Chapter 11: Temple of Ruin, Sands of Despair
Though the journey had been one filled with tension, the group soon enough found themselves within range of a desert, which was located only a couple of miles away from where they were currently taking refuge.
Their encounter with Raff had, unfortunately, taken longer than they would've preferred it had. The sun came up eventually, forcing them to hide within the nearest cover from the light, which ended up being a natural alcove carved into the side of a mountain, giving them enough shade while also guaranteeing no light could shine directly into the small space. Even though their camp wasn't as nearly as dark as their previous one had been, the mob generals and Herobrine still found solace within it, situating themselves rather nicely.
Steve was outside of the space, however, his gaze focused on the faraway desert that was just within their reach.
Sitting more on a ledge that was just outside of their cave, the miner squinted as the sunlight filled his vision while he attempted to make out just how large the desert seemed to be. He was only able to see the very edge of the desert sands, which was slightly wavering at the moment with immense heat that he couldn't wait to feel upon his bare skin. The desert, Sandville, was mostly flat as far as he could tell, but that didn't necessarily mean that he was expecting the trip through it to be anything but taxing upon his body.
He could only dream of what a temple would be like.
Would a story be told across its walls, etched into the surface of whatever material it was built from? Was there danger hidden within the space, ready to attack them should they get anywhere close? Would they be met with magic, or with silence?
…
Would they find another one of those strange, glowing shards that Selwyn had found within the temple that she encountered? Was it common to place one there, or was that temple in particular special?
Glancing back towards the arm that had been attacked with said shard, Steve sighed to himself.
He'd long since questioned the point of doing such a thing in the first place, but what exactly had he been cut with? Though he initially was willing to bet that his newly-acquired eye color was due to the after-effects of taking one too many potions, thanks to him using the idea as an excuse in the face of questioning, now that it had been long enough since he last had a potion, it was safe to say that maybe, just maybe, the shard that he'd been cut with was to blame. He was slightly hoping that they'd find another within whatever temple they happened to come across, just so that he'd get some closure, but it also somewhat terrified him to think that he'd been cursed by some sort of magical item with no known origin, no clear purpose, unknown to the likes of most people in the world that they lived in. Would Herobrine know anything about it? Would it help to ask?
Was the shard a part of something more dangerous? Was talking about it along the same lines as talking about the dragon? Should he play ignorance concerning the item as well, or should he speak up in order to see if the demigod knew anything about it?
While debating privately with himself, Steve almost failed to acknowledge the growing sound of snapping fingers coming from below him, breaking his focus as he looked down to find Herobrine, who stared at him with a blank expression.
"...I believe that we can better utilize this time that we have by doing something other than uselessly daydreaming, yes?"
Glancing momentarily back at the desert, Steve let out a quick sigh as he began to climb down from where he currently was.
"...Yeah, but I'm going to come back up here once we're done, alright?" He said with a chuckle.
Herobrine continued to stare at him, unamused.
"...I do not care what you choose to do once we're done with our discussion. Spare me the useless information."
'...Such a kind, loving soul.' Steve sarcastically thought to himself, rolling his eyes once he'd walked well past the other so that he wouldn't catch his expression.
Back in the space, Herobrine snapped his fingers, which caught the attention of Andvari, who immediately teleported off only to return with a certain book in his hands. Looking towards it, Steve realized that the book was indeed the one that Herobrine had taken from his house. The demigod in question took the book from the enderman's hands, looking over its cover intently as he seemed to be translating it for himself silently.
Curious, Steve drew slightly closer to the other, testing the waters a bit to see just how close he could get to Herobrine without him putting more space between them.
"...What does it say?"
Silence broke into the area for a moment before the other answered him.
"...Achievements of Soul; Tales of the Lesser Divines." Without looking back up at him, Herobrine responded with a bored tone.
Steve became confused. Wasn't it called the Book of Fables? Was that name merely a translation error?
"...Huh." Was all that left his mouth in response, eyes wandering over the cover as he attempted to attribute each written word upon the cover to the words that left Herobrine's mouth. Though it was difficult to do upside-down, Steve felt like he at least got most of it correct.
Opening the book, Herobrine moved to sit upon the ground below him, placing the item in front of him as he cast a quick glance upwards, silently commanding Steve to do the same. Complying after a moment of confusion, Steve sat upon the ground in front of the demigod as well, watching as the man began to flip through each of the pages slowly.
"...So...uh, what are we looking for, here?" Steve spoke up hesitantly, nervously looking at the other.
"Two things. One, since you've stated before that this is what was given to you in order to give you an idea of what to do on your journey, and that the other champions were likely given the same material, I believe that this is the best place to look right now to see what gave them the idea to go after the dragon in the first place. Second, you need an actual title."
Pausing in his reading, Herobrine glanced up towards the other, looking him over briefly before glancing back down, flipping another page. Amused, Steve let out a small chuckle.
"Which one was that?"
Herobrine remained silent until he finished reading the page before him.
