Hey guys. I update this story as often as I can. Please leave feedback and enjoy! New chapters that are added will have a red title. ALSO, The Elder Entries (Journal) Prologue to TDP is a prologue to this even though I made it after.
Chapter 1: I Go Climbing Up a Storm
Today, I realized something. I must have the worst luck any human being has ever had in history. First, I flunked my Math test, only because I skipped a bubble on the multiple choice and wrote down every answer wrong. Then I dropped my lunch in a puddle of water on the way to the bus, and then I figured out that my parents are trying to send me to some private school next semester because I am causing too much trouble at school and at home. Worst day ever. Period.
My name is Mo. It is not a nickname; my parents spent more time arguing about who would get the Mercedes in the divorce rather than figuring out a better, more intriguing name for their only son. It has never bothered me though. I am basically invisible to them, which allows me to easily retreat into my own world and my dreams of becoming an architect. Yes, an architect. I like to build things. No matter how much time I have or what I have to use, I would always find a way to turn it into something magical. Or at least magical in my eyes.
Even though my day started out more dull than usual, I was sure it would get better because for our class field trip: we get to climb the beautiful, and majestic Mount St. Helens for our volcanic studies unit for Science class. And my partner just happens to be the girl I have had a terrible crush on since the 3rd grade, Ashley Chase. She is smart, funny, and captain of the girls volleyball team. Her blond, wavy hair in combination with her stunning blue eyes, seem to hypnotize anyone who stare for too long. Of course, she probably didn’t even know I existed until she was paired up with me, but this gives me the chance to get to know her a little bit better.
We arrived at our destination and proceeded to get off the bus. The air was very humid, and the clouds above were dark grey. A little rain I thought.
“How bad could it get?” I said. I knew the moment I said that, I was going to find out.
We started walking up the mountain, a single line, with each pair next to each other. Ashley was texting on her pink Blackberry like she usually does during her free time, as I was gazing upon the beauty of nature and imagining the things I could build around this place. A library for sure, maybe a temple? A dojo for my martial arts classes? I was too busy wandering off to my dream world to notice that I took a left turn and the rest of the class went right . Naturally of course, Ashley was too busy texting and followed my feet and direction only using her peripherals, so that she could not notice us drifting away from the pack.
I stopped moving. “Oh no... Ashley!”
“Huh? What is it?” She looked up. “Where is everyone?” She started to look really confused.
“I think we wandered off...” I said.
“Wandered off?! Of course we did! Where are we?” At this point she was going into panic.
I looked up, and the sky was almost pitch black now. It was getting dark. Really dark.
“I think we should head back. Fast.” A little fear was in my voice, but what can you say? I don’t like the dark.
Just as we were going to head back to the bus, Ashley slipped and fell on some rocks. The rocks crackled making the ground shake. We looked at each other, and out of mere shock we stood still.
“What...The...”, she said.
CRRAAACK. The surface beneath our feet collapsed and we plummeted downward into more darkness. I flipped my body forward, almost like a nose dive, only to see sky blue at the bottom of the chasm. A void? No, it must be water. Please be water. And then everything faded to black.
Chapter 2: I ran, I screamed, and I cried a bit
I was in a dream. Everything around me was blurry and sounds were muffled out but I was able to grasp what was around me. I was in a room surrounded by darkness. The room was illuminated slightly by pools of molten rock in the distance. In front of me stood a dark figure. I could not see his face nor any of his body features. The only thing I could make out was that his eyes were pure white. It was like looking into emptiness upon emptiness where all hopes and dreams were lost.
I couldn’t speak, and I couldn’t move. The figure lifted its head and looked at me with its pure white eyes. In an old raspy voice, it said, “Welcome.” Chills went up my spine, and a cold breeze filled the air. Then the scene started to fade and everything went black again. The last thing I could see of the person was the white of his teeth as he made a smile.
I woke up to the sun beating down on my face, sand stuck in my toes and the smell of saltwater vapour filling up my nostrils. I opened my eyes almost forgetting who I was, and realized that I was definitely not on St. Helens anymore.
My clothes were untouched, and my body was not bruised or scratched. As I worked myself to stand up, I felt pain. I felt like my insides had been put in a blender and shoved back into my body. My vision became blurry for a moment and I had a massive blood rush.
I nearly had a heart attack when a full grown cow nudged me in the back. Looking around i saw chicken, even pigs. I stroked the cow’s neck like a cat, not knowing if it liked it or not.
“Where am I?”, I asked, but I knew I wasn’t going to get an answer any time soon.
I took a good look around this land that was alien to me. Lots of trees, dirt and mountains in the distance. No civilization in sight, but that didn’t get my hopes down. I decided it was best to reach high ground and scope out the most I could, and set up camp before nightfall.
The problem was, it became night really fast. Much faster that I thought. But what seemed to be a miracle, I saw a man standing off to the distance below a few trees in the shade. I decided to go approach him calmly.
I reached him and he had his back toward me. I grabbed him by the shoulder in effort to turn him around. What happened next was horrible. The air around him suddenly filled with the stench of rotten flesh, and burned my nostrils. I took a good look at his face, and winced in terror. Rotten flesh, visible bone, one eyeball sticking out to the side, and jagged teeth.
“Brrrrraaaaiiiiins”, it growled. It sounded like someone was playing golf with his vocal chords.
I didn’t even wait any longer to find out what would happen next. I’m not going to lie. I ran. Like a little girl if you want to put it that way. I ran so blindly in the dark that I slammed my shoulder and upper body right into a slim tree... At least I thought it was a tree...
Chapter 3: A pig teaches me how to fly
THUD. I hit the tree full force and got knocked over onto my side. I was dizzy, exhausted, and on the top of that, I was pretty sure I hurt my shoulder. I decided to look up and take a look at the trunk of the tree that had dominated me so, but to no surprise, there was no tree. Standing right in front of me, looking me straight in the eyes, was a full human sized skeleton.
Now, usually when you see something like that, you run, but at this point I was overwhelmed by exhaustion and shock. And I had already seen a living corpse, so I was happy that I didn’t just make it all up.
The skeleton looked like something you would see in your average science classroom; tall, skinny, and only bone. The joints were attached securely, but made crackling noises as it moved. It started to move its arm behind its back. And out of what seemed to be nowhere, it pulled a bow and arrow out and pointed the tip straight for my forehead.
A little lesson about my father. Ever since I was a kid he has made me take numerous martial arts classes in hope that someday I might grow up to be in the UFC or some fighting organization. I did well to his expectations but my interest was always more toward architecture. I never really appreciated the classes that much, but when a skeleton is about to put your brains on a stick, you learn to appreciate all the little things MUCH more.
It was really out of panic and the sense that I was probably going to die. I jump up and planted both feet firmly into the ground. I used all the force I had left to swing my right arm straight into the left side of the skeleton’s head, twisting my arm to create more momentum. WOOOOM! It was like a bat hitting a ball off a tee, the head shot up like it had been sliced off by a sword, and the body fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. I fell to the ground onto my knees, not out of exhaustion, but because I had broken most of my fingers hitting the skull.
I looked down at the pile of bones and was happy to see a quiver and a bow. I gathered what I could and ventured the rest of the way to the tallest cliff in the area. I looked around for an instant and out of the bushes came good ol’ rotten flesh going at a snail’s pace towards me. I aimed my bow at his chest but then something amazing happened. Just like the night, day came what seemed to be just as fast. The sun rose, giving me renewed strength and seemed to make the zombie weaker. Sure enough it burst into flames! It turned into a nice pile of ash and I had little victory laugh and shout on top of my new home.
I approached the cliff and looked around. With the new knowledge I had acquired the past night, I knew I had to start gathering resources and build a shelter to keep me safe. Unfortunately my victory was short-lived. As I was day dreaming about the type of home and things I would use to build it, a round, pink pig sneaked up on me and nudged me in the side. I had hurt my side when I ran into Mr. Bag-o-Bones back there, so it was quite painful and effective. It made me push off with my left foot and flinch towards the edge. I could not get my balance. I fell.
Many things were coming out of my mouth at once. I was trying to curse the pig and scream at the same time. As I was falling to my soon-to-be death, the only thing I could think about was how pathetic it was to be killed by a pig. But for some reason I had the feeling that this is not the end.
Chapter 4: Over the edge and back again.
I had another dream. It was very much like the first one. Same dark room, identical pools of molten rock and the same frightening dark figure with empty white eyes standing three feet away from me. Like the last time, I could not move nor talk. I was only able to listen.
“You...Are...Special... Beware of the dark.” His voice sliced through me leaving a deep mental wound. What does he mean by special? Where am I? And is he trying to warn me? But before any of my questions were answered, darkness flooded the scene, as I began to wake up from the nightmare.
I woke up with a massive case of Déjà Vu. The sun was beating down on my face once more, the sand was once again stuck between my toes, and the smell of fresh salt water still filled the air. However as I got up, and endured the painful after-sensation of having my insides juggled around, I glanced around and realized that I was in a completely different location. Sure, there were trees, dirt and mountains in the distance but nothing was recognizable. I also realized that I had lost the bow and quiver I had fought so valiantly for. What was even weirder was that my wrist and shoulder were like new. There was no pain, even though I had definitely broken my hand the night before.
I would have screamed in anger and confusion to what was going on, but I had other worries on my mind. Looking back on the last few days of my existence here, I had forgotten something very important... Ashley Chase was there when I had fallen into that blue abyss... I stood terrified at the thought that she has probably been dragged into the same fate as I. Where could she be? Was she alright? I hoped she was better at surviving her first night than I was, especially after all the unexplainable things that had happened.
I decided to learn from my mistakes and build my shelter close to the shore and as fast as possible. I quickly whipped up a nice little hut made of wooden planks I had gathered from the trees around the area. I also made tools, and even a deadly looking sword out of some stone I gathered. I was nearly completed with the hut, but I needed a light source. Something burnable, that I could use to see during the night. I searched everywhere and no luck. But then I saw something shining in the distance by a pile of rocks.
I ran towards it, and dug out some gravel. What I saw made me drop everything I was holding. Lying on the ground was a sparkly pink Blackberry, along with a pile of coal. Ashley was here. She dug out coal from this very spot, but why had she left? I knew something was seriously wrong because she would never leave without her phone.
It was starting to get dark so I quickly headed back to finish the hut and make torches. I couldn’t focus at all so the rest of the hut was a mediocre effort. I was worried, tired, and exhausted. On top of that, I was starving. I needed to go find some food if I was going to work any longer. It was a stupid idea, absolutely dangerous, but I wasn’t going to let the coal Ashley found go to waste. I picked up what I needed; a few torches, my makeshift sword and some tools. I wandered out into the darkness, hoping to find food, and maybe even clues of where Ashley has gone. Who knows, maybe I can get revenge on that pig that embarrassed me before.
Chapter 5: My luck gets worse
I wandered around for a good five minutes before hearing a squeal from a pig to my left. I got way too excited, and ran straight for it, completely forgetting about the dangers of the night. And the warning I was given in my dream, ”Beware the dark.”
I jumped through the bushes ready to ambush the poor pork chop, and was stopped dead in my tracks. It was the most beautiful and scariest thing I had ever seen. In front me stood a girl just about my height and age, beautiful brown hair and dark grey eyes. Her facial expression showed true determination. She was looking straight at me, and I would have totally fallen for her if it wasn’t for the fact that she had put an arrow right through my dinner and she was holding a four foot long blade made of iron. Her facial expression immediately changed when she saw me, and I thought I was going to become dinner as well.
“Who are you?”, she asked in a loud, powerful tone.
“M-my name is uhh Mo... I-“
“Why are you out during night hours? Don’t you know it is too dangerous for untrained citizens?” She started to sound like my mother...
“I don’t know what you are talking about. I just got here! Now it would be really nice if you put down that weapon of yours...”
She looked at me with a more puzzled look than before. “Another outsider? I must bring you to my city. Our elder might be able to help you find what you are looking for. My name is Jessika by the way.”
My heart jumped. “Another outsider you say?! Ashley! You’ve seen her? Is she alright? Take me to her!” I sounded really desperate.
Jessika’s face saddened. “Yeah, your friend uhh Ashley was it? We are taking care of her at our city of Sibia... But... “
“But what? Is she ok?”
“I’m sorry but right now she is in critical condition. All I know is that she is not the only one, and something weird is going on. We should really get going before it gets really dark. Do you have a weapon?”
I was broken. I had finally met someone human and all I get is even worse news. I still had many questions on my mind. I lifted my sword. Her sword made mine look like a toothpick.
She laughed. “Alright hero, let’s get going”, she said, “We have a lot to talk about.”
Chapter 6: I get creeped out
There was a long silence. I followed Jessika across dirt paths and through forest for quite a long time. I had so many questions but I just couldn’t figure out how to ask her.
She stopped moving and turned towards me. Her face was full of sweat and her eyes looked very tired.
“I had forgotten how far I wandered off from the city... You are very lucky I found you. I usually don’t travel so far especially since it has gotten very dangerous in the last few weeks”, she said.
“You mean those creatures? The zombies and walking skeletons?’ I asked.
“No, they have always existed among us, but we were never in conflict. We would do our hunting during the day and they would do theirs in the night. But it seems they are becoming stronger more hostile. Some have even said they have seen a zombie wandering around when the sun was up! If that is the case, we must be very careful.”
I thought about what she just said. The thought of a normal zombie attack still put shivers up my spine... The fact that they don’t burst into flames anymore makes me feel even more traumatized...
I decided to keep my encounter with the creatures and the dark individual to myself. I needed more answers and clues to put things together. I really didn’t want drag Jessika into any of this as well.
We reached the entrance to an even bigger forest. Two giant tree trunks stood tall and arced themselves together making an archway. There was no other way around, are only option was straight through.
Jessika turned once more and looked at me. “This is where it gets really fun, hero. This is Creeper Forest. In its depths lie the worst of the worst. Zombies of unknown numbers, skeletons around every corner and home to ‘Creepers.’ Creepers are green, ugly, and they’ll kill you if you get too close. So, let’s hurry up and get through this place. Then you can say hello to your friend, lover boy.”
“Hey I’m not-“
“Save it, let’s hurry.”
It was too late for me to protest, she was already sprinting past the archway. I followed her as fast I could. It was a good pace. Thanks to my dad’s martial arts training sessions, I was able to run without stopping.
Right when I thought it we were going to be alright, we stopped. Jessika planted herself firm into the ground and lowered into a battle stance. In front of us was a green blob with four legs and a face full of anger. It definitely intimidated me, but I stood firm. Behind it stood half a dozen zombies and skeletons ready to charge. Now that made me back off a little.
“I didn’t know they travelled in packs!’ I said.
“They don’t” She took out her long iron blade prepared to strike.
I unsheathed my stone sword and charged without thinking. I duck, weaved, and dove in all directions dodging zombie arms and arrows. Then suddenly I was face to face with their leader, Mr. Creepy. Behind me I heard a scream, almost a whimper, but I drove my blade right through where its heart should have been.
“SSSSSSssssssssssss” It hollered in a terrible high pitched voice. Its eyes glowed red, looking like it was going to explode. From the right, a big shadow dashed towards me and tackled me. We both were thrown towards the left, leaving my blade inside of the creeper. Then BOOOOM.
Everything around us became clouded by dust clouds and the smell of sulphur. When everything cleared, I was laying on the ground beside a crater the size of a cabin. All the zombies and skeletons had vanished as well, probably killed by the blast.
Next to me stood a stranger. He was about a foot taller, short brown hair and familiar dark grey eyes. Jessika ran right up to both us and gave me a solid slap to the face.
“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! Don’t you know those things explode?! Geez, I thought I had lost you already!” Her face was bright red with anger. “And thanks Pierce for that, you’re a better brother than I thought.”
“No problem”, the stranger said,” My name is Pierce, Jessika’s older brother. She was running a little late, so I thought something was up. You must be an outsider?”
“Yes, I uhh..” I didn’t know what to say.
“He is the lover of the girl we found earlier”, Jessika said.
“HEY I’M NOT-“
“It’s alright”, Pierce said,” if that is the case we must hurry. Sibia is only a bit away.”
Chapter 7: I don’t get to stay the night.
The three of us, Jessika, Pierce and I walked for what seemed to take hours until we reached a stone wall. The wall was about ten feet tall, and was made of old misshapen stone. The wall must have been there for quite a long time. It didn’t really look like it could defend anything either... They led me past the wall and to a gate where we were greeted by a tall bearded guard.
“Hello there, young Mr. Collingwood, and Ms. Collingwood! Who is this young chap?” The guard studied me from head to toe. His expression didn’t change.
“We must go see the elder”, Jessika said,” He is an outsider who may be able to help us with our problem.”
The guard’s eyebrows rose. “Really now? He can put an end to this terrible diamond plague huh? Well, you must get going immediately!”
“The diamond what? What is that?” I asked.
Pierce gave me a gentle smile. “The elder will explain everything to you when you see him. But Mo, you must be honest; he is here to help you.”
We walked through the gate and entered what was probably the main street. The entire city was home to at least a few hundred citizens. The city’s shape took the form of a giant circle. All the buildings seemed to be revolving around the cathedral-like building in the center like the planets and the sun. We walked right through everything and came face to face with the cathedral-like structure.
“This is the elder’s residence. We cannot follow you, we can only show you the door”, Pierce said.
“Be careful, and don’t let whatever he says put you down!” Jessika seemed like she was almost blushing.
They both walked away down the center street path, leaving me alone facing whatever was inside this strange building.
I walked up the steps towards the entrance, feeling more weight on shoulders with every step. What should I say? What if he can’t help me? What about Ashley? My stomach was being turned upside-down and I was starting to get a headache. I approached the entrance. It consisted of two large doors with golden handles. As I opened them, a breeze of warm air hit my body. I walked in, and I was exposed to the most beautiful scene I have ever seen.
The room was enormous. Candles lit the room and the windows had pictures of great battles engraved in them. The floor was made of the highest quality wood, and the walls were made of the highest quality material you could find. At the far end of the room stood an aged man with grey-silver hair and pitch black eyes. He wore a white linen robe and held a cane made completely out of gold. This guy meant business.
“Welcome traveler”, he said in an extremely powerful voice,” I am the elder. I see and know all that is around us. I see you must be a little overwhelmed by all of this so let us take a walk outside. It is almost sunrise after all.”
He led me back through the main entrance and out into the street, we past bakeries, libraries, shops, and forges. Even though it was before sunrise, the city was very much alive.
“You must be new, an outsider perhaps? The only other person I have seen with your style of clothing is that poor girl we are taking care of in the infirmary.”
My eyes lit up. “You mean Ashley?! Is she alright? What is going on?”
“Ah, so you two know each other? Interesting. Well, to put it all in a nutshell... Our society is undergoing a great crisis. Diamonds, which were once the prized possession that the land had to offer us, have now acquired a strange ability. It seems that anyone who touches them becomes extremely ill. Unfortunately the only way to cure this disease is by creating a potion out of red stone dust, which as of now, has become very scarce. Your friend seems to have fallen into a terrible fate and at the most unforgiving time...”
“What can I do?! I need to help Ashley as well as everyone else! Where are they? Let me see Ashley!” I was too worried to care about manners.
“My young lad, we do not know if it is contagious yet, so it better to stay away for now. And I must say that if you want to help her you must act now before it is too late.” His face turned into sadness.
“Too late for what?”
“It seems after a week, those who are ill become evil creatures of the night. Zombies are the most common result.”
“WHAT? Then I must go now, where can I get this red stone stuff. And how long do I have?”
His face became even sadder. He wasn’t used to giving bad news. “You must venture into the mines-but it is too dangerous to go alone!”
“He is not alone.” The voice came from behind us. The weight on my shoulders lightened at the sight of Jessika ready in her battle gear and prepared for this adventure.
“I see what this has come to... And there is probably nothing I can do to but please be careful and bring enough to save everyone. What is your name young hero?”
I stood tall and in my most manly voice I said,” My name is Mo, and I will put an end to this crisis.”
Chapter 8: Deep Down Inside
I know I said I would put an end to this crisis, but I really had no idea what I was getting in to. I had no idea where to start, no weapons or even supplies to help me survive. Luckily Jessika had some sort of plan so I followed her to the very out skirts of town. The city’s back wall was actually a mountain, and on the front face of the mountain was a cave. Above the cave entrance there was a sign which read,” Into The Depths of Darkness.” This really didn’t make me very excited either.
Jessika stopped right before the entrance and turned to face me. “Mo, I hope you are ready for this. This is going to be REALLY dangerous. These mines were the first things ever built by our people. Many have died here. I admire your courage and confidence back there with the elder, but... If we succeed we can cure all those poor people, and even Ashley. I know you would really like that.”
I looked her in the eyes. “I don’t know why, but I have this feeling that this is my fault... If it wasn’t for me, Ashley wouldn’t be here in this situation. I must do this.”
Jessika gave me a big smirk. “Well, then you are going to need this.” She threw me a newly made iron sword. The handle was warm and perfect fitting for me. The blade was shiny and the sword felt like a perfect extension of my arm. It felt much better than the sword I made before.
“My brother made it; he likes to craft things. He has an entire collection at his house. He said he is sorry he can’t make the journey. He has to stay home and take care of his wife.”
“He’s married?” I asked.
“Yeah, I don’t understand that either. He is a total loser.” Jessika and I both laughed.
We double checked our supplies and got ready to go. Jessika looked at me again but this time with a more serious look on her face. “Our city has already searched the regular parts of the mine for red stone but there has been no luck. The only place left to look is the place where we first encountered the cursed diamonds. It has been closed off ever since. Who knows what could be down there. Diamonds will try to trick you and destroy you. They are the source of betrayal and greed. We have to be extremely careful.”
“Trick you and destroy you, got it", I said. It seemed crazy to me how a stone could be so dangerous, but after what I’ve been through so far, it didn’t seem too weird. I looked up at the sky. It was sunrise, and it looked beautiful. I couldn’t believe that a few days ago, I was worried about doing well on my next math test. I looked at Jessika and she gave me a nod that meant, ”It is time.” I looked at the sun one last time, and we started to descend into the dark cavern of the mine. As we got farther and farther away from the entrance, the sun, my dreams of being an architect, my family, and my entire world began to get farther away as well.
We ventured into the mine shaft. I couldn’t really see anything in detail. The only light source we had was the torch Jessika was holding in her left hand. I followed right behind her, so if anything were to happen to either of us, we would know.
After a long boring descend of numerous turns and walking around corners, we reached a small room. I lit the room up completely by using my torch and the ones that had already been placed on the walls. The room itself was about the size of living room, and at the far end was a fork that separated into two shafts. The one on the left looked newly renovated and had torches on each side of the shaft that we could light up. The one on the right was barricaded by broken planks of wood and rubble. I prayed that the left shaft was the path we had to take.
“We need to clear out the rubble on the one on the right”, she said. Damn it, I thought.
We used our tools we brought and Dug out a nice looking entrance to the mineshaft. Then, something really weird happened. Out of the shaft came two people, one male and one female. They were both middle-aged and were wearing matching body armour. They looked human but they were growling. Their eyes were both fixed on Jessika. She started screaming.
I didn’t know what to do, so naturally I took out my newly made sword and charged at the two of them.
“NOOOOO!” Jessika screamed.
I got really confused but I refused to look back. The woman on the right dodged and went for Jessika, I kept going towards the man on the left. I jabbed my blade right into the man’s torso leaving a large exit wound. The body fell, and I turned to look at Jessika.
The woman was standing no farther than two feet away from her. What surprised me was that Jessika didn’t even have her sword out. She was...crying? I couldn’t wait any longer. I sprinted and jumped right behind the stranger and sliced her head right off. Jessika sat in the corner of the room balling her eyes out.
I approached her and grabbed her arm. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
She tried to speak. “T-those were my p-parents...”
I looked back at the bodies and sure enough their appearance had completely changed. They were no longer human beings. On the ground lying before use were two very dead zombies.
Chapter 9: I get grounded.
I stood there in shock. “You mean those two were...”
Jessika wiped the tears from her face and tried to calm herself. “My parents died in these mines... The diamonds. They are playing tricks on us. When I saw their faces... I-I froze. And didn’t you hear what they were saying?”
“I didn’t hear anything Jessika, only growling... I think we better keep moving and finish this quest as quick as we can.”
We walked into the broken up mine shaft, with one torch as our only light source. I was completely tense after every step. I needed to calm down and so did Jessika. Small talk, I thought.
“So Jessika... Do you think there are other worlds out there?” I asked.
She looked back at me. She seemed to have calmed down a bit. “I haven’t really thought about it... The elder used to tell stories about other worlds where other creatures and forces lived, but it always seemed like a normal fairy tale to me. Why do you ask?”
I needed to tell somebody. I couldn’t keep it a secret for long. I needed some answers.
“It’s not like you are from a different world right? Hahaha!” Jessika was laughing for the first time in days.
“No, not at all...”, I said. This was the wrong time to be babbling about that anyway.
We kept creeping into the darkness until Jessika suddenly stopped. Before us was a hole in the earth. One person could easily jump down there, but we didn’t know how deep it was. We took out some rope from our supplies and put our bags and useless equipment on the ground.
“We have to travel light from here”, Jessika said,” We only need our picks, torches and our swords.”
We latched the rope to a hook that was safely secured into the ground. It could easily support anyone who wanted to climb down. I went first and Jessika followed right behind me, still holding a torch in her hand so we could see as we descended deeper and deeper into the cavern.
We touched ground level of the cavern. When I looked up, I nearly fainted. We were in a space the size of a football stadium. On the left side was an enormous water fall coming from above. On the right was an equally sized lava fall that illuminated the cavern. In the middle was a chunk of land separating the two streams. On the other side of the landmass, against the wall of the cavern was a single diamond placed gently on some strange glowing purple rock. On the ground next to the diamond you could see a few glowing red ores.
“RED STONE!” Jessika yelled. It was almost hard to hear her over the roaring of the falls.
We ran towards the red stone but as we approached the diamond, my body became heavier and heavier. Then suddenly, an enormous shock shot through my body and Jessika and I fell to the ground shaking in pain. Jessika screamed. I tried to get up but then a voice invaded the insides of my head.
“You shall die here, along with your friend. You cannot win, hero.” The voice felt like a blender on my eardrums. I couldn’t move. The pain was too overwhelming.
Out of the shadows in front of us came two dark figures. They both seemed very familiar. As they came closer, I recognized them. My parents. They were both grinning with vicious smiles, and started to approached. I couldn’t let it end like this. I reached for my sword and took it out. I used it as support to help me stand up. My parents were still approaching. I looked them straight in the eyes, and then more voices started blaring inside my head.
“Son, I am ashamed of you”, my dad’s voice said.
“We never wanted a child”, my mother screeched.
Tears blinded me, and anger blocked out all the pain going through my body. I sliced and cut right through the two figures like they were butter. I sprinted towards the diamond and grabbed it with my left hand. Immediately my hand started to burn like I had touched acid. I tossed the rock right into the pool of lava.
I heard a painful scream . “YOU CANNOT DESTROY US ALL!” Then the diamond vanished in the molten rock. I fell to my knees holding my badly burnt hand.
I turned towards Jessika, she was beginning to stand up. The diamond’s power had subsided. I had nearly forgotten our task at hand. We shook off our injuries and gathered all the red stone we could find. However, we were stopped by the sound of something big approaching.
Chapter 10: I play “Hero”
The word “big” has many meanings to it. It usually means one enormous entity, but in this situation, the enormous entity was mistaken for a very large group of creatures coming our way. Their footsteps shook the entire cavern. Jessika and I both knew we didn’t stand a chance against the countless waves of monsters that were going to attack us. I tried my best to think of any scenarios that would put this situation in our favour.
There was only one option. One person could easily carry all the red stone out of here. Jessika knows her way around here better than I do, and I would only slow her down.
I looked over and saw Jessika tightening her battle gear and preparing for the worst.
“Jessika, there’s only one way out of this”, I said,” take all the red stone and go to the exit. I can seal it off and stop them from following you into the city.”
“NO! We can’t do that. If there is anyone who should stay here it’s me! I can fight better than you can!” Tears were bursting out of her eyes like waterfalls.
“We both know, you can navigate the mine better than I can. The city NEEDS this red stone and you are the only one who can get it there before it is too late.” I wasn’t really good at giving bad news...
Jessika stood up straight and grabbed all the bags. She wiped her face and approached me.
“You better come out of this hell alive, you hear me?!” She was yelling but I knew it was out of concern. Then, just as I blinked my eyes, I felt the sensation of soft, warm lips- a kiss. I opened my eyes, and just as fast, Jessika was gone.
I smiled for a bit, but then I took out my sword. I aimed for the ceiling above the exit where Jessika had gone. I hit the rocks with a powerful strike and the rocks were reduced to rubble, blocking off the exit. I was now alone, and very much trapped.
Out of the shadows the monsters began to appear. Dozens of zombies with hungry faces glared right into my soul. Countless skeletons followed with their bows ready. Creepers scurried their way towards the front of the line. I stood my ground, completely surrounded in all directions.
My mind went racing, and everything became a blur. Quick- Think. Creeper. Explosion. Water. Safe. In seconds I had my plan mapped out. I did a full 180 degree turn to face a surprised creeper, and a body of water behind it. I sprinted towards it. In surprise, the zombies and skeletons backed off. Arrows zipped by me and the yells of hungry zombies filled the air. The creeper stood tall, its eyes glowing red. I lunged.
“SSSSSSSsssssss”
At the very last second, I planted my left foot into the ground right in front of the creeper and put all my weight into it. I used it as a spring to launch myself right into the water. Arrows zipped into the water as I jumped, one catching me in the ribs.
BOOOOOM. The first creeper exploded. Just as I thought, the explosion set off a chain reaction and the other creepers exploded as well. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Like an earthquake, the ground shook and the pool of water became a flushed toilet boil, twirling me around in its current like a ragdoll. I suddenly felt a drop, and I was sent straight into a small waterfall. I hit a still pool of water and began to float towards the surface.
Chapter 11: My luck gets better.
I crawled and pulled myself to the edge of the pool, lifting myself up. I blinked hard and gathered a good mental image of my surroundings.
I am going to be honest, everything worked out much better than I expected. I had successfully blown a hole right through the floor of the cavern. The series of explosions caused the cavern to completely collapse, leaving me a few more hundred feet below the original surface level. The ceiling was definitely three times higher than it had been before. The pools of water and lava were more scattered, and the exit to the shaft was definitely covered up and hidden forever.
Another good thing to notice was that every single menace and evil creature had vanished. Broken pieces of bones, and weapons were scattered all across the area. Luckily, I was able to scavenge some planks of wood and pieces of sharp rock. I needed these to make a pick-axe; the only tool that could help me get out of here.
I had no clue how long it had been since I last saw daylight. Just the thought of the sun beating down on me once more gave me more incentive to keep moving. I looked around and saw something that made the gears in my brain start to turn.
Gravel. Small, bits and pieces of rock. Most of the time when gravel is found, there is no real significance to it. However, last summer I went to the beach with my parents. Around the edges of the beach, where the sand touched the rocks, like a boundary line, there was gravel. Maybe it was true here too. My heart started to beat faster, and I began to chip and sweep away all the gravel in my way, traveling in an upward, slanted path.
I was getting tired and hungry. I had completely forgotten about the arrow that had made its way into my ribs. I stopped for a second to take a look. I lifted my armour covering my torso to reveal a small broken arrow still nudged into my lower rib cage. The flesh around it was bright red, and swollen. I grabbed the arrow with both of my palms and gave it a quick pull. I knelt over and screamed in pain, holding the piece of arrow in my hands as a trophy from my victory.
Minutes, hours, or days, I had no idea how long I have been missing. The very little hope I had left started to slip away after every swing of my pick-axe. Lactic acid built up in my arms, telling them to stop moving. I grabbed the tool, one last time, before I would decide to take a rest. With both arms I swung hard at the stone in front of me shattering the rock. I expected it to hit more stone behind it, but my pick kept moving and then suddenly I was face full of bright yellow sand.
I coughed up and fell over. I stood back up and almost cried at the scene. The beach. It was beautiful. The bright blue water brought tears to my eyes. The sound of the waves crashing on the sand was a symphony to my ears. I looked up at the sun. It was at its highest point, and proud of it.
Looking around I saw a familiar scene. Pieces of rock around the opening of the cave I just made were already chipped away. Someone had been here before. Then I realized it. On the ground was a hole clearly dug out by a person. My heart skipped a beat. It was MY hole. The hole I dug out when I found Ashley’s Blackberry. The rocks that were chipped away behind me were the spots where I found coal.
I ran. I ran faster than I had ever run before. Straight through the beach and right towards a very pleasing sight. My good ol’ hut I made a few days ago. I laughed at my piece of work. Half of it was professional work, and it looked nice, but the other half was clearly rushed. I remembered exactly why too; because I was so worried about Ashley.
Walking in was a happy feeling. All my things were exactly how I left them; tools, unfinished pieces of work, and even food. I gathered everything I needed and prepared myself for the end of my journey. I was heartbroken that I was unable to stay but I needed to get back to the city. I left the house with a feeling of victory and began my journey. I was hoping this would be the last time I would need to worry about anything like this again, but I was completely wrong like usual.
Chapter 12: Unexpected Guests
The journey back couldn’t have been any more stressful. I walked through fields and mountains without any problems! It had already become night but I had not seen a single soul in sight. That is what made the whole thing stressful. I was so sure I was going to be ambushed, or attacked that, I became extremely paranoid. Silence, darkness, loneliness, all of it made me feel really uneasy.
I reached two very familiar old trees. They arched towards each other making an entrance, the entrance to Creeper Forest. I remembered the first time I travelled through it. I wondered if Jessika made it in time. Did she save the citizens and stop the illness? Was Ashley back to her old self again? There was no time to stop and think. I had to keep moving. I drew my sword and cautiously entered the forest. With every step, I scanned the path ahead. I was light on my feet, and my hands were tingling with adrenaline. I was ready for anything.
I walked, and walked down the path towards the city. Nothing. Not a sound. It frightened me. Were these things planning something? Did they know I was here? What the hell is going on?! Even if the creatures didn’t mean to, they were driving me nuts. Then, I heard sounds from the bushes. I pivoted and prepared to slice the poor soul into a million pieces. Out of the bushes came a large, round, pink pig. It ran right by me, squealing.
I looked into the sky, my face full of anger and confusion. “WHERE ARE YOU?! COME OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME!”
I released all my bottled emotion, and yelled it as loud as I could. I felt much better, however the silence and loneliness continued.
I reached the end of the forest only to be welcomed by a troubling scene. The city’s lights were visible from here, which was odd because I vividly remembered that it was not usually lit up very well. Maybe a celebration? I began to come closer and my heart started to beat faster. I began to realize what was going on.
