CHRONICLE

BOOK ONE: LYDIA

PART THREE: THE ENDER WARS

Chapter Twenty-One: When Worlds Collide

Lydia found she was not the only rider to come in with bad news.

As she walked through the main halls, she heard whispers from people of all walks of life, from ragged farmers to fellow warriors.

The world is breaking, the whispers said. Petrarch is gone, the royals slain mercilessly by a white-eyed demon. Osland has fallen, eaten by the monsters rising from the bog and spiders crawling from the depths. Ravenswing Keep has been breached, with no survivors. Just a burnt-out shell.

When she delivered her news to the priest at the door, a dozen heads shook dejectedly, resigned to their fate.

The whole world was collapsing around them.

Furious, Lydia turned on her heels and stalked down the side hall she was directed towards and pounded on the door. A thin, shaky voice answered her.

"Leave me alone. My plans are shot and I'm miserable."

"Jonas," Lydia called, biting back her rage. "It's me. Lydia. Let me in."

There was the sound of hurried shuffling and an astonished cry, and immediately the door flew open and Lydia's father, white-haired and hobbling on a cane, leaped out and stopped dead, staring at Lydia in awe.

"Lydia..." he breathed. "Lydia, my Lydia. It can't be."

Lydia took a deep breath, holding out her hand. "It's been a long time, Father."

Jonas took her offered hand in both of his, dropping his cane to the floor. "Too long," he agreed. "Far too long for a parent to live without seeing his daughter. I missed you so much." But then his smile drooped as he saw the stern look on Lydia's face. "Is there something wrong?"

Something twisted in Lydia's chest as she looked at his face. Closing her eyes against the tears, she wrapped her father in her embrace, clutching tightly and feeling years younger, more vulnerable. "I'm sorry, Father," she whispered. "Hanna..."

"No, my darling," Jonas said, pulling away and patting her hand. "Don't apologize. What happened? Is she all right?"

Lydia shook her head, and her vision blurred as Hanna's face appeared in her memory, twisted in fear as she watched the monsters tear into her castle. "No. She... she's gone."

"Gone?"

Jonas's voice was barely above a whisper. Slowly, he put a hand to his chest, and Lydia only just caught him in time as he pitched forward. The two collapsed against the wall as Jonas's breathing became more and more ragged, and his eyes misted over with tears.

"Gone... no, oh my Hanna. My Hanna..."

Jonas gripped Lydia's arms tightly, and she held him close as he rocked back and forth, his voice eventually drowned by tears.

The sound of their quiet weeping echoed hollowly against the wooden walls as a deep tremor rumbled the hall around them.

Remund saw it first as he stared up at the shriveling sky.

Of course- he had seen it before. He knew where to look to see his nightmare coming true.

The clouds began to sift from the sky, falling like sand dropping from a sieve. Where there should have been stars, there was only a thick, oily darkness that slowly oozed down from the peak of the sky, reaching smoky tendrils towards the mountaintops.

Then several bolts of lightning furiously attacked the Temple steeple, blasting it to rubble that rained down in red-hot chunks.

Now everyone was looking up.

The sky began to peel back- it was as if the last shreds of natural blue and gray were wrinkling and tearing apart like paper in water and rolling back to let this hideous darkness through.

Then came the fire.

At first, it was a few sparks, seemingly so innocent and innocuous, drifting from the fallen sky like fireflies as everyone watched awestruck at the ruin in the skies.

Then it came down in larger chunks, falling fast and hard, watery gobbets of fire hitting the ground with heavy splats and sticking to whatever they touched, burning viciously. The apprentices began to scream as the liquid fire caught their robes and spread, sticking fast to their skin as they tried to escape the burning fabric.

More and more fire and darkness rained down, in larger and larger pieces, pattering like rain, and then like hail, and then crashing to the earth and leaving craters, spraying soil and ash up into the air.

Behind the darkness above, muddy lightning flashed, illuminating a massive network like a spider web spreading farther and farther across the sky. Here and there, something punched through the darkness, letting through brilliant white light that set aflame everything it touched.

The corruption of the Thing had nearly destroyed the barrier between the Overworld and Aether, and was now working to draw the two together, and let them consume one another.

