Herobrine's Message (41 page)

“
I HAVE EXISTED SINCE THE BEGINNING, AND I AM THE GREATEST BEING IN ALL OF MINECRAFT!
” Lord Tenebris's voice sounded over the raging storm, amplified now to sound as if thousands of voices were speaking from directly within Stan's head. His ears felt like they were about to burst. “
MY POWER IS SECOND TO NONE, AND I AM FAR GREATER THAN ANY PLAYER, THAN ANY
OPERATOR COULD EVER DREAM! AFTER THE DEATH OF KING KEV, ELEMENTIA, THE GREATEST MINECRAFT SERVER IN ALL OF HISTORY, HAD FALLEN INTO THE HANDS OF PARASITES, AND I KNEW THAT, AFTER YEARS OF SLUMBER, IT WAS TIME TO RISE AGAIN! I CAME TO ELEMENTIA OUT OF NECESSITY, TO LEAD THE DISGRACED SOLDIERS OF BIRTHRIGHT TO VICTORY OVER THE ROACHES THAT HAD INFESTED THE LAND! AND TODAY . . . TODAY IS THE DAY THAT I WILL FINISH WHAT THE GREAT MARTYR HAS STARTED! I AM THE UNIVERSAL EMBODIMENT OF THE SPIRIT OF THE TRUE KING OF ELEMENTIA! I . . . AM . . . HEROBRINE!”

Lord Tenebris's mouth gaped open, and his eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets, as he let out an animal roar that pierced even the slicing winds of the storm. Outside the council-room windows, Stan could see dozens of lightning strikes, illuminating the now-blackened sky and filling the vortex of space around Element Castle with an awful amalgamation of light and dark. The scene was too much for Stan's senses to comprehend. It was far beyond anything that his worst nightmares could have possibly fabricated for themselves. Stan was now positive where all the power being diverted from Elementia's core was going—more raw power was radiating from Lord Tenebris than Stan had ever sensed before in his life.

Then, all at once, the lightning stopped. The pitch-black sky outside the windows brightened, returning to the murky
gray cloud of the Withers. The cyclone of wind spiraling around the levitating Lord Tenebris quickly died down, and he himself took a deep breath, letting it out as he sunk downward, touching down on the stone-brick floor. He was no longer on the elevated platform on which the throne sat, but instead stood with his back to the stone brick–block wall, on the same level as Stan and his friends. With a start, Stan realized that he could move again, and instantly raised his axe into a block, the weapon shaking uncontrollably in his now trembling hands.

Lord Tenebris's face was tranquil once again, no longer smiling, but not showing any other emotion either. He raised his hand again, and before Stan could even realize what had happened, he felt an intense heat well up behind him. He jumped forward as fast as his legs could carry him, desperate to avoid the fire that had sprung up behind him. As he landed on the floor, next to his equally disoriented cohorts, Stan glanced around the room. The entire council room perimeter had been ignited into a blaze, fire ringing the room and blocking the door. Within the ring of fire was the flat expanse of stone-brick blocks where Lord Tenebris and the four players stood.

“I, like the Alliance that I lead, hold the principle of honor very close to my heart,” Lord Tenebris said, as if presenting a business proposal. “Therefore, I am going to give
you a choice as to your fate.”

Stan was too terrified to respond. Never in a thousand years could he have possibly prepared for what Lord Tenebris was capable of. He had just displayed a show of power far greater than any player, even one with operating powers, could ever achieve.

“Your first option,” Lord Tenebris continued, “is to come with me to the battlefield. There, in front of all the citizens of Elementia, you will surrender to me, and declare the war over. I will then proceed to execute each of you, as well as the rest of your commanders. It will be swift, it will be painless, and all the rest of your citizens will be allowed to live in peace under the rule of the Noctem Alliance.

“Your other option,” Lord Tenebris said, after a brief pause to let his offer sink in, “would be to remain here, and fight me, four on one. I will not hold back on you, I will show no mercy, and I shall draw it out for as long as I possibly can. Once I am finished, I will go to the battlefield and assist my soldiers in wiping out all who serve you.

“This is not something that I wish to do. The war is over, and I do not wish to kill civilians unless absolutely necessary. However, the choice is yours.”

