Archive of Our Own

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Chapter 1

The Stranger

I sprinted through the doors, slamming them behind me by throwing my back against them. I heard the

ping

of an arrow hit the wood on the other side, and, with my heart still racing, I turned quickly and bolted the doors shut.

There I heaved, resting my forehead against the wood, hand still on the bolt-lock, sweat dripping from my brow.

The adrenaline was wearing thin. My knees were starting to shake. Swearing under my breath I looked down at the bloody gash in my thigh. I’d gotten cocky; creeper exploded, I was too close. A piece of stone had stabbed right into my leg. I ripped it out at that moment—probably a bad idea since I had to run right after—but at least that part was done now.

However, I’d lost blood, I was short on food, my house still needed back-up defenses that I’d been putting off for so long now. All I’ve got is the bunker laced in cobblestone walls and a trapdoor as the only entrance and exit. Ha, try getting past that, monsters.

Ugh... I was dead meat.

I pushed off the door and stumbled into the kitchen-mudroom-living room-walkway. It served many purposes in this tiny house. In the corner was my tiny bedroom, walled off from the rest. Next to that was the restroom, also walled off. And downstairs was the bunker, as said before. It also served for storage space.

I went into my room, pushing past the door, closing it behind me. My leg was really starting to hurt now, I had to sit down. I plopped down on my bed, just taking a moment to breathe.

While still trying to calm myself I reached over the foot of the bed and to the chest, pulling out the medic box from the very bottom (boy, was that fun; had to shuffle through all the other “usefuls” that I threw in there because I was too lazy to put them downstairs. Man, it’s the little stuff that comes back to bite you, huh?) and set it on the sheets next to me.

I grumbled to myself, realizing I now had to undress and limp to the restroom to clean up, then bandage up and try to find a way to survive for the rest of forever.

Well... Not getting anything done by just sitting here.

•••

Using my pickaxe as a kind of crutch or cane I limped my way out the backdoor of my home. A few steps and I was looking over the cliff (connecting to a small mountain/tall hill just to the right) and smiling upon the landscape that lay before me.

This outcast girl had such a huge piece of outcast land to build her outcast creations upon. All to herself. All to myself...

I sighed happily, the large pool of water housing a small pocket of swampland to the west, a river snaking through and passed it, waters coming from the north and branching both west and south (my way). What wasn’t water was both large chunks of land and small islands that held trees, reaching to the clouds with the same strength and will, no matter how tall. Behind me was my home, it’s back to mine. The front door faced the slope of the hill leading down to a small pond, forest all around it. I’d made some cobblestone stairs leading down to the woods to the right of the pond, hoping to clear out a portion to make a farm. My house sat upon a small ledge of a small mountain that jutted into the sky just next to it. I swear, for the first day or two, I just stood up there, looking upon the horizon... It was beautiful out here, I’m glad I was cast out.

Well... Half-glad. Sure, I had this all to myself, but that was the same reason why I hated it. I was alone...

I shook my head, snapping out of it. There were better things to worry about than being lonely. I’d been working with this wound in my leg for nearly three days now, healing somewhat alright. I didn’t have much of an idea to fix it, either.

I couldn’t solely worry about that, I had things to do to improve my living situation. For now, I had to mine in shallow caves. Chop down a few trees. Suit up a little bit.

I pulled my map out from my backpack, looking for places where open caves might be so I could look for some iron, coal too. I’d hope for diamonds, but that’s a huge stretch.

•••

Two days had passed and I still needed to support me, but not all the time. I collected a good bout of iron while mining, my confidence back up no matter what my leg told me. Over the last few days, I’ve spent hours improving my home little by little. I improved the defenses by fencing the place in... at the front; I made more lit up walkways to places I could go make quick pit stops to; I started to mow down some trees to make plans for a small farm; I expanded on my bunker a bit. Everything was starting to come together some.

Now, though, I was heading up the cobblestone path to get back home. The sun was getting close to collapsing behind the horizon and I had nothing better to do other than get to bed early.

I marched myself up the stairs, the torches lining the small stone pillars crackling as the fire coursed through them. I adjusted the sling over my shoulder and torso that held my sword (handle pointed right) and my bow (pointed left). My hips were heavy with the leather waistband that held my quiver of arrows on the left, holster for my ax or pickaxe on the right. Usually, my book bag was slung over my right shoulder, but I didn’t have it this evening. It was thrown into my room, still sitting there.

I made my way up the slope, reaching halfway up the top of the mountain where my home was, the sun setting behind it. I decided to avoid the door and walk around the house, wanting to take a moment to admire the sundown.

And boy, was I glad I did. I made my way around the walls and stood just shy of the drop. I breathed in the crisp air as a cool breeze settled onto the land. The sun was casting shadows over everything that stood, only getting taller and taller the further down the sun went.

I gazed upon the clearing that reached to the riverbed, then up at the pastel-painted sky, the clouds pink and gold, the space to the right of me exposed with small, dim stars.

As the chill settled into my bones I began to turn back and head inside for a nice rest.

But something caught my eye. Something humanoid.

I immediately dropped down, scooting over to the tall grass as I crouched in it, even if it hurt my leg.

Upon further inspection, I saw it was an actual person. He was walking along the riverside, eyeing my home. It was those eyes that were making me question if he was human or not: they were pure white, shining nearly as fiercely as a bonfire. They were like... never mind.

He was definitely a

person

, though. Everything else seemed normal about him. He didn’t have oddly grey skin or claws or a funny and twisted walk. He moved smoothly, like a human.

But even then, no one was supposed to be out here. I was cast out for a reason, no contact with anything remotely sane. Anything that was out here with me was either trying to kill me, raid my home, or both. And I didn’t need any of that.

I reached for my bow over my shoulder. I shifted my weight and gripped the handle of my weapon, taking an arrow from the quiver and nocking it. I took a good, hard look at the man, deciding whether to hit him or just give him a good warning.

As his head swiveled away from my home and my direction, I made my decision.

I slowly drew the bowstring back to my cheek, holding my bow up with slightly trembling arms. I took a silent breath, narrowing my eyes and concentrating.

I’d never shot a person before.

And as I released the arrow, sending it flying at him, I still wouldn’t be.

It soared some feet passed him, barreling into the water, startling him. First, his eyes went to the noise of the splash, then back in my direction. He pulled a pickaxe from his belt, a

diamond

pickaxe, at that. I felt a cold sweat start on my brow as I realized that he had a few more advantages than me. I’ve known people who used pics as weapons, they are not fun to duel. If this guy was good, he was a threat. He was on guard, and I was screaming curses at him in my head.

C’mon, just get a move on. An arrow is more than a hint, pal.

By now the sun was hardly peaking above the horizon. Night had pretty well consumed the sky, and I would need to get inside quick if I were to dodge the monsters. But if I got up and ran in now, he’d know exactly where I was.

I huffed, wishing I had some weird powers to where I could just squish him with my mind. Put a boot in his ass, just get him out of here.

I shuffled where I sat, the cold and grass itching my skin. He just stood there, looking right in my general area. I wiped something off of my mask, right where the glass in front of my eye was. Bug or something.

But as I did, he was gone.

That’s when the panic set in. No, there was no way he just vanished like that. He couldn’t have run to the treeline that quickly, either. I thought that maybe he dove into the river, but the water was still and he wasn’t coming up.

No, I knew what this guy was doing. He had to have teleported, turned invisible or something, he was a sorcerer, that ——er! Now he was just waiting for me to poke my head out, praying for an opportunity to strike.

Well, I wasn’t gonna give it to him. I would just hide here, hoping he’d come out first and that the monsters wouldn’t spot me.

God, I swore, as soon as that idiot showed his dumb face, the next arrow wouldn’t be a warning. This was so stupid, just what I needed. Not to mention—

I literally gasped when I heard the sound of an Enderman just behind me, a clawed finger grazing the material of my shirt on my back. This was

absolutely

not the time.

I slowly turned, looking him in the eyes and gently pushing his hand away. He just kneeled next to me, too curious for his own good. I would enjoy it any other time but now. So, in a bit of a frightful panic, I tried to shoo him off.

“Go, go...” I whispered, my eyes scanning everywhere at once.

He made that Ender bark—as I like to call it—not moving.

I was trying not to get fed up, knowing I was already at a privilege with being able to stare at him square in the face. And if I made the wrong move, I was dead.

But this was really getting annoying.

I turned completely around, taking both of those clawed hands that could tear me apart at any given moment, put them together, and nonviolently pushed them to him. “No,” I shook my head, talking to him like a dog. Enders were plenty smarter than that, but god, they were curious and persistent. That could be great and awful at the same time.

He sat there for a moment before finding something else to distract him and he stood. I kind of sighed with relief, knowing he was leaving, but instant terror set in when I saw that disgusting green creature hobbling toward me. Four nailed feet stumbled as it ran with that twisted face locked on me. The Enderman moved, and I was exposed.

God, there really wasn’t any choice now; the only way I could escape was down. Quick thinking was on my side, though, and my head was quicker than that creeper.

I just completely abandoned my bow as I unhinged my pickaxe from my belt, standing—a pain shooting through my leg but I ignored it—and turning to find a decent way down that wasn’t just jumping.

I quickly shuffled down gravel, dirt, and some stone rocks that cut into my hands. It was completely dark now, there wouldn’t be much good for me at the bottom in the clearing, but at least I had somewhere to run after I got down.

Yeah, after and

if

. This was pretty well a straight drop. I was scrabbling and my exposed arms and palms were getting cut up. Plus the unknown man somewhere—nearly forgot about him. I glanced up, seeing the creeper’s gross face glaring down at me. I then saw the Ender’s purple eyes gazing upon me as if confused to why I was running.

Just then, I slipped so harshly to where I about went dive-bombing into the earth below. This is where I needed my pickaxe.

I turned myself around quickly and rammed the pick into the stone wall of the cliff, stopping my de-escalation in that instant. I hung there, my Chucks just a few feet from a step to the ground. I laughed to myself at how greatly I conquered that move, but then, of course, something else had to ruin my happiness.

An arrow knocked against the stone wall of the drop, falling to the ground. This time I groaned, groaned loudly, seeing the skeleton with its old bow in the clearing behind me. I had no choice other than to let go and drop, and so I did.

Man, did that hurt my leg.

I forced myself to leap to the side as another arrow was fired. And then I pushed myself, even more, when I grabbed my sword and took off with that leg in the dirt to lift me off. I took the sharpened iron to the monster’s arm, disabling it. I wrenched the sword from it’s creaking bones, kicking it over for a bonus, then took the heel of my flats to its skull, breaking it in.

It wasn’t long before groans came in from my left and right. My leg throbbed but I forced my way through. With a smooth swing I opened the belly of the undead beast, then turned and did the same to the neck of the other. That one fell, the first one didn’t. I went back to that one, flipping my grasp on my weapon and stabbing it in the chest. It went down.

Whoo, won that. But I was still in deep water. I was spotting eyes of devil-spiders, the wobbly walks of more creepers dancing around, skeletons under trees just waiting for me to get close enough to have a good shot.

Spotting a creeper getting dangerously close, I put my sword back in its handle, took the few steps to the skeleton I’d killed and picked up its bow. I didn’t like the weight or drawback of the string as I fit an arrow and pulled back, but beggars can’t be choosers so I sucked it up.

I was about to release when I felt an extremely sharp pain in my back. It stung like hell, and it grabbed me and didn’t let go. I fell forward from the impact that came behind the pain, hearing the raspy screeches of a phantom at my back.

It was a bad idea but I reached back and tried to grab the winged demon. I had grabbed a wing before the thing bit me and that’s when I cried out and just wrenched it off, giving it to the ground. It was overturned with is fleshy belly to the sky as I held there.

But, when there was one phantom, there was a whole flock. I saw those glowing green dots for eyes swooping down at me, more screeches overhead. I tumbled to the side, avoiding its claws at my face, but let the other one go. It scrambled up and took off at me again, this time grabbing the handle of my sword and flying high, struggling, but escaping. With my sword.

I swore aloud, completely hysterical at the fact that the thing just did that! How did it—?!

I swore again, louder, realizing how close the creeper was. I couldn’t even think, the thing was hissing at me, mere feet away. I was dead before the thought even struck me, this was it.

Suddenly, I felt some hot, thick liquid splat onto my face and arms. I did a double-take on the beast in front of me. The creeper... it fell back and to the side, its head hanging by a single string of flesh. Its dark green blood coated me and the one who slaughtered it so harshly.

It was the man with white eyes. He looked over me, bloody pickaxe in hand, the same monster’s blood on his shirt and arms.

Without a word he reached down and grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet. He was already tugging me along to the shallow side of the mountain, going, “That your place on the hill?”

“Yeah..!” I wheezed, not realizing how out of breath I was.

I saw something out of the norm fall to my left. There, my iron sword! The phantom clung onto the wall of the mountain after it dropped the weapon, probably exhausted.

As we ran I took my arm from him and steered left, taking my sword without breaking stride, then tried to catch up with him. He was fast, though, and I was limping. I noticed the book bag he wore—one like mine—that was probably slowing him too. I was hurt, I gave myself a break.

I thought we’d head just shallow into the tree line and reach where the bottom of the mountain met the ground, but zombies and creepers galore stopped us in our tracks. He looked around, eventually landing his glowing eyes upon the ledge that was too high to reach. He had an idea, I could tell.

“C’mon, jump up,” he urged me, planting his feet and interlocking his fingers.

I wasn’t sure how well this would work, but I didn’t argue. No time. I sheathed my sword, went to him, and put my left foot in his palms with a hand on his shoulder. He hoisted me up and I caught the ledge, swinging my legs up and standing. Now I was confused at how we’d get him up.

As I was bending down to maybe try and catch his hand as he jumped up, he waved me on, already running back to the clearing. “Go! Get inside!” he yelled.

At this point, I was so confused that I just didn’t care. I did as he said, running through the random trees up the slope, sprinting as fast as I could to my house. God, I couldn’t believe I was helping a sorcerer.

I nearly fell off the ledge when a zombie jumped out of nowhere, causing me to dodge him, in which I moved left a little too far. I recovered, though, not even bothering with the monster, and instead thought it’d be a good idea to pull out my sword just in case.

I limped my way out of the group of trees that protected me from the phantoms, my home just yards away. I darted to it, my backdoor in plain sight and my path clear.

A look over the slope and I saw the man with no name struggling. He was fending off a zombie and a skeleton with phantoms swooping down at him.

I remembered my bow.

I hurried to my home, trotting to the tall grass where I dropped it, picked it up and nocked an arrow, aiming for the phantom closest to him. It’d be a hard shot, the think was diving, but without much thinking, I released the arrow. It wasn’t a fatal shot, but it tore into the beast’s wing and grounded it, which was pretty well just as good. The other noticed me, sending out a cry to the rest of its friends.

I took care of that one.

Soon, though, the devils were circling overhead. They’d be too much to overpower if I didn’t get inside.

“Hey! Move!!” the man’s voice called. I looked down at him, then awkwardly moved away from the wall of my home. He had slew the monsters and was now chucking something up here. Before I could register what he was doing, the ball or whatever he was throwing rammed into the wall of the house and he appeared just there, shoulder in the wood as if he expected it. Confusion struck me as he turned to the door, opening it and motioning for me to get inside. I went in without question though so many buzzed in my mind. He slammed the door behind him, bolting it shut.

We were both panting, my bow in hand, pic in his. I was about to open my mouth to speak when groans and clicks at the front doors caught my attention. They opened slightly, allowing pale and rotting fingers and arms to get through.

Both of us sprinted to the door, ramming up against it. I dropped my bow and took my sword as the cracks of bones breaking made my skin crawl. I stabbed through the opening of the door, not able to see but knowing I was hitting those zombies, and eventually, they let up. I pulled my sword quickly out, shutting the door and locking it just as he did. The groans still sounded on the other side, knowing a meal was in this home.

I was heaving and panting, still leaning against the door. I put my back to it, but that was a mistake. Burning shoots of pain covered my back and I remembered the phantoms. I swore for the thousandth time that night, the pain consuming me.

He gulped in a large breath as he put a large-yet-gentle hand on my shoulder. “Where’s your kit?“

“Bedroom... In the chest...” I grumbled.

He went into my room, his steps a little rushed. I looked down at my hands and arms and found small rocks embedded into my skin and that phantom bite in my wrist, stinging like hell. I checked my leg, seeing that there wasn’t any blood soaking through, but that didn’t necessarily mean it hadn’t split open. In fact, I’d be astonished if it hadn’t. Expect the worst, hope for the best.

It didn’t take long for him to come out with the med kit. He picked up his bag and found the restroom, gesturing me inside. I tried not to limp as I walked in, but it was inevitable. I didn’t even care anymore. In fact, I hoped he was a sorcerer, maybe he’d heal me.

He was behind me, setting the kit on the sink and his bag on the floor. Before I even knew it he had his hands on the bottom of my shirt, pulling it up. I didn’t testify, I just raised my arms and the shirt came off—though not easily. The cloth had clung to the bloody wound on my back, like ripping off a bandaid as it was removed. I clenched my teeth and made no sound. I saw his face in the mirror, grimacing. “That’s bad...” he said under his breath. His hands then went to my bra, I unclipping it. That’s where the problem was.

I jerked away from him, turning slightly. “What the hell are you—“

“It tore through, turn around,” he growled, kind of pushing me back to where I was.

I frowned, shaking my head. “Give me a warning, at least, asshat.”

He murmured something under his breath, something I didn’t hear so I just left it as was.

I pulled my arms from the straps, then held the cups to my chest, fixing my eyes on a knot of wood in the wall so I didn’t catch eye-contact with his through the mirror.

“Jesus, grow up, it’s not like we’re in a high school locker room,” he growled, reaching past me and for the med kit. “Nothing I haven’t seen before—“

“For the love of Christ, I don’t know you! You could very well be a rapist-ax-murderer.”

“And why would I be that?” he took out a jug of hydrogen peroxide.

“You sure look like one, sorcerer.”

He huffed, holding a rag under my wound against my back as he poured the disinfectant over the deep scratches. This is where I nearly lost it. Clenching my teeth, my dirty-blonde hair stuck to the sweat on my forehead as I groaned in pain, the anger dwindling into whimpering hurt. I hung my head, clamping my eyes shut and giving a small cry as he poured some more, catching the excess.

Once I had quieted a bit he spoke, “I’m no sorcerer, for the record.”

“Sure you aren’t,” I winced as he “gently” patted down the cuts.

“I know I sure as hell look like one,” another session of cold pain. “But I’m not.”

“What’s—gah...” I panted. “...what’s with those eyes then?”

“Cursed by a witch a few years back,” he explained. “Gave me the eyes, nothing else, really,” he looked in the mirror, trying to catch my eyes. “What’s with the mask? Little steampunk, hm?”

“It’s a bit more than that...” I focused on breathing, trying to calm myself. Air hitting the wound made me tense but nothing more; he was blowing on my back.

“Care to tell?”

“No.”

He scoffed. “How come?”

“I don’t even know your name, what if you steal it? I don’t need any more stress...”

“Ha! This is nothing, Gadget.”

I looked up. “Gadge—?”

He had lifted his shirt, showing his stomach and the scar that dug into it. I turned, getting a better look at the peach-colored scar that twisted and bent his skin. The skin ravine ran from his right side just under his ribs, stretching above his belly button and not quite reaching clear across his torso.

It was... grueling.

“Enderman had my guts spilled, not kidding. I was alone, had to lay back and push everything back in.”

Oh god, that made my skin crawl.

“I had to have lay there for hours on end till some nomads found me,” he let his shirt fall. “You know, the villagers around? They stay at a little town for a few years before traveling to the next for a few seasons.”

I nodded, “Yeah, I know it...” It was then when I realized his whole physique all at once. This guy was huge—as in tall; he had to have been over a full foot to me. He was built broad, strong, clearly. His ashy-brown hair fell into stubble along his jaw, the creeper blood on his neck and shirt only adding to the scariness. Intimidating all around. He was dressed in blue; sky-blue tee, ocean-blue jeans.

“They took me in, healed me up with one of their medics,” he kind of gave me a look, putting a hand on my arm and turning me back around. “Left a bad scar, though,” he bent down, shuffling through his bag and pulling out a kit of his own. He took out a roll of padding, scissors, and a tube of something like Neosporin? I didn’t quite see it in the mirror, but he set everything down except for that bacitracin stuff. Smothering it on his fingers, he then applied it to my back in big gobs, then thinned it over. It hurt every time he touched it. “What’s your deal with sorcerers?” he asked me.

“Bad run with them...”

“As in they hurt you?”

I nearly laughed. I looked over my shoulder at him. “Where’re you from?”

“Nowhere, really. I’m a traveler.”

“Been to the South Enclosure?”

“No, that’s where I was headed.”

I rolled my eyes, laughing sarcastically this time, turning back to face the mirror. “Save yourself the trip, you’ll just be disappointed.”

“From the South?”

“Yeah.”

I didn’t even realize he was putting the padded sheet over my back until it was done and he had a roll of soft tape. “What, you run?”

I sighed. “I don’t wanna talk about it... Just turn back, go East, it’s good over there. They’re wealthy and it’s run by actually decent people.”

“Sounds like you had it rough, Gadget.” He taped me up, and there was a long moment of silence.

...

He asked, “What’s your name, kid?”

“...Caroline Hargis.”

He gave a small “Hm.” as if he were approving of the name. “Herobrine Persson.”

I was really starting to doubt this man. “That name sounds an awful lot like a sorcerer’s.”

“Yeah yeah, it’s a nickname I got from the nomads, Gadget. Did them a favor, calm down.”

I wanted to voice a testimony but kept it in my head.

“Hurt your arms, too?” Herobrine asked.

“I guess.”

“You’re just all sorts of beat up.”

“I wouldn’t be if you hadn’t come along.”

“Now wait,” he began. “You’re saying this is

my

fault?”

“Exactly,” I spat.

“

You

shot at

me

. You never needed to do that.”

“Listen, no one is supposed to be out here. I shot at you as a warning to get out of there. Instead, you go on this teleporting rampage and freak me the hell out, leaving me stuck till a creeper walked its happy ass up to me.”

“Someone’s grumpy.”

“Don’t do that, Persson.”

He chuckled. “You sound like my brother.”

I had no clue who his brother was, but I didn’t care at this point.

“And,” he started again. “it wasn’t a ‘teleporting rampage.’ I was throwing Ender pearls.”

My eyes lit up upon the name. “Oh... I know what those are. Lots of people trade them for high pay.”

“Right. Or you could just fetch them yourself,” he gave me a smirk, not quite bothering with my arms anymore. He then had this look. “I saw an Enderman kneel right next to where you were hiding. I thought you were dead meat.”

I took a moment to debate on whether or not I should tell him, then made my decision. I tapped my half-mask, saying, “That’s what this is for. Let me look at them.”

His eyes lit up now. “That’s neat. Where’d you find it?”

“Eh... various things from various places helped me make it. One of a kind, not sharing any secrets.”

He shook his head with a smirk. After a second he asked, “What did you mean earlier? When you said, ‘No one is supposed to be out here?’”

I looked away. “Long story, I don’t wanna tell it.”

Herobrine sighed. “Gadget, you’re not a very easy person.”

“I’ve learned.”

We stood awkwardly for a second. He then seemed to remember just what he was doing. “Let’s get those arms and hands taken care of.”

•••

I slipped the box of colored contacts back in the cabinet, looking like a mummy with all the bandaging around my arms and hands. I took a breath, flattened my shirt down—though I wasn’t sure why—and turned to the door.

Walking out, I saw him peering out the window. We’d both washed the creeper blood off of our skin, but our clothes were stained with it. He turned to me, raising his eyebrows. “Wow, you actually have another eye.”

“Haha.” The metal mask was in my hand.

“Can I take a look?” Hero asked.

“Sure,” I handed it to him, though in my head I was reluctant to do so.

He took it and examined it, flipping it over, running his finger along the padded back. “You made this?”

“The most of it, yeah,” I shifted my weight to my good leg. “My dad was a blacksmith, so I learned a few things from the forge.”

“Where’s yours?”

“What, my forge? I had the mask made before...” I paused. “before I came out here,” I put simply. “Wish I did have a shop out here, it’d do me good.”

He handed the mask back to me, wandering slowly in small steps. “Villages usually have them.”

“Not entirely on good terms with the one closest to here...” I sighed. “When I first came out here I asked if I could stay just to recoup. They denied, we argued, and I lost,” I shook my head. “So, to get back at them, that night I stole some iron from their forge,” I shrugged. “Didn’t end pretty.”

He seemed amused, shaking his head, though. “I’ve done something pretty close to that. Only in a different village and I didn’t try to be sneaky about it,” he chuckled to himself. “Took an ax to the door. Wasn’t gonna hurt anybody, no, just wanted to scare them. It worked, but that golem nearly whipped my head off,” he shifted the subject. “I’ve found abandoned forges in mine shafts, though. You mine?”

“I try to. My leg’s been stopping me lately.”

“I noticed that limp; it’s not new, is it?”

I shook my head. “No, creeper exploded too close a few days ago, a rock went flying, got me bad.”

“I can tell. You're just completely beaten up,” he repeated. Herobrine stood still, crossing his arms. “Tell you what, I heard from a village that there was a mansion. You know, the ones with vindicators and evokers?” he smirked. “They’ve got potions galore, I’m sure we’d find something for your scrapes,” he motioned with his hand, “Northwest a ways.”

I frowned. “The

villagers

told you that?”

“Yes, they did.”

“As in the little town west of here? That’s where I tried to stay at, they’re assholes!”

He laughed at me. “I have never seen someone so judgmental! Stop jumping off of cliffs and into conclusions. I asked if there were any structures nearby since they wouldn’t let me stay, and they marked it on my map,” he shrugged. “If there’s nothing there, oh well. But I wasn’t gonna go alone anyway.”

“Why would you think I’d go with you?”

“I never said that. I’m just providing options for your little problems,” he grinned. “We couldn’t take them all down, anyway. We’d have to sneak in, do a rob. Quick, in and out.”

I bit my tongue. I then sighed. “I suppose if I say ‘yes,’ you’ll have to stay the night.”

“I don’t

have

to,” he circled me like a shark. “But it would definitely benefit you if I came along. Besides, wouldn’t you help a traveler?”

“I really am not liking you at the moment,” I growled.

“That’s fine. Never said you had to.”

I huffed. “I don’t have a couch or anything. You’ll be sleeping on the floor.”

“Psh. Alright, then.”

I turned for my bedroom as he blindly looked around. “Blanket? A pillow, at least?” he asked.

“Give me a second.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 2

The Travelers

A hand that was shaking my arm woke me with a bit of a start. I looked to see two white orbs in the darkness of my room. “Time to go, Gadget.”

I completely forgot he was here. He stepped back as I sat up. I looked out the window of my room, hardly seeing anything out there. “...What time is it?”

“5 in the morning. We need to be leaving early if we’re gonna make it.” He went to the door, his eyes the only thing lighting up the room. “C’mon, I made us breakfast.

Let’s eat and go.”

I grumbled to myself, tossing my legs over the bed and rubbing my eyes. I completely forgot I had the contact in. That probably wasn’t a good idea to leave it in overnight. I stood, my leg still sore and my back still aching, but I pushed through. I followed him out, dressed down. I’d get my field clothes on after I ate.

He was chuckling at me again after we walked out. “You look like a zombie.”

“Shut up...” I yawned. He handed me a plate of scrambled eggs. I smiled only at this. “Thanks.”

“No worries,” he went to a crafting bench, sitting on it. I went to the counter, hopping up. He had a plate of eggs himself and we hardly spoke as we scooped the breakfast into our mouths.

“These are good,” I told him, finishing off my plate. “They almost make me like eggs.”

He looked surprised. “You don’t like eggs?”

I shrugged, hopping down. “I’ve learned not to complain if food’s handed to me.“

“Well, I could have made you something different.” he got up after me.

I shook my head with a smirk. “No, I wasn’t gonna bug you. I’m full, ready for action, you did good.”

“Suuurrrreee,” he took my plate, walking to the trash can. “Get some real clothes on, I’ll pack our stuff.”

I nodded, heading for my room. I shut the door and took off my pajama shirt.

•••

I took the contact out and strapped the mask on, adjusting it some before I turned and walked out the restroom door.

He saw me, throwing his book bag over his shoulder. “I’ve got plenty in here for the trip, don’t bother bringing yours.”

I walked over to him, picking up my utility belt from the floor. “You sure?” I asked.

“Yeah, I got it.”

I strapped my belt to my waist, picking up my quiver and locking it on. I wandered to the bench, taking my shoulder sling and tucking my iron sword into it, placing my bow adjacent to the strap over my chest and back. I glanced back at him, seeing he had his diamond pickaxe, so I took an axe and notched it on the other side of my belt.

“Where’d you get a diamond pic?” I asked, turning as he was heading for the back door.

“Made it,” he opened the door, poking his head out and looking left and right. He then motioned for me to follow, seeing how the coast was clear, and I did. Stepping out the door gave me chills from the crisp and cold morning air. The sun still hiding behind us, the sky was ever-so-slowly lighter in coloration. Stars still dotted the air, clearly visible with no clouds to block them. The clearing below held no monsters, just sleeping flowers.

“You could really use a ladder right here,” he told me, referring to the sudden drop just yards from my home.

“Yeah, that’d be nice. I’d make one, but...” I shrugged.

“You really have no reason to not make one,” he began walking left, into the grouping of trees that sat along the surface of the falling slope.

“My leg is a reason,” I retorted. “I’d have to get a bunch of wood, assemble it piece by piece, then drag it over the cliff and position it. What if a creeper came for me? Or a witch? I’ve seen one around, haven’t gotten to her yet.”

“You mean that one?”

I actually jumped, fear taking over as I grabbed the handle of my sword, then realized upon his laughter that he was just being an ass. “You’re easy, Gadget!”

“Shut up,” I grumbled, taking my hand away and proceeding to follow him. My leg ached and throbbed with every step, and it didn’t help that we were marching down the cliff side, either. I went from tree to tree for leverage, trying to use my leg as little as possible.

“You’re making a lot of noise back there, you doing alright?” he looked over his shoulder.

“I’m fine. Just clumsy.”

“Maybe you were right, I don’t know how you’re even able to walk,” I heard the sarcasm in his voice.

I murmured things under my breath.

Once we were on level ground I was doing a little better. But I realized he was walking slowly for me until the last second, and now he was far ahead.

Out of frustration, I reached up to a branch about the width of a golf ball on the tree next to me. I tugged down hard about three times, the branch creaking and cracking before it finally popped off with a loud

snap

! This made Herobrine turn around, wondering, “What the hell are you doing?”

I just smiled, taking the branch that was just barely shy of being as tall as me, using it as a crutch to walk. “Catching up.”

“You sure are loud. There’re still some monsters out, you know.”

“I think they’ll smell you before they hear me.”

“Ha,” he replied sarcastically.

I was walking right next to him now. He took out a map out of the outside pocket of his book bag once we were at the end of the clearing, examining it. I peered over, asking, “Where we headed?”

He pointed to a black X on his map, near the middle-left. “I’m about out of room on this one...” he told himself, then answered me. “There’s where they said the mansion was. We’re about here,” he smudged the paper below the X. “Village that told me is there,” he pointed left and down of the X. “We could make a pit stop there if we need.”

I rolled my eyes. “They’ll be happy to see me.”

“Don’t be like that. They’re nice enough,” he rolled his map up. “Looked like a short distance on the paper, but it’s miles away, unfortunately,” he tucked the paper in his bag, then turned to me, smiling. “Heigh-ho!” he cheered, walking off to the measly bridge I lay across a thin part of the river. And by “bridge” I mean “like two planks of wood.”

As we crossed he commented on its weak structure. “A drowned could just reach up here and grab you, you know? Look at that, my shoes are wet.”

“I’m getting to it.”

“You sure do seem like it.”

“Listen, you don’t have a permanent home, you travel. You don’t know how much time it takes..!”

“Oh-ho, yes I do, Gadget. I’ve had plenty before. One was given to me, the others I made from scratch. And then I learned that nothing can stand forever, so I started traveling,” he crossed the bridge, waiting for me. “And I built a bridge so much more expansive than this, plus a house and a farm in a month,” he smirked. “And how long have you been out here?”

I pushed passed him. “Six weeks.”

“Ha! Look at you, amateur.”

“Look at you, immature.”

He walked alongside me.

After a moment I went on saying, “You must have rushed everything, then, if they fell.”

“They didn’t fall, they got destroyed.”

“Still. Takes a lot of firepower to take down something like that.”

“They had a lot of firepower.”

I glanced at him. “They?”

“Some punk-kids from the city. North of the North Enclosure.”

“You built

north

of there? That’s harsh, deathly cold.”

“I was visiting.”

“And why would the North Enclosure citizens do that? They’re the nicest people in the world.”

“No no, a city north of the North Enclosure.”

“Oh, way up north?”

“North. Yup.”

I laughed a small bit. “North. Doesn’t even sound like a word anymore.”

He chuckled along with me.

“What happened? What’d the kids do?”

“I was sleeping and they snuck up on my roof. They actually lured creepers in—how do you even figure that out?” he half-laughed it off. “At this point, I was awake and figured out the two of them were on my roof, so I walked out to take care of them and came face to face with a damn creeper,” he shook his head. “I jumped back in time but the thing exploded, which triggered the rest, and the place came down while the boys ran off,” he looked at me. “Broke my leg that night.”

“Yikes...” I responded. “What’d you do after that?”

“Went to the city. Sorcerer fixed up my leg. Then I was off again. I wandered around the enclosures—“

“

Around

?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Yeah! Took me three years to make a complete circle. But before that, I came from the complete opposite side of the continent. Took me six months on horses, buggies, all the sorts to get to that city up north. Then, after the circle, it took one and a half years to visit the North and West Enclosures, took me about a year to discover half of the Middle-Land, and now I’m here with you.”

“So... you’ve been traveling for...?”

“Six years.”

“And you're how old?”

“25.”

“Jeez,” I blew air. “That’s a long while to be walking.”

“It’s fun, really. Meet new people, make some friends, some enemies, too. Never bound to one place, you know?” he chuckled. “Maybe when I die people’ll be all, ‘That one guy with the white eyes died.’ ‘Wait, I know him!’ ‘Yeah, he came through here years ago!’ ‘My dad told me about him!’” he shrugged. “Good stuff, yeah?”

I felt somewhat awkward. “...You’ve been on your own for a while, haven’t you?”

He then frowned. “Well... I mean, yeah. What’s the problem?”

“You’re losing it,” I looked away. “You’re fantasizing about your death, that’s not exactly good.”

“I’m not

fantasizing

,” he claimed.

I sighed. “You’re right, you’re probably doing better than me,” I shrugged. “I don’t see anyone. Really, your the first person I’ve seen in six weeks.”

He was silent for a second before saying, “...Was I a good find?”

I smiled. “Eh. Beggars can’t be choosers.”

He chuckled at that.

•••

I was panting by the time we made it up the steep hill. I clutched my stick, the evening air no better than the afternoon air. “We made it...!” I wheezed.

“Heigh-ho!” he grabbed my crutch and pulled me forward. I caught myself, walking with him into the village I despised. The gravel road crunched beneath us, the villagers—young and old—watching as we wandered in.

And they recognized me right off the bat.

They were whispering, glaring at me, and Herobrine looked as if he were looking for someone in particular.

I always found the villagers... strange. They dressed like they were stuck in a timeframe from centuries ago. Animal skin, cloth, wool, chain mail, it was all there. They didn’t look medieval or caveman, though. Just... not modern.

“Hey, guy,” Hero walked off to talk to someone. “Where’s the Elder? We need a favor.”

I was kind of standing there until something hit my mask. I turned my head, shouting, “Hey!”

Standing along a small house were two boys, probably around ten, holding stones, an older woman next to them. “Thief!!” one of them yelled back in their strange accent.

“Cast her out!” someone to the left of me started. Soon a choir of voices was raised against me, and I was becoming overwhelmed.

I backed into someone, only to realize that I bumped into Hero, and he was on

edge

.

“Hey, now, everyone. Calm down, you know me.”

“Why do you bring this fiend here, Herobrine?!” I nearly laughed because the lady who spoke pronounced his name as “Hair-oh-bren.”

“Listen, we just need a small favor. Can we speak to the Elder, please?” he tried, which brought on a chorus of protests and another rock. It hit Hero just above his brow, making him wince.

Just as I was turning to see if he was alright, the ground moved. A creaking metal machine came to us, run only by the “blessings” of the townsfolk.

God, I really hated that golem.

Its stupid face loomed over us, its heavy arms made for taking large punches. I gulped at this, picking my stick up from the ground in case I had to... well, actually, hitting it would do absolutely no good, the thing was made of iron.

“Hero. We should leave,” I told him lowly, staring at the creature. He didn’t move. “

Hero

.”

We were both surprised when we found ourselves getting pushed toward the golem. The villagers were grouping together at our backs, shoving us to the hands of the golem. They touched my back where the scratches were, making me wince and yelp in pain. We tried to push back and shout but it was no use, there were too many and their voices were too strong. The iron beast raised an arm...

“Halt!!” A deep voice echoed through the town, placing everyone in a standstill. Herobrine was clutching my shirt, I noticed, and had pulled me behind him as soon as the mob ceased. Now he was right up against me, holding my arm in case he needed to maneuver me again.

A tall shadow blanketed us as we turned. Standing before everyone was a tall, old man, heavily dressed in colored cloth and flowers, a long white beard that cascaded to his stomach, a large headpiece covered in all sorts of flowers. He held a large staff coated in vines, wrinkly and crepey skin, on eye grey with a scar over his brow. If this didn’t spell “Village Elder” in bold print, shining brightly in a cave of utter darkness, I don’t know what did.

The Elder whose face was shadowed walked shakily to us, staff thrusting into the ground with each step. He eyed us, the crowd parting.

“Elder, it is the thief...!” Someone amongst the crowd whispered.

“Yes, yes I recognize her,” he spoke louder than the whispers. “And I too recognize the man that stands alongside her,” he was standing only a couple of feet from us. The Elder was as tall as the trees, it seemed. He poked Hero in the chest with his staff. “What do you return for, friend?”

Herobrine let my arm go, straightening his stance. “We came for resources, whatever you can provide. We’re headed to the vindicator and evoker mansion.”

“Ah, you are?” It amazed me how this guy was old as dirt and yet spoke the least weird of all of them. Maybe his gravelly voice blocked the thick accent. “Long journey, no?”

“Right. We’re going to try to find a potion that can heal her.”

“She’s injured?”

“Badly.”

The Elder then looked furious. He turned to his people, shouting, “You attack the weak?!”

“We thought she mocked you with her twig!”

The Elder grumbled gibberish, turned back to us. “My deepest apologies for their outrage. Please, come,” he turned around walking away.

Herobrine and I gave each other a look before following, the heavy steps of the golem behind us. Some townsfolk walked alongside the Elder, whispering, and he only shooed them off.

I took a breath as we reached the doors of a larger home, villagers opening them for the Elder. He walked in and we tailed him, looking upon the scenery before us. It was a large house, a catwalk up top, a walkway to stone seats around a large centerpiece, hot coals glowing in the piece.

“Sit,” he ordered us, then called for someone whose name I could hardly hear right.

Herobrine and I took a seat, and I saw the blood on his forehead. “You alright...?” I whispered.

He nodded, going, “You get hit?”

“Got my mask, nothing more...”

Soon, though, the Elder sat on the other side of the circle of chairs, the person he called for hurrying to us with a bowl of... something. It was a thick and clumpy substance with an odd pale-green coloration. He went to Hero, swabbing some on his fingers before applying it to my companion’s cut.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Healing ointment,” the Elder replied. “We’ll be sure to cover your wounds, too. It helps with the pain.”

Sure it does...

No, don’t think like that, Care. Be lucky he even stopped you from getting crushed.

“Erm, Elder, thanks for saving our skin,” Herobrine put in his two cents of thanks.

“No need for thanks,” the Elder stated simply, then looked to me. “Tell me, what’s the story behind your cuts?”

“Plenty of things. Creepers, rocks, phantoms,” I sighed. “Herobrine and I found each other yesterday. We didn’t get along well, but... he helped with the fight,” I didn’t want to be too “oh, he saved my life, praise the Lord above,” no. That’s just mushy.

“I see...” the Elder went. “Are they fresh?”

“Everything but my leg,” I told the Elder.

He nodded, his long beard touching his lap. “Herobrine,” he looked upon him. “We will provide supplies, but the same rules apply: we only give if we are paid,” he grumbled. “That’s how the others work, at least...”

The man went to me next. “Come to the back?”

I looked at Herobrine, then went, “...Alright.”

Turns out it was only for dressing my wounds. He applied the ointment—which felt completely disgusting—and rewrapped the gashes. I didn’t know how much this would help, but I didn’t argue.

When we were back out, Herobrine was making talks with the villagers who had come in. He was trading things from his bag for an extra med-kit, I saw, before seeing me. “We got a horse,” he told me.

I kind of laughed, “You’re joking.”

“No, I’m not,” he told me.

“What’d you trade for that?”

“Eh... Three emeralds and a diamond,” he looked off. “...And an Ender pearl.”

“All that for a

horse

?” I raised a brow.

The other villagers in the room were scoffing, beginning to walk off.

“It’s late, though. We can’t ride a horse through the night, and they won’t let us stay,” I huffed.

“Actually,” he grinned. “The Elder told us that if we defend the town through the night, keep zombies and such away, we can stay.”

I tried extremely hard not to smack him. “Isn’t that what the golem is for?”

“Under repair.”

“How are we going to

sleep

?” I scolded.

“Take shifts,” he smiled, handing me his book bag. “I’ll take the first shift, give me three hours, then you’ll take the next three.”

I frowned. “No,” I shoved his bag back to him. “I’ll take first shift.”

“What’s the difference?” he asked.

“Persistence,” I told him, pulling my sword from its sheath.

•••

“Persistence my ass...” I murmured to myself, eating my words from earlier. I was nearly falling with every step I took from lack of sleep and the weakness of my muscles. I’d warded off zombie after zombie, the occasional spider, and two creepers—one which nearly tore down the side of one of the homes had I not caught it in time.

It’d been well over three hours. The village was dark and I was pushing myself to the limit just to see how much farther I could go. I eventually just gave up, though, deciding I had taken too big of a bite from the start and was now choking.

I went for the door of the lodge—an entire building dedicated to beds. I slowly and quietly walked in, the building dim with candlelight. I found Herobrine near the end to the left, sleeping on the bottom bunk with an empty bed above him. I walked over.

He was on his back, head turned away, lightly and quietly snoring—nothing horrible or obvious. I awkwardly touched his arm, shaking it a bit. He was sleeping heavily, and I had to... well, jostle him awake. When his eyes did open they nearly blinded me at first, and I wondered how he slept.

Upon recognizing me he sat up, rubbing those burning eyes, then stretching out. “...Guess it’s my turn...” he whispered, swinging his legs off the bed and standing. I unbuckled my belt and lay it on the floor, then my bow, and last my sling, and kicked it all under the bed. In that time he’d put all of his things on, already walking off.

I sat in the bed, nearly dozing off right then and there. I shook my head, kicking my Chucks off and laying back. The ointment that the Elder gave me really was working; I could lay on my back with ease.

I closed my eyes, not bothering with the covers when a voice stopped me from traveling into a dream.

“You are that girl who stole the iron...” It was a young girl’s voice, and when I turned my head to see, she was in the bunk next to me. Probably in her early, maybe mid-early teens. She had pale blonde hair, fair skin, dark eyes. She was on her side, awake and grinning at me.

“Yeah... sorry about that,” I whispered to her, sighing. “I just get a little too steamed sometimes...”

She looked as if she were about to say something else in her broken English when a small boy from the top bunk poked his head over, whispering, “Why do you wear that mask, lady?”

“Trekker...!” The girl scolded.

I kind of smiled, enjoying the innocence of the young kid. By the look of him, I was almost certain that they were related directly. They both had pale blonde hair and deep eyes. My grin only became wider when I whispered, “You two want to hear a secret...?”

Their eyes lit up, leaning forward.

“This mask lets me look at Endermen...”

They both looked astonished, and the girl went, “No...! Is that a lie?”

“It isn’t...” I told her.

“It is,” I heard the voice of an older and gruffer villager from the other side of their bunk, glaring at me over the girl. “She tells falsehoods, the thief.”

“Father...!” The girl scolded him now.

“You should all be silent. Sleep.”

Trekker scoffed and threw the covers over him. The girl seemed disappointed, but I smiled at her. “I can show you sometime if you want...” I whispered extra quietly.

She eagerly smiled back, nodding.

I turned away from her, shutting my eyes once more and letting a heavy slumber fall over my body.

•••

It was Herobrine who woke me for the second day in a row. He kicked the bed, making me wake as he climbed down the ladder of the top bunk. He must have caught some sleep after his shift. “C’mon,” he planted his feet on the floor, getting down on the floor and reaching under my bed. “Let’s head that way.”

I wasn’t in the mood at all but I didn’t dare argue or bellyache. Really, is anyone in the mood for anything right after they wake up, though?

So, after realizing that most of the lodge was empty, after throwing all my gear on, and after seeing that we’d slept a little late because the sun was already above the horizon, I followed Herobrine out to the back of the village. There we found the horse the Elder promised, standing outside a fence with other horses within the enclosure, saddled up with a man next to it. “This one ours?” Hero asked.

“Correct,” the man patted the paint, it’s caramel and white coat gleaming. “Take care,” he said bluntly, stepping back.

Hero hopped on first, then assisted me up and I settled myself behind him. He slipped his book back off, attaching it to a hook on the side of the saddle, and took the reins. “Thanks,” Hero told the villager, and the horse began to trot.

We rode slowly through town, finding that at the doors of the sanctuary was the Elder (who I had hardly even asked about and knew nearly nothing of, I realized) waving us on. “Take care, travelers!” he called.

Hero and I waved, pretty well off by then. I spotted the brother and sister from last night at the end of the road of the village, and I smiled and waved to them, too, and vice versa.

Once out of the forest that the village was held in, Hero struck the reins and we were moving quickly.

I was taking in the scenery of lands I’ve never seen before. Mainly plains at the moment, but in the distance were mountains and cliffs galore. It looked absolutely stunning, I realized that though trapped within the Outcast Lands and the Enclosures made a ring around us, it was still a gloriously huge piece of land. The fact that I’d discovered so little...

I hadn’t even realized how tired I was yet. I had my arms around his torso to make sure I didn’t fall off earlier, but now I was resting my head against his back unconsciously. The ride was fairly bumpy, yeah, but god, I was beat. Soon enough, I was well asleep on his back, and Hero didn’t say a word.

•••

“Gadget...” he spoke quietly.

I woke up, seeing how we had stopped. We were atop a hill, the drop leading to a small clearing below, a grouping of dark and fat trees on the other side of the clearing.

Herobrine pointed to those trees, and for a second I was confused at what I was looking at. “There it is.”

I squinted upon his words, then saw it: the mansion. It was dark like the trees around it, a hill to its right shielded half of it. It was absolutely ginormous, the grand scale of it made me feel wildly inferior. God, what were we doing here? There had to be 50 of them in that place; we were so screwed.

“Let’s make camp tonight, we’ll see what we can do in the morning,” Hero suggested. The sun was to our left, the expansive forest and hills to the west threatening to swallow it up soon.

“Wouldn’t it be smart to sneak in at night?”

“Oh, no no,” he shut that idea down quickly. “They’re a lot more active at night. They’ve got emeralds for eyes, they glow and spot things in the dark from a mile away,” a pause, “Morning’ll be better.”

I nodded. “So, we should find sticks for a fire, yeah?”

“Mhm. We’ll head back just enough so the hill blocks their view from us,” he shrugged. “Don’t know how they could with all the trees in the way, but hey, emeralds for eyes,” he then looked over his shoulder and grinned. “You’ve got ‘em too.”

I rolled my green—sorry, my

emerald

—eyes. Looking behind us there was a grouping of trees, maple, and I said, “Let’s get some branches off of those, make camp there.”

He agreed, turning the horse around and heading back down the hill. “You know,” he began, the horse trotting down the slope. “You slept like a rock on the way here.”

“Tired...” I told him.

“Right, but you were like... just, wow, I thought

I

slept heavy.”

“I haven’t had a nice night in a while. Why do you think those phantoms came after me that night?”

“Huh,” he pulled the reins, the horse coming to a stop just along the edge of the tree line. “Makes sense.” He swung his leg over and hopped off, helping me down afterward. “Lemme have your axe, I’ll start knocking branches,” he said.

I didn’t argue and gave him the tool, going to the horse as he walked slightly deeper into the trees. I took the reins, moving her to a short tree. There was a weaving of rope hooked on the other side of her saddle, so I took it and tied her to the tree. She had some room to move a bit, able to bend her head over and munch on the grass. I heard Hero whacking away in the background as I pet the horse. “Don’t think we gave you a name...”

Probably because she already has one.

Well, if she did, I didn’t know it.

•••

“What kind of a name is Phillis for a horse?” he questioned.

“She needed a name, not my fault you forgot to ask.”

“But... Phillis?”

“It’s original.”

He grinned and shook his head, throwing the core of his apple into the fire. “There should be food in that mansion, too, given we find it.”

There was a pause before I asked, “What’s even our plan?”

He adjusted himself, explaining, “There are windows all over that place. It’ll be easy to find the room we need. Once we do, we find a weak spot in the walls, and we sneak in,” he shrugged. “Easy as that.”

“What if there’s no weak spot?”

“We either try to find one close or go through the entrance.”

“And if they see us?”

“...” he had opened his mouth to speak but took his words back for a second. “I guess that’s when fight or flight kicks in. Whatever you think will work best,” he huffed, “Even alone, vindicators and evokers are tough. Evokers are... less tough? You’ve just got to get to them before they get to you. But vindicators,” a moment. “A bow would do best, but it’d have to be a good shot.”

“Have you fought them before?”

“No, but... I’ve had friends who have. ...Tried,” he shrugged. “They’re nasty, the vindicators. They just go at you again and again, even after you’re dead. If they’re smart, they group together and chop you up, front and back,” he shook his head.

I felt awkward. “...You... You’re friends were...?”

“Killed, yeah. A few of them,” he sighed. “They usually went on their own, sometimes I went with a few. They all wanted to raid a mansion, get the goods. Always headfirst,” a pause. “So, I figured it would be better to try and sneak in this time. We’ll be smart about it.”

And this is when I started to fear my life. He’d been with people in these mansions, probably got them killed, what about me? I was feeling sick to my stomach, the food not settling well as the stress piled on. I took a breath, letting it out slowly.

He seemed to know I wasn’t hopeful. “...Let’s just get as much sleep as we can, alright?”

Oh yeah, sleep. That’ll help.

...

“So... Where? We don’t have beds or sleeping bags or even blankets,” I asked.

“In the trees,” he spoke nonchalantly.

I was... confused.

“You look like you’ve never slept in a tree before,” he grinned. Hero then stood, walking around the fire and over to me. “C’mon, sun’s down, you don’t want to sleep on the ground.”

“I don’t want to sleep in a tree, either,” he took my hand and pulled me up.

“You wanna get blown to bits by a creeper?”

“No, but I also don’t want to get shot by a skeleton.”

“Skeletons stay away from light. I’ll keep the fire going, you just sleep tight.”

I opened my mouth to testify again, but he cut me short.

“Phantoms don’t bother getting you because of the trees, spiders are docile in light, zombies can’t climb, creepers can’t reach you, witches are in swamps, and we’ll strap you to the branch so you don’t fall out,” he smiled this idiot’s smile, knowing he was right.

I sighed, ordering, “Help me up.”

He followed my word, pointing at a well-rounded branch and getting down on his knee. We did the same thing we did at the drop that first night: I planted my foot in his palms and he tossed me up. My heart lurched while in midair, pumping when I grabbed the branch. I hoisted myself up, turning my back to the tree and sitting there. It was a rather fat branch, which reminded me of my makeshift staff (that came nowhere close to the arm of the tree) I left at the village. They were probably burning that thing.

“Hold on, I’ll give you something to tie yourself,” he took his bag from the ground, digging through it. “I’ve got a bit of rope.”

“That’ll do.”

He pulled it out, a messy bundle, bent at many places to show how long it’s been sitting at the bottom of his bag for a while. He tossed it up to me, and (after the second attempt) I caught it.

We didn’t say much after that. I wrapped the rope around my waist and branch multiple times, tying it once it was close to its limit. I then took a breath, looking out to the hill. The mansion was on the other side of that hill, and we could very well lose a lot in there.

“You look worried,” he spoke.

Herobrine was in a tree on the other side of the fire, still getting situated.

I gulped, going, “How... How did they die?”

He frowned, saying to me, “I told you, vindicators.”

“Yeah, but, what did they do? What did they do that we shouldn’t?”

He wasn’t looking at me. “They were seen.”

I got this sinking feeling in my gut, wanting to go home. It was too late to turn back, and I still wasn’t sure what this man was capable of, so out of fear I stayed. Even after he drifted off and I could have taken the horse and ran, I stayed.

I didn’t sleep for a while.

•••

“Stay low, the mansion’s just ahead...” Hero said quietly.

We were in the forest just before the mansion, sneaking up to it. We made the conclusion that we were at the back of the mansion, the entrance on the other side. We would poke around for weak spots and try to find the potion room, hoping for success but ready to bolt if need be.

Eventually, we made it to the wall of the mansion, huge windows lining the place. We were crouching, hands ready to fly to our weapons if needed. We would hold our breaths before poking our heads up to see if we were at the room we needed. It’d be easy to recognize: shelves filled to the brim of potion after potion, an entire gold mine.

I practically dove into the ground when I saw the grey skin of one of those beasts in the room we checked next. Herobrine—behind me—pulled me back, my back becoming pierced with pain when it collided with him. “...Did he see you...?” he whispered.

I shook my head. “...Facing the other way...” I let out a breath, sweat on my forehead from the already-hot morning, and realizing how tightly he had ahold of my arm after he let it go. I bet if I would have looked over, there would be marks. “...Wrong room...”

“...Keep going, then...”

I crawled on my hands and knees below the window, staying as quiet as possible. He followed me, doing the same, then decided to take the lead. Probably for the best, I wasn’t complaining.

We were nearing the corner of the mansion, and I was starting to think that maybe it was on one of the higher floors. I wouldn’t be surprised.

Yet, I was proven wrong. Hero looked into the second to last room at the back of the mansion, a grin spreading across his face.

“...What? Is it the room?” I whispered.

“You bet...” he cheered quietly. Hero crawled over a little more, crouching next to a hole in the outside of the wall. The wood was broken and rotting, but it led right into the room. He chuckled quietly, going, “It’s like they want us to take stuff...”

I felt ecstatic at our luck but terrified at what could come. “...Is there anybody in there...?”

“Didn’t see anyone...” he said, pulling a loose board. “...That’s... a tight fit...” he looked up at me awkwardly, and I knew what was coming. “...I don’t think I can get in...”

I frowned. “So, let me guess...”

“...Listen, it’ll be alright. Just find a pinkish-red potion, slightly glowing... Once you have as many as you can hold, get out...” He then took his pic off of his belt. “If you get into trouble, I’ll just crash through the window...!” he smiled.

I shook my head. “You owe me...”

“Yeah yeah, c’mon... Let’s hurry before one of the things get in...”

I grumbled under my breath, poking my head above the window frame to look in. The potions were sitting on what looked like bookshelves, standing tall and long. Yet, out of all the potions in there, I didn’t see one that matched his description. Then again, I couldn’t see all of the standing shelves. I sighed, going to the hole in the wall as he pulled the wood back, careful not to snap it. I took a breath and held it, getting as low as I could and army-crawling into it.

There were technically two walls: the outside and inside one. Passing between them, it was dark and cold, and I swore I heard a spider in there. I hurried to get inside, the grass under me turning to dirt, then to a carpeted floor.

I was in.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 3

Robbing the Bank

I slowly and carefully stood, grateful for the carpet absorbing any and all sound I would make.

The smell of herbs and foreign ingredients filled the air, nearly knocking me out with the first few breaths because of how strong the smell was. After getting used to it, I began the hunt, sneaking around in an attempt to find a potion for me.

I had this sinking feeling in my chest as I tried to make sure my breathing was silent. However, it seemed to just get louder the harder I tried. Now, if that was actually the case or my own paranoia tricking my ears, I didn’t know, but I did know that I had to be quick about this.

Shelf after shelf I scanned, not finding a single healing potion. I was getting frustrated and this was getting ridiculous. I searched high and low, the minutes passing when I heard footsteps just outside the room.

In a panic, I started heading for the hole in the wall, but by the time I knew he was in the room, I hid behind the width of one of the shelves. If I went for the mouse hole now he’d see me and hear me, surely.

Now, here’s where the fun started. I couldn’t hear him because of the carpet, but he also couldn’t hear me. I was just next to the window where Hero had probably ducked under. I held my breath and attempted to listen for any footsteps, but heard none.

I looked to my right, seeing if I could spot a shadow or anything, but I got the robes of an evoker. He stood a ways from me, not facing me, and I quickly stepped to the other wall of the shelf case. Potions at my back, I accidentally hit them and made clinking noises.

I swore silently to myself, sneaking as silently and quickly as I could to the other end of the shelf. At the other width, now, I looked back to see the tail of a robe following the noise I made.

That’s when I had an idea.

I drew my sword, making a circle around the shelf. I peered around the corner, seeing the evoker a lot closer than I thought I’d see him at. He was looking at all the bottles, and you’d better believe I caught those emeralds for eyes. Just as he was raising his hands, glowing with whatever magic he had, I jumped at him and thrust the sword into his gut.

I actually felt bad and guilty as dark grey blood drizzled from his mouth and his eyes glossed over. He looked more human than any of the monsters I’d seen...

I pulled my sword away and he fell forward onto the floor. Blood was staining the carpet, and I stared at the body for a moment.

I sighed, turning to the window. I saw Hero’s brow peeking over the windowsill, then came the rest of him. He gave me this big idiotic smile with two thumbs-up. I glared at him, then went back to searching. This would be the second time through the whole room, and upon realizing that I could handle myself, I was searching more slowly with newfound confidence.

About five minutes had passed before I heard more footsteps coming into the room. However, I got cocky this go-around, grasping my sword and walking on over to where the doorway of the rest of the mansion was.

And let me tell you, it wasn’t an evoker. It was

two vindicators

.

And they sure did see me.

I swore aloud this time, not quite sure of what to do exactly. I went for the hole in the wall—once more—and this time basically diving into it. My shoulder caught the wood and made me wince, but I pressed on. I saw Hero’s face with his hands reaching for me, but right as I reached for them I was pulled back.

One of the vindicators had grabbed my ankles, pulling me back into the room. I kicked him and flipped on my back, only to see the second with its axe about to strike me. With my sword barely in my fingers, there was no way I could bring it up to stop him. I pushed off the ground as hard as I could and threw myself into his legs, making him fall forward. I hopped on up, no weapon, the other coming at me.

I ran in the opposite direction, just barely missing his axe as it was buried into the corner of one of the shelves, making everything rock. It was at this time when the sound of shattering glass raining down filled the air. I caught sight of Hero with his diamond pickaxe, standing. In the frame, the glass of the window falling still, his glowing eyes flaring.

He jumped down and began battling the other, dodging, mainly, because axes were hard to clip and tug away with a pic. He was drawing the vindicator away from my sword, though, and I saw the opportunity.

Without breaking stride and forgetting about the guy behind me, I picked up my sword and ran at the enemy Hero fought. He saw what I was about to do and purposely stepped further back. I executed that vindicator the same way I did with the evoker, just from behind: a sword right through the gut.

The beast jerked, trying to turn, but it only pierced him worse, and I quickly tore my sword from his flesh and pushed him forward.

“Caroline!!” When I looked up, Hero was lunging at me. It scared me, really, when he grabbed my arms and swung us on opposite sides of each other. But then I realized what he was doing...

He was in my spot, now, with no time to turn and defend himself before the axe came down on his back. He yelled in pain and fell to the floor, blood coating his back.

The vindicator—with a twisted smirk—was drawing his axe up for another hit. I didn’t even think when I sprinted at him and tackled him to the floor, his axe falling from his hands.

On top of him, now, I was about to strike him with my sword when he punched me right in the gut and tore me off of him. He shoved me the wrong way, though. My sword had fled my grasp but I was next to his axe. I took ahold of it, and just as he was getting up I flung it into his side. The monster fell, groaning like a human, and I found myself on the winning side. His axe still in hand, I swung the weapon right into his shoulder, then once more into his neck. Dark grey blood spurted from the hanging pieces of chopped flesh and muscle, and it was inevitable that some stained my hands and clothes.

I was panting, heaving hard, sweat on my brow and blood on my hands. I took a short breather, scanning the room and at the mess that had been made. My head was spinning, my ears were ringing, my vision was shaky. However, with all of this, I spotted something.

Stepping over the body, I saw a glass bottle, filled with a red-pink liquid, on its side on the carpet. I picked it up and sighed, suddenly remembering my friend that was probably dead.

I raced over to him, going, “Hero..!” I saw the gash in his back, the blue in his shirt turned purple from the blood that coated it. I didn’t know if I should’ve turned him over or left him or anything. But time was not on my side. Looking out the doorway, I saw more of the grey fiends coming for us.

“...Care...” Hero groaned.

“Hold on, I’ve got it,” I didn’t know if I actually had anything, but my legs were taking me to the end of the very last shelf. With the bottle still in hand, I took the shelf and shoved it over. It fell, starting a domino line of falling shelves and potions, clashing and breaking.

I went back to Hero, who was attempting to get up. I put myself under his arm, using what strength I had to lift him to his feet, but,

god

, he was heavy. I dragged him to the broken window, leaving his pickaxe behind. This would be hard, trying to push him out of the place.

The enemies were closing in, trying to climb over the shelves. I forced him up and over the windowsill, him falling on the other side. I let him lay there for a moment, trying to figure out what to do because there was no way we were outrunning them.

Then, it hit me.

He had left his bag outside, I saw. It was just next to the window. I cursed him for a moment, knowing that if he was wearing that then he wouldn’t have been hurt, but remembered the contents inside.

I quickly unzipped he back, finding a medkit and a book and clothes and what-have-you. A zipped pocket was within the book bag, clearly stuffed fat with orbs the size of Ender Pearls. I unzipped it, seeing that’s exactly what they were. Stealing one of many, I slung the thing over the trees, not sure just how well this would work.

Quickly, while it was still in the air, I put the potion in the bag, grabbed the whole thing, and took Hero’s arm as he was sitting up, him sounding like a zombie. “Hold on to me,” I told him, seeing the enemies climbing over the fallen shelves, hungry for blood.

I murmured to myself, wishing and hoping and demanding that the Pearl would just

land already!

I clutched my friend’s arm probably tighter than I should have, crouched down on my knee, staring in fear as a tiny devil with a tiny sword flew through the window. A vex, followed by more, and a vindicator jumping the windowsill.

Then, the area around me was completely different.

I panicked at first because I felt like I was falling—

god, I was

. I tumbled down, losing the feel of the bag and Hero in my hands, a branch of a tree smacking me in the face just below my eye before I hit the ground with immense force to my back. I tried to breathe, and a quick gasp cut into my throat, but nothing more. No oxygen in, no oxygen out, and I was left in a paralyzed shock as I tried to figure out what just happened.

Damnit, the Pearl must have clipped the leaves of the huge trees above. I was staring right through those leaves, hardly any sunlight peeking through. I was winded, it hurt but I was so numb at the same time. Just pass, let it pass.

A sudden jab of air hit my lungs, filling them in a painful swelling, but releasing with as much relief as it would feel to drink that potion—

That potion... ah —— , Herobrine might need that more than me. He might not even be able to get it, it could be broken from that fall!

From... did it even fall?

I sat up in an instant, probably a bad idea, but my head was racing. Where was the bag? Where was Hero?

The groan of a man in pain signaled that he was behind me. And, sure enough, there he was, on his side with his bloody back to me. I sighed with a bit of relief, now searching for the bag. It was just a ways in front of my feet. I didn’t bother standing, I just crawled to it and ripped it open, finding the bottle still intact.

I turned to Hero’s direction, going to the large man as I threw the bag over my shoulder. “Hero? Hero, can—“

The sound of angry voices speaking a foreign language sounded from the mansion, and it dawned on me that the beasts wouldn’t be giving up easy. Of course, they wouldn’t.

I was pulling on his arm before I knew it, making him sit up with a loud cry of pain in testimony from him. “We’ve got to go, we can’t stay...!” I forced him to his feet, under his arm again, and he was putting most of his weight on me. “Hero, you’ve got to help me out, start walking,” I urged.

We were straggling along, actually just along the treeline of the forest. The small mountain was just to our left, the clearing ahead looking like an endless desert before we could get to the hill. God, there was no way we’d make it before they got to us.

We made it out of the trees, and I was searching for a new plan. With wishful thinking, I turned to the mountain, practically shoving Hero along at this point. My hopes proved to be correct, and there was something of a hidey-hole wedged into the mountain. I forced my friend to it, pushing him in. He fell to the wall and I ignored his pain, instead, throwing the bag off, giving it to him, and knelt down next to him. “You’ve got to shut up, no noise,” I ordered, holding his head so he was looking at me. “If they hear you they’ll kill you.”

He nodded, hurt in those shining eyes of his. Those eyes still made me question if he was a sorcerer or not, though if he was I suppose this would be the time to use his powers, yeah?

I backed out, and he looked confused as to why I wasn’t staying. I had a bit of a plan, I guess. Not a good one but better than them just finding us and cutting our heads off.

I hurried to the lining of the forest, seeing the grey skin of the enemies finding their way through the forest. The most of them were in a group, traveling together with a vengeance... except for one vindicator. He was scary, a bad scar across his brow, and he was sprinting ahead much faster than the group, a taste for blood in those green eyes. My heart jumped at how fast he was, and I turned and ran in the other direction. I was trying to lure them, so I wasn’t going as fast I should have; halfway through the clearing, something grabbed onto my ankles, making me fall. I cried out, immediately flipping and reaching for my sword. But, of course, I didn’t have it, I left it back in the mansion.

The vindicator chasing me had grabbed ahold of my legs and struck me down. I kicked him in the head, freeing one foot, and repeated the process until both limbs were released. I scrambled to my feet, remembering my axe on my belt and taking that. I swung it into the shoulder of the vindicator, keeping him down.

But, in the battle, the group had caught up. They were too close for any sort of comfort, a vex swooping at my head they were that close! I ducked and started running again, glancing over my shoulder once or twice before seeing a creeper scrambling down the cliff of the hill. I was about to cry out to Satan about how much he was biting my ass right now, but then an idea struck my dome, and I thanked the Devil.

I slowed only slightly, letting the group catch my tail, the creeper very close now. I threw my axe to my left, non-dominant hand, and reached for the hissing beast with my right. My heart was pounding out of my chest, my legs nearly giving in on themselves, my hand wanting to get as far away from the creeper as it could as I touched the thing’s skin. I jumped past it, shoving it behind me and into the group, the hissing nearing its end.

I didn’t look and just kept running, the explosion sounding in the air along with the cries of hurt beasts that were impacted.

I didn’t even realize how close the wall of the hill’s drop was until I was right there. I planted my Chucks into the dirt, pushing my hands into the wall and stopping myself. I gulped in breaths, sweat dripping down my nose and brow. I swallowed through a dry mouth, letting the sound of falling dirt and rocks silence before I turned around.

And what I saw a beautiful victory.

A hole in the ground, the bodies of the enemies laying all around, some intact, some... not. I felt a smile come to my lips, and I threw my fist into the air, jumping and whooping with triumph. I hoped Hero heard me, and I hoped he knew how much he owed me.

Something quieted my cheers, though. Beyond the mess of bodies was the vindicator with the scar on his face, holding his left arm. He looked angry, frustrated, but knew he wasn’t the victor. An unused axe hung from the belt on his waist.

Still shaken a bit, I gripped my axe with both hands, taking a few steps around the hole and toward him. He just stood there longer, visibly sighing.

I frowned, stopping a ways in front of him. The vindicator just blinked, averted his eyes, and turned away, beginning to walk.

My chest felt tight as guilt rained on me. I wanted to say something but figured he wouldn’t understand it or accept it. What was I even doing? Thinking of showing sympathy to that thing? That...

Instead, I let my guard down and hurried toward the mountain where Hero was.

I saw the blue of his clothes still there but unmoving. As I neared I went, “Herobrine?”

Shining lights appeared for me, looking right at me. I clipped my axe onto my belt, kneeling down and reaching for him. “C’mon, it’s done... We’re getting out of here.”

“You... how?” his voice sounded weak.

“I’ll tell you in a second, just come on. I don’t know if they’ll be more,” I pulled on his arms to help him out, but was surprised when he cried out in agony. I lowered my brow. “Didn’t you drink the potion?”

“No!” he snapped. “It’s for you—“

“Hero! You’re an idiot! Look at you!” I snapped back.

“I—!” he stopped himself, giving the bag to me. “Just—! I couldn’t have drank it anyway,” he grabbed my hand using the other for support against the wall to stand. “It would have knocked me—gah... out. That’s what it does.”

“I’ve never heard of that,” I argued.

“Because you’ve never used it,” he argued back. “And

I’m not

using it. We came here for you, you’re taking it—“

“Would you shut the —— up and just walk?” Things fell silent. I was under his arm again. We were hobbling to the hill, veering off to the side to take the easy way up.

We didn’t talk along the way.

•••

My legs were shaking by the time we’d gotten to Phillis. I wanted to take a break but knew that we had to get Hero to the village for support.

...Which is what he was currently using the horse for. He was leaning against her, looking sick and awful. I walked over, strapping the bag to the saddle and putting a hand on his arm. “Hero...” I spoke quietly. He didn’t open his tired eyes. “Hero, let me help you get on the horse...”

He just barely opened his eyes, his leg suddenly buckling beneath him. I tried to catch him but only went down with him, knowing he was in bad shape. “Damnit...” I whispered, trying to pick him up. I got some ways before I gave in, and he was left kneeling on the ground. I left him, going to Phillis and taking her reins. “Alright, girl, can you... get down?” I stood next to her, pulling her reins down and pushing into her shoulder. I was a little frantic, wanting to hurry but trying to stay calm so it didn’t appear I was panicking. After a few tries she knelt, laying on her belly, and I

praised

that horse for cooperating. I turned back to Hero, whose blood had trailed down his right leg. “C’mon, get on,” I pulled him over, and he weakly was able to sit at the back of the saddle.

“Okay, Phillis. Get up, get up,” I pulled on her reins, and she awkwardly stood.

I hurried, hopping on in front of Herobrine. I reached behind me and took his hands, pulling them around me. “Just hold on, don’t want you falling off, okay?”

No answer.

“Hero, answer me, let me know you’re awake.”

“Okay...” he answered, and I hit the reins.

Immediately into our ride, his head was on my shoulder. I was about to allow it, but told myself no and gave his hair a

small

tug. “No, keep your head up. You need to stay awake, don’t pass out.”

“...Damnit, Care, I’m okay—“

“Herobrine,” I growled. I took a breath, saying, “Tell me a story. Make one up. I don’t care, just keep talking so you’re awake.”

I heard him say something under his breath but blew it off. “Fu... me... Once upon a damn time...”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 4

Sanctuary for the Sick

It was deep into the night. Hero had been on my shoulder for a while now, a few hours maybe. He’d tell stories I didn’t pay attention to, then doze off on my shoulder. I tugged his hair a few times before I couldn’t bear to do it anymore.

The lights of the village were just beyond a few more trees. Breathing, “Heigh-ho...” I reached a hand back, running it through his hair but not pulling. “Hero, wake up. We’re at the village.”

He didn’t respond.

“Herobrine, wake up.”

He wasn’t waking.

I felt a lump in my throat, afraid that he might have been dead, and just hurried to the village. Phillis stomped onto the gravel road, whinnying. I rubbed the half of my face that wasn’t covered, about to yell for help, when I heard a door close behind us. I looked back, seeing a villager running up beside us. “Stay! I’ll find help!” he told me.

I stopped the horse, taking a breath. I ran my hand through Hero’s hair again, trying to wake him once more. “Herobrine, please, get up,” I rubbed his hand with my other, the both of his arms still around my torso. “C’mon, get up, get up...”

He wasn’t budging.

“God...” I closed my eyes, leaning back. “This is a mess...”

After a long moment, I felt his arms tighten around my stomach. I opened my eyes as his head raised off my shoulder. I breathlessly laughed, giving his arm a pat. “You’re getting help, Hero.”

His head knocked against mine, huffing a breath.

Villagers hurried from the larger homes, coming to us. I told them, “Help him off first,” and they did. I helped him swing his leg around and offered some support when he jumped down. He hit the ground rough, crashing into villagers, and I thought he would have taken them all down. But, they stayed strong; they had him stand, pushing under his arms as they helped him along. I hopped down, quickly pulling the bag from the saddle and taking the health potion from it. I shoved it into the hands of another villager that followed them. “Give it to him. Make him drink it, I don’t care what he says.”

The man I gave it to just nodded, taking it and hurrying off.

And I stood there.

The village Elder was hobbling over, stabbing his staff into the ground with every step. “Caroline,” he began, glancing at his people carrying Herobrine off. “What happened?”

I sighed, rubbing my arm. “We weren’t... successful...” I frowned. “We got the potion, but it’s for him now. A vindicator got him.”

The Elder put a hand on my shoulder, walking with me to the large sanctuary home. Herobrine and the others had just entered. “We lost my sword and... his diamond pickaxe,” I silently cursed myself. “I’ll feel guilty about that for a while.”

“Don’t feel unhappy for too long, Caroline. You’ve been through enough.”

I shook my head. “Is he... gonna be alright?”

“You said you fetched the potion?”

“Yeah.”

“Then he will be alright, yes.”

We went up the steps of the sanctuary, pushing the doors open. I noticed the drops of blood on the floor, leading to one of the back rooms. “He should have stopped bleeding by now.”

“He might have torn the wound open again when he dismounted the horse,” the Elder offered some reassurance, “He will be healthy again, I assure you. Come, let us get you a medic of your own for your wounds—“

A cry sounding in the building interrupted his words, making me spin on my heels. It was Hero, and he was in pure agony, his yells not subsiding.

I followed the cries, stepping into a room full of medics around a bed, a naked man on the furnishing. They had Hero stripped down, flipped on his belly, and he was shouting like a madman. The villagers had his arms and legs pinned and were poking and prodding at the wound with a strange mash of liquid goo, bubbling at the touch of the open skin. It must have been some sort of disinfectant.

I didn’t bother to testify, I just stood there, holding myself with a hole in my gut.

The sturdy hand of the Elder came down on my shoulder, steering me away. He asked for one of them to help with me, and the door was closed behind us.

•••

A hand woke me from my awkward position: my head in my arms on the large table that usually housed so many villagers in celebrations that I was now using to eat on. The dry, tasteless food had satisfied my gut but not my tongue, yet I didn’t complain. I just barely finished my plate before I dozed off, completely beat.

Before I ate, they dressed my old wounds and offered me new clothes. They weren’t much, but they were... somewhat modern. I had a white tank top on with beige, baggy pants, the same Chucks I always wore. I explained to the Elder the chain of events that had happened, and then he sent me to eat.

And now I was being woke by a woman—an older woman but not dirt-old like the Elder. She was dressed somewhat the same as him, looking more important than most of the other common villagers. “Hello, doll...” she greeted with a smile.

I sat up, rubbing my eye (I was going to rub the other, but the mask). “Hi...”

She moved my plate, sitting next to me with her legs out. “We haven’t met... I’m Tamelynn, the Elder’s daughter.” Ah, that’s why she dressed like him.

I didn’t quite catch the name, so I went, “Caroline... Nice to see you, Tammy...”

She seemed to like the nickname. She even whispered it back to herself. Tammy then said, “Let us take you to a bed, yes? You need to rest...”

I nodded, standing with her. She looked somewhere around 60, maybe 70. Probably 70. With my hand in hers, she led me to one of the backrooms. “The Elder insisted you sleep here. The rooms are blessed by our priests, bringing good luck and fortune to those who rest in them.”

