Hidden in the Overworld

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Mojang AB, Notch Development AB or Scholastic Inc., or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in the Minecraft name, trademark, or copyrights.

  Copyright © 2015 by Hollan Publishing, Inc.

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

  Cover photo by Megan Miller

  Print ISBN: 978-1-63450-595-6

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63450-596-3

  Printed in Canada

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: Rebuilding

  Chapter 2: It’s Not the End

  Chapter 3: Searching

  Chapter 4: Survival in the Swamp

  Chapter 5: Back Home

  Chapter 6: On the Road Again

  Chapter 7: Creatures of the Night

  Chapter 8: Clues

  Chapter 9: Frozen Mountain

  Chapter 10: Gathering Facts

  Chapter 11: Hide and Seek

  Chapter 12: Back to the End

  Chapter 13: It Takes a Village

  Chapter 14: Small Wonder

  Chapter 15: Expectations

  Chapter 16: Tricks and Treats

  Chapter 17: Watch Your Back

  Chapter 18: Home Again

  1

  REBUILDING

  “Wow, this tree is hard to chop down,” Noah gasped as he swung his axe into a large tree. He was helping Violet gather supplies to aid in the rebuilding of the town.

  “We need as much wood as we can chop. I want to build the most elaborate tree house in the Overworld,” Violet said while she collected wood from the tree and began crafting.

  The sun was shining brightly as Violet made her way up the tree and put down the wooden planks. Since the town was freed of Daniel and his army of griefers, there was a flurry of rebuilding and rejoicing. The village shops were open for trading and everyone was free to pursue their own activities in the Overworld. Explorers set out exploring, farmers grew crops, and alchemists made potions. The Overworld was back to normal. The only enemies the townspeople had to fight now were hostile mobs that struck at night. There was an air of happiness in the town. Everyone smiled, relieved that they could live as they pleased.

  Violet placed more wooden planks in the tree high above the town. She looked out at the water.

  “Once we’re done building, we should go underneath the water and see if there’s an ocean monument with treasure,” Violet said, and Noah agreed.

  Hannah, Violet’s friend who was an expert alchemist, climbed up the ladder toward Violet.

  “Violet,” Hannah called. “Do you need any help?”

  “Will you grab some wooden planks?” Violet asked. She placed a wide plank, creating a base for the house. “I was also wondering if you’d like to explore the Ocean Biome with me when I’m done building. I bet you have a potion of Water Breathing.”

  “That sounds like fun,” Hannah replied with enthusiasm as she handed another wooden plank to Violet.

  “It’s so nice to live in such a calm world. I was exhausted from living in terror when Daniel and his army were in the town.” Violet smiled, but as she stood on the wooden planks, her smile disappeared. The sky grew dark, and it began to rain. Violet was suspicious. “That’s odd. It’s raining,” Violet said as she climbed down to the ground.

  “Zombies!” Noah shouted.

  A cluster of zombies advanced into the center of the village. Noah dashed toward the village with his enchanted diamond sword.

  “Why is this happening?” Hannah questioned.

  “There’s no time to wonder why—we have to help Noah!” Violet replied, and the two hurried toward their friend.

  Although there was no time to question why the attack was happening, Violet had to admit that she felt there was something more sinister at play than a naturally generated zombie attack. The sudden rain and the zombie attack came the day after the town’s iron golem was destroyed. The town still hadn’t figured out who had demolished the golem. And without any protection from the golem, they were being attacked by the menacing creatures of the night.

  The zombies tore the doors off the village library and the butcher shop. Violet struck a zombie with a sword, but it had already attacked a villager, transforming it into a zombie villager.

  “Help!” Valentino the Butcher called out.

  The trio bolted into the shop, sneaking up behind the zombie and clobbering the vacant-eyed beast with their swords.

  “Oh no!” Valentino cried out, and his eyes widened when five zombies lumbered into his shop.

  Noah, Violet, and Hannah found themselves cornered inside Valentino’s small butcher shop as the zombies outnumbered them. Violet lunged at one zombie, striking it, but it still attacked her. She was weakened. Hannah struggled to defeat two zombies while Noah attacked the remaining zombies. Even as Noah defeated the zombies, a new batch entered the butcher shop.

  “This is neverending,” Violet said in exhaustion. Her health bar was dangerously low.

  Ben and Angela raced through the door and joined the battle. They were full of energy and obliterated the rest of the zombies.

  The rain was still falling while in the distance more zombies spawned and followed the grassy path into the heart of the village. The group tried to stop the invasion, but zombies attacked the villagers, and, one by one, shopkeepers, librarians, and a preacher were transformed into zombie villagers, making the battle even more challenging. Hannah splashed potions on the zombie villagers in an attempt to save them and turn them back into peaceful villagers.

  An army of zombies marched through the town.

  A townsperson wearing diamond armor and toting a powerful enchanted sword shouted at Violet, “If you didn’t run Daniel out of this town, he’d protect us from this invasion. We never had attacks from hostile mobs when Daniel was in charge.”

