Finally, the spawner shattered. The remaining spiders, realizing their reinforcements would never come, retreated and scattered into the gray landscape.
Flaming arrows flew from the top of a tree, hitting one of the retreating monsters, then another and another until the spiders disappeared with a pop. The wolves shot after them, their white fur standing out against the drab landscape.
“Ha! I got one more!” Stitcher exclaimed.
“Let them go,” Gameknight shouted, then glanced at Herder. “Call the wolves back … let them go.”
He turned away from the boy, but heard the twang of a bowstring again. He glared up at Stitcher. She just smiled and leapt down from the tree.
With a sigh, he approached the tiny gray gnome. Instantly, the lethal fishing pole was pointed right at Gameknight’s chest.
“Just relax, I’m not gonna hurt you,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said. “I just want to cut away those spider webs.”
Crafter was suddenly at his side. The creature gazed at the NPC’s armor and could see the hem of his black smock sticking out from beneath the metallic plates, the gray stripe visible at his collar.
“That’s right, I’m a crafter,” he said. “We’re here to help.”
The gnome glanced at Gameknight999, then back to Crafter. He struggled to turn and look back at Woodcutter and Digger. The little creature wore a huge backpack that seemed to be made of leather or some kind of brown fabric, the edges of the pack catching in the webs and becoming more entangled. Turning back to face the User-that-is-not-a-user, the gnome nodded, his dark gem-like blue eyes fixed on Gameknight’s.
The diamond sword sliced carefully through the spider webs, destroying one block of the ensnaring white strands, then another and another until the tiny creature was freed.
Crafter reached out and offered his hand to the gnome, helping him to break free from the last few strands.
“There you go,” Crafter said. “You’re free now. We’re glad we came along and were able to help.”
“Plus we got to destroy some spiders as well,” Stitcher said as she bent over and picked up an arrow that had missed its target.
The creature glanced at Stitcher. A sad expression came across his gray face as if he was about to console her.
Crafter spoke again. “I’m Crafter, and this is Gameknight999.” He gestured to the User-that-is-not-a-user. “These are our companions. What kind of creature are you, and what is your name?”
“Pech … Empech,” the creature replied in a high-pitched voice. “Yes, yes … Pech, Empech.”
“What does that mean?” Hunter asked as she approached. She put away her bow, but still scanned the surroundings for more monsters. “Was that your name? Pech Empech?”
“Yes, yes … no, you do not understand. I am a pech. My name is Empech. I am one of the three guardians of Minecraft.”
“You’re a guardian of Minecraft,” Stitcher said with a laugh. “You didn’t seem to be doing a very good job trapped in that spider web.”
“Stitcher, be nice,” Hunter chided.
Stitcher rolled her eyes, then notched an arrow to her bowstring and turned to face the desolate, gray forest.
“You should know, child, it is not wise to judge someone by their size,” Empech said in a high-pitched voice. “Yes, yes … that is always a mistake.”
But Stitcher was no longer listening; she was scanning the dull gray forest, searching for something to shoot.
“The one in green … you pursue him, yes, yes?” the pech asked.
“Yes,” Gameknight snapped. “He had a villager with him?”
“Yes, yes … a prisoner,” the little gnome said in his high-pitched, almost squeaky voice. “Something wrong with the one in green, same as with you.” Empech stepped up to Gameknight and poked him with a stubby finger, then moved even closer and smelled him. “You are something else, yes yes, not of Minecraft.”
“He’s from outside of Minecraft, from the physical world,” Crafter explained. “But he’s helping us, as he has done many times, defending the land against the forces of evil.”
“A hero?” the pech asked.
“Well …” Gameknight stammered.
“A hero’s quest, yes yes, you are on a hero’s quest.”
“Exactly,” Crafter agreed. “We must save Weaver, the NPC prisoner, or bad things are going to happen to Minecraft.”
“Hero’s quest, yes, yes, Empech will help,” the little gray-skinned gnome said.
“We don’t have a horse for you,” Stitcher grumbled. “Unless you can run fast, you aren’t coming.”
