Six Stone Souls (The Pack)

Chapter 18

Early update cuz why the fudge not

Warnings: None

     ~Jerome's P.O.V.~

     After another day or so, we finally manage to locate the Great Desert. The swamp was by far my least favourite biome we passed through, but other than that the biomes were pretty normal. We passed through a birch forest, a mountain biome, a Mesa biome, and a small plains biome just before the edge of the Great Desert. Now we stand at the border of the expansive biome, where at one block it's grass and then suddenly it shifts into thick sand, said sand stretching on for days and days on end. Cactuses litter the landscape, spread out over the endless dunes with the dead bush scattered here and there too. Even from out standpoint at the very edge, I can still make out the shape of at least two villages in the distance.

"Here we are... The Great Desert." Vikk's breathes happily, stretching.
"Let's go to a village first, see if any of the villagers have a map to help us find a desert temple." Mitch strategizes.
"Sounds good, look, there's one just up ahead." I point out, pointing across the scorching desert to the outline of a small village.
"Then that's our first stop." Lachlan finalizes, the four of us beginning our trek across the blazing dunes.
"Let's hope it's not too far away, there's no telling the exact distance since the desert is so flat and hot." Mitch hopes.

~~~

"Finally!" I pant, a few villages in the area casting me a confused glance before continuing to aimlessly wander.

The village was actually a lot farther than we hoped, and by the time we finally reach it, my breathes are ragged, throat dry, and vision hazy. My thick fur was built for surviving cold nights, or for lasting a long time in a snow biome... Not for spending hours trudging in the burning hot sun of a massive desert. My fur is matted and sticking to my skin, damp with sweat. I had shed my tie, sweater, and t shirt earlier in an attempt to cool off but there's was no way to shed my thick fur, hence why I'm out of breath and nearly passing out even though I'm shirtless. Mitch had taken off his hoodie and tied it around his waist, as with Lachlan. Vikk was fine in the first place, only wearing a t shirt.

"Here Jerome." Lachlan offers, using his powers to summon a small spout of cool water.

We don't have to worry about anyone seeing our powers here. Unless someone was actually in a village, the Endermen don't patrol here and the NPC villagers don't have the brains to understand what we're capable of.

     As soon as that spout of fresh clean water breaks through the gritty sand, I'm on my knees and leaning over to gulp down the refreshing liquid. It passes down my dry sore throat, instantly soothing it and cooling down my body.

     "Thanks man." I express, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

     Lachlan nods his head as a response, the water seeping into the ground once more.

     "Look, there's a villager with a white coat over there, maybe it's a cartographer." Vikk states, nodding his head in the direction of a white clad villager repeatedly walking forward into a wall.
     "I have a few emeralds from the minecart to the nether. I'll go see if it can give us a map of some sort." Lachlan volunteers, turning and strolling over to the villager.

     Vikk, Mitch, and I can't contain our laughter as we watch Lachlan's struggles with the unintelligent NPC. He'd grab it's section for a second or two, then it'd give a grunt of some sort and start wandering again causing Lachlan to glean in annoyance. I personally lost it when the villager wandered into a cactus and Lachlan had to pull it away before it died. Once he finally, manages to buy a map off of it, he's panting and a few cactus spikes are stuck to him, which he pulls them out with a wince.

     "I got... Ow, a map." Lachlan wheezes, plucking a thorn from his forearm.

     Lachlan hands the rolled up map to Vikk, and continues ridding himself of the painful spikes as Mitch and I watch over a Vikk's shoulder as he scans over the paper.

     "That's a relief. There's a temple not too far from here." Vikk declares contently, jabbing a finger at a small symbol on the map. "It shouldn't take us more than half an hour to reach it."
     "Good, I don't know how much more of this heat I can take." Mitch sighs, wiping the accumulating sweat from his forehead.
     I scoff, "No kidding."
     "Alright then, let's go." Vikk states, folding up the map and stashing it away in his inventory.

     Lachlan rejoins us, his skin red and irritated where the spines were yet clear none the less. Vikk takes the lead like usual, Lachlan only a pace behind him with Mitch and I in the back, walking side by side.

     We make our way through the gravel roads of the village, until we reach the sandy ground once again. Just as we exit Mitch stops suddenly, and glances back at the village with a suspicious stare.

     "Something wrong?" I question, pausing so I don't leave him behind.

     Mitch squints his eyes, glaring at the corner of a house. But when a green clad villager wander out, he shakes his head dismissively.

     "Nah. Cmon, Vikklans' getting ahead of us."

~~~

     "Welp. We made it."

     The ancient structure looms before us, it's sandstone walls piled high in a sort of pyramid shaped style. Orange stained clay symbols stand proud on two of its supporting pillars, the entrance to the tomb well lit by the harsh daylight.

     "Well come on then, it's fudging hot out here and plus there's shade in there." Lachlan ushers, pushing past Vikk towards the square entrance.

     The rest of us follow Lachlan into the structure, the air instantly cooling under the shade of the sandstone ceiling above. Vikk pulls out a torch, and instantly the centre room is light under a warm glow, giving features to the figure frozen in the middle of it all.

~~~

     ~Unknown P.O.V.~

     "There, they went into the temple."
"We must hurry, do you have the necessary materials?"
"Of course, I'm not an idiot."

     This is followed by a hallow thunk.

     "Ow! What was that for? You know what, never mind. Just hurry up and place the blocks down."

~~~

Question of the chapter:

Yeah I'm aware most of you have figured it out already, but who do you think it is?

My answer: 🤐