The Mystery of the Griefer's Mark

by Winter Morgan

  “Once he’s in the hole, I’ll be able to use my potions,” said Adam.

  “But don’t forget we need to find Henry,” Lucy pointed out.

  “Yes, Thomas will lead us to Henry,” said Adam.

  Bang! A sound boomed from Adam’s bedroom.

  “What’s that?” yelled Steve.

  Adam sprinted to his room. His brewing stand was on the floor and all of his potions had spilled onto the floor.

  “Thomas is here!” Adam screamed.

  They looked for the TNT and found it was still piled in the corner.

  “At least he didn’t take the TNT,” said Steve.

  Kyra looked around. “I wonder where he went.”

  Adam walked over the open window. “I think he ran out through the window.”

  “He’ll be back,” Max told the group.

  “I know, and we better be prepared,” Adam said as he sorted through his spilled potion bottles. “I don’t have that much Nether Wart left.”

  “Do you have enough to make a potion that could stop Thomas?” asked Kyra. “I don’t want to travel back to the Nether. I have had my fill of ghasts and zombie pigmen, and I don’t want to encounter Magma Cubes. I just want to catch Thomas and rebuild my house.”

  Adam searched through the chest. “I might have enough potions, but we have to act fast.”

  “Oh no!” Steve called from the living room. Kyra and Adam ran into to see what was going on.

  Steve had fallen down another hole.

  “Can you climb up?” asked Lucy.

  “Yes, but I don’t want to. I can hear Henry. I’m going to save him.”

  “We’re going to jump down and help you,” said Max.

  “No! Stay at the house. This has to be a trick. He wants us to leave the TNT. I can handle this on my own.”

  Steve ran down the tunnel toward Henry’s voice. “Help me!” Henry screamed.

  “Henry, can you hear me? It’s Steve.” Steve hoped he could hear him, but was doubtful.

  “Steve?” replied Henry.

  “Yes, it’s me. I’m so glad you can hear me!”

  “I’m trapped in here.”

  “How can I get to you?” Henry asked as he dug his pickaxe into the wall and tried to break away the dirt to reach his friend. Soil fell to the ground as he pickaxed the wall. Despite the pile of soil that lay at Steve’s feet, he couldn’t reach Henry. Steve felt something hard behind the layer of dirt. It was bedrock!

  “It’s bedrock!” Steve yelled angrily.

  “I know!” said Henry from the other side of the wall, “I am being trapped in a bedrock room.”

  “Do you know how you got there?”

  “It was dark, but somebody pushed me into this room when you stepped on that tripwire.” Henry sounded weak as he spoke.

  “How are you eating?” asked Steve.

  “Somebody throws apples in here through a hole in the wall.”

  “Thankfully you have food.”

  “But I’m trapped in here.”

  “I’m going to get you out. I promise.”

  “How?” asked Henry.

  Steve didn’t have an answer.

  Then Henry said, “The Cube of Destruction.”

  “The Cube of Destruction?” Steve had never made the Cube of Destruction before and he wasn’t sure what to do. It was a powerful cube that could destroy anything. He wondered if it could also destroy them both.

  “The Cube of Destruction is the only way you can break though bedrock.” Henry told his friend.

  “Maybe we can dig above you? How high is the wall?” asked Steve.

  “I hear someone coming!” said Henry.

  Steve stood quietly and listened. He didn’t hear anything. “Henry, are you there?”

  “Yes, the person just dropped off the apples,” said Henry.

  “He must be on the other side of the wall.” Steve looked around and didn’t see anybody.

  “Yes,” said Henry, “The hole is on the other side.”

  “If there is a hole in the wall, I bet that side isn’t made of bedrock,” said Steve.

  “Yes!” said Henry, “I just walked over to the wall and it looks like a small patch is made of dirt.”

  “If I cut a larger hole in the patch of dirt, do you think you can fit through it?” asked Steve hopefully.

  “I think so,” said Henry.

  “I just have to figure out how to get to the other side of the wall. I bet there is a tunnel that leads there,” said Steve.