"...The Champion of 'Justice.' Mob-slayer, essentially."
"...Justi-"
"-I say 'justice' rather lightly because that fool apparently went about the Aether challenging Aethren beasts in order to gain authority."
"...Wait, wouldn't the Champion of Beasts have an issue with that?"
Herobrine looked back up at him, expression neutral.
"...The Champion of Beasts came later. He was born in the Overthere, and was partially inspired by the Champion of Justice in how he led others. Seeing that even the most difficult of beasts could be tamed, he came down here and led the creatures of this world, initially keeping things peaceful. Then, of course, the mobs in another world made the ones of this world realize that the cards were stacked against them, and so, that 'peace' was broken."
Curious, Steve pointed at the book before them.
"How were the cards stacked against them?"
Herobrine scoffed.
"...Imagine that you were forced to live in a world where everyone was forced to come together and act like a big, happy family, not taking into consideration the different needs of everybody involved. Certain 'beasts' need to prey upon others to survive, and many were not allowed to create habitable spaces that suited their needs. This so-called 'champion' ended up forming the blueprint for how the monsters decided to splinter off and form leaderships of their own, which didn't exactly please him."
"...So the Champion of Beasts is the reason why mob generals exist?"
"...Only partially. Specific mob generals had already existed before that fool came into the picture, but it wasn't until he gave them the gift of thought and showed them the true power of allyship that they took real power."
Nodding, Steve continued to stare at the book before him, thoughts running over the other's words.
Given that Herobrine was a demigod himself, he supposed that it shouldn't be that surprising that the other knew so much about other demigods, but regardless, it still stunned Steve. The knowledge had been imparted to him without hesitation, which was heavily different from what he'd experienced from the other before. What changed? He wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, but it still stumped him, nonetheless.
Herobrine had flipped through a good portion of the book by the time Steve had finally brought himself back to reality, surprising him slightly as he suddenly realized that he'd been lost in thought once again. Looking upon the pages, Steve realized that Herobrine was currently analyzing the section of the book with the dragon, eyes narrowed.
"Anything interesting?" The miner asked quietly, watching as the other's eyes gazed over the words in a hurried fashion.
With a sigh, the demigod slightly lowered his head, keeping his gaze fixated on the words below him.
"...Unfortunately, yes. That fool mentioned that the dragon was supposed to cause chaos, correct?"
Steve nodded as the other looked up briefly at him for confirmation.
"...I won't say much given that it doesn't concern you, but the purpose of the creature isn't exactly what he thinks it is."
Pausing, Herobrine looked towards the distance, deep in thought.
"...I find relief in the idea that not all of these so-called champions are going for the more other-worldly titles, but it'd be nice to know which ones in are particular are more likely to head where Raff, or whatever, was going."
"...What do you mean by that?" Steve asked quietly.
"...The only thing I will admit to you is that Raff was correct in the notion that he needed access to the Nether in order to reach the dragon. That's another reason why we need to take care of these random portals more quickly."
…
Was the dragon actually located in the place that Herobrine had mentioned?
Listening to the other's words carefully, Steve nodded, putting them to memory as best as he could. If the dragon could be reached through such a place, could he find the opportunity to slip in an active portal, going straight to where it resides?
As Steve thought to himself, Herobrine flipped back towards the earlier pages of the book, thoughts heavy with the concern he had for the creature they'd just talked about.
"...Tell me, what was your ceremony like, exactly? Did you receive any official titles, or whatnot?"
Breaking out of his focus, Steve shook his head.
"No, I just gave a speech, and the Elder of my village announced that I'd been chosen, or whatever."
Herobrine hummed.
"...Fame is what you require, yes?"
Steve nodded.
"Generally, yeah. I have to do something good enough in order to earn it, though."
Looking over the book, Herobrine gently brushed his hands against the surface of the pages, reading to himself silently before casting a quick glance up at the miner.
"...Again, I offer you the title of Champion of Ores, but if that doesn't suit your fancy, how about...forging?"
Steve followed the other's hands, finding them upon a page that depicted a red silhouette before a blacksmithing station, leading to a small laugh escaping his lips.
"I have a friend who'd be perfect for that one! Not me though...I've had plenty of blacksmithing experiences; none of them 100%...okay."
Flipping a couple of pages ahead, Herobrine went forward, only to stop as Steve pointed toward another image within the book. The faceless individual within that story was facing off against various creatures that Steve did not recognize, though, he felt slightly uneasy as the image suggested that he'd have to raise his sword against another beast.
"How about that one? Who's that champion?"
"Champion of Guidance. One who fights against nightmares and phantoms of the darkness, leading others to inner peace. A dreamwalker, I suppose."
Herobrine glanced up at him from the pages of the book, looking back and forth between the figure on the page and the miner as he sat, waiting in expectation for the other's words.
Slowly, the demigod shook his head.
