(By First and Second, I mean the first in command and the second in command. Just thought i'd clear that up!)
Chapter 23:
20 people were sent out this time. I took them all down; this seemed to be getting easier. I huffed, looking up to Estol. He was smiling, nodding his head with approval, the trainer next to him, also smiling. They insisted I needed to practice using magic, as well as using hand to hand combat.
"Good, we're done for today." The trainer determined, tossing down a bottle of water. I looked to the label stamped on the lid. EWC. "End water, unlike Overworld water, this water can't burn you." The trainer assured me. I nodded, opening it up and sipping it, pouring some over both my wrists and sitting down with a sigh.
"Am I done?" I questioned. They both laughed.
"You still have a few courses to go through, but for now you're done, yes." The trainer informed me. "If you'll excuse me your majesty, I have some other business to tend too." The trainer gave a slight bow like many of the servants do, dismissing himself as he walked off. I got up, grabbing a towel and starting for the conference, Estol following. I wiped down my arms, neck, and face, tossing the towel into a clothing bin as we passed by one. Getting to the conference, we sat down and waited for the general to start it. He was discussing something with his first and second, so we waited until all 3 of them finished and sat down as well.
"Alright, the old maps we have over the Overworld look like this." He explained; laying out a map as we all stood to look down at it. "But I had a recruit of mine go and retrieve an up to date one, and now the map looks like this. He laid another map on top of the previous. His first in command whistled. Yeah, that's a big improvement. "This is the Central Center, the Capitol of the Overworld. Notch's castle is located here and this is where our attack point is. These are the roads connecting the Central City to the 5 other major cities. Amory, Gromwell, Kilmarth, Manama, and Pilchard. While we aren't focusing our attacks on them, we need to block the Central city off with any other possible contact with them on foot. These remaining places are small villages and small towns, they show no threat because they barely have guards to guard themselves, but from one of my scouts latest updates, the villagers of all the small villages and towns are gathering up at the Central City. They gathered up the baccas as well, and have already started putting up defenses."
"How did they find out?" Estol demanded.
"Apparently Enderlox was right about others being here, but they decided they valued life over their friend, so they used magic to get through the bars and used our portal to escape, then went straight to Notch." First insisted.
"So in the course of a few days they've told every major city to ready it's defenses, and they've started getting the Central Cities defenses up as well. The Central City knows we're going to hit it hard, so they're definitely the biggest threat we have." Second determined.
"Do you have any thoughts Enderlox?" The general asked; just to assure I was keeping with them. I stared at the map, eventually sighing lightly and closing my eyes.
"Under any circumstance, you and your men are prohibited to attack innocent people. You will only harm those that attack you first. Do you understand me?" I questioned, looking up to him. He nodded.
"Is there any reason to this sudden request?" Estol asked.
"We're going to war, but not everyone will be fighting. Most will be trying to heal the wounded, trying to protect their families. They'll be scared and alone and defenseless against us. I may be a cold hearted ruler when it comes to battle, but I'm not cold hearted enough as to spill innocent blood. The thought disgusts me. In fact, we aren't killing, take as many people as you can and imprison them. If we lose, we let everyone go." I explained, my arms crossed and my attention once more focused on staring the Central City down. They all slowly nodded. "And one more thing."
"Yes?" The general asked.
"What's the population count of my people?"
"The latest count we have is from last year, with the total amount of people coming to 499,978,239." Second determined, pulling out a clipboard and nodding. I nodded as well, and then looked back to the general.
"Look, we may be going to war, but I don't want any of our men killed. Tell your men that if they get badly injured to immediately teleport home. If it's nothing serious then they can keep fighting, but if anyone dies it's going to be me." I announced.
"But Ender-"
"Am I understood, General?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes. He looked to Estol, and Estol looked to me.
"Enderlox, you can't die. You're the last pureblooded dragon alive and if we lose you-"
"If you lose me, Nova becomes queen. She has very faint traces of pure dragon blood in her veins and under the right circumstances she makes it seem like she's completely pureblooded." I argued, my eyes closed.
"Enderlox, she can't even transform without her charm." Estol pointed out. I looked to him.
"So you're saying that if I had to use magic to transform that I'd be unfit to rule? To rule the people who had made me who I am?" He blinked, then shook his head no. "Then those terms should be no different for Nova. She was born in an off branching part of my bloodline and is, therefore, by birth, a set ruler, blood or not, wings or not. Am I clear?" I harshly determined. They all hesitated, but nodded. "Good."
~Jerome~
I ran alongside my old friend, racing to see who was faster, which of course was him considering I haven't ran in the longest fucking time ever. It'd taken a few days, but now I'm finally going back to the Central City.