“Empech does not need a horse, nor do you, child. Horses will be of no use, yes, yes, for your destination,” said the gnome, a knowing look on his gray face.
“Empech, what are you talking about?” Crafter asked. “Do you know where Entity303 and Weaver went?”
“Yes, yes, Empech saw them, he did.”
“Where?” Gameknight asked, pleaded. “Where did they go?”
The little pech stepped to the User-that-is-not-a-user, standing directly in front of him. He only came up to Gameknight’s chest, but his large leather backpack extended up over the little creature’s head; it seemed impossibly big for the pech.
Empech stared directly up at Gameknight999. The User-that-is-not-a-user was shocked when he looked down into the gnome’s deep blue eyes. Up close, they looked like magnificent rare gems and reflected his own image back at him, but his reflection was somehow distorted. He appeared frail and weak in those dark sapphire eyes, as if his body had withered with fear. Somehow, that reflection mirrored how he felt inside: guilty and weak for not protecting Weaver better.
Gameknight shuddered.
“Where did they go?” Gameknight asked again, this time his voice barely a whisper.
“They went to the forest, yes, yes,” the gnome said.
“The forest?” Hunter asked as she moved closer.
“Yes, yes, the forest,” Empech said again. “The Twilight Forest.”
“The Twilight Forest?” Gameknight moaned, then shuddered again. “How can that be? Are you sure?”
“Empech saw the portal in the ground, yes, yes.”
“Portal in the ground?” Crafter asked.
Putting away his sword, the User-that-is-not-a-user began pacing back and forth.
“The Twilight Forest is a modified version of Minecraft; a mod, as it’s called. If they went through a portal on the ground, then Entity303 must have added that mod to Minecraft somehow.” Gameknight began to pace back and forth. “That explains all these new biomes. Entity303 must have added additional mods to the servers. But why would he want to do that?”
“Who cares what that user did,” Stitcher complained. “Let’s just go get him.”
“I agree,” Woodcutter added.
Both Herder and Crafter nodded their agreement.
But Gameknight wasn’t so anxious to get into that modded Minecraft world. He’d played the mod once, and knew the monsters that waited for them in that forest. With only this small party of friends, he wasn’t sure if they could survive this. His heartbeat raced, cold beads of sweat dripped down his forehead, and, for the first time in Minecraft, Gameknight999 knew what it was like to feel complete terror.
CHAPTER 6
INTO THE PORTAL
“Are you sure the portal is this way?” Gameknight asked.
Empech nodded. “Yes, yes, it is this way. Empech can hear it.”
They walked quietly through the Ominous Woods, the dark soil, faded trees and poisonous rivers having quelled the morale gained from rescuing the tiny gnome. It was a desolate landscape that was filled with sadness and death.
“You can hear it?” Crafter asked.
“Yes, yes, Empech hears the music from the portal.”
“Ahh … like the music of Minecraft?” Gameknight asked.
The tiny gnome shook his oversized head. “The music of Minecraft has been gone for long time, yes, yes. Empech can
only hear faint echoes. That magic is gone from the land.”
“The Oracle?” the User-that-is-not-a-user whispered.
No one replied. The pech looked confused, as if he didn’t understand the question. Either they didn’t know whom he was talking about, or the answer was too painful to offer.
Gameknight stepped over a small, gray bush. His diamond boot brushed against the leaves, causing them to crumble, leaving behind just the stems as remains. It was a sad sight.
“This way, yes, yes. Empech can hear it louder.”
The tiny creature adjusted his large pack and marched up a small hill, moving next to Gameknight999. For a moment, he studied the gnome. He was just about half the height of a full-grown villager, with a head that seemed too big for his body. An oversized lower jaw stuck out from his face, with tiny white teeth sticking up. If they were sharp, they could have appeared terrifying, but with the pech’s diminutive size, there was nothing there that could be remotely scary. His eyes were a deep blue that almost appeared faceted, and again reminded Gameknight of rare gems. They were lit from within, causing them to glow ever so slightly and making them stand out against his completely bald, gray head. But when the pech looked you straight in the eyes, the reflection was sometimes unsettling, as Gameknight had learned first-hand.
