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Copyright © 2017 by Danica Davidson
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
Cover design by Brian Peterson
Cover photo by Lordwhitebear
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-5107-2850-9
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-2708-3
Printed in the United States of America
CHAPTER 1
The second that i stepped into the dark cave, I wanted to get out. It was so black and creepy in there, like the perfect area for monsters to live.
“Scared, Stevie?” one of the village boys mocked me.
I took a deep gulp and looked back over my shoulder. About ten village kids had followed me to the cave. They’d put a couple torches along the cave’s walls, though it was still hard to see in there.
“I’m not scared,” I said. But I knew my voice didn’t sound so confident.
It was my own fault I was in this situation. My dad had wanted to trade supplies with the blacksmith, so I’d followed him to the village and then asked if I could do my own thing. While Dad was taking care of business, I’d searched for some village kids to hang out with. None of the village kids had wanted to be my friend before, but this time I was hoping things would be different.
I had friends, even though they mostly lived on Earth, which was a completely different world. Wouldn’t it be nice to have friends right in my own nearby village in the Overworld?
I had started out by talking big. I reminded the kids that I was the one and only Stevie. I was the one who had stopped the zombie takeover of the Overworld. I had defeated Herobrine, the worst monster—or mob, as we called them—our world had ever seen. I had even overcome a Herobrine-created Wither a few weeks before. So I was worth being friends with, right?
At first the kids got really into my story. One kid even said that I was the biggest hero in the Overworld right now. I liked the sound of it. Then one boy said, “We should take him to the cave.”
“Cave?” I’d repeated. “What are you talking about?”
“During the Wither attack, the Wither blasted open a mountain by the village and there’s this huge cave inside,” the boy said. “There’s a big hole near the entrance of the cave and we’ve been daring one another to jump over it. No one’s been brave enough to.”
“A hole?” I said. Jumping over a hole didn’t sound too bad.
“You can do it, Stevie!” a village girl shouted. It was the one who’d said I was a hero. “It’ll be easy for you!”
Everyone was looking at me expectantly. So, of course I said, “Show me the cave!”
It wasn’t until I agreed that I realized I probably should have gotten more information first. Dad had told me a million times not to run into things without understanding the situation.
When we reached the cave, I saw just how big and dark it was. It didn’t matter that it was sunny outside, because the cave was shady enough for mobs like creepers or zombies or armed skeletons to be walking around inside. I had my diamond sword and my toolkit with me, and I held them close.
The boy who’d come up with the idea of going to the cave—the same boy who’d asked me if I was scared—showed me where the hole was. It was close to the cave entrance, so at least I didn’t have to go far into the cave. But it was a much larger hole than I realized. It was more than just a missing block or two out of the ground.
I pulled a torch out of my toolkit so I could see better. When I knelt down and waved the torch into the hole, I still couldn’t even see the bottom. Not a good sign.
“What’s wrong?” the boy mocked. When I lifted the torch back up, the flames made his teasing smile look spooky. There was just something so cruel about the way he grinned at me. “This is nothing compared to what you’ve done before, is it? Or is a little hole in the ground too scary for Stevie?”
I was starting to remember why I wasn’t friends with the village kids. But when I stood up and looked back over them, I saw how closely they were watching me. If I didn’t jump over the hole, they’d all think I was a wimp. On top of that, they’d think I was a liar. And I definitely wouldn’t be called a “hero” anymore.
I examined the hole, trying to figure out if I even could jump over it. It was possible, though it’d be a stretch. I suddenly wondered where Dad was. It’d be great if he could show up to say he was done seeing the blacksmith and it was time to go home. That would give me an excuse to leave, but Dad didn’t even know where I was.
“I think the rumor is true,” the mocking boy said in a loud voice. “Stevie didn’t really defeat any of those mobs. He was there, but I bet his dad took care of all the work. And then he acts like he’s the Overworld’s hero.”
Some kids whispered in agreement. I couldn’t take it anymore—I jumped up, riled. I’d spent my whole life living in my dad’s shadow. His name was Steve, and everyone knew him as The Steve because how good he was at building and fighting mobs. But I’d worked hard in my recent battles, even saving Dad a few times. I deserved the credit! (And I didn’t want to think about the fact I was just hoping Dad would swoop in and save me.)
“Here, take my sword and my torch,” I said gruffly, pushing the objects into the mocking boy’s hands. I didn’t need them messing up my balance. Now I just had my toolkit slung over my shoulder, but I was used to moving around with that.
The boy took my sword and torch, surprised. That made me feel a little better, because I realized he’d been expecting me to chicken out.
