For some reason, this last door seemed more dangerous than the rest, as if it held back a flood that was about to crash down upon them.
“Maybe they didn’t put a lot of guards in these towers because whatever is waiting for us within the castle can take care of itself,” Digger said as he caught up to them and slowly approached the door, Tux held tightly under his left arm. “Maybe only someone insane would want to go in there.”
“Someone insane? That sounds like Gameknight999,” Hunter said with a chuckle.
“Something lies within the White Castle, waiting, yes, yes.” Empech said. “Something unnatural.”
“What is it you sense?” Crafter asked the strange little gnome.
“Yeah, what’s waiting for us?” Woodcutter asked.
Empech closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating. But when he opened them, those dark blue gem-like eyes looked terrified, as if he could somehow sense his own destruction. He glanced at Gameknght999 and placed his three-fingered hand on his wrist.
“An ancient creature waits, yes, yes,” the gnome warned, his high-pitched voice barely a whisper. “It is very dangerous, and angry, yes, yes … very angry.”
Empech reached into his inventory and pulled out the magical fishing pole, its long shaft reflecting the glow from the moonworms, the golden fishhook pulsing with light as if it had a luminous heartbeat.
“What are you gonna do with that?” Stitcher asked.
“Ahh … what?” the gnome replied, seeming dazed, as if coming out of some kind of trance. He stared down at the magical weapon in his hands, a surprised expression on his gray face. “Empech does not know.”
Glancing up at Gameknight999, Empech stuffed the weapon back into his inventory and pointed to where a sickly green glow flashed from within the User-that-is-not-a-user’s inventory.
Reaching into his own inventory, Gameknight drew out the Lich King’s magical wand. The pale bone handle glowed in the fluorescent yellow light, the emerald tip pulsing as Empech’s fishing pole had, alive with power.
“The zombie scepter senses danger for the wielder. Empech can feel its power growing.”
The User-that-is-not-a-user stared at the wand in his hands, then tucked it away into his inventory.
“It is not clear if the zombies conjured by that wand will be friend or foe,” Empech said. “Use of it should only be done in the most dire of circumstances, yes, yes.”
Gameknight nodded.
“So, you didn’t say what you thought was in the White Castle, Empech,” Stitcher said, the tone of her voice almost accusatory. “No more riddles. Tell us something useful, or get out of the way.”
The gnome glanced up at Stitcher with a sad look in his crystalline blue eyes.
“The vengeful one wants to know more, yes, yes?”
“Yeah … I want to know more.” A scowl covered Stitcher’s face.
“Very well. What is waiting for all of you is a choice.” Empech said, his high-pitched voice soft as a whisper but as hard as steel. “Someone must make a choice. Life … or death.” He turned and pointed one of his fat gray fingers at Stitcher, then moved it across the others in the party. “One of you will make the choice, and all will suffer the same fate. That is what Empech senses … yes, yes, that is what Empech knows.”
Gameknight glanced at Crafter and shuddered as cold fingers of dread began to crush his soul.
“Then let’s do it,” Stitcher snapped.
Casting a worried glace to all of his companions, Gameknight reached out and placed a hand on the door, causing the wooden tiles to slowly disappear.
CHAPTER 28
SECRET ENTRANCE
Entity303 moved to the stone house that stood on the gray plateau, far from any of the white towers that stretched high into the air. His heart still raced a bit after flying over the thorn forest. Gliding to the castle had worked perfectly, but the destination had been a little farther than he’d expected. With his altitude decreasing, Entity303 had just barely made it to the stone plateau, landing on the very edge and almost falling into the deadly brambles. The foolish villager had found it funny, but after Entity303 had poked him with his sword, his laughter quickly evaporated.
A clattering of bones came from the rocky structure. The user knew it was a skeleton druid’s house, but he hadn’t seen any of the monsters yet. Likely there would be some nearby, brewing their poisons or looking for innocent creature to infect. They were pathetic creatures and he wasn’t concerned.
Just then, one of the bony creatures stuck its head out the window; it had probably heard their footsteps. Entity303 fired his yellow-glowing infused bow at the monster, then fired a second arrow quickly. The two projectiles ended the creature’s life almost instantly.
Pulling on the rope that was still wrapped around Weaver, he moved quickly into the house. What looked like a small metallic cage hung from the ceiling. Within the enclosure, a smaller version of the skeleton druid spun around as sparkling embers flashed about the edges.
It was a spawner.
Entity303 pulled out a pickaxe and quickly shattered the device, then turned his pick on the fireplace. A piece of netherrack sat burning within the structure, surrounded by red bricks. He put out the flames, then broke the rusty netherrack, revealing a tunnel below the fireplace that plunged downward into darkness. Digging up more blocks, the user exposed a set of stairs that extended into the depths of the plateau, heading in the direction of the White Castle.
“I put this here where I reprogrammed this mod,” Entity303 said. “Not only did I capture a little surprise for your friends, but I also made this little secret entrance, just in case I needed it.”
“It won’t do you any good,” Weaver said. “Smithy and his friends are gonna catch you eventually. You’re gonna lose, and I’m gonna love watching it.”
