Chapter 5

"So, how's our little guest?" A deep voice resonated off the walls surrounding the being that spoke. The room was dark, obscuring his face and part of his torso. The voice sounded multiplied, making it sound like there was at least two people talking at the same time, but it didn't bother the green-eyed mob as he had grown used to it. If the being was angry, his voice would've sound a lot worse.

The green-eyed mob bowed before answering. The man nodded, appearing satisfied with the answer. His smile matched his eyes. The being now appeared lost in thought, looking spaced out as he watched the ceiling for a few moments. Then he turned towards the mob, still smiling.

"Keep an eye on him, will you?" He said, his multiplied-like voice echoed off the walls and slowly faded out. He chuckled a little as he watched the Endermen nod, bow and vanish into little green particles. He continued to chuckle as he looked up to the ceiling, lost in thought once again.

"What in the name of the Nether was that?" One of the two assassins said fearfully. They had just come out of the cave and immediately called for reinforcements. Now, they waited for their backup to arrive. The mob was going to be a problem if it kept sticking around the target. They looked at each other, still gasping for breath after their run from the mine a little while ago. None dared to speak until now.

"I have no idea. It was different than the others." The other looked at his partner. He was wheezing, but managed to spit out the rest. "It didn't have purple eyes and it didn't have the same bad temper when looked in the eye. It was different in general." He huffed, sitting down to wait for the others to arrive.

"It almost looked as if he was protecting the target." The assassin left standing looked at the other, hoping he was thinking the same thing. Instead he got a glare from his companion as he pulled out a piece of cooked pork, ready to chomp down on it.

"Impossible. Mobs can't be domesticated." He snorted. He started eating the pork, adding between mouthfuls. "Especially creepers. Zombies are dumb and everybody hates spiders. Nobody likes Endermen because if you make eye contact, even accidently, they get enraged and start attacking the living Nether out of you." He quieted down, chomping down on his pork as he murmured to himself, having made his point clear.

The other was about to respond when a small ringing sound could be heard coming from his pocket. He fumbled around a little with his thick clothing, and eventually pulled out a small device. A rough voice came from it and the man nodded.

"What did the commander have to say?" Having finished his pork, the assassin lifted himself off the ground and walked around, impatient for the reinforcements to arrive.

"They said they would be here soon." The other assassin said excitedly. He looked at his partner for a brief moment before continuing. "Do you think our target is dead by now?" He knew they had shot him with an arrow, which they had poisoned beforehand, and he also knew they had hit him in the darkness. Depending on where they hit him would determine if he was alive or not.

"Depends. He might still be alive." The other paced, his impatience showed in his position and his fading mood. He drew a knife and examined it before grabbing a rock, sitting down again, and running the rock across the blade, sharpening his weapon. "Even if he was dead, we'd have to go back down anyways to make sure he's dead. Otherwise the King will have our heads if he ends up coming back again." He huffed, never taking his eyes off the blade.

"What do you suppose we do?" He got another glare from his companion, but this time it was annoyance.

"Easy. We wait for reinforcements, then all got down together and find the target. If the Endermen is in the way, we can take him out with our superior numbers and brute strength. I highly," He emphasised the word and looked at his partner again. " And I mean, highly, doubt either of them will make it out alive."

He jolted awake when something sharp touched his arm. He looked up and saw nothing, to his disappointment. He almost wanted to see the green eyes of the Endermen, as they somehow gave him comfort. He was alone now, and he was in a lot of pain. The arrow he had taken to the shoulder stung, the sensation now encompassed his arm, and starting to agonizingly crawl across his torso. He raised himself up, slowly, as the wounds caused by the assassins knives were sensitive to the slightest movement. He cringed with every step he took.

The miner slowly made his way further into the cave, wanting desperately to get away from the assassin before they undoubtedly came back again. He was getting cold again, as his cloak was torn from the weapons, letting the cold air carry the warm air he had away. He stopped to rest a short time after, feeling nauseous and dizzy. He got up again and started making his way when he heard the shuffle of feet echo across the ravine. He picked up his pace a little, but almost fell down as his wounds opened again from the sudden jerk of surprise. He felt warm blood trickle down his already sticky back.

The sounds got louder until Steve could've sworn they were already behind him. The barks of dogs echoed loudly. It would be impossible to hide once they found all the blood on the floor from his previous encounter with the assassins. Suddenly the barks got louder and louder until he turned around to feel a dog jump on him and start gnawing viciously on his arm. He wailed in pain, as the dog had decided to grab his poisoned arm to chew on. He reached for his sword and plunged it into the dog, who yelped and squirmed before finally laying down dead. He heard a snarl to behind him and was knocked down as another dog jumped on him, knocking him down as well as wrenching his sword from his grasp. The dog started chewing on his other arm, and he lacked the strength to knock off the heavy animal from his back. The dog savagely attacked his arm, and he shrieked in agony as he was unable to get him off, the animals claws digging into his back.

Suddenly, the weight was thrown off as a loud screech sounded in his ears, followed by a yelp of pain and a thud. He tried to stand, but his arms were unable to support the miner and he fell heavily to the ground, breathing hard. The shuffling sounds of feet came closer still and soon he could hear clear voices. The men carried torches, and the ravine was starting to fill with a little light. It hurt his eyes. He tried again to get up and managed to do so only to come face to face with one of the assassins, his swords raised at his head. Steve backed away, but slipped on a puddle of blood from the dogs and landed on his back, crying out in pain as the blades swept over his head.

"Well, well. Looks like we meet again, Steve." Came the mocking voice. The torches the men had hurt his eyes, but at least now he could see. He took a quick look around, spotting his sword in the belly of one of the dogs, laying next to him. He noticed there were more people than before. After the Endermen showed up and screeched, they probably decided it was best to sent for backup. Smart thinking, but he couldn't fight them all off, let alone fight in the first place.

