The Minecraft Story: The Kingdom: Chapter 15
Once the fires were doused, they rode on.
"Good work soldiers!" Alex yelled, "We didn't lose a single man! We have one more target ahead and we're done! This one has a ravager, but we still have the element of surprise! Just stick to the last plan and tomorrow we'll be drinking at the pub!" All soldiers raised their arms and cheered, except for Steve.
I have to contribute to this attack, if I don't… Steve stared off into space as they rode. Wait…where's Sphen at? Steve realized he hadn't seen Sphen since the gate. Could we have just not crossed paths? The commander said nobody died so he has to be in this crowd somewhere. Steve shook his head. Relax, he's fine. He's got a job to do and so do I.
…
They were close now. The illuminated glow of distant torches punched through the trees. The soldiers steadied their pace to quiet down the rumbling of the horses. That's when the first arrow stuck.
There was almost no noise. Just a subtle woosh, a plunk, and the sound of a body falling to the ground.
"GET DOWN!" Commander Alex yelled, but it was too late. They burst through the trees. The disgusting pillagers appeared from each side and in front of them and began pelting the soldiers with arrows.
The soldiers held up their shields and jumped from their horses. Steve felt two arrows hit him, but with his diamond armor, he was protected. He too jumped from his horse, Brines and shooed him away from the battlefield. Steve followed some other soldiers into the trees.
"Keep your shields up and push forward!" Commander Alex ordered, her screaming echoing through the dark forest, "Put out your torches! None of the enemy has torches, you can't see them, but they also won't be able to see you!"
One of the soldiers near Steve immediately put out his torch and they were all plunged into darkness.
"Alright guys, stay low and quiet, let's try to assassinate some of these assholes," said one soldier.
"All this fighting will probably attract mobs, stay alert," said Steve.
"Don't order us around, outsider," another soldier spat out.
"Woah, I wasn't trying to, I'm just trying to help," Steve stammered.
"Help? How do we know this wasn't you?" Another soldier accused.
"Excuse me?" Steve responded.
"There's no way they could've known about us, unless someone told them," the soldier continued.
"I think we should kill him now and end this shit show," the soldier began to raise his sword.
"Wait, I'm not one of them, I swear," Steve begged.
"That's enough," another soldier as he grabbed the sword, "The commander gave us clear orders, don't kill him unless you're one hundred percent sure he's with the pillagers." The other soldier put down his sword and scoffed, "Just keep an eye on him."
"Thank you," said Steve.
"Don't thank me, because you're going first," the soldier responded.
Steve quickly dashed through the trees. The sounds of clashing metal and arrows wizzing overhead was all around him. The other soldiers followed closely behind with one keeping his sword in an easily stabbable position.
He kept one hand out to ensure he didn't run into any trees and firmly clutching his diamond sword in the other. His heart pounded and sweat quickly damped his clothes underneath. His legs were shaking, not just from fear, but from the weight of the armor while crouching.
Luckily, he soon found his first pillager. He could hear him before he saw him as he repeatedly cocked back his crossbow and shot an arrow into the darkness. Steve snuck to the back of the pillager who was hyper focused on shooting.
Steve clutched his sword even tighter. His heart beat even faster, like a war drum drawing him to battle. This was his time. It was his time to strike back at the pillagers. It was time to begin his revenge.
The sword plunged into the neck of the pillager. A sickening sound of flesh and metal rang throughout the night as he pulled out. The pillager flopped onto the ground. Even though it was dark, he could see the outline of blood spewing onto the grass. He'd done it. He'd proven himself to the other soldiers and finally got a real chance to strike back.
A small grin formed across his face, until the glass bottle cracked against the side of his head. There was no time to react. The bottle smashed into his face and broken glass cut through his skin. The next thing Steve noticed was that he was covered in a strange liquid. He turned in the direction the bottle came from. He saw what looked like a pillager with a strange cone shaped hat on. She pulled back her purple coat and reached inside.
