The man in the black helmet said, “We want your help.”
“Why?” Jack asked.
For a minute there was utter silence. They just stood and stared at each other. Harriet could swear she heard a faint voice. It was muffled, but the voice sounded like it was calling for help. She didn’t tell her friends; instead she just said, “Don’t answer that question. We’re done here.”
They returned to the small house and climbed into bed. Before Toby began to read from the journal again, Harriet asked the others, “Did either of you hear someone calling for help when we were at the desert temple?”
“Yes!” Jack cried out. “I thought I was imagining it.”
“Hey, me too!” said Toby.
“We have to go back tomorrow, but we can’t let them have access to this journal.”
Toby looked at the journal. Harriet and Jack went quiet as he read the next pages.
16
JOURNAL ENTRY: SECRET TEMPLE
Trip 8: Back to the Desert
I didn’t want to go back to the desert. I didn’t care about the treasure. I wanted to explore the Overworld, but I had promised Julian we could return, and Oliver was holding me to that promise. As we entered the temple, Julian began to pace.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “You seem nervous.”
“I just want to find the treasure.”
“We’ll find it,” I said, certain that we would.
But we didn’t. We dug all over the temple and there was nothing there. Julian suggested that we had stolen it from him. And we blamed him for the missing treasure.
“I promise you,” I said, “we didn’t take the treasure.”
“Then who did?” Julian was getting frustrated.
A man wearing a black helmet entered the desert temple and I took out my diamond sword. “Who are you?” I asked, pointing my sword at him.
“I’m Ezra,” he said. “I know where your treasure is hidden.”
“How?” I asked.
“Tell them who I am.” He looked over at Julian.
“You know this man?” Oliver was shocked.
“Ezra used to be a part of the blue army.” Julian spoke slowly. “But he stopped working with Charles and Thao.”
“Where are Charles and Thao?” I asked.
“They’re long gone,” Ezra told us, “and we’ll never have to worry about them again. When you staged the Ender Dragon attack, I used command blocks to switch them to Hardcore mode.”
“Why would you betray them like that?” asked Oliver.
“I really didn’t want to be a part of their army,” replied Ezra. “They were terrible leaders.”
“So then where is the treasure?” I asked.
“Well,” said Ezra, “I know it isn’t here.”
“How could you know that?” Oliver asked.
“I live in the desert—I never left after the attack. And I once saw someone come into this temple and empty it,” replied Ezra.
“Who?” asked Oliver.
“I’m not sure. I only caught a quick glimpse and I thought it was Charles, on his own. But I knew that was impossible. I had put him on Hardcore mode and he had been destroyed. There was no way he could come back.”
“Maybe he knew you put him on Hardcore mode and stopped it?” I asked. I wasn’t sure if I should trust Ezra. I was also beginning to grow wary of Julian again. He had never told us about this friend from his blue army days. And what a coincidence for Ezra to suddenly appear in the desert temple while we were searching it. I felt like we were being tricked.
“I suppose that is a possibility,” Ezra replied finally.
“Did you follow him?” asked Oliver.
“Yes, but I lost him,” Ezra continued. “And then I thought I saw him here a few weeks ago. I tried to follow him again, but he noticed. He splashed a potion on himself and disappeared.”
A roar was heard outside the desert temple. The wing from an Ender Dragon struck the side of the temple—almost immediately it crumbled.
“Watch out!” Oliver called out.
“Who summoned the Ender Dragon?” I shouted.
“It could be the mystery man. It could be Charles!” Ezra cried.
I grabbed all the snowballs I had in my inventory and tried to keep a brave face, but when the Ender Dragon let out a fiery breath, I was terrified. This is why we’d stayed so far away when we’d summoned the Ender Dragons the first time.
Oliver was at my side. He threw the first snowball at the dragon, but despite his good aim, one snowball didn’t destroy the powerful creature.
Julian and Ezra joined in the battle. They hurled their own snowballs at the beast, but it was only weakening the dragon, not destroying it. And we were quickly losing energy.
