Date: Unknown... I still hope it's 10181.

Somewhere in the Nether

Still in this Notch-blasted cell.

Continued from yesterday.


The heat is the first thing that I can recall perfectly as I think of when I free-fell through the Nether portal. The swirling, noxious fumes of the portal took me in and twisted me to pieces and then put me back together and spat me out on the other side, in this dark, smoky abyss roiling with heat.

All of a sudden free of the magical chains Herobrine had been using to hold me, I found the voice to scream, the sound echoing thinly in the hot air. The scream was cut off when I hit the ground, shoulder first, with something painfully wrenching the wrong way as the rest of me thudded down. I cried out again shortly and gagged on pain.

Immediately, I struggled to my feet. The stone was fiercely hot, sending a slick sweat springing up all over me and burning my bare skin an angry red where it touched down. Gasping on the heavy, sulfuric air, I dizzily staggered to my feet and tried to take stock of my surroundings.

My eyes slowly began to adjust to the dim, and I could make out the fuzzy shapes of large rock formations through a thick red haze that blanketed over everything. I was in a large, cavernous space with no sky and the glimmer of fire here and there or the bitter glow of lava streams. There wasn't much light, but a little illumination leaked from between cracks in the stone, where I could see tight clusters of crystals packed together and filtering a bright yellow light through the haze.

I shuffled a few steps forward, sending up puffs of red rock dust as I went. Without warning, my foot skidded off the solid rock and into something soft that gripped and pulled. With a cry of surprise, I jerked on my foot but it was stuck fast. Clenching my jaw, I braced myself as well as I could and pulled, inching my foot out until it suddenly snapped free and sent my flying back onto the rock, banging my face.

Eyes wide, I looked back and saw a pit of dark, shifting sands that gave a soft murmuring sound as they slid back to fill the gap my foot had left. Coughing on all the dust I had stirred up, I struggled to my feet again and picked my footing more carefully.

A loud, low, rhythmic sound echoed across the space, and I turned back towards the portal with a sinking feeling. The sound shifted as it got louder, gaining speed and rising in pitch. I realized what it was with a shock- Herobrine! That was his laugh!

Part of me wasn't surprised. He dropped me down here, didn't he? Of course he would follow to finish the job.

Adrenaline poured into my system and my heart began to pound wildly. Snapped back to my senses, I turned and ran, only just catching a glimpse of white eyes as I flew around a pile of rock that blocked my peripheral view of the portal.

I could hear him clearly now over the blood pounding in my ears. I could hear as he thumped down to the ground, and I could feel the rumble through my feet in the stone, the rumble followed by the ominous silence that meant he had destroyed the portal and my only way home.

Now I could hear him gaining on me as I tore across the Nether as fast as I could.

Somewhere up ahead there was a gap between two standing stones. Putting on an extra burst of speed, I turned and aimed dead for it. I didn't know what was beyond it, and frankly, I didn't care to think that far ahead. I could be dead before I reached it. Just a few more steps, I encouraged myself as I leaped over another patch of those shifting sands, just few more steps...

"You are trapped...and yet you still run?" Herobrine huffed from behind me, his voice gruff with the lilt of a wolfish grin in his tone. My foot skidded when I heard this, and I nearly bit my tongue when my foot slammed down into a hole I didn't see. Freeing my foot before it could slow me down, I pushed even harder and leaped headfirst into the gap.

Stone struck stone and debris hailed down at me. I yelled and ducked, covering my head with both arms without daring to slow down as dust and scree peppered me from behind. Herobrine had used his sword to slash at me and missed -deliberately-, hitting the stone instead. My feet slipped on the Netherrack when the path angled sharply down, and I began to fall. Curling up, I tried to control my fall and rolled, barking my already wrenched left shoulder as I fell. The ground rushed up and I went down hard, my breath knocked out of me and hot pain blading across my back and down my arm. I refused to scream.

Herobrine laughed from behind me.

Legs heavy, I picked myself up and struggled on, using the high walls around me for support. As the adrenaline drained from my system, I kept on running doggedly out of sheer panic and a vague determination that I would somehow find a way to escape. With this in mind, I kept on for hours.

A stupid hope, I know.

At some point, I realized that I could no longer hear Herobrine behind me. I wanted to stop- Notch only knows how tired I was- but my instincts screamed not to. I couldn't hear him, but I could feel him. His oppressive presence was still there, and I still had that awful feeling of helplessness that I had only ever gotten around him, and him alone...

