The Ruby Secret

Chapter 13 - I will always love you

Pat was trying to find Jen with Dan following him, but Dan is losing his breath due to Pat's speed. When they stopped the storm started to pick up. "Patrick! The storm is getting worse, we need to turn back! Please Pat! We will never be able to find them! Ian used a spell! There's no way on Earth we can track them down! I care about them too, but we're no use if we freeze to death! Pat! Patrick!..." Dan's voice started to fade as Pat was trying to find their auras. 

"I can sense her! She's this way!" Pat told Dan before he started running again. "Wh-what?! Patrick, stop!" Dan yelled running after him again. They stopped again and Pat was looking around frantically. "Pat?" Dan asked. "Stop. Someone's here..." Pat warned. "What?" Dan asked, confused. "I know you're there! Come out." Pat said and a familiar woman came out from hiding. "P-Pat! Th-this is that girl with the skeletons!" Dan warned. "You had something to do with this... Didn't you?" Pat asked the woman. "Patrick! You need to leave... You need to leave now!" The woman tells him. "I won't. I'm going to bring her back." Pat refused. "You can't follow her!" The woman cried. "Please. Stand aside." Pat pleaded. "No! I won't!" She refused. "Please." Pat pleaded further. "She's gone! Forget about her!" She begged. "I will never!" Pat argued.

"If you continue, he- He will kill you! Don't you understand!?" The woman cried further. "What?! What in Notch's name is going on?!" Dan questioned. "Please! Let me protect you! " She begged. "Please... She's my world." Pat begged her. "No. No! He'll hurt you!" The woman refused even more. "Please... She's everything to to me..." He begged more. "Fine. But please listen to me: I didn't want any part of this! You have to understand! This isn't my fault! It wasn't my fault!" The woman cried. "Shhhh... It'll be okay. Please... Tell us what's going on. You can help us." Pat comforted as she sobbed. "Help me understand. Who wants to hurt me? Why did they take Jen?" Pat questioned calmly. 

"But... He'll hurt me. He'll hurt my kingdom." She said frightened. "I won't let him... Now please... Tell me everything." Pat asks her. "I saw you help the baby creeper he had left for dead. Why? Why did you help him?" The woman questioned. "He... Didn't deserve to die. No one deserves to die." Pat answered. "You promise to help us?" She asked him. "Yes, I promise." He promised. Please, help me find her." Pat pleaded.

"Patrick! Who is she? What's going on?" Dan questioned Pat. "My name is Verdorren, I am... The current Wither." Verdorren introduced herself. "Uhh... Part Wither? The only person like that is-" Pat cuts off Dan. "No." Pat said. "I'm not part Wither! I'm the real Wither, you understand?" She yelled. "What?!" Dan said in disbelief. "I was once the 3 headed Wither, a pure Wither! I was crowned, I attacked the Nether was my home and it accepted me! Now it rejects me and human I've become!" She explained herself. "Pat, what do we do?" Dan questioned Pat. "Just listen." Pat answered. 

"A man shrouded in black had come to the dimension we had called home. And one by one... He began to slaughter my kingdom. In desperation to stop him, I threw myself at his feet: He spoke, I looked up at him, he revealed to me that he was a sorcerer. I had never scene a sorcerer before, it was frightening. I begged him to spare my pack... And he did. But he demanded to become King in my place and take control of the kingdom along with his. It was cruel, such a cruel way to become King, but I gave in, I needed to save my people. He removed a ruby from our walls and then forced me to follow him through the portal. He took me to a lodge, where a woman with the eyes of a snake waited. The sorcerer handed her in the ruby and the woman with the snake eyes created a potion. Then, just as it was completed: She handed it to the sorcerer, he turned to me and used it to transform me into a human. It was the first time I had flesh on my legs. It was the first time, I felt so weak." Verdorren told the story.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry you had to go through that." Pat apologised. "How could we trust her, Pat?" Dan asked him. "I trust her, she needs help." Pat answered.