by Mark Mulle
Chapter Six
"As I said, not much is known of his life before he came to the capital. What we do know is that his family was full of powerful mages and enchanters. The rumor was Herobrine was born in the Nether. No one knows if he being born in the Nether is in fact true or not but in any case, Herobrine arrived in the capital shortly before the outbreak of the King Rebellions. Now, I don't know how much you know of the King Rebellions but there was a chance that things could have gone peacefully. The king at the time, King Robert III, was in talks with important leaders in the battle to break up the fighting and it end as peacefully as he could. There still would be no more kings but a different type of leadership set up."
"I'm guessing Herobrine messed that up." Sarah spoke up.
Mayor Rebecca nodded, "Herobrine managed to come into the capital and use his magic to get close to the King. The King, taking his advice seriously, was debating going to war over the rebellion instead of opting for peace. Herobrine seemed to always be at the King's side. No one knew how he had even made it in the castle and gotten so close to the thing. When the peace talks came, the King declared that he would not be agreeing to their terms. That was the official start of the war."
"How come we never heard about Herobrine until now?" Steve asked.
"Because the evidence for Herobrine is almost non-existent. The kingdom couldn't prove that Herobrine had poisoned the King's mind against any other ideas besides war. The King began to spend more and more time with Herobrine. His behavior became odder and odder and Herobrine seemed to grow stronger and stronger. It was eventually discovered that Herobrine could control the King. He could slip into him and possess him with his otherworldly powers. When this was discovered and told to the King, he had finally had enough. He wanted to take Herobrine down."
Steve leaned forward, "How did he stop Herobrine from taking him over?"
"The King lured him out of the castle to an empty field nearby. He confronted him and then the two fought. He managed to slay Herobrine but his spirit rose, even stronger than his physical self. The King locked him inside the Nether where he has been ever since."
"Or so you guys thought." Sarah mumbled.
"This carnival claimed to have caught him. Did they know about the legend then?"
"They must have. It isn't hidden but mentioned in only a few books. It is possible they went to find him and now he is free," She glanced at Steve, "How do you know it is truly him?"
"He spoke to me...he said that I looked like him but didn't tell me who. He protected me from one of his own monsters. But the closer I got to here, the angrier he seemed to get."
"Because he knew you'd find out the truth about him. Herobrine was probably hoping to keep you in the dark." Mayor Rebecca said.
"And..." Steve glanced over at Sarah who was slightly shaking her head. He wasn't sure why. Wasn't she the one who had mentioned coming here to try to get help from a doctor or something about Herobrine taking him over?
"Yes?" Rebecca pressed.
Steve ignored Sarah and went on, "I have black-outs. And when I wake up, it seems Herobrine has..."
"Has Herobrine been controlling you?" Rebecca said, leaning forward.
"Yes."
She leaned back and glanced at Ser Arnold, "I see. That is...unfortunate."
"Is there a doctor or something I can see?"
"I'm afraid that is beyond the help of a doctor."
"So what then?"
Ser Arnold stepped forward, "I need the both of you to come with me."
Sarah stood up, "Why?"
Two guards came into the room suddenly, grabbing Steve's arms as Ser Arnold yanked on Sarah.
"What is this?" Steve exclaimed.
As they were being removed from the room, Rebecca said after them, "I'm sorry but you're a risk we cannot have outside these walls."
The heavy and thick doors shut behind them.
They were thrown into another room. Sarah was causing a scene the entire time they were being escorted there. As they were tossed inside, Ser Arnold bowed his head at them.
"I'm sorry about this. Your quarters are lovely though while you remain here for the time being. We'll send someone along later to see if you need anything."
The door shut and Sarah threw herself at it, "You can't just keep us locked up here!" She cried.
Silence.
Steve looked around their new prison. It was a luxurious room but that didn't win him over. They were still locked up in it. There was a bedroom off to one side and large windows overlooking a lake. Steve tried the windows but they were all locked.
"Steve, why did you tell them about Herobrine taking you over?"
He looked back at her, "What do you mean? You're the one who brought us here to-"
"That was before they basically told us they fear Herobrine and never want to see him here again! The tide completely changed once the mayor started telling us about him," She was pacing the room now, "We need to get out of here. It isn't safe for you."
"I didn't think they'd lock us up like this."
"It doesn't matter. It's done now." She backed away from a creeper head on display.
"We have to get out of here then."
"I agree. They're not going to help us."
Sarah was looking out the window, "They said Herobrine came from the Nether. Do you think we'd find out more there? What if we locked him back in the Nether?"
"That's great for later. Doesn't really help us now."
They both fell into a thoughtful silence.
It was about three hours later when there was a knock on the door, the sound of a key slipping into the lock and the door opening slowly. A girl poked her head in before shutting the door quietly behind her.
"Who are you?" Sarah snapped.
She looked startled, "Lexie."
"What are you, our jailor?"
"No, I was sent by the mayor to see if you request anything -"
"Yeah, our freedom."
Steve intervened, seeing a chance, "Sorry about my sister. We're just very tense right now," Sarah rolled her eyes but he ignored her, "We've been locked up here and no idea why or when we're going to be let go."
