Author's note:

Hello everyone. This time, a longer chapter, and some real action! (OK, virtual action, but still).

Anyways, hope you enjoy this one, and wait until the next one comes out.

Chapter 6: Path of the Ender-born

I woke up, my gaze quickly falling on the girl sleeping in my arms. I smiled, the memories from yesterday all coming to me. The Endergirl twisted a bit in my arms, positioning herself a bit better. I felt my face blush a bit, but I gathered myself together and used my free hand to wake Andrea. She turned a bit, her eyes fluttering open. Our eyes met, The Endergirl smiling. She turned to see our embrace, which didn't last for long. I sat up, looking at the clock.

8.32 A.M.

'Hmm... Much earlier then I thought.'

We were eating breakfast, Andrea enjoying the great taste of real food. She finished first once more, causing me to giggle a bit. Who could think I felt so bad yesterday?

I was the first to say something.

"Today's the day."

"Mhmm.. Today, you're going to save my friend." Andrea nodded, standing up from her chair and walking to my computer. She brushed with her hand across the edge of the screen, a small smile on her face as she closed her eyes. For a moment I thought she was going to try it herself, but instead she turned to the sofa and sat down.

I heard a familiar knock on the door. I quickly opened it, Tyler standing on the other side.

"Is Andrea here?" He asked, looking past me into the house. I nodded and gestured to the Endergirl sitting in the sofa. Tyler let a sigh of relieve before walking in.

"Sleep well?" Tyler asked, his arms resting on the back of the couch. Andrea simply nodded before turning to the TV standing across the coffee table. That's when I knew what to do. I grabbed the remote of the TV and sat down next to Andrea. I pressed the 'on' button, the screen turning on. We were met with the voice of the local news-reporter, talking about yet another small forest-fire.

"-As the firefighters handled the fire, they discovered that in the past few days, many fires have been appearing across the forest with great rapidness. Some suspect a pyromaniac, others think it's because of the lack of rain the past week.-"

Andrea gazed at the TV-screen, sparkles in her eyes. I couldn't help but giggle at the way she reacted at those things we found normal and unimpressive. The reporter went on about the fire, the local sherrif suddenly appearing. He talked about the investigation that was going on to the recent forest-fires. I decided to leave Andrea to look to the news for a bit longer and stood up, reaching to the computer and turning it on. I logged on into our server, taking a good look at our preparations. The tunnel was still blocked of, but now we had water surrounding the base. Making the place Enderman-proof was important, Rayleigh had explained, to make sure that they wouldn't try and stop us before we made it into The End. We would flood the dungeon with water, allowing us to walk through it with ease.

I suddenly heard a gasp, looking to Andrea and Tyler. The news was now showing national news, a picture of a woman on the side.

"-This woman was murdered yesterday, authorities still uncertain why. Her body was found in her bed, three stab-wounds in the chest, straight through the heart. Some believe that this was a take-out, although the family says that she didn't have any criminal connections.-"

I saw the fear on Andrea's face. She thought that our world was safe, but now she was proved otherwise.

"Murder is rare in our town. It only happened once, during a family-dispute. You don't need to worry, we won't let that happen so quickly, right Archer?" Tyler said, gaze going to me. I nodded. 'Like hell I wouldn't let that happen.'

Andrea sighed of relieve, but I could tell she was still shaken after discovering this. I grabbed the remote and turned the TV off, not in the mood to hear more depressing news. Tyler looked out the window, not knowing what to do. I had the same, waiting until the message that Sky had logged on.

We were all surprised to hear a knock on the door. I wasn't expecting anyone today, right? I walked to the door and opened it, revealing two persons, their eyes meeting mine. I immediately recognized one of them.

"Sky?"

The redhead smiled, glad I recognized her. My eyes darted to the younger boy next to her, my mind quickly adding two with two.

"Rayleigh?"