“Who summoned this?” I asked aloud again, but realized I was talking to myself—everyone else was immersed in battle.
The dragon flew toward me, and instead of striking it with my sword, I sprinted back into the desert temple. I wanted to seek shelter from the horrid flying terror.
I was useless in battle. A warrior who couldn’t fight.
I could hear them fighting from inside the temple. I felt terrible for abandoning my friends in battle, but I was no help. My fears had overtook me.
“I think I’ve got it!” I heard Julian call out as he slammed the fiery beast with the last of his snowball supply.
It went quiet outside. Then I heard Oliver. “William, where are you?”
As I came out of the temple, I spotted someone running by. It looked like Charles. “I think he’s here!” I shouted.
Nobody was listening. They were all cheering for Julian, who had thrown the final snowball at the Ender Dragon. It had exploded, dropping a dragon egg and unleashing a portal to the End.
I joined them, but I couldn’t see Oliver anywhere. “Where’s Oliver?” I asked the others.
“He disappeared at the end of the battle,” said Julian. “We aren’t sure where he went.”
“Sorry,” said Ezra, “but we’re going to the End. We don’t want to miss this chance.”
The two passed through the portal, leaving me to search for Oliver on my own. I looked around the temple, but he was nowhere in sight. First the treasure went missing and now my best friend was gone. We never should have come back. That’s what I get for keeping my promise.
I spent the next day searching every block of the temple and all the land surrounding it. I couldn’t find Oliver. I was starting to get nervous. I kind of missed him and I was worried he might have been taken prisoner. I hoped the person who looked like Charles would return and I could trap and question him. I wanted Oliver back. If my plan failed . . . well, there was nobody who could help me. I was all alone.
Kaboom!
I heard an explosion in the distance. I was shaking, but I went to explore the source of the noise. I had to find out if Oliver was somehow involved. It was getting dark, and two Endermen crept by. They were carrying blocks, and I tried not to make eye contact with them. The lanky Endermen didn’t see me, but I knew it was just a matter of time before I was destroyed by one of the hostile mobs that spawned in the night. I was scared and I felt like a fraud. The entire Overworld celebrated me. They believed I was a fearless explorer. I had called myself a warrior. And here I was, friendless and scared. I missed Oliver.
17
PUZZLE PIECE
That’s it,” said Toby. “The rest of the pages are missing.”
“We need to go back to the desert temple. I bet that voice we heard was Oliver,” Harriet said.
She closed her eyes, but it was hard to sleep. There was so much to do tomorrow.
When they woke, the gang put on armor and made their way to the desert temple.
They stood in the temple and listened for the faint cry they had heard the day before, and they also kept an eye out for Julian and the man in the black helmet—Ezra.
They walked down the stairs and could hear the voice more clearly. “It sounds like the p
erson is trapped in a room underneath the desert temple,” said Harriet.
The gang got out their pickaxes and began to dig a hole on the bottom floor of the temple.
“Do you see anything?” asked Jack.
“Not yet,” said Toby.
But then Harriet shouted out, “I found a stronghold!”
The group was about to open the door to the stronghold, when they heard a voice behind them.
“What did you find?”
Harriet whipped around and saw Julian standing by the wall.
“It looks like a stronghold,” said Jack.
Harriet shot Jack a dirty look.
Ezra entered the desert temple. “Did you say a stronghold?”
“Yes.” Jack looked down at the door. The sound of the voice called out again and this time it was much louder.
“Oliver, is that you?” shouted Julian.
“Julian!” the voice shouted gleefully. “Save me!”
Harriet, Toby, Jack, Julian, and Ezra stormed into the stronghold, and rushed to free Oliver.
They raced through a series of tunnels until they reached a door. Toby tried to open it.
“It’s blocked.” He looked at the others.
Oliver was calling from the other side of the door. “Break a hole in the wall. Do you have a pickaxe?”
The gang took out their pickaxes and began to break down the door and the wall. Oliver crawled through the hole. “Julian!”
