by Mark Mulle
barking again. He barred his teeth and began growling.
“What was that?” Steve yelled. He brought his sword up in a defensive stance.
Shelby leapt forward and started barking at the mountain face. Steve’s eyes darted around, looking all over. “Where is it?”
The tentacle lashed out again at Steve’s leg. Steve swung his sword in an attempt to beat the monster back.
Finally, the monster materialized. It was large and black like the darkest night. It had several tentacles that waved about in random forms.
“Shelby! Back away!” Steve yelled. It took Steve a moment, but he’d figured out what it was. It was an Enderman. Steve had only read about them and seen drawings, but that’s definitely what it was. He’d never seen one this close up before. He thought they were a myth, or a creature from a faraway land. Why was one here now?
Unfortunately, Shelby’s stubbornness was getting the better of him and he was refusing to listen to Steve. Shelby – teeth barred and growling – jumped towards the Enderman with all his strength. Steve put his hand out, trying to grab Shelby. But it was too late. The Enderman already lifted its tentacles and hit Shelby with them.
Shelby yelped as he crashed into the ground. Steve cried out and slashed his sword at the Enderman. He struck one of the stray tentacles. The monster let out a small screech before pulling back into the mountain.
Thankful that the nightmare was over, Steve dropped his sword and rushed over to Shelby. He’d remained on the ground since struck and hadn’t moved.
“Are you alright, buddy?” Steve said, crouching down beside him.
Shelby was still breathing, but there was a large black mark near his tail that looked like it was spreading.
Steve had no idea what to do. He didn’t have any medical supplies with him either. The best chance he had was back at the village. Using all his strength, Steve put his arms under Shelby and lifted him up. He then ran as fast as he could back towards the village. Shelby bounced in his arms, making it a struggle for Steve to keep his balance. But it wasn’t long before they made it back.
Inside Steve’s house, he lay Shelby down on the bed. He quickly grabbed his bag of medical supplies and did his best to clean the wound. But any time he touched it, Shelby would yelp in pain. The rags would come away with a black slime on them too.
Even the village elder had no idea what to do. In a fit of desperation Steve had ran to get him. But the man looked just as clueless as Steve.
“I’m sorry.” He said, patting Steve on the shoulder before he left.
Then it was just the two of them alone again. The sun was setting, casting a bright orange glow through the window.
“I’m sorry.” Steve said, petting Shelby’s fur. “I’m not sure what to do anymore.”
Shelby grumbled, but didn’t move. He remained lying down until the sun went down. That was when everything changed.
As soon as the sun set, Steve got up and closed the windows. It would be getting cold out and he didn’t want Shelby getting any worse.
But when he turned back after closing the window, Shelby was gone!
“Shelby!” Steve called. Fear filled him immediately. He started running around the house, looking for him desperately.
He found Shelby near the front door. The blackness had spread over his back half, making even his tail look partially like a tentacle.
“What are you doing?” Steve asked. “You need to stay inside.”
Shelby just stared at Steve. His tail wasn’t wagging, he was just breathing. Steve didn’t know what was going on.
Then Shelby lifted his head up and howled at the night sky. Shelby turned and bolted from the house.
“Shelby!” Steve yelled, running after him. By the time he reached the front door though, Shelby was nowhere to be seen. It was like he had vanished.
Steve vaguely remembered something from his books about the powers of an Enderman. Among the tentacles and what not, Enderman could also teleport. He wondered if when Shelby got infected he gained some of those powers.
He hoped not. Shelby would be terribly hard to find id he teleported. Even so, he’d have to give it a shot. Steve grabbed the stuff for a torch and headed out in to the village.
Steve quickly rounded up some of the villagers and led them on a search around the village. They all loved Shelby and were more than willing to help.
They checked everywhere, but after a few hours of searching they came up with nothing. Occasionally Steve would hear footsteps or a random howl. One time he thought he saw Shelby, but he disappeared into a wisp of smoke before he could catch him.