I smiled at the mumbo-jumbo talk, all pure nonsense to me but I respected their views nonetheless. I then remembered, “Hey, sorry... Can I check on Herobrine real quick...?”

She looked at me with big, kind, blue eyes, allowing me with a nod.

I turned and headed for the room Hero was in. I grasped the door handle, slowly and quietly opening it.

I saw a number of things in the room. For starters, Hero. He was still naked—blankets over him, though—and still on his stomach, his arms under a pillow that his head lay on, facing the wall. Secondly, the bloody pile of rags in the corner of the room, along with his clothes. And lastly, the health potion, nearly empty. A very small amount was left in there, barely enough for a bad bite from a cat.

I walked over to him, taking the blanket that covered him and pulled it down to reveal the skin of his back. A large scar sat where the wound used to lay, a future reminder of the battle that took place.

There were other scars littered across his back, though. Two caught my eye in particular. Well, technically three. An X scar on his shoulder, cleanly cut into two pale lines. It made me wonder what could have done that to him. An animal couldn’t have, it would be raggedy and messy, not a smooth cut like that. And into an X...

The other scar was further down, on his tailbone. It was some strange marking like a metal design was stabbed into his skin and left that. An upside down T with two dots flanking either side, curvy lines outlining it all, some tiny diamond shapes here and there, too.

I was... confused, at the

very

least. My mind swam with questions that weren’t being answered anytime soon. I covered him back up, drawing a breath.

God, I still couldn’t trust this man, no matter how much I wanted to.

“That potion...” Tammy whispered, and I turned to see her pointing at the near-empty bottle, “...he said he wanted you to have the rest.”

I laughed to myself. “If he thinks that’ll do me any good...” I stepped to the table that had it, the cork screwed into the top. I then ate my words, thanking Hero silently for what there was. I lifted the glass bottle, popped the cork off, and downed the thick, warm, medicine-tasting liquid.

•••

I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep last night with everything that had happened, the food in my gut, and with the sun rising. But, Herobrine was right about that potion making you sleepy. It knocked him out and made me drowsy enough to snooze eventually. Now the sun was hanging in the sky, I’d say around 1 in the afternoon. I sat on the rickety bed, trying to clean my mask with a rag that was on the bedside table.

It was risky taking my mask off here, so I only hoped that someone would knock before they came in.

It was as clean as it could get, but I rubbed anyway. It kept me busy, even if the “busy” part was useless. The copper and gold mask was padded with thin cloth on the inside as comfort for my face. A glass lens shaped as a circle allowed my right eye to see through, but it was tinted so no one could see my eye. Though I wasn’t fond of sorcerers it connected and stayed on the half of my face with the help of magic, no straps or anything like that.

I didn’t want to go out, and when I eventually and inevitably had to I was sure to find strange words from strange people being thrown at me, asking what had happened. And then Hero, who I just didn’t want to see right now.

I can’t believe I lost that damned pickaxe of his. That thing must have been prized. I sure didn’t have any diamonds to fix it... or money... or anything...

I sighed heavily.

A knock on the door made me jump, and I quickly strapped my mask on. “Just a sec,” I called, setting the rag down and standing. I brushed myself off (kind of liking the pants but finding the tank top too revealing), filled my lungs, and went to the door.

I expected to see Herobrine, the Elder, or Tammy, or maybe even a medic, but my eyes didn’t meet theirs at first.

Because they were short.

It was the kids from the other night. Trekker and... I actually never caught the older girl’s name.

They were both smiling wide, cheering my name, “Caroline!!” They took either hand, pulling me from the room, and I smiled at their innocent joy.

“Are you well?”

“Did you really kill an evoker?”

“A vindicator, too?”

“What did you find?”

I laughed, “Alright, alright, calm down...!“ I knelt down, both of them in front of me. I reached for them, “It’s good to see you two,” I told them, hugging them both. They were giggly messes, their pale hair nearly blinding me. When we parted, I spoke. “So, Herobrine already told you two?”

“He told the entire village! The Elder, too!”

He’s up and well,

I thought to myself.

“So, did you? Did you kill the beasts in the mansion?” Trekker asked.

I tried to force a smile, but half-failed. “Well, yeah... A few,” The explosion was ringing in my ears. The lone vindicator, standing there... I didn’t even know how to feel about any of it. They were monsters! I shouldn’t feel bad about anything I did! But... they were also a lot more human than any of the others... I shook myself from those thoughts. “And we got the potion.”

“Why didn’t you use it? Isn’t that what you were there for?” the girl asked.

“Herobrine needed it more, Dayra!” Trekker told her with a tone.

Dayra, that was her name. “Yeah,” I agreed with him, “He got hurt, he needed it more.”

Dayra looked down at her feet. “So you’re still hurt...?”

“I’ll be alright,” I assured her. I couldn’t quite assure myself, though.

The door to the sanctuary opened, in walking a familiar face. It was the man that shushed these kids the other night when they were talking to me: their father. Built strong like Hero but shorter. I knew where the kids got their pale hair from; it cascaded down his head and into a bushy beard. His dark eyes were searching. “Dayra! Trekker!” he spotted the two, marching to us. “You should not be in this place!”

I stood as the father ordered them to retreat to him, and they obeyed. The dad didn’t even look at me, he just took them by the arms and dragged them out.

I didn’t want to follow them right away, discomfort kept me from doing so. I wandered the large room for a moment, tiptoeing around the rounded stone seats and then to the end of the wooden table, nearing the door. I wasn’t thinking about anything in that timeframe, really. I was so tired of asking myself the same questions.

So, confront him,

I told myself.

I shook my head, going for the doors. Maybe later.

I stepped out into a hot day. Why was it so much cooler inside than it was out? That didn’t make any sense, they had no ventilation or modern... anything. I joked to myself,

maybe the place really is blessed.

A buzz of nomads roamed the village, all looking like they had some sort of job. I saw men with weapons heading out, others tending the small farms, herding animals, children playing, all sorts. It was then that I realized the sheer scale of the village... And I was impressed.

As I walked down the steps and to the ground the earth shook, and I knew what was coming around the corner. The golem slowly walked some ways from me, children bounding and giggling around it. It didn’t seem to mind, but was very aware of them, and looked as if it were trying its best not to step on any tiny feet. I smiled at that.

I went down the gravel road, wanting to find anything I could help with, though it appeared that everyone had everything under control. It was like a factory, working on their own and together, getting whatever job complete.

“Hey, Gadget!” Ah, there was the voice. I turned to it, seeing Hero in new clothes. A white tee shirt and the same jeans as mine, but he was also smothered in children. They hung from his arms and legs, one upon his shoulders, only around five or six, they looked like. I couldn’t help but laugh, seeing him struggling but happy all the same.

I walked to him, obvious that he couldn’t walk to me. “Having fun?” I teased.

He cackled, going, “It’s the best you can have!” He set a boy hanging from his arm down, who only jumped next to him, wanting back up. Hero lifted him, holding the kid on his hip. “So, how you doing? You were sleeping for a while.”

I shook my head with a smile. “I wonder why.”

He attempted to step to me, making the children that clung to his legs laugh.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Good! Sore, but I’m alright,” he then sighed, a bit of regret in his eyes. “That... that potion was for you, Caroline.”

I frowned. “And you would have died without it.”

He huffed. “Did you at least drink the last of it?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Did it help any?”

I shrugged. “No. Not really.”

The ground shaking beneath us let us know the golem was close. The kids on Herobrine suddenly lost interest in him and went to join the others. He set the one that was on his shoulders down on the grass, and she ran to the golem, too. He then took a breath, sighed it out, and stood close to me. “I’m really sorry, Care.”

I nodded. “Yeah...” I rubbed my arms, not looking at him. “...Lost your pickaxe...”

“Yeah, I realized this morning...” he put a hand on my shoulder, telling me, “Let’s not sweat that. Or anything. We’ll... we’ll figure something out,” he tapped my mask, making me look at him. “I’m not gonna stop till we do.”

“Oh boy, so you can use another potion?”

“Caroline...” he huffed.

“You owe me, you know?”

“Ha! For what?” he argued. “I saved you! And I nearly died for it! And lost my pic because of it!”

“And the one who I had to drag out because you were too stupid not to just let me get hit! If I was hit, you’d still find the potion, I’d still drink it, and neither of us would be hurt!” I barked at him. “

And

you’d have your pickaxe!”

He glared down at me, and I should have felt inferior compared to his size, but I didn’t. I didn’t and I embraced that, flashing a look right back.

After what seemed like an eternity, he turned, beginning to walk off.

I shook my head. I should just leave without him, go back home and forget about this.

...My back and leg ached.

•••

The noise of the village was behind me as the sun neared the horizon. I was in the forest, not running away, just taking a second to ignore everything there.

I handed the flower to the Enderman, its claws careful not to cut me as he took it. I adored Enders, their grace and curiosity appealed to me in a way.

The creature admired the rose I’d plucked from a bush just shy of the village. Kneeling to my level, he twirled the flower in his fingers, those glowing purple eyes studying it.

I smiled. “You’re the same Ender from the other night...” I spoke lowly, mainly to myself. “I remember those markings.”

Every Ender was original with their markings, and I remember seeing the same curious one who gave away my hiding spot. That could be forgiven, though. The creeper probably would have found me anyway, and I wouldn’t have seen it beforehand.

“You followed me out here, hm?”

The Ender looked at me and I swore he smiled and winked. I laughed to myself, saying, “You need a name, huh?”

I didn’t want to name him as if he were a pet, and I had no clue if he would even stick around long enough for me to see him again... but I had this feeling I would. How about... “Apollo?”

He glanced from the rose and to me, a content expression on his face. I wasn’t sure if Enders could completely understand what we said, but I’d like to think they could. I’ve had a few experiences to confirm that theory, and a few to bust it, but nonetheless, I liked to think of Enders more as people than monsters.

The shadows were growing longer and longer. I heard the quiet, staggering steps of a zombie some ways in front of us in the trees. A groan sounded before I saw the drunken beast meandering in the shadows. “He’s out early,” I told myself, not really caring if I drew much attention to myself.

Apollo saw him, and I could sense the agitation in the air. I stood before he did, grazing his arm with my fingertips and telling him it was okay.

I pulled my mask off as the zombie spotted us. The thing clung to the dark side of the trees, walking around rays of light and trying to reach me. It was a... uhm, very slow process.

I wasn’t very threatened. In fact, I was walking towards him, smelling the pale, rotting flesh. His dead eyes looked upon me as I neared, and I began to slow.

He looked right in my eyes, dazed, it seemed. I smiled, and after a few moments more, I knew all hostility had disappeared. I casually stepped to him, going, “Hey there,” though I knew he definitely couldn’t understand me.

I reached out and touched his boney shoulder. I turned him around, standing on the side that would have blocked the sun from him. “Let’s turn away from that place, yeah?” We were walking together. “I know you’re hungry, but there’s plenty more to have. Try a chicken. They don’t expect you coming, and they’re pretty good,” I sort of pushed him ahead. “Thank you,” I watched his staggering steps lead deeper into the forest, and I put my mask back on.

With a satisfied sigh, I turned, seeing Apollo standing a ways from me. “Bet you haven’t seen that one before?” I smirked, going to him.

He just stood there, the rose still in hand, staring at me. He then slowly looked in the direction of the zombie, as if trying to figure out what had happened.

I would have sat down and explained it had I not heard my name. “Care?!” It came from the village, and I didn’t pay much attention to recognize who called me.

I shook my head, giving Apollo one last look. “You’ll find me soon?”

He nodded, and that confirmed my “Enders Understand” theory. I then trotted off to the village, hearing my name again. It was Herobrine, I realized—who else would it be?—and I slowed purposely.

Once I was close enough to the village to see him along the outskirts, and to where he could see me, he came to me. “What were you doing? It’s nearly dark!” he scolded.

“I’m fine, thanks,” I didn’t look at him and walked through the middle of the houses and into the town.

“Were you running off?”

“Yes, I can run on this leg without it hurting like hell,” I said sarcastically.

He audibly huffed. “What is your deal?”

I stopped, flashing the man a look. “What’s my deal? I’m a mess! I can only sleep on my left side because my leg and back are ——ed up and the only way to quickly fix it is gone! So, you tell me, what’s my deal?”

He just stared down at me. We stood there for a long while as the sky grew darker. Hero shook his head, speaking lowly. “...I paid the Elder so I could sleep in the sanctuary with you. So you wouldn’t feel so lonely,” he shook his head, walking the opposite way of the building. “Seems like you don’t need that, though.”

He went off to the lodge, and I stood on the gravel road. All of the townsfolk had already packed up for the night, and I was left alone out here...

I bit my tongue, trying to look strong and angry, turning to the sanctuary and looking like I might breathe fire at any second, but by the time I had entered the building I was nearly in tears. I hurried to the room I had from last night, trying not to make much noise.

I entered the room, the glass of my mask fogging up. I shut the door and took my mask off, throwing it on the bed and sitting next to it, face in my hands.

I took deep breaths.

•••

I lay there, knowing the sun was up, knowing others were outside, knowing I wasn’t tired and knowing I should just get up. But, there I lay, angry at myself.

That mood swing last night killed my ego. I was being such an ass to Hero. He tried to save me, all he wanted was to help. And I was shoving him down.

I guess I was just jealous that he was feeling well while I was still sick, hurt, and sore. We were so close to winning, but now we were just back to square one. No, below square one. Lost the pickaxe, destroyed pretty well all the potions in that room, killed vindicators and evokers. I felt like the real monster, really. I invaded their home and took their things, then slaughtered a group of them. What good did that do me?

I sighed, sitting up (which felt great and awful at the same time) and rubbing my tired eyes. I didn’t sleep much last night.

I got up on my own, my leg hurting slightly more than usual. I put my mask on, trying not to limp as I headed out the door and through the building.

Just like yesterday, the same bustle of villagers was out and about. This time I didn’t feel like helping out. Not any of the townsfolk, anyway. I wanted to get out and hunt, maybe mine, keep me busy. I wanted to see Hero first and foremost, though. Try to get on better terms with him.

The images of those scars nagged me. What would have done that to him? I was scared to ask before, but now...

I painfully walked to the lodge. He

paid

the Elder to keep me company in the sanctuary. Apparently, I would sleep there for as long as I’m hurt or until we leave. And Hero was wanting to share a room with me.

I pushed the doors to the lodge open, the building practically empty. I looked around, not spotting my friend. The idea of asking one of the people in the lodge crossed my mind, but I put that thought away. Didn’t feel like talking to anyone else right now.

I walked out, wandering the village, looking for him. Where would he be? I didn’t know the place as well as he did, so how would I know where he fancied? I was only familiar with the lodge and the sanctuary.

I sighed, figuring I’d stumble upon him sooner or later. I knew where the stables were, and I was going to pay Phillis a little visit—or whatever the village called her.

I walked towards the back of the town, hearing the whinnies of the horses and other animals like chickens and pigs. I only assumed I was welcome to the stables and made my way to the fence with the horses. I saw the caramel and white colored paint, seeing she was doing fine. I didn’t bother calling her over, I just walked along the fence, looking upon all the animals they had. It was ridiculous, really: horses, a few chickens, a few pigs, cows, sheep, and a couple of donkeys. And these people

travel

with them. To carry all of this behind them,

plus

all the townsfolk? Running that operation must be a nightmare for the Elder.

“Looking at that horse, eh?” a gravely and loud voice sounded. The voice belonged to a potbellied man with a beard and mane that reminded me of Haggy-grid or whoever that was from the one book series my friend read. Harry something, I don’t read much.

I laughed off the spook he gave me. “Yeah, I guess.”

“She’s a beaut, took good care of ye two,” he confidently held out a hand, and I shook it. He could have torn my arm off, I bet, but for now, he just jostled me around. “Rasbrune, they call me. Great ta finally meet ya, Thief!”

I took my hand away after it was safe to let go, and I cringed at the name. “Yeah... Sorry about that.”

He bellowed this great belly-laugh, scaring and confusing me. “Of course ye are! The whole village knows that! Take it as a joke at this point!”

I didn’t know about that, but I did know that something was off about him. He spoke perfect English—only with a rough accent—and his confidence was much higher than the others. “You... aren’t village-born, are you?”

“Nope!” his big smile made me feel comfortable and insecure at the same time. “I came from the Northern Enclosure, waaaaayyyyy up there! These nomads come through there because their original path was blocked by a flood that year. I was in a bit of a pit, begged ta join ‘em. The Elder told me if I could make the journey with them then I could stay.”

I was... confused, nonetheless. “Just like that? You joined?”

“Well, they’d come through a few times before. I’d been one of the only ones to trade with ‘em. I was already on good terms,” he smiled, showing his crooked teeth. “That Elder and I are pals, really. Got my name changed to Rasbrune.”

“What was your name before?”

“Samuel G. Williams! The G can either stand for ‘great’ or ‘gay,’ whichever you prefer!”

I choked. “What?” I laughed.

“I am a married man to a married man, the only one in the village.”

“To who?”

“I don’t think you know him. He’s got bright blonde hair, short, some meat on his bones.”

I squinted my eyes. “Does he have a daughter and son? Dayra and Trekker?”

“You do know him! Haha!!”

I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “You’re married to

him

?”

“Indeed I am. Vertrun, my sweetheart,” he lowered his voice. “Ye see, Thief, his wife died on one of the journeys a few years back.”

I frowned. “That’s awful...”

“Yes, it be... But, he’s been better. I like to say that we helped each other out of our ruts,” he smiled. “Wouldn’t trade him for all the pretties in the world.”

I rubbed my arm. “I don’t think he likes me much.”

Rasbrune laughed. “Ye’d be right, unfortunately.”

“I don’t blame him.”

“Ah, well ye can’t blame yerself either. We all make mistakes, lil’ miss.”

I breathed a laugh. “Yeah, I guess so,” I turned to the horses. “You take care of them?”

“I take care of all the stables!” he told me. “Vertrun helps with them, too, but he’s mainly a woodworker.”

“Ah, so decorations?”

“That, and holy objects. Small shrines, sometimes shafts for weapons, too.”

“I see,” I took a breath. “You work with the others?”

“Yup, everyone helps with the animals at some point,” he cackled. “The youngsters love helpin’ with the animals.”

I smiled, not being able to help myself. This man was... great, to say the least.

I tapped my fingers on the wood of the fence. “Sorry, but... have you seen Herobrine? I’ve been looking for him.”

“He was here earlier,” Rasbrune said. “But I can’t tell ye where he ran off to. Sorry.”

I sighed. “That’s alright, I’m in no hurry,” I stepped back. “But, I’m gonna start looking anyway.”

“Luck to you, Caroline,” he smiled.

I was going to turn when I thought of one last thing. “Hey, Rasbrune?”

“Aye?”

“If you need help with the animals,” I pointed at myself with my thumbs. “Find me~”

He laughed, going, “Will do!”

And now I was on the hunt again.

Minutes seemed like hours looking for him. I was meandering down the gravel pathway of the village, voices bustling,
children playing, people at work, the golem stomping about. I heard it towards the outskirts of the village where the gravel trail ended. I traveled on over, thinking that maybe Hero was following it, but only to find it alone today.

I groaned this time, having looked nearly everywhere. I took a few steps back before turning around...

...and colliding right into him.

I was taken aback at the force I just put into his body and how he just took it, not even moving, showing that he was still doing better than me. I looked up at his shining eyes, his expression content. “Hero,” I greeted after brushing myself off.

He hid a small smirk. “I heard you’ve been looking for me?”

I shrugged, crossing my arms. “Yeah, a bit.”

“A bit?” he laughed. “Only the entire village told me,” he turned with me and we began to walk. “Told me you were on a wild goose chase.”

“Where were you, anyway?”

“Looking for you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Hey, um... Can we talk?” I asked quietly.

We stopped for a moment, and I looked up at him. He nodded, going, “Yeah, wanna head to the sanctuary?”

“Are you supposed to be in there...?” I asked. “You’re not hurt anymore.”

“I’ll be accompanying you, I think it’ll be alright.”

And so, that’s where we headed.

The doors of the building closed behind us, and the cool air made me feel refreshed. Before we were even at the table we were talking.

“I just... have a few questions, I guess. If you want to start with that.”

“Sure,” he allowed.

I swallowed a breath as we sat on opposite sides of the creaky table. “The... The night we got back from the mansion, you were hurt really bad. You lost a lot of blood. Are you... alright?”

He smiled. “The potion takes care of blood loss, too.”

“Seems impossible that the potion would know your blood type,” I was skeptical.

“Well, it is magic.”

I scoffed.

He leaned forward. “What is it with you and magic, anyway? You ever gonna tell?”

I shrugged. “Probably not.”

He shook his head. “You keep too many secrets.”

I fake chuckled at that, nervous on the inside. “But, um... I went into your room that night to check up on you before I went to bed. You’ve got a big scar on your back, now.”

“Yup. I know. Another for the long road ahead.”

I hesitated before saying the next thing, “...Looks like you’ve already had your fair share of the road.”

He was only half-smiling now. “Ha... You... You saw the others, huh?”

I nodded. “What’s with the one on your shoulder? The X?”

He shifted in his seat. “Well, uhm... Remember when I said I was cursed by a witch? It was actually a whole band of witches...” he wasn’t looking at me. “They... hurt me, I guess. Poked around, did their little experiments on me. I acted up once, tried to escape but failed, and... well, they gave me that.”

I frowned. “...And... The one in your tailbone? The weird one?”

“That’s when they first captured me. They said they ‘made me theirs,’” he shook his head. “Poked holes in me with a rod to make that.”

I felt my skin crawl. “That’s... awful, Hero...”

His eyes fluttered up at me. “.......you were looking that low.....?”

I shook my head and grinned, already feeling my cheeks burning. “That wasn’t the case.”

“Uh-huh. Suuurrrrre, Gadget,” he teased. “Look at you, you’re bright red!”

I huffed, turning my head. “You’re such a kid.”

“As are you,” he laughed. “It’s the best way to live.”

I noticed the change in tone. He was still happy but... somewhat serious. I looked at him, seeing his stupid smile.

I then sighed, looking at my hands that were on the table. “Listen, um... about last night...” I tried to look up at him but just couldn’t. “I’m sorry... I’ve just been really... Ha, stressed? Hurt and tired...” I shrugged. “I didn’t know you

paid

the Elder to try and make me feel better... Sorry that money was wasted... and... thanks,” I glanced at him. “You know, for taking the hit...”

He stupid smile became a sweet one. His face was relaxed with understanding and he breathed a laugh. “Huh... Didn’t think you’d go soft,” he joked. He then shifted, as if he were going to reach over and take my hand or something but decided quickly against it. He instead combed his hair back with his fingers, flipping it over before it fell back with a little more poof. “But, really, it’s alright... I get that way too,” he then looked guilty. “A lot worse than that, sometimes.”

“You haven’t seen me at my worst,” I playfully challenged.

“I’ll be sure not to piss you off.”

“Same with you.”

I smiled, feeling... bigger. Better. My ego gained two points just then. Level Up!

I switched the subject after an awkwardly quiet moment. “So... when are we going to head back to my place?”

“Why?”

“The village can’t keep us forever.”

“I thought we’d stay until you’re healed.”

“That’s forever.”

•••

Herobrine adjusted the bag on his shoulders, pulling up the utility belt and shimmying in his boots. He looked at me after his dance—which I was giggling at—and asked, “Ready?”

“Yup,” I turned around to the Elder and his daughter, and her son, and his son... I could never remember the names. I stepped to the Elder, taller than the trees and older than dirt, holding a hand out to shake. “Thanks a bunch,” I told him, the bony feel and crepey wrinkles on his skin only bothering me slightly. “You... really are a lifesaver.”

He smiled back, going, “You’re very welcome, Miss Hargis...”

As we parted, Hero asked, “Hey, when are you guys traveling?”

“A short time before the season’s end. We’ll have to go south before the frost arrives,” the Elder answered.

Just a little over a month, then,

I thought. I wouldn’t bet that we’d see them before then.

“Good luck on your own travels,” the Elder granted.

We thanked him once more before turning for the doors and heading out the sanctuary. The village was quieter today. People still worked, but I think the news had spread. The majority knew we were leaving.

We went down the gravel road, the crisp, morning air filling my lungs as I yawned. Hero elbowed me. “Don’t get tired, we’ve got a long way to go.”

“Yeah yeah, I know,” I elbowed him back.

The sound of children’s voices filled my ears, “Herobrine! Caroline!” Looking to my right I found Dayra and Trekker hurrying toward me, their

fathers

standing a ways behind them.

Dayra clung to me and Trekker to Hero, the eldest saying, “We will miss you, Caroline!”

I laughed, leaning over and hugging her. Her hands were right on the wounds of my back, making me wince, but I didn’t say a word. “We’ll see you again, yes?” Trekker asked.

Dayra and I parted, and Hero and I shared a look. “Yeah, of course, we will!” he told them.

“When?” Dayra asked.

Of course, she asked that. And this is where the iffy part came into play.

“It might be a while,” I began, “But we

will

see each other again, I promise.” I touched her nose.

She giggled, her laugh so pure it made me want to stay longer.

“Dayra, Trekker!” the shorter, meaner dad called. “Time for them to leave. They’ve got a long journey, let’s not keep them any longer.”

A flash of sadness washed over their faces before shaking it off. Dayra waved a goodbye, Trekker gave me a quick hug, and the kids ran to their father. Hero and I both waved bye to Rasbrune and... the other one, and we walked out of the village.

“Heigh-ho!” Hero chanted once we were out.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 5

All Work, No Play

I drowsily took off all weapons and tools and everything associated with them, tore my shoes from my feet, and proceeded to flop face-first on my bed. I was planning on falling asleep right then and there, but Herobrine came in after me, laughing. “Can’t sleep yet, Gadget. Haven’t eaten anything, you need food in you.”

I sighed into my pillow, turning over on my back. “I don’t need food...”

“You kind of do, though,” he took his book bag off, setting it down next to my bedroom door. “C’mon, let’s see what you’ve got.”

“Everything’s probably spoiled,” I sat up, then followed him into the kitchen.

The sun was hanging just over the trees, rays of it cascading through the windows.

Herobrine was looking in the cabinets and the freezer was finding that I was correct. The bread had molded, the fruit had spoiled, and I had no meat. “Jeez, no wonder you’re so skinny.”

“Hey—“ I scolded.

He snickered, turning to me. “We’ll go hunting tomorrow. For now, grab my bag. I’ve got stuff in there.”

I was hanging in the doorway of my room, so I just reached back and took his bag. “What stuff?” I asked, handing it to him.

He opened up one of the outside pockets, reaching in and plucking out a few granola bars. “This stuff.”

I shook my head, smiling. “And how long have you had those?”

He laughed, “A

while

,” he set his bag down, giving me a couple. “But, they don’t go stale,” he tore one open.

“You sure about that?” I asked.

He bit into one. “I haven’t been able to tell.”

I smiled and shook my head, opening my own.

•••

I woke up from a nightmare, my breathing harsh and my eyes open before I realized. I took my mask from under my pillow and quickly put it on, not knowing if Hero was up and not wanting him to see. However, I came to find out that it was still dark and looking at my analog clock—that I could barely see—I saw it was around 4:30 in the morning.

I sighed quietly, sitting up.

I swore to myself, swallowing the lump in my throat. Damnit, why the hell did she go back there...? Why the hell was I dragged into the mess? I shook my head, hating the memories that and bled into my dreams.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed, needing to get up and walk around a little bit. I put my feet down to stand, but the floor was

very

different. A grunt came from it as my feet sunk into a squishy surface, and I realized I just stepped on Hero’s gut.

“Sh—!! Sorry!” I hopped over him, kneeling down, trying to keep a straight face. “Sorry, are you okay?”

He puffed out a laugh, his eyes opening as he said, “Well, good morning! What a way to get me up!” he laughed.

I completely forgot that’s where he was. We laid my thicker blanket on the ground for him last night, and he slept right next to my bed. Hell, I

remember

telling myself to

not

step on him before I dozed off. Well, that’s out the window, huh?

He sat up, making this joking grunt as he went. He then wrapped an arm around my shoulders, making me fall into his side. “Jeez, eager to start the day, huh?”

I laughed, “Sorry, I forgot you were there.”

“It’s alright,” he offered, and then he poked my gut, making me jerk. “Ooh, ticklish, are you~?”

“No!”

He poked me once more, then again, and a last time before I began to punch him repeatedly, and he pretended to be hurt. “Ooh, ah, you got me!”

“You’re a dork,” I told him with a laugh, forgetting all about my memory-nightmare. I stood, and he followed, letting the blankets fall.

I stepped over to his bag, the floorboards creaking with every step. I picked up his bag, grabbing a granola bar and was about to hand him one...

...when he wrapped an arm around my hip.

I didn’t move or make a noise. I should have known, though, that this would happen. I just dropped his bag, took his hand off, and put the bar in his palm. “Eat. We’re gonna be leaving in a bit.”

I went to the open house, leaving him in my bedroom, and there he stayed for a short while.

•••

“Sorry, Care...” he whispered once we stopped. We were crouched in the shrubbery, sneaking in on a deer. A young buck, his horns small but that’s not what we wanted.

I looked at him. “...Sorry?” I whispered back.

“...About earlier... I made you... uncomfortable, I know...”

I looked away from him. “...At least you have the decency to realize it...”

We didn’t say another word, the deer too close and the chances too slim. We stopped, the sun not quite over the trees. We also had to worry about monsters sneaking up on us, being that the sun wasn’t up. It was close, though, so the majority of them were probably taking shelter.

“I’ll get this one,” he told me. Hero loaded his bow, and I stopped paying attention.

God, he just wanted to get in bed with me, didn’t he? I still didn’t know enough about this man, he could just be a rapist, some killer who’s lost everyone he’s ever known because he hurt them. Those scars could have been some punishment for his crimes, the weird one on his tailbone to mark that he was part of a prison or something, not the witches. He was going to—

Jesus Christ, Caroline! Shut up and calm down! He likes you, that’s it! You know how they act, you’ve been through it all before. Even if he is awful you can handle yourself. But he’s not. He’s not awful and you’re overreacting and—

-thwap-

The arrow he fired from his kneeling position struck the buck in the chest, a perfect shot in the heart... it seemed.

The buck looked startled, beginning to trot with a disgusting noise sounding from it. For a moment I thought the thing would dash off, but just as it leaped, its legs buckled and he fell.

“Woah... What the hell was wrong with it?” I asked quietly, standing.

“That’s what happens when you get them just right. Shoot them square in the heart, it beats for a moment, and then it just stops,” he slipped his bow on his shoulder, walking to it.

“I take it you’ve hunted before?” I asked, seeing how accurately he shot.

“My dad taught me. And I’ve had to hunt since I’ve been traveling,” he pulled the arrow from its chest, blood pouring out. “So, yeah. I guess I’ve had a lot of opportunities to perfect it,” he took his book bag off, setting it down while he dug through. “I was thinking of just skinning it here since we aren’t too far from the house. Then we can take the meat home, put it in the freezer.”

I grimaced, “We’re just gonna... carry raw meat home?”

He smiled, “Well, yeah. But we’ll put them in bags first.” He took out a funky looking knife. “You’ve never harvested a deer before?”

“Just bunnies... And they’re easier.”

“Well, this may take longer, but we’ll be full for a while,” he took the rope from his bag, throwing it over a hefty branch. “Help me tie this guy’s feet.”

•••

“This is really good, Hero,” I told him.

“Are you sure? You said that about the eggs, too.”

I chuckled. “Yes, I’m sure.”

The day was spent skinning and gutting the deer, cutting the meat into reasonable chunks, fitting it in the freezer, and cooking the meat with a fire we started outside. He did most of the preparing for the food, and

wow

, he sure was a cook. The deer steak we were having now was...

awesome, to say the least.

I’d silently forgiven him for earlier, so we were on relatively good terms.

As we ate on the floor, I began to think. I found Hero... a week ago? Only a week ago? Yeah, this was the seventh day. Wow. Felt like a year at this point. “You know... we only met a week ago,” I pointed out through stuffed cheeks.

“Yeah. And already a lifetime of things have happened,” he responded. He then turned more serious. “What are we gonna do about you? Have you checked your leg out recently?”

“Every day. It’s not getting much better.”

“It should be by now, though. You’ve had that longer than I’ve been here.”

“I know, I know. It’s not pussing, though... so that’s good.”

“I’m sure it’s on the way to infection. You’ve been working on it too hard,” he huffed. “From now on you need to take it easy. You’ll stay here, I can go out and do... whatever needs to be done. Hunting, mining, whatever.”

I shook my head. “I’m not just gonna sit here and be useless.”

“That’s exactly what you’re going to do. We don’t have a potion. No one near has a potion. You apparently don’t like the Enclosures, so I won’t even consider that; not like they’d have a potion anyway. And we sure as hell can’t make—“ his eyes lit up. “......wait......”

I raised a brow. “Are you serious?”

“...We can make one!”

“Are you actually serious? You’re an idiot! No, we can’t!”

He hopped up, setting the plate on the counter. “Oho, yes we can, Gadget!”

“Do you even know what we need?! We need gold; you have to spend days in a mine to get that! And

nether wart

. You’re saying you can build yourself a Nether portal and just hop in? You’re insane!”

“It’s an amazing idea!! I can check the markets first, see what they have! If nothing we

can

do all of that!” he was pacing back and forth, a big smile on his face.

I was shaking my head. “Who the hell raised you? The Nether is a

hell

that you can go to

before death

. Herobrine, do you even know how long that will take?” I stood, setting my plate down. “I’ll stay here, just don’t go to the damn Nether!”

“So many others have done it before, though! Why can’t we?”

“Because I’m hurt, you’re an idiot, and it’s

not happening

,” I scolded.

He frowned. “I’m not an idiot.”

“Then reconsider those stupid ideas.”

•••

It had been five days since his idea surfaced. Five days of him keeping his promise of me being useless. Five days of him trying to put his plan into action.

“I won’t be back until late, probably. Don’t keep the door unlocked, I don’t want anything to creep in. I’ll try to knock and get you up, but if push comes to shove I’ll see you in the morning, alright?” That was his little speech before he left yesterday morning. An iron pickaxe over his shoulder, a kind smile, confidence in his eyes. He left, off to a cave.

And now it was 3 in the morning of the next day. I was sitting next to the front door, my back against the wall, knees curled into my body. I couldn’t sleep. I should, he told me not to worry, but...

I guess I was just starting to get used to the feeling of someone being around. So I wasn’t on my own. So I didn’t feel so lonely...

I probed the metal of my mask, wondering when I would tell him. Wondering if I

could

tell him.

I sighed, putting my head back and resting against the wall. I swallowed, rubbing my face.

What the hell did I think about him? Herobrine was... scary. Scary and big and hefty, but also really optimistic. Once you were on his good side he was... great. He only judged a few things, he was a worker, he wanted to do whatever he could for our well-being.

For your well-being.

I shook my head. “That’s not it...” I told myself.

I could tell myself that all I wanted, but I couldn’t convince myself.

•••

I woke to the sound of knocking on the door behind me. I jumped and scrambled, quickly slapping my mask onto my face and standing. My hands flew to the deadbolt and I turned the handle, opening the door.

There he stood, Herobrine Persson, a smile upon those lips... and dried blood streaming down his face.

I gasped, grabbing his arms and yanking him inside. “What happened?!” I shut the door, immediately turning to him and doing all I could to unsuit him so we could get to the obvious injury he had.

“I, uh... fell,” he chuckled. “There was water, the stone was wet, I slipped, I fell, bleh, blood,” he shrugged as I took his bag off. “It’s not a big gash, trust me. I wasn’t light headed or dizzy or cross-eyed or anything. I think I just hit a blood vessel.”

“You think?” I shoved him into the bathroom, diving into the cabinet for a medkit.

“Caroline, Care!” he took my shoulders in his hands, pulling me back. I faced him, and his smile reassured me, “Hey... I’m okay... It’s alright...”

I was shaky, scared for him, all out of sorts. I didn’t know why, I just... ugh...

He tapped my mask. “Maybe it knocked some sense into me,” he joked.

I sighed heavily. “...Sorry... I fell asleep by the door and I got scared...” I shook my head. I then fell into him, wrapping my arms around his midsection and hugging him tightly. “.....I’m glad you’re okay..... I missed you.....” I whispered.

The mood flipped entirely. It went from him being silly and me being panicky to him being sympathetic and me being weak. But, a hand running through my hair, petting me and sending sweet chills down my spine, made me feel... a lot better...

I breathed into him, wanting to doze off right then and there but forcing myself to stay awake.

I spoke quietly, “...Are you sure you’re okay...?”

He loosened his grip on me. “Yeah... I’m alright, Care...”

We parted though I kept a hand on his arm, telling him to go sit in the kitchen, “or something. I’ll... I need to wake myself up, then we’ll get you cleaned up...”

He smiled and nodded, backing out of the restroom and closing the door.

I took a deep breath, frowning as I turned and saw myself in the mirror. Taking off my mask I saw the tired girl that I’d seen so many times before. I tucked my mask under my arm, turning on the faucet and splashing cold water onto my face.

Within a matter of 5 minutes of waking myself up, putting in the contact, gathering a wet and dry rag, and taking a medkit to the kitchen, I was out. He sat on the counter, looking out the window and at the very early morning sky. His eyes landed on me when I came in, his smile only growing. “Gadget, you look beat.”

I shrugged, setting the extras on the counter and taking the wet rag, wiping his face. Blood just coated the entire left side of his face, some dried blood had even made it down his neck. “God... are you sure you’re—“

“Caroline,” he stopped me, looking at me politely.

“Sorry, sorry. I know. You’re fine...” I yawned.

“When did you go to bed last night?” he asked.

“Eh... whenever.”

“Caaaarre,” he pushed.

“Pfft...” I averted my eyes. “...3 hours ago...”

“Caroline!” He got up, taking the rag from me and setting it with the other things. “Go to bed, go,” he was nudging me along to my room.

“No, Hero, it’s okay,” I pushed against him. “Let me help you, c’mon—ah!!” I was swooped into the air and off my feet.

With either of his arms under my back and under my legs, he easily carried me into my room. He then lay me gently on my bed, planting a hand into my shoulder with minimal force but enough to make sure I wouldn’t get up. “You,” he began, “Sleep.”

I opened my mouth to testify, but those eyes made me stop myself. He was being playful but also serious, letting me know that he was going to take care of it. And, frankly, I was too tired to care.

“...Alright.”

“Alright,” he echoed more formally, taking his hand from me and backing out of the room. “Don’t get up. You better get some rest,” he pointed at me.

I giggled, “Sure, dork.”

“You’re the dork, here,” he stepped out, a big smile on his face as he closed the door.

•••

There was a knock on my bedroom door, and I called, “Come in.”

Hero stepped through, his hair damp and a largish bandaid just above his left temple. “Why aren’t you asleep?” He jokingly scolded.

“I woke up when you turned the water on to take a shower,” I told him.

“Uh-huh, suuuurrre,” he closed the door.

“Well, I did!” I laughed. “Come here, how bad is it?”

He shook his head. “It’s not bad at all, it’s just a little cut.”

“Come. Sit. I will examine you now.”

He laughed, walking to me. “Okay, Doc.” He sat on the edge of the bed, and I scooted closer to him. I carefully lifted up the part of the bandage that wasn’t stuck to his forehead, seeing a dark red gash, opened up but only about as big as the fingernail on my thumb. “Hm,” I let him be. “The entire left side of your face was drenched in blood from that little thing?”

“It wasn’t the entire left side, and I told you I was fine!” he cackled, then changed the subject. “How are you feeling? Did you eat?”

“No, because you put me to bed as soon as you walked in the door, remember?” I elbowed him.

He shook his head with a goofy smile. “Stay there. I’ll get...” he stood, “...what do you want?”

I shrugged. “Do we still have fruit?”

“I believe we do.”

I stood, “We can make a fruit salad, then.”

“Sounds good, Gadget,” he opened the door. “Right after we eat, though, you’re going to bed.”

“Whatever,” I joked.

We walked out to the open house, both of us going to the kitchen. He grabbed a bowl while I pulled bananas and oranges and grapes from the counter. A traveling market came through the other day, and they had food and such. I didn’t see them, didn’t want to, but Hero went out and traded with them. So, that’s where this came from. I was surprised they were even coming through Outcast Lands to trade, but I didn’t question it much.

“Oh, wait!” he sparked suddenly, hopping over to his bag. “You are going to love and hate me at the same time!” he exclaimed, digging through.

I shifted my weight. “Oh boy... what did you find?”

He poured out pieces of iron, a bunch, actually, some coal for torches and the furnace and whatnot, and I was confused at what I was supposed to be looking at.

But then he heaved the rest out.

Gold, a good hefty amount of it, sparkling and glossy and rich. My jaw dropped, and I whispered to myself, “No way...” I spoke louder, “You didn’t!”

“I did!” he stood and bounded over to me, pulling me to his bag. “We’ve got enough to make a glistering melon, plus some!”

I was staring at the gold, leaning down and picking up a piece. Though somewhat small, it was heavier than expected. I prodded the indents in the metal, some stone still attached, but we could pry that off.

When I didn’t say anything he spoke, “What do you think of it, Gadget?”

I pondered my answer for a moment. “...I... I think you’re crazy.”

“At least it’s not an idiot.”

I looked up at him. “I mean, we still need to get a watermelon and find someone to infuse them.”

“Why do we need to find someone?”

“Because only sorcerers can do it.”

“Anyone can do it!” he informed me, “you just need one of those enchanting tables. Or, the book, rather.”

“That’s exactly what I mean. Only sorcerers have that.”

“Ha, you have thought wrong, my good friend,” he reached into his bag again.

I rolled my eyes. “What, you have the President of the Enclosures in there, too?”

He laughed, then ripped a book from the contents of the bag. It was old, the pages sticking out and yellowed, but... there was this pull to it. This unseen pull that made me want to discover what words were on the tattered pages. “An enchanted book from and enchanted table!”

I stepped closer. “Where on earth did you find that?”

“The witches! When I escaped I snatched the book for good measure,” he was clearly proud of himself. “Haven’t used it yet, but here’s a good time to try.”

“You’re gonna waste an enchantment on a melon?”

“Nono, not wasting. There’s plenty in here. Plus, it’s for you!” How charming. He opened it up, and I peeked over.

I frowned. “It’s all in gibberish.”

“No, here, hold it,” he pushed it into my hands.

My eyes were having difficulties adjusting to the magic that unfolded before me. The chicken-scratch morphed into English, perfect English. “What?”

“Cool, right?” he grinned. “I don’t know how or why, but it just... does that! Turns into the first language of whoever’s holding it,” he explained.

I flipped the pages, reading the perks and charms:

Thorns

,

Sharpness

,

Looting

,

Loyalty

, “These all seem like weapon and armor enchantments,” I commented.

“There’s one in there with morphing,” he reached over, flipping close to the front, finding the page. “Let’s bookmark that, yeah?”

•••

“Hey, Care?”

“What?” I looked up at him, squinting against the sun.

He sat on the edge of the nearly-finished roof, just a few more boards to go. He had his shirt off, sweating just as I was on this insanely hot day. We were making the house a bit bigger, maybe fitting in a few storage spaces or an actual kitchen or just something along those lines. We were also hoping to start a farm at the bottom of the hill (not the cliff, on the other side of that) and get a bridge going to cross the river that ran just next to the house (after the clearing; the two planks of wood that I put as a bridge, that’s where). It had been 2 whole weeks with him, half a month; we’d determined that my leg was getting worse and we were having to redress it at least twice daily. My back was also causing me problems, still, and it was aching every day, probably on the way to infection, too.

“I think I’m gonna head to the Enclosures tomorrow,” he was panting.

I frowned. “We talked about this. The closest one is the South Enclosure, and they’re all asshats down there.”

He sighed. “You still haven’t told me that story.”

I put a board against the house, trying to avoid the subject.

“Caroline,” he began when I didn’t answer. “The night we met, you told me to not go to the South Enclosure. The entire time I’ve been here you told me not to go,” he hopped up, climbing down the ladder we stood against the house. When he was down he walked to me, and I didn’t meet his eyes. “You have to tell me the story eventually,” he crossed his arms.

For a moment I just wanted to feel sorry for myself. I just wanted to hang my head and stay silent, but the same rage from that night grabbed my heart and wrenched my soul. I gritted my teeth and drew in a breath of the hot air. “Fine. You want to know?” I snapped, staring him in the face. “I ran. I ran and I kept running because the sorcerers there

killed my parents and my best friend

,” I choked on my words, and his face went from stern to shocked. “I hardly got to know my parents because of them!! I was ten when they were lured into the alleys and

slaughtered

. And my friend, the best and only friend I ever had in that godforsaken hellhole was killed the same way seven years later!! And you know who they put in jail? Me!! They shoved me through court trials and punishments and burned me and whipped me and—!” I bit my finger, clamping my eyes shut to stop the tears but a few came anyway. I wanted to stop there, but I was already pouring my feelings out. “And I ran! I ran and I didn’t look back and...!” I looked at my shoes. “And I can’t go back... I can’t go to any of the Enclosures or the villages because everyone thinks I did it...” I bit my tongue. “...They always trust sorcerers. Even when all the evidence points to them doing it, no one ever convicts them,” I sighed, wiping my face. “...And now I’m stuck...”

It was silent, my story spilled from my mouth and now all on the ground. I held myself for a second before shaking my head. “...Sorry...” I whispered, stepping past him and walking inside.

After I closed the door I went immediately to the restroom, not bothering to shut myself in. (My mask was in my room, I had a contact in, which was bugging me because I was crying.) I couldn’t even bother to look at myself. I just planted my hands into the sides of the sink and wept over it, blocking out the rest of the world.

While doing so, I never heard the door open. It was a small while before the boards creaked in the bathroom and two strong arms wrapped around my torso. He pressed his body against the back of mine, hugging me securely.

I sniffed, swallowing my pride and trying to calm myself. I slowly looked up at the mirror, seeing my puffy face just next to his head, leaning against mine, sympathy and pity in those eyes.

I weakly pushed myself off the sink, standing straight and taking deep breaths. This whole thing sucked. I just wanted everything to be normal, I just wanted a normal life with none of this. I knew I’d never get it, and that I’d live with this burden forever.

...I guess it’s worse to be going through it alone, though...

After I had caught my breath and dried my tears I began to turn and he loosened his grip on me. I leaned my forehead against his collarbone and he held me tight again. I felt the color come to my cheeks upon remembering he had no top to cover him. I shook off the stupid thoughts, however.

“Care, I’m so sorry...” he whispered, his voice low and gruff but sympathetic. “I didn’t know...”

I sighed, slowly and weakly wrapping my arms around him. “It’s fine... I’m okay... I’ve just been...” a breath, “...holding that in for a while...”

“I guess...”

I cursed myself silently, hating what I said and also what I didn’t say. I didn’t even tell him the full truth.

We stood there for a while...

•••

“I’ll be off, then,” Hero heaved his bag over his shoulder.

I nodded, stepping to him. “What’s the drill?” I tested.

He grinned. “Five days tops. Get in, find anything to help, get out. Don’t talk or ask about you. Pretend I’m a sorcerer. Don’t make trouble.”

“And?”

“And if I’m back late you’ll kick me.”

“Right,” I smirked.

He sighed, putting a hand on my shoulder. “You sure you’re gonna be okay? Five days is a long time.”

“I’ve spent two weeks with you; feels like an eternity of madness. I think this’ll help me,” I joked.

“Haha,” he laughed sarcastically. “Make sure the doors are locked at all times, there’s food in the freezer,

please

don’t go adventuring—“

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”

We pulled each other into a hug before parting and he put a handle on the door. “Heigh-ho,” he chanted, a sad smile on his face.

“Stay safe,” I told him.

“You too, Care.”

And the door closed.

I watched him leave through the window, headed south to the Enclosure. He was off to get supplies. They’d definitely have the Nether wart we needed, some clothes, soap, other necessities. If we were lucky we would find a whole potion and we wouldn’t have to make one, but that wouldn’t happen, I told him. He was hopeful, though, and is keeping his fingers crossed.

Five days. Five days to do nothing. Five days to be bored and five days to be lonely.

An idea floated in the back of my mind, and for so long I shoved it down. I promised him, I promised him, I promised him.

And yet, after an hour, I was mapping out my plan.

I had felt so entirely guilty about losing his damned diamond pickaxe. I was on the ropes to get it back though.

I was hoping the village hadn’t left yet so I could take a horse over to the mansion and sneak in, snatch it—wherever that was—and sneak out. It was a stupid plan, I knew, but after everything he’d done over the past couple of weeks, he deserved that pic back.

And I was going to get it.

It was only seven, if I left now I could make it to the village just after sundown. I could manage myself for the while it was dark... I think.

I sighed, quickly beginning to pack my things.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 6

Tools and Fools

I walked out the door of my home, the heat hitting me instantly. Even in the morning and with the clouds in the way, the sun was relentless. I was beginning to have doubts right off the bat, and I started to feel guilty. I told him I wouldn’t do anything or go anywhere...

But the village would be there, I remembered they wouldn’t be leaving for a while, I forget just how long, but it was nowhere close to that time yet. They’d be there and maybe someone would tag along with me.

Psh… Yeah, keep dreaming,

I told myself.

God, how was I even going to get that pickaxe? The monsters in the mansion wouldn’t think twice about opening me up and eating my heart.

...

Did they even do that?

I remember hearing stories as a kid about the vindicators and evokers, how they ate their victims after they killed them. But having experienced them (though I didn’t see a room like a kitchen or anything), they seemed... well-mannered. I mean, nice clothes, a sophisticated network of a mansion, surely cannibals wouldn’t be like that?

Ha, now I’m taking their side.

I ultimately thought that I wasn’t prepared at all. Regarding my earlier thought, I wouldn’t bother to ask anyone at the village to follow me into probable death, but going alone—especially alone without many resources to help—I was dead meat.

Still, though, I didn’t turn back. I climbed down the ladder of the cliff, taking out my map and looking for caves. I’d get some armor before I was off.

•••

I know Hero had brought iron days before and I could have just used that, but I wanted to get my own in case this was a bust and he would need it for something else.

It was the next day. I was suited up with some leggings and a chest plate (not very good, there were weak spots everywhere, but it was better than nothing) and ready to go. It was early in the morning once more, and I was walking out the back door.

“...Heigh-ho...” I told myself.

I climbed down the ladder—awkwardly, with my armor—and planted my feet at the bottom. I traveled the small clearing and went to the nearly-finished bridge, looking into the water. I spotted the glowing eyes of a drowned, feeling my skin crawl.

When building this bridge you’d best believe the two of us fell into the water. And you’d also best believe that the drowneds //(Ozzy: Is that right for the plural version?)// nearly took us down with them. It happened to Hero twice where a drowned got ahold of him and I had to dive in after. I only fell in the water once, but no drowned ever got ahold of me. I was safe up here, though.

About halfway across I spotted the curious purple eyes of an Ender, waiting patiently under a tree (though I didn’t know why. If he wanted to get away from the sun, there was no point, it was covered by clouds). I knew those markings, I had just seen him yesterday. “Hey, Apollo,” I smiled.

Apollo made an Ender bark, looking happy as ever. When mining yesterday I only went so deep into the caves until I turned back and looked for another, not wanting to get stuck in one for an entire day. He was at every cave with me, following me around, probably warding of monsters for me. I made it over to him and he stepped out from under the tree.

“Headed to the mansion,” I told him, expecting no answer. “Going to get Herobrine’s pickaxe back.”

A small bark came from him.

I smiled. “You want to come with me? You could keep me company.”

A clawed hand landed on my arm, and I stopped in my tracks. I looked up at him, about to ask, “What is it?”

But then the scenery around me changed.

Entirely.

I was surrounded by trees, the same types that surrounded the mansion. I was also next to a hill—just like the mansion. Turning around, I could see through the trees that there was a clearing, like the mansion.

And turning the other way, I spotted the mansion.

I couldn’t even say anything for a second. I blinked, swallowed, and finally let my jaw open. “You... Woah...!” I looked up at my towering friend, who stood beside me. He teleported that entire distance!! I didn’t even know they could go that far!

I breathed, “Holy —— ...” taking it in for a second. I then looked back up at Apollo. “You can help me...”

He looked interested.

“You can teleport me around the rooms to try to find the pickaxe. Could you do that?”

He didn’t nod, instead, he took my arm and began walking. He wasn’t being sneaky or anything, just walking around the mansion and going to the front, I think. I was nervous about this, wanting to wrench away but also not wanting to spook him. Enders were still dangerous, and I didn’t quite have their temperament down.

We were skating right by the windows and I swear I saw the grey face of one of the monsters, spotting us and running for others. “Wait..! Apollo!” I panicked.

But he kept pulling me, and I had no way to escape. I was also quite loud with my armor jangling about.

Before I knew it we were right in front of the steps, the arch of an entrance wide and high over our heads—even for an Ender. I swallowed, now not wanting to let go of Apollo so he could teleport with me. I stood close to him, half-wondering why he stopped and curled my fingers around the handle of my sword.

Evokers and vindicators swarmed the entrance from inside, and it was obvious we were outnumbered. They all looked pissed but... also afraid. Why was that look of fear in their eyes?

I didn’t draw my sword yet but I kept a hand on it. We were at a standoff, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I left my house 5 minutes ago and now this. Whoopty doo, it’s going great.

After what seemed like an eternity, I kind of tapped Apollo. Maybe he would get the memo that I needed help finding the pickaxe and stick to the plan.

But he didn’t move. He didn’t even look down at me. He just stared at the grey-skinned beasts in front of us.

This was more awkward than anything. To spice up the situation I slowly pulled out my sword from its sheath, watching intently as the vindicators tightened their grips on their axes and the evokers’ fingers twitched.

But then there was movement behind the crowd. The monsters parted for the one coming through, finding his way to the front. I recognized the vindicator instantly.

The scar across his face made memories flash in my head, and the sling that held his arm reminded me of the damage I did. It was the vindicator who was at the front of the crowd chasing me the day we got the potion. The same look of frustration and fear was in his green eyes, but he showed no other signs of aggression. He didn’t have a weapon drawn, nor did he have the traditional axe. Instead, hanging on his belt was Herobrine’s diamond pickaxe.

I repeatedly glanced down at it, wondering if I had to put up a fight to get it. The mangled vindicator stepped down the stairs and into the grass, just a few yards in front of me. I didn’t let my guard down but I let my mind wander. What was he doing?

He stood there, chin high but pride low. It was a moment before he unhooked the pic from his belt, gave it a good hard look, then pointed the handle at me. He was... giving it to me?

The others behind him dropped their guard, and it was then that I noticed the multiple headstones around the front wall of the mansion. Some looked old, but quite a handful looked... fresh. And I knew I was the damn cause.

I lowered my own guard but kept my sword in hand. I slowly and wearily stepped to him, reaching for the pickaxe. I expected him to quickly flip it around and ram it into the side of my head, but he didn’t. I took it without quarrel, and he let it go without complaint.

I breathed. They were scared of me. They knew what I did, they probably thought I was witty enough to pull something just as bad again. I suppose a scary Ender standing next to me wasn’t helping their fears much. They just wanted me gone, that’s why he gave up the pic so easily.

After a moment I hooked the pickaxe onto my belt. I looked at my iron sword, then at the vindicator in front of me. I dropped the weapon, taking a risk by doing so, and held out a hand.

He glanced from the hand to my face, taking a step forward and taking my grip in his. It was funny, really, how we communicated without words. At that moment our feud was over, and I didn’t plan on going back.

As we let go I left the sword, and Apollo took me away from the mansion.

•••

I was sitting on the bed, studying the pickaxe. The blue coloration hypnotized me, never had I seen anything like it. I’ve never held a diamond, so to have a grasp on the pickaxe...

I sighed with contempt, not at all upset about the adventure (except for the fact that I couldn’t get Apollo to teleport me until we were across the clearing and over the hill, and on a humid day I was panting by then, but that could be forgiven). It was hardly an adventure, though, I wasn’t even gone for a half a day, but the success sure did weigh that out.

I’m sure Hero would be monumentally happy to have this back... but also upset with me because I went off on my own. It may be a while before he would completely forgive me, but I knew he’d appreciate the seemingly-unbreakable tool back.

Now I just had to wait.

Examining the pic for a moment more I noticed something carved into the handle of it. Turning my head to the side I saw the etches of some letters: “HB”. I kind of chuckled to myself, thinking,

If someone would get their hands on this I don’t think putting some letters of your name would get it back

. I then thought,

Just blow up some vindicators and evokers, then come back after a week, they’ll give it back then.

Yikes.

I stood, wondering how I’d break the news to him. Maybe I’d do it subtly, like putting it on the counter and wait until he sees it. Maybe I’d be more direct, like shoving it in his hands the moment he walks in?

Either way, I couldn’t wait to see his face.

•••

It was the fifth day, late into the afternoon, the sun nearly set. I was busy arranging everything in the room we built on the extension of the house. That was his room, wedged next to mine so he’d have to walk through it to get to the kitchen—which, by the way, I amped up. More furnaces, a little table to sit at, and a couple more cabinets. Small things.

I was sitting at the table, getting a little nervous about him not coming back on time. I peered out the kitchen window, the sun just barely touching the tops of the trees. I sighed, feeling my chest weigh heavier for a brief moment...

And then came the knock.

I sprung out of the chair, taking the pickaxe that I left against the wall and heading to the front door. I unlocked the door and opened it, a smile on my face when I saw Hero.

...Except it

wasn’t

Hero…

It was a man, not built the same; he was skinnier, but nearly just as tall as my friend. He wore a bandana over his mouth and nose, grey eyes staring down at me, hair as white as snow on his head (he wasn’t old). As soon as I opened the door he sprung in with a dagger in his hand.

I yelped as I was tackled, feeling a sharp pain in the side of my gut. I quickly took the pickaxe and aimlessly swung it into his back, to which he reacted by flipping over and throwing me off to the side.

I groaned, confused and furious, attempting to stand but he was quick to his feet. I had no clue how to defend myself with a pickaxe so I just started swinging before he was even to me. It gave me enough time to get up as he tried to dodge me.

The attacker soon found a weak spot, though. As my arm swung over my body he threw himself into the side of me, rendering my weapon useless as I was pinned to the wall. He attempted to thrust the dagger into my midsection but I forced myself to block it with my arms. I cried out as my skin was opened and had the quick idea to just suddenly drop on my rear. I did—scraping my back on the way down—and threw myself into his legs. He fell forward with a

thump

as his head hit the floor, and I put myself on top of him.

I hit his head with the blunt of the pic, but he reached back, grabbed the blade, and yanked it. I didn’t dare let go of the tool, but in doing so, that led me to lean to the side, letting him roll out from under me and shove me down. He was on top of me and grabbed the pickaxe, trying to take it, but I held onto that thing for dear life.

Just after, I heard pounding footsteps stomping through the house. My attacker’s head turned for a brief moment to the still-open doors...

...and then his neck was pierced by an iron pickaxe.

He was knocked onto his back, and I scooted backward as the other man went to town on him. Another swing, blood, and silence...

I heaved and huffed in the quiet while my friend,

Thank-God-Herobrine

, slowly went down on his knee, taking deep breaths himself.

I scooted clear back to the side of the counter, leaning against the cabinets below it. I remembered the pain in my side and saw fresh blood seeping through the white tank top. I whined, gaining his attention. His eyes landed on me before he dropped his weapon and scurried over. He whispered a swear upon seeing the blood. “Christ, Care...” he gently lifted the tank top, making me wince as I raised my arms and it was removed.

Some gurgles filled the quiet air afterward, not coming from me. “More...” we heard. It was the attacker on the floor. “...more... com-iiing...”

Herobrine angrily got up, marching to him. I averted my eyes as his boot came down on the intruder’s head.

Hero slipped his book bag off and came back to me. “Let’s get you up, c’mon...” he leaned over and tucked an arm under mine, another under my legs, easily lifting me. I winced and groaned as the wound moved with my body; he carried me to the restroom and set me on the John.

I felt light-headed and dizzy like I was gonna puke. Then, I thought I was. Blood spurted from my mouth as I coughed, and Hero was quick with a rag under my chin. He whispered curses, quickly grabbing another rag and gauze from a medkit. He pressed the rag into the stab wound and I cried out, trying to push his hands away.

“Stop, Care! Hold on, just,” he tightly and sloppily wrapped the gauze around my torso. He then took off, out of the restroom. “Stay there, don’t take that off,” he ordered.

I heard him but didn’t process it. I weakly attempted to pull the gauze off, but I was seeing double and having trouble breathing.

I felt myself slip.

•••

I woke to a dim room, facing a wall. Immediately I felt something draping me—not just blankets, this was too heavy. In a blink I felt like I was being attacked again, the grey-eyed intruder holding me down. But another blink later and I realized I was in bed... What covered me?

The thing was slung over my body and held me against something, my back to it. I tried to process the odd shape...

Oh! An arm. Hero’s arm... He was laying behind me and holding me. I was discomforted at first, but in a moment I felt... safe. A warm, steady breath hit the top of my head gently.

I filled my lungs, breathing out slowly. My head began to race upon recalling all of what happened yesterday. Who was that guy..? That attacked me? How did I escape...? Right, Hero. He came in the nick of time... a little too coincidentally...

No, no, don’t go there. You don’t need to think of him as an enemy. You’ve got enough of those, Caroline.

I huffed quietly. I was just going to take a direct approach and sit up. Pain City, here we come.

I pushed myself up, bracing for something to hurt... bracing...... still bracing........ But I was sitting up completely now, no issues. I lowered my brow, looking down at my shirt. It was a lovesick purple coloration, close to lilac. Movement beside me made me wait to lift my shirt and see the wound.

Hero sat up with me, speaking lowly as he chanted my name. “...Caroline...” his shoulder collided with mine, an arm around me again. “...Hey... How are you feeling...?”

I didn’t look at him. I lifted my shirt, expecting to see a stab wound or bloody bandages, maybe not even that. Just something to indicate I was hurt... But there was nothing. Just the skin of my stomach.

I looked over my shoulder at him. His shining eyes hid something. “...What happened?” I asked.

It was early morning. The sun was poking through leaves of trees outside to try to enter the window. We were in my room, quiet and... just quiet.

He sighed, then reached for the bedside table—I couldn’t see it or what he grabbed because his physique was in the way—but when he turned back and I saw what he had in his hand I wanted to hug him and choke him at the same time.

“...I got the stuff. Made it while you were out,” he had that goofy smile, but he was nervous, sheepish. He thought he’d done something wrong but was proud of it.

I

was proud of it.

In his hand was an empty healing potion. I couldn’t stop the smile from coming to my lips, shaking my head and giving a small chuckle. I forgot everything else at that moment and let myself become filled with joy. “I’m...! You..!” I squirmed with excitement. He set the empty bottle down on the table, that sheepish smile turning into a triumphant one, and when he turned back around I threw my arms around him.

There was no pain! I was healed! He really did it!

He kept his promise...

I was laughing with my arms around his neck, his around my midsection. We stayed that way for a long while before I—without thinking—grabbed his head and kissed his cheek. “You’re awesome..!” I told him, then kissed his lips.

He was... surprised... at first. But after a short moment, he didn’t seem to mind.

•••

I grimaced as I looked down upon the stained floorboards, blood soaked into them to make a dark-brown splotch where the intruder used to lay. “What’d you do with him...?”

Hero puffed his chest out. “After I put you to bed I dragged the guy out. Checked his face, I hadn’t recognized him...” he motioned to the backdoor. “Put him in the river, left him to the drowned. He’s a ways out, we won’t have to worry about spotting bones or anything...”

I shivered. “What happened? After I blacked out?”

“Well, I ran and got the ingredients to make the potion from my bag. I’d gotten the melon and an awkward potion back at the Enclosures. So, I grabbed the book and shoved them together.

“Ran back and saw you passed out. I just grabbed a spoon from the kitchen and started feeding the potion to you, and you woke up after a little bit.”

“I did?” I asked.

“Yeah. You were out of it, completely delusional, but you drank the potion,” he ran his fingers through his hair, letting it fall back. “Once it was gone I unwrapped the bandages, got you in a new shirt, put you to bed,” he sighed, “Then I dragged the guy out and did a quick check of the woods, made sure no one followed him,” he shook his head. “I nailed wood to the doors so no one would get in...”

I nodded, seeing how that explained the planks that covered the doors from the inside.

“And then I made sure you were okay. Thought I’d... sleep with you... ‘Till you woke up,” he smiled sheepishly again.

I wandered the kitchen, trying to find the tool. I didn’t spot the shimmering blue blades anywhere, so I looked back up at him. “Did you find it...?”

He nodded, that half-smile of his bothering me as he wandered over. “It’s in my room... and you’re in big trouble for going out on our own,” he scolded with a sigh.

I half-smirked. “Hear me out, hear me out,” I began, “I went to the mansion prepared, I had armor and a weapon and even Apollo.”

“Apollo..?”

Oh, right. He didn’t know who that was. “He’s an Enderman. Named him Apollo. He helped out, teleported me to the mansion,” I shifted my weight. “He’s cool.”

“You talk about him like he’s a person.”

I flashed him a look. “More human than some of the actual people in the Enclosures,” I scowled. “But, anyway,

“I went to the mansion and Apollo took me to the entrance—kind of by force. The vindicators and evokers were all there, looking ready for a fight until a different vindicator walked out. He was one that I’d hurt the first time around, nearly took his arm off that time. He just... gave me the pickaxe. I took it and left my sword, and came back with Apollo.”

Hero looked half-convinced. “You sound crazier than me.”

“I got the pic back, though,” I found my eyes being drawn back to the bloodstained floor. “...How do you think he found us?”

“Well, I can swear that I didn’t speak a word about you. I don’t know, maybe he followed me back...”

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” Hero shrugged. “Maybe he wanted the potion. And after that, maybe he wanted to loot the house. I’m not sure.”

We stood there, stumped.

I piped up again, “He said... that there were more coming...”

“...what?”

“Didn’t you hear him? When you ran in, after you... got him. He was laying there and I thought he was dead, but he said ‘more coming.’”

He shook his head. “I heard him choking on his own damn blood. Nothing else.”

I wasn’t even mad that he was doubting me. I was just scared... I heard what I heard, I know I did, but it didn’t even matter. “...Hero, what if there

is

more..?” I squeaked.

He looked over at me, that same fear in his eyes as in mine. We stood in cold silence for a long moment before he stepped slowly to me. The boards beneath him creaked like they always did, and he reached for me. I found myself in his arms, head on his collarbone, hugging him back.

“...Hero... what if there’s more...?” I repeated.

This time he answered. “I’ll stop them. You’ll get out of here.”

I pulled at his shirt. “That’s... no. No, you’re not gonna shove me out of the way,” I looked up at him. “If there’s more,

we

will do something about it.”

He shook his head, worry and sorrow in his eyes. “...Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that...”

His forehead lay on mine, and we stood in the quiet for a long, long time.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 7

Route to Trouble

“Hero, come to bed,” I ordered, standing over the hole in the ground. “You’ve been working on that all day. It’s almost midnight.”

“I’m nearly done,” he said.

“You said that two hours ago.”

“Care, I’ve got it. Go to sleep.”

I sighed. “I can’t with you breaking stone against your pickaxe every two seconds,” I called.

I then saw two shining lights at the bottom of the ladder: his eyes. “Care, I’ll be up in a second, I promise. Just let me clear this out and put posts up.”

I shook my head, stepping back.

After the events of today, he became more paranoid than me. He was making an “escape route” so we could get out quick if we ever needed to. He dug a hole as tall as the cliff, now beginning to dig out to the clearing. Like I said, he’s been working on it all day and has hardly let me help. He hasn’t even let me go outside to get wood for the ladder. I told him earlier that I wasn’t going to stay inside forever, and he told me, “Just until this is done.”

I agreed with him just to get it over with.

I walked back to my room, drowsy and grumpy. I sat on my bed, not wanting to lay down because I didn’t want to fall asleep and let him work all night. It wouldn’t take more than thirty minutes for him to get done with whatever he was doing. He had to stop eventually, he’s mad if he wants to finish the entire project in one day and night.

So, there I sat with nothing to entertain me. I was getting tireder and tireder by the second, but every time my head swayed I would shake it violently and stand up, walking out of the room and pacing over to the hole to see if he was coming up or not, and then paced back to the bed and sat.

Eventually, though, I was holding my head on my hand, elbow in my knee as I sat on the bed, and fell completely asleep. I didn’t know how long I was out for when a gentle force pushed me back. I woke, groggy, and saw Hero’s eyes just above me, lifting me slightly and pulling me to the head of the bed. I held onto him, trying to ask “What time is it?” but no words left my mouth.

I found that Hero was still clinging to me when we were laying down. His bulky arms were tied around my midsection, and I had a hand cradling his head that was resting on my shoulder. He let out a long huff, and I slept.

Harsh movement beside me had me awake with a start. My friend had sprung from the bed, grasping his pickaxe with panic in his eyes. I sat up, “What—?”

He held a hand up to quiet me, frozen like a statue for a moment. I sat there, holding my breath, not knowing what got him so worked up.

Eventually, after he heard nothing, he slowly lowered his hand. “...There might be someone outside,” he whispered.

I didn’t say anything. I just slowly swung my feet over the bed and stepped to my bag, pulling my (newly made) sword away from it.

He stepped to the door, “...I heard steps in the gravel outside... then a bit of a knock...”

I swallowed. The sun was shining through the windows, so I didn’t figure it to be a zombie or a skeleton. Paranoia took over and my fingers were straining around the handle, so much to where they almost hurt. Herobrine stepped out of the bedroom, carefully placing his steps. The hole in the floor was near the backdoor and he was heading for the front, so he didn’t have to worry about falling. I followed a short distance behind, both hands on the sword now.

He peered through the window next to the door, trying to spot something. I was creeping nearer, trying to stay as quiet as possible, but nearly yelped when he jumped.

Hero’s face then looked... relieved. And stupid. He looked like he felt like an idiot. He groaned aloud, pressing his shoulder to the wall. “...Enderman.”

My heart was going a million miles an hour at this point, but I was so very relieved. I walked to him, looking out the window. And when I did, I recognized the guy. I laughed to myself, leaning back into Hero. “Holy —— ...” I swore. “Oh, he’s in trouble.”

As I pushed off of him and went back to my room, he asked, “That Apollo?”

“Yup. Gimme a second, I’m getting my mask.”

And so I did, trading it for my sword, and taking that damn contact out. I didn’t know where to put it, but I figured that I’d been wearing it so long that having it in wasn’t a great idea anymore, so I tossed it. I put the mask on and walked out, seeing Hero mumbling to himself and pacing. I laughed a bit, “You got worked up.”

“For obvious reasons,” he said.

I gave his arm a playful punch as I stepped out the front door (we tore the wood off yesterday). To my right was Apollo, standing along the side of the house, and he looked happy to find me.

I shook my head with a smile. “You scared the hell out of us,” I scolded. “Not-so-great things happened yesterday, we thought you were a bad guy.”

Apollo tilted his head, curious.

So, I explained. That took a little while, but after that, it was clear he wanted to stay a bit longer. I was chatting with him (even though he couldn’t properly answer back), and eventually Herobrine had stepped out, head down and hands covering his eyes. I told him it was okay to look so long as I was here, but he didn’t listen. Hero stood with me for a bit before telling me he was going to finish the escape route and turned back inside—still blind.

Eventually, I found it to be growing hot outside and I was getting slightly worried. I took Apollo inside and we just hung out, and when Hero peered his head out of the hole to see an Ender standing in the kitchen he about fell back down. I poked fun at him when he had his eyes clamped shut and wandering about, saying how he needed wood and he’d be right back. Ran into the wall, then out the door he went.

And that’s about how the rest of the day went. I was always scared when he went out to fetch wood and reassured when he came back inside. I helped when I could—rather, when he let me—but spent most of the day just chilling out with Apollo. He was a pretty cool cat, he was very calm and didn’t mess anything up. I found it cute when he caught onto Hero’s plan to build an underground tunnel and teleported the excess stone and dirt from the passage to outside, helping him out (even though Hero was terrified every time he did that).

By the evening I was helping make a trapdoor that matched the floor exactly. I cut the boards to precision and added in the crooks and crevices, making it as perfect as I could. Hero was climbing up the ladder at this time, and he went, “Wow, you did all of that?”

I looked up at him. “Yeah, gotta make it look hidden.”

“Don’t make it too hidden, we’ll never find it,” he joked. He then bent over to pick it up. “May I?”

“Sure. I actually needed it over the hole.” I stood to get screws and hinges to put it in place, things I just have laying around.

Hero positioned it and I wedged in the hinges underneath, hidden from the surface. Once set, I made an incision near the end as a sort of handle, but didn’t make it obvious that’s what it was. We tested it time and time again, making sure nothing was loose, and once we were satisfied he complimented my work. I was proud of myself for making it look so hidden, and he asked, “Where’d you get those cute skills at?”

I smiled warmly, answering, “I had a class or two in high school. Art’s a hobby. I guess I’ve just had a lot of practice.” I was putting my feet on the ladder and heading down. “Let’s see what you’ve been hiding from me,” I teased.

He followed me down, dirt walls laced with wood for support, and I was quick to notice how tight of a space it was. Once both of us were in the tunnel, cozy enough, I looked up to see Apollo peering down at us. He would never dream of fitting down here. “Little tight,” I commented, looking down the very dark hall.

“Well, I didn’t want the house to cave down on it,” Hero retorted.

“Right, right, I get it,” I assured him, beginning to walk down. I could fit through, but Hero had a little more trouble behind me. I knew for sure because about halfway down the tunnel I heard a

thump

and then an, “Ow.”

I looked over my shoulder, already laughing because I knew that he just hit his head on a wood post. “You alright?” I asked, still chuckling.

He was cackling with me, rubbing his forehead. “Yeah, I didn’t see that.”

I reached up and took his head in my hands, pulling him down and kissing his forehead. “There, fixed it.”

He laughed, “I feel so much better, thanks Doc.”

We kept going and the tunnel was getting progressively brighter. I could just barely see the rays of the sun getting through the cracks of a messy wooden barricade.

Hero squeezed past me once we neared, and he demonstrated how it worked. “You just,” he gripped the round door to his best abilities and pushed sideways on it, making it turn like a wheel. The sunset bled into the tunnel from the west and I smiled at his work. “It only took two days for you to do all of this?” I walked on out, now in the clearing just below the cliff. “That’s... really impressive.”

“Ah-thank you~” he leaned against a beam of wood inside the tunnel.

Out here I could see that he tried to mask the door in leaves and vines, matching the bottom of the cliff. “Put it back, let’s see if it’s hidden,” I ordered.

He did as I said and heaved the door back over. Once in place, the vines above hung over it and blended with the vines attached to the barricade. I was still smiling, calling, “That looks awesome, Hero!”

The door opened again, and his smiling face was there. “So, we’re done?”

I nodded, heading back to him. “I think so!”

After I was in, he shut the door behind us and we headed back up (he was very aware of the beams this time). We had a quick supper, discovered Apollo had left, and discussed that the escape route was going to be for emergencies only. We didn’t talk about the attacker and the possibility of more coming...

God, I hoped we didn’t have to use that route.

It was the wee hours of the morning when a banging was heard at our backdoor. It was a few days after we had finished the escape route, and not much excitement had happened... until now.

Hero and I both scrambled out of bed, hearing the cries of a desperate man. “Help!! Help, I’ve got a kid out here! Open the door,

please

!!”

Herobrine and I shared looks, and while he grabbed his pickaxe I went for the door. “Care, wait!”

“There’s a kid out there!” I yelled at him, already opening the door.

In poured a man and a little boy in his arms. I didn’t get that great of a look at either of them because he ran right in, and following him was a phantom. It swooped in and barreled into my chest, knocking me on my back. It was leaping up to my face when I grabbed the back of its scaley neck and threw it on the floor. I was over it quickly, pinning it down and yelling, “Hero! I need that pic!” I was in my pajamas with no shoes to crush it or weapon of my own to kill it.

