Separated

Chapter 50: The Beginning of the End


...ake up...wake up...

The voice sounded distant, obscured beyond any recognition. It was around this point where Honeydew realized that he was growing conscious again, but his head was still unbelievably heavy with the effects of Israphel's strange spell. He wasn't sure where he was, for everything around him was a dingy, undefined realm that existed in-between the clarity of being awake and the blackness of a dreamless sleep. His foggy mind made it strenuous to think. What was going on? Who was calling to him? Was Xephos alright? The fuzzy blackness around him then began to spin again, and he felt himself starting to slip back into the cold clutches of unconsciousness.

wake up...

The strange, distorted voice kept persisting, forcing its way through the inky blackness to reach his ears in a low mumble. Soon enough it began to grow louder and louder, closer and closer, stronger and stronger, until it felt like its source was right on top of him.

"...Mister Honeydew, I do believe I just told you to WAKE UP."

A sudden, sharp stinging sensation across Honeydew's left cheek disrupted the murkiness around him, shattering it like glass. The world instantaneously reconstructed itself around the Dwarf, and he found himself laying uncomfortably on another cold flat surface, a slight breeze lightly caressing his exposed skin. He turned to see the lean form of Israphel scowling down at him as he stepped away, shaking out his pale right hand as he did. Honeydew jolted up into a sitting position before he instinctively moved to stand and arm himself, but he found his movement hindered. He glanced over his shoulder to see his hands tightly bound behind his back by strange glowing purple chains, no doubt conjured up by Israphel's magic somehow. He faced forward and glared up at his captor, who by now had swapped out his annoyed frown for his signature taunting smirk.

"That's more like it." The Dark Lord replied. Then he neatly tucked his hands behind his back and slowly strolled over to Honeydew's left, causing the Dwarf's eyes to follow in suit. He saw Xephos laying on his side a meter or two away, back facing him and still unconscious as Israphel leisurely approached. The demon paused and looked down at the Spaceman's body almost disappointedly before he harshly kicked the unconscious man in the gut, spitting out another sour "wake up" in the process. Xephos responded by giving a pained moan and curling inward slightly, the unexpectedness of the blow making it all the more painful. Honeydew felt his temper flare and continued to glare daggers at Israphel as the demon stepped away from the Spaceman's squirming form.

"Oi! You kick him again and I'll bash your bald head in, motherfucker!" He shouted, once again attempting to struggle free from his bonds. Israphel looked at him and failed to suppress an amused chuckle that rose up from his chest.

"Is that so?" He asked. He raised a hand as if to gesture to something. "I suggest you look around, then. You'll find that it would not be so easy."

Honeydew raised a brow at this, but nevertheless craned his neck this way and that to get a proper look around. For the first time he noticed Israphel's most trusted slaves, Creeper_Boss and Zombie_Boss, standing a ways off from their master. The two remained silent as they awaited orders, but Honeydew managed to catch the pair as they shot him looks of disgust. Zombie_Boss had Xephos' sword slung over his shoulder in its sheath and his own pickaxe on his belt. Their two bags of supplies were nowhere to be seen.

Turning away from them, Honeydew quickly took in the rest of his surroundings. Above him was the open sky, the bright blue he had last seen now a mix of orange and pink. The sun was somewhere behind him, getting closer and closer to the distant horizon with every passing moment. Around him was a floor and some high walls, both constructed from dull brown brick. These bricks were stacked so tightly and precisely among one another that they did not need cement to hold themselves into place. Piles of sand rested precariously atop these walls, threatening to topple and flood the strange lowered area at any given moment. Behind him, from what he could see, the wall was not nearly as high as the others, and slightly curved. It was low enough to provide a railing of sorts after the ground continued over what Honeydew guessed to be a decent-sized drop. The result was some sort of balcony that overlooked the rolling dunes of The Sands far below.

It wasn't until then that Honeydew noticed the true peril of his situation. A low moan alerted him to a group of zombies that hung close to the wall and watched him, their eyes narrowed and filled with pure hatred. Then he noticed another group, and another. Another. Soon Honeydew was aware of an entire legion of Mobs sticking close to the walls, seeking shelter from the sun's dying rays. And that was not the extent of it. Crouched along the tops of the walls were clusters of creepers and monstrous spiders. The giant arachnids were no doubt raised and trained to do whatever Israphel wanted them to since they had first hatched.

