Author's Notes

I really wanted to write out the 'action scene', so I got to work on this chapter right away. Y'know, cuz excitement. :D Just a heads up, this is two days after the last chapter. Reviews!

Also, I'm so so sorry to not have thanked Ghost2238 for favoriting and following my story! Thank you so much!

ThinMint, I'm glad I was successful with Ella's character! Thank you so much for the praise!

And now, onto the story!

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Third Person Perspective; monster assault group.

The forest was still. The critters that lived in the underbrush were silent. A single skeleton broke through a large thorn bush, scattering the wildlife in every direction. The monster's bones clacked together, and more skeletons followed.

Behind them were rows upon rows of monsters, skeletons, creepers, husks, and spiders. They tore up the gentle forests wherever they roamed, searching for their destination. A sharp cry rang out far above the canopy of the evergreen trees.

The lead skeleton looked up. Two phantoms swooped down, landing effortlessly on the branches of an oak tree. The skeleton reached out to one, which had a small roll of paper strapped to it's leg. It plucked the letter off the phantom and read it.

Send this phantom back once you've received this letter. The other one is for you to send me a letter confirming your understanding and success in reaching the valley.

The skeleton turned to a husk that stood beside it. The zombie groaned, and the skeleton nodded. They both turned to a spider which was currently nibbling some grass. The spider hissed at them. The three monsters nodded.

A creeper walked up to the group and hissed. Now all four monsters nodded. The lead skeleton broke a branch off a tree and stabbed the husk with it, coating the tip in dark blood. It turned the piece of paper over and wrote.

Guhhh grah eurgh hohh

Once the skeleton was satisfied, it rolled the paper back up and tucked it in the little pouch on the phantom's leg. It chirped and took off towards Darkness's troops. The skeleton groaned and the rest of the assault force moved on.

Out of the 800 monsters there, none of them noticed the large green shape staring curiously at them from a mountain that surrounded the valley.

It hissed to itself, trying to soothe it's own bloodlust. If it had a mind of it's own, and enough mental capacity to think, the only thing going through it's head would be;

Soon... soon... soon...

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Simon's POV

We had finished our second airship! And made a few modifications to the Auikyani. It now had a front-facing cannon and two Gatling bows mounted on it's deck. These were the improved versions. The airship could also carry more people now.

Thomas and I couldn't come up with anything to name the new airship, so we wrote Mark II on the side of it's hull. This one had two cannons, one on either side, and three Gatling bows mounted on it's deck. It was also slower than the Auikyani.

Iza and I were pretty much back to where we had been before that overdramatic and frankly quite stupid argument thing. You know, snuggling, little kisses, feeling safe and comfortable in each other's presence, some slime... unintentionally of course.

Z was sitting on my lap as I worked on a little gizmo I had been meaning to finish much sooner. It was a trio of metal tulips that sprung from a small box. A gift for her.

The slime girl was resting her head against my shoulder as she watched me work. I loved the way she smelled. Very fresh. Like flowers, but... not exactly that way. My goggles were hanging around her neck. Under the bright sun, my eyes itched, but here in the shade I didn't need them.

"How do you do that?"

I looked up from the contraption. "Do what?"

"Make So many complex devices. How do you do it?"

I shrugged. "With my hands. And my head. Inspiration helps too. But mostly you."

She blinked. "Me?"

I smiled at her. "Yes. You are my muse. The reason I make things. Like this box."

I placed the final plate where it belonged and pushed a button. The box turned, as planned, into three little silver tulips. Izabell gasped.

"That's amazing! It's so pretty."

I handed her the box. "For you, Z."

She gazed at it in wonder, turning the metal flowers over in her hand. She pushed the button and it folded back into a box. She placed it on the ground beside the root we were sitting on and gave me a big hug.

"Thank you, Simon."

"Youre welcome, Z."

She smiled and rubbed her cheek against my neck like a cat. I stared at the plains happily. Ara was playing with Nightshade next to Valory. Lila was with Adrian (no surprise there), Kaitlin was hanging out with Thomas and Sarah. Eba was just lying on the grass.