But I received no help. “Care, move!!” Herobrine cried, and my ears were fed the hissing of a creeper. I moved off of the phantom, leaving it to flutter in my home, and tried as quickly as I could to get away from the creeper. It had entered through the backdoor—which was still wide open—and deciding who to pick off first. The four of us were in a big triangle, myself and the unknown man with his kid nearest to the front doors but Hero close to the bedroom. If the creeper followed him in there he would be cornered.

But the creeper just couldn’t decide. Its big skull swayed this way and that, hissing louder and louder, about to blow.

Just then, a large flash blinded me and what looked like pale green lightning surged through the creeper, making it spasm until it finally fell over. The light faded from its glossy eyes and it died.

I couldn’t even catch my breath before the phantom was swooping at my head again. Good Christ, the two worst monsters this world had to offer were right in my home. I ducked out of the way, and we were all alert again.

Hero tried to go after it with his pickaxe, but it was no use; the monster was too fast and airborne, not the job for a pic. I just tried my best to get out of the way as he ran around like a madman.

A groan from the doorway reminded me that the door was

still wide open

, and a zombie meandered inside. I ran full force at the door, throwing my body into it to hopefully cut the zombie off and shut him out. My plan only half worked because the monster had an arm and a leg stuck inside. Its fingers reached for me and its bones creaked and cracked. I couldn’t push back enough to get him out.

And then an idea struck me.

“Hero! Stop chasing the thing!” I yelled at him.

“What the hell for?!” he yelled back.

“

Hero!

” I repeated.

He caught a glimpse of my eyes and realized how serious I was. However, when he stopped, the phantom was trying to attack him, now. No, it wanted the pickaxe! The thing was shimmering and gleaming, phantoms are attracted to that (that’s why it went for my sword the first night I met Hero)! “Throw the pic to me!” I told him.

Without question he did, and the phantom followed. I successfully caught the tool and wove it in the air, taunting and luring the phantom that was coming at me full speed.

At the last second, I opened the door and let the phantom hit the zombie. The undead beast was knocked back, but not enough, the phantom on his rotting face.

Just then, Hero caught my plan and came running at the door. He jumped and kicked the zombie in the air, sending it so far that it tumbled over a few yards away while Hero landed with a thud on his hip and half of him ended up outside. He then scrambled back up, scurrying inside as I slammed the door shut and bolted the lock.

Now, finally, I could catch my breath. I wheezed, leaning back against the door, Hero standing just in front of me. He rubbed his hip, hissing through his teeth, then laughing it off. “That’s gonna be bruised,” he smiled at me.

I smiled back, then remembered the newcomers that still stood in my home when the older one went, “Holy hell... That was awesome!!”

We looked up at them. “Ha… yeah,” I breathed. I handed Hero his pickaxe back, grimacing at the creeper on the floor as I pushed off the door. “You’re a sorcerer...?” I asked, still panting a bit.

“That

we

are,” he corrected, adjusting his grip on the kid on his hip. “Thanks so much... We were dead,” he panted along.

I got a good look at the two, both guys. The older had ashy-blonde hair that became darker at the roots, messy and short at the back while unkempt at the top. His skin was semi-dark, his field clothes torn and dirty. He wore a milky revenant coat with darker clothes underneath. His jeans were sopping at the heels and his Converse (something I could respect) were coated in mud. His eyes were bright green and glowing with markings of the same color traveling from his fingertips all the way up to his elbows. Odd, pigment-lacking blood, more grey than red, was dried onto his upper lip from his nose and drizzled down his lightly-bearded chin from his mouth.

The kid that he held had to have been at least 8 and was much different in comparison to him, making me wonder just who he belonged to. Dark brown hair sat upon his head while his skin was deathly pale. His white clothes were stained with dirt and a bit of blood, though it looked like the other man’s, and his shoes were, too, muddy. His eyes were backward, as in the whites were a very light and very icy blue while his irises were pure white. His small hands were clutching onto the older man for dear life.

Immediately, I recalled the intruder’s warning, “More coming...” I was on edge now, wanting to hurry back to my room and grab a weapon, at least put some shoes on. But then I thought that there was no way they’d send a kid with them. They didn’t even come from the direction of the South Enclosure. They ended up at our backdoor, that faced north.

I stepped closer to Hero. “Who are you two?” he asked sternly.

The older man answered, “I’m Asim Lock. This here’s my buddy, Zeke.”

You can’t find more magic names than those

, I thought. “You related?” I asked, curious.

“Nope. I’m a traveler, he’s an orphan from a bad home, I took him under my wing.”

“At eight?” I fired.

“He’s eleven!” Asim corrected.

I studied the kid as Hero piped up, “He’s so skinny and little...”

“Bad home, I told you. Starved and beat, get off his case,” the stranger shot back.

Hero and I shared looks, feeling guilty. My friend looked like he was about to apologize, but I stopped him by saying, “What were you two doing out so late?” I glanced at the analog clock on the wall. “It’s three in the morning.”

“We tried to set up camp...” Asim began, “But a creeper waltzed on up to us, and we ran, left our things behind. We eventually made it far enough to where we lost him, but then came a group of zombies. We ran, found a good place, then got screwed again. Every time we thought we were out of the woods another beast came for us. We’ve been running for hours...” he sighed. “We just need a place to recoup and rest. Please, we’ll be out of your hair by the morning.”

I looked at Herobrine, who was shaking his head at me. He knew whatever choice there was that the decision was mine to make because this was my house, but I didn’t think he’d be agreeing with me.

I looked back at the newcomers. “What are you doing in the middle of the Enclosures?”

“What do you think?” Asim snorted. “We were outcasted. It was stupid, I stole some food because we didn’t have money, and when the law caught up with me I... attacked,” he shrugged. “We’re new to the Enclosures. I just always assume that people are trying to hurt us, so I take the first strike. I thought we could just leave afterward, but no, they threw us in the middle. We’re heading South to try and get out, maybe they won’t get on our case, we don’t know...”

I felt some relief. He was outcast, like me, so I related and couldn’t help but feel like he was telling the truth.

“Where are you from?” Hero asked.

“Overseas, east.”

“That explains the accent,” said Hero, mainly to himself (the guy had a thin touch of an English accent). “What about the little guy?”

“Along the coast of the province. We traveled northwest, then went for the Enclosures. Somewhere warmer.”

I asked, “...How long’s your sentence?”

“A year. It’s nearly been a month already.”

A silence swept over the room. I quickly made my decision. “There’s a spare room through here, I’ll let you two stay for the night,” I told them, heading for the bedrooms.

Hero grabbed my arm, “Care—”

“Hero,” I interrupted.

One glare made him let me go but didn’t stop the cold stare that came from him. I gestured for Asim and Zeke to follow me.

I showed them the room just beyond ours (the one that was supposed to be Hero’s) and told them that’s where they’d sleep. They cleaned up in the restroom later, Hero dragged the creeper corpse out of the house, and not many words were spoken throughout the night.

I was planning on sleeping long and heavy, while I’m sure Hero was planning on not sleeping at all. Once we double checked the locks on the doors and made sure our guests were comfy in their bed, I lay in my own and expected my friend to do the same.

But he was at the foot of it, pickaxe still in hand, fiddling with it as he kept a very close eye on the door that separated our room and theirs.

I sat up, sighing, “Herobrine...” I sat just next to him and reached for the pic. “I’m worried, too,” I assured him, whispering, “But you know we’ll hear them before they even open the door... The floors are practically made out of 7,000-year-old pig fat...”

I was somewhat surprised when he smiled at that. He gave up the pickaxe rather easily but still refused to sleep. “I just want to stay up for another hour, at least,” he said.

“You won’t be up until 12, then... And the phantoms will be at our windows,” I told him.

“Forty-five minutes, then,” he tried.

“How about 15,” I retorted.

“How about 30,” he tried again.

I sighed. “I guess I’ll just stay up with you,” I leaned against him.

“No,” he stood and took hold of me, and at the moment I didn’t much like how inferior I was to his strength. He lay me gently on the bed and attempted to keep me down. “You sleep, I’ll stay up.”

I shook my head. “You’re not an insomniac, you’ll be asleep against the wall within five minutes,” I said semi-jokingly.

“Bet,” he semi-joked back.

I smirked, then sighed, “Go ahead, I guess.”

Hero nodded and stood upright, and I stayed laying down. He took his pickaxe back and sat at the foot of the bed, and I bid him goodnight.

Then watched.

I played his game, and by the looks of it, I was winning. Within two minutes his shoulder was already slumped against the wall where the bed met it, and within five his head was the same way. Another five minutes and his hands fell still, and he was asleep.

It may have been bad of me to play this competition. I didn’t trust the “guests” here, either, but it was just this gut feeling that they were okay. I mean, the guy had a kid with him, he had to have

some

sense of mercy—despite him being a sorcerer. I understood Herobrine’s paranoia and shared it, but how were we supposed to defend ourselves when we were too exhausted to hold our weapons up?

I scooted to the end of the bed and shook him a bit to wake him. He instantly did, looking panicky for a moment before realizing it was just me. I rubbed his arm graciously and whispered teasingly, “Bet~”

“Pfft,” he huffed, smiling. Without me even saying anything he stood groggily, set the pickaxe against the bed, then climbed in with me.

A large clap of thunder woke me with a start, but I lay still with Hero’s head on my shoulder. I was soon to realize, though, that he woke just the same, and sighed deeply upon propping himself up on his elbow.

For a moment I thought it was still dark, but it was the layers and layers of immensely dense clouds that blackened the sky. Huge raindrops battered the windows and the wind howled in many broken cords.

Herobrine kissed my head as we sat up and I turned to look out the window. I climbed over him and stood out of bed, throwing my arms over my head and stretching. Gazing through the glass I saw over the cliff and at the small gatherings of trees along the river, all bent over and shaking violently. “Jesus...” I breathed, Hero stepping just behind me, “Crept up on us.“

“River’s already higher than it should be. Gonna flood half the clearing,” he pointed out.

I looked over my shoulder at him, worried about what would happen to our escape route.

What good would it be if it was flooded?

He seemed to know exactly what the look in my eyes meant. “It won’t flood that... Don’t worry,” he whispered, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

I swallowed, rubbing my irritated eye and stepping out of his grasp. “Let’s get the other two,” I suggested, and he followed me.

I knocked on the door to the spare room, a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder following my noise. Once the sky was done screaming, I heard the British voice call, “Come in!”

I opened the door and stepped through without hesitation. On the bed were two guests, Asim holding Zeke quite closely and tightly on his lap. The little boy had his face buried in the other’s neck and clutched his shirt. “Morning,” I greeted, then awkwardly asked, “What wrong with him?”

“Poor kid’s scared of lightning...” he sighed, “And good morning.”

I frowned upon seeing Zeke so frightened, and I wondered if I could do anything to help. But I hardly knew the kid and I hardly knew the man, either, so I didn’t offer much. “You guys are welcome to come out and eat. Hero will get something?” I looked at my friend.

“Sure,” he agreed, turning to walk. I followed, and Asim lifted Zeke as he stood, carrying him out of the room.

In the kitchen, Herobrine asked, “We’ve got a bunch of fruit, how’s eating that for breakfast?”

“Better than meat,” Asim said, “That’s all we’ve had for the month out here. And I’m not exactly a cook, I tend to burn it,” he grinned, holding Zeke on his hip.

“Well, Hero is quite the chef,” I nudged him, “Later on he could change your mind about meat.”

Asim smiled, but it looked more of relief. “You’re keeping us for the evening?”

Hero gave a sideways glare over his shoulder that only I noticed, then went back to getting everything out.

I nodded, ignoring my friend. “Yeah. No one wants to be out in this weather.”

“Thank you so much...” he praised, “You two are a blessing.”

“Ha, something like it,” Herobrine laughed, tapping the bowl of fruit. “Take whatever you want,” he said while taking an apple.

I grabbed an apple, too, while Asim quietly asked Zeke what he wanted and sat him at the table. I sat across from the little boy and Hero sat next to me. “Hey, Zeke,” I greeted, and he said nothing as he waved to me shyly. A bright flash made him jump and the thunder made him squirm, and I cringed at his discomfort. “Hey, it’s okay,” I assured him, “As long as we’re inside the lightning won’t get you.”

Zeke didn’t answer.

Asim walked over and pet the back of the boy’s head as he set two oranges on the table, sitting down. “He can’t talk,” the older one stated, peeling off the skin of an orange.

Zeke leaned into Asim, the younger of the two seeming slightly uncomfortable.

“Why not?” Hero asked, and then I saw him internally slap himself. Now both of the two were uncomfortable as the older searched for words. “Oh, no… Sorry, don’t answer that,” Herobrine took back.

Asim didn’t make eye contact but nodded just to let him know it was (sorta) okay.

The room went quiet.

Finally, Asim cleared his throat, “I think I heard your names last night?”

It was within that moment that I realized Hero and I never properly introduced ourselves. “Ha, probably from us just arguing,” I awkwardly joked, “Caroline Hargis.”

“Herobrine Persson.”

“Ah, Care and Hero,” he looked to my friend. “You a sorcerer?”

“Uhm... No, actually,” Hero answered.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I know. I was cursed by witches a while back, got out before they could do much worse. Just got the eyes.”

“Damn, how did that go?”

“Almost uneventful. It didn’t last long, I just got a few marks,” Hero sighed, “Nothing very exciting.”

Asim looked at me. “And how about you?” he started, “I didn’t figure you were anything but human, but with his look who knows?” he grinned.

I smiled back. “No, I’m human, too.”

“Huh… Human and you two are doing plenty better out here than I ever could. Points to that,” his grin turned to a smirk. “What else about you? You lovebirds?”

Herobrine and I shared a look before both nodding. “Yeah, guess so,” I said, and he agreed.

“Guess so?” Asim laughed. “What’s the story that makes you guess?”

Hero chuckled. “Well, it just kind of happened. Neither of us asked the other, we just kind of... did,” he smiled at me. “Nothing really major at the moment, so... yes. We’re ‘lovebirds,’” he looked back at Asim.

And I couldn’t stop myself from grinning ear to ear and my heart from feeling it was about to burst. I don’t know why I felt so mushy, I just really liked being referred to like that.

“What’s your sentences?” Asim asked.

“Oh, uh,” Herobrine wasn’t exactly sure how to answer. The thunder suddenly clapped and shook the house, and Asim placed a comforting hand on the back of Zeke’s head to pet his hair. It seemed to do the trick.

I ended up answering. “I’m the only one with a sentence. I came from the Southern Enclosure, got falsely accused of a crime I didn’t commit, got me a life sentence.”

“Yeesh!” Asim cringed, “That’s some tough luck.”

“Yeah, and then some,” I straightened myself. “Hero’s not from the Enclosures. He’s a traveler and came across me.”

“She about shot me when we first met,” he mischievously commented.

“I did not,” I fired back with a smile.

“Lies lies lies!” he poked me, “You know very well what you did!”

“Uh oh, lovebirds, now you gotta tell me what happened~” Asim said.

Herobrine and I shared an excited look.

The morning continued on with occasional thunderbolts interrupting our story now and then, but I could’ve cared less about the weather. It was at that moment when I realized I really wasn’t alone. I had an entire story to tell others who bent their ear to listen, and the entire way Hero would be right there sharing the tale with me.

I forgot all my troubles and all of my past prior to meeting this man named Herobrine. The two of us were genuinely happy, and I was even more so when he held my hand on the table.

I really wasn’t alone out here. I thought it would last forever.

I thought it would...

I walked out of the restroom to see Asim on the bench, legs up on the wood with Zeke in his arms, sleeping soundlessly. The lightning had passed and the thunder was nothing more than a quiet whisper. The rain still poured but not nearly as heavily as it had this morning, and by the time the sun flew over the peak of the sky and the afternoon rolled around, the wind had quieted to near silence.

Asim had his head against the wall, gazing at nothing while he made sure to keep the sleeping boy comfortable and slowly pet him in repeated movements. I walked over and he spotted me out of the corner of his eye, turning his head with a smile.

I smiled back. “He’s too cute,” I whispered.

Asim chuckled. “No kidding,” he whispered back, then shook his head. “I didn’t want to say it in front of him,” he referred to Zeke, “But do you want to know what happened to him?”

“Only if you want to tell me,” I offered.

The man sighed, holding Zeke just a little tighter. “The people he was with were family members, but very distant, as far as I was told, and then just used him as a toy,” he frowned, “If you’re catching my message...”

I frowned, knowing. “...How’d you come across him?”

“When I came overseas I landed along the coastline of a tiny, tiny village. Stayed for a bit to restock and heard some rumors. He was one of them, and I wanted to do anything to help him get out,” he paused. “You should have seen him when I first got him out of there... He couldn’t even stand, he was so sick, everyone thought he was just going to drop dead. I didn’t want to give up, I did everything I could to give him a good life in that short period of time in case he did die... But he fooled everybody. Made a very good recovery within a couple weeks, and he’s been getting better ever since.”

“How long have you two been together?” I asked.

“About two years, now,” he answered. “He’s the sweetest thing you’d ever see... He’s just now starting to work up his voice enough to talk again.”

“I thought you said he couldn’t?”

“Well, he can’t. And it hurts when he tries, but he’s able to whisper my name if he wants me,” Asim nodded. “There’s always progress with this kid.”

I pulled a chair out from the table and turned it around. “How old are you?” I asked.

“‘Bout 29,” he answered.

“So, you’re like a father figure to him?”

“Ha, I guess. I’d like to think more of an older brother? I dunno, I just want to be the best role model I can...” he didn’t meet my eyes. “Not the best one so far, you know, being stuck in the Outcast Lands.”

I remembered him saying he was going to try to leave through the South. “Yeah... uhm, are you still up for leaving?”

“‘Course. This place is too dangerous for him,” he said, referring to Zeke.

I took a breath. “I... don’t think you’re going to leave until your sentence is over.”

“Why not?”

“Well... Word travels fast in the Enclosures. And if you’re thinking about escaping through the South?” I shook my head, “No one gets through there. They’re all savage sorcerers down there,” but then I remembered... “Or...”

Asim raised a brow. “Or?” he questioned, “And what’s with ‘savage sorcerers?’”

“That’s exactly what I’m getting at. You’re both sorcerers, they’d probably let you through anyway,” I tried not to sound snarky, but I’m sure I failed.

“What, just because I’m a sorcerer?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

He flashed me a look. “...You’ve got something against them?”

“Everything. When you visit you should see the political system down there. Humans live in boxes while the magic ones get mansions. The only reason I was sent out here was because I’m not a sorcerer,” I scowled, “Hell, you could probably just stay in the South. Get rich off of brownie points because you were born into magic.”

Asim frowned. “Sorry to disappoint,” he hissed sarcastically.

I stood up, putting the chair back as quietly as I could, though I sort of wanted to throw it out the window. Without a word, I went into the bedroom to find Herobrine.

I really shouldn’t be so critical...

“Thanks, again, for keeping us one more night,” Asim said at the table. “And thanks for the food, that was great.”

We’d just finished supper and the night was winding to an end. The rain had stopped, leaving us with a flooded clearing as a backyard and a clear sky of stars.

“It’s no problem,” Hero responded, cleaning up. “Oh, you said you left your gear and stuff when you ran the other night?”

Asim sighed, defeated. “Yeah, it’s probably all ruined by now.”

“Do you need supplies?” Hero asked, and I shot him a look of ‘We don’t exactly have enough to spare,’ but if he even saw the glare, he ignored it. “We can stock you up.”

“Would you? That’s too great,” Asim smiled.

“Yeah, let’s get your stuff ready tonight and you can be on your way in the morning.”

I pretended to be in on the idea and stood to get supplies for tools and weapons.

So, I made a sword and a pickaxe for Asim, not sure why I was still upset about earlier, but for some reason, my gut was telling me, “No no no.” I figured it was just bad memories.

Just as I was finishing up the pic, Asim walked in. “Need help?” he asked.

“No, I’ve got it. Thanks, though,” I said as politely as I could.

It didn’t stop him from staying, and he checked the room out. I forced myself not to look at him until his words triggered my attention. “Neat mask... What is it?”

I turned around slightly too preemptively to find my mask in his hands.

“That’s mine,” I said sharply.

He glanced at me and smirked, “I’m not gonna break it, blondy,” he teased and didn’t put it down. “What’s it used for? Surely not armor.”

“Um... no, not exactly,” I stepped to him and took it from his hand, setting it back on the desk where it was before he came in. “It lets me look at Endermen without them freaking out.”

“Ha, that’s cool. It works?” he asked.

“Wouldn’t have it if it didn’t work,” I told him.

“Where’d you get it? One of the villages?”

“No, I made it.”

He eyed me. “What works the magic?”

I eyed him back. “That’s a secret between me and myself.”

“Ah, c’mon,” he urged, “That’d be really useful.”

“I haven’t even told Herobrine,” I told him, “So, looks like you’ll have to live with not knowing.”

“I guess.”

I turned back to the workbench and cleaned off the iron pickaxe, handing it to him. “Here. You can take that,” I told him, “And I can tell you what

this

is made of,” I taunted.

“Har har,” he laughed sarcastically, taking the tool. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

The rest of the night was uneventful.

“That

bastard!!

”

That was all I heard from the bedroom. It was around 11 in the morning, Asim and Zeke left a few hours ago. They gathered all their things in an old book bag that I had (it was ripped and dirty but I patched it up to the best I could). Asim threw the bag over his shoulder and carried Zeke on his hip, thanking us one last time for the hospitality and the supplies. He wished us—well, me—the best of luck on my sentence and I forgot of the trouble we had the afternoon before. I was genuinely upset when they did leave, heading through the dense forest that was at the bottom of the hill, making their ways south. Zeke waved his tiny hand over Asim’s shoulder at us, his big eyes swaying me. I honestly hoped those two would turn out to be okay.

But what I was about to figure out was going to change my mind.

I hurried to the door of the bedroom, throwing it open. “What?” I questioned.

Hero’s eyes were practically in flames, throwing his open book bag down. In it was the handle of a pickaxe, but the blade was not the shimmering blue of diamonds. It was the dead white of iron.

“Wait,” I still wasn’t exactly convinced as I grabbed the bag and took the pickaxe out. It was the same one I had made for Asim last night, I knew the imperfections. “Wait, no. He didn’t—”

“He

did

,” Herobrine growled, pacing the room, “Of course he did,

of course!

Now he’s

miles

away with my pic that’s gonna get him a pretty penny! We should have known he was a raider!”

I set the bag down and tried to find words to calm him down, though I was half ready to just set sail and catch Asim’s ass. But then, in the midst of it all, I realized what was amiss about the bedside table.

My mask was gone, too.

I froze up for a second, unable to process what I was realizing. “No... no, my mask!” I finally exclaimed, “That devilish bitch! He’s gonna flee the Enclosures with those!” Without thinking I picked up Hero’s bag and shoved it in his arms, then raced to my tools and began packing up anything I’d need for a quick trip. Now I wasn’t ready to just

catch

his ass, I was going to

kick it

. I was going to beat him into the earth and knock his teeth in!

“What are we doing?” Herobrine asked sternly, though I was sure he very well knew.

“We’re going after him,” I growled, throwing my bow over my shoulder and chest, sword in the sheath, quiver on my hip. Hero was definitely on board, throwing his bag on his back and strapping on his utility belt. “He’s gone miles by now,” Herobrine testified.

“We’ll run,” I grumbled.

“They’ve probably ran, too,” we were walking out the door of the bedroom.

“Asim has a bag of supplies and a kid to carry, we’ll catch up,” I assured him, but didn’t believe myself entirely. I had no solid belief that we’d actually catch up, I was just determined by anger and adrenaline, the two things that make anything possible at any moment.

I was out of the house before Herobrine was even completely ready, but he was quick to catch up. We stumbled down the hill as strategically as we could with rocks and gravel flying up from our stomping feet, and once at the bottom the ground turned to a dank, stony soil. It wasn’t until we hit the tree line was the ground sans pebbles and when I noticed the obvious shoe prints. The diamond-shaped marks stamped into the mud that created a path so clear it was almost as if it were a trail of breadcrumbs.

“We’ve got a trail to follow,” I called over my shoulder.

“I see it,” Hero responded.

We hurried along through the trees.

The further we went, the closer we got to the South Enclosure, and the closer we got, the more dread that filled me, and the more that filled me, the less determined I became. We’d been on the trail for long while, it was now dark, and I knew the Enclosure was still a long while away. But we were at an impasse.

You see, now the shoe prints came to the cobblestone road where horses and buggies would circle every day to catch stray travelers—mainly sorcerers with a criminal record—and take them to the South to house them in their own little hellhole. The only way we’d be able to get to the Enclosure in time is if we took one of those carts, but there was no way I was going to be riding in one of those.

You know my story, I’m a criminal to these guys, and if I ever showed up trying to make my way into the Enclosure they’d rip me limb from limb. A few colored contacts weren’t going to hide my identity.

We stood along the forest, gazing into the clearing which held the seldom-lit cobblestone road. No creature was in sight.

“What do we do?” Herobrine asked after the quiet had settled.

I sighed. “I... don’t know,” I admitted, “I can’t get on one of those buggies.”

We stood in silence for a moment, the cool summer night promising a warm day tomorrow. Hero took his bag off his shoulder and unzipped it, digging through. I watched curiously until he pulled out a very large cloth, and I thought silently to myself that he was practically a magician and his book bag was his hat.

He set the bag down. “Here,” he stepped to me, “Let’s tie this around your head. It’ll cover your face.”

I didn’t testify because this was the best plan we had—despite how dumb it was. How would a cream-colored cloth not be suspicious?

He wrapped me like a mummy with my hair bundled up and with nothing but my eyes showing. He then pulled something else out of his back: a hunk of coal. I had no idea what that was for.

He ran his finger along the clump, staining his skin black with residue, then proceeding to wipe a line on my nose. “What are you doing?” I asked.

“Making you look a little more authentic,” he answered, now beginning to coat my arms in weird markings of coal.

I sighed, knowing this would never work in a million years. But, I didn’t argue, and he didn’t stop until my arms were painted in black designs.

He tossed the coal back in his bag and picked it up, stepping back and studying me. “Hm...”

“Well? What’s this?” I asked with sarcasm ringing in my voice.

“A disguise,” he told me.

“This is about the worst Halloween costume I ever could imagine.”

“Good thing it’s not a Halloween costume, then,” he fired back. “C’mon. Let’s start walking along the road. Probably don’t talk if you’re that worried they’ll know who you are... I’ll just say you’re a mute.”

“Ho boy…” I breathed, not loving this idea at all. But, here we were, moving into the clearing with weapons drawn in case if a monster wanted to mosey its way up to us. There was no noise other than our feet and the crickets making songs to echo in our ears. I constantly pulled on the itchy coverings of my face, trying to make it as comfortable as possible, but to title avail.

I wasn’t sure how long we’d be walking for and I’m sure Hero didn’t know either. Our feet ached and our backs were breaking from the weight of our tools, our eyes were falling heavy even while walking. The only thing that kept us up was the fear of a rusty arrow from a skeleton rooting into our skins or a creeper stomping to us. We also had a small fear of some phantoms tonight, since we were getting to be that tired.

It wasn’t horribly long before I found a solution to our slow problem. About half an hour down the trail we were nearing a new line of trees that would take us into a forest, the path cleared but the way dangerous at night. I swore I could see the eyes of giant spiders in those trees. However, the world worked in wonders, and off in the distance of the clearing was a band of horses. They stood still and silently, heads down and sleeping, surely completely wild. I noticed it first and elbowed Hero. “Look,” I motioned to the herd, “There’s our ticket to the Enclosures.”

He smiled wide. “That’s better than perfect,” he exclaimed quietly, sheathing his weapon. “Let’s get one,” he began walking that way.

I sheathed my sword and followed just next to him, being extra quiet so we wouldn’t spook them. We neared closer and I knew our fault. These things were way too wild for their own good, there was no way we could break them.

Well... not

we

, but

I

.

Time to work my magic.

I didn’t dare speak a word to Herobrine about it as we got right up with the herd. One of them woke and whinnied quite loudly, waking the others as they puffed their chests and stood up straight.

“Alright, easy, easy,” Hero put his hands out and slouched over. “Watch the hooves, Care,” he warned me.

We stepped ever closer, myself trying to get around to the side of one of them, but they wouldn’t budge. One bucked up and kicked in the air, just about clipping me but I, fortunately, avoided it.

While Herobrine wasn’t paying much attention to me I went to the back of the herd and found a black and white painted horse. I took my contact out and looked right into its odd eyes. “Hey, buddy... C’mon,” I whispered, “You’re okay... Help me out...”

The paint shook its head and ruffled its mane, stomped the ground, then stood straight with flattened ears.

“C’mon... C’mon, buddy,” I echoed.

The horse stared at me for a long moment, unmoving. Then, at last, its ears perked and it generously stepped to me with no aggression. I smiled and awkwardly put my contact back in, patting the horse on the shoulder and bringing it around the herd and to the front.

I’m glad I did, Hero was just about to jump onto a black mare and probably get a concussion. He saw me, though, and immediately jumped back from kicking feet. “Care! Look at you,” he exclaimed, coming over to me. “He’s a good one,” he said, patting its neck.

“He is,” I agreed, taking it far enough from the herd so they wouldn’t gut-kick us.

Getting on was a bit of a challenge because of how tall the stallion was. I ended up having to let Hero step in my hand and throwing him up the best I could, then he hoisted me up in front of him.

I took ahold of the blonde mane of the paint and hit the sides of its torso my feet. The stallion was off in no time, and we were on the trail.

“You think this guy was trained beforehand?” Hero asked behind me.

“I’m not sure,” I responded, but knew very well, “Sure does run like it.”

“Yeah,” he agreed.

Into the night the horse galloped, and through the forest we sprinted past monsters and demons alike.

Along the way, I began to think of all the things that could go wrong. What if we couldn’t find Asim? What if we got hurt? What if I was caught?

God… If I was caught… I’d be dragged by my hair back to the South where they’d give me a worse punishment. They’d say I was trying to sneak back in or I was threatening a citizen, anything to get me hurt.

And then I’d probably see

him

again… I still remembered that terrifying stare that chased me from the Enclosure… That sword…

We couldn’t get caught.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 8

The Sorcerer Who Couldn’t

The sun was burning in the sky, beating down everything that was on the earth. It was a horrible time to be wearing these wrappings, but they were needed.

In the wee hours of the morning, Hero got as much sleep as he could before we switched roles and he was now directing the stallion while I was asleep on his back. The keyword is “was,” because now I was up and scanning the carts full of people awhile up the road. I could hardly see the faces or colors so far ahead, but I didn’t stop searching. It was late morning, and we still had a while to go until the Enclosure.

“I’m going to get a little closer,” Hero spoke quietly to me, “If he’s not in that one, I’ll pass.”

“Don’t let him see you,” I told him.

“I’ll try not to.”

The paint went from a walk to a trot and slowly caught up with the two horses pulling the buggy in front of us. Both of us studied the crowd as best we could until unanimously deciding that Asim and Zeke were not in that cart. We passed them.

“Aye, travelers!” the rider with the reins called as we passed. “That’s a fine lookin’ horse. Where’s your saddle?” He was human, and he had about the job I expected to see a human have in the South.

“Picked this one off a herd,” Herobrine answered.

“He listens to ya?” the rider asked.

“Sure does,” Hero finishes before trotting on ahead.

I felt some pity for the guy driving the buggy, knowing what a dead-end job that must have been. And how dangerous it must have been, too, at night with all the monsters. The horses weren’t fast and I didn’t spot any weapons in that cart—his best hope would be if someone in there knew how to defend themselves and the others.

We went ahead, finding more carts riding the trail, and we snuck up on all of them until ruling out that the thieves were not in that buggy and we passed.

The day was long and boring without action and I found myself constantly having to tighten my wraps. The sun hit my skin so hard to where I was sweating off the coal marks and the coverings were practically melting.

I found myself taking a quick cat nap until Herobrine shook me awake. “There he is,” he said, his voice hushed.

My eyes shot open and scanned the road, finding a number of three carts. The one at the very front had a handful of people, and sure enough, I could just barely spot the ashy blonde hair and strange green markings of the thief that called himself Asim.

“What’s our plan...?” Hero whispered, “We can’t just attack him...”

I looked around the area, realizing we were in the midst of a woodland area, birch and oak all around. After a few long moments, I came up with an idea that would just maybe work. “I’m gonna jump off and run ahead through the woods... I’ll ask to get in that cart and see if I can figure out a way to snatch our stuff,” I whispered, “Stay here and don’t get caught... If I get into trouble you can catch up.”

“Got it,” he told me. “You’ll have to pay for a ride, but they’ll take enough of anything. Grab something out of my bag.” And so I did, taking a couple of gold nuggets and slipping them in my pocket. I swung my legs off the side of the horse and Hero slowed the stallion to a walk. I hopped off the animal and he told me, “Be careful.”

I nodded to him and hurried into the woods away from the road so I wouldn’t be seen running. I sprinted for the first portion, finding glimpses of my desired ride through the brush and trunks of the trees, then slowed to a jog once I was ahead of the crowd. I made sure to get far enough ahead before I steered toward the road and caught my breath.

I waited alongside the cobblestone for the cart, making sure my face looked as hidden as possible and trying to calm myself before the cart neared. The low-class coachman saw me and called, “Need a ride?”

I remembered I was mute and nodded, and he said, “Hop on and pay.”

The cart kept moving as I stepped behind it, and an obvious sorcerer with hair that looked like fire and eyes that had two pupils in each eye (which was strange to look at but I used to know a few with that strange feature) reached her hand down and helped pull me up. I nodded to her and stepped to the front of the cart, pulling the nuggets out of my pocket and placing them in the hand of the buggy-man. I turned back around and caught Asim’s eye, finding that the only seat left was right next to him. I swallowed and felt my chest tighten with nervousness, parking next to him as he continued to eye me with a smirk.

I didn’t recognize the guy on the other side of him right away. Upon realizing that Zeke was gone and the grown man next to the thief had the same features as the kid made me realize I was dealing with a shapeshifter of some sort. That just got on my nerves even more.

“You’ve got a pretty penny?” Asim asked me, and I forced eye contact. “‘Cause I got a few things you might be interested in, stranger,” he winked.

I looked on without a word.

Asim seemed confused as to why I didn’t answer, but Zeke didn’t. “Mute?” he asked, and I felt dumb for realizing he could talk, but nodded.

“Ah, well that doesn’t matter,” Asim waved, reaching into his bag, “If you’ve got the pay I’ve got a price.”

I knew what he was pulling out of his bag before it was even in his hands. He set the diamond pickaxe with the initials

HB

carved into the handle and the gold and copper half-mask on his lap. “I’m sure you already know what the strongest tool in existence does, but the mask is something special~ You can look at Endermen straight in the face without harm!” he pitched, and the others around kind of sighed and grumbled. “Oh, shut your bloody traps! I know this thing works,” Asim snapped.

“There’s no way it would. You know how many people have tried to make alternatives to pumpkins?” the coachman commented, “There have been some pretty good works, but none have ever functioned.”

“Give me an Endermen and I’ll prove you wrong!” Asim dared.

I almost found it funny how much faith he put in that thing. He’d never used it, unless if he did on the way here. And, well...

The sorcerer shook his head and looked back at me. “What you got, anything?” he asked.

I looked down at myself, thinking that maybe I could buy them back, but I had nothing other than iron tools and that wouldn’t be worth either of those. I ultimately ended up shaking my head.

“Damn,” Asim began putting everything in the bag and looked to his friend, “Someone in the Enclosures

has

to buy these.”

“Someone stupid enough for that mask. Hell, that pickaxe is probably just glass,” the woman next to me commented.

“Screw off,” Asim barked, and I recalled my life in the South all too well. This is exactly how it played out in the Enclosure, everyone at each other’s throats, never any bonds or trust unless it was forced. Of course, no one deserved to be trusted, either, but it was still a bother.

I thought and thought for a long time, looking down at my shoes. I only hoped and prayed that neither Asim nor Zeke would notice them, then recognize my clothes, and then me. My clothes were the same ones from the morning they left, but I supposed they would have realized it was me by now if they remembered what I wore.

The sun only got worse as time went on, and I found myself huffing under the wraps. Asim elbowed me after a while, sweat glimmering on his forehead. “Little hot for those, aye?”

I didn’t respond.

“Leave him alone. He’ll do what he wants,” a man across from us said. For a moment I thought he was talking to me but realized his words were directed to Asim when the sorcerer rolled his eyes and looked away. I shouldn’t have, but I shamed my chest. (Har har)

Not long after that, the coachman signaled to us and to the carts behind him, “Eyes down! Enderman to the right!”

I only caught a glimpse of its body among the shadows of the trees before I kept my head down like all the rest of us. Well... almost all the rest of us.

Asim sifted through his bag and pulled out my mask, placing it on his face and standing. “Let me prove you all wrong,” he snickered, moving past me and jumping out the back. Grumbles and murmurs were shared. “He’s gonna die...” the lady beside me said.

I peeked up, keeping my eyes on Asim. I watched as he waltzed right up to the Ender and braced myself for what I was about to see.

“Aye, guy, eyes on me,” Asim told the Ender.

And, well, the Ender definitely had eyes on him.

The Enderman let out a screech as it shook with rage, and now everyone in the cart was at least a bit panicky. I watched intently, knowing this is exactly what would happen and feeling rather guilty about it...

Asim realized he was in deep water and tried to run but the thing grabbed him and tore his skin down the back, the sorcerer responding by shouting out in pure agony and shocking the Enderman, but they were very resilient and it hardly flinched.

People were standing and shaking the cart, raising their voices at the horribleness that was taking place. Zeke and two others jumped out of the cart to help, but by that time the Ender had mangled Asim’s arm.

The idea suddenly struck me. With everyone busy I reached into the thief’s bag and took hold of the tool, jumping out the other side and dashing into the woods. I hid behind a fat tree as I heard the scene quiet, figuring they’d killed the Enderman. I gulped and peeked at the stage of violence, finding Asim in the middle of a crowd of people, blood dripping down his body and without an arm...

I watched as he angrily tore the mask and threw it into the forest on the other side of the road. The others around him were quick with anything to wrap his wounds up with, the carts close together now and voices filling the air to try and determine what happened. I saw Herobrine coming upon them, and I took a risk by shouting his name. “Hero!”

He and only he looked into the woods, seeing me waving my arms for him to get back and away. He didn’t even nod, he only turned the stallion and went back down the path.

I kept low as I hurried after him through the woods, but was quick to drop to the ground when I heard Asim’s angry voice. “Where is he?! Where’s the damn, hooded bastard?!”

I hurried into the brush and hid amongst the leaves and tall plants, staying as still as possible and silencing my breathing. It was much cooler in the shade of the trees so I wasn’t panting, the only noise I had to worry about was the clanking of my tools. I lay on the pickaxe to hide its gleam and kept my eyes open.

I could only assume that Asim was back in the cart and had realized the pic was gone. He was yelling absurdities and ordering people to get out there and look, but then he was suddenly silenced.

I was sure I heard someone say, “He’s out!” as in he passed out. I felt some pity for Zeke and his companion, but I had to let that go when I remembered that they were the enemies and it wasn’t my fault that Asim was dumb enough to steal the mask.

After a while of laying in the brush and bugs all around me, the crowd quieted and hooves began clicking. Soon, it was a silent summer day.

I crawled out of my hiding spot and stood, breathing a sigh of relief. Just about that time, I heard a lone horse’s hooves clacking down the cobblestone, and through the trees, I caught the sight of Hero.

I walked through the woods and to the road, locking eyes with my friend before I was even completely out. He smiled upon seeing me. “You alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine... Asim tried my mask on an Ender,” I explained, “Threw it in the woods, we should be able to find it.”

Herobrine lowered his brow. “It didn’t work?”

“No,” I tried to come up with a lie on the spot, knowing what he’d ask next.

“Why didn’t it work?” he was genuinely concerned.

“I... don’t know,” I did know. “It should have,” it shouldn’t have.

A moment of quiet followed. Hero reached his hand down to lift me up. “Let’s find your mask, Gadget.”

I hopped on the horse and handed him his pic, to which he thanked me countless times for and I explained how I got it. We made our way down the road until we came to the corpse of the Enderman, a stab wound in the side of its gut and the entirety of its right arm and face scorched. I frowned as I jumped off the horse and gazed upon the beast on its back, eyes glassy and lifeless.

I don’t know what it was about Enders that made me so interested in them, but looking down at the corpse had me silently mourning. I forced my eyes away from it and began trekking into the forest.

Hero was close behind me. “He just threw on the mask and went for the Enderman?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I answered, “Everyone thought he was crazy.”

“I still don’t...” Hero cut his words short as he caught up to me, then changed his sentence, “Maybe he broke it? That’s why it didn’t work?”

I sighed, “I really hope not...” and if it really was ‘broken’ before, then it was definitely ‘broken’ now after that throw. “Let’s just find it first.”

We searched for some time, and when we weren’t able to find it I feared someone may have raced after the mask and brought it with them on the cart. Paranoia and defeat set it, and the heat wasn’t helping anything, but after a while, Herobrine called, “Got it!”

My head shot up from the bushes and I hurried over to him, but my confidence and hope were shot down upon seeing his face. I stepped over to him and he presented the mask...

Broken.

It was marked up here and there with one very large dent right where the nose would rest under it, and the eye socket that usually jutted out to hold a glass window was, too, bent and the glass was shattered, only a few shards still sticking to the metal. The thing that really scared me the most, though, was the giant claw mark from the Ender’s nails. It cut diagonally and ripped the shine and polish, ruining the metal. I made not a sound as I took it from Hero.

“I’m... real sorry, Care,” he tried to assuage, “You think there’s anything we can do?”

I huffed wistfully, “I don’t think so...”

After a few long moments I ended putting the mask in his bag and we went back to the stallion.

It was late into the evening by the time we reached the woods where we’d leave the horse and start walking from there. I pat the stallion and sent him on his way, and on his way he went blissfully. Finally, away from the road where peering eyes couldn’t see me, I unwrapped the cloth and shoved it in Herobrine’s bag. My hair was a mess and glued to my forehead at this point, and my coal etchings were smeared and dull.

“You want to set up camp for the night?” Hero asked. “We have no rush.”

I agreed, “Yeah, probably for the best.”

And so, though hungry, we didn’t bother making a fire and tied ourselves to the branches of the trees a small way into the dense forest. Bidding each other a “goodnight,” we slept soundly and heavily in the woods.

“I’m hungrier than... a dog in the desert,” Hero said.

“I’m hungrier than a bat in the winter,” I said.

“I’m hungrier than a bear waking up from hibernation,” he said.

“I’m hungrier than a man with white eyes,” I said.

“I’m hungrier than the beautiful girl walking next to me,” he said.

“Shoot,” I smiled, “You beat me.”

“Whoo!” he wrapped a hefty arm around me.

We were hiking through the forest, surely almost home. The sun was hidden by thin clouds and they sprinkled tears, but it was hardly anything horrible. Though my mask was broken and I was practically starving I didn’t let it faze me too bad and stayed cheery. The day was peaceful with little monsters to be found other than the stray zombie or two in the forest. They were slow, though, and we simply walked out of the way.

Eventually, we were able to see the hill that our home sat upon, and I smiled upon leaving the forest.

“Heeeeeiiigh-ho,” Herobrine sighed happily, “‘Bout time.”

“No kidding,” I commented.

We climbed up the hill and to the house, the both of us opening the gates to practical paradise and throwing our gear off. I didn’t even realize just how tired I was until we were home, and I just wanted to collapse into Hero’s arms, then maybe he’d go down, too, and we’d sleep on the floor. I didn’t even care, I could sleep on the roof. I was very content with being home.

“Alright,” he huffed, “Let’s grab something to eat and clean up.”

“Are you sure we can’t just sleep?” I joked.

He chuckled, “Yes, I’m very sure.”

“Damn...” I stepped to him and leaned into him, and he held me lovingly.

“C’mon, Gadget,” he rubbed my arm. “What do you want?”

“Whatever you’re having,” I told him.

The afternoon was spent with a good meal and sleepy conversations. We were both happy to be back and safe, and I even forgot about my broken mask. I think it was more of a nuisance to me, in some ways, but of course, I had another problem, now. I forgot about it as he pulled me into the shower with him.

I held onto him, nose in his furry chest and arms around his torso. His arms were around me, too, and we both lay there blissfully and soundly. We were planning on sleeping away our troubles after a long day that had turned longer as time ticked, and our plan was going well. I was sure he was asleep by now, ears still red but calm with a smile on his resting face—the same as mine.

I was allowing my eyelids to fall heavy as I greedily hogged his firm embrace, realizing just how much I needed this man—no matter how cheesy that sounded. Honestly, I’d either be dead or crazy if he hadn’t had come around. Before we went to bed I heard his shame and guilt pour from his lips and onto me; he stated that when I’d gone through hell and back twice to get his pickaxe it was so much more than he ever deserved, and the way he said that made me sink. He said he wanted to do so much more for me to make up for everything, he wanted to fix the mask and help me get out of the Outcast Lands of the Enclosures.

I wanted that too, who wouldn’t?

But, honestly...

I was just glad I met him. That was all I needed for now.

I slept on that thought.

I dreamt an awful dream. With such a great end to the day I was hoping for something a little brighter, but the mind has a way of twisting you up.

I dreamt I was back in the buggy, but this time the horses walked along an infinite road with no coachman and I was alone with Asim and Zeke. Zeke had the face of an adult but the body of a small child, and he clung to the side where Asim had no arm. Blood covered the man and poured onto the kid with no sign of ending, just an infinite waterfall of dull red. They both stared into me and through me, anger and defeat in their eyes. Their faces were the exact same as the look of the vindicators and evokers back at the mansion.

In a haze, Zeke faded out and Asim turned to the vindicator that gave up the pickaxe. He was without an arm, and his guilt hung heavy in the air as a diamond weapon covered in rags and blood was handed to me.

I took it with little haste, and the vindicator thinned and blurred until he was no more. With him went the buggy, and I was on my feet.

I stood there for a long moment until I felt a presence behind me. I turned slowly to see Herobrine standing there with dark eyes unlike his starry ones and open arms. His smile hurt.

Around him appeared monsters and animals alike, along with people, all having the same look in their eyes. When I took a step forward, so did they. When I moved my head they moved with me. When I blinked, they blinked, too.

Then, my dreamscape had this nasty smell to it. The smell was thick smoke replacing the oxygen and choking me out as my world burned and I woke to more of my world burning.

My

world. Not the dream, but my room and home were coated in golden tails of flames and I had to accept the reality that faced me.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 9

The Swarm

Herobrine was jumping out of bed and pulling me out with him. “Care, we gotta go!!” he yelled above the raging flames, trying to keep me close so I wasn’t burned. “Grab your bag, get to the escape route!”

I did as he said without question, deep down still unsure if this was a dream or not, but I very well knew that the awful hell that faced me was real. I grabbed my bag and utility belt and didn’t bother throwing it on, I just tried to barge out of the bedroom. But, right then, the post that held up the wall of my room fell in front of the door, burning up. Hero quickly threw his body into the post and stood it back up, allowing me passage through to the main portion of the home. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how much that hurt, but I passed him without a word.

The kitchen was coated in a thick and torn blanket of fire and smoke, making it nearly impossible to breathe. I covered my mouth as my eyes watered and I made my way to the hatch on the floor.

Herobrine was right behind me in this nightmare, gently pushing me along as I opened the hatch and climbed down the ladder. He followed me in and grabbed the hatch, closing it as we made our way down as fast as we could.

Once at the bottom I immediately went down the narrow tunnel, watching my head and looking over my shoulder to make sure he was still behind me. He was, and was slipping on a shirt as he went along.

We made it to the door and I attempted to turn it open, but my hands shook and I was only able to budge it before Hero came just next to me and heaved it over with great effort—much more than he put in the first time I saw him when he was presenting it to me.

Once out we saw that the pole of the ladder had been wedged in the way of the door, making it hard to open, but that was the least of our worries. There were two people in the clearing, and they sure did see us. “Here they are!! They’re down here!!!” one of them screamed to the top of the cliff.

I looked over my shoulder to find many more people—humans and sorcerers alike—around the house with torches in hand. They saw us and began to climb down the ladder, some flew down, and Hero grabbed my arm and tugged me so harshly I thought the limb just came off. It didn’t, obviously, but I had a hard time catching my balance before I was sprinting away with him.

The night provided no comfort as the cloud of smoke from our home touched the stars and the monsters were drawn to the light to see the commotion, knowing there may have been victims fleeing the fire and they would take great advantage of that. Phantoms circled overhead, groups of zombies and skeletons gathered amongst the trees, drowneds crawled from the riverbed, and creepers were sprinkled just about everywhere.

We were going straight for the bridge that would lead us across the river and into the woods, but I wasn’t betting that we would make it. Arrows began to fly at us, some spikes of ice from the sorcerers came, too, and the hungry monsters were gaining. I was sure this was how I would die, and in my mind I couldn’t help but think,

I knew it

.

I damn well knew there were more coming.

But why they were here, exactly, I couldn’t quite pinpoint.

A sharp and cold pain started at my leg and shot up to my brain, and upon glancing down I found that a shard of hefty and deadly ice had just cut my calf but luckily didn’t pierce it. I kept running, trying not to limp.

The monsters ahead of us began to swarm the bridge and I wasn’t hopeful that we’d make it through the mob. But, Hero just kept running, pickaxe out as he went ahead. I tried to call his name, knowing he was about to sacrifice himself, but no words left my quivering lips.

He didn’t sacrifice himself, though. At just the last moment his empty hand burst into flames and he sent a wave of raging fire at the beasts. Those who weren’t burned were scared off and they backed away from the light.

Shock and bewilderment struck me, and I wasn’t even able to take in the whole situation before an Ender Pearl was thrown just in front of me. A rather large and scary silhouette of a man appeared in its place, silvery-red eyes staring down at me.

I knew those eyes.

I froze for only a moment before I spotted that familiar and dead gleam of a strangely-shaped diamond sword, black wisps of an infectious smoke coming from the blade. His few golden teeth were clearly seen as he grinned, and he jumped at me.

There was no way I could fight this man so I just lunged out of the way and did my best to avoid his sword that had taken too many already.

But there were enemies all around. Monsters, humans, and sorcerers alike. They flanked us and I had no route of escape. The monsters were getting cocky and weren’t fearing the flames anymore, and I heard explosions at my back from creepers, and phantom’s screeches. All the while, though, the man with piercing eyes was after me so mellowly. He wasn’t worried about a thing, he hardly jogged, he just knew he had me under his heel and that eventually, I’d tire out.

It wasn't until I noticed that the entrance to the bridge was open did he really start to come after me. I had no idea where Herobrine was, but I didn’t have much of an option to go and look for him. The man was right behind me and I just had to take a shot in the dark. Just barely missing an arrow and a giant spider, my feet landed on the wood of the bridge and I dashed across, scampering feet just behind me. The voice of my friend sounded, “Care! Go!! I’m right behind you!”

Thank god he was, I was scared I lost him. I went on, the torch-lit bridge offering some cover with the woods ahead, but of course, it was all thrown out the door. A pair of lopsided creepers started rushing down the bride from the other side, coming right for us. I stopped in my tracks, panicking as I tried to figure out just how the hell I’d get rid of them. I looked over my shoulder find Hero facing the way of the invaders, pickaxe on his belt, fists and arms engulfed in flames. He threw his hands out and a giant tsunami of fire was sent to the crowd, reaching high in the air and sure to engulf the entirety of them.

I watched the red eyes become covered by the flames...

...And then a wave of his hand.

The firestorm came back at us so fast I hardly had time to react, and neither did Hero—who was very shocked. I jumped back and collided into the hissing monster, then lost my footing and fell off the bridge, taking the creature down with me.

The water trapped me in a cold embrace and I saw the storm flash over the surface of the water before the creeper exploded and I was sent further down into the river.

The flames ate the bridge, consuming it in its wrath, and I continued to sink slowly. Everything that happened flooded into my mind like the water flooded my ears, preventing me from hearing much besides my own thoughts. It was gone, all of it. The bridge, my home, Hero, me...

We were gone, weren’t we? This was it?

I didn’t bother swimming up. Death seemed alright. I didn’t want to face that murderer, anyway.

The soot settled around me.

I let my eyes close.

In what I thought was going to be my very last dream, I saw the eyes made of white, shining stars near me. The light faded, and I felt the pull.

It wasn’t the pull I thought it was, though.

My eyes opened with my mouth as I spastically coughed up water, too weak to sit up but had help in doing so. A sturdy arm lifted me and patted my back roughly to ensure the water would all come out, and then be held me, talking in a hushed tone that I could hardly hear.

“Care... Caroline...” I finally understood, and I shivered in his embrace, “Caroline, are you alright? Are you hearing me?”

I didn’t do anything for a moment, I was too shocked and confused. I wrapped myself in my own arms as I continued to cough up small spurts of water. He rubbed my back.

When I did respond it was quiet. “...Hero...?” I croaked in a hoarse voice.

“Yeah, it’s me... It’s me...” he assured.

I looked up at those eyes, expecting to be filled with joy and thankfulness but all I found was rage and disappointment. I remembered why.

I should have guessed he was lying, shouldn’t I have? The talk of witches and curses... He was a sorcerer. Of course he was.

I tried to hide it at first, still not completely understanding it all myself. I attempted to form sentences, but all that came out were cut-dry words. “...What... Where... I...”

Herobrine sighed. “One of the guys deflected the fire, I don’t know... You went into the water and I dove in after you. I didn’t even know if you were alive, I just teleported to get us out of there...”

Teleported? Did he use Pearls?

I must have said that aloud, “...No,” he answered.

I stopped meeting his eyes and stared straight ahead.

“But we’re not horribly far... We need to get moving, maybe to the village. Care, can you walk?” he asked.

Was he even hurt? He didn’t look as hurt as he should have been. There were no burns that I saw and his clothes hardly looked damaged.

He tried to lift me. “I healed your leg... Care, do you think you can walk?” he repeated.

I shoved him away, standing up on my own, though a little wobbly. I stepped away from him and shot daggers. “You... You..!” I sputtered, “You’re a damn sorcerer!”

“Sh!! Care, quiet..!” he tried, stepping forward, and that’s when I reached for my sword. I wasn’t thinking when I took the handle and pointed the blade at him, and I fed on the fear in his eyes.

“You’re a sorcerer... You’re a damn sorcerer...” I cursed, mainly to myself. “You lied... You lied to me..!”

“Care,” he tried again.

“You lied!” I interrupted. “How could you— I trusted you! How could you hide something like that for so long?!”

“Caroline, put that down,” he told me.

I didn’t dare let myself lapse. “You were a sorcerer all this time! You—!” I glanced at my calf, and just like he said, it was healed. “And you could heal! We chased after that potion for no reason!”

“Care, I knew you didn’t trust sorcerers,” he tried, “I just wanted you to trust me, but we need to go..! We’ll talk about it later, please,” he begged.

I shook my head. “Get the hell out of here.”

“Care—”

“Get the hell away from me,” I repeated.

We stared at each other for a seemingly never-ending moment. We were practically burning holes in each other’s heads, and it wasn’t until we heard voices from afar did our gazes finally break.

“You know what? Fine,” Hero began angrily, taking his pickaxe off of his belt. “Fine,” he repeated, then threw his pic on the ground. “Good f——ing luck.”

I watched as he stepped back, eyes flaming with frustration as his body was covered in pitch-black smoke...

...and he disappeared without a trace.

I blinked. I blinked again. I took a breath.

What did I just do...

I stared at the pickaxe of beautiful diamonds on the ground, scared for my life.

No, wait... No, Hero, he’s gone—

“No... No, Herobrine—” I choked on my own words as I stepped to the tool.

It lay there, without glimmer or life, and as I picked it up it was like it became duller in my grasp.

What did... I just... do...

I didn’t even realize I heard the voices until my feet were already trotting away. I sheathed my sword and held onto the pickaxe with all my strength, not daring to let it go as I picked up the pace into a sprint. I could feel my eyes begin to well with tears but I clenched and bared my teeth, forcing them away. Through the forest of darkness, I ran, north, away from the voices that I realized were too close for comfort before I dashed away. I prayed to whatever god that they didn’t spot me.

Even when the voices quieted I still ran. Even when I heard nothing upon the wind other than my stomping footsteps, I ran. There was nothing back there. I just wanted to get as far away as possible. When I ran I felt like I was in danger, and nothing else was on my mind. I didn’t want to think. I wasn’t going to think. I was just going to run.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 10

Friends in Dark Corners

Eventually, I fell. My legs were shaking so badly and my body was forcing me to shut down. I fell onto the grass of a small clearing next to a pond. I knew where I was, this was the path Herobrine and I took to get to and from the village. I thought that if I just tried really hard, if I pushed myself to the limit, if I was determined enough, I could make it to the village.

But now I was here. Face in the mud. Not at the village.

I lay there, questioning what even happened. None of it seemed real. I tried to convince myself that it was just a nightmare, but that wasn’t really working out for me. It just made it more of a memory. A very foggy and horrible memory.

I suppose I couldn’t run from the memories forever.

I was beginning to piece it all together. I very well knew that man with the silvery-red eyes. His ego was about as big as the sun, and he thought he was so much greater than the world. He thought that about my parents back at the Enclosure.

His real name hardly anyone knows, but those who know his face call him

Abaddon

. He’s a ruthless tyrant who runs this cult of sorcerers and humans wanting to become sorcerers in the Southern Enclosure. Of course, the real guys in charge (the four presidents of each enclosure and the Chancellor of the Enclosures himself) won’t do anything with him. I don’t know what they could do, anyway, this guy was immensely powerful. Any magic ability he sees he could mimic into his own. That’s how he shot the fire right back at Herobrine. And that’s how he framed me for murder.

It was so early in the morning that the sun hadn’t even risen. It was just a dull orange painted on the horizon as the stars began to fade. I’d been running for hours.

I forced myself up with shaking arms. I still had the pickaxe clutched in my palm. Damnit, he probably regretted leaving it there, huh? Why did he root for me at the last second? Was this even to help me or just to remind me of him? ...I was thinking too much.

I traded the iron pickaxe on my belt for this one, attaching the diamond-bladed weapon to it with trembling fingers. I crawled to the pond and knelt before it, cupping my hands and collecting water to wash my face with. In the process, I took out my contact.

I knelt there for a while just washing my face and replaying my entire life in my head. I attempted to stand, eventually using the pickaxe as a crutch as I made my way to the shade of the trees. It would have made me feel better if I got onto one of the branches to take a rest, but there was no way I would be able to hoist myself up. I sat next to the trunk between some roots and got as comfortable as I could.

A creeper with enough nerve to waltz through the woods spotted me, of course. I didn’t move, though, I just looked at him. He casually approached me without any aggression in those strange eyes and without any hissing. He just hovered over me for a moment or two before I patted his hooved feet and he trotted away.

In case if it wasn’t obvious, yet, no, I’m not human. I’m a hypocrite, that’s what. I’m a hypocrite who wished to be nothing more than human. That would make things so much easier for my mind, knowing that I was never in the wrong. But I am.

I’m a sorcerer with a rare and dastardly power: I’ve got an eye that can change the mind of practically anything that comes across my path. If I so choose, the creature of my desire will become passive and will be of assistance to me. I’ve done this with so many monsters before, as I had just then with the creeper.

My eye was my only noticeable feature that screamed “sorcerer.” The iris and pupil were icy blue, almost pure white, and so I was skeptical of Herobrine. I thought he could pull off the same trick, but then I thought he wasn’t a sorcerer. And then I learned that he was. And now I just don’t know...

But that’s why I wore the contact and the mask. The mask didn’t do anything, it was just a distraction. Didn’t let me look at Enders, I just... I don’t know. That was another thing strange about me. I could just stare Endermen straight in the face with no consequences, and so long as I was around and already calming the beast, others could too. I blamed my eye, again, but covering it didn’t change the effect...

That’s pretty much what I’ve been running from for a long while. I was tired of being a sorcerer, so I tried not to use my eye much. I was frustrated about not knowing my origins, either. As far as I knew neither of my parents were magic, and now both were dead, so I had no answers…

This is the first time in a while that I’ve really thought about my past instead of pushing it aside. I don’t know if it was healthy, really, but I was too exhausted to care.

I finally, finally, drifted off.

When I woke I was immensely sore. I could hardly stand with my knees shaking and my thighs burning, my back ached from being knocked around and having to carry my bag, and my arm was ready to drop the heavy pic. I never did, though, and I began my journey once again to the village.

I didn’t stop to hunt or eat, if I saw an apple hanging on a branch I took it and bit into it without inspection. Not a smart thing to do, so I just hoped I wouldn’t get sick. If I could just make it to the village... just to the village...

On the way there I wondered where exactly Herobrine ran off to. Did he have some retreat to go to? How far could he have teleported? Just further into the woods? To the buggy road? The Enclosure?

Was he even a traveler? Maybe he was one of Abaddon’s guys, and he let them know my coordinates. No... why would he have attacked them, then? Maybe the vagabond was really what he said... Well, to an extent.

I supposed I was a vagabond, too, now. No... more of a fugitive. An innocent fugitive. Yeah, that sounds....... not good, but honest. I just needed to hide away for a bit.

It was midday when I reached the woods that concealed the village. Up the hill and I’d be there, great. This was turning out for me.

I made my way through the towering trees, piecing together just what I’d say. Maybe I should just spit out the truth and hope they understand, though I wasn’t sure how dead-set on that idea I should be.

I was nowhere close to the village and I was already hearing voices. A large crowd to my right a ways, through the trees and brush to where I couldn’t see them, only hear them. I slowed and braced myself, gripping the pickaxe quite harshly as I cautiously made my way over to the voices.

Good thing I did. I saw movement through the trees and immediately recognized the apparel. These were the villagers, the whole town was out. They pulled buggies and cattle, many walking and many riding. Near the front, I spotted the tall and skinny old man: the Elder.

I hurried over, wondering what everyone was doing so far outside the town. “Hey!” I called, waving my hand. The whole crowd looked over to me, and I suddenly felt very inferior.

Many were threatened at first, raising whatever they could in defense, but the Elder noticed me right away... Sort of. “Caroline?” he stepped forward. “...What... What are you doing here?”

I straightened myself. “I... It’s a very long story. What are you all doing?” I looked around. A few were coming to stand beside the Elder, noticing the diamond tool in my hand and taking precautions.

“It is midseasons. We’re moving to warmer places outside of the Enclosures,” he told me with his gravelly voice.

Oh, I completely forgot about their travel! The village would be empty until spring! “Right... I forgot,” I admitted.

He adjusted his balance on his staff. “My question still stands, no matter how long the story. I want to know what you’re doing here,” he repeated. “Where is Herobrine? Why do you have his tool?”

I felt my chest tighten and I bit my tongue. “...We... uhm...” I cleared my throat. “We were attacked in the middle of the night... My house was burned by people from the South Enclosure. Herobrine and I... argued... We parted ways. He gave me the pic,” I explained.

“...Not very long of a story,” one of the villagers by the Elder said.

“I‘m skipping a lot of details,” I growled, then looked up at the Elder. “I need help. Just a place to stay, hide out, maybe?”

He studied my face. “Who attacked you? Are they still after you?”

I swallowed. “A tyrant in the South attacked me. He brought others, he’s a powerful sorcerer... You pass through there to travel, don’t you? You’ve probably... heard his name...” I grabbed the back of my neck and averted my eyes. “Abaddon.”

Whispers followed, and when I looked back up the Elder was clutching his staff so tightly I thought he may break it. “...You’re enemies with Abaddon?” he questioned quietly as if saying the name was a curse.

I sighed, “I guess I am...”

“Elder,” a hefty man hurried up and tugged on the old man’s arm, pulling him away from me. “She is a thief and a criminal,” he spoke harshly, “And she is on a bad note with that murderer.”

“Gysror, please...” the Elder attempted to calm.

“Elder, I will not allow you for one moment to show any hospitality to that girl,” Gysror snarled, “Do you not remember what he did to you?”

The crowd hushed.

“What he did to your lover?” the large man growled.

The crowd went still.

I could see it in the Elder’s face that he was not happy with that comment. He raised his staff and jabbed it into Gysror’s toe, who jumped back after. “Do not speak anymore,” the Elder warned. “Do not.”

I stood awkwardly and silently, scanning the villagers. Amongst all of them, I saw the familiar blonde hair of the children that I cherished so much. Dayra and Trekker looked at me with wide and worried eyes. Their parents were behind them, the same look in their own eyes.

I took a deep breath and look back to the Elder, who was turning to me. “Caroline,” he spoke, harsher than what I would have liked. “I... I cannot help you much with this problem of yours... I do not know what you did to anger such a formidable man,” he paused, then softened his voice, “But I do not want any horrible fate to befall you because of him...”

I stayed silent.

“Unfortunately, I cannot offer you stay with us... It is for the safety of my own... And I cannot offer you stay at the village...” he looked over his shoulder at Gysror, then back to me. “...But I will offer you a horse.”

I simpered, nodding. “Yes, please, that would be great,” I told him, accepting any help I could get.

He nodded back. “Rasbrune,” he called, “Fetch a horse!”

I watched as the large man went off to the back of the crowd, behind a few trees and out of sight.

“Caroline, are you alright? Are you injured?” the Elder asked. “What happened to your eye?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” I assured him, “My eye... is a different story. I’m fine.”

He gave a simple, “Hmph,” and looked behind him to find Rasbrune leading the horse that I took the night to the mansion: Phillis. Rasbrune handed me the reins, looking at me with his brow furrowed in worry. “Caroline, is it—”

“

Rasbrune

,” the Elder cut him short, “Please, just the horse.”

The large man sighed and placed a hefty hand on my shoulder, patting me, then turned with his tail between his legs and trudged back to his family.

“This is as much as we can do for you, Caroline,” the Elder spoke flatly. “Get as far away as you can, and stay safe...”

I hopped up on the horse, getting settled as he spoke. “Thanks... I’ll try,” I looked him in the eyes, “I won’t say a word about this,” I assured.

He tried to smile but couldn’t bear to do so. “Safe travels, friend.”

I took a breath. “Thank you.”

I got Phillis moving and took her around the crowd, people eyeing me as I went by. I set my destination north, trotting through the woods, unsure of what to do next. My plan didn’t exactly work, but I didn’t argue with any of it. I had no idea what happened to that village when dealing with Abaddon, but it couldn’t have been great...

...How many people has he hurt? I mean, what could the villagers have done to piss him off? Sure, they’re stubborn, but they mind their own business!

That tyrant isn’t singling me out... I’m not sure if I should be glad or frustrated about that.

For a while I just rode the horse, going straight north without much of a care. I tried to form simple plans, set up camp before nightfall, get some rest—real rest, not something forced out of exhaustion.

I inhaled the wind that hit my face, the sun beating me down as I went. The only shelter was in the shade of the trees, and that shelter was the only time I felt very safe.

I spent most of the day thinking without any real direction or frame of mind. Mainly about Herobrine, of course. He was like an arrow; I couldn’t get that idiot out of my head.

That idiot...

Goddamnit, it was only last night when he and I got so close. I felt so connected and safe enough to really... “get to know him.”

I rubbed my face, attempting to shake off the feelings and shoo the thoughts away, but it seemed like the harder I tried the redder my cheeks got and the more flustered I became.

...Where did you go...?

Eventually, an idea sprouted into my head. I wasn’t sure how much I liked my chances, being that getting help from them was probably slimmer than getting help from the villagers. It was all I had, though...

Well, heigh-ho, I guess. To the woodland mansion.

I wasn’t able to reach the mansion by nightfall, but that wasn’t much of a problem. I was almost convinced that I was free of the threat of the attackers, but it didn’t stop my journey. I was free of them

for now

, and that was all I had to rely on.

I managed to stand on Phillis’ back and climb to a wide branch on a large tree. I trusted myself enough to sleep up there without a rope—mainly because I didn’t have one—and got as comfy as I could for the long night. “Night, Phillis,” I said, looking down and making sure her reins were tied well enough to where she wouldn’t run off.

When I leaned back against the tree I realized I was talking to a horse.

Though the days were long, stressful, and tiring, I couldn’t sleep again. I just looked around, not paranoid or scared, but just... lonely, I supposed. Probably going to be more lonely if I guessed how this plan would go.

Self-pity was easy to come by and hard to let go of. It also prevented you from sleeping much, as I discovered.

I didn’t realize I was dozing off until it happened.

The morning had come and gone and by midday, I had taken the horse to the rise just before the clearing. Over the clearing and the dark forest treetops, I easily spotted the roof of the mansion, and surely the second or third floor.

I steered the mare around and down to the clearing, passing the large hole in the ground that was since partly filled with mud and rocks in an attempt to hide the memory of the losses. I felt my chest tighten.

I hopped off of Phillis just before entering the woods and led her by the reins, taking her around the mansion without much worry or discomfort. The pickaxe on my belt was not unhooked and I approached the front of the large building with much more courage than I needed.

I stayed put for a long while, just staring at the entranceway and deciding what to do.

One lone evoker in long, black robes peered from the entrance. He looked unsurprised, like he was aware I was there the entire time, and he raised a hand as if to say, “Wait, stay.”

And so, I did, and the evoker walked off.

Well, he wasn’t hostile.

Yet, I supposed that wouldn’t mean everyone was going to be the same way. I waited.

A familiar face came into view: scar over the brow and proud eyes despite a disabled arm in a sling. The familiar vindicator spotted me and hurried out, and I honestly felt threatened for a moment by his haste.

He slowed just before he reached me, showing no signs of aggression. Just a few others of his strange kind gathered at the door.

I wasn’t sure what to say, and gazing awkwardly at one another wouldn’t fix anything. So I just... “I need help.”

It was clear he couldn’t understand. He opened his mouth and spoke, but what came out sounded like a shattered record in a broken jukebox. I couldn’t make out a single word of his impossible language and I stood in the dark.

I think he knew that I couldn’t speak his tongue, either. We stood there for a moment before starting to play our own little game of charades. He pointed to me, then back to the mansion.

I nodded, smiling, figuring he was saying, “Do you want inside?”

He then gave me that look of asking me, “Why?”

I crossed my arms and thought of how I’d act this one out.

“Uh...” I stretched my arms apart, saying, “big” or “long”, then acted like I had a book in my hands and flipped the pages, “story.”

Another vindicator came up to the disabled one, and they shared a few strange words. Ultimately, they both looked at me, and the disabled took my hand while the other took my horse. They seemed friendly enough, so I didn’t resist much, though I worried plenty.

I was led into the mansion among evokers and vindicators. The smell changed instantly and I felt extremely outnumbered. Many eyed us—well,

me

—and others scowled. Some were angry, some were confused, others just looked downright concerned. I tried to keep my eyes focused on the floor as my ally (hopefully my ally) took me upstairs. Two winding flights took us to the second floor, torches lighting the huge halls and rooms. Our footsteps were silent with the carpet beneath them, and as we passed rooms I took in the sheer scale of this place. It looked giant from outside, but inside it was

monumental

.

At last, he made a sharp right into a room filled to the brim with books and shelves, a few small tables scattered here and there. A couple of evokers sprinkled the place, too, and their brows raised with surprise when they saw me.

The vindicator brought me to one of the tables and left me there, stepping to one of his friends and talking with them. I awkwardly stood there gazing upon the room and became awed at the vast collection of books, novels, and studies they had. Upon looking around I accidentally locked eyes with an evoker at the far corner. He had stopped whatever he was doing to eye me with a snarl. His hands were glowing slightly and I noticed the tiny, winged devils fluttering about him. I swallowed and a cold sweat began to form.

The vindicator raised his voice and startled me, and it also startled the evoker who summoned the vexes. The words sounded something like this, “Hytmer! Nahtyn!” My head swiveled to the vindicator, who was shaking his head. “Nahtyn,” he repeated. Just after, the evoker’s little friends flaked away like ashes and he grumbled to himself, taking a book and quickly walking out of the room.

Alright... my best guess was that “nahtyn” meant “no.” But who the hell knows.

Finally, the evoker next to my vindicator ally handed him a book and a pencil [a pencil not nearly as nice as you’re imagining]. He sat on the other side of the table and I sat with him, holding my hands with themselves. He rested his disabled arm on the wood, opened the book near the middle to a blank page, then started writing. I watched as chicken scratch and gibberish was put onto the page, then he slid the book and pencil over to me.

I raised a brow, knowing I couldn’t read his writing. I touched the page, about to slide it back to him, when the words morphed.

Ah, it was one of those books! The memory of Herobrine taking the enchantment book out of his bag clouded my mind as I read the words.

Let’s talk.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 11

Novel of Skepticism

Many more than a few were in the library where I and my friend—whose name I discovered was Versain—were still writing. This had gone on for much longer than him or I thought it would, and that was because my story was just so long and I was literally telling them everything. After jotting a few things down more people flooded into the room, and now Versain was reading aloud everything I wrote in his impossible language. I almost liked watching the faces of all of them change with every word, and I could only guess what part of the story they were at. I explained all of it, listing the key points in my trial before being kicked out to the Outcast Lands. I told them of Herobrine and how we met, how I got hurt, briefly mentioning the villagers (I had a hard time debating whether or not I should have, being that I promised to not talk of them and I knew just how well illagers and village-folk got along, so I skimmed over them, too), then of Asim and Zeke, and Abaddon, and how Hero left and now I was here. I even told them about my eye. I ended up apologizing dearly about their losses, how it was my fault entirely and that I shouldn’t even be asking for help. But I was here in desperate need, and I’d be willing to do a lot to earn my place or at least get some amount of aid.

Versain read the last words with a quiet moment following. No one asked questions or commented just yet, and I sure did feel all sorts of guilt. I knew they remembered just what I did and they had to debate in their heads before they spoke.

One loud voice from the crowd broke the silence. He sounded angry and unwilling, and Versain rubbed his face out of annoyance.

The frustrated voice came from a vindicator who pushed through others and came to the table, rather angrily gesturing to me, then back to my friend. I’m sure he was trying to convince him to make me leave or to kill me or something along those lines. Nothing good. The vindicator waved to Versain’s arm and most likely reminded him of the trouble I gave him. I didn’t have the book, and I sat there quietly.

More voices rose in protest, and I was beginning to feel very unwelcome. Before it got too out of control, though, Versain yelped one word to silence them all, and all fell still.

Versain talked lowly as he eyed the room. I assumed it was a lecture of some sort, and I messed with my hands under the table.

At last, he set the book on the tabletop and began to write. One of the illagers behind him leaned over and talked, attempting to take the book but Versain swatted him away.

When Versain finished he slid the book to me and I read what he wrote.

We are divided. You are witty and tactical and some are scared you will use those skills against us again. This will take time to sort out, and I do not think you will feel safe here waiting overnight.

I frowned, defeated. I had no other options other than this place, but how surprised could I be that they didn’t take me in? I was about to stand and leave when Versain snatched the book and scribbled in it again.

What he wrote this time was this,

There is a lake northeast. A short distance to travel. Wait there until sundown of the next day, and if we are not there by then you are not welcome here. If we do come, we will take you back to our home and you may stay and work alongside us.

I felt some sort of hope swell in my chest, and I was truly thankful for the opportunity. Was I really expecting them to come? No. But I’d wait anyway. I wrote back.

Thank you for the option, I appreciate it. I’ll take my leave and wait until tomorrow at sundown.

Short and simple, cut and dry. He read it and I stood from my chair, pushing it back in while he stood, too. We shook hands and I prayed they’d work this out by tomorrow.

I swiveled through many others, half-terrified that one of them would stab me in the back, but luckily none of them did. A couple followed me, though, just to ensure I got out without pulling anything janky, I’d assume. Once outside, I saw my horse bound to a post by her reins. I untied her and hopped on, giving a friendly look to the glaring illagers that stood in the doorway, and turned northwest.

I could hear my stomach growl over the sound of the stomping hooves along the way and I knew I’d have to stop and hunt. I counted my arrows (all 22 of them) and decided I’d stop once we got to the lake.

The sun was practically melting the clouds away, it seemed. I was panting, Phillis was slowing, and I wasn’t convinced it was midseasons just yet. Fall surely wasn’t in any hurry to chase the smoldering heat.

