"Surrender ruffian! Or prepare to taste the sting of a knight's blade!" Unfortunately for Sval, the ruffian was actually a sack of potatoes, his blade was a rusty poker, and he wasn't a real knight. He was a blacksmith's apprentice. He was also a hyperactive 11-year-old boy who fantasized about adventuring far away in strange lands to slay dragons and evil wizards, exciting things like that. Sval jabbed his "foe" a couple times and spoke a few "knightly" comments before sitting down by a tree. He reached into his rucksack and took out a couple of apples. Halfway through his lunch a small pebble hit him in the arm. "Ow! Who-" He looked around for the culprit and noticed a lanky figure leaning against a tree. "Sneaking out again are we? Not very knightly if you ask me." The speaker's tone, feminine and condescending.
Sval mumbled something derogatory under his breath and then mumbled, "How long have you been standing there Verxi?" A young female enderman with a white party mask and flowing purple feathers adorning her head, stepped out from under the tree. "Long enough to know that you have quite the imagination." She picked up the poker with a thin, spider-like hand and examined it. "Seriously? A poker? You gonna go slay the great and evil Emperor of the Fireplace now?" Sval snatched the poker back, "A broadsword's KINDA hard to fit in my bag." Verxi shook her head, "Whatever. Come on squirt, your uncle's worried." Sval slung his bag over his shoulder and followed her back to the village.
When they arrived at the village gate, the two guards stopped the pair. "Hold up, password. Cough it up lizard-eyes." Verxi's normally sly grin that made most people check their pockets twice, was twisted into a frown at the guard's rather racist comment. "The password's Craft. Now let us through." The guards growled, as if disappointed she got the password right, and opened the gate. Verxi adjusted her mask and walked in. As they walked down the road, a few people glared at Verxi distrustfully. Sval noticed this and stuck his tongue out at them. "Verxi, did something happen?" he asked the enderman. She sighed dejectedly, "You know that big bad dude Thezandur? Word has it, that nearly all of the endermen nations have turned to his side. Not many people trust us anymore..." Sval felt his heart drop. Many people look at Verxi as a manipulative fiend, mostly because she used to be a thief before coming to town, but Sval had known Verxi nearly all his life. She was like the older sister he never had.
When they arrived at the blacksmith's, Sval's uncle ran out of the door with soot all over his face and his beard half on fire. Verxi stifled a snicker at the sight but cleared her throat when he looked at her. "Sval was screwing around in the forest, again. This time he was pretending to be fighting a bandit or something," she reported in a monotone voice. His uncle sighed, "In the forest? I thought you said you were going to deliver the potatoes you stole back to the farmers! You could've gotten hurt! There's all types of dangerous folk outside the village wall!" Sval nodded vigorously in agreement to his uncle's statement, "You're right. I should bring Verxi with me next time!" Sval's uncle nodded dismissively and went back inside, not really paying attention to what Sval said. The boy dumped his things on the cobblestone floor and ran back out just as Verxi was about to leave.
"Hey Verxi! Where ya going? You just got here," protested Sval. "Sorry kid, it's getting late. I should get going," explained Verxi. The boy grumbled, "Ok." Verxi smiled warmly and strode down the road with those long stick-like legs.
Sval was woken up suddenly by Verxi shaking him, "Sval! Wake up! The village's being attacked! Come on, get-" She was interrupted when two charred skeletal hands wrapped themselves around her face from behind. Verxi let out a muffled yell as she struggled against her attacker. Thinking quickly Sval ran over to the furnace and pulled out the red-hot poker. Verxi had managed to throw off the wither skeleton and kicked it into a wall. As it drew a razor sharp scimitar, Sval plunged the poker into the monster's skull and wrenched the skeleton's skull from its neck. The boy breathed heavily and dropped the poker. Sval looked over at the enderman. Verxi had a small gash across her cheek from the skeleton's claws but otherwise she seemed fine. Catching her breath, she grabbed Sval's shoulders. "Sval, your uncle's dead. Thezandur's forces are sweeping throughout Minecraftia. Our village is not the only one that's been attacked. The capital's the only place that's safe now. I know it's a lot to take in, but you have to stay focused. We gotta get to Greystone. Follow me, I have a horse waiting outside of wall." And with that Verxi led out of the ruined house. Sval looked around, fear building up in his chest, almost every building was on fire and wither skeletons ran around killing any villagers attempting to flee. "Sval, don't look!" she said as she scooped him up in her arms and fled towards the gate, dodging flaming arrows and focusing on getting out of there alive with Sval.
