The two friends caught each other’s eyes for a moment, and then rushed as quickly as possible to retrieve their weapons. G had the head start, but Jayden was faster, and they grabbed them at the exact same time. The two players pressed into each other’s blades as hard as they could, struggling for an advantage. Then, right as G was thinking that he couldn’t keep up the fight much longer, the two stone blades shattered into a thousand pieces, sending the two players reeling back away from each other.
G turned around to glance at Tess, unsure of whether or not he was in trouble. She just looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to finish. A lightbulb going on in his head, G sprinted toward the recovering Jayden. As the two locked eyes, G, with his back to the others, winked at Jayden and made a face as if he were knocked out before drawing back a punch.
Jayden got the message. G threw the punch at Jayden’s head, missing him by a millimeter, but Jayden still went tumbling backward through the air. He landed on the ground with a thud, seemingly unconscious.
“Well done, MasterBronze,” Tess said with a smile as a soldier went over to Jayden and poured a Potion of Healing in his mouth. Jayden’s eyes fluttered, then opened as he pulled himself to his feet. Though he was rubbing his face where he got punched, he still walked over to G and shook his hand. As the other recruits cheered for them, Jayden shot G a smile and a wink, which he happily returned.
Kat took a deep breath as she caught sight of a Noctem soldier walking down the hallway. She forced herself not to look, and instead to focus on the unarmored back of Cassandrix, and the pickaxe she was holding up to it.
As the duo passed the soldier, he gave a polite nod in Kat’s direction. She returned the gesture, and continued walking down the hallway, until he was out of sight.
Kat released the breath she had been holding in. It was a relief to know that the armor that Cassandrix had looted from the Noctem guard disguised her so well. She told herself that it was all fine, and that even if she was captured, she could always just call Rex back out of hiding to help her.
“Seen anything yet?” Kat hissed to Cassandrix as they turned left down a hallway, past a new row of jail cells.
“If I had seen either of them, darling,” Cassandrix whispered back in irritation, “don’t you think I would have said something?”
Kat bit her tongue to hold back her retort, and forced herself to keep walking. It hurt her to see that, while most of the jail cells were empty, some of them housed players who were clearly not even soldiers. She could only assume they were civilians from the Mushroom Islands. As much as she wanted to, Kat knew that she couldn’t break those players out. They just had to find Charlie and Commander Crunch as quickly as possible and be on their way.
The two rounded another corner and checked another row of jail cells, lining both sides of a hallway that led to an iron door. None of these cells held Charlie or Crunch either; in fact, they were all vacant. Kat snorted in irritation, and was just about to make a left turn at the iron door when a soldier stepped around the corner and into her way.
“What do you think you’re doing here, soldier?” the player demanded. He had the skin of an extremely muscular Mexican wrestler.
“I’m just moving this prisoner to a holding block for interrogation,” replied Kat somberly, hoping that her prison jargon was believable.
“Do you have clearance to come this way?” the guard interrogated further.
“No,” replied Kat, gears whirring in her head. “I wasn’t aware that this area was blocked off.”
“Lord Tenebris is operating dangerous procedures behind that door, kid,” the soldier grunted.
Kat’s eyebrows shot up. “He is?”
The guard eyed Kat suspiciously. “Of course . . . and you should know that. Weren’t you at the meeting this morning, soldier?”
“Well, I . . . uh . . .”
“You’re an imposter!” the guard exclaimed. “Secu—ugh . . .”
The guard’s shout was cut off as Cassandrix launched forward and wrapped her arms around the guard’s neck in a chokehold. Before he could shake her off, Kat slammed the pickaxe into the guard’s forehead, knocking him out, and finished him off with a powerful blow to the stomach. A ring of items, mainly food, burst from the player and onto the ground.
“Hey! What’s going on over there?” a voice rang out from down the hall, and Kat heard the stomping of footsteps running toward them. Kat raised her pickaxe and dropped into a defensive stance, and was just about to panic when a pair of hands whipped her around. Cassandrix was looking back at her, clad head to toe in the dead soldier’s black armor.
