by Jerome ASF
“That . . . because . . . I’m . . . killing . . . spiders!”
The dragon looked left and right, then blinked repeatedly.
“Oh,” the dragon said, thinking. “Do you need any help with that?”
“No . . . I’ve . . . got . . . it . . . under . . . control!” Bacca’s voice came back.
“Ah” the dragon said—a little puzzled, but willing to take Bacca at his word. “Very good. Just let me know if I can do anything to be of assistance.”
After a moment, and more chopping sounds, Bacca’s voice came back.
“Okay . . . I . . . will!!!”
The battle was over. Bacca put Betty back in his inventory pack and wiped the sweat from his furry forehead. All around him were the bodies of spiders that had decided not to listen to reason. Their glowing red eyes slowly extinguished like embers in a dying fire.
Whew, thought Bacca. It was hard enough to fight spiders. It was even harder to do it when a dragon wants to have a conversation with you at the same time.
Bacca looked up toward the opening of the crevasse where the Diamond Dragon lingered, and thought about their previous conversation. It sounded like the Diamond Dragon had taken a real risk in inviting him here. Apparently, the beast would be in some kind of trouble if they didn’t get the Dragon Orb back. Because of this, Bacca decided not to have any hard feelings against the dragon for interrupting him while he was trying to fight spiders. The dude was under a lot of pressure.
With this in mind, he felt more determined than ever to make his plan succeed.
Bacca lit another torch and looked around for any additional spiders lurking at the edge of his vision. He didn’t see any. Good.
In that case, it was time to get back to work.
For what seemed like many hours, the Diamond Dragon waited patiently at the top of the crevasse. To pass the time, he looked at the large square clouds floating by and reflected—for the umpteenth time—on just how much trouble he was going to be in if Bacca’s plan failed. He imagined all the punishments the other dragons would devise for him. Dragons could be quite creative where punishments were concerned. The Diamond Dragon wasn’t looking forward to it.
The sound of Bacca’s approach shook him back to reality.
“Hey there,” Bacca said, hopping up out of the crevasse.
“You’re back!” said the Diamond Dragon. “Did you get what you needed? You still haven’t told me why we’re here.”
Bacca looked exhausted from fighting and mining. The dragon could also tell that his inventory was now very, very full.
“Can you fly me back to the fortress where the creepers live?” Bacca asked. “I warn you, I’ll be heavier now. Got a lot of blocks with me.”
“I think I can manage it,” said the dragon. “I am a dragon, you know.”
Bacca hopped aboard and the dragon took to the skies. They flew back over the strange landscape until the immense triangular fortress loomed in the distance. Down below, a group of dragons had gathered at the fortress door. Bacca wondered if the Pumpkin Dragon was among them.
“What are they doing?” Bacca asked.
“They’re here to see what you’re going to do,” the dragon said. “Word gets around.”
Bacca smiled to himself. He wasn’t nervous. He had a feeling his plan would work.
The Diamond Dragon landed in front of the immense creeper citadel. Bacca faced a new round of skepticism from the dragons who had gathered to watch.
“That’s what we’re depending on to get the Dragon Orb back?” said an Ice Dragon rather rudely. “That hairy thing?”
Bacca considered how satisfying it might be to throw some torches at the Ice Dragon. Just to see what would happen. Then he thought better of it, and turned his attention back to the riddle.
As the gathering of dragons looked on, Bacca began pulling blocks of obsidian out of his inventory and stacking them into place. He was building something, but what he was building was not immediately obvious to the dragony audience. Every so often, Bacca stopped what he was doing to peer over at the fortress with its strange glowing bars. Then he went back to stacking the dark squares of obsidian together.
“What do you think he’s making?” one dragon murmured.
“It’s like a long tube,” said another. “Except it’s got pointy bits at one end, and the other end is like a flat circle.”
“That shape seems awfully familiar,” said a third. “I just can’t quite put my talons on it.”
