Elytra Perils

by Mark Cheverton

  “Come on,” Hunter shouted as she kicked her horse into a sprint.

  She shot forward, with Gameknight struggling to keep up. They galloped past the cellphone and rode up to the village gates. Jumping off his horse, the User-that-is-not-a-user ran up to the metallic doors and tried to open them. An invisible barrier stopped him before he could even reach the cobblestone wall; it was barrier blocks. The evil Entity303 had surrounded the village with barrier blocks. Nothing could break those transparent cubes unless you were in creative mode. But for some reason, when Gameknight used his father’s Digitizer, creative mode was always impossible.

  He looked up to the top of the fortified wall, and saw Stitcher standing there staring down at him. Her crimson curls fell around her shoulders and glowed like shining ruby springs. Digger, standing next to her, pounded on the barrier blocks with his huge fist, more out of frustration than an attempt to break free.

  And then Crafter stepped forward. His young friend peered down at him with his old wise blue eyes. His black smock with the gray stripe had a fiery orange tint to it as the sun slowly began to kiss the horizon, casting shafts of ruby light across the land. Neither of them needed to speak. They both knew the village was in trouble. Gameknight would do what he could from outside the village, and he was sure Crafter was doing what he could to protect the people within their community.

  Giving his friend a nod, Gameknight999 turned and stepped up to the cell phone and pushed the round button.

  “OK, Entity303, I’m here, now what?” Gameknight said. He didn’t bother to yell; likely this new monster was watching them right now.

  “You made it into Minecraft fast, young Tommy,” the voice said from the cell phone.

  “In here, my name is Gameknight999,” he snapped, anger filling his voice.

  “Very well, Gameknight999,” Entity303 replied. “Now, I’ve heard so much about you, how resourceful and clever you are. You’ve battled countless monsters across this Minecraft server and have distinguished yourself in battle many times, but what I’m curious about is, are you really all that brave?”

  “What are you talking about?!” Gameknight growled.

  “Well, it’s one thing to battle zombies and skeletons with your armor and swords,” the voice continued. “But we both know they are fairly stupid and can easily be tricked. And even that overzealous virus, Herobrine, was totally predictable. How much intelligence and bravery did it really take to defeat him? I suspect anyone with common sense could have stopped that failed program.”

  “That’s not true!” Hunter shouted. “Gameknight did what no one else could have done!”

  “Ahhh…the ever faithful and always hot-headed, Hunter,” Entity303 said. “I had hoped to trap you inside the village, but I see I missed. Well, watching your little sister be destroyed will just have to entertain the both of us.”

  “That’s not gonna happen,” she snarled.

  “We’ll see,” Entity303 said. “It all depends on how intelligent and brave your little friend, Gameknight999 is. I think he will fail because, deep down inside, he wants to fail so that he can be free of all this responsibility. Isn’t that right Mr. User-that-is-not-a-user?”

  “No!” Gameknight snapped.

  The voice from the cell phone laughed.

  But was he right? Gameknight thought. I hate putting these villagers, my friends and family, in danger. I’m always doing that, and then I must figure out how to fix things. Sometimes, I miss just being a kid and playing Minecraft.

  Pushing the thoughts aside, he took a step toward the phone.

  “What is it you want, Entity101?” Gameknight asked.

  “It’s Entity303 and don’t you forget it!” the voice snapped.

  “Whatever,” he replied.

  “You think you’re clever, trying to make me angry,” the voice continued through the cellphone.

  “Just get on with it,” Hunter said. “What is it you want from us?”

  “I’ll tell you what I want,” Entity303 said. “Gameknight, you need to complete the fuzzy rainbow before the timer runs out, or it’s game over for your friends in the village. You got that?”

  “What are you talking about?” Gameknight asked.

  “Figure it out, Loser-that-is-a-loser. Entity303 is out.”

  And the voice went silent just as the sun finished sinking behind the horizon.

  Gameknight glanced at Hunter, confused.

