Glancing to his left, he saw Carver using his axe as it was meant to be used—carving through monsters with the ferocity of a hurricane. Zombies and Endermen fell all around him as his shining tool cut through the terrible creatures and cleaved HP from terrifying bodies.
“We can’t hold for much longer,” Fencer shouted.
Gameknight nodded.
“Do it!” the User-that-is-not-a-user said to Fencer, then turned back and attacked an Enderman.
Fencer moved to a large, open rectangle made of cobblestone. A set of stairs allowed him to climb to the top of the structure that was easily as long as their fortified wall. Fencer then took out a bucket and poured. Lava spilled out of the pail and hit the side of the cobblestone frame, spreading out a few blocks, then fell straight downward into a wide pit. He moved over and poured more lava, letting it fall down the length of the rectangle until molten stone covered the entire rectangle.
“Archers … to the lava!” Fencer yelled.
Warriors from the two towers leapt off the tower into pools of water carefully placed around the edge. The water was only one block deep, but it was deep enough for them to fall from the top of the structure without taking any damage.
They all ran behind the lava and stood in a long line.
“Get ready!” Fencer yelled.
The archers notched arrows, then pointed them at different angles so that their shots would be distributed all across the battlefield.
“FIRE!”
The warriors released, and two hundred arrows flew into the curtain of flaming stone. When they emerged, each was on fire, flying through the air like meteors from outer space. The monsters watched as the flaming projectiles came roaring out of the sky and landed among them. Some of the monsters that were hit caught fire, but that was not the offensive’s main intent. Instead, many of the arrows found the blocks of TNT left on the desert floor by Weaver and his companions. Instantly, the red-and-white blocks began to blink, then glow bright white.
Suddenly, the TNT exploded, blasting massive holes in the desert as the cubes blossomed into gigantic fiery flowers of destruction. Before the monsters could react, another volley of flaming arrows was flying through the air. More TNT blocks were hit, creating more explosions. With the monsters so tightly packed together, all of them trying to reach the village’s defenses, the explosions did incredible damage, wiping out whole companies of zombies and skeletons and spiders.
The archers continued to fire, drawing arrows and releasing them as fast as they could. They didn’t bother to aim, sending their arrows out into the air knowing there were so many TNT blocks planted that their shots would likely find a bomb and set it off.
Gameknight finished off the monsters before him, then attacked one of the creatures near Carver. Soon, the advancing monsters were reconsidering their choices, and many of them were fleeing, running back into the desert.
“Now it’s our turn to attack!” Gameknight yelled. “FOR MINECRAFT!”
Gameknight and Carver jumped off the wall at the same time, slashing at the creatures still advancing. Suddenly, all of the villagers were leaping forward, chasing down the monsters that were trying to flee, many of them yelling “SMITHY BE CRAZY!” They tore into the enemy, attacking any that turned and faced them. Now it was the monsters that were outnumbered, and they knew it.
The monsters hadn’t expected the villagers to attack with such ferocity. Many turned at the sound of their battle cry and just stood there, confused. Herobrine had probably told them that the NPCs were weak and cowardly. Any monster that just stood there was cut down quickly. None were given a chance to attack.
The villagers moved forward like a flood of steel, their swords tearing HP from zombie and skeleton and Enderman bodies. The villagers didn’t care what kind of monsters they faced; the sight of Smithy with his two swords slashing a field of devastation into the monsters caused them to fight harder than their tired bodies could have on their own. At times, some of the villagers found themselves facing two monsters at a time, but they were so confident that they didn’t even hesitate. Their leader, Smithy of the Two-Swords, was facing dozens with his dual blades; fighting only two or three seemed insignificant.
Off to the left, Gameknight could see the spiders struggling to get free of the cactus obstacle course created by Cactusbrin. Others were using their sharp claws to cut away at the vines that had entangled them. Instead of retreating with the other monsters, the spiders ran off on their own, away from Herobrine’s army. Gameknight could see a flash of purple in the distance. It was likely Shaikulud, waiting for her spiders to run to her. He knew it was not over with the spider queen, not yet, but her time would come in the future.
