The Minecraft Story: The Beginning: Chapter 9
A Few Hours After Sunrise…
Marcus was being treated for the arrow in his arm. The night was so horrible, he completely forgot he had been shot. Luckily, the arrow didn't hit anything important. He was in a medical tent along with several other injured people, knights and villagers, many of whom had far worse injuries. Some had been cut open, some were bitten by spiders, one knight lost his arm from a creeper explosion. Three knights and seven villagers were discovered to have bites from zombies the previous night. They waited to see if they would turn or not, but they did, and were promptly killed. A head count was taken and it was discovered that twenty-six knights, sixty-four villagers, and thirty-two carrier slaves lost their lives last night.
All Marcus could think about was that vendor and his daughter. What happened to them? He thought. Did they burn to death? Did they turn into zombies? Did something else kill them? Was it at least quick? He was so lost in thought, he didn't hear the doctor telling him that he could leave the tent.
Marcus made his way back to the Town Hall where he saw Thomas and twenty-one other carrier slaves being hauled off with swords drawn to them. He rushed over to one of the guards. "Excuse me holy knight, where are you going with these slaves?" He asked.
The guard responded, "These slaves were discovered without their master's equipment last night. The punishment for this crime is death, unless their master gave them explicit permission to dump the equipment."
Marcus grabbed Thomas from the group and said, "This is my carrier slave, I gave him permission to dump my equipment"
The guard simply gave Marcus a nod and apologized, "I'm sorry for the mistake holy knight." and continued corralling the other twenty slaves.
As Marcus and Thomas walked away, Thomas said, "Thank you master, for saving me again." His voice was a little more lively today.
"Even though you are a heretic, you deserve saving," Marcus replied, "I joined the Miter Knights to save lives and help the heretics repent for their sins against Notch."
Thomas looked down at his feet. "But master, we do believe in Notch, we love him, many in the south do," He argued.
"Then why have you forsaken our religion?" Marcus asked. Thomas opened his mouth to speak, but chose to bite his tongue. "Exactly, to live by your ways is to live for yourself, against Notch," Marcus exclaimed, "To live by our ways, is to live for Notch and his way of life, in peace."
Thomas challenged this, "But master, you're at war, you're a soldier."
"If we have to fight to defend the peace, then we will," Marcus responded, "Your way of life has brought war to the holy lands. We have to fight to protect the people"
This angered Thomas, "Didn't you just leave dozens of people to die?"
Marcus couldn't find an answer for Thomas. "Just get back with the other slaves Thomas." Marcus left Thomas with the other carrier slaves in the Town Hall. On his way out, he saw the General. He was standing next to a wagon which was drawn by two horses.
"Attention holy knights!" General Ausmin yelled. "Collect all the deceased knights from last night and pile them onto the wagon! We will bury them at Fort Deepslate tomorrow morning! Once the bodies are on the wagon, we will leave for the fort immediately, is that clear?"
"Yes sir!" The knights yelled back, except Marcus did not yell back.
We're leaving? He thought. Shouldn't we stay here in Morzen and help them bury their dead and rebuild a bit? The dining hall was completely burned down and several doors and windows have been smashed open. And what about the injured knights, how are they going to march all the way to Fort Deepslate?
Marcus followed the other knights, and he began to pick up the bodies of his comrades. Seeing their lifeless eyes and their battered remains made Marcus want to throw up. It took about an hour to pick up the bodies which were scattered all over the village. Some knights were so mangled, they were unrecognizable. He wondered how they'd mark the graves if they couldn't figure out who was who.
On the outside of town, Marcus was picking up another knight. As he bent down to pick up his shoulders, another knight picked up his legs. Without looking up, he said, "Thank you holy kni-" He stopped once he saw it was Franz. "Put him down," he demanded.
"Look brother, about last night," Franz said before being cut off.
"You don't deserve to touch these knights," Marcus exclaimed, "They gave their lives to protect the villagers."
"I know you're mad, but" Once again, Franz was cut off.
"Mad?" Anger boiled in Marcus. "Are you kidding me? Mad? You left them to die. All that talk about us providing them safety, and look what you did."
"You think I wanted to," Franz began to say.
"Drop him now!" Marcus yelled. It took all of his strength not to draw his sword on Franz. Franz looked tired. His eyes were hollow and his expression jaded. He carefully set down the knight's legs and walked off.
As Marcus dragged the knight to the wagon, he saw the home he had been staying in last night. The door had been busted down. He thought about the family that lived there. I hope they made it to the Town Hall. He thought. Suddenly, he remembered what he said to them. He told them to stay put in the house. A tear fell down his face as he continued to drag the knight.
The bodies were all finally in the wagon and the General ordered them all to line up. Marcus fell into line with Thomas who had managed to retrieve the equipment. The General got onto his horse and addressed the knights. "Listen, we've lost almost half the day! These monsters will return tonight and we cannot be caught out in the open! We will march straight for Fort Deepslate and we will not rest until we have arrived. Holy knights, advance!"
They all marched, leaving behind the people of Morzen and the knights who were too injured to march. The General's words got Marcus thinking.
The monsters will return tonight. And we won't be there to protect them.