The lights were definitely not from a celebration or my welcoming party to my disappointment. Instead it was because the buildings were on fire. In fact most of the town was blazing and being overrun by flames. I began to sprint right towards the wall’s entrance until I stopped. Surrounding the entire city was an enormous battle. A gigantic mob of evil creatures were surrounding the walls. I was also able to see that they had also brought new cavalry, spiders.
The battle was dreadful. Soldiers in full battle armour fought to their greatest ability but they were being overrun. One by one I watched great citizens fall. I couldn’t take it any longer. I rushed the back lines with my sword in the air. My battle cry succeeded in getting the attention of a few dozen zombies and skeletons.
Swish. Slash. Crack. Stab. I parried, dodged and then attacked everything in sight. It felt much better to know why the journey here felt so easy. The blood rush that was going through my body felt incredible. Zombies and skeletons that crossed my path were destroyed almost instantly. Thank you martial arts.
But my domination over the creatures ended very shortly. It was very dark, so it was hard to see the largest spider I had ever seen, lunge right towards me. It’s pitch black hair felt like needles as it jumped right on me and knocked me on my back. It was the size of a Smart-Car but it had long terrorizing fangs that leaked toxic venom. I held it far enough away from me with both my arms but I knew it would kill me if I didn’t get it off me quickly.
Swish!
The weight of the spider lightened and it became limp over my body. I rolled it off quickly and had a quick glimpse of the spider’s back. An arrow went right through its vital spot, killing it instantly. I looked in the direction where the shot came from to see a skeleton who aimed for me but took down his comrade instead.
I didn’t know whether to say thank you or not so I just grabbed my sword and disabled the skeleton by literally “dis-arming” him. I left him there with one arm and continued towards the entrance where most of the action was occurring. There was no point in taking the life of a creature who had just saved me. Even if it was because of bad aim.
Then I saw her. Jessika. She was fighting off a mob of unfriendly zombies trying to get into one of the doors into the city. Behind her stood majority of what was left of the citizens of Sibia. She was about to get chewed up by a zombie flanking her but I was already on my way. From her blind side I charged and I beheaded Mr. Rotten Flesh. She looked at me and became frozen in shock. Tears started to form, and a small smile started to appear upon her face.
“Miss me?” I said.
Chapter 13: One thing leads to another....
I was hoping that with the dramatic entrance along with the miracle that I was still alive, I would be welcomed with open arms and hugs. Instead...
SMACK.
A solid slap to the face was good too I guess.
“Where have you been! We have been fighting off these damn things for days now and you think you can just jump right in!” She was absolutely furious. Just like something my mom would do. “I thought you were dead, Mo! We all did!”
I couldn’t think of an apology. I stood there rubbing the red mark on my right cheek.
“Well... I think it would be best if we took care of our problem here first”, I said finally, “You can hit me all you want later. Oh, what about Ashley? Is she alright?”
Jessika started to look calm. “She is taking care of the old and the children. Don’t worry lover boy, she is as good as new.”
I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Now it was time to figure out how to stop this chaos.
I looked around at the group of people we had left to fight with. Not many familiar faces, and most of them were scared way beyond sanity. There was also a little boy among them.
“Where is Pierce?” I asked.
Jessika’s face turned pale. She looked me right in the eyes. “His wife... T-the city started to burn, and to get everyone safe she... She saved many people... But many were lost. She and the elder were a few of them! Pierce- I am losing him, Mo! He is too shocked to even move. I left him with Ashley but I don’t know what to do...”
I grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to comfort her. “Everything will be alright. We just need to plan this out. Where are these things coming from? Where is the source?!”
An older man stepped forward. He had a long beard and wrinkles, but I was sure he was a good soldier to survive this long into battle. “They are coming from the forest. Creeper Forest has the most darkness around these parts.”
“Beware the darkness!” A voice rang in my head. I stumbled but caught myself.
“Are you hurt?” Jessika asked.
“No, I am fine”, I said, “We need to get rid of the forest. Pass me all the torches we have. We are going to fight fire with fire!”
“That is crazy they will kill you before you reach it!” Jessika yelled.
I gave her a confident smile. “Don’t worry. All I need is for everyone to prevent them from entering the city for as long as possible. I can make it.”
The little boy walked up to me. He was clearly not supposed to be here. I was sure he got lost but he was wearing full armour and had a shield that was bigger than he was.
“Take this shield”, he said in a cute little voice, “I think you should ride Porker. It will be faster.”
I took the shield, it was as hard as steel but was as light as a feather. “Porker?”
Chapter 14: Porker and I save the day.
You can ride horses. You can ride cows. You can even ride bulls. But I have never seen anyone ride a pig. My initial reaction to figuring out what he meant by, “You can ride Porker”, was somewhere between the lines of...
“Are you crazy? You want me to ride a walking bacon factory?”
The little boy gave me an angry sneer. “He is by far the fastest pig this land has ever seen! You will fly past everything!” In front of him stood a large, round pink pig. It had a saddle mounted on its back and a helmet strapped onto its head.
I didn’t have time to argue so I took the few torches we had left, the shield, and got ready to go on a suicide mission. Porker didn’t seem to enjoy having to support my weight on his back but it wasn’t a problem. As soon as I provoked him to start moving, we began to move at a surprisingly fast pace.
We raced right towards their front lines. Zombies and skeletons glared right at us. It was probably very hard to miss a teenage boy riding on a round, deliciously looking pink pig. As we approached them, I leaned forward as close as I could to the pig’s back. I held my shield high to protect most of my body. Porker didn’t seem to care that we were about to run straight into the countless waves of evil creatures. What a brave piece of bacon.
We hit the lines with great force. It was shocking how easily we pushed everything out of the way. Bones and rotten body parts went airborne. Monsters were flailing their arms while trying to get out of the way. Even spiders didn’t dare enter our path.
But unfortunately, the monsters were not as dumb as they looked. From a distance, skeletons began to rain down arrows, while the zombies chanted them on. We were approaching the forest, but it was getting harder and harder to deflect and maneuver around the arrows. Porker was also getting tired.
Then, I heard a loud, high pitched squeal, almost like a cry. I immediately closed my eyes and braced for impact. I was thrown straight forward, right into the air. I landed head first and my body skid across the grass. I was too dazed to get up, but the zombies and spiders were getting closer, really fast. I tried to look up and I saw that I was close enough to throw the torches into the trees. I stood up and started to light the torches. I drunkenly started throwing all the torches toward the forest. Some hit grass, but others were lucky enough to catch onto some branches. I watched as the forest became engulfed in flames.
Zombies moaned, and skeletons would have cried if they had the tears to do it. Spiders and the few creepers that managed not to explode charged at me with rage. I was alone, with no escape once more. I knew if I didn’t do something, this time for sure, would be my last.
I didn’t notice it at first because the fire was so bright, but my luck started to get better. The sun. It began to rise once more. All my strength came back, like magic. Skeletons and zombies burst into flames, and spiders and creepers became prey to the soldiers who started to rush towards the front lines. With nowhere to run or hide, it was slaughter. We didn’t stop until every last one of them was vanquished or burned to ashes.
I stood tall and rose my shield high in the air. Everyone began to cheer. But then the voice burst into my head once more.
“It is not over. Not even close, hero.”
I started to feel dizzy. The adrenaline started to flush away from my body and my wounds started screaming in pain. I closed my eyes and collapsed. I was so sure it was over too. Damn.
Chapter 15: A lack of hearts
Of course, I was in the same dream, again in the dark room with the creepy dark figure. I wasn’t really scared anymore, because I didn’t think he could hurt me. And so far, most of what he has said hasn’t really been bad either.
“It is almost time for us to meet.”, he said. And that was it. I blacked out again, unable to respond.
I woke up. But when I woke up I thought it was dream, because when I opened my eyes, I saw Ashley. She was leaning over me...crying? I had never seen her cry before. And I had no idea what she was crying about. It could not be because of me could it?
When I opened my eyes, the room around went silent. I was in the infirmary. Lanterns and torches brightly lit the room. There were beautiful paintings on the walls and beds scattered the room. They were made of the finest wool and wood available.
There must have been a dozen people surrounding me, most of them unfamiliar faces. Ashley was sobbing and leaning against me, while Jessika and the others were waiting anxiously. The room was silent and Ashley was frozen.
I haven’t seen Ashley in about a week. Instead I fought hordes of monsters and plunged into the darkest depths of the mines to help save everyone, especially her. She looked like a completely different person. She was wearing clothes that allowed her to blend in with everyone else, and she had leather armour strapped on top of it. Her hair was tied back and she wasn’t wearing any make up... Not that it mattered. She was beautiful even if she didn’t try to be.
I almost laughed because I was still wearing the same clothes as I did the day we entered this new world. But now they were burned and ripped to shreds.
Before I could speak, Ashley embraced me. “You saved us all! You are a hero, Mo!”
I hugged her back and looked at Jessika. She was giving me two big thumbs up.
“Ashley”, I said,” There is a lot we need to talk about...”
Ashley looked over towards Jesskia and everyone else. “Do you guys mind?”
Everyone nodded in agreement and left us alone in the infirmary. Ashley and I sat up on the bed and leaned against the wall.
“You are a hero. I don’t know why you went through all of that, but you did. And you saved me... I don’t know how to thank you. You are an amazing person, Mo.” She looked at me with a serious, yet thankful expression.
I looked down. “You are the only person that I can relate to in this world. It is also my fault we are here. I will find a way to get you out, I promise.”
She looked at me with confusion. “You are going to find a way to get ME out?” What about you? You are not considering staying here are you? Hahaha...” She started to sound nervous.
I tried to laugh too but I couldn’t do it. I stood up off the bed.
“In the other world... You have friends and family. They all love you. You are popular, talented, and everyone probably misses you right now... Me? My parents probably don’t even know I’m gone. The few friends I have probably don’t care, and I am enjoying myself a lot more here. I am a HERO! I blend in! I like it here... If I go back, it will be like all of this never happened and I will not be the hero I want to be.”
After I said it, I felt much better. It was a huge weight off my chest that was pulling me down.
Ashley got up and looked away. She started to head for the door. Before she left she looked at me once more. Her eyes were watery and her cheeks were burning red.
I felt guilty, and it was terrible. Somehow I hurt Ashley by telling her the truth. I decided it was best to take a walk.
I walked down the main road of the city, passing barbers, black smiths and shopkeepers. People waved at me and cheered, but all I could do was smile back and keep moving. My heart and my mind were having a battle of their own.
A person pushed me from behind. “Hey! How’s it going lover boy?”
I stopped and turned to face Jessika. She was wearing a dress rather than body armour. She looked really good, but her eyes still freaked me out a bit.
She saw the expression on my face and her attitude changed. “Oh... Well, I guess things didn’t work out? Can I walk with you?” She asked.
She followed by my side down the road. We headed outside the city, and past the city walls. We started talking about everything. Hopefully, I thought, I could get some answers to the many questions inside my head.
Chapter 16: My mind is blown.
I told her EVERYTHING I knew; where I’m from, how I got here, and all the crazy things I experienced before she found me. I couldn’t hold any of it in any longer, and it all came out at once. I finished my tale about my life and then we stopped.
We reached a cliff far away from the city. I hadn’t even noticed but we had already past what was left of Creeper Forest. We sat down, hanging our legs from the cliff.
Jessika was silent. She sat next to me looking into space. She was too shocked to speak. I could tell she was thinking hard about everything I just said, trying to process it all.
She finally took a deep breath and spoke.
“My parents... They were one of the very first miners to go into the mine where we found the cursed diamond. A few before them had gone but never returned. My mother and father and many others went down there to see what was going on, and try to find the missing miners. Out of twenty people to enter, my parents were the only ones to return... After that though, they were never the same... They isolated themselves from everyone and acted strangely. After a while, they begged the elder to re-enter the mineshaft and left without telling me! They never came back...
When you and I entered, we both heard what those voices said. There are more diamonds. And they need to be destroyed!
Not long after my parents went missing, chaos began to erupt and everything seemed hopeless... Until you came along! You have given everyone new hope! I don’t know why or how you got here but there must be a reason... The elder would know, but he...”
I just remembered that the elder was one of the many lost during the last battle to protect the city. Jessika’s brother had lost his wife as well.
She continued to speak. “We have faith in you. We will stop this crisis together.” She leaned over towards me. Our lips met, and I became even more confused.
We were both speechless. She got up, and turned towards the path back to Sibia. Her face was bright red. “We will be waiting, Mo. So don’t stay here day dreaming for too long!”
And with that she ran off.
Now I was really confused.
Romance was never my “thing.” I never really put much thought into drama. But now, I was knee deep in it. I liked Ashley, and now she notices me. But I do care a lot about Jessika and she likes me too...
“Enough”, I said to myself. “It is time to start thinking about the real problem.”
“And what problem would that be?” The voice came from behind me. I turned around and stood awestruck.
The elder stood there with two arms crossed. He was wearing a long vibrant robe, and a stylish hat. It was too classy for a dead guy to be wearing.
“You are supposed to be dead!” I said.
“Am I? I think we need to talk. Let us take a walk.” He said grinningly. His eyes were glaring sharply at me. I didn’t know whether to accept, or run away, but it was too late to choose. Four, very angry skeletons appeared from behind him, pointing their bows straight at my chest.
I guess I was taking a walk.
Chapter 17: Betrayal with a side of more confusion.
The elder lead the way. The more we walked, the more I hated the guy. I had no idea what was going on, but I had the feeling that he was a big part in this chaos.
We headed back towards the town. We moved at what seemed to be like a snail’s pace. The tension was building up in my body.
The elder finally spoke. “Well, it seems like we have a misunderstanding. I have no intention of hurting you or anyone. I just-“
“You’re a traitor!” I cut him off.
“Now, now... I am not the one pulling the strings. I am merely- taking orders. “ He stammered a bit on the last few words.
“Taking orders? The diamonds! Their controlling you! And you are letting them do so knowingly?” My mind was racing.
“Controlled? Me?! Ha! I am doing this on behalf of the people! This will make everything better!” He seemed excited.
“What is THIS you are talking about?” I asked.
“Well, my young lad, I am surprised. Hasn’t Jessika told you already? Her parents were a huge part of it after all. It all started because of them! But it doesn’t matter if I tell you now. We are here. Oh, look we have a few friends of yours to join us as well!”
We had taken a detour instead of going back to the city. It was a part of this land I had never seen before. The grass around us was dead and there were very few trees in the area. In front of us stood a large group of people, but they seemed to be separated. To the left stood countless soldiers and citizens with sinister facial expressions. They all held weapons and stared at me ferociously. Skeletons were scattered throughout the two groups, prepared for attack.
To the right stood a very small group of people; Ashley, Jessika, and the little boy who had given me the shield before. A familiar face was standing behind them, holding a sword to Ashley’s neck.
“Pierce!” I yelled. “What you doing! Get that sword away from her!” I was red with rage.
Pierce looked right into my eyes. “Listen to what the elder has to say”, he said, “Or the girl dies.”
I froze and stood in silence. In between the two groups was a large, deep crevice. I took the hint and needed to think fast.
The elder continued. “Citizens of Sibia! I know we have gone through rough times but today will be the start of a new era! Those who do not believe, will be punished and those who do will be rewarded life! I see we have chosen sides carefully. It is unfortunate for the few of you who are loyal to your corrupted values.”
Jessika spoke up. “Corrupted values huh? You ATTACKED us! YOU sent the hordes after us! It was you all along!”
The elder snickered.
Ashley couldn’t say a word. Pierce was pushing the tip of the blade against her skin.
The little boy looked at me. His eyes were watery but he held strong. He was a lot tougher than I was when I was his age.
The elder looked at him. “Young Caesar, will you join these traitors or will you fight with the winning side? Your father will be disappointed.”
The little boy named Caesar looked up. “I am a soldier of truth. A warrior of good. Nothing in the world will take that away from me. My father would never want this!” He said it proudly and valiantly. A true warrior indeed.
The corrupted citizens pointed their weapons at us, as they huddled us together at the edge of the crevice. I looked down and saw nothing but darkness. I pushed a rock over with my foot discretely and focused hard on nothing but the sound of the falling rock. It was difficult with the noise and chanting but it worked.
Splash!
I looked over towards Ashley and the others and smiled. Ashley looked really worried, and Jessika was more confused than anyone else. Caesar was smiling too; I am pretty sure he heard it as well.
The elder gave one last remark. “May the forces of this world punish you for your treachery!”
And with that we were pushed over. Ashley and Jessika were screaming. Caesar was trying to control his fall. I focused my vision towards the bottom. Please... i thought.
A flash of blue became visible . Water! And this time I was sure of it.
SPLASH!
Chapter 18: Hopelessness
Air. That was the thought going through my mind at the moment. I needed air. I was struggling to float to the surface. It was too dark to see where the surface was, but I kept swimming upward.
My arm reached the surface before anything else. I grabbed a hold on a edge of a nearby wall, and tried to pull myself up. I needed to gain my vision. It was dark. Extremely dark. I couldn’t hear anything except the roaring of the flowing water. I looked around for my lost friends but they were nowhere to be seen. I spotted a ledge, and realized it was a waterfall. My first instinct was to follow the flow of water, so it was my only option. I climbed to the edge and jumped.
SPLASH.
I hit the water once more but this time, the water was more calm. I could tell it was a smaller pool of water because it was shallow. I got out of the pool and started processing my surroundings. Still no one. I was standing at the edge of a small pool inside of an enormous cavern. Coal, and iron decorated the walls. I was about to give up until I heard sobbing.
I ran towards the direction of the sound. I didn’t care who or what was there, I just didn’t want to be alone. I turned a corner and found a cheering sight.
Jessika and Ashley were hugging each other for comfort, while Caesar was sitting there counting out the supplies and tools we had available.
“MO!” Ashley yelled. She got up and embraced me. The adrenaline had already started to leave my body, exposing the injuries I had taken from the fall. Her hug hurt me, but I tried not to show it.
Jessika smiled at the scene, and said, “Glad to see you made it, hero. I had no idea what you were thinking back there but it worked.” Her facial expression showed gratitude.
Caesar gave me a huge hug and started to get back to work, like a real soldier.
“What we need to do now, is scavenge as much as we can and set up camp’, I said, ”We have no idea what could be down here.”
“Alright, Jessika and I will go grab coal and anything burnable for light and heat”, Ashley said.
Caesar stood up. “I will stay here and keep watch. They might come looking for us.” He pulled out a small blade, the size of a knife. Even with that I knew he was dangerous.
I unsheathed my sword. It never left my side. I had already forgotten I was carrying it. “I will go look for any exits.”
Jessika looked concerned. “But, your injuries-“
“They will be fine. I won’t go far”, I said.
I turned towards the opposite direction of our unfinished camp and wandered off with no real destination, or sense of direction.
Of course, I wandered off too far. How long has it been? Minutes? Hours? I lost track. I kept walking, following the left side of the wall. I heard from somewhere that if you followed the left side of a maze, you will always find your way out. The difference was, this wasn’t a maze.
Surprisingly, I stumbled upon something that I couldn’t believe. At first I thought it was just an illusion but as I got closer, I began to realize that I wasn’t imagining it. A door. It was a wooden door.
I sprinted towards it and busted it open. Why care about manners when your life is on the line?
The room in front of me nearly gave me a heart attack. The floor around me was made of smooth stone. Off to the distance were pools of lava, giving the room its light source. The lava actually made it almost too bright. I had to squint to clearly visualize the rest of the scenery.
Around the room were shelves and stands for tools, and supplies, enough to last a lifetime. Everything was great but what really shocked me was the person standing in front of me staring me down. He was clearly aged and wore ragged clothing. However, where his eyes should have been, were pure white.
Chapter 19: The truth.
I lifted my sword and gripped it with both hands. The blade glimmered in the light. The dark figure started to approach slowly, raising his hands in the air.
As his body came out of the shadows, I lowered my sword. All this time, I had expected to see a monster, glaring at me with its pure white eyes. To my surprise, I was fooled. His intimidating white eyes vanished as he stepped forward into the light. It was revealed that he was actually just wearing large glasses. The glare from the lava pools had created the illusion this entire time.
“There is no need for violence here!” The old man said. He was unarmed and had his arms raised. His clothes were rather torn and ragged. He wore a large coat and had hiking gear strapped around his waist. He looked aged, but I didn’t let the wrinkles fool me. I kept my guard up.
“Who are you?” I asked.
He smiled. “It is good to finally meet you. I have waited all this time to finally find another person from the other world.”
His words sent a jolt through my body. “Other world?! Who are you? Tell me!” My voice was sounding rather intimidating.
He sighed. “Whoa! Calm down young hero. There is much to discuss but I think it will be better to start from the beginning. You may call me Mr. N by the way.
I have experienced much of what you have already. I was once climbing a mountain in Europe but then I fell. I fell right into this world. I don’t know how long it’s been, but I have been able to survive and exclude myself from the people of this world, so I can do research and learn about this earth we stand on.”
I needed more answers. “How did you do that thing where you entered my dreams? Why didn’t you help me from the start?”
Mr. N walked towards a few chairs and I followed him. We sat down and I prepared myself for a long story.
“Reincarnation”, he said, “Ever heard of it? It is the idea of life after death, but in a a new form. I have been trying to understand the concept since the beginning but it is complex. To my knowledge, it is extremely rare, and only happens to a few people in this world. To have it happen more than once is unheard of. Fascinating, isn’t it? To be able to die, but come back good as new?”
I thought about it all for a second. It didn’t really make sense and I couldn’t believe it. However, after what has already happened hasn’t really been “normal” either. I HAD experienced it before. I guess I was lucky.
I looked at Mr. N. “But why me?” I asked.
He stroked his chin. “Fate, I believe. Fate brought you into this world. Fate allowed us to create a connection in your mind. And fate brought us together at this very moment. I believe you will play a big part in this crisis. I know this wasn’t the first time you were told that.”
“What exactly is going on? If you know so much, why don’t you stop it?” I said.
“You must first understand what is being done to this world. In this world, diamonds are spread throughout the earth like veins. Sort of like veins in the body. Just like the body, I have come to the conclusion that there must be a central diamond deposit where the diamonds originate from", he said.
“A heart?” I started to understand.
“Exactly. And not long ago, the citizens of Sibia stumbled upon a stone. The stone is usually purple and glows in the dark. When arranged in a certain fashion, it creates a portal into another dimension, far more dangerous than anything you have ever seen. This dimension is a counter-part to this world and contains evil of great magnitude.”
“But what does that have to do with the crisis?” I asked.
He continued to give bad news. “It seems the citizens entered the dimension and brought back something that does not belong here. A diamond, cursed and infected with the evils of the other world. It has powers that can even control us. You have experienced it firsthand. Remember the heart you mentioned before? What happens when you put a virus into our heart and bloodstream?”
I understood now. “An infection... So this cursed diamond was placed in the center of the diamond source, and it has spread. And the only way to stop it is to...”
“Destroy it. But that is not all. We must seal any portals to the other dimension and seal off the diamond source from everyone.” Mr. N stood up and rummaged through his supplies he had around the room.
He grabbed an old wrapped up piece of parchment. “I know we have barely had any time to really get to know each other but it is time for you to return to your friends. I know saving the world is a little bit too much to ask but I cannot join you. I am quite old and weak against the diamonds. If they were to control me and know of any of the information I have to offer, you would be doomed. However I will be watching you and I will be there when you need me.”
He handed me the parchment.
“What is this?” I asked.
He smiled and chuckled a bit. “It is a map. A map to the Heart of Diamonds.”
Chapter 20: A family feud.
Armies of monsters, evil brainwashing diamonds, and a quest to save the world; yep, I should have been used to it by now, but it was still a lot to ask of your semi-average teenager.
I was still trying to wrap up everything that had just happened, however. I also had to find a way to explain it all to the others, without telling them the really weird details of “reincarnation.” Also, I thought it was crucial not tell them about destroying any portals yet. It was better to take it one step at a time.
As I was wandering my way back to camp, I took a look at he map Mr. N had given me. There were a few noticeable landmarks that we had to find, along with a few warning labels that pointed out to “potential threats.” Mr. N had done his research.
I reached camp, exhausted and starving. I was welcomed back with Jessika scolding me, and Ashley telling me how worried they were. Caesar was the only one remotely calm, and tried his best to hold back the two.
“I have a long story to tell”, I said, “We should sit down. I don’t think any of you will take this well.”
I told them everything I could, in the most detail possible. I left out the details about reincarnation and the portals, however.
They were silent. Ashley looked at me with big eyes, and Jessika sat there staring at the ground.
Caesar looked more confused rather than scared. “You met Notch?”
“Who?” I asked.
“Notch, the guy who called himself Mr. N. I have heard stories about him. Some say he is wiser than the elder himself. If he chose to talk to you, then it must be important. You mentioned something about a map?” Caesar looked interested.
I grabbed the piece of parchment out of my pocket and spread it against the floor of the cavern. Everyone leaned forward for a better look.
Jessika shot up and ran towards the edge of the campfire. “Look here! There is a marking n the ground! Just like the map! We are on the right track.”
I leaned back and took a sigh of relief. “Then we better get moving.”
We tore down camp, just as fast as we set it up. We covered our trails and followed the right path towards our destination. It was not long before we came across an eye-catching scene.
We stood on a cliff high above the cavern floor. It was hard to believe all of this was below ground. Hundreds of feet below us, we could see a group of soldiers accompanied by skeletons and zombies. There were no creepers in sight. Probably to avoid any “accidents.”
Leading the exhibition, in full uniform, stood Pierce, smiling maliciously. His eyes were bloodshot red and his skin was pale. He was a zombie, minus the flesh eating part.
Caesar and I had to hold Jessika back. If we hadn’t she would have jumped right off the cliff.
“Don’t worry, Jessika. We will get him back”, I said.
She sobbed and tried to hold back her tears, but it was clear that she was broken into pieces.
Chapter 21: I sleep it off.
My stomach and I growled in unison. Caesar grabbed his stomach as well, trying to hide his hunger.
“I think we should have something to eat and get some rest. It’s been a long day. I will cook up some soup with some… herbs I have”, Jessika said.
Jessika walked towards the supplies and Ashley followed her. I decided to go help too but as I approached their voices escalated. I stayed far enough away to hear them.
“So when are you going to make your move?” Jessika asked.
Ashley’s body language changed. ‘What do you mean?”
“Well if you don’t make your move on him, I will. You don’t deserve him.” Jessika seemed very confident in her words. I wondered who “he” was.
“Are you kidding me? You have no idea what you are even talking about!” Ashley yelled.
“You only like him because he saved you. Before, you didn’t even notice him. You should go back to “your world.” You don’t belong here.”
“You want to fight warrior girl?” Ashley was already planting her feet into the ground.
“Bring it on princess!” Jessika brought out her sword.
I got up and stepped in. “Whoa whoa! Let’s just take a step back and-“
“STAY OUT OF THIS!” They yelled in unison.
I backed off and decided to join Caesar by the campfire. At least he won’t try to kill me.
I sat down next to him in silence. We could here the two still having their catfight. We looked at each other with puzzled looks.
We both let out a long sigh and together we said,” Women.”
Caesar stared into the fire, he was in deep thought. “Mo, I have been thinking… There have been stories of a rebel group. They have existed ever since the beginning of our settlement in Sibia. They have always opposed the elder and have been trying to get rid of him ever since… With all of this going on right now, I was thinking…”
I looked at him, interested. “You’re saying maybe we can find them? And ask them for help?”
“Mo, we can’t do this alone. Reaching the Heart of Diamonds will be hard enough, but stopping the elder…”
“We will make it our second priority”, I said, “We can look for them while we get to our goal.”
Just as I finished, Jessika and Ashley walked in. They seemed to have sorted everything out, sort of.
“Here, I made soup”, Jessika said. She stood there holding four steaming bowls. They smelled great. Ashley passed around the spoons.
We had our dinner and relaxed. My eyes started to feel heavy, a little easier than usual. With what was going on, it was usually hard to fall asleep. I was happy that my body finally listened to me.
Chapter 22: La Resistance
I was in an earthquake. The ground was shaking violently, and the walls around me began to crumble. It was too dark to see anyone, and calling out didn’t work against the quake’s tremendous roar. However, I could here a faint whisper.
“Mo!”
The whisper started to grow louder and louder. The voice began to escalate over the sounds of the earthquake.
Then I woke up. My eyes shot open and I found Ashley shaking me furiously and yelling right into my face.
“Finally!’ She yelled. You could tell her eyes were still feeling heavy.
I yawned and tried to get up. “How long have I been asleep?”
Caesar showed up right behind Ashley and gave me a canteen of water.
“She drugged us”, Caesar said, “The soup had some special herbs in it. It caught me completely off guard. We’ve overslept, at least a few hours I’d say.”
My heart skipped a beat. I quickly scanned the area. There was a supply pack missing, and one less sleeping bag. Jessika was gone. I checked my pockets. I got up and scrambled to find it but it was gone too.
“The map! It’s gone!” I said.
Ashley’s face filled with anger. “That lying, evil…”
“It’s alright, we only have one path to follow. We should be able to catch up to her if we leave NOW.” Caesar said.
I grabbed my pack and started to move. “We better hurry. She’s going after Pierce.”
The three of us followed the path aimlessly. Everything about the path was identical, almost like we were traveling in circles. But after a while, we finally came to a stop when we saw something peculiar.
“Is that a light?” I asked.
“From a campfire. Let’s go, quietly”, Caesar said.
We cautiously approached the scene, trying to conceal ourselves the best we could. Unfortunately, I am no ninja, so I immediately stepped on some loose gravel and slipped. My supply pack fell and hit the ground with a loud CLANK.
In seconds, we had sword tips pointing at our throats.
“Who are you?! Answer or perish!” The voice was female, but very powerful. The tip of her blade pressed against the skin on my neck.
“M-my name is Mo”, I said, “We seek the route towards the Heart of Diamonds.”
A male teenager stepped forward, and gestured the few around us to lower their weapons. He had sandy blond hair and a scar across his left cheek. His eyes seemed to change color in the light.
“Stand down Sarah!", he said, "They aren't even armed! I am deeply sorry about my friends. They are a little jumpy… My name is Markus. We are La Resistance.”
They came closer together so it was easier to see them. There were four of them: the one in the middle, Markus, two females, along with one very large ogre-like male.
Markus helped me up, and began to introduce them.
“This is Sarah.” He pointed out the girl who tried to kill me. She had long black hair and dark brown eyes. She failed to show any compassion, not even a smile. First impressions showed that she probably had a mouth too.
“And this is Claudia.” The other girl had bleach blond fuzzy hair, and stunning blue eyes. She wore all white, like a Greek goddess. In her left hand she held a dagger made of either iron or steel. It was surely very sharp.
“And this big guy is Bruce.” The ogre-like teenager stepped forward. He could have been a star football player, or maybe a sumo wrestler. He would crush anyone back at home. His face was like the expression on an infants face; innocent and emotionless.
“Bruce doesn’t talk”, Markus said, “However, he is quite… Sensitive.”
"Thanks for the warning..." I said.
Caesar shook hands with Markus. “I knew we would find you.” He looked at me, and gave me a look of reassurance. “M name is Caesar. This is Ashley and Mo. We need your help.”
Markus stroked his chin even though he had little to no facial hair. “Please, come this way”, he said.
We followed the four of them into a lime-green tent. The inside was decorated in leather and the furniture was made of red wood oak. It was quite impressive for a quick, mobile camp set-up.
The three of us told our story, each of us trying to give them as many details as we could. Markus, Sarah, Claudia and Bruce were good listeners. By the end of it, there was a moment of silence. The seven of us were in deep thought.
Claudia spoke up. “It seems we're on a similar journey. The elder has been a nuisance to us for a long time. And this story of an upcoming evil approaching… We would hitting two birds with one stone…”
Ashley touched my hand and whispered in my ear. “Can we trust these guys?”
Sarah shot us a death stare from across the tent. “No secrets! How do we know this is true, Markus? These ‘outsiders’… I don’t like them.” She unsheathed a long curved blade.
Markus sighed. “Sarah, for once can you not scare away our guests. I, myself, have been noticing some underground movement. This story is almost identical to the one the last guest told us…”
The words spilled out of my mouth. “Last guest? Was it a girl? Jessika?!”
Bruce stood up. “She ran down Jagged Path. In a hurry she was…”
Markus, Claudia and Sarah were dead frozen. Their eyes were fixed on Bruce. I guess they were serious when they meant he never spoke.
Markus laughed and shook his head. “Bruce has never said a word to anyone. I guess he really trusts you guys. We will help you on your journey. You have my sword.”
Chapter 23: The Very Jagged Path.
Markus, Claudia, Sarah, and Bruce tore down their camp in a hurry. They seemed eager to get the chance to face the elder.
Markus, seemed to know the way. We followed them down a series of tunnels until we reached a closed off mine shaft.
“What is a mine shaft doing here?” I asked. “We are way too far from Sibia.”
Sarah hit me. "Ouch!" I yelled.
Sarah's face was red with anger. “Sibia is not the only city around here you know! There used to another great city right above us until the elder-“
Claudia shot Sarah a terrifying glare. “Sarah! Not now!”
Sarah’s head lowered. It was hard to believe someone as loud as her could be silenced so easily.
Caesar walked towards Claudia. They started talking about something in secret. You could hear Claudia giggling ever now and then.
Markus addressed the group. “This is the entrance to the Jagged Path. It was abandoned due to some crazy superstition. The miners who entered went insane. They tore down and demolished much of the mine. It seems we now know what exactly the ‘superstition’ is…”
Ashley stepped in. “We must close to an infected diamond vein! And the Heart of Diamonds shouldn’t be far!”
“Exactly”, Markus said. “The diamonds are powerful. Many of us don't know what we are up against. But then again, some people here already have first-hand experience with these things” He was looking right at me. Soon everyone was staring.
Claudia looked the most intrigued. "Really now? Mo, the hero of Sibia, has faced these malicious diamonds and lived? Please tell us."
I hated being put on the spot. “Uhh yeah... T-they try to use your own thoughts against you”, I said, “Jessika and I… The diamonds were close to beating us, but we got lucky. We need each other so we can watch each other’s backs.”
“So we’ll pair up”, Claudia said.
Markus seemed to like the idea. “Alright fine. Bruce and Sarah with me. Claudia, go with Caesar. Mo and Ashley, you two go together. We will travel in groups, one after another. The path is too narrow for everyone to go at the same time… Ten seconds. After the first group, each group counts ten seconds, and then they can go. That way, we are far enough away to help the other groups.”
“We will go first.” Caesar said.
Caesar and Claudia walked into the shaft and disappeared. I could have sworn they were holding hands. Smooth, Caesar. Real smooth.
Ten seconds of silence passed. “Let’s go, Markus, Bruce.” Claudia lead their group into the darkness, Bruce, watching their rear. Good idea, I thought.
I stood still, with Ashley next to me. I counted out ten long breaths. “That’s ten, let’s get moving.”
