The Sky is Not the Limit

Chapter 7

"Jerome, why are you bringing a flint and steel?" Jason asked.

"For, uh, campfires. Yeah." Jerome answered him, hiding the TNT behind him. Inside Sky's castle, Team Crafted was busy at work preparing for the long battle to come. They were almost ready to head out.

"Hey, where's Ty?" Mitch asked.

"He's on a little errand. He'll be back soon." Jason answered with a wink.

"Uh, guys, you might want to come see this." Quentin pointed out, peeking outside through a curtain. Word had quickly spread of the impending squid invasion, and frightened villagers, not knowing what to do, gathered at the castle.

Einshine burst in, panting. "You guys need to get out there; those people are freaking out!"

"I guess we'd better go now." Ian sighed. "Everyone ready?" He scanned over the group. Fully dressed in diamond armor, they definitely looked battle-ready. Sky still had his powerful enchanted sword, and urged everyone to take a gold sword for use against the stronger squids.

The team went out to address the crowd. "Good townspeople..." Sky began formally. Quentin laughed and shoved him out of the way.

"We're going to go kick some squid butts now, so chill out!"

Jason sighed and added, "All mines should be evacuated, and villagers are urged to take shelter on high ground for their own safety."

Their speech was interrupted by a roar from the sky. Ty came soaring in, riding an ender dragon. The frightened villagers fled once more. He landed the dragon smoothly next to them and dismounted.

"Sorry for the wait!" Ty laughed. "Pepper hasn't flown in a while." The dragon nuzzled Ty affectionately.

"Ty, you have an ender dragon?" Ian gasped.

"It's a long story. All aboard! We're gonna travel in style!" The group was hesitant, especially Quentin, but they all eventually hopped on. "Hey Einshine, you coming?"

Einshine shook his head. "I've already played my role; this is your guys's fight. I'll stay behind and help guide the people. Good luck Team Crafted!"

"Same to you!" Ty flicked the reins and Pepper took off in a flash. Soon they were past the villages and in the heart of the expansive forest that made up a large part of their world. With Jason leading the way, in took no time getting to the cornucopia. The tribute stands were empty and eerily quiet.

Quentin jumped off and kissed the grass. "Oh solid ground, I'll never leave you again!

Ty tied Pepper's reins to a tree. "Don't worry baby, I'll be back soon."

Ian watched in confusion. "The relationship you have with that ender dragon is questionable at best." They then began their excavation. They knew it was underground, so they started to dig with shovels they had brought with them.

"Hey Jerome," Mitch suggested, "why don't we loot the chests while we're at it?"

"Great idea Bajan." Jerome walked over and opened one, but it proved to be empty. A sizzling sound came, and the whole cornucopia suddenly exploded from concealed TNT underground.

"Nice going Bacca." Mitch groaned, getting up and brushing off soot.

"You're the one who told me to look!" Jerome countered.

"You should've checked for traps!"

"Well I'm sorry, I don't have vision like yours, eagle-brain!"

"At least I don't smell like a dump truck!"

"Know-it-all!"

"Overgrown poodle!"

"String bean!" That crossed the line. Mitch tackled Jerome, sending them into a wrestling match.

"Hey, break it up!" The others tried to get between them, but were shoved away.

Quentin finally shot an ice beam at them, freezing them in place. "Just stop fighting! No one knew the boxes were rigged, so you're arguing is pointless." He whipped the ice with his tail, and the two fell to the ground. "Now make up." They glared at each other and roughly shook hands. From then on, they kept a large distance between them and didn't make eye contact.

With that (more or less) settled, they went to check out what damage was done. The explosion left a smoking crater where the chests once stood, and sure enough, the undamaged portal was there. It looked similar to a nether portal, but had lapis lazuli instead of obsidian. They all gathered around it, hesitant to go in.

"Who knows what could be in there? They must know we're coming for rigging the TNT." Ty wondered.

Quentin tapped his foot impatiently. "Well we'll never know if we just stand here! YOLO!" He jumped in, vanishing.

"Quentin wait!" The others followed suit, hovering in space before coming out on the other side. Immediately they were free-falling into an ocean. The water hit them like a ton of bricks.

"*Cough*...Is everybody okay?" Sky sputtered, coming up.

Quentin poked his head out of the water, paddling easily. "This isn't so bad."

"It is for someone who can't swim!" Ian said, flailing his arms wildly.

"Haha, sorry, I guess we forgot about that." Sky giggled, holding his head above water. "Quentin, teach him."

"Ian, I've been telling you, you need to get yourself a jetpack!" Jason said, floating above them. "I think I see an island over there." They slowly made their way in that direction, praying that they wouldn't be ambushed from below.

The squid overlord once again watched them from his throne, perched on the top of a tall tower. His servant reported to him.

"They successfully set off the portal trap, but seem to have survived it and are coming this way as we speak."

"Perfect; step 1 is complete. Are the other steps ready?"

"Yes sir. And the name of the mission has been changed as well like you requested to better suit the plan of action."

"Well, what is it?"

"Operation Divide and Conquer."