His father walked toward his son, stepping on the brown speckled block in front of him. Instantly, the soul sand slowed his progress to a crawl.
“What’s going on? What’s this stuff?” his dad asked.
“Yeah, there is something you should know,” Hunter said with a smile. “Don’t walk on soul sand … it slows you down A LOT!”
She laughed, then turned and headed off down the corridor.
“I’m gonna go scout ahead,” she yelled as she ran off, Stitcher following close behind.
“OK, here’s the plan,” Gameknight explained as Monkeypants struggled to get out of the soul sand. “The fountain room is off to the right, the way Hunter went. If we keep the torches on our right, we’ll eventually get there. Somewhere near the fountain will be the portal room, but we must be cautious. There will be monsters all throughout this place, and they mean business.”
“Monsters … down here in these dark, shadowy hallways? How do you see them?” Monkeypants asked.
“You find them when they attack you,” Digger said.
The pig in Herder’s arms squealed a muffled squeal, the rope around its snout holding its mouth closed. Carefully, he put the animal on the ground, but held the rope that was tied to its neck firmly in his hand. The pink animal instantly tried to flee, running the opposite direction as Hunter and Stitcher. Pulling on the leash, Herder brought the animal back to his side. The lanky NPC took in the slack on the rope so that it had to stay right next to him. Herobrine turned and tried to bit the young boy on the leg, but its mouth could not open.
Gameknight smiled. Kneeling, he stared into Herobrine’s glowing eyes.
“Looks like you aren’t so powerful anymore are you?” the User-that-is-not-a-user said, a mocking smile on his face.
A growl sounded from overhead—zombies.
“We need to get going,” Digger said, hefting his big pickaxe onto his shoulder.
“Right. Dad, you stay close to me, those zombies up above are going to be hot on our trail. Let’s go.”
Before he could take a step, Grassbrin ran in the wrong direction and placed some blocks of dirt on the ground just at the edge of the flickering torchlight. Plunging his hands into the brown cubes, he brought some grass to life, the long green strands growing thick and healthy as they blocked off the passage. Satisfied with the growth, he pulled his hands out and returned.
“Theyyyy will think weeee went that wayyy,” Grassbrin said in his lyrical sing-song voice.
“Perfect!” Gameknight exclaimed.
“Are you coming or are you planning on having a little vacation here?” a sarcastic voice said from the darkness.
“We’re coming!” Gameknight shouted, then drew his two swords.
They plunged into the shadowy passages of the stronghold, running from torch to torch, always keeping them on their right. Gameknight could hear Hunter far ahead of them, her feet echoing off the cold stone walls. Occasionally, he’d hear her stop, then the twang of her Stitcher’s bowstrings would resonate through the stronghold.
Suddenly, a creeper shot out of a side passage and moved straight for Herder and Herobrine. The young boy screamed as the mottled green monster started to hiss. Before it had a chance to detonate, Gameknight was there with his two swords. Slashing at the monster, he made the creeper stop its ignition process as it stepped back from the flurry of blows. Moving forward, it tried to ignite again, but Gameknight struck at it over and over. With a pop it disappeared, leaving behind a small pile of gunpowder.
“You OK?” Gameknight asked Herder.
He nodded.
“Remember, we can’t let the creepers explode, or they will release the silverfish,” Gameknight explained. “You have to hit them hard and fast.”
“I got it,” Herder answered. “I was just a little … surprised.”
“It’s OK to be afraid,” Gameknight said, “but you can’t let your fear control you. Acknowledge your fear, then work around it.”
He reached out and tussled the boy’s long dark hair, then gave him a reassuring smile.
“Thanks,” Herder said.
“Are you idiots coming?” Hunter yelled from the edge of a flicking circle of torchlight.
Gameknight turned and ran, Herder fast on his heels.
As they sprinted through the passages, a bellowing angry grow suddenly shook the ancient structure.
Grassbrin smiled.
“I think they founnnd the falssse trail,” the light-crafter said.
Treebrin patted him on the shoulder and gave his friend smile.
“We have to hurry,” Crafter said in a weak voice. “They know where we are now.”
“Come on,” Digger added. “We all need to run.”
Reaching to Crafter, Digger scooped up his young friend and started running, the rest of them following close behind. They passed dark shadowy doorways that led off into the confusing depths of the stronghold. Some of these doorways held the occasional spider or zombie, but Gameknight and Hunter took care of these quickly.
The growls started to grow louder as the pursuing horde slowly closed in on them.
“Faster!” Gameknight exclaimed.
