The tunnel wound down for a while, but then went up and around, branching off several times. She had only their voices in the distance to follow. At one point, she was almost sure she’d lost them.
Then she heard Carmine up ahead, just outside of the tunnel. She reached the edge and snuck forward, hiding in tall grass.
“Not buying it. So where is the BLADE OF THE SEA!”
Trish had no idea who Carmine was talking to, but she’d never heard him so angry.
She reached the edge of the grass and looked over the small drop-off just in time to see Carmine punch someone in the stomach. The man tumbled to the ground. Carmine put the tip of his sword to the man on the ground’s neck.
“Tell me now, or your buddy here gets it,” Carmine said.
A large man with dark hair stared at Carmine. He was clearly trying to decide what to do. This must be the man on the ground’s friend.
The man on the ground said, “Patrick, buddy? Pal?”
Trish had to do something. This Patrick guy looked like he was about to break. If he did know where the Blade of the Sea was, it wouldn’t be long before he told Carmine.
Patrick said, “Fine. The Blade isn’t—”
Trish rushed forward, her sword drawn, and leaped from the ledge. She shrieked fiercely as she ran, partly to distract Carmine and partly to cover up whatever Patrick was going to say next.
“Get back!” she yelled. “Get back!”
She felt Sharp at her heels, barking as he charged. The wolf leaped past her and slammed into Carmine, knocking the sword out of his hands.
Trish raced past Mac and Chiece and turned to Patrick. “Follow me.” She waited just long enough to make sure the man on the ground got up and came with them. Then they took off down the tunnel.
“Who are you?” Patrick asked as he ran after her. “You didn’t have to do that. We were just fine.”
She considered arguing that they had definitely not been fine, but decided against it.
“The name’s Trish,” she said as they ran. “It sounded like you were about to give away the location of the Blade of the Sea.”
Patrick stopped. “Whoa, what do you want with that?”
She stopped too and gave him a look. This guy was worse than Aziz. “You do realize they’re chasing us, right?”
Sharp ran by followed closely by the guy Carmine had punched. They didn’t stop, and Trish couldn’t blame them.
“Good point,” Patrick said. “But answer the question.”
They had to get going. Trish decided her best chance to get this guy moving was to give him an answer.
“I don't want the Blade,” she said. “But I can’t let those jerks get their hands on it.”
Patrick looked at her for a long moment, then nodded. He took a step back and said, “Okay, I’ll—AHH!” He slipped backward and tumbled down the hill behind him. This guy had a real problem with falling down hills!
Trish stood frozen with her mouth wide open, powerless to help. She wasn’t sure yet if this guy was worth risking her life to help, but if he did know about the Blade of the Sea, she had to do something.
Carmine burst out of the tunnel. “After him!” he yelled.
Mac and Chiece appeared behind them, and Trish readied herself for a fight. But they ran right past her. Whoever this Patrick guy was, the bandits seemed to think he was more important than Trish. She was surprised to find she was a little offended. She’d thought they were best enemies.
Mac stopped on the edge of the hill where Patrick had fallen. Chiece was three steps behind. Apparently, he didn’t see her stop because he ran right into her. Both of them went tumbling down the hill.
Trish turned and saw the man Carmine had punched standing next to her. “That’s one slippery slope,” he said.
Carmine let out a frustrated yell. He spun toward Trish. “This is all your fault. You followed us from your village. You followed us from that temple. And you even followed us onto this island. If not for you, I’d have the Blade of the Sea in my hand.” He raised his sword and stepped toward her. “No more. I warned you last time, and you didn’t listen. Now you die.”
Chapter 15: Carmine's Revenge
Trish raised her sword. She didn’t like her chances against Carmine, but she had to try.
The other man, the one Carmine had punched, stepped toward him. “If you be wanting the Blade of the Sea, you’ll have to wait in a mighty long line. And I’d like to have a little discussion about that punch earlier.”
Carmine raised his free hand and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Trish didn’t stick around to see what would happen next, and instead took off running. She’d fight him, but not here, not now. It wasn’t the time, and she wasn’t ready. The trail twisted its way through the thick forest and up the hill, and she pushed herself until her legs were burning. Sharp ran at her side. The thunderous sound of Carmine’s heavy footsteps told her he was keeping pace, but she didn’t look back.
She was breathing hard, but knew stopping wasn’t an option.
At the top of the hill, she broke out of the trees and into a clearing. The land ahead seemed to give way to empty space, and indeed she skidded to a stop only a few inches from the edge of a huge cliff. The water below was dotted with dozens of large rocks. This wasn’t like the cliff that Patrick, Mac, and Chiece had fallen down. Anyone who went over this cliff would probably not survive.
