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“Isokka, are you ready?” Charles asked, looking down at Isokka with an odd expression on his face.“I’m ready.”“Alright, I’m going to put you under now. I want you to count down from 10 for me.”“10. 9. 8. 7…”Isokka got to seven before darkness overcame her.——————Isokka opened her eyes. She was lying face down on a large bed. She immediately noticed she had a headache blooming in the front of her head. She looked around, still a bit groggy. She saw the doctor move into her field of vision and sit down next to her. She noticed an ache in her back that wasn’t there before.“How are you feeling?” Charles asked, testing her pulse.“Tired. Did it work?” Isokka asked.She tried to turn over onto her side, but Charles held up a hand and signaled for her to stop.“Don’t turn over quite just yet. Your back is still healing,” Charles said.“So it did work,” Isokka asked, a smile splitting her face.“We won’t know if it was successful until you can get up. Don’t try to flex any muscles yet.”“Don’t be such a downer. It doesn’t suit you,” Isokka replied, moving her arms up so she could cross them under her head.Charles chuckled and said, “Stephen keeps telling me that very same thing.”“He’s right. And so am I,” Isokka said.“Try to get some rest. I’ll wake you when it’s time to get up.”Isokka laid her head back down and tried to focus on resting, as she was told to do. She went out like a light.——————“It’s time for you to wake, Isokka,” Charles said, shaking her shoulder gently.Isokka opened her eyes and peered up at the doctor. He was standing by the bed with a notebook and quill in his hands.Isokka moved to sit up. She gingerly felt along her back where the mechanical wings had been attached. She’d drawn the plans and instructions on how to attach the wings. Now was the moment that she had been waiting months for.Charles grabbed her elbow and helped her stand. The wings were heavy, made of solid metal gears and rods. The webbing between the rods was a unique material she had designed herself, made out of the silk webbing formed by spiders and crafted to stretch but not tear easily.“We’ll take it slow. Try to stretch out one of the wings,” Charles said.Isokka focused on the new wings on her back and tried to flex the muscle that had been modified to connect with the wing. It ached, but she heard the wing creak as it moved. She looked behind her and watched as one of the wings stretched out to extend itself fully.“It’s working,” Isokka said in awe.“Try to move the other one,” Charles said.Isokka looked over at the other wing and tried to focus on moving it. This wing also made a creaking noise as it moved to obey Isokka’s command. She tried to flap it slowly, mimicking the movement that she would need to imitate when she finally took flight. It worked! Isokka suppressed the urge to leap with joy. Instead she gave Charles a giddy grin and touched a wing with one of her hands.“Congratulations, Isokka,” Charles said, smiling down at her.Isokka moved to give Charles a tight hug and said, “I couldn’t have done this without you. I hope the surgery wasn’t too arduous.”“It was a bit touch and go a few times, but overall, I think it went very well. I know you’re excited, but I don’t want you trying to fly with these just yet. Wait at least a week for your back to heal. In the meantime, get used to the feel of them,” Charles ordered.“I understand,” Isokka said.“I should get back to the farm. I’m sure Stephen could use some help with it right about now.”“I’ll see you around, Charles. Hopefully from the air this time,” Isokka said.
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When SnackShop returned from his spelunking expedition shaking and speaking in stuttering words, everyone took it seriously. He spoke of a strange new biome, the deep dark, and what few creatures lurked there. When he spoke of the Wardens, Isokka’s ears perked up.“Tell me of these Wardens,” Isokka asked, leaning forward in her seat and staring at SnackShop with a serious bent to her gaze.SnackShop broke eye contact first, electing to stare down at his restless hands instead as he uttered his next words.“I’ve never seen anything this powerful. Nothing in the Nether could beat this thing, I tell you,” he said, shaking his head back and forth.“How did you make it out of there?” Stephen asked, a skeptical look on his face and arms crossed over his chest.“I dropped a few Skeleton eggs on the ground and just ran as fast as I could. The creature seemd more interested in killing the SKeletons than killing me,” SnackShop said, scoffing sharply. “If you’re foolish enough to try and sneak past this thing, you’ve got to be real quiet. Walking on wool carpeting works well, but make even a few sounds off of that carpet, and you’re finished.”SnackShop hissed with pain as Charles finished wrapping up his left shoulder and upper arm.“You should be good. Don’t stress that arm for at least two weeks. Unless you want one of us to just slaughter you and you can start over, fresh,” Charles said, arms gesturing to Snackshop’s allies.“I’ll pass on that offer, but thanks. I’ll have enough on my hands with the nightmares I’ll have tonight…Of that thing,” SnackShop said, one side of lip curled up.“What did this…Warden look like?” Charles asked.“It had these strange glowing antlers. They twitched and glowed everytime something made a sound near it. It was huge, a hulking beast. And it had a massive open mouth, a mouth with no teeth. And I didn’t see any eyes. I think it was blind.”“You nearly got smacked by a blind mob? Ha!” Charles said, stomping his foot down and laughing hysterically.“You joke, but you haven’t seen this thing up close. You try facing a Warden and see how you feel after that,” SnackShop said.“I’d take his warning seriously, lads. All jokes aside, the amount of force that had to go into nearly shattering his metal shoulder…I haven’t seen anything like this, I truly haven’t,” Charles said, shaking his head and backing away from his patient.“Where did you find this ancient city? Through the deep fissure? Or was it somewhere else?” Isokka asked, grabbing SnackShop by his good arm gently.“I went through the cave system beneath the mountain range over where the spruce forest stands. It’s a long way down, but not too steep. I think I was about 400 or 500 feet down when I ran into it,” SnackShop said, looking up at Isokka.“I’ll be checking that out, for sure,” Isokka said, rubbing her itching hands together roughly and looking off into the distance.“Isokka,” SnackShop said, grabbing one of Isokka’s arms harshly and shaking her. “I know you’re a tough cookie, but don’t fuck around with this thing. It can and will kill you. In a few hits or less, for that matter.”“I’ll be alright, Snack. Don’t worry about me,” Isokka said, brushing off the man’s grip on her arm.— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —The cavern was dark and wet. Dripstone hung from the ceiling and poked upwards from the ground, and it was all over the place. Isokka was focusing hard on not clipping her wings on the stalagmites and stalactites.Then she spotted it: sculk. It glowed a dim cyan color in the darkness of the cavern, and it covered the entire mouth of the next cavern system that she had yet to explore. Isokka pulled out her shovel and dug up several deposits of the stuff, then shoved it in her traveling pack. She had to be getting close to the ancient city, if SnackShop’s description of the area was right.Isokka continued to make her way through the cavern. Soon she was completely surrounded by sculk. Far ahead, she saw a wandering skeleton that hadn’t noticed her yet, and Isokka brandished her bow. She let a single arrow loose, directed right at the creature’s head. Its bones clunked together as it collapsed lifelessly to the ground.The woman moved deeper into the cave. She started to see more than just sculk; she saw Sculk sensors, shriekers, and catalysts, each one matching the descriptions SnackShop had mentioned in his story. They were scattered all over the place. Isokka took a step towards one of the sculk sensors. It flared with light, as if sensing Isokka’s movements. Isokka elected to crouch down and sneak. She tried to step towards the sensor again, and it didn’t detect her movement. Isokka took out her shovel and quickly severed the roots that connected the strange object to the sculk below it. She shoved the plant-like object in her backpack and continued to search through the cave.Isokka stopped sharply as the cave suddenly gave way a foot in front of her. Isokka took out a block of Glowstone and dropped it down into the hole. It lit up the area around it as it fell, revealing an odd structure formed out of the deepslate bricks SnackShop had mentioned. It alerted a sensor as it fell, so Isokka elected to fly down the rest of the way with a torch in her hands.She flapped her wings quickly and lifted herself off the ground. She turned her wings and pointed them downwards, and suddenly she was flying down into the ancient city. Isokka flapped her wings back and up, and she came to land on top of one of the deepslate structures that were lined up on either side of a straight road that led deeper into the city. It was so dark, she could barely see anything, so she unslung her backpack from around her shoulders and dug around in it, seeking a specific potion. After a bit of rummaging, she found one of the potions that gave her the ability to see in the dark, its liquid a dark blue hue. She downed the subtly sweet potion, and when she opened her eyes, she could see everything inside the pitch dark cavern.She was at the entrance of a massive city, its structures all made out of some twisted combination of sculk growths, bits of spruce wood, and deepslate in various states. Isokka took out her diamond pickaxes slowly and went to town on the nearby deepslate bricks. She managed to score enough to build a house, and she was too high up for any sculk sensors to hear her working. She stuffed her loot in her backpack and flew across the city.She spotted a massive portal-like structure in the center of the city. Looking around, it appeared that all of the paths and roads in the city led to the portal-like structure. Isokka flew over to the portal and landed just inside its mouth. She noticed that the inside of the portal was made entirely of reinforced deepslate. She pulled out her pickaxe and tried to see if she could break the substance and bring a sample of it home for study. She couldn’t break the deepslate. In fact, a fresh crack appeared along the surface of her pickaxe, so she stopped using it. In