The Dwarf's eyes followed the hordes of monsters up the sandy slope until they fell upon the most unnerving sight of all. Before him, overlooking their current position, was a massive, towering citadel built atop a higher plot of land. Constructed from tons and tons of the same brown brick, Israphel's fortress was large and intimidating, roosting atop what was probably the highest, hardest-to-reach plateau that could be found within The Sands. The center spire rose up far and farther still, its black, pointed rooftop threatening to pierce the atmosphere and escape the world entirely. Multitudes of other towers as equally menacing tried to follow it up, but none reached any height equal to it. Mobs of all shapes and sizes gathered at any lookout point or balcony that faced the setting sun, watching the event like all the others. It was then that the sheer number of Mobs Israphel had at his disposal truly sunk in. Honeydew felt the weight of tens of thousands of evil monstrosities staring down at him, watching him, judging him, hating him.

Honeydew witnessed all of this within the span of ten or so seconds. Observing all that he wanted to, the Dwarf looked back at Israphel and shot him another glare. While admittedly intimidated, he sure as hell wasn't going to show it.

"Your base is here? You've been out here in The Sands the whole time?!" He asked. He could have sworn that the demon hid somewhere within the pits of the Nether. Israphel just rolled his eyes at him.

"After you've been stuck in the Nether for a hundred-something years, would you want to stay there?"

Honeydew supposed not. By now the stinging in his cheek had subsided, and Xephos had recovered from Israphel's kick. He had sat up, but he slouched forward and kept his head low. The Dark Lord expression changed again, grinning wickedly at the pair of heroes before he turned so that his back now faced them.

"Now then, it's been quite the long run, hasn't it?" He began. His calm demeanor and tone of speaking told Honeydew that Israphel was reveling in his success and enjoying every moment of it. "Personally I thought you wouldn't even last this long, but somehow you two managed to claw your way all the way here, to my personal residence. For that, I say bravo. You've both exceeded my expectations. Why, you even outlived that meddlesome Antioch! Your reward for being such a joy to mess with is the grand honor of witnessing the fall of humanity firsthand!" He paused, letting the army of mobs surrounding them cheer. The collection of wails and cries echoed around the citadel and spread throughout the desert before it wavered and died a few seconds later. Israphel glanced over his shoulder and back at Honeydew.

"Tell me, how does it feel to know that you have failed?"

"I don't know, we haven't failed just yet." Honeydew replied, his voice firm. The demon frowned and turned back around, clearly unamused.

"Just how thick-headed are you?" He deadpanned. Before the Dwarf could make a rebuttal, he continued on with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Nevermind. You'll be dead soon enough anyway."

Honeydew felt another round of boiling anger rise up in his brain, but he bit his tongue before he let out another vicious remark. True, the situation seemed hopeless, but the Dwarf was either going to win this war or die trying. Israphel appeared to be working with a schedule. Maybe he had just enough time to figure out some plan that would miraculously give them the upper hand. Honeydew knew he was currently grasping at straws, but he wouldn't give up, wouldn't surrender, at any costs.

Xephos, however, seemed to be a different story. While normally he would be the one to come up with quick fixes for any bad situation, he was clearly not in the condition to do so now. The poor man seemed to be detached from what was happening around him, too preoccupied with the inner chaos going on within his skull. He was certainly no help at all at the moment, and sadly Honeydew hadn't expected him to be. The Dwarf gave a mental sigh and returned his attention to Israphel. He had his back facing the pair of heroes again, having turned within the few seconds Honeydew had taken to ponder their current predicament.

"So let me guess, when the clock strikes zero on your little doomsday plan, we'll be first in line to experience it. Is that it?" He asked. Even though the fiend wasn't even facing them, he could still see another cold smirk across the demon's wan lips.

"I believe it would be easier if I just show you." He replied. He moved a hand from behind his back and snapped his fingers before he began forward. Before Honeydew could question his actions, a cold, rugged hand seized him by the back of his neck and hoisted him effortlessly off of the ground. Creeper_Boss had seized both heroes and was following his master obediently.

"Hey, let me go, you overgrown piece of-!"