  Violet was shocked by this comment. She knew she had saved the town from Daniel, and didn’t realize any inhabitants actually liked having Daniel around. Were there townspeople who actually sided with the evil Daniel?

  As Violet battled more zombies, the sun came out. The bright solar rays destroyed the zombies.

  “We’re safe!” Noah exclaimed.

  “Not really,” Ben said in a shaky voice. “Look!”

  An Ender Dragon swept through the sky.

  “See!” The diamond-armored townsperson called out. “This is awful. You ruined our town.”

  “Ruined the town? I saved our village from a tyrannical leader,” Violet asserted defensively.

  “Take this,” Hannah said as she handed a potion of Strength to Violet. Then Hannah stood in front of the townsperson and shouted, “Violet saved this town. I’d rather battle mobs and get to live the life I want than live under the laws of a cruel l
eader.”

  “But the Ender Dragon is flying over our town. Our lives are ruined and our town will be destroyed,” the harassing townsperson called out.

  “I’ll bet your friend Daniel is behind this attack,” Violet replied and swiftly shot an arrow at the beast that flew through the sunny sky.

  “He’s not my friend. I just liked being protected,” said the townsperson, who also took out his bow and arrow and shot at the Ender Dragon.

  “This isn’t going to be an easy battle, but we’ll win it together. And Daniel wasn’t protecting you, he was controlling you,” Violet stated while she shot more arrows, striking the powerful black dragon with purple eyes.

  The Ender Dragon’s purple health bar remained strong. The gang shot arrows, but its health didn’t diminish.

  “Once we defeat this dragon, we have to find out who summoned it,” Noah exclaimed as he shot an arrow.

  “I think you mean, if we defeat the Ender Dragon. This dragon seems to have a super-powerful energy supply,” cautioned Violet. She wasn’t sure they’d win this battle, until she saw a slew of townspeople emerge from their homes, dressed in armor. In unison, they unleashed a deluge of arrows at the scaly dragon.

  The dragon swooped down striking the group. The townspeople huddled together to avoid the attack, but it didn’t save them.

  “This is all your fault!” the townsperson wearing diamond armor called out.

  Violet struck the beast with an arrow. Ben threw snowballs. A fisherman ran toward the dragon, hitting it with a fishing rod. Yet the dragon still had enough energy to lunge at the group. It was an endless battle.

  “We can do it!” Violet said breathlessly, but even as these words fell from her mouth, she wasn’t sure she believed them.

  2

  IT’S NOT THE END

  The dragon’s piercing purple eyes glared at Violet as the beast rushed at her.

  “Help!” Violet called out, fumbling with her arrow.

  Noah stepped in front of the dragon, and with perfect aim, he struck the creature. The fierce beast lit up as it exploded across the bright sky. A lone dragon egg dropped on the ground. Hannah pointed at the portal to the End, which had surfaced in their village.

  “Look!” Hannah walked toward the portal and said, “Let’s go.”

  Violet stared at the portal, stuttering, “I d-d-don’t want to go to the End.”

  “We can get a lot of good resources,” remarked Hannah, “and there’s another dragon we must slay.”

  Hannah stood on the portal.

  “We can’t let her go alone!” Ben called out as he hurried to join Hannah. Noah and Violet followed. Within seconds, they emerged into the dark world of the End. The group crowded together on a small obsidian platform.

  A roar was heard in the distance. Two Endermen approached the gang.

  “Don’t look at them!” Violet told the others.

  A shriek rent the air. One of the Endermen teleported next to Hannah, and she threw a potion of Weakening on the Enderman, while Noah struck it with his diamond sword.

  Roar!

  They could hear the Ender Dragon’s wings flapping as the beast flew high above in the dark sky, past an obsidian pillar, only stopping to ingest Ender crystals.

  Noah shot an arrow at the Ender crystals.

  Kaboom!

  The crystals exploded, but the dragon wasn’t harmed. It lunged at the group, letting out another roar.

  “I have snowballs,” said Ben as he threw one at the creature, but the Ender crystals had given the dragon incredible strength and power.

  The dragon struck Ben with its wing. Ben flew through the air and into the darkness.

  “Ben!” screamed Hannah.

  “He’s gone,” Noah said in shock, “but we have to beat this dragon!”

  Hannah shot another arrow, piercing the dragon’s dark flesh. The dragon flew toward Hannah, but Noah shielded her with his diamond sword.

  “I hit Ender crystals!” Violet shouted gleefully as the crystals exploded. The dragon’s energy was diminishing. “We have to destroy the rest of the crystals; it’s our only chance.”

  Noah struck the dragon again. It wailed in pain and struggled to reach the Ender crystals. Violet aimed at the remaining Ender crystals. The dragon was only inches from the crystals when Violet shot her arrow and the crystals exploded. Hannah shot an arrow at the weakened dragon.

  “Bull’s-eye!” exclaimed Noah when he struck the last batch of Ender crystals. Hannah and Violet flooded the dragon with a sea of arrows, depleting its health bar.

