Hero's Bane

Chapter 7: To Nether and Back

Edited 4/6/2022

Steve was running and he knew exactly what he was running from too. The footsteps that followed his lightly echoed through a dark narrow cave and the disturbing thought of Herobrine running after him really got his adrenaline flowing and legs going.

His dim torch was like his hope, it was also diminishing in it's glow and making the light of his situation fade. He decided to make a daring move despite his fear, not because he wanted to but because his only source of luminosity was on it's last dying ember and he couldn't move forward without seeing the possible dangers that lie ahead. Hordes of mobs, gaps in the ground, cliffs, and possible dead-ends.

Steve boldly stopped and stood there in the darkness as the ember finally died out, he closed his eyes and listened for anything, any sound especially that of boots. But he heard nothing to his relief. Nothing but the sound of his thudding heartbeat and droplets of water pattering against the ground nearby.

He let out a sigh of relief and it echoed oddly enough. Steve suddenly got an idea, he experimentally stomped his foot onto the rocky flooring as hard as he could and it echoed all the way down the stone hallway. Perhaps he wasn't being followed after all. He wasn't sure if letting his guard down was a possible trap or not but he wasn't about do that. He couldn't afford to so he focused and the path before him and listened carefully, holding his sword close and with a tight grip.

Steve readjusted his chest pack and blindly reached an arm back into it and rummaged though the materials. His hand landed on the thin object and he pulled it out and clipped the pack back up. He then pulled out his flint and Steel from his pocket and struck the pieces repeatedly together to create a spark.

With a fresh torch now glowing brightly, Steve began to walk to conserve energy. The thought of being followed though- it never left his mind. At least the cave was small and enclosed, it lessened the chances of being flanked by mobs which gave a him a small feeling of security. It's what could be in front of him that really concerned him, he wasn't even sure which way to go with so many branches of caves connected to the one he was currently trekking in. There was nothing currently to worry him at the moment. Well except for the demon that could possibly be right behind him again, matching his footsteps. That unnerving thought automatically made Steve whip his head back in paranoia.

There was nothing.

He let out another sigh and then slapped himself on the forehead with a light grimace. If Herobrine was still toying with him then turning his head back was probably the most stupidest thing he could of done. It could of got him killed if the ex-hero had been there. He had to keep the warnings given to him in mind, while fighting the paranoia and instinct to constantly want to look back as well. This was going to be one difficult journey.

Steve continued to kept up his slow and steady pace, it seemed that this tunnel would never end and it was maddening. It was like a never ending channel of stone, dirt, and gravel, just open enough for Steve and one other person to comfortably walk side by side. He started to wonder if Herobrine dug it out and made it lead to the other side of the ancient land, but then that'd take forever to cross and with limited resources-? "It could be a trap!" He absentmindedly thought aloud. "But then- if it does go on for a very long time then I'd eventually starve. Ugh." He frowned deeply at the thought, but Herobrine would probably kill him before that happens. Besides, now that he thought about; he was sort of hungry, but now was not the time and so he'd have to wait a while. At least until he knew he was safe.

Another thought struck him quickly. He had little rations and was already drained of energy, he'd fall victim to Herobrine or any mobs patrolling this tunnel if he couldn't find a way to the surface soon. Steve's legs seemed to move on their own now, pushing the miner into a light sprint. The tunnel just kept going on and on and Steve was quickly loosing his breath going up and down over stone slopes. The thought of dying in that dark and cold place just made him shiver, the nightmare of being killed by that monster made him move faster.

As he ran a strange pulsation of energy washed up from behind and tugged at the miner's body, making him slow his stride. This energy wasn't familiar to Steve and he was too terrified of what it could be, related to Herobrine's presence or not. He kicked himself into gear and fought out of the bizarre pull that was somehow keeping up with him.

