The Enderlox Trilogy III: Seto's Triumph

T W E N T Y - T W O: The Overworld

***PRESTON'S POV***

I watch as Ty jumps on his friend. His friend is taken by surprise and the wind is knocked out of him as he falls onto the cold, hard ground of the cave.

His friend mutters a curse and then his hand moves towards his sword. He quickly draws the sword and holds it in Ty's direction. Elizabeth moves to grip my hand but I rush forward to defend my friend.

"Stop!" I yell. "This boy is your friend, is he not?" My voice sounds way more formal and intimidating than I'd wanted it to be, but I think it gets the point across.

"Who are you?" Ty's 'friend' asks.

"I am Preston, Prince of the Nether. This is Elizabeth, and this--" I gesture to Ty "-- is your friend! Don't hurt him!"

"It's me, Sky." Ty croaks. "Chill out, man. These guys are my friends."

"Oh," Sky says. "I'm sorry, Ty. What happened to you? I thought the Wither Worshipers caught you."

Ty shoots Sky a puzzled look. "What do you mean? You know what happened. I jumped through the Portal."

"Sky!" Announces another voice. "You lied to me?" A girl steps out of the shadows. She looks very similar to Ty, with wings and claws and scales. Unlike Ty, though, her eyes are brown and not purple.

"I thought he wasn't coming back, Ashley." Sky says to the girl. "No matter what really happened, he was gone."

"Whatever," Ashely says. She runs in Ty's direction and wraps her arms around him, and then plants a kiss on his cheek. As she does so, Elizabeth joins me and slips her hand into mine and then leans her head on my shoulder. I turn to her and wrap my arms around her, as I can feel her fear of this new realm. I'm scared too, of course -- of the battle, not the Overworld -- but I refuse to show my fear. I'm the Prince of the Nether, I've got to be strong. Besides, I have Ty here, and he is my friend. He and his friends know about the dangers of this place and they will help us through it.

"We'll be okay, Elizabeth." I say.

"I know," she replies. "But I am still afraid."

"Don't be." I say. "I was born here, remember? This place is okay. People from up here use contractions and stuff, but that's about the scariest thing in this realm." This is both a joke about Elizabeth's speech pattern, which I often tease her for, and a reassuring lie about the Overworld. This place is definitely terrifying to Elizabeth, but I've got to cheer her up."

"What is a contraction?" She asks, confused by my statement.

Come on, Elizabeth. I think. I love you to death, but how do you not know what that is?

"It's like how "can" and "not" becomes can't. It's two words put together. They talk how I talk, y'know? That's the scariest thing about the people who live here. They're lovely, you'll love them."

"Okay," she says with a smile. "This world can no-- can't-- be that scary, then?"

"Right." I smile as I remember my early years in the Overworld.

When I was young, around sixteen, I found an old book. I took Lydia-- my sister-- and we read it. The book taught us a lot of things about the Nether. We learned about the types of mobs that live there, the climate, and what it takes for a human to survive there. It also taught us how to make a Portal, so we built one and went through it. That was how we ended up in the Nether. I've called it home ever since, as I love it there.

When we originally ended up in the Nether, Lydia and I were almost killed by a Ghast. Fortunately, though, a group of non-hostile Zombie Pigmen found us and brought us to the fortress. There I met the Nether Prince, Amos. Amos was Elizabeth's father. Like me, he was a human that wandered into the Nether. He explained to me that when the mobs here decided to let him lead them, he gained power over lava. He said that they were desperate, as they were afraid of being enslaved. He never found out who it was that enslaved the Nether mobs before, but now that Ty's filled me in, I realize it was the Wither Worshipers, who are attempting to do so once again. They apparently don't know that the Nether already has leaders following in the footsteps of the original Amos. At the time I met him, Amos was weak and could not lead any longer. His wife had perished a few years after Elizabeth's birth and Amos had no male heir to pass his throne and his powers onto. Because of this, he bequeathed them onto me. I became the Prince of Lava, the Prince of the Nether. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with Elizabeth, either. As Prince and Princess, we ruled the Nether, improving the standard of living for the mobs there and entering an era of peace. We were and still are beloved rulers of that realm, but I've wanted to visit the place where I grew up ever since.

Being back here in the Overworld is great. It's a nice feeling to breathe fresh air, to feel cool breezes, or to be able to use contractions without feeling weird. I like the Overworld.

Ty introduces us to his group, and we bond with them quickly, going over our plan. I make sure to introduce the army to each of the team members so they aren't accidentally attacked. We quickly make friends with Nooch and Woof. They're great; really funny and quite accepting. As a team, we eat a traditional Overworld dinner-- which is as delicious as I remember it-- and then we all get sleeping bags and fall asleep on the floor of the cave. The army camps outside the cave, keeping watch. They don't need to eat or sleep, after all.

Elizabeth cuddles close to me before we sleep, and I wrap my arm around her.

"Dinner was amazing," she says. "I like it here. I can see why you do, too."

"Yep," I say. "The Overworld is great. I could get used to this place."

"Me too,"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. We should stay here."

"Really?"

"Uh huh."

"Let's stay, then. I think Lydia can handle running things back home. If all goes well, there will be peace between our worlds, so traveling back and forth won't be a big deal."

"Okay. We will figure it out when this battle is over."

"Of course."

I give her a quick hug, kissing her forehead as I do so.

"Goodnight, Elizabeth."

"Goodnight."

With that, sleep takes us.

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