Warrior Of Death

Chapter 1: The Museum

Duncan’s Point of View

My day started as usual. Brushing my teeth, I put on the hoodie. With a sigh, I took my backpack. Another day in high school. Thank god, it was the last year. Only a few months and I would be over with it. I could hardly wait to graduate and leave this horrible place called high school. The only good thing I had achieved here was excellent grades that would help me get into a good university.

As I walked downstairs, I saw mom had prepared the breakfast as usual. Toast and eggs. As always. I sighed inwardly. That was my life. It was the same thing every day. No changes, no colours, no spices. I gobbled up the food and left the house.

“Bye, mom.”

“Bye, sweetie. Have fun at the museum.” Mom replied, making me realise we had a trip today to the museum. Not again! Every time I went on a trip like this, I ended up locked in some random creepy room, or in the bus, missing out on the entire activity or in the bathroom. I hated it. If our history teacher didn’t have brought grades in the middle, I would have skipped the trip happily.

‘That’s okay, Duncan, only a few months.’ I consoled myself.

“Thanks, mom,” I mumbled, before leaving the house.

The bus picked me up from the regular stop. I hid my face under the hoodie and took my usual seat, trying to avoid others, hoping not to get bullied this time. Thankfully, no one noticed me. I was more than happy. But a sudden blow on my head proved how wrong I was.

“You know what, there’s a really nice section in the museum dedicated to the skeletons. I wonder how it will feel to spend the entire night there.” Caleb spoke. He was my worst nightmare. The guy who kept pushing me in troublesome situations.

I hang my head low and waited for the stop silently. The bus was going in a different direction today. I just hoped I wouldn’t have to spend the night in the museum. Well, mom would at least ask the teacher about me if I didn’t return by dinner time.

Caleb and his friends started to gossip about Warrior of Death. That show was really something. We all wanted to know who would be taking the throne. It was bound to be the white shadow. He was the strongest and kindest warrior the world had ever seen. His morality was his identity. He always fought for the right, for the weak, for his loved ones. His love and respect for his people were beyond imagination. He could easily sacrifice everything for his clan. He wasn't just a warrior, but a hero to every youth like me. 

I could only dream to be like him someday. A warrior. Strong as ever, surrounded by knights and sword masters. Others bowing their head in front of me with respect. The bus stopped suddenly, and my dream bubble broke as my head hit the back of the seat in front of me. How could a weak, clumsy guy like me ever be a sword master, let alone be the white shadow! Only if I were strong enough! I sighed.

I waited for others to get down so that I could make it to the museum with no cuts. Caleb slapped my head again before stepping down with his girl from the cheerleading squad. He was really popular and courageous. Shaking my head, I got down from the bus. My eyes fell on the fort-like structure. The big sign of the Museum was telling me we were at the right place. A tall metallic cage surrounded the half-cemented building.

“Good morning, Mr Lockwood.” I greeted our history teacher as my eyes fell on him.

“Here you are! Come on,” Mr Lockwood smiled, patting my shoulder. He really cared about me.

I followed him inside the architecture. Mr Lockwood had already arranged the tickets and everything. We were divided into three groups and assigned separate guides. Unfortunately, I was with Caleb again. He gave me a dirty look, making me gulp harder. I quickly moved my gaze towards the carpeted floor, trying to avoid any trouble.

“That mutt is in our group!” I heard one from his group talking.

“It’s gonna be fun,” Caleb responded, raising his voice, making sure if I had heard him.

“Ok! Round up,” our guide instructed us. “This museum is old and has many passageways. So, stick together and try not to get lost.”

I swallowed my saliva upon hearing him. God! Why did even I consider coming here? If Caleb wanted me to bury somewhere here, none would find me. The group started to move into this old building, and I followed them, trying to keep a distance so that I didn’t fall into any trouble. I was doing okay on my own since I knew how to read the descriptions. I was busy taking notes when I realised they left me behind. 

'They were just here!' I sighed. They might not have gone too far. Probably just had taken a turn. I closed my notebook and hurried to look for them. Little did I know, I took the wrong turn.

I looked for them everywhere, but they were nowhere to be found. I took wrong turns which lead me to a long corridor. Holding my notebook closer to my chest, I scanned the area. Very few people were there in this section. I wasn’t lost, right?

‘Calm down, Duncan, you will be fine.’ I tried to regain my composure as my legs kept moving on their own, finally stopping in front of a closed door.

Curiosity was killing me from inside. I forgot I was almost lost. Without even thinking twice, I pushed the wooden door. To my wonder, it wasn’t even locked. As I stepped inside the dark room, the bright lights suddenly lit up, taking me by surprise.

“Motion detectors,” I mumbled.

My eyes scanned the ceiling once, where the lights were decorated. Then my gaze shifted to the room. A gasp left my mouth as I realised it was decorated with old weapons. I rushed towards the first display item, which was a hammer. It looked so familiar. Wait! Wasn’t that the Hammer of justice? Gareth from the Dragon Warrior Clan possessed that. It was his weapon. The scene from the series flashed in my mind. How amazingly he could destroy ten demons just with one blow. It was said that he used to launch his hammer only for justice. 

A smile formed on my face. My legs dragged me to the next one. It was another weapon from the tv show. The only difference was they looked much alive. I observed all the cases one after another and in the end; I stopped in front of a huge wooden table. My eyes stuck at the sword placed inside the glass case with a big red crystal on the pommel. The sword was huge. I was assured it was too heavy and it would need two of me to hold it. But it was magnetic. I had observed many other armaments in the room, but this sword was different from all of them. I couldn’t resist touching that amazing masterpiece. Something was dragging me towards it. I looked around to make sure no one was watching and then touched the glass. To my wonder, no alarm was set.

‘I will only touch it once!’ I assured myself as it removed the glass slowly and placed it on the table.

The sword was shimmering. I forgot about all the bad memories and crappy days. Slowly, I ran my finger over its sharp blade. I wasn’t careful enough and as a result; I cut my finger. Blood oozed out. I moved my hand quickly and held the finger to stop the blood. Then my eyes fell on the sword again. s**t! It had my blood on the blade.

I quickly took out a tissue from the backpack and then rubbed it on the sword, attempting to clean it. But it was of no use. I was thinking of what could be done when something dragged my hand gradually towards the pommel. I tried to resist, but couldn’t. My right hand was holding the sword tightly, whereas my left hand was trying to stop it. Before I could realise a bright light appeared around me, making me blind.

Then I saw a shadow appearing in front of me. His face wasn’t clearly visible, but I could clearly see his long beard and the pony on his head. Though he appeared to be old, his muscles were showing his strength. A frightening aura was surrounding him. His finger was pointing at me.

“You are the chosen one. You are destined to bring peace.” I heard his voice. The surrounding wind became crazy.

“Who are you?” I yelled.

Before I could get an answer, the strong wind surrounded me. In a blink, I was dragged into a black hole, changing my life forever.