Stopping his charge, Gameknight pulled out blocks of sand and made a small pile. Climbing to the top, he surveyed the battlefield. Most of the monsters had been destroyed by Weaver’s TNT. Only a few remained to challenge the villagers. In the distance, he could see the eyes of Herobrine glowing bright with rage as he realized the battle was lost. He would have to signal the retreat for the rest of his monsters, and Herobrine hated to retreat.
They’d done it. They’d won the battle.
He stepped off the pile of stone and moved to Fencer’s side. He was about to speak when suddenly, a presence appeared before him. Herobrine materialized four blocks away, glaring at Gameknight999.
“You may have won this battle, blacksmith, but the war is not over,” Herobrine growled. “I’ll be back, and next time, you won’t be so lucky.”
“It wasn’t luck … it was leadership that won the day,” Fencer said as he moved to Gameknight’s side, his iron sword held at the ready.
Herobrine’s eyes glowed bright for just an instant, then he disappeared and materialized on a distant sand dune. The spider queen crawled up the hill and stood at his side, then Erebus appeared next to Shaikulud, his eyes like two blood-red lasers. He reached out and held onto the spider, then the three of them disappeared.
“Fencer, call them all back,” Gameknight shouted.
The NPC passed the word to the other villagers. They all began to beckon the warriors back to the village, letting the surviving monsters flee into the desert, leaderless and running for their lives.
Turning back to the hill in the distance, Gameknight saw that Weaver and his friends were gone. Cold fingers of dread gripped his soul for just a moment, then squeezed.
“I hope the monsters didn’t get them,” Game-knight said with a shudder.
“What?” said a young voice from behind.
Gameknight turned and found Weaver standing behind him, a huge smile plastered on his square face.
“Weaver … you did it!” the User-that-is-not-a-user exclaimed.
“What do you mean?” Weaver corrected. “We did it!”
“I guess you’re right,” Gameknight replied.
The warriors all cheered as they gathered around Gameknight999, their weapons held up victoriously in the air. He was about to speak, when some of the villagers began to murmur something. And then the soldiers parted, allowing someone to approach. It was Carver, his lethal axe in his hands. Gameknight could now hear what they were saying: “The carver of monsters … the carver of monsters.”
Gameknight smiled, then stepped up to Carver and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I knew you would find something here to do with that axe,” Gameknight said.
The stocky NPC just gave him a satisfied smile.
The User-that-is-not-a-user reached over and lifted Carver’s hand and axe in the air, then shouted for all of Minecraft to hear, “CARVER … THE CARVER OF MONSTERS!”
The villagers cheered and patted the stocky NPC on the back.
“Sometimes, all you need to do is believe in yourself,” Carver said. “You have taught me a great lesson, Smithy. It is something I will never forget.”
“Just don’t forget about that diamond pickaxe,” Gameknight replied, climbing back atop the pile of stone to look at the field of
square faces staring up at him.
“We had a great victory here today,” Gameknight said.
The villagers cheered. Gameknight waited for their shouts to diminish, then continued.
“But we lost many friends and family members,” he added in a solemn tone. Slowly, he raised his hand into the air, fingers spread wide. “We must never forget their sacrifice.”
A field of hands sprouted from the NPCs as they all held them high, fingers spread like the petals of a sad flower. Gameknight clenched his hand into a fist as a tiny square tear tumbled down his face. He thought about all the misery and sorrow Herobrine had caused that day, and he grew angry. Squeezing his hand tighter, he tried to crush his grief in his fist until his knuckles popped. Releasing his clenched fist, he lowered his hand down and wiped the tears from his eyes.
“This was a great day, and a sad day,” Gameknight said. “But let it be over. It is time to get out of this desert so we can tend to our wounded.” He glanced down at Carver. “Perhaps Carver will lead us back to the village.”
“CARVER … CARVER … CARVER,” the NPCs chanted.
