Danger in the Jungle Temple

by Danica Davidson

  I went straight for the skeleton with Dad’s sword. I especially hated that thief!

  Our two swords clashed, making blue sparks fly. My face was inches from the skeleton’s as we both strained with our weapons. The empty hollows where its eyes would have been were staring at me with black intensity like the deepest part of night.

  Dad came up and struck the skeleton in the skull with his fist. Even barehanded, Dad was a great fighter. It startled the skeleton long enough that I pulled back my sword and thrust it again, knocking Dad’s sword out of the skeleton’s grasp. The sword went flying through the air, did a spin, and landed right in Dad’s ready hand.

  “Thanks, Stevie!” Dad said.

  Before I could answer, I felt an arrow whizz by my chest, almost ripping my already-torn shirt. I looked and saw that the skeleton that had shot at me was the one with Alex’s bow and arrows. Might as well right this wrong too, I thought, running toward the skeleton. It pulled back Alex’s bow and sent an arrow straight toward me. But I put my sword up so that the arrow hit my blade and bounced off instead.

  The next second I was on the skeleton, hitting the bow out of its hands. Alex dove forward and grabbed her bow. She still had some arrows in her toolkit, and she ripped them out and set them on the bow’s string, aiming for the skeleton.

  “Hey, remember me?” she snapped. “Don’t take things that don’t belong to you!”

  “Kids, follow me!” Dad said. He pushed through the skeletons, knocking several of them to the side. We all raced after him, following his path through the horde. A skeleton grabbed me on my way and I emitted a startled choking sound. Dad turned, eyes full of fury, and struck the skeleton with his sword, forcing it to release me.

  We made it past the skeletons, but now we were in a dark, empty hallway, and the skeletons were at our heels. They wanted to take us back to the dungeon.

  “Which way?” Maison shouted.

  “Blue, which way out?” Yancy said. Blue hopped off Yancy’s shoulder and flew ahead of us, so we all followed him. The hallway was tightly closed in now, so we could barely move except in single file. That forced the skeletons farther back, though it still meant they were just behind us.

  We came to a dead end.

  “Find whatever triggers the hidden door!” Dad said.

  We all began pounding the walls, trying to find a switch or trigger or something. Yancy let out a cry. He was the last person in line, and a skeleton had grabbed him again.

  Blue turned at the sound of the cry and flew back, landing on the skeleton’s skull and pecking at it. The skeleton tried to push the bird away but fell back instead, ramming into the other skeletons behind it.

  “Got it!” Destiny said, hitting something. There was a sliver of light as the wall in front of us opened up. We all rushed to get through the doorway so fast that we ended up tripping over one another and almost spilled out on the floor. Catching ourselves, we got through the doorway.

  “Close the door!” Dad said.

  “I don’t know how!” Destiny said. “Besides, they know how to open it!”

  Dad grunted, because Destiny was right. I could see the entrance of the temple to our right, and our torch was still placed by it, though it had been moved again. But who cared about that? Here was our exit!

  We ran toward it, the skeletons following. But something was different now. The entrance and the windows were showing soft, buttery light. It was dawn!

  When the skeletons reached the first window, they stopped. The light hurt them, causing them to smoke. They could handle our weapons, just not sunlight! One by one the skeletons drew back into the darkness to protect themselves.

  Yes! I thought. We made it! We made it!

  But, just then, I heard the Ender Dragon’s evil laughter in my head. The area in front of the jungle temple was crawling with even more Endermen than before. And when I reached the entrance, with my toolkit glowing purple from the crystal shard, the Endermen all looked my way.

  CHAPTER 23

  “A WW, MAN,” YANCY SAID, FREEZING BESIDE ME. “This is just the night that doesn’t end.”

  He was right. Because even though it didn’t count as night anymore, the dawn wasn’t going to protect us from Endermen. We had to come up with an idea, and it had to be quick!

  The Endermen began teleporting toward us. Moments ago they had been in the bushes nearby, and now they were reaching the temple steps.

