The Minecraft Story: The Beginning: Chapter 18
Marcus could already hear the screams and clanging of swords and shields as he made his way to the front. A wall of shieldmen were desperately trying to fend off their attackers.
"Maintain wall formation!" General Asumin commanded. As Marcus ran to the shields he looked back at the grisly General and could see the terror on his face. It was strange. Marcus obviously didn't think too highly of the General anymore, but this reaction to a heretic counter attack was surprising. At least, that's what he thought, until he finally got a glimpse of their attackers.
Standing beyond the shields, was an army of what appeared to be humanoid pigs. Many at the front were covered in blood from slain knights. Some were donning golden armor and all were holding golden swords. Marcus stopped in his tracks along with many other of his comrades.
What the fuck are these things? He thought.
The pigmen were tearing through the shields. They attacked seemingly without any regard towards their own safety. Several of the pigmen were being hacked down by the swordsmen, but it wasn't enough to stop the upcoming onslaught. The pigmen were grabbing the shields and ripping it out of the knight's hands all while being sliced and stabbed by the swordsmen. Some shieldmen fell forward with their shields and were ripped apart by the mass of pigmen. Marcus saw one of the fallen shieldmen get their arms ripped off, leaving the pigmen drenched in blood.
"Why the hell are you standing there!" The General screamed at Marcus and the other stationary knights. "Get in there and help your comrades!"
Marcus to the struggling shieldmen. The screams of his dying comrades were being drowned out by the squealing of the pigmen. He desperately swung his sword at pigmen who were trying to grab a shield. He managed to hack one pigmen's hand off and he moved his attention to another, assuming the first pigmen would retreat with his lost hand. However, to his shock and horror, the pigment continued trying to rip the shield away.
What the hell is wrong with these things? He wondered. They're just as mindless and bloodthirsty as the other night creatures.
Marcus moved to help the shieldman again, but a pigman crawled onto the ground and stabbed the shieldman in the knees repeatedly. He yelled out in pain as his legs gave out from under him. He was dogpilled by three pigmen who ripped him apart with their bare hands. The shieldman continued to scream in agony.
The shield wall was crumbling before his eyes. Everywhere he looked, he saw more shields falling. The swordsmen were beginning to withdraw, fearing for their lives. Some began to run away and left their comrades to die. Marcus took a few steps back as the shieldmen around him were going down. He wondered where the archers were. He wondered why no arrows were piercing these creatures. Suddenly, he remembered they were in a forest and were all bunched up together. It would be a miracle for the archers to fire on the pigmen without hitting their own. But why weren't they trying to help the shieldmen with them? Where were the archers? Where was Franz?
As if they could read his mind, the archers ran up with their own swords and began to fight off the pigmen. With the new reinforcements, Marcus got back into the fight. Almost none of the shieldmen remained and pigmen began to run at them. Marcus managed to get a lucky swing at a pigman's head, which sliced open.
Marcus looked to his side and saw Franz desperately trying to fend off the pigmen with the other swordsmen. He managed to stab another charging pigman in the heart, but more were on their way. The larger mass of pigmen seemed to had finished with slaughtering the shieldmen and averted their gazes to the swordsmen and archers.
This isn't good, we can't fight these things, not without shields. He thought. This must be where I die. These things aren't like the heretics or even the nighttime monsters. Marcus saw the crazed look in their eyes as they began to charge towards them. At least I can try to kill as many as I can. I can't let these things attack a village. I can't imagine what these monsters would do to a village, it would be a… wait.
"Retreat!" The General screamed. "All knights retreat!" The knights turned and ran for their lives. The pigmen were hot on their tail. "Run back to Fort Deepslate! Don't let them catch you!" The General began to ride his horse back to the fort.
Marcus sprinted faster than he'd ever before. Strangely, he couldn't feel any soreness or fatigue. He was high on adrenaline. He took a moment to look back and saw two glowing white eyes behind the pigmen mass. There was no time to think about it. He dropped his sword to run easier as he could still vividly hear the squealing. He could also still hear screams as some knights tripped and were engulfed in the mass.
He ran and ran and ran. Trees were flying past him, a cloud of dirt was being kicked up by the fleeing knights. They ran almost halfway to Fort Deepslate before they finally realized they were being chased anymore. In fact, it seemed they hadn't been chased for a good time. The knights around him were slowing down and were trying to catch their breaths. They continued to speed walk as nobody dared to completely stop. Soon, the adrenaline wore off and he began to feel the soreness in his legs. He was drenched in sweat in his full iron armor under the midday Sun. His breathing was labored and he almost passed out from exhaustion. When he found his brother, he didn't look any better. Franz kept shooting nervous glances behind him.
Marcus couldn't wrap his head around what had just transpired. He searched his memory trying to recall any mention of these pigmen during the sermons, but he couldn't find anything. All Marcus wanted to do was lay down and go to sleep, but he still had half the journey back to Fort Deepslate.