Herobrine listened silently as the piglin before him made his case, not speaking until his guest had finished. When he finally fell quiet, Herobrine leaned forward, lacing his fingers together on the tabletop of his reception room.
"No," he said after a moment. "We cannot spare the men required in order to assist."
"My liege," the piglin protested, "We cannot survive much longer on our own if these attacks continue at this rate. We will be wiped out."
"Perhaps you will."
"Not only will lives be lost, but our food and valuables will be taken as well," the piglin continued desperately. "To feed and clothe those who would plot against you. It is folly to ignore our plight!"
"Nevertheless, as I told you already, I have no men to spare," Herobrine repeated himself. "I cannot produce soldiers where I have none. Remove yourself from my presence."
"You-" the piglin began, only to cut himself off abruptly when Herobrine surged to his feet. "-yes, your majesty," the piglin said hastily. "Thank you for your ear." With that, he turned and scurried from the room.
Herobrine sank back into his chair, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he let out a slow breath. This was the third visit he'd had so far this morning, all from the more unfortunate of his subjects seeking aid and relief. He had, of course, refused every one.
"Your majesty." A quiet voice vied for his attention, and Herobrine lifted his head to fix his bodyguard with a tired look.
"What is it, Mikkael?"
Mikkael Laurier had joined Herobrine's forces only a few months before, but between his loyalty, sharp wits, and his prowess in battle he had quickly moved up the ranks before being assigned as his king's personal guard. He was tall, a couple of inches taller than Herobrine himself, and due to his position had been allocated a set of the finest armor that the Nether had to offer- netherite, an alloy forged from gold and an almost indestructible material formed by the pressure in the deepest depths of the Nether.
"I don't mean to question your wisdom, my liege, but we have more than enough troops here at the castle to defend it," Mikkael told him. "You are aware of this, I'm sure. Can we truly not spare even a single squadron to attend to the safety of your people?"
"The men stationed here are here to protect me," was Herobrine's response. "On account of the threat I received, which you are well acquainted with."
"I am, my king, but that threat reached our ears nearly four months ago," Mikkael pointed out. "And beyond that, I am quite certain that we would be able to effectively defend your walls with half the men we have currently stationed here."
"I am not willing to leave my home improperly defended," Herobrine said icily. "Not again. It is not your place to advise me, Mikkael. You are here to protect me, not my people."
"I am trying to protect you, your majesty," Mikkael protested. "As your most recent visitor told you, to leave your towns and villages vulnerable to being raided will only strengthen your foes. Moreover, refusing to help them will sow bitterness and discontent amongst your people, and damage the trust which you have worked for so many years to gain." Herobrine's frown deepened, and Mikkael pressed onward. "The greatest way to ensure your safety, your majesty, is to ensure that no one would wish you harm in the first place."
"It is far too late for that," Herobrine muttered darkly. In a louder voice, he continued. "The best way to ensure that I am kept safe is to give my enemies no avenue of attack," he told his bodyguard. "I have the final say as to where my men will be stationed, and I intend for them to stay here." Mikkael's jaw tightened, but he merely lowered his chin.
"Yes, your majesty. As you command."
"I was born into the Order of Wither." Hama sat back in a rocking chair, pushing herself back and resting one hoof on a footstool. "My grandmother was the first, then my mother and father lived and died there. I am the last living member of my bloodline, and I intend to let it die with me."
"How long ago did you leave?" Evangeline asked quietly. Hama hummed, thoughtful.
"Almost fifty years now." She scoffed. "How time flies."
It had been about twelve hours since the four of them arrived at Hama's residence. All of them had taken the opportunity to rest and refresh themselves, and Evangeline had explored all that she dared of the ancient structure. Although many of the buildings in the Aether were just as old, if not older, this fortress had not been maintained in centuries. And yet, it still stood.
Herobrine eventually came back to join her and Alex, just as he had promised. They had slept in shifts, then had assembled again once Hama had finally emerged, Evageline was disappointed that she had only been allowed to spend a small amount of their downtime with Herobrine, but she refused to dwell on it for long. They had more important matters to attend to.
"Why did you leave?" Herobrine spoke up from the doorway. At least he was dressed now, in a black, sleeveless vest that they had found amongst Hama's possessions.
"Wasn't safe." Hama crossed one leg over the other. "Not a lot of the Order that survives to my age. It's a bloody line of work. And it takes its toll, 'specially when you're getting into your hundreds. I could tell that my age wasn't earning me respect- quite the opposite, in fact." Hama lifted up her left arm, showing off a mass of scars that stretched up the inside of her bicep. "Not in a community that judges worth by fighting ability. So I left.
"It took me a while to find this place," Hama went on as she lowered her arm. "I lived for a while in a cavern in a soulsand valley, then moved on to an abandoned town before I found this bastion." She gestured around herself. "Which so far has proven to be a good choice. Yesterday, I was caught by some of my old fellows while foraging several miles from here- though, even if they had caught me here…" she shrugged. "They're good and dead now."
"How big is the order?" Herobrine asked. "To your knowledge?"
"When I left, we were about six hundred in number," Hama told him. "Now, I couldn't tell you. More, maybe less. The Order loses about as many warriors as it gains."
"And Null?" Alex chimed in. "What can you tell us about him?"