  “Yes, there has to be. It’s the way the griefer takes to feed me apples.”

  “I don’t want to leave you,” said Steve, “but I have to go. I have to get over to the other tunnel. I think I know how to get there. This griefer has built a series of tunnels all over my town.” Steve looked down the long tunnel and wondered if there was a way to reach the other side of the bedrock room through the tunnel. He placed a torch on the wall and walked down the tunnel but it seemed to be a straight line and so he turned back and headed toward Adam’s house.

  “Please. Come back soon,” Henry shouted.

  “I promise I will.”

  As those words fell from his lips, Steve hoped he could keep the promise.

  14

  THE OTHER SIDE

  Steve sighed with relief as he climbed out of the hole and saw that the TNT blocks were still piled neatly in the corner. He walked through the house searching for the others.

  “Guys,” he called out as he walked through the empty house. “Where are you?”

  Steve looked at Adam’s chest of potions. It was empty. He was nervous. What if the griefer had done something to his friends? Steve sprinted out of the house toward his wheat farm. He hoped his friends were just tending to the land during the daylight hours.

  “Max?” Steve called out. “Lucy?”

  There was silence. Steve was nervous. How could he save Henry on his own? Now he also had search for his other friends, too? Steve sprinted into the village and headed to Eliot the Blacksmith’s shop, hoping his old friend might have some news about his missing friends. Maybe they went to see Eliot to get new swords.

  The villagers walked about the town. It was bustling. Steve opened the door to Eliot’s shop.

  “Hey Steve, do you have anything you’d like to trade?” asked Eliot.

  “I’m actually here because I can’t find my friends. Have you seen Max, Lucy, Kyra, and Adam?”

  “No, but there are rumors circulating about you in the village.”

  “What? What type of rumors?”

  “Someone told me you’re a griefer.” Eliot spit the words out slowly as if he regretted saying them.

  “Me?” Steve couldn’t believe it.

  Eliot nodded.

  “But if I was a griefer, why would I blow up my own wheat farm? It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I said the same thing. But some people started saying you did that in order to trick everyone,” said Eliot.

  “There’s only one way to solve this. I have to find the griefer to prove that I’m innocent. And I also have to find my friends.”

  Steve left the shop, and as he walked through the village he could hear people talking about him. Everyone thought he was the griefer. He had to find Thomas. He had to find his friends. He had to save Henry. And he needed his diamond sword!

  Steve sprinted toward the farm. Rufus barked and Snuggles meowed; they were happy he’d returned. At least they don’t think I’m the griefer, Steve thought as he searched through the remains of his burnt home, looking for his friends. Then Steve remembered the TNT. He didn’t want to leave the bricks in Adam’s house; the griefer could steal it.

  Steve made his way toward Adam’s house. The door to the house was open. Steve walked in slowly, but screamed “Ugh!” as he fell into a hole.

  “We did it!” He heard Lucy calling out happily, “We trapped the griefer!”

  Lucy, Max, Adam, and Kyra stood by the hole and looked down.

  Kyra loo
ked at Steve. “It’s not Thomas!”

  “Steve!” said Lucy, “Where’s Henry?”

  Steve climbed out of the tunnel. “I found him, but he’s in a bedrock room and I can’t break through.”

  “We have to save him,” said Max.

  “I know,” said Steve, “Where were you guys?”

  “We were here. We tried to call to you, but you sprinted out of the house so quickly you didn’t hear us,” said Lucy.

  “Have you seen Thomas?” asked Steve.

  “No, but someone is telling everyone that you’re the griefer,” said Kyra. “And we think it’s Thomas.”

  “I know, I was in the village and Eliot told me that everyone believes I’m the griefer.”

  “We tried telling them you’re innocent. But they want somebody to blame,” said Kyra.

  “We need to find Thomas,” said Adam.

  “We’re going have to split up,” said Steve. “Because we can’t leave the TNT. Who wants to help me save Henry?”

  Max immediately said yes.

