The Skull Warrior by Yajat Sharma (popular books to read txt) 📕

Warriors touch you, you get a life-threatening disease. The Plague Warriors were feared at the time of Lord Arcane. Arcane banished them to the city of Homen and...”

“And...” Archer said, waiting.

“They hate the most loyal warrior of Lord Arcane, because he was the one that had given Arcane the idea to banish them. If they see him, they will want to take their revenge. And they will destroy everything that comes in their way.”

James sighed. “Let me guess. And this warrior...”

“It’s me.” The Scavenger smiled as he, along with the children, jumped into the portal.

4

The portal had landed them in a field about fifty miles to the west of Homen.

The Scavenger glanced about, alert eyes taking in the green landscape of the forest, searching for any camouflaged warriors. They started to walk cautiously.

After a few miles, they halted in an open field.

“We have reached,” the Scavenger said.

“What? Are you crazy? There is no village, only green valleys and trees all around.” James said.

The Scavenger shook his head. “The village of Homen was banished to the air.”

“To the air?” Matt said incredulously. “What do you mean by that?”

“That means...” The Scavenger’s hands groped about in the air. “There must be a tear in the fabric of the air, which will lead us to the village. It should be around...”

The Scavenger’s hands stopped. “Here!”

He stretched his hands in opposite directions, and the air parted apart, revealing blue energy in a doorway five feet above the air.

The Scavenger rubbed his hands. “Hopefully there will be no Plague Warrior at the entrance of the village.” He jumped into the doorway.

They emerged at the village of Homen. It appeared to be a haunted village. The huts and cottages were in ruins, with sand and dust all around.

And of course, about fifty Plague Warriors were standing in front of them.

One man stepped forward. “Wait! I guess I can recognize you?”

“Look here,” the Scavenger said, “we are not your enemy.”

Suddenly, a warrior shouted, pointing at the Lightning Sword at the Scavenger’s waist. “The Scavenger!”

With an angry roar, the warriors pulled out swords and charged at the Scavenger. The Scavenger raised his sword, and lightning scorched the ground in front of him, dust billowing in all directions. When the dust and the smoke cleared, the Scavenger and the children were gone.

The man that had stepped forward first – he must have been the leader – turned to his warriors. “Search the village! The Scavenger shouldn’t escape this time. Bring him to me... ”

The Scavenger and the children watched from the roof of a hut as the warriors scattered around.

“Can’t the Plague Warriors escape by using the same doorway we had come from?” Archer asked.

The Scavenger shook his head. “No. They can’t open it.”

“Where’s the Library?” James asked eagerly.

“Look, the warriors are after me,” the Scavenger said. “They don’t want you. So I have a plan. You find the Library and try to get the scroll, while I distract the warriors. Do it fast – these warriors are expert in tracking their enemies. Now go.”

“But where?” James asked.

“How do I know that?” the Scavenger said.

“There he is!” a voice shouted, and the Scavenger cursed.

“Just explore or something,” the Scavenger said, jumping from the roof. “I will lead them away from you.” He ran to the right, followed by the Plague Warriors.

James turned to his friends. “Okay. Let’s see...” Everyone looked around, searching the horizon far away. Suddenly, Matt pointed. “Look there. There’s a pyramid or something. Let’s go.” Matt summoned wind, and all of them shot towards the pyramid.

When they reached there, the children saw that it wasn’t a pyramid. It was some kind of a hologram. An image of a pyramid flickered in the air above the ground where five Plague Warriors were standing, guarding the entrance.

“What do we do know?” Archer asked. “Do we fight them?”

“No need for that,” Daniel said, concentrating. A tree erupted from the ground fifty feet away. The warriors at the foot of the pyramid got startled and started walking up to the tree.

“The guards are dumbos. There is no one at the gates,” James said. He started to run. “It won’t be long before they begin to suspect something. Let’s rush.”

The children reached the entrance. They took the stairs down and emerged into the Library.

The Library was gigantic. Shelves of books, parchments, scrolls and manuscripts covered the entire area in neat rows and columns. There was a doorway at the far end of the Library.

The children ran towards the doorway.

Suddenly, a warrior, dressed in red garbs and carrying a sword, appeared and blocked their way.

“Halt!” he said, raising a hand. “I am the guardian. Who are you?”

“Oh, please.” Archer stepped forward, his hands raised calmly. “We just don’t have time.”

Before the guardian could react, Archer shot fire towards the warrior, setting flame to his armour. Matt punched him hard on the face, and he fell unconscious.

The children quickly darted through the doorway, which led them into a hall. There were thousands of bookshelves. Archer, Matt and Daniel had to make a constant effort to ensure that James did not stop and look around in awe.

At the centre of the hall, there was a circular table with a glass casing containing a scroll.

“That’s the scroll!” James exclaimed and ran towards it.

“Duh,” Archer muttered, following him.

A warrior dressed in black armour appeared from nowhere. He swirled his strange weapon and sent the children sprawling out of the way. “I am the Head Guardian of the scroll. You have defeated the other guardians, but can you defeat -”

Before he could even complete his sentence, Matt walked forward and summoned strong gusts of wind that sent the guardian sprawling to the right.

The guardian put his staff to the ground and a blue dome appeared around him, repelling the air towards Matt. Matt went flying into the wall.

James intelligently changed tactics. He snuck around the guardian and snatched the scroll from out of the glass casing. As soon as he did