Skeleton Battle

by Winter Morgan

  The laugh drew the attention of Victoria and Stefan, who hurried over from the middle of the campus, where they’d been battling zombies.

  “Liam? Is that you?” Stefan asked, stunned.

  “Yes, Stefan,” Liam announced. “I’m back, and I plan to destroy this academy.”

  “But why?” Stefan asked. “You were such a good student.”

  “It’s true that I was a very skilled fighter,” Liam agreed. “Now I’m even better.” Liam leapt at Stefan with his diamond sword and plunged the sword deep into Stefan’s chest.

  Eitan was battling three rainbow griefers when he saw Liam attack Stefan. He left his battle, sprinting over to the griefer and striking him with his sword, splashing a potion of harming on him with his free hand.

  Victoria pulled Stefan away from the fight and gave him a potion of healing; he took sips and watched Eitan battle Liam.

  Not wanting to just stand by and watch, Lucy recovered herself and struck Dylan with her diamond sword. Phoebe and Jane joined the battle, but just as Dylan was about to fade away, Lucy stopped them. “Wait! We don’t want to have him respawn in the cave. Isaac, please take him to the jail and place him in the bedrock prison.”

  Isaac walked a weak Dylan toward the jail as Eitan battled Liam.

  “You were one of my best students, and now you are one of the school’s worst enemies,” Eitan called out as he struck Liam again. “You still can’t defeat your teacher.”

  “Yes, I can,” said Liam as he hit Eitan. “And I will.”

  “You were always too confident.” Eitan struck Liam. “That was your weakness.”

  Liam had very little energy left. He hardly had the strength to stand up straight or hold his sword.

  Maya called out to Eitan, “I think we should put him in the prison.”

  “Never!” cried Liam, but the cry wasn’t very loud. “You’re very weak, Liam,” said Eitan. “With one more blow from my sword, you will be defeated. We can’t let that happen to you. We want you to stay here.”

  Maya and Lucy each grabbed one of Liam’s arms, walking him toward the jail.

  Lucy looked at Liam. “Well, the battle is almost over.”

  Liam chuckled weakly. “That’s what you think.”

  A roar boomed across the campus. Lucy looked up in terror. It was the Ender Dragon.

  Isaac cried, “No! I didn’t summon it!”

  Liam said, “But I did!”

  Chapter 17

  SWORDS AND ARROWS

  Victoria and Stefan looked up and scrambled to their feet, sprinting toward the Ender Dragon as its scaly wing hit one of the dorms, making a gaping hole on the side of the building.

  “That’s my dorm room!” cried Lucy.

  Liam cackled. “I wonder if your bed is safe, or if you no longer have a safe place to respawn.”

  Maya shouted at Liam, “We don’t want to hear anything from you.” She led him into the bedrock jail. As soon as the cell was locked, Maya and Lucy dashed out of the jail toward the vicious dragon that was flying across the campus.

  The dragon’s tail struck the dining hall and the side of the building collapsed. Lucy dove behind a pile of bricks from the rubble, shielding herself as she struck at the low-flying dragon with her sword.

  The dragon roared in pain and lost hearts. Lucy was pleased with her small victory, but the fight wasn’t over. Suddenly, Adam was by her side—he must not have respawned too far away. He handed her a snowball.

  “Thanks,” Lucy said. She knew it would be easier to hit the dragon with a snowball than to keep striking it with her diamond sword. Adam aimed his own snowball at the Ender Dragon, hitting its head.

  Lucy threw a snowball at the Ender Dragon and struck another place on the beast’s head. The dragon was losing energy, but it was still extremely powerful.

  “We have to keep weakening it!” Adam said.

  The Ender Dragon swept toward the ground, destroying two rainbow griefers with its wings.

  “At least it doesn’t know whose side it’s on,” remarked Lucy.

  “Yes, the dragon destroyed our enemy.”

  Victoria and Stefan struck the side of the Ender Dragon with arrows, and the beast cried out again.

  Lucy and Adam threw snowballs at the weakened dragon, then watched Phoebe, Jane, Maya, and Debbie sprint toward the dragon, striking the flying beast with their diamond swords. The Ender Dragon let out one final cry and exploded.