  “What is he talking about?” he asked.

  She shrugged as she shook her head, equally confused.

  Suddenly, letters appeared within his head. Gameknight had experienced this before, when his sister, Monet113, or Shawny, had been typing to him from the physical world. But this time, he knew it was not from any of his friends; it was from Entity303.

  At dawn, the timer starts, the words said in his mind. If you’re late, then your precious village gets a lava bath!

  “Hunter, he just gave me a message,” Gameknight said. “When dawn comes, he’s gonna start a timer.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Entity303, he sent me a message from the physical world,” Gameknight explained. “He said he was going to start a timer at dawn.”

  “How long will we have when he starts the timer?”

  “He didn’t say, but I’m guessing it won’t be long,” the User-that-is-not-a-user replied.

  Just then it began to rain. But this rain was different than anything Gameknight had ever experienced. The rain droplets were big, really big. When they hit his exposed skin, they actually hurt a little. He glanced at Hunter as he held out a hand, the raindrops splashing off his square palm and throwing tiny square cubes of water in all directions. Over the village, the User-that-is-not-a-user could hear the rain sizzle as it hit the molten stone. It reminded him of frying bacon, but the cool water had no effect on the lava. The boiling stone continued to stay glowing and lethal.

  “We need to get to some cover,” Gameknight shouted, but the roar of the storm was louder.

  Hunter shrugged, then cupped a hand to an ear.

  “GET TO YOUR HORSE!” he shouted, then ran to his steed and jumped into the saddle.

  As he pulled his horse around, Gameknight saw Hunter was already mounted and ready to ride. Glancing over his shoulder, he waved at Crafter and his friends, worry filling his eyes. He kicked his horse into a sprint and headed back toward the forest they’d just ridden through; it was the closest thing to shelter that was nearby.

  Gameknight’s thoughts went to his friends in the village. He was certain they were afraid, but likely thought the User-that-is-not-a-user would find a solution and save the day.

  But what if I can’t find a solution? Gameknight thought.

  The responsibility for their lives felt like a massive weight pressing down, threatening to squash him.

  “I don’t know if I can do this,” he muttered to himself, the blast of the rain drowning out his words. “How can I come up with a solution when I don’t even know what’s happening. Complete the fuzzy rainbow? What does that even mean? How can I find a solution when I don’t really even know the problem?”

  Waves of fear smashed down upon him as he rode through the brutal deluge, his courage and resolution being slowly washed away.

  Chapter 4

  Deluge

  The two friends rode hard across the rolling grass-covered hills and through the recovering birch forest, as the gigantic drops of water pelted them and their animals. It was as if he had his head inside a gigantic bell; the rain banged on his helmet with the force of a hammer, making it ring incessantly. Drops stung his face as he rode, and moans of discomfort came from the horses.

  In the distance, the oak forest emerged from the obscuring storm, their salvation from the drenching downpour. The shadows under the drooping tree limbs seemed dark and foreboding, though it was hardly any darker than being out in the open. Clouds covered the sky overhead and the moon was completely unable to penetrate the thick dark canopy.
Everything was darkness, but it didn’t matter; they needed to get out of this pounding rain.

  Hunter headed for the largest of the oaks, one that seemed taller than a normal tree, with limbs that stretched out far to the sides as if trying to push away the other trees. As they neared, Gameknight peered up at the top of the tree. It was easily three to four times taller than a normal oak. The top of the tree made the User-that-is-not-a-user feel a little dizzy; the height was slightly terrifying. Quickly, he looked back to the ground and concentrated on riding; he couldn’t bear the thought of being that high in the air. They guided their horses under the tree and leapt off, tying their leads to a low branch.

  “I’m glad to be out of that storm,” Hunter said.

  She reached up to her helmet and began taking it off, when Gameknight held up a hand.

  “Something’s not right,” Gameknight said as he drew his two swords. “I think I just heard something.”

  Stepping farther into the forest, he peered into the darkness. Just then he heard it again…metal clanking on metal.