lieu of a sample, Isokka decided to pull out her journal and sketch the apprentice and basic properties of the new block down, as well as sketches of what the city looked like, and the portal’s appearance.When she was finished, she put her journal in her pack pack and looked around. She saw a large chest on the top of one of the deepslate structures. She flapped her wings and flew over to go and open the chest. It was high up enough that she could open it without being overhead by a sculk shrieker. When Isokka reached the chest, she opened up the top, the hinges creaking loudly as she did so. She found a music disc, a few amethyst clusters, some enchanted and non-enchanted books and journals, and some monster spawn eggs. Isokka pocketed the items and turned to face the rest of the city.Looking around, she spotted a few clusters of gold, redstone, and sapphire ore veins on the ground off the city. Flying over there would risk her being caught by one of the sensors, which is how SnackShop said he accidentally summoned the warden. She really needed fresh redstone and gold, though. She could be quick.Isokka flew down to the ore clusters and began to rapidly hit the ores with her pickaxe. She carved out several bundles of the stuff and placed it all in her backpack. That was when she heard the sound of one of the shriekers. Isokka slowly turned to face the shrieker, and saw that it was calling to something. Nearby, Isokka heard a strange digging sound. She immediately backed up, pulled out her crossbow, and nocked an arrow that would poison whatever she hit with it. She watched something truly gargantuan dig its way out of the earth.It stood on two hind legs, each of which ended in three large toes. Its arms were thick and covered by a thin layer of sculk. Its head was large, covered in sculk, and split open only by a massive, toothless mouth. It lacked eyes, just like SnackShop said. On the top of its head were an impressive rack of antlers that were dripping in sculk. But its chest was the most interesting feature of all: inside its chest beat three hearts, which pulsed with a cyan light. Two pairs of four ribs encased the hearts, though Isokka could hear its heartbeat as clearly as if it were right by her ear. The entire creature seemed almost formed out of sculk itself, though she’d have to perform an autopsy to determine exactly what it was. It certainly didn’t seem like it was from this world.Isokka slowly took out her journal and quickly—and quietly—sketched a picture of the thing, along with a few notes. She sketched another note when a nearby noise made the Warden’s antlers flare with that same cyan light while they twitched. She stuffed her journal back in her backpack and took another step back. The Warden made a loud sniffing noise, its head looking around even though it had no eyes. It turned in Isokka’s direction soon enough. Its senses must have been honed by its lack of eyes, Isokka surmised.She crouched down and snuck around a nearby pillar before she turned back around. She saw the Warden sniffing around where she had just been, growling low in its throat. It turned back in Isokka’s direction and the woman carefully snuck around a few more pillars. She made her way deeper into the city, though she felt uncomfortable being confined by the low-hanging arches that led there. Her wings would barely be able to fit through those spaces, but she’d managed worse odds. She turned to see where the warden was and saw that it was on her trail, sniffing around every area where she had just walked.The trip was sunk. She couldn’t do anything with that thing hovering over her shoulder. Isokka stretched out her wings, and they creaked softly in response. The Warden’s head twitched in her direction, and she quickly flapped her wings and took to the air. She heard it before it hit her: a high-pitched screech that seemed to follow her as she flew. She realized the sound was the result of a sonic boom when it crashed into her, breaking several components in her wings and sending her crashing to the ground. She blacked out when she collided with the sculk.Isokka’s head was killing her. That was the first thing she noticed. She also noticed a persistent numbing sensation in her upper back, as well as a pain in her right arm. Sheblinked her eyes open, and saw the Warden a few blocks away, sniffing at the air. Isokka didn’t move. She looked over at her left wing and saw that several of the gears were shattered. She looked over at her other wing, and saw that several of its gears were broken as well. She wouldn’t be flying with these anytime soon. She slowly pulled out a pair of Elytra from her backpack and slipped them over her shoulders. As the Warden sniffed and drew ever closer, Isokka grabbed a firework and popped the cap off. She was sent soaring into the air.The woman flew and dove periodically to avoid the Warden’ sonic attack, and flew up and out of the ancient city as fast as possible. She carefully navigated the tunnels until she was out from being underground and back in the open air again. She looked down at her aching arm and saw that she was bleeding from a large gash. She grabbed a thin piece of wool and wrapped it around her arm. It would have to work for now, at least until she reached the server's doctor.Isokka made it to Charles’ and Stephen’s house within a few minutes, making a rough crash landing on their upper balcony. Charles burst out of the nearby door, several medical supplies in hand.“What happened to you?” Charles asked, kneeling down to help Isokka get to her feet.“A Warden happened to me,” Isokka replied.“Come on. I’ll start with the gash on your arm,” Charles said. “Don’t give me that look; your wings can wait.”Isokka allowed the doctor to maneuver her into a surgery chair. He grabbed a stool and he pulled over a large chest closer to the chair. He grabbed several rolls of wool and some string, as well as a mysterious jar filled with some kind of ointment. He took the cap off the jar and gently applied some of the ointment over the gash. Isokka hissed as pain shot through her arm.“I’m sorry. This’ll be quick,” the doctor promised, grabbing some strange tool and beginning to staple the flesh back together.Isokka gritted her teeth and struggled to not let another sound escape her mouth. The staples for the middle section of the gash were the most painful to apply. The doctor stopped stapling and looked up at Isokka.“You can scream. Stephen’s used to it,” Charles said.“I’ll pass on that offer, thanks,” Isokka said through clenched teeth.The doctor wordlessly continued to staple together the large gash. When he was finally finished, he went and lowered the back of the chair so that it was flat.“Flip over and lay down. I’ll be giving you a dose of anesthetic, so you’ll be able to skip the painful process of having your wings fixed while you’re awake. You alright with that?” Charles asked, bending down to look Isokka in the eye.“Yes, it's fine. Think I’ll be able to fly anytime soon after this?” Isokka asked, flipping over and laying face-down.The doctor didn’t answer immediately, though he did bend down to examine the damage done to her wings.“You should be able to fly after I fix them. Your flight muscles will probably be sore though. I’d recommend giving them a break and just using the elytra for now,” Charles advised, sticking a dose of anesthetic in Isokka’s arm. “Count down from a hundred for me.”“100, 99, 98, 97, 96…” Isokka said, words slurring as her vision faded into darkness.—————When Isokka woke up, she was lying on her side on a couch, facing a massive painting. The painting depicted a massive blue skull with flowers on either side of it. Her head was no longer hurting, and she noticed that her wounded arm was wrapped in thin wool sheets. Isokka gingerly felt along where her wings connected with her flesh. The area felt slightly bruised, but it wouldn’t scar, and her wings themselves were back in perfect condition. She’d recently replaced the silk webbing with more sturdy phantom membranes, and that was also in perfect condition. She could take to the skies if she wanted.In front of her and leaning against the couch was her backpack. Isokka rummaged through her pack, making sure she’d kept all of her spoils from the city. She found her massive haul of deepslate, plus the rest of the things she’d stolen. The books and journals were still in good condition, and the amethyst clusters were intact. Her journal was also still in usable condition, none of the pages torn out or otherwise damaged. She shut the flap and clipped the flap button to its corresponding button on the main section of her pack. She carefully slung her backpack over her shoulder.Isokka got to her feet and walked out of the resting room and into Charles’ and Stephen’s living room. The two were sitting together on a couch, arms wrapped around each other’s necks and each of them reading a book. Isokka came to stand a few more steps closer and coughed lightly. Charles’ head snapped up in alarm, but Stephen only gave Isokka a passing glance before looking back down.“Hey Charles. Stephen,” Isokka said, nodding to each of them.“How do you feel?” Charles asked, getting up from the couch and setting down his book.“Good. My head’s stopped hurting, and the wings feel fine,” Isokka said.“Great. Because that means you’re ready for my next round of questions. Namely, what the hell were you thinking, Isokka? Going down there?” Charles very nearly yelled, putting both hands on his hips in exasperation.Isokka scoffed and said, “I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself. And SnackShop told me more than enough on how to navigate that place. What do you mean ‘What was I thinking?’?”Charles scoffed, looked away from Isokka and closed his eyes, saying, “You could have been killed. SnackShop told you that those things were dangerous. He told you not to go down there.”“No, he told me not to fuck around with that thing. Big difference,” Isokka argued.“For that matter, how did you summon a Warden? You don’t summon Wardens by sneaking around the city. What triggered it?” Charles asked, opening his eyes and looking at Isokka.“I found a few ore deposits on the ground of the city. Thought I could mine ‘em fast and fly outta there,” Isokka said.“I thought you were smarter than SnackShop, Isokka. He told you about that. He said every sound he made triggered it. Every. Sound. Not some sounds and not others. All of them,” Charles said.