And then he started to hear voices, hundreds of voices. They were chanting his name, cheering for Gameknight999. Blocky faces started to float through the beacon, then boxy bodies formed as hundreds and hundreds of individuals passed through him.
He’d formed a bridge. No, he was the bridge.
Holding on with all of his strength, he let these shapes flow through him until the last traces of his strength seemed to evaporate, and then he held on for a little more until the last of them had passed. Finally, when he could hold on no more, Gameknight released his grip on the beacon and fell as darkness claimed him.
CHAPTER 34
FRIENDS
Gameknight fell to the ground in a daze. There was a peculiar popping sound coming from all around him, then cheers from the NPC army. Looking across the plateau, he saw hundreds and hundreds of users materializing into existence, their names glowing over their heads, server threads stretching high up into the sky. Glancing to the nearest, he found his friend, Shawny, looking down at him, his black ninja skin glowing bright in the light of the Source.
“Hi Gameknight,” Shawny said playfully. “Been doing anything interesting lately?”
He reached down and patted Gameknight firmly on the shoulder which brought a smile to his face for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. Reaching down, his friend helped him to his feet.
Looking about the plateau, he saw users he knew . . . like his old building team, Team Apocalypse: Nanozine, UltraFire9000, Gustobot2000, David769101, and ScottishRHere. Gameknight smiled. He’d spent a lot of time in Minecraft with them . . . that was, until he’d griefed some of them. He also saw Phaser_98 and King_Creeperkiller. They saw Gameknight and jumped up and down in the air. Closer to him, he saw a user named Wormican jumping up and down as well; it was one of the few ways that a user could show emotion with their Minecraft characters.
“Shawny, here’s the situation,” Gameknight said quickly. “There’s an army of monsters . . .”
“I think I can see them.”
Shawny pointed down at the approaching horde. They had stopped halfway up the inclined pathway, apparently shocked by the sudden appearance of the user army. Looking down the wide pathway, Gameknight could see a mass of zombies at the head of the column; cannon fodder, likely considered expendable. Following the zombies was a sea of giant spiders, their razor sharp claws tapping on the bedrock impatiently, their mandibles clicking together anxiously. It sounded like a million castanets being used at the same time, their clicking and echoing off the bedrock. The sides of the inclined pathway were lined with blazes, their flaming bodies pressed up against the walls, lighting up the edges of the army with angry flame, balls of fire ready for throwing. Behind these were more monsters from the Nether intermixed with others from the Overworld. It was truly the largest collection of monsters ever seen in Minecraft.
As Gameknight999 gazed down at the monstrous army, he started to hear commotion on the plateau. Looking up, he saw users running in all directions, building structures on either side of the stairway.
“Build them here and here and here, just like we practiced,” a voice yelled.
Following the voice, he found Shawny striding across the plateau giving orders to the users, then directing the NPCs as well.
“We need a wall here with openings to shoot through, and raised platforms here and here,” Shawny explained to a collection of warriors. “Quickly now, the monsters won’t stay confused for long.” He then turned and headed to the edges of the pathway. “Artillery . . . I want artillery along this edge, and archers behind them. Let’s go . . . move, move, move!”
Mason moved to Gameknight’s side.
“Are you OK?” the big NPC asked.
“Yeah, but I’m not sure if I’d have survived without holding on to you. Somehow, you kept me anchored to Minecraft. Thank you.”
Mason nodded his blocky head, a wry smile on his blocky face.
“But . . . there’s something I don’t understand,” Gameknight said as he looked up into Mason’s bright green eyes. “Why didn’t your hand dissolve into bits . . . it was in the beacon with me. It should have decomposed like that block Woodbrin threw into the Source.”
Mason shrugged and gave him a mischevious smile. “Minecraft does what it wants to do, sometimes.”
“GAMEKNIGHT!” Shawny shouted.
He sprinted to his friend.
“What?”
“Something’s happening down there with the monsters.”