Lexie lowered her voice, "Sir, I heard it was because of...of Herobrine's taint on you."
"Then why keep me here? Wouldn't it be safer if someone suffering from Herobrine's curse not be in the very castle he once had power?"
Lexie's eyes widen in horror, "Oh no."
Steve pressed his advantage, "Do you know of a way out of here?"
She shook her head, "No, sir. The castle is well guarded and you trying to get out of here would only end in disaster. Your best bet would be the Portal Room."
"What's that?"
Lexie's eyes darted around, "It has a portal to the Nether and one to The End. It'd be the quickest way to get out of here."
"Can you take us there?" Sarah blurted out.
"I can't. You guys were locked up for being threats..." She trailed off.
"Lexie," Steve said, "If you don't help us get out of here, terrible things may happen and this castle would be the center of it. Bring weapons and armor too, if you can."
She looked at him for a long while and then nodded, "Fine. Fine, okay. Tonight. Midnight. The Portal Room is the last room on the left of this hallway."
Lexie went to leave but Sarah chimed up, "You have any cake you could bring by?"
Steve was pacing the room, trying to get ready for Lexie to come to the door. Sarah was sprawled across a couch, looking up at the moon rising in the sky.
"She isn't going to come," Sarah was saying, "You frightened her."
"There wasn't any other way to go about it. I had to convince her to help us otherwise we'd never get out of here."
"You really think she's going to come?"
"She has to. We'll just take the portal directly to the Nether."
"Fantastic." Sarah said sarcastically.
Midnight came and went. Sarah had fallen asleep, snoring softly. Twenty minutes later, there was a soft knock at the door and then it opened. Lexie stuck her head in and Steve walked over.
"Sorry I was late." She whispered.
"What happened?" Steve asked as Sarah got up from her nap and wandered over.
"I just had a lot of duties-" Lexie was saying.
"Steve." Sarah said, her voice rising in pitch.
"Did you bring any weapons?"
"Uhm, yeah," And she showed them a bag, a sword sticking out of it, "Come on."
"Steve!" Sarah cried out as Lexie pushed the door open and Ser Arnold was staring at them.
Ser Arnold made a grab for Steve but he ducked, yanking Sarah's arm and pulling her forward, snatching the bag of weapons and other things from Lexie.
"Sorry!" Lexie was calling to them, "I got caught! I'm sorry!"
There were 3 guards in the hallway, shouting after them. Ser Arnold shouted something back. As the two of them ran down the hall to try to get the Portal Room, Steve glanced behind him. They had released three spiders and they were coming down the hall after them.
"Spiders?" Sarah exclaimed, "They can't even do their own dirty work."
"Here!" Steve stopped suddenly and tossed her a wooden bow and arrow that Lexie had thrown in the bag.
"Oh, great. A wooden bow and arrow." Sarah groaned as she slid an arrow into it.
Steve pulled out an iron sword, "You're better at the bow and arrow than the sword."
"Whatever, let's just take the spiders down and get out of here." Sarah said in such a casual tone that Steve almost laughed.
The first spider lunged but Sarah fired her arrow. It knocked the spider back and Steve lunged forward, swinging his sword and sending it flying. The second spider was moving quickly and Sarah darted away from it, unable to fire an arrow. The last spider was coming up on Steve's rear but Sarah fired an arrow as Steve covered her from the second spider ganging up on her. Steve moved back only to have an arrow fly in front of his face, lodging into the wall behind him.
One of the soldiers had his own bow and arrow out. The diamond glittered in the torch light. Sarah finished off the second spider and Steve swung his sword, knocking back a diamond arrow. The arrow flew into the final spider, taking care of it quickly. The two of them took off down the hallway, trying to dodge the arrows that were flying.
"What are you doing?" Roared Ser Arnold, "Stop them!"
Sarah was running slower due to her bad ankle but Steve yanked her forward. The door to the Portal Room was close enough that they could make it. An arrow flew so close to Steve that it cut his cheek. He ignored it and opened the door to the Portal Room. They ran inside and shut it behind them. Steve locked it and turned around.
The portal to The End was on the right, glowing in the low light. The portal to the Nether was on the left. There was a thump of something pressing against the wall. There were decorations on the walls - diamond weapons and armor. Sarah started snatching some off the walls quickly. They heard Ser Arnold yell for Lexie to grab the keys to get into the Portal Room.
"No time, we have to leap through now." Steve said.
"This is such a disaster," Sarah mumbled, "They're just going to chase us through to the Nether."
"No, they won't."
They heard the keys fumbling in the lock and the door opening. Steve glanced back to see Ser Arnold's angry face as he ran into the room. Steve tugged on Sarah, pulling her forward and pushing her through the Nether portal. She let out a surprised gasp and was gone. Then Steve yanked the diamond pickaxe off the wall. An arrow missed him. Steve jumped into the Nether portal and as everything faded, he raised his diamond pickaxe, brought it down on the closest block next to him and cracked it open. Everything faded quickly as Steve shut the portal down. The last thing he saw before vanishing into the Nether was Ser Arnold's enraged face.