The stocky NPC stared up at Gameknight and smiled, then marched off back to their defenses, toward home.
CHAPTER 35
GOING HOME
Gameknight walked next to the Oracle as they headed southward back to the desert village. The old woman moved slowly, pulling them to the back of the formation. The User-that-is-not-a-user was not concerned. They had scouts all around them and light-crafters walking a dozen paces in front of them. After he’d seen what the strange crafters had done during the battle, he felt very safe with them nearby.
“You know, this isn’t over,” Gameknight said in a low voice. “Herobrine will not stop until either he is free from this server, or he destroys everything.”
“I know,” the Oracle replied. “That is the nature of being a virus, to spread and destroy. It is all he knows, therefore it is all he can do.”
“You know, far into the future, after the Great Zombie Invasion is finally over, we will meet again,” Gameknight said. “And there is something I must tell you.”
“No, child, you mustn’t tell me now,” the old woman said. “Let me ask you something first: Were we successful in the future?”
“Well … I guess,” Gameknight said. “We finally …”
“Don’t tell me any more,” she insisted. “You see, if you tell me something about the future, then I might change what I did, and the final result could be totally different. If you give me some kind of warning, then I might change a decision I would normally make, causing us to lose our war with Herobrine. It is important that you alter nothing and let the timeline stay as it is, without your insights on the future, so that things will progress naturally to their eventually successful conclusion.”
“Well, I guess,” Gameknight said.
I really want to tell you what happens at the jungle temple, Gameknight thought.
“You know I can hear your thoughts through the fabric of Minecraft, child,” the Oracle said.
“Sorry,” he replied.
“Mark my words, Gameknight999,” she whispered. “Everything must progress normally, without any influence from the future, or the results could be disastrous.”
“But I’m here, pretending to be Smithy of the Two-Swords,” Gameknight protested softly. “Aren’t I already altering the events of history?”
“Perhaps you were always Smithy, and this is just part of the natural events,” the Oracle said in a soft, grandmotherly voice. “We cannot know for sure until you go back to the future.”
Back to the future, Gameknight thought. How am I going to do that?
If his dad came home and activated the Digitizer, would he get pulled back to the physical world? Would Smithy cease to exist? Or would the timelines just get reset, causing the Great Zombie Invasion to become history again? Time travel was confusing.
“Don’t worry, child,” the Oracle said, reassuringly. “I’m sure you will get home when your task here is complete. For now, you must follow this road for a while.”
“Roads. Where we’re going, we don’t need roads,” Gameknight said with a smile. It was a quote from one of his favorite movies.
“What are you talking about?” the old woman asked.
“Oh nothing. Just a little joke,” he replied.
“Very little, apparently,” she said with a smile.
“Smithy … Smithy,” a voice shouted from the collection of NPCs.
Weaver came running to the back of the formation.
“I’m here,” Gameknight shouted.
The young boy ran to him, surrounded by the other young villagers.
“One of the elders said I could be in charge of all TNT and TNT cannons for the village,” Weaver said, a bright smile on his square face.
“That’s fantastic,” Gameknight replied. “Maybe they are beginning to see your value after all, in spite of your age.”
“Maybe,” he replied.
“Perhaps there is something else you could teach the young boy,” the Oracle said.
She stopped walking and closed her eyes. Her hands began to glow a rich forest green. Kneeling, she plunged her hands into the sandstone. Slowly, the emerald light seeped outward until it coalesced at one point. As it grew brighter, a shape began to emerge from the sand, growing taller and taller. Instantly, Gameknight realized it was another light-crafter.
Sparks of light danced about the creature’s hair in every color imaginable. His smock was white with red diagonal stripes running across his chest. Instantly, Gameknight knew the light-crafter’s name and thought about his friend far into the future.
“Crafter sure would love to meet you,” Gameknight murmured with a smile.
“Who is it?” Weaver asked.
“I believe this is Fireworkbrin,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said.
The Oracle smiled and nodded her head.
