by Dr. Block
“Yes, my King,” said IsaBear556.
As we were walking away, I heard the King say to the remaining endermen, including Cricket, “Make your peace with this world, for you may next awaken in the end nectar.”
I shivered. Was what we were about to do so dangerous that the King warned his own subjects to prepare for death? I suppose it was. I should not be surprised. I guess I had just become used to the fact that I was living a life one step ahead of death. I had been hunted by players from the day I spawned, and now I was prey for the mighty Herobrine.
I actually amazed myself that I had become so accustomed to the danger. Actually, now that I think about it, I felt like a stud. I had no fear of death. Not my own, anyway. But, I was afraid my friends might die. I had to be strong for them.
We were getting very close to the village. In fact, we were close enough to the building where my friends were being held that I could have hit it with an arrow (if I had a bow and knew how to shoot one).
Bad comparison.
Anyway, we were pretty close. I assumed Shadow was on the other side of the building.
“Here,” I heard IsaBear556 say.
I looked back. She was pointing at two furnaces on the ground.
“You just craft those?” I asked, incredulous.
“Of course,” she said. “Put the frying pan on top of them.”
I pulled the massive frying pan from my inventory and slung it on top of the two furnaces. It made a loud *CLANG* as it slammed down.
“Watch it!” snapped Agent Axe. “Shadow will hear us.”
“Dude, sorry,” I said. “That thing was super heavy.”
IsaBear556 shook her head in disgust. But, she was too polite to insult my strength. Instead, she simply pulled the dragon egg from her inventory, cracked it on the side of the frying pan, and let it slosh into the pan.
“Can we toss some bacon in there, too?” I asked.
My question was met only with hate-filled silence.
“What? I’m hungry,” I said trying to explain.
Again, no response.
The inside of the dragon egg looked nothing like a chicken egg. As you probably know, a chicken egg has a yellow yolk and a clear goo which turns white as it cooks. A dragon egg has a black yolk with a pink goo which turns a dark purple as it cooks.
The egg quickly became purple with a black yolk. But, no dragons appeared.
“What the Notch is going on?” I blurted. “Where are Asher and Tom78?”
“We have to flip the egg,” said IsaBear556. “The portal will only open when the egg is cooked over-easy.”
“What happens if you break the yolk when you flip it?”
“You don’t want to know,” she said as she slipped her giant spatula underneath the thoroughly unappetizing Halloween-style egg. She carefully loosened all sides of the egg from the frying pan.
I held my breath as she shoved the spatula under the center of the egg and flipped it in the pan. It was a perfect flip.
“It worked,” she said. I could hear the relief in her voice.
“But, not fast enough,” said an evil voice.
I did not even have to turn around to know. I felt the icy chill slither across my body. I had felt it before.
I knew Shadow had found us.
Chapter 12
Shadow’s gaze regarded us with menace.
“You broke your promise, Zeke,” he hissed. “Now, your friends will die.”
“No!” I shouted.
“Yes. But first, you die,” he said, raising his arms and then bringing them down swiftly.
I saw the dark haze around him solidify into a black cloud. The cloud went up into the sky. It looked like a giant mushroom. Then, the cloud seemed to hit a glass ceiling and spread out like oil.
The cloud blocked out the sun and we were suddenly in deep shadow. I realized now what I was seeing.
“The darkening death!” I gasped.
Shadow just laughed as the cloud spread wide above us.
“Let’s fight,” yelled Cameron.
“How?” asked Joe.
“You cannot fight me,” said Shadow ominously. “My darkening death has blotted out the sun.”
“Then we will fight in the shade!” screamed Joe as he led the charge toward Shadow. Cameron and Agent Axe had joined him. Agent Axe had his iron sword raised to strike. I admired their bravery, but I knew it would do no good.
The endermen had their arms stretched out, like they were going to teleport Shadow away somewhere. But, I knew it was futile.
I stood next to Harold. We were guarding the frying pan.
I watched as my three allies came closer and closer to Shadow. Shadow paid them no heed. I knew that if Shadow was ignoring them, he had no fear of them.
In fact, as the darkening death descended, I could see my allies grasp their necks. They began to gag. Yet still they moved toward Shadow. The endermen could have teleported away, but they were brave.
My allies were about to die, I thought.
And then, in our darkest hour, I saw a flash of light and heard a roar as Tom78 and Asher flew out of the black egg yolk.
How did they not break the yolk???
When he saw the two dragons, Shadow started to pay attention. The smug look on his face was replaced with one of consternation. Wait. It was more than that. It was the look of fear.
The two dragons flew as quickly as they could toward Shadow.
Shadow moved his arms more and more rapidly, trying to bring the darkening death down upon us completely.
I looked up and saw the dark cloud closing on me.
The two brave dragons flew into the darkening death, directly at Shadow.
The noxious, swirling cloud of evil was nearly at ground level. There was not much time left.
I could not see the dragons anymore. I had flattened my body on the ground to try and escape the darkening death. It was only inches away from me. I was about to die.
