“I never said I was part of a team.”
“But Alex, we’re a team . . . right?” asked Will.
“It’s different with us,” Alex replied. “Can we all forget about it and move on? I want to find the End Portal and get out of the stronghold.”
“No, we can’t. Just give everyone their share of the ingots and we can go find the portal. How can I battle the Ender Dragon with somebody I can’t trust?” Kyra told Alex.
“You’re acting like a rainbow griefer,” Will told her.
With that comment, Alex handed everyone gold ingots. “Are you guys happy now? I didn’t realize we had to share everything. What a pain!”
Steve wondered what motivated Alex. At first she seemed to be so nice and helpful, but she was showing them a side of herself that he didn’t like at all. Kyra was right—what was going to happen when they reached the End? He wasn’t sure who he was more afraid of, the Ender Dragon or Alex.
Steve didn’t have much time to think about this. Once they left the storeroom, they walked down a hallway and found a wooden door, which they easily opened. There was a stone pillar in the room with a fountain in the center. They searched the room, but it was empty.
“We could go on like this forever.” Kyra was getting frustrated.
“I know! This seems so pointless,” Caleb remarked.
“Come here!” Will shouted from outside the fountain room.
Will had found the End Portal. He stood by a silverfish spawner.
“Watch out!” Kyra called to Will.
“It doesn’t work.” He looked down at the spawner.
“No! Look behind you!” Kyra shouted.
Will turned around to see a skeleton lurking in the corner, its bow and arrow aimed at him.
Will turned and was hit by the arrow. He took a gold sword out of his inventory and, with all his strength, he leapt at the skeleton and tried to clobber it. The skeleton was dangerously close to the lava pool. As Will battled the skeleton, he almost fell in the lava.
“Help!” he called out.
Kyra, Caleb, and Steve sprinted over and joined Will in battle, moving the fight away from the lava. Meanwhile Alex took the Eyes of Ender and started to place them around the portal.
Steve looked over at Alex as he battled the skeleton. He could imagine her leaving without them, and they’d be trapped in the stronghold forever. With one final strike, he was able to push the skeleton into the lava pool and sprinted toward the portal.
Steve raced past sixteen iron bar windows until he reached Alex. She was about to place the final Eye of Ender.
“Quick, guys!” Steve called out to the others.
They sprinted over to the portal that was about to be activated.
“You can’t stop us!” Steve shouted at Alex. “We’re coming with you!”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Alex smirked as she placed the last Eye of Ender on the portal. Steve and Alex transported to the End, leaving Kyra, Caleb, and Will in the stronghold.
7
THE RETURN
“How could you do that to Will, Caleb, and Kyra?” Steve asked, but there was no time for her answer. No matter how he felt about Alex, they were standing alone on a floating platform made of obsidian, and they had to battle the Ender Dragon together or it would be the end of both of them.
“Watch out!” Steve warned Alex. “You don’t want to fall into the void.”
Alex was close to the edge. “I used all of my Ender Pearls to make it to the Eyes of Ender.”
Steve took four Ender Pearls from his inventory and handed two to Alex. “Take these—we can use them to teleport together.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
“The more important question is why were you being so mean to all of us? I’m being nice to you because I need help fighting the Ender Dragon. Yes, I helped slay it many times before, but I never did it on my own.”
The two teleported toward the Ender Dragon, landing next to an obsidian pillar, and were immediately surrounded by Endermen.
“Do you see the Ender Dragon?” Steve asked as he looked up at the starless sky.
The Endermen crept toward Steve and Alex. One Enderman opened its mouth and shrieked. Steve struck the lanky hostile mob with his diamond sword. More Endermen walked toward them, ready to attack. Alex took out her sword and hit as many Endermen as she could destroy.
Roar! The winged beast flew past them and ate Ender Crystals.
“We need to destroy those Ender Crystals. It’s the only way we can defeat the dragon,” Steve told Alex.