Jack had been trying to get to Lila for quite a while, but the cave spider was uninterested. Or at least unaware of what the stray felt like towards her. It's kinda hard to tell with Lila. Right now, the stray was performing target practice elsewhere.

I realized after a few hours that Iza had fallen asleep on top of me. My thoughts and Ideas had kept me busy until then. I shook her gently, trying to wake her up. She opened her eye a crack and gazed sleepily at me.

"What is it?"

I smiled. "We should go home. It'll be dark in a couple hours."

She stretched lazily. "In a couple hours... I have until then to nap on top of you."

I chuckled. "Yeah, but then you won't be able to sleep on top of me. I won't let you."

She frowned. "Aw, why..."

My smile widened. "One or the other, Z. Your choice."

She groaned. "Fine. I'd rather sleep with you."

I slowly began pushing her off. "Come on, then."

We walked slowly towards the house. I heard some rustling behind me, and turned around. A single rabbit dashed past us, out from the underbrush. I stared at the forest, suddenly feeling on edge. Gently, I pushed Iza behind me.

Nothing else occurred. I let go of a deep breath and began walking back towards the house.

An arrow wizzed past my head, barely missing it by less than an inch.

In the blink of an eye, I drew a knife kept in the waistband of my pants and threw it in the direction the arrow came from. I heard a rattle of bones from the forest and began dashing towards home, practically dragging Iza behind me.

She had a hard time keeping up. "What was that?"

"Monsters in the woods! Come on!"

I cupped my mouth with my free hand and shouted at Thomas. "Thomas! There's monsters in the forest! I need my shit! Some help would be nice!"

The guy nodded and turned to look in the direction Z and I came from. His eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. "Uh... yeah, some help would be really nice..."

Confused, I looked behind me. There was way more than a few monsters. A skeleton was shambling behind us, my knife stuck in it's skull. There were more than a hundred monsters behind it; skeletons, spiders, husks, and creepers.

I let go of Iza once we reached the house. I dashed into the storage shed and picked up my gear. I would need to make some more explosives soon, since I only had thirteen left.

I pulled on my demo-belt, the sheathes for my shortswords, and the weapons themselves. Then I rushed back out.

The monsters had stopped perhaps 100 yards from us. Everyone had their weapons out, except for Z. I handed her one of my own shortswords. The lead skeleton looked around. Thomas stepped up, wielding a broadsword I had made for him.

"Um... hello. We don't appreciate you trying to murder our friend. So, if you could please get the fuck out of our valley, that'd be great."

The skeleton turned first to a husk and then to a creeper beside him. I could only understand the creeper.

This is valley. This is house.

Groan. Rattle.

Destroy the valley, he said. Explode the house, he said.

Grooooan.

Kill the brother, he said. Kill the friends, he said.

Rattle.

Yesss

The skeleton drew his bow and nocked an arrow into it. Sarah fired an arrow before it even finished pulling the string back. The arrow went right through the skeleton's skull, shattering the frail bone. The rest of the monsters let go of a terrifying battle cry.

I dashed forwards, a stick of dynamite in one gloved hand, the other ready to snap and light the fuse. A husk tried to cut me down with it's sword, and I stuffed the explosive into it's mouth after lighting it. I ran back towards my friends.

Only Sarah and Jack were attacking, the rest of the gang waiting for the monsters to get close. I heard the resonating boom of my dynamite exploding. Kaitlin looked terrified, but she stood her ground. Eba and Blight were beside her.

I felt an arrow dig into my shoulder, but ignored the pain. I drew my shortsword and made a u-turn back towards the oncoming horde. More monsters streamed from the forest, but I didn't turn back.

I swung in an arc, beheading undeads and cutting down spiders. The creepers suddenly looked doubtful of their plan, and were slowly walking backwards. There were too many spiders, and they all tried to jump on top of me. Again, I ran back to the gang.

Lila was now throwing some knives, taking down monsters with each one. Kaitlin looked more prepared, and summoned fireballs in the palms of her hands. The orange gem hanging around her neck gave off a bright glow.

I threw a few more exolosives at the horde, and kept swinging. There were now four arrows sticking to me in different places. Iza was also trying to kill some monsters, and I fought beside her.