And then, I heard a massive roar as two bursts of fire tore a hole in the darkening death.
I looked up just in time to see Shadow blown off his feet and fly through the air before slamming into a building. He fell to the ground unconscious.
“Yes!” I yelled as I stood up. “We did it.” I drew my obsidian sword and rushed toward Shadow. It was time to end this.
“No, Zeke. Wait!”
I turned around and saw Agent Axe waving his arms furiously. Somehow he had not succumbed to the death cloud. “What is it?” I asked.
“Let the endermen handle it,” he said. “That’s why they came.”
“No. Shadow captured my friends,” I said through gritted teeth. “I am going to make him pay!”
As I rushed forward, I noticed the prostrate forms of the two ender dragons. They were still breathing, but had succumbed to the poison of the darkening death. I hoped they could be healed, but I really did not know. The sight of my injured allies only made me more angry.
When I arrived at Shadow’s side, he was just beginning to regain consciousness. I held my sword next to his neck bones, a mere flick of my wrist would have removed his head.
“Any last words?” I asked.
“Just five.”
“Speak then.”
Shadow looked at me and asked, “Why are you so stupid?”
Before I could recover from the shock of such bizarre final words, Shadow suddenly smacked my sword aside and lunged at me. I was knocked backwards. The force of the blow loosened my grip on my sword, and I dropped it. I was defenseless.
“Did you really think you could defeat me?” asked Shadow.
“Yes, and we will. The dragons will be back and you will pay for this,” I said, trying to sound brave even though I was more scared than I had ever been in my entire undead life.
Shadow laughed. “The dragons have been neutralized. They crash landed on the other side of the village. The darkening death took care of them.”
Could it be true? Were Tom78 and Asher pass
ed out? Or worse, dead?
“I don’t believe you,” I said.
“Belief has nothing to do with it. And, besides, what you believe or don’t believe is only going to matter for a few more seconds because, after that, you’ll be dead.”
I watched in horror as Shadow began twisting his arms in strange shapes. He began to chant something under his breath. And then, flames erupted from his hands and came towards me.
It was then that something happened I thought was just a ridiculous a cliché: Time actually slowed down.
I knew that the fireball should have incinerated me less than one second after it left Shadow’s hands, but instead, I watched with morbid fascination as the fireball spun toward me in super slow motion. Where normally I would have just seen a big orange ball, I instead saw colors of red, orange, yellow and even white all swirling together. It was really quite beautiful.
If death was to come to me, let it be like this, in defense of my friends, I thought. I took one last deep breath and then prepared myself for impact.
There was an impact alright, but not from the fireball. Instead, something slammed into my side and pushed me out of the way of the fireball. That something came with me and we bounced to a stop.
Time had returned to its normal speed.
I looked back at the spot where I had been standing. There was a giant black crater where the fireball had impacted.
I looked at Shadow who stared in disbelief at the black hole and then over his shoulder at the Ender King who had both of his hands on Shadow, ready to teleport him away should Shadow fail to behave.
Then, I looked at the thing that had impacted me. It was … me! Or, should I say, it was another chicken jockey who looked just like me.
“Uh, thanks, man,” I said.
“No problem,” said the chicken jockey. “The name is Chris, and this is my chicken, Reggie.”
“How ya doin’?” said Reggie.
Chris continued, “I’m your biggest fan.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he said. “I’ve been trying to locate you for weeks. Good thing I found you just now.”
I nodded. “Yeah, but you did not have to risk your life for me. I don’t even know you.”
“We chicken jockeys need to stick together. There are not many of us. I had to save you, even if you weren’t famous.”
“Thanks.”
Chris nodded and pulled a small book and quill from his inventory. Then he asked, “Can I have your autograph?”
I laughed as I took the book and quill from Chris. “Sure.”
I wrote: “To Chris and Reggie. It was nice running into you at the battle with Shadow. You guys rule. Keep up the good work. Best regards, Baby Zeke. P.S. – Thanks for saving my life.”
Chris took back his book and quill. He and Reggie read what I had written and seemed happy about it. They began to leave.
As they passed by the Ender King and Shadow, the King asked, “Uh, don’t you want my autograph too?”
“Nah, it’s cool,” said Chris as he and Reggie continued past and rode away from the village.
The Ender King’s shoulders slumped and he looked forlorn.
Chapter 13
A few minutes later, everyone in our Shadow-hunting party was present and accounted for. Cameron and Joe had been revived, and the two ender dragons had managed to limp back. They had suffered sprained wings when they crashed, but they would heal in a few weeks and be good as new.
My friends had been freed and it was a joyful reunion. Bro hugs all around.
The Ender King never let go his grip of Shadow, and Shadow knew better than to try anything.
“What are we going to do with Shadow?” asked Zeb.
“I say we kill him,” said Otis, astride his chicken, Bob. There were shouts of approval from several people present, including me.
The Ender King shook his head. “No. If we kill Shadow, he will just respawn and then Herobrine will be able to find him again and make him his minion again. We cannot have mobs running around with Shadow’s powers. It upsets the Balance.”
