Rescue Island (9 page)

The cavern has several corridors leading away. We explore several and mine for days. Each corridor eventually leads to a dead end. The final corridor seems to go on forever. We find an underground river where I catch fish for Khan. Along the way, we fight a few random creatures. The creatures that give us the most trouble are skeletons. Their arrows find their mark, sending shooting pain through my body. But I've learned to deflect their arrows with my sword. It's hard to deflect arrows though, when I'm mining.

"Khan, we've been down here quite a while and my pocket inventory is full. I think it's time to make a shelter. We need a place to store chests full of minerals and a place to run for safety." Khan purrs.

I throw together a quick stone shelter with one window and a door. It's just large enough to house a bed, several crates, and a crafting table.

The underground world is dangerous. While digging, I am always exposing more darkness. The only light is cast from my torches. When I break through into an open cavern, there is always the possibility of danger. I am always tense.

I feel a tingling sensation when I'm near minerals. It's similar to the sensation I feel before impending doom, but I'm learning the difference. Swinging my pickaxe, I follow a vein of iron ore. I break through. Light flows through the small opening. I have found a cavern full of light! This is unexpected. "Khan, take a look at this!" I yell.

I chip away and make a human-size hole in the wall. I have broken through the wall of a cavern, the floor is flowing lava. I'm eight or ten blocks up from the lava, looking down at the flowing river of fire. I chip away at the opening, making a large window into the cavern. The light from the lava reflects into my space above. "This is nice. What do you think, Khan?" Instinctively, I step away from the opening. I'd hate to have Khan pounce on me now, knocking me into the lava below. I feel the heat way up here.

Working near lava light is warm and comforting. As I dig, I make lots of noise. This can't be helped. And noise attracts unneeded attention. I've been dealing with it so far. My armor is wearing out from many battles. I chip away at coal—plop, it falls. What is that? "Khan, look at this!" I yell. I think, yes, it is. "Diamond ore! WHOOOHOOO!" This is what I've been hoping for!

I dig away, collecting several blocks. During the course of several hours, I find a few more veins. "Time to replace this beat up armor, Khan. Diamond armor is the strongest." Time to return to the crafting table.

We are quite a ways from our shelter. I lead the way, Khan following, loudly meowing her disinterest and boredom at the activity of mining. We exit the small shaft and enter a long corridor. I start up the corridor. I feel a tingling sensation. Impending doom! An arrow whizzes by my head from behind. I wish I had that diamond armor right now!

I turn to face the oncoming danger. What I see makes me jump! A skeleton riding a spider! The skeleton shooting arrows as it races toward me. It's moving fast!

I let an arrow fly. It hits the skeleton, but doesn't stop it, and it's nearly on top of me. I put my bow into my pocket to grab my sword.

Hiss. I see yellow and feel a sharp pain. I turn. A cave spider has poisoned me from behind! I feel groggy as I swing my sword, piercing the spider. Poof!

"Ahhh!" An arrow pierces my armor. I lose my chest armor. My health is very low. I am facing mortality. I fall, roll onto my back, and point my sword up. The spider jockey lands on top of me. Poof! The spider dies. The skeleton takes aim, fires. My sword ready, I deflect the arrow and strike. Poof!

I see only black, pounding yellow, and . . . nothing. I pass out.

I awake in my bed, in the small underground shelter. Khan is nearby. Something passes by the open door. Danger! Where is my sword? I try to get up, but fall back to the bed. I'm weak.

"You are lucky to be alive." It's Zana. "When I found you, I couldn't revive you. I used a potion to remove the poison. Now you must eat to restore your health."

With difficulty I say, "Zana. Where have you been? We haven't seen you for such a long time."

"You've been fine until now. I came as soon as you were in real trouble."

"You call this fine?" I argue.

"Here, eat this," she hands me cooked pork chop from my chest. I eat and feel much stronger.

"Zana, I have a question I've been meaning to ask you," I say. "I feel something whenever I face real danger. It's something I can't explain. Do you know what that is?"

Zana looks at me. She looks like she is hiding a feeling of shock. "That is only a coincidence. Don't try to read into feelings. Remember, I am evolved beyond allowing feelings to affect me. You will do well in this world if you try to evolve too."

"That sounds like good advice," I reply.

"What are you looking for down here?" she inquires.

"Khan and I are on an adventure."

"An adventure? You should be fulfilling your destiny. You should be searching for a portal," retorts Zana. She sounds angry.

"I will make my own destiny, Zana. I do not accept the predetermined destiny you have described. Besides, I prefer living here. I don't want to return to the physical world." I need to make sure she understands my feelings.

"How can you prefer this to your physical world?" she asks rhetorically. "This is
not
your destiny!"

"I do prefer this. Don't bully me," I feel angry.

Zana steps closer to me. She looks at me, her eyes are piercing. "Very well, do as you wish. I cannot help you if you refuse me, and refusing your destiny is refusing me." Her voice is intense. With that she turns and leaves.

"I hope that doesn't come back to haunt us, Khan," I say, trying to reassure myself. Khan pounces on me, knocking me to the ground. I hit my head on the crafting table as I fall.

