Encounters in End City Read online

  Julia and the girl with yellow hair sprinted together and jumped into the water. The Enderman trailed behind them and was instantly destroyed when it splashed into the deep blue water. Julia brushed the water out of her eyes as she swam back to shore.

  Lucy regained order with the crowd, telling them to listen to the rest of the presentation, and reminding them that having respect for fellow students was a vital trait of a class speaker.

  Mia continued to explain what had happened in the Nether, but the skies grew darker, and the sun was replaced with the moon, and soon the campus was under attack from a zombie army. With outstretched arms, the vacant-eyed zombies poured onto the great lawn, attacking anyone in sight. A foul smell of rotting flesh flavored the night air.

  Julia quickly sipped a potion of Strength as she readied herself to battle the zombies that spawned in front of her. Splashing potions and using her sword, Julia was able to destroy a couple of zombies, but the new ones kept spawning, and Julia couldn’t keep up.

  “Help!” she cried. Although she didn’t want to appear weak and vulnerable, she knew if she didn’t call for help, she’d never survive.

  Chapter 7

  ZOMBIES

  Mia and Emma were in the middle of their own battle as a cluster of zombies surrounded them, and they used everything in their arsenal to battle the vacant-eyed monsters.

  “Help!” Julia screamed again as she slugged two zombies with her sword, weakening them, but not destroying the beasts.

  Cayla came to Julia’s rescue. She opened all her bottles of potion and splashed them on the undead creatures as Julia slammed her sword into them. “We got them!” Julia called out happily as they picked up an assortment of dropped items, including rotten flesh.

  “The battle is far from over,” Cayla said as she looked over at Brad, who was cornered by a group of vicious zombies. His health bar was incredibly low.

  The duo sprinted toward Brad and struck the zombies with their swords, but it was too late, Brad was destroyed. Julia and Cayla continued to battle the zombies until Brad respawned and teleported to them.

  “This battle is endless,” Brad said as skeletons, Endermen, and other mobs of the night spawned throughout the campus. Zombies ripped doors from every building on campus, skeletons shot arrows, and the shrieks from the Endermen nearly deafened the students.

  “Oh no!” Cayla cried as a spider jockey crawled toward them. “Not another spider jockey.”

  “It’s okay. We’re a team,” Julia reassured her friend. “I’ll focus on the skeleton and you can focus on the spider.”

  “What about me?” Brad asked.

  “Just strike whatever you can,” Julia said breathlessly. She traded in her sword for a bow and arrow and concentrated as she aimed at the bony beast, trying to knock it from the spider it was sitting on. Julia’s first two arrows missed the skeleton and she was frustrated.

  Brad shot an arrow, piercing the skeleton’s arm and slightly weakening it. Julia followed with two arrows, which landed in the center of the skeleton, destroying it. Once the skeleton was gone, Cayla sprinted toward the spider and struck the red-eyed arachnoid until it was obliterated.

  There was no time to rejoice as an Enderman locked eyes with Julia and let out a familiar shriek. Julia rushed toward the lake in the thick of the night. It was almost impossible to see and Julia wished she had a potion for Night Vision, but she was running low on potions. In fact, after these constant battles, Julia was running low on all supplies. The Enderman was right behind her, and Julia wasn’t sure she’d make it to the water in time.

  The Enderman reached out for Julia, but before it could inflict any damage, Julia jumped into the water. The cold water was refreshing, and she let out a sigh of relief as the Enderman dove into the water and to its watery demise.

  “Are you okay?” Cayla called out.

  Brad and Cayla stood on the shore, and Julia swam toward them. She’d unknowingly swam further than she wanted. The swim back to shore was long, and coupled with the frigid water and the cold night air, Julia was growing exhausted. She wanted to give up, but knew that if she did, there was no way her team would be in the running for class speaker.

  Lucy raced around the campus, alerting students to return to the dorms and to safety. “Off the great lawn.”

  The students had done a good job of destroying the zombies and the campus was almost rid of the hostile mobs. Julia sprinted toward her dorm room, and was happy to find Mia and Emma in their beds.

  “I’m getting tired of these night battles,” Julia said as she crawled into bed.

  Mia agreed. “I feel like we don’t have time to learn, and we only have a few more weeks left at school. It’s very upsetting.”

  “And finals start tomorrow,” Emma reminded them.

  Julia felt her stomach flutter. “Finals? Tomorrow? Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” Mia said. “Emma’s right. I remember Henry talking about a final exam in his class. We’d better get to sleep. We need to be prepared for finals.”

