AUTHORS NOTE: This is a very long read. It chronicles the history of the Steve, and the Great War. This is only Book One in the series, I've already begun work on Book 2: The Reign of Evil. Please enjoy, and remember to leave feedback! Thanks!
For those of you who have been following the progress of this work, thanks a ton for your support, and sorry for the long wait for the final three chapters. Hope it was worth it. ^.^
The wind rippled through the desert, though the single living thing in it—a man—did not seem to notice, or care. He was chanting intently, staring at a single patch of sand much darker than the rest. He brought his arms up, his blue T-shirt rippling in the wind.
The incantation seemed to be having an effect. The sand turned maroon, then blood red, finally glowing bright red and rising up, forming a gateway. In an instant, a column of sand appeared, and the bloodstone portal melted away as rapidly as it had formed.
“What is your bidding, my lord?” The whirling sand column whispered to the man.
“Rise, and show yourself,” He commanded.
The sand died away, revealing a shockingly pale man in a tattered suit. Most alarming of all were his eyes: intelligence yet wild, seeking revenge, and completely bloodred. He spoke a word, and a shadowy bow formed in his hands. He bowed.
“I am Israphel,” he whispered.
“Hmm, the Sandeye himself. Lord of the Deserts. I could use you yet,” the other man mused. “Pledge your allegiance!”
And Israphel knelt, looked into His blank white eyes, and spoke. “I pledge myself to Lord Herobrine, Prince of Darkness, Seer of the Nether. I pledge myself to service to and past my death. I pledge my everlasting loyalty to he who is Darkness, in the hopes of become one with the Darkness myself. This, I pledge.”
And He looked upon Israphel and smiled, as shafts of darkness emerged from His eyes into the Sand Lord’s.
“Come,” He said. “We have much to do.”
● ● ●
The Prince and the Sandeye traveled for days, through countless biomes, until they reached what appeared to be an uninhabited stretch of forest.
“This is it, yes?” rasped Israphel as they stood overlooking the swath of trees.
“Do not doubt me, Sandeye. Observe.”
In His hands grew a shaft of darkness which curved and solidified into a conch shell, which Herobrine put to his lips and blew.
At first, there was nothing. Then, from what sounded like a mile away, came a quiet scuttling, which grew louder and louder until it was thunderous, and the source was revealed: strange, 8-legged beasts with 8 eyes as well, about 6 feet long each, staring curiously at their strange visitors.
“Behold—the arachniads,” said Herobrine.
“How can this be? There must be at least a thousand of them!” replied Israphel.
“You’ve been locked away for far too long, my servant. Quite a lot has changed here in Minecraftia. However, back to our current objective.”
He stopped talking and began another incantation. The sky darkened, and each of the arachniads stiffened one by one as the spell took hold of their minds. As the Prince of Darkness finished the chant, the sky lightened up, and the arachniads slowly scuttled back to their dens.
“I would advise that we leave now,” Herobrine stated smugly. “By nightfall, these creatures will be hungry for some Minecraftian flesh, as they will every night onwards.”
And the two servants of the Dark disappeared into the shadows.
● ● ●
“Forgive me, my Lord, but these…spiders…do not seem like enough to turn the world to darkness,” said Israphel hesitantly.
“Oh, I know,” Herobrine replied. “We are not done yet.” And from the darkness he pulled a curved black blade.
“This is just the beginning.”
And the Seer of the Nether sliced his arm from elbow to wrist. But instead of blood, a dark gaseous substance pooled beneath the wound.
“And now…some flesh,” He said. Without hesitation, Israphel held out his arm.
“How much?” he asked simply.
Herobrine smiled, his blank white eyes staring at Israphel’s.
“All of it.”
He slashed, and the Sandeye’s arm fell to the ground. Israphel grimaced, but didn’t complain.
“And now we work the darkness.”
The two began to chant. The blood of darkness began to swirl around the arm, before actually entering it. The arm turned mottled and green; the thumb fell off, and two of the fingers worked their way around to face opposite the others.
The arm suddenly stood up on its fingers; it grew in length and width until it was 3 meters tall and half that in width. The top blossomed into a crudely shaped head, which grew intelligent black eyes and a permanently scowling mouth.
As the last echo of the chant died away, the servants of evil studied their creation.
“It has your features, Sandeye,” observed Herobrine. It was true. The eyes, flat nose, and scowling mouth of the monster all matched Israphel.
“My Lord, our wounds…” muttered Israphel.
“Oh, of course.” With a single word, darkness seared His arm shut. Twines of the dark reformed into the Sand Lord’s arm. Then He turned back to the monster.
“What are you, fiend?” asked Herobrine.
The monster looked down upon its two masters.
“I am…the creeper,” it rasped. “I am…the first.”
Israphel’s mouth twitched into something resembling a smile. “Oh, I see,” he said.
Herobrine turned to his servant, blank eyes boring into Israphel. “Show me.”
Israphel spoke to the First Creeper. “Show him.”
The First Creeper closed its eyes. Behind it, a bolt of darkness shot down, kicking up dirt and smoke. When it cleared, a smaller creeper had appeared, this one only 2 meters tall. It hissed, its black eyes looking about curiously.
“Now show your true power!” called Israphel.
The First Creeper closed its eyes once more, and its spawn exploded, showering them all with green goo.
Herobrine chuckled darkly. “How many of these…creepers…can be spawned?”
The First Creeper stared at its master. “As many as necessary.”
Chapter 2: Call of the Heroes
As the dark was gathering unnoticed by all but one, life in Minecraftia went on as normal. In the southern jungles, the Bloku tribe was out searching for various herbs. The Longeoneers of the Minecraftian Seas were fishing for the infamous Jabo squid. In the eastern forests, the Wolveneers were duck hunting, as usual. To the north, the dwarves of Khaz Modan were digging holes as they did everyday. Far, far, above, the Spacemen were floating around. And at the heart of it all, in Diamond City, the capital of Minecraftia, a simple iron miner would become the leader of the greatest army known to Minecraftia.
His name was Steve, and this is his story.
● ● ●
Just one more day, he told himself. One more day, and I’m out of here for good.
A week ago, Steve had gotten a job offer from the Sheep Co. Foundation. They wanted him to be an overseer at their farms—an easy job which came with good pay as well. Steve had accepted, and today, after work, he would resign from the Iron Miners.
Steve took his diamond pick and helmet, and descended down the mineshaft.
Mindlessly mining for iron had seemed like a good job at first, until he learned that each worker only got 1% of what they mined. Since then, it had all been downhill.
The mineshaft seemed empty; not much a surprise, as Steve always got to work earlier than everybody else.
He began the last mine of his job. Hacking through the rock, he came upon a strange white artifact that seemed to be glowing. Unable to help himself, he picked it up, fascinated. As soon as he did, the artifact started to glow brighter and brighter. Steve was forced to look away. A shockwave exploded out of the artifact, rippling the fabric of reality. Then the light and the artifact both faded away, and in their place was a beautiful woman dressed in white robes.
“Holy ****, who are you, what are you, and how did you get here?!?” Steve yelped.
The woman smiled, and large wings appeared behind her. “I am ez, angel of Notch. I am here because you were chosen.”
“Chosen? What do you mean?” asked Steve.
ez became more serious. “The world is in peril, Steve. The darkness is tipping the balance.”
She waved her hand across the wall, and it turned smooth and clear. “Observe.”
Steve watched as images were played along the wall. He saw the rise of Israphel, the turning of the spiders, the creation of the creepers.
ez watched Steve, whose face had turned very pale. He turned to her. “So…that’s what we’re up against? Just the undead armies of darkness, then?”
“Yes, Steve,” answered ez. “And YOU will lead the armies of Notch against them.”
Steve couldn’t help himself: he laughed, loud and heartily. But when he saw ez’s expression, he stopped.
“You…you’re serious?” he asked.
The angel nodded.
“But…I’m just an iron miner. I barely manage to get by, and you expect me to lead an army?”
Again, ez nodded.
“How the hell am I supposed to do that? Do we even have an army?”
This time, ez shook her head. “You will gather our armies.”
“Again, WHY ME??”
“Steve, you have a strong spirit. You may not recognize your true potential yet, but there are none in Minecraftia more capable to lead the armies of Notch than you.”
Steve blinked, surprised. “Um…okay then, I guess I don’t have much of a choice. Where do I start?”
“Begin by gathering the warriors of Diamond City. Then head north to gather the dwarves of Khaz Modan.”
“Um, one little problem,” said Steve. “Why would they listen to me?”
ez smiled. “Because they will. Also, I shall give you the power to scry.”
“You mean…the wave-the-hand-and-show-an-image thing?”
“Yes. Simply focus on what you want to see, and it is done.”
Steve concentrated for a second, and then an image of his sister eating breakfast popped up on the wall.
“Okay, that’s pretty awesome,” Steve admitted. “But I still don’t know if they’ll listen to me.”
“Oh, they will. Good luck, Steve. We’ll be watching.” And in a flash of blinding light, ez disappeared.
“Wait! What about…****.” With a heavy sigh, Steve began the long walk back up the surface, pickaxe in hand.
● ● ●
Steve headed for the town square. By the time he got there, it was noon, and there were hundreds of people milling around. He finally spotted his target: a podium in the center.
“This has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever done,” he muttered to himself. But he climbed onto the podium, cleared his throat, and began to speak.
Steve had never been the best at public speaking; in school, he did well enough on presentations to get by while not getting the highest grade either. But this was different. This presentation would either save Minecraftia, or leave it to the darkness.
“People! Everybody, please listen!” called Steve. A few dozen people stopped and waited for more.
“The world is in great danger! Please, you must listen!” With every word he spoke, more people stopped and listened. Steve knew that ez must have been helping. He wasn’t that awesome.
“The darkness is rising! Evil is rising! We are all in danger!” By now, he had a crowd of a few hundred people, so he figured this was as good a time as any to do the scrying.
“Look!” he said, pointing to a nearby billboard. He concentrated, and it turned glassy and smooth. Then he showed them what ez had shown him: Herobrine, the rise of Israphel, creation of the creepers, the spiders turning to the darkness. People gasped and screamed.
“Please, stay calm!” Steve attempted.
“Stay calm?!?” somebody in the audience called out. “Why the **** should we do that? We’re all doomed!”
“NOTCHDAMNIT, NO WE’RE NOT!” Steve shouted. People stopped panicking at once. Some gasped: Steve was almost glowing with a white light. “We will NOT give in!” he shouted. “We will NOT give up! We WILL form an army! We WILL fight back! And we WILL win!” He raised his pickaxe. “Now WHO’S WITH ME?!?”
As one, the crowd roared. Many of the men saluted with their swords; others shot their bows into the distance. Steve had done it; he had started his army.
“Okay guys,” Steve said after everybody had calmed down. “There’s about 5,000 of you and about 20,000 of the enemy.” Muttering ran through the ranks.
“Hey! Hey, stay calm. We’re not done yet,” Steve reassured them. “Tomorrow, we leave for the Yogsmount, to get the support of the dwarves of Khaz Modan.”
“Tomorrow?” asked one of the men. “Why not tonight?”
Several of his buddies looked at him pointedly.
“Oh…the darkness…right.”
“Great. Any other questions?” Steve asked. Nobody said anything. “Okay… see you tomorrow then.”
● ● ●
The next day, the army met at the town square.
“Okay then, everybody ready? Have you said your goodbyes? Great. Let’s go.”
And with that, they were off.
The army travelled for nearly the entire day. Just three hours to sunset, the Birchalaya mountain range came into view. An hour from sunset, they arrived at the Yogsmount: the biggest mountain in all of Minecraftia.
As the army neared the mountain, a squad of guard dwarves appeared.
“What is your business here?” the lead guard demanded.
“We need your help,” Steve said simply.
The guard leader considered the request. “Come with me,” he said eventually.
The doors to the mountain opened smoothly. The humans, Steve included, watched open-mouthed as the two huge hunks of steel smoothly came apart, then closed behind the army. They were now actually inside the mountain, which had a huge domed roof far above them. The cavern was lit by glowstone hung from the ceiling. Above them was half of the dwarven city. Below them was the other half.
“Um….wow,” said Steve. “So who’s in charge here?”
“That would be me,” said a voice from ahead of them. A large, bearded dwarf stepped forward, carrying a diamond axe. “Honeydew of Khaz Modan, at your service.”
Steve stepped forward. “Well…that’s a very nice mountain you’ve got there.”
“It is, isn’t it? It would be a shame if anything happened to it,” Honeydew agreed.
The two of them stared at each other.
“I just felt like somebody walked on my grave,” they said in unison.
Steve cleared his throat. “Look, we came here because we need your help.”
Honeydew folded his arms. “Explain.”
So Steve told Honeydew about everything: Herobrine, Israphel, the Creepers, even about ez and being chosen.
When he finished, he looked at Honeydew expectantly. “So…will you help us?”
“Absolutely,” Honeydew said without hesitation. “It’s been ages since we’ve had a good fight.” He turned to other dwarves who had gathered.
“MY BRETHREN!” he shouted, his voice echoing around the mountain. All around the city, dwarves stopped what they were doing and listened. “WE HAVE A GREAT EVIL AFOOT IN MINECRAFTIA!”
Dwarves started cheering.
“Um….Honeydew?” Steve said uncertainly. “’Why are they cheering?”
Honeydew turned and grinned. “Because WE HAVE A WAR!”
