The Quest: The Snow Labyrinth, Book 7: A Place of Legend

by Mark Mulle

  The first thing he saw was his house. In fact, everything was exactly the same as it was in the other world. He stared at his house in surprise.

  “Do you think that is your real house?” Elena asked, “Got sucked through the portal or something?”

  “Guess we should go see.”

  They swam to the edge of the pond and Steve helped Elena get out of the water. She was still breathing heavily and he didn’t want to rush her. She sat on the ground for a few seconds to try to catch her breath.

  “Well, your theory was right,” Steve said, “Good call on that one. I never would have figured it out. Would have spent ages trying to figure out what was going on with all that gibberish.”

  “I wouldn’t have gotten through without your help so thanks again.”

  Steve held out his hand to Elena who grabbed it and got to her feet, “You okay?” He asked her.

  “All set. I’m ready.”

  “I don’t know what we are going to find in that house so be ready.” Steve warned.

  “Hopefully not more red creepers.” Elena replied.

  “Hopefully something not worse than those creepers.”

  Together, they walked towards Steve’s house. It looked identical to the one that had gone missing. Had it really been yanked through the portal? How was such a thing even possible?

  They approached the front door and Steve opened it slowly. It creaked just like the house back at home. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. Monsters, maybe. Maybe even a clone of himself.

  Instead, the entire inside of his home was littered in diamonds. The floor, the walls and all the surfaces were covered in them.

  Behind him, Elena said, “Wow. Did you always have all these diamonds?”

  “No. No, this is new.” Steve replied, walking into the middle of the room.

  Elena picked one of them up, “They look just like the ones that were in that village I woke up in. What do you think is the connection?”

  “I don’t know. All of this makes no sense. I don’t understand any of it.”

  “Well, don’t ask me. I think I figured out the mirror thing but that’s about it.”

  “So, we went through the pond and ended up here. That has to mean we really did cross over into some other version of Minecraft. But how do we get to the Snow Labyrinth from here?” Steve wondered aloud.

  “Maybe it has something to do with the diamonds? They were at the village. You said the village wasn’t there before. Now your home has them. Maybe whatever is pulled though the portal has diamonds thrown over it.”

  Steve picked up one of the diamonds and stared at it, “Interesting theory. Maybe that’s true. Wait…”

  He began to go through his inventory. Elena watched him in confusion. After a few seconds, he finally equipped a diamond.

  “Look what was in my inventory. A diamond.”

  “Are you sure it isn’t from the village or this house?”

  “It came into my inventory when we crossed through the portal. I bet it did for you too.”

  “I’ll look.” Elena replied and began to go through her own inventory.

  As she looked, Steve stared at the diamond in his hand. There was nothing new about it. It was just a regular old diamond. He turned around to look at Elena who also was now holding a diamond.

  “I had one too.”

  “Diamonds show objects that have traveled in between worlds. We can use this information…somehow.”

  “Well, let’s keep looking around,” Elena said, “We might find out something.”

  They split up. Steve had kept adding wings to his home after it had burnt down. It was large again and there were a lot of rooms to cover. Everything was coated in diamonds. They were embedded in the walls and in the floor.

  Yet nothing jumped out at them. There was nothing to explain how this had happened or how he could get his house back to the world it belonged. After exploring for thirty minutes, they met in the middle.

  “Well, what do you think?” Elena asked him.

  “No idea. I just –”

  Steve didn’t get to finish because all of a sudden the house lurched forward. The floor shook underneath his foot and cracked in half. Elena was thrown forward and she grabbed onto a bookshelf that was starting to tilt.

  Steve turned around, trying to stay up right. The windows that had just been showing a field were showing something completely different now.

  The house was sliding down a mountain!

  He couldn’t believe his eyes but he didn’t have any time to stare. The house was breaking apart as it slid down the snow covered mountain. They were going to be sent flying off the cliff if they didn’t do something – fast.