The cliff was in front of her. Dense jungle on either side. Carmine gaining in his pursuit. She might be able to duck into the jungle, but this place was called Creeper's Cove. In the shadowy jungle, she might not see a creeper until it was too late. No, there was no ways she’d survive in there. She was trapped.
She turned, faced the trail, and waited for Carmine. Sharp waited too, growling out his impatience.
“Two on one,” Trish said. “Those are pretty good odds.” But she didn’t sound confident, even to her own ears.
Carmine burst out of the jungle at a sprint, and Sharp raced forward to meet him. The wolf covered the distance between them in no time, and he leaped through the air toward Carmine.
Trish had just enough time to consider that the fight might be over. Then the unthinkable happened.
As Sharp flew through the air, Carmine spun. He brought his elbow down on the wolf’s body, and Sharp crumpled to the ground with a yelp. Quick as a flash, Carmine pressed the tip of his sword to the wolf’s throat.
Carmine glared at Trish. “Do not move.”
“I won’t,” Trish said quietly. Sharp’s eyes were wide with fear.
“You really thought you could stop me?” Carmine asked. “You thought you could keep me from getting what I want? I told you the day we met, you’re just a villager. That’s all you’ll ever be.”
Trish’s eyes flashed with anger. After all she’d been through, the insult still stung. “Yes. I am. A villager who beat you to your treasure not once but twice. A villager who hid on your ship all night without you even noticing. A villager who stopped you from getting the Blade of the Sea.”
“Temporarily,” Carmine growled.
“What’s it say about you that a simple villager can beat you?”
“I’d be careful with your words,” Carmine said, pressing the sword a bit deeper into Sharp’s neck. The wolf yelped in pain.
Trish took a deep breath. This was it. She only had one weapon left, and now was the time to use it.
“That’s a nice sword,” she said. “I assume you crafted it yourself?”
“Of course I did.” But he stammered a bit as he said it.
“I should have known. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the recipe for an iron sword? I can’t quite remember.”
Carmine’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you asking me that?”
“Too difficult? Okay, how about you tell the recipe for a ladder? Or, since you’re a big pirate, how about TNT?”
He took his sword away from Sharp’s neck and started walking toward her. His face
was a mask of anger. “Stop asking me those questions.”
Trish subtly motioned for Sharp to stay where he was. “How about a note block like the one I made outside the temple? If a simple villager like me can craft one, it shouldn’t be a problem for you.”
Carmine was moving faster now, raising his sword.
Trish was using his greatest shame against him, just as Veera had told her to. That was Carmine’s biggest secret. He couldn’t craft.
Carmine lunged forward, but he was so angry that the attack lacked his usual smoothness. Trish saw the blow coming and easily deflected it with her sword. He struck again, and again Trish blocked him. With each attack she blocked, she named another recipe.
“How about the recipe for a pickaxe? Or a minecart? Or a boat? You’ve got a big one of those. Surely you know how to make one.”
She was blocking his attacks, but he was succeeding in pushing her back. They were at the edge of the cliff now.
“Fine!” he shouted. There were tears in his eyes and his teeth were gritted with anger. “You want the truth? The truth is I never learned to craft!”
He swung again, and again Trish blocked. He was swinging too wildly for her to get in her own attack.
“But when I have the Blade of the Sea, I won’t need to know how to craft! I’ll have weapons and potions and armor even the best crafters have never dreamed of!”
He attacked again. And again. And again. Trish struggled to deflect his sword. She couldn’t keep this up much longer.
“And now that you know the truth,” he said, “you have to die.”
“Now Sharp!” Trish screamed.
Carmine didn’t seem to hear her through his blind rage. He raised his sword for the final, deadly strike.
As he brought the sword down, a blur of gray hit him like a block of stone. The sword missed Trish, and both Carmine and Sharp flew over the edge of the cliff.
“No!” Trish cried.
She spun and grabbed desperately at the air beyond the edge. In a moment of terror, she found only emptiness. Then a yelp sounded and she grasped a handful of fur.
Carmine shrieked as he fell the great distance to the rocks and the sea below.
With a mighty heave, Trish pulled Sharp up onto the cliff. The girl and the wolf both lay on the grass, struggling to catch their breath but thrilled to still be alive.
Chapter 16: Not a Pirate
Trish sat up and smiled at Sharp. “We did it. We’re alive, boy.”
Sharp barked happily.
“But we’re not out of danger yet.” She realized the truth of the words as she spoke them. Mac and Chiece were still out there. And who knew how many others. And they had to figure out how to get off this island.
A faint noise came from a little ways away, but Trish didn’t see anyone. Approaching, she stopped at the sight of a door built into the ground. The only thing to do was to kneel down and open it. Otherwise she’d walk away never knowing what was down there, and she knew she couldn’t live with that.
From the darkness below, footsteps echoed, loud—growing close! Suddenly, a man came into view. If he was a pirate, she had to act fast.
