Quest to the Stronghold

Chapter 1

Intruder

 

Boom!

 

White blocks of quartz flew in all directions as the block of TNT exploded. Alex looked up from her crafting as a villager dressed in a black smock charged into the room.

 

Running forward, the NPC (Non-Player-Character) dashed across the room, a look of fear painted on his blocky face. Opening one of the many doors strew throughout the room, he ran through, closing the door just as an alarm began to sound. A moment later, her brother, Steve, burst into the room, a diamond sword held in his hand.

 

“Where’d he go?” He asked angrily, looking into all the likely hiding places in the room.

 

“Who?” Replied Alex. “You mean that villager who just blew a hole in the wall and escaped down into Tunnel 32?”

 

“Yes!” Exclaimed Steve.

 

Turning, he pulled out a walkie-talkie and spoke urgently into it. “Security! We have an intruder in Area 58! A villager dressed in a black smock just broke into the treasure room and a stole the eye of ender! He escaped into the Crafting Chamber and headed down Tunnel 32! He must be making a run for the surface, so make sure he doesn’t make it there!”

 

Alex finished crafting her new diamond sword and looked up, surprised. “Did that NPC steal the ender eye?”

 

Steve rolled his eyes. “You know that’s not what it’s called! But to answer your question: yes; yes he did. Now come on, We’ve gotta help! Or are you still afraid of monsters?”

 

Alex elbowed him in the stomach, causing him to bend over in pain. “And have you already forgotten that I beat you every single time in PvP?”

 

Together they burst through the door into Tunnel 32 and ran along the passageway, putting on their iron armour as they did so.

 

Turning a corner, they began to descend the long flight of steps down into the long, twisting tunnels of the mine. Soon, the walls, floor, and roof changed from the white, sparkling quartz into the hard, cold stone that lay around their gigantic, underground fortress.

 

The stairs descended for quite a long way, almost down to bedrock, but not quite. They eventually transformed into a spiral staircase, circling around the edges of the descending hole.

 

Looking down, Steve could see the light of some fast-moving object down near of the bottom of the hole. An idea suddenly struck him and he pulled out a bucket of water, turning to Alex as he did so.

 

“Jump,” he said, pouring the bucket down the side of the staircase, making and everlasting stream of water that flowed straight down to the bottom of the whole.

 

“What?” Asked Alex, staring at him as if he was crazy.

 

Steve pointed down the side of the hole towards the shallow pool of water that sat at the bottom of the staircase.

 

Alex looked, understood, walked to the edge, and took a deep breath. Running forward, she jumped high into the edge, narrowly avoiding the edge of the stairs and falling down into the deep hole below her.

 

The air whizzed past her as her thick, carrot-coloured hair blew out above her, making a long, orange, trail that flowed out overhead.

 

Looking around, she saw the stairs flying past her at a tremendous rate, and as she looked down, she could see the small pool of water rushing up to meet her. She could see a dim light below her growing brighter and brighter, probably that of the intruder.

 

Splash!

 

She landed in the small pool of water that filled the narrow space, instantly stopping her fall. A moment later, Steve landed beside her, quickly making his way out of the water as the escaping villager reached the bottom of the stairs. Running, the tall NPC splashed through the knee-deep water and into the first cave of the mine.

 

“He’s getting away!” Steve shouted, pulling out an ender pearl and throwing it with all his might towards the escaping villager.

 

It smashed on the low rock roof a small distance in front of the black-smocked NPC, teleporting Steve there in an instant.

 

Pausing a moment to catch his breath as he flashed red with damage, he pulled out his enchanted diamond sword and swung it viciously at the escaping villager.

 

Rolling under the sparkling blade, the NPC continued to run, pausing for a moment at a point where two tunnels met, and ran off down into the cave on the left.

 

Steve dashed after him with Alex not far behind.

 

Turning the corner, they emerged into a gigantic cave, lit by a pale green light coming from some weird-looking crystals that dangled from the roof.

 

The huge cave was split in two, for a huge ravine stretched across the entire space of the cavern, the only way across being a narrow wooden bridge that spanned it.

 

Looking around, Alex could see the villager hurriedly crossing the narrow bridge, carefully concealing something in his hands.

 

Nudging Steve, she pointed at the escaping NPC, then pulled out her enchanted bow. She had found it in a desert temple, and it was her prize possession. It had the Infinity enchantment, and she had enhanced it further by giving it Flame II, so it was now her favourite weapon.

 

Notching an arrow to the bowstring, she fired it at the villager, only narrowly missing him as it embedded itself in the wooden side of the bridge.

 

Turning around, the NPC looked surprised for a moment to see that he was still being followed, then a look of grim determination crossed his face.

 

Pulling out a block of TNT, the villager placed it on the bridge in front of him. Backing up a few metres , he placed another explosive cube, continuing the pattern again and again until a string of TNT lay across the whole length of the bridge.

 

“Stop him!” Steve shouted, increasing his speed to a sprint as he realised what the NPC was doing.

 

Running forward, the villager grabbed the flaming arrow that Alex had fired at him, dashed to the opposite end of the bridge, and stuck into the nearest block of TNT.

 

“No!” Steve yelled, skidding to a stop as the TNT on the far side of the bridge ignited, flashing white as it began to swell.

 

Boom!

 

The TNT exploded, tearing a large gash into the wooden bridge and lighting the other explosive blocks that lay across the width of the crossing.

 

BOOOOMMMM!!!

 

The rest of the TNT blew up, destroying the rest of the wooden bridge, leaving the villager and his chasers on separate sides of the ravine.

 

Turning, the NPC quickly ascended up a flight of steps and disappeared from view, out onto the surface.

 

“Well, there he goes,” muttered Steve, turning around to walk back up into the Crafting Chamber.

 

“I wonder what he wanted that ender eye for?” Alex asked, more to herself than her companion.

 

Steve shrugged his shoulders, purposely ignoring her incorrect use of words for the item. “Who knows? Whenever these stupid villagers get an idea in their heads, nothing will stop them.”

 

Alex was silent for a moment while they walked back up the passage, then asked, “What’s the point of security if they’re not where you want them?”

 

Steve thought for a moment. “That’s funny, they’re normally exactly in the right places, but today they seemed to be nowhere!”

 

There was more silence for several minutes as they began to climb the long flight of steps back up into the crafting chamber.

 

“But why would he steal an ender eye? There’s way more precious things in the treasure room! Wait…villagers can’t trade with each other can they? And they wouldn’t want to find a stronghold, obviously…”

 

Steve looked up at her. “Actually, you might be onto something there! I mean, what else could he want it for? Either that villager is going looking for a stronghold, or he’s going to trade it to someone else who wants to.”

 

Alex stopped and looked at her brother. “Which means if we want to get that ender dragon egg, than we need to get there first!”

 

 

Chapter 2

The Nether

 

 

Alex’s vision blurred for a moment as she stepped into the nether portal, the cleared to reveal a completely different landscape.

 

A moment before, she had been standing in a brightly lit room lined with white, quartz blocks, looking at the black and purple gateway that stood in front of her. A few seconds later, she had appeared on a floating island of fire, smoke, and heat.

 

She heard a noise behind her and turned around to see Steve standing there, dressed in iron armour, his newly-enchanted diamond sword held firmly in his hand. Unlike Alex, he had been in the Nether before, but this floating island was new to him.

 

Peering over the edge, Alex could see that below the floating island of netherrack, a huge lake of lava stretched far off into the distance, ready to engulf anyone who accidentally fell off.