"...Too bold. Your weak resolve reflects a gentle soul, and such a title wouldn't be notable if you didn't have the viciousness to accompany it. Phantoms aren't kind, and you'd likely go insane attempting to purposely search for them. Besides, you're accompanying us, and we don't have the time to stop dead in our tracks whenever you need to take a detour. "
Not knowing whether he should be offended by the other's words or not, Steve instead tilted his head in curiosity.
"...What's a phantom?" He quietly asked, hoping that Herobrine would explain further.
The other thought to himself, blankly staring at the figures on the page once again.
"...Truthfully, I don't know what they are. I'm doubtful that they even exist beyond my own perception...Even though this book is right in front of me and I have the proof within it, I still find myself doubting that they're anything but a figment of my imagination."
The man looked to the side for a moment before continuing the conversation, though, he changed the subject rather quickly.
"...There's fame in owning artifacts. Perhaps instead of forcing you to perform something fame-worthy, we can simply retrieve something fame-worthy."
Steve blinked at the other.
"...Like what?"
Herobrine flipped ahead in the book, right to a page that depicted another hero, this time against a larger foe colored in a faded green. Pointing at the weapon in the faceless individual's hand, he began to speak.
"...Normal weapons typically fare poorly against those of higher status. There exist some weapons blessed by the gods, and I believe that they're relatively easy to come by if we go in the right places. Of course, some of those divine tools will come right to our doorstep, being wielded by other divine tools, but I suppose that's just how things are when the gods hate you so much and are set on silencing you using whatever they can." Herobrine mused, a chuckle escaping his lips as he finished.
Steve looked at the other with a slightly worried expression.
He was concerned about the idea that literal gods were coming to take care of them (and by take care, he meant hunt down and erase), most of which were apparently less forgiving and kind than Minos. However, considering the fact that Minos had been such an exception, he was less eager to take the other's words to heart. More pressing, however, was the other's belief that said divine beings hated him.
What the heck did Herobrine even do? There had to have been something beyond hunting humans that warranted said hatred, but frankly, Steve found himself strangely content with the idea that his personal crusade against mortals was all that there was to the matter. If Herobrine grew up among the divines, according to Minos at least, what caused such a harsh change? What fueled their actions? What fueled his?
Why was he even asking these questions, if Herobrine didn't even wish to answer them? Maybe once they built a bond, there'd be a chance, but now? Steve would be left in the dark.
"What weapons can we search for?" Steve asked quietly, attempting to get the other to at least let his guard down for a second.
Herobrine gave a small shrug.
"Nothing among the likes of Excalibur-"
"-Excali-what?"
"-But they're still quite notable on their own. I'd personally like for you to take a shot at one of the higher gods' personal tools, but...alas, they only send other demigods after me, most of the time. Do you remember the weapon that Minos was wielding?"
Steve nodded.
"Yeah. Couldn't forget it even if I tried to." He said with a laugh.
Herobrine looked up at him, gaze serious.
"...Its proper name is Voidius. Stupid, I know, but he was proud of that one, and it's stuck with that scythe ever since. That's a prime example of a weapon made by the higher gods. I'd say steal it, but we'd both perish at the hands of its current wielder. We'll stay away from it, for now."
Herobrine looked back at the book.
"The weapon that this fool in particular is using looks like a simple sword, but I assure you, it's not. It was formed with the fabric of dreams in order to cut through the flesh of nightmarish ghouls, and thus, its name is Awakening. Equally as stupid, but I'm not in charge of these things, and frankly, not many of these wielders were either."
The miner stared at the pages as well, looking at the weapon with great interest.
Sure, he wasn't exactly willing to steal another person's weapon in order to gain fame, but he wasn't exactly wanting to fight anybody or anything for it, either. He'd take an artifact, but only if the original owner didn't mind.
Herobrine hummed to himself.
"...Granted, I wouldn't recommend the title for you, but were you to gain the weapon that comes with it...well, you wouldn't have to do the work, at least. You wouldn't have to feign the toughness and strength that you lack."
Steve glared at him, and as Herobrine met his heated gaze, the demigod smirked at his expression.
"...I'm tough." Steve spoke up, meekness in his tone.
Herobrine's expression fell.
"...And I'm docile."
The simple phrase made Steve roll his eyes at the other, but as he did so, he let out a small laugh that sounded more like a scoff.
"Yeah, if you were, none of this would be happening, right?" He remarked, though, he ended up apparently confusing the demigod, as Herobrine looked at him with a slightly tilted head.
"I mean, like, if you were all docile and whatever, you wouldn't have sent those mobs to attack me in the cave, or whatever, meaning that we wouldn't have met, meaning that I wouldn't be with you guys right now, meaning I'd...I dunno, maybe I'd have been overwhelmed by those spiders...Or wait, I'd never have been appointed in the first place!" Steve corrected himself out loud, thinking back on the chain of events that brought him amongst the demigod and his followers.
"...Is that so?"
Steve hesitantly nodded.
"...Yeah. Honestly, I'm still adjusting to everything, but I'm kinda glad I get to have this opportunity and whatever. Not everybody gets to live this long after being appointed, and definitely, not everybody gets to work under a bunch of mobs, let alone a demigod."
