The Minecraft Story: The Beginning: Chapter 10
The Miter Knights marched for hours without a break to Fort Deepslate. Most of the knights had little to no sleep the night prior and many were ready to fall over from exhaustion. The only one that seemed to not be tired was the General on his horse who kept screaming, "Do not break pace!" any time the group slowed down.
Marcus could see that Thomas was struggling to carry the equipment, especially with his limp. About two hours into the trek, Marcus noticed Thomas was about to fall over. He hated seeing him like this, so he took the equipment off Thomas and carried it for a few hours. Once Thomas felt he was ready again, he asked to take the equipment back, which Marcus obliged.
It was nearing sundown, and the knights began to get restless. Marcus could hear the others talking about the potential of being caught out in the woods by another horde of monsters. It wouldn't take too much longer for panic to set in. Luckily, the knights made it to the fort before right as it began to get dark.
Cheers erupted as they approached the gates of Fort Deepslate. It was one of the holy land's greatest fortresses. It was made of deepslate cobblestone, hence the name. It was a material that could only be found in the deepest caves and was a nightmare to transport to the surface. The fort was huge, it could easily fit up to three thousand soldiers. It was constantly under the protection of the Deepslate Garrison Legion, a legion of knights committed only to protecting Fort Deepslate. They knew every secret about the fort, including the traps.
As they approached the fort, they saw the bodies of monsters scattered all around the outer wall. There were craters either from creeper explosions and TNT traps. Marcus thought this was strange and that he would've thought they'd remove the bodies by now. But the shock of what happened last night must still be lingering with the fort. The Miter Knights made it to the front gate, they looked up at the thirty block high walls and saw Garrison Knights staring down at them. They recognized the Miter Knights by their armor and opened the large fifteen block high gates.
They entered into the first outer walls of Fort Deepslate. The fort was protected by two outer walls and the center of the fort contained the Citadel. The first inner wall contained the Deepslate Garrison Knights where they lived together as their own community. Marcus saw small villages made out of deepslate. There were about one thousand Garrison Knights spread across the first inner wall.
They soon went inside the second gate into the second inner wall where the Miter Knights would be staying for the time being. The second inner wall also contained other knight legions like the Holy Golden Knights and the Armstrong Knights. General Ausmin ordered his men to dig a giant hole for the fallen knights. This angered Marcus. That's what these knights get, a mass grave? He thought. These knights actually tried to protect the people of Morzen and we're just going to throw them into a giant pit?
The exhausted knights began digging a hole. Marcus wondered if the General was just trying to hurry up the burial process. It was customary for Generals and Commanders to be present at the burials of fallen knights as a sign of respect. Although, after last night, Marcus wondered if he truly had any respect for them at all. He was likely trying to rush the burial so that he could get into the Citadel. The Citadel was through another gate wall and contained some of the most powerful leaders in the Holy Notch Army. Sometimes, even the Pope himself would be in the Citadel. However, lately the Pope has stayed away, due to the close proximity of Fort Deepslate and the southern border.
Once the hole was dug, the bodies were thrown into the hole. It sickened Marcus to just watch as these brave knights were tossed into a mass grave like they were nothing. Although, it didn't seem to just be him that was feeling this way. He looked around and saw disgusted and jaded looks on other knights faces. Some even looked away from the sight. Marcus wondered where Franz was or if he even cared about what was happening. He looked around and found him. He was one of the knights dropping the bodies in the grave. Of course. He thought.
It was nighttime when the grave was finally covered with dirt and General Ausmin left for the Citadel. He could hear more traps being set off from the second inner wall. He could hear the Garrison Knights yelling orders to each other. He could hear arrows being fired at however many monsters were outside the first wall. But most importantly, he could hear the monsters themselves. The same horrifying sounds he had endured the night prior. Thoughts of screaming villagers and dying comrades came flashing back to him. He sat next to a small hut, just trying to collect himself. Suddenly, a person appeared before him.
"Are you feeling alright master?", the person asked. Marcus looked up and it was Thomas.
