“FIRE!” Gameknight shouted.
A wave of arrows flew through the air, streaking toward the pristine white monsters that approached. Gameknight saw there were five of them, all spread out in a line. Firing his arrow, he drew and fired again and again. They all knew if they didn’t destroy the ghasts right away, then they were sitting ducks.
Cries of pain came from the monsters as their barbed projectiles found their targets. One of the monsters howled a cat-like yowl, then turned sideways as its HP was finally exhausted. A ball of fire streaked to the tree to his left. The villager saw the burning sphere of death approaching and had no choice but to jump. Hopefully, he would land in the leaves of an oak tree, and would not take all that fall damage. If he hit the ground, the NPC would likely not survive.
Gameknight fired a trio of arrows at the monster, striking it with the first two and silencing its cries. He then turned and fired on another ghast as other archers did the same. A wave of arrows descended on the doomed creature, destroying it before it could launch another fireball.
“YEAH!” shouted the archers as they admired the clear sky.
Gameknight looked at the line of trees. Four of the ten newly grown trees were consumed with flames. It wasn’t clear whether the warriors had escaped the infernos or not. But then he noticed one of the burning trees had a column of water falling from a block of leaves; at least one of them had.
Pulling out his own bucket of water that he’d brought with him from the village, he poured it over the edge of the treetop. After a few seconds, he jumped into the watery flow and rode it safely to the ground. As he descended, Gameknight saw the devastation to the forest behind them. Huge sections of the forest were burning, casting a glow on the surroundings that was partially obscured by the billowing smoke climbing into the air.
“We need to put the fire out,” one of the villagers said as he stepped out of the falling water.
“No, it will burn itself out soon enough,” Gameknight said. “Did anyone see how many ghasts were attacking us? We need to know if we destroyed them all or not.”
“Why are you so worried?” Carver asked. “They’re gone now.”
“If any of them managed to escape,” the User-that-is-not-a-user explained, “they’ll go straight back to Herobrine and tell him where we are. We need to get out of here, fast.”
“I think there were only five of them,” one of the woodcutters said.
“But I think there were some more monsters farther back,” a farmer added. “I saw something glowing in the sky.”
“Yeah, me too,” a familiar voice said.
Gameknight scanned the crowd until he found the owner of the voice.
“Fisher, you’re alright!” the User-that-is-not-a-user exclaimed.
“Yep, but just barely, Smithy,” the lanky boy explained. “I never made it to the desert village. The ghast caught me out in the open. If it weren’t for that desert well, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“We found him after we evacuated our village,” Carver explained. “He was coming toward us while we were leaving.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re alright,” Gameknight said and patted the boy on the back. “But back to the point: we don’t know for sure if any of the ghasts escaped. They knew we were heading to the south, so we need to do something else, or they’ll be waiting for us.”
“You could head to the southwest, to the mega taiga biome,” an old NPC said. Gameknight instantly recognized him as Mapper from Carver’s village. “There’s a village just on the outskirts of the biome. We could head for that village, then veer to the southeast and reach your village.”
“I like that plan,” Gameknight commended. “We’ll get back to our village a little later, but we’ll hopefully avoid meeting any more ghasts. I think we can all agree that would be best.”
He glanced over his shoulder and saw a pile of armor, weapons, and food floating off the ground, the contents of a deceased villager’s inventory, someone who’d been destroyed by the fiery monsters. Slowly, Gameknight raised his hand into the air, fingers spread wide in the salute for the dead. The other villagers raised their hands as well.
“We’ll get back to the village and figure out how to stop Herobrine,” Gameknight growled as anger began to bubble up from within his soul. “The sacrifice our friends and family members have made here in these woods will not be forgotten.” He squeezed his hand into a fist, clenching it tighter and tighter as he squeezed out the guilt he felt over the loss of these villagers. The NPCs around him drew their hands into fists, rage boiling in their eyes. When his knuckles began to pop, he released his fist and lowered his outstretched arm.
“Let’s get going,” Carver said. “The sooner we are in a village, the happier I’ll be.”
“Agreed,” Gameknight replied. “But first, where is Fisher?”
“Here,” the skinny NPC replied.
“I have another task for you,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said.
He moved close to the young villager and whispered in his ear, the boy nodding his head in return.
“Weaver, give Fisher your black armor,” Gameknight instructed.
He pulled out the dark armor and handed it over, then donned a set of iron.
Fisher put the dark leather coating on and nearly disappeared in the dark forest.
“Now go,” Gameknight said.
The lanky youth gave the blacksmith a smile, then took off running to the south.
“Where is he going?” Carver asked.
“He’ll tell Fencer and the others where we are heading,” Gameknight explained. “I fear we’ll be needing their swords before this is over.”
Glancing at the moon, he found his bearings and started through the forest toward the mega taiga biome that lay hidden behind the horizon. The rest of the villagers followed in silence, their eyes cast both into the darkness of the forest, but also up at the clear sky above.
None of them noticed the cluster of angry red dots that peered down at them from atop the trees. Quietly, one of them slowly rose from behind a block of leaves, then turned toward another of its kind.