Ashley and I entered the Jagged Path. It was dark, scary, and overall not a great place for a first date. The ground shook beneath our feet. It felt like something large had fallen down. Please don’t be Bruce, I thought.
Ashley grabbed my hand and squeezed. I kept leading the way, smiling a little. Focus, we needed to focus. It would be a lot harder for mind tricks if we were focused. Small talk.
Like she was reading my mind, Ashley spoke up. “Mo… Now that we are alone, I wanted to ask… Have you been thinking about home lately?”
I thought about it for a second.
Ashley continued. “I mean, this isn't anything like home. You don’t want to stay here do you?”
I didn’t respond.
“It’s that Jessika girl isn’t it? Mo, she lied and tricked us! She’s just as much of an enemy as these diamonds are!”
I don’t know why, but my body filled with rage. “No, you’re wrong. Jessika only wanted to protect us. She just wants her brother back. Ashley, I like you, I really do, but I can’t go back. I need to finish what I started. I promise I will find a way to get you home, where you will be safe.”
She let go of my hand. I was sure I screwed up big time. We didn’t talk for quite some time. I didn’t want to look back, but I wanted to apologize. I turned around, but she was gone. Ashley had disappeared.
I ran full sprint back down the path. I jumped over pits and small crevices. Everything started to go blurry. I thought it was because I was moving so fast, but I realized it was definitely something else.
Then I found her. She was laying flat, face in the dust. I leaned over and tried to help her up. She was breathing. Thank goodness. I couldn’t pull her up, however, my strength was failing me.
My body became heavy. My eyes lost focus, and my throat became dry. Like nails on a chalkboard, a loud high-pitched screech invaded my eardrums. Too late, I thought.
Then everything faded to black.
Chapter 24 : I dream
Dreams. “Good” dreams can be anything from enjoyable past experiences, or fantasies like, sitting on the beach on a hot summer day while being served your favorite beverage, ice-cold with a squeezed lemon.
Nightmares, on the other hand, can leave you terrorized or shaken with fear, while cold sweat drips from your body.
Like all the other times, this dream, sure wasn’t a “good” dream. Definitely a nightmare, except this time I couldn’t wake up.
The scene materialized in front of me. I was weightless, floating a few feet above the ground. I could not speak, and everything I tried to touch passed right through my hand.
It was my home, the one back on the “real” world. I was in the dining room. The large table, made of polished redwood oak, stood firm in front of me. It was long and had a beautifully decorated tablecloth. There was a feast of delicious food, prepared and served on the table. It was dinnertime.
On each side of the table, sat my parents, dressed in newly washed, expensive, attire. Also at the table sat two police officers and the teacher who had accompanied us on the field trip Ashley and I went missing.
One of the police officers spoke. “Your child’s disappearance, along with Ashley Chase’s coincidental disappearance, has brought many questions to your family, Mr. Svenson.”
My father responded. “I am sure he is fine”, he said casually, “He is probably enjoying the scenery up there. The boy loves architecture and nature.” He continued to eat, like nothing had happened.
My mother seemed emotionless. She sat there reading her news article, not caring one little bit about the conversation. My face would have turned bright red with rage if it could. My fists clenched. They didn’t miss me.
My teacher, Mr. Birch spoke next. “We are concerned. Ashley and your son haven’t been seen for days! Her parents are very worried.”
My father gave him an amused stare. “So why are you here? You should be putting more bodies up that mountain looking for them rather than coming into my home and bothering my business. The boy is smart. If anything, HE is probably the one keeping them both alive.”
I relaxed myself. It wasn’t often that my dad complimented me. I also noticed that my mother’s hands were… shaking?
The two officers and Mr. Birch stood up. “We are deeply sorry for interrupting you, sir”, one of the officers said, “We will be on our way.
The three of them left. As soon as they heard the sound of the front door closing, my mother and father shot out of their chairs and embraced each other.
“Don’t worry, honey”, my father said, “I am sure Mo is alright. He is strong like an ox. We will see our boy soon.”
My eyes began to water. I tried to speak to them but I couldn’t. They cared, they actually cared! And with that the scene changed.
It was a battle scene. It was too real to feel like a nightmare. I was at a campsite, located underground. The walls looked similar and the ground was the same, dark gray color. This battle was definitely nearby to us.
The battle was extremely one sided. There were skeletons, zombies, and spiders crowding the area. The soldiers were wearing darkish silver battle armor, but something was strange. They weren’t fighting each other; they seemed to be fighting together.
I began to come closer and realized that the battle was actually just a crowd of enemies, surrounding a single individual. The crowd waved their weapons in the air and cheered like they had just come to the end of a long journey. The singled out person was Jessika.
She was surrounded in a circle. From a distance, I estimated at least a few hundred evil creatures and soldiers combined. There was no winning this fight.
I was now standing in breathing distance from Jessika. A man came from the crowd. At the same time, Jessika and I gave him a death glare. It was Pierce.
“Why hello there, sis! Where is your little squad of warriors? Have they scurried away already?” He laughed and many of the other soldiers followed.
Jessika was trembling with fury. She also seemed ready to break down and cry. “Pierce, why?! Why would you do this?! Mother and father would want you-“
“Want me to do what?! They’re dead! And if you knew the truth, you would be fighting along side me, not against me!” I couldn’t notice before but Pierce’s body seemed much more pale than it was before. Fatigue was overwhelming him.
Jessika pointed the tip of her sword towards Pierce. “They have corrupted you! I will save you, I promise!”
Pierce laughed. “Corruption? You don’t even know the word. I am here because I CHOSE to be here. There is no sense in controlling something you already have on your side! Now the elder, that’s a different story. Guards! Take my sis to the imprisonment tent. If she tries to escape, feel free to cut her up a bit!”
Soldiers started to surround her. I tried to call out once more, but I was in vain. I began to float away farther and farther from the scene. It soon became a blur in the distance. The scene changed once more.
I was flying. It would have been the time of my life if I knew where I was going. I started to descend. When I reached the earth, I tried to study my surroundings.
Ruins. Ruins surrounded me. I stood at the center. The area was littered with demolished buildings made of stone. It was frightening. The only thing that made me feel better was that the ground was covered in sand. Sibia had grass. This wasn’t Sibia.
In front of me stood the foundation of a massive castle. I wondered what had happened here.
Right on cue, my vision began to blur. The area around me began to… change. Sand moved in weird directions, and the sun rose and set in extreme speeds. Right before my eyes, I saw weeds diminish to nothing but roots and animals travel backwards. I was going back in time.
Buildings began to rebuild themselves and fires went and disappeared. Everything came and went so fast. People began to appear in blurs. Before I knew it, I was standing next to a man while surrounded by a huge crowd.
I looked at the man next to me. He was middle aged, and wore old-fashioned robes. However I recognized him. He had the same eyes, and that face. He was the elder, but younger and more together.
I panicked. I looked around and in the crowd I spotted four familiar faces. Markus, Sarah, Claudia, and Bruce were standing in the crowd. They were all holding on to each other. Their eyes were puffy, from crying.
A man stepped forward from the crowd, and I turned to face him. The elder knelt down, and looked like he was starting to sob.
“LINUS!” The man said in a powerful roar. He wore gold trimmed attire, along with a crown. He was their king for sure. I was also surprised that he addressed the elder as “Linus.”
“It is you who is at fault!” The king said. “You have brought this great evil upon us! We are slowly dying because of your foolish actions! Your presence only brings more danger to our society! Be gone, and never return!”
The elder looked up. He was at his limit. He started to plead. “Please my lord! My wife, Andrea! She is sick! I need to help her! I can-”
“BANISHMENT! That is what you get! As a king, it would be my job to have your head on a stick for the burden you have dropped on our shoulders! I am not like any other king, however! I will give you one chance! Find the cure! Bring it back! You may be able to save your wife and the people who are ill! But only then can you return!”
The elder's eyes started to gleam with hope. “Yes! Yes, I will! I promise I will find a way to save all of you!” He looked around at the crowd. Their faces were full of shame and disappointment.
The king started to turn away. “Run Linus! You have until nightfall. After that, I will send the finest hunters to hunt you down. The next time we meet, you will either have the cure in your hands or you will be lifeless and thrown back into that hell you love so much!”
I was inside of the cathedral-like structure back in Sibia. The insides looked cleaner and nicer than it did before. Still back in time, I thought.
I stood again next to the elder. This time he was more aged and fatigued. His clothes were old and ragged. He was once again in the same pleading position like before.
In front of us stood a man and a female. They were both wearing elegant clothing, and wore crowns. The king and queen of Sibia? I paid close attention. We were the only ones present.
The elder spoke. His old bones were shaking and his voice was rather weak. “My lord, you must stop! The powers you are tampering with are too strong. They will destroy us all!”
The king sneered. “You come into my city, and we offer you our hospitality. Now, you are trying to tell ME what to do?”
The elder’s eyes started to water. “I have got news that my home has been destroyed by the very same force you are tying to capture… Everyone is dead! I failed them! Even my wife… Andrea… Think about your people! Your son, Caesar!”
“ENOUGH! You will not bring my son into this! You will oversee the building of this structure as instructed! No excuses!”
Suddenly a loud ringing shredded my eardrums. I could tell the elder heard it too, because he fell to the ground, covering his ears.
A voice was speaking to me, beckoning. I fought the urge to grab my sword, but the elder fell into its persuasive powers. He brought out long dagger. Its blade was pointing right at the king’s throat. I closed my eyes. He lunged.
The cathedral-like structure absorbed the screams of the king and queen. It was not long before the sound of two bodies hit the ground. Then there was silence.
I opened my eyes. The scene was covered in red. The two bodies were limp at the other end of the room. The elder stood awestruck over them. His clothing and his hands were painted with blood. His body started to shake and he dropped the dagger onto the stone floor. Then he collapsed.
Seconds later, like a dog playing dead, the elder stood straight up. His eyes were not the same. They were blood shot and bulging, almost demon-like. He bent over in a weird fashion, his body bent at a ninety-degree angle. He extended his arm to pick up something. It looked like someone was playing puppeteer with his body.
He stood up straight again, but holding the king’s crown. He put it on his head, elegantly, staring into the distance. It was almost like he could see me. He stood there for a few seconds, then bent over again, but grabbing the ankles of the limp bodies of the king and queen, one in each hand. He continued to drag them across the floor, leaving a trail of scarlet red. He went into a back room and didn’t return.
I stared into the back room, into the darkness. Then, suddenly, the elder came rushing out, head tilted and showing his teeth. He let out a loud shriek and lunged right for me.
I closed my eyes.
Chapter 26: Time is never a blessing.
My eyes shot open. My body jolted into an upright position. I was shivering. Cold sweat covered my body.
I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know what I was doing. All I could think about was that face. Those eyes and those terrorizing teeth sent freezing chills up my spine.
I knew too much. In one night, I learned everything I needed to about my friends, my enemy, and myself. It was too much to understand. What exactly happened to the elder’s last city? What power was he referring to? Was it the diamonds?
My questions would have to wait. I needed to snap out of it.
Instantly, I triggered my panic button. I realized my objective, and my destination. I remembered what happened, and how I collapsed. I quickly stood up, and tried to look around.
Good, I was in the same place. Ashley was lying on the ground next to me. She was motionless, but breathing. How long have we been here? There was no time. If my dreams were correct, Jessika was in danger. I needed to get Ashley out of here and stop Pierce. Stop him from reaching the Heart of Diamonds.
I picked up Ashley. It was no easy task either. She was not heavy, but my body was still suffering from painful fatigue. A burden I had to carry.
I dragged myself, carrying Ashley, down the rest of Jagged Path. We were almost there, I could feel it.
Minutes past, and the dark, dangerous path continued. There were no monsters, nothing. I became extremely worried. Why hadn’t the others come back to look for us? They should have come back if it took us too long…
Just as my legs started to burn from lactic acid, I saw the exit. There was a light at the end. Usually, you wouldn’t want to go to the light at the end of a tunnel but in this case, it was a blessing.
The shallow ceiling lifted and the brightness blinded me. Just as we exited the treacherous obstacle, I dropped to my knees, and set Ashley down on the cavern floor. I was exhausted. The sound of my heavy breathing was triumphed by the sounds of my fast beating heart.
I looked up. We were on a cliff side, overlooking an underground canyon. In the canyon were hundreds of tents. It was THEM. Those evil creatures and corrupted soldiers were sleeping soundly, and all their lights were out. pierce was waiting.
On the cliff side was an even more disturbing scene. Caesar and Claudia were half passed out, holding each other. Their bodies were cut and bloody. Their armor was dented and damaged. It looked like they had been fighting for days without rest.
Next to them sat Markus, Sarah, and Bruce, also in critical condition. Markus was holding Sarah, and Bruce was trying to stand up. Markus was slightly conscious but didn’t seem like he would respond. Bruce seemed more dazed than anything. Sarah seemed to get the worst of it. She was not awake, just like Ashley.
“What the hell happened here?” I asked. The words barely came out of my dry, exhausted throat.
Caesar looked up. His eyes were pink from letting out tears. He was at his limit.
“Y-you two are alive! Is it r-really you? I could have sworn… B-back there, you two got…” Caesar was trying his best to speak. He was traumatized.
“Got what? Caesar what happened here? “ I was getting feeling back in my body. There was much more pain, however, as the adrenaline exited my system.
He took a dead breath. He is good at calming himself that way. Claudia was just starting to realize what was happening.
“The diamonds were too strong. We were overwhelmed! Claudia, started to cry and she went on a fury! Markus and the others, weren’t as lucky… Sarah charged Bruce, and Bruce fought back. Markus tried to keep control of himself but he was also falling into the damn rock’s voice! It beckoned to me!”
Ashley and I were lucky then, I thought. I don’t know what I would have done if Ashley tried to kill me.
Caesar continued. “That’s not all! Zombies! They came from the walls! They looked like the townspeople! I saw my parents!” He started to weep.
“Caesar, those weren’t your parents”, I said, “ The diamonds are trying to trick you, just like how they tried to trick me!”
Just then, the sound of a battle horn filled the air.
Everyone’s eyes widened. Markus seemed to be getting back to his feet. Bruce was standing up, swinging his arms around, getting the circulation back to his body. Ashley and Sarah were still out. Claudia and Caesar were starting to get back to normal as well.
Markus looked at me. “You guys… you hear that? They’re moving.” He seemed to be listening the entire time. he was in deep thought.
My mind went racing. “Jessika is there! I have to go find her!”
Caesar and Markus shook their heads. “Look at us, Mo!” Caesar said. “There is no way we can get down there! Even if we could we are not in fighting shape!”
I got up and made sure Ashley was in a comfortable position. I picked up my sword and shield. If it had to be done, it would have to done alone.
Just as I thought I would be doing this all alone, an enormous hand landed on my right shoulder. I turned around to face Bruce who was standing up straight and smiling.
Markus let out a small laugh. “You are going into the depths of hell, Mo. As soon as we are all good to go here, I am going to lead them to the Heart of Diamonds. We will not wait for you two.”
I looked at Bruce. He turned around and grabbed a long broadsword, the size of my body. He didn’t say anything, only a nod.
“Markus, you better get them there safely! I’m counting on you! And Caesar, try and take care of Ashley for me.” I said.
Caesar gave me a sad expression. “You are coming back.” He said it in a way more to convince himself.
Markus scurried his way to Caesar and put a hand on his shoulder. “Caesar-“
“I promise I will!” I interrupted. “Because I still owe you one for last time. For Porker!”
Markus just stood there and looked confused. "Porker?"
Caesar couldn’t help but smile. "Alright, for Porker!"
And with that Bruce and I started our way down the cliff, toward the hordes of evil creatures waiting for us.
"Pierce, I will drag you here dead or alive", I thought.
Chapter 27:Team Bonding
Cliffs and heights were never my “thing”. To be honest, I would rather go through days of digging up sand without water, than climbing down a steep cliff. It wasn’t only climbing down the cliff that made me uneasy, however. It was climbing down, undetected.
Like, two large shadows, we drifted towards the bottom, silently and steadily. As we approached the ground, I could see dark figures moving about. Torches began to light up and the entire camp started to come to life.
I thought the battle horn meant it was time for their departure, however, I was completely wrong. The tents remained untouched, while the dark figures began to move about, with full equipment strapped onto their backs.
I looked at Bruce who was staggering above me, trying not to make any sudden movements. He was a big guy carrying a large sword and pack so anything rash could eliminate our element of surprise.
“Is it a drill?” I whispered.
He looked at me with a confused face and shrugged his shoulders. At first it didn’t give me much confidence but then again, I was with was Bruce. He was a one-man-army.
We touched ground. We were on the outskirts of their underground camp. We crouched and tried to remain unseen. I gestured for Bruce to take off his pack and leave it here. We couldn’t afford anything to slow us down. Our mission was to find Jessika and get out of there as fast as possible. Maybe even show Pierce a thing or two before we continued our journey.
It must have been our lucky day. We started to creep our way, still crouched, into the camp. We stumbled upon two soldiers talking.
“Hey, Fred, what’s going on again?” One of them said. He was older and had a long beard.
“Uhhh, I think Sir Pierce found something "special" in the deep tunnel entrance. It might be our way out of this underground hell.” The other one said. He looked a lot younger than the other guy.
“You think it’s the Heart of Diamonds?” The bearded one asked.
“No, something different. The elder told us about another objective, remember?”
Bruce got tired of listening. Before the other one could respond, Bruce brought out his broadsword and swung with the flat side of his blade. The two of them were both knocked right into the nearest tent, unconscious.
He looked at me. “No need for blood”, he said, while showing me the flat side of his broadsword.
I nodded and we continued deeper into camp. We avoided any contact. We needed to find Jessika’s prison tent.
Time passed and we were still out of luck. There was no distinction between the hundreds of tents around us. Luckily, all the warriors were gone, even the zombies and skeletons. But even so, our time was running out. We needed to hurry.
I heard something. I stood still, absolutely motionless. Bruce did the same. The sound continued. My feet wheeled into gear and ran towards the direction of the sound.
Chains, I thought. It was the sound of chains; rusty pieces metal grinding against each other. I ran faster. The sound got louder and louder, and my heart began to beat faster and faster.
I found myself standing in front of a large green tent. There were no torches lit, so it was easily concealed in the darkness. Idiot, I thought.
Bruce stumbled in behind me, head swerving from side to side, scanning the area. I turned towards him.
“Bruce, stay out here”, I said, “I will go inside alone.”
Bruce nodded and gripped his sword. I continued my way in.
It was dark. There was no source of light in the entire tent. There were chains, and cuffs attached to the sides and the ground was cold as ice. It may have looked like a tent from the outside, but it as definitely a prison cell. At the very end of the room I saw a figure. The figure had long hair and familiar battle armor.
I sprinted towards her. As soon as I got halfway, however, I tripped. My body fell instantly. I looked at my feet. A trip wire!
Immediately after, a mechanism from the right side began to creak and an arrow shot right towards me. I ducked and it passed by my head. The room became brighter. The left side of the cell began to light up in a fury of flames.
“A trap!” I yelled. I was hoping that my voice would reach Bruce on the outside, but I had no time.
I jolted back up and continued towards the other end of the cell and reached her.
Jessika was chained against the wall. Her head was down, but you could see that she was still breathing.
Her clothes and battle gear didn’t stand a chance against their methods of torture. They were completely torn apart. She wasn’t in prime condition either. She had cuts and bruises all over; fresh scarlet blood was still dripping from her body.
My body started shaking uncontrollably. I have never been this angry before. I unsheathed my sword, and swung hard. I broke the bonds of the chains and caught Jessika before she fell. The flames around us were beginning to engulf us. The way out was already covered in fire.
I quickly loosened the knots on my boots, and positioned Jessika onto my back. I ran straight towards the exit.
Chapter 28: Barefoot
Hot. That was the only word I could think of at the moment. It was like one of those workplace-bonding clinics where they walk barefoot on hot pieces of coal. That is how I imagined it.
In reality, however this wasn’t a test. It wasn’t a workplace-bonding session. There was no coal, no overly excited “bonding” expert trying to encourage me, and no crowd of people pushing to go forward.
It was just fire and I, coming face to face, like two rivals. It would have been a lot easier if I wasn’t carrying Jessika as well, but nothing was going to stop me. We needed to escape.
Tears blinded me, and sensations of pain sent signals all over my body. I never knew how it felt like to burn something alive. “After this is all over”, I thought, “I’m becoming vegetarian.”
SMASH!
I dove through the exit and hit the ground hard. The tent behind me started to collapse, its support beams and foundation feeling the wrath of the burning red light.
I rolled Jessika over quickly to make sure she was safe. I turned my attention to my own body and immediately began to act.
I kicked off my loose boots, which were burning furiously. The smell of burning leather almost made me sick. My shins and calves were burned, and no amount of painkillers would help me once the pain starts to kick in.
My ears were still focused on the crackling of the fire, however, seconds later; I heard clashing metal, and fast-paced footsteps.
I looked up, and saw Bruce using all his might to fight off at least a dozen soldiers. He swung his sword low to his right, catching a poor soul off guard, and killing him instantly. Bruce, with his free hand, then swung in the opposite direction, and met fist to face with the warrior trying to flank him.
More horns started to blow, which probably meant reinforcements. I got up, trying not to put all my weight on my legs and charged, leaving Jessika in relatively safe distance from the fight and the fire.
I charged right into the center of attention, giving Bruce the chance to breathe. Swords were swung, barely missing me, and shields were thrown into my way, trying to catch me off guard I swung and stabbed in all directions, occasionally hearing the satisfying grunt or yell of a downed enemy.
As I continued to fight, I slowly started to have a nostalgic feeling. At the same time, I began to relive a distant memory.
I was thirteen. Everywhere I went, I was known as the “future architect” or the “striving artist” of my generation. It was my hobby, my passion. There was not a single thing that could stop me from achieving my goal, to build a complete replica of the Coliseum.
It was a sunny day. My father and I would always go to the pier on sunny days, and have a bite to eat as well as some ice cream. On the way home, we talked.
“Son, what do you want to do when you grow up?” My father asked. He stroked his chin, and looked off into the distance.
“Well… I want to become an artist! Or an Architect! Everyone says I should!”
My father looked at me with a serious face. “I asked what do YOU want to do, not what everyone says you SHOULD do.”
I didn’t quite understand what he meant back then.
“Son”, he said, “I am enrolling you in every single martial arts class I can find. You will have the best teachers and the best instruction possible.”
“WHY?! I don’t want to!” I cried.
He smiled. Whenever he smiled, he always had a point to make, something to prove.
“Because someday, it will be important to you. If by chance, your architecture skills fail to keep you passionate, you always have something to fall back on!”
He laughed and continued to eat his ice cream.
The next month I was enrolled into several different dojos and schools. I spent so much time training; I never had the chance to even give it a second thought.
By the time I had turned fourteen, I was put into my very first major martial arts tournament. The feeling of nervousness invaded my stomach. I was worried that I would disappoint my father.
The moment I entered the mat, I was hit hard, and nearly lost consciousness. I was too afraid to see my father’s face but I looked anyway. What I saw was… a smile?
He was happy? He was happy that I was getting my butt kicked? But then I remembered what he had said to me even before I turned ten.
“As long as your passion for something burns bright, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, as long as you have fun.”
I got right back up onto the mat and continued to fight. It was my first time ever having this feeling, the feeling of enjoyment, and passion for martial arts. Until now, I had completely forgotten about it, but now it is clear.
I won the tournament and continued to go to practices and try my best. The feeling of enjoyment eventually faded away, but now I have recovered it once more.
This amazing feeling sent tingles throughout my body every time I swung my sword. I started performing at a level I had never even believed I could achieve. My body’s extent felt limitless. Like paper, I sliced through enemies and continued on a rampage. There was no one left by the time I was finished. I stood there gasping for air, and smiling.
Bruce put a hand on my shoulder, telling me to look up. From the shadows, came zombies and skeletons, along with creepers and spiders, at massive amounts. They all seemed very displeased that I had diminished their allies down to corpses. It didn’t even bother me that they were once the townspeople of Sibia. What they did to Jessika was unforgivable.
They began to walk forward but were immediately interrupted by a small earthquake. Another small earthquake came right after it, and then another. I began to realize that those were not earthquakes, but extremely large footsteps.
From behind the horde of creatures came the largest spider I had ever seen in my life. Its head must have been at least ten feet in diameter. It had dark purple skin with red-tipped spiky fur, in contrast to the other spiders, which were all pure black. Its red eyes stared right into my soul.
I let out a huge sarcastic laugh, as I saw the dozens of skeletons with bows riding on the humongous spider’s back.
“REALLY?!” I asked.
And without another word Bruce and I charged.
Chapter 29: A giant falls.
There was no battle plan. No strategy. I was hoping Bruce and I could take on the entire army on our own, but I was mistaken.
In the first moments of battle, I was struck in the lower part of my body by an arrow. Not long after, I tried dodging another one, however, it caught me in the left shoulder blade.
There was too much pain for a normal human being to handle. Thank you, adrenaline.
I had already lost feeling in my hands and feet. My tongue was going numb too, but I kept fighting. I will not let Bruce down, I thought. Not after what we've been through. We were so close.
My enemy was the giant spider. If I could take down that thing, the rest would be an easy task to complete. I sliced at the nearest zombie, severing its torso. I took a few steps back and jabbed into a spider's skull with my blade. My movement started to get slower. It was only a matter of time before it was over. I sprinted forward towards the abomination. The skeletons on the back of the spider were notching their arrows. Now was my chance.
From behind me, I heard the cry of zombies and skeletons. My eyes glared towards Bruce who had been in front of me the entire time. I looked back to see Jessika, staggering behind us, clearing off the enemies that went past us.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I yelled. I started to feel nauseous. With those injuries, Jessika is in no condition to fight, I thought. I needed to get this done quickly.
I was nearly face to face with the monster, until a zombie tackled me onto the ground. Its teeth glistened with saliva. The zombie tried taking a bite off my face, but I managed to put my sword through his body. Dark red blood covered my armor. I got back up and quickly sidestepped, dodging the fangs of the extremely large spider. The monster didn't want to waste time either. It charged me.
It was instinct. I ran straight towards it. The skeletons on top of its back shot a rain of arrows at me. I couldn't tell if any had hit me or not. I kept running. Just as I was about to become dinner for the creature, I slid. Feet first, I slid right under it, lifting my sword viciously, dragging it all the way down its belly. It was like your classic dissection. The spider stopped in its tracks, with a huge THUMP. Anything riding it, and anything near it, became history. I crawled away from the corpse, covered in spider guts.
"Disgusting", I said.
The battle raging around me continued. Jessika was severely handicapped, and was barely holding off her share of enemies. Bruce was striking down monsters, groups at a time, however, they kept pouring in. The battle seemed to have no end.
I continued on my rampage and tried to fight off as many as I could. In no time, my arms were covered in cuts, and my armor was almost at its end. Was there no end to this madness?
Suddenly, a high pitched scream filled the air. "NOOOOO!" I immediately recognized it to be Jessika's voice. I glanced towards her direction. She had her hands covering her mouth, and she was ready to burst into tears. She was looking in the other direction.
I turned around to see Bruce, motionless. His mouth was open, trying to say something. His skin had turned pale, and his eyes were rolled back. Only after I saw the scarlet blood dripping down his body, did I notice the bronze sword sticking out of his chest. I stared at him, in devastation, unable to look away, unable to think. The figure behind him gave him a shove, throwing the lifeless body onto the cavern floor.
The figure retrieved his sword from the body and stood in a firm, tall stance. He snickered, and showed us his pearly white teeth.
"Well, what do we have here?" The battle around us began to slow down to a stop. The creatures started to circle us, so that we couldn't escape, leaving Jessika and I to be the only two standing in front of the demon himself.
Pierce.
Chapter 30: I slash and Pierce pierces me.
Loss. I thought I knew the feeling. All my life, I have lost homework and lunches, and I have always thought I had a grasp on how painful it is to lose something important, someone close to you. I was completely mistaken.
Jessika dropped down to her knees and continued to cry. She paid no attention to the surrounding waves of creatures. Pierce had hit her weak spot.
I was frozen as well, too shocked to move. I just stood still and stared. I stared right at Bruce’s limp body. It was lying, motionless, on the cold stone floor, with blood slowly filling the space around it. The giant, who was full of life just moments ago, was now gone. Gone forever.
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what I COULD do. We were surrounded, and severely injured. I was at my limit, both physically and emotionally. It was hopeless. I was ready to give up.
Images began to flash through my head at light speed. I saw images of old friends, family, even Ashley. The images quickly transitioned to shards of memories about laughter and happiness. A warm feeling started to fill my body.
Then I saw Mr. N, or “Notch” as Caesar called him. He was standing in front of me in the same attire when we first met. He was looking right at me with his round glasses. He opened his mouth and started to speak.
“Fate, I believe. Fate brought you into this world. Fate allowed us to create a connection in your mind. And fate brought us together at this very moment. I believe you will play a big part in this crisis. I know this wasn’t the first time you were told that.”
He was right, I thought. Right now, everyone believes in me. I couldn’t give up now.
I glared into the eyes of Pierce. No more mercy. I grabbed a hold of my sword and gripped it firmly, pointing the tip at Pierce’s neck.
“Oh, so you want to fight me now? What makes you think you can defeat me?” He said. His skin was pale white, and his eyes were more bloodshot than before. He was not Pierce anymore.
Before I could charge, a soldier ran to Pierce’s side and spoke to him directly, completely ignoring me.
“Sir, THEY are here. It is time for us to leave.” The soldier looked tense, almost like he was in a hurry.
“No!” Pierce said. “We are THIS close to taking down the enemy!” His eyes shot me a glare. “I will stay here and finish this.”
And with that the group of creatures surrounding us started to scatter. They almost seemed… scared?
I didn’t care about them. I charged at my target. Our blades interlocked immediately. Pierce brought out his shield and tried to weaken my stance. I stood firm and jabbed at the opening under his right arm.
SLASH!
Pierce quickly parried my strike and sliced my chest plate right in half, catching some of my chest. A hot stinging sensation filled up my torso.
“Aaaaggghhh!” I yelled. My vision was starting to blur. I tried to focus on my surroundings. The entire underground cavern was almost empty of any creatures. Jessika was still kneeling. It was now just the three of us.
I continued to fight, sidestepping and swinging. I caught one part of his shoulder, but the padding was rough. He barely felt a thing. I turned to Jessika once more to make sure she was all right.
“Haven’t you learned anything yet? Never turn your attention away from a battle!” Pierce roared and swung his sword when I wasn’t paying attention.
I quickly forced myself to swing my arm in his direction. My blade hissed as it sliced through the air itself.
SLASH!
Chapter 31: Blackness
In an instant, it was over. Blood covered my face, acting as a veil, shading everything in scarlet color. I stood tall, blade gripped in both hands. In front of me stood Pierce, hunched over, holding onto my sword. His hands were tightly wrapped around my blade, gripping it so tightly that it made cuts in his fingers. The blade ran straight towards him, disappearing in his battle armor. I could clearly see the other end, sticking out of his upper back.
Jessika was as shocked as I was, still kneeling on the floor. Her eyes grew larger and more tears began to burst down her cheeks. She continued to cry and weep while Pierce and I stood silent, staring into each other’s faces.
Pierce’s expression changed. He looked as if he had finally recognized himself. With the last bit of strength he had, he gripped the blade even tighter and pulled it towards himself, thrusting the sword deeper into his body. With this, he was now inches away. I could hear his damaged heart struggling to pump out more blood.
Pierce leaned over, putting his mouth to my ear and began to whisper.
“M-Mo... I-I... S-sorry... Portal... Under c-castle...” He coughed out his final breaths and became limp over my shoulder.
I squatted down and laid Pierce down on his side. I left everything as it was, sword and all. I didn’t know how to feel. I had just defeated my enemy, however, in the end he tried to tell me something. Tears ran down my face, and an extreme feeling of pain invaded my body. I closed my eyes and tried to think.
“Portal under castle...”
What did that mean?
“Mo...”
I opened my eyes and turned to find Jessika, holding herself. She was still in wrecked clothing, and covered in blood. Her eyes were still draining the tears. She came closer to me and quickly grabbed me around my neck, embracing me tightly. Her body was warm, subsiding the cold.
We stood there for what seemed to be eternity, staring at the many people and creatures who had fallen. This camp that was once so full of life, was now a graveyard to poor souls.
A loud rustling noise came from the distance. I heard voices and chanting coming from the direction of a familiar tunnel. It was the same tunnel Pierce and his men traveled into, searching for something. I quickly scurried my way to Pierce’s body and found a sword laying on the ground.
It was Pierce’s sword. The hilt was engraved with small gold designs. There was a worn down image of a diamond on the bottom of the hilt, also engraved in gold. The blade was made of pure folded steel, with a flawless curve to it. The workmanship of a master blacksmith indeed.
I picked it up after scanning it, hoping nothing weird would happen. I ran back towards Jessika. Her expression changed when she saw the sword I was holding. It was the feeling of sadness, and guilt.
I tried to speak in the most comforting way I could. “It isn’t your fault. He was a hero in the end. I think I know how to end this once and for all.”
I took the sword and rose it in the air. It was too dark in the cave to see it but I could have sworn I saw a glimmering light.
Jessika began to smile as if she had seen it too. “Pierce will always be with us”, she said.
We both began to prepare ourselves for the worst as the sounds became louder.
My feet began to feel numb and my fingers began to turn blue. I was losing blood a lot faster than I thought I was. The wound on my chest was seriously hurting me. Just as I was about to kneel down, large black shadows began to swoop around us. Jessika and I rose our weapons but we were too late.
SWISH! SWISH!
I recoiled from the impact. On my chest appeared a pen sized dart. I didn’t have time to move.I tried to get a glimpse of our attackers. Unfortunately it was too dark and all I could hear was an "oink". In an instant my pupils began to dilate and my body started to go more numb. Everything around me faded into the darkest shade of black I had ever seen.
I woke up quickly. I tried to remember everything that had happened. My head was pulsing and my body still felt like lead. I tried to move but I quickly realized that it was impossible.
A quick look at my surroundings gave me the impression that I was in trouble. And unfortunately I was right. I was shackled up in chains against a stone pillar. Around me were six other pillars with bodies shackled against them as well. I quickly recognized all the familiar faces.
"Ashley? Jessika? Guys?!" I yelled out. The pillars were spread apart pretty well. I had to raise my voice to reach them.
The body to the far left shifted. "Mo! Thank goodness! It's me, Caesar! We got caught up by some creatures, but we are fine!"
"Shhhh!" The figure to the right of him snickered at him. It was Sarah. "Be quite! We don't want them to hear us! Mo, we are glad you made it to... where ever this is."
Then I heard Markus's voice. "Mo, I am sorry. I couldn't make it. Everyone is fine but we are in a bit of trouble... Where is Bruce?"
