Chapter Six – Intruders
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
Travis looked up as he watched the Piglin burst into the throne room, the creature looking absolutely winded. The Piglin prince tensed as he watched all eyes turn towards the messenger, who was racing towards the throne. As soon as he reached the steps that lead towards the throne he fell to his knees, bowing.
Travis eyed his father, waiting to see how he'd react to the intrusion.
The older Piglin leaned forward, a crown of gold adorning his wrinkling head. He scowled down at the Piglin he saw as lesser. "I hope... you have a good... reason for you... bursting in here."
The messenger raised his head slightly, before returning his gaze to the floor. "We have gotten word that portal has opened. Western quadrant– same location as the last portals we have sensed. Within the fallen fortress of Jabali."
Travis stiffened up at this news– Alex had been found not far from that very fortress.
Travis turned to face his father. "You mean there have been more portals from the overworld opening? More since Al– the player?"
The Piglin king scowled. "Every group we have sent to investigate has reported nothing but an empty portal frame each time," He glared at the messenger. "And that is what we will find again, I want no more messages regarding that portal frame."
The messenger shivered. "Y-yes your Majesty, of course–!"
"Father, wait," Travis said, taking a step towards his father's throne. "Shouldn't we be more suspicious if we keep sensing energy signals from that fallen fortress?"
"I will not waste anymore of my time with a dead end," The king said, waving his hand in dismissal.
Travis hesitated, knowing that even as the prince he had to be careful when it came to his father. This was the man that had ordered the execution of his own wife, having no need for her once he had Travis as an heir. Still the young Piglin took another step forward.
"Father, as the royal line of Cerdo we should not take any risks," Travis said, and his father's gaze flashed in his direction. The entire throne room was still, watching as Travis continued. "We're the last stronghold of unaffected Piglin in the Nether– and we must keep it that way. I am not asking you to waste your time– but this isn't something we should ignore either."
"Then what do you suggest we do, son," The Piglin king said in a low voice.
"...You said you do not want to waste your time, Father," Travis said, kneeling as he spoke. "So rather, let me use my time. I'll investigate the portal, and if it's not activated I'll find out what's causing these signals. As future king it is my responsibility to protect the kingdom– so shouldn't I do so?"
The king was silent for a moment, before letting out a grunt. Travis remained kneeling, knowing he had stepped over bounds one too many times this conversation already. However he kept eye contact with his father– showing that he wasn't going to cower like all of his men. Black eyes stared into each other, before the king snorted.
"If that will keep you out of the dungeons and out of the library, then perhaps it won't be a waste of time," The king said at last. "Whether the portal is activated or not– go. Take some men, take supplies– go and humor yourself."
Travis bowed, ignoring the belittlement in the king's voice. "Of course, Father. Thank you, Father."
"Get out of this throne room– and take the messenger with you," He said, glaring at the shivering messenger, who was still bowing.
Travis stood, placing a blocky hand on his fellow Piglin's shoulder, urging him to stand. The messenger wasting no time, scrambling after Travis as he headed out of the doors of the throne room, clearly feeling much safer with the prince than he would with the king.
One of the Wither Skeletons stepped forward, the counselor of the king tilting his head, not being able to understand Peaceful. 'What was the exchange about, my Lord?'
The king snorted, replying in Hostile. 'The boy wishes to lead a party to investigate a portal signal. He insisted– the stubborn child.'
The Wither Skeleton frowned. 'Sending your only heir into where the infected are sure to roam? Was that wise?'
'It is what I intended,' The king said, sitting up slightly. 'The boy is strong enough to fight, and wise enough not to get infected– he just needs a taste of how dangerous the zombies are. Perhaps then he shall know the true dangers of players, and end his unhealthy obsession with them.'
The skeleton snorted. 'The lad still believes the legends? That a player shall save us all?'
'He reads too much,' The king replied. 'A healthy dose of reality is what the boy really needs.'
Steve jumped when he heard the shrieking of an Enderman.
"Stop that," He hissed, watching as Dusk teleported away from the portal– and then down the hall of the fortress– and then next to him– and then to behind the portal, and then– "You're going to attract attention."
"It burns," She hissed, pointing to the Nether brick floor– before teleporting away again.
Steve sighed. "I have a base not far from here, and the temperature should be at least bearable in there. I'd say it's about thirty blocks to our left, ten blocks underground. If you could tele–"
He couldn't finish his sentence, before Dusk suddenly appeared behind him, grabbing his shoulders and teleporting them away. His head spun at the sudden teleportation, Dusk grasping his arm with one hand, her other arm holding the small Ender Dragon. The air was much cooler with where she had teleported them– though still hot compared to the Overworld night.
