Читать книгу The Complete Elementia Chronicles: Quest for Justice; The New Order; The Dusk of Hope; Herobrine’s Message - Sean Wolfe Fay - Страница 39

And Stan did wake up. He found himself standing on the warm, familiar ground of Spawnpoint Hill as gently as his entry into the End had been. He was in a stupor, filled with awe at what the Enlightenment had turned out to be. Perhaps this was what had made him oblivious to the blunt spikes that were attempting to penetrate his diamond armour.

“Get down!” screamed Kat, snapping Stan out of his pensive state, and Stan realized with horror that they were under heavy fire from arrows. He fell to the ground, and he looked up wildly and saw four dispensers surrounding him, firing arrows from all sides. Stan’s eyes went from the dispensers to the trails of glowing red dust leading to them, and he realized with a start that he and his four friends were lying atop a stone pressure plate.

Quick as a whip, Charlie drove his pickaxe into the smooth stone plate, which shattered into chunks. Instantly, the bursts of arrows from the machine subsided. The players and Oob awkwardly stood up in the limited space between the arrow dispensers. As they worked their way out of the centre of the small maze of machines, Stan realized the purpose behind the arrow machines and was revolted. The machine had been put there by the King to instantly kill anything that appeared there! Had the players not been wearing diamond armour, they would have been murdered on the spot.

After Charlie had torn down the arrow machine with his pickaxe, the five of them quickly congregated. Stan wasn’t really focused on the others, though. He took the opportunity to look around Spawnpoint Hill, which he was standing on for the first time since he had joined the game.

Stan shook his head in incredulity. The serene hill was not changed in the least from the scene that had been Stan’s first impression of Minecraft. Actually, that wasn’t right, Stan thought as his eyes drifted over to the section of bare dirt blocks where the dispensers had stood minutes before and which had not yet been re-covered with grass. These dispensers demonstrated the change that had taken place within Elementia much more than any large structure ever could. Stan’s first moments in Minecraft had been met with the warm, comforting light of torches to ward off the mobs and a chest of food, a tool of defence, and a guide on how to play. Any players that had entered Elementia since then had seen nothing except arrows to the cranium.

Now that they were but a stone’s throw from launching their attack on the King, Stan took a moment to think about it. He realized that what had once seemed like a crazy, whimsical desire had manifested itself within his very being and had evolved into a crazy, consuming obsession. Stan wanted the King dead, and for the first time, a new realization crashed over him as he stared at that simple uncovered dirt: he wanted to do it himself.

Stan wanted to be the one to personally smite the King with a sword, bury an axe into him, end his life with an arrow. By whatever manner the King was destined to die, Stan wanted the blood to stain his hands. Stan’s time in Elementia so far had been pockmarked by so much death, destruction and misery that Stan wanted nothing more than to be the one to end the person responsible, no matter what the cost.

The odd thing was, even though Stan wanted to kill the King with every fibre of his being, he somehow knew that even if he did not seek the confrontation, it would inevitably happen anyway. Stan couldn’t tell how he knew this. Maybe it was the higher power of dubious existence contacting him again, but Stan knew that, like it or not, he and King Kev were going to lock sword and axe on the battlefield, and only one of them was leaving that confrontation alive.

Stan was so deep in his thoughts that he hadn’t even realized that they had started walking back down the road, still shaded by trees in the same manner as on that first day. He smiled as he recalled in fond retrospect how he and Charlie had panicked and barely managed to keep a lumbering Zombie at bay that first day. And now look at us, thought Stan, and his smile widened as he looked at the diamond-clad and heavily armed Charlie and glanced down at himself and the similarly adorned players travelling alongside him.

Stan found that first Zombie they had encountered, and the way they had handled it, much more amusing than he thought that he ought to. Perhaps it was just how far they had come and gone in such a short time. Perhaps it was nerves that were showing themselves in short bursts. In any case, when Stan noticed a Zombie out in the woods give him a sideways glance, he walked over to it, and as it neared him in the slow manner that Zombies do, he made a point of killing the Zombie with a succession of swift punches to the rotten face, his axe sitting idly in his inventory.

At the fifteenth punch, the Zombie’s head snapped to the side, and as Stan picked up the rotten flesh, he became aware that everybody was staring at him (except for Oob, who had managed to wander into a nearby small lake and was looking about as if wondering how he had gotten there). Stan just smiled up at them and tossed the rotten flesh into the air, where it was snagged by Rex before it hit the ground. Stan hadn’t noticed exactly when the dog had reappeared, but he was so far past questioning it.

