Battle for Time

by Winter Morgan

  “We have to help them,” Pete shouted as he raced toward the slimes, still clutching his potion in one hand and his sword in the other. Pete splashed a potion on the slimes and slashed them with his sword. When the final slime was defeated, the gang hurried into the newly constructed house and crafted beds.

  Poppy could barely keep her eyes open. “I hope we make some discoveries tomorrow,” she said with a yawn.

  “Me too,” said Pete.

  “I am really nervous about climbing over the mountain,” said Alexandra. “I hate heights. In fact, I’m outright scared of them.”

  “We will be beside you,” said Carl, “and will help you.”

  Poppy was surprised Carl had said something so comforting to Alexandra. Since she had met them, all she ever heard was their yelling at each other. It was nice to see that they were sometimes kind too.

  Poppy closed her eyes and dreamed about being back in her time period. She dreamed about the grand opening. In her dream, everything went according to plan. The crowd was pleased to see the new building, and everyone marveled at the rooftop farm. When Poppy woke up, she was thinking about Brett and Joe. She hoped they were making progress on the icy farm.

  Meanwhile in the icy cold biome, Brett didn’t dream that night. He was too tired because he had spent all day working on the farm, and the intensity of the labor exhausted him. Brett had never felt so tired in his entire life. When he crawled into bed, he looked over at Joe, but his friend was already snoring. Brett didn’t know if they would be able to create enough wheat to help the people of the Overworld. The famine had lasted a long time, and he was kidding himself if he felt he could solve it by creating one farm. When he woke up, refreshed from a night of sleep, he came up with an idea.

  “We are going to teach people how to farm in the ice,” Brett announced.

  “We are?” asked Joe.

  “Yes.” Brett paced around the igloo as he talked. “This will become a school. We will invite people from across the Overworld to learn how to farm. They can all go back to their lands and teach others.”

  “That sounds like an awesome idea,” said Joe.

  “But how are we going to tell everyone about it?” asked Brett. “We have to finish it first and then travel the Overworld to tell people about the school.”

  “We should see what the farm looks like today,” said Joe. “We still haven’t grown anything yet, and we have to evaluate how long it will take before the farm is functional.”

  Brett agreed, and the duo jogged out of the igloo to the farm. When they arrived at the farm, Joe screamed, “Oh no!”

  The farm was destroyed. Someone had pulled out everything they had planted and frozen everything so nothing could grow. All of their hard work was a waste of time. Brett began to cry. Joe said, “We will find out who did this.”

  Brett questioned, “How come we didn’t hear anyone? It doesn’t make sense. We were just in the igloo next to the farm.” As Brett spoke, he realized that they had been fast asleep that night. An explosion wouldn’t have woken them up — they were that tired.

  Joe began to clean up the mess and pulled out a torch from his inventory to melt the ice that had formed over their wheat. “We can’t get upset about this. We just have to move forward.”

  Brett joined Joe, and they worked together to rebuild the farm. As they melted all the ice, they heard people talking in the distance. Brett and Joe quietly went to investigate. As they hid behind the igloo, they could see a man and a woman dressed in all blue. The people approached the igloo, and Brett and Joe ran to the other side of it. They could hear the people in blue talking as they entered the igloo.

  “It looks like we scared those people off,” said the man.

  “I know.” The woman laughed. “Why did they even bother trying to make a farm in the ice? It’s so much easier to build it underground like Anya does.”

  “There’s nothing in this igloo,” said the man. “Let’s go.”

  Brett and Joe leaped at the people when they exited the igloo. Brett slammed his sword into the woman’s unarmored blue shirt. “You destroyed our farm.”

  Brett could hear her say, “I’m sorry,” before she was destroyed.

  Joe obliterated the man with one hit from his sword. Joe’s voice was tinged with guilt when he said, “They were surprised. They had no way to defend themselves.”

  “They destroyed our farm,” said Brett, but even he felt guilty. He had heard the woman say she was sorry.

