Hero's Bane

Chapter 30: Only To Ultimately Fail

Edited 4/17/2022

Everything was blurry and dark and sort of topsy-turvy, now spinning to his displeasure. Steve's lungs ached with the grainy sediments from the dust cloud filling his exhausted air chambers, tiny shards like bits scraped the inside of the walls painfully with each inhale. Each small gulp of air of was disgusting and soiled, remnants of the creeper's sulfuric particles made his chest burn to add to his discomfort along with his fading vision. He coughed a few times to empty out his lungs of stone and sulfuric particles, but that only brought up something distasteful to add to his misery. A coopery taste built up in his mouth, then he felt warm fluid run down from the edge of his hairline down his face, he softly sputtered to try and get the bitterness off of his tongue.

It wasn't the distasteful air or blood, the aching appendages, or the now bruised and battered body that hurt the miner so much. It was his head. Even attempting to do something as simple as blink hurt so badly, he wanted to close his eyes and sleep the pain away but a solitary shadowed figure standing in the settling dust kept him doing just that. He couldn't remove his partially conscious fearful gaze away from him.

It was then that he wished the large stone brick that had struck him on the side of the head had killed him, at least he wouldn't be left to suffer at the hands of Herobrine. But just how fortunate was he to find his lower torso and legs trapped beneath debris, somehow intact; possibly fractured, but pinned down no less. The large chunk of stone mostly missed him, it hit his head in the explosion but landed on the lower half of his body; leaving him to live and suffer in that spot longer until something or someone got him.

Steve watched as the hero only stood there with white beams shining down at him, waiting for the immortal being to just pick up a stone block and crush his head with it already or use the bluish gleaming blade in his left hand and just jab away. He knew it was definitely over now, he couldn't outrun the being or move at all for that matter. He certainly didn't expect one of the guy's pets to pop up and nearly obliterate him either.

The longer he stared at Herobrine the harder it was to keep his eye open, the wound on his head really didn't help as blood crept into the crease of one of his eyes; now blinding him partially. His chest ached greatly and breathing was getting more difficult. The sword wasn't in his hand anymore, it was now lost amongst the rubble of the collapsed column. He wondered why the ancient hero just stood there instead of killing his prey, this was another perfect opportunity. If the immortal didn't make a move soon then he was going to likely miss his chance to kill the man, that's if the sword's adverse effect didn't do it first.

His viewing eye began to close and the miner quickly snapped it back open to the unmoving humanoid, he still awaited for the being to move but he never did, he didn't even raise the blade. Stare was all Herobrine did.

…

The mortal's eye threatened to close again and he fought it back by blinking but Hero could hear the man's breaths grow more ragged and shallow. The human let his eyelid fall once more and this time it didn't open back up.

The mortal was finally unconscious, at least now Herobrine didn't have to use force to stop Steve, a force that could possibly injure the man more. Herobrine felt the power of his first sword nearby, the low glow of red aura hovered around a chunk of broken stone and he kicked the block away to see the sword lying under it, completely unscathed and without a scratch or indentation. He carefully reached down and plucked it from the debris, letting the other sword in his hand fall and break; crumbling into tiny fragments that floated away in the still air and disperse like grains of sand.

He looked back at the trapped mortal lying near another pillar, he moved forward to grip onto the large hunk of stone before pushing it aside with some effort along with a smaller block to free the human's body from the heavy crushing weight. If the man hadn't been close enough to the base of the stone pillar then he would of surly lost both of his legs. The largest piece was angled over Steve and supported by a standing column; the stone barely mashed the mortal's flesh, but if it did then things wouldn't be pretty.

This miner was quite lucky, the ruins were very heavy and fell in just the right way to avoid a life-threatening situation. The lying form remained idle, only a small rise from the chest was all the movement the man made. Herobrine reached down to grab the human until an annoying screech came from his back. He turned around and stood tall with his orbs glowing sternly at the approaching arachnid. The spider moved to the left and then the right, trying to find an opening to reach the easy meal.

