Herobrine's War

by Mark Cheverton

  Books by Mark Cheverton

  The Gameknight999 Series

  Invasion of the Overworld

  Battle for the Nether

  Confronting the Dragon

  The Mystery of Herobrine Series: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  Trouble in Zombie-town

  The Jungle Temple Oracle

  Last Stand on the Ocean Shore

  Herobrine Reborn Series: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  Saving Crafter

  The Destruction of the Overworld

  Gameknight999 vs. Herobrine

  Herobrine’s Revenge Series: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  The Phantom Virus

  Overworld in Flames

  System Overload

  The Birth of Herobrine: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  The Great Zombie Invasion

  Attack of the Shadow-Crafters

  Herobrine’s War

  The Mystery of Entity303: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  Terrors of the Forest (Coming Soon!)

  Monsters in the Mist (Coming Soon!)

  Mission to the Moon (Coming Soon!)

  The Gameknight999 Box Set

  The Gameknight999 vs. Herobrine Box Set

  The Algae Voices of Azule Series

  Algae Voices of Azule

  Finding Home

  Finding the Lost

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Microsoft Corp., Mojang AB, Notch Development AB or Scholastic Inc., or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in the Minecraft name, trademark, or copyrights.

  Copyright © 2017 by Mark Cheverton

  Minecraft® is a registered trademark of Notch Development AB

  The Minecraft game is copyright © Mojang AB

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Microsoft Corp., Mojang AB, Notch Development AB, or Scholastic Inc., or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in the Minecraft name, trademark, or copyrights.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

  Sky Pony Press books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or info@skyhorsepublishing.com.

  Sky Pony® is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation.

  Visit our website at www.skyponypress.com.

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

  Cover design by Owen Corrigan

  Cover artwork by Thomas Frick

  Technical consultant: Gameknight999

  Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-0996-6

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-1001-6

  Printed in Canada

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  As always, I’d like to give a big thank you to my family. Without their help and support, I’d never be able to maintain this pace of a book every other month. I’d also like to thank my editor, Cory Allyn. Without his sharp eye for mixed metaphors and repeated phrases, none of these books would sparkle as they do. To my agent, Holly Root, the best agent in the business, I thank you for your continual faith in me, and enthusiasm about these projects.

  Of course, I want to thank all of you, the readers. It is your excitement about my stories and my characters that gets me up at 6:00 a.m. to write and keeps me writing through the late night and weekends.

  To all of the teachers that are using my books to get kids excited about reading, I am incredibly grateful. Your stories about your students getting excited about reading are heartwarming to hear. On my website, www.markcheverton, I’ve posted some resources that might help to inspire even more kids to read and write. Thank you for everything you do. Teaching kids to love learning is an important and, at times, difficult job. So, thank you for your hard work and dedication; you’re making a difference in the lives of many.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  I had a lot of fun writing this trilogy, and sending Gameknight999 back in time. It was exciting to explore what Crafter’s ancestors were like. Hopefully, I’ll see some new stories sent to my website, www.markcheverton.com, from my readers about some of these new characters. Maybe there will even be a few stories about the budding romance that starts near the end of this book? That would be cool.

  It is really awesome to be receiving stories from all of you. I know a few of you have actually self-published your stories, like Elijah P, Danny O, Ryan T, and Elijah S. I think that’s super cool. If you’re thinking about writing, but need a little bit of help to get your story started, then go to my website and click on the “For Teachers” tab. You’ll find many video tutorials, as well as writing guides and information about writing. In these materials, I describe the process of writing a short story, “Battle with the Wither King.” You can see how I sat down to create an outline, as well as the final finished story. Show this page to your teachers; maybe you can use these videos and work on writing your own stories in your classes at school. I hope you find the videos and information helpful; I’ll be adding more in the future.

  In the Minecraft Seeds section at the end of this book, you might notice that two of them are missing: the waterfall and Olympus Mons. I’ll be building those in Minecraft so you can see what I was imagining when I wrote the book. Go to www.gameknight999.com to find more information about the Gameknight999 Minecraft Network. If you log in (with your parent’s permission!) and go to the survival server, type the command /warp bookwarps. You’ll see the bookwarps for all of my books there. Come onto the server and meet others that read my books. The IP address is mc.gameknight999.com. Maybe you’ll see my son, Gameknight999, and me, Monkeypants_271.

  While on gameknight999.com, look around and you’ll find some additional free short stories I’ve been writing, as well as some images you can download. I’ll be adding more short stories through the year, so keep checking. Download them, send them to your friends, even send them to your teacher! I hope you enjoy.

  Keep reading, and watch out for creepers.

  Mark

  Trying to do everything by yourself, like Sisyphus pushing that rock up the hill by himself, is difficult, pointless, and makes those around you think you don’t trust them. Open yourself to the help of friends and Sisyphus’s rock will make it all the way to the top of the hill and stay there, if supported by friends.

  CHAPTER 1

  MALACODA

  The world around him wanted to be enslaved; it just didn’t know it yet. Herobrine would soon teach all the creatures of Minecraft that he was their master. But first he had to control his overwhelming rage.