“It wasn’t a wasted trip. Look at what I found,” Isokka argued, putting down her backpack and plucking out her spoils.Even Stephen put down his book and leaned forward to see what she had to show. Charles looked at the amethyst clusters carefully when Isokka handed one to him. She showed them the enchanted books that she found, in addition to the ancient journals. Stephen leaned forward even more to peer at her sketches of the city and of the Warden.“You faced that thing? And lived?” Stephen exclaimed.“I wouldn’t say I faced it. More like ‘flew away in the other direction as fast as possible’,” Isokka confessed, taking her journal back to sketch a few more notes down about what she’d observed.“Still. I’ve heard of some others on the server dying to those things. They’re not pleasant deaths,” Stephen warned.“What I wish I had gotten was one of its antlers,” Isokka said.“Why?” Charles asked, crossing his arms over his chest and looking back up at Isokka.Isokka huffed and said, “When nearby sounds occurred, its antlers twitched. They must be hypersensitive to vibrations in the air. We could do so many things with that kind of technology.”“I see why they say that you can take a stoner out of his redstone, but you can’t take the redstone out of the stoner,” Stephen said, sitting back on the couch.“What does that even mean?” Isokka said. “I nabbed a few of the sculk sensors as well. They’ll be perfect for my traps.”“Let me see them. SnackShop said they had…tentacles?” Stephen asked, standing up to move closer to Isokka and her backpack.“They do,” Isokka said, pulling out a sculk sensor and placing it on the floor.Stephen took a step towards it and the sensor flared with bright blue light. The sensor’s tentacles wiggled wildly for a few moments before settling.Charles snapped a hand around Stephen’s wrist and said, “Why did you put that there? You’ll summon one of those things here!”“Don’t worry. There’s no sculk shriekers nearby, and we’re too far above ground for the Warden’s territory,” Isokka reassured Charles.“It looks so weird,” Stephen said, curling a hand around one of the waving tentacles.The tentacle wrapped around Stephen’s arm but didn’t harm him, though Charles looked like he wanted to snatch the thing off and throw it across the room. After Charles tentatively poked the plant-like object, Isokka placed it back inside her backpack. Before sitting back down, Charles hesitantly peeked in Isokka’s backpack, as though expecting something horrible to leap out and bite him.“That’s it? Doesn’t sound like a trip to the ancient city is worth all that much,” Charles said. “Why not just get your supplies from The Nether?”“That portal was there for a reason. I’m going to figure out why it was placed there, and why the Warden guards that place like he does. Was the sculk always there, or is it some kind of infection?” Isokka said.“Sculk? An infection? No one’s gotten sick off of sculk, Isokka,” Stephen said.“I’m not saying it makes people sick. I’m saying it makes the earth sick,” Isokka argued.“If the sculk is an infection, then the Warden is just an intruder. It played no part in helping to build the city,” Charles theorized.Isokka nodded and said, “Perhaps. Hopefully these journals I found are in a language I can decipher. If not, then I’ll need more artifacts.”Charles scoffed and rubbed both hands over his eyes, saying, “Don’t tell me you’re going back down there.”“I probably will. I’ll be more careful next time. Save the ore mining for another day,” Isokka said.“Do that. Be careful, Isokka. I don’t want to have to haul your stuff back to base and wait for you to respawn,” Charles said.“You worry too much, old man. That won’t happen,” Isokka said, clapping Charles’ shoulder. “And thank you, for fixing me up.”“You can thank me after this whole ancient city business is done with,” Charles protested, waving to Isokka as she turned and left out the door.Isokka waved to Charles and Stephen and started running for the edge of the balcony. Right before she reached the edge, she jumped and spread her wings out wide. She caught the current quickly, and before long, she was flying high over the land. She pulled out her compass and started heading south, back to her base. It took her only a few minutes of flying to reach it.She kept her base high among a sea of floating islands. Her base was on the largest and highest up island, and she’d built it so it twisted its way through the mountain and out of it in several places. Isokka landed on the highest balcony and walked through the set of double doors that led inside. She shoved the doors open and walked over to her sketching and writing desk, and set down her stuffed backpack pretty hard.She laid out a few rolls of paper and began to make more accurate and well-designed sketches of what she’d seen. Then she pulled out a stool for her to sit on as she worked. First, she sketched the Warden, a creature’s whose body and behaviors were refusing toleave the space of Isokka’s mind. She kept examining and re-examining the creature’s features, trying to understand it. She managed to do a profile of its front, one of its back, and also of its side-view. She sketched another picture detailing the specific components of its chest, and another one detailing the head and upper neck. She wrote down a few more theories on its nature, but she didn’t really get anywhere.She then moved on to sketching the ancient city itself, including its structures and design layout. She sketched out a few pictures of the towers that had interested her, along with more theories on how one would go about even defending such a city. The main perk of it would be that it was deep underground, and thus probably safe from most overland flooding and lightning strikes. Other than that, it could be easily stormed. So if its purpose was not to create a defensible city, then its purpose must be to protect the portal at the center.She moved on to sketching more designs of the city’s buildings. Several of the buildings had definitely looked like the foundations of houses, so people had to be living there for that to be the case. She couldn’t discern the purpose of some of the thinner, unscalable towers, but she sketched those anyway. Before long, she was finished, and the sketches could be safely added to her journal.Isokka placed several of the newer sketches in her journal and pulled out the strangers’ journals she’d found in that chest. She flipped one open, and immediately ran into her next roadblock. The language inscribed in the pages was like nothing she’d ever seen before, written in tight and harsh-looking scrawls using some type of black ink. She flipped through the next few journals, but found those were written in the same indecipherable language. This would take a long time to decode, and there was no way to ensure that her translations would even be right. She sighed and closed the journals, and set them down at the far corner of the right side of her desk.Isokka then pulled out the amethyst geodes and started working on determining their age. If she could get a rough estimate of their age, that might tell her how long ago that civilization lived. After running the clusters through several tests, she determined that the crystals were indeed very old, among some of the oldest gems she’d ever found. The older a civilization was, the harder it was to find artifacts of that civilization, yet another roadblock in her research.She pulled out the enchanting books and studied the language that those were written in. She was pleased to learn that she could at least recognize the language that these tomes were written in. They detailed how to enchant one’s armor with a skill that would allow for faster sneak-walking, and also how to walk across soul sand faster. Based on that alone, she now understood that the Nether was at least as old as the civilization that lived in the ancient cities. Such evidence would also imply that the ancient civilization once used sneaking regularly, which would mean that the Warden was a threat to that civilization as well.Isokka wrote down a few more theories in her journal, then took a look at the music disc she found. She moved to her jukebox, popped out the previous disc, and set the new disc in her player. She heard a number of things. The sounds of someone working tools. Then stomping, as if an army was marching. Numerous growls and roars quite similar to the Warden’s sounds. A few moments of a lighter song that somehow made its way on the track played occasionally, as if offering a break from the horrific parts. It ended with the sound of a portal opening, someone stepping through it, and immediately running into a snarling Warden. The music disc cut off sharply after that. Isokka wrote down a few more notes in her journal and then stuffed the music disc and other artifacts in a fresh, empty chest. She put on a more peaceful music disc.She sat down in her chair hard. She felt exhausted, all the adrenaline finally starting to seep out of her muscles. She pulled over her jug of water and poured a little into a nearby glass. Isokka took a few sips of it and contemplated simply taking the time to rest.The hunter got to her feet and stumbled over to her bed. She flopped down in it pretty hard, and took her time taking off her light armor and sword sheath. She turned onto her side and flexed her wings into a more comfortable position. She watched out her windows as the sun set, casting an orange glow that bled across the sky. She closed her eyes as she saw the full moon rise over the distant mountains, falling asleep fast.