 

“This is interesting and all,” said Steve from behind her, “But can’t we stick to the plan and find that nether fortress?”

 

Alex nodded, turning around to look at her brother. “Yeah sorry. I kinda forgot, but why again do we have to find it again?”

 

Steve sighed, pulling out a stack of cobblestone and beginning to build a one-block wide bridge leading to the just-visible ground far off to the north. “Blaze powder is one of the two ingredients needed to make an eye of ender. Blaze powder comes from blaze rods. Blaze rods come from blazes. The best place to find blazes is in a nether fortress. Nether fortresses are only found rarely on big islands of netherrack.”

 

Alex nodded, remembering the important knowledge that kept slipping from her mind. “Yeah, thanks, I forgot.”

 

“I know,” was the reply from her companion.

 

Running forward, she too began to build a bridge alongside Steve’s, doubling the width of the half-complete crossing leading towards the netherrack plains—hopefully the destination of the nether fortress.

 

They had been building for nearly half an hour when Alex began to feel like they were being watched by something—or someone.

 

Turning around, she straightened up and looked around to see that they had almost reached the netherrack plains. A huge fortress coloured a dark-red loomed over them, built a little way off to the left of the lava ocean.

 

She heard a faint sound to her right and instinctively ducked as three large fireballs flew over her head.

 

Looking up, she saw that a group of flaming, flying monsters had emerged from the nether fortress and were quickly approaching, raining fireballs down upon them.

 

“Uh, Steve?” She asked, pulling out her enchanted bow and fitting an arrow to the bowstring. “Are those blazes?”

 

Steve stood up and spun around, glancing quickly at the huge nether fortress slightly to their left and noticed the group of flaming monsters that were quickly getting closer. “Yep. Now listen here, Alex. If we want to survive, then we need to get on the plains and out of the air.”

 

Nodding, Alex, pulling out her final stack of cobblestone, and ducking under another volley of fireballs, began to hurriedly finish the two-block wide bridge.

 

As they reached the edge of the lava ocean, Steve jumped down onto the reddish-brown ground below him, flashing red briefly as he took damage.

 

Pulling out a bucket of water, he poured it on the ground for Alex to jump into, then began to dig a two-block deep trench with his enchanted shovel. It was soon finished, for the Efficiency IV enchantment would dig up at least three blocks with minimal effort.

 

There was a splash beside him and he turned to see Alex jump into the trench beside him.

 

Crouching low in the ditch, Steve pulled out his bow—an ordinary one, for he was not one for ranged weapons, but prefered close-ranged, sword fighting—and fitted an arrow to the bowstring. Leaping up,  he quickly chose a target, aimed, and fired.

 

It struck the blaze head on, causing it to flash red as it flashed red with damage. The mechanical-like wheezing that came from the flaming monster changed from that of merely annoyance, to that of pain, and then to anger and revenge.

 

Ducking back down in the trench, Steve pulled out his one-and-a-half stacks of arrows and handed them to Alex, who had already killed two blazes.

 

“Take these,” he whispered, “You’ll use them better than I will.”

 

Taking the arrows and stuffing them into her inventory,  Alex whispered back, “Thanks, but what will you use?”

 

With a mischievous grin on his face, Steve reached into his inventory and pulled out a stack of fluffy white objects—snowballs.

 

Standing up again, Steve began to fire a steady stream of the frozen spheres towards the group of blazes that were quickly approaching.

 

Some of them missed, but most found a target, as Steve’s aim was better with snowballs than arrows.

 

As they hit, the internal flames of the blazes would splutter, decreasing their HP (health points) slightly, then the flaming blaze rods that circulated their bodies would begin to spin again, increasing their health.

 

Soon, enough had hit to thoroughly weaken the blazes and even destroy a few, lessening the danger of being hit by a fireball.

 

The flaming monsters were now only about ten or twenty blocks away, making them easy targets. The problem was that they were also easy targets, despite the almost-continuous rain of snowballs and arrows that were raining down upon the blazes.

 

Straightening up slightly, Steve noticed that the flying monsters were descending slowly towards the ground as they moved closer, and would soon be within sword-range from the ground.

 

Pulling out his diamond sword, Steve signalled to Alex, waited a few more seconds for the right moment, then leaped out of the trench and charged towards the group of blazes.

 

Instantly all the blazes launched their fireballs towards him, flaring bright as they thrust the flaming spheres forwards.

 

Steve’s eyes widened as he realised his mistake. He stopped, closing his eyes as he waited for the burning pain he knew would come.

 

Something smashed on his back and he felt a sensation flowing through him—not one of pain, but as if he was somehow now immune to fire.

 

Opening his eyes, Steve saw the blazes looking at him in surprise and uncertainty. They had stopped moving forward, and were staring at him, hesitating.

 

This was what he was waiting for.

 

Running forward, he slashed at the nearest blaze, then turned and stabbed at another.

 

Fireballs continued to rain down upon him, but they had no effect at all. They would hit him, exploding with the usual force, but he would feel no pain whatsoever.

 

Behind him he could hear the sounds of angry blazes in pain, their wheezing getting louder and slightly more high pitched as they flashed red with damage. Obviously Alex was back there, wreaking havoc with her new diamond sword.

 

Turning, he spun in a circle, his sword doing damage to multiple blazes at a time.

 

Leaping forward, he slashed at one hitting it again and again until it disappeared, leaving behind three balls of XP (experience points) and two blaze rods.

 

Looking around, he could see the rest of the blazes fleeing back in the direction of the nether fortress, probably having decided that someone else would deal with the intruders.

 

“Let them go,” said Steve, “We got what we came for.”

 

Stepping forward, Alex handed him half a stack of blaze rods, combining with his own to make almost a full stack.

 

“Great!” Said Alex. “That’s definitely enough blaze rods for heaps of blaze powder, but what’s the second ingredient?”

 

“Ender pearls,” replied Steve grimly, beginning to build a set of stairs back up to their cobblestone bridge.

 

“Oh,” muttered Alex. “And where are we going to get them?”

 

Steve sighed. “We’ll have to find some endermen.”

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3

The Enderman Caves

 

 

Steve hadn’t been to the National Library since he was a kid. Last time he had seen it, it had been a small wooden building filled with bookshelves and about twenty five books. Now it was a gigantic structure about twenty times the size. A second and third story had been added on top, with dark, black windows letting the people inside look out, but not portraying anything from the outside. Surrounding the whole building was a tall, metal, spiked fence that looked extremely sinister and uninviting.

 

Steve and Alex had decided that rather than spending several weeks hunting for endermen out at night or looking for them in caves, they would have to find a more constant source; a place where endermen lived.

 

As going to The End was out of the question, for nobody had discovered a stronghold yet, they had decided to go to the National Library Of Knowledge for some more information.

 

The National Library was a place where anybody could go to find information about anything. Nobody really knew who had started it, but it was a useful building filled with knowledge. Everything known about everything known was stored in this enormous structure.

 

As they approached the entrance, two very bored guards looked up from the books they were reading, nodded, opened the huge, iron gates, yawned, sat back down on the ground, and went back to reading.

 

Looking around, Steve could see all the beautiful flowers planted throughout the garden. There was a huge variety, for some were big, some were small, some were thorny, and some were soft. Not only that, but there was also a vast range of colours, from green to red, orange to blue, and yellow to purple.

 

This all rather dazzled Steve, who was not used to bright colours, and although he had never really fancied plants or flowers, he found them all rather stunning.

