The Minecraft Story: The Kingdom: Chapter 11

Sergeant Devon Fulco quietly marched through the thick forest. His two subordinates traveled closely behind. Privates Nolan Retzner and Orian Palgani. They were on a scouting mission south of the Stone Kingdom. Their orders were simple; search the area the outsider was discovered for pillager activity.

"How much further must we travel, serg?" Retzner asked.

"We already passed a pillager convoy about an hour back, shouldn't we report?" Palgani asked further.

"Small convoys and squads don't concern me too much," Sgt. Fulco answered, "We've found several small groups of them lurking around. What we really need to find is a camp or maybe even an outpost."

"But we're heading further and further into what could be enemy territory," Retzner argued, "If we're caught by the pillagers out here, there's no way we'd get reinforcements before we're slaughtered."

"I'd like for my family to know about my death, serg," said Palgani.

"Relax, if we just keep low, they shouldn't spot us," Sgt. Fulco reassured.

They continued their mission as quietly as possible, only moving a single block every thirty seconds. The wind blew through the trees, giving a calming atmosphere in contrast with their potentially perilous circumstances. While coming up on a hill, the soldiers heard something behind them.

"Down," Sgt. Fulco whispered.

The footsteps of the oncoming pillagers slowly grew near. Fulco could tell by the speed they had not been spotted. They were simply passing by. It didn't take too long for the soldiers to see them.

A group of six pillagers walked through the woods without a care in the world of how loud they were. One was singing a song to himself. Two were fighting over who'd have the first night watch later. The others talked and bantered amongst each other.

"It's the convoy from earlier," Palgani whispered.

"Keep low and follow them," Sgt. Fulco responded.

The three followed the obnoxious pillagers as they told tales of inhuman brutality. Stories of burning down villages, maiming entire families, bludgeoning children to death. It made them all sick to their stomachs.

Luckily, it didn't take too long before they spotted their destination. There was a small building in the center. The area was surrounded by tents and cages full of wild cows and pigs. A large ravager feasted on the dead cows and pigs. Fulco and their other scouts were given references to pillager outposts before heading out. He remembered drawings of large towers with domes on the top. This was not one of those outposts.

"It's a pillager camp," Retzner stated.

"We're only about two hours or so from the kingdom. Shit, this isn't good," Palgani responded.

"I count about thirty pillagers, but there's probably more. Let's get this information back to headquarters," said Sgt. Fulco.

A sudden scream took the soldiers by surprise. Each instantly reached for their swords and prepared for an attack. However, the scream wasn't near them, it was coming from the camp. It was a woman's scream.

From out of the building near the center, a large pillager threw a woman out the door. She fell in the grass. She desperately held her arms up to block the pillager. In turn, the pillager laughed at her.

"I'm done with her…for now…put her in the cage," the large pillager laughed.

As the poor woman was shoved into a cage, Fulco couldn't help but tear up a bit. The woman looked nearly identical to his little sister. He knew he couldn't leave her.

"We have to get that woman out of there," said Sgt. Fulco.

"I agree sir, but how? That cage is in plain view of the entire camp," Retzner asked.

"We're going to split up. You two will go left, closer to the cage, but stay out of sight. I'm gonna go to the right and try to light one of the tents on fire as a distraction. Once they run to put it out, grab the girl and meet me back at this spot, understood," Sgt. Fulco commanded.

"Yessir," said Retzner and Palgani.

Fulco slowly crept to the right. Ducking behind trees and bushes was challenging, especially with the sheer number of pillagers. He eventually made it to one of the tents and pulled out his flint and steel.

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

It wasn't lighting.

Crack!

Crack!

CRACK!

The tent wouldn't light and every strike sounded like a pickaxe dropping and echoing in a mineshaft.

As he attempted another strike, a voice suddenly shouted, "There's someone here! We have an intruder!"

Sergeant Fuclo stood up to see if Retzner or Palgani had been caught. They were still safe in the treeline. It was him who had been caught.

He noticed the large pillager was staring right at him before he yelled, "It's a soldier, kill the prisoner!"

"NO!" It was all Fulco could scream before another pillager shot the woman in the head with his crossbow.

"Capture him!" the large pillager shouted. He tried to run, but fifteen pillagers ran past the tents and aimed their crossbows at him.

Sergeant Fulco turned to the direction of Retzner and Palgani. The two had drawn their swords and were about to step out of the treeline. Fulco held up his hand as a signal to halt. He then gestured his head in a way that told them to retreat.

The two contemplated it, but they knew there was no way to save their sergeant and they knew they had to get the location of the camp back to headquarters. They sheathed their swords and left.

"We got a soldier!" the big pillager announced.

"You think he leftover from that cave village?" one pillager asked.

"No, look at him," the big pillager answered, "His armor is clean and shiny. He doesn't have any wounds, something we'll have to change. But, does this look like someone who has been on the run for over a week? He's the toy of some other village." They all began to laugh, the chuckles of demons straight out of Hell. "I want to know where he's from. And if we have to break every bone in his body to figure that out, then so be it."

Fulco drew his sword and stood his ground.

"Ooh, feeling brave little man," the big pillager mocked, "If you want to begin your torture right now, I have no problems with it. And once you're in my hut, I think you, me, and that sword are going to have a lot of fun together."

Fulco stared down at his sword. His reflection stared back at him.

"You gonna say anything? Some sort of speech before your pathetic final stand?" the big pillager laughed.

Fulco turned to the pillager and calmly stated, "I have nothing to say to you," before stabbing himself in the heart.