4 months after the Wither was summoned…

…

As I came out of the mine for the fifth time this week, I heard the survivors pray. The open church next to the mine entrance was packed full of the villagers in mourning. They chanted to Notch, begging him to let the devastation stop, begging him to end their suffering, and begging him to bring an end to the Wither. I saw the torch in the middle of the cave. The tall, stone brick statue was illuminated by the small flame on top. It was undying, like the hope the survivors held in their hearts. Unlike them I had given up on praying to Notch. He never answers anyway. But I realized there was no point, seeing a friend of mine was his brother.

As they chanted I made my way to my cobblestone hut. The one room house was all the space I could afford now. Liberty Gallows was burnt to ash by the Wither and its snake-like soldiers. After He and I left the castle, we found a large dead end cave inside a mountain. It was the best place for us at the time. We managed to stay there for a couple days alone. I set up a mine while Herobrine rested and healed. I lured some animals inside and managed to gather some seeds to start a vegetable farm. At the end of the third day, Herobrine had healed completely. I got back from mining to find him gone. He left a note saying he would be back, but that was four months ago. I haven't seen him since.

A week after He disappeared a small number of survivors walked into my Fortress of Solitude and began to set up camp. At first I felt annoyed, but as the population grew I began to feel happy to have the company. I had trained several men how to mine so we could get resources quicker. I built a mineshaft going all the way down to diamond level. We had cave systems branching off all over the place and more were found each day. The women farmed and cooked for the little town. The stayed in the safety of the village while us miners fought off the mobs coming from underneath and gathered the coal they needed.

We had few knights from neighboring kingdoms join us. They defended the town from any Wither Skeletons that caused a ruckus nearby. Not to mention the Zombies and Creepers that happened by. There was also a blacksmith or two that came along. We set an area for them to work their trade, it was handy being able to go in and have a sword ready and waiting. We ended up using gold nuggets for a currency. The emeralds far too few and were kept away for use in the future, if the Wither goes away.

The small town was empty, due to everyone being at the church. I was the only miner at work today, which was nice for a change. Usually, I mine alone but I can hear the others talking. They don't realize how well stone carries sound. Their obnoxious laughter often results in a swarm of mobs.

I unlocked the door and was greeted instantly by Lapis. She barked excitedly and jumped up and down. I patted her on the head and walked over to the furnace. Lapis limped behind me eagerly, desperate for attention. The poor dog had escaped the Wither, but she was injured in the process. A Wither skull gnawed her front paw clean off. Thankfully dogs and wolves are immune to the Wither effect, otherwise she would've ended up like Herobrine did back in the castle. As for Emerald, he ran away. During all the commotion Emerald ran away. He was always a bit of a rebel, but I didn't think he'd run off like that. Part of me thinks he's dead, fallen in a ravine or eaten by the mobs. Another part of me wishes that he was found by Herobrine and is walking around the wild, protected by the god. But who knows?

Lapis licked my hand and curled up against my side while I smelted the gold ore I found in the mine today. The ore was in abundance today. I found at least a stack and a half. Which would be fantastic if the ore wasn't basically useless.

I sighed and stroked her fur. It felt dirty and needed cleaning, but she was sleeping on me and I didn't want to move her. I pouted and kissed her on the forehead. She was the only thing in this village that really cared I existed. Even though I was the one who found this place.

Slowly, I stood up and shuffled over to the bed, it was cold but it did well. I rolled over and faced the furnace. The heat from the coals made it a bit better. Outside I could hear the survivors walking around on mycelium. All the grass had mutated into the rare surface and every so often there would be mushrooms popping up, which made good for the food supply. I hated mushroom soup though. It was bland and chunky. I usually just skipped dinner those nights.

My eyes grew heavy and I drifted off into a restless sleep.

...

I awoke to a loud banging on my door. Lapis barked at it defensively and I had to hurry out of the warm bed.

"Steve? Are you in there? Steve?" I knew that voice anywhere. It was Mother Delia, I haven't spoken to her in a week or so. She was Liberty Gallows' most firm believer in Notch. She wouldn't here from anyone that Notch didn't exist. Whoever said that would end up with a scolding, especially a damnation to Herobrine. Whom she hated with every fiber of her being.

"Coming." I answered as I trudged over to the door. The door unlocked with a click and swung open with a rusty creak. The nun was standing straight and proud in front of me. I don't think this women ever grew after the age of ten. She was only a block and a half high. I felt bad looking down on her.

"There you are son. I was getting worried. Its midday and all the other miners have gone to work." She smiled sweetly although there was some concern in her eyes.

"Midday? Its midday?" I asked. Had I slept in that long?

"Yes. Also, I didn't see you praying last night. Was something the matter?" Her smile fell into a sort of frown. I could tell she was ready to damn me for not praying to the Creator.

I smiled smugly and rubbed the back of my head. "No. Nothings the matter. I just lost track of time. I kept finding gold and I just had to mine it. I'm sorry Mother, I hope you can forgive me."