They hugged. Julian was happy to see his old friend.
“Where’s William?” Oliver looked at the group.
“We don’t know,” said Julian. “It took us years to find you. We thought this temple was empty.”
“We need to find William.” Oliver began to pace nervously. “I hope Charles didn’t destroy him.”
“But we thought Charles was destroyed,” said Ezra.
“No,” said Oliver, “he’s the one who trapped me down here. This is his stronghold. We should probably try and make our way out of here. We don’t want him finding us.”
“Too late!” a voice called from the dark hallway.
“It’s six against one! You don’t have a chance. But we’re not going to fight you anymore,” Julian shouted. “We’re going to tell the Overworld how you trapped a world-famous explorer and they will deal with you.”
“They’ll never find me.” Charles splashed a potion of invisibility on himself and disappeared.
“Do you think he trapped William, too?” asked Oliver.
Harriet and her friends stood beside him, in awe. They couldn’t believe they were actually meeting the famous explorer who had created most of the maps of the Overworld.
“The Overworld is going to be so excited when they find out you are alive,” said Harriet. “People have been talking about your disappearance forever. There will be parades and many celebrations.”
Oliver looked at Harriet. “I can’t celebrate until we bring William home. I have to hope that he isn’t destroyed and Charles has him trapped somewhere in the Overworld. And it’s my mission to find him.”
Julian and Ezra vowed to join Oliver in his quest to find William. “I don’t know where he is, but I will help you,” said Julian. “I will never forgive myself for selfishly choosing to travel to the End, and leaving both you and William. I spent my life living with that regret and I will do anything to help find William.”
“Thank you.” Oliver smiled at his old friend.
Harriet and her friends also wanted to continue their search for William. “We’ve been searching for both of you all this time,” said Harriet. “We would like to continue our search.”
“And,” Jack added, “we have a copy of William’s first journal.”
Toby said quickly, “It’s what led us to you. But we finished it and we reached you, but it doesn’t say anything about William.”
“There are some pages missing,” said Harriet.
Julian pulled the second journal from his inventory. From it, he pulled the missing pages. “I thought this book was a hoax, but I started to read it last night and I think I have to share these with you. I believe it can help us find William.”
The group crowded around Julian as he read the loose pages.
18
JOURNAL ENTRY: A CALL FOR HELP
Trip 9: HELP!
I have waited for Julian and Ezra to return, but they haven’t shown up. I’ve built a small house in the desert and every day I search for Oliver. I miss my friend and feel like the world of exploring is over for me. It seems empty and pointless without Oliver. I feel helpless because I can’t find him. But I won’t give up.
Today I spotted someone walking by the desert temple. At first I thought it was Oliver and hurried over, but on closer inspection, I realized it was Charles. I hadn’t seen him in so long I had almost forgotten what he looked like.
“William!” Charles called out. “You’re next!
When he uttered these words, I knew he had destroyed Oliver. My heart sunk, but I was also filled with anger. I wanted revenge and I grabbed my diamond sword and lunged at him. But he crafted a portal to the Nether. A purple mist filled the sky.
I thought he had created it as a place to flee, so I was surprised when he shouted, “Pass through the portal!” to me.
“Never!” I shouted, coming at him again with my sword.
“If you ever want to see your friend Oliver again, you will come with me.”
And there it was. If he was telling the truth, if there was any chance of saving Oliver, I had to face my fears and travel to the Nether.
Together we passed through the portal and emerged in the Nether. He led me to a Nether fortress. The trip the fortress wasn’t easy, but I will spare you the gory details and the many attacks from fiery mobs. Luckily, I had a bunch of snowballs in my inventory. Once we reached the fortress, Charles trapped me. If anyone is reading this, I promise to reverse any curses associated with reading my journals. Please come and find me!
DO YOU LIKE FICTION FOR MINECRAFTERS?
Check out other unofficial Minecrafter adventures from Sky Pony Press!
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Available wherever books are sold!
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Discoveries in the Overworld Page 6