"I'm not sure Thomas," Marcus answered. He could see his hands shaking. It was just like when he was in the house back in Morzen. It didn't make sense to Marcus; he wasn't in any danger. The Garrison Knights were fighting off the monsters as he sat there. Thomas saw his shaking too and sat down beside him.
"I understand you're afraid, master," Thomas said, trying to comfort Marcus. "We in the south felt your fear many times."
"You did?" Marcus questioned.
"Yes master, in my village," Thomas explained, "we were always under constant threat of attack. We had heard stories of the holy army torching down villages and kidnapping people. The rich among us fled further south, but many of us couldn't afford to just leave our villages." Thomas looked down at the ground as he kept talking. "For some, their fear caused them to go crazy. Screaming to everyone about how they were going to be slaughtered. Many took their own lives."
Marcus looked towards Thomas and wondered. This is how the southern heretics feel about us? He thought. But we're bringers of the words of Notch, they're the ones who fight against our ways.
Thomas continued to speak, "However, even in this time of fear, we couldn't let it consume us. We figured, if we were going to die, it was best we spent what time we had left living our best lives. Our village came together, and we spent time with each other." Thomas began to tear up a bit. "I spent more time with my own family. Before the war, I spent years working in wheat fields for one of the rich elite. I spent most of my life just chasing money. But with what I thought was my imminent death and the fact my boss fled the village, I used my time to be with my wife and daughter."
This shocked Marcus. From what he heard about the southern heretics, he was told they don't form bonds with people. That they simply bred just for repopulation and to spread their lies through the holy lands.
Thomas continued, "My wife and I would go on walks through the forest with our little girl. Marveling at the beauty of nature. Something I always took for granted. I learned how skilled of a painter my daughter was. You should've seen her art, some of the most wonderful pieces I've ever seen." Thomas had streaks of tears running down his eyes.
Marcus put a hand on Thomas's back. He asked, "What happened to them?"
Thomas looked at Marcus with his now red and puffy eyes. "We were attacked. A group of soldiers pulled me out of our home and then lit on fire whilst my wife and daughter were hiding inside." Thomas looked back down at the ground and began to cry.
Marcus put his arm around Thomas. They sat there for five minutes as Thomas wept. Marcus tried to comfort him. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Thomas. I had no idea," he said.
Thomas collected himself and turned back to Marcus. "I'm sorry master, I didn't mean to spill everything out there," he said.
"No, it's okay Thomas," Marcus replied, "I'm glad you told me. I didn't know"
Thomas slowly stood up, "I came over here to tell you that the other knights are doing a funeral service for your comrades." Thomas walked away back to other carrier slaves.
Thoughts raced through Marcus's head. He had no idea the heretics were so terrified of them. He had always thought they were brutes who wanted nothing else but to massacre all the believers of Notch. He didn't want to dwell on these thoughts, so we got up and walked over to the grave.
Several of his comrades stood around the grave, praying. Some weren't even members of the Miter Knights, but rather knights from other legions. Many were on their knees as a sign of respect. He joined the knights and began praying. One knight stood behind the grave giving a eulogy with the Bible of Notch in his hands. He began to say the names of all the knights who died in the battle. Marcus was glad to see someone took the time to learn their names
Dozens of knights were at the funeral, but not all of them were. Many didn't show up and Marcus assumed Franz was already asleep in a hut. He looked across at the praying group. And to his surprise, at the very end of the group, he saw Franz on his knees, his eyes shut, and praying.
Author's Note: Hello, I really hope you are enjoying my story so far. I'm glad that I made it to Chapter 10 of the story. I've been having a lot of fun finally being able to write this story, which I've been working on for a few years. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has read the story and especially everyone who has continued reading. I really appreciate all of you. If you've enjoyed it so far, I've got good news. Up to this point, you've only read about 1% of the story. I have so much planned out for the future, and I hope you stay tuned. That's all I wanted to say, stay safe out there and once again, thank you.