“So, what can we do?” I asked. “Surely there is no prison that can hold Shadow.”
The King sighed. “There is one. The end nectar.”
At those words, Shadow’s eyes got big with fear. “No. You wouldn’t,” he said.
“I’m afraid I have to,” said the King.
Shadow tried to break free, but the two of them disappeared. One second later, the King reappeared alone. “It is done,” he said.
The other endermen present bowed their heads. They were the only ones, other than me and Harold, who knew what the end nectar was really like, and Harold and I were the only ones who knew how horrific it was to be trapped there as a non-ender. I shuddered at the thought of Bobby the Head talking to Shadow for eternity.
“Is there no other way to maintain the Balance?” I asked.
The King shook his head. “None that I can think of.”
I sighed.
“Good riddance,” said Otis triumphantly. “Now, let’s go get Herobrine.”
Herobrine. If killing Shadow would have upset the Balance, how can we deal with Herobrine? Obviously, we can’t kill him. Will we need to run from him the rest of our lives?
“Can we just rest for a couple days?” I asked. “I’m really tired.”
Otis spat on the ground. “I guess. You did save us and all.”
It was then that I noticed some of the young villagers had come out of their houses and were standing around us.
“You can stay with us.”
It was the young villagers who had befriended me when I had entered the village a few days ago to save my friends.
“Hey, guys, nice to see you,” I said.
They all smiled. “Good to see you too,” they said in unison.
The Ender King interrupted our reunion. “Zeke, it is time for we enders to return to the End. However, I will be considering what to do about Herobrine and will return in a few days with a plan. Until then, stay safe in this village.”
I nodded. “I will, King. And, thank you for helping save my friends.”
The king bowed silently, acknowledging my comment. Then, he put one hand on each of the dragons and they disappeared. The rest of the endermen disappeared too, along with Agent Axe.
I sighed and then looked at my villager friends. “You guys have any bacon?”
End Book 8
Book 9: Apocalypse
Chapter 1
The battle against Herobrine’s minion, Shadow, had taken a lot out of me. I was very tired. All of this life-and-death-struggle stuff was too much for a little baby zombie’s undead brain to comprehend sometimes.
I needed to rest.
Fortunately, the kind residents of the village where my friends and I were staying quickly built us a house with multiple rooms.
I had my own room, Otis had his, Zeb his, but Bob and Harold wanted to share a room. Chickens are communal animals after all.
I spent most of my time sleeping those first days following the destruction of Herobrine’s minion.
I knew we would have to confront Herobrine soon, but I didn’t want to think about it. And, I certainly did not want to dwell on the last few weeks of my life. I just wanted to float in the oblivion of sleep. I didn’t even have any dreams, which was probably a good thing because most likely they would have been horrific nightmares.
Every few hours, I would wake up, get out of bed and stumble into the kitchen to eat something. I usually had a piece of rotten cow flesh or a pork chop or some cookies.
During these brief journeys for food, I would often cross paths with Otis.
“Aren’t you tired of just sitting around here all the time?” muttered Otis.
I yawned and shrugged. “It sure beats floating in the End Nectar or battling chimeras or running in fear from evil wither skeletons.”
Otis spat on the floor in front of me and punched his left hand with his right fist. “Don�
�t be such a wimp. Let’s go get Herobrine now! Let’s end this!”
A shiver of fear ran up and down my spine, and then I sighed and shook my head. “I’m too tired. Besides, the Ender King said he would be back in a few days with a plan. I don’t want to go off and fight Herobrine without the King. That would just be stupid.”
Otis grunted. “Whatever.”
I could tell he knew I was right, but did not want to admit it. Otis was a cool zombie pigman, but he could rarely acknowledge anyone other than himself knew what they were doing.
I left Otis in the kitchen and went back to my room to eat the cookie I had just grabbed. Once I was done, I fell asleep almost instantly.
Chapter 2
After five days of pure relaxation had passed, I had been able to get all the rest I needed and had eaten at least a few dozen cookies.
I didn’t think baby zombies could actually gain weight, being undead and all, but apparently they could if they ate enough cookies. My pants were starting to feel a bit snug.
Other than being worried about having to purchase a new wardrobe, I was becoming increasingly concerned by the absence of the Ender King.
It had been nearly one week since he departed for the End, and he still had not returned in spite of his promise to return after only a few days. In my book, he was well overdue.
If I could have traveled easily to the End, I would have done in order to check on the King’s situation. But, I wanted to avoid traveling through the End Nectar at all costs, so I decided to stop by Zeb’s room and see what he thought about the King’s delayed return.
“I don’t know, Zeke. The Ender King doesn’t seem like someone who would go back on his word. Maybe there is some sort of crisis in his homeland he needs to deal with.”
“I suppose you could be right, but you’d think Herobrine’s plans to destroy the world would take precedence over just about anything else that could be going on,” I said.
“You have a point,” said Zeb, rubbing his sickly green chin in thought. “Let me go speak with the village librarian. He is very wise. Perhaps he has some ideas about how we might be able to contact the Ender King.”
