The Jungle Temple Oracle

by Mark Cheverton

  “You can try,” Gameknight growled.

  Slowly, Gameknight drew his diamond sword with his right hand, then drew his iron sword with his left. Stepping forward so that he was but a few steps from the terrifying monster, he glared at Shaikulud, refusing to be afraid.

  “Come on, spider . . . let’s dance!”

  CHAPTER 21

  CUTTING THE MARIONETTE’S STRINGS

  Shaikulud lunged at Gameknight999, the claws on her front legs flashing before his face, making a whistling sound as they sliced through the air. Stepping back, he brought the iron sword up to block the attack while at the same time lunging with the diamond. Her second set of legs deflected the attack as she uttered a maniacal laugh that echoed across the landscape.

  “You’ll have to do better than that, user,” she screeched, her eyes now blazing.

  Moving with lightning speed, she leaped at him, her claws extended. Spinning to the side, he avoided her front claws, but one from the rear gouged into his armor, causing a chunk of his diamond chest plate to fall to the ground. Gameknight looked at the armor plate and could see the jagged gouge where the spider’s claw had cut through the nearly impenetrable surface.

  “Apparently your armor issss not spider queen proof,” Shaikulud said, laughing an eerie sinister laugh.

  Gameknight charged before the monster could stop laughing, slashing at her front legs with his iron sword, spinning and attacking her side with the diamond blade. The tip tore into the spider’s side, making her flash red. Pressing the attack, he continued to drive her back, both swords swinging wildly. He landed another hit with the diamond blade, then stabbed out with the iron sword, brushing against a leg.

  Flash . . . red.

  Shaikulud took a step back as he advanced and shot out a stream of spider’s web. It caught Gameknight’s foot and the end of his diamond blade. The sudden anchor on his foot almost made him fall over. Tugging violently, the User-that-is-not-a-user tried to free his foot, but it was firmly captured by the web. He pulled at his diamond sword, but it too was stuck.

  Suddenly, he felt a claw rake through his armor, tearing another piece from his protective coating. Turning, he brought his iron sword up just in time to block a razor sharp claw from reaching his head. Swinging the blade wildly, he pushed the spider queen back. Gameknight knew he was stuck and had no choice; he released his grip on the hilt. With it sticking out of the white, interwoven web, he reached into his inventory and pulled out the pick. Swinging it at the web while he kept his sword at the ready, he was able to break through the web just before Shaikulud started her next attack. Rolling across the ground, he picked up his sword and the cube of spider’s web just as the pointed claws streaked through the air, barely missing his head.

  Drawing his diamond blade again, he turned to face the giant spider. She now had him with his back to the sheer cliff that overlooked the battlefield below. Taking a step closer, Shaikulud shot a stream of web off to the right, forming a fuzzy white wall. She then fired another stream of web to the left, completely closing off his flanks.

  What is she doing? he thought.

  Shooting more of the white gossamer, she placed down a wall of web directly in front of him. Moving backward, closer to the ledge, he gripped both his swords and readied himself for the next attack. Without getting ensnared, Shaikulud moved easily over the web and stepped closer to her adversary. Swinging his blades in front of him in a complicated pattern, he became a razor sharp windmill, ready to slice any part of her that came near. But she didn’t attack. Instead, she threw more spiderweb around them, adding to the flanks, depositing a coating on the ground directly in front of Gameknight999.

  Moving back another step or two, he noticed that she was driving him out onto a narrow strip of dirt. It stretched out over the cliff like a slender finger of soil. The sliver of land was maybe four blocks wide and extended about ten blocks out into the open air, the sides falling straight down to the ground below.

  Once he was on the narrow structure, the spider queen stopped throwing her web and approached, forcing him back even farther. As she moved out onto the narrow peninsula of soil, she started to break the blocks behind her, tearing away their avenue back to the plateau . . . and safety.

  “What are you doing?” Gameknight asked. “Have you come here to fight . . . or dig?”

