Hero's Bane
Chapter 71: A Plea Of Mercy
Edited 5/18/2022
Steve shuddered despite being frozen in fear. He couldn't ever recall Herobrine being this mad before, even when he lost control in their last battle and attacked him mercilessly when he was on what seemed like even grounds. Steve would have been dead if he hadn't been acting upon impulse to shield himself from the blade back then. Herobrine wasn't currently wielding the soul sapping weapon at the moment so there was no telling what he was going to do to the guard first; only that it wouldn't be good. Not even for some as malicious as Jimmy would deserve what Herobrine could possibly do to him. Steve couldn't believe how bad he felt for the guy now cowering for his life after acting so forceful and mighty with his bow and black arrow.
Now he could just feel the tension coming from Herobrine, like tiny invisible pulses of heat and power radiating from every snort he made as he slowly walked towards the guard. The miner blinked and coiled his fist with partially slanted eyes. Standing there and doing nothing was not going to stop the attack, but he couldn't even find in him to speak up and muster a single word; he just couldn't get his lips to move as scene unfolded before him. He was terribly afraid and he thought he had nothing left to be afraid of for himself, he had already accepted the concept of death; though he wished not to experience it anytime soon. But there he was; trembling because of what could happen to him, the people should come first.
Though the thought of having his soul torn from him really put him in a dead stop, he just couldn't move or speak. There was just too much anxiety from the recent and past events that it was becoming too difficult to keep up with them and overcome them all, the possibilities of what could possibly happen tonight also had gnawed at him filled him with dread. Those brighter than bright piercing eyes and threatening growls had him shaking and he was finding it hard to do anything but watch his friend as he neared Jimmy with edgy steps, conflicting thoughts of standing there to stay safe or move and risk getting attacked; filled his troubled mind.
Jimmy shrank back in fear and continued to take slow steps backwards to put distance between him and the demon, but the monster of a man only followed in slow steps; making his retreat utterly pointless with his cautious pace on a small platform. Each step Herobrine made filled him with more and more panic, the heavy breaths and snorts only escalated his terror and reminded him of how much power differentiated between them; as did the strange energy in the air that chilled him to the bone. The gap of strength was obviously wide considering he that was just a mortal man facing a monster. Those white eyes were the most dreadful part of the being, it was like staring at death; not the kind of freakish stare that used to used to bore at him when the demon came to torment the village like he once did. These eyes were focused on him and the being they were attached to was going to kill him, he feared that it would not be quick and painless.
"Uuh." Jimmy lightly yelped when the back of his legs met the wooden railing behind him, he nearly lost balance and could have fell over the railing; though it wouldn't have helped him if he did. His eyes widened when a trail of white appeared within the gash that the black arrow had made, the light intensified for only a few seconds before fading out to perfectly flawless flesh on the being's forearm. Herobrine was truly a living nightmare of nightmares, pretty much invincible. "Ge-Get back!" He shouted, now pulling his bow back up in front of him; instinctively trying to defend himself. He patted around the holster on his back frantically for any arrows but his hand didn't land on any; for there was none on him. He hadn't even bothered grabbing any of the arrows from the chest, just the black arrows and his was wasted. He had nothing to defend himself with.
"No." He shook his head from the approaching White-Eyed terror, he couldn't believe that he was the first target of the gruesome man. "No. Get away from me!" The guard panicked and quickly spun on his heels. He was just about to make a jump over the wooden posts in an attempt to escape but a hand had clamped painfully tight on his right shoulder in an instance. He turned his head just enough to see the man's enraged face before he was swiftly pulled back in one strong jerk and he collided with the platform by force. A loud gasp escaped his barely empty lungs, the air was literally forced out of him from the collision and the impact lightly shook the entire wooden structure.
A small audible cough escaped him and he heavily heaved for some air in to replenish his lungs of the much needed oxygen to breathe again. He then closed his mouth and tried to lean forward but was met with a ruthless kick to his side; which sent him painfully smacking into the wooden posts, he hit the wooden barrier hard enough to make a cracking sound and two posts dented out of place from the force. Jimmy wailed as his arms grasped onto his pained ribcage to soothe the ache, doing so did nothing but add to the tenderness. He rolled onto his back and daringly opened his eyes to see the being standing right beside him with a deep scowl and dangerous growls escaping his visibly clenched teeth. A boot now moved up and over his torso.