  “How could that pathetic blacksmith and those villagers defeat us again?!” the evil virus screamed in frustration.

  He glanced around at the surviving monsters that stood nearby. The zombies and skeletons looked terrified, fearing Herobrine would unleash his wrath upon them. They were wise to keep their distance, for he was considering doing exactly that. But even though it might give him momentary pleasure, deep down, he knew destroying a few dozen zombies would not help him in the long run.

  Nearby, the king of the Endermen, Erebus, stood tall and confident, his dark-red skin standing out in bright contrast to the skeletons and zombies that shuffled around him. The creature’s red eyes glowed bright with anger. When Herobrine had created Erebus, he’d poured all his malice and vile hatred for the villages into the crea
ture’s soul, and now, he, too, was furious that they had been defeated.

  A clicking sound floated out of the desert and echoed off the four steep mountains surrounding them. The peaks were called Dragon’s Teeth, and were currently Herobrine’s base. Herobrine had formed his massive monster army here, between these four spires, just before moving against that blacksmith, Smithy, and his rabble of villager NPCs (non-playable characters). They had outnumbered the enemy five-to-one, if not more, and yet they still lost.

  “That Smithy always has some trick up his sleeve,” Herobrine growled.

  Just then, the clicking sound grew louder, as if a million crickets were arriving. But instead, a large group of spiders emerged out of the nearby forest, led by the spider queen, Shaikulud. The eight bright purple eyes on her large, fuzzy black head glowed with the same rage felt by Herobrine and Erebus. She, too, was furious at their loss; hundreds of her spiders had been destroyed during the battle.

  “We musssst exact our revenge on the villagerssss,” the spider queen hissed. “That old hag, the Oracle, desssstroyed hundredssss of my sssspiderssss. Sssshe musssst be eliminated.”

  “You will get your revenge, Shaikulud,” Herobrine growled. “That I promise.”

  “Without the creepers, getting past the defenses of the villagers proves difficult,” Erebus pointed out.

  “The creepers!” Herobrine hissed, his rage barely held in check. “The king of the creepers, Oxus, has chosen to run away and hide rather than sacrifice his followers in my war. His treachery and cowardice caused this defeat.” The evil artificially-intelligent virus paced back and forth, his eyes glowing brighter. “Some day I will find that cowardly creeper and teach him what happens to those who defy Herobrine. But, for now, we must concentrate on Smithy and his pathetic villagers.”

  “We need a way to get past their walls,” Erebus said in a high-pitched, screechy voice. “Without the creepers, more frontal assaults will only prove suicidal. We cannot win that way.”

  Herobrine closed his eyes and teleported right next to the king of the Endermen. He glared up at the tall, lanky creature.

  “We will win this war how ever I say we will win,” Herobrine snarled, his eyes growing dangerously bright as his temper grew hot. “If I say the monsters must make a suicidal charge against the villagers’ walls, then that is what they will do.”

  “Yes, my Maker,” Erebus replied, lowering his head to show deference to his leader. “But … if there were a way to fire over their walls from high in the air, it would help. Their walls and defenses….”

  “Be silent!” Herobrine snapped.

  An idea suddenly materialized in his evil mind.

  Glancing up at the sky, he noticed pristine white ghasts playing innocently amongst the rectangular clouds, their cube-like bodies and long tentacles drifting with the misty shapes as if the floating giants had no cares.

  Turning, Herobrine stared at the lone blaze who had survived the last battle. The creature of smoke and flame was floating above the lava flow that spilled down one of the Dragon’s Teeth, its glowing blaze rods spinning quickly around its central, life-giving flame. Slowly, the blaze lowered itself into the molten stone and drank in the heat, rejuvenating its HP (health points).

  “You, blaze: follow me,” Herobrine ordered.

  The creature turned its orange, glowing head, its two ink-black eyes staring back at Herobrine, terrified.

  Before it could answer, Herobrine teleported to the tallest of the Dragon’s Teeth. The sheer mountain had patches of snow covering the few horizontal surfaces that made up its sloping surfaces. At the top, the dark shadow-crafter was up so high that he was above the clouds, and could look down upon the ghasts as they played amongst themselves like innocent children. One of the huge, boxy creatures drifted nearby. With lightning speed, Herobrine reached out and grabbed one of its tentacles, then drew it near. The creature didn’t squirm or struggle or try to get away. It lacked the ability to even consider a negative or violent thought; they were completely innocent in both mind and deed. So the ghast allowed itself to be drawn to the rocky peak.

  Pulling his iron sword from his inventory, Herobrine stuck the white monster. The floating beast looked down at his attacker with a confused expression on its square, baby-like face. He hit the ghast again. This time, it gave off a cat-like cry as the creature’s eyes darted to the left and right, confused and scared. With one last hit, the creature slowly fell, its HP no longer able to hold it aloft.

