by Mark Mulle
same way.
“Enderman are dangerous creatures.” She continued. “It’s never a good sign if one is nearby.”
Steve nodded again and just waited. He watched, almost transfixed by her process. Even as he had told her the story she knew the exact measurements of what to put inside bubbling mass that was growing inside the pot.
“How will I get this to him?” Steve eventually asked. “His teleportation powers are difficult to deal with.”
The witch stopped her mixing and looked up at Steve. “Before you leave,” she said. “I will give you something that will help you catch him.”
Steve was feeling hopeful again. After not finding anything in the village he was a little unsure about the witch. But now with her creating a potion for him and everything, he was beginning to see the end of this journey and the return of his best friend. He couldn’t wait.
The witch continued adding things to her brew. Eventually she stopped with the bottles and went back to the shelves for some solid objects.
“Enderman poison is very complicated.” She muttered to herself. “It takes a very delicate balance to get rid of.”
“But you’ll be able to do it right?” Steve said.
The witch waved him off. “Hush.” She said. “I’m working.”
Steve let her be and watched quietly. She shaved some kind of root and dunked pieces of fur into the pot and mixed everything together. Occasionally the pot would bubble and smoke and then the witch would stir it until it settled.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, she began pouring the mixture into a bottle. It filled nearly to the top before she stopped. She then took a cork and stuck it inside the bottle, capping it off. She then handed it to Steve.
“Don’t drop it!” She said, loudly. She nearly shocked Steve into doing just that. “The ingredients to make this are very rare. I don’t have enough for a second bottle so be very careful.”
Steve nodded and gingerly took the bottle from her. He then lay it in his sack with the rest of his stuff and made sure to cushion it with anything soft.
He then turned back to her and waited. She was supposed to give him something to help catch Shelby with. For a moment she just looked at him, probably wondering why he was still here. Then a look of realization dawned on her and she walked over to one of the shelves.
Moments later she returned with what looked like a plain old rock. It was red and felt kind of like clay.
“What is it?” He asked looking at the witch a little confused.
“It’s a treat. It’s something particularly special from a land you’ve probably never heard of. Crumble it near him when you find him. If you can’t find him, lay some out near your house. He’ll smell it and come by. That’s when you have to dump the potion on him.”
Steve nodded, doing his best to remember everything. “And you’re sure this will work?”
The witch nodded and that comforted Steve. “As long as you get it on him, it should cure him.”
Steve was satisfied with that and took the clay rock from her. He didn’t know exactly what it was, but he was positive that it would work now. He was feeling extremely hopeful about things and was ready to have Shelby back in his life.
“Thank you. You have no idea what this means to me.” Steve said.
The witch tried to smile, but her face couldn’t really hold it together. “You’re welcome young man. It was nice to see a friendly face for a little bit.”
Steve smiled and headed back out into the fields. The night was dark, and he wanted to head back to his village as soon as possible. That said, he didn’t think it would be a smart idea to do so in the middle of the night.
He decided to head back to the village elder he met before. He wanted to be safe and trying to rush back to his village in the dark would only make things worse. The last thing he wanted to do was fall, possibly breaking the bottle.
The village elder was more than happy to let Steve stay over once again. He was pleased to hear that seeing the witch worked out for Steve.
The next morning Steve rushed back home. When he got there he approached his old village carefully.
The place was a wreck when he arrived. The whole place was in disarray. It was almost unrecognizable. It must have gotten bad while he was gone.
The village was empty for the most part. He barely saw anyone walking around. He wondered where everyone was. In their houses? Was anyone still here or had they been run out by Shelby?
He felt terrible if that was the case. Even if people were hiding inside that didn’t help much. He couldn’t imagine that his dog would be responsible for these kinds of things but since he was sick there was no telling…
Steve wasn’t sure how to approach the situation, but he held the sword tight in his hands anyways. He came in through the back door, trying to be as quiet as possible.
“Shelby?” He called out. “Shelby!”
