She had a choice to make and only seconds to make it. Jaina raised her sword, ready to see what would happen when she died in this bizarro version of Minecraft.
A snarling white shape burst from the dark and crashed into the skeletons. The boneheads turned to deal with the wild wolf now snapping at their ankles.
Jaina spun to face the green arrival, right next to her and flashing like a broken light.
“Get out of my space, dude!” she shouted at the creeper and whacked it with her sword.
The monster fizzled and flew backwards. By the time it landed, all that was left was a floating pile of gunpowder.
To her side, the white dog yelped as a skeleton blade bit into its fur. Jaina stepped in. Her blade smashed into the skeleton’s bones, sending it back to its grave. The next skeleton suffered the same fate.
The white dog now ran around her feet, barking. “Thanks, little wolf!”
The dog pounced on a bone floating where the skeleton stood only seconds before. It went straight through as if it wasn’t there.
Jaina walked over the bone. It vacuumed up into her inventory.
“I bet you want this,” she said to the wolf. She held out the bone.
The wolf watched the bone for a second then ran right up and snatched it from her. Hearts floated above the dog’s head as it chewed the treat. The sight warmed Jaina’s own blocky heart and she knew a bridge had formed, connecting her with the little dog. A red collar appeared around the dog’s neck. Jaina stroked the wolf’s fur. She knew this wolf would never leave her side.
“I’ll call you Bones,” she said.
Bones barked happily at his new name.
The chill from the night air crept into Jaina’s blocky body. A mournful moan echoed from the woods.
“Let’s get inside before more baddies come.”
She hurried back to her little shack. Bones trotted along at her side. The little doggie’s barks filled the night air, warning all monsters to stay away and filling Jaina with a lightness she had not felt since arriving in this very strange version of Minecraft.
The night passed quickly inside their little hut. Jaina might have preferred creative mode, but she knew what had to be done to make it through her first night in survival mode.
It didn’t take her long to find coal buried in the ground under the hut. Soon, a pair of torches cast a warm glow in the small room. Bones sat patiently near the door, only occasionally barking at the moaning and rattling monsters outside.
When daylight arrived and Jaina peeked out the front door, the field was clear of monsters. Any skeletons and zombies had either fled to the shadows or were caught in the burning rays of the morning sun.
Before she had the door fully open, Bones slipped through. The wolf ran circles on the grass, barking like it was saying hello to the new day.
“Yes, it is good to get outside,” Jaina said and stretched to reach the sun. “We’ll have to improve our shack today, Bones. Add a few rooms and maybe a balcony for viewing.”
But Bones wasn’t listening. The little wolf ran down the far side of the hill. It stopped at the edge of the forest, turned to Jaina and barked.
“That’s where you came from last night when you saved me,” Jaina said to the dog.
Bones barked again. He ran into the trees and then popped back out again, like he was playing peek-a-boo. Jaina had an idea what her new friend was really playing.
“You want me to follow you?”
Bones answered with another bark and disappeared into the trees.
Jaina glanced back at her little hut at the top of the hill. Fixing it up would have to wait. She hurried into the woods.
The wolf led her on a windy path, around tall trees and past dark, shadowy caves. Bones sniffed his way through the woods, his nose to the ground. Sometimes he stopped with his ears flopping in confusion. Then he would backtrack, sniff the ground again and charge off in another direction.
“Where are you taking me?” Jaina called as she stumbled after the wolf.
After many twists and turns, she was completely lost. She would have a hard time finding her shack again. Hopefully Bones could lead her back. Right now, the wolf only wanted to go deeper into the woods. He sped through in a straight line now. Any doubt of his path was gone.
Jaina followed him through the trees into a wide clearing. They were higher up now. A vista of grassland spread out below. Off to her left, Jaina heard the faint sound of more dogs barking. Bones ran along the cliff face toward the noise.
By the time Jaina caught up, all she could hear was barking, howling and splashing. Bones ran back and forth along the edge of a small pool, whimpering as he went.
More than a dozen other wolves splashed and barked in the water. They swam around, their little furry heads disappearing under the surface and popping up a few seconds later. Each time they disappeared underwater, their bodies flashed red with damage.
“They’re all trapped!” Jaina said. “Is this your pack, Bones?”
Bones ran in a circle and barked loudly.
The edge around the whole pool dropped straight down several blocks. There was no way for the dogs to climb out of the water.
“Don’t worry, buddy. We’ll get them out of there.”
Jaina grabbed the wooden shovel she had crafted the night before. Animals like dogs and chickens were always getting stuck in water on Hamid’s server. Jaina always took the time to free the poor creatures before they got too tired and just sank below the surface.
She scanned the pool for the best place to start digging. She chose a side away from the cliff edge, in case the little dogs got too excited as they climbed out of the water. She didn’t want them falling off the cliff!
Her shovel crunched into the dirt and soon she had a dirt staircase dug into the side of the pool. The wolves scrambled out of the water, hopping up one dirt block at a time.
With every wolf freed, Bones barked with joy and covered his pack brothers and sisters with wet licks. In a few minutes, Jaina was surrounded by happy, yapping dogs.
