Trapped In the Temple Read online

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  Copyright © 2018 by Hollan Publishing, Inc.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

  Cover design by Brian Peterson

  Cover photo by Megan Miller

  Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-3191-2

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-3197-4

  Printed in the United States of America

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: Flash Sale

  Chapter 2: An Easy Case

  Chapter 3: Empty

  Chapter 4: Battles in the Night

  Chapter 5: Desert Finds

  Chapter 6: Back in the Valley

  Chapter 7: Robbed

  Chapter 8: Nether Start

  Chapter 9: The Chest

  Chapter 10: Swamp Tales

  Chapter 11: Dungeon

  Chapter 12: Hacker Army

  Chapter 13: Fool or Friend

  Chapter 14: In the Chest

  Chapter 15: Ghost Town

  Chapter 16: Underwater Search

  Chapter 17: Messages

  Chapter 18: Rewards

  1

  FLASH SALE

  Billy’s arms hurt as he carried two heavy cases filled with potions. “I’ve worked at the stand for a very long time, and I’ve helped you bring many things to town, but I’ve never felt anything this heavy before. My arms are sore. What do you have in these cases? Why are they so heavy?”

  Edison, who was also lugging two large cases to town, explained, “After helping you on the great treasure hunt, I found that I had so many extra ingredients and was able to brew a ton of potions. Since I lack the room to store all of them, I had an idea that I’d have a big sale today, which would help me make some room for the new potions I’d like to brew.”

  Billy put the cases on the blocky ground, taking an unannounced break. “I hope the sale is a success, because then we get to carry an empty case or two on the way back.”

  Edison smiled. “Me too. I’m sorry the cases are hard to carry.”

  Billy picked them back up. “It’s okay. I just wish you had warned me.”

  “Again, I’m sorry. I should have, but we’re almost there,” Edison said. He stopped when he saw the line of customers.

  “Wow, I’ve never seen so many people in line before. Word must have spread about your sale.” Billy picked up the pace and made his way to the stand. He placed the potions down while a horde of people crowded around him.

  “What are you selling?” a woman dressed in red shirt and pants asked Billy. “Tell me what’s on sale.”

  Edison controlled the crowd while Billy set up the stand. “Please give us some space. We will have all of the potions ready to sell in a few minutes. Everything is on sale.”

  A man in a denim jacket tried to cut to the front of the line, but the woman dressed in red called out, “What are you doing? You can’t cut to the front of the line. That’s not fair.”

  “I need a potion of Water Breathing, and I want to make sure I get it before it runs out,” he announced.

  “We all want different potions, but we have to wait our turn. We arrived very early so we could get all of the potions we needed,” another customer screamed from the center of the line.

  The man in the denim jacket pleaded, “But you don’t understand, this is urgent. I need it more than anyone else.”

  “Then you should have gotten here earlier,” someone screamed, and the others agreed.

  No matter how much he pleaded his case for getting a better spot on line, nobody seemed to care. The person knew it was pointless to continue and made his way to the back of the line. When he reached the end of the line, Edison announced the stand was officially open and the sale had begun.

  As the words “it’s open for business” fell from Edison’s lips, the first person in line began to list the potions, and Billy pulled them from the cases. The list seemed endless, and Edison realized he should have made a cap on how many bottles each person could purchase from the stand. He wasn’t sure if he could create this new rule on the spot. He watched as a group of people walked to the back of the line, and then he looked down at his case of potion. If he didn’t cap the amount of potions each person could buy, he wouldn’t even be able to serve the people who had been waiting on line for hours.

  “A potion of Water Breathing,” the customer said, and he didn’t seem to take a breath while continuing to list other potions.

  “I’m sorry,” said Edison. “There’s a limit. Only three bottles of potion per customer.”

  “What?” the infuriated customer hollered. “I’ve waited here since daybreak. I left my home when the hostile mobs were still forming. I had to defeat a spider jockey. After that, two Endermen teleported in front of me, and I had to sprint into a nearby ocean. This wasn’t an easy journey, and I’m not sure I would have taken it if I knew I was only getting a discount on three bottles of potion. It’s just not fair.”

  Edison understood the man’s point and apologized. “I should have mentioned this earlier. However, this is the rule. Please tell me the three bottles you’d like to purchase.”

  The man listed the three bottles, and the new system seemed to work smoothly until the person in the denim jacket reached Edison and Billy.

  “I want everything you have left,” said the man in the denim jacket.

  Edison looked down at the case. There were only seven potions left, but he wasn’t going to give them all to this person.

  “We have a rule in place, and we can’t make exceptions,” explained Billy.

  The person said, “I’ll take three bottles of the potion of Water Breathing.”

  “Okay.” Edison handed him the potions, and the person gave him an emerald.