  “You will know in time, User-that-is-not-a-user,” she sneered as she tore at more of the blocks.

  And in that instant, Gameknight could tell what she was doing. By removing the path back to the plateau, he would be trapped with no way to get down. Looking over the edge, he could see that the river was too far away to jump into. It was easy to see that a fall from this height would be fatal . . . he was trapped.

  Once she finished her excavating, Shaikulud turned and faced her enemy.

  “Now it issss time for your end,” the spider queen said.

  “But I thought your master wants me?” Gameknight said, trying to delay the monster while he tried to think.

  “Many of my hatchlingssss had to die because of you,” she spat. “I watched them suffer until they disappeared in my armssss. They died because of you and those filthy NPCssss down there around the temple. You all will be destroyed.”

  “But your master?” the User-that-is-not-a-user replied, trying to delay her.

  Reaching into the back of his mind, Gameknight looked for some idea that would let him escape this terrible creature. But there was no solution he could see, no clever trick. His only choice was to fight this monster and either win or lose.

  Shaikulud attacked.

  Dark spider claws tore into his diamond armor, tearing new fragments from his protective coating. She had been too fast and Gameknight had not been ready. Bringing his swords up in front of him, he swung at the beast, but he had no room to move. Taking a step toward him, Shaikulud swung at him, then diverted the attack to the ground, tearing the block at his feet out of the ground, leaving a hole that opened to the air and the ground far below. Scuttling to the side, the spider queen lunged again, this time her claw sinking into the exposed skin on his leg. Pain radiated throughout his body as if his nerves were aflame. He wanted to step back, but could feel the ledge with his square foot; he had nowhere to go.

  Something his friends Kuwagata498 and Impafra had taught him long ago popped into his head: If you don’t have room to retreat, then you attack.

  So he did the only thing he could: he attacked.

  Stepping forward, Gameknight swung his diamond blade in a huge sweeping arch, holding his iron sword ready for the counter-attack that would surely follow. Shaikulud deflected his blade then reached out with her dark claws, but the iron sword was there and ready. Knocking them aside, he lunged with his diamond sword, finding spider flesh. Shaikulud flashed red as she screeched out in pain. Not letting her rest, he attacked again, this time swinging with both swords. The spider queen avoided them and sprang forward, sinking two claws into his leg. At the same time, another claw raked at the armor on his arm, causing another chunk to fall off.

  Agony flooded his mind as his vision blurred for just an instant. Swinging his blade in front of him, he had trouble standing. Pain was surging through his leg as if it was on fire. But just as his vision cleared, the spider queen attacked again. Wicked curved claws tore at his armor, scratching and gouging it as she landed a flurry of attacks. Gameknight tried to keep his swords up in front of him, but the claws seemed to be everywhere at once. A claw found exposed skin and he screamed as pain spread throughout his body.

  “Do not fear, User-that-is-not-a-user, your suffering issss almost over,” Shaikulud said with a sneer.

  Gameknight looked up at the monster, then turned and looked down at the temple defenders. He could see that they were losing; the number of spiders was just too great. Suddenly, he saw a group of cavalry charge into the mass of insects, swords carving a pathway through the monsters. At the front was Digger . . . with Monet riding right behind him!

  �
�Ahh . . . I see some of your NPCssss are trying to run away,” Shaikulud said, her mandibles clicking in anticipation of his death. “It issss no matter. There issss another massive army of zombiessss on the way . . . a gift from the Maker. They will not get far.”

  She stepped a little closer and glared down at him with those terrible purple eyes.

  “You have caused great problemssss in Minecraft, and many monsterssss have suffered because of you.”

  “What you are doing here is wrong,” Gameknight said, trying to delay the inevitable. “Spiders can live in peace with NPCs.”

  “NO,” she snapped. “Spiderssss and NPCssss are just too different. We have nothing in common. NPCssss live in those ridiculoussss wooden boxessss instead of living in a cave where it issss warm and dry. They feed on innocent animalssss instead of eating plantssss as we do. They only have two legssss and are alwayssss on the verge of falling down. There is nothing in common between our two peoplessss.”