They shifted from running to sprinting as they followed the glowing torches to the fountain room, but many of them were getting too tired.
“We have to stop and rest for a moment,” Monkeypants said.
“I agree,” Digger replied.
“Fine, but just for a minute,” Gameknight agreed.
“I’m going to see what’s ahead,” Stitcher said as she disappeared into the shadows.
“Going alone isn’t a good idea,” Monkeypants said.
Standing, the monkey dressed in the superman outfit drew his iron sword and followed the young NPC around the corner. They were gone for no longer than a minute when Stitcher’s voice suddenly could be heard through echoing through the hall.
“Oh, no … we’re trapped.”
“What?” Gameknight asked.
Drawing his diamond sword, Gameknight followed the around the corner, the rest of the party on his heels. As he rounded the curving passage, he stopped in his tracks, shocked at what he saw.
Ahead of him the passage was missing. It was as if some kind of giant had just scooped up this section of the stronghold and left behind a deep hole. It was maybe a twenty blocks deep, the walls on their side steep and sheer. On the far side of the hole, Gameknight could see the edge sloping upward; it was climbable. But this side of the hole was nearly vertical. If anyone jumped … they were dead.
All around, Gameknight could see small piles of gunpowder. Likely this was the result of a lot of creepers exploding. Moving to the edge of the hole, Gameknight peered down at the bottom. Small spiny things could be seen scurrying about, their segmented tails dragging across the ground—silverfish, hundreds of them.
Stepping away from the hole, the User-that-is-not-a-user turned and faced his friends. He knew his face betrayed his fear and uncertainty.
“Can we climb down?” Digger asked.
Gameknight shook his head.
“The bottom is covered with silverfish. We wouldn’t stand a chance,” he replied.
“What are silverfish?” Monkeypants asked.
“They’re tiny little monsters that swarm over anyone idiotic enough to get close to them,” Hunter said. “Fighting them is impossible—especially with as many as I hear down there.”
She sighed.
“We’re trapped,” Hunter said, dejected.
Moving to a wall, Hunter placed a block on the ground, then pulled out arrows and placed them on the ground so that she could get to them easily.
“What are you doing?” Monkeypants asked.
“Preparing,” Hunter replied. “I think we’ll be playing out something Gameknight once explained to me.”
“What was that?” Monkeypants asked.
“I think he called it Custer’s last stand,” she said.
Stitcher moved next to her sister and pla
ced a block of dirt on the ground from which she would shoot. Digger put Crafter down then moved out into the passage and started digging deep holes that would slow the zombies in their attack.
“You all act like this is over … but it’s not!” Monkeypants exclaimed.
They ignored him.
Monkeypants looked toward his son. Gameknight stared back at his father, a look of sadness and defeat on his face.
“Dad, we have to get ready to fight,” Gameknight said.
“You two should go back to the physical world,” Crafter said in a weak voice. “No sense dying here if you don’t have to.”
“NO!” Gameknight snapped. “I won’t leave you.”
“You have no choice,” his friend said. “You can always just bounce back into Minecraft when this is all over and help the villagers after Herobrine escapes.”
“Blue paint,” Monkeypants said as he peered into the chasm.
“What?” Gameknight asked.
“What we really need is some blue paint from that other game you play … Portal 2 … yeah, that’s it,” Monkeypants said.
“What did you say?” Gameknight asked, his voice filled with excitement.
“I said Portal 2,” his father answered. “You know, that game with the portal guns and Glados and …”
“Blue paint … of course … you’re a genius!” Gameknight exclaimed as he put away his swords.
The moans and growls of the approaching zombie horde grew louder, their sorrowful wails echoing off the walls.
“Ha ha,” Gameknight laughed as he moved back to the sheer cliff and peered down in to the hole.
Walking back away from the hole, Gameknight took about eight steps from the sheer edge then faced the cliff. Bending his knees, he got ready to sprint.
“Gameknight, what are you going to do?” Hunter asked.
“Something incredibly dangerous and stupid,” he replied with a smile.
“I LIKE IT!” she shouted with a smile.
Gameknight gave her a wink, then sprinted toward the cliff and jumped out into the open air, the squeaks and squeals of the approaching silverfish filling his ears.
COMING FALL 2015:
SAVING CRAFTER: HEROBRINE REBORN BOOK ONE
A BRAND NEW GAMEKNIGHT999 SERIES
FROM MARK CHEVERTON AND SKY PONY PRESS!
Last Stand on the Ocean Shore Page 21