MINECRAFT: Enders

Chapter Four - Monsters

"Help!" shouted Alex as she sprinted down the Gravel Path, nearly tripping over her own ankles. She heard the rattling of Skeleton bones and the gutteral noises of Zombies behind her, then felt the air cut close by her skin as an arrow whizzed past her face and landed upright in the path.

Without flinching, Alex dove and picked up the arrow and then turned with it loaded on her bow, then she fired it at the crowd of mobs following her. She heard one grunt and growl at the pain the arrow brought, but she didn't stay to figure out which Mob it was that she wounded.

The Gravel pebbles crunched beneath her Iron Boots as she continued to run into blind darkness, only to spot a flicker of light off in the distance. Instantly, she knew she just had to go there, maybe it was a Villager camping, or maybe another Crafter! She didn't care who they were, she just had hope that they'd be able to help her with a Sword.

The Gravel Path slowly came to an end and was nothing more than Grass Blocks for miles out here. This must have been what they called the Plains. The smoke of the nearby Campfire could be seen in the sky, and Alex carefully tread over to it.

"Hello?" she asked quietly, just enough to attract nearby attention and nothing extra.

There was a horse with Iron Armor, along with a brown mule carrying a heavy sack of food upon its back. They were tied to a fallen log on the ground, in front of the fire. There was one lone tree, and as Alex got closer to it, she saw a bed resting on one of the tall branches.

"Hey!" Alex said, cupping her hands around her mouth and shouting up the tree.

There was still silence.

"Hmm..." Alex hummed and was about to turn when all of a sudden a deranged yell came from behind her, followed by the snapping of several small twigs and rustling of leaves before the loud boom of whatever it was falling and hitting the ground.

"Whoa!" shouted Alex as she fell back to avoid the Sword being slashed at her face. Expecting another swipe, Alex bared down and braced herself, only for nothing to happen.

"Wait a minute--do I know you?" asked the familiar voice.

Alex turned, then quickly got up to retort.

"You nearly cut my nose off, bug-eater!" she hissed. "For the 'Ironguard Warrior', that was sloppy swordsmanship."

"Sloppy?" asked Steve. "If you were a Mob, that would've gotten the job done!"

"And I'm not a mob," Alex emphasized, raising her voice quite loudly.

"Shh! You're going to bring the whole Night down on us," Steve said, putting a hand up to Alex's face, but she merely swatted it away.

"Take me with you to Ender Peak, then," Alex demanded as she crossed her arms and turned her head.

"What? You?" questioned Steve defensively. "You probably don't even have your own Sword to fight with--let alone the skills needed to fight."

Alex scoffed.

"Better, I have a bow," she remarked. "And I got through Cobrose's guards to get here."

"Congrats, you're a criminal," Steve said. "And what good is a Bow when the fight is right in front of you?"

Alex sighed, then shrugged.

"I don't have a Sword,"

"Thought such," retorted Steve.

"But I have to get to Ender Peak and fight the Dragon," Alex added. "I heard stories that the Dragon had so much food after it came through the Portal that it took Crafters captive instead..."

Alex dazed off at the light of the Full Moon, then turned to Steve after a moment.

"I wanted to find my Dad," she said.

Steve looked pretty stunned.

"He was taken when the Dragon first took over?" Steve asked. "Are you sure that he is even still alive?"

"I don't know," Alex responded. "But that's why I gotta try to find him."

Steve seemed to think.

"Okay, how about I craft you another Bed for another branch, then in the morning we'll continue walking to Ender Peak?" Steve suggested. "You can ride on... uh..."

"I have a horse, it just ran off," Alex explained. "We'll just have to look for him in the morning before we leave."

"Uh... that horse is going to be three-ways to Sunday by the time we find it in the morning," Steve said as he emptied his pockets for Wool and Wood Planks

"No it won't, it'll be near the Gravel Path," assured Alex. "It's a guard's horse."

"Oh... ok..." Steve responded as he formed the Bed and crafted it.

"Thanks, Steve!" Alex said as Steve gave her the Bed.

"Put it on the branch on the left side," Steve advised. "Watch the vines."

"I know to watch the vines!" retorted Alex as she climbed the tree.

"Shh!" urged Steve as he began climbing up after her. "If you're this loud every Night, we're going to have a lot more problems than just Ender Peak."

"Sorry, Steve," Alex said in a whisper. "I'll just speak like this."

Alex placed her bed on the thick branch, it looked like it was safe enough to sleep on.

"Goodnight, Alex," called Steve as he plopped down on his own Bed, arms crossed behind his head and his chin up to the leaves.

"Goodnight, Steve," Alex called back, then got on top of her own bed and stared up at the ceiling of leaves. Each time the breeze blew, it played a melody with each and every tree leaf, and soon, it was the lullaby that sent Alex to sleep.