Herobrine's Message (22 page)

“What are you talking about? What does that mean?”

“Well, to put it simply, the normal program files that run vanilla Minecraft—you know, the original code, with no mods, that allows regular Minecraft to run the way it does—they need power in order to run. Normally, when a Minecraft server is run, power is given equally to all the different parts that need it. But for some reason, in Elementia, power is being drained out of the programs that make the world run, and it's being sucked into something else.”

“How is that possible?” demanded Stan. “And what does that do? Will it have effects on the server? Does it mean that the world of Elementia is going to start fading away or something?”

“To be totally honest, Stan . . . I have no idea. I've never heard of anything like this before, and your guess is as good as mine what the effects will be like in the world. But I can tell you one thing for sure: The Noctem Alliance is the cause of it. As I tried to find out what the power was being diverted to, I had to make my way around firewalls, and all of them were the same type used by the Noctem Alliance, telling me to go away or face the consequences.”

“So . . . you're telling me that the Noctem Alliance is actually stealing energy . . .
from the server of Elementia itself
?” Stan managed to get out as he started to panic. “And you have no idea how, or why? Are you saying that the power they're stealing could be used to make their players more powerful? And, if they're taking power away from Elementia, then there's a chance that Elementia could be destroyed for good?”

Sally, who had begun to breathe heavily, nodded, took a deep breath, let it out, and looked Stan directly in the eye.

“Stan . . . as much as I hate to say it . . . it gets worse than that.”

Stan's jaw dropped. “But . . . how?”

“The Noctem Alliance isn't just diverting power from Elementia. They're also taking power from other Minecraft servers, too, using the internet. I don't know how they're doing it, or why, but somehow, the Alliance is drawing in and stealing power from every other Minecraft server in the world, and putting it toward something.”

Stan's mind couldn't comprehend what Sally was saying. She had said that there was a chance that, by drawing in power from Elementia, the server itself could be corrupted, and maybe even destroyed. So . . . if the Noctem Alliance was also drawing in power from other Minecraft servers using the internet . . . then . . . that meant . . .

“Stan, the situation is dire now,” Sally told him. “You have to get back to Element City as quickly as you can. You have to lead your citizens to take down the Noctem Alliance. As soon as I figure out how to get around the Modelock Mod and get operating powers to you, you have to defeat Lord Tenebris immediately. We have no time to waste. Every second is precious. Stan, the fate of not just Elementia . . . but of the game of Minecraft itself . . . is in your hands.”

“Bill! Yo, Bill!”

Bill, who had been surveying the depths of the tunnel with increasing anxiety, whipped his head around. His eyes locked onto Ben, standing at the mouth of the tunnel. Bill had
to squint to block out sunlight from above, which was jarring after the dark of the cave he had been working in.

“What is it?” Bill hollered back up to Ben, struggling to make himself heard over the sounds of hundreds of laborers and the construction from deep within the bunker.

“I want to go see how Bob is doing, but I can't. I'm too busy up here!” Ben yelled. “Could you go do if for me, please?”

“Sure!” Bill responded, and he began to make his way back up the mines, running parallel to a rail track that led up into the street. To be honest, he had been totally wrapped up in leading the digging of the bunker, which still wasn't large enough to hold the entire population of the city if the Noctems launched an attack. He had nearly forgotten about Bob, who had been out of commission since earlier that morning, when Ivanhoe had tumbled down an uneven patch of rock and injured his leg.

With no Potions of Healing in the city to spare anymore, Bob had been forced to use other foods to try to heal Ivanhoe as quickly as possible. Bill desperately hoped that Bob would be back on Ivanhoe soon—they were in need of all the help they could get. A group of laborers pushing a mine cart with a chest approached Bill, and he helped them push it over the last stretch of upward track until they finally made it out of the mine and back onto the street.

The laborers immediately emptied all the stone from their inventories into one of the scrap fires scattered around the street. Bill, figuring that he might as well help them finish, proceeded to help empty the chest in the mine cart into the fire as well. He only threw out the stone, leaving the coal and various ores that had been excavated in the chest. With the lack of supply lines from the outside, this mine was presently one of the only sources of materials for the people of Element City, and they weren't going to waste it. As soon as they had finished, the laborers gave Bill an appreciative nod of thanks, and brought the mine cart back down for another load as Bill proceeded to jog down the street.

