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

Gaining Ground

They were winning. With great jubilation, Po realized this was actually true. The Pigmen Rebellion was actually working. It was a success. Of course, they hadn't just walked in and taken over. The fight was tough. Blaze warriors and their skeletal footmen came in waves and crashed against the force of the pigmen army. Though some had penetrated the outer walls, the main fighting took place right outside the castle, on towers and bridges, ledges and lava beaches.

The golden blades clashed and reflected the fiery light of the Nether. Pigmen threw homemade potions made from netherwart and picked off enemies with bows and gold-tipped arrows. Some fire charges had also been recovered from a blaze fortress, and the men use those to blow holes through the blaze's defenses.

However, the blazes were putting up a fight. They hurled their own fireballs. Many fought with fire rods as well as golden swords, and some of the more experienced men even hovered, becoming aerial fire cannons. The wither skeletons used their stone swords and even bones recovered from fallen comrades as melee weapons.

Po used his own ancient sword to lead the charge on their enemies, blocking strikes from the fiery monsters that continued to pour from the mouth of the castle. Leading a team of experienced soldiers, the pigman leader struck down each soldier the blazes threw at him.

Po swung his sword around and sent a large skeleton off the bridge. He nodded to his team, and they cleared the way for another two pigmen who carried a large pot by its handles. They set it down at one of the gates, now quickly closing. Po and the others fended off any attackers to protect their brothers in arms.

One of the warriors produced a spark, igniting the powder within the jar. The warriors backed off, and Po plugged his ears. There was a bright flash, and the gate was blown off its hinges. Po and his team rushed in, taking the blazes by surprise. They sprinted across another unstable bridge, fighting any soldiers attempting to hold this particular part of the fortress.

Two wither skeletons met Po with their own swords, and he dueled them over the boiling lava. The gold of his sword clashed with their stone blades, and he minded his footwork as some loose bricks dislodged from the bridge and plunged down. Po knocked back one of the skeletons and twisted around, driving his sword into the other's ribcage. He yanked his blade out of it, sending the pitch black warrior tumbling into the pit below. The pigman leader turned back to face his other opponent. He locked swords with it, the two pushing each other back and forth. Po faked a lean and then severed the surprised skeleton's hand at the wrist. While he had the upper hand Po slashed it across the chest and sent it careening over the edge after its partner.

Just a few ticks passed before a series of explosions rocked the fortress. Po looked to his men, who craned their necks to try and get a better view. Po himself had to steady his footing as the bridge shook in a troubling manner.

"They've breached the walls!" cried one of the warriors in their own language.

"And it's up to us to let them into the inner keep," Po replied. He nodded to his men, and they cautiously crossed the bridge. Po waited for all of them to cross before he brought up the rear; he needed a minute to recover. Sure, only a mortal wound could kill him, but he was no longer the youthful pigman that he had been when they found the Nether, and exerting himself like this was beginning to take a toll.

"You coming, chief?" asked one of his commandos.

"Yep," he answered, letting out a breath and getting to his feet. He followed his squad through the halls, occasionally stopping as the towers continued to rock from explosions. Soon, they stopped outside of a hallway that branched off. In front of them sat a gate, flanked on either side by a tall tower. Outside, Po could see several hundred pigmen warriors fighting to get in. If they could open this gate, little would stand in their way of taking the fortress. Po relayed this to his men.

"What about Armstridge and his army?" inquired one of the more experienced troopers.

Po smiled. "If our inside man's done his job, we won't have to worry about them."

He continued with the plan, assigning everyone their positions. Six men would attack the gate, but only after two groups of three took their respective towers. Po went with two of his men, one a veteran from the early wars, the other a rookie netherwart gardner, to take one of the towers. Only one blaze guarded the staircase; after all, they didn't expect any pigmen to already be inside the fortress.

Po snuck up behind the guard and waited. A moment later, his young soldier ran by. The guard stirred and reached for his sword. At that time, Po jumped out and hit him across the head with the butt of his sword. He gestured for his men to follow him, and they sprinted up the the spiral quartz staircase. Reaching the top, they crouched behind a door. All three gripped their swords, scanning the top of the tower. Po counted two blazes and four wither skeletons guarding the winch for the gate. He nodded to the other two, and at his sign, they exposed themselves.

Po immediately took out one of the wither skeletons by surprise; with his men's help it and another were sent over the edge of the tower, and six became four. Po took k me of the blazes, blocking its fireballs with his sword. He got too close for it to launch projectiles, so the blaze switched to fighting him with its rods.

Po held his own against the four golden spinning weapons, disarming his opponent and knocking him unconscious. His men had taken out another skeleton and were working on the second blaze. This one elbowed the elder pigman in the face, sending him stumbling backward. He turned and struck the gardner in the chest with a blaze rod. The latter cried out as the pain burned his chest. The blaze smiled, relishing his opponents pain, but, confused, he looked down to see a sword suddenly protruding from his chest. With a small groan, he slid to the ground. Po emerged behind him and signaled for his other man to help this one.

As the veteran tended for the gardner, Po took off after the last Wither skeleton, now dangerously close to the winch. He was going to sound the alarm! If they lost the element of surprise, then it was over. Po extended his arm and took off the skeleton's head. Relieved, he strolled up to the winch. He looked across the chasm to see his men on the other side, ready to go. He nodded at them, and together, they grabbed the levers on the two winches and began to pull the gate up. The shocked gatekeepers began to shout up at the towers, telling them to close the gates again. Po chuckled to himself. They honestly had no idea what was going on.

While those guarding the gates were still confused, the rest of Po's team struck. They got past the first wave of the guards, but they were far outnumbered. Their little charade was drawing to a nasty end. Po grabbed one of the discarded sword and tied himself to it via a long roped and repelled down the side of the tower. His other men followed suit, and they engaged the guards on two sides. The guards, now trapped, were easily taken.

Po raised his sword and led the charge on the blazes fighting outside the gate. They turned to combat this new threat, but in that instant, the waves of pigmen they were barely containing swept in. What followed was an insane scramble as the legions of pigmen pushed their way into the inner fortress.

Watching all this smugly, Po reflected back on his earlier thoughts. They were winning. The pigmen were actually winning.

Distracted by his thoughts, Po didn't see one of the Wither skeletons sneaking up on him. He didn't realize, until it was just a few second too late, that a sword had been driven into him. The noises of the battle faded into a steady ring as the skeleton readied the next and final blow. Po knew he couldn't stop it this time.

But then, his team was there. The skeleton was quickly dispatched by one of his veterans. The medics were lifting him, taking him now. It was going to be all right. They were going to win. And as the battle itself faded away and blackness crept in on the edge of his vision, Po decided that in the future, he'd leave the fighting to the young folks and go retire, maybe get himself one of those nice island vacation homes...