I didn't answer. It was too painful to realize that he was actually gone. Before I could think of a way to tell them a large dark figure appeared.
"Why hello wanderers of the over-world." The voice rattled its way into my ear drums and left a stinging sensation. The figure began to show more clearly, and it was the ugliest thing I had ever seen.
32: We made it… Sort of…
Just as the ringing in my ears started to subside, the darkness around us quickly transitioned into a red, blinding light. The area became lit with torches and lanterns, revealing our surroundings.
I opened my eyes to focus on the figure that spoke to us, but something else caught my eye. I told myself the pillar I was chained against was made of stone; however, I was fooled by my own interpretation. The pillar I was chained against was not stone, but was a hard, bluish-green colored material. The moment I recognized it, I looked around to see that the entire place was covered in the stuff, and off to the distance was a castle, completely made out of the same material.
“Mo!” Ashley said, “Diamonds!”
I shot a look towards the direction of Ashley’s voice. It was an enormous relief to hear her voice again. She was in the same situation as all of us, shackled up against these diamond pillars.
“Are you shocked?” The voice buzzed in my ear once more. In the corners of my eyes I could see the others cringe as well. I finally built up the courage to look at my captor.
He definitely wasn’t human. He was by far, the ugliest creature I had ever seen. And that means a lot coming from a guy who kills zombies and giant wart-infested spiders. His entire body gave off the stench of rotting flesh. The weirdest part, however, was that he wasn’t JUST a zombie. You could see right through his flesh at some parts of his body, but you could also see that parts of him were from a different creature. A pig.
Like he took the words right out of my mouth, Caesar asked, “Zombie-Pig-Man?”
The creature tried to snarl at us but the sound that came out was more like of an OINK!
“How dare you compare us to your inferior species!”, he said, “We are the superior race, come to cleanse the world of your infection!”
My head was pulsing. I had so many questions and thoughts running through my mind. The only thing I knew for sure was that the others were just as lost as I was.
I tried to get some answers.
“So… Who are you? What are you doing here? And why are we tied up?” I tried to combine all my questions into one.
The creature began to smile. “My name is Raagnahl, leader of this tribe of superior beings. We have lived here in small numbers for eons, until recently where there has been a “spike” in our population growth. You, over-worlders are trespassers of this scared land and we cannot let you wander any further.”
His voice stung with ever syllable, piercing into my brain.
“So this is the Heart of Diamonds?” I asked. I looked at everyone else. They were listening closely.
Raagnahl spoke once more. “Yes, you have made it to the “Heart of Diamonds” as you call it. Congratulations, blah blah blah, you are the FIRST to make it here alive.”
Markus’s voice interrupted him. “Wait! You mean no one else has been here? You are not under command of the enemy, the Elder?”
Raagnahl laughed. “Under command? Of a human? Don’t insult us! If there is anyone who is under command it is your species, fool. There have been no trespassers here since our people have settled on this sacred land. And be sure that you seven will be the last.”
Caesar spoke up. “Mo, does that mean we made it? We won? I mean the Elder hasn’t been here yet, and with these things here, there is no way he can-“
“Shhh!” I shushed him. I needed to think. There was something wrong, seriously wrong. How did these things get here in the first place?
But before I could get any more information, two more Zombie-Pig-Men appeared. They both looked similar, the same rotted flesh and visible human-pig features. They both carried large, sharp golden swords.
“I am sorry to CUT our meeting a bit short, however, I have more important matters to attend to”, Raagnahl said, “You will live to see another day. You will be returned to your “home” and shall face your enemy face to face. Let us hope our paths do not cross again humans.”
Jessika shouted out. “What do you mean “our enemy face to face”? You know more than you are telling us!”
Before anyone could give it a second thought, the two other creatures brought out two bamboo pipes, and began blowing into them, just like they had done to us before.
I closed my eyes ready for impact, and then I softly fell asleep.
Chapter 33: Home again? And an intruder?
It was a nightmare. A reminder, perhaps, of what was about to unfold.
Red eyes. Dark glowing red eyes invaded the space around me. My head went spinning, trying to block out the image, but it continued to imprint itself deeper into my mind. He was watching me.
I jumped at the sound of laughter. Deep, crazy laughter. The laughter continued and continued until all that was left to be heard was a murmur, a whisper.
The whisper continued to travel around the space in front of me. Like a broken record, it repeated itself, over and over again. The voice sounded as if it was trying to feel guilty, and if it weren’t for the laughter, I would have thought it was. However, I couldn’t discard the image of HIM laughing and smiling. The voice continued to chant and dance around in my head.
I woke up in a cold sweat to an all too familiar scene. The sun was just rising and the breeze coming in brought me to a new sense of reality. The last few hours felt like a terrible dream. But the terrible truth couldn’t have hit me any harder.
I rose up to my feet with a feeling of nausea and confusion. I closed my eyes and tried to withstand the massive head rush that followed. I could hear groans and moans coming from the area around me, however I was paying more attention to where I ended up.
My bootless feet dug into the sand. The grains seeped its way in between my toes. The sea breeze filled my nostrils with the salty smell of the ocean. The trees swayed in the direction of the wind and filled the air with the calm sound of rustling leaves.
“The beach?” A voice said from behind. I turned to find Ashley, finally awake from her deep sleep. The last time I saw her was in the cavern, before I took off to save our captured companion, Jessika.
The others followed in behind her in a sense of confusion. They didn’t seem to have a clue to where were.
I couldn’t help but smile.
Markus gave me a suspicious look. “Mo, what’s going on? Why are you smiling?”
Ashley eventually caught on and put her hands over her mouth in surprise. I turned away from them and started to lead the way. This wasn’t the first time I had been dropped off at this beach. It was still the same as it was last time, so calm and serene.
We eventually ended up at our stop. I took a moment to enjoy it all. Everyone else started to laugh and cheer in joy as we stood there and stared at my mediocre creation from long ago, my very first hut. What a beautiful sight indeed.
Moments passed, and the suspense started to climb. I started to walk up to the door, hoping to find the place just as I left it. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Just as I turned the knob, the door swung open. I tried to peer inside but a large shadow was blocking the way. I was too tired to grab my weapon, or feel in danger for that matter. Luckily it was an old friend.
“NOTCH!” I yelled. I gave him a huge bear hug, even though we only met once before. It was just great to see someone else alive after all that had happened.
‘Why hello, young hero! I have been expecting you! Please, let me help set up the campfire and furniture outside. I don’t think we will all be able to fit inside.”
We all laughed and helped as much as we could. To be honest, I was surprised half of us were still standing with the injuries and lack of energy. It would be our first meal in a long time.
We all sat by the fire, waiting for the sun to go down. We ate pieces of pork chop and drank jugs of fresh water. It was completely silent. I was definitely going to tell Notch of our story, however we all still needed to sink it all in. Jessika was on the far side of the campfire from me, almost passing out due to exhaustion. She has been under a lot of stress lately.
I stood up and broke the ice. I introduced Notch to the others and began to tell the tale of my story so far. I told every one of what I had been through, and what our next objective might be. It was far from over.
Notch sat there nodding and listening intently. When I finished with my storytelling, he looked at me with most sincere eyes I have ever seen.
“Mo”, he said, “I am sorry to say that you are right. You are far from over with this quest. Your friend, Pierce, was indeed under complete control of the diamonds and in the end, he gave us some important info.”
Jessika wept at the sound of Pierce’s name. We haven’t even had enough time to mourn for Bruce either.
Notch continued. “Mo, the castle and portal he mentioned makes complete sense. If there is any place the elder will put the portal, it is under the castle in Sibia. Dammit, I should have known!”
Caesar spoke up. “But then what was the point of going down there? They didn’t even seem like they WANTED to go to the Heart of Diamonds.”
Sarah interjected. “It was probably a distraction. The elder is planning something with this portal thing.”
I thought about it for a while but couldn’t make a conclusion. It was still too early in the game.
Notch rose up and started to look around. He looked like he was planning something.
“Mo, you must go back to Sibia at once and stop him before anything else happens. I have a feeling this goes much deeper than we think.” Notch seemed even more concerned now.
Notch put his fingers to his lips and whistled. The wind carried the sound through the trees and bushes. The leaves on the bushes started to sway, and a rustling sound start to arise from them.
Out of the shadows came a very familiar pink companion. My eyes filled with tears at the sight of our believed-to-be-lost friend. Out of our small crowd came Caesar running full speed towards the little pink hero.
“PORKER!”
Chapter 34: A journey awaits...
For the others, it may have been weird to see Caesar tightly embrace the round pink pig. For Ashley, Jessika, and I, however, it was like seeing a long lost family member. Even so, one pig would not help us get to our destination any faster.
Right on cue, a herd of large pink companions scurried their way out of the shadows as if Caesar’s welcoming of Porker had invited them as well.
Notch stood tall, smiling. “Mo! You still have a long journey ahead of you! Don’t let your guard down and be careful! The elder has many tricks still up his sleeves!”
Then, just as the sea breeze rolled in, Notch disappeared. In unison, we all rubbed our eyes and blinked in disbelief. My eyes must be playing tricks on me, I thought.
Like Markus was reading my mind, he stood up and stretched.
“I think it is about time we get some rest. I can see a long and tiring journey ahead of us.”
With that, everyone except me stood up and left to go make their beds. I didn’t notice how dark it was until now. The bright full moon illuminated the sky. I continued to sit there, staring into the dying campfire, listening to the crackling of burning twigs.
Thoughts floated around in the sea of confusion inside my head. Up until now, it was just “leap” instead of thinking first. Now was the time to start thinking about our next step, and hopefully our final step.
As I sat there, my mind wandered off to a deeper place inside my mind. Up until now, I had just been bottling up and shoving most of my feelings and concerns. I started to feel nauseous as images of my parents sitting at home waiting for me, popped into my head.
“How did this all happen?” I asked myself.
“Well to start…” The voice startled me. I turned around to see Ashley, still wide-awake.
She sat next to me, close to the slowly dying campfire. She continued to speak.
“Mo, don’t blame yourself. It could have happened to anyone. We were just unlucky.”
That was the thing, I thought. It COULD have happened to anyone, but it didn’t. There was a reason why I was here. Then the voice of Notch wandered its way back into my mind.
“Fate brought you here.”
“Ashley”, I said, “We will find a way back. You will get to see your parents and your friends again and live happily like before.”
She smiled and leaned in towards me. “Happy like before? I am happy right now.”
“And why would you say that?” I asked.
“Because I am here with you…”
Like a dream, we both leaned in close. Our eyes closed and our lips touched. A warm, tingling feeling swam its way through my body.
Great, I thought, even more things to think about.
I woke up, quickly realizing that I fell asleep without leaving the campfire last night. I looked around and figured Ashley was smart enough to go to her bed instead of sleeping on the rock-hard dirt.
I stumbled around with heavy eyelids, looking for the others. I quickly found the rest of the group strapping on gear and preparing for our journey ahead.
I made my entrance, and almost tripped over some arrows on the ground. The others laughed and I couldn’t help but see Ashley’s amazing smile. Jessika noticed as well, and quickly turned her head in the other direction.
Markus then addressed the group.
“Alright. We know that there is a portal located inside the castle and it is heavily guarded. Our goal is to find it, and destroy it before the elder makes another move. Our first objective is to get into the city, which is also surrounded by a wall.”
Jessika spoke up. “The wall only has one entrance. It will difficult to get through without hostile contact.”
“Right”, Markus said, “Which means we will have to be very careful. From there we will split into two squads. Squad one, which will be Sarah, Claudia, Caesar, and I, will be in charge of keeping any enemies away from the castle. Squad two, Mo, Ashley, and Jessika, will be responsible for infiltrating the castle and taking out the portal and the elder.”
Jessika spoke once more. “There is a hidden entrance to the castle, used for the royal family to escape during an invasion. We can use that to surprise attack and complete our mission.”
Markus smiled at his own intelligence. “Good, we have a plan. The only thing left to do is…”
And with that everyone stood in a circle and took out their swords. We held them pointing into the middle.
Markus gave one last look at all of us.
“From here on, we are warriors, the saviors of this world! Let no enemy stand between us and our goal!”
And with that we set off to our destination. Sibia.
Chapter 35: The End of The Beginning (Finale Part A)
Porker and his squad of companions were more than helpful. It must be something in the water here, because pigs at home could never run this fast. We ran through plains and forest until we reached a very familiar sight.
Jessika was the first to stop. The rest of us followed. In front of us were two large oak trees, arched towards each other making an archway. It was the same as it was the first time I saw it. It was the entrance to Creeper Forest, or at least what was left of it. The entire forest beyond the archway was a barren, graveyard. Dead trees and bodies of lost ones littered the ground of the once, lively forest.
I have lived in the city all my life and seeing a flat, treeless plain was nothing new, however this was different. Creeper Forest was once so full of life. It was home to most of the creatures around Sibia. I hate to say it, but I really felt sorry for those creepy green things without a home.
Markus, Sarah, and Claudia were in awe. Their eyes were completely focused on the horrible scene in front of them.
Markus finally let the words out. “What… Happened here?”
I wanted to speak, but I couldn’t. It was entirely my fault. I had burned it all down.
Caesar spoke up. “These are the remains from our last battle to defend Sibia. We were outnumbered, and we were all beginning to lose hope.”
Jessika jumped in. “But then Mo came! He defended the city, and killed off all the monsters!”
“But it was all for nothing”, I said, “In the end, we were tricked and back-stabbed. I killed innocent, brainwashed people and burned down a whole forest that was once home to countless lives. And it was all for nothing.”
I felt even worse after I said it. It was not a time to feel happy. So much for optimism, I thought.
Everyone was silent. They knew I was right. The elder, the one everyone looked up to, betrayed us. This is our final stand, our last chance to stop him. If we fail…
Claudia walked up to me, and gave me full eye contact.
“You!” She yelled. In a millisecond, she hit me and sent me straight to the ground. “You are not the only person fighting here! We’re here TOGETHER! We’re a team!”
I continued to lie there on my back staring at the sky. It was a clear, cloudless day. Oh, and I just got beat up by a girl. Good one, I thought.
Markus stood over me with a smile and his hand reaching out to me. I accepted his kind gesture and got to my feet.
He chuckled. “She’s right you know. I mean, there’s no need to be hitting each other, but we all have to realize that we are a team. We need to trust each other.”
I nodded. They were right. I wasn’t alone.
Our little conference was broken by the sound of thunder. I quickly looked up at the sky. In seconds, the sky was filled with the largest, black clouds I had ever seen. The weirdest part of it all was that they were all moving in one direction.
“Guys,” Ashley said, “Look! The clouds over there!”
I followed the clouds’ path off to the distance. Every cloud was traveling to the same place, right over Sibia. The clouds began to circle one another, faster and faster over the city. Not a good sign, I thought.
“We have to hurry!” I said. “We don’t have much time.”
We continued our journey to Sibia as fast as possible. We made it as far as the walls of Sibia before we took a breather. we unpacked our gear from the pigs and started to get ready.
Caesar gathered up the “Porker Squad” as he liked to call them. He took off their harnesses, and saddles. It was time for them to leave.
I left everyone else and walked towards Caesar. He was saying goodbye to his beloved friend.
“He is a great friend.” I said.
He looked at me with a half smile. “Yeah, he and I go way back. We grew up together. I know it’s weird, but he is like family.”
“You will see him again.” I said, trying to sound confident.
“Perhaps this world or the next.” He said. “Goodbye Porker.”
He gestured them to go away, and they obeyed. Porker and his friends scurried off into the distance, without looking back. Hopefully they would be far enough from the battle.
I put my hand on Caesar’s shoulder. “It is time.”
We suited up. I grabbed my shield and my sword. I cleared my mind of all thoughts, except for our objective. There is no room to fail. We must do this.
Markus gave us the signal to move towards the entrance of the wall. It was heavily guarded, with spider jockeys (skeletons riding spiders) and armored skeletons all over the place. There were no zombies or creepers in sight, however, which worried me a little.
I tried thinking of a way in, but there was no way around it. We had to fight our way in.
I took a deep breath and looked at my comrades. Ashley was by my side, with her newly crafted armor and sword. Jessika was also by my side, ready for battle. This was my squad, my team. The moment we infiltrate, we would split off from the others. It will be up to us from there.
Markus caught me off guard and charged. The others and I followed. I ran with my shield high enough to block any arrows going for my upper body. If any of us stopped running, we would be left behind.
We hit their front lines like a wave of water. Our shields easily knocked their front line back. Even more skeletons continued to file in from the sides and shoot. We started hacking and slashing away, watching as broken bones and spider goo flew up into the air. The sound of our blades clashing with theirs was deafening. Arrows caught me in places that i had uncovered. It all happened so fast, I didn't even have time to feel the pain. My arms, already filled with fatigue, continued to move, hoping to see the other side of the horde of skeletons.
Finally, I saw a gap. I quickly sneaked my way past the few skeletons at the back and got through. I parried sword strikes and blocked more arrows. Jessika and Ashley followed quickly behind me. They were also bruised and bloody. We had to get out of here fast.
Using the few seconds I had, I tried to find Caesar and the others in the massive horde, but I couldn’t. In no time, we would have the horde chasing us.
“MO!” I heard in the distance. It was Markus’s voice. “GO NOW! WE CAN HANDLE THIS!”
I didn't want to leave them but i had no choice. We need to do this, I thought.
Just as planned, Jessika, Ashley and I continued our way to the secret entrance. Jessika lead the way, down a path towards the back of the castle. Out of breath we finally reached what looked like an old painting against a wall.
"This is it” She said. “This leads us right into the basement. Right where the portal should be.”
I didn’t want to sound stupid but I said it anyway. “It’s a painting. How are we-“
Jessika smiled. She put her hand against the painting, feeling for something. In seconds, she found what she was looking for. She took out her sword and pressing the tip into what looked like a hole in the painting.
“Help me!” She yelled.
The three of us put all our force into it. Suddenly the sword lost grip against the wall and jolted to the left. The three of us fell over onto the ground.
“Ouch!” I said.
Jessika got up quickly and looked at the painting once more. It was hard to notice but we chipped a hole into it revealing a door handle.
“That’s it!” She said. She turned the handle and with great force, she started to pull the painting and the wall behind it followed. The wall began to come right out the side of the castle. She stopped so that there was just enough space to get through into what looked like a small hallway.
The three of us faced each other. We gave each other one last look like it was the last time we would see each other in a long time.
I took a deep breath. This could be the end, I thought. I had so much to say, feelings I wanted to let out.
Ashley broke the silence. "We better move." She pointed up at the sky.
The many dark clouds we saw earlier had formed together into one large black blob. This is bad, I thought. Really bad.
"We're out of time." Jessika said with a worried face.
And with that Ashley and Jessika took the lead into the basement. Leaving me and my feelings in the dust.
Chapter 36: Our Final Stand [Finale Part B]
Badly bruised and cut, we plunged into the darkness. We dragged ourselves through what seemed to be a long dark corridor.
The corridor was barely lit but we pushed forward. For every few steps, there was a pair of wooden doors lined up across each other in the hallway. My guess was that there were hundreds of them. I kept trying to look farther up, but all i could see were more and more doors. The only thing keeping me from opening one of them was the distinct sound of growling on the other side of each door.
Neither of us said a word on the way down the hall. Was it fear? Exhaustion? Anticipation? For me, it was probably a good combination of the three.
The walk was taking too long. My legs began to feel like lead and my arms started to feel numb. My head was throbbing with the pain. I was too dissolved in our task at hand, that I had no realization of the arrows that were sticking out of my body, or the deep cuts that were leaving trails of blood behind. There was no place to go but forward.
I found myself day-dreaming. Voices of family members and friends found their way into my conscience. A scene erupted in my mind. My first visit to Sibia. I remembered standing there as the guard studied me. The guard's happy words echoed in my head.
"He can put an end to this terrible diamond plague huh?"
Now it was time to prove myself.
A dim light appeared at the end of the corridor. A dim purplish light. It didn't seem very inviting but we pushed forward.
After increasing our walking pace, to a jogging speed, we finally reached the light source. The scene just made everything worse.
The three of us stood at the entrance of a dark room. Scratch that, not a room, a rectangular shaped stadium. The ceiling was too high to see, and the room itself had no source of light. The only thing giving off any light was the object at the other end of the room.
It stood about ten feet tall. It was a rectangle. A large and powerful rectangle. I don't know how to explain it but it gave off this feeling of misery and despair and tried to suck all your hopes away. It was succeeding.
Instead of the whole rectangle, however, the middle of it was hollowed out to create a doorway-like-structure. The edges of the rectangle shape were made of strange purple rock. I had seen it before, on my first journey into the mines.
The open space, however, was occupied by a purplish substance that glowed. It was the source of the light. Sounds of screaming and growling echoed from its purple light. It shimmered and almost acted like a mirror, but instead of a reflection, I saw horrible images of evil creatures and places I didn't want to go. Ever.
We found it, I thought. The portal.
In front of the portal stood our last obstacle, dressed in death-black robes. His face, barely visible, was ghostly pale and his eyes were the same blood red as I'd seen in a dream.
I could barely get the words out of mouth. "The elder..."
His voice felt like a claw scraping against my skull. "I have been waiting. Now we can all experience our great triumph. Together!"
My first impulse was to charge. And so I did. Ashley and Jessika immediately followed behind me. Right as we reached halfway, however, we collapsed on the ground.
I could barely stand on one knee. My body was on fire, and I felt like the ceiling was crushing down on me. A loud screeching noise kept pulsing in my ears. I was surprised I didn't pass out from the pain.
I tried to concentrate, but I could only see the floor. The floor! Right then I realized the floor was covered in diamond tiles. The entire room was covered only up to the halfway point. It was a trap.
The elder laughed and watched as we struggled to stand. I managed to stand, leaning against my sword, only able to look at the elder face to face. Ashley and Jessika were still on the ground struggling.
"Mo",he said, "Witness your doom!"
Without trying to, my eyes focused on the portal. Through its purple light, I saw an image starting to form. The image became clear and showed a battlefield littered with skeleton bones and abandoned weapons. In the middle of the mess was our comrades, Caesar and Markus, fighting for their lives. Sarah and Claudia were behind them, seriously injured.
Then it got worse. On the outskirts of the battle, large groups of shadows started to form. It didn't take me long to figure out that they were hiding all along. I knew the skeletons weren't the only ones going to fight. The large groups of shadows were hordes of zombies and creepers. And they didn't seem happy.
The image changed, and started to become a slide-show, of a dimension I've never seen. The sky was blood red and lava fell from the sky. The ground was covered in weird, red dirt. Creatures, wondered about, growling and chanting. I saw these creatures holding diamonds, and singing some sort of weird chant. The worst part of it all was that I recognized them.
Before I could think more of it, the images vanished, leaving me sweating, and exhausted.
"You see?" The elder sounded as if it was his great victory. "You have no chance."
"Yeah? We'll see" I responded. It was the best I could think of.
I got up and ran, trying to keep my legs moving. I must have surprised him, because he was hesitating as I struck.
Slash. Clank. Slash. Clank.
Even though I should have been hitting him, my sword met his dagger, consistently. It was as if I was moving in slow-motion. He read all my moves and countered them flawlessly. I began to slow down due to exhaustion, and then right as I couldn't hit him with full strength, he got me. Right in the arm.
I stumbled backwards and fell on my back. I clutched my left arm. A deep gash left blood all over the floor and my armor. If I was going to be killed, it would be by blood loss.
Ashley tried to help me up but Jessika was too stubborn to wait. It was her biggest mistake. She charged right for him.
She didn't last a second. The elder wasn't playing games anymore. The sound of a thrusting blade echoed in the large dark room. Ashley and I stood there silent. My voice was stuck in the back of my throat, as if it wanted to hide.
I finally yelled out. "NOOO!"
Jessika's back was toward us, her body stiff. The only thing I could see was the tip of a dagger pointing out of her lower back. The wound itself acted in a way I had never seen before. It started to dissolve, turning into a black powder-like mist. The mist spread, consuming her entire body and hen black mist was sucked right into the portal.
I couldn't process what had just happened. I wanted to show sadness, but no tears erupted. The only thing I could feel was hatred. Pure hatred. Ashley must have felt the same way, even though she was able to conjure up a few tears, that streamed down her cheek.
Like a volcano, Ashley and I reacted. The elder was able to take on one person, but he would never be able to do two. With my one arm, and Ashley's mediocre sword-play, we pushed him back. We pressured him.
My strikes became harder and harder the more I thought about Jessika, and Pierce, and the many others that had suffered because of this man.
Slash!
I found myself standing over the elder, with my blade stuck in his right shoulder. He began to smile, which made me yell some gibberish that sounded like.
"RAAAGHGHHHHHH!"
I twisted my blade and Ashley took the final strike. A clean slice to the neck. His body exploded into the same black mist that Jessika's did and went into the portal.
I stood over where the elder was. Sad, confused, angry, exhausted, and hurt. I didn't want to move or do anything, but Ashley tugged on my right arm and ushered me to the portal.
I did the only thing I could do. I grabbed a hold of my sword and raised it over my head.I struck the darn thing as hard as I could.
BOOOOOOM!
I remember weightlessness, and then a hard landing on my back. The floor and the ground beneath me started to shake, and I had this feeling as though I was being sucked in towards something powerful. My vision was blurry and I was in too much pain to move. The next few minutes was a blur.
I remember Ashley dragging me. We ran down the dark hallway as fast as we could. Doors began to open and zombies erupted from the rooms. Ashley tried all she could to get us both out of there.
"Come on, MO! We can make it!"
I remember seeing the floor behind us falling. Like a large opening in the earth was sucking everything in. I passed out before I could see more.
The next minute I was reunited with our team. I don't know how she did it, but Ashley pulled through. Sarah and Claudia were badly hurt, but we weren't going to fight. We had to run. The entire area around the castle was being sucked into the earth. It was as if the portal triggered a black hole.
I woke up in the arms of Markus and Caesar, holding me up. Ashley, Claudia and Sarah were standing beside us, staring. I couldn't figure out what but then I realized we were standing right in front of where the city of Sibia should be. Instead, all that was left a large, rectangular, hole that never ended. Looking down, the only thing you could see was a familiar blue void. The same blue void that brought me here.
A voice startled us.
"HEROES!" It came from across the hole. There stood, a man with battle torn clothing and cuts on his face. He held a long, gold sword, and a shield on his back. It was Notch.
My mouth was dry and throat ached. I grabbed Markus's canteen and drinking it was the greatest feeling I had ever experienced.
I broke the silence with my not-so-replenished strength. "Notch! You see this? Is this really what I think it is?!"
The others looked at me like I had eight arms. The only person to look concerned was Ashley. And she was holding my hand.
Notch simply gave a nod. That moment, I wanted to jump. Even if it was the smallest hope of getting back home, I would have taken it. However, something was bothering me. Something big. If I didn't let it out now, it would have bothered me for the rest of my life.
I looked Notch straight in the eyes. "It's not over is it?"
Notch and the others looked stunned, scared as well. I guess there were things even Notch didn't know.
"Tell us what you saw." He said.
I told them what I saw. What I experienced. I told them of the other dimension I saw. the creatures I recognized. They were the same whom we encountered at the Heart of Diamonds. As I told them, however, only one word came to mind. Jessika. As I told them what happened, tears starting streaming down my face. It was my fault. I should have done something. When I finished, the others began to curse.
Notch stroked his chin. "You recognized these creatures? And they were the same as the ones you saw before? And this Raagnahl character... You think they are responsible for these cursed diamonds?"
I nodded.
Notch looked troubled. "I have heard rumors about portals and what they can do. Mo, do you remember the word 'reincarnation'?"
"Yes",I said, "You explained it to me a while ago."
Notch seemed to be even more worried now. "Well it seems your friend may have fallen into a terrible fate."
"What do you mean?" Sarah blurted out.
My eyes were too focused on the hole in front of us. It was getting smaller as we waited. Soon it would be gone, and our chances home would disappear.
"You're telling us Jessika is alive?" Caesar asked.
Notch tried to stay calm. "It looks like she has had the opportunity at a second life, however, the portal sucked her in, like everything else here." He gestured to the open space.
Markus was getting to a conclusion. "So what your saying is..."
Notch completed his thought. "Jessika is alive. But she is in the other dimension. And if she is alive, then we can assume the elder is too."
Ashley's grip tightened.
"Mo, this may be your last chance to leave", Notch said, "Take Ashley and go home. You have done enough."
I gazed at the others. And then back to Ashley. The void was getting smaller, and staring to disappear. I looked at Ashley one last time and she didn't say a word, but she mouthed the words:
"I'm with you."
I took one deep breath. "Notch, I won't leave my friends behind. After all, I am supposed to be the hero that stops the Diamond Plague. And I don't think I've done that just yet."
The others looked at me in surprise. Notch simply nodded and turned around.
"You will do great things", he said, "Many great things..." Notch started to walk away and then like a ghost vanished.
It took ten seconds before we all began to cheer and embrace each other. The battle was won and that was all that mattered.
The rest of the day went by in a flash. We sat down together and started a fire. We ate and took the time to mourn of our losses and think about our future yet to come. There was much sadness, and many tears but we found what little happiness we had, and shared it.
Ashley and I found the right moment to wander off away from the group. We stood by the void again, just the two of us. We embraced and we kissed. It was a long and happy moment. The two of us watched as the moon shined bright in the sky and the void became as small as a nickel. The void vanished just like our hopes of going home.
"We will get back. Somehow." I said.
Ashley smiled but it seemed distant. "Yeah, I know."
The others started calling us, wondering where we wondered off to.
Ashley grabbed my hand. "Come on, hero. Lets not make them wait."
And with that, we joined the others, getting ready for the future to come.
Prologue to BOOK 2
I used to be a normal kid. I used to go to a normal school and have normal friends. And even though my family rarely showed it, I knew they cared about me. I’m going to admit, at the time, I hated my life. I hated my parents, and they way they pressured me into doing things I hated to do. I hated being pushed into becoming something I never wanted to be. Everyday, I would wake up in the morning and think…
“What if my life was different?”
Well, I sure learned my lesson.
A few months ago, I used to be that ordinary kid. Now, I find myself slaying living skeletons, man-eating zombies, and the occasional “Creeper.” At the moment, it is my job to travel into caverns looking for ores and materials to help our newly developing city. I have also made it my job to find out as much as I can about our enemy before our next council meeting.
This time, I found what I was looking for. And a little bit more.
I was sweating and it was embarrassing. It’s been less than an hour and I was already soaked in my own sweat. We barely even left the surface level of the mine. Ashley seemed to be enjoying herself, climbing down the long ladder one step at a time. She grinned at me every time I tried to adjust myself on the ladder. The ladder was at least a few hundred feet. It would lead us all the way down to an abandoned mine shaft where there should be some useful ores.
Ashley is my girlfriend. Or sort of… I don’t know if traveling to dark caverns and fighting monsters qualifies as a first date, but if it did, then we were on the right track. Every since a few months ago, things have been going quite well if I do say so myself.
Before this all started, Ashley was just like me except she had a lot more friends, a more caring family, and an aspiring life ahead of her. She was captain of the girl’s volleyball team, among other things, and she was definitely a whole lot more popular than I was. She was pretty much the girl I could only dream of hanging out with, but I guess I made a good impression with my super-awesome-heroic skills in the last few months.
Everyday, however, I felt bad about dragging her into this new world of danger and mystery. Of course, I WANTED a new life, but Ashley didn’t really ask for it. We even had a chance to go back home, but because of my selfishness, we both decided to stay and finish what we started. For better or for worse.
My job now was to help rebuild the new developing village, which I destroyed in our last battle. It was a dream job. I could draw out blueprints of what I wanted to build, and I could even help construct the buildings and houses. I always wanted to be an architect.
But I hated this part of the job… The mining of resources, like coal. Every person in the village was assigned a job to help gather resources or food today, and I was stuck traveling into deep undiscovered caverns. Knowing my luck, it was only going to get worse.
Ages passed, and we finally reached the bottom. I lit a torch and tried to scan the area. It was hard to see in the dark, as my eyes were readjusting to the lack of sunlight.
“So, where do we start, Mo?” Ashley asked. Her stunning blue eyes always left me in a trance. I regained focus, with a little red on my face.
"I think-"
I stopped myself. I could hear something. Like… Like running water. Ashley began to hear it too. We began to slowly wander off into the darkness.
We slowly approached the source of the noise. It was quite, but it was definitely running water. There were many passages that lead to more darkness but we continued to follow the sound. We came up to a dead-end, but we could still hear the water on the other side of the stone.
“It’s on the other side”, I said, “Maybe we should break through?”
Before Ashley could respond, I started to hack at the stonewall with my pick-axe that I just made this morning. Caesar, a good friend, showed me some craftsmanship earlier, and it made life easier.
Caesar was a just a little kid in my eyes, but he had the heart and strength of a lion. He was intelligent and way too mature for his age. His parents were king and queen of the city I destroyed, before getting killed by our enemy. He took his rightful place as heir to the throne of the new village. I felt safe with him as the commanding king.
Anyway, I was one good swing away from breaking through the wall when, suddenly, the ground began to shake. The water on the other side began to make a roaring sound, and my only thought was, run. Run fast.
Ashley was smart and was already heading for the ladder. I ran as fast as I could but it was too late. The wall burst open and a wave of light-blue water erupted out of it. It quickly caught up with us and pulled us along with its current. I found the strength to grabbed Ashley’s chest plate and keep her close. The water continued to travel in the only direction it could, down. We watched as the water forced us down deeper into more passages and tunnels. My first thought? Getting out of here will take forever.
Ahead of us, I could see the water vanish. At first I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but then I began to realize that it was a drop. Probably a long and dangerous one too. I closed my eyes, and got ready for the worst.
They fall into what was known as a glitch in Alpha as the blue void. So the next chapter continues with them waking up in MC. Itll be up as soon as i get home :smile.gif:
Haha thanks a lot for the feedback. Is there anything that needs improvement?
And as for the girl, she will be a big part later on. I felt like it would be more rational for the main character to care more about himself first rather than following the same route as other stories, "OMG where is the girl I love??" To me that wouldn't really be the first thing that comes to mind in a situation like this, correct me if I am wrong haha. Im trying to add a little suspense as well. I will be sure to take your advice though :DD
Good. But just a warning: Playing with Herobrine is like playing with fire. Use it correctly, and you got light that keeps mobs from spawning. Get it wrong though, you burn down half of your world and your house.
^^ I liked that post very much. Glad you recognized HIM. haha I thought it would be cool to use HIM as a template to the plot. And I will take your advice. I must be careful
Like i said before, She plays a big part later in the story. And Mo will find out what happened to her in the next 2 chapters. I will post them as soon as i get done haha
Haha thanks alot. And for those who are thinking "OMG not another use of Herobrine." The character I am using seems very much to resemble him and even I was convinced that he would be a part of the story but I have decided to make a little twist instead.
