Arnon looked to the Great Keeper before answering.
“When a seed is freshly created by the generator, it can be altered.”
“Altered? How?”
“The safeguards that divide the world of Minecraft from your world can be weakened,” Arnon said. “Before the seed is sent to a Minecraft player, the seed code can be torn like holes in a blanket. These rips act like doors in the seed. Doors that let creatures from Minecraft cross into your world.”
“Creatures?” Ant said. A half eaten pork chop dangled in his hand. It looked like his appetite had vanished, too. “You mean creepers and stuff wandering around our world?”
Arnon nodded slowly.
Hamid’s mind raced at the thought of creepers, zombies and skeletons climbing out of their Minecraft worlds and roaming his neighborhood. The destruction would be unstoppable.
“It is already happening,” Bano said. “Slashax managed to do it when he came hunting for me at your convention.”
“Slashax is not working alone,” Ranwin said. “There is a greater force commanding the skeleton king. That is the real danger. He sent Slashax to steal the generator and deliver it to him.”
“If he gets his hands on the generator, all will be lost,” Arnon said. “He will corrupt the seeds of all known Minecraft servers, allowing him to escape this world to wreak havoc in yours.”
Ranwin sat up stiffly. “Then he must not get his hands on the Seed Generator.”
“You keep saying he. Who do you mean?” Ant said.
A silence fell across the table. All eyes looked to Ranwin.
“He is the one whose name cannot be mentioned within this temple,” he said simply.
Even Ant knew not to talk. No words were needed. Everyone in the room was thinking the same thought: the name of the one who had stolen the Seed Generator. The name of the one who could not be allowed to escape Minecraft. If he did, creeper explosions and zombie swarms would be the least of their worries.
That name was Herobrine.
Chapter 8
Jaina was running out of chicken legs.
That’s what she called those drumsticks at the bottom of her vision. Ant had come up with the name during one of their Minecraft club sessions with Mr. Rodinaldo. When his avatar would get hungry, Ant ran around the computer lab yelling, “More chicken! Cluck! Cluck!” He wouldn’t stop until someone threw a loaf of bread at him in-game or a book in real life.
Only three drumsticks remained at the bottom of her vision. She was hungry. The grumbling in her stomach reminded her of this, too. She had been so busy building a shelter, fighting skeletons and rescuing drowning dogs that she had forgotten to get food. Now she was too busy keeping an eye on Principal Whiner.
In all the weirdness of the last day, from being attacked by a skeleton at school to getting sucked into Minecraft, seeing her principal here was the icing on the blocky cake.
Jaina knew Whiner hated videogames in general, but the old man had a special spot of rage for Minecraft. He had banned it from the school computers, except during their weekly Minecraft club meetings. She had no idea how Mr. Rodinaldo convinced Whiner to let them have the club. He had limited it to three students and done everything in his power to stop the “Minecraft menace” from spreading. He had banned games like “Creeper Chase” at recess. He had even stopped kids from wearing Minecraft t-shirts to school. Her principal was a one-man anti-Minecraft machine. And now, here he was with a blocky avatar, stuck in this strange world just like she was.
And he had made friends, like she had. Except his friends weren’t furry and cute, like Bones. Principal Whiner had joined forces with the strange red-eyed skeleton. She heard him call the skeleton Slashax. It was definitely the same creature that trashed their school and tried to fill them with arrows. In a way, Slashax was a perfect match for her principal.
She had stayed hidden on the cliff until Whiner, Slashax and his troupe of skeletons moved underground. They dragged their strange cage with them. The spinning ball continued to spew out numbers as they went.
Jaina knew she had to follow. Maybe they were searching for an exit back to the real world. Maybe they knew how to find Ant and Hamid. That was, if her friends were also trapped in this world. Jaina didn’t want to think about the possibility that she might be here alone.
They marched deep underground. Jaina was now cold, hungry and totally lost. Bones nuzzled his wet nose into her side. She stroked the wolf’s white fur. At least she wasn’t alone.