  “Uh, Steve? What is going on?!” Elena shouted as the house shuddered and suddenly cracked loudly in half.

  Steve was thrown forward. He reached out blindly and grabbed onto a piece of flooring. Around him, his house was falling apart. Wood was flying over his head. Elena had climbed onto the back of the bookshelf and was riding it down the mountain as if it was a sleigh.

  Steve was being dragged along the snow covered mountain clinging to a piece of flooring. In front of him, his house had fallen apart and was bumbling down along with them towards the cliff edge.

  “Steve!” Elena was crying, “Give me your hand!”

  He tried to turn around and got a face full of snow. Elena was trying to reach out for him as she took the bookshelf towards the cliff’s edge. He stuck his hand out and she grabbed onto him, hauling him onto the back of the bookshelf.

  “We need to think of something and fast!” Elena shouted in Steve’s ear.

  “Couldn’t agree more!” He cried back, trying to figure out what to do.

  Time was running out. He could see the first bits of his house go over the side of the cliff. He was fumbling through his inventory, equipping a pickaxe quickly. Behind him, Elena was gripping the bookshelf.

  “Hold onto me!” Steve shouted to her.

  She clung to his back. With all the force he could muster, he swung his pickaxe into the tough surface of the mountain. The bookshelf smashed on a rock that was jutting out of the side, causing them to fall off of it.

  Elena grabbed on Steve’s waist as the pickaxe stuck into the stone. He slammed against the side of the mountain, clinging to it. This axe was the only thing he had keeping the two of them on the mountain.

  Around them, what remained of Steve’s house was raining down around them. Elena was holding onto him but the extra weight was putting a strain on the pickaxe. All around Steve, the wood that had once made up the frame of his house toppled around them before falling off the cliff.

  Finally, the house was gone. Steve raised his head and looked around. He was holding onto the pickaxe firmly and was glad that it was a diamond pickaxe. He was sure if he had brought anything else, it would have broken from the sheer force of what the two of them were trying to do.

  “Uh, Steve?” Elena said as she held onto him, “This isn’t very good.”

  “No,” Steve replied, “This is very bad.”

  Chapter Nine

  “Can’t you use some sort of Minecraft magic and get us out of here?” Elena shouted in Steve’s ear.

  “Minecraft magic?” He repeated, “That isn’t – that’s not a thing!”

  “How is that not a thing? You totally gave me extra air earlier!”

  “That was me fiddling with the game! It wasn’t magic!” He shouted back at her.

  Suddenly, the pickaxe gave way a little and slid down the mountain. Elena screamed and Steve jammed the pickaxe into the rock further. They came to a stop although Steve’s heart was racing.

  “Well, connect to the game again! Whatever you do – do it now!”

  “I can only do major things like that with Herobrine!” Steve protested.

  Elena’s fingers dug into his stomach as she gripped him fearfully, “Well, time to grow up and try it on your own, Steve!”

  She was right. This
mirrored world had suddenly changed and put them on this mountain. If he didn’t figure out how to control this world, then at any moment they could be thrown into an ocean full of sharks or be trapped somewhere until the world decided to shift again.

  He closed his eyes and tried to block out the fact that they were on the side of a mountain. He tried to forget that his entire house that he had rebuilt was now ruined (again). He even blocked out Elena clinging to him fearfully.

  Instead, Steve pictured a beach. It was the first thing that had popped into his head. He imagined the lines of code creating the beach and the loading screen of Minecraft as it created the beach. He could see the squids swimming around in the water. He could even hear the sound the sand made underneath his feet.

  All of a sudden, Steve was falling. Elena screamed so loudly that he winced. His stomach swooped and he thought to himself that he had failed –

  But then he hit against something hard. The wind was knocked out of him and he rolled onto his back. Next to him, Elena was spluttering.

  “Ugh, my mouth is full of sand!” She remarked, rubbing her mouth.

  Steve sat up and looked around. They were on a beach! The sun was high in the sky and the water was lapping at his feet. The sand was warm to the touch. He had done it!

