The Complete Elementia Chronicles: Quest for Justice; The New Order; The Dusk of Hope; Herobrine’s Message. Sean Wolfe Fay
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“Well, we were just saying that we want to go back to the Adorian Village to help you guys organize the rebellion.”
“Really?” asked Stan, his heart lifting.
“Absolutely,” said Ben. “You keep your end of the deal and get us out of this stupid dimension, and we’ve got nothing to lose by helping you guys out.”
“All right, well, thanks, guys,” said Charlie. “Now, it’s only a matter of time before they realize that we weren’t killed in that explosion, and after they realize it, they’re going to look everywhere, including underground. Now, if my calculations are correct, we should be located right under the cave that has the portal in it. If they got in here, that means that they’ve fixed the portal themselves, so that shouldn’t be a problem anymore.
“So here’s what I want everyone to do.” They all leaned in to listen. Charlie had clearly thought this through. “I want Kat and Bob to jump out of the hole that I’m going to make above us, and be prepared to shoot down anyone in the vicinity. Stan, Ben and I will run towards the portal, and we’ll attack anyone who gets in our way. However, we shouldn’t have that many people to deal with, because I want Bill to use his fishing rod to fling any people between us and the portal out of the way so that Bob and Kat can shoot them. Any questions?” Nobody said a word.
“OK then, get ready,” said Charlie. Kat and Bob drew their bows and arrows out, Stan drew his shovel, Bill drew his fishing rod and Ben drew his sword. Charlie took his pickaxe and, trying to conceal his heart pounding within his chest, he gave three swift blows to the Netherrack block above him. It shattered, and Kat and Bob burst out of the hole, quickly followed by Stan and the others.
Exiting the hole, Stan had to do a double take to truly believe their good luck. He had thought that this was a daring escape, certain to be met with some opposition – but there were no guards around the portal, which was indeed glowing purple and complete once again. Stan looked back as he dashed towards the portal. He could see five men guarding the mouth of the cave, but the six players were silent as they dashed towards the portal, and the guards could not hear them.
Stan was still giddy at their good luck as Charlie dived through the active portal. Charlie was closely followed by Ben, and Stan was about to dive through himself when a figure stepped around the edge of the portal and into his path.
Stan didn’t even think or look at the figure as he beat it senseless over the head with the shovel. The figure fell, and it gave a squeal of pain. Stan was stepping into the portal when he realized that something odd had happened. Why would it squeal?
Stan looked down at the unconscious body and realized that he had not just knocked out a guard – this was a Zombie Pigman, and he had just knocked it dead. He looked around in horror for the horde of angry, undead warriors charging at him, lusting for his blood. But there were none. This Pigman had apparently been alone. However, he did see an even scarier sight.
The sound of the Pigman’s death had alerted the guards to his presence. The five of them were now charging towards the portal, shooting arrows as they ran. Stan became aware of Kat, Bill and Bob diving through the portal, and he did, too. He experienced the horrible squeezing sensation for the few seconds, and then tumbled out onto the sand in the dawn’s early light.
“They’re coming through!” Stan yelled to his five friends, who lay panting on the sand. Stan raised his shovel and began beating the bottom right block of the obsidian portal, and Charlie joined him, as did everybody else. Through the purple particles, they saw the five guards rushing towards the portal, coming to attack them. At the head of the pack was a player who had the skin of a cow but wore iron boots, leggings and a helmet and held an iron axe in his hand. Stan punched faster and faster to break the black block that was so frustratingly solid, and the block broke into several useless chunks at the same moment that the cow-man burst through the portal and set his axe on the nearest target, Kat.
The other five players stepped out of the war zone as Kat and the barbaric warrior battled, their iron weapons moving as fast as silver spirits in the dim pink light. It was obvious that Kat was the superior fighter. She remained calm, while the axe-fighter’s wild attacks became increasingly desperate. One false swipe later and the axe flew out of the player’s hand and skidded across the ground, coming to a stop at the base of the broken Nether portal.
Kat kicked the player to the ground and raised her sword. She held the sword above her head and looked down into the player’s face. He lay sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily from the kick that Kat had inflicted upon his chest. Kat raised the sword.
“Kat,” said Stan suddenly, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t. He’s unarmed. What good will it do?”
“It’ll stop him from ratting us out to the King!” said Ben.
“If we let him go, it’ll just come back to bite us!” cried Bill incredulously.
Kat’s sword was shaking. The look on her face showed pained confusion.
“Kat,” said Charlie. “Just don’t—”
But his response was cut off when Kat’s sword found its home in the cow-man’s chest.
The player’s items burst out around him in a circle, indicating the death that Stan had already known was coming. Kat pulled the sword out of the player, and she looked down at the body in disdain. She then looked over at Stan and Charlie, both of whose faces showed disbelief and horror at the murder of an unarmed player by their friend.
“I’m sorry,” said Kat, and Stan couldn’t tell who she was talking to, him and Charlie or the dead player. “I am so, so sorry.” On the last word her voice cracked and she sank to her knees and burst into tears.
Bill walked up to Kat’s weeping form and knelt down beside her. “I’m sorry, Kat, but these are the tough things about war. It’s eat or be eaten. If you had let him go, then he would have followed us and relayed our position back to the King’s forces, and we’d be captured within the next week.”
Kat had stopped crying, and she looked up to face Ben. “I know that,” she sniffled, wiping her eyes on her T-shirt sleeve. “But it doesn’t make it any easier.”
“I know that,” said Ben. “You know, when I first joined Elementia, I had to kill my old sword-fighting mentor to save Bill’s life. I realize that killing people, even if it is in self-defence, is hard. But if we are truly going to overthrow the King, then there are certain things that are going to have to be done. We are going to have to kill people to get to where we need to get. That is a fact. But we’ll be saving hundreds more and making life better for thousands. You understand, don’t you, Kat?”
Kat stood up, breathing deeply. “I understand. You’re right, Ben. Thank you.”
The two players hugged. Three of the other players looked on solemnly, but Stan looked away. He was filled with an overpowering feeling of disgust, and right then and there, he swore that he would never kill a player unless he himself was in mortal danger, no exceptions.
After the moment of peace СКАЧАТЬ