Bacca worked and worked. He’d built more complicated structures before, sure. But this one was especially challenging because he knew he had to get every part of it—especially what the dragons were calling the “pointy bits”—exactly right. The finished product was several times larger than he was, but not quite the size of a dragon. When he decided it was finally complete, he stepped away and wiped the sweat from his brow.
“There,” Bacca said. “It’s done. Now all that’s left is for you dragons to put it in the lock. And turn it.”
“Oh!” several of the dragons seemed to say in unison. “It’s a key! How didn’t we see that earlier?”
This was true.
Bacca had crafted a giant key out of obsidian. It looked perfectly tailored to fit into the opening at the base of the creeper’s fortress. The teeth of the key would go in the spaces between the glowing bars.
“Yes,” Bacca said. “That riddle the creepers left you was literal. They were asking for a physical key. Somebody just had to build it. So I did.”
The dragons looked at each other.
“Diamond Dragon, this was your idea,” someone in the herd of dragons said. “Maybe you should be the one to see if it works.”
The Diamond Dragon looked over at the giant obsidian key, then at Bacca.
Bacca gave him a wink.
The Diamond Dragon approached the key and used its incredible strength to lift it.
“Hrrrgh,” the dragon said, straining. He slowly moved it to the opening of the creeper fortress, then pushed it inside. It fit perfectly.
The dragons’ jaws dropped in amazement. Bacca found himself looking at a lot of pointy sharp teeth all at once.
“Now turn it,” Bacca said. “You are familiar with how keys work, aren’t you?”
The Diamond Dragon gave Bacca an annoyed look and gripped the key’s handle. The key began to turn. There was a low, grating sound of obsidian and stone scraping. The key rotated until there was a loud “click” noise.
Suddenly, the glow from the strange bars in the entrance ceased. The Diamond Dragon removed the key. When he did, they saw that the bars had disappeared. The way ahead was clear. The dragons peered cautiously into the darkness beyond.
“He’s done it!” cried one dragon.
“That wasn’t so complicated,” said another. “I mean, a key? I could have thought of that.”
“Oh yeah?” said the first dragon. “Then why didn’t you?”
The Diamond Dragon cast Bacca an expression of thanks and relief. Bacca was glad he had figured out how to get inside the fortress, but he had a sinking feeling that his work wasn’t over yet. Bacca lit a torch and headed into the fortress. The dragons cautiously followed.
“I wish we could just knock this place down,” one of the dragons mumbled. “That’s the first thing we’ll do when we get the orb back.”
The corridor opened into a huge clearing with a very high ceiling. Very, very high. Higher than most castles. So high the dragons could fly around inside, if they wanted to. There were openings in the ceiling where shafts of light penetrated. Bacca saw indistinct movement in the shadows. Was it something hostile? He prepared to draw Betty and face down any creepers who might be waiting to explode.
Then a cry echoed across the walls.
“Baaaaa.”
Other, similar noises joined it. Several of the tones actually sounded curious.
“Baaaa?”
“What is that?” the Diamond Dragon asked.
“It�
�s sheep,” Bacca replied, taking his hand off his weapon. “Lots and lots of sheep. See them over there, on the other side of the clearing? They were just hanging out here eating grass. I think we scared them.”
“Do you see the Dragon Orb anywhere?” one of the dragons asked from the rear.
“Well, you haven’t told me what it looks like,” Bacca replied snarkily. “But no, I don’t. Unless it’s behind a sheep.”
Then Bacca spied something that made him pause.
“What did you say the riddle was written on?” Bacca asked. “The riddle they left when they took the orb?”
“A mycelium block,” said the Diamond Dragon. “Why? Do you see—”
Then he saw it. They all did. A mycelium block with writing on it, waiting for them in the center of the giant clearing.
“Oh no,” said the Diamond Dragon. “I don’t even want to look. Is it another riddle? Why won’t they just give us back our magic orb?!”