The boy looked up, giving me a good look of his face. He had blue eyes, different of Sky's yellow. I saw some similarities, like the shape of their face and skin-color. Rayleigh's hair was a dark-brown, unlike that of his older sister. Sky was wearing a leather jacket, underneath it a yellow shirt with the words 'Yellow is the new black' on it. She had a pair of jeans on, a few small holes showing her legs underneath. She had leather boots on, yellow lines on the edging. I changed my sight to Rayleigh's clothes, the difference surprising me.

He wore a simple buttons-up shirt with blue checkers-pattern. His pants were simple gray, not really complimenting the blue that well. He had brown shoes on, the shoelaces done perfectly.

"Are you going to keep examining us or are you letting us in?" Rayleigh spoke up, catching me in my thoughts. I smiled, a bit embarrassed to have been caught, and gestured for them to enter. Tyler had moved to the edge of the kitchen, his gaze falling on Sky. I could swear I saw what seemed like a smile on his face. I took a look around, noticing that Andrea wasn't in the sofa anymore. I looked to Tyler, who mimicked the word 'teleported' with his mouth. I nodded and went to my room, quite certain that's where she was.

Perspective: Tyler

I finished taking Rayleigh's somewhat mature look in and turned to Sky, who was busy filling the other side of table with two computers, opposite of ours. 'Damn, she looks hot like that.' My mind went, causing me to freeze. Did I just subconsciously compliment Sky's looks?

I had heard Archer speak out their names when they arrived at the door, causing me to get curious. Andrea had teleported away, surprised at the unexpected arrival of the two. Archer left to his room, probably looking for Andrea. I sighed. 'Those two really must be in love with each other.'

"So, this is where Archer lives? I always found him somewhat of a naturist." Sky said, looking out of the windows. Her eyes fell on the old shed, causing me to get worried. She wasn't going to ask him about it, was she?

I was relieved to see her shrugging it of, heading to her little brother. True, size and age wise he was younger, but he looked and acted much more mature then Sky always did.

"Are you going to help us with these cables or what?" Rayleigh suddenly asked, causing me to flinch. I shook my head and focused, nodding before heading to the table and taking a look at the computers. The cables weren't to difficult to install, for me at least, but I could only guess that for them it seemed like a puzzle. A very difficult puzzle.

I sighed and started plugging the various wires and connections together, connecting the two new computers to my system. The same robot-voice indicated that they were hooked up, and I swear that I heard Rayleigh sigh of relief.

'Maybe there is still a bit of Human in him after all.'

Perspective: Archer

I knew it.

Andrea was sitting on my bed, her boots of. She was playing with her hair, a strain hanging in front of her face. 'I swear, she looks even cuter like that.'

I sat down next to her, waiting for her to say something. Noticing she wasn't going to, I took a deep breath.

"I won't let him take you away from me."

Andrea looked at me with surprise in her eyes. I tried to avoid making eye-contact, but she appeared right in front of me, her eyes shining like gold.

"R-really?" She asked, her voice shaking of nervousness. I nodded, a blush forming on my face. Why did I have to act like this around her every time?

Andrea grabbed me in a hug, surprising me this time. I hesitated, but returned the hug. I could feel her warmth, brushing against me. Suddenly, a knock made us separate, both blushing furiously.

"Hey, are you going to help us or what?" I heard Tyler ask from behind the door. I nodded, although I knew he didn't see it. I recovered myself and gave a nervous smile to Andrea before opening the door, finding Tyler in the position to look through the keyhole. I gave him a glare, the smart boy laughing of embarrassment before getting up, heading into the living room.

We were all positioned at our computers, headphones on, but no mic. Rayleigh seemed like he was ready for a war, Sky taking a glance at her younger brother and simply sighing. Tyler didn't pay much attention to the guy, more focused on his compute-screen (although I could swear he sometimes looked up at Sky.)

I was focused on our task ahead, the one standing in front of the now opened tunnel. We gave each other one last glance before facing to the screen, now ready.

We entered, one after the other: Me first, my axe and shield ready for the first blow. Behind me was Tyler, holding a bucket with water, many more ready inside his inventory. Sky was holding a much more powerful sword, the glow of enchantments only a small show of the many that were put on the diamond blade. Rayleigh was last, bow and arrow at ready.

