Council of the Heir

Chapter Twenty Two - oh

Lydia peered out through the trees over the ocean, momentarily awed by the sparkle of sunbeams over the rippling water. As much as she hated the ocean, she could admit that it had its moments.

"What's wrong?" A voice caught her attention, and she glanced back to find Alex watching her with a frown.

"Oh. Nothing." Lydia adjusted her posture to sit up straight, nudging her horse away from the treeline. "Just admiring the sunset." Alex nodded, satisfied, and she turned back to the others in front of her. Lydia's gaze lingered on her for a moment as she pulled ahead again. She was... pretty sure she hadn't seen Alex smile once. Granted, this wasn't a cheery situation, but... Alex was also just kinda like that.

They hadn't gotten far from the shore, but the biome beside it had turned into a birch forest, which their group had appropriated for some form of cover as they continued along the coast. In Lydia's experience, as far as Minecraft generation, they would probably eventually figure out that they were on a continent and have to cross the ocean to find new ground. But it didn't... really matter, in their case, since they were just hiding from Null.

It was getting late, which meant that soon they should be packing up for the night. Lydia didn't really want to be the one to bring it up, worried that Notch would argue with her on principle, but she would if they kept going for much longer. Not only because of the impending attack by Null, but... also because her legs hurt. She was not used to riding horses.

Habitually, she glanced over her shoulder to check on Val and his dad. She had heard them conversing quietly at the back of the group for the last hour or so, though she couldn't make out what it was they were talking about. She felt bad for not being able to stick close and explain things to them, but... right now she would rather focus on being aware and keeping an eye out for trouble.

The shadows of the birch trees stretched out longer and longer between them and the sun, and Lydia turned to gaze off deeper into the woods. It was getting dark enough that she was starting to have trouble seeing anything that might be hiding out there.

Her gaze met a pair of white, glowing eyes, which immediately vanished into the darkness.

Her heart dropped, and she yanked on the reins, jerking her horse to a stop. "Guys?" she called as her heart started to race in her chest. "I just saw Null."

"What? Where?" Steve wheeled around, scanning the forest. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure." Unless she was going crazy, but that was unlikely. Right? "I saw his eyes, just for a second before they vanished."

"So he knows where we are," Herobrine supplied grimly. Behind them, Valor drew out his pickaxe.

"Keep going," Notch ordered, leaning around to sweep a stern look over the group. "This battleground will do us more harm than good, it will serve us better to get to an open area."

"Will it?" Herobrine muttered, but didn't argue aloud, instead spurring his horse forward again. Nervously, Lydia followed.

So they hadn't managed to evade him. Null knew where they were. In this circumstance, so far from the shore, he wouldn't be able to utilize the Elder... right? But he had other mobs. What if he pulled up a warden again? What if he used the ender dragons?? He probably wasn't strong enough for that at this point... she hoped. Because Theo wasn't ready to take him down.

The birch trees started to thin out ahead of them, and Notch nudged his horse to be faster as they broke from the treeline back out onto the beach. Lydia cast the water a wary look, but determined it was still too far away to be useful. The sun had reached the horizon now, rays of red and orange and every shade of pink and purple reflecting across the sea.