The darkness grew larger and larger as it consumed more and more as it touched down on the Overworld. Trees shriveled and dissolved when tendrils of the black touched them. Stone turned brittle and began to collapse in on itself like soap foam, shrinking into nothing and bringing down buildings. A cliff buckled and fell, crushing everything underneath as its foundations were destroyed by the Thing.

Remund stood frozen, watching Armageddon unfold with eyes wide and mouth agape until someone snatched him by the scruff and dragged him into the Temple.

Lydia heard the cries from outside and rushed to a window, throwing open the shutters.

The glass shattered inwards with a sudden blast of wind, and she hurled herself out of the way with a cry, curling up to ward off the flying glass. When the dust settled, a blast of hot air blew the tears from her eyes as she stood and looked out.

The world was on fire.

The skies above were black, as if someone had draped a woolen blanket over the world, and the red from the blazes reflected dully back on it. Oily droplets of black dripped down from above, splatting into everything and eating away at it like acid, leaving the ground pitted and bubbling. People fled in all directions, trying desperately to make it to the safety of the Temple.

A blob of darkness blatted into the windowsill with a hiss, throwing up droplets. Several hit Lydia, and she screamed as they ate into her skin. Thrashing desperately, she tore off her cloak and clawed at her exposed hands, getting off the worst of it. Backing up from the window, she examined her arms. They were red and raw, burned deeply where the black stuff had touched them.

Swearing loudly, Lydia fled the room to help get the survivors to safety.

Notch wrestled with the Thing at its heart, fighting to draw back in its reaching tendrils.

A shout from above distracted him, and he looked up through the mess of clinging threads.

"Notch! The barrier!"

Looking down, he saw the spreading stains there, linked only by the barest of threads to the Thing. The fires that were destroying It were also burning through the barrier that separated the Aether from the Overworld.

If that barrier gave way, the Thing would be able to escape him there. Already he could see the flames dripping through the cracks. It had burned far enough to blot out the sun and force itself through a portion of the skies below.

They needed a new approach.

"Gods of the Aether."

Notch's voice pierced through every other sound. "Heed me now. We must extinguish the flames and contain the Thing and all its power in my palace. Begin at the barrier and work your way up."

The other gods took their positions, fighting hard to reach the rapidly weakening floor of the Aether below.

The shadows began to retreat, but the progress was slow, too slow. Even with all their power, the Void magic fought them hard, and it was forced back inch by painful inch. Notch feared they would not reach the barrier in time, let alone stop the Thing from breaking through.

With a curse, Notch released the heart of the Thing and rocketed downwards, ignoring the darkness that exploded above him to stop the darkness spreading like water below.

Joining his power, he slammed the flat of his hand into the barrier and reforged it, cutting off the power that made it through. What remained in the Aether retreated upwards, spreading rapidly even as the rest of the gods fought to contain it.

Without Herobrine, they would not win this battle. They needed the power of two creators to defeat the Void, and with only one, they could only hope to hold it at bay.

The silence told him he at last was alone and himself again.

Herobrine stood, and was launched fifteen feet off the stone by his own legs.

With a cry, he twisted midair and landed in a crouch, shocked speechless. His power! He was strong again!

And yet... he was still in the End. The obsidian towers rose around him, the ender crystals staring balefully down at him. The Endermen, however, cowered just out of sight. As he turned around, and then around again, turning circles, they teleported farther and farther away from him, as if they were afraid.

Afraid of him. He wasn't under their master's thrall.

Where was the Thing? What had happened?

Herobrine cried out as pain lanced through his skull, cracking his thoughts like brittle ice. Gritting his teeth, he tried to focus on what had happened. To remember something, anything.

The Aether. Terra... no, Terra was dead. He watched his own hands kill her.

He swallowed a scream as the pain built up and exploded behind his forehead. He would not be defeated now! Clapping both his hands to the sides of his head, he fell to his knees, grinding his fingertips into his scalp. Terra was dead, Laskig gone, vanished somewhere. Nowhere he could see. Notch...

Notch sent him back here. Notch cut him off from the Thing, and for a space, he was free.

Free, and not helpless.

Herobrine realized with a start that he wouldn't have much time. The battle was likely still raging in the Aether, and from what he saw, not going well. Rubbing his hands together, he stood and began to summon up the strange power within him, so different than the delicate energy he once had as a creator.

