A hand settled on his shoulder from behind. Turning, he saw his father looking at him, his big monkey eyes filled with confidence in his son.
“Responsibility is an opportunity to succeed, but only if you have faith in yourself,” Monkeypants said.
“But the dragon is so big and strong. We can’t destroy it when it’s—”
“Don’t focus on what you can’t do,” his father said. “Always plan for success. Focus on what you can do, and then get it done. Giving up isn’t an option.”
Gameknight looked to the ground, ashamed that he was thinking that very thought.
“You aren’t going to quit and you know it, so stop considering it,” Monkeypants said. “As I’ve taught you many times, break down the problem into smaller pieces, and attack the pieces. When all the pieces have been vanquished, then the problem is solved.” Monkeypants took a step closer to his son and stared down at him. “Now, what’s the first small problem that concerns you about Herobrine?”
Gameknight thought for a moment and then looked up into his father’s eyes. “We don’t know where he is or where he is going.”
“That sounds like a solvable problem,” Monkeypants said.
Gameknight looked at Crafter and then back to his father, a small smile on his face as plans within plans started circulating in his mind.
CHAPTER 10
HEROBRINE IN ZOMBIE-TOWN
Herobrine soared high overhead, gazing down at his endermen army. From this height, they looked like tiny black dots against the snow-covered landscape. They’d passed from the wonderful savannah plains to this cursed frozen river biome. Though the layer of ice that sat atop the river did not hurt the dark endermen, the deadly water that flowed beneath still terrified the creatures.
He knew their tiny black feet found little traction on the frozen surface, causing them to slip and fall as they walked awkwardly across the river. They could have easily teleported across the landscape, but Herobrine had instructed the monsters to conserve their strength for the next battle. While a small handful of scouts were teleporting across the landscape, looking for the next village, the remainder of his forces walked through the biome, hoping to stumble onto the next community of NPCs.
Overwhelming hatred filled Herobrine’s mind as he thought about what he’d seen at the last village. Just as they had been leaving the destroyed settlement, he had experienced a strange, familiar feeling—something he’d picked up through the fabric of Minecraft. When he looked back at the village, he swore he’d seen his adversary, Gameknight999, hiding atop the watchtower.
“I’m sure it was you, my enemy,” he said to the empty air, his eyes glowing bright.
He wasn’t sure how, but he knew what he saw and knew what he felt: it had been the User-that-is-not-a-user. However, he knew attacking him then would have been dangerous. Herobrine had underestimated the User-that-is-not-a-user too many times, and that annoying Gameknight999 always seemed to have some trick up his sleeve. No, this time, Herobrine would make sure he had overwhelming numbers on his side, and this small collection of endermen was not enough to ensure victory.
Letting his anger dissipate, the dragon descended to watch as his troops crossed a wide section of ice. Suddenly, Herobrine heard ice breaking accompanied by a pain-filled screech. Turning his gaze toward the sound, he could see one of his endermen had fallen through the ice. Flashing red as soon as the monster splashed into the chilly waters, it immediately teleported to safety. Tendrils of smoke rose from the wet monster as it moved across a snow-covered hill, trying to get the water that still clung to its skin to evaporate and stop burning his flesh.
Another block of ice shattered, then another . . . and another. More shrieks of pain filled the air as the drenched endermen flashed red, then teleported to safety. The other monsters, seeing their comrades’ pain, all teleported off the frozen river to the safety of the snow-frosted ground. As Herobrine watched the scene from overhead, he noticed movement from the distant edge of the river. Swooping down, he saw a form take shape: it looked like an NPC, but this one was clothed in glacial blues and snowy whites.
It was a light-crafter.
Herobrine roared as he dove toward his enemy.
Light-crafters were creatures created by the Oracle to offset the workings of his own shadow-crafters. By the looks of the pathetic little creature’s clothing, Herobrine guessed this one was an ice-crafter and likely the one responsible for the ice breaking beneath his soldiers’ feet.
