The Edge of MINECRAFT (Being the Second Volume of the Minecraft Trilogy)

Man Down

Jack could not believe it. For the second time since he had met Steve, Jack was mourning the death of him. Jack had seen it all unfold: the duel, the surprise, and the fall. The battle was pretty much winding down, and no one else had noticed. Though he dreaded it, Jack would probably have to be the one to break the news. He hacked at a monster in front of him and stabbed one laying in the ground. Most were fleeing. Fewer than thirty monsters were still alive, and not even half that would ultimately make it out.

Lucas rode up to him on his horse. "Straumn," he swore. "That skeleton got away. Probably heading back to the precinct."

"Don't worry about it," Jack assured. "We destroyed almost all of them. That skellie will tell anyone still there to pack their bags and they'll move to another base. This one's done."

Lucas nodded. "Where's Steve?" he asked nonchalantly. Jack swallowed.

"He fell," the lumberjack answered after a moment.

"What?" Lucas questioned with a touch of shock. No raised voice, just surprise. Jack told him the entire story. After he finished, the two of them walked to the hole where their friend had last stood. Lucas shook his head. Jack knelt down and picked up the two halves of the brilliant diamond sword. Its enchanted blade still glowed slightly.

"We'll have to tell them," Lucas said at last.

"How?" Jack despaired. "He was our leader. He inspired us. Without Steve, there is no army!" He looked close to crying.

"Get a hold of yourself, man!" cried Lucas suddenly. The characteristically quiet hunter was suddenly a different person. "Steve knew that he could die just like the rest of us. He didn't want us to give up if he did!"

"But," Jack struggled, "he was supposed to be the chosen one. If he died, then that means we were wrong."

"Are you kidding!?" Lucas exploded. "Steve admitted that he probably wasn't the chosen one. But he was a great leader, and we must honor his memory by continuing to fight the fight he started." Satisfied, Lucas drew in a long breath. Jack had never recalled his oldest friend getting that mad. No, not mad, Jack corrected. Impassioned. And right. Jack shook off the pain and looked back at Lucas.

"We will remeber him," the blonde warrior confirmed. Lucas nodded. He then turned to meet Patrick, who most likely carried the reports of the wounded.

"Lucas, Jack," he panted. "I haven't found Steve. We have his horse, though." Lucas signaled to go on. Patrick assumed they would tell Steve later. He resumed his report: "Four serious injuries. Eleven minor ones. We have six deaths in combat, plus an unlucky cavalry man who died from wounds. We need to get the wounded back to base."

"Then let's do that," Lucas said. "The battle's over. We're heading back to base." All over the battlefield, villagers helped each other back to the trail to base. Jack sighed. He watched the scouts, led by Ben, as they retrieved items from the fallen monsters. He let out a long sigh, and then mounted his horse. It was going to be a tough day.

~~~

Jack stood around the table with the other members of the emergency council that had been formed. Lucas, Amos, a couple leaders of other camps and some elders from different towns were also there. Amos looked especially tired. He wasn't due back for another three days, but he was filling in for Jameson, the lead elder of Westlodge, who was away on business.

"So pretty much, Steve's gone, then," Amos bluntly put it after hearing the story. No one else had said anything up to that point. Jack took a few breaths and then began to explain his hypothesis.

"There is one thing," he piped up. "I saw a flash come from the bottom of the hole, and that made me wonder whether the shards of Steve's sword ignited a creative spark." Some of the elders looked surprised at this assumption. Some just looked confused. Jack continued: "A creative spark has power to do many things. It was a power that Notch and his explorers harnessed. One thing this creative power can do is cause massive blasts, some of which could even blast through bedrock. If this happened, Steve could have fallen into the Void."

Everyone listened keenly to this explanation. "But the Void is just nothingness," suggested Lucas at last.

Jack shook his head. "We know from the stories that other worlds exist beyond the Void. If Steve could somehow stay alive long enough to survive a trip to one of them, then maybe he can get back to Minecraft."

"That's a lot of if's," Amos commented. The leaders nodded.

"I know," replied Jack, "but it's what we can tell everyone. In the meantime, we continue to uproot any remaining monster bases. It's a longshot, but it's something. We can accept he's gone but still hold onto the fact that he may be out there somewhere. Most will just do the latter 'cause that's all they've been told."

"Then it's settled," said Quinn, a representative from Stremfort. "We'll spread the story that Steve has miraculously traveled to another world and he'll be back soon." Everyone nodded yet again.

Suddenly, Ben rushed in. "I hate to interrupt, but we have a situation," he blurted. Ben had already learned of Steve's leave of absence, but nothing more.

"Go ahead," Lucas grunted.

"There is a gargantuan, and I repeat, gargantuan, monster meeting going on. Word just came in from outside Rivenholm that they're assembling in the Northwest Rockfields. We don't know what they're doing, but we need to act fast."

Lucas looked at leaders. "Are we done here gentlemen?" he asked politely but with a hint of impatience. Jack knew a change had taken place in Lucas. With the men, he was still his old self, the quiet, shy, fun-loving hunter. But in these meetings, with no Steve to act as leader, he was all business. The villagers voiced their agreement and exited the tent. Lucas looked at Ben.

"I want specifics," the hunter stated. "Get me some sort of monster count. Pull in some men, too. How big is this meeting, anyway?"

"Right now, close to double the size of what we fought yesterday, and more are pouring in by the hour." Lucas considered this.

"We have close to sixty battle-ready men," Lucas observed "More like sixty-five if we give them a few days. I'm going to need to talk to some other camps, see how many men we can pull together in the next three days. I'm going to guess we're gonna need anywhere between two and three hundred. Of course, just like yesterday, we'll have to leave around thirty to keep up the camp, as will everybody else." He paused and looked up at his three friends. "I'm going to need to talk with the camp leaders who are here. Ben, get those details and send messages to any other camps close to us. Jack, Amos, you two spread the word about Steve."

With that, he sat down in the chair Steve normally took. Ben hurried out. Amos and Jack passed the camp leaders on the way out. Jack turned just to see Lucas's face before the tent flap closed.

"He's changed," Amos pointed out.

"I always thought," Jack said, "that, if Steve died, I would take over. I didn't know Lucas had this potential. I'm glad for him, and relieved that I don't have to lead, but I don't want him to be too taxed by it."

"You're right," Amos said. "This is a good fit for Lucas, though." The two of them walked on. "I have love letters from your girlfriend," the old blacksmith chuckled.

Jack slightly got red in the face. He thought of Juliet Rose Ravencroft, Lucas's pretty brunette cousin who lived back at Westlodge. The two had grown up together, and shortly before Steve had shown up, they had gotten closer. Then, over the past three months, in their letters to each other, they had started to realize just how close they were.

"How is she doing?" Jack asked.

"Oh, she's great," Amos answered. "Asked about you. Your folks are fine. Your dad is proud of you, and your brothers are interested in your adventures. Everything's great."

Jack smiled. They would get by. He knew that the men would have to set out soon to catch the monsters. In the meantime, he would catch up with Amos about life back home. They walked out into the camp, just two friends on break.