Encounters in End City Read online

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  Copyright © 2017 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: 978-1-5107-1822-7

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-1831-9

  Printed in Canada

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: Gearing up for Graduation

  Chapter 2: Pick Me

  Chapter 3: Team Players

  Chapter 4: Nether Meant to Hurt You

  Chapter 5: Fiery Friendship

  Chapter 6: Treasure Hunters

  Chapter 7: Zombies

  Chapter 8: Finals and Finalists

  Chapter 9: Let’s Start at the End

  Chapter 10: The Winged Beast

  Chapter 11: Watch Out for Crystals

  Chapter 12: Are We Alone?

  Chapter 13: Hello, End City

  Chapter 14: Traitors and Treasures

  Chapter 15: Ship of Fools

  Chapter 16: Heading Home

  Chapter 17: The Speech

  Chapter 18: The Graduation

  Chapter 1

  GEARING UP FOR GRADUATION

  Julia walked toward the familiar dorm room that she had called home during the past few years at Minecrafters Academy. Recently, every time Julia entered the dorms, she felt sad. Graduation was a short while away, and Julia was dreading it. She loved being at Minecrafters Academy and would miss it. Although she knew that her real life was in the Cold Biome, she was enjoying being a student and spending time with her roommates, Mia and Emma.

  Julia entered the room and called out, “Mia, are you ready?”

  Mia stood by the closet, filling up a chest with extra supplies from her inventory. “Yes, I’m so excited. I can’t believe the farm is completed.” Mia closed the chest.

  “You worked really hard on the farm.” Julia smiled.

  “It was all Steve,” Mia explained. “He’s such a great teacher. Now that I have these new skills, I’ve contacted a few people who’ve asked me to build farms for them.”

  “But when will you find the time?” Julia asked. “We have our schoolwork.”

  “Julia, you know we only have a short time until this is all over. I start working when school is finished,” Mia said. “I’m excited to get back to the real world and start working on farms.”

  Julia couldn’t understand why Mia was so excited to graduate and start a life as a farmer. If Julia had been given the option of extending her time at school, she’d stay at Minecrafters Academy for a few more years. Unlike Mia, Julia was in was no great rush to go out into the Overworld. Yet Julia was happy for her friend Mia. “Wow, that’s impressive. I can’t believe you already have clients lined up after you leave school.”

  “They’re just small jobs,” Mia replied modestly, “but it’s a start.”

  “I have no idea what I’m going to do after graduation,” Julia confessed. “In fact, I’m not looking forward to it at all. I’ll miss living with you and Emma, and having Cayla down the hall.”

  Emma walked in and, having overheard them, admitted, “I feel the same way. I’m going to miss you guys. It’s been so much fun living with you, and we make a great team.”

  Cayla sprinted into the room with Brad. “Guys,” she said, “we’re going to be really late.”

  “We don’t want to disappoint Steve,” Brad told them. “I think he wants us to stand next to him as he cuts the ribbon.”

  Mia looked out the window. “There’s already a large crowd standing next to the farm. I think we should hurry.”

  The group rushed toward the farm and arrived as the opening ceremony was about to begin. Steve called out to the crowd, “I’d like the volunteers to join me as I cut the ribbon.”

  Mia looked over at Emma. “We made it just in time.”

  The gang weaved through the crowd, making their way toward Steve. Julia looked at the large red mushrooms that grew from the structure she’d constructed with Brad, and was glad that Mia suggested she volunteer at the farm.

  “I’m proud to announce that the school farm is completed. However, this doesn’t mean that we won’t stop working on it. It does mean that we’ve yielded crops from our first harvest and we will feast on these treats tonight on the great lawn. Everyone is invited to join us as we share our abundant crops!”

  The crowd cheered, but hushed when Steve spoke again. “I have another announcement. I’m sad to say that this is my last year at Minecrafters Academy. I’ve enjoyed being a visiting teacher, but I must get back to my wheat farm.”

  Lucy stood next to Steve. “It was great to have you be a part of the Minecrafters Academy community. I hope you come back to join us soon.”

  Hearing those words, Steve smiled and cut the red ribbon, inviting everyone to view the garden.

  Steve asked the volunteers, “Will you stay and help me pick crops from the garden for the feast?”

  The gang agreed. After the crowds cleared, they picked potatoes, carrots, apples, and other crops. Emma stood by the mushrooms. “I’m so glad we can finally have mushrooms. I’ve been craving them ever since we got back from Mushroom Island.”

  “After school ends, you can come visit me at Mushroom Island,” Cayla suggested.

  Julia asked, “Can I come too?”

  “Yes, everyone is invited,” Cayla said. “You’ve been to my house and you know it has more than enough room for all of my friends.”

  Julia was happy that her friends at school wanted to keep in contact with her, but she knew once they got back to their old lives, it would be hard to keep in touch.