  “Did you hear that?” he asked.

  Hunter nodded as she lowered the diamond helmet onto her head again and drew her enchanted bow. The dark shadows under the huge oak tree filled with a shimmering light as the enchantments on their weapons pushed back the darkness a little.

  “It sounded like metal on metal,” Hunter said quietly, her words nearly lost to the torrential downfall. “Iron golem, maybe?”

  “I doubt we’d be that lucky,” Gameknight replied as he moved to pat his horse on the head, calming the animal’s nerves.

  Suddenly, a shining spear shot out of the darkness, piercing the air where Gameknight had been standing. The square metallic shaft stuck into the tree with a thud, then withdrew back into the darkness.

  “WHAT WAS THAT?!” Hunter exclaimed, her bow pointing into the darkness.

  Quickly, Gameknight put away a sword and pulled out a torch. He placed it into the ground, then moved to the other side of the tree and planted more torches into the soggy ground. Circles of yellow light extended into the gloomy forest, but did not reveal their assailant.

  Metal clanked against metal off to the right. Gameknight ran to the left, directly away from the sound and placed more torches on the ground. As he neared their adversary, he stopped and put away his torches, then drew his second sword.

  “Hunter, shoot some arrows out there to light up the darkness,” Gameknight shouted.

  Arrows tipped with fire streaked through the air and hit the ground, casting more light into the darkness. Her bow had the Flame enchantment on it, making every arrow a fire-arrow. Hunter launched more projectiles toward the clanking sound, driving away the gloom.

  And then he saw their enemy. Flickering light from the flames splashed a yellow glow upon what seemed like an armored knight replete with shield and lance. The knight’s armor had an intricate swirly design on it, the metal itself colored a pale yellow. The creature wore a helmet that completely obscured their face, with narrow slits for its eyes. Two large metallic horns stuck out the sides of the helm, giving the knight a monstrous appearance.

  Stepping forward, the knight jabbed at Gameknight, hoping to catch him off-guard. Blocking the attack with his left blade, the User-that-is-not-a-user brought his right sword down upon the monster’s shield. A great crashing sound filled the air as the sword and shield vibrated, neither yielding.

  Stepping back, Gameknight observed his opponent. The shield, with the same pale yellow color and intricate curving design, looked as indestructible as the armor.

  Suddenly, the monster charged again, rushing forward with unexpected speed and agility. The razor sharp spear shot forward and struck his diamond chest plate. The force of the blow pushed Gameknight backward, into the darkness. Jumping to his feet, he moved around to the left, trying to get behind the monster.

  An arrow shot through the forest and bounced off the knight’s chest plate, making a pinging sound, like that of a marble being dropped onto a tin pot. Another arrow hit the knight followed by another and another. The monster charged at the source of the projectiles, toward Hunter.

  “Oh no you don’t,” Gameknight said.

  He rushed after the knight, sprinting with all his strength. When he reached the scene of the battle, the User-that-is-not-a-user found Hunter backed up against a tree, a constant flow of arrows streaking toward the enemy and bouncing off the impenetrable metallic coating. But from behind, Gameknight noticed the armor across the knight’s back was missing.

  Moving quietly behind the monster, he slashed at it with both swords. A great high-pitched roar came from behind the horned helmet. The knight turned and attacked Gameknight999.

  “Hunter, shoot it in the back!” he yelled as the User-that-is-not-a-use danced away from the lance.

  The knight charged, trying to skewer his foe, but arrows struck the monster from behind, making it flash red with damage. Turning, the armored monster charged back toward Hunter, only to find Gameknight’s blades attacking from behind again.

  The monster flashed red again.

  Together, Gameknight and Hunter slowly chiseled away at the creature’s HP until finally, Hunter’s arrow took the last of the creature’s health. The armored monster disappeared, but surprisingly, the bottom half of the creature was still present. At that moment, Gameknight recognized the creature; it was a Goblin Knight. They had just destroyed the Upper Goblin Knight, leaving behind the Lower Goblin Knight.

