Author's Note: For those who are here from Hostility Awaits, welcome, and please enjoy your stay. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, let me fill you in.

This fic will include a lot of battle strategies, politics, betrayals, and common sense. Oh, did I mention hacking? Yep. If you have no idea what His Dark Materials is, don't worry. I'm not using much of the plot, just Lyra. You'll read more on her later. To ease your brains, I started off with the good old familiar Minecraft. This fic features good spelling and good grammar. Good diction too, I hope.

If you're new, definitely check out my other fic, Hostility Awaits. Dust Chronicles has been halted for the two Minecraft stories. This fic takes place within the same world as Hostility Awaits, and the two storylines will eventually merge together. Cool, eh? Eh?

Well... *cough*

Anyway, enjoy yourselves, and please review! They make my day! Enjoy!


The wither skeleton jumped from tree to tree, taking care to stay out of sight of the guards. Night had fallen already, and a full moon overlooked the scene, throwing the wither skeleton's shadow into that of the leaves. Numerous square stars peppered the night sky, moving mesmerizingly slowly with the moon.

The forest surrounded a small village, fenced off with cobblestone fencing. A couple of guards clad in iron armor and armed with iron swords patrolled the perimeter, giving away the importance of this small village bathed in moonlight.

The wither skeleton finally jumped down from the trees, after staying in them for so long. This wither skeleton, however, was different from your average wither skeleton. Firstly, and most obviously, it was in the Overworld. Secondly, instead of being armed with a stone sword, this one was armed with a glowing diamond sword, shimmering with a purple aura.

The wither skeleton hid behind the tree trunk, avoiding attention with utmost skill. It sneaked a peek at the guards and, seeing them patrolling somewhere else for the time being, snuck towards the fences and jumped over them.

Now, jumping over fences, no matter wooden, cobble, or mossy cobble, should be impossible without special effects.

Well, that wasn't the first impossible feat the wither skeleton pulled off.

The wither skeleton moved stealthily along the village paths, pausing to examine nothing, intent upon its prey. It held its diamond sword in its right hand, glowing and shimmering eerily, and a dark reddish-brown splash potion in its left.

Any skilled swordsman will comment on how professionally the wither skeleton held its sword. The positioning would be perfect for stabbing and blocking, the only two things necessary on short notice. Slicing would take too long, and thus was not important. If the wither skeleton had the element of surprise, a quick stab would finish everything. If not, a good block would parry just about everything as well, even a shot from the back.

Again, ordinary wither skeletons shouldn't be able to achieve this level of professionalism.

But this wasn't your ordinary wither skeleton.

It crept along the shadow of the village walls, pausing and pressing itself against the wood as a guard with torch in hand walked by. The guard stopped dead in his tracks, in the middle of the streets, and took out a piece of steak to eat. He placed a hand on his hips, using the other one to eat, and stared into the night sky. He gave a sigh of marvel.

The wither skeleton, now thoroughly annoyed, pondered whether or not to temporarily dispose of the man. As if he weren't inconvenient enough as a guard, he had the nerve to stop in the middle of the street! To have a midnight snack and gaze at the stars!

The wither skeleton put away its splash potion, taking out a shimmering arrow surrounded with violet light. Shooting an arrow would make too much sound, as would using a splash potion. The only way to dispose of this problem was to get up close and personal. The wither skeleton prepared the arrow, held it like an assassin's knife, and prepared to dash and strike –

And the guard packed up and resumed patrolling. After a short moment, he went out of sight.

The wither skeleton relaxed its tense figure, and replaced its arrow with the old potion.

It darted across the wide street, taking care to stay out of sight, seemingly making for the town center.

But it suddenly veered right, making for a random tree next to a small house. It paused at the trunk, peered around and, after seeing no one, pressed an obscure button at the bottom of the trunk. The button was well placed and blended in well with the tree; and yet somehow the wither skeleton knew to look there.