“Well, they are called creepers,” said Bacca. “As in, they’re creeps. Plus, they creep up on you. I guess it works on lots of levels. But c’mon, let’s go see what it says!”
Bacca and the dragons crowded around the mycelium block. Bacca help up his torch and read the inscription out loud.
The floor here is thick with graves; a zombie’s delight.
In an hour, the horde will rise.
The likes of it, you have never seen.
When they come, one alone must survive.
That person may not leave until the walking dead do.
Only then will the way open.
How will you use your time?
There was a moment of silence as Bacca and the dragons pondered over the riddle. Then there was a moment of loudness!
It was sudden and jarring, like the shifting of many feet on a gravel walkway. Or a rainstick. Or actual rain. Bacca looked toward the direction of the loud sound, and saw that an hourglass was affixed high on the wall of the room. As if by magic—or, more probably, by magic—the sands had begun to trickle through. Bacca watched the grains fall. He reckoned that he likely had an hour until the top part of the glass was empty.
“Okaaaay,” the Diamond Dragon said. “That’s certainly strange. What do we do now?”
“Hmm,” Bacca said. “I need to think about this one for a second. Could you guys give me some privacy?”
“Right,” the Diamond Dragon said, pleased to have some direction. “Everybody out. You heard him. There’s another riddle, and he’s not going to solve it with all of you guys bothering him.”
The rest of the dragons grudgingly headed back outside. Soon, their thunderous footfalls died away and all Bacca could hear was the sand wooshing through the hourglass.
Only the Diamond Dragon remained.
“This is just a guess,” Bacca began. “But I think the riddle is saying that when the hourglass runs out, there are going to be a whole bunch of zombies in this room. And I mean a whole bunch. Also according to the riddle, I have an hour to get ready. And I have to be in here alone. And I can’t leave.”
“How much obsidian do you have left in your inventory?” the Diamond Dragon asked with a worried look.
“Zero,” Bacca said. “I mined just enough to make the key. I’m very precise.”
“So what are you going to do?” the dragon asked.
In the distance, one of the sheep went “Baaaa.”
“Oh,” Bacca said, “I think I can improvise.”
Chapter Five
There was great consternation in the headquarters of the creepers. (Consternation is like being worried, except it’s done much quieter.)
“He made the key!” one of the creepers nervously observed. “He got through! He even let the dragons come in with him!”
“But that didn’t involve much danger,” another of the creepers said. “That was just making a key. How much of a test was it, really?”
“He had to go to Spider Canyon to mine that much obsidian,” another pointed out. “It’s got dangerous spiders. And other things, too. I don’t even like to go there, and I’m a creeper!”
“Maybe you’ve got a point,” said the previous creeper. “But I think we can agree this next challenge will be much, much more dangerous.”
“Is that a good thing?” asked another creeper. “Or a bad thing?”
“Depends on how you look at it,” answered another. “If he doesn’t survive then . . . well, he wasn’t the right crafter to begin with.”
“So . . .” said one of the creepers, straining to think as hard as he could. “We want it to be very dangerous . . . but we also want him to survive?”
There was a general murmuring of agreement throughout the creeper ranks.
“Come on,” said one of them. “I want to go down and see what he does! How he solves the problem! We can watch him through the skylights.”
“Ooh, that sounds exciting!” said another.
“Me first!” shouted another.
The creepers scrambled to the openings in the roof and looked down at Bacca as he planned his next move.
“Really?” said the Diamond Dragon. “I have to leave, too?”
Bacca nodded.
“If you want me to solve this riddle, you do,” he answered. “Those are the rules.”
The Diamond Dragon began to slink back outside. Then he turned and said: “Thank you, by the way.”
“Huh?” Bacca said.
“If you hadn’t figured out we needed a literal key, I’d be in big trouble with the other dragons now,” the Diamond Dragon said. “You really saved my reputation. So . . . thanks.”
“I haven’t saved anything yet,” Bacca answered. “Thank me when we get the Dragon Orb back. Now—and I say this with all respect—please leave so I can get to work.”