  Joe said, “I think we should find Poppy and the others. I think once we find out who Anya is and if she is behind this attack on the Overworld, we will be able to stop the ice age.”

  “I agree,” said Brett, “but where should we look for them?”

  “I don’t know,” said Joe.

  Brett and Joe stared at the miles of icy landscape that stretched in front of them. They weren’t sure where they were going, but they knew they had to go.

  10

  SKINS

  Pete looked at the hill and said, “Alexandra, you will make it over, and you will help us find out what is going on in this town.”

  “I’m going to try,” said Alexandra as she started to climb.

  They walked slowly until they reached the top, and then Carl held Alexandra’s hand and said, “Alexandra, take a deep breath and look at the view.”

  Alexandra’s eyes were closed. “I can’t. I just can’t.”

  Claudia said, “Alexandra, we are here beside you. You will love the view. It’s stunning, and you deserve to see it because you made it this far.”

  Alexandra opened one eye and marveled at the verdant landscape but noted the thin layer of ice that was atop the grass. “This would be a much nicer view if the grass wasn’t covered in ice. We have to stop this ice age.” And she bravely took a step down the hill and toward the village, where the people in blue lived.

  When they reached the bottom of the hill, Poppy pulled out the map and studied it. “It looks like the town is in this direction.” She pointed toward a large meadow.

  The gang walked for what seemed like an eternity, and they were beginning to lose hope.

  “Are you sure we are going in the right direction?” asked Pete.

  “I’m not,” confessed Poppy as she stared at Cara’s map.

  “Should we have trusted Cara?” questioned Carl.

  “It’s too late now. We already followed her directions,” said Alexandra.

  As they looked at the map, they heard a voice call out.

  “Guys!”

  The gang turned around to see Cara. “I changed my mind,” she said as she caught her breath. “I can lead you there.”

  “What made you change your mind?” Pete asked.

  “I have to confront Anya. She destroyed my town, and I want to know why,” said Cara.

  The group trekked through the icy grass and headed to a small town that reminded them of Meadow Mews. The minute Cara stepped into the village, a neighbor recognized her.

  “Cara,” the neighbor dressed in blue asked, “where have you been?”

  “I’ve been looking for a town that had more resources and food, but I wasn’t able to find one,” explained Cara.

  “You should have stayed here. Anya built an underground farm, and if you are a good citizen, she will let you take an apple.”

  “How does she decide if you are good or not?” asked Pete.

  “Who are you?” the neighbor asked.

  Cara said, “These are my friends. They are coming to stay with me for a while. I met them while I was traveling.”

  The neighbor looked at the gang and shook her head. “You guys can’t stay here unless you change your skins. Anya would not approve.”

  “Do we have to change them?” asked Poppy. “I like my skin.”

  “If you don’t change, I will have to report you.”

  “You will?” asked Carl. “Why do you have to tell on us?”

  The neighbor explained, “If I don’t, Anya won’t
give me my weekly apple.”

  “She only lets you have an apple once a week?” Cara was infuriated. She signaled for the group to follow her, and she said goodbye to her neighbor. As they walked toward her house, other neighbors called out to her, but she didn’t respond. She didn’t want to be lectured about her new friends’ skins and how they must change them to make Anya happy.

  Cara thought about how pleasant her town was before Anya arrived. It was a small town where everyone was friendly and shared the wealth of goods from their farms. Now she lived in a town where her neighbor was about to report her for having friends that looked different from everyone else. She had to stop Anya. As they approached her house, Cara was shocked to see four people blocking the entranceway to her home.

  “What is going on here?” asked Cara.

  “You must report to Anya,” one of the people said.

  Pete wouldn’t admit this to any of his friends, but he was excited to meet the leader. He had imagined that it would have taken them a long time to meet the person who controlled the town. He believed that once he met her, the gang would be able to overthrow her and order would be restored to the Overworld.

