Chapter 29 : The last stand
Hey everyone, Agithos here. I wanted to post this chapter before a series of exams coming at the end of the week. Without further ado, enjoy the chapter.
A few seconds after Mickael's departure, The meeting room, Ayumi's POV
Even though it has been just a few seconds since Mickael left the room, we stood there, speechless for what seemed like hours to us. For a moment, no one dared to say anything. Next to me, Blazette was keeping a stern face towards the two queens. Jade was trying to stay calm, even if Andr wasn't really helping her as the endergirl tried desperately to hide her face in her enderman hat. As for me, it wasn't the first time I was seeing Mickael getting angry like this but I was growing quite worried about how he left in such a hurry. He said everything was fine but I wasn't really buying it. It wouldn't have been the first time he would hide things from me.
I don't know for how long exactly we stayed like this...twenty seconds ? Thirty at best. The thing is that Honeystu and Gelli were too shocked to say something. I guess it wasn't everyday they would get scolded by a 'commoner' like that Magma cube would say.
"I...I won't let a co..." Honeystu started, getting out of her trance, only to be interrupted by Blazette.
"Shut up, Honeystu. You know he is right !"
I expected her to respond to the blaze girl next to me but, instead, she turned to the slime queen. Gelli had returned on her chair. Her eyes were closed and her arms crossed.
"Are you going to let a mere human speak to you like that Gelli ?" She asked with a slight glare on her face.
"To be fair Honeystu..." The green woman sighed "If he is actually right about Herobrine, we both have as much to lose in this conflict. There are not only our lives at stake here or even our title, but the lives of all our poeple as well...Remember that !"
I heard the magma cube queen grunting before she went back on her seat.
"Fine !" She said out loud "Let's restart from the beginning. I said I want your troops out of the Nether and I won't go back on my word. My citizens are getting nervous and some brave ones are even planning raids on your outposts !"
"You know as well as I do I can't do that. My soldiers wouldn't understand and some of the higher ups could consider me weak if I accept. However, for the sake of this world, I agree to relocate camps that are close to your villages. My soldier won't block your trade routes anymore !" Gelli replied.
"I gess it's a start. Now, since you surely won't do this for free, what do you want ?" Honeystu asked with an eyebrow raised.
"I want to have the exclusive access to some of your quartz mines. I think it's a fair price to pay in exchange for the removal of my troops !" Gelli replied.
"...I guess so !" Honeystu responded before turning to one of the guards in the room "You, bring me a map of our territory !"
The magma cube nodded before exited the meeting room. The overwhelming tension seemed to have gone down to a more acceptable level. At least, the two queens weren't insulting each other anymore. Honeystu looked like she was lost in thought and Gelli had a small smile on her face. Even Andr had calmed down. I took a rapid glance at the door behind us to see if Mickael was coming back. However, that it stayed close for as long as I stared at it.
"You can go see how he is doing if you are that worried about him !" Blazette whispered to me "I think we can handle things from now on !"
"Thanks Blazette. I know he take care of himself but I am still wondering why he left in such a hurry !" I replied.
I quietly got on my feet and walked toward the door. Upon opening it, I saw the guard coming back towards the meeting room with the map in his hand.
"Hum, excuse me ?" I asked him "Have you seen a human on your way ?"
"A human ? Well...yeah, I saw one running down the corridor !" He replied as he pointed a finger behind him "Must be the one you are looking for !"
"Thank you !"
"No problem !" He responded before entering inside the meeting room and closing the door
"Good, now we can go back to the negotiations..." I heard Blazette say behind the door as I walked away from the room.
I began to run, following the guard's direction.
Meanwhile, Honeystu's castle, Mickael POV
"Calm down Mickael !" Notch spoke up inside of my head.
"Do you think I am not trying ? It won't go away !" I replied as I was looking at my monstrous left hand.
After a few minutes of running inside of the castle, I stopped next to a window overlooking the city. I was trying to follow Notch's advice to calm down but it proved to be really difficult.
"I sence fear in you, Mickael..."
"Of course you are. You are not the who is slowly being transformed into God-knows-what !" I said, annoyed.
"Here you are, Mickael !" I heard a familiar voice calling me from behind.
