by Dr. Block
The general spoke. “On my mark, we invade.”
We all took our places. A couple of seconds passed in gut wrenching silence and then the general said, “Mark.”
Chapter 19
We teleported into the center area of the High Castle. We drew our weapons quickly and looked around but saw no enemy.
We had teleported into a courtyard perhaps 50 x 50 blocks wide. There were portico-covered walkways on the ground level and balconies overlooking the courtyard on the second floor. Had it not been inside of Herobrine’s fortress, I would have called it rather stunning architectural work.
We rushed as a group under the cover of one of the walkways. We were further hidden by a shadow cast by the porticos. There was no other movement.
Within a few seconds, we heard the bombardment of the trebuchets crashing against the interior walls. It wasn’t long before we could hear return fire. Other explosions. We saw flaming arrows arcing into the sky heading in the direction of the allied bombardment.
“It’s going to get ugly fast,” said the general. “We need to find Herobrine and take him out. I prefer to arrest him so he might stand trial in The End for crimes against Minecraft, but I could live with killing him if it came to that.”
“I’m not planning on taking any prisoners,” said Otis, crunching his undead teeth together like a vicious wolf.
The general leveled his gaze at Otis. “You’ll take a prisoner if I say you take a prisoner. That isn’t optional.”
It was the first time I’d ever seen the general truly assert his rank as the commander-in-chief of this invasion. I could tell Otis was thinking about talking back to him, but then Otis realized there was no use in doing that. Maybe he thought the Ender general would actually arrest him for mutiny. I wouldn’t put it past the general. I’d never seen anyone look so serious.
“Okay, fine. Have it your way,” said Otis begrudgingly.
“Zeke and Otis,” said the general. “You two take 25 of Ender soldiers and the pigmen with you and explore the southern part of the High Castle. I will go with Zeb and the remaining soldiers to the north. If you spot Herobrine, shoot an exploding arrow into the air and we will come immediately. We shall do the same.”
“Got it,” I said. “But, can’t Zeb come with us?”
The general shook his head. “You will have superior numbers. I need Zeb’s wisdom to help guide my decisions.”
I looked at Zeb. Since when did the Ender general value Zeb’s advice so much? Weird.
“Um, okay, I guess.” I walked over to Zeb and shook his hand. “Be safe.”
“Be safe,” he replied.
Otis looked at Zeb, raised his fist in the air and said, “Strength and honor.”
Zeb nodded.
My friends and I, accompanied by 25 Ender soldiers and a group of zombie pigmen, went off in the direction indicated by the Ender general.
We searched through the area, again finding it strangely deserted. I was beginning to think that Herobrine might not have very many mobs living here. Maybe this was some sort of strange vacation home or contemplative retreat where he schemed more and more vicious ways to ruin the lives of mobs, players, and NPCs, all the while stockpiling thousands upon thousands of blocks of TNT.
“If we are going to find Herobrine, I think we should move towards the fighting. It would make sense that he would be near the battle, either to direct it or to search for us,” said Otis.
“That sounds logical,” I said. I turned the Ender soldiers. “What do you guys think?”
“Agreed,” they said. “Let’s do it.”
We moved off in the direction of the fighting while still moving in a southerly direction as instructed by the general.
Shortly thereafter, we began to see some mobs. There were zombies loaded down with arrows who were acting as porters bringing the weapons to whoever was shooting them, probably skeletons. Zombies were no real threat so we snuck past them without engaging them in combat.
We next entered a narrow, dark passageway which took about a minute to traverse. As we were about to exit the passage, a large wither skeleton suddenly appeared, blocking our way.
We tried backing away to avoid being spotted, but he saw us, pulled out an obsidian sword and rushed at us yelling, “Intruders!”
Two of the Ender soldiers quickly teleported behind the wither skeleton and stabbed him in the back with their obsidian swords. The wither skeleton flashed red momentarily and then disintegrated.
Otis looked in awe at the Ender soldiers. “Man I wish I could teleport. It is so awesome!”
The Ender soldiers didn’t think it was awesome. They are just doing their job. “Let’s get moving,” said Sgt. Diego.
It was getting real now.
Every step we took could be our last.
We were on high alert.
Our adrenaline was flowing. There was so much adrenaline coursing through my body that I almost felt as if I were alive and no longer merely undead.
At that moment, I realized I was experiencing something wholly unexpected: I was enjoying the danger!
Chapter 20
We continued walking through the labyrinthine corridors and passageways of the High Castle. We encountered only a few individual mobs, such as skeletons or zombies, which the Ender soldiers dispatched with little effort.
“Seems almost deserted,” said Otis, suspicion dripping from the words.
“I agree. I keep waiting for a horde of spiders or something to attack us,” I said.
“Be happy it has been simple so far,” said an Ender soldier. “It won’t stay that way. Of that, I am certain.”
The thing about endermen is they tend to understand the odds of strange things happening. They are strange creatures on their own, and with that inborn strangeness comes their innate ability to sense and even predict the unusual.