Through a small forest, over a larger clearing and within an hour or so I spotted a crystal-blue lake, its large body shimmering with beauty. Phillis seemed to pick up speed at the sight as she strained for water. I let her do her thing and hopped off when we were close enough to the beach.

Phillis dipped her nose in the lake and quenched her thirst, and I pulled off my shoes and socks and rolled up pants to step ankle-deep into it. I leaned over and took handfuls of water, splashing them over my face and wetting my hair. It was a relief to have an escape from the unforgiving sun.

I didn’t dare think of the mansion yet, I was too hungry. Phillis had grass all around she could graze on, but I needed plenty more than that.

After I settled myself with enough coolness I slipped my shoes back on and set my bag down. I dug through it just to ensure that everything was in check—which it was—and stood back up to clip the bag to Phillis. “Alright... Going hunting,” I said to the open air. I patted the horse, only half trusting that she’d stay out while I was gone, so I did my trick on her just in case.

I took my bow off my back, holding it as I took off to the clearing. I remember spotting bunnies on the way over here, and I figured that I wouldn’t need anything very big to satisfy me, or at least to get me through the night. And if I really needed more I could just scavenge a forest for berries and apples.

Man... What would happen if the illagers didn’t take me? Well, I know what would happen, I’d attempt to travel even farther away from all Enclosures by heading to the center of the Lands and hopefully outlive starvation to set up camp there. Phillis and I would keep each other company, and I wasn’t really up for getting something else to hide my eye, so monsters could keep me company, too. Hell, I could probably use them to my advantage! Gather up a group of them, they could hang around and do whatever, and if somebody came across us we’d just scare them off or fight them. I didn’t even have to use my eye if I could just get enough Enders to stay—

I stopped in my tracks for a second.

Apollo.

No no, I completely forgot about him! Did he get hurt in the fire? Is he still at the house? He just hangs around that little area, what if Abaddon got to him?

My posture slumped as I quaked with worry for a moment. Apollo was just an Endermen, just a monster, but he was really the first one that I got along with in the Outcast Lands. We didn’t do much as normal people would, but he just watched and stayed around and ended up helping me later!

God, I just hoped he was okay. I didn’t care if I saw him again, I just hope he didn’t get hurt.

I sighed and tried to shake off the thought, focusing more on my future plans. I know what I’d do if I was on my own, but if I wasn’t? If the illagers took me?

Well, I’d try to do whatever I could to make up for their losses and such. Communication would be difficult and long, but maybe after a while, we’d figure out some words. I’d probably stick close to Versain, help him with whatever he needed. He looked rather capable even with that arm, but I couldn’t quite tell if it was healing or not. It would take a very long while for it to recover.

Oh god... if they did take me I know plenty of them wouldn’t like that. I’d probably have to worry about an axe in my throat while I slept, wouldn’t I? Now that I’m thinking about it, why the hell would they even take me in? I killed lots of their troops, wrecked their potion room, and stole the healing potion. The only reason they may need me for is skill, but surely they have plenty of that already! And what they don’t have in that they’ve made up for in numbers. Versain must be some sort of high authority in the mansion, otherwise, why would anyone consider bringing me in?

I spotted bunnies hopping about in the grass. I crouched, knowing it’d be hard to snag a rabbit with an arrow, but it would be much better than trying to run and stab them with a sword—

...A sword that I didn’t have. I only had the pickaxe.

I needed to figure out how to use that thing.

The night came and went. I set up a small camp with a fire and cooked my successful hunt of rabbits. Phillis seemed happy enough with water and grass all around, and with my eye, I was warding off monsters that threatened us. I slept awkwardly by the fire that was hardly smoking by the time I woke up.

The day was spent going for more bunnies after not finding any fruit that wasn’t contaminated by something like bugs or rot. I ate only a bit before throwing my clothes off and wading into the lake.

It was unpleasantly uncomfortable, but prior to that I made my rounds around the lake and surprisingly found no drowneds or anything to indicate them like tracks or distorted sand along the beach. So, I went right in.

I bathed and tried to take my mind off of things, enjoying the quiet. When I was done I grabbed whatever extra cloth and rags from my bag that I happened to have and dried off, then redressed and waited the day out.

Now, it was nearly sundown. My day was very uneventful, looking back on it. I just sat on the ground with the diamond pickaxe in hand and Phillis only a few yards away mowing the grass. I studied the blades, running my fingers along the strong material, admiring his work. I mean, really, it took some serious manpower to bend diamonds to your liking, and he knew what he was doing.

I sighed, looking up from the pic and at the long shadows that were being formed. My back facing south, my left eye was pretty well blinded by the sun. I drummed on my legs, getting a little worried that the illagers wouldn’t come.

I stood, blindly swinging the pickaxe around like I was “practicing.” But, I had no idea how to use this thing in combat.

I just paced around, clipping the tool on my belt and waiting for the sun to fall so I could get the disappointment over with and get more twigs to start the fire again.

The shadows started to fade with everything else, and I gave up hope. I began to meander over to the opposite side of the lake where a forest was when I heard faint stomps behind me. Turning around to the clearing I saw two horses with two illagers on their backs. I sighed and smiled, truly grateful but at the same time unsure. I still didn’t know how much to trust these guys.

They rode up just shy of my horse, who I called over and hopped onto. They were both vindicators but neither was Versain. They led the way back southwest and I followed.

Here we go... Fresh start.

I wasn’t sure how I could become any more of an outcast...

When we arrived at the mansion I lent my mare to the vindicator that took her and the other two horses to whatever stables they had and the other led me inside. He kept a close eye on me as he dragged me through the halls downstairs.

Night swallowed the sky but the moonlight was phenomenal and shone through the colossal windows. Along with that, the torches lit the way, though dim.

I figured the vindicator was taking me to an indoor lodge of some sort, maybe even to Versain? We walked quietly with hardly a soul awake and about, and he took me farther back into the mansion.

Then, the vindicator shoved me into a room that was the last thing I wanted. Cobblestone walls with bars in the windows and sealed-shut iron doors represented a prison system. I felt myself sink and I paused my steps.

He forced me into the room and brought me to an empty cell, but before he opened the door, he said something to me that I clearly couldn’t comprehend. I gave him a confused look.

The vindicator looked annoyed, then pointed at my utility belt.

“Oh,” I said quietly, “You... want these...” I was far from willing to give him my tools and weapons, but I did so anyway. No way to make my place without trust... Ugh, trust...

I pulled off my book bag, then my bow, then my belt. I was extra wary about the diamond pickaxe, of course, afraid that someone would steal it, but he clearly didn’t care. He just snatched them away from me and turned around, throwing them into a chest against the wall (one of a few).

He went to the cell and pulled the lever down with a hefty yank which opened the iron door. I shamefully and unhappily trudged into the cell, and the door closed behind me.

I looked around the dark cell, cold and drab. There wasn’t a bed, just a blanket on the stone floor.

I tried to think of how I could make the most of this place, but my mind found a big wad of nothing.

Voices from outside had me drawn to the barred-up window. I was hardly tall enough, but I still managed to peer through to see the vindicator who put me in here with my diamond pickaxe. He had it in his hands, admiring it while an illager behind him was talking. I snooped around the corner of the window to see the illager in the cell adjacent to me. I looked back at the vindicator, who was toying with the tool by swinging it around and spinning it in his hand. “Hey,” I tried to get his attention, “Hey! Don’t mess with that!”

He looked at me with this smug look and kept running his mouth like a motor. I had no idea what he was saying, but it got a laugh from the illager in the cell.

“

Put that down

,” I told him, hoping that my tone would be enough for him to get the message. I’m sure he already had the message, though, he just couldn’t give less of a damn.

After a few minutes of our voices clashing, he carelessly threw the pic into the chest and bolted a lock on it.

The illager in the cell kept going on and on long after the vindicator left, and I could do nothing but... well, nothing. I couldn’t understand him so I couldn’t answer in any way. I went to the corner of the room where the blanket was and tried my best to get comfy. Once I was as situated as I could be I closed my eyes and attempted to sleep.

But that illager was still going.

I tried to tune him out, think of him as white noise or something, but his voice was just so out there. He almost sounded drunk, and after a while, I just assumed that’s what he was. At a point in time, I’m pretty sure he was singing? But by then my body was saying, “Screw it,” and shut me down.

A loud knock on the door woke me with a start. I forgot where I was for a second and panicked, but I remembered what happened and I calmed down just as fast.

The door opened up as I rubbed my eyes awake. I looked up at the illager who walked in and it was no other than my buddy Versain. He smiled and took my hand, helping me up.

I hadn’t realized there was someone else behind him until they started talking. Sure enough, it was the same vindicator from last night, standing in the doorway and giving me a sideways look. They talked casually for just a moment before Versain pulled the book of wonders from where it was resting on his slung arm. I opened it up and read it.

So sorry about your overnight stay. We’ll be keeping you here to sleep for a short while, for precautions. You will follow me to eat, I will give you a tour, and someone will post a job for you to do.

Otherwise, good morning!

I grinned and shut the book, and he took it back from me. The three of us walked out of the cell and the cell-keeper (that’s what I’ll call that smug vindicator) had my things still in the chest, I noticed. I kind of waved to it, and both of the vindicators gave me a bit of a look, like “Not now...” I was mostly concerned about the pickaxe than anything else and very much did not appreciate him tossing it around like he had last night.

Versain led me out of the prison and into the grand halls of the mansion. Leaves split through the sunlight as we walked around the building to the stairs and made our way to the second floor. He took me to a large room with a grand table in the center, only a few illagers about the room. He sat me down and went to the far wall where there
were cupboards, drawers, and anything for storage, really, and began looking through. Within a few moments, he had fruits and vegetables out on a plate and brought it back to me.

Oh, thank god, I was starving. A good meal was going to do so much good for me, and I wouldn’t be arguing at all here.

Versain was writing.

I would assume you will be helping around the mansion, first. Small things like cleaning and such. Once they have come to trust you enough you may be able to farm or hunt. After that, we may use you for scouting and battle. It will take time, though. If you need anything, I will be your guide.

I nodded, then took the pencil.

I’m assuming I’ll get my gear once I’ve gotten a higher-priority job?

He answered.

Or when Hulion thinks you are trustworthy enough. Hulion is the vindicator that runs the prison system.

I nodded, and asked another question.

What’s your role in the mansion?

He wrote.

I am highly respected amongst the others. I am not a king, though. I work like them, and I have done more than most others. So, they listen to me.

I wrote.

The more work you do, the more authority you have?

He wrote.

In simple terms, yes.

I nodded and we were done writing. Versain stayed with me until I finished eating, and then he took me around the mansion.

Woof, it’d be a while before I remembered where everything was...

Now I was being coaxed out of a room by an older evoker who gave me a broom and told me (with the book) to clean up wherever I thought needed. I kept ahold of the book for him and started to make my rounds, aimlessly sweeping.

The day would drag on forever, I knew, and so would tomorrow and the next and the next. Hell, maybe forever. I tried to focus on the fact that I had protection, food, and a roof over my head, and attempted not to let myself become envious over boredom.

While I went around, doing practically nothing, I flipped to the back of the enchantment book and tore out a page, then began to draw out all of the mansion with the rooms and floors and everything connected to it. I labeled the major rooms, first, the prison, the lounge/indoor lodge, the dining room, the potions room (they had few potions, but the hole and window had been repaired), the armory, and outside I labeled the stables. As I walked around I filled in more, finding many many

many

storage rooms and other rooms that seemed kind of... useless... but I wasn’t going to ask.

Clear at the back of the mansion, though, I saw the room that Versain skipped when he showed me the tour. It was a doorway into a room full of chests, and beyond that was a huge, vast space that I assumed they dug into the mountain. I was tempted to go in, but I assumed that Versain avoided that room for a reason, so I just labeled that place on my map with a question mark and turned away.

The day went on uneventfully.

Three days passed with no change in my position, and I wasn’t surprised. Not many of the illagers bothered with me except for Versain and the older one who gave me the broom every day. Oh, but I had some trouble with Hulion last night. He took my pickaxe from the chest and left the room, then came back hours later and put it back. I wouldn’t have known he brought it back if it weren’t for that annoying night owl of an illager in the other cell. He was flapping his gums rather loudly and woke me up, and that’s when I spotted Hulion putting the tool back in its place. I don’t know what he did to it, but I didn’t say anything to Versain. Hulion would have lied, I’m sure, and I would have just been less trustworthy.

It was midday and I was inside, at the midsection of the stairs next to the entrance. I was mindlessly sweeping, trying to greet a few illagers with a simple nod or a wave but most of them kept their heads down or eyed me sideways. I gave up on that a while ago.

I was beginning to think that coming here may not have been such a great idea. I could have kept my weapons and tools outside of here and made up a little hut. I would have hunted for myself and explored and not have to do meaningless chores around such a huge place. Versain was nice, but he was the only one who was. Plus, as said before, communication was just grueling. I kept the book on me at all times just in case someone would spark up a conversation...

like hell that would ever happen.

I found myself sighing out of disappointment more times than I would have imagined through the day. I considered asking Versain if I could leave, but then that would get controversy. They might think I’m some sort of spy or I’m trying to pull something on them. I wouldn’t, I’m not that kind of person, but these illagers were just so critical with every little thing they did. Even languages apart, I could tell. They were like the villagers—very suspicious of everything around them, never quite agreeing with each other unless it was the big boss telling them what to do. Except this was about twice as bad.

Versain and the Elder... they really mirrored each other. I’ve seen Versain point around and order the others, very calm, just like the Elder. And they were both understanding of me—I had no idea why—but I recalled when that vindicator was chasing after me. He had a fire in his eyes, and it scared me just to remember it. We nearly killed each other. And the Elder... when talking about Abaddon he had that same exact look, just without the axe.

I should have been grateful but it was hard.

Just give me something to do. Let me go outside and explore. Anything, I just want a change.

Minutes ticked by and I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye coming from the entrance. I assumed it was the pillagers—illagers, mainly vindicators, in big, scary armor with crossbows; they were used for scouting, mainly—coming back from a hunt or something like that. I didn’t pay much mind to it.

But then I heard voices.

Voices I

understood

.

I silently stepped to the railing of the stairs, crouching behind it and listening intently.

“...They’ll have plenty in here... Just take out as many as you can and run for any room that looks useful...”

“Do you know how many there are?”

“At least 10, maybe 15.”

I hated myself for almost laughing.

Oh, there were many more than that.

I peered around the corner and spotted at least half a dozen humans. They were just there, weapons drawn, suited up in armor, and clearly, they didn’t need anything in here. This was a raid, and they were not playing it right. The illagers would swarm them once they saw them.

Oh god, conflicting emotions. These were raiders, but they were human! Why did I feel so much sympathy for them? I was with the mansion now, but I couldn’t just...

Jesus Christ, it’s either all or nothing, Care.

I bit my tongue and swallowed my pride, standing straight up and showing myself. I didn’t know what I was doing, I had a

broom

.

They saw me as I began to walk down and looked very surprised. The sun hit their armor in a way that blinded me in certain spots, so I couldn’t just attack them blind... or with a broom... or at all, really. It was six to one, was I really going to win this fight?

“Woah, lady, you good? This place already get raided?” the guy at the front of the group asked.

“Uh...” I tried to think. “Yeah, I think. Found this place pretty empty when I came. Made it my place.”

I saw the others behind the first guy giving each other looks, and I knew they were thinking that this would be easier than they thought.

“Well,” the first guy began, completely decked out in iron with a full iron helmet that masked his face, “We’re really tired. We’ve been traveling all day, can we make this a place to stay for a bit? Recoup?”

God, he sure could lie. “Yeah, of course,” I told him, then motioned for him to come inside. He was plenty bulkier than me, how would I go about this? “Let me take you upstairs to get you something to eat.”

We turned and I began to panic. What was I doing? I had only a tiny plan, and this would probably end horribly. But, every time I thought that the plan always seemed turn around one way or another.

Sh— , I may have jinxed myself.

Here goes nothing.

I purposely let “Ironman” go first up the stairs but trailed close behind him. Once he was up just three steps I took the broom and jumped on him, pressing the wood handle into his neck and twisting him around when he fell so I wouldn’t get smushed. We landed hard and the others still at the bottom of the stairs were raising their voices and coming at me. I snatched his sword and ditched the broom, threatening to stab the man on the ground. “Get out of here!! I’ll kill him! I will!!” I threatened, but I was yelling more to get the mansion-dwellers’ attentions.

“Lady, lady!! Calm down! Drop the sword, you’re outnumbered!” one of them yelled at me.

I didn’t drop it, I just planted my foot into Ironman’s shoulder, and he tried to push me away.

“Hey, drop the damn sword!!” another yelled.

“Get out!!

Get out!

” I shouted.

“You’re not winning this!” they yelled back.

And, finally, I heard a foreign tongue.

A vindicator down the hall was yelling for backup as took his axe in hand, and then came running on his own.

Thankfully, though, more came very soon. Before the vindicator was even halfway down the hall I heard illagers behind me on the stairs. Over me fluttered the vexes and made amok of the intruders, and I felt rather proud of myself.

Until I was shoved over.

Ironman pushed my leg out from under me and I came down, then proceeded to get pinned with the sword threatening to be taken. I held onto it and tried to work my way around the blade to use it to my advantage, but I ended up getting my arm cut open before I gave his gut a hefty kick to get him off of me. I scrambled to my feet and tried to dodge whatever was coming at me: swords, accidental axes, tiny devils, anything. I had no weapon and little ideas.

The guy decked out in iron was out for me, and I had difficulty getting away from him. Luckily, though, a vindicator took his axe and knocked him in the head. It didn’t kill him, it hardly pierced his helmet, but it took his focus off of me.

Focusing on another fight I saw an evoker get his knee busted by a heavy iron sword and go down, and the raider was about to strike him dead. I went full sprint at the intruder and threw myself into him before the weapon came down on the evoker’s head. We crashed down and his sword was thrown. I got up as quick as I could manage with him pulling on my shirt and grabbed the weapon. He attempted to take it from me but got too close, and I stabbed him in the gut backwards. He choked and fell.

I turned and hurried to the injured evoker, trying to ignore the thought in my head that called me a murderer and hooked my arms under his. I dragged the illager behind the stairs for now and ran back out.

I saw that most of the raiders were either dead or running out, only to be chased after. However, Ironman was proving to be a very slow challenge. He was coated in this huge turtle shell of metal and was nearly impenetrable. At the same time, though, he wasn’t able to strike anyone.

I was planning on just letting this one run for its time until someone finally got him down...

But this guy wasn’t human.

We all figured it out when his knee lifted and he stomped into the floor, and the floorboards of wood bent inward at this heel and outwards farther away from him, creating large lapses in the carpet. Not only that, but it sent a wave of force that knocked everyone back. I fell on my rear and saw others crashing down, some cracking their backs on the staircase, some stumbling out of the entrance.

“

This bastard

,” I growled aloud, hopping up and going at the guy. I caught his eyes and he swung at me, nearly mortally wounding me, but what I lacked in strength I made up for in speed, and it came with a great advantage of basically not dying.

My whole job right now was to distract him while the others recouped, but when I saw the opportunity to potentially disarm him, I went for it.

He about clipped me with his hefty sword and really tried to get me, too, taking a huge swing and toppling over just a bit when he missed. I was behind him, now, dropped my sword, and jumped onto his back. He tried thrashing me off but I grabbed his right arm and kicked off a bit, bending the joint backward much farther than it should have gone with a

-crack-

.

I let go and Ironman groaned vociferously, but it was cut short with an axe knocking him aggressively in the head. So aggressively that the helm was nearly off by the time he fell, and when he hit the ground it rolled away from him.

I saw a flash of his face. Dark hair shaved to the scalp, stubble on the jaw, face intense with emotion and blue eyes filled with fear...

And then, the axe came down on his neck.

Blood spurted and sputtered like a broken fountain, spraying out from the dead man. I turned away just as the weapon was removed, and I stepped back, the weight of it all hitting me at once. I mean... this was a person, and I just—

A hand roughly landed on my shoulder and honestly scared the hell out of me. I looked at the vindicator next to me, panting just a bit. He looked at me with satisfaction and trust as he nodded, then went on past me to the vindicator that slew the Ironman. I didn’t dare look at his face again.

Bodies of only three raiders lay upon the carpet. I thought of checking them for loot but remembered the hurt evoker I left behind and under the stairs and proceeded his way.

He was right where I left him, looking pale but not miserable. He made sure to keep a hand pressed into his knee to stop the bleeding. He saw me and I waved for someone to come over.

An illager came my way, saw the evoker, called for something, then the two of us went to the magic-user. We waited for... whatever the illager called for, probably medical supplies, and the two made chit chat. They were both making hand gestures to and about me, and all I could do was semi-force a smile.

At last, a couple of illagers came back with nothing more than linen cloth. I wrapped
it around the evoker’s knee and then helped lift him up, myself under one arm with an illager under the other, and we made our way down the hall.

To my happy surprise, the hurt evoker seemed optimistic. He was laughing a bit and talking like nothing, and I was sure he knew what victory we had.

As we turned into the nearest room with a table for him to sit upon and I rested him onto it, I couldn’t complain much. Well, if I didn’t think about it too hard, I couldn’t complain. I still killed a human—no, a sorcerer—no, I didn’t even kill him. I was more of an assist… God, now I was trying to make excuses.

A few others came into the room to help out. I aimed to pay attention to what they did in an attempt to get my mind off of what happened. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before Versain rushed in, looking somewhat frightened and came to me first. I was all smiles and he stood next to me as he spoke to the others. A lot of nods and a few chuckles.

My friend gazed at me again and touched my arm. However, it hurt, it stung, and I flinched. I looked at his hand and then my arm and saw a large cut that dug into the muscle.

Oh, yeah, forgot about that.

He coaxed me across the room and spoke to the others, and before I knew it I was being treated and wrapped up.

Versain looked on in satisfaction.

“Woo!!” I cheered with the others, slowing Phillis to a trot as I raised my hands over my head. A few other illagers were laughing and cheering and an extremely successful hunting trip. We took down cows and pigs and sheep—all wild—and finally, the mansion would have something savory instead of the regular farm food.

There were four of us, all on horseback, with bows and crossbows in hand and rounding a couple downed bulls. We worked for about an hour on these two bulls to take them down, but we finally did it. At the start, we had around eight of us, but the other four took the sheep and pigs back to base. Our turn, now.

I halted Phillis and jumped off, slipping an arrow back into my quiver and slinging my bow over my shoulder. I took a coil of rope off a hook on my horse’s saddle and met the others in the middle of our shark pool.

We shared triumph and tied the cows’ legs with four ropes each, one for two legs. Then we hooked the ropes to the horses’ saddles and traveled in pairs as we dragged the bulls back to camp.

After the incident at the mansion, a lot of illagers started to trust me. After the course of a little over two weeks I ranked up to sleeping in the lounge with the others, getting my tools back, wandering the majority of the mansion with my weapons, access to most rooms, and now I was hunting with a group. A pillager named Kerwek was even teaching me how to use my pickaxe as a weapon. I wasn’t much good, yet, but I was getting the hang of it.

Unfortunately, though, the higher I ranked in the mansion the worse Versain got. Not in ranks, no, he was still at the top, but just two days ago I discovered that his wound on his shoulder got infected. The mansion was doing everything we could to get him back on track, but that meant he was in bed for the huge majority of his day. He was grumpy about it, I could tell, unable to walk around the mansion and see what everyone was doing, but I knew it was for his own good.

Honestly, I was very happy that I was here. They kept me all sorts of company, and though some still didn’t appreciate me being here, I proved to them that I was useful. I was told stories of previous victories by some older illagers, the illager in the cell had his own little drunken story to him that he told me personally (something about bringing food to the top of a mountain and then throwing it all off, got him in there for a while for wasting resources), I was even getting in better terms with Hulion.

I think I’d stay here for a long while.

Five days passed since the big hunt. I’d only been here for three weeks and a day and I was already up with the pillagers. I got fancy armor and my own crossbow as we went scouting, and I was so excited I could hardly keep myself quiet as we snuck through the woods. They whispered to each other in a tongue I couldn’t understand, so I just followed.

We were very far from the mansion, leaving our horses tied to trees at the start of the forest. We were nearing the end of the woods, though, and through the leaves and shrubs, I spotted a road. This scared me for obvious reasons, especially since I didn’t have anything to hide my face. But I had allies, and allies

with weapons

at that, so hopefully this was enough.

They stopped and crouched in the bushes, hardly saying a word. I did the same.

A pillager up front looked over his shoulder at me and motioned for me to get up there with him. As quietly as I could I snuck up just next to him. He gestured for me to load my crossbow—I did—then pointed through the bushes.

He was pointing at a traveling merchant caravan. They were unaware of us as they trudged down the road with large backpacks and a small horse-drawn carriage.

Wait... did he want me to shoot them?

I glanced at him, and he kept pointing. He even raised my crossbow for me and pointed again.

My brain was having a really hard time processing this. But, when it finally,

finally

did, I was in a huge and silent panic.

But... but wait, I couldn’t do this. These people were innocent, they were just traveling, trying to make a living! I couldn’t shoot them!

He raised my bow right up to my face and whispered something strict.

I stared through the crosshairs, knowing I had to do this.

I aimed for the one in the front, a man with tired feet.

I shivered.

I breathed.

...

I couldn’t...

I couldn’t do it...

I lowered the crossbow.

The pillager next to me growled, then raised his bow and went to fire. Instincts kicked in unintentionally, and I cried, “No!” I didn’t know what I was doing, but I basically tackled him as he took the shot, making him miss.

A brace came at my face and struck my temple, then I was shoved off and pinned to the ground. There was an armored knee in my shoulder and an axe right against my neck, not pressing but threatening to as those fiery eyes stared straight through me.

The others around him had already run out of the forest and to the road. I heard the screams and people struggling, but I couldn’t move and I didn’t dare to. The pillager made my blood curdle and turn icy cold, until finally, he stood with a shove into my shoulder. He kept eyeing me as he picked up his bow and then went out of the brush.

I continued to lay there, staring up at the leaves that were just starting to turn pale. I lifted my hand and touched my left temple, finding small splotches of blood on my fingers. I sighed and shut my eyes for a moment, trying to filter out the last of the cries from the caravan but unable to.

And they rang in my head long after they stopped.

I eventually sat up and got to my feet slowly and painfully. I felt this knot in my throat and this pit in my gut as I picked up my crossbow and unloaded it.

I raised my eyes to the road. Everything was... dead. The people, the merchants, even the horse. They lay there on the cobblestone, blood leaking between the cracks of the rocks as the hot liquid spurted from the places where arrows penetrated their skin. What was worse was the pillagers so carelessly tossing the bodies around as they looted them.

I felt sick... I turned away and leaned against a tree, holding my gut.

I was reminded why these illagers were nicknamed “ill-willing-villagers.” But I came here because I was sure that they weren’t what they seemed, and I proved it by joining them.

But... God, I don’t know... What was I really proving?

I slumped there, upset and stressed. I tried to breathe, tried to think of good things.

For the first time in a long time... I thought of Herobrine...

It had been days since his image crossed my mind. For a while there he seemed like nothing but a face in the crowd, here and gone just like that.

But I knew better.

God... what would he do if he were here? What if we were still together, traveling? What if he was right next to me in the same strange armor with the same deadly weapon and dropped it to comfort me? What if he shoved the pillager off of me when I was pinned down? What if we just stuck together and didn’t have to go through any of this? What if we just skated on by the mansion? What if we started a new chapter in our lives?

Well... I guess the answer is... I’d be very happy... Genuinely happy. Happy to have someone to talk to and celebrate with instead of gibberish and victories only supplied by work and ranks. Happy to be sad with someone, happy to argue with someone, happy to poke fun at someone and be poked fun at. I’d be happy if all my limbs were severed from my body and I was just drowning in a pool of my own blood as long as Hero were there.

...okay, well... that’s a little much...

But my point still stands.

In a while, the pillagers came back. A few of them had bags slung over their shoulders, a few just carried whatever they scrounged. None of them, however, looked me in the face with a respectful expression. I found myself trudging at the back of the group while I was sure the others were insulting me.

I didn’t look up from the ground often.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 12

Infestation

How are you faring?
he wrote.

Alright.

Do you know why you were sent to me?

Yes. I’m fine with my rank being lowered. I don’t think I want to be with the pillagers.

That is fine, Caroline. I understand. But that is not all we have to discuss.

I swallowed through a try throat as I wrote.
Go ahead.

You attacked another illager. Even small, that is still a crime against us. I will try to convince the others not to put you in the cells, again, but you understand why if you are put in there?

Yes.

Do you have any comments before I go on?

I paused to word this correctly.
I’m not an illager. I don’t share the same feelings towards humans and sorcerers as you do. I got scared and I lashed out. It was a mistake on my part, but I assure you that no one in the mansion got hurt.

I see, and I know. But you have to know that you are with us, and you cannot attack us. It is perfectly fine to refuse, but not to rebel.

I understand.

Good.
Versain took a breath.
I care for you, Caroline, and I will keep your sensitivities and concerns in mind.

I took the book back and nodded to him, then stood and walked out of the room.

I knew where I’d be tonight.

No one came to wake me up. No one came to check. Hulion simply opened the cell door and left. Not even the drunken illager was offering any company.

Things weren’t turning out too great. I tried to convince myself that this was just an episode, that I’d be where I needed to be before long, but... I just didn’t feel like I belonged. Looking back on it I have no idea why I came here.

I stood, holding myself like a coward and dragged myself out of the cell. I shut the door on the way out and picked up my tools from the unlocked chest.

In the halls, there was no sunshine. Clouds wept in the sky and watered the lands, but they were dense and dark and the only light that came through was grey.

Another thing was that the mansion was strangely quiet. I... wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

I began wandering the halls to try and find someone. I headed to the room where Versain would be.

But when I arrived in the lounge, he wasn’t there.

In fact, no one was there. I stood in the lounge for a little while, trying to figure out where everyone was. I took the book out of the tiny bag I wore on my belt and looked through the pages, seeing if I could find anything that signaled today was something important. Nothing.

I put the book back and stepped out of the room, now just aimlessly wandering the halls to try to find some sort of life. I kept moseying around, quickening my pace and glancing in every room until I found one loaded with people.

I was the infirmary. The majority of the illagers were within that room, silent as they stood around a specific area.

I slowly moved through them, trying to see what they were standing by. However, just when I was close, a vindicator stepped in front of me, blocked my path, and stared me down with piercing eyes. I gave him a dirty look right back and tried to get past him, but he pushed me back and broke the silence. He spoke harshly at me with a lot of hand movements and a lot of—what sounded like—foreign curses.

I bit the inside of my cheek and made my way through him with a shove, nothing too forceful, just enough to tell him to screw off. I made it to the front and caught a glimpse of just what they were looking at.

It was Versain. He didn’t have a cast or a shirt but the blankets were drawn up to his chest. His resting face looked far from restful, and the wound on his arm was dry and black. An evoker was constantly tending to the wound that pulsed with puss. His right shoulder was swollen so much it looked like the rest of his skin was going to tear open like seams on clothes. Not only could you see the infection but you could

smell it

, too.

I felt my face harden, knowing why the illagers were here, now. Before I could do or even think about anything else, my arm was tugged and I was being dragged back through the crowd. The same vindicator as before threw me out of the room and I couldn’t help but raise my voice when he did. I knew he couldn’t understand me, so it was my opportunity to just start cursing and swearing at him and calling him all sorts of obscenities. I’m sure he was doing the same right back. Eventually, I got so fed up at him and the world and just at everything that I took the boom from the pouch and was about to throw it at him. I changed my mind only a bit, figuring that chucking it at his face wouldn’t help my situation at all, so I threw it at his feet. It hit his shin and I turned away as he continued to yell at me, he even threw the book back (it missed)!

I hurried down the hall and through the mansion, grabbing a coat they lent me from the lounge before going downstairs and out of the building. I wrapped around the walls to the stables as I buttoned up the coat and threw the hood on, then went in and got Phillis. I hopped on and rode off, getting as far away from the place as possible.

But I didn’t leave without a plan.

I had been riding all day up and down the merchant road, not knowing what I really expected with the rain and all. But, finally, I found a traveling cart coming my way. I turned Phillis and hurried to it.

“Hey!! Hey!” I called, slowing just before the cart. “Are you a merchant?” I asked quickly to the woman who directed the horse and buggy.

“Yeah, what’s the trouble?” she asked.

“Do you have any sort of life potion? Healing, regeneration, anything?”

“I, uhm...” she turned and parted the curtains that shielded the cart. “Anthony! Check the cart for a glistering melon! And some wart!”

I winced through my teeth; those were only the ingredients!

“We should have some things to make a healing potion,” she offered, “But what happened? Are you hurt?”

“No, no,” I answered, “A friend is. I had to leave him behind a ways because the infection got so bad. I don’t know how long he’ll make it, please, I just need this potion,” I begged.

“Do you know how to make it?” she asked.

“I’ve got help that knows,” I told her. “Listen, I’m sorry, I don’t have money. I have, uhm...” I unhinged the diamond pickaxe with painful fingers, “This? Is this going to pay it?”

“No, no don’t you dare give me that,” she ordered. A young man came through the curtains and handed her exactly what she asked for, them she began handing it to me. “Just take it, no payment. Go help your friend,” she told me.

I almost felt like crying as I scrambled to reattach my pickaxe and take the ingredients. “Thank you, thank you so much,” I praised her, and then quickly turned my horse away from the road and went back through the woods.

She was human. She was kind. She suspected I was telling the truth without question. She didn’t even want payment! What luck did I have to come across her?

Good god, now I’ve just got to make it back in time.

Please, please,

please

...

The night shooed the rain away but time was not on my side. I didn’t even bother putting Phillis up, and I jumped off while she was still moving. I raced into the mansion without hesitation and flew up the stairs. A few illagers were up and about and I suspected the worst. I zipped through the halls and to the infirmary with haste, and I entered rather loudly with stomping feet. The handful of illagers raised their heads to see me, and the same vindicator from earlier today was among them and clearly fed up with my face. He began storming my way and cursing at me while I took the ingredients from the pouch I usually had the book in and shoved them into his arms.

He stopped in his tracks and stared at them with bewilderment instead of rage in those eyes. He looked at them, then me, then turned back to the others. Two evokers were just as shocked as they snatched the ingredients away and both darted out of the room.

I locked eyes with the vindicator for only a moment before going up to the bed that my friend lay on.

What I saw was awful.

I didn’t even realize it at first. I thought they just wrapped up the infection in numerous excessive bandages, but they were coated in black blood, just

sopping

with them.

That’s when I realized that he didn’t have an arm.

I covered my mouth, hardly coping with this, feeling mortified at the image.

God, no, I did that... I did that, his arm... Was he even alive?

I felt a fire swell up in my skin and I turned to the vindicator standing there. I saw the cold sweat on his brow and his shameful look. He was refusing to look me in the eyes.

“What—? Why?! Why, I was bringing the potion!!” I stomped to him, letting all my rage out. “You took his arm off!! No, he was going to be fine!!!

He would have been fine!!

” I pushed him and he started shouting back, but it wasn’t angry, just frustrated while at the same time pleading and nervous. That’s how I sounded, too. I knew that it wasn’t even his fault that Versain lost the arm. Even if he was the one to personally sever the limb, I knew it wasn’t his fault. They were trying to save him, trying to stop the infection. Still, I felt the need to just maul him to the ground to get my sorrows out. I didn’t, of course, though I genuinely wanted to.

I brought my hands to my face and head and tugged on my hair. I turned away from the vindicator when I saw more illagers curiously stepping into the room behind him. I covered my mouth and really tried to keep myself from breaking down right there.

With shaky and unbalanced feet I stepped to the bed.

I fed my eyes the depressing sight of Versain in bed, still as a corpse...

But he was breathing. I saw the rise and fall of his chest and his eyes just barely opened when I stepped over.

He looked to me with gloriously bright green eyes. He then smiled, like he knew what I did, like he knew he was going to be okay. But I couldn’t even promise that he would be completely alright... Even if they did get that potion in time he’d be disabled.

My fingers were shaking while I looked upon him. Time couldn’t move slower.

I didn’t care if he was disabled. Illagers are hardy. He’ll make it. Those evokers just had to hurry.

The vindicator that I about went to town on a second ago cautiously came to my side but seemed somewhat comfortable standing next to me. More mansion-folk sprinkled into the room.

We stood together, mere whispers the only noises in the room.

At last, rushed steps came into the room that hushed over, and what one illager shook in his hand was a brilliant red and pink potion, freshly made just for the sick vindicator. He came to the bed and we all took a step back as he slowly had Versain drink small amounts.

The minutes ticked by. Eventually, they were able to help the vindicator sit up. When they did, Versain took the bottle from them and downed the drink with a smile on his face.

And that’s when the room exploded. With happiness, I mean. Some cheered, some laughed, but all of their faces lit up. I found myself being strangled in a hug from the vindicator that stood next to me, and most others were trying to shake my hand or pointed to me. Many more were trying to get to Versain and share gibberish words, clearly so thankful he was at least alive.

I felt... better... It was bittersweet.

I had to basically fight my way to where Versain sat, and when we finally met he shook my hand and pulled me into a hug. I laughed and cheered along with the others despite his lost limb as we celebrated the life that was saved.

I didn’t leave that room until Versain was deep into a heavy sleep. He was going to be kept in the infirmary one more night while the potion kicked its drowsiness into him. I got a lot of praises through the night before the excitement died down and most of them went back to the lounge.

Now it was my turn...

I stood and threw my arms over my head, popping my back and stretching out. However, I felt strange using my left arm, I felt guilty. I shouldn’t have... Well, maybe I should have. Yes, I should have. I was the one that put the axe in his shoulder... It was bound to get infected, and he was bound to die.

But... Then again, I supposed I saved him, too. Got the ingredients for the potion. Just... not quite in time.

No matter how much I thought about it, I still couldn’t seem to outweigh the bad I’d done with the good. There were just too few bright things, I supposed.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and walked out of the room—though not before looking over my shoulder just to ensure Versain was sound—and down the hall to the lounge.

It was dark, the torches only glowing orange instead of dancing in a golden flame. The majority of the illagers were asleep. I quietly made my way through the room and to my bed, slipping my shoes off and getting comfortable as I awaited a needed snooze.

Before I drifted, though, my mind screamed with the nightmare I had just before my home burned down. Asim lost the opposite arm and morphed into the body of Versain, also without the limb. I didn’t believe much in the superstitious or in speculation, but...

Over the next few days, I spent my time being constantly patted on the back and visiting Versain plenty. He struggled the first couple of days, and sometimes got frustrated at the things he couldn’t quite do correctly (like eating and dressing), but ultimately he was patient. I tried to help him out, but he swatted me off with a grin and I watched over a week as he progressed. He was mastering simple, everyday tasks, but he was wanting to get an axe in his hand again and I wasn’t sure how that would turn out. I’m sure he’d be able to pull through and prove me wrong, but it would take so much longer.

It was a week after he lost his arm, now. I was happy again. I hunted occasionally, but found myself my own job in helping out Versain, mining, and scouting the Outcast Lands to expand our maps. I didn’t pillage, and when I scouted I was never alone. However, mining was one of my favorite alone pass-times. And the illagers were very pleased with my work. I found myself writing in the book about everything that happened while mining and they read my story, entertained.

I think I genuinely found my place. I finally made a solid, good mark on the mansion. I could have alone-time, I was talking with the illagers via the book, I was kept working, and I was supported by pretty well all of the mansion.

Over the week I learned a bit more about the place. The illager in the cell was named Tunner and was said to be released sometime at the end of the season. The mansion was divided into three floors with supply rooms at the base, more personal rooms like lounges and infirmaries on the second floor, and valuable rooms up top like the armory. The room at the back of the mansion that I wasn’t allowed into was a garden that had been planted in the hollowed-out part of the mountain next to the building. The illagers were all about garden work, I discovered, and that’s where they buried the ashes of their dead (the gravestones outside were merely that, with nobody beneath them). I was supposed to be visiting that room with Versain today.

I was doing exceptionally well with pickaxe training. I was starting to teach myself small tricks just to entertain me, now since I’ve mastered using it as a weapon. It’s tricky, hardly anything like a sword. You have to get the right angle to strike someone down and if you don’t balance yourself the pic will make you fall forward, but once I got good at it I was a force to be reckoned with. The illager who trained me was Wyr, and he’s mastered about every weapon and non-weapon out there. From crossbows to pickaxes to gardening hoes, he’s done it all. Part of the pillagers.

It was a bright day, but you could tell that summer was beginning to fade. The wind was just a little chillier and the nights were just a little crisper, and they kept becoming more so with every sunrise and sunset.

I slid down the railing of the stairs and hopped off at the bottom, granting me a small chuckle from an old evoker that passed by.

I headed around the corner and down the hall, traveling to the back of the mansion. Once I was clear back there I turned the corner and saw Versain with an evoker just nearly as important as him—Pyren—at the end of the hall just before the room.

Pyren was on the older end of life but still moving strong and swift. He was respected because he’d mastered the art of creating potions at a younger age and skilled in offensive magic. In his hay-day, he could have taken down Ironman with a wave of his hand. But now, he mainly teaches the others his tricks.

I made my way over to the two and we greeted each other with a small, “Hello.” Yes, that’s right, I was able to teach them that “hello” was a greet in my language. I also learned that “wennel” was their “hello,” but they like saying “hello” better than me saying “wennel.” So… hello it was!

And that is the only word we know of each other’s languages. It was a start, though.

Versain’s left sleeve was tied in a knot up at the shoulder and the rest of the sleeve hung. I tried to encourage myself that he wasn’t in any pain anymore, but I just felt too guilty to let myself go completely.

They shared a few words and led me into the first room. It was smaller than the next but filled to the brim with shelves of tree saplings. Illagers were conservationists and replanted trees whenever they had free time, keeping the saplings here until they were ready.

We passed through the room and continued into the carved-out mountain. The air became drier and colder instantaneously, and I felt small chills crawl up my spine. Looking around, though, I saw so much life. Dirt and gravel ground, trees and flowers all around, light fixtures that provided warm glows, and intricate pillars and small statues scattered about. I breathed out in awe and followed the two in front of me as we walked down the gravel path.

Versain slowed and walked next to me. I felt this surge of whimsicality wash over me and with it the soft energy of this place. I tread lightly, coming to a stop at the magnificent meadow that was before me. In the gentle light, the colors didn’t scream but instead whispered sweetly and I feasted my eyes upon the swirling design of them.

Pyren landed a hand on my arm, looking upon the scenery with me.

I knew how much this place meant to them.

But it would soon be threatened.

I went out hunting with the only other illager left of the group—a vindicator, and we weren’t doing too successfully. Just a pig and that was it. I didn’t think much about it, and neither did he, and we were planning on just heading back since the others already left and the evening would be settling down into the land sooner or later.

We turned the horses and traveled over the clearing.

It wasn’t long before he stopped his horse abruptly, turning it slightly to look behind him. I halted Phillis and turned, studying him and then at the tree-line he gazed at. I squinted my eyes, trying to find anything, but nothing came to view. “Hey... What’s going on?” I asked.

He raised a hand to tell me to silence, and then I heard it. A whinny of a horse, somewhere in the distance, but I wasn’t sure why he was so on-edge about that. “Horse,” I said, then pointed to Phillis. He gave me a look and said something, pointing to his mouth.

Voices?

I frowned, listening for a good minute before forgetting about it and had Phillis moving again. He seemed reluctant but began to follow me.

For the next fifteen or so minutes, it was quiet. I heard nothing. He didn’t stop. Everything was fine.

And then,

-fwip-

An arrow just barely missed my head, and I tugged on Phillis’ reigns. I pulled my bow off my back and loaded it, aiming to the woods just the right of us, and all was silent.

We waited, the illager with his crossbow drawn, and nothing happened.

I was beginning to fear an arrow coming for my face. I gave Phillis a small tap to make her walk slowly as I kept my bow drawn and my guard up.

That’s when I saw it. A horse’s tail flicked in the shadows of the woods and I saw the outline of its rump and half of the rider, low on the horse’s back before being blocked by trees. I drew my arrow back a little farther and fired, shooting the horse in the thigh. It cried a high-pitched whinny, then was followed by a thousand pounding footsteps of horses and voices filling the air with a battle cry. The woods poured out numerous men and women, humans and sorcerers alike, and it was so very clear we were outnumbered by dozens.

“

Get!! Go!!

” I slapped the reigns on Phillis and kicked her sides, and we took off like no tomorrow. The illager caught right up with me and we looked at each other with the same screwed face. We couldn’t go back to the mansion and lead this army to them, and we sure as hell couldn’t turn around and fight. Our last option was to run, and who knows how long that would last.

We raced through the clearing, trying to lose them but to no avail. The mob behind us was very determined to catch us.

Soon enough, the real threat came to life. Something all of a sudden appeared in front of my illager friend, some dark blob. I glanced over to find him trying to halt immediately, but the purple-black aura swallowed him up and clamped shut and he was gone. I felt my heart jump, and I searched all around for him, finding him behind me and in the air.

The purple aura was a portal (I’ve heard of sorcerers that have been able to use them but never seen one), and the second tear in space was high in the air over the mob. This time my heart leaped to my throat when I saw the horse and the illager falling out of the air, and I forced myself to look forward before he disappeared behind the crowd.

Sh— , he was dead, he was dead...

I was terrified of meeting the same fate but couldn’t do anything about it. If I slowed I’d be caught by them, if I didn’t I’d be plummeting from the sky.

But it never happened. They were more focused on herding me, for some reason. Every time I tried to turn for cover in the form of the woods or a valley, they flanked me and I could do nothing but keep being chased through a large clearing.

Eventually, I arrived at where they wanted me. The clearing was coming to a narrow end with forest all around, and at the end stood a single horse and a single rider. I kept going, not thinking much of one guy on one horse, knowing I could just pass him. What kind of asshole was cocky enough to just stand there?

Well.

Abaddon was.

I noticed his red eyes before anything else. Then I noticed the sword. It smoked with a back infection—the wither effect—and threatened my very life.

I was more fed up than anything. “Oh,

—— off!!

” I shouted above the crowd. Phillis kept running as I drew my bow back and fired an arrow, but it missed (not sure what I expected) and I saw his golden teeth flash at me with a laugh. He started to come for me.

A burning rage swelled in my skin. I threw my bow over my back and unhooked my pic from my belt. I charged at Abaddon, wanting to shove a taste of his own medicine down his throat.

We neared closer and closer, not slowing, and the army behind me screamed. I gritted my teeth and lifted myself from the saddle, leaning low to Phillis.

Then, just as he was close, I yanked the reigns back so hard that her from legs bucked up. They hit Abaddon’s horse and it did the same, throwing my enemy off guard. Phillis moved forward and I hooked the pickaxe around the dark horse’s neck, then pulling as hard as I could before Phillis ran off and I was too far.

Looking behind me I saw Abaddon’s horse go down and he fell off, right under it. I laughed and sped through the forest with Phillis, but knew I wasn’t completely out of the dark. Well,

literally

I wasn’t. Night fell onto the land and with it came monsters of all sorts. I could handle them plenty, and it came to my advantage if I turned a few to fight for me, but Abaddon’s mob was huge and I knew that many more were still chasing me.

Oh, of course, it was Abaddon and his little group. He was everywhere, it seemed. How the hell did he find me?

Didn’t matter right now. I just had to get them far away from the mansion. Lose them somehow. The woods would help me with that.

I knew Phillis would still last a long while more, but eventually she would tire out. I had to lose her some time.

We went through the woods while voices were still heard, but farther behind. With them, I heard the gravely screeches of phantoms. I assumed that a few of the people behind me were sleep-deprived. The winged monsters would help out with distracting.

The forest was running thin and I saw the end of it before we were out. When we did exit I noticed a large fault in my escape. A cliff just ahead took all hopes from me, and upon getting closer I saw that the drop was just god-awful. No-way no-how would anything survive that.

We could run around, I saw a slope down, but I looked behind us to see the huge flock of phantoms drawing nearer and nearer.

I had an idea.

...That would probably fail.

But here we go.

I hopped off of Phillis and hooked my book bag on her saddle to get some weight off of me. I smacked her thigh and pointed away to the slope down, “Go! Get!” She ran off that way.

I started jumping around and waving the pickaxe above me. “Hey!! Hey!!!” I shouted. I stuck my fingers in my mouth and whistled, and sure enough, I grabbed the attention of a numerous amount of phantoms.

Perfect, perfect!

I stared straight through them and their eyes flashed that look. They soared down to me.

I hooked my pickaxe back on and raised a hand to grab one of their feet, then grabbed another. More hovered overhead, ready to help.

The mob was close to the end of the forest.

I turned to the cliff. Here goes nothing!

I jumped and felt my stomach flip as we fell much faster than I would have liked. However, I felt a number of two or three more phantoms latch onto my shirt on my back and we started doing rather well. It wasn’t perfect, it was uncomfortable, and their claws hurt, but I was falling slowly and losing the army.

Once I (thought I) was close enough to the ground I let go but landed harder than what I would have liked and hurt my knee a bit. Didn’t matter, I was down here and here came Phillis! She trotted over to me as the phantoms flew off. I hopped on and hit the reigns, then checked over my shoulder.

A few horses and men stood along the cliffside before being chased off by phantoms. I was surely out of trouble by now, right?

Right?

...No.

Abaddon—with a new white horse—was racing down the slope that Phillis went down. He was still closer to the top, but I saw that taste for blood in his eyes. I swore and kicked Phillis.

We raced for hours. I could tell that my mare was tiring, and I felt so bad for making her push on, but I was not losing to him.

When the night turned old we reached a huge body of water. I knew this place, it was at the center of the Outcast Lands. Wildlife thrived here since so few criminals made it to the center of the Lands, but its beauty was deceiving. Phillis and I had nowhere to run. I sure did try to go around, having my horse run along the sandy beach in the nighttime hours, but Abaddon cut me off.

“Well, well, well!!” he shouted, “You sure as hell can run!” His voice was husky gruff, making your heart sink like every word he spoke was a curse upon you.

I didn’t say anything, I just stared at him.

“Get off that damn horse, Hargis,” he ordered.

“Why the hell should I? To make it easier for you?”

“For me?” he smirked, “That horse is gonna clock out before long. On foot may be better for you,” he taunted, “Or, if you want to stop being a cowardly bitch, you can raise that pickaxe you stole and take me on. You’re clearly capable.”

“

Screw off

,” I told him. “What the hell do you want with me? My life’s already miserable, what more do you need?”

“Oh, I know it’s not. You’re living it up in that mansion back south, aren’t you?”

I kept my mouth closed.

“I sent men over. They’re tearing the place down,” he continued.

I lowered my brow. “You bastard, they did nothing to you!”

“They helped you,” he told me, hopping off his horse. I felt inclined to turn and run while I could, but when I pulled the reins Phillis didn’t move. She was too tired, she needed rest. “And I’m supposed to punish anyone who knows anything about you.”

“Why?” I asked, genuinely confused, “What did I do to you? What did

they

do?”

He sheathed his sword of imminent death and instead took a golden sword that shimmered with enchantments. “I’ll tell you in hell.”

I gritted my teeth and got off of Phillis. “You’ll be the only one going,” I said, taking my pickaxe in hand.

“We’ll see,” he smirked.

We circled each other for a while, unsure of how to progress. He had armor but wasn’t decked in it, just some shoulder and chest plates. He was waiting for me to strike, I knew, and I wouldn’t let the first move be mine. I knew his plan, he would take me down in one move if I attacked first.

Finally, he stepped towards me, then went full force at me and gave me a hefty swing. I jumped out of the way and attempted to hook his sword but only clipped it before he drew back.

We clashed with gold and blue sparks. Dodging attacks was making me put in more effort than what he was doing. He was a big guy—not as big as Hero—but still large and stronger than me. What he swung with little energy I blocked with three times as much force. I tried to twist the sword out of his hands every time but he was too quick.

I faltered only once and he took advantage of it. I let him get far too close and he nearly cut my stomach open had I not stepped back. When I did, my shoe splashed into the cold water of the huge lake. I took a blind swing upward and struck his blade, sending it out of his hand.

He was swift to retaliate. He jumped at me and knocked me onto my back, all of his weight landing on me at once. The water swallowed up my head and I quickly attempted to sit up to get air. I was only able to for a split second before Abaddon shoved my head back down with one hand and kept my pickaxe down with the other. I thrashed and kicked, but he was between my legs and I couldn’t hit him hard enough with my feet, and he didn’t even care about a finger in the eye. In fact, he

bit

my free hand.

I involuntarily gulped down water, breathing it in and feeling it drowning me. I tried to shout but I couldn’t make a noise.

At last, he let go. I never shot up so fast, coughing up water as I pounded my chest with my fist and keeling over. I wasn’t sure why he let up.

Did he think I was done?

He was right there in front of me, on his back with his head on the shore (unfortunately) but with a drowned on top of him (fortunately). Thank god for that beast...

I stood and stepped closer as Abaddon shoved the creature over and grabbed his sword which was in arm’s reach. He sent the golden blade into the drowned’s skull and stood.

I was behind him, already swinging when he was turning. I hooked him between his plating on his collarbone and ripped the flesh away. He retaliated by swinging low and opening my thigh.

He could still swing but I couldn’t walk, and he progressed on me as I limped backward. I caught his sword just before it struck my head. The flat part of the blade touched my ear as he shoved me back, and I did everything I could to counter this but he was pushing me through the sand.

I looked over my shoulder just for a moment to see his white horse behind me. Initially, I thought nothing of it, but then it felt like two cannonballs just fired and hit my back. I was thrust into Abaddon as my breath left me and I tensed but couldn’t move.

He threw me onto the sand. My mouth was wide open as I tried to get air but none came right away. It felt like my spine had snapped in two and my lungs just shut down.

Abaddon stood over me, straddling my limp body as his piercing eyes stared down at me.

Right when I felt like passing out a gulp of air jutted into my lungs. I coughed and lay there, still, as he raised his shimmering sword as golden as his teeth. I flinched as it came down, but to my sorry surprise, it was not in my skull. Instead, the blade was stabbed into the sand just next to my head.

He leaned over and easily took the pickaxe from my hand. Abaddon stood tall and straight, hooking the tool on his belt as the sunrise came over the horizon of the lake. “...Vagabond...” he hissed, “Don’t get up.”

He stepped away and I continued to lay there. I calmed my breathing and sulked there, bleeding, defeated.

But... not dead.

Yet, at least,

I thought.

I turned my head and watched as he dug through the bag on his horse. Clanking in hands as he removed it from the storage were heavy and rusty chains and cuffs. His grin was devilish. “Stand,” he ordered.

I didn’t obey. “—— off.”

He came over to me and took his golden sword, trading it instead for his withering sword and placed the flat under my chin. “One little cut would end you, you know? I could watch you suffer and choke out,” he threatened.

I looked him in the eyes. “——ing do it, then.”

He stared down at me.

And I stared back up.

His frown hooked into a smirk. He removed the sword and sheathed it, laughing lightly. “You’re a real idiot,” he reached down and grabbed my hair, then tugged hard so I sat up. “But you’ve got some nerve... I like that.”

I bared my teeth at him and his sick, twisted morals.

“Now get the —— up,” he ordered again, but I didn’t have a choice. He pulled my hair and arm and made me stand before him. Putting weight on my left leg—the leg that’d been split—hurt enough on its own, but my back was also screaming in pain.

Abaddon took the heavy chains and belted my wrists, then took a larger cuff and attached it to my neck. A chain connected my heavy hands to my heavy neck and he took the rest of the chain to the horse, pulling me to make me follow. He hooked the metal to the saddle and hopped on.

“You’re an ass,” I growled.

“I played fair,” he told me, “I didn’t use a single power. You lost.” Abaddon hit the reigns and his horse started to walk.

I was tugged and began to limp along behind the horse and the man, looking over my shoulder to Phillis. She was just then standing from laying down, poor horse, and began to follow us. At least I had that much...

The sun came over the trees and shone brilliantly, casting long shadows and feeding nature.

I continued to limp.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 13

Let’s Play A Game

Smoke filled my nose, tears filled my eyes, and fear filled my chest while I stared at the total destruction of the mansion. Nothing was left but black wood and blacker ashes. Burnt and bloody bodies of the fallen littered the battleground like leaves in autumn, and those who were still alive were being chained the same as I was.

The illagers gazed upon me and I gazed upon them, and we saw nothing but defeat in each other’s eyes. I didn’t know if they knew I was the cause, if I was the reason behind all this death that I seemed to bring just about everywhere with me, but I was sure they had a feeling.

I searched for Versain. I didn’t count on him to be alive with only one arm, unable to properly defend himself. However, I caught him in my sight, and though the fact that he was alive relieved me, seeing him in just one cuff and bloody while being pushed and kicked around—quite literally—made me physically ache.

I shouldn’t have stared too long, because now Abaddon was onto me. “You know that one?” he asked.

I spat a quick lie. “No... I’m just surprised he made it.”

“You don’t need to fake your words, Hargis,” Abaddon spoke boldly and clearly, “I’m not killing any more. Not here.”

I flashed him a look. “The hell does that mean?”

He eyed me sideways, his playful grin far from anything moral. “When we get to the Enclosure, I’ll let you in on it.”

The Enclosure? We were heading back there?

Oh, don’t be so stupid, of course, we were. Where else would we go?

The South Enclosure was his little playhouse, he could roam around anywhere and no one would stand in his way unless they wanted to be beheaded. He’d drag us back and do... whatever he did. Sell us, torture us, something—I personally didn’t know what.

What’s the use of the illagers? Why not just kill them off? Why not kill me off? I was almost,

almost

thankful we were alive, but that small part of me wanted this to be over with. My whole life, I never could hold the winning side for long. What’s the use?

Illagers limped around as they were pulled among the crowd, and eventually, we began to move. I looked back at the mansion one last time, seeing Phillis standing there and unmoving, before it and the horse escaped my sight in the smoldering woods, and I saw into what was left of their flower graveyard withheld inside the mountain.

Within the first quarter of an hour, illagers fell. Too many of them suffered mortal wounds and painted the grass with tar-colored blood wherever they stepped. Many bled too much and ended up falling over, declared dead but still being dragged along, just corpses bleeding dry.

Some of the horses went too fast for the severely damaged mansion-folk. They constantly tripped and lost their footing, being dragged, too, but eventually finding their way to their feet.

After a very long while, I found myself among those illagers. The gap in my leg was only worsening and I toppled over small things. No one riding the horses ever looked back to check on their prisoners, and Abaddon was no exception. I lifted myself time and time again.

The day grew long.

Like most living things, we needed rest. I’m not just talking about “we” as in the illagers, no, “we” as in everyone. The horses, the mob, the mansion-people, myself...

...but not Abaddon.

I didn’t expect him to have any sort of heart, but this was a little much. He allowed his steed to lay and sleep while he sat against a tree with his blade out, just staring at me.

I turned away from him and lay on the cool ground of night’s embrace. It was mostly dirt, not a lot of grass, so I wasn’t itching... horribly.

I was ready to pass out right there.

But he wanted me up.

“Let’s talk, Hargis,” he spoke quietly.

I raised my head to him, flashing him a look before resting it back down. “I’m sleeping,” I told him.

“No, you’re speaking with me,” I heard him get up and I felt his presence over me.

I kept my eyes clamped shut.

He nudged my sore back with the toe of his boot. “Get up,” he tried.

“You’re going to be the reason phantoms take our eyes out,” I growled.

“When I am finished talking with you, I’ll let you sleep.”

I rolled over on my back and looked up at his glowing eyes. “

What

,” I hissed.

He kneeled down and pulled on my chains, making me sit up. He sat opposite and adjacent to me and was appearing to be very comfortable with my presence. “Who do you think I am?” he asked, closing his eyes.

I rubbed mine. “A murderer who won’t let me sleep,” I shot.

He snickered at that. “That’s what a lot of people think. I’m just a killer who haunts dreams,” he smirked, “But I’m a little more, I’d like to think.”

Jesus Christ, this guy is going to bore me to death

, I thought.

“I have a job to do in the Enclosure. I put everything in its place, make sure the wealthy stay high and the poor stay low. I’m as much abhorrent as I am orderly.”

“Uh-huh,” I propped my head up with my hands, closing my eyes.

He tugged them out from under me. “Stay awake,” he commanded.

“I don’t think my body will let me,” I grumbled.

“Would you like to hear what happened to your parents?” he asked suddenly.

I stared him in the face. I felt a cold sweat form on my brow as I gazed at his calm, heartless expression. I shook my head. “No. No, I already know what happened to them. They’re dead,” I sputtered.

“Yes, we all know that much. Keep your voice down,” he said. “But do you know what the before and after was? Why they got such a punishment?”

I flashed my teeth. “Shut up. Shut up! I’m not listening to you. You’re going to twist my words, you’re going to make me think something completely backward. You—”

Abaddon scooted closer, a cold hand placed on my neck and running up through my hair. His head was just next to mine, and his voice was as low as he could make it without whispering. “...I’m going to tell you the truth,” he said. His head rested against mine, his other hand coming to rest on my hip.

I bit my tongue and shoved him as hard as I could, putting a kick in for good measure. “Deviant, bastard!!” I spat, waking a few of the others. “Get the hell away from me!”

He glared at me with half-open eyes, no smile, just frustration.

We stared each other down for an eternity. I was scared to lay down and sleep, and he kept me frozen. Those eyes... they were the devil’s.

“They were trespassing in the estate of a friend of mine,” he suddenly began to speak. ”They were out late at night. They left you, probably in search of anything to steal,” it took me a moment to realize he was talking about my parents.

“Shut your filthy mouth. They wouldn’t—”

“How do you know ‘they wouldn’t’ anything? You hardly knew them.”

“You’re the reason why I hardly knew them,” my voice wavered.

“No,

they’re

the reason,” he argued.

“You lying ass!” I barked, “What gives you the right to say that?”

He kept his tone. “The right is mine because they did indeed set out to steal. Nothing much, just a summer ornament from the porch, but what would happen if I let them go? Then all of the humans would rise up against the estate. Sure, they’d lose, but the South would lose money,” he explained.

“Is that all you’re out for? Money?”

“No, no. Just reformation. Trust me, I am on nobody’s side but my own. If the humans had enough of a reason to keep them safe, I’d protect them, for sure!” he stood. “But that didn’t happen. I fight for whoever favors me.”

“Jesus Christ, maybe we’d favor you if you weren’t a homicidal maniac!” I cried. “Even then, what the hell does any of that have to do with me?”

“I didn’t realize they were parents. And I didn’t realize their child was a sorcerer. Killing the family of a sorcerer would put me in the cusp of respect and disownment. And what’s one girl to a whole band?”

I was connecting the dots. “You... You framed me for murder because you were scared of losing your reputation?”

“How bright,” he said sarcastically.

“What about—”

“Your friend? She got in the way. Just a human, nothing against me killing her when she tried to cut you off from me. Still... I thought I should have added her to your little list of slaughter.”

“I didn’t kill anyone!”

“No, but it sure did look like it,” he said.

“So why now, why after nearly a year would you come back for me?”

“Well, people in the estate are getting suspicious,” he explained, “They were on my case constantly. And, well, I was just going to set out to kill you and leave a note behind—oh, poor girl—but you were running around with a white-eyed curse! That was enough of a story on its own, with the witches and whatnot, but then you slip free from me and go join a woodland mansion! If that doesn’t paint across the board, ‘Insane,’ I’m not sure what does!

I

didn’t even expect it, that’s why it took so long to finally track you down,” he laughed.

I stared at him in rage, standing up. “You... This is all for...” I couldn’t find the words. I just tried running for him, being stopped just out of arm's reach, kicking and jumping and swinging enough to bring the stallion to his feet. “

You bastard!! You ——ing bastard!!

”

At this time some of Abaddon’s men had stood and drawn their weapons. He shooed them off, though, enjoying my little outrage.

“You know, I remember when you were little and you did that! You screamed and screamed at me, at the law, everyone in that house,” he cackled.

“

Shut your ——ing mouth!! You piece of ——!!

”

“Except she didn’t swear...” he chuckled to a man of his.

I dragged on until my throat hurt and my body gave out on me. I fell to the ground, sobbing, shaking, unable to do anything to stop this.

“Look at that, you listened to the story,” he taunted, “Welcome to hell.”

I continued to cry.

We traveled for seven days and nights until we arrived at the gate of the Southern Enclosure. Many illagers fell. However, through it all, Versain remained strong, and his horse was just next to mine as we approached the gates.

It had been so long since I’ve been here. Since I’ve seen the grand stone wall that separated the city from the merchant roads.

Abaddon was the first to enter and Versain was slowed so we could go ahead. The noisy bustle of the streets only quieted slightly upon seeing the tyrant, but then they saw the illagers and I...

The run-down city that the humans occupied went silent and frozen. While walking through, eyes peered and stared, making me very uncomfortable and hated. I refused to look at them.

The city hadn’t changed much, as far as I could recall. I recognized shop names and buildings, for instance, but not a single face. I supposed I never really knew anyone here in the first place, though.

The sky was grey, but not quite promising rain yet. A subtle coolness ran through my skin. My leg no longer throbbed and I no longer limped, because I ended up falling too many times and felt like dying while being dragged. However, Abaddon needed me for whatever reason and healed me.

I’d figure out the reason soon.

They stripped me of my gear and I was being shoved in line with the illagers as we piled into a tall building, unmaintained, dirty, and dark. And that was just on the outside.

Inside, it was filled to the brim with cells. Jail cells. Tiny rooms barred off. A few were occupied, and they looked very confused.

It was at this time when I realized how low in numbers we were. Thirty had turned to six illagers, and we were all being stocked into the cells.

With two of Abaddon’s men at my sides, and at everyone else’s, I couldn’t exactly do much to evade this situation. I was shoved into a cell near the back, across from an illager I didn’t know quite. He was an evoker with his hands burned beyond repair—so he wouldn’t be able to use any magic of his. Wet tissue was opened up and no skin was left on his hands. The blood emitted from the deep wounds had dried and cracked around whatever places it could attach to, making it look like all sorts of bugs were crawling over his hands. His skin wasn’t burned like meat over a fire for too long, making it turn black, no, it was as if the flames had fangs and they gnawed on him. The cuffs had been removed off of us, and probably a huge “thank god” for him, because they were scraping and cutting into his ruined skin.

The cells next to us were blocked off with solid concrete, so there was no seeing who was beside us, but I watched as Versain was put right next to me. As he passed I noticed that his shirt on his chest was stained black and ripped, and there was a burn on his neck.

I was up against the cell, clasping my fingers around the bars, taking in the smell of sweat and infection. This skinny and tall building had no windows, no ventilation of any sort, and was much more unkempt than the cells back at the mansion. I was actually missing that cell of mine right now.

I watched the guardsmen walk down the hall until they left my sight, then I heard them open the door, leave, and slam it shut.

And all was quiet.

My posture drooped as my pride and hope failed. We were stuck, really stuck. Even if we did get out of this one building, where would we go? There’s no way we’d make it out of the Enclosure.

The evoker across the cell went to the back corner, sitting on the cold stone and holding his hurt hands. He didn’t look outside of the cell.

This cold place offered no comfort. This dark place offered no hope. This horrible place offered no second-chances. No do-overs. No escape.

I let go of the bars, slowly stepping backward until my back met the wall. I slowly slid down to sit, pulling my legs into my chest and staring out of the cell.

Before I let myself weep I lowered my head and hid my face.

Loud rattling, like metal on metal, woke me with a start. I stood, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes before the noise got any closer. When it did, I saw Abaddon running his deadly sword along the bars, stopping at mine. He had a number of five guardsmen behind him. Silvery-red eyes peered at me as he sheathed his sword.

“Good morning, Hargis,” he played nice, “How are you doing?”

“Don’t even start that game,” I tried to sound tough.

“Ooh, look at you. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for action, hm? Well, you’ll get your action,” he grabbed a bar as he spoke to me.

“What does that mean?”

He looked over his shoulder at his men, then gestured over to the other cells. They took keys from their belts and unlocked the barred doors, dragging the illagers out. I felt myself start to sweat.

“Well, do you know what we do with criminals here, now?” he asked and didn’t wait for me to answer. “Instead of the Outcast Lands—which is too light of a punishment—they’re given to me. I put them in here until the time of the next fight.”

“Next... fight?”

He nodded, taking a key off his belt and unlocking my cell. “We throw them into a ring just along the border of the estate and the city so anyone can watch. The victor gets to go the Outcast Lands.”

I narrowed my eyes as he stepped towards me, taking cuffs off his belt. “I was going to use the prisoners here first, but... Ha, illagers put up much more of a fight, and everyone wants to see them as soon as possible,” he grabbed my wrists and locked them together. “You’ll be my champion~”

“What makes you think that?” I growled.

“You took a bite or two out of me on the beach, that’s hard to do. I have faith you’ll win every round I throw you in,” he sneered, pulling me out of the cell. “The illagers? They’re just pathetic. Only six of them now, they shouldn’t be too hard, but it’s worth the pay. Lots of people have never seen these grey cannibals, they’ll be throwing money in the ring!”

“This is your idea of fun? Making us fight to the death?” I shot.

“Oh, don’t worry, you won’t be fighting any illagers...” he paused, “At first.”

I kept my eyes forward as we marched down the hall, the mansion-folk behind me, guards flanking us. Some prisoners that were here before us rattled on the cells, shouting at Abaddon how they wanted to get out and fight, but they didn’t even get a glance from him.

We walked outside to another grey day, the morning sun hidden away by the clouds which had gotten noticeably thicker. Peasant humans were gathering around, looking excited to see us out, but for the wrong reasons. They yelled and cheered words of “Clash!” and “Fight!”, tailing us as we were dragged across the Enclosure.

The walk was long and the day was humid, but the remaining illagers stayed strong and trekked the entire way without a word. I remembered how they couldn’t understand a word of English, so they were clueless as to what would be happening.

Along the way, Abaddon flapped his gums. “Do you have a guess as to how I found you, Hargis?”

“I’m sure it’s some long explanation,” I grumbled.

“Only slightly. Do you know men by the names of Asim Lock and Zeke Westbay?”

I sighed, cursing their names. “Yup.”

“You lent them help?”

“Yup.”

“And then followed and attacked them when they left?”

“No, not that,” I corrected. “They stole my mask and the pickaxe, I went to get it back.”

“Ah, I figured as much,” Abaddon told me.

“What, did he figure out it was me that got him killed? Bleed out after getting here?” I asked sarcastically.

“No, I figured it out. He told me about that mask and I knew it was you. He didn’t,” a pause, “And for the record, he didn’t die.”

“Lovely,” I growled.

“He pointed me in the direction of your base, and I followed. Smart man, smart man, but...” he slowed and walked next to me, “He’s in the ring, now. Him and his shapeshifting buddy.”

“What the hell for?” I asked.

“Well, he helped you,” Abaddon answered.

“No, he didn’t. We carried all his weight.”

“Not how he worded it. I knew he would lie, but that’s on his part. Good luck with him,” he told me, “You’ll be fighting him sometime today.”

Good

, I thought to myself,

I can get him out of my life, finally.

But I was genuinely terrified. Not necessarily of him, but of the thought of having to kill him. Though I hated his guts he was still a familiar face… It would be harder than taking down the mansion-raiders from so long ago, that was my basic point.

We neared the estate, practically along the border of the rich and poor, when I saw the large hole in the ground. Flanking either side were two buildings: bases in the ring that rose above the walls. We were pushed into the building to the right.

Before stepping through the door, I looked down into the arena. Stains of who-knows-what coated every rock of that place, the only entry and exit points being the two buildings and a lone door on the far end of the ring. No one was in the arena yet, but people both poor and wealthy were already forming crowds.

Abaddon and his guardsmen walked in with us, and within the building were small rooms that resembled cells laced the walls, all with weapons of choice in them.

I think I saw mine.

A diamond pickaxe hung on the wall and only that. Abaddon led me to that room whose walls were metal bars and tossed me in, uncuffed me, and stepped out. “You’ll be first, get ready,” he told me with a smirk. “Thirty minutes.” He walked away and out of the building.

I immediately grabbed the pickaxe, checking for any damage and finding none. I could have been happy without knowing the situation I was in.

Here’s where my mindset of “escape” kicked in. I had half an hour. I had a diamond pickaxe. Trapped in a cell. Numerous guards within the middle of the room. I was planning dumb things, like “break the hinges and just run” or “lure one over and take him out.” But the more I thought the more I knew every plan of mine would fail and I ended up just being very jittery for the next thirty minutes.

Versain noticed. “Caroline!” he called, getting it right, but with his accent, it sounded strange. I looked across the room to him in his cell, an axe in his hand. The guards swore at him, telling him to shut his mouth, and he did. Not much use talking to me in a different language, though, so it didn’t make that big of a difference. He set his axe down and motioned with his hands for me to breathe, bringing his palms to his chest and then pushing back out.

I appreciated the support, even if it wasn’t much. I did as he said, breathing and calming myself to the best I could, and we spent the remainder of the time just looking at each other.

God... I hope this played out for me.

I stepped back, pacing around the room, then heard an inaudible voice shouting outside. After a moment or two, a wave of cheers and cries rattled the air and I realized that we were just about ready.

While the crowd howled, the floor below me creaked and shifted. I looked down, finding my footing, but it was all for nothing because the floor below me fell—a trapdoor—and I went down.

I landed on my feet for a split second before my back hit the cobblestone floor. I groaned aloud, picking up my pickaxe and standing, knowing I scraped a few places.

The room beneath the building was dark and open, and I noticed all the trapdoors that lined the ceiling where the cells were. To my left was a dark wall. To my right was a door to the arena, only some grey light shining through.

I made my way over, pushing the door open and walking out into the ring, the tops of the walls lined with humans and sorcerers alike. Looking at it down here, the arena was much bigger than I originally depicted.

“Caroline Hargis!!” I heard him call from above. Placing my eyes ahead and up I saw the red-eyed, dark-haired, armored bastard, looking down at me with a golden smile from the top of the wall. “The vagabond that killed her human parents and human friend! An enemy of all humans and a joke of all sorcerers! Let her hear it!”

The crowd booed and cursed at me, some even threw things, and I was feeling far too overwhelmed. I swore under my breath and kept my piercing glare on Abaddon’s.

When the crowd settled he spoke again, “I traveled through the Outcast Lands just to find her and bring her back for your entertainment! And I’m sure you’ll be very entertained! She brought six illagers from the cannibal mansion with her! Four vindicators, two evokers! Bring them out!!”

The crowd raised in an ugly choir and I looked behind me, watching the dark doorway until Versain stepped out. The other five either marched or limped behind him. I was grateful for not having to face... whatever it was alone. I met Versain at his side and we stood with confidence, but just as the crowd quieted, an evoker behind us fell.

We turned to see him face-down, hands burned and his head split open—an old wound that must have finally gotten the best of him. I dropped on my knees with another vindicator, turning him over and trying to shake him awake, but he was down and down for good.

I grabbed my hair and my breathing hitched; I didn’t know how much longer I could take all this death, I felt like I was going mad.

The crowd picked up the pace again as Versain took my arm and pulled me to my feet, taking my hand away from my head and speaking words I didn’t understand. “Make that five illagers,” Abaddon called.

“Let’s bring out our current champion!” he shouted, changing the tone as the door across the arena opened. Out stepped a very large figure, someone completely decked out in golden armor that covered every inch of his body and face, a shield, and a golden sword. They trudged into the ring, looking sluggish and tired. They were literally dragging their sword along the stone, about ready to drop.

I stood as tall as I could, clutching the pic in hand, figuring this couldn’t be too hard physically. The guy look half-dead already. Mentally, though, I’m not sure how much more it could take.

The crowd began to chant, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”, whistling and screaming.

I began to step forward, taking breaths as calmly as I could muster.

But then the champion dropped their sword and shield.

I stopped as the crowd just barely quieted.

They brought their heavy hands to their heavy head and removed the helmet.

And I should have known.

They were a man. This guy was huge—as in tall; he had to have been over a full foot to me. He was built broad, strong, clearly. His ashy-brown hair fell into stubble along his jaw, the armor on his physique only adding to the scariness. Intimidating all around.