"Null." Hama sat back, folding her arms over her chest. "That's an interesting question. I met Null in person all of twice, and I didn't learn all that much either time. He's not piglin, or human, for that matter. I can't well say what he is, other than the personification of darkness itself." Hama paused, eying her guests. "I know that sounds like a load of hog, but you'd understand if you saw him.
"His form is black, and shapeless, like a clump of dark fog. If the light is right you may be able to see a head, or shoulders, but in a dark room he's almost invisible against the shadows. His touch is colder than ice, and it gives you a chill that lingers for days. The Order worships him, he is their god and their muse. And all they get to thank for it is their sorry corpses being turned into his twisted slaves."
"The skeletons," Evangeline murmured.
"Correct." Hama nodded approvingly. "I take it you're familiar."
"We've faced them before," Herobrine confirmed. "We watched them slaughter one of Null's servants- a twisted valkyrie by the name of Sirben."
"Hmm." Hama nodded. "The skeletons are an extension of Null's will. They have no sense of their own, they are only his puppets. He uses them to do the dirty work that he can't be bothered to do himself."
"Is Null himself all that powerful?" Evangeline asked. "Or does his power come solely from his lackeys?"
"Couldn't tell you that." Hama shrugged. "I've never seen him fight. Which in itself makes for a pretty good idea, I'll reckon."
"If you've never seen him fight, I would hazard a guess that you've never seen him threatened, either," Herobrine said. "So you would not know how easy it might be to kill him."
"Not directly, no, I haven't," Hama confirmed. "But my grandmamma told me that he was right spooked when the Nether King rose to power." She leveled her gaze at Herobrine, who stilled. Evangeline looked from one of them to the other.
"How so?" She finally asked.
"Well, the Order thrives off of chaos and strife." Hama plucked a bit of soot out of her hair, tossing it away. "And you may not believe this, valkyrie, but when Herobrine first took the throne he was the exact opposite of that. He was a good and just king, intent on uniting the Nether under a single rule to cut down on needless death and provide means of resource distribution for all. That meant he was a threat to Null and the Order's easy pickings. So, Null sent some of his boys to finish him off." She glanced at Herobrine again. "No better way to promote discord than by killing off the king, eh?" Herobrine didn't respond.
"They didn't kill him," Hama went on. "As I'm told, Herobrine can't die. But the attack served its purpose either way, I'm told that the king was never the same after. The only unity that the Nether had after that was to be united against him." Hama snorted in amusement. "And all that lasted until Notch sent his valkyries to kick him out. Oh-" She glanced up at Evangeline with a grin. "You're a valkyrie. Maybe you were there."
"I was," Evangeline said quietly.
"Oh, you know all about it, then."
"I do." Evangeline took a step to her right, reaching out to lay a hand on Herobrine's arm.
"All that aside," Alex interjected before the conversation could go further. "How do we find these people?"
"I wish I could tell you." Hama gave her an apologetic look. "Like I said, it's been fifty years. I've long forgotten the route to their settlement, if they even still reside there."
"You can't give us anything?" Evangeline asked, her heart sinking a bit. "Not even a landmark?"
"Oh, you'd know it when you saw it," Hama assured them. "Especially Null's fortress. It's a bunch of towers and bridges suspended over lava. Getting there is another story." She gestured vaguely to a gap in the wall. "It's deeper in, I know that for sure. Beyond that, I can't help you." Evangeline looked to Herobrine, finding the same dismay on his face as she felt on hers.
"Alright," Herobrine finally said. "Thank you for the information."
"You're goin' to kill Null, huh?" Hama tilted her head. "Best of luck to you. He's a hard man to find, and an even harder one to get to. Between the Order and his withered skeletons, I hope you're ready for a fight."
"We are." Evangeline glanced at Herobrine, who gave her a small nod. Hama pushed herself up, making to stand, then paused.
"Oh," she said suddenly. "I have a map. I can't read it, but maybe one of you can make sense of it." With that, she hauled herself to her feet and plodded off down the left corridor.
It was only a moment before she returned, a piece of rolled-up paper clutched in her grasp. "This was part of my parents' things. I've never been able to make anything of it, but I kept it out of sentimentality." She offered it to Evangeline, who accepted it with a grateful nod and unrolled it.
The map was unlike any that Evangeline was familiar with, which would typically be marked with cardinal directions and appropriate landmarks to guide one to their destination. This map was a mess of colors, denoting what Evangeline assumed to be the various forests and deserts within the Nether, but there was nothing that they could use to orient themselves - nothing except, possibly, what seemed to be a number key in the lower right corner.
"Take a look." She offered it to Herobrine, who accepted it with a frown of concentration.
"This is an older method of mapping," he said slowly. "I might be able to derive some meaning from it, if I can find a reference point…"
"Let me see," Alex prompted, and Herobrine lowered it down into her view. Alex studied it for only a moment before her eyes lit up.
"Oh, I can read this. I know where we are."
"You do?" Evangeline craned her neck to look over her shoulder. "How?"
"These numbers are directional. Accounting for the biomes that we passed through on our way here…" Alex trailed her finger across the map before resting it in the lower left corner. "We're here. That means if we travel north and eastward, we can find Null's fortress."
"Well that's right impressive, young lady." Hama rested a calloused hand atop Alex's head. "I've been looking at this map for years and never able to make head or tail of it."
"My godfather taught me how to map this way," Alex told them, "When I first became his apprentice. It's a little janky, but it works." She looked up at Evangeline, her green eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. "I can get us to Null."