And so, I was not at all at ease with our situation.
Of course, the Ender soldier turned out to be right.
We had nearly reached the end of a corridor which, from my vantage point, appeared to open into a large chamber. We were walking towards the opening when ten wither skeletons and five blazes appeared to block our way.
“I don’t like this,” said Harold.
I looked down at the back of Harold’s head. “I’m with you. Let’s retreat.”
When we turned around to retreat, it only got worse. There, at the other end of the corridor, were three ghasts!
“I didn’t think ghasts could live outside of the nether,” said Bob.
“They can, but it is difficult to get them to the Overworld,” said a soldier. “This must be some of Herobrine’s evil magic at work.”
“I don’t care how we explain it,” said Otis. “What do we do?”
I sat there on Harold’s back hoping someone would have an idea soon because the ghasts were closing in on us. In short order, they would be in fireball range.
But, of course, we could not run away because the blazes and wither skeletons were at the other end of the corridor. And, they too were slowly closing in on us.
“Teleport now, men!” yelled one of the Ender soldiers.
Derp! Why do I keep forgetting about the teleportation?
The endermen encircled Otis and me and our chickens, and we disappeared.
When we reappeared, we were in another corridor which was, thankfully, empty.
“That was close,” said Harold. “Good thing you guys can teleport or that would’ve been the end of us.”
“Happy to oblige,” said the soldier.
“This is ridiculous,” spat Otis. “We can’t just keep teleporting around like a bunch of sissies. We need to confront these evil mobs head on.”
“I’m all for the battle, too,” said Sgt. Diego. “But, it will do us no good to foolishly risk our lives. We have to use strategy.”
“Well then, what do you propose?” asked Otis impatiently.
“I’m going to send twenty soldiers out to conduct reconnaiss
ance. We need to find a group of mobs gathered in a location where we can corner them and attack. That way, we can defeat Herobrine’s forces a little at a time.”
“That will work, I suppose, but don’t we need to get this battle wrapped up soon before Herobrine destroys the world?” I asked.
Sgt. Diego shrugged. “It can’t be helped. We have to do it this way if we want to have any hope of being effective.”
I knew the soldier was right. I didn’t want to die for nothing. If Herobrine was going to blow up the world, then I’d rather die in that explosion then at the hands of some disgusting evil blaze or skeleton or spider.
The twenty Ender soldiers, including Sgt. Diego, teleported away. The remaining five kept watch.
And that was when it happened.
An obsidian cage suddenly appeared around the endermen. At the same time, their arms and legs were chained to the walls of the obsidian cage with shackles that had also seemingly appeared out of thin air.
“What kind of sorcery is this?” muttered Otis.
The endermen grunted with frustration.
“Can’t you just teleport out?” I yelled.
The soldier shook his head as he struggled against the chains. “I don’t know what it is, but our teleportation abilities have been short-circuited. We’re stuck in here!”
“Something tells me, the next few moments of our lives are going to be very dangerous,” said Otis in a low, angry voice.
What I saw next made me want to curl into a fetal position and suck my stubby, undead thumb.
Chapter 21
I looked up. Standing behind the obsidian cage was the biggest golem I’d ever seen. It was also the strangest golem I’d ever seen.
Its body was made of obsidian. It looked like a shiny black mirror with no seams in it. The only part of it that wasn’t black were its eyes which were two glowing diamond blocks. It was as if Herobrine himself had become a obsidian golem.
With the five Ender soldiers trapped and the rest out on a scouting mission, the zombie pigmen, who had been with us the entire time but had not said or done anything notable so I haven’t mentioned them, decided it was time for them to be heroes.
“We mine obsidian all the time, guys. Let’s reduce this freak to rubble!” shouted one of them. The others cheered as they pulled out their pickaxes and rushed toward the golem.
The golem stood there, unmoving. His glowing eyes appeared to follow the mass of pigmen as they approached. The pigmen slammed into the golem’s legs with their pickaxes and furiously struck against his obsidian body.
The golem continued to watch as they attacked his feet, but he did not appear to feel any pain.
“This isn’t good,” I said to Harold.
Harold was about to respond when the golem quickly hopped into the air and then brought his massive feet down on top of the zombie pigmen, killing them all.
“Netherrack,” I cursed. “What we do now?”
“We have to save the soldiers somehow,” said Otis, a slight panic creeping into his voice.
“We’ll be okay,” said the Ender soldiers. “Don’t worry about us, we will escape somehow.”
Those would be the last words the Ender soldier ever spoke. The obsidian golem took one step forward, raised his right foot high above the cage, and brought it crashing down. The Ender soldiers were crushed to death.
“No!” Otis and I screamed in unison.
The evil golem just laughed at us. He said nothing but instead ground his foot over the remains of the obsidian cage until it turned into a fine powder.
“You are horrible and evil!” yelled Harold.
“Yeah, what he said,” added Bob.
The golem continued its deep maniacal laughter and took a step toward us.