Herobrine took a few daunting steps forward, holding the sword in his hand and looking ever more intimidating with his cold glare, practically declaring the unconscious human 'his' prey. The spider kept moving from side to side but then backed away with the powerful being getting closer. The sword was raised high and then the scared mob then turned away and scrambled up the closest pillar, only stopping midway to look back at the grounded being.

Hero snorted with a seething sneer, now turning on his heels and disregarding the cowardly creature. He moved back over to the crumpled mess and noticed that Steve was now missing, his eyes widened for a short second then narrowed sharply. But that couldn't be! Herobrine clinched his fist and scanned around before trudging over to the miner's pervious spot. He didn't hear the human move and he knew the man was no longer conscious, so how could the body disappear? A drop of red pattered onto the floor close to him and he stared at the small crimson blotch, he remembered that the man had a head injury and the smell of this blood was definitely human.

A soft screeching sound came from above and that was when his head snapped upright to see Steve's now dangling body being hauled up the column by a thick and long thread of web, the webbing around his feet was tightly wound around his ankles and the man's body lightly jerked with the large arachnid tugging at the end. Steve's hands were outstretched and limp, almost appearing to reach out for help. Another drop of blood trailed from the tip of his head injury over a few hair strands and then dripped onto the floor near the same spot the first fell.

Herobrine growled and his eyes fiercely pierced the darkness, glaring evilly up at the sneaky mob. He let one pathetic creature distract him so that another could snatch up his prey. He loathed all mobs, they were infuriating, practically useless and completely disgraceful, taking any opportunity they could to steal from each other. And worse? Him.

Herobrine grinded his teeth and looked around for a way up the high stone pillar, the mortal was being reeled ever closer to the thief and other spiders that horded around it to get their piece. He glanced back and saw a large angled chunk of stone lying diagonally from the pillar. He made a quick dash up the tittering hunk and made his side tilt to the ground before making a sprint towards the now raised end. At the end of the declining debris; Herobrine made a lunge off of the stone and landed his feet on the pillar as he effortlessly ran up the perfect vertical angle. He slowed as he got higher and felt gravity now pulling him back down. He moved a hand forward and latched on to Steve's limp wrist before loosing his footing, the human was unresponsive from the sudden clasp and weight but proved his momentarily usefulness.

Herobrine held on tightly as he quickly thought of an idea to get out of this predicament with the mortal alive, he had a debt to pay and wouldn't be satisfied until it was paid off so the human had to live. Looking up to see the unconscious man and the spider, he suddenly jerked himself from one side to the next causing both him and the miner to rock back and forth. He swung himself and Steve from side to side as they got higher up. Hero used one arm to push against the corners of the column to make the rocking more powerful, in doing so the miner and himself swayed away to one side and then back towards the other with more speed and height at the end of each swing. In one last sway he pushed once more on the edge the stone as much as he could and then let go of the miner's hand at the peak of their big swing to move down and bring a fist onto the top of the spider's head, instantly making the arachnid spring off of the wall and fall with Herobrine and Steve right after.

In the fall, Herobrine quickly grabbed one of Steve's bound ankles and slung the man over his shoulders while holding the diamond blade downwards at the mob falling just below his feet. The sword's end plunged through the spider's back as they collided with the ground, light green fluid splattered onto the floor as the immortal landed down on the shrieking spider. The mobs legs twitched lightly as Hero jerked the sword out and stepped away. A few screeches came from above and he glared upwards at the arachnid horde clinging to the arches, they backed away then crawled out of sight in fear. Hero scoffed at them before moving away from the spider's corpse and stone rubble.

He quietly walked back towards his throne with the miner now over his shoulder, wondering why he was even wasting the effort to save the mortal that was trying to destroy him. If it wasn't for the debt and the fact that a thieving spider was going to be taking his kill then he would of let the man die like he did with many of his victims. Once they bored him enough he would often allow the mobs to finish them off. But this time things were different.

… …

"I'm glad you didn't let him die Herobrine." The man in the open field next to him said while facing away and staring at the fortress in this distance.