Bill continued to walk until he reached an unassuming storefront a distance away from the entrance to the mine, where the ruckus of the excavation could barely be heard. The building was made of wood-plank blocks. It was clearly old and altogether plain and featureless, save a worn-out sign spelling out the word
APOTHECARY
above the door. Bill gave three sharp raps on the wooden door, and it opened. On the other side was a player dressed in an indigo robe emblazoned with golden stars, and a long white beard.

“Hello, Chief,” the old player greeted him wearily, a smile spreading across his face.

“Hey, TrumpetBlaster. How's he doing?”

“Quite well, you'll be happy to know,” TrumpetBlaster
replied. “I suspect that Ivanhoe will be ready to return to work by the day's end. He's already walking about by himself perfectly fine, and with a few more hours of healing he'll be able to carry Bob again.”

“Excellent,” Bill said, his heart lifting. “You're a genius, you know. Not just anybody could heal a pig up that fast using just stale bread and carrots. You have no idea how much we appreciate it.”

TrumpetBlaster gave a wise chuckle. “Don't mention it, my dear boy. I'm always happy to assist any friends of the Apothecary. Thank him, if you're going to thank anyone. He taught me all I know. I only wish there were more in this city like me, who are able to appreciate the art of healing without the assistance of—”

“Bill? Is that you?” a shout from within the house cut in.

“Yeah, it is,” Bill shouted in reply, giving the old player a look of apology, to which he gave an understanding smile.

“Bro . . . you need to see this.”

Instantly, Bill was seized with dread; he hadn't heard Bob sound that scared in a long, long time. Ignoring TrumpetBlaster's raised eyebrows of confusion, Bill ran into the house. The inside was bare, containing only a few chests, and a staircase, next to which Ivanhoe was lying down. On the wall directly opposite the door was a bed, on which Bob was sitting, staring out the window, unmoving.

Bill sat down on the bed next to his brother, and followed his gaze out the window. What he saw made his heart stop.

They could see the entire city. Hundreds of houses and buildings stretched out for thousands of blocks, finally culminating at the Element City wall, which was raised high above the tallest buildings of the outer ring of the city. And far beyond the wall, outside the city and up in the sky, were two black forms, growing closer and closer by the second. As they drew nearer, the sky outside Element City darkened. As Bill focused intently on them, he could make out two mobs as large as Ghasts, with skeletal black bodies and three skulls sitting atop of each of them.

Leonidas's head popped up out of the hole as fast as lightning, his hand instantly going to his bow. Before he could draw an arrow, though, Leonidas's gaze fell onto a chicken, wandering in and out of the trunks of the dense grove. Leonidas released his breath and let out a sigh, shaking his head. This wasn't the first time an animal had spooked him, and he had a feeling it wasn't going to be the last.

Ugh, I am gonna kill Stan when he gets back,
Leonidas thought to himself bitterly, as he sunk back down into the stone basin of the cave in which he was sitting.
Why is he takin' so long? He knows that we've gotta get back to the city!
What could he possibly be doin' that's more important than savin' Elementia?

Leonidas took a deep breath and sighed to himself. He supposed that he had signed himself up for this. After all that the Noctem Alliance had put Stan and his people through, Leonidas hardly felt that it was his place to be complaining, especially considering that Stan had forgiven him. It was still frustrating, though. Although Leonidas had faith in Stan and was sure that he had a plan, it was infuriating to be left in the dark.

With a sigh of acceptance, Leonidas glanced down into his inventory and checked his supplies. They were nearly out of food again. Perhaps he could go do some hunting before Stan got back. Leonidas drew his bow, glanced back up, and froze.

Four players were standing on the dirt above Leonidas, encircling him from all sides of the cave entrance. Turning his head slowly, Leonidas realized he recognized two of them. Kat had a stone sword clutched in her right hand and was giving Leonidas a steely glance, her wolf beside her, snarling. Charlie looked ferocious, as if he were barely keeping himself from diving into the mine and tearing Leonidas apart with the stone pickaxe clutched firmly in his right hand. The other two players Leonidas didn't recognize. One had an Elementia soldier uniform and a scruffy beard, while the other was
wearing a dirty white robe and had gigantic red lips. Both were staring Leonidas down with equal contempt.

“Make one wrong move and we attack,” growled Kat.

Stay calm, Leonidas,
he told himself, taking deep breaths, glancing around nervously and suddenly becoming aware that his weapon was still clutched in his hand.

