Herobrine X Reader - Love's Wither Rose (COMPLETE)

11 - Ruin

[(Y/N) was slain by Vindicator.]

I shot up in my bed, panic-stricken and filled with dread.

The village.

It was gone by now, I knew. The illagers would have taken over and slaughtered the inhabitants. I hung my head low, tears welling up in my eyes but not white falling.

I could have saved them, I thought.

I began to shake. I could have. And I was so close to finishing the wave - there were only five left: three pillagers, one vindicator and one evoker. I almost had them, too! I could have handled the evoker and vindicator just fine by myself, I'd fought with worse odds before.

But then...

My heart dropped. The tears now trickled down my cheeks.

Herobrine.

He'd called out for me.

<•••>

"(Y/N)!"

I spun around on my heel. Herobrine was there. Emotions ran through my mind like a blizzard caught in a hurricane. I wanted to feel relieved to see him safe, or something. But I couldn't. There was still too much fear and death and confusion everywhere around me.

And he knew it would happen, didn't he?

Serrated teeth tore into the flesh of my lower leg.

I'd made a mistake paying attention to him. I got distracted.

The jaws dug its rows of daggers deeper into the bone, and the wet crack that echoed in my ears seemed to encourage the jaws to hold tighter. A horrible sense of déjà vu flickered through the wild haze of emotions in my mind, like a flame in a rain storm.

My brain switched to autopilot as I mindlessly hacked and slashed at the teeth around my leg. The sword did nothing more than glance off its mark, leaving no sign of any scratch of damage. My panic quickly rose and bubbled into a blind fear that flashed, pale and bright, before my eyes.

Or was it a blink of sunshine reflecting from something?

A force like a hurricane's wind drove the axe head into my torso with a horrible crunch as my ribs gave way.

<•••>

A burst of pain shot across my lower ribs, throwing the air from my lungs. I tenderly lifted my shirt and saw an angry red scar, easily the length of my forearm, running across my torso. It was scabbed in a few places along the edges, as if I hadn't respawned. I'd never had an injury carry through a respawn. This was wrong.

Maybe it's because it took a while for my body to dissolve, I reasoned with myself. And yet, something told me that wasn't the case.

Instinct and something like morbid curiosity eluded my better judgement as I shakily got up from the bed and stumbled to the storage room. Everything hurt like hell, but I needed to know one thing.

Am I too late?

I wasn't about to let the throb in my leg or the stab of pain in my ribs stop me. Either I'd save whatever survivors there were, or I'd hunt down the raiders - no matter the cost.

<•••>

Armed with enchanted weapons and clad in whatever unbroken armour I could find (which only amounted to an unenchanted diamond set of helmet and boots), I mounted one of the horses in the stables and took off westwards. Soon, dark smoke came into view. I rode on as fast as my horse would go into the middle of the ruined village. I dismounted, leaning on to the horse's shoulder to keep me from collapsing. My legs shook beneath me - partly from the pain, but mostly from the sight which met my eyes.

The ages-old oak tree that had stood tall and green just this morning was now charred and shrivelled, with what was left of the trunk looking more like a crumbling black rock than wood. Grey blankets of ash still smoked on the ground around its roots.

A sudden, small movement caught my eye, just on the other side of the charred oak. Just barely seen. I slowly and unsteadily crept around the tree, leading my horse behind me.

First, I saw the illagers' signature banner fluttering in the breeze. Then, I saw the axe that had been driven into the bark, keeping the banner pinned. The axe was made of iron, as any other vindicator's axe, and the blade was splashed with drying blood. What was somewhat peculiar, however, was the face that the handle had been broken, just below the axe's shoulder. Snapped. Splintered.

My horse pawed at the gravel, snorting and staring about wildly. Something in the surrounding veil of thick smoke caused her to spook. I tried to calm her down, but before I could do so much as open my mouth, she reared up, neighing. She struck me square in the chest with a powerful kick, throwing me to the ground, coughing and spluttering, unable to breathe as I tried to ignore the pain. By the time I could see past the flashes of white blocking my vision, my horse had bolted into the haze.

I noticed flecks of bright red blood on the ground. Great - just great. Not only had my horse bolted, but I more than likely had broken ribs now, too.

"Could this get any worse?" I wheezed, biting back a sob.

I dragged myself back up to my feet. I felt ready to break. My shoulders shook as I cried; I didn't have the energy to bottle it up. I screamed in frustration, slamming my fist into the old tree. The wood cracked and I left my hand there as the remaining embers blistered my knuckles.

I whipped around at the sudden sound of a crossbow being loaded. An arrow planted itself in my arm. I hissed grabbed the hilt of my sword.

"You idiot!" A voice snarled from the shadows. "We need them alive!"

What?

A figure stepped into view. He wore the black robes of an evoker, and as he spoke he held his hands out with his open palms facing me.

"I imagine it's too late now for friendly introductions," he said with a light chuckle. "Regardless, I'm Blythe. Of course, I already know who you are, (Y/N) - so no need for you to waste your precious energy."

"What...do you want?" I struggled to form the words.

"Oh, there's plenty of things I want - your survival and wellbeing, for instance."

He slowly reached into his robes and pulled out a little phial of bright pink liquid. Blythe took a step towards me, I drew my sword and kept it pointed at him. My body may have felt like it was on fire, but I still had enough fight left in me. He paused for a moment, then tossed the phial at me, most likely with the expectation that I'd try to catch it.

I let the glass tube shatter on the gravel. I didn't break eye contact with Blythe, either. A quiet, confused murmur rippled through the steadily clearing wall of smoke.

"Seeing as you refused to help me to help you, I suppose I'll just have to do it myself." Blythe snapped his fingers and another arrow struck me in the back of my leg.

I crumpled to the ground, clenching my jaw shut. There was no way I'd give these - these wretches the satisfaction of hearing me cry out in pain. I looked up to see Blythe standing over me. He kicked my sword away and out of my reach, before crouching down and placing a hand on the back of my neck.

"Best you don't struggle, now," he muttered.

I felt like I'd taken a plunge into a frozen lake. I couldn't move. My head throbbed painfully and my vision shifted in and out of focus at a dizzying rate.

"Best you rest, now."

Black smudges covered my sight. Every sound was muffled. I couldn't feel anything except a icy chill in my veins.

Then everything went dark.

-----------------------------------

A/N

Heyo! I'm back at last! I'll admit, that break was longer than I thought it would be, so thank you all for being patient.
On the bright side, I'll be getting back to my original upload schedule of updating with a new chapter every two weeks.