Roaring, the dragon flapped his mighty wings, then extended his claws and accelerated.
“I’m going to destroy you!” Herobrine screamed.
The light-crafter looked up at the approaching dragon in surprise, then stood and smiled. This infuriated Herobrine even more. Flapping his wings harder, he reached out with his talons, ready to enjoy the moment of this idiotic creature’s destruction. But just before he could reach his prey, the light-crafter moved across the ice with lighting speed, streaking across the frozen surface as though on magical skates. Following the curve in the frozen river, the light-crafter quickly disappeared into the haze, his icy mocking laughter driving the dragon into a rage. Herobrine could have followed in pursuit, but didn’t want to leave his troops unprotected. Instead he turned and flew back to his army, now gathered atop a snowy hill.
As he approached, he saw a dark red enderman materialize amidst the darker monsters; Feyd had returned.
Flapping his wings once more to gain a little speed, Herobrine extended his leathery arms and glided on the soft breeze, silently approaching his troops. Circling the hilltop, he waited for his troops to clear a place for him to land, then gracefully settled down on the snow-covered ground.
“Feyd, king of the endermen, how many of the zombies will join us in the next battle?” Herobrine asked.
Feyd took a step back and lowered his gaze to the ground.
“None . . . Master.”
“WHAT?!” the dragon roared. The other endermen stepped back as Herobrine’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. “What do you mean?”
“Xa-Tul does not believe that you are still alive,” Feyd explained. “He refused to send his troops to us.”
“Did he now?” Herobrine sneered, his eyes glowing bright. “Endermen, I will be leaving you briefly. Get into defensive formations and watch out for our enemy, Gameknight999. Scouts, patrol the area.”
Endermen zipped away, moving about the frozen landscape looking for threats as the bulk of the army formed a large circle, clenched fists and angry eyes pointing outward.
Satisfied, the dragon nodded his massive head, then turned his gaze toward his general.
“Take me to him—now!” the dragon commanded.
“Yes, Maker.”
Feyd stepped forward and placed a hand on the dragon’s massive paw. Instantly, they were both shrouded in a fog of purple particles. In a second, it cleared, revealing a huge cave, sparkling green HP fountains dotting the perimeter. Herobrine found he was standing atop an obsidian platform with zombies all around him. The green monsters were shuffling out of the clearing and back to their dilapidated homes. At the edge of the clearing was Xa-Tul, the big zombie king. Xa-Tul pushed his way through the smaller zombies, his chainmail swaying back and forth with each step.
Drawing in a deep breath, Herobrine let out a mighty roar that shook the cavern walls and knocked most of the zombies to the ground, save Xa-Tul. As the zombie king turned, Herobrine smiled and shot him a hateful glare, his eyes blazing bright white. Instantly, a look of fear came across Xa-Tul’s face as he realized whom he was facing.
“All zombies, come forward and bow to the Maker!” Xa-Tul bellowed.
The zombies stood and stared in wonder at the Ender Dragon who sat on the central dais. Shuffling back into the clearing, the monsters looked up at Herobrine in reverence.
“Hurry and bow,” Xa-Tul yelled. “Proper respect must be shown to Herobrine, the Maker.”
“Ha!” laughed the dragon. “Proper re
spect? Is that what you showed my messenger, Feyd, when I ordered you to bring your zombie army to me?”
“Xa-Tul did not know that Herobrine still lived,” the zombie king said. “The User-that-is-not-a-user dropped Herobrine into the void. It was impossible to survive.”
“Yet here I am, standing before you again,” Herobrine said. “If you want to survive, you should listen to my general, Feyd, instead of ignoring him. I have no use for disobedient commanders.”
Xa-Tul took a step back. He reached for his sword, but as soon as his hand touched the hilt of his sword, the dragon leapt off the platform and landed amidst the zombies, his body surrounded by purple and pale yellow particles. Swinging his tail and slashing out with his talons, Herobrine destroyed a dozen zombies in the blink of an eye. When he was finished, he turned and moved toward Xa-Tul, stopping when he was face to face with the zombie king.