  Pulling the slowly deflating gasbag toward him, Herobrine settled it on the surface of the jagged peak. He positioned the wounded ghast carefully on the peak so it would fall. As he adjusted the terrified creature, a mechanical wheezing sound began to fill the air, the acrid smell of ash and soot floating toward him on the constant east-to-west breeze. The blaze had finally made it to the top of the Dragon’s Tooth. Herobrine gestured for it to come closer, and the blaze drifted so it was directly over the suffering ghast.

  The virus’s sword was a blur as it flashed across the blaze’s body, rending the HP from the internal flame. The Maker hit it again and again, bringing the fiery creature to the brink of death. It, too, eventually collapsed onto the rocky spire, atop the ghast.

  Reaching out with his viral crafting abilities, Herobrine drew the code-modifying powers into his body. A pale-yellow glow slowly covered his hands, then grew brighter as it spread up his arms like an insipid disease. Kneeling at the side of the two creatures, Herobrine drew the two beings together and began to sculpt, his powers modifying the computer code that defined their shapes. Pushing one into the other, the monsters started to merge. The blaze disappeared as the larger body of the ghast began to inflate with a fiery core. Concentrating on his hatred for the villagers, Herobrine filled the new creature with a sense of loathing for everything good and honest and kind. He made his new creation a thing overflowing with violence and malice. It would be one of his most magnificent creations, just like the rest of his monster kings and queens, for the great Herobrine could do no less. And with these thoughts, his arrogant confidence filled the few empty spaces left within the monster.

  Finally, with the ghast fully inflated, he was finished.

  “Arise, my child,” Herobrine said, his eyes glowing bright with evil delight. “Arise and take your place as the king of the ghasts. I name you Malacoda, and you will now be my instrument of destruction.”

  The ghast rose into the air and looked down at Herobrine, his eyes blood-red and glowing with anger and rage for the NPCs of the Overworld.

  “Where are my minions?” Malacoda asked.

  His voice sounded almost baby-like, with a hint of feline to it. Herobrine smiled. It made the creature seem even more terrifying.

  “You’re right. You have no troops … yet.”

  Closing his eyes, the Maker reached out into the fabric of Minecraft. Drawing on the lines of code that made up Malacoda, he projected them to the other ghasts nearby and focused his mind’s eye on his targets. Suddenly, there was a clap of thunder as bolts of pale-yellow lightning sprung from Herobrine’s fingertips. The shafts of light struck the nearby monsters, blasting them with the Maker’s code-altering viral poison. Instantly, the ghasts cried out in pain and fear as confused expressions filled their innocent faces. But after the lightning strike, they no longer looked so innocent. There was something sinister about the creatures now, even though their pristine white bodies and baby-like faces remained the same.

  “Come forth and meet your ruler,” Herobrine shouted, his voice booming through the sky.

  They drew near, each one looking at the ground, searching for a target to attack. Slowly, the white cubes floated over to Herobrine and Malacoda and bowed, showing respect for their king, as well as their Maker.

  Herobrine surveyed his new monsters. There were thirteen of them, counting Malacoda. It was not many, but it was a start.

  “I have infused each of you with the powers of the blazes,” Herobrine explained as he sat down on a
snow-covered block of gravel. Making the ghasts had taken a lot out of him. He worried how he was going to make a vast army of the creatures without depleting his own XP (experience points). “All of you now have a new ability.” He turned to face the king of the ghasts. “Malacoda, do you see that cow down there on the ground?”

  The big ghast turned his glowing red eyes to the ground, then nodded.

  “Go down there and destroy it,” Herobrine commanded.

  The ghast looked confused, but floated toward the innocent cow anyway. As he neared, Herobrine called out.

  “Think of that cow as a villager, your enemy,” the Maker shouted. “Destroy the villager.”

  A ball of fire began to grow amidst the creature’s tentacles, casting a warm, orange glow on its writhing appendages. The ball grew bigger and bigger.

  “NOW … ATTACK!” Herobrine screamed.

  Malacoda somehow sucked the flaming sphere up into its body, then spit the ball of death at the unsuspecting bovine. It smashed into the black-and-white animal, the flames enveloping the creature and burning away its HP until it disappeared with a pop.

  “Ha ha!” Herobrine laughed. “This is your new ability. You will attack the villagers from the air, and their walls will be unable to protect them. As your numbers grow, we will soon be rid of the disease that infects these servers … the villagers!”

  Erebus began to chuckle as the spider queen clicked her mandibles together, her eyes glowing bright.

  “We will rule the land and rule the air!” Herobrine screamed from atop the Dragon’s Tooth. “Nothing will stop us, not even that cowardly blacksmith, Smithy.”

  Herobrine’s eyes flared bright with evil thoughts as he imagined what he was going to do to his enemy, Smithy of the Two-swords.

  CHAPTER 2

  RETURNING HOME

  The army trudged across the rolling sand dunes in the Great Northern Desert. To their left, a line of tall mountains stretched out both ahead and behind them as far as the eye could see. Gameknight999 knew they had travelled a long way from the desert village they’d left behind.