Gameknight looked over the sheer wall that extended down to the wide stairs. He could see the monsters looking up at all the users, confused about what to do. But then, a dark form materialized at the back of the army, a tall creature that was colored dark red, just a shade above black. He had eyes that blazed with red intensity as if lit from within by a million burning candles. He had such an expression of vile hatred on his face for those on the plateau that it almost hurt to look at him.
It was Erebus.
The King of the Endermen scowled up at the defenders, scanning their faces until he found Gameknight. His eyes then flared brighter and brighter as he glared at the User-that-is-not-a-user.
Gameknight shuddered.
“Is that who I think it is?” Shawny asked from across the plateau. He was positioning the NPC archers so that they would have overlapping fields of fire.
Gameknight nodded.
“It seems like you’ve really patched things up with him,” Shawny said sarcastically. “Congratulations.” He laughed, then went back to positioning his defenders.
“They’re moving,” one of the users shouted. Gameknight thought it might have been Disko 42, the redstone master.
Turning back to the monster horde, Gameknight could see Erebus teleporting throughout his army, striking out at those that did not move forward. He was like a streaking bolt of black lightning, moving from place to place at impossible speeds. Screeching out threats, he pushed his army up the steps and toward the users and NPCs.
As they moved closer, Gameknight noticed that Malacoda was missing. There were still ghasts amongst the monsters, but the huge King of the Nether seemed to be absent. Also, there were no endermen except for Erebus. Something must have happened with the monster army.
Good, Gameknight thought. Fewer monsters is always a good thing.
As the horde moved forward, NPC archers high up on the sheer cliffs started firing. Waves of arrows fell down upon the zombies as they shuffled forward, their clawed hands extended before them, moans filling the air. Many fell under the pointed rain, but still more shuffled forward. But then the blazes started firing back with quick three-shot volleys. A flaming wave of burning spheres streaked through the air and fell on those not quick enough to step back from the ledge after firing their arrows. Painful cries filled the air as HP was consumed by flame.
“USERS . . . DRAW YOUR BOWS!” Shawny yelled.
As one, the users all pulled out their bows and the mountain top was suddenly shaded with cobalt blue light. Every one of the bows sparkled, iridescent with enchantments. Clearly, they had been busy while they waited for Gameknight to bring them to the Source.
“FIRE!”
The sky lit up as hundreds of flaming arrows flew through the air and rained down upon the monster horde. The pointed barbs wreaked havoc on the monsters. Then the massive collection of skeletons returned fire. Their arrows streaked up toward the defenders, three hundred skeletal arrows tearing into armor and exposed flesh.
Erebus suddenly shouted an ear-piercing screech, and as one, the monsters charged forward. Spiders and blazes moved past the slow-moving zombies and charged up the steps.
“Fire at will,” Shawny yelled. “TNT cannons open fire.”
As if synchronized, groups of TNT cannons detonated, firing blinking black and red striped cubes into the heart of the monster army. The flashing blocks fell amongst the attacking monsters and detonated. They carved devastating holes in the monstrous horde, but were quickly filled in
by new monsters. The concussive blasts continued as the TNT cannons did what damage they could, but there were just too many monsters and they were getting closer to the top of the stairway.
“First company, draw swords!”
A hundred users put away their bows and drew enchanted swords. They lined the sides of the stairway, knowing that the spiders would try to climb the sheer wall when they had a chance. More fireballs streaked through the air, smashing users and NPCs alike, some of them coming from the blazes, but other coming from above, from ghasts.
“NPC ARCHERS,” Mason yelled, “TAKE OUT THE GHASTS.”
And as Gameknight had taught them while battling Malacoda in the Nether, groups of six archers fired on the ghasts, each squad aiming for the same monster. They were still far away, but many of the arrows hit home. Slowly, they were pushing the ghasts back, the floating monsters choosing to move out of range rather than be pierced by a half-dozen arrows. That was OK. If they were too far away to be hit with arrows, they were also too far away to launch their fireballs. Once the ghasts had retreated, the archers focused their fire on the blazes, but there were so many of the fiery creatures that their arrows were having little effect.