  Lucy was relieved, but she looked around the campus and saw several rainbow griefers attacking students. “We have to stop the rainbow griefers,” she called to Adam, already running into the fray.

  The duo raced into the center of campus and battled the remaining rainbow griefers. An orange griefer put up a hard fight. As Lucy struck him with her diamond sword, she said, “I don’t understand why you are still attacking people on the campus or even battling me. Your dragon has been destroyed and your leaders are in prison. Haven’t you learned your lesson?”

  “We promised to fight this battle to the end,” the orange griefer replied as he leapt at Lucy.

  Lucy delivered a final blow and destroyed the griefer. To no one, she said, “Well, it’s over now.”

  “Lucy, help me!” Adam called out. Two blue griefers were attacking him and his health bar was low.

  As Lucy sprinted over to Adam, she saw a horde of lanky Endermen spawn on the campus. Lucy looked up at the sky. It was nighttime, and she knew more hostile mobs were going to spawn soon. They needed to end this fight quickly.

  “Don’t look at the Endermen,” Lucy called out as she ran toward Adam. It was too late. One of the Endermen shrieked and teleported toward Phoebe, who cried for Lucy to help her. Lucy was torn. She knew that she couldn’t help both of her friends at once.

  Lucy looked over at Adam, who was surrounded by rainbow griefers. Lucy called out to Phoebe, “Run as fast as you can to the water! It’s right outside of the campus.”

  “Lucy!” Phoebe cried.

  But Lucy was already by Adam’s side. She struck one of the rainbow griefers and annihilated it. Her sword locked with that of the other griefer, and they struggled against each other. With his last strength, Adam grabbed a potion of harming and threw it on the griefer. While he was distracted, Lucy plunged her sword into the griefer’s chest, destroying him.

  She wiped sweat from her forehead and looked around. The griefer army had been defeated, but her friends weren’t safe. “We need to help Phoebe!” Lucy said as she ran toward the water. She had to make sure the lanky, block-carrying, teleporting mob didn’t destroy Phoebe.

  Lucy could see her friend just reaching the water. She called out, “Jump in! Fast! The Enderman is right behind you.”

  Phoebe jumped into the deep, blue water. Lucy was relieved, until she heard another Enderman shriek. It was teleporting and ready to attack Lucy. Lucy sprinted to the water, but she wasn’t sure she was going to make it. The Enderman was right behind her—she could feel its breath as it tried to grab her. She jumped in the water, and it splashed her face.

  When the Enderman jumped in after her and was destroyed, she swam toward Phoebe, and the two walked out of the water, Phoebe leaning on Lucy for support.

  “We have to watch out for other hostile mobs,” Adam said as he joined the two friends on the shore.

  “Yes, nighttime battles are very dangerous,” Lucy replied, stepping away from Phoebe.

  “Look out!” Adam called.

  Lucy turned around and spotted a creeper, but she was too late; it exploded, destroying Lucy.

  Lucy’s first feeling when she respawned in her bed was relief; it hadn’t been destroyed, so she was able to respawn on campus. Her eyes traveled from the gaping hole in the wall to Phoebe, who was standing next to her.

  “What happened?” asked Lucy.

  “It’s over. We won!” Phoebe smiled.

  Maya, Debbie, and Jane burst into the room. “We defeated the rainbow griefers!”

  “It’s still nighttime, so
we have to be very cautious,” Phoebe reminded them. “We could still be destroyed by hostile mobs.”

  Jane looked at the hole in the wall. “Yes. We have a hole in our wall, and that leaves us exposed. We have to fix it.”

  Maya said, “Amazingly enough, the Ender Dragon missed the other side of the building. I noticed there was a large empty room on that side. Would you like me to craft beds so we can all stay there?”

  Lucy exclaimed, “That’s a great idea. Let’s all head over there and we’ll help you.”

  The five girls quickly crafted and jumped into their new comfy beds, pulling the covers over their bodies.

  “Do you think there will still be auditions for the talent show tomorrow?” Debbie asked.

  “I’m sure there will be,” Lucy replied. “I’m looking forward to more planning. I have a lot of ideas for the show.”

