by Greyson Mann
Will tried to swallow his anger, but it raged inside like the storm overhead. Only when Buddy could walk again, really walk, did Will feel his insides start to quiet.
“C’mon,” said Mina. “Let’s put Buddy on a leash and see if we can find the trail again.”
Will fished a lead rope from out from his sack and tied it around Buddy’s collar. Usually, Buddy strained at the leash, trying to break free. But now, she seemed content to walk behind Will rather than out in front.
“You’re still spooked, aren’t you, girl?” he asked, reaching down to scratch her head.
He couldn’t blame her.
Any mob could spawn at any time in this dark swamp.
As he straightened back up, Mina whirled around in front of him. She hollered something, her eyes wide with fear.
What had she said?
Will heard nothing—except the crash of a potion bottle at his feet.
CHAPTER 4
Will felt the effects of the poison before he saw the witch who had thrown it. His stomach turned, and his legs wobbled beneath him.
Then someone yanked him sideways, and he fell into a cluster of vines.
“Lie down,” Mina ordered.
“Wait! Where’s Buddy?”
A wet lick across his face told Will that his dog had followed him into hiding.
“Drink this,” said Mina, propping Will’s head up in her hand.
He didn’t ask what he was drinking. He had learned a long time ago not to ask about Mina’s potions. They were usually made with something disgusting, like ghast tears or spider eyes. But they also usually worked.
He was surprised to taste sweet melon.
“Potion of healing,” said Mina. “But don’t drink too much. I have a feeling we’re going to need a lot more of this.”
She capped off the bottle as Will propped himself up on his elbows.
Slowly, the room stopped spinning.
“Was it Witch Wick?” he asked.
“No,” said Mina. “Three new witches spawned—none of them Librarian Wick. That means it’s okay to fight them.”
Buddy growled, as if to say, “Me, too.”
When Will felt strong enough to sit up, Mina peeked through the vines. “So we need to stay as far away from the witches as we can. Climb a tree and get up high. Stay out of range of their potions and then hit them as hard as you can with your bow and arrow—fast, before they can drink potions of healing. Got it?”
“I’m better with my sword,” said Will, patting the handle.
Mina shook her head. “You can’t get that close.”
Before Will could argue, she was gone, stepping through the vines.
When he heard a glass potion bottle smash to smithereens, he sprang to his feet and darted out after her.
Mina raced away from the witches, her bow and arrow drawn. So Will followed her and then veered left, scrambling up a spruce tree.
The branches were wet and slippery, but at least they were close together. He climbed easily toward the top.
A yelp from down below reminded him that Buddy couldn’t climb the tree.
“Sit!” ordered Will. “Stay!”
Buddy dropped her rump obediently. But when Will released his first arrow, she took off running. She wanted to protect him and do her part.
“Buddy, no!”
Will watched helplessly as the dog bounded toward one of the witches, dodging her splash potions and lunging at her arm. Buddy bit down hard—Will could tell by the witch’s cry. She toppled backward.
Now it was time for Will to do his part. He placed another arrow in the bow, pulled back, and released. Thwang! The arrow sailed through the trees and hit its mark—the second witch, who stood a few yards away from the first.
“Gotcha!” cried Will, pumping his fist.
But there was no time to celebrate. As soon as the arrow hit, the witch guzzled her potion of healing. Bubbles floated upward toward Will’s hiding place in the spruce.
So he shot another arrow. And another. And another.
More arrows sailed through the trees from over his shoulder. Mina was fighting from the top of another tree.
Finally, the second witch toppled. And Buddy was back, fighting the third.
“Buddy, no!” Will cried. How could he shoot the witch with arrows if Buddy was in the way?
There was nothing to do now but wait and hope that Buddy was strong enough. Fast enough. Fierce enough.
Will heard the shatter of glass and knew Buddy had been hit by something. But she wouldn’t quit. She attacked the witch again and again, pushing her back toward the swamp. And finally, with a grunt, the witch dropped.