He had a plan in mind, one that would bind the Thing back to him and draw It out of the Aether, but first he had to tame the raw magic It had put in him.

Slowly, a faint violet light formed between his palms, an orb hovering in the air.

Lydia knew the Temple wouldn't hold up when she saw globs of the shadows eating away the support pillars all around the building. With a shield strapped to her bad arm, she rushed out into the open, holding it over her head to ward off the wicked poison. The ground bucked under her as another rumble shook the world around her, throwing her off her feet. She landed face-first in a pile of black ashes.

Hacking and spluttering, Lydia clawed her way back to her feet and dashed grit out of her eyes. The ground was still undulating like ripples on the water, and she struggled to keep her footing.

Even a collapsed Temple was better than this, she decided. Praying in her heart for her father's safety, she grabbed a boy by the scruff of his tunic and hauled him in, tossing him into the safety of the open doors. Temple attendants took him from there, ushering him inside.

Smoke rose thickly from the ground- Lydia hadn't realized it was this bad until she was out in it. Diving through a particularly bad patch, she put her shirt up over her mouth and nose and shouted to anyone she could see.

"This way! Come this way, get inside!"

Other survivors, other warriors like her with shields and armor, were coming out now to help her. A tall man with a scarred face climbed up next to Lydia and repeated what she said in a drill sergeant's bark before diving into the ruin and emerging with a struggling Temple apprentice tucked under his arm.

Remund stared back at the woman as he kicked against the man holding him, trying to yell to him what was going to happen. He had to know, the Temple wasn't safe, but the man couldn't hear him over the roar of the flames and the quaking earth.

No one could see the first signs of an avalanche in the chaos, even as the dust began to crumble down the sheer slopes from the tallest peak looming above the Temple.

The portal was small, large enough for an Enderman to walk comfortably through and no larger. It was the smallest Herobrine could manage with the unruly power.

Taking a deep breath, he released the energy he held, and the way was torn open, and a hole appeared midair, Aether light pouring through. Sullied with the shadows of the Thing.

"Notch."

Notch heard his brother's voice and startled violently, looking up over his shoulder. The soulless white eyes of Herobrine stared back.

"What?" Notch gasped, wondering how the thrall of the Thing could have the power to open a portal like this when the Thing itself was occupied with the destruction of the Aether and Overworld.

"It's me," Herobrine said, reaching out a hand. "We don't have much time. It's already noticed me here. Are you listening?"

Notch nodded. It had to be Herobrine. He had to trust this desperate hope- they had nothing else. "I'm listening."

"Get the Thing to me. For as long as I still have my mind, I can hold it. It won't stop it, but it will buy you time."

"What then?"

"The way is open for it to be forced back to the End. You know what to do."

"What about you?" Notch protested, realizing all at once what was happening. His brother truly was alive, but if he followed through now with what Herobrine was suggesting... he would lose him all over again.

Herobrine leveled his gaze with Notch's and held it. "We don't have a choice and we are all out of time."

Notch closed his eyes, his grip on the Thing loosening for a split second. The worlds slowed, everything gliding to a stop as he pulled himself out of the flow of time with Herobrine. He couldn't stop time entirely- not without losing his hold on the Thing, but he had time to speak with his brother for a few final moments.

"This will not change my mind," Herobrine said severely as he stepped out of the portal, balancing unsteadily on the pockmarked floor of the Aether.

"I know," Notch replied, his voice dull.

"You shouldn't waste your power now. I've learned just how precious and limited it can be."

Notch shook his head. "We both learned, when I made the decision that damned you in the first place. I can't make that mistake again. There must be something else-"

"No."

Herobrine put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "I've had all the time in the world to consider every possibility, and there isn't any other choice. The Thing is too entrenched here to be defeated without me pulling it from the other side. Even if there were a way to trap it and release me, I would never be free. It would be able to escape through me, and brother, I'm sick of the blood on my hands."

"It will destroy you," Notch said, tears in his voice. "It will have an eternity to take away everything you ever were."