  “Yes there is,” Gameknight said as part of the solution materialized in his mind. “You both care about your young. NPCs cherish their young; they are the most important thing to them, as your hatchlings are to you.”

  Gameknight could see this thought percolate in the spider’s mind, the blazing hatred in her purple eyes fading a bit.

  “Our children and your hatchlings are the common thread that binds us together. And where there is one thing in common, there will be more. We just have to want to find the similarities.”

  A peculiar thunking sound started to float up from the ground below, slowly growing louder and louder.

  “You use your wordssss as well as you use your bladessss,” the spider queen said. “But you are just trying to avoid your death. NPCssss cannot be trusted and userssss like you are even worse. The spider race has suffered at the handssss of the two-legs long enough. I do not care what the Maker wantssss with you, it is time for you to die.”

  Moving closer, Shaikulud reared up on her back two legs and extended six claws toward the User-that-is-not-a-user. Stiffening every muscle, the spider queen readied herself for the final attack. Gameknight looked up at the massive creature and was filled with fear. He knew that he was beaten and his body was just giving up. But then the thunking sound grew louder and louder. Turning his head toward the sound, he saw Digger building a column of dirt straight up into the air, jumping up, then placing the block beneath him. Holding onto his back was his sister, Monet113.

  “Get ready for your end,” Shaikulud said with a sneer.

  Gameknight brought up his swords, but knew that they would not be able to stave off this last attack.

  Shaikulud’s massive body slowly descended down upon him, moving in slow motion as his mind watched the scene unfold like it were some kind of movie. Her pointed claws sparkled in the moonlight as her hateful eyes cast a purple glow on the surroundings. But suddenly, an enchanted flaming arrow streaked through the air and hit the spider queen in the head, knocking her off balance. She flashed over and over as the headshot tore into her HP. The massive body continued to fall toward Gameknight999, but instead of looking like a dark fuzzy wall of pain descending upon him, it looked like a flashing red blanket. Shaikulud flashed faster and faster as she fell until . . .

  The monster’s body disappeared just before landing on Gameknight999, covering him with silk thread and probably a hundred balls of XP.

  Shaikulud, the queen of the spiders, was dead.

  CHAPTER 22

  A SINGLE ARROW

  A cheer rang out from around the temple. Turning his head, Gameknight looked down at the NPC defenders. All of the spiders had stopped their assault, taking a step back. The dark beasts looked around at the NPCs and then each other, confused. One spider turned and ran away, then another and another until it became an avalanche of retreating monsters, their black bodies disappearing into the jungle.

  The fighting had stopped.

  Suddenly, the sound of breaking glass filled Gameknight’s ears as he felt coated in some kind of liquid. Looking back toward his sister, he saw that she had a bottle of something purple in her hand. Throwing it, the splash potion hit the block on which he lay and shattered, bathing him in a healing potion that instantly recharged his HP. Pain faded from his body as the magical potion restored his body back to full strength. Standing, he looked at his sister and smiled, his eyes filled with gratitude.

  “What good can one arrow be?” she said with a smile. “Wasn’t that what you said to me.”

  Gameknight looked at the ground, embarrassed that he’d misjudged her, but then looked back to his sister when she started to laugh.

  Using more blocks of dirt, Digger carefully built a narrow bridge so that he and Monet could move to the plateau. With his sword, the big NPC smashed through the blocks of spiderweb, carving a path to Gameknight’s position. Stepping up to the edge of the cliff, he carefully placed blocks of dirt so that Gameknight could also move off the precipice and back to safety.

  Standing and testing his newly healed legs, Gameknight999 carefully walked across the narrow dirt bridge and moved to his sister’s side. Wrapping his arms around her small body, he gave her a gigantic hug.

  “You’re amazing,” he said to Monet, then turned to look at Digger. “Both of you.”

  Gameknight reached over and placed his hand on Digger’s shoulder.

