Hero's Bane

Chapter 9: He'll Keep You Safe

Edited 4/7/2022

"Conner?!" Steve shouted as leaped up each of the stone steps in his hurried sprint back towards a danger zone, a place where he had seen, heard, and ran from tough monsters and that strange terrifying mist. His one encounter with a powerful Zombie started to replay in his head and the idea of that boy running into one alone or if he'd run into something worse was beginning to weigh heavy in his head. 'What is a child doing here in the first place?' He thought to himself as he finally reached the large opening where he first fell into.

"This way Oreh!" The young boy poked out of one of the caves to his right, waving an arm with an positive expression. "Come on."

"Wait right there!" He quickly ran over to the small blonde boy and then did a quick scan of his surroundings, making sure that there were no immediate dangers nearby. It was odd though, there was absolutely no sounds of growls and moans or anything of the sort. Even the zombie's corpse that he had killed earlier was now missing, no evidence of a struggle to be seen. The only reason he could explain this was that the zombie wasn't completely dead and it must of got up and stumbled off somewhere. Somewhere close? He really hoped not.

Steve returned his attention back to the boy and the kid raised a brow and tilted his head. "Is there something wrong?"

He held out the torch for the kid to take it and forced himself to smile. "Just making sure the coast is clear, that is all."

"You look worried." He said, taking the burning source reluctantly.

Steve's false smile faded and he motioned the kid to turn back towards the assumed exit, really hoping that whatever darkness they were about to go through would lead them out. "You're going to be holding the light for me okay, so I need you to stay close so that I can protect you and see you."

"Oreh?" The kid whined a bit. "What's wrong with you?"

"It's nothing,… um-." Steve paused and decided to play along with this child's charade at least until they were safe and on the surface, then he'd feel more inclined to tell the kid what was really going on and what dangers lurked in this Nether-ish pit. "My memory seems a little fuzzy, I think I might of hit my head on a rock or something. I'm sure I'll snap out of this- this? This confusion soon!" He blurted out. "It'll all come back to me eventually." He shrugged with a small nervous smile.

The boy started walking forward but seemed less worried with the sound of his upbeat tone. "Okay, that could explain how jumpy you are!" He laughed.

"Yeah," Steve sighed in relief as he followed shortly behind. "jumpy." He said flatly while rolling his eyes. 'In this place anyone would be 'jumpy' or even 'runny'.'

"Hey Oreh?"

"What?"

"You don't have to worry too much."

"Oh really?" He said, whipping his head back around to make sure they weren't being followed, Steve still couldn't help but be paranoid. Mobs or worse; Herobrine, could be lurking anywhere.

"Yep! You already beat up and scared away most of those meanies when we came down here so you don't have to worry about seeing too many of them. I think you may of really taught them a lesson to leave us alone!"

Steve was again… confused. "I did? Well- that's good. I guess?" He rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, since I can't remember so much, can you help me clear up some of this confusion?"

"Say please?" The cheerful boy asked with a singsong voice.

He sighed again and rolled his eyes. "Okay, please?"

"Sure! What do you need help remembering with?"

"Can you tell me why you- I mean 'we' came down here in the first place?" He asked while gesturing the tunnel they trekked through.

"Oh, I love adventures and all of the cool caves everywhere!" Conner began to bounce around and speed up in his pace with excitement. "I like to explore and find shiny rocks and- and- see all of the cool lava! And the way you fight against those bad guys with one hand is so amazing!"

"It must be." Steve said with a little anxiety, knowing that 'he' himself couldn't fight those mutated mobs so easily and with one hand was completely out of question, even using a sword proved highly difficult to slay only one Zombie. Steve noticed as the light began to die down and it was getting darker, the child was moving around vigorously while pretending to fight things with the torch and all of that movement was killing the flames.

"Hey! Hey, stop that!" Steve ran up to Conner and placed a hand on his shoulder, making the kid suddenly stop bouncing around. "If you keep moving around like this then you'll put out the torch."

"Oh, that's okay. You can see in the dark! Remember?"

Steve blinked, "Sorry to say this kid, but I can't."

"Why sure you can! You do all of the time!"

"Then I guess I hit that rock a little too hard." Steve muttered, knowing well that he definitely couldn't see in the dark and years of mining only proved that but he had to come up with an excuse to keep the light alive.

"Oh, I hope that doesn't affect your other powers too."

"Other powers?" Steve questioned in a way that made him sound as if he wasn't happy with where the kid was taking this.

"You should still have some of them at least, I hope anyways. … Oh look! It's the lava fall! The lava fall!" Conner quickly changed the subject and sped up more natural stone stairs towards a bright glowing source. "It's up here!" He pointed out as they approached.

"Hold on Conner! It could be dangerous!" The thought of Herobrine or any monster peering over the top sent the miner into fright and he dashed up and over the stone steps as quick as he could, though the kid was quite fast and agile while hopping up the stone staircase as if he had done this a hundred times. The boy had no trouble at all and never looked back as he made his way up to the very top, leaving Steve to trip a couple times in the dark to catch up.

