Some of the villagers laughed as they looked at Monkeypants, then brought their eyes back to Gameknight999.
“With the help of our light-crafter friends and the new defenses designed by Shawny, we will have a few surprises in store for the Ender Dragon,” Gameknight said. “But I can’t do this by myself. I’ll need every able-bodied NPC to help in order for this to work. The question that really needs to be answered is: are you still with me? But before you answer, know that I will ask you all to do something difficult—no, terrifying. In fact, I’m scared just thinking about it, but it will be the surprise that will shift the balance of power in this war. I’m asking you to stand at my side and stare straight into what you will think is certain death—and not flinch. So I ask you: will you stand up against Herobrine at my side? For without all of you, we are doomed. Will you stand with me?”
The NPCs looked at each other while they considered the overwhelming danger. As they looked at each other, the unwelcome feeling of fear began to grow within the User-that-is-not-a-user as thunderous silence filled the chamber.
They don’t trust me. I’m all alone.
Gameknight hung his head and stared at his feet, the feeling of failure washing over him like a tidal wave. Thoughts of everything he’d done wrong surged through his mind: the people he’d failed, the deaths he’d caused . . .
Thump . . . thump . . . thump . . . thump . . .
A rhymthical sound began to fill the chamber. It echoed at the back of Gameknight’s mind, but his thoughts were elsewhere, his eyes glued to his diamond coated feet.
Thump . . . Thump . . . Thump . . . Thump . . .
Maybe if he could defeat Herobrine on his own, then the villagers would trust him again . . . but he was just a kid. How was he going to do that?
THUMP . . . THUMP . . . THUMP . . . THUMP . . .
The percussive beat was now like thunder in the crafting chamber, the beats echoing off the wall and creating a pattern of metallic bang followed by a softer thumpy echo.
Gameknight looked up and found all the NPCs staring at him, their eyes fixed with determination. Each had their weapons out and were banging them on their chests, creating a cacophony of crashes and thuds, smiles on all the square faces. And at that moment, for the first time since this adventure started, Gameknight999 actually thought they might have a chance.
CHAPTER 26
THE HUNTER FINDS HIS PREY
Herobrine materialized high above the clouds in a forest biome. Behind him, the forest spread out, covering the rolling hills and plateaus, the pine trees looking tiny from this height. In front of him, the forest abruptly ended, giving way to a grassy plains biome. Looking down, he could tell that his enderman scout was correct: it was right where he said it would be—the village of that boy-crafter. He could somehow feel the presence of his enemy in the distant village and had to resist the urge to attack.
“I should have realized he’d come back here,” Herobrine said to himself. “The User-that-is-not-a-user lacks any creativity.”
Flapping his mighty wings, he turned and flew away from the village until it was just on the edge of visibility. Staring down, Herobrine could still remember when he’d battled Gameknight999 right out there in front of that walled village. The User-that-is-not-a-user had been narrowly saved by a pack of wild wolves, probably sent by that old hag, the Oracle.
“You don’t have the Oracle here to save you anymore, do you Gameknight999?” the dragon growled.
He could feel his eyes growing bright with hatred and quickly pushed aside his violent thoughts. The Ender Dragon didn’t want to give away his presence, not yet. Turning in a graceful arch, Herobrine flew away from his prey, then slowly descended. Settling to the ground in a clearing of white and red flowers, the Maker motioned for his scout to come to his side.
“You are right, the User-that-is-not-a-user is in that village,” Herobrine said. “Go back to the army and have the endermen teleport all monsters to this clearing. We will use the cover of this forest to sneak up on them and take them by surprise. This time, it will be Herobrine who has a surprise for the NPCs.”
The enderman chuckled, then disappeared in a cloud of purple and yellow particles.
