“Who are you?” asked Joe.
“I’m Lyle.”
“Lyle?” Brett was stunned. He walked toward the sound of Lyle’s voice and asked, “Aren’t you the founder of Sandy Vista? I’ve heard so many folktales about you. I thought you weren’t real.”
“Of course he’s real,” said Brian.
“Yes, I am,” said Lyle. “And I can help you.”
12
FOLKTALES
“How can you help us?” asked Joe.
Brian rushed to his side. “You are okay. I was worried about you.” He told the others, “Lyle helped me deactivate the spawner. I thought Veronica destroyed him. She told me that we were on hardcore mode.”
“Are we on hardcore mode now?” questioned Poppy.
“No,” said Lyle, “she doesn’t have us on hardcore mode. She did destroy me, but I just respawned, and when I did, she placed me in this jail cell.”
“How can you help us?” Joe asked again.
“I’ve spent a lot of time down here, and I hear things,” explained Lyle. “I know that Veronica’s army isn’t happy with her. We have to get them to admit how much they dislike her, and once we do that, we can use them to destroy her.”
“Do you think that’s a possibility? How can we get close to her army?” asked Poppy.
“I’ve been talking to the people she calls soldiers. She doesn’t even know their names, and this upsets them. I know their names, and I ask them questions about themselves, and they seem to be very receptive to this behavior. Basically, I treat them like humans.”
“You’re just like they said in the folktales. You are supposed to be wise and a person who only thinks about others. You’re also supposed to know the secrets to the Overworld and life.”
Lyle laughed. “The secrets to life. There is no secret to life. I just live my life being kind to others, and I hope that people are kind to me. I want everyone to be happy. Of course, if you are hurting others, I will work tirelessly to stop you.”
“You’re so wise,” said Poppy.
“Thank you,” said Lyle. “Can I ask you guys a question? What type of folktales have you heard about me? And why are there tales about me when I am here?”
“This is going to sound strange,” said Poppy, “but we’re from the future.”
“That doesn’t sound strange at all. I have been able to time travel. I’ve fallen down portals and landed in the future.”
“Then you know that people can’t find Sandy Vista? That folks spend their lives trying to track down this famous desert town?” questioned Brett.
“I do.” Lyle’s eyes filled with tears. “But we will change that. I know once we defeat Veronica that Sandy Vista won’t be a lost city. It will be a vibrant town that will survive in the Overworld.”
“We want to help you,” said Brett.
Joe said, “Veronica is also trying to destroy another town. One that is in the future. It’s called Meadow Mews.”
“Yes,” said Lyle, “I know, and that’s awful.”
“We have to stop her,” said Brian.
“We will,” said Lyle. “But first I just want to hear one folktale about me. I am just curious to hear what stories are important enough to be retold and turned into legends.”
“There’s one that everyone in the Overworld knows,” said Brett. “It involves you crafting a farm in the desert when nobody believed it was possible to build one.”
“Yes.” Lyle smiled. “That was when the Overworld was first created, and people didn’t believe farms could be built in the desert. Now we know they can be, and they can flourish.”
“I’m a farmer,” said Brett.
“So am I,” added Joe.
“I am so happy to meet fellow farmers,” said Lyle. “I’m also glad that one of those folktales tells about my love of farming.”
“Do you really think you can get us out of here and help us defeat Veronica?” asked Brian.
“I hope so,” said Lyle. “I can’t promise anything, but I will work my hardest to defeat her. I hope one day our battle against Veronica will become a famous folktale.”
“Me too,” said Poppy.
One of the soldiers arrived and stood by the gate. “Lyle,” the green-haired soldier called out.
“Yes, Ruby is that you?” Lyle asked.
“It is.” She smiled as she stood by the bars. “I brought you a piece of cake. Veronica would be so mad if she knew I took a piece for you. She just made us have a party to celebrate putting more people in jail. I didn’t eat my slice, but I saved it for you.”
“Thank you,” Lyle said, “but I can’t take your slice of cake. It’s yours.”
