Descent Into Overworld: An Unofficial Minecraft Adventure (7 page)

“I knew I heard something.”

The voice came from the shadows. Jaina had heard it many times before. It was the voice of getting busted.

Principal Whiner stepped from the darkness, a winner’s grin on his cubed face. At his side stood Slashax and his skeletons.

“It seems you were correct, Mr. Whiner,” Slashax said.

“You don’t spend years catching troublemakers without learning a few tricks.” Principal Whiner’s cold stare locked onto Jaina. “And I finally caught the one who started all this.”

“Indeed.” Slashax’s gaze fell to the sword on Jaina’s belt. “And you have found me another one of the True Diamond blades. You have done well, Mr. Whiner.”

Jaina was frozen with fear. She couldn’t move. What would be the use? There was nowhere to run. She was lost and alone.

And now she was a prisoner.

The wall of the Seed Chamber lay open like a gaping mouth.

“They came through there,” Bano said. “Two creepers blasted through from the other side and the skeletons poured in.”

“Then they took the Seed Generator?”

Ranwin nodded. “The guards never stood a chance.”

Hamid peered into the hole in the wall of the underground chamber. Thick black stone ran in a solid line around the hole.

“Obsidian?” he said.

Bano shrugged. “The entire room is lined with it. To prevent exactly this sort of attack. Not that it did much good.”

“How could creepers blast through obsidian?”

“That is a good question, Hamid,” Ranwin said. “Slashax has clearly given his soldiers powers beyond that of normal monsters.”

Ant examined the low pedestal crafted from glowstone. “This is where the Seed Generator was kept?”

“Yes,” Bano said. “Since this world first spawned, the generator stood here creating a constant stream of new seeds. Each new seed would travel to the player who spawned a new world.”

“Our scouts are searching the surface for any signs of Slashax, but they will find nothing.” Ranwin lumbered to the large hole. He peered into the darkness beyond. The aging villager’s voice grew quiet. “Another group went down this hole a few days ago. We have had no word from them. That foul skeleton is down there. And that is where you must go.”

The only place Hamid wanted to go was home. He just wanted to wake from this dream, or whatever it was, and forget this whole mess. But that wasn’t going to happen.

Bano had chosen them to help. They hadn’t been the villagers’ first choice, but now Hamid and Ant were their only chance at getting the Seed Generator back. If Herobrine got the generator, he would use it to infect the seed of every Minecraft server in the world, allowing him to cross into the real world and bring an army of monsters with him. The only way to stop that was to get back the generator. And that meant descending into the depths of this world.

Ant slung his backpack over his shoulders and stepped up to the hole. His full suit of diamond armor gleamed brilliantly, even in the dim light of the Seed Chamber.

“What are we waiting for?” he said. “Let’s find this Slashax and get that generator back.”

“At your side.” Bano adjusted the straps on his own backpack.

Hamid peered into the hole. The knot in his stomach tightened. The armor and the backpacks filled with food and supplies would definitely help. Ranwin had spared no stone in getting them ready for their dungeon delve. They had food, tools and the best protection the Village of Keepers could provide. Yet still a bubbling sense of doom chewed at Hamid’s gut.

He wished he could sound as brave as Ant or as confident as Bano. But he couldn’t. Ant might have visions of vanquishing Slashax and returning the Seed Generator in time for dinner. Hamid had other terrible thoughts; images of disaster deep underground that he didn’t dare say aloud. How would they defeat Slashax? If the skeleton was working for Herobrine, then all the forces of the underground would be pitted against them. Hamid shuddered to think what they would face down there. But down was the only way to go. He gritted his teeth and forced a confident smile.

“Let’s do this,” he said, wishing he could be anywhere but here.

* * *

Many hours later, Hamid’s whole body ached. Walking in diamond armor was not easy. He felt like he was squeezed into a shirt made out of soup cans and wearing a pair of toasters on his feet. They clattered and jangled with every step deeper underground. And there were many steps.

They followed a tunnel left by the thieves deep into the darkness and stopped when the smoothly cut stone passage opened into a wide cavern. The whole way, Bano didn’t take his eyes off the strange device in his hands.

“Slashax must have started digging his way to the Seed Generator from here,” he said.

“That makes sense,” Ant said. He looked back the way they came. “The tunnel runs in a straight line with even steps cut out along the way.”

