “Did you say… inside the Volcano?”
The Scavenger nodded grimly, but didn’t elaborate. Instead, he lay down to sleep and was snoring in seconds. The other children had already closed their eyes, and Daniel followed.
***
Daniel was bored. Everyone else was still dozing, but he had been wide awake for a couple of hours.
He decided to check out the upper deck of the chariot as it raced across the forest and went there to feel some fresh air on his face.
As he looked around, he noticed all the trees had strange branches. He tried to catch one, but as soon as he touched it, his hand started itching hard.
“OWWWWWW!”
The Scavenger woke up on hearing his cry and ran up. “What is it?”
“Itching! Ow!”
The Scavenger noticed the branches. “Oh, you shouldn’t have touched the wild trees! Well, there’s no cure to that. It will go in a few hours. You’ll just have to bear it.”
They turned to go inside when they heard a heart- wrenching, loud, deep-throated roar.
Everybody was awake now and had climbed up onto the deck. There was another roar.
The Scavenger’s face turned white. “I recognize this roar. It is a Griffin.”
With a thud, a strange-looking beast landed in front of their chariot.
It had the body, tail and hind legs of a lion and the head, wings and talons of an eagle. It was mammoth in size.
With one claw, the beast stopped the chariot, lifted it and smashed it to the ground.
“JUMP!” the Scavenger yelled as he dived.
Daniel jumped just in time, catching hold of a branch, and sailed down.
He saw the Scavenger atop the Griffin’s head with his sword raised high in the air, ready to plunge it into the Griffin. The Griffin suddenly shook itself, throwing the Scavenger off.
The Scavenger landed smoothly beside Daniel and hissed, “We have to defeat it. Griffins are known to never leave their prey. Running is no option.”
“Aim at its wings,” the Scavenger advised. “It’s their weakest part.”
Daniel lifted a branch into the air and shot it at the Griffin’s wing.
It was bang on the target, making the Griffin roar in pain. “Very good,” the Scavenger exclaimed.
Daniel lifted two other trees and threw them both. They hit their mark, and the Griffin roared so loud that Daniel had to cover his ears.
The Griffin was becoming more furious than ever. It swiped its claws. Its nails were so sharp that it cut the trees like paper.
It slashed again and just missed James and Archer.
“Use your Elemental Powers!” the Scavenger told them. The Scavenger raised his hands and summoned lightning.
Archer started creating a ball of fire.
James flooded the forest floor around the Griffin with water, trying to topple the Griffin, but the Griffin’s claws stuck deep into the ground, preventing it from falling.
Matt started generating a tornado.
And Daniel tossed tree after tree at the Griffin. But due to the itching, he was not able to concentrate.
Archer threw a massive fireball at the Griffin’s chest. When it struck, there was a big blast. Daniel shielded himself behind a tree.
Then Matt used his tornado. It raced towards the Griffin, catching water from below and throwing bursts of water on him. The Griffin was helpless as the tornado smacked it.
Lastly, the Scavenger summoned bolts of electricity, which rained down on the Griffin.
The Griffin roared in pain and then fell.
“NO!” the Scavenger cried, pointing. “The chariot!” But it was too late. The Griffin fell on the chariot, crushing it into pieces.
“Oh, no!” Daniel exclaimed. “That chariot had our supplies!”
“Yes, and now we will have to travel on foot,” the Scavenger sighed.
“Why can’t you summon another chariot?” Daniel groaned.
“I could, but I don’t have enough energy left. Maybe after a day. Now come on. We have to go far,” the Scavenger said as he began walking, scanning the area.
“Why do you have to be so jumpy all the time?” James said, frowning.
“If I weren’t, we all would be dead meat even before you can say it!”
The branches rustled and the Scavenger motioned them to be quiet.
“You are just paranoid,” Daniel said, rolling his eyes.
As they continued walking, talking and joking with each other, suddenly dense foliage appeared in front of them, restricting their path. The Scavenger pulled out his sword and started cutting the hedges and roots that lined the path.
“NO! NO!” Daniel cried. “What are you doing!? Don’t you know that a tree cannot survive without roots?!”
“Yes, but -”
“No buts! Can’t you be gentle? Like this.”
Daniel raised his hands and the roots and thorns slithered away. Also, he realized that the itching had stopped at last.
They reached near a volcano. The sun was almost setting. The Scavenger increased his pace