“Time to go,” I said, hopping on my chicken’s back. Harold turned on his heels and began to run away from the golem. Bob and Otis followed immediately behind us.
We ran to the end of the corridor and turned to the right. The golem came behind us at a steady, lumbering pace, and we were able to open up some distance between us and the golem.
If we are on an open plain, we could’ve easily outrun the golem. But inside this castle, the golem knew its way around better than we did, and our speed was limited by our constant need to change direction in the corridors.
How could we escape now? We couldn’t teleport. If we didn’t find the other ender soldiers or the Ender general soon, the golem or some other mobs would get us.
“What about the exploding arrow?” said Harold.
Of course, the exploding arrow! We were only supposed to use it if we found Herobrine, but if we used it now some endermen would come and save us.
“No way,” said Otis. “The arrow is only for use if we find Herobrine. We aren’t cowards. We can fight our way back to the trebuchets and the Ender soldiers there.”
“But Otis,” I said.
“But nothing. If you shoot that exploding arrow, I’m out of here.”
I could tell by the look on Otis’s face that he was deadly serious. I wasn’t going to abandon my friend now. Besides, he was right. It wouldn’t be fair to pull the Ender general away from his search just to save us. The mission was to find Herobrine.
“Okay Otis, we’re with you.”
Chapter 22
While we’d been talking, the golem had gotten closer. We could hear its steps and feel the rumbling of the stones as it approached.
We resumed running, turning right then left, left then right. We had no idea where we were going, only that it was away from the golem.
A few times we ran into isolated mobs, dispatching them quickly.
We tried to travel in the general direction of the sound of the trebuchets.
After about ten minutes, we began to encounter more and more mobs. They must have been coming to help defend against the trebuchet attacks. Otis, Bob, Harold and I ducked into a small alcove to hide.
“We have to get to the trebuchets,” I whispered. “But, with all these mobs around, I don’t know if we can do it.”
“We must, or we’re dead for sure,” said Otis.
Harold looked at both of us and said, “Jump off, Zeke. I’ll find a way out. The mobs will ignore me, and if they don’t, I can hide a lot more easily than you.”
I stepped off my chicken, my friend, my buddy. “I can’t ask you do that.”
“You didn’t ask me to do it. I volunteered.”
“Okay, then,” I said sadly, knowing that Harold had made his decision.
“Don’t go,” said Bob.
“I have to go. I’ll find an escape route and then come back for you.”
Before anyone could stop him, Harold dashed off.
“I hope he gets back before the golem finds us,” said Otis. “If we have to run away from the golem again, I don’t know if Harold will ever find us.”
That was my fear as well. I did not want this to the last time I saw my chicken. If one of us died, we should both die, together. The bond of a chicken and his jockey is stronger than most people will ever know. There is something mystical about it. It is a combination that shouldn’t exist in nature, but because it does, it is stronger than anything.
It was then that I realized true heroism is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. Just as Harold had done.
I was beginning to cry. But, now was not the time. I had to stop.
I wiped the tears from my eyes, pulled my diamond sword from my inventory, and stood my ground with a fierce determination, ready for anything.
Chapter 23
It was a good thing I was ready for anything because a few moments later, a witch strolled down the hallway.
Otis, Bob and I pressed our backs into the shallow alcove, hoping she wouldn’t see us. I could have easily surprised her and killed her, but it would be better if no one knew we were there.
The witch walked down the hallway absentmindedly flicking the wart on her
nose. She was touching the sides of it and the tip of it over and over again like it was some kind of game. I could hear she was humming a little song.
I looked over at Otis who was sticking his finger in his throat pretending to barf. I rolled my eyes.
The witch was now just in front of the alcove, still pinching her wart when she suddenly stopped walking. She turned her back to us, and pulled out a piece of paper, as if she were looking at some notes.
I felt very tense. All she had to do was turn the other way and she would see us. I was worried she might sound the alarm before we could kill her.
But the witch had other ideas.
Unnoticed by any of us, she had also pulled out a splash potion of harming from her cloak. She quickly spun around and threw it into the alcove. Fortunately, it didn’t hit any of us directly but splashed on the back of the rock wall and put a few drops of potion upon each of us.
The pain was instantaneous.
I screamed but was able to bring my diamond sword up and chop the witch’s head off with a single blow. Her body blinked bright red a couple times and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.
“It hurts!” said Bob.
“I know it does buddy,” Otis grunted through gritted teeth. “It will wear off soon.”
“That made a lot of noise,” I said as I battled through my own pain. “I’m certain more mobs will be coming.”
“Let them come. We will kill them all,” said Otis, the fire of vengeance glowing in his eyes.
Chapter 24
In a few minutes, we had recovered from the effects of the splash potion of harming. Luck was with us and we did not encounter any other mobs while we were in our debilitated state.
We decided to remain in hiding in the alcove, hoping Harold would return soon.
After another couple of minutes passed, we heard the unmistakable bouncing and squishing of slime.
“Do you hear that?” I said to Otis.