by Mark Mulle
*****
When Steve woke up, the storm had ended, and Steve climbed out of the tree. His legs were still in pain, but they felt slightly better, which was an improvement to say the least. Maybe they would heal up later today. He wondered where he should go, and then it hit him. Wendy was gone, and Steve didn’t know where she had gone or if she was even still alive. For all he knew, she could have been killed by Draven. While he burned down the bridge, and while there didn’t appear to be any close place to cross, he wondered if Draven could cross easily. If he could turn his entire body into diamond, then maybe he could simply jump over or turn into a spider and climb up to the other side. His stomach ached as he thought of Wendy’s fate. She was such a sweet girl, and she’d already had enough bad stuff happen to her, including her being slaved to work for Herobrine. Sighing, Steve took out his poor excuse for a sword and walked deeper into the woods. He didn’t know where this would take him, but staying in the woods would be a good idea, considering there were plenty of places to hide in case Draven found them again. He also wondered where Draven had gone. It had been hours upon hours since he had escaped from Draven, and he assumed that Draven had either lost him or thought that he had killed Steve. If it was the latter case, then Wendy was in even more danger than Steve once believed. Draven had said that he would kill both of them, after all.
He began to think about his position as a hero as well. Did Draven believe that he was the descendant of the three heroes who slayed the Ender Dragon? Because Steve did not feel like a hero currently. If anything, he felt like a loser, one who could not even defeat the Ender Dragon’s main follower. Sighing, he walked deeper into the woods. A skeleton approached him and fired an arrow, but Steve blocked it with his sword and carried on. Confused, the skeleton rattle away, not knowing what to think about Steve.
Eventually, the forest cleared up, and Steve walked down a field again. His mind kept fixating on Wendy. Not only did he miss her company, but he also missed everything about her. The way she always encouraged him even when he was down, the way she always had pep to her, the way she danced—it all seem to permeate his mind. Was he going mad? He had no interest in girls before this; quite frankly, the idea of dating was something that he didn’t want to try until he was at least thirty. His emotions were jumbled right now, and he felt like they would be until he found Wendy again.
He drew a sigh as he saw something looming ahead of him. It towered above, and seemed to grow larger as he hopped on the road. It wasn’t as expansive as a castle, but it was definitely a mansion, to say the least. Other than the mansion, there didn’t appear to be any other form of civilization, and Steve wondered if it was even safe to go in there. An iron gate blocked his way into it, but on the side of the gate, he noticed a button. He pressed it down and heard a voice coming from an intercom above the button.
“Who is it?” a woman asked.
“I’m Steve. I’m looking for some—”
“Steve! Let him in! He’s my friend!” another voice clamored. It belonged to one person only, and that was Wendy.
“Wendy!” Steve shouted, joy returning to his tired voice.
“I shall let Jerkin open the gate,” the lady replied.
The doors of the mansion opened, and a fanciful butler walked out. He removed a key from the pocket of his coat and unlocked the gate, pulling it open. Steve went on through and greeted who he assumed was Jerkin. Deep down, he was thankful that the two of them were not separated for longer.