She took out her bow and arrow and said, “Drop your weapon and come out…slowly.”
The man paused for a moment as if considering what to do. Then he charged her.
She fired, and the arrow hit the man with a satisfying twang. But he kept coming! He smashed into her, sending her backward onto the ground. The arrow stuck out of his thigh, but he kept running.
Wait, she recognized him -- the big man who’d fallen off the cliff! Patrick.
“Hey, wait!” she yelled.
He turned toward her, but quickly slipped, falling and rolling down the hill.
“Ahhh!” he yelled as he tumbled downward.
Trish followed him down the hill. She ducked around a tree, trying to get ahead of him, but she’d misjudged his speed and the two collided with a crunch. He glared up at her from where he’d fallen. This wasn’t going well. At least the arrow had broken off during the fall.
“Are Mac and Chiece still after you?” she asked.
He looked confused. “Is what after me?”
“The bandits who followed you over the cliff.”
“I took care of them,” he said. “One’s hanging from a ledge, the other’s hurt a bit, I’d imagine. There was someone else though, not sure who—”
“That would be me,” she said. “I mean, back there. You scared me.”
“That was you?” he said, standing. “You shot me!”
“What’d you expect me to do?” Trish said. “It wasn’t like I could tell who you were, and you were running at me, screaming.” She saw from the look on his face that she wasn’t winning him over. She decided to change the subject.
“So what are you?” she asked. “A pirate?”
He looked offended. “No! I mean, I’m just a guy who got dragged into this mess. What happened to that Carmine guy?”
“We took care of him.” She motioned toward the edge of the cliff.
Patrick whistled. “I’m impressed.”
“Don’t act so surprised.” She patted Sharp on the head. “Thanks to me and Sharp here, the Blade of the Sea is safe.”
Patrick raised his eyebrows. “You think just because Carmine is gone, the Blade of the Sea is safe?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Well, first of all, we don’t even know if Carmine’s dead. He could have fallen into the water and survived just fine. But even if he is out of the picture, there are worse people who want the Blade. Much worse people.”
Trish frowned. “So we’ll hide it. You have it, right? That’s why Carmine was after you.”
Patrick shook his head. “I don’t know why they thought I had it, but they were wrong.”
“Okay…so let’s think about this. The Blade has to be here on the island. It could be hidden. We just have to search until we have it.”
Patrick looked off into space for a minute, like he was deciding something.
“What?” she asked.
“Okay, listen. The Blade of the Sea isn’t a sword. It’s not an object at all. It’s a person.”
Her eyes went wide. “What?! Is it you?”
“No! It’s…it’s someone else. I know who it is, but I have no idea where he is. It’s going to be a major challenge to track this guy down. He doesn’t like people to know where he is. He sort of follows his own rules.”
“Hmm, a major challenge.” Trish thought for a moment. “What would you say to having a little help?”
Patrick raised an eyebrow. “You?”
“And Sharp. We did just defeat our archenemy, so we’re sort of in the market for a new challenge. “
Patrick nodded. “Okay.”
“Don’t say no yet! I can craft. And I’m good with puzzles. And Sharp eats zombies for breakfast. Like, literally. It’s pretty gross.”
“Are you listening? I said okay.”
A wide smile broke out on Trish’s face.
Patrick said, “Our first challenge is figuring out how to get off this island. Then we just have to search the whole world for one person.”
“Piece of cake.”
Trish knew that it would not be a piece of cake. Whatever challenges lay ahead would likely be even more difficult than those she’d faced so far. But she’d defeated Carmine, something that had seemed impossible a few days ago. And now she had a partner. Two, if she counted the furry one.
She looked up at the blue sky. The square clouds were so light and fluffy that they reminded her of wool blocks. She drew a deep breath and enjoyed the feeling of adventure.
“So,” Patrick said, “you ready for the next challenge?”
Trish didn’t even have to think about it.
She was ready.
THE END
But this is only the end of book 1 of 4! If you want to continue the journey in the BLADE OF THE SEA series, stay tuned for book 2, where you’ll get to know
Patrick and see how he escapes an underwater pirate city, fights a bajillian creepers, and more on his journey to get to the point where you meet him in book 1. Enjoy!
P.S. Oh, and book 3 will have ninjas, so that’s awesome.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jesse Nethermind is a warrior born in the Nether. He escaped at a young age and learned to live among normal people in the world of Earth, a strange place where people don’t have square heads. Now he writes stories he remembers hearing about the overworld in Minecraft, because he longs to return but can’t figure out how.
We hope you enjoyed this book! If you could leave a review, that would be super helpful. And guess what – if you leave a review for book 1 and let us know, we’ll be happy to send you book 2 for free!
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Blade of the Sea: A Children's Survival Unofficial Minecraft Book Page 6