The Minecraft Story: The Beginning: Chapter 35
The carrier slaves tended to the knights wounds the best they could. Carlo, the injured knight, had taken a nasty hit on the head and had been bleeding profusely. Red blood still stained the shiny iron armor of the knight who'd carried him. His name was Anthony. He was a young knight in his mid twenties. His clean, baby like face gave a glow of youth and innocents to the man. However, the blood stained armor of the Miter Knights gave the impression of a cold blooded killer.
He looks about the same age as Marcus. Thomas thought. I wonder if he graduated with him. Oh Marcus, I hope you're alright.
They managed to bandage up Carlo. "Well, we made the bleeding stop, but he'll likely remain unconscious for a while," said Zacharius.
"Thank you sir," said Anthony, "I appreciate you helping us, given that you're heretics and all." Zacharius gave a slight nod in response.
"He should be alright to move," Thomas said, not wanting Anthony to stick around, "I'm sure you'd want to get him to a more professional medical tent."
"You're right," Anthony agreed, "I will need two of you to move him."
Thomas looked up at Anthony, puzzled, "Unfortunately, we still need to attend to our wounded as well. We'll have to stay here."
"Oh I don't think that will be a problem, you're all going to be coming with me," Anthony said, addressing the entire medical tent.
Thomas slowly stood up with the help of another carrier slave, "And why would we go with you?"
Anthony looked Thomas in the eye, "Because I saw you run away during the battle, desertion is not tolerated in the Holy Notch Empire. You all will be coming with me." Thomas looked down and saw Anthony holding onto his sword. That hand grasping the hilt of the sword sent a shiver down Thomas's spine. However, he also noticed Anthony's hand was slightly shaking.
His hand is shaking. He thought. He's afraid. He knows he's outnumbered, maybe we can force him to leave.
Thomas stood tall, putting a slight bit of pressure onto his broken leg. The pain was extreme, but so was his resolve. "We will not be going anywhere with you."
Anthony was surprised by this. His eyes darted from Thomas's eyes to the ground in rapid motions. "D-Desertion and defiance to your master is punishable by death." His grip was tighter now. "I'm sorry, I truly do appreciate you helping my friend, but I'm a Miter Knight of the Holy Notch Army. I will give you one last chance to come peacefully."
"You might want to re-think that," said Zacharius. Anthony was confused again by his defiance, but then, he looked around him and found himself surrounded by the other carrier slaves. They were armed with backup swords, axes, and rocks from their master's packs. "If you want to see tomorrow, I suggest you take your friend and leave," Zacharius scoffed, "holy knight."
Anthony's eyes darted to every single carrier slave. His hand was shaking more violently now. He didn't know what to do.
"I-I-uh, I have to take you in," Anthony stuttered, "If I let you go, I could be killed as well."
"You will be killed if you don't leave," said Thomas while staring Anthony in the eye.
Thomas was the closest to Anthony. He braced for the attack he was sure was coming. He gritted his teeth and prepared for the sword to slice across his chest, but it never came. Anthony slowly opened his hand and released the sword. Without saying a word, he picked up Carlo and hobbled away.
…
During their search for the General, Marcus and Franz ran into some surviving knights who informed them on the attack.
"How is the creeper still alive?" One knight asked, "I thought they died when they exploded."
"Who knows," Marcus replied, "All we need to worry about is how we're going to kill it and the giant zombie. We also need to start wondering how we'll kill Herobrine. As long as he lives, he can always make more."
"He's right, we have to find that monster as soon as possible," Franz agreed, "That's why we need to hurry and find the General so he can rally the troops."
"We're going to kill a God?" Another knight asked, "Do you know how many knights were killed in the blast? And even if we had our full army, can Herobrine even be killed? And on top of that, we still have to fight those pigmen."
Oh yeah, I hadn't thought of that. Marcus thought. We still don't know if Herobrine can be killed. According to the Bible of Notch, Notch can be killed, but can his brother? Marcus looked up towards the sky. Where is Notch? It's been almost a week since the monsters appeared. Shouldn't we have seen or at least heard of him somewhere by now? Could Notch be dead? Was he killed by Herobrine before all this went down? Where is he?
As the group searched the rubble, they began to cheering. They followed the cheering and found a much larger group of knights near the trees on the west side of the fort.
…
They came out of nowhere. Thomas and the other carrier slaves were too busy tending to the wounded when a large group of one hundred knights appeared out of the rubble and restrained them. One knight ripped Thomas up and held a sword to his neck. Zacharius tried to stop them, but he was knocked to the ground.
Suddenly, from the back of the group, a figure appeared. "So, you are the escaped slaves." It was General Ausmin. "How could you abandon your masters when they needed you both?" He stared at the carrier slaves with a smug face. "Thank you for informing me of their location, holy knight." General Ausmin looked over and gave a slight nod to a young knight. It was the same kid they had helped. It was Anthony.
Shit. Thomas thought. Why did I help them? I should've known better. These people are going to die because I chose to help that scumbag.
"Well," General Ausmin explained, "You all know the rules, a carrier slave who abandons their master will be executed." General Ausmin sighed. "Why do you have to run? You ran in Morzen too. We lost a lot of good laborers from that. And now we have to kill nearly thirty carrier slaves." He rolled his eyes and waved his hand in the air, "Lets get this over with."
This can't be it. Thomas thought. After everything, we're just going to be executed? Thomas looked around at the other carrier slaves. Sorrow and fear were smeared all over their faces. Many were beginning to cry. No. I have to do something, even if it is a long shot. I got them this far, I can't let it all be in vain.
"Please stop!" Thomas yelled, "I'm the one who led them away from the knights, you can kill me but let them live!"
General Ausmin turned to the sudden outburst. His cold, unfeeling eyes stared right into Thomas's soul.