“No, I want you to have it,” Ruby insisted.
“I have an idea.” Lyle smiled as he made his way toward the gate. “Why don’t we split it?”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Ruby said as she cut the cake in two, “but what about the others? Will they be mad?”
“No,” said Lyle. “They actually want to ask you a favor.”
“Really?” asked Ruby as she handed the slice to Lyle. He took a bite.
Brett walked toward the gate. “Ruby, we wanted to ask you if you can help us stop this battle. We don’t want to battle Veronica.”
“I’m in.” She smiled as she finished the cake.
13
SPIDERS AND SKELETONS
“Really? That’s awesome!” Brett exclaimed.
“I want to stop Veronica and so do my friends. We don’t want to be her soldiers,” confessed Ruby. “But how?”
Lyle asked, “How many of you want to stop Veronica?”
“I know my two good friends also want to stop her,” Ruby replied.
“Find your friends and bring them here, and we will start to plan,” said Lyle.
“Plan what?” a voice boomed.
Ruby turned around and screamed, “Veronica!”
“Yes,” Veronica said. “Soldier, I am here, and I know you guys are planning something. How can you work with these people? Now I will have to place you in jail alongside them.”
Ruby grabbed her diamond sword and swung it at Veronica, slicing into her arm, but Veronica splashed a potion of weakness on Ruby. Ruby felt a wave of fatigue, and Veronica used this opportunity to put Ruby in jail.
“You guys are never going to get out,” warned Veronica, “and I will find out who your traitor friends are, and I will stop them. Nobody will defeat me.”
Veronica left, and the gang stood in the dark jail cell. Joe was the first to speak. “What are we going to do next? Does anybody have a plan?”
“We will stick to the original plan,” said Lyle.
“How?” questioned Brett. “We have Ruby in here, and Veronica knows what we were planning. Let’s just face it: we’re trapped, and it’s over.”
“You can’t talk like that,” said Lyle. “You have to believe that we can still save Sandy Vista.”
Brett wondered if Lyle was the reason Sandy Vista was a lost city. Perhaps he had ideas that things could change, but they were just dreams. Maybe Lyle didn’t know how to come up with a good plan of action and stick with it. Brett thought about all of the situations he had experienced in the past and how many times he had thought he had no chance of escape. Somehow there was always a way out. Thinking about this reassured Brett that there was still hope. However, when he heard a loud explosion and the roof of the stronghold fell down on top of them, he wondered if they would be crushed and his hope began to vanish.
“Help!” cried Ruby as chunks of the roof rained down on them. Dirt got into everyone’s eyes, and they couldn’t see.
“What’s happening?” asked Poppy. Her glasses were covered in dirt and dust.
“I think something exploded,” said Brian.
“But why?” asked Poppy.
A familiar voice called out in the distance, “Brett? Joe? Poppy? Are you there?” Smoke filled the dimly lit jail cell as the voice grew louder. “Guys, where are you?”
<
br /> “Nancy?” Brett could barely speak. His lungs were full of smoke, and he began to cough.
“Yes,” Nancy replied. “I’m here with Helen. We’re going to rescue you guys, but we have to do it fast because Veronica is after us.”
“But we can’t see,” explained Poppy as she coughed.
“Just keep talking, and we’ll find you,” Nancy reassured her.
“Your voice is getting louder,” said Helen. “We are getting closer.”
Smoke surrounded them, and they couldn’t see. When the smoke began to clear, the only thing Brett could see were two large red eyes staring at him.
“Guys! Spiders!” He smacked the spider with his diamond sword, but there was an endless amount of spider eyes surrounding him.
“We’ll help you destroy the spiders. We see them too,” said Nancy.
As the gang tried to destroy the spiders, Brett felt a stinging pain radiate down his arm. He turned around to see two skeletons aiming their bows and arrows at the gang.
“We don’t have the energy to battle skeletons,” said Brett weakly. He had one heart left, leaving him incredibly vulnerable.
Nancy rushed toward Brett and handed him a potion of strength, which he drank quickly. With a renewed energy, Brett battled the skeletons and spiders.