Both Thomas and Adrian were now close enough to fight, taking down monsters with powerful attacks from their broadswords. Valory stabbed the husks with her doubleheaded spear, and Eba pierced everything with her rapier.

The sun's glare was beginning to affect my eyesight. The only monsters at weren't fighting where creepers. They were all bunched up at the edge of the plains. But the other monsters didn't cease their attack.

Sarah and Jack had run out of arrows and were using their melee weapons to fight off the horde. Kaitlin was flinging fire like mad, torching monsters and knocking them back. Flames began to appear over her head in the shape of a crown. The gem at her neck was much brighter.

Eba warped beside me, with a cut on her arm. She helped me and Iza fend off some spiders and warped back over to Thomas. I was getting very tired from all this, and the throbbing in my eyes didn't help any.

"Z! I need my goggles!"

The slime girl nodded and handed me the steel-rimmed amber goggles. I put them on as quickly as possible and got back into the fight. Despite their numbers, it seemed that we were winning.

Taking a look around, I noticed that more and more people had arrows sticking out of them, and gashes along their arms and sides. There were just so many monsters. I knocked a spider to the ground and plunged my sword through it's head.

I breathed deeply, trying to focus. There were still at least 500 monsters left, but half of them were creepers. I turned my head just in time to avoid an arrow through my skull. I pulled my sword from the spider's corpse and continued swinging.

At one point, Kaitlin had become a living torch. The fiery crown on her head was still there, but flames were coming off her eyes and hair. The fireballs she threw exploded upon hitting the monsters, and flames flew from her hands like dragon's breath.

Soon, only the creepers were left. Everyone was breathing heavily, and only Kaitlin looked unscathed. I dropped my sword and walked up to the creepers, holding my injured right shoulder. It had begun to throb painfully at some point.

One of them hissed at me, so I hissed back. 'Why have you come here? Who sent you?'

The creeper backed up. 'You understand. You speak.'

'Indeed. Who sent you here?'

'Darkness. He sent us to destroy the house in the middle of the valley.'

I frowned. 'Darkness the demon?'

'Yes. He wants us to kill Thomas, and his friends.'

'You have wasted your efforts. Please, there doesn't need to be any more bloodshed. Desert your king. Live out your days in the wilderness. Turn back.'

The creeper looked at her companions for a moment. Then she turned back to face me.

'Very well. I would like to live in the wild. We will hurt you no-'

Her hiss was interrupted by an earsplitting shriek coming from the forest where the monsters had come from. I clutched at the sides of my head, searching for the culprit. Trees began to fall, snapping as something made it's way towards us.

The creepers began hissing in pain, writhing and backing away from the forest. I could hear senseless hissing emanating from that area.

Then everything went still.

I scanned the forest, wishing I hadn't dropped my sword. For a moment, I saw nothing. Then something caught my eye. There was a single face staring at me from the canopy of the trees. The face of a creeper. It's large mouth was agape in a frown, black eyes with dark green irises staring right at me.

I took a single step back and it disappeared. My heart was pumping madly. I quickly turned around, slid on the grass, picked up my sword, and stood back up. The creeper face hadn't returned. I released a breath and turned to Iza.

Just as a massive green shape leapt into the sky.

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Eba's POV

I clutched at the gash in my side, thankful that Blight was dulling the pain. Simon was hissing at the creepers, probably coming up with terms of peace or something. Kaitlin was beside me, her necklace no longer glowing.

"Are you okay, Eba?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I don't think it's mortal. Iza will heal me up, I'm sure."

She smiled at me and plopped down on the grass. She said something I couldn't quite catch because of Blight.

Something's wrong.

What? Why?

I can feel another presence. A big one. Look at Simon.

I turned to watch the creeper boy run back and pick up his sword in one fluid motion. He was tense, blade at the ready. I stood up with a groan. Suddenly, a massive creeper with four long legs jumped from the forest and landed in front of Simon.

The large creeper shrieked at him, causing the boy to clutch at his head with one hand while the other held the sword tightly.

