by Mark Mulle
The Cult: Part One
By Mark Mulle
Copyright 2014 Mark Mulle
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Author’s Note:
This short story is for your reading pleasure. The characters in this "Minecraft Adventure Series" such as Steve, Endermen or Herobrine...etc are based on the Minecraft Game coming from Minecraft ®/TM & © 2009-2013 Mojang / Notch
Other Books in The Cult Trilogy
The Cult, Part Two
The Cult, Part Three
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
About This Author
Other books by Mark Mulle
Prologue
The light drizzle turned into a downpour, and Steve realized that he needed to find shelter—and fast. He was already about to catch a cold in this storm; the water seeped through the many gashes of his shirt, and no matter how he tried to avoid it, the rain managed to drench him. As he walked across this field, his movement stunted due to his injury, he heard a hissing sound behind him. When he turned around, he saw the familiar dead stare of the Creeper. Immediately, he unsheathed his sword, a crude steel blade that he had forged in a hurry. He began slashing at it with ferocity, screaming as he did. The Creeper fell down, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Creepers were commonplace, but this one caused his patience to fall apart. What was wrong with him?
The sun had set long ago, and he was surprised that he didn’t run into any strong enemies, though he knew his luck was about to run out. If he didn’t get out of here soon, he’d have to deal with mobs as well as the rain. There had to be somewhere where he could get some rest, although he didn’t even know if he could sleep. He could fall face-first into a bed fit for a queen and would still have insomnia. Sighing, he saw a small forest to his left. He jumped inside, the trees providing a scarce amount of protection against the rain. Finally, he saw a tree that would give him shelter. It had a hole big enough for him to jump inside. There was hardly any space, but he would at least be out of the rain. His whole body screamed in pain, and he hoped that he could at least run slightly in the morning. Where he needed to go, he had to make it there as fast as possible. He peeked his head out of the hole on occasion so that he could see if he had been followed. However, there was no sign of anyone, so he concluded that he had lost him. The man would be onto him again soon, however, so all he could do was stay alert. However, he soon realized that doing this was more trouble than it was worth, as his eyelids objected to this idea. He soon closed them, and the lull of sleep embraced him. As he became conked out, his last thoughts were about Wendy.
Chapter One
“Nothing here, either? This is ticking me off!” Steve shouted as he slammed the book down. He felt himself seething, and normally, this would be a thing that only happened when someone pushed him one too many times. However, he grew angry after scouring every book in Glink’s library, not being able to find a single one about the Ender Dragon. He sighed, and Wendy stood behind him as she tried to calm him down.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Steve ignored her apology. It had been almost a month since his brother transformed into the Ender Dragon, and he hadn’t found any leads whatsoever. No one mentioned anything about a dragon flying overhead, no village had any books on the Ender Dragon, not even Chance’s library. After failing to find a book on the Ender Dragon while visiting a few villages, they returned to Chance, only for their library to be vacant of books as well. The only thing that came close was a book on cryptids that briefly mentioned the Ender Dragon, but revealed that it was most likely a fictional story.
Steve tried to calm down. This was close to the twentieth town they had travelled to, and still there was no information on the Ender Dragon, and no one saw it flying. Sighing, Steve left the library, Wendy following him.
“Come on; let’s go back to the inn,” she proposed.
“Alright,” Steve replied as they walked into the humble inn. They went to the second floor, unlocked the door, and stepped inside of the two-bed room. Steve immediately looked at Wendy, tears welling up in his eyes.
“I don’t know what to do. I’ve been trying to stay strong, but with each passing day, it feels as though a weight is on my back. One that started off the size of a pebble but kept growing. I don’t even know what to think anymore. Is my brother truly gone?”
Wendy hugged Steve, and he welcomed her arms. “Your brother is not gone. We can still save him, Steve. It’s a big world, and we’ve just covered only a tiny dot of it. There has to be more information about the Ender Dragon.”
Steve hoped so. The only thing he knew about the Ender Dragon was that it ruled from a dimension called The End, and three warriors slayed it, one of them keeping its blood until Steve’s brother, Herobrine drank it. Steve tried to find out more information on The End as well but couldn’t find anything at all.
