by Jerome ASF
“We’re just waiting on the Gold Dragon, who will be bringing our final team member,” Bacca said. “He should be here any—”
No sooner were these words out of Bacca’s mouth than the outline of the Gold Dragon loomed into view on the horizon. Bacca smiled. Then his jaw dropped a little in surprise, as instead of carrying one person on its back . . . there were two.
The Gold Dragon circled once and then landed next to Bacca. On its back sat the Wizard, now in his human form. But sitting next to him was a witch, the very same one who had imprisoned and cursed the Wizard! Looking more closely, Bacca realized both of them were wearing gold rings . . . and they were holding hands!
“Hi Bacca,” both of them said at once.
“You got married!?” Bacca asked in amazement.
“Well, you know how it goes,” the Wizard said sheepishly. “We started talking, and found out we really had a lot in common. Crafting items and brewing potions really aren’t that different if you stop and think about it.”
“Yes, and I’m totally sorry I ever turned him into a bat,” added the witch. “What a mistake! But that’s in the distant past now, isn’t it dear?”
“Of course it is,” said the Wizard, giving her a smooch on the cheek.
Bacca had seen many strange things during this adventure, but someone kissing a witch had to be the strangest so far.
“When the dragon said you needed help, I said ‘Just tell me where and when,’ ” continued the Wizard.
“And I insisted on coming,” added the witch. “We go everywhere together now.”
“Okay,” Bacca said to the witch, happy to have an extra pair of hands. “I’m sure you can find a way to help. The more the merrier!”
“So what’s all this about?” the Wizard asked. “Why did you bring us here?”
“Yeah,” said the witch.
“Yeah,” said Bill the iron golem.
“Yeah,” said Gargantua.
Bacca smiled.
“There’s a challenge on the other side of that Nether Portal standing between me and the Dragon Orb,” he explained. “I’ve got to get it back or these dragons will keep getting sicker. This is not a challenge I can complete on my own . . . but I think I can do it with your help.”
“We have to go with you through the portal?” asked the Wizard. “Sounds like an adventure!”
“Ooh, I’ve never been to the Nether,” said the witch. “I wonder if it’s a good place for a honeymoon.”
“I’ll Never Fit Through That Tiny Door,” said Gargantua. He looked at the ground sadly. Bacca worried that the giant felt left out because he was differently sized.
“Don’t worry,” Bacca said to the giant skeleton. “A Nether Portal isn’t like a regular door. Just touch it with your finger, and you’ll be teleported to the other side.”
“Oh Good,” said Gargantua, brightening. “I Can Do That!”
“Now, let’s not waste any more time standing around talking,” Bacca said. “With each minute that passes, these poor dragons get weaker. They need their orb, and we’re going to get it for them! I just need you all to do one last thing before we leave.”
“What’s that?” asked the Wizard.
“You may have noticed that the Diamond Dragon is covered in a bunch of strange items and looks like a garage sale,” Bacca said. “Before you go through the portal, I need each one of you to fill your inventories with as many of these items as you can carry. Do not—I repeat—do not try to use any of them. Just carry them for now. Here, I’ll go first.”
Bacca leapt beside the Diamond Dragon. He emptied his inventory of everything non-essential for this trip. (That meant only Betty, his diamond pickaxe, and a suit of diamond armor would go along for the ride.) Then Bacca took as many of the strange items as he could carry from the collection draped across the Diamond Dragon.
The Wizard, the witch, Bill, and even Gargantua all followed Bacca’s example and filled their inventories until they were practically bursting.
“Ahh, that’s better,” the Diamond Dragon said. “I was feeling a little squished under all that!”
“Okay,” Bacca said. “It’s time to go to the final test. I’m confident we can do this. We know where the Dragon Orb is, and now we have the tools to get it. Come on everybody!”
And with that he leapt through the portal and into the Nether.
Chapter Fourteen
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
There were four sounds of human-sized things landing on the gravelly floor of the Nether. Bacca, the Wizard, the witch, and Bill all stood up and dusted themselves off.