“Stay calm,” Cassandrix murmured, “and follow my lead.”
And with that, Cassandrix bent down and began to pick through the items lying on the ground as the soldier’s body disappeared. Kat did the same, praying that Cassandrix did indeed have a plan.
Moments later, a group of six players, armed with bows and fire charges, burst around the corner and aimed directly at the two girls.
“What happened here, soldiers?” the player at the front of the group demanded.
“It was an escape attempt,” Cassandrix replied solemnly. “We were transporting a prisoner to interrogation, and she tried to overwhelm us. We were forced to kill her . . . and judging by the inventory she dropped, she’s been planning this escape for a while, hoarding her food and everything.”
“Which prisoner was it?” the head guard asked. “And what cell did she come from?”
“Well, I know that the prisoner’s name was Cassandrix,” Cassandrix continued, giving Kat a glare of steel when her eyes widened, “but I’m not sure what cell she was from. The two of us received her a few hallways back from another pair of soldiers whom I didn’t recognize.”
“Well, if that’s the case, I’m going to have to ask the two of you to come with me,” the head guard ordered as his soldiers lowered their bows. “General Spyro will be returning from the island raids soon, and you’ll present all your findings to him.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible at the moment,” Cassandrix replied, not missing a beat. “The two of us were meant to escort the prisoner to this point, and then hand her off to yet another pair of guards. You see, we were ordered to stop here to guard this door . . . as I’m sure you know, the illustrious Lord Tenebris is operating dangerous procedures in there.”
“Very well then,” the guard replied. “Who was supposed to pick up the prisoner from the two of you?”
“Again, I’m not sure,” Cassandrix replied. “My apologies, but my partner and I are new transfers to Mount Fungarus. We still don’t know everybody yet. . . . But as soon as we’re done standing guard for the glorious Lord Tenebris, I promise you that we’ll be able to show you who the players are if you line up the guards in front of us.”
The head guard nodded. “All right, soldier. I trust that you and your partner will report back to the common area as soon as your duties here are completed.”
“Please,” Cassandrix replied with a snide chuckle. “We stopped an escape on our second day here! Don’t think for a moment that we won’t want to personally take credit for that.”
“Right,” the guard said with an amused smile. “At ease, soldiers.” And with that, he turned and marched away, followed by the rest of his archers.
Kat looked at Cassandrix in admiration. “That was amazing!” she exclaimed.
“Well, you know, I’m quite good on my feet, darling,” Cassandrix simpered. “One would think that after all your experience against me in the Spleef arena, you would realize that.”
Always has to kill the moment, doesn’t she, thought Kat bitterly. Then again, with the way Cassandrix had managed to save them just then, Kat was willing to let it slide.
The two players turned to face the iron door. Kat reached for the stone button on the wall, but Cassandrix slapped her hand down.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Cassandrix demanded.
“Lord Tene
bris is behind that door!” Kat whispered urgently. “This might be our only chance to see him . . . or maybe even to take a shot at him.”
“Are you insane?” Cassandrix hissed. “Now is neither the time nor place to pull a vigilante stunt. We have a mission, Kat, and even with your abnormally lacking attention span, I’d think you’d be able to remember that.”
“I didn’t forget,” Kat growled, “but this might be our only chance.”
“You already said that, Kat,” Cassandrix cut in, “and frankly, it’s not worth it. You’re willing to risk what might be your one chance to save your friends just so you might have a tiny chance to take down Lord Tenebris?”
“Well . . .”
“Kat, we might never be in this situation again! The guards think that we’re with them, and we have plenty of time before they realize that we’ve escaped! And furthermore . . . GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!”
Cassandrix sprinted forward to grab Kat, who had jammed the button on the wall and was already through the iron door. Cassandrix pulled on Kat’s tunic as hard as she could, but Kat was too strong, and Cassandrix tumbled forward through the passage just as the iron door slammed shut behind them.