After many tenuous minutes we arrived at the first chamber, surprise hitting us all.

The chamber was empty, nothing left of what had happened here a few days ago. I looked around, giving Tyler the sign. He pulled his bucket out and poured the water on the floor, flooding the room. We kept going like that, room after room, until we reached the portal-room. We covered the floor with water, Tyler reminding us that he only had 4 buckets left. I walked up the stairs, reaching the portal. I took a deep breath, looking into the working portal.

It looked like you were gazing into deep-space, many stars and nebula showing. I looked at the edge, checking the Ender-eyes one for one. They seemed normal, and I gestured for the rest to approach.

"This is it." Tyler said, looking into the portal.

"Lets go!" Sky said, taking the lead, being her impacient self again. She jumped into the portal, vanishing before our eyes. I shook my head before I took a deep breath and followed, Tyler and Rayleigh right behind me. The screen went to the loading of The End.

We were surprised at a message showing.

'Those who enter this forbidden realm, must fight to escape. Be prepared to die, explorers, warriors, and many more. The End, is nigh.'

And at that, the screen turned to a strange world.

I blinked, my eyes having a hard time to register what I saw. THIS was not The End like the Internet showed. THIS was The End like Andrea had described it.

We were standing on an obsidian platform, forming a circle (as much as possible in Minecraft). We were on a small yellow island, the ground made of Endstone. My eyes immediately noticed how the sky was filled with stars, all shining around us. I looked ahead, noticing a simple bridge made of... Obsidian?

"They must really like obsidian." I thought aloud, not noticing that Rayleigh had started moving across the bridge. I quickly caught up with the somewhat eager boy, the rest following me. I was surprised that he was the one this time to be impacient, instead of her sister. 'Guess it runs in the family.'

We arrived on a much bigger island, this one having a few pillars. They were just like Andrea had described them.

'The pillars aren't perfect towers. They are scattered with holes and indents, some even having entire cave-systems underneath them.'

We reached one, and I stopped, admiring the work that must have taken to build the monolithic towers. I suddenly heard someone gasp, and looked over to see a group of Endermen reaching closer. I took another glimpse at the tower and gestured the others to follow me. Luckily my thought was right, and behind the tower was a small cave, allowing us to hide.

"Quick thinking." Sky complimented, checking to see if the Endermen were gone. I was about to say something back when Rayleigh left, Sky giving the sign 'all clear'. We kept going, doing this hide-and-seek for a few more times until we reached a very strange island.

Next to the pillars, the island was filled with strange, purple creeping plants, towering high above us as well. The towers were less damaged, a sign that we were reaching the island where the Ender Dragon was housed. I took a look at the plants and noticed a very small one. I couldn't help my curiosity and knocked at it with my hand, the plant crumbling down. I picked the item it dropped, reading 'chorus fruit'.

The others looked at me with curiosity, but Rayleigh was glaring me down. I was just about to ask why when I heard a strange noise. It almost sounded like silverfish. I looked into the 'forest' of chorus-plants and noticed a swarm of purple silverfish.

"Endermites!" Rayleigh shouted, running down the path we were following. Neither of us hesitated and ran after him, the swarm of 'Endermites' right behind us. I was fast enough to catch up with Rayleigh.

"Endermites live in these 'chorus-forest'! If you dare break one of the chorus-plants, they'll hunt you down until you're of their island!" Rayleigh explained, running even faster. I could only curse myself for doing just that before I heard the Endermites closing in.

We made it of the island, the Endermites stopping right in front of the obsidian bridge. We took a moment to eat and refresh our hunger, giving me time to look around. Sky was holding guard, assuring that no Enderman saw us.

I noticed that the bridge we were on this time was decorated with enderbrick, a brick variant of enderstone. It also was made of obsidian and purple brick and pillars. It appeared more complicated then other bridges, making me think.