Smiling, the dragon reached down and plucked a red flower from the ground. Holding the delicate plant up to his eyes, Herobrine let the smallest drop of purple poison drip onto one of the petals. Instantly, the flower began to change to End Stone as a wave of lavender and pale yellow sparks flowed across the plant. In an instant, the red flower was now End Stone, and the pale petals looked petrified and lifeless. Clenching his taloned fist, Herobrine crushed the dead flower and let the pale remains litter the ground.
“Soon that will be you crumbling within my grasp, Gameknight999,” the dragon said with a vile, demonic laugh.
CHAPTER 27
LET IT BEGIN
Gameknight999 stood on the fortified wall of his castle, looking across the beautiful landscape. This would soon become the scene of terrible destruction, he thought grimly. They had prepared everything as per Shawny’s instructions. Instead of just a series of walls, archer towers, and TNT bombs, like Herobrine was expecting, Shawny had orchestrated a battle plan that would move the enemy through the battlefield until they were right where Gameknight wanted them.
“Those skilled in war bring the enemy to the field of battle and are not brought there by him,” Gameknight mumbled to himself. It was one of the many quotes from the sixth-century Chinese strategist Sun Tzu that his social studies teacher, Mr. Planck, had posted on his wall of fame.
“What did you say, son?” Monkeypants asked.
“Nothing, I was just thinking aloud,” Gameknight replied. “Are all the villagers ready?”
“Yes, they are ready . . . and scared.”
“Do you think they’ll do what I’ve asked, or will they run?” Gameknight asked his father.
“I don’t know,” Monkeypants271 replied. “You’ve asked them to do something incredibly dangerous.”
Turning from his father, the User-that-is-not-a-user surveyed the battlefield. A series of minecart tracks shot out in all directions, many of them powered and glowing red. Redstone torches decorated the area, each lighting different sections of track. Mixed with the green grass, it almost looked like some kind of strange red-green Christmas scene. The thought made Gameknight smile.
Interspersed throughout the landscape, he could just barely see the many gray dispensers. They stood out like metallic punctuation marks on the darkening landscape, each positioned at the end of a silent redstone trace. Repeaters broke the lines of ruby-colored dust, the white squares and silent torches looked eager to fulfill their task. They would get the chance soon enough.
“What I don’t understand, son, is this: won’t Herobrine see all of your preparations?” Monkeypants asked.
“Yes, he will.”
“So won’t he know that we have traps set for his monsters?”
“Of course he will,” Gameknight replied. “But he doesn’t care about the lives of anything or anyone other than himself. He will sacrifice a small group of monsters as a test, but when he thinks he has us trapped and cornered, he’ll commit all of his forces in a massive attack and try to wipe us out in a single stroke.”
“That sounds like a bad thing,” his father said, worry in his voice.
“Normally it would be, but we aren’t going to show him everything—only what we want him to see.” Gameknight turned and faced his father. “Our whole plan depends on making Herobrine come to us and commit himself to the battle. If he stays out of arm’s reach, then all is lost.”
“You think you can get him to join the battle?”
“I have something that he wants more than anything,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said.
“Oh really, what is that?” his father asked.
Gameknight sighed. “Me.”
“I don’t really like the sound of that,” Monkeypants said.
“I know, but—”
“They’re here,” Gameknight said softly.
Looking up to the dark obsidian tower that loomed high over the central keep, Gameknight drew his diamond sword and waved it in the air. Instantly, someone unrolled a long red banner, the cloth fluttering in the gentle breeze that always blew from east to west. Warriors ran up to the fortified walls, both around his castle and in the village that sat nearby. Arrows were notched to bows as NPCs crouched behind rocky crenellations, ready for the hail of arrows sure to come.
They could hear them approaching.
A morose wail drifted out of the forest. It was a sad, hopeless sound from creatures that had forgotten the wondrous beauty of life and could now only know suffering and despair. Accompanying it were the percussive rattles of bone on bone. The grinding and clattering of bleach-white body parts echoed across the rolling grass-covered plain like a million strained castanets.