The city burst into applause, battle cries, and whistling. In a normal tone, Honeydew explained, “We’re normally content with just diggy diggy holing, but we do love a good war.”
“Oh, awesome,” replied Steve, chuckling. Then, remembering his duty, he got more serious. “How many of your people can fight?”
“Oh, nearly all of them. I’d say…7,000. Why, how many do you need?”
“All of them.”
“Perfect.” Turning to his people, he raised his axe and shouted, “FOR JAFFAS!”
The now doubled army continued onwards, towards their next destination: the Wolveneers.
Chapter 3: The End of the Beginning
The sun was setting. It was obvious the army wouldn’t reach the eastern forests and the Wolveneers before dark, so they set up camp at the edge of the forest.
Steve, Honeydew, and the other commanders gathered around the campfire. Steve began explaining what creepers were.
“Well…from what I’ve seen, they’re these green, horrible, four-legged monsters, each about as tall as a man. They head butt you and spit and hiss. Oh, and they explode.”
The others shuddered. Honeydew sat contentedly, chewing on a Jaffa. “Sounds like they’ll put up a good fight,” he said thoughtfully.
Suddenly, there was a twang, and one of the men groaned and fell over, an arrow in his back. In his place stood a skeleton—behind it, more skeletons, and some zombies as well.
“****! WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!” screamed Steve. He grabbed the nearest weapon—his diamond pick—and charged, barking out orders as he ran, rallying his soldiers. Out of corner of his eye, he saw Honeydew doing the same and grab a strange looking weapon.
He reached the first skeleton, which attempted to shoot him with its bow. Steve parried the shot and bashed its skull in. It crumpled to the ground.
He whirled around and decapitated a zombie that was almost on top of him. He killed four more before he heard the clink.
Steve turned, and saw a skeleton with its bow notched and aiming directly at him. He new there was no way he could dodge it in time.
Well, this sucks, he thought. Six kills into the war, and I’m already dead. He tensed and waited for the end.
Suddenly, the monster’s skull began to glow, and its head blew up. The remains scattered, kicking up dust. In the skeleton’s place stood Honeydew, holding the same strange-looking weapon—almost like a bow, but held sideways, and with more mechanisms attached.
The dwarf grinned and twirled his weapon. “It’s a TNT launcher. Never fails, eh?” he said as he helped Steve up.
“Nice timing,” Steve said with relief.
Then, from across the field, they heard a series of explosions and screams. The two looked at each other. “Not one of mine,” they said simultaneously.
“Balls,” muttered Honeydew as they ran towards the explosions.
“Do you think it could be—,” Steve suddenly stopped. “Yes it is.”
Ranks of creepers were pouring towards them.
“ARCHERS!” Steve called. “FIRE AT WILL!”
Honeydew grinned again. “Fire is my specialty,” he said, as he pulled two swords from their sheaths. He pressed a button at the base of each, and the blades burst into flames.
Steve looked at him in awe. Honeydew shrugged. “Dwarven technology, what more can I say,” he explained. And with a mighty “FOR JAFFAS!” he charged into the battle.
“Ah, what the hell,” Steve said, and hefting his pickaxe, he too charged into the fray.
The army decimated the ranks of creepers, but it seemed no matter how many they killed, there was always another to take its place. Steve began to tire. Just when it seemed that they were about to get overwhelmed, they heard it.
From across the plains, a howl echoed. Another joined it, then another. All around them, the battle stopped. Monsters and men paused and looked around uncertainly. Creepers hissed to each other anxiously.
Then all Nether broke loose.
Ranks of wolves exploded out of the forest, charging the armies of darkness. One punched right through a zombie; three others tore a creeper to shreds. There had to be hundreds, and yet more continued to pour out of the forest.
It was too much for Herobrine’s army. Many dissolved into the darkness; others simply imploded. Eventually, none of the attackers were left.
Warriors walked out of the forest, led by somebody sitting atop a giant white wolf.
The giant wolf approached them. Wherever it went, people bowed and scooted out of its way. Steve wondered who it could be. Honeydew just grinned and twirled his TNT launcher.
At last the wolf reached them. It really was huge, Steve thought, at least 3 blocks tall, if not more. The wolf bowed its head, allowing its rider to dismount. When Steve saw who it was, his jaw dropped open. “B-b-but you’re…a legend! A myth!” he exclaimed, mystified. The rider looked down, embarrassed, but still grinning.
“I see my Homies have been spreading stories again,” Slyfox said.
Chapter 4: Talk of the Gods
With the armies of Notch near completion, its commanders—Steve, Honeydew, and SlyfoxHound—decided to take a break. They set up camp for the night. Steve passed out right away…
…And awoke in a different, strange place. Everything was bathed in a strange light. The world seemed to consist of a great many floating islands. Pigs flew about. And strangest of all, whales where floating around. Steve stared at one in wonder, as it was hit by a snowball and went hurtling away.
“Takes a while to get used to,” said a voice behind him. Steve whirled around. Behind him was a stocky bearded man who looked a bit like Honeydew. His eyes—though completely a pure bright blue—twinkled warmly. “Hello, Steve,” he said.
“Who are you?” Steve asked, alarmed.
The man grinned. “What, you don’t recognize your own creator?”
● ● ●
“Um…wow,” Steve said. “I still can’t believe…it’s really you?”
Notch nodded. “It is indeed really me.”
“Where am I? Why am I here? Am I…dead?”
Notch rolled his eyes. “Why do they ALWAYS think they’re dead,” he muttered to himself. To Steve, he said, “No, you’re not dead. Yes, you are in the Aether, my realm, but I just needed to talk with you.”
“What about?”
Notch gestured to his side and spoke a word. Instantly, a blue-tinted image of the army popped up: thousands of men, spread out across the plains. “You’ve done well gathering my armies, Steve,” he said. Notch waved his hand over the image; it blurred, as if travelling many miles, the slowed and stopped over another plain. “Unfortunately, my brother has been doing the same.”
Beneath them in the image, the armies of darkness were spread out below them: hundreds and hundreds of zombies and skeletal archers stood about. Around them, the spiders kept watch from the trees surrounding the plains. And in the middle of it all were the creepers.
Steve gaped. “The…the…t-the creepers! There’s…what, half a million down there!”
Notch coughed. “Well…four-hundred eighty thousand, nine-hundred twenty-three to be exact. But the details aren’t important. The point is, he’s not stopping there.”
Steve stared.
“Hero, do you know why we are having this war in the first place?” Notch asked. Steve shook his head. Notch cleared his throat, and began.
“When Minecraftia was first created many, many years ago, my brother and I ruled it together; I, lord of the Light, and he, Prince of Darkness. The arrangement worked well enough.
“Years passed. As the strength of the light grew with the population of Minecraftia, the power of darkness needed to grow as well. So my brother, Herobrine, created the undead. Humans were balanced against the zombies and the skeletons, and all was well again.
“But Herobrine was not satisfied. He always was power-hungry, and balance didn’t cut it for him. So he summoned that ******* Israphel, and the rest is history.”
Notch sighed. “All we need is balance. Herobrine does not understand this. All he craves is more and more power. And that is why we are having this war.”
He looked up at Steve. “Even now, his army grows. We must strike out at him, not wait for him to do the same. For when he does, it will be too late.
“This is my wish: talk to him. Make him understand. What he is doing can destroy the world. What he is doing will destroy the world. He MUST understand this.”
Steve nodded. “But what if he won’t listen?”
“If he will not…” Something behind Notch’s eyes glowed—something ancient, wise, and incredibly powerful. “If he will not…
“Strike him down.”
Chapter 5: Just An Old Friend
Though the army needed rest, with every passing moment Herobrine grew stronger, so they marched onwards. Through great plains, over mountains and winding valleys, crossing rivers and lakes. They rested only when absolutely necessary; every one of the thirteen-thousand soldiers knew the urgency of their mission. In just a week they had covered nearly half of Minecraftia—a feat which had never been done before.
After that hard week of nearly nonstop travel, the army made it at last to their destination. Steve, Honeydew, and SlyFox stared up at it in awe, shock, and more than a bit of fear.
Honeydew grunted. “Herobrine showing off his power, I reckon.” Steve and SlyFox could only gulp and nod.
A huge tower seemingly made entirely of shadow loomed in front of them: impossible to look directly at, but seen out of the corner of the eye, the details came into terrifying relief. A skeletal guard surrounded the tower; inside and out, creepers wandered to and fro. Spiders clambered over the sides, and occasionally pieces of shadows would detach themselves from the tower and form themselves into humanoid shapes. A beam of dark red energy traveled up the center of the tower, spreading out into a dark cloud that blocked out all light across the plains, where ranks upon ranks of monsters stood, waiting. And far above it all, two figures stood upon a dark platform, lording over it all.
Steve pointed to the two figures far above them. “That’s where I need to go,” he stated. Honeydew stepped forward. “That’s where I’m going as well, then,” he said. Steve nodded, then turned to SlyFox. “We’ll need some good men, if not your best. If—until we return, you’re in charge of the army. Try to surround the enemy on all sides.” Sly nodded, then turned back the troops. Steve and Honeydew stood together, thinking.
“It won’t be enough, you know,” Steve muttered at last.
Honeydew nodded. “If we’re lucky, we’ll get some help.”
Steve scowled. “From where? This army is all Minecraftia has to offer. What help can we get?”
The dwarven commander just grinned and said, “We’ll see.”
SlyFox came up behind them. “The troops are in position. Just give the command.”
Steve acknowledged him. Behind the commanders, a group of the army’s most elite soldiers stood, waiting. Honeydew nudged him. “Mind if I give the men a little rousing talk before the attack?”
Steve shrugged. “Sure, why not,” he replied. Honeydew thanked him, cleared his throat, and began to talk.
“Men, we have come a long way to be here today. We’ve lost some good men along the way, trying to fight this terrible evil. Some of you have probably lost hope, given up.
“True, we may be outnumbered. True, we may be unprepared for what lays ahead. But do not give up. NEVER give up. We are here today to fight for our land, to defend OUR country. Minecraftia will NOT fall to these BEASTS, these MONSTERS. Our comrades will NOT die in vain. Today, we fight for our friends, our family. Today, we fight for our right to live. Today, we fight for our God, and today, Minecraftia WILL. NOT. FALL!!”
The men roared for victory, and charged. The first ranks of monsters fell before they knew what hit them; the same for the next. SlyFox mounted his giant wolf and leaped into the battle. Honeydew and Steve looked at each other, grinned, hefted their pickaxes and charged into the fray.
“Remember, head for the tower!” Steve shouted over the chaos of the battle to Honeydew.
“Trying!” He shouted back.
The clash of the armies was deafening. Humans and monsters pushed against each other, trying to break each other’s lines. Neither made progress; the armies were held even.
Then, from the sky, a sudden beam of light broke through the clouds, vaporizing an entire group of creepers, leaving nothing but ashes left. From the other side of the battlefield, another light struck, then another. Steve looked up in awe; Honeydew roared with laughter.
“What IS that??” Steve shouted.
Honeydew’s laughter subsided, with a chuckle, he replied, “An old friend!”
Through a break in the clouds, a huge metal bird soared down. And on its back, wearing the red captain’s uniform for which he was famous, was a man.
“Honeydew, old friend!” he called down at them.
The dwarf waved, grinning maniacally. “Welcome back, Spaceman!”
Xephos chuckled. “Couldn’t very well stay away from THIS battle, now could I?” Pulling out a diamond sword, he and his bird soared away amid flashes of light. The last thing Steve heard Xephos say was something that sounded strangely like “give Honeydew 46 64,” which made no sense to Steve, but which sent Honeydew into another laughing spasm.
Steve blinked. “We have a chance,” he said with wonder. “WE HAVE A CHANCE!”
And with that, the man and the dwarf charged the tower, with the Spacemen airborne behind them.
Chapter 6: Reunion
Hacking through ranks of enemies, Steve, Honeydew, and their elite squad of about 20 battle-hardened men reached the tower of shadow at speed. At just a few meters away, all its details came into sharp relief—spines and needles sticking out at random, old, rotting, bones, and some stains that looked suspiciously like dried blood.
“Why can we see it more clearly now?” one of the men questioned.
“Maybe it’s just because we’re closer now!” another said hopefully.
Steve and Honeydew glanced at each other, each thinking the same thought as the other. “Or maybe it’s because Herobrine is getting more powerful—MUCH more powerful,” said Steve. “In any case, how are we supposed to get inside?” The sides of the base were as smooth and tough as obsidian.
From above: a shouted warning, a strong wind, a bright light; a smoking crater now sat where the wall had. Xephos flew by, saluting to Steve, Honeydew, and the cheering men. Honeydew laughed and saluted back, while Steve just shook his head, but he was grinning as well. The victory was short-lived, though; from the breach, a multitude of spiders poured out, overwhelming two of the men before anybody had time to react.
The spiders were slain, and the men continued into the tower.
Steve craned his neck; the ceiling of the building was shrouded in darkness; the only visible feature was a long spiral staircase, circling into the darkness. He turned back to his men.
“Who here has torches?” he asked. Three of the men raised their hands. “Okay, you—up here with me. You—stay at the back. Alright, everybody, let’s do this.” The men began the long walk up the staircase.
It was a perilous journey; several of the steps were fake; others were inset with explosives; still others were simply extremely slippery. But at long last, The men reached the top, where a large black double door awaited them. Steve turned to his men. “Casualty report.”
“Three dead, one wounded, sir.”