I turned around and saw Ayumi walking toward me with a worried look in her eyes and a smile on her face.
"Oh no, not at the worst possible time !" I thought as I quickly hid my hand behind my back "Notch, do something !"
"I am trying to recontain the infection. You need to gain some time !"
"Oh hey Ayumi !" I greeted her with my best fake smile "Didn't expect to see you there. Are the negotiations over ? Did they agree to make peace ?"
"No yet, but we are making progress !" She replied "At least, they have stopped threatening each other !"
"It's good that they finally realized the threat we are all facing right now !"
The young woman archer in front of me nodded before frowning at me.
"I was becoming worried about you. Why did you leave all of a sudden ?" She asked.
"Hum...I...just needed some fresh air...I am not used to these kinds of things !"
Ayumi raised an eybrow and titled her head until she noticed the hand I was trying to hide behind my back.
"Is there something wrong with your hand ?"
"Um, no...not really !" I answered.
"Then, show it to me then !" Ayumi frowned at me.
"I assure you, there is nothing wrong !" I continued to lie.
"Show it to me !" She replied more harshly than the last time.
"But..."
"SHOW IT !" She screamed at me. I couldn't say if it was by anger, annoyance or simply pure concern about my well-being.
I closed my eyes and sighed. I removed my hand from my back and handed it to her. To my surprise, my mutated hand had gone back to normal. There was no sign of the infection left.
"That was a close one. Thanks Notch !" I said to the one inside of my head.
"It wasn't easy, Mickael !" He replied "I don't know if I will be able to recontain it entirely each time !"
I saw Ayumi inspecting me hand with a serious look in her eyes. Seeing nothing was wrong with it anymore, she let go and sighed.
"You have to stop worrying me like that. We already told you : if you have a problem you can tell me. I am your girlfriend for Notch's sake..."
"I know..." I replied, avoiding her gaze.
"Anyway...we should return to the meeting room to see how..."
We were interrupted by a one of the guards running inside the corridor, panting and seemingly exhausted. Upon seeing us, he went in our direction.
"You...Do you know where the queens are ?" He asked between gasps of air
"They are in the meeting room !" Ayumi answered "Is something happening ?"
"Mickael...it has begun !"
"Huh ?"
I turned towards the window and my eyes widened in horror. Just outside these walls, an seemingly endless army of monster was advancing in the direction of the magma cube's capital. I couldn't really tell which types of mobs were present but I could see ghasts and blazes flying in the air.
"That doesn't look good..." I murmured to myself while Ayumi was too shocked to say anything.
"We need to warn the queen !" The soldier spoke up "They probably don't know anything about what is happening outside !"
The skeleton archer and I nodded at the guard before following him to the meeting room. After a minute of running, we arrived in front of the door which the guard almost broke down as he rammed into it. Everyone inside looked at us as we entered into the room. The tension in the air seemed surprisingly low compared to when I left. Blazette, Jade and two queen where above a map placed on the table. As for Andr, it looked like she was avoiding to take part to the conversation.
"What is the meaning of this ?" Honeytu asked to her guard.
"The...The monsters, my queen !" The guard began to explain "There are coming. A whole army of them...marching towards our city !"
"Notch damn it !" The magma cube queen glared "So they finally made a move...Very well, we shall greet them the magma cube's way. Tell every available soldier to get ready for battle !"
"Why does people keep using my name for swearing...!" Notch whispered to himself.
"Yes, my queen !" The guard replied before storming out of the room.
"As for you, stay here. We will resume the negotiations after this crisis has been handled !" Honeystu spoke up after getting on her feet. She walked to the door but stopped herself as she heard Gelli walking to the door as well "What are you doing ? I told you to stay here !"
"No !" The slime queen responded "My soldiers are also outside and I am not going to sit on a chair while they are fighting to death. My duty as a queen on the battlefield is to be by my soldier's side !"
"Fine, do as you wish...but don't cry to me if you are injured !" Honeystu said
She quietly left the room and we followed her soon after. Outside, it looked like the battle had almost started. Looking through the numerous windows in the hallways, I could see soldier telling civilians to stay in their homes.
"M-MY QUEEN !" The chancellor rushed to Honeystu.
"Calm down chancellor. I already know about what is going on !"
"W-What are you planning to do ?"
