"So I have to go back in there?" Aiden complained, extending a hand towards the huge fortress.
"Probably should have mentioned that earlier," Michael said. "That's where we need to search for an enemy called a Blaze. They drop the item that we need - Blaze Rods. With those, we're one step closer to getting out of this hellhole."
"But it's so long," Aiden moaned to himself, shaking his head. "The hallways, I mean. Not anything else. Get your minds out of the gutter." A few collective smirks across the group and a short stroll later found Ami, Aiden, Michael, Charlotte, Izzy, and Luke inside a darkened, cramped corridor that never seemed to end.
"I dunno about you guys, but this is seriously creepy," Luke said, trailing a finger across the ivory bricks along the walls.
"It's a good thing we have so many torches," Ami added, dropping one behind them. She had ultimately been volen-told that she was the designated trail-maker, so Ami had to keep reminding herself to place torches behind them every few feet.
"If you start to run low I have a bunch," Michael called from ahead, leading the group. He kept a wary eye out, looking for anything that could mean danger. Everyone had their swords drawn, ready to expect an attack from every angle.
"So...just what are we looking for exactly?" Luke asked.
"Well," Michael started, adjusting his glasses. "They're a bit hard to describe. Think of a creature that's made out of fire, and can shoot balls of lava at you. They're a bit...smoky, I guess. You'll know what I'm talking about when we see one, or twelve."
"...Twelve?" Luke repeated weakly.
"Probably a bit of an exaggeration," Michael reassured. "But keep in mind they are hostile. When they see you, they won't hesitate to attack. The only bit of advice I can offer is to be on guard." A few uneasy looks made tensions rise.
After what felt like the twentieth turn, Michael suddenly outstretched an arm, stopping everyone in their tracks.
"What?" Aiden objected. Michael had gone pale. He gave one swift look to the group and started to back away.
"Spawner," he said, pulling out his bow. Aiden took several steps back, staring at the small box before them. It was a tiny, black cage with fiery contents burning inside. It seemed harmless, more than anything, as there was nothing incredibly hostile about it.
"Are you sure?" Luke piped up. "It's not doing anything."
"Just wait! I'm certain that's a Blaze spawner. Everyone stay back and get your bows at the ready. Those who don't have one prep your swords and please remember to stay as far away from them as possible. You might just catch fire." Luke turned to yell something at Michael, but was unexpectedly cut off as the fire within the spawner whirled around crazily, from whence a flying creature of fire was born.
It had two small, beady black eyes and a yellow body surrounded in smoke. It made husky breathing noises as the smoke encircling its body suddenly raged into fire. It looked at the group, and without warning shot three rapid fireballs at them. Narrowly dodging a third-degree burn to the face, Michael drew back his bow.
"Fire! That's a Blaze alright!" He shot the first arrow, colliding it with that of the Blaze. The arrow made a clink sound as it hit, that in which one would hear of metal against metal. Several more arrows drew back and flew into the air, some making contact while others hit the wall or floor. Aiden pulled out his ax, charging towards the Blaze as more spawned out of the spiraling inferno.
He swung the weapon with ease, attacking all fire within sight. A Blaze came towards him, coated in fire, and tackled him hard. Aiden went flying into the wall, his arm caught on fire. In an instant, the rest of his body was caught in the same hot death. He screamed in pain, backing away from the creatures as he burned alive. Arrows flew, marking their place in all the Blazes, allowing Aiden with enough time to get away.
"Get it off!" he screeched. "How do I get it off?!"
"You can't!" Michael yelled, painfully aware of the harshness in his words. "It'll wear off in a second, trust me! Just stay back!"
"Hard to do when I'm dying!" Aiden stood behind the group, shouting in pain and clinging to the wall for support. His vision was starting to fade. In his place, Charlotte charged, sword drawn and swinging. Fireballs sprayed everywhere, people had to jump to the side to avoid catching fire. Aiden had stopped screaming. Izzy glanced back, heaving a sigh of relief as she saw him start to get up again. The fire had up and disappeared, but it left him with a pained expression and weak knees. Aiden coughed out smoke, slowly regaining his vision and stability. He only allowed himself a moments rest before he drew his ax out and ran back into the fight.
Three more fireballs launched their way at Ami from a newly spawned Blaze. She quickly ducked in time to avoid them, and drew her bow back again. Her arrow landed on the ground beside a Blaze. She scoffed, drawing back again. Ami knew she had horrible aim. She thought that since their numbers were steadily rising, she should be able to hit at least one. Again, her arrow landed in the wall, miles away from hitting anything.
"Ami," Michael called. "Are you okay with going in there with a sword?" She blushed, knowing that her archery skills weren't going to get any better.
"I'll try," she said, shaking as she put her bow away and pulled out a gleaming sword. Now or never, she thought to herself. She gulped, feeling the sweat trickle down her neck. For a creature made of fire, the heat seemed to be on par with that of large bonfire.