  When the table overflowed with fruit and other crops, Steve signaled that they were done. “I think we have enough. This is going to be an epic feast.”

  Steve was right. The feast was epic and rather gluttonous. Steve and the staff cooked chicken, beef, cookies, and cakes. Emma walked over to Julia, whose plate was piled high with food. “This is amazing.”

  Julia swallowed her chicken. “Yes, what a great way to celebrate all of the work we’ve done for the garden.”

  Mia and Steve joined them. Steve smiled. “I still can’t get over this amazing feast.”

  Mia called Lucy over
and asked, “Can we make this an annual tradition?”

  “That’s a great idea,” Lucy replied.

  “Perfect,” Mia said. “It’s nice to know that people will celebrate the farm when we’re no longer students here.”

  Nick and Jamie walked over to them. Nick asked, “We did a good job, right?”

  “The feast is great, but it’s not just our work. A lot of people were involved. Also, they’re going to make this an annual tradition,” Mia said.

  “Wow,” Jamie exclaimed. “That’s so cool.”

  Julia tried to imagine all the new students dining at the feast, but it was too hard. She looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to set, and she knew the feast would be over soon.

  As everyone mingled, Lucy called out, “Before you finish your meal, I have an announcement.”

  The partygoers walked over to Lucy as she spoke. “As you all know, graduation is approaching. I will be choosing a class speaker who will have the honor of giving a speech at this event. This is a position that means a lot to the school so we will do an extensive search for the speaker who best represents the school’s values.”

  A student asked, “How will you conduct the search?”

  Lucy replied, “Good question. There are some competitions that will take place where we will evaluate students.”

  Julia’s stomach started to hurt when she heard Lucy utter the word competitions, and she wished she hadn’t eaten so much chicken. Julia disliked competition. After all the drama with the Minecrafters Academic Olympics, Julia wasn’t in the mood for another contest.

  “What type of competitions?” Julia questioned.

  “I don’t want to go into specifics now, but I will hold an assembly tomorrow morning after breakfast where I will go over everything. That said, in addition to the evaluations, I will also review your overall achievements at Minecrafters Academy and how you work well with others. As you know, working well with others is a huge part of success at this school. If you demonstrate that ability, you will be on the top of my list. I will continue this talk tomorrow,” Lucy said and wished everyone a good night.

  Students didn’t pay attention to the setting sun. They were fixating on the upcoming competition. Lucy’s announcement at the end of the meal kept everyone at the feast longer than they should have stayed. Everyone was busy chatting about which student might be chosen for the role of class speaker and everyone lost track of the time until Nick called out, “Watch out!”

  A skeleton army marched across the campus, toting bows and arrows.

  Chapter 2

  PICK ME

  Two block-headed skeletons stood inches from Julia. Arrows flew toward her and before she could put on her armor or grab a sword, an arrow sliced through her arm. Julia wailed as she reached into her inventory for her sword, barely grasping the weapon. Another arrow pierced her other arm. Julia fumbled with her sword and it dropped to the ground.

  A zombie spawned and lumbered toward the dropped sword. Julia tried to stop the newly spawned beast, knowing that an armed zombie alongside a skeleton attack would be almost impossible to defeat. She made it over to her dropped weapon. With a renewed energy, she slammed her sword against the zombie’s rotten flesh, holding her breath to avoid the odor. With three strikes of her sword, she destroyed the zombie and collected the dropped rotten flesh from the ground. Two arrows flew toward her as she ducked and sprinted toward the skeletons. She plunged her sword into the skeleton’s bony body with great force, cracking its rattling frame. She hit both skeletons and was confident she’d defeat them until she felt the sting of arrows pelt her back. Julia awoke in her room, calling out for her roommates, but the room was silent.

  Julia placed a torch on her wall, raced to the window, and looked out at the campus. It was dark, but she could see three greenish and rather ghoulish creepers sneaking up behind Mia and Emma. She tried to shout for them to turn around, but it was too late. Julia watched as the fiery creatures exploded and destroyed her friends.

  “Julia,” Emma called out as she spawned in her bed.

  “What happened?” asked a confused Mia.

  “You were destroyed by creepers,” Julia informed her.

  Mia sat up. “Should we stay here for the night?”

  Emma asked in a sleepy haze, “Maybe we should go out and help everyone?”

  A loud voice was heard throughout the campus. “Head back to your rooms until morning. I repeat, everyone stay in your rooms.”

  “Was that Lucy?” Mia asked.

  “I think so,” Emma said.