Steve looked around, he still couldn’t see anything. He sighed and decided to try what the witch had given him. He took out the small clay rock from his pouch and crumbled it up in front of his house. There was nothing more he could do now but wait.
It took a few hours, which Steve spent waiting patiently, for the first signs of Shelby to appear. He approached carefully and cautiously. He sniffed the air as slowly walked over to the food on the ground.
“Hey there boy.” Steve whispered. He didn’t want to scare Shelby off by accident.
Shelby approached carefully. Steve noticed that the blackness had spread even further over Shelby’s body. If Steve had taken another day it might have completely consumed Shelby. He eventually came right up against the food on the ground. That was when Steve took his chance. He quickly uncorked the bottle of potion and poured it all over Shelby.
The green liquid appeared to be absorbed by Shelby’s fur. It spread throughout him and glowed over him for a moment. Then the blackness receded until it had completely disappeared.
Shelby continued to eat the food on the ground, not even noticing what was happening to him.
“Shelby?” Steve asked, hopeful that the cure had worked.
Shelby looked up from his food at Steve. For a moment Steve’s heart stopped and he wasn’t sure if he’d gone through all of this for nothing.
But then Shelby’s tail started wagging. Steve smiled brightly. “That’s my boy. Come here!”
He held out his arms to Shelby, but instead of running towards them, he teleported forward and appeared in Steve’s arms, and licked his face while Steve laughed!
“You must have kept your powers, didn't ya boy? I didn’t think that would happen…” He said to himself. They spent the next few minutes reuniting. Steve was happier than ever that he’d gotten his best friend back.
“So you’ve come for the village, have you?” said a strange voice, interrupting the moment.
Steve stood up immediately and grabbed his sword. There was something familiar about that voice.
“What did I tell you, Steve?” said the voice. Then a hooded figure appeared before him and it all came back to Steve. It was Herobrine.
“It’s time you leave.” Steve said defiantly. “You’re not welcome here.”
Herobrine laughed again. Steve hated that laugh. He wanted to make him stop. “What do you think you’re going to do, boy? Lead in my place? You’re going to take what’s rightfully mine?” He yelled. Seconds later he pulled a sword and tried to come after Steve.
Steve swung his sword in a blocking motion. Their swords collided and sparks flew as they slid against each other. Shelby barked and started running around Herobrine and Steve.
Their swords clashed against each other several times over. The pair moved around the house, knocking over furniture and pushing things in each other’s way. Both were here to fight to the death. Steve knew that only one of them would come out of his fight alive.
He planned on it being him.
Steve brought his sword up, blocking a hard blow from Herob
rine. He was keeping pace with Steve, despite the fact that he was much older than Steve. His strength surprised him. His speed was something Steve worried about too. He was much faster than Steve expected. He was beginning to tire already just trying to keep pace with him.
Steve wondered if he was going to make it out alive of this one. But then he thought about why he was here. He was here to save his home. This motivated him to keep his strength and fight on. No matter what, he would be victorious.
Their swords clashed against each other. Steve pushed back against Herobrine and swung down at his legs. Herobrine jumped back and his sword came down against Steve’s. There was a loud bang and Steve felt the shock fly up his arms.
Everything in the house at this point was either broken or thrown about. Steve knew they couldn’t remain in here for long. It was becoming too cramped and eventually Steve would find himself trapped. He had to get out of here.
Steve decided it was time he go on the offensive. He stepped towards Herobrine and stabbed at him with his sword. Herobrine dodged to the side and that gave Steve the opening he needed. He pushed forward with his shoulder, crashing into Herobrine. Herobrine went flying about a foot forward and crumbled to the ground.
Steven thought about pushing his advantage but if Herobrine managed to defend then he’d be in the same position he was before. Instead he moved towards the backyard. He hoped that Herobrine would chase him out there.
Steve was right, thankfully. Herobrine climbed out of the house, sword in hand. A little blood dripped from his