“I’m sorry I don’t have bones to give you all,” she said to the wolves running around her feet.
They didn’t seem to mind. The dogs were just happy to be free from the water. After they had dried off and barked themselves silly, the wolves trotted back into the forest one by one.
Jaina started to follow them, but a new sound stopped her. It wasn’t the barking of a dog or the moaning of a zombie. This sound was different. It came from the bottom of the cliff. Jaina moved closer to the edge. She crouched low as she went and strained her ears to hear.
There it was again.
Voices.
“Are you sure they are here?” said the first voice. It sounded familiar but she couldn’t be sure. Was it Ant or Hamid?
“Are you questioning my wisdom, stranger?” said a second voice. It echoed like a rock dropped in a deep well. “You arrived from the other side, did you not? They are here, too.”
Jaina crawled to the edge and peered over. She nearly fell off the cliff at what she saw.
A group of skeletons sheltered from the sun under the overhang of the cliff. Beside them sat a strange metal cage. A glittering stream of numbers floated out from the cage, drifted into the air before vanishing like smoke. Inside the cage a small, brown, oval ball spun like it was run by a motor. The numbers came from this strange spinning ball. Jaina had seen monster spawners before but never one that looked like this. But it wasn’t the weird spawner that nearly sent her falling over the cliff’s edge.
Two familiar faces stood with the group of skeletons guarding the spawner.
“Work with me, stranger, and you will be well rewarded,” said the tallest skeleton. Its red eyes burned bright, even in the daylight.
Dizziness washed over Jaina. She tightened her grip on the grass. She recognized those eyes from the chaotic moments at school before she was dragged into this world. She would never forget the face of that skeleton that crossed into the
real world and tried to kill her and her friends.
But it was the second figure in the group that nearly caused Jaina to run screaming from her perch. Tall, bald and mean as a schoolyard bully. Jaina struggled to believe it was possible he would be here too.
“I will work with you, Slashax,” he said in a voice Jaina had heard every day since first grade. He held his diamond sword in the air. “I will serve you to return the four.”
Fighting creepers and zombies is one thing. All those monsters were nothing compared to who was in front of her now. From her clifftop hiding spot, Jaina spied the toughest enemy any kid could face inside this game.
Principal Whiner was in Minecraft.
Chapter 7
“My feet hurt!” Ant moaned.
“You don’t have any feet,” Hamid said. “Your legs end in stumps. Stop whining and keep walking.”
The road did seem to go on forever. And it did feel like they had been walking for miles, but Bano was not slowing down, so neither was Hamid. Ant could complain all he liked, but he was just as curious as Hamid to find out what the cryptic words of the strange villager had meant.
The boys had set out walking first thing that morning, right after Bano delivered his message. The villager wouldn’t say anything more until they were ‘home’. Wherever that was.
After walking all morning up hills, through forests and even through a dry, dusty desert, Hamid still had no idea where ‘home’ was. He did know it was far and he wanted to sit down. Ant was right. Even if your legs ended in blocky Minecraft stumps, your feet could still hurt. Hamid wasn’t about to admit that to his friend, though.
“We are almost there,” Bano said for the sixth time since they had stepped off the hot sand of the desert. “Over this hill. You will see!”
The villager hurried his pace and climbed the steep hill fast as a mountain goat.
Ant caught up to Hamid.
“Are you sure we can trust this guy?” he asked, struggling to catch his breath.
“He seems to know why we’re here,” Hamid said. “Have you got a better idea?”
Ant shook his head. “No, but following villagers halfway across the world isn’t my idea of fun. And what was that about saving Minecraft? I think our friend Bano is a few pork chops short of a complete lunch.”
Bano stood at the top of the hill. He jumped up and down with excitement.
“I don’t get it either,” Hamid said. “But right now it’s follow Bano or spend another night in our shack fighting zombies. Let’s just see what his home is like and then we’ll figure out what to do.”
Hamid hopped up the hill, one block at a time. Behind him, he heard his friend fall into step, still muttering about nutty villagers and sore stumps.
Bano stood at the crest of the hill, his proud smile growing larger as Hamid and Ant climbed closer.
“Welcome to the Village of the Keepers.” He swept his arms dramatically across the horizon to reveal the village below.
A wide cobblestone road ran along the bottom of the hill. It snaked its way through the collection of neatly laid out buildings and well-tended gardens. The afternoon sunlight reflected off the sloping wooden roofs of homes and shops, giving the whole village a welcome glow. Shapes moved in and out of the buildings and along the straight paths. It took Hamid a second to realize these were villagers, going about their daily business. In the middle of the town stood a tall tower made of brilliant white quartz. It was unlike anything he had seen in a Minecraft village.
Bano saw him staring.
“That is the Tower of the Keeper.”
“Keeper of what?” Ant said.
“The Keeper of the Seed, of course.” Bano jumped up and down with excitement. “And it is where we are going. The council is expecting us.”
He scrambled down the hill, hurrying to meet the road that ran into the village.
“I hope this keeper dude keeps food as well as seeds. I’m down to my last chicken leg,” Ant said.
