Trapped In the Temple Read online

  Boing. Boing. Boing. Three green, boxy slimes hopped along the swampy shoreline.

  “Oh no!” Princess Hannah called out as she grabbed her sword and sliced into one of the slimes; it broke into two smaller slimes. Edison ripped into a large, boxy slime and also created two smaller slimes. Anna leaped at the final remaining large slime. The small slimes attacked the group. Using their swords, they were able to defeat the boxy creature and pick up the slimeballs. Edison said, “We can craft slime blocks.”

  “We have to finish building this house. We have to hurry,” said Billy as he stacked wood panels and tried to craft a house before other hostile mobs lurking in the swamp tried to attack them, but it was too late. A shrill laugh filled the air, and a witch dashed toward them clutching a potion.

  “A witch!” screamed Edison.

  The purple-robed witch splashed Princess Hannah with a potion of Slowness and then pulled out a second bottle of potion, dousing Edison with a potent poisonous potion, which weakened him and left him with one heart. He could barely stand, and he used his last bit of strength to pull a vial of potion from his inventory. He drank the potion of Healing as he lunged at the witch, striking the evil swamp dweller with his diamond sword.

  The witch quickly pulled another potion from her inventory and splashed it on Edison. He felt incredibly weak and wondered if the potion of Healing he had brewed was strong enough. He leaped at the witch one more time, but she splashed him again, and he lost all of his hearts. He awoke in his bed with Puddles by his side.

  “I have to help Princess Hannah find her missing ocelot,” he said to Puddles, although he was fairly certain the ocelot didn’t understand what he had said. He sat up in bed and was ready to TP to the swamp to be reunited with his friends when he heard the moaning of zombies outside his front door.

  “Help!” Peyton hollered. “There’s a zombie invasion!”

  Edison drank two bottles of potion to regain his strength, and dressed in diamond armor, he raced outside.

  4

  BATTLES IN THE NIGHT

  “Help!” Erin cried as six zombies crowded around her.

  Peyton annihilated three zombies and rushed to her friend’s side as she struck the smelly zombies with her diamond sword.

  “How long has this been going on?” asked Edison as he fought zombies alongside Erin and Peyton.

  “All night. Where have you been?” asked Erin as she sliced into a zombie’s arm.

  “I was in the swamp. A princess asked me to help her find her missing ocelot,” Edison explained as he destroyed a zombie.

  The trio tirelessly battled a sea of zombies. Using a combination of potions and their swords, they were able to destroy all of the zombies that spawned in the middle of the night in Farmer’s Bay.

  The battle lasted the night, and sweat dripped down Edison’s face and blurred his vision as he slammed his sword into another zombie. The fight was tireless. Every time he destroyed a zombie, another would show up. It was getting lighter out, and Edison knew the zombies wouldn’t be able to survive much longer.

  As the sun rose, Erin said, “I have a feeling something bad is happening in the Overworld.”

  “Why do you say that?” asked Edison.

  “This was an intense battle,” she explained. “It lasted a lot longer than normal. I find that when these prolonged mob invasions happen, it isn’t by accident.”

  Edison pondered what Erin had said and worried she was correct. He also recalled the man at the potion stand who prophesized there would be trouble in the Overworld and everyone should have extra potions of Water Breathing. However, he couldn’t focus on what this man had said, and even Erin’s comment, because he was committed to a case, and he had to solve it.

  He rushed back to his house, fed Puddles, and sorted through his inventory to make sure he had what he needed for his trip back to meet his friends. He TPed to Billy’s location and was surprised to see he was still in the swamp. Edison had thought they’d be closer to the desert.

  “I didn’t think you guys would still be in the swamp,” said Edison.

  Anna sipped milk and then said, “Last night was awful. We battled three witches. It was intense.”

  “And there were more slimes,” added Billy.

  “We were fighting hostile mobs until the sun came up,” said Princess Hannah, “but hopefully we’ll be able to leave for the desert now.”