  “Me, too!” added Jane. “I want to help design the set.”

  Thinking about their parts in the show and exhausted from the night’s hard battle, the girls drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 18

  GOOD FRIENDS

  In the daylight the next morning, Lucy and her friends were able to inspect the damage from the battle the day before. They walked past Lucy’s room, still filled with rubble. The center of the campus was destroyed, and there was a large hole in the ground.

  “What is that hole?” Lucy walked over to inspect it, “Looks like it was created by a TNT explosion.”

  Phoebe explained, “Last night, Jane and I used blocks of TNT to destroy a large portion of the rainbow griefer army.”

  Maya added, “You should have seen them fight the griefers. They are real warriors.”

  Lucy smiled at Phoebe and Jane. She was impressed with their skills. “You guys saved Minecrafters Academy.”

  “No,” Phoebe clarified. “We all saved Minecrafters Academy.”

  Stefan and Victoria stood outside the dining hall and greeted all the students, thanking everyone for helping keep Minecrafters Academy safe.

  Stefan approached the girls, “We’re moving ahead with auditions for the talent show today, as planned, and I hope you will all attend the planning meeting right after. We don’t have a lot of time to plan the event, so we need everyone there to help. We are meeting outside on the lawn, since we are in the process of rebuilding the hall.”

  “Of course,” Lucy replied. “We can’t wait.”

  When they entered the dining hall, Adam waved and walked over to Lucy. “I’m so psyched the battle is over.”

  “Me, too,” Lucy said. “I feel better knowing that Liam and Dylan are in jail.”

  “And Isaac,” added Adam.

  Lucy’s jaw dropped. “Wait, Victoria and Stefan put Isaac back in the prison? But he’s changed! We have to get them to let him out—it’s not safe for him to be there with Liam and Dylan.”

  Adam agreed, but just then, Phoebe walked over. “We have to finish breakfast quickly or we’ll be late for our auditions.”

  The gang devoured bread, apples, and cake, and Lucy thought about the best way to convince Victoria and Stefan that Isaac should be allowed to go free. She wished her friends good luck as they left for auditions, and then walked outside to stand on the lawn near the jail. She thought about Isaac in his cell. He was all alone. She had to do something.

  At the planning meeting after auditions, Stefan announced what roles everyone would play in running the talent show. “There is one more role we need to fill: we will have a judge pick the best performance in each category, but we need someone who’s familiar with every subject we teach at Minecrafters Academy.”

  That was it! Lucy raised her hand. “I think Isaac would be the perfect judge.”

  The students assembled in the room gasped.

  “He fought with us in the battle against the rainbow griefers, and he risked being put on Hardcore mode when he refused to help them spawn the Ender Dragon,” Lucy argued. “I think he deserves a chance to show he’s changed.”

  Stefan paused and looked over at Victoria. She nodded, and Stefan replied, “Okay, Lucy. We’ll give Isaac a chance.”

  “Should we tell him now?” asked Lucy.

  The group walked into the jail. Isaac was shocked when he saw everyone appear outside his cell.

  “What are you doing here?” Isaac asked them.

  Victoria said, “We’d like you to judge our talent show.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes. You were the headmaster here for years, and you know everything this school teaches inside and out. You’ll be the perfect judge.” Victoria smiled.

  Isaac was thrilled. “I’d be honored.”

  Everyone exited the jail and prepared for the talent show. Debbie ran over to her friends, “I’m in! I was chosen to be in the talent show! I’m going to be in a battle.”

  “That’s fantastic news!” exclaimed Lucy.

  Stefan announced, “Tomorrow we will have our first rehearsal.”

  Chapter 19

  THE TALENT SHOW

  A few weeks later, the school was alive with activity as everyone prepared for the talent show to begin. Lucy was excited. Although all her friends had gotten parts in the production, she preferred to be behind the scenes, and was happy with her choice to be the stage manager. When Adam had asked her why she wasn’t showing off her hunting skills, she had replied, “I like to hunt alone, and I hunt so I can provide my friends with food. I’m not someone who wants to be on stage.”

  Adam had understood, though he was excited to be a part of the show. He was going to brew potions on stage.