  Before the stranger walked away, he screamed, “Here’s a warning to all of you waiting in line. Everyone should get a potion of Water Breathing. We’re all going to need it.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Billy.

  “There is trouble brewing in the Overworld. You’ll see. Things are going to start happening soon.”

  “What sort of things are going to be happening?” questioned Edison.

  “I can’t tell you, but you’ll see for yourself,” he replied while clutching three bottles of po
tion of Water Breathing and scurrying out of Farmer’s Bay.

  “What was that about?” asked Billy.

  “I have no idea,” said Edison. He sold his remaining four bottles of potion.

  2

  AN EASY CASE

  Edison couldn’t stop thinking about the incident that occurred during the flash sale. It had been a few weeks since the stranger in the denim jacket arrived in town, warning everyone they should stock up on potion of Water Breathing, and nothing had happened. Although Billy said the person was just trying to get attention, every time Edison brewed potions, he’d make a few extra bottles of the potion of Water Breathing. He was in the middle of brewing a new batch when he noticed he had run out of pufferfish and Nether wart, and he began to worry. He counted the bottles of potion. He had twelve bottles of the potion of Water Breathing, and he knew he had to find ingredients to make more. Since that mad outburst from the man in the denim jacket, this potion had become his top seller.

  “Edison.” Billy opened his front door.

  “Come in.” Edison invited him in as he stood by his brewing stand at work. “I have to go to the Nether and then fishing for pufferfish. I ran out of ingredients for the potion of Water Breathing because people keep requesting it now.” But Edison stopped talking when he saw a woman wearing a sparkly purple dress and a tiara standing behind Billy.

  “Hi.” She smiled. “My name is Princess Hannah. I’ve come a very far distance to see you.”

  “Me?” asked Edison as he left his brewing stand and walked toward them. “Why?”

  “I heard that you and Billy are the best detectives in the Overworld,” she explained.

  “That’s flattering. We also work with our friend Anna. We’re a team, but we’re not officially detectives. We just solve cases that affect the citizens of Farmer’s Bay and Verdant Valley,” explained Edison.

  “Didn’t you help save the brewing competition and the great treasure hunt?” asked Princess Hannah.

  “Well, yes.” Edison wanted to explain that he never intended to become a detective and that those cases had found him, but he decided that he should listen to Princess Hannah and find out why she was in Farmer’s Bay seeking out his help. “Can you tell me what you want me to help you with?”

  “I lost Scooter.” Her eyes filled with tears.

  Puddles meowed, and Edison pulled some fish out of his inventory and fed the hungry ocelot as he asked, “Who is Scooter?”

  “My ocelot.” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at Puddles.

  Edison thought about how much he loved Puddles and how upset he’d be if Puddles went missing.

  “That’s awful,” he said. “I will help you find Scooter.”

  “I’ll help too,” said Billy.

  “I’m so happy,” Princess Hannah exclaimed. “When can we leave?”

  Edison looked out the window; it was almost nighttime. “Where do you live?”

  “I live with my family in the desert. In a desert temple,” Princess Hannah replied.

  “I think we should leave first thing in the morning,” said Edison. “I have some work I have to finish here, but feel free to stay here. I have room for you.”

  Billy said, “We should also ask Anna to join us. She is very good at helping us solve cases.”

  “Good idea,” Edison agreed. “Maybe we should TP to Anna’s house and see if she wants to go.”

  The trio TPed, and they arrived in front of Anna’s door as the sky grew dark. She invited them in, and they explained that they were going to help Princess Hannah find her ocelot, but before Edison was able to explain the situation, an arrow flew through the sky and landed in Edison’s back.

  “Ouch!” He screamed out in pain as the arrow pierced his unarmored body.

  Princess Hannah turned around to see a horde of skeletons with their bows and arrows aimed at the group. Four foul-smelling zombies lumbered down the dark pathway beside the bony beasts.

  “We’re being attacked,” Edison said as he tried to hold his breath so he wouldn’t breathe in the fetid odor emanating from the undead beasts that walked toward them.

  Edison pulled out his sword, lunging at one of the zombies, ripping into its oozing flesh. Princess Hannah quickly placed her shiny diamond armor over her purple dress, grabbed an enchanted diamond sword from her inventory, and attacked the zombies.

  Billy and Anna focused on annihilating the skeletons, slamming their diamond swords into the bony beasts. The sounds of clanging bones were deafening. Billy tried to avoid getting struck by the skeleton’s arrows as they skillfully attempted to destroy the two skeletons. The skeletons were strong, and no matter how many times they swung their enchanted diamond swords at the bony beasts, the weapons didn’t seem to weaken them.

  “Use potion,” Edison called out as he watched their battle unfold from the corner of his eye while fighting the foul-smelling zombies himself.