“Um, guys . . . I think we all ought to get out of the way,” Bacca said.
The group hurried to the side as a great bony shape fell out of the darkness above.
THUD!!!
“You Were Right, Bacca,” the giant said, righting itself. “I Only Had To Touch It With My Finger. So This Is The Nether? Hmmm. It’s Nice And Dark. Kind Of Reminds Me Of Home. Only With A Lot More Room To Move Around.”
The group followed Bacca as he retraced the path of the creepers across the netherrack floor. Several mobs of ghasts hovered nearby. Perhaps remembering their disastrous battle with Bacca (or maybe noticing the biggest skeleton they had ever seen behind him), they chose not to attack. As always, the Nether was oppressive and hot and smelly. The witch turned up her nose.
“Nope,” she said. “Definitely not a good place for a honeymoon.”
“Ahh, but a fine place for a hermit,” Bill said. “People would really leave me alone if I was down here.”
“Just wait,” Bacca said. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Bacca and his party crossed the bleak Netherscape until the moat of lava came into view, and then the hill beyond it. At its peak, the Dragon Orb let off its steady, multicolored glow. Now and then, splashes of lava leapt into the sky.
It was very dramatic.
“That’s where we’re going?” asked Bill. “It doesn’t look very nice at all.”
“Trust me,” Bacca said. “It’s going to be great.”
Soon the giants who inhabited the island noticed that they had some new visitors. Bacca could tell by the position of their hairy, expressive eyebrows that they were nervous about his new friends. Or, more specifically, about Gargantua.
Bacca glanced up over his shoulder at the giant skeleton. He wondered if Gargantua would require any prompting. As it turned out, the answer was no.
“I Am Having The Strangest Feelings Just Now,” the huge skeleton announced.
“Oh really?” Bacca said. “Tell me about them.”
“I Have The Urge To Pull Out My Bow And SHOOT SHOOT SHOOT At Those Giants Until They Are No More,” Gargantua said. “The Impulse Is Almost Uncontrollable.”
“Good,” Bacca said with a smile. “Because that’s why you’re here. I say if it feels good, do it!”
“I Will!” proclaimed the giant, rushing forward. “I Will!”
As Bacca and the others looked on, Gargantua sprinted to the edge of the moat of lava. The giants on the island seemed to sense what was about to happen, because they were already picking up boulders to throw. Gargantua raised his huge bow and nocked an arrow. He pulled back on the string and let it fly. The arrow arced across the river of lava and struck one of the giants in the middle of the chest. It took several hundred hearts of damage and toppled over.
“Ahh, now I see why you brought him!” the Wizard said as they watched Gargantua firing away.
“Yeah,” Bacca answered. “I tried shooting those giants myself, but there was just no way to do enough damage. I think Gargantua solves that problem rather nicely.”
“And it comes to him naturally, by the looks of it,” observed the Wizard.
“Well, he is a skeleton after all,” Bacca said. “Just a very big one.”
The battle continued. Now and then one of the giants managed to land a boulder on Gargantua, but it was us
ually a glancing blow. Gargantua, on the other hand, turned out to have excellent aim. Almost all of his arrows were right on target.
“Wow!” added the Wizard. “He was born to do it. Or reanimated to do it. Whatever skeletons are.”
Bacca nodded in agreement.
After only a few minutes of firing, the giant population on the island had been completely decimated. Gargantua’s bony eye sockets scanned for any sign of further giant activity. Detecting none, the skeleton reluctantly lowered his bow.
“Nice work!” Bacca said.
“Yes,” agreed Gargantua. “That Was Very Satisfying Indeed.”
“Okay,” Bacca said, turning to the Wizard. “This is where I’m going to need your help. To get to the island, we’re going to have to craft a bridge over the lava and run across.”
“Hmm, that shouldn’t be too much of a challenge,” said the Wizard. “Why did you need me for that?”