  “Hunter fire!” Gameknight shouted.

  “But look at it,” she said. “It only has legs and hips, with that little head sticking up.”

  Her description was spot on. The lower knight had normal sized legs that connected at the hips, but the creature had neither torso nor arms. The upper knight had been perched on top of this creature, and now without the armor and shield, it was vulnerable. But that didn’t stop the lower knight. It charged straight at Hunter, somehow attacking her and making her flash red with damage.

  “Ouch!” she shouted.

  Gameknight leapt forward and brought his swords down onto the goblin making it flash red. It turned and charged at him, trying to kick and bite. As Gameknight backed up, Hunter fired her arrows at the creature. Instantly, the burning arrows cause the lower goblin to burst into flames. With a high-pitched scream, it ran out into the pounding storm, letting the rain extinguish the fire. Turning, the tiny monster readied another charge, but this time, both Gameknight and Hunter had their bows ready. Their enchanted fire arrows struck the monster as it approached, burning away more of its HP until it disappeared with a pop at the edge of the forest.

  “You think that’s all?” Hunter asked as she turned and scanned the dark forest.

  “Who knows,” Gameknight replied. “But I think we should…”

  Before he could complete his thought, the rain stopped as suddenly as it had started. Stepping out from under the tree, Gameknight looked up into the sky. Sparkling stars began to emerge as the clouds moved off to the west. A silvery light bathed the landscape as the moon that was beginning to kiss the western horizon shown down upon the land. To the east, a thin line of red stretched along the horizon; the square face of the sun began its entrance onto the stage. The dark sky blushed a fiery red, driving the stars from sight and filling the landscape with a warm crimson glow. As the sun rose, Gameknight saw something stretching up high into the sky. It was a curving thing, filled with a myriad of colors, each colored band slightly different from its neighbor.

  “What’s that?” Hunter asked.

  Gameknight smiled, then glanced up into the sky as if he were staring into the eyes of Entity303.

  “It’s a rainbow,” the User-that-is-not-a-user replied. “We need to get there before the timer starts.”

  He sprinted to his horse and untied the lead from tree branch. He leapt into the saddle and pulled his mount around to face Hunter. She was already upon her steed and ready to ride.

  “What are you waiting for
,” she said with a sarcastic smile, then kicked her horse into a gallop.

  Gameknight urged his horse into action, following his friend. As they rode, her red curls streamed behind like a fiery red flag; it was a fitting addition to the glowing orange sky. But just as hope started to drive away his fears, letters flowed through his head.

  Forty minutes and counting.

  The words filled Gameknight999 with dread. The clock had started, and he still didn’t understand what he really needed to do.

  How am I going to save everyone when I don’t even know what to do? Gameknight thought, his uncertainty feeling like a poison within his soul. But he knew he had no choice. If he gave up, then he guaranteed the outcome. As long as he continued to try, then there was hope.

  Chapter 5

  Rainbow Portal

  They found the rainbow’s source in a clearing not far from their battle with the goblin knight. It seemed as if someone or something had cleared a large area from the center of the forest, trees and bushes cut down at ground level, creating a perfectly circular clearing. Gameknight knew someone with World Edit had probably done this, using the wand and likely creating a cylinder of air to remove the trees and bushes.

  They tied their horses near the edge of the circle and walked to the center. As they neared the rainbow, Gameknight could see it was made of colored blocks of glass. Each band was a consistent color as they arced upward into the sky. Roy G Biv was the order of the blocks, reds on the inside and violet on the outside.

  He laughed mockingly.

  “What?” Hunter asked.

  “He got it wrong,” Gameknight said.

  “He got what wrong?”

  “The rainbow,” the User-that-is-not-a-user explained. “The red should be on the outside and the blue on the inside. He put the colors in the wrong order. The only time they are like this is in a double rainbow. Entity303 isn’t perfect, he makes mistakes.”