The Complete Elementia Chronicles: Quest for Justice; The New Order; The Dusk of Hope; Herobrine’s Message. Sean Wolfe Fay
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Stan found that first Zombie they had encountered, and the way they had handled it, much more amusing than he thought that he ought to. Perhaps it was just how far they had come and gone in such a short time. Perhaps it was nerves that were showing themselves in short bursts. In any case, when Stan noticed a Zombie out in the woods give him a sideways glance, he walked over to it, and as it neared him in the slow manner that Zombies do, he made a point of killing the Zombie with a succession of swift punches to the rotten face, his axe sitting idly in his inventory.
At the fifteenth punch, the Zombie’s head snapped to the side, and as Stan picked up the rotten flesh, he became aware that everybody was staring at him (except for Oob, who had managed to wander into a nearby small lake and was looking about as if wondering how he had gotten there). Stan just smiled up at them and tossed the rotten flesh into the air, where it was snagged by Rex before it hit the ground. Stan hadn’t noticed exactly when the dog had reappeared, but he was so far past questioning it.
“Ah, nostalgia,” he said with a chuckle as Rex chewed the rotten flesh hungrily, shooting Stan a fond look. “Remember that first day, Charlie? The Zombie, the shelter, the Spiders?”
A reminiscing look came over Charlie’s features. “Yeah. It was a simpler time,” he said longingly. “It’s weird to be back, isn’t it?”
Stan nodded. “It’s like visiting your old primary school twenty years later.”
Charlie gave a casual “Yep” of agreement, and the four players continued walking the path, with Oob following slowly behind him. They passed an old dirt-and-wood shelter with no top that Stan realized was the same one he and Charlie had built on their first night. They inspected it and found a wooden pressure plate inside, which Stan assumed led to some sort of booby trap. Stan was about to split the wooden pressure plate with his axe, but in his haste he accidentally stepped on it, and he heard a faint click.
His brain registered what was about to happen seconds before it did. “Hit the dirt!” Stan bellowed as he jumped away from the decrepit shack, and the others barely had time to follow before the TNT below the fortress ignited, creating a crater the width of the road where the shelter had just stood.
Stan pulled himself up and looked into the smoldering remains with disgust. What sort of sadistic monster would rig this basic shelter with explosives on the chance that a new player would come back and seek refuge within its humble walls? It made Stan’s insides churn to think that King Kev and his followers had actually sunk to the level of killing innocent new players.
Stan looked at the ground as the group continued walking, picturing over and over in his head the image of his arrow penetrating King Kev’s forehead or his axe burying itself in the King’s chest. It was only when he noticed that the group had stopped walking, and that they had taken on a pronounced silence, that Stan looked up. He wished that he hadn’t.
The Adorian Village was in complete and total ruin. This village that had embraced the travel-weary Stan, Kat and Charlie just weeks earlier was now nothing more than a ghost town, with only the most basic of cobblestone-block house frames having survived the fire. As the group walked down the main street, their faces simultaneously took on expressions of horror. Even Oob, who had never been to the village before, sensed the magnitude of the complete and total razing of the village that had taken place. The only structure in the village that was still in the least bit recognizable was the brick Town Hall where they had first met Adoria. Even that had had significant chunks of it blown apart by TNT explosions.
The feelings of disgust, horror and consuming fury that had racked Stan’s body the last time he had seen this village came back in full force, and Stan felt himself about to vomit again. Before anything could come, however, an arrow whizzed past Stan’s left shoulder and Stan heard a clang of flint on diamond followed by DZ’s “Oof!” of pain. Stan’s eyes found a pickaxe flying past his other shoulder, and when he turned back, an assailant in full diamond armour was upon him. Before he could react, Stan felt the dull blow of a bow slamming him across the forehead.
Stunned by the blow to the head, Stan looked wildly around and saw two forms in full diamond battle armour, moving too fast for Stan to recognize. Through the blunt pain in his forehead, Stan saw a figure struggling with Kat over a diamond pickaxe, which ended when the figure punched Kat in the face. The figure grabbed the tool back from her and then slammed her over the head with it, knocking her to the ground. Stan also saw DZ engaged in a sniper battle with what appeared to be a Skeleton in full diamond battle armour.
Stan was unsure of whether or not he was hallucinating, but his brain tried to focus on the fact that for one, Skeletons didn’t wear armour, and for two, they weren’t that fast. Stan stole a glance at the other assailant and saw a glint of yellow in between the light blue of the helmet and the chestplate, and the truth dawned on him in a rush.
“Archie, G, stop attacking! It’s us!” he hollered.
There was a moment of silence as the two figures, both of whom had gained the upper hand in their respective fights, looked at Stan, contemplating him. The Skeleton pulled off his helmet to reveal a mop of wild red hair, while the other pulled off his to expose a golden figure identical to Stan.
“Stan?” asked Archie, not daring to believe it. “Is that … is that really you?”
“Yeah, or at least I think I’m Stan. That blow to the head shook me pretty good,” Stan muttered, his head still shrouded in fog.
“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” cried Archie as he rushed over to Stan and handed him a blood-red Potion of Healing, which Stan gratefully downed in a single swallow. Instantly his head cleared up, and he took Archie’s outstretched hand to pull himself up.
Kat and Charlie were both on the ground. Stan hadn’t realized up to that point just how skilled Archie and G were in player-to-player combat. Charlie was being treated for the arrow wedged in a chink in his armour by a figure in a scarlet jumpsuit whose blond hair distinguished him as Bob, the archer of the Nether Boys.
G was on his knees, cradling Kat’s head in his arms. He poured half his potion on the pickaxe wound on her forehead, and the other half went into her mouth. Kat’s eyes fluttered, and when they fully opened and she saw who was holding her, she gave an exclamation of joy and embraced G. They stayed in each other’s arms for half a minute until they realized everybody else was staring at them, which left them feeling slightly awkward.
The feeling didn’t last, though. As soon as everyone was back on their feet, the greetings started.
“Hey, Stan! How’re ya doin’, buddy?” asked G as he high-fived Stan.
“Not bad, not bad. Killed a Griefer, slayed a dragon, found some diamonds … good times, good times,” Stan responded with a grin.
“Sounds like it,” said Archie. “The Apothecary told us all about what you guys did. Sounds like one crazy vacation.”
“Well, we did go all over the place, if that’s what you mean,” said Charlie with a chuckle. “So, how many people do you guys have organized?”
“Well,” said G, scratching his head, “the Apothecary came to us soon after you guys left. He said that you were organizing a rebellion against the King and that he wanted to help. Well, seeing as the King had just burned down our village, killed our leader, and slaughtered half the people here, we didn’t have to think too hard about believing him.”
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