Author's Notes
I can be crueler than you might think. :)
My sincerest thanks to everyone for your amazing support! I probably wouldn't be writing this without it. :D
Anywho, enough beating around the bush! Let's get on with the story!
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Eba's POV
There was nothing I could do. I was kept in place by horror as I watched Thomas jump down into the magma below, chasing after Sarah. He's going to kill himself for her!
Then I saw a dark orb fly from his hand towards the other end of the ravine. An ender pearl. Odd relief surged through me. He's not gonna kill himself, he's gonna save her!
Within an instant, purple dust appeared on the other outcrop, as well as Thomas and a badly burnt Sarah. Thomas turned to me, his face twisted in agony.
"Eba! Get us out of here, now!"
"B-but the obsidian-"
"Now, Eba! Sarah needs help now!"
I nodded and dropped the bag of obsidian. Creepers were still exploding, and large boulders fell from the ceiling. I warped beside Thomas and embraced him and Sarah. The wounded girl whined at my touch, and it frightened me to see her so vulnerable.
For an instant, we were sailing through the void, and the next, we were home. Thomas had burns on his hands and legs, but Sarah had been roasted. The sight made me feel squeamish, and I looked away. Thomas breathed deeply and screamed.
"Iza! Simon! Help!"
Iza was outside chatting with Lila, and she turned around upon hearing the urgency in Thomas's voice. Simon poked his head out from the storage shed and dashed towards us with a grimace. Iza ran inside and came back out with two spools of bandages.
Simon was already treating Sarah's burns while Lila bandaged Thomas's. Simon turned and called for Adrian.
"Adrian! Help me get these two into the med-bay!"
The large warrior nodded and ran forwards as Simon tried to get Sarah to stand. Her burnt legs buckled beneath her, but Thomas caught the girl before she could hit the ground. Thomas gingerly stood up, swaying as he went.
Adrian arrived and helped them. Thomas had somehow managed to pick Sarah up in his arms, and carried her to the house with the help of Simon and Adrian with Iza tailing the four of them.
I stood in the grass and watched helplessly as my best friends were carried inside.
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Simon's POV
I placed my hands on Sarah's more damaging burns first, the ones on her calves and back. However, when the burns were removed, I noticed that more damage had been done. There was a bloody mess of damaged tissue beneath every burn.
Iza skillfully wrapped every injury once I had healed the burns. I moved onto Thomas after every single one of Sarah's injuries were treated. He looked aware enough, a grimace of pain adorning his solemn face. I treated his legs and forearms, and checked him over to see if there was any more injuries. I found none.
Thomas blacked out for a few minutes from the pain. Sarah had been unconscious even before we brought her inside. When Thomas woke up, the first thing he did was scan the room frantically, looking for her.
"Wh-where is... Sarah? Is she okay?" I put my hand on his shoulder and pointed to the bed where Iza was treating her.
"She's Fine, Thomas. She'll be okay." I wasn't as sure about that as I sounded. The wounds Sarah had suffered were beyond severe, and possibly fatal. Thomas awkwardly stood up and limped towards her, sitting down on the bed and holding her.
Iza turned to me, and I gestured for her to keep calm. He would never do anything that could potentially hurt her even more. Thomas got more comfortable and laid Sarah's unmoving shape to his chest, holding her close and being careful not to hurt her. Tears were running down his cheeks from his tightly closed eyes.
Adrian waited at the doorway with his arms crossed, looking just as wounded as everyone. I felt loss hang heavy around my heart, and I bottled it up along with my other emoons. I waved my hand and the three of us left room. There was, after all, nothing more we could do.
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Sarah's POV
For a few seconds, all I felt was blinding pain coursing through me. Then nothing. All I saw was an eternal void, and all I felt was a dreadful sense of loss. Occasionally, I would be able to open my eyes, and then I'd just fade back to nothingness.