Intimidating and familiar. How could I forget the face that had those shining, sparkling, white eyes?

I just about fell over. Instead, I used that momentum to catch my footing and run over to him, stopping just before I reached where he stood.

Herobrine looked down at me, a weak smile on his tired face, and he stood still. “Hey, Gadget...”

The crowd silenced.

I stepped ever-closer.

“Wow... Look at your eye...!” he chuckled, but it was forced. “Abaddon told me, but... I didn’t believe him... Ha...” his smile faded. “I’m not gonna fight you... Not gonna fight you, Care...” he whispered, “...Just go ahead...”

I blinked, then realized what he was saying. “...No...” I squeaked, then cleared my throat, “No. Pick up your sword. You’re not done.” I bent over and lifted his sword while he testified.

“No, Care, I’m not fighting you—” I shoved the sword in his hands.

“I never said you were,” I told him. “But you are fighting. Not me,” I looked up at Abaddon, “We’re going after him.”

“How? He’d never come down,” he told me.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Let’s make him.”

I picked up a rock from the ground and chucked it up at where the fiend stood. “C’mon!! Take us on!!” I shouted, picking up another rock and throwing it. I got boos and protests, but I shouted anyway. “Get down here and fight us!!!”

He only laughed at my attempts—that didn’t hit. “No no, not yet,” he chuckled, then motioned to someone to the right.

I looked over to find that ‘someone’ was a sorcerer standing on the wall above the third door. They kicked over a lever and the wide door opened, unleashing a multitude of things. Zombies, skeletons, spiders, strays, husks, and creepers poured from the doors, all very angry. There was no way I could control all of them, and they outnumbered us by a mile.

The crowd picked up the noise again as the monsters quickly neared. However, just as they were getting far too close, numerous fiery blasts drew a line between us and them, and that made the crowd go absolutely wild.

I turned to Herobrine, who’s hand was up and glowing and I knew it was him.

The smoke began to clear and we seven charged the monsters, taking down what we could as we tried to avoid the creepers and arrows. I took down zombies and spiders, using their corpses as shields from the arrows before I ran out of the way and found a better angle.

Hero was trying his best but the armor was clearly too heavy and he was too tired. He wasn’t getting hurt, I didn’t think, but a lot of zombies grabbed at his armor and pulled him around. I took care of the creeper that was waltzing up on him and helped him shake the zombies off.

The illagers stayed in a little group, defending themselves from all sides and doing the best out of any of us.

We fought monster after monster, defensive and offensive, and just when things were going good, they started to go

great

.

In a sense.

“

Woooooooooo-ha ha haaa!!

”

I looked to the building that Hero came from to see Asim—with his right arm gone—screaming at the top of his lungs with Zeke at his side. Neither looked badly hurt, and both were ready for action.

I was just worried about who was going to be the victim of their action-readiness.

Asim ran over to me with green lighting crawling and clawing up his arm and I genuinely thought I was going to get electrocuted. But, he just shot past me and fried a zombie.

“Hey, blondy!!” he greeted a bit too enthusiastically. “I didn’t think they’d catch you!”

“Son of a bitch, you led them right to us!” I shouted but didn’t face him or attack. We stood back-to-back, him shocking the hell out of monsters, me piercing the ones that got too close.

“Good!” he yelled, happy, “Now you’re in this with me!”

“You’re an ass!” I shouted.

“As are you!” he shouted back.

Just when things couldn’t get any better, the crowd’s cheers changed to terrified screams. I looked up to the human side of the bunch to see an Enderman standing along the edge, then teleporting down into the ring, screaming at the top of his lungs as he flashed his fangs and claws.

I knew that Ender!

“Apollo!!” I cried in joy. There was our ticket out of here! Apollo could teleport us out of this arena!

“Don’t attack the Enderman!” I yelled at Asim and left his back.

I tried to reach my monster friend but he had other plans. He ran right past me, spitting and growling as he brutally attacked the monsters around us. It was nice help, but not the help we needed!

I guess this was the best we had! I ran back in, figuring since we band together we could just take out all of the monsters and then figure out how to escape, right?

Well... no.

Things were turning around for us. We were thinning out the monsters, Hero was getting his adrenaline and energy back, the illagers were holding their ground, Asim was paralyzing and stunning monsters as Zeke used his powers to fling them against the wall, and Apollo was easily cutting down enemies.

But just when we were in the clear, just when we were down to about three monsters, the door opened again.

Another wave, this time more, and on top of that, some of Abaddon’s men were jumping into the arena.

Fire, lightning, ice, steel, spit, and smoke filled the ring. It was becoming immensely difficult to find yourself in all the peril. Some guardsmen had pushed the illagers back into the mercy of two creepers, and I only saw two get out in time. I couldn’t check who those two were.

I ended up getting shot in the left shoulder with an arrow, and as I struggled to pull it out I was blasted forward by a creeper. I landed face-down, snapping the arrow and imbedding it further into my flesh.

I strained to stand, using the wall that I was now very close to to lift myself. On the outskirts of the danger, now, I saw the chaos. Bodies of monsters, guardsmen, and illagers were scattered from the constant explosions. The ground was bloodied and distorted, smoke making it impossible to see too far into the battle.

But I did see a friend in need.

Herobrine was down, pinned against the wall and he desperately tried to block his head from the swords and maces that crashed against his denting armor.

I ended my break, painfully ripped the arrowhead from my arm, and ran as fast as I could to him, swinging the pickaxe into the gut of one of the guardsmen and throwing him to the ground, putting the blade in his head. He screamed in agony when the diamond hit his eye and he tried to cover the spontaneous bleeding.

I forced myself to look away and saw Hero stabbing the other guy that was on him, a loud howl coming from the enemy as he fell.

We looked at each other, panting and heaving. “Thanks,” he said quickly.

“Don’t mention it,” I told him, reaching for his sword. “Here, switch me.”

We traded weapons and I was happy to have a sword back in my hands. He looked happy to have a pic back, and we attempted to stick together as we fended off the last of the monsters but far from the last of the guardsmen.

That was, until, I saw him.

He emerged from the smoke like a true villain, his red eyes shooting daggers as his teeth glimmered in the dead, grey sunlight. He held his smoking sword, the air cold around it, its blade burning.

“Abaddon...” I cursed.

Herobrine turned to see him, and the man was casually walking right towards us. “He’s got the sword,” Hero stated, then began to pull me, “just stay out of his way.”

I wrenched myself from his grasp and began to walk over.

“Care! No!” he grabbed my hurt arm and I winced, actually kicking him.

“I’m going after him!” I shouted.

“No, you’re not! Ca—” a zombie clung to his arm, and I took that as an opportunity to leave.

I locked eyes with Abaddon and ran at him, golden sword in hand, swinging it with all my might.

His twisted diamond sword clashed with mine, and we dueled. Every time I caught his eye I got this chill, every swing I made tired me, every step I took made me ache. I did everything I could to not let his sword touch me, though I came very close to getting hit more times than once.

Too soon into the battle he somehow caught me off guard with a false swing, and while I braced to block he kicked my feet out from under me. I landed on my back and had the air knocked out of me for just a moment. I quickly rolled out of the way of his sword coming down, but when I attempted to get back up he kicked me down and I lost my sword. I just about got stabbed had it not been for an iron axe flying at him.

The bloodstained blade imbedded itself into his arm, making him yelp and taking his attention off of me.

The one who threw the weapon was none other than Versain, standing tall on his own with some cuts here and there. Abaddon growled like a beast and ripped the axe from his arm, making his way to the weaponless illager, but he was stopped once again.

Just shy of Versain, green lightning hit Abaddon’s back and made him fall forward right into my friend. The illager was on the ready, though, crashing his shoulder into the other’s chest and shoving him back into the oncoming crowd.

The crowd was Asim, Hero, and Zeke at the front, using an invisible force to yank on Abaddon’s sword. The man just didn’t give it up, though, and he held onto that thing as it pulled him from the illager and into the flaming fist of Hero...

...almost.

He ducked and avoided Hero’s hand, still being pulled but able to work his foot into the air to kick the golden man in the head and topple him. As he went down Abaddon put the blade of the axe into a weak spot on Hero’s armor, fracturing it and most likely breaking through the skin.

I forgot for a moment that I was even there, and when I snapped back into reality I scrambled to my feet and retrieved my sword, turning only to see Abaddon mimicking powers.

He was very close to losing his sword, and to counter that he sent a small wave of fire at Zeke, then threw his hand up and sent the sorcerer far into the sky. He battled with Asim for just a moment before Versain grabbed his axe and met him with blood. The illager was lucky to have missed the swing from the sword, and I came to add extra support.

But none of us could touch him again. Herobrine and I went in for the kill on either side of the tyrant, Asim was ready to electrocute him, Versain was finding his footing, and Zeke was falling back to earth—everything seemingly in slow motion—when Abaddon met us all in a great force.

Neon green lighting blinded us all as it clapped into the air and shot into us, added on with the force that knocked every single one of us to the walls of the arena. My world flashed black and white when my head hit the ground and I rolled back into the wall, knocking all air and sense out of me. My vision was blurry and I felt like I was spinning, unable to focus on just one thing.

I clamped my eyes shut and grabbed the ground, feeling around just to tell my brain that I was still and unmoving.

When I opened my eyes I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, still dizzy but not near as much. I pushed up against the wall as I stood and held my stomach, a tight and painful knot twisting inside of my gut.

I looked all around the ring, seeing bodies lying helpless and left for dead—if not already. I could not find another soul standing, not one... none but the exception.

“You just don’t go down, do you?” he sneered, a sick smile on his sick face.

I straightened myself to the best I could, not searching frantically for a weapon, not planning any means of escape, just trying to stand my ground for as long as I could.

“There was no use! There was no use in putting you in here, no use in you fighting back. You were meat rotting off the bone, anyhow,” he exclaimed, “But, trust me, I’m hella impressed!”

I swallowed, then huffed out what felt like one of my last breaths.

Abaddon was marching slowly to me. “Impressed with how much death you’ve brought to every single person you encountered. I’m not one for superstition, but damn! You must be some sort of curse!”

I coughed, blood dripping down my chin. If he didn’t hurry up with his little testimony I’d probably drop dead on my own.

“I’ll put an end to your curse, alright? A favor... from me to you,” he was mere feet away.

I clenched my teeth, adjusting my balance before staring him dead in the eyes. “...You can do me a favor,” I said with a raspy voice, “But like this, instead.”

He gave me a look.

He grasped his sword.

He raised it to me.

But I wouldn’t be receiving the blade.

Abaddon’s eyes widened and he fell more silent and more still than a corpse. There he stood, terror in those once proud eyes, jaw dropped and lips dry...

...and his sword through his chest, wielded by his very own hands.

Everything quieted. The arena, the crowd, the entire world at best. In fact, the only noise to be heard was me, sighing a gentle breath of final,

final

relief.

I forced my hand away from my gut as I walked to Abaddon without a limp, shaking off the effect my eye had on him. This made him animate again. As he gasped for any sort of life he reached to me, grasping my shoulder and I did the same to him.

“Thanks,” I whispered quaintly, “This is a big favor.”

He wheezed with painful laughter. “Oh, and you held that power in all this time...?”

“Unfortunately,” I nodded, “...Couldn’t let you have it.”

We locked eyes as his body became heavy and his forehead rested on mine. “See you in hell,” he hissed.

His final breath landed on me as I pushed him back, holding the handle of his sword and pulling it out as he fell down and landed with no other way to describe him other than “dead.”

The wither effect took toll on his body. The hole in his chest dried up and cracked like stone. You could see the black infection crawling through his skin up to his neck, taking the life from his pigment as it shriveled up. The dark hair fell off his head and his skin flaked until he was left looking like a broken statue.

I loomed like a standing shadow, holding his sword with a monumental weight on my shoulders but I felt little shame or guilt...

I raised my eyes to the crowd above me, like vultures and crows waiting for the predator to clear so they could feast on the scraps. I lowered my gaze to the arena, the guardsmen who were still alive were staring right through me.

Something shiny caught my eye as it moved. I looked over to see the golden armor branded on my friend as he stood, supporting himself against the wall. He had hit his head, a line of blood running from his temple to his cheek. He assessed the situation and I saw the relief in his face.

Continuing to look around more, I saw my allies standing one-by-one. Versain held his gut but stood with a smile, spooking some guardsmen who were probably sure he was dead. I caught Asim limping over to Zeke and helping him up, then they both looked at me.

I took a deep breath and puffed my chest out, my eyes landing once more on the broken body of Abaddon. I knelt next to him and carefully took his utility belt, but no matter how careful I did so his skin shriveled and caved like ash.

I put the belt on and sheathed the sword while my friends made their way over to me. “Look at you, girl,” Asim laughed, “I’m impressed.”

I shook my head and tried to smile, but it was so forced that it hurt. I felt myself begin to droop.

Herobrine put a hand on my shoulder, running it down my arm and I leaned into him. “This is a mess...” I breathed.

“Not anymore,” he assured me, “Not for us, anyway.”

“What do we do now?” Zeke asked. “Are we still stuck?”

I remembered Apollo and wondered just where he went in all of that. I’m not going to lie, I did become a little frantic when I looked around for the body of the Enderman but saw no such thing. I figured he teleported off.

Instead, I put my palm on the handle of the death-sword, “No, we shouldn’t be.” I stepped away from Hero and limped my way to the center of the arena, looking to the small group of guardsmen. “Hey,” I called, “Get us the hell out of here.”

I could tell some of them were not at all happy to comply, and they murmured amongst themselves. I sighed and simply unsheathed the sword. I didn’t even threaten them with it, no pointing, no waving, but they knew the possibilities and they did as I asked.

Meanwhile, our band of misfits was helping each other out. Herobrine was healing everybody, including me, while having the armor peeled off of him. The one unfortunate thing about him, though, was that he could not heal himself. At first I thought he’d be okay since he was armored, but further inspection reminded me that he just got shocked half to death and that he was hurt before coming into the arena, too. So, he would need some help before we left to... wherever it was we were going.

Speaking of which, the guardsmen and the crowd worked to bring a ladder into the ring so we could leave. I lead the way, sword out, and heaved myself out of that living nightmare. The crowd thinned wherever I stepped, but it did not make me feel strong and powerful. It made me feel less welcome than I already had, it made me feel like I was a monster, it made me feel... like Abaddon.

I tried not to pity myself and used this to the best of my advantage. When my friends were with me I requested aloud, “We need a sorcerer who can heal.”

Different faces gave each other the same looks of, “I’m not doing it,” and “Who would?” Finally, though, a woman of clear wealth stepped forward, her straight, grey hair cascading over her shoulders and flowing as she walked.

I motioned to Herobrine. “Heal him,” I told her, “Please.”

Her sharp, old eyes went from me to my friend without a look of sympathy or compassion. A voice in the back of my head was screaming at me that she was going to hurt him instead of heal him. I was very ready to use the sword again (though that didn’t mean I was going to be happy about it), but I had no need to. She healed him just fine, and Herobrine stood a little straighter after she was finished. She stepped back without a word.

I looked back at the others, specifically Versain. There was no way I was going back to the Outcast Lands. I wanted out of the Enclosures. But... did they? I saw no reason why Herobrine would want to be here, and I was fine with Asim and Zeke staying, but Versain’s home... It was gone, and he was the last illager of the entire mansion. Would he want to go back?

“Guys,” I started, talking quietly, “I’m... I’m going to leave the Enclosures. Who's coming?”

“I am,” Hero said quickly and devotedly.

Asim and Zeke looked at each other before joining in, “We’ll come, too. Not really feeling safe here, after all that,” Asim said.

We all looked at Versain, but I knew he didn’t understand what I said. He gave us a blank look and I tried to explain it to him... without the book.

I pointed north, into the Lands, and shook my head as I motioned to the others, then pointed south.

He still looked confused.

I tried again. “We,” I spun my hand around to the rest of us, “Are not,” I shook my head, “Going back in,” I pointed north.

His scarred brow lowered, then he gave me a look as to say, “Why would you?” and motioned south.

I nodded with a smile and turned my face that way. “Should we... do anything else? Did we forget anything?” I asked. “Do we need to get your supplies?”

“They burned those,” Asim answered.

“Yeah,” Hero added, “No going back for them.”

“What about that, uh...” Asim bean, “Damn Ender?”

I shook my head. “I think he teleported off.”

“You seemed happy to see him,” he commented.

“I knew him,” I said quickly, then began to walk. “Let’s go.”

“You... What?” he questioned as we moved. “How do you—?”

“Heigh-ho,” Herobrine cut him off, walking next to me.

“No, but wait, if we’re going with you you’ve gotta explain that!”

God, he’d be a talker.

I don’t think it quite hit me yet that I was leaving the Enclosures. That

we

were leaving the Enclosures. But it was happening... Finally... I could leave this place behind with more awful memories, but hopefully with better ones to come.

Hopefully...

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 14

The Vaga-Band

“So... let me get this straight,” Asim started, “You were that guy with the headwraps in the cart? You...You took my arm off!”

“Yes, and no,” I defended myself. “An Enderman took your arm off.”

“But you said that the mask let you look at them.”

“And you proved that wrong,” I retorted.

“Then what was the point of the mask? To do that crazy sh— to people?”

“No,” I told him, “It was to hide my eye with an excuse.”

“But your eye was fine when we were at your place,” he argued.

“Fake contacts,” Herobrine answered, “I thought that was kind of weird to have when I first saw them.”

“Yeah...” I said quietly.

Zeke spoke, “So you two kept your sorceries a secret from each other for how long?”

“About... two months?” Hero estimated.

“Felt like two years,” I commented.

There was a moment of quiet.

“...Sorry,” Herobrine peeped.

“Yeah... me too...” I squeaked back.

“Still love you,” he offered.

I smiled. “Love you too—”

“

Bleeaaagggh

, mush mush mush,” Asim snorted, “C’mon, you’re changing the mood entirely, stop it.”

“Dry your wet blanket,” Hero fired.

Asim chuckled, “Dry yours.”

We’d traveled miles. We were in the midst of a huge and dense forest, going one direction and never straying just so we could get as far from the Enclosures as possible. We were going south, somewhere warm where the snow would never scare off any game and where word of numerous villages had settled, only a few miles apart and multiple covered the country. This was all according to Asim. We couldn’t tell Versain, but the sorcerer also said that there may be a mansion or two down there with hopes for our friend.

A while ago we found a small pond to clean up at. We just wiped the sweat from our foreheads and washed the dried blood away, then we were off again.

The grey clouds thinned as evening came, but we hardly noticed it through the leaves. The air was cool, but not chilly. We had little food in our bellies, just the fruits we plucked from the trees, but we were all smiling. The sword was sheathed, out of harm’s way.

So far we’d cleared up... pretty well everything. How I could control people with my eye, how I was captured, how Herobrine was captured (when he teleported off, he tried to distract the group and get them away from me, getting himself captured), how Asim survived being torn apart (another sorcerer healed him once he was in the Enclosure), how I got the illager on my side, who Apollo was, and what my story was.

I pieced it together pretty accurately. With everything I knew and with what all Abaddon told me—if the majority of his words were to be true—I was left alone one night at home. My parents, who were both human but who both carried a sorcerer gene, making me a sorcerer, went out and snuck to the sorcerer side of the South Enclosure. I didn’t know any other explanation besides Abaddon’s so I supposed I would use it. My parents stole something of a rich man’s in hopes of selling it. I remembered faintly that we were very poor when I was a kid, so much so that we were starving. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and my family was doing whatever best fit. Of course, though, they were caught by Abaddon and killed. When he figured out that I was a sorcerer and the daughter of those two, he had to figure something out. So, he dragged the bodies back to my home, made it seem like “me controlling them but masked as a double suicide,” and let me wake up to the bodies in the morning. I called for help, he came posed as reinforcements, and he and the guards unanimously decided that I was a suspect. But nothing else really happened relating to the case.

Then came my friend. Her name was Avery, she was older than me, and like the big sister I never had. She and her family watched over me for a few years after my parents died. We were our own detectives, Avery and I, trying to figure out just who killed my family, and she must have gotten too close. When she went to tell the “law,” they alerted Abaddon, and then secretly killed her to cover up any risk of evidence being shared. They framed me, said that I slaughtered both Avery and my parents, and everyone believed them. Before I could be punished, though, I ran. I fled the Enclosure and went into the Outcast Lands, and there I stayed for a very long while.

Asim’s and Zeke’s story was a tricky one. I tried not to confuse it with the first story he told me about finding little Zeke in a village. He did, in fact, come from overseas recently, and met with grown-up Zeke at the coastline. They both had adventure and money in mind and decided to become thieves and raid the people of the country. Though they both swore that they wouldn’t do it again so long as they were with us, I still had a hard time believing that claim.

Herobrine’s story wasn’t far off from the original. He never really knew his parents, lost at a young age, and just ran around this small town he grew up in. Once old enough, he went off on his own, finding trouble in the form of humans, sorcerers, monsters, and witches. He was twenty when they caught him, and the band of witches kept him for many months. He said they did experiments on him, giving him powers, scarring him up, leaving their mark. His powers consisted of weak flight, teleportation, weak telekinesis, healing, and extreme fire resistance. Their fatal mistake, though, was allowing him fire powers, and after snatching a few of their things he burned the place down and ran. Traveling was already his passion, and came across me while doing it.

But that still left Versain. I tried to explain to them the best I could what I knew about him, how he was the go-to-guy in the mansion, highly respected, and that he was now the only one left. But without him able to fill in any gaps, we were all kind of at a loss. He must have been the most confused, though. I didn’t think he knew about Abaddon, so being thrown into that arena must have been puzzling and upsetting, and now he was with people he didn’t even know, following only me but also following blindly. This language barrier was really taking a toll on our relationship. We had to find a special book soon.

“Should we make up camp?” Zeke asked.

“Definitely,” Hero answered, “We’ll probably haul ourselves up in the trees, sleep up there.”

“Sleep in the trees?” Asim echoed.

“It’s not as bad as you think,” I assured him, “I thought that the first time he told me, too.”

“What about monsters?” Zeke asked.

Hero smiled, “I’ll keep a campfire going. Phantoms don’t bother getting you because of the trees, spiders are docile in light, zombies can’t climb, creepers can’t reach you, and witches are in swamps.”

“Is that not that same exact thing you said to me that first time?” I asked.

“Minus the ‘tying you to the branch’ part. No rope. And I’ve had to make that speech a few times. Kind of burned into my brain,” Hero said. “Let’s try to get this all done before nightfall. Zeke, Asim? You guys want to run around, find some good fruits if any?”

“Sure,” Asim agreed.

“Care, Versain and I will get branches for the fire,” he told them before they ran off.

We stopped walking—most of us. Versain, unable to understand probably just made background noise of our voices, and didn’t realize we were stopping. He took a few awkward steps forward before turning and facing me.

It occurred to me that we hardly had any tools. Hero had his pic, I had the sword, and Versain had his axe, but that was it. We’d need to start practically from scratch, but for now, we needed to set up camp to rest. No time to make tools, we’d use the ones we had for now. I gestured to the illager’s axe, and he got the message, taking the axe from his belt.

The snapping of twigs behind me caught my attention and I turned to see Hero halfway up a grand tree, breaking off small branches by hand and dropping them to the ground. “We need to make a fire,” I told Versain, motioning to Herobrine.

At this time I expected him to hand the axe over, being that he only had one arm and I wasn’t sure how he’d climb a tree without an essential limb. But I took my eyes off of him for a second and turned back to see him gone.

I shouldn’t have even thought of pitying him, because what I saw next made me more than surprised. The illager had the axe back on his belt, running up to a tree whose branches were too high to reach. Versain

ran up the tree

and jumped to a large branch, grabbing onto it and proceeding to hoist himself up with

only one arm

. Once he was secure, he looked down at me with a big and goofy smile, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “That was awesome!” I called, and though he couldn’t understand he seemed to know what it meant. It was like he’d only had one arm his entire life, or like he was just ignoring it.

He smacked some branches off with his axe before moving up the tree, and I walked off with a smile. I... struggled more to climb a tree and pull off branches—with

both

of my arms—but it still happened, and we all met up before nightfall.

We were all sitting around the fire, snacking on apples and berries the two hooligans had rounded up. They’d practically picked the forest dry, it seemed. The fire was dying down, we were all becoming droopier.

“So, Miss Hargis,” Asim began, attempting to keep a conversation going, but you could hear the tiredness in his voice, “How’s it feel to be outside the Enclosures?”

I shrugged. “...I don’t know, yet... I guess the same.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, I’m still out in the wilderness, I don’t feel comfortable going close to the Enclosures, and I have this constant fear we’re being hunted.”

“Why would we be hunted? You just killed the most dangerous guy in the world,

and

got his sword! Nobody is touching you.”

“Wouldn’t that give people more of a reason to hunt me down?” I questioned.

“Only the stupid people would want to hunt you, and we can handle them.”

I looked down at my hands, playing with my fingers.

Herobrine was sitting next to me. Asim and Zeke were across from me, Versain was to my right. The white-eyed man wrapped an arm around me, “It’ll take some getting used to, you know?” he assured me.

“I’m sure it will... And I guess I’ll be willing to wait,” I said, looking up at Asim.. “...How long were you two in the Enclosures for?”

Zeke answered, “Not long. Maybe just a month. We followed the merchant roads into the Outcast Lands and went from there.”

“Looted a few abandoned camps before coming across you guys,” Asim continued, “We really

were

in trouble when we came to your door, though.”

“Uh-huh,” Hero went sarcastically. “You got what was coming to you, too.”

“What, losing my arm? That seems a little much just for taking a pickaxe and a broken mask!”

“Those two things were our

lifeblood

,” I told him. “You know what kind of hell we went through just to get his pic? And you know how paranoid I was when I lost the mask?”

Asim raised his eyebrows and rolled his eyes, uncaring, “Tch,” he chuffed, “Still seems a little much.” The sorcerer looked over at Versain. “At least I got this guy. He’s got the arm I don’t have, and I’ve got the one he doesn’t.”

The vindicator didn’t really seem to know he was being talked about. He was sort of drifting in and out of sleep, looking longingly with half-closed eyes into the dying flames Hero had set up.

“You sure we can trust him?” Asim asked, scrunching his nose up.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean... well, look at him. He’s a vindicator. Don’t those illagers, like, eat people?”

I cringed at his words. “No... No, not at all. God,

‘can we trust him?’

” I mocked, “I trust him more than I trust you.”

“Ooooh, how nice of you,” he hissed.

I sighed. “I was in the mansion with him, I told you. They’re cultured people, they’re just... different. They’ve got a bad reputation for whatever reason.”

“Maybe because they kill innocent people?”

I felt offended for Versain, hearing the words he wasn’t, but my mind flickered to the small experience I had with the pillagers. That sickening feeling in my gut just... it never really left. “I don’t know what, but... they’ve got a vendetta for something. The language barrier doesn’t help much, either.” I glanced at Versain. “So, you know, maybe keep your lips zipped from saying stupid things like that? He may not understand you, but I sure as hell can.”

“You gonna hurt me, blondy~?” Asim taunted.

Before I could get a word out, Zeke just flat out punched him in the gut. Well, more like lightly backhanded him, but it caught Asim off guard. “You’re an ass,” the shapeshifter grumbled.

“I’m just screwing around...! You think I don’t heed my own warning? I just told her that only stupid people would try to attack her!”

“I mean, you’ve been pretty stupid so far,” Hero said causally.

“Ooooh,” Zeke teased.

Asim twisted his head and grinned, giving Hero that look of, “you cheeky bastard.” I may not have liked his cockiness, but at least he didn’t seem to get too offended often and was more of the guy to shake everything off and then get you back later.

I dunno. Maybe I’d come around to him, like we would contrast each other’s personalities. Or maybe I wouldn’t. Either way, I would be forced to get to know him on our trip.

And to be perfectly honest, I was excited about the trip…

It was great how heavily I slept. When my eyes opened they were met with brilliant sunshine stabbing through the trees in rays. The air wasn’t cool like a morning breeze, but rather moderate and signaled that it was closer to midday.

I blinked and took a breath in, sitting up on the tree branch and rubbing my eyes. I threw my arms over my head and let my feet dangle on either side of the branch. I thought that maybe I was one of the last ones awake since it was late in the day and they just let me sleep, but looking around, I saw all the others. Herobrine was in the same tree I was in and his body still rested on the branch, Asim was comically snoring away with his head back and mouth open, and I saw only Zeke’s legs—the rest of him was masked by leaves—and he was unmoving. However, when I looked at the tree that Versain was supposed to be sleeping in, he wasn’t there.

I questioned that silently and sat there for a moment longer, just letting myself slowly take in the world, until I decided I’d head down.

I swung my leg over and looked to the ground, and that’s when I saw it all.

Versain was sitting on the ground, cross-legged and silent, facing the opposite way of me. In front of him were several upon several tiny stick figures in the shape of faceless people, all stuck into the ground in a standing formation.

I felt this chill run up my spine, pausing before I descended. I aimed for the next branch down and dropped onto it, then down to the ground. When my feet were stable, I looked at the illager. He was not looking at me.

I quietly approached him. Versain was awake and had his head up, turning only slightly my direction once I was close enough to signal that he knew I was there. I sat next to him and saw his face.

To put it simply, he was sad. To put it complexly, he was depressed. His eyes were glued on everything and nothing at the same time. He seemed emotionless at first but with a closer look, you could see all sorts of feelings crashing into each other behind his gaze. His eyes were tired, very tired, and his scarred brow was furrowed in frustration and loss.

I looked back to the army of tiny figures, counting them. There were 32 in total. One number off from the population of the mansion before it was burned and lost. Versain would make 33.

I felt my chest tighten and remembered the immense death he faced. These figures, they were all like tiny graves, one for each person. These were all family to him… They were becoming family to

me

at one point. I didn’t grow up around them but I knew how the illagers could be loved by one another. They were skilled and energetic, supportive and artistic, and their roots lay with their lost ones. I’m sure it hurt my friend to be unable to give every single illager a proper burial but to do all this… This may have been close to just as good, given the circumstances.

This all must have taken him hours, and he was determined to complete it all. I had no idea how long he’d been sitting here for, but… I wanted to comfort him for however much longer he needed.

I put a hand on his leg and he blinked, his eyes flickering to me. He then smiled, painfully, but he smiled and rested his hand on mine. I smiled back, and we shared words unspoken.

Eventually, the others woke and saw what there was to be seen.

We stayed for a while longer before leaving the field of wooden figures. Anything—be it person or monster alike—that walked through here and stumbled upon this army would carry the thought throughout their day.

And maybe, just for a moment, the illagers lost to Abaddon would be alive again.

We were maybe two weeks into our journey. We were all equipped with iron tools that we had either made or traded from stray… uhm… not merchants, but more along the lines of “unentertained wanderers.” I say that because most of them didn’t have nearly the amount of exotic items a merchant would and all of them asked what we were doing (they all eyed Versain).

And we told them. The wanderer would walk with us and we would narrate the whole story from each of our perspectives, leaving the unentertained entertained! Then they left and carried the glorious story elsewhere.

Versain was really trying to learn English. He had all our names down, and knew that “Hey! Come here!” was a way to get our attention. But sometimes he’d use it wrong, like if we were all grouped together and close and he saw a deer, he’d go, “Hey, come here,” to us. It was pretty comical, and I shouldn’t have laughed at the time he did it, but it really did seem like he was talking to the deer. Other than that, Asim also taught him swears without our permission. Versain didn’t know any better, but it surprised the rest of us when he exclaimed, “What the ——?” upon spotting nothing more than a band of horses. So, not only had he said an absurd thing, he used it incorrectly, too. We spent the rest of the day trying to explain to him that he couldn’t say that willy-nilly while Asim laughed his big head off. The last things he learned were, “Thank you,” and, “I’m sorry,” and he used them correctly more times than not. That was it, though, and everything else to him was a mystery.

Asim swore we were nearing the villages. He also swore to me that they were nothing like the Enclosures. Everyone in the village knew each other and every town was different. They stayed to themselves frequently, and tried to stay out of the way of the illagers that also called the land home, and “even had morals that made sense!” he quoted. I had begun to wonder if we would see the village that was in the Enclosure half the year, the one with Rasbrune and the Elder, but then Asim told me that the ones down south usually never traveled and I lost hope in that.

But the talk of more illagers excited me! Maybe they’d take in Versain and welcome us? Maybe? God, I hoped, that way I could shove all their dignity into Asim’s sorry face for constantly commenting on their “cannibalistic nature.” It really started to piss me off yesterday and I had to beat the actual sense into him, and he stopped talking after that.

Herobrine and I were recollecting ourselves. We made up officially and promised not to do something stupid like that again. However, every time we tried to break away from the group for just maybe ten minutes, Zeke and Asim would “accidentally” waltz our way and “accidentally” intervene. They were those types of people, and poked fun at us constantly for our “cheesy behavior.” They were nice enough, though. Asim was the lead of the two of them, always taking life by the throat, while Zeke was more… [Asim Lite?] casual. He had the same humor as his friend but always made sure Asim didn’t step too far out of line with a hit to the gut.

The cursed sword was kept in the sheathe. I had an iron sword I used when I needed.

Though uneventful, the days were not boring. We were trekking breathtaking landscapes. Rocky forests, hill-sewn biomes, in valleys between short mountains and across huge rivers. Now, however, we were in the midst of a vast, flowery meadow. They didn’t grow tall but they coated all grass from sight, bunched together in a beautiful mesh of purples, pinks, and oranges. To contrast, bright orange, yellow, and blue butterflies fluttered about, being that this was a total paradise for them. In whichever direction you looked you could not see the end of the field. Asim and Zeke lead the way, while Herobrine, Versain, and myself stuck behind them.

“Huh… I just had a thought,” Zeke began, “Isn’t it nearly fall? Shouldn’t half of these flowers be dead by now?”

I pondered on that for a second, then Hero responded, “It’s plenty warmer down here than back at the Enclosures. These will last maybe a week or two more.”

“What about the butterflies? Aren’t they supposed to go somewhere?” Asim asked.

“I don’t know, maybe they’ll just hang out here till all the flowers are gone,” Hero shrugged.

I looked back at Versain, who was walking just behind us, mainly to make sure he was still there because he was so quiet. He was there, good… and covered in butterflies. He had a couple on his face and quite a few on his coat. I chuckled, which got the others to look. “I think they like you,” I said to him.

The vindicator smiled and carefully took one of his little friends off his jacket and held it in his hand. He caught up with me and handed the monarch butterfly to me. I grinned and held it for a second before putting my hand against my chest and letting the butterfly sit on the strap of my book bag.

“Forest up ahead,” Asim called, and looking over the horizon proved his point.

I looked over to Hero, walking close and snatching the rolled-up map that was hanging out of the pocket of his book bag. We’d bought it off of a trading caravan, and it was supposed to be leading us to a nearby village. “The village should be a little ways in there,” I said, referring to the woods. Labeled on the map were three tiny houses, drawn in the center of the forest. Near the top of the map was the giant field we’d walked through before entering the meadow—drawn, too—and below the forest was what looked like mountains but could have been just hills. I didn’t know if we’d go that far, but the village would definitely point us in the direction of adventure.

“You think they get visitors often? The village?” Asim openly asked.

“Eh, maybe with the meadow. But they’re smacked in the middle of the woods,” Hero said, looming over my shoulder, “And are those mountains? Not many people would want to trek through those.”

“I’d say they get their fair share,” Zeke said.

Asim slowed and looked over at me, “The hell are ya gonna do with him?” he was referring to Versain, “A golem might rip him to shreds.”

I wasn’t going to lie, that made my stomach flip. I hadn’t even taken iron golems into consideration when going to the village. Versain would most definitely be a target… How’d we even get past that?

“I… I have no idea, honestly,” I answered.

“One or two of us will have to stay outside the village with Versain,” Hero thought up, “The others can go in and explain the situation.”

“And if they reject Versain?” Zeke questioned.

“Well, we’ll keep moving. Besides, aren’t we ultimately looking for a mansion, anyway? They could just point us in that direction.”

I stepped in, rolling up the map. “But what if they think we’re part of the illagers… And we’ll give away their location? They’d never tell us where a mansion is.”

“Yikes, that’s true,” Asim tickled the scruff on his chin. “I guess we’ll just have to test our luck?”

“Guess so,” I responded. The butterfly that was on my strap fluttered off, and I had this bad taste in the back of my throat. Something wouldn’t go right… I could feel it.

“You could…” Asim began, refusing to look at me and sounding a little sheepish, “...use the sword and threaten them?”

I bit my tongue and furrowed my brow, “

No.

” I nearly spat at him, “No, I’m not using the damn sword for as long as I can.”

“Then why do you still have it?” he looked me in the face now.

“I…” I tried to talk and answer him, but I couldn’t find the words.

“Asim, drop it,” Herobrine growled.

And so the conversation ended. The woods were still quite a ways ahead.

You could hear the voices before you could even see the village. Voices of friends chatting and kids squealing, and though it all seemed to be welcoming, nothing was promised to be. “Uhm…” I cleared my throat, sticking close to Versian, “Who should stay back with him?” I asked.

“Well, who wants to go and try to explain ourselves?” Asim asked back.

“I’m no good with words,” Hero said bluntly as we paused our movement.

“I think Herobrine and I should stick back,” Zeke offered, “Asim can talk his way out of nearly anything, and Caroline, you know Versain better than any of us do. You’ll defend his case.”

Though I really wanted to stay back and ensure the vindicator’s safety, Zeke was right. It’d be better for me to go on ahead, though I wasn’t sure about Asim… I don’t know, I still wasn’t completely warmed up to him. “Yeah, that sounds good,” I said, looking at Asim. “Let’s just jump into it.”

“Let’s,” he responded, and we walked through the trees.

I first spotted a longhouse, probably used for lounging if I learned anything from the village in the Enclosures. It blocked most of the view from where we stood, and so Asim began to walk around.

“Wait,” I stopped, trying to peer around, “Do you think there’s a road we can come in through? It would be weird if we just… came from the shadows.”

We were out of earshot of the three behind us. Asim laughed, “Blondy, it’s weird that we have an illager behind us. Might as well solidify our reputation,” and he went along without any other words. I followed, wanting to debate that but refusing to let myself do so.

We made it past the longhouse and slowed to a stop once in the village boundary. Almost immediately we were being eyed down. Kids were yelling for their mothers and people dropped what they were doing.

“Hello!” Asim called upon the village with an idiot’s smile. I wanted to hide my face. “Fear not! We are but humble travelers, looking for—” his words were cut short by a spear at his throat. Two men had run up to us and threatened our lives, long spears ready to stab into our necks at any moment. Both of us froze up, caught completely unaware, and I was beginning to feel my safety dwindle.

“State your names and ranks!” they yelled.

I swallowed, “Caroline Harris, sorcerer.”

“Asim Lock, sorcerer,” the moron tried to push the spearhead away. “Listen, fellas, we’re not any trouble—”

The guy threatening my acquaintance stiffened the grasp on the weapon. “Sorcerers,” he cursed, “Just one step away from illagers, aye?”

The thing I noticed about them was that they spoke perfect English, hardly a trip-up or an accent. “Huh… Then you wouldn’t be fond of our story,” Asim said.

The ground shook slightly, and peering over I saw the old beast that protected the village. The sun shimmered off its iron, and half of it was covered in vines and flowers. The golem made its way towards us with haste.

“Are there others with you?” the other asked.

Asim and I shared a look, and while he had that look in his eyes of ‘zip it,’ I didn’t listen to him. “Yes, there are three others behind us, waiting.”

Before I could get another word out, they were on our case. “Is this a raid?”

“Pfft!” Asim choked, cackling. “I don’t know if you heard, but I said that we were ‘humble travelers.’”

“You’ll get no stay here. No sorcerer, no human,

no outsiders.

”

Asim hissed through his teeth. “Edgy much, eh?”

They didn’t feed Asim a response, and the golem marched closer. “Leave,” they told us and stepped closer. The tip of the blade touched my neck, and we were forced to step back. “Leave, and don’t return.”

“We weren’t even really looking for a place to stay!” I tried, “We just want some information.”

“Don’t you know who she is?” Asim stepped to the side, but the spear followed. “She’s probably the most powerful sorcerer you could meet!”

My blood went cold, “Asim! Shut it!”

“See that sword? Sheathed on her hip? One touch of that and you’re gone!”

“

Asim!

” I barked, jumping back far enough to be out of reach of the weapon.

“Don’t threaten us with petty words!” one of the guards yelled.

The golem was locked on Asim. I was truly scared for his safety because he was getting pinned against the longhouse. He realized after bumping into the wall and glanced at me in panic. “Step back! We’ll leave, just get the damn spear away from me!”

But they wouldn’t listen, and Asim couldn’t move. “Let him go!” I called, stepped forward, but ended up getting cut on the arm. I hissed and smacked my hand on the fresh wound, nothing serious, but enough to bleed and make me aggravated.

I saw Asim’s arm begin to spark with green lightning, and he warned them again, “Get the spear away from me!”

Footsteps behind me made me look over my shoulder to find the other three. They must have heard yelling and panicked, and I was glad for a moment to see that they had our backs.

But… Versain.

Things were about to go from bad to worse.

“

Illager!

” the guard that held me at knifepoint yelled. “Inside! Everyone, inside!

It’s a raid!

”

“No!” I tried, but now the guard was full-on fighting me. He about cut me again and I jumped back, losing sight of Asim. I unsheathed my iron sword and played defense, telling my friends, “Don’t hurt anyone! Just get Asim and let's go!”

Zeke was quick to run past me and find Asim, and Herobrine assisted me in fending off the guard, just enough to show him he was outnumbered and scare him off. I knew Versain was behind me, still, and glancing over I saw him. He was ready to grab his axe, but played smart and didn’t unsheathe it. Probably for the best to make himself less of a threat.

However, the golem was rushing over, and that would pose much more of a problem. Right past the guard it went, and it was coming straight for Hero and I. The automaton raised both of its giant arms with speed that I didn’t think it held within it and brought them down twice as fast. I didn’t think twice and lunged backward as far as I could, then turned. Yet, before I could run, the heavy hands punched the ground and shoved my center of gravity completely over, and I tumbled. I knew Herobrine would have moved, but fearful for him, I looked over before doing anything else. He was far enough over, down on his hands and knees after falling himself. I was sure the golem would go after one of the both of us, but it instead went for a more… “recognizable” threat. Versain.

The illager finally took the axe off his belt, not yelling, not trembling, but there was definitely fear in his eyes. An axe would hardly do anything to an iron beast, and his only chance was to run.

But I knew Versain just enough to know he did

not

run. He’s chased me, and he lost his arm because of it. I don’t think he’d mind losing another if it meant he was defending himself.

I

had

to intervene.

I leaped off the ground. “No,

no stop!!

” I cried, jumping between the iron golem and the vindicator and throwing my hands up. It was raising its arms to strike both of us.

“Caroline!” Hero yelled.

“

Stop!

” I shouted.

Honestly? I didn’t think it would work.

But it worked. My little trick.

The golem’s mechanical eyes gleamed, glossed over, and then it paused. Its hands stopped in midair, then were lowered back to its side. The iron golem was stock-still.

I huffed out a breath that I held in fear. I thought my arms were stuck, frozen in place, and I was nearly completely sure that if I took them down then the golem would move again. I took my own risk and lowered my hands, and the golem didn’t move.

Thank ——ing god.

Versain was close behind me, stepping forward and brushing against my shoulder. I put my arm out to my side and stopped him from moving any closer. My eyes were glued on the metal beast.

“...Alright…” I wheezed, “Turn around. Go back into the village—

far

into the village.”

The golem did just that, turning slowly and casually walking back. Past the guard it went, past longhouse it went, and everyone that had seen what I just did stared at me, baffled.

When I trusted myself enough to look away from the golem I found Asim and Zeke standing just a few feet away, the older of the two snickering quietly. He didn’t look hurt, which was good, I supposed.

The guardsmen met each other, so tense that they seemed like they could just freeze up and be statues at any moment. “...Leave,” one warned, and I couldn’t help but think to myself,

That’s what we tried to do.

I kept my mouth shut, though, and motioned for the two by the longhouse to come over. “Let’s go,” I told them, eyeing the guards.

But a different voice stopped me. From within the village and old, gravely shout told us, “Stop!”

And when I saw the figure approaching from behind the homes, I nearly collapsed.

The tall, old man walked with a cane, his beard swaying and his fancy head-dress clacking with the beads he wore. His eyes peered upon me, he stopped and smiled.

It was the Elder.

“Caroline, is that really you?” he asked.

I couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear, surprised to have found him

here

, especially after Asim said there was little chance I would. But what was he doing here?

“Yeah, yes!” I wanted to run up to him, drop to my knees, and worship the hell out of him, but I forced myself just to walk towards him. However, the guardsmen put themselves between the Elder and I. I stopped in my tracks, but the Elder waltzed right past them.

“What are you doing here?” he asked me, then noticed Herobrine who was walking over to stand alongside me. “The both of you!”

Hero and I shared a look, and Zeke and Asim followed up behind the Elder. “It’s… such a long story,” I put simply.

“I think I may know the majority of it,” the Elder smiled.

Hero cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

The old man’s smile only grew warmer. “Travelers from across the land have spoken tales of a band of sorcerers that reduced the danger in the Enclosures!”

“Wait, really?” Asim jumped in, “People are talking about us already? And they made it this far?”

The Elder looked to him like he was going to answer, but squinted his baggy eyes and asked, “And this man is with you?”

“Yeah,” I said, “That’s Asim. We also have Zeke and…” I looked over my shoulder to see Versain. He… seemed calm, but there was clearly something wrong. He was out of his element. “Versain. The vindicator from the mansion in the Enclosures.”

“He’s harmless,” Herobrine was quick to jump in, knowing what the Elder was probably thinking.

The Elder chuffed, “Not good for an illager, being harmless!”

“Well…! Not like that! He’s very capable of taking care of himself, he just… he won’t be any trouble for you—”

The Elder interrupted me and began talking in gibberish, then pushed himself through Hero and me to Versain.

And the vindicator’s eyes lit up.

They started

talking

to each other.

They were having a conversation.

My jaw dropped, not going to lie, but the one who seemed most surprised was the illager. And he just started running his mouth, probably completely full of words unspoken because no one could understand him until now.

Versain smiled and shook the Elder’s hand, and then the old man turned back to us. “Allow them passage into the village! They are welcome here!”

The guardsmen looked at each other with disapproval and resisted. “You’re letting an illager into this village? This is not your place of govern!”

“Then allow me to speak to Abdiel and explain the situation, if you weasels won’t trust me.” The Elder stumbled into the village, stabbing his cane into the ground. “Watch them, if you must. But you,” he turned to my group, “Are welcome!” and he walked away.

The guards flashed their teeth. “Surely you aren’t the ones…” they hissed.

“What?” Hero huffed.

One of them pointed at me. “She! Surely that girl isn’t the one who defeated Abaddon!”

I swallowed and felt a chill go up my spine. “Well, uhm…”

“Actually!” Asim hopped over, tapping the handle of the cursed sword. “She is, and we got evidence, lard heads~”

I scowled at Asim, and the guards barked, “Show us!”

I was annoyed, honestly, and my arm was starting to sting. I gritted my teeth, stepped out of arm’s reach of everyone, and unsheathed the weapon. I held the black, twisted blade high above my head, smoke blurring my vision as it passed. “The tyrant’s sword! One and only!” I called.

The guards were dumbfounded and stared at the sword in awe. They shook their heads and kept their spears readied.

“Convinced, fellas?” Asim taunted. “That thing would kill you a single scrape. `Soon as it opens the skin,

woosh

, you’re dust in the wind…”

I shook my head and lowered the sword. “I’m not going to use it. It’s not a weapon I want to use,” I told them, and retold Asim. “It’s just… evidence. Honestly, we don’t mean any harm.”

One of them scrunched up their nose. “Even if

you

aren’t the threat, a stone-skin would be trouble for anyone.”

It took me a second to realize he was talking about Versain.

Stone-skin…? How original.

“He’s probably the best out of any of us.”

“Ah, then you all must be god-awful.”

“Listen,” Herobrine stepped in, “We know the Elder. He trusts us, and he hasn’t even met Asim, Zeke, or Versain. If he thinks our judgment is good, isn’t that enough?”

“Ha!” the guard scoffed, “He thinks he can come here and govern our village! This isn’t his place. Don’t think you have friends in high places.”

The iron golem began stalking back to us, and with one look I had it freeze. It was far enough away, but I kept an eye on him. However, I realized that it was only guarding two people of interest. One was the Elder, but I didn’t recognize the other. He was as old as the Elder, just fatter and shorter. His red beard had turned blonde with age and would have reached his toes if it wasn’t braided. He was covered in spots and freckles and had no cane, but limped and waddled. I let my grip on the golem go, and it continued walking with the two.

“These are the travelers?” the shorter of the two asked loudly—probably hard on hearing. His voice was higher-pitched and hardly had an accent.

“Yes they are,” the Elder told him.

“Aye… With that illager?”

I made sure to stay close to Versain as the golem approached with the two, just to be safe.

“He will be good. He isn’t from here,” the Elder said.

“You’re sure of that?”

“If Herobrine and Caroline are sure of it!”

Hero and I answered immediately, “Yes!”

“Then I am sure!”

The fat old man waddled to me, weary of Versain, I could tell. And I think he could tell that I was weary of the iron golem that hovered behind him. The old man reached his hand out and I shook it, and he introduced himself. “I am Abdiel, the Elder of this village.”

“Oh!”

So that’s why the Elder needed his permission

. “I’m Caroline Hargis. This is Versain,” I gestured to him, “And Hero—”

“Yes, yes, and Herobrine, Asim, Zeke. The whole village has heard of you! And, well, I’ve been listening to the tales, again and again, every evening! You’re all wonders!” Abdiel had this great belly-laugh and showed it off then, “And now that you’re all here!” he smiled and looked around, “Lord, you must share your adventure!”

Right off the bat, I could tell he was already much more cheery and welcoming than what anyone else in the village could be. He’s one in a million, and I doubted any other villagers would be as happy as him to see sorcerers and an illager in his town.

Abdiel went around and shook everyone’s hand—even Versain’s, and exclaimed, “Please, please, come sit in the dining hall! You must be hungry, walking here clear from the Enclosures!” Abdiel turned and began walking away.

“Good god, yes,” Asim exclaimed, following him.

I wasn’t exactly comfortable going into the village with the guardsmen still suspicious of us, but I moved along. The old man began talking loudly again, clearly excited, “And while we’re there you can share the tale, we can bring the village folk in to meet you, we…”

“Hey,” Hero walked alongside me, Versain alongside him. Abdiel still talked, but my attention was focused on my friend now. “You’re bleeding.”

I remembered my arm and looked down at it. “Oh, yeah. It’s nothing, I’m fine.”

Herobrine tapped my arm and the cut healed very quickly. I smiled, but of course, I couldn’t help but remember when I was hurt before—my leg and back were a mess. He kept his sorcerers a secret and didn’t heal me…

Ugh, what’s wrong with me? Of course he helped, he wanted to help. He got the potion and did who-knows how many other things.

Then I felt bad for putting off such a bad vibe back then to make him want to hide who he was. That’s the whole reason why he didn’t heal me.

Ha, you did the same thing to yourself, Care

.

I was in too deep. Hero could tell. “You good?”

I shook myself out of it. “Yeah! Yeah, sorry, I just… Thinking.”

“`Bout what?”

“I dunno… `Bout you?” I tried to be cheeky. “I just still feel kinda bad for being an ass when we first met.”

“Wait wait wait, hold up,” he grinned, “You just solved your own problem.”

I raised a brow.

“‘When we first met,’ bam. That was a long time ago. If you feel bad about that, then it's fine, but guess what? I’m still here,” he put a hand on my back, “And I couldn’t be happier~ So don’t worry about things that happened back then.”

“Oh my god…” I smiled and shook my head, looking away from him, “You’re so cheesy…”

“You love it!”

I took one step closer to him, sighing. “Thanks… You’re, psh, I dunno, stupid awesome.”

“

Stupid awesome?

” he echoed, “I’ll take it as a compliment?”

“Yes, take it as a compliment,” I assured him.

I scanned the village as we walked through it, and the first thing I noticed was that it was much bigger than the one inside the Enclosures. People within their houses were peering through the windows, skittish, and I must have counted over 20 heads. And that was only half of the town, we still had the other half to see! Abdiel and the Elder led us to the ‘dining hall,’ which I discovered was a giant building that could house dozens of people, and that really showed off the sheer scale of this village. The two Elders stepped up and opened the doors, the golem stood beside the steps, and our group went inside with the guardsmen at the back.

Inside, it was beautiful. Spacious and roomy, with giant windows lining the walls to let in soft light. In the middle of it all was an immensely long table, bench seats on either side, and it reminded me of the inside of the chapel back at the Enclosure village. Speaking of, if this was the dining hall, I could only

imagine

the church.

“Please, please, sit down!” Abdiel’s voice echoed in the building, “I’ll be back in a moment, I have to tell the village folk that you are welcome! I will bring cooks in and you can eat, and then we have to hear your stories!”

Hero smiled, “Will do!” and waved to him as he walked out.

The Elder stumbled to the table and took a rest, so I sat across from him, Hero on one side, Versain on the other. “Elder,” I began, “What… exactly are you doing here?”

“The village travels every midseason, remember?” he said as Asim and Zeke were getting settled.

The lightning sorcerer said, “But Enclosure villages don’t usually come this way.”

“We are the exception. You see, this is my home village,” the Elder explained, “and I come here every year. Abdiel is my brother and always welcomes friends of mine. He trusts my judgment.”

“Yeah, no doubt. Honestly, I thought Versain was done for there for a second,” Asim commented.

“Speaking of which,” I started, “You… know Versain’s language?”

“Yes, I do. So does Abdiel, but he’s, eh… shabby,” the Elder said, “Our father’s parents were from the north, where snowfall hardly ceases. Up there, many villages and mansions speak Old Norse. However, traveling south, you see many more English-speakers.”

“Old Norse? That’s the language?” I asked.

“Yes, and it’s becoming scarce.”

“Ohhh,” Hero suddenly went, “That’s why everyone had the accent back at your village.”

The Elder chuckled, “Correct, but they speak English well enough. They have to in order to communicate with this village.”

“So, they can all talk with Versain?”

“

Can

, yes.

Will?

That’s a different argument. Of course, he’s an illager, and many people see his skin and their stomachs flip…” he sighed, “You’ll have to forgive them. You see, this village has been plagued with raids recently. I’ll take you to the outskirts of the village sometime, show you the destruction of the library.”

“A raid destroyed the library?”

“Correct.”

“How many have there been?” Zeke asked.

“...Libraries?”

I about wheezed. “No, raids.”

“Oh!” the Elder laughed, “Excuse me… Three raids in the last month. This village is prosperous, we have over 100 residents here—including my people. Usually, trading caravans will pass through here every day, but because of the attacks we have been taking precautions and now we won’t allow travelers sanctuary,” he adjusted himself, stroking his beard, “It’s only winter’s end, but… Bah, all we need are a few more guardsmen.”

“Yeah, uhm…” Asim started, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen villagers doing the dirty work that the golem usually does. Are they with you?”

“They’re residents of this village, yes. Some have taken on the job of protecting the village, but we’re still short of people.”

“That sounds like an open invitation,” Zeke said, looking at Asim, “How’s about two sorcerers on your team?”

I raised my brow, surprised that they were latching on to the job so quickly. “Wait, Zeke. We can’t—”

“I like the idea,” Asim responded, “I could scout, do some devious work on the illagers~”

“Guys—”

“What’s your deal, Care? Thought these guys were your friends, don’t you wanna help them out?”Asim grinned.

“

Asim.

”

He was quiet.

I looked at the Elder. “I… I don’t know if you heard, but Versain’s mansion was burned by Abaddon. And, unfortunately, he’s the only one left.”

“What are you suggesting, Caroline? That he stay in the village?”

I shook my head. “No, not that. We need a mansion. I mean, I can already tell he’s way over his head. This isn’t his environment, and I feel bad for keeping him away from a place he could be more comfortable in.” I glanced at my friend, and the outsider seemed to know he was being talked about. “But, at the same time, I don’t want him being part of a group that’s causing you trouble. That’s just counterintuitive.”

The Elder squinted. “What do you need from me to do this?”

“A location? Another area where there are mansions, away from here? Maybe… just talk with Versain, let him know what’s going on?”

The old man grumbled, but not out of annoyance. More out of frustration, it seemed. “It’s already difficult, allowing him into the village.”

“I understand.”

“And pointing you in the direction of a mansion to give them one more recruit would damage the reputation of this village.”

“I understand.”

“Hm…” he looked at the table, deep in thought, “Let me speak with my brother. We will discuss the matter tonight, and let you know by tomorrow what our final decision is.”

Voices could be heard outside the doors of the dining hall.

“For now,” the Elder began, standing from his seat, “Fill your bellies. And rest. You’ve been on a long journey.”

The doors opened.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 15

Map Out the Plan

The Elder and his brother let our band sleep in a separate building, usually meant for storage but was filled with bedding for us. Not nearly as great as a lodge to sleep in, but I didn’t argue. They were already doing enough, and honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they kicked us out tomorrow.

Here’s what we know:

This village is super popular for merchants in the south. All sorts of business goes on here, trading, working, hunting, it all circles back to here. However, with success comes enemies—that’s why they weren’t accepting travelers—and rivals were found in the surrounding mansions. Really, only one mansion gives them so much trouble because it’s the closest to the village. From mid-summer to the end of winter they’re hit the hardest because that’s when the Elder and his village stock up here. That means more things to loot.

We want Versain in a mansion, but definitely

not

that one. We also want to get out of here soon enough so we don’t have to encounter a raid… Well, so the vindicator doesn’t have to encounter one. If word spread between mansions, he’d be hunted down. That’s not just an assumption, those are the words directly from Versian’s mouth. The two of us talked with the Elder as a translator. I told Versain everything. I mean

everything

. It went down something like this…

I told Versain exactly what had happened in the Enclosures, and explained to him who Abaddon was. He admitted that he didn’t have a care for the politics surrounding the Enclosures, but wished he did since his mansion was smacked in the middle of them. Maybe it would have helped him prepare more.

I apologized for what happened. He didn’t blame me. I didn’t think I deserved a clean slate from him.

I told him about my story, Hero’s, Asim’s, Zeke’s, the Elder’s, and why we were traveling. He seemed surprised that I was putting his best interests before any other of ours, but we had no other plans than to get him somewhere he belonged. One step at a time and he was the first one on the list.

He asked what the rest of us would do if and when he was going to join a mansion. Honestly, I didn’t know. I told him we'd either just do whatever falls into place without a plan or I’d get back to him after talking with everyone.

I told him about this village, and how it was being raided like crazy. He said he couldn’t be part of the illager group who attacked this place since friends of mine were here and they were helping us out.

He asked if there were any of those enchantment books to make communication easier. The Elder said that there

were

some available, but they were lost in the library. The Elder then insisted that he’d stick by Versain most of the day to translate.

That was around the end of our conversation.

Before that, though, the Elder and Abdiel kept their word and showed us the destruction of the library that was close to the outside of town. It was stomach-flipping, seeing the ashes that littered the ground, blackened papers and book covers, doors broken down and covered with axe blade marks, and the sides of the walls scraped with the armor and horns of a beast I hadn’t encountered. The Elders said it was something new, some twisted creature created by magic. When they asked Versain, he had no answer for them. He hadn’t seen one either.

The raid party tried to get into the other buildings, but failed. People had already boarded up the entranceways and the golems were on their way. Yup,

golems

, three in total, and a fourth on the way. They had to spend resources to make more of the automatons because of all the attacks, and the last of the group was nearly completely built. Hero asked if we could see how the magic worked to get them up and moving, but the Elders told us that it was more of a sacred ritual and that only the Elders and priests were allowed to participate. Anyways, the raid was stopped quickly, but they keep bringing more troops to try to infiltrate. Abdiel feared that one day his folk might catch a stroke of bad luck.

Even earlier than that, however, we were eating. Abdiel gathered up a few villagers willing to step into the hall to prepare something for us. Nothing special, enough to satisfy. While we ate we explained the situation to the brothers in full, and—since it was already late into the day—promised we’d have a grand story to tell the whole village tomorrow.

Which is probably why we were staying in a separate, small farmhouse. If we slept in the longhouse without the villagers knowing why we were here in the first place, it may have been chaotic.

Most of them were already asleep. Versain and the partners in crime were snoring away, while Herobrine and I were up for a little longer, whispering to each other about what our overall plan was. Not necessarily for the next month or two, but the next few years. What was our goal?

“We could just set up camp somewhere, have a permanent home, a sanctuary? Relax for a bit…” he suggested. He lay on his back in his bedding, and I was just next to him.

“Trust me, I love chilling out as much as the next guy, but… I don’t want to stay too long, you know? What if we get too old, and waste time that could be used in exploring and adventuring?”

“The Elder travels 1,000 miles twice a year and he’s still going strong,” he said in a joking manner, “No, you’re right… We need something to do. Some stories to tell.”

“Heard any rumors on your travels? Any mysteries we could debunk?”

Hero was silent for a moment, squinting up at the ceiling of the old farmhouse. After a moment, he casually said, “We could always try the Nether.”

I sighed, “Good to know you’re still crazy.”

“What? We could hop in, take down a few things. Blazes, pigmen, take a sword or a skull as a trophy. Just something small.”

“I dunno… I get the heebie-jeebies every time you mention the Nether.”

“How come?”

“Just stories from when I was little. People from the Enclosure would take a boat to the one that they built overseas and then never come back. Just always spooked me.”

“Yeah but… those are Enclosure folks. Surely half of them hadn’t stepped outside the city like you? Couldn’t handle themselves.”

“Guess not…” I said through a yawn.

He propped himself up on his elbow, head in his hand. I turned my head and looked at him, finding a dumb smile on his face. I grinned, “What?”

“Nothin`... just admiring you~” he forced.

“Oh god, stop,” I chuckled.

He lay back down, on his side with an arm over my stomach. “Get some sleep, Care…”

“Will do,” I told him.

He kissed the top of my head and settled himself. I grinned as I lay there, and eventually dozed off.

“

Scatterbrain! Scatterbrain! Scatterbrain!!

”

That’s all I heard through an empty dream, and it woke me with a start. I was confused at a few things, 1. What the hell was just said, 2. Why the hell was their yelling, and 3. How the hell do I take care of it before it potentially scoops my eyes out?

Then, right as I sat up, something was thrown over me. I recognized the material was a blanket and calmed down, finding that Hero was next to me (having the same panicked reaction), and realizing that I was still in the farmhouse.

I pulled the blanket off my head and saw the green-eyed sorcerer standing over Herobrine and I, an impish smile on his face. “Wake up, scatterbrains,” he cackled, “The people out there want a show, and we’re responsible for giving it to them!”

I scowled and rubbed my eyes while Hero threw the blanket at Asim. “I think I’d rather have a phantom screaming in my ear than have to be woken up by you again,” he grumbled.

“You two have been asleep for an eternity, the rest of us have already ate and got ready for the day.”

I stood, throwing my arms over my head and stretching out. “What time is it…?” I asked and yawned as my back cracked.

“Right `round nine,” Zeke answered, “Did you know they have a sundial? Behind the church.”

“Neat,” Hero said but seemed too tired to actually care.

“C’mon, get yourselves breakfast. We gotta throw our charm at these people~” Asim urged.

I sighed with content, “Alright, alright, we’re going.”

“I woke up in a building I didn’t recognize, people all around me, with faces so beautiful I thought for sure I was in Heaven. I sat up, reaching to move my hair out of my face but came to the realization that my arm was completely severed! Nothing but a patch of skin, healed by the sorcerers of the Enclosure. I panicked, I’ll admit, and—though Zeke was there to comfort me—I didn’t answer questions to anyone for days on end. I wanted to know exactly what happened, where my gear was, where my

flipping arm was.

About a week passed before someone dangerously evil stepped into the building they kept me in…

Abaddon

~” Asim curled his fingers and swept the crowd, while their faces were filled with disgust by the mention of his name.

Asim was standing on the long table in the dining hall, running back and forth across it to meet every villager he could as he overdramatized the story of our adventures. The village folks were really getting a kick out of it, and—even though I told him what had happened—the Elder was translating for Versain quietly. The vindicator laughed a bit at Asim’s take on the adventure.

“He demanded to know what happened, and at first I didn’t tell him. Too fed up, pissed about losing a limb, but he promised that I’d lose more than that if I didn’t speak up. That’s when he unsheathed his sword of pure death: a diamond sword, cursed with the wither effect, it could kill you with a scratch! I had no choice, I had to tell him what happened. I didn’t think it would cause so much trouble, letting him in on me ‘finding’ a mask and ‘finding’ a diamond pickaxe, helping out some outcast named Caroline. But he was all-too-familiar with the name and set out to find her. In the meantime, Zeke and I were thrown into the dungeons, awaiting our trials for a reason I didn’t know at the time. I thought that maybe he saw through my lies, knew I was a thief, but he could have cared less about that. No no, the only crime he was interested in was the vice of being involved with her…” he slowly turned and pointed to me, “And I’ll pass the story onto you, blondy~”

I blinked, then realized what he just said. “Oh,” I sat up, “Okay, my turn. Haha…” Asim reached his hand out and pulled me up onto the table, then sat in my place. “Alright, I don’t think I can make my side of it sound nearly as exciting as his, but… Here we go.”

I took a breath. “After Herobrine left I ran as far as I could, without a plan, just wanting to get away. Ran deeper into the Outcast lands until I thought, ‘Hey, maybe I can catch the Elder’s village.’ I did, but they were traveling, and they’d be going through the South Enclosure. Automatically, that was out of the picture, but they were nice enough to lend me a horse. So, I took it and tried a second option… definitely more dangerous… definitely more risky…” I glanced at Versain, and he had a small smile, “But it was a risk I took, and a risk he took. You already heard Hero earlier tell you all about how we got a potion from the mansion, got hurt along the way. Same mansion, and Versain, the vindicator sitting at the end of the table, is the same one I put an axe into. He—for whatever reason—trusted me. Too forgiving, but… I’m not ever going to

not

appreciate the help he offered. It was too much, honestly, much more than I needed.” His smile only grew. “We were able to communicate through enchantment books, and eventually the mansion came around, let me stay. It was definitely rocky at first, but we came around to each other…”

“What was it like?” someone called from the crowd.

I smiled, “It’s not like what the scary stories depict. They don’t have fangs and claws, they’re not man-eaters—in fact for a while I thought they were vegetarians. No, really, that mansion was just like a village. Family and friends, all helping each other, living their lives together. They’re cultured and artistic, every room you’d walk into had some sort of floral decoration. The mere fact that they were able to build a standing structure like that is just incredible,” I looked at the Elder, “And you said that you never once had a run-in with the illagers in the Enclosures?”

“Never,” the Elder answered.

I grinned, “I don’t know how the other mansions and raid parties act… I don’t know if they’ve got an excuse or a vendetta, but you can trust him. He and his family fought alongside me when we were being robbed! This group of outlaws came into the mansion and tried to take it over, and the illagers and I trusted each other to stand side-by-side with weapons drawn! They’re just… people. Normal people with problems like everyone else.”

I realized then that I may have seemed a bit too passionate about the whole situation, but ultimately I didn’t care. They had to trust Versain, I had to give him a good image in this town.

“It was a good run. But, in the end, I was only so lucky. Abaddon ended up figuring out my location—I don’t know how—and the mansion was burned and lost.” I sighed, wanting to look at my friend but refusing to. “Only a handful of illagers survived when we were dragged back to the Enclosures. And then, of course, Abaddon put on a show. We were all part of it. There was this giant ring in the middle of the South Enclosure, separating the humans and sorcerers. It was used for prisoners to fight monsters, and that day it was me and the handful of illagers. Abaddon sent out his first champion, a giant guy in bulky golden armor, but we soon found out that it was Herobrine. He took his helmet off, I was absolutely taken aback by it, and Abaddon knew we wouldn’t fight. So, instead, he threw in monsters. Skeletons, zombies, creepers, all the sorts,” I smiled, “And just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, they throw these to goons out,” I gestured to Asim and Zeke.

“Abaddon must’ve thought we’d brawl,” Asim went, “But that didn’t happen. And, when he figured it out, he sent his own guys down into the ring, along with more monsters.”

“I’m surprised we only got as hurt as we did,” Hero mentioned, “It was chaos.”

I felt a pressing weight on my chest, thinking of his words. “Yeah, uhm…” I cleared my throat, “We were the only ones to make it out. The rest of Versain’s mansion fell in the ring, he’s the last of them.”

I silence fell over the room. A dreadful silence that made me so uncomfortable to be standing high and mighty on top of the table. I forced myself to look at Versain, who was still being whispered to. When he finally heard the words I said, he didn’t have any realization moment. I think he was already somewhat content. He didn’t loom on the details, he just wanted to move on. I saw it in those emeralds for eyes.

A small voice came from the villagers. “How was Abaddon defeated?”

I looked to the teenager that asked, daring to break the silence. I stood a little straighter, putting my hand on the handle of the sheathed sword. “By his own hands,” I answered.

The sword was with me constantly. Last night I was scared of taking it off, fearful someone might sneak in and steal it and use it for who-knows. I told myself that I should use it sparsely, if at all, and for all the right reasons.

“This was his sword. Made of pure diamonds, twisted into this impossible shape, and it's cursed with the wither effect, just like Asim said. Something from the Nether, only found on the old swords of the charred skeletons that roam the fortresses there. I’ve always heard stories about the Nether when I was little, and until Abaddon, I didn’t think a withering sword could be weld by anyone other than the skeletons… I was wrong, obviously. This thing has taken a lot of lives.”

“It’s true that it could kill you in a cut?” someone asked.

“Definitely, which is why,” I shot a glare at Asim, “We shouldn’t unsheathe it unless absolutely necessary.”

He had a sheepish grin across both cheeks.

I continued, “Abaddon didn’t kill himself, so to say, but it was by his hands and by his sword. I have…” bail, “I’m a sorcerer. My perk is that I’m able to control things to a certain limit. Things like animals are easy enough, and I’ve learned that golems are alright. Uhm, to the guards that saw one of your golems just stop mid-swing when we first arrived here, that was me. I was just trying to protect Versain, nothing bad happened to it. Just sent the golem on its way.

“People, though, are tough. I don’t really use my power that often, but when I do it tends to be successful, thank god for that. If I was shabby, we might not be here.” I saw a lot of confused faces. “What I mean is, I was able to catch him off guard at the last moment. I controlled him, made him… uh…”

Asim hopped up on the table and scared the hell out of me, then cheered, “

She put the bastard in his grave!

”

The crowd sorta laughed, a few wooed him. “He said something like, ‘You did me a big favor, Hargis,’” he changed his voice super low pitched, “And then you were all, ‘Actually baby boo, you did me a favor!’ And then

WHAM,

never knew what hit him! He just takes the sword and

shink

,” he reenacted the whole thing with an invisible sword as if he were Abaddon, “Right through the chest! And he’s just as still as a statue, I’m thinking ‘Holy sh—t that was

epic!

’, and then Abaddon finally realizes that he’s dead. He, like, almost falls on you and is all, ‘meh meh meh, see you in hell,’ and then that was it! Caroline Hargis, an outcast, defeats the almighty Abaddon!”

Asim was clearly more excited than me. But, he got the crowd moving, they were excited.

“Wait a moment! Before it gets too loud! Caroline, Caroline, can I ask,” Abdiel began, “You had your little power all along, right? Why didn’t you use it right off the bat?”

I felt a lump in my throat as the crowd hushed. “Well, I had to wait for the right time. Abaddon’s whole thing is he can copy any power. So… if I didn’t do it perfectly the

first

time, imagine what damage he could do.”

Abdiel seemed to be satisfied with my answer.

A few from the crowd flocked close to Asim, asking what happened next. He was more than happy to over-dramatize the entire thing, and I was coming around to enjoy his side of the story. He was just so lax with everything, he didn’t have a care in the world. Now, if that translated into confidence or arrogance, I couldn’t tell, but we were all entertained nonetheless.

I found myself sitting next to Hero.

We were walking out of the dining hall, I was just out the doors, when something tiny attacked me at the waist. I looked down to find two little kids, hugging me and squeezing me tight, and I recognized the bright blonde hair. “Caroline, Caroline!!” they cheered, and I was more than happy to see them.

“Dayra! Trekker! Oh my goodness,” I was able to kneel down and hug the both of them as they smothered me with excitement.

“You’re here! You’re here, you came back!” Trekker squealed, and I was full of smiles.

“Did you get hurt?”

“Who are your friends?”

“Why is there an illager?”

The two bombarded me with questions that I couldn’t answer all at once. Luckily, though, Hero came out right behind me. They saw him and scurried over, jumping into his arms as he lifted them up. “There they are, I was wondering when we’d see you two!”

I giggled and stood, hearing a jolly and familiar voice from just a short distance away. “There’s the thief! C`mere, Caroline!”

I turned around to see Rasbrune alongside his husband, whose name had

completely

slipped my mind and went over to meet them. “Rasbrune!” I exclaimed, “Good god, it’s been forever!”

He laughed and we exchanged a very hefty handshake, “Ya sound like ya’ve been through hell `n back! Glad yer here!”

“I’m glad I get to see you again! How’s it been?”

Rasbrune was smiling so wide that his eyes were squinting and I didn’t think he could see me anymore. “We’ve been good, we’ve been good,” then he wrapped an arm around his lover. “You two ever meet? `Ficially?” he pointed back and forth between me and his husband.

“I don’t think so,” the shorter of the two said, his voice deep and calm. “Vertrun,” he held out his hand.

“Caroline,” I shook it.

“I apologize for never introducing myself, especially since my children seem to flock to you so often.”

“That’s fine, I know I haven’t exactly been the best with first-impressions.”

Herobrine walked over with either of the kids jumping at his heels.

“Never thought to find you here!” Rasbrune said.

“It was all by chance,” Hero told him, “We were given a map from a merchant.”

“So maybe it’s not all by chance?” I questioned, “The Elder

did

say that this village was a huge trading hub.”

“Aye, it be,” Rasbrune said, “How’re ya likin` it?”

“It’s giant,” Herobrine said, sighing, “And that’s saying something because I’ve been to

a lot

of villages.”

“Has to be big to fit in over 100 residents,” Vertrun said, Dayra moving over next to him.

“Caroline!” Trekker jumped next to me, “Can we, uh,” he stood still for a second, swaying, “Can we see the illager…?” he whispered.

Vertrun clearly wasn’t up for it, “Oh, no—”

Dayra followed her brother, “Please! You said he was nice!”

“I did say that, and I wasn’t lying,” I looked at the blonde-haired man, “But it’s up to your parents.”

Even Rasbrune was on edge, but he tried to take the kids’ sides. “We can go in with `em, make sure nothin` happens if yer worried.”

“We can assure you, Versain is no trouble,” Hero helped, “And the Elder will be there to translate.”

“Where is he?” I asked quietly to Hero.

“I think he’s still in the dining hall.”

The kids were pleading Vertrun to let them go meet the vindicator, and his eyes went from Rasbrune, to the kids, to Hero, to me. “You are sure it is fine…?”

“Positive,” I assured him, “And we can meet the other two, I think they’re still in there, too.”

Vertrun sighed, put his hands on the tops of the kids’ heads to make them stop bouncing, and went, “Alright. Let us go, we will meet the illager.”

The kids squealed with joy and we ended up turning around, back into the dining hall.

It was sorta empty. A few villagers were still gathered around Asim and Zeke as they re-explained a few parts of the story, a few were cleaning up the things that had been left behind after everyone was done dining, and the Elder, Abdiel, Versain, and a few guardsmen were near the back of the building.

Trekker looked so full of energy, like he could have burst from the excitement, but at the same time, he stuck very close to us. And the closer we got to Versain, the closer he clung to his dad.

The Elder noticed us walking to them, “Ah, there’re the travelers,” he smiled, “And with a few of my own.”

“Elder,” Herobrine started, “They want to meet Versain. I thought it’d be fine since they’re good friends of ours.”