The creeper shrieked again and headbutted Simon, sending him flying. The boy crumpled to the ground in a motionless heap. Izabell ran over to him, and the large creeper turned to face Thomas.

It shrieked for a third time and crawled forwards. I drew my rapier and warped beside Thomas. He still had his broadsword out, and stood his ground. Kaitlin summoned some more fireballs, Lila had more knives, and Adrian had his obsidian sword at the ready.

The creeper slowed to a stop, an angry frown narrowing it's dark eyes. It hissed and tensed up. Then it jumped into the air. Thomas pushed me aside.

"Scatter, guys! Fucking scatter!"

The creeper came back down where we d been bunched up. It created a massive crater where it landed, and I felt thankful for Thomas's warning. The creeper crawled out of the hole and hissed at me. I took a few steps back.

Blight! What do I do?

Be careful, Eba. Warp out of the way if it jumps again.

How do we kill it??? It's huge!

The Dreadnaught armor.

B-but... I still can't use it for too long! And the creeper is still much bigger!

Fifteen minutes is enough. You can do this, Eba.

Okay... okay... okay. I will. Let's do this.

The creeper shrieked as Blight's rot-sand enveloped me. I could barely see it through the gray tornado, and watched as it jumped. I warped away before the armor was finished because if I did so after, I would warp without the armor. I had tried once.

The purple glass of the helmet was in place before the creeper could land. I drew Wrath, the longsword strapped to the armor's back, and charged. The creeper crawled towards me, hissing all the way. I swung at it's long neck, but it twisted away from the blow.

It butted my chest painfully with it's head, pushing me back. I punched it's face with my left fist since my right was holding the longsword. It shrieked in pain, crawling backwards. I swung again, catching it's front left leg.

The creeper swung it's head at me, knocking me off-balance and almost bringing me to the ground. I swung Wrath once more, grazing the creeper's long neck. It shrieked again and jumped back onto the sky. I ran out of the way before it landed.

Everyone who could attack from range did so, both Sarah and Jack having picked up arrows from the ground. I kept swinging Wrath, hoping it would cut a vein or something. The large monster hissed and rammed into me.

I barely held my ground but dropped my longsword. I began throwing punches wildly at it. The creeper shrieked and kept headbutting me.

Eba, the sword!

I can't grab it! I won't have enough time to defend myself!

I'll disintegrate it, then reforge it on your back. Be ready to swing!

The mutant creeper tried to ram my head in, and I stopped it with both my hands. The glass of my helmet was cracking on the edges due to previous headbutts. The creeper's strength pushed me back, making my armored feet slide on the grass.

My hands held back the creeper's face on either side, clutching it as the monster kept pushing me back. If I tripped on something now, it would be on me before I could blink. I could hear Blight's rot-sand creating Wrath back onto my back.

Now, Eba!

I gave the creeper one last push and used my left hand to draw Wrath while my right stayed on it's face. I brought down the longsword as quickly as I could. The cool silver metal dug into the creeper's neck, almost cutting it in half.

The monster let go of a gargled scream. I stepped back and watched as it writhed in pain. Then it just froze on the spot. It began to hiss rhythmically, it's skin turning pale green. An unseen force pulled me towards it.

I looked around. My friends were also being pulled towards the monster. With all my remaining strength, I pulled the closest ones towards me and shielded them with my armor. The mutant creeper's hiss became defeaning, and then it blew up.

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Kaitlin's POV

I dusted myself off and looked around. Most of the creeper horde had run away as soon as the fight with the giant creeper began. There was now also a massive crater next to the house.

Eba was on the ground, her face full of soot. Everyone but Simon and her looked to be mostly okay. The endergirl was closer, so I checked up on her. She was lying on her stomach, black hoodie soaked with blood. I turned her over, and she opened an eye.

"K-Kait? Is... is everyone alright?"

I nodded. "Almost. I'm not sure about Simon. Can you move?"

She slowly began to sit up. "Y-yes... I think I'm alright. I-It's just the cut on my side, that's it. I d-don't think the blast hurt me at all."

I nodded again. "Is that your only wound?"