"So, you're the ringleader," General Ausmin said while walking up to Thomas. He noticed Thomas's leg and turned to the knight holding him up, "Drop him." Thomas was thrown to the ground, his face a few inches from the General's iron boots.
"Please master!" Thomas could barely lift himself to his knees, "If it wasn't for me, they wouldn't have run off. I take full responsibility for these people, I'm the one you have to punish."
General Ausmin slightly cocked his head, "Have to?" He grabbed Thomas's hair and forced him to look up at him, "You think you can order me around boy?" Thomas shook his head before General Aumsin tightened his grip. "I don't care if you started the entire war, all you heretics deserve nothing but death. You are spawns of Herobrine himself! I will purge you from this world, starting with carrier slave here, including the ones who didn't run off!"
The other knights were surprised by this outburst and began to whisper amongst each other. General Ausmin noticed and addressed his army, "I know how we can win this catastrophe! The reason these monsters are invading us is because of these heretics! It's them who has allowed Herobrine to enter this world! They will join the pigmen army and slaughter us! They've already killed over ninety percent of our forces with this attack! This is our time to come together and we will massacre every single heretic in the Southern Territories!"
The knights didn't know what to make of this. They all stood in silence. "They are our enemies, they have been our enemies for years! If we don't act now, their forces will be unstoppable! Today, we will march to the south before the southern heretics can merge with Herobrine and his pigmen!"
At first there was silence, but then some knights began to cheer. The cheering grew louder and louder until most of the one-hundred knights were cheering.
General Ausmin smiled and pointed towards Thomas, "Kill him!" The knight who was holding Thomas up stepped forward with his sword.
"No please!" Thomas begged, "We're not your enemy! We just wanted to live in peace! You can't do this to-" Thomas was kicked in the mouth and fell over. He looked up and saw the knight raising his sword. All Thomas could hear was the cheering of the other knights. He closed his eyes and braced for the sword.
CLANG!
The cheering suddenly stopped. Thomas opened his eyes and saw two swords locked in each other. There was the sharp, ear piercing sound of iron grinding on iron and the knight's sword was thrown to the side.
What happened? Thomas thought. Was I saved? By who? Was it Zacharius?
Suddenly, Thomas was grabbed and pulled back. He looked up and saw Marcus holding his sword at the ready.
"How could you!" Marcus yelled at the General, "You want to slaughter everyone in the south! You're a monster!"
General Ausmin was surprised a holy knight had saved a slave. He was annoyed, but then he recognized the armor. This knight was a member of the Miter Knights. Suddenly, rage overflowed through the General.
"You little shit!" General Ausmin yelled, "How could a Miter Knight protect a heretic! You were trained to fight the non-believers, to fight for Notch!"
Marcus gripped his sword tighter, "Notch would puke at the idea of killing the southerners! I was trained to help people! That's what we were all trained for!" Marcus addressed the other knights. "If you truly believe in Notch, then you'd never agree to this plan! You disgust me and you disgust Notch!"
"Who are you to speak on Notch's behalf?" General Ausmin yelled.
"I should've been asking you and all our leaders that!" Marcus answered, "Notch wasn't a crazed killer, but Herobrine was! If anyone here is the spawn of Herobrine it's you!"
General Ausmin was shaking with anger. However, there was also something familiar about this knight. He'd heard that voice and seen that face before. He'd also seen that reluctance to kill a heretic. He knew who this was.
"I remember you," said General Ausmin, "I saw you at Zamafar. You had been reluctant to kill a heretic, even though he was a soldier." Suddenly, the General's eyes grew wide. "I should've known, how could it have slipped past me? You're a heretic spy aren't you? You came here to sabotage us! I bet you even knew these monsters were coming!"
Marcus took a step back, "You're crazy! I would never endanger my comrades!"
"Do you see holy knights!" General Ausmin yelled, "He's a spy who was sent here to destroy us! He knew about the mutant monsters, he knew about Herobrine, he knew all this was going to happen!"
"No I didn't, you've lost it General!" Marcus yelled, "I came here to warn you where the monsters were going to attack next! I overheard the pigmen talking, they're going to attack Redwater!"
"LIAR!" General Ausmin screamed, "This demon is a liar and he will be executed for his crimes!"
Suddenly, two knights kicked the back of Marcus's knees and he fell to the ground. His sword was tossed to the side and he was held down by the knights. Thomas tried to get up to help Marcus but he was pulled back by Franz.
"I will save the empire!" General Ausmin screamed, "One heretic at a time!"
The General pulled out his sword. Marcus tried to struggle, but the two knights were older and stronger than him. The General moved almost in slow motion towards Marcus. His sword swung from side to side.
Marcus knew his actions would likely get him killed. His only hope is that he could've inspired the other knights to act.
"Don't let yourself be pawns in his genocide!" Marcus screamed, "If you truly believe in Notch, you'll stop hi-"
"Shut up!" One of the knights covered his mouth.
General Ausmin took a second to look back, "Do not listen to these heretics, Notch has been and always will be on our side. We send this heretic back to the nether in the name of Notch."
General Ausmin turned back and raised his sword.
The arrow pierced into General Ausmin's throat. He dropped his sword as he gagged on his own blood. As he fell to his knees, Marcus met his eyes. He had expected to see a look of hatred, but all he saw was fear. He saw the eyes of a scared little kid, not a hardened warrior. The life in his eyes quickly drained before he slumped over on his side.
The two knights had released their grip on Marcus and looked back to see Franz holding the bow. Many knights quickly unsheathed their swords, but Marcus noticed many did not. They were about to attack when a voice called out from the nearby forest.
"Wait! Stop!"
Everyone turned to see Notch running out from the forest, "I think we should hear them out."