Chapter Five

Thunderstorm On The Horizon

It was afternoon when we got back out of the mines. I picked a nice tree to lie down under and Leon decided this was the best time to regale me with tales of his misadventures around the city. It was a lot more interesting than what the king had to say. For one, the king had somehow decided to leave out all the criminal activity and skipped straight to the prosperity stuff, which was boring. Criminal activity was always the most interesting bit.

"-and so five years or something ago, we had this serial killer who drew little wolves near the bodies and left weird sigils in blood. It was creepy as heck, I tell you. The guy genuinely thought he was Herobrine, I kid you not. And he was a big shot magician or something up at the Arcopolis, he could toss fireballs and lightning like anything. It wasn't like nobody knew who he was, 'cause of him having his own cult an' everything an' he was preaching weird stuff about the Nether on Sunday afternoons out in the city square, but nobody dared do anything 'cause the last time the police tried to nick him, they spent half a month digging their mates out from underneath a collapsed building, and boy, it wasn't pretty."

I nodded carefully. "Go on."

"So, around a month after he'd started, the city was pretty much in chaos, and this dude, you wouldn't believe me, but this dude came straight out of the Sylder Forest," Leon nodded toward a particularly thick patch of forest in the far distance. "The place you rode out of last night. And boy, did that scare the bajeezus outta me at first, 'cause not a lot of people who go in are ever heard of again, and you can hear weird things howling in there after dark. Anyway, this bloke, he walks ups to our Herobrine guy, who's in the middle of a particularly gruesome part of his Sunday afternoon sermon out in the city square, and corrected every single dang thing he'd ever said about Herobrine and the creepies and crawlies of the night and whatnot."

Leon stopped to take a breath. I made an encouraging sound.

"Our Herobrine guy lost his marbles on the spot. Fire and lightning everywhere, and we were pretty sure the other bloke was scuppered. Well, a lot of people lost money that day, because he didn't just refuse to die horribly, he beat our Herobrine guy like scrambled eggs and had him with his face in the concrete begging for forgiveness from the Almighty in three minutes flat. He made the sorry tosser make a public apology for all the damage and then handed him straight over to the angry mob yonder, who'd been looking for somebody to lynch all day."

"Oh," I said intelligently. "So what happened?"

"They lynched him. The police provided the rope."

"Ah," I said accurately.

Leon shrugged. "Then the bloke vanished back into the forest, as mysterious as you please, and we haven't heard from him, or of him, since. Sometimes when we're out on gate duty, we hear random things dying noisily in the forest and we go 'yep, that's him out there, living his best life', and we shut up about it and don't tell anyone, because the cops are still after him 'cause violently beating people up is still technically illegal, even if the victim involved is a psychotic serial killer."

He fell silent. The silence lasted a while.

"So, how old are you, actually?" Leon asked curiously, after some time. "I know you told the king that you were twenty-something, but I know a Crafter who looks like she's thirty but is actually ninety-five years old."

"Well, Crafters tend to stop ageing once they reach a certain age. Also, we do age at a far slower rate." I informed Leon. "But yeah, you're right. I might have lied a bit because I thought Tevon was going to throw a hissy fit. I'm forty-two."

My new partner in crime seemed to be impressed. Also he wasn't surprised to hear that Tevon was going off his rocker, which, according to local history, was a fairly regular occurrence.

"Yeah, I think the prince might be a Crafter. He's certainly maturing at a very slow rate."

"Is he always like that?"

"More or less. Don't tell anyone I said this, but he's a bit of a bastard. And his father is clueless. Thinks far too much of his son."

"Really? I thought the king was a nice-ish guy. Just a bit boring when it comes to reports."

Leon shook his head in disgust. "The king's okay. It's his son I'm worried about. Have you noticed the fact that there's no Queen?"

"Frankly, no. I've been told by one of my comrades that I don't notice details very well."

"Well, the thing is..." Leon lowered his voice as if he was afraid someone might overhear. "Tevon's adopted. He's the king's nephew. His parents died in a wildfire while picnicking in the forest when he was two. Unfortunately, they left him in the house, so he survived. The king adopted him because he couldn't have children."

I felt a pang of pity for the prince. "Is that why he's like this?"

"No. He doesn't even remember his parents. Was too young back then. And don't feel sorry for him, he's done a few things that should have him burning in the Nether after he dies."

"Like what?" I asked, curious. We reached the city gates, and the guards nodded at us as we passed, but I focused only on what Leon was saying.

"Well..." His voice dropped into a whisper. "Do you remember, a few years ago, there was a Giant zombie wreaking havoc up here? And that a Ranger was sent to take care of it? A Ranger who had a God-Essence blade called Wyrdfell?"