“We have to get out of here,” ordered Helen.
“I still can’t see,” Poppy explained.
“We will lead you out of here,” said Nancy.
Brett, Brian, Joe, Poppy, Ruby, and Lyle followed Nancy and Helen out of the smoky prison and up the stairs and into the mine. When they were steps from exiting the mine, Veronica appeared in front of them.
“Where do you think you guys are going?” Veronica pointed her diamond sword at the gang.
“You don’t scare us,” said Nancy. “We are leaving.”
“I believe you have something that belongs to me.” Veronica pointed to Ruby.
“You don’t own me,” exclaimed Ruby.
“You’re my soldier. I know now you think you have people who will back you up, but I created you, and you are mine,” said Veronica.
“You can’t own people,” declared Helen.
“Ruby is free to go with us,” said Lyle.
“No, she’s not, Lyle,” Veronica shouted and splashed a potion on Lyle that was so powerful that it destroyed him.
Brett remembered what Lyle had said about being on hardcore mode. He screamed out in anger, “What did you do to Lyle? Is he on hardcore mode?”
“Maybe,” Veronica said and laughed.
Nancy was infuriated. She slammed her diamond sword into Veronica’s unarmored shoulder, and Helen splashed a potion on her face. Veronica was left with one heart. Brett leaped at Veronica and delivered the fatal blow. When Veronica was destroyed, they bolted out of the mine and toward Sandy Vista.
“We have to find out if Lyle is still alive,” said Brett.
The group didn’t stop until they reached the desert temple. Queen Gail and King Jed stood outside. “You’re back. I guess you guys destroyed the spawner. The husks are gone.”
“We blew it up,” said Nancy.
“It was intense,” said Helen.
Brett said, “When we were in jail in the stronghold, we met a person you might know. His name is Lyle.”
“Lyle is one of our best friends,” said Queen Gail.
“I think Veronica destroyed him forever.” Brett felt a lump in his throat as he said those words.
“Don’t worry,” a familiar voice called out. “I’m right here.”
14
STRONG POTIONS
“Lyle.” Brett let out a sigh of relief. “We thought you were destroyed.”
“Thankfully, she didn’t put me on hardcore mode,” Lyle said.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” said Brett. “I’m going to teach you how to brew potions so we can battle Veronica.”
“Great,” Queen Gail exclaimed. “I think this will help us a lot. Let’s start now.” But Queen Gail’s smile turned to a frown when she saw a woman with a green ponytail walking behind Brett. “Who is she? She looks like the enemy.”
“Her name is Ruby,” Brett said. “She’s on our side.”
“How can we trust her?” King Jed questioned. “She is dressed like one of Veronica’s soldiers. They were awful to me when I was being held prisoner.”
“That wasn’t me,” Ruby said. “When you were being held prisoner, I was working with my friends to overthrow Veronica. Now that Veronica knows this, she put me in the prison.”
“This could be a trick,” said Queen Gail. “A way that Veronica can spy on us.”
Lyle said, “No, I don’t think it’s a trick. I believe Ruby. She wants to stage a revolt against Veronica. If we don’t get Veronica’s soldiers on our side, we will have an even tougher battle to fight. We have to believe her.”
“Are we going to let her know the secret to brewing potions?” asked Queen Gail.
“Yes,” said Lyle. “She is one of us now, and we have to treat her like everyone else here. She will learn to brew potions, and she will fight alongside us when we battle Veronica.”
“I will prove that I’m a good warrior,” said Ruby.
“I know you will.” Brett smiled.
Callie went to the brewing stand that she had left in the temple and pulled out ingredients she had collected from the Nether. She held a ghast tear and placed it in an awkward potion. “This is now a potion of regeneration.”
King Jed marveled. “Wow, we should all learn how to craft a brewing stand.”
“You have to mine for the materials for a brewing stand,” explained Callie. “Are there any mines near here?”
“We blew up the mine where Veronica trapped everyone,” said Nancy.
