The Complete Elementia Chronicles: Quest for Justice; The New Order; The Dusk of Hope; Herobrine’s Message. Sean Wolfe Fay
so knows who I am!”
“Sir, I’m only level nine,” said Stan as he realized at the same time that he had, to his horror, been stripped of his armour and weapon. Good thing Charlie had the clock and compass, he thought. “I’ve only been playing Minecraft for a little over a week now.”
“What? Really? But you’re so good with that axe, I’d have thought that you’d seen a good few fights,” replied the old player, who seemed genuinely impressed.
“Wait, are you saying that you don’t know who I am?” asked Stan. He’d have thought that the King would have put his face on wanted posters all over the kingdom by now.
“Should I?” the old player asked.
The words “I’m the one who tried to assassinate the King!” fell out of Stan’s mouth, but an instant later he regretted it. What if the old player was actually in cahoots with the King? He might have just earned himself a slow death by arrows! But instead of pressing the button, the old player looked at Stan, his eyes widening in awe.
“You? You’re the one who tried to kill the King? At level nine? Good lord, son, you’re either very brave, very stupid, or a liar. OK, you can come out of there for now, but don’t expect your axe back until I’m one hundred per cent sure that you’re not one of King Kev’s cronies.”
Stan stepped apprehensively out of range of the machines, and, at the old player’s gesture, followed him out of the cobblestone room. He noticed his axe hanging at the old player’s side, right next to an iron sword and a bow. He gulped, not sure what he was going to find in the next room.
What he did find was unlike anything he had ever seen before. There were rows of wooden plank tables, all of which were covered by stands that held bottles, which themselves held bubbling liquids of various colours. Chests lined the wall. In one corner of the room was a black table covered in a red velvet tablecloth embedded with diamonds, a book levitating over it. Around this table were shelves that held books of all sizes and colours. In another corner was a bed, next to which sat a furnace, a crafting table and two chairs. The old player sat in one of these, and he gestured for Stan to take the other. A quick look out of the glass pane windows revealed that it was late afternoon and that they were still in the jungle.
“I’m sorry that I had to knock you out earlier. You see, ever since King Kev banished me from Element City a year ago, I’ve had to be very wary about who enters and who leaves this jungle. He’s sent his men in on me multiple times, whether they be hired Griefers to give me a hard time or spies to try and figure out what I am up to. But I am sure that none of them would even joke about trying to assassinate their master.
“So, I will introduce myself. My name is Apothecary1.” He extended his hand, which Stan shook.
“My name is Stan2012, but you can call me Stan. I have a quick question, though. Are King Kev and the King of Elementia the same player?”
The Apothecary laughed. “Ho, ho, I had forgotten how little you know! Yes, they are the same. The same ruthless, tyrannical fiend. You do agree with me, don’t you?” he asked quickly.
“Are you kidding?” said Stan angrily. “He killed three friends of mine for no good reason, and I’ve tried to kill him! I don’t think he and I are going to be friends anytime soon.”
“Ah yes, you claimed to have made an attempt on the King’s life. I’m not positive that I believe that story, but I do want to believe it. He’s killed a good number of my friends, too, and banished a few more.”
It was at that point that Stan suddenly remembered. “My friends! They’ll be expecting me back!”
“What?” the Apothecary asked.
“My friends, Charlie and Kat. It’s almost night-time. They’ll be expecting me back soon. We’re making a base back by that lake you found me at.”
Instantly the Apothecary became suspicious. “What do you mean? You brought others with you? How many?”
“Just the two,” replied Stan. “I have to go back to them.”
“And how do I know that you’re not part of the King’s army since there are more of you, Stan? If that’s even your real name? How do I know they aren’t watching this house right now?” The Apothecary was on his feet, his hand going to the iron sword at his side.
Stan decided to take a huge gamble. If it failed, he would be killed. If it succeeded, he would convince the old player that they were on the same side. “Because we’re planning to overthrow King Kev.”
The old player stared at him. Stan knew, based on what he had said, that even speaking about overthrowing the King was highly treacherous. The Apothecary had a different look growing in his eyes. It was respect.
“Are you serious, my young friend?” asked the Apothecary.
“One hundred per cent,” replied Stan. “If you’d like, I’ll explain to you everything that’s happened to me so far in this game, and how we plan to go about overthrowing him. My only condition is that I go and find my friends.”
The Apothecary agreed, and he gave Stan his axe back. He also gave Stan a compass to find his way back to the lake. When he got there, he found a hole in the ground with light coming out of it and some pumpkins scattered around it. Upon examining the hole, Stan found that there was a ladder going down the side of it. Stan climbed down the ladder and at the bottom found an underground room.
There was a dirt roof, a stone floor, and walls made of a combination of the two. In the corner sat a furnace, a chest, and a crafting table. Two beds sat against the wall, while Charlie stood at the crafting table making a third one. On the nearest bed sat Kat, who had a stone shovel in her hand and looked exhausted. Lemon and Rex sat on the bed beside her. They all looked up when Stan entered.
“Hey, man, please tell me you brought in a lot of wood, because we need tools real bad,” said Charlie.
“Guys, the most amazing thing happened!” He told them about his exchange with the Apothecary. Kat and Charlie listened to his story with steadily widening eyes. When he was finished, there was a moment of silence before Charlie spoke.
“So, you didn’t bring back any wood?”
“And more important,” said Kat, her voice rising quickly, “you told our plans to a total stranger?”
“Weren’t you listening?” said Stan, exasperated. “He wasn’t a total stranger. He’s an experienced player who’s been on this server a long time, and he hates the King! He’s got knowledge of the server. If we’re going to overthrow the King, we’ve got to start somewhere. Why not with the Apothecary?”
“Is that his name, the Apothecary?” asked Charlie, standing up. “Doesn’t that mean, like, a pharmacist, or a healer?”
“That’s right,” said Stan. “Maybe he knows about healing. Does anybody else know any potential medics that could help us in a battle with the King? I mean, if he does know medicine, then maybe he could train other medics!”
“Maybe you’re right!” said Charlie, nodding fervently.
“Are you even listening to yourselves?” yelled Kat. “Stan, you gave this man classified information after he shot and gassed you! And now you—”
“Hey, that knockout gas worked instantly! Do you know how to make knockout gas, Kat?”
That stopped her. She closed her eyes for a second. Then, slowly, a smile spread across her face as she imagined the effect that a cloud of knockout gas could have on a group of enemies. She opened her eyes again.
“OK, let’s go meet him. But let’s make some new weapons, so if he betrays us and steals our stuff, we’ll have backups here.” Stan rolled his eyes, but Charlie nodded in agreement.
Charlie hadn’t found any iron ore during his mining expedition, just a bit of coal and almost