Hamid watched his friend follow Bano down the hill. In the distance, villagers wandered from shop to shop in the town. It looked like a typical village in Minecraft, except for that tall tower of quartz. Why did this village have a special tower like that? Had another player built it?
Below him, Hamid saw his friend skip onto the road from the hill to meet Bano. Ant said something to Bano that Hamid couldn’t hear. The villager laughed at Ant’s joke and the two hurried to the village like old friends. An itch of suspicion crawled up Hamid’s spine. Since when did villagers laugh and joke like regular players?
Hamid stepped down the hill, heading to the road below. He had more questions than answers, but he knew one thing: something weird was happening in this world. And that something could either bring them home or trap them here forever.
* * *
Inside, the Tower of the Keepers smelled of fresh bread and roasted pig. A feast was laid out on a table in the middle of a large square room. Sitting behind the table, three villagers glared at the new arrivals.
“Where are the others?” the eldest-looking one of the group scowled.
“I have not found the others yet, Great Keeper.” Bano dipped his head as he spoke.
“We gave you four diamonds, Bano,” said a second villager. Like the Great Keeper, this second villager wore white robes that marked him as a Librarian. “Four True Diamonds for you to find four true heroes. And you return with a pair of children.”
“My search did not go as planned,” Bano said. “His minions were waiting for me on the other side. It was all I could do to give the True Diamonds to three children who seemed true of heart, as was my task.”
“Three?” The Keeper said, his scowl not letting up and his voice rising in volume. “Why only three? Where is the fourth?”
Hamid’s head buzzed as he tried to keep up. What was all this talk of True Diamonds? Bano stammered but no words came out. Their friend’s excitement for a triumphant return had vanished.
A villager in purple robes rose from his seat to address the others.
“Patience, Ranwin!” His words were as soft as the light from the flickering torches on the wall. “Just because you are the Great Keeper does not mean you may raise your voice inside my temple. We sent young Bano on a dangerous mission to seek out four heroes to save us from our tragedy.”
“And he returns empty-handed, Arnon,” Ranwin snapped, but his voice was lower. “He should have continued his search until it was complete.”
“That is why I have returned now,” Bano said. He stood tall, finding his voice as he spoke. “The danger is worse than we first thought. Somehow, he knows of our plan. He sent Slashax the skeleton king to stop us.”
The council members gasped at the mention of the name. The buzzing in Hamid’s head grew sharper. Was Slashax the skeleton that chased them back at school?
“Things are further along than we thought if Slashax is able to cross worlds,” Arnon said.
“He hunted me at this gathering of Minecrafters and he has hunted these heroes too,” Bano continued. “Their friend is missing, perhaps in this world or perhaps in another. As for the fourth True Diamond, I do not know where it is.”
Arnon took in Bano’s words without comment. He turned to Hamid, Ant and Bano.
“It seems we do not have much time or the tools we need to do the job. But we must work with the seeds we are given.”
“Indeed,” Ranwin said. The Keeper pointed to the chairs in front of Hamid, Ant and Bano. “Sit and join us. There is much that needs to be explained.”
“Finally!” Ant jumped at the chair and grabbed a loaf of bread. “And pass me that pork. It looks delicious.”
The food was delicious. Hamid had no idea how this strange version of Minecraft worked, but someone had added flavor to the foods. The bread was warm and buttery, the fish flaky and spicy. With each bite, fresh hearts appeared at the bottom of Hamid’s vision. As they feasted, Ranwin spoke.
“As you have probably guessed, this Min
ecraft world is unlike any other world,” the Great Keeper said. “This world is known as the Seed Server. It is one of the first Minecraft worlds ever created. It is also the source for all the seeds that make up every other Minecraft world.”
“Seeds?” Hamid said as he chewed on a piece of bread. “You mean that long bunch of numbers that defines what a new Minecraft world will look like?”
“That is how you see it on the other side,” Ranwin said. “When a player anywhere in your world creates a new Minecraft world, it is spawned from a seed. To players like you, the seed is merely a long set of numbers. But to the game, those numbers determine how much water will appear, how big the deserts will be and where the swamps, forests and other biomes are located.”
Hamid had seen seed numbers before in the files on his server and on the Internet. There were whole websites dedicated to sharing the most popular seeds. Server owners were always on the hunt for a seed that created biomes rich with resources or just had really cool land features.
Ranwin finished chewing his bread and continued.
“The seeds that define millions of other Minecraft worlds are all created here.”
“In this village?” Ant said.
“Beneath this village, actually,” Arnon said. “Since the first dawn, this temple has been home to the Seed Generator. A device that perpetually creates seeds for new Minecraft worlds.”
“And now it is missing,” Bano said.
“It was stolen!” Ranwin thundered. “A week ago, that foul skeleton Slashax broke into the Seed Chamber and stole the generator.”
“We were no match for his skeleton warriors,” Arnon sighed. “They tunneled below our village, attacked our guards and made off with the generator.”
“Why take the generator?” Hamid asked. His appetite had vanished as he listened to the villagers. “What can a skeleton do with these seeds?”
Descent Into Overworld: An Unofficial Minecraft Adventure Page 4