“I bet you’re regretting not returning to your pack,” she whispered to her friend.
Bones answered her with a wet lick. He knew not to make a sound.
Jaina peered over the low stone wall that was their hiding spot. Below them, Slashax, Whiner and his band of skeletons had taken a break from their long trek deep under the surface. She could hear them talking. That meant they could hear her if she made too much noise.
“Are we almost there?” Principal Whiner asked for the millionth time since they began their descent. He sounded like an exhausted first grader on a long hike.
“Our destination is not far,” Slashax growled. “If you continue to complain, we can leave you here to play with the cave spiders. They’re always looking for some bones with meat on them.”
“You wouldn’t do that. You need me to lead you to the others.” Whiner got to his feet and held up his diamond sword. “Each of those brats has one of these swords. You said so yourself.”
“And you said you could lead me to them, but I see little evidence of this being true,” Slashax said. “First, we get the generator back to Fang Fortress. Then you will show me where to find these children and their swords. For your own sake, you better be telling me the truth.”
Slashax’s skeletons gathered around Whiner, their bony hands on their own swords.
Whiner stepped back and let his blade fall to his side. “Okay, okay. No need to make threats.”
“Then no more complaints from you,” Slashax said.
Without a word, his band of skeletons resumed their march deeper into the caves. The scraping of the cage dragging along the ground echoed through the stone walls like a witch’s whisper.
Jaina scrambled out from her rocky hiding spot and followed at a safe distance. Bones quietly trotted at her side.
The rattling of skeletons marching bounced off the tunnel walls, just like the questions that bounced through Jaina’s mind. Why did Slashax want their diamond swords? Did Principal Whiner really know where to find Ant and Hamid?
Through all this weirdness, questions about those diamond swords kept popping up. That red-headed weirdo in the villager costume at Mini-Minecon had given them those four foam swords. They each got one and Whiner took the fourth sword from Ant. That was when things went pear-shaped. Slashax showed up at their school, the swords exploded when they were all together. Next thing she knew, Jaina had blocks for hands and was trapped in the most realistic version of Minecraft she had ever seen. She wondered yet again if Ant and Hamid were also in this world. She hoped they were. The thought of being stuck here alone with Principal Whiner made her want to run far, far way. She couldn’t be alone. The guys had to be here too. Somehow it was all connected. The swords, the villager with the red hair and Slashax were all tied up in the mystery of how she got here. Hopefully, they would also show her how to get home.
This whole mess was like a damaged redstone contraption. Jaina just had to follow the circuit along its logical path. The answer would be there, staring her in the face like a broken T flip-flop circuit.
“Stop! I hear something.”
Principal Whiner’s words snapped Jaina out of her thoughts. His voice sounded close. Too close. Whiner’s shadow moved along the wall, only a few steps away.
Jaina ducked behind the nearest block, cursing her carelessness. She had been so lost in her own questions she nearly wandered right into them. Bones hurried behind the granite block and squeezed in beside her. Jaina crouched low, making herself a
s small as possible, and hugged the dog. Staying quiet was her only hope of staying hidden. She peered through the wolf’s fur, seeing around the block but not daring to move.
Principal Whiner walked right past her. His ugly brown suit looked even uglier as a blocky Minecraft skin. His bald head and dark eyes peered into the shadows around them. The diamond sword in his hand reminded Jaina how dangerous her principal could be.
“Relax, Mr. Whiner,” Slashax chuckled. “What you hear are the spiders who dwell here. They know better than to show themselves when I am near.”
“I guess you’re right,” Whiner said eventually. He turned to join the others as they continued their march. “But I could swear I heard footsteps.”
Jaina didn’t come out of her hiding spot until their voices had faded to nothing.