There was a moment of silence, with only the sound of the light breeze blowing through the council room and the crackling fire all around them. Stan was too stunned even
to think properly. Only one single thought permeated all his thoughts:
I am about to die.

He had no choice but to obey Lord Tenebris. There was no way that any of them could possibly escape from the council room with their lives, and even if they did, Lord Tenebris would find them. To fight Lord Tenebris would be torture. Stan remembered during the fight with King Kev, when his opponent had set him on fire and repeatedly tossed him into the air. Stan had never felt any greater agony in his life, but he knew that it would surely be child's play in comparison to what Lord Tenebris would put them through if they refused to submit to him. And that was only what he would do to
them
. If they tried to fight Lord Tenebris, their fate would be shared with all who had ever followed Stan.

But on the other hand, if they did choose to be executed and end the war . . . then what? The citizens of Elementia would live on under the rule of the Noctem Alliance. Was that fate really so much better than a torturous death? Most of Stan's followers were lower-level players. They would be banished from Element City and sent to fend for themselves in the wild. Even with the skills that they had learned in training under Commander Crunch, it would be difficult to survive. The Noctem Alliance probably wouldn't leave them alone, either. Wherever the new players started their civilization, Stan was sure that upper-level players would go out of their
way to harass and abuse them. If Stan surrendered, then his people might live on, but so would the hatred.

“I'm waiting,” Lord Tenebris said, sounding slightly irritated now. “I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to stop this fighting as soon as possible to preserve as many of my followers as I can. If a decision is not made soon, then perhaps I briefly forget about my honor and go through with the option that I would find most fun.”

Stan's throat felt as though it were being squeezed shut as his mind raced, trying to decide the lesser of the two evils. Somehow, the fact that he was going to die no matter what he chose barely even registered to him. All he could think about was which choice would result in less despair for his subjects, who had given their all to fight the Noctem Alliance and deserved as little pain as possible when the chips fell where they may.

Suddenly, Stan became aware of a new sound in the voiceless room—the sound of footsteps. Stan looked up and saw Kat stepping forward. Her hands were empty, and from where he was standing, Stan couldn't see her face, only the back of her diamond armor. He watched, transfixed, as Kat walked directly in front of Lord Tenebris, knelt down, and sunk into a deep bow.

Lord Tenebris smiled as Stan found himself unable to even process what he was seeing. “So, Kat . . . you're willing
to speak for your president and your country, and surrender to me?”

Kat said nothing. Instead, in one motion, she let out a ferocious war cry as she sprung upright, her enchanted diamond sword in her hand, and headed directly for Lord Tenebris's unprotected stomach.

Lord Tenebris acted just as quickly as Kat. He knocked the point of the sword away with his left hand, and instantly stretched his right hand out toward Kat.

Kat froze. She was still frozen in the midst of recovering from her attack. At the same moment, Stan felt the telepathic grip of Lord Tenebris lock him in place, and once again he felt the utter helplessness of having no control over his own body. Lord Tenebris no longer looked smug or arrogant. Instead, his face showed nothing but shock, which slowly morphed into rage, a burning hatred that contorted his features into an ugly ball of resentment.

“Wrong choice,” he hissed dangerously.

A blast of thunder rang from directly outside the battlements, and Charlie had to use all his willpower to keep from moving. With no warning, a hurricane-force gale had begun to rip through the tower, and Charlie could see an electric storm outside, sending slashes of light and energy across the black sky. Charlie knew that this couldn't be a natural storm, and
with a start he realized that Stan and the others had probably started to battle Lord Tenebris. They were probably right below him in the council room.

Charlie didn't allow himself to think about his friends, though. Right now, he had to focus on saving himself, for the sake of his troops. His mind raced, trying to conceive a way in which he could hop on his pig and ride out of the tower before ELM cut him down. Try as he might, though, he couldn't think of any way to make it work.

“I'm almost ready to go, Arachnia!” Enderchick chortled from behind him.

“Well, get a move on, then,” Arachnia replied darkly, speaking at a normal volume as the winds died down just as suddenly as they had started. “I don't know what caused that storm, but I do know that I want to get off this tower as soon as possible. I don't like being so close to Lord Tenebris.”