  Steve and Max set off toward the tunnel, suited up with armor and carrying swords. Weighed down with armor, the walk seemed longer than normal.

  “We have to walk quickly. It’s almost night,” said Steve.

  “I know. We also have to watch out for hostile mobs,” warned Max.

  As evening began to set in, Max shouted, “Skeletons!”

  Steve saw four skeletons in the distance.

  One of the skeletons shot an arrow at Steve and Max, but they ducked and it fell to the ground.

  Steve took out his sword and charged toward two skeletons, narrowly missing a blow from one of the gray, bony, hostile creatures as he plunged his sword into the second one.

  The sound of bones rattled with each blow. Max and Steve were outnumbered and had to use all of their skills as swordsmen to survive the battle.

  Max’s diamond sword was powerful and he destroyed one skeleton with a single stroke. But Steve was struggling as he fought with his gold sword. The hits weren’t as strong and the battle was exhausting. He needed to save his energy; he had to rescue Henry.

  As the skeleton shot an arrow at Steve, Max hit the arrow with his diamond sword, saving his friend. Max then hit the last skeleton and it was destroyed. They were left with arrows.

  “You saved me.” Steve said to Max.

  “That’s what friends are for. And now we’re going to save Henry!” Max said as they walked toward the tunnel.

  As the two approached the tunnel, they kept a careful watch for hostile mobs that spawned at night. Steve felt more secure with each step they took toward the tunnel. Once they were underground, they would be closer to saving Henry and finding Thomas. As much as Steve wanted to save his friend, he also needed to prove his innocence.

  Steve and Max entered the burnt down house and were ready to jump into the tunnel. They looked for the tunnel’s entrance, but there was no hole in the ground. The tunnel wasn’t there.

  15

  THE WALL

  “Where’s the entrance?!” Max asked as he looked at the ground.

  “Thomas must have filled it in with dirt.” Steve said as he took a pickaxe and struck the ground.

  “What should we do?”

  Steve started digging into the ground. “We need to dig; we have to find the tunnel.”

  Max and Steve dug deep into the ground but they couldn’t find the tunnel’s entrance.

  “Do you think we should use TNT?” Max asked as they dug.

  “I think we’ll find it. We just have to dig a little deeper.” He paused. “Do you hear that?”

  There was a sound of flame igniting.

  “A creeper!” Max yelled as the two sprinted out of the house.

  The creeper blew up in the house, while Max and Steve watched in the distance.

  “Wow, that was close!” said Max.

  “I know!” Steve agreed as they walked back toward the house to search for the tunnel’s entrance.

  “Look down,” said Steve as they stood by the hole they had been digging.

  Max looked down. The creeper’s explosion revealed a patch in the ground that led to the tunnel’s entrance.

  “We’re going to find Henry!” Steve said as they both jumped into the tunnel.

  “Henry,” Max’s voice boomed through the tunnel.

  “Max!” Henry’s voice sounded hopeful and excited.

  “We’re going to save you!” said Steve. “Keep talking so we can find you.”

  Henry talked nervously, “I’m here. I’m standing by the hole in the wall. I can hear you guys. You’re very close.”

  Steve stopped. He could see a hole in the wall. “I found you!”

  Max and Steve started to bang against the wall trying to break through to the other side. Dirt piled up, and they could see Henry’s face.

  “Guys!” Henry peeked out from his side of the wall, “It’s almost big enough for me to crawl through.”

  The duo worked hard breaking down the wall. They were almost done when they heard someone in the tunnel.

  “What’s that?” Max asked and stopped tearing down the wall.

  “I think it’s the griefer,” said Henry. “He usually feeds me apples. I’m sure he’s bringing me food.”

  Steve looked at the wall, “Henry, try crawling through. If you squeeze, you can make it.”

  Henry held his breath as he attempted to squeeze through the narrow hole in the wall. “I think I can do it!”

  The griefer’s footsteps were growing louder. Steve was trying to think of a plan for their impending confrontation with Thomas.

  Henry fell through the hole and landed in front of his friends. It was a brief and joyous reunion. Within seconds they would be faced with the griefer.