Steve only stood there watching it all play out as Herobrine stepped closer to his victim and lifted his boot after a snorting in rage. He shuddered as the foot stomped down on the man's chest with force and speed, earning a sharp instant cry as the bottom of his heel landed on the center of Jimmy's ribcage. The archer tried to bring a hand up to his pained torso but was stunned in movement when the boot came down upon him again and again in quick rapid session. Herobrine just stomped and stomped with rage, completely ignoring the man's cries and expressions of agony. Jimmy shot his free hand up to stop the foot from beating his chest in but it was battered away with the tip of the being's boot. The man's face was turning pale from the lack of oxygen, each stamp literally crushed the breath out of him and he was struggling to get a break to breathe.
'Move damn it.' Steve grimaced, he still couldn't find it in him to move forward and stop Herobrine from tramping on the guy so mercilessly. Steve immediately closed his eyes and held them tightly shut as another pained wail escaped the man's lips from a sharp heel digging into his lower torso, right into his gut. 'Move!' Steve opened his eyes and he felt sick to his stomach, Jimmy was finally given a break and his condition was now appalling and it has been only but a minute or two. Two glistening strips of crimson ran from the corners of his mouth down across his cheeks before disappearing in the shadow of his neck. His eyes appeared swollen from the stress and tears from pain and air loss, the torch's glow highlighted his fearful face that was tilting up towards Herobrine but also completely noticeable from Steve's prospective; several blocks from behind the being. The pummeled guard was also trembling horridly, a hand weakly reaching up over his towards Herobrine and somewhat shielding himself.
"Have m… mercy." He choked.
Herobrine only growled darkly and reached down at him. He plucked the man up by the base of the neck and held him up a few inches off the ground with a single hand, he stared up into wide frightened eyes and squeezed tightly over the man's neck. Jimmy flailed and weakly tore at the arm to get himself free, he couldn't free himself though. Herobrine sneered darkly and held out his hand.
"Let me go. Pl- please?"
"Herobrine!" Steve suddenly shouted, finally finding the nerve to speak; seeing what the being would likely be doing. If he conjures his sword then the real slaughter would begin and the village as a whole would end in tragedy, not that it was already in a state of emergency and heading towards a horrible end, but that every soul would be ripped from their dying bodies and taken to the Nether to satisfy the debt. Steve never wanted to relive his near-end crises back at Lionel's old cabin and his time in the soulsand again but he could already see it happing now, the thought rattled him to the core and he couldn't allow Herobrine to do it to nobody; no matter if they deserved it or not. "Stop!" The miner took off in a dash towards the white-eyed man and Herobrine's hand fell to his side, he instead spun on his heels in one rotation with amazing speed and threw the man with enough force to send him flying through a window of a house many blocks away from the stand. The shattering sound of glass had the miner stop his feet and stare at the building that guard went through and then his gaze moved back to the powerful being. Herobrine might have just killed Jimmy, there was no telling who was next.
Herobrine still had his back to the miner, but instead of holding his head high; it was hung low. Steve could still hear the man seething with loud huffs as he physically trembled in rage, the miner dared not to approach any closer. The scuffling sounds of boots running from off the platform had grabbed his attention, Steve watched as Morrison silently fled by the remaining archers and off the stand for dear life and through the surprisingly idle white-eyed horde of swine below. It was awkwardly silent in the village now, some people that Steve could see that were still standing stayed silently in place and dared not top speak or move. Herobrine took a step forward and looked up at the sky absently, ignoring the miner and anything for that matter. Steve couldn't guess why Herobrine had suddenly became inactive after the attack.
The being's head then jerked left and then right, two hands moved up to cradle the sides of his skull. He snorted and hissed like he was having an inner battle with himself, he continued to swing his head back and forth while letting out guttural growls. It wasn't much longer that a woman ran screaming out of the building where Herobrine had throne Jimmy into. Her scream had the white-eyed being's head snap upright from the disruption of thoughts and he turned his attention to the now fleeing victim running down the street. His eyes then darted to a more familiar figure and they trained particularly on him. Herobrine roared aloud, the mass of swine instantly became lively again and continued their assault on the idle mortals.
More screams filled the air and made the miner quake. More people were bound to die if he didn't do something quick.