  Time’s up, Stevie, the Ender Dragon said. It was very entertaining watching you tonight, but we both knew how this would end.

  “Run upstairs!” Dad shouted, and we followed after him. I didn’t even know why. I just needed directions right then. Dad must have thought that going upstairs would give us another way out, because he hadn’t been up there. But I had, and I knew better.

  When we got to the top floor, Dad ran directly to the first window. I was right behind him. We both looked out and saw a devastating sight: there were even more Endermen below the window than we had seen from the entrance. Almost every block of grass had its own Enderman standing on top of it.

  “Maybe we can hide in one of the secret rooms,” Yancy said.

  “So the skeletons can get us again?” Destiny cried.

  Pick your poison, Stevie, the Ender Dragon said. Do you want to be captured by the skeletons who guard my haunted temple, or by my own Enderman soldiers?

  As she was saying that, Blue flew out the window and landed on a nearby treetop. He turned back and looked at us as if he were expecting something.

  Blue has it, I realized. Blue is right!

  “We can escape on the treetops!” I said. “We’ll be high enough above the Endermen that they won’t see us. Endermen have a hard time teleporting to treetops!”

  Dad’s eyes lit up. “You’re right. But how do we get there?”

  “Like this!” Maison said, already understanding. She leapt out the window.

  “Maison, no!” Destiny said.

  “It’s all right!” Maison called from the ledge below. She had landed on her feet and was now cupping her hands around her mouth to shout. “It’ll be easier to get onto the treetops from here!”

  I leapt down to follow her. When I landed next to Maison, we shared a grateful smile. Even though we were from different worlds and thought some of the things about the other’s world were pretty weird, that was okay. Most of the time, we were on the same wavelength. We got each other, better than anyone else did.

  The others jumped down, landing next to us a second later. The ledge wasn’t very big, but I went as close to the building as I could, then took a giant running leap. The Endermen below me were totally unaware as I jumped over their heads and landed safely in the tree branches. For the few seconds I was in the air, it was an amazing feeling. I wondered what it would be like to fly for real, like Blue. That would make battles so much easier!

  Alex and Maison jumped over next. Yancy and Destiny looked a little more uncertain, and I didn’t blame them. It was a long way down.

  “Here,” Alex said, stringing an arrow with a lead. She shot it so that the arrow embedded itself in the side of the temple, giving Yancy and Destiny something to hold on to as they made their way across to the tree. The Endermen in the temple had reached the top story by then, and we could hear them making hostile sounds as they searched. Unlike the skeletons, the Endermen would probably follow us onto the ledge.

  Destiny and Yancy exchanged a look, and then quickly grabbed the lead. Within seconds they were up in the treetops with us. Dad cut the lead to save it and then threw himself off the ledge, joining us in the tree.

  We still weren’t in the very top of the tree, so we used vines like ladders to climb up. Bushy jungle leaves scratched against us as we moved, but when we reached the very top, we could feel the sunlight coming straight down on us like a promise that everything was going to be okay.

  “Come on!” I said, and we journeyed from treetop to treetop, Blue leading the way back to the safety of the nearby village. T
he haunted temple and Endermen fell back behind us.

  In the end, I guessed I was glad Yancy had tamed that funny bird.

  CHAPTER 24

  W HEN WE KNOCKED ON THE DOOR, THE VILLAGER opened it and looked at us in shock.

  “I never thought I’d see you again,” he said. “I take it you went to the temple, realized I was right, and came back? Good thing you did. If you’d stepped a foot into that place . . .”

  “Actually,” Dad said. “We went through all three floors of the temple.”

  The villager’s eyes widened. He stared at Dad, who looked exhausted but okay. Then the villager stared at me and my torn shirt. He stared at Alex, who still looked mad that someone had dared to take away her bow and arrows.

  “I’ll be,” the man said. “Is what they say true? Are there haunted ghost guards?”

  “Haunted skeleton guards,” Yancy said. “Probably just as bad, in their own way.”

  “Come in, come in,” the villager said. “Let me make you something to eat. You look starved. I have some seeds for that bird as well.”