“Buddy!”
Will slid down the trunk of the tree, breaking small branches and scratching his arms and legs. By the time he hit the ground, Mina was already running.
When they got to Buddy, the dog was panting and lying on her side—but awake.
“Give her this,” said Mina, shoving the potion of healing into Will’s hand. “She’ll take it from you.”
He dribbled a bit of the potion into Buddy’s mouth, but it ran out the other side. He was relieved when Buddy lapped it off her muzzle with her tongue.
While he waited beside her, gently stroking her fur, Mina collected the drops the witches had left behind: spider eyes, gunpowder, and redstone.
“Ooh, glowstone dust,” she said, scooping up the fine red powder. “We can use this to make more potions of healing.”
By the time Mina had collected the last drop—a stick of some sort—Buddy was well enough to grab it out of her hand and promptly start to chew on it.
Mina laughed. “She’s feeling better! That’s a good sign.”
But Will had his eyes trained on something else.
“Look,” he whispered, pointing toward the witch hut in the distance.
A witch stood on the porch, watching them.
“Ms. Wick!” cried Mina, jumping to her feet.
But as soon as the witch heard Mina’s voice, she hurried down the ladder toward the swamp, her long white hair flowing behind her.
“Oh, poor Ms. Wick,” said Mina with a sigh. “How can we help her?”
“I don’t know,” Will mumbled. He wasn’t sure he wanted to help Witch Wick, not after what she had done to Buddy. In fact, right now, he kind of just wanted to head home—to dry off and make sure Buddy was okay.
Until he heard what Mina had to say next.
“Have you ever been inside a witch hut?”
CHAPTER 5
“We can’t touch anything,” said Mina. “We’re just looking—to see if there’s something in there we can use to help Ms. Wick.”
“I know,” said Will as he climbed the ladder behind her. With every step, he turned back toward shore to make sure Buddy was okay. “I can’t see her!” he said again.
“Of course you can’t,” said Mina. “That’s the whole point of potion of invisibility.”
Buddy was somewhere on shore, tied to a tree. Will had watched her lap up Mina’s potion of invisibility, made with fermented spider eye. He shivered, remembering the smell.
And then? That furry wolf-dog had slowly disappeared. Will had still been able to hear her panting and feel her wet tongue on his hand. But he couldn’t see her. Which meant witches and other mobs couldn’t either.
“She’s safer there than up here,” said Mina. “Besides, if we run into Jacko, we won’t want Buddy with us.”
True, thought Will. He was surprised Witch Wick hadn’t posted a warning sign on her hut: “Dogs Beware.”
As soon as Will stepped off the ladder onto the deck, a shiver ran down his spine. He wasn’t sure he and Mina should be trespassing in this witch hut either. Are we really going inside?
The deck creaked beneath his feet as he followed Mina toward the door. It was slightly ajar, and Mina peeked through the crack before stepping through it.
Will held his breath as he followed her in. As rain pitter-pattered overhead, he t
ook in the contents of the hut: A cauldron and crafting table. A pot filled with mushrooms. A shelf lined with potion ingredients. And a book—a very familiar book with a red leather cover—resting beside the glass jars.
Mina saw it, too, and reached out to touch the embossed cover. Advanced Potions for Master Brewers.
“I guess Witch Wick—I mean, Librarian Wick—needs the book now more than I do,” she murmured.
Will nodded. “I just hope she doesn’t use any of those potions on us.”
Mina made a face. “She won’t, Will. She doesn’t want to hurt us—I told you that! She only used the potion on Buddy to protect Jacko.”
As soon as she said the cat’s name, they heard a pitiful meow. From behind the cauldron, Jacko wound his way into the room, right toward Will.
“Oh, are we friends now?” asked Will, squatting and holding out his hand.
The cat butted his head against Will’s fingers and then meowed again, as if to say, “What in the Overworld is going on? And when are we going back to the library?”