'Once you reach a bridge that is decorated with purple bricks, you are about to walk onto the Ender Dragon-island. This island is filled with Endermen, and the pillars are very tall and almost flawless, only a few having dents or holes. The tallest pillars are in the center, where the Ender Dragon lives. They are decorated at the base. One also holds what appears to be a place for someone to live.'

"Across this bridge is Dragon-island." I said, walking towards the other side of the bridge, stopping right next to Sky. She eyed the other side carefully, noticing something. I followed her gaze and took a good look, noticing what she had seen.

There was a whole haunting of Endermen heading our way.

"Oh crap." Tyler said, noticing it as well. Rayleigh didn't say anything and grabbed his bucket of water. He ran towards the Endermen, who had walked onto the bridge, the tall black mobs noticing him. He jumped and dropped in the middle of them, placing the water-source right in between them. The water flowed outwards, causing the Endermen to shriek and teleport away.

"Great job, now they can warn the others." Tyler said, Sky nodding in agreement. But I knew that Rayleigh knew otherwise.

"They won't." We said in unison, both now holding a smirk on our face. I grabbed my axe and put my shield up. Rayleigh grabbed his bow and arrow, standing ready.

We were right.

The haunting appeared right behind the flowing water. Rayleigh shot his first arrow, hitting the Enderman in the middle in the chest.

"How can that work?!" Tyler said, surprised to see the arrow hit target.

"They need a cool-down before teleporting again." Rayleigh explained, planting another arrow in an Enderman. I nodded and ran towards the now surprised group of Endermen. I held my axe ready and slammed into the first one that Rayleigh hit, one-hit killing it. I quickly avoided a few attacks and slammed my weapon into the next one, the mob turning into particles of dust. In the main time Sky had caught up with me and her sword ended into the chest of an attacking foe. She twirled around and hit it again, the mob turning into dust. I blocked an attack with my shield, jumping up and hitting an Enderman in the face, the mob crumbling to dust. I noticed one behind Sky, but was relieved to see it flinching as and arrow hit it in the head. 'He does care for his big sister.'

A few minutes later we were done, my inventory holding a few enderpearls the Endermen had dropped. Sky was checking her weapon on any bad damage, deeming it good to go. Rayleigh grabbed the water source, the water-flow disappearing. We checked each other one last time before walking on. I was the first to step on the now very clear end-brick path going down the island. There were a few chorus-plants scattered around, and the obsidian pillars were unbelievably tall, almost seeming perfect. There were Endermen in the distance, but to far to notice us. The others stopped right next to me, taking in the sight.

"This End is much harder then I thought it would be. I'm not sure if everyone of us will make it back without respawning." Rayleigh explained, taking a look at the massive hauntings of Endermen walking around. I didn't really understand what he meant with 'harder then I thought' but I quickly shrugged it of and focused on the task ahead:

Saving Andrea's friend.

And we wouldn't have it easy.

As soon as we started walking, we were faced with a path full of Endermen. We tried to hide behind a nearby pillar, but Tyler was spotted and the group was now running towards him, and ultimately, us.

We started running to the next pillar, not caring for who was walking behind. I heard Tyler shriek next to me I.R.L., looking back in the game. He was surrounded.

He grabbed a bucket and poured the content out, but to Tyler's dismay I knew it was over. The water evaporated as soon as it made contact with the ground, leaving Tyler defenceless.

'Water doesn't work on the Dragon's island.'

"Water isn't going to save us this time." I said, running towards Tyler in the hope to help him. I had remembered a very important section of what Andrea had written down. The dragon's island was protected against water.

I slammed my axe into the first Enderman, giving Tyler the chance to escape the death-circle. We started running, me behind Tyler to receive the blows of the Endermen attacking. My shield held up for now, and we reached our first good sign:

A massive part filled with chorus-plants.

At that moment an idea reached my mind. I started running faster, but still the last to enter the forest. I stopped and looked back, the Endermen right behind us. I took one last step back and waited for the right moment. Almost at that point, the Endermen reached the edge of the forest.

