The Complete Elementia Chronicles: Quest for Justice; The New Order; The Dusk of Hope; Herobrine’s Message. Sean Wolfe Fay
by a shout from down the corridor. He turned to see what it was, and in that second he was knocked to the ground by a fireball to the back of his head. Dazed, he wondered whether or not the potion was still working, when the crimson-clad figure of Ben burst into the room, turned his sword to the side, and thrust it through the bars of the cage. There was a hissing noise, and the little Blaze inside the cage ceased to exist. Ben dodged the fireballs of the remaining Blazes, and Charlie watched in awe as he took out three of the flying creatures with one well-timed sword slash, not getting hit once. The archers shot down the rest of the Blazes a moment later, and as if on cue, the red aura around Charlie’s body that distinguished him as fire-resistant evaporated, leaving him vulnerable once more.
“Well, that was fun,” he said, grinning.
Ben pumped his fist in the air and yelled at the top of his lungs, “Ye-yah!”
The six players met back in the corridor and congratulated each other on their spectacular performances against the Blaze spawner. Stan was much more excited on the way back than he had been on the way there, seeing as they were finally going to get out of the fiery new dimension.
They reached the final turn that would lead back to the Nether Boys’ house and were about to turn the corner when they heard voices from ahead.
Ben, who was in the lead, held up his rectangular hand to stop them, and he peered around the corner. An instant later, he pulled his head back around, and he fell to the floor, eyes wide, breathing quickly.
“What is it?” Kat asked.
“What’s out there?” Charlie breathed.
Stan remained silent. He was just imagining. He had seen all kinds of terrible things throughout the two worlds of Minecraft, but only one thing could provoke such terror on the face of a fugitive.
Ben closed his eyes and grimaced, and Stan knew what he was about to say even before the words left his mouth.
“It’s the King’s forces,” said Ben gravely. “They’ve found us.”
Geno looked down at his partner sprawled out across two wool blocks on the Netherrack ground. Geno knew from experience that sleeping in a bed in the Nether was a bad idea, so he had decided that the wool blocks would have to do. Obviously, it would have been better for Becca if she could have lain down in a bed. However, King Kev had made it clear to RAT1 that they must catch the assassins at all costs. Geno had decided that the unconscious Becca would have to get her rest in the new dimension. As he thought this, Becca started to stir.
“Oh God …” she moaned, slowly sitting up as she held her stomach. “It hurts so bad.” She noticed Geno sitting there. She looked around and saw the fires burning everywhere, and she snapped into focus when she saw the armoured men patrolling with bows in hand. “Geno, what the … what is going on? Where are we?”
“We’re in the Nether,” he said. “Hold on, I’ll explain everything.” He sat down on a lone Netherrack block next to Becca.
“Well, what’s the last thing you remember?” Geno asked.
“Ah …” Becca mumbled. “Crap … well, Stan had just hit Leo with a shovel. And we were going after him … and then … then … that’s it. After that it was extremely painful for a second, and the next thing I know I’m waking up here. How long have I been out?”
“Almost a day,” Geno said. “Seriously, though, how do you remember their names? I looked at those pictures of them just as many times as you did, and I know what they look like, but I still don’t know them by name.”
“I still don’t know how you haven’t gotten that yet. Leo and I both did,” she said, condescension dripping from her voice. “But anyway, what happened?”
“Well, it turns out that the girl that flew into the lava—”
“Kat,” interrupted Becca automatically.
“Whatever,” continued Geno. “Well it turns out that she had a fire resistance potion on her, and so she went back through the lava and jumped out behind you. She stabbed you in the back and flung you into the lava. I dragged you out of the lava and healed you and Leonidas, and while I was doing that they escaped through the portal and broke it.
“After that, I set you up on the bed in your inventory, and Leo stayed to guard you while you rested up. I ran back to the jungle and led the legion of troops back here. The medics got to work fixing you and Leo up, and we fixed the portal. I sent a couple of scouts into the Nether to see where they were. When they came back, they told us that they had just entered into the Nether Fortress.
“So here we are. As far as we know, they’re still in the fortress. Thirty men are circling, ready to take them out if they try to escape. We know better than to try to find them inside that maze, so we’re trying a … different tactic.” A sly smile broke on his face at these last words.
“And …” said Becca, a wide smile spreading across her face as well. She liked where this conversation was going.
“We’re gonna blow the entire fortress off the side of the mountain,” Geno said, sounding like a child eagerly anticipating Christmas. “Right now Leo and a team of ten guys are laying TNT around the structure. When they’re done, they’re going to detonate the entire fortress, and if they’re still in there, they’re going to die, and if they try to escape, the snipers will get them.”
“Excellent!” Becca chortled. She loved watching stuff blow up, and if her stomach didn’t hurt so much she would have insisted on marching up there and helping them lay down the explosives. “When are they getting back?”
As if in response to her question, Leonidas jumped down from atop the fortress, redstone torch in hand.
“Well, that’s it,” he grunted. “Dynamite’s all over this fort. Soon as they lay the redstone down here, we’re ready to blow this thing up.”
“What took you so long?” sneered Geno. It had taken twice as long as he had anticipated for Leonidas and his team to set up the explosives. “Hurry it up or they’ll get away!”
“Hey, at least you don’t see me waitin’ around here like a useless sheep for your girlfriend to wake up!” snapped Leonidas.
“He’s got a point, Geno,” said Becca. “It was nice of you to stay here and all, but next time you should go and help lay down the explosives.”
Geno grunted and turned away from his friends. Honestly, he thought, sometimes I wonder why I don’t just kill both of them.
The figure in iron armour laid down the final redstone wiring along the ground, and he looked up at Leonidas.
“The wiring is ready, sir, and the premises have been evacuated. You may commence detonation when ready.”
Leonidas nodded, and the player backed away from the redstone wire, closely followed by Geno, who looked irate as he carried Becca over one shoulder, the latter of whom was still prattling on about how Geno needed to think things through more. Leonidas was about to touch the redstone torch to the wiring when he hesitated for a moment.
Did he really want these players dead? No, he did not. As a matter of fact, though he would be killed for admitting it, he secretly admired that they had enough defiance and courage to try to overthrow the tyrannical King. The server had been so much better before the King had become so paranoid.
Leonidas remembered an earlier time, a time of peace, a time of prosperity, when the King was fair and kind to those of all levels. Then came the darker influences on the King, mainly his advisors, Caesar and Charlemagne. They had stolen Leonidas’s peaceful life