"Like we always did !" The magma cube queen smiled "Destroy them until no one remains !"
That being said, we all rushed toward the entrance of the city.
Meanwhile, Outside the gates, Korian POV
"SOLDIER, ON YOUR LEFT !" I shouted to one of my men as one of those giant red blobs manage to get around him.
I could only watch in horror as he was tackled by the monster. I heard him screaming in pain as he lower body was being consumed by the molten lava of the monster's body.
"Hold on, I am getting you out of here !" I almost screamed.
I rushed at the monster and striked at it with my gold sword. My weapon entered into the abomination with ease. I was relieved when I saw the red eyes of the creatures frown and he got off the soldier. I took the slime by the hands and pulled him away from the scene. He was a mess. His lower body was nothing more than a green puddle, leaving a trail behind him.
"Come on soldier, you are going to make it !" I said as he was melting away.
He let go of my hand and divided into three smaller green puddle. A few seconds later, I had, in front of me, three teenagers version of the soldier I saved a moment earlier.
"Are you alright ?" I asked.
"Never been better !" The three of them replied at the same time.
"Good, grab a weapon and back to the fight soldier !"
"Yes captain !"
That being said, they rushed back into the monsters army. The battle wasn't going in our favor though. Despite having more skilled soldiers and equipement, we were getting overwhelm by this endless monter wave. These things were feeling no pain or fear whatsoever. We had already lost a bunch of good soldiers. At my left, I noticed the captain of the magma cube soldiers fighting a sort of zombie pig walking on two legs. He dodged its gold sword and killed the monster.
"I don't think we will be able to last long. There are two many of them, we need to retreat !" I spoke as I runned at his side.
"Like nether we will. We won't let a single one of them pass through the gates !" He replied.
"You idiot, we will all be killed at this rate !" I responded after seeing two of my men getting blown apart by one of these giant squid's fireballs "We need to retreat inside these walls and prepare a counter offensive !"
He gritted his teeth. He looked around and saw his soldiers getting slained one by one.
"Alright !" He sighed before shouting "EVERYONE, RETREAT BACK INTO THE CITY !"
We began to slowly walk back towards the gates while still killing every creatures coming too close to the gate. The doors opened and we entered into the capital. Some unlucky ones were cornered and overwelmed. As the last of us passed through, the guards closed the gates and locked them, trapping the monsters outside. We could hear them banging on the giants doors.
"So what now ?" One of the magma cube soldier asked to his captain.
"The gates should be strong enough to hold them for a moment. Our priority are those floating white heads. If they manage to enter into the capital, they could do some massive damage !"
"Understood !" The soldier replied before running to the high walls.
Then the captain turned to three of his men.
"You three, scatter into the city and tell every citizen to go the castle. I don't want any of them on the street once those things will break the gates !"
The three nodded and each one of them began to run in a different direction. We all heard a sort of baby cr. I turned around and saw one of those white squids flying above the high walls. Fortunatly, it was quickly shot down before it could fire.
"KORIAN !" I heard someone calling my name.
I faced the source of the call and I saw my queen, queen Honeystu and the human along with his teammates.
"My queen, you are safe and sound !" I slimed, happy to see her.
"What is the situation outside ?" She asked as Honeystu was doing the same with her own captain.
"Not good, my queen. There is too many of them. We lost a third of our forces and we had to retreat inside the city. I am sorry !" I answered, a bit ashamed that we had failed to contain them.
"There is nothing you need to apologize for, captain Korian. We saw their army through the windows of the castle. They are a lot more than we could have ever imagined !" She replied with a motherly smile on her face.
I looked at my right and saw the magma cube queen glaring at me.
"So, you are the one who ordered a retreat ?" She asked as she walked to me "You should have held out until reinforcement arrived. If these things manage to get into the city, it will be a massacre !"
"Yes I did !" I replied, staring at her right into her eyes "If I hadn't done that, your soldiers and mine would have all been dead right now. As a captain, I did what I had to to preserve my soldiers lives. If we all die, there won't be anyone left to defend this city !"
The magma cube queen and I continued to glare at one another before her captain stepped in.
"Captain Lioko, what are you..."
