Herobrine's Message (28 page)

Within minutes, he knew that he would have to meet up with the Mechanist and the three police chiefs. He knew that he would have to reveal the tragic news of DZ's death. He
knew that he would have to lead his people. He knew that he would have to plan an attack. He knew that time was of the essence. He knew that the fate of the game of Minecraft may very well be resting on his shoulders.

But Stan still allowed himself, just for a minute, to live in the moment. He had worked so long and hard to return, and he had sacrificed and lost so much, that never, in a million years, could this moment be ruined.

T
he holding room was nothing but a giant cube, constructed of cobblestone blocks and taking up a sizable space within the Noctem Capitol Building. Torches lit the perimeter of the room, making it light enough to see and prevent other mobs from spawning. Cutting through the solid wall of cobblestone on the upper half of one wall was a row of glass, through which any curious onlookers could see what the two Zombies were doing.

These two Zombies did not resemble typical Zombies. Rather than the square head reminiscent of a player, they had elongated heads, with bloodshot red eyes and giant, droopy green noses hanging down off their faces. These Zombies, one fully grown and the other half the first one's size, had once been two villagers.

They were once mother and son, named Mella and Stull, and they had lived happily together in their village, which was now long gone. Not that they knew it, though. Besides their names, Mella and Stull had no memory of their previous lives. Oh, it was there, hidden somewhere deep within the layers of instinct and bloodlust that had overtaken their already primitive reasoning upon being bitten by a Zombie.

The two of them lumbered around aimlessly. For the past month, this had been their lives. They had
spent the majority of their time ambling aimlessly around this room. Occasionally, they had been pulled out by the players who had put them there to serve as a communication bridge between the players and the mobs, and they had soon after been rewarded by unconscious players, who they would devour with pleasure.

It had been quite some time since they had been utilized, however. The Noctem Alliance's mobs had been of great use on the battlefield, but now that the fighting was all but over, they served little to no purpose besides controlling the Withers. In fact, Lord Tenebris had made it clear that no tamed mobs were to be allowed into Element City. Only players who had been members of the Noctem Alliance would be allowed to live freely within the walls. Not that the villagers knew this, though. The only thing they knew was that at some point, the iron door on the ground would open again, and it would be time to feast.

Sure enough, the door did eventually scrape open, and Mella and Stull glanced at it. Through the frame marched a player, a bronze skin showing under his black armor, followed by another black-clad player with a thunderbolt across his red face, and around twenty players in soldier uniforms. The Zombies were beside themselves in anticipation. They had never seen so many players in one place before.

“Are you sure about this?” the lightning-faced player asked, turning to face G.

“Hey, don't look at me,” said G, sounding annoyed as he gave a noncommittal shrug. “I'm just following what General Tess told me.”

“Yeah, but I heard something totally different,” the player replied, sounding confused. “She told me to bring these players to the firing squad, not the Zombie chamber. And it makes more sense to do it that way. I mean, there are way too many players here for the Zombies to eat all of them at once.”

“Look, Zingster,” G retorted, looking Corporal Zingster directly in the face. “I
just
came down from talking to Tess, and she told me that she wants
me
to knock out these players and let the Zombies have them.”

“But—”

“But nothing!” G spat at him. “As of today, I outrank you, Corporal, so you'll do what I say!”

Corporal Zingster stared at G for a moment.

“Yes, sir, Captain MasterBronze,” the Corporal replied, giving a respectful salute before backing out of the room, the door closing behind him.

Wasting no time, G started rummaging through his inventory. He knew that it would only be a little while before Corporal Zingster discovered that he wasn't really a captain like he had said. G hated that he'd had to lie to Zingster like that; it was just another complication to be thrown into the
plan, but he knew that it was the only way to ensure that Zingster obeyed him without question. In any case, it didn't matter now. If this plan worked out, he would most likely never see Zingster or Tess again until they met on the battlefield.

“Take these!” G said, as the horde of captive soldiers, who had been looking on in terrified silence, now stared at him in surprise. From his inventory, he threw dozens of pickaxes into the crowd, which he had looted from the supply room.

One of the soldiers caught the pickaxe, and looked it over uncomprehendingly before returning his gaze back to G.