The clicking of spiders could now be heard as their multiple red eyes peered over the top of the sheer wall. Gameknight drew his own diamond sword and leapt forward. Standing shoulder to shoulder with the users, Gameknight slashed at the monsters, his razor sharp blade tearing into spider bodies with a vengeance. Next to him was Kuwagata498, someone he was sure he’d griefed in some past battle. But that was the past. Right now, Gameknight was a killing machine, slashing at every spider that dared threaten any user or NPC, watching Kuwagata489’s back whenever he could. As he fought, he saw PaulSeerSr firing his bow at the blazes that were now getting closer. Next to him, HoneyDon’t and Zefus were adding their own arrows to the defense, Lamadia and InTheLittleBush guarding them with their shimmering swords. The warriors slashed at the monsters and fired their bows, but the horde was just too great and the defenders were slowly being pushed back.
“Everyone to the walls!” Shawny yelled.
Archers put away their bows and drew their swords. NPCs stood next to users as they fought back the eight-legged monsters. But as they fought off the spiders, zombies and creepers moved forward. The creepers charged up to the massive wall that had been erected across the stairway. Warriors fired through holes left in the walls, trying to push back the mottled green monsters, but again, there were just too many of them. The creepers hissed and swelled, then detonated against the cobblestone wall, tearing it to bits.
Gameknight could hear the monster roar as the first ranks of zombies move up onto the plateau. One of the users jumped right in front of them and swung his blade in great arcs. His name, Imparfa, shone bright against the dark green of the zombies, but he was completely outnumbered and taking damage. Flashing red with each set of gouging claws that racked across his armor, Gameknight could tell that he would not last long. But then, Mason was at his side, his own mighty blade carving through the zombie bodies with skilled precision. Running toward the battle line, Gameknight jumped into the fray, spinning with his diamond sword outstretched, landing blows on multiple monsters. Next to him, he could hear Hunter’s bow singing a nearly constant tune, thrummm, thrummm, thrummm, the bow string a constant blur.
“PULL BACK, PULL BACK,” Shawny yelled as he stepped up the stairs and stood on the plateau next to Gameknight.
“We need some kind of miracle, Gameknight,” Shawny said to his friend. “There are just too many of them.”
“I know, but if we . . .”
He stopped talking when the ground shook as if it was struck by a giant’s hammer. And then it shook again and again. Looking to foot of the stairs, Gameknight could see a group of silvery giants lumbering across the bedrock plain, their heavy feet thundering with every step. Surrounding the metallic giants were white furry animals, hundreds of them, each with a red collar around their neck. And at the head of this new group Gameknight could see the lanky form of Herder, an angry, determined look on his face.
“HERDER!” Gameknight yelled, holding his sword up high. “YEAH!!!”
Ignoring the call, Herder directed his massive pack of wolves to fall on the monsters, followed by the huge iron golems. The metallic giants threw their arms up as they waded through the monster army, throwing multiple bodies into the air. The wolves attacked en masse, biting and tearing with their sharp white fangs as they tore through the back ranks of the monster horde.
The monsters were unsure what to do. The attack at their rear was devastating. Many of the monsters moved to the back to protect their rear, easing the attack at the column’s front.
“Now’s the time,” Gameknight yelled. “Attack . . . FOR MINECRAFT!”
“FOR MINECRAFT!” the defenders yelled as they charged into the monster army.
The terrified moans and screams of the monsters filled the air as the defenders fell onto them from both ends. NPCs and users squeezed together so that they could get their swords at the monsters. Gameknight found himself at the front of the charge. A spider sprang forward to his right, attacking Slamacalf. Gameknight’s sword swept up into the monster’s bloated body, then kicked it back so that Slamacalf could finish it off. He was then pulled backward, off his feet just in time to see a fireball streak past his head. Turning, he found Stitcher behind him, her hand still on his shoulder.