"At this rate I'm going to win!" He announced, getting faster.
"I haven't gone on a run like this is forever!" I laughed, trying to speed up as well.
"Keep feeding me excuses Jerome; it'll only make me faster!" He assured. We dodged trees, jumped over brush, clung to the sides of trees to avoid muddy areas, and overall we were completely and utterly badass as hell. "I see the forest line!" Jarrod declared.
"Same!" And with a final sprint, he won by a head. We slowed down, getting onto two feet as we looked at each other, then laughed, approaching the gate.
"DONE!" I called up to Notch as I spotted him, giving a slight wave. He smiled, waving back.
"Your friends have your gear Jerome, as well as your weapon. Can I take your magic?" He called back. I nodded, and stopped so he could blast me. "Thank you!" Once we were inside, the gates were closed behind us, a guard leading Jarrod to get armor and gear. I waited for him, and once he came back we started for the castle, where we were apparently boarded. We passed by lots and lots of people, all of them smiling at us and wishing us good luck on the defense. When we got to the castle, everyone stopped. Then we were getting hellos and comments from everyone. It was honest to god insane. Soon, though, I was tackled by my very overprotective and passionate husband.
"You, sir, are amazing." He determined, lying on me as I was pinned to the floor by his body weight. I laughed.
"Mitch, let me up!" He got up, pulling me up along with him, giving me a kiss as he held me close.
"Jerome!" I looked over to where the sweet melody had been sung, smiling as I saw my mother.
"Mom, how are you?" I asked. We had a very long conversation, my dad showing up sometime in the middle of it, talking with us about our future, how we're doing, what we plan to do, ect. By the time dinner rolled around, we'd nearly covered a 10 year time period, from after the war to 10 years into the future. It was honestly… Interesting. They were positive, like many others; that we were going to win. Positive! I don't think they know what we're going up against yet. Oh well, it's good their spirits are high. The dining room was packed full, and Notch had even gotten rid of the tables so we'd all be on the floor and we could have more room. Luckily, everyone could fit into this room. There was… almost 350 baccas here, which was a lot, considering our race is dying out.
After dinner, we were all dismissed to go to our rooms. Mitch led me to a room with 4 beds. Ian and Cameron had one, we had one, and Hazel and Blaze shared the other. And by Blaze I mean the wolf version. He perked up as he saw us, lifting up his head from its resting place on Hazel's foot, considering she was already asleep; his tail wagging as he watched us.
"Hey buddy, how are you?" Ian questioned, rubbing the top of his head. He got nipped at. We all got ready for bed, Ian and Cameron falling asleep rather early while Mitch and I lied there in the others embrace.
"Hey Mitch?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think Adam's ok?"
"I hope so."
"… How many people do you think will die in this battle?"
"Honestly, I think we're all fucked as hell." I sat up and looked at him weirdly.
"You think we'll all die?"
"Jerome, we're either going to be prisoners or we're going to die, I mean seriously. Sure, we have 2 gods on our side, but they're an army of dragons. Dragons."
"Right." I lied back down, snuggling close to him, his warmth cozy, something I don't want to lose. "What if this is the last time we'll get to sleep together like this?" I asked; my voice slipping.
"Don't think like that Jerome, everything will be fine. I'm not letting them take you from me, if we go; we go together, no matter what." Mitch insisted, holding me tighter. I smiled weakly, burying my face in his chest.
"I love you so much." I whispered.
"I love you more." Mitch added.
"Of course you do." We laughed softly, soon falling asleep.
~Adam~
"How do you feel?" Nova looked to me, a sleepy daze in her eyes, but she yawned, sitting up and rubbing away the sleepiness.
"Ok, I guess…"
"You took a really long nap; you've been out for a few days or so."
"Oh well, shame on me. What's going on again?"
"They finished planning out their war strategy, so now everyone's getting together and listening to the rules or whatever, I have no clue. I just know we're going to war soon and for Enderlox it's a do or die thing."
"That stupid idiot, he can't die!" Nova argued. "We need to stop him, come on; help me break part of the wall down or something." Nova ordered, getting to her feet and feeling the walls for a weak point.
"Uh… Nova?"
"What?" She demanded, looking to me. She blinked, then laughed. "Oh yeah! You're chained up." She announced, coming over. She began to struggle with the chains, but as much as we tried, they wouldn't come off. "God damn…" She breathed, sitting at my feet.
"I've tried using fire, but it doesn't work." I informed her.
"Have you tried anything else?"
"… No." She groaned; face palming as she leaned on the wall.
"I would offer to use my magic, but I can't at the moment, I'm not strong enough. Besides, I'd probably blow you to pieces anyway." She bluntly exclaimed. I laughed.