The two girls were now standing in a room made entirely of stone. Redstone lamps kept the areas light enough to keep mobs from spawning, but even then it was quite dark. The room had a very high ceiling, with stone pillars that stretched from the floor to the top. Across from them, standing against the other wall, was a Nether Portal, glowing purple with luminescence and spewing purple particles into the room. Between the two pillars farthest away sat a throne made entirely of obsidian.
Cassandrix looked around wildly, trying to find another button on this side of the wall. She was shocked, however, to find none. Except for the indentation of the door, the wall on this side was totally flat.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” whined Cassandrix, “who designs a door that automatically locks from the outside?”
“Uh, I don’t know,” replied Kat, shrugging her shoulders. “Admittedly, that doesn’t seem like a very practical design choice . . .”
Cassandrix wheeled around to face her partner. Her face was alight with fury.
“Look what you did, you little brat!” she hissed. “We’re trapped in here with no way to get back . . . wait a second!” Cassandrix’s eyes drifted slowly to the pickaxe Kat was holding. Before she could respond, Cassandrix had snatched the iron tool from her hand.
“What are you doing?” Kat demanded as Cassandrix fervently rushed her way back over to the stone wall.
“I’m getting us back to the safe side of the wall!” she said, her eyes almost glowing with lunatic fervor as she drove the iron pickaxe as hard as she could into the stone wall.
The effect was immediate. The iron pickaxe snapped off its handle, and landed on the floor with a clang.
For a moment, Cassandrix stared blankly at the wooden handle of the tool. Then, without warning, she sunk to her knees, clutching her head in exasperation, and bemoaning the fact that not only were they now trapped, but they had lost one of the only weapons that they had. As Cassandrix lay crippled on the floor, mumbling to herself, Kat picked up the two parts of the weapon and examined them, fascinated.
“This pickaxe . . . ,” she said slowly, glancing at the two halves. “It looks like . . . it looks as if this thing has never been used before. The blade is shiny, and there aren’t any dents on it. . . . If I didn’t know better, I’d say that this pickaxe has never seen mining or combat before. I mean, it certainly wasn’t close to being used up when you tried to use it . . .”
Kat glanced incredulously up at the stone wall. “What kind of stone is this?” she asked quizzically.
As Cassandrix glanced up at the wall, she suddenly forgot to act distraught. She was intrigued, and also a bit unnerved, by this wall. The stone that made up the wall wasn’t cobblestone, nor any variety of it. These were dark stone blocks, streaked across the surface with the colors gray, black, and white.
“Kat, I recognize this,” Cassandrix said slowly. “This room . . . it’s made out of bedrock.”
“I’m not familiar,” Kat said, glancing at the wall. “It must be pretty hard, though. Is this . . . bedrock . . . harder to mine through than obsidian?”
“It’s not just hard to mine through. It’s impossible to mine through,” Cassandrix whispered. “Nothing in all of Minecraft can put a dent in this stuff, not even a charged Creeper blast. Usually it makes up the bottom of the world, and indicates the absolute lowest point that you can mine.”
“So . . . if it can’t be mined . . . what’s it doing up here?” Kat asked.
“There’s only one explanation,” Cassandrix replied, and she turned to look Kat directly in the eye. “This bedrock must have been put here by someone . . . or something . . . incredibly powerful.”
Just at that moment, the two girls heard a whooshing sound and saw a flash of purple light. Somebody was entering through the Nether Portal. Thinking fast, the two of them ducked behind the nearest pillar.
Peeking around the sides, Kat and Cassandrix watched with racing hearts as a player walked into the center of the area, right before the obsidian throne. The player was dressed in black pants and a black shirt, and a golden cloak was draped over his shoulders, the hood pulled back. He turned his head, and Kat recognized the face of Count Drake.