Empech wore a forest-green shirt and pants, though the pants did not go all the way down to his ankles; they were closer to shorts than trousers. His feet had three stubby gray toes that reminded Gameknight more of an animal’s foot than a person’s … strange. His pack clanked and jingled as he walked, making everyone wonder what was held within.
“There, yes, yes,” Empech said.
Gameknight glanced in the direction the tiny gnome pointed with his fishing pole. On the ground, he saw a ring of flowers surrounding a small pool. But as he drew near, the User-that-is-not-a-user saw the pool was not filled with water. Instead, it was filled with the same sparkling sheen he’d seen a hundred times in a Nether portal. The lavender surface undulated and pulsed as if alive. When they drew near, the portal moved faster, somehow sensing their presence.
“This is the portal to the Twilight Forest, yes, yes.”
On the ground, Gameknight found a piece of yellow cloth. He instantly recognized it as part of his friend’s smock. He bent and picked it up.
“They were here. Look, this is from Weaver’s clothing.” The User-that-is-not-a-user held the yellow scrap up for the others to see.
“The wolves can smell the scent,” Herder added as he patted the thick fur of the alpha male, the pack leader. “They’re anxious to find this Entity303 and exact some justice.”
“And save Weaver too … right?” Gameknight asked.
“Oh … well, yeah, of course,” the lanky boy replied.
“We’re all anxious to save this villager, this friend of yours,” Crafter said.
“Weaver’s path is through that portal. I must follow. He is the key to getting Minecraft back to the way it was,” Gameknight said. “That boy must be put back into the past so that the timeline can be repaired, or I fear something bad will happen to all the servers.”
“Yes, yes, the land suffers,” Empech added. “There is evil at work, and it strains the fabric of Minecraft.”
Gameknight stared down at the little gray gnome and nodded, then turned his gaze to his friends.
“You need to know, there are dangers in there that none of you have ever faced,” Gameknight said. “I must follow them and free Weaver, but if you want to stay … I’d understand. But I don’t know if I can do this on my own.”
He cast his gaze upon all of the villagers, going from face to face until Gameknight’s eyes fell on Digger, the stocky NPC tilting his head to the ground.
Digger slowly looked up and stared at Gameknight.
“Topper would just about be the same age as Weaver,” Digger said softly, his gravelly voice cracking with emotion.
Crafter moved to the big NPC’s side and put a hand on his strong shoulder.
“It’s OK, Digger,” the young NPC said. “Maybe you should stay back, and, uh, guard the village.”
He shrugged Crafter’s hand off his shoulder, then took a step closer to Gameknight999.
“I couldn’t take care of Topper … I failed,” Digger said, his face creased with sorrow as a single square tear seeped from his solemn, green eye and tumbled down his cheek. “I’d rather die than fail like that again.”
“But Digger, what about your daughter, Filler,” Crafter said. “You have …”
The big NPC glared at Crafter, signifying the discussion was over. “I’m going.”
He moved away from the rest of the group and turned his back to them. Gameknight could see his shoulders shaking and knew Digger was weeping. He took a step forward to comfort his friend, but Crafter put up a hand and stopped him.
“Just leave him be.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening,” Gameknight said. “What’s this about Topper? Why is he so sad?”
“Well,” Crafter began, “you see … Topper … well …”
“We aren’t getting any younger here,” Stitcher interrupted. “The longer we mess around here, the farther ahead Weaver and your little friend, Entity303, gets. Let’s move.”
“Stitcher’s right,” Fletcher added in a deep voice. “We need to move fast so we can save that boy. Are we all going?”
They all slowly took a step toward the portal.
“All of you ready?” Gameknight said. He glanced to his left and found Digger at his side, his eyes slightly red.
“Then let’s do it,” Stitcher said.
And together, the companions stepped into the portal and disappeared from the Overworld.