  “I think we got this one!” But Noah was too confident.

  “Look!” Hannah shouted. “Over there!”

  A group of Endermen walked toward them.

  “We can’t battle both!” Hannah was worried.

  “We have to try,” Noah exclaimed as he shot two more arrows at the dragon, which flew toward him.

  Violet lunged at the dragon with a diamond sword, but the flying beast tossed Violet from the obsidian ground, and she was lost into the oblivion.

  Noah used all of his might to strike the dragon, while Hannah struggled to fight the Endermen. One Enderman shrieked and hit Hannah. She pounded the Enderman with her sword, but its energy level was high, and hers was low.

  Two more Endermen shrieked and teleported next to Hannah. She was surrounded. Hannah fumbled for her potions, but an Enderman attacked her, and Hannah was destroyed.

  Noah was alone in the End. He shot an arrow at the dragon as the Endermen crept toward him. He feared it was a losing battle, but shot one last arrow at the dragon. He was shocked when the dragon began to explode and dropped an egg. He raced toward the portal back to the Overworld.

  Noah hopped on the portal. Within seconds he found himself alone in a sandy biome.

  “Hello!” A voice called out from the distance.

  3

  SEARCHING

  The sun was setting in the desert biome. Noah looked for the person who called to him. “Who’s there?” he asked.

  “Can’t you see me?” The mysterious voice carried through the dim evening sky.

  “No, where are you?” Noah asked, as he quickly scanned the area searching for shelter.

  “I’m on the steps of a desert temple. Come here. It’s safe.”

  Noah didn’t trust this unseen person. It could be one of Daniel’s griefers. He was sure they were hiding somewhere in the Overworld. Noah eyed the area for a desert temple. When he spotted the temple he cautiously walked toward it and saw a man with green hair, suited up in diamond armor, standing in front of the majestic sandstone temple.

  “Come quickly,” the stranger called out.

  As the night sky set in, Noah sprinted to the desert temple. “Who are you?”

  This stranger with the green hair led Noah past the center of the temple. Noah kept a close look at the ground as he followed him farther into the temple. He searched for the blue clay block to signify there was treasure in the temple. He was running low on resources and hoped he’d find a chest filled with gold ingots or another treasure.

  “If you’re looking for treasure, the temple was emptied,” said the stranger as they walked down the hall to a small room with a bed. “You can stay here for the night. I’ve fortified the temple with lots of torches, so you’ll be safe.”

  “Why are you being so nice to me?” asked Noah.

  “If I see someone who is in need, I like to help them.”

  “Who are you?” Noah repeated his question, but he didn’t get a response.

  “It’s late. You need to sleep,” the green-haired person replied and left.

  Noah was sleepy as he pulled the wool covers over his body. When he awoke, he searched the temple for the green-haired stranger, but he was nowhere to be found. Noah walked out of the temple onto the sandy ground.

  “Hi,” the green-haired man appeared and offered Noah an apple.

  Noah took a bite and asked, “Are you going to tell me who you are?”

/>   “My name is Harrison,” he said as he too chomped on an apple. “I’m an explorer.”

  “Are you the one who emptied the treasure?”

  “No, it was gone when I got here.”

  “How long have you been here?” asked Noah.

  “I’m not sure, it’s been a long time though. I can’t go back to my village; it was taken over by a man named Daniel and his rainbow griefer army.”

  “Harrison, where are you from?” Noah questioned. He couldn’t believe the rainbow griefers had already taken over another village.

  Harrison looked off into the distance when he replied, “I lived in a village located by the Ocean Biome.”

  Noah had a sudden thought about Harrison’s town. “I think you might be from my town.”

  “Your town? You don’t look familiar.” Harrison was suspicious.

  “My town was also taken over by rainbow griefers, but we fought them off,” Noah said proudly of their victory.

  “Really? I wish that had happened to my town. I’d love to go home,” Harrison said wistfully.

  Noah took another bite of his apple and began to think. “Was there a butcher named Valentino in your town?” he asked.

  “Yes, there was!” exclaimed Harrison.

  “We’re from the same town.” Noah was excited and spoke quickly, “I can take you back with me. You can be reunited with your friends.”

  “Really? The griefers are gone?” Harrison was overjoyed.

  “They were gone when I left, but somebody summoned the Ender Dragon and our town had to come together to battle the evil beast.” Noah wondered if Daniel and his awful army had returned when he was fighting in the End.

  The two made their way past the Desert Biome and through a grassy area. A cow was grazing peacefully.

  “Should we hunt it?” asked Harrison.

  “No, we have enough food in our inventory. But we might want to keep moving; we have to trek through the snowy mountainous Taiga Biome, and I want to do that before dark.” Noah was worried that they’d reach the top of the mountain in the dark, and they’d be vulnerable to other attacks.

  Yet when they reached the snowy biome Noah took time to stop and pick up snow. “You should take some snow and craft snowballs; they are very handy to have.”