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

Disrupted Plans

Israphel watched the burning wood slide into the boiling lava. Entire storehouses of gold, jewels and precious metals were lost to the carnage. He had also lost hundreds of men: laborers, warriors, strategists, and hired muscle.

Now, his observatory platform rested on top of only a few feet of wood and metal that kept it from sliding into the lava. One of his creeper lieutenants approached.

"Sssir,"it began. "We sssuffered heavy casualties. Ssseveral of the sssurvivorsss are injured. In the chaosss, we failed to retain mossst of our sssuppliesss."

"Fierfek!" swore Israphel. "I'm quite aware of the damage we've ssuffered.

"Sssir, our vault wasss flooded by lava. Any trace of metal melted and flowed into the pit."

"Notchvarnit! Now we've had it for sssure!" lamented Israphel. A flaming wooden tower snapped at its base and crashed into the platform. The two kept their balance as the platform rocked back and forth. In the distance, someone cried, "Medic!"

"We're done!" shouted the white creeper. His pasty white skin had paled, but his red eyes burned hotter than ever. "Finished! This will be the end of usss."

"Shall I signal the precinct that we have failed?" asked the other monster.

"Shut up!" yelled Israphel, his voice bordering on hysteria. "What do you think, you idiot!? Of course we must report our," and he struggled on the word, "failure. These warriorss must be dessstroyed, and at once!"

"Underssstood, sssir!" voiced the lackey. He hurried off to the communications room, which had miraculously survived the climax.

It's as if fate wanted us to fail, thought Israphel, just so we could report the events back to those who started this whole mess. Hopefully they can finish it.

~~~

The jet-black bat swooped through the sky. It approached the stronghold of evil. It had traveled this route before, and it was an unpleasant one. The bat was only a messenger, and it did not know what was written on the rolled up parchment in its claws. All it knew was to deliver, and that was what it would do.

The armored zombies parted to let the creature in. It dropped the paper in a tray and then hung upside down on a rod next to the dish. It would rest there until it was needed again.

A soldier grabbed the document, and, recognizing the seal of urgency, hustled to the precinct's commander.

"Masta krun?" the skeleton commander asked it.

"Dof dof," the zombie replied. "Ahk urkjent."

The commander snatched the document out of his underling's hand and scanned the paper. He had to stifle a curse and hurried up the ancient stone spiral staircase. He approached the room with its large velvet comfy chairs and gargantuan fireplace. The wrinkled creeper was shaken awake.

"What?" it croaked.

"Contact the leader," ordered the skeleton. "Now." The old monster got to its feet and began the ritual. Before long, the fiery figure had once again materialized.

"You contact me again so soon," purred the specter. The voice was once again cool and collected. "What is it? Have you succeeded in killing the villager scum?"

The commander shook his head. "One of the creeper crime bosses received your message. Israphel, I believe. He and his men captured Steve and his company, but Steve was supposedly among the casualties of the conflict. However, the warrior proved very much alive. He completely destroyed the creepers' base and escaped with no more deaths on his side."

The room temperature immediately dropped. "I'm sure though," the skeleton continued, "that your friend with exquisite tastes will come through to us." He instantly regretted saying that.

"You don't understand," the figure almost whispered. "That was my man!" he suddenely shouted. The flames burned bright, turning the entire room a sinister red-orange.

"I thought he would be better," commented the commander.

"He is," hissed the master. "It would take quite a gifted warrior to defeat him. This is not good, not good! We have been working on this for decades. I have been building this plan for hundreds, if not thousands, of years! I will not be stopped now!"

"Understood, my lord" the monster replied. "What do you require of me? What can we do?"

"Be ready," replied the figure.

The commander inquired, "May I ask, ready for what?" He felt the burning eyes focus on him. Suddenly, the figure was looking at something else. Not something. Everything. Their leader was taking in the whole world.

"It's been a long time," the master muttered to himself. He fixed his eyes on the skeleton commander again. "Ready for me," it said at last, "because I am coming."