Madness in the Mine Read online

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  Copyright © 2019 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 art by Megan Miller

  Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-4118-8

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-5107-4131-7

  Printed in the United States of America

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: Old Habits

  Chapter 2: Ships

  Chapter 3: Treasure

  Chapter 4: Mined

  Chapter 5: Journey to the Past

  Chapter 6: Surprises in the Stronghold

  Chapter 7: The Prisoners

  Chapter 8: Time Travelers

  Chapter 9: Night Building

  Chapter 10: Nether Repeat This

  Chapter 11: Fiery Escapes

  Chapter 12: Battle under the Sea

  Chapter 13: This Is Hardcore

  Chapter 14: Where Are You?

  Chapter 15: Revenge

  Chapter 16: Watery Reunion

  Chapter 17: Potential Portals

  Chapter 18: The Grass Is Always Greener

  1

  OLD HABITS

  Brett couldn’t believe he landed his dream project. He had often walked past the patch of land next to his friend Helen’s house and wished he could transform the grassy area into a massive farm. He had even imagined how it would look and what could be grown there. He was elated when Helen reached out and told him that she wanted to create a farm on the patch of land next to her house.

  “Really, Helen?” asked Brett.

  “Yes.” Helen pushed her long red hair from her face. “I know the town has a farm, but I think I should have my own. Especially since I have this large space next to my house. Although I love the town farm, when I’m there, I have to pay attention to how many apples and potatoes I take so there is enough food for everyone. If I have my own farm, I can pick apples whenever I want them.”

  Brett agreed. “Helen, this is a smart idea.”

  “Obviously you can help yourself to the crops once the farm is finished. I don’t mind sharing,” Helen said.

  “Thanks.” Brett rattled off a list of ideas for the farm, mentioning an irrigation system, seeds, and carrots as Helen nodded her head.

  “It seems like you have a lot of ideas,” she remarked. “Maybe you’d like to invite Joe to Meadow Mews. He can help you build the farm.”

  “That sounds like a wonderful idea.” Brett was eager to tell Joe. It had been a while since he worked with Joe, and he missed having his friend beside him while he strategized how to develop the farm and planted seeds.

  “Great. When can you get started?” asked Helen.

  Before Brett could reply, Poppy sprinted over to them. “Brett! Helen!” she called out. “I have some incredible news!”

  “What is it?” Helen asked.

  “The town has asked me to build a skyscraper,” she blurted out. Her voice was excited and high-pitched.

  “Wow!” Brett and Helen said in unison.

  Helen added, “This would be a great addition to Meadow Mews. How tall will it be? And will you create a place atop the skyscraper where we could take in the view of the town and the sea below?”

  “I hadn’t thought of that, but that sounds like a great idea!” said Poppy.

  Brett suggested, “A lot of new buildings have rooftop farms. Perhaps I can build one in this skyscraper and we can use it to feed the workers in the building.”

  “You guys have the best ideas,” exclaimed Poppy.

  Helen said, “Speaking of farms, Brett is creating a farm next to my house.”

  “Wonderful.” Poppy looked at the land next to Helen’s house. “I’ve always thought it was the perfect place to build a farm.”

  “I’m going to ask Joe to help me build it. Would you be interested in traveling to Farmer’s Bay to see him?” asked Brett.

  “I’d love to,” Poppy replied. “I don’t have to start building the skyscraper until next week, and I have a bunch of free time, which is rare for me.”

  Brett chuckled. Poppy wasn’t the type of person who had free time. She was always in the middle of a project. He was happy that she was able to join him on this trip. They had both been so busy with work, they couldn’t see each other as much as they used to. In fact, it had been months since they had pulled one of their famous pranks. Brett hoped they could come up with great ideas for pranks while they walked toward Farmer’s Bay.

  “Helen,” asked Brett, “when do you want me to begin work on the farm?”

  “As soon as you can,” she replied.

  Poppy suggested they leave straight away for Farmer’s Bay, and Brett agreed. They stopped at the community farm on the way and picked some fruit for their inventory. Brett and Poppy were mindful that they didn’t take too much fruit.

  “Helen told me that I could use her farm,” said Brett.

  “I hope she lets me use it too,” said Poppy.

  They ate apples they had just picked as they walked along the grassy landscape and made their way along the coast. They could see a large boat off in the distance.

  “Look at that boat.” Poppy pointed out the large wooden ship. “It looks like a pirate ship. I wonder where it will dock.”

  “It looks like it’s heading toward Farmer’s Bay,” said Brett as he took a final bite from his apple.

  “Let’s not talk about the boat,” said Poppy with a sinister look on her face. “We have to think about planning a new prank. I feel like we haven’t pulled one off for ages. Remember the pranking contest? We should do something like that again.”

  Brett remembered the pranking contest and how it didn’t work out the way they planned. “Yes,” he said. “We need to do something a little less staged. Let’s pull a prank on Joe.”