The gate had been torn down and there were massive holes in the wall. Verxi set Sval down as she untied her horse from the tree. But as she lifted the boy onto the horse, a blur of black scales slammed into her with inhuman speed and lifted her in the air. "Traitor..." the enemy enderman hissed angrily. She responded to his comment by kicking him in the chest, causing him to tumble backwards with a undignified, "Oof!" The fight lasted only for a few seconds. To the human eye, it would look like a bunch of blurry images since the two were moving so fast. Verxi stood over the unconscious enderman, the scales on her shoulder all scratched up. She teleported onto the horse and tapped its side with her heel to get it to go. It reared upward, neighing, and then galloped away. Sval looked backward and watched in horror as the flaming village shrunk into the distance. The screams would stay with him the rest of his life.
He tried to stay awake as long as possible to avoid the nightmares, but eventually the steady clopping hooves became a dulled buzz in his ear as he dozed off.
15 years ago...
A royal carriage draped in crimson velvet, pulled by two horses who were both as black as ink, galloped down the cracked stone road. The moon glimmered like a gem against the night sky and the stars gleamed, almost in a joyful manner. As the carriage turned the corner, excited voices and cheerful laughter embraced the riders inside the carriage. Ahead, the glorious palace of Emperor Silas awaited its latest visitors. And as the carriage came to a stop, the guest of honor stepped out with pride in his every step. Lord Olvis Zayne had arrived to the ball.
Little did the acclaimed noble know, he had unknowingly brought along a well-known thief to the party. Verxi slowly slid down the opposite side of the carriage. She had been riding on top of it to the ball. There were bound to be plenty of nobles at the ball, a pickpocket's paradise. With a sly grin she adjusted her party mask and sneaked off to the side of the building. Every so often an unlucky guard would feel a pair of gloved hands slide over his face. The last thing he would see were a pair of beautiful purple eyes as he felt his head involuntarily turn 180 degrees. Having dispatched the last of the guards on the left side of the palace, Verxi slipped in through a window and arrived on the upper floors of the grand establishment, overlooking the ball below. A she was dressed like a member of the grand Enderman council, she had to act like one too. Fortunately, this was quite easy. Acting like you owned the world was fairly simple for the thief.
Her unbraided plume of violet feathers flowed down her back like a vibrant waterfall. After collecting a favorable amount of gold (why anyone would bring their money to a ball was beyond her) she decided to have some fun. It WAS a ball after all, why shouldn't she enjoy herself? After a few coquettish looks, she managed to attract a noble over to her. He wasn't nearly as tall as her, but he certainly was much broader and quite tall compared to most of the people here. His skin was grayish and his eyes shimmered blue. A witherfolk ambassador coming to talk to Emperor Silas, Verxi guessed. "Not here for the free food I assume?" As they danced, Verxi could feel a large number of jealous nobles glowering at the witherfolk. He chuckled, a hearty baritone of a laugh. "Aye, I'm here to talk to the good Emperor. And have a dance with that special girl." The female enderman gave a fake giggle, "Would I happen to be that special girl?" The witherfolk was probably about to reply with a witty remark but he was cut off by a rather loud explosion from the ceiling. "Greetings thee and thou! Not to alarm you... but THIS IS A ROBBERY!" a loud and obnoxious voice announced above as dust and rubble rained down from above. Rich folk of all sorts screamed and ran for cover as a gang of thugs lowered themselves down from the ceiling via rope.
The one who announced the robbery, presumably the leader, stood on a large chunk of quartz and gestured to his fellow bandits, "Take what you want lads! Take gold! Take food! Take lives! And to be specific: TAKE THE LIFE OF THE STINKING ENDERMAN THIEF!" Verxi had been standing there in bewilderment until she was mentioned. As she started for the exit, a bandit landed right in front of her. "Well heeelloooo there, dearie!" He drew a sword and rushed at her with ferocity gleaming in his wild eyes. Thinking fast, Verxi teleported behind him and kicked him in the back of his head. As their companion crumpled to the carpet, the other thugs charged forward. Before they got far, a volley of arrows embedded themselves in the bodies of the attacking bandits.
