The Brentinute had almost fallen.
“RUN TO THE LAB!” shouted the Scavenger as they all rushed to save themselves.
The enemy warriors were mercilessly picking off the running guards with powerful arrows.
While running, the Scavenger said to Daniel, “We will be run over in few moments. I think James couldn’t do the task. Just speed up towards the Lab and ask everyone to rush towards the bunkers where Staler and Pyros must have secured the families by now. Archer and I will hold the enemy till then.”
Daniel turned right and frantically ran towards the Laboratory, dodging the enemy arrows.
The enemy hounds had reached the Scavenger and Archer. The Scavenger stepped forward and slashed his sword on the hounds with unbelievable speed. Archer backed away at a distance and rained down fire-balls on the enemy.
In the laboratory, everyone was working hard. With bated breath, they were waiting for their new signal equipment to come alive. Gronene was frantically pressing a signal button on the equipment, but it was dead as a wood. James was worried whether the signal staffs had been securely thrown away or not.
Suddenly, the doors of the Laboratory burst open.
“Run for your life! We have lost! Move to the bunkers,” Daniel shouted as he burst into the Laboratory.
A commotion started in the Laboratory. James snatched the equipment from the hands of Gronene and shouted in frustration. With a groan, he hefted the equipment up and started pressing the signal button. However, nothing happened.
The enemy warrior on hounds had reached the Laboratory, with the Scavenger and Archer running in the front. The Scavenger had formed a dome around him and Archer to protect themselves from the arrows shot at them.
James threw the equipment to the ground in despair.
Suddenly, sparks appeared on the equipment and it burst into flames.
Everyone’s heart sank. Gronene stepped forward. The four assistant Greenies had already killed a few warriors who had entered the Laboratory, and had managed to close the door. The steel door had held for a while, but it was about to break.
The Scavenger and Archer halted inside the Laboratory to catch their breath.
“It’s gone!” Gronene declared. “Something happened inside it. It seems it couldn’t handle the energy.”
“But did it work?” James asked as everyone rushed to the back gate of the Laboratory. They closed the gate behind them and rushed towards the bunkers.
“There’s no way to know,” Gronene said. “Maybe it did, maybe it -”
All of a sudden, there were yells – battle
calls – that struck fear in the hearts of everyone present.
The Greenies had arrived.
The tables turned, and the war was over in minutes. The Greenies attacked with relish, destroying everyone in their path. The enemy took tail and tried to run away, but the Greenies didn’t let them. The hounds dissipated into dust as the enemy warriors fell.
Everyone cried tears of joy.
When it was finally over, Commander Greene approached the Scavenger. Pyros and Staler came out from the bunkers and joined the group. Skazen and Flor accompanied them.
“I see so much damage here,” Commander Greene interrupted. “What happened? Why didn’t you call us sooner? And what a stupid way to call us? An SOS message? It would have been way easier to press the button on the bracelet.”
“The bracelet you gave me has been stolen,” the Scavenger said.
“What? Are you serious?” remarked Commander Greene.
“You were supposed to send a bracelet for me,” Gronene said to Commander Greene, “but I still await that. The delay could have been extremely costly.”
“It was just delivered to me from Jupiter a few moments before we heard the SOS message.” Commander Greene took out a shining new bracelet and gave it to Gronene. “But it would be of no use to you, as you all will be proceeding back with us, I believe.”
Gronene nodded. “Yup! Our work is over here. We are ready to proceed with you.”
The Scavenger walked up to Commander Greene. “Thanks for all the help. We were all extremely fortunate to have survived this attack. Without you, it wouldn’t have been possible.”
“Don’t worry, friend. You know we love fighting. I request you to somehow find the lost bracelet. It’s important. Meanwhile, since Gronene is leaving with us, I’ll give this bracelet to you. Just call us anytime, and we will be beside you in a moment.”
The Scavenger nodded as Gronene took out the bracelet and gave it to the Scavenger.
Commander Greene smiled at the Scavenger and waved at everyone present. “We leave now. Goodbye.”
Everyone cheered and clapped as Commander Greene, Gronene and all the Greenies entered the portal to the Shephard Mountains.
12
Next day at his office, Staler was present along with the Scavenger, Pyros, Flor and Skazen. They had called for Cayden, who was sitting on a bench tied up in ropes with his mouth taped.
The Scavenger stood in front of Cayden and spoke, “The magical bracelet that I used to summon the Greenies has disappeared. I need to find out who did it.”
Flor snarled, “It must be Cayden! The traitor!”
Flor jumped on Cayden and started hitting him with his fists, giving him hard blows. Skazen and Staler had a difficult time dragging Flor away from Cayden.
“Don’t jump to conclusions, Flor,” the Scavenger said, “Cayden was in prison and had no way to get out. The only logical conclusion is...”
He paused, looking around the room. His hand strayed towards his belt, where a sword hung. “...that there is a traitor among -”
The attack happened in the blink of an eye.
A sword flashed through the air towards the Scavenger’s chest. No one saw or heard it coming.
But, before anyone realized what was happening, the Scavenger had already taken out his sword and blocked the attacker’s sword. He twisted it with a strong pull, sending it flying away.
Everything happened in a flash. The Scavenger held his sword across the attacker’s neck.
“So there is another traitor among us,” he whispered.
Everyone looked at the attacker, shocked.
The Scavenger smiled grimly. “Looks like we