“Everybody knows that, Steve,” Alex said. She shot an arrow at the Ender Crystals and they exploded.
The Ender Dragon swept close to the ground, almost hitting Alex and Steve.
“Good job, Alex.” Steve was upset. “Now the Ender Dragon knows we’re here.”
“It was just a matter of time. Did you plan on hiding forever?” Alex asked as she shot an arrow at the dragon. It hit the dragon’s belly, but the beast ate Ender Crystals placed on a pillar.
Steve was too busy trying to defeat the neverending army of Endermen to help Alex fight the dragon.
“Steve, you’re not helping me at all!” she called out.
“Now you need my help?” he asked with an attitude. “I’m taking care of the Endermen,” Steve said as he hit two of the mobs, obliterating them.
The Ender Dragon charged at the two and hit Alex.
“Are you okay?” Steve asked.
“My health bar is low. I don’t know how I can battle the dragon anymore.”
Steve took out a potion of healing from his inventory and handed it to Alex. “Maybe this can help.”
“Thanks,” Alex said as she took the potion.
Steve shot another arrow at the dragon and then aimed for the Ender Crystals the dragon was about to eat.
Bull’s-eye. The crystals were destroyed.
“Making progress,” Steve said as he shot another arrow at the flying menace.
Alex slowly regained her strength and shot arrows at the dragon.
“I think we can do it!” she said as she fought alongside Steve.
The dragon flew at them again, this time faster and with more force. Steve and Alex were able to move out of the way.
More Endermen were walking toward them under the dimly lit sky. Steve prepared to battle them. He took out a sword from his inventory and put away the bow and arrow.
“I have another plan!” Alex took snowballs from her inventory.
“Snowballs!” Steve was shocked.
“Bet you didn’t think I had these on me. They work really well on the Ender Dragon,” Alex said and threw one at the dragon. The snowball hit the dragon’s side.
“Wow, that’s amazing!” Steve said, seeing the dragon’s health bar diminish. “They really do work.”
Alex took out another snowball and handed it to Steve. “Try it,” she said.
Steve swung his arm and threw the snowball as fast as he could, and the white icy snowball hit the dragon’s face. It roared.
“You’re making it angry,” Alex said. She threw another ball at the dragon and handed another one to Steve.
Steve threw it at the dragon with all of his might and it struck the belly of the beast. Steve couldn’t believe Alex was letting him throw her snowballs. This was a big difference from the way she had acted in the stronghold. But he couldn’t rejoice, because the Endermen were getting closer.
Steve slayed the Endermen with his diamond sword as Alex threw snowballs at the dragon.
“Here.” Alex gave him another snowball.
The dark and dreary landscape of the End was filled with winter’s favorite weapon, the snowball.
“This is kind of fun.” Steve felt bad admitting this to Alex.
“Look,” Alex said as she pointed to an obsidian pillar. “There’s the last Ender Crystal! Hit it!”
Steve took out his bow and arrow and hit the crystal. There was another e
xplosion.
The snowballs were weakening the dragon. Its health bar was almost gone. Steve hit the dragon with an arrow. Then Alex threw a snowball. The Ender Dragon exploded. A dragon egg dropped and the two sprinted toward the portal to the Overworld.
When they emerged through the portal, familiar voices could be heard in the distance. They looked out at the landscape and couldn’t believe where the portal had brought them.
8
NETHER AGAIN
“Snuggles!” Steve sprinted toward his ocelot and saw Rufus and Jasmine walking toward him.
“The wheat farm!” Alex was shocked. “How did we wind up here?”
Kyra stood eating an apple. She offered an apple to Alex. Steve and Alex didn’t realize how hungry they were and how low their food bars were after fighting the Ender Dragon.
“I guess you guys slayed the Ender Dragon,” said Kyra.
“How did you guys wind up here?” Steve asked Kyra and Will.
“Right after you left, we were attacked by a spider jockey. It took us by surprise,” replied Will.