  “When I was destroyed and spawned in my bed, I awoke as Farmer’s Bay was in the middle of a zombie invasion. I spent the entire night battling zombies,” said Edison.

  “Wow,” Billy wondered aloud, “maybe these two invasions are related.”

  “I don’t know,” said Edison, “but we should travel to the desert. We have an entire day to get there, and we want to arrive before nightfall. We want time to be prepared if there are any other attacks.”

  Everyone agreed, and they set out to travel to the desert. As they traveled through the lush forest biome, Princess Hannah led the way and tried to clear a path for the rest of the group.

  “We can’t get lost in the leaves,” she warned. “These paths get very thick with leaves, and sometimes we lose each other.”

  Edison spotted something rustling in the leaves and stopped. “Guys, do you see that?”

  He was shocked when there was no response. “Hello? Billy?”

  Silence.

  “Princess Hannah? Anna? Where are you?”

  Again he heard no reply. Edison was in the middle of the forest, and he could see the leaves rustling again. His heart beat faster as he made one last attempt to call out to his friends, but there was no response.

  Edison stood still and took a deep breath. He wanted to find out what was rustling in the leaves. He assumed it was a wolf and pulled out a bone to tame it. He walked slowly and approached the patch in the forest where he had seen the leaves move, then walked into the thick of the leaves. He looked down, but there wasn’t a wolf.

  “Hello,” a voice called out.

  This startled Edison. He looked in the direction of the voice and was stunned to see the man from the potion stand. The man, dressed in a denim jacket, said “I told you there was going to be trouble. It’s time to live under the water.”

  “What are you talking about?” Edison asked calmly. He wanted all of the facts before he worried the Overworld was really in trouble.

  “The battles last night were the first sign,” the man declared. “You will see, it will just get worse. This is only the beginning.”

  “The beginning of what?”

  The man laughed. “The end.”

  “The end of the Overworld?” questioned Edison. “But why?”

  “There are people who want to end the universe,” he explained, and before the man could say anything else, he pulled a potion of Invisibility out from his inventory, splashed it on himself, and disappeared.

  “Edison,” Billy called out as he sprinted toward his friend.

  “Where were you?” asked Edison.

  “I can ask you the same question. I turned around and you were gone, and so were the others,” replied Billy.

  “Have you found Anna and Princess Hannah?” questioned Edison.

  “No, you were the first person I found,” he explained.

  “We have to find them,” said Edison, and as they walked through the narrow path through the dense forest, Edison told Billy about running into the man from the potion stand.

  “I know a lot of strange things have been happening,” remarked Billy, “but that doesn’t mean what this man said is true. He could be trying to trick us. We don’t even know his name.”

  “My name is Andrew,” a voice called out, “and I’m telling you that the Overworld is in serious trouble.”

  “Why?” asked Billy.

  There was no response. Andrew had disappeared again.

  “What is wrong with this guy?” questioned Edison. “He keeps popping up and warning us of destruction, but he offers no details.”

>   “I told you,” Billy said with a laugh. “He’s just trying to trick us.”

  Edison was about to speak when he heard Anna and Princess Hannah call out his name.

  “We found you!” Anna yelled.

  “Let’s go to the desert before it gets dark,” said Princess Hannah as they hurried through the forest toward the sunny, treeless desert biome.

  5

  DESERT FINDS

  “We’re almost there,” said Princess Hannah.

  They rushed past cacti and over a sand dune toward the grand desert temple with its orange and blue terracotta design. Princess Hannah picked up speed as she raced through the doors of the desert temple.

  “Mom! Dad! Elias!” she called out, but she was met with silence. She sprinted throughout the temple, but nobody was there.

  “Where are they?” she asked her new friends, but she knew they couldn’t answer her question.

  “Meow.” The sound of an ocelot broke the silence. Scooter walked into the grand foyer, and the princess leaned down and fed it raw fish.