  Julia crawled back in the bed, covering herself with a blue blanket, and wished her friends a good night. Of course, getting to sleep wasn’t easy. Julia was distracted by the battle outside her window. The roommates were also awakened by alerts telling them hostile mobs were close by, which they decided to ignore due to Lucy’s instructions. Even though Lucy had asked the students to head back to the dorms, Julia knew some people were fighting the hostile mobs that crowded on the great lawn. Julia tried to fall asleep. She even counted sheep, but it didn’t work. She was wide-awake.

  “Do you think this was one of Lucy’s tests?” Mia asked.

  Julia was glad she wasn’t the only one having trouble sleeping. “What do you mean?”

  “When Lucy made that important announcement right before dusk, she knew she was putting us in jeopardy. Maybe she wanted to see how we’d handle the battle,” Mia said.

  “That makes sense,” said Emma, who admitted that she couldn’t sleep due to the excitement from the battle.

  Even if they could have slept, it wouldn’t have been for long because, almost instantly, zombies ripped their door from its hinges and down the hall, Cayla screamed for help.

  “Zombies!” Emma jumped up from her bed, quickly putting on her armor. The other girls followed Emma, clutching their swords as they rushed toward the door.

  A vacant-eyed zombie reeking of fetid-smelling, rotting flesh raised its arms and readied itself for an attack against Julia’s roommates. She swung her sword, hitting the zombie, and its flesh oozed out its body. With a second strike she destroyed the zombie, and decided not to pick up the rotten flesh that dropped on the floor. Instead she sprinted toward Cayla’s room as her friends battled the remaining zombies. Cayla’s cries grew louder as Julia raced down the hall to help her.

  The zombies had ripped Cayla’s door off the hinges and were surrounding Cayla. An exhausted Cayla struck out at the group of four zombies with her sword, but she was outnumbered and destroyed, only to spawn and fight the same battle all over again. Julia surprised the zombies and struck one with her sword. Cayla had weakened the zombies, making them easier to battle. One by one, Julia slammed her sword into their backs, obliterating them.

  “Thanks,” Cayla said. “It was so awful. Every time I was destroyed, I’d have to fight the zombies again. I couldn’t do it alone.”

  “Watch out!” Julia cried as two creepers spawned in the open closet behind Cayla. Julia quickly traded in her sword for a bow and arrow and aimed at the creepers, striking each one. They exploded inches from Cayla.

  “Wow, you saved me again,” Cayla thanked Julia.

  “We have to craft a new door quickly.” Julia grabbed wood from her inventory and started to build a new door to replace the one that the zombies had destroyed.

  Cayla helped Julia construct the door. When it was finished she said, “We make a great team.”

  “You certainly do,” a voice called out from the hall.

  Cayla and Julia turned around to find Lucy standing in the hall. Julia was surprised.

  “It’s time to go to bed,” Lucy informed them. “Julia, please head back to your room.”

  As Julia walked back to her dorm room, she wondered if Mia was correct in thinking this night battle might be a part of the competition for class speaker. If this was a test, did she win?

  Chapter 3

  TEAM PLAYERS

  Julia walked through the cafeteria with h
er breakfast, and Cayla asked, “Don’t you think it was odd that Lucy was outside the room last night?”

  “It was strange.” Julia picked up a slice of cake from her plate and took a bite. “But I think she was just checking that we were all safe. It makes sense.”

  “I bet she was watching how we handled our battle with the zombies, and I’m guessing she is considering us for class speaker,” Cayla said.

  “What?” Mia asked. She had heard Cayla as she approached the table. “You guys are being considered for class speaker?”

  “No,” Julia said and then reprimanded Cayla. “Cayla, that’s how rumors start.”

  “Last night, Lucy was outside my door and saw Julia and I working together to destroy zombies,” Cayla explained.

  “That doesn’t mean you’re going to be class speaker,” Emma said.

  Julia swallowed another bite of her cake. “I don’t want us getting caught up in the competition. Remember the Olympics? I’d hate to jeopardize our friendship over who will be chosen to be class speaker.”

  “I know,” Cayla said, “but I really want to be class speaker.”

  “Me too,” Mia added.

  “Same,” Emma said.

  “What about you?” Cayla looked at Julia.

  Julia didn’t want to admit that she dreamt about standing in front of the graduating class, telling them about her incredible experience at the school. She didn’t want them to know that ever since Lucy mentioned the class speaker, she couldn’t think of anything else. Julia was conflicted. She did want it, but she didn’t want to compete with her friends. She stood silently until Cayla asked, “Aren’t you going to reply?”

  “I want to be class speaker. I really do, but I don’t want to compete with you guys. If there was a way we could all do it together, I’d be thrilled,” Julia told them.

  Brad walked over. “You guys are talking about class speaker, aren’t you?”

  “How could you tell?” Julia smiled.

  “Do you want to be the class speaker, Brad?” Mia asked.

  “Nope.” Brad blushed. “I freeze every time I stand in front of a crowd. I’d be the worst class speaker.”