by Stoic Steve
My last hope to find a safe home was taken from me.
Chapter 5
My Tragic Story
“Tell me everything that happened to you?” Gray asked me the next day over breakfast.
“I don’t know much,” I explained. “I was sitting in my comfortable room back home and playing on my computer. That is the last thing I remember, before waking up here.”
“Okay, tell me what you remember,” she demanded again.
“My girlfriend offered to teach me how to play Minecraft and although I wasn’t very into it, I agreed to do her a favor. At first, it wasn’t very interesting, but slowly I started to learn more about the game and my interest spiked up. One night, I played till late and fell asleep over my computer. When I woke up, I was over there,” I pointed towards the mountain. “I was looking like this, had no idea where I was and was very scared.”
“This sounds a lot like a spell my grandmother taught me when I was young.” Gray said, and encouraged me to continue.
“I was scared, but fortunately I found this village and for a while I was safe here. Then, one day I lost the way back and wasn’t able to find the village again. That was the reason why I had to build a house for myself and search for food.”
“Can you show me the place where you first woke up?” She asked and pointed east and together we went at the very place it all started.
The place wasn’t very far from the village and there we found the remains of a few fires and multiple other objects, which I had no idea what to do with. There were feathers, wood planes, stones and even bones.
“What is all this?” I asked Gray.
“The ingredients for a powerful spell,” she explained and tugged me away from there.
“You mean that someone cast a spell on me?” I asked really surprised. “But, in my world, there are no Witches or other magical creatures.”
“It could have been someone from this end,” Gray suggested. “But anyway, most spells could be reversed, so if you were brought here by a spell, you can also be returned back by a spell.”
“You have to help me with that,” I pleaded my new friend.
“Sure,” Gray smiled at me. “But, right now we should go away from here. There is no telling what can happen, if someone sees us.”
“The person, who cast the spell?” I wondered.
“Yes, you saw what happened to the village. Whoever did that must be the same person, who brought you here.”
Now what?
Now that I knew what really happened to me and the village, there was more for me to look forward to. I wasn’t any more desperate and alone. I had even a friend.
“Thank you for everything you did for me,” I said later that day. “During these last days, I have learned so many things about myself and what happened to me. Thank you, my friend.”
Chapter 6
What it means to have a friend?
The next few days we traveled around and I felt how our relationship became stronger that ever. We shared things and I told her about my dreams and wishes for the future. Gray was very supportive and it was easy for me to open up and share.
That was why, when one day Gray told me that she has to go, I was very surprised. “Where are you going?” I asked.
“I am needed at home,” she explained. “I cannot explain it, but there is something that is calling me back home.”
“I understand,” I said sadly. “I know what it is to want to be home.”
“Do you want to come with me?” She offered.
“Thank you, but no,” I shook my head. “I need to find more about what happened to me. I think that it would be easier if I stay here.”
Gray, the Witch, left later that same day, giving me a warm hug and promising to come back, as soon as possible. I told her where I will be and she walked away. That day I once again was left behind and alone…
As it turned out, I still had a lot to learn about Minecraft, as only two days later, I was captured by a Player. It all happened very suddenly. I found another house near the mountain and waited to be sure that no one was inside it. Then I walked in, right into a water trap, built right in front of the door.
The Player came an hour later, asked for no explanation, helped me out of the hole, tied my hands and legs and threw me into an empty room.
“I will deal with you later,” he said in an angry voice.
Afraid and unsure how to act around him, I tried to untie my hands, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t get free.
I could hear him walking around the house and the very thought of him coming near me was scary. The potions, which Gray left me were inside my pocket, but I couldn’t reach them…
And then… then I heard a friendly voice calling, “Steve… Steve…”
“I am in here,” I answered and Gray came through the window and untied my hands. She helped me out of the window and we ran away from the scary Player.
“Thank you, my friend,” I said to Gray, once we were safe. “I don’t know what would I have done without you.”
“What are friends for if not to help each other?” She smiled at me.
“How did you know that I was in there?” I asked.
“I had a vision and immediately came back for you,” she explained. “I had to wait for a while till he went to sleep and then I broke the window.”
Chapter 7
Plans for the Future
After we get away from the Player, Gray took me to some deep woods and let me rest as much as I needed. She said that we had all the time in the world. Surprisingly, she was right again. We spent a whole week there, just lying around, resting, talking and making plans for the future.
I wanted very much to find some way to return home and leave all this behind me, but Gray insisted that there is a circle in life and I had to wait for it to be completed. According to her, there were certain months that had to pass before we could try any spell and I had to accept her explanation.
“You see,” she said. “My mother used to say that the most powerful spells take time to wear off. And the spell that brought you here is among the most powerful I have ever seen.”
