Overworld in Flames

by Mark Cheverton

  The blazes that floated along the shoreline chuckled, the fire connecting their blaze rods flickering with laughter.

  “Lead the blazelings to the shoreline and let them feed,” the blaze king said. “We need these young ones to be strong and eager.”

  The general glided to the shoreline as he glared at the other blazes, many of them still laughing. He looked up at his king and gave him the best smile he could manage, seeing that he was being humiliated. Reaching the shoreline, the general moved out of the lava and across the netherrack ground until he floated next to his king.

  “You have done well, commander,” Charybdis said. “Consider your punishment complete. Perhaps next time you will not let a village survive when I order it destroyed.”

  “Yes, Sire,” the general said, obediently.

  “Come, my children, feed on the fires of the Great Lava Ocean,” Charybdis said to the newborns. “Let the heat of Minecraft and the magical powers of Herobrine make you strong, for the lava in which you were born is imbued with the Maker’s powers.”

  The small blazelings moved out of the lava ocean, the glowing liquid stone dripping off them and splattering onto the ground. They moved along the shoreline, then dipped their blaze rods into the lava and drank in the nourishing heat. Each began to glow brighter as their internal flames grew bigger and hotter. Lava dripped upward from the ocean, landed on their rotating blaze rods, and made them grow longer and longer—the young monsters became taller and stronger and hotter right before Charybdis’ eyes. He chuckled gleefully as he watched, his wheezing breath sounding like a robotic machine of terror.

  The blaze king then tore his dark eyes from the blaze hatchings and turned to the NPC prisoners.

  “I want more Nether quartz portals built … NOW!” he commanded. “Fifteen of them … and make it fast, before I lose my patience.”

  The slaves did not even bother to complain. They just picked up their pickaxes and shuffled forward. From the chest that sat nearby, each took out rusty blocks of Nether quartz ore, the white crystalline quartz shining brightly through the center of the cube. One of the villagers dug two holes in the ground and then filled them with Nether quartz. Two others started placing the blocks on top of each other, next to the two embedded cubes, forming a stack of four. A third villager placed blocks of netherrack beneath his feet as he jumped into the air. When he was high enough, he placed the cubes across the top, enclosing the rectangle.

  Quickly, the villagers scurried from the empty portal. They knew Charybdis would not wait for the NPCs to be safely away before lighting the magical doorway. Sure enough, a fireball from the monster hit the portal almost immediately after they were out of the way, the flaming explosion creating a thin sheet of flame across the Nether quartz ring.

  “Hurry, I want more,” Charybdis wheezed. “You are all pathetic and too slow. I should destroy all of you just for making me wait. Or maybe I’ll just throw one of you into the lava ocean to motivate the rest.”

  Instantly, the villagers began working harder, running from place to place so as to escape the blaze king’s scrutiny. Just for fun, Charybdis threw some fireballs near the NPCs. Two of them screamed out in fear, which made the king of the blazes laugh.

  “You see, General, that’s how you handle these villagers,” Charybdis said. “You need to be firm with them and let them know who is boss. Never let them believe that defiance is an option, unless they no longer wish to live.”

  The general nodded his head as Charybdis lit the next portal with his scorching white-hot balls of fire.

  “Watch over these idiotic villagers while I gather the rest of our forces,” the blaze king said.

  He floated away from the shoreline and unfinished portals and moved to a rectangular pen made of netherrack. Within the enclosure was his blaze-horse, a gift from Herobrine. The animal had been crafted at the same time that Charybdis himself had been created, and it had proven useful for moving across the Nether quickly.

  Gathering a ball of fire, he launched it at the side of the enclosure, blasting open one wall. The blaze horse, made just of blaze rods and fire, reminded Charybdis of a skeleton horse. The creature had no skin, no tissue or muscles. It was composed only of the glowing blaze rods, like the blaze king himself. But the horse’s blaze rods did not spin about like they did for Charybdis. Rather, they were fused together, serving as the creature’s skeleton, a wreath of flame surrounding each.