“You are still useful to me. That is the only reason why I allow you to live,” Herobrine said. “But these zombies are nothing to me. I’ve destroyed them as a lesson to you and all zombies: follow my commands or be exterminated.” He then leaned even closer to the zombie leader. “I need you to lead this rabble. Disobey me again and you won’t even get a chance to reach for that pathetic sword of yours. Do you understand?”
Xa-Tul nodded his head and bowed low.
“Thank you, Maker, for the lesson,” the zombie king said in a soft, respectful voice.
“Look up at me, you fool,” Herobrine snapped.
Xa-Tul stood up straight and tall and looked into the dragon’s blazing eyes.
“I have seen our enemy and he has seen me,” Herobrine said.
“What?!” both Feyd and Xa-Tul exclaimed at the same time.
“He was in the last village. I saw him hiding atop the watchtower while we were leaving.”
“We should have gone back and crushed him!” Feyd explained.
“All in good time, my Feyd,” Herobrine said. “Destruction is an art form that must be done just right. We want the User-that-is-not-a-user to suffer before he is destroyed. It must be deliciously painful both physically and emotionally. That is why we will destroy all of his precious villages and NPCs, letting him know along the way that he is responsible for their suffering. And when his despair is complete, I will force him to do my bidding and release me from the confines of these servers. And then revenge will truly begin!”
Herobrine released an evil, maniacal laugh, his eyes glaring bright, then moved back atop the obsidian platform. He addressed the zombies standing before him.
“Soon, we will find the next village and destroy it, not because we must, but because we can,” Herobrine growled. “Zombies, you will lead the charge, with my endermen opening a pathway for you to move straight into the villages.” The zombies started moaning excitedly. “Soon, you will be helping me to cleanse the surface of the Overworld and reclaim what was taken from you . . . the blue sky.”
“The sky . . .”
“The sky . . .”
“The sky . . .”
Zombies murmured excitedly as they drew on the memories of their ancestors before being confined to the dark and lonely subterranean corners of the server. They all craved for that wide-open space over their heads instead of these rocky enclosures.
“Soon we will rule the Overworld and Minecraft will be ours!” Herobrine shouted. The dragon turned his large head toward the zombie king. “Be ready when I call, or meet your doom.”
“The zombies will be ready,” Xa-Tul promised.
“For your sake, I hope so,” Herobrine replied.
Feyd then materialized next to the dragon and placed a hand on his dark paw. In a cloud of purple smoke, they disappeared, Herobrine’s blazing white eyes the last thing to vanish from zombie-town.
CHAPTER 11
LOOKING FOR THE ENEMY
Riders went out on the minecart network, traveling to every village near the last site of destruction. Gameknight suspected that the endermen could not teleport infinite distances; there had to be some limit to their powers. As a result, they were more likely to find the village closest to the last one they’d destroyed.
While the riders searched, Crafter organized the warriors, gathering weapons, armor, food, and building materials for the upcoming battle. In the crafting chamber, NPCs banged out swords and chest plates as fast as their rectangular arms could work. Once they’d filled a cart with materials, they sent it down the minecart tracks to the village closest to the last attack.
“Crafter, we need to send the warriors to the next village,” Gameknight said. “Are they ready?”
“We’ll have to go up to the surface and check with Digger,” Crafter replied. “He said that they—”
Suddenly, the iron doors at the top of the stairs burst open, and warriors in full armor streamed into the crafting chamber. Gameknight could see Hunter and Stitcher at the front of the group, their bright red hair standing out against the sea of dull gray iron. In the middle of the group, Herder walked next to Digger’s stocky form, and a handful of wolves followed obediently. When they reached the cavern floor, Herder moved off to the corner of chamber, his obedient pack behind him.
“Herder, you can’t take your wolves with us to the next village,” Gameknight said. “They won’t go into the minecart.”
“That’s what I thought, too,” the boy said. “I talked about it with Monkeypants. I told him every time I tried to get them to go into the cart, they refused.”
