The Assassin's Curse

Chapter One

JESSE

"Yah!!" I sliced the last zombie and ran up to the podium where our latest treasure lay. Petra and I have been adventuring for a while now, I thought, but with Lluna finding new treasures every week it never gets dull.

"What is it?" Petra asked, coming up behind me.

"Looks like some sort of chestplate," I said.

I ran my fingers over the embedded emeralds. Lluna trotted up from behind me, looking expectant.

"Good job, girl," I said as I scratched her under the chin. "I gotta hand it to you, you always find the best stuff."

I turned back to the podium where the armor sat and noticed a note on the front. I picked it up and read:

"The armor of the Assassin?" I looked back down at the colorful armor, all purples and blue diamonds and green emeralds.

"Doesn't seem very stealthy to me," Petra said.

"Well, 'assassiny' or not-" I picked it up- "it's mine now!"

I slid it on over my overalls. It fit surprisingly well.

"Looks good," Petra commented. "Like it was made for you."

"That's... creepy." I stood still for a moment to confirm my suspicions. Yep, that's a problem. The armor felt like it was squeezing me methodically.

"It's like it's... pulsating," Petra said.

"Let's get out of here," I said. "Let's head over to Beacontown and get Ivor's opinion on it. At the last village we visited, I heard that he's gotten back from his travels."

"Big, shiny, impressive..." Petra laughed. "It does seem like the type of thing he'd like."

"Then let's go!" I drew my sword and ran out of the room, ready to fight through the mobs.

PETRA

"Man is it great to see sunlight again," Jesse said, climbing out of the temple.

"It is nice to be in the sun again," I agreed. "Though judging by our track record, we'll be in another cold and creepy temple in about a week."

Laughing, we began to hike through the jungle. I took out my shears to hack a path back to civilization.

"I think I recognize this jungle!" Jesse exclaimed. "I saw a tree that had leaves like looked like smiley faces a while back!"

"I don't remember anything like that..." I muttered while Lluna brayed in agreement.

"It must've been when Ivor lead Soren, Olivia, Lukas, Gabriel and I to the Far Lands," she said. "Reuben couldn't stop grunting at all the ocelots in the trees."

"Wonder if Lukas took off his precious jacket," I joked. "Jungles can get pretty hot in the summer!"

"They can be pretty hot in the winter too." Jesse stopped walking and leaned against a tree. "Is it just me, or is it really warm in this biome?"

"Take this." I tossed her a water bottle and she immediately swigged it down. "I feel fine, it's almost chilly actually- JESSE!"

I ran over to her slumped body and shook her a little.

"That... did nothing." I mumbled as I tried to think what to do. She's not a pile of inventory, so she's not dead... maybe poisoned? She IS breathing kind of weirdly.

I grabbed a bucket of milk from my inventory and forced it down her throat. Her breathing eased up some, but she still looked pretty bad.

I gotta find shelter before nightfall! I began to look around frantically for any sign of something we could use. Lluna nudged me and brayed, then began to walk away. I heaved Jesse onto my back and followed the llama to a nearby cave.

"Wouldya look at that, you did it again girl!" I scratched her between the ears and set out some wool to lay Jesse on. As I laid her down, I noticed something strange.

"What the..." As I leaned over to get a closer look, my head spun in disbelief.

Her fingertips... is that cobblestone?!