Entity303 yanked on the rope, causing Weaver to fall to the ground.
“We’ll see, villager. Now go down the steps or I’ll give you a little taste of poison.”
The NPC glanced up at the massive White Castle through the open window and sighed.
“You won’t find your friends out there. They’re likely finding their way through the towers. That is, if they even made it through the thorn forest.” Entity303 moved up to Weaver and pulled him to his feet. “Maybe they’re already dead…. that would be disappointing. I really wanted to watch their destruction. Hopefully one of them will survive. My little pet down there in the castle is very excited about meeting them.”
“You’re a monster,” Weaver growled angrily.
“Ha, you don’t know what a monster really is. But you’ll soon see a real monster in action when it destroys whatever is left of your friends. This is going to be fun.”
Weaver sighed again, then moved down into the dark stairway. Entity303 followed close behind, placing torches on the walls as they descended.
“I’m looking forward to this battle,” Entity303 said to the darkness. “Not even the great Gameknight999 will be able to overcome what I have in store for him.” He laughed cruelly, anticipating his enemy’s defeat.
They followed the gloomy stairway downward until it ended in a large square chamber that was brightly lit with torches. Three of the walls were made of cobblestone, but the fourth was something different: pure white, just like the castle overhead, the torches in the room making it appear as if it were glowing. The white wall had a door set in it, but this door was made of small wooden tiles, each adorned with red lines forming concentric squares.
“What’s that?” Weaver asked.
“That’s our way in,” Entity303 explained. “I couldn’t program it so my secret stairway would go into the castle, but I could bring it to this hidden door.” He moved closer to the entrance. “You see those red lines? I’m gonna make them turn green.”
“So what?” Weaver sounded confused.
“So if they turn green, then that means your foolish friends have unlocked the castle.” Entity303 laughed. “Then we can just
walk in without needing the three trophies.”
He reached into his inventory and pulled out two splash potions. He threw one onto Weaver, then dropped the other on himself. Instantly, they vanished.
“That’s better,” the evil user said. “Now, let’s get inside and watch my monstrous creation devour your friends. Ha ha ha ha …”
Reaching out with an invisible hand, Entity303 pressed on one of the door tiles, causing the red lines to turn green and then disappear one after the other, a popping sound accompanying each.
“Come on, villager.” He yanked on the rope. “We don’t want to miss the show!”
Entity303 and Weaver moved into the dark passage, the sound of angry monsters filling the air.
“Be careful, Smithy!” Weaver yelled. “It’s a trap.”
His voice echoed off the dark stone walls, causing the moans and growls to stop for just an instant, then continue, now sounding even more vicious.
“Ha ha ha …” Entity303 laughed as they walked through the glowing dungeons of the White Castle, toward the trap that had been laid for Gameknight999 and his friends.
CHAPTER 29
CAVE TROLL
The castle had an old, musty smell, as if no one had been in the building for centuries. Dust covered the ground and rose in tiny puffs as they walked, making Gameknight want to sneeze, the stale dusty air biting at the back of his throat.
By the delayed echo of their footsteps, Gameknight could tell the room, though cloaked in darkness, was massive. He placed moonworms on the ground as they moved along the perimeter of the huge chamber.
“Look at these columns,” Crafter said.
The young NPC had a torch in his hand and was standing away from the wall, the golden circle of light illuminating the space around him. A gigantic square column stood before him stretching high up into the air, its size making the villager seem even smaller. It was pure white, like everything else in the castle, its top disappearing into the dark shadows high overhead.
“There’s a stairway over here,” Hunter called out, her voice echoing off the walls and sounding as if it were coming at them from all sides.
Gameknight scanned the chamber. Hunter was standing at what seemed like the center, the illumination from the torch in her hand making the crimson curls that fell around her shoulders glow red with a magical luster. Before her stood a huge stairway that was maybe a dozen blocks wide, an ornate bannister along each edge.
“There are stairs going up and another flight going down,” she added.
“I think we go down,” Gameknight said. “Entity303 can’t control the roof very well, but he can control the dungeons. I’m sure he has something bad down there waiting for us. I just hope we can get there before he does.”
The companions gathered around Hunter, then went down the stairs together. Gameknight led the way with a group of wolves at his side, Herder right behind, constantly directing the animals. The moonworms stuck easily to the stairs as they descended, casting fluorescent green circles of light on the steps, making it easy for the others to see where they were going.
At the bottom of the stairway, they reached another set of the doors with red circles. Stitcher moved forward and raised a hand to touch the square wooden tiles.
“Not yet, Stitcher,” Gameknight warned. “Let everyone get into position.”
She gave him an angry scowl, then backed away from the door and stood on the group’s left side. Hunter took the right side, with Crafter and Gameknight in the middle. Behind them stood the wolves and Herder, who was ready to send them into battle. Woodcutter and Empech stood at the back with Digger in the center, Tux still cradled in his arms.
“Everyone ready?” Gameknight asked.
They nodded.