In the distance, Gameknight could see a large group of monsters slowly push through the oak trees and approach the battlefield. When they saw the fortified walls, the zombie moans turned to angry growls. They glared at the defenders through the darkness. Gameknight wished they would just start the attack and charge, but the zombies and skeletons stayed far from the village and castle, having learned their lesson.
Not a problem, Gameknight thought. We’ll coax them forward soon enough.
Suddenly, a pair of white dots could be seen moving through the sky, banking this way and that. Glancing at the pinpoints, the User-that-is-not-a-user watched as Herobrine approached, materializing out of the darkness and settling to the ground amidst the forest. Swinging his heavy spiked tail, he knocked down trees like they were blades of grass, carving out a clearing from which he could watch the battle.
“I have come for you, Gameknight999!” the dragon roared. “I will leave this village in shattered ruins, as I have done to all the others. No mercy will be given to anyone who opposes us.” The dragon glared at the defenders, his eyes glowing bright white. “Drop your weapons now and come out from behind your pathetic walls, and I may spare your lives.”
“You bore me with your constant chatter,” Gameknight shouted.
The NPCs laughed, making Herobrine’s eyes glow even brighter with hatred.
Just then, the monster kings emerged from behind the dragon as more of the army approached. Now there was a constant line of creatures wrapping around three sides of the village and castle, their green and white and black bodies creating a kaleidoscope of evil.
Gameknight was shocked at the numbers that stood before him. There must have been five hundred monsters out there, maybe a thousand. As he glanced around at the other NPCs, Gameknight took in their fearful faces as they tried to count the opposing force.
“Their numbers are meaningless,” Gameknight shouted. “Stick to the plan and stay strong. This is the day we take back the Overworld and drive the monsters into the shadows.”
He expected cheers, but heard nothing—just terrified silence.
And then a maniacal chuckle drifted across the landscape. Turning to face the sound, Gameknight could see Feyd sitting atop his ender-horse, his body shrouded in both purple and yellow particles.
Why yellow particles? Gameknight thought.
The vile enderman had a look of malicious glee on his face as he gestured to one of his subordinates. Stepping around the ender-horse, a pair of zombies carried what looked like a statue.
“It sounds as though your friends lack faith in you, Loser-that-is-a-loser,” Feyd screeched. “I am not surprised. They are finally coming to the conclusion that you are nothing but a coward. Your failure to lead these villagers has caused the death of many. So, out of the kindness of my heart, I am returning one of your pathetic NPCs to you.”
Waving a long dark red arm, the king of the endermen motioned that the zombies move out in front of the army holding the petrified villager high in the air. Gameknight could see that it was one of the many NPCs who had fallen victim to the transformation wave.
“Return this statue to his leader,” Feyd commanded from his dark horse.
The two zombies looked at Xa-Tul. The zombie king nodded his head, and the two monsters threw the statue high into the air. It crashed to the ground, splintering into a million pieces. Feyd then urged his horse forward and his steed stomped on any of the pieces still recognizable, until all that was left was dust.
The villagers yelled and screamed at the monster. That atrocity had transformed their fear into rage, and now all of the NPCs wanted the monsters to come. Some drew back arrows and fired, but the monsters were still out of range.
“Hold your fire!” Gameknight shouted. “You will all have your opportunity to take revenge. Just stick to the plan and stay strong.”
Glancing around at the warriors throughout the castle, Gameknight could see looks of unbridled hate focused toward the monster army. The uncertainty and fear that had been there moments before was completely gone, blasted away by that act of senseless violence.
He smiled as he turned back toward Herobrine and the monster kings.
“Herobrine and your vile kings, I forbid you from entering this village,” the User-that-is-not-a-user shouted. “And what’s more, I forbid you from leaving this battlefield. This will be the place of your destruction.”
Turning, he looked down at an NPC who was standing before a wall covered with buttons and levers. Gameknight nodded and said a single word to him: “Red.”