  “That’d be great, thanks,” Yancy said. “And do you by chance have a jukebox?”

  The villager looked at him strangely.

  “After our night, we could use a good laugh,” Yancy said. “Please and thank you.”

  “Sure, sure,” the villager said, and started his jukebox. Like other parrots, Blue got on the ground and started happily dancing to the music. Despite all that bird had been through, he didn’t look tired at all, and the dancing made him look even happier than when he was eating Oreos. I think he liked being with us. And not just because Yancy kept feeding him Earth cookies.

  As we sat down and ate, recovering our strength and smiling at Blue’s dancing, I said to the villager, “We want to ask you more questions about the temple. Steve Alexander was the one man who escaped from it, right? And the bad enchantments came from the Ender Dragon? Because it used to be her temple, right? Oh, oh! And who was J?”

  “My son also wants to say thank you for the food,” Dad said, correcting my manners.

  I flushed. “Thank you,” I said. Then I quickly added, “But this is really important. What do you know about . . .”

  The villager was staring at me as if he couldn’t believe what was coming out of my mouth. Then he said to Dad, “You have a very pushy son here.”

  “He’s also a very good son,” Dad said. “His fighting skills have improved tremendously, and he and Maison”—he gestured toward Maison—“were the ones who got the rest of us out of the dungeon.”

  The villager ogled me. “You escaped not just the temple, but also the dungeon itself? Are you . . . are you related to Steve Alexander?”

  “I . . .” I began.

  “You look a little like the statues of him.” The villager sat back and thought for a minute. “They say Steve Alexander made that jungle temple.”

  “No, that can’t be right,” I said. “The Ender Dragon said it was her home. Her temple.”

  As soon as I said it, I wanted to take the words back. The villager looked at me crazily for a second, and then said, “I think you could use some sleep, son. The Ender Dragon has been trapped in the End for many, many years.”

  “But there was a cell for Steve Alexander,” I burst out. “He couldn’t have made it and imprisoned himself there!”

  The jukebox stopped playing and my shout felt especially loud against the silence. Everyone stared at me, including Blue.

  “I think the man is right, Stevie,” Dad said. “It’s time for us to all rest. We will continue investigating this mystery after we have some sleep.”

  “Okay, Dad,” I said, but I didn’t believe my thoughts were going to let me sleep any time soon.

  I had thought that everything would become clearer as we found more crystal shards. Instead, it seemed to get more confusing with each adventure. I had to trust that Steve Alexander would connect all the dots in the end.

  In the temple, I’d often been afraid. But we’d completed our most dangerous mission to find a crystal shard yet.

  Whatever had happened in that temple thousands of years ago had changed the future of the Overworld—I was sure of it. Like Steve Alexander, I was on the path of fighting evil and bringing peace to the Overworld. Now I couldn’t wait for my next mission, because it would bring me another step closer to stopping the Ender Dragon. And another step closer to finding out the truth.

  READ ON FOR AN EXCITING SNEAK PEEK AT THE FOURTH BOOK IN

  Danica Davidsons’s Unofficial Overworld Heroes Adventure series

  CHAPTER 1

  WE WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN, and we’d lost all sight of land. If anything went wrong, we were on our own.

  On our little boat were Dad, my cousin Alex, my Earth friends, Maison, Destiny, and Yancy, and Yancy’s newly tamed parrot, Blue. And me. But even though I was part of the Overworld Heroes task force, I felt small compared to this huge ocean with all its incredible creatures swimming just below the surface. I had had no idea how dangerous this mission would be until now—when it was too late.

  Yancy wasn’t helping any. In fact, he was really freaking me out.

  “Hey, look at this one, Stevie,” Yancy said cheerfully, showing me another picture. He’d pulled some book about ocean life on Earth out of that backpack he was always carting around. Now he was flipping through pages, showing me creatures that looked like they’d come straight from my nightmares.

  I stared at the image of a hideous fish with a mouth full of row after row of fangs. On its head was a prong with a small, glowing light on the end of it, like a tiny sea lantern. If anything like that fish was waiting in the ocean below us, I’d rather just stay on the boat.