“Poor Jacko,” said Mina, dropping to the floor beside him. “We have to figure out a way to save Ms. Wick, to make her human again.”
As Will slowly stroked Jacko’s back and tail, he imagined what it would be like if he couldn’t be with Buddy. Or if Buddy couldn’t be with him. Finally, he nodded. “Okay. I’m in.”
Mina’s face lit up. “Good,” she said. “We’ll go back to the library tomorrow and do some research. There has to be a way to help Ms. Wick. There has to!”
By the time Will and Mina made it back to shore, Buddy’s potion of invisibility was wearing off—sort of. Her head, tail, and paws were visible. But the rest of her wasn’t.
She chased her “floating” tail in circles for a while, as if it belonged to another dog. But when Will whistled for her, she barked and raced past him, leading the way toward home.
As soon as they reached the farm, Will knew something was wrong. But what?
The garden was black with mud—that was nothing new, after a solid week of rain. And he could hear the pigs grunting in the shed. Buddy raced over to sniff at the door.
But something was different.
Though night had fallen and the clouds were thick overhead, the farm was bathed in an eerie purple glow.
“Is that . . . a Nether portal?” asked Mina as she rounded the shed.
Will raced after her and stopped to stare at the obsidian frame built on the hillside. Purple flames flickered inside.
He knew Seth would never go through it alone—not without Mina’s potion of fire resistance. Not without me to protect him, thought Will. Right?
“Seth!” He raced toward the house, hoping his brother was inside.
Just then, the garden gate popped open and Seth burst out.
Relief flooded Will’s chest. But as Seth glanced over his shoulder, Will realized his brother wasn’t running toward him. He was running away from something else. But what?
Will heard a grunt from the garden. And then an angry squeal. Was it a pig?
As the mob came into view, pink as a pig but tall as a zombie—and much, much faster—Will knew exactly what was chasing his brother.
A zombie pigman.
CHAPTER 6
Seth tore past Will toward the Nether portal.
For a split second, Will feared his brother would dive into the purple flames headfirst, straight into the lava pools on the other side of that portal. “Seth, stop!”
He charged after the zombie pigman just as Seth rounded the corner of the portal. He hadn’t gone through.
But the zombie pigman was veering around the portal, too. He was right on Seth’s heels.
Will raced around the portal from the other side. He nearly ran smack into Seth, who suddenly tripped and started rolling down the muddy hillside. Then Will stood face to face with the snarling zombie pigman.
As the pigman raised his sword, Will did, too. He knocked the pigman back a step. Then sideways. If he could keep pushing him back, toward the portal, maybe he could force him right through.
“Don’t hurt him!” cried Seth from the hillside below. “That’s my pig!”
What? thought Will. Your pig?
With one more blow of his sword, the pigman toppled through the portal. He disappeared with a squeal and a flash of purple smoke.
“Your pig?” asked Will again as he hurried down the hill to help Seth back up.
“Yes!” said Seth, out of breath. “Lightning hit a few of my pigs and turned them into zombie pigmen. I didn’t want to hurt him!”
“He’s not hurt,” said Mina, reaching out her hand toward Seth, too. “Thanks to Will, he’s back in the Nether, where zombie pigmen belong.”
Seth nodded, but he looked so sad. “Some of the others wandered away already,” he said.
“Is there a way to turn them back into pigs?” asked Will.
Seth shook his head. “The lightning did its damage.”
Will and Mina locked eyes. “It’s done a lot of damage,” Will said quietly. He wanted to tell Seth about Librarian Wick, but he couldn’t yet. Not when Seth was still so sad about his pigs.
He couldn’t save his pigs, thought Will as Seth extinguished the flames of the portal. Will we be able to save Ms. Wick?
Thunder rumbled overhead. Yes, the lightning had done its damage. And it wasn’t done yet.
