Herobrine's Message (47 page)

“Did it work?” Sally's voice called out of nowhere.

“Yes!” Stan exclaimed, pumping his fist as he soared into the air, doing a loop before touching back down on the ground.

“Fantastic!” Sally cried. Stan could almost see the smirk on her face. “Now go on, noob, don't waste any more time . . .
go kick Herobrine's butt! Tell me how it went when it's over.”

And before Stan could respond, Sally's voice vanished with a slight static crackle.

Stan was beside himself with glee. He had operating powers now! He wasn't going to have to just hand himself over to Lord Tenebris to die. He had a fighting chance. There was a possibility that he might actually be able to destroy Lord Tenebris and the Noctem Alliance.

All at once, Stan realized what must have happened. He realized why the hole in the defenses had opened up. He realized that he now had the powers of an operator. Slowly Stan turned around to face the Black Hood . . . only to find that he had vanished. Stan looked around the clearing, perplexed, but there was no sign of the glitchy, white-eyed player—or Rex, for that matter.

Stan remembered what the Black Hood had said—the more that he interacted with the players, the weaker he would become. Stan realized that was the reason the Black Hood had only appeared to his friends when they were in very real danger. He also imagined that, just by talking to Stan, the Black Hood had taken a huge risk, jeopardizing his very existence. Was it possible that, by enabling Sally to access the code of Elementia, the Black Hood had . . .

Stan heard an explosion from somewhere far in the distance, and he snapped out of his train of thought. There was
no time to ponder what had happened to the Black Hood now. There would be plenty of time for that later. For now, Stan knew what he had to do.

As Stan stood in the clearing, his face illuminated by the light of the rising sun, Lord Tenebris was surely lining up his friends for the firing squad. If Stan didn't show himself soon, they would all be killed. Stan knew that Lord Tenebris's operating powers had been boosted by the power he had stolen from the server, but there was one thing that Stan had that he didn't: the element of surprise. Lord Tenebris had no idea that Stan now had operating powers, and if he played his cards right, then he just might be able to overpower the leader of the Noctem Alliance and finally end this war.

Regardless of what his odds were, though, Stan knew that he at least had to try. As long as there was even the tiniest glimmer of hope left, Stan knew that he always had to try.

And so with a deep breath, Stan picked up his diamond axe, focused as hard as he could on the Avery Memorial Courthouse, and in an instant, he vanished into thin air, leaving the clearing full of swirling mist totally vacant.

L
eonidas winced as a bright light shone over his eyes. He grunted as he forced his eyes open to find that he was staring directly into the rising sun. He glanced down at the ground to avoid looking into the rays, and shook the cobwebs out of his head. He was standing on wood-plank blocks, and he could see a gravel street a few blocks below his feet. Leonidas realized that he was standing upright, his back was to a wall of wood-plank blocks, and his arms were propped up on levers that had been attached to the wall.

Leonidas's temple was throbbing at the place where he and Cassandrix had cracked heads. He soon became aware that the air around him was filled with noise, and his head began to pulse with even more pain. Slowly, Leonidas opened his eyes. The sun was indeed shining directly into his eyes, but it was darker than he had expected, as it was shining through the thick veil of clouds cast over the city by the Withers hovering in the air above him.

As his ears and eyes slid back into full focus, Leonidas could see a crowd of soldiers surrounding the platform he was standing on, their heads nearly level with the two-block-high wood-plank platform. The Noctem Army was still wearing their black armor, and
were erupting with jeers and taunts at those on the platform. Leonidas realized that he wasn't alone. He looked to his right and left, and saw that all the leaders of Stan's army were propped up on the wall. They were all standing upright, their arms raised up on levers, as still as statues.

Leonidas's heart skipped a beat as he realized what this was—a firing squad.

Leonidas did a quick check and realized to his dismay that his inventory had been totally emptied. He had lost his best bow, Hornet, back at Element Castle, and his other two bows and his sword were now gone as well. Not that it mattered. He knew that if he even tried to lift a finger, let alone arm himself, he would be killed in a matter of seconds.

Out of morbid curiosity, Leonidas looked down the line to see who was there. They were all about to die anyway. He might as well get a good idea of who was about to bite the dust with him.

There was only one player to the left of him before the row stopped, and that was Jayden. His eye was black and he had a sizable gash on his forehead, but he looked more exhausted than pained. Glancing to his right, Leonidas recognized Ben, who looked utterly defeated, and Bob, who was sitting on Ivanhoe, a sick look on his face. Leonidas wondered with a horrible lurch of his stomach if the pig would be executed as well.

Beyond those two were the Mechanist, who appeared to be in deep thought; Sirus, who was glancing around in a twitchy and nervous manner; and Cassandrix, whose face was contorted into a furious, twisted rage. And at the end of the line stood Commander Crunch, who was yelling something that Leonidas couldn't make out into the sea of heckling Noctem soldiers, occasionally interspersed with a hearty seaman's laugh.