"Wow, thanks, I totally want to be in pieces." It was quiet for a long time, the only sound being the faint walking of people passing by outside now and again.
"How much blood do you think he'll spill?" Nova whispered. I looked to her, surprised.
"I don't know." I answered, looking away again.
"… We need to get out of here, quickly." She determined again, getting to her feet.
"Alright."
~Enderlox~
"How much longer will the preparations take?" I questioned.
"We need about a half an hour and we're good." Second determined, First somewhere off getting stuff together.
"How many offensive?"
"100."
"How many defensive?"
"150."
"How many watchers?"
"We've determined not to set an amount; instead we'll do 50 watchers to every 40 prisoners." I nodded.
"Perfect, how many mages?"
"Nearly everyone is skilled in some sort of magic, as well as hand to hand combat and agility, so don't worry about that." Second assured me.
"Alright, long range?"
"20 out of 100."
"Short distance?"
"30 out of 100."
"Trappers?"
"50 out of 100."
"How many people have we set aside for switching out?"
"We have nearly 200 people on standby; they'll be ready at all times and won't be seen."
"This is going perfectly." I sighed, sitting down. Second looked down to her clipboard again, as if to double check her work's accuracy, a pencil between her fingers as she flipped through some pages.
"Reports?"
"Our scouts have determined that the baccas are the strongest up close fighters."
"Make them the first targets for the trappers." I ordered. She nodded, writing that down.
"We've determined they don't have many mages, but they do have plenty of archers. They know we'll be in the air."
"Ok… strengthen the wing armor, but don't make it too heavy, we need to be able to move fast. Add 50 trappers to the offensive and send 50 after the baccas and 50 after the archers. Our main targets are Notch and Herobrine; they not only stole our land, but killed our queen, my mother." Second wrote some more stuff down, and then nodded. "Is that all?"
"Scouts have confirmed that all the small villages are gathered up at Central City."
"I figured."
"That's all I have, it'll take a bit of time to strengthen the wing armor though, so we'll be a bit delayed."
"No worry, it's not like we've given them a time that we'll be showing up." I informed her, standing again and stretching. "I'm going to go check up on Estol and the General."
"They're in the courtyard, that's where the army's gathered up." I nodded, leaving her as she walked off, making me way down the bustling hallways. If I die… I'll be with my mother. I found Estol and the general in the rather large courtyard, talking with everyone as I walked up behind them. All eyes shifted to me, in turn causing the general and Estol to turn around and look at me as well. I stopped once next to them.
"50 more people are on their way, they're trappers. I want 50 trappers to go after the baccas. The other 50 will go after archers. I want only those who can swiftly and easily dodge hundreds of arrows to go after archers, so that's how they'll be grouped, understood?" I explained, looking between the both of them. The general nodded, Estol nodding as well. First appeared.
"Alright, I'm back, we have plenty of food that'll last us weeks and Second just received an order- oh, Enderlox." First blinked, just now looking up from his clipboard. "They have lots of archers, so everyone's wing armor is going to be strengthened with magic, therefore nothing will be slowing you down, but in turn still increasing the protection provided." I nodded. "I've already sent for some of the strongest mages in the city, so they'll be here shortly. Is there anything else we need to do Enderlox?" All eyes turned back to me, and I slowly nodded.
"We need to take their sorry asses down." I announced. "This is a do don't die battle, therefore if you can't fight any longer, immediately return here where you'll then switch off with the army we have on standby. Heal up, and once you're taken care of, if you still have a fire in you and the healers say you can get back to fighting, then come back here and wait to be switched off with someone else. Second will be here handling who switches with who. If anyone is dying in this battle, it's me. If I die release all the prisoners and send them home, then come back here and close off any activated portals. There's only one that I know of."
"I've already ordered some scouts to go and close it, the village where the mine is has been abandoned, they're in Central City now; it'll be handled any minute. There are actually two portals open, but they already handled the other." The general assured.
"Good. Any dragon hybrids, making your way to the training facility, there the mages will strengthen your wing armor, Endermen hybrids can stay here. Finish explaining everything else once the mages have finished general. Oh, and once your armor has been strengthened, return here so you're out of their way." With that, I turned and started walking off, back inside. I made my way to the armory to get myself a sword I could use, considering the one I used in training was a wooden sword that did no damage. I felt someone tap my shoulder during my search, and turned to find Estol. He held out a sheath, a sword in it. Taking the handle, I pulled the blade out, staring at it shocked.
