A Virtual World Turned Real (An Unofficial Minecraft Adventure)

Chapter sixteen: The End

London stood on the edge of the portal, which lead to the place Jace had called 'The End'. It didn't look like a portal really, more like a view of the galaxy because it was black and starry. Jace had just jumped into the portal and disappeared moments ago. London had never really played Minecraft before, so she had no idea what really laid beyond this portal. Jace had said something about an 'ender dragon'. She wasn't sure. All London knew is that she would stand with Jace no matter what happened. So with thinking that, she took a deep breath and jumped into the portal.

London had a sense of vertigo for a moment, felt like she was in two places at the exact same time, then was rushed back together and found herself in a dark room with pale yellow walls and a black floor. Disoriented, she shook her head, trying to get her bearings straight.
"Welcome to the End, London." A familiar voice said.
London turned, and found Jace standing near one of the walls, a shimmering pickaxe in his hand.
"Where are we?" She asked.
"We are on the spawn platform in the End," He replied, "We luckily got one that is underground."

"Lucky?" London was confused. How is an underground spawn area lucky?
"We could've gotten a spawn area that floated high in the air or away from the End Island altogether." Jace said.
"Oh," She said, "I guess that is lucky, all things considered."

Jace turned back to the wall and bagan to smash it with his pick. "We'll need to dig our way out of here," He paused, then said, "Then we'll all go home."

Just then Kelly appeared out of nowhere next to London, surprising her. Kelly had a look of confusion on her face that mirrored London's when she first arrived. Then Ally appeared. Then the rest of the class followed shortly thereafter. By the time everyone had arrived, Jace had finished digging a staircase up and out of the hole they were in. London watched as he returned to the group, his enchanted diamond armour casting a slight purple glow on his immediate surroundings. He drew his enchanted sword, adding to the glow he let off a bit, and regarded them.

"Alright everyone." He said, "Prepare yourselves. Once we leave this room, we'll be in the fight of our lives. But we can do this. Together."
London drew the bow she took from one of the users that attacked them before. Everyone followed suit with their own weapon of choice: bows, swords, axes. Anything that could be used to fight with. London looked around at her class. They looked determined. They all wanted to go home.
And nothing, she thought, is going to stop us.
"Everyone ready?" Jace asked. London nodded, as did many others. "Then let's do this." He turned on an armoured heel, and walked out of the room. London ran up to his side. She would fight by his side no matter what. Everyone else followed close behind.

When they emerged from the staircase, London took in her surroundings. The lack of light made it hard to see though. The sky, if you could call it that, was black and starry. Exactly like the portal, London thought. To their left, the land stretched out, the pale yellow blocks making up the whole land. Ahead of her by about a dozen blocks was a drop off. Curious, London walked over to the edge. It was then she made a big realization. The End was a floating island, with the inky blackness surrounded the whole island.
"The void." Jace said, seemingly appearing at London's side. "If you fall off the edge and into the void, you're a goner. Nothing survives the void."
London took an involuntary step away from the edge, a spike of fear surging through her. She did not want to die. Not when they were so close to winning.

Just then a dull, yet bloodcurdling roar echoed across the pale land, adding to London's fear. "What was that?" London asked, her voice cracked with fear.
"The Ender Dragon." Jace said, his voice cold, his blue eyes scanning the sky.

London glanced around, looking for the dragon. She didn't see a dragon, but she did begin to see multiple creatures. They were very tall and slender, black as night and had glowing purple eyes.
"What are those?" London asked, pointing to one.
"Endermen," Jace replied, "Don't look at them from chest up. They get mad and they are strong, and they teleport. Avoid eye contact."
"Great, more stuff that tries to kill us." Kelly said sarcastically.