  “It worked!” He exclaimed.

  “Of course it did,” Elena replied, “You’re way more powerful than you give yourself credit for.”

  “Are you hurt or anything?”

  “No. Just terrified. What was that? How did that happen?”

  Steve shrugged, “No idea. This world is really unstable. It’s going to be full of glitches and all sorts of stuff. We have to be prepared for anything to happen, I guess.”

  “Like us suddenly in the middle of a water temple without any air source or something?”

  “Yeah, exactly.”

  “What do you think happens if we run out of lives in this world? I doubt we just respawn.”

  “Something bad, probably. I don’t want to find out.” Steve got to his feet and brushed the sand off of him.

  Elena got up as well, “So, what now?”

  “We have to find a way to the Snow Labyrinth. I wonder if I can just sort of teleport us there.”

  “Try it out. Would make things a lot easier.”

  “Which probably means it won’t work.” Steve replied but decided to try anyway.

  He closed his eyes and tried to picture the Snow Labyrinth. This was harder than picturing a beach. All he had was a quick flash of what Herobrine had showed him the other day.

  After a few minutes of focusing, Elena spoke up, “I don’t think it’s going to work.”

  Steve opened his eyes, “I don’t think so either. I can’t picture it well enough. A beach was easy enough to imagine. This is harder.”

  “Well, we know it’s on a mountain, right? Maybe we can figure out how to get close to mountains.”

  “We figured out how to get this far. There just has to be something we are missing. Some sort of key. I’m going to reach out to Herobrine again. If he isn’t blocked, then maybe he can show me something to help me out.”

  He turned to face the water and closed his eyes again. This time, he stretched out his mind to try to feel Herobrine somewhere in the Minecraft game. Steve could feel a connection very faintly. It was like a candle flickering in the darkness.

  “Come on.” Steve mumbled.

  His voice seemed to spark something because there was a sudden flash of bright light. It filled up his mind and he saw a long winding stone bridge. It was in the middle of the ocean and stretching out as far as Steve could see. The waves were rough and it was pouring rain. Lighting was filling the sky.

  Then the image was gone. Steve opened his eyes and blinked. Elena was hovering behind him.

  “I saw something. A bridge or something. Didn’t look safe.”

  “Can you get us there? Change the game or use Minecraft magic or whatever.”

  “I can try. No promises though. But hopefully I saw enough of it that it will work to take us there. Ready?”

  Elena nodded and stood close to him. Steve closed his eyes again and pictured the stone bridge. It had been stretching out across the ocean, an endless bridge on stormy seas. Did it connect to the Snow Labyrinth? It had to or why else would Herobrine had shown him it?

  All of a sudden, Steve felt cold water slap against his face. He opened his eyes in surprise and saw that they were standing in front of the ocean. The stone bridge rose in front of them. There was a storm rolling through. It was fierce and loud. The waves were slamming against the beach and almost caused him to lose his footing.

  Elena reached out and grabbed him. Together, they stepped away from the shoreline. The rain was coming down in sheets and hit Steve’s skin so hard it stung a little. There was a vicious wind roaring around them.

  “Guess we get to cross this wonderful bridge?” Elena shouted at him.

  He looked up the stairs that led to the start of the bridge and nodded. This was definitely nothing he was looking forward to.

  Together, they headed towards the stone bridge.

  Chapter Ten

  The bridge seemed to stretch on forever. The wind that slammed into them made progress incredibly slow. Half the time, the two of them had to close their eyes because the wind was making their eyes water. There was no end to the bridge in sight. There was no way for Steve to even know where they were going to end up. He had been going completely off of what Herobrine had shown him.

  After walking for a good chunk of time, Steve could make out something nearby. Through the rain, he could see some sort of small roof. It looked like a resting spot on the bridge. With renewed energy, he grabbed Elena’s arm and together they dragged each other towards the roof.