  Henry, Max, and Steve stood quietly by the hole, trying to hide themselves from Thomas.

  As Thomas approached the hole, Steve and the gang jumped in front of him.

  “Shocked to see us?” asked Steve.

  Thomas sprinted down the tunnel and they chased after him. The group was close on Thomas’s trail, but in seconds he had vanished.

  “He disappeared!” Steve screamed.

  “How did that happen?” asked Max.

  “Thomas created these tunnels,” said Henry, “and he knows every inch of them. We have to get out of here quickly. I’m sure he has this entire tunnel booby-trapped. We aren’t safe here.”

  They sprinted toward the exit. When they reached the end of the tunnel, they looked up and the hole was gone.

  “How are we going to get out of here?” asked Henry.

  Steve saw a door at the end of the tunnel, “I think we should open the door.”

  “No, it could be another trap. I don’t want to be stuck in another bedrock room,” said Henry.

  “We have no choice. We’re going to have to open that door or we’re stuck here,” said Max.

  They held their breath, scared of what they might find on the other side of the door.

  Max put his hand on the door and slowly opened it.

  They could hear voices. They were deep under the ground and they had to climb their way out of the hole.

  The voices got louder. When they finally reached the top of the tunnel, they were shocked to see where they were. They had emerged behind the stack of TNT bricks in Adam’s house.

  Steve walked out from behind the stack of TNT toward the living room and called out for his friends.

  “Steve!” Lucy called out.

  Max and Henry entered the living room and the group let out a cheer. They were reunited with their friend.

  Steve ended the celebratory reunion when he asked, “Did you know the griefer built a tunnel behind the TNT?”

  “No,” Adam was shocked and walked into the bedroom.

  The others followed him. As they stood by the TNT, they carefully inspected the large hole the griefer had dug.

  “When did he build this?” asked Max.

  “We never left
the house. Maybe he did it while we were sleeping,” said Adam.

  “He’s very tricky,” Kyra said. “I never heard him while we were sleeping.”

  “There is no doubt that he’s tricky. Look at how much he’s done to us,” said Lucy.

  Adam looked at the TNT and began counting the blocks.

  “What’s the matter, Adam?” asked Steve.

  “I think some of the TNT is missing.”

  Lucy looked at the stack of TNT. “You’re right. A few blocks are missing.”

  “I wonder what he’s going to do with it?” asked Kyra.

  Boom! The sound of an explosion was heard in the distance. The group sprinted outside to see what the griefer had destroyed.

  16

  THE GRIEFER

  “No!” Steve looked at his ruined wheat farm. Thomas had blown it up again.

  “After all that work trying to get seeds,” said Kyra.

  “At least now people won’t think I’m the griefer,” said Steve. “Why would I destroy my own property twice?”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Adam. “The villagers might think you’re playing a trick.”

  Steve knew Adam was right and wanted to clear his name. He had to find Thomas. There was no other option.

  “We need to trap Thomas,” Steve told them. “I have to clear my name.”

  Steve and the group sprinted back to the house. They didn’t want Thomas getting his hands on any more TNT.

  As they entered the house, they could hear a noise in the bedroom.

  “It’s Thomas!” said Adam. “Let’s catch him.”

  But they weren’t quick enough. Thomas made his escape by jumping down the hole.

  “Don’t follow him!” Steve told them. “It’s better if we make our plan here. If we go down to the tunnel, Thomas has the advantage because he knows all of the hiding places.”

  “He can trap us down there,” added Henry. “He did it before.”

  Deciding on a plan wasn’t easy. Everyone had their own opinion.

  “I think we should hide the TNT all over Adam’s house and we’ll trap Thomas as he searches for it,” said Kyra.

  “I think we shouldn’t sleep because Thomas seems to work at night,” suggested Max.

  But when Adam spoke, Steve and the gang stopped talking and listened. “I think we should use the potion of weakness and have him confess. I know you all want Thomas to pay for his crimes, but Thomas is one of my best friends and there has to be a reason for all of this trouble.”