Purplish toxic clouds whirled by Steve and flooded down the tunnel and then it surrounded him, little swirls of violet smoke began to obscure his vision. It was at this time that Steve could feel a sudden wave of heat overwhelm his body and the smell of brimstone and smoke filled his nostrils. He violently coughed from the nauseating waft of hazardous fumes, tears were now forming in his stinging eyes. 'So this was what Luna called the purple mist?' He thought.

The heated current was searing and stifling, even the air he was breathing in now was very dry and heavy. Sweat beaded his face but it would evaporate just as quickly as it was formed. Running only made the man more hotter and exhausted but he couldn't stop, he couldn't risk being dragged backwards into this Nether-ish haze.

Steve brandished his torch in front of him but he still couldn't see ahead, not even when he strained his eyes. In fact, he couldn't even see stone anymore. He blinked over and over to see the ground but what he saw made his eyes widen. 'I'm running on air?' He blinked again, not believing what he was seeing. The stone flooring he was dashing across was fading in and out; revealing a world below of red-colored rock and molten lava. He moved his gaze to the walls and even to the ceiling and they were doing the same thing, fading.

"What is this?! What's happening?!" He coughed, still fighting the sheer force of this purple cloud that clung to him. In his mind that world he- in some way- walked across could only be familiarized as the fabled Nether, a place of fire, death and suffering that he had learned of as a kid. It was a myth though, it wasn't supposed to be real.

Just when he thought he'd seen it all- a large dark red structure came into view, protruding through a huge wall of red colored craggy stone. It was a fortress, a very large structure surrounded by bubbling lava and smaller islands of dark brown sand. Even with the walls and the ceiling fading he could tell just how high this structure was and how massive it could be if he was to reach it. Two thin towers stretched out from the fortress and climbed all the way to a ceiling of similar stone, clearly defining the structure as an empire or domain. But for what? That imaginary concept worried him.

Sudden sounds of sharp wails and heavy grunting filled his ears, and they were close by. Steve forced himself to run even faster then he ever had before after hearing those freakish beasts, just the sound of two of them was horrifying enough but more different strange screeches and indistinguishable sounds soon joined in an orchestra of fiendish cries. He didn't look down anymore and he didn't look ahead, he was too afraid of falling into that cursed world so he ran blindly with his eyes sealed shut. He was afraid of it all but he wasn't about to be dragged into that torturous place, he had to escape it.

The stone beneath him was manifesting back into it's place, the walls did the same as he continued to sprint. Somehow, Steve had managed to wrench himself free of the fog and go faster than it could snake through the cave. Noticing the cool air now hitting his face Steve forced his eyes open. He tilted his head enough to see the purple mist recede back into the depths of the cave, taking it's horrific sounds, smells, and heat away with it.

He stopped and watched it fade out into the darkness. Feeling a little safer he leaned against a wall to catch his breath, he coughed a few times to get the tainted air out. He wasn't sure what he saw was real, only that if it was then it would be the Nether. How it tried to draw him in was the most confusing part, someone or something had to conjure this cloud and it wasn't long before he had an idea of who sent it after him. It had to be that demon, it's the only explanation he could think of. Steve swung his head back in forth and tried to shake off the thoughts and chills that came with this theory. If Herobrine was going to drag him to the Nether then Steve wasn't going in without a fight. He wasn't going to be imprisoned in a place of terror, torture, and death. No.

The miner pushed himself off of the wall and looked behind once more to an empty hallway. He turned back and something immediately caught his eye. There was a low and dim light up ahead in narrow cavern, it gave off a warm torch glow and Steve's instincts drove him towards the light. 'Where is that light coming from?' He thought to himself while jogging towards it. 'It wasn't there before.' The first thing that came to his mind was that old saying "Don't go towards the light at the end of the tunnel." Which would be very appropriate for his situation considering Herobrine was around and possibly setting up Steve's demise, but for some reason he just had to check it out.

Maybe it was the comfort of having more light and feeling more safe with it, or it could be an exit that he so desperately wanted, or because he had no other way to go but back into the mist, which wasn't about to happen. He chose all of the reasons. Why? What other choice was there? His mind told him that he had to reach it and as soon as possible, reasoning could come later.

