Amsterdam and his men carefully walked into the city. They immediately turn around when a wooden gate squeaked. They were a little relaxed when the notice it was a wind.
"We are going to look around. We will meet you guys at the castle."
Gimmick said as he walked away with a fraction of Amsterdam's men.
"Okay, be careful and don't be greedy. Leave some behind, besides the good stuff will be in the castle."
Amsterdam said to him as they walked away. The rest carefully made their way to the castle
The moonlight made the castle visible. Unlike other castles, this one had no gates. At least, it was no longer there. It was like any other building there just much bigger. Somehow it seemed the castle was sinking, some buildings were barely visible. They walked carefully towards the entrance. Amsterdam pushed open the door and he and his men went in pointing their weapon. They all quickly turned on their flash lights. In the middle of the castle was a huge tree.
"Is that the Lalob tree?"
Shoto asked staring at the tree. He then turned and noticed Amsterdam was nodding. All the while he looked around like he was waiting for someone.
"Where the hell is the King. He is usually by the tree."
Amsterdam said as he kept swaying his *flash-lit* weapon from side to side.
"Spread out in pairs and search for only valuables. Remember our goal is the Totem of Djinn. The moment anyone finds it, we are out of here. Meet us at the throne room in an hour."
Amsterdam said and they did as they were told. He then waved Shoto and the others over. They went up a spiral staircase to look for the field gate.
"We are looking for a field gate right. I'm just thinking a field gate will not fit anywhere here."
Kemi said as the walked up the stairs.
"It's said to be a small gate, dignitaries use to see the King."
Amsterdam said still keeping his guard up. They got to the throne room and like Amsterdam said, the gate was there. It looked like a full length mirror with runic inscriptions all around its frame. On the right was a throne. A black wooden chair that had leaves still sprouting up from it.
"Wow, the black throne, make from one of a kind black tree."
Amsterdam said then grabbed the chair. He tried lifting it popping veins all over his head.
He looked at the others as they simultaneously shook their heads.
"We should be leaving."
Lawhey said to Amsterdam staring at the gate.
"Oh, I don't know portal magic. Our portal guy went with Gimmick. "
Amsterdam said them then they sat down in disappointment.
"For wood, it's really comfortable. You guys should try it."
Amsterdam said sitting on the Black throne.
"They should be here any moment "
Amsterdam said after an awkward silence. Back in town, Gimmick and his men looted houses.
"We should head back."
Gimmick said with a half full pillow case on his back. He and two other men walked out of a house and saw blood. There was a splatter on the building and a pool on the floor. They watched as the desert sands absorbed the blood.
"The work of the Desert Dead King, he should be around here somewhere."
Gimmick said unsheathing his sword. Immediately, two others joined him.
The moment they got out, Gimmick placed his finger on his lips. The also took out weapons and followed Gimmick. They slowly followed a trail of blood that lead them to the Desert Death King.
A creature with mummified skin knelt beside one of the bodies. As it fed on the corpse on the floor Gimmick and the others surrounded it. Slowly they got closer, then one of the men struck it with his sword. It did not react, it continued burrowing through their mate.
He was about to strike him again when the Death King grabbed the sword. It got up and grabbed the man by the neck ,with his left hand. It squeezed his neck as the others stood there and watched.
The choking man quickly reached for his knife strapped on his waist.
He jammed it right into it's neck but it didn't let go. It squashed his neck and blood ran down it's wrist. It then tossed him his away and walked towards the others.
Immediately, they ran, others who were just arriving followed them.Some ran towards the gates, whiles others ran towards the castle. It ran and grabbed one of the men running towards the gate and threw him back.
It pounced on another knocking him onto the ground and went straight for the jugular. It then continued to chase three more others who splinted up along the way.
Two went in the same direction and so did the death king. It swung slashing of of them at the back but they kept running. When the first person got out he slammed the gate behind him. The death king caught up to the second person before he could open the gate.