"Herobrine!" Steve bravely sprinted for the immortal but stopped when the being's gaze left the fleeing man in the shadows of the streets. Intense white eyes landed on him if only for a moment before the being's form vanished in a blink of an eye. Particles of dust drifted downward in Herobrine's absence and softly landed on a green book that was now in his place. "The book?" Steve took a step towards it but a certain friend came to mind when he thought on the hardback manuscript on Lionel. "Nigel!" The miner swiftly spun on his heels and ran over to Nigel who was still lying on the floor of the platform.
"No." He kneeled down slowly and his eyes trailed the man for any visible injuries, only a large dark spot on the crest of his neck could be seen; the man's long coat hid any injury he got a while ago. The man didn't appear to be moving it all so Steve placed his hands on the man's bottom jaw, near the main arteries. A tiny pulse could be barely be felt, but it was there. Nigel was still alive. He breathed a sigh of relief and immediately gazed over to Warren who looked like he was finally coming to. "Warren, are you alright?"
The old bartender lifted his head and rubbed his aching cranium, groaning in pain. "I am fine. Just tired is all." His eyes went wide after blinking a few times at the man lying on the floor of the platform motionless. "Nigel?! Is he… d-"
"He's alive. Unconscious but still kicking." Steve reassured, not with a smile though. "Jimmy hit him good, I am surprised he's alive. He's too old for a strike like that."
Warren's eyes then went wider and he swiftly looked around. "Luna?!"
Steve shook his head back and forth, he saw her for a moment and then she was gone the next. "I haven't seen her."
"But-" The man attempted to stand up but only fell back into place, he was drained, he hadn't fought off this many mobs before and he was still aching from fighting off one of Morrison's guards to get the miner's sword.
"I think she's safe though." He could imagine that she may have been retrieved by Stealth, at least she'd be safe for a little while. He contemplated on telling Warren the truth, but he did make a promise not to back at the ravine. Loud squeals and grunts stole him from the current train of thought, he spun his head around to still see the swine horde ravaging the streets and attacking the remaining villagers. His eyes soon grow wide as Herobrine flashed right next to a running village man and reared a fist back before driving it into the innocent's torso, a loud cry escaped him before he collapsed. Herobrine then flashed from the crumbling mortal over to another man not too far away; trying to slash away at the pig with an axe, he then swiftly kicked the guy and sent him smacking into a cobble wall of a house. The man made a soundless cry before dropping his weapon and being knocked to the ground by a passing hog.
The controlled mobs weren't the only ones attacking the humans, but Herobrine himself was too. This disconcerting notion put Steve back into panic mode. Direct attacks from him could easily kill, especially if he's out of control. But even with the worry; he saw a glimmer of hope, a chance to reach out to him. He did see the powerful being struggling before him before seeing him without attacking and leaving Lionel's book behind, this made him believe that maybe Herobrine hadn't forgotten everything. Steve looked down at the blade in his hand, it was his old stone sword. It wasn't much of a weapon, but if he had to use it then he would. He only hoped that he wouldn't have to raise it up to Herobrine, because there would be no way that he could fight against a diamond one and he really doesn't want to provoke a fight to begin with; though he could use it against the raging pigs if he had to.
"Look! Just stay down okay? We'll look for her later but I have to stop him now. " Steve said loudly. Warren only nodded. "Here." Steve moved over to Nigel and carefully scooped up the man by the arms and dragged him over to the bartender. "Keep an eye on Nigel for me alright?"
"Yeah, but what about you?" He asked, brandishing a small hatchet from his belt.
"I should be fine, probably better off than anyone else here."
The older man nodded. "Then go, let this be the final proof that he is your friend then. The final proof that he was once an innocent Hero and that he saved your life."
"Wait, …so you believe me?" Steve asked, somewhat stunned that Warren believes him after the argument they had before his imprisonment.
Warren lightly smiled and made an effort to sit up top better position himself. "You knew the name of our village, only a handful knew of it and Nigel wasn't one of them and neither the younger ones know. Just me, a few elders, and the village chief himself along with the one who erased the name from our history. That was really all the proof I needed from you and I heard you say it."
"You were eavesdropping?"
"Yes, but right now you shouldn't be worrying about that." The bartender's smile fell flat to a worried frown when louder grunts came from behind the miner. "Just go!"
