The Herobrine Quest

Chapter 26. Broken Portal

Ranger looked out from the cave cautiously, not wanting to trigger a landslide. Rubble littered the ground of the Nether, and several lava lakes were ruptured, sending lava streams throughout the world like enormous veins. Toxic carefully stood up. Not a single person had stayed on their feet during the explosion.

The Wither! It must have went through all their minds at once, because they all ran out of the cave to check at the same time. The area where the Wither had been was blown to bits. The only thing left of the Wither was an enormous crater. A collective sigh came from the gathered friends as they realized the hunt for the Wither had ended.

Then it was cut off as they realized their next task was to hunt down Herobrine. It would be no easy feat. Pro said "We should get back to the Overworld." Vague words of acceptance came from the others. Dave said "I'll uncover the portal." Toxic looked and confirmed that the portal had indeed been buried in Netherrack in the explosion.

"I'll help." She offered. Dave nodded and they pulled their iron pickaxes from their inventory. Checking the life of their tools briefly, they began digging through the soft, dark red stone. Ranger had a sudden doubt. What if the portal had somehow gone off? What if they were trapped here?

In her uncertainty, she decided that the best thing she could do was help Toxic and Dave. Soon, without anything else to do, the others joined in too. Eventually everybody was working on uncovering the buried portal that would be their escape.

Steph was the one to uncover the first piece of obsidian. Ranger, who was digging beside her, broke the Netherrack beside it, hoping to see the purple film that meant the portal was active. She only saw more Netherrack.

It could only mean two things. Either the portal was shut off, or they were digging in the wrong spot. Having a minor panick attack, Pro smashed her pickaxe again and again into the Netherrack. No purple film appeared.

Ranger used her pick to break one last Netherrack block that would ultimately show them if the portal was on or not. It was just inside one of the corners, so it would be definitive. Ranger fell to her knees. Pro lowered her head. Toxic groaned. Steph stood, frozen in fear.

Dave was shaking his head, his eyes wide. There was no purple film. One by one, they all walked back to the cave. Toxic said "Well...I guess we're trapped here then." Ranger objected hopefully "Maybe somebody brought flint and steel!"

They all checked their inventories. Nobody had remembered the flint and steel. Toxic asked "What now?" Not one person spoke up. Then Mineral said "We have to wait until somebody comes for us." Dave added sadly "I worry that the specific person may be Herobrine."