“Who are you?” he asked in awe.

“My name is Goldman2,” G replied hastily. “I'm a spy for Elementia and a member of the Element City Council of Eight, and we're busting out of here.”

Instantly, a ripple of excitement spread throughout the crowd, though, with the discipline of the soldiers they were, they remained quiet. G continued to look through the supplies he had stolen until he found what he was looking for. He held a liquid Potion of Weakness in his right hand, and had a golden apple on standby. G turned to face the two zombies, who had been looking at him expectantly since his arrival.

“Come here, Mella and Stull,” G called out to them like dogs. “It's time to eat.”

Their eyes flashed red with excitement as they lumbered forward toward G. Then, when they were a few blocks away, G launched the Potion of Weakness in their direction. The glass bottle shattered on the ground, enveloping the two villagers in a cloud of fumes. The two forms of the villagers stumbled around in confusion within the cloud for a few seconds before falling to the ground. Without hesitation, G took a deep breath and sprinted into the cloud. He shoved the golden apple down the throat of Mella, and then drew a second golden apple and did the same to Stull. The mother and son sputtered for a minute, before falling unconscious to the ground, golden wisps of smoke curling up off their bodies.

G barreled out of the smoke, and finally allowed himself to breathe in the fresh, nontoxic air. After he had regained his breath, he turned to face the soldiers, who were all looking at him.

“Start digging,” G commanded. He pulled a compass from his inventory, glanced at it, and then pointed toward the left wall of the room. “Aim that way. And hurry up, we don't have much time before the Noctems discover that we're gone.”

The soldiers nodded and immediately began to tunnel into the ground, creating a sizable staircase down into the underground in a matter of seconds. G called over to a few soldiers to help him carry the shuddering Zombie villagers, who were slowly but surely becoming less and less green.
Two of them hoisted Mella up over their shoulders, while the other scooped up Stull in her arms.

As the last of the soldiers disappeared down into the tunnel, G gave a sigh of relief. He couldn't believe how well his plan had worked, and allowed himself a moment of self-congratulation. Then, he picked up a handful of loose cobblestones on the ground, descended into the tunnel, and placed the blocks back into the floor. The room was now identical to how it had looked just minutes before, save the absence of the two Zombie villagers who were nearly cured and en route back to Element City.

Lord Tenebris looked around the Element Castle council room, upon the stone-brick table of the Council of Operators. He found it odd that when Stan2012 had taken control of Element City, he had not destroyed the throne, which Lord Tenebris now sat on. Perhaps he had kept it as a reminder of King Kev's rule, so that the decisions that they made should never allow a monarch to rule Elementia ever again. In any case, Lord Tenebris couldn't help but feel an innate sense of contentedness sitting on the throne. He had waited so long, and worked so hard for this throne, that, no matter who sat on it, he knew that it would always truly be his.

The feeling of satisfaction only lasted for a moment, however, before Lord Tenebris's dormant rage swelled back
up. As relieved as he was that the Noctem Alliance had now conquered the entire server of Elementia, it was still inexcusable that Stan2012 had not been located yet. Furthermore, although the citizen population within the city was locked in their houses under quarantine, it was obvious that not all of them were there. A good number of the Element City citizens had clearly escaped to somewhere.

The five-note doorbell, ringing out through the unseen note blocks, signaled that somebody was at the door. Lord Tenebris reached down to a button on the side of his throne and clicked it. Within seconds the redstone circuit executed its job, and the iron door swung open.

Through the open door frame marched eight figures. The five players dressed as hostile mobs, who Lord Tenebris knew to be called ELM, dropped their jaws in awe. Lord Tenebris was familiar with this reaction. It was typical for players to respond this way upon first laying eyes on him. He hardly cared about them, however. Lord Tenebris was far more focused on his generals, Drake, Tess, and Spyro, as they proceeded past the council table and knelt before him.

“Greetings, my generals,” Lord Tenebris said unemotionally as he looked down upon them.

“Greetings, my lord,” all three generals responded in unison, still looking down at the ground.

