The World of MINECRAFT (Being the First Volume of the Minecraft Trilogy)

...And Ends

Lucas watched the arrow arc through the sky and slam into one of the bigger zombies. From the top of the bell tower's lookout post, he was almost invincible. Almost. Spiders could climb the walls, but the other men cut them down. He also had to keep an eye on any shots skeletons fired back soon him.

He had no idea that this was going to happen when they entered the village a little more than an hour ago. He was beginning to get a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. At first, he had assumed that the inhabitants of this village had abandoned it for some reason or another. He had merely thought that a pack of monsters had found it empty and used it for a home. But now, as he watched more zombies fall, as he inspected the craftsmanship of the arrows and armor, he formed a different idea.

The zombies and skeletons that were attacking them had once been people. And they had only made the change recently.

Someone had attacked this village. Someone had turned these innocent people into monsters. And, as Lucas watched another one of his arrows sink into a zombie's head, he decided that he would make that person pay dearly.

~~~

Steve ducked as the axe spiraled over his head and slammed into the creeper behind him. "Thanks," he breathed.

"No prob," answered Jack. The grin was there again. As deadly as the situation was, Jack was having one heck of a time. He was on a quest. He was fighting monsters. He was living the legends of Minecraft. A zombie clawed at him, but he gave it a sharp elbow. It fell out the broken window and into the sun. Suddenly, its skin began to boil. Smoke rose off of it, and sparks flew. It gave one wail, and fell to the ground, now full alight.

"The sunlight!" realized Steve.

"The magic is still weak!" whooped Jack. "That's why they've been staying inside or in the shadows! They burn in the sunlight!" The two pressed forward. Steve used the knockback factor of his sword, sending the dark creatures flying into the light. As the cathedral cleared out, the villagers began to come down from the bell tower and rejoin the fight. They pressed the monsters into the light.

Steve noticed that the creepers and spiders didn't burn in the light. He also noticed that the armored monsters didn't catch fire on the places where their skin (or bone) was covered.

He slashed through another skeleton. They seemed to be the brains of the group. When one was struck down, the monsters in the surrounding area weren't quite sure what to do. However, the skeletons were also the hardest to get to. They were deadly shots. Luckily, Steve had Lucas to take care of them.

Their efforts were paying off. The monsters' numbers were dwindling. He drove the diamond blade into a creeper, pushed a zombie aside, and kicked a slime back into a group of oncoming spiders. Its green splatter slowed the creatures.

"Keep fighting!" he encouraged the men.

"Let's make these guys redead!" shouted Jack. He swung his diamond axes around. The fight itself died with the monsters, and soon, the villagers had the monsters on the run. The warriors have chase.

"Retreat!" called one of the skeletons.

"Fall back!" bellowed the zombies.

"Save yourselvesssss!" hissed one of the creepers.

Some of the slimes made a strange syruping noise, but they were largely ignored.

The unfortunate monsters who weren't wearing armor were committing suicide, but they had no choice. They had to obey their masters. For the ones that were covered, Steve's archers rained arrows in them.

"They're nearing the edge of town!" cried Jack. "Don't let them get away!"

Suddenly, the three men Steve had left behind (that is, Ben, Shelby, and Caleb) appeared on the hill overlooking the battlefield. They too launched waves of arrows at the monsters. They ran away, most collapsing from the sun, their armor burning off of them.

"Now!" commanded Steve. "After them!" His warriors charged. The monsters still on the streets were slaughtered. "Fan out," ordered Steve. "Some still may be left."

Steve, Amos, and timid farmer Joel entered the battered blacksmith shop resting on the edge of the village. Steve looked around the back of the building, while Amos and Joel entered the structure. Amos peered into the scalding lava sitting in a pool opposite the blacksmith's crafting bench. He thought he saw something in it.

Joel opened the chest in the back of the room. Nothing in it. He pulled the box out from the wall so he could bring the weapons in it back to Steve.

The spider that had been hiding behind it lunged at him.

He yelped and fell back into the arms of the skeleton in the corner. He pushed away from it and drew his sword, but the monster shot first. The arrow buried itself in his chest, and he crumpled before he could make a sound.

Amos looked up when he heard something hit the floor only to see that an armored skeleton was racing toward him. He knocked its bow out of its arm. It pulled an arrow out of the quiver and tried to stab the old smith with it. The skeleton was over top of him, and it was pressing his head down. Amos felt his head get warm, and realized with a shock that he was over top the lava pit. The monster grinned at him and pushed him harder. Amos felt the bubbling liquid start to touch the tips of his hair.

Suddenly, Steve was there. He pulled the skeleton off Amos, and threw it against the wall. The spider bit into Steve's leg, but he shook it off. The skeleton attacked Amos. The older man grabbed the monster's arm and pulled it down into the lava. The skeleton screeched and kicked Amos back. It retrieved its bow and mounted the spider. The two rode off.

Then, Lucas was in them from the bell tower. He fired three shots. The first one loosened the monster's armor on its right arm, causing that piece to fall off and the arm to catch fire. The other two shots sunk into the spider's leg and abdomen. It faltered, but the skeleton spurred it on. Noticing its flaming arm, the skeletons growled and tore the arm off. He hurled it back toward the village. Before Lucas could knock another arrow, the final two monsters were out of range.

He came down to find Steve knelt over the body of Joel.

"We suffered three casualties," reported Jack. "Joel, Ken, and Cole."

"More than that," corrected Lucas. "Those armored commanders had been monsters for a while, but most of the grunts were denizens of this village."

"Well, at least we know we destroyed all of them," said Steve.

"Yeah, those last two couldn't have gotten far," assured Lucas.

"All right, then," began Steve as he got up, "shall we continue with our quest?"