Steve nodded and spun around, he held his sword back as the pigs knocked over the two archers blocking the platform and attacked the other two with bites to the knees and hind kicks. The miner carefully approached the first hog that stumbled onto the platform and prepared to swing his blade at it until it stopped in front of him and looked up, it then turned away and towards the archers to attack them instead. He was baffled that swine didn't attack him, but the strangest part was that it looked oddly familiar. Steve blinked and stared at the attacking mob, it had a piece of it's ear missing from what he could tell. He steadily got closer to it and noticed that it had long scars all across it's back and down it's sides. 'Could it be?'
One of the hooded archers angrily kicked the pig off of him with force to it's nose and the creature snorted in distress and backed away while shaking it's head and snout to dull out the pain. The miner watched as the pig backed up, it's right hoof had a small gap in it; a crack that he remembered well.
"Pork Chop?" The miner lightly muttered. Though the swine was clearly enraged and under Herobrine's control, he recognized that friendly mob that accompanied him for a while back in the valley. It was covered in those identifiable scars, and had a piece of it's ear missing
"Help!" One of the archers cried out. "Just don't stand there, kill it!" The man said, throwing his bow over the platform and whipping out a small sword from his belt. He drove it into a hog to bring it down as it rammed it's hooves against his legs.
Steve noticed that all of the archers had ran out of arrows and were now using small swords to fiend for themselves.
"Kill it you idiot!" He screamed and lost balance when he looked up at the miner to see him just staring at the creature, he was then pressed over the edge of the stand and fell to the ground below. Then the hogs that attacked him turned their attention to the other archers, all except one who looked up at the miner after a hand landed on it's back.
"Pork Chop!" Steve shouted and the swine shook it's head, it blinked and opened it's eyes; the glowing white orbs were dull and black again. "Pork Chop." Steve knelt down to the pig and rubbed it's head, he faintly smiled when it angled it's cranium and moved it along with his fingers. There was no doubt in his mind that it was that pig was the same one that was with him back in the valley. No doubt at all. Steve's little reunion with the animal was cut short however; when he heard a loud crashing sound, he instantly shot up into a standing position and watched as a building down the street suddenly collapsed in on itself. This was a terrible sign, Herobrine could possibly bring down homes with people hiding or trapped inside. The miner looked down at the pig and petted him swiftly. "Pork Chop, here follow me." He commanded and took slow steps backwards, luring the pig to him with light petting on the head as he retreated back.
"Steve, what are you doing?!" Warren shouted and prepared his weapon by holding it tightly and out with his other had, ready to defend himself at all means. "Get away from Herobrine's tool!"
"He's not Herobrine's tool, I mean- he was used but Pork Chop knows me. He's sort of a friend of mine." Steve lured the mob closer and gave it one last petting. "Please protect them for me." The creature only gave him a blank stare and then rubbed it's snout against his knee, trying to get more attention. The miner sighed. "Who am I kidding? You can't really understand me." He backed away from the pig and pushed it's head in the bartender's direction.
"A friend?" Warren scooted as far back against the railing as the pig left the miner and approached him. "No, stay back!" He raised the axe higher and held out his hand to prevent it from reaching him.
"It's okay, he won't hurt you."
Warren jumped when the pig trotted right up to him and pressed it's snout against his hand, it then shifted it's head and pressed further until the old man's hand was brushing the side of it's face. He nervously ran his fingers over the peaceful creature's cheek and sighed in relief as it continued to gain attention, appearing affectionate and truly passive. The bartender laughed nervously and yelped in pain as the heavy thing plopped down on his lap, allowing more room for the man to pet it on the head and back.
"See. Pork Chop is a good one, he'll protect you… I guess. I have to go, now!" Steve said before turning away and sprinting towards the empty end of the platform where Herobrine first stood at.
"Oooof!" Warren didn't expect the swine to get up so soon but it did, it moved away and off of his legs and stared emptily in the direction of the miner. "Where are you going? Come back here pig." He asked nervously with the pig facing away from him as another archer on the platform was pushed off; leaving only two left to protect him and Nigel, but even they were having trouble trying to keep the mass from running between them and attacking them from behind. There was just too many.
The pig watched as the miner took a deep breath and ran at the railing, he had grabbed a hold of the post and leap over it; before running away from the mess taking place in front of the stand. Small white eyes watched as the man landed and ran right for the masses of hostile mobs.