Steve leaped onto each of the scattered stone slabs until he finally grasped onto a higher ledge and pulled himself up and over into a huge open cavern. Conner was standing in an open space close to a ledge looking over a huge dark and deep gap, admiring the blazing beauty of lava oozing down from the center of the stone and dirt enclosure. He was standing too close to a large gapping chasm that surrounded the lava fall. "Hey back up!" The miner yelled and pulled the child several feet away from the a deep crevice that had been flooded with molten rock. "You could of fell in!" He looked at the lava and then Conner but the kid only had a smile.

"I was fine and I know you'd save me if I fell, because I believe in you Oreh."

Steve mentally slapped himself and decided to lead the child around the dangerous crevice with some distance between them and the danger. Kids were kids and they don't think of dangers when playing around, but being down here was no place for any child to play. "Well it was nice to look at but you need to be very cautious, it's very unsafe here."

"Aww, you sound like my dad." He visibly pouted but kept his steady pace until they had reached the other side of the stone room. "It's just up this cave but I don't want to go back up, I haven't got to explore yet."

"We have to go up now." This kid was persistent and somewhat annoying, but he was a kid after all and so Steve kept his patience.

"Oh, come on? I want to look around more Oreh. I can help you remember and then you can keep me safe."

Steve kneeled down to meet Conner's eyes, preparing for another lie though the guilt was slowly eating at him. "I'm sorry Conner, but until I- I-?" He paused and sighed after seeing the boy stare up at him with those curious and bewildered deep blue eyes. Steve really hated to lie and lying to the child did him little good but bring him this far, but he decided that he was done with it. There was no reason having this kid put so much faith into the him especially when he didn't have powers to protect or save the kid if something should get a hold of him. "I'm not Oreh, my name is Steve." He said blankly, making the child frown. "I didn't hit my head on any rock, I didn't beat any monsters up, and- I don't have any powers. I'm human, just like you."

The child's head tilted to the floor and he stared at the dying torch in hands. "But- you have to be Oreh. You-…"

He sounded very disappointed and this made Steve's chest hurt, well hurt more than it already did. "I'm sorry, but I'm not your friend. Well, I can call you a friend if you want, but I'm not your friend Oreh. I lied because I was confused and scared, I don't want to stay down here any longer since it's very unsafe. " He keep his gaze on Conner but the boy remained silent. "Look, maybe your friend is looking for you on the surface. It'll be safer up there and if he's not up there then we can wait for him to come up. This way we'll be safe and you'll be reunited with Oreh. Alright?"

The boy finally looked up and nodded. "Okay."

"Well that's good. So come on let's go." He fully stood up and held a hand out, Conner took his hand and placed it into the miner's before squeezing lightly. "I'm sure he's looking for you right now."

"He'll keep us safe. Oreh will always keep me safe, and he'll keep you safe too, friend." The boy lifted his head up and smiled warmly.

"I'm glad to hear that, it would be nice to have a protective friend in this horrible place." Steve lightly motioned the kid forward into another dark tunnel.

"Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"I should tell you that it will be very hard to get out of here since you aren't Oreh."

"Why is tha-?"

Just as he asked the sounds of bones rattling together filled their ears again and an arrow whizzed by Steve's face, the feather end of the arrow had lightly brushed against his cheek and a stinging sensation formed along with a warm trickling feeling. Steve spun his head around and something was bobbling up and down on the other side of the lava fall, somewhat struggling to hop over the small block ledge. After slightly moving to the side it turned out to be a skeleton and there were a few more behind it trying to scramble up as well.

Seeing the mobs brought up the horrible memory of the zombie Steve fought earlier and the fear flooded his veins and forced him to move. "We got to get out of here now!" He whipped his head back around and pulled Conner behind as he ran, apparently this Oreh didn't take 'all' of the monsters out.

"Slow down, slow down! I can't keep up!" The boy panted as he failed to keep with the fast sprint.

"We don't have time! Wait until we-"

"Ahhhhhhhhhaaaa!" Conner suddenly cried out and Steve looked back to see an arrow protruding through his back.

"Conner!" Steve quickly pulled the boy off to the side and behind a small stone block and hunched down to the child now lying on his side and sniveling from the pain. Steve's face was frozen in an combination of fright, panic, and guilt. He should have had Conner in front of him then the boy would of never been hit in the first place, of course Steve himself would have been but not the young boy. But instead of protecting like he said he would; he had let fear clog his mind and he didn't think of the possibility of Conner getting hit. It was all his fault, what he did to get to safety was reckless and now the boy's life was hanging by the balance and he need to be treated for his wound as soon as possible. "I am so sorry Conner. I should of taken that hit, not you." Steve shook his head back and forth with eyes of panic threatening to moisten.

Conner was crying and trying to reach for the arrow but Steve pulled his hand away. "Don't mess with it, you'll bleed out if you do okay?"

The child only sniveled more but moved his back in front of him.

"Here." Steve laid the iron blade on the ground and reached down and carefully scooped up the kid in his arms while avoiding the arrow. "I'm going to get you out of here so don't you worry, just stay awake okay?"