“Good enough. Ready?” The men nodded, hoisted their weapons higher, tried to look brave. None of them knew what would happen beyond that door. Steve looked over at Honeydew, his face set in grim determination. “You ready for this?”
Honeydew grinned, lighting his dual swords. “Never been more ready for anything in my life. Relax—we’ll be fine.”
Steve managed a nod. “Alright men. On three. One. Two. THREE!”
With a roar, the men flung the doors open, charged—and then it all went wrong.
A wall of darkness slammed into the soldiers, knocking some back, crushing others, and sending a few over the edge of the tower. One swipe—half Steve’s men gone. Another, and the half perished. Only two remained: Steve and Honeydew. And at the far side of the roof, two other figures stood, silent.
“Let’s finish this,” Steve growled, and together, he and Honeydew charged the Lords of Darkness.
Across the roof, Steve saw Herobrine smile, raise a hand; a choking noise next to him; Steve turned and saw Honeydew, hovering 6 feet above the ground, clutching at his neck, gasping, legs flailing uselessly. Herobrine tilted his head, examining the dwarf. “Useless,” he said simply. A flick of his hand, and Honeydew was sent flying off the roof.
“NOOOO!!!” Steve screamed, running for the edge of the roof. Honeydew’s last words echoed in his mind. Fury took hold of him. Steve turned to the Prince of Darkness, shaking with anger and grief.
“You…YOU…” with a cry, Steve ran at Herobrine, murder on his mind. But like he hit a wall, he was stopped, and lifted into the air like Honeydew had been. Herobrine examined him with great interest.
“How…unique,” He said, and Steve shuddered at the sound of his voice—a normal male tenor, but with a deep, deep undertone as well—a trace of something very old, and very evil. For the first time since the war had begun, Steve was well and truly afraid.
He gave up struggling; it was futile, a waste of energy. He hung there in midair, head hung, defeated.
Well, this is it, he thought. I’m sorry I failed you, Notch.
And to his surprise, Notch replied. His voice echoed in Steve’s head.
You haven’t failed me, hero, He thought. Your job has just begun.
Whaa…? Steve thought back, confused. What do you—
Relax.
What?
RELAX NOW. Steve felt a huge wave of energy approaching him. Panicking, and with a huge effort of willpower, he did as Notch asked.
Just in time, too.
The wave of energy reached Steve, curled around his body, protecting it. Herobrine’s spell was released, and Steve fell gently to the floor. Israphel was blown back, across the roof.
The energy spiraled around Steve’s body, whirling faster and faster, then began to enter his body. Channeling its way through Steve’s veins, all the energy compacted itself into his body, and with one last flare of light, the process was complete.
Steve struggled to his knees, looked up Herobrine with confusion.
“Br…brother?” he said weakly. And with one last colossal effort, Steve’s body collapsed.
Herobrine inspected the body, felt for a pulse. He was dead. With a grim smile, the Prince of Darkness turned away from the cadaver. It was over. The war was won.
Behind him, Steve’s body stood up, stretched, inspected itself, then turned to Herobrine’s back.
“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it,” he said casually. With shock, Herobrine whirled around, stared into Steve’s eyes—eyes that were filled entirely with a pure bright blue.
“B-b-but…you’re…wall…energy…” For the first time in his millennia-long life, Herobrine was speechless. Steve just stood there, a lazy smile on his face.
“You always were too confident, brother,” he said.
“Notch?” Herobrine said with wonder.
Steve’s head tilted in agreement. “Indeed. Steve himself is currently unconscious, so I took this opportunity to speak to you personally through this…vessel.” Notch examined his new body. “He HAS kept himself in shape, hasn’t he,” he muttered to himself.
Herobrine stared, still in shock. “Notch…why have you come?”
The Lord of the Light stepped forward, held his brother at arm’s length, his eyes full of sorrow. He smiled gently. “Herobrine…end this madness now. It doesn’t have to be like this. Light and dark can balance in this world once more.”
At once, the Lord of Darkness ripped away from his brother’s grip. “If that is the only reason you are here, you have wasted your time,” he growled, eyes flashing dangerously bright. “I have stood in your shadow long enough, dear brother. For centuries, I have planned my revenge, and today I plan to take it.”
Notch just continued to smile his sad smile, as if he had known what Herobrine would say. “But how, my brother? Look around,” he said, gesturing across the plains. “The heroes’ armies ravage yours, the Spacemen annihilate ranks in seconds. Your great war is failing, Herobrine.
“One way or another, this WILL end today.”
Chapter 7: The Beginning of the End
Steve and Herobrine stood atop the dark tower, watching each other intently.
“Brother, I beg you,” spoke Notch through Steve’s body. “This war is useless; neither side will ever prevail. Light and darkness, good and evil—neither can ever be total and complete. There is always balance.”
Herobrine merely smiled grimly. “Only one way to truly discover this, yes?”
“Brother, I am sorry. I can’t let you do this,” said Notch sadly.
Herobrine’s smile faded. “I’m sorry too,” he said, and nodded to somebody behind Notch.
Notch whirled around; saw Israphel standing right behind him, a knife raised. He fell back, raised his arm in defense, though he knew it was useless. Notch closed his eyes, knowing there was nothing he could do. The knife came down.
And less than a millimeter away from piercing Steve’s heart, Notch heard an explosion, a splattering of flesh. The knife dropped gently onto Steve’s chest, then clattered to the floor. With a huge effort, Steve cracked his eyes back open and saw what had happened.
The top half of Israphel’s head was gone, revealing the gore underneath. To Notch’s left, the remains of the cranium sat in a pool of dark shadowblood. Notch lolled his head to the right, and saw the cause of this carnage—Honeydew, miraculously alive, sitting behind Xephos on his Spacebird, his TNT Launcher smoking. In front of him, Israphel’s body dissolved into shadow, leaving nothing behind but the dark knife, which Notch managed to scoop up and place in Steve’s pocket. Behind him, Herobrine uttered a roar of pure, unadulterated rage: deafening, nearly tangible, and not at all human. Immediately, all fighting below stopped. Herobrine stalked over to where Notch lay, stood over him, his pure white eyes glowing with the force and pure rage of a million creepers.
“This is not the end, dear brother,” he snarled into Steve’s face. “This is just the beginning.” The Lord of Darkness raised his arms to the heavens. Dark clouds gathered. The building beneath them shook. With one last evil look at Notch, Herobrine disappeared into the darkness. Steve sank into unconsciousness as the tower below him crumbled. His last sensation before the darkness enveloped him was one of falling. Falling…falling…falling.
● ● ●
With a gasp, Steve woke, startling the other commanders. For a split second, his eyes shone supernova blue, then faded back to their normal brown. He looked around, confused.
“Where am I? What happened?” he asked. Then it all came back to him. “Notch…in me…” He turned to Honeydew, pointed. “You…you should be dead! I saw you fall!”
Honeydew, shrugged, opened his mouth to speak…and from behind him came another voice.
“He always has been too reckless, that Simon,” said somebody behind him.
Heads turned. Behind them, tossing a Jaffa around in his hand, sat Xephos, covered in blood, dirt, and sweat, but otherwise fine.
Honeydew grinned sheepishly. Xephos tossed him the Jaffa, then wrapped him in a bear hug. “Good to see you’re not dead,” he said.
“Same for you, friend,” replied Honeydew.
With the two of them wrapped up in their reunion, Steve turned to SlyFox. “Nice job with the army out there,” he said.
“Thanks mate,” replied Sly. “It was mostly their doing, you know. They really believe in what they’re doing.” He gestured to his torn, bloodied, and charred purple T-shirt. “As you can see, I didn’t exactly get out of it unscathed. I think I’m going to need a new shirt.”
Steve laughed, and, for the first time since the war began, actually began to relax.
He snapped his fingers, drawing everybody’s attention. Clearing his throat and his mind, Steve retold the tale of the tower, Notch, and Herobrine, with the help of some scryed images. The others watched and listened openmouthed. Steve finished his tale, then sat back, examining the nasty-looking scar on his chest.
The command tent was quiet for nearly a full minute. Then the floodgates burst open, and a raging torrent of questions was released. Rather than attempt to satisfy everybody, Steve merely waited patiently for the chaos to die down.
And after a few minutes, it did. Steve addressed their questions all at once.
“We’ll discuss this more in the morning, after we’ve gotten past the trauma of repeatedly coming close to dying. See you all at dawn.”
And with that, the commanders meeting adjourned.
● ● ●
As Steve fell asleep, his mind wandered—literally. His consciousness drifted away from his sleeping form, up through the heavens, faster and faster, until a large landmass loomed above him. Passing straight through it and startling a drowsy airwhale, Steve came to a gentle stop sitting on a rock, facing opposite Notch. However, instead of the awe and wonder Steve had felt when they had last met, he now was full of rage.
“Nobody ever said anything about possession when I signed up for this!” he snarled in Notch’s face.
Notch started, alarmed, then sat back again. “I never meant for any of this to happen,” he said softly.
“Well, that doesn’t make any bloody difference anymore, now does it!?”
“I always tried to protect you, my—,” Notch hesitated.
“Your what?” asked Steve, beginning to calm down.
Notch looked away, changed topics. “In any case, I was forced to. You were overcome by emotion. I had to try to talk some sense into my brother.”
“Yeah, and you nearly got both of us killed in the process.”
“Look, arguing does us no good. Herobrine is still out there, nursing his wounds, drawing his power back. The collapse of the Tower of Shadows released enough energy that Herobrine could mould it into a portal, a dimensional stream straight to his inner sanctum, a realm that not even I know much about. There he lies, cursing my name.
“This is your chance, dear hero. You must follow in the steps of the Lord of Darkness, follow him, and defeat him. I shall give you instructions of how to reach Him, and to survive. You must make a portal—the deadliest portal in the history of Minecraftia. Beyond this portal, a terrifying realm exists, the innermost, darkest sanctum of the nether. A world of living shadow, of fiery winged beasts who guard the skies, a world of eternal twilight. You must enter…
“The End.”
Chapter 8: The Girl Who Waited
Steve’s pick hit the stone with a dull thud. Grunting, Steve pulled, and the fruit of his labor was revealed: a mass of a strange stone, perfectly smooth and round, darkly opaque yet emitting a strange gray light. Straining to pick it up, Steve managed to heave it into a nearby minecart, where a soldier was standing at the ready.
“That’s the last we need, then,” he said to the guard, who nodded and began the long journey back up through the mine, minecart in tow. After taking a short breather, Steve followed suit.
Emerging on the surface a short while later, Steve removed his helmet and dropped his diamond pick, covered in sweat. “That’s the last one, yes?” he panted. Standing in a rough semicircle nearby, the other commanders nodded, grim but excited.
Nearby on a platform, eleven stones, similar to the newest one Steve had just dug up, sat in a nearly completed circle. There was space enough for just one more. The other men regarded the unfinished portal, as well as the final stone, warily. And for good reason too; the stones practically glowed with the power of darkness.
Steve gestured at the portal. “You guys want to finish that up?” he asked the other commanders.
As one, they shook their heads. Even Honeydew was serious for once.
“You’ve led us this far, friend,” he said. “You’re the only reason Minecraftia isn’t bathed in darkness now. This is your job, Steve. This is your destiny.”
Nodding, Steve suddenly flashed back to when he had just been a simple iron miner. It felt like that had been a lifetime ago. He was practically a new person now.
Strengthened by this knowledge, Steve picked up the last stone and began to walk over to the unfinished portal. Each step carried the weight of the lives lost to get this far. Now, so close to the end, Steve was determined. This wouldn’t fail. It couldn’t.
He placed the stone in its position.
With a flash, the stones sealed themselves together. Pulling out a blaze rod supplied by the army’s only mage, Steve set the portal alight. A wave of darkness washed over the camp, and the portal was activated. They were ready.
Steve turned to the others, an entire army watching him expectantly. He cleared his throat.
“Many of you have been with us since the start, fighting back against the flow of evil into Minecraftia. You’ve seen your friends, your brothers, fight and fall beside you. You’ve seen evils not of this world unleashed. And still you fight on. Not because you must, but because you want to. It takes a special sort of man to fight for what he believes in as you have, and for that, you have my eternal gratitude.
“We are a varied army. Look around you—humans and dwarves, Spacemen and Wolveneers, archers and assassins, mages and warriors. But we have been brought together, and we all share a bond—the bond of those who have fought together, lived together, and died together. But now, as we near the end, I must ask something of you.
“I ask you for this: I ask for fifty men. I ask for fifty to break those bonds, to travel with us into the unknown, fifty men to fight to and past their dying breath, to march unwavering into the darkness, and to emerge victorious on the other side.
“I do not know if we will survive; I do not know what awaits us. There’s much I don’t know. But I ask this of you: trust me. Trust us. Trust in the light, and repel the darkness. If you can hold back the tides of evil, if you trust us, step forward.”
As one, the entire army stepped forward.
Steve grinned. “Well now. Looks like we’ve got some choices to make.”
• • •
After a few hours of deliberation, arguments, general chaos, and several destroyed tents, they were ready. The four commanders and their fifty men stood at the brink of the darkly glowing portal, nervous, confident, and excited.
“This is it, people,” Steve said to the crowd. Gripping his sword, he turned to face the portal. “I’ll lead, everybody follow. Ready?” They nodded. “Good. Let’s go finish off this son of a *****.”
It was terrifying.