“Ah, nostalgia,” he said with a chuckle as Rex chewed the rotten flesh hungrily, shooting Stan a fond look. “Remember that first day, Charlie? The Zombie, the shelter, the Spiders?”

A reminiscing look came over Charlie’s features. “Yeah. It was a simpler time,” he said longingly. “It’s weird to be back, isn’t it?”

Stan nodded. “It’s like visiting your old primary school twenty years later.”

Charlie gave a casual “Yep” of agreement, and the four players continued walking the path, with Oob following slowly behind him. They passed an old dirt-and-wood shelter with no top that Stan realized was the same one he and Charlie had built on their first night. They inspected it and found a wooden pressure plate inside, which Stan assumed led to some sort of booby trap. Stan was about to split the wooden pressure plate with his axe, but in his haste he accidentally stepped on it, and he heard a faint click.

His brain registered what was about to happen seconds before it did. “Hit the dirt!” Stan bellowed as he jumped away from the decrepit shack, and the others barely had time to follow before the TNT below the fortress ignited, creating a crater the width of the road where the shelter had just stood.

Stan pulled himself up and looked into the smoldering remains with disgust. What sort of sadistic monster would rig this basic shelter with explosives on the chance that a new player would come back and seek refuge within its humble walls? It made Stan’s insides churn to think that King Kev and his followers had actually sunk to the level of killing innocent new players.

Stan looked at the ground as the group continued walking, picturing over and over in his head the image of his arrow penetrating King Kev’s forehead or his axe burying itself in the King’s chest. It was only when he noticed that the group had stopped walking, and that they had taken on a pronounced silence, that Stan looked up. He wished that he hadn’t.

The Adorian Village was in complete and total ruin. This village that had embraced the travel-weary Stan, Kat and Charlie just weeks earlier was now nothing more than a ghost town, with only the most basic of cobblestone-block house frames having survived the fire. As the group walked down the main street, their faces simultaneously took on expressions of horror. Even Oob, who had never been to the village before, sensed the magnitude of the complete and total razing of the village that had taken place. The only structure in the village that was still in the least bit recognizable was the brick Town Hall where they had first met Adoria. Even that had had significant chunks of it blown apart by TNT explosions.

The feelings of disgust, horror and consuming fury that had racked Stan’s body the last time he had seen this village came back in full force, and Stan felt himself about to vomit again. Before anything could come, however, an arrow whizzed past Stan’s left shoulder and Stan heard a clang of flint on diamond followed by DZ’s “Oof!” of pain. Stan’s eyes found a pickaxe flying past his other shoulder, and when he turned back, an assailant in full diamond armour was upon him. Before he could react, Stan felt the dull blow of a bow slamming him across the forehead.

Stunned by the blow to the head, Stan looked wildly around and saw two forms in full diamond battle armour, moving too fast for Stan to recognize. Through the blunt pain in his forehead, Stan saw a figure struggling with Kat over a diamond pickaxe, which ended when the figure punched Kat in the face. The figure grabbed the tool back from her and then slammed her over the head with it, knocking her to the ground. Stan also saw DZ engaged in a sniper battle with what appeared to be a Skeleton in full diamond battle armour.

Stan was unsure of whether or not he was hallucinating, but his brain tried to focus on the fact that for one, Skeletons didn’t wear armour, and for two, they weren’t that fast. Stan stole a glance at the other assailant and saw a glint of yellow in between the light blue of the helmet and the chestplate, and the truth dawned on him in a rush.

“Archie, G, stop attacking! It’s us!” he hollered.

There was a moment of silence as the two figures, both of whom had gained the upper hand in their respective fights, looked at Stan, contemplating him. The Skeleton pulled off his helmet to reveal a mop of wild red hair, while the other pulled off his to expose a golden figure identical to Stan.

“Stan?” asked Archie, not daring to believe it. “Is that … is that really you?”

“Yeah, or at least I think I’m Stan. That blow to the head shook me pretty good,” Stan muttered, his head still shrouded in fog.

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” cried Archie as he rushed over to Stan and handed him a blood-red Potion of Healing, which Stan gratefully downed in a single swallow. Instantly his head cleared up, and he took Archie’s outstretched hand to pull himself up.

Kat and Charlie were both on the ground. Stan hadn’t realized up to that point just how skilled Archie and G were in player-to-player combat. Charlie was being treated for the arrow wedged in a chink in his armour by a figure in a scarlet jumpsuit whose blond hair distinguished him as Bob, the archer of the Nether Boys.

