Wither

Chapter 30-The Final Battle

*Ember's POV*

I watched, deflated, as Toboe stabbed Herobrine in the neck. I knew I should be relieved, but with the loss of Lauren weighing heavily on my shoulders, I couldn't muster the emotion. I felt a comforting hand on my back. I halfheartedly turned around and saw Seto behind me. "Keep it together, Ember. We're not done yet.

I embraced him sadly, nodding. "I only wish we were..." I whispered. I brought my hand up to my eyes and wiped the tears from my eyes. I breathed in deeply and broke away from Seto, standing straight. Even when I wasn't on the inside - I was wretched, God forsaken, and pathetic in reality - , I needed to appear so, for my friends (or what was left of them).

Peterson flew forwards with news. "Dusty and Kai are dead."My hand flew to my mouth. I knew Dusty would have committed suicide - or something - to be back with Lauren, but Kai? "Notch seems to also have been killed," Peterson started.

By Kai, I preconceived.

"By Dusty. Kai seemed to have activated the Nether portal for his own use in getting back to the Overworld." I looked at my adopted brother curiously, eyebrows raised.

Liz happened to overhear this. "K-Kai would never - he must have been getting it ready for us!"

Johann stepped forward. "It doesn't matter. He's dead now," he said bluntly. Liz covered her mouth in shock and her eyes filled up with tears. It had been an emotional time for all of us; war was such. Except for maybe Johann.

I felt it was my duty to do so, so I slapped Johann hard across the face. "Whatever he did, now is not the time to antagonize. In case you haven't noticed, we still have a war to fight and the Wither to kill. Fighting amongst ourselves isn't going to make that task any easier." I shot a glare at Johann, who was staring, insulted, in my direction.

"Apologies," he grunted with little conviction. I sighed and looked around for the Wither, a golden, flaming sword appearing in my hand with a glimmer.

The remaining ghasts and blazes were fighting long range with the small mob of Herobrine's soldiers, still with a purpose, still determined. Their fireballs were devastating, and the arrows piercing their skins seemed to be painless. I felt bad for a moment until I caught a flash of black. With a bloodcurdling screech, one of the ghasts fell, dead before it hit the ground. A massive, electrified shape took its place. "The Wither," I breathed, horrified and awed. The Wither turned towards us, several hybrids shaking in fear.

"You killed my army," the Wither spoke in a deep, menacing, gravelly voice dripping with fear-instilling power. "You killed my allies. Now I am going to kill you." With that a huge ball of electricity was launched directly at me. For fear that if I stepped out of the way it would kill my friends, I stood my ground, my heart beating faster and faster the closer it got to me.

As I finished my mental will (3 seconds long), the electric ball hit. But it didn't hit me. Toboe had dove in front and caught the blow. She absorbed the full approximate blast of two thousand amps of electricity. I gazed, horrified, at the scorched and blackened figure in front of me. Rage and hatred infused fire curled up inside of me. "Someone check if she's alive," I whispered quietly. Poof and River, who were a ways away and had rejoined us after healing everyone, rushed to my friend's side. They felt for a pulse.

"Very faint," Poof reported, tears glimmering in her eyes. "But she might make it. She's lucky that happened here of all places; with no water besides the little Romani summoned, her skin is dry and tough which made a good resistor for the energy. She might just make it," Poof repeated hopefully.

"Take her off the field. No more damage should come to her as it is," I ordered. The fire inside me turned cold as ice and I shook as the icy rage overcame me. Meanwhile, the Wither was laughing maniacally in the distance. "I feel, somehow, that this is my battle. One on one. I'll end this," I said to my friends. Seto stepped forward for a word but I held up my hand. "No. Believe in me." I kissed him gently. "You guys take over when - no, if - I fall." They all nodded.

"Wither!" I roared, pointing my golden broadsword at the massive, looming shape. It ceased its chuckling and looked at me soullessly. "I have come to challenge you."

The Wither burst out in a fit of deep giggles. "You, a measly human? Fine! I will enjoy watching you die!"

"On one condition! If I lose, I die, but don't harm my friends. If I win, you die. Deal?" The Wither was so certain that he would win that he agreed wholeheartedly. With that I launched into action. I threw my golden sword and watched it, a dazzling spectacle of spinning gold, crash into the Wither and lodge itself there. The Wither cried out in hatred and pain and the sword disappeared in a flurry of light particles. Black blood oozed from the deep wound. But the Wither couldn't care less. I danced around, avoiding a rapid volley of Wither skulls. The land around me exploded and I was sent flying backwards.

"Not so easy to defeat me, eh?" The Wither chuckled, his voice dripping with malice. I got to my feet and looked back at my friends. They were huddled together, weapons drawn, gazing fearfully at the fight in front of them. I just now realized how foolish my plan really was. Take on the Wither singlehandedly? With that bit of dismal thinking, I felt betrayed. By myself. I dispelled the pessimistic thoughts and closed my eyes, envisioning the biggest sword I'd ever seen. I positioned my hands in a double grip, and the massive hilt of my glimmering blade soon shone in the lava light. I opened my eyes and saw a towering nine foot tall sword that felt light as a feather.

The Wither stopped laughing and stared uneasily at the huge sword. "This is for everyone who died here tonight. No blood needed to be shed, and now both sides have lost an irreplaceable amount of soldiers - no, people. This is for what you've done, you and the wretched people you call your allies," I yelled into the silence, a painful reminder of Lauren's continuous plea for help. Effortlessly I swung the enormous golden blade and, in shock, the Wither could do nothing. It sliced the being in half, and in a flutter of code, the Wither dispersed.

To my surprise, there was a figure lying in the ditch the Wither had created. I stumbled forwards and saw the mutilated figure of -

I couldn't process it. The shock of everything and the battle that had commenced was too much. I swayed on my feet and dropped to the ground, unconscious.