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

The Scavenger looked sad.

“Can’t you stay here? You can help manage the kingdom with me.”

Daniel shook his head. “We would have loved to stay with you. But we miss our families.”

“I understand,” the Scavenger said.

Matt asked him if they would be able to retain their Elemental Powers on Earth. The Scavenger told him that their Elemental Powers wouldn’t work on Earth.

They bade a tearful farewell to the Scavenger.

The Scavenger then formed a portal for them to return to Earth.

Right before jumping into the portal, Archer looked back at the people and creatures of the Dark World led by the Scavenger.

“We will always remember you. I will miss you, kids,” the Scavenger smiled through teary eyes.

“And we will miss you too,” Archer whispered and dived into the swirling vortex of energy.

25

Matt, Archer, Daniel and James blinked.

They looked around and recognized the walls, the familiar building and the classrooms.

It was their school.

Matt heaved a sigh of relief. They were finally back on Earth. But before he could express his happiness, he heard a cry.

“THERE THEY ARE!”

Matt looked ahead and saw a bunch of men and women run towards them, carrying torches. He couldn’t recognize them at first, but as they came closer, Matt realized that they were their parents.

“Where were you?” Matt’s mother shouted at him. “We have been looking for you for hours! You scared the hell out of us!”

Matt didn’t understand what she was saying. As far as he knew, he had been in the Dark World for months together.

“You owe us an explanation, son.” Matt’s father glared at him. “It is eleven in the night now, and your school ends at two! Now, gentleman, explain this, where were you for nine hours?”

Matt suddenly realized what the Scavenger had told him – one month in the Dark World equals to one hour on Earth. Matt and his friends were in the Dark World for nine months.

Matt tried to explain this to his father. “Dad, we went to the Dark World, and we were there for nine months. We had been called by the Scavenger to save the Dark World from a villain called the Death Lord.”

His father’s looked bewildered. “What are you saying? Have you gone mad?”

Matt realized there was no point in giving any explanation. The only thing he could do was to listen to his father’s scolding silently.

Finally, he reached home along with his parents, and so did the other three children. After more scolding, his parents finally allowed him to go to sleep.

Matt couldn’t fall asleep and kept twisting and turning in his bed. He finally got up, put on his jacket and slippers and stepped outside his house. In the middle of the street, he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. Matt whirled around, ready to take on whoever came at him… only to find his friends. They couldn’t sleep too.

They looked at the skies above. Suddenly, something caught their attention. The stars aligned themselves to form something that looked like the Scavenger’s face. As they gazed above, the face smiled. They stood there for a long time and recollected their adventures in the Dark World.

Tired, they headed back home and went off to sleep.

***

A week later…

After dinner, Matt retired to his room. Matt couldn’t get the adventures of the Dark World out of his head since the time they had returned to Earth.

That night, he had a dream. In his dream, he was standing in front of the Pyramid of Destiny.

He looked around and saw that Archer, Daniel and James were there too. Along with the Scavenger.

“You called us,” Matt asked the Scavenger. “Is everything okay?”

The Scavenger nodded. “I have been the King of the Dark World for fourteen years now. Everything is great in the Dark World. The barren field of the Moor of Death is now a beautiful realm. People are happy and satisfied. Yes, there are challenges, but we are managing well. I miss you guys.” He sighed.

Archer shrugged. “So much has happened here and only a week has passed on Earth.”

The Scavenger laughed. “Yes!”

“So why did you call us?” Daniel stared at his face, concerned.

In a sad tone, he replied, “I have been having nightmares related to one particular thing.”

“And what’s that?” James asked.

The Scavenger took a deep breath and continued, “Of late, the Death Lord has been tormenting me in my dreams. Remember he said that he will return. I can see him trapped in the Arcane Crown. But, he has found a way to soak the energy of the Crown. Each passing day, he is reclaiming his lost strength. When he has soaked enough energy from the Crown, he can either break free or can summon evil powers to free him from the Crown.”

Matt listened gravely.

The Scavenger continued, “Just last night, in my dreams, I saw him summoning someone that only the myths and legends speak of.”

“Who?” Matt could see stress creeping onto the Scavenger’s face.

“A dangerous and evil warrior that no one would ever dare talk about... the Death Lord chanted the forbidden spell and called the evil warrior.”

“I don’t understand.” Daniel grew impatient.

“Who?” Matt stomped the ground in irritation. “Who has he called?”

“The Skull Warrior!” The Scavenger closed his eyes and sighed. “The Death Lord was powerful, but the Skull Warrior is a million times stronger and deadlier. He is extremely loyal to the Death Lord and will stop at nothing to try and free the Death Lord. If the Death Lord comes out again, he will completely ruin the Dark World as well as the Earth.”

“So is that why you called us?” James asked. “To help you again?”

The Scavenger nodded. “Yes. Will you be prepared to venture into the Dark World once again?”

Matt thought about it, as the Scavenger continued, “The Death Lord was right when he had said that he would return. He has been able to summon the Skull Warrior. I am sure there are dangerous times ahead.”

Matt thought