“Of course, you’re not interrupting anything,” the Elder said, then turned to

Versain. He spoke what I couldn’t understand and made gestures with his hands, and Versain listened. Then, the vindicator looked to Rasbrune and Vertrun and held out his hand, saying something.

“He says he’s glad to meet you,” the Elder translated.

“Ah!” Rasbrune went, shaking his hand, and Vertrun did the same. “Never thought I’d be shaking hands with and illager.”

The Elder translated, Versain laughed and spoke, the Elder said, “He says if Caroline hadn’t already done so, he’d never think to be shaking hands with one of us.”

Versain asked something, and the Elder answered, but I only picked out the names. “Rasbrune, Vertrun, Dayra, Trekker.” The vindicator looked down at the kids and gave a wave.

“You can ask him whatever you want, guys,” I said to the children.

Dayra seemed too shy to speak, but Trekker squeaked something as he unlatched from Vertrun. “Why are you being nice to us?”

I felt my throat close up, trying to find a way to turn that question around into something less direct, but the Elder was already translating. Hero and I shared a look. Versain answered, the Elder said, “He and Caroline are friends, and the village is helping him. Can’t be mean to someone who helps you.”

I let out a sigh of relief.

Dayra spoke next, “How’d he get the scar?” she pointed to her face.

Versain appeared to be aware of the question before the old man translated. Honestly, I was curious about that, too, but was never able to ask.

The Elder was translating as the illager spoke, “He was hurt when he was a young man… He and a few others challenged an Enderman… It cut him across the face and bit his leg,” there was a pause and Versain bent down, rolling up his pant leg and showing a scraggly scar that looked like a shark-bite.

“Eww!” Dayra chuckled, and I stood there in surprise. His calf was all messed up and tightened by the scar, dark grey masses as big as gold nuggets lining up in an arch.

“I’ve got one, too!” Herobrine said, lifting up his shirt to show the scar across his stomach that he showed me so long ago. The Elder provided a conversation between those two and eventually we all were feeling comfy. We all showed scars: I had a small one on my collarbone from when I was little, I fell right on the corner of a cut stone. The Elder took off his headdress and on his bald, spotted head was a scar he got when he was much younger, he was thunked on top of the head with a shovel that a zombie had gotten hold of. Rasbrune lifted his beard and let us see a line where hair wouldn’t grow on his chin, he was kicked by a horse. Vertrun held out his hands to show all sorts of burns and cuts from shaping weapon blades and handles. And then, of course, Dayra and Trekker showed some scabs and tiny marks that were fading quickly, mainly scuffs on their knees where they’d fallen in the rocks. Eventually, Asim and Zeke found us, and Asim obliterated my ego by saying he’d never before had a scar until he lost his arm, and Zeke was able to shapeshift so he typically just made the scars disappear. Then, Dayra asked if he could shapeshift into a dog, and it happened.

The day was nowhere near over.

Later on, the Elder and Abdiel called us into the church to discuss Versain’s situation. It was mid-afternoon, the days getting colder by the hour, even in broad daylight. The two Elders had brought in a cartographer and a librarian to help with talk of mansions and to pinpoint their locations. They also had this giant, rolled up piece of paper that they lay on the table, still bundled.

The church was marvelous. A giant, cobblestone building with stained glass windows in peculiar patterns, and with the sun shining through them they painted the walls and floor in all sorts of colors.

We met the librarian and cartographer, the librarian’s name was Hayden, a man pushing his 40s and the cartographer a young lady named Rosaline who may have been only a few years older than me.

I learned that the further south you went, the less foreign it became, and so that explained the names and accents.

Rosaline unbundled the roll of paper and spread it across the table, while Hayden pinned the corners down. It was a giant map, depicting the width of the country from shoreline to shoreline. At the top left corner, you could spot the tip of the South Enclosure, but that wasn’t our main focus. I recognized the terrain from there to the village—which was marked in the middle—and my brain was going into a bit of an overload with all the symbols and shapes.

“This is us,” Rosaline said, pointing to the small drawing of three simple houses. Then she ran her finger to a different mark. “This one here, that’s a mansion,” It looked like a large home with two added sections to either side, “and you can see that there are quite a few on the map,” she was correct, there was one that was a few miles off of the path our band took to get here, more lining the mainland south, and just a few scattered about. “But, if you want to stay on good terms with us, you

won’t

go to this one.” The mark she pointed to was closest to the village and drawn in red. It was southwest of here, a few dozen miles it looked like.

“Alright, easy enough,” Zeke went, then asked, “Er… What are these tower-looking things?”

“Outposts,” Hayden answered, “You’ll want to stay clear of all of those. All pillagers, no evokers or anything out there, and they’re only out of the mansion to stock up for an upcoming raid. Which means their extremely hostile, and won’t take kindly to strangers, even their own kind,” he paused, “If we believe what you’ve said about your friend, then he’ll want a more passive mansion. Easy-going. You’ll have to go west for that, but that also means you’ll be passing through the Hennen territory.”

“Hennen?” Hero asked.

“That’s the name of the illager who leads most of the raid parties. We’re not entirely sure if she’s head of the mansion, but she’s captain for a reason. We’ve just called that whole area hers,” Rosaline said.

“

She?

” I questioned.

“That’s exactly what everyone else said when we first saw her. We thought it was men dominating the field, but not for this mansion,” the Elder said.

Asim raised a brow, “Are they still, uh…” he swiped his hand over his scalp, “bald?”

“Yes. All illagers are.”

“How come?”

“Magic.”

“What is that supposed to—”

“What are you here for?” Hayden suddenly interrupted.

Asim was quiet for a moment. “Er… Lookin’ for a mansion for this guy?” he pointed to Versain.

“Then let’s get to it. The sooner he’s out of this village, the better.”

“Watch your tongue, Hayden,” the Elder hissed, “These are my allies, my friends, and I won’t tolerate your tone with them.”

Abdiel put his two cents in, “We’ll find him a new place to call home soon enough.

Everyone will be happy.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, figuring that I wouldn’t be liking Hayden much.

“So… We have to make it past Hennen’s territory,” Herobrine said, tracing the path, “Then get to one of these western mansion along the coast?”

“Yes,” Rosaline answered.

“That’s a lot of walking…” Zeke murmured.

“Wait, wait,” I pitched in, “Once we get past these territories and get to the mansion, what next? How do we explain this, won’t they still be a

little

hostile?”

“Oh, I thought

you

had that part down. You know, since you managed to get into his mansion,” Hayden responded with snark, “...and then burned it down.”

I leaned forward on the table, showing my teeth. “

I

didn’t burn it down. And I’ll be damned if I don’t do this

one

thing to try to make up for it.”

“Woah, Care…” Hero pulled me back, but I kept my eyes on the librarian. “So, god forbid, you help us out in the slightest,” I finished.

“I’m already helping by letting him—” A cane hit the back of his head with a

thunk

, given by the Elder.

“That’s enough, both of you,” the old man ordered, “Be patient with each other.”

I bit my tongue, then looked at Versain. He was just kind of standing there, awkwardly, feeling the tension and probably guessing it was about him.

I had to get him back in a familiar environment. He had to be grounded, he was just floating around in his own little space of confusion and isolation.

Hayden eventually answered me… sorta, “Why don’t we ask the illager how to do it?”

I huffed through my nose as the Elder spoke to my friend. He seemed… stuck. After a moment, the Elder answered us, “He says that he wouldn’t be sure exactly. He has a few ideas, nothing solid, though.”

“Well, what are they?” Asim asked.

“If it were him, he’d want a reason to respect you. Bring them a monster trophy, like the head of a creeper, or challenge one of their leaders to a brawl. Even if you don’t win and just do some damage, his people respect a good fighter.”

“Huh… That explains it, then…” Hayden whispered to himself. I didn’t even have to think long to figure out that he meant he solved the question of ‘why be allies with someone who took your arm?’ This experience was just getting better and better, hm?

“Well… shouldn’t be too difficult, then, if all goes well,” Hero said, optimistic.

“Ha,

if!

” Rosaline laughed, pessimistic. “Listen, traveling is going to be the worst part for you people. Hennen territory is littered filthy with illagers that show no mercy and with monsters that basically live in harmony among them. Plus, if you plan to travel soon, winter is coming swiftly. Most food will be gone.”

I looked at Asim, “I thought this was supposed to be the part of the world where ‘summer never ends?’” I quoted him from weeks ago.

“Hey, I only

said

that, never

promised

anything,” he threw his hand up.

Herobrine put his hands down on the table, studying the map. “...How long do you think it’ll take to make it there?”

“A week, at the quickest.”

He sighed, then swung his bookbag off and opened it up, finding a map of his own. It was of the Enclosures, one I recognized. He turned it over and started making a small sketch of the distance from here to the coastal mansion. Rosaline helped him.

“Oh… so that’s it?” Zeke went.

“I guess. No better time to start than now,” I responded, “Hero, when are we leaving?”

Though he was still occupied with the map, he answered, “I don’t want winter to catch up on us. We need to find a place for him, then settle down with plenty of food. We should leave as soon as we can.”

I looked around at the others. “How does tomorrow sound? We can spend the rest of today trading for supplies we need, saying our goodbyes to any new friends we’ve made?”

Asim frowned. “Us two… have to go?” he gestured to himself and Zeke.

Hero looked up from the paper. “What?”

“Yikes, uhm…” he and Zeke shared looks, “We like it here. We need a town, really, and with the mansion that constantly raids this place we can still get our taste for adventure by helping defend them.”

“Since when did you take on a heroic life?” I asked.

“We’ve spent a bit of time in a village or two, helping defend them from monsters, been on hunting parties. We’ve done other things than just burglarizing, blondy,” he said.

I lowered my brow. “So… you’re just staying here, then?” I looked back at Abdiel, “Can they even do that?”

“Eh…” he didn’t meet my eyes, “No one can just put up a permanent home willy-nilly… but if they are offering services to the village, and they have the coin to rent the lodge or enough time on their hands to build a house of their own, then yes, they’re allowed to stay.”

“We talked with Abdiel earlier about this, Caroline,” Zeke said.

I broadened my shoulders. “It’s just… such short notice.”

“If you three really need us on the adventure, we’ll go, but…” Asim shifted his weight, “We would like to come back here. And with winter approaching, I think it’d be easier just to set up camp here now… Plus, you two aren’t planning on coming back after you drop off Versain, are you?”

Hero and I shared looks. “I… I guess not… Not anytime soon, at least,” he admitted.

I swallowed through a lump in my throat. I didn’t think I’d be getting choked up over those two, especially Asim, but it was happening. “We should be able to handle ourselves. Versain can fight, so can Hero, and I’ve got my eye and the sword in case if anything goes horribly wrong.”

“Yeah, you guys have this in the bag!” Asim attempted to reassure us, but it was clearly forced.

I looked at Herobrine. “Tomorrow, then?”

“Sounds good.”

I turned to the Elder, “Can you tell Versain?”

“Of course, Caroline.”

Hero went back to the table to finish the map with Rosaline, Abdiel and Hayden started to chat, the Elder spoke with Versain, Zeke and Asim were swapping words, and I was just sorta… standing there.

I didn’t want to start doubting myself there, but…

I started to think of how quickly the news spread… of Abaddon’s death, and how I did it, and how I got his sword. If the village heard it, then hundreds, maybe thousands of others have heard it too. I knew very well that there were definitely enemies amongst those numbers… What if they came to the village? Tore it all apart trying to find me? Hunt down Asim and Zeke, maybe the Elder? Abdiel? Rasbrune, Vertrun, their kids?

I had to stop thinking so much. I was sure this was becoming unhealthy for my mental state. I just needed to stop worrying, have a little faith.

God… it’s been forever since I’ve had that, though.

“You’re leaving? Again?”

“But you just got here!”

It was the next day. Herobrine and I were trying to convince Dayra and Trekker into letting us go. “It’ll be okay! Asim and Zeke are staying, they can tell you a bunch of stories about us!”

“Are you going to be gone forever?” Trekker asked.

“No, no, but it might be a while before we see each other,” I said, experiencing a bit of deja vu from the last time this happened.

“But what if it’s years? I can’t wait years!” he cried.

Vertrun attempted to step in, “Trekker,” he softly scolded.

I took over the conversation from there, though. “Just think of it this way… When we get back, I’ll bring you back something really cool, like gold still in the rock! And then we can tell you all about what happened, how awesome it was, and you’ll forget about all the time that you missed us!”

He nodded and didn’t speak, fazed a bit, I guessed. I patted his head and stood up from my kneeling position, then looked at Vertrun and Rasbrune. “It was great to see you two again… Sorry we’re leaving so soon.”

“Aye, that’s alright,” Rasbrune smiled, “You’ve things ta do, got places ta be, we don’t wanna keep ya from `em.”

Hero said goodbye to them and we transitioned to the Elder and his brother. “Thank you for keeping us as long as you did,” Hero said.

“It will never be a trouble for us,” Abdiel smiled.

“You must remember that you and your allies are all friends of this village,” the Elder spoke graciously.

I grinned, “You’ve been a huge help, really. Even when we don’t deserve it.”

He smiled back, “I haven’t recognized a time that you didn’t deserve my assistance,” he nodded to us, “Good luck be with you on your travels, friends.”

“Thank you,” Hero said. Versain was just behind us, and he and the Elder exchanged conversation.

We made it to Asim and Zeke. “You sure you’ll be alright? We kinda just dropped out of the group without warning,” Asim asked.

“We’ll be fine, we’ve done this sort of stuff before,” Hero nudged me.

“If you ever loop back around and catch us, say hi, alright?” Zeke smirked.

“We will, and we’ll have a few favors to ask, I’m sure,” Hero joked.

Asim smiled and looked at me, then reached out his hand. “Cool to meet you, blondy. I think we caught a little fame because of you~”

I shook his hand and nodded. “You make sure all your stories about us are as exciting as always.”

“Will do~”

I shook Zeke’s hand, too, and the three of us collected ourselves.

“We ready?” Herobrine asked.

I looked back at the giant village, at my friends, and wondered just how long we’d be gone for. I drew in a breath and blew it out, and met Hero’s eyes. “Ready.”

“Heigh-ho!”

Off we went.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 16

Captains & Curses

The days were shortening with summer’s close, which meant scrounging for food and hunting was becoming increasingly difficult. We’d been on the road for two days, things going uneventfully, but I was holding my breath. We’d already stumbled upon three abandoned camps, and we were sure they were left by illagers. A few broken arrows left, a crossbow string at one of them, and ashes that weren’t left by the fire. They were different, silvery and glistening, almost like salt or sugar left in tiny piles on the ground. When we questioned it, Versain drew a picture of a tiny devil in the dirt. I recognized it, it was a vex, and the ashes were what was left of them. Herobrine wondered if they had been attacked, but I recalled that vexes typically don’t stick around for long after they’re summoned. They wouldn’t have been attacked, anyway, things were too organized at the campsites.

We kept moving through them, and I was noticing a change in the air. Superstition, a curse, call it what you will, all I knew was that I had a bad feeling about the area we were in. Portions of forests had been cleared out, some trees taken with an axe, but most looked like they were snapped like twigs. Stumps stuck out of the ground, what was left of their trunk stabbing into the air. Scuffs were all along the sides of those trees, like a deer had been supersized and rubbed its antlers on the bark. They looked like the exact same marks that we found on the library in the village. I could only imagine what made them.

Noon came and went, but without a meal. We tried to find anything roaming around in the woods, squirrels, rabbits, but we weren’t having much luck. The best we were finding were some nuts that may or may not have been good, but we had no other option.

Currently, we were in a dead forest. It had been ravaged by a fire recently, the ashes on the ground had turned to soot and mud and the leafless trees were stained black. There was some life to be seen, however, with small green shoots rising from the charred ground here and there.

Hero was studying the map. “How big is this forest?” I asked.

“We don’t have much longer before we’re out. It covers miles north and south, but it’s just a sliver. We’ll be out in another hour or less.”

The sun was masked by thick rain clouds. It had been drizzling all day, but the clouds darkened by the ticks and we were sure to get rained on. Hopefully, we’d make it out of the forest before it did so we didn’t have to deal with too much more mud on our shoes, but that was doubtful.

Hero put the map away and we continued to walk without much to say. Versain led the way.

A good fifteen minutes had passed when the illager suddenly stopped in his tracks. Hero and I took a few steps closer to him, silent, not thinking much of it. That was, until, he unhooked the axe from his belt.

Herobrine and I exchanged looks, he equipping his pickaxe and I wielding my iron sword. I wasn’t sure what we were supposed to be looking at.

Versain motioned for us to duck behind a tree, then he pointed through the forest. Everything was grey and black, I wasn’t sure what he was pointing at.

The vindicator looked at us both and gestured for us to stay, then he walked on ahead. I wanted to follow but stayed behind as he said. Probably for the best, in case if he walked upon an illager party. They might be more reluctant to attack one of their own, unlike Hero or me.

While Versain walked further away from us my heart raced. I could feel the beats leap up to my throat and pound at my chest. I gripped the handle of my sword tighter and tighter, biting my tongue.

It wasn’t until the vindicator stopped did I finally make out a silhouette. Something huge, bulky and wide, taller than my friend. However, I still didn’t know quite what it was. Was it alive? Was it a structure? I thought I saw metal and figured it was manmade but the way the light hit it in certain places made it look organic at the same time.

I saw his head swivel from side to side, scanning the area until he turned around and motioned for us to go to him. He kept his weapon out, and we did the same, approaching with caution.

The closer I got, the more I looked at it, but the more I looked at it, the less sense I made of it. Until I was standing right next to it.

It was a giant beast, laying over, breathing weakly as its huge belly rose and fell. It was covered in dark grey-brown fur, walked on hooves, and had metal plating all over it, armor. It was still alive but dying, and I could only see the underside of its head from this angle.

“What… What is it…?” Herobrine asked.

I didn’t know. I had no clue what this thing was, no clue what it was doing here. I walked around, slowly, quietly, just so I could see its face.

I wish I didn’t.

Two horns protruded from either side of its head, worn down at the tips. It’s big nose sat above its huge mouth, carnivorous fangs flashing as it breathed. The thing that scared me, though, was its eyes. They were open, staring right through me, and they looked

human

. Like a man turned beast, and it made my skin crawl. I stepped back, realizing this thing may have been weak but it was very aware of our presence. Wouldn’t want to get caught between those teeth.

It dawned on me. “Do you think… these were the beasts the village talked about…? ‘New magic?’”

Hero’s eyes were fixed on the thing as he made circles around it. “I think so… I mean, what else could it be?” He rounded behind it, and I followed. There was a saddle tied into the armor, so the thing was… tamed? I didn’t know how an animal like this could be tamed in the slightest.

I was able to peel my eyes away from the beast and look at Versain. He seemed just as baffled as we were.

Going back to the front, I stood next to the vindicator and studied the creature. I began to pity it, seeing how it was dying without a cure. I didn’t see any wounds, but it could have been laying on a fatal mark. I reached out and touched its belly.

The beast jerked and made a bellowing sound, and we all jumped back. The thing sounded nearly human, like it was groaning in pain and fear. It was just borderline human, too human, and I hated the thought. It gurgled in its throat, then huffed and lay still.

“Care…” Herobrine started, “Boot marks. Not ours.”

I looked down at the ground, finding many footprints that surrounded the beast. They were semi-fresh, the ashy-ground still soft. I felt my blood run cold, fearing we may not have been too far behind a group of illagers, but I saw that they lead north, not where we were heading. I relaxed a bit, but not enough to where I felt entirely safe. “We should keep going…” I said softly, “We… we can’t do anything for it. No point in staying here.”

“Yeah…” he nudged our friend. “Versain, let’s get going.”

The vindicator put his axe away, giving the beast one more look before forcing himself to look up. He followed Hero as he walked, and I was in the back. I looked over my shoulder at the creature, and when it realized we left, it howled. Not like a wolf or a coyote, no, like a painful, lonely cry. It echoed throughout the forest, and I held my gut, picking up the pace.

The drizzle turned to rain, and the rain turned to a heavy pour. The wind picked up, and we were out of the woods, now in a biome of hills. We needed shelter from the rainstorm, and so we had to veer off-track for a bit. On the map, a forest was marked just south of the hills, and that’s where we were heading.

When the forest was in sight, we beelined it. Much of the forest leaves had fallen to the ground, but plenty were still hanging on the branches and offered cover. We’d stay here until the rain ceased.

Versain was taking off his coat and ringing it out, drying it as best he could. Herobrine was making sure nothing of his was too damaged, and I was finding large branches that had fallen to set up a canopy of sorts so the wind and rain wouldn’t kill our fire that we were about to make.

“Damn…” I heard Hero curse.

“What happened?” I asked, not straying from my work, but looking over my shoulder. However, I stopped when I saw what he held.

An Ender pearl. It’s teal colors ran deep into the center, the orb as big as his palm. “Busted…” he said.

“Busted?” I repeated, dropping the branches and going over to him.

“Yeah, look,” he ran his finger along the side of the orb, pointing out a large crease of sorts that cut into the pearl. “Once it gets like that it doesn’t work anymore. See,” he tossed the pearl just a few feet away, and when it landed on the ground Hero didn’t end up in his place. He stayed where he was, and the Ender pearl rolled.

“Oh… that’s disappointing,” I commented.

“Yeah,” he didn’t bother reaching for it.

“Where’d you get it?”

“Traded for it while we were in the village. Kind of a waste, now.”

“I thought you could teleport?”

“Meh… I can throw a pearl farther than I can teleport on my own.”

“Oh.”

Versain curiously picked the Ender pearl off the ground and held it, admiring it. He turned his head to us, looked like he was deep in thought, and tried to say something. “Eh… Eh… What?” he asked, signifying the orb.

“Oh, what’s it called?” Hero said, mainly to himself, “Ender pearl.”

“Ender pearl,” Versain repeated, and Hero nodded.

I appreciated how he was trying hard to learn English, even with just a few words. He saw what looked significant and asked what to call it, I guess in case if he ever needed it? Who knows how much he’d remember, but A for effort.

The rain failed to cease for a while. We set up a fire, the canopy, and kept as dry as we could. I managed to snag a squirrel with an arrow and we cooked and ate the tiny meal.

“I’ve been working on trying to control fire,” Herobrine said after a long moment of quiet. “I can make fire, but once it catches something it’s harder to put it out. I think I’m getting the hang of it, though.” He tickled the air and the campfire before us noticeably shrunk, but didn’t go out. He tried again, and the fire lessened until it was nothing more than a glowing pile of embers. Versain cocked his head to the side, eyeing Hero.

The fire was set ablaze again, growing within a moment’s notice, and it spooked the vindicator and I. He laughed it off, and I said, “That’s neat. It’d be a good power to have in case… well, in case we need to put out a fire.”

“Ha, yeah. I’m hardly good at it, though.”

“Oh yeah, because either of us are any better. Watch me,” I threw my hands out in the direction of the campfire and made a

shhhhhwooooooo

noise. Hero chuckled, “Look at that, I think you’re getting the hang of it,” he joked.

I put my hands back down and dusted myself off for effect, “I’m a natural, I don’t know what to tell you~”

Hero smiled, “How about your power? I wanna see what it’s like to be under your little spell.”

“I thought you already were~” I teased.

“You know I am~” he chuckled, “How about a second spell, then?”

I sighed, grinning, “Alright, alright. I’ll do it.”

“Try not to make me look like a monkey,” he grinned, standing.

“No promises,” I told him.

All I had to do was look at him and was ‘under my spell.’ I didn’t know exactly what to make him do, so I had him step backward and just kinda run around the camp. Versain seemed… extra confused.

“Uhm…” I thought it would be cool if I could control some of his fire. I had him stop in his tracks—he almost fell over—and then made his hands raise and ignite. Fire covered the area from his elbows up to his fingertips. I laughed to myself, hardly realizing that I could mess with his powers, too, and put the flames out.

“Ah?” I heard Versain. Giving him some of my attention and looking at him, he pointed to his eye. I figured he was asking if I was doing that to Hero, and I nodded.

I wondered if I could make him talk. “Say… Hel—”

“—lo,” he spoke at the same time as I did, and I was impressed with myself. I hadn’t really experimented my power like this, so it was a nice break.

I let my grip on him go, and when I did, he looked like a rag doll for a second, nearly falling backward. He caught himself as I exclaimed a “Woah!” and stood up. I met him as he recollected himself and kept ahold of his arms just in case. “You good?” I asked.

“Yeah, uhm…” he had this look to him.

My smile faded. “...What?”

“I dunno. Just felt weird… like I was a puppet. Haha,” he laughed breathlessly, “For a second there I couldn’t tell if you were still controlling me or not.”

I felt some regret. “I… Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you or anything.”

He stood up straight, “No, it’s fine. I asked for it. It was new, I mean, I haven’t been through anything like that before, ha…”

I sighed, “You’re sure you’re alright? Not bluffing?”

I still had ahold of his arm, and he put a hand over mine. “Yes, yes. I’m fine, I promise,” he smiled.

I let myself relax.

We had to stay the night in the forest. We migrated to higher ground because the rain made a complete slop of the ground beneath our feet, ridden with mud and muck. I was more than paranoid, having to stay in one place for so long, especially after finding those camps and the dying beast. Enemy illagers could jump us at any moment. But, I tried to reassure myself that the chance of us getting attacked was the same in any circumstance, didn’t matter if we were moving or not.

The rain stopped in the middle of the night and morning came. We all woke, attempted to find any sort of animal hiding in the trees or scrounging among the campsite, but we were empty-handed.

Just when we were about to leave we heard it. A bellowing growl from further within the forest, and a sudden choir of “

Whoop!

”s and laughter. We didn’t exactly want to stick around for whatever was coming up on us, but the attack was here before we knew it.

A mighty beast, the same as the one we found in the burnt-down forest, came howling through the trees. On its back was the grey skin of an illager, and following the beast were many more occupants of the raid party.

I didn’t realize I had frozen up until Versain yanked my arm and ran off with me. I threw my book bag over my shoulders and took off with him, Hero right next to me.

I already knew that we weren’t going to be able to outrun the party. Each of us carried tools and supplies in a heavy bag, while they were lightweight and trained for a chase. Before we were tackled, I was able to pull my bow out and ready an arrow. Right as I did, Versain went down. An arrow struck him in the back and he toppled over, rolling and snapping the arrow while also embedding it further into his back. I stopped, turned on my heels, threw my bookbag off, and aimed the bow right for the illager on the back of the beast. He pulled the reins on the steed and cackled, the people of his party flanking us on all sides and holding us at knifepoint. Hero was quick with his pickaxe in hand and fire in the other, and Versain lifted himself up but struggled to stand straight.

When the rider spoke, I realized that

he

was a

she.

No hair, still, and built wide, but I noticed her form and her tone gave it away. “Who the `ell is these folks?” she exclaimed, and I was taken aback that she was speaking a language I understood.

I could feel the beast’s breath, blowing hot hair onto me, huffing a wretched stench into the air.

“We aren’t here for trouble!” Herobrine yelled, shuffling behind me.

“Then why’s the `ell you in

my

territory, mister?” she chuffed, then twisted her head. It took me a second to realize that was a signal to the pillagers surrounding us to take us out. I saw Hero go down out of the corner of my eye, then I just barely missed a direct blow to the head. One of the pillagers hit him in the back of the skull with the butt of their crossbow, and another nearly did the same to me. I moved out of the way just in time so I wouldn’t get knocked out, but the blow came to my shoulder blade. I cursed in pain and was forced to let the bowstring lax. I felt the presence of someone

very

close and stood back up with force, crashing my back into them. It was a mistake, though, because I ended up getting trapped within two arms of a pillager, my back to his chest, and my arms down at my sides. I screamed and kicked, unable to get free. I dropped my bow but caught the arrow and just started jabbing it behind me. I felt it pierce and heard the pillager howl curses as he kicked me and tried to get me to stop, eventually just shoving me away from him when the arrow got stuck.

I was thrown into another pillager, sort of falling into him, and before he could grab me I shoved him off and lunged backwards, only to collide with someone else.

Er… some

thing

.

I had toppled over onto the face of the beast. It bellowed, I blinked, and then all gravity left me. I was flying through the air, a dozen feet up and at least double that the distance I traveled. I braced myself for a rough landing and collapsed heavily onto my arm, not only feeling but hearing a sickening

crack

from my elbow. I rolled and felt no pain until I was done moving. Then, it sank in.

All I attempted to do was push myself off the ground, and it felt as if my right arm was in a million pieces. Honestly, it might have been, being how hard I landed on it. My side ached now from landing on my limb and I think I winded myself, but those were hardly anything compared to the twisting, stiff agony in my elbow. Definitely broke it.

I tried to fight through it and push up with only one functioning arm, but a heavy blow to my back forced me back to the earth and kept me there. Took a second to realize one of the pillagers had their foot on me, keeping me down. Took another second to realize it was the chick who was riding on the beast just a moment ago.

“Eh, got a spark, you do?” she hissed.

I was fearful that there was a bolt pointed at the back of my head, so I thrashed as hard as I could, crying out in pain when I used my broken arm to twist myself around so I was facing her. She lost her balance but didn’t fall, only gave a tiny window of opportunity for me to attempt to stand, but I was forced back down with a kick to my face. My head flung backward and her boot came down on my face again, pressing into my cheek and pinning me.

“Goddamn, stop tryin’ miss. Yer dead no matter how ya put it.”

I clawed and punched her leg, “Get the hell off me!”

I heard angry protests back at the group of pillagers, mainly in another language. It sounded like Versain was struggling to break free of something and cursing the rest out, and they only laughed. “Cap`n Hennen! He’s from up north, ain’t one o` ours,” they shouted.

Oh, of course it’s Hennen. Why wouldn’t it be?

I cursed silently.

“Eh, keep `im. Frosties got magic, he’d be useful,” she called back. “In the `ell ya doin` wit` a frosty?” she asked me.

“What the hell are you talking about,” I growled, “You know what? —— off, I don’t have to explain dog sh— to you.”

She cackled, taking her foot off my face, only to transfer it to my shoulder. She looked me dead in the eyes, housing a grin. She wore red plaid and metal plating on her shoulders, forearms, and knees, and a cape of sorts started at her shoulder and drooped over her back. “Ya di`nt kidnap `im, he still got `is axe…”

“The hell does it mean to you?”

“Ya care `bout `im?”

I stayed quiet.

She snickered, knowing she had me. “How `boutsit ya tell me then what yer doin` wit` `im? `Cause we ain’t

gotta

keep `im `live.”

I bit my tongue, staring her in the face. “I, uh…”

She took her crossbow and pushed the end of it into my hurt elbow. I winced and groaned with pain, yelling, “Fine! Fine! Cut it out! I’ll talk!”

“Then start,” she pushed harder.

I swore aloud, “We’re from the Enclosures!”

Hennen let up, but the pain was still there.

“We’re from the Enclosures,” I repeated, “His mansion was burned down, he’s the only one left. We’re just trying to help him out!”

“Can’t even understand `is language, how ya know he needs any help—?”

Shouts came from the group behind us, the beast roaring and angry. I thought that the beast was attacking the pillagers, but I caught a view of a wave of fire that engulfed the group.

Hero’s up!

Hennen was distracted, looking over her shoulder, and I managed to shove her leg off of me and make her stumble and fall. I hopped up and reached for my iron sword, but remembered my elbow was broken and I was left defenseless.

Hennen was up in no time, firing her crossbow, and I was too slow. The bolt hit my leg and stuck, jabbed into the flesh. I shouted from the immense pain that radiated all over my body, warm blood soaking into my pants.

She didn’t bother reloading the weapon, instead she pulled out a terrifying-looking dagger from her belt and charged me. I stepped backwards but my leg collapsed in on itself and I fell. I took my left hand and unconsciously grabbed the handle of my sword, flinging it out without direction or accuracy. It cut her stomach but nothing more, and was flung out of my hand. Hennen tackled me and went at me with her barbaric nature, stabbing me wherever she could. She pierced my arms, my collarbone, my hands. I was screaming as blood spurted out of every cut, trying my best to block her with my good arm, and ended up having flesh torn away and my hand full on

stabbed through.

I kept my arm up but blood was falling onto my face and in my eyes, burning, and I couldn’t see.

Suddenly, the weight of her on top of me disappeared. I looked to find her toppled over a few feet away, on her feet quickly, and Herobrine was standing as a wall between her and I. I felt like passing out right then and there, but we had more problems.

The beast was charging at me, stomping it hooves, huffing, and letting out a bellow before racing to Hero and I. It was making the ground shake as it ran towards my direction. I could only keep one eye open, had a sudden thought, and yelled, “Stop,

stop!!

”

The giant animal skidded over the ground, bucking slightly. It stopped in its tracks and stood frozen.

Thank ——ing god,

I thought. I noticed Versain trying to get away from the rest of the group, but was struggling desperately to gain ground. I pointed at the pillagers. “Go! Attack them!”

The beast roared and turned, hustling to the group that followed my friend.

I tried to stand, but every part of me was a complete mess. I couldn’t catch my breath, I felt as heavy as a ton of bricks but as light as a feather at the same time. I saw the bolt lodged in my leg and thought I should start by pulling it out. The broken arm was no good, just hanging at my side, but my other arm was cut up and had a hole through my palm. I used it anyway, gripping the bolt as tightly as I could, my hand burning, and pulled. I groaned, hissing through my teeth, and tried, again and again, to get the arrow out. Finally, it let up, and I tossed the bolt to the side.

My sword, my sword…

I reached over my back for the handle, remembering that I had lost it just a minute ago. But… for some reason the handle was in my fingers. This was my iron sword on my back… What sword did I use…?

I caught sight of it. It smoked in the grass, reeking of death, laying there. I felt my breath hitch, not wanting to believe I used that one without even thinking about it. But I had to believe it because it was true.

That would mean Hennen was a goner. I cut her open with it… Good…?

I didn’t even know, I tried to crawl over to it, but my world was spinning and I was seeing double. My hand throbbed, and with each pulse, a little more blood squirted out. I lay down on the ground, so tired…

“

Caroline! Care, wake up!

”

“

Caroline! Caroline!!

”

I opened my eyes, rain falling onto my face, two familiar looks looming over me. It was Herobrine and Versain, their eyes full of concern and fear. I blinked, trying to remember what happened. I brought a hand up to my temple, rubbing the side of my head to counter the throbbing headache I had, but my hand stung. I winced and looked at it, finding the fresh hole in my hand. It all came flooding back, and I was actually happy we hadn’t found anything to eat, because it would have come up then.

Hero took my arm with a gentle touch, bringing it away from my face and holding it. “You awake, Care?”

“Yeah… Yeah…” I responded.

“You’re gonna be fine, just hold on. I’ll heal you,” he told me and kept his word. Starting with my hand, the pain disappeared. He grazed his fingers up my arm and slowly continued the process.

I tried to sit up, but Versain carefully pushed me back down, shaking his head.

“Stay down for a second, Care. You’re a mess…”

I took a breath in. “Okay…”

The clouds were spilling water again. The rain was nothing bad, just drizzling. I studied the other two. Versain had a black eye and blood coming out of his nose, and Hero had a busted lip and was sort of swaying back and forth, like he was constantly trying to keep his balance, even while kneeling. “What, uhm…” my voice cracked, “Are you guys okay? What happened? I passed out after you got the illager off of me…”

“I’m still a little dizzy from getting knocked out, but I’m doing the best right now. Versain got hit pretty hard in the face, still has the arrow in his back, but we wanted to get you on your feet first,” he took a breath, “Did you control the ravager?”

“R… Ravager?”

“That’s what the pillagers were calling that giant beast.”

“Oh… yeah. I think I made it chase after them?”

“Yeah, it worked. The majority of them went down before the ravager died, and then Versain and I took care of the few that were left.”

“What about Hennen? The lady with the cape?”

“She, uhm… she was having trouble staying on her feet, grabbing at her side. I just took advantage of it and finished her fight. But, she… you cut her with the sword, and she shriveled up.”

I felt a chill go up my spine. “God… I… I didn’t mean to…!” my voice was wavering, “She just came at me and I—”

“Caroline, hush… It’s fine, it’s fine…” Hero beckoned. “Here, let me help you sit up…”

He put a hand under my back and the other held my good arm, and I sat up painfully. I guess the fall did more damage other than my elbow.

He had already healed my leg. “Do you think you could get your shirt off?”

“You’ll have to help, my other arm is jacked up.”

“What do you mean, what else happened?”

“I got thrown by the ravager. Landed on my elbow pretty bad, I think it’s broken.”

He seemed a little wary about dealing with that. “Oh… Alright, let’s see,” he reached for my arm, and I flinched when he touched it. The joint was incredibly tender and hurt like all hell.

Hero was sort of… stuck. He bent his own arm, murmuring things under his breath.

“What?” I finally asked.

“...It’s just that I can’t

see

what’s broken. Harder to heal.”

“Er… Take your time?” I tried.

He shook his head, “I got it, I got it…”

I felt the pain dissipate from my elbow, then the joint shifted, popped, I yelped from pain, and then it was all over with. The injury ceased to strain, and it felt a hell of a lot better.

I bent it inward, expecting agony but finding none, then stretched it out and felt a small pop or click. It didn’t hurt, didn’t feel like anything, but there was definitely friction. I repeated the action, again and again, the pop still happening.

“You… good?”

“Yeah…” I told him, “There’s a little pop when I stretch it out, though.”

“Eh… want me to try again?”

“It doesn’t hurt… so, no?”

Herobrine frowned. “Let’s… Let’s get the other cuts.”

He helped me take my shirt off, and that proved to be a more difficult task than I would have liked. Versain looked away as I painfully raised my arms over my head. The wounds stretched with every movement and felt as if they were just tearing further across my skin. I’d been stabbed twice on my collarbone, once in the chest—though it wasn’t deep—a few times on either shoulder, and the side of my neck had been slit, but nowhere near deep enough to cause serious damage. Herobrine healed those quickly.

My shirt was a bloody, ripped mess. I held it to my chest after he was done, and said exactly what I was thinking. “That’s no use now, huh?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “But what else am I gonna use?”

“We could take something off the pillagers,” he offered.

I… wasn’t liking that idea. But, “I guess? I’ll take what I can get.”

He stood and helped me to my feet. “Or… If you’re not comfortable with that, you can take mine and I’ll wear one of theirs.”

Now I just felt like I was pushing a burden onto him, and I didn’t want to do that. “No, no… I’ll just take one.”

Herobrine started walking to Hennen, laying still on her stomach. I couldn’t see her face, and I didn’t want to. Her skin was dry and dark, like ash-covered stone. “Er… Maybe not her…” I said, and he stopped, “...Just in case.”

He glanced back to the illager, then walked to the group of fallen men a little ways away.

I stood in the quiet, not really wanting to make eye contact with either of the two, feeling grave. But I peered at Versain, sitting, axe lying next to him, hunched over and shaking his head. He wasn’t looking at me, instead, at Hennen… what was left of her, anyhow. I figured he was upset about the death of his people.

Er… Maybe? These weren’t really… his people. I guess it was the feeling I had back at the mansion when that group of sorcerers tried to raid the place and I had to help fight. Just kind of a sinking feeling, I supposed.

Hero came back with a red plaid top and I took it, dropping my shirt and leaving it where it lay. It wouldn’t be any use. I pulled the sleeves over my arm and tied it in the front, not much liking the smell, and it was big on me. I didn’t complain aloud.

I saw the sword on the ground. “Let’s help Versain out,” I said, going over to it, “I’ll try to get the arrow out of him, you heal whatever else?” I picked up the weapon and carefully sheathed it on my hip, refusing to mention it.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

We went to Versain and the first thing we did was get his coat and shirt off. He couldn’t lift his arm—in fact, he could hardly move—but it wasn’t very difficult to remove them because… well, because he only had one arm. The challenging task would be removing the bolt.

I was behind him, kneeling, and the first thing I noticed was not the fresh wound, but the older ones… He had scars all over his back, long, dark, and clean. I wondered just what could have happened for him to get those, but I couldn’t ask—especially not now. The arrow was the main focus.

It was nearly square between his shoulder blades but just missed his spine, which was a plus. But it snapped earlier, and there was hardly any place to grip without digging into his flesh.

But… it had to come out.

“Sh—…” I huffed, “Hero, give him something to hold onto? This is gonna hurt.”

“Yeah,” Hero picked up Versain’s axe and handed it to him. The vindicator took it and held it on his lap, fingers loose around the handle.

“And grab my shirt. This is gonna bleed,” I added.

Hero turned and reached behind him, grabbing and handing my torn shirt to me. I kept it on the ground, just in front of me.

I didn’t know how to approach or where to start, so I just jumped in. My nose scrunched up as I passed through the skin, unsure what I was trying to do at first. Versain jolted and hissed through his teeth, and I wanted to stop but knew I couldn’t. As far as I knew, Hero already healed the damage on his face, so I wasn’t interrupting anything up there.

I pushed another finger around the broken bolt and tried to pull, but with only two fingers and fresh blood running from the wound it was incredibly difficult. The illager groaned in pain, putting the blade-end of his axe into the ground and putting his forehead to the handle, gripping it tightly.

“C’mon…” I whispered, attempting again, and daring to push further in. God, I hated this; I could feel muscles tensing and a tough, hard barrier where his spine was. I put my other hand on his shoulder, trying to keep him still in case he decided to pull away. Audibly, you could tell he was in a lot of pain, and it must have been agonizing. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I repeated a few times.

Herobrine came around. “Do you want me to try?”

“No, I think I almost have it. Your fingers wouldn’t be able to fit anyway—” suddenly, a weak grip had just pulled the bolt out a little bit. Not all the way, not even close, but it was enough so I could grab onto it without digging into his back. “There!” I wiped my fingers off quickly but looked back up to see dark blood running down the trunk of his body. I scooped up the shirt and held it against him, just under the spot of injury. “Hero, hold this,” I told him, and he did.

I grabbed the arrow and pulled, and slowly it came out, but by now Versain was about to lose it. I heard him hold his breath as the arrow was finally,

finally

out. I tossed it aside and Hero and I traded jobs. I held the shirt and caught any blood that was pouring like a river from the hole in his back, and Hero began the healing process.

I backed up and sighed a breath of relief.

Thank god that’s over with

, I thought. Versain was mumbling something to himself as he let his axe go, sitting up. I studied the scars on his back more, really wondering what they could have been from. Maybe someone cut him over the back with a knife? I didn’t know.

We used the shirt to soak up the blood and Versain was able to stand without fault. He put his shirt and coat back on.

I wasn’t sure what to do for Hero. “You gonna be okay?” I asked, seeing that he was still swaying.

“I think so,” he assured me, “Just a little wobbly. Should wear off in an hour or two, right?”

“I don’t know… You were out for a while.”

“How long?”

“A couple of minutes?”

“That’s not very long,” he raised a brow.

“It is when you take a blow to the head.” I reached up and touched his chin, rubbing at the blood. “Plus, it looks like they knocked a tooth out.”

“No, no,” he smiled, “just my lip, I’m okay. Really, Care, don’t worry about me.”

I tried to believe him, but something was nagging me at the back of my mind, and I didn’t know what.

“Hey, we might have gotten hurt, but at least we did the village a favor,” he shifted, “Isn’t that the raid captain they were talking about?”

“Has to be,” I answered, looking over at the crumbled corpse, “...You… You think there’ll be more…?”

“Hopefully not, but I wouldn’t hold your breath,” he sighed, “Especially when the rest of the mansion figures out she’s gone… They’ll probably be looking for her, and then looking for us.”

I felt my shoulders droop with an invisible weight. “And if they know anything about what happened at the Enclosures, they’ll know to look for me.” I referenced the damage the sword had done. As far as I knew, this was the only sword like that, at least in the area.

“...We should get moving. We’ve still got another day of traveling until we’re out of here.”

I nodded, “Let me grab my bag.”

I walked back over to the group of fallen pillagers, the beast on its side with numerous arrows shot into its furry flesh. My bag was just outside of the group, and I forced myself to keep my head up and not look at the dead eyes of any of them.

I threw my bag over my shoulder and turned, spotting Versain sort of eyeing Hennen, then eyeing Herobrine, doing it again and again.

What’s his deal?

Was he angry at Hero for killing the captain?

I didn’t know how to feel about that. If Versain was having second thoughts about coming with us…

No, don’t start that, Care. He’s been with you this long.

Honestly, I couldn’t imagine Versain turning on us last second. That… didn’t seem right.

But he was clearly trying to get some sort of message across. “Caroline,” he grabbed my attention but continued in Old Norse. I had no idea what he was saying, but it seemed important. The illager was making a lot of gestures to Hennen and Hero, and I was very confused.

“What’s he trying to say?” Hero asked.

“I don’t know…” I told him.

Versain stopped talking for a second, knowing it was obvious we didn’t catch a word. He looked around, hopped over to Hero, and made a big gesture to him. Then he took his axe and pointed the blade to the captain.

“He… killed her?”

“Well, I could’ve told you that,” Hero said bluntly.

Versain put the axe away and tickled the air with his fingers like he was casting a spell. Then he pointed to Hero.

“Versain cast a spell on you?”

“But he’s a vindicator? Aren’t evokers the ones to do that?”

“I have no idea,” I said, shrugging.

Versain just seemed frustrated at this point. He suddenly made the gesture like he was milking a cow.

“What?” I involuntarily grinned. “Something with you killing the captain, a spell, and a cow?”

Versain grumbled, and I lost the smirk.

“Uh… Let’s just get a move on. It’ll figure itself out eventually,” Hero said.

“Yeah…” I agreed.

We started off again.

We’d managed to snag a small buck that was late for the warm weather. Really, it was thanks to a thorny bush, which the deer had gotten his antlers caught on and we took advantage of it. That was late into the day, and we were concerned about setting up a fire so late in case if a pillager patrol saw us, but we did anyway. We were starving, and it would probably be the best meal that we’d get all journey.

After we ate we stomped out the fire and moved a little ways away from it, just to be extra safe. We went to the trees and slept there.

To our luck, no pillagers. We woke, gathered our things up, and just before we set off again Versain tried to tell us about whatever had been nagging him all day yesterday. I wanted to understand, but I—being a bad person—kind of took it all as a joke.

Hero, though, wasn’t. And it surprised me. “God, does he ever shut up?” he growled.

“Woah, tone it back,” I batted him off. That was the first thing he said all morning, and I figured he may have just been tired.

He huffed.

“How’s your head? Still dizzy?” I asked, seeing if that may have been the case.

“I’ve got this hell-inducing headache if that means anything,” he snapped.

I frowned. “You good? You’re—”

“I’m dandy, Caroline,” he cut me short, not making eye contact and flashing his teeth.

I sort of backed off, not wanting to get in a fight. Bad morning, I guessed.

Versain walked close to me, keeping an eye on Herobrine.

The day progressed, morning turned to afternoon, afternoon to evening. We didn’t encounter any patrols, and I was betting that we were finally out of Hennen territory. I snatched the map from the outside pocket of Hero’s bag.

“You think we’re lost?” Hero asked, but in an accusatory way.

“No, I’m just making sure we’re out of illager territory.”

“Of course we are,” he exclaimed, “As soon as we got through the tree line back there we were out.”

I eyed him, “I didn’t make the map, I didn’t study the map, I’m just refreshing my memory. Chill.”

“Don’t tell me to chill, alright? So far I’ve been hauling ass to get you two this far.”

I stopped in my tracks. “

What is your deal?

You’ve been like this all day, what the hell’s going on?”

“Nothing’s ‘going on!’” he raised his voice turning to me. “I’m just sick of traveling, sick of getting hurt and then not having anyone help me out afterward. I don’t even get so much as a ‘thank you’ for saving your sorry life—”

“Ohoho,

excuse me?

Listen, whatever switch you flipped to make you this way, turn it off! You’re being an ass,” I shot, “You told me you were fine, that I didn’t need to worry about anything, and as far as I’m concerned I’m just listening to what you’ve been telling me.”

“Take a hint!”

“What hint? There was

no hint!

You don’t just all of a sudden start acting like this!” I shoved the map into his chest, “Just take the damn thing, let’s find this mansion.”

“I’m not done—”

“

I

am,” I hissed.

I took the lead, and Versain was close. This was more than just a bad day, something was very off about Hero. I’ve never seen him like that. And I was willing to bet those weren’t just his “true colors” coming to the surface.

I looked to Versain, and he had words hanging off the tip of his tongue.

I didn’t even wonder at the time if Hero’s mood had anything to do with what the vindicator had been trying to tell us.

We set up camp, not finding any food. The wind picked up, but there was no forest in sight, so we had to just take it without and shield.

Versain was already asleep, I was drifting, and Hero was just staring at the fire. Usually, it was his job to keep it burning through the night, but…

“Hey, Hero,” I spoke softly, “Get some sleep, I’ll take care of the fire tonight.”

He eyed me, took a deep breath, then laid back. “Great.”

I sat there awkwardly, silently. “...Do you need to talk?” I asked.

“No. Goodnight.”

I was beyond confused at this point, beyond frustrated. I was down-right pissed off at him. I saw nearly no reason for him to be spitting out the sh— he said today, the only thing I could think of was his head was still a mess and he may have felt sick from the dizziness. But he wouldn’t even tell me that, and I didn’t know his symptoms. He said he had a headache, but who even knows?

I didn’t say anything. I just let him sleep. Maybe he’d be better tomorrow.

I stayed up for a while longer until the fire died out. I fed it fuel, and then went to bed. I woke up a few times throughout the night to keep it going.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 17

Old Feeling, New Faces

Herobrine was definitely

not

better by morning. In fact, he looked, sounded, and acted worse. His complexion was grey and lacked color, his eyes weren’t shining, just a dull, lifeless white, and he seemed way droopier than normal. He was easy to irritate, and on most occasions he just frustrated himself but ended up shoving the blame on either Versain or me. His voice was coarse and had a different pitch, lower, and his grammar didn’t have the same slang it usually had.

I didn’t even feel like talking to him. Versain and I made a silent agreement to just not talk until we made it to the mansion. I let Hero lead just to make him feel like he had

something

he was in control of. The vindicator and I stayed back.

At this point, I was pretty sure Hero was possessed by a demon. Maybe.

Versain made small gestures to me, mainly the one of him casting a spell. Maybe that was it… But what had ahold of Hero? Did the witches he encountered a few years ago do… something to him? Could there even be anything to explain that?

I just hoped that whatever it was that made Hero like this wasn’t permanent.

Day six. One more day and we should be close to the mansion.

Uneventful and silent. That’s how the rest of yesterday was. We slept and morning came. Hopefully, by the end of today, we’d be approaching the mansion.

We were on the road again, but this time we’d found an

actual

road. A merchant road and a few traders were traveling north across it, trying to make it to wherever their destination was before the first snowfall. Hero stayed very quiet, even when asked questions. He didn’t even look at anyone, let alone answer them.

I was able to get a new shirt from one of them, not even having to trade much. Just the flannel I already had. The top was white and long-sleeved.

Versain seemed to find hope in the merchants. He spoke to them rather excitedly—actually, it looked more along the lines of desperately—and it frightened the travelers. I tried to translate.

“He’s been going on about this for a while. Something about a spell and a cow, does that ring a bell?”

I asked that to each merchant that we caught in our short time of being on the road, and none of them had a clue. Not until the last one.

“Ah, tryin’a wash out a potion effect, perhaps?” he guessed.

“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked.

“Well, potions are close to spells, and you need milk from a cow to get rid of the effects of a potion.”

“What?” I tilted my head.

He laughed, “You never heard of that?”

“I guess not!”

The merchant had the reins of a donkey in his hand, and he turned to his steed. He reached into the bag that hung on the side of it and pulled out a rather-large vile of milk. “I got some if that’s what’chu need.”

Versain’s eyes lit up and he nudged me repeatedly. I laughed, “Okay, yes, I’ll get it,” I told him. “Eh… we don’t have much,” I admitted, taking my bag off and unzipping it, “What will you take?”

“What’chu have?”

I sifted through. “Some towels, I’ve got flint and steel for fire, but Hero sort of has that under control…” I said, mainly to myself.

“Any spare tools?” the merchant asked.

“For some milk?” I gave him a look.

“Alright, alright,” he loomed over me. “Just give me the flint, I could use that.”

I pulled two shards of flint out of my bag and traded it for the vile, thanked the merchant, and we were on our way again. Not too far off the road did Versain take the vile and try to give it to Hero.

“The hell is that gonna do for me?” he snarled.

“I would drink it,” I said, “It might wash down some of your temper.”

“I don’t have a goddamn temper,” he barked.

“Uh-huh, sure,” I said sarcastically, “Just drink the damn thing, Hero.”

“Caroline,” Versain called, his voice further behind me than I thought it was. I turned to find Herobrine standing still, arms crossed, feet planted in the grown as he shot daggers my way. The vindicator stood between him and I.

“Hero, what the hell are you doing?” I called, “Start walking.”

“I’m not doing anything just to satisfy you,” he hissed.

I felt myself physically recoil, my brow furrowing. “Goddamnit, Herobrine! Stop being such an asshat and start walking!” I yelled.

He stood his ground.

I audibly groaned in anger, marching over to Versain. “Don’t drink the damn milk, I don’t give a sh—, just follow us!” I took the vile from Versain’s hand and shoved it in my bag, then yanked on the sleeve of his coat and walked away from Hero. I was betting he’d follow.

Versain wasn’t. He tugged my bag and tried to talk to me, but I was fed up. I ended up just grabbing the man’s arm and taking him with me.

We were traveling into some rocky hills, and just after this would be the mansion. After the little episode with the map, I decided to memorize it, so I wasn’t even all that worried if Hero didn’t follow because I knew exactly where I was going.

We approached the first hill and I raced to it, getting a running start the first foot or two up before having to grab hold of stray rocks that stuck out of the dirt. It was a steep hill, and through my anger and frustration I made it up, standing at the top. I looked down at Versain, who was staring right back at me and wasn’t moving. He had this look, a look of, “You can’t just leave him.”

And he was right. I couldn’t. I didn’t know what had gotten through Hero’s thick skull, but it was still

Hero.

I sighed, knowing I wouldn’t be happy if I had to argue with him one more time, but also knew that I wouldn’t be happy if we went to the mansion without him.

There was no way we’d move him now, but I bet he’d come over eventually. I was the only one with a bow and that meant that I was bringing food. He’d have to come if he didn’t want to starve.

We waited a long time for him, longer than I thought. We were wasting daylight, waiting around half an hour. Versain sat at the base of the hill and I sat at the top, just waiting for Hero to come through the tall grass.

Right when I was about to get up and go look for him, he emerged. The grass swayed and there he was. He saw us and sort of gave us a look, “You waited.”

“You came,” I responded.

“You guys need me,” he grumbled, standing at the base of the hill.

I didn’t say anything and stood up, grabbing my bag and throwing it over my shoulder.

Herobrine was the first one up, and when I tried to reach my hand out to make his ascent a little easier he swatted it away and got up on his own. I huffed and helped Versain up.

You could see the rocky landscape clear to the horizon, and just along the curve of the world was an army of teeny tiny trees. Beyond that were the illagers we wanted, close to the coastline.

“Heigh-ho?” I tried, looking at Herobrine.

He didn’t acknowledge me and took the lead.

I sighed.

A days-worth of traveling and we were in the forest that separated the rocky hills from the very west of the country. The sun was setting, and we had no food. “We should set up camp, get one last night of rest before finding the mansion,” I suggested.

“I can make it,” Hero said.

I slouched over just from the weight that this conversation would be. “Okay, but I’m tripping over every rock I’m so tired and I think Versain would like to at least appear well-rested before the mansion.”

“And whose problems are those?” Hero turned around and flashed us looks. “Your guys’. So you can either drop here and let me find the mansion, or you can suck it up and follow.”

I held my tongue. Versain was leaning against a tree, starting to take a seat because he thought we were stopping to rest. But I knew that if we stopped, Hero would keep going, and he’d probably get hurt. Versain was our ticket into the mansion, so it was all or none.

“Fine, we’ll keep going,” I acquiesced, stepping to Versain and holding a hand out. He was confused but took my hand anyway and I pulled him up. I walked closer to him as we followed Hero, slow behind him.

Honestly, I didn’t know how he could keep going. I guessed after all those years of traveling built up his strength, and his everlasting-asshole-ego wasn’t helping anything. I just tried to fight through the exhaustion.

An hour must have passed, the sky turning very dark very quickly. I could hear zombies amongst the trees but saw none, and felt very vulnerable following Herobrine. Little eyes watched from the branches, and I feared at any second we could get jumped by a creeper.

I opened my mouth to speak, to try to get Hero to halt, but I knew very well that there would be no use. Plus, bickering would make noise, and we may just lure more monsters in that way. Instead, I took out my bow and nocked an arrow, just to be safe.

I saw something gleaming in the distance. Through the tall bodies of the trees were bars of light, lightly shimmering, standing tall above the leaves.

Was that it?

Turned out it was! The glow came from the tall windows of the mansion, and it stood monumentally on the other side of the tree line. “There it is!” I exclaimed quietly.

Versain chuckled next to me, his eyes fixed beyond the leaves to try to see the top of the grand structure. We were nearly out of the woods.

Nearly.

What it looked like was the ground had a hidden mouth, long and narrow, and it stretched across many meters. Giant fangs ripped through the dirt and shifted the ground, not catching any of us but attacking just in front of us, like a warning. Then, they were gone as quick as they came. I yipped and jumped back, pulling my bowstring back and trying to find anything in the darkness. What I saw were tiny glowing devils, as white as snow, screaming and cackling as they came our way. Many of them flocked to Herobrine, who seemed apathetic about the attack until he was the prime victim.

I didn’t know what to do, it was too dark to see anything, and what was I going to do? Ask them to stop?

Wait a minute.

“Stop! We have an illager! We’re not hostiles, we’re not hostiles!”

“Shut up, Caroline!” Hero yelled, “And get these—gah!”

Hero just toppled on the ground, the vexes swirling around him, a rope of sorts tied around his legs. He tried to get up but the devils had strewn the same glowing rope over his torso and wrapped him up. They completely ignored Versain and I.

The vindicator and I raced over to our friend and tried to strike the vexes, but they were far too quick and small to even scrape.

Suddenly, we heard voices. “`Ay!” a woman’s voice. “If yer friendlies, drop yer weapons!”

Versain started yelling into the trees, panicked, I guess trying to find where they were. We stayed close, surrounded by vexes, not putting down our things.

“

Drop yer weapons, or them fangs won’t miss this time!

” And after that, someone yelled gibberish. Versain understood, tossed his axe, then literally slapped the bow out of my hand.

So, now we were weaponless, and Hero was stuck, yelling at the both of us—but frankly, I wasn’t listening to him. I was too scared for my life to even remember him at the moment.

Some figures emerged from the shadows of the trees, grey-skinned, a few in done-up robes, a few with crossbows, a few with axes. This was definitely the mansion.

The warrior illagers closed in on the three of us, and one of the evokers chimed in. He had loose clothes on, the same material and pattern as the other robes, but just tied up in a different fashion. “Ain’t this a peculiar bunch?” he stepped forward. “We gots a frosty, two sorcerers, `n one of `em’s cursed.”

I sort of held my hands up at my shoulders. “We’re not here for a fight…”

“Nah, I know what yer here for. Him, eh?” he pointed to Versain.

I blinked, sharing a look with my friend, then back to him. “Yeah… How’d you know?”

“How’d I know? Haha! You’re tryna sell him, ain’t ya?”

I froze up. “What? No! Like, wait…” I gave a sideways look to one of the illagers who had a crossbow to my face, and I sort of shimmied closer to Versain. “No, nobody’s being

sold

,” I told him.

“Then what do you have a disabled frosty for?”

“I—wait. Can we start over? I’m confused.”

The evoker looked around at his folks, then said, “Lower your weapons.” They did, and he walked up to us. “What’s goin` on? Explain yerselves.”

I cleared my throat, “I’m Caroline Hargis. This is Versain and…” I looked behind me on the ground. He wasn’t even struggling anymore, just staring at the sky, silently pissed off. Quiet vexes sat on him. “...Herobrine. I’m from the Enclosures up north, Versain and I have ties. His mansion burned and his people were killed by Abaddon, do you know of him?”

The evoker lowered his brow, then it struck him. “Wait a moment…

yer

Caroline? The one that took that ugly sorcerer on? Ya got his sword!”

“Ha… So you’ve heard?”

“I don’t know a soul who hasn’t!” he laughed, “Yes, I have! But… why’d ya come all the way here?”

I motioned to Versain. “He’s the last of his mansion. We’ve been across the country, to a village, met travelers and merchants, but that’s not the life he wants. He needs a mansion. And I wasn’t sure how the whole thing worked… if you even take newcomers?”

“Ah, so yer just tryna find this poor soul a home?”

“Exactly.”

The evoker leaned to his side and scrunched his nose up at Hero. “And… what’s his deal?”

“If only I knew. He’s been pissy for a few days.”

The evoker gave me a look, “He take one of ours?”

“Er… what?”

“Ya don’t know the disease he got?”

“...No.”

He sighed, “He’s got himself a bad omen. It’s what happens when ya kill an illager cap`n.”

I tried to dig deep to see if that rang any bells, and found none…

Until, “Wait.

Wait!

”

The evoker sort of jumped.

“Yeah! Er—no! Not one of yours, uhm…” I collected my words. “We went through ‘Hennen territory.’ And we, uhm…” I prepared myself to control one of them in case they didn’t appreciate my upcoming words. “...We got rid of a patrol. They charged us and Herobrine killed Hennen…” I stood there awkwardly.

There was a long moment of silence. The evoker looked around to the others, a half-grin on his face. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he laughed, “`Bout time someone did it.”

I felt relief wash over me. “You aren’t allies?”

“Hell no! Just the opposite! We—” he stopped himself. “Eh… I could ramble on for hours `bout that. Let’s figure this out,” he paused, “Yer Caroline, the one who killed Abaddon and got his sword. Can ya show me the sword? Just so I know yer the real deal.”

I nodded, reaching over my hip and unsheathing it halfway, I didn’t want to fling the blade out and accidentally hit one of our possibly-new-allies, so I just showed him part of the smoking blade. He seemed convinced.

“Ah, so ye are,” he chuckled, “And ya want us to give yer friend a place here?”

“Yes.”

“And yer other friend’s got a bad omen… Which complicates things.”

“How so?”

“That’s why we attacked in the first place. When yer cursed with that, it’s like a beacon to all other illagers. We saw ya comin’ from a mile away.”

“Oh… Well, how do we get rid of it?” I asked.

“Milk. Just like gettin` rid of a potion effect,” he answered.

…

...I felt…

...so dumb.

Of course,

of course!

That’s what Versain was trying to tell us! A spell—the omen—had been cast on Herobrine after he killed the captain, and he needed milk from a cow to get rid of it. I put my palm to my forehead. “Yeah… yeah, that makes sense. We have some milk. Versain was… jeez, it’s a long story,” I took my bag off and reached into one of the outside pockets, removing the vile. “So he just drinks this and he’ll be fine?”

“Yup. And then we can invite him in. For now…” he reached his hand out, “Call me Kehtal, head of the mansion.”

I shook it. “So… you’ll help?”

“Sure!” Kehtal started to walk past us. “Take yer weapons and put them up. Ya can tell us all `bout yer adventure inside. Get outta the spider-filled woods.”

I shivered at ‘spider-filled woods,’ and picked my things up. Versain hesitantly did the same. We turned and I was about to follow the evoker, but saw Hero still on the ground and stumbled. “What about him?”

“He drinks the potion.”

Hero turned his head to the evoker. “I’m not drinking sh—!”

I cringed. “Yeah… Uhm, Hero,” I set the vile down next to him and spoke as sweetly as I could, “They’ll let you go if you drink it. Then you can come inside, I bet you'll feel a million times better—”

“—— off,” he snarled.

I scrunched my nose up. “Alright,” I hissed and knocked the vile over as I stepped past him. Versain followed.

“The hell are you going? You’re just leaving me out here with these idiots?!” he yelled.

“Drink the thing ya pink bastard!” Kehtal laughed, and beckoned for Versain and I. “Come on, he’ll be fine. We’ll keep a few others out here with him.” Most of the group followed behind us, not tense, and I concluded that these were the most passive illagers I’ve ever heard off. “Sorry ‘bout yer friend,” the evoker said, “The omen does that. Makes ya grumpy.”

“Little more than that,” I commented.

The mansion had doors, huge ones, doubled and had to be shoved open. When we entered, the mansion was bright. Torches lined the walls with glowstone chandeliers hanging on certain parts of the ceiling. Versain and I were just taking in the view.

Kehtal was chuckling. “Impressive, aye?”

“Very,” I laughed.

The evoker eyed my friend, smiling. “Aye, Tekel!” he called to one of the illagers, “Get us a translator for the frosty!”

“Yup!” Tekel was an evoker, and he walked off.

“That’s my brother,” Kehtal said, “Baby brother, by a few years.”

“Alright,” I said, “Can I ask you a few things?”

“Sure.”

I thought I should start with what the hell had just happened out there. “Uh… Why did the ground try to eat us out there?”

He laughed. “That was me, sorry if I spooked ya~ I’m an evoker, it’s just a spell we gots.”

“Oh. That is… utterly terrifying,” I commented, “Okay, here’s a more important question:” I began, “Why do you call Versain ‘frosty?’ The raid patrol in Hennen’s territory did that too.”

“Ah, `cause they’re from up north, where it’s cold. And, I knew he was on ‘cause only illagers up north speak Norse.”

“Okay… I guess that makes sense,” I’ve never heard of that before, “What about back there when you asked if he was being sold? What was all that about?”

“Eh, frosties tend to have more magic in their blood. Which, unfortunately, makes them prime to being sold fer slavery. That’s why I was askin` earlier.”

“Woah woah woah. Slavery?” I questioned seriously, “I—what?”

Kehtal sighed. “I guess there’s a lot about it ya don’t know,” he said to himself, “How `bout this: I’ll get back to ya later `bout that, okay? We both want answers, but we’ve got other things to do right now, a`ight?”

I had a creeping thought. “You’re… not going to do anything to him, right?”

“No, no. Hell, that’s another reason why we attacked, we thought

you

were doin` somethin` to him. Thought you were comin` Hennen territory. She was all about gettin` frosties, usin` `em to do wicked things. She was able to create this sort of beast with `em,” he looked me in the eyes, “We don’t take trades from Hennen. We don’t take frosties for bits of coin. `N since yer friend had the omen, we assumed ya may be from Hennen’s mansion.”

“Ah, well, that’s good,” I said, relieved. “And we actually encountered a few of those beasts on the way here. They’re called ravagers,” I added.

“Damn,” he cursed, “How many?”

“Just two, one was dying, the other was killed off during the chase,” I explained.

“Hm…” he thought for a moment, “I’d ask ya all `bout it, but ye seem awful beat.”

I laughed, “That’s one way to put it.”

“Tell ya what, we’ll take ya to a spare room. Can’t have you in the lodge on such short notice,” he began walking down the hall, and Versain and I followed. I sort of had this feeling that he’d throw us in the dungeons like what happened to me at Versain’s mansion. “But there should be extra blankets and such in there. Just one big storage closet, nothin` bad.”

Oh. Maybe not the prison then.

Kehtal was walking rather quickly, while Versain and I were dragging behind. “You’re full of energy,” I commented.

“It’s been a good day,” he said, and you could hear the smile in his voice.

I looked over my shoulder to spot a few illagers tailing us. I figured it was just them making sure we wouldn’t stab their leader in the back, but it still gave me a bit of panic.

We turned the corner and walked down to the back of the mansion. Kehtal quickly spun on his heels and went into the opening of a darker room; if I had blinked I would have thought he just vanished in thin air. Versain and I followed, struggling to keep up, but then we nearly ran into him.

“This is where you’ll be fer the night, I’ll have someone stay outside to ensure yer’s and everyone’s safety. Just take what ya need, there’s blankets fer 50 people in here and whatever else we ain’t usin` at the moment.”

He was right, the back of the room was a compiled mess of shelves with blankets, half-spun wool, cotton, and a lot more that I didn’t bother to name. The rest of the floor was clear of everything else, except, of course, dust, but it wasn’t much.

Before I could even thank him he brought a finger to his chin and asked, “Yer group hungry?”

“Ha, yeah… Just a little,” I answered.

“A

lil`?

” he laughed, “I can hear yer stomachs growlin` from across the buildin`!”

I grabbed the back of my neck, “Don’t trouble yourself, we’ll be fine until morning.”

“No no no, we’ll get ye a quick meal so ye ain’t sleepin` on empty bellies,” he turned and started out the room. “Ah! There ye are!” Kehtal said to someone just out of my line of sight. The evoker turned back, “This is Inpin!” he exclaimed, pulling a younger illager into the doorway. “She’ll help translate for the frosty! Make yerselves comfy!” Off he went.

One of the guards (I suppose that was the closest thing they were) followed Inpin into the room. The illager wasn’t higher than my nose and had to be younger than me by a few years. “`Ello,” Inpin greeted.

“Hey,” I responded, holding out my hand, “Caroline. And this is Versain.”

She shook my hand, and I immediately noticed how frail she was. Soft touch, skinny hands. “I’m Inpin,” she said, then looked to my friend and started speaking his language. Versain smiled and shook her hand.

Ha, here I was again, unable to understand them. This is how Versain felt. Hahahaaa…

I could tell she was trying to include both of us. “How long did ye travel to get here?”

“Psh, a

while.

I think… a month? Around that,” I answered.

But now we were at an awkward standstill.

I tried to help, “How old are you?”

“Thirteen, ma`am.”

“

Thirteen?

And you already know Norse?”

She smiled, humble but her pride was glowing, “Mhm,” she giggled.

I recalled how someone was yelling (what sounded like) Norse outside, just before Versain dropped his axe. “Does anyone else know it?”

“I think maybe one or two adults know a little bit of it. But I’m pretty sure they can’t translate very well,” she answered, “Do you know any of it?”

“Not a word,” I admitted, “Which sucks for the both of us,” I gestured to the vindicator, “Communication is really limited.”

Inpin nodded, then turned to Versain. They started talking…

And talking…

And

talking…

I didn’t mind. I think my brain needed a rest from… well,

everything

right now. Plus, she was probably more comfortable talking to Versain than me, even if she hadn’t met either of us before. I just kinda leaned back and allowed them to do their thing. Versain seemed to enjoy it.

The guard that came in tried to help me out. “Can I ask ye `bout that sword, miss?”

I shook myself out of my faze and looked at him. He wore a dark grey top with a heavyweight buffalo plaid flannel tied around the waist, colored blue. He stood around a head taller than me and his face was covered with stubble. “Yeah, go ahead,” a pause, “But, uh… I honestly don’t know how much you’ll get out of me. I don’t know a lot about it myself.”

“How’s it work?” he asked.

“Er… you swing it?”

He laughed, “No, I mean the spell it’s got.”

“Oh! Oh, jeez, I’m sorry,” I chuckled, “I’m really jumbled right now.”

He laughed along, “That’s fine, I get it,” he held out his hand, “Zeflen.”

“Caroline,” I smiled.

“I know,” he grinned, “Ya’ve made herself quite the reputation.”

“Is it a good or a bad one?”

“Eh,” Zeflen casually shrugged, “Good fer us. Mighty impressive, what`chu did.”

“Can’t say I did it alone,” I admitted.

There was a pause.

“Uh, the sword,” I suddenly remembered, “It’s got a wither effect on it. So if someone got cut by it their skin would harden and go black, and it would slowly and painfully kill them.”

He blinked. “Oh. You said that rather bluntly.”

“I’ve had to explain it a few times,” I said, and he chuckled.

“How much danger ya face? Any battle scars?”

“Ha! Surprisingly, not a lot! I’ve managed to fix them up before they left scars, but I’ve been hurt more times than I needed to be. I had a rock in my leg that left a huge gash, phantoms clawed at my back if I remember correctly, I got stabbed in the stomach. That was fun.”

“

What?

” Zeflen laughed aloud.

“Yeah! It was a whole trip, and that hardly scratches the surfa—”

“Caroline!” there was a familiar voice—and a familiar face—in the doorway of the closet. It was none other than Herobrine, hair ruffled, looked rather out-of-sorts.

I wasn’t wanting him to ruin the conversation between Zeflen and I, but it looked like I had no choice but to give him his due. “You’re up,” I said, “Did you—”

He shuffled over to me awkwardly, sort of laughing under his breath. He grabbed both of my shoulders and practically shook me, “What the hell was in that milk? I feel ——ing

alive!

”

I blinked. “Woah. Calm down.”

He let me go, “God, I need a crash,” he ripped one of the blankets off the shelves and threw it on the floor, “They said we could just use whatever.” He threw another on the floor. And another. And...

I was… dumbfounded? Baffled? I mean, what the hell was this? “First he’s pissed off and now he’s… drunk?” I exclaimed, mainly to myself.

Zeflen had been laughing the entire time. “That’s just what happens. He’ll be this way for an hour.”

“How do you know?” I asked, “One of your guys get taken?”

“Hm? Oh, no, not that. I’ve had the omen on me, actually.”

“What? Illagers can get cursed, too?”

“`Course! If anyone or anything gets killed by a captain, bam, bad omen,” he explained, “I took one of Hennen’s caps.”

“Oh. How long did you have it for?”

“Not more than a day,” he answered.

Hero had made quite the pile of blankets and quilts. Once he looked satisfied, he just flopped onto it and wrapped himself up. Without taking his tools and equipment off…

“Good god…” I sighed, “You believe me when I say he’s not usually like that?”

“`Course I do,” Zeflen said, nudging me, then asked, “He yours?”

“Hm?”

“You two together?”

“Oh. Yeah. We just sort of clicked.”

“Well, ain’t that romantic,” he said sarcastically.

I shook my head, “I don’t even know how to romanticize…

that.

” I painted the air with my hands in the direction of the pile. “Do you have someone?”

“Nope, I leave that to my brother,” he gestured to Inpin, “She’s my niece.”

“Oh, alright~” I smiled.

We spent the rest of the night making short conversations, then Kehtal came in with a few others who had a few treats to munch on, nothing much, just some bread loaves a few things to go along with it. I was going to get Hero up, but…

He was snoring away in the pile of blankets. Loudly. The quilts rose and fell with each breath he took. I figured I should just let him lie.

Zeflen was the one who stood outside the closet while we settled ourselves. I pulled some blankets from Hero because he stole

all

of them, then Versain and I just crashed. Today was

waaaay

too long, I was ready for a night’s sleep.

Before I went into dreamland, I had this vague feeling of deja vu rush over me. Sleeping under the roof of and illager mansion; I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t getting used to it.

I snoozed.

Morning light snuck its way into the room from the doorway. I woke up to the rays of sunshine on the other side of the room, sitting up and rubbing my face. Everything was quiet.

I looked around. Versain was sleeping soundlessly, his back facing me, and Herobrine had kicked most of the blankets off of him and was just laying on the floor, snoring comically. I grinned and shook my head.

I stood, being very cautious to not make much noise, and threw my arms over my head. My back popped, I let my limbs lax, and I silently tiptoed over to the doorway. I poked my head out.

“Morning,” I heard someone whisper to my left. I looked to find Zeflen, standing guard.

I smiled, “Morning,” I greeted, walking out.

“How’d ya sleep?”

“Just fine. I’ve been in way worse places,” I answered.

“I take it yer friends ain’t up yet?”

“Not yet. Should I get them?”

“Don’t got to. I’ve still got another hour before I can hit the hay.”

“You’ve been here all night?”

“Yup. I get the graveyard shift,” he said, “I don’t mind. Get to sleep throughout the drama of the day.”

I noticed the daylight outside the windows. The sun wasn’t even past the tree line yet, it was still early. “Don’t you get bored? Tired?”

“Nah… I guess I’m nocturnal,” he chuckled. Then, he started explaining to me, “Can’t let you leave `till Kehtal’s up. He’ll be here to tell me my shift’s done, then he’ll probably discuss the matter of Versain and whatnot,” he sighed, “I dunno. Not much into the politics of the place.”

“I get it,” I said, though didn’t really get it… I tried to make small talk, “So… you’re a guard?”

“Yeah, I usually watch the entrance of the mansion, but I get moved `round from time ta time.”