I basically have the story mapped out and a way to turn things around. Herobrine is will probably not be a part of it all but more of an illusion to the real "villian".
Nice, can't wait to read more. You have excellent grammar, spelling, punctuation; your story is unique, and your characters are interesting. Really, I have no criticisms at all.
Thank you very much! That means a lot! I am glad you are looking forward to more, because it gives me a reason to write more haha. I am going to try 1 - 2 chapters a day depending on how long I want it to be.
Chapter 1: I Go Climbing Up a Storm
Today, I realized something. I must have the worst luck any human being has ever had in history. First, I flunked my Math test, only because I skipped a bubble on the multiple choice and wrote down every answer wrong. Then I dropped my lunch in a puddle of water on the way to the bus, and then I figured out that my parents are trying to send me to some private school next semester because I am causing too much trouble at school and at home. Worst day ever. Period.
My name is Mo. It is not a nickname; my parents spent more time arguing about who would get the Mercedes in the divorce rather than figuring out a better, more intriguing name for their only son. It has never bothered me though. I am basically invisible to them, which allows me to easily retreat into my own world and my dreams of becoming an architect. Yes, an architect. I like to build things. No matter how much time I have or what I have to use, I would always find a way to turn it into something magical. Or at least magical in my eyes.
Even though my day started out more dull than usual, I was sure it would get better because for our class field trip: we get to climb the beautiful, and majestic Mount St. Helens for our volcanic studies unit for Science class. And my partner just happens to be the girl I have had a terrible crush on since the 3rd grade, Ashley Chase. She is smart, funny, and captain of the girls volleyball team. Her blond, wavy hair in combination with her stunning blue eyes, seem to hypnotize anyone who stare for too long. Of course, she probably didn’t even know I existed until she was paired up with me, but this gives me the chance to get to know her a little bit better.
We arrived at our destination and proceeded to get off the bus. The air was very humid, and the clouds above were dark grey. A little rain I thought.
“How bad could it get?” I said. I knew the moment I said that, I was going to find out.
We started walking up the mountain, a single line, with each pair next to each other. Ashley was texting on her pink Blackberry like she usually does during her free time, as I was gazing upon the beauty of nature and imagining the things I could build around this place. A library for sure, maybe a temple? A dojo for my martial arts classes? I was too busy wandering off to my dream world to notice that I took a left turn and the rest of the class went right . Naturally of course, Ashley was too busy texting and followed my feet and direction only using her peripherals, so that she could not notice us drifting away from the pack.
I stopped moving. “Oh no... Ashley!”
“Huh? What is it?” She looked up. “Where is everyone?” She started to look really confused.
“I think we wandered off...” I said.
“Wandered off?! Of course we did! Where are we?” At this point she was going into panic.
I looked up, and the sky was almost pitch black now. It was getting dark. Really dark.
“I think we should head back. Fast.” A little fear was in my voice, but what can you say? I don’t like the dark.
Just as we were going to head back to the bus, Ashley slipped and fell on some rocks. The rocks crackled making the ground shake. We looked at each other, and out of mere shock we stood still.
“What...The...”, she said.
CRRAAACK. The surface beneath our feet collapsed and we plummeted downward into more darkness. I flipped my body forward, almost like a nose dive, only to see sky blue at the bottom of the chasm. A void? No, it must be water. Please be water. And then everything faded to black.
Chapter 2: I ran, I screamed, and I cried a bit
I was in a dream. Everything around me was blurry and sounds were muffled out but I was able to grasp what was around me. I was in a room surrounded by darkness. The room was illuminated slightly by pools of molten rock in the distance. In front of me stood a dark figure. I could not see his face nor any of his body features. The only thing I could make out was that his eyes were pure white. It was like looking into emptiness upon emptiness where all hopes and dreams were lost.
I couldn’t speak, and I couldn’t move. The figure lifted its head and looked at me with its pure white eyes. In an old raspy voice, it said, “Welcome.” Chills went up my spine, and a cold breeze filled the air. Then the scene started to fade and everything went black again. The last thing I could see of the person was the white of his teeth as he made a smile.
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I woke up to the sun beating down on my face, sand stuck in my toes and the smell of saltwater vapour filling up my nostrils. I opened my eyes almost forgetting who I was, and realized that I was definitely not on St. Helens anymore.
My clothes were untouched, and my body was not bruised or scratched. As I worked myself to stand up, I felt pain. I felt like my insides had been put in a blender and shoved back into my body. My vision became blurry for a moment and I had a massive blood rush.
I nearly had a heart attack when a full grown cow nudged me in the back. Looking around i saw chicken, even pigs. I stroked the cow’s neck like a cat, not knowing if it liked it or not.
“Where am I?”, I asked, but I knew I wasn’t going to get an answer any time soon.
I took a good look around this land that was alien to me. Lots of trees, dirt and mountains in the distance. No civilization in sight, but that didn’t get my hopes down. I decided it was best to reach high ground and scope out the most I could, and set up camp before nightfall.
The problem was, it became night really fast. Much faster that I thought. But what seemed to be a miracle, I saw a man standing off to the distance below a few trees in the shade. I decided to go approach him calmly.
I reached him and he had his back toward me. I grabbed him by the shoulder in effort to turn him around. What happened next was horrible. The air around him suddenly filled with the stench of rotten flesh, and burned my nostrils. I took a good look at his face, and winced in terror. Rotten flesh, visible bone, one eyeball sticking out to the side, and jagged teeth.
“Brrrrraaaaiiiiins”, it growled. It sounded like someone was playing golf with his vocal chords.
I didn’t even wait any longer to find out what would happen next. I’m not going to lie. I ran. Like a little girl if you want to put it that way. I ran so blindly in the dark that I slammed my shoulder and upper body right into a slim tree... At least I thought it was a tree...
Chapter 3: A pig teaches me how to fly
THUD. I hit the tree full force and got knocked over onto my side. I was dizzy, exhausted, and on the top of that, I was pretty sure I hurt my shoulder. I decided to look up and take a look at the trunk of the tree that had dominated me so, but to no surprise, there was no tree. Standing right in front of me, looking me straight in the eyes, was a full human sized skeleton.
Now, usually when you see something like that, you run, but at this point I was overwhelmed by exhaustion and shock. And I had already seen a living corpse, so I was happy that I didn’t just make it all up.
The skeleton looked like something you would see in your average science classroom; tall, skinny, and only bone. The joints were attached securely, but made crackling noises as it moved. It started to move its arm behind its back. And out of what seemed to be nowhere, it pulled a bow and arrow out and pointed the tip straight for my forehead.
A little lesson about my father. Ever since I was a kid he has made me take numerous martial arts classes in hope that someday I might grow up to be in the UFC or some fighting organization. I did well to his expectations but my interest was always more toward architecture. I never really appreciated the classes that much, but when a skeleton is about to put your brains on a stick, you learn to appreciate all the little things MUCH more.
It was really out of panic and the sense that I was probably going to die. I jump up and planted both feet firmly into the ground. I used all the force I had left to swing my right arm straight into the left side of the skeleton’s head, twisting my arm to create more momentum. WOOOOM! It was like a bat hitting a ball off a tee, the head shot up like it had been sliced off by a sword, and the body fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. I fell to the ground onto my knees, not out of exhaustion, but because I had broken most of my fingers hitting the skull.
I looked down at the pile of bones and was happy to see a quiver and a bow. I gathered what I could and ventured the rest of the way to the tallest cliff in the area. I looked around for an instant and out of the bushes came good ol’ rotten flesh going at a snail’s pace towards me. I aimed my bow at his chest but then something amazing happened. Just like the night, day came what seemed to be just as fast. The sun rose, giving me renewed strength and seemed to make the zombie weaker. Sure enough it burst into flames! It turned into a nice pile of ash and I had little victory laugh and shout on top of my new home.
I approached the cliff and looked around. With the new knowledge I had acquired the past night, I knew I had to start gathering resources and build a shelter to keep me safe. Unfortunately my victory was short-lived. As I was day dreaming about the type of home and things I would use to build it, a round, pink pig sneaked up on me and nudged me in the side. I had hurt my side when I ran into Mr. Bag-o-Bones back there, so it was quite painful and effective. It made me push off with my left foot and flinch towards the edge. I could not get my balance. I fell.
Many things were coming out of my mouth at once. I was trying to curse the pig and scream at the same time. As I was falling to my soon-to-be death, the only thing I could think about was how pathetic it was to be killed by a pig. But for some reason I had the feeling that this is not the end.
Chapter 4: Over the edge and back again.
I had another dream. It was very much like the first one. Same dark room, identical pools of molten rock and the same frightening dark figure with empty white eyes standing three feet away from me. Like the last time, I could not move nor talk. I was only able to listen.
“You...Are...Special... Beware of the dark.” His voice sliced through me leaving a deep mental wound. What does he mean by special? Where am I? And is he trying to warn me? But before any of my questions were answered, darkness flooded the scene, as I began to wake up from the nightmare.
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I woke up with a massive case of Déjà Vu. The sun was beating down on my face once more, the sand was once again stuck between my toes, and the smell of fresh salt water still filled the air. However as I got up, and endured the painful after-sensation of having my insides juggled around, I glanced around and realized that I was in a completely different location. Sure, there were trees, dirt and mountains in the distance but nothing was recognizable. I also realized that I had lost the bow and quiver I had fought so valiantly for. What was even weirder was that my wrist and shoulder were like new. There was no pain, even though I had definitely broken my hand the night before.
I would have screamed in anger and confusion to what was going on, but I had other worries on my mind. Looking back on the last few days of my existence here, I had forgotten something very important... Ashley Chase was there when I had fallen into that blue abyss... I stood terrified at the thought that she has probably been dragged into the same fate as I. Where could she be? Was she alright? I hoped she was better at surviving her first night than I was, especially after all the unexplainable things that had happened.
I decided to learn from my mistakes and build my shelter close to the shore and as fast as possible. I quickly whipped up a nice little hut made of wooden planks I had gathered from the trees around the area. I also made tools, and even a deadly looking sword out of some stone I gathered. I was nearly completed with the hut, but I needed a light source. Something burnable, that I could use to see during the night. I searched everywhere and no luck. But then I saw something shining in the distance by a pile of rocks.
I ran towards it, and dug out some gravel. What I saw made me drop everything I was holding. Lying on the ground was a sparkly pink Blackberry, along with a pile of coal. Ashley was here. She dug out coal from this very spot, but why had she left? I knew something was seriously wrong because she would never leave without her phone.
It was starting to get dark so I quickly headed back to finish the hut and make torches. I couldn’t focus at all so the rest of the hut was a mediocre effort. I was worried, tired, and exhausted. On top of that, I was starving. I needed to go find some food if I was going to work any longer. It was a stupid idea, absolutely dangerous, but I wasn’t going to let the coal Ashley found go to waste. I picked up what I needed; a few torches, my makeshift sword and some tools. I wandered out into the darkness, hoping to find food, and maybe even clues of where Ashley has gone. Who knows, maybe I can get revenge on that pig that embarrassed me before.
Chapter 5: My luck gets worse
I wandered around for a good five minutes before hearing a squeal from a pig to my left. I got way too excited, and ran straight for it, completely forgetting about the dangers of the night. And the warning I was given in my dream, ”Beware the dark.”
I jumped through the bushes ready to ambush the poor pork chop, and was stopped dead in my tracks. It was the most beautiful and scariest thing I had ever seen. In front me stood a girl just about my height and age, beautiful brown hair and dark grey eyes. Her facial expression showed true determination. She was looking straight at me, and I would have totally fallen for her if it wasn’t for the fact that she had put an arrow right through my dinner and she was holding a four foot long blade made of iron. Her facial expression immediately changed when she saw me, and I thought I was going to become dinner as well.
“Who are you?”, she asked in a loud, powerful tone.
“M-my name is uhh Mo... I-“
“Why are you out during night hours? Don’t you know it is too dangerous for untrained citizens?” She started to sound like my mother...
“I don’t know what you are talking about. I just got here! Now it would be really nice if you put down that weapon of yours...”
She looked at me with a more puzzled look than before. “Another outsider? I must bring you to my city. Our elder might be able to help you find what you are looking for. My name is Jessika by the way.”
My heart jumped. “Another outsider you say?! Ashley! You’ve seen her? Is she alright? Take me to her!” I sounded really desperate.
Jessika’s face saddened. “Yeah, your friend uhh Ashley was it? We are taking care of her at our city of Sibia... But... “
“But what? Is she ok?”
“I’m sorry but right now she is in critical condition. All I know is that she is not the only one, and something weird is going on. We should really get going before it gets really dark. Do you have a weapon?”
I was broken. I had finally met someone human and all I get is even worse news. I still had many questions on my mind. I lifted my sword. Her sword made mine look like a toothpick.
She laughed. “Alright hero, let’s get going”, she said, “We have a lot to talk about.”
Chapter 6: I get creeped out
There was a long silence. I followed Jessika across dirt paths and through forest for quite a long time. I had so many questions but I just couldn’t figure out how to ask her.
She stopped moving and turned towards me. Her face was full of sweat and her eyes looked very tired.
“I had forgotten how far I wandered off from the city... You are very lucky I found you. I usually don’t travel so far especially since it has gotten very dangerous in the last few weeks”, she said.
“You mean those creatures? The zombies and walking skeletons?’ I asked.
“No, they have always existed among us, but we were never in conflict. We would do our hunting during the day and they would do theirs in the night. But it seems they are becoming stronger more hostile. Some have even said they have seen a zombie wandering around when the sun was up! If that is the case, we must be very careful.”
I thought about what she just said. The thought of a normal zombie attack still put shivers up my spine... The fact that they don’t burst into flames anymore makes me feel even more traumatized...
I decided to keep my encounter with the creatures and the dark individual to myself. I needed more answers and clues to put things together. I really didn’t want drag Jessika into any of this as well.
We reached the entrance to an even bigger forest. Two giant tree trunks stood tall and arced themselves together making an archway. There was no other way around, are only option was straight through.
Jessika turned once more and looked at me. “This is where it gets really fun, hero. This is Creeper Forest. In its depths lie the worst of the worst. Zombies of unknown numbers, skeletons around every corner and home to ‘Creepers.’ Creepers are green, ugly, and they’ll kill you if you get too close. So, let’s hurry up and get through this place. Then you can say hello to your friend, lover boy.”
“Hey I’m not-“
“Save it, let’s hurry.”
It was too late for me to protest, she was already sprinting past the archway. I followed her as fast I could. It was a good pace. Thanks to my dad’s martial arts training sessions, I was able to run without stopping.
Right when I thought it we were going to be alright, we stopped. Jessika planted herself firm into the ground and lowered into a battle stance. In front of us was a green blob with four legs and a face full of anger. It definitely intimidated me, but I stood firm. Behind it stood half a dozen zombies and skeletons ready to charge. Now that made me back off a little.
“I didn’t know they travelled in packs!’ I said.
“They don’t” She took out her long iron blade prepared to strike.
I unsheathed my stone sword and charged without thinking. I duck, weaved, and dove in all directions dodging zombie arms and arrows. Then suddenly I was face to face with their leader, Mr. Creepy. Behind me I heard a scream, almost a whimper, but I drove my blade right through where its heart should have been.
“SSSSSSssssssssssss” It hollered in a terrible high pitched voice. Its eyes glowed red, looking like it was going to explode. From the right, a big shadow dashed towards me and tackled me. We both were thrown towards the left, leaving my blade inside of the creeper. Then BOOOOM.
Everything around us became clouded by dust clouds and the smell of sulphur. When everything cleared, I was laying on the ground beside a crater the size of a cabin. All the zombies and skeletons had vanished as well, probably killed by the blast.
Next to me stood a stranger. He was about a foot taller, short brown hair and familiar dark grey eyes. Jessika ran right up to both us and gave me a solid slap to the face.
“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! Don’t you know those things explode?! Geez, I thought I had lost you already!” Her face was bright red with anger. “And thanks Pierce for that, you’re a better brother than I thought.”
“No problem”, the stranger said,” My name is Pierce, Jessika’s older brother. She was running a little late, so I thought something was up. You must be an outsider?”
“Yes, I uhh..” I didn’t know what to say.
“He is the lover of the girl we found earlier”, Jessika said.
“HEY I’M NOT-“
“It’s alright”, Pierce said,” if that is the case we must hurry. Sibia is only a bit away.”
Chapter 7: I don’t get to stay the night.
The three of us, Jessika, Pierce and I walked for what seemed to take hours until we reached a stone wall. The wall was about ten feet tall, and was made of old misshapen stone. The wall must have been there for quite a long time. It didn’t really look like it could defend anything either... They led me past the wall and to a gate where we were greeted by a tall bearded guard.
“Hello there, young Mr. Collingwood, and Ms. Collingwood! Who is this young chap?” The guard studied me from head to toe. His expression didn’t change.
“We must go see the elder”, Jessika said,” He is an outsider who may be able to help us with our problem.”
The guard’s eyebrows rose. “Really now? He can put an end to this terrible diamond plague huh? Well, you must get going immediately!”
“The diamond what? What is that?” I asked.
Pierce gave me a gentle smile. “The elder will explain everything to you when you see him. But Mo, you must be honest; he is here to help you.”
We walked through the gate and entered what was probably the main street. The entire city was home to at least a few hundred citizens. The city’s shape took the form of a giant circle. All the buildings seemed to be revolving around the cathedral-like building in the center like the planets and the sun. We walked right through everything and came face to face with the cathedral-like structure.
“This is the elder’s residence. We cannot follow you, we can only show you the door”, Pierce said.
“Be careful, and don’t let whatever he says put you down!” Jessika seemed like she was almost blushing.
They both walked away down the center street path, leaving me alone facing whatever was inside this strange building.
I walked up the steps towards the entrance, feeling more weight on shoulders with every step. What should I say? What if he can’t help me? What about Ashley? My stomach was being turned upside-down and I was starting to get a headache. I approached the entrance. It consisted of two large doors with golden handles. As I opened them, a breeze of warm air hit my body. I walked in, and I was exposed to the most beautiful scene I have ever seen.
The room was enormous. Candles lit the room and the windows had pictures of great battles engraved in them. The floor was made of the highest quality wood, and the walls were made of the highest quality material you could find. At the far end of the room stood an aged man with grey-silver hair and pitch black eyes. He wore a white linen robe and held a cane made completely out of gold. This guy meant business.
“Welcome traveler”, he said in an extremely powerful voice,” I am the elder. I see and know all that is around us. I see you must be a little overwhelmed by all of this so let us take a walk outside. It is almost sunrise after all.”
He led me back through the main entrance and out into the street, we past bakeries, libraries, shops, and forges. Even though it was before sunrise, the city was very much alive.
“You must be new, an outsider perhaps? The only other person I have seen with your style of clothing is that poor girl we are taking care of in the infirmary.”
My eyes lit up. “You mean Ashley?! Is she alright? What is going on?”
“Ah, so you two know each other? Interesting. Well, to put it all in a nutshell... Our society is undergoing a great crisis. Diamonds, which were once the prized possession that the land had to offer us, have now acquired a strange ability. It seems that anyone who touches them becomes extremely ill. Unfortunately the only way to cure this disease is by creating a potion out of red stone dust, which as of now, has become very scarce. Your friend seems to have fallen into a terrible fate and at the most unforgiving time...”
“What can I do?! I need to help Ashley as well as everyone else! Where are they? Let me see Ashley!” I was too worried to care about manners.
“My young lad, we do not know if it is contagious yet, so it better to stay away for now. And I must say that if you want to help her you must act now before it is too late.” His face turned into sadness.
“Too late for what?”
“It seems after a week, those who are ill become evil creatures of the night. Zombies are the most common result.”
“WHAT? Then I must go now, where can I get this red stone stuff. And how long do I have?”
His face became even sadder. He wasn’t used to giving bad news. “You must venture into the mines-but it is too dangerous to go alone!”
“He is not alone.” The voice came from behind us. The weight on my shoulders lightened at the sight of Jessika ready in her battle gear and prepared for this adventure.
“I see what this has come to... And there is probably nothing I can do to but please be careful and bring enough to save everyone. What is your name young hero?”
I stood tall and in my most manly voice I said,” My name is Mo, and I will put an end to this crisis.”
Chapter 8: Deep Down Inside
I know I said I would put an end to this crisis, but I really had no idea what I was getting in to. I had no idea where to start, no weapons or even supplies to help me survive. Luckily Jessika had some sort of plan so I followed her to the very out skirts of town. The city’s back wall was actually a mountain, and on the front face of the mountain was a cave. Above the cave entrance there was a sign which read,” Into The Depths of Darkness.” This really didn’t make me very excited either.
Jessika stopped right before the entrance and turned to face me. “Mo, I hope you are ready for this. This is going to be REALLY dangerous. These mines were the first things ever built by our people. Many have died here. I admire your courage and confidence back there with the elder, but... If we succeed we can cure all those poor people, and even Ashley. I know you would really like that.”
I looked her in the eyes. “I don’t know why, but I have this feeling that this is my fault... If it wasn’t for me, Ashley wouldn’t be here in this situation. I must do this.”
Jessika gave me a big smirk. “Well, then you are going to need this.” She threw me a newly made iron sword. The handle was warm and perfect fitting for me. The blade was shiny and the sword felt like a perfect extension of my arm. It felt much better than the sword I made before.
“My brother made it; he likes to craft things. He has an entire collection at his house. He said he is sorry he can’t make the journey. He has to stay home and take care of his wife.”
“He’s married?” I asked.
“Yeah, I don’t understand that either. He is a total loser.” Jessika and I both laughed.
We double checked our supplies and got ready to go. Jessika looked at me again but this time with a more serious look on her face. “Our city has already searched the regular parts of the mine for red stone but there has been no luck. The only place left to look is the place where we first encountered the cursed diamonds. It has been closed off ever since. Who knows what could be down there. Diamonds will try to trick you and destroy you. They are the source of betrayal and greed. We have to be extremely careful.”
“Trick you and destroy you, got it", I said. It seemed crazy to me how a stone could be so dangerous, but after what I’ve been through so far, it didn’t seem too weird. I looked up at the sky. It was sunrise, and it looked beautiful. I couldn’t believe that a few days ago, I was worried about doing well on my next math test. I looked at Jessika and she gave me a nod that meant, ”It is time.” I looked at the sun one last time, and we started to descend into the dark cavern of the mine. As we got farther and farther away from the entrance, the sun, my dreams of being an architect, my family, and my entire world began to get farther away as well.
We ventured into the mine shaft. I couldn’t really see anything in detail. The only light source we had was the torch Jessika was holding in her left hand. I followed right behind her, so if anything were to happen to either of us, we would know.
After a long boring descend of numerous turns and walking around corners, we reached a small room. I lit the room up completely by using my torch and the ones that had already been placed on the walls. The room itself was about the size of living room, and at the far end was a fork that separated into two shafts. The one on the left looked newly renovated and had torches on each side of the shaft that we could light up. The one on the right was barricaded by broken planks of wood and rubble. I prayed that the left shaft was the path we had to take.
“We need to clear out the rubble on the one on the right”, she said. Damn it, I thought.
We used our tools we brought and Dug out a nice looking entrance to the mineshaft. Then, something really weird happened. Out of the shaft came two people, one male and one female. They were both middle-aged and were wearing matching body armour. They looked human but they were growling. Their eyes were both fixed on Jessika. She started screaming.
I didn’t know what to do, so naturally I took out my newly made sword and charged at the two of them.
“NOOOOO!” Jessika screamed.
I got really confused but I refused to look back. The woman on the right dodged and went for Jessika, I kept going towards the man on the left. I jabbed my blade right into the man’s torso leaving a large exit wound. The body fell, and I turned to look at Jessika.
The woman was standing no farther than two feet away from her. What surprised me was that Jessika didn’t even have her sword out. She was...crying? I couldn’t wait any longer. I sprinted and jumped right behind the stranger and sliced her head right off. Jessika sat in the corner of the room balling her eyes out.
I approached her and grabbed her arm. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
She tried to speak. “T-those were my p-parents...”
I looked back at the bodies and sure enough their appearance had completely changed. They were no longer human beings. On the ground lying before use were two very dead zombies.
Chapter 9: I get grounded.
I stood there in shock. “You mean those two were...”
Jessika wiped the tears from her face and tried to calm herself. “My parents died in these mines... The diamonds. They are playing tricks on us. When I saw their faces... I-I froze. And didn’t you hear what they were saying?”
“I didn’t hear anything Jessika, only growling... I think we better keep moving and finish this quest as quick as we can.”
We walked into the broken up mine shaft, with one torch as our only light source. I was completely tense after every step. I needed to calm down and so did Jessika. Small talk, I thought.
“So Jessika... Do you think there are other worlds out there?” I asked.
She looked back at me. She seemed to have calmed down a bit. “I haven’t really thought about it... The elder used to tell stories about other worlds where other creatures and forces lived, but it always seemed like a normal fairy tale to me. Why do you ask?”
I needed to tell somebody. I couldn’t keep it a secret for long. I needed some answers.
“It’s not like you are from a different world right? Hahaha!” Jessika was laughing for the first time in days.
“No, not at all...”, I said. This was the wrong time to be babbling about that anyway.
We kept creeping into the darkness until Jessika suddenly stopped. Before us was a hole in the earth. One person could easily jump down there, but we didn’t know how deep it was. We took out some rope from our supplies and put our bags and useless equipment on the ground.
“We have to travel light from here”, Jessika said,” We only need our picks, torches and our swords.”
We latched the rope to a hook that was safely secured into the ground. It could easily support anyone who wanted to climb down. I went first and Jessika followed right behind me, still holding a torch in her hand so we could see as we descended deeper and deeper into the cavern.
We touched ground level of the cavern. When I looked up, I nearly fainted. We were in a space the size of a football stadium. On the left side was an enormous water fall coming from above. On the right was an equally sized lava fall that illuminated the cavern. In the middle was a chunk of land separating the two streams. On the other side of the landmass, against the wall of the cavern was a single diamond placed gently on some strange glowing purple rock. On the ground next to the diamond you could see a few glowing red ores.
“RED STONE!” Jessika yelled. It was almost hard to hear her over the roaring of the falls.
We ran towards the red stone but as we approached the diamond, my body became heavier and heavier. Then suddenly, an enormous shock shot through my body and Jessika and I fell to the ground shaking in pain. Jessika screamed. I tried to get up but then a voice invaded the insides of my head.
“You shall die here, along with your friend. You cannot win, hero.” The voice felt like a blender on my eardrums. I couldn’t move. The pain was too overwhelming.
Out of the shadows in front of us came two dark figures. They both seemed very familiar. As they came closer, I recognized them. My parents. They were both grinning with vicious smiles, and started to approached. I couldn’t let it end like this. I reached for my sword and took it out. I used it as support to help me stand up. My parents were still approaching. I looked them straight in the eyes, and then more voices started blaring inside my head.
“Son, I am ashamed of you”, my dad’s voice said.
“We never wanted a child”, my mother screeched.
Tears blinded me, and anger blocked out all the pain going through my body. I sliced and cut right through the two figures like they were butter. I sprinted towards the diamond and grabbed it with my left hand. Immediately my hand started to burn like I had touched acid. I tossed the rock right into the pool of lava.
I heard a painful scream . “YOU CANNOT DESTROY US ALL!” Then the diamond vanished in the molten rock. I fell to my knees holding my badly burnt hand.
I turned towards Jessika, she was beginning to stand up. The diamond’s power had subsided. I had nearly forgotten our task at hand. We shook off our injuries and gathered all the red stone we could find. However, we were stopped by the sound of something big approaching.
Chapter 10: I play “Hero”
The word “big” has many meanings to it. It usually means one enormous entity, but in this situation, the enormous entity was mistaken for a very large group of creatures coming our way. Their footsteps shook the entire cavern. Jessika and I both knew we didn’t stand a chance against the countless waves of monsters that were going to attack us. I tried my best to think of any scenarios that would put this situation in our favour.
There was only one option. One person could easily carry all the red stone out of here. Jessika knows her way around here better than I do, and I would only slow her down.
I looked over and saw Jessika tightening her battle gear and preparing for the worst.
“Jessika, there’s only one way out of this”, I said,” take all the red stone and go to the exit. I can seal it off and stop them from following you into the city.”
“NO! We can’t do that. If there is anyone who should stay here it’s me! I can fight better than you can!” Tears were bursting out of her eyes like waterfalls.
“We both know, you can navigate the mine better than I can. The city NEEDS this red stone and you are the only one who can get it there before it is too late.” I wasn’t really good at giving bad news...
Jessika stood up straight and grabbed all the bags. She wiped her face and approached me.
“You better come out of this hell alive, you hear me?!” She was yelling but I knew it was out of concern. Then, just as I blinked my eyes, I felt the sensation of soft, warm lips- a kiss. I opened my eyes, and just as fast, Jessika was gone.
I smiled for a bit, but then I took out my sword. I aimed for the ceiling above the exit where Jessika had gone. I hit the rocks with a powerful strike and the rocks were reduced to rubble, blocking off the exit. I was now alone, and very much trapped.
Out of the shadows the monsters began to appear. Dozens of zombies with hungry faces glared right into my soul. Countless skeletons followed with their bows ready. Creepers scurried their way towards the front of the line. I stood my ground, completely surrounded in all directions.
My mind went racing, and everything became a blur. Quick- Think. Creeper. Explosion. Water. Safe. In seconds I had my plan mapped out. I did a full 180 degree turn to face a surprised creeper, and a body of water behind it. I sprinted towards it. In surprise, the zombies and skeletons backed off. Arrows zipped by me and the yells of hungry zombies filled the air. The creeper stood tall, its eyes glowing red. I lunged.
“SSSSSSSsssssss”
At the very last second, I planted my left foot into the ground right in front of the creeper and put all my weight into it. I used it as a spring to launch myself right into the water. Arrows zipped into the water as I jumped, one catching me in the ribs.
BOOOOOM. The first creeper exploded. Just as I thought, the explosion set off a chain reaction and the other creepers exploded as well. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Like an earthquake, the ground shook and the pool of water became a flushed toilet boil, twirling me around in its current like a ragdoll. I suddenly felt a drop, and I was sent straight into a small waterfall. I hit a still pool of water and began to float towards the surface.
Chapter 11: My luck gets better.
I crawled and pulled myself to the edge of the pool, lifting myself up. I blinked hard and gathered a good mental image of my surroundings.
I am going to be honest, everything worked out much better than I expected. I had successfully blown a hole right through the floor of the cavern. The series of explosions caused the cavern to completely collapse, leaving me a few more hundred feet below the original surface level. The ceiling was definitely three times higher than it had been before. The pools of water and lava were more scattered, and the exit to the shaft was definitely covered up and hidden forever.
Another good thing to notice was that every single menace and evil creature had vanished. Broken pieces of bones, and weapons were scattered all across the area. Luckily, I was able to scavenge some planks of wood and pieces of sharp rock. I needed these to make a pick-axe; the only tool that could help me get out of here.
I had no clue how long it had been since I last saw daylight. Just the thought of the sun beating down on me once more gave me more incentive to keep moving. I looked around and saw something that made the gears in my brain start to turn.
Gravel. Small, bits and pieces of rock. Most of the time when gravel is found, there is no real significance to it. However, last summer I went to the beach with my parents. Around the edges of the beach, where the sand touched the rocks, like a boundary line, there was gravel. Maybe it was true here too. My heart started to beat faster, and I began to chip and sweep away all the gravel in my way, traveling in an upward, slanted path.
I was getting tired and hungry. I had completely forgotten about the arrow that had made its way into my ribs. I stopped for a second to take a look. I lifted my armour covering my torso to reveal a small broken arrow still nudged into my lower rib cage. The flesh around it was bright red, and swollen. I grabbed the arrow with both of my palms and gave it a quick pull. I knelt over and screamed in pain, holding the piece of arrow in my hands as a trophy from my victory.
Minutes, hours, or days, I had no idea how long I have been missing. The very little hope I had left started to slip away after every swing of my pick-axe. Lactic acid built up in my arms, telling them to stop moving. I grabbed the tool, one last time, before I would decide to take a rest. With both arms I swung hard at the stone in front of me shattering the rock. I expected it to hit more stone behind it, but my pick kept moving and then suddenly I was face full of bright yellow sand.
I coughed up and fell over. I stood back up and almost cried at the scene. The beach. It was beautiful. The bright blue water brought tears to my eyes. The sound of the waves crashing on the sand was a symphony to my ears. I looked up at the sun. It was at its highest point, and proud of it.
Looking around I saw a familiar scene. Pieces of rock around the opening of the cave I just made were already chipped away. Someone had been here before. Then I realized it. On the ground was a hole clearly dug out by a person. My heart skipped a beat. It was MY hole. The hole I dug out when I found Ashley’s Blackberry. The rocks that were chipped away behind me were the spots where I found coal.
I ran. I ran faster than I had ever run before. Straight through the beach and right towards a very pleasing sight. My good ol’ hut I made a few days ago. I laughed at my piece of work. Half of it was professional work, and it looked nice, but the other half was clearly rushed. I remembered exactly why too; because I was so worried about Ashley.
Walking in was a happy feeling. All my things were exactly how I left them; tools, unfinished pieces of work, and even food. I gathered everything I needed and prepared myself for the end of my journey. I was heartbroken that I was unable to stay but I needed to get back to the city. I left the house with a feeling of victory and began my journey. I was hoping this would be the last time I would need to worry about anything like this again, but I was completely wrong like usual.
Chapter 12: Unexpected Guests
The journey back couldn’t have been any more stressful. I walked through fields and mountains without any problems! It had already become night but I had not seen a single soul in sight. That is what made the whole thing stressful. I was so sure I was going to be ambushed, or attacked that, I became extremely paranoid. Silence, darkness, loneliness, all of it made me feel really uneasy.
I reached two very familiar old trees. They arched towards each other making an entrance, the entrance to Creeper Forest. I remembered the first time I travelled through it. I wondered if Jessika made it in time. Did she save the citizens and stop the illness? Was Ashley back to her old self again? There was no time to stop and think. I had to keep moving. I drew my sword and cautiously entered the forest. With every step, I scanned the path ahead. I was light on my feet, and my hands were tingling with adrenaline. I was ready for anything.
I walked, and walked down the path towards the city. Nothing. Not a sound. It frightened me. Were these things planning something? Did they know I was here? What the hell is going on?! Even if the creatures didn’t mean to, they were driving me nuts. Then, I heard sounds from the bushes. I pivoted and prepared to slice the poor soul into a million pieces. Out of the bushes came a large, round, pink pig. It ran right by me, squealing.
I looked into the sky, my face full of anger and confusion. “WHERE ARE YOU?! COME OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME!”
I released all my bottled emotion, and yelled it as loud as I could. I felt much better, however the silence and loneliness continued.