“So, what would we do now?”
“You could use the time you have here to see everything there is to be seen and to learn a few more things.” Gray offered.
“But, what if something bad happens and I get killed?” I expressed my deepest fear. “I am afraid that if I die here, I will die also in my real life.”
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I would be here to protect you.”
“Thank you,” I agreed. “What do we do first, then?”
“I want to teach you how to defeat the Minecraft monsters and then I will take you to the Nether. You would like it there.”
“Okay, let’s go…”
Chapter 8
Facing my Enemies
The next day, turned out to be a very interesting and dangerous one. Not only the weather was bad, with the rain falling as if it was the end of the world, but also because a few hostile mobs found us. The monsters came from above, from underground and even on water. I was the first one to see them, but it was Gray who fought them away.
“Go away,” I shouted, but the two Creepers and the Archer didn’t react.
Gray was much more successful – she threw potions at them and almost everyone of them hit the mobs. I stood beside her and watched carefully her back, so that nothing could surprise us.
We spent the night fighting against them, I was tired, but Gray refused to run away. “You have to learn how to defend yourself,” she insisted and I had to agree with her. If I was going to survive a few more months in here, I needed to be prepared for everything.
When the sun came up, the monsters went away and we were finally able to rest. That was when Gray gave me a number of useful tips on how to fight most of the monsters that live in Mineomania. The information was indispensable for me
and I was careful to remember every word she was saying.
With time we fell asleep and had the rest we both needed. The next day, Gray continued to teach me useful things, including how to make potions and then use them. I tried a few of them and was surprised to see that I didn’t need to be a Witch in order to do magic. Gray explained that the magic came naturally to her, but if I wanted, I also could learn how to do it.
Wow… I thought and put all my mind into learning how to fly on a broom, how to heal my wounds, how to make things move and many, many other things…
Can you imagine what it felt to be able to do things you never imagined doing? I certainly never thought about being able to do it. With Gray’s help, I managed even to elevate over the ground and descent down, as if I was walking on the stairs.
Chapter 9
The Nether
After learning all there was to learn, Gray invited me to help her to prepare everything necessary for us to visit the Nether…
“What would you say, if we go to the Nether?” She asked me one day.
“I would like it very much. But, would we be able to return back in time?” I asked, knowing full well how dangerous the place was.
“I have been there multiple times. You will like it and with everything I know, we would be safe enough.” Gray calmed me down. “I thought you like adventures?”
“Yes, I like them,” I agreed. “Just make sure, I get back in time for the spell to work.”
“Okay then, in order to pass between the two words we need a Nether Portal.” Gray started to explain things to me. “We would need a lot of things for the construction of the portal.”
“Tell me what to do,” I said and we proceeded to do the work.
First, we needed to dig up a few diamonds and make a diamond pickaxe, which we would use to find obsidian. I was a bit scared to go underground, but with the Witch by my side I was ready to face everything. She found a deep cave and we started exploring it. When Gray saw something on one of the walls, she told me to start digging there and slowly, we were able to found diamonds.
The work was hard, I got easily tired, but Gray gave me some potions and I became strong again. Once we had enough diamonds, Gray brought me back up and we started crafting a diamond pickaxe. It was easy, because Gray used her magic to unite the materials and make sure that it is well crafted.
Gray let me read through her books and learn new spells and potions, and when I wanted to try something she stood by my side and made sure that I didn’t burn something or even myself.
When we had the pickaxe ready, we proceeded to dig up obsidian. Gray had explained to me that in order to reach the Nether we needed a Portal made of obsidian. The finding of enough obsidian was harder than I thought and we had to work almost two days, before we had enough.
The rest was esier – we made the Portal and arranged the things the way they were supposed to be.
That was going to be my last night in the Overworld and I was feeling a bit scared, and if it wasn’t for Gray, I probably would have stayed there. Mineomania had been home for long week now and I was scared of what was coming next.
The next morning, we lighted up the portal and Gray tugged me through it. The feeling was frightening, as I felt fire burn my skin and needles go through my legs and hands. Gray had told me about the sensation, but I still was surprised, especially when something got hold of my head and suck me through the portal.
Red, orange, black, gold, yellow… colors keep changing before my eyes. I was afraid, but I knew that I wasn’t alone, Gray was holding my hand and speaking into my ear. I took from her strength and when I opened my eyes, I was inside another world.
We were in the Nether…
Chapter 10
A scary new world
The moment I stepped into the Nether the realization of what I had done came down on me. I had left a fairly secure place for the living Hell. As you know, the Nether looks a lot like what we think Hell would be, with lava and fires going on all around you and mobs that could scare the Devil himself, walking about.
