CHAPTER 2
The sky was dark and overcast. It didn't look like it was going to rain, it was just gray outside. Alex munched on an apple and looked at the sky through a window. It had been raining on and off for the past week or so, making the stream swell and the ground soggy. Such weather was perfect for a day spent inside reading. She pulled one off the shelf, sat in a comfy chair, and started reading.
A zombie moan caught Alex's attention. She glanced out the window and saw a zombie stumble out of the forest and head towards the village. She sighed, closed her book, and grabbed a sword. On cloudy days like today, the occasional monster stumbled out of the darkness because there was no sunlight to drive it back.
Alex headed outside and went straight for the zombie. It noticed her and started stumbling towards her, craving her flesh. With one quick swing of her sword, she sliced the creature in half. It died almost instantly and its remains fizzled out of existence. Alex surveyed the village, looking for any more monsters that were taking advantage of the lack of sunlight. She couldn't see any more mobs, so she sheathed her sword and headed back to her house.
Vrrp.
Alex glanced back at the forest and for a brief second, she saw a flash of purple light. An Ender. Alex had never seen one up close, but she knew a little bit about the mysterious race from the End. Particularly, that they were not fans of water. Alex glanced up at the clouds again. Any Ender living in the Overworld would have seen those clouds and run for the hills. What was this one doing?
It wouldn't hurt to find out, Alex decided. She adjusted the strap of the sheath on her back and headed into the forest.
The grass under Alex's feet squished slightly from being logged with water. That poor Ender's feet were probably soaked. Alex had some towels back home. She could find this stranded Ender, dry them off, and figure out where they were supposed to be. Wait, was someone shouting? Alex paused to listen.
"He went this wa—OOF!" Someone slammed into Alex hard. The two went tumbling into the grass and got thoroughly soaked. The next thing she knew, a netherite blade was being pointed at her throat. An Aetherian clad in diamond armor held the weapon and was poised over her. When the Aetherian saw that Alex wasn't a mob, he lowered the weapon and stood up. "Oh, it's just some human," he said. He helped Alex to her feet. "What are you doing out here?" he demanded.
"I saw an Ender teleporting out here, and I was going to help him get out of the coming storm," Alex explained. "A better question is: what are YOU doing out here?"
The Aetherian scowled at her. "That Ender is a criminal wanted by King Haurus. Do not interfere with our mission here to track him down. Which way did you see him go?"
"Er, I think I heard him over there," Alex pointed, "But I can help you! I'm a mob hunt—" The Aetherian suddenly vanished, surprising Alex. She had never even seen an Aetherian before, much less see one teleport. It was almost a little terrifying how he was here one moment and gone the next. "Wait, I can help you!" Alex drew her sword and ran after the Aetherian. It wasn't hard to find him, all she had to do was follow the sounds of shouts and Ender screeches.
Alex ran into a small clearing- and a warzone. Purple Ender and red Aetherian blood was splattered all over the grass. Five soldiers surrounded the lone Ender, who was covered with gashes from their weapons. Its lips were curled into a snarl and it swung at the soldiers with its long claws. One of the blows connected and sent the soldier flying. Enders may be thin for their height, but by the gods they were strong.
The Ender teleported behind one of the soldiers, grabbed them by the shoulders, then proceeded to smash them into the ground a few times before tossing them into two charging soldiers and knocking them over like bowling pins. Another soldier fired an arrow, but the Ender teleported away and the arrow stuck harmlessly into a tree.
"Get out of here, Human!" the Aetherian from earlier shouted. He had finally noticed her standing at the edge of the clearing, gawking at the fight.
His voice brought Alex back to reality and she readied her weapon. "I can help you!" she protested as she ran into the fight.
"We don't need your help!" The Aetherian retorted, but his argument was cut off by the Ender grabbing him by the arm and swinging him into a tree. The resulting CRACK sounded more like wood than bone, but that Aetherian wasn't going to get up any time soon. He groaned in pain.
Alex hesitated for a brief second. It would not be worth it to get killed by a random Ender and if she got thrown into a tree like that, it would most definitely kill her.
The Ender swung at one of the soldiers, but she dodged the blow and swung at the Ender. It teleported to avoid the blow, but the soldier whirled around and threw her sword at the empty air. She was predicting where the Ender was teleporting to—and she was right.
It was like it happened in slow motion. The flying blade sliced through the Ender's shoulder, severing its left arm from its body. The resulting screech of pain was deafening. The Ender vanished again and this time, it didn't reappear in the clearing. Its limb was left in the grass, creating a large pool of purple blood.
"Come on, we've got to find that thing!" the soldier shouted, pulling her sword out of the grass and dashed into the forest. The other soldiers followed after her, even the one that was thrown into a tree.
Yeah, Alex realized she didn't want any part in this. She sheathed her sword and started heading home. There was no reason why she should try and chase this Ender, when all that would come of that is her getting thrown around and beaten to death. Nope. She was going to go back to reading her book, and maybe tomorrow Copper would have some interesting news about what happened to the Ender.
Without warning, the Ender suddenly teleported in front of Alex. It almost immediately fell to the ground and clutched its bleeding stump of a left arm. Alex let out a small cry of surprise and leaped away from the Ender. It didn't seem interested in hurting her, though. It moaned in pain and curled into a fetal position.
Alex hesitated and stared at the Ender in shock. She literally just gave up on chasing the Ender, and here it was, practically being offered to her on a silver platter. Well, what was she going to do anyway? Kill it? That could cause problems between her and the Aetherians who want this Ender. Besides, they explicitly stated that they didn't want her to intervene.
Alex turned to walk away, but something touched her foot. She looked down and saw a strange glowing white orb by her feet. She picked it up and admired it in her hand.
"Don't…. don't touch that!" The Ender creaked, looking up at Alex with large, panicked eyes. He reached towards her to try and take the orb back, but he twisted the wrong way and sent a stab of pain through all of his injuries. He groaned.
The orb was made entirely of energy and simply being near it caused Alex's hair to stand on end. It didn't even seem to rest in her palms, but rather float in her hands. She took a step back from the Ender and pulled the orb in closer. "This is what the Aetherians want, huh? This is why they're trying to kill you?"
The Ender's shoulders slumped as he realized that Alex wasn't going to give him the orb back. "Please, I m-made a promise…"
An arrow sailed out of the trees and hit Alex in the shoulder. She yelped in pain and dropped the orb in surprise. It shattered as soon as it hit the ground and all of the energy within exploded.