"WITCH!" one soldier yelled as he threw Steve behind him.
"He's been hit!" another yelled before another bottle cracked open from a tree above. Soon, the rest of the soldiers were also covered in the liquid.
Witch? Steve thought. What the hell is wi…tch? Suddenly, Steve's insides churned. In an instant, his stomach felt like it was trying to claw out of his body. He doubled over and threw up all over the ground. He stumbled around to find a tree to hold onto as he threw up a second time.
"Shit, we've been poisoned!" a soldier yelled.
Poisoned? Steve could barely stand as he threw up a third time. We've been poisoned? Am I really going to die this way?
"They're coming!" another soldier yelled mid-vomit.
A group of pillagers with axes burst through the trees. One soldier was still bent over, throwing up. The pillager lobbed his head off and flurry and blood and puke spewed out onto the other soldiers, staining their shiny iron armor.
The other soldiers rushed forward while clutching their stomachs. However, they were no match for the pillagers. They were quickly torn apart before Steve could even lift his sword back up. By the time Steve was ready to fight, all of the soldiers lay dead on the ground.
No…no…no no no no. Steve thought. He turned back to that witch… that demon. He expected her to have the same morbid pleasure all over her face as the other pillagers, but to his surprise, the witch seemed just as disgusted by the violence as he felt.
Her face appeared to be a mixture of fear and disgust. Steve blinked his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but the expression was still there. Suddenly, the witch turned and began to run into the forest. The hell? He thought.
Suddenly, a pillager screamed, "Another one!"
He turned his head back just in time to see the axe. He ducked down as the axe plunged into the tree. Behind his attacker were five more pillagers. He turned around and ran.
Steve focused harder than he'd ever had before on running. Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. His vision was blurry and every step made him want to throw up everything in his stomach. Vomit began to pool up in his mouth and as he ran, he spat it out. All around him was fighting. The other soldiers were attempting to push through the pillagers with a line of shields.
The other soldiers engaged the pillagers following Steve and he finally caught a break. He fell to his knees and continued throwing up, not sure if he'd have anything left in his stomach if he made it out alive.
His vomiting was interrupted by an axe hitting him in the back. The force knocked him forward into his pool of vomit. Fortunately, the axe didn't get through thanks to the armor. He grabbed his sword and without looking, swung it at his assailant. The sword cut the pillager's stomach open, his guts began to fall to the ground.
Enraged, the pillager screamed, "I'LL BREAK THAT ARMOR!" and lifted his axe to strike again. It was slow, but Steve barely managed to roll to the side. He quickly sliced the pillager's throat.
Exhausted, Steve caught his breath. The battle still raged on. He looked to the shield wall who appeared to be making some progress. Most of the pillagers on their side had been killed and the other soldiers would be able to reinforce the wall.
Suddenly, a roar echoed through the forest. It was quickly followed up by the laughing of pillagers. The ground began to shake as something thundered towards them. He knew instantly, there was only one thing with a roar like that. The ravager was here.
"INCOMING!" a soldier yelled right before the beast smashed through the shield wall. The ravager roared in triumph. On top of the ravager was a large pillager that appeared to be holding something. To Steve's horror, he realized the large pillager was holding the heads of a man and woman.
"Feast my pet! FEAST!" the large pillager screamed as he threw the heads at the soldiers. Soon, the ravager began tearing through the soldiers. It bit them in half, trampled them, and some were eaten.
We're dead. Steve thought. Suddenly, an arrow was shot into one of the ravager's eyes. It roared in pain and clawed at his eye.
"FALL BACK!" Commander Alex ordered as she reloaded the crossbow, "GET BACK TO THE KINGDOM!"
Once her crossbow was reloaded, two pillagers ran after her. She threw down the crossbow and pulled out two diamond swords. With a few quick moves, she cut off one of the pillagers hands and lobbed his head off. The other pillager was kicked in the stomach and she stabbed it with both of her swords.
She's amazing. Steve thought. Another burst of pain shot into Steve's stomach and he threw up again. Where's my horse?