Travelling against the dimensional stream, the laws of nature fought back. A few of the men were swept away in a raging torrent, but Steve, SlyFox, Honeydew, Xephos, and most of their men made it through to the other end.
The men waited for their fellows at the exit portal. Soon they had all arrived. “Well,” said Steve. “Looks like we’re on our own now.”
SlyFox nudged him. “Not entirely,” he muttered, pointing. Steve turned—and his blood went cold.
No more than twenty meters away was a creature. Towering above all the men, it appeared to be made of pure darkness. When it turned to them, its glowing green eyes kept them nailed to the spot. Slowly, never taking his eyes off the strange beast, Steve reached for his sword…
When out of the blue (gray?) a shining steel blade sprouted out of the creature’s neck, who promptly dissolved into black smoke.
The smoke cleared. Steve’s jaw dropped.
There was a woman.
Her leather armor was patched, battered, blood-splattered and torn; a short scar sat upon her chin; her slightly upturned nose was smudged. She looked no more than thirty years old, though her eyes—a bright, piercing blue—seemed to hold knowledge and wisdom beyond her years. Steve stared at the battle-hardened figure.
She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Sheathing her blade, the woman sauntered up to Steve and pushed his mouth shut with her hand.
“Welcome to Hell,” she said.
● ● ●
They set up camp a short distance away from the portal. The woman—who had introduced herself as Kait MacTavish—sat with Steve in the command tent.
“So how long have you been here?” Steve inquired.
Kait shrugged. “Oh, I’d say…three years or so,” she replied, a small smile upon her lips.
Steve was awed. “What have you been doing this entire time?” he asked with shock.
“Oh, you know, this and that,” said Kait. “Taught myself some swordsmanship, built myself a little shack, did some scouting. I did,” she said thoughtfully, “Go quite mad for a bit. Did me some good. But I assure you,” she added, smirking, “That I am completely sane now.”
“Where are you originally from, though?”
“Basingstoke, actually. Used to be an iron miner before the world went to ****.” She smiled. “Look, I’d love to continue this, but we’ve got a world to save. We’ll finish this later over some Jaffas, yes?” Steve nodded, grinned. They emerged from the tent.
Their platoon clustered around them.
“Look, as much as you expect me to know everything, I don’t,” said Steve. “Miss MacTavish here, however does, so she’ll be in charge from here on out.”
“Okay, friends, I’m sure you’ve got lots of questions, and I’ll try to address them all. First of all, this is the End—the innermost sanctum of the Nether, and Herobrine’s personal realm. You’ll see a lot of strange things in here, and if you go mad, it’s okay by me.”
As she spoke, Steve studied her. He was mesmerized and he knew it, and what’s more, she knew it too. Her bubbly, fun, and sassy personality had hooked him immediately. The two of them just fit.
“I know we have an exit portal,” Kait continued. “Sadly, that won’t do **** unless Herobrine wants it to. So basically, our mission here is simple: kill Herobrine, then leave.”
“How are we going to find him?” someone called out from the crowd. Kait didn’t even have to respond with a word; she just pointed. They gaped.
In the distance, no more than 20 kilometres away, sat a castle. Built out of blood red netherbrick, it was the only splash of color in the entire realm. Darkness rolled off it in waves, and above it all, a dark, monstrous figure sat.
Steve gripped his sword tighter. “That’s where we’re headed, then.”
“Let’s go kill Herobrine.”
Chapter 9: The True Darkness
The dark castle loomed in front of them, menacing and evil. Monsters and strange, mutated creatures resembling two-legged pigs patrolled the area. From far above, at the pinnacle of the castle’s main spire, bolts of dark lightning crawled along its surface. Steve, Kait, Xephos, Honeydew, and SlyFox stared up at the fortress in awe.
“Damn,” said Xephos, and that pretty much summed it up. Then they got to work.
A few hours later, after confirming (for the tenth time) that their strategy would work with Kait, the group split into two smaller squads: one, led by Steve, Kait, and SlyFox, would sneak around to the back of the castle. The other, led by Xephos and Honeydew, would charge the castle from the front while Herobrine’s forces were occupied with Steve’s squad.
They all said their goodbyes; many of them, Steve included, had the feeling that some of them wouldn’t be seeing each other again—in this life, anyways.
“Be careful, mates,” Steve said, and they went their separate ways.
Steve’s group crept along the castle’s moat, Kait in the lead, Steve right behind, followed by SlyFox and their men. At first they crouched and snuck along, but after realizing that the moat was barely guarded at all, they walked normally. Steve was actually enjoying being behind Kait; the sway of her hips was mesmerizing, the perfect curve of her—
“Save checking me out for until we’re not about to die, yes?” said Kait without turning.
Steve blushed furiously as Sly and the men chuckled, but as Kait half-turned, he saw a small smile on her face as well.
“In any case, we’re here. Look.” She pointed.
Ahead of them was a wall of the castle with a small service door, guarded only by two of the strange, stick-like black monsters—Endermen, Kait called them.
“Watch this,” she whispered, pulling out two flasks of water. Taking aim, she threw them.
The flasks hit the ground underneath the Endermen, shattering. The water pooled. As soon as it hit the towering creatures’ feet, they started smoking without a sound. Before long, there was nothing left but two dark puddles of murky water.
Kait turned back to the others, grinning. Steve was staring at her open-mouthed again. So was everyone else.
“Let’s move,” she said.
As they stepped into the dark castle one by one, each tried to take in their surroundings. Not many succeeded.
The castle was mind-bogglingly huge; the opposite wall faded into the darkness. Ahead of them, they could see the underside of a wide staircase. Above, the huge castle spire was occasionally lit with occasional bolts of darkness. The walls shimmered between obsidian, sandstone, and shadow. It was easy to see, yet impossible to take in.
And just as they were getting their bearings, Herobrine came down the staircase.
The soldiers saw a sudden, alarming change in Steve; his eyes began to nearly glow blue, and his entire body shook. He turned to one of the men, asked him for his sword. When he received it, he held it by the blade.
“This ends now,” he muttered. Then he wound up, and threw the weapon.
In flight, the blade began to emanate an unearthly blue, and redstone power started to crackle all around it. It was making its way directly towards Herobrine’s skull.
Just before impact, faster than the eye could see, Herobrine spun around, caught the blade, and hurled it back at them. Steve and Kait dove to the side…
And the sword caught SlyFox full in the face, buried nearly hilt-deep where his nose had been. He dropped to the floor without a sound.
Herobrine smiled.
He raised his arms, and from out of nowhere, a hundred Endermen appeared around him.
In unison, Steve and Kait drew their blades, and with a roar, leapt into battle. After a second, the other men did the same.
They fought back to back, shielding each other as they hacked through dozens of the towering monsters. If anyone had had the time to look, they would’ve seen both Steve and Kait glowing blue, faces set with determination.
Before long, half the Endermen were gone. Then only a dozen remained, then just one, and finally none, just Herobrine, who wasn’t smiling now. He raised his hand at Kait…
Then stumbled, a look of shock on his face. From across the hall, Honeydew, Xephos, and their men rushed in, Honeydew holding his smoking TNT-launcher.
Herobrine turned around, revealing to Steve and his men a smoking arrow buried in His neck, about to blow.
“No—,” and that was all He had time for. Then the arrow exploded.
When the smoke cleared, what was left of Herobrine was on its knees, headless. Steve strode up to it.
“For Notch,” he said, and drove his blade into Herobrine’s chest.
The mutilated body of the Prince of the Nether roared. It was not a human roar. Darkness exploded out of its limbs in a rush, gathering in a cloud above the body. A shockwave was released, throwing back everybody. The rush of darkness waned, then ended. The deflated body fell to the floor.
Above it, the cloud of darkness began to form and develop. It grew a body, a long neck and tail, and…wings?
It roared, then looked down at the crowd below it. Its white eyes glowed with such enormous power that they were forced to look away.
“THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE RELEASED,” the creature said. “DARKNESS INCARNATE.”
It flapped its wings, preparing for flight. With a sudden decisiveness, Steve ran towards it and leapt onto its tail. After a moment of hesitation, Kait followed, diving for one of the spines jutting out of the tail. Just as she caught on, the dragon took to the air, leaving them clinging on for dear life.
Steve looked back, saw Kait behind him, steadily making her way up the dragon’s tail. He saw her eyes widen, staring ahead of him. He turned back around, opened his mouth to shout—
And the dragon burst through the castle’s wall, not slowing at all.
When Steve looked up next, Kait was right next to him. Together, they drew their swords and advanced up the dragon’s back.
The dragon—what had been Herobrine minutes before—roared with rage, heading for the edge of the land, beyond which lay nothing but oblivion. Steve and Kait doubled their efforts, and reached the dragon’s neck at last.
They looked at each other over the ridge in the dragon’s neck, Steve marveling (yet again) at Kait’s beauty.
“Marry me?” he called over the roar of the wind.
She grinned. “Ask me later!” she called back. Together they raised their swords. Together they let them fall.
The dragon roared with pain as his head was nearly disconnected from his body. A dark, nearly gaseous liquid began to pour from his neck. His body bucked, and Steve and Kait were thrown off—plummeting into the darkness below.
Chapter 10: Notchlight
The two spiraled into the darkness below, flailing limbs uselessly. After much effort, Steve managed to angle himself towards Kait. They locked together in a tight embrace, whistling through the abyss as the mortally wounded dragon writhed in the air above them. They watched as it roared, as its head finally severed itself completely from its body, spurting huge amounts of darkblood.
And, finally, they watched as the dragon’s remains exploded with almost nuclear force, blowing apart the few lasting pixels of the God of Darkness, the Prince of the Nether, Herobrine himself.
From the explosion, a dark fire raced towards them, soon dissipating into the thin air.
And, strangely, Steve began to get a sense that they were slowing down. Judging by Kait’s confused expression, she felt the same thing.
And indeed they were. Soon they had come to a gentle halt in midair, a faintly glowing, translucent bubble surrounding them.
Then, somehow, they began to rise, still locked together.
Unable to bear it anymore, Steve broke the silence.
“Well,” he said, “That was interesting.”
Kait burst into laughter—a wonderful, tinkling sound that Steve loved. “All in a day’s work, yes?”
Despite all that had happened, Steve started to laugh as well. He pulled Kait closer.
“Marry me now?” he asked, grinning.
Kait wrapped her arms around his neck. “Absolutely,” she said, and they kissed.
And kissed.
And kissed.
And that is how they were found by the Yogscast and their remaining men when their bubble finally reached the surface of The End. The spectators gasped—not because of the dramatic romantic turn of the plot, but because both Kait and Steve were emanating a blinding, brilliant blue light. When they finally broke apart and turned to their soldiers, embarrassed, their eyes were revealed to be burning blue as well. Steve opened his mouth to explain.
“I—,”
Then the world shut down around them, folded itself neatly in half, and exploded with light.
A minute later, when Steve, Kait, Xephos, Honeydew, and the other soldiers awoke, they were in a different place. A place, apparently, full of flying whales.
They were back in the Aether. And in front of them was Notch.
As one, they knelt before their god. Notch harrumphed.
“No need for any of that, you’ve just saved all of Minecraftia.”
They rose. Notch held Steve’s shoulders, examining him. “Well done,” He said, his blue eyes twinkling. “Well done indeed…”
“My son.”
The men immediately knelt again, but Kait walked up to Steve and leaned against him, grinning. “Should have guessed,” she said.
Steve was staggered. He took a few shaky steps back. After a while, he came to his senses. “So…all this time…”
Notch just nodded, eyes shining with pride.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?!” Steve demanded.
“It was for your own good,” replied Notch in a reasonable tone. “If you had known your own power, you would have been in much more danger, as well as being a danger to yourself, and—,” he glanced at Kait, “A danger to your loved ones as well.”
“So I do have powers?”
Notch nodded. “Test yourself, if you want.”
Steve looked around, locked onto a nearby floating whale. Taking a deep breath, he concentrated…
The whale exploded.
And in its place was…a chicken?
“Wouldn’t have been my first choice with unlimited power, but to each his own, yes?” muttered Notch. He turned to the survivors, raised his voice so all could hear him.
“You all have done great deeds today,” He began. “Impossible deeds, some would say. You have kept darkness from rising and consuming the world. Fifty brave warriors, against impossible odds. Yet you have done it. The Equilibrium War has been won.
“But not without a price. Lives have been lost in the process—the lives of men with hearts of gold. But they are not gone forever. Look, now.” He pointed to the opposite side of the floating island. The men turned and gasped. A shimmering, light blue portal was hovering there. And in it, silhouettes were forming. And most prominently, one figure…one very familiar figure…
SlyFox stepped out of the portal to uproarious cheers, his face as perfect as if it had never had an axe buried in it.
“It’s good to be back,” he said, grinning.
As the reunions raged on around them, Steve drew Kait close.
“I owe you some Jaffas, don’t I,” he said, grinning.
“You owe something else, too,” replied Kait, and they kissed again.
Far above all the celebration, a lone airwhale began to wail its mating call.
Yes it is from the top of my head. No, it's not from the "big YouTube directors". I included them because they're well-known Heroes of minecraftia. ANd thanks, i love being amazing :biggrin.gif:
Yes it is from the top of my head. No, it's not from the "big YouTube directors". I included them because they're well-known Heroes of minecraftia. ANd thanks, i love being amazing :biggrin.gif:
For those of you who have been following the progress of this work, thanks a ton for your support, and sorry for the long wait for the final three chapters. Hope it was worth it. ^.^
You can also download the entire thing at http://www.mediafire.com/?l14jlk5fcbt616h
The wind rippled through the desert, though the single living thing in it—a man—did not seem to notice, or care. He was chanting intently, staring at a single patch of sand much darker than the rest. He brought his arms up, his blue T-shirt rippling in the wind.