The Hero only glared at his clinched fists he held in front of him as he sat upon a wooden tree stump, trying to ignore the smell of fresh and rotting blood flooding his nostrils. He made a small glance down after feeling a weak tug at his pants to see a young child in a royal robe burying his face in the hero's leg. "Lionel, he didn't deserve to live. I should of let those filthy things tear him apart, but you just had to go and talk me out of it?"

"You held him over that dark hole and he plead for his life, for mercy, and though you seemed so intent on dropping him in there you ultimately chose not to. My words did little, you knew deep down that letting him fall was wrong." The armored guard replied with seriousness.

"He deserved it though, especially after attempting to throw the Sovereign's only son to those damned creations! It's unforgivable!" He took a deep breath, rage obviously on his features. "If I weren't close by then-"

"Yeah, things would have been tragic." Lionel nodded. "I didn't expect someone to snag the kid while watching over him, I turned my back for one minute." The sentinel let out a breath of exasperation and disappointment, clearly distressed with his low tone of voice and the concerning expression on his face. "This whole incident is my fault, I had failed. If only I had been more vigilant in watching him as I was ordered to then none of this would of ever happened.

I was fortunate to run into you after that man grabbed Conner. And though he did attempt to assassinate the kid, we stopped him. … Or you to be more specific. But letting those zombies tear him to pieces wouldn't be right. Whether he deserved it or not." He shook his head. "You'd probably feel worse if you let him stay and die in that hole. I mean look at him now." Lionel turned his head to see an unconscious man several yards away in thick grass with a few large wounds and blood soaking through his clothes in various places on his limbs. "A few of those zombies did that much damage in only a minute, if any longer then he'd be dead. At least now he will face the proper justice, letting him suffer to death would be … immoral. It would go against our Sovereign's belief. Notch's belief. My belief." He finished more quietly.

"But?"

"I know you better than that Herobrine, you've never degraded yourself as low to torture and murder. Letting him die would of been the same, but you're not like that and I'm glad you aren't." Lionel deeply frowned after thinking to himself but lightened his expression as he walked over to the young child and kneeled down onto a knee. He then held his hand out and put on a soft smile for the kid. "It's time to go home Conner."

"Not now. Oreh is unhappy." The child whined, tears ran down his cheeks as he clung to Herobrine's leg; refusing to pry away.

"I know, but he'll be alright. You'll see." The silver-armored man encouraged and gently placed a hand on a soft head of blonde hair. "See how considerate he is? He wouldn't even let that bad man die, he's the greatest hero there ever was!" Lionel said with mild excitement. "He might not be happy for a while but he has the heart to spare his enemies, that is what makes a true hero. It's when knowing what is right from wrong without allowing judgment and emotions to interfere. It's knowing when to put the blade down."

"It's time to go Conner." Herobrine also now encouraged with a hushed tone.

The child finally peeled away from Herobrine's leg and nodded to the sentinel, he let go of the hero to grab the guard's hand, wiping away the tears with his dark blue sleeve; he then looked back at Herobrine. "Thank you Oreh. You're the best, you too Lion." The little boy lightly smiled and waved as Lionel turned around and let the boy climb onto his back.

"It's getting late, we should be heading back now. Our lord must be terribly worried about his son." Lionel turned and walked back towards the fortress.

"Of course." Herobrine quietly agreed as he stood and walked towards the unmoving form, coming to a halt as soon as he reached the unconscious man. He gazed for a few seconds then reached down and draped the guy over his shoulder and lifted up with the criminal in his grasp. "Thank you Lionel, I feel better with your wise words. I could of made a bad decision today if it weren't for you." He looked back towards his friend but the man was already way ahead of him and probably out of earshot. "I don't know where I would be without you brother." He felt himself crack a small smile.