"Ah," Dusk said in relief as her feet touched the warm cobblestone, which was like ice compared to the searing Nether brick. Steve glanced down at his feet, before realizing that the magic he had enchanted into his iron boots were protecting him much better than Dusk's bare feet. He sighed, he hadn't even thought that the Enderman would be burned.
"Um, well," Steve said, glancing about his small base. "Thank you for getting us here– I'll see what I can do for your feet."
He walked over to one of his chests, opening it up and peering inside. He shifted through the items, shaking his head, before going to the next one. This base was far from his best, mostly a cooler enclosure hidden away from the mobs of the Nether. He didn't keep much here since home was literally one portal away.
"Oh, crap," Steve muttered. "I forgot to disable the portal."
"Why would you want to do that?" Dusk asked, gently setting the Ender Dragon down. The small drake was sniffing around curiously, making small cooing sounds.
"If we leave it open then Nether mobs can walk right into the village," Steve explained, heading to the next chest. "Also, if Mom goes downstairs and sees an active portal she'll know that I'm here, and I don't want her to worry. I'm going to go disable it real quick, and we can reactivate it when we're ready to go."
"What if we need a quick get away?" Dusk asked.
"You can teleport, and honestly, it only takes a second to relight one," Steve said, grinning as he pulled out a pair of golden boots from a chest. "Perfect! Here, try these on while I'm gone. I got them from a zombie Piglin I killed once, they're a bit worn, but I think their enchantment will protect you from the heat."
He held them out towards the Enderman, who had a doubtful look on her face as she took them. Steve looked into her purple eyes for a moment, before whipping his head away as she tensed.
"...Thank you," She said uncertainly, and Steve nodded as he headed towards the door.
"I'll be back in like two minutes– don't let that dragon destroy anything while I'm gone," Steve said, before slipping out of the base. He had to climb a set of stairs, to get back to the surface of the Nether, and he wished that he would have just asked Dusk to teleport him back to the portal, no matter how strange teleportation felt.
The Nether fortress was quiet as always as he headed back towards where the portal was stationed. Steve never gave much thought to how these abandoned fortresses had come about, but now he couldn't help but wonder if some sort of Nether mob had built them...
If Enderman could talk like a villager, then why couldn't a mob build something like a villager?
Nothing came to mind however as he walked– zombie Piglin were well, zombies. Magma Cubes were both stupid and limbless. Ghast blew up things, Blazes as well, so he wasn't sure what they'd build... so perhaps the Wither Skeletons...? They had limbs and seemed intelligent enough to fight...
Destroying the portal was simple– swinging his pickaxe against the obsidian frame until one of the blocks shifted, causing the purple glow to vanish. He grunted as he shoved the frame back into place, so that he could activate it at a moment's notice. He knew that no Blazes lingered at this end of the fortress, but there was a nest of them on the other end– they could get their blaze rods there.
"Ready?" A voice behind him asked, and Steve jumped in surprise. He turned, and found that Dusk was right behind him, Umbra perched on her shoulders and head. She must have teleported out after him, though he hadn't heard her.
Umbra's tail was swinging happily, but Steve had no choice but to look away so he wasn't staring into Dusk's eyes. He lowered his gaze to the floor, and saw that the golden boots were on her slender feet. It was so strange to see an Enderman with armor... but honestly these last few days had been so strange that he didn't even blink.
"Yep," Steve replied, slipping his pickaxe away. "Will the dragon be alright in the heat?"
"They're resilient," Dusk said. "Boss mobs can handle far more than any other living being."
"Except creative mode," Steve said, knowing of the legendary power that Notch possessed. He shook his head, knowing that they needed to focus. "Anyways, we need to get moving. The sooner we find the Blazes, the sooner we can leave."
"Lead the way, Player," Dusk replied.
They didn't say anything else as they traveled through the Nether fortress, walking side by side through the hallways. Steve paused at every corner, peering around to make sure no mobs were ahead to attack them. The only sounds they heard were from the bubbling of lava and their own footsteps, along with the occasion chirp from Umbra. It was strange to be making his way with an Enderman by his side, but he did his best to ignore it.
As he peered around another corner he found himself stiffening up, catching sight of a glow up ahead, and the echoes of ethereal cries. He smirked, gesturing up ahead to the Enderman to let her know their target was there. She peered around the corner as well, nodding once, while Steve reached for his sword. Blazes were dangerous to fight, even with his fire protection enchantment he had on some of his armor, so he needed to move quickly. The element of surprise was his best hope– and so with his sword raised high he charged down the hallway.
There were three Blazes up ahead, and only one caught sight of him. Smoke rose up from its glowing form, the blaze rods they had come here for swirling about the Blaze as it prepared to attack. He could see the fire ball forming, and Steve threw himself to the side as it was launched at him. He stung his sword, which rebounded off of the rods circling about it. He jumped back, raising his sword again to strike–!
Clang!