Silence.

Awkward silence.

…

Zeflen shifted his weight. “...How’s Versain? I didn’t get ta meet him,” he asked.

I smiled. “He’s a trooper, that’s for sure,” I sighed, “Poor guy doesn’t have an arm, but he acts like it never happened. Doesn’t even faze him. Sometimes I forget he’s missing a limb.”

“Ya know how it happened?” he whispered.

I took a breath. “Haha…” I tried to shake the weight off with a laugh, but the guilt was

still

heavy. “Yeah, I do. Uhm…

I

took his arm off, actually… Sorta…”

Zeflen gave me a look, “Oh, is he one of those fellas? ‘Friendship is as good as the fight?’”

I shrugged. “I’ve never heard that, but I think that’s half of why he kept me around,” I looked at him and told him the story. I figured since he’d be asleep for the day he wouldn’t hear us tell the mansion of my group’s adventures, so now was a better time than ever.

I’m not sure why, but it still surprised me to see how intrigued people were when the tale was told. To me, it had just become part of my life, and something crazy was just another day. But I had to remember that to the audience it

wasn’t

just that. They were practically listening to a legend in the making… I knew because Zeflen said that to me.

Turned out I spent the better part of the hour retelling the story and answering his questions. As much as I hated recalling the memories, I loved it when he became completely engrossed in them, and his eyes looked like they shared the adventure, too. I appreciated the one-on-one.

Before we knew it, illagers were waking and roaming the halls. Kehtal was one of the first up, accompanied by two others, and they hurried over to us. “There she is, bright and early,” the evoker smiled, “Thank you, Zeflen. Go get some sleep.”

“Thank you, sir,” Zeflen nodded to me and went on his way.

“Yer friends still asleep?”

“Yeah, I’ll get them,” I turned into the closet, walking amongst the blankets. To my happy surprise, one of them was already awake. Unfortunately, it was the one that was easier to wake—Versain. He was rubbing his face and looking tired as hell, but saw me and smiled.

Herobrine was still snoring.

I laughed and shook my head, hoping that when he woke up he would be good ol` Hero and not a flaming lump of anger. I braced myself as I walked over and shook him a bit, “Herobrine,” I said.

Nope.

I jostled him a little rougher, and he finally escaped dreamland. His shining eyes opened and landed on me. “...Morning…” he grumbled, but not out of annoyance, just because he was tired.

Maybe...?

He sat up and rubbed his face. “How are you feeling?” I asked.

“...Good?” he said, “Why, what’s up?”

I blinked. “Uh…” I grabbed his face and studied him. He kinda laughed. “Care?”

“You’re not grumpy or anything?”

“...No…?”

I squinted. “Do you… remember the trip here?”

“...Yes..? We’re in the mansion, right?”

I let go of him. “Hm…”

He glanced away for a second and nervously laughed. “...Right…?”

“Yeah, we are…” I answered, then stood, “Uh… come on. Kehtal wants us.”

He chuckled and stood with me, “Care, you alright?”

I nearly choked. “You were the one who wasn’t!” I laughed, picking up my gear.

“Uh… Am I missing something?” Hero looked around for his gear, then realized it was still on him and gave a little, “Oh. Oops…”

Versain was already at the door, waiting for us with the other illagers. Kehtal saw the white-eyed man and put his hand out. “Herobrine! How are ya, pal?”

Hero blinked and shook his hand. “...Fine… Was I sick or something? Did I hit my head again?”

“Again?” Kehtal questioned.

“When we were attacked by Hennen’s party he got knocked out. We haven’t been able to heal him,” I explained.

“Ah, that what this is, then?” Kehtal poked Hero’s lip.

“Yup. That too,” I said.

“Well, that’s easy enough. You in a lotta pain?”

“Er… No. I just get dizzy from time-to-time.”

“You be willing to wait just a tad to get healed up? I want one of our junior evokers to practice on your wounds if that’s alright?”

“...Sure?”

“Great! If you three will follow me, we’ll get ya fed `n all. Then I’ll arrange a meet in the dining hall so we can all hear yer adventure.”

“Sounds good,” I said, “But uhm, Kehtal? Why can’t he remember anything?”

“Hm?” the evoker looked over his shoulder, “He can’t remember the journey here?”

“No, he remembers that. But he doesn’t remember being all angry and everything.”

“Oh, that’s normal,” Kehtal slowed down and walked with Hero. “Lemme tell ya what happened. You killed an illager cap`n. Because of that, you were cursed with what’s called a ‘bad omen.’ Only other illagers can see it, it’s like a beacon of sorts, let’s `em know where ye are.”

“...Okay,” Herobrine clearly had a lot to take in, and Kehtal was a fast talker.

“You drank some milk, got rid of the omen, and you remember everything that happened while you were cursed, but ya won’t remember the side effects of it.”

“What were the effects?” Hero asked.

“Yer easy to anger and rude as all-hell,” the evoker smiled and patted his shoulder, then hopped on back to the front.

“I—wait—Care? What’d I do? Did I hurt you guys, what happened?”

I sighed, “No, you didn’t touch either of us. You just said some things and didn’t cooperate. Just a… pain.” I tried not to sound too mean.

He frowned sort of drooping, “Sorry.”

“Ain’t gotta be sorry `bout nothin`,” Kehtal said, “Ya killed Hennen, that’s hard to do.”

“Ha!” I laughed at the thought of her stabbing me numerous times, “No sh—. She messed us up.”

“Tell us ‘bout it in the dining hall,” the evoker whipped around the corner.

We walked past the entrance and up a flight of stairs, then wrapped around to the south wing of the mansion. By the time we made it to the dining hall, my legs were burning from having to chase Kehtal all over the place. He sure was a character...

The hall was a giant space filled with numerous tables and countertops lining the walls where food was set out and being picked apart by the illagers. Quite a few of the mansion-folk were already in there, and more were coming in behind us. The smell of baked bread and smoked food filled the air, and a very homey feeling washed over me.

“There’s food fer breakfast set out already, just go `round the room and pick what ya like,” Kehtal explained, “Meet me back at the end of that middle table, see it right there?” he pointed to it, and I nodded, “You’ll eat, then we’ll hear yer story, a`ight?”

“Sounds good,” Herobrine said, and we shuffled to the walls of the room. I tugged Versain’s arm when he completely missed what we were doing.

We awkwardly found where we were supposed to grab wooden trays and went on our way. I was immediately drawn to biscuits, freshly made, paired with honey. I don’t think I’ve ever had those before, and I don’t think my stomach growled louder. I remember seeing sorcerers in the Enclosure walk out of markets with biscuits and the smell would carry through the air, and I swore I would have traded my life for a taste.

I may or may not have taken five of them, completely doused in honey… and then nothing else.

As we got our food (or rather, Hero and Versain got their food and I just pretended to get more), I noticed the diversity that was rather strange to me. In Versain’s mansion, there were only men, and most—if not all—were fully grown. But here, there were men, women, and children running around—some guys had big beards, others were clean-cut, some skinny, some with meat on their bones. Women tall and short, pacifists and warriors. Children of all ages were near their parents, infants in the arms of some, teenagers talking with each other. It was like a village.

...Why was Versain’s so different?

I dwelled on the thought as we made our ways over to Kehtal and his guardsmen, plus three others. I recognized one, it was Inpin. The evoker welcomed us to sit and introduced us. “Herobrine, Caroline, Versain, these lovely folks are Genler and Hynda Andorsson. Father and mother of our translator.”

Inpin then—un-ironically—translated for Versian. And I thought to myself,

Oh, they do have last names.

We shook hands with those two, and the dad asked, “How’s she doing?”

I chuckled, “I’ve only met one other person who can translate him, and he was

old.

On our part, she’s doing wonderfully.”

“Ah, she’s a charmer,” Genler laughed. He had a full beard and his head was just barely covered in a layer of thin hair like it had been shaved nearly to the skin. That was new.

“Who taught her?” Hero asked, and we all sat down.

“Taught herself,” Hynda answered. She was a tall and skinny woman, currently dressed in field clothes like she was ready for an adventure. “I tell ya, she’s probably spent more time in the library than with us.”

Inpin had a sheepish smile and made eye contact with no one.

I was busy feeding my face while Hero made small talk. “What do you guys do?”

“I’m a maintenance guy, make sure the mansion stays up on her feet,” Genler said, “She’s more of a daredevil, and she can throw an axe like nobody’s business,” he gestured to his wife.

They’re cute

, I thought to myself.

“I met your brother,” I said through mouthfuls of food, “Zeflen.”

“Ah, was he out at the front gates last night?” Genler asked.

“Yup,” Kehtal answered, “And he stuck outside the closet where our guests slept.”

“How was he? Didn’t do nothin` weird, right?”

I sort of laughed, “No? Haha, why do you think he would?”

Genler laughed along, “Just like him sometimes.”

“Well, whatever he does, there’s no way it could outdo the craziness of this one,” I nudged Hero, and he nudged me back.

Kehtal chuckled, but not necessarily at us, “Ya steal all the biscuits, Caroline?”

I felt myself go red in the face. “...Was I supposed to take only a few?”

“Haha, nah. Take as many as you like. Just amusin`.”

“She lived in the South Enclosure,” Hero said, “Where the food is as grey as the sky.”

“This is practically heaven on earth,” I commented.

“Ya can thank our

numerous

cooks and bakers. They’re damn good,” Hynda smiled.

Inpin was talking with Versain at the end of the table. He looked happy to be conversing with someone, and she looked happy to show off her skills. I felt this sweet joy seeing them.

“Anything we should know about yer buddy before we get going?” Kehtal asked.

“Well… He doesn’t have an arm—bet you figured that out already—but he’s still really skilled in combat. Came from within the Enclosures, last of his mansion, can’t speak English…” I pondered about his personality. “He typically only raises a weapon when it’s for the sake of his friends. That’s… sort of how we met.”

“Don’t spoil much!” Kehtal stopped me, “I was just curious about perhaps anything that he’s done in the past, anything significant?”

I sat and thought for a second before Hero chimed, “Wasn’t he the head of the mansion?”

“Oh, right! Yeah, he was the go-to guy back when he was still there,” I said.

“Ah, what d`ya know!” Kehtal grinned.

“That must`a been hard ta figure out,” Hynda pointed out.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You know, since they were all slaves,” she said.

I looked at Hero, and he looked at me. “...What?” he questioned.

Kehtal cocked his head to the side. “You don’t know?”

I know Kehtal said that ‘frosties’ were prone to getting sold, but… I didn’t think he meant that directly towards Versain. Surely not? I didn’t see anyone with more authority than the vindicator in that mansion. But now I was really suspicious of it all. “Know what? What was going on in that mansion?”

“Eh…” Kehtal grabbed the back of his neck, “It’s a touchy topic. Can we talk after we hear yer story?”

I sighed. “I… I guess?” a pause, “Can you tell me one thing though? Was it… bad? Like, were there bad things happening in that mansion?”

The evoker shook his head. “No, that place would`a been a sanctuary for `em.”

I nodded, “Alright…” So many different ideas were spinning around in my head. I tried to shake them off the best I could, but they kept coming back. I remembered the scars on Versain’s back.

Surely not…

At least he was here now? I didn’t even know how to feel. This ambiguous conversation was tearing at my brain, and I wanted to know more. I forced myself to let it go. For now.

“Storytime” was a lot less dramatic than it was at the village, but

way

more pressuring. This was for the sake of Versain, and if they didn’t approve of him, then I wasn’t sure where to turn to next. Nearly all of the illagers of the mansion joined in the dining hall to hear us. There may have been just as many people there as the village. Plus, not as bold as it was at the village, no standing on top of tables or scaring anyone… I couldn’t believe it, but I was missing Asim’s way with words. All of it was… nerve-racking… to say the least.

But, it all went over well. Of course, I got a

lot

of looks when I tried to steal from the mansion and then indirectly got it burned down, but they turned around when we got revenge on the man responsible for it.

After all of it, Kehtal made an announcement to the mansion. He asked if they’d be willing to let Versain stay, and the entire room

boomed

. I mean, I think the mansion

shook

their voices were so loud. They all agreed, and I wasn't entirely sure what they were so excited about, but I bet anyone that I was more thrilled than the entire room.

Thank god, we did it!

Kehtal pulled Herobrine, Versain, Inpin, and myself out of the dining hall and off to the side of the mansion. “I know I gotta explain some things to ya,” he spoke to both of us, “I didn’t realize how… eh… uninformed the Enclosures were… how

all

humans were,” he tried to put it as nicely as he could. “I ain’t sure where to start.

“Just start somewhere. It’ll all fall into place, right?” I said.

The evoker nodded. “Right. Okay,” he took a breath, “You said that you stayed at his mansion. Notice anything different `bout mine?”

“Yeah, way more people. And you’ve got kids here,” I answered, and wondered what this had to do with anything.

“And women,” Kehtal added, “Ya see, that mansion of his was abandoned ages ago when humans started buildin` the Enclosures. But, it still stood. And since it was closed off from the rest of the world, that mansion was a refuge fer frosties.

“I told ya already, frosties are slaves `cause they’re hyped up on magic. Even though he’s a vindicator, he could learn some tricks and be an evoker, no problem. They’re interchangeable, and their blood is used as an easy way ta get potions, spells, omens, all sorts of magic. Men more than women, so typically, gals are killed.”

I had this sickening feeling in my gut. “What about the children?” I asked.

“Frosties are more often than not found in the hands of slave-owners, and they usually refuse to have kids for the youngster’s safety,” Kehtal answered.

“So… what happened to Versain’s mansion? How’d they all get there?” Herobrine asked.

“Either of you hear `bout illagers raiding the North Enclosure?”

That rang a bell for me. “Yeah, when I was little I heard of that… Was that them?”

“Yeah, but the whole raid part ain’t entirely true. A group of illagers escaped from slave owners and fled south. They ended up at the gates of the North Enclosure, and they snuck in, a straight shot through until they got inside the crime lands,” he looked right at the vindicator, then to me. “The lead frosty had a scar on his brow.”

Versain

. He really was a slave, then. God, that put some things into perspective. “...How… How do you know?”

“The slave owners posted pictures of him everywhere, wanting illagers to hunt him down.”

“So, other illagers are slave owners to each other?” Herobrine asked.

“Unfortunately. Only a few humans know `bouts the whole thing, so a few’ll try to sell `em. Real rare, though.”

“What happened after that? Did illagers try to raid the Enclosure?”

“Tried, but no one could get past the gates. The humans and sorcerers were all on guard now. By that time, your friends had probably already made it to the mansion. Then, after things quieted down, other frosties ran for the Enclosures. Versain left very specific instructions on how to get into the city, so the slaves knew how to do it. But hardly anybody speaks Norse nowadays, so their captors had a hard time findin` `em.”

“So illagers just started popping up at the mansion?” Hero asked, and Kehtal nodded.

“How long were they there for?” I asked.

“Around ten years,” Kehtal answered.

“Did you know who Versain was when we first got here?” I asked.

“I had an idea, but I didn’t think it was

the guy

who saved those poor souls.”

“...How do we not hear more about this?” Hero asked.

“That’s my question, pal. I guess humans don’t like to get wrapped up in illager drama. They’d rather stay as far away from us as possible,” he sighed, “That’s… why I’m glad you brought him to me. And why you trust us. Not a lotta yer kind do. And it’s almost an award to have a frosty here.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Because Hennen’s mansion is such a big slave-trade place, the other mansions in the south get a bad name for it. People start hearin` that we’re a frosty sanctuary, more will come here. More numbers mean more success, and we get a better name.”

I hadn’t even realized that Inpin was translating everything for Versain until a true moment of complete silence washed over the group, and all you could hear was the end of her words. I looked at Versain. He appeared distraught, probably from remembering everything. At first, I questioned why he wouldn’t tell us everything right off the bat when he had the Elder translating, but I bet he didn’t want to dive too deep. He didn’t know anyone in the village, and their problems were very different from his. Plus, I didn’t hear any villagers calling him “frosty,” so they didn’t know about his situation and I doubt he’d want to explain it to a bunch of strangers.

“...Uhm…” I didn’t know what to say. “What’s going to happen to him while he’s here?” I asked.

“Well, we’re gonna teach him English so we can talk to him. Inpin’ll probably help lots with that. He’ll choose his rank, if he wants to stay a vindicator, we’ll let him be. Maybe teach him how to ride a horse, figure out a way to put him in a hunting party. He’ll be one of us. Nothing more, nothing less,” a pause, “That’s what ye want fer him, right?”

I suddenly realized the reality of the situation. Versain had been hiding away for ten years after being a slave for who-knows how long beforehand. Now he was riding along with us so he didn’t have to get captured again.

Hell, he may have a lingering thought that we were trading him! Kehtal said that sometimes humans would do that. I sure would have thought that, anyway. I felt myself sink.

But… but he’s not! He’s going to have a great life here whether he likes it or not—

I should put that more elegantly.

“Can you promise me a few things?” I asked, “Can you keep him safe? And make sure he’s doing well?”

Kehtal smiled. “As long as he’s here, he’s family, miss.”

I felt my cheeks go red and bittersweet happiness washed over me. I think I could trust these guys.

I… I think I could leave Versain.

Herobrine’s scuffs were healed by one of the mansion’s “junior evokers,” an apprentice in practice. Kehtal told me that the first thing every evoker learns are healing spells—for obvious reasons. The junior couldn’t have been older than ten, and I had to say, I was impressed already with what he could do. Better than me. But, when the pain in Hero’s head didn’t subside, Kehtal let the kid off the hook and healed my friend with ease.

I learned a few things while I was there. We talked with Kehtal about defeating Hennen and the beasts she had. The evoker explained to us that the mansions used to be allies until Hennen came into power, and she wanted to turn her group into all-out war illagers. Kehtal came into power around the same time as her and had opposite intentions. He was focused on trade and gathering more troops to welcome into the mansion. He and Hennen butted heads until either of their patrol parties got into a bad fight, and that’s when it was declared officially that they were rivals.

He told me that Hennen had gotten her hands on a few frosties and kidnapped a few humans. For the longest time she was attempting to create something, something very new and very dangerous: ravagers. Though he wasn’t for sure, Kehtal had a theory on how they came to be. Easy magic from northern-illager blood was used with a potion or spell, and that magic collided with a human captive. Maybe she threw in some animal with it, he didn’t know. But he was for certain that those things were cursed people, once human, but now mindless beasts. That made me uncomfortable in more ways than one, and I guessed it explained the human-like eyes that I always saw on them. Made my skin crawl…

After that, I also learned;

There’s a big difference between sorcerer magic and evoker magic. Typically, sorcerers only have magic because it’s genetic, and usually can’t learn anything more than the power they already have. But with evokers, they have levels. They can either use low-scale spells and never learn much past that, or they can rank up to a master spell caster. That’s what Kehtal is. They also have a few things to do with genetics, I learned. Like how the more people who practiced magic in your family line, the more likely you are to automatically be an evoker. With their magic, it means a loss of hair. That’s why Genler had a faint line of hair, he came from a very long line of laborers who “wouldn’t know a spell if it were shot at their faces.” Kehtal’s joking words. Then I asked if there had been any illagers with long, flowing hair. And this was his exact response:

“Well, yeah. But not on their heads~”

Hero got a kick out of that.

Witches were sort of… in the middle. In fact, they were cross-breeds, made when an illager and a human/sorcerer hooked up. That explained why neither illagers or humans were big fans of them, because neither party usually approved of the mix. Kehtal could have cared less, but every witch he’s encountered has always been the first to strike. They don’t trust many people other than themselves.

Despite the name, there can be witches who are men, but strangely they tend to be women 90% percent of the time. Their spell-magic is nowhere near as advanced as an evoker’s or a sorcerer’s, but they practice and succeed in brewery. They make potions of all the likes and trade them with whoever they can or use them in combat. And, though spells aren’t their speed,

curses

are. Herobrine told Kehtal about the time he was captured by witches, and the evoker was more than happy to hear about it. He said that witches make new potions based on experiments. Hero was most likely used as a test dummy, probably for different fire potions based on his newly-given powers. Technically, his powers were supposed to be curses, but they’ve been nothing but good for Hero. So, oops.

Hero asked about the scars he had, and Kehtal laughed at them. He said that some bands of witches try to brand their work, so the marks were just a dumb way to put their logo on him.

Kehtal promised us one more night here at the mansion, then we’d have to leave. So, we made a day out of it. I spent as much time as I could with Versain and we actually ended up doing a bit.

He showed off his axing skills, and then ended up getting into an axe-throwing contest with a few illagers. They were hitting small circular targets scattered about the wall in the training room, and Versain did really well! He got 2nd place, right after Hynda (Inpin’s mom, remember?), and it was a

close

game. I considered it first since he only had one arm, but I didn’t argue~

Then, we and a few others went to the top of the roof, which was about the most terrifying experience of my life. I’m not really scared of heights—I jumped from a cliff with phantoms, for crying out loud—but that was

terrifying

. Hero kept teasing me by getting

way

too close to the edge and then ate his words when he actually slipped and was only hanging on by his hands and one foot awkwardly still on the roof. Myself and a few others hoisted him up, then the guys laughed it off while I was still shaken up about him nearly

dying

. He hardly cared, though, “Live for the thrill,” he said.

The view from up there was dramatic, however, so some good did come out of it. Looking west we could see the coastline a while away past the forest, and then infinite ocean sprawling out across the horizon. Reminded me of all the stories of people sailing across for months on end.

We hung around the mansion throughout the day, and then by evening, we found ourselves in the library. It was marvelously huge there, bookcases lining the walls

far

taller than an Enderman. And whilst there, Hero and I sat at a table and talked about what we’d do after we left.

“How’s the Nether sounding? Still meh?” he asked.

Versain and Inpin were poking around in a few books they were taking off the shelves, looking like they were making fun of them. Er, Inpin was, at least. Versain was laughing along.

“Yeah, I don’t know how I feel about it. I mean, we’d just be repeating what people have already done, right?”

“Yeah, but… we’d be twice as great because we’re already pretty famous,” he chuckled.

I tapped the table, thinking long. “I mean… we’re in a library. Surely there’s got to be tales or myths we can debunk?”

“That’s what you’re planning? Chasing folktales?”

“I guess?”

“Legends you’re after?” A curious old illager had snuck up on us, coming from behind me. She wore long dark robes, the same design as Kehtal’s, and I wondered if that meant she was a master at her magic. Her voice was gravelly and she looked as old as time herself, her blue eyes full of stories. “Apologies for the intrusion, but I couldn’t help but overhear you two.” She didn’t have much of an accent. “My name is Peywen.”

“Hello, Peywen,” Herobrine greeted, “You want to sit? Tell us some stories?”

“No no, these are more than stories. The young lady is smart to want to chase them,” she smiled at me, then turned and waved her hand. Three books in total flew from the highest shelves, floating down to us.

Oh yeah, definitely skilled,

I thought to myself.

The books landed on the table and flipped open, pages fluttering like frightened butterflies until they all landed on very specific pages. One of the books was filled with words, tiny writing, in English but hardly readable. The other had what looked like Versain’s language, and many notes off to the side that were translating everything. The last of the three looked like a field guide, with notes surrounding an illustration of a monster straight out of nightmares. Above it, a label:

The Wither.

“Tales tell of a beast from the Nether,” she began, “Created by the hands of mortal man, but the result was far from either of those things. It’s a god of destruction, and daring to create it could end in likely demise. There have only been three summoned throughout all of time. And with each creation, it gets angrier and angrier.”

Staring at the picture gave me chills. Three black skulls atop a flaming ribcage with a sort of shining metal placed in the middle of its chest. “Eh…” I shimmied in my seat, “...Not really the Nether type… Plus, I think a god of literal destruction is… a bit much?”

“I think it’s awesome, look at that thing,” Hero was smiling, “Imagine killing

that

.”

I looked at our newfound acquaintance. “How many people have died trying to kill it?”

“Not one sole person has been able to defeat it alone. All three times, armies have been needed to fend it off. Everything it touches it destroys.”

Hero’s smile faded, and we looked at each other. “Uh… maybe not,” he admitted, then looked at Peywen, “Anything else?”

She scoffed like she was displeased we weren’t taking the challenge. But, she gave us another chance. The pages turned again, and while they did she spoke, “Have you heard the legend of the black lizard?”

“Uh… Like, a gecko? Are those black?” Hero glanced at me.

“No,” she snapped, and the pages stopped turning. The first book had words, the second had translations, the third had a picture. Well, it really was a black lizard. Huge, intimidating; horns protruded from its head; a row of spikes laced its spine clear down to its tail; six limbs, four legs armed with long claws and two massive wings stretching overhead. Small stick figures depicted as Enderman stood beneath it, the only familiarity of the entire page. “

The Ender Dragon

,” Peywen finished.

“...The… what?” I questioned, “I’ve never heard of that before.”

She pushed the first and second book to either of us, little orbs of lights highlighting where we should start reading. I got the one full of words, Hero got the translation. She basically said a summary of what there was to read. “Legends tell of a giant beast as old as time, guarding a realm known as the ‘End.’”

“Another realm? Like the Nether?” Hero asked.

“Same principle, you enter through a portal, but this place is not a fiery hellscape. Legend has it that it’s barren, without food, without plant, without any life except for the Enders and the beast,” she told us, “Hidden somewhere deep underground lay the ruins of this broken portal and must be restored through very specific means. Eyes of Ender—Ender pearls infused with the dust of ground blaze rods.”

I was hardly following along in the book, just listening to the old woman’s words.

“They lead the way to the portal, and they’re placed in the frames of the portal. Once all empty spots are filled with the Eyes, the portal will open… and you either kill the dragon or get stuck in its realm for all eternity.”

A long silence followed.

“Well,” Hero sighed, “That’s quite the story—”

“Where’s the portal? How do we find it?” I asked.

“What? Care, this is—”

“Travel to the Nether or trade with those who’ve already gone,” Peywen cut him off, “Acquire blaze rods and grind them into a powder. Then, slay multiple Endermen and gather their pearls. Infuse the peals with the powder and you’ll receive an Eye of Ender. Throw it into the air and it will lead you to the stronghold which keeps the portal. Dig. Dig through the dirt and rocks and stone, until you reach something man-made. Roam the halls until you find it, insert the Eyes into the frame, and the portal will be active.”

I repeated everything back to myself, standing and grabbing loose paper and a pencil that was on a table near the entrance. I hurried back over to the old woman, jotted it all down, and showed it to her, “Is this right?”

She looked over it.

“Caroline, wait,” Herobrine tried, “Hey, uhm… How many people have seen this portal, exactly?”

“No one has seen or entered it since its day of breaking.”

“And when was the ‘day of breaking’?”

“Centuries ago.”

“Then how do you even know about this ‘legend’?”

“The Endermen.”

“Oh, right. Okay,” sarcasm.

“Hero!” I scolded.

“Endermen can’t even talk to us, let alone write stories like this!” he laughed, “I just don’t want to be going after something that doesn’t exist. Think about it, there’s written documentation of people summoning the, uh… the Wither,” he took a second to remember, “but this? This just seems like a fable.”

“Do what I instructed, and you may just begin to eat those words,” Peywen bet, then looked to me, “I don’t believe that this is just another myth. Believe me, and do some research before looking into it,” she began to walk away, leaving the books as they were.

I felt determined and pulled the books over to me.

Herobrine laughed, not believing it, “Care, you can’t be serious,” he picked up the book with the illustration, “

This?

This is bizarre, how could this be real?”

“I… I have a good feeling about it!”

He sighed, putting the book down. “Care…” he sat next to me, “What’s going on? Why did we switch roles, usually

you’re

the skeptical one,” he glanced at Versain, “Is this about him?”

“No,” I grumbled defiantly, “No, I know he’ll be fine here. I’m not worried about him.”

He didn’t seem convinced.

I looked up from the book, and we stared each other down. There was a lump in my throat—I didn’t even know what I was doing. “...Just… Let’s try it,” I said, “So what if it isn’t real? We’ll have figured it out for everyone else.”

Herobrine frowned, “Just…” he sighed, “I don’t care. Do whatever you want, we can worry about it later. Okay…?”

I nodded. “Okay.”

Kehtal offered Versain a place in the lounge to sleep, while Hero and I would be in the closet again. But, the vindicator insisted that he stay with us for as long as he could, and so he did. We piled up blankets and more for makeshift beds and got comfy. Herobrine was the first to fall asleep.

While in the library earlier today, I figured out a few things. I had quickly skimmed through the pages about the Dragon and understood why Peywen said that the Endermen were the ones who knew about this story. Apparently, long ago, it was believed that Endermen were trying to communicate with humans through some means, and a few drew pictures in the dirt or sand. People came across them and saw a large winged lizard.

Honestly, it

did

sound like one big story, and I was beginning to believe Hero more and more as the day went on. Eventually, I put the books away and said,

Oh well

, myself. Then we headed out.

Versain was able to borrow a book of empty pages and a pencil from the library, and he brought it to the closet with him. He was writing in it, for a while, actually, and I nearly fell asleep. But, he got my attention last second and handed me the book.

And of course, it was one of those.

An empty enchantment book, translating any language into your native one, full of possibilities and wonders. I smiled wide and shook myself out of my drowsiness to read it.

Caroline, I am not sure how to start this off. There is so much I would like to say, so much I have not gotten to tell you. I suppose I will start off with ‘Thank you.’ But that is not nearly enough.

Honestly, when I first met you I was not happy, but nonetheless impressed. You intimidated me, but you already know that was the first step to getting close to me. I always found respect in the form of a good fight, and you provided a hell of a battle, but you also showed me that life was not all violence.

I understand how you feel about my arm and my mansion, but I do not want you to carry that burden with you on your travels. We were slaves since birth and that mansion was only a corner to hide in. We were still scared. But now, though it is bittersweet, the rest of my friends no longer have to be afraid. I apologize for not telling you about my situation sooner, I never thought I would have to, and I did not want to burden you with the weight. You seemed to take it very well though. I appreciate that.

I was lucky when I met you. I was lucky when I managed to gain your trust. And I was exceptionally lucky to have you as a friend. You took me to places I dreamed of traveling to but never would have thought I could go. And all of this adventure for my sake? Words cannot describe the monumental gratitude I hold for you.

I realize now that this entire ode to you is probably very cheesy, but I mean every word of it. Wherever you may go, I hope you find good fortune and continue to place your audience in a state of wonder. Thank you for helping me, and thank you for what we have.

I hope to see you again after tomorrow.

Now, I’m not usually one to crack under praise… but

holy ——

. I did tear up a bit, and when I looked back up at him he had a warm smile on his face, and what I saw was a friend.

We exchanged a few more words in the book, nothing much more than thanking each other again and again, and then we eventually became too tired to continue. We fell asleep.

“Well, a new chapter fer you two, eh? Great way to start, food in yer bellies, friends at your back, and miles of land to discover,” Kehtal was wishing us luck. We stood just outside the entrance, bags over our shoulders, Hero’s map marked up with places of interest, Kehtal, a few guards, Zeflen, Inpin, and Versian all outside with us.

“Hell yeah,” I chuckled, “You guys have been nothing but perfect for us. Really, we couldn’t thank you enough.”

“Ah, well,

we

thank

you

for giving us something to be proud of. Housing two heroes and welcoming a frosty into our big family. It’s been great,” Kehtal smiled and reached out his hand, “Have fun wherever yer goin`, miss.”

I shook his hand, “Thanks, Kehtal,” I said. Hero and him shook hands.

Zeflen stood by the door, smiling and waving to me. He was too far away to exchange words, but we really didn’t need to. This was enough, we already knew we’d miss each other.

I went to Versain, not saying anything—not that I’d really know what to say, anyhow. We were all smiles, at first awkwardly holding out hands to shake, but then laughed, said “Screw it,” and we ended up hugging.

I made sure to hold him tight, knowing that it would probably be far too long before we saw each other again. I’m certain he was thinking the same.

When we parted, he said something, and Inpin translated. “He says, ‘Safe travels. I’ll listen for tales of your success.’”

I nodded, “I’ll make sure I don’t disappoint.” Inpin translated, and I stepped away from him. Herobrine and him shook hands and exchanged a few words before parting, and we stood side by side.

“Heigh-ho?” I asked.

“Heigh-ho!” he exclaimed.

We waved our goodbyes to the mansion as we headed into the forest.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 18

Rally the Troops

Would you believe me if I told you that a whole four years passed after leaving the mansion? Oh yeah, it happened. Four years of missing my friends, four years of making new ones, of getting recognized in every town and village, of getting ambushed by the occasional Abaddon-worshipers, of getting new scars to show off and of finding new places to explore.

Herobrine was 29 now. I was 25.

Not many weeks after we left the mansion did Apollo find us. Ha, remember him? It had been forever since I last saw him at the South Enclosure. No matter where we were, the guy always seemed to find us. The Enderman snuck up on us in the middle of the night and scared the hell out of us, but once we realized just who it was I was ecstatic. Completely forgot about the guy, and by morning we saw that he’d gotten into a little fight before finding us. It couldn’t have been from the Enclosure battle, too fresh, and it was nothing bad. A cut on his arm, wasn’t detrimental. Herobrine nervously got close to the Enderman and healed him.

After that, Apollo stayed with us for the rest of the four years. He never strayed, he stood watch during the night and traveled with us during the day. It was nice company, and—believe it or not—Hero actually warmed up to him.

By then, there wasn’t a single soul who hadn’t heard of us. Everywhere we went we were called out and praised. In fact, we met a lot of travelers who’d come from overseas just for the chance to see us. It was always nice to find fresh faces so cheery amongst a crowd.

Of course, though, there were people who

weren’t

cheery to see us. Those were the guys who used to follow Abaddon or who wanted to be the ones to take the new “most-powerful sorcerers” down to get themselves a name. Whatever it was, we came across a few. Usually, we didn’t end up having to kill them. They backed off once they knew the fight wasn’t a winnable one, or once they were hurt enough. Once there was a very large group of them and I was having doubts about that fight. As intimidation, I pulled the cursed sword from its sheath, and it worked surprisingly well. Over half of the group bailed as soon as they saw the thing, and the rest were easy enough to fend off. I began to use the sword as intimidation every time after that, and it scared off most of the groups that opposed us.

However, things weren’t all perfect. Hero and I both had gotten scarred up plenty, even with the help of Apollo and the sword. He had a facial scar over his nose by a group of Abaddon-followers that we couldn’t find a potion for in time. We also tried our best to stay out of most towns, because we came to the realization that they were the reason why a lot of enemies were finding us. Not their fault, but we took the hint. So, getting a sorcerer to heal Hero was sorta out of the equation. But I think the scar just makes him look twice as tough~

Then, about a year after that, I went on a solo mining trip. In hindsight, it was a bad idea. After entering the cave, two wandering assassins followed me inside. They blocked off the mouth of the cave and ambushed me. One shoved me to the ground on my back and tried to stab me through the chest with their sword. I was weaponless and had to grab the blade of the sword to prevent it from giving me a fatal wound. I got out of that dilemma by controlling him and making him attack his friend, then fled the scene. I had three new scars, two on my palms and one in the center of my chest where the sword pierced the skin. When I dared to return to the place of action I found both of them dead, and then realized that the entrance was blocked.

I wandered the cave for a week and a half, nearly starving to death and finding a new entrance about a mile away from the first. Two days after that I found a small village with a small tavern and made sure everyone knew I was there so Hero would catch news of it and head there. My plan worked, and the next day we reunited and I told him what had happened. I don’t think he’d ever hugged me tighter or gave me more kisses before that day. Hero tried healing me but by that time my cuts were already pretty done regenerating and they left scars. We promised each other we wouldn’t do something like that ever again.

We could have traveled the whole country. We went to so many neat places: old abandoned villages in the middle of nowhere that were said to be haunted, large ravines with old mineshafts, underground dungeons with peculiar monster-spawners in the middle, watery temples that were guarded with killer fish (that we didn’t dare go near after nearly drowning), and other ruins that were scattered over the land.

Because we took the backroads wherever we went, we ended up coming across plenty of pillager outposts. And, more times than not, they left us alone, or some waved to us and wished us well on our travels, and a couple outposts were willing to trade with us! However, there were still the “not” times, and we

ran like hell.

Herobrine and I stopped worrying about what our overall plan was. We didn’t want to pressure ourselves into a big journey or adventure just because we could. Tales and myths were nothing more than that: just tales and myths. We agreed that our plan was to be happy, and we followed through on it.

We got closer, Hero and I. Much closer. We always had each other’s backs and there was hardly a moment that we were split. When the nights were cold we’d hold each other to stay warm, and when the days were hot we’d push each other into rivers and ponds to cool down. We’d play stupid games and make up dumb riddles, we’d have competitions to see who could trap more zombies in a hole and tell made-up stories about talking animals, walking trees, and whatever other nonsense we could make fun of. We wouldn’t die of boredom anytime soon.

The past four years had been great, I will admit. I was planning on spending the rest of my life with him~

The Enclosures started to fall into chaos after we left. At first, I didn’t believe it—I mean, what could be more chaotic than a place practically being run by the incarnation of the devil? But, hell, turned out the guy was keeping that place in check. Sort of.

Plenty of people in the South started to leave. The law of the place had checked out, and the humans who lived in squalor just sort of took off. After that, a lot of criminals from the Outcast Lands made their escape via the lack of government in the South Enclosure. Then, the Enclosures started to lose their namesake, started to lose money, and plenty of people that used to live in the city-scape now no longer house there. The Enclosures were barely on their feet.

Now, however, Hero and I were very far away from the Enclosures. We were near the east coast of the land, up north a ways past the Enclosures. It was cold,

very

cold, and took a lot of getting used to. I came around, began to enjoy the warm fires and snuggles, and thought for sure that Hero was planning on setting up a home here. He seemed to like it a lot. Not as many people made fusses about us anymore. Taverns welcomed us and were happy to see us in their building, but by now most everyone had already heard the story and didn’t flock around us like pigeons to bread. It was a nice change of pace, definitely calmer, definitely freeing.

For the past few days, it was just Apollo, Herobrine, and myself in a cave. We were mining for anything and everything to trade. A while ago I upgraded from an iron sword to a diamond sword and had myself a plain ol` diamond weapon. I took care of it like it was a baby. I was holding my breath for more diamonds, but I was satisfied with what we had now. A bunch of iron, red stone, gold, lapis lazuli. and even a few fresh emeralds. We’d get plenty of goods from these.

Hero and I were mining away while Apollo kept watch for anything creeping up on us from further ahead or behind.

I was digging into a patch of coal at the moment, mining away with sweat on my forehead and black smears all over my hands. I chipped away at the ore and stored it for later use of torches. I was just about done when I noticed something different.

Behind the coal was stone that looked a different texture. I tilted my head and mined away more of the ore to get a bigger picture of what I was seeing. Lines in the stone created a brick-like pattern. “Hey, Hero?” I called, looking over my shoulder.

He was finishing up mining the last bits of gold from an ore vein we came across. He stopped and wiped his forehead, turning to look at me. “Yeah, Carebear?”

“Can you come here and see this? I think this is another weird dungeon-monster-spawner-thingy.”

He walked over, “Is it cobblestone? Because if it is, then yeah, that’s a dungeon.”

“No, not cobblestone,” I said. He was right next to me. “Looks like bricks.”

He squinted and ran his fingers along the faint lines in the stone. “Huh. Maybe it's just really worn-down,” he rested his pic on his shoulder, “Either way, I’m betting a dungeon. And dungeons mean loot~” he smiled and struck the stone.

I agreed and mined away with him. We broke through the rest of the coal and into the supposedly-cobblestone wall. Wasn’t that, though, couldn’t have been. Cobblestone was easy to mine away, but this was all fused together. We went ahead.

Herobrine, being built bigger, was the first to break through to the other side. He peered through the small hole he made, “Really dark.”

“What’d you expect?” I teased. “You hear any zombies?”

“Nope. Maybe it’s skeletons this time.”

I groaned, “I hate skeletons.”

“Who doesn’t?” he continued mining.

I made it to the other side at last, and his hole in the wall got bigger. As it got larger, we got wearier, and I threw a lit torch in to try to see the possible danger on the other side.

But… what we saw was way different.

This was not a dungeon. Not a traditional one, anyway. It was a huge hallway, splitting off in three different directions, not a single spawner to be found.

“...The hell…?” Hero whispered under his breath.

“Is this a mineshaft?” I asked.

“No way,” he said, “Couldn’t be. I don’t know what this is.”

Once we figured out that there was no immediate threat, we kept going. We met in the middle and made an entryway big enough to fit through. By now, Apollo was very interested in what we were doing and came to join us. He teleported into the underground structure and waited for us as we came through.

I picked my torch up and Hero made his hand catch ablaze. We looked around, completely baffled.

The structure was made entirely out of stone bricks, old and rigid but holding up strong. The entire place was pitch black, the only light coming from the fire we had. A layer of dust coated the floor and walls, and it looked as if no one had stepped foot in here for years and years on end.

I looked around at our options. Left, forward, or right. “You up for an adventure, Hero?” I asked with a grin.

He chuckled, “I guess so. This is looking pretty neat.”

I turned to my right, slowly taking the lead down the hallway. The other two followed.

While walking we noticed torch sconces with pieces of wood still in them, the tips pale white and dry but not flakey. They had refused with the torch handle, not lit for what looked like forever.

The hallway was long with hardly a change in its appearance. Eventually, we came upon a left turn. I poked my head around and at the end of the tunnel—this one much shorter—was another turn, this one heading right, and a very dim light coming from it.

I looked back at Hero. “Someone might be here…” I whispered, then pointed at the end of the hall.

He frowned. “I’ll take the lead, stay behind me,” he had the pickaxe tight in his hand. I swapped mine for my diamond sword, then followed him.

Apollo was just behind me, hardly making a noise as he walked. With caution we made our way through the hall and Hero peered around the corner.

He was still for a moment.

Then his shoulders tensed. “...What the hell…”

I poked my head around him and saw what he was looking at. Overhead were iron bars, outlining the door frame to a peculiar room. A soft glow came from either side of the room and behind a short staircase up to something, the source of the light unseen.

Herobrine took the lead again, making his way silently into the strange room, and I was just behind him.

We made our way inside, finding no presence of anything else, but the air definitely changed. Upon entry, we found that the light source was from lava that was held securely by the same stone bricks that made the walls, floor, and ceiling. The light behind the stairs was held by the same means.

Herobrine and I relaxed a bit, but only a bit. We took in the room, studying as much as we could from our still positions.

At the top of the stairs was a monster spawner, broken, around it shriveled up and fossilized corpses of silverfish. I stepped ahead of Hero, making my way up the stairs.

“Careful, Caroline,” he beckoned.

I went on, reaching the top.

And what I saw was beyond my imagination.

“...

No way

…” I breathed.

“What?” Hero followed me up the stairs.

Before me was the pool of lava underneath a frame of something I’d only heard of and read about once, four years ago. Teal, glass-like material outlining a strange stone in a large ring, twelve slots for something very,

very

specific in the middle of each frame. A few were already filled; three, actually. Filled with green and teal eyes, similar to the look of Ender pearls: Eyes of Ender.

This…

This was the End Portal Frame.

“Holy hell,

holy hell,

” Hero was pacing around the cave just outside the hole we made. “No way in

hell

was that old woman right!”

“What else could it be?!” I laughed, “That is it, Hero! That’s the Frame! The thing of

legends!

You saw the Eyes!”

He jumped around, so excited, grabbing my arms and pulling me with him. “You found it! You found it! That’s crazy, there’s no way!!” he pulled me into a kiss and laughed as he squished me in a strangling hug. “Holy sh—! I’m so sorry for ever doubting you, Care! This is freaking awesome!”

My back was against his chest, his arms wrapped around my stomach. “I know! I—God, look at me! I’m shaking!” I held my hands out to show him that my fingers were trembling under my gloves.

“Holy sh—…” he let me go, “We can’t tell anyone about this,” he ran his hand through his hair, “Not until we get in there and take care of that thing! Then… Holy sh—, we’ll be literal

legends!

”

I laughed with him, hardly believing it myself. This was the place, this was it!

“Okay, okayokayokay,” he took a breath, “Let’s close this off, I’ll highlight this cave on my map. We need to remember our way down here, like, uhm… Mark the walls next to the torches! Yeah, we’ll just add little marks next to them so we know where to go,” he was spinning on his heels. “Let’s try to take out a big chunk of stone and cover up the door, then fill in the gaps with dirt or anything else we can find,” he was already racing around. “Oh my god, Care,” he looked right at me.

“What?” I giggled.

“

Care!

” he grabbed my shoulders and shook me.

“

What?!

” I held onto him and laughed.

“We

need

to get the others. We need to go back to the village, get Asim and Zeke, we can go back to the mansion and get Versain! They’re gonna be flipping their lids when they hear about this!”

My eyes widened. “Really? We’re gonna go see them?”

“We’re gonna live the rest of our

lives

with them with this kind of success!”

We jumped around again, loving life and getting so many plans started.

I could hardly convince myself that it was real. The legend,

really

real.

This was going to be monumentally influential. Not only had we just debunked a myth, but I was confident that we’d be the ones to put the story to an end, too!

This… This was going to be it!

Spring arrived as we traveled the country. I longed for warmer weather and was so happy to pull off my heavy clothes and dress down into more comfortable wear. Flowers were blooming, animals were being born, fruits were growing and life was plentiful.

The journey took a little over a month, and when we arrived at the village we were welcomed by smiling faces. The church bells rang right as we arrived, signaling midday, and the town was bustling. Merchants lined the roads, calling for everyone and anyone to buy their stock, children ran around happy, I spotted two golems walking amongst the crowd to ensure the protection of the village. I held them off against Apollo, knowing they’d find him as a target.

“Herobrine! Caroline!” People called out our names and waved to us, some crowded around us, some ran off to find Elder Abdiel. We were greeting everyone, and I was specifically trying to spot Asim and Zeke. I was hoping they hadn’t left after all this time.

“Ah! They’ve returned!” I heard Abdiel’s high-pitched voice as he made his way through the crowd. And right behind him was the Elder.

“Abdiel! Elder!” I exclaimed, “Elder, I’m surprised to see you here! Shouldn’t you be back at the Enclosures?”

“Bah!” he laughed, “Haven’t you heard? They’re in chaos!”

“Avoiding the drama, then?” Hero asked, shaking his hand.

“Yes, yes. Anarchy is no good for business.”

“What about the village?” I asked.

“If it stands, it stands. If it falls, it falls. We have no mind,” he said, “Abdiel has kept us here for the past two years! We call this our permanent home now.”

“Oh,” I shifted my weight, “You didn’t leave anything there? Not bothered?”

“Not at all!” the Elder smiled, “My old feet don’t need a traveling life, anyhow. The village is happy here. No need to worry.”

“I’ll believe you, Elder,” I said.

“What brings you back here?” Abdiel asked with a jolly grin, “And what adventures have you endured? Herobrine looks like he’s been through some tough times,” he laughed.

Hero touched his nose, “Ah, just some guys who used to follow Abaddon. They came after us a few times,” Hero looked at me.

“Yeah, I got marked up, too,” I showed them my hands, “But! We’re back here to fetch Asim and Zeke. We’ve got a… very big plan. We’re hoping to get the old gang back together. Are they still here?”

The brothers gave looks to one another as if to say, ‘

Oh, they’re here alright.

’ “Haha, those two were nothing but trouble,” Abdiel laughed.

“Oh god,” Hero covered his face, “What’d they do?”

“Three days,

three days

after you two left with Versain, they tried to rob us!”

For ——’s sake…

“Nothing much,” the Elder sighed, “Food from one of the marketplaces, but nonetheless a crime. We kicked them out of the village, but they just came crawling back, begging to stay again.”

“The next day they brought us a little present, a full deer they’d taken down themselves,” Abdiel said.

“At least, they claimed that,” the Elder chuckled.

“We allowed them one more chance, and if they slipped up, there would be no forgiveness,” Abdiel dug into the dirt with the heel of his boot, “We put them on the graveyard shifts, watching the village all throughout the night for a month. Fortunately, they did not attempt anything after that. They’ve been here since, guarding the village.”

I was drooping, “God, I’m really sorry on their behalf,” I offered.

“Eh, it’s alright. They made up for it, and they keep the village entertaining.”

“Where would we find them?” Hero asked.

“Unsure…” the Elder was grinning, his brother doing the same.

Hero and I sort of gave them a look, then we gave each other a look, and I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Behind us were two figures, and when I turned to see them it was no other than the thieves themselves. “Elders, are you aware that you are speaking to weasels in the making~?” Asim teased. Oh yeah, they had spears pointed at us.

“You idiots!” Hero laughed, grabbing the spear handle and tossing it aside. He proceeded to grab Asim and shake him as hard as he could, “We trusted you!”

Zeke dropped his spear and stood tensely, ready for whatever Hero or I would do to him.

“

We’Re sOrRy!!

” Asim laughed and his voice wavered as he was shaken. Hero let up, then Asim jumped on him and tried to tackle him, but that was nowhere close to happening.

I smirked to Zeke, shaking my head. “You two are awful.”

“Oops!” he shrugged, then dared to step closer to me, “How’ve you been, Care?”

“Great! `Till I heard what you did,” I punched him in the arm. He winced, but I wasn’t done. I grabbed the same arm and pulled him into a hug, “It’s good to see your dumb faces again~” he laughed and hugged me back.

Asim and Hero ended their feud when Hero desperately tried to get away from a fake kiss from Asim. “Alright, lovebirds!” I called, “Asim, come here, you goon!”

He happily skipped over to me and we hugged, and noticed their new clothes. They had leather armor on, plating for their chests, shoulders, and leather gloves. “You look stylish,” I commented.

“Thank you~” Zeke took the compliment as he picked the spear up. “Check it out, we’re defenders of the village now~”

“You’re probably ‘nitwits of the village,’ too,” Hero laughed.

“Asim, Zeke!” the Elder grabbed their attention, “These two have come just for you. They have a proposal!”

Asim gasped. “Hero! Proposing to me~? Yes, I

will

marry you!” he fell into Hero, and he only pushed the lightning sorcerer off.

“Over my dead body!” Hero dusted himself off, “No, we need to talk in private. Elders?” he turned to them, “Is there anyplace quiet we could—?”

“Herobrine!” Rasbrune had snuck up on all of us and slapped Herobrine on the back, “You two came back! Look at that!”

Hero had to recover from the hefty pat. “...Ha, hey Rasbrune!”

“Caroline!” Vertrun came from behind his husband, two others following him, a girl and a boy with bright blonde hair.

I blinked. “Woah.

Woah.

Dayra? Trekker?”

“Hi, Caroline!” Dayra giggled.

“Wha—No! No, you’re as tall as me!!” I laughed, going up to her, “And so are you!” I looked at Trekker. “How—How old are you two?”

“Sixteen,” Dayra said.

“Fourteen,” Trekker answered. His voice was

deeper.

I nearly fell over. “Good god,

hey you two!

It’s been forever!”

“Oh! Care!” Hero came over to me, “You know what we promised?”

I remembered, “Oh yeah!” I threw off my bag and opened it up.

“Oh, the presents?” Trekker smiled, “No, don’t give us anything! You don’t have to—”

I pulled the gifts out of my bag at that moment. Two diamonds, left in the rock, pure and clear. They were too small to make into anything, so Hero and I thought it’d be the best thing we could give them. We found them a long long time ago, and it’s been in the bottom of my bag ever since. “Don’t even try to get out of this, we made a promise,” I smirked and handed the ore to both of them.

The both of them were wide-eyed and stock-still. Vertrun and Raspbrune were next to peer, and then

they

were wide-eyed. They all looked to the two of us simultaneously, clearly impressed.

Hero and I stood tall.

After a bit, we lost Apollo. Completely gone, just like that. I feared that he was getting chased around by an iron golem, but after a quick scan of the area, we found him stalking one of the merchants, who was absolutely terrified. The trader was behind his booth, head down, silently standing and practically trembling with Apollo directly behind him. I hastily called the Enderman over and apologized to the merchant, assuring him that he wouldn’t have done anything, but he didn’t look convinced.

Later, we caught up with everyone. The Elder was as old as ever, but still healthy. Abdiel lost all hearing in his left ear two years ago. Rasbrune’s beard was becoming grey. Asim had a new scar on his back from fighting a raid party two summers ago; he got opened up by an axe right along his side, could have died from it. Zeke ended up losing a finger on a saw blade, but since he can shapeshift he didn’t have to worry about it after it healed; just,

boop

, new finger. Hero and I told the four of them what had happened these past four years, showed off our scars, and Asim and Zeke met Apollo (I’m pretty sure Asim was beyond terrified after the last time he encountered an Enderman).

Hero asked how they’ve been holding up with the raids, and we got some pleasant news. The number of attacks per year dropped dramatically, now with only one or two weak raids, and none over the past year. They heard that we had killed Hennen, and that placed all of the mansion in a state of anarchy. No one could decide who would lead, no one could agree on their future plans. Raid parties were unorganized and unprepared. The place was a circus, as far as they knew.

I asked how they knew

we

were the ones who got rid of her, and the Elder reminded me of the withering sword. A patrol of illagers from her mansion found the battleground and word spread like wildfire. But, along with that, some illagers actually came to the village and gave them the good news.

Yup, a few messengers from Kehtal’s mansion. Two of them, to be exact, and it took a

while

to get the message across. The illagers had to write it out for them and fold it up so it could fly, then they sent the message into the village and waited outside the perimeter. The illagers personally told them all that they were the mansion that housed Versain and who were allies of us, and they just wanted to make sure that they knew we had killed Hennen. They were also open for trade, but didn’t push it too much.

However, they didn’t need to. Daring merchants were bringing in supplies from the coastline mansion clear to the village, and they let the Elders know where it came from. Abdiel and his brother sent supplies back, and they’ve been—what the two old men like to call—undercover trading allies. So, that was good to hear!

We asked the Elders if we could have some private talk, and that we’d get back to them later. They agreed, said that the library was rebuilt and there were some spare rooms where we could chat, and we went there.

It was good to see the village expanding, good to see buildings no longer burnt down and wrecked. The library was still being finished, technically, with all the books that needed replacing. But, it still served its purpose. We borrowed a back room and shut the door behind us.

“So… we in trouble? For real this time?” Asim joked.

“Nope. You guys are never gonna believe this,” Hero said, pulling a chair. Apollo stood off to the side, poking around the room.

We sat down around a small table. “Well, spill the tea,” Zeke beckoned.

Herobrine and I looked at each other, our smiled bigger than ever. This would be the first time we mention it to anyone other than ourselves, and I was ready to get the secret off my chest. “Have either of you heard of an old myth about a dragon and Endermen?”

Asim cocked his head to the side. “Like, eh… Oh, what’s it called…” he snapped his fingers, trying to think of it, “Zeke, help me out, man.”

“Sh— if I know,” he shrugged.

“Oh! I got it!” Asim smiled, “It’s called ‘I-ain’t-got-a-clue-mate.’”

My head hit the table.

“No, really! Have either of you heard of it?” Hero asked.

“Not ringing a bell,” Asim said.

“Alright,” I lifted my head, “After we got to the mansion along the coast, we spent an evening in the library. We heard from an older woman about what’s called the ‘Ender Dragon,’” I began, “It lives in the End, which is like the Nether. You open a portal and it's a different world, basically. Supposedly, no fire, just barren, with towering pillars and its where Endermen come from.

“The portal apparently can’t just be created. There’s only one, and it’s only been opened once, then it was deactivated for whatever reason. No one’s seen it, and there are old tales about finding it reactivating it.”

“Oh, wait,” Zeke perked up, “Yeah, I have heard of this, actually!”

“What?” Asim questioned.

“Yeah, my grandma used to scare me with those stories. She’d say that if I ever went out at night then ‘the Endermen would take you to the End and you’d get eaten by a dragon!’” he said, “I completely forgot about it, it’s been ages.”

“Eh… wait,” the lightning sorcerer put a hand on the table, “Those are just stories, right? What’s this got to do with anything, you came all the way back here to tell us about some folktale?”

I leaned in, “It’s not a folktale,” I spoke lowly, “We found it… We found the portal…! It’s not a myth!”

…

Asim smiled, then grinned, and then laughed. “Okay, okay girl. You’ve got me, ahh! Tryna hook me in with a cute little story, ooh~”

I shook my head, frowning, “But it’s not!”

“I think you two have gone crazy over the past four years.”

“Listen,” Hero started, “We can show you if you’re really skeptical about it. Trust me, we wouldn’t have come all this way just to share some fairytale. We thought it was dumb at first, too, but we just sort of… came across it.”

“How far away is it?”

“A

long ways away

. It took us a month to get from there to here.”

“Uh-huh. And you plan on taking us two for two months to see a little thing that may or may not be real?”

Apollo was right behind me, giving a small bark. “Not Hero and I. But, this guy can,” I pointed to the Enderman.

Asim tensed up.

“He’s basically a beacon. I think he memorizes where he’s been and just takes us wherever,” Hero said.

It was true. Apollo’s been a big help with traveling. I can almost communicate with him—it’s a little easier than trying to tell Versain something—and he seems to understand it well. So long as we’re precise with our descriptions and as long as the Enderman has already been there, he can take us anywhere. We tried it out with the portal once we got out of the cave, actually. I asked him to teleport us down to the portal room, he did, and then when we wanted out he brought us to the surface. All within the blink of an eye. No clue how he understands a word, but I didn't argue.

“We could go now, actually,” I offered, “And we’ll probably be back here within five minutes, depends on how long you want to look at the portal.”

“Ohoho,

no way

am I letting

that

touch me. I’d like to keep the arm I still have, thank you very much,” Asim stood.

“Don’t mind him,” Zeke sighed, “I can go. Even if there is nothing,” he eyed his friend, “I think it’d be neat to get pulled around by a friendly Enderman~”

I stood from my chair, “Sounds good,” I smiled. The other two got up after me.

“Asiiim, last chance, man~” Hero tried.

Asim had his hand shoved in his pocket, looking at us in a stubborn defiance.

“If you get hurt, I’ll let you cut my hand off,” I joked.

He sighed. “No. No, nobody’s gettin` their hands chopped off or anything. Just,” he marched over to Zeke, “Quickly. I don’t think we’re supposed to be off patrol for long.”

“Since when do you care about being on the job?” Zeke nudged him.

“Since—”

“Apollo!” I turned to him, and I had the Enderman’s full attention. “The portal, take us there! The one deep underground?”

The Enderman blinked.

He looked around the room.

We stood in silence.

“...Well?” Asim went.

Hero tried to answer, “It usually takes him a second—”

My vision was foggy for a split second, the air left my lungs, and gravity was pulled from my limbs, but it all came back within a moment’s notice. We were in a very dark place, the air thin and frigid, dust kicking up at our sudden appearance.

“Good god!” I heard Asim swear, his voice bouncing off the walls.

Herobrine brought flames ablaze to his hands and the hallway lit up. I counted heads, we were all here.

Asim was latched onto Zeke, trembling—either from the cold or from being scared half to death, I didn’t know. I laughed at him, “You good?”

“I don’t know???”

“You’re fine, you big baby,” Zeke pushed him off, looking around, “Woof. This is something else…”

Asim finally caught his breath and was able to assemble some words. “...Looks like a big dungeon. You know, with the spawners?”

“That’s what we thought it was at first,” Hero said, “But we didn’t have to look long to figure out what it was. This way,” he turned to his right, down the hallway.

We followed, one after the other. Herobrine first, then Apollo, myself, Zeke, and Asim at the back. Our breath decorated the air down here; even during the warmth of spring the caves underground welcomed no heat.

“It’s damn cold down here,” Asim commented.

“We won’t be here long,” I assured him.

We approached the corner and turned left, found the soft light near the end, then took the turn right and made it into the portal room.

“This is it,” Hero said. He, Apollo, and myself walked in, while Zeke and Asim were more hesitant to step in.

“I read as much as I could about the whole legend,” I said, “And this was the exact description of what the portal room would look like. Silverfish spawner on the stairs. Lava held in the corners of the room and under a peculiar teal-glass frame.” I stepped aside for the two to go up the stairs. “You’re welcome to look. Just be careful, don’t fall.”

Zeke took the lead, stepping up and around the bug carcasses. He warily peered over the edge, finding the portal frame that sat above the lava pool. He laughed quietly, “Asim, get up here,” he pulled on his friend’s arm.

The other one went up the stairs, looking upon the mystery. “God, how’d you even find this place? This is straight out of a fever dream.”

“We’re way up north, somewhere sort of close to the coast. There’s a town with a tavern nearby on the surface,” Hero said, “We just found this cave, got some supplies, and started digging. Care was actually the one to find it.”

“It was all by chance. This place was right behind a coal deposit I was mining,” I walked around to the back of the room, the portal above my head.

“What’s the stuff in the holes?” Zeke asked.

“...That’s what she said—” Asim was hit in the gut.

“I think those are Eyes of Ender,” I answered, “They’re supposed to be made when you take an Ender pearl and combine it with a blaze rod or something.”

“Can we take them out?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Hero said, “We don’t know how sturdy this is. Don’t wanna break it.”

Asim stepped down. “Who do you think built this place? It’s like a zombie shelter.”

“This deep underground?” Hero tilted his head, “No way. Maybe this was built by a group of wizards who were trying to keep it a secret~”

“Who knows,” I said, “It looks like it stretches on for a while. We need to explore the rest of it sometime.”

“You tell anybody `bout this?” Asim asked.

“Nope. You guys are the first to know,” I said, “We wanna get Versain in on this, too.”

“Ah, you’re getting the whole band back?”

“That’s the plan,” I told him, “Since we know that it’s real, we can take all the steps necessary to open the portal and fight that thing.”

“Uh… Fight the dragon? That seems… risky,” Asim shifted his weight.

“You’re a literal thief, your whole life is risky,” Hero collided shoulders with him as we walked by.

“Alright, but still. Aren’t dragons freaking huge? I think we’ll need more than what we have on right now.”

“Well, obviously,” Zeke came down, “I don’t think they mean that we’re fighting it right now. Right?”

“Right,” I assured, “It’ll take a while. And we want to keep it very secretive. So, we probably won’t be trading with merchants for supplies. We’ll have to get obsidian to make a portal to the Nether so we can get blaze rods, during our mine we’ll—hopefully—find plenty of diamonds. And if not, plenty of gold to trade for them.”

“I thought you just said we weren’t trading?” Asim asked.

“Well, not for blaze rods.”

“Oh yeah, that’s the other thing.

What the ——.

The

Nether?

Are you guys crazy?” he exclaimed.

“Hell yeah,” Hero said, “I

finally

convinced her to go! It’ll be fun, don’t sweat it~”

Asim sighed. “You guys are lucky to have me.”

“We know~” I teased, poking him in the chest. I turned to the Enderman. “Apollo!” I called and it got his attention, “Back to the village we were just at, please.”

“You’re making us walk all the way there?” Asim complained, “Doesn’t that Enderman know where the mansion is?”

“Nope. Already tried,” I answered, “C’mon, it’s not that far. It’ll only take a week; it’s warm; there’ll be plenty of food. It won’t be bad, I promise.”

He was shaking his head. “Better not be any sorts of trouble.”

“Stop whining,” Hero told him, pulling his newly-bought boots on. I was snickering at him. “What?” he questioned.

“Do those have heels?”

Herobrine looked down at his feet, and yeah, there was a bit of a heel to his shoes. “Not really,” he denied, of course.

“You’re already, what, 9 foot 5?” Asim egged on.

“I’m 6’6”!” Hero corrected, “That’s… not that tall.”

I threw my head back laughing, “Wow, you hear that, guys? If

he’s

short then you two are

really

short.” They really weren’t. Asim was around 6’ and Zeke was just an inch or two below him. I was the shortest…

“You know what I meant!” Hero laughed, “Besides, I didn’t get them for the

heel

,” he said, “My old ones are totally jacked-up. In fact,

you

were the one who wanted me to get new ones, Care!”

“You said it yourself, your old ones were jacked-up. The entire sole was falling off on one of them,” I giggled, “You tripped over them so many times, too.”

“Whatever, I’ve got new ones now~”

It was the next day. We were packing up for the adventure, trading whatever we had for new tools, clothes, whatever else. We asked the Elders if we could steal Asim and Zeke, and they didn’t have much of a problem with it. They had five golems among the village, now, plenty of guards, and they hadn’t had any problems with raid parties. They weren’t worried. The sorcerers handed their gear in.

The Elders wanted to know where we’d be going to next. Hero and I debated on telling them, but we made a deal. So long as the old men didn’t tell another soul, we’d let them know. They swore on it, and we let them know.

The brothers actually had a lot of information on the legend. We weren’t able to hear the entirety of it, but we knew we’d come back later for supplies and trade to listen to the rest of what they had to say. We did learn

one

thing, though. Legend has it that after you enter the portal, there’s no escape until the dragon is defeated.

We assured the two of them that, when the time came, we’d be successful.

Now, though, we were starting our week-long journey to the mansion. Across the broken Hennen territories, over merchant roads and through forests, clear the coast. There, Apollo would mark another waypoint and we’d be able to travel easily.

“So… does he even eat?” Asim asked, talking about Apollo.

“Yeah. He eats people whose names are Asim,” Hero joked.

“Hardy-har-har.”

We were nearly to the mansion, and it was only the start of the seventh day. We were halfway across the rocky hills, we’d be there by midday. For now, we were just making conversation.

“Really, though,” Asim tried again, “Does he? I haven’t seen him munch on a single thing.”

I shrugged. “Sometimes he just teleports away and comes back. I’d assume he eats then? Probably something really specific, since they can’t touch water.”

“What do think it is? Surely not, like, a plant. I mean, look at those teeth,” Asim scowled at the Ender’s fangs, “Freaking terrifying.”

“I don’t know.”

A moment of quiet.

Zeke tried to make another conversation, “You excited to see Versain, guys?” he was asking Hero and I.

I was. Very.

Extremely

excited. “Hell yeah,” I said, “I wanna see how he’s settled in.”

“How did the whole thing go? You have to fight to get him in, or…?” Asim asked.

“No no, they welcomed him with open arms,” Hero answered, “He’s got a whole history, it’s complicated.”

“We’ve got a few hours more, don’t we? Tell us, tell us,” Asim urged.

So, we spent the rest of the walk explaining to them about frosties and slaves and whatnot. Surprisingly enough, I didn’t have to dig very deep to remember all the details. Just sort of stuck with me, I guess.

“We’re here, we’re here,

we’re here, we’re here

,” I was whispering to myself, basically bouncing.

Hero laughed, “Don’t explode, Carebear.”

“Do you think he’s okay? Do you think he’s settled in?” I asked, suddenly worried.

“Isn’t he older than, like, all of us?” Asim asked, “Wouldn’t that mean he’s very adult-like and is most likely to be doing very well?”

“Sh! I’m concerned!” I wasn’t even sure why I was concerned, why I was worried and nervous, I was just so jittery and excited. I mean, it’s been

four years!

What’s changed?

We were walking through the forest, the mansion barely in sight. Just a few more steps, a few more steps.

Old memories were washing over me. It seemed like it was only a day ago when I walked through this forest, though I suppose for you it was only last chapter. The mansion came closer, closer, closer…

“Aye!” a gruff, stern voice came from the trees, unseen, “Drop whatever weapons ya got!”

“We’re friendlies! It’s Caroline and Herobrine!” I added, “And it’s okay to look at the Enderman!”

Silence followed.

“...” Asim was about to speak. He held back, then jumped in, “...Welp. We’re gonna get shot.”

“Shut up,” Hero elbowed him.

There was movement past the brush and tall grass. I spotted a few figures, one after the other, and they just kept popping up. Grey skin, blue flannels, black robes, crossbows, axes—hell, looking up I spotted a few in the trees.

“Got the sword?” one of them asked.

“Yup,” it was on my hip, securely locked away. Two leather strips were strapped over the handle and fastened to the sheath to ensure I wouldn’t unconsciously use it. I unbuckled both and drew out the sword, keeping the blade tip pointed down.

“Well I’ll be damned,” a woman laughed, “You two are back! And what’re the cute snacks you got with ya?”

One look from Asim and I already knew what he was going to say: something about being eaten because they were cannibals. He opened his mouth to speak, and I stomped on his foot. “These are friends of ours. We’re on a mission, and we came here to see if—”

“A`ight, a`ight,” one of them stepped up. He was tall and lean, and we walked right up to us, “Don’t spit too much. Kehtal should be the first to know about any deals made or anythin`.”

I put the sword away and fastened the safety measures as the illager spoke to me. “Sit tight,” he turned to the woods, “Someone fetch Kehtal!”

“On it!” I heard.

A few others walked up to us, and Asim and Zeke scooted closer to us, not fans.

While we waited in an awkward quiet, I tried my best to make conversation. I started out by saying it was fine to look at the Enderman, since I saw plenty of them staring at their shoes. Then I tried to introduce Zeke and Asim, but...

“

Caroline!

” I heard that familiar voice, and the head of the mansion sprang from the bushes, “By god, miss! It’s been ages!” Kehtal leapt over to us, being followed by two others. He had the same clothes from four years ago, same look, nothing much different about him. Nothing wrong with it, just glad he was doing alright. The illager grabbed my hand and shook it roughly, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I missed his jolly and quick nature.

“

Hello

, Kehtal!” I exclaimed, and he bounded right over to Hero next.

“Herobrine, hello! Good god, look at ya! What happened to yer poor nose?”

Hero laughed, “Nothing me and Care couldn’t take care of.”

“Did you get taller?” the evoker asked.

I chuckled. “Told you they’ve got heels.”

“They don’t!” Hero chuckled, “No, just new boots.”

Kehtal looked upon the other three. “Ho boy, who’ve ya got?”

“Asim and Zeke,” Hero introduced, “Both sorcerers. They helped us get out of the Enclosures.”

“And the tall guy? Y'all were starin` right at him, I assume I can to?”

“Yeah, he’s harmless,” I said, “That’s Apollo. He sort of hung around with me in the Outcast Lands, and then found us a few years ago. He’s stuck around ever since, made travel a lot easier.”

“He talk?”

“No, nothing like that,” I told him.

“Well, friends! Ya came here for a reason! Come inside, tell me about it, all of it! Surely you’ve got more exciting stories!” he stepped backwards toward the mansion.

I glanced at Apollo, then asked, “Er… will he be allowed in?”

Kehtal stopped and frowned, “Not sure `bout that, miss. Don’t mean to be rude, but I… eh… don’t want youngster’s catchin` eye of him and thinking all Enders are like that. I’m sure he’s great—frankly I’m not even surprised he ain’t attackin` because, well, because he’s with you,” he grinned, “But, eh… `fraid not.”

“That makes sense,” I agreed, “That’s fine, I can just have him wait. He’s pretty mellow.”

“Great, now,” the evoker spun on his heels, “Come in, come in, all of y'all. God, we’ve got some great news!” Kehtal gave a hefty pat to an illager as he went by, and we raced to keep up. “You did us a fantastic favor, ya know?” he walked backwards, facing us, “We’ve had so many frosties come our way `cause of you two! And yer frosty—Oh! No, I’m not gonna say anything!” he turned back around and skipped to the doors, “You have to see it for yerself!”

I quickly paused and stopped Apollo, telling him to wait and that we’d be back out in a bit. The Enderman stood still as we went in.

“How is Versain?” I asked since the topic seemed to be up.

“Not telling!” Kehtal answered back right after I asked, no pause, “Speaking of, somebody find the man! Tell him to come to the entrance!” he told any and all of the illagers that were following him.

A few kids were running around the halls, near the entrance, and stopped when they saw us. They couldn't have been older than seven, just playing with little dolls and figures made of sticks and hay. “Woah!” a little boy jumped right up to us, “Who’re those?!”

Kehtal scooped him up, “These are friends of mine, you woulda been too young to remember `em!” Then he

threw the freaking kid into the air

. My stomach flipped, but it was fine! I completely forgot that Kehtal was a master evoker and all he had to do was wave his hand; a soft blue aura clung around the kid and he floated to the floor safely, giggling all the way. The other two kids he was with completely ignored us and jumped around Kehtal, laughing and begging him, “Throw me! Throw me!”

“Later, I promise! I gotta do some work with my friends, but y’all go run to yer parents.”

And they did, chasing each other down the hall.

“You’re popular with the kids,” Asim commented.

Kehtal ignored the initial sentence and noticed his accent. “Overseas!”

“Oh, me? Yeah, yeah,” he snickered, “And you’re definitely southern.”

“Ah, how could ya tell?” Kehtal teased, “While we waaait… What’s the story `bout yer arm? Is there a pattern here with our miss?”

“

Oh yeah,

” Asim elbowed me, “I think she’s got a fetish.”

I felt my face go hot, “That’s not—!”

“I’d believe it,” the evoker said, “You’re next, Herobrine~”

“

Kehtal!

”

They laughed and I chuckled along, getting a little antsy. We were just waiting by the entrance, waiting for Versain, waiting for a friend from a very long time ago.

Quicker, quicker, quicker.

I cleared my throat, “He’s the one that stole my dumb mask and Hero’s pic, then got his arm taken by an Enderman. Remember hearing that? I know it’s been a while.”

“...Hmmmmm

oh!

These two are the ones that stayed behind at the village! I remember,” Kehtal said to us.

“Right,” Hero said, “They ditched us last second.”

“You let us!”

Hero chuffed, “What were we supposed to do, drag you by the hair?”

Right around that moment, a quick-moving figure caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I thought it was just another kid at first, but turning to see the full picture revealed it was no other than my friend…

Versain.

He had on different clothes other than his old ones. Probably for the best, there was no fixing that coat of his after the arrow pierced his back. No, instead he had a new big coat, leather with a blue plaid shirt underneath, the long sleeve tied into a knot where his limb was missing. His bright green eyes lit up and he smiled. “Herobrine! Caroline!” he called, and hurried over to us.

I couldn’t help myself; I cut the distance by rushing to him. I was just planning on giving him a hug and not having to worry about any words I said.

But then, he hit me with this:

“Caroline!” he held onto my shoulder, his smile as big as ever, “You’re back! It’s been four years, look at you! You’ve hardly cha—”

My jaw dropped and I shoved him. “

No way

,” I exclaimed, “No

goddamn

—

Versain!!

”

He chuckled nervously. “...What?”

“

You can speak English!

” I exclaimed, “

And really well! Since when?!

” I was astounded, the thought of him speaking English not even crossing my mind. “Has—Has it really been

that

long?!”

“I know! I can hardly believe it either!” he agreed.

I didn’t even realize how different he would sound when talking in English vs talking in Norse. Norse just sounded… really rough. It was a harsh and difficult language, his tone just always seemed a little gruff. But now? To me it sounded smoother, with the same edge but it seemed to roll off the tongue better, his voice meeting that spot between deep and not-so-deep.

“Woah. Woah. Versain,” Asim was happy to step up.

“Hello, Asim,” the illager happily greeted, “Nice to see the arm I don’t have.”

I sank slightly.

“Haha! Man, this is… Woah, just a little wonky. I mean, last time I saw you I was teaching you swears that you didn’t know were bad,” he pretended to wipe a tear and be dramatic, “How you’ve grown!”

“Ha. Yes. Thank you for that,” Versian said sarcastically, “I know plenty more, now,” he glanced at the evoker.

Kehtal was snickering off to the side, “Oops.”

“Versain,” Hero came up, “How… I… I don’t even know where to start?? I didn’t think you’d be this far along yet!”

The vindicator’s smile was prideful. “I’ve been practicing every day with Inpin, she’s a phenomenal teacher.”

“How long did it take you to get conversational?” Zeke asked.

“Zeke, hello,” Versain greeted, “And damn if I know. I haven’t been counting the days, ha,” he chuckled, “Er… Why are you guys here? You need something from me?”

“I think they’re here

just

for ya!” Kehtal said.

“Oh my god, I completely forgot,” I laughed, “Threw me off guard.”

“Whoops,” Versain shrugged sheepishly.

“Okay, okay, Mr. Versian-my-good-pal,” Asim started, “We have just been informed of a delightfully daring adventure by these two after four years!” he motioned to Hero and I, “And it’s a bit secretive, so I won’t give any details out here, but… We want to get the band back together, the ol` crew, so we can go on this exciting, risky, thrilling journey! We could become

literal legends!