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When Isokka awoke, it was to the sound of birds tweeting. She sat up in her bed and looked around. The morning sun was shining through her windows, casting a soft yellow glow that filled the room. She winced as something in her back twitched with soreness, and she rubbed at the surgically implanted flight muscles that wrapped around her upper back and lower torso. She grabbed a jar of ointment from her nightstand, a concoction made from mixing a few pinches of blaze powder with some glowstone dust and magma cream. She used it to soothe exactly these sorts of aches, and she slicked on the jelly-like substance over where the strained muscles lay, sighing when the pain finally began to subside. She pulled on a shirt and slipped her wings through the holes in the back, then rose to her feet and examined the sketches she’d left on her desk.She’d sketched numerous images of the various structures she’d found in the ancient city. Thanks to her notes and earlier quick sketches, the final versions were pretty accurate and detailed. She still couldn’t understand the use of some of the thinner, more pillar-like structures, although some of the larger buildings definitely looked like the foundations of houses or even apartments. Whatever that portal in the center of the city was, it was important enough that the ancient civilization that lived there decided to build their homes all around it.Isokka sat at her desk and thought about her options, fiddling with a block of deepslate as she did so. She could return to the ancient city, be a little more careful this time, and continue to examine the city’s structures and features. She could continue to examine the current artifacts that she’d found earlier, though that wasn’t likely to amount to much, considering she had no way to translate any of the journals she’d found. She could also take a break from ancient cities entirely and move on to her other projects. As Isokka considered delving back down into the ancient city, she felt her flight muscles spasm with discomfort at the memory of the Warden’s sonic attack that had nearly rendered her wings irreparable. The woman shook her head and set down the block of deepslate that she held in her hands. She honestly wasn’t keen on facing the Warden again, and the city itself had given her the creeps.The woman sighed and stood up. She could instead continue farming for ores in the Nether. She needed some more Netherrack, gold, and blackstone to reinforce her home. She retrieved her sword, bow, and quiver of arrows, slinging the ranged weapon over her shoulder and sheathing her sword at her belt, alongside where her quiver hung. She pocketed a few throwable potions in her pack, along with some extra food and a couple diamond pickaxes. When she shrugged on her enchanted armor and carefully slipped her wings through the holes she’d cut, she turned and started walking to the other side of the room. She went through a set of double doors and went down a long set of winding stairs that led down to where she kept her Nether portal.Isokka passed a few more doors and finally reached the lowest level in her base, where she kept everything related to the Nether. She opened the iron doors that she kept locked and shut, just in case some Nether creature got curious and tried to pass through her portal. It was an unheard-of occurrence, but Isokka wasn’t the type of person to take such a risk. She wasn’t keen on being woken up in the middle of the night by a furious Piglin wielding some enchanted blade. She checked the progress of her Netherwart farm, nodding in satisfaction at the sight of the plants’ bulbous red stalks growing strong in their bed of soul sand. She approached her Nether portal, the obsidian completely protected by Netherite blocks on both sides of the portal. Isokka took a deep breath and slowly approached the portal. Trips through the Nether were always stressful, even when well prepared. Her vision began to blur and become wiggly as she passed through the vibrant purple curtain that formed the actual portal.When she came out on the other side, she was assaulted by the acrid scent of brimstone and waves of dry heat. Ashes fluttered and drifted through the air, some of it landing on her cheeks and arms. She left her portal before her vision began to swim, and she turned and checked that her Netheritee blocks were still surrounding the portal. They were still there; no Ghasts had blown the bricks to pieces yet, though with how durable the material was, Isokka would have been surprised to find it destroyed.Isokka looked around at her surroundings. Like the last times she’d been here, she’d come out into a Basalt Delta biome, riddled with lava, covered in blackstone and netherrack, and crawling with Ghasts and Magma Cubes. Said Ghasts were currently flying through the air and making small weeping nosies, though they seemed to pay no mind to Isokka’s presence. The woman took to the skies, rapidly flapping her wings to get herself off the ground.She pulled out a pickaxe and began to mine some of the blackstone ores to be found nearby, and stuffed the resulting blocks in her pack. When a Ghast fired off a fireball nearby, Isokka heard the sound and rapidly flapped her wings, taking her several blocks away and allowing her to dodge the attack. She whirled around and pulled out her bow, firing off a few instant damage arrows that would deal a good chunk of damage against such a creature. She dodged another fireball, ignoring it as it sailed past her head, and resumed shooting. She kept firing arrows until the Ghast was dead, at which point it whimpered loudly and disappeared in a plume of smoke. Isokka could see the items that the Ghast had dropped, and flew down to get them before they fell into the lava, nabbing a few Ghast tears and some gunpowder for her trouble.Isokka flapped her wings and flew up to a high ledge riddled with basalt with lava pouring off the sides. She mined some of the basalt and stuffed the items in her pack, then looked around for anything else interesting. She spotted the edge of a Crimson Forest off in the distance, so she grabbed a few chunks of Glowstane hanging nearby and created a pillar with an arrow pointing back to the direction of her portal, just in case she got lost. She kept a few more Glowstone chunks on hand to create another guiding pillar and flew over to where the forest lay. The forest didn’t quite stand; it hovered, as it stood atop a sheet of soul sand that somehow rose in the air without falling. The rules of the Nether were strange, even on the best of days.Once she reached the forest, Isokka pulled out her axe and started chopping down a tree. She grabbed a few crimson fungi and some nylium blocks to plant them on, then stuffed the items in her pack and continued her search. She came across a few skeletons, and she quickly shot the undead creatures down with her bow and arrows.Isokka turned and looked around the forest. She saw tusked and white-eyed Hoglin walking around nearby, stopping occasionally to graze on the red grass that grew throughout the biome. She saw a few more skeletons, too distant to shoot and not really worth the trouble of aggravating. She saw several clumps of various varieties of mushrooms growing nearby, and she quickly plucked a few clumps of the tasty food and stuffed them in her pack.She pulled out her sketchbook and made a few notes to her existing sketches of the Nether, adding details about the mushrooms that grew there. She thought about ehr current haul, and wondered whether she should head back to the portal or continue mining. The decision was made for her when she spotted a couple Ghasts floating in the air nearby. They were about to become aggressive, if their proximity was any indication, so Isokka started flying. She followed her Glowstone pillars and soon was back in front of her Nether portal. Looking behind her to make sure nothing was following her, she entered through the portal and tried to ignore the dizzying sensation of passing through. She stumbled a little when she came out on the other side, her vision blurry and her limbs unsteady.She shut the doors to her Nether room and ascended the winding stairs that wound their way through the entire floating mountain that she’d built her home on. She stopped halfway up and went through a door, planting the mushrooms she’d found in some nylium. She left the room behind and resumed her ascent. When she got to the uppermost floor of her room, where she kept her writing/sketching desk and bed, she stuffed the bricks and ores she’d grabbed in a chest, keeping a few of them on hand. She headed for her crafting table next, and crafted a few blackstone bricks and smooth basalt. She quickly grabbed a few of the things she’d gotten from the ancient city and stuffed them in her pack, intending to examine them further a bit later. She headed through the double doors that led outside and took to the skies, flying up and around her home and heading towards the topmost roof. She stacked the blackstone bricks on top of the existing roof, just in case anything—or anyone—were to drop some TNT on her house and attempt to blow it up.Right as she set down the last block, she heard someone flying their Elytra through the air near any. She turned to face whoever was approaching, and watched as a woman dressed in green robes crash-landed on her newly reinforced roof. When she got to her feet and brushed the dust off her knees, Isokka recognized the face hiding under the robes’ hood. This was the server’s resident enchantress, Selene. She approached the woman and stood in front of her.“Selene!” Isokka squealed, coming forth to give her friend a tight hug. “Still can’t fly properly, I see. What brings you here?”“It’s good to see you. You smell like brimstone. Fresh from the Nether?” Selene asked, hugging her back before the two broke apart.“Yes. Need any blackstone bricks? I mined way more than I need,” Isokka confessed.“I might just take you up on that offer, but I have more urgent news, Isokka,” Selene said.“What’s the news?” Isokka asked, putting a hand on her hip.“I come with a message from Charles. He’s having a server-wide meeting at David’s spruce mansion. He asked that you bring some of the things you found in the ancient city.”“Is it about the city itself? He hardly ever calls meetings,” Isokka said.“I think so, but he told me he’d tell us where we got there. It’s in an hour, but it’ll take nearly that long to get to the mansion. You coming, or do you need to grab some stuff?” Selene said.“I’m coming with you. I’ve already got the stuff from the ancient city on me. This meeting sounds…ominous. Let’s fly,” Isokka said, flapping her wings and rising off the roof.As Isokka began to fly off in the direction of David’s mansion, Selene ran and jumped off the roof, snapping off a firework to propel her even faster through the air. On the way, they traded stories about their recent travels. Selene seemed interested in the books and enchanted items that Isokka had found, and she promised to show her some of her findings when they got back. They made it to the mansion in a little over half an hour, and found that most of the server was already there, goofing around on Dvaid’s front lawn as they waited.Isokka and Selene continued to trade stories as they mingled with the crowd, splitting a loaf of bread and some cooked cod strips between the two of them. Isokka occasionally looked around to see who else had come. She saw Stephen in the crowd, speaking with the owner of the mansion: David, an adept swordsman and Nether delver. She also saw SnackShop, his tanned skin gleaming bright in the sunlight as he spoke with his friend, the huntress Willow. Isokka caught the eye of Perry, a man who had developed something of a beef with her after she got her wings installed. When Isokka had refused to give him the designs for her wings, he’d taken it personally, and had never forgiven her for the slight. Isokka hadn’t regretted her choice, knowing that Perry would only use the wings recklessly, and would likely get himself killed while using them. She ignored Perry’s scowl and looked around at the other members in the crowd.She also saw Luna, a fair-haired Redstoner and trap-designer known for her elaborate creations. Isokka was slightly stunned to see that Luna was speaking with Sika, a reclusive young man that Isokka didn’t know much about. She also saw a few other friends and some foes, but she wasn’t too worried about a fight breaking out. Everyone had agreed that server-wide meetings would be automatic neutral ground, so it wasn’t likely that any of her not-friends would confront her.