Eba shook her head. "N-no, I don't think so. No arrows, though. Just a few cuts. You should check up on Simon and Izabell."

I nodded and walked over to the couple. Izabell was kneeling beside Simon, her head resting on his chest. The creeper boy's eyes were closed, and his goggles had been removed. Probably by Iza. She was hugging him gently.

"I'm so glad you're okay."

"Ngh... I'm mostly okay. So please... don't crush me, Z."

I stared at the two of them. Izabell had very few injuries compared to the rest of us. During the attack, I could only focus on myself and the monster horde, but I'm willing to bet that Simon kept taking blows for her. Perhaps for all of us, considering his many wounds.

I turned in time to see Thomas stand up unevenly and walk over to us. "Is everyone alright?"

I nodded. "Everyone is alive. Simon and Eba suffered the worst injuries."

Thomas grimaced. "I'll bet." He was beside the downed endergirl, and bent a little to help her up. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She nodded. "Yes. I think so. Blight says none of the wounds are mortal, and he's dulling the pain, so I should be fine."

Thomas smiled and sighed. "I'm glad." Sarah was now walking over to Thomas.

"Are you okay, Tom?"

He nodded. "Yeah, everyone's alright. I think. Simon and Eba need some tending to, but we're otherwise fine."

The skeleton girl nodded and rested her head against Thomas's shoulder. "Thank the lords."

Blight summoned a shadow and was helping Eba stand straight. "I'm guessing Darkness has been up to some serious shit."

Jack walked over, wiping blood off his shortsword. "Who is Darkness again?"

I swallowed. "D-Darkness is... the demon that killed my dad." I spoke those last four words carefully, hating to speak them. It still hurt too much.

Jack stopped What he was doing. "Oh. Right. Sorry."

I shook my head and mumbled an 'it's fine'. Blight took over explanations.

"I don't know what Darkness intends to do. So far, from what I could gather of Kaitlin's nightmares, he took over the nether fortress. The army that came to wipe us out must have been sent by him."

Thomas looked at the massive crater the large creeper left behind. "What the hell was that thing?"

"A mutant creeper. I've only seen a few mutants before, and just one was a creeper. This was the first time I actually had to fight a mutant. The other times were mutant zombies, and they didn't pay any attention to me."

I walked up to the crater, curious. There was a little green orb thing in the center, atop a mound of earth. I carefully climbed into the crater and walked up to it. Now that I was closer, it resembled an egg. A very large green egg.

I picked it up and put an ear to it's shell. There was a tiny little heartbeat within it's smooth confines. It made my own heart flutter. It was an egg! A creeper egg. And there is a little baby creeper in there.

Gently, I brought it to the side of the crater and placed it on the edge. I had to tiptoe to even reach the edge and push the egg far enough away for it to be safe. Then I climbed back out and dusted myself off once more.

Sarah was looking at me while Blight and Thomas spoke, so I showed her the egg. The skeleton girl raised an eyebrow and walked up to me. The large green egg wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be, but just it's size made it difficult to grasp.

I plopped onto the ground in a cross-legged fashion and placed the egg between my thighs and feet. Sarah kneeled down and put a hand on it.

"Where did this come from? What is it?"

I shrugged, tracing a hand along the smooth green surface. "It's an egg. I found it in the creeper crater."

Izabell had somehow gotten Simon on his feet and was helping him limp towards us. The boy's eyes were locked onto the egg, gleaming with excitement. "Is... is that what I think it is?"

I hugged the globe tightly, placing my chin on top of it. "It's an egg. I found it."

Eba, Blight and Thomas were now looking at me and Sarah. Lila and Adrian were walking closer. The cave spider had a goofy smile on.

"Was that a great fight or what?"

Eba groaned, and Blight huffed. "I'd say or what. There was nothing great about this assault."

Lila shrugged. "Nobody died, right? I had fun. We defended our house from a large creeper-spider thing. That makes it a great fight in my books."

Blight grumbled. "I will never read any of your books."

Simon sat on the grass with Iza's help while Lila giggled her head off. The creeper boy's mystified gaze was still held by the large egg in my hands.

"Where did you find it?"