The Dwarf stopped his shouting when he realized that his feet were no longer just above the brick floor. Honeydew looked down to see a bottomless pit he had somehow overlooked upon his initial scan of the area. It was located opposite of the balcony area somewhere behind him and appears to stretch downward for a few good miles. The smooth sandstone walls of the cavern almost seemed to glitter as they reflected a strange yellow-green light, but Honeydew was too panicked to take the time and locate the odd phenomenon's source. Somewhere above him, a few Mobs with higher intelligence were chanting "Drop them, drop them!" over and over again.

"Nevermind, don't let go, don't let go!" Honeydew begged, desperately scrambling to try and find a foothold again. Even Xephos noticed their current life-threatening situation and stared down the into the pit with horror. The Dwarf heard Israphel laugh at their misery somewhere off to his right. Soon he found himself gazing down into the cavern again, despite the fact that he didn't even want to think about falling. This time, however, he noticed something suspended in mid-air about thirty feet down.

Honeydew had never seen anything like it before. It was a sizeable, perfect greenish-blue square that incased a view similar to a starry night sky. Tiny twinkling sparks decorated the blackness within the confines of the strange floating square, occasionally blinking out only to appear elsewhere a moment later. However, the most interesting thing he could see was the structure's outer rim. Studding the top of the square were large, oval-shaped glass eyes. There were twelve in total, three on each side, and each one appeared to be identical. The pitch black pupils were narrowed into slits and encased within a light green iris. The intense, unblinking gaze of all twelve eyes together was almost menacing. These eyes also appeared to be what was casting the light upon the sandstone walls, which the Dwarf now noticed to be pulsating.

After dangling the two heroes over the pit for a good while, Israphel nodded to signal his pet something. Immediately Creeper_Boss moved the pair away and dropped them back onto the cold brick floor without a second thought. He gave a low hiss and shot the two another glare as he crept away to go rejoin Zombie_Boss, who now wore an amused smirk all his own. Israphel waited patiently for Xephos and Honeydew to sit up and regain their bearings. Finally, Honeydew spoke up again.

"What the hell was that thing!?" The Dwarf practically shouted the question. The demon only started to snicker again as he moved to pace around the two heroes. Calmly and eloquently, he began to explain. His long, gnarled fingers started to drum against one another, hands kept near his abdomen as he walked.

"That, dear friends, is an Ender Portal." Israphel answered. "It's the gateway to the Endermen's home dimension, a floating island lost deep within The Void."

"The Endermen's home dimension?" Honeydew echoed. "What do you want with that?"

"After my defeat a hundred years ago by the hands of the first Verigan Antioch, I realized that reviving The Sentinels was a futile effort. Even with The Sands hijacked and under my control, I still had to come up with a new plan." Israphel paused and stopped pacing to flash another sinister smirk. "Have you ever heard of The Legend of The Ender Dragon, Honeydew?"

"Um, not really." The Dwarf admitted, unable to keep himself from feeling a small twinge of embarrassment. Having spent most of his many years within his home city of Khaz Modan, he was still not familiar with every legend the other peoples of Minecraftia believed in. The Endermen, and by extension this dragon, was one legend he had yet to understand in great detail.

"Of course you haven't." Israphel didn't sound surprised at all. He switched the position of his hands to behind his back again, calmly striding back closer to the pit that housed The Ender Portal. "The Ender Dragon is said to be the mightiest Ender-being of all, and that it is the ruling tyrant of its homeworld. It is a ruthless beast, for it will destroy anyone who dares enter its realm that is not of Ender blood. Rumor has it that it possesses enough power to, say, wipe out the entire population of Minecraftia, if ever given a chance."

"So your master plan is to get this dragon to torch the world for you?" Honeydew asked with a raised brow. He couldn't help but give a small smirk at the demon. "That sounds impossible, even for you! Good luck sitting this thing down for tea to discuss world domination, you bastard."

"I'm afraid you didn't let me finish." Israphel went on, a devious smile plastered onto his ghostly white face. Honeydew caught a glimpse of yellowed, razor-sharp teeth. The Dark Lord tossed a casual glance down towards the portal. "The legend also says that there's a way to persuade the beast into helping someone, if certain...conditions were met."

The Dark Lord turned to face the pair of heroes again before he went on monologuing.

"Hypothetically, if one were to activate an Ender Portal during a rare astrological event, The Ender Dragon would be granted temporary access out of its world and into ours. And, hypothetically, if the dragon is offered a blood sacrifice during its visit, it would be bound to our dimension and thus able to stay, well, forever. And if I had to guess, that sure looks like a rare astrological event."