He strode closer and closer and had noticed it was a torch sticking to a wall, it was even better when he saw a dusty chest sitting under it. This made him smile for once in the cursed place, perhaps there was some tools or dried beef and maybe some extra torches and coals stored inside of it. Now he was too eager to reach the light and he sped up his pace as he neared it. "Alright, let's see what's in the-"

The ground beneath him suddenly collapsed and he felt himself slipping on gravel and falling into a large hole below the tunnel.

He fell flat on his chest and he choked on the dirt and dust that hung in the air, the ground was now more rough and sharply textured. He slowly pulled himself up onto his knees and brushed away at his shirt. He then noticed that the bag on his back had become lighter, meaning all of it's contents were spread out all over the floor. "Damn." He cursed, rubbing his head while feeling around for his tools. His torch was put out with dust and now he was surrounded by darkness, feeling a little apprehensive he quickly rummaged for anything that had a familiar shape. He shoved whatever he could into his bag as recognizable groans filled the dark silence around him.

Steve shot a glance upwards and had saw nothing but darkness, that torch that 'was' on the wall had been put out too, or even worse- removed. He had feared the worst. … It was a trap. Zombies are going to eat him alive.

The sounds of the groaning came closer to Steve's right and he quickly patted around for a torch or stick he could set aflame. His panic grew even more when all his hands passed over were blocks of gravel and stone. "Where is it, where is it?!" He strained his eyes to see a stick shape in the darkness but he couldn't see anything. His hand finally passed over a warm object when the moaning neared. He grabbed onto it and it burnt his fingers. He withdrew his hand and shook it to cool it off from the sudden heat. Louder steps forced the miner to pat around for it again and he reached for hot source and latched on. He pulled himself off of the floor and backed away from the sounds, hoping he had enough time to relight the torch.

He struck at the flint and steel again and again while backing away, it resulted in multiple failures with too much dust covering it's surface. A few more steps back and the hill of his foot and his backside finally smacked into a cold surface, Steve was trapped up against a corner with a zombie stumbling after him in the dark. "Come on!" He struck the flint again and a small spark landed on the coal and a small flame came to life. It was dim but it was enough to see a stumbling greenish figure coming closer.

"Muuuuhhhhhhaaaahhhhh." It groaned, reaching it's decaying arms up and out at the living human.

A small blow towards the flame made it grow just enough to illuminate a few feet ahead of him, he was now down at the deepslate level; where the darker colored stone made it even more difficult to see let alone mine. Steve glanced around for anything to fight with, using his bare fists or even the torch against these monsters would be the death of him for sure. Stealth's power came back into mind and the zombie was starting to look even more intimidating then ever before.

His frightened gaze finally landed on a reflective object just a few feet away from zombie, it was his sword and it was completely out of reach. He contemplated the risks for lunging for it and it didn't look good, but there wasn't much choice. Steve shot out of the corner and sprinted pass the zombie, a powerful swipe to the side made the human stumble forwards but he managed to grab the hilt of the blade and quickly spin on his heels.

"Guuurrrrrhhhhhh." It moaned again, turning towards it's fleeting prey.

Steve clutched his side from the powerful scrape. The zombie seemed to of done little damage considering the strike didn't cut through, not even through his shirt and he thanked Notch that it didn't. But still, it hurt pretty badly. And that was only a quick smack, the zombie's real power would definitely be greater then a small slap.

Steve carefully laid the torch on the ground and brought both hands onto the sword, just wildly swinging it might not do much in this place and he was going to need as much power as he could muster to do enough damage. He charged at the dead man and swung the blade across it's chest.

The monster stumbled back a step when a large gash carved it's rotting flesh but continued it's march anyways.

Steve swung at it's chest again but this time the mob did something he would of never suspected. It stepped backwards and then lunged for him once the sword went down. It grabbed a hold of his shoulders and tried to bite away at his neck but Steve held it back with the blunt end of his blade and struggled to keep control.