” he tossed his hand in the air, “How does that sound? Wanna join~?”

The vindicator stood there, grinning.

Then, gave a very quick and very blunt, “No!” still smiling.

I thought he was joking at first, and sort of laughed to myself… but then saw that he wasn’t. “Er… wait, really?”

Asim squinted, “Yeah, what?”

Versain realized his fault, “Oh! I didn’t mean to sound rude, I’m so sorry,” he covered his mouth for a moment and broke eye contact. Kehtal crept up behind him, a big, quirky, mischievous smile on his face. “It’s just, uh… Well, Asim, you’ve always been quite the storyteller. I think you could sell any pitch,” Versain paused, “But… I’m not really looking for a risky adventure right now. Or… ever.”

We all tilted our heads, and I admit, I was more than a little disappointed. I didn’t know if he just grew tired of us all... or maybe we were gone for too long? Did we lose the spark with him?

But Kehtal was still all-smiles, placing his hands gingerly on Versain’s shoulders. “Tell them why mister~”

Versain was clearly happy about something, something that made him feel better than going on a journey with us and making himself famous. “Well, you see…” he chuckled, “I’m going to be a father any day now.”

My heart skipped a beat, my eyes widened, and I’m pretty sure I went completely braindead for a split second. We were all silent until I involuntarily squealed with joy. “

Wha-ha-hat?!!

” I actually jumped for joy, “

V e r s a i n ! !

”

He went dark in the cheeks and showed his giant smile, squirming with happiness. “I know!”

I could have tackled him; I grabbed him and hugged him quickly, then may have squeezed his arm a bit too tight. “You’re having a kid?? But—I—No

freaking way!

”

He chuckled and the other guys laughed at me. “Care! Lil` much, girl!” Asim poked fun.

I turned to face the three of them, “You don’t get it! This is awesome! Versain!” I turned back to him, “That’s great! Any day? How long has she—no! Who is she? Can we meet her? When’d you get together? I, I—oh my

god!

” I ended up hugging him again, “I’m so happy for you!”

“Thank you, thank you, Caroline!” he chortled, “I, uh… You understand why I can’t go with you guys?”

“Screw us guys!” I spat, “A baby’s way more important!”

“My god,” Asim started, “How old does that make you, then?”

Versain sighed, smiling but not caring for the answer, “35… I’m too old for adventures, anyway.”

“That’s hardly old!” Zeke exclaimed.

“Even so,” he shrugged.

“So, when are you expecting?” Hero asked.

“Uendelen just reached nine months, so anytime soon,” Versain answered, “Uendelen is my wife. Would you like to meet—?”

“

Yes

,” I may have spoken too hastily.

He laughed and looked back at Kehtal, and the evoker said, “Take them wherever ya want!”

The vindicator took the lead, “Come on, then.”

Versain lead us all up the stairs to the middle floor where the lounge was: a room compiled of large beds for couples and individuals to sleep in. There were a few rooms like this, given the population of the mansion. On the way up, he told us, “She was asleep the last time I checked, so we may not actually have you guys meet her yet. But, if that’s the case, we’ll wait.”

However, that wasn’t the case. We walked into the room and Versain saw her immediately. There were a few other sleeping in there, so we treaded as softly and as quietly as we could.

“Uendelen,” Versain took the lead and whispered, and it got her attention.

She was a sleek woman with sharp eyes. She was dressed in blue clothing and covered with a thin white sheet, the shape her large stomach defined under the cover. She smiled as Versain neared, but sort of tilted her head at the rest of us.

The vindicator greeted her first with a kiss upon the top of the head, “Uendelen, do you remember being called to the dining hall four years ago, and these two told you the story about how they brought me here?”

She squinted her eyes, then had a realization moment. “Herobrine and Caroline? Is it really?”

I smiled and gave her a small wave. “It’s us. I don’t think we formally met?”

“No, but I definitely remember you two,” we shook hands, “Are these the other two from your story?”

“I’m Asim,” the sorcerer said.

“I’m Zeke,” the other told her.

She smiled and nodded to both of them.

“This is my wife,” Versain told us, resting a hand on her shoulder.

I cozied myself up and got comfortable in her presence, admittedly rather nervous of how she’d think of me, though I wasn’t 100% sure why. “So, what’s the story? I gotta know how you two met.”

Versain sat on the side of the bed and they sort of giggled to each other. “It ain’t charming,” she admitted.

“Can’t be worse than ours,” Hero joked, “She nearly shot me.”

“Eh… I think we did better,” Versain said.

They told us about it all. The vindicator was still very new to the mansion, trying his best to fit in wherever he could. He couldn’t understand anyone other than Inpin and one or two others, but having a conversation with them was pointless because they only knew the essentials of the language. So, when Versain was put into hunting parties, the only clarity was from Inpin just before leaving, and she couldn’t follow him because she was still too young to journey outside the mansion.

By then, snow had coated the land, and the trees were barren. The hunting mission was practically useless, but it was their job to try, anyway. Sometimes they got lucky.

The party was made up of four, riding on horseback, and they broke into pairs. Versain and Uendelen were together, never met, didn’t even introduce themselves to each other. She led the way, he only knew to try to get any animal they could find. But, the sky went dark with clouds and the snow was heavy. Versain tried to tell her that they should turn back, but Uendelen admitted that she didn’t really care what he was trying to tell her and ignored him.

They got lost, no food, no warmth, and the snow had packed up so much that their tracks had already been covered. They couldn’t see five feet in front of them. They couldn’t agree on which direction to go and got into a small feud of words that neither of them could understand.

Eventually, Versain just gave up on her and tried to turn his horse, but had little control and accidentally made it buck. This caused her horse to buck and throw her off, and she landed hard on her back.

Versain hopped off and attempted to make sure she was alright, grabbing her arm without permission and tried to pull her up, but she retaliated by punching him in the face. He fell backward and then they were both in the snow. Uendelen stood up and kicked more snow onto him, completely frustrated. They had to spend the night in the cold.

Versain was up for most of the night, trying to start a fire but in a very odd way. No sticks, no fuel, no anything. She thought he was a lost cause.

But, the vindicator had a trick up his sleeve, and blue fire eventually appeared over his hands. That was frosty magic, for you. Vindicators using magic sort of whenever they wanted.

Though it was neat, they were just barely warmer.

By morning, though, the snow had ceased and they were able to spot a few landmarks. A large forest was over the horizon, and Uendelen knew that sat south of the mansion. She led the way back to the mansion, and they definitely got some backlash for going off on their own.

“Kehtal was scared for both of us, but definitely more worried about Versain. Everyone was since Kehtal was given ‘one job by Caroline’ and he ‘nearly failed it,’” Uendelen said, “So, I was definitely a little more than jealous of him. He was automatically the good guy, no matter what, and I was

not

excited for the next few days to come.”

Versain explained, “She means that she had to stick next to me. There’s a policy here that if you intentionally hurt someone else in the mansion, you have to stick by them for a week and ensure their protection. Sort of as an apology-punishment.”

So that’s what happened. Versain was completely fine, just had a bruised cheek and that was healed by an evoker. He tried to let Uendelen off the hook, but there was no changing the rules. She walked everywhere with him, sat next to him when he ate, even went to his English practice sessions with Inpin.

While there, she became pretty intrigued. At first, she tried to just ignore them and read anything from the library but became hooked. She even started helping Versain outside of his study, having him remember different words and phrases. And they just got closer since then.

“And what do you know. Now we’re married with a kid on the way,” she smiled.

“I didn’t think I could ever hear a better love story than that,” Asim laughed, “That’s hilarious…!”

Versain chuckled, “Yeah, it was pretty rough. But, she hasn’t punched me in the face since~”

“And you’ve only knocked me off a horse two more times after that~”

“Those were accidents…!”

I smiled throughout the entire thing. “Yeah, I think you two definitely beat us.”

Uendelen asked, “Are you two married?”

Hero poked my side, “Not yet~”

“Any plans for the future? Kids, yet?”

I laughed, “No, none of that… Not for a while,” I told her, “But we do have plans. Not just for the two of us, for the five—er… four of us, now.”

“Sorry,” Versain apologized, “Can’t risk anything.”

“Don’t be sorry, you and Uendelen are way more important than this,” I said, then paused, “But… We still want to tell you about it.”

“Yeah, it’s absolutely

crazy

,” Asim commented, “Shall we go somewhere private~?”

The illager in bed asked, “You can’t say it here?”

“We don’t want too many people to know,” Hero explained, “So… we don’t want to be in a room with a bunch of people… even if they are all sleeping. Just in case. Versain’s allowed to tell you, though, afterward. Or, do you want to come to the library with us?”

“No, I can hardly move as it is,” she smiled, “But, yeah. Go ahead, he can tell me later,” she patted him on the arm.

“Get some rest,” Versain told her and stood with us. “Will the library be alright?”

“Maybe. Let’s hope there’s not too many people there?” I said.

“Usually they just borrow a book and leave. But, if there are, we can always just talk in the corner,” he started walking towards the exit, “I mean… how big is the secret?”

Big. Very big. Apparently, bigger than we thought. We went to the library and told him about hearing from Peywen, first, then accidentally stumbling upon the portal just over a month ago and that’s why we came here. Turns out that the legend of the Ender Dragon is a very old tale that every single illager knows or should know. Versain told us that an old generation built the portal to run from something, but nobody knows what from, and that the dragon took the souls of thousands upon thousands of victims, holding their souls in its grasp. Then he admitted that some of it was probably far-fetched, and he never really believed it for its legitimacy. But then he said that if we really found it, and we weren’t lying, then he’d believe it. We told him that we could bring him to the portal room, we had Apollo so it’d be quick, and he politely declined. He didn’t want to leave the mansion until his kid was born. After that, he’d be glad to go.

“That’s fine, we’ve got a while to prepare, anyway,” I said, “But, speaking of your kid~ Any names?”

Versain smiled. “Yes, actually. We… wanted to name them after the ones who saved me and brought me here.”

Herobrine and I started glowing, and we were all ears.

“If they’re a boy, we’ll name him Hetja, which means ‘hero,’ and if they’re a girl we’ll name her Umhirda, which means ‘care.’”

[//by the way, Hetja is pronounced “hett-yah” and Umhirda is pronounced “oom-here-dah”//]

Hero and I were a giggly mess and we held each other, “~That’s so cute~” we said.

“Aw, not us?” Asim fake-pouted.

“There’s no translation for Asim or Zeke,” Versain shrugged.

“Fair,” the lightning sorcerer admitted.

Versain directed his attention to me. “Caroline, will you be leaving again?”

“Yeah, we want to try to gear up and get all our stuff prepared by the end of the summer. We’re planning on building our own Nether portal, and that’ll probably take the longest.”

“Oh… So, it won’t be until the end of summer until we see each other again?”

“Oh, no! We were going to ask Kehtal if we could make this a little waypoint. We didn’t want to camp out at the village in case if merchants caught word of our plan. We thought the mansion would be the best.”

“So,” Hero started, “If Kehtal lets us, we’ll be stopping by here maybe every week.”

Versain smiled, “That’s great! I want you guys to see the baby as soon as possible!”

“Of course!” I giggled, “We’ll be here to see them.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 19

The Legend of the Dragon

It was a full two months later, and we’d made exceptional progress. The super fine details of gearing up didn’t really matter. I’ll summarize.

After the visit at the mansion—regrouping with Versain and seeing how everyone’s been; Inpin was seventeen, Zeflen had a brand new crossbow that he called a baby, Kehtal was as spunky as ever, and even more northern-illagers came to the new refuge—we set out for a week, completely dedicated to mining. We gathered food and supplies and dove into deep caves in search of diamonds, gold, and emeralds. We found some of each: plenty of gold to trade for diamonds, a few emeralds to trade for rarities, and even a few diamonds for ourselves.

After the week, we went to the surface and met up at the mansion. Kehtal was very happy to inform us that Versain and Uendelen had their child that morning, a girl, and her name was Umhirda. I got to hold her and we all congratulated the new parents.

Another week went to mining, and we nearly tripled our progress. We emerged from the caves and went to the village to trade with all the caravans that made up shop for the day. We gathered as many diamonds as we could, then hid them away in our bags.

We decided that we’d need a super-secretive bunker to go to, somewhere wedged between the village, the mansion, and the fallen Enclosures. We decided specifically on that location because

we

would know where to go while others who knew anything about us wouldn’t—if by the off chance they happened to catch wind of our plan.

We did just that, finding a cave hidden between trees, and went in. Once down far enough, we set up everything we’d brought and then some. Chests full of diamonds that we would bring to a blacksmith once we had enough for everyone, beds to sleep in so we could spend the night away from the world if we needed to, and other things like small dressers and cupboards. The rest of the third week was spent mining.

The fourth week was spent mining.

By the fifth week, we’d gotten all the diamonds we needed. Asim wasn’t very compliant about using them for armor. He wanted to sell them since this was probably the richest he’s ever been, but we had a plan and we were sticking to it.

We took half of the diamonds to the armorer in the Elder’s village, and the other half to the mansion, paying very well to have them crafted into four sets of armor.

This took two weeks. During then, we created the Nether portal in the bunker and brought it to life. We jumped in and I was scared to the bone. Everything was red, the ground, the inedible plant life, the lava, the fire, the abandoned fortress, even a strange glob of living goop that hopped towards us and burned us, it was all red. The only things that weren’t were the strange pigmen, who gave me nightmares for days to come, the ghasts, whose screams I swore I heard in the middle of the night, the wither skeletons, who reminded me of Abaddon, and the blazes—the ones we were after.

We took down as many as we could whilst trying not to get shot off the huge bridges by ghasts and sent hurdling into the lava below. There were a few close-calls and a few near-heart attacks, but we all ended up fine. Herobrine had to hold the blaze rods afterward because they were just so hot, and they took around an hour to cool down in the Overworld.

After that, we tried to find ways to grind them down into a powder, but couldn’t even snap them, and ended up having to go back to the old woman—Peywen—at the mansion for help. She told us that it would be much easier if the metal was softer, so we’d need to heat it up. Not to the point of melting, but where we could break it like a cookie. So, we did, Herobrine held them as his hands caught fire and he broke them into numerous, smaller pieces. After they cooled, we took a hammer to them and they broke easily, but it was very time-consuming. We had what we needed though.

Then we had to fuse the powder with Ender pearls. Again, we weren’t sure how to do that but tried it out. Zeke just sort of sprinkled some of the grains onto the pearl and it looked like they sunk into the orb, changing its color in small, tiny dots. We filled a bowl full of dust and rolled the pearls into them. The golden dust coated the pearls, then diffused into the orb, and quickly enough we had Eyes of Ender. Nine of them. They weren’t like Ender pearls: pearls were squishy and would bust, but Eyes were like glass and it seemed as if they would shatter if broken.

Just when we got the Eyes, our armor sets were completed. Turned out, there weren’t enough diamonds for neither mine nor Zeke’s helmets, but I was already so happy with what he had. We tried them on and I felt

invincible

. Really, wearing diamond armor from my toes to my shoulders, glowing blue in the sunlight, lightweight enough to run but sturdy enough to protect us from massive damage…

hoooooo boy

, it was

exhilarating

.

Asim and Hero had helmets, and Hero offered me his but it didn’t fit. Zeke and I would just bring iron ones. We were too tired to mine for more diamonds and too poor to buy more. Besides, I was already completely decked, an iron helmet wouldn’t be a bother.

The last week was spent mentally preparing. We showed Versain, Uendelen, Peywen, and Kehtal the portal frame (Umhirda was being babysat at the mansion). Kehtal was absolutely bewildered, and Peywen looked like she could have started crying. I guess she was having a hard time believing it. Instead of weeping in joy, she drew in joy, making pictures of the entire room, the frame, the Eyes, everything.

The next day we took the Elder and Abdiel to the frame, along with Rosaline, the cartographer, to draw a picture for the books. Abdiel was ecstatic, Rosaline was struck speechless, and I was hoping that the Elder would be happy too, but…

There was something bothering him. He let us know after we took him back; he was terrified for our future. The Elder didn’t really want us to go to the End and tried to convince us. We… sort of got into an argument. Not me, primarily, but Asim was giving him lip, and I took the sorcerer’s side. We told the Elder that he was being a killjoy and Asim went as far as saying that he didn’t want us to succeed. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions, but I agreed with Asim.

But, sleeping on that thought, I was feeling scared. Really, I was. The Elder told us that those who tempted the Dragon the first time never made it back out. It wasn’t a force to be reckoned with, and definitely wasn’t one to joke about.

I tried to assure myself that I may have been through worse. I fought Abaddon, I had his sword, and I’d use it there. Anything it touches it kills. It’ll kill the dragon. Surely.

The next day I made a formal apology to the Elder, alone, and he accepted it. He said he was only scared for our safety, and that he wouldn’t stop us from doing something we wanted to do. Even if it may lead to our downfall…

I told him that Apollo would come. If Endermen really did come from the End, then they could teleport to and from there. If things got to be too much for us to handle, Apollo would save us.

He didn’t seem convinced.

The fourth day was spent telling the entire mansion about what we were doing, and to let anyone and everyone know. We weren’t concerned about people trying to find the portal anymore since it would take them forever to get prepared if they wanted to go, and we didn’t even tell anyone the location. We just asked the illagers to let travelers know that we were going to fight the Dragon and succeed. The same day, we told the village to do the same.

The fifth day we grouped together with our friends from the village, and they wished us luck on such a daring task. The Elder gave us gifts. “Golden apples,” he called them, and they really were. Apples larger than average and covered in a golden mask. He told us that if things went too far, we should just bite into one and we’d be fine. They wouldn’t spoil, they wouldn’t rot, and they might just save us.

We had high hopes.

The sixth day was spent with the mansion. I stayed with Versain most of the day. I could tell he was worried for us, I was worried too, but I assured him we’d be fine. For a while he excused himself, and I was confused as to where he went, but he met back up with me later in the day. He brought me a strange golden figure, shaped like a small person with tiny wings and literal emeralds for eyes. “A totem of undying,” he called it, something only master evokers were allowed to use. Kehtal wanted him to give it to me. If things got hairy, all I had to do was hold it and I’d be fine.

We… had high hopes…

On the seventh day of the week we decided to go to the Enclosures. Just… one last time. I wanted to see them before we made off.

Apollo teleported us inside the Outcast Lands, just under the cliff that my home stood—er… used to stand on. It was just a pile of burnt wood, now.

I found my mask. We’d brought it home after finding it, but just sort of left it lying around. It was charred and still broken, and it brought back old memories.

Asim asked me just where I had gotten it from. I wasn’t lying, my dad was a blacksmith, and he made this for a private masquerade one year. It was just a party costume, nothing more…

Turns out the escape route under the house collapsed. Didn’t know how, didn’t know when, but it did.

We went back to the bunker and compiled our things. Diamond armor, diamond tools, lots of food, the apples; I had the totem, they knew. I suggested that Hero should be the one to have it since he could heal the rest of us but he couldn’t heal himself. Though Hero fought the idea, we had a unanimous vote, and he was given the strange statue.

We tried to sleep early, get a good night's rest. But… none of us could sleep. We ended up staying awake and talking about something none of us really mentioned a lot… Our families.

Zeke said that his full name was Ezekiel Pencer and that he lived with his grandma until she passed away when he was 21. A little bit after that, Asim arrived on a boat along the coast, right where Zeke’s little village was. They sort of hit it off right away, and Asim promised adventure and riches. And, so far, Asim wasn’t lying.

Asim Lock was from overseas, we all know that, and was kicked out of his house at 23. He lived with two sisters and a younger brother with both of his parents and his aunt. A big family in a small house. They were poor, he made money from his ‘job,’ which was actually stealing, and when his family figured out that he was a thief they were

not

happy. He got kicked out, and then, later on, he decided to go overseas for a new life. He met Zeke, fell back into old habits, but then met us and had the most exciting life he could have ever imagined.

I told them about my dad’s low-pay job and my mom staying home with me. The house sucked, the days sucked, the food sucked, the Enclosures sucked, everything sucked. It was awful. I didn’t really have much good to tell about my childhood, Avery was kind of the only good thing about it. She was a big bookworm, into mystery genres, she only had seven books her entire life and reread them a million times. Never got bored of it. Then I was exiled and met Hero, and life just got crazier.

Hero didn’t know his parents, but he lived with a small family up north. When he was a teenager he may or may not have gotten lost and found a different village a few days later, and another family took him in. There he grew up to be a worker and went out on his own as soon as he could. He made a few friends along the way, just travelers and mercenaries, and they did plenty of stupid stuff that either got them killed or really hurt. He didn’t ever grow ‘close’ to them, more like acquaintances than anything. Then he split from the whole traveling group gig and went on his own, into the Outcast Lands, and met me.

Then, we all became too tired to carry on, and we slept.

And now, we were suited up in front of the portal. The next day.

“Alright,” Herobrine started, holding a large sack that was full of the nine Eyes of Ender, “I guess we just put these in and go, right?”

“Guess so,” Asim said, “And then we just punt that mother——er right into hell.”

“That’s an elegant way to put it,” I laughed.

Hero stepped up the stairs to the portal frame. The three Eyes already placed within the portal were semi-scattered, two were next to each other and on the far end of the frame, while one was in the middle slot to the right. We weren’t exactly sure how to get to all of them.

Hero started to put a foot forward onto the frame, but I stopped him. “Wait, Hero. I don’t know about that, this thing is only hanging on by the stairs. Doesn’t look sturdy.”

He stepped back, then had an idea and walked down. “Zeke, come here,” he told him.

Zeke was still pulling some of his armor on. He had his chestplate and helmet left to go. He paused, set it down next to the Ender who stood closeby, and walked over to Herobrine.

Hero was behind the portal and kneeled down, “Get on my shoulders, you’ll put the first few in.”

Zeke sorta cocked his head, but then gave a little, “oh.” He must have been thinking ‘Why me?’ but then realized that he was the lightest of all of us without the armor on.

After they got situated, Hero stood and handed Zeke the Eyes. Asim laughed at his friend. “Huh, when you said you wanted Hero between your legs, I thought you meant something else~”

“Shut up,” Zeke grinned, hardly embarrassed because he knew Asim’s words weren’t true and put the first Eye in.

It was like a magnet. When the Eye of Ender was close to the slot it was like a force pulled it into the hole. It made a quiet

tung

as it hit the frame, then a soft glow appeared around the circumference of the Eyes and disappeared as quickly as it came. Zeke gave it a couple of taps and smiled, saying, “It’s in.”

Asim started, “That’s what she—”

I raised a brow, giving him a look.

He grinned cheekily and didn’t finish.

They did the next five along either side of the frame, then Hero let Zeke down and he put his armor on.

Hero had three Eyes in his hands, handed one to Asim, then one to me.

Asim smirked, “Ladies first~” he said to me.

“Yeah, get up there,” Hero shoved him along.

Asim was at the top of the stairs, three empty slots before him. He placed his to the very left.

Hero went next, and I followed him. His was to the right.

I had the last Eye. The last slot.

“Lead us to glory, Caroline,” Herobrine said.

I took a breath.

High hopes.

I leaned over and place the Eye in the empty slot, and the portal breathed new life. A thundering

boom

shook the stronghold as the portal flashed a bright white, then darkened into a deep black with small star-like fixtures within it. A wind that seemed to come from the portal itself rushed over us, and all was quiet…

My heart was racing now. I put my hand on the handle of Abaddon’s sword and turned to the others. They looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for action while starstruck at the same time. “...You guys ready?”

Hero smiled. “Heigh-ho, Care.”

I smiled back, then turned to the portal, and stepped in.

I think the most risky part of the whole journey was crossing the threshold. I thought for sure I was going to fall into the lava below but had to trust the portal, and I did. The world around me was still but spinning at the same time, cold yet burning, upright yet upside down. I saw nothing and everything, fake lights and stars all around, pitch blackness covering the area.

Then, when I was able to catch my breath, I saw it all.

My feet stood upon an obsidian platform, impossibly floating above the ground.

The… the ground.

I took in the scenery. The obsidian platform was hovering over the corner of a giant floating island. It was made of this pale material of sorts, it almost looked like sand. Endermen were all about the land, standing around and doing nothing. Even taller than them were giant black pillars, reaching for the empty black sky above. I counted ten in total, and at the very top of each of the pillars was a shining beacon of sorts. Purple and white, every one of them caught ablaze, crystallized and floating. Two of them at the tallest towers were encased in a cage of metal bars. In the center of the circle of pillars was a stone monument of sorts, I couldn’t make it out.

I let out a shaky breath, exhilarated and terrified at the same time. The air was… I didn’t know how to describe it. Thin and thick at the same time, temperate on the skin but icy cold when it hit the lungs.

A figure appeared before me. Apollo was on the floating island, out of reach, watching me closely.

I felt a presence behind me. I turned and saw one of them form on the platform. It was Herobrine, his body starting out as just colored specs in the air, then morphing and packing together until all of him was there on the same obsidian path. My eyes desperately tried to make out what I just saw, but my brain wasn’t even sure where to start.

Behind the platform was a void of infinite darkness. I sure as hell didn’t want the others to get here and accidentally get knocked off, so without much thought I just leaped off the platform and onto the strange island.

When I landed, I discovered that this definitely wasn’t sand. I was kneeling on a very hard surface, something like cobblestone but packed together much tighter and was much smoother. I stood and remembered the mission. More importantly, I remembered the Dragon.

A cold sweat came over me. Where was it? This thing was said to be huge, surely I would have seen it by now?

Herobrine jumped down after me. We were in a bit of a dip in the island, Apollo standing above us.

I turned to the obsidian platform, finding Asim and Zeke standing there. Asim was… not having a great time. He was whispering swears to himself, and Zeke had to push him forward. They jumped down and the lightning sorcerer was the first to break the silence with a famous, “

Holy sh—.

”

“No doubt,” Hero sighed, “...Let’s get going.”

“Where’s the dragon? Did you see the dragon?” Zeke asked, looking at me.

I was the last to talk. “I… No, I don’t know where it is.”

“It’s here,” Herobrine assured us, “Don’t… Listen, we can’t be doubting this now. All confidence. Let’s go.”

We made our way up the slope, drawing our weapons as we went. Unconsciously, we headed for the pillars, and I felt very small. The ground beneath our feet was still and easy to walk on, and walking closer to the structure in the middle I saw the material that made it.

Was that… bedrock?

It almost looked identical to the shape of the portal frame back home, save the jutting pillar in the middle of it. It was about as tall as one of the Endermen here, and I wasn’t really sure what it was supposed to be.

Suddenly, a horribly loud noise echoed throughout the void. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end and I gripped the sword tightly, moving away from the others so I wouldn’t accidentally hit them.

Movement came from the tallest tower. We all looked in that direction and saw a nightmare. What clung to the side of the pillar was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. A giant beast, pitch black with grey spikes jutting out along its spine, the same color of claws on its feet and horns on its head. The only color on the thing came from its purple eyes, which were locked onto us.

I tried just for the sake of it. Attempting to take it over, I stared right back, silently asking it to come down.

It didn’t.

It climbed up to the top of the tower and shook itself out of its slumber, spreading its extra appendages, getting twice as big then. While it loomed over us, we were all frozen, staring back at it with utter terror shaking us to the bone. The beast bared its teeth and opened its mouth to release a thundering roar, then dove down at us.

We all ran out of the way, splitting up. The Dragon attempted to swipe at us with its giant hand and thankfully missed. The wave of air that blew over us nearly knocked me down. I regained my balance and watched as it flew high into the air only to circle back down and swoop at us again.

I ditched the sword, sheathing it and taking out my bow and arrow. I drew it back as it came close and fired, hitting the dragon on its shoulder. It veered upwards and away from me, something peculiar happening. The tower closest to the Dragon… activated. The beacon on top shot a shining ray of purple and white at the beast, then stopped once the Dragon got close to another beacon and traded jobs. It continued, nonstop.

The others got the gist of the situation and began to attack. Hero shot fireballs up at it, many missing but a few hitting. Zeke pulled out a bow and arrow and nearly all of them missed. Asim shot lighting bolts up, and plenty of them bent and hit, but they didn’t seem to faze the dragon. In fact,

everything

we were doing didn’t seem to faze it. It hardly bat an eye at our attempts!

One of my arrows missed as I took a shot; it flew over the Dragon and struck one of the beacons of the towers. The glowing crystal exploded upon contact and

that’s

when the beast flinched. It wavered in its flight and barked—or however close to a bark a dragon could make—clearly distraught. It turned and went for the tower that sans a beacon and studied the empty space. The ray of light from the next beacon was attached to the Dragon like it was giving it new life. The beast pushed itself off of the pillar and flew high into the sky. Higher, higher, straight up. While we had some time, I shouted to the others, “Take down the crystals! I think that’s doing something!”

The Dragon dove down at us, its mouth partially open with a hungry purple glow at the back of its mouth. As it swooped up, it opened its jaws completely and spat purple and white fire over the stone. It fell like liquid but burned like fire, and though I wasn’t directly hit, I was still injured pretty bad. The fire stuck to the ground and burned around me, but some landed on my armor. It ran down the plates and seeped through the spots on my armor that didn’t connect, like on my joints. I could feel the pain lick down my elbows and knees and made me want to drop, but I knew that if I did then I’d be subjected to worse pain on the burning ground. I forced myself to move, but it was as if my bones were locking up under pressure. I could hardly move my knees by the time I was out of the danger zone, and when I tried, my right knee snapped. I fell and screamed in pain, holding my leg with stiff arms.

Herobrine rushed over to me, avoiding the acid-plagued ground, and dropped down next to me. It felt like my leg was a twig that had just been broken in two, and I wasn’t even sure if any bone was still attached. He healed me, and after moments I felt increasingly well, but the aching stayed. I swore aloud, sitting up, wondering how the hell something like that could happen. I shook myself out of it and told him, “Don’t let that fire touch you!”

Another explosion rang through the air, then another. Asim and Zeke had taken down the two beacons on the smaller towers. And the Dragon didn’t like that…

It dove into the ground where they were, making a crater as it skidded along. I couldn’t see either of the two, I was afraid it crushed them.

I got up as quickly as possible, rushing over and drawing my sword. The Dragon was just starting to stand, and I was at its backside. I jumped and shoved the sword into its scales deep into the flesh of its leg, and tore down as hard as I could. It cried out and jumped, then yanked away from me. The sword stayed in my hands.

It turned and swatted me with a giant clawed hand, and I didn’t do much to stop it. I knew that the thing would be dead in seconds, all we had to do now was step back and watch. I was pushed over and rolled a few yards away.

The Dragon took off into the air, the rays of light easily keeping up with it. I got up, realized I lost my helmet, but didn’t care.

I rushed over to the spot where it made a mess of the ground and found my friends. Asim was up on his feet, but Zeke was still on the ground, lying motionless.

Sh—, he’s hurt bad

.

Herobrine was already over there, and the Dragon was veering back. I tried to distract it to give them some time. I shouted at the thing and wove my sword in the air, simultaneously looking for any signs of weakness and struggle.

But… It hardly looked tired! And it wasn’t falling for me. It knew what I was trying to do, looked at me, and then targeted the group.

“Guys!” I shouted, pulling my bow, “

Guys! Move!!

” I tried to shoot it to waver the beast, and though my arrow hit, it didn’t care. It went straight for the other three.

Only two of them moved.

Zeke was still on the ground, and the Dragon dove back into the ground. A cloud of dust kicked up and the monster was quicker to stand this go-around. Herobrine had run my direction, Asim ran the other way. Hero was looking extremely distraught, his hands shaking, his eyes wild. “Care! Caroline!” he grabbed me.

I could take a wild guess at what he was about to say.

“He’s dead. Zeke’s gone. He was dead before I could heal him, I…

sh—!

”

I stood frozen for a moment. I didn’t believe it. I… couldn’t. No. No, no,

no

.

Asim wasn’t taking it well. I didn’t see him, he was on the other side of the Dragon, but I heard him. “

Come on!!

” He was just shouting at the top of his lungs, swearing at the beast, and shooting bolts of electricity at it.

I swatted Hero off of me and dashed over, not wanting to lose another. “Asim! Asim, stop!!”

But it was too late. The Dragon spun and whipped its tail, striking him, and the sorcerer went flying into one of the pillars. He collided with it

hard

, then fell down to the ground. He didn’t move.

I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t think, I couldn’t even breathe properly. We… We were so prepared! We had all the right armor, the apples, the weapons! I—

I was choking back tears of rage. I pulled a golden apple from the small pouch on my hip, suddenly remembering it. I took a bite and forced it down, and this rush of energy came over me. I wasn’t filled with inspiration or glory or anything that typical heroes would be filled with. Hell, I wasn’t even that determined to win.

I just…

I dropped the bow and arrow and held the sword. This was ending. Right now.

Hero shot fire at it behind me, and I caught its attention. He ran up and charged it, and I did the same.

I cut into its side, slicing it open, but it was practically a papercut to this thing. I stabbed into its side, but it shook me off. The sword was no longer in the beast, but also no longer in my hands. It was under the Dragon, and I raced for it.

I dove and rolled under the monster, and when I emerged on the other side I witnessed Hero getting absolutely mauled. The Dragon had knocked him down and was breathing fire right onto him—so much that I couldn’t even see my friend anymore. Then, all of a sudden, a beam of light came from his position, and with it a thundering

boom

and a rush of air. The Dragon, surprised, backed off and turned its attention towards me.

I wasn’t even sure what just happened over there, but I caught a glimpse of Hero struggling to stand. He was alive, at least.

The Dragon’s hand came at me and tried to swat me, and I stabbed my sword through its palm, then drew back twice as fast so I wouldn’t lose the weapon. I cut its chest twice and its head came down low in an attempt to bite me. I countered that by slicing it across the nose, and then was able to catch its chin.

Its tail swooped around and struck the ground just beside me. I lost my balance and fell over, giving it an opportunity to squish my with its giant feet, but Hero was just in time to help out. Red, angry fire struck the side of the beast’s head and it looked to my friend. His glory was ephemeral, however, as the Dragon swatted him away with its tail just like it had with Asim. Hero went across the island, rolling along the ground until he came to a stop. I saw him struggling to move.

I stood, stabbing the sword through its chest, royally pissed now. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins and I felt nearly unstoppable.

But, feelings don’t always match facts. I was stoppable.

Every attempt I made to hurt it, it just ended up getting healed. I struck the giant winged lizard, again and again, but to no avail. It batted me away, onto the ground, and I couldn’t get up in time.

The last thing I saw was its giant, razor-sharp teeth.

And the last thing I heard was Herobrine screaming my name.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 20

The Legend of Herobrine

“

Caroline!!

”

I watched her disappear. I watched her go. I watched because I could do nothing else. I was tired, I was weak, I wasn’t even…

The thing

ate her

. The Ender Dragon, that animal. We were so stupid to try to defeat this thing! I was so stupid for letting them. I should have listened to the Elder, to Versain, to all the warnings. We should have been more prepared. We should have… I should have…

I couldn’t even stand. They were gone, they were all gone. I was supposed to… We were supposed to…

The Dragon shook its head and looked my way, screeching and spreading its wings as it lifted into the air.

I stood, my knees shaking as I held my gut. I clutched my diamond pickaxe; I could never defeat this thing, but I wanted to hold onto what little dignity I had until the end.

The end was… much farther than what I thought.

I thought for sure that the Dragon would kill me right then and there, whether it be by crashing into me or by its acid breath. I didn’t care.

But… Things went differently.

As the Dragon sped closer, an Enderman quickly approached me and grabbed me, yanking me to the side. I blinked, and then…

The Dragon… It wasn’t there. The pillars, gone. The stone ground, gone. Everything was gone… and replaced by different hues of green. I was in a forest, the trees stretching far above me, covered in lively leaves. Clovers sprouted from the grass and stood quietly at my feet.

The Enderman stepped around me, entering my line of sight. It peered at me curiously. Apollo…

I stared up at it. I… “You…” I hissed, standing up straight, “Where were you…?” I stepped forward. “

Where were you?!

” I swung my pic at it, and it stepped back, easily avoiding me. I yelled, “

Where were you all that time?! Why didn’t you save them?! Why the hell didn’t you leave me?!!

”

Apollo gave me a warning, stiffening up and growling at me. I threw my pickaxe to the ground in total rage, not wanting to provoke it more and get in a fight with it but also unable to control my anger. I screamed at nothing, throwing my helmet off and grabbing my hair, then dropping to my knees.

So many thoughts were circling through my head.

They were gone, I saw them all die. But… maybe there was still saving them? Could Apollo bring me back? I should go back!

No, no… They’re gone, and you know it. Besides, I don’t even want to look at that thing again.

God, god, please…

My throat was tightening up and I was aching all over. I was groaning with pain and unable to control the horrible trembling in my hands. “No… No…”

I kneeled on the ground, weeping…

What felt like years but what was more like a minute or two later, rushing footsteps approached my area. I looked up to find Apollo gone and a couple of illagers hurrying up to me. They were dressed in blue and had crossbows readied.

“Herobrine?” one of them questioned.

I hid my face, not wanting them to see me.

“Sh—, Herobrine, what the hell happened?” the other asked in a panicky voice.

I forced the words out, “They’re gone… They’re all ——ing gone…!”

I felt a hand on the back of my armor and remembered what I was wearing. I wanted it off. Immediately.

I sat up and, through tears, I tore the diamond armor off. The diamonds we worked so goddamn hard for, the diamonds that did jack sh— in the end. I was pulling it off very sloppily, throwing it once I was free. I know I elbowed the two patrol illagers a few times and they tried to get me to calm down. They were wondering what had happened.

“I told you!” I shouted, “

They’re ——ing dead! Kill me! ——ing kill me!

”

I sat in the chair of Kehtal’s small room. His personal room was hardly extravagant for someone of such high power. I sat with my face in my hands, the pain of being alone physically hurting me. I’d been in here for a few minutes.

The door clicked open and I didn’t look. Footsteps quietly came to me, and I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Herobrine…” Kehtal started, “...I…”

I started crying again. I couldn’t control myself and I hated it. I hated being this way. I hated… God, I hated everything.

He waited for me to quiet, which took a while. “I told them… Ya don’t have to talk to anyone `bout it… We’ll keep ya here for the night, a`ight? We’ll help ya settle down…”

I didn’t respond to him.

He took his hand off of me, speaking softly. “Is there anyone ya wanna see right now? Or would ya rather be alone…?”

I didn’t even think I had the ability to talk right then.

He knew he wasn’t getting anything out of me, and gave up. “I’ll… I’ll stay in here with ya. Just to… keep ya company…” I knew what that actually meant. He was going to make sure I didn’t hurt myself or try to do anything worse. Kehtal stood and went over to his bed, sat down, and we shared the silence.

I stayed in that room the entire day. Hell, I stayed in that chair the entire day and ended up falling asleep in it. Kehtal woke me up gently—the one time I was a light-sleeper—and offered me his bed. I didn’t really know what to say or what to think, so I stayed quiet because that was my only option. He left but had someone stand outside for me. I tried to sleep in his bed. It was warm, comfortable, and welcomed me to slumber.

But I just couldn’t.

It was in the middle of the night, now. My brain was going wild. I picked apart every little detail of the battle: the pillars, the crashing, the acid breath, the animalistic nature of it, when I used the totem, when Zeke was unable to get out of the way, when Asim gave himself up, when she got a boost from the apple, when she was hurt, her sword, her determination, her hair, her face, her eyes, her…

I broke down crying several times that night.

Every single thing I thought of, it always routed back to her. Somehow, someway, even when the thing I thought of was completely irrelevant. I’d look at the walls of the mansion and remember where I was, then I’d recall the time she was stuck at the mansion in the Enclosures and the people here that she absolutely dumbfounded with the story of her life. I’d look at a book and remember how she wasn’t big on reading but always had a unique way with words. I’d look at my hands and remember her holding them so gingerly…

I… We didn’t even get to be together for that long. And it was all taken away. Just like that. Just… like…

that.

I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know how I’d get past this. And the more I didn’t know, the more frustrated I became. Anger followed, then guilt, then suffering. Mental suffering. I picked my brain apart, trying to come up with a solution, any solution. Anything at all.

I became angry at myself for not being there in time. Then I was angry at the Dragon, and I wanted to kill it. Angry at the illagers for giving us this stupid suicide-mission, angry at the village for encouraging us, angry at the Elder for not putting his foot down.

I tore at my hair.

No, stop. Right now. It’s nobody’s fault but the Dragon’s. You know that. You know that damn well.

The next few days were torture. Not just for myself, but for the others. I was becoming increasingly aggravated, lashing out with words at others who stared or asked questions. I didn’t even talk to Versain to let him know how I was doing, though he insisted.

He said something yesterday that got under my skin. It was clear that he was fed up with me. He told me, “You’re not the only one hurting. Why are you shutting yourself out?”

Then I… opened up. Not in a good way. I started pouring out nonsense, just angry babbling and yelling—I couldn’t even remember what I said—and I was pissed off at him. I got myself worked up and almost went physical with him—a few other illagers had to fend me off so I wouldn’t hurt anyone.

I got a warning from Kehtal. He was being too nice, though. He kept me in his room and just hinted that I shouldn’t do that. I didn’t know if he was sorry for me or scared of me or… I just didn’t know.

I had clawed at my arms, face, and neck. Red lines covered my skin and I began to bleed. Hell, I scratched so hard that I tore a small piece of flesh completely off my cheek, so now muscle was exposed.

All the while I was asking myself,

What would make this better? How can I make this better for me?

I didn’t want to think about ending it, but the idea lingered from time to time. No, no… There had to be something else.

Maybe I could kill it. I could try again. Do it for them, do it for her. There was no way in hell I could do it alone, that was for sure, and no way I could do it soon. Plus, when I was there, what would I do? The thing would demolish me the second I stepped into the portal. Maybe… Maybe there was something we missed. Maybe it had a secret weakness we didn’t know about. Yeah… yeah, we were just misinformed!

I ran out of Kehtal’s room and went to the library. I got looks and some people tried to stop me as I dashed by, but I ignored them. I searched for any book about mythical beasts or about the Dragon itself. I got a few, and…

...found nothing.

I was in the library for hours, sifting through the pages like a crazed idiot, searching as if I’d left something between the paper. I just needed something,

anything

, but it just

wasn’t there!

It wasn’t…

I was giving up hope. It was late into the evening, most of the people who were in the library were gone now. I just sat there, my face wet with tears of anger and denial, head in my hands, rereading the stupid, useless passages in these stupid, useless books.

When… something caught my eye.

I rubbed my face and cleared my vision so I could read. I was interested… then intrigued… then engrossed. For a while, I wasn’t sure if it was real or not, but later I came to find out that this was

very

real and had been done

multiple

times, decades ago.

I… I needed Kehtal. Right then.

I picked up the book and took off.

What I had just found could be a way I could redeem myself and avenge my friends. No, not

could,

it

would

be. I was sure of it.

Near the end of the book was everything anyone knew about the Ender Dragon… which wasn’t much. Less than what I knew. I didn’t know how many times I reread that section, but when I gave up I flipped to the start of the book. Near the beginning was a passage about

immortality

.

I thought for sure that it was BS, but I couldn’t help but read more. Even if it was fake, the possibility was enchanting. And then I figured out that it was true.

Powerful evokers, witches, and sorcerers could bind a soul in a sort of frozen state. Nothing could kill them, nothing could best them, and that’s the sort of thing I needed. Then I could kill it. I could kill the Dragon!

I searched all around for Kehtal, asked whoever was still awake, whoever was old enough to understand me and young enough to hear me.

Finally, news must have gotten around, because Kehtal came to me. “Herobrine!” he beckoned, “Stop! You…! You can’t be running `round this late…! Yer scaring—”

“Kehtal,” I cut him off, “I need your help. Right now. Can you do this?” I shoved the book into his chest, already open to the page I wanted him to look at.

“Herobrine,” he didn’t even look, “Yer tired, it’s late. Go get some sleep. You look… You look miserable, I hate to see ya like this.”

“Kehtal,

please!

Just

look at it!

” I pleaded, “I’ll do whatever you want, just

tell me

you can do what it says!”

Kehtal gave me a side-eye and held the book, reading it. I noticed his posture stiffen, his grip on the book become tighter, and his face go pale. He didn’t even read the entire page before slamming it shut and looking at me furiously. “No! No, I ain’t doin` that sh—!”

I furrowed my brow. “What… Why not?! I—”

“That’s practically black magic! I—No! No question `bout it, I’m not puttin` that curse on ya!”

“But it’s not a curse! Look,” I tried to snatch the book away from him, but he didn’t let me.

“Herobrine,

go to bed

. Yer not gonna convince me. You don’t even know what this gets into!”

“Kehtal, please!!” I begged, “I don’t know what to do! I feel stuck, and that’s the

only

thing that seems to be worth anything! Why won’t you let me—?”

He grabbed my arm and stared me down. “...I’ll tell ya why,” his voice was stern and low, and he had this most serious look to him that I hadn’t really seen before. He almost looked like a different person, “This sh— is dangerous, this sh— is crippling, and I ain’t gonna have you go through with it. You don’t know the consequences.”

I leaned in close to him, just as serious as he was, “Then tell me all the factors that play out. Scare me senseless if you have to. I

need

to know if this will work.”

He let me go, stepped back, and we were at a silent impasse. I knew I was an ugly mess and a complete wreck, but I also knew that I wasn’t going to stop looking for an alternative. This was my best bet.

The evoker finally sighed, turned, and motioned for me to follow.

The few people that were awake didn’t dare look at me. They just let us walk by with their heads down.

I was led up the stairs, clear to his room. He shut the door behind us. “Sit down,” he ordered, and I listened.

He stood at the desk while I was in the chair, and once we were settled, he opened the book. “How much of this did ya read?” he asked.

I frowned, “Enough to know—”

“No, stop right there. Don’t be smart with me, don’t lie to yerself,” he glared at me, “Hero, I know what yer goin` through is difficult. It hurts me too—hell, I’ve been through something similar.”

“Attempting to kill a dragon and having your friends die?” my voice wavered, “I don’t think anyone—”

“Seven years ago I lost my parents to the mansion of Hennen. And I wasn’t alone, dozens of others lost their elders, children, and friends. `N what `bout Versain? The poor soul lost his entire mansion! Ya think he don’t feel any sort of pain?”

“I think you’re an ass who’s trying to outdo me!”

He saw that I was getting worked up, and took a breath. “That ain’t what I was tryin`a say,” he said, “I mean: we didn’t go `round like madmen lookin` for ways to destroy ourselves.”

“I don’t care,” I growled, “Just tell me what’s so bad about it.”

He read off a line, “‘

This process can only be done when the offending soul is bound directly to a second soul. When the process is complete, the offending soul will die by no means except its own and the second soul’s.

’ Ya know what that means?” He didn’t wait for an answer, “Means that yer gonna be alive forever unless if you kill whatever yer soul is attached to.”

“That’s what I want,” I told him, “Bind myself to the Dragon’s soul, then I won’t rest until its dead. And it can’t kill me! I can’t lose!”

“That ain’t what I said,” he paused, “The Dragon

can

kill you. In fact, it’s the

only

thing that can kill you.”

“So what if—!”

“

Listen to me

,” he snapped, “Here’s how this usually happens: someone wants to be immortal. So, they bind their soul to a creature—any creature—maybe an animal, maybe a monster, maybe a person. The offendin` soul—the one that’s immortal—will continue to be immortal forever, even after that thing dies. The only way to shake off the spell is if the offendin` soul were to kill that thing personally. However, if that thing dies by

anything else

, age, sickness, another person, then the offendin` soul will be immortal

forever.

Nothin` can kill them, they can’t kill themselves. The only thing that would have been able to end them was the soul they were bound to.

“Let’s take yer situation into hand. If ya were to bind yer soul to the Dragon, first ya’d stop aging and ya wouldn’t have the repercussions of old age. Anything that tried to kill ya would hurt ya, but ya’d never be able to die. If yer shot in the head, stabbed through the chest, ya’d still feel the pain but ya’d be alive to experience it. Not exactly the best of things.

“But, at the same time, ya could get rid of anything in the universe. People, monsters, anything without failure.

Except

for the Dragon. By it, you

can

die, and it

will

try to kill you.

“With that, if anyone else kills the Dragon, yer stuck forever. There’s no going back. You’ll live until the end of the world, and then past that. Do ya understand?”

That was… a lot to take in. And even though I didn’t want to hear anything from him, I listened intently. “That… That’s okay. That means I kill the dragon or die trying. I mean, it’s not going anywhere. Can’t die of old age, can’t—”

“We don’t know that,” Kehtal said, “And ya opened the portal. Can ya close it again? `Cause if ya can’t, then someone is bound to find it, and they could be the one to outdo ya. Then, when yer ready to go back, ya find the Dragon dead and yer not ever goin` to have that chance of vengeance.”

“I… That won’t happen. Just tell me what happens after I kill it. Am I still immortal?”

He sighed, “No. You’ll start aging again, like normal, and you’ll live a regular life from then-on.”

“So where’s the downside to this? So long as I’m quick, nothing will happen to me, right?”

“There’re side effects with immortality, Herobrine. Insomnia, monsters and animals alike will fear ya, new powers, people will see ya as a threat.”

“Wait… You just said monsters will fear me and I’ll get new powers. How is that bad?”

“Yer image is at stake here, Herobrine. You’ll be seen as the new monster, and the powers aren’t like yer typical ones. They’re not beneficial, they’re used primarily for war and battle. Fazing through objects, disappearing and reappearing as a shadow, invisibility, morphing the earth that ya step on, all of these and more come without fail.”

“But… Don’t I already have warring powers? I have fire, I can control it. Why are those so bad compared to the ones I already have?”

“You were cursed. Those powers

are

bad. But, that power is also pretty common, so it ain’t viewed as something horrible. However, that’s also why Abaddon’s power and Caroline’s power were so terrifyin`. They were rare, and more times than not, people like that get bad reputations,” he paused, “...Ya could be the new Abaddon.”

That got under my skin, “You son of a bitch,” I stood, “Don’t

——ing

compare me to him,” I barked, pointing at him.

“Don’t

——ing

do this, Herobrine,” he shot back, “This bullsh— is gonna do more harm than good and ya know it.”

“Who’s done it before? I read it, it said a dozen people have become immortal.”

“Those people were old men and women who were studyin` creatures that lived for a

very

long time. Endermen, that’s what they studied. But, even then, they were all cut down by those Enders, and

all of those people

were more level-headed than ya,” he said, “Immortality will only aggravate ya, and I’ve seen yer temper.”

“I don’t—”

“Ya lashed out at Versain, Herobrine! Don’t tell me that ya don’t have a temper!”

“

—— off!

” I stepped away from him. “Why won’t you just help me?! Even if I become immortal, I’ll probably die before you even have to worry about me!”

“I

want

to worry `bout ya! Yer my friend, I’m just tryin`a do what’s best for ya!” he stood.

“Then

do this

,” I grabbed my hair, “Do this

one thing

,” I lowered my voice, “Please… Please, for the love of God… Just… help me feel like I’m doing

something

for them… I want to do something other than be pathetic…”

He stared me down as I slouched over.

“...Please… Kehtal…”

He stood there for a few long moments, unmoving.

…

He drew in a deep breath, his chest puffed out as he closed the book and set it on the desk quietly. The evoker sighed and closed his eyes rubbing his temple. “...I can’t even do it by myself… Hardly anyone practices this sort of stuff anymore…”

Quiet…

He continued, “...Get two other people. A powerful sorcerer and a powerful witch. Bring them here, and we’ll see what we can do.”

I felt so much relief when hearing those words. “I… I will,” I stood up straight, “I’ll bring them.” I turned for the door.

“Herobrine, wait,” he stopped me. I turned back around and he approached me, raising a hand and canceling the pain in my face and arms, healing the scratches. Then he grabbed both of my shoulders and, very austerely, said, “...Please. Think this through before you come back.”

I stepped away from him, shaking my head, “I already have.”

I turned and walked out of his room.

“

Are you an idiot?!

” the Elder struck me over the head once we were in the back room, away from the rest of the village, “Who told you about this?! You must be truly insane!”

I stepped out of his reach and showed my teeth, “I found a book in the coastal mansion. Kehtal told me he could do it with some help—”

“

Damn those stone-skins!

They’re feeding you curses!” he swore, shaking with rage, “Herobrine, you will

not

do this!”

“I

will!

” I shouted back, “No one can stop me! I’m going through with this and I’m going to kill that damned lizard!” I tried to move past him, “Now let me back out there so I can talk with—”

He stood in front of the door. “I will

not

let you out there until you clear your head!”

“I’m

fine!

Let me out, old man!” I tried pushing him away, but he retaliated by jabbing me in the gut with his cane, then struck me in the face with it. Now I was just pissed, and I didn’t much care for the Elder. “

Move!!

” I yelled, fire bursting to life at my hands.

The Elder did not hesitate. He raised his hand and aimed his palm at my chest, and then I was sent blown back across the room. My back and head hit the wall and I was left sitting on the floor, dazed and confused as all hell.

As my world spun, the old man walked up to me, pushing the end of his cane into my foot. “I have not had to defend myself like that for decades, yet here you’ve forced me to! Shame on you!” he scolded.

I tried to get up but nearly fell over. I closed my eyes and rubbed my head, groaning. “You… I… What?” I opened my eyes and found his incredibly angry face, “You’re a sorcerer?” I spat out.

“Hardly!” he said, “That is not the point! Tell me what you know about this… this fool’s trick!”

I leaned against the wall. “I don’t have to say anything if you won’t be any help,” I grumbled.

“Would you like to get thrown again?” he threatened.

I stood my ground, finally steady on my feet. “What’s the deal with you?”

He stood up straight. “

You

are my deal. I’m devastated by the news of our friends, you know that! And I had such high hopes for you all…” his tone became solemn for a moment, but then rose back up with authority, “But

you

. You are a joke compared to them! If one of the others had traded places with you, do you think they’d be this way?!”

“I sure hope so! I’d expect them to! I’m trying to avenge my friends, and I can’t do it like this!” I yelled, “So let me go and forget about me!”

The Elder’s lip quivered and his eyes had this angry fire to them. “You spineless,” he hit me with the cane, “

idiotic

,” another hit, “

fool!

” one more. “How could you say that?!”

Both sides were stinging from the strikes, and I was breaking down, “I just want to help them!”

“There’s no helping the lost,” he said.

I had nothing to say. We were at a standstill. The way he looked at me… God, those eyes, they stabbed into you.

“Tell me what you know,” he ordered.

I swallowed, choking down the painful lump in my throat, only to have it return.
“...Kehtal explained to me the process. You seem… familiar with it…” I scowled, “He said that I’d have new powers, dangerous ones… And that everything would come to fear me at some point… And that… uhm…” I sighed, “He warned me that I might be seen as the new Abaddon. And… I’m fine with that risk… because it won’t happen… I know it won’t… I just need to kill the Dragon, nothing more.

“Then, after a lot of yelling, Kehtal said that he could do it, but not alone. He’d need two more people, a sorcerer and a witch.”

The Elder waited for a moment, “Is that it?”

“That’s it…”

He shook his head. “I can’t believe…” he sighed, “You understand that immortality changes people. And it should only be used for field research—”

“I know,” I said, “So… let me leave. Let me leave so I can ask the merchants about anybody they may know, anybody—”

“No,” he interrupted me, “No, I won’t let you.”

I growled, “You can’t keep me in here forever.”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” he explained, “I will be your sorcerer.”

I blinked, raising my eyebrows. I was… surprised… to say the least. “Wh… I thought you said you were ‘hardly’ a sorcerer,” I retorted.

“I’m not the same as you. I was born with powers, yes, but those are history. I’ve studied different powers and acquired information over the years.”

“Information that will make me immortal?” I asked sarcastically.

But, he answered back truthfully. “Precisely. I’ve done it before.”

I didn’t even know how to respond, if I opened my mouth I would just spit out noises and nonsensical words. I gave myself a second to collect my thoughts, “Wait, what?”

“There’s much you don’t know about me, Herobrine,” he said, “I’ve only given immortality to one other, and he was killed shortly after by the Ender he was bound to.”

I didn’t really care about the Elder’s backstory with it, “Yeah, okay. But why the hell are you helping me? You just beat me senseless because you

didn’t

want me to do this? Did you already forget?”

He chuffed, “No, I haven’t forgotten.”

“Then what’s the reason?”

The Elder’s shoulders slumped over, and he didn’t make eye-contact with me. “Herobrine… I understand that you’ve definitely changed because of the recent events. But I still consider you as a friend. A close friend,” he paused, “I know that, whether or not I like it, you will leave this room and find a sorcerer to aid you… In this situation, I only would like the best for you. So, instead of relying on a stranger, I would like for you to rely on me…” he glanced at me.

I felt… prideful? Honored? I wasn’t sure, but something made me rise a little more. I guess I was happy to have him on board… even if he was entirely reluctant. “Uhm… Alright. I’ll take that,” I said.

“As you should,” he nodded, then turned for the door.

“Elder,” I walked with him, “I need one more favor.”

“What is it?” he hissed.

He opened the door, and we walked into the dining hall. “Do you know where I can find any… er… friendly witches?”

He looked at me like I was dumb—or, at least dumber than what he already thought I was. “You were at the Enclosures. Don’t you know that they are crawling with them?”

I didn’t have Apollo, so travel was difficult. By the time I made it to the Enclosures, everyone knew what happened. And a few even knew what I was looking for. Nobody was very happy to find me there, though. When I entered the gates of the South Enclosure, lots of people heckled me, a few people threw things, others just laughed.

It was no lie that the Enclosures were hardly standing. Somehow, the city managed to look even more grey and lifeless. Many shops had closed down, several houses had been abandoned, and the place was just unclean. I guessed Abaddon really was the only thing keeping this place on its feet.

I noticed that there were mostly sorcerers here, even on the human side of the Enclosure. It didn’t surprise me much, the low-lives were living in total squalor.

No wonder why they left.

I wasn’t too sure where to start. No one looked too inviting, and I didn’t even know how to pitch my idea.

However, to my surprise, someone came up to me. And I recognized her… slightly.

“You’re Herobrine,” I heard a calm, smooth voice say behind me. I turned and saw a woman, dressed in a white gown with sharp eyes. Her straight, grey hair made me think she was on the older end of life, but the features of her face warranted that she was younger. I remembered that look...

“I… Yeah…” I responded.

She looked me up and down without a smile. “We’ve met. I healed you after your doll murdered Abaddon and you fled.”

Ah… That’s why she looked familiar.

And… my doll?

Oh… Caroline…

“...Right,” I sort of looked away, “You here to—?”

“Come with me,” she ordered, then turned and began walking.

I wasn’t sure how to approach the situation. She definitely wasn’t friendly, but… maybe not all bad, either. She healed me however long ago… worth a shot? “Where are we going?” I asked.

“Somewhere private. I know what you’re after.”

I frowned, unable to do much but obey.

The mysterious healer led me across town, into a district with run-down shops. We passed many, and I was circling back around to the entrance. However, before nearing the gates, she turned to a shop with a sign that used to read something but was now too faded to make out any words. The building was tiny and all the windows were so dirty that you could barely see through them. She stepped up the stairs and pulled a key from a pocket on her gown and unlocked the door, then opened it.

Before we were even inside I saw how dark it was. And after I walked in, it seemed even darker. Small candles sat on unused tables, desks, and shelves, the only sources of light.

“This used to be a shop,” she said suddenly, “My shop. Though it’s hardly what it used to be, as you can see.” She glared at me over her shoulder. “Thanks for that,” she said sourly.

I stopped in my tracks. “Alright, listen, lady,” I started, and she walked to the back of the room, “What’s your deal? You don’t seem like you’re all that happy to help me—or to even be around me for that matter. What—”

She pushed her palm into the dusty wall, and the creases in the wood came to life with color. Every line in the wall could be seen in all colors, transitioning in pulsing lights, dark to bright. Sickening cracks popped the wood apart and opened an entrance to a flight of stairs leading downward. She looked over her shoulder. “Will you be coming?”

I stared at the giant hole in the wall; I’d never seen anything like that before. “How the hell did you…”

“

Will you?

” she repeated herself.

I bit the inside of my cheek, a little more than nervous. I held my breath… “Yes.”

She took quiet steps down the stairs, and I followed blindly.

The staircase led down quite a ways, and I couldn’t see the bottom from where I was. She touched the wall while going down, and the wooden one behind us closed up. The stairs became pitch black, and the only light to be seen was from my eyes. I felt a chill run up my spine.

“Make yourself useful and give me a light,” she told me.

I raised my hand and used it as a torch, creating fire.

“Tell me,” she said, “

Exactly

what you need.”

“A… A witch. One powerful enough to partner with an evoker and a sorcerer and make me immortal.”

“You know there are some powerful enough to do that task on their own,” she said, “I’m not one of those… but I’m wondering why you would go to three sorcerers instead of just one immensely powerful one.”

I could see the bottom of the stairs now, and a fiery orange light at the bottom. “...I don’t know any superhumans like that… And I’m already two-thirds of the way there.”

“Are you, now?”

We reached the bottom of the stairwell, and before us was a room, the floor, walls, and ceiling all stone. Unlike up top, this place was far from empty. Along the walls were bookcases and shelves filled with different miscellaneous items: flowers, herbs, small tools, animal bones, powders, and more. The orange glow came from a giant pool of boiling… something. Encased within a short stone wall was a dense liquid, thick bubbles popping at the surface, too liquidized to be lava, too strange to be water. Desks full of papers were scattered here and there, along with peculiar altars. They stood overhead, and hanging from them were different animal bones and skulls. It was more than eerie, and I had an awful feeling about everything.

“What the hell is this…?” I breathed.

She went to a cupboard at the corner of the room, opening it up and taking out a set of clothes. “My workshop,” she said, then began to undress. I turned away immediately, thinking she was crazy. “Tell me what you’ll do after you find the witch you’re after.”

I cleared my throat, looking at a weird box near the pool of orange liquid. It was laced with iron, sealed up tight. I didn’t think much about it—probably more bones if I had to guess. “Take them south—first to a village to get the sorcerer, then to a mansion along the coast to meet with the evoker.”

“Well,” I heard clicking and rustling, “You may start that journey, now.” Footsteps neared me. I glanced over and saw the woman in new garb: leather armor that was fastened tightly around her, boots for travel, and a satchel over her shoulder.

I sighed. “...You’re a witch, then?”

“Looks like it, doesn’t it?” she went to one of the desks, opening drawers and pulling out bottles full of colored liquids and placing them in specific places into her satchel.

“I don’t know… I was told that witches were here in the Enclosures, but… you sure look like a sorcerer,” I said.

“That’s the point. I was nothing more than a healer to most, but to a few, they enjoyed my more secretive services.”

“So… why didn’t you tell me that you were a witch right off the bat?”

“You needed proof, didn’t you?” she closed her satchel.

I shrugged.

She sighed, “You really

are

an idiot.”

Haven’t heard that enough times…

I shuffled in place, not sure where to go with this. “I… I have a few questions.”

“Make it quick.”

“What are the other people here gonna think when they see me leaving with you? Don’t they know why I’m here?”

“Yes, they do,” she answered, “And you won’t be leaving with me. I will take a private route, separate from you. We will meet outside of the gates, at the north end of the lake. You couldn’t have missed it when you came here.”

“I know where it is,” I said. “What about… I thought witches were only useful when it came to potions?”

“For a common witch, yes. For a band of witches, they focus on curses. For me? Well… if I’m advanced enough to grant you immortality, why wouldn’t I be powerful enough to know a few spells?”

How humble.

“Anything else? I’d like to leave as quickly as possible.”

I couldn’t really think of anything too important at the moment… and if we would be traveling together, I suppose I could just ask her then. But, I thought I should get this out of the way. “...What’s your name?”

She stood a little straighter, “Lilith Loughty.”

It had been four weeks since I saw the Elder, and five weeks since I saw Kehtal. We arrived at the village and saw that a few illagers from the coastal mansion had caught wind of the situation and came to escort us to the mansion. They’d been there for a few days, just waiting for our return. We left with the Elder.

The journey was very quiet. Neither the Elder or Lilith talked to each other or to me, and I was too busy recovering memories of my friends. Good memories… but ones I’d rather forget to end the pain.

When we arrived at the mansion, Kehtal met with us outside privately. He tried shaking hands with the other two, but they’d have no part in friendly conversation. They knew what they were here for.

The Elder suggested we go somewhere very private, away from people, away from life. Kehtal knew a place. I caught up on tiny details that this was going to be a little messy… I think I was ready, though.

Three illagers escorted us. Two I didn’t recognize… but one I did. Very much so. It was Versain, he suggested that he be there, that it would only be right. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but I didn’t argue, and no one else did.

An entire day’s and night’s worth of traveling along the coastline lead us to a place on the beach. A formation of rocks and dirt rose above the dark ocean waters, the waves crashing at the base of them. At the top of the rise was a stone tower, old and abandoned.

Versain and the other two were instructed to stay at the base of the rocks. We made the ascent up to the tower.

Kehtal told us that this used to be an old lookout for his mansion, but had been left alone for a few decades now. It still stood strong but had suffered environmental damage. Vines clung to the worn-down walls, stairs leading up the tower had fallen to the bottom floor long ago, and the windows that used to have glass in them were now just holes in the walls.

I stood off to the side while they went over their plans. It was all gibberish to me, so I didn’t listen much. I didn’t know that I could listen if I wanted to, anyway. There was a lot on my mind…

It had been… nearly two months? I think so… Didn’t feel like that long ago. Felt like yesterday since the incident.

I wondered if I could’ve done anything to help them. Anything at all. I played different scenarios in my head, but they all ended up the same… Not with them dying, but with the scenes never finishing and it was just me imagining them. Imagining her. What more would we have done had we succeeded?

I chuckled to myself. Uendelen asked if we would have any kids. That would be funny… a few little daredevils running around…

It… it would have been funny… My smile faded. Too late for that.

I tried to think ahead. Think of what I would do. I know that when the illager patrol found me, they took my armor along with me. I was sure it was still in the mansion and that I could retrieve it so I wouldn’t have to start fresh. But I think I’d need a lot more firepower, and that would take a while to acquire. Firstly and foremostly, I’d need to go back to the sight of the portal and deactivate it so nobody could enter it. After that, I could start getting the word out that I needed warriors…

Or not… I remembered that

I

had to be the one to kill it if I wanted this whole immortality thing to end. Having a band of warriors would just narrow my chances of taking it down. Plus, who would want to follow me after that fiasco?

Would I still need to eat? Probably not… I think ‘starving to death’ is covered by immortality. And drowning, suffocating, stabbed… exploded? Imagine getting blown up by a creeper. Would I be alive, just in pieces, or would I fuse back together? Would I—?

“Herobrine.”

The Elder’s voice shook me from my thoughts. I looked up, seeing the environment. It had gotten very cloudy out, the thick clouds dark and promising rain. The three of them were arranged in a triangle formation, different items on the floor—mainly plants and roots, probably from Lilith’s stash—and they meant little to me.

“Stand there, please. In the middle of us,” the old man instructed.

I took a step forward, slightly surprised to find a cold sweat on my brow and a weight on my chest that grew increasingly heavier. I carefully stepped over the plant life and into the center of the three of them. I stood up straight, not really sure what to do.

Out of all of them, Kehtal seemed the most nervous. He kept glancing around as if he were looking for a way out of this. Finally, his eyes landed on me. “Herobrine… Are ya

absolutely sure

`bout this?” I looked at him, and he had this pitiful expression on his face. “You can still back out… No one will judge ya…”

I swallowed. “I dragged you guys all the way out here. No point in—”

“Don’t be foolish. Our health his not your concern,” the Elder said, “Listen to Kehtal, and think for just a moment, then give us a real answer.”

I looked around at the three of them, and they all were looking at me. The witch’s eyes were sharp and thin, and they stared right into my soul. The sorcerer’s eyes were serious and showed that he was ready for any reaction, on his toes. The evoker’s eyes were full of sympathy and sorrow, and he looked scared.

...Was I ready? I was so sure of it, but now? Here and now? I… I think the gravity of the situation was hitting me all at once. Maybe I really was a crazy, idiotic, foolish madman like everyone’s been telling me. Maybe I was out of my element, over my head. Maybe I just needed to take a step back…

Or maybe they didn’t see the way I did. They didn’t see how this would help me, how this would help Asim, Zeke, and Caroline. How this would help everyone… And if I couldn’t succeed, then I was perfectly fine with dying while trying.

I took a deep breath, then slowly let it back out. “I’m sure of this. I’m not backing out.”

Kehtal slumped with defeat, the Elder sighed, and Lilith was unmoving. The evoker said, “...Let’s start. Herobrine, stand still.”

The clouds overhead cried over the land, darkening by the moment. The three of them rose their hands slightly, and each glowed differently. Kehtal’s fingers trembled within a purple-blue aura, the air around the Elder’s was white and wavy, and Lilith’s steady hands shone a brilliant orange. Looking down at my own hands I saw that the veins under my skin were crawling with color—indigo, white, and orange. I could feel the movement through my arms and legs traveling to my torso as if bugs were literally crawling beneath my flesh, and it reached up to my neck. I began to itch all over, but when I touched myself it burned.

The glow from everyone’s hands shimmered brighter, and the feeling of crawling became more intense. The itching was beginning to hurt on its own without me touching myself, and I hissed through my teeth.

I could hear the wind pick up as it whistled through the holes of the tower, and the sound of the waves slamming into the base of the rocks below became increasingly extreme. Thunder boomed from above, and the rain came down on us.

They all began murmuring something lowly, strange chants, all three of them different. I could hardly hear them above the wind, thunder, and the pounding in my ears.

My stomach flipped and then it felt as if my rib cage was tightening and pressing into my lungs. I wheezed and leaned over, gasping for air and knowing I was receiving it but unable to feel the satisfaction of it.

Something rose to my throat that made it feel like I was about to be decapitated. It was a cold feeling underneath and a burning feeling at the surface of my skin, and when the pain became too much I started to groan and growl in pain. Noises came from my lips involuntarily, and I found it to be hard to stand. I did everything I could to not fall.

Thunder clapped and echoed across the land, again and again, never pausing. Light flashed across the walls and floor of the tower, lighting surging above us.

Their hands flashed brightly and that’s when I screamed. The pain was becoming unbearable, my body felt like it could cave in on itself, but I couldn’t move without sending a giant message of pain all across myself. It was nothing like I’d felt before. I needed air,

I needed air!

The thunder began to sound like roars—actual roars. It sounded like the Ender Dragon. I desperately wanted to run but wasn’t allowed to move.

Lighting struck down into the tower, landing between the three of them and me. The bolts stayed there, bright and energetic, then began to spin around me. Faster, faster, faster, until they reared up like they were alive and struck me at three sides. I screamed into the air, throwing my hands down and uncontrollably erupting into a fit of flames. My ears rang, my eyes watered, and my nose bled, and there I was, feeling like I was going to die.

And then… it was over.

The blinding light of the lightning was gone, the glow of their hands was gone, the wind was gone, the thunder was gone… all that was left was me, the three of them, and the plants on the floor that were now dead.

I drew a breath, then collapsed to the floor.

Quite the trip… I hardly believed it when the fool was so dead-set on bringing me with him, but it happened. Fortunately.

Wonderfully…

I cackled to myself, thinking about him, the white-eyed man. I could have made him immortal on my own, but… that would have given it away, wouldn’t it have? It was better to tell that lie, let him believe I was only as powerful as the other two.

It had been years since I assisted him, the old toad, and the stone skin. I believe seven years. I was still surprised that they voiced little suspicion of me.

Seven years… and he’s done nothing. Herobrine, the man that swore to become immortal to avenge his friends, chickened out and became a drunk loaf. Rumors even say he tried to attack the very illagers that helped him! What a bastard… I’ll admit, I thought I would have to move much faster in order to carry out my plan, but since he’s not doing anything, I must have all the time in the world.

“And we’ll make sure he never sees the end of his own life…” I whispered to the box I carried, “Won’t we, Lord?” It was laced in iron and sealed up tight.

I walked over the red, dusty ground, the air hot and providing no relief along my short journey. Just a few more steps and I should be clear of the threat of enemies here. Along with that, I should be far enough away from the attempt of civilization humans and sorcerers tried to make here. If anyone were to take a visit, they’d never find me.

I walked into a small cave, dipping down into a dark area, the dusty air making the environment look fuzzy and unfocused. I put the heavy box onto the ground, leaving it for a moment while I assembled the rest.

A large pouch hung on my belt, and when I opened it tiny whispers rose from the encasement. Small, brown, disfigured faces with wide mouths and tiny eyes screamed quietly at me, begging for release. I dumped the pouch onto the ground and watched the souls within the sand writhe and squirm.

I pushed the box over and unlatched the lid. I carefully opened it, the deathly smell of disease emerging from the container. Inside were the dead ashes of my Lord, along with a folded garment of his, and his carefully-assembled skull. I took the black skull with care in one hand, the garment in the other. I lay the clothing on the ground—silently wishing I could have gotten the sword instead, but knowing that was impossible and that this was the next best thing—then gingerly set the skull on top.

Soon. Soon…

I tipped the box over and spilled the charred ashes onto the soul sand, covering the poor sods trapped within the earth. It hardened the sand, and I had to move quickly to mold it into shape.

Though trying to do it neatly would take up far more time, I had to work with haste. The souls and mixed with the withered ashes of my Lord expanded enough to create a life-sized figure, and I was ultimately satisfied.

I took the skull and rested it atop of the box, taking the garment and draping it over the earthy shape I created. This was truly exhilarating, and I was sure to be awarded upon completion. I smiled knowing that.

I took the charred skull from its place and positioned it on top of the standing figure. Nearly finished… I couldn't help but grin with pure delight! I removed a small vial of healing liquid from my satchel, removing the cork and reaching up above the top of the figure. I drizzled the potion over it, then stepped back…

The standing figure had no change at first—that was expected—but it soon started to glow. The places where the potion careened down were the first to catch light, and then the rest of it spread like an infection over the figure. I clasped my hands together as I saw it begin to morph.

Sand and dust compiled into pitch-black skin, the figure beginning to show the physique of a man before me. The garb was destroyed within the process, clearly too fragile, but it wasn’t of any worth. Just a personal item needed for the resurrection.

Digits formed at the end of limbs, joints bent, features were coming into focus, silver hair grew atop his head, and his face grew over the skull. The teeth were golden and the iris’ were silvery-red while the rest of the eyes were blood-red. He sighed his first breath into this new life and fell forward, now down on one knee.

“Lord Abaddon… rise!” I cheered, “Rise! You live again!”

He pushed himself off of the red ground and stood with balanced feet. His eyes shot into me, and his lips hooked into a sly grin. “...I’ll be damned…” his voice was raspy.

“Lord Abaddon… Caroline Hargis and her band of exiles managed to find their way to the land of the Ender Dragon four years after your death… But karma was on your side, and all but two of them were slain.”

“...Which ones are they…?” he asked.

“The disabled illager and the white-eyed man. The illager will be of no threat to you—he lives a life of little adventure within a mansion, now. But the one with white eyes, Herobrine, he has become immortal. His goal was to defeat the Dragon in favor of his lost allies, but after the transformation he did nothing,” I explained, “I suggest we take action in revenge for your death.”

He chuckled through a dry throat, “...I know what you want… And I know what to do…” he stepped past me, moving smoothly, “I cannot kill him… But I will kill the Ender Dragon to ensure he lives forever… yes?”

Pride swelled up in my chest. “Precisely. There will never be an end to his days!”

Abaddon was simply walking out of the cave now. I left the box and tailed him, telling him, “I believe requesting a reward for your return would be reasonable?”

He stopped and eyed me with a smile. “Ah… Of course. But first, tell me… What exactly is Herobrine’s punishment?”

I played his game. “Eternal life. His punishment will be his undying nature.”

“Well, in that case…” he grabbed my throat, digging his fingernails into my skin. I didn’t expect this, it scared me, and he looked so calm… That smirk was unchanging. “...I suppose that means to you that premature death is a reward~”

He crushed my throat.

End of

Her World

...But Hardly the End of Our Story...

~Stay Tuned~