The fiend pointed a gaunt finger over the duo's heads and up towards the yellow-orange sky, and instantly Xephos and Honeydew swiveled their necks to follow. The sun was still low in the sky, but now another shape had come to join it. The Dwarf watched as the full moon crept ever and ever closer to the bright yellow orb, their edges almost overlapping with one another. In the next few minutes, there would be a solar eclipse.

Israphel smirked again, letting his words sink in. Honeydew had long since lost his own smirk, a look of terror now displaying itself upon his face. If the tyrannical Ender Dragon were to come to their world with the power it was said to have, well...game over.

Xephos suddenly broke out into a mad cackle as the Dwarf continued to stare at Israphel in a mix of shock, horror, and blinding anger. As the sudden explosion of laughter from the Spaceman's chest caused him to fall flat against the floor, Honeydew found himself shouting again.

"You're fucking insane!" He spat at Israphel over Xephos' laughing fit. The demon was unfazed.

"If you haven't noticed, your associate here seems to be as well." He retorted. Honeydew felt the beginnings of an enraged growl rumble in his throat as he tried to break his bonds a third time, watching as Israphel strolled over to Xephos and kneel beside the giggling madman. "In fact, I'd say he quite likes my idea."

"Get your grubby little hands away from him!" Honeydew shouted, but Israphel had already seized the other man by his chestnut-colored hair to yank him back up into a sitting position. Xephos made no protest, once again too lost in his delusions to properly care. The two heroes' eyes met, and Honeydew saw the red eyes and twisted smile he had grown so accustomed to in recent times. But just then, for a single moment, the Dwarf caught a glimpse of something he'd thought he'd never see again: his friend.

For a split second, the light in Xephos' eyes changed, and that moment provided Honeydew everything. In that fleeting moment, the wanton bloodlust in those crimson irises had been replaced with fear. Raw, genuine fear. The image of the Spaceman trapped helplessly within the binds of Israphel's heavy mental chains flashed through the Dwarf's mind, and he realized what it all meant. His friend was teetering dangerously at the point of no return, and was almost ready to topple over and discard what little remnants of sanity he had left. In a last-ditch effort, Xephos was desperately calling out for help before he lost himself entirely.

"Quite the proper nutcase we have here." Israphel broke in, causing Honeydew's attention to return to the matter at hand. Xephos had reverted back into a giggling mess, with Israphel waving him around like some sort of marionette. "Personally, I like him this way. Much more suitable than the goody-two-shoes grump he used to be. Don't you agree?"

With that, The Dark Lord released his grip on the Spaceman's hair and stood straight, looking up to check the eclipse again. The sun and moon were almost a quarter-way overlapped, and the sky was beginning to grow dark. Suddenly, it seemed that Israphel had hatched another quick scheme, for he wore another devilish grin that displayed his yellowed fangs momentarily. He calmed his features and looked to Zombie_Boss before motioning for him to step closer. The undead did so without question. Israphel took Xephos' sword and unsheathed it, handing the sheath back to Zombie_Boss as he gazed deeply into the diamond blade. Then he glanced at Honeydew, but his face revealed nothing.

"Remember how I promised you a front row seat to the end of the world?" He asked. "Well, I lied." The Dark Lord snapped his fingers again, but this time the magical chains pinning Xephos' hands behind his back dispersed into wisps of purple mist. The Spaceman stared down at his palms, curious about his newfound freedom before Israphel offered him the sword.

"Go on, kill him."

"Wait, what?!" Honeydew's eyes went wide again as he watched Xephos consider the offer. Soon enough another sick smile clawed onto his face again, and his eyes fell upon the Dwarf with murderous intent. As he took the diamond blade and stood up on stiff legs, Israphel's army began to cheer and chant again, watching the spectacle like it was some form of sporting event. The Dark Lord turned to address his loyal subjects.

"Consider this the opening act!" He called. He let out another sinister laugh immediately afterwards.

Honeydew instinctively tried to back away from the madman as he approached, but the lack of his arms made the task quite difficult. The Spaceman's dark red eyes bore down on him menacingly, and he twirled his weapon over and over in his hand anxiously as he approached. But the Dwarf knew his friend was still in there somewhere, struggling to drive off Israphel's oppressive snares with the little willpower he could still muster up. It was worth a shot.