"Our majesty..." He interrupted her "I think she is right. We lost a quarter of our army within minutes. If we had continued like this, I don't know how many of us would have remained by now. I think we made the best choice !"
"Alright..." Queen Honeystu finally said after taking a deep breath "What are you planning to do ? I already called all soldiers from nearby outposts. It's only a matter a time !"
"It won't be enough..." Gelli spoke up "Judging by what we saw, a few hundred more soldiers probably won't make a big difference. We need another army !"
"Are you suggesting..." Honeystu eyes slowly opened wide.
"Yes...I am going to show you the power of the slime army !" Gelli smiled before turning toward me "Korian, do you think you will be able reach our outpost and contact general Lux ?"
"The city is getting surrounded as we speak, there is no way she would be able to leave this city alive !" The other captain replied.
"Actually, there is a way out..." The magma cube queen responded "Follow me, to the castle !"
As we were about to return to the queen's castle. A few skulls with yellow rods around them managed to pass above the high walls. As soon as they saw us, fire appeared around them and they started firing at us.
"Slimes, get to cover !" I almost shouted to my soldiers.
Her soldiers did as they were told. Unlike us they weren't immune to fire. As I was leading my queen away from the street, I saw that the skeleton and the former blaze princess weren't moving.
"Ayumi, you take the one on the right, I am taking the one on the left !" The blaze spoke up.
"Alright !"
The skeleton known as Ayumi took an arrow of her quiver and aimed at the flying skull. As for the blaze, she took two of her blaze rods and rushed at the skull. The arrow went through the skull of one of the monster while the other had its skull bashed by the blaze's rods.
"That felt good !" The blaze princess said as she went back to us.
"Alright everyone. To the castle, now !"
We runned to the castle. We could hear screaming from the soldiers behind us as part of the high walls were getting blown apart. On our way, we encountered a few citizen also making their way towards the castle. After a minute of running, we arrived at the building and the front gates opened for us. We entered and saw, at least, a few hundred citizen, waiting in the giant main hall.
"Follow me !" Honeystu spoke up after making a gesture with her hand.
We quietly followed her through the crowd of people. Most of them seemed quite anxious about the whole situation. Never in their dozens of lives did they were so close to defeat. Pushing through the crowd, we continued to follow Honeystu until we arrived in a sort of dungeon. Cells could be seen on each side of the hallway. At one point, we stopped in front of a dead-end. Honeytu looked around the place, seemingly looking for something.
"So, what now ?" The male human I remembered as Mickael asked.
"Silence, commoner..." Honeystu replied "It should be somewhere around here...Ah there it is !"
She walked to a hole in the wall and put her arm inside. A second later, a small click was heard and we heard some pistons being activated. Aproximatly a minute later, the doors opened to reveal a medium sized room with only a single Nether portal in the middle. Queen Honeystu approached me and put something in my hand, I looked at my hand and saw it was a ring made of quartz which I then placed on my finger.
"This portal will lead you to one of advanced ourpost in the overworld. Show this to my soldiers, they will know I am sending you !"
"Good luck Korian, I am counting on you !" My queen smiled at me.
"I won't let you down !" I kneeled down.
"I have to warn you though, as soon as we close this door, the room will be refilled with lava. You won't be able to come back through here !"
I nodded and passed through the portal. The next thing I felt was a cold breeze as I arrived into the overworld. Our race was rarely seen in this realm because most of us prefered the Nether climate. The sun was coming down the horizon meaning it was dusk by overworld's clock. I looked around the place I was, it was, without the shadow of a doubt, a magma cube camp.
"Hold it right there !" I heard someone say behind me.
I turned around and saw a dozen soldiers, weapons drawn and pointing in my direction. I showed them the ring their queen gave me. Seeing the jewel, they all lowered their weapons.
"Who are you ? What happened to our queen ?" One of them asked.
Meanwhile, Unknow place, No one POV
"It has been done !" A white-eyed god admired his work, a devilish smile on his face.
It took a lot of work with his magic but he finally succeded. His wounds had also completely healed and he felt more powerful than ever before. In front of him was his creations and could be considered monsters among monsters.
"You, go and kill every single one of them !" He spoke up as he pointed at one of the monsters
"Yes...master !" The monster replied with a distorded voice.