  They finally got to the roof. Here the railing of the bridge was higher, offering more protection from the rain and wind. Elena slumped against the railing and sat down, out of breath. There was nothing else here. It looked as if it was simply a place to rest.

  “This isn’t that fun.” She finally said to Steve.

  “No. Not my idea of fun either.” Steve said, trying to wipe all the water off his face.

  “You think this leads to Herobrine? What if someone else sent you an image of this place and we are going to a trap?”

  “We’ll worry about that if it happens. This is our only lead.”

  Elena nodded and opened her mouth to reply – and stopped. Instead, her face paled and she pointed out towards the other side of the bridge. Steve turned around to see where she was pointing and his breath caught.

  Something was coming out of the storm. He couldn’t see what it was yet. It seemed familiar yet…something was wrong at the same time. He brought out his sword. Behind him, he heard Elena equip her weapon as well.

  The shape was coming towards them. It was lurching forward. Steve heard a wailing noise over the wind. He gripped his sword tightly and brought his shield up.

  “That’s a ghast.” Elena exclaimed behind him.

  Steve blinked and stared at the creature coming towards them, “No. It’s two ghasts stuck together.”

  He could hardly believe the words coming out of his mouth but it was true. Out of the rain came two ghasts stuck side by side. Because of this, they were floating oddly, looking as if they were lurching forward.

  Steve was looking for somewhere to hide but the ghasts weren’t interested in waiting until he found a spot. One of them raised one of their strange tentacles and fired.

  Yet instead of fire, like the regular ghasts, it was pure lighting. The lighting cut through the air. Steve raised up his shield and the lighting ball slammed into it. He went flying back, rolling out from under the roof and back into the storm.

  He groaned and sat up, looking up. Elena had run forward with her puny iron sword and was trying to swipe at the mangled looking ghast. Steve looked through his inventory quickly before finding an extra diamond sword.

  “Catch!
” He shouted at her, hoping she could hear his words over the wind.

  She did. As the ghast raised its tentacle to fire a lighting ball, she rolled forward. The ball hit the ground instead. Smoke drifted up from where it had hit the stone. Elena grabbed the diamond sword and swung it.

  It connected with the ghast. It wailed in surprise and floated away from her. Steve was running towards it with his shield raised. He slammed into the ghast and together they rolled out onto the other side of the bridge.

  Elena was hot on his heels, bringing the sword down on the ghast. The mutated looking ghast let out a wail. Steve swung his own sword and the ghast turned to ash in front of them.

  Elena stumbled away from the ghast, back under the roof, “What was that thing? Why are all the creatures in this world so weird? It’s creepy.”

  “Really creepy. I’ve never seen something like that before.”

  “Me either. And it was shooting lighting. Do you think there are more of them?”

  “Probably. We should be ready for anything though. Come on.”

  They left the coverage of the roof and went back out across the bridge. For a long time, nothing happened. They focused on walking as quickly as they could while still being safe.

  At one point, Elena grabbed Steve’s arm and pointed, “What’s that?”

  He squinted, “A mountain, maybe? We must be getting near the end.”

  “That’s good. I never want to walk on this horrible bridge again. I’m probably catching a cold. Can this transfer to my real life?” She said and sneezed.

  “Come on.”

  They picked up their speed. Both of them were anxious to get off this terrible bridge. Above them, the sky was almost pitch black. The storm hadn’t stopped or slowed down at all. Steve was starting to think that it always rained like this on the bridge.

  He was about to say as much to Elena when a dark shape near the clouds made him stop. He yanked Elena back and she turned to look at him.

  “What?”

  “Thought I saw something.”

  She turned around and looked up to the sky. But it looked normal. The dark shape was gone.

  “Maybe you’re imagining things? This place is spooky.”

  “Yeah, maybe. Either way, be careful.”

  “It wasn’t as if I was running around or something.” Elena replied.

  They set off at a brisk pace again. By now, Steve could tell there was a mountain at the end of the bridge. It had to be the mountain where the Snow Labyrinth was – and hopefully Herobrine.