"Xephos, listen to me." Honeydew began. "I know you're in there somewhere. I saw you just a minute ago. I just hope you can still hear me..."

The Spaceman showed no signs of hearing a word the Dwarf had just said. Out of the corner of his eye, Honeydew saw Creeper_Boss take a step forward to intervene, but Israphel raised a hand to stop him. The demon's red eyes watched the pair closely, flickering with a mix of amusement and intrigue. Honeydew kept on trying to appeal to his old friend again.

"C'mon man, snap out of it! You're really going to let Israphel win? After all the shit you've put up with? Get out here and teach that bastard a proper- ack!"

Xephos had cut the Dwarf off by side-swiping his jaw with a swift kick. As soon as Honeydew fell back against the cold brick floor, the madman's shoe was pressing down hard against his throat. The Dwarf gagged and choked, finding himself in quite the uncomfortable position with his arms sandwiched between his back and the ground. The Spaceman's eyes were gleaming with bloodlust again as he raised his sword to deal the final blow.

"Blood can undo..." He began, but he trailed off into another low snicker, most likely finishing the statement in his head. Squirming as much as he could to enable himself to keep speaking, Honeydew gave it one last try.

"Please, Xeph!" He managed to get out. He coughed, and the rest his words drawled out slowly, struggling to be heard under the other man's sharp heel. "You're b-better than this...If you don't do it for me...d-do it for Minecraftia! For Daisy! ...D...Do it for KP!"

Xephos was just about to ram the diamond blade through the other man's skull when he hesitated, stopping his arm just as he began to bring it down. The crowd of Mobs around them still chanted and cheered, urging him to just get the deed over with already. But Honeydew saw that his words had struck a chord somewhere, for the Spaceman remained still. The arm holding the blade began to tremble, and its wielder barred his teeth as he squinted his eyes shut, clearly dealing with some sort of internal struggle. Finally, after a few long, stressful seconds, the pressure against Honeydew's throat released, and Xephos threw his sword away violently, letting it clatter noisily across the floor. The Dwarf looked at him in amazement as the crowd began to boo angrily.

"Xeph?" Honeydew asked. The man standing above him took a moment to steady his rapid breathing before he opened his eyes. A pair of blue irises greeted him along with a friendly smile.

"Hey, pal." Xephos greeted. "Sorry for leaving you for a while."

Honeydew was practically beaming as his friend stepped back to let him sit up again. Xephos held his warm smile for another moment before his expression hardened, and the man turned to face Israphel and his two lackeys.

"I'm done with your mind games, Israphel!" He shouted firmly. While the two Bosses glared at him with absolute animosity, the Dark Lord himself only wore a slight frown. Besides that, he was completely stone-faced as the Spaceman continued. "I'm not your little puppet anymore! From now on, your tricks are useless against me! Shove off!"

"Seize him." Israphel immediately ordered. Almost instantly Creeper_Boss was on top of Xephos, possessing surprising speed for a creature of his size. The overgrown Mob gave a threatening hiss as he swooped the man up by his neck. Honeydew watched as the overgrown creeper carried the thrashing Spaceman back over to his master, holding him as still as he could. Once Xephos was close, Israphel could only shake his head at him.

"Oh Xephos, what a disappointment this turned out to be. And we had come so far, too!" He said. The Spaceman only glared as the demon reached into the inner breast pocket of his robe. Israphel proceeded to pull out a small vial filled with an odd-looking red liquid. "Well, no worries. With another dose of this, you'll be back out of your mind in no time!" He grew a sinister smirk again. "And this time, there's no coming back."

Xephos' eyes widened at this, and he began to struggle even more as Israphel uncorked the small vial. At this point in time Honeydew stopped spectating and started to act fast. While his friend still made it difficult for Creeper_Boss to keep him from squirming, the Dwarf did his best to try and get to his feet without the use of his arms. After some time adjusting and readjusting, Honeydew had worked himself into a kneeling position from which he could easily spring to his feet. By now Creeper_Boss had grabbed Xephos in a way that kept him still, and Israphel was reaching up to force the Spaceman to ingest the strange potion. Instantly the Dwarf bolted forward into a charge, practically tackling the Dark Lord when he least expected it. As the two fell, the vial of red liquid spun in the air a few feet before it hit the hard brick floor a second or two later. After a loud crack, the glass shattered in multiple places, allowing the vial's contents to trickle out into the gaps of the brick floor.