  “This is an anglerfish,” Yancy said. Blue, who was perched on Yancy’s shoulder, whistled. “They live in the deep ocean and can grow up to three feet. They even glow because of bacteria down there. It’s so dark in the deep ocean that you wouldn’t be able to see a thing unless you bring your own light or see fish glowing. Some of the fish use their glow to lure in their prey. And the pressure is so bad down there that if you don’t go in a submarine, the weight of the water will crush you.”

  I didn’t know what being crushed by water pressure felt like, but my stomach was squeezing pretty badly on its own. And my mouth was getting dry just looking at that anglerfish.

  “Yancy, stop it,” Destiny sighed. “You know the ocean in Minecraft isn’t the same as the ocean on Earth. There aren’t any anglerfish here, and I don’t think it gets that dark, either.”

  “Hey, there could be anglerfish. And who knows how dark it gets?” Yancy said. “On Earth, we’re still discovering new sea life because the ocean is so big. And you know that some of the creatures we have on Earth are also in Minecraft . Like Blue.” He gestured to his new parrot pet. Earlier, Yancy had said that being in a boat with a parrot made him look even more like a pirate. But when no one had paid much attention to that, he’d pulled out his book instead. And this agony began.

  “See, look at this,” Yancy said, turning another page. “A pufferfish! We have those in both places!”

  Next to the anglerfish, the pufferfish looked pretty okay to me. “My dad has hunted pufferfish to make the Potion for Water Breathing,” I said, looking at Dad. I wanted him to tell me that pufferfish weren’t too bad. And that even though lots of the Overworld ocean hadn’t been explored yet, there was no way we’d run into any anglerfish.

  Unfortunately, Dad was busy looking at the map. Normally, we’d have had to go to a special cartographer in the village to get an ocean map. But we had our own special map thanks to Steve Alexander, my ancestor, who had left us the clues we needed to find Ender crystal shards that could be used to make a special weapon to defeat the Ender Dragon. Each time we completed another mission, the crystal shard we found helped us read more of Steve Alexander’s magical book, which showed us where we had to go next.

  Clearly, Dad wasn’t going to be any help. Yancy we
nt on, “Some people eat pufferfish on Earth, which is really dangerous if you don’t do it right. They’re toxic. If you eat the bad part, you’ll be poisoned.”

  I gulped, even though I didn’t have anything in my mouth. “Well, we don’t like to eat pufferfish in the Overworld,” I said. “Because if you do, it makes you nauseated.”

  “Yancy, put the book away,” Maison said, her arm hanging off the side of the boat so her fingers could trail through the waves. She looked as annoyed as Destiny was with how Yancy was acting. Alex was the only one who was staring at the book with gleeful fascination. The creepier the fish, the more interested she looked.

  “Not till we get to the sharks,” Yancy said, flipping the pages quickly. “Here you go, Stevie. Take a look at the great white shark.”

  I saw an enormous mouth, even bigger than the anglerfish’s, with even larger teeth. The anglerfish had lots of tiny, jutting fangs, but the great white shark had a forest of triangular teeth with jagged edges.

  “The great white shark can grow up to twenty-one feet long,” Yancy read.

  Twenty-one feet! I never thought an anglerfish could seem safe by comparison!

  “Dad,” I said in a slow voice, turning to him. What I meant to say was: Dad, please tell me Yancy is wrong and we don’t have these fish here!

  “Not now, Stevie,” Dad said with a frown. He was still studying the map in Steve Alexander’s book. “We should be near the ocean monument holding the next crystal shard.”

  “Yancy, can you ride one of those?” Alex asked, pointing to the great white shark. I could tell she was already in love with the shark. “I bet they swim fast.”

  “If you try to ride it, it will probably eat you,” Destiny said matter-of-factly.

  Yancy looked up from his book in disgust. “Sharks don’t go around eating people!” he said. “That’s just a myth, and people believe it because they see it in movies. Sharks have more to fear from people than we do from them.”