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

“Don’t look inside,” he warned. “The haunted spirits inside this well are active. They will grip you with grief and take you with them if you lose your concentration.”

James tried to walk around the well. But he was pushed back – as if there was an invisible wall around it.

The Scavenger shook his head. “No use. I can sense heavy enchantments here.”

“But then how will we cross this well?” Matt asked.

“Unfortunately, there is only one way,” the Scavenger said. “We have to jump into the well.”

“What?!” James exclaimed. “But you just said…”

“I know what I said, but we have no choice. Brace yourself for all sorts of torturous temptations. Keep your eyes closed. Voices will whisper to you. Use your willpower. My advice – think of someone important to you. Through them, keep yourself anchored to the World. Now let’s go!”

The Scavenger took a deep breath and took the plunge.

“After you,” James said to Daniel.

Daniel gulped. Without wasting any time to think, he leapt inside the well.

Help us!

Join us! Forget all your troubles! Yes! Let us unite!

The melancholy spirits spoke of troubles of the World and promised a luxurious life and a heaven, with no dangers, no bloodshed, no fight. Daniel ignored them as much as he could. He thought of his parents and brother, Logan, and his friends. He thought of how much they loved him. No… he simply couldn’t lose now.

CRACKKKKKK!

He landed on his left leg.

“OWWWWWW,” he cried as pain shot up his leg.

“Don’t worry,” the Scavenger by his side, “It will last for just a minute or so and will cure itself. You are okay. We did it.”

With pats on each other’s backs and a cheerful celebration, everyone, exhausted, drifted off to sleep.

“Wake up!” a voice whispered in Daniel’s ears. He opened his eyes and found himself lying on the ground. Everything came back in a flash – the Well of Misery and their triumph over it. He shook his head, looked all around and asked, “Where are the others?”

“They are practicing,” the Scavenger replied, pointing beyond the bushes.

Daniel walked up to them. They stopped the fighting practice and drew closer to him.

“Hey,” Archer said. “Are you okay?”

Daniel nodded. “Yes. Are you?”

“We are fine,” Matt said, smiling. “Come on, join us for practice.”

They had just begun when the Scavenger approached the children. “We need to push off now. We have to get to the Lake of Blood, where the…”

“Loch Ness Monster lives, yeah,” James finished.

“How does it look like?” Daniel interrupted him.

The Scavenger shuddered. “It’s huge and… terrifying. Soon you’ll see it for yourself. I have fought with it once and won.”

“Why don’t you summon the horses again?” James asked as they walked.

“Tried,” the Scavenger replied. “It seems the horses are taking rest.”

As they walked, Archer asked. “I am curious to know how you defeated the Loch Ness Monster.”

The Scavenger said, “Ages ago, when Lord Arcane was alive, some news came that the Loch Ness Monster was terrorizing people. Lord Arcane sent me to handle it. I managed to get it out of the water and trapped in the land after a long struggle. I was about to kill it when it escaped back into the Blood Lake. Since then, it has never returned.”

The Scavenger continued, “The land is the only weakness of the Loch Ness Monster. If we manage to get him out of the water, we could kill him. But it won’t be easy.”

“You almost killed the Loch Ness Monster before. And now there’s five of us, against one. We can easily bring it down,” Matt said confidently.

The Scavenger shook his head. “It’s not that easy. Monsters grow more powerful as they age. It has been millennia since we fought. I had injured it to the verge of death that time, but monsters can form themselves again, like a phoenix rising from its ashes.”

“So, even if we manage to kill it,” Daniel whined, “It will just grow back.”

The Scavenger shook his head. “Not exactly like that. The process takes time. Smaller monsters can form in months, but larger and powerful ones, like the Loch Ness Monster can take time up to centuries or even millennia.”

As they walked in silence, Daniel thought of James’s dream. He mainly wondered about the young warrior wearing a golden robe. The Scavenger said that the first piece was in the Tomb of Death. And the warrior was there too. So, the warrior might have been the guardian of the piece.

Then it dawned upon him. The warrior must be thinking that they were there to steal it for the Death Lord, and that was why he didn’t want their hands on it. He thought of sharing this with everyone, but he couldn’t.

“DUCK,” the Scavenger yelled.

Daniel bent as an arrow whistled past him.

The others lunged for cover as a barrage of arrows rained down on them. The Scavenger pulled out a sword and deflected the arrows aimed at him, quickly advancing towards the source.

The arrows suddenly stopped. The Scavenger disappeared into the bushes. A minute later, a warrior tumbled out of the bushes. He quickly got up, just as the Scavenger jumped from the bushes and gave him a flying kick, knocking him to the ground.

The warrior stood up and almost immediately attacked the Scavenger, breaking his sword into two. Cursing, the Scavenger quickly pulled out two short knives – perfect for close combat.

The warrior was well trained. He brought down his whole body to crush his opponent, but the Scavenger rolled away just in time, retaliating with a hook punch straight at the warrior’s head.

The warrior sidestepped and kicked the Scavenger backwards. He moved forward for the final blow.

The Scavenger jabbed his finger at a nerve point on the warrior’s thigh.

Shrieking in pain, the warrior quickly went down. The Scavenger gave a blow to his head, knocking him unconscious.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, the Scavenger couldn’t help but admire the fighter.

“Who is he?” Daniel asked, eyeing the warrior warily.

The Scavenger knelt and scanned the