“Watch how the lava splashes up, every few moments,” Bacca said. “See that?”
As Bacca spoke those words, a huge wave of lava washed up right next to where they were standing. The air was filled with a hot burning stench. They all took a step back to avoid being sprayed.
“I do!” said the Wizard. “I do see that.”
“Right,” Bacca continued. “So we’re going to have to build this bridge very quickly—between lava splashes. We’ll have to mine some netherrack and smelt it into nether bricks, but that shouldn’t take long at all. Then we’ll use the nether bricks to build a bridge. Nether brick is resistant to fire, but if you start a fire on a block of nether brick it will burn forever. So if the lava splashes up before we’re done, two things could happen—and they’re both bad. One, it might wash away the bridge and we fall into the lava. Or two, it might only set the whole bridge on fire and burn us up.”
“Yikes,” the Wizard said, looking afraid. “Those are both bad options.”
“But don’t worry,” Bacca said. “With two crafters working together, I’m sure we can build the bridge in time. Well . . . reasonably sure.”
Suddenly, Bill interjected.
“I’ve got an idea,” the iron golem said. “Why don’t you just have Gargantua lie down over the lava and walk across his back? He’s easily taller than the lava is wide!”
“I thought about that,” said Bacca. “It won’t work for a number of reasons. Gargantua isn’t as solid as a bridge. We might fall through his ribs or slip on his vertebrae and go tumbling into the lava. Bones aren’t really made to be walked on. Also, he would almost definitely get splashed by the lava and die, and I can’t ask him to make that sacrifice for us. But finally—and most importantly—Gargantua wouldn’t agree to do it! At their core, skeletons are very selfish. Even nice ones.”
“This Is True,” boomed Gargantua. “I Only Came To Shoot Giants.”
“Then it’s settled,” said the Wizard. “Building a bridge is the only way. I’ll start mining the netherrack to make us some nether bricks.”
“Can I do anything to help?” asked the witch.
“Yes,” Bacca said. “I know you specialize in offensive potions that make people take damage—on account of your being a witch and all—but how about crafting us some powerful potions of swiftness and potions of leaping? If we drink potions of swiftness, we’ll be able to craft the bridge and run across it much more quickly.”
“I see,” said the witch. “And the potions of leaping?”
“If we don’t get the bridge entirely finished, and we see a lava wave coming . . . we might have to jump the rest of the way,” Bacca said.
The team got to work. Bacca and the Wizard began creating nether bricks, and the witch brewed powerful potions for every member of their group.
“What am I supposed to do?” asked Bill.
“See those hundreds and hundreds of golems who are still on the island?” Bacca asked.
“Yes I do, and it concerns me,” Bill said. “They’re all going to see me, which is really bad for a hermit. Plus, they don’t look particularly friendly!”
“Well just hang tight,” Bacca said reassuringly. “Once we get across the lava, you’re going to help us with them. You’ll have the most important job of all.”
“Uh oh,” said Bill. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Bacca and the Wizard soon had more than enough bricks for the job.
“Here you go,” the witch said, passing out her potions to everyone. “Bottoms up!”
The group drank down the potions.
“Okay, fellow crafter,” Bacca said to the Wizard. “Let’s do this!”
Bacca and the Wizard waited for the lava to splash in front of them. When it did, they started crafting a bridge like crazy. Bacca was instantly glad he hadn’t tried to do this by himself. Even with the potion of swiftness coursing through his veins, he realized it would have been very tough for him to complete the bridge alone before the next lava splash. But with the Wizard working alongside him, it looked like they just might do it!
Soon they were halfway across the river of lava.
“No turning back now!” Bacca said to the Wizard.
“Aye aye!” the Wizard replied.
They continued building the bridge as quickly as they could. Soon they were three quarters of the way across.
Then it happened.
The lava beneath them began to swell. Bacca realized a new wave was building, and the bridge would position them right above it. It was time to make a tough decision.
“Okay!” Bacca called. “Everyone over the bridge now. The lava’s about to erupt again. We’ll have to jump the rest of the way!”