As Steve calmed down, Wendy fell asleep on her bed. However, Steve could not. He took out his diamond sword and went outside, away from the village. He began swinging it, practicing all of his techniques. He soon ran into a tree and began to practice on that. Steve considered himself to be a competent swordsman, but the fact of the matter was that he failed to defeat his brother, so there always was room for improvement. Steve clashed his sword on the tree hard enough to slice it, and it came tumbling down. He began thinking about Herobrine. His brother was inside of that dragon, probably screaming for his life because he was trapped inside of a beast, one that had no desires except to destroy the world. The idea terrified him, and he swung his sword in anger. He began to pant as he tried to calm himself. He knew that he could not take on the Ender Dragon with all of the rage he had pent up, but it was so difficult. Blaming himself for Herobrine’s transformation wore him down, especially when it technically was his fault. He dared him to drink the Ender Dragon’s blood, and it didn’t matter if he didn’t know about what it was. Steve tried to forget about this fact and remember that there were other malevolent forces behind this, but he couldn’t bring himself to forgive for the choices he had made. He sheathed his sword and decided to go back to the inn. Maybe a good night’s rest would—
There was a group of people walking in the opposite direction of him, and they were all cloaked in black. Five in all, each marching in a trudging fashion, almost as if they were in deep thought. Steve wondered where they were heading to, and normally, he would just leave them be. However, one turned around to straighten their cloak. The person didn’t seem to notice Steve, but when Steve noticed the front of the cloak, his interest not only piqued a little from the sight of the purple eyes painted on the hood, but it skyrocketed also once he saw the jagged white cloth shaped like teeth on the edges of the hood, forming a mouth. Immediately, Steve thought of the Ender Dragon. Perhaps it was just a coincidence; for all he knew, these outfits could be an Enderman with teeth. He would have approached them and asked, but one glance at their front made him refrain. The person, from what little their hood revealed, had a pallid face as white as a skeleton, his lips as black as the Ender Dragon’s blood itself. Steve decided to follow them instead. The possibility of a lead excited Steve, even though these cultish figures gave him a slight chill.
The field lacked any hiding pl
aces, but thankfully, the people did not turn around as Steve tailed them. He moved deftly, and soon the people began to ascend a steep hill. When they reached the peak, they started to go down, and when Steve reached the top, his jaw unhinged.
The hill circled an open valley. In the center, a bonfire roared, and a large ring of people surrounded the fire, chanting strange words that Steve could barely make out.
Ereo Zis Ender Ereo Zis Ender Ero.
They chanted these words in monotone as the members that Steve followed joined the circle. The chanting soon faded, and then one of the people in the circle stepped out and stood in front of the others. This one was in an outfit that was distinguishable from the others, specked in white, and his hood was pulled down. He had a pale face, slicked hair that was liquorish in color, and a pointed nose that almost looked sharp. His age was ambiguous; he could have been thirty, or he could have been sixty. His face gave off the exact amount of wrinkles where it could go either way.
“I see we have new believers who have submitted to the calling. Our numbers are increasing so fast, and soon the world will know the power of the Ender Dragon.” The leader closed his eyes, a euphoric look on his face. “Can you all feel it? The power of the Ender Dragon is growing. It’s still trying to adjust to its new vessel, lying dormant in The End, but soon it will awaken, and this world will bow down to it! And we will be the ones who it will accept to be its servants!”
The other members cheered, sounding half-uninterested due to the monotone in their voice. The cult leader was the only one who had any personality to him, sounding cunning and regal. “Now then, for those who are new, I am Draven, and I am the descendant of the Claw of the Ender, Ryane. My ancestor fought valiantly to protect the dragon, but the chosen heroes slayed him. I shall avenge him and find the descendants of the heroes. And the Ender Dragon has given me hints as to where the heroes are. I can feel it! Some of them are around here. I can’t tell how close or how far they are, but I can feel them. And once we kill them, the Ender Dragon will reign supreme with no challengers!”
Steve shuddered. So these guys were involved with the Ender Dragon. He didn’t know what the Claw of the Ender was, and that excited him. He possibly could learn more about the Ender Dragon through them, but he did not want to go down there with his sword raised. He had taken on a group of thieves with no problem, but these people looked much more powerful, and soon his theory was proven correct.
“We’ll meet up again two nights from now and discuss how we will find and handle these heroes. Until then, may the Ender Dragon’s breath lead you to salvation.”
As soon as he said this, Draven extended his right hand, and a powerful blast of wind blasted from his palm. It was strong enough to put out the fire as well as knock a few people back.
Is this a wizard? Steve thought, and he walked down the hill, getting away from these guys. He could just feel the power that came from Draven, power that made Herobrine look like a skeleton in comparison. Steve had to fall back and think of a plan.
When he went back to the inn, Wendy rested peacefully, and in her sleep, she looked so innocent. Steve almost felt a pang of guilt about having her come with him, even though she did it voluntarily. He supposed that they would plan their next move tomorrow, but for now, he needed some rest. His next enemy, while intimidating, would be defeated, even if he had to learn magic to do that. As he closed his eyes, he had trouble sleeping as the realization that this went deeper that he had even imagined dawned on him. But he would pull through it.