As Honeydew sat back up, he felt his magical bonds suddenly disappear behind him, finally allowing the use of his hands again. He figured that knocking Israphel off of his feet had broken the demon's concentration on keeping the spell in place. That, or magic was just really, really hard to understand. He quickly climbed to his feet again and bolted a second time while Israphel began to recover as well. The pale-faced demon caught a glimpse of the broken vial before he sent a wrathful glare after the Dwarf.

"You fool!" He shouted, pounding a tight fist against the ground. Meanwhile, Creeper_Boss had become distracted by the fact that his master had been harmed, giving Xephos a window of opportunity. While the gigantic Mob was not paying attention, he swung both his legs back into the creature's gut. The massive creeper gave a pained hiss and dropped the Spaceman out of reflex. Xephos landed on his feet and wasted no time in getting away before Creeper_Boss recovered and tried to snatch him up again. He found Honeydew in the process of dealing with Zombie_Boss some ways away. Even though he had already procured the Spaceman's diamond sword back off of the floor, the Dwarf clocked the zombie with a powerful clout to the side of the head, sending him straight to the ground. He then bent down and ripped his pickaxe from the stunned undead's belt, offering Xephos his sword afterwards.

"You'll probably be needing this." He said. The Spaceman flashed him a quick smile of thanks before the pair turned back towards Israphel. The demon was far from happy now, and his intense red eyes seemed to glow with his fury.

"You WORTHLESS TWITS!" He shouted. The glow of his eyes grew and intensified for a moment as his hands curled into fists. Israphel looked as though he was about to say something more when the sky above suddenly darkened significantly. Everyone turned their heads to see a single black sphere where the sun and the moon used to be. An orange halo burned passionately behind the dark circle in the sky, providing the only natural light across the world. The solar eclipse was upon them.

Seconds later, something erupted from the chasm that housed the Ender Portal with enough force to shake the entire citadel. Xephos and Honeydew watched as a purplish-black vortex rose up out of the pit, swirling and convulsing like a large tornado. The force of its presence was like a powerful gale, causing the pair of heroes to shield their faces as articles of clothing flapped and floundered about in the strange wind. A mighty roar of a great beast rang out somewhere, but it sounded worlds away. The duo shifted their eyes back onto Israphel again. By now the demon had calmed himself a great deal, and he let another malicious smirk grace his face.

"I fear it's too late for you!" He laughed at the two heroes. Israphel looked to one of the hordes of zombies lining the walls nearby. "Bring me the girl."

The group of undead nodded, and they moved to open a door their collective mass had previously blocked out. Behind it stood Daisy_Duke, her face clean of any dirt and wearing a plain white knee-length dress. She squirmed and struggled to escape the firm grasp of her two hulking zombie escorts as they brought her forward, noticing the chaos around her but too set on trying to escape to react to it.

"Unhand me, you filthy brutes! Give me a chance and I'll- Xephos! Honeydew!"

She paused to send the two heroes a smile, but it quickly faded as her two escorts brought her closer to Israphel and the swirling vortex coming from the Ender Portal. The force of the vortex's initial eruption had subsided, but its massive presence still made itself known. Somewhere the beast roared again, slightly closer this time.

"Daisy!" Honeydew called back. The Dwarf armed himself and began to run to the woman's aid before a horde of well-armed Mobs filled the gap between the two. The heroes looked around to find themselves suddenly surrounded, and the ring of ghouls only continued to grow bigger and bigger. Xephos and Honeydew found themselves back to back again, watching the multiple Mobs carefully.

"The situation is turning for the worse, if you ask me!" The Spaceman called over his shoulder.

"We have to get to Daisy!" Honeydew insisted.

"And how do you suppose we're going to do that?"

All of a sudden, a new voice rang out somewhere above, causing the duo a large amount of confusion.

"FIRE!"

Immediately after the strange shout was the rumble of a cannon firing, and seconds after that, a large cannonball struck somewhere within the mass of Mobs surrounding the pair. Bones, zombie limbs, and bricks alike were all scattered in every which way, causing that part of the horde to dissolve and separate. Both Xephos and Honeydew turned their attention to where the strange cannonball had come from.