G was on his knees, cradling Kat’s head in his arms. He poured half his potion on the pickaxe wound on her forehead, and the other half went into her mouth. Kat’s eyes fluttered, and when they fully opened and she saw who was holding her, she gave an exclamation of joy and embraced G. They stayed in each other’s arms for half a minute until they realized everybody else was staring at them, which left them feeling slightly awkward.

The feeling didn’t last, though. As soon as everyone was back on their feet, the greetings started.

“Hey, Stan! How’re ya doin’, buddy?” asked G as he high-fived Stan.

“Not bad, not bad. Killed a Griefer, slayed a dragon, found some diamonds … good times, good times,” Stan responded with a grin.

“Sounds like it,” said Archie. “The Apothecary told us all about what you guys did. Sounds like one crazy vacation.”

“Well, we did go all over the place, if that’s what you mean,” said Charlie with a chuckle. “So, how many people do you guys have organized?”

“Well,” said G, scratching his head, “the Apothecary came to us soon after you guys left. He said that you were organizing a rebellion against the King and that he wanted to help. Well, seeing as the King had just burned down our village, killed our leader, and slaughtered half the people here, we didn’t have to think too hard about believing him.”

“We headed straight back here after you helped us out of the Nether, Stan,” said Bob, who had just helped Oob out of the chimney he had hidden in during the ambush. “Bill, Ben and I joined up with the militia. Then, a whole gaggle of miners, led by this guy who they all called “Mayor,” showed up, like, a day and a half after we did.”

“Those guys were from Blackstone,” Kat explained.

“You mean the coal-mining town out in the desert?” Archie asked.

“That’s the one,” Stan replied. “I ran into them pretty soon after you guys left, Bob, and they all agreed to come and join us. Well, most of them did, anyway,” said Stan bitterly, his thoughts flashing over the Mechanist. “But those who didn’t aren’t going to join either side anytime soon.”

“Speaking of which,” said Bob, a slight edge to his voice that caught all their attentions, “who is this fine gentleman over here?” He jerked his head in the direction of DZ, who had been staying out of the conversation and practicing complicated attacks with two swords on a nearby lamp post.

“Oh, this is DZ,” said Kat, and DZ, hearing his name, rushed over and hastily added, “But you may know me by my full name, DieZombie97.” And with that, he gave a white, toothy smile.

Archie, G and Bob’s eyes all widened. “Wait, you’re DieZombie97?” asked Bob in disbelief.

“The DieZombie97?” asked G incredulously.

“See?” said DZ pompously, grinning at Stan, Kat and Charlie, all of whom were amazed that their friends had heard of DZ. “I told you I got around in the Spleef Arena a few updates back.”

“Man, you’re awesome!” exclaimed Bob, running up and wringing DZ’s hand up and down.

“I thought that King Kev had killed you!” said Archie, a wild happiness on his face.

“Nah, that was just a rumour. Didn’t bother staying around to contradict it though ’cause, you know, then it probably wouldn’t have been so much a rumour as a fact,” said DZ with a laugh.

“So where’ve you been all this time? After that last Spleef championship you just kind of disappeared!”

“I’ve been living out in the desert,” said DZ. “I realized that a world run by government generally ends up pretty corrupt, so I decided I was better off by myself out in the Ender Desert. That is, until I ran into these three.” He jerked his thumb at Stan, Kat and Charlie.

Archie continued to talk to DZ. G and Bob asked the other three about Oob, who was now cowering behind Charlie.

“So, how did you guys come across this NPC? And, more important, why is he still with you?” asked Bob. The three players explained briefly about all they had seen and done after Stan had left Blackstone.

“So, what’s your name? Oob?” asked Bob, speaking gently to the NPC, who still looked terrified. “I hear that you’re pretty brave. I’ve never heard of an NPC taking out anything living before, and they just told me that you took out a Griefer that had attacked them three other times!”

Oob looked around Charlie’s shoulder and replied timidly, “Yes. He hurt Charlie, Kat and DZ, and he was trying to hurt Stan. They are my friends, and I do not want them to be hurt.”

“That’s awesome of you, my man,” replied Bob with a kind smile, which Oob hesitantly returned. “We need more guys like you. In fact, a bunch of us guys that don’t want to see good people hurt, like you, are gonna try to take down the king of all the players, so he won’t be mean to them any more. You want to help us with that, buddy?”