Looking towards the others momentarily, Steve smiled.
"Frankly, I hope I can keep up with you all well enough, y'know, since I'm human, and whatever. Whatever title I get, I'll bear it."
Steve cast a glance back down at the book.
"Anyway, what else can I name myself after? I dunno if the champion here would appreciate me stealing their weapon, so maybe we kind go after a relic, of some kind? One that nobody's using?"
Finding himself in relative silence, Steve looked back up at Herobrine, only to find the other staring at him with an unreadable expression. Just as quickly as he discovered him, the other turned away, his gaze falling back upon the pages of the book.
'Did I say something wrong?' Steve thought to himself, feeling a bit of embarrassment rise up within him.
Wordlessly, the other closed the book abruptly, calmly handing it back over to the enderman within the room, who disappeared off to whoever knows where. With a gaze that sent Steve's mind into a curious frenzy, Herobrine looked down at the miner with an uninterested expression.
"...I believe that we can stop for the time being. No need to spend so much time on something that we can take care of later, once our main concerns have been taken care of."
Almost forgetting that he had the ability to respond, Steve nodded hesitantly.
"Y-yeah, I guess. I've been doing okay without a title so far, anyway. It's not like spending a while longer without one will be so bad."
Standing up himself, Steve walked over more towards the sunlight, peaking out as he gazed across the landscape beyond where they currently were.
It would've been an okay day to go mining with the somewhat sunny weather and all, but given the coldness in the air that would've surely traveled well down within the caves, Steve counted himself rather lucky that he'd been relieved of his duties for the time being. Making his way back to the spot that he'd been gazing from earlier, he took a small breath before lifting himself up to it, struggling somewhat before finally placing himself upon the natural lookout spot. Once there, his eyes once again fell upon the distant desert, his mind fixated upon the possibility of mystical, unknown treasures hidden beneath the sand.
Of course, the abruptness of Herobrine's change of pace and conversation still irked him, but there was nothing he could really do about it, at the moment.
Reaching the desert was one thing, finding an actual temple there was another.
When Steve began to see the shift of scenery from spaced-out trees to creeping sands, he began to feel his heart beat faster in excitement, his curiosity growing as he approached the new biome. Looking forward, he was slightly unnerved by the larger presence of mobs out in the open, but nevertheless, he found himself eager to explore the area, even more so thanks to the fact that he didn't necessarily need to worry about any of the mobs attacking him outright. Once his shoes were firmly placed within solid, loose sand, he felt the desire for further adventure swell within him, almost driving him to start wandering around aimlessly before he remembered that he was supposed to be following others.
Gazing around in awe, Steve's eyes soon fell upon the demigod who had led him and the mob generals to the area in the first place.
Herobrine's gaze was focused on the desert hills before them, though, it seemed as if the other was looking well past them towards the horizon. His eyes had a sort of intensity to them that nearly forced Steve to squint as he looked at them from the side; the light that shone from them was nearly blinding. Steve wondered what the other was thinking, but before he could make any assumptions, Herobrine began to speak.
"The desert before us isn't all too large compared to others, so it will be a decent place to start. Keep your eyes peeled for any anomalies, as well as any sort of heightened magical activity. Chances are, if any mortals exist around these temples, they might've 'blessed' the areas around them."
Earning a nod from the other four, Herobrine began to walk forward, beginning the search for the mysterious structures.
Steve glanced around at the various hills and items around them, finding himself both with amazement, and confusion.
What did a temple even look like?
As his eyes glanced over the various dead bushes and flowering cacti around him, he found his worries amplified as a feeling of inadequacy arose within him. Was he going to have to mostly leave this mission to the others? He didn't even know what he was looking for, so how would he be able to distinguish it from anything else within the sandy area? Would a temple stand out, or blend in with the sand? Would he be able to see it from a distance, or would it be well-hidden? Should he venture farther away from the others in order to have a better chance at finding it, or should he remain close by just in case?
Already, Steve found himself to be lost.
Vibrant eyes continuing to search around, Steve stepped slightly farther away from the others, mind occupied with the worry that he'd be nothing but dead weight as the others had the advantage of being more familiar with the target structure that they were looking for. Had he any sort of reference, he'd fare much better given his ability to spot ores from a good distance away in a dark cave, but he had no cards to play, and was in desperate need for an ace up his sleeve.
His eyes finally fell upon a slightly larger hill that rose up in the distance, leading to him fully breaking away from the others in order to pursue it. He didn't care if he got physically lost along with being emotionally lost; they'd find him eventually, wouldn't they?
The closer he got to it, the more mobs seemed to flood into the empty desert, bringing an air of tension and fear that was threatening to drown him as he walked. Though most of the mobs gazed at him with a clear desire to act upon their violent urges, he hadn't gotten close enough to any of them in order to give them a better shot at making an attempt upon his life. The skeletons stared with empty gazes at his form as he walked by, bows left at their sides as they adhered to a silent command that Steve was thankful had been given. Creepers too were gazing at him with clear interest, but their legs remained put as they simply watched him go with murderous red eyes that reminded him so heavily of Constiere himself.
