The Wither Invasion

by Mark Cheverton

  Suddenly, a loud crack filled the air; as if a bolt of lightning had just flashed next to his ear. The hair on Watcher’s arms stood up on end, goose bumps following quickly.

  And then, as quickly as it started, the pain stopped.

  Watcher collapsed, falling into a heap at Blaster’s feet.

  “Planter, are you alright?” Fencer’s nearby voice sounded frantic.

  “Watcher … are you dead?” Blaster knelt at his side and shook him gently.

  Turning his head, Watcher slowly opened his eyes. The first thing to greet him was Blaster’s smiling face.

  “He lives!” Blaster glanced at Fencer. “How’s Planter?”

  “She’s alive as well.” Fencer helped Planter to her feet, Blaster doing the same for Watcher.

  “What happened?” Planter asked.

  Watcher looked down at the battlefield. Every monster was now gone—even the sleeping ones had woken up and wandered off, free from Krael’s evil magical influence. The NPCs were helping the wounded, giving out potions of healing as they headed back into the ancient structure.

  “I don’t see any monsters.” Planter turned toward Watcher and glared at him. “Did you kill them all? Even though I told you not to, you did it anyway. I can’t believe you—”

  “Not all are dead,” a high-pitched voice said, and Kobael floated up from behind Planter, still looking scared. “I can hear other monsters in the forest, but not the distorted ones in Krael’s army, just normal zombies and spiders.”

  “So, you mean …” Planter turned back to Watcher, awareness growing on her face.

  Suddenly, Er-Lan climbed onto the top of the ladder, a relieved expression on his scarred face. He moved to Watcher and wrapped his green arms around the boy, squeezing him tight.

  “Watcher took it away.” The zombie turned toward Planter, tears of joy streaming down his scarred face. Er-Lan smiled. “He took it all away.”

  Planter glanced at Er-Lan, then turned back to Watcher, confused. “What is he talking about?”

  Before Watcher could answer, Cutter stepped off the ladder leading to the roof of the Tower and pointed at Er-Lan. “You see, I knew he was a warlock.” Cutter turned to Blaster. “Did you see what he did on the battlefield?”

  “Sure—I saw him save you, then save all of us.” Blaster put an arm around Er-Lan and smiled at him. “Thanks, Er-Lan.”

  “Yes, but I was right! Er-Lan was a warlock.” Cutter pointed his diamond sword at the zombie for a moment, but then tossed it off the tower. “And that warlock saved us.” Cutter moved a step closer to the zombie, then reached out and put a hand on the zombie’s shoulder. “Though I’m usually right, I’m not afraid to say when I’m wrong. Er-Lan … thank you.”

  The zombie smiled and nodded his scarred head. “Er-Lan is no longer a warlock, though.”

  “That’s right,” Watcher said. “There are no more wizards, no more warlocks, no more magical swords or possessed shields … it’s all gone.”

  “I don’t understand.” The big warrior glanced at Planter and Blaster, hoping for an explanation.

  Suddenly, a smile spread across Planter’s face as she realized what had happened. Looking down at her blue armor, she noticed that any kind of glow from it was gone. Grabbing the chest plate, she pulled it off her body and threw it off the tower joyfully. Quickly, she tore the rest of the armor off and tossed the rest of it to the ground far below, thrilled to be able to remove it, finally.

  Then she stepped closer to Watcher and reached out, taking his hands. They both stared down at their arms.

  “It’s really gone?” Planter stared into Watcher’s blue eyes.

  The boy nodded. “All this magic has caused enough trouble, so I used the Tower and got rid of it … all of it.”

  Blaster reached down and picked up Needle. “But what about these?”

  “The wizards in them are gone.” Watcher nodded his head. “I realized when I connected to the Tower that the wizards in those weapons truly just wanted me to destroy all the monsters. I think their purpose in sending their minds into those weapons wasn’t actually to help us in case the Great War broke out again; they just wanted—”

  “They wanted to continue the Great War,” Planter said in understanding.

