A month has passed since they had moved back into Blackrock. Everything had been going well so far. Teep was settled in his tower again, the animals were happy, the iron golems were out patrolling, and things had never been better between Zoey and Rythian.
But today, something about Rythian seemed off... He was pacing the castle looking worried, often glancing out of the window anxiously before going back to pacing again.
Zoey has been watching him for a while, looking concerned. She hadn't seen him act like this for a long time. Eventually she heads over to him at one of his stops by the window and wraps her arms around him from behind. He jumps a little as though he had completely forgotten that she was there too.
"Rythian, what's wrong?" She looks up at him with worry in her eyes. He very briefly glances down to her before looking back out of the window again.
"They're coming..." He doesn't need to say anything else. Zoeys arms tighten around him.
Endermen... Of course it was them... Not much else could make him worry this much. She knew they were always coming for him. She knew he had some sort of link to The End, though she didn't know what it was, he had been very adamant on keeping this from her. The link, however, was obvious. First of all there was his appearance. His violet eyes with the purple glow were practically identical to those of an Enderman. Then there was the way he acted sometimes. He hated the rain, always making a point to stay inside when it began. He said the feeling of it hitting him made him uncomfortable, however Zoey suspected that it hurt him a little. He also couldnt hold his sword, Enderbane, without it burning the skin of his hand, the sword designed to be lethal to Endermen specifically.
And then there were the little things that Zoey found adorable, like when he was stressed or concentrating, he would sometimes pick something up, like maybe a chair, and carry it across the castle before putting it down again and getting on as normal. If it wasn't this, he would stack things up, like the books in his library, into sometimes very impressive structures. The similarities were glaringly obvious, yet he kept the reason for them very well hidden. She knew about him being referred to as the 'Enderborn', however she never knew what this meant either.
"It'll be fine," She gives him a reassuring squeeze. "We can handle them. We'll be fine... We're always fine!"
He lets out a little laugh at her optimism. That's one thing she always had. She was so confident and happy all the time, it was hard not to feel the same around her.
"Yeah, you're probably right..."
"Of course I'm right! Aren't I always?" She grins happily up to him.
"Well... Not really but that's not the point!" He gives her a little amused chuckle, seeming to relax a little. "C'mon, lets get some lunch..." He leads her into the kitchen to prepare something for them to eat.
The next few hours seem to fly by. Rythian is showing Zoey how to make another useful little magical item, sat on the floor of the Magic Room. She is happily listening to him and trying to remember everything he says, until he suddenly drops what he is holding, standing up quickly and staring to the wall.
"Uh... Rythian...?"
"They're here..." He dashes across the room, grabbing Enderbane from its place in the corner, trying not to wince as it stings his hand. "You stay here. I'll deal with them."
"What? No! We're in this together, always, I'm helping." She grabs her own sword and stands beside him.
"Zoey, I... Fine..." He knew there was no point arguing with her. He would never win. "But just... Please be careful. I need you to stay safe."
He lets out a little sigh and heads to the front door, taking to the air as soon as he steps outside, Zoey close behind.
Rythian closes his eyes and looks to be concentrating hard. After a few seconds he opens them again, turning to Zoey.
"There's only around fifteen of them this time, they are over in the trees. We should take them on there, prevent them getting anywhere near Blackrock..." This number was an unusually low amount to be sent, there would normally be more than fifty at a time. Rythian seemed uncomfortable about this. Why would they be sending less? It made no sense... What were they planning?
The fact that it was getting dark didn't deter them. Rythian could practically see perfectly in the dark anyway, it was yet another trait he shared with the Endermen. Zoey didn't think she would have any issue in seeing where to strike, planning on using their glowing eyes as a way to locate them when it got too dark to see, knowing she would be able to tell Rythian apart from them by seeing the faint glow coming from Enderbane.
They shoot towards the trees not too far from the castle, leaving Teep in his tower. They knew he wouldn't be able to help out with this, since he was best with a bow and arrow, and Endermen were very good at avoiding projectiles, teleporting away before they hit their target. The pair land in a small clearing in the trees, staring around for any sign of the enemy, looking for the tell-tale purple glow and listening for the little 'whoosh-pop' of one teleporting.
It isn't too long until Rythians keen ear for them sends him dashing into the trees, taking out the first with a perfect precision shot, thrusting Enderbane directly into the Endermans narrow chest. He watches the Enderman drop to the ground with a satisfied feeling. Man he hated that trait, but that didn't stop the satisfaction. He turns back to Zoey, seeing her taking on three at a time and rushes over to assist.
Despite her hatred of killing, Zoey is very skilled with a sword, taking out two of them herself with ease, letting Rythian deal with the third.
The fight seems to go very well in Rythian and Zoeys favour, easily destroying most of the others. That is until they get down to the last three. They each take one on, but while Zoey is distracted by the one that she is fighting, the other manages to swipe for her, catching her non-mechanical arm rather painfully, sending her sword flying from her hand and knocking her to the ground.
Rythian hears her yelp of pain just as he finishes off the one he's fighting, whipping around to see her on the floor, her sword lying a few feet out of her reach and the two remaining Endermen standing over her, one about to go for a fatal strike.
"ZOEY!" He yells as he launches himself at the Endermen, and with pinpoint accuracy, slashes his sword through the air, decapitating them both less than a second before it attacks.
He crouches down next to her, reaching out to take her arm to check the damage.
"Here, let me look at that..." He carefully turns her arm to see the two deep gashes just above her elbow. He gently wipes away some of the blood, trying not to cause too much pain, apologising rapidly when she lets out a little squeaky whimper as he touches it. Once he's cleaned the area enough, he examines it properly. The cuts were clean apart from the blackened skin around each one, as was typical with a wound from an Enderman attack, and it was easy enough to get rid of. "These should heal up quickly... Lets get back so i can fix them up properly..."
He puts his sword in the holster on his back, heading to grab Zoeys too. He heads back to her and scoops her up into his arms, kicking off into the air and flying them back to Blackrock.
He lands at the front door, kicking it open and carrying her inside, up to the bedroom and placing her down carefully on the bed. Zoey watches him has he leaves the room, coming back a minute later with a damp cloth. These weren't the first Enderman wounds she'd had, so she knew what to expect.
Rythian lays the wet cloth over the injuries. As soon as the water touches them, the blackness seems to turn to smoke and leave her skin, vanishing into the air. He takes the cloth away to reveal the now completely clean wounds.
"There, now we just need to finish up..." He moves his hand over her arm, magically closing the gashes and then looks into her eyes, smiling. "All done. Now they should heal fully in no time!"
"Thanks, Rythian! Sorry I let my guard down..."
"Hey, it's fine. They're sneaky things, don't worry about it. You're safe and that's all that matters." He smiles as he pulls her close to him for a hug, nuzzling his face into her hair.
"And we won! Team Blackrock are victorious once again!" She lets out a little giggle, wrapping her arms around Rythian too.
"Of course we did..." He sighs slightly. 'But they still acted strangely... Why would they send hardly any... I'm sure something else is going on... But what is it?'
At this moment, Zoey shudders a little, bringing Rythians attention back to now.
"You alright down there?" He asks, looking down at her.
"Yeah... Probably just tired and a little cold!" She smiles and shuffles away from him, climbing under the blankets. "Think it's time to sleep!"
Rythian lets out a little chuckle, shaking his head.
"Alright! Guess it has been an exhausting day!" As he gets into bed too, he can't help looking over to her, thinking just how beautiful she was.
He slides down under the blankets, pulling Zoey close to him and giving her a goodnight kiss. They lay happily in each others arms until sleep eventually takes them both...