Ami charged blindly, swinging her sword at the bright Blaze before her, hearing a satisfying clink as the Blaze fell backwards, bursting into a cloud of smoke before disappearing completely from the world. A small, golden rod was leftover from the dust, sitting untouched on the ground. Ami swooped in, grabbing the shimmering bar and watched as it materialized into nothing. She briefly checked her inventory, and saw the same rod labelled as 'Blaze Rod'.
"Guys! How many rods do we have?!" Michael yelled.
"I've got three!" Aiden shouted as he swerved to the side of three more fireballs.
"Seven!" Charlotte grunted, striking at a fiery Blaze.
"One," Ami said, loud enough so that he could hear.
"Good enough, destroy the spawner! That'll stop them from coming!"
"But there's too many!" Aiden deflected a fireball aimed at his face, briefly turning to face Michael. Michael bit his lip.
"Scratch that. Retreat! Everyone follow me!" He lowered his bow and made a mad dash to the right corridor, the rest of the group soon following suit. Fireballs flew after them, more screams soon following. Michael only glanced back once, and once was enough. Three of them were on fire. He couldn't tell who it was, he turned around and kept running. So did they.
They broke out of the fortress, sprinting at top speed. Michael had to force himself to stop, almost pedaling headfirst into a small pit. He turned once again to the group, relieved to see the burnt faces of his friends.
"We made it," Luke breathed, coughing out smoke.
"None of those things followed us, did they?" Izzy panted.
"No, we outran them. Blaze's aren't too keen on keeping a target." Michael put his hands on his hips, catching his breath.
"Well," Ami said. "We have the rods. Does this mean we can go home?" Michael nodded wordlessly, smiling. He started to walk towards the cobblestone staircase they had crafted, his heart rate starting to return to normal.
"Michael," Izzy began. "What do we use these rods for, anyway?"
"I suppose I should explain that, shouldn't I? Well what we do is we take these rods and Endermen pearls and craft them together, it makes what's called an Eye of Ender. Then we use those to navigate our way to the End, which is where we'll face the Ender Dragon. I'll go over battle strategies when the time comes, but once we kill the dragon...we should essentially beat the game, and in turn hopefully get back to wherever we came from."
"Where we came from, huh?" Luke mused. "And what if there's nothing after that? What if we're stuck here for the rest of our sorry lives?!" his voice rose in volume and pitch.
"Relax, Luke." Charlotte said. "We'll pull through this and make it out. Alive."
"You don't know that," he said. "Look at what happened to Jack. What's almost happened to us. This world is dangerous. We're all goingto die, and you know it."
"Dying is inevitable," Aiden retorted.
"But why make it happen sooner?" Luke scoffed. "I'm just saying - what if we're working for nothing? Sure, we somehow manage to slay a bloody dragon and live to tell the tale, but what if there's just nothing after that? An endless pit of nothing?"
"We won't know until we try, won't we?" Aiden said. "There's no way to know, therefore no way to care." Luke started towards him, aiming his sword at Aiden's throat, when a horrible noise greeted them. A gurgled, inhuman scream sounded, with no body to connect it with. Luke's sword was frozen in place, inches from breaking Aiden's skin. He slowly shifted the blade away from Aiden, and directed it to the direction the sound was coming from. The cry was uttered again, this time a sorrowful moan.
"Guys," Michael said, pale as a ghost. "We need to get to the portal. Right now." He started to edge towards the staircase, which seemed to be miles away.
"Wh-What is that, Michael?" Izzy stammered.
"Better if you don't know," he said. "Now let's go." The moan turned into a shrill growl, and the face of the enemy became present.
A giant, white squid hovered above them, its face stained with tears. On its own, it would have appeared as quite a majestic creature, but at this moment its eyes were wide open, raging a fiery red and its mouth agape. A light began to emanate from the contents of its mouth, swirling around and around, until it launched a mighty fireball headed straight towards the group.
"Go!" Michael cried, drawing his sword and bracing himself. Everyone began to make a break for the staircase, dashing across the rocky surface of the Nether. The fireball came towards Michael at an astounding speed. Michael swung his sword, a great cling resonating as the fireball made contact with his sword. The fireball abruptly changed directions, hurling itself towards the creature instead. It crashed into the being, causing it to produce a shriek similar to that of a woman's. The creature growled again, charging up another fireball. Michael broke away, catching up with the rest of the group as a fireball crashed into the rock behind him.
"If any of those fireballs come close to you hit them back! Ghasts will not hesitate to stop shooting at any moment! Keep any arrows we have left at the ready and get to the portal!" Michael shouted over the cries of the Ghast. Another fireball hurled its way to them again, this time aimed for Aiden. He swung his ax back, hitting the ball of flame head-on and sending it flying over the Ghast's head. Cursing to himself, Aiden followed the rest of the group as they madly dashed up the staircase.