  “Good idea!” Poppy smirked. “Maybe we can pretend we’re ghosts and make noise, but hide. He will hear noises, but nobody will be there.”

  “That’s a plan,” Brett laughed.

  “Let’s take a potion of Invisibility,” Poppy said.

  “Yes, that’s perfect.”

  The sun was beginning to set when they reached Farmer’s Bay. They sprinted toward Joe’s bungalow near the dock. Poppy had recently built the bungalow for Joe. He loved it because she had placed a large picture window that looked out to the bay, and he loved waking up every morning and seeing what was going on at the pier.

  Joe was brewing potions when they a
rrived at his bungalow. They swallowed the potion of Invisibility and then knocked on the window. When Joe looked out to see who was there, they bolted away. Then they knocked on his door. Joe walked outside his door to see if anybody was there, but there was nobody at his door. Joe shrugged and went back to crafting potions. Then he heard yet another knock on his window. He sighed as he looked out at the setting sun. He didn’t see anybody at the window, but he did notice a large ship docking in Farmer’s Bay.

  “Wow,” he said to himself, “that’s some ship. I hope it’s not filled with pirates.”

  He stared at the boat, and he heard another knock at his door. He hoped it wasn’t someone from the ship. The ship had a skull and crossbones flag, and this upset Joe. He didn’t think anybody traveling on the ship would be nice. It looked like the type of vessel that transported people who liked to loot and take over the town.

  Joe opened the door, but again there was nobody there. He called out, “Hi, Brett! Hi, Poppy! What a surprise. I wasn’t expecting you to visit.”

  “What?” Poppy replied, but she was confused.

  “How did you know it was us?” Brett called out.

  “Just a good guess,” Joe said as Brett and Poppy’s potion wore off and they appeared at his front door. “You better get in here soon because it’s getting dark, and you wouldn’t want to be attacked by a hostile mob. We had a skeleton attack last night that was intense. I am hoping that doesn’t happen again tonight.”

  “A skeleton attack?” questioned Poppy.

  “Yes, there were tons of skeletons in the town and everybody had to go out and fight them. It was exhausting.”

  “We had something like that a few weeks ago,” said Brett.

  Poppy added, “It only lasted one night.”

  “Well, hopefully this skeleton attack was only one night too,” Brett said, then offered them some food. “I have a bunch of cake. Would you like a slice?”

  “Yes,” they both replied.

  “I assume you are going to stay here tonight. It’s too late to travel back to Meadow Mews,” Joe said as he cut them a slice of cake.

  “Yes,” Brett said. “I actually came here because I wanted to ask you to help me build a farm next to Helen’s house.”

  “She finally wants to build the farm you’ve always dreamed about?” Joe asked.

  “Yes.” Brett smiled.

  “That’s great news. I’d love to build it with you.”

  Poppy added, “When you’re done with the farm, I was hoping you could help me build a rooftop farm on top of a skyscraper I am building in Meadow Mews.”

  “Yes.” Joe’s eyes widened. “That sounds like a fascinating project. This is so exciting. I’m thrilled you guys came by.”

  As they ate cake, someone opened the door to Joe’s bungalow. They quickly put on their armor and grabbed their diamond swords. They were ready to battle skeletons, but as they raced toward the door, they weren’t met by any bony beasts. Instead a group of five people wearing masks stood at Joe’s door.

  Joe aimed his diamond sword at them and asked, “What do you want?”

  They didn’t reply.

  2

  SHIPS

  The masked people leaped with diamond swords at the gang while also splashing potions on them. “Who are you?” hollered Poppy as she jumped back to avoid being splashed by the potion. The gang didn’t respond. They just struck the group.

  Joe struck one of the masked people with his diamond sword, destroying him. This infuriated the gang, who fought even harder. They splashed a potion of Harming on Poppy, Joe, and Brett, leaving each of them with one heart.

  “What do you want from us?” Brett questioned. He was weak, and his voice was low.

  “Everything from your house,” demanded one of the attackers.

  Brett noticed the attacker had an explorer map in his hand. He had only heard about these new maps and how they helped adventurers find buried treasure. “Are you looking for buried treasure? If so, you should focus on mining on the beach and not bothering us. Whatever we have won’t be as valuable as buried treasure.”

  “That’s none of your business,” the person replied and placed the explorer map in his inventory.

  “I don’t have much,” said Joe. “I was in the middle of brewing potions because I don’t have any in my inventory. I also traded all of my emeralds and other valuables to get the supplies for my friend Poppy to build this bungalow. She just built it a few weeks ago.”

  “We don’t care to hear about your house. We want whatever you have. First give us all of your diamond swords and whatever weapons you have,” they demanded.

  “Why are you wearing masks?” asked Poppy. “Are you too scared to show your real faces?”

  “I should destroy you for that comment, but then I couldn’t get all of your loot. Now, stop asking questions and give me everything you have.” They held a sword to Poppy’s head.