A burst of pain ran through him as something came crashing down onto his head, Steve staggering back as he watched a large shape clatter to the ground in front of him. His vision was spinning, but even through his blurred vision he stared down at the anvil in front of him– which had just fallen on his head.
"What are you doing?" Dusk cried, and he turned to stare at the Enderman.
"Did you just drop an anvil on me? Where did you even get that?"
"It was in the forge you told me to meet you in– but why on earth are you attacking the Blazes?"
"How else are we going to get blaze rods?"
The three Blazes hovered off to the side, staring in confusion at the human and Enderman shouting at each other. The words in Peaceful were lost to them, but they had seen Steve before, as this wasn't the first time he had come in search of blaze rods. They hovered there in the air, fireballs half formed, not sure of what to do or if they should just attack. Their gazes however quickly settled onto the Ender Dragon, mutters flying between them.
Dusk turned towards the Blazes, letting out a few warbles in Hostile to them. The fire creatures glanced at each other, before replying with their own sounds. Steve could only stare, the sounds being completely different from each other, but yet the Enderman and the Blazes seemed to be talking. The Blazes bobbed up and down in the air, a few frustrated sparks flying out at Steve.
Dusk stepped between them, continuing the conversation, holding her hands out in a calming manner. She pointed to the Ender Dragon that was resting on her shoulders, who was sniffing the new creatures in front of her curiously. The Blazes regarded each other for a moment, before lowering their heads towards the dragon for a moment. They then said a few more things to Dusk, and Steve swore he heard a questioning tone in their voice.
The Enderman nodded, and the Blazes sat there in silence– one of them glaring at Steve. After a moment though one drifted forward, and instantly Steve raised his sword. The creature glared at the Player, before letting several of the blaze rods circling about it drop to the floor. He stared down at it as the Blaze retreated back towards its companions, saying one last thing to Dusk. Then without another word the three Blazes drifted down the hallways of the fortress before vanishing out of sight.
"...What just happened?"
"It's called asking nicely," Dusk said, gesturing to the blaze rods on the ground. "That way no one had to meaninglessly die, and we have what we need."
Steve carefully reached down, grabbing the blaze rods and opening up his inventory in the same action. He tossed the burning rods of energy, tossing them into the pocket dimension before they could burn his hands. He took in Dusk's words in silence, still startled that the Blazes had left without a fight.
That they had just given them the blaze rods.
"They don't like you, by the way," Dusk added, crossing her long arms. "It's only because of Umbra here that they didn't kill you, they understand how important it is that she gets home, and you're the only means we have. Is there anything else we need to do here in the Nether?"
He just didn't understand. His whole life he had been fighting monsters, had been trying to protect the village from those who wished it harm. To suddenly be seeing creatures he had viewed so long as empty beings interacting with each other so peacefully... it just made him sick. Protecting the village was one thing, but he had just been prepared to jump into a fight without a second thought, just so he could get an item.
"Dusk? Are all mobs like you?" Steve asked quietly.
"...I do not know what you mean," Dusk said, picking up the anvil and slipping it into her inventory.
"You know... talking. Able to speak to one another and work things out, to communicate and reason just like a villager. Are all mobs like that?"
She pressed her lips together. "Not animal mobs, and not those infected with the zombie virus, but beyond that... yes. As far as I know. Endermites aren't the brightest though, and Silverfish never have much to say–"
"Let's go," Steve cut her off, not wanting to hear anymore. His mind was becoming filled with all the images of the monsters he had slain before– and for once he wasn't seeing them as heartless. "We have what we need so let's just... go."
The Enderman looked as if she wanted to say more, but as she saw the way Steve's hand tightened on his sword, she stayed quiet. The Ender Dragon on her shoulders shifted, looking as if she were about to leap towards Steve, and so Dusk wrapped her arms around Umbra to keep her in place, following after the Player as they made their way down the halls of the abandoned fortress.
Was everything he had been taught wrong? The only creatures that seemed to actively attack the village were zombies and the Illagers, and Dusk had said herself that the zombies couldn't communicate. They were the undead, mindless like the zombie Piglin that wandered through the Nether, while the Illagers were just as advanced as the villagers he loved.
But all the other mobs, they attacked as well... but he attacked them too. And not just in defense– but for resources he thought he couldn't get otherwise. Were their attacks not attacks then? But rather means of defense? He closed his eyes as they rounded a corner, not sure of what to think anymore.
Dusk suddenly let out a cry in hostile, and Steve felt burning metal being touched against his throat. His eyes flew open, finding a golden sword right in front of him, the blade pressing against his skin. It gleamed with an enchanted light, and immediately his eyes went straight to the one holding the blade. The Piglin glared back, only moments away from slicing open his throat.
I'm going to eventually go back and edit older chapters, and change all mentions of Pigmen to Piglins.