“Where is Stan?” the girl in white asked, an upper-class accent in her voice.

“He's gone for now,” Leonidas answered calmly. “But I'm—”

“What do you mean?” Charlie barked, causing everyone to jump. “Where's Stan? What did you do to him?”

“Boy, if ye so much as laid one single finger on 'im,” the bearded soldier growled, “I'll 'ave yer head!”

“That's not what I mean!” Leonidas replied, a note of panic creeping into his voice now as he scolded himself for his choice of words. “Stan's alive, he's just . . .”

“Are you torturing him somewhere?” the big-lipped player squealed, sounding abhorred.

“No!” Leonidas shouted desperately. “Stan's totally fine!”

“Then where is he? Show him to us!” demanded Charlie, a passionate rage emanating from him that shocked Leonidas. The last time he had fought Charlie, he had come across as a cowardly wimp.

“I . . . I can't!” Leonidas sputtered as he tried to explain
himself. “He's just . . . he went to . . .”

“If you don't tell us
exactly
where Stan is
right now,
then we are going to kill you, Leonidas,” Kat said, jabbing her sword in his direction.

“That's what I'm tryin' to tell you guys! Stan is . . . well, he left . . . he's not here, so . . .”

“Charge!”
bellowed Commander Crunch, and in one motion, all four players and the wolf leaped down into the cave, weapons ready and flying directly toward Leonidas.

F
or a moment, Bill and Bob could only sit frozen, transfixed as the two giant, evil mobs flew closer to the city. With every passing second, they could see more details of the charred skeletal structure and empty eyes. And as the two mobs neared the outer wall, an alarming realization struck Bill.

“This is what they've been holding out for,” he breathed, still staring out the window as his brother turned to look at him. “This is the Noctem Alliance's trump card. They've managed to create and tame a pair of Withers, and they're going to blast their way into the city by force.”

Bill turned to face Bob. For a moment, the two of them stared at each other in silence as the reality of what was happening dawned on them. Then all at once, the aura of tension and panic in the tiny room of the shop broke.

“One of us needs to go down and help out the army,” said Bob, his eyes wide with intensity.

“I'll do that,” replied Bill, turning around to face TrumpetBlaster, who was standing in the doorway of the house with a concerned, confused look on his face.

“TrumpetBlaster,” Bill ordered, “I need you to get Bob and Ivanhoe back to the bunker. Take as much
medicine as you can with you. I have a feeling you're going to be needed down there.”

“Understood,” TrumpetBlaster replied. He darted over to his two chests and began filling his inventory with remedial medical supplies. Bill turned back to face his brother.

“I'll get all the workers down into the bunker, and tell Ben to round up the rest of the citizens,” Bob said. “I can't move by myself right now, but I can still help organize from the bunker's entrance.”

“You've got to do it fast, though,” continued Bill, foreseeing a great danger and determined to prevent it immediately. “Once the Withers break through the wall, they'll probably start attacking the city next. The Noctems still don't know where the bunker is, but if the Withers see everybody rushing into it, then they'll know where we are. That means that you have to get everybody in the city down into the mine before the Withers get here. That should only be, like, a minute or so after they break through the wall.”

Bob's jaw dropped. “But . . . but . . . there're no way that we can possibly get everybody in the city down into the bunker in time! And even if we could, it's not nearly big enough to hold everybody yet—”

“Then just get as many in there as you can!” cried Bill in desperation. “We can make runs back into the city later to get more people. For now, we just have to get as many
people down into that mine as possible. Now stop wasting time and go!”

And without waiting for a response, Bill leaped up off the bed and sprinted out the door, leaving his brother, the pig, and the disgruntled pharmacist in the tiny shop behind him.

Bill looked around, and in a second his eyes locked on to what he was looking for—a stone-brick pillar, a support beam for the monorail track that ran above the rooftops of Element City. Bill sprinted down the street and before long, he reached the base of the pillar, and leaped up to grab the bottom rung of the attached wooden ladder. With a grunt, he pulled himself up on to the ladder in full, and proceeded to climb until he had reached the top of the pillar. Bill now stood on a flat brick surface, on top of which were two side-by-side train tracks, glowing red and gold with redstone power.

Reaching into his inventory, Bill set a tiny mine cart onto the tracks that, upon touching the rails, expanded into a full-size mine cart. Thankful that he always carried one of these around with him (one never knew when a crime might take place on the railroad), Bill leaped into the cart and drew out his fishing pole. He drove the wooden rod into the ground and gave an almighty push, setting the cart in motion.