 

Reaching out to open one of the dark oak doors, Steve was surprised to find that they opened automatically before he had even touched them. As they walked inside, Steve turned around to see that the doors closed instantly behind them.

 

Turning down the hallway to the right, they walked on until they emerged into a large room filled with bookshelves. There were many rows of the shelves (twenty six to be exact) each with a letter of the alphabet labeled on the bookshelves.

 

They walked on until they found the section marked E, then they turned down the row and began to search through the bookshelves.

 

Enderpearling, no. Steve thought, picking up book after book. Expert Crafting, End City Myths, Eggs, Endermen: All You Need To Know…Endermen Caves… wait! Here it is!

 

Turning around, he handed it to Alex. She opened it up and looked at it for a moment, then spoke. “The Enderman Caves are a section of the great labyrinth, several kilometres to the west of the Northern Desert. It is said that once the endermen wanted their own place in the Overworld, and started to search through the land until they found a section of extreme hills. Beneath was a great system of caves, all intersecting to form what has been known for centuries as the Enderman Caves.”

 

Steve nodded, taking the book back and inserting it back into the bookshelf. “Well, let’s go then!”

 

***

 

A day or two later, Steve and Alex dismounted from their horses, giving them an apple and tying them to a post, ready to be mounted as soon as they returned.

 

Looking around, Alex peered into the deep, dark hole next to her.

 

Pulling out a torch, she placed it on the ground next to her, lighting up the hard, cold stone walls around her.

 

“Well, in we go,” remarked Steve, stepping down a block into the hole. “Keep placing torches on the left side of the tunnel, so when we come back, they’ll be on the right. And when we start to hear them, use the redstone torches, okay?”

 

Alex nodded her head silently, then stepped down beside him and placed a torch on the left side of the wall.

 

They walked on for a while, meeting no one except the occasional zombie or skeleton. Every few minutes, they would change direction, following the faint trail of teleportation particles that had been left by the endermen as they walked along the trail.

 

Soon, the faint sounds of endermen began to fill the tunnel, growing slighter louder as the explorers moved closer.

 

Putting away her stack of torches, she pulled from her inventory a redstone torch, made from a stick and a piece of redstone dust. It did not give off the normal, orangey-yellow light that felt comforting and warming, but instead made a dimmer, redder light that barely helped.

 

Turning down a tunnel to the left, they emerged into a small dark cave. It was an intersection point of about five tunnels, all joining to make a miniature cave.

 

Alex stopped and looked around, trying to find which tunnel was the right one. “Just stay here a moment,” she said to Steve. Turning around, she marched down the centre tunnel and disappeared.

 

A moment later she popped back out, shaking her head. “Not this tunnel,” she muttered, then spoke a bit louder to Steve. “Try the one nearest to you, and see if the noises get louder or quieter.”

 

Nodding, Steve stepped forward and into the dark tunnel. Walking forward, he could hear the sounds of the endermen, but they were ever so slightly quieter.

 

Turning around, he walked back towards the dim light and shouted, “Not this one!”

 

Alex peered into the tunnel as he emerged. “Doesn’t matter, I found it anyway. Come on, down here!”

 

Steve followed her as she quickly marched down the tunnel slightly off to the right. Yes, the noises of endermen were definitely growing louder; they were getting closer.

 

The passage soon began to descend downwards, causing them to slow to a walk. Every few moments they would pause, stopping to listen for any suspicious sounds.

 

Turning a corner, Steve stopped, stifling a gasp and staring up at the tall, black enderman that stood in front of him. He quickly grabbed Alex and ran back around the corner.

 

The enderman had not noticed them, for it had it’s back to them and appeared to be doing nothing except staring ahead back down the passage.

 

Signalling to Alex with a nod, Steve whispered in her ear, slowly explaining his plan to her.

 

Pulling out a snowball, Alex threw it over the enderman, aiming for the wall directly in front of the dark creature.

 

It hit with the wall with a quiet slap, alerting the enderman and drawing his attention away from the two hunters.

 

Quietly unsheathing his sword, Steve quickly leaped forward and attacked the unprotected back of the enderman. Alex was beside him in a moment, slashing at the creature with all her might.

 

In moments the monster was gone, not having time to even realise he was being attacked until it was too late. It disappeared with a pop, leaving behind a few balls of XP and the two ender pearls—the vital ingredient for eyes of ender.

 

Picking up the enderman’s remains and stuffing them into his inventory, Steve pulled out another redstone torch and looked around.

 

The passage was beginning to widen, slowly transforming from a tunnel into a cave, meaning the endermen would not be far away.

 

“Remember,” Steve whispered to Alex. “We only need a few ender pearls, ten more at the most. And try not to be seen, please!”

 

Replying with a silent nod, Alex continued to creep forward, extinguishing the redstone torch Steve had placed on the wall next to them.

 

The passage began to grow slowly brighter, showing her that the passage ended not more than twenty blocks ahead. A dim, purple light was coming from the roof, and looking up, Alex could see some small, purple crystals dangling from the roof. Each one was surrounded by a small field of purple, glowing, teleportation particles that illuminated the small tunnel with light.

 

The sound of shuffling feet came from the passage ahead, but no one was walking towards them.

 

Peering ahead, Alex saw that another tunnel intersected with the first, creating a small junction leading off in three other directions.

 

Walking round the corner came a group of about five endermen, each talking loudly, obviously discussing something in a heated argument.

 

Quickly pulling a diamond pickaxe from her inventory, Alex swung it at the wall to her left, destroying the stone block with three quick hits. Digging up the block below it, she hurriedly created a small room in the wall, pulled Steve inside, and sealed up the wall with a stack of stone she had kept for just such occasions.

 

They waited breathlessly, not daring to move as the footsteps of the dark creatures grew louder as the endermen drew closer.

 

Surely they would find their footprints in the dirt. Surely they would be discovered. They would be taken prisoner and killed. Their plan would be a failure. And worst—whoever was trying to find the stronghold and get to The End would beat them there.

 

All these thoughts were running through Alex’s head as she crouched in the small stone room, listening to as the group’s footsteps grew louder and louder; the endermen were almost upon them.

 

And then…

 

The monsters walked right past them. They were so deep in conversation that they did not notice the footprints in the dusty floor.

 

Pulling out her pickaxe, Alex cautiously dug up the two blocks that separated them from the passage, sealing it back up after Steve had climbed out.

 

Peering down the tunnel, she could just see the faint light of the endermen disappearing back down the passage, still with their heads together, deep in conversation.

 

Cautiously creeping up the passageway, Alex slowly peered down the other tunnels, checking to see if anymore endermen were coming, then quickly ran across the gap to the other tunnel.

 

The light was now growing stronger and stronger, the passage growing wider and wider, and the roof growing higher and higher as the passage slowly changed from a tunnel to a cave; a huge cave.

 

Pulling her sword from her inventory, Alex emerged into an enormous cavern filled with tall rocky houses, obviously the homes of the endermen. Strangely enough, however, there were no endermen in sight.

 

Walking through the streets, they peered into some of the houses through the tall doors. They were completely bare, except for a few which had splashes of lava pouring out onto the floor.

 

As they walked along one of the streets, a high, screechy voice could be faintly heard shouting out to someone.

 

Stepping between some of the houses, Alex peered out to see a tall enderman standing on an obsidian pillar, yelling something unintelligible to a huge group of the dark creatures that stood below.

 

“That is a lot of endermen,” she muttered to herself. “Too many.”

 

Turning around she softly called, “Steve! Psssst! Steve!”