Leonidas did a quick headcount: There were eight of them, including him. He went through a mental checklist to see who was missing, and came up with only three.

He wasn't surprised at all that Stan was missing. As the leader of the republic, Leonidas imagined that Lord Tenebris probably had special plans to deal with him. He most likely was still alive and would make an appearance at some point, during which Lord Tenebris would surely make an example out of him.

As for Kat . . . Leonidas didn't think that the image of Kat begin flung around that council room like a rag doll would leave him. Leonidas and Kat hadn't talked much since he had joined their army, but he still knew that she was a tough player with a keen eye for justice who wouldn't take crap from anybody. The image of such a strong-willed and powerful player rendered totally helpless was haunting. Although he knew that the others in the army would be grief-stricken
when they found out that Kat had been killed, Leonidas, who had hardly gotten to know her, found her death far more terrifying and unsettling than anything else.

And that left the last missing player. While he hadn't gotten to know Kat all that well, Leonidas had gotten to know Charlie. Charlie had gone from hating Leonidas to accepting him as an ally and friend. The thought that now, after they had finally became friends, Charlie might be gone made Leonidas's stomach clench with dread. He tried to convince himself that there was a possibility otherwise. That maybe, somehow, he had escaped, and he wasn't actually dead. After all, Leonidas had nothing to go on. There was no evidence that Charlie was gone.

But then, all at once, Leonidas stopped thinking about it. It was as if somebody had turned off his ability to care. After all, what was the point? They were in front of a Noctem Alliance firing squad. They were all about to die anyway.

Almost immediately after he thought this, a figure appeared on the wood plank–block platform in front of the lined-up players with a loud crack. This player was skinned identically to Stan, but although Leonidas could only see him from the back, he knew better. He was a little bit surprised that Lord Tenebris was revealing himself to his people. From what he understood, nobody, besides him, had ever seen Lord Tenebris's face and lived. Then again,
this was a special occasion.

All at once, the taunts and boos emanating from the rowdy crowd of Noctem Soldiers ceased. For the first time ever, they were beholding the face of their leader. Leonidas watched as the entire crowd stood transfixed and speechless for a moment before turning away uncomfortably, as they found it impossible to hold Lord Tenebris's gaze for more than a second.

“Greetings, my loyal subjects,” Lord Tenebris said, his voice deep and booming, carrying across the silent plaza of the Avery Memorial Courthouse without effort. “Today is a historic day in Elementia. Not only is this the day that I first reveal my face to you, but it is also the day that we celebrate our victory over the forces of Stan2012's Republic of Elementia! Viva la Noctem!”

“VIVA LA NOCTEM!” the crowd rang out. It was the most passionate chant that Leonidas had ever heard the people of the Noctem Alliance let out.

“Standing here before you, totally at my mercy, are the leaders of the Republic of Elementia,” Lord Tenebris said, turning around to face them and gesturing with his hand. As the crowd proceeded to continue their booing and heckling, Leonidas heard several of his friends pinned to the wall give gasps of horror as they viewed Lord Tenebris's face for the first time and found themselves unable to look into his eyes.

“These players marched into our city yesterday at high noon,” Lord Tenebris continued, his followers instantly going silent as he turned to look over the crowd yet again, “with the intention of taking it away from us. They believe that Element City should welcome all players with open arms, regardless of whether or not they've earned their place here. In fact, a good percentage of their invasion force was composed of lower-level players. That's right. Such is the arrogance of these players standing before you that they believed that, after a single week of training, their lower-level friends were equal in skill to you, the Noctem Freedom Fighters, who have lived in Elementia for years.”

Shouts of outrage erupted from the crowd, followed by a fresh round of heckling. Lord Tenebris did nothing to stop this, and Leonidas could almost picture the sadistic grin on his face.

“I would like to thank you, my citizens,” Lord Tenebris continued, quelling the ruckus yet again. “I would like to thank you for tolerating the feeble attempts of the republic to fight back for so long now. For months, the Noctem Alliance has gained strength, preparing for the day that we would take back what is rightfully ours. And yet, wherever we went, the forces of the Republic of Elementia were there to make our jobs ever so slightly more annoying, like a fly buzzing around our heads that was nearly impossible to swat.

“But today,” Lord Tenebris continued, “today, the fly has finally been squashed. On this day, I claim the Minecraft server Elementia in the name of the Noctem Alliance! Viva la Noctem!”

“VIVA LA NOCTEM!” the crowd echoed back to him.

“And now, we shall all witness the death of the republic, and we shall witness it the same way that we started—together. May I draw your attention to the remaining fighting forces of the Republic of Elementia.”

