The Minecraft Story: The Kingdom: Chapter 20
"James was like a brother to me," the soldier sobbed.
Steve, Sphen, and the other soldiers stood at the table ordering drink after drink. At first, their return had been celebrated by the locals, taking them drinking as a sign of victory. However, they quickly realized how much fewer of them there were and the congratulations quickly ended.
Sphen put his arm on the sobbing soldier, "I'm sorry man, we took a huge hit last night." Sphen embraced the soldier as he cried into his arms. "We need to keep moving forward and remember why we're here."
Steve stared at Sphen and the others from the corner of the table. Nobody except for Sphen had acknowledged him. He knew what the other soldiers thought of him and he found it better to give them space, until a hand landed on his shoulder, "I heard you killed the big guy."
Steve looked up at the large man and nodded his head slowly, "Yes sir, I killed him."
"Sir?" the man laughed, "If I'm not mistaken, we're both privates." He sat down beside Steve and introduced himself. "My name is Nolan Retzner."
Retzner held out his hand for a handshake and Steve accepted, "Steve. Were you at the raid as well?"
"Yeah, unfortunately, I was. I'm also the reason we found that camp a while back. Me, my Sergeant, a tough feller named Fulco, and another private like me, Orian Palgani. We found that there camp out in the woods. Tried to burn it down, but they found the sarge." Retzner's friendly demeanor quickly went to sadness. "We wanted to save him, but he forced us to leave and inform command about the camp. I can only imagine what they did to him after."
"God…I'm so sorry," Steve said while putting his hand on Retzner's shoulder.
"He was a good man, a good sergeant. So was Palgani." Retzner sighed. "He was on the raid too. I saw a pillager chop his head off"
Steve wrapped his arm around the grieving soldier and patted him on the back while sliding his drink over to him.
Retzner cracked a small smile, "Thank you for killing that bastard." He slid back Steve's drink, "And keep your drink! In fact, let me buy you another!"
Soon the men were drunk and retelling fond stories of the fallen.
"Thiiis one time, Meshy barfed all overs this girl while he was talkins to her!"
"Robert always had muh back! No matters what! He saved me ouot ther!"
"Rest in peace ya crazy bastard, Clyde!"
They drowned their sorrows in a plethora of booze and cigars. Never wanting the memories of their comrades to fade.
…
Alex sprinted to the room as quickly as she could. She'd only gotten the news a minute ago and left Jadis in the hands of a random soldier. She couldn't wait. As she busted through the doors, she found her father, the great General Gabriel Blackthorn covered in bandages.
"Dad!" Alex yelled as she ran to give him a hug. Blackthorn winced a little after contact and Alex backed off.
"No, it's okay hon, come here," he said as they embraced again. "I'm glad you're safe."
"You're glad I'm safe? Look at you! What the hell happened in there?"
"A story for another time," Blackthorn coughed. "Tell me, did you destroy the camps? Did you uncover anything about that man, Steve?"
Alex braced herself and then told Blackthorn everything. She told him about the ambush, the witch, Steve, and the ten thousand pillagers coming for the portal. Once she concluded, Blackthorn simply stared at the ceiling in shock, not sure what to make of this monumental new threat.
He turned to his crying daughter and rubbed her cheek, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that hon."
Suddenly, Alex began balling, "I lost so many dad. They trusted me to lead them and half of them were killed." She sniffed, "How could I? How could I lead them to their deaths like that? Why did I think I could be a leader like you?"
Blackthorn held his daughter's hand, "You weren't the only one who lost people today. I led four of our kingdom's strongest to slaughter. Royal Guardsmen Omar Talik, Gautwin Bergg, Aiden Welsh, and Royal Guardsmen Captain Rudolph Wright." He sighed, "But these brave souls and their comrades followed me into Hell and served their kingdom with honor and valor. That's the burden of being a leader. You've only been a commander for a few months. You must know, you can't save them all, but you must keep yourself together for them, for the ones still living."
Alex fell to the floor and continued to weep as Blackthorn kept hold of her hand.
2 Days Later…
The funeral for the twenty-two fallen soldiers was held in the mausoleum of Iron District. A crowd of two hundred showed up to witness the burial, mostly from Coal District, but many from Gold District showed up as well.
Alex stood at the podium and spoke to the crowd, "These brave souls fought for their kingdom and their comrades with honor and valor. They died to defend our home and our great Stone Kingdom."
Steve and Sphen watched the speech from the crowd. However, Steve couldn't help but overhear some people from the Coal District.
"I know these Gold District elitists are only here for show. They don't care about any of this."
"They still won't even tell us what the operations were about."
"Where is the king at? Couldn't even be bothered to show up for his own soldiers?"
Steve nudged Sphen, "Is the king going to show up at all?"
Sphen chuckled, "I doubt it, from what I hear, he doesn't show himself in public much?"
"Still, if there hasn't been a military loss like this in a long time, you'd think he should come out and maybe say something," Steve shrugged.
Alex's legs were shaking, not just from nerves, but from the feeling of failure, "As we lay these soldiers to rest, we hope that the future-"
"THIS IS BULLSHIT!" A lady from the crowd, likely in her fifties stormed to the podium and stared down Alex. "How could you talk about my son like that? He fought with honor and valor? What was he even doing? You still haven't told us what he or any of these other soldiers were fighting out there! What the hell is out there that killed my son!?"
Suddenly, an old man stepped out of the crowd next to the woman, "I'd like to know what killed my kid as well!"
One after another, the angry parents of the deceased rose up to the podium, screaming their discontentment. Following them, several Coal District civilians joined them.
"What are you hiding from us!?"
"What's out there!?"
"Are we safe!?"
"Where's the king!?"
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
General Blackthorn hit his walking stick against the echoing wood. The crowd stopped shouting and looked over to the injured man who could barely walk. He hobbled onto the podium next to his daughter, "The king is busy consulting this new threat we face. I know tensions are high right now, but we are doing everything to keep you safe."
"These young men fought for the people," said Alex. "They died for the people. We in the Stone Kingdom militia will continue to follow in their footsteps."
"They're still not telling us anything!" a man screamed and the crowd reverted back into a frenzy while Alex and Blackthorn tried to calm them down.
Why are they hiding this? Steve thought. There must be a good reason…at least, I hope there's a good reason.