"Holy shit...is that Skyhold?!" Xephos cried out in disbelief.

The Spaceman proved to be correct. Just finishing coming around Israphel's fortress was the large, floating shape of Skyhold. It looked almost identical to what Xephos remembered it to be, save for the fact that the machinery along the city's underside that kept the place aloft was visibly working harder to produce more power. As the floating fortress grew closer, the two heroes were able to recognize some faces atop Skyhold's high sandstone walls. Skylord_Lysander, now possessing a few more stripes on his uniform, was currently congratulating what appeared to be a rookie Skylord that was manning the turret. Next to him was Isabel and Tinman, and Angus_Eyeless could be seen getting situated in another turret down the wall a ways. Elsewhere Skylord_Jasper and Moira_Magmabloom were barking orders at both pirates and new recruits alike. The Carnivale del Banjo trio hustled past with armfuls of supplies, and the mysterious Um_Bongo lagged a few seconds behind them. The two wizard brothers, Swampy and Fumblemore, were side by side as they fired magical blasts down into the fray, and young Webley Grizwald seemed to be studying some battle plans with Shiplord_Hubert nearby. Xephos and Honeydew watched the army surrounding them crumble away, unable to defend themselves from the airborne assault.

"Oh my Notch, it's a miracle!" Honeydew said through a hearty laugh. "We might actually have a chance at this yet!"

The sudden appearance of Skyhold had given Israphel's army a good scare, for most Mobs had retreated for the time being. Lysander called something to Isabel and Tinman before they hurried off out of sight. Shortly afterwards, Skyhold began to throw down ropes so that they could get some troops on the ground. Isabel and Lysander were two of the first to grapple down, also accompanied by old Spacker_LeChuck now. Xephos and Honeydew ran up to them as their feet reached the brick. Honeydew took both Spacker and Isabel up in a quick bear hug as Xephos and Lysander both gave the other man a salute.

"How'd you find us all the way out here?" Xephos asked, still amazed. More foot soldiers, again a mix of pirates and Skylord recruits, were reaching the ground as Lysander gave his explanation.

"While going around recruiting some new members for the Skylord ranks, I managed to stumble across a few allies. After Templar_Adaephon contracted us to help protect Verigan's Hold, the radar picked up a strange reading that led us all the way out here." The new Head Skylord replied. By now Honeydew had released Isabel and Spacker from his bone-crushing embrace and turned serious again. He turned to Isabel, looking a tad embarrassed again.

"Uh, just a head's up. After we kick Israphel's ass, I've got some bad news about your brother."

"Oh, no worries." Isabel replied easily, crossing her arms over her chest. Her odd reaction left the Dwarf confused for a moment, and she wore the faintest of knowing smirks. "He told me all about it on the way here."

This caused both Xephos and Honeydew to look at her strange.

"Wait, what?!"

Before Isabel could explain, the sound of someone dropping down from one of the ropes from Skyhold came from just behind the pair of heroes, causing them to turn and see who it was. There, in the flesh, was none other than Knight_Peculier. He stood tall and confident, alive and well, in a set of brand new Templar Knight armor. His limbs were protected by chainmail sleeves and leggings, and his beige-colored tunic had a red Templar Cross emblazoned proudly on the front. The knight looked at the two heroes with a friendly smile as he removed his family sword from its sheath.

"Sorry I'm late, heroes." He said, his voice still containing that familiar Scottish-sounding croak to it. Xephos and Honeydew were once again in disbelief.

"I- we- but you- The Sentinels- you fell!" The Spaceman struggled to form words. "Just...how?!"

Despite his bad fall back within The Sentinels, Peculier still looked surprisingly well. The only sign that his plunge into the strange green magma even happened was that parts of his eyebrows were singed clean off. However, most of his body was hidden under a combination of chainmail and steel plating. The man could have worse injuries for all they knew.

"It's a long story," The knight replied. "But remember Enoch's note about The Sentinel's blood, how he touched it without gloves? Turns out it only corrodes certain metal, not flesh!"