  “I’d rather you destroy me than take my stuff. You guys are a bunch of bullies.” Poppy wouldn’t budge and didn’t remove anything from her inventory.

  “I might have used command blocks to put you on hardcore mode. Aren’t you nervous?” The criminal chuckled as they pressed the sword into Poppy’s brown braids.

  “I will take my chances.” She smiled.

  Brett was in awe of Poppy’s fearlessness. He wished he could be that brave. He wondered if the attackers actually did put the town on hardcore mode, meaning they could be destroyed forever. He began to shake. “Poppy,” Brett said, “just hand over all of your stuff.”

  Poppy was about to hand over her sword when one of the invaders cried out in pain. “My shoulder!”

  “Oh no!” one of the criminals yelled. “Skeletons!”

  Joe was never so relieved to see the town invaded by skeletons. He used the opportunity to grab a bottle of milk from his inventory and gulp some down. Then he handed it to his friends.

  Poppy and Brett drank the milk and regained their energy. They had to battle both the skeletons and the criminals. Using their swords, they slammed into a masked invader who stood in Joe’s doorway until he was destroyed.

  “Now it’s a fair battle,” said Brett. “There are three of them and three of us.”

  “There’s nothing fair about this. These people are attacking us and trying to steal all of our possessions,” said Poppy.

  “We also have to find out if they put us on hardcore mode.” Joe took a deep breath as he spoke and then leaped at one of the criminals battling a skeleton.

  A skeleton’s arrow struck Joe’s shoulder and he wailed. He took another sip of milk and lunged at the skeleton, obliterating the bony beast. As he reached toward the ground to pick up a bone, he spotted Brett destroying two criminals and Poppy striking the final one. He felt relieved until he looked up. “What is that?” he shouted.

  A winged beast flew above them. It wasn’t the Ender Dragon or a Wither, and he wasn’t certain what this beast was and how they should destroy it. The bluish gray beast swooped down toward Joe, and he swung his diamond sword at its side, but the blow only weakened the winged beast and didn’t destroy it. The beast eyed Joe again as it swooped toward him for a second time. Joe pierced the wing, injuring the flying mob and then destroying it. A weird substance dropped to the ground.

  “That’s phantom membranes,” Ray, an alchemist from Farmer’s Bay, called out to Joe. “Pick it up. It’s rare and very valuable.”

  Ray destroyed a skeleton and raced toward Joe. “You can make a potion of Slow Falling with phantom membranes. If you take that potion, you will be able to fall and not get hurt. It’s such an incredible potion. I sell out of it very quickly. In fact, I’d trade you a ton of potions for the phantom membranes,” said Ray.

  Joe wasn’t in the mood to trade. It was the middle of the night, and his friends, as well as the rest of the residents of Farmer’s Bay, were dealing with a second night of skeleton invasions. He was tired and yawned.

  “You haven’t been sleeping,
right?” asked Ray.

  Joe couldn’t believe Ray was having such a casual conversation in the midst of an epic battle. Didn’t he understand skeletons surrounded them and more were spawning by the minute? A skeleton arrow hit Joe’s arm, and Ray turned around and struck the skeleton with his diamond sword. As Ray destroyed the skeleton, the sun came up, and all of the skeletons disappeared.

  “What was that beast that attacked you?” asked Poppy.

  “Who were those masked people who tried to rob us?” asked Brett.

  These questions swam around Joe’s head, and he felt like he was about to collapse.

  “Joe isn’t sleeping,” explained Ray. “That creature is called the Phantom, and it attacks people who haven’t slept in over three days. I have to make myself stay up to spawn it so I can use the phantom membranes it drops when it’s destroyed. Speaking of which, can I have some of that potion?”

  “Are you not sleeping?” asked Poppy.

  “No, I haven’t. Last night I was up battling skeletons, and the other two nights I was working on my potions and didn’t realize I had to sleep until the sun came up. I really lost track of time,” replied Joe.

  “Well that’s not good,” said Brett, “You’re going to have to get some sleep.”

  “Don’t go to sleep right away,” suggested Ray. “If you stay up you’ll be able to spawn another Phantom, and we can get more membranes.”

  “I don’t want to spawn Phantoms,” said Joe. “I have to leave with Brett and Poppy and work on two farms.”

  “Yes,” said Poppy. “Joe is coming to Meadow Mews with us.”

  “Meadow Mews,” said Ray. “I’ve heard that town needs an alchemist.”

  “That’s true,” said Brett. “Ours has been traveling, searching for ingredients. His friend was supposed to sell potions when he was away, but he hasn’t been selling them.”

  “I’d like to come with you guys and sell potions in Meadow Mews. Business has been slow here. It seems like people in Farmer’s Bay like to brew their own potions, even if it means that they lose sleep,” he said as he stared at Joe.

  “I like brewing potions,” confessed Joe. “I’m sorry I’m not buying them from you.”