"In the crater. The one the mutant creeper made when it blew up."

"That's... that's amazing." He gestured to take the egg. "Can I?"

I held the green globe closer to me. "But... I found it. It's mine."

Simon smiled. "I'm not going to take it away, Kait. I just want to see it."

I looked at him for a while. "B-But... promise me you won't hurt it. Please."

The creeper boy shook his head. "I promise. Nobody will harm the egg."

I frowned and looked at down at the creeper egg. There was a precious life inside there, it's little baby heartbeat barely detectable unless close to your ear. I sighed and gently handed it to Simon. The boy set it down on the grass slowly.

Iza bell watched with interest as Simon put his ear to the egg's smooth shell. His mouth turned into a tiny smile and he pulled away. I sat nervously as the boy ran his hands all over the green egg, his eyes moving here and there as if testing for something.

Then he picked it back up and handed it to me. "There, See? Nothing happened to it."

I hugged the egg tightly, careful not to break it. "Thank you."

Thomas offered a hand to Simon, and the creeper boy took it. Both Thomas and Izabell helped him to his feet. Sarah was still sitting beside me, and she turned to Simon.

"Will it hatch?"

"I think so. Given time, of course. With proper care, it will grow up to be a healthy and hopefully friendly creeper."

I nodded and looked at the egg in my arms. "I'll take care of it. I won't let anyone hurt him."

Simon shrugged. "Don't know if it's a him. Might be a her, but alright. Why the sudden motherly urge?"

I looked up at him. "Well, I've always liked babies. Even monster ones. Most monsters didn't hurt us, and actually obeyed my father, so I had lots of opportunities to see baby blazes or ghasts. They are very cute."

Simon nodded, satisfied. "Could somebody take over dinner? I don't think I'll be able to do absolutely much except complain for about a week."

Izabell hugged him carefully. "A month. You need to heal properly."

The creeper boy smiled. "I'm more resilient than I look. A week and a half should be more than enough."

Iza smiled too. "Two weeks, or it's bed and soup for an entire month."

Simon mocked a grimace. "I hate soup. Fine, two weeks."

Izabell giggled. Thomas and Blight were helping Eba to the house. Everyone else walked in to help around, but I stayed on the grass holding the creeper egg to my chest. A smile tugged at my lips as I caressed it's smooth surface.

I do like baby monsters, and this would be a great chance to finally take care of one. I just hope to be able to defend it from anything. Most certainly including my friends.

This will be so hard... but I'll do it for you, little egg. I'll do it.

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Third Person Perspective; Monster assault group (stragglers)

Around 120 monsters managed to escape the battlefield. They trudged near silently through the forest, trying to get as far away from their enemies as possible. They encountered the lake in their path.

Some monsters went around it, some swam to the other side. Most zombies that entered the lake could not swim, and drowned. Once at the edge of the valley, the monsters finally stopped. A phantom swooped down and landed beside a skeleton.

The monster's bones clacked together and a spider walked up to it holding a piece of paper and a bloody stick. The skeleton gestured to the phantom, and made a writing motion with it's hand. The spider hissed and began writing.

~ *)_;º {#'¡

The skeleton nodded, and the spider rolled up the piece of paper and tucked it in a little pouch strapped to the phantom. The creature chirped and took off into the sky.

One of the husks walked up to the skeleton and groaned.

The skeleton rattled back.

One of the spiders hissed, and the husk growled at it.

More and more monsters joined into the argument, and soon the different eh... species split off into their respective groups. There was 12 husks, 36 spiders, and 47 skeletons. They wandered the forests, searching for someplace to hide.

The fight was not yet over.

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Author's Notes

Did... did you like it? Was the fight scene any good?

For those that are unaware, the mutant creeper is from the mutant creatures mod for Minecraft. I don't use mods, but I know of a few. I try to research that kind of stuff to make sure I got it right. If I didn't, my bad. :p

And yay! Kaitlin has a pet! Sort of. An egg, at least. And don't worry about there not being a Theridas POV. It's just that nothing interesting happened over there. :)

Anywho, thank you so much for your time and support! Have an awesome day!

~ LeMafiaKreb