“Quiet down, people!” Isokka heard Charles call out.Isokka looked around for the doctor, finding him standing on the upper steps that led into David’s mansion. When everyone’s attention finally landed on the server’s doctor, he took a few steps towards the crowd and raised his hands.“I have an announcement to make! This concerns everyone here, so please don’t leave until I’ve finished,” Charles said. “By now, I’m sure most of you have heard of SnackShop’s little foray into the Deep Dark. If not, I’ll explain now. A few days ago, SnackShop went cave-delving into the deep fissure, and found a new biome called the Deep Dark. He also found an ancient city there, along with numerous strange blocks and never-before-seen creatures.”Charles paused in his speech to look around at everyone’s faces. He took another step down the stairs and spoke up again.“SnackShop ran into a creature we’ve decided to call the Warden. He fought it, and it nearly killed him, so he ran out of there as fast as he could and shared his experiences with myself and a few others. A few days after that, Isokka went down to the city and found even more strange items. She also ran into the Warden while there. The creature crushed her wings with a strange attack that I’ve never heard of before, but she made it out alive, as you can all see,” Charles said, gesturing to Isokka in the middle of the crowd.Isokka ignored the few curious looks she got and forced her attention on Charles. The doctor cleared his throat before speaking again.“You’re probably wondering why I’ve called you all here. It's not just to share the news of this strange new biome. I want to issue a warning to all of you: the Warden is a very dangerous creature. To date, no one we know has killed it, and we don’t know whether it is the only one of its kind or if it even can be killed. The only way to subvert it is to constantly sneak. Don’t set off the sculk shriekers or sculk sensors that lay within and around the city, or else you’ll be facing this beast too. Isokka, come here, please.”Isokka slowly wound her way through the crowd and won to stand at Charles’ side. He looked down at the woman as she came to him.“Will you show everyone some of what you found?” Charles asked Isokka.“Sure,” Isokka chirped, taking out a few of the sculk-related blocks that she’d mined as well as her sketchbook.Charles handed the items to several people in the crowd, and Isokka heard muttering as people commented on the blocks and Isokka’s sketches. It took a few minutes for everyone to see all of the blocks and sketches, but eventually they were returned to Isokka’s hands. At that point, she stuffed the items back into her pack and waited for Charles’ next little speech.“Now you all know what these blocks look like. If anyone finds any more of these blocks or another ancient city in their travels, please note where you found them very precisely. We don’t have nearly enough information on whatever civilization lived there. As you can see from Isokka’s sketches, there is a portal that stands at the center of each city, and we also have no idea how to unlock it or where it leads. Be very careful around this structure. If anyone decides to go delving, I would advise you to do this only after being well prepared. Now, does anyone have any questions?”Someone in the crowd raised their hands, and Charles pointed to them. Isokka heard the voice of Stephen as he began to speak.“What exactly is this ‘sculk’? We know it reacts to sound, but do we know anything else?”“I don’t know any more about it than you do. Isokka?” Charles asked, looking over at her with his eyebrow raised.Isokka cleared her throat and began to speak, “It has a low blast resistance, so it's no good for protecting your portals. The shriekers and sensors don’t summon the Warden when you’re above ground, so they could be used for your traps and Redstone circuits. I’m studying the substance, but so far that’s all I know about it.”When someone else raised their hand, Charles gestured to them. Isokka saw Luna stand up on the tips of her toes, but she was so short that the action didn’t help much.“What kinds of enchantments should we use down there?” Luna asked.Charles gained over at Isokka, revealing that he had no idea how to answer her question, and Isokka stepped forward and spoke.“I found some enchanted books down in the ancient city. There is an enchantment that allows you to walk faster while sneaking. That sounds pretty useful to me. There’s also an enchantment that allows you to walk faster on Soul Sand. Could be useful for the Nether,” Isokka said, seeing Luna perk up at the mention of Soul Sand.“Are there any other questions?”Isokka coughed, and Charles looked over at her. Isokka straightened her shoulders and said, “I found a music disc while I was down there. It sounds…terrifying, to say the least, but I think you all should hear it.”David came forward and set down a music box as Isokka pulled the disc out of her pack. She stuck the disc in the player, and everyone quieted down and listened to the disc’s ‘music’. A few people leaned back when they heard the vicious growls of the Warden, and more than a few curious listeners came forward to better hear it play.Once it was finished playing, Isokka set the disc back inside her pack and looked around at the crowd.“Well, that settles it. I’m never going cave-diving again,” someone in the crowd joked, probably SnackShop.A few people laughed and chuckled at his response to the music disc, and someone else held up their hand. Charles pointed at them, and Isokka saw Selene come forward and out of the crowd.“Do we know how long it takes for the Warden to despawn?” Selene asked.Isokka shook her head; she had no idea how long it took the Warden to despawn, and Charles shrugged. A few people looked at SnackShop, but he threw up his hands and said that he didn’t know.“Anyone else have questions?” Charles asked.No one else raised their hands, and Isokka returned to stand with the rest of the crowd. Charles gave a long sigh, closing his eyes and looking down. After a few moments, he opened them and looked at the crowd before him.“I’ve treated both SnackShop’s and Isokka’s wounds that they sustained from the Warden. I’ve never seen anything as strong as this before. That creature shouted at Isokka and her wings crumpled. Wings made out of solid Netherite bones, mind you. The Warden snapped SnackShop’s arm in half and nearly crippled him. Do not mess around with this beast,” Charles warned. “That is all I’ve come to say. If anyone has any other announcements to make, now is as good a time as any to say them.”Charles walked down the rest of the steps and went into the crowd, moving to stand next to his partner, Stephen. A few moments passed by before David came out of the crowd and went to stand where Charles had just been.“A hell of a speech, Charles. Thank you for terrifying us and granting us nightmares that will keep us all up at night,” David teased. “I do have an announcement. I am beginning to build a second mansion out in the desert. If anyone else was hoping to stake their claim on that stretch of sand, I’m afraid you’ll have to find another spot. In addition to that, I’m throwing a party right here tonight. Everyone is welcome to come and bring food. There’ll be music, stories to share around the hearth, and of course plenty of food.”David grinned at the crowd and disappeared into his mansion. No one else went up to stand on his steps and make an announcement, so the crowd slowly began to disperse. Isokka waited until the crowd had thinned a bit and went to go and speak with Selene. On her way to her friend, however, she ran right into Perry. Perry turned to face Isokka and gave her a small frown.“I don’t know what your problem is, but you really need to let it go,” Isokka said, glaring up at Perry.“I’ll let it go when you give me the designs for those wings. You know I’ve been wanting a pair of my own ever since you installed yours,” Perry said bitterly.“Yeah, I remember. I remember you wouldn’t give me the time of day when I needed your help installing them, and then you did a complete 180 right after Charles put them in. I don’t reward selfishness.”“You call me selfish? And you refuse to give anyone the designs for your wings,” Perry argued.“No, I refuse to give you the designs for the wings. I told you it was never going to happen. You’re too reckless and cocky. You’ll get yourself killed, Perry,” Isokka replied.“I don’t think that’s really why you won’t give me the blueprints. I think you’re still pissed at me for breaking up with Skye.”“That’s a whole different matter, and it has nothing to do with the wing designs. I’m pissed at you about Skye because you broke her fucking heart then called her clingy, asshole,” Isokka spat, brushing by Perry with a quick shove.“One of these days, you’ll share those sketches with me,” Perry called out to her back.Isokka held up her hand, sending him a rude gesture behind her back, and she heard the man scoff loudly. She walked up to Selene, who was looking down at one of her enchanting books and flipping through the pages. When she approached, Selene’s gaze slid up to her.“I heard the whole thing with Perry. He’s still angry, I see,” Selene observed.“And he’ll be angry until the end of time, because I’m never giving him my wing designs. What you reading?” Isokka asked.“An enchanting book detailing how to apply a low-level fire-enchantment on a sword. Speaking of designs, did you ever finish the ones I asked you about?” Selene asked.“Yes. Here. I built the devices you needed: reinforcements for your legs. I tested them myself. You should be able to jump from far higher heights with these on,” Isokka saaid, pulling out the mechanical devices from her pack.