The incantation seemed to be having an effect. The sand turned maroon, then blood red, finally glowing bright red and rising up, forming a gateway. In an instant, a column of sand appeared, and the bloodstone portal melted away as rapidly as it had formed.
“What is your bidding, my lord?” The whirling sand column whispered to the man.
“Rise, and show yourself,” He commanded.
The sand died away, revealing a shockingly pale man in a tattered suit. Most alarming of all were his eyes: intelligence yet wild, seeking revenge, and completely bloodred. He spoke a word, and a shadowy bow formed in his hands. He bowed.
“I am Israphel,” he whispered.
“Hmm, the Sandeye himself. Lord of the Deserts. I could use you yet,” the other man mused. “Pledge your allegiance!”
And Israphel knelt, looked into His blank white eyes, and spoke. “I pledge myself to Lord Herobrine, Prince of Darkness, Seer of the Nether. I pledge myself to service to and past my death. I pledge my everlasting loyalty to he who is Darkness, in the hopes of become one with the Darkness myself. This, I pledge.”
And He looked upon Israphel and smiled, as shafts of darkness emerged from His eyes into the Sand Lord’s.
“Come,” He said. “We have much to do.”
● ● ●
The Prince and the Sandeye traveled for days, through countless biomes, until they reached what appeared to be an uninhabited stretch of forest.
“This is it, yes?” rasped Israphel as they stood overlooking the swath of trees.
“Do not doubt me, Sandeye. Observe.”
In His hands grew a shaft of darkness which curved and solidified into a conch shell, which Herobrine put to his lips and blew.
At first, there was nothing. Then, from what sounded like a mile away, came a quiet scuttling, which grew louder and louder until it was thunderous, and the source was revealed: strange, 8-legged beasts with 8 eyes as well, about 6 feet long each, staring curiously at their strange visitors.
“Behold—the arachniads,” said Herobrine.
“How can this be? There must be at least a thousand of them!” replied Israphel.
“You’ve been locked away for far too long, my servant. Quite a lot has changed here in Minecraftia. However, back to our current objective.”
He stopped talking and began another incantation. The sky darkened, and each of the arachniads stiffened one by one as the spell took hold of their minds. As the Prince of Darkness finished the chant, the sky lightened up, and the arachniads slowly scuttled back to their dens.
“I would advise that we leave now,” Herobrine stated smugly. “By nightfall, these creatures will be hungry for some Minecraftian flesh, as they will every night onwards.”
And the two servants of the Dark disappeared into the shadows.
● ● ●
“Forgive me, my Lord, but these…spiders…do not seem like enough to turn the world to darkness,” said Israphel hesitantly.
“Oh, I know,” Herobrine replied. “We are not done yet.” And from the darkness he pulled a curved black blade.
“This is just the beginning.”
And the Seer of the Nether sliced his arm from elbow to wrist. But instead of blood, a dark gaseous substance pooled beneath the wound.
“And now…some flesh,” He said. Without hesitation, Israphel held out his arm.
“How much?” he asked simply.
Herobrine smiled, his blank white eyes staring at Israphel’s.
“All of it.”
He slashed, and the Sandeye’s arm fell to the ground. Israphel grimaced, but didn’t complain.
“And now we work the darkness.”
The two began to chant. The blood of darkness began to swirl around the arm, before actually entering it. The arm turned mottled and green; the thumb fell off, and two of the fingers worked their way around to face opposite the others.
The arm suddenly stood up on its fingers; it grew in length and width until it was 3 meters tall and half that in width. The top blossomed into a crudely shaped head, which grew intelligent black eyes and a permanently scowling mouth.
As the last echo of the chant died away, the servants of evil studied their creation.
“It has your features, Sandeye,” observed Herobrine. It was true. The eyes, flat nose, and scowling mouth of the monster all matched Israphel.
“My Lord, our wounds…” muttered Israphel.
“Oh, of course.” With a single word, darkness seared His arm shut. Twines of the dark reformed into the Sand Lord’s arm. Then He turned back to the monster.
“What are you, fiend?” asked Herobrine.
The monster looked down upon its two masters.
“I am…the creeper,” it rasped. “I am…the first.”
Israphel’s mouth twitched into something resembling a smile. “Oh, I see,” he said.
Herobrine turned to his servant, blank eyes boring into Israphel. “Show me.”
Israphel spoke to the First Creeper. “Show him.”
The First Creeper closed its eyes. Behind it, a bolt of darkness shot down, kicking up dirt and smoke. When it cleared, a smaller creeper had appeared, this one only 2 meters tall. It hissed, its black eyes looking about curiously.
“Now show your true power!” called Israphel.
The First Creeper closed its eyes once more, and its spawn exploded, showering them all with green goo.
Herobrine chuckled darkly. “How many of these…creepers…can be spawned?”
The First Creeper stared at its master. “As many as necessary.”
Chapter 2: Call of the Heroes
As the dark was gathering unnoticed by all but one, life in Minecraftia went on as normal. In the southern jungles, the Bloku tribe was out searching for various herbs. The Longeoneers of the Minecraftian Seas were fishing for the infamous Jabo squid. In the eastern forests, the Wolveneers were duck hunting, as usual. To the north, the dwarves of Khaz Modan were digging holes as they did everyday. Far, far, above, the Spacemen were floating around. And at the heart of it all, in Diamond City, the capital of Minecraftia, a simple iron miner would become the leader of the greatest army known to Minecraftia.
His name was Steve, and this is his story.
● ● ●
Just one more day, he told himself. One more day, and I’m out of here for good.
A week ago, Steve had gotten a job offer from the Sheep Co. Foundation. They wanted him to be an overseer at their farms—an easy job which came with good pay as well. Steve had accepted, and today, after work, he would resign from the Iron Miners.
Steve took his diamond pick and helmet, and descended down the mineshaft.
Mindlessly mining for iron had seemed like a good job at first, until he learned that each worker only got 1% of what they mined. Since then, it had all been downhill.
The mineshaft seemed empty; not much a surprise, as Steve always got to work earlier than everybody else.
He began the last mine of his job. Hacking through the rock, he came upon a strange white artifact that seemed to be glowing. Unable to help himself, he picked it up, fascinated. As soon as he did, the artifact started to glow brighter and brighter. Steve was forced to look away. A shockwave exploded out of the artifact, rippling the fabric of reality. Then the light and the artifact both faded away, and in their place was a beautiful woman dressed in white robes.
“Holy ****, who are you, what are you, and how did you get here?!?” Steve yelped.
The woman smiled, and large wings appeared behind her. “I am ez, angel of Notch. I am here because you were chosen.”
“Chosen? What do you mean?” asked Steve.
ez became more serious. “The world is in peril, Steve. The darkness is tipping the balance.”
She waved her hand across the wall, and it turned smooth and clear. “Observe.”
Steve watched as images were played along the wall. He saw the rise of Israphel, the turning of the spiders, the creation of the creepers.
ez watched Steve, whose face had turned very pale. He turned to her. “So…that’s what we’re up against? Just the undead armies of darkness, then?”
“Yes, Steve,” answered ez. “And YOU will lead the armies of Notch against them.”
Steve couldn’t help himself: he laughed, loud and heartily. But when he saw ez’s expression, he stopped.
“You…you’re serious?” he asked.
The angel nodded.
“But…I’m just an iron miner. I barely manage to get by, and you expect me to lead an army?”
Again, ez nodded.
“How the hell am I supposed to do that? Do we even have an army?”
This time, ez shook her head. “You will gather our armies.”
“Again, WHY ME??”
“Steve, you have a strong spirit. You may not recognize your true potential yet, but there are none in Minecraftia more capable to lead the armies of Notch than you.”
Steve blinked, surprised. “Um…okay then, I guess I don’t have much of a choice. Where do I start?”
“Begin by gathering the warriors of Diamond City. Then head north to gather the dwarves of Khaz Modan.”
“Um, one little problem,” said Steve. “Why would they listen to me?”
ez smiled. “Because they will. Also, I shall give you the power to scry.”
“You mean…the wave-the-hand-and-show-an-image thing?”
“Yes. Simply focus on what you want to see, and it is done.”
Steve concentrated for a second, and then an image of his sister eating breakfast popped up on the wall.
“Okay, that’s pretty awesome,” Steve admitted. “But I still don’t know if they’ll listen to me.”
“Oh, they will. Good luck, Steve. We’ll be watching.” And in a flash of blinding light, ez disappeared.
“Wait! What about…****.” With a heavy sigh, Steve began the long walk back up the surface, pickaxe in hand.
● ● ●
Steve headed for the town square. By the time he got there, it was noon, and there were hundreds of people milling around. He finally spotted his target: a podium in the center.
“This has got to be the stupidest thing I have ever done,” he muttered to himself. But he climbed onto the podium, cleared his throat, and began to speak.
Steve had never been the best at public speaking; in school, he did well enough on presentations to get by while not getting the highest grade either. But this was different. This presentation would either save Minecraftia, or leave it to the darkness.
“People! Everybody, please listen!” called Steve. A few dozen people stopped and waited for more.
“The world is in great danger! Please, you must listen!” With every word he spoke, more people stopped and listened. Steve knew that ez must have been helping. He wasn’t that awesome.
“The darkness is rising! Evil is rising! We are all in danger!” By now, he had a crowd of a few hundred people, so he figured this was as good a time as any to do the scrying.
“Look!” he said, pointing to a nearby billboard. He concentrated, and it turned glassy and smooth. Then he showed them what ez had shown him: Herobrine, the rise of Israphel, creation of the creepers, the spiders turning to the darkness. People gasped and screamed.
“Please, stay calm!” Steve attempted.
“Stay calm?!?” somebody in the audience called out. “Why the **** should we do that? We’re all doomed!”
“NOTCHDAMNIT, NO WE’RE NOT!” Steve shouted. People stopped panicking at once. Some gasped: Steve was almost glowing with a white light. “We will NOT give in!” he shouted. “We will NOT give up! We WILL form an army! We WILL fight back! And we WILL win!” He raised his pickaxe. “Now WHO’S WITH ME?!?”
As one, the crowd roared. Many of the men saluted with their swords; others shot their bows into the distance. Steve had done it; he had started his army.
“Okay guys,” Steve said after everybody had calmed down. “There’s about 5,000 of you and about 20,000 of the enemy.” Muttering ran through the ranks.
“Hey! Hey, stay calm. We’re not done yet,” Steve reassured them. “Tomorrow, we leave for the Yogsmount, to get the support of the dwarves of Khaz Modan.”
“Tomorrow?” asked one of the men. “Why not tonight?”
Several of his buddies looked at him pointedly.
“Oh…the darkness…right.”
“Great. Any other questions?” Steve asked. Nobody said anything. “Okay… see you tomorrow then.”
● ● ●
The next day, the army met at the town square.
“Okay then, everybody ready? Have you said your goodbyes? Great. Let’s go.”
And with that, they were off.
The army travelled for nearly the entire day. Just three hours to sunset, the Birchalaya mountain range came into view. An hour from sunset, they arrived at the Yogsmount: the biggest mountain in all of Minecraftia.
As the army neared the mountain, a squad of guard dwarves appeared.
“What is your business here?” the lead guard demanded.
“We need your help,” Steve said simply.
The guard leader considered the request. “Come with me,” he said eventually.
The doors to the mountain opened smoothly. The humans, Steve included, watched open-mouthed as the two huge hunks of steel smoothly came apart, then closed behind the army. They were now actually inside the mountain, which had a huge domed roof far above them. The cavern was lit by glowstone hung from the ceiling. Above them was half of the dwarven city. Below them was the other half.
“Um….wow,” said Steve. “So who’s in charge here?”
“That would be me,” said a voice from ahead of them. A large, bearded dwarf stepped forward, carrying a diamond axe. “Honeydew of Khaz Modan, at your service.”
Steve stepped forward. “Well…that’s a very nice mountain you’ve got there.”
“It is, isn’t it? It would be a shame if anything happened to it,” Honeydew agreed.
The two of them stared at each other.
“I just felt like somebody walked on my grave,” they said in unison.
Steve cleared his throat. “Look, we came here because we need your help.”
Honeydew folded his arms. “Explain.”
So Steve told Honeydew about everything: Herobrine, Israphel, the Creepers, even about ez and being chosen.
When he finished, he looked at Honeydew expectantly. “So…will you help us?”
“Absolutely,” Honeydew said without hesitation. “It’s been ages since we’ve had a good fight.” He turned to other dwarves who had gathered.
“MY BRETHREN!” he shouted, his voice echoing around the mountain. All around the city, dwarves stopped what they were doing and listened. “WE HAVE A GREAT EVIL AFOOT IN MINECRAFTIA!”
Dwarves started cheering.
“Um….Honeydew?” Steve said uncertainly. “’Why are they cheering?”
Honeydew turned and grinned. “Because WE HAVE A WAR!”
The city burst into applause, battle cries, and whistling. In a normal tone, Honeydew explained, “We’re normally content with just diggy diggy holing, but we do love a good war.”
“Oh, awesome,” replied Steve, chuckling. Then, remembering his duty, he got more serious. “How many of your people can fight?”
