Virus (A Minecraft Story)

Chapter 13

Amber's POV

Gale stared at me, taken aback. "What makes you think that?" "You appeared so quickly to save me; it takes an hour to get from here to the village by horse, and that's the fastest transport. I find that a little odd. So, do you want to do this the hard way or the easy way?" He was confused, disoriented. "I'm not Virus! I enchanted the flute to summon me straight to you, because I care about you." My heart almost stopped, but I kept my face even. "Really? Then where does Gale have his scar?" "On my shoulder, because one time you thought I was a zombie and attacked me with Betty." He pointed to the axe I had my hand on. " I glared at him. "Good. One more question. If you're not Gale, you won't be able to answer this. What village did you come from?" I held my breath as he furrowed his brow, the moonlight turning his face to silver. If he replied wrong, I was going to kill him. Then he smiled at me, the frown disappearing. "The same village you came from, whose name I cannot say." I nodded, satisfied. "Sorry, I had to check. I just used a method of  Roran's, but I wish Lyta would hurry up with that truth potion." I flicked my hair out of ny eyes. "Alright, I can tell yiu about Virus now. But you have to promise not to tell anyone that we know this, or we won't have an advantage." He placed his hand on his heart. "I swear I won't tell a soul." I leant forward, and so did he. "You know Virus, when he was Sura, and how he had Dark Magic, right?" He nodded, his nose briefly touching mine. "Well, he had shape-shifting as well. He could take any shape, look like anything or anyone. If he's in this world, he could be walking around, parading around as one of us - any of us. We've got to keep to ourselves. No matter how trusting someone might be, how much you want to tell them, you can't." He had gone as white as snow, but he nodded, tight-lipped. We sat there for a minute in silence, the wind whistling through our hair, watching the landscape rush by. "Hey, Gale?" I said, and he looked at me questioningly. "Do you really care about me?" He tilted his head, considering it. "Hmm... tough question. Can I pass?" I slapped him on the shoulder, and he gave up pretending. "Of course I care about you. Why would I give you a flute that summons me if I didn't care?" We looked at each other for a moment, silence stretching between us. Then an arrow flew past ny head, and I almost jumped out of the cart. A skeleton was riding a spider behind us, bow aimed straight at us. The spiders mouth was foaming with poison, those small red eyes full of hate. "Dammit." I said, fumbling for my back-up bow. Gale had pulled out his enchanted bow and notched an arrow into it. "We're too fast for it," I said hopefully. Then it leapt into the air, propelling itself forward, and suddenly my face was a mere slab-length from the skeleton's bow. I ducked as he let the arrow fly. I swung my axe, and the skeleton dropped his  bow as his arm came off. I kicked it, and it fell backwards, sliding off its ride and onto the ground. I turned my head to see Gale trying to get a zombie off our minecart. Its arm was burning, but the rest of it was under thhe minecart. I swung both my axes as the spider jumped at me, trying to get in the cart so it could rip my face off. I sliced off a couple of its legs, and it squealed in pain. It managed to cling on, even when I hacked away at it. I couldn't reach its head, to finish it off. Gale was still trying to dislodge the zombie. "We're almost at the village, we've got to lose them!" He yelled, and finally dislodged his attacker. The spider tried to get in again, so I slammed the butt of my other axe into its head, and it fell out, only to get run over by the cart. I winced and looked away. We shot down a steep hill, gathering speed rapidly. Gale grinned at me. "Watch this." As we reached the bottom, Gale launched himself through the air and hit the ground, rolling a few times before coming up kneeling. I leapt out gracefully as he bowed. "Thank you, thank you very much." I ignored him, running for the village. He was soon hot on my heels, and we were at the castle in no time. I pushed open the door, and I came to a stop so suddenly Gale crashed into me. Roran had come up from the library, his domain, and was now standing before us. I gaped at him, too shocked to form words. "There you are." He said, taking my arm. "I was wondering when you'd get back. Come, Harrier is serving his best batch of mushroom stew. You too, Gale." He sheperded me out the door, and we hurried down the gravel path. I opened my mouth to ask what was going on when he casually pulled back his sleeve to scratch his arm, showing me his tattoo. His silver rose was moving slightly, like it was a real rose caught in a breeze. He pulled down his sleeve quickly, and ushered me towards the tavern. Its wooden roof was simple, a few vines creeping up its cobblestone walls. There was the sound of laughter and movement, and as Roran pushed the door open there were cries of greeting. I stepped into the tavern and smiled, relaxing tensed muscles. The torches flickered softly, casting the cheerful scene in a warm light. Maria, dressed in her short white robes, was behind the bar, handing out food and drinks as per usual. Everyone was either sitting on stools or at the bar, looking completely at ease. Roran guided me to the only empty table, and told us to sit. One of the younger villagers, probably working to buy a new house, hurried over with drinks in his hands. "On the house." He told Roran, then hurried away again. I leaned towards Roran. "Do you know if Harrier's stew has gone bad?" I asked him. He shrugged. "I don't know, but Harrier's around here somewhere. I'll ask him, then retire to the library." Gale was looking severely confused, and I didn't blame him. Roran had created a secret code just for this emergency, and passed it down through the generations of his students, until it came to me. "Have you found anything to cure stomach ache yet? I'm still worried  about that stew." Roran shook his head sympathetically. "Not yet, but we're extremely close. Just one more ingredient, something that doesn't go with the stew..." An idea popped into my head, and I picked up the torch sitting upon our table. "Fire doesn't go well with stew; overcooks it." Roran nodded excitedly, a new light in his eyes. "Very good, Amber. Now, I'd better get back to the library, I want to whip this up straight away. And, just a tip; Harrier sometimes serves the older, out if date stew. This is a weakness she doesn't realise exists. Remember this." He stood, drained his mug in one go, and walked out in a swish of silver robes. Everyone yelled, "See you in another twenty years!" And went back to eating or talking or trying to harass Maria while she worked. Gale leant towards ne at once. "What the hell was that about?" "Just discussing stew, of course." I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a scrap of parchment. I grabbed the quill from the table and began to write. O.k, we were really talking about Virus. "Has Harrier's stew gone bad" means "Is Virus here? Is he among us?" Then Roran told me, "I don't know, but I'm working on it." I asked if he had the wards up yet, to keep Virus out. He told me 'Yes, but I'm missing an ingredient that he doesn't like.' So I suggested torches, which you used against his thugs. He's off to set up the wards now. Gale read it quickly, and scribbled, What about the old stew thing?  I wrote an answer; Roran's saying Virus's been out of action for three thousand years, and he won't know about the things around him. It'll give him away, and we'll force him out.

