Herobrine's Message (18 page)

Although the prospect of a good night's sleep on a real bed did appeal to Kat immensely, it paled in comparison to the joy she felt when Cassandrix pulled a stone sword off the crafting table and put it into Kat's eagerly awaiting hands. It had been far too long since Kat had felt the wholesome completeness that came with being armed with her weapon of choice. While the bow was definitely a decent second, Kat still felt overjoyed to finally be holding a sword again.

The next couple of hours were spent mainly in silence. While her three friends stayed in the cave and crafted various necessities, Kat climbed back into the swamp and crept her way through it, gathering food for their journey with Rex at her heels, and keeping an eye out for Noctem forces hidden
between the trees. As the sun started to set, Kat returned to the hole, leaping her way back in and securing a dirt block above her head before settling into the hideout.

Cassandrix and Commander Crunch were both sitting on beds that had been made from the wool, while Charlie was still sitting on the cobblestone block. All of them looked rather bored. Kat deposited the steaks she had obtained in the furnace and sat down on her own bed, stretching and giving a yawn.

Kat, not being in a particular mood to talk, simply lay down on her bed, closed her eyes, and attempted to drift off to sleep, with Rex curled up at the foot of her bed. However, try as she might, Kat was repeatedly distracted by a rumbling in her stomach. It appeared that eating could not wait until morning.

“Hey, Cassandrix,” mumbled Kat to the girl in the bed next to hers. “You wanna reach into the furnace and grab a steak for me?”

After a moment with no reply, Kat continued, “Come on, Cassandrix, you're right next to it, and I really don't feel like getting up.”

Still, there was no response.

“Blimey, Cassandrix!” cried out Commander Crunch, his eyebrow knitting as Kat groggily sat upright in her bed and glanced over at Cassandrix. “Th' lass asked ye a question, th' least ye can do be respond.”

But suddenly, Kat wasn't interested in the food anymore. Or at least, not for the time being. Rather, she was distracted by Cassandrix, who was sitting upright on her bed, her eyes glazed over and a terrified expression on her face, as if she were in some sort of trance.

“Cassandrix? Come on! Snap out of it!” cried Kat, clapping her hands together in front of her face. Instantly, Cassandrix's head gave a jolt, and she looked around in confusion, clutching her chest, before finally realizing that she was in no danger.

“Did you not hear me?” Kat demanded. “I was asking you a question!”

“Oh, quiet yourself, you impudent twit,” growled Cassandrix. “Get it yourself if you're so hungry.”

“What's with you?” snapped Kat. She had actually been slowly warming up to Cassandrix over the course of their journey, and she was fully taken aback by this sudden return to her stubbornness.

“Oh, that is just like you, darling . . . so ignorant, so concerned about fairness and avoiding work. Kat, do you have any idea what we're up against?” screeched Cassandrix, her eyes wide and desperate, pure, primal fear ripe in every inch of her face. “Of course you don't! You're just as ignorant as any other young player! You didn't even recognize who Lord Tenebris was, did you?”

Kat opened her mouth, then closed it. She had been about to scold Cassandrix for dwelling on what they had seen Lord Tenebris do, rather than focusing on returning to Element City. On the one hand, Kat knew that, even though they had seen Lord Tenebris demonstrate terrifying and unexplainable powers, they couldn't dwell on that now if they wanted to get back to Element City as fast as possible. On the other hand, now that Kat remembered when the two of them had first laid eyes on Lord Tenebris, Kat had definitely sensed some fearful recognition on Cassandrix's face even before he had demonstrated what he could do.

“No, I didn't recognize him,” Kat finally admitted.

“WHAT?” bellowed Commander Crunch, causing them all to jump as he leaped onto his feet in outrage. “Are ye tellin' me that ye looked wit' yer owns eyes into th' most infamous, most powerful, 'n' most evil demon in th' history o' Minecraft, 'n' ye didn' even recognize 'im?”

“What are you talking about?” demanded Charlie. “Of course we recognized him, Crunch . . . it was Lord Tenebris! Anybody with half a brain could figure that out!”

Rather than responding to Charlie, Commander Crunch turned to look at Cassandrix, who in turn stared back at him. Both of the older players held looks of equal disbelief on their faces.

“I don't believe it,” whispered Cassandrix.