A twinge of resentment struck Kat. She had vivid memories of her past encounters with Drake, from his escape from Brimstone up to his attack on the Spleef World Finals. She pulled a bow and arrow that she had looted from the dead guard and drew it back. She was starting to take aim when suddenly, Drake knelt down before the obsidian throne and spoke.
“Oh great and powerful Lord Tenebris,” Drake chanted, “I have returned!”
There was a sound, the same sound an Enderman made upon teleporting. And then, all at once, a player appeared on the throne.
This player had dark brown hair and shoes, a turquoise shirt, and navy-blue pants. His eyes were closed, and his fingers were pressed together in front of him in a businesslike manner.
Kat felt the need to slap herself, because she couldn’t believe that what she was seeing was real. Could that . . . could it really be . . .
“Oh, exalted one,” Drake replied from his position on his knees, “I have acquired the materials that you have requested.”
“You have done well, General Drake,” the figure replied in a deep, booming voice as he opened his eyes.
Kat sighed in relief. Now she knew for sure that it wasn’t Stan. She knew for a fact that Stan didn’t have that deep, booming voice, nor did he have white eyes.
CHAPTER 9 THE FACES OF EVIL
Kat was a little bit surprised. She didn’t know exactly what she was expecting of Lord Tenebris, the founder and supreme commander of the Noctem Alliance, but it certainly wasn’t this. This player didn’t look at all like he would be the most evil person in Elementia since King Kev. In fact, except for his eyes, he looked exactly identical to Stan.
Those eyes, though . . . there was something incredibly disturbing about those eyes. As Kat looked at them, she tried to see if there were any traces of familiarity. However, she could only look into them for a few seconds before she had to look away in discomfort.
Kat turned to Cassandrix to see what she thought, expecting her to be equally confused. What she didn’t expect to see was Cassandrix staring slack-jawed at Lord Tenebris, eyes bulging, expression as terrified as if she had laid eyes on a ghost. Kat assumed that she was just petrified that she was staring face to face with the leader of the Noctem Alliance, but she still couldn’t help but feel as if Cassandrix had just realized something about Lord Tenebris that she herself hadn’t.
“Thank you, sir, your praise means the world to me,” Drake spoke on. “And I assure you, the collection of these materials was not easy.”
“And why is that?” Lord Tenebris asked, raising an eyebrow. “You had all you needed to obtain the material
s in a timely manner.”
“Oh, no, sir,” Drake replied quickly, his voice shaky. “I found the patch of Soul Sand without difficulty. However, in terms of the Wither Skeletons, they required . . . how should I put this . . . a bit more thought to handle.”
“Go on,” inquired Lord Tenebris, tapping his fingers together.
“Well,” continued Drake, “as of now, I thought that it might be . . . shall we say . . . prudent to not anger the Wither Skeletons. Our forces have nearly broken through the walls of Element City, and when they do, I have a feeling that we’ll need all the security in Brimstone that we can get our hands on.”
“I suppose,” Lord Tenebris replied, sounding bored, while chills went down Kat’s spine. She couldn’t help but worry about just how truthful Drake was being, and just how close the walls of Element City really were to cracking.
“In any case, I peacefully requested that they supply their Skulls to me, for the sake of appeasing you, Your Benevolence. They were able to give me two skulls of their fallen brethren after long negotiations, and then volunteers offered to sacrifice themselves for the sake of providing their own skulls.
“It was a tedious process, Your Highness, and many Wither Skeletons lost their lives—or, rather, afterlives. You see, even with a level-three Looting enchantment, the Wither Skeletons have only slightly over a five percent chance—”
“I’m well aware, Drake,” Lord Tenebris cut in irritably.
“Oh, I apologize, great leader,” Drake sputtered hastily, sinking into a deep bow. “By no means was I trying to imply that you were in any way—”
“Silence,” Lord Tenebris hissed, cutting off Drake’s babbling. “It doesn’t matter. Did you complete your task?”
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