A Promise Broken.

Uniting the Nether

  I stare at the totem of undying that levitated a few inches from my hand, quite intrigued by it. It wasn't like anything in any book Rain, or Ceris had lying around their houses. I slump in my chair. If they don't have anything on whatever this is, how am I going to find something?

  All of a sudden, I hear a knock at my front door. I get up, pocketing the totem before opening the door. "Oh! General Amelia! Suppose you got my message?"

  She nods. "Yup! But not only that, Rain told me you were looking for a book on totems? I managed to get into the library's restricted section with my father's pass."

  I nod. "Y—Yeah! Um... Ceris has been taking interest in them lately, and I... thought I'd find a book for her!" I lie, scratching the back of my head.

  The General smiles. "You're a good wife to support her interests! Alas... I could only find one book." She mumbles, handing over a book that looked to be in quite poor condition.

  The leather cover looked to be slightly burnt and tattered. It was so beaten I could hardly see the title of the book. I brisk through the pages to see the inside's condition not much better. The pages were covered in colorful potion stains and blaze-rod dust, and I swear there's a page missing in almost every chapter.

  "What irresponsible thug was the last one to take this out of the library?" I ask.

  Amelia shrugs. "I'm not sure? The librarian said that the book was missing for a few days before she found it this morning in the front of her shop. She's known to be a little superstitious, so she'll probably be perfectly content with you keeping it for a while..."

  "When does she want this back exactly?" I ask, closing the book.

  "Didn't even give me a date..." Amelia said. "Just stamped it, tossed it to me by the bookmark, and pushed me out of her library."

  "Well that was a little rude of her..." I comment. Amelia just shrugs.

  "But about your message, you sure that heading there is a good idea? I know I only know one side of the story when it comes to the Nether, but... what if it's dangerous? What if something bad happens?" She questions.

  "Don't worry General! It'll be a short trip to the Nether. It should only take a day or two if things go as planned." I claim, walking over to my packed bag. "Olivia is spending the night with her friend Annabelle, Hogsworth's niece. All I have left to do is tell Ceris I'm heading out. Do you know where she is?"

"Ceris is stationed in Dragonspire at the moment. She along with many others volunteered to hunt for Lance." Amelia answers. I sigh sadly. I wanted to see Ceris before I set off—maybe get a kiss or two—but I guess the small time we spent together this morning will do for now.

"Well... when she gets back, tell her I send my love and that I'll be back home soon!" I ask, picking up my bag and tossing it over my shoulders. As I adjust the straps, Amelia tilts her head slightly.

"New set of armor?" She asks. I look down at it. It's a less-formal armor set, made for small campaigns and missions that require lots of traveling. My old armor set may have been more protective, but was a PAIN to travel in. So much heavier and bulkier. Actually, this one is almost exactly the same set I wore when Kane and I went to fight Lance, besides the few modifications.

I giggle, picking up Ruby Thorn. "Hardly anything new my child. Now! I must get going!"

~

The five of us tread throughout the lava pools on our striders, headed to the Nether Fortress, or whatever would be left of it at this point. On this quest, we have a group of five consisting of myself (of course), my dad, Hogsworth, Kralos, and Herobrine. Safer to bring the people that can tolerate fire and lava than have any... incidents with people who can't.