… …

Steve opened his eyes to a clear beautiful blue sky and bright glowing sun hovering above his head. He quickly sat up in confusion and glanced around to find himself in a deep woodland area with trees all around him, branches lightly swayed in the gentle breeze and the soft sounds of leaves rustling from the flow of air made everything seem calm and serene. He smiled after feeling the sun's warmth beating down on his body, he was finally away from the cold dark fortress and outside which was questionable of how he got into the forest in the first place. Steve looked all around him and despite the beautiful scenery something just didn't feel right to him, he had a deep gut feeling that he was searching for something but he couldn't put a finger on it. He crawled onto his knees and then lurched forward to stand; easily getting his bearings down, he was supposed to be sore but he wasn't to his own surprise. The thought confused him but he chose to push the notion aside and sprint through the trees, keeping his eyes peeled for anything that could give him a clue as to what he was looking for.

…

Herobrine watched from the top of the tree, watching as the human took off in a direction that went deeper into the woods, the mortal quickly disappeared through all of the vibrant green leaves and branches. The old hero jumped from the tall oak and followed behind at a short distance, curious as to what the human was dreaming this time. It didn't appear to be a self created nightmare as he made before, but he could tell that there was something troubling the miner.

He stopped and hid behind a tree as the miner now slowly approached a gaping cave in a small clearing hidden by trees. He peered from around the trunk to see the human gasp and reach for an item on the ground before the cave.

…

"… Ni-Nigel?" Steve stared in horror at the old man's glasses now in his hand. One lens was completely cracked and the other along with some of the frame had small patches of dried out blood on it. He held the item carefully then quickly turned to look around with fright on his face, wondering what had become of his friend and if he was outside or deep within the cavern. He then turned back to the cave entrance and gawked at the darkness just on the inside, a large dark smudge of red was then present after letting his eyes adjust.

"Nigel!" Without even thinking the miner bolted into the unknown without any weapon or source of light, even his bags were gone.

…

Herobrine was actually quite surprised of how brave the mortal had suddenly become, especially without the enchanted blade; but he knew where the dream was heading to now. The man had deep guilt that had finally surfaced, this dream or nightmare was the result and it was only going to get worse from here on out. Herobrine followed the miner into the cave, seeing the man hurriedly hop down deeper into the obscurity and possibly his own death.

…

Steve squinted his eyes and kept a close eye on the floor to see the smear of blood continue on and down further into the depths of the unknown. He stopped as he felt the ground shift underneath him and quickly jumped back to see large blocks of gravel fall into an even darker crevice, but the blood trail continued on the other side of the fissure and he just had to get to the other side. There was no doubt he was now going to have to jump across the somewhat largely gaping ravine if he was going to find Nigel, but fear was something that could wait. Nigel could still be alive and hurt.

He backed up a few paces and took a deep breath then ran as fast as he could, making a daring lunge for the other end. The man flailed in the air after feeling nothing but air at his heels. He grasped onto the border of the rock face after failing to make a good enough leap and now he was dangling over a deep pit of darkness. He took one peek down and scrapped harder at the rock that he clung to, he couldn't die now. The reality of it was now settling in and the miner panicked as he used the tip of his boots to dig into the stone, they only slipped off of the craggy surface and made him slip just a little more than he wanted.

…

Steve was getting reckless for the old man, he didn't even seem have self-preservation anymore which was valiant but irritating. Herobrine closely watched as the miner struggled to pull himself up, he was clawing at the floor and seeing the man do that reminded him of the time that he himself was clinging to stone before falling into a pit of lava.

"No, … I can't- now." The man gnashed his teeth together as he dug in deep with his nails and used the extra effort of wanting to save his friend to pull himself up. The mortal crawled up onto the ledge, his resolve had fueled his strength more than the hero expected. Steve only laid there for a few seconds before moving onto his hands and knees and then making a strenuous effort to stand after such a possibly fatal occurrence.

Herobrine walked to the edge after the miner continued down the path into another cave. With the raise of his hand; stone blocks formed at his feet and made a small bridge across the gap, he crossed over it causally to the other side and glanced at the blood on the floor. It had no smell, no identification as belonging to a human, at least not in the realm. He moved over the stained surface, soundlessly sprinting deeper down after a certain miner.