He didn't spot any endermen within the cover of darkness, but he felt his muscles tense up as several spiders snapped their heads up to watch him travel by, hungry hisses passing through their fangs as he picked up his pace. Surprisingly enough, they as well didn't make any moves to draw closer to him. He also didn't spot the familiar green tint of reanimated, decomposing flesh anywhere, somewhat confusing him greatly as he searched as much as he could for the zombies in particular.
Why weren't there any zombies? The best guess he had for that question was that, given the vastness and general unpleasantness of living within such a place, the desert was not home to many travelers that could die and provide newer additions to an undead army. Those who had perished were probably well-buried by the sands of time as well, unable to crawl out as the breeze of the desert carried with it new sheets of sand. Still, it unnerved him to see such a lack of the rotting creatures, even though he didn't find himself feeling too bad for their departure.
Lost in his thoughts, Steve hadn't realized that he'd finally reached the elevated hill, standing atop it with a small smile creeping its way onto his face.
Though it wasn't much, he appreciated the slightly higher vantage point that he could use to see other areas that could possibly hold a temple within them. The eyes of various mobs sightly glowed around him as he glanced around, but far off in the distance, he (thankfully) spotted a pair of white, glowing eyes, moving along rather slowly as he assumed that the other was deep in thought as well. Moving forward to continue his own search, Steve began to make his way down the hill.
Steve nearly fell as his foot got tripped up by a hard, slightly visible stone that rose out of the ground. Looking back to see what it was, his eyes slightly widened as he saw a solid ring of what appeared to be hardened sand standing proudly out from beneath the sand dune.
Could this have been the temple?
Kneeling down to attempt to dig a bit into the ground, Steve found that he was only able to dig so far until his fingers scraped against more solid surfaces, leading to him becoming rather excited. Standing back up, the miner was about to run off once again in order to alert the others of his discovery, but before he did so, he paused, removed and went into his backpack, and pulled out a torch and lit it, sticking it into the pile of sand that he'd dug out before moving along. He left his backpack behind in order to run faster without damaging his belongings too much, as well as to provide another item to spot from a distance in order to locate his new discovery.
Sprinting off towards the others as best as he could given the weight of his potential discovery, Steve yelled for their attention.
"Hey, guys! I think I found something over here!" He cupped his hands around his mouth, hoping that his words traveled far enough to reach their ears.
Luckily, he found that they did, and all four turned towards him, interest piqued.
Constiere was the first to reach him, sprinting over rather quickly as his eyes lit up with excitement.
"What'd you find?!"
Steve waited for the others to catch up before answering his question.
"I tripped over something hard in the ground. I dunno what it was, but it was tougher than sand, and it kinda felt...brickish? I'm not sure, but it's over there."
Herobrine thought to himself for a moment as Steve led the way back to the mystery item, following shortly after.
"...Perhaps the temple was buried in a sandstorm. If that's the case, if everything was drowned underneath sand, we'll have to do some hard labor before we can even manage to find anything noteworthy."
Looking back towards the demigod, Steve smiled as they soon began to approach the lit torch he'd left behind.
"Really? We actually get to excavate ruins?!"
Herobrine glared at him.
"...You will. It might not even be worth it to dig through all this sand if there's nothing of real value here."
Feeling an elbow being lightly jabbed into his side, Steve looked down to find Constiere grinning at him.
"I'll help out, don't worry! If I find any ancient jewels though, I call dibs!"
Steve chuckled.
"Fine, fine. That's fair. But if I find any gems or ores, they're mine. Maybe I can actually work towards that 'Champion of Forging' title by using those things to make my own magical tools."
Constiere laughed in response to his comment, sprinting forwards to stare at the torch that the miner had placed down with great interest.
"So...where's the thing you found?"
Steve kneeled down to the hole he'd dug right next to it, smoothing out the ground momentarily before regretting doing so, as the rough surface slightly scratched his skin.
"Here. I dunno if it's actually a part of anything, or if it's just hardened sand, but I think it's worth checking out since we haven't found anything else at the moment."
Finding that Herobrine had knelt down beside him as well, Steve glanced towards the other, finding him to be rather focused on the ground. Not soon after, Herobrine's gaze slightly widened in what the miner could only describe as realization.
"...There's definitely something hidden here. Not anything as strong as a portal, but I feel a bit of magic emanating from far below."
Steve blinked in surprise.
"...How far?"
"...A couple of feet or so. Nothing too difficult to reach."
Standing back up, Herobrine looked over at Constiere with a commanding gaze.
"Summon a creeper or two. We need to reach whatever's down there without damaging the place as a whole. We at least need a wall or two intact to look over to find anything remotely valuable, so be wary of that."
The boy saluted, walking off immediately afterward.