  Billy pulled out a potion and splashed the skeletons, finally weakening the beasts enough to destroy them. Once the skeletons were gone, Billy and Anna picked up the bones that dropped on the ground.

  With great force, Edison ripped into another zombie. He almost threw up when he got a whiff of the decaying flesh, but he held his breath and leaped at the weakened zombie. Princess Hannah stood by his side as she slayed the remaining zombie. Once they obliterated the undead pests and picked up the rotten flesh they had dropped, Anna called out, “Let’s get into my house quickly. We have to make sure we aren’t attacked by any other hostile mobs.”

  The gang rushed into Anna’s house. As they crowded into her small living room, she asked, “What are you guys doing here?”

  Princess Hannah told Anna the story of the missing ocelot. Anna remarked, “That’s awful. Why don’t we travel to the desert tomorrow and help you look? This sounds like an easy case.”

  Anna had just enough room for all four of them, and she showed them to their beds. As Edison climbed into the bed, he thought about Anna calling the case easy. He hadn’t been solving crimes for that long, but he had never come across an easy case. However, he had to admit that a missing ocelot seemed to be a solvable problem.

  As Edison drifted off to bed, he wondered if they should trust Princess Hannah. Perhaps she was tricking them. Maybe there wasn’t a simple case of a missing ocelot, and she was leading them into a trap. He questioned why she would want to trick them and wondered why he was suspicious of this new person who had come to them for help. As he closed his eyes, he heard Princess Hannah unleash a bloodcurdling scream.

  “Stop! Help! Please don’t destroy the Overworld. I’ll go under the water.” Princess Hannah wailed as she sat up in bed.

  Anna rushed to her side, asking, “Are you okay?”

  Princess Hannah rubbed her eyes. “I must have been having a bad dream.”

  Edison stayed up all night; he couldn’t fall asleep, even when the princess went back to bed. Every time he closed his eyes, he remembered the words Princess Hannah screamed in her sleep: “I’ll go under water.” He knew this wasn’t a simple case of a missing ocelot.

  3

  EMPTY

  The sun peeked through the window, and Edison sat up in the bed as he heard Princess Hannah talking with Anna.

  “You had a very bad dream last night,” Anna explained, but Princess Hannah didn’t remember it at all. Edison wanted to confront Princess Hannah about her dream. What did she mean when she said she’d go underwater? But now there didn’t seem to be a point, because Princess Hannah didn’t seem to remember screaming anything aloud in the middle of the night.

  “Edison,” Billy called to his friend, “would you like a piece of cake?”

  Billy was making breakfast for everyone. Princess Hannah paced around the small kitchen, her mouth full of cake as she wiped tears from her eyes.

  “Don’t worry,” Edison reassured her. “We will find Scooter.”

  She swallowed her cake and said, “Thank you, can we leave soon? I just want to get back to th
e desert.”

  “Yes.” Edison smiled. “We can go now.”

  “Great, I’ll lead the way,” said Princess Hannah.

  “We should make sure we have stocked inventories before we set out for the desert,” suggested Billy.

  While searching through his inventory, Edison remembered that he was out of Nether wart and pufferfish, and although he hated traveling to the Nether, he knew he must go there after they solved this case. He also had to find time to go fishing, but first he had to help Princess Hannah find her pet ocelot.

  The trip to the desert was longer than they expected, and it wasn’t until they reached the swamp that Billy suggested they TP to the desert.

  “That’s a great idea,” said Princess Hannah. “I have no idea why we didn’t think of it before.” Princess Hannah tried to TP to her brother Prince Elias, but it didn’t work. “That’s strange,” she remarked. “I guess I will try to TP to my parents. Maybe he is traveling and not in the desert.” Princess Hannah tried to TP to her parents, but that didn’t work either.

  Princess Hannah was worried. “I hope everyone is okay.”

  Anna said, “I’m sure they’re fine. Let’s just travel there. It isn’t too much farther, right?”

  The princess took out her map and pointed to the desert. “It’s not that far.” Edison looked at the map and saw they had to travel through a forest to get to the desert. The sun was starting to set, and a full moon was visible in the sky. Two bats flew close to Edison’s neck.

  “Watch out,” Billy warned as three more bats flew toward Edison.

  “I think we should build a house,” said Princess Hannah, and she apologized. “I didn’t realize this journey would take as long as it did. When I traveled to Farmer’s Bay, I ran the entire way, and it took much less time.”

  “It’s okay, there’s no rush.” Billy smiled and took out some wood planks from his inventory and began crafting a house on the shore of the swampy water.

  Edison wasn’t as relaxed as Billy. He felt there was a reason to rush. He had to gather a bunch of ingredients for his potions, and he also had to work at his potion stand. He never asked to be a detective, and this new side career was taking time away from his other responsibilities. But he didn’t say anything as he helped construct the house.