Without warning, my foot turned on a loose stone and I fell forward with a cry, putting my hands out to break my fall. The rough netherrack scraped my palms as I crashed down flat and lay still for several moments, hearing my ragged gasps rasp against the stone and the dust. In fact, I wasn't able to get up for a painfully long time, with my limbs aching limbs clenching and cramping with lactic acid. Groaning, I began to struggle back up off the baking hot netherrack, pushing up with both arms and being careful with my throbbing shoulder.

The ground disappeared under my left hand.

I gasped in surprise as my hand punched straight through the thin crust of stone, and then I slammed back down, hitting my face. A searing, burning pain raced up my arm and the smell of burning copper filled the air in a loud bubbling rumble. A lava pit.

A shallow, near-the-surface lava pit.

Screaming outright, I rolled away and yanked my flaming arm out of the hole I had made and tucked it close to my body, rolling back and forth to douse the fire. Desperately, I scrabbled at the bindings on the charred leather gauntlet on the burned hand and yanked it off, letting it bounce away and roll to a stop near the edge of the new lava pit. That stopped the worst of the burning.

The gauntlet had taken the brunt of the harm, being the only thing to catch fire. My arm was red and forming blisters around the elbow and between the fingers of my left hand where the leather was thinnest. Swallowing hard, I wiped the sweat out off my eyes with my good hand and slowly stumbled back to my feet. Staring at the ruined gauntlet distastefully, I decided that it wouldn't be worth saving. Hooking a toe under the blackened leather, I kicked it into the hole and watched it crumble into the sticky, glowing lava and send up a thin stream of greasy black smoke as it burned.

I set off again, but this time at a slower pace. I had somehow recovered the presence of mind to realize that running at such a maddening pace in this heat would get me killed. So, peering off into the thick red haze, I picked a direction and trudged on, cradling my burned arm and leaving my destroyed gauntlet behind.

I can't say for sure just how long I traveled, or how far. The bleak landscape of the Nether began to look the same after a while, with the same caves and valleys and heart-stopping drops into pits or off cliffs or into lava. My clock and compass were both spinning wildly in circles, and I had lost all sense of time. I wandered on and on, lost and dazed.

And very much in denial.

The Nether conditions rapidly wore me out, and I had to rest often. I packed my cloak away in my inventory after finding it too hot, and only took it out again to sleep on. Of course, I was too worried about being caught to actually sleep. I rested only under the cover of a cave or overhang, and ate and drank only as I walked, keeping a careful eye about me.

This served me well, as I discovered soon enough.

The Nether, you see, as hostile and unlivable as it seems, is not entirely devoid of life. From the start I was able to hear the distant grunts and screams of one creature or another above the ever-present crackling of fire and rasping of the hot, dry wind across the reddish stone. I had hoped to avoid any close encounters.

That hope was instantly dashed when a fireball skidded across my path.

I leaped aside as quickly as I could and narrowly avoided getting blown up on the spot when the fireball blew. Heart racing, I immediately thought of Herobrine and wondered, with a sinking feeling, how he had already found me. Instinctively, I reached back for my bow slung across my back and immediately regretted it. Sharp, jabbing pain laced down my arm as a painful reminder that my shoulder hadn't healed yet. Hugging my left arm to my chest, I drew Firefall with my right and flattened myself behind a tall crag of rock, peeking back at my attacker.

To my immense relief, it wasn't Herobrine. Instead, there floated a...well, a giant floating pile of dusty gold sticks. It was a creature made up entirely of a floating head hovering over two rows of rods that rotated around the center.

The Chronicles called creatures like this "Blazes". I found out why the next moment.

The blaze floated a little closer and growled at me, a sound that was like a blast of steam blown through a metal pipe. I could see the head clearly now, an orb wreathed in fire that bounced up and down over the rods. But as I watched, the two eyespots turned towards me and flames ignited all over the creature, whooshing up between the rods. That meant it was going to attack. I gulped and got ready to move.

A fireball flew dead at me. I gathered myself and sprang, letting the fireball explode where I was just a fraction of a second ago. Two more followed in rapid succession, chasing after me and nearly blasting me off my feet as I ran in a wide arc around the creature. Hefting Firefall one-handed, I turned and took a running leap, slashing down hard.

Diamond cracked down on gold and the flames died down on the blaze as several of the rods fell away broken. It blew a puff of hot air at me, but no more fireballs came. Pulling free, I stabbed again as hard as I could with just one good arm and struck between the eyes. The blaze gave one last metallic gasping cry and vanished in a cloud of white smoke.

That blaze was down, but I could hear others nearby. Taking cover under a low overhang of rock, I fished out my polished iron helm from my inventory and quickly tied my hair back, settling the helm on my head. Wiping my sweating palms on the rough rock, I rolled back out of my hiding place and retrieved my sword, jogging in the direction that I hoped led away from the blazes.