Steve eventually returned empty handed. He was rather sad that Shelby couldn’t be caught. Now he was alone and his dog was lost. It was difficult for him, but eventually he went to sleep.
Steve spent the next few days looking for Shelby. The only times he took a break were when he needed to eat. Otherwise he spent the rest of his time looking for Shelby. He came up with nothing.
Sometimes he’d hear reports from the neighbors of sightings of Shelby. They would say that they would see him for a moment. Sometimes he’d be growling. Other times he’d be whining or just sniffing around. Then he would disappear into thin air. Steve investigated all of these reports, but very rarely came close to see Shelby again.
There was one time he got very close. During one of his searches he heard scratching on a nearby tree. It was dark out, and he couldn’t see very well. But he did have a torch with him and a piece of meat. He always carried one with him in case he came across Shelby. He hoped that the smell would attract his attention and he could bring him back to the house.
When he got the tree, he definitely saw Shelby ahead. He was scratching against the tree, looking up above at something. Steve wondered if he was trying to get food or something.
“Shelby.” Steve said, trying not to scare him. “Come here boy!” He held out the meat and waved it in front of Shelby. He was distracted, so Steve was able to get fairly close.
“You want the food? Come on Shelby…” Steve said, holding the meat closer to Shelby’s face. He sniffed the air and finally caught the scent of the food. He turned his head and noticed Steve. For a moment Steve was convinced that Shelby recognized him. Then he howled at the moon and disappeared.
That was the last time Steve saw Shelby for about a month. He’d hear the howling, and even hear from the other villagers that Shelby would scratch marks on their doors the morning after. They’d started to tell him that Shelby was haunting the village.
It sounded crazy, but Steve agreed that it was the best way to describe what was happening. Personally he wondered what was keeping Shelby in the area. Steve hoped it was because there was some part of Shelby that still recognized this area and wanted to come home.
It was time that Steve did something about this. It had already been a month and a half at this point and Steve missed his friend. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to find a cure in the village, so it was time to go elsewhere.
He hated having to leave Shelby back at the village. But so far he was only scaring people and Steve didn’t even think that was on purpose. Shelby had to be scared and confused on his own. He hadn’t gotten violent yet and Steve hoped that he would be back with a cure before that happened.
The next morning Steve had packed his things and set out of the village. He kept checking behind him every few steps, just wondering if Shelby would be following him. He heard nothing though.
He realized then he’d never seen Shelby out in the day time. The Enderman they fought had come out in the day time though… There was a lot he didn’t know about these things and the sickness they infected Shelby with.
Steve wasn’t too sure where he was headed. He might hit up some of the other villages and ask their elders for help and information. If that didn’t pan out then he would try some of the larger cities. They were further away though, so he wanted to avoid that option. He wanted to get a cure as quickly as possible
.
“Steve….” Came a whisper.
Steve turned behind him. He didn’t see anything.
“Steve….” There it was again.
Steve twisted around and looked everywhere. But he didn’t see anything.
“Who are you?” He yelled. His voice echoed off into the distance.
Silence fell and Steve continued walking. He wasn’t sure what that was. Was he hearing things? He wasn’t too far from home, so he couldn’t be going crazy already.
Steve assumed that he had just heard things and the night was playing tricks on him. He shook it off and continued onwards. The sun was setting and he hoped to reach the next village by nightfall.
“Steve!” That time he definitely heard the voice. He spun around; swinging his sword at his would be attacker. Instead of swinging at air though, his sword hit against another!
Steve’s eyes went wide as he looked at the person in front of him. It was a man, judging by his voice. He was as tall as Steve, but wore a hood over his head so Steve couldn’t see his face.
“Go back to your village.” The voice said. “Seek the cure no more.”
Their swords slid against each other. They were both pushing as hard as they could against the other’s sword. Both wanted to gain the advantage.
“Who are you?” Steve asked, panicking. He was slowly losing his stance and could feel his arms getting weaker. He could only hold this block for so much longer.
“I am Herobrine”, said the hooded man. “I brought the Enderman upon