Thorn approaches me. I'm in the underground shelter, but it's shrinking and Thorn is getting larger. I can't run, in fact I can't move, I've been wrapped in a web, tied to a long stick that extends beyond my head and beyond my feet.

Boom! The walls of the shelter explode, exposing an army of pixelators. They sound like they are laughing at me. And there is a giant fire in the middle of them. Thorn carries me to the fire. "AHHHH!" I yell as I am being roasted over the fire! The pain is so real! I see my body burning!

"AHHHH!" I jolt upward. The room is dark except for a single torch. I look at my body. I'm fine. I look around. I'm lying next to the bed. Khan is sitting on the bed, looking at me. My head throbs. I was dreaming.

"Khan, that's just about as much as I can take. These dreams are freaking me out. Maybe I should listen to Zana. I don't belong in here. I need to get out."

The shelter has made me content. I break it down with my pickaxe. "No more safety, Khan. No more mining. No. I am going to find a portal! I am going to fulfill my destiny!"

I CRAFT DIAMOND ORE INTO A FULL SET OF ARMOR and several diamond swords and tools. I am ready to take on anything. I have a mission, to find a way home.

I search day and night. I ignore valuable minerals. I have one goal, and it doesn't include building anything other than a portal. I am looking for obsidian. If I can't find a portal I will make one!

I follow corridors deeper into the core. I fight many battles with creatures. The deeper I get, the smarter the creatures become.

I walk slowly down a path, toward a distant light. I trip. What was that? A tripwire? Directly above me a block moves! Immediately the cavern lights up. I feel tingling; my instincts take over, I jump to my feet and sprint uphill. Lava pours down. If I were a moment slower I would be covered in lava. A trap! Several arrows whiz toward me. I deflect, but one hits me. My armor holds.

Returning up the shaft is impossible, arrows are whizzing at me from that direction. The opposite direction is full of lava! I feel like Han and Luke in the Death Star as they try to save Leia. What did they do? Right, they jumped into a garbage chute. I break away the wall next to me. It opens into a dark cavern. I jump in!

Thud.

I land a few blocks down. "Khan," I yell, "Come here!" I plant a torch on the wall. I'm in a long, narrow tunnel. Khan jumps down.

The skeletons reach the opening. Arrows fly again. "Run!" I yell.

We reach the end of the tunnel. I hope this works twice! I must move forward. I swing my pickaxe. Seems like I've found solid stone. It's slow going.

Arrows! The skeletons have jumped down, into the tunnel! I turn around and return fire. One down, two, but the mob is getting closer. How many are there? Three down. I hear something, like a popping sound. Is that behind me? I turn and mine away. I hope this opens up right now!

Whiz! Another arrow hits the block in front of me. Thud! Whiz! I'm hit in the back. My armor takes most of the damage.

Chink! The block in front of me breaks, light comes streaming in. I see a large cavern with a lava-fall, flowing from above, falling into a puddle below. It is twenty or thirty blocks away, and there are enough blocks around it to give me safe passage.

Only one block prevents me from entering the bright room. Chink, gone. My skin tingles. Why now? I jump down several blocks to the safety of the large, bright room. I turn around, looking for an exit. There are dozens of tunnels leading into this space. Each one has pixelators standing guard.

WHAT! I am in serious trouble. Khan runs toward the falling lava. She is finally being proactive. One of the pixel busting creatures sees me and alerts the others. They are not far away. They start toward me. One exits its tunnel, then another, then another. Each tunnel must have hundreds of creepy creatures. The room is starting to fill up with rolling anger. I take a few out with arrows, but what's the point? There is no way I can stop all these advancing monsters.

I am doomed, lava on one end, killers on the other. How do I want to die? Blown to pixelated bits or burn in lava. I back away from the creatures, toward Khan. I move past her to one end of the lava-fall, following a precarious narrow path of stone leading through flowing lava. I stand on one side of the lava-fall. The heat is intense. I see red. The room is a sea of advancing creatures. A few get too close to the lava and burn.

Behind me I hear a metallic wailing sound. What is that?

I look to the edge of the lava-fall. There is a tight passage that leads behind the falling molten lava. The passage is craftily hidden. The metallic wailing sound is coming from there. What could be back there? Is this a trap?

Angry pixelators are closing in on me. I'm going to die if I stay, I might as well try it.
 

Sssss! the closest one is going to blow!

I take the passage, passing inches from the falling lava, it's so hot, I nearly combust. I enter a small room behind the lava. It's glowing! And there, at the end of this small space is a beautiful sight! A portal!

Boom! On the other side of the lava, a pixelator blows up, spewing boiling lava everywhere. Luckily I dodge the flying fire. The explosion opens up a huge pathway. The mass of rolling anger encroaches upon me. There is no exit, other than the portal. Should I take it? I don't know!

What is on the other side? Will this portal transport me home? Or will this take me to another realm? The thought of the unknown is disturbing! Will I lose contact with Zana?

Ssssss!

I step into the portal.

BOOOM!

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Find out! Get your copy of
Flynn's Log 2: Thorn's Lair
.

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