CHAPTER 7
THE TWILIGHT FOREST
They appeared in a strangely lit forest. The blue sky of daytime had darkened, allowing the sparkling presence of the stars to just barely shine through. It was the twilight time, the passing of day into night or night into day, when the sun would normally be halfway behind the horizon. But rather than finding the sun sliced in half by the horizon, there was no sun at all, only the twilight sky and sparkling stars.
Around them fireflies floated about, their glowing yellow bodies moving through the forest like ethereal spirits. Some landed on the unusually tall trees that filled the forest, the light from their radiant bodies spilling out and coating the ground with a warm yellow illumination.
“What is this place?” Hunter asked.
“This is the Twilight Forest,” Gameknight explained. “It’s a modified version of Minecraft that Entity303 somehow added to the servers. I played it once, long ago, and only saw the smallest portion of the world.”
The villagers glanced around in amazement. Extraordinarily tall trees spread their long branches out in a canopy much like the roofed forest in the Overworld, except these trees were at least three to four times taller. Their cinnamon-brown bark was spotted with tiny silver dots that looked like thorns from a distance, but were really round splotches of metal embedded in the trees’ trunks. Lush green grass covered the ground right up to the bases of the trees, the blades waving the constant east-to-west wind.
Stitcher glanced around nervously while the other NPCs just took in the spectacular view.
“We must be careful.” Gameknight said. “You never know what’s hiding behind the bushes or trees.”
“So you’re saying there might be monsters around?” Stitcher asked with a smile.
“Well …”
Just then, an arrow zipped through the group, narrowly missing the young girl. Stitcher notched an arrow and fired so quickly, Gameknight thought at first she hadn’t even aimed. But a thunk came from the distance, coupled with a raspy cry of pain, and then she fired two more times, each arrow finding their target.
“One less skeleton,” she said, her head held high.
Zombies could be heard moaning in the distance, but they were too far away to be of any concern … for now.
“As I was saying … we need to be careful,” Gameknight continued. “There are more than just zombies, spiders, skeletons and creepers here in the Twilight Forest. There are also monsters that are far worse.”
“This is gonna be fun,” Stitcher said.
Gameknight just rolled his eyes, though inside he was still worried about Stitcher’s new personality.
Just then, a majestic howl cut through the chilly air, shattering the peaceful silence of the forest. Gameknight jumped as the sound startled him.
“The wolves have picked up the scent of Weaver and Entity303 again,” Herder said, his voice resonating with pride in his animals.
“Then let’s get moving.” Stitcher paced back and forth like a caged animal, anxious to catch her prey. “The longer we stand here, the farther ahead they get.”
“Right, let’s …”
Suddenly, a screech came out of the trees. Gameknight drew his sword and turned toward the sound just as a brown creature with a long tail streaked by, its claws scraping his diamond helmet.
“What was that?” Digger exclaimed.
“Flying monkey,” Gameknight replied. “We aren’t in Kansas anymore.”
“What are you talking about?” Hunter asked, then fired an arrow up into the air at a passing blur, missing her target.
Twang … Twang!
Stitcher’s bow sang as she fired two quick shots. The screeching changed into a howl of pain, and then silence.
“That’s how you do it,” she said as she glanced at her sister, a satisfied smile on her small, square face. “It’s not a flying monkey anymore.”
“She takes too much joy in that,” Gameknight said to Crafter in a low voice.
“What’d you say?” Stitcher demanded.
“Nothing,” Gameknight replied. He glanced at Crafter, a worried look in his eyes.
“Let’s get moving,” Woodcutter said.
“Wolves … follow,” Herder said, his voice cutting through the quiet landscape like sharp steel.
The wolves led them through the magical forest. Gameknight had forgotten about the many incredible things in this mod. Many of the strange animals stared at the intrepid adventurers, daring them to come close. There were deer with huge racks of antlers, some of the animals locking horns with their rivals. A group of boars, like large and mean-looking pigs, walked across their trail. The dark brown animals breathed heavily as they stood their ground, their white tusks somehow gleaming in the dim light of the forest. He couldn’t remember if these animals would become hostile if provoked, so Gameknight recommended they steer clear. They moved around the group, the wolves keeping a watchful eye on the boars.
Terrors of the Forest Page 5
