The Nether
The heat that awaited him on the other side of the portal hit him like a slap!
Nuka gasped in surprise as it hit him with full force, making him dizzy and nauseous, causing him to stumble and fall again.
Coughing, he struggled to his feet and blinked hard against the heat, hoping to get rid of the dizziness as he surveyed the surroundings around him.
In front of him rose a rugged landscape of mostly red rocks that stretched far in front of him and gave him the feeling of being in a huge cave whose end he could not see.
In some places, lava erupted from the ceiling, or flowed from the walls, down into a large lava lake that seemed to fill the bottom of this dimension.
Many of the red stones around him were burning, and the heat made Nuka feel as if he had fallen into a blast furnace.
No wonder the Minecrafters don't like this place, he thought grimly as he limped a bit further to get a better picture of his situation.
He seemed to have landed on some kind of ledge, from which one had a good view, but could hardly get down or away in general, unless you were a good climber or had a pickaxe.
Neither was an option for Nuka, but while he was still looking around for another way to get away, he noticed something that had eluded his watchful eye until now.
Something that seemed to stand on another ledge not too far away from him, but was mostly hidden by one of the many pillars.
Something that was very large and had far too straight and exact structures to have originated there naturally.
What is that? Nuka asked himself in confusion as he rubbed his eyes and tried to look more closely.
He knew that there were structures like fortresses in Nether, but this building seemed to have no resemblance to them.
No, it looked more like a castle than one of the fortresses that could be found down here, but who in the world would bother to build a castle down here?
"Don`t move!"
Nuka was startled when he suddenly heard a sharp voice behind him, before he turned and froze when he saw his pursuers standing in front of the portal, cutting off his escape route!
He could not believe it!
They had actually followed him here.
Steve must have drastically increased the amount on his bounty, otherwise they wouldn't have done that.
That or they had personal reasons which scared Nuka even more, since he knew from experience that they wouldn't give up until they captured him or died themselves.
At this thought Nuka swallowed hard, before he backed away a bit and he prepared himself for the worst, while he examined his pursuers with a watchful eye.
There were six in total.
Two girls and four boys.
All of them wore armor made of diamond and iron and of course these were enchanted as well.
Four of them had their bows, also enchanted, cocked and aimed at Nuka, ready to shoot him down if he made even one wrong move.
The fifth of them carried an enchanted iron sword, while the sixth, who seemed to be the leader of the group, carried an enchanted diamond sword, which he pointed at Nuka and looked at him with a triumphant look.
,,That's it!" he continued a moment later, addressing Nuka, "You have nowhere to run now! We have you surrounded and the rest of our people are on their way here as well, so do us all a favor and just give up instead of wasting your energy on pointless fights. You'll only delay your capture by doing so!"
Nuka just looked at him hatefully.
He did not believe a word he said.
He knew that he was just saying that to manipulate ihm and make him surrender so that he and his people would have an easier time, but he wouldn't do them that favor!
He would have liked to just turn around and fly away over the lake or just teleport, but he already realized that his strength would not be enough for that.
Especially since one of the archers would have shot him down sooner or later anyway.
He sighed deeply before raising his head and glaring at the leader with a determined look.
,,Do you really think I'll just give in?" he asked in a surprisingly firm voice, "After I've been running from you for so long? Forget it!"
With these words, he looked at the soldier who still had his diamond sword pointed at him and felt sick at the thought of what was about to happen.
But he had no choice...
"If you want me," meanwhile, he continued in a slightly trembling voice as he tensed and looked at the leader in challenge, "you'll have to make an effort."
But the leader only smiled in response.
"As you wish," he replied with a shrug, before turning back to Nuka and grinning wickedly at him, "I don't think that will be difficult, though."
"Seize him," he continued a second later, turning to his side, whereupon several arrows shot towards Nuka, but he was prepared for them!
Quickly he put his right hand in the direction of the arrows, whereupon they stopped only a few blocks in front of him, in midair, before he made another quick hand movement, which caused them to turn around and flew back to their senders, but missed most them, except for a girl, who cried out in pain and sank to the ground, as one of the arrows hit her arm!
But Nuka had no time to care for her further, as the other ground gunners were already shooting arrows at him again, but before they could do so, Nuka moved his right hand again, whereupon they were torn from their feet and flung over the edge of the ravine!
Nuka felt a stab in his heart as he heard their screams fade away.
It was not the first time that he had killed people, but Nuka always felt bad and dirty afterwards but he had no choice...