Bringing his fingers to his lips, Constiere whistled at a pitch that, though he had gone quite a distance away from Steve, still rather hurt the miner's ears. As soon as the boy whistled, he was surrounded by a moderately big group of creepers; all of which were staring up at him with curious eyes.
Listening in as much as he could, Steve found that the boy was speaking to the group with hissed words, a bit to his surprise. As soon as he finished, one creeper came forward to where they were, and Steve found himself backing away subconsciously, but not before reaching down to grab his belongings and to extinguish the torch he had left. Far enough away for his comfort, Steve watched as the creeper looked down momentarily, before its body began to bloat rapidly as it exploded, leaving a larger-than-average chasm in its wake.
Steve found himself fascinated with the sight. He rarely ever got the opportunity to watch a creeper explode on its own with his own eyes, typically only getting to hear a hiss and feel an explosion from behind before he could even realize what was going on. The way that the creature didn't even hesitate, didn't reconsider, before exploding stunned him. Thinking back to what Herobrine had said about hesitation, he was beginning to understand what the other had been talking about.
Walking back to peer down at the hole the creature had left, Steve was surprised to see more sand bricks, more pronounced in their features now that more of them were exposed to the open, being illuminated by moonlight in the absence of torchlight. In the middle of the chasm, however, was a slightly more indented amount of sand, which appeared to be slowly draining somewhere that he couldn't identify. Herobrine saw this sight as well, and, almost immediately, a grin appeared on his face.
"Well, well, well, Steven. Looks like you found a temple all on your own." the demigod said, amused.
Constiere jumped down into the hole, beginning to dig away at the sand that was in the middle. As his hands dug through it, he eventually revealed a small opening, which led to a darkened, hollowed-out space that bewildered the miner, but intrigued the others around him.
Without words, Constiere lowered himself into the hole, with the others beginning to follow suit, all except Malgun. Curious, Steve looked up at the skeleton with a worried gaze.
"Aren't you coming down?" he asked, quietly.
Malgun shook his head.
"I'll be keeping watch up here. There's evidence that this temple has been messed with, so there could likely be somebody around who could stumble upon us and cause trouble."
Hesitantly nodding in understanding, Steve began to make his way down the opening.
As he lowered himself down, he felt uneasy as his feet dangled beneath him, the ground seemingly not anywhere near them. When he glanced down, he saw nothing but darkness, even though the moon above was providing a bit of light that made it slightly easier to see. He didn't see the others either, causing him to panic as he found himself suddenly in a situation where he could get seriously injured.
"Uh, hey guys? Where'd you g-"
He let out a slight yelp as his arms slipped as he attempted to adjust himself, causing him to drop suddenly as he began a short struggle to keep his hold on the ledge he was hanging on. Soon afterward, he found that his hands couldn't hold on anymore, and he ended up falling, bracing himself for a sudden impact with the ground and a few solidly-broken bones.
To his surprise (and deep relief), he instead found himself being caught by a couple of pairs of hands, stopping him before he had any chance to meet a terrible fate. Before he could make any comment himself, a voice broke through the air.
"In your defense, we probably should've warned you about the drop!" He heard Andvari say with a small laugh, which was followed immediately by a groan coming from the other individual who had caught him.
"How many times are you going to put yourself in situations where you have a decent chance of getting yourself killed? I seriously doubt that you want to be put on a leash, so be mindful." Herobrine scolded him, though Steve only found himself appreciating both him and the enderman for actually managing to catch him in time before he descended into the unknown depths below.
"I promise you guys, I didn't mean to do this on purpose-"
"-We know." Came the voices of all three of the others in the room, almost causing Steve to laugh despite the vague seriousness of the situation.
As the miner was hoisted up onto a platform, he allowed his eyes to slightly adjust themselves, though he didn't find it any easier to see anything in the darkness. Before he could start panicking about how he would possibly make his way back up above ground to search through his bag for torches, Herobrine lit up a flame in the palm of his hand, illuminating the dark area around them. Glancing around, Steve's gaze immediately became focused on the large hole in the ground next to them, which opened up into another large room further down, decorated with more colors and artwork than the room they were currently in. Realizing just how bad things could've gotten for him had he not been saved, Steve shuddered to himself as Herobrine went over to peek down the opening as well.
"...There's what we've been looking for."
Looking back at Steve, Herobrine gazed at him with a blank stare.
"...It's safer to jump down one floor at a time rather than to just go through all of them at once. You won't injure yourself from up here if you go down there now."
Rolling his eyes with a smile, Steve made his way back to the ledge, beginning his descent once again.
"Sorry! I've never been in this kind of place before, so I didn't know they were so...large!" He exclaimed, lowering himself down enough before dropping to the bottom floor.
His feet connected with the ground a bit roughly, but as Steve found himself in another dark space, the others quickly made their way down after him, bringing the only current light source they had with them. As Herobrine's flame illuminated the space, Steve's eyes fell upon the beautifully-crafted, gorgeously-painted walls around them, all filled with various figures and words in a language not of his own that told stories he couldn't wait to hear. As he began to walk towards one of these walls, he was stopped in his tracks by the sight of something floating in the air, causing him to recoil slightly. As he looked at it, however, it realized that it was...sand?