My heart skipped a beat. "Karin? But she never got here. We assumed that she was mislaid on the way, or got lost, y'know, she wasn't great at navigation. She vanished off the face of Elenjor. There were search parties - a lot of them, but we never found her. They're still looking."

"It is a known fact you can't find a dead person if their body has been destroyed." Leon said sardonically. "She did get here, you know. She entered through the same gates you did, only a year ago. I saw her with my own eyes."

My eyes must have grown to the size of oranges, because he gave me a weird look before going on. "The prince was the one who welcomed her, but I think he was more interested in the sword. He knew it was the only thing that could kill the Giant zombie. That night, while she was at dinner, he snuck into her room and stole Wyrdfell, replacing it with a look-alike. I saw him, but he made me keep quiet. I should have told on him then, even when he threatened to have me thrown into the Nether as a Material-Gatherer."

I could understand why he feared being sent to the Nether. I've been there myself, and it wasn't pleasant. You could hear the souls screaming from the Soul Sand they were trapped in as they suffered. Mostly gibberish, howls and wails and once I even heard a hauntingly sad song that held you in its grasp, spellbound, until you went mad and hurled yourself into a lava lake, and another time soft laughter that made your spine creep.

I shivered at the memory, but he didn't notice. He was too wrapped up in his telling. "You know one of the only things that could kill a Ranger and keep them dead is a God-Essence weapon, right? To keep her from discovering his theft, he waited behind her door and stabbed her as she came in. I'd definitely call that murder, don't you think?"

I was speechless for a second. "And no one Up There knows about this?"

By then we'd reached my room. I sighed: "Well, I'd better take a rest and process the new information. Notch is going to want to know about this."

I opened the door, and sprang back, horrified. "What have they done? Why's my bedroom a gaping, pitch black hole?!"

Leon sighed with exasperation. "We're in the West Wing, you fool. Your rooms are in the East Wing. This is the wine cellar."

"Oh. I don't suppose there's anything in there apart from-"

But I never had a chance to finish what I was saying, because at that moment, another guard burst in, gasping for breath. She came to a stop in front of us and gestured furiously down the corridor, having yet to regain coherency.

"Tara?" Leon caught her by the shoulders. "Tara! What is it?"

Tara replied, still a bit out of breath:"The Librarian is dead."

"The murderous old guy?"

"No! Yes! No!" She grabbed Leon's arm and shook him violently. "That charge of yours - he hasn't been out of your sight, has he?"

"Not since this morning - Tara, you're going to dislocate my arm."

"It's the Prince!' She howled. "The spoilt brat - he's started all this commotion about that friend of yours and calling him a fraud, and now everyone thinks he's killed the librarian!"

Oh.

Oh nooooooooooooo.

You could hear a pin drop.

"I think I'd remember if I killed him. Pretty sure I was out mining." I said vaguely. "Hey, buddy, tell them I was out mining."

"He was out mining," Leon confirmed.

Tara rolled her eyes."I know. That's why I came to warn you. No matter how you look at it, it just doesn't make sense. Who would infiltrate the palace to kill that guy specifically? I mean, we all wanted to at one point but it just - well, I don't understand how anyone came to this conclusion, but I guess rumours snowball fast."

Leon turned to me and said:" You gotta run, Steve."

"Wait, I know this one. Won't I look more suspicious if I run?"

"He has a God-Essence weapon, and a lynch mob," Leon said in exasperation. "Is that a chance you really want to take?"

I considered this. "Which direction should I run in?"

"The Sylder Forest. They won't follow you there. It's dangerous, and most people who go in don't come out again. There's some weird guys in there-"

"Wait. I don't want to be in the same forest as a murderous hermit."

"You also don't want to be in the same place as lot of other dead people." Leon propelled me forcefully toward the exit. He gave me one last shove. "Go, Steve. Run like the Dragon Herself is on your tail."

"She's not that bad once you get to know her-"

"Just go!"

I took one last glance back at them, and got the Nether out of there as fast as I could.

Behind me, I could hear a whisper of "I knew it. I knew that bastard was scum." echo down the corridor.

To my credit, I'd almost reached the Sylder Forest when they caught up with me. My last Speed Potion had just run out and I slowed to a gentle jog because I couldn't run anymore.

"Steve, Son of None! You are hereby under arrest for the murder of Cardock Mures!" Somebody shouted. I looked back, and immediately regretted it. I could see a giant cloud of dust, and flashes of metal. And hear the sounds of a lot of galloping horses, and a lot of clanking, which meant a lot of armour, and probably a lot of swords.