  The blaze-horse came to Charybdis’ side, instantly eager to please its master. The king of the blazes floated to the top of the creature and then settled atop its back. Once he was seated, his circulating blaze rods finally stopped.

  “We must find all our brothers, my friend,” Charybdis said to the large creature. “Let’s ride across the Nether and bring them all here.”

  The horse whinnied, causing plumes of flame to shoot out of its glowing nostrils, then bolted forward, streaking across the landscape. Nudging the creature with his motionless blaze rods, Charybdis guided the horse through the smoky landscape. He didn’t bother to avoid the many lava streams and pools, as they were as mother’s milk to the flaming beast. They splashed through the liquid stone, the heat from the fiery rivers nourishing horse and rider alike.

  As they rode, the blaze king called out to his subjects, commanding them to go to the Nether fortress. He knew they would need every monster they could assemble to finish the destruction of the Overworld, and at the same time, attack Gameknight999. Charybdis would not make the same mistake the other monster kings had: underestimating the User-that-is-not-the-user. He wanted overwhelming forces with him when he faced his nemesis to ensure total victory.

  Streaking across the Nether, the blaze king saw the word spreading. Blazes were flowing toward the citadel in droves, although the foolish zombie-pigmen continued their random walks across the burning landscape. The zombies barely have enough intelligence to form single words, the blaze king thought with a huff. Since the loss of Herobrine, the pigmen had been difficult, if not impossible, to control. They were useless to Charybdis.

  Spinning his flaming mount around, he headed back toward his Nether fortress. As he rode down a steep sloping hill, Charybdis could see the glowing forms of his subjects that had already arrived, waiting for their king around the still-unfinished portals. Very soon, he would have his massive army and would be ready for his assault against Gameknight999. But first, he had to make the Overworld suffer.

  Heading for the stone pen, the blaze king guided the horse to its enclosure, then leapt off when he was safely inside.

  “You did well, my steed,” Charybdis said to his blaze-horse.

  The creature whinnied, then moved to the small pool of lava and drank heartily.

  Causing his blaze rods to spin again, the king floated up into the air and moved across the smoky plain to his now-finished Nether quartz doorways. Drawing on his internal flame, he threw super-heated balls of fire at the portals, lighting them until a flickering sheet of fire was contained within each. Fifteen portals now glowed before him, each one linked to a different part of the Overworld.

  “I want a dozen blazes to go through each portal and destroy everything,” Charybdis said. “The NPCs will not know which way to look or where we will hit next. This distraction will give us time to assemble the rest of our forces.”

  He gazed down at his warriors. They all burned brightly with excitement and confidence, which pleased him immensely.

  “Once the area is destroyed, come back through the portal. This attack will draw the User-that-is-not-a-user to us, and we must be prepared for his arrival. We will surprise him with our massive army and crush him on the shores of the Great Lava Ocean. Now GO!”

  The eager blazes flared brightly as they whooshed through the portals. Charybdis wheezed and cackled with glee as smoke and ash began to stream back through the shimmering orange sheets and into the Nether—evidence of the destruction happening all across the Overworld.

  CHAPTER 23

 
GATEWAY OF FIRE

  They made it out of the creeper hive … but just barely. As they ran through the escape tunnel Oxus had showed them, the party was surprised by a group of three creepers.

  Not giving them a chance to react, Gameknight charged at the trio and attacked. Using his two swords, the User-that-is-not-a-user slashed at whichever creeper was trying to ignite, halting each one’s detonation process until all three monsters were destroyed. Unfortunately, they didn’t see that there was a fourth one hiding in the shadows.

  “There’s one more!” Stitcher yelled as the creature hissed. “Run!”

  They ran up the ascending passage, a wave of fur streaking past the four companions. And then the monster exploded. The blast and heat shot up the tunnel toward them, and the walls began to shake. The four companions leapt forward and fell to the ground, just escaping the blast radius.

  A cloud of dust billowed around them. Gameknight coughed and sat up.