"You don't look so good, Steve." The man teased as he waved his torch about to disperse the darkness, taking a good look at the miner and starting to advance. Steve grabbed the hilt of his sword with his relatively good arm and yanked hard on it, stumbling back with the added weight of the heavy weapon on his wounded arm. He heard more footsteps coming from behind him, beside him, all around him. He was slowly behind surrounded.

He hefted his sword, his arm shaking the blade as he grew light-headed. He dropped the point of the sword onto the ground and leaned heavily on it to prevent himself from falling. The assassin jerked his hand up and the others stopped.

"Leave him to me. It's my job to kill him, and so I will accomplish my task without fail." He barked at the others, seeming amused by the idea. "One of you shall stay behind while the rest will go in search of the green-eyed Endermen." He held out his torch to the man behind him, who obligingly took it, and he approached the miner with his swords raised and flashed him a smile that practically blinded Steve.

He tried to raise his own sword to counter, but the assassin was too fast, as he sprinted towards the miner without warning and slashed at his chest. The miner felt the iron shred his skin apart, and stumbled backwards clutching his wounded stomach. The assassin was relentless, coming at him from all sides, until finally he swiftly ran towards the now severely wounded miner and aimed his sword for his heart.

"Steve, you will no longer cause damage to my Kingdom and my King as you already have in the past." He approached relentlessly, brandishing his sword to reflect the light of the torch and blinded the miner. He raised his arm to shield his eyes, raising his own sword to hopefully try and blind the assassin. When the light was gone, it was replaced with terrible pain at the center of his chest, followed by a low chuckle. The pain intensified as the weapon was removed and he fell to the floor, unable to stand any longer as he felt warm fluid run everywhere around him. He coughed, feeling himself slowly choke on his own blood, and the rough movement caused immense pain in his chest and he wailed in agony. He felt his mind starting to slip, the darkness returning to obscure his vision, despite his efforts to stay awake. The last thing he remembered hearing was the loud screech of an enraged mob, followed by the screams of the men.

The Endermen stuck to the most shadowed corners of the ravine, his obsidian skin matching the eminent darkness that constantly surrounded the place. He watched from afar as the human tried to wonder further down the mine, but stopped frequently to rest. He soon heard the barking of the detestable furry four legged creatures most humans kept as pets. He slightly bared his teeth and growled softly. The Endermen teleported nearer to the approaching group of humans, noticing they had reached the bloodied floor from the previous encounter.

He watched as they let their detestable animals loose and they started running, barking wildly. He feared they would go straight to the miner, and he was right. When the green-eyed Endermen teleported himself to his former hiding place, he saw the human fighting off and even killing the first dog. He didn't notice or hear the second animal until it jumped on him and started gnawing viciously on his good arm. He hissed as he also noticed that the human seemed unable to get it off his back.

He screeched, teleporting himself behind the human and raising his clawed hands, smacking the animal on its side with his small obsidian claws. It went rolling away with a yelp of pain, hitting a rock ledge and landed on the floor with a thud. He quickly went back to his hiding place, deciding it was safer there for now.

The humans were coming closer and they quickly organized themselves, leaving two behind to deal with the miner and allowing the other four to look for the 'Green-eyed Endermen'. He hissed, letting them leave. He then focused on the humans that were attacking the miner. His sword arm was visibly shaking, and the other men took advantage of this to sprint towards the miner and slash his stomach. The Endermen could hardly resist moving to intercept, but he wanted to see if the human would be able to make a comeback.

The man then used the torchlight to blind the miner, and sprinted behind him. The miner looked confused, but was greeted by sharp pain as the human stabbed him from behind. The human removed the sword and let the miner fall to the floor, soaking the stone with crimson fast. He coughed, more blood staining the floor as he wailed from the rough movement. His movements became sluggish, and the human behind him started to chuckle as he raise his sword over the miners head, ready to kill him once and for all.

The Endermen let out a loud screech and teleported before the man, raising his clawed hands to make him appear bigger. The humans looked terrified as they screamed and attempted to run. He swung his long arms and slashed them down before they could even start to run away and alert the others. However, their scream seemed to have done just that. He quickly turned away from the wounded humans to the miner, who had stopped moving. He carefully turned the man over, as he was lying on his stomach surrounded by a surprisingly large pool of blood. He appeared to be breathing, but it might not last long in his condition. As carefully as he could, he picked the miner up in his long arms, teleporting to his hiding place to set him down. He watched as the other four humans came back after hearing the screams of their fellow companions, only to find them on the floor with long, jagged claw marks on their backs.

He looked back at the miner. His head touched the floor and blood leaked from the corners of his mouth, painting the stone floor with crimson. More blood pooled onto the floor. The Endermen became worried, the human was losing too much blood. He picked him up again, being careful not to cause any further damage, and teleported through the ravine with rather short distances. As he was half-way to his destination, the miner managed to regain consciousness and began coughing. He started to get even more worried, as the miner often drifted in and out of consciousness. He then imagined a room and found himself standing before the being he had spoken to earlier.

The man, who used to be smiling, stopped when he saw the state of the miner. He appeared a little surprised. He leaned forward in his chair, motioning the mob to come closer as the miner had regained consciousness again and coughed roughly, blood dripping from the side of his mouth. He softly cried out after he coughed again and the being put his hand on the miners head. The miner grew limp in the mobs arms and soon was completely unconscious, his head lolled on the mobs arm.

"Bring him to my room." The being ordered. "I will need some time alone with him if he is to survive. We wouldn't want our guest to die now, would we?" He chuckled a little as the Endermen did as he was told. The beings small chuckle filled the room, echoing off the walls and down throughout the whole ravine.