“I will return to the Maker and tell him we have found the enemy,” the spider said quietly.
“And I will go to the queen,” another said.
“Yessss, Sssshaitar, inform the queen while we continue to follow them,” a third spider said. There were another two more still hiding in the leaves, watching the villagers. “Our queen, Sssshaikulud, will be able to find ussss. We will sssstay near the NPCssss but out of ssssight.”
“Good,” the monster said.
The spider turned and headed northeast, back toward Herobrine and his growing monster army, while Shaitar headed toward the jungle biome that sat off to the northwest. As the two dark monsters scurried away, the remaining three creatures moved noiselessly across the treetops, always keeping the fleeing army just in sight, their eyes glowing bright red with evil thoughts of destruction.
CHAPTER 12
SPIDERS
Shaikulud hung from the ceiling of the large cavern, an impossibly thin strand of silk connecting her to the stone overhead. She gazed about the shadowy chamber, her eight purple eyes casting spots of lavender light on the stone walls. Blocks of spider web sat in the corners and along the floors and ceiling, giving the cave an ancient feeling, even though the monsters had just recently taken over this space.
Within many of the delicate white webs sat a black egg, red spots spattered across its surface. Some rocked ever so gently, while other eggs remained still. Shaikulud noticed many of the eggs cracked open, with small spiders struggling to work their way free from the eggshell and web. But no one helped them. This was their first test in life, and if they were not strong enough to free themselves, then they perished; it was the spider way.
Spiders smaller than Shaikulud, and dark-blue in color, scurried through the chamber, inspecting each egg and making sure the webs were secure. They were the Brothers, the cave spiders. It was th
eir job to tend the cave and care for the hatchlings. There were at least twenty of the smaller creatures moving all throughout the cavern, checking all of their charges with care. Some were coming into the chamber with large clumps of green moss to feed the newborns. It had been pulled off mossy cobblestone blocks and was the favorite food of a newborn spider, nourishing their young bodies to full health quickly so they could serve the queen as soon as possible.
“Thissss crop of hatchlingssss will be large,” the queen said to herself.
Her eyes grew bright with evil thoughts of the destruction these new spiders would bring down upon the villagers. She imagined them as a dark wave flowing across the Overworld, destroying village after village.
Suddenly, a clicking sound filled the air as a fuzzy black spider entered the chamber. Shaikulud instantly grew angry and lowered herself to the ground, her mandibles snapping together, creating an angry clatter. All spiders knew the hatchery was only for the Brothers, and that the larger black spiders, the Sisters, could not enter.
She charged toward her offending subject, the razor-sharp curved claws at the end of each leg clicking on the dusty stone floor. As she neared, the dark spider lowered her head to the floor and spoke quickly.
“The enemy hassss been found,” the giant spider said, a scared tremor in the monster’s voice.
“What?” Shaikulud said. “You found the blackssssmith?”
“Yessss, my queen,” the sister replied.
Shaikulud reached out with one clawed arm. The dark spider cringed, expecting a deadly strike to land at any moment. But instead, the spider queen gently patted the fuzzy creature on the head.
“You have done well, Ssssisssster,” she said to her subject. “Issss sssshe with him?”
“Yessss my queen,” the spider replied.
“Excellent,” the queen of the spiders said. “Sssshow me their location.”
The spider nodded, then turned and headed out of the hatching chamber, Shaikulud following close behind. They passed many of their sisters in the passages, the dark creatures merging in with the darkness and becoming almost invisible, except for their eyes, which all glowed bright red, like angry little embers. The ones they passed quickly filed behind their queen. They could feel there was something happening, something important, and all of the spiders wanted to serve their queen to the best of their abilities.
After racing along the curving tunnel to the surface, the spider climbed the nearest junglewood tree and moved to the peak of the leafy giant. Atop the green canopy, Shaikulud found other spiders laying on the treetops, waiting for the sun that was just rising above the eastern horizon. A splash of red appeared across the sky. It was bright and deep, like a spider’s eyes. Slowly, the crimson line grew upward as the sun rose, fading to a bright orange. The stars disappeared with the unrelenting advance of the sun’s radiant square face, the sky slowly changing to the deep blue hue of day.
More spiders emerged from the underground tunnels and moved to the top of the jungle, hoping to catch the first rays of the morning sun. This jungle was the location Shaikulud had chosen for their hatchery. With the thick forest and bushes across the ground, and the cave entrance nearly impossible to find, it made the perfect place for them to call home.
The spider queen turned and faced her sister.
“Where wassss the blackssssmith found?” she asked.
The spider pointed her curved claw to the south.
“The enemy wasssss found in that direction,” the sister reported. “He wassss with many villagerssss, some of them hungry and tired.”
“That meanssss they’ll need to find a village ssssoon,” Shaikulud said.
“There are ssssissssterssss following them,” the spider reminded her queen.
Shaikulud nodded, then closed her eight purple eyes. Reaching out with the psychic powers given to her by Herobrine during her making, she felt for the spiders across the great expanse of the Overworld. Instantly, she could sense their presence in the distance. With a careful and light touch, the spider queen probed the minds of her subjects.