  The roommates were drifting off to sleep underneath their comfy wool blankets when Lucy appeared at their door. Henry and Max stood alongside her.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, but we just got news that Hallie has escaped again,” Lucy informed them.

  “What? How?” Julia sat up in her bed.

  “I guess you haven’t seen her,” Henry said. “We thought she might come here first.”

  “Why?” Emma asked.

  “Since you were the ones who spotted her in the Nether, we thought she might come here. She might blame you for getting caught and being placed back in prison,” Max said.

  “How does she keep escaping?” Emma asked.

  “We’re not sure,” Lucy admitted, “but once we get her back in prison, we’ll have a guard placed outside her door.”

  Julia was upset they hadn’t done that already. She didn’t want to get involved with helping them find Hallie. She had to get to sleep. She had finals in the morning.

  A loud explosion rattled the campus. Julia sighed. She knew this was going to be a long night.

  Chapter 8

  FINALS AND FINALISTS

  The hunt for Hallie wasn’t as long as Julia expected. Aaron raced into the room, announcing Hallie had been found placing TNT around the dining hall. He’d stopped her before she destroyed the building, but there was a small explosion.

  Julia asked, “Do you need me to rebuild the dining hall?”

  “Thanks for offering,” Aaron said, “but we have taken care of that. You guys should get rest. Tomorrow is the start of finals. I have a challenging alchemy final prepared for everyone.”

  Even after they left the room, Julia wasn’t sure she could get to sleep. With the thought of Hallie’s constant escapes and her upcoming final exams swirling around her head, she was wide awake. She took a deep breath and tried to fall asleep, but it was pointless. She’d be a wreck for the finals.

  * * * *

  Julia didn’t remember falling asleep, but she awoke in the morning as the morning sunlight shined through their window.

  “We have to eat a good breakfast before finals,” Emma said as she stood by the window.

  “Wow, you’re already up.” Julia climbed out of bed.

  “Yes, I’m nervous about finals. I had a hard time sleeping,” Emma confessed.

  “Me too,” Mia said as she got out of bed.

  “Same here,” Julia said. “I don’t feel ready to take a final exam.”

  The girls woke up as they walked across the great lawn to the dining hall. Julia assessed the damage of the previous night’s battle. Doors were ripped from their hinges, and there was a small mark on the side of the dining hall Hallie had tried to blow up.

  “I bet Hallie escaped when a zombie ripped the door off of the prison,” Julia remarked.

  “I bet you’re right,” Mia said, “but we can’t focus on Hallie. We have to prepare for our first final exam.”

  “We have Henry
’s final first, right?” Mia confirmed.

  “Yes,” Julia said. “A final on survival skills. We should all be experts on survival after these battles,” she added as they entered the dining hall.

  Julia and her friends filled up on food to regain their energy for the final exam. Brad joined them at their table. “We need to eat well. Today is the start of finals.”

  “Don’t remind us,” Emma said.

  “I think we have to get to our first final now.” Julia tracked the time and the gang took their last bites before their first exam.

  There was not a sound uttered in Henry’s class as he announced the final exam. The only sound that might have been heard was rapidly beating heartbeats from the crowd of nervous students. Julia regretted eating a large breakfast because her stomach hurt.

  “I am about to spawn an Ender Dragon on campus. We will all go out to the great lawn and I will evaluate how you destroy this powerful winged beast,” Henry explained.

  The group followed Henry onto the great lawn, and waited for him to spawn the dragon.

  The dragon’s muscular wings flapped as it flew across the campus, unleashing clouds of purple smoke from its mouth as it roared.

  Julia hid behind a large oak tree and aimed her arrow at the dragon, striking the side of the beast. The dragon roared, and a few students cowered in the corner. Others dropped their weapons. Many of the students in Henry’s survival class had never encountered the Ender Dragon before and the powerful beast from the End intimidated them.

  The Ender Dragon flew toward a group of students that stood by the entrance to the main hall. They leapt at the dragon with their swords. The powerful beast destroyed one of the students.

  “Oh no!” Julia cried out.

  The remaining students shot arrows, splashed potions on the beast, and tried to strike the flying menace with their swords. After their many strikes, the dragon was weakened, but it hadn’t been destroyed.

  Cayla sprinted toward the dragon, striking it with her sword. As it lunged at her, she sprinted back into the classroom.

  Julia had the perfect spot to attack the dragon. Every time it flew past her, she hit the beast with her arrow, infuriating the Ender Dragon. It roared and flew toward Julie, but she hid behind the bark.