“Oh, nearly all of them. I’d say…7,000. Why, how many do you need?”
“All of them.”
“Perfect.” Turning to his people, he raised his axe and shouted, “FOR JAFFAS!”
The now doubled army continued onwards, towards their next destination: the Wolveneers.
Chapter 3: The End of the Beginning
The sun was setting. It was obvious the army wouldn’t reach the eastern forests and the Wolveneers before dark, so they set up camp at the edge of the forest.
Steve, Honeydew, and the other commanders gathered around the campfire. Steve began explaining what creepers were.
“Well…from what I’ve seen, they’re these green, horrible, four-legged monsters, each about as tall as a man. They head butt you and spit and hiss. Oh, and they explode.”
The others shuddered. Honeydew sat contentedly, chewing on a Jaffa. “Sounds like they’ll put up a good fight,” he said thoughtfully.
Suddenly, there was a twang, and one of the men groaned and fell over, an arrow in his back. In his place stood a skeleton—behind it, more skeletons, and some zombies as well.
“****! WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!” screamed Steve. He grabbed the nearest weapon—his diamond pick—and charged, barking out orders as he ran, rallying his soldiers. Out of corner of his eye, he saw Honeydew doing the same and grab a strange looking weapon.
He reached the first skeleton, which attempted to shoot him with its bow. Steve parried the shot and bashed its skull in. It crumpled to the ground.
He whirled around and decapitated a zombie that was almost on top of him. He killed four more before he heard the clink.
Steve turned, and saw a skeleton with its bow notched and aiming directly at him. He new there was no way he could dodge it in time.
Well, this sucks, he thought. Six kills into the war, and I’m already dead. He tensed and waited for the end.
Suddenly, the monster’s skull began to glow, and its head blew up. The remains scattered, kicking up dust. In the skeleton’s place stood Honeydew, holding the same strange-looking weapon—almost like a bow, but held sideways, and with more mechanisms attached.
The dwarf grinned and twirled his weapon. “It’s a TNT launcher. Never fails, eh?” he said as he helped Steve up.
“Nice timing,” Steve said with relief.
Then, from across the field, they heard a series of explosions and screams. The two looked at each other. “Not one of mine,” they said simultaneously.
“Balls,” muttered Honeydew as they ran towards the explosions.
“Do you think it could be—,” Steve suddenly stopped. “Yes it is.”
Ranks of creepers were pouring towards them.
“ARCHERS!” Steve called. “FIRE AT WILL!”
Honeydew grinned again. “Fire is my specialty,” he said, as he pulled two swords from their sheaths. He pressed a button at the base of each, and the blades burst into flames.
Steve looked at him in awe. Honeydew shrugged. “Dwarven technology, what more can I say,” he explained. And with a mighty “FOR JAFFAS!” he charged into the battle.
“Ah, what the hell,” Steve said, and hefting his pickaxe, he too charged into the fray.
The army decimated the ranks of creepers, but it seemed no matter how many they killed, there was always another to take its place. Steve began to tire. Just when it seemed that they were about to get overwhelmed, they heard it.
From across the plains, a howl echoed. Another joined it, then another. All around them, the battle stopped. Monsters and men paused and looked around uncertainly. Creepers hissed to each other anxiously.
Then all Nether broke loose.
Ranks of wolves exploded out of the forest, charging the armies of darkness. One punched right through a zombie; three others tore a creeper to shreds. There had to be hundreds, and yet more continued to pour out of the forest.
It was too much for Herobrine’s army. Many dissolved into the darkness; others simply imploded. Eventually, none of the attackers were left.
Warriors walked out of the forest, led by somebody sitting atop a giant white wolf.
The giant wolf approached them. Wherever it went, people bowed and scooted out of its way. Steve wondered who it could be. Honeydew just grinned and twirled his TNT launcher.
At last the wolf reached them. It really was huge, Steve thought, at least 3 blocks tall, if not more. The wolf bowed its head, allowing its rider to dismount. When Steve saw who it was, his jaw dropped open. “B-b-but you’re…a legend! A myth!” he exclaimed, mystified. The rider looked down, embarrassed, but still grinning.
“I see my Homies have been spreading stories again,” Slyfox said.
Chapter 4: Talk of the Gods
With the armies of Notch near completion, its commanders—Steve, Honeydew, and SlyfoxHound—decided to take a break. They set up camp for the night. Steve passed out right away…
…And awoke in a different, strange place. Everything was bathed in a strange light. The world seemed to consist of a great many floating islands. Pigs flew about. And strangest of all, whales where floating around. Steve stared at one in wonder, as it was hit by a snowball and went hurtling away.
“Takes a while to get used to,” said a voice behind him. Steve whirled around. Behind him was a stocky bearded man who looked a bit like Honeydew. His eyes—though completely a pure bright blue—twinkled warmly. “Hello, Steve,” he said.
“Who are you?” Steve asked, alarmed.
The man grinned. “What, you don’t recognize your own creator?”
● ● ●
“Um…wow,” Steve said. “I still can’t believe…it’s really you?”
Notch nodded. “It is indeed really me.”
“Where am I? Why am I here? Am I…dead?”
Notch rolled his eyes. “Why do they ALWAYS think they’re dead,” he muttered to himself. To Steve, he said, “No, you’re not dead. Yes, you are in the Aether, my realm, but I just needed to talk with you.”
“What about?”
Notch gestured to his side and spoke a word. Instantly, a blue-tinted image of the army popped up: thousands of men, spread out across the plains. “You’ve done well gathering my armies, Steve,” he said. Notch waved his hand over the image; it blurred, as if travelling many miles, the slowed and stopped over another plain. “Unfortunately, my brother has been doing the same.”
Beneath them in the image, the armies of darkness were spread out below them: hundreds and hundreds of zombies and skeletal archers stood about. Around them, the spiders kept watch from the trees surrounding the plains. And in the middle of it all were the creepers.
Steve gaped. “The…the…t-the creepers! There’s…what, half a million down there!”
Notch coughed. “Well…four-hundred eighty thousand, nine-hundred twenty-three to be exact. But the details aren’t important. The point is, he’s not stopping there.”
Steve stared.
“Hero, do you know why we are having this war in the first place?” Notch asked. Steve shook his head. Notch cleared his throat, and began.
“When Minecraftia was first created many, many years ago, my brother and I ruled it together; I, lord of the Light, and he, Prince of Darkness. The arrangement worked well enough.
“Years passed. As the strength of the light grew with the population of Minecraftia, the power of darkness needed to grow as well. So my brother, Herobrine, created the undead. Humans were balanced against the zombies and the skeletons, and all was well again.
“But Herobrine was not satisfied. He always was power-hungry, and balance didn’t cut it for him. So he summoned that ******* Israphel, and the rest is history.”
Notch sighed. “All we need is balance. Herobrine does not understand this. All he craves is more and more power. And that is why we are having this war.”
He looked up at Steve. “Even now, his army grows. We must strike out at him, not wait for him to do the same. For when he does, it will be too late.
“This is my wish: talk to him. Make him understand. What he is doing can destroy the world. What he is doing will destroy the world. He MUST understand this.”
Steve nodded. “But what if he won’t listen?”
“If he will not…” Something behind Notch’s eyes glowed—something ancient, wise, and incredibly powerful. “If he will not…
“Strike him down.”
Chapter 5: Just An Old Friend
Though the army needed rest, with every passing moment Herobrine grew stronger, so they marched onwards. Through great plains, over mountains and winding valleys, crossing rivers and lakes. They rested only when absolutely necessary; every one of the thirteen-thousand soldiers knew the urgency of their mission. In just a week they had covered nearly half of Minecraftia—a feat which had never been done before.
After that hard week of nearly nonstop travel, the army made it at last to their destination. Steve, Honeydew, and SlyFox stared up at it in awe, shock, and more than a bit of fear.
Honeydew grunted. “Herobrine showing off his power, I reckon.” Steve and SlyFox could only gulp and nod.
A huge tower seemingly made entirely of shadow loomed in front of them: impossible to look directly at, but seen out of the corner of the eye, the details came into terrifying relief. A skeletal guard surrounded the tower; inside and out, creepers wandered to and fro. Spiders clambered over the sides, and occasionally pieces of shadows would detach themselves from the tower and form themselves into humanoid shapes. A beam of dark red energy traveled up the center of the tower, spreading out into a dark cloud that blocked out all light across the plains, where ranks upon ranks of monsters stood, waiting. And far above it all, two figures stood upon a dark platform, lording over it all.
Steve pointed to the two figures far above them. “That’s where I need to go,” he stated. Honeydew stepped forward. “That’s where I’m going as well, then,” he said. Steve nodded, then turned to SlyFox. “We’ll need some good men, if not your best. If—until we return, you’re in charge of the army. Try to surround the enemy on all sides.” Sly nodded, then turned back the troops. Steve and Honeydew stood together, thinking.
“It won’t be enough, you know,” Steve muttered at last.
Honeydew nodded. “If we’re lucky, we’ll get some help.”
Steve scowled. “From where? This army is all Minecraftia has to offer. What help can we get?”
The dwarven commander just grinned and said, “We’ll see.”
SlyFox came up behind them. “The troops are in position. Just give the command.”
Steve acknowledged him. Behind the commanders, a group of the army’s most elite soldiers stood, waiting. Honeydew nudged him. “Mind if I give the men a little rousing talk before the attack?”
Steve shrugged. “Sure, why not,” he replied. Honeydew thanked him, cleared his throat, and began to talk.
“Men, we have come a long way to be here today. We’ve lost some good men along the way, trying to fight this terrible evil. Some of you have probably lost hope, given up.
“True, we may be outnumbered. True, we may be unprepared for what lays ahead. But do not give up. NEVER give up. We are here today to fight for our land, to defend OUR country. Minecraftia will NOT fall to these BEASTS, these MONSTERS. Our comrades will NOT die in vain. Today, we fight for our friends, our family. Today, we fight for our right to live. Today, we fight for our God, and today, Minecraftia WILL. NOT. FALL!!”
The men roared for victory, and charged. The first ranks of monsters fell before they knew what hit them; the same for the next. SlyFox mounted his giant wolf and leaped into the battle. Honeydew and Steve looked at each other, grinned, hefted their pickaxes and charged into the fray.
“Remember, head for the tower!” Steve shouted over the chaos of the battle to Honeydew.
“Trying!” He shouted back.
The clash of the armies was deafening. Humans and monsters pushed against each other, trying to break each other’s lines. Neither made progress; the armies were held even.
Then, from the sky, a sudden beam of light broke through the clouds, vaporizing an entire group of creepers, leaving nothing but ashes left. From the other side of the battlefield, another light struck, then another. Steve looked up in awe; Honeydew roared with laughter.
“What IS that??” Steve shouted.
Honeydew’s laughter subsided, with a chuckle, he replied, “An old friend!”
Through a break in the clouds, a huge metal bird soared down. And on its back, wearing the red captain’s uniform for which he was famous, was a man.
“Honeydew, old friend!” he called down at them.
The dwarf waved, grinning maniacally. “Welcome back, Spaceman!”
Xephos chuckled. “Couldn’t very well stay away from THIS battle, now could I?” Pulling out a diamond sword, he and his bird soared away amid flashes of light. The last thing Steve heard Xephos say was something that sounded strangely like “give Honeydew 46 64,” which made no sense to Steve, but which sent Honeydew into another laughing spasm.
Steve blinked. “We have a chance,” he said with wonder. “WE HAVE A CHANCE!”
And with that, the man and the dwarf charged the tower, with the Spacemen airborne behind them.
Chapter 6: Reunion
Hacking through ranks of enemies, Steve, Honeydew, and their elite squad of about 20 battle-hardened men reached the tower of shadow at speed. At just a few meters away, all its details came into sharp relief—spines and needles sticking out at random, old, rotting, bones, and some stains that looked suspiciously like dried blood.
“Why can we see it more clearly now?” one of the men questioned.
“Maybe it’s just because we’re closer now!” another said hopefully.
Steve and Honeydew glanced at each other, each thinking the same thought as the other. “Or maybe it’s because Herobrine is getting more powerful—MUCH more powerful,” said Steve. “In any case, how are we supposed to get inside?” The sides of the base were as smooth and tough as obsidian.
From above: a shouted warning, a strong wind, a bright light; a smoking crater now sat where the wall had. Xephos flew by, saluting to Steve, Honeydew, and the cheering men. Honeydew laughed and saluted back, while Steve just shook his head, but he was grinning as well. The victory was short-lived, though; from the breach, a multitude of spiders poured out, overwhelming two of the men before anybody had time to react.
The spiders were slain, and the men continued into the tower.
Steve craned his neck; the ceiling of the building was shrouded in darkness; the only visible feature was a long spiral staircase, circling into the darkness. He turned back to his men.
“Who here has torches?” he asked. Three of the men raised their hands. “Okay, you—up here with me. You—stay at the back. Alright, everybody, let’s do this.” The men began the long walk up the staircase.
It was a perilous journey; several of the steps were fake; others were inset with explosives; still others were simply extremely slippery. But at long last, The men reached the top, where a large black double door awaited them. Steve turned to his men. “Casualty report.”
“Three dead, one wounded, sir.”
“Good enough. Ready?” The men nodded, hoisted their weapons higher, tried to look brave. None of them knew what would happen beyond that door. Steve looked over at Honeydew, his face set in grim determination. “You ready for this?”
