Writing Championships #5

Cyan Cultists

Magic was something that was both dangerous and amazing. All the wizards have their own specialty, or their own element. It was the type of magic that they used the best, or the type of magic that they have a special connection to.

Take Scar, for example, the wizard specialized in illusion and healing, as well as luck enhancing. Another example is Stress, although her magic might not be superior, her brewing and knowledge in herbs rivaled even the most powerful wizard.

Etho specialized in Ice magic and more stealthy and wacky ones, such as teleporting and the ablity to find weird 'errors', these ablities were usually used to play pranks on others.

All elements had their weaknesses, and today, wasn't his lucky day.

"Hello everyone! Today we're going to explore the nether!"

The Nether was a firy pit of, well, fire. And this was not exactly what he was a fan of.

Etho didn't like the heat. He loved the cold and the nether was not a fun place to go to. His magic didn't really help much either as normal water just evaporated, but luckily, his ice was able to be used.

He was with Beef and Stress currently, with Stress's knowledge in potions and his partner in crime, they had assumed it would be an easy feat for just the three of them.

The trio spawned into the nether like they thought they would and began looking for resources. They would need wood, so either forest would work. A bastion for the blackstone too in order for stone to be made. They explored their surroundings without getting too far away from each other.

Etho was distracted with inspecting some of the Nether vegetation. A quick glance around confirmed Stress was still fairly closeby, checking some of the mushrooms littering the nether floor.

Wait.

Etho whirled around, confusion melting into panic as he realized Beef was nowhere to be seen.

Not thinking, he ran off in the direction he had seen Beef last, forgetting about Stress and their promise to stick together entirely.

After a minute of frantic teleporting, he heard a pained yelp nearby.

"Beef!" He cried, fearing the worse. "Crap."

Beef was surrounded by very angry piglins.

Etho knew Beef's magic ability would be no good against the mobs. Teleporting forward, he conjured his ice magic and froze the nearby areas.

"Beef," he said. "Get Stress, and maybe others if you can."

His friend nodded and fled, leaving Etho to fend for himself.

Etho found himself overwhelmed almost immediately. There were so many piglins, and they just kept coming. His offensive ice attacks were hardly affective. His attempts at freezing the enemies cracked and shattered quickly. He had already overused his teleporting ability, and couldn't escape.

His fingers felt numb from the overuse of his ice powers, the bitter cold threatening to consume him slowly, eating away at him the more he used them. The unbearable heat of the Nether quickly melting away the ice didn't help at all. Etho's mind was messy, his thoughts slowly dissolving.

Overwhelming cold, combined with overwhelming heat, Etho knew he wouldn't last much longer. His vision blurred and he could hardly focus on what he was doing.

Come on, he thought to himself. Just a little bit longer until help arrives..

All of a sudden, Etho faltered, exhaustion creeping in faster than he expected. Magic faded into only vague remains of power, and he stumbled.

He collapsed to the floor. The increasing swarm of mobs was quick to attack in his weakened state, and he could do nothing to defend himself.

After a while, the pain just became numb, leaving him lying there, unable to move, unable to help himself.

Cold...but not so bitter anymore. No, it was inviting, slowly consuming his body, gesturing for him to join it. Dissolve into the nothingness, abandon everything else, for he had no place here anymore. Join his element once again.

And he accepted, what else could he do?

He couldn't help but wonder if the suffocating ice of death would melt away, eventually, leaving his friends with lasting warmth.

Score: 9