there are probably errors in this it's late but I wanna post it so (also FFN emails seem to have kicked the bucket again)
The crackle of flames was the first thing that Gabriel became aware of when he woke.
He jerked up with a gasp, only to groan and clamp an arm around his midsection as pain rippled through him. There was a deep gash over his ribs from where he had been caught by an axe-blade, and his head throbbed with the intensity of a war drum. He let out a shaky breath and lifted his chin to look around. The ground was littered with the fallen, piglin and valkyrie alike. Was it over? Had they lost? He wasn't dead yet, but given that he could not fly in this state…
Movement caught his eye, and he turned to see two of his brethren flying from the battlefield.
"Wait!" He cried out, nearly choking on the words. "Wait, please, I'm not dead yet!" He tried to lurch upright, his wings flapping as he pushed off the jagged netherrack, but his legs crumpled underneath him and all he managed to do was cut his palm as he crashed back to the ground. Gabriel hiccuped, his vision blurring as a sob caught in his throat. Had they not heard him? Or did they leave him behind to save their own skins?
Within moments, the valkyries were nothing more than specks in the distance. Gabriel slumped down as he tightened his shaking arm around his ribs, feeling blood leak through his fingers with every pulse of his heart. If his brothers had abandoned him, it was not a matter of if he would die, but how quickly.
Quiet footsteps caught his attention, and Gabriel turned to find what appeared to be a living shadow.
The being was tall, towering above Gabriel's fallen form. It was jet black, with no visible features and a sort of dark mist coming off of it. Gabriel gaped up at the creature in astonishment, then flinched back as it stepped closer. Every fiber of his being screamed for him to get away from this thing, a feeling of wrongness emanating from its form along with the black smoke. Injured as he was, though, there was nothing that he could do but watch as the being studied him silently for several moments.
"You're dying." The being's voice, when it finally spoke, was low and rich, seeming to reverberate even in the wide open cavern. "I can help you." The being extended a hand, but Gabriel only stared.
"What are you?" He gasped out.
"I am called Null," the being responded patiently. "I possess the power to save you, or to put you out of your misery. I only require one thing." Gabriel's eyes flickered from the being's 'face' to its hand.
"Wh-what do you want?"
"Swear fealty to me, and I will help you." The hand remained in place, inviting. "Or refuse, and die. Choose." Gabriel stared at the outstretched hand, and bitterness bloomed in his aching chest.
He lifted a trembling, bloody hand, and took Null's cold one in his own.
Sirben was dead by morning.
Evangeline sat with him until he stopped responding, his dark, agonized gaze finally going blank. Eventually, she woke Herobrine so that she would take a turn to sleep, and when she awoke she found that Sirben's skin had gone a dark gray with cracks spreading across it. The rocky ground was far too hard for them to attempt to bury him, so they left him where he was, his feathers and skin slowly crumbling into dust.
"So," Alex mumbled, gazing at his body from where she and her companions sat several feet away. "He's dead. What now?"
"We can hardly consider this a victory, not with his master still running free." Herobrine glanced up to the ledge that Sirben had fallen from. "If we are to truly negate this threat, we will have to be rid of this 'Null' as well."
"The 'Null' who can kill people in one blow?" Alex clarified. Herobrine nodded. "Well, why not. I'm in."
"Obviously we cannot just leave him, but it may be wise to travel back to the capitol for reinforcements," Evangeline pointed out. "Especially since we know very little about him."
"It's a long journey back." Herobrine shook his head. "We risk losing any knowledge of his location. Our only lead now is that tunnel," he nodded up to the ledge. "Through which the skeletons retreated."
"Besides, we still have to find the queen," Alex piped up. Herobrine and Evangeline exchanged a glance. "What?"
"At this point," Herobrine began slowly, holding Evangeline's gaze for a moment longer before turning back to Alex. "I don't think finding the queen will be possible. We have traveled too far. We will simply have to hope that she was able to find her way home on her own."
Alex frowned. "What if she can't?" She protested. "We have a responsibility to her."
"We could search for months and never find her," Evangeline pointed out. "The Nether is a vast place, as I'm sure you know, and if she is moving as well it becomes all the more difficult. Unfortunately, we have to put our trust in the others, and our focus into finding Sirben's master." Alex didn't seem to like this, but she let it go. "Herobrine," Evangeline addressed their guide. "Do you think that Sirben was telling the truth when he said that the withering effect could kill you?" Herobrine tightened his jaw, thinking over this for a moment.