Honeydew grinned, lighting his dual swords. “Never been more ready for anything in my life. Relax—we’ll be fine.”
Steve managed a nod. “Alright men. On three. One. Two. THREE!”
With a roar, the men flung the doors open, charged—and then it all went wrong.
A wall of darkness slammed into the soldiers, knocking some back, crushing others, and sending a few over the edge of the tower. One swipe—half Steve’s men gone. Another, and the half perished. Only two remained: Steve and Honeydew. And at the far side of the roof, two other figures stood, silent.
“Let’s finish this,” Steve growled, and together, he and Honeydew charged the Lords of Darkness.
Across the roof, Steve saw Herobrine smile, raise a hand; a choking noise next to him; Steve turned and saw Honeydew, hovering 6 feet above the ground, clutching at his neck, gasping, legs flailing uselessly. Herobrine tilted his head, examining the dwarf. “Useless,” he said simply. A flick of his hand, and Honeydew was sent flying off the roof.
“NOOOO!!!” Steve screamed, running for the edge of the roof. Honeydew’s last words echoed in his mind. Fury took hold of him. Steve turned to the Prince of Darkness, shaking with anger and grief.
“You…YOU…” with a cry, Steve ran at Herobrine, murder on his mind. But like he hit a wall, he was stopped, and lifted into the air like Honeydew had been. Herobrine examined him with great interest.
“How…unique,” He said, and Steve shuddered at the sound of his voice—a normal male tenor, but with a deep, deep undertone as well—a trace of something very old, and very evil. For the first time since the war had begun, Steve was well and truly afraid.
He gave up struggling; it was futile, a waste of energy. He hung there in midair, head hung, defeated.
Well, this is it, he thought. I’m sorry I failed you, Notch.
And to his surprise, Notch replied. His voice echoed in Steve’s head.
You haven’t failed me, hero, He thought. Your job has just begun.
Whaa…? Steve thought back, confused. What do you—
Relax.
What?
RELAX NOW. Steve felt a huge wave of energy approaching him. Panicking, and with a huge effort of willpower, he did as Notch asked.
Just in time, too.
The wave of energy reached Steve, curled around his body, protecting it. Herobrine’s spell was released, and Steve fell gently to the floor. Israphel was blown back, across the roof.
The energy spiraled around Steve’s body, whirling faster and faster, then began to enter his body. Channeling its way through Steve’s veins, all the energy compacted itself into his body, and with one last flare of light, the process was complete.
Steve struggled to his knees, looked up Herobrine with confusion.
“Br…brother?” he said weakly. And with one last colossal effort, Steve’s body collapsed.
Herobrine inspected the body, felt for a pulse. He was dead. With a grim smile, the Prince of Darkness turned away from the cadaver. It was over. The war was won.
Behind him, Steve’s body stood up, stretched, inspected itself, then turned to Herobrine’s back.
“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it,” he said casually. With shock, Herobrine whirled around, stared into Steve’s eyes—eyes that were filled entirely with a pure bright blue.
“B-b-but…you’re…wall…energy…” For the first time in his millennia-long life, Herobrine was speechless. Steve just stood there, a lazy smile on his face.
“You always were too confident, brother,” he said.
“Notch?” Herobrine said with wonder.
Steve’s head tilted in agreement. “Indeed. Steve himself is currently unconscious, so I took this opportunity to speak to you personally through this…vessel.” Notch examined his new body. “He HAS kept himself in shape, hasn’t he,” he muttered to himself.
Herobrine stared, still in shock. “Notch…why have you come?”
The Lord of the Light stepped forward, held his brother at arm’s length, his eyes full of sorrow. He smiled gently. “Herobrine…end this madness now. It doesn’t have to be like this. Light and dark can balance in this world once more.”
At once, the Lord of Darkness ripped away from his brother’s grip. “If that is the only reason you are here, you have wasted your time,” he growled, eyes flashing dangerously bright. “I have stood in your shadow long enough, dear brother. For centuries, I have planned my revenge, and today I plan to take it.”
Notch just continued to smile his sad smile, as if he had known what Herobrine would say. “But how, my brother? Look around,” he said, gesturing across the plains. “The heroes’ armies ravage yours, the Spacemen annihilate ranks in seconds. Your great war is failing, Herobrine.
“One way or another, this WILL end today.”
Chapter 7: The Beginning of the End
Steve and Herobrine stood atop the dark tower, watching each other intently.
“Brother, I beg you,” spoke Notch through Steve’s body. “This war is useless; neither side will ever prevail. Light and darkness, good and evil—neither can ever be total and complete. There is always balance.”
Herobrine merely smiled grimly. “Only one way to truly discover this, yes?”
“Brother, I am sorry. I can’t let you do this,” said Notch sadly.
Herobrine’s smile faded. “I’m sorry too,” he said, and nodded to somebody behind Notch.
Notch whirled around; saw Israphel standing right behind him, a knife raised. He fell back, raised his arm in defense, though he knew it was useless. Notch closed his eyes, knowing there was nothing he could do. The knife came down.
And less than a millimeter away from piercing Steve’s heart, Notch heard an explosion, a splattering of flesh. The knife dropped gently onto Steve’s chest, then clattered to the floor. With a huge effort, Steve cracked his eyes back open and saw what had happened.
The top half of Israphel’s head was gone, revealing the gore underneath. To Notch’s left, the remains of the cranium sat in a pool of dark shadowblood. Notch lolled his head to the right, and saw the cause of this carnage—Honeydew, miraculously alive, sitting behind Xephos on his Spacebird, his TNT Launcher smoking. In front of him, Israphel’s body dissolved into shadow, leaving nothing behind but the dark knife, which Notch managed to scoop up and place in Steve’s pocket. Behind him, Herobrine uttered a roar of pure, unadulterated rage: deafening, nearly tangible, and not at all human. Immediately, all fighting below stopped. Herobrine stalked over to where Notch lay, stood over him, his pure white eyes glowing with the force and pure rage of a million creepers.
“This is not the end, dear brother,” he snarled into Steve’s face. “This is just the beginning.” The Lord of Darkness raised his arms to the heavens. Dark clouds gathered. The building beneath them shook. With one last evil look at Notch, Herobrine disappeared into the darkness. Steve sank into unconsciousness as the tower below him crumbled. His last sensation before the darkness enveloped him was one of falling. Falling…falling…falling.
● ● ●
With a gasp, Steve woke, startling the other commanders. For a split second, his eyes shone supernova blue, then faded back to their normal brown. He looked around, confused.
“Where am I? What happened?” he asked. Then it all came back to him. “Notch…in me…” He turned to Honeydew, pointed. “You…you should be dead! I saw you fall!”
Honeydew, shrugged, opened his mouth to speak…and from behind him came another voice.
“He always has been too reckless, that Simon,” said somebody behind him.
Heads turned. Behind them, tossing a Jaffa around in his hand, sat Xephos, covered in blood, dirt, and sweat, but otherwise fine.
Honeydew grinned sheepishly. Xephos tossed him the Jaffa, then wrapped him in a bear hug. “Good to see you’re not dead,” he said.
“Same for you, friend,” replied Honeydew.
With the two of them wrapped up in their reunion, Steve turned to SlyFox. “Nice job with the army out there,” he said.
“Thanks mate,” replied Sly. “It was mostly their doing, you know. They really believe in what they’re doing.” He gestured to his torn, bloodied, and charred purple T-shirt. “As you can see, I didn’t exactly get out of it unscathed. I think I’m going to need a new shirt.”
Steve laughed, and, for the first time since the war began, actually began to relax.
He snapped his fingers, drawing everybody’s attention. Clearing his throat and his mind, Steve retold the tale of the tower, Notch, and Herobrine, with the help of some scryed images. The others watched and listened openmouthed. Steve finished his tale, then sat back, examining the nasty-looking scar on his chest.
The command tent was quiet for nearly a full minute. Then the floodgates burst open, and a raging torrent of questions was released. Rather than attempt to satisfy everybody, Steve merely waited patiently for the chaos to die down.
And after a few minutes, it did. Steve addressed their questions all at once.
“We’ll discuss this more in the morning, after we’ve gotten past the trauma of repeatedly coming close to dying. See you all at dawn.”
And with that, the commanders meeting adjourned.
● ● ●
As Steve fell asleep, his mind wandered—literally. His consciousness drifted away from his sleeping form, up through the heavens, faster and faster, until a large landmass loomed above him. Passing straight through it and startling a drowsy airwhale, Steve came to a gentle stop sitting on a rock, facing opposite Notch. However, instead of the awe and wonder Steve had felt when they had last met, he now was full of rage.
“Nobody ever said anything about possession when I signed up for this!” he snarled in Notch’s face.
Notch started, alarmed, then sat back again. “I never meant for any of this to happen,” he said softly.
“Well, that doesn’t make any bloody difference anymore, now does it!?”
“I always tried to protect you, my—,” Notch hesitated.
“Your what?” asked Steve, beginning to calm down.
Notch looked away, changed topics. “In any case, I was forced to. You were overcome by emotion. I had to try to talk some sense into my brother.”
“Yeah, and you nearly got both of us killed in the process.”
“Look, arguing does us no good. Herobrine is still out there, nursing his wounds, drawing his power back. The collapse of the Tower of Shadows released enough energy that Herobrine could mould it into a portal, a dimensional stream straight to his inner sanctum, a realm that not even I know much about. There he lies, cursing my name.
“This is your chance, dear hero. You must follow in the steps of the Lord of Darkness, follow him, and defeat him. I shall give you instructions of how to reach Him, and to survive. You must make a portal—the deadliest portal in the history of Minecraftia. Beyond this portal, a terrifying realm exists, the innermost, darkest sanctum of the nether. A world of living shadow, of fiery winged beasts who guard the skies, a world of eternal twilight. You must enter…
“The End.”
Chapter 8: The Girl Who Waited
Steve’s pick hit the stone with a dull thud. Grunting, Steve pulled, and the fruit of his labor was revealed: a mass of a strange stone, perfectly smooth and round, darkly opaque yet emitting a strange gray light. Straining to pick it up, Steve managed to heave it into a nearby minecart, where a soldier was standing at the ready.
“That’s the last we need, then,” he said to the guard, who nodded and began the long journey back up through the mine, minecart in tow. After taking a short breather, Steve followed suit.
Emerging on the surface a short while later, Steve removed his helmet and dropped his diamond pick, covered in sweat. “That’s the last one, yes?” he panted. Standing in a rough semicircle nearby, the other commanders nodded, grim but excited.
Nearby on a platform, eleven stones, similar to the newest one Steve had just dug up, sat in a nearly completed circle. There was space enough for just one more. The other men regarded the unfinished portal, as well as the final stone, warily. And for good reason too; the stones practically glowed with the power of darkness.
Steve gestured at the portal. “You guys want to finish that up?” he asked the other commanders.
As one, they shook their heads. Even Honeydew was serious for once.
“You’ve led us this far, friend,” he said. “You’re the only reason Minecraftia isn’t bathed in darkness now. This is your job, Steve. This is your destiny.”
Nodding, Steve suddenly flashed back to when he had just been a simple iron miner. It felt like that had been a lifetime ago. He was practically a new person now.
Strengthened by this knowledge, Steve picked up the last stone and began to walk over to the unfinished portal. Each step carried the weight of the lives lost to get this far. Now, so close to the end, Steve was determined. This wouldn’t fail. It couldn’t.
He placed the stone in its position.
With a flash, the stones sealed themselves together. Pulling out a blaze rod supplied by the army’s only mage, Steve set the portal alight. A wave of darkness washed over the camp, and the portal was activated. They were ready.
Steve turned to the others, an entire army watching him expectantly. He cleared his throat.
“Many of you have been with us since the start, fighting back against the flow of evil into Minecraftia. You’ve seen your friends, your brothers, fight and fall beside you. You’ve seen evils not of this world unleashed. And still you fight on. Not because you must, but because you want to. It takes a special sort of man to fight for what he believes in as you have, and for that, you have my eternal gratitude.
“We are a varied army. Look around you—humans and dwarves, Spacemen and Wolveneers, archers and assassins, mages and warriors. But we have been brought together, and we all share a bond—the bond of those who have fought together, lived together, and died together. But now, as we near the end, I must ask something of you.
“I ask you for this: I ask for fifty men. I ask for fifty to break those bonds, to travel with us into the unknown, fifty men to fight to and past their dying breath, to march unwavering into the darkness, and to emerge victorious on the other side.
“I do not know if we will survive; I do not know what awaits us. There’s much I don’t know. But I ask this of you: trust me. Trust us. Trust in the light, and repel the darkness. If you can hold back the tides of evil, if you trust us, step forward.”
As one, the entire army stepped forward.
Steve grinned. “Well now. Looks like we’ve got some choices to make.”
• • •
After a few hours of deliberation, arguments, general chaos, and several destroyed tents, they were ready. The four commanders and their fifty men stood at the brink of the darkly glowing portal, nervous, confident, and excited.
“This is it, people,” Steve said to the crowd. Gripping his sword, he turned to face the portal. “I’ll lead, everybody follow. Ready?” They nodded. “Good. Let’s go finish off this son of a *****.”
It was terrifying.
Travelling against the dimensional stream, the laws of nature fought back. A few of the men were swept away in a raging torrent, but Steve, SlyFox, Honeydew, Xephos, and most of their men made it through to the other end.
The men waited for their fellows at the exit portal. Soon they had all arrived. “Well,” said Steve. “Looks like we’re on our own now.”