Gale nodded, satisfied. I got up and headed for the fireplace. I threw it in and watched it burn, before returning to Gale. As I sat down, the doors burst open and a villager walked through. He looked normal, but he was dressed in green robes - a symbol of what he now was. Silence fell as he stopped in the middle of the bar and looked over at Maria. Three others walked in, also dressed in green, carrying an unconscious villager. "The Horae Riders have passed out," He informed us, his expression grave. "And their horses have disappeared, too." "So? Maybe their horses have been scared off; it wouldn't be the first time." Maria said, leaning forward, unconcerned. The man grimaced. "This is different." He motioned to the other three, who set the man down on the floor. He was covered in those strange symbols, and he was twitching. The villagers gasped. "He's going to Morph like us. But since his horse has disappeared, we think he's going to be different." The green-robed villager said quietly. Then the unconscious man jerked suddenly, and his bottom half began to change rapidly. When he was finished Morphing, and stood before us, no one could speak. From the waist up, he was a villager, with sky blue eyes and straight black hair. But, where his legs used to be, was a horses body; the torso, legs and tail of a dark brown horse. He looked down at us, and we looked up at him. He pulled out his bow, and tested out his legs. The green-robed villager nodded approvingly, and handed him some green robes. "You're one of us now. It is our duty to protect the others." He jumped onto his back and drew a silver sword. The horse-man didn't object. "We are the Changed," He said, surveying the crowd slowly. "We will fight for you, and any others who wish to strike down the minions of evil." His eyes lingered upon me, before he turned his friend around. "Let's go!" He shouted, and the centaur galloped out the doors and down the gravel path. "Well," Gale said after a long pause, "You don't see that everyday."