“Aye,” replied Commander Crunch in an uncharacteristically soft voice. “They really don't know. . . .”

“Could you two cut to the chase already?” growled Charlie in irritation.

“Yeah,” added Kat, indignant but also a little bit disturbed at her friends' reactions to her and Charlie's ignorance. “Clearly you know something that we don't, so spit it out!”

Cassandrix and Commander Crunch held each other's gaze for a long time, as if both were lost for words. Finally, Cassandrix turned to face Kat and Charlie, who had stood up and walked over next to Kat.

“The head of the Noctem Alliance,” Cassandrix said slowly, as if carefully choosing her words, “is actually very well known. He's probably the most famous being in the history of Minecraft. And . . . most of the people who know of Lord Tenebris . . . know him by a different name.”

“Aye,” replied Crunch, giving a solemn nod. “She speaks th' truth. Have either o' ye two scallywags ever heard o' th' legend o' Herobrine?”

As the last word left Commander Crunch's mouth, Cassandrix gave a shuddery outtake of breath, and the aura of dread about her was palpable. Even Commander Crunch seemed fully absent of his usual upbeat sailor demeanor as he spoke. Charlie and Kat, on the other hand, were just confused; neither of them could recall ever hearing the name in their lives.

“No,” Kat replied, quite uneasy but also intrigued. “What do you know about this . . . Herobrine?”

There was a moment of silence in which not a sound was uttered by anybody. Finally, Cassandrix spoke.

“Herobrine,” she replied, taking a deep breath and trying to keep her voice stable, “is a demon. The most evil and most powerful entity in the history of Minecraft, which all but the most gullible believe to be simply an urban legend. I used to believe that as well, before I finally set my gaze upon Lord Tenebris myself.”

“If it'd help ye,” growled Commander Crunch slowly, his stony face flickering in the torchlight, “I jus' so happen t' know th' tale o' Herobrine's origin. 'Tis an ole tale—passed from sailor t' sailor since th' earliest days o' Minecraft—'n' perhaps, I may be able t' shed some light fer ye two on jus' wha' we be dealin' wit' in th' mastermind o' th' Noctem Alliance.”

Kat and Charlie glanced at each other, then back at Commander Crunch. After a moment, Kat nodded.

“All right, Commander,” Kat said, a tiny seed of fear in her heart as Charlie sat down in his bed to listen to the story. “Tell us the story of Herobrine.”

And with that, Commander Crunch pressed his fingers together in front of his mouth and began to speak.

“Nigh-on three years ago, a Minecraft player posted a
message on an online message board. T' this day, nobody can say fer sure who this player was. This was back in th' days when Minecraft was in th' Alpha stage o' development, 'n' prone t' countless bugs, errors, 'n' glitches. Th' post consisted o' a simple thread o' text. Here be wha' it said:

“‘I had recently spawned a new world in single-player Minecraft. Everythin' was normal at first, as I began choppin' down trees 'n' craftin' a workbench. I noticed somethin' move amongst th' dense fog . . . I 'ave a mighty slow computer, so I 'ave t' play wit' a wee render distance. I thought 'twas a Cow, so I pursued it, hopin' t' grab some hides fer armor.

“‘Aye, but it wasn't a Cow.

“‘Lookin' back at me was another character wit' th' default skin, but his eyes were empty, white, and lifeless. I double-checked t' make sure I wasn't in multiplayer mode. He didn' stay long, though . . . he looked at me 'n' quickly ran into th' fog. I perused out o' curiosity, but he was gone.

“‘I continued on wit' th' game, nah sure wha' t' reckon. As I expanded t' world I saw thin's that seemed out o' place fer th' random map generator t' make by itself; square tunnels in th' rocks, wee perfect pyramids made o' sand in th' ocean, 'n' groves o' trees wit' all thar leaves cut off. I would constantly reckon I saw th' other player in th' deep fog, but I ne'er got a better look at 'im. I tried increasin' me render
distance t' far whenever I thought I saw 'im but t' no avail.

“‘I saved th' map 'n' went on th' forums t' see if anyone else had found th' pseudo-player. Thar were none. I created me own topic tellin' o' th' scallywag ‘n askin' if anyone had a similar experience. Th' post was deleted within five minutes. I tried again, 'n' th' topic was deleted even faster. I received a private message from username “Herobrine” containin' one word: “Stop.”