“Thank you,” Selene said, pulling one of the devices over her leg and testing her weight on it. “I’ll make good use of them.”“I know you will,” Isokka said, nodding at her friend as she pulled the second device over her other leg. “Are you going to David’s party?”“Sure. Might as well see what he’s cooking up,” Selene said, rising from the ground to look at Isokka. “You?”“I’ll go, but I won’t guarantee that Perry won’t try to steal the wings right off my back. I gotta head back to my base first, drop off a few things and cook up some food to bring,” Isokka said.“I need to do the same. Let’s just hope he won’t decorate the entire mansion with mob heads like he did last time,” Selene said.“I have a feeling he’ll do something just as grotesque this time, so don’t get your hopes up too high. I’ll see you around,” Isokka said, waving to her friend before turning away.“I’ll see you later,” Selene called out, and Isokka turned and nodded at her.Isokka turned back towards the nearby sea and rapidly flapped her wings. She was high in the skies in a few flaps, the ground far below her feet. She brushed her hair out of her face and quickly re-did her ponytail so that the curls wouldn’t prove troublesome. She headed for her base, and made it there before the hour was up. She flew down to her balcony and flapped her wings back the other way before she crashed face-first into her own doors. The last minute adjustment caused her to land on her feet instead of crashing.She walked into her home, heading for her desk to put back many of the items that she’d found in the Deep Dark. After she was finished packing those things away, she went over to the furnace and started roasting a few cuts of meat. She went over to her contained campfire and laid down a few bits of pork and some strips of salmon meat so they could cook. She went over to her secondary furnace and started roasting some kelp strips. While she waited for her food to cook, she returned to her desk and sketched a few more images of what she’d seen in the Deep Dark.She heard her salmon strips roasting angrily when she finished her third sketch, so she ran over and carefully took the meat off the fire and laid it down on a nearby table to cool. She did the same thing with her pork strips and then checked on her food in her furnaces. That food was finished cooking as well, so she laid that out on the table beside the salmon and pork strips. As it cooled, she went and made a few more notes on some of her older sketches. She attempted to translate some of the journals, but she didn’t really get anywhere with that.Isokka looked over at the food on the table, seeing the steam rise from it. She got up and gently touched one of the salmon strips with the tips of her fingers. The salmon had cooled fast, but the other cuts needed a little longer. She returned to her desk and fiddled with a sculk block for a few moments. She noticed that the sculk appeared to grip her fingers, as if it was attempting to spread over a living thing, not just dead stone. Isokka set it down when the sculk started slowly coiling around her fingers, and she ignored the feeling of dread that crossed over her when she thought of the ancient city. She pulled out a fresh chest from under her desk and stuck the sculk in it. At least there, it could spread throughout the chest but not cover anything else.She made a few notes about the sculk’s behavior in her journal then went to check her food again. It had finally cooled to the point where Isokka could safely transport it. She carefully wrapped the food in strips of cloth and stuffed it in her pack. She packed a few water bottles in her pack and headed for the doors that led outside. She came out onto the balcony and soaked up the sun for a minute before she flapped her wings and took off.Isokka flew through the air at a leisurely pace, not flapping especially hard and mostly gliding along the currents. She passed by a few birds, who squawked in alarm as she passed by and suddenly dove to escape her. She reached David’s mansion right as the sun was beginning to set, casting an orange glow that stretched out over the horizon. She set down on the man’s front lawn, landing gently so as not to tear up the neatly trimmed grass.“Hey, Isokka!” David called out to her. “Wasn’t sure you were coming. Bring anything good?”“If you like salmon cuts and pork chops, then yeah, I did,” Isokka said, turning and grinning at David, who was standing up on his steps and looking down at her.“Come on in! Unless you want the zombies and Endermen to join us,” David joked, opening his front doors and gesturing for her to pass inside.“Think I’m a bit burned out on monsters right now, but thanks,” Isokka quipped, passing by David as she ascended the stairs and entered his home.“Don’t blame you, with all that dreadful Warden business,” David said, peeking outside before shutting the doors.When Isokka got inside, she saw that most everyone else had decided to come as well. David squeezed her shoulder tightly before pulling back and leaving to sort out a brawl that had started in a corner of the room. There were people everywhere, some in groups of three and speaking amongst themselves. There was a large table near the back of the room, covered with food. Isokka came forward and added her cooked portions to the other delectable dishes that waited for someone to eat them.“Isokka!” She heard her friend Selene say from somewhere off to her left.Isokka turned to face her and was immediately enveloped in a hug. Isokka hugged her back and chuckled. The woman was a voracious hugger, always had been. They eventually pulled apart, and Selene raised her hand to smooth back an errant curl that had escaped Isokka’s ponytail.“What did you bring?” Isokka asked.“Several nice stews. Figured that would be enough to fill a few dozen people, but it seems that everyone else had similar ideas,” Selene observed, glancing over at the table. “And you?”“Some salmon cuts, bits of dried kelp, chicken, pork chops. The list goes on,” Isokka said, gesturing to her cuts of meat laid out on some dishes.“Of course you’d bring all the meat, you relentless carnivore,” Selene said, laughing. “You know, I tried out those devices you gave me. They’re amazing. I jumped on top of a damn spruce tree! One of the taller ones, too!”“Good. Keep using them, and you’ll be hopping through the Nether in no time,” Isokka replied, patting her friend on the shoulder at the news.“I intend to,” Selene said, eyes flickering to look behind Isokka before once again meeting her gaze. “I think you have an admirer. Don’t look right now, though.”“Who? Are you sure they’re not just staring at my wings?” Isokka said, chuckling and shaking her head.“If they are, then I’m surprised they haven’t burned a hole in the membranes yet. I think its…yep, it’s definitely Luna,” Selene replied.“She probably just wants to ask me to build something for her,” Isokka said. “But I am gonna check out those potions that David’s showing off in the corner there.”Selene winked at her and clapped her shoulder, saying, “Go get ‘em, tiger. Maybe you won’t be leaving here alone, eh?”Isokka chuckled at her friend's suggestion, watching Selene gracefully whirl around and slowly approach the tempting banquet table. Isokka turned and started walking towards the stack of shelves that David had set up in the right corner of the room, filled with potions. She glanced over to where Selene had been looking, catching a split-second of eye contact with Luna’s ice-blue eyes before they quickly dashed over to look at something else. She had indeed been watching her.Isokka kept heading towards the potions table, flipping a lever to light up the redstone lamp hanging over the shelves. She was sure that if Luna truly desired to speak with her, the woman would find her way to Isokka’s side at some point during the party. When she triggered the lever, golden light was suddenly cast across the glass-covered shelves, allowing for easier reading. She gazed down at the potions, reading the labels along the sides: Dragon’s Breath, a Potion of Poison that was enhanced to last longer, a Bottle o’ Enchanting, and so on. All very high-value potions, either crafted using extremely rare ingredients or discovered during David’s travels. He had an impressive list of potions, although Isokka couldn’t help but know that she had far more potions of this type of quality. Although she had to admit that, for a simple man—without the benefit of attached wings, she realized—he did quite well with his loot.“Admiring…David’s Amazing Potions?” a voice said beside her, reading the title of the exhibit.Isokka looked to her left to see that Sabrina was standing next to her, hands delicately clasped in front of her skirt. She was a very elegant woman, her demeanor casual yet somehow intense. A shining sapphire gem lay at the apex of a silver necklace around her neck, framed by the black folds of a very attractive fitted suit. She was standing in black heels that were extremely high, though she managed to stand and occasionally shift in them quite…gracefully. Isokka briefly found herself starstruck, though she swallowed her excitement down and forced herself to act composed.“An impressive collection. I would be more surprised if not for the fact that I’ve seen all of these before. And in quantity,” Isokka replied. “Do you have an opinion on them?”Sabrina’s long black lashes dashed down over her cheeks as her cool gaze slid to Isokka, and lips covered in a matte black lipstick framed her next words.“You’re very confident,” she slowly, melodically observed, and her eyes slid back to David’s collection as she examined it. “I’ve seen better. Although, I’d always thought that David’s affection for the carnal arts prevented him from discovering some of the things he has in this…cage.”Isokka glanced over at her to see the woman’s indifferent expression, noticing the elegant swirl of a draconic tattoo etched in black ink that danced along her throat, disappearing into the low-hanging vintage hat she wore. The hat had small swirls of black netting that formed a crown over a black brim, and a single white feather poked out proudly from the center of the hat. Isokka refocused on the shelves of potions, realizing that the other woman might not appreciate her staring.“Some of these could be gifts. We don’t know how he acquired these potions,” Isokka pointed out.Sabrina’s mouth turned up in a small smile and she replied, “You think David would lie so boldly?”“He might. Or, these all might be honestly acquired. I suppose it ultimately doesn’t matter, considering he’ll tell us just about anything if we ask him,” Isokka said.