Charlie's heart skipped a beat. They were getting ready to put their plan into motion! The instant that Enderchick disappeared with his pickaxe, Charlie knew that there was no way he could possibly escape—the tool was the only thing that he had to fight off Arachnia and Lord Marrow. Charlie desperately tried to picture his surroundings. He had lived in this castle for months, and he knew it like the back of his hand. There had to be something around him that he could use to facilitate an escape. . . .

Then, suddenly, Charlie heard it. It was faint, and he could barely make it out over the light breeze, the drizzling rain, and the sound of distant warfare . . . but he could still unmistakably hear it. A breathing—deeply pained, horrifically raspy, almost metallic—a sound that vacuumed all hope and warmth from the air.

Without really thinking, Charlie turned his head to peer outside the battlements. It didn't matter if he was seen; he had to know if he was hearing correctly. Sure enough, there it was, flying not too far outside the walls of the tower, pure darkness seeping out of its body and floating into the sky, its three skeletal heads looking out over the city. Charlie had no idea what the Wither was doing there, but he wondered if perhaps he could use it to his advantage.

In the space of a second, an insane plan flooded Charlie's head. He knew that there was next to no chance that it could possibly work. He had never before come up with a plan where so many things could go wrong. In the next second, Charlie heard the sound of Enderchick, right behind him, standing up, and giving a yawn. Charlie imagined she was probably stretching out, feeling refreshed after her long rest. It was do-or-die time.

Okay, Charlie, you got this,
he said to himself, trying not to think too hard.
Just act. One . . . two . . . THREE!

Charlie leaped onto his knees and grabbed the handle of
his pickaxe on the ground, right as Enderchick grabbed the diamond pick. Before she had even realized what happened, Charlie wrenched the weapon from her hand, took aim, and threw the weapon as hard as he could. As all three members of ELM leaped to their feet and trained their weapons on Charlie, the diamond pickaxe spiraled out one of the open battlements, through the rainy sky, and directly into the back of the Wither's center head.

The effect was immediate; the boss mob let out a horrifying roar. Before they could attack him, the three members of ELM spun around, glaring out the window to see what had made the noise. What they saw made their eyes widen, and they dived out of the way to avoid the massive explosions as the blasts from the Wither tore the wall of the tower to shreds. In the midst of the recoil from the blast and the flying rubble, Charlie reached to the floor and, with two hands and his good leg, propelled himself upright, hopping to the side and landing on top of Dr. Pigglesworth. He gave the pig a sharp kick with his heels, and the two of them sprinted across the floor of the tower toward the door that led to the castle bridge.

“Get him! He's escaping!” Arachnia's strangled cry erupted from the tumult within the tower. “Enderchick!”

Charlie glanced behind him and saw Enderchick standing in the center of the tower, her eyes trained directly on
him. So focused was she on Charlie and his pig riding away from her at a breakneck pace that she didn't even notice the Wither, which had floated into the room and was now aiming all three of its heads directly at her. Before she could even make a move, all three of the black skulls struck her, sending her flying through the air, a trail of dropped items leaving her body as she went.

Charlie couldn't help himself. He ordered Dr. Pigglesworth to stop in the middle of the castle bridge, and he turned back around to watch the tower. Through the lingering smoke from the explosions, Charlie could see the two silhouettes of Arachnia and Lord Marrow. Though they initially tried to dodge the blasts of the undead demon, the explosions engulfed the room, tearing through the walls and eventually obscuring them from view.

Charlie stared, transfixed, as the entire tower ruptured from the inside out, in a constant barrage of blasts that continued for a full minute until, finally, the Wither flew over an expanse of stone-brick blocks, pockmarked by the dents from the explosions. In the midst of the dust and still-falling rubble, Charlie could make out three bodies lying on the still-intact floor, items levitating on the blocks around them.

There was no time for Charlie to react. He couldn't think about the three players that he had just killed. He couldn't even be relieved that the bounty hunters who had been hired
to capture his best friend were now eradicated. All Charlie saw was the Wither, levitating above the bombed-out tower, its six eyes trained on him.

Charlie turned his pig around and kicked it into high gear just as the first black skull left the Wither's mouth. It exploded behind him, and Charlie immediately regretted stopping to watch the destruction of the tower. He raced forward on Dr. Pigglesworth's back as countless black skulls rained down right on his heels, destroying the flat expanse of stone brick on which King Kev and Stan had fought many months ago.