  “You’re back.” She smiled at the ocelot.

  “That was the easiest case we’ve ever solved,” joked Billy.

  They heard a sound in the temple, and Edison raced to investigate. He looked around, but he couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. Edison stared at the ground. He looked over at Billy and said, “It sounded like it was coming from the ground.”

  Billy touched the sandstone ground, but there was nothing there.

  Princess Hannah rushed in. “Did you find them?

  “No,” replied Billy.

  “My family seems to be missing,” the princess said.

  “I’m sure there is a reason they aren’t here,” Billy reassured the princess.

  “Maybe your family is just in town?” suggested Anna. “Should we go there?”

  “That’s a good idea, but I think we should also see if they are at a neighbor’s house,” said Billy.

  “There aren’t many neighbors here,” explained Princess Hannah. “There’s a small town, but it’s on the other side of the village.”

  “Let’s go to the village and then the town,” said Edison.

  “Okay,” Princess Hannah said. She finished feeding the ocelot, and they set out to the desert village.

  The village was quite busy, and the main street had a library, a smithy, and other shops. Edison wondered who the alchemist was in this desert village. As they explored the village and searched for Princess Hannah’s family, the robed librarian walked down the block and spotted Princess Hannah. “Hannah,” the librarian called out, “where have you been?”

  “I was in Farmer’s Bay. I wanted to seek out these detectives to help me find Scooter, my missing ocelot. When we arrived here we found Scooter, but we couldn’t find my family.”

  “Nobody has seen them in a few days,” said the librarian. “I thought you were with them.”

  “Do you have any idea where they might have gone?” asked Edison. He was in full detective mode. Obviously this wasn’t going to be a simple case of trying to find a missing ocelot, which had already been found. Now he had to find her family.

  “No, but something strange happened here last night,” said the librarian.

  “What?” asked Anna.

  The librarian didn’t have a chance to reply because the blacksmith rushed out of his shop and screamed, “Help!”

  “Are you okay?” asked the librarian.

  “No.” The blacksmith’s voice shook. “Someone just came into my shop and stole iron and gold.”

  “What? Where are they?” Anna questioned as she raced into the blacksmith’s shop.

  The rest of the gang followed her, but the shop was empty. Edison asked, “Where is the thief?”

  “He sprinkled some potion on himself and disappeared,” explained the blacksmith.

  “How much did he steal?” Anna began to take notes. She assumed everything had to be tied into the case, and she wanted as much information as possible.

  “He took all of my gold and iron.” The blacksmith pointed to his empty shelves. “It was odd because he was so nice at first. He talked to me about the attack last night, and then when I handed him all of the items he requested and I told him how much it would cost, he took out a sword and told me he had no money to pay me. Then he splashed a potion of Invisibility on himself and disappeared with all of the precious metals.”

  “What did he look like?” asked Edison.

  “He had black hair, and he wore a blue denim jacket,” said the blacksmith.

  “A denim jacket!” exclaimed Billy. “It must be Andrew!”

  “The strange thing is that he apologized before he disappeared,” said the blacksmith.

  “We have to find him,” said Edison.

  “How?” questioned Anna. “Do we know anything about him besides his name?”

  “No,” Edison replied, “but I have a feeling he is connected with the attacks that took place in the Overworld last night.”

  “Remember how he told us that everyone needs a potion of Water Breathing?” Billy said. Then he told everyone how he first met Andrew at the potion stand, when he declared the Overworld was going to be attacked and everyone should have potions of Water Breathing.

  “You have to find this man and stop him,” said the blacksmith.

  The librarian agreed. “This thief can’t get away with his crime.”

  “But what about my family?” Princess Hannah cried. “They’re missing, and everyone is concerned with finding this thief.”

  “I will help you find your parents,” Edison reassured Princess Hannah. “I promised you I would. And we will find them before we start our search for Andrew.”