“I have a few things to teach you now, Weaver,” Gameknight said. “I will show it to all of you.”
The kids cheered with excitement, then gathered around the blacksmith, all of them talking to him at once. Meanwhile, everyone continued heading toward the desert village, which was just now coming into view. Glancing over his shoulder, Gameknight999 cast the Oracle a smile, then continued on to his new home … for now.
MINECRAFT SEEDS
Below are the Minecraft seeds for the PC version, ver. 1.9. You can create a single player world with these seeds, go to the coordinates, and see the terrain I was looking at while I was writing this book. I’ve also added these seeds to the Gameknight999 Minecraft server (www.gameknight999.com). If you log into the server (with your parent’s permission), go to the survival server. Type the command /warp bookwarps. This will take you to the book warp room. All the book warps for all of the books have been built here. Go try out these warps for Attack of the Shadow-Crafters. I’ve built Dragon’s Teeth, but at the time that I’m writing this, I haven’t built the Great Chasm yet; I’m still trying to figure out how to do that. But hopefully, when these books are printed, the Great Chasm will be there for you to explore. Enjoy!
Chapter 3 – Desert Well:
686298914, (coordinates: -417, 66, 267)
Chapter 4 – Desert Village:
1660196624, (coordinates: 116, 68, 157)
Chapter 5 – The Great Chasm:
on Gameknight999 Minecraft server
Chapter 6 – Birch Forest:
453275649876, (coordinates: 709, 69, -133)
Chapter 11 – Dragon’s Teeth:
on Gameknight999 Minecraft server
AVAILABLE NOW FROM MARK CHEVERTON AND SKY PONY PRESS
THE GAMEKNIGHT999 SERIES
The world of Minecraft comes to life in this thrilling adventure!
Gameknight999 loved Minecraft, and above all else, he loved to grief—to intentionally ruin the gaming experience for other users.
But when one of his father’s inventions teleports him
into the game, Gameknight is forced to live out a real-life adventure inside a digital world. What will happen if he’s killed? Will he respawn? Die in real life? Stuck in the game, Gameknight discovers Minecraft’s best-kept secret, something not even the game’s programmers realize: the creatures within the game are alive! He will have to stay one step ahead of the sharp claws of zombies and pointed fangs of spiders, but he’ll also have to learn to make friends and work as a team if he has any chance of surviving the Minecraft war his arrival has started.
With deadly endermen, ghasts, and dragons, this action-packed trilogy introduces the heroic Gameknight999 and has proven to be a runaway publishing smash, showing that the Gameknight999 series is the perfect companion for Minecraft fans of all ages.
Invasion of the Overworld (Book One):
$9.99 paperback • 978-1-63220-711-1
Battle for the Nether (Book Two):
$9.99 paperback • 978-1-63220-712-8
Confronting the Dragon (Book Three):
$9.99 paperback • 978-1-63450-046-3
AVAILABLE NOW FROM MARK CHEVERTON AND SKY PONY PRESS
THE MYSTERY OF HEROBRINE SERIES
Gameknight999 must save his friends from an evil virus intent on destroying all of Minecraft!
Gameknight999 was sucked into the world of Minecraft when one of his father’s inventions went haywire. Trapped inside the game, the former griefer learned the error of his ways, transforming into a heroic warrior and defeating powerful endermen, ghasts, and dragons to save the world of Minecraft and his NPC friends who live in it.
Gameknight swore he’d never go inside Minecraft again. But that was before Herobrine, a malicious virus infecting the very fabric of the game, threatened to destroy the entire Overworld and escape into the real world. To outsmart an enemy much more powerful than any he’s ever faced, the User-that-is-not-a-user will need to go back into the game, where real danger lies around every corner. From zombie villages and jungle temples to a secret hidden at the bottom of a deep ocean, the action-packed adventures of Gameknight999 and his friends (and, now, family) continue in this thrilling follow-up series for Minecraft fans of all ages.
Attack of the Shadow-Crafters Page 18