Another cry, and a great tremor shook the ground beneath them. Ami looked back in horror, the nerve-racking image of the Ghast floating so close to them sending chills down her spine.
"Go! I'll take it from here." Aiden suddenly said, planting his feet firmly into the stone.
"Are you insane? Get up here!" Izzy grabbed his arm, trying to drag him up the stairs.
"Izzy, I know I can fight it. If it focuses on me you can get out of here much easier." She gave him a desperate look, refusing to let go of his arm. Aiden sighed. "I'll come back. Promise." He gave her a push. "Go." Reluctantly, Izzy let go of him and went up the rest of the stairs, still peering at him as she went inside the Nether portal. Aiden turned to face the enemy, his ax at the ready.
Izzy felt her vision shift back, everything appearing purple for a moment until she took a shaky step out of the portal. The snowy outline of the world came, and with it the shadow of the house in the sky loomed over her. She looked around her at all who were back. Ami, Michael, Charlotte, Luke...all but him. Izzy gazed back at the portal and felt a weight sink itself in her stomach. He wasn't back.
"Izzy? Are you alright?" Charlotte asked, concern weaving its way through her brow.
"Aiden's-" She stopped herself from continuing any further. Charlotte squeezed her hand.
"He's a tough guy. He wouldn't do anything to make you worry if he had a choice. Trust me, give it a minute and he'll be chargin' outta there head first." The faint outline of a smile caressed Izzy's face, but still remained masked by the crippling sorrow she felt. Minutes that felt like days passed, and Izzy couldn't help but stare into the swirling confines of the Nether portal. Her mind had become befuddled with agonizing thoughts that tortured her to the brim of insanity.
"I can go back in there, just to check," she repeated.
"Izzy, you can't. It's too dangerous." Michael sighed, rubbing his eyes.
"I don't care," she muttered under her breath. Then something amazing happened. Something Izzy had only been dreaming about had become a reality. The portal swirled and rippled, the outline of a body appearing within. As he slowly came into view, Izzy felt her legs take her closer to the portal.
"Come on, loser. Get up and fight me like a man!" Aiden blinked the blood out of his eyes and wiped the sweat from his face. He looked to the guy that had just called out to him. He was a burly fellow, that was for sure. And one hell of a jerk, Aiden thought. Bald, and with half of his face overtaken by a gruesome scar, the guy could have easily given a kid nightmares for a week. And he thought it a good idea to pick a fight with him. Aiden was just trying to get by the shady part of town - again - and was caught off-guard when a blow to the head sent him to the ground.
He got to his feet, noting the throbbing he felt near his left ear. Everyone always told him the backstreets were no place to hang around, but Aiden still went down there anyway. It would have been a speedy shortcut, if it weren't for this idiot... he thought angrily. Aiden launched his fist at the man, hitting nothing but air and feeling a heavy blow knock him in the stomach. He wheezed out a cough, sent to the ground again.
"What's wrong?" The bald man sneered. "I thought you were a tough one. Hah, maybe I'll send you home with something to boast about." He pulled out a sharp pocket knife and crouched so that his face was in line with Aiden's.
"Where should I start?" Aiden saw the knife headed towards his eye. "No, not there. You should be able to see the artwork once its completed."
"Get off!" Aiden bellowed, pushing the man away from him and staggering to his feet. He was able to run for almost a block, but felt a cold, iron grip seize him. The man dragged him towards the alley again, and as much as Aiden struggled, he couldn't be freed. He yelled, even screamed, but no one heard his cries. The next thing he knew, he saw the pointed blade drill closer to his face, the blood beginning to drip out of his cheek.
"H-Hey!" A frightened voice called. The man stopped in his tracks, frozen. He looked to the one who had spoken and scowled. Without another word, he got up and ran from Aiden's body into the night. A moment of silence and he heard the voice again.
"A-Are you okay?!" It came closer, leaning over his body. Aiden blinked, staring at two big, wide, emerald eyes. A long mane of curly brown hair draped over him. The girl tucked some hair behind her ear.
"Please don't move! I'm calling an ambulance right now!" She pulled out a black phone and dialed a three-digit number. Aiden couldn't help but stare at her. She was stunning.
Aiden stumbled out of the purple mess, blinking until normal colour returned to his vision. He dragged his ax on the ground, his face, body and clothes charred from fire. He smiled, gazing at her beaming face.
"I brought you a souvenir," Aiden said, pulling out a small, crystallized object. It was in the shape of a tear drop and shone brilliantly, emanating shades of grey. Izzy took the tiny drop in her hands and grinned.
"You killed it," she said, bewildered.
"No kidding." Aiden made his way to the house. "What are you guys waiting for? Let's get going, I'm starved." He grabbed onto the vines and began to pull himself up. Izzy stuck to his side the entire way, and soon the rest of the group followed, climbing up the sturdy, emerald vines.
(Well, well, well. Am I shipping, you say? Of course I am. I'm the author. Everything I say is canon. *Evil laughter*)
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