A few hours later, Magma cube's capital, Mickael POV
As soon as Korian went through the portal, we closed the room behind her. We hopped she would be able to succeed before the gates would be broken down. For the next few hours, we were able to survive, the only problem were the ghasts and their explosive fireballs. The gates were holding quite well to the banging of the creature even though we didn't know for how long they would keep them out as a few buldge could be seen. As for the high walls, they were strong enough to handle most of the fireballs. I was really glad there wasn't any spiders in the army before us or we would have been in serious trouble.
Right now, I was on the high walls with Ayumi, she was helping the soldiers to take down the flying enemies like blazes and ghasts while I was trying to attract the attention of the ghasts so I could send back their own fireballs right into their faces. As for Blazette, since our enemies were immune to fire, she couldn't use her fire power. She was relying on brute force to kill the blazes that were getting too close to the high walls. The soldiers unable to fight anymore were brung by Andr to a safer area. Jade, Honeystu and Gelli stayed at the castle and were trying to come up with a counter strike plan once the reinforcement arrives.
"I hope they will arrive soon !" Ayumi spoke up as she shot a ghast "I don't know if we will be able to hold out for long !"
"We have to. Ari would never forgive us if we die here !" I joked, earning a small giggle from her.
"Yes, I guess you are right !"
"INCOMING !" The soldier next me shouted.
I quickly looked at the direction of the shout to see a ghast firing at a group of soldier. I rushed to the group and manage to knock the fireball out of the way, sending it flying towards the army down below, exploding and killing a few mobs. The other soldiers quickly took care of the ghast and I sighed. We had been at it for a few hours and I could see some soldiers were getting tired despite the shifts.
"Thank you, human !" One of the soldier said.
"No problem, just stay focus !" I replied.
"Yes, sir !" He responded, making me smile a little as I remembered my childhood days at the military camp.
I got back to my position on the high walls. The thirty minutes passed without major incident until I noticed something wierd and I wasn't the only one.
"Hey, do you see ?" Blazette asked as she floated back to us.
"Yes, their attacks are not as ferocious as before !" Ayumi answered "It even looks like they stopped their assault !"
We saw the army slowly walking backward, away from the damaged front gates.
"Don't tell me they are going to retreat !" I replied "Why would they ? The door wouldn't have held out for long and our soldiers are either wounded or tired. They would have won in the long run !"
"I don't understand either !" Blazette continued "It doesn't make any sence !"
Suddenly, the army stopped its retreat and splitted in two to reveal a giant skeleton in the middle. Something was on its arm and it was pointing in our direction.
"MICKAEL, DUCK !" I heard Notch screaming inside of my head.
I quickly followed his advice on went on one knee. A fraction of a second later, I heard something pass a few centimeters above my head. I turned around and saw that the zombie pigmen soldier behind me wasn't so lucky, a sort of crossbow bolt was stuck right between his eyes. Ayumi quickly took cover with me.
"What the hell was that ?" I asked myself before thinking "I never saw that type of enemies in the game. Did I miss an update ?"
"No...I think my brother created that creature in response to the alliance you are trying to make !"
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Blazette fly high above the high walls and looked at the new creature. Then she grinned and two fireballs appeared in her hands.
"You do not look like you are immune to fire, am I right ?" She asked before throwing her projectiles.
I got out of my hiding place and looked at the scene. The giant skeleton wasn't moving as the fireballs were coming towards him. Out of nowhere a blaze mob placed itself on the path and took the two fireballs. Needless to say it didn't have any effect. Blazette began to glare at the blaze mob until it moved out of the way. Blazette's eyes opened wide when she saw the skeleton aiming right at her.
"BLAZETTE, MOVE !" I shouted.
Too late. The giant creature shot and the bolt arrived straight into her shoulder. The blaze girl screamed in pain and began to fall towards the ground. Ayumi called her, in vain. Fortunatly, Andr teleported at the right place and managed to catch Blazette before she could crash on the ground.
"Nice job, Andr !" I smiled at her as we quickly rejoined her.
"Thank you but she needs to be healed, fast !" She replied.
I looked at Blazette, she seemed in great pain but the arrow wasn't the only problem. Around her, some green particles could be seen flying.