Bringing up a finger to touch it, Steve watched as the material dispersed and fell towards the ground in a draining fashion, only to stop and begin floating once again. Finding his childlike wonder amusing, Herobrine began to walk towards him, glancing around at the flying particles around them that had become more apparent.
"...This is definitely a temple. What's odd, however, is that this one has been blessed recently."
Intrigued by the other's words, Steve turned towards him.
"...Blessed?"
Herobrine nodded.
"...Some mortals, I guess, still go around taking care of these places. In order to keep the temples, well, pure enough to appease the divines, spells are cast in these areas to ward off all evil, and to keep these places from being lost entirely to time. Or, at the very least, these rooms are protected from being lost. You saw how the entrance had only a bit of sand covering it, yes?"
Steve nodded.
"...Well, blessing the temple allows for no evil, no obstructions, to set foot within here. Granted, we should've been ejected or completely barred from entering, but...I guess whoever cast the spell didn't cast it well enough to do so." Herobrine shrugged, beginning to head over to the nearest wall, the others following suit.
Constiere pointed at a group of faceless individuals drawn onto the wall, surrounding themselves around a large item that appeared to be hollow in the center.
"Hey! Does that say anything about a portal?"
Glancing over the strange language that accompanied the artwork, Herobrine took a moment to decipher its meaning before shaking his head.
"...Not really. That seems to be nothing but an altar, unfortunately."
"Aw." Constiere frowned, moving away from the wall in order to walk towards one of the pillars within the room. Leaning against it, the boy looked at Steve with a curious gaze.
"Hey, I don't think this place is that magical, your eyes are completely fine!"
As Steve blinked in disbelief, Andvari rolled his eyes at the other's words.
"If he's actually cursed, then most likely, he would've been prevented from entering this temple like we should've been, as well. Temples don't really channel energy, they simply exist to attract the attention of the gods, and not much else."
"They tell stories too, don't they?" Steve asked quietly, walking along the walls as he looked over the artwork displayed over them, putting them to memory so that he could sketch out a couple of them later.
Andvari shrugged.
"I guess so."
Nodding, Steve eventually found his way to a tunnel, which led to a flight of stairs.
Before he could walk any further, a horrid stench came to his nose, and just as quickly as it did, his eyes trailed downward to find a rotting corpse at the base of the flight, collapsed in a heap against the stairs in an uncomfortable position. A choked sound escaped his lips as he backed away, stunned, and in an attempt to save his nostrils from the overwhelming stench of decay, he pulled the shirt underneath his chestplate over his nose as best as he could. His reaction gained the attention of the others, leading to all three briskly walking over to see what he had discovered.
With a tch, Herobrine drew the closest to the fallen individual, kneeling down to look over the body with an unaffected expression, not phased by the sight nor smell.
"...Well, we may have an answer for how this place got blessed. Doesn't this reek of last-minute desperation?" Herobrine asked, turning towards the others for confirmation.
Andvari and Constiere nodded, while Steve simply stared in utter shock, his body frozen as his gaze refused to tear itself away from the corpse before them.
Somehow, it was more unnerving to see a lifeless body than a reanimated one. Steve was fully expecting for the corpse to suddenly begin moving at any second, finding himself growing slightly tense as the body made no movement whatsoever.
"...I'm assuming that this fool had been attacked, got mortally wounded, managed to complete a spell at the very last opportunity, and died here anyways. Well, at least he made it easier for us to walk through here." Herobrine mused quietly, beginning to look harder for any sort of item that could prove useful for them.
Finally allowing his gaze to wander as well, Steve looked at the sight a bit closer, soon noticing a bit of leather sticking out from behind the body. Pointing to it, he put his words together as best as he could after having lost them entirely.
"T-there's...uh, s-something next to-"
Herobrine's eyes followed his stuttering instruction, and the other immediately grabbed the item that he had been attempting to describe.
It was a book.
Standing back up and disregarding the corpse entirely, Herobrine began looking through the book, approaching the others briskly as he lowered it down enough so that they too could see the scribbled-in writing.
"What's in it?" Constiere asked quietly.
A few seconds went by before Herobrine answered him.
"...It's a journal. Mostly boring. Just this human's daily life and whatn-hold on."
Herobrine squinted at the pages momentarily before letting out another tch.
"...Well, apparently this same fool was a champion." He explained.
Steve's heart sank.
"...R-really?" He asked, voice filled with weakness and sorrow.
"...Yes." Herobrine paused for a moment before adding on to his answer, a bit more quiet. "...Unfortunately."
Flipping through the pages, Herobrine read through the different entries briskly before skipping towards the end as his efforts proved rather fruitless. However, as his eyes looked over the increasingly rushed handwriting, his interest became rather piqued. As he finally found something, he paused.