  “It was her idea,” Digger said in a deep voice.

  “I could see you in the Land of Dreams and could tell that you needed some help,” she explained.

  “Well, I’m pretty glad you ignored my instructions and left the temple,” Gameknight said. “That was quite a shot.”

  Monet113 beamed with pride.

  Moving to the edge of the cliff, Gameknight looked down on the temple. He could see many of the NPCs were leaving their defensive walls to pursue the spiders, but none of the eight-legged creatures stopped to fight. They all seemed intent on leaving the area as quickly as possible, each monster running off in a different direction. Most of the NPCs followed them to the edge of the clearing then stopped; no one wanting to risk the dangers of the jungle at night.

  Slowly, Gameknight saw a lone figure emerge from the dark entrance . . . the Oracle. She moved carefully down the steps, leaning heavily on her cane and standing before the ancient structure, her gray hair standing out against the shadowy background. Looking up to the sheer cliff, she gave Gameknight999 a smile as she waved. Gameknight was about to wave back when suddenly another presence materialized in front of the old woman. It looked to be an NPC, but there was something strange about his face, as if there were something hidden behind those dark eyes. They flared bright and sinister.

  Herobrine had finally arrived.

  “So you finally left the safety of your temple, old woman,” Herobrine screamed at the Oracle, his words carrying across the clearing and up to the plateau.

  He disappeared and reappeared behind the Oracle, placing himself between the old woman and the entrance to the Temple, blocking off any chance for her to escape back into the cobblestone structure.

  “I wondered when you would show up,” the Oracle said with a sneer as she turned to face him. “Clearly you had a hand in this war.”

  Herobrine smiled.

  “Many NPCs and spiders had to die today because of you,” she said.

  Herobrine’s smile grew even bigger, his eyes glowing bright white.

  “But as you can see, your attempt to destroy these people failed,” the Oracle said. “The User-that-is-not-you-user has stopped the carnage and defeated your plans. He stopped all the killing and brought us peace.”

  “You are mistaken,” Herobrine growled.

  “Oh?”

  “Yes,” he answered. “The killing is not quite finished.”

  Gameknight could see Herobrine draw his diamond sword and swing it toward the Oracle. Bringing her cane up, she was just barely able to block the attack, but clearly she did not have to skill to fight him in mortal combat.

  “Noo
ooo!” Gameknight shouted.

  Moving to the edge of the cliff, he could see the ground far, far below. No amount of HP could sustain that fall, but he knew he had no choice. Glancing over his shoulder, he looked at his sister for what he figured would be the last time in his life, then jumped off the cliff, his sister’s screams echoing in his ears as he fell.

  As he fell, Gameknight locked eyes with his sister. She had a look of terror painted on her square face. Gameknight, however, had a smile on his face and a look of pride in his eyes for his sister. Her impulsive act now, think later attitude had likely saved his life. And at that moment, as he fell below the plateau and she disappeared from sight, he never felt closer to his sister, Jenny.

  He looked down at the ground and saw it coming up at him. Reaching into his inventory, he prepared to hit the ground. Gameknight999 knew that if he timed this wrong, he had no shot at survival. He had to get it right . . . or perish.

  The air rushed past his ears as he fell, roaring like a tornado. He knew that this fall would only take a few seconds, but things seemed to move in slow motion as his brain took in the terrifying scene.

  If only the river had been closer. He could have jumped into it and easily survived the fall, but it was another ten blocks away . . . it didn’t matter. The safety of the blue water was out of his reach.

  Here it comes, he thought, fear and panic starting to fill his mind.

  Wrapping his fingers around the fuzzy cube in his inventory, he got ready.

  Here it comes . . . almost there . . . and . . . NOW!

  Pulling out the cube of spiderweb, he placed it on the ground just before he hit. As soon as his feet touched the web, he instantly slowed down and sank into the sticky filaments. Waiting until he settled to the ground, Gameknight pulled out his sword and chopped through the gossamer strands. With two hits, the spiderweb disappeared, freeing his legs.