  They followed the blue soldiers to a large castle. As they walked through the town, Poppy noted all of the construction that was taking place. Anya must have ordered all sorts of buildings to be built. There seemed to be no order to their placement. There were bridges that led to nowhere and large wooden boats, but there was no water in sight. There were also multiple barns, but she didn’t see any animals.

  The castle was one of the few buildings that seemed to be in use. Cara whispered to the gang, “This is where Anya lives. She forced the entire town to build it for her.”

  The gang was led past a row of guards and into the castle. Claudia said, “I’ve never been in a place this grand,” but she also whispered to her friends, “I’m scared. A person in blue trapped me in a cage, and I hope they don’t trap us here.”

  “A person in blue tried to force me out of the skyscraper I was building. I’m also worried,” said Poppy.

  They walked into a large room where a woman dressed in blue sat on a throne.

  “Poppy,” the woman said, “I’m so glad to finally meet you. I’m Anya.”

  Poppy stood silently and stared at Anya.

  Anya said, “I like that you made it here on your own. It is as if we were destined to meet.”

  “So you were behind the attack in Meadow Mews. I spent so long building that skyscraper. Why did you attack it?”

  “The skyscraper is fine,” Anya reassured her. “I wanted you to come here and build something for me. Now that you are here, I want you to start today.”

  “Today? What do you want me to build?”

  “A skyscraper, but a larger one than you had in your time period. I want my town to have the first skyscraper, and I want it to be massive.”

  “What if I refuse?” asked Poppy.

  “Nonsense,” said Anya. “But before we start anything, every one of you has to change their skin. We only wear blue in this town.”

  “We don’t want to stay,” announced Poppy.

  “You don’t have a choice,” said Anya.

  Poppy fled from the castle, but she stopped when she heard a familiar voice call out, “Please listen to her.”

  Poppy turned around and saw Brett and Joe being held captive by Anya’s soldiers. One of them had a sword against Brett’s chest. Poppy walked back to Anya.

  11

  REUNION

  Brett and Joe had stumbled upon the town by accident. They didn’t have a map, but they did have a plan. They wanted to stop the ice age. Brett thought he’d warm up once he left the icy biome, but even when they reached a small seaside town, he noticed a layer of ice on the sand.

  “You don’t realize how awful the ice age is until you see frozen sand,” remarked Joe. “This is the beach. People should be sunbathing, but it’s empty, as if the sun is broken.”

  Brett looked up at the sun. “In the history books, they talk about this time as the great darkness. They also say that one day it just miraculously ended and the Overworld was warm again and all the crops grew and flowers bloomed.”

  “I know,” said Joe. “I always thought it was a strange explanation.”

  The sun was beginning to set as they made their way inland and found themselves walking through a village street. Joe pointed out that everyone in the town was dressed in blue.

  Brett said, “This is a good sign. This means we are closer to discovering the reason for the ice age. We know these people in blue have to have some answers.”

  “We need to find Anya,” said Joe.

  “That will probably be harder than we think,” warned Brett.

  The duo, dressed in their own skins, stood out in the town. When they reached the butcher shop that was shuttered, someone called out to them.

  “Strangers!” the voice boomed.

  Crowds surrounded Brett and Joe, and they were nervous. They didn’t want to be attacked. “We don’t want to hurt anyone,” said Brett.

  “I’m Joe, and this is my friend Brett,” Joe announced to the group, but the group wasn’t happy with their introductions.

  “We need to take you to get your skin changed.” A man dressed in blue held a sword against Brett’s back, and another pointed a sword at Joe. They marched the pair to the castle.

  When Brett and Joe arrived in the castle, they were taken to meet Anya. She sat on the throne and said, “You have appeared in my town. We haven’t had any new people in the town for a while. Now that you are here, you must change your skin. Once the change has been completed, you will be a resident of my town and will never leave.”

  “Never leave?” asked Brett.

  “Why does this bother you?” questioned Anya.