He reached out and touched the door, then pulled back and drew his diamond sword. As with the others, the wooden tiles slowly evaporated one after another, each popping when they disappeared.
Sprinting through the chamber, the User-that-is-not-a-user used the Moonworm Queen to place squirming, glowing worms on the walls and floors. The room was gigantic, and, like the last one, was just too large to fully illuminate with the glowing insects, so Gameknight only lit up the area around the door. Fluorescent green light pushed back the shadows nearby, but left the rest of the room bathed in darkness.
Then, a grumbling sound, like the rumble of an earthquake, filled the room. Huge footsteps pounded the floor as something heavy charged at them from the darkness. The thundering steps grew louder and louder, the ground shaking until Gameknight thought the quartz floor might shatter beneath them. And then a massive creature entered the circle of green light. It was a monster Gameknight had never seen, with pale green skin and thick arms that rippled with muscles. The monster had short, stout legs that seemed too small for its huge body, its feet moving in a blur. A large and bulbous nose, almost like a villager’s, dominated the creature’s face, with dark, deep-set, angry eyes on either side.
Stitcher turned and fired her flaming arrows at the giant. The magical flames instantly went out when the shafts hit the creature, the feathered ends sticking out of the monster’s muscular chest. Not slowing a bit, the behemoth reached up and broke the arrows off, then roared as it charged straight at them, balled fists flying. Gameknight swung his diamond blade at the creature, but it bounced off its green hide as if it were made of stone. With a swipe of its left hand, the creature sent the User-that-is-not-a-user flying, landing with a thud.
“Cave troll!” Empech screamed, his high-pitched voice cutting through the air like a knife.
The troll smashed into Stitcher, throwing her aside as if she weighed nothing. Crafter shot out of the darkness with his enchanted iron sword in his hand. The blade sliced across the monster’s stomach, making a sound like steel scraping against steel.
It had no effect at all. The cave troll was stronger and faster than anything the they’d ever battled. Their weapons seemed to be useless.
The monster brushed Crafter aside easily, and then turned to face Gameknight999, who now stood with both blades drawn. The troll advanced slowly, forcing the User-that-is-not-a-user to back up until he was trapped in the corner. With an expression of crazed hatred on its green face, muscles tensed like coiled springs ready to explode, the troll moved forward.
“Someone … HELP!” Gameknight shouted as he readied himself for destruction.
CHAPTER 30
THE PRICE OF POWER
Suddenly, a high-pitched scream echoed through the massive hall. Almost a blur, Empech streaked out of the shadows to stand in front of Gameknight999, his backpack jostling about on his back. He held his fishing pole out before him, the golden hook now glowing bright green.
“Stop … please,” Empech begged.
But the cave troll, now only four blocks away, continued its slow advance.
“Stop!” the little gnome pleaded.
The troll was now two blocks away.
“Empech, run!” Gameknight shouted, but the tiny creature stood his ground.
Then, suddenly, the gnome swung the fishing pole through the air, casting the line forward. The golden hook shot through the air like a bullet and caught in the monster’s thick hide. Colorful bolts of lightning streamed down the fishing line, enveloping the troll with sheets of sparkling, deadly energy.
The monster skidded to a stop, flashing red as it took damage. It bellowed a great, sorrowful howl that was filled with such pain and despair it almost hurt to hear. But then, the monster’s cries of agony were joined by screams from the gnome. Empech cried out, his voice filled with terrible suffering, as he flicked the rod again, causing more bolts of magical, crackling power to run down the fishing line and envelop the beast.
“Hunter, Stitcher … attack!” Gameknight shouted.
He pulled out his enchanted bow and fired at the massive beast. The arrows struck the monster, making it roar in pain. More arrows from the other members of the group streaked out of the shadows and struck the giant, b
ut with each shaft that hit the troll, Empech screamed in anguish as well. The tiny gnome fell to his knees, but kept the pole leveled at the monster, which now stood only a block away.
The cave troll flashed red again and again as more arrows struck the creature. Empech’s magical fishing pole continued to pump more of its magical bolts of destruction into the monster. The huge beast and Empech both screamed in pain repeatedly, their agonizing wails exactly synchronized. It was as if they were feeling the same thing.
Tilting its head upward, the cave troll stared at the ceiling, a look of confusion and despair on its green face. A terrible, sorrowful wail escaped its gaping mouth as its HP finally fell to zero. The monster disappeared with a pop, its cries of anguish still echoing in the room.
Empech collapsed to the ground, the sparkling magical weapon falling from his small gray hands.
“Empech, that was fantastic!” Stitcher exclaimed. “I don’t know what that fishing pole does, but it’s awesome.”
The little gnome struggled to his feet. When Gameknight reached his side, he saw tiny square tears streaming from his gem-like, blue eyes and down his gray, wrinkled face.
“Empech cannot do it again, no, no. Empech refuses,” he moaned as he wept.
“What is it, Empech?” Gameknight moved to the gnome’s side and put an arm around his narrow shoulders, supporting him as he wept. “What’s wrong?”
“Empech cannot … Empech will not,” the little gnome mumbled between sobs.
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