“From here, the walking will be more difficult.” Bano turned to face one direction and then another. Each time, he stopped to study the device in his hands. “The seed sensor is picking up faint signals coming from farther down.”

“Seed sensor?” Ant said. “Is that some kind of compass?”

“In a way,” Bano said. “The Seed Generator is constantly generating new seeds for Minecraft worlds. Each seed leaves trace elements in the air. This device can sense those elements.”

“And it’ll lead us to the sensor?” Ant said.

“Hopefully,” Bano said. “It was crafted after the theft, so it’s never been tested.”

“So it could also be leading us around in random directions?” Ant’s words grew sharp. The weight of his tin suit seemed to have worn away his enthusiasm for this dungeon delve.

Bano moved farther down the corridor without answering. The two friends watched the villager plod through the darkness, following the seed sensor’s signal.

“It’s all we have right now, Ant,” Hamid said. “Let’s follow the seed sensor and see where it leads us.”

Ant pushed his diamond helmet to the back of his head and smirked.

“Whatever you say, boss.” He turned and followed Bano down the corridor.

“I’m not the boss,” Hamid said.

“Then stop acting like one,” Ant called over his shoulder.

Hamid stood alone in the shadow-filled tunnel. Suddenly his diamond armor wasn’t the only thing weighing down on him.

Carefully, they climbed down to the cavern floor. They found an opening wide enough for the three of them to pass through easily.

Hamid brought his torch close to the ground. Footprints crisscrossed the dust here. Damp trails left by passing slimes coated the floor. It was impossible to tell if it was just random monsters wandering around or Slashax and his skeletons.

“This looks like a busy place,” he said.

“Then we best keep moving, unless we want a visit from the beasts who dwell here,” Bano said.

The tunnel continued on straight and stayed wide as they went. At regular intervals, it dropped down like a neatly carved staircase. Ant studied the tunnel with the eye of a master builder.

“This tunnel seems like it was built specifically to carry large items back and forth,” he said. “It’s wide enough for the three of us to move easily. The steps don’t drop off like a natural cliff.”

“Indeed,” Bano said. “But the people in my village did not build it. We have no reason to come this way.”

“Not even to mine for stuff?” Hamid said.

“We have quarries elsewhere that meet all our needs.” Bano continued down the tunnel. His eyes never left the seed sensor in his hands.

“So, Slashax built this tunnel?” Hamid said.

“And he probably figured someone would follow him,” Ant said.

Hamid froze. “Bano, stop!”

The soft click of a pressure plate echoed from where Bano stood at the far end of the tunnel. The tell-tale sound of pistons activating came from behind the walls.

“Trap!” Ant shouted, but it was too late.

The floor vanished. Orange light burst from the tunnel from where the floor used to be. Now it was a river of lava. A river they were falling into.

Flames erupted all around Hamid as he splashed into the flaming liquid. Ant crashed into the lava beside him, sending up jets of fire.

Above them, the floor slid back into place, sealing them in the fiery tomb.

Hamid’s hearts flashed at the bottom of his vision. His armor absorbed the heat damage but not for long. If he didn’t get out, those hearts would disappear and it would be game over, literally.

Beside him, Ant flailed around in the lava like a drowning skeleton.

“Don’t panic!” Hamid shouted to his friend. But he was on the edge of panic himself.

He kicked his legs, trying to swim to the wall. Swimming through lava is a lot like walking through a snow drift. It took all his strength to move his legs through the thick, burning liquid.

He drifted into the wall, flames jumping around in front of him. His legs kicked uselessly under the lava. There was nowhere to stand.

Pain spiked through Hamid’s body, making him grunt. Hearts vanished from the bottom of his vision. He didn’t need to check his inventory to know his diamond armor had burned through. It was gone and with it any protection he once had.

Another jab of pain. Another heart lost.

“There’s no way out!” Hamid shouted over the roar of fire.

Ant pushed himself to the wall beside Hamid.

“Then let’s make one,” he said.

A diamond pickaxe appeared in his hand. Ant smacked the wall in front of them. A block disappeared, creating a small niche in the wall.

Hamid pulled his pickaxe from his inventory and smashed the blocks nearby.

Jerking in pain and smacking the wall, very soon they created a ledge above the lava. They kept breaking blocks until it was big enough for the both of them.

Ant scrambled into the tiny hole in the wall.