“There must be more mines,” said Callie.
“I’m afraid I don’t know of any other mines,” said Queen Gail.
“Me neither,” Lyle said, “and I’ve been here a long time. We only used that mine.”
“We will have to search for one. I saw mountains in the distance. There are always lots of mines and caves in the mountainous biomes,” said Brett.
“Is this the time to travel all the way to the mountainous biome? We have to stay here and defend Sandy Vista,” said Colin.
“Show us how to brew more potions,” Jacques called out.
Callie stood by the brewing stand and taught them how to brew all sorts of potions and handed them out to the group. “Now we’ll be prepared when Veronica returns.”
A voice called out from the entrance, “You think knowing how to brew a potion will stop me?”
Veronica laughed as a group of soldiers trailed behind her. They carried diamond swords and bows and arrows. Ruby looked through the group for her friends, but she didn’t see them. Veronica noticed Ruby eyeing her gang. “If you’re looking for your traitor friends, they are gone. I have destroyed them.”
“Destroyed them? You mean on hardcore mode?” Ruby’s voice shook.
Before Veronica could respond, the soldiers leaped at the group. They struck the king and queen with their diamond swords and arrows. King Jed was destroyed, and Queen Gail screamed out in horror. Everyone was fearful that Veronica had set the world on hardcore mode. When King Jed respawned in the temple, the gang was relieved. Yes, they had to battle Veronica, but at least the stakes weren’t as high as they had believed.
Colin and Jacques were excited to use the potions they had brewed with Callie. Jacques splashed a potion of harming on Veronica, but she quickly swallowed a potion to regain her strength. “Looks like you’re an expert on how to brew potions now. That isn’t going to help you. I have you outnumbered.”
The gang let out a collective gasp when they saw another crop of soldiers entering the temple, and they wondered how many more soldiers Veronica had created. They used their swords and potions to battle them, but as they struck the green-haired, ponytailed soldiers, another army of a different sort entered the temple.
“Husks!” Brett screamed.
A line of husks flooded the entranceway, and the gang didn’t know which battle to fight. Should they fight Veronica’s soldiers or the husks? They didn’t have time to decide because the husks grabbed both the gang and the soldiers, inflicting them with an intense hunger.
A husk struck Brett, and his stomach began to growl. He wanted to sprint from the temple and into the farm and fill his belly with apples and potatoes. His blond hair waved as he leaped at the husk that had attacked him and destroyed the desert beast.
Poppy was surrounded. She had a husk behind her and one of Veronica’s soldiers in front of her. Skillfully using her diamond sword, she slammed her weapon into the soldier and the husk, destroying both. The victory was short-lived, because within seconds she was battling another soldier and another husk.
Veronica and her soldiers were annoyed. They didn’t want to battle the creatures they had spawned to destroy the residents of Sandy Vista. As Veronica slew a husk, she was angry with herself for creating this invasion. The husk attack was her fault.
However, as she struck and destroyed another husk, Veronica remembered that the spawner she had created wasn’t working anymore. She had watched Nancy and Helen blow it up. She realized that she didn’t know where these husks were coming from. Was the spawner somehow reactivated? Had one of her soldiers fixed the spawner? This seemed impossible because it wasn’t easy to construct the original spawner, and to build it they needed a few soldiers and more command blocks, which she didn’t have.
Veronica looked over at one of her soldiers battling alongside her. “The husks,” she said, but her voice was weak, and she could barely get a sound out.
“What about the husks?” the soldier questioned.
She remembered the mine from which they were operating was destroyed. Had one of her soldiers found a new place to create a spawner? Was her army that well trained? Did they have supplies she didn’t know about? Or was there another criminal in their midst?
15
THE RETURN OF THE HUSKS
The sound of growling stomachs was heard through the battle as they all felt an intense collective hunger. Brett didn’t think he could swing his diamond sword at another husk unless he ate something. He looked over at his friends. He wanted to suggest that they take a break and eat some food, but he knew there was no time to stop battling the husks.
Destruction in the Desert Page 5