Broken wooden beams crossed the low ceiling above her. Sections of rail track ran in a straight line on the ground into the shadows. She had followed the skeletons into an abandoned mine and hadn’t even noticed. The broken rail tracks led deeper underground. Slashax and his skeletons must be following the tracks. She could catch up to them easily enough. For now, the flashing drumsticks at the bottom of her vision told her she needed rest and food.
Against the far wall, she spied the thing that could provide both.
The wooden chest opened with a loud creak. Jaina smiled. Finally, her luck was turning around.
A few loaves of bread and a torch. All that remained of the miners who once dug in these tunnels. Jaina grabbed it all and dropped them into her inventory. She devoured bread, sharing it with Bones, who happily snapped it up.
Her chicken bones restored, Jaina felt renewed energy to continue. Maybe this could work out. If she just stayed far enough away from Slashax and Whiner, they might lead her to a way out of here.
Stones crunched behind her. Jaina froze, half chewed bread still in her mouth.
“I knew I heard something.”
The voice came from the shadows. Jaina had heard it many times before. It was the voice of getting busted.
Principal Whiner stepped from the darkness, a winner’s grin on his cubed face. At his side stood Slashax and his skeletons.
“It seems you were correct, Mr. Whiner,” Slashax said.
“You don’t spend years catching troublemakers without learning a few tricks.” Principal Whiner’s cold stare locked onto Jaina. “And I finally caught the one who started all this.”
“Indeed.” Slashax’s gaze fell to the sword on Jaina’s belt. “And you have found me another one of the True Diamond blades. You have done well, Mr. Whiner.”
Jaina was frozen with fear. She couldn’t move. What would be the use? There was nowhere to run. She was lost and alone.
And now she was a prisoner.
Chapter 9
The wall of the Seed Chamber lay open like a gaping mouth.
“They came through there,” Bano said. “Two creepers blasted through from the other side and the skeletons poured in.”
“Then they took the Seed Generator?”
Ranwin nodded. “The guards never stood a chance.”
Hamid peered into the hole in the wall of the underground chamber. Thick black stone ran in a solid line around the hole.
“Obsidian?” he said.
Bano shrugged. “The entire room is lined with it. To prevent exactly this sort of attack. Not that it did much good.”
“How could creepers blast through obsidian?”
“That is a good question, Hamid,” Ranwin said. “Slashax has clearly given his soldiers powers beyond that of normal monsters.”
Ant examined the low pedestal crafted from glowstone. “This is where the Seed Generator was kept?”
“Yes,” Bano said. “Since this world first spawned, the generator stood here creating a constant stream of new seeds. Each new seed would travel to the player who spawned a new world.”
“Our scouts are searching the surface for any signs of Slashax, but they will find nothing.” Ranwin lumbered to the large hole. He peered into the darkness beyond. The aging villager’s voice grew quiet. “Another group went down this hole a few days ago. We have had no word from them. That foul skeleton is down there. And that is where you must go.”
The only place Hamid wanted to go was home. He just wanted to wake from this dream, or whatever it was, and forget this whole mess. But that wasn’t going to happen.
Bano had chosen them to help. They hadn’t been the villagers’ first choice, but now Hamid and Ant were their only chance at getting the Seed Generator back. If Herobrine got the generator, he would use it to infect the seed of every Minecraft server in the world, allowing him to cross into the real world and bring an army of monsters with him. The only way to stop that was to get back the generator. And that meant descending into the depths of this world.
Ant slung his backpack over his shoulders and stepped up to the hole. His full suit of diamond armor gleamed brilliantly, even in the dim light of the Seed Chamber.
“What are we waiting for?” he said. “Let’s find this Slashax and get that generator back.”
“At your side.” Bano adjusted the straps on his own backpack.
Hamid peered into the hole. The knot in his stomach tightened. The armor and the backpacks filled with food and supplies would definitely help. Ranwin had spared no stone in getting them ready for their dungeon delve. They had food, tools and the best protection the Village of Keepers could provide. Yet still a bubbling sense of doom chewed at Hamid’s gut.