My path took me up a rise where I was able to see where the blazes had come from. At the base of the hill, across a narrow moat of lava, there was a dark brick tower with a small block on a pedestal- the kind that I recognized from dungeons in the Overworld. A spawner. The blaze had come from that and spotted me where I had been walking in a little valley. From my vantage point, I could see a walled-in causeway leading from the tower into a sea of lava, threading its way over the boiling stone below to a massive fortress in the distance.

I swallowed. There was no mistaking who that fortress belonged to.

Easing down the other side of the hill, I began to seriously consider what to do. I couldn't build a portal back home- I didn't have the resources I needed. Defeating Herobrine was well out of the question. But then I thought of something that I hadn't dared think about in weeks.

Dragon was here.

It only made sense that if he had been kidnapped and taken to the Nether that he would be in the Nether fortress. I knew that I couldn't wander around the Nether forever- Herobrine would just find me eventually. So, sword in hand, I set off towards the only real goal I had had since falling into this Notch-forsaken place: Finding Dragon.

The cavern overhead arced down and walled off all view of and path to the fortress except for a small window, and the only way to get through that was to go through the blazes. There was no clear way to reach the fortress, with nothing but solid, sheer walls on all sides and a sea of lava barring all attempts at entry.

But hidden in a cleft in the cavern wall, I found a path of dark bricks leading into a tunnel through the wall. Sheathing my sword, I cautiously stepped onto the path, slipping into the tunnel.

I almost cried with relief once inside. The temperature inside the tunnel was at least a dozen degrees cooler than outside, with the bricks paving the path radiating blissful cool. The tunnel itself stretched on for dozens of yards, and the path thrust out onto a bridge spanning the lava on the other side of the walls. I could hear it bubbling and popping where I was. With one last glance back to make sure I wasn't being followed, I set of down the tunnel and out onto the bridge.

I crossed out onto a hatchwork of bridges and causeways supported on piers dizzyingly high above the boiling seas glowing below. Navigating wasn't difficult- the paths were all laid out in a grid with only a few ruptures here and there. In just minutes, I had reached the gates of the fortress.

I gazed up at the heavy brick portcullis in wonder as I mounted the stairs into the fortress, marveling at the sheer scale of the structure. From the outside, the line of dark brick walls and towers seemed to stretch on forever. But now that I was inside, I was faced with a small tight corridor. I took a few wary steps inward- they didn't echo. Curious, I peeked around the corner into the next hall. It was the same.

From there, I began to search the fortress, looking for anything that might lead me to Dragon- a scrap of blue cloth, a prison cell where he might be kept,- but I found nothing. Nothing but those formless brick walls and floors and ceilings. It began to dawn on me after I turned to one dead end after another that this may be one very, very elaborate trap. Even if Herobrine wasn't inside the fortress, all he had to do was lead me here, and I would be trapped. This fortress, I realized as I tried to find my way out, had been deliberately built up to be monotonous with no landmarks.

It was a perfect labyrinth.

Panic rose in my throat, and I backpedaled, but it was too late. I was lost. There were no windows, no doors, nothing at all to show me a way out. Then I heard a sound that made me freeze.

Footsteps.

Peering around a corner, I saw the back of a tall, black-shirted figure disappear into a door at the end of a corridor. Definitely Herobrine. No mistaking that. Taking a deep breath, I turned and went the opposite direction.

The next turn I made seemed to be slightly luckier than the ones I had made earlier. This corridor had barred windows at intervals on one side, giving a magnificent view of a number of lava falls cascading into the seas outside. I hoped that this would mean a door or some other exit leading outside.

I knew now that there was no chance of me finding Dragon in here alive.

My luck ran out as quickly as it had come- the hall ended in a dead end with no door to the outside. Frustrated, I turned back the way I came and went down a different hallway, this one branching off into several side halls leading to Aether-knows-where. I walked quickly and focused on breathing evenly, listening to the even tapping of my boots hitting the bricks below.

"Looking for someone?" Herobrine sneered.

I gasped and whirled, stumbling back a few paces into the side of the hall.

Herobrine was standing right next to me in the mouth of a short side hall.

Regaining my senses, I backed up quickly and whipped Firefall from its sheath, rolling my left shoulder. I refused to think about what was happening, focusing only on my sword in my hand and the enemy slowly advancing before me.

Of course, some small part of me recalled my last battle and nagged at me. It told me that I wasn't going to win of course, this was Herobrine. How could I possibly win against a god? This was going to be another humiliation.

This was certainly going to hurt.