"Pork Chop?" Warren carefully asked.
Steve gulped in fear as he charged towards the scrambling creatures; holding his stone sword ready to cut through. He really didn't want to have to fight through the pigs to reach Herobrine, but he had to get to the immortal some way and quick before his real onslaught starts. Herobrine was looking in Morrison's way last and the chief was probably his largest target at the moment after witnessing what he had done and said to the miner. So if Steve finds the chief then he'll likely find the old hero; just as long as he hadn't been killed off already. Steve gritted his teeth as he ran through the mess of wild hogs, most of the creatures were moving about aimlessly in search of their next target from what he could tell; but there wasn't many people left standing from his point of view.
The miner watched with caution and yelped when a pig bumped into his leg, he nearly lost his balance and stumbled forward. He swiftly shot upright and prepared to swing his sword at his attacker but as he had come to realize; none of the pigs were targeting him, none nipping his heels or ramming their heads into him. A few brushed by him roughly, but they did not attack him nor show the intent. As good as a relief it was to know that Herobrine's possessed creatures weren't going to attack him; that relief disappeared with a loud crashing sound coming from a small house just down the gravel road. He pressed through the creatures and leap out of their way until he could find an area clear enough to run.
Steve's foot bumped into a thick surface unexpectedly and he tripped forward, he attempted to rise up quickly to avoid getting hit but by time he was on his knees; a hoof hit him across the face and knocked him back down. Steve carefully opened his eyes and rubbed his sore cheek, many hooves thundered around him and some strode a little too close. A heavy weight nailed him over his spine and he barked from the pointed hooves gliding over his thin shirt roughly, the weight was gone as quick as it came. "I am going to get trampled to death Herobrine." He clinched his teeth and sneered. Steve then hastily moved onto his hands and knees before standing up and holding his family blade close to himself. His eyes scan over the object he tripped over and he noticed that it was a man that he could barely make out in the low torchlight. The miner froze at the sight of the motionless form on the ground before him, the man wore familiar clothing and had a sword just inches from his hand. He leaned to his side and got a look at the man's face.
"Carson?" Anger sparked within him when the pigs continued to carelessly pass over the guy, leaving dirt and indents on the man's flesh. Steve swung his sword around the downed man and shouted loudly, commanding the once peaceful mobs to stay back. He struck one swine though he wasn't actually trying to hit, but he didn't feel so bad because it was trampling over one of his friends. "Get back!" He swung again with both hands to conserve energy and most of the creatures had avoided him momentarily. "Shoooo!" He shouted. Once he had an opening, he reached down and grabbed the guard by the arm and hauled him partially off of the ground; only having so much energy to do so. He then noticed that Carson was breathing heavily through his mouth and muttering something so low and indistinguishable, the friendly guard was still alive surprisingly and this fueled Steve's resolve to save him.
His effort to stop the white-eyed man should come first seeing as the chaos around him was of the being's doing, but he could not find it in him to abandon the guy to death. "Carson, you're pretty heavy man. Can you stand at all?" He asked, keeping his eyes on the lookout for any hogs that would try and attack the guard since Herobrine had sent them to attack everyone in the first place. He looked around in panic for a place to put him. "Carson?" He asked again, slightly dragging the man's legs as he spun around.
The dark-haired man lightly lifted his head and it swung softly from side to side. "My- my sword." He mumbled, seeming very dizzy and barely conscious.
"Don't worry about the sword, please tell me you… can… stand?" He asked once more, feeling the guy's arm slip out of his grasp. Steve quickly looped his arm under the base of the guard's and pulled him up again, he then used his free arm to swing at a pig that charged straight at them. The swine halted in it's attack once it got too close to the blade and it turned around and squealed loudly in a retreat. A sudden push nearly knocked both him and Carson down to the ground, Steve looked over the man to see a swine head butt the guy, the bump made him stumble backwards and he brandished the stone sword carefully and tried to slash at the mob but he couldn't do so with the man being in the way.
"Damn it." He cursed and looked around for the nearest place, the shop he saw the girl at earlier was just blocks away and it had a door on it. With his goal set in mind, he pushed thorough the thick bodies of rummaging pigs and swiped at a few that stood in his way and refused to budge. Once he made it to the porch of the building; he dragged the man up the cobble steps and onto wooden planks, he then opened the door and dragged the man to the safety of the building.