But there was one thing that remained constant every single time I woke. Two beautiful hazel eyes with a rim of gold within their irises, filled with loving devotion, always there, and always holding me close. I kept slipping into and out of consciousness.
But he never let go.
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Theridas's POV
I walked through the hallways of the fortress, searching for lady Anastasia's room. The guards made no sound except for the metallic clacking of their footsteps. Once there, I knocked on the stone door and entered. I was greeted with the frightened and disbelieving gaze of the former queen.
"Theridas? What is the meaning of this?"
"I-I'm terribly sorry, madame, b-but the new King of the nether realm requests your appearance. I-I need you to come with me, please." She stared at me through narrowed eyes.
"And if I don't?" I bowed my head.
"P-please, lady Anastasia, for your safety and mine. Not to mention that of the other residents in the nether fortress."
After a while, she nodded, and I led her back to Darkness. Once there, I noticed something. There was now a royal guard standing around him, composed of four warriors similar to the ones he sent me with, but bearing bejeweled armor and double-bladed swords.
"Ah, ex-queen Anastasia! What a pleasure to formally meet you." The king smiled, his void-black eyes almost glowing. The queen stood with her head high.
"What do you want, Darkness?" The demon chuckled.
"I need something from you, Anastasia. Some things." He stood and slowly walked towards the former queen, holding his hand out to touch her cheek. Then he trailed it down to rest at her neck.
"Hm. Interesting. Tell me, Anastasia, did the king love you?" Anger flared in the queen's eyes.
"Just as much as I loved him." The demon removed his hand and pushed it into his pockets.
"Really? Because I believed that when a blaze king married his partner, they received a little trinket. Something like... this?" He pulled a magma-pearl necklace from his pocket, showing it off to lady Anastasia. She betrayed no emotion. Darkness continued talking.
"Does this ring a bell, Anastasia? Did the king grant you one of these?" She stared straight at him, her hard gaze never wavering.
"You are wrong, Darkness. We loved each other, but he never gave me such thing."
The demon smiled. But his black eyes held no humor.
"Lies."
The guards pushed lady Anastasia to the ground with their spears, and she lay there on her knees looking up at the demon with raw hatred. Darkness chuckled and spoke again.
"Were is your daughter, Anastasia? I do believe you and the king had one, yes?"
"You'll never find her."
"I won't. But they will." He gestured to his royal guard, a wicked smile blooming on his face. "They won't hesitate to kill her, and bring back what belongs to me." The former queen lunged at the demon, but the guards held her back with their spears.
"If you dare lay one hand on my daughter-"
The demon reached back with one hand and slapped lady Anastasia hard across the face. I let out a breathless gasp. The former queen slowly turned back to face Darkness, a thin trail of blood oozing down to her chin from her bottom lip.
"Take her to the slammer, boys! And bring back my necklace." With that, Darkness turned around and sat back onto his throne. The guards grabbed lady Anastasia by the arms and led her away. The royal guards walked behind them until they turned a corner towards the fortress exit.
I stood there, unable to move. Then Darkness sighed, and I turned around to face him.
"M-my liegé, do... do you need anything? From me?" He stared at me with emotionless black eyes.
"As a matter of fact, Theridas, I do." He took out the magma-pearl necklace again and broke off the stone from the golden chain. He handed it to me. "Take this to the castle blacksmith. There is one, right?" I nodded.
"Y-yes, my lord."
"Good. Have him forge it onto my sword." A black flame appeared on his open palm. After an instant, it began to change, and morphed into the shape of a black long- sword. "When my royal guards return with the other Magma-pearl, have him attach it to the other side. If he refuses, tell me, and I'll send someone over to... convince him."
I nodded and took his sword by the hilt. It felt unnaturally warm. "I-I'll have it done right away, my lord." He sat back onto the throne and looked at the roof of the massive cavern where the fortress sat.
"See to it that you do, Theridas." I nodded, and walked hurriedly away.