"I believe that he thought it would," he said at last. "Whether or not he was right is another question." Evangeline pursed her lips, and he went on. "I fought three of his skeletons on my way to get you out, and escaped unharmed. I am not concerned about my survival."
"That's what I'm worried about," Evangeline muttered.
"We should be on our way," Herobrine got to his feet, looking up once more to the ledge. "Hopefully there will still be plenty of time for me to follow the skeletons' trail."
The highlord's gaze shifted from Tekno to herself, and Meryl fought to keep herself from squirming as he studied her. Whatever he saw seemed to be satisfactory, as eventually he sat back.
"Yes, the banished king and his entourage passed through here," he told them. "They claimed to be responsible for the deaths of two feral hoglins that we had been hunting for some time. They ate and rested with us for a night, then we gave them provisions and sent them on their way."
"Did they say where they were going?" Tekno asked.
"Not in any detail," Vex'n replied. "Only that they were tracking an escaped fugitive." Meryl and Tekno exchanged a glance. Undoubtedly they had spoke of Sirben. "They left to the west of camp," Vex'n went on. "And I doubt you'll find them hereabouts ever again, as I told them in no uncertain terms to never return."
"I see." Meryl couldn't blame him for that. The tensions between Herobrine and piglins were famously high.
"I take it you two are in the queen's employ?" Vex'n looked to Tekno again, who shrugged.
"More or less."
"Were there any truth to his claims, then?" Vex'n asked. "That he is in her service?"
"For the last forty years, yep."
"Hmm." Vex'n mused over this for a moment, then finally stood. "Come with me," he said as he stepped around his desk. "I'll show you the path they took when they left."
Alex sat down heavily, shrugging off her knapsack and slumping against the wall with a sigh.
"I'm not taking the first watch," she announced, beginning to search through her bag for food. Evangeline shout her a sympathetic look before returning her gaze to the tunnel ahead of them.
"Are we certain this is a safe place to stop?" She asked. "If we should be attacked, there will not be much room for us to evade."
"I agree, but we've been walking for nearly a day with no end in sight," Herobrine sank down against the opposite wall. "At least here we will be able to see them coming."
The three of them had begun to travel down the tunnel shortly after they woke, and had been walking for hours with little change in scenery. Every now and again the tunnel would widen or narrow, but otherwise it was difficult to observe any progress. It appeared to be mostly natural, for which Evangeline was thankful, but some areas had obviously been widened for ease of travel. This must be a route that the skeletons, and likely the black-robed piglins as well, used frequently. Hence the need for an attentive watch.
Evangeline lowered herself down to sit on Herobrine's left, digging through her knapsack in search of a wrapped package of food. The segment of tunnel that they were currently in was almost ramrod-straight, allowing them to see for a good distance in either direction. It would be difficult for anyone to catch them unawares.
They were, she noticed as she located her provisions, beginning to run low on the food that the piglins had given them… perhaps they should start conserving food. Evangeline had no idea if they would be able to reliably forage so far into the Nether. As Evangeline ate, Alex fell asleep, slumped around the knapsack that she used as a pillow. Evangeline could imagine that she was accustomed to falling asleep quickly, taking quick naps while she was on her own in the hostile Nether.
Herobrine sat quietly against the wall, occasionally looking from one end of the tunnel to the other. Evangeline was struck abruptly by the memory of them locked up in Sirben's prison together, sitting against a wall side by side just like this… only with fewer chains and fractured bones.
As she finished her meal, Herobrine spoke up quietly. "Are you doing alright?" He asked. "I know you don't like being underground." Evangeline blinked up at him, swallowed.
"Yes, I'm alright. I suppose…" her gaze drifted up to the tunnel ceiling. "…being in the Nether for so long has made me more tolerant of it." Herobrine nodded, satisfied, and turned back to the tunnel. Evangeline quietly packed up her bag again. While she wasn't as weary as Alex, she knew that she should take this opportunity to rest. However…
"Thank you for coming after me," she murmured. Herobrine glanced back at her, nodded.
"I couldn't leave you there."
"I know." She hesitated. "It was a trap. Sirben told me that he wanted us out of the way."
"I suspected as much," Herobrine said. "He sent three of his skeletons after me. I suppose he thought that they would finish me off, but none of them managed to land a hit before the hoglins arrived."