“Indeed. I’m sure he’ll mention them during the speech tonight,” Sabrina said.“Gods, no. He’s got another speech ready?” Isokka said. She’d had more than enough speeches today.Sabrina chuckled softly and said, “Don’t worry. I’m sure it’ll be full of plenty of interesting things that might just hold your attention.”“I suppose we’ll see tonight,” Isokka replied.They stood there in silence for a few moments before Sabrina turned slightly towards Isokka and said, “Come with me. I’d like to hear your thoughts on another exhibit that David’s erected.”Sabrina held out her elbow to Isokka, and Isokka slipped her hand around the crook of her arm. Isokka allowed herself to be guided in a slight circle to the other side of the room. Here, David had set up another interesting artifact behind a wall of glass: a dragon’s egg, a mostly dark purple-hued object that had spots of lighter purple speckled all over it. It was rather more squat than oblong, being so wide that Isokka winced at the thought of such a large object ever passing through her birth canals. Then she remembered how big a dragon was, and realized that her empathy was entirely misplaced.“So, what say you?” Sabrina said a few moments after they each examined the egg.Isokka hesitated before she replied, pausing before she said, “It’s the largest egg I’ve ever seen, that’s for sure. But I’ve heard that dragon eggs sometimes are prone to jumping around at the nearest opportunity, so how has he bound the egg here?”Sabrina gave a delicate hum, then said, “It’s possible the glass is enchanted. The egg rests on a very interesting looking cloth: an intricate yellowish silk. Perhaps that is enchanted as well.”Isokka was briefly awestruck at the melodic tone of the woman’s voice, almost lulled into a trance the longer she listened to her. She just barely retrieved her wits before the woman reached the end of her hypothesis.Isokka closed her eyes, feeling for the sense of magical energy that she could detect in almost anything. She was hit with subtle waves of a powerful, slow-thrumming magic. In her mind’s eye, it almost looked like a most vibrant deep blue hue, radiating from both the dragon’s egg glass and the cloth the egg lay on. Isokka could tell that some of the magical energy was linked to the egg itself. She opened her eyes and glanced towards Sabrina.“I’ve tested the waters, so to speak,” Isokka revealed. “The glass is indeed enchanted, but David has somehow linked the enchantment with the glass and cloth to the egg itself. A very complicated, drawn out spell that has a slow pulse.”Sabrina smiled a little at that, then said, “Then either David is a very skilled enchanter…or he has very powerful friends. Though, from the looks of this party, it seems he may have both in spades.”“I agree. Though I feel compelled to mention that…well, not everyone here may be a friend of David’s. Everyone has enemies,” Isokka pointed out.Sabrina’s ice blue eyes slid over to meet Isokka’s caramel gaze, and she replied, “And what is your regard of David, then? Are you a friend, or a foe?”“A friend. I’ve helped him, he’s helped me a few times. We’re on good terms,” Isokka said. “And you?”Sabrina chuckled lightly at the question, her gaze darting to the dragon’s egg before returning back to Isokka’s eyes.“Ah… I think it would be…useful to have David as a friend, at least today,” Sabrina said, smiling slightly as she turned back to loom at the dragon’s age. Isokka turned back to look at the egg as well.“You think he’s a risky long-term investment?” Isokka asked.“Possibly. But, before we get caught gossiping about the man at his own party, let’s move on to something else. Earlier, you’d told me you’d seen all of David’s potions before. Tell me how you acquired some of them,” Sabrina softly demanded, a clear command in her voice that Isokka felt oddly compelled to obey.Isokka considered one of her conquests, then said, “When I collected my first Ghast Tear, it was right after Charles installed these wings for me. I was still learning how to fly, and I’d decided to test my mettle in the Nether. The Ghast kept firing fireball after fireball at me, and I was just barely dodging it in time. I’d been holding a longbow in my hands, aiming it at the Ghast. But no one tells you how difficult it is to aim a bow while flying. It took me ten minutes to kill the damn thing. And when it finally died, I had to dive fast to catch the Tear before it fell into the sea of lava below. I still remember the feeling of being so close to it.”Sabrina smiled a little and said, “And what did that feel like?”Isokka gained over at Sabrina’s and said, “Searing hot. It felt like all the oxygen in the air had been snatched out, and you could barely breathe. Waves of heat just relentlessly blanketed you the longer you were near it. I only passed by it for a few seconds before I flapped my wings and flew higher, but those few seconds felt like an eternity.”“An almost foolish action, to get so close to death,” Sabrina said.“It was quite rash, but the odds were in my favor,” Isokka said.“I wouldn’t be so sure. You were still a young flier, you did say. It was a risky move,” Sarina replied.“So, you’re saying you wouldn’t have gone for the Ghast Tear?” Isokka asked, looking over to meet Sabrina’s chilly eyes.Sabrina chuckled and said, “Now, I didn’t say that.”Isokka turned to look at the dragon’s egg one more time and smiled. She enjoyed this woman’s company quite a lot, she was beginning to realize. That was when she heard someone behind her clapping loudly. She and Sabrina turned to face the clapper, Isokka lowering her hand from Sabrina’s elbow. She spotted David, standing atop a raised platform that had been rolled out into the middle of the floor. When everyone’s else’s attention was finally focused on David, he began to speak.“Welcome, everyone! Quite a night, isn’t it? I’m sure you’ve all had time to observe my amazing displays around the room. If not, feel free to check out the dragon’s egg over there, or even the potion shelves that I have set up over here,” David said, gesturing to each display case. “Now, I have prepared a little speech for tonight, as your beloved host.”David paused and coughed, clearing his throat before clasping his hands behind his back. He stood up a little straighter and spoke again when he was ready.“Ladies and gentlemen, you’re all probably wondering why I’ve decided to host this party today, of all days. Well, you’ll soon have your answer!” David said, pausing to clap his hands together. “Considering all this new drama revolving around the Deep Dark and the dreadful Warden, I wanted to lighten everyone’s spirits and share some tales. In half an hour, I will be hosting a little get-together in front of the hearth on the second floor. If you want to share your own terrifying tales, or you just want to listen in, feel free to join whenever you’d like. If you want to stay and mingle here around the banquet table, then you are more than welcome to do so.“The hearthfire tales will proceed for three hours. After that, we’ll be pouring shots and celebrating around the hall of paintings and armory rooms that I’ve set up on the second floor, on the other side of the hearth. The paintings and armory exhibit will be open for two hours, for your enjoyment and admiration.“After that, I’m hosting a sleepover here. There are ten bedrooms on this first floor, and twenty more on the second floor. Anyone who is choosing to stay the night may come and grab their room key from me before the end of the night. I do have security...however, that is in the form of Golems, so everyone here is responsible for their own safety. Please, everyone, have a good night, and enjoy the festivities. There’s plenty of food and plenty of room,” David said, ending his speech with a small clap accompanied by a cheeky grin, then finally walking off the artificial stage.Isokka turned her head to see if Sabrina was still at her side. The woman was still there, who returned David’s clap with a small applause of her own and a subtle grin turning the corner of her black lips up.“I’m definitely going to the art exhibit, but I’m not entirely sold on the idea of tucking in around a campfire,” Isokka quietly confessed to Sabrina.Sabrina lowered her hands with a smooth motion, and turned her head towards Isokka, saying, “Then we share more than one opinion. I think I will go to the campfire stories, but I won’t be right in front of David’s face.”“Maybe I’ll see you there,” Isokka replied, in a manner that she hoped came off as flirtatious and not desperate.Sabrina showed a few of her pearl-white teeth as she grinned in response, then said, “Perhaps. Enjoy the festivities, as David would say. It would seem he put a lot of time into making them.”“And you as well,” Isokka replied, turning away from the woman and heading towards the banquet table.Right as Isokka picked up a small saucer of salmon strips, she felt someone else come to her side, with an almost anxious sort of energy. She turned her head slightly and saw Luna, grinding her hands together nervously. Isokka popped a piece of salmon in her mouth and turned to face Luna.“If you want to speak with me, you need only ask,” Isokka said, slightly impatient with the woman’s hesitant attitude.“Right. Of course,” Luna said, scoffing at herself and dropping her hands to her sides. “I overheard that you made a special device for Selene. I was wondering if you'd extend me the same courtesy.”“Depends on what you want,” Isokka replied. “What were you thinking of?”Luna’s gaze dropped to her feet before returning to Isokka’s eyes, and she said, “One of my circuits is having issues. The redstone signal fades before I can connect it with my device, and I don’t have the room to add another source of Redstone. Do you have any ideas that would work?”“You haven’t used a capacitor?” Isokka asked, watching as Luna shook her head with a confused look in her eyes. “It’s a special component, and it can boost the signal projected by your Redstone if you connect it to the circuit before the signal fades. Remember, Redstone can only flow for about 15 blocks before it fades. Here, I’ve got one in my pack.”Isokka took her Redstone capacitor out of her pack and handed it to Luna. She took the component apart and showed Luna how to craft such a thing for future circuits. After she was sure the woman understood how to craft it, Isokka put the capacitor back together and handed it to Luna, who stuffed it in her own backpack.