SlyFox nudged him. “Not entirely,” he muttered, pointing. Steve turned—and his blood went cold.
No more than twenty meters away was a creature. Towering above all the men, it appeared to be made of pure darkness. When it turned to them, its glowing green eyes kept them nailed to the spot. Slowly, never taking his eyes off the strange beast, Steve reached for his sword…
When out of the blue (gray?) a shining steel blade sprouted out of the creature’s neck, who promptly dissolved into black smoke.
The smoke cleared. Steve’s jaw dropped.
There was a woman.
Her leather armor was patched, battered, blood-splattered and torn; a short scar sat upon her chin; her slightly upturned nose was smudged. She looked no more than thirty years old, though her eyes—a bright, piercing blue—seemed to hold knowledge and wisdom beyond her years. Steve stared at the battle-hardened figure.
She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Sheathing her blade, the woman sauntered up to Steve and pushed his mouth shut with her hand.
“Welcome to Hell,” she said.
● ● ●
They set up camp a short distance away from the portal. The woman—who had introduced herself as Kait MacTavish—sat with Steve in the command tent.
“So how long have you been here?” Steve inquired.
Kait shrugged. “Oh, I’d say…three years or so,” she replied, a small smile upon her lips.
Steve was awed. “What have you been doing this entire time?” he asked with shock.
“Oh, you know, this and that,” said Kait. “Taught myself some swordsmanship, built myself a little shack, did some scouting. I did,” she said thoughtfully, “Go quite mad for a bit. Did me some good. But I assure you,” she added, smirking, “That I am completely sane now.”
“Where are you originally from, though?”
“Basingstoke, actually. Used to be an iron miner before the world went to ****.” She smiled. “Look, I’d love to continue this, but we’ve got a world to save. We’ll finish this later over some Jaffas, yes?” Steve nodded, grinned. They emerged from the tent.
Their platoon clustered around them.
“Look, as much as you expect me to know everything, I don’t,” said Steve. “Miss MacTavish here, however does, so she’ll be in charge from here on out.”
“Okay, friends, I’m sure you’ve got lots of questions, and I’ll try to address them all. First of all, this is the End—the innermost sanctum of the Nether, and Herobrine’s personal realm. You’ll see a lot of strange things in here, and if you go mad, it’s okay by me.”
As she spoke, Steve studied her. He was mesmerized and he knew it, and what’s more, she knew it too. Her bubbly, fun, and sassy personality had hooked him immediately. The two of them just fit.
“I know we have an exit portal,” Kait continued. “Sadly, that won’t do **** unless Herobrine wants it to. So basically, our mission here is simple: kill Herobrine, then leave.”
“How are we going to find him?” someone called out from the crowd. Kait didn’t even have to respond with a word; she just pointed. They gaped.
In the distance, no more than 20 kilometres away, sat a castle. Built out of blood red netherbrick, it was the only splash of color in the entire realm. Darkness rolled off it in waves, and above it all, a dark, monstrous figure sat.
Steve gripped his sword tighter. “That’s where we’re headed, then.”
“Let’s go kill Herobrine.”
Chapter 9: The True Darkness
The dark castle loomed in front of them, menacing and evil. Monsters and strange, mutated creatures resembling two-legged pigs patrolled the area. From far above, at the pinnacle of the castle’s main spire, bolts of dark lightning crawled along its surface. Steve, Kait, Xephos, Honeydew, and SlyFox stared up at the fortress in awe.
“Damn,” said Xephos, and that pretty much summed it up. Then they got to work.
A few hours later, after confirming (for the tenth time) that their strategy would work with Kait, the group split into two smaller squads: one, led by Steve, Kait, and SlyFox, would sneak around to the back of the castle. The other, led by Xephos and Honeydew, would charge the castle from the front while Herobrine’s forces were occupied with Steve’s squad.
They all said their goodbyes; many of them, Steve included, had the feeling that some of them wouldn’t be seeing each other again—in this life, anyways.
“Be careful, mates,” Steve said, and they went their separate ways.
Steve’s group crept along the castle’s moat, Kait in the lead, Steve right behind, followed by SlyFox and their men. At first they crouched and snuck along, but after realizing that the moat was barely guarded at all, they walked normally. Steve was actually enjoying being behind Kait; the sway of her hips was mesmerizing, the perfect curve of her—
“Save checking me out for until we’re not about to die, yes?” said Kait without turning.
Steve blushed furiously as Sly and the men chuckled, but as Kait half-turned, he saw a small smile on her face as well.
“In any case, we’re here. Look.” She pointed.
Ahead of them was a wall of the castle with a small service door, guarded only by two of the strange, stick-like black monsters—Endermen, Kait called them.
“Watch this,” she whispered, pulling out two flasks of water. Taking aim, she threw them.
The flasks hit the ground underneath the Endermen, shattering. The water pooled. As soon as it hit the towering creatures’ feet, they started smoking without a sound. Before long, there was nothing left but two dark puddles of murky water.
Kait turned back to the others, grinning. Steve was staring at her open-mouthed again. So was everyone else.
“Let’s move,” she said.
As they stepped into the dark castle one by one, each tried to take in their surroundings. Not many succeeded.
The castle was mind-bogglingly huge; the opposite wall faded into the darkness. Ahead of them, they could see the underside of a wide staircase. Above, the huge castle spire was occasionally lit with occasional bolts of darkness. The walls shimmered between obsidian, sandstone, and shadow. It was easy to see, yet impossible to take in.
And just as they were getting their bearings, Herobrine came down the staircase.
The soldiers saw a sudden, alarming change in Steve; his eyes began to nearly glow blue, and his entire body shook. He turned to one of the men, asked him for his sword. When he received it, he held it by the blade.
“This ends now,” he muttered. Then he wound up, and threw the weapon.
In flight, the blade began to emanate an unearthly blue, and redstone power started to crackle all around it. It was making its way directly towards Herobrine’s skull.
Just before impact, faster than the eye could see, Herobrine spun around, caught the blade, and hurled it back at them. Steve and Kait dove to the side…
And the sword caught SlyFox full in the face, buried nearly hilt-deep where his nose had been. He dropped to the floor without a sound.
Herobrine smiled.
He raised his arms, and from out of nowhere, a hundred Endermen appeared around him.
In unison, Steve and Kait drew their blades, and with a roar, leapt into battle. After a second, the other men did the same.
They fought back to back, shielding each other as they hacked through dozens of the towering monsters. If anyone had had the time to look, they would’ve seen both Steve and Kait glowing blue, faces set with determination.
Before long, half the Endermen were gone. Then only a dozen remained, then just one, and finally none, just Herobrine, who wasn’t smiling now. He raised his hand at Kait…
Then stumbled, a look of shock on his face. From across the hall, Honeydew, Xephos, and their men rushed in, Honeydew holding his smoking TNT-launcher.
Herobrine turned around, revealing to Steve and his men a smoking arrow buried in His neck, about to blow.
“No—,” and that was all He had time for. Then the arrow exploded.
When the smoke cleared, what was left of Herobrine was on its knees, headless. Steve strode up to it.
“For Notch,” he said, and drove his blade into Herobrine’s chest.
The mutilated body of the Prince of the Nether roared. It was not a human roar. Darkness exploded out of its limbs in a rush, gathering in a cloud above the body. A shockwave was released, throwing back everybody. The rush of darkness waned, then ended. The deflated body fell to the floor.
Above it, the cloud of darkness began to form and develop. It grew a body, a long neck and tail, and…wings?
It roared, then looked down at the crowd below it. Its white eyes glowed with such enormous power that they were forced to look away.
“THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE RELEASED,” the creature said. “DARKNESS INCARNATE.”
It flapped its wings, preparing for flight. With a sudden decisiveness, Steve ran towards it and leapt onto its tail. After a moment of hesitation, Kait followed, diving for one of the spines jutting out of the tail. Just as she caught on, the dragon took to the air, leaving them clinging on for dear life.
Steve looked back, saw Kait behind him, steadily making her way up the dragon’s tail. He saw her eyes widen, staring ahead of him. He turned back around, opened his mouth to shout—
And the dragon burst through the castle’s wall, not slowing at all.
When Steve looked up next, Kait was right next to him. Together, they drew their swords and advanced up the dragon’s back.
The dragon—what had been Herobrine minutes before—roared with rage, heading for the edge of the land, beyond which lay nothing but oblivion. Steve and Kait doubled their efforts, and reached the dragon’s neck at last.
They looked at each other over the ridge in the dragon’s neck, Steve marveling (yet again) at Kait’s beauty.
“Marry me?” he called over the roar of the wind.
She grinned. “Ask me later!” she called back. Together they raised their swords. Together they let them fall.
The dragon roared with pain as his head was nearly disconnected from his body. A dark, nearly gaseous liquid began to pour from his neck. His body bucked, and Steve and Kait were thrown off—plummeting into the darkness below.
Chapter 10: Notchlight
The two spiraled into the darkness below, flailing limbs uselessly. After much effort, Steve managed to angle himself towards Kait. They locked together in a tight embrace, whistling through the abyss as the mortally wounded dragon writhed in the air above them. They watched as it roared, as its head finally severed itself completely from its body, spurting huge amounts of darkblood.
And, finally, they watched as the dragon’s remains exploded with almost nuclear force, blowing apart the few lasting pixels of the God of Darkness, the Prince of the Nether, Herobrine himself.
From the explosion, a dark fire raced towards them, soon dissipating into the thin air.
And, strangely, Steve began to get a sense that they were slowing down. Judging by Kait’s confused expression, she felt the same thing.
And indeed they were. Soon they had come to a gentle halt in midair, a faintly glowing, translucent bubble surrounding them.
Then, somehow, they began to rise, still locked together.
Unable to bear it anymore, Steve broke the silence.
“Well,” he said, “That was interesting.”
Kait burst into laughter—a wonderful, tinkling sound that Steve loved. “All in a day’s work, yes?”
Despite all that had happened, Steve started to laugh as well. He pulled Kait closer.
“Marry me now?” he asked, grinning.
Kait wrapped her arms around his neck. “Absolutely,” she said, and they kissed.
And kissed.
And kissed.
And that is how they were found by the Yogscast and their remaining men when their bubble finally reached the surface of The End. The spectators gasped—not because of the dramatic romantic turn of the plot, but because both Kait and Steve were emanating a blinding, brilliant blue light. When they finally broke apart and turned to their soldiers, embarrassed, their eyes were revealed to be burning blue as well. Steve opened his mouth to explain.
“I—,”
Then the world shut down around them, folded itself neatly in half, and exploded with light.
A minute later, when Steve, Kait, Xephos, Honeydew, and the other soldiers awoke, they were in a different place. A place, apparently, full of flying whales.
They were back in the Aether. And in front of them was Notch.
As one, they knelt before their god. Notch harrumphed.
“No need for any of that, you’ve just saved all of Minecraftia.”
They rose. Notch held Steve’s shoulders, examining him. “Well done,” He said, his blue eyes twinkling. “Well done indeed…”
“My son.”
The men immediately knelt again, but Kait walked up to Steve and leaned against him, grinning. “Should have guessed,” she said.
Steve was staggered. He took a few shaky steps back. After a while, he came to his senses. “So…all this time…”
Notch just nodded, eyes shining with pride.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?!” Steve demanded.
“It was for your own good,” replied Notch in a reasonable tone. “If you had known your own power, you would have been in much more danger, as well as being a danger to yourself, and—,” he glanced at Kait, “A danger to your loved ones as well.”
“So I do have powers?”
Notch nodded. “Test yourself, if you want.”
Steve looked around, locked onto a nearby floating whale. Taking a deep breath, he concentrated…
The whale exploded.
And in its place was…a chicken?
“Wouldn’t have been my first choice with unlimited power, but to each his own, yes?” muttered Notch. He turned to the survivors, raised his voice so all could hear him.
“You all have done great deeds today,” He began. “Impossible deeds, some would say. You have kept darkness from rising and consuming the world. Fifty brave warriors, against impossible odds. Yet you have done it. The Equilibrium War has been won.
“But not without a price. Lives have been lost in the process—the lives of men with hearts of gold. But they are not gone forever. Look, now.” He pointed to the opposite side of the floating island. The men turned and gasped. A shimmering, light blue portal was hovering there. And in it, silhouettes were forming. And most prominently, one figure…one very familiar figure…
SlyFox stepped out of the portal to uproarious cheers, his face as perfect as if it had never had an axe buried in it.
“It’s good to be back,” he said, grinning.
As the reunions raged on around them, Steve drew Kait close.
“I owe you some Jaffas, don’t I,” he said, grinning.
“You owe something else, too,” replied Kait, and they kissed again.
Far above all the celebration, a lone airwhale began to wail its mating call.
● ● ●
A lot of it is from big youtube directors, ie Blue xephos, slyfoxhound. Etc.
Amazing!!!!
Yes it is from the top of my head. No, it's not from the "big YouTube directors". I included them because they're well-known Heroes of minecraftia. ANd thanks, i love being amazing :biggrin.gif:
when will it be CONTINUED.
Sometime this week, finalizing the next book
cool!
tyvm. i'm about halfway through book 5 as well.
where is it then?
on hold because of school :sad.gif:
o
he's coming :wink.gif:
read comments above? also, i've been working on book 5,get ready...;D
If I helped you in any way at all please tell me how awesome I am, add me, or if you can't be stuffed don't do anything.