  But the day of the performance, he found Lucy backstage. “I know you dislike being on stage, but would you consider being my assistant?” he asked.

  Lucy paused. She wanted to help Adam, and she knew how important this show was to him.

  “We work so well together. I know you’re what I need to make my act perfect,” Adam said, seeing her hesitation.

  Lucy groaned, but she nodded. “I hope you make me disappear with one of your potions.”

  “I will! But I’m also going to make you reappear.” Adam grinned.

  It seemed like seconds later that Lucy was on stage with Adam, who stood next to her and brewed a potion.

  “This is a potion of weakness,” he announced to the audience before splashing it on Lucy.

  She felt terribly weak.

  “This is a potion of strength.” He splashed the next potion on Lucy, and she felt incredibly energetic.

  “Now I will make Lucy disappear,” Adam announced.

  Lucy was relieved when he splashed the potion on her. Since she had access to the schedule as the stage manager, she knew her part in Adam’s act was almost over. Though, as Adam made her visible once again, she realized she had actually kind of enjoyed being part of the act and seeing the audience’s reactions from the stage. Maybe being in the spotlight wasn’t so bad.

  Everyone applauded when Adam’s act was over, and Phoebe caught Adam and Lucy backstage. “Adam, you were great! And Lucy, you make a fabulous assistant.”

  They thanked Phoebe, and then rushed to find seats in the audience. They wanted to see Debbie’s battle.

  Debbie was paired with another skilled swordsman. Both fighters stood in the center of the stage.

  Victoria announced, “Let the battle begin.”

  Debbie and her opponent struck each other with their powerful diamond swords. Debbie slashed at the woman, and she dropped her sword. When she reached for it, Debbie delivered a final blow and her opponent was destroyed.

  “We have a winner!” Victoria announced. “And Debbie, you have also set a record for the quickest fight in the show.”

  Debbie was beaming. She hurried over to Maya. “Can you believe I actually won?”

  “Of course I can,” Maya said with a smile. “You’re one of the best fighters in the Overworld.”

  At the end of the show, Isaac gave out awards for the best performances. Debbie received one for being the b
est fighter in the show.

  Adam was shocked when his name was called. Isaac announced, “Adam, you were not only a master alchemist, but you also put on a fantastic show. You should thank your assistant, Lucy, for helping you.”

  Adam leapt onto the stage and asked Lucy to join him. “This is also your award, Lucy.”

  Lucy looked out at the crowd and smiled. Yes, she definitely did like being on stage after all.

  When the final winners were announced, Isaac’s job was done. Lucy saw Victoria begin to escort Isaac back to his jail cell, and she felt awful. Isaac had been an excellent judge, and he had really helped them during the battle with the rainbow griefers. How could Victoria not see that? She ran after them, touching Victoria’s elbow to stop her.

  “Does Isaac have to go back to jail?” she asked.

  “Lucy, now isn’t the time to talk about this,” Victoria replied.

  Isaac turned and said to Lucy, “I know you mean well, but you’re wrong in this case. I should go back to jail. I did an awful thing to the Overworld, and there are still many people who have to rebuild their lives because I destroyed their homes. I don’t mind being in jail. It gives me a lot of time to think about how to be a better person.”

  “But Isaac, you were such a good judge,” Lucy said to the old headmaster.

  “Thank you. I’m so grateful to have had that opportunity. It made me remember how much I enjoyed being a headmaster before I threw that life away. But now it’s time for Victoria to run the academy. She is a great teacher and leader, and you’ll learn a lot from her.”

  Victoria said, “Isaac, you know we will call on you a lot to help out the academy. Lucy was right, you were a good judge.”

  Isaac smiled as Lucy and Victoria walked him back to the jail.

  As they returned to the festivities, Victoria asked, “Lucy, why weren’t you in the talent show? I’ve seen you hunt, and you’re impressive.”

  “I am going to audition next year. I realize I still have a lot to learn, and I’m glad I’m here at the academy. Maybe next year the time will be right for me to go after one of those awards.”

  Lucy was thrilled to see all of her friends at the party following the show. Phoebe, Jane, Maya, Debbie, and Adam took Lucy aside. “We have something for you,” Maya said.