Her expression lightened. "Alright dear. You are forgiven. I hope you mine lots today, we seem to be running low on iron. The golems need a touch up too, I'm afraid."

"Yes I noticed. I'll do the best I can, and thank you Mother."

She smiled and started to take her leave. "I know you will Steve. I'll see you around then." She bowed and left, smiling happily and giving blessings to the passing children. I sighed and turned around. Lapis was gazing up at me with adoring eyes. Her tail was hanging lower than normal, but not so much that she needed food, but she was still hungry. Unfortunately, so was I. I had been trying to conserve the more filling foods since supplies were always low and most of the town's diet was vegetables and bread. But dogs only ate meat, which was something I couldn't change.

"Sorry Pup. Not today." I patted her lightly while I apologized. I hated turning her down but I needed to conserve the food. Especially when the Wither's soldiers keep killing all the cows and pigs on the surface.

I picked up my pick and started for the mine. Time was wasting and ores were being left undiscovered. This time I let Lapis follow me into the mines. We walked through town quickly and descended the stone steps. This time I walked all the way to the bottom. No one really went down there. Even though they had been mining for three and a half months, they were still inexperienced and too scared to go down that deep. After all, according to them, He might be lurking in the shadows. Killing anyone who mined the diamonds and fought the mobs. Thankfully I had nothing to fear, beside a few traps I was destined to survive.

Lapis followed me all the way down and rested herself by a lava pool. For a short time I admired the heat from the liquid. It bubbled away and sent little bits of flaming rock into the air, before they splashed back in the pool. Lapis panted with her tongue hanging to the side. The warmth made me miss the summer, when I would take holidays to the beach for a few weeks. But the caves were freezing, she had the right idea. If only I had the time to do the same. I followed a few small cave systems around the lava pool. I came to one that went a bit deeper than the others but I checked it out anyway. My boots tapped at the stone, echoing for blocks in the quiet space.

With every torch I placed I could see further ahead. Valuable ores glistened in the fire light, which meant more trade for me. I wasn't having much luck with diamonds however. It was mostly Gold, Lapis Lazuli and Redstone. Occasionally I would find an emerald or two. But they were sort of worthless now, in our new society anyway. The cave went on for a fair way. Much longer than I anticipated. The miner in me had me convinced to follow the stone until I hit a wall. But that possibility seemed so far away.

After another ten minutes of walking and mining I was about to abandon the cave. Lapis had caught up to me and limped next to me at a slow pace. My eyes stuck to the ground, tired and heavy. Lapis would attack any mobs that showed up, if they did. Strangely, I hadn't encountered any mobs at all during the afternoon. The caves were bare of the undead, which is a rare sight for anyone. The only thing I was threatened by was the bats, but I could kill one with a single punch if I tried hard enough.

I stopped and thought about leaving. My decision was almost made when Lapis started growling. She was low on the ground and her hair spiked up on end. I reached for my sword and searched the dark cave for what she was growling at. She snarled and crept forward at the unseen danger. I readied my blade and moved forward with her. Slowly I could see a figure emerge from the darkness. The small, black mob crawled forward. Its many legs moving in synchronization. Eight red glowing eyes shone in the darkness. It was only a spider.

I sighed and let Lapis stand her ground. But just as I began to relax, hundreds of sets of eyes lit up the cavern ahead of us. My heart jumped and I yelled, "RUN!" Lapis and I spun around and sprinted for the surface. I followed the caves twists and turns in their hundreds. A block of gravel came loose under my foot, causing me to stumble and trip. My head collided with the stone and my vision blurred. I could see a white fuzz in front of me. Lapis barked ferociously at the spiders, but they were unfazed. Their vile squealing told me that. I crawled to my feet and tripped my way through the to the lava pool and onto the stairwell. My vision had cleared and I was climbing the stairs as fast as I could. I past a few signs telling me the ore level I had reached. Redstone, Gold, Lapis. Iron was coming up, I could see the piece of wood in the distance. Just then, I heard Lapis yelp. She started whimpering and snarling behind me. I stopped and turned around to help her. I could feel the adrenaline in my veins and I lunged at the spiders as they crawled over my wolf. But to my surprise, like a tidal wave, the spiders jumped at me, knocking me to the ground. The weight of a hundred spiders pinned me to the ground. Then quick but painful nips at my skin forced me to scream. The spiders injected venom into my veins from all over. My legs, then my arms went numb and I started seeing spots. Finally I couldn't hold on any longer and succumbed to the painless darkness clouding my mind.

Here it is! The new story and sequel you have been waiting for, (though not for very long). I hope this chapter answered some questions for you all. I wrote this much faster than I thought I would and I'm pretty happy with it. I apologize for the dismissal of Herobrine, but he is off doing something for the time being. I don't quite know what that something is yet...

Also a cliffhanger?! Already?!

Mwhahahaha

Well I hope you all enjoyed. Please Read and Review my lovelies.

-L