Six Stone Souls (The Pack)

Chapter 33

Note: Now that we're getting close to the end of this book, I'm shortening the update time to 1-7 days instead of 2-7 (That doesn't mean I'll always update every day though lol, just in case I want to)

Warnings: Slight blood, Jerome almost dies...

Again

~Preston's P.O.V.~

"WHAT?!"
     "Calm down Preston, you're going to burn down the forest!" Vikk scolds, shifting away from the heat radiating off of my skin.
     "Sorry but, Rob's been kidnapped by Herobrine?!"
     "Well technically by an Endermen, but yes, he's been kidnapped by Herobrine." Lachlan confirms, causing me to frown at him.
     "Well what are we supposed to do?" Jerome continues, "I mean we can't just leave him there... But at the same time this is obviously a trap."
     "What if only one or two of us go?" Mitch suggests, all of us looking at him. "Herobrine won't expect it."
     "That's actually not a bad idea, Mitch." Vikk commends, Mitch smiling knowingly. "But who's going to go?"
     "Well Jerome should be one. He can phase through walls and see where Rob's being kept." Mitch points out.
     "Then who's going to be the second person?" Lachlan questions.
     "It's either you or Preston." Jerome states, looking between Lachlan and I. "Lachlan can turn invisible and move undetected. But once we find Rob, Preston could turn into a creeper and blow a hole through the wall. Assuming it's not bedrock."

     Everyone falls into a tense silence, knowing that choosing the wrong person could result in one, if not three, of us being killed. As the Capital climbs into view, the sky dark and dreary, Vikk taps Jerome on the shoulder. He whispers something, cupping his hand over his mouth to hide the words, and Jerome nods.

     "Okay, Preston, you can come with me." Jerome decides, all of us staring at him to hear his reasoning. "I'll go look for Rob, and then when I find him, I'll bring you back and you can blast open the wall by turning into a creeper or something. I'd bring you Lachlan," Jerome continues, turning towards him, "but then we'd have to find away to get into wherever Rob's locked up in. Preston can just teleport in as an Enderman or blow through the wall as a creeper."
"Fine with me." Lachlan shrugs.
"Soooo, are you guys just gonna hang out here while we're gone?" I ask, Jerome and moving a few more steps towards the Capital.
"Yeah we'll set up a shelter here or something. The Capital probably isn't exactly safe to be staying in right now."
     "Alright, then to the Nether we go! To rescue Rob!" I exclaim, marching away.
     "Bye guys!" Jerome calls behind us, jogging up to my side and waving.
     "Bye! Good luck!"
     "Don't die!"
     "Bring back Rob for us!"

~~~

     *insert nether portal noises here/teleporting noises here.*

     "GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!"

     Jerome and I burst through the purple film of the portal, pushing back the dizziness of teleporting, and bolting across the hot netherrack ground. Jerome dives direct at a hill of netherrack, phasing through to the other side. I quickly morph into a silverfish, and burrow underneath the nettherrack. Not two seconds later, five Endermen are tumbling through the portal, scanning the area for us. One lets out a series of uncomprehendable gurgles, at points towards the hill Jerome is hiding behind. My eyes widen. I cans see him from my angle, but he can't see them approaching him. Thinking quickly, I smack loose a rock, and toss it off in the distance, away from Jerome. Just as the Endermen are about to discover him, the stone makes a thump, and the five Endermen whirl around to face the sound. They cast glances at each other, and bolt after the noise, allowing Jerome and I to slip away undetected.

"Phew, that was a close one." Jerome sighs, wiping away the sweat on his forehead.
"No kidding." I agree, the two of us having gotten far enough away to talk again.
"We should be getting to the fortress soon, are you ready?"
"Yep."
"So one last time for the plan; You go hide somewhere and I'll find Rob. When I find him, I'll lead you to him as quickly as possible and then you blow out the wall, and we get outta here. He's probably going to be weak, so one of us is going to have to carry him."
"I can do it." I volunteer.
Jerome chuckles, rolling his eyes, "I swear you-"

     Jerome is cut off by a large explosion, that pretty much breaks my eardrums and ends vibrations across the ground, and kicks up a cloud of red dust. I cough and shield my eyes, being knocked back a few blocks. Beside me I can hear Jerome, whimpering in pain. He got hit. The dust settles a little, just giving me time to make  t the hulking figure of a ghast, before it lets out another earsplitting cry and fires off a fireball directly at Jerome.

     "JEROME!" I scream, the fireball exploding dangerously close to him, and flinging him easily backwards.

     And off the edge of a cliff.

     My skin boils in fury, and I set the ghast to fire. The mob screeches and cried in pain, becoming one big inferno floating away desperately, before falling to the ground in a charred white lump. It disappears a few seconds later. Skidding to the edge of the cliff, I fully expect to see Jerome's dead body floating in the sea of lava below. Instead I see him dangling off the edge of the cliff, hanging onto a single protruding block for dear life, with a single hand. His other arm is tucked against his chest, the fur burnt and covered in blood. He grunts in pain, the soft stone under his claws starting to give away.

     "HANG ON JEROME!" I yell, looking around frantically for some way to reach him.
     "I-I can't, hold o-on... Much Lon-nger..." Jerome groans, yelping as he slips another inch.

     And all at once the block of netherrack gives in under his weight, and Jerome begins free falling straight towards the lava.

     "NOOO!" I scream, disregarding my own safety completely and diving after Jerome's falling form.

     I roughly grab onto him, and at the very last second before we both plunge into the lava, I morph into a ghast, my tentacles wrapped around his torso. With a huff, I float us back onto the ledge, and plop Jerome down gently, before morphing back to normal.

    "Are you okay, Jerome?" I question worriedly, scooting to his side.
     "Y-yah... Thanks..." Jerome replies shakily, clutching his bleeding forearm.

     I take a better look at the wound, and wince as I see the blood gushing out from the burnt and charred flesh, a wide gouge becoming apparent where the first fireball hit him.

     "Oooooh, that looks like it hurts..." I sympathize, helping Jerome to his feet.
     "I'm fine... Really." Jerome tries to assure me, "Let's hurry and find Rob, though. Maybe he can heal me."
     "Maybe." I nod grimly, the two of us begging to walk. "If Herobrine hasn't killed him yet."

~~~
Question of the chapter:

What's going to happen next? What is Herobrine doing to Rob? Leave your predictions in the comments below!

My answer: Don't worry- he's not like torturing him like he did with Lachlan. At least... Not as much...