Pistons retracted loudly. The wither skeleton mentally winced at the loud noise and, after making sure yet again no guards were alarmed, jumped down the newly exposed hole and landed on a ladder, absorbing fall damage.

The secret entrance led to a very narrow stone hallway, only one block wide, preventing any type of bypass as long as there was a guard.

Which there was.

The guard, at the end of the hallway, seeing the wither skeleton, gripped his sword tightly and pressed a button next to him, no doubt the alarm, his expression full of panic and shock. The guard was positively sweating.

The wither skeleton inwardly cursed. It never liked killing sentient beings, but the guard had seen its identity. That information mustn't leak. The guard had to die.

Swiftly, the wither skeleton stabbed the guard in his chest. The guard was obviously inexperienced, for he did not even try to parry the blow. Instead, he dropped his sword as his eyes bulged in pain, his face twisted with shock and fear, and dropped to the ground, his knees melting, his hands gripping the wither skeleton's sword, vainly trying to pull it out. The wither skeleton, in response, thrust its sword even deeper in and twisted it, killing the guard instantly. His face was paralyzed with pain as he fell to the ground face-down, dead, and disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving his inventory behind.

But the alarm had already been sounded. The wither skeleton knew it had perhaps only seconds to act, and, without hesitance, pulled a fire charge out from nowhere and threw it forcibly into the ground at the end of the hallway.

The hallway erupted, exploding into fire and smoke, leaving only a crater where an iron door had once been.

The wither skeleton quickly threw a splash potion of invisibility on the floor, cloaking itself for eight full minutes. Granted, there were still small particles from the potion, but they would be hidden in the smoke and debris from the explosion.

Guards flooded the narrow hallway, alarmed as to what was happening. They would most likely think that a creeper exploded, which was fine with the wither skeleton. In the confusion of the scene, it squeezed past the guards and out of the hallway, into a much wider and much more spacious lobby.

Granted, the lobby was only three blocks high, but that was better than the hallway back. The lobby was decorated richly with stone bricks and cobble seats. Potted trees filled the corner, painting the room with greenery. A deep purple carpet rolled down the center, complimenting the room even further. Lastly, glowstone were hidden behind glass, bathing the room in a romantic lighting. To any outside observer, the lobby was inconspicuous and innocent. It was very beautiful, though.

But the wither skeleton knew otherwise.

It quickly broke a piece of glass, and destroyed the glowstone behind it. A redstone torch dropped, breaking the circuit. The wither skeleton then darted out of the lobby and into yet another hallway.

This hallway was a bit wider and taller than the first, decorated with cobble. It lead to several wooden doors, behind each were small offices. The wither skeleton quickly made it into an office on the right and shut the door behind it.

There wasn't much in the office except for a large chest, a crafting table, a furnace, some bookshelves, and a writing table, complete with a chair. It would've been quite difficult to hide something in this room.

Without redstone, that is.

The broken circuit earlier had resulted in yet another retracted piston, revealing a chest underneath the writing table. The wither skeleton put its sword up and rummaged through the chest, and, after half a second, emerged victorious with its prey.

A book.

The wither skeleton put the book in its inventory and took out a fake, placing it back where the original book used to be. It then left the room, making for the lobby from whence it came.

The swarm of guards were still there, investigating the scene. Taking advantage of the confusion, the wither skeleton took out a redstone torch, a piece of glowstone, and a piece of glass, putting them back where they were. Hopefully, this would conceal the chest and hide any trace that the chest had been broken into.

The wither skeleton knew that the only way out of the complex was the way it came in. Obviously, that route was out of the question.

It went back to the cobble hallway that led to the wooden doors. It took out a diamond pickaxe and began digging its way upwards. After two swings of cobble, it reached dirt. The wither skeleton destroyed the three pieces of dirt and threw yet another splash potion at itself. It crouched, poising for a jump, and leaped out of the hole.