London adjusted her view and scanned the sky, trying to see if she could spot the dragon. Just then, a beam of purpley-pink light cut across the blackness, tracing something, and emanating from a black tower she hadn't seen before. She squinted her eyes and saw many of these towers, placed in a rough circle. At the top of each tower was something floating, which was where the beam came from. Jace noticed her gaze and followed it. "Those crystals. We need to destroy them if we are to kill the dragon. Come on, we need to get closer!" And he took off, running towards the dark towers. The rest of the party ran after him. As they drew near, London realized how big the towers were. Even the shortest ones were at least a dozen or so blocks tall. How on earth are we gonna hit those? London thought. At the crest of a hill, Jace stopped and pulled out his bow. He drew an arrow, took aim, and released it in a high arc. The arrow flew true and hit the closest tower's crystal. It exploded with a Bang!
London figured that's how they were going to destroy the crystals. The poeple that had bows pulled them out and took aim at the crystals within reach. London was about to fire an arrow at a crystal when Jace crashed into her suddenly and knocked her off her feet. Where she stood just moments ago a purple ball exploded and left a small cloud of purple where it hit. They hit the ground, rolled awkwardly together and came to a stop. Jace was immediately on his feet. "Watch out for the dragon. He spits acid." He said. London was about to reply from her prone state, but Jace was already moving, running back to the fray. She got to her feet as she heard another roar. Something big passed just blocks over her head, moving with incredible speed. A spike of fear surged though her when she finally saw it.
The Ender Dragon.

The dragon was massive. It was easily a half dozen blocks long, and as black as the endermen she saw. It had hulking black wings with sharp talons at the ends. It's eyes were bright purple, burning with hate. It was one of the scariest things London had ever seen. It was headed for the middle of the circle of towers. Spurred on by her fear, she ran... but ran after the dragon, not away from it. London usually tried to face her fears head on. She crested a hill and took in the whole scene before her. It was total chaos. Her classmates were all over the place, shooting at the crystals, trying to hit the dragon and avoiding it as well. And Jace was right in the thick of it.
He stood on the edge of what looked to London like a nest made of charcoal grey and black speckled blocks. His bow was almost constantly moving, launching arrow after arrow, trying to hit the dragon. Or just draw it's attention.

London ran down to his side, drew her own bow and added her arrows to the barrage.
"Nice of you to join me." He said without looking down from his aim.
London heard an explosion off to her left and turned just in time to see another crystal shooting a beam explode. At the same time the dragon let out a pained roar. She saw it flash red, meaning it took damage. Somehow, when the crystal exploded, the beam hurt the dragon. It didn't matter, as long as it was closer to being defeated. "Shoot the crystals!" Jace yelled over a roar from the dragon. "They heal him if we don't! Aim for them first!" London refocused her aim on one of the remaining crystals. She shot an arrow, missed, adjusted her aim, and fired another and hit it. The others shot arrows at the crystals too.

Soon all but two of the crystals were destroyed. The remaining two were too high and out of reach. "How do we reach those?" Kelly yelled.
Jace, not to London's suprise, already had a plan. He pulled out some cobblestone he had in his inventory. "Wait here. I'll get them." He ran to one of the towers and began to build his way up the side of the tower. Jace will be vulnerable without cover. London thought. "Cover Jace!" She yelled. They all began to try to draw the dragon's attention away from Jace. They shot at it with arrows, yelled taunts at it, dodged it's attacks, anything to keep it busy. London glanced up to see his progress. He had just got to the top of the tower. He pulled out his sword and smashed it into the crystal. It exploded and pushed him backward a bit. The dragon let out another roar. Jace pulled out cobblestone again and was going to bridge the gap between the two towers.
Just then the dragon spun in the air and raced towards Jace. It moved so fast it was almost impossible to track.
"JACE LOOK OUT!" London yelled. But it was too late. The dragon smashed into Jace, carrying him off the tower. With a ferocious roar, the dragon threw Jace from its grasp, a look of terror on Jace's face.

London watched hopelessly as Jace tumbled through the air, pass over the edge of the End Island, and disappear from sight, falling into the void beyond.