“Thanks,” Gameknight said.
“You’re . . .” before she could finish, she fitted an arrow to her bow and fired at an approaching zombie-pigman, the arrow finishing off the monster’s HP. Standing up, she ran to the battle line, her enchanted bow humming the tune of war.
Gameknight stood and could now see the state of the battle. The monsters were sandwiched between two attacking forces. The iron golems were carving great paths of destruction through the enemy, the fireballs and skeleton arrows bouncing harmlessly off their iron skin. The metal giants were moving forward through the mass of monster bodies, an unstoppable force moving up the great stairs toward something . . . toward Gameknight999. The wolves were tearing at arms and legs, the animals too fast for the monsters to hit.
“I think we might just win this thing,” a voice said to Gameknight’s left.
Turning, he found SkyKid standing there, his dark sunglasses hiding the blazing intensity in his eyes.
“Don’t say that, you might jinx the battle and . . .”
Suddenly, goose bumps started to form on Gameknight’s skin as a cackling laugh sounded across the battlefield. It was Erebus’s laugh, but it was somehow different, more confident. The King of the Endermen laughed louder than Gameknight had ever heard and his skin crawled from the evil, maniacal joy in his screeching snickers.
Stepping back from the battle, he looked down at the foot of the mighty stairway. A purple mist had covered the bottom of the stairs and extended out across the bedrock plain, the evil fog writhing with movement from within. He couldn’t see anything in the mist for it was too thick, but as the teleportation particles started to evaporate something slowly became visible through the haze. At first they looked like small white dots, but as the lavender fog cleared, the dots gradually transformed into blazing white eyes; endermen . . . hundreds of them. In an instant, the plain was littered with hundreds of the tall shadowy monsters, each looking enraged and ready for battle. Erebus must have somehow brought all the endermen from the last servers as well as those in The End, and they were ready for battle.
They were doomed.
CHAPTER 35
THE LAST BATTLE FOR MINECRAFT
Gameknight sheathed his sword and slowly moved up the stairs, away from the battle. When he reached to top, he turned and looked down at the futile battle.
“What are you doing?” Hunter said as she ran up to him.
“It’s over . . . can’t you see it? We failed.”
“As long as we can draw breath, there is a chance. Now come back to the
battle.”
Gameknight just sighed and looked at the ground. The endermen would eventually destroy the iron golems, giving the monsters the breathing room to overrun their defenses and destroy the Source. Then they’d go into the physical world . . . his world. They’d probably come out right in his basement, just like his dream.
He thought about his little sister.
I failed you lil’ sis . . . I’m sorry.
“The monsters are rallying around Erebus and his dark creatures.” It was Stitcher’s voice cutting through the self-pity. “The endermen are encouraging the others, making them fight harder. We have to stop them somehow.”
Stitcher’s words triggered Gameknight into thought. The pieces of the puzzle started tumbling around in his head; a solution was out there, somewhere.
The monsters fight because they have hope, Gameknight thought. And they have hope because of their leader.
Gameknight remembered the looks from all the NPCs that night before the Battle for the Nether. They all stood with him because they believed in him, because his presence gave them hope. That’s what he had to take from the monsters, their hope.
But how?
The puzzle pieces started to tumble even louder, filling his head with thunder. There was a solution here. He just had to see it. And as he looked down at Stitcher’s sweat covered face, the pieces clicked into place.
“I know what to do,” Gameknight said. “Hunter, Stitcher, come with me.”
He turned and ran across the plateau, disappearing into the sea of dark beacons. Finding a place far from the battle lines, he stopped and turned to face his friends.
“What are you doing? The battle is over there,” Hunter complained.
“No, it’s not,” Gameknight answered. “The battle is not with those monsters, it’s with Erebus. I can break the back of that army and destroy their will to fight, but you have to do exactly as I say.”
Confronting the Dragon Page 25