Leonidas's head snapped upright, and he followed the gaze of the hundreds of players around him in the center of the crowd, where there was a large, fenced-off area devoid of players that Leonidas hadn't noticed before. There, with a great roaring of redstone mechanisms, the ground rose until it was several blocks off the ground. Standing on top of this massive elevated platform were close to a hundred and fifty players, all the survivors of the attack. They had been stripped of their diamond armor, and they were huddled together like cattle, looking absolutely petrified.

“I suggest that you step back from the platform,” Lord Tenebris said over the insults and verbal abuse being thrown at the players. “The platform is rigged with TNT blocks, and it will be detonated immediately if any of them try anything funny.”

The mass of three hundred soldiers in black leather
armor expanded away from the platform, but the foul language and name calling didn't slow down until Lord Tenebris spoke again.

“The players on the platform will be spared, provided that they cooperate with me,” Lord Tenebris continued. Leonidas's eyebrows shot up, as did many in the crowd.

“These players have had their minds poisoned by their leaders, standing on the platform before you. They will serve time in Brimstone Prison for their crimes. As soon as they are transferred to the prison, the remainder of the citizens of this city, who are presently locked in the prison, will be released. These terms are in accordance with an agreement that I made with President Stan.”

The crowd had been waiting since the speech began to hear the name of the most wanted player in the Noctem Alliance, and now they were so quiet that a pin drop could be heard. Lord Tenebris paused for a moment and glanced at the square sun, which had now risen in full above the horizon.

“President Stan was supposed to be here by now. The agreement was that if he had not come here to duel me by sunrise, I would begin to execute his friends. Tell me, does anybody here see President Stan2012 around?”

Several shouts of “NO!” erupted from the crowd as the Noctem soldiers laughed. Leonidas just looked at the ground
bitterly. He knew that Lord Tenebris couldn't possibly be telling the truth. Stan definitely would have turned up if he had agreed to it. More likely, Lord Tenebris had killed or crippled Stan, and was just trying to make Stan look bad for entertainment. Leonidas shook his head. He didn't even care anymore. He was just ready for it all to be over.

“However, before the show begins,” Lord Tenebris said as the laughter died down, “I must ask if any players who are about to die would wish to say any final words.”

There was a pause as Leonidas tried to think of something to say. However, he couldn't think of anything. And even if he could, he really didn't want to say it. The Noctem Alliance had won.

Lord Tenebris looked back at them and gave a snide little smirk. “Well then, if that's the case . . .” But then, Lord Tenebris's remark was cut off by a lone pair of footsteps. Leonidas glanced up and saw the Mechanist, not looking beaten but rather determined, as he made his way to the edge of the platform.

“Well, well, well,” Lord Tenebris chortled as the Mechanist walked up beside him. “If it isn't the great Mecha11, redstone architect of most of this city and the inventor of the TNT cannon. I must admit, it's a shame to kill such a brilliant player . . . almost. Come now, share one last bit of wisdom with us from that radiant mind of yours.”

Despite the mean laughs erupting from the crowd, the Mechanist looked unfazed. Rather, he took a deep breath and began to speak.

“I have a few things that I would like to say both to my fellow commanders and also to the brave warriors standing out on the platform in the crowd. First of all, I . . .”

Leonidas was surprised to hear that the Mechanist's voice sounded rather shaky, almost as if he were on the verge of tears. The redstone genius then took a deep breath, composed himself, and continued.

“First of all, I want to apologize to all of you. During my time as your leader, I did not serve my country well. I let the pressures of leading go to my head, and I tried to escape it in ways that”—the Mechanist halted with a catch in his throat before he continued on—“that resulted in the loss of a friend. I then let my grief and guilt overtake me, and I ignored the needs of my people because of it. I take full responsibility for all the misery that you had to go through while you were down in the mine.

“But none of that matters now.”

Leonidas, who had been cringing as he anticipated a long, self-deprecating speech about how everything that had gone wrong was the Mechanist's fault, raised his head, his ears perked up.

“I'll tell you what does matter . . .
you
.” He pointed out at
the players who were standing on the platform and staring at him, intently absorbing every word he said.

“My friends and I are going to die today. There is nothing that we can do to stop that. But you are all going to live on to see another day. It will be difficult for you during your imprisonment in Brimstone, but you'll all survive. And even though we weren't able to overcome those who put us where we are now, I implore you to never forget what it felt like to be a citizen of the Republic of Elementia.

“Remember your freedom. Remember how it felt to walk down the streets and feel safe. Remember how it felt to know that your families and your friends were just a monorail ride away. There may be nothing more that I, or any of my friends, can do to help you. But if you cling tightly to those memories, then one day, I guarantee that you'll be able to help yourselves, and turn Elementia back into the place that you remember so fondly—a place of justice and equality for all.”