It hit his head against the gate multiple times knocking him out. It then dragged him by his leg back into town. As he walked pass the houses, it stopped and went into one of them. The man he threw had a broken collarbone, which he supported with his left hand as he ran. Unfortunately, the death king caught up to him and slashed him with it's clawed hands.
There, one of the men hid, he begged as the death king walked towards him. After he went after the others, where Gimmick and the rest were waiting for him.
"You guys should take the loot to the throne room and prepare the portal. We will buy you guys time to prepare."
Amsterdam said to Ryan and the others. They barricaded the throne room doors after the portal team went in.
Gimmick, Amsterdam and others went downstairs to slow down the desert death king. A moment later it walked in with a bloody mouth. It's jaundiced yellow eyes glowed, devoid of life. There was excitement in Amsterdam's eyes until it got closer.
"Don't underestimate it, it's resilient."
Gimmick warmed his brother keeping up his sword unlike his brother. When it got closer Gimmick lit a match and dropped it. The flames went in opposite direction and reunited circling the death king. The men attacked it from outside the ring of fire. Some shot arrows at it others threw spears but they were useless.
Amsterdam stood there and watched, he wondered what happened to Aziz. The great warrior king he heard stories about. Soon the fire started to die down and it walked through it. They all retreated except Amsterdam.
He looked at him as he walked towards him. His long beard was still dark, on his head was a blue-black dastār and a matching harem trousers.On his left was a sheathed dagger and on his right was an empty scabbard.
Gimmick quickly pull him away before it could get to them. They went up the stairs to the throne room. Where Amet the "portal guy" was still preparing to activate it.
"What's taking you guys so long?"
Gimmick said immediately they entered the room.
Amet was chanting when the death king walked in. Meanwhile Lawhey mirrored his every move. Immediately, they are charged at it. Amsterdam's men died almost instantly.Shoto slammed it with scales on, it went back a few steps. Meanwhile, Helton open a portal for it to fall through but it didn't. Amsterdam speared it but it grabbed him by the torso piercing it. It tossed him aside and ran towards the mirror. As it was about to break the mirror Ryan grabbed its hand. Kemi shape-shifted and pounced on it from behind.
He bit it in the neck, Shoto quickly grabbed the other hand.
"How do we kill this thing?"
Shoto said looking at Helton. Gimmick ran to help his brother. He put pressure on his wound to stop the bleeding.
"Brain and nerve cells die first, try stabbing it in the head."
Helton said and they all looked around for something to stab it. It struggled trying to break free. Shoto then saw the dagger on his left and pulled it from its sheath and planted it in its skull.
"It didn't work."
Shoto yelled.
"Try ripping out its heart."
Helton said then took out a book from his bag. He started skimming through it.
Shoto tried pulling out the dagger from its skull but it was stuck. As Shoto continued to pull the dagger out, the death king broke free. It flung Ryan away and pushed Shoto away.
Momentarily, the portal opened, the death king swung at Amet but Helton opened a portal to shield him. Gimmick helped his brother to the portal but before they could crossover, the death king sliced him in half with it's left hand.
Gimmick froze watching his brother bleed out. Ryan grabbed him and pushed him into the portal. At the other side he sat on the floor still in shock.
Shoto and Kemi followed them right after with some of the loots. The death king's right hand was stuck in Helton's portal. Lawhey and Amet were on the other side of Helton's portal. The death king tried to break free by pulling it's right hand. Using his left hand to support itself. Helton activated the ring's blades which spun cutting off the death kings fingers.
Immediately, the portal sucked it in and Helton closed it.
"Go, I'll hold the portal."
Amet said to Lawhey.
"No,we go together. You can't hold it on your own."
Lawhey said to Amet holding out his drive by flicking with his left hand. Amet had a similar sign with his right. On his right he had a unicorn hiding behind a rock which Amet had with his left.
Holding up their signs they slowly walked to the portal and jumped through.