The Minecraft Story: The Kingdom: Chapter 16
"I see…her…over there" Steve slurred as he pointed at the shadowy figure. It was still dark outside, but their eyes were adjusting and Steve recognized the giant hat in the distance.
"Come on girl, hyah!" Alex yelled as she snapped the horse's reins. It quickly changed direction, a clear sign of good training and galloped to the assailant.
As they rapidly approached, the witch turned back to look at them. A look of fear had taken over the witch's face. It was otherworldly to him.
Alex blocked off the witch's path and drew her sword, "Stop there, witch!"
The witch suddenly reached inside her coat. Steve knew what she was reaching for. He tried to get off the horse, but in his dazed state, he fell to the ground. Alex, however, leaped off the horse and darted for the witch.
Steve looked up to see the witch pull out a bottle of green liquid. Just before she could throw it, Alex slapped it out of her hands and kicked the witch to the ground. The witch scrambled to reach for another bottle, but Alex was on top of her. She pinned the witches hands down and held the blade to her throat.
"That's enough, one more move, and I slit your throat!" Alex yelled.
The witch struggled for a second before going limp, "No, please! Do not kill me!" The voice was nasally, struggling to talk past the big nose. "I'm sorry, please don't! I do not want to die!"
"Then hold still and stop screaming," Alex demanded in a softer voice, "I don't want your buddies or the mobs to hear us."
However, it was a little too late. They could hear it before they saw it. A zombie crept in from the darkness. Steve slowly got up and attempted to unsheathe his sword, only to realize there was nothing there. Oh shit. Steve thought. I must've left it back at the battle. The commander can't let go of that witch, unless we want to get splashed with poison or who knows what else. Wait, the commander has a second sword.
"Commander…sword," Steve said as he held out his hand. Commander Alex looked back at him, but did not throw the sword. Steve could see it in her eyes, she still didn't fully trust him. However, she looked back down at the witch and at the mob. While trying to suppress her disdain, she threw the sword to Steve. "Thank you."
Steve hobbled over to the zombie and with a single strike, sliced the head off. He stopped to throw up again. For a few seconds, he stood doubled over and panted, exhausted by the whole night. Once he regained some strength, he stood straight up again.
Alex nodded her head, "We can't stay here, grab a lead from the horse and give it to me."
…
As they continued riding through the forest, Steve looked back to the walking witch. Her hands were tied up by the lead and Alex held the other end. Just like cattle, the witch was strung along behind the horse. Her coat was also removed and given to Steve.
"Please, whatever you do, just don't kill me," the witch pleaded.
Alex scoffed, "Would you shut up, we're not going to kill you…for now at least." The witch began to cry softly. Steve kept his eyes forward; angry he was starting to pity the witch. "Just stay quiet and when the time comes, answer my questions. If you do that, you'll at least make it through tonight," said Alex.
Why am I feeling this way? Steve thought. She's a witch, she's one of the pillagers. No doubt several just like her destroyed my village. Hell, she might've been part of it. But that crying…I just want her to stop.
"Look over there," Alex pointed to a small wooden structure, "I knew that abandoned hut was around this area somewhere."
The witch was tied to an old furnace. The horse was also brought inside the hut to stay out of sight of any pillagers. Once inside, Steve collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. And once again, he threw up.
Alex stared down at him, "Oh yeah. Hey witch, you poisoned this man earlier, how do you fix it?" The witch stared at Alex with red, puffy eyes. "If you make me beat it out of you-"
"No, please, I'm sorry," the witch sniffed, "There should be a healing potion inside my coat. It's a bright red bottle. It won't completely reverse the effects, but it should help him until it wears off in a bit."
Alex found the bottle and gave it to Steve. The moment the liquid touched his lips, he instantly started to feel better. He chugged the bottle in a matter of seconds, ignoring the horrendous flavor. His strength almost instantly came back, apart from feeling a bit queasy.
"Feeling better?" Commander Alex asked.
"Yes commander, thank you." Steve answered.
"Good, take a break. We won't be sleeping tonight just in case. I'll begin the interrogation soon, but be ready for anything," Commander Alex ordered.
"Yes commander," Steve responded.
They both sat on opposite ends of the hut, finally being able to catch their breath. Steve reached into his armor and grabbed some of the emergency rations they were given before setting off. It was two baked potatoes in case of emergency.
As Steve devoured the first potato, he heard a sniveling sound. Concerned of an ambush, he peaked at the windows, only to realize the sniveling was coming from the witch. She was trying to keep it quiet, but she was crying again.
Stop. Steve thought. Why won't you stop? Why are you acting this way? You're a pillager. Shouldn't you be threatening us? He looked down at his second potato and back to the witch. Why am I doing this?
He slowly got up and walked over to the witch. Alex was also eating her potato when she noticed him. Confused, she watched him.
When Steve approached the witch, she covered her face in anticipation of a beating. He put his hand up and said, "It's okay, I'm not here to hurt you. Just…take this." He held out the baked potato.
