The Complete Elementia Chronicles: Quest for Justice; The New Order; The Dusk of Hope; Herobrine’s Message. Sean Wolfe Fay
struck them together. Sparks flew out upon collision and then fell into the obsidian base. The sparks flew into the air, beginning to glow purple. When they reached the centre of the portal, they grew until the entire inside of the portal was glowing purple. The portal to the Nether was open.
Charlie jumped into the purple glow and disappeared, purple sparks flying through the portal. Stan threw aside all hesitancy he had about entering the new dimension, and he dived through the purple barrier. He suddenly felt like he was buried in the sand above Avery’s base once again, being squeezed from all sides. The very unpleasant sensation lasted for about three seconds, and then Stan tumbled out onto a surface that felt like dirt that was crusted over. He refilled his squeezed-empty lungs with warm, dry air.
On the other side of the portal, Geno was dragging the body of Becca out of the lava. He pulled out two illegally brewed potions from his inventory and poured them into her mouth. The flames that were burning her armour and skin immediately subsided, and she gave a weak cough. Relieved, he quickly whipped around and poured a third potion into the open mouth of Leonidas. There was a faint click, and Leonidas’s head spun around and back into place.
Geno looked up and through the portal. On the other side, he could see that all three players were punching the bottom block of the obsidian portal. Realizing what they were about to do, Geno desperately sprinted towards the portal, trying to dive through before it closed. Just as he was about to fly through, there was a crack, and the bottom obsidian block of the black frame ceased to exist. There was a flash of purple light, and the entrance to the Nether disappeared.
Geno skidded to a stop right before his momentum could carry him through the empty obsidian frame and into the lava sea. He cursed in anger, and he looked back at his companions. Leonidas was sitting up and caressing his neck. Geno knew that he would be all right. Becca, on the other hand, was still lying on the ground, her breathing shallow. Geno was worried about her, but he was sure that there would be at least one medic in the legion of the King’s army awaiting RAT1’s command in the jungle.
It was all for the best, decided Geno, as Leonidas slowly got back to his feet. Geno was confident that under his command, RAT1’s battalion of troops would ensure that Stan and his friends, now stranded in the Nether, would not make it back to the Overworld alive.
Stan’s knuckles ached from helping Charlie punch through raw obsidian. He wasn’t worried, though. His entire brain was processing two simultaneous emotions. He was breathing hard, amazed and relieved that they had managed to escape those thugs back in the Overworld.
He was also amazed and in shock as he stared at Kat, who was still glowing red from the molten lava. But now, as Stan took a closer look, he could see that the glow wasn’t coming from the residual heat of the lava. Kat seemed to have a red aura surrounding her body. She was sitting on the ground next to Charlie, panting, but other than being winded, she looked completely unharmed.
“So tell me, Kat,” panted Stan, talking for the first time since entering the Nether. “How exactly did you manage to survive swimming in lava?”
Kat looked up at him. She lifted up an empty bottle. “Potion of Fire Resistance,” she huffed, tossing the bottle to the side. “And a healing potion to get rid of the damage from the burns.” She tossed a second bottle to the side. It shattered next to the first one on the red-and-black speckled rocks. The sight of these odd blocks prompted Stan to look around the area.
Beyond the eleven remaining black obsidian blocks of the broken portal, Stan could see the walls of a cave, which they had spawned inside of. The entire cave was made of the black-and-red speckled rocks. Stan guessed that this was a fairly widespread block in the new dimension. The cave was wide open, and he could see that one end was illuminated. The air was arid and very warm. Stan imagined that water was nonexistent here.
Charlie glanced at the broken portal. The obsidian block that they had had to punch out had cracked into three pieces. There was no way to repair the portal with the remaining chunks of the black rock. “We’re gonna have to find some new obsidian if we’re going to fix the portal,” he said with a sigh, chucking the useless obsidian chunks to the side. “Well, let’s not even try to fix it just yet. Whoever that was who just attacked us, I bet that they’re with the King,” said Stan. “And I’ll bet that it’s just a matter of time before they make their way into this dimension and hunt us down. We’ve got to find these Blaze Rods as quick as we can, and even when we do figure out how to fix the portal, we shouldn’t do it until the last possible minute so they can’t follow us.”
Kat and Charlie nodded, and Stan suggested that they make their way out of the cave. They picked up their items and left the broken portal behind them. They walked to the mouth of the cave, and three jaws simultaneously dropped at what they saw.
The entire world seemed to be a colossal cave, made almost entirely of the red-and-black speckled rocks. Flooding the bottom of the cave was a sea of lava that made the one they had just left in the Overworld seem miniscule. A few small, dark red islands dotted the face of the lava. Hanging from the ceiling, which ranged greatly in height, were stalactites made of a glowing type of crystal as well as several giant lava falls that flowed viscously from holes in the ceiling and into the molten basin. It was beautiful in a fiery way, but it was also terrifying. All three players were simultaneously imagining the unknown perils of exploring the scorching land.
The players’ first view of the Nether was soon obscured, however. After about ten seconds of surveying the landscape, a giant white form rose in front of them. Stan stepped back in awe. The giant creature appeared to be a white, levitating jellyfish. Its body was a cube, and there was a mess of tentacles hanging from underneath it. Its eyes were shut, as was its mouth. Stan was amazed. It was by far the largest mob he had ever seen in Minecraft.
Suddenly, the monster’s eyes and mouth opened, and it gave out a scream. It was a high-pitched, baby-like screech, even shriller than that of the Enderman, which seemed odd in contrast to the blazing fireball that came shooting from its mouth.
“Get down!” Kat screamed, dropping to the ground.
Not needing to be told twice, Charlie and Stan followed suit. Stan’s eyes followed the path of the fireball until it hit the back wall of the cave, at which point it exploded. This explosion was different than a TNT or Creeper explosion. The blast of a Creeper was stronger than this blast, although it emitted a shockwave of heat that scorched Stan’s eyebrows from a distance. The remaining blocks that weren’t destroyed were set alight and began to burn brightly.
Another fireball came flying, and the players rolled to the side just in time to avoid impact, while the section of the ground they had been standing on was blown apart. Stan looked at the hole that had been blasted in the ground and saw that they had been standing on a ledge. One wrong step and they would fall down into the lava sea below.
Stan whipped out his bow and arrows and tried to snipe the next fireball out of the air. He missed. The arrow instead hit the flying monster in the forehead. Its eyes flew open, and the monster gave an animal bellow of pain. The mob levitated upwards and spit three more fireballs that hit the roof of the cave. The entire top of the cave exploded, leaving the three players exposed to an absolute rain of fireballs from the evil mob.
“We’ve got to split up!” cried Charlie as he tumbled sideways to dodge another fireball. “It can’t shoot at all of us at once!”
“But there’s nowhere to split up to!” yelled Kat desperately, and she was right. They were backed up to a cliff, and the ledge had been completely blown apart by fireballs except for the part where the three players were standing. The giant jellyfish opened its mouth, and the fireball that was sure to drop them all into the burning sea below flew out, right on a collision course with the players. Stan held his shovel in front of his face and prepared himself for an explosive death.
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