It was about half an hour later when the sound of rushing footsteps and the familiar clinking of armour and weapons reached the village.
Then the Knight appeared in sight.
The Knight was dressed completely in black, except for a red mask that covered his face. With him walked several rough-looking men with weapons. As the Knight saw the warriors with weapons at the village entrance, he laughed.
“What is this?” he said mockingly.
The Scavenger shouted back, “We have had enough of your fear. Today, we will end your rule once and for all.”
The Knight laughed again. “You fools. You think that you can defeat me with your little army. Well, never mind. Let your suffering begin.” The Knight raised his hand and with a roar, his army charged forward.
The Scavenger waited for the traps to spring. And they did with precision, the boards coming down and striking the warriors at the front. Most of them suffered barely more than cuts, but some fell to the ground. The Scavenger also saw – much to his glee – that the Knight had fallen too.
The army, however, kept on marching ahead.
As more people charged ahead, another trap was sprung. A wooden pole came from the right side, landing on the people’s heads, knocking them unconscious. Another pole fell from the left side, injuring a few more.
The next trap was a bottomless pit filled with sticky glue. The ground gave way beneath the feet of the warriors, and they fell into the pit. As the bodies of the enemy warriors piled up in the pit, the pit filled and the army walked over.
However, the spikes driven into the ground were waiting. The enemy soldiers shrieked and yelled as they walked over them. Many fell and didn’t get up.
As the warriors moved forward, they walked over a tripwire. Buckets filled with grease were lined on a rope, which was stretched across from one end to the other. The tripwire made the rope tilt, and the grease fell onto the men. The enemy soldiers erupted in chaos as the grease blinded them.
As the Knight’s army moved ahead, they did not notice a rope at ankle height, stretched tautly. They tripped and fell face first. The Scavenger had put up metal pieces at precisely the right place. As the people fell, they fell on top of the metal pieces and banged their heads.
The traps were useful but were not proving to be sufficient to stop the enemy’s march.
As the Knight’s army came closer, the Scavenger turned to Crimson. “Ready the cannons.”
The wooden cannons were designed to fire coconuts. Crimson’s army fired the cannons. Coconuts shot out, hitting enemy heads. Several warriors fell to the ground, unconscious or injured.
The Scavenger yelled, “ARROWS!”
Waves of arrows rained down on the enemy from the rooftops. The enemy army scattered in all directions.
The coconuts and arrows proved useful. In the final assault, the Scavenger’s army ran forward and subdued the warriors that were running around aimlessly. Within a few minutes, all the Knight’s warriors were on the ground, completely overpowered.
The Scavenger’s heart soared. With effective battle strategies, they had defeated the massive army of the Knight without much casualties on their side.
The Scavenger, along with Crimson, moved forward, scanning the ground for the Knight. They found him lying unconscious on the ground and dragged him towards the village.
Huro approached the Scavenger and the children with a happy smile. “We are very, very thankful for your help. I am forever indebted.”
The Scavenger said, “No mention, Huro. You and your men have earned it. Imprison the enemy warriors and celebrate your victory with a feast.”
“We will have the celebrations today itself. You will be the main guest.”
“I am sorry, but we won’t be able to attend,” the Scavenger said. “We have urgent things at hand. The whole of the Dark World is in danger.”
Huro nodded. He and Crimson shook the Scavenger’s hand, nodded to the children and then led their men away.
The Scavenger knelt beside the Knight with No One and the children and shook the Knight awake.
The Knight came to groggily. “What... why... how... who...?”
“We want information,” the Scavenger said to him. “Tell us where is Hellfire.”
The Knight focused on his face, and his eyes filled with rage. He leapt up and was about to kick at the Scavenger when No One, from behind, held his arms and twisted them.
The Knight’s face contorted into one filled with anger and pain. “I’ll never tell. Let me go!” he snarled.
Suddenly, with a yell, he stomped his feet and pushed backwards.
The attack surprised No One, who fell backwards, letting go of the Knight’s arms.
As quick as lightning, the Knight took out a white pill from his pocket and started to put it in his mouth.
“No, you don’t!” The Scavenger grabbed his wrist and prevented him from taking the pill. No One came from behind and seized his arms.
“Now tell us!” The Scavenger almost yelled into his face.
The Knight stared at him defiantly.
The Scavenger looked at the Knight. “As you wish.” With a blow to the Knight’s head, the Scavenger rendered him unconscious.
“Oh! Why did you do that? How will we get information about Hellfire now?” Matt asked.
“Don’t worry. The Knight was anyway not cooperating. Let’s take him to Lynx.”
“What was in the pill?” Matt asked.
The Scavenger looked at Matt gravely. “It’s venom. The Knight is so scared of Hellfire that he tried to kill himself for almost disclosing his location. We need to meet Lynx urgently.”
The Scavenger created a portal and they all jumped into it.
10
The portal opened inside Lynx’s cave. Lynx greeted them and pointed towards the Knight. “Good Lord. You got the Knight.”
“Yes,” the Scavenger said. “He’s not telling us the location of Hellfire. We thought you could help us.”
“Well, I can help,” Lynx said, walking over to the Scavenger. “Place him on the table and wait.” He wandered away to a