  “I want to go home,” replied Brett.

  “Me too,” added Joe.

  “There’s no need to go home. This is your home now,” said Anya.

  Brett didn’t want to fight. He knew it was pointless. He had to save his energy and plan his escape. He followed the soldiers to the room where he was to change his skin. As he entered, he realized he couldn’t undergo this procedure. He didn’t want to give up his identity. He swiftly pulled out his diamond sword and swung it at the soldier. Joe also slammed his sword into the other soldier. When word got out about this uprising, Anya ordered more soldiers to stop the attack. The soldiers swung their swords at the duo until both Brett and Joe each had one heart left. Then the soldiers marched them in to see Anya.

  Brett was shocked to see Poppy, Claudia, Pete, Alexandra, and Carl standing before Anya. He didn’t want his friends to suffer a fate like his. He called out, “Please listen to her.” By saying these four words, Brett believed that Anya would lead them all to the changing room, and then they could revolt. Now that he had his friends with him, he knew they wouldn’t be as easy to defeat.

  Poppy was shocked and relieved to see her two good friends. The minute she saw them, she was reminded of all the good times she had shared with Brett. She wished she could be back in Meadow Mews pulling pranks on their friends Helen and Nancy. She didn’t want to be here, trapped in a frozen castle. She knew she had to fight to get back home.

  Poppy said, “We will listen to you. We will change our skins.”

  Once Poppy said these words, she was reunited with her friends Joe and Brett. They were all marched to the changing room. As they waited to get the skins that were picked out for them, Poppy splashed a potion of invisibility on herself, ordered her friends to do the same, and said, “Meet in the Nether.” Claudia didn’t have a potion, so Joe splashed some on her. Soon the gang was invisible, but they didn’t have a plan on where they were going to build the Nether portal.

  Poppy bolted out of the castle and ran as fast and far as she could until she emerged in a grassy meadow. She placed obsidian on the icy grass. As she placed the first piece, she noticed that her hand came into focus. She looked over to her
right and saw Joe standing with another piece of obsidian. Within seconds all of her friends reemerged in front of her.

  “I love happy endings.” She smiled.

  “But this isn’t one.” Joe pointed at the army sprinting toward them. The gang tried to build the portal as fast as they could, but time was running out.

  12

  NETHER MEANT TO HURT YOU

  “Hurry!” Poppy said as they rushed to craft the portal.

  “Why are we going to the Nether?” asked Carl.

  “I hate the Nether,” said Alexandra.

  “Everyone does,” Poppy said, “and we don’t have time to discuss it now. We just have to get to the Nether. I have a plan.”

  The blue army was advancing, and the gang feared they wouldn’t be able to ignite the portal in time. They kept close together as they stood on the portal waiting for it to work, and soon the purple smoke enveloped them. They were relieved when they emerged in the Nether.

  “The heat feels good,” said Brett. He had forgotten what it felt like to feel warm. Sweat formed on his brow as he explored the lava river behind him.

  “What’s the plan?” asked Claudia.

  “I wanted Anya’s army to follow us here and for us to battle them in the Nether. It was the only way we could escape. If we stayed in the Overworld, they would defeat us. They have too much power there. We all have the same amount of power in the Nether.”

  Brett said, “I like that idea, but I thought you had a more detailed plan.”

  Poppy asked, “Can you come up with a better one? When I found you guys, you were trapped in Anya’s castle.”

  Brett admitted he didn’t have another plan. He thought about his idea of creating a school to teach people how to farm in the ice. He liked the idea of teaching people how to farm, and perhaps if he made it back to his time period, he might consider starting a farming school, but it wasn’t a great plan in their current situation. They needed a plan that would stop Anya from destroying the Overworld.

  The gang didn’t have time to come up with an intricate plan. Within seconds, the blue army emerged in the Nether and sprinted toward them. They were in the middle of battling the blue army when another batch of soldiers arrived in the Nether.