 

Steve was not listening, for he had found something else—something very interesting.

 

Exploring along the street, he had found a stray endermen sitting in one of the houses. Drawing his sword, he had attacked it viciously, destroying it with three quick hits.

 

Unfortunately, it’s cries of pain had attracted a group of the dark creatures that had been hiding in the shadows.

 

Backing away, he had tried to attack them, but they had blocked every attack and even landed a few blows themselves before Steve had decided to retreat, running down along the street until he had found a large, obsidian structure filled with chests.

 

Pulling out a stack of dirt, he had walled himself in, only to have the blocks removed and be attacked again. Forcing them back out, he had sealed the door, this time with cobblestone.

 

He had sat there for several minutes, doing nothing until he had decided to look in some of the chests.

 

Opening one, he almost gasped with shock. The chests were filled with only one thing: ender pearls. Every single one was chock full and overflowing with the dark orbs.

 

With one idea in mind, he took a stack of the orbs and stuffed them into his inventory, then another and another until he could hold no more.

 

Then, quickly digging up the cobblestone door, he saw that Alex had attracted the rest of the endermen. Many of them had seen him by now, and were quickly marching towards him, not bothering to teleport for some unknown reason. pulling out an ender pearl, he aimed over the heads of the approaching endermen, and threw it towards his sister.

 

Bracing for the impact, he pulled out his sword, then as he teleported towards Alex, swung his weapon viciously at one of the attacking endermen, slicing into the monster’s chest.

 

Pulling out a stack of ender pearls, he handed them to Alex, blocked an angry enderman’s fist, and whispered something hurriedly into her ear.

 

Ignoring her surprised face, Steve pulled out another ender pearl and threw it towards the exit, ducking under another attack as he did so.

 

His vision blurred for a moment as he teleported, then cleared to show the dimly lit tunnel entrance that they had emerged from.

 

Out the corner of his eye he saw Alex appeared behind him, flashing red in pain as she teleported towards Steve.

 

“Quick!” Yelled Steve, turning around to see the rest of the endermen quickly stalking and teleporting towards them. “Get in the tunnel! Start sealing it up!”

 

Placing a block of TNT next to the exit, he pulled out his flint and steel, and struck them together, causing sparks to fly out onto the explosive cube. Instantly the block ignited, beginning to flash white as it started to swell.

 

Diving hurriedly into the tunnel, Steve pulled out a stack of cobblestone and finished sealing up the remaining part of the entrance.

 

Just before he placed the final block, one of the dark creatures teleported through the hole and started to punch Alex.

 

Drawing his sword, he slashed at it with three vicious strokes, quickly destroying it. Not bothering to pick up the XP or ender pearl, he turned to hear the faint and muffled sound of the TNT exploding.

 

“Come on,” said Steve, beginning to run down the tunnel with Alex close behind him. “Let’s get out of here! We’ve got a stronghold to find!”

 

 

Chapter 4

Finding The Stronghold

 

 

Standing up from the position he had been crouching in for the last half an hour, Steve groaned painfully.

 

Pulling out his pickaxe, he quickly dug up the crafting table he had been hunched over, repeatedly creating eyes of ender it of his two large supplies of ender pearls and blaze powder.

 

Looking to his right, he saw Alex crouching over her crafting bench, a large pile of the green-blue orbs sitting next to her.

 

“Alex!” He called, drawing her attention towards him. “That ought to be enough to now! And anyway, I think it’s useful to keep a few ender earls with us, don’t you?”

 

Nodding her head, Alex dug up her crafting table and scooped the pile of eyes of enders into her inventory.

 

Turning around, she looked up at the dense forest that surrounded them. For the whole time she’d been crafting, she had forgotten where she was, and looking up at the sky, she realised it was almost night.

 

“Steve?” She asked quietly, pulling out a torch with one hand and her diamond sword with the other. “It’s almost night. Shouldn’t we be going soon?”

 

Steve nodded his head, turning to look up at the sky, and the towards the tree they had tied their horses to. “Yeah sorry,” he replied, “I lost track of the time.”

 

Running forward, the two climbed up onto their horses, untying them from the tree as they did so.

 

Already the sounds of monsters could be heard echoing throughout the forest; the pitiful moans of zombies, the clicking of spider mandibles, and the clattering of skeleton bones. Thankfully there were no signs of any creepers—yet.

 

Quickly urging her horse forward, Alex pulled out her bow and waited.

 

Trotting forward, her horse walked onto the beginnings of a dirt path, the same path they had been following through the forest for several kilometres.

 

Suddenly the sorrowful moans of zombies grew louder as a group of five emerged from the undergrowth and began to slowly shuffle towards her.

 

Pulling an arrow from her quiver, she notched it to the bowstring, and fired it at the closest monster.

 

It struck the zombie in the chest, pushing it back a few steps as the monster burst into flame.

 

Screaming in rage and pain, the monster charged towards her, the bright rays of moonlight reflecting off the five sharp claws that extended from each hand.

 

Shooting another arrow, Alex put away her bow and pulled out her sword.

 

Reining her horse into a gallop, she charged forward towards the zombie and slashed at it, making it flash red one last time as it disappeared with a pop, leaving behind three balls of XP and a small pile of rotting flesh.

 

Turning her horse, she looked to see that the remaining monsters were almost upon her.

 

Reaching forward, one of the decaying creatures slashed at her horse with its sharp claws, causing her mount to rear up in pain, almost throwing her off.

 

Turning around, her horse galloped back the way they had come, almost running into Steve, who was facing another group of zombies that had emerged behind them and was quickly drawing closer.

 

“Quick! What do we do?” Yelled Alex, blocking a sharp claws and slashing out at another monster.

 

“Can you clear a path for us with your bow?” Steve shouted back, we might just be able to escape if we can ride quick enough!”

 

Nodding, Alex pulled out her bow and quickly fired three arrows at a monster, destroying it within seconds.

 

This caused the other monsters to step back slightly, hesitation filling their minds.

 

Quickly kicking her horse into a gallop, she and her horse had sped through the gap before the zombies even knew what was happening.

 

Alex rushed on down the path, with Steve close behind her.

 

She could hear the angry moans of the monsters as they tried to pursue them, but the dim-witted creatures were quickly left behind, soon to forget that they had ever seen them.

 

After several minutes of hard riding, they slowed their horses down to a trot. “I think we’re ok now,” said Alex with a sigh of relief.

 

Steve was just beginning to say something when a hissing sound began to fill the air, followed by a loud explosion off to their left that tore up the grass and dirt and threw small cubes of dirt into the air.

 

“Creepers!” Screamed Alex, turning her horse away just as another explosion shook the ground.

 

Another creeper emerged from the bushes slightly ahead of them and began to swell, glowing white as its internal fuse lit.

 

Pulling out her bow, Alex fired an arrow at it, delaying the detonation process and giving them time to gallop past it.

 

“Look!” Shouted Steve. “Up ahead! It’s the edge of the forest!”

 

Sure enough, up ahead about fifty blocks or so the trees thinned and the beginning of some flat grassy plains was visible.

 

Galloping forward, they ignored everything else, not bothering to attack the various spiders, zombies, skeletons, and creepers that emerged out of the undergrowth and tried to attack them.

 

The distance between them and the end of the tree line quickly shortened, until they emerged out into a grassy plains biome, the occasional tree dotting the landscape.

 

Looking up, Alex could see the dark night sky, filled with stars, the moon shining brightly amidst them.

 

“Now where have those ender eyes gone too?” She muttered to herself as she searched through her inventory, looking for one of the stacks of the green-blue orbs.

