The Complete Elementia Chronicles: Quest for Justice; The New Order; The Dusk of Hope; Herobrine’s Message. Sean Wolfe Fay
interesting, Blerge,” said Charlie. “So now I have a question. We’re trying to overthrow the King – you know, the guy who used to force you guys to pay him stuff?”
“Oh yes,” said Blerge, with his unibrow knitting over his eyes. “That man caused my people much suffering. I should be most happy if four kind players such as you were to take his place. You treat us very kindly, while the one called King Kev believed us to be inferior.”
Stan opened his mouth to interject, but he quickly caught himself. It was very hard to say that he was equal in any way to this race of NPCs, especially considering that since he had joined the village he had seen two villagers wander straight into cactuses and almost kill themselves. But Stan still had respect for the people, and that, he thought, was the difference between King Kev and himself.
“So,” asked Charlie to Blerge, “would you be willing to let us use your village as a base? We still have to collect six Ender Pearls in order to get to the End, and we could use a place to stay until we’ve killed enough Endermen.”
Blerge had begun to wander again before Charlie had finished his request, so it was Mella who answered Charlie, “I am sure that it would be fine for you to stay with us for as long as you need, my friends. However, before we may tell you certainly, we must consult Moganga, the priest and leader of our village. She will tell you whether or not you may stay. Come, I shall take you to her.” And with that, Mella started to the door. Oob followed her while Blerge still wandered around the house.
“Wait,” asked Kat, speaking for the first time in quite a while. “This is your house. Why does this Moganga lady get to decide if we stay or not?”
“Because the almighty Notch commands it,” Mella said, and she exited the house, as if this were a satisfying response. Oob and Blerge left behind her, followed by Charlie and DZ, then Stan and, after a moment, Kat.
As the group walked down the gravel street towards the tall stone church, Stan was vaguely aware of Charlie, DZ and Oob chatting in front of him, while he himself kept a careful eye on Kat.
Ever since Kat had confessed to Stan what had happened to her in the last NPC village she had gone to, she had been very calm and pensive, quite in contrast to her usual self. She had also seemed much more at ease around the villagers after she had gotten her crime against them off her chest. Now, however, Stan did sense a diminished version of her previous tension as she approached the church. Still, she entered, and after Stan explained to yet another villager, this one named Libroru, that walking into a cactus would hurt, he followed Kat inside.
The church was made entirely of cobblestone, with a ladder on the side leading to the upper stories. There were torches on the walls, and a cobblestone altar sat in front. A villager in purple robes stood facing the altar. When the players, led by Mella and Blerge, entered, the priest turned towards them.
“Hello, players,” said Moganga, gesturing to Stan, Kat, Charlie and DZ. “Oob has told me of your arrival. Welcome.” She turned towards Mella and Blerge. “With what may I help you, my brother and sister?”
“These four players have requested the use of our family’s house as an outpost for their hunting of the Endermen,” replied Blerge in a powerful voice. “I appeal to you to ask the almighty Notch as to his judgement on the matter.”
“I see. I will attempt to connect with the almighty Notch, my brother,” replied Moganga. Her eyes closed, and her single eyebrow began twitching. She remained this way for about two minutes, and by the time her eyes reopened, Blerge and Mella had begun to wander around the church. Oob stepped forwards.
“What is the word of the almighty Notch, Mother Moganga?” asked Oob with a serious face.
“The almighty Notch has spoken to me,” replied Moganga, and Oob’s face lifted. “The almighty Notch has blessed the endeavours of these players and calls us to offer them refuge, provided that we are able to cope with the evil that will befall us beneath the full moon tonight.”
“Oh God,” muttered DZ. “Are you saying that the full moon is tonight?”
Moganga nodded, and Oob and DZ looked crestfallen. Charlie asked, “Wait, what’s the big deal about the full moon?”
A grim look passed over DZ’s face as he replied, “A siege is the big deal. Every full moon, if there are players staying in an NPC village, a giant horde of mobs will attack the village. And I mean giant. Makes the ones we killed off back at that sinkhole look like nothin’. And even though they’re mostly Zombies, you get plenty of the other kinds, too.”
“Years ago,” said Mella, who had stopped wandering, “when the Sacred One was still with us, the sieges used to befall us every full moon. We were able to survive as a species because in those days Zombies could not break through our doors. However, during every siege a horrible monster would terrorize our village alongside the Zombies: a Skeleton riding upon a Spider.”
“A Spider Jockey,” muttered Charlie. His eyebrows knitted, and his eyes widened in anxiety. “I’ve read about those things. All the range of a Skeleton combined with the agility and rapidity of a Spider. That does not sound like a fun combo to me.”
“Oh, you are right on that, bro,” agreed DZ, looking sober. “Whenever I see a Spider Jockey out in the desert, I avoid it. If it sees me, I run like anything,” he said. He looked at Moganga. “So every time there’s a siege, a Spider Jockey comes and attacks the villagers?”
“That is correct,” replied Moganga. “It would often kill one of us before the Sacred One drove it away, and the Sacred One was never able to kill it, despite his status as an elite archer. As a result, the Spider Jockey will return tonight. If you consider this, and the fact that the Zombies have recently learned how to break through doors, then you will realize that you players staying here will make the village a very dangerous place for our people.”
Stan wanted to add that that wasn’t saying much, seeing as he had seen three villagers almost commit suicide by walking into cactuses, but he kept the thought to himself.
“Therefore, I make this offer to you. You may stay with us in the village while you hunt the mobs called Endermen, and in return you will defend us from the siege and kill the Spider Jockey. Do we have an agreement?”
“Yes, ma’am,” replied Stan, and his friends nodded in agreement. Indeed, Kat and DZ both seemed thrilled about the prospect of fighting a horde of evil mobs. Charlie, on the other hand, still had a hint of the old nerves he had shown so often when they had first met. Stan had thought that this nervous tendency would be gone by now, after all they had been through, and he certainly couldn’t have a nervous Charlie in the End. As insurance, and a sort of final test of the power of Charlie’s nerves, Stan spoke up.
“OK, here’s how we should do this. DZ and Kat, you stay back in the village and kill all the Zombies that try to break into the village houses. Charlie and I will go out into the desert around the village, and we’ll kill all the mobs that spawn out there. We’ll also hunt the Spider Jockey.”
Charlie’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth in what Stan was sure would be a protest, but Kat had already said, “That works,” and DZ nodded in agreement. “OK,” she continued, “let’s suit up. The sun is setting, and this is gonna be a long, long night.”
With an apprehensive expression on his face, Charlie followed Stan, Kat and DZ back to Oob’s house, where they had stored their armour and weapons in a chest.
DZ’s arsenal was by far the lightest. With no armour, he held nothing but an iron sword glowing red with the Fire Aspect enchantment in his hand and two diamond swords at his side. One of these swords was glowing with the Knockback enchantment.
Kat,