I reached the end of the forest only to be welcomed by a troubling scene. The city’s lights were visible from here, which was odd because I vividly remembered that it was not usually lit up very well. Maybe a celebration? I began to come closer and my heart started to beat faster. I began to realize what was going on.
The lights were definitely not from a celebration or my welcoming party to my disappointment. Instead it was because the buildings were on fire. In fact most of the town was blazing and being overrun by flames. I began to sprint right towards the wall’s entrance until I stopped. Surrounding the entire city was an enormous battle. A gigantic mob of evil creatures were surrounding the walls. I was also able to see that they had also brought new cavalry, spiders.
The battle was dreadful. Soldiers in full battle armour fought to their greatest ability but they were being overrun. One by one I watched great citizens fall. I couldn’t take it any longer. I rushed the back lines with my sword in the air. My battle cry succeeded in getting the attention of a few dozen zombies and skeletons.
Swish. Slash. Crack. Stab. I parried, dodged and then attacked everything in sight. It felt much better to know why the journey here felt so easy. The blood rush that was going through my body felt incredible. Zombies and skeletons that crossed my path were destroyed almost instantly. Thank you martial arts.
But my domination over the creatures ended very shortly. It was very dark, so it was hard to see the largest spider I had ever seen, lunge right towards me. It’s pitch black hair felt like needles as it jumped right on me and knocked me on my back. It was the size of a Smart-Car but it had long terrorizing fangs that leaked toxic venom. I held it far enough away from me with both my arms but I knew it would kill me if I didn’t get it off me quickly.
Swish!
The weight of the spider lightened and it became limp over my body. I rolled it off quickly and had a quick glimpse of the spider’s back. An arrow went right through its vital spot, killing it instantly. I looked in the direction where the shot came from to see a skeleton who aimed for me but took down his comrade instead.
I didn’t know whether to say thank you or not so I just grabbed my sword and disabled the skeleton by literally “dis-arming” him. I left him there with one arm and continued towards the entrance where most of the action was occurring. There was no point in taking the life of a creature who had just saved me. Even if it was because of bad aim.
Then I saw her. Jessika. She was fighting off a mob of unfriendly zombies trying to get into one of the doors into the city. Behind her stood majority of what was left of the citizens of Sibia. She was about to get chewed up by a zombie flanking her but I was already on my way. From her blind side I charged and I beheaded Mr. Rotten Flesh. She looked at me and became frozen in shock. Tears started to form, and a small smile started to appear upon her face.
“Miss me?” I said.
Chapter 13: One thing leads to another....
I was hoping that with the dramatic entrance along with the miracle that I was still alive, I would be welcomed with open arms and hugs. Instead...
SMACK.
A solid slap to the face was good too I guess.
“Where have you been! We have been fighting off these damn things for days now and you think you can just jump right in!” She was absolutely furious. Just like something my mom would do. “I thought you were dead, Mo! We all did!”
I couldn’t think of an apology. I stood there rubbing the red mark on my right cheek.
“Well... I think it would be best if we took care of our problem here first”, I said finally, “You can hit me all you want later. Oh, what about Ashley? Is she alright?”
Jessika started to look calm. “She is taking care of the old and the children. Don’t worry lover boy, she is as good as new.”
I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Now it was time to figure out how to stop this chaos.
I looked around at the group of people we had left to fight with. Not many familiar faces, and most of them were scared way beyond sanity. There was also a little boy among them.
“Where is Pierce?” I asked.
Jessika’s face turned pale. She looked me right in the eyes. “His wife... T-the city started to burn, and to get everyone safe she... She saved many people... But many were lost. She and the elder were a few of them! Pierce- I am losing him, Mo! He is too shocked to even move. I left him with Ashley but I don’t know what to do...”
I grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to comfort her. “Everything will be alright. We just need to plan this out. Where are these things coming from? Where is the source?!”
An older man stepped forward. He had a long beard and wrinkles, but I was sure he was a good soldier to survive this long into battle. “They are coming from the forest. Creeper Forest has the most darkness around these parts.”
“Beware the darkness!” A voice rang in my head. I stumbled but caught myself.
“Are you hurt?” Jessika asked.
“No, I am fine”, I said, “We need to get rid of the forest. Pass me all the torches we have. We are going to fight fire with fire!”
“That is crazy they will kill you before you reach it!” Jessika yelled.
I gave her a confident smile. “Don’t worry. All I need is for everyone to prevent them from entering the city for as long as possible. I can make it.”
The little boy walked up to me. He was clearly not supposed to be here. I was sure he got lost but he was wearing full armour and had a shield that was bigger than he was.
“Take this shield”, he said in a cute little voice, “I think you should ride Porker. It will be faster.”
I took the shield, it was as hard as steel but was as light as a feather. “Porker?”
Chapter 14: Porker and I save the day.
You can ride horses. You can ride cows. You can even ride bulls. But I have never seen anyone ride a pig. My initial reaction to figuring out what he meant by, “You can ride Porker”, was somewhere between the lines of...
“Are you crazy? You want me to ride a walking bacon factory?”
The little boy gave me an angry sneer. “He is by far the fastest pig this land has ever seen! You will fly past everything!” In front of him stood a large, round pink pig. It had a saddle mounted on its back and a helmet strapped onto its head.
I didn’t have time to argue so I took the few torches we had left, the shield, and got ready to go on a suicide mission. Porker didn’t seem to enjoy having to support my weight on his back but it wasn’t a problem. As soon as I provoked him to start moving, we began to move at a surprisingly fast pace.
We raced right towards their front lines. Zombies and skeletons glared right at us. It was probably very hard to miss a teenage boy riding on a round, deliciously looking pink pig. As we approached them, I leaned forward as close as I could to the pig’s back. I held my shield high to protect most of my body. Porker didn’t seem to care that we were about to run straight into the countless waves of evil creatures. What a brave piece of bacon.
We hit the lines with great force. It was shocking how easily we pushed everything out of the way. Bones and rotten body parts went airborne. Monsters were flailing their arms while trying to get out of the way. Even spiders didn’t dare enter our path.
But unfortunately, the monsters were not as dumb as they looked. From a distance, skeletons began to rain down arrows, while the zombies chanted them on. We were approaching the forest, but it was getting harder and harder to deflect and maneuver around the arrows. Porker was also getting tired.
Then, I heard a loud, high pitched squeal, almost like a cry. I immediately closed my eyes and braced for impact. I was thrown straight forward, right into the air. I landed head first and my body skid across the grass. I was too dazed to get up, but the zombies and spiders were getting closer, really fast. I tried to look up and I saw that I was close enough to throw the torches into the trees. I stood up and started to light the torches. I drunkenly started throwing all the torches toward the forest. Some hit grass, but others were lucky enough to catch onto some branches. I watched as the forest became engulfed in flames.
Zombies moaned, and skeletons would have cried if they had the tears to do it. Spiders and the few creepers that managed not to explode charged at me with rage. I was alone, with no escape once more. I knew if I didn’t do something, this time for sure, would be my last.
I didn’t notice it at first because the fire was so bright, but my luck started to get better. The sun. It began to rise once more. All my strength came back, like magic. Skeletons and zombies burst into flames, and spiders and creepers became prey to the soldiers who started to rush towards the front lines. With nowhere to run or hide, it was slaughter. We didn’t stop until every last one of them was vanquished or burned to ashes.
I stood tall and rose my shield high in the air. Everyone began to cheer. But then the voice burst into my head once more.
“It is not over. Not even close, hero.”
I started to feel dizzy. The adrenaline started to flush away from my body and my wounds started screaming in pain. I closed my eyes and collapsed. I was so sure it was over too. Damn.
Chapter 15: A lack of hearts
Of course, I was in the same dream, again in the dark room with the creepy dark figure. I wasn’t really scared anymore, because I didn’t think he could hurt me. And so far, most of what he has said hasn’t really been bad either.
“It is almost time for us to meet.”, he said. And that was it. I blacked out again, unable to respond.
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I woke up. But when I woke up I thought it was dream, because when I opened my eyes, I saw Ashley. She was leaning over me...crying? I had never seen her cry before. And I had no idea what she was crying about. It could not be because of me could it?
When I opened my eyes, the room around went silent. I was in the infirmary. Lanterns and torches brightly lit the room. There were beautiful paintings on the walls and beds scattered the room. They were made of the finest wool and wood available.
There must have been a dozen people surrounding me, most of them unfamiliar faces. Ashley was sobbing and leaning against me, while Jessika and the others were waiting anxiously. The room was silent and Ashley was frozen.
I haven’t seen Ashley in about a week. Instead I fought hordes of monsters and plunged into the darkest depths of the mines to help save everyone, especially her. She looked like a completely different person. She was wearing clothes that allowed her to blend in with everyone else, and she had leather armour strapped on top of it. Her hair was tied back and she wasn’t wearing any make up... Not that it mattered. She was beautiful even if she didn’t try to be.
I almost laughed because I was still wearing the same clothes as I did the day we entered this new world. But now they were burned and ripped to shreds.
Before I could speak, Ashley embraced me. “You saved us all! You are a hero, Mo!”
I hugged her back and looked at Jessika. She was giving me two big thumbs up.
“Ashley”, I said,” There is a lot we need to talk about...”
Ashley looked over towards Jesskia and everyone else. “Do you guys mind?”
Everyone nodded in agreement and left us alone in the infirmary. Ashley and I sat up on the bed and leaned against the wall.
“You are a hero. I don’t know why you went through all of that, but you did. And you saved me... I don’t know how to thank you. You are an amazing person, Mo.” She looked at me with a serious, yet thankful expression.
I looked down. “You are the only person that I can relate to in this world. It is also my fault we are here. I will find a way to get you out, I promise.”
She looked at me with confusion. “You are going to find a way to get ME out?” What about you? You are not considering staying here are you? Hahaha...” She started to sound nervous.
I tried to laugh too but I couldn’t do it. I stood up off the bed.
“In the other world... You have friends and family. They all love you. You are popular, talented, and everyone probably misses you right now... Me? My parents probably don’t even know I’m gone. The few friends I have probably don’t care, and I am enjoying myself a lot more here. I am a HERO! I blend in! I like it here... If I go back, it will be like all of this never happened and I will not be the hero I want to be.”
After I said it, I felt much better. It was a huge weight off my chest that was pulling me down.
Ashley got up and looked away. She started to head for the door. Before she left she looked at me once more. Her eyes were watery and her cheeks were burning red.
“You will still be my hero.”
And with that she left me in the infirmary alone.
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I felt guilty, and it was terrible. Somehow I hurt Ashley by telling her the truth. I decided it was best to take a walk.
I walked down the main road of the city, passing barbers, black smiths and shopkeepers. People waved at me and cheered, but all I could do was smile back and keep moving. My heart and my mind were having a battle of their own.
A person pushed me from behind. “Hey! How’s it going lover boy?”
I stopped and turned to face Jessika. She was wearing a dress rather than body armour. She looked really good, but her eyes still freaked me out a bit.
She saw the expression on my face and her attitude changed. “Oh... Well, I guess things didn’t work out? Can I walk with you?” She asked.
She followed by my side down the road. We headed outside the city, and past the city walls. We started talking about everything. Hopefully, I thought, I could get some answers to the many questions inside my head.
Chapter 16: My mind is blown.
I told her EVERYTHING I knew; where I’m from, how I got here, and all the crazy things I experienced before she found me. I couldn’t hold any of it in any longer, and it all came out at once. I finished my tale about my life and then we stopped.
We reached a cliff far away from the city. I hadn’t even noticed but we had already past what was left of Creeper Forest. We sat down, hanging our legs from the cliff.
Jessika was silent. She sat next to me looking into space. She was too shocked to speak. I could tell she was thinking hard about everything I just said, trying to process it all.
She finally took a deep breath and spoke.
“My parents... They were one of the very first miners to go into the mine where we found the cursed diamond. A few before them had gone but never returned. My mother and father and many others went down there to see what was going on, and try to find the missing miners. Out of twenty people to enter, my parents were the only ones to return... After that though, they were never the same... They isolated themselves from everyone and acted strangely. After a while, they begged the elder to re-enter the mineshaft and left without telling me! They never came back...
When you and I entered, we both heard what those voices said. There are more diamonds. And they need to be destroyed!
Not long after my parents went missing, chaos began to erupt and everything seemed hopeless... Until you came along! You have given everyone new hope! I don’t know why or how you got here but there must be a reason... The elder would know, but he...”
I just remembered that the elder was one of the many lost during the last battle to protect the city. Jessika’s brother had lost his wife as well.
She continued to speak. “We have faith in you. We will stop this crisis together.” She leaned over towards me. Our lips met, and I became even more confused.
We were both speechless. She got up, and turned towards the path back to Sibia. Her face was bright red. “We will be waiting, Mo. So don’t stay here day dreaming for too long!”
And with that she ran off.
Now I was really confused.
Romance was never my “thing.” I never really put much thought into drama. But now, I was knee deep in it. I liked Ashley, and now she notices me. But I do care a lot about Jessika and she likes me too...
“Enough”, I said to myself. “It is time to start thinking about the real problem.”
“And what problem would that be?” The voice came from behind me. I turned around and stood awestruck.
The elder stood there with two arms crossed. He was wearing a long vibrant robe, and a stylish hat. It was too classy for a dead guy to be wearing.
“You are supposed to be dead!” I said.
“Am I? I think we need to talk. Let us take a walk.” He said grinningly. His eyes were glaring sharply at me. I didn’t know whether to accept, or run away, but it was too late to choose. Four, very angry skeletons appeared from behind him, pointing their bows straight at my chest.
I guess I was taking a walk.
Chapter 17: Betrayal with a side of more confusion.
The elder lead the way. The more we walked, the more I hated the guy. I had no idea what was going on, but I had the feeling that he was a big part in this chaos.
We headed back towards the town. We moved at what seemed to be like a snail’s pace. The tension was building up in my body.
The elder finally spoke. “Well, it seems like we have a misunderstanding. I have no intention of hurting you or anyone. I just-“
“You’re a traitor!” I cut him off.
“Now, now... I am not the one pulling the strings. I am merely- taking orders. “ He stammered a bit on the last few words.
“Taking orders? The diamonds! Their controlling you! And you are letting them do so knowingly?” My mind was racing.
“Controlled? Me?! Ha! I am doing this on behalf of the people! This will make everything better!” He seemed excited.
“What is THIS you are talking about?” I asked.
“Well, my young lad, I am surprised. Hasn’t Jessika told you already? Her parents were a huge part of it after all. It all started because of them! But it doesn’t matter if I tell you now. We are here. Oh, look we have a few friends of yours to join us as well!”
We had taken a detour instead of going back to the city. It was a part of this land I had never seen before. The grass around us was dead and there were very few trees in the area. In front of us stood a large group of people, but they seemed to be separated. To the left stood countless soldiers and citizens with sinister facial expressions. They all held weapons and stared at me ferociously. Skeletons were scattered throughout the two groups, prepared for attack.
To the right stood a very small group of people; Ashley, Jessika, and the little boy who had given me the shield before. A familiar face was standing behind them, holding a sword to Ashley’s neck.
“Pierce!” I yelled. “What you doing! Get that sword away from her!” I was red with rage.
Pierce looked right into my eyes. “Listen to what the elder has to say”, he said, “Or the girl dies.”
I froze and stood in silence. In between the two groups was a large, deep crevice. I took the hint and needed to think fast.
The elder continued. “Citizens of Sibia! I know we have gone through rough times but today will be the start of a new era! Those who do not believe, will be punished and those who do will be rewarded life! I see we have chosen sides carefully. It is unfortunate for the few of you who are loyal to your corrupted values.”
Jessika spoke up. “Corrupted values huh? You ATTACKED us! YOU sent the hordes after us! It was you all along!”
The elder snickered.
Ashley couldn’t say a word. Pierce was pushing the tip of the blade against her skin.
The little boy looked at me. His eyes were watery but he held strong. He was a lot tougher than I was when I was his age.
The elder looked at him. “Young Caesar, will you join these traitors or will you fight with the winning side? Your father will be disappointed.”
The little boy named Caesar looked up. “I am a soldier of truth. A warrior of good. Nothing in the world will take that away from me. My father would never want this!” He said it proudly and valiantly. A true warrior indeed.
The corrupted citizens pointed their weapons at us, as they huddled us together at the edge of the crevice. I looked down and saw nothing but darkness. I pushed a rock over with my foot discretely and focused hard on nothing but the sound of the falling rock. It was difficult with the noise and chanting but it worked.
Splash!
I looked over towards Ashley and the others and smiled. Ashley looked really worried, and Jessika was more confused than anyone else. Caesar was smiling too; I am pretty sure he heard it as well.
The elder gave one last remark. “May the forces of this world punish you for your treachery!”
And with that we were pushed over. Ashley and Jessika were screaming. Caesar was trying to control his fall. I focused my vision towards the bottom. Please... i thought.
A flash of blue became visible . Water! And this time I was sure of it.
SPLASH!
Chapter 18: Hopelessness
Air. That was the thought going through my mind at the moment. I needed air. I was struggling to float to the surface. It was too dark to see where the surface was, but I kept swimming upward.
My arm reached the surface before anything else. I grabbed a hold on a edge of a nearby wall, and tried to pull myself up. I needed to gain my vision. It was dark. Extremely dark. I couldn’t hear anything except the roaring of the flowing water. I looked around for my lost friends but they were nowhere to be seen. I spotted a ledge, and realized it was a waterfall. My first instinct was to follow the flow of water, so it was my only option. I climbed to the edge and jumped.
SPLASH.
I hit the water once more but this time, the water was more calm. I could tell it was a smaller pool of water because it was shallow. I got out of the pool and started processing my surroundings. Still no one. I was standing at the edge of a small pool inside of an enormous cavern. Coal, and iron decorated the walls. I was about to give up until I heard sobbing.
I ran towards the direction of the sound. I didn’t care who or what was there, I just didn’t want to be alone. I turned a corner and found a cheering sight.
Jessika and Ashley were hugging each other for comfort, while Caesar was sitting there counting out the supplies and tools we had available.
“MO!” Ashley yelled. She got up and embraced me. The adrenaline had already started to leave my body, exposing the injuries I had taken from the fall. Her hug hurt me, but I tried not to show it.
Jessika smiled at the scene, and said, “Glad to see you made it, hero. I had no idea what you were thinking back there but it worked.” Her facial expression showed gratitude.
Caesar gave me a huge hug and started to get back to work, like a real soldier.
“What we need to do now, is scavenge as much as we can and set up camp’, I said, ”We have no idea what could be down here.”
“Alright, Jessika and I will go grab coal and anything burnable for light and heat”, Ashley said.
Caesar stood up. “I will stay here and keep watch. They might come looking for us.” He pulled out a small blade, the size of a knife. Even with that I knew he was dangerous.
I unsheathed my sword. It never left my side. I had already forgotten I was carrying it. “I will go look for any exits.”
Jessika looked concerned. “But, your injuries-“
“They will be fine. I won’t go far”, I said.
I turned towards the opposite direction of our unfinished camp and wandered off with no real destination, or sense of direction.
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Of course, I wandered off too far. How long has it been? Minutes? Hours? I lost track. I kept walking, following the left side of the wall. I heard from somewhere that if you followed the left side of a maze, you will always find your way out. The difference was, this wasn’t a maze.
Surprisingly, I stumbled upon something that I couldn’t believe. At first I thought it was just an illusion but as I got closer, I began to realize that I wasn’t imagining it. A door. It was a wooden door.
I sprinted towards it and busted it open. Why care about manners when your life is on the line?
The room in front of me nearly gave me a heart attack. The floor around me was made of smooth stone. Off to the distance were pools of lava, giving the room its light source. The lava actually made it almost too bright. I had to squint to clearly visualize the rest of the scenery.
Around the room were shelves and stands for tools, and supplies, enough to last a lifetime. Everything was great but what really shocked me was the person standing in front of me staring me down. He was clearly aged and wore ragged clothing. However, where his eyes should have been, were pure white.
Chapter 19: The truth.
I lifted my sword and gripped it with both hands. The blade glimmered in the light. The dark figure started to approach slowly, raising his hands in the air.
As his body came out of the shadows, I lowered my sword. All this time, I had expected to see a monster, glaring at me with its pure white eyes. To my surprise, I was fooled. His intimidating white eyes vanished as he stepped forward into the light. It was revealed that he was actually just wearing large glasses. The glare from the lava pools had created the illusion this entire time.
“There is no need for violence here!” The old man said. He was unarmed and had his arms raised. His clothes were rather torn and ragged. He wore a large coat and had hiking gear strapped around his waist. He looked aged, but I didn’t let the wrinkles fool me. I kept my guard up.
“Who are you?” I asked.
He smiled. “It is good to finally meet you. I have waited all this time to finally find another person from the other world.”
His words sent a jolt through my body. “Other world?! Who are you? Tell me!” My voice was sounding rather intimidating.
He sighed. “Whoa! Calm down young hero. There is much to discuss but I think it will be better to start from the beginning. You may call me Mr. N by the way.
I have experienced much of what you have already. I was once climbing a mountain in Europe but then I fell. I fell right into this world. I don’t know how long it’s been, but I have been able to survive and exclude myself from the people of this world, so I can do research and learn about this earth we stand on.”
I needed more answers. “How did you do that thing where you entered my dreams? Why didn’t you help me from the start?”
Mr. N walked towards a few chairs and I followed him. We sat down and I prepared myself for a long story.
“Reincarnation”, he said, “Ever heard of it? It is the idea of life after death, but in a a new form. I have been trying to understand the concept since the beginning but it is complex. To my knowledge, it is extremely rare, and only happens to a few people in this world. To have it happen more than once is unheard of. Fascinating, isn’t it? To be able to die, but come back good as new?”
I thought about it all for a second. It didn’t really make sense and I couldn’t believe it. However, after what has already happened hasn’t really been “normal” either. I HAD experienced it before. I guess I was lucky.
I looked at Mr. N. “But why me?” I asked.
He stroked his chin. “Fate, I believe. Fate brought you into this world. Fate allowed us to create a connection in your mind. And fate brought us together at this very moment. I believe you will play a big part in this crisis. I know this wasn’t the first time you were told that.”
“What exactly is going on? If you know so much, why don’t you stop it?” I said.
“You must first understand what is being done to this world. In this world, diamonds are spread throughout the earth like veins. Sort of like veins in the body. Just like the body, I have come to the conclusion that there must be a central diamond deposit where the diamonds originate from", he said.
“A heart?” I started to understand.
“Exactly. And not long ago, the citizens of Sibia stumbled upon a stone. The stone is usually purple and glows in the dark. When arranged in a certain fashion, it creates a portal into another dimension, far more dangerous than anything you have ever seen. This dimension is a counter-part to this world and contains evil of great magnitude.”
“But what does that have to do with the crisis?” I asked.
He continued to give bad news. “It seems the citizens entered the dimension and brought back something that does not belong here. A diamond, cursed and infected with the evils of the other world. It has powers that can even control us. You have experienced it firsthand. Remember the heart you mentioned before? What happens when you put a virus into our heart and bloodstream?”
I understood now. “An infection... So this cursed diamond was placed in the center of the diamond source, and it has spread. And the only way to stop it is to...”
“Destroy it. But that is not all. We must seal any portals to the other dimension and seal off the diamond source from everyone.” Mr. N stood up and rummaged through his supplies he had around the room.
He grabbed an old wrapped up piece of parchment. “I know we have barely had any time to really get to know each other but it is time for you to return to your friends. I know saving the world is a little bit too much to ask but I cannot join you. I am quite old and weak against the diamonds. If they were to control me and know of any of the information I have to offer, you would be doomed. However I will be watching you and I will be there when you need me.”
He handed me the parchment.
“What is this?” I asked.
He smiled and chuckled a bit. “It is a map. A map to the Heart of Diamonds.”
Chapter 20: A family feud.
Armies of monsters, evil brainwashing diamonds, and a quest to save the world; yep, I should have been used to it by now, but it was still a lot to ask of your semi-average teenager.
I was still trying to wrap up everything that had just happened, however. I also had to find a way to explain it all to the others, without telling them the really weird details of “reincarnation.” Also, I thought it was crucial not tell them about destroying any portals yet. It was better to take it one step at a time.
As I was wandering my way back to camp, I took a look at he map Mr. N had given me. There were a few noticeable landmarks that we had to find, along with a few warning labels that pointed out to “potential threats.” Mr. N had done his research.
I reached camp, exhausted and starving. I was welcomed back with Jessika scolding me, and Ashley telling me how worried they were. Caesar was the only one remotely calm, and tried his best to hold back the two.
“I have a long story to tell”, I said, “We should sit down. I don’t think any of you will take this well.”
I told them everything I could, in the most detail possible. I left out the details about reincarnation and the portals, however.
They were silent. Ashley looked at me with big eyes, and Jessika sat there staring at the ground.
Caesar looked more confused rather than scared. “You met Notch?”
“Who?” I asked.
“Notch, the guy who called himself Mr. N. I have heard stories about him. Some say he is wiser than the elder himself. If he chose to talk to you, then it must be important. You mentioned something about a map?” Caesar looked interested.
I grabbed the piece of parchment out of my pocket and spread it against the floor of the cavern. Everyone leaned forward for a better look.
Jessika shot up and ran towards the edge of the campfire. “Look here! There is a marking n the ground! Just like the map! We are on the right track.”
I leaned back and took a sigh of relief. “Then we better get moving.”
We tore down camp, just as fast as we set it up. We covered our trails and followed the right path towards our destination. It was not long before we came across an eye-catching scene.
We stood on a cliff high above the cavern floor. It was hard to believe all of this was below ground. Hundreds of feet below us, we could see a group of soldiers accompanied by skeletons and zombies. There were no creepers in sight. Probably to avoid any “accidents.”
Leading the exhibition, in full uniform, stood Pierce, smiling maliciously. His eyes were bloodshot red and his skin was pale. He was a zombie, minus the flesh eating part.
Caesar and I had to hold Jessika back. If we hadn’t she would have jumped right off the cliff.
“Don’t worry, Jessika. We will get him back”, I said.
She sobbed and tried to hold back her tears, but it was clear that she was broken into pieces.
Chapter 21: I sleep it off.
My stomach and I growled in unison. Caesar grabbed his stomach as well, trying to hide his hunger.
“I think we should have something to eat and get some rest. It’s been a long day. I will cook up some soup with some… herbs I have”, Jessika said.
Jessika walked towards the supplies and Ashley followed her. I decided to go help too but as I approached their voices escalated. I stayed far enough away to hear them.
“So when are you going to make your move?” Jessika asked.
Ashley’s body language changed. ‘What do you mean?”
“Well if you don’t make your move on him, I will. You don’t deserve him.” Jessika seemed very confident in her words. I wondered who “he” was.
“Are you kidding me? You have no idea what you are even talking about!” Ashley yelled.
“You only like him because he saved you. Before, you didn’t even notice him. You should go back to “your world.” You don’t belong here.”
“You want to fight warrior girl?” Ashley was already planting her feet into the ground.
“Bring it on princess!” Jessika brought out her sword.
I got up and stepped in. “Whoa whoa! Let’s just take a step back and-“
“STAY OUT OF THIS!” They yelled in unison.
I backed off and decided to join Caesar by the campfire. At least he won’t try to kill me.
I sat down next to him in silence. We could here the two still having their catfight. We looked at each other with puzzled looks.
We both let out a long sigh and together we said,” Women.”
Caesar stared into the fire, he was in deep thought. “Mo, I have been thinking… There have been stories of a rebel group. They have existed ever since the beginning of our settlement in Sibia. They have always opposed the elder and have been trying to get rid of him ever since… With all of this going on right now, I was thinking…”
I looked at him, interested. “You’re saying maybe we can find them? And ask them for help?”
“Mo, we can’t do this alone. Reaching the Heart of Diamonds will be hard enough, but stopping the elder…”
“We will make it our second priority”, I said, “We can look for them while we get to our goal.”
Just as I finished, Jessika and Ashley walked in. They seemed to have sorted everything out, sort of.
“Here, I made soup”, Jessika said. She stood there holding four steaming bowls. They smelled great. Ashley passed around the spoons.
We had our dinner and relaxed. My eyes started to feel heavy, a little easier than usual. With what was going on, it was usually hard to fall asleep. I was happy that my body finally listened to me.
Chapter 22: La Resistance
I was in an earthquake. The ground was shaking violently, and the walls around me began to crumble. It was too dark to see anyone, and calling out didn’t work against the quake’s tremendous roar. However, I could here a faint whisper.
“Mo!”
The whisper started to grow louder and louder. The voice began to escalate over the sounds of the earthquake.
Then I woke up. My eyes shot open and I found Ashley shaking me furiously and yelling right into my face.
“Finally!’ She yelled. You could tell her eyes were still feeling heavy.
I yawned and tried to get up. “How long have I been asleep?”
Caesar showed up right behind Ashley and gave me a canteen of water.
“She drugged us”, Caesar said, “The soup had some special herbs in it. It caught me completely off guard. We’ve overslept, at least a few hours I’d say.”
My heart skipped a beat. I quickly scanned the area. There was a supply pack missing, and one less sleeping bag. Jessika was gone. I checked my pockets. I got up and scrambled to find it but it was gone too.
“The map! It’s gone!” I said.
Ashley’s face filled with anger. “That lying, evil…”
“It’s alright, we only have one path to follow. We should be able to catch up to her if we leave NOW.” Caesar said.
I grabbed my pack and started to move. “We better hurry. She’s going after Pierce.”
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The three of us followed the path aimlessly. Everything about the path was identical, almost like we were traveling in circles. But after a while, we finally came to a stop when we saw something peculiar.
“Is that a light?” I asked.
“From a campfire. Let’s go, quietly”, Caesar said.
We cautiously approached the scene, trying to conceal ourselves the best we could. Unfortunately, I am no ninja, so I immediately stepped on some loose gravel and slipped. My supply pack fell and hit the ground with a loud CLANK.
In seconds, we had sword tips pointing at our throats.
“Who are you?! Answer or perish!” The voice was female, but very powerful. The tip of her blade pressed against the skin on my neck.
“M-my name is Mo”, I said, “We seek the route towards the Heart of Diamonds.”
A male teenager stepped forward, and gestured the few around us to lower their weapons. He had sandy blond hair and a scar across his left cheek. His eyes seemed to change color in the light.
“Stand down Sarah!", he said, "They aren't even armed! I am deeply sorry about my friends. They are a little jumpy… My name is Markus. We are La Resistance.”
They came closer together so it was easier to see them. There were four of them: the one in the middle, Markus, two females, along with one very large ogre-like male.
Markus helped me up, and began to introduce them.
“This is Sarah.” He pointed out the girl who tried to kill me. She had long black hair and dark brown eyes. She failed to show any compassion, not even a smile. First impressions showed that she probably had a mouth too.
“And this is Claudia.” The other girl had bleach blond fuzzy hair, and stunning blue eyes. She wore all white, like a Greek goddess. In her left hand she held a dagger made of either iron or steel. It was surely very sharp.
“And this big guy is Bruce.” The ogre-like teenager stepped forward. He could have been a star football player, or maybe a sumo wrestler. He would crush anyone back at home. His face was like the expression on an infants face; innocent and emotionless.
“Bruce doesn’t talk”, Markus said, “However, he is quite… Sensitive.”
"Thanks for the warning..." I said.
Caesar shook hands with Markus. “I knew we would find you.” He looked at me, and gave me a look of reassurance. “M name is Caesar. This is Ashley and Mo. We need your help.”
Markus stroked his chin even though he had little to no facial hair. “Please, come this way”, he said.
We followed the four of them into a lime-green tent. The inside was decorated in leather and the furniture was made of red wood oak. It was quite impressive for a quick, mobile camp set-up.
The three of us told our story, each of us trying to give them as many details as we could. Markus, Sarah, Claudia and Bruce were good listeners. By the end of it, there was a moment of silence. The seven of us were in deep thought.
Claudia spoke up. “It seems we're on a similar journey. The elder has been a nuisance to us for a long time. And this story of an upcoming evil approaching… We would hitting two birds with one stone…”
Ashley touched my hand and whispered in my ear. “Can we trust these guys?”
Sarah shot us a death stare from across the tent. “No secrets! How do we know this is true, Markus? These ‘outsiders’… I don’t like them.” She unsheathed a long curved blade.
Markus sighed. “Sarah, for once can you not scare away our guests. I, myself, have been noticing some underground movement. This story is almost identical to the one the last guest told us…”
The words spilled out of my mouth. “Last guest? Was it a girl? Jessika?!”
Bruce stood up. “She ran down Jagged Path. In a hurry she was…”
Markus, Claudia and Sarah were dead frozen. Their eyes were fixed on Bruce. I guess they were serious when they meant he never spoke.
Markus laughed and shook his head. “Bruce has never said a word to anyone. I guess he really trusts you guys. We will help you on your journey. You have my sword.”
Chapter 23: The Very Jagged Path.
Markus, Claudia, Sarah, and Bruce tore down their camp in a hurry. They seemed eager to get the chance to face the elder.
Markus, seemed to know the way. We followed them down a series of tunnels until we reached a closed off mine shaft.
“What is a mine shaft doing here?” I asked. “We are way too far from Sibia.”
Sarah hit me. "Ouch!" I yelled.
Sarah's face was red with anger. “Sibia is not the only city around here you know! There used to another great city right above us until the elder-“
Claudia shot Sarah a terrifying glare. “Sarah! Not now!”
Sarah’s head lowered. It was hard to believe someone as loud as her could be silenced so easily.
Caesar walked towards Claudia. They started talking about something in secret. You could hear Claudia giggling ever now and then.
Markus addressed the group. “This is the entrance to the Jagged Path. It was abandoned due to some crazy superstition. The miners who entered went insane. They tore down and demolished much of the mine. It seems we now know what exactly the ‘superstition’ is…”
Ashley stepped in. “We must close to an infected diamond vein! And the Heart of Diamonds shouldn’t be far!”
“Exactly”, Markus said. “The diamonds are powerful. Many of us don't know what we are up against. But then again, some people here already have first-hand experience with these things” He was looking right at me. Soon everyone was staring.
Claudia looked the most intrigued. "Really now? Mo, the hero of Sibia, has faced these malicious diamonds and lived? Please tell us."
I hated being put on the spot. “Uhh yeah... T-they try to use your own thoughts against you”, I said, “Jessika and I… The diamonds were close to beating us, but we got lucky. We need each other so we can watch each other’s backs.”
“So we’ll pair up”, Claudia said.
Markus seemed to like the idea. “Alright fine. Bruce and Sarah with me. Claudia, go with Caesar. Mo and Ashley, you two go together. We will travel in groups, one after another. The path is too narrow for everyone to go at the same time… Ten seconds. After the first group, each group counts ten seconds, and then they can go. That way, we are far enough away to help the other groups.”