 

Steve had already found his and had just thrown one up into the night air, carefully following the trail of purple particles that it left in the sky.

 

It traveled several dozen blocks in a northeast direction, then fell to the ground where it lay cracked and broken, useless.

 

“This way!” Steve shouted, slowing his horse to a trot as they turned 90 degrees and continued in a northeastern direction.

 

They continued on for several kilometres, repeating the process of checking their direction every few minutes or so.

 

Eventually, after almost three hours of riding, Alex threw up an eye of ender, and it continued in the same direction for several blocks. But instead of flying forward for five or six seconds, it came hurtling down at the ground and hovered over a block for a second or two, then dropped to the ground.

 

“I guess that means we’re here?” Asked Alex, looking at her brother.

 

Steve shrugged his shoulders. “I guess so,” he replied.

 

Dismounting from his horse, he pulled out a wooden post and placed it on the ground, then attaching a lead to his mount’s neck, he tied it to the post.

 

He then pulled out his shovel and began to dig, creating a spiral staircase that descended downwards into the depths of Minecraft. At least, it would have if he had not found the remnants of one that had already been constructed out of slabs of iron.

 

“Hey Alex!” He called, “I’ve found it!”

 

Quickly he descended down the staircase, putting away his shovel and pulling out his diamond sword.

 

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he pulled out a torch and placed it on the wall.

 

He could see nothing except the beginning of a dark, dusty, and old tunnel.

 

“Alex?” He called again, “Alex are you there? What’s happening up there? Is something wrong?”

 

He quickly ascended back up the staircase and looked up to see Alex at the top of the stairs, her mouth wide open in shock and horror. She did not notice Steve as he emerged, but just stood staring at something emerging out of a nearby cave, heading straight towards them.

 

Following her gaze, Steve turned to see a huge army of zombies, skeletons, and creepers marching towards them, a dark-looking figure at the head.

 

Steve gasped when he saw him, for he was dressed in clothes identical to his, a full set of diamond armour on his body, two diamond swords held in his hands.

 

As the army drew closer, Steve drew his diamond sword, adjusting his set of iron armour.

 

Looking at Alex he could see that she too recognised the dark figure.

 

“Why hello Alex, hello Steve,” said a very familiar voice, one that literally dripped with sarcasm and evil. “Fancy meeting you here!”

 

“Herobrine?” Stammered Steve, his voice cracking with fear. “You’re dead! I killed you!”

 

Herobrine laughed, his eyes glowing white with malicious glee. “I’m afraid you’re wrong. You did not kill me.”

 

Turning, Steve saw that the evil creature had seen the spiral staircase that descended into the stronghold.

 

“Ah, I see you found the stronghold,” laughed Herobrine. “I guess my spy didn’t need to break into your fortress. He was pretty useless anyway.”

 

Steve’s mouth fell open. “You sent that villager!” He accused. “I thought it was strange for a villager to do that!”

 

“Of course I did!” Replied Herobrine, a vile smirk spreading across his dark face. “Oh, and by the way… I’m afraid that you’ll find a little surprise back at your tiny house. That is… if I decide to let you go.”

 

Steve grabbed Alex’s hand and pulled her away, turning he started to run but stopped to see that a large group of creepers had surrounded them, leaving no way of escape.

 

“Quick,” whispered Steve to Alex, “Get into the stronghold!”

 

Nodding, Alex disappeared down the spiral staircase before any of the monsters could stop her.

 

“Trying to escape are you?” Herobrine laughed, “You will never get away from me!”

 

Steve pulled out his bow and notched an arrow to the bowstring, aimed it a little to the left of the dark creature. “We’ll see about that,” he muttered, and taking a deep breath, he released the arrow.

 

It flew through the air, narrowly missing Herobrine’s head as he ducked. Flying past him, it struck one of the creepers that stood next to him.

 

Instantly the creature started to swell, beginning to flash white as it swelled with explosive power.

 

Turning around, Steve dived into the stronghold, tumbling down the stairs until he came to a stop at Alex’s feet.

 

Boom!

 

Steve faintly heard the muffled explosion as the creeper exploded, but he knew the next explosion would be much louder. He knew that a chain reaction had been triggered, for once a creeper exploded, any other creature of its kind that was within its radius would soon explode as well.

 

BOooOOoomMmmm!!!

 

Diving out the way, Steve just avoided the explosion as the spiral staircase collapsed beside them, leaving them with no way out.

 

Pulling out a torch he placed it on the wall next to the one he had set there previously.

 

“Come on, Alex, let’s do this,” Steve said, pulling out his diamond sword and stepping forward into the darkness, where hundreds of monsters lay waiting for him.

 

 

Chapter 5

Inside The Stronghold

 

 

 

Herobrine was furious.

 

He had finally managed to capture his two mortal enemies, and yet they had just slipped from between his fingers again!

 

He was in such a rage that he had to kill something, he just knew it.

 

Looking around, he saw that his remaining army had retreated to a safe distance giving him a wide berth. He turned in a complete circle and noticed two horses tied to a post.

 

They would do. Anything would do.

 

Pulling out his sword, he charged towards them, slashing viciously at their unprotected sides.

 

In moments they were gone, leaving only two saddles, a piece of leather, and a few balls of XP to show that they had ever existed.

 

Panting furiously, his anger levels slowly dispersed, his eyes now changed from the angry red to their normal, bright white.

 

One of his generals, an armoured skeleton that held a sword rather than a bow, slowly and cautiously approached him.

 

“Sire,” said the skeleton, bowing deeply to Herobrine’s satisfaction. “Sire, surely you have noticed that our two mortal enemies have escaped! Should we not pursue them and destroy them? Yes, the front entrance is blocked, but there are more ways than one to enter a stronghold!”

 

Herobrine held up a hand, instantly silencing his general. “No.” He answered, then turning to direct the rest of his army he shouted, “As you should all know, our two mortal enemies who were within our grasp have escaped! But do not worry. They are here for the same reason we are: to steal the Ender Dragon’s egg! But rather than pursuing them, killing them, and having to fight the dragon ourselves, we will let them defeat it! The will probably get killed, but if they don’t, when they return to the Overworld we will attack them and destroy them, and take the egg for ourselves!”

 

Turning back to his general, he ordered, “I want you to use a few of the remaining creepers to dig a hole into the stronghold, and send in a few of you best warriors. Not enough to destroy them, or you will have severe punishments, but just a few to harass and get them wondering.”

 

Nodding the skeleton turned away and walked off to do his master’s bidding.

 

***

 

It was dark and cold inside the stronghold, even though the torches that Steve held gave off plenty of light.

 

There were thousands and thousands of tiny, dark spaces where anything could be hiding, and you always had to peer into every single one to make sure nothing was hiding there. Quite often there was, and so it was always better to shoot an arrow into the darkness first, and then look.

 

Alex shivered. Her part iron, part diamond armour wasn’t keeping her very warm, and she was getting very cold.

 

Pulling out her diamond sword, she watched as it gave off shimmering waves of light that lit up the small tunnel brightly.

 

A noise behind her made her turn around. There was nothing but darkness.

 

Suddenly the clattering of bones began to fill the air.

 

“Steve…” Alex asked uncertainly, pulling out her bow as she peered into the darkness behind them.

 

“Alex…” Said Steve with hesitation, gripping his sword tightly as he looked into the pitch-blackness ahead.

 

“What?” Asked Alex, fear leaking into her unsteady voice. “They’re on both sides?”

