Hero's Bane

Chapter 39: Then Finally

(Art by Artbacon DA)

Steve's head snapped left then right, his sealed eyes squinted tighter as two bright lights beamed into his face. The irritating white glow intensified for a few minutes but slowly dimmed out and left his eyelids to rest. The crackling sounds from the blazing Netherrack popped loudly in his ears and he could feel a slight chill now crawling down his arms. He was cold?

The miner quickly shot up from the mattress to find his cover now several feet away on the floor, right next to the doorway leading out. He hopped out of bed and noticed that the front door was wide open, but the old man was still in asleep in his chair near the fireplace so who opened the door? Frightened, he quietly edged near the doorway with the diamond sword now in hand, he tiptoed to the frame and poked his head out to find footprints in the snow leading out into the cold morning. He took a deep breath then made a sprint outside before looking back to make sure that he wasn't going to be ambushed from behind or from the top of the roof. There was nothing that he could see, not even a mob. He looked at the rising sun and then back down at his feet and followed the prints.

He walked out into the clearing then back towards the house, then to the side of the building. He moved down the hill with his eyes completely fixed on the trail and the terrain under his feet, he wasn't sure who's they were but he had a bad feeling of who he was following. Why he was following the trail was beyond him, but for some reason he felt so allured to the mystery of the tracks that he just couldn't stop. It was like his body was being controlled but he wasn't opposed to the feeling. The snow prints faded as they now led into a cave, upon removing his gaze from the remains of snow leading into darkness he recognized the ground pattern and the location.

This was the cave that led to Herobrine.

Still feeling his legs moving on their own; Steve ran down into the depths and hopped down a small bank of stone to see a dim light just beyond a corner near the end of a narrow passageway. The hair on his neck stood on end as he walked through the natural hallway to find that one redstone torch still clinging to the wall, but as he walked past it he could see more reddish glowing ahead. As he moved onwards he found himself gawking at the sheer amount of the red torches now lining the walls of the cave, a torch was placed every several or so blocks apart. It was a startling sign and it could only mean one thing; that he was walking towards his opponent and that he may be going to the last place he fought Herobrine.

The entire travel was quiet, no presence of mobs or sounds for that matter; just an eerie quietness hung about throughout the cave. After finally hopping up the cave exit he found himself staring at a darkened figure standing in a circle of the remains of the scorched grass and brunt forest, the same patch of trees that had been destroyed by Herobrine's uncontrollable state just last night. The humanlike shadow did not move but quietly remained with his head angled to the side a bit, though still it was utterly terrifying.

Steve tried to move backwards but his legs wouldn't let him, he could only control his wielding arm and his neck. The awkward silence was eating away at the miner's patience, he couldn't do anything but stand there and watch this shadow observe him. "What's going on?! Are you there Herobrine?" He loudly spoke, hoping to Notch that the final battle wasn't now and Herobrine wasn't in rage mode. Steve was suddenly feeling upset, he didn't get to prepare or even get to say goodbye to Nigel, should he fail in his endeavor to stop the powerful being then he'll never have the chance to see his friend make ou of the valley alive.

The darkened figure suddenly pointed up and that was when Steve looked up to see the sky getting brighter, the sun was burning overhead and it quickly moved across the sky along with some clouds moving even faster to the miner's amazement. It was if time was elapsing, the sun had rose but now it was starting to set. A thin sliver of white then moved at the opposite end of his vision and the time frame stopped as the moon now settled in the center of the star filled atmosphere.