The Player

Chapter 11

Herobrine quickly gets up from the injury, but sees that because he used so much of his glitch powers, he has none left to finish the fight. He only has a glitch sword, and that won't cover him for long. Lord Enderdragon isn't too keen on working with the people who are said to destroy him, but since they have a bigger enemy, he doesn't seem to mind too much. I grip the sword in one hand, and cling on to the people I've lost because of this man before us, and charge towards him. His first slash is powerful, but I avoid it and slide under him. My legs give out for a second, but Steve covers me while I recover. I give him a thumb up, and continue to fight. Steve gets into a sword fight with Herobrine, and Lord Enderdragon calls my name. I hop onto him as he swoops down and for a moment, I just let this sink in. I'm riding on the back of my Lord, who now considers me his apprentice. Steve, the player who only appeared in legends, is on our side, and we're fighting a hack in the world. When I think I've had enough of seeing this moment, Lord Enderdragon does a nose dive right towards Herobrine. Steve is mildly slashed with Herobrine's sword, causing a slight distraction, perfect for us to strike. To our surprise, Herobrine predicts the event and dodges swiftly, causing the both of us to crash land into the stone. Lord Enderdragon rolls away from the spot where he hit and sits there, hissing in pain. Herobrine runs over to Lord Enderdragon with his sword as Steve makes a quick recovery. Lord Enderdragon gets up slowly but before any of us react, Herobrine stabs him straight through. Both of our hearts stop.

"Lord Enderdragon, no!!" I scream.

Herobrine laughs loud as he goes limp. I quickly recover and begin to run over, but before I can even take a step he begins lifting into the air. Purple and white beams shoot out from him as his body deteriorates, then, almost milliseconds later, he's gone. Another face, and the biggest one, is added to the pillar.

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Steve pretends to mourn, but the experience points raining from the sky distract him. I wipe away tears from my eyes, which should be dry for a zombie, and grab my sword once more. Now serious about the situation, Steve and I both go full offensive mode, in an almost desperation to take him down. He's now taken down three of the people I've cared about, and that makes me angry enough to stab him back. Herobrine laughs as our swords clash for the first time, but he slowly goes quiet the longer we fight. I dodge almost all of his hits, and the ones that do hit are simple cuts to the arm. I then slide under him and slash his back, causing him to topple over. He coughs up blood and starts to recover when I hold him at sword tip. He chuckles and tries pushing the blade away, but he can't find the strength to do it. I look at him with a glare clouded with vengeance. His smile then fades to an almost worried look.

"Wait, you're..." he says shakily, "You're fighting and acting just like...the players."

Steve comes up behind me and prepares his sword.

"Your monster DNA...it's...more human, but how?" Herobrine mumbles.

"That's good," I announce, "That must mean that's who I am."

Herobrine laughs, but it's pained. I slash his chest to shut him up, and he coughs up more blood. Steve looks at me, both with a look of vengeance and surprise, and I let him by. He deserves to finish the fight for both creating him and watching his partner die. Herobrine glances at me, then the sword.

"Zombie, I can bring Creeper back to life...Jerry, was it? I can bring him back, just let me live," he pleads.

Seeing his sympathy sickens me, and I know he'd be lying if he said he'd bring anyone back. So, I give Steve the go-ahead. He raises the sword above his head, and to avoid Herobrine's sympathetic stare, I look away, and grey dust coats my back.

"It's over," Steve says, "he's gone."
I nod and turn back, but his ash pile is already gone. The minions surround the centre, each staring at Steve, the last player.

"Alex will come back, Zombie," Steve says, "she just respawned on the over world."

I smile, and he takes notice. "Maybe I'll have her come and visit."

Suddenly, a portal to the over world opens, which shocks us all. We're free. Mobs are allowed to go to the over world now. I grab Steve's sign and write on the back.

Or maybe we'll come to visit you.

He smiles, but then it fades.

"But...you're monster mobs. Once you go to the over world, you'll attack us."

Not me, I write. I'm part player. There's no way I can.

He smiles. "You're cool," he says, and leaps into the portal.

Once he's gone, the End enters a state of silence. We all gather around the End portal and look into its murky colours. We don't know what to do. We've lived here under the orders of Lord Enderdragon for years, almost forever. The mobs glare at me, and smile, and then they start jumping in. Noise erupts in excitement as the End empties and moves into the over world. I stay behind and watch, making sure to hold this moment in my mind forever. I then look up to the blurry purple sky, but something else catches my eye.

There, lying stilly on the pillar of the portal is an Enderdragon egg.