Heiress to the Nether (Book 1 of the Error 404 Series)

||Chapter 10||

We got out of the inn and tried to find a way to our destination. Only then did we realize that the village is in a small island surrounded by water. (Kinda like a village island, except you can see the nearest big continent very faintly)

So instead of continuing as planned, we had to waste some more time getting the boat from the dock and sailing the long way around the island, since we're using it to pinpoint our location.

During that time, I pondered a lot on what happened in the Apothecary. What Ember said seems to make sense, but my instinct tells that Ember's explanation isn't the right one, even though I don't know why exactly did I turn back.

But the idea that I remained under control made me wonder, can I turn at will? My reflexes seem sharper when I'm at that state and I seem to move faster than usual, too.

My thoughts were interrupted when the boat jerked to a stop. We reached shallow water. I volunteered to climb out of the boat first. As soon as I stepped onto solid ground, I felt the heat as it attacked my foot. Luckily, I'm basically immune.

"The land feels hot," I said, "Be careful." The others nodded and cautiously stepped out of the boat. All of them, except for Ember, jumped when their foot made contact.

"You'll get used to it," I reassured them, "You just have to let yourself stand on it for a little while." They reluctantly stopped trying to avoid the ground.

After a while, they got used to the hot floor. Ember went exploring earlier, and so the three of us was alone.

"Hey! Check this out!" Ember came running back, a familiar block which was a dark maroon color as its background with glowing, pulsing orange threads laced throughout it in hand.

"It's a Magma Block," Ember said, grinning, "Moderately rare, only found in the Nether. I wonder how it got here." I took the Magma Block from Ember and looked at it.

"Careful," I warned, "It burns you like lava. Naeus uses them for traps and ammunition for catapults. He was working on them before Herobrine's Death and all that mess. But it looks like I'm still immune. Either me or Ember should keep it, maybe it can be useful later on."

"Where to now?" Rain asked.

"Please don't tell me we have to hike up that," Ember gulped as she pointed to a giant mountain that can rival the Extreme Hills, only that lava and magma blocks are littered and leaking, and looked like it was made of red netherrack (What do you call those red clay things that make red nether bricks?).

"Ember... You're afraid of heights?" I tentatively asked, a hint of humor and teasing entered my voice. Ember blushed.

"Well, no! At least, I wouldn't phrase it like that......" Ember trailed off as she saw that the rest of us were trying not to laugh.

"I lived underground in the Nether all my life! I've never been anywhere high up! Even by comparison!" Ember protested. We lost control, the three of us burst into laughter. And Ember eventually joined in, dignity forgotten.

"Well...... It does seem a little ridiculous," she finally relented, "After all this time we're outside, I'm still scared of heights."

With heightened spirits, we continued on. Me and Ember was charged with scouting ahead for any signs of inhabitants or even just signs of civilization.

"I bet that whoever we're finding lives inside this mountain," Ember said, "Because Notch insists on making our lives miserable." I had to laugh at that.

"Should we go back then?" I asked, "Since this is out best guess."

"Well, we have nothing else to report," Ember said, "Might as well do that."

<A proud Timeskip>

"So you're saying we have to go inside the volcano," Rain said. Ember nodded.

"Yep. A death wish, if you ask me. But we have no choice. Fire resistance potions would be handy right now," Ember said, "I mean, I'm resistant, and so is Abigail, but you and Stella aren't. So I hope you got two of those right now."

"No, I think I ran out of those," Stella said sadly, "We'll have to risk it." I sighed, fire resistance would be really helpful for the climb.

"Alright then," Ember said, folding up the corners of her robe, "Who is up for a climb up a very volatile mountain?" I chuckled at her attitude.

As we climbed up the mountain, as careful as we can may I add, Ember's foot slipped and some of the rock crumbled off. Luckily it isn't anything big, but I could've sworn Ember swore, "Firefight!" under her breath. Weird.

We continued the trek. We had a few close calls, but nothing huge. When we neared the top, a boy about Ember's age with fiery red hair and bright green eyes looked down from the top. His eyes widened with disbelief when he saw us, but then they turned teasing.

"Wow Ember. I mean I know you're a loyal and so-called-proper apprentice, but I never thought you'd be so stubborn that you'd wear your robes to hike up a volcano, of all mountains."

___________________________________________

Who is this new guy? How did he know Ember? Guess you'll find out in the next chapter.

You might find that this chapter is shorter than usual, but I just really want to end this in a cliffhanger and leave you some time to speculate, I had to end this early.

Hinty hint for the mysterious red hair boy is in my other story Book of Backstories part 2, Preview. Also a backstory is up and it's about Iris, my character in my other Rainimator fanfic called the Other Survivor. You can find it in my profile.

I guess the plot is heating up alright. ;) [I just had to make a pun. I mean they're climbing a volcano, and things really are heating up in the story. Literally.]

That was awkward. I'm glad this is not a real time conversation. Anyway, bye for now!

~Iris

Post Author's Note:

The Book of Backstories is not yet published on this account. I will notify you all when it's published. There will be no such thing as preview in this version because well, the story's done.