"It was your mother's blade." He simply concluded. The blade was very, very thin, made of obsidian, edged in ender pearl, the center of the blade also filled with ender pearl. "She wanted to use ender pearl because, yes, an ender pearl can be used to teleport, but when you crack one open, they're filled with a poisonous liquid that turns to gas when opened in the Overworld. The gases will then teleport you to wherever they were released. Since the ender pearl used in your mother's blade was opened here, the poison stayed liquid, therefore allowing us to craft this blade. It will poison anyone the ender pearl part touches, but not severely. They just won't have such an easy time moving."
"This is beautiful." I breathed, making it shine in the light as I held it above my head. I gave it a few swings. The sword was fast and allowed me to move faster, and although most people think blades that are thin are weak, this one wasn't going to break anytime soon. That's for sure. I gave Estol a hug, surprising him, but he slowly hugged me back, smiling. I pulled away, smiling at him. "Thank you for keeping it safe."
~Adam~
"GOD DAMN IT YOU STUPID CHAINS JUST FUCKING BREAK ALREADY!" Nova roared, making me flinch away again as she continued to bang on the chains with the piece of wall she ripped off.
"Nova-"
"EITHER YOU HELP OR I'LL JUST KILL YOU!"
"Ok…" I whispered. Yeah… She's definitely insane.
~Jerome~
Mitch and I were put in the same position, meaning we were still together. I bet Mitch talked to them about it or something. We were on the castle wall as a defense. From here, we could literally see the entire city, plus had a view of the action down below at the front wall. So we're standing here, the castle defense ranks mixed with people and creatures and hybrids alike. Over by the gate and in front of the castle were mutated creatures that are apparently people. They're from the hell ranks, and there are lots of them everywhere. They twitch a lot, and the only thing they do is hiss at you for getting to close to them. They're scary as fuck and I'm glad I'm nowhere near them, unlike the poor souls defending behind them. I let out a shaky breath.
"Mitch, I'm scared." I announced to him. He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me against his side as we continued watching the horizon for enemies.
"Don't worry; we'll be together no matter what. Either we're both alive or both dead." He assured me, giving my waist a tight squeeze. I slowly nodded, my vision shifting to the top of the castle. We were nearly at the top, but at the very top, stood Notch and Herobrine, waiting, watching. The entire city seemed quiet, silent. You could hear a pin drop from a mile away. The city seemed dead. As if we'd already had the battle and we lost. It was weird, eerie.
You could hear the hell mutant's frustration, their quiet groans of impatience and the noises they make to communicate with one another, even from up here. There were blaze hybrids, ghast hybrids, zombie pigmen hybrids, zombie pigmen, lava mobs, fire mobs, even the super rare glowing mob. They can glow so bright they'll blind you, like staring at the sun for too long, so when they move fast they're just blurs. They look a lot like glowstone. What I find funny about them is the fact that all the glowing mobs are wearing sunglasses, as if everything is way too bright from them. I sighed, leaning against Mitch as he held me closer. We pulled apart from our hug, standing like everyone else, looking proper and formal… I think.
We all just waited. Today's definitely the day. The day they attack, I can feel it in my gut. I know a bunch of other people can feel it too. Just the way the air is sitting isn't right anymore. Everything's off. As if something is watching us that we can't see at all. This is really nerve racking. A slight breeze blew by, the air warm, yet cold as well. I suddenly felt my wrist get grabbed, Mitch grabbing my other, and soon found myself, along with tons of other baccas, in the forest at a camp. What the hell?! We were chained up so quickly, we didn't even realize until we tried to move, and I heard someone groan.
"You were only supposed to take the baccas you idiot!" It was a girl, but we were blindfolded now too.
"In my defense, the human grabbed him as I was teleporting; you said we had to be quick so we weren't seen!" A male argued back.
"Ugh, fine, whatever. OH, look, he's an archer anyway, so you did us a favor."
"Who the hell are you!? What is this!?" Mitch demanded, his hand tightly gripping mine.
"Sorry, but your all prisoners now. Don't worry, we have more prisoners coming."
"Why don't you just kill us and get it over with!" Someone else screamed.
"I'd be glad to, but the king gave his orders and said he didn't want innocent blood to be shed. If our king loses against your gods, then you can all go home safe and sound. No one needs to get hurt." The girl explained, more shrieks ringing out as more people were teleported here.
"Captain, their onto us." Another female proclaimed. The first girl groaned again.
"Alright, we'll try getting some of the archers, by now the baccas are alert and waiting to get taken, but the archers won't be expecting it."
~Notch~
Where are you? Where are you hiding? What are you trying to do?
"Notch!" Hero screamed, pissed off. "They're kidnapping our men, we can't just stand here!" I nodded; teleporting to the general, who was on the front wall.
"This war has started." I declared.