I walked back a bit so I could get a really good running start. I eyed the hole like an enemy I had to defeat.
Get ready, Stevie, I told myself. You can do this!
The next thing I knew, I was running. The kids were all cheering, except for the mocking boy, who looked disappointed. Shadows from the cave were coming up all around me as the hole kept getting closer. I stretched my legs and threw myself through the air.
It all went in slow motion. I saw the other side of the hole coming up toward me. I was going to make it! This wasn’t so bad after all.
Then I saw I’d judged too quickly.
I tried to grab onto the other side of the hole and realized there was nothing to grab. The tips of my hands just b
rushed against where my feet should have landed. The kids gasped. I tried to hold on to something, anything, but it was no good.
Someone cried out as I fell. I could hear Dad’s voice in my head, the same way it was always in my head when I did something wrong: Stevie, you have to be careful about falling down tunnels.
Whack! I hit the bottom of the hole. I was dazed and a little hurt, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Mostly I felt like an idiot. When I looked up, I could see the light of torches at the surface as kids bent their heads over the hole, trying to check on me.
“Stevie!” a kid called. “Are you all right? We can’t see you!”
“I’m all right!” I called back. I didn’t want to tell them I was hurt. I needed some milk and food to regain my health and feel better.
Then I stopped. I’d spoken too soon.
I wasn’t alone down here.
CHAPTER 2
The first things i saw were the eyes. purple eyes that could never belong to a human. Then the creature in the darkness began to hiss.
It was an Enderman! And I’d just done the worst thing you can do if you see an Enderman. Normally these giant mobs were passive and left you alone, but if you looked at them in their eyes, they’d become hostile and attack.
The Enderman lunged toward me. All I had time to do was reach into my toolkit and pull out the first thing I found—a block of wood I’d gotten for myself earlier. I struck at the Enderman with the wood block, and it would have been a perfect hit, but the Enderman disappeared. A moment later I felt it right behind me, hissing in my ear.
I swung back at it with the wood block, yet the Enderman vanished just in time again. Along with being incredibly tall, Endermen also had the ability to teleport. So they were even harder to fight than your average mob.
I tried to shout to the kids above, telling them to throw my diamond sword down to me. Even if I could manage to hit the Enderman with the wood block, it wouldn’t do much damage. I needed a real weapon! But when I attempted to call out, the Enderman popped right back up in my face, shrieking.
I dove down into a roll, trying desperately to pull some sort of a useful weapon from my toolkit. Somehow my hand reached in and pulled out my pickaxe. I jumped back to my feet and turned toward the Enderman, only to find it gone again. There was only a tiny bit of light from the opening above, and when the Enderman reappeared there a moment later, the light let me see the mob in all its terrifying detail. It was more than twice as tall as me, its long body the color of the darkness it had come out of.
Outside of that little bit of light from above, the tunnel was totally dark. I felt the Enderman pushing me back, deeper into the tunnel. Deeper into the complete blackness.
I had no idea how far the tunnel went. I might bump into a wall at any second and the Enderman would have me cornered.
Above me I could still hear kids yelling and screaming. They knew something was wrong, though they didn’t know what. No one was jumping down to help me; I was on my own.
I swung back at the Enderman, making it disappear. As soon as it was gone, I tried running back toward the small area with light. When I took a step forward, I ran into something solid. A wall?
No, it was the Enderman, blocking my path to get out of there!
I’d never fought an Enderman before, let alone been all by myself against one in the dark. The Enderman reared over me and I ran deeper into the tunnel. Dad and people from the village liked mining, so there might be another exit in here somewhere. It was my only chance!
I hit a wall dripping with water. A dead end! The Enderman was almost on top of me, but then my hand reached to the side and felt nothing. That meant the tunnel turned to the right here! I bolted down that tunnel, my heavy breathing loud in my ears. All my senses were heightened and I expected to hit another wall any second. Panicked at this thought, I turned and swiped at the Enderman again, though of course all it did was teleport away and then appear right back in front of me.
I kept running, one hand holding my toolkit, another touching the tunnel’s walls so I’d know if any more tunnels opened up.
As I turned a new corner I found myself face-to-face with the teleporting Enderman again. I swung out with all my might and this time managed to hit it. For a moment the Enderman flashed red, a signal that it had been struck.
The Enderman was taken aback for a second. This was what I needed. I struck again.
Another hit! Then the Enderman disappeared and I swung around in the darkness, looking for the return of purple eyes. Where was it?
I began running back to the direction of the hole to the cave … or what I thought was that direction.