 

Suddenly two armoured skeletons burst out of the darkness towards her, iron swords held in their bony hands.

 

With a scream, Alex fired an arrow at the one that was nearest to her, then pulled out her sword and attacked the second. Quickly she destroyed the armour that protected its bony body, then jumped aside as the first slashed at her from behind.

 

Turning, she slashed at the skeleton’s iron chestplate, her razor sharp sword slicing easily through it.

 

As the chestplate fell to the ground, broken and useless, she slashed at the bony rib cage that now stood unprotected, quickly destroying the skeleton.

 

Spinning around, she blocked an attack from the remaining monster, than slashed down upon its blade with such force that it cut the sword clean in two.

 

The skeleton tried to back up, but Alex gave it no room, slashing at its legs, than stabbing at its chest, then with a final blow, she destroyed it, leaving nothing behind but a pile of white bones.

 

Turning to look at Steve, she realised that he had been unprepared for the skill level of the attacking skeletons, and had been driven back against the wall.

 

Pulling out her bow, she fired an arrow at each of the skeletons, setting them alight and distracting them, giving Steve time to attack and destroy them quickly.

 

“Thanks,” panted Steve.

 

“No problem,” said Alex, pulling out a loaf of bread and handing it to her brother, who ate it quickly with gratitude.

 

“What was that?” Asked Alex, puzzled. “I mean, four armoured skeletons? With swords? This isn’t just a random occurrence, Steve, I think Herobrine sent them.”

 

Steve nodded thoughtfully. “Thash pretty obvioush, ishn’t it?” He said, speaking with a mouthful of bread.

 

“Come on,” said Alex. “I think we’re nearly there!”

 

Turning a corner, Steve almost ran into a group of three zombies.

 

Not giving them time to attack, Steve slashed at them without hesitation, destroying two of them and leaving one with just a sliver of health left.

 

“Come, zombie.” Said Steve calmly, “Tell us where the portal room is and we will let you live.”

 

The rotting creature unconsciously glanced towards an iron door at the end of the passage.

 

“Thankyou,” said Steve with a smile of satisfaction.

 

Suddenly the zombie leaped forward, his razor sharp claws carving a deep scratch in Steve’s diamond chestplate.

 

Losing his balance, he fell backwards onto the ground with a clatter, and within a moment the zombie was on top of him.

 

His hand closed upon his diamond sword and he reached up and hacked at the zombie, killing it quickly.

 

“Well,” said Steve, getting to his feet. “In here I suppose?”

 

Opening the iron door cautiously, Steve peered down large, dark corridor with some kind of room at the end. Pulling out a torch, he placed it on the wall and lit up the whole room.

 

There were a few tiny pools of lava throughout the room, but at the centre there was a small staircase leading up to form a portal-like structure. At one point, a check of stairs had been taken out and replaced with a cage-like block.

 

“What is that?” Asked Steve, walking into the room with Alex close behind.

 

Suddenly a small spiny like creature, the colour of stone appeared on top of the cage and scurried along the floor towards them.

 

Pulling out his sword, Steve hit it, and it disappeared with a pop.

 

“Whatever it is, it’s dangerous!” Said Alex, pulling out her pickaxe and hammering away at the block.

 

Just before she destroyed it, another of the spiny, segmented creatures appeared, and charged towards Steve.

 

He slashed at it, missed, and hit at it again, but still missed. He slashed at it a third time and finally hit it, making it flash red as it disappeared.

 

Turning, he looked up at the yellow-green-blue portal that stood before them.

 

Climbing up the steps, he got ready to jump in, but was surprised to find that nothing lay before them but a pool of lava.

 

“Is it unactivated or something?” Steve asked.

 

Alex climbed up beside him. “I’ve read about this somewhere! Don’t ask me where, I don’t know where, but you need to place an ender eye on top of each of those blocks!”

 

Nodding, Steve pulled out an eye of ender and placed it on the centre block. The black-green centre of the orb stared back up at him.

 

Reaching over the portal, he placed two more on that side, than jumped up onto it and placed the rest of them.

 

As soon as the last orb had been placed on the final block, a black portal field formed between the blocks. Steve looked at it in wonder, for it looked like a entrance straight into the void.

 

Turning, he looked at Alex. “You ready?” He asked, not able to keep the excitement out of his voice.

 

“As ready as you are!” She replied, a grin beginning to show on her face.

 

Climbing back up the staircase, they stood at opposite ends of the portal.

 

Then with one last look at each other, they bent their knees, reached up to adjust their armour, and jumped—straight into the black portal, disappearing forever from that dark stronghold, never to return again.

 

 

Chapter 6

The End

 

 

Steve’s mind slowly cleared, allowing him to think properly.

 

He could tell that they had reached their destination, yet he could not see anything at all.

 

Putting out a hand, he touched something, and quickly recognised it as the armour coated body of Alex.

 

“Where are we?” Alex called out, her voice echoing as if they were in an extremely small room or enclosure.

 

Sticking out his hands in front of him, Steve began to walk forward slowly, but quickly bumped into a wall. The walls around him, felt hard and cold like stone, yet they were rough and jagged like obsidian.

 

“I think we’re in a small room of some sort,” Steve called back, his voice bouncing back at him out of the darkness.

 

“Can we have some light?” Was the reply from his invisible companion.

 

Nodding in the darkness, Steve reached into his inventory and pulled out a torch.

 

Instantly the small room was lit up with bright, warm light.

 

Looking around, Steve saw that they were in a small room. The floor was hard, sharp obsidian, while the walls were made out of a hard, sharp, yellow rock that looked quite like cobblestone, except it was filled with tiny craters and chips, with small jagged, points that stuck out.

 

Pulling out his pickaxe, Steve’s diamond tool quickly bit into the yellow cubes, destroying them in an instant.

 

He quickly began to construct a staircase leading upwards, Alex beside him in a moment, her iron pick destroying the stone blocks in a matter of moments.

 

Suddenly a dim, light filled the tunnel as they emerged out into one of the weirdest landscapes Steve had ever seen.

 

They were in the middle of a yellow, floating island suspended in the middle of the void. Tall obsidian pillars jutted out of the ground, with weird, purple crystals magically floating at the top. Above them the sky was not blue, or white with clouds, but was a dark, black sky filled with stars that lay suspended up above them.

 

There were no trees, no bushes, no houses, no living things except…

 

Endermen. The whole island was covered with endermen.

 

The tall, dark creatures were wandering aimlessly about, occasionally teleporting from place to place, but doing nothing at all interesting—until they noticed the two invaders.

 

Quickly, a large group of the monsters had bared their path, trying to get them to attack or look into their bright, ominous eyes.

 

But Alex and Steve were keeping their gaze down, careful not to look into the purple eyes of the black monsters.

 

Steve suddenly remembered something. “Uh, isn’t there supposed to be a dragon?” He whispered quietly to his sister.

 

Roooooooaaaarrrrrr!!!

 

“Duck!” Screamed Alex.

 

Diving forward, Steve flattened himself on the ground, just avoiding the sharp talons of the dragon as it flew overhead.

 

As the dragon passed over him, Steve stood up, pulled out his bow and was just preparing to notch an arrow when the gigantic, spiked ball that lay at the end of the dragon’s tail flew round and smashed into him.

 

He fell to the ground in pain, every single nerve in his body on fire with agony.

 

Groaning, he got to his feet, just in time to hear the Ender Dragon roar in pain as one of Alex’s flaming arrows found its way into the monster’s underbelly.

