James was the last to jump. He saw his greatest fear – a school exam result with a big zero. James tried to smile and greet the fear, but in vain.
They appeared in a room. The coffin of Lord Arcane was placed inside. The Scavenger appeared nervous. “Time to find out whether what Hellfire said was true or not.”
The Scavenger knelt beside the coffin and then held the lid tight to push it open. James let out his breath in a loud whoosh and realized that he was holding his breath. All of them were tense. What if they didn’t find Lord Arcane’s bones? What if Hellfire was telling the truth?
With a big grunt, the Scavenger shook the lid off.
James looked into the coffin and his heart almost stopped.
Everyone looked up at the Scavenger.
The Scavenger had tears in his eyes. It was the first time that the children had seen the Scavenger cry.
12
Lynx, along with Daniel, Matt and Urrax, emerged in lush green meadows. Lynx summoned a chariot, and they all boarded it. The chariot moved through a narrow path with rows of plants serving as fences on either side
Several strange creatures in the meadows caught their attention. Daniel was continuously staring at a cow-shaped creature that had two horns as big as the creature itself. The horns stretched to the cow’s tail, then protruded backwards.
“That’s a Chyrisare,” Lynx said. “It can easily move its horns to attack. I fought with it once. One good piece of advice – avoid it at all costs.”
Lynx continued to describe various other creatures to the children. “Look, that one is a Toxintree. Get near two metres within it and it will throw acid at you. And that aggressive bull-cum-crocodile is the Dusktaur. Check here, and there’s a Gravemorph – tiny but deadly. At the far left, you can see a Baneteeth. It’s similar to a tiger in looks but with very sharp teeth.”
Lynx was so engrossed in doling out these facts and the children were so engrossed in listening that they failed to see two armed men standing in the path straight ahead. Standing with their hands folded across their chest, they were looking at the approaching chariot with venom-filled eyes.
The chariot continued to move at its own pace and was about to collide with the men. But when it was metres away from the men, both of them raised their hands and shouted illegible words, most probably a spell. The chariot rose in the air and flipped.
Daniel, Matt, Lynx and Urrax went flying out of the chariot, hitting the ground with a painful thud.
Before they could get up, the armed men fired at the chariot. There was a big blast as the chariot disintegrated into pieces from the force of the energy.
Daniel was the first to regain his focus. Matt, Lynx and Urrax stood up quickly.
One of the armed men threw a barrage of knives directed towards Daniel. Daniel closed his eyes and raised his hands to cover his face. There was a clattering sound. Daniel opened his eyes and saw that a protective shield had formed around him. Knives clattered into it and broke into pieces. Daniel looked at his hands in disbelief.
Suddenly, the shield disappeared. A second later, the shockwave hit the two men and rendered them unconscious.
Daniel turned to a smiling Lynx. “Did you see that? Wasn’t that amazing?”
Lynx was still smiling. “The shield was perfect. I didn’t know I could do that well.”
Daniel frowned. “You mean that wasn’t me?”
“That was me, dumbo,” Lynx said flatly.
Daniel groaned.
“Well, sorry to burst your bubble.” Lynx stood up and started walking towards the two men, who were lying unconscious. There was a sign of skull and crossbones on both of their backs. The pattern on their robes shimmered and looked like the infinity sign.
A look of disgust appeared on Lynx’s face. “The Sorcerers of the Circle. One of the most powerful but irritating kind of sorcerers in the Dark World, because most powerful spells fail against them. Only a powerful shockwave could overpower them. It was good that my magic was worked, or else we were done for.”
Lynx looked around, examining the surroundings for more such warriors, but he found none. “Let’s leave.”
Lynx closed his eyes and concentrated. Another chariot appeared.
As they sped away further into the valley, Daniel and Matt went to Lynx and badgered him with questions.
“Why were the Sorcerers here?” Daniel was the first to ask.
“They knew we were coming,” Lynx said. “They were waiting for us.”
“But how did they know we were coming?” Matt asked.
Lynx shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe they were waiting for someone else, and luck just had us in the wrong spot at the wrong time.”
“Do you believe that?” Matt asked.
“No,” Lynx answered promptly. “What else can I say? I don’t know why they were there.”
Matt scoffed. “Really? You know as well as I do that you are avoiding mentioning the thing you are suspecting. But that’s fine. I understand we need to be quiet.”
“What?” Daniel demanded. “What are you suspec -”
Daniel didn’t get to complete his sentence.
For the second time in the day, their chariot flipped through the air.
All of them tumbled out from the chariot. Daniel’s head banged on something and he was knocked out at once.
When Daniel blinked his eyes open, he saw that he was tied to a chair. Daniel could sense that he was inside the chariot, but it was not moving. Lynx and the others were beside him, all of them bound. The steely glint in Lynx’s eyes suggested that he was thinking of some way to get out of this situation.
Daniel saw an armoured man in front. His face would have been handsome but for the scar running across his