The NPC smiled, then reached up and flipped a series of levers.
“May the fates of war smile down upon us,” Gameknight999 said. “Let it begin.”
CHAPTER 28
THE HUNTERS BECOME THE HUNTED
Gameknight looked out across the battlefield and imagined he could see the redstone signal slowly moving through the underground tunnels. The villagers had carefully laid out these crimson traces as per Shawny’s battle plans, and now they were coming to life. All the NPCs held their breaths as they waited for something to happen, the tension visible on their boxy faces.
Staring out at the monster horde, the User-that-is-not-a-user could see the many tall fence posts that had been placed throughout the area, each with a different color banner hanging from their peak. The monster horde had stopped in the red zone.
Perfect, Gameknight thought.
Suddenly, explosions tore into the landscape as hidden TNT burst into life ten blocks behind the monsters. Gameknight watched as Herobrine leapt into the air, beating his massive leathery wings to gain altitude. Feyd turned and looked back at the explosions, then glanced at the User-that-is-not-a-user and smiled. Just as the monster was about to say something, more explosions punctuated the landscape, this time a little closer to the monster army.
“The Fool has missed his target twice!” boomed Xa-Tul. “The zombies will enjoy tearing this village apart when—”
Just then the explosions tore into the back ranks of the monsters, driving them forward in a panic. Gameknight smiled as the zombies, endermen, and skeletons scurried forward, their monstrous faces glancing nervously over their shoulders as more blocks of TNT detonated beneath their feet.
The NPCs cheered.
The monsters continued to move forward, the zombies, skeletons, and endermen shuffling past the dispensers that were distributed throughout the battlefield, eager to escape the explosions that blossomed at their rear. Gameknight could tell the monsters expected something to come out of the metallic cubes, but the dark opening of the dispensers were still; it was not yet time for them.
As the monsters moved closer, the archers started firing. Instantly, hundreds of skeletons returned fire, sending back twenty arrows for each one fired by a villager. As the incoming projectiles sailed through the air, Gameknight signaled to the tall watchtower at the center of his castle, waving with his iron sword. An N
PC removed the red banner and hung a yellow one in its place. Instantly, the villagers crouched behind stone barriers and placed cubes of cobblestone up and over their heads, shielding them from the pointed rain that fell down upon them.
The skeletons fired as quickly as their bony hands could draw back arrows. Gameknight ducked behind a block of obsidian to avoid the deadly rain then signaled to those NPCs standing next to the minecart tracks that pierced the dark walls of the castle and rocky walls of the village. As one, the NPCs placed TNT carts on the tracks and gave them a shove. When they reached the powered rails, the carts shot forward, heading toward the skeletons. Just before the end of the tracks, the carts ran over an activator rail, causing the TNT to begin blinking. Gameknight smiled as the carts exploded amidst the skeletons, blasting HP into nothing.
Not waiting for instructions, the villagers continued to place TNT minecarts on the tracks, sending them into the field. As they rolled forward, NPCs flipped levers, changing where the carts would go, sending the rolling explosives to a different destination each time.
The monsters, not knowing what to do, scattered, allowing the NPC archers to move out behind their protective barriers and open fire.
Some of the monsters tried to retreat, but Shawny had expected this. Gameknight flicked a glance to the NPC in front of the control board, who pressed more levers and caused explosions to reverberate across the landscape. With nowhere else to go, the monsters had no choice but to move forward, closer to the castle and village walls.
Glancing down at the monsters, Gameknight could see their explosions were thinning out the monster horde. With the skeletons and zombies being relatively slow, they were taking the brunt of the damage, their numbers having been cut in half. But the endermen, using their teleportation powers, were able to quickly escape the rolling bombs and remain relatively unscathed. None of the archers dared fire at the dark creatures and risk enraging them, leaving them relatively unharmed, for now. Some of the dark creatures were moving backward, hoping to escape the carnage, but Gameknight would not allow that.
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