Steve closed the door and leaned against it to catch his breath, sweat rolled down his face and he took deep breaths to cool his burning lungs. He felt drained and he hadn't really even done much, though dragging a man through a horde of hostile pigs would normally count as a lot. He still had to find Herobrine and stop him, that would likely end badly though; seeing as he was going to have to try and keep Herobrine from personally killing anybody though he could have already. He looked down at the guard, there still wasn't much movement coming from the guy but he was alive and that is what mattered. He saved a life today and now he was going to have to try and save what lives remained in the village. The thought of corpses littering the streets put a damper on his mood, he knew it wasn't his fault because he warned Morrison, but at the same time it was because he had changed Herobrine and disrupted his debt so that the whole village would suffer. Not intentionally though.
"Just rest here Carson, you should be safe." He said quietly while gazing down at the man splayed out on the floor.
He heavily sighed and held his sword tightly, he was going to have to get back out there; searching for Herobrine in the dark wasn't something he was looking forward to. There were a few lit torches around the platform of the village and a ray of light or two from the moon that was dimly beaming through the breaking cloud cover, not enough light to see clearly. He also wasn't so thrilled to face Herobrine in his current state, if the man was in control of himself than it wouldn't be so bad but he did seem to have problems with control on the stand and he ignored the his pleas.
The miner slipped out the door and closed it behind him once he was fully out. The pink mobs still flooded to the gravel streets and grunted wildly. Steve moved out onto the edge of the porch and glanced down the road for any signs of Herobrine, he wasn't surprised when he saw one house far down the road on fire. He squinted for a better look and saw something move swiftly in the shadows from one side of the road to the other; disappearing behind a house. The miner swallowed his fear and bravely moved out onto the streets towards the burning building, pretty much expecting Herobrine to be somewhere amongst the outside of the wreckage.
A lump formed in Steve's throat and he sped up his pace towards the flames, there wasn't many pigs down the road that he could see but there were bodies lying on the ground. He feared the worse. Steve was tempted to stop and check on one, but none of them were moving and he certainly didn't want to know how they died. So many negative thoughts plagued him as he passed by them, even children laid on the side of the gravel road and it was utterly too unbearable to take. 'Why did you do this Herobrine?!' He thought to himself so bitterly and doleful, though he already knew that the demi-god wasn't merciful to any other human targets anyway. The lives robbed at the fortress must be fifty times more worse than what his eyes could see now, he would have hated to see the day that Herobrine took revenge upon humanity.
He strode closer to the burning structure and was just about to get there until an explosion of cobblestone happened to his right, a blast coming from what looked like an old abandoned forging and blacksmith station; being made of nothing but damaged cobble walls and an dilapidated wooden roof. Steve yelped and stumbled back as chunks of rocks flew from the broken wall, a form had smashed right through it and landed right before him. Once the dust settled Steve blinked in shock, there stood Herobrine now in the middle of the street with his blinding gaze scanning the area surrounding, he was visible by the big house fire in the background. Warm oranges and yellows painted the edges of his silhouette, his gazing bright eyes mostly lit up his face. There was no denying that Herobrine was right there; only a few blocks in front of him.
Before he could even spot the miner in his scan; his eyes landed on his prey through the window of a house before him, the human was ducking for cover inside to hide himself.
Steve's heart pounded wildly when Herobrine's scowl curled into a wicked and deadly looking grin, those glowing orbs seemed to grow brighter as he slowly amble to the door only blocks away. This was Steve's moment, he could stop it here, stop Herobrine from claiming Mr. Morrison's life and anymore lives in the village. A part of him wanted the justice served for not listening to him, but again; guilt always seemed to win. Besides, if Herobrine kills enough in cold blood then it would be very easy to lose himself; maybe even enough that the miner wouldn't be able to stop him no matter what he could do. Steve was about to follow with a cry of his own to take Herobrine's attention away from the village leader, but his words didn't even get to come out. Herobrine had particles of diamond forming in his hand in the shape of a sword before he could speak. All he could do was gasp. 'No!' He quickly shook off the fear and proceeded after Herobrine, but before he could even reach the powerful being; Herobrine leaped up and shot through the wall with a forceful punch. He easily sent wooden planks flying in all directions along with a wood splintering sound that was mixed with the tune of shattering glass.