The witch slowly looked at the potato and up at Steve, "Are..are you sure? Is this a trick?"
"No, just take it." Steve said as he placed the potato into her hand.
"Um…thank you," said the witch.
"What's your name anyway? Do pillagers even do names?" Steve asked.
"It's Jadis," the witch answered.
"Steve," he said before walking back to his spot.
As he sat down, Alex stared at him before saying, "Helping the enemy doesn't really help your case."
"I'm sorry commander, I just…thought it might be better to interrogate her on a full stomach," Steve lied.
"I suppose," said Alex.
A Few Hours Later…
"It's time," Alex said coldly to Jadis, "You will answer all of my questions. Otherwise, this will be a painful night for you."
Jadis did not respond. She stared down at the floor, terrified.
"What are you doing here?" Alex asked. Jadis still did not respond. "This is the only time I'll repeat myself, what are you pillagers doing here?" Jadis kept silent.
Alex winded up and punched Jadis in the face as hard as she could. Jadis fell over to the side. Spit and blood dropped to the floor next to her.
"Answer me, NOW!" Alex screamed.
Jadis coughed, "We…we were scouting out a target… a village to raid."
"What village?" Alex inquired.
"On second thought, not really a village. A large kingdom," Jadis admitted, "The largest target we've taken on in a long time."
"Shit," Alex mumbled before raising her voice again, "Do you know where this kingdom is?"
Jadis paused before speaking, "We do."
Alex froze as the horror swept over her. They knew where Stone Kingdom was. It was only a matter of time.
"Wait, it might not be too bad," Steve interjected, "I killed their leader. Surely that will buy us at least some time."
Jadis' eyes widened as she stared at Steve, "You killed Chief Boruzo?"
"That big bastard back there riding the ravager, yeah I killed him," said Steve.
Jadis' expression became disappointed, "Oh…that wasn't Chief Boruzo. The pillager you killed was Captain Rhinehorn. Nowhere near an influential higher up."
"Shit," Steve mumbled.
"While we're on the subject of our previous engagement, we destroyed the other camp, but how did you know we were coming?" Alex asked.
"We have an informant who warned us of your attack," Jaids answered, "It was last minute and we didn't have time to warn the other camp."
Alex immediately drew her sword and pointed at Steve, "Dammit I knew it, you are the spy aren't you!"
"What? No it wasn't me!" Steve defended.
"Who else could it be? You showed up out of nowhere, you found that portal, and during your first operation, we were ambushed," Alex argued.
"No it wasn't him," said Jadis.
Alex jerked her head towards Jadis, "It's not?"
"No, it wasn't," said Jadis.
"See, I'm with you commander, I'm with you and people of the Stone Kingdom," said Steve.
Alex lowered her sword, "Who is it then?"
"Well…I…I don't know who it is," Jadis admitted.
"The hell? Then how do you know it's not him?" Alex asked, her voice rising in frustration.
"Because an informant wouldn't kill an officer, not even one as low as Captain Rhinehorn. That would be a death sentence," said Jadis.
"Please commander, I'm not a spy. All I want is to take revenge on these pillagers. They destroyed my home, killed people I cared for. I'd never work for them," said Steve.
"Fine, but give me your sword for now. She could just be lying to cover you," Alex ordered.
"Yes commander," Steve said as he gave her his sword.
"If you don't mind, can we go back to something you said earlier? Something about a portal," Jadis asked.
"Shit," Alex mumbled under her breath, not realizing she had revealed the portal.
"Were you talking about the Nether Portal by chance?" Jadis continued.
"You don't ask questions here, I do," Alex barked.
"If you really did find the Nether Portal, then that's even worse," said Jadis.
"What are you talking about?" Alex asked.
"Not long ago, a streak of purple light danced through the sky above us. It came from the direction of your kingdom. The higher ups already suspect of the portal being in the kingdom, which means we'll be dropping the hammer on your kingdom, hard," Jaids explained.
"Why?" Alex inquired.
"Our kind has been searching for that portal for over three hundred years," Jadis explained, "Chief Boruzo always said it was the first step to our plans."
"Plans? What plans, what are you monsters trying to do?" Alex asked, holding the sword back towards Jadis.
"I don't know," Jadis said softly.
Alex pointed the sword closer, "You better tell me now or else-"
"No no no, I really don't know! I'm only a grunt, we don't know anything about the grand plan. I've never even been to High Java before," Jadis begged.
"High Java? What the hell is that?" Alex asked.
"Our kind are spread all over these lands, some in small camps like ours and some in villages of their own. But High Java is our main base of command," Jadis explained.
"Where is it?" Alex asked.
"I don't know that either, I just told you I've never been there," Jadis answered, "But it's home to Chief Boruzo and hundreds of Illigers."
"Hundreds? In one settlement? How many of you are there?" Alex asked.
"About ten thousand," Jadis answered, "And now that we have a lead on the portal, they'll throw everything they have at you."
Alex and Steve couldn't believe what they were hearing. They both could only think of one thing at that moment. We're fucked.