“Just one?” questioned Alex.
“Yes, but we all had very low health and food bars. It didn’t take much to wipe the group out. We respawned here,” explained Will.
“Where’s Caleb?” asked Steve.
“I assume he respawned wherever he slept last,” said Kyra. “I hope we see him again.”
“Me, too,” said Will.
The group gathered in Steve’s living room. Night was setting and they needed their energy for their second attempt to travel to the desert.
“I can’t believe we had to start all over again. This is so annoying. I’m really worried about Henry, Max, and Lucy,” Steve said as he paced back and forth.
“Well there’s nothing we can do about it now. We need to get rest, and tomorrow we can start our trip to the desert,” said Kyra.
Will looked at the map. “I have an idea. If we go to the Nether, we can get to the desert and we won’t have to go through the swamp and the mountains.”
“The Nether,” said Kyra. “Ugh, I hate the Nether.”
“Nobody likes the Nether,” added Steve.
“I don’t mind it,” Alex smiled.
Two pairs of purple eyes crept past Steve’s window.
“We need to get to bed. It’s too dangerous to be in here,” Steve told them. The group walked to the bedroom and got in their beds.
“You never told us how you slayed the Ender Dragon,” Kyra said from her bed.
“Snowballs,” replied Alex. “Steve and I did it together.”
The group slept. When they awoke in the morning light, Steve filled up his inventory with potions and food.
“We need to be prepared,” Steve informed them. “I know we’ve all been to the Nether before, but it’s always a challenge.”
The gang gathered outside the house and began to work on the frame for the Nether portal. They used obsidian to build four corners.
“Who has flint and steel?” asked Steve.
Alex took some out of her inventory and made a fire to activate the portal. “This time we’re all going together,” Alex said as they gathered in the portal. The portal made a loud, creepy sound and omitted purple mist. They were on their way to the red lava–filled landscape of the Nether.
Within seconds of their arrival, two white ghasts with their eyes and mouths closed flew past them.
“Oh good, they don’t see us,” said Will.
One ghast opened its evil red eyes and shrieked.
“You spoke too soon!” Steve cried out and grabbed his bow and arrow.
The ghast shot a fireball at Steve. The flaming ball sped through the sky. Steve shot an arrow at the ball, deflecting it as it raced back toward the ghast.
Boom! The ghast exploded.
The other ghast made a loud noise, aiming a fireball at Alex. Steve jumped in front of Alex, shooting at the ball and again deflecting it to hit the ghast.
Ka-boom! The second ghast was destroyed.
“I can’t believe we’ve only been here a minute and we’ve already been attacked by ghasts,” remarked Kyra. “I told you I hate the Nether.”
Will looked out across a sea of lava. “I think I see a Nether fortress.”
“It could have treasure!” Alex was excited.
“What about the map?” Steve questioned. “I want to find my friends.”
“Maps don’t work in the Nether, remember?” replied Alex.
“That’s right.” Steve was upset. “How are we going to find our way?”
“It’s fine,” Will reassured him. “If we make it to the Nether fortress, we can create a portal over there and get back to the Overworld, and then we shouldn’t be too far from the desert.”
“If we make it to the Nether fortress,” Kyra repeated.
The gang walked slowly through the netherrack ground, stopping by a lava waterfall.
“I hate to admit it,” Kyra said, “but the waterfall is kind of pretty.”
The group agreed as they carefully avoided getting any lava on them. They didn’t want to wind up on the wheat farm, having to start the journey for a third time.
Glowstone blocks that grew on the underside of the netherrack landscape lit the dim skies in the Nether. They watched for the many lava pools they walked past on their trip to the Nether fortress.
“Look, we’re almost there,” Kyra said as the Nether fortress stood just a few feet away from them.
The group began to walk very slowly. “What’s happening?” asked Kyra.
Steve looked down to see a patch of soul sand, which affected people by making them move at a much slower pace. “Look down, guys,” he told them.