Steve covered his eyes and felt chunks of wood and tiny glass pieces bounce against him and his arm that shielded his face. He then carefully removed his limb and shook his head clean of the mess to see that Herobrine was standing inside with a certain village chief in his grasp, the man was held by the throat and his wide terrified eyes that never left the gleaming diamond sword close to his chest. The man pled so softly that Steve couldn't exactly hear what he was saying but he appeared to be regretting what he had did on the platform.
Herobrine then turned around with a nasty grin on his face and quickly threw the old man out of the house, the elder collided face-first to the ground before being hauled back up by the back of his neck. Morrison tried to pry at the iron grasp again crushing his windpipe, but before he could he was rammed into a cobble wall of the abandoned blacksmith station; hitting the surface just beside the hole the god-like man had made.
The sound of the impact made Steve's stomach churn, flesh hitting stone. A guy that old was sure to have broken ribs and various bones from such an impact. Steve could easily recall being thrown into walls in only his second encounter with Herobrine, he is younger though so his bones aren't as brittle. Though the thought of his own encounters were horrible to reflect on; he had to do something but stand there and watch and reflect on his own experiences.
The village chief was slow to move, he sluggishly rolled onto his side with a raspy groan, barely getting any air to make a sound at all. Steve could tell that he was in a lot of pain, the soundless expressions were the giveaway. The man wouldn't even move much at all actually, he was lucky to even still be alive. When he finally rolled enough to lay on his side; his broken glasses peeled from his face and landed right next to him; he was too disorientated and hurt to put them back on.
The sound of gravel crunching had the miner turning his head to the creator of the chaos. Herobrine was beaming with a toothy grin and he carelessly tapped his sword against his shoulder as he walked towards the village chief, as if pondering on what to do next to the man.
A growl came from the miner but it went ignored as Herobrine walked only a few blocks in front of him, Steve expected that Herobrine would at least take notice of him. It wouldn't be smart to just attack him or even get close, those brighter than bright eyes was the clearest of warning signs. Such intensity beamed at him in his battle before and it was who those eyes were attached to that could have killed him.
Once Herobrine stepped up to the human; he grabbed the man by the hair and forced the elder to stand, roughly jerking the guy upright in one swift motion. Morrison wailed from the pull and groaned as a hand clasped around his neck again.
Steve couldn't let Herobrine kill him, no matter how much he wanted to. "Let him go!" He shouted with a partially raised fist, earning Morrison's surprised expression; but his words seemed to fall on deaf ears for the old hero. "Herobrine please?!" Steve daringly took a step forward and clenched his fists tightly. "I know you want to kill him but don't! I know what he has done was-"
Herobrine tightened his grasp and made the man desperately gasp for breath and struggle in his hand.
"Stop!" The miner cried. "Just let him go, you don't need human souls and you don't need to fear Ender anymore! He can't reach-"
Herobrine without warning; pulled the old man back and shoved him right into the wall mercilessly, making the area surrounding being filled with a blood curdling cry. Herobrine rammed the man into the cobblestone wall repeatedly with a satisfied grin upon his face, violently battering the old human with wrathful exultation.
"HEROBRINE STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPP!" Steve shouted as loud as he could and he charged straight at the being, feeling fearless in the spur of his want and need to stop the immortal, his sword was raised to his side and ready to be used if necessary. He honestly wasn't thinking clearly though, he was charging with a stone blade at a guy that held a diamond one and was basically a superhuman; the outcome however wasn't on his mind, he just wanted the torment to end. He wasn't doing it for the village leader but for Herobrine's sake and his own sanity, he would never be able to live with himself if he would allow Herobrine to just kill someone without at least trying to stop him first.
Herobrine's head suddenly lifted and he sneered darkly as a human's steps came too close, he pulled his sword back and rammed the hilt of his blade right into the form once they were close enough. A loud gasp erupted from the man and the being sent the human form flying outward with a forceful kick outward.
Steve flew out and landed in a roll eight blocks away and tumbled into the base of a house, coming to a rest on the cobble foundation. The miner coughed violently and rolled onto his stomach, clutching to his abdomen from the sharp pain.
The brightness in Herobrine's eyes quickly dulled down to a lower glow, he hadn't realized soon enough that he had attacked the miner; his friend. He tilted his head back enough to see the man lying on the ground and writhing in pain, it was definitely Steve he had struck in his blinding rage.