Conner lightly nodded and remained firm in Steve's arms with his eyes shut, trying to keep calm. "Please hurry." He whimpered. "It really hurts and I'm scared. I want Oreh."

Steve felt a strength in him that he never felt before and lifted the boy up without any trouble at all, but at the same time an arrow had pierced his shoulder and he almost lost his grip the child. "Gahhhhaaa!" He hissed as a hot sensation overflowed is upper arm but he fought through the pain and ran straight through the darkness, he couldn't take another hit. He sprinted through the dark tunnel and Conner began to murmur in his arms.

"Oreh… I need Or-eh."

Steve strained his eyes to see the obstacles in the dark and he picked up his pace as the bone clattering noise grew closer. It was at this time he wished Oreh was here, Steve didn't know how much further he could run until he'd bump into a wall or trip and that could put Conner at risk for even more serious injuries. Though- to his relief it wasn't much longer before he could actually see the rock formations ahead, there was faint light coming from out of nowhere and as Steve finally came to a dead end he looked up to see the magnificent pale light a full bright beautiful moon greeting him from overhead. It brightly beamed down at him along with the glistening stars and illuminated the long steep walls that towered around him.

"Now I see why you said it would be difficult to get out of here, but look Conner, we're almost there." The walls seem to grow taller as he stared, it was going to be a very hard climb and he had to take the boy with him regardless.

A clonking noise snapped Steve out of his enthralled trance and he looked over to see an arrow laying a few feet away. "Damn." He cursed under his breath. "Hey Conner?" He lightly shook the boy.

Conner opened his eyes and he winced when Steve sat him on the ground.

"I'm going to need you to cooperate with me alright? Here, grab my neck and hold on as tight as you can okay?" He turned around and pulled his bags off, feeling fretful for having to leave his gear behind but he had to save Conner even if it meant scaling up the walls like a spider and leaving all of his rations and tools behind.

Steve leaned back and let Conner place an arm around his neck, before grabbing his legs and holding him piggyback style. Steve looked up again and he swallowed when he noticed time was running out and the skeletons were closing in. "Hold on tight." He said and let Conner's legs cling around his stomach as he removed his arms and placed them onto the cold stone wall. Steve hoped that he had the strength to climb, that and the ability to hang on for himself.

With one shaky hand he placed it up and over his head and onto a small edging and then he placed another hand up higher and pulled himself and Conner off of the ground. Again he reached a hand up and patted for a secure stone rim and inched upwards more. It felt like forever but Steve watched as the towering walls slowly shrunk as he climbed, his shoulder hurt badly but he couldn't stop now, not when he was getting closer to the surface. The adrenaline flowing through him pushed him to move quick and gave him the strength to hold up their weights.

"Conner's grip was slowly weakening and Steve noticed this fairly quickly. "Come on Conner, hold on just a little more. We're almost there!" The grip strengthened and Steve pushed himself to move faster but staying cautious, he came too far to fail now.

…

'Just one more block.' He thought to himself as he grabbed some tuff of grass. He then dug his nails into the dirt and then hauled himself up and over the rim, seeing the lush-ish green landscape once again. He crawled away from the hole and fell belly flat along the soft cool strands of grass. "Conner, we made it. We're here." He breathed, and Conner loosed his grip and pulled himself up only to crash back onto the ground.

"Conner!" Steve stood up and helped the child stand again. "Don't worry, I'll help you as best as I can. How though-" It didn't take long before it dawned on him. His bags that carried the few essentials he needed were left back there, down in the pit and he couldn't go back down. He definitely didn't have the strength or energy to do it again. "No, damn it!" He peered back over the hole to see nothing but darkness.

"Is everything okay?"

"No, I left everything I had down there, all except my lucky sword." He said as he turned his head to his side and patted the sheath of his blade.

"Oreh? Oreh!"

"I'm Steve remember, here we'll have t- to-" Steve's heart stopped as he turned around to see that wicked double again only feet away from him next to Conner, and Conner was hugging his leg? Herobrine gently pried the child off and carefully removed the arrow out of his back. The child winced but seemed perfectly fine once the arrow was gone.

"Oreh?" Conner asked with concern as the double flung the projectile away and turned his bright attention to Steve. Conner tugged at his shirt and held tight, not sure of what his friend was about to do to his new friend.

Herobrine looked down to the clinging child then turned his attention back to the miner.

"You? You!" Steve pointed out but was too afraid to move, let alone withdraw his sword and defend himself. "You're Oreh? … You can't be, you just can't be! You're the monster who this child believes in?!"

Herobrine's eyes narrowed and he lightly brushed the kid off of him before taking a step towards Steve.

Steve quickly took a step back and he couldn't remove his eyes from the glowing white ones that were getting closer. Fear had taken over him completely and he kept taking steps back until he found himself falling backwards, back down and into the darkness that he put so much effort into climbing up.

White eyes stared down at him as he collided with the stone floor-

and like that-

Blue eyes shot open to darkness.