"You never cease to amaze me, Huntress," Herobrine said slowly, punctuating each word with one slow, deliberate step towards me. He extended one delicate, long-fingered hand to the side and I watched as his heavy black sword formed in his hand, hilt to tip.

I wasn't going to let him guide the battle this time.

Breathing evenly, I sprang forward and slashed hard, moving as fast as I could. My sword sliced right through him...and he vanished from sight.

An illusion.

A finger tapped my shoulder. I whirled and slashed again, but he parried my stroke and hit me dead in the throat with the stiffened fingers of his other hand. I stumbled back, choking, and he pounced.

I rolled away from the first stroke, but while I was still facing away from him and leaning on the wall to regain my balance, he struck hard and fast. From behind, his sword struck and sheared through my armor and through my good shoulder, protruding through the front where I could see it. I howled in pain, my sword slipping from my grasp and clattering to the floor.

He braced his hand against the flat of my back and pulled his sword out, leaving fresh pain in its wake. I groaned and sank to my knees, dizzy as blood slicked down my chest, clotting on my chain mail. I scrabbled for my sword with my left hand, hissing as the muscles of the wrenched shoulder twisted and protested. The sword was unsteady in my less dextrous hand, the hilt slippery with blood. Gasping for air, I struggled to my feet again, using the wall for support.

"Whenever you're ready, Son of Steve," Herobrine called in a mock friendly tone from behind. I clenched my teeth and turned to face him, my right arm hugged tightly to my side. I knew exactly what he was doing to me, and gave him a look of sheer hatred.

He was toying with me. He could have killed me at least sixteen times over now, and instead he was letting me stand up and wear myself out against him.

I wasn't going to have it.

Holding Firefall carefully, I paced around him, and we circled briefly. Before we had completed a full circuit, I charged, aiming more for his sword arm than his torso. He parried the blow almost carelessly, raising an eyebrow patronizingly.

"Wise, but you'll have to do better than that." He said, and then he seemed to stop and consider something as he parried another blow without even looking at me. "In fact," he began, and suddenly his free arm snapped out as quick as a viper.

My surprised cry was cut off as his fingers closed around my throat, iron-hard. He lifted me up in the air briefly and slammed me against the wall, forcing me to lose my grip on Firefall. Eyes wide, I grasped the arm he was holding me with with my good arm and used it as leverage to kick out at him. He dodged my helpless struggles gracefully, swinging his hips outwards and then pulling me close, close enough that our faces almost touched. His jaw-length hair fell forward as he leaned in towards me, brushing the sides of my face.

"You should learn when the proper time is to give up, brave little Huntress," he whispered in my ear. Then he lifted me up again and slammed me back against the wall. My head cracked against the bricks, sending a starburst across my vision that didn't quite fade. My chest was beginning to burn from lack of air. I couldn't find the strength to try and kick him again. My body wouldn't respond. But as he cocked his head to regard me, I decided that I couldn't give up just yet.

I worked up a mouthful of blood and saliva and spat it in his face.

Herobrine's head jerked back as if in surprise, and he wiped his face with the back of the hand that still held his sword, examining it. Without warning, the iron grip around my throat was gone and, without support, I fell to the ground. My legs buckled beneath me and I fell at Herobrine's feet, gasping. He sighed.

"I see 'giving up' is a concept completely foreign to you," he mused as he watched me reach for my sword. With one nonchalant foot, he kicked the diamond sword out of my reach, sending it skidding down the corridor. I mentally swore. "No matter then-" His foot landed heavily on the small of my back and I involuntarily froze, knowing what was coming.

"You'll make nice company for your friend Dragon, at least."

The sword whooshed down.


My fingers are cramping already. I'll write more when-

Wait, there's someone else down here.

I'll write more later.


Hello, and welcome back to another session of Amanda the Huntress's final notes to a Huntress's Tale chapter after a looooog hiatus. I know, I know. It's been NaNoWrMo prep season and BOY have I been busy! Luckily, I still found time to squeeze in this new and exciting chapter, didn't I, my darling loyal readers?

As a farewell note, I would like to remind you to kindly leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter, or if you didn't, leave a review anyway. This was a nice chapter, no? Lots of action, lots of fun, Oh-God-what-next sort of feelings for Huntress.

By the way, have you been checking up on my friend BlackDragon41 or QueenCelina33 lately? They have been out a while and are just back to publishing now too. It's been killer for all of us, but we're all back, so go check out what they've written too! I'm not the only positively fabulous Herobrine fanfic writer on this site, after all!

In summary, Please leave a FOLLOW if you want more and a REVIEW if you enjoyed and I will see you later, my friends!

Huntress out.