The redstone-powered rails accelerated the mine cart at an astounding rate until Bill was rocketing full speed down the rail tracks in the direction of the outer wall of Element
City. There was nothing to do now but wait to arrive at his destination, so Bill watched in awe at the scene unfolding over the wall.

The two Withers were still approaching, getting closer to the top of the wall itself. Despite the fact that it was midday and the sun still shone overhead, the sky above the two Withers was eerie and dark, a deep purple fog blocking out the light. It was like the onset of some ancient evil. Then, when they were just outside the wall, the two Withers stopped. They simply hovered in midair, each of their heads looking down at the scene below them, as if they were scouting out the situation. Even from halfway across the city, with the rumbling
clickity-clack
of the rails singing beneath him, Bill could make out the cacophony of yelling soldiers in the wall, barely audible at such a distance but still clearly shocked, panicked, and terrified.

Suddenly, a ghastly sound fell over Element City, as if some evil, metallic skeleton were taking a dying breath. The middle head of one of the two Withers began to glow, and two black projectiles shot from their mouths. They flew almost faster than Bill's eyes could track, and they ruptured with thunderous blasts on the wall, leaving two sizable holes.

The response was immediate. Bill could make out what appeared to be a flock of birds rising from the wall, but which he knew to be hundreds of arrows flying up toward
the two Withers. The giant mobs were forced to double back to avoid the rain of attacks from the Elementia soldiers, and the workmen inside the walls repaired them in an instant, regenerating the walls as though its cells were growing back.

The moment of victory, however, was just that—a moment. The Withers began to glow again, this time not just the two middle heads but all six of the black skeletal heads. A rapid-fire, machine-gun spray of black bombs flew from the Withers' mouths, causing a destructive flashing over the walls more intense than the fireworks at a Fourth of July finale. The constant barrage of skulls tore into the wall, shrinking it faster than the soldiers within could put it back together.

The soldiers weren't going to go down without a fight, though. All throughout the barrage of explosive attacks from the Withers, the soldiers were firing back. Arrows thickened the air, and the constant sound of high-pitched fire charge attacks gave Bill goose bumps. At one point, Bill was amazed to see a block of TNT fly up into the sky and make contact with one of the Withers, sending it careening backward.

However, throughout the attacks on the Withers, the monsters kept firing, and Bill realized that they were becoming surrounded in some sort of dark energy. Streams of purple smoke seemed to be rising out of the walls of Element City and wafting back up to the Withers, and, despite the fact that the monsters were clearly raking in a few hits from the
counterattacks, they continued to fire on the wall.

It was then that Bob realized, with a terror-stricken start, what was happening. In their police academy training, he and his brothers had learned about the Wither, alongside all other hostile mobs in the game. What he was witnessing before him was proof of the Wither's most terrifying attribute, which made it arguably harder to kill than the infamous Ender Dragon. Every living mob that the Wither hit with its blasts was inflicted with the toxic Wither effect, the same type of deadly poison that a Wither Skeleton could give a player. However, unlike the Wither Skeletons, the Wither was healed by all the health that it stole from its victims.

The Withers had to be poisoning dozens of Elementia soldiers by the second. And as long as they kept doing that, the Withers would keep healing. There was no way they were ever going to die.

The attacks from the wall were starting to die down. The soldiers below were running out of arrows, or retreating to avoid the onslaught, or . . . Bill realized with a clench of his heart that they might all be dead. The two Withers continued to fire, the barrage of explosions never slowing down, until finally, the two monsters ceased their attack.

The outer wall of Element City, which had once stood so tall and proud, and defended the city from the attacks of the Noctem Alliance, now had a giant hole right in the center. A
huge expanse of the wall had been totally destroyed, leaving Element City, the only safe haven from the Noctem Alliance left on the server, completely vulnerable. From his elevated perch on the rail tracks, Bill could see hundreds of black-clad Noctem soldiers rushing across the ravaged landscape and into the streets of the city.

Bill reached into his inventory and drew an iron sword. Usually he only held it as an alternative to his fishing rod, but he was glad he had it now. He grabbed the hilt of the sword with both hands and jammed the tip of the blade into the stone ground below him. Sparks flew out from the iron blade, showering the rails and, slowly but surely, bringing the mine cart to a screeching halt.