I especially didn't like the bit about the swords.

Oh shit oh shit oh shit. What now?I ran even faster, but it was no use. I'd come right in front of a large boulder, and had nowhere to go. Seeing no other way out of this, I ran full speed at the boulder and somehow managed to make the leap over. I was surprised that I didn't simply crash face-first into the rock, judging by how tired I was.

In front of me was the forest. I sighed in relief as I entered it. Now I was safe.

Just as I thought that, a company of thirty-one people clad in armour crashed into the clearing behind me, and surrounded me in a circle. I was right about the swords. There was an abundance of them, waiting to dice me like a plate of sushi.

It was at that moment that I considered myself completely, totally, utterly, and Well And Truly Screwed.

Tevon stepped into the circle, and drew his sword. I recognised the blade. I had been on the receiving end of it during many a practice sparring session, and now it looked like it was back for seconds.

Wyrdfell.

In the tongue of the Gods, wyrdfell meant doom. Everybody Up There thought Karin was a little wonky in the head, but there was nothing funny about it now, seeing as I was probably about to get shish-kebabed by the thing.

Well, there was nothing for it, then.

"How about we all go home and have a nice day?" I called out at the prince. "Nobody gets hurt, we can all run along and pretend this never happened."

The prince sent me a cold look. "The only person who gets hurt is you. In case you haven't noticed, the field isn't exactly even."

"Oh, I've noticed." I put on an exaggerated smirk and exuded swagger that I didn't have. "You'd have to call in another platoon before we can even begin to even out the odds."

Tevon moved into a fighting stance. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

He lunged at me, sword swinging. I drew my own sword and parried with ease. But the rest of the men fell in to help, and I couldn't hold all of them off at once.

I felt the cold blade of a sword sinking into my back as I tried to block the blows aimed at my front and knew without looking that it was Tevon, with Wyrdfell. And the ground was suddenly rushing up to greet my face in a very friendly manner.

Never, ever, in the history of evers, will I ever allow Notch to plan anything for me again, ever, I vowed silently to myself as a face-planted into the mossy green and died unceremoniously.

There was a flash of light.

The Ender Dragon roared and lunged at the intruder standing on her obsidian spire. The white-eyed being spun away gracefully, well out of slashing range. Then He performed a jump so far that no mortal would have dreamed of doing, and landed softly on the next spire.

She growled in irritation. This had been going on for some time now and all She wanted do was rip somebody's throat out. Maybe torch a small building while She was at it.

She spewed a narrow jet of indigo flames, hot enough to melt bone. This time it was met by a shield of flickering white light. The intruder leapt again to a higher spire and then kicked off it to fly back over Her head. The Dragon snapped at him, missing by inches, and spat out another torrent of purple fire.

There was a white flash, followed by the soft hiss of displaced air. The intruder had disappeared.

She blinked.

Vwoop. She disappeared in Her own flash of purple light.

The Dragon rematerialized some distance away, diving with her claws outstretched. The intruder flipped mid-air, and Her claws sliced at empty space.

She lacerated the End Stone with fire and frustration.

The intruder simply stared at Her impassively with cool silver eyes.

"Are you done?"

The Dragon let out a guttural growl.

A moment passed.

Finally, in a voice of resignation, She said:"Yes."

He vanished in a starburst of white, and reappeared by Her side.

They spent an eternity in silence.

"I trust your Dimension is doing well?"

The Ender Dragon gave the draconic version of a shrug.

"Crafters come, crafters die. Sometimes the occasional human or Testificate." She paused. "And the Endermen are scared of me". Which struck Her as slightly odd. They hadn't been before. Before, well, they'd just accepted the fact that neither was going to be rid of the other anytime soon and got on with existing, albeit a little warily, like bad neighbors with a really good fence. But recently they'd been behaving odd. They'd been avoiding Her favourite pillar more than usual, and when She'd inquired about it, they'd run away. Teleported away. Which was rude, and that hadn't sat well with Her. She looked forward to putting this little problem behind Her.

"Good. Keep it that way." He stood, and She knew He was preparing to leave.

"Why go back? You don't rule the monsters anymore".

She tried to gauge his reaction. Which turned out to be difficult, as there wasn't one. Contrary to popular belief, it was beyond difficult to provoke him when he didn't want to be provoked, which was always. It was once said the entity was capable of anger, and other emotions. The Dragon firmly believed that whoever said that was lying their little dishonest hearts out.

"I have other things to attend to".

The Dragon sighed. "Well, see you soon, then".

She received no answer. Typical.