I smacked one of the chorus-plants, the purple creeping disintegrating at my touch. Suddenly, a swarm of Endermites appeared from the forest. I called for everyone to jump on the plants. Everyone did so, me the last. The swarm kept going, leaving us alone and heading straight to the Endermen, who almost seemed scarred. 'Did I just find a new fear that Endermen have?'

The Endermites swarmed the Endermen, the mobs loosing all attention on us. I signaled for the rest to start running, the group obliging happily.

"Brilliant!" Rayleigh said after we reached the other side of the Chorus-forest. I couldn't even believe that the normally ever-serious boy had given me a praise. I could tell Sky was surprised at her younger brother's reaction, her eyebrow going up.

"Ahem... Let's keep going." Rayleigh corrected himself quickly, taking his serious looks on again. I laughed a bit at that, hearing a slight giggle coming from somewhere. I looked to my room, noticing a pair of purple eyes looking from behind the door-frame. Andrea found Rayleighs little slip a bit amusing too.

We started walking again, this time making double sure we could make it to our next hiding spot. We passed a few massive hauntings, having a few close calls. Finally, we reached what appeared to be the largest towers on the whole island.

"The dragon's lair." I said, almost whispering. Why was I even whispering? The others nodded, gazing at the massive obsidian monoliths. I had to give the Endermen that much: Their constructs were impressive, to say the least.

I shook my head, my mind trailing of. I coughed, causing the others to snap out of their amazement. Even Rayleigh had to recover himself from staring at the massive pillars.

We started sneaking towards the pillars, not aware of something watching us. I was the first to hear something unusual. It was quiet, to quiet. I looked around and noticed that all the Endermen were gone.

"Guys..." I started, but got interrupted, as a haunting the size unlike anything else ever seen appeared around us. We were surrounded, and heavily outnumbered.

"Shit." Was all that Tyler could muster before the Goliath-haunting started moving, straight towards us. We prepared ourselves to fight, ready to die fighting.

Only, we weren't attacked. They stopped a few blocks away from us, staring at us with their mouths hanging open, still shaking. Was time frozen? What stopped them attacking?

My, and most likely everyone else their question, was answered by a loud roar sounding through the sky. It could be heard through the headphones. I took mine off, the sound to loud to withstand. The others covered their ears underneath their headphones, the roar sounding through my whole house. I heard a shriek and looked at where Andrea was last, only a few particles making me guess what happened. I couldn't blame her, that roar was scary!

It stopped, and we turned to our screens, now a massive black form facing us. It took me a second time to see what we were facing. All our mouth's fell open, even that of Rayleigh.

The Ender Dragon was standing right before us, it's breath sounding. I looked into it's dark-purple eyes and was met with something I'd never seen before. I felt the fury, the anger, the madness of a beast who's territory has just been invaded. I saw it opening its mouth, this time not to roar but for something else.

"RUN!"

We split up, just in time to avoid the purple fire scorching the endstone where we were standing just a moment ago. The Endermen started charging, making me fall into a small pit in the ground. I jumped back out, only to be hit by a dozen of attacks. My armor held well, but it caused me to flinch and loose concentration. I regained my footing and stopped another battering with my shield, the health of the item decreasing badly. I took my ground, hearing the muttering of the others around me, their battles very tough as well.

I had knocked back every attack, the Endermen attacking me decreasing in numbers. Suddenly I saw an Enderman that was going to hit me turn to dust, an arrow flying right into another one.

"Rayleigh!"

I was right, the serious-boy shooting a flock of arrows into the Endermen around me. I killed those that endured the arrow-barrage and faced the guy who saved me. He nodded until we were drawn to Tyler, who yelled something towards the screen of his computer.

He was stuck against a pillar, trying hard to not die. We charged at the group, but were to late. Right before me, Tyler his player died, all it's items dropping on the ground. We quickly finished the Endermen off before looking for Sky. I picked Tyler's stuff up, my friend sighing of relieve as he saw my act of friendship. 'He'll probably want his stuff back.' I jokingly thought.

