“The Castle of Fate,” The Scavenger and Lynx said in a chorus.
Aronicle coughed again. “Yes. You have to intercept the Skull Warrior at the Castle of Fate. First, go to Slorm and wait there till my allies come and meet you. I have sent mental messages to them.”
Aronicle sighed and became restless. “The Skull Warrior and Urrax were mentioning the Poison, Bolt and Trident, which they want to take from us to make the Slayer. They did not mention the other two – the Warrior and the Sacrifice. We know the Warrior, of course, but not the Sacrifice, and we are also not sure whether they already have the Sacrifice or not.”
“Our priority is to treat you first,” the Scavenger said. Lynx was engrossed in applying herbs on Aronicle’s wounds.
“No use. I am approaching my end. Urrax had a magical sword. I also sense that not all of you will survive this. I have…” Aronicle coughed. Froth started to come from his mouth.
He looked at the Scavenger one final time and shouted in pain, “Win for me.”
Aronicle’s body turned limp.
The Scavenger bowed his head to Aronicle. Everyone surrounded Aronicle’s body and bowed in respect.
They recollected their memories of Aronicle, how he had helped the children gain their Elemental Powers, and his help in every step of their journey. They sat for a long time, paying homage to Aronicle.
The Scavenger’s voice disrupted the silence. “Aronicle shall always remain in our memories. We shall not let his sacrifice go waste. For him, we must win the war.”
Everyone nodded. The Scavenger continued, “It’s time to plan for the war.”
James asked, “What’s the Tyhorox?”
“What you on Earth call the Equinox?” Lynx said grimly. “In the Dark World, it lasts for exactly one week. The days from the start and end of the Tyhorox are extremely uncertain. Magical powers are at their peak. The Skull Warrior has planned it well. The Tyhorox is a time well suited for a war.”
“So,” James said, “after two months, at the start of Tyhorox, the Skull Warrior will start his march across the desert. Beyond the desert is the Castle of Fate, where we should plan to fight the Skull Warrior and his army. To form the Slayer, the Skull Warrior needs the Poison, Bolt and Trident from us. We are assuming that he doesn’t know that the Scavenger is the Warrior. And we still don’t know who the Sacrifice is.”
Lynx nodded. “That’s correct.”
The Scavenger stood up. Lynx and No One covered Aronicle’s body with a white cloth. “Rest in peace.” Everyone issued a small prayer for Aronicle’s soul.
“Lynx, make the portal. We go now,” the Scavenger said, “Insanity and Aronicle both were good men and excellent warriors. They sacrificed themselves to help save the Dark World.” The Scavenger paused for emphasis. “Some of us may share the same fate. The journey forward is perilous. If anyone wants to back away, now would be the time.”
No one said anything. The Scavenger looked around and saw nothing but determined faces.
“Good.” The Scavenger turned to the waiting swirling vortex of blue sand. “Then let’s go.”
They emerged onto lush green meadows in front of a big white gate. The Scavenger pushed open the gate, revealing a marble path leading to a platform of about five feet height that had a big bowl. Several long black sticks extended from the base of the bowl. There were four marble paths in the primary directions (north, south, east and west) and between each path was grass with strange symbols embossed in it.
It was the Slorm. All of them walked over to the platform.
“What now?” Matt asked.
“We wait. For how long, I don’t know,” the Scavenger replied.
Everyone waited for the allies to contact them.
After a very long time, there was a shimmer above the long sticks protruding from the bowl.
After a few minutes, there was a low growl in the air. The colours of the spectrum started to appear all around, creating a blinding array of light that shone brightly.
A massive creature shot out from the clouds up above and landed beside the platform.
The creature had a scarred face with snakes covering its neck, spitting venom into the air.
Three more such creatures dropped from the sky one by one.
Matt had a strange expression on his face. He whispered to the Scavenger, “What kind of creatures are these? We don’t want such ‘allies’.”
A second after he had said this, the creatures transformed into handsome looking warriors decked in armour.
“Welcome,” one of them said. “I take it you are the Scavenger?”
“Yes,” the Scavenger replied. He held up a hand and, one by one, shook the warriors’ hands. “And you must be our allies.”
“Yes,” another said, looking around. “The great Aronicle summoned us before he left for his heavenly abode. We have come…” His gaze stopped at No One. “You!”
No One held up a hand. “No, it’s not what you think ”
The warrior leapt at No One. His hands had turned to claws.
White bones grew around No One faster than light. A barrier formed around them and the warrior’s claws bounced off it. His face had turned to that of a tiger, and an inhuman sound escaped its throat.
“Look, it’s not what it is!” No One’s voice came from behind the barrier. “You don’t understand!”
“Shut up!” the man said. “You left us buried under the ground in a tomb made up of bones!”
“That was a mistake!” No One shouted. By now, all four warriors had surrounded No One. Their faces too turned into animals and claws took over their hands. They tore the bones surrounding No One to pieces. But No One just raised his hands, and more bones grew around.
The others looked at the unfolding events in utter confusion.
“Look, I can grow these bones around me forever,” No One said. “Can we just talk for a minute? Please calm down.”
The warriors stopped, breathing hard, and their faces turned from animals to men. The bones