"Hoglins?" Evangeline echoed, then put together what she hadn't during the chaos of the previous day. Alex had released the captive hoglins, and somehow or another had made it out unharmed. "Oh."
"If not for them…" Herobrine shrugged. "I'm sure I would have been able to slip away, but it would have been considerably more difficult."
"Mm." Evangeline shuddered to think of what would have happened to him if one of the creatures had infected him with wither magic. She was not keen on putting his immortality to the test.
"I'm glad you're safe," Herobrine murmured. "I can't help but think that Sirben could have just as easily killed you and still lured me in after you." Evangeline forced a rueful smile.
"He probably planned to kill me in front of you," She said. Herobrine mused over this for a moment.
"He did have a penchant for theatrics," he said at last. Evangeline smirked, but her weariness was taking its toll, and her mind beginning to wander into all the things that Sirben could have had planned for her as his captive. He had forbidden her guards from touching her, he must have had something planned…
She shifted, pushing herself up to sit cross-legged instead. Whatever he'd planned for her, he was dead now, betrayed and slaughtered by his own master. Perhaps a fitting end, after everything he'd done, but Evangeline couldn't help but feel that he was little more than a pawn in Null's game.
"What are you thinking about?" Herobrine murmured. Evangeline glanced up at him, and realized that her apprehension must be showing on her face.
"Sirben's master," she answered honestly. "We have no idea what he could be capable of. It seems foolish to charge blindly after him, but what other choice do we have? You are the former king of the Nether and I am a member of the armies of the Aether- if neither of us knows anything about this being, who then can we go to?" She sighed, adjusting her wings and clasping her hands tightly in her lap. "But we cannot leave him to his devices, either."
"No," Herobrine agreed. "We can't. At the very least," he went on. "Between your wings and my teleportation, we are capable of getting out of a lot of trouble. I should think that we will be capable of collecting information without putting ourselves into serious danger."
"Hopefully…" Evangeline lapsed into silence again for a moment. "I also…" she began. "…it feels wrong to mourn him, after all he's done, but…" She trailed off, and Herobrine hummed quietly.
"It is rarely pleasant to watch someone die," he said. "Even someone who you believe deserves it." He shifted, and his hand slid across her lower back to rest on her waist. Evangeline's gaze flicked up to his in surprise, then, deciding that this was ample permission, she leaned in and kissed him.
Herobrine's other hand went to her waist as he turned to face her, leaning into the kiss as she cupped his cheek. He seemed reluctant to pull her in closer, so she broke the kiss for just long enough to shift onto her knees before pressing her lips to his again.
Herobrine let her push him back against the tunnel wall, his hands on her hips as she leaned in close. The stubble on his cheek was rough under her palm, and she could feel scars under her fingertips as she rested her other hand on his neck. Her heart was beating so loud that she could swear he heard it, and she could feel his pulse racing where her thumb rested on his throat.
Finally, he broke the kiss, lowering his chin. "Eva…" He breathed. "We shouldn't do this."
"Why not?" She hesitated, then pressed her lips to the scar across the bridge of his nose before pulling away. She was straddling his legs now, and she wondered for a moment if she was making him uncomfortable, but his hands remained on her hips.
"Because it will make it all the harder for us to say goodbye again," he murmured. Evangeline's face fell into a frown.
"We don't have to."
"Yes we do," he told her. "I am a servant of the queen. I cannot leave the Nether, and you cannot stay." Still, he didn't push her away, and Evangeline leaned forward to wrap her arms around his neck.
"I would stay for you," she murmured into his ear. Herobrine scoffed softly, his hand drifting up to rest in the small of her back.
"You would not be happy in the Nether."
"I would be with you."
"Your commander would not approve of it, and neither would I." He said firmly. Evangeline sighed and leaned back to look him in the eyes.
"What if you could leave?" She asked. "Would you?" Herobrine pressed his lips into a thin line and looked away.
"No," he said. "I wouldn't." Evangeline could feel a stab of grief go through her, but she tried not to let it show.
"Alright." She wrapped her arms around his neck again, resting her head on his shoulder and shutting her eyes. She could feel his hand creep up her back, his fingers brushing the gap between her wings before going back down again.
"What are you doing?" He murmured.
"Resting." She didn't open her eyes.
"Here?"
"Mm."
"Alright." Herobrine shifted, moving until she was better supported in his lap before he stilled again. Evangeline remained where she was, listening to his breathing and his heartbeat and waiting to calm enough to fall asleep.