"Get off!" He screamed, using enough force to shove the man-eater away if just by a little. He held the sword out as the monster stumbled back towards him and it impaled itself on the razor edge. It stopped moving with it's arms falling and it's head rolling down at it's chest.

Feeling relived that the monster was now dead, he slowly pulled the sword out. At first it didn't budge so Steve yanked back but that was when the zombie suddenly lifted it's head and arms and moved forward with the pull, it played dead like it had an actual brain.

Steve's eyes widened as the mob forced the blade to go through itself more and more to get closer to the human, pain was something it couldn't feel and Steve should of known that though this same technique had killed some zombies before. As it's hands got nearer Steve took a foot and shoved away at it's abdomen, freeing his sword and putting more distance between him and the zombie.

He raised the blade up and charged at the zombie again, this time he swiftly brought it over and down between the neck and the head, cutting deep and making the monster's arms fall to it's sides for good. It's groaning stopped when Steve pulled the blade out, the mob then fell backwards and crashed against the ground with a thud.

Steve fell backwards on his rear end with a hand on his head, an apparent realization clicked in mind and he didn't like it. This was only one Zombie of possibly hundreds or even thousands, that's not even counting Skeletons, Spiders, Endermen, and Creepers! What if there was something else? This small battle really drained him of energy and he barely had any to begin with since that nightmare weakened him, which he couldn't even explain how that happened.

Another sudden groan from the dark had Steve up on his feet in seconds, he was already exhausted but he couldn't fight another zombie, not now. He reached out and plucked the torch from the ground then waved it around him. He wasn't in a tunnel anymore, but a large open deepslate cavern that had several different tunnels connected to it. Like his situation couldn't get any better, the moans came from a tunnel behind him so Steve quickly chose to go to the one directly ahead of him. He was sure to get lost but he wasn't going to face another mob if he didn't have to. He ran into the inner cave and down several blocks, he noticed that he should be going upwards instead of downwards but he couldn't turn back, not when he heard the screeching sounds of those eight-legged red-eyed freaks from behind.

One misstep had the miner tripping and rolling down a few blocks. He groaned from the pain but didn't hesitate to lay there, he got back on his feet and continued to run downwards, but more carefully this time. As he ran that strange tug pulled at his back, heat nipped at the back of his neck. Purple mist flew past him again and Steve forced himself into another quick dash, the smell of sulfur and smoke returned as well.

"NO!" He shouted, holding his sword and torch close, trying to do anything to gain speed on the persisting energy.

He wanted to close his eyes again and hope to open them to an empty space but he couldn't not when he came upon a large opening with a dead-end wall. He stopped as he reached it and looked up, the rest of the path was several blocks high and he had little to no time to scale them. He turned his back and faced the warm haze. He shut his eyes and waited and waited for it to just enwrap him and throw him into a world of fire and molten rock. There was nothing he could do, nowhere to turn, this was it; the Nether was about to devour him.

… But it never came

Steve daringly pried one eye open and the mist was fading out again, but those unmistakable glowing eyes took it's place as it fizzled out into the dark. He couldn't see the man standing there in the darkness of the cave but those eyes were glowing brightly, they where there staring right through him and even his very soul.

"He-Hero-brine." The miner stuttered, his chest was literally pounding and his expression had frozen with that of fear. He'd rather be take his chances in the Nether world then come face to face with the cruel ex-Hero. The sound of those footsteps made him shudder, Herobrine was going to kill him now and Steve had absolutely no strength or willpower to fight for his life right now. He may of just failed everyone, Warren, Luna, the village, his brother and father most importantly. They died fighting to save him and his mother and sister, but Steve… he couldn't rise up to such a task. Fear and exhaustion had gotten the better of him and he was going to die a coward.

He dropped the torch and sword and put both of his arms over his head, sliding down the wall until he was crouching. He was prepared for the imminent strike to end it all.