“We should use this to grow Nether wart,” said Will.
“No, we don’t have time. We have to avoid this patch, so we can sprint to the Nether fortress. Our friends are trapped,” said Steve.
The group sped up when they were far away from the soul sand, and soon they were just inches from the entrance to the Nether fortress.
“Go in,” Alex demanded as Will stood in front of the entrance.
“Will!” Steve shouted. “Look out!”
Four zombie pigmen walked toward Will, and he struck one with his sword, battling it until he defeated it.
Steve lunged at a zombie pigman with his sword.
“Alex, help!” Steve called out. He was struck by the zombie pigman and his health bar was low.
She sprinted over and struck the pigman with her sword until she destroyed it and saved Steve.
When the zombie pigmen were destroyed, they dropped gold nuggets. Alex picked one up and handed it to Steve.
Then two ghasts flew down. One shot a fireball at Will. He dodged the fireball, and it struck the zombie pigmen.
“We just have one more to destroy,” Kyra said breathlessly.
“And two ghasts,” Will added with an exhausted sigh.
There was no time to talk. It was all action. A fireball came toward the group. Steve shot an arrow at it and destroyed another ghast.
Boom!
Alex shot an arrow at the other ghast and it exploded. A ghast tear dripped down, but they couldn’t catch it.
“That’s so annoying,” Alex said. “We could have made a regeneration potion with that tear.”
Kyra battled the last zombie pigman using all her strength and her mighty diamond sword, and she was able to defeat the hostile mob. The group could finally enter the grand yet slightly creepy Nether fortress.
The fortress made of nether bricks had a large open area with a staircase and patches of soul sand growing near it.
“We need to find the treasure chest,” Alex said as she explored the indoor rooms of the fortress. “It has to be here somewhere.”
Will called out, “I think I found it!”
Will had found a room with a chest. But the room wasn’t empty. A pair of orange-and-yellow eyes glowed in the corner of the dark room.
9
&
nbsp; LOOT AND LAVA
“It’s a magma cube!” Kyra shouted.
Will hit the cube with his sword and it broke into four smaller cubes. The group descended upon the cubes and crushed them.
“Let’s get the treasure!” Alex went to open the treasure chest.
“Be careful,” warned Steve, “it might be booby-trapped.”
But it was too late. Alex had already opened the chest, though luckily it wasn’t rigged.
“Diamonds!” she showed the group.
They crowded around the chest. “Wow, there are gold swords,” Kyra exclaimed as she looked in the chest.
“What a find,” Steve said as he saw gold and iron ingots in the chest. “We have to empty it and split the loot.”
The group took all the riches and then sprinted out of the temple. They now needed to make a portal back to the Overworld.
They didn’t get very far. An evil beast with yellow skin and black eyes flew past them. Then another.
“Blazes!” Steve shouted.
Will stood by a doorway and screamed, “There’s a blaze spawner in this room!”
“We must destroy it,” Alex called out as she threw a snowball at the blaze, obliterating it.
Alex armed the group with snowballs. “These will destroy these monsters. I need to deactivate the spawner.”
She sprinted into the room with the spawner as the gang threw countless snowballs at the many blazes that flew through the Nether fortress.
As the blazes were destroyed, they dropped glowstone dust.
“We need to collect this glowstone dust. It will help us when we brew potions,” Steve told them.
“How can we concentrate on collecting glowstone dust when we have to destroy the blazes?” asked Kyra while she threw a snowball at a blaze that dropped glowstone dust.
Alex emerged from the room, “I did it. I deactivated the spawner.”
“Fantastic,” said Steve. “Let’s get out of here.”
They sprinted past the stairs with its patches of soul sand and nether wart. They sprinted past the empty rooms of the grand fortress until they were out of the fortress.
When they finally exited the fortress, they were met by another enemy.
“Not again!” Will cried out as two rainbow men sprinted toward them.
Treasure Hunters in Trouble Page 3