 

Looking down, he saw that a large crack had begun to form near the edge of his diamond chestplate, and he could tell that it would not last much longer.

 

Alex ran over to him, and gave him a loaf of bread to eat.

 

“This is going to be far more difficult than we thought,” Alex said in a troubled voice. “You see those floating crystals that lie on top of the pillars? Every single one of them will heal the dragon when it’s taken damage!”

 

Steve stared at her. “They can be destroyed, right?” He asked.

 

Alex shrugged pulling out her bow and notching an arrow to the bowstring. “We’ll have to find that out ourselves.”

 

Pulling out a stack of snowballs, Steve ran towards one of the lowest obsidian pillars and began to fire a stream of the fluffy white balls at the purple, floating, crystal.

 

As soon as the one of the snowballs hit the crystal, it exploded with the force of an electric creeper, sending a wave of debris and glass raining down upon Steve.

 

“Well that solves the puzzle,” he muttered.

 

Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings came to his ears and he flattened himself on the ground as the Ender Dragon swooped over him, not more than half a metre above his head.

 

This time he remembered to stay down until the enormous, spiked tail of the dragon had passed overhead.

 

Pulling out his bow, he fired an arrow towards the retreating dragon, scoring a hit on the edge of its body.

 

Looking around, he saw that Alex had destroyed three of the other ender crystals, leaving behind just three more.

 

Suddenly a dark shape emerged out of the darkness behind Alex and flew straight towards her in protected back.

 

“Alex!” He shouted, running towards her with his diamond sword in his hand. “Dragon!!!”

 

She was too far away to hear, but just continued to run towards him.

 

Sighing, he changed his speed and began to sprint as fast as he could towards her. “Look out!” He screamed, but she still couldn’t hear.

 

Switching from his sword to his bow, he notched an arrow and fired it towards the approaching beast.

 

It struck the dragon head on, making it flash red as it roared in pain.

 

The sound carried far over the smooth ground, causing Alex to turn around just as the monster smashed into her.

 

Yelling in fury, Steve charged towards the beast, and pulling out his diamond sword, he skidded to a stop, diving flat on the ground as the dragon flew over him.

 

As the Ender Dragon flew over him, he extended his sword upwards, carving a deep wound in the monster as its claws lightly scratched his chestplate.

 

Roaring in pain, the dragon flew up into the air and towards one of the floating ender crystals.

 

Running forward, he pulled out his bow, and fitted an arrow to the bowstring.

 

As the dragon flew closer, a white beam of light shot out of the crystal and into the dragon. Steve guessed this was the way the beast healed.

 

The monster was still growing nearer as the beam grew bigger and stronger, but Steve still did not release the arrow.

 

Only when the Ender Dragon was virtually touching the crystal did Steve let go of the bowstring, firing the arrow directly towards it.

 

As soon as the sharp projectile touched the purple crystal it exploded with enormous power, severely wounding the dragon as it roared in pain.

 

Steve watched as it climbed back up into the darkness that lay overhead. Then he suddenly remembered Alex and ran over towards where she lay.

 

“You okay?” He asked, pulling out a potion of healing and handing it to her.

 

“Yeah,” she replied faintly, staggering to her feet as she drank the rejuvenating potion. “It got me with a full head butt, I didn’t see it coming until you warned me, and even then it was almost too late.”

 

Steve nodded, turning to look around for the dragon before he answered. “Yeah, well, there’s still two more crystals left, and they’re too high up to reach with our bows.”

 

Alex stood up stronger and higher as her health increased. “So you’ve got a plan?”

 

Steve nodded again. “Yep.”

 

Alex pulled out her bow as she looked up at the two enormous pillars that rose up into the sky. “Is it dangerous?”

 

Steve nodded for the third time, pulling out his pickaxe as he began to excavate a layer of endstone, carefully picking up every single block. “Absolutely!”

 

***

 

Pulling out a large stack of endstone, Steve jumped into the air and placed one of the yellow cubes beneath him, quickly beginning to build a one block tower straight into the air.

 

Turning every now and then, he looked around to see that the dragon was nowhere in sight, but the obsidian pillar that he was building his tower next to obscured most of his view.

 

Looking up he could see the top of the pillar drawing nearer and nearer every time he placed a block. The gap was now only five blocks, now four, now three, two, one…

 

And then he was on top of the pillar, standing right next to the floating crystal.

 

It looked absolutely beautiful and from close up he could see that it was actually made up of two floating cubes that lay intersected inside each other, both slowly spinning in opposite directions.

 

He wanted to get closer, close enough to touch them, but then he realised that it lay floating in a block of flame, ready to blow up at the smallest touch.

 

Suddenly his thoughts were pierced by a sharp cry from the ground below him. “Steve! Dragon!”

 

Looking around, he realised that the dragon had flown out from the darkness to his left and was flying straight towards him, anger burning in its bright purple eyes.

 

Quickly, he pulled out his bow and fired an arrow towards the crystal on the nearby pillar. It exploded with a boom, sending a shockwave of debris and small obsidian shards flying in all directions.

 

Turning, he saw that the dragon was almost upon him.

 

Putting away his bow, he switched to his sword, than changed his mind and pulled out his bow again.

 

Notching an arrow to the bowstring, he pulled it back as far as it could go.

 

“Shoot!” Screamed Alex from below him. “SHOOT THE CRYSTAL!!!”

 

As the dragon grew nearer, a white beam of light flew out of the crystal and struck the creature in the chest.

 

Ignoring the beam, the Ender Dragon continued to fly straight towards him, determined to punish this intruder who had so rudely invaded its land.

 

Then, just as the dragon’s claws were about to tear into Steve’s flesh, he stepped off the edge, releasing the arrow as he did so.

 

As Steve fell through the air, he heard the explosion as sounded like thunder, the monster’s roar of pain matching it in volume as it flew straight into the blast zone.

 

Looking down as the air rushed past him, Steve could see Alex running towards him, a bucket of water held tightly in her hands.

 

He realised then that he may have under thought his plan a bit, and that Alex might actually not reach him in time. He knew that even with the strongest armour, strongest enchantments, and strongest items it was not possible to survive a fall from that height, whatever the occasion.

 

Looking around, he saw the ground rushing up to meet him, just as Alex poured out the bucket of water onto the surrounding blocks.

 

And then…

 

Splash!!!

 

Steve landed in the small pool of water, instantly stopping his fall and allowing him to catch his breath. “Thanks,” he said. “That was pretty intense!”

 

Alex nodded, scooping up the water in the bucket, ready to be used for another purpose. “Yeah, but we’re not finished yet. We’ve still got a dragon to kill!”

 

 

Chapter 7

Death Of The Dragon

 

 

Climbing up onto a small tower of endstone that Steve had just built, Alex looked up into the sky overhead for the gigantic dragon that had just disappeared into the darkness above them.

 

“There’s no sign of it!” She called down to her brother. “Wait, Steve! There it is!”

 

Turning around, she jumped down, turning to look again at the dimly lit silhouette of the Ender Dragon in the distance, it’s hovering form barely visible against the black, starry background.

 

“Wait, it’s coming back!” Steve shouted, causing her to turn around. “It’s flying straight towards us!”

 

Staring forward at the approaching monster, Alex knew that it would only take several more hits to destroy the dragon, but it would also only take another attack from the beast to end both their lives as well.

 

Pulling out her enchanted bow, she notched an arrow to the bowstring and aimed it towards the approaching enderdragon.

 

The enormous beast was now flying extremely low over the rocky ground, it’s wings flapping vigorously as its speed increased.