  Watcher nodded. “They wanted me to use the power in the Wizard’s Tower to destroy all the monsters everywhere. Those wizards didn’t really want peace … they wanted victory at any cost. I wasn’t gonna allow that.”

  “Then what happened to the monsters?” Blaster asked.

  “I used Tharus’s Answer to create an answer of my own.” Watcher grinned. “I created a world in the Pyramid of Servers and sent all the withers and phantoms and distorted monsters there. They’ll finally have what they sought: a world of their own.”

  “But what about the NPCs there?” Fencer asked.

  Watcher shook his head. “There are no villagers, just monsters. They can live however they want, without any NPCs bothering them.”

  Planter smiled, then reached out and grabbed Watcher’s hand happily. “You did good.”

  “Well, I did what Mira told me just before she died. She said I …” A tear trickled from his eye. “I shouldn’t try to be something I’m not … I needed to be me. So rather than trying to destroy, I tried to create.”

  Watcher stopped and raised his hand in the air, fingers spread wide as he thought about everything the ancient wizard had taught him, and how much he’d miss her. The wolves on the forest floor seemed to sense his thoughts and gave off the saddest howls he’d ever heard. Glancing over the side of the tower, he found the surviving golems raising their iron hands in the air, the mechites doing the same. Watcher spotted Fixit far below and tried to smile, but before he could, more tears streamed down his face. He clinched his fist tight, squeezing all the grief and sorrow for those who fell during this war, their faces playing through his mind.

  Slowly, he lowered his hand, knowing everyone was lost in their sad thoughts.

  “I’m gonna miss Mira. I think—”

  “What’s going on up here?” a cheerful voice said, coming up the ladder protruding from the hole in the tower’s roof.

  “You’re such an idiot,” another voice said.

  Gameknight stepped off the ladder, then turned and offered a hand to Hunter.

  “I don’t need your help,” Hunter snapped. “I’m a capable, strong girl.”

  “Well … I just thought …”

  “No, you didn’t think, as usual.” She smiled jokingly at him and punched him in the shoulder, then took off her diamond helmet and set it on the ground, her long, curly red hair sparkling in the silvery light of the sun. “Obviously, they were having a solemn moment.”

  “Oh.” Gameknight’s cheeks turned a soft shade of red. “Sorry.”

  Watcher stepped forward. “That’s alright.” He extended a hand to Gameknight999. “I’m Watcher. Thank you for helping us out.”

  “Yeah … you’re pretty good with those two swords.” Cutter patted Gameknight on the back, almost knocking him over with his strength, but Hunter reached out and grabbed the back of his armor, keeping him from falling to the ground. “Oops.”

  “Where are you two from?” Blaster asked. “You just sort of appeared out of nowhere.”

  “Well, we’ve been in a lot of places and collected a lot of enchanted things.” Gameknight held out his hand for them to see that on one finger sat a sparkling ring, a blood-red stone at the center glistening under the starlight. “I knew something was wrong when the monsters in the Overworld stopped burning in the sunlight.”

  “We knew,” Hunter corrected with a scowl.

  “Yes, yes, of course.” Gameknight looked at the redhead and smiled. “We knew something was wrong, and we traced the disturbance back to here.” He held up his hand. “This is a teleportation ring a demon gave to me long ago. It allowed us to come here and help.”

  “A demon?!” Blaster drew one of his curved swords but then looked down a
t the blade in surprise; it no longer sparkled with magical power.

  “Don’t worry; Kahn is in a different dimension, helping a small demon rule their kingdom.” Gameknight lowered his hand. “This ring came from outside of Minecraft, sort of … from a mod.”

  “A mod?” Watcher glanced at Planter in surprise. “You think it still works now that magic is gone?”

  “Maybe.” Planter shrugged. “If it came from outside Minecraft, maybe it wasn’t affected by the Tower.” She turned to Gameknight999. “Hey, what was that ‘let’s dance’ thing?”

  Hunter rolled her eyes. “He likes having something to say to the monsters right before he fights.”

  “But doesn’t that just make the monsters angrier?” Fencer asked, confused.

  “EXACTLY! That’s what I’ve been telling him for a long time, but he thinks it gives him an edge.” Hunter smiled at the young girl, then moved a little closer to her and said, “I think he just likes showing off.”