Right then the Enderman showed up in front of me again, the purple of its eyes giving just enough light for me to see it barreling my way. I hit it as hard as I could and the Enderman let out a final shriek and it was gone. Gone for good.
However, there was no time to celebrate. I realized I was on unsteady ground, my feet half-standing on another hole. If I’d been less panicked and less hurt, I probably could have gotten my balance back. But I was exhausted. I fell down another hole in this forsaken tunnel, deeper into the darkness.
CHAPTER 3
“Oof!” i said when i hit the ground. thankfully, this fall hadn’t been as far as the first one, and this time I landed in an area with some light.
I was in a large, clear room underground, and ahead of me was an iron door with torches set around it. Still sore from my two falls, I got up and staggered toward the door, looking out in case any more Endermen or any other mobs showed up.
When I got closer to the door, I saw it had a symbol engraved on it. It kind of looked like the letters S and A, if you made them all fancy and combined them. It seemed familiar to me, although I couldn’t think of why. I would have to ask Dad later.
Iron doors needed a switch to open, so I started searching the area. The switch was not far away and I snapped it. What was behind these doors? I was about to find out.
I was hoping it would be a stairway back to the surface, or maybe there was someone living underground there. As long as they could help me get out! However, when the door opened up to a new room, I was in for a surprise.
It was completely empty, except for one unopened treasure chest. My heart skipped a beat. A treasure chest would definitely turn this day around! I could go back up to the kids on the surface and tell them I had not only defeated the Enderman on my own, but I found a treasure chest full of goodies!
It’s too bad my friends aren’t here to see this, I thought as I approached the chest. I meant my real friends, not the village kids. Maison and Destiny and Yancy from Earth. And my cousin Alex, who lived in the next village over. Maison was the first person I met on Earth after I discovered a portal that led there. I met Destiny and Yancy a little later, and even though we weren’t friends at first, we ended up becoming really close. I grew up with Alex, but we didn’t become real friends until we fought Herobrine together. For all the recent adventures I’d been on, they’d been there to help me. Even that Enderman would have been a lot less scary if my friends had been here!
When I broke open the lid of the treasure chest, I leapt back and drew my weapon.
CHAPTER 4
Then i had to laugh at myself, even though it wasn’t funny. Boy, was I jumpy! There was something purple in the treasure chest, so the first thought my still-panicked brain had was that it was another Enderman. But Endermen all spawned at one height, and they were way too big to fit in treasure chests!
Slowly I reached inside and picked up the purple object. It felt warm on my palm and was glowing. It looked like … well, it looked kind of like an Ender crystal. Except it was too small to be one. Maybe it was a shard? But why would there be an Ender crystal shard here of all places?
I’d only seen Ender crystals once, and that was when I went to the End with my friends to fight Herobrine. We’d even seen the infamous Ender Dragon there, and we had seen her henchmen, the Endermen. E
ndermen sometimes came out to the Overworld, so it wasn’t really shocking that I’d run into one. Just unusual. But the Ender Dragon and Ender crystal were only found in the End. No exceptions.
So this crystal had to be something else. I just couldn’t think of what.
I picked the glowing purple crystal up, then turned and walked out of the room. It was like my own little torch, lighting my way with pale violet light. As I walked back, it made the tunnel seem less creepy and more magical.
I used my pickaxe to climb into the tunnel where I’d fought the Enderman and quickly made my way back. Because I was still feeling shaky, I kept my hand against the walls. I got mixed up a couple times, then found the dripping wall from before. That helped give me an idea of where I was. If a wall was dripping, I knew that meant there was water on the other end. It was amazing how the underground was its own little world.
Not a world I cared to visit again, though. Not for a long time.
There was light ahead! I started to jog, relieved I’d found the opening to the cave. As I got closer, I could hear all sorts of voices above talking very nervously.
“Something really bad happened to him down there!” I recognized the mocking boy’s voice. “I told him not to try to jump over the hole, and then he did it anyway.”
I remembered again why I wasn’t good friends with the village kids.
I was going to shout that I was okay, but then another voice hissed, “Find the shards!”
I froze. “Hello?” I called out. There was no answer. Then I heard the voice again.
“Find the shards and put them together! Only then will I be free!”
It sounded like a woman’s voice, except more menacing. The voice gave me the creeps, because on top of the scariness of it, I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Was it an immediate threat? It didn’t sound as if it were up in the cave with the others. It sounded so close, as if it were right next to me, and I knew that wasn’t possible, because the crystal’s light showed me I was alone in the tunnel. Then where could it be coming from?
Adventure Against the Endermen Page 1