 

Already the dragon was flying at an unimaginable speed, and every time it beat its wings, it flew faster and faster.

 

The purple-black dragon was staring straight towards the two, it’s large purple eyes filled with hatred and anger.

 

Alex could now tell that this would be it. The dragon was flying at such an insane speed that it could not—and would not stop. Either. They would become one of the Ender Dragon’s many victims, or they would kill it, putting their names at the centre of Minecraft history forever.

 

Suddenly she realised that the dragon was in range and fired her arrow at the beast, hitting it at the back of its long neck.

 

With a roar of pain, the dragon extended its claws towards her, and as she ducked, the dragon reached down and grasped her in one of its enormous feet, crushed her tightly between its claws, and dropped her with a clatter onto the endstone beneath it.

 

“Nooooooo!!” Screamed Steve, then glared forward with rage and anger at the approaching dragon.

 

Running forward, he pulled out his enchanted diamond blade with one hand, and his spare iron sword with his other.

 

He kept running forward until the dragon was almost upon him before he suddenly skidded to a stop and dived down to the hard floor as the beast flew over him.

 

Jabbing upwards viciously with both swords, Steve felt the blades being ripped from his hands as the dragon flew past, his two swords sticking out from its underbelly.

 

Roaring in pain and anger, the dragon flew onwards, veering slightly to the left as it tried to get away from the torment that its body was giving it. It then realised it mistake, for it was flying straight towards one of the large obsidian pillars.

 

Unable to stop, the dragon tried to fly upwards, but it was going too fast. With a gigantic smack that echoed throughout The End, the black monster crashed into the the gigantic pillar, flashing red multiple times before purple shafts of light burst out from the dragon’s impaled body as it began to fall apart. Then, with one final scream of sorrow, the Ender Dragon exploded, leaving behind a large black portal and thousands upon thousands of XP balls, all that remained of its many victims.

 

Not bothering to look at any of it, Steve ran back towards Alex. She was terribly wounded, for the dragon’s claws had scratched her badly, her broken and cracked armour offering little protection.

 

Kneeling down beside her, Steve pulled out a potion of healing, unscrewed the cork,mane poured the crimson into her open mouth.

 

Nothing happened for several minutes and Steve soon began to get worries. “Please,” he pleaded. “You can’t die! You’re my friend, my companion, my only family! I couldn’t bear to lose you!”

 

Slowly, Alex began to cough, then her eyes opened and she stared up at him with a smile on her face. “Don’t worry,” she said shakily with a grin. “I don’t think you’ll lose me just yet!”

 

Steve’s eyes lit up as she spoke, then he bent down and hugged her tightly. Then, he stood up and said, “Come on, we’ve got an egg to collect!”

 

As Alex slowly got to her feet, Steve pulled out his spare set of armour and handed it to her.

 

“Wow, that is a LOT of XP!” Alex gasped, staring forward at the sea of green orbs that lay in front of her.

 

“Yep,” answered Steve.

 

Walking forward, Alex could feel herself getting physically and mentally stronger as hundreds and hundreds of XP orbs were sucked into her.

 

As they reached the obsidian pillar where the Ender Dragon had died, Alex turned around and realised that there was not a single enderman in sight. “Steve?” She asked uncertainly. “Where are all the endermen?”

 

Her brother turned around, noticing her troubled face and the lack of the dark creatures. “Yeah, you’re right,” he replied. “It doesn’t seem natural, but they could just all be meeting in the enderman caves?”

 

Alex shrugged, pulling out a stack of cobblestone and beginning to build a staircase up to the portal that floated above their heads. “Let’s just get this over with.” She muttered.

 

“Agreed,” replied Steve as he started to build his own one-block tower up to the black, bedrock portal.

 

As they reached the top, Alex looked up in wonder at the purple-black egg that sat on top of a small, bedrock pillar. Surrounding that pillar lay the exit portal, a complete reflection of the sky and stars above them.

 

“Careful, don’t fall in!” Warned Steve.

 

Alex rolled her eyes. “Yeah, totally.” She replied sarcastically.

 

“Now,” replied Steve, pulling out a piston and his remaining stack of cobblestone. “We need to do this very carefully. If we touch the egg it will teleport, so we need to push it off into our hands with a piston.”

 

As he said this, he started to cover the portal over with cobblestone, then built up a few blocks, and placed the piston facing directly towards the egg.

 

Pulling out a redstone block, he placed it underneath the piston, instantly activating the mechanical block.

 

It pushed the egg forward, right of the edge of its pillar—straight into Steve’s hands.

 

“Now come on!” Steve said excitedly. “Let’s get out of here!”

 

Just as he said this, an enderman appeared on the ground below them, then another and another until an entire sea of endermen stood before the , each holding something tightly in their hands.

 

As one, all the endermen stepped back and teleported away again, leaving behind an entire army of skeletons, zombies, spiders, and creepers—with Herobrine at the head.

 

“Hello Steve, hello Alex,” Herobrine said in his malicious, evil voice. “Thank you for destroying the dragon for us, but I’m afraid we’re going to have to take the egg from here.”

 

Steve pulled out his pickaxe and quickly destroyed one of the cobblestone blocks. “Quick, Alex! Get in!”

 

Without a moment’s hesitation, she dived in, instantly disappearing as she teleported back to the Overworld.

 

Turning, Steve waved gleefully at the ragin Herobrine, then fell backwards into the portal, a huge grin of satisfaction on his face.

 

And well he did smile, for their quest was complete. They had found the stronghold, made it to The End, defeated the Ender Dragon, stolen the egg, avoided their nemesis twice, and made it back to the Overworld—alive.

 

 

Epilogue

 

As Steve appeared in the middle of a gravelly path, the first thing he noticed was that he was in the Overworld. The second thing he noticed was Alex looking at him with a huge smile on her face. Then she ran forward and hugged him. “We did it!” She yelled.

 

Steve nodded his head, then looked up at the sky and saw it was almost night. “Alex we should be getting back soon,” he said, pointing towards the just visible sun as it disappeared on the horizon.

 

“Hey, look!” Cried Alex. “This path will lead us straight to our fortress! Don’t you remember building it?”

 

They quickly ran along the path together, through a grassy plains biome, out through a birch forest, and finally emerged into the desert where they lived.

 

As they approached the huge looming shadow of their fortress and the dark, metallic gate, a flaming arrow suddenly flew out from a slit in the wall and landed not two blocks in front of them.

 

“Who goes there?” Shouted the voice of one of the sentries from above the gate.

 

“Just us, Alex and Steve!” Shouted Steve.

 

The voice of the sentry harder slightly. “You are not welcome here at the fortress of .H.E.R.O.B.R.I.N.E!” Shouted the sentry. “If you value your lives you will go away forever!”

 

Steve’s eyebrows rose. “Fortress of h-e-r-o-what? Hang on a sec! You can’t kick us out! We built this place!”

 

Up on the wall, the sentry laughed. “We don’t serve you any more, Steve. We serve him.”

 

There was a slight noise behind them and they turned around to see an enormous army of monsters emerging out of the trees towards them, a figure with glowing white eyes at the head.

 

“Herobrine?” Alex and Steve cried together. “You did this?”

 

Herobrine laughed maliciously, then his voice suddenly became hard and cold. “I’m done playing with you, Steve!” He spat, pulling out two diamond swords as he stepped closer, his iridescent diamond armour shining in the moonlight. “Hand the egg over, or die!”

 

The End?

 

To Be (Maybe) Continued…