"Oh shit, she has been poisoned !" I stated before turning towards Andr "Get her out of here as fast as you can and get her some health potions if there are any in the castle !"
She nodded and quickly runned away with Blazette in her arms. A few seconds later, loud bangs were heard on the front gates. Big buldges appeared on our side of the gate.
"THE DOOR IS NOT GOING TO HOLD, RETREAT !" One of the soldier shouted from the high walls.
We took a few steps back as we heard the door making some cracking noise before they completely broke down. The giant skeleton was standing in front of the now destroyed gate. The monster army began to pour inside the city, completely overwhelming the scattered guard. I took the chance to take a closer look at the giant skeleton. It was at least, 4 meters tall, had a giant lower jaw and a ridiculously big ribcage. It also had a crossbow attached to its right arm.
"EVERYONE, FALL BACK TO THE CASTLE !" The magma cube captain, Lioko screamed. If we were still on earth, I could have sworn this guy was russian.
We walked back to the castle, trying to form to kind of last line of defense, in vain. The monster's army was just rushing at us with all they had. Behind us, the door of the castle opened to reveal Honeystu and Gelli.
"Your majesty, they managed to get through !" The magma cube captain almost shouted "Get back inside !"
To his surprise, the two queen looked at the ground and picked up a weapon. Then Gelli turned to her former enemy.
"Do you remember the first battle we fought together ?" She asked.
"Yeah, we totally got crushed but it was fun !" Honeystu answered.
"Do you want a rematch ?" Gelli continued to ask.
"You bet !"
"But...your majesty..." The captain was unable to say anything more as the two queens picked up a weapon from the ground.
"Don't worry, captain. It may have been a long time since I handled a sword but I am still fully capable of defending myslef. Just stay focused on the front line !"
"Y-Yes, you majesty !" The magma cube replied.
Both queen rejoined the line and went into a fighting stance. The slime one killed a tall black skeleton wielding a stone sword while her former enemy was taking care of a few magma cubes mobs. For another dozen of minutes, we managed to keep the monsters at bay even though the magma cube queen could see some of her soldiers exhausted.
"HOLD THE LINE, CIVILIANS ARE JUST INSIDE THIS CASTLE. IF WE FAIL, THEY WILL ALL DIE !" Honeystu shouted to her soldiers "THE REINFORCEMENT WILL ARRIVE SHORTLY !"
"But...what if they are not coming ?" One of her soldier asked her.
"They wil come, trust me !" Gelli answered "I have faith in my captain !"
Out of nowhere, multiple ground unit were send flying in the air by the giant skeleton from earlier. It was running towards us at full speed. Suddenly, he took a zombie pigmen mob as a jumping platform, he jumped high into the air.
"TAKE COVER !" The magma cube captain shouted before I saw a dozen bolt being fired by the giant monster.
We were forced to split the line in order to avoid the deadly shots. One of them managed to scratch my cheek as I moved just in time. The monsters took the hole in our defense as an opportunity to charge at us once again. We tried to push them back, in vain. There was now only a group of soldier left, including Ayumi, the magma cube captain, Honeystu, Gelli and myself. Jade, Andr and Blazette were still inside the castle.
"I am sorry, Ayumi !" I started "I shouldn't have pulled you all into this !"
"I am not sorry I followed you into this !" She immediatly replied before killing a zombie pigman mob.
The monsters were pushing us back more and more towards the gates of the castle. As they were about to crush us, the skeleton raised its hand.
"You are surrounded. Surrender and accept the blessing of your new god, master Herobrine !"
The remaining soldiers able to fight stood their ground as the two queens walked forward.
"My name is queen Honeystu..."
"And I am queen Gelli !"
"And we won't surrender to you !" They both said at the same time.
"I see, such a shame !" I heard him chuckle "Fortunatly, you don't need to be alive to receive the blessing !"
The skeleton raised his bone arm once again and our soldiers got ready to fight once again. However, just as it was about to brang it down, a sort of loud battle cry echo was heard coming far beyond the high walls of the capital.
TO BE CONTINUED...And that's the introduction for the other mob present into this fiction : The mutant mob created by Thehippomaster21. So, as always PM or review to tell me what you think of the story : good or bad. And if you have any suggestion for the story, feel free to contact me. See you guys next time (^_^)/