Now that the wall had fallen, there was no point in going there anymore, Bill thought gravely. He had told his men what to do when this inevitable day finally came. As he sat there in the mine cart, his men were falling back, preparing to fortify secondary defensive positions within the outer merchant district of the city. With any luck, they would be able to hold the Noctem Alliance at bay for a while, allowing the citizens time to retreat into the bunker.

When he and his brothers had made those plans, though, they hadn't accounted for Withers. . . .

In any case, Bill knew where he was most needed. He used the sword to give himself a solid push back in the
direction he'd come from. It wasn't long before the mine cart was barreling down the tracks yet again, carrying the steel-hearted police chief back to his two brothers to help get as many citizens into the mines as possible.

Bill turned around and glanced behind him at what the Withers were doing. They appeared to have set off in opposite directions, using their machine-gun-fire explosions to rip the now undefended wall to shreds. Bill was perplexed. That didn't make any sense . . . surely, the Noctem Alliance would want to keep the walls as intact as possible, right? He imagined they would want to keep the defensive measures around the city, so that the city wouldn't be defenseless when they won the war.

Suddenly, Bill realized the errors in his thinking.
If,
he told himself sternly.
If they win the war. Which they won't. Because we're going to beat them.

Before long, Bill reached the stone pillar where he had first boarded the train. He hopped out of the moving cart and landed gracefully on the tracks. He slid down the ladder and landed on the ground, just as the redstone lamps around the city started to go on. The darkness of the Withers had spread over the city, and it was now dim as night. Bill sprinted down the street, and eventually reached the entrance to the mine.

It was pandemonium. Everywhere the eye could see, players were rushing around desperately, all clambering
toward the entrance to the mine in a massive wave. Bill saw one player, with a red skin and a purple sash, trip as he made his way to the entrance, and the rush didn't slow down or even acknowledge him. He struggled to get up, constantly being forced back to the ground by the people trampling over him. It wasn't until Bill drew his sword and stepped into the midst of the crowd, creating a disruption in the flow, that the player was finally able to get up and continue his way into the bunker, giving Bill a look of thanks as he did so.

“Ben!” shouted Bill, locating his brother and running up to him. The black-haired police chief was leading a group of volunteers, assisting them in pulling up the rail tracks that led out of the mine, erasing any evidence that the bunker had ever been there. When he heard his name, he looked up and jogged over to meet his brother.

“Are they almost all in?” Bill yelled, struggling to be heard over the panic around him.

“Yeah, almost,” Ben shouted back. “Bob's down in the mine, getting people organized. I say we close up the bunker door in a couple minutes. We can organize missions from inside the bunker to get the people who we had to lock out.”

“Fine,” Bill grunted, sadness gripping his heart as he thought of the hundreds of people who would be left exposed in the city.

“How's the wall holding up?”

“Not good, bro,” Bill sighed. “The Withers tore through it entirely, and the Noctems are in the city now. The soldiers are going to their secondary positions, but they won't be able to hold them for long. The Noctems will reach Element Castle within the next ten minutes, I'd say.”

A look of despair crossed Ben's face at the news, but then, all of a sudden, he looked mortified, like he had just realized something.

“Oh, no . . . ,” he breathed. “Element Castle . . .”

“Yeah? What about it?” Bill yelled, the noise still deafening. “We can't worry about it now, I'm sure we'll be able to take it back eventually—”

“No, it's the Mechanist!” Ben shouted, looking his brother in the eye. “The rest of the staff of the castle came by a few minutes ago . . . but not him! He's still up there, and I have no idea why!”

Bill glanced up at Element Castle, with its proud stone spires silhouetted against the ominous black sky. If the Mechanist was still in there by the time the Noctems arrived . . .

“Go to the castle now, bro,” ordered Bill, gripping his brother's shoulders. “I'll tell Bob what's going on.”

Ben nodded and sprinted as fast as he could toward Element Castle as Bill turned around and ran down through the throng of players and into the bunker.

Leonidas's senses tingled, and he dive-rolled to the side as the big-lipped player, who Kat had called Cassandrix, swung her sword around the side of the tree he was hiding behind. As her stone blade wedged into the tree, Leonidas simply got to his feet and ran. Try as he might to explain what had happened to Stan, he had never been able to get more than two words out before another one of the four players had been on top of him, thirsty for his blood.