The heroes shared a look and were about to question Peculier further when a sudden flash and a large explosion brought everyone's attention back to the battlefield. A large green fireball had struck the ground just before the group's feet, sending an unsuspecting Honeydew to the ground. As the biting flames died away a few seconds later, almost everyone within the attack force looked over to see Israphel dismiss another spell from his hand, the two Bosses flanking him on either side. His red eyes were filled with both rage and disgust as he studied those who dared to defy him. Daisy was still being held by her two hulking escorts and was watching the scene unfold with a careful eye. Everyone reached for their weapons and readied themselves, and the archers present took aim for the demon's head. In an instant Israphel was calm again, snickering at the small army before him. The vortex had started to swirl around faster now, and the strange animalistic roar had almost reached them.

"Well, this was quite the lovely little reunion, wasn't it?" The Dark Lord spoke in a mocking tone. "It's a shame it isn't going to last. You may have beaten certain death once, Antioch," He spat the name as he pointed another bony finger at Peculier. "but I assure you that you won't be so fortunate again."

The loudest roar so far caused Israphel to shoot a glance back at the vortex, and shortly afterwards powerful wingbeats could be heard approaching. He smirked and faced the army from Skyhold again.

"Well, it's been fun, but now I'm afraid you're all going to die."

As soon as he finished, the spinning vortex was spilt apart by a pair of massive batlike wings unfurling from within. It dispersed into black wisps of Ender-essence and star-like shimmers, revealing the rest of the owner of the wings. Bright purple eyes flashed as The Ender Dragon roared with enough force to shake the entire citadel, causing both Mobs and Minecraftians to quake in their boots at the horrid sound. The creature's shimmering scales were as black as obsidian, and probably just as hard, too. The skin of its wings and the scales of its underbelly were a matching shade of purple, and a pair of gnarled black horns protruded from the top of its skull. The Ender Dragon folded its wings and roosted on the edge of the pit it had emerged from, digging its sharpened claws into the brick as its spiked tail flicked back and forth behind it. The gigantic beast's presence left everyone silent, even those up in Skyhold or within Israphel's fortress. The only sound to be heard was a low rumbling from the dragon's throat as it surveyed the crowd, acidic purple saliva dripping from its partly-opened jaws and sizzling once it came into contact with the ground.

"We have to fight that thing?" Honeydew whispered to Xephos finally. The Spaceman only gave a slight nod, not taking his eyes off of the large monstrosity before him. Only Israphel wasn't afraid. He smiled and gave a courteous bow before he motioned for Daisy's escorts to present her as an offering. The two zombies hastily shoved her in front of the Ender Dragon before moving to block her possible escape routes.

"I hope you find her blood delicious." The Dark Lord said with a smug smile. The massive dragon took notice to the woman instantly, and it further opened its jaws with a slight hiss. The blonde shielded her face and waited for the inevitable.

"Daisy!" Peculier cried, reaching a gloved hand towards her helplessly. That was then Lysander took action.

"Archers!" Lysander ordered, pointing ahead with his blade. The archers fired on command, and a flurry of arrows went flying towards The Ender Dragon. Most bounced harmlessly off of the dragon's thick hide, but those that stuck provided enough of a distraction. Angered, the mighty dragon roared again, upset that it had been interrupted right before it could enjoy its snack. Thankfully, Daisy used the moment of confusion to turn and deck one of her escorts, sending the zombie to its knees as she ran past.

"Don't just stand there! Grab her!" Israphel ordered both Creeper_Boss and Zombie_Boss beside him. The two Bosses shared a wide-eyed look before rushing after the blonde, knowing that they would pay dearly if they failed to apprehend her. With its wrath incurred, The Ender Dragon roared and took to the sky again, scorching Skyhold with a spout of purple fire as it passed overhead. The Dark Lord turned to address the rest of his army. Most Mobs still cowered as far away from the fray as they could get.

"As for the rest you, attack!"

Not willing to disobey their master, the army of Mobs began to amass again. Most merged to form a barrier between Israphel and the Skyhold while those up in the fortress moved to man turrets and catapults of their own. Even Israphel summoned his own sword. The blade was long and wide like a broadsword, yet small enough to be wielded in one hand. Both sides ready themselves for the inevitable clash.

"Waiting on you, Lysander sir!" Spacker called, currently wielding a dual pair of Dwarven battleaxes. The solar eclipse was still hanging in the black sky behind them, and far from ending. Xephos and Honeydew shared one last look and nodded in some form of unspoken agreement before they returned their attention forward. Skylord_Lysander readied his own blade, pointing it forward like a guiding arrow again.

"Company, CHARGE!"