Bill, the witch, and the enormous skeleton scrambled onto the simple, no-frills bridge of nether brick that Bacca and the Wizard had constructed.
“Okay,” Bacca said. “Here we go. All together. One . . . Two . . . Three!”
They leapt from the edge of the bridge across the river of lava. Boosted by their potions of leaping, each one of them made it safely to the shore on the other side. Instants later, a wave of lava crashed over the three-quarters completed bridge. It did not wash away, but every part of the bridge was now on fire.
“Whew!” Bacca said. “Everybody okay?”
The group dusted themselves off and did a quick inspection. Everyone had made it intact.
“Are we going to have to do that again to get off the island?” asked the Wizard.
“Probably,” said Bacca. “But don’t worry. If we did it once, we can totally do it again!”
“Uh . . . guys?” the witch said ominously. She was tapping Bacca and the Wizard insistently on the shoulders.
“What is it, my dear?” the Wizard said, turning around.
“What are we supposed to do about them?” said the witch.
Bacca and the Wizard saw hundreds of iron golems marching in their direction.
“Why do they look so angry?” asked the Wizard.
“Most golems defend villages, or they defend the people who created them,” said Bacca. “I’m going to bet these golems were created by The Creep. And The Creep told the golems that this island was their village.”
This was confirmed instants later when the golems got a few steps closer and began shouting at Bacca’s group.
“You guys are in big trouble!” said one of the golems.
“The creepers told us that bad people might come here and try to take the orb,” said another. “We are sworn to protect it!”
“You may have beat up the giants, but you won’t be able to beat up all of us!” said another.
Bacca knew that the golem was right. He had always known it. There were simply too many to fight. Even with Betty freshly sharpened and a team of four friends, Bacca reckoned his chances against so many enemies in combat was not good. (The witch could certainly fight—Bacca knew that better than anybody—but the Wizard was a crafter not a fighter. Bill was likewise unproven in combat. And Bacca knew that giant skeletons were less effective against hordes than
you might think. Even with enormous arrows, they could only shoot one target at a time. They might step on some of the enemy too, but that would most likely happen by accident.) This was why Bacca had formulated a different approach entirely.
“Okay,” Bacca said to Bill. “Here’s what I need you to do.”
Bacca quickly whispered his instructions into the iron golem’s ear.
“Really?” said Bill. “You want me to do that?”
Bacca nodded.
“But I’m a hermit!” Bill said. “Public speaking is like my worst fear.”
“I need you to trust me,” Bacca said. “Everything’s going to be okay. Do you trust me?”
“I guess so,” answered Bill sheepishly.
“Okay then,” Bacca said. “Then the rest is up to you.”
While the rest of the group—including Bacca—looked on, Bill raised his iron golem arms above his head and addressed the angry horde marching toward them. Bacca was nervous. From this point on, their success or failure would all depend on Bill’s talent . . . as an actor.
“My fellow golems!” shouted Bill at the top of his lungs. “We’re not here to fight you! We’re here to give you a bunch of cool stuff.”
The golems were close enough that they could have lashed out and started the battle if they’d wanted to. Instead, they hesitated. This was an potentially intriguing proposal.
“Keep going, Bill,” Bacca urged.
“That’s right,” said Bill. “We brought you presents. The creepers said we should bring them. I’m a fellow golem, so you can trust me on this.”
The golems looked at one another, suspicious and confused.
“If you guys are with the creepers . . . then how come your big skeleton shot all our giants?” one of the golems asked.
“Because . . .” Bill said. “Um . . .”
Bacca whispered into his ear.
“Oh, yes that’s good,” Bill said. “Ahem . . . The creepers said you wouldn’t need the giants anymore, because you golems were going to be so powerful with your cool new items we give you.”
The golems continued to leer suspiciously.
“What kind of items?” one of them asked.
“All sorts of good stuff,” Bill said. “Here, we’ll show you.”