  “Well, I can’t imagine anyone else ever doing that.” Planter turned to Watcher and laughed, teasing him.

  Hunter turned back to Gameknight. “It seems everything here is okay now; I think it’s time we went back home.” She reached out and took his hand, and Gameknight put an arm around her waist. He stared into her eyes for a moment, then smiled the most satisfied smile Watcher had ever seen.

  “You’re right, my dear. It’s time to go home.” Gameknight raised his hand in front of his chest.

  “Do we need to step back or anything?” Blaster asked. “I think I can speak for everyone here when I say that we don’t really like magic too much.”

  “True,” Fencer said, then moved to Blaster’s side, away from Gameknight and Hunter.

  Blaster looked at Fencer, then finally smiled and put an arm around her, pulling her close to him.

  “That’s nice,” Fencer said. Blaster just nodded, a huge, unabashed smile on his face.

  Planter glanced at Watcher and smiled.

  “You’re all ok there; just don’t touch us when it happens.” Gameknight glanced at Watcher. “Unless you want to go with us and see more of Minecraft. It would be dangerous—there’s a lot of problems out there that need fixing.”

  Watcher gazed at Planter, then shook his head. “Thanks, but everything I need is here, as long as I’m still welcome.”

  Planter shook her head, then moved to Watcher and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. “You’re such an idiot.”

  “I think all boys are idiots when it comes to their feelings,” Hunter said.

  The other girls nodded in agreement.

  “Okay, here we go.” Gameknight pulled Hunter in tight. “Just remember, everyone: life is an adventure and you need to live it to its fullest, but only if you’re true about who you are. You can try to lie to others and be who you aren’t, but you can’t lie to yourself.”

  “Wow, that’s really profound,” Watcher said, impressed. “Did you write that?”

  “Ha, tell ’em.” Hunter elbowed Gameknight in the ribs.

  “No, I didn’t write it.” He looked embarrassed. “I saw it on a cat poster once.”

  Hunter laughed, and the rest of the NPCs joined in.

  “See you in the future,” Gameknight said mysteriously. Then he pressed the bright red stone on the ring and the two were enveloped in a ball of light. When the glow faded, they were gone.

  “Watcher … you coming down, or are you gonna live up there?” a voice called from below.

  Looking over the edge of the Tower, Watcher spotted his dad and sister on the ground, the rest of the villagers gathered around them.

  “We’ll be down in a minute,” he shouted.

  “So … what do we do now?” Blaster asked, looking around.

  “We live.” Watcher patted his friend on the shoulder proudly, then glanced at Planter. “We plant crops. We raise animals and bake bread and build homes.” He looked at each of his friends. “We just live … in peace.”

  “And don’t forget about school,” a voice said from the ladder. Everyone turned and found Mapper’s head sticking up from the hole in the top of the Tower, his bald head almost glowing in the moonlight. “We have a lot of school work to catch up on.” Mapper smiled excitedly. “The zombie warlord interrupted the school year, but now we have lots of time to catch up on all that homework.”

  The kids all groaned.

  “I’m thinking that monster world actually sounds pretty attractive right about now,” Blaster said with a grin.

  “Thanks for volunteering, Blaster.” Mapper climbed up another rung on the ladder. “You’ll do the first book report.”

  Blaster sighed as the others laughed.

  Fencer put a comforting arm around him. “It’ll be okay … I’ll help you. Now come on, it’s time to get off this tower and go home.”

  They all filed down the ladder, leaving Watcher and Planter alone atop the Wizard’s Tower.

  “So … are we okay?” Watcher wasn’t looking forward to hearing the answer, but he had to know.

  “Well, you gave the monsters what they wanted, you saved all those villagers down there, and you got rid of all that magical stuff.” She moved closer and kissed him on the cheek.

  Instantly, Watcher blushed.

  “So we’re more than okay.” Turning, Planter stepped to the ladder and climbed down. Before disappearing through the hole, she gave Watcher one more beautiful smile, then slid down.

