“Don’t worry. We will find some way out. At least we have the riddle to the fourth piece.” James sighed.
They started reading the riddle.
Under the sea, the hidden treasure,
Guarded by various ways,
You find it, and it will give you pleasure,
But first, you have to find the race.
You win, and you get a hand
And get the fourth piece.
Find the warriors on the island.
But don’t order or seize.
“It seems the fourth piece is under the sea, guarded heavily. We have to get help from some warriors on an island who will challenge us to a race and, if we win it, they will help us get the fourth piece,” James elaborated.
“So where will that island be?” Daniel quizzed.
James and the Scavenger looked at each other and cried, “Here, of course!”
“But how are you so sure?” Archer asked.
“This island could be the best place that fits the bill. Let’s explore here first before ruling it out,” James said.
“I have a strong intuition that this island should be the place.” the Scavenger smiled, “That’s the curse by the Gods on the Death Lord! It indirectly helped us!”
He had just said this when the sound of a whistle came from deep inside the island. They all ran towards it.
They saw warriors dressed in blue and white, sporting quaint athletic shoes, lined up some distance away. A man stood on the side and blew a whistle, and the runners took off at a very high speed – as if at the speed of sound. They were covering hundred meters in less than a second!
The man with the whistle noticed the Scavenger and the children watching the runners. He walked up to them and asked, “Who are you?”
The Scavenger replied, “These are the prophesied children and I am the servant of Lord Arcane. We need to get the fourth piece of the Arcane Crown and for that, we have to race with you.”
“Oh, of course, we know our role assigned to our forefathers by Lord Arcane. Welcome,” the man said, calling his warriors to him.
Four of them drew close. “Who will race?” the man asked, and the Scavenger stepped forward.
The man said. “Lin, you will race with him.” One of the runners nodded. The man turned to the Scavenger. “We will start tomorrow morning at five. You have time to rest and practice at our facilities.” The man left with the runners.
“We have time till morning. Let’s rest,” the Scavenger said to the children.
James had a grim look. “There’s no way you can defeat them. You all go take rest. I need to watch how they run so fast.”
“As you wish,” the Scavenger said and left with the others, accompanied by a guide.
As James watched the runners, who were practicing a distance away, suddenly, something clicked in his mind.
He raced back to the Scavenger. “I have figured out how they run so fast. I am going to craft something similar, but if I don’t return by five, you need to forfeit the race. I repeat, YOU HAVE TO FORFEIT. Delay them or something, but don’t attempt to race. You’ll just lose.”
“All right,” the Scavenger said with a puzzled look.
James ran into the woods with just one thought ringing in his mind – shoes…
He had seen that their shoes had a blade attached to the sides, front and back. When the runner ran, the blades flapped. The blades were angled so as not to stop the runner, but give him significant forward propulsion. Some special magic was working apart from the blades.
James grinned. He would make the blades, and the Scavenger would take care of the magic part.
James set to work.
At dawn, the Scavenger woke up to find his shoes missing. He had no choice but to approach the man and the runners barefoot.
“Shall we start? The five-kilometre track is ready,” the man said.
The Scavenger hesitated. “Can’t we postpone it? For a few hours?”
The man shook his head. “No. This is it. If you want to race, you can. It’s not possible to delay the race.”
The Scavenger remembered James’s warning but he had no choice. Trying was better than not trying at all. He braced himself and nodded. Just then, a loud voice cried out, “Wait.”
The Scavenger turned and sighed in relief as he saw James running towards him with his shoes.
“His shoes… I was readying his shoes!” James hurriedly explained.
As James handed the shoes to the Scavenger, he whispered to him, “Listen carefully. I have put some blades on the shoes, which will give you the required propulsion. But you need to apply some magic, which you know better. My work is done.”
The Scavenger nodded. He made an excuse and went to observe some of the runners who were practicing. He could identify the magic they were putting in the shoes through some spells.
He closed his eyes and focused. A blue light appeared over his foot, and he could instantly feel his legs becoming more powerful.
The Scavenger took his mark beside Lin.
“Ready… steady… and… go!” The Scavenger took off. James’ mechanism worked brilliantly. The blades and the Scavenger’s magic, when combined, proved invincible. The Scavenger reached the finish line at least a few seconds before Lin got there, making for a convincing victory on the five-kilometre track.
“I won,” the Scavenger said elatedly. “Please help us get the fourth piece.”
The man bowed to them. “You have proved your intelligence. I salute you.” He gave them five pills. “The piece is in a treasure chest, which we have hidden underwater. Please go ahead. Take this, and you will be able to breathe underwater. But remember, its effect wears off after half an hour.”
They swallowed a pill each and jumped into the water one after another.
Underwater, James could see everything. He was breathing normally and no water came into his mouth or
