Living in Me (Sequel to Not Gonna Die)

|Chapter 10| The Power of Coffee

          It took Ian, Mitch and Adam just over an hour to reach the Team Crafted base after their conversation with Herobrine, which wasn't as long as it might sound. The sun was hovering near the western horizon and the torches were being readied to be lit as the sky ever so gradually turned to a deep blue. But before they could start relaxing as the night approached, the three Generals tracked down Jason, who was in his study in the castle. He glanced up as the three as they entered the room, closing the door behind them.

          "Okay, what's up?" Jason asked, putting aside the page he was writing on. His question was quite valid as it was rare for any of the Generals to visit the other's studies, much less for three of them to visit at once.

          "We uhh... well we met Herobrine on our patrol," Mitch said, scratching the back of his head a little.

          Jason frowned a little. "Okay. How was he?"

          "Bit beaten up," Ian said, glancing at the other two. "And he seemed pretty annoyed too, not really sure why though."

          "What did he say that means you're in my study now?" Jason asked, skipping right to the point.

          "He wants us to contact our allies and see where they would stand in a fight," Adam summed up. His arms were crossed and he was leaning against the wall, his sunglasses back in their rightful place. "He also wanted us to check if they have any information on Entity and those guys."

          Jason paused for a moment, his eyes flicking between them. "Does Herobrine think that a war is coming? Cause otherwise, it's a little tactless to ask our allies if they're with us or not. Might seem like we're the ones who want to start a fight."

          "Herobrine didn't say anything about a war," Ian said. "He just said that it might come to a fight."

          Jason gave a sigh and sat back in his chair. "Alright, give me time to write up some sort of letter in a way so that everyone won't get offended in an instant. We can send out teams in the next couple of days."

          "You're a legend Jason," Mitch said as they all went to leave. "You want something from the kitchen?"

          "Sure, get me a cup of coffee, tiny bit of milk, no sugar."

          The coffee must have given Jason magical powers because by midmorning the next day, several documents had been written up and were ready to be taken to the allies Team Crafted had, scattered about the continent. Groups went south east to Lord Noah, north to Lord Tyler and Lord Rob, and west to Lords Gizzy, Dan, David and Patrick, who were in an alliance with each other. No one was very confident in the response of these four Lords (or any lord for that matter) as they had witnessed Adam's magic and since then have become very closed off.

          And so when Senior Commander Red and his four accompanying warriors approached the gates of Lord David's city, he was fully prepared to be turned away. The guards on duty stopped them outside the gates and got them to dismount as one of them ran to get their Lord. The scenery was quite nice to look at; a plain full of low grass with cattle and sheep and goats slowly lumbering around, the glint of a lake in the distance and beyond the city, the shapes of the mountains that jutted up from the ground.

          Lord David himself came out to meet them. He was dressed much like he had been when he had visited the Team Crafted base; an outfit of different shades of blue that he somehow made work, windswept blond hair, eyes that verged on grey and a slanted smile like he was privately thinking of a good joke.

          "Didn't expect a delegation from Team Crafted to show up today," he said, his accent foreign but Commander Red couldn't place it. "What can I help you with?"

          "I have a message for you from my Generals," Senior Commander Red said, taking the envelope out of his pocket and handing it to the Lord. The guards were standing at attention and they eyed the delegation as Lord David opened the letter and scanned its contents, frowning thoughtfully on occasion. When he had finished, he glanced up at the Commander.

         "Are you aware of the contents of this letter?" he asked.

          "I have been briefed," Commander Red said with a nod.

          Lord David nodded, tapping the letter thoughtfully against his chin. "Why don't you come on in, we'll have a chat," he said after a moment, flicking the letter as a gesture for them to follow him.

         Commander Red and his warriors did so and while their horses were being tended to, the Commander and Lord David had a meeting in one of the buildings that were clustered around the centre square of the city, the rest of the delegation standing outside.

          "So tell me what your Generals told you first, then I'll tell you what I know," Lord David said, sitting in one of the leather chairs arranged around the table and gesturing for the Senior Commander to take the other.

         "I'm not sure what you have heard this far west, Lord David, but near us, we have been getting reports of three individuals who pose a potential threat to us. General Jason told us to see what allies we have who would be willing to assist us should things come to a head."

          "You know these individual's names?"

          "The rumours call them Entity, Dreadlord, and Acid."

          "Ah, so they are the same people then," Lord David said, getting up from his chair and beginning to pace. "We've been getting similar things, sightings of those three people around the time that sections of our livestock mysteriously go missing. And we've been getting sightings of others as well."

          "Others like the three?" Commander Red asked.

          "No, and that's why I'm concerned." Lord David drummed his fingers against his leg as he walked. "They appear human but from the conflicting reports I've gotten, they're not. My people only ever managed to get a brief glance but whoever's taking our livestock, they're six feet tall, walk like a bear, wear all black clothes and have little identifying features. They also show up in groups and move in a military formation."

          "Do you assume they're part of an army?"

          "I wasn't sure what to assume," Lord David said, stopping in his tracks and turning to face Commander Red. "But now, out of the blue, you're here on behalf of your army, asking if we're willing to stand with you in a fight. That's not a coincidence."

         Commander Red didn't reply and Lord David waved the letter in the air a little. "I'll write you another one of these just to be formal but I'll tell you anyway; my army and I will stand with your Generals against these three people. And if the rest of my alliance doesn't agree, I'll convince them to."

          "Thank you sir," Senior Commander Red said, standing with a little bow.

          From there, it was a simple trip home with the news and it was even simpler for General Seto to update Herobrine on what they'd learnt. The sorcerer didn't get much of a reply back, just a quick "I'll look into it". And so with nothing pressing on the horizon, life went on as normal.

          And then Herobrine showed up at the base.