“First and foremost, I would like to congratulate you on
the work you have done,” Lord Tenebris continued. “At long last, after months of planning, of struggling, and of toiling, we have done it. The Noctem Alliance has conquered Elementia. The dreams of King Kev have now been realized, and we are on the threshold of creating a perfect server, where those who have earned their place reign supreme, and the weak are in their equally rightful place. I could not have accomplished this vision without your undying loyalty.”

“Thank you, my lord,” all three generals replied again, their voices full of elation. To be directly praised and thanked by Lord Tenebris himself—it was more wonderful than they could have ever imagined.

“However,” Lord Tenebris continued, his voice suddenly full of anger, causing all in the vicinity to look up in alarm, “the fact that we have accomplished so much is irrelevant next to the fact that Stan2012, his military leaders, and his council members are still at large! I will have you know that I blame each of you for this failure.”

“My lord,” Drake replied submissively, terror in his voice, “I assure you, I have been doing all that I—”

“Silence, Drake,” Lord Tenebris hissed, and instantly, Drake stared back at the ground in shame, shaking in horror. “I shall get to you in a moment.” First, he turned to face Tess. She had been looking up at him in respect, but now she looked to the side, finding it impossible to meet his empty, white eyes.

“I admit, Tess, that out of the three of you,” Lord Tenebris spoke on, “it is you with whom I take the least umbrage. You have done a perfectly respectable job in your rearing of the new recruits, and during your time as a commander on the front lines, you were properly able to keep Element City under lockdown while I prepared the Withers for the final strike.”

“Thank you, my lord,” Tess replied, trying to sound as humble as possible.

“That does not excuse the fact,” Lord Tenebris continued, “that the highway through the Nether has yet to be completed. I'm sure I don't need to reiterate how much easier it would be to find Stan if our soldiers could easily fast-travel all throughout the server.”

“I apologize, my lord,” Tess replied, sinking into a deep bow, “but it's been very difficult. The more troops that leave Nocturia to join the occupation of Element City, the longer work will be delayed. I've even forced the new recruits to mine for Nether quartz, rather than training them, so that I would have more soldiers available for construction of the highway.”

“Do not expect any lenience from me, Tess. It's been over a month now!” Lord Tenebris said, not raising his voice, but still commanding enough power to echo throughout the council room. “Either force your people to work faster or I will make an example of you to inspire their work ethic.”

Tess gulped in fear, but still managed to get out, “I understand, my lord. Thank you for your mercy.”

“You, Spyro,” Lord Tenebris continued, glaring down at Spyro, who shuddered as he forced himself to look up.

“I am extremely disappointed in you. The fact that four prisoners escaped from Fungarus and you were not able to stop them is unforgivable. I would think that after I gave Drake what he deserved for allowing the escape, you would do all in your power to ensure that they were captured.”

Drake's face returned to a grotesque wince as he remembered the sheer agony that Lord Tenebris had put him through as punishment for his mistake.

“My lord . . . I apologize most dearly. I did send many of my forces out into the ocean to search for them . . . I would have sent all that I could, if I weren't preoccupied with the revolution on the Lesser Mushroom Island—”

“That is no excuse!” Lord Tenebris replied, glaring down at Spyro. “Your army should have no difficulty in subduing the ruffians of that island, especially after the Great Purge.”

“Well, there was no trouble at first!” Spyro replied, his eyes wide with fear. “We kept the republic citizens as hostages, as you requested, while we hunted through the remains of the city for those Lesser Tribesmen who had escaped the Purge. But now, the republic citizens and the surviving Tribesmen have begun to fight back! They've rallied around a leader
who calls herself Goddess Olea, and even though we've done all we—”

Spyro cut off in midsentence, and his hands flew to his throat. A small choking sound escaped his mouth, and Drake and Tess, who were watching him in horror, whipped around to face Lord Tenebris, who was leaning forward and glaring intently at Spyro. The white-eyed demon surveyed his prey with emotionless eyes as Spyro began to levitate into the air, his eyes bulging and his legs flailing.

“Perhaps you don't understand me,” Lord Tenebris said in a deadpan as Spyro continued to struggle. “The rebellion in the Mushroom Islands
will
be eradicated in a timely manner. Do you understand, General?”