Hounds started to leap at the wall. The humans started to pour scalding oil on the hounds.
Pyros sighed. “There’s no choice. I am going to jump into the sea. Pray that I find it.”
“You’ll die!” Thomas exclaimed.
“There’s no time for an argument,” Pyros said, marching to the walls. “Nothing else is more important.”
Pyros climbed the platform leading to the walls and drank the second-last bottle of energy serum that he had. He took a deep breath and jumped into the sea.
By the time Thomas and Staler reached near the walls, Pyros had already disappeared under the water.
The children winced as the cannons fired at the Library in Cotton Village. The first cannonball demolished a major part of the wall.
The cannons were strategically deployed by the Scavenger. Explosive balls fired in different directions, wreaking havoc on the enemy from all sides. Osay’s soldiers took position at the mansions behind the walls. As the cannonballs rained down on Cotton Village, the soldiers retaliated with whatever weapons they possessed.
Osay’s soldiers identified the direction from where the attack was coming. Suddenly, a barrage of arrows flew towards the children.
The Scavenger was anticipating this. A shield immediately formed around each of the cannons, blocking the arrows from hitting them. Wherever the shields broke, they were immediately replaced.
“These cannons have unlimited in-built shields,” the Scavenger explained, “They activate themselves when anything comes near them. Don’t worry.”
The children were conserving their Elemental Powers for now. The energy serums weren’t much, and they had to be used for the most desperate of times.
The enemy warriors on hounds came out of the gate and were marching towards them.
The Scavenger immediately activated his FLICK. With swords in both hands, he jumped at the attackers.
The warriors and the hounds crumbled to dust as soon as the swords struck them. But, more hounds appeared in sight.
The cannons kept on firing. Fifteen minutes passed quickly.
Their strategy was working quite well so far.
When half an hour passed, the children became anxious. The allies led by the Unicorn King were nowhere in sight.
The children were mindlessly putting ball after ball into the cannon. The air was filled with the smell of gunpowder. The grass and trees around them had been destroyed. The warriors on hounds were surrounding them. No one was sure for how long they could sustain.
The Scavenger was fighting at half his strength. He couldn’t expend all his resources. The major battle with Osay was yet to start.
He prayed for the allies to arrive soon.
While jumping into the sea, Pyros threw a few Electrifiers around him. Warriors and hounds scuttled to all sides as the electricity spread. An ample space beneath him cleared as he landed in the water.
To his surprise, Pyros found a lot of demons underwater, trying to attack the Island wall from beneath the water. Thomas had anticipated this and had already fortified the underground wall.
The demons located Pyros and tried to encircle him from all sides.
Pyros used the Electrifiers, repelling the demons away.
Where is it? Pyros thought to himself. The bracelet was nowhere. He wished he had James with him, who could just lift the water and locate the bracelet.
As the unrelenting demons closed in on him, Pyros realized that he had no more Electrifiers left with him. Moreover, he couldn’t hold his breath any longer. He needed to get out of the water soon.
Pyros summoned a spear and thrust it in the seabed. Holding it tightly, he kicked the demons by swinging in a circular motion.
Pyros’s eyes suddenly fell upon a small rock surface, on which lay a shiny thing. It was the bracelet.
His eyes almost popped out due to breathlessness. One last time, he mustered all his strength and summoned magic. The spear that he was holding blasted, throwing hundreds of sharp pieces all around. The demons were severely injured and flew to all sides.
Taking advantage of the situation, Pyros dived and snatched the bracelet from the rock surface.
As his body started to grow weak because of lack of oxygen, he kicked his legs, trying to exit the water surface.
Suddenly, he broke out above the surface of the water. He took deep breaths hungrily and thanked his luck. If he had been just a few seconds late, he wouldn’t have survived.
Unfortunately, Pyros emerged right in the middle of a group of demons. The demons thanked their luck as they brought down their swords onto him.
Half a second was all that was needed to press the button on the bracelet. However, the fast turn of events was not allowing him to do so.
Pyros summoned a shield around him, but it was so weak that it broke with one strike.
Pyros fumbled with the bracelet to press the button, but a hound leapt on his back and inserted a claw in his back. The FLICK absorbed the attack, but it still hurt.
Pyros was utterly spent.
The hound struck for the final time. Pyros’s armour crushed. His back was open. The hound brought down its sharp claws.
A sword drove into the hound, and its claws stopped just an inch above Pyros’s back.
A few drops of energy serum were suddenly poured into Pyros’s mouth, and energy flooded into him. He turned and saw Staler beside him with a sword in his hand.
Staler had saved Pyros just in time. The dead hound was replaced by five more. Pyros again fumbled with the bracelet but missed the button.
Staler and Pyros were fighting a losing battle. Both had seconds to live as their swords fell away.
Pyros shouted and frantically started pressing the bracelet at random places.
A portal opened in the sky, and the tables turned at once.
The Greenies had arrived.
The energy of the Greenies shocked the enemy hounds. The very next moment, the demons surrounding Pyros and Staler were crushed by the Greenies.
Commander Greene led the attack, roaring with pleasure as he wreaked havoc on the enemy demons and their hounds.
A medic rushed towards Pyros and Staler to give them first-aid. Thomas,
