Virus (A Minecraft Story)

Chapter 9

Ana's POV

I woke to red ground pressing against my cheek, heat searing my face. I lay there for a moment, then lifted my head. Lyta was on her feet, going through her bag. Loca was rubbing his neck, looking at the Portal behind us. My heart beat just a little bit faster when I looked at him, but I shook my head. Not possible. He's normal. Forget about it. Loca glanced at me and smiled. "Not such a good place for us, right?" I looked at where he was pointing, and my stomach clenched. The Nether was a sea of red, the sky a red ceiling far, far above. Glowstone dotted the 'sky', lighting up the murky red darkness. Fires burned in random places, and a hole in the middle of the ground showed a mass of lava below. And, looking like a child's scattered toys, were zombie pigmen clutching golden swords, blazes still smoking, and wither skeletons with their swords resting upon their chests. I could see the code running across them even from here. I gulped. This place was bad for us all, but for me it was especially bad. "Good thing we've got you, Tash. You can be our human shield." I teased, expecting a snappy or derpy reply. She didn't answer, so I looked around. Tash was lying on the ground, not moving. I walked over. "C'mon, Tash. I'm sick of everyone falling over." She didn't answer. Loca stuck his foot under her stomach. "Looks like she got drunk again." Then he flipped her onto her back, and scrambled backwards, shocked. She had symbols running across her face and throat, but instead of the dark black, they were the burning orange of fire. "Well," Loca said after a pause, "I guess we know what Tash is going to be. Ana as well." He looked over at me and bowed dramatically. "Master of Earth." I rolled my eyes. "You believe that crap the endermen told us?" I'd explained what had happened to us as we flew towards the Nether Portal, and Loca believed it. "They were just stalling. Just because we're all getting Elemental powers doesn't mean anything. It's just coincidence." Loca turned Tash's arm over, baring a tattoo. The cloud and water symbols were much darker, but still pulsing. The fire tattoo was glowing powerfully, moving like actual fire. The earth symbol was still dark. Surprise as powerful as a creeper's explosion rocked me. She can't be one. Tash is terrible at hiding things. Then relief washed over me. It isn't time yet. I won't have to leave. I was quick to scold myself for believing in fairytales; the tattoos meant nothing. Tash shuddered, moaning in pain. We exchanged glances. Loca and Lyta were concerned; they knew the pain she was about to go through. Loca picked her up, slinging Tash's limp body over her shoulders. "I'll carry the drunk lady." I swear I saw her hand twitch, and I smiled. We began to pick our way down the netherrack cliff, slipping once or twice after glancing at the mass of mobs below. If they woke up while we were around them... I put the thought out of my mind. Tash had begun to twitch even more, going horribly pale, yet she didn't scream. I was worried about my friend; we'd been through a lot together. I remembered first meeting her, the curious girl my age who seemed to know me instantly, like I knew her. We were bonded, but by what I didn't know. She might've been an idiot 90% of the time, but she would've been concerned if I or the others went through that. We reached the bottom, and began to pick our way through the field of unconscious mobs. The only sound was the crackling of fire and bubbling of lava. I passed a pigman that snorted in his sleep, and a Wither skeleton tightened his grip on his sword as Lyta stepped over him. It was like walking across a minefield, being  able to see the mines but not knowing when they'd blow. Nerves were running higher the closer we got to the other side, all three of us expecting a trap. We had just reached the hole in the ground, and we paused to look at the  seething lava, spitting its rage at us from below. I secretly marvelled at its raw power, the terrifying beauty of it. The others were thinking the same. Just then, Tash gave a yell of pain, and jerked so hard she fell from Loca's arms. I saw her tattoo glow, and yelled, "Don't let her hit the ground!" Loca dove, hands outstretched. Tash froze, a slab length from the ground. I breathed a sigh of relief as Loca picked her up again. We continued onwards, unsure what we were looking for. I wiped sweat from my face, and realised my hands were shaking. I jumped over a patch of flames - and came face to face with a baby zombie pigman. Its skull was gleaming, his beady black eye fixed upon me. His skin was pink, but where it met bone, it turned the sickly green of zombie flesh. It was carrying a small golden sword, head tilted