  “I guess everything is okay, then.” He glanced at the ground, then looked around. “But is anyone gonna help me with all these weapons and armor? Anyone?”

  “They’re your toys … you clean ’em up!” Planter’s laugh floated out the hole in the tower.

  The sound of her happy voice lightened his heart. Watcher moved to the edge of the tower and looked down, making sure no one was below, then kicked the weapons and armor off the Tower. The Gauntlets of Life, Needle, and the Flail of Regrets all shattered when they hit, as if they were made of glass.

  To the east, the sky blushed a colorful, rosy red as the sun peeked its bright, square face above the horizon. Its light painted the landscape with a warm crimson, causing the oak and birch trees to glow, as if they were lit from within. It was as if Minecraft was greeting Watcher with this spectacle to thank him for what he and his friends had done.

  “I think today is gonna be a great day,” he said, climbing down the ladder to join his friends, “at last.”

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  My son and I have built every redstone contraption that has appeared in every book I’ve written—from the massive TNT trap at the end of Invasion of the Overworld, to the TNT minecarts and popping TNT traps at the end of Destruction of the Overworld, to the TNT launcher in Chapter 27 of The Wither Invasion.

  This last contraption was so unique, I decided to put a video on Youtube so you could all see it … here it is: https://youtu.be/pIrE-CRE2Vg

  AVAILABLE NOW FROM MARK CHEVERTON AND SKY PONY PRESS

  THE GAMEKNIGHT999 SERIES

  The world of Minecraft comes to life in this thrilling adventure!

  Gameknight999 loved Minecraft, and above all else, he loved to grief—to intentionally ruin the gaming experience for other users.

  But when one of his father’s inventions teleports him into the game, Gameknight is forced to live out a real-life adventure inside a digital world. What will happen if he’s killed? Will he respawn? Die in real life? Stuck in the game, Gameknight discovers Minecraft’s best-kept secret, something not even the game’s programmers realize: the creatures within the game are alive! He will have to stay one step ahead of the sharp claws of zombies and pointed fangs of spiders, but he’ll also have to learn to make friends and work as a team if he has any chance of surviving the Minecraft war his arrival has started.

  With deadly endermen, ghasts, and dragons, this action-packed trilogy introduces the heroic Gameknight999 and has proven to be a runaway publishing smash, showing that the Gameknight999 series is the p
erfect companion for Minecraft fans of all ages.

  Invasion of the Overworld (Book One):

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-63220-711-1

  Battle for the Nether (Book Two):

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-63220-712-8

  Confronting the Dragon (Book Three):

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-63450-046-3

  AVAILABLE NOW FROM MARK CHEVERTON AND SKY PONY PRESS

  THE MYSTERY OF HEROBRINE SERIES

  Gameknight999 must save his friends from an evil virus intent on destroying all of Minecraft!

  Gameknight999 was sucked into the world of Minecraft when one of his father’s inventions went haywire. Trapped inside the game, the former griefer learned the error of his ways, transforming into a heroic warrior and defeating powerful endermen, ghasts, and dragons to save the world of Minecraft and his NPC friends who live in it.

  Gameknight swore he’d never go inside Minecraft again. But that was before Herobrine, a malicious virus infecting the very fabric of the game, threatened to destroy the entire Overworld and escape into the real world. To outsmart an enemy much more powerful than any he’s ever faced, the User-that-is-not-a-user will need to go back into the game, where real danger lies around every corner. From zombie villages and jungle temples to a secret hidden at the bottom of a deep ocean, the action-packed adventures of Gameknight999 and his friends (and, now, family) continue in this thrilling follow-up series for Minecraft fans of all ages.

  Trouble in Zombie-town (Book One):

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-63450-094-4

  The Jungle Temple Oracle (Book Two):

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-63450-096-8

  Last Stand on the Ocean Shore (Book Three):

  $9.99 paperback • 978-1-63450-098-2

  AVAILABLE NOW FROM MARK CHEVERTON AND SKY PONY PRESS

  HEROBRINE REBORN SERIES

  Gameknight999 and his friends and family face

  Herobrine in the biggest showdown the Overworld has ever seen!