“We will go first.” Caesar said.
Caesar and Claudia walked into the shaft and disappeared. I could have sworn they were holding hands. Smooth, Caesar. Real smooth.
Ten seconds of silence passed. “Let’s go, Markus, Bruce.” Claudia lead their group into the darkness, Bruce, watching their rear. Good idea, I thought.
I stood still, with Ashley next to me. I counted out ten long breaths. “That’s ten, let’s get moving.”
Ashley and I entered the Jagged Path. It was dark, scary, and overall not a great place for a first date. The ground shook beneath our feet. It felt like something large had fallen down. Please don’t be Bruce, I thought.
Ashley grabbed my hand and squeezed. I kept leading the way, smiling a little. Focus, we needed to focus. It would be a lot harder for mind tricks if we were focused. Small talk.
Like she was reading my mind, Ashley spoke up. “Mo… Now that we are alone, I wanted to ask… Have you been thinking about home lately?”
I thought about it for a second.
Ashley continued. “I mean, this isn't anything like home. You don’t want to stay here do you?”
I didn’t respond.
“It’s that Jessika girl isn’t it? Mo, she lied and tricked us! She’s just as much of an enemy as these diamonds are!”
I don’t know why, but my body filled with rage. “No, you’re wrong. Jessika only wanted to protect us. She just wants her brother back. Ashley, I like you, I really do, but I can’t go back. I need to finish what I started. I promise I will find a way to get you home, where you will be safe.”
She let go of my hand. I was sure I screwed up big time. We didn’t talk for quite some time. I didn’t want to look back, but I wanted to apologize. I turned around, but she was gone. Ashley had disappeared.
I ran full sprint back down the path. I jumped over pits and small crevices. Everything started to go blurry. I thought it was because I was moving so fast, but I realized it was definitely something else.
Then I found her. She was laying flat, face in the dust. I leaned over and tried to help her up. She was breathing. Thank goodness. I couldn’t pull her up, however, my strength was failing me.
My body became heavy. My eyes lost focus, and my throat became dry. Like nails on a chalkboard, a loud high-pitched screech invaded my eardrums. Too late, I thought.
Then everything faded to black.
Chapter 24 : I dream
Dreams. “Good” dreams can be anything from enjoyable past experiences, or fantasies like, sitting on the beach on a hot summer day while being served your favorite beverage, ice-cold with a squeezed lemon.
Nightmares, on the other hand, can leave you terrorized or shaken with fear, while cold sweat drips from your body.
Like all the other times, this dream, sure wasn’t a “good” dream. Definitely a nightmare, except this time I couldn’t wake up.
The scene materialized in front of me. I was weightless, floating a few feet above the ground. I could not speak, and everything I tried to touch passed right through my hand.
It was my home, the one back on the “real” world. I was in the dining room. The large table, made of polished redwood oak, stood firm in front of me. It was long and had a beautifully decorated tablecloth. There was a feast of delicious food, prepared and served on the table. It was dinnertime.
On each side of the table, sat my parents, dressed in newly washed, expensive, attire. Also at the table sat two police officers and the teacher who had accompanied us on the field trip Ashley and I went missing.
One of the police officers spoke. “Your child’s disappearance, along with Ashley Chase’s coincidental disappearance, has brought many questions to your family, Mr. Svenson.”
My father responded. “I am sure he is fine”, he said casually, “He is probably enjoying the scenery up there. The boy loves architecture and nature.” He continued to eat, like nothing had happened.
My mother seemed emotionless. She sat there reading her news article, not caring one little bit about the conversation. My face would have turned bright red with rage if it could. My fists clenched. They didn’t miss me.
My teacher, Mr. Birch spoke next. “We are concerned. Ashley and your son haven’t been seen for days! Her parents are very worried.”
My father gave him an amused stare. “So why are you here? You should be putting more bodies up that mountain looking for them rather than coming into my home and bothering my business. The boy is smart. If anything, HE is probably the one keeping them both alive.”
I relaxed myself. It wasn’t often that my dad complimented me. I also noticed that my mother’s hands were… shaking?
The two officers and Mr. Birch stood up. “We are deeply sorry for interrupting you, sir”, one of the officers said, “We will be on our way.
The three of them left. As soon as they heard the sound of the front door closing, my mother and father shot out of their chairs and embraced each other.
“Don’t worry, honey”, my father said, “I am sure Mo is alright. He is strong like an ox. We will see our boy soon.”
My eyes began to water. I tried to speak to them but I couldn’t. They cared, they actually cared! And with that the scene changed.
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It was a battle scene. It was too real to feel like a nightmare. I was at a campsite, located underground. The walls looked similar and the ground was the same, dark gray color. This battle was definitely nearby to us.
The battle was extremely one sided. There were skeletons, zombies, and spiders crowding the area. The soldiers were wearing darkish silver battle armor, but something was strange. They weren’t fighting each other; they seemed to be fighting together.
I began to come closer and realized that the battle was actually just a crowd of enemies, surrounding a single individual. The crowd waved their weapons in the air and cheered like they had just come to the end of a long journey. The singled out person was Jessika.
She was surrounded in a circle. From a distance, I estimated at least a few hundred evil creatures and soldiers combined. There was no winning this fight.
I was now standing in breathing distance from Jessika. A man came from the crowd. At the same time, Jessika and I gave him a death glare. It was Pierce.
“Why hello there, sis! Where is your little squad of warriors? Have they scurried away already?” He laughed and many of the other soldiers followed.
Jessika was trembling with fury. She also seemed ready to break down and cry. “Pierce, why?! Why would you do this?! Mother and father would want you-“
“Want me to do what?! They’re dead! And if you knew the truth, you would be fighting along side me, not against me!” I couldn’t notice before but Pierce’s body seemed much more pale than it was before. Fatigue was overwhelming him.
Jessika pointed the tip of her sword towards Pierce. “They have corrupted you! I will save you, I promise!”
Pierce laughed. “Corruption? You don’t even know the word. I am here because I CHOSE to be here. There is no sense in controlling something you already have on your side! Now the elder, that’s a different story. Guards! Take my sis to the imprisonment tent. If she tries to escape, feel free to cut her up a bit!”
Soldiers started to surround her. I tried to call out once more, but I was in vain. I began to float away farther and farther from the scene. It soon became a blur in the distance. The scene changed once more.
I was flying. It would have been the time of my life if I knew where I was going. I started to descend. When I reached the earth, I tried to study my surroundings.
Ruins. Ruins surrounded me. I stood at the center. The area was littered with demolished buildings made of stone. It was frightening. The only thing that made me feel better was that the ground was covered in sand. Sibia had grass. This wasn’t Sibia.
In front of me stood the foundation of a massive castle. I wondered what had happened here.
Right on cue, my vision began to blur. The area around me began to… change. Sand moved in weird directions, and the sun rose and set in extreme speeds. Right before my eyes, I saw weeds diminish to nothing but roots and animals travel backwards. I was going back in time.
Buildings began to rebuild themselves and fires went and disappeared. Everything came and went so fast. People began to appear in blurs. Before I knew it, I was standing next to a man while surrounded by a huge crowd.
I looked at the man next to me. He was middle aged, and wore old-fashioned robes. However I recognized him. He had the same eyes, and that face. He was the elder, but younger and more together.
I panicked. I looked around and in the crowd I spotted four familiar faces. Markus, Sarah, Claudia, and Bruce were standing in the crowd. They were all holding on to each other. Their eyes were puffy, from crying.
A man stepped forward from the crowd, and I turned to face him. The elder knelt down, and looked like he was starting to sob.
“LINUS!” The man said in a powerful roar. He wore gold trimmed attire, along with a crown. He was their king for sure. I was also surprised that he addressed the elder as “Linus.”
“It is you who is at fault!” The king said. “You have brought this great evil upon us! We are slowly dying because of your foolish actions! Your presence only brings more danger to our society! Be gone, and never return!”
The elder looked up. He was at his limit. He started to plead. “Please my lord! My wife, Andrea! She is sick! I need to help her! I can-”
“BANISHMENT! That is what you get! As a king, it would be my job to have your head on a stick for the burden you have dropped on our shoulders! I am not like any other king, however! I will give you one chance! Find the cure! Bring it back! You may be able to save your wife and the people who are ill! But only then can you return!”
The elder's eyes started to gleam with hope. “Yes! Yes, I will! I promise I will find a way to save all of you!” He looked around at the crowd. Their faces were full of shame and disappointment.
The king started to turn away. “Run Linus! You have until nightfall. After that, I will send the finest hunters to hunt you down. The next time we meet, you will either have the cure in your hands or you will be lifeless and thrown back into that hell you love so much!”
Then, suddenly, the scene started to shift.
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I was inside of the cathedral-like structure back in Sibia. The insides looked cleaner and nicer than it did before. Still back in time, I thought.
I stood again next to the elder. This time he was more aged and fatigued. His clothes were old and ragged. He was once again in the same pleading position like before.
In front of us stood a man and a female. They were both wearing elegant clothing, and wore crowns. The king and queen of Sibia? I paid close attention. We were the only ones present.
The elder spoke. His old bones were shaking and his voice was rather weak. “My lord, you must stop! The powers you are tampering with are too strong. They will destroy us all!”
The king sneered. “You come into my city, and we offer you our hospitality. Now, you are trying to tell ME what to do?”
The elder’s eyes started to water. “I have got news that my home has been destroyed by the very same force you are tying to capture… Everyone is dead! I failed them! Even my wife… Andrea… Think about your people! Your son, Caesar!”
“ENOUGH! You will not bring my son into this! You will oversee the building of this structure as instructed! No excuses!”
Suddenly a loud ringing shredded my eardrums. I could tell the elder heard it too, because he fell to the ground, covering his ears.
A voice was speaking to me, beckoning. I fought the urge to grab my sword, but the elder fell into its persuasive powers. He brought out long dagger. Its blade was pointing right at the king’s throat. I closed my eyes. He lunged.
The cathedral-like structure absorbed the screams of the king and queen. It was not long before the sound of two bodies hit the ground. Then there was silence.
I opened my eyes. The scene was covered in red. The two bodies were limp at the other end of the room. The elder stood awestruck over them. His clothing and his hands were painted with blood. His body started to shake and he dropped the dagger onto the stone floor. Then he collapsed.
Seconds later, like a dog playing dead, the elder stood straight up. His eyes were not the same. They were blood shot and bulging, almost demon-like. He bent over in a weird fashion, his body bent at a ninety-degree angle. He extended his arm to pick up something. It looked like someone was playing puppeteer with his body.
He stood up straight again, but holding the king’s crown. He put it on his head, elegantly, staring into the distance. It was almost like he could see me. He stood there for a few seconds, then bent over again, but grabbing the ankles of the limp bodies of the king and queen, one in each hand. He continued to drag them across the floor, leaving a trail of scarlet red. He went into a back room and didn’t return.
I stared into the back room, into the darkness. Then, suddenly, the elder came rushing out, head tilted and showing his teeth. He let out a loud shriek and lunged right for me.
I closed my eyes.
Chapter 26: Time is never a blessing.
My eyes shot open. My body jolted into an upright position. I was shivering. Cold sweat covered my body.
I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know what I was doing. All I could think about was that face. Those eyes and those terrorizing teeth sent freezing chills up my spine.
I knew too much. In one night, I learned everything I needed to about my friends, my enemy, and myself. It was too much to understand. What exactly happened to the elder’s last city? What power was he referring to? Was it the diamonds?
My questions would have to wait. I needed to snap out of it.
Instantly, I triggered my panic button. I realized my objective, and my destination. I remembered what happened, and how I collapsed. I quickly stood up, and tried to look around.
Good, I was in the same place. Ashley was lying on the ground next to me. She was motionless, but breathing. How long have we been here? There was no time. If my dreams were correct, Jessika was in danger. I needed to get Ashley out of here and stop Pierce. Stop him from reaching the Heart of Diamonds.
I picked up Ashley. It was no easy task either. She was not heavy, but my body was still suffering from painful fatigue. A burden I had to carry.
I dragged myself, carrying Ashley, down the rest of Jagged Path. We were almost there, I could feel it.
Minutes past, and the dark, dangerous path continued. There were no monsters, nothing. I became extremely worried. Why hadn’t the others come back to look for us? They should have come back if it took us too long…
Just as my legs started to burn from lactic acid, I saw the exit. There was a light at the end. Usually, you wouldn’t want to go to the light at the end of a tunnel but in this case, it was a blessing.
The shallow ceiling lifted and the brightness blinded me. Just as we exited the treacherous obstacle, I dropped to my knees, and set Ashley down on the cavern floor. I was exhausted. The sound of my heavy breathing was triumphed by the sounds of my fast beating heart.
I looked up. We were on a cliff side, overlooking an underground canyon. In the canyon were hundreds of tents. It was THEM. Those evil creatures and corrupted soldiers were sleeping soundly, and all their lights were out. pierce was waiting.
On the cliff side was an even more disturbing scene. Caesar and Claudia were half passed out, holding each other. Their bodies were cut and bloody. Their armor was dented and damaged. It looked like they had been fighting for days without rest.
Next to them sat Markus, Sarah, and Bruce, also in critical condition. Markus was holding Sarah, and Bruce was trying to stand up. Markus was slightly conscious but didn’t seem like he would respond. Bruce seemed more dazed than anything. Sarah seemed to get the worst of it. She was not awake, just like Ashley.
“What the hell happened here?” I asked. The words barely came out of my dry, exhausted throat.
Caesar looked up. His eyes were pink from letting out tears. He was at his limit.
“Y-you two are alive! Is it r-really you? I could have sworn… B-back there, you two got…” Caesar was trying his best to speak. He was traumatized.
“Got what? Caesar what happened here? “ I was getting feeling back in my body. There was much more pain, however, as the adrenaline exited my system.
He took a dead breath. He is good at calming himself that way. Claudia was just starting to realize what was happening.
“The diamonds were too strong. We were overwhelmed! Claudia, started to cry and she went on a fury! Markus and the others, weren’t as lucky… Sarah charged Bruce, and Bruce fought back. Markus tried to keep control of himself but he was also falling into the damn rock’s voice! It beckoned to me!”
Ashley and I were lucky then, I thought. I don’t know what I would have done if Ashley tried to kill me.
Caesar continued. “That’s not all! Zombies! They came from the walls! They looked like the townspeople! I saw my parents!” He started to weep.
“Caesar, those weren’t your parents”, I said, “ The diamonds are trying to trick you, just like how they tried to trick me!”
Just then, the sound of a battle horn filled the air.
Everyone’s eyes widened. Markus seemed to be getting back to his feet. Bruce was standing up, swinging his arms around, getting the circulation back to his body. Ashley and Sarah were still out. Claudia and Caesar were starting to get back to normal as well.
Markus looked at me. “You guys… you hear that? They’re moving.” He seemed to be listening the entire time. he was in deep thought.
My mind went racing. “Jessika is there! I have to go find her!”
Caesar and Markus shook their heads. “Look at us, Mo!” Caesar said. “There is no way we can get down there! Even if we could we are not in fighting shape!”
I got up and made sure Ashley was in a comfortable position. I picked up my sword and shield. If it had to be done, it would have to done alone.
Just as I thought I would be doing this all alone, an enormous hand landed on my right shoulder. I turned around to face Bruce who was standing up straight and smiling.
Markus let out a small laugh. “You are going into the depths of hell, Mo. As soon as we are all good to go here, I am going to lead them to the Heart of Diamonds. We will not wait for you two.”
I looked at Bruce. He turned around and grabbed a long broadsword, the size of my body. He didn’t say anything, only a nod.
“Markus, you better get them there safely! I’m counting on you! And Caesar, try and take care of Ashley for me.” I said.
Caesar gave me a sad expression. “You are coming back.” He said it in a way more to convince himself.
Markus scurried his way to Caesar and put a hand on his shoulder. “Caesar-“
“I promise I will!” I interrupted. “Because I still owe you one for last time. For Porker!”
Markus just stood there and looked confused. "Porker?"
Caesar couldn’t help but smile. "Alright, for Porker!"
And with that Bruce and I started our way down the cliff, toward the hordes of evil creatures waiting for us.
"Pierce, I will drag you here dead or alive", I thought.
Chapter 27:Team Bonding
Cliffs and heights were never my “thing”. To be honest, I would rather go through days of digging up sand without water, than climbing down a steep cliff. It wasn’t only climbing down the cliff that made me uneasy, however. It was climbing down, undetected.
Like, two large shadows, we drifted towards the bottom, silently and steadily. As we approached the ground, I could see dark figures moving about. Torches began to light up and the entire camp started to come to life.
I thought the battle horn meant it was time for their departure, however, I was completely wrong. The tents remained untouched, while the dark figures began to move about, with full equipment strapped onto their backs.
I looked at Bruce who was staggering above me, trying not to make any sudden movements. He was a big guy carrying a large sword and pack so anything rash could eliminate our element of surprise.
“Is it a drill?” I whispered.
He looked at me with a confused face and shrugged his shoulders. At first it didn’t give me much confidence but then again, I was with was Bruce. He was a one-man-army.
We touched ground. We were on the outskirts of their underground camp. We crouched and tried to remain unseen. I gestured for Bruce to take off his pack and leave it here. We couldn’t afford anything to slow us down. Our mission was to find Jessika and get out of there as fast as possible. Maybe even show Pierce a thing or two before we continued our journey.
It must have been our lucky day. We started to creep our way, still crouched, into the camp. We stumbled upon two soldiers talking.
“Hey, Fred, what’s going on again?” One of them said. He was older and had a long beard.
“Uhhh, I think Sir Pierce found something "special" in the deep tunnel entrance. It might be our way out of this underground hell.” The other one said. He looked a lot younger than the other guy.
“You think it’s the Heart of Diamonds?” The bearded one asked.
“No, something different. The elder told us about another objective, remember?”
Bruce got tired of listening. Before the other one could respond, Bruce brought out his broadsword and swung with the flat side of his blade. The two of them were both knocked right into the nearest tent, unconscious.
He looked at me. “No need for blood”, he said, while showing me the flat side of his broadsword.
I nodded and we continued deeper into camp. We avoided any contact. We needed to find Jessika’s prison tent.
Time passed and we were still out of luck. There was no distinction between the hundreds of tents around us. Luckily, all the warriors were gone, even the zombies and skeletons. But even so, our time was running out. We needed to hurry.
I heard something. I stood still, absolutely motionless. Bruce did the same. The sound continued. My feet wheeled into gear and ran towards the direction of the sound.
Chains, I thought. It was the sound of chains; rusty pieces metal grinding against each other. I ran faster. The sound got louder and louder, and my heart began to beat faster and faster.
I found myself standing in front of a large green tent. There were no torches lit, so it was easily concealed in the darkness. Idiot, I thought.
Bruce stumbled in behind me, head swerving from side to side, scanning the area. I turned towards him.
“Bruce, stay out here”, I said, “I will go inside alone.”
Bruce nodded and gripped his sword. I continued my way in.
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It was dark. There was no source of light in the entire tent. There were chains, and cuffs attached to the sides and the ground was cold as ice. It may have looked like a tent from the outside, but it as definitely a prison cell. At the very end of the room I saw a figure. The figure had long hair and familiar battle armor.
I sprinted towards her. As soon as I got halfway, however, I tripped. My body fell instantly. I looked at my feet. A trip wire!
Immediately after, a mechanism from the right side began to creak and an arrow shot right towards me. I ducked and it passed by my head. The room became brighter. The left side of the cell began to light up in a fury of flames.
“A trap!” I yelled. I was hoping that my voice would reach Bruce on the outside, but I had no time.
I jolted back up and continued towards the other end of the cell and reached her.
Jessika was chained against the wall. Her head was down, but you could see that she was still breathing.
Her clothes and battle gear didn’t stand a chance against their methods of torture. They were completely torn apart. She wasn’t in prime condition either. She had cuts and bruises all over; fresh scarlet blood was still dripping from her body.
My body started shaking uncontrollably. I have never been this angry before. I unsheathed my sword, and swung hard. I broke the bonds of the chains and caught Jessika before she fell. The flames around us were beginning to engulf us. The way out was already covered in fire.
I quickly loosened the knots on my boots, and positioned Jessika onto my back. I ran straight towards the exit.
Chapter 28: Barefoot
Hot. That was the only word I could think of at the moment. It was like one of those workplace-bonding clinics where they walk barefoot on hot pieces of coal. That is how I imagined it.
In reality, however this wasn’t a test. It wasn’t a workplace-bonding session. There was no coal, no overly excited “bonding” expert trying to encourage me, and no crowd of people pushing to go forward.
It was just fire and I, coming face to face, like two rivals. It would have been a lot easier if I wasn’t carrying Jessika as well, but nothing was going to stop me. We needed to escape.
Tears blinded me, and sensations of pain sent signals all over my body. I never knew how it felt like to burn something alive. “After this is all over”, I thought, “I’m becoming vegetarian.”
SMASH!
I dove through the exit and hit the ground hard. The tent behind me started to collapse, its support beams and foundation feeling the wrath of the burning red light.
I rolled Jessika over quickly to make sure she was safe. I turned my attention to my own body and immediately began to act.
I kicked off my loose boots, which were burning furiously. The smell of burning leather almost made me sick. My shins and calves were burned, and no amount of painkillers would help me once the pain starts to kick in.
My ears were still focused on the crackling of the fire, however, seconds later; I heard clashing metal, and fast-paced footsteps.
I looked up, and saw Bruce using all his might to fight off at least a dozen soldiers. He swung his sword low to his right, catching a poor soul off guard, and killing him instantly. Bruce, with his free hand, then swung in the opposite direction, and met fist to face with the warrior trying to flank him.
More horns started to blow, which probably meant reinforcements. I got up, trying not to put all my weight on my legs and charged, leaving Jessika in relatively safe distance from the fight and the fire.
I charged right into the center of attention, giving Bruce the chance to breathe. Swords were swung, barely missing me, and shields were thrown into my way, trying to catch me off guard I swung and stabbed in all directions, occasionally hearing the satisfying grunt or yell of a downed enemy.
As I continued to fight, I slowly started to have a nostalgic feeling. At the same time, I began to relive a distant memory.
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I was thirteen. Everywhere I went, I was known as the “future architect” or the “striving artist” of my generation. It was my hobby, my passion. There was not a single thing that could stop me from achieving my goal, to build a complete replica of the Coliseum.
It was a sunny day. My father and I would always go to the pier on sunny days, and have a bite to eat as well as some ice cream. On the way home, we talked.
“Son, what do you want to do when you grow up?” My father asked. He stroked his chin, and looked off into the distance.
“Well… I want to become an artist! Or an Architect! Everyone says I should!”
My father looked at me with a serious face. “I asked what do YOU want to do, not what everyone says you SHOULD do.”
I didn’t quite understand what he meant back then.
“Son”, he said, “I am enrolling you in every single martial arts class I can find. You will have the best teachers and the best instruction possible.”
“WHY?! I don’t want to!” I cried.
He smiled. Whenever he smiled, he always had a point to make, something to prove.
“Because someday, it will be important to you. If by chance, your architecture skills fail to keep you passionate, you always have something to fall back on!”
He laughed and continued to eat his ice cream.
The next month I was enrolled into several different dojos and schools. I spent so much time training; I never had the chance to even give it a second thought.
By the time I had turned fourteen, I was put into my very first major martial arts tournament. The feeling of nervousness invaded my stomach. I was worried that I would disappoint my father.
The moment I entered the mat, I was hit hard, and nearly lost consciousness. I was too afraid to see my father’s face but I looked anyway. What I saw was… a smile?
He was happy? He was happy that I was getting my butt kicked? But then I remembered what he had said to me even before I turned ten.
“As long as your passion for something burns bright, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, as long as you have fun.”
I got right back up onto the mat and continued to fight. It was my first time ever having this feeling, the feeling of enjoyment, and passion for martial arts. Until now, I had completely forgotten about it, but now it is clear.
I won the tournament and continued to go to practices and try my best. The feeling of enjoyment eventually faded away, but now I have recovered it once more.
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This amazing feeling sent tingles throughout my body every time I swung my sword. I started performing at a level I had never even believed I could achieve. My body’s extent felt limitless. Like paper, I sliced through enemies and continued on a rampage. There was no one left by the time I was finished. I stood there gasping for air, and smiling.
Bruce put a hand on my shoulder, telling me to look up. From the shadows, came zombies and skeletons, along with creepers and spiders, at massive amounts. They all seemed very displeased that I had diminished their allies down to corpses. It didn’t even bother me that they were once the townspeople of Sibia. What they did to Jessika was unforgivable.
They began to walk forward but were immediately interrupted by a small earthquake. Another small earthquake came right after it, and then another. I began to realize that those were not earthquakes, but extremely large footsteps.
From behind the horde of creatures came the largest spider I had ever seen in my life. Its head must have been at least ten feet in diameter. It had dark purple skin with red-tipped spiky fur, in contrast to the other spiders, which were all pure black. Its red eyes stared right into my soul.
I let out a huge sarcastic laugh, as I saw the dozens of skeletons with bows riding on the humongous spider’s back.
“REALLY?!” I asked.
And without another word Bruce and I charged.
Chapter 29: A giant falls.
There was no battle plan. No strategy. I was hoping Bruce and I could take on the entire army on our own, but I was mistaken.
In the first moments of battle, I was struck in the lower part of my body by an arrow. Not long after, I tried dodging another one, however, it caught me in the left shoulder blade.
There was too much pain for a normal human being to handle. Thank you, adrenaline.
I had already lost feeling in my hands and feet. My tongue was going numb too, but I kept fighting. I will not let Bruce down, I thought. Not after what we've been through. We were so close.
My enemy was the giant spider. If I could take down that thing, the rest would be an easy task to complete. I sliced at the nearest zombie, severing its torso. I took a few steps back and jabbed into a spider's skull with my blade. My movement started to get slower. It was only a matter of time before it was over. I sprinted forward towards the abomination. The skeletons on the back of the spider were notching their arrows. Now was my chance.
From behind me, I heard the cry of zombies and skeletons. My eyes glared towards Bruce who had been in front of me the entire time. I looked back to see Jessika, staggering behind us, clearing off the enemies that went past us.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I yelled. I started to feel nauseous. With those injuries, Jessika is in no condition to fight, I thought. I needed to get this done quickly.
I was nearly face to face with the monster, until a zombie tackled me onto the ground. Its teeth glistened with saliva. The zombie tried taking a bite off my face, but I managed to put my sword through his body. Dark red blood covered my armor. I got back up and quickly sidestepped, dodging the fangs of the extremely large spider. The monster didn't want to waste time either. It charged me.
It was instinct. I ran straight towards it. The skeletons on top of its back shot a rain of arrows at me. I couldn't tell if any had hit me or not. I kept running. Just as I was about to become dinner for the creature, I slid. Feet first, I slid right under it, lifting my sword viciously, dragging it all the way down its belly. It was like your classic dissection. The spider stopped in its tracks, with a huge THUMP. Anything riding it, and anything near it, became history. I crawled away from the corpse, covered in spider guts.
"Disgusting", I said.
The battle raging around me continued. Jessika was severely handicapped, and was barely holding off her share of enemies. Bruce was striking down monsters, groups at a time, however, they kept pouring in. The battle seemed to have no end.
I continued on my rampage and tried to fight off as many as I could. In no time, my arms were covered in cuts, and my armor was almost at its end. Was there no end to this madness?
Suddenly, a high pitched scream filled the air. "NOOOOO!" I immediately recognized it to be Jessika's voice. I glanced towards her direction. She had her hands covering her mouth, and she was ready to burst into tears. She was looking in the other direction.
I turned around to see Bruce, motionless. His mouth was open, trying to say something. His skin had turned pale, and his eyes were rolled back. Only after I saw the scarlet blood dripping down his body, did I notice the bronze sword sticking out of his chest. I stared at him, in devastation, unable to look away, unable to think. The figure behind him gave him a shove, throwing the lifeless body onto the cavern floor.
The figure retrieved his sword from the body and stood in a firm, tall stance. He snickered, and showed us his pearly white teeth.
"Well, what do we have here?" The battle around us began to slow down to a stop. The creatures started to circle us, so that we couldn't escape, leaving Jessika and I to be the only two standing in front of the demon himself.
Pierce.
Chapter 30: I slash and Pierce pierces me.
Loss. I thought I knew the feeling. All my life, I have lost homework and lunches, and I have always thought I had a grasp on how painful it is to lose something important, someone close to you. I was completely mistaken.
Jessika dropped down to her knees and continued to cry. She paid no attention to the surrounding waves of creatures. Pierce had hit her weak spot.
I was frozen as well, too shocked to move. I just stood still and stared. I stared right at Bruce’s limp body. It was lying, motionless, on the cold stone floor, with blood slowly filling the space around it. The giant, who was full of life just moments ago, was now gone. Gone forever.
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what I COULD do. We were surrounded, and severely injured. I was at my limit, both physically and emotionally. It was hopeless. I was ready to give up.
Images began to flash through my head at light speed. I saw images of old friends, family, even Ashley. The images quickly transitioned to shards of memories about laughter and happiness. A warm feeling started to fill my body.
Then I saw Mr. N, or “Notch” as Caesar called him. He was standing in front of me in the same attire when we first met. He was looking right at me with his round glasses. He opened his mouth and started to speak.
“Fate, I believe. Fate brought you into this world. Fate allowed us to create a connection in your mind. And fate brought us together at this very moment. I believe you will play a big part in this crisis. I know this wasn’t the first time you were told that.”
He was right, I thought. Right now, everyone believes in me. I couldn’t give up now.
I glared into the eyes of Pierce. No more mercy. I grabbed a hold of my sword and gripped it firmly, pointing the tip at Pierce’s neck.
“Oh, so you want to fight me now? What makes you think you can defeat me?” He said. His skin was pale white, and his eyes were more bloodshot than before. He was not Pierce anymore.
Before I could charge, a soldier ran to Pierce’s side and spoke to him directly, completely ignoring me.
“Sir, THEY are here. It is time for us to leave.” The soldier looked tense, almost like he was in a hurry.
“No!” Pierce said. “We are THIS close to taking down the enemy!” His eyes shot me a glare. “I will stay here and finish this.”
And with that the group of creatures surrounding us started to scatter. They almost seemed… scared?
I didn’t care about them. I charged at my target. Our blades interlocked immediately. Pierce brought out his shield and tried to weaken my stance. I stood firm and jabbed at the opening under his right arm.
SLASH!
Pierce quickly parried my strike and sliced my chest plate right in half, catching some of my chest. A hot stinging sensation filled up my torso.
“Aaaaggghhh!” I yelled. My vision was starting to blur. I tried to focus on my surroundings. The entire underground cavern was almost empty of any creatures. Jessika was still kneeling. It was now just the three of us.
I continued to fight, sidestepping and swinging. I caught one part of his shoulder, but the padding was rough. He barely felt a thing. I turned to Jessika once more to make sure she was all right.
“Haven’t you learned anything yet? Never turn your attention away from a battle!” Pierce roared and swung his sword when I wasn’t paying attention.
I quickly forced myself to swing my arm in his direction. My blade hissed as it sliced through the air itself.
SLASH!
Chapter 31: Blackness
In an instant, it was over. Blood covered my face, acting as a veil, shading everything in scarlet color. I stood tall, blade gripped in both hands. In front of me stood Pierce, hunched over, holding onto my sword. His hands were tightly wrapped around my blade, gripping it so tightly that it made cuts in his fingers. The blade ran straight towards him, disappearing in his battle armor. I could clearly see the other end, sticking out of his upper back.
Jessika was as shocked as I was, still kneeling on the floor. Her eyes grew larger and more tears began to burst down her cheeks. She continued to cry and weep while Pierce and I stood silent, staring into each other’s faces.
Pierce’s expression changed. He looked as if he had finally recognized himself. With the last bit of strength he had, he gripped the blade even tighter and pulled it towards himself, thrusting the sword deeper into his body. With this, he was now inches away. I could hear his damaged heart struggling to pump out more blood.
Pierce leaned over, putting his mouth to my ear and began to whisper.
“M-Mo... I-I... S-sorry... Portal... Under c-castle...” He coughed out his final breaths and became limp over my shoulder.
I squatted down and laid Pierce down on his side. I left everything as it was, sword and all. I didn’t know how to feel. I had just defeated my enemy, however, in the end he tried to tell me something. Tears ran down my face, and an extreme feeling of pain invaded my body. I closed my eyes and tried to think.
“Portal under castle...”
What did that mean?
“Mo...”
I opened my eyes and turned to find Jessika, holding herself. She was still in wrecked clothing, and covered in blood. Her eyes were still draining the tears. She came closer to me and quickly grabbed me around my neck, embracing me tightly. Her body was warm, subsiding the cold.
We stood there for what seemed to be eternity, staring at the many people and creatures who had fallen. This camp that was once so full of life, was now a graveyard to poor souls.
A loud rustling noise came from the distance. I heard voices and chanting coming from the direction of a familiar tunnel. It was the same tunnel Pierce and his men traveled into, searching for something. I quickly scurried my way to Pierce’s body and found a sword laying on the ground.
It was Pierce’s sword. The hilt was engraved with small gold designs. There was a worn down image of a diamond on the bottom of the hilt, also engraved in gold. The blade was made of pure folded steel, with a flawless curve to it. The workmanship of a master blacksmith indeed.
I picked it up after scanning it, hoping nothing weird would happen. I ran back towards Jessika. Her expression changed when she saw the sword I was holding. It was the feeling of sadness, and guilt.
I tried to speak in the most comforting way I could. “It isn’t your fault. He was a hero in the end. I think I know how to end this once and for all.”
I took the sword and rose it in the air. It was too dark in the cave to see it but I could have sworn I saw a glimmering light.
Jessika began to smile as if she had seen it too. “Pierce will always be with us”, she said.
We both began to prepare ourselves for the worst as the sounds became louder.
My feet began to feel numb and my fingers began to turn blue. I was losing blood a lot faster than I thought I was. The wound on my chest was seriously hurting me. Just as I was about to kneel down, large black shadows began to swoop around us. Jessika and I rose our weapons but we were too late.
SWISH! SWISH!
I recoiled from the impact. On my chest appeared a pen sized dart. I didn’t have time to move.I tried to get a glimpse of our attackers. Unfortunately it was too dark and all I could hear was an "oink". In an instant my pupils began to dilate and my body started to go more numb. Everything around me faded into the darkest shade of black I had ever seen.
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I woke up quickly. I tried to remember everything that had happened. My head was pulsing and my body still felt like lead. I tried to move but I quickly realized that it was impossible.
A quick look at my surroundings gave me the impression that I was in trouble. And unfortunately I was right. I was shackled up in chains against a stone pillar. Around me were six other pillars with bodies shackled against them as well. I quickly recognized all the familiar faces.