Verxi looked for the culprit and saw archers to each side of her. "Are you ok miss?" asked one of the guards. Before she could reply an angry voice speak behind her, "She might not be for long. Do you really think a party mask and a pilfered dress would be enough to disguise you from me?" She turned to see a man in black armor with spikes curling out of his shoulders like twisted thorns, a blood-red cape trailed behind him and his face has hidden by his helmet. "Guards, arrest her. It appears the great Verxi, Queen of Thieves, cannot even cover her own tracks." he spat, voice full of spite. Verxi was so shocked that she barely had time to react before anti-magic cuffs were clamped over her wrists, effectively keeping her from teleporting away. "Wait! There must be some kind of mistake! You can't arrest me! Who do you think you are?!" she shouted in panic. The armored man chuckled, "Of course I can arrest you. After all... I'm Lord Thezandur."
Present Day
Sval woke to the sound of a small river, the calming sound of rushing water momentarily made him forget his troubles. He sat up and slowly looked around; Verxi was nowhere in sight. A dowsed campfire lay a foot away from him and the horse was tied to a tree. Provisions, tools, and wood spilled out of Verxi's pack; the sack rested on the riverbed. For a moment Sval feared that Verxi might've fallen in, Endermen dissolved in concentrated amounts of running water. But then he noticed a trail of footprints leading deeper into the forest. Verxi must be scouting ahead, if he went unwillingly then there would be signs of a scuffle. According to the footprints, Verxi went at the pace of a leisurely stroll. He looked around the campsite and found a note attached to a rock.
"Going for a walk, be back later. There's food and crap like that in my pack." -Verxi
As suspected, Verxi had went ahead to scout for danger. She may not have stated so, but it was usually expected of Verxi to make everything sound casual. As Sval chewed on a loaf of bread he stole a quick glance at the map sticking out of Verxi's pack. It had Thezandur's insignia in the far corner; that would explain why the amount of supplies they had at the moment. Verxi must've robbed one of Thezandur's followers at some point on the road when Sval was still sleeping. But if that were so then the commotion would have woken Sval... What was going on?
Grizer paced back and forth in front of Verxi. The master would not be pleased, Verxi had went back on the Great Thezandur's deal. They had not considered that the thief would actually grow to care for the infant. It simply wasn't in her nature, so why was she attempting to protect the boy? "He will not be pleased, thief. When he hears of this, you WILL be the first of the prophesied 6 to die. And WHEN you die, I assure you, it will be the MOST painful," Grizer spat with malice in his eyes.
Verxi yawned, the skeleton mage's endless droning was starting to annoy her. "Then I'll just have to kill you before you tell him. A good idea, yes?" she murmured as she strode around the skeleton. Grizer stared straight forward, jaw tightening. "As if you could, knowing that the boy is in great danger at the moment. I wonder if he'll spend his last moments thinking that you'll save him." Verxi's eyes widened as she stepped back. "You're bluffing."
Grizer chuckled softly, "Only one way to find out."
As Sval theorized, he was completely oblivious to the river; slowly evaporating, as something approached him. He wiped his sweaty brow as he continued to think. Wait... Sweaty? Sval looked at the horse, which was neighing and rearing up. It was clearly frightened by something behind him. As the boy whipped around he found himself face-to-face with a blaze. The nether mob cackled as Sval screamed and stumbled backward in a blind panic. Sval focused on the flaming gold rods that spun around the demon, growing faster by the second. An explosion launched Sval off his feet and into the neighing horse behind him. The impact knocked the horse backwards and snapped its rope, allowing it to gallop away.
He turned back to the blaze, it was now completely enveloped in flame. The heat scorched his eyebrows and cracked his lips. Frozen with fear, he watched the fire slowly separate into 3 fireballs. Regaining control of his limbs, Sval leaped for cover as a barrage of fire was flung over his head. Hissing in annoyance the blaze turned to look at him, "Stay still!" it roared as it prepared another barrage. Ash rained down on Sval's head as trees began to spontaneously combust around him. The blaze was about to hurl another barrage of fireballs at Sval but knife sunk into its golden head. With a shuddering metallic groan, it exploded. Streams of molten gold flew into the air, burning the trees and grass around it.
Sval breathed heavily and looked around for the culprit. Behind him stood a very familiar enderman with a scowl on her face.
A/N: Behold, the worst cliffhanger that ever existed!11one Leave me a review to tell me how I'm doing.