Sky had been hunted near the middle of the circle that the pillars made, showing where the Ender Dragon lived. She was standing against the portal going back home, not noticing this yet. 'Not like there was much use, there isn't a portal in it.' She was cornered by a massive group of Endermen and the Ender Dragon, who hissed at the female player who had entered it's personal domain.

"Sky!" We yelled, arriving at the scene. I looked at the girl, taking her situation in. My thoughts were interrupted by a barrage of arrows hitting the Endermen and, incredibly enough, the Ender Dragon too! The mobs and their leader looked back, Rayleigh standing with his bow in one hand and an enchanted diamond sword in the other.

"Stay away from my sister!" Rayleigh yelled. He was deeply into the game, not noticing his sister next to him smiling warmly at her little brother. 'No matter what, he'll always care for his sister.'

I suddenly heard something strange. A voice. It was soft, and seemed to be held back by something, but I could just make it out from all the noise around me. I turned to where I guessed the voice came from, facing that one specific pillar that was mentioned in Andrea's explanation of The End. My eyes widened at what I saw.

A girl, around Rayleighs age, was holding onto a wall of iron bars holding her back. She had what seemed like a black robe that reached to her heels, a black oversized shirt covering the rest. I couldn't make out the rest, but could only guess one thing.

That was the friend Andrea talked about.

I looked at Sky and Rayleigh, the siblings giving a good fight against the mobs. The Ender Dragon was flying above them, watching the battle undergoing underneath her. I saw my chance and ran towards the 'prison'.

"Who are you?" The girl said, her voice soft and kind, yet serious and scared at the same time.

"I'm Archer. I'm a friend of Andrea."

At the mention of Andrea, I could see the relieve in the girls eyes. Only then, when I reached her, did I see the rest of her appearance.

She was wearing boots with high-heels, black as well. Her robe was edged with white spikes, a piece at the back separated and going down much further, like a tail, and a hood hanging down. A part on her back was lined with spikes, like the back of the Ender Dragon. Her hair was a few shades lighter from black, a few purple outlines and purple shading at the ends. One of the sleeves was ripped away, a claw-mark scar covering her arm. Her eyes were a lighter purple, more magenta. But the most prominent that showed she was closely related to the Ender Dragon was on her back.

A pair of black-leather wings with white edging.

"Are you going to keep staring or are you getting me out of here!" She said, annoyance in her voice. I was surprised at her confidence, wondering why I actually was surprised about that. I blamed Andrea's timidness and focused on my task: Getting those bars away. I grabbed a pick and gestured for her to stand back. She complied, taking a few steps back. I swung my pick into the bars and took one after the other away, until a hole big enough for her was clear. She breathed out, a small puff of purple fire following. I shrugged that of and looked back at my friends, just in time to see Sky getting torched by the Ender Dragon, enraged at the victory of the siblings over it's army. Her death-message popped in, only making things more ominous.

'Skyflare12 has been scorched to dust by the Ender Dragon.'

"We have to go." I said, but got stopped by a hand grabbing mine I.R.L. on my mouse. I looked up, Andrea suddenly next to me, looking at me with fear in her eyes. I read what she was trying to say in her eyes.

'No time.'

I nodded and faced the Ender-dragon girl, taking a deep breath. I grabbed an enderpearl and gave it to her. She looked up at me with a questioning look.

I looked back at Rayleigh, who was struggling to avoid the fires from the Ender Dragon. It was now or never.

"I'm a player. Throw the Enderpearl into my eyes!"

She looked up at me and everything seemed to dawn to her. She nodded and aimed at my players head before throwing the enderpearl. I had pushed myself away from the table with chair and all, just in time to avoid the form of the girl materializing. She finally was there in one piece, gravity suddenly kicking in. She landed on the wooden floor face-first, a thunk sounding from floor and skull hitting. The one thing the Ender Dragon girl could muster out was a simple, groaning,...

"Ouch!"