  “Everyone okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah … that was close, though,” Stitcher said, dusting herself off. “A little too close, don’t you think?”

  “Hey, where are the animals?” Herder asked.

  A bark sounded from farther up the ascending tunnel. Drawing a torch from his inventory, Gameknight held it out in front of him. The circle of light pushed back the darkness, revealing the four of them; they were each covered in dust and dirt, and they were alone. No animals were near.

  “Where are my friends?” Herder said in a low voice.

  A tiny square tear tumbled down the boy’s face, clearing the dust and leaving clean traces on his square cheeks.

  “I’m sure they’re OK,” Stitcher said.

  “Maybe they didn’t make it out,” Hunter said.

  “No, I hear something up ahead,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said.

  With the torch held out before him, Gameknight walked slowly up the rising passage. Suddenly, spots of light appeared in the darkness; golden eyes were staring at the four friends out of the darkness.

  “What’s that?” Hunter asked as she notched an arrow and pulled it back.

  Herder reached out and pushed her arrow downward, then walked forward, a huge smile on his face. Out of the darkness came his “friends,” the cats and wolves having streaked through the passage just before the blast.

  “Are they OK?” Stitcher asked as the rest of the party walked forward and stood next to the young boy.

  Herder glanced about the passage and counted the animals, then sighed. Turning he gave his companions a huge smile.

  “They’re all here,” he said.

  Gameknight realized he had been holding his breath, and he gulped in some air as tension left his body.

  “I’ll be back,” he said.

  The User-that-is-not-a-user then ran down the passageway to inspect the damage. When he reached the explosion site, he could see the tunnel was completely blocked; piles of sand and gravel filled the space, blocking the creepers from reaching them. Turning, he returned to his friends.

  “The passage is blocked,” Gameknight reported. “No creepers will sneak up behind us … for now.”

  “Then let’s get out of here,” Hunter said.

  The group ran around the base of the volcano until they found their horses. Fortunately, the animals were still tied to the fence post Herder had placed in the ground. Not waiting for discussion or plans, the four friends jumped into the saddle and rode as fast as they could from the flaming mountain and the furious monsters that dwelled under the smoking peak.

  All of them knew they had to get back to Crafter’s village as soon as possible. With the three stacks of gunpowder, they could make almost two hundred splash potions of fire resistance; that would easily be enough to protect the NPCs against the fireballs of the blazes.

  But it would only be useful if they made it back in time.

  Pushing their horses hard, the companions traveled as fast as they could, the cats and wolves easily keeping pace. After an hour, though, the horses began to show some fatigue.

  “We need to slow down,” Gameknight said as he pulled back on the reins and shifted to a trot.

  His horse whinnied her appreciation.

  The others did the same, slowing to match Gameknight’s pace. They shifted from trotting to running to sprinting through the rest of the night and into the morning. When the sun rose in front of them, they were well through the desert, the tall watchtower of the desert village just barely visible off to the right. Ahead, Gameknight could see the tall spruces of the taiga, the leafy foliage frosted with a layer of snow. The biome seemed rich with life compared with the sparse desert. The trees reached high up into the air, as if trying to touch the sun.

  Suddenly, a column of smoke began to rise into the air.

  “Fire!” Gameknight shouted.

  He kicked his horse into a gallop and charged forward. As he rode, he pulled out his enchanted bow and notched an arrow. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see the sisters had done the same.

  Charging across the desert, Gameknight passed into the cold taiga after a five-minute sprint. The cold air shocked him, as he’d become accustomed to the dry, harsh environment. Now, the world was cool, with snow covering the trees and ground. The horses’ hooves made a curious crunching sound as they pierced the frozen layer.

  Gameknight followed the smoke through the trees. Glowing balls of fire were streaking down from overhead, exploding when they hit trees and the ground. The blazes were attacking the forest. The fastest way to the village was straight through the forest; they couldn’t afford to go the long way. They’d have to fight. He motioned for everyone to stop, and then came to a halt, circling back around to face his friend so that he could speak in a low voice and still be heard by the others.