“‘When I went t' look at Herobrine's profile, th' page was gone.

“‘I received an email from another forum user. He claimed we were safer usin' email. Th' email claimed that he had seen th' mystery player, too, 'n' had a list o' other users who had seen 'im as well. Thar worlds were littered wit' obviously man-made features as well, 'n' described thar mystery player t' 'ave no pupils.

“‘About a month passed till I heard from me informant again. Some o' th' players who had encountered th' mystery scallywag had looked into th' name Herobrine 'n' found that name t' be frequently used by a Swedish gamer. Aft some further information gatherin', 'twas revealed t' be th' brother o' Notch, th' game's developer. I personally emailed Notch 'n' asked 'im if he had a brother. It took 'im a while, but he finally emailed me back a mighty short message.

“‘He said: “I did, but he be no longer wit' us.”

“‘I haven't seen th' mystery scallywag since our first encounter, 'n' I haven't noticed any changes t' th' world other than me own. I was able t' press “print screen” when I first saw 'im. Here's th' only evidence o' his existence.'

“'N' attached t' this player's message,” Commander Crunch continued, as Charlie and Kat listened on, intrigued, “was a picture. Th' picture showed a Minecraft world in deep fog, wit' trees, hills, 'n' a chicken. 'N' peekin' out o' th' edge o' th' fog be a player wit' navy-blue pants, a turquoise shirt, 'n' empty, white eyes.

“Naturally, at th' time when this all came out, 'twas ignored, 'n' th' player was called out as a faker,” Commander Crunch continued. “However, afore long, this mysterious, dead-eyed player named Herobrine began t' appear in other servers. Everywhere he went, he brought havoc wit' 'im, spawnin' lava in houses, creatin' mysterious structures in the worlds of unsuspectin' players, destroyin' thin's that others had created.

“He would also kill some players, playin' psychological tricks on them by leavin' items behind them when thar backs were turned, makin' bumpin' sounds in the night, makin' them feel as if they were bein' watched, 'n' slowly drivin' them further 'n' further into madness afore finally endin' them, 'n' corruptin' thar entire Minecraft server once 'n' fer all.

“It wasn't till a few famous Minecraft players had Herobrine appear on thar livestreams that scallywags finally began t' share thar tales. Since then, Herobrine has become somethin' o' an icon t' Minecraft. 'N' as soon as he became famous, thousands o' scallywags started t' fake sightin's o' 'im, eager t' get thar fifteen minutes o' fame by convincin' scallywags that they've got th' real proof that Herobrine exists.

“They be a bunch o' no-good leeches, be wha' they be, nah takin' th' demon seriously jus' 'cause they wants a good laugh. They don't care fer th' scallywags who really 'ave lost entire servers full o' players t' th' scourge o' Herobrine.

“Oh, 'n' if ye're feelin' skeptical, 'n' don't believe that Herobrine exists, then I ask that ye look no further than Minecraft itself. Every time a new update gets released, they'll also put out a list o' all o' th' changes t' Minecraft in th' newest version. 'N' at th' end o' every single list, ye'll always find th' same message: ‘Removed Herobrine.' They keep on removin' Herobrine from th' game . . . but he keeps comin' back. I rest me case.”

“I know that it's incredibly hard to believe,” cut in Cassandrix, sounding stressed. “Trust me, I never believed it for a second . . . I always assumed that all Herobrine sightings were hoaxes, and when Mojang said that they'd ‘removed Herobrine' from Minecraft, they were just going along with
the joke. But when I saw Lord Tenebris sitting on his throne, I knew that he wasn't a player, not even a player who was using mods. There was something about him that was . . . off. Something that seemed . . . inhuman, though I couldn't put my finger on what it was. And seeing him use those powers only confirmed it for me.

“Trust me, you two . . . I'm a grounded person,” said Cassandrix, and Kat could sense Cassandrix's heart racing almost as fast as her own. “I'll have trouble believing anything until I see it with my own eyes. And Lord Tenebris . . . he's no player. He's something far worse than that . . . far worse than you can even comprehend.”

The four players sat in silence for nearly five full minutes, as Kat and Charlie tried to absorb everything that Crunch and Cassandrix had just said. Finally, Charlie spoke.