Hero's Bane

Chapter 9: He'll Keep You Safe

"Conner?!" Steve shouted as leaped up each of the stone steps in his hurried sprint back towards a danger zone, a place where he had seen, heard, and ran from tough monsters and that strange terrifying mist. His one encounter with a powerful Zombie started to replay in his head and the idea of that boy running into one alone or if he'd run into something worse was beginning to weigh heavy in his head. 'What is a child doing here in the first place?' He thought to himself as he finally reached the large opening where he first fell into.

"This way Oreh!" The young boy poked out of one of the caves to his right, waving an arm with an positive expression. "Come on."

"Wait right there!" He quickly ran over to the small blonde boy and then did a quick scan of his surroundings, making sure that there were no immediate dangers nearby. It was odd though, there was absolutely no sounds of growls and moans or anything of the sort. Even the zombie's corpse that he had killed earlier was now missing, no evidence of a struggle to be seen. The only reason he could explain this was that the zombie wasn't completely dead and it must of got up and stumbled off somewhere. Somewhere close? He really hoped not.

Steve returned his attention back to the boy and the kid raised a brow and tilted his head. "Is there something wrong?"

He held out the torch for the kid to take it and forced himself to smile. "Just making sure the coast is clear, that is all."

"You look worried." He said, taking the burning source reluctantly.

Steve's false smile faded and he motioned the kid to turn back towards the assumed exit, really hoping that whatever darkness they were about to go through would lead them out. "You're going to be holding the light for me okay, so I need you to stay close so that I can protect you and see you."

"Oreh?" The kid whined a bit. "What's wrong with you?"

"It's nothing,... um-." Steve paused and decided to play along with this child's charade at least until they were safe and on the surface, then he'd feel more inclined to tell the kid what was really going on and what dangers lurked in this Nether-ish pit. "My memory seems a little fuzzy, I think I might of hit my head on a rock or something. I'm sure I'll snap out of this- this? This confusion soon!" He blurted out. "It'll all come back to me eventually." He shrugged with a small nervous smile.

The boy started walking forward but seemed less worried with the sound of his upbeat tone. "Okay, that could explain how jumpy you are!" He laughed.

"Yeah," Steve sighed in relief as he followed shortly behind. "jumpy." He said flatly while rolling his eyes. 'In this place anyone would be 'jumpy' or even 'runny'.'

"Hey Oreh?"

"What?"

"You don't have to worry too much."

"Oh really?" He said, whipping his head back around to make sure they weren't being followed, Steve still couldn't help but be paranoid. Mobs or worse; Herobrine, could be lurking anywhere.

"Yep! You already beat up and scared away most of those meanies when we came down here so you don't have to worry about seeing too many of them. I think you may of really taught them a lesson to leave us alone!"

Steve was again... confused. "I did? Well- that's good. I guess?" He rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, since I can't remember so much, can you help me clear up some of this confusion?"

"Say please?" The cheerful boy asked with a singsong voice.

He sighed again and rolled his eyes. "Okay, please?"

"Sure! What do you need help remembering with?"

"Can you tell me why you- I mean 'we' came down here in the first place?" He asked while gesturing the tunnel they trekked through.