In his life there were only two choices, kill or be killed, and it was clear that Nuka did not want to chose the second choice.
So, as sorry as he was, he had to go the other way.
Why can't they just leave me alone? He thought angrily, while he turned to the archers, who had been hit by one of the arrows earlier, but before he could take care of them, he noticed how the other two had rushed towards him, with thier swords drawn!
They were about to hit him, but Nuka was able to make one of them fly out over the lava lake with a quick hand movement, while the leader made acquaintance with a rock wall!
But before he could do anything he felt her suddenly drill something small sharp pointed once in his back and in his right shoulder, whereupon he cried out and shortly after collapsed.
Thank you Lynn," he heard the leader say a moment later, while he himself was lying on the ground, desperately trying to get back on his feet, "You really saved our butts."
"No problem," Nuka heard another voice say a moment later, whereupon he turned his face to the side and was startled to discover that suddenly another strange girl, with had also a bow over her shoulder and had not been with the group before, was now standing by the leader and helping him to his feet.
She must have hidden them shortly after they entered the Nether and then ambushed me! He tought alarmed as he watched the leader turn away from the girl and was now looking at him, with a disparaging look.
,,I told you there's no point in fighting," he continued in a grim voice to Nuka, who was still lying on the ground and trying to get up, but he couldn't because of the pain and exhaustion, "Except that now that you have only more blood on your hands!"
With these words he approached Nuka, who was still lying on the ground and looked at him with a fear-filled gaze, while at the same time he felt a wave of despair and hopelessness come over him.
He knew that he would not be able to escape from them now...
He had lost...
Oh, what would they do to him now?
But before the leader could reach him and grab him, something strange happened!
Out of nowhere, a white-blue flash of light suddenly shot out, striking directly in front of the leader, causing him to be thrown back and crash, with full force, against a wall!
Nuka cried out in fright as he was also thrown back and almost fell down the cliff, but luckily managed to hold on!
His ears were ringing from the explosion and his eyes were hurting from the bright light, while he desperately tried to hold on with his healthy arm and his dwindling strength and pull himself up again, when he spotted the figure that had suddenly appeared in the square, but had turned his back on him.
He had dark brown hair, a simple turquoise T-shirt and blue pants and had turned to face the two remaining girls, who seemed frozen with fear.
But before either of them could say or do anything, the stranger reached out with his hand, which was suddenly surrounded by a few blue-white sparks, and shot another flash of light at the two, whereupon they were also thrown back and disappeared from Nuka's field of vision.
However, the force of the light flash caused the ledge to tremble slightly again, which led to Nuka finally losing her footing and causing him to falling into the depths with a scream!
Desperately Nuka tried, during the fall, to mobilize his powers, so he could fly away but it was hopeless.
He was already much too weak for that.
All that happened was that his fall slowed down a bit and he was able to control it better, before his powers shout down completely ran and he fell again like a stone into the depths!
A moment later, he hit the ground with full force and rolled down a cliff, finally coming to rest just a few blocks from the lava lake, breathing weakly and barely conscious.
He never felt so much pain before.
Every fiber of his body ached and even breathing hurt, but Nuka had no longer the strength to even moan or whimper, let alone move.
All he could do now was lie there and concentrate on his breathing while tasting the metallic taste of blood on his tongue and realizing he was starting to feeling his senses fading away.
Was that it? Nuka asked himself as he lay there gasping for breath Will I die like this? Alone somewhere on the edge of a lava lake where no one will ever find my body?
At that moment he heard footsteps and immediately the fear returned to ihm.
Who was that?
Struggling against unconsciousness, Nuka opened his eyes to look around for the person, but his vision was completely blurred and the effort to clear his vision only seemed to make it worse.
Nuka was on the verge of giving up and instead surrender to the overwhelming darkness instead, when suddenly the person entered his field of vision.
It was the same person who had been standing above, firing the flashes of light.
Nuka had hoped that he had not noticed his fall, but that did not seem to be the case.
But where did he come from?
Where did he get these strange powers and why had she gone to look for him?
Did he want to help him?
Or did he want to finish him off?
Nuka feared the latter while looking at the person standing a few blocks away who seemed to be looking for him before turning around and spotting him.
Anxiously, Nuka looked at him, trying desperately to make out any facial features to see if she was hostile or friendly, but he couldn't make out much of anything through his blurry vision.
All that could make out were the person's eyes.
They shone an almost unreal white.
Nuka gasped in fright and whimpered weakly when he saw those eyes, but before he could say or do anything, his body gave up the fight against the threat of fainting and his vision went black.