"Would you allow that?" Herobrine asked, tilting his head. "I doubt it would stay in the End for long. We will defeat it today, but it will try again sometime tomorrow. When that happens, I won't be in the End. I am its favorite weapon now. You will have a chance to take it's weapon away."

"What are you saying?" Notch asked, a sense of dread creeping into his chest.

"I am asking you to kill me if you see me again." Herobrine replied.

Notch knew- he knew what his brother would tell him, but he stood, shocked and speechless, for several heartbeats.

"Why, Herobrine?" he asked, almost losing his hold on the time-stream.

Herobrine sighed. "When the Thing first took me, it tried for weeks to break me, find a way into my mind to control me from the inside out. When torment didn't work, it tried to explore my fears. It found one. I tasted death over and over until at last, it showed me what would happen if I lost my soul, and that was when I gave in. I am more afraid of what will happen if you leave me alive with it than of dying. I have seen what lies beyond, and it gives me hope. I am not afraid anymore of it."

His voice cracked as he finished speaking, and to Notch's astonishment, his eyes misted over, a tear spilling out and trailing down his face.

Notch's own vision blurred, and he closed his eyes against the burning sensation, catching his brother in a tight embrace.

"I will do it," he whispered. "Take the Thing back to the End. When it is defeated, I will do everything in my power to set you free."

All at once, the Overworld went eerily silent. The fire stopped falling, and while lightning still flashed, no thunder followed. People stopped screaming and looked skyward once more. Even the crackle of the flames seemed to dampen itself.

Above the Temple mountains, a point of starlight appeared, and then another, and another. In a spreading circle, an infinity of lights beneath a hazy purple Void appeared, sweeping away the chaos of the falling sky and replacing it with silence.

Above, in the Aether, the Thing was suddenly drawn into an End portal that yawned across the entire barrier to catch all of it. Notch and the rest of the gods combined their power to force it down, and Notch watched Herobrine's face through the battling lights and shadows.

Herobrine gathered up the Thing, saluted to his brother, and was gone.

The skies of the Overworld began to clear as the starry Void closed in on itself, starting at the horizon and vanishing the way it came, taking the darkness with it to leave an ordinary night sky lit by the full moon.

It was over. Whatever battle the gods had waged was won at last.

Lydia felt a wave of exhaustion hit her and wobbled on her legs. She pitched forward without realizing it, and fell to her knees, sitting down hard on her heels.

Everyone was safe. She closed her eyes against the fatigue throbbing dully in her skull, pulling her down as if her muscles had turned to lead. Everyone was safe.

But then a low rumble vibrated the ground. Lydia felt it first. More noticed as it grew stronger.

Dust began to fall from the edges of the cliffs and the top of the Temple, and then a rock tumbled down the mountain slope and ricocheted off the roof. Another one followed, shattering a window.

With a fantastic roar, the great mountains walling in the Temple, so weakened by the attacks of the shadows, collapsed on themselves. A roiling sea of stone and scree tumbled down and swept over the Temple, knocking over towers and crushing buildings beneath. The roar went on and on as the mountain stopped struggling and gave way, the highest peak at last toppling over to land with a mighty crash where the Temple once stood.

Lydia's ears were ringing so loudly that when the dust cleared, she couldn't even hear herself screaming.

Amanda the Huntress here.

I'll give you a minute to let that last part sink in.

Deep breath in, deep breath out.

Feeling better?

Good. I have a little news. First: I have graduated high school. I'm on my way to college.

Second: I finished the first draft of the novel I was writing outside Fanfiction. I'm looking to publish that soon.

In the mean time, I'm not leaving FanFiction until all of my stories are completely exhausted and finished. Which won't be for a long time, perhaps never. You see, I always have time to rip off another author's world and re-imagine it. It's good practice for my own writing, and the best way to explore characters foreign to you.

And in the case of my Minecraft stories here... these are pure nostalgia. I'm never letting them go. I'm too madly in love with Huntress and Dragon, and most of all, Herobrine. And I love the game too much.

So, that should put the fears I saw in the reviews to rest. Published author or not, Fanfiction was my first home as a writer and here I stay.

Someday, perhaps, I'll read fanfiction of my own original work. THAT would make me unspeakably happy.

See you next chapter. Be sure to read the new chapter of Huntress's Tale out now and the new Legacy teaser.

Huntress out.