Seth was gone by morning, in search of his wandering zombie pigmen. So Will and Mina set off for Little Oak, hoping the library would hold the clues to saving Ms. Wick.
It was raining. Still. Buddy loped ahead down the trail, biting at raindrops in the air as if she was ready for the rain to end, too.
Suddenly, the dog stopped in her tracks. Her ears tilted forward. She let out a low growl and then took off—not toward Little Oak, but toward the swamp.
“Buddy!”
Will raced after her, remembering how the dog had been struck down by the witch’s potion just yesterday.
He hadn’t even reached the swamp before he heard the sounds of battle.
As he hid behind a mass of vines, Mina came up behind him.
“What is it?” she asked. “Which mobs?”
Will listened. He heard the blast of a creeper. The thwang of arrows. The grunts and groans of zombies. “I don’t know,” he whispered, his mouth suddenly dry. “A lot of them.”
Then he heard the yelp of a wolf-dog. And he charged full steam ahead.
Beneath the dark, stormy skies, the swamp had become a battleground. It teemed with mobs that had spawned overnight—skeletons and zombies that hadn’t burned up in the morning light, because sunlight had never come!
Will reached immediately for his bow and arrow. Like witches, skeletons were best battled from a distance.
But where was Buddy?
Thwang!
As a skeleton’s arrow sailed overhead, Will ducked. He launched an arrow of his own and whirled around just in time to dodge a staggering zombie. Dropping his bow and arrow, Will grabbed his sword and lunged at the zombie, knocking him back.
Another arrow zinged through the air, just above his ear.
“Will, c’mon! We gotta get to the water!” Mina raced past him into the swamp.
Will took one last look for Buddy. Then he followed Mina across a lily pad bridge, feeling the cool swamp water soak through his shoes. Soon they were climbing the ladder to a witch hut.
“Is there a witch inside?” Will called up to Mina.
Her voice sounded muffled. “I don’t know. But it’s safer here in the swamp than onshore. Most mobs take damage from water.”
As a crack of lightning split the sky, Will didn’t feel so safe. But he followed Mina up to the deck of the hut. Then he heard the crash of glass. Uh-oh. Witch alert.
Another crash from a nearby hut caught his ear—and his eye. “Mina!” he cried. “The witches are battling each other.”
A witch in dark robes guzzled a potion of healing while the witch at the hut next to hers
prepared to launch another potion.
“What’s happening?” asked Will as thunder rumbled overhead. “Has the whole Overworld gone crazy?”
Mina set her jaw. “I don’t know. But Ms. Wick isn’t safe here. We have to get to the library and figure out how to turn her back!” She pulled something out of her sack—a glass vial filled with golden yellow liquid. “Potion of water breathing. If we drink this, we can swim to shore underwater and then get back to Little Oak.” She unscrewed the lid and began to drink.
“But I can’t go yet,” Will said suddenly. “I don’t even know where Buddy is!” He scanned the shoreline, hoping to see his furry friend bounding through the water.
But Mina had already swallowed the potion. “I don’t have much time,” she said. “Here, take this.” She handed Will her sack of potions and climbed down the ladder. “I’ll be back!”
From the deck above, Will watched until she reached the bottom rung—just as another bolt of lightning struck.
It streaked across the sky, top to bottom.
It hit the base of the ladder, which burst into flames.
And then it faded into darkness.
Taking Mina with it.
CHAPTER 7
“Mina!”
As flames crept up the ladder, Will tried not to panic. “She’s okay,” he told himself. “She’s okay.”
But how could she be? And where was she?
The heat from the fire forced him to the other side of the deck. He glanced wildly down at the water and then back up at the shoreline, which seemed awfully far way.
The empty deck of the hut next door was closer. Close enough to jump to? Could he throw a rope or Buddy’s leash and swing over?
Maybe. But suddenly, that deck wasn’t empty anymore.
A witch appeared, staring at Will with cold, dark eyes.