“Thank you, for this,” Luna replied. “Truly, I owe you.”Isokka nodded and said, “Yes, but I was glad to help you. Don’t worry; I’d never ask you to do anything you didn’t want to do.”Luna nodded and gave her a nervous smile, then darted off in the direction of the front doors, Elytra ready to fly. She seemed eager to test the new component pit on her circuit. Isokka grabbed another slice of salmon and ate it, looking over at the clock on the wall and wondering if David’s campfire tales ‘exhibit’ had started yet. She turned towards the set of spruce stairs that led upstairs and headed straight for them, passing by an armor rack covered in Diamond level armor. When she got to the second floor, she saw that many people were gathered around the hearth. She saw Selene, SnackShop, and Perry knelt down in front of David as he sat in a very cozy looking chair that sat by the heart. Behind them were Stephen, Charles, and Willow, as well as a few random friends. Even further away from the campfire stood Sabrina, Sika, and a few odd acquaintances. Isokka went to stand next to Sabrina, who had her arms delicately crossed over her chest and was regarding David with a flat expression.“Welcome everyone!” David said excitedly, grabbing a lantern and holding it under his face so that dramatic shadows crossed over his features. “Let the campfire tales begin!”The campfire tales went on for hours. Almost everyone shared a story of their own, and David managed to squeeze in a couple of his own as well. Selene shared a tale about a risky enchantment that went wrong; apparently, she nearly blew her own house to bits trying to enchant a simple sword. Perry told a story about his first trip into the Nether, and how many times he’d almost died. Isokka was shocked he didn’t just get scorched to death by lava, but Sabrina said that she was more surprised that he didn’t get murdered by a Ghast.Isokka shared her tale about her near-death encounter with the Warden, and how the creature had practically broken her wings into pieces. The tale earned her a few shocked gasps and a sly grin from Sabrina. Sika told of his experience whilst trying to tame a pack of wolves, and SnackShop shared a tale in which he built his first underground settlement, bragging about the sheer number of monsters he’d had to fight to do it.As the whole thing began to wind down, a few off the shiver members decided to share their own stories. Sabrina approached the campfire, and told her tale in a voice that Isokka found unexpectedly seductive. She shared a story about a Pillager raid that began while she was in a village, and shared wild descriptions of the vicious beasts that the Pillagers had brought to raid the place. Stephen eventually came forward, and he shared his experience helping Charles with a patient who’d broken both his legs, shattered the bones in one of his hands, and had three gashes that had split his stomach open.A few others shared their own tales, but they weren’t quite as enthralling as the previous stories. When the hour came to a close, David announced the end of the campfire tales exhibit and pointed to where he was keeping his halls of paintings and his armory. People began to slowly get to their feet and drift around the hearth to where David’s next exhibit lay. Isokka waited by Sabrina and Sika, watching the crowd thin and shift.“I’m heading around to this ‘hall of paintings’ that David’s bragging about,” Isokka said, nodding at Sika and Sabrina as she began to walk away.“Later, then,” Sabrina said in farewell, offering a small wave.Sika simply nodded his understanding, his short brown hair flopping over his eyebrows in a disheveled manner.Isokka made her way over to the hall of paintings, winding around the hearth and coming to a set of double spruce doors. She pushed the doors open and entered, and squinted her eyes against the harsh light of the Redstone lamps that were above every single painting in the hall.She went over to the first painting, tilting her head back to get a better look at it. It was a picture of a blue skull, and several flowers made up the background of the lower section of the painting. It was a finely detailed painting, and Isokkaa wondered how she might grab a copy of it for her own use.She moved onto the next painting, which was a pair of paintings rather than a single one. The first painting showed a silhouette of a woman dressed in black clothes against a white background. The painting next to it showed the side profile of a man, wearing a strange hat, a red shirt, grey pants, and brown shoes, standing atop floors that resembled birch planks that met a black wall. Both were framed by a crimson border. Isokka was less impressed with these, though she liked the first painting with the woman more than she liked the one of the man.She moved onto the second painting, which showed a detailed picture of a Wither, its three Wither skeleton skulls making up its three heads atop a body made of Soul Sand. It stood with its back to a crimson wall, its feet on top of a layer of vibrant green grass. A teal border framed the whole thing, though it did little to distract from the painting itself.“A bit macabre, don’t you think?” said Sabrina’s melodic voice.Isokka turned her head to look over at Sabrina, who was regarding the painting with a slight smile and intense eyes. The woman’s hands were clasped behind her back. Isokkaa could just barely see the woman’s low-hanging bun of white hair beneath the wide brim of her black hat.“Yes, it is,” Isokka agreed. “Though it's a pretty straightforward way to tell how to summon the Wither.”“True. A truly ghastly thing, though, isn’t it? Not at all fun to fight. I think I’d rather take on three End Dragons at once than go up against that thing again,” Sabrina said.“You’ve faced it? What was that like for you?” Isokka asked.“It was…a difficult fight. I had enchanted my bows and swords to max level beforehand, but the creature absorbed every hit like they were mere scratches. It took me a half an hour to kill it. I did use the nether star it dropped afterwards to craft a very powerful beacon astride a pyramid of gold, but I am not keen on fighting it again.”“If you ever need another star, I’d be happy to help you fight it,” Isokka offered.“A kind offer, but do you know what you’re getting into, I wonder?” Sabrina replied.Isokka waved a dismissive hand at Sabrina’s concerned tone, and said, “I’ve fought it before, I can do it again.”Isokka looked over at another painting and squinted her eyes at it. She turned back to Sabrina and said, “What do you think of this one?”Sabrina hummed and turned to face the painting that Isokka pointed out. Together they walked slowly towards the painting and stood in front of it. This was another large painting, although this one showed a white skull that had been set on fire. The skull rested on a large bed of grass, and the background depicted a mountain with a low-hanging full moon that did little to brighten the dark blue night sky. The border was made of simple crimson strips.“It’s rather simple,” Sabrina said. “What’s your opinion of it?”“I like the background, but the fire effects could be better. If I’m going to be convinced that you can actually set a skull on fire, it had better have actual flames, not blobs of orange and yellow,” Isokka replied.“Hmm. What about these ones?” Sabrina said, moving to a set of smaller paintings and standing in front of them.Isokka went to stand beside her and examined the paintings. The first painting Isokkaa saw was one depicting a white tower with a black cone roof. The background was a vague blob of grey tones, and there was little else to see. The painting next to it showed a pair of pots, one reddish, and the other dark green, holding some plants that looked a lot like ferns. The background was a vague splash of white and soft yellow, but the subjects were painted with a fine degree of detail.“I like the one with the plants, but I’m not sure what to make of the tower one,” Isokka eventually said.Sabrina nodded and replied, “The tower one reminds me of a certain Tarot card, though this one is far less chaotic than the one I’m thinking of. The details on the tower painting could be better, and I’d change that background a bit.”“Maybe add another tower, and make that mountain a bit more pointy,” Isokka suggested.Sabrina nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. In this position, Isokka could see that the woman’s nails were short, painted in a shiny black polish that gleamed bright, framing the ends of lean but attractive fingers.“I like this one,” Isokka said, walking over to a wide painting of a sun setting behind a wall of blue-ish, purple-ish mountains.“It’s nice,” Sabrina agreed.“But?” Isokka said, hearing the unspoken comment in the woman’s tone.“But…the lower part isn’t very detailed. Perhaps I’d change that. Add some trees or maybe a lake,” Sabrina confessed.They stood and considered the painting for a few more minutes before moving on to the next one. It took them a few hours to get through all of the paintings, and their opinions were divided on a few of the pieces. Mostly, however, they shared the same opinions of many of the art pieces. They moved onto David’s armory rooms, where he kept rack after rack of armor sets and enchanted weapons.It took another solid hour to get through the subsequent displays. Sabrina made a few positive comments directed at David’s skill, though Isokka was more impressed by the rows of bookshelves that framed David’s enchanting table. Once they were finished examining the exhibits, they parted ways on friendly terms. Isokka couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d be seeing the woman again very soon. She walked over to David, who was admiring one of his paintings alone.“Got a room key for me?” Isokka asked.“Yes. You’re in room number 18, just down the hall there. Second-to-last door on the right,” David said.“Thank you. Your party has been quite interesting,” Isokka said, looking up at the painting in front of her and David.“I’m glad you think so. It took several days to get all this stuff set up,” David replied.“I’ll see you around,” Isokka said in farewell.“Later, my winged gremlin,” David teased, waving to her as she walked away.Isokka went to her room. The room was spacious, a nice double bed up against the center of the back wall. The walls were covered in paintings and banners, and Isokka peeked out the window to see what she could spot. She saw a few zombies and skeletons mingling around outside, and more than a few Phantoms flying overhead. She also saw an Iron Golem, stomping its way over to one of the zombies and forcefully slamming its hands down upon it. She pulled back the curtain and turned to face the front of the room as she heard a distinct double-knock at her door.