to one side. I froze, and so did the others. Tash stirred feebly. There was a long silence as we regarded each other, zombie pigman and Realmer. Then I said in my calmest voice, "Alright, if you'll let us pass, that'd be-" Then Lyta took a step, and the baby pigman opened its mouth in a horrible squeal. Immediately, the mobs rose to their feet like they'd been waiting, eyes fixed on us. I glanced around wildly, and immediately took in three things. There were a group of cave spiders climbing down from the glowstone ceiling, scuttling upside down; the pigmen's golden swords were gone, shoter ones in their hands; and the blaze had morphed rapidly, becoming a child's nightmare. Their heads had grown golden abdomens, their eyes had turned red, and their legs had shifted to form eight legs, attached to their abdomens. I looked desperately at Tash. "If you're going to wake up and get fire powers, now would be a good time!" But she lay unmoving. "Jeez," Lyta muttered, glaring at her. "We wake up in time to save the day, but you just stay passed out. Nice job." She started up the water and blasted it at the nearest zombie pigman. But the water fizzled and died before it even came close. "Of course," Lyta said, gritting her teeth. "This is Hell. Water's useless." She pulled a face. "I liked the End better." "Me too." Loca muttered. He looked at me. "Don't suppose you have any hidden powers we should know about?"  My throat constricted, but I shook my head. He sighed. "Alright. You guys get your weapons. I'll take on the uglies." He put Tash on the ground and pretended to attack me with his pickaxes. I smacked him before pulling out my staff. We charged to meet the mobs, and they ran at us. For a moment, I had hope. There were only thirty mobs, and we were trained fighters. Then all Hell broke loose. The blaze spiders, which I'd already nicknamed blazers, shot into the air, jets of flame propelling them skyward. The wither skeletons jumped onto the cave spiders, which thundered towards us at incredible speed. Then a zombie pigman leapt into the air, and his feet burst into flames. He soared into the air, hovered for a moment, raising his arms. Then his hands began to glow, and a fireball erupted from them, hurtling towards us. I rolled aside, and the fireball smashed into the ground, sending slivers of netherrack flying everywhere.  Lyta blocked them with her sword before attacking a cave spider. Loca clicked his fingers, and a blazer was thrown backwards, legs flailing wildly. A wither skeleton jumped forwards, sword outstretched, only to slam into a wall of air. But we were outnumbered. Our attack turned into defense, Loca deflecting fireballs and streams of poison, Lyta dragging Tash, me slashing at mobs, only to have them dart out of the way. As we were backed into a corner, a fireball got past Loca's wall of air, and struck Lyta in the face. She cried out, falling backwards. "No!" I yelled, losing my concentration. A blazer swung one of his spindly legs and I went flying. I hit the cliff we'd been backed  up against, and I cracked my head against it. As I slid down it, vision blurring, I saw Loca fall, poison eating away at his shirt. I had no strength to do what I had to do. I couldn't even reach out and take Loca's hand. My gaze drifted to Tash. "Looks like we're going to die here, Tash." I whispered, smiling even as blood came to my lips. "Well, it was fun while it lasted." I turned my head as a zombie pigman loomed above me, a look of triumph on its destroyed face. It aimed carefully with its golden sword, wanting to see my life drain from me. I glared at it, anger boiling up until it was white hot. I was ready to die, but not like this. Not in the Nether. Then it happened. As my vision began to go, I saw a blast of fire erupt from my left, and it hit the pigman directly in the face. Now, most mobs here were fireproof, which proved this was no ordinary fire. The pigman gave a single squeal of pain before it crumpled, its head gone, turned to ashes. My eyes flickered open, and I managed to turn my head, and there was Tash, leaning over me, obviously worried. Her eyes were shining, swirling with liquid fire, and her black clothing was tinged with red. She picked me up quickly. "You're not dying on me this time." She told me sternly, and then we were rising into the air, towards the top of the cliff. I clutched her arm tiredly, too weak to tell her she was going the wrong way. Some small part of me felt annoyed at being smashed about so easily, but the rest was just grateful to be alive. Tash set me down gently. "I'm gonna get them for this. I'll be back with the others." She winked at me, flicking back her hair, and fire flared in her hands. "Time to bring the fight to the uglies."