"...Ah, here's something of note."
Presenting the journal to them, Herobrine allowed the other three to read for themselves the pages. Steve's eyes glanced over the words, slightly fearful that the other would pull the book away before he was done.
'It boggles my mind that nobody's dared to put two and two together like this. How nobody's ever thought about the possibility that those strange, shadowy creatures, with powers that allow them to blip in and out of existence, could possibly be from another realm. Sure, I don't want to think about them much, either, but given the fact that we're kind of running out of time, it'd be worth the consideration, right?
Maybe instead of just leaving them alone, they could be used in order to get wherever that dragon is? Is it possible to hold onto one and see where it takes you?'
The three stared at the book in shock, looking back up at Herobrine as his gaze became one of slight anger.
Herobrine glanced over to Steve.
"...For your information, I tend to monitor all who speak about the enderman rather closely. I'm assuming that this is what led to this fool's demise, as I've instructed the mobs to go after anybody who seems a bit too knowledgeable about them."
Steve nodded nervously.
"I...see…"
Looking back at the book, Herobrine flipped to the next page, reading a few of its contents briefly before his eyes widened in total shock. As the others looked at his expression curiously, he wordlessly turned the book back towards them.
'I told the Elder about the creatures. He said that he'll keep it in mind, but I should have some sort of proof before we manage to move forward and work towards a way to figure out how to use them to get to the dragon. He's recommended that I look through the temple for confirmation, though, I'm not entirely sure that I'll get it from there.'
Shutting the book, Herobrine pocketed it before walking briskly past the others, looking at the decorated walls again before letting out a frustrated sigh, his back tense as he faced away from the others.
"...We don't know which village knows this information, but it's out there."
Silence filled the room.
…
In a brief fit of rage, Herobrine yelled before throwing the flame in his hands directly towards the ground, staring as it lit up the ground momentarily before he huffed, summoning another one to sit comfortably in his hand. Turning back towards the others, his gaze became harsh.
"They know."
The smallest among them scoffed.
"So someone knows about the dragon, big whoop. What's the de-" Constiere's words were interrupted by Herobrine pointing a finger at him.
"Not that. Somebody else knows that the endermen are involved. Somebody in power. Do you know how far this information can spread?!"
Andvari stepped forward in an attempt to calm the other down.
"Sir, as far as we know, not many humans have been fighting against the endermen, at the moment. If the information is being spread, it's not being spread fast enough. I doubt that if there's an ulterior motive here, the humans would want everybody going for it at once."
Slowly recovering after what he'd just witnessed in its entirety, Steve nodded.
"...Uh, Andvari's kind of right. If there's something else that the champions are looking for, they wouldn't tell everybody about it, so they could get to it first, I think."
Thinking over their words for a minute or so, Herobrine's posture relaxed slightly, though, it was clear that the demigod was still on edge.
"...I suppose that you're correct. Still, it would be beneficial if we could find wherever this village was, and get rid of whoever knows what that idiot told them."
Glancing around, Herobrine scoffed.
"...There's nothing here except pointless nonsense. This temple is nothing but a large altar telling the story of nearby civilizations making tiny ones."
Walking opposite the flight of stairs that was partially blocked by the corpse, Herobrine revealed that there was another flight right there, surprising Steve.
"We'll head out, tell Malgun what we found, and get going. Granted, we may need to dig our way out, but at this point, we should be thankful that we don't have many other obstructions to worry about, at the moment."
Moving to travel up the stairs, Herobrine led the way, with Andvari and Constiere following suit. Steve stayed behind, glancing back at the now-darkened room beside him once again as the light of Herobrine's flame began to fade away.
Though the smell of the fallen champion had not vanished, Steve attempted to forget that the nameless individual was even there. However, even though he refused to look back, the image of the rotting corpse had already been burned into his mind, sending a disturbing feeling that he couldn't describe, nor shake off, throughout his body.
It was never easy. It had never been easy, finding the corpses of fallen champions out in the wild. He thought that he'd been completely desensitized to it, but, as he'd stumbled upon this one in particular, he'd been proven completely wrong. Though he'd never been the one to find the bodies in the first place, he used to be front and center as they were carried out underneath a white blanket, faces hidden from further desecration by the world they had fallen in as they were taken to more appropriate final resting places, whether they'd come from his village or not. He initially appeared out of respect, but as time went on, he eventually couldn't take it anymore.
It could just as easily be him next time, sitting out in the open, having been taken so soon. The thought of replacing the corpse with himself made him sick.
Rushing up the stairs as fast as he could, he attempted to push his previous thoughts out from his mind, finding his efforts rather futile.
Ngl, the Minecraft: Story Mode soundtrack still slaps, y'all
Aight, new chap! I kinda wanted to explore little reasons why some desert temples tend to be completely buried underneath sand, yet they're still perfectly fine inside when you finally dig your way in there, lol. Floating sand sounded neat :D
No fun facts this time around! Regardless, if you have any thoughts, leave a review!
See y'all soon!
