The Complete Elementia Chronicles: Quest for Justice; The New Order; The Dusk of Hope; Herobrine’s Message. Sean Wolfe Fay
By the time the sky was pink and the sun was about to disappear under the desert skyline behind the warehouse, all of the coal miners had congregated around the wooden platform. When they were all settled down, Stan stood up and began to speak.
“People of Blackstone! My name is Stan2012. Many of you may have heard rumours that an assassin has tried to murder Elementia’s dictator, King Kev, during his last proclamation to the public. I am here to tell you that that assassin was none other than myself.”
There were a few surprised intakes of breath from the crowd, and Stan saw a few miners move their hands and firmly grab their pickaxes, unsure of what was going to happen next.
“Since that incident, I have been on the run. Many have asked me what my motivation was for trying to kill one of the most powerful men on the server.” That part was a lie, but Stan thought it sounded impressive, and it was a good line to segue into the next part of his speech. “I am here to tell you that I tried to kill the King because he is an evil tyrant who needs to be brought down!”
A few miners looked around, half-prepared to see the King’s forces ready to attack them for treason, but most of the miners were staring intently at Stan, nodding with respect on their faces.
“I am currently raising an army against King Kev and I am going to lead this army to victory by taking control of the King’s castle in Element City! I intend to kill the King, along with any high officers who refuse to surrender. The days of the present terrorist regime are numbered, and the King’s Elementia will fall. It will be replaced by an Elementia where all men are given equal opportunities, and slavery, which is so commonplace in the kingdom now, including right here in Blackstone, is nonexistent.
“Many of you are probably wondering how I have the courage to speak against the King, when the possibility is high that I may be turned over to the authorities. And the reason for that is: I do not fear the King! I accept that the King is a powerful enemy, and he has resources that will make it easier said than done to bring him to justice. However – and this is the reason that I am willing to speak so freely – I believe that we have resources, too. I say we because I am positive that there are more of you in this village who hate the King than are sympathetic to him. If we all band together, we have a realistic chance to take the King down!
“I am going to walk over to the train station now, and all those who would like to join my army and take down the King with me should follow. Anybody who remains I will fight and kill in order to prevent them from giving information of my plan to the King. However, I also expect anybody willing to join me to help me fight against those who are unwilling. This is your test, people of Blackstone. You may join me and fight those who do not join, or you may not join me and fight those who do. Those who wish to join me have sixty seconds to walk over to the station, starting now.”
And with that, Stan jumped off the platform and ran through the crowd of people, who stepped to the side to let him through. He was vaguely reminded of the crowd on the day he shot at the King. He stood at the threshold of the train station and turned around.
Five seconds ticked by, and nobody moved. Stan wasn’t surprised. He hadn’t expected anybody to make up their mind right away. Then ten seconds ticked away, then fifteen, then twenty. When thirty seconds had passed and nobody had joined Stan, he drew his axe. He had promised to fight anybody who didn’t join him, and it looked like he was going to be in for the fight of his life. At forty seconds Stan was starting to panic, when there was a shuffling in the crowd.
One single miner, who looked similar to Stan although blackened with coal dust and wearing an iron helmet and holding a stone pickaxe, walked across the empty expanse towards Stan. Another followed, and then the entire mass of miners seemed to come over and join Stan’s side.
By the time the sixty seconds were up, there was not a soul left on the side of the warehouse. Every single miner had abandoned the building containing the materials that the government had claimed for its own. They now stood at the train station, ready to partake in Stan’s quest to overthrow the King.
The mayor walked up through the crowd to talk to Stan. “Thank you, Stan,” said the mayor, tears in his eyes. “You’ve inspired these people to fight back, and you’ve inspired me to lead my people to join in your army. Tell me what to do. I am at your service.” And the mayor bowed his head in respect to Stan.
The two talked for a few minutes, and they worked out a plan. The mayor would lead the miners of Blackstone down the railroad tracks, which they would follow until they reached the Adorian Village. There, they would tell the Apothecary and the survivors that they had met up with Stan2012 in the Ender Desert and had now come to join the militia. The mayor was convinced that the miners could put their skills to use in the Adorian Village’s mine, gathering blocks for use in the war effort. Also, the miners were apparently very good pickaxe fighters. Stan, meanwhile, was given a powered mine cart and some coal that would get him back to his friends, where he could continue his quest to enter the End.
Stan and the mayor shook hands, and Stan was about to leave when he thought of something else. He walked down the main street, where the miners were preparing for departure by emptying their houses of their meagre possessions. He passed the warehouse, which was now being looted for supplies by several of the miners. At last he came to the shared house of the mayor and the Mechanist. He opened the door, and the Mechanist was sitting in the chair, no bottles in hand, apparently waiting for Stan.
“Well, congratulations, kid,” said the Mechanist. He was not smiling. “You just convinced twenty-two more people to go on a suicide mission. Well done.”
Stan controlled his anger, and he looked at the Mechanist with a face of determined calm. “You know,” he said, “we could sure use an expert of redstone mechanics in the war effort. And if we win, you could reclaim your position as Elementia’s chief redstone inventor. What do you say, Mechanist? Are you coming?”
The Mechanist looked down at the ground for a few moments, his eyebrows scrunched up, clearly trying to decide. Then he looked up at Stan, looked him in the eye, and gave him a solid shake of the head.
Stan, resigning himself to the fact that this player would not join him, turned to walk out the door. He was just walking down the steps when something hit him in the back of the head, knocking him to the street. He spun around, axe in hand, ready to confront the Mechanist who had attacked him, but instead he noticed a book that had landed next to him. He picked it up, and in the dim light from the setting sun he read the title.
It said Full Schematics of Element Castle’s Redstone Defences, and the author was Mecha11.
Stan, amazed, looked up at the Mechanist, who was standing in the doorway, looking down at Stan with a sad expression on his face. “It’s your funeral, kid,” he grunted, and he slowly walked back into the house, pulling the wooden door shut behind him.
Stan looked in awe at the book, which would allow them to safely predict the locations of all the King’s hidden automated traps in his courtyard while they attacked. He only allowed himself a minute to admire the Mechanist’s gift, however, for the sun had just disappeared behind the desert skyline, and he could already see Zombies and Skeletons roaming around in the vast sandy expanse.
Stan ran back to the train station, where the miners were gathered in a huddle, preparing for their journey down the rail line. Stan shouted a hasty goodbye to the mayor, who waved back in reply, and he hopped into the mine cart and inserted some coal into the furnace of the engine behind him. The effect was instantaneous. The furnace ignited, and the train took off at a terrific pace.
Stan watched as the dim lights of the town of Blackstone disappeared in the distance behind him. He was rushing down the rails at high speed, and he was just finishing a pork chop that one of the miners had given him when an arrow glanced off his iron chestplate, nearly knocking him off the mine cart. He looked ahead and saw a Skeleton standing in the middle of the track, drawing back another arrow. He deflected this arrow with his sword and, thinking quickly, stuffed his second and third pieces of coal into the engine. The engine gave a puff of black smoke, and the train picked up speed. Before the Skeleton was able to fire its third arrow, the train slammed into