My Last Hope (Truth Series 4)

39: What is this!?

A/N: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack. I've been at cooleg for 3 weeks now (about a week of it was just orientation). Thank you all for your understanding over the past two-three months. I am back now and hopefully I'll be staying for a while. I have a few chapters prewriiten. I'll be posting two more chapters tonight to make up for a bit of lost time. Then I'll be posting one chapter every weekend.

Sierra's Point of View

I stand in the Nether with Jennifer, Seto, and Rythian. In front of us is a small house made of a mix of nether brick and house looks small but if you look at it closely you can see that the house continues into the nether rack wall behind it. In front of the structure is a wooden cross with a black cloak wrapped around it.

"Who's grave is this?" I ask. The boys grow quiet. Star stands next to me looking at the grave with a solemn frown.

"It's Carson's." Rythian explains. "We buried him here nine or ten years ago."

"Nine or ten years ago?" Star questions. "Didnt he die fifteen years ago?"

"When he died Soro was more focused on escaping Brine than he was on burying his father. So it wasn't until years later when we found his body that he was buried."

It's at this moment that Soro, my beautiful son, walks out of the nether house. He closes the door and leans against it, sinking to the ground. Tears overflow from his eyes and and roll down his cheeks. I sit on the ground next to him and wrap an arm around his shoulders. He turns and sobs into my ar,ms.

"I miss him." He croaks.

"I do too." I draw soothing circles on his back trying to calm him down. I kiss his forehead gently. "You will get through this my son."

"How?"

"You'll find a way. I know you will. Don't forget you have friends and family standing by your side."

"I know."

It takes a few minutes but he finally calms down.

"Everyone take cover!" Rythian shouts. The ground shakes and a good one hundred fifty zombie pigmen charge our group. Leading them is non other than my cousin, Jordan, Captainsparklez, the son of Hero.

Soro is quick to get to his feet pulling me up along side him. Desperately I whisper to him, "We must protect Jennifer. Stevie taught he magic but she doesn't know how to fight."

He nods. "Jimmy! Rythian!" He shouts to his brothers. "Protect her! Star! Stay with one of us!" They follow his orders without hesitation. Soro, Seto, Rythian, and I form a circle like formation each of us facing a different direction. Star stands in the middle of us trying to stand tall and look tough. Needless to the the look doesn't suit her. "Star, if any of them get to close blast them with a spell."

"Got it!" She prepares a simple knockback spell in her hands. And with that we all turn to fight.

The pigman surround us from all sides. Loosely accustomed to fighting in the Nether, I create high temperature water that won't evaporate. I turn the water into a whip and strike. I hit the pigman at their feet knocking several of them over that were in the front lines. I condense the water into balls and blast them at the enemies behind. A blast of wind flies by me and I see a pigman flying through the air.

"Thank Jennifer!"

"No problem. Just happy to help."

I continue to fight. Avoiding their blows and striking them back just as hard. The sounds of battle ring on around me. From swords clashing to spoken magic to bodies hitting the floor. My son and his friends fight on beside me.

'Everyone, I have a plan,' A voice speaks in my head. Soro? No it can't be. Can it?

"What the?" Jennifer exclaims aloud.

'Relax.' The voice commands. 'It's only me, Soro. I'm using telepathy, so just think what you want to say.'

'You said you have a plan.' Rythian responds.

'Yes. Pretend to be beaten by them.'

'How is that gonna help?' Jennifer questions.

'Just trust me. I'll explain after. Just pretend to be knocked unconscious or something.'

'Alright.' Seto agrees.

'This better work.' Rythian states.

'Let's give it a shot.' I add in.

'I'll try.' Jennifer caves.

'You'll do fine.' Soro reassures her.

I continue to dodge the pigmen's blows but allow my reactions to gradually get slower as if I'm getting worn out. The pigmen land a few hits leaving small scrapes from their swords. Nothing too serious. One of them lands a lucky strike to the back of my head. The blow dazes me a bit but I make it look worse by allowing ,myself to fall to the ground. My eyelids flutter close as if I'm struggling to stay awake.

With my eyes shut I can hear the battle going on around me. Iron twangs as it collides with gold. Sword swish as they whip toward their target. Magic crackles as it aids my allies. Bodies thud as they hit the ground. My allies groan as a lucky strike hits them and they pretend tto fail.

My skin blazes as the hot air seeps into my bodies. Lava gurgles in the distance adding the Nether's intense heat. I never noticed how warm the Nether really is. How was Carson able to stand living here for all those years? How did our son stand living here? Like father, like son, I guess.

I hear a thwack as someone gets hit. There's a thud and then Jordan speaks. "Repen. Te ez zuddezul."

Another language? Odd. I don't recognize it.

I wait for the sound of the pigmen's footsteps to dissipate. Once I'm sure they're gone, I open my eyes and stand. I see the others doing the same. Soro is the first to his feet. He looks to the rest of us, surveying the damage. Jennifer shakes as she stands. She looks remotely unharmed just a bit shaken up from the rush of battle. Seto stands close to her. He's dusting himself off but I can tell he's keeping a close eye on Jennifer. Rythian stands and immediatly crosses his arms.

"Explain." He demands.

"Jordan had to prove himself to Brine by slowing down our progress. If we had continued to fight and didn't fake losing, we would just wasted more time." Soro replies easily.

"Why?" Jennifer asks.

"Why what?

"Why did Sparkly have to prove himself to that man?"

"Jordan has to gain Brine's trust so that we can find out what he's planning." Seto explains.

"But why?" She stresses.

"Jennifer, he has to if we have any hope of winning this thing." I try to calm her.

"But why? Why exactly do we have to do this? What are we gaining from this besides more injuries?"

"We are gaining our freedom. We are gaining our very right to live. If we don't do this we will die. Brine is out to conquer the world. If we don't stop him no one will. Brine is attacking us and everything we stand for. If we want to live. If we want our friends to live. If we want our families to live. If we want everyone in the world to live. If we want them to see a better, brighter future. We must do this. We must rise against them. Or we will loose everything." Soro has his father's voice and his speaking habits. They're both good at motivational speeches. I wonder if Carson gave him , but you never know.

"Then what are we doing!? What exactly is this!?" Jennifer sounds so upset it breaks my heart. I've known her for so long, longer than I've known my own son. She always acts so strong that sometimes I forget that she's still a kid. A kid caught up in something far too dangerous. Because this...

"This is war."