  “Thank you,” said Princess Hannah, “but where should we start looking for them?”

  Edison paused. He didn’t have an answer to that question, but he had to think of something. “I think we should search the desert temple for any clues. We rushed through there, and we never properly investigated.”

  Anna put her hand through her purple hair and said, “Yes, I agree, that sounds like the best plan. We promise we will help you find them.”

  “Thank you,” Princess Hannah told the group.

  The group charged back to the desert temple, but as they reached the entrance, they heard a familiar voice call out.

  “Stop!” the voice screamed. “Don’t go in there!”

  Edison turned around, saw Andrew, and yelled, “Why?”

  6

  BACK IN THE VALLEY

  Scooter the ocelot stood on the steps in front of the desert temple and meowed. Princess Hannah called out to her pet, “I’m back. It’s all going to be okay.” She turned around when she heard Andrew scream her name.

  “Hannah! You can’t go in there!” Andrew hollered.

  Princess Hannah pulled out her diamond sword and raced toward Andrew. She held the sword close to his unarmored chest. “This is my house, you thief. Why can’t I go inside?”

  “I didn’t mean to steal. I’m not a bad person. You need to follow me,” he said. “I know where your family is. They’re trapped in a dungeon. The person who trapped them booby-trapped your house with command blocks.”

  The gang shot a series of questions at Andrew.

  “How do you know?” asked Edison.

  “Where are they?” asked Princess Hannah.

  “Where is the dungeon?” asked Billy.

  Anna asked the final question, and it hung in the air for a while. “Why should we trust you?”

  “If you don’t trust me, go into the desert temple. But you’ll all be destroyed,” Andrew replied.

  Edison didn’t believe Andrew and walked toward the desert temple’s door. Then Princess Hannah called out, “Edison! Stop!”

  Edison paused in front of the large desert temple. “What? You’re listening to him?”

  Princess Hannah said, “Where is the dungeon?”

  “It’s in the desert. Follow me,” he said
. He scurried deeper into the beige-colored desert, past cacti and a few bushes. A gold rabbit hopped past them, and Edison almost tripped over the bunny that blended into the sand.

  “That bunny was camouflaged,” he said as he stumbled and steadied himself. Billy laughed, but Princess Hannah didn’t even turn around and ask if he was okay. She was too busy trailing behind Andrew.

  Edison couldn’t believe this desert was so massive. He had traveled to other deserts before, but he had never seen a biome this large. The lack of shade made the hot sun even stronger than normal. Sweat fell off of Edison’s face as he sprinted to keep up with the others. “Where is this dungeon?” he asked.

  “Not far,” Andrew told them.

  Anna asked Andrew, “Who has them trapped in the dungeon?”

  “Hal. He’s the most powerful hacker in the universe. He has created glitches and caused attacks throughout the Overworld. Your family was about to confront him because he was behind Scooter’s disappearance. Scooter wasn’t the only ocelot missing, and when your parents found out that all the residents in the desert had lost their ocelots, your brother Elias began his own investigation. It was during this investigation that he met Hal.”

  “How do you know about Hal?” asked Edison.

  “I’ve known about Hal for a long time. I have been chasing him and trying to stop his attacks. That was why I was at the sale in your town. I was trying to warn everyone about the upcoming destruction. If I’m not able to stop Hal, we will have a serious issue in the Overworld. He has a grand plan that will destroy all of the biomes in the Overworld except the underwater biome.”

  “Why would he leave that biome?” asked Billy.

  “I think he’s storing all of his loot in an ocean monument,” said Andrew.

  “Wow. How did you find out about Hal?” asked Anna.

  “I told you, I have been chasing him for a long time. I encountered him when he attacked me.”

  “When?” asked Edison.

  “A while ago, I was—”

  Andrew was interrupted when a man with gray hair and glasses spawned in front of them. The man leaped at Andrew and splashed a bottle of potion at him, and Andrew disappeared.