Oh…
I muttered in awe. Everything around us was different, but nevertheless beautiful. The colors here were all darker, but also brighter. Even the black looked alive to me. That must be how people feel, when they step on another planet.
The lava and the fire were encompassing everything around us and I was afraid to put my foot down, in case the ground was burning. Gray, however, looked calm and so, I slowly calmed down too.
We were standing on a high hill, from where I could see miles around. The only mobs I could see were a few burning Blazes, that looked as if the fire was coming out of them. I watched them go through fire and not get burned, walk through pools of lava not die, touch burning stones and still stay alive.
“They are born of fire,” Gray explained to me. “Nothing here can hurt them.”
“So, how do we fight them then?”
“With water and ice,” she laughed at me. “The same way you will put down a burning fire.”
“I prefer to stay away from them,” I confessed and Gray agreed with me.
“I have killed a few of them,” she said. “But they are very hard to kill and if they managed to touch you, you could burn immediately.”
“What now?” I asked.
“We need to find a place for the night, because standing here is not an option.”
“What is our goal?” I continued to ask questions.
“We have to find an Nether fortress,” she smiled at me and pointed at something a few miles on the left. “There is a cave. We should get to it before the sun goes down.”
Gray walked carefully over the burning stones, showing me the safest way and making sure to stay away from the mobs. I did my best to do the same, but the path was too dangerous and I wished that I was also a Witch.
Monsters were coming from all sides, but the Witch was clever and managed to find the perfect paths that kept us away from them. I asked her why don’t we fly, but she said that this way was safer and we would fly only if we were in direct danger.
The small cave, which we reached after almost two hours was well hidden under a few enormous stones and looked protected from all sides. “We should be safe in here,” Gray said, and I watched her chanting spells and hiding hexes under the rocks.
I watched her amazed by how good she was at what she was doing. Gray was obviously used to what she was doing, as she worked methodically and without losing any time. I stood aside and made sure not to disturb her, while she was chatting. Gray had told me that it was very important not to interrupt the spells, as it might have the opposite effect.
Chapter 11
New dangers and more tears
What I had not expected was to have to face so many dangers. When Gray spoke about the Nether, she did that so calmly that I never expected to find myself in a place where my life was in a constant danger.
The little cave, she found for us turned out to be a horrible place, where the lava was flowing freely and fires could be seen burning even on the walls. A large stream of lava was coming from above in the middle of the cave and I was scared to even think about what else was hiding inside.
Gray showed me a path, build over the lava and we proceeded slowly towards the other side of the cave. By the time, we reached it, I was all sweaty and tired. Gray, once again took pity on me and gave me one of her potions to bring my spirit up.
The next half and hour I walked around and made sure that there were not mobs hidden behind rocks or pools of lava. Gray called after me not to worry, but that was out of the question, I needed to make sure for myself. So, searched and called and thew stones, but fortunately there was nothing.
“What are we going to do here?” I asked her when we sat down on a cool rock.
“We are going to rest, sleep, eat and prepare for tomorrow.” She said calmly.
“What if something comes inside?”
“
My spells will protect us,” she smiled. “And anyway, nothing here is as powerful as I am, so don’t worry.”
“How many times have you been in here?” I continued to ask for assurance.
“At least ten, but this is the first time, I am not alone. I am so excited to show you all the amazing things that are hidden in here.”
I felt still skeptical, but her enthusiasm was enough to calm me down a bit. So, I somehow managed to sleep during that my first night in the Nether and woke in the morning to find Gray already up and preparing our breakfast.
We ate, washed in a pool of hot water and headed for the exit. That was when the thing I was most scared about happened – a Blaze was standing in front of the cave and looking our way.
“It must have seen us going in and probably waited the whole night for us to get out,” Gray explained, looking a bit concerned.
She threw at him a potion, but although it hit the monster, he felt nothing and even started advancing toward us.
“It is not affected by my potions,” Gray warned me.
“Why isn’t it going away, it is day now?” I asked.
“The Blaze is not afraid of the sun and in here they are the kings, nothing scares them.”
“What then?” I shouted over the hiss coming from the monster and the streams of lava.
“Run…” Gray shouted and followed her up the hill.
BOOK 5
What do you want to see included in book 5? If you leave a review, tell me something cool you want to see in book 5. Hopefully you guys wont troll and say you want to see a bunch of bright purple sheep. ^_^
About the $2.99 price – I’m going for longer books now. The content will be much more than the older books, and the quality should be higher. If you’re not liking the price you can mention that in a review... But I’m putting a ton of time into this stuff.
To the people who leave positive comments, thanks so much. I read them all. Some of them are really funny. Jakes comment really had me rolling. Negative comments are okay, too. If there was something about the story you didn’t like, let me know. I’m not perfect.
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