“I’m not surprised,” the User-that-is-not-a-user replied. “Then why are they here?”
“Well, your dad told me one of his rules.”
“Oh no . . .” Gameknight muttered.
“Yeah,” Herder replied, his voice filled with excitement. “He said ‘Rule Number 2 is: when what you are doing doesn’t work, try something else.’ So I did. I tried something different and it worked!”
“What are you talking about?” Gameknight asked.
Herder moved to a minecart and the wolves followed close behind. Pulling out a leash, he connected it to a wolf’s collar, then pulled the animal directly toward a cart. In an effort to get to its master, the wolf jumped into the cart, but before it could jump out, Herder moved forward and pushed it down the minecart track. The wolf disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel, its bark echoing off the tunnel walls.
The warriors in the chamber laughed, chanting “Wolfman! Wolfman! Wolfman!” He repeated the process over and over until a dozen wolves were on their way to the next village.
“Nice,” Gameknight said, causing the young boy to beam with pride.
Without replying, Herder jumped into a minecart and moved down the tracks, following the pack of wolves.
“The rest of you get into a minecart,” Digger boomed, his voice filling the chamber with the sound of command. “We need to get to the next village before the enemy arrives. Cavalry goes first, and as soon as they get to the village, they should find horses and scout the surrounding area. We must know where the monsters are. Now everyone, GO, GO, GO!”
The warriors piled into minecarts as fast as workers could put them on the tracks. It was like watching a river of iron as the armored NPCs shot down the dark tunnel. Gameknight knew the end of this tunnel was not their destination. They would have to travel through many more crafting chambers before they reached the village that Herobrine was likely to attack.
“Come on, Gameknight,” Hunter said. “You don’t want to miss any of the fun.”
Before he could reply, she jumped into a minecart and disappeared into the darkness, with her younger sister, Stitcher, following close behind.
Suddenly, he sensed something behind him. Turning, Gameknight found the two light-crafters, Treebrin and Grassbrin, standing before him. The tall Treebrin towered over him, his dark tree bark–like skin standing out in contrast to Grassbrin’s pale green skin.
“We are commming alongggg,” Grassbrin said in his singsong voice.
“Grublator,” grumbled
Treebrin, his words always unrecognizable to Gameknight.
“Perhapssss we cannnn be of some help,” the little green light-crafter said.
“Great, you are certainly welcome,” Gameknight999 replied.
As the two light-crafters disappeared into the passage, Gameknight himself climbed into a cart and shot down the tunnel, his father following right behind. After moving through four crafting chambers, he finally reached the destination: the next village likely to be attacked.
Climbing out, Gameknight999 could see that all the other warriors had already moved up to the surface, using the secret tunnels that led to the cobblestone watchtower. As Gameknight emerged from the dark tunnels and stepped into the courtyard of the village, he was greeted by the sound of confusion and building. Climbing to the top of the watchtower, he looked about. A tall cobblestone wall surrounded the village, likely a remnant from the wave of destruction started by Erebus and Malacoda. Today it would be tested to its limit. Atop the wall, Gameknight could see tall archer towers being built. Digger was directing the workers to construct raised platforms so that an overlapping field of fire could be established. Outside of the wall, workers were burying blocks of TNT into the grassy plain and connecting pressure plates and tripwires to the explosive cubes. Hopefully their traps would go unnoticed until it was too late for the enemy.
Sadly, all these villagers knew exactly what to do to prepare for the fight of their lives. Ferocious monsters had hounded them since Gameknight had come into the game. It seemed a million years ago when he’d accidently triggered the digitizer, but now he was here of his own free will (and a little guilt), helping his friends fight off another threat to their existence.
“You look lost in thought,” his father said as he approached.
“Just hoping we can help this village survive,” Gameknight replied and then leaned closer. “Dad, you think we’ll be enough to stop him?”
“I don’t know,” Monkeypants replied.
“Thanks, you’re a big help,” Gameknight scowled.
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