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Kaitlin's POV
I lay in that little hole carved into the netherrack walls, hungry and miserable, waiting for the voice in my head to return. I fell asleep shortly after the last time we spoke, and had just woken up. Ugh... come on... I need to get moving.
I crawled out and stood up. Looking around, I noticed an alarming lack of nether-mobs. When I first found this little haven, they were everywhere. What happened?
I wandered n the direction of the nether portal, my bare feet making almost no sound against the rugged netherrack. It didn't hurt as much as it would seem since I had gotten used to walking barefoot, much to my mother's displeasure. The thought brought me back to the most recent events, and fresh tears fell down my cheeks.
I walked for what seemed like hours until I finally reached the cave where the nether portal was sighted. There was an eerie stillness in the hot air, and it didn't help that I hadn't seen a single mob on my way here.
I stepped closer and peeked around a bend in the tunnel leading to the cave. The nether portal remained dead and unlit. I sat down on the gravely floor. There was nothing to do but wait. After a couple minutes, I began hearing heavy footsteps.
I peeked outside, curious. There was nothing there, not even a rouge Magma Cube. But i still heard those footsteps, and they were getting closer. I looked around but there was still no sign of life. Then I saw a single mob appear around a netherrack pillar.
It was a zombie pigman, I think. He was wearing metal armor with gems encrusted on it's helmet and chest plate, and he had a double-bladed long sword in it's peculiar sheath.. I hid back behind the bend of the cave's entrance tunnel.
I listened from here as the monster wandered, seemingly lost. Then the footsteps ceased. The portal remained unlit. I poked my head out again, but the pigman was gone. Then I heard the alarming sound of a blade being drawn.
I turned around to find the monster behind me, sword arched behind his back, ready to swing down and pierce me. Before he could strike, I rolled out of the way. The pigman pulled his sword from the gravel and turned to face me again. I stood up and felt a strong hand holding me in place by the shoulder.
I craned my head to look behind me and found another pigman warrior about to stab me from behind. I spun out of his grasp in the nick of time, feeling as the blade grazed my bare back. I heard a third set of footsteps and realized that the pigman warriors had me surrounded.
They pushed me back and away from the nether portal cave. I felt fear and anger rush through me. The necklace my mother had given me began to hum and shine lightly. Like every blaze in the nether, I was able to conjure small fireballs in self defense or as a means of demolition. But when I summoned one, it felt hotter, and looked brighter.
The pigmen did not seem fazed in the least, and kept walking decidedly towards me. I summoned another fireball, this time on my left hand, and held my ground.
"Stay back! I'm warning you!"
The pigmen did not react to my threat and took another step forwards. The fireballs in my hands were diminishing in size, but I felt how the energy within them kept rising. I took a step back and held on to the flames, now the size of small apples. The light they gave off was blinding.
"You asked for it, then!"
I reached back with my right hand and threw the fireball as hard as I could. It exploded open making contact with the first pigman, throwing him away and melting half of it's armor. I began to summon a third as I threw the second, which caused the last pigman to erupt in flames, sending him back and onto the floor.
The final pigman dashed forwards with his blade trailing behind me. I didn't have time to 'charge' my fireball, and threw it at his feet instead. The pigman lost his balance and fell hard on the ground.
I was breathing heavily and felt tired. The pigmen carefully began to stand up, and I took the opportunity to dash into the nether portal cave. The obsidian frame remained unlit.
Lords dammit, Thomas. Where are you?
I listened as the pigmen began to slowly walk into the tunnel entrance, and summoned two more fireballs. This drained every last shred of energy I had, but I held my ground. Like my father, this would be my last stand, and I'd give it everything I've got.
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Author's Notes
There! I have finished the chapter!
How did it go? Was it any good?
Once again, I want to thank everyone for all your wonderful support! Honestly ThinMint, I rather like when people ramble on about my story. Makes me feel important :P
Aywho, thank you all for your time and support! Have an awesome day!
~ LeMafiaKreb