“Get in!” He grabbed Hamid by the arm and pulled him out of the burning liquid.

Ant leaned out from their ledge, teetering dangerously over the lava.

“Where’s Bano?” Ant said.

In the confusion of the fall and the lava, Hamid hadn’t seen where Bano landed.

On the far side of the lava pit, a brown disc floated in the fiery liquid. It quickly sizzled into nothingness.

“The Seed Sensor,” Hamid said.

Sadness burned through him as he watched loaves of bread, a pickaxe and the rest of Bano’s inventory items catch fire and vanish under the lava. Their guide and friend was somewhere beneath the burning liquid, too.

Hamid and Ant were now truly alone and truly lost in this very strange world of Minecraft.

Marching with skeletons was worse than gym class.

Slashax and his band of skeletons led Jaina through dark tunnels, across rivers of lava and around a large underground lake, leading them deeper underground. The skeletons trudged on silently without complaint, dragging that strange cage with the spinning seed with them. A constant flow of numbers floated from the seed into the air before disappearing.

Jaina cursed her carelessness at letting Whiner sneak up on her. She had been so hungry, she hadn’t heard him backtrack and come up behind her. She didn’t fight the skeletons when they took away her diamond sword. She tried not to cry when she saw Bones slip away from her captors and disappear into the shadows. Even her only friend in Minecraft couldn’t help her. As they marched, she had kept an eye out for the wolf’s white fur, hoping Bones was following them. But there had not been any sign of her friend since Slashax and Whiner had led her away. She was alone.

Principal Whiner marched with Slashax at the front of the group. Occasionally, he sneered at Jaina like he had caught her cheating on a test or some other crime against his authority.

He’s up to something, Jaina thought. He always had some scheme cooking in his bald head. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be good. The way he nodded as Slashax spoke. The gleam in his eyes when he listened to the skeleton leader. Clearly, Whiner had joined the Cult of the Boneheads.

Jaina tried to guess where they were going. As they walked, she strained to catch any clues of their destination, but what little she did hear did not make any sense.

“I have brought you two,” Whiner said. “Are you sure that is not enough?”

“Four. That is the number I need, Mr. Whiner,” Slashax said. “You have done well to provide me with the two, but the four must be made one.”

“What is so special about a bunch of silly swords?” Whiner said.

“With the four made into one, I will be unstoppable,” Slashax said. “Even Herobrine will kneel before the might of Slashax. I will command all. And you will be at my side — if you do as I say.”

There was no hiding the sinister warning behind Slashax’s words. From where she trudged behind them, Jaina knew her principal was making a deal he certainly did not want to break.

As they marched, she worked to untangle the questions in her head. They were bringing the spinning ball contraption to his base deep underground. It seemed to be important, but Slashax seemed more concerned with their diamond swords. It was the first thing he had taken from her when she was captured.

Jaina had already figured out they were special. Their swords in-game must be the foam swords that dude in the red-haired villager costume gave them at Mini-Minecon. It was the only thing in her inventory when she arrived in this world. Whiner had a matching blade. Now Slashax had them both. And he wanted more. Hamid and Ant had the other two swords, and Slashax seemed to think he would get them soon. If the skeleton thought the diamond swords were within reach, then Ant and Hamid were somewhere in this world. That thought lifted much of the weight from Jaina’s shoulders. If she wasn’t alone, she had hope.

They emerged from a long tunnel into a big cavern. Slashax stopped on a wide ledge overlooking the massive opening.

“We are here.”

Where ‘here’ was, Jaina had no idea. But she knew she didn’t want to stay.

The cavern looked like it had been blasted out by a million blocks of TNT. A domed ceiling stretched high into the shadows and as far across as Jaina could see. Monsters of all shapes swarmed the rocky ground below. Skeletons riding spiders patrolled pathways that crossed over rivers of lava and pools of deep water. Green slimes slurped along the shadows. Zombies lurched from one end of the cavern to the other, like lost actors from a bad monster movie. But the most disturbing collection of beasts was not free to move. They were corralled in a circular trench in the center of the cavern. Creepers. Lots of creepers. All of them packed into a wide circle surrounding the other monsters. They strolled back and forth, bumping into each other and walking into the high wall that hemmed them in. Jaina shuddered at the thought of being trapped in that trench. To fall in would mean a dozen blasts from the exploding creatures. No one would survive crossing that minefield.