…

Steve slowed as he came across a large underground river, there wasn't any sign of the blood trail anymore, it abruptly ended at the water's edge. "It ends here? It can't be." He whispered to himself while frantically looking around for any other sign. He saw a small flat square object on the other side and it appeared to be a book upon closer inspection. He squinted a little more to see a small golden design on the book's spine. "That book?!" He suddenly blurted out, but quickly covered his mouth and looked around; hoping that he didn't just alert any mobs. After hearing nothing stir in the dark he glanced back at the manuscript that the old adventurer had held onto, keeping a fixed gaze on the item.

The stream wasn't too wide across but he would have to swim if he was going to get the book and possibly find any other leads to Nigel. He cautiously stepped into the stream; which turned out to be deeper then he expected, and slowly moved through the water. He kicked his legs about as he grew near the stone surface and swam more after feeling himself unwillingly move to his side, it was quickly getting more harder to swim with the current picking up. He reached the rim of the stone but he couldn't cling onto the slick surface with his wet hands. "Come on." He growled as he tried to clasp on again, however; every time he slipped he moved further down stream. "Errr." Steve grabbed on again but his hand slipped and he felt himself flow faster down the rivulet.

The miner blinked and shouted after passing under an arch of natural stone, no longer having anything to cling onto but wet walls. His eyes widened after feeling a strong tug at his legs and a roaring sound now growing ever louder with each passing second. He gaped in horror as the river suddenly ended and loudly crashed at the bottom of the now excessively large and open viewable chasm. The water loudly smacked against stone below and flowed into another stream and further down into the cave system.

Startled, Steve began to violently kick his legs about while swinging his arms forward to swim up stream, but the current was getting too strong now. He moved one hand forward against the water but he wasn't strong enough to keep up with the flow and he felt himself now falling off of the high ledge, then soon into the darker waters beneath him.

He plunged head first into the pool and luckily missed a few stone blocks that he could of knocked himself out on in the dive. He pried his eyes open in the murky water but couldn't see hardly anything but bubbles escaping his nose and tiny pieces of stone sinking and stirring around his form. Steve propelled himself forward off of a rock but the raging current from the falls just pushed him back down and made him seem to sink deeper. Feeling his air thinning; he swam upwards again, only to have the torrential waters shove him back down into the depths of the water's bed. He was running out of oxygen fast and now he was very worried about getting out of the powerful currents alive. He swam next to a stone wall and then launched himself off of the rock and forward, but that effort also proved useless with the water just above him now beating him back down into the deep again.

Steve flailed about in the heavy undercurrents, making almost little to no progress in his struggles. His muscles were getting weaker and his held breath was now on empty. He could feel his chest ache and burn greatly without the flow of air, now being painfully filled with the liquid from around him. The fluid shot through his nose and now his gasping mouth, he couldn't hold them closed anymore without the vital supply of air. His eyes were growing heavy as he slowly drowned.

He could now barely see a dark figure moving towards him above the surface of the water, a hand stretched out to grab onto his shirt collar before powerfully pulling him through the rushing current and ascending to the surface. As soon as he broke the surface of the water to see the figure everything faded to black.

…

Steve's eyes snapped open as he took a long deep breath, sitting upright to get a view of his surroundings. He wasn't in a cave, he wasn't near water but he was in a place very dark. The darkness around him mostly obscured his vision, but small wavelengths of light at his side gave him some kind of visual of his area. He looked down to find himself lying on a solid stone brick floor with the sword in his hand, and not too far from him was a trace of dried blood. Steve froze in his place and slowly tilted his head to the side to see a small set of stone slabs that lead upwards towards a chair, and what he saw next made him swiftly scramble onto his feet.

Two glowing eyes gazed back at him from the dark throne and followed him as he ran towards the first corridor. Steve pushed himself to run quick though his legs and feet ached with each step. He slightly limped after placing one foot down wrong but the pain wasn't going to stop him. He kept his eyes wide open as he made it further down the hallway, too scared to look back but vigilant enough to see what creatures lie ahead.