"Ashley? Jessika? Guys?!" I yelled out. The pillars were spread apart pretty well. I had to raise my voice to reach them.
The body to the far left shifted. "Mo! Thank goodness! It's me, Caesar! We got caught up by some creatures, but we are fine!"
"Shhhh!" The figure to the right of him snickered at him. It was Sarah. "Be quite! We don't want them to hear us! Mo, we are glad you made it to... where ever this is."
Then I heard Markus's voice. "Mo, I am sorry. I couldn't make it. Everyone is fine but we are in a bit of trouble... Where is Bruce?"
I didn't answer. It was too painful to realize that he was actually gone. Before I could think of a way to tell them a large dark figure appeared.
"Why hello wanderers of the over-world." The voice rattled its way into my ear drums and left a stinging sensation. The figure began to show more clearly, and it was the ugliest thing I had ever seen.
32: We made it… Sort of…
Just as the ringing in my ears started to subside, the darkness around us quickly transitioned into a red, blinding light. The area became lit with torches and lanterns, revealing our surroundings.
I opened my eyes to focus on the figure that spoke to us, but something else caught my eye. I told myself the pillar I was chained against was made of stone; however, I was fooled by my own interpretation. The pillar I was chained against was not stone, but was a hard, bluish-green colored material. The moment I recognized it, I looked around to see that the entire place was covered in the stuff, and off to the distance was a castle, completely made out of the same material.
“Mo!” Ashley said, “Diamonds!”
I shot a look towards the direction of Ashley’s voice. It was an enormous relief to hear her voice again. She was in the same situation as all of us, shackled up against these diamond pillars.
“Are you shocked?” The voice buzzed in my ear once more. In the corners of my eyes I could see the others cringe as well. I finally built up the courage to look at my captor.
He definitely wasn’t human. He was by far, the ugliest creature I had ever seen. And that means a lot coming from a guy who kills zombies and giant wart-infested spiders. His entire body gave off the stench of rotting flesh. The weirdest part, however, was that he wasn’t JUST a zombie. You could see right through his flesh at some parts of his body, but you could also see that parts of him were from a different creature. A pig.
Like he took the words right out of my mouth, Caesar asked, “Zombie-Pig-Man?”
The creature tried to snarl at us but the sound that came out was more like of an OINK!
“How dare you compare us to your inferior species!”, he said, “We are the superior race, come to cleanse the world of your infection!”
My head was pulsing. I had so many questions and thoughts running through my mind. The only thing I knew for sure was that the others were just as lost as I was.
I tried to get some answers.
“So… Who are you? What are you doing here? And why are we tied up?” I tried to combine all my questions into one.
The creature began to smile. “My name is Raagnahl, leader of this tribe of superior beings. We have lived here in small numbers for eons, until recently where there has been a “spike” in our population growth. You, over-worlders are trespassers of this scared land and we cannot let you wander any further.”
His voice stung with ever syllable, piercing into my brain.
“So this is the Heart of Diamonds?” I asked. I looked at everyone else. They were listening closely.
Raagnahl spoke once more. “Yes, you have made it to the “Heart of Diamonds” as you call it. Congratulations, blah blah blah, you are the FIRST to make it here alive.”
Markus’s voice interrupted him. “Wait! You mean no one else has been here? You are not under command of the enemy, the Elder?”
Raagnahl laughed. “Under command? Of a human? Don’t insult us! If there is anyone who is under command it is your species, fool. There have been no trespassers here since our people have settled on this sacred land. And be sure that you seven will be the last.”
Caesar spoke up. “Mo, does that mean we made it? We won? I mean the Elder hasn’t been here yet, and with these things here, there is no way he can-“
“Shhh!” I shushed him. I needed to think. There was something wrong, seriously wrong. How did these things get here in the first place?
But before I could get any more information, two more Zombie-Pig-Men appeared. They both looked similar, the same rotted flesh and visible human-pig features. They both carried large, sharp golden swords.
“I am sorry to CUT our meeting a bit short, however, I have more important matters to attend to”, Raagnahl said, “You will live to see another day. You will be returned to your “home” and shall face your enemy face to face. Let us hope our paths do not cross again humans.”
Jessika shouted out. “What do you mean “our enemy face to face”? You know more than you are telling us!”
Before anyone could give it a second thought, the two other creatures brought out two bamboo pipes, and began blowing into them, just like they had done to us before.
I closed my eyes ready for impact, and then I softly fell asleep.
Chapter 33: Home again? And an intruder?
It was a nightmare. A reminder, perhaps, of what was about to unfold.
Red eyes. Dark glowing red eyes invaded the space around me. My head went spinning, trying to block out the image, but it continued to imprint itself deeper into my mind. He was watching me.
I jumped at the sound of laughter. Deep, crazy laughter. The laughter continued and continued until all that was left to be heard was a murmur, a whisper.
The whisper continued to travel around the space in front of me. Like a broken record, it repeated itself, over and over again. The voice sounded as if it was trying to feel guilty, and if it weren’t for the laughter, I would have thought it was. However, I couldn’t discard the image of HIM laughing and smiling. The voice continued to chant and dance around in my head.
“We are all doomed!”
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I woke up in a cold sweat to an all too familiar scene. The sun was just rising and the breeze coming in brought me to a new sense of reality. The last few hours felt like a terrible dream. But the terrible truth couldn’t have hit me any harder.
I rose up to my feet with a feeling of nausea and confusion. I closed my eyes and tried to withstand the massive head rush that followed. I could hear groans and moans coming from the area around me, however I was paying more attention to where I ended up.
My bootless feet dug into the sand. The grains seeped its way in between my toes. The sea breeze filled my nostrils with the salty smell of the ocean. The trees swayed in the direction of the wind and filled the air with the calm sound of rustling leaves.
“The beach?” A voice said from behind. I turned to find Ashley, finally awake from her deep sleep. The last time I saw her was in the cavern, before I took off to save our captured companion, Jessika.
The others followed in behind her in a sense of confusion. They didn’t seem to have a clue to where were.
I couldn’t help but smile.
Markus gave me a suspicious look. “Mo, what’s going on? Why are you smiling?”
Ashley eventually caught on and put her hands over her mouth in surprise. I turned away from them and started to lead the way. This wasn’t the first time I had been dropped off at this beach. It was still the same as it was last time, so calm and serene.
We eventually ended up at our stop. I took a moment to enjoy it all. Everyone else started to laugh and cheer in joy as we stood there and stared at my mediocre creation from long ago, my very first hut. What a beautiful sight indeed.
Moments passed, and the suspense started to climb. I started to walk up to the door, hoping to find the place just as I left it. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Just as I turned the knob, the door swung open. I tried to peer inside but a large shadow was blocking the way. I was too tired to grab my weapon, or feel in danger for that matter. Luckily it was an old friend.
“NOTCH!” I yelled. I gave him a huge bear hug, even though we only met once before. It was just great to see someone else alive after all that had happened.
‘Why hello, young hero! I have been expecting you! Please, let me help set up the campfire and furniture outside. I don’t think we will all be able to fit inside.”
We all laughed and helped as much as we could. To be honest, I was surprised half of us were still standing with the injuries and lack of energy. It would be our first meal in a long time.
We all sat by the fire, waiting for the sun to go down. We ate pieces of pork chop and drank jugs of fresh water. It was completely silent. I was definitely going to tell Notch of our story, however we all still needed to sink it all in. Jessika was on the far side of the campfire from me, almost passing out due to exhaustion. She has been under a lot of stress lately.
I stood up and broke the ice. I introduced Notch to the others and began to tell the tale of my story so far. I told every one of what I had been through, and what our next objective might be. It was far from over.
Notch sat there nodding and listening intently. When I finished with my storytelling, he looked at me with most sincere eyes I have ever seen.
“Mo”, he said, “I am sorry to say that you are right. You are far from over with this quest. Your friend, Pierce, was indeed under complete control of the diamonds and in the end, he gave us some important info.”
Jessika wept at the sound of Pierce’s name. We haven’t even had enough time to mourn for Bruce either.
Notch continued. “Mo, the castle and portal he mentioned makes complete sense. If there is any place the elder will put the portal, it is under the castle in Sibia. Dammit, I should have known!”
Caesar spoke up. “But then what was the point of going down there? They didn’t even seem like they WANTED to go to the Heart of Diamonds.”
Sarah interjected. “It was probably a distraction. The elder is planning something with this portal thing.”
I thought about it for a while but couldn’t make a conclusion. It was still too early in the game.
Notch rose up and started to look around. He looked like he was planning something.
“Mo, you must go back to Sibia at once and stop him before anything else happens. I have a feeling this goes much deeper than we think.” Notch seemed even more concerned now.
Notch put his fingers to his lips and whistled. The wind carried the sound through the trees and bushes. The leaves on the bushes started to sway, and a rustling sound start to arise from them.
Out of the shadows came a very familiar pink companion. My eyes filled with tears at the sight of our believed-to-be-lost friend. Out of our small crowd came Caesar running full speed towards the little pink hero.
“PORKER!”
Chapter 34: A journey awaits...
For the others, it may have been weird to see Caesar tightly embrace the round pink pig. For Ashley, Jessika, and I, however, it was like seeing a long lost family member. Even so, one pig would not help us get to our destination any faster.
Right on cue, a herd of large pink companions scurried their way out of the shadows as if Caesar’s welcoming of Porker had invited them as well.
Notch stood tall, smiling. “Mo! You still have a long journey ahead of you! Don’t let your guard down and be careful! The elder has many tricks still up his sleeves!”
Then, just as the sea breeze rolled in, Notch disappeared. In unison, we all rubbed our eyes and blinked in disbelief. My eyes must be playing tricks on me, I thought.
Like Markus was reading my mind, he stood up and stretched.
“I think it is about time we get some rest. I can see a long and tiring journey ahead of us.”
With that, everyone except me stood up and left to go make their beds. I didn’t notice how dark it was until now. The bright full moon illuminated the sky. I continued to sit there, staring into the dying campfire, listening to the crackling of burning twigs.
Thoughts floated around in the sea of confusion inside my head. Up until now, it was just “leap” instead of thinking first. Now was the time to start thinking about our next step, and hopefully our final step.
As I sat there, my mind wandered off to a deeper place inside my mind. Up until now, I had just been bottling up and shoving most of my feelings and concerns. I started to feel nauseous as images of my parents sitting at home waiting for me, popped into my head.
“How did this all happen?” I asked myself.
“Well to start…” The voice startled me. I turned around to see Ashley, still wide-awake.
She sat next to me, close to the slowly dying campfire. She continued to speak.
“Mo, don’t blame yourself. It could have happened to anyone. We were just unlucky.”
That was the thing, I thought. It COULD have happened to anyone, but it didn’t. There was a reason why I was here. Then the voice of Notch wandered its way back into my mind.
“Fate brought you here.”
“Ashley”, I said, “We will find a way back. You will get to see your parents and your friends again and live happily like before.”
She smiled and leaned in towards me. “Happy like before? I am happy right now.”
“And why would you say that?” I asked.
“Because I am here with you…”
Like a dream, we both leaned in close. Our eyes closed and our lips touched. A warm, tingling feeling swam its way through my body.
Great, I thought, even more things to think about.
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I woke up, quickly realizing that I fell asleep without leaving the campfire last night. I looked around and figured Ashley was smart enough to go to her bed instead of sleeping on the rock-hard dirt.
I stumbled around with heavy eyelids, looking for the others. I quickly found the rest of the group strapping on gear and preparing for our journey ahead.
I made my entrance, and almost tripped over some arrows on the ground. The others laughed and I couldn’t help but see Ashley’s amazing smile. Jessika noticed as well, and quickly turned her head in the other direction.
Markus then addressed the group.
“Alright. We know that there is a portal located inside the castle and it is heavily guarded. Our goal is to find it, and destroy it before the elder makes another move. Our first objective is to get into the city, which is also surrounded by a wall.”
Jessika spoke up. “The wall only has one entrance. It will difficult to get through without hostile contact.”
“Right”, Markus said, “Which means we will have to be very careful. From there we will split into two squads. Squad one, which will be Sarah, Claudia, Caesar, and I, will be in charge of keeping any enemies away from the castle. Squad two, Mo, Ashley, and Jessika, will be responsible for infiltrating the castle and taking out the portal and the elder.”
Jessika spoke once more. “There is a hidden entrance to the castle, used for the royal family to escape during an invasion. We can use that to surprise attack and complete our mission.”
Markus smiled at his own intelligence. “Good, we have a plan. The only thing left to do is…”
And with that everyone stood in a circle and took out their swords. We held them pointing into the middle.
Markus gave one last look at all of us.
“From here on, we are warriors, the saviors of this world! Let no enemy stand between us and our goal!”
And with that we set off to our destination. Sibia.
Chapter 35: The End of The Beginning (Finale Part A)
Porker and his squad of companions were more than helpful. It must be something in the water here, because pigs at home could never run this fast. We ran through plains and forest until we reached a very familiar sight.
Jessika was the first to stop. The rest of us followed. In front of us were two large oak trees, arched towards each other making an archway. It was the same as it was the first time I saw it. It was the entrance to Creeper Forest, or at least what was left of it. The entire forest beyond the archway was a barren, graveyard. Dead trees and bodies of lost ones littered the ground of the once, lively forest.
I have lived in the city all my life and seeing a flat, treeless plain was nothing new, however this was different. Creeper Forest was once so full of life. It was home to most of the creatures around Sibia. I hate to say it, but I really felt sorry for those creepy green things without a home.
Markus, Sarah, and Claudia were in awe. Their eyes were completely focused on the horrible scene in front of them.
Markus finally let the words out. “What… Happened here?”
I wanted to speak, but I couldn’t. It was entirely my fault. I had burned it all down.
Caesar spoke up. “These are the remains from our last battle to defend Sibia. We were outnumbered, and we were all beginning to lose hope.”
Jessika jumped in. “But then Mo came! He defended the city, and killed off all the monsters!”
“But it was all for nothing”, I said, “In the end, we were tricked and back-stabbed. I killed innocent, brainwashed people and burned down a whole forest that was once home to countless lives. And it was all for nothing.”
I felt even worse after I said it. It was not a time to feel happy. So much for optimism, I thought.
Everyone was silent. They knew I was right. The elder, the one everyone looked up to, betrayed us. This is our final stand, our last chance to stop him. If we fail…
Claudia walked up to me, and gave me full eye contact.
“You!” She yelled. In a millisecond, she hit me and sent me straight to the ground. “You are not the only person fighting here! We’re here TOGETHER! We’re a team!”
I continued to lie there on my back staring at the sky. It was a clear, cloudless day. Oh, and I just got beat up by a girl. Good one, I thought.
Markus stood over me with a smile and his hand reaching out to me. I accepted his kind gesture and got to my feet.
He chuckled. “She’s right you know. I mean, there’s no need to be hitting each other, but we all have to realize that we are a team. We need to trust each other.”
I nodded. They were right. I wasn’t alone.
Our little conference was broken by the sound of thunder. I quickly looked up at the sky. In seconds, the sky was filled with the largest, black clouds I had ever seen. The weirdest part of it all was that they were all moving in one direction.
“Guys,” Ashley said, “Look! The clouds over there!”
I followed the clouds’ path off to the distance. Every cloud was traveling to the same place, right over Sibia. The clouds began to circle one another, faster and faster over the city. Not a good sign, I thought.
“We have to hurry!” I said. “We don’t have much time.”
We continued our journey to Sibia as fast as possible. We made it as far as the walls of Sibia before we took a breather. we unpacked our gear from the pigs and started to get ready.
Caesar gathered up the “Porker Squad” as he liked to call them. He took off their harnesses, and saddles. It was time for them to leave.
I left everyone else and walked towards Caesar. He was saying goodbye to his beloved friend.
“He is a great friend.” I said.
He looked at me with a half smile. “Yeah, he and I go way back. We grew up together. I know it’s weird, but he is like family.”
“You will see him again.” I said, trying to sound confident.
“Perhaps this world or the next.” He said. “Goodbye Porker.”
He gestured them to go away, and they obeyed. Porker and his friends scurried off into the distance, without looking back. Hopefully they would be far enough from the battle.
I put my hand on Caesar’s shoulder. “It is time.”
We suited up. I grabbed my shield and my sword. I cleared my mind of all thoughts, except for our objective. There is no room to fail. We must do this.
Markus gave us the signal to move towards the entrance of the wall. It was heavily guarded, with spider jockeys (skeletons riding spiders) and armored skeletons all over the place. There were no zombies or creepers in sight, however, which worried me a little.
I tried thinking of a way in, but there was no way around it. We had to fight our way in.
I took a deep breath and looked at my comrades. Ashley was by my side, with her newly crafted armor and sword. Jessika was also by my side, ready for battle. This was my squad, my team. The moment we infiltrate, we would split off from the others. It will be up to us from there.
Markus caught me off guard and charged. The others and I followed. I ran with my shield high enough to block any arrows going for my upper body. If any of us stopped running, we would be left behind.
We hit their front lines like a wave of water. Our shields easily knocked their front line back. Even more skeletons continued to file in from the sides and shoot. We started hacking and slashing away, watching as broken bones and spider goo flew up into the air. The sound of our blades clashing with theirs was deafening. Arrows caught me in places that i had uncovered. It all happened so fast, I didn't even have time to feel the pain. My arms, already filled with fatigue, continued to move, hoping to see the other side of the horde of skeletons.
Finally, I saw a gap. I quickly sneaked my way past the few skeletons at the back and got through. I parried sword strikes and blocked more arrows. Jessika and Ashley followed quickly behind me. They were also bruised and bloody. We had to get out of here fast.
Using the few seconds I had, I tried to find Caesar and the others in the massive horde, but I couldn’t. In no time, we would have the horde chasing us.
“MO!” I heard in the distance. It was Markus’s voice. “GO NOW! WE CAN HANDLE THIS!”
I didn't want to leave them but i had no choice. We need to do this, I thought.
Just as planned, Jessika, Ashley and I continued our way to the secret entrance. Jessika lead the way, down a path towards the back of the castle. Out of breath we finally reached what looked like an old painting against a wall.
"This is it” She said. “This leads us right into the basement. Right where the portal should be.”
I didn’t want to sound stupid but I said it anyway. “It’s a painting. How are we-“
Jessika smiled. She put her hand against the painting, feeling for something. In seconds, she found what she was looking for. She took out her sword and pressing the tip into what looked like a hole in the painting.
“Help me!” She yelled.
The three of us put all our force into it. Suddenly the sword lost grip against the wall and jolted to the left. The three of us fell over onto the ground.
“Ouch!” I said.
Jessika got up quickly and looked at the painting once more. It was hard to notice but we chipped a hole into it revealing a door handle.
“That’s it!” She said. She turned the handle and with great force, she started to pull the painting and the wall behind it followed. The wall began to come right out the side of the castle. She stopped so that there was just enough space to get through into what looked like a small hallway.
The three of us faced each other. We gave each other one last look like it was the last time we would see each other in a long time.
I took a deep breath. This could be the end, I thought. I had so much to say, feelings I wanted to let out.
Ashley broke the silence. "We better move." She pointed up at the sky.
The many dark clouds we saw earlier had formed together into one large black blob. This is bad, I thought. Really bad.
"We're out of time." Jessika said with a worried face.
And with that Ashley and Jessika took the lead into the basement. Leaving me and my feelings in the dust.
Chapter 36: Our Final Stand [Finale Part B]
Badly bruised and cut, we plunged into the darkness. We dragged ourselves through what seemed to be a long dark corridor.
The corridor was barely lit but we pushed forward. For every few steps, there was a pair of wooden doors lined up across each other in the hallway. My guess was that there were hundreds of them. I kept trying to look farther up, but all i could see were more and more doors. The only thing keeping me from opening one of them was the distinct sound of growling on the other side of each door.
Neither of us said a word on the way down the hall. Was it fear? Exhaustion? Anticipation? For me, it was probably a good combination of the three.
The walk was taking too long. My legs began to feel like lead and my arms started to feel numb. My head was throbbing with the pain. I was too dissolved in our task at hand, that I had no realization of the arrows that were sticking out of my body, or the deep cuts that were leaving trails of blood behind. There was no place to go but forward.
I found myself day-dreaming. Voices of family members and friends found their way into my conscience. A scene erupted in my mind. My first visit to Sibia. I remembered standing there as the guard studied me. The guard's happy words echoed in my head.
"He can put an end to this terrible diamond plague huh?"
Now it was time to prove myself.
A dim light appeared at the end of the corridor. A dim purplish light. It didn't seem very inviting but we pushed forward.
After increasing our walking pace, to a jogging speed, we finally reached the light source. The scene just made everything worse.
The three of us stood at the entrance of a dark room. Scratch that, not a room, a rectangular shaped stadium. The ceiling was too high to see, and the room itself had no source of light. The only thing giving off any light was the object at the other end of the room.
It stood about ten feet tall. It was a rectangle. A large and powerful rectangle. I don't know how to explain it but it gave off this feeling of misery and despair and tried to suck all your hopes away. It was succeeding.
Instead of the whole rectangle, however, the middle of it was hollowed out to create a doorway-like-structure. The edges of the rectangle shape were made of strange purple rock. I had seen it before, on my first journey into the mines.
The open space, however, was occupied by a purplish substance that glowed. It was the source of the light. Sounds of screaming and growling echoed from its purple light. It shimmered and almost acted like a mirror, but instead of a reflection, I saw horrible images of evil creatures and places I didn't want to go. Ever.
We found it, I thought. The portal.
In front of the portal stood our last obstacle, dressed in death-black robes. His face, barely visible, was ghostly pale and his eyes were the same blood red as I'd seen in a dream.
I could barely get the words out of mouth. "The elder..."
His voice felt like a claw scraping against my skull. "I have been waiting. Now we can all experience our great triumph. Together!"
My first impulse was to charge. And so I did. Ashley and Jessika immediately followed behind me. Right as we reached halfway, however, we collapsed on the ground.
I could barely stand on one knee. My body was on fire, and I felt like the ceiling was crushing down on me. A loud screeching noise kept pulsing in my ears. I was surprised I didn't pass out from the pain.
I tried to concentrate, but I could only see the floor. The floor! Right then I realized the floor was covered in diamond tiles. The entire room was covered only up to the halfway point. It was a trap.
The elder laughed and watched as we struggled to stand. I managed to stand, leaning against my sword, only able to look at the elder face to face. Ashley and Jessika were still on the ground struggling.
"Mo",he said, "Witness your doom!"
Without trying to, my eyes focused on the portal. Through its purple light, I saw an image starting to form. The image became clear and showed a battlefield littered with skeleton bones and abandoned weapons. In the middle of the mess was our comrades, Caesar and Markus, fighting for their lives. Sarah and Claudia were behind them, seriously injured.
Then it got worse. On the outskirts of the battle, large groups of shadows started to form. It didn't take me long to figure out that they were hiding all along. I knew the skeletons weren't the only ones going to fight. The large groups of shadows were hordes of zombies and creepers. And they didn't seem happy.
The image changed, and started to become a slide-show, of a dimension I've never seen. The sky was blood red and lava fell from the sky. The ground was covered in weird, red dirt. Creatures, wondered about, growling and chanting. I saw these creatures holding diamonds, and singing some sort of weird chant. The worst part of it all was that I recognized them.
Before I could think more of it, the images vanished, leaving me sweating, and exhausted.
"You see?" The elder sounded as if it was his great victory. "You have no chance."
"Yeah? We'll see" I responded. It was the best I could think of.
I got up and ran, trying to keep my legs moving. I must have surprised him, because he was hesitating as I struck.
Slash. Clank. Slash. Clank.
Even though I should have been hitting him, my sword met his dagger, consistently. It was as if I was moving in slow-motion. He read all my moves and countered them flawlessly. I began to slow down due to exhaustion, and then right as I couldn't hit him with full strength, he got me. Right in the arm.
I stumbled backwards and fell on my back. I clutched my left arm. A deep gash left blood all over the floor and my armor. If I was going to be killed, it would be by blood loss.
Ashley tried to help me up but Jessika was too stubborn to wait. It was her biggest mistake. She charged right for him.
She didn't last a second. The elder wasn't playing games anymore. The sound of a thrusting blade echoed in the large dark room. Ashley and I stood there silent. My voice was stuck in the back of my throat, as if it wanted to hide.
I finally yelled out. "NOOO!"
Jessika's back was toward us, her body stiff. The only thing I could see was the tip of a dagger pointing out of her lower back. The wound itself acted in a way I had never seen before. It started to dissolve, turning into a black powder-like mist. The mist spread, consuming her entire body and hen black mist was sucked right into the portal.
I couldn't process what had just happened. I wanted to show sadness, but no tears erupted. The only thing I could feel was hatred. Pure hatred. Ashley must have felt the same way, even though she was able to conjure up a few tears, that streamed down her cheek.
Like a volcano, Ashley and I reacted. The elder was able to take on one person, but he would never be able to do two. With my one arm, and Ashley's mediocre sword-play, we pushed him back. We pressured him.
My strikes became harder and harder the more I thought about Jessika, and Pierce, and the many others that had suffered because of this man.
Slash!
I found myself standing over the elder, with my blade stuck in his right shoulder. He began to smile, which made me yell some gibberish that sounded like.
"RAAAGHGHHHHHH!"
I twisted my blade and Ashley took the final strike. A clean slice to the neck. His body exploded into the same black mist that Jessika's did and went into the portal.
I stood over where the elder was. Sad, confused, angry, exhausted, and hurt. I didn't want to move or do anything, but Ashley tugged on my right arm and ushered me to the portal.
I did the only thing I could do. I grabbed a hold of my sword and raised it over my head.I struck the darn thing as hard as I could.
BOOOOOOM!
I remember weightlessness, and then a hard landing on my back. The floor and the ground beneath me started to shake, and I had this feeling as though I was being sucked in towards something powerful. My vision was blurry and I was in too much pain to move. The next few minutes was a blur.
I remember Ashley dragging me. We ran down the dark hallway as fast as we could. Doors began to open and zombies erupted from the rooms. Ashley tried all she could to get us both out of there.
"Come on, MO! We can make it!"
I remember seeing the floor behind us falling. Like a large opening in the earth was sucking everything in. I passed out before I could see more.
The next minute I was reunited with our team. I don't know how she did it, but Ashley pulled through. Sarah and Claudia were badly hurt, but we weren't going to fight. We had to run. The entire area around the castle was being sucked into the earth. It was as if the portal triggered a black hole.
I woke up in the arms of Markus and Caesar, holding me up. Ashley, Claudia and Sarah were standing beside us, staring. I couldn't figure out what but then I realized we were standing right in front of where the city of Sibia should be. Instead, all that was left a large, rectangular, hole that never ended. Looking down, the only thing you could see was a familiar blue void. The same blue void that brought me here.
A voice startled us.
"HEROES!" It came from across the hole. There stood, a man with battle torn clothing and cuts on his face. He held a long, gold sword, and a shield on his back. It was Notch.
My mouth was dry and throat ached. I grabbed Markus's canteen and drinking it was the greatest feeling I had ever experienced.
I broke the silence with my not-so-replenished strength. "Notch! You see this? Is this really what I think it is?!"
The others looked at me like I had eight arms. The only person to look concerned was Ashley. And she was holding my hand.
Notch simply gave a nod. That moment, I wanted to jump. Even if it was the smallest hope of getting back home, I would have taken it. However, something was bothering me. Something big. If I didn't let it out now, it would have bothered me for the rest of my life.
I looked Notch straight in the eyes. "It's not over is it?"
Notch and the others looked stunned, scared as well. I guess there were things even Notch didn't know.
"Tell us what you saw." He said.
I told them what I saw. What I experienced. I told them of the other dimension I saw. the creatures I recognized. They were the same whom we encountered at the Heart of Diamonds. As I told them, however, only one word came to mind. Jessika. As I told them what happened, tears starting streaming down my face. It was my fault. I should have done something. When I finished, the others began to curse.
Notch stroked his chin. "You recognized these creatures? And they were the same as the ones you saw before? And this Raagnahl character... You think they are responsible for these cursed diamonds?"
I nodded.
Notch looked troubled. "I have heard rumors about portals and what they can do. Mo, do you remember the word 'reincarnation'?"
"Yes",I said, "You explained it to me a while ago."
Notch seemed to be even more worried now. "Well it seems your friend may have fallen into a terrible fate."
"What do you mean?" Sarah blurted out.
My eyes were too focused on the hole in front of us. It was getting smaller as we waited. Soon it would be gone, and our chances home would disappear.
"You're telling us Jessika is alive?" Caesar asked.
Notch tried to stay calm. "It looks like she has had the opportunity at a second life, however, the portal sucked her in, like everything else here." He gestured to the open space.
Markus was getting to a conclusion. "So what your saying is..."
Notch completed his thought. "Jessika is alive. But she is in the other dimension. And if she is alive, then we can assume the elder is too."
Ashley's grip tightened.
"Mo, this may be your last chance to leave", Notch said, "Take Ashley and go home. You have done enough."
I gazed at the others. And then back to Ashley. The void was getting smaller, and staring to disappear. I looked at Ashley one last time and she didn't say a word, but she mouthed the words:
"I'm with you."
I took one deep breath. "Notch, I won't leave my friends behind. After all, I am supposed to be the hero that stops the Diamond Plague. And I don't think I've done that just yet."
The others looked at me in surprise. Notch simply nodded and turned around.
"You will do great things", he said, "Many great things..." Notch started to walk away and then like a ghost vanished.
It took ten seconds before we all began to cheer and embrace each other. The battle was won and that was all that mattered.
The rest of the day went by in a flash. We sat down together and started a fire. We ate and took the time to mourn of our losses and think about our future yet to come. There was much sadness, and many tears but we found what little happiness we had, and shared it.
Ashley and I found the right moment to wander off away from the group. We stood by the void again, just the two of us. We embraced and we kissed. It was a long and happy moment. The two of us watched as the moon shined bright in the sky and the void became as small as a nickel. The void vanished just like our hopes of going home.
"We will get back. Somehow." I said.
Ashley smiled but it seemed distant. "Yeah, I know."
The others started calling us, wondering where we wondered off to.
Ashley grabbed my hand. "Come on, hero. Lets not make them wait."
And with that, we joined the others, getting ready for the future to come.
Prologue to BOOK 2
I used to be a normal kid. I used to go to a normal school and have normal friends. And even though my family rarely showed it, I knew they cared about me. I’m going to admit, at the time, I hated my life. I hated my parents, and they way they pressured me into doing things I hated to do. I hated being pushed into becoming something I never wanted to be. Everyday, I would wake up in the morning and think…
“What if my life was different?”
Well, I sure learned my lesson.
A few months ago, I used to be that ordinary kid. Now, I find myself slaying living skeletons, man-eating zombies, and the occasional “Creeper.” At the moment, it is my job to travel into caverns looking for ores and materials to help our newly developing city. I have also made it my job to find out as much as I can about our enemy before our next council meeting.
This time, I found what I was looking for. And a little bit more.
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I was sweating and it was embarrassing. It’s been less than an hour and I was already soaked in my own sweat. We barely even left the surface level of the mine. Ashley seemed to be enjoying herself, climbing down the long ladder one step at a time. She grinned at me every time I tried to adjust myself on the ladder. The ladder was at least a few hundred feet. It would lead us all the way down to an abandoned mine shaft where there should be some useful ores.
Ashley is my girlfriend. Or sort of… I don’t know if traveling to dark caverns and fighting monsters qualifies as a first date, but if it did, then we were on the right track. Every since a few months ago, things have been going quite well if I do say so myself.
Before this all started, Ashley was just like me except she had a lot more friends, a more caring family, and an aspiring life ahead of her. She was captain of the girl’s volleyball team, among other things, and she was definitely a whole lot more popular than I was. She was pretty much the girl I could only dream of hanging out with, but I guess I made a good impression with my super-awesome-heroic skills in the last few months.
Everyday, however, I felt bad about dragging her into this new world of danger and mystery. Of course, I WANTED a new life, but Ashley didn’t really ask for it. We even had a chance to go back home, but because of my selfishness, we both decided to stay and finish what we started. For better or for worse.
My job now was to help rebuild the new developing village, which I destroyed in our last battle. It was a dream job. I could draw out blueprints of what I wanted to build, and I could even help construct the buildings and houses. I always wanted to be an architect.
But I hated this part of the job… The mining of resources, like coal. Every person in the village was assigned a job to help gather resources or food today, and I was stuck traveling into deep undiscovered caverns. Knowing my luck, it was only going to get worse.
Ages passed, and we finally reached the bottom. I lit a torch and tried to scan the area. It was hard to see in the dark, as my eyes were readjusting to the lack of sunlight.
“So, where do we start, Mo?” Ashley asked. Her stunning blue eyes always left me in a trance. I regained focus, with a little red on my face.
"I think-"
I stopped myself. I could hear something. Like… Like running water. Ashley began to hear it too. We began to slowly wander off into the darkness.
We slowly approached the source of the noise. It was quite, but it was definitely running water. There were many passages that lead to more darkness but we continued to follow the sound. We came up to a dead-end, but we could still hear the water on the other side of the stone.
“It’s on the other side”, I said, “Maybe we should break through?”
Before Ashley could respond, I started to hack at the stonewall with my pick-axe that I just made this morning. Caesar, a good friend, showed me some craftsmanship earlier, and it made life easier.
Caesar was a just a little kid in my eyes, but he had the heart and strength of a lion. He was intelligent and way too mature for his age. His parents were king and queen of the city I destroyed, before getting killed by our enemy. He took his rightful place as heir to the throne of the new village. I felt safe with him as the commanding king.
Anyway, I was one good swing away from breaking through the wall when, suddenly, the ground began to shake. The water on the other side began to make a roaring sound, and my only thought was, run. Run fast.
Ashley was smart and was already heading for the ladder. I ran as fast as I could but it was too late. The wall burst open and a wave of light-blue water erupted out of it. It quickly caught up with us and pulled us along with its current. I found the strength to grabbed Ashley’s chest plate and keep her close. The water continued to travel in the only direction it could, down. We watched as the water forced us down deeper into more passages and tunnels. My first thought? Getting out of here will take forever.
Ahead of us, I could see the water vanish. At first I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but then I began to realize that it was a drop. Probably a long and dangerous one too. I closed my eyes, and got ready for the worst.
THUMP!
http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=153033
Click Click Click. Why hurt them if the slimes wont hurt you?
And as for the girl, she will be a big part later on. I felt like it would be more rational for the main character to care more about himself first rather than following the same route as other stories, "OMG where is the girl I love??" To me that wouldn't really be the first thing that comes to mind in a situation like this, correct me if I am wrong haha. Im trying to add a little suspense as well. I will be sure to take your advice though :DD
I basically have the story mapped out and a way to turn things around. Herobrine is will probably not be a part of it all but more of an illusion to the real "villian".
And I am great at finding things to criticize...