He wished he could sound as brave as Ant or as confident as Bano. But he couldn’t. Ant might have visions of vanquishing Slashax and returning the Seed Generator in time for dinner. Hamid had other terrible thoughts; images of disaster deep underground that he didn’t dare say aloud. How would they defeat Slashax? If the skeleton was working for Herobrine, then all the forces of the underground would be pitted against them. Hamid shuddered to think what they would face down there. But down was the only way to go. He gritted his teeth and forced a confident smile.
“Let’s do this,” he said, wishing he could be anywhere but here.
* * *
Many hours later, Hamid’s whole body ached. Walking in diamond armor was not easy. He felt like he was squeezed into a shirt made out of soup cans and wearing a pair of toasters on his feet. They clattered and jangled with every step deeper underground. And there were many steps.
They followed a tunnel left by the thieves deep into the darkness and stopped when the smoothly cut stone passage opened into a wide cavern. The whole way, Bano didn’t take his eyes off the strange device in his hands.
“Slashax must have started digging his way to the Seed Generator from here,” he said.
“That makes sense,” Ant said. He looked back the way they came. “The tunnel runs in a straight line with even steps cut out along the way.”
“From here, the walking will be more difficult.” Bano turned to face one direction and then another. Each time, he stopped to study the device in his hands. “The seed sensor is picking up faint signals coming from farther down.”
“Seed sensor?” Ant said. “Is that some kind of compass?”
“In a way,” Bano said. “The Seed Generator is constantly generating new seeds for Minecraft worlds. Each seed leaves trace elements in the air. This device can sense those elements.”
“And it’ll lead us to the sensor?” Ant said.
“Hopefully,” Bano said. “It was crafted after the theft, so it’s never been tested.”
“So it could also be leading us around in random directions?” Ant’s words grew sharp. The weight of his tin suit seemed to have worn away his enthusiasm for this dungeon delve.
Bano moved farther down the corridor without answering. The two friends watched the villager plod through the darkness, following the seed sensor’s signal.
“It’s all we have right now, Ant,” Hamid said. “Let’s follow the seed sensor and see where it leads us.”
Ant
pushed his diamond helmet to the back of his head and smirked.
“Whatever you say, boss.” He turned and followed Bano down the corridor.
“I’m not the boss,” Hamid said.
“Then stop acting like one,” Ant called over his shoulder.
Hamid stood alone in the shadow-filled tunnel. Suddenly his diamond armor wasn’t the only thing weighing down on him.
Carefully, they climbed down to the cavern floor. They found an opening wide enough for the three of them to pass through easily.
Hamid brought his torch close to the ground. Footprints crisscrossed the dust here. Damp trails left by passing slimes coated the floor. It was impossible to tell if it was just random monsters wandering around or Slashax and his skeletons.
“This looks like a busy place,” he said.
“Then we best keep moving, unless we want a visit from the beasts who dwell here,” Bano said.
The tunnel continued on straight and stayed wide as they went. At regular intervals, it dropped down like a neatly carved staircase. Ant studied the tunnel with the eye of a master builder.
“This tunnel seems like it was built specifically to carry large items back and forth,” he said. “It’s wide enough for the three of us to move easily. The steps don’t drop off like a natural cliff.”
“Indeed,” Bano said. “But the people in my village did not build it. We have no reason to come this way.”
“Not even to mine for stuff?” Hamid said.
“We have quarries elsewhere that meet all our needs.” Bano continued down the tunnel. His eyes never left the seed sensor in his hands.
“So, Slashax built this tunnel?” Hamid said.
“And he probably figured someone would follow him,” Ant said.
Hamid froze. “Bano, stop!”
The soft click of a pressure plate echoed from where Bano stood at the far end of the tunnel. The tell-tale sound of pistons activating came from behind the walls.
“Trap!” Ant shouted, but it was too late.
Descent Into Overworld: An Unofficial Minecraft Adventure Page 5