"Why am I running this way? There is no reason to! But if I go back-?" He could almost imagine Herobrine standing at the other end of the second corridor, waiting. "I'll die. But how am I still alive now? Why?!" The miner shook his bead, puzzled. He remembered the ex-hero staring at him after the creeper exploded but why didn't he kill him? The thought was a deep one but he couldn't force himself to stop and turn back, he was afraid, confused and too drained of energy.

Once making it to the very end of the passageway; Steve ran around the bend and into a smaller room that both he and Nigel used to get in the fortress and he scanned the place with his sword closely and made his way into the center. The colored canvas remained in it's original spot upon sudden observation, it was hard to see but it was definitely there. He stopped and looked at it for a second then moved over to the wall on the opposite end but something wasn't right. The corner was there and seemed untouched. … The crack in the wall was gone… and so was the dark hole that was supposed to be there next to it.

Steve frantically patted the stone bricks in disbelief. He knew that this is where he and Nigel came out of and now it was completely sealed up and looked as though there was never any damage to it at all. "No, no no!" Steve ran a hand through his hair, sighing in frustration. "Where-?" He paused and patted the walls around it. "How can this be?" He ran his fingers over brick after brick but he just could not feel even a small split in the stone. He backed away from the corner and stared at the darkened surface now blocking him from escape. "Herobrine." Was all he could say, there was no other possible explanation for the repairs of the wall other than that being and his powers. He was trapped now indefinitely.

Steve backed away from the wall and turned away from his only means of escape, he was going to die for nothing. Not only could he not make it to the shrine with the hero around, but now he definitely couldn't escape or restock on food and supplies. He couldn't even find Nigel in his dream without failing horribly.

With his confidence greatly deflated and the looming of doom weighing him down; he ambled back towards his prison cell with his sore legs, now not even caring if anything would come up and attack him. It was surprising that there weren't any mobs on his walk back, just a few corpses here and there with blood marks of mobs but no living or undead ones anywhere to be seen.

Steve didn't even eye the throne as he passed through the throne room, Herobrine was definitely there with his chilling presence leaving chill bumps to crawl up and down his the back of his exposed arms. He could even feel the white eyes almost piercing into his back, but made no sudden moves. Where was the point? He wondered why the guy wouldn't just kill him already, just end the torment.

He eventually moseyed his way into the room with the Redstone torch next to it, his head hung low. He didn't have a door to shut anymore so he just left the doorway completely open and staggered over to his bed once he was close enough. The miner shoved his bags on the floor and flopped down face first onto the old mattress, he then carefully turned to lie down on his pained back. The sword was held loosely in his fingers and he couldn't find the will to hold it properly. He stared up at the ceiling and leaned up a little to see the sky now a light shade of magenta and purple with small white dots now becoming visible out his window, it was already night time and he had wasted the whole day for nothing. How he was still alive was amazing, but the thought wasn't something to be all happy about. His time would come soon and he knew it.

Steve pulled the bed sheet over his cold limbs and curled up against the wall to restore heat, praying to Notch that the ordeal would be over soon. He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second before opening them back up to a figure now standing just on the outside of his door. Steve sat up in the bed and stared widely at the pair of white eyes gazing back at him. He watched as the hero just stood there and gazed. Steve scooted closer to corner and held the sword out with a quivering hand; ready to protect himself. … But then he slowly dropped his wielding arm as well as his scared expression, wishing that the hero would just attack him and get it over with.

…

Herobrine could see just how scared the mortal had become. The human held out the weapon but his hand trembled so badly that it was obvious that the man was terrified, he almost dropped it from his shaking. But it surprised the being to see him suddenly lower the blade, yielding. The miner's expression drew to a dismal blank, his fearful gaze now a hopeless one. The abrupt change was very unexpected, from fright to the acceptance of death; very unlike the miner. The miner never moved his attention to Herobrine as the being quietly backed away into the blackness of the hall, his blue eyes remained in a downcast position for the rest of his time in Herobrine's presence.

The immortal didn't expect to find the human back in his cell, he definitely didn't expect the miner to give up so easily after all of his efforts though they were fruitless. Had the human finally broke?