“Ahhh … I ssssee they are following them into a biome with extremely large treessss,” the queen said. She glanced around at the monsters that stood nearby. “We will move ssssouth and help our ssssissssters with the blackssssmith and the old woman.” Shaikulud turned to the monster that brought her the news. “What issss your name, child?”
“I am called Sssshaitar,” the spider said.
“Well done, Sssshaitar,” the queen commended. “Now go to Herobrine and tell him of thissss newssss. My sssspider army will catch them ssssoon enough.”
Shaitar moved quickly across the treetops toward the rising sun and Dragon’s Teeth. Likely the other spider from their party was heading toward Herobrine as well, but that did not matter. That spider could be caught by villagers or wounded in a fall and never make it to the Maker. Shaitar would also travel across the land to give this news to Herobrine, as the queen had ordered.
The spider queen watched the creature scurry away, then charged to the south. As she streaked across the green leafy carpet, her subjects dutifully followed. They flowed up out of the jungle greenery and spread across the treetops. It was as if a black wave of claws and glowing eyes were flooding over the land as more and more fuzzy monsters joined the pursuit.
Shaikulud closed most of her eyes and imagined what she would do to the old woman when she found her. The Oracle, she called herself … the name made the spider queen’s eyes burn bright with hatred. That hag had destroyed hundreds of her sisters with her filthy light-crafters. The spider queen was going to laugh as her sisters destroyed those pathetic crafters, then they would turn their claws toward the Oracle; that was when the real fun would begin.
CHAPTER 13
MEGA TAIGA
They reached the end of the oak forest by sunrise. Beyond the cluster of trees stood the alien and mystical ice spikes biome. Tall spires of glacial blue ice stretched up into the sky like frozen spears thrown upward from the ground, trying to impale the heavens.
“Let’s rest for a bit,” Gameknight said.
Many of the NPCs from Carver’s village collapsed to the ground and were instantly asleep. Those who had food distributed it to anyone in need, but they soon realized they were quickly running out, so Gameknight sent some of the warriors out into the forest with axes. They collected wood and trimmed many of the leaves back, hoping to find the elusive red apples hidden in the leafy canopy.
Meanwhile, Gameknight moved to Carver’s side, Mapper standing nearby.
“Mapper, how much farther is this mega taiga village?” Gameknight asked.
“Well, it’s not really in the taiga, but right next to it,” the old NPC explained. “It should be on the other side of the ice spikes.”
“We need to hurry up and find it. I don’t like being out in the open during the day.” Gameknight glanced to the east. The horizon was already painted with reds and oranges as the dark starry sky slowly retreated from the advancing sun. “We need a safe place for everyone to rest.”
“Don’t worry, Smithy. We’ll find the village,” Carver said. “I have faith Mapper knows where we are going. He’ll get us there.”
Suddenly, someone was shouting at them from the ice spikes. Turning, Gameknight saw a figure at the top of one of the frozen spires, a series of icy steps wrapping around the blue column. The User-that-is-not-a-user ran to see who it was and what it was they were saying. As he neared, he realized it was Weaver at the top of the translucent pillar.
“What are you doing up there?” Gameknight shouted.
“Smithy, I can see the mega taiga forest from here,” the young boy said in a loud voice.
The NPC carefully used the steps of snow and ice he’d placed and descended from on high. When he reached the ground, he smiled at Gameknight999.
“I know you were worried about where we were going, so I went up and checked everything out,” Weaver explained. “Mapper here is dead on; we’re
heading straight for a forest of gigantic trees.”
“Excellent,” Gameknight said, “but next time, tell me what you’re doing. That climb was far too dangerous. If you had fallen, you might have….” He couldn’t finish the sentence.
How do I keep him safe when he never listens to me? Gameknight thought. Maybe I’m not a strong enough leader to protect him.
He glanced at Carver. The stocky NPC was a natural leader. Villagers flocked to stand at his side now that he’d become comfortable with who he really was. They called him the “Carver of monsters,” and his skill with his shining axe was respected by everyone. But it wasn’t just his physical strength they looked up to; it was his moral strength, and his concern for others, and his positive outlook on life, and…. There were a hundred reasons why they should look up to the stocky NPC, but the only reason Gameknight could think of that the villagers would look up to him was his two swords. He was still pretending to be someone else, Smithy, and the longer the ruse went on, the harder it was to come clean to everyone and tell the truth. It weighed heavily on him; the User-that-is-not-a-user felt as if he were a lie.
“Sorry I worried you,” Weaver said, snapping Gameknight back to the present. “I’ll let you know in advance next time I do something dangerous.”
The boy smiled at his idol.
“That’s not what I mean,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said.
Both Weaver and Carver laughed.
“Let’s get everyone moving,” Carver said.
The stocky NPC gathered the villagers. They rose wearily and continued the march to the west, through the icy landscape. Their breath turned to fog in the air as the chill began to settle into their bones, their feet crunching as they made their way through the snow and ice. It was the only sound in the biome; there was a strange absence of animals, making the frosty terrain seem more barren than even the harshest of deserts. But true to Weaver’s word, they eventually began to see the tops of massive spruce trees peeking up from behind snow-covered hills.
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