Quest for the Arcane Crown by Yajat Sharma (good inspirational books TXT) 📕

– a village with lush green bushes, trees and grass. They could see people frolicking around.

“That is what we call the Isle of the Beast,” the Scavenger said. “It is the only place in the Dark World that is untouched by evil.”

“How do we get down there?” Matt asked.

“We climb down, obviously,” the Scavenger said. “Just repeat what I do. Trust me.” The Scavenger jumped.

The children looked at each other. Tossing aside all uncertainty, they jumped down too.

“WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Matt shouted. “AWESOMMMMMMMMMMMMMEE!”

At first, the children were enjoying the free fall as the cold and fresh air flew past them, but as the ground approached faster and faster, they started to get worried.

The ground came up almost at once and the children started to scream. Suddenly, a huge cushion formed on the ground. The children fell on it, sinking at least five metres. Their momentum got transferred to the cushion, protecting them from the impact.

Once they were stable, the cushion disappeared, and the group stood on the ground.

“Come on,” the Scavenger said, moving forward. The children followed him.

Suddenly James noticed a sad expression on Archer’s face. “What happened?” he asked, concerned.

“Nothing. It’s just… I miss my parents,” Archer said, his voice cracking.

“Yeah, I understand,” James said, sighing.

He also felt the same. It had only been a day, and they already felt homesick. He missed his mom. Even bullying from Luke and Robby seemed okay to him.

James shook his head. He had to stop thinking on those lines or he would go crazy. As he got out of his gloomy thoughts, amazing sights awaited him. He stared in awe at the picturesque village, beautifully decorated huts, orchids, and tropical flowers and trees laden with exotic fruits. James saw a man teaching children how to fight with knives.

“Hey!” called a voice. “Who are you?” An aged man with yellow hair and rounded features came running towards them. He was carrying a sword in his right hand and a spear in his left. There was a bow slung across his shoulders and also a quiver full of arrows strapped to his back.

“Who are you?” James counter questioned.

“The name’s Max,” the old man replied. “And you are…?”

“The prophesied children,” the Scavenger said shortly.

“What? Did I hear it correctly? You said the four prophesied children,” Max said as he moved towards the children and carefully examined their foreheads.

Within moments, his jaw dropped, and he shouted:

“THE PROPHESIED CHILDREN ARE HERE!”

The children wore a surprised look on their faces. Just by looking at their foreheads, how could Max be so sure about them?

The Scavenger understood their confusion and said, “As I said, the Isle is a sacred place untouched by evil. The inhabitants of the Isle possess divine powers through which they can internally scan anyone.”

Max closed his eyes and raised his arms to the sky.

“At last!” he whispered. “The day we have been waiting for has arrived! The prophesied children are here to free us from the tyranny of the Death Lord!”

Everyone cheered.

“Listen!” the Scavenger interrupted, “you know why we have come here.”

Max nodded. “Absolutely. Follow me.”

The children and the Scavenger followed him to a wide, open area, where people had assembled in neat lines. Max led the children to a stage in front of the assembly.

“What is happening?” James asked.

“Just observe and surrender yourself to the moment,” Max replied.

The children felt a little anxious. What did Max mean? Were they in for a shock?

On the platform, an extremely mature and gracious man was sitting. Max motioned the children to bow to the man. He introduced the man as Aronicle.

Aronicle stood up. “People of the Clan of Daggers,” he said, raising his arms. “These are prophesied children, destined to take on the Death Lord. They have come here, trained in sword fighting, but they would remain unequipped without…”

Aronicle gave a dramatic pause. “…the Elemental Powers!”

People cheered loudly, and Aronicle had to shout over their voices.

He yelled, “It will be an honour to bestow the Elemental Powers on them.” He looked at the children. “One by one, please come to me.”

“I’ll go first,” Archer whispered and walked up to Aronicle, feeling a mixture of nervousness and excitement.

Archer stopped in front of Aronicle and the latter moved his hand over Archer’s head. Aronicle closed his eyes and muttered a spell. Archer could not understand anything of it. After some time, Aronicle’s eyes opened. At first, nothing happened. Then Archer’s body racked with agony as he quivered.

“OWWWW!” he cried. The audience watched in rapt silence.

“Don’t worry, child!” Aronicle whispered. “It will be over in no time.”

He was right. Archer felt a strong force within him… the desire to rule the World, the urge to sail the seas, to capture people, to enslave them and conquer the World.

“Control it, son!” Aronicle whispered.

It took all his determination to overcome it, and Archer sighed as it receded.

The audience waited for something more, angling their heads.

And then his body began to glow red.

“The Power of Fire!” Aronicle declared. Turning to Archer, he said, “Can you please demonstrate it?”

Archer suddenly knew what he had to do. He raised his right hand and fire shot out of it, straight to the other end of the playground, setting the grass on the ground ablaze.

A loud cheer came from the crowd.

“Who comes next?” Aronicle asked.

Daniel stepped forward and walked up to Aronicle, who performed the same sacraments on him. Daniel went through the same experience as Archer, but his body didn’t glow red. Instead, it shone green.

“The Power of Earth!” Aronicle announced. Daniel raised his hands and the earth shook, a tree got uprooted and flew to the ground.

The crowd roared in delight.

Matt went next. His body glowed grey.

“The Power of Wind!” Aronicle shouted. Matt raised his hands and everyone’s hair floated with the force of the wind.

Next, James walked up to Aronicle.

Aronicle muttered some incantations and James’s body glowed blue.

“The Power of Water!” announced Aronicle and asked James to demonstrate.

James raised his hand and water flooded the place, soaking the audience. The people felt cold and started shivering,