  “Stay on your horse and keep moving,” Gameknight said. “Use your bows. Fire, then move, then fire again. If we stand still, we’re done for. Everyone understand?”

  The three NPCs nodded their heads.

  Gameknight could see that even Herder held a bow. Hunter or Stitcher had probably given it to him. It wasn’t likely he’d hit anything, but Gameknight thought it was good that he was there to add his arrows to their attack.

  Gameknight kicked his horse into a gallop and charged toward the glowing shapes in the sky. As he neared, he fired two quick shots at the closest airborne blaze. But he’d been too slow, for Hunter’s and Stitcher’s arrows had already hit it. Instantly, the creature flared bright and then disappeared as its blaze rods clattered to the ground.

  Turning quickly to the right, he found another target and charged. As he approached, Gameknight saw something glowing bright orange near the ground. Figuring it was another blaze, he drew his diamond sword and readied his attack. But when he was near, he realized it was another of those strange fiery portals he’d seen earlier. But this one was hundreds of blocks from the last one.

  How can this be? Gameknight thought.

  And then it hit him: the blazes could put a portal anywhere they wanted to.

  “Oh no,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said.

  “What’s wrong?” Hunter asked as she pulled up alongside her friend.

  “This is another blaze portal,” Gameknight explained. “It means they can place them anywhere they want in the Overworld. How can we stop an enemy that can appear anywhere … everywhere … at a moment’s notice?”

  “That means they might appear at our village any second!” Hunter exclaimed.

  “Finally, the pathetic NPCs understand that their destruction is near,” boomed a voice from overhead, interrupting them.

  Gameknight and Hunter both looked up to see a vicious blaze staring down at them. Hunter started to raise her bow, but another voice from behind stopped her.

  “I wouldn’t do that,” another monster wheezed.

  Gameknight glanced over his shoulder and saw two more blazes behind them. Then two more closed in on either side, completely surrounding them.

  “Stitcher
and Herder are still out there,” Hunter whispered. “When they fire, we’ll—”

  “Your friends cannot help you,” the blaze said, having overheard their conversation. “We have them trapped as well. You will be four new prizes for the king of the blazes. His current slaves are becoming too weak to be of much use anymore. I will bring him four new slaves, and he will be very pleased indeed. Now keep your weapons down, or the other blazes will be forced to fire upon you.”

  Gameknight and Hunter both lowered their bows to their sides and glared up at the monsters. Glancing around, the User-that-is-not-a-user knew he had to find a way out. He needed to get the information about the blaze portals to Crafter and his friends, but they were caught. There was no way to escape without being bombarded with fireballs.

  He glanced at Hunter and smiled.

  “Fighting is better than surrendering, right?” Gameknight whispered.

  “I’ve been in a cage before,” Hunter said. “I won’t go back again, not while I can still draw breath.”

  “But if we try to escape, they’re sure to open fire on us,” Gameknight said. “I doubt we stand much of a chance.”

  “Trying is better than quitting,” Hunter replied in a low voice.

  “Ok, then,” he replied.

  Fear pulsed through his veins as he thought about what would happen next, but he knew he had to try. After all, quitting wasn’t his thing. Gripping his bow tightly in his head, Gameknight999 steeled himself for the fiery attack about to rain down on them both.

  CHAPTER 24

  AN UNEXPECTED FRIEND

  Suddenly, snowballs flew up from the ground and smashed into one of the blazes. The icy spheres made the creature’s internal flame sputter and flicker and then, with additional hits, go out completely. The monster’s face took on a look of surprise, then terror, as its blaze rods fell apart and tumbled to the ground.

  With the other blazes shocked at the turn of events, Gameknight and Stitcher kicked their mounts into a gallop. They both brought up their bows and fired, and were instantly joined by more arrows streaking out of a nearby smoky cloud. Gameknight fired three quick shots at one blaze, while Hunter took out another. He knew the other flaming arrows were Stitcher’s and the normal arrows were Herders, but who was responsible for the snowballs?