Legacy of Herobrine ✓

Chapter 25

Faolan opened his eyes to be blasted by heat. He almost cried out, even though he knew that he could not be burned. He was simply surprised. The sudden heat had surprised him, as if he'd been teleported back to the desert.

But what lay in front of him was no desert.

The landscape was hilly and covered in red sand... no, not red sand. Netherrack, he realized. There was a lava lake far down below, with tiny floating islands of the dark red material scattered here the there. Blocks of glowstone shone brightly from up above, clashing with the scarlet radiance of the lava.

Far ahead of him, there was a huge citadel of nether brick, complete with lava and iron bars. It looked menacing. More menacing than anything Faolan had ever seen. He wanted to run from it, but instead felt drawn to it. He started to walk forward, but realized that he was stepping into a patch of cold, squishy soul sand. He tugged his feet out and continued around it.

Slowly, he approached the manor. He dodged patches of soul sand and finally got to slightly higher ground, where he could see the whole thing. It looked like it was home to some king, some regal king with no enemies that would dare even glance at the marvel.

There was a tiny gray shape below, walking confidently towards the citadel. Faolan squinted and leaned forward to figure out what it was. He could make out the bony shapes, the bow in hand. A normal skeleton? What is it doing here, in the Nether? Faolan wondered. He climbed down the rise and followed it at a distance, until he was about fifteen blocks behind the skeleton.

It boldly approached the castle-like place and passed the two blazes guarding the entrance. Faolan hesitated, only to realize that they couldn't see him. Probably because he was in a dream. He quickly moved past them and kept following the skeleton up a flight of nether brick stairs.

Finally, the two came to the end of the stairs, where two wither skeletons stood on either side of a doorway. They quickly moved out of the way. Faolan hurried in before the two wither skeletons took their places again and gasped.

The throne room was huge and rather terrifying. There were a few falls of lava and a quartz throne at the back. A villager sat there, head raised interestedly. He looked like the players that had been described but never seen to Faolan; cyan shirt, blue jeans, brown hair... but instead of clear blue eyes, this person had glowing white eyes that seemed to radiate both heat and indomitability.

Faolan shivered. The person in front of him was no other than Herobrine, the Balancer.

The skeleton acknowledged him with a nod. "Greetings, sir. I'm afraid I have... unfortunate news." Faolan realized that the skeleton was a female. She seemed to pick her words carefully.

"Well, Serefire, spill it," Herobrine said, gruffly.

The skeleton--Serefire--shifted her bony feet. "My ocelot scout, Scratch, has failed her mission. She disconnected from the Descendants' village and almost got to her portal. She was ambushed on the site and killed by unknown villagers. I saw the XP she dropped for myself."

Herobrine narrowed his eyes and grimaced. "Great. What else?"

"Er, the strange villager, Bridget, led Faolan and another to the same portal about a day later. From what I know, which, unfortunately, is little, they were ambushed by the same people who killed Scratch, who I am presuming to be allies of Bridget. Neither were killed, but I am to understand that Faolan was captured. The other is thought to be dead but has escaped. She's close to the Descendant village at this moment."

Faolan was relieved that Amia managed to escape, but Herobrine rubbed his forehead in agitation. "Curse this. Curse it. If the other Descendant makes it to the village, give Storm orders to Gale saying that I know of the predicament they face." There was a tense pause. "Do the strangers have Dark Star?"

"Our tracker says yes, sir."

Herobrine pounded one fist on the armrest of his throne and cursed again. "This will be very interesting. Come. We must decide on our place in this. I fear that we will be forced to fight, one way or another."

Before Faolan could see what happened next, he was ripped from the dream and plunged into blackness.