“Sorry!” said the Diamond Dragon, and lurched back out of the enormous room.
When he heard the last of the dragon’s footsteps fade into the distance, Bacca took out his pickaxe. He had a theory about the lumpy ground all around him. He wanted to test it out.
Bacca raised a pickaxe and struck at the spot directly below him. Once! Twice! Thrice!
Crack!
The ground parted, and Bacca saw just what he was afraid he might see. A ghoulish zombie rose up out of the earth. Its fingernails were long like claws, and its teeth gnashed violently.
For a fraction of an instant, Bacca could have sworn that the zombie made an expression that said: “Aren’t we starting this just a tad early?”
But as soon as it had come, the expression passed, and the zombie gave Bacca a look that was more typical for zombies: that it would very much like to eat Bacca’s brain!
“I thought so,” Bacca said with a frown, and quickly switched over to Betty. The shining diamond blade flew through the air. With a few quick whacks, Bacca sent the zombie tumbling back to the ground in separate parts.
“The entire floor of this place has zombies underneath it!” Bacca cried out loud, even though there was no one else in the room to hear him. “That’s why it was so lumpy!”
The creepers had placed these zombies underneath the floor of the room. Somehow, they were connected to the hourglass.
Bacca had a bad feeling that when the hourglass on the wall ran out of sand, all of them were going to pop up out of the ground and go on the hunt.
For him. Bacca also understood that the tablet said he wasn’t allowed to leave. He had to use only what was available to him in this room. Faced with such a challenge, Bacca did the only thing he could think of. He reached into his inventory and pulled out a pair of shiny metal shears.
“Here, sheepy sheepy sheepy,” he called.
The sheep were scattered all around the room. Now they began to look at him curiously.
Bacca knew you got more wool from a sheep if you sheared it than if you just killed it, so he was careful to spare each of them. He went about his work quickly, sprinting from sheep to sheep and shearing each one. A few of the sheep tried to run away.
“Come back here, you silly sheep!” Bacca cried as he ran after them. “I don’t know if zombies eat sheep, but do you really want to find out? Believe me, when I get done, you’ll be glad I’m doing this. Now, stop running and hold still!”
Shearing all the sheep took longer than Bacca would have liked, but he had a feeling he would need all of the wool for his plan to work. There was no other resource to use, and digging in the ground would only release more zombies!
Bacca scanned the interior of the enormous clearing and decided on a spot against one of the walls. The natural bedrock would help him, Bacca decided, and zombies didn’t live in walls . . . as far as he knew. (And at this point, Bacca realized he was going to have to take some chances!)
Using the wool blocks, Bacca began to build a floor and foundation. Soon, the grey blocks formed a large circle against the high bedrock wall. Then he started to build stairs, outer walls, inner walls, and a series of platforms. He was building a small castle, and it was going to be made entirely out of wool.
Bacca had never tried this before, but he guessed that a wool block would keep out a zombie just as well as a block made of something else. As he worked away, the sheared sheep sometimes wandered over to stare at him. They appeared to be curious. And also a bit chilly.
“You could help if you wanted to,” Bacca said. But the sheep were not helpful. They just looked at him and wandered around. Even though they were just standing there being annoying, Bacca took pity and made sure all of the sheep were safely inside the first floor of the castle before he walled it shut.
The sand in the hourglass was about to run out. Bacca decided he would have to switch gears mid-craft. Instead of a tower, the wool castle would have to have something more like a platform. This castle wasn’t going to win any awards for design, but it would hopefully be strong enough to keep out the zombies, which was all he really cared about.
Bacca crafted the platform and found he still had a few blocks of wool to spare. He used them to reinforce places along the wall where the wool looked a bit thin. Then the last perfectly square grain of sand fell to the bottom of the hourglass, and the room went silent. Bacca climbed his fortification’s wooly stairs and stood atop the platform. He looked down at the floor of the clearing below. For a moment, all was still.