A hand suddenly grabbed onto Steve's arm and he was lifted to his feet, "Get the hell up outsider!" It was commander Alex, "We're leaving!" The sudden movement made Steve throw up again. "Aw what the hell!" Alex screamed as she pushed away Steve.
"I'm…sorry…witch poisoned…me" Steve slurred.
"Son of a bitch!" Alex yelled.
The other soldiers were beginning to clear out. They called their horses and ran away from the battlefield as quickly as they could. Alex stared at Steve with pure disgust. She turned her head to the advancing pillagers and then back to him. Her head darted between them as if she was contemplating leaving him here.
Steve was scared, but at this point, he didn't blame her if she left. He knew if those other soldiers were suspicious that he did this, then he knew commander Alex was as well.
Alex blew out a whistle and grabbed Steve's arm, "Come on!" She practically had to drag Steve to the horse. Once they made it, she quickly got onto the horse and held out her hand to pull Steve up.
As Steve reached toward her, he paused. I still haven't proven myself to her. But if I haven't, why is she saving me? Wait, she's not. In her mind, leaving me here would allow me to fall into the enemy's hands. Steve pulled his arm back a bit. If I go now, all that'll be waiting for me is a cold cell. I need to do something now. Steve looked back at the pillagers. The ravager was still clawing at its eye and the large pillager on top was kicking it, visibly frustrated. He then looked back at the crossbow Alex had dropped.
"Hurry, Mauler won't budge! Kill them before they run off!" the large pillager screamed.
He must be their leader. Steve thought.
"Hey! Get on the damn horse!" Commander Alex screamed at him.
Steve pulled his hand fully away and said, "I need to do something, don't leave me just yet!" He turned and sprinted for the crossbow.
"No! SON OF BITCH, I KNEW YOU WERE ONE OF THEM!" Alex screamed, "Someone shoot him now!"
Steve sprinted as fast as he could, not daring to turn back. It wouldn't take long for either a soldier with a crossbow to shoot him or for the pillagers to butcher him. Once he reached the crossbow, he took a second to throw up again.
Once he was done, he aimed the crossbow at the large pillager who was still busy kicking the ravager. With a squeeze of a trigger, the arrow traveled through the air. It felt like ages to Steve before the arrow hit the large pillager in the heart.
The large pillager looked down at the arrow in surprise and back up at Steve. With pure rage in his eyes, he slipped off the ravager and fell to the ground. Steve stood there for a moment. He couldn't believe he hit the shot. He killed the leader.
A smile formed across his face before a hand lifted him off the ground. Steve panicked as he tried to shake off his attacker. However, the attacker screamed at him, "Stop squirming asshole!" It was Commander Alex. She ran back in with her horse and scooped him up. "Get on the horse before I drop you!" Steve scurried up onto the horse and they both galloped into the darkness of the forest.
"What the hell was that back there?" Alex yelled.
"I…I did it…I proved myself!" Steve responded, "Right? I proved myself right?"
"I…yeah sure…whatever! We'll talk about it back at base!" Alex answered, annoyed. They soon caught up to the retreating soldiers. "Listen up! We got away, but they're still hot on our tail! I want everyone to split up; do not go straight back to base! Find somewhere to lie low until morning, then return to base! Understood?"
"Understood!" the soldiers yelled back.
"Wait, commander!" a soldier called out.
"What is it Riley?" Alex asked.
"We spotted a witch running that way," the soldier answered while pointing out into the woods.
"Running? Like away from the battle?" Alex asked, puzzled.
Suddenly, Steve remembered the witch who'd run off in the middle of battle, "Hey…I saw…a witch…run off. She one…who poisoned…me," he slurred, desperately trying not to throw up on Alex's back.
"She really ran off?" Alex inquired.
"Yes..I saw it," Steve answered.
"We'll go after the witch, thank you for telling me Riley, now get yourself somewhere safe," Alex thanked, "Steve, we're getting that witch."