  Brad slammed his sword into the belly of the dragon, leaving the dragon with only one heart. Julia wanted to aim her arrow and deliver the final blow, but Jamie sprinted toward the Ender Dragon, fearlessly leaping at the dragon and piercing the beast’s flesh. With this last strike, the Ender Dragon disappeared, leaving behind a dragon egg and creating a portal to the End.

  Julia stared at the portal, trying to avoid going anywhere near it. She didn’t want to wind up in that hostile world.

  Henry picked up the dragon egg. He thanked the class and told them he’d post the results soon. Julia was happy with her survival skills, and hoped she got a good grade, but she knew she could have fought harder. However, she hadn’t wanted to dominate the battle. There were other students in the class, and everyone had to show Henry what they had learned. Despite having found an ideal spot to fight the Ender Dragon, which worked to her advantage, she knew she had to give others a chance to show off their own skills. Like the competition for the class speaker, it was always a challenge when working in a group.

  “I’m so ready for lunch,” Emma told her friends.

  “Me too,” Cayla said.

  Before they could enter the dining hall, they were stopped when they heard Lucy call out, “Announcement.”

  Lucy walked around campus with a megaphone. She had an important announcement and everyone gathered on the lawn, ready to hear it.

  “Do you think she picked the winner?” Julia asked.

  “I bet she did,” Emma said.

  Lucy said, “I have chosen the finalists for the class speaker. I have chosen the members of Cayla’s team.”

  Cheers went up, and Julia was thrilled that everyone supported her and her teammates. However, the joyous mood turned more serious when Lucy said, “Only one person from Cayla’s team will earn the top honor of class speaker.”

  Julia looked over at her friends. She didn’t like the idea of only one of them being chosen. Her heart raced. She felt sick. She wanted to drop out, but she knew it was too late.

  “Team Cayla will travel to End City,” announced Lucy.

  The crowd was in awe. Many of them had never been to this dangerous city, and had only heard about it and the mobs that only lived in that world, and the treasures that could be found if you were daring or skilled enough to beat the Ender Dragon in his own habitat.

  “Whoever comes back with the most treasures from End City will be the class speaker,” Lucy said.

  “When do we go?” Julia asked. Her heart beat so fast, she was sure everyone could hear it.

  “Now,” Lucy said.

  Julia looked at her friends as they walked toward the End portal the dragon had created when he was destroyed. Julia felt like each step took a lifetime to take. Time seemed to slow down, and as she approached the portal, she tried to hold back the tears.

  Chapter 9

  LET’S START AT THE END

  “Good luck!” voices called out as they all crowded onto the End portal.

  “I’ve never been to the End,” Cayla confessed.

  “Me either,” Brad said.

  “I haven’t been there either,” Julia said.

  Emma and Mia also had never traveled to the End. Emma said, “So this is a first for all of us. I guess this means we don’t have an advantage over each other when we’re there, since now we are competing with each other.”

  “I don’t want to compete. I don’t want to go to the End,” Julia said as they stood on the portal and everyone said their goodbyes. “Stop!” Julia called out.

  Lucy walked over to the portal. “Is everything okay?”

  “No.” Julia hopped off the portal. “I don’t want to go to the End. I want to give up my spot on this team.”

  “Why?” Lucy asked.

  “I don’t want to go to the End. I’ve heard it’s a challenging place, dark and creepy. I don’t want to battle shulkers in End City. I’m happy staying here.”

  Julia wanted to add that she was also happy to stay at Minecrafters Academy forever, and all of this change was overwhelming her, and she wanted everything to stay the same. Instead, she protested her trip to the End.

  Lucy reassured Julia. “The worst thing that could happen is you’re destroyed and respawn in your room. I think, and I’m sure you’ll agree with me, that not trying would be worse than trying and failing.”

  Julia wasn’t sure she agreed with Lucy. There were lots of things she was glad she hadn’t tried.

  Cayla stepped off the portal. “You have to come with us, Julia. We’re a team.”

  Emma followed and hopped off the portal. “If you really want to experience the world of Minecraft, you have to visit the End.”

  “I’m not sure I want to experience the world.” Tears streamed down Julia’s face.

  Mia walked over to Julia. “If you don’t go, I’m not going.”

  “Yes,” Cayla agreed. “If we don’t go together, we will just give another team a chance.”

  “Pick another team,” some students began to shout and soon she heard a chant.

  “New team. New team. New team …”

  Julia was overwhelmed and felt as if she was going to faint. She tried to speak but nothing came out. She looked at her friends and wanted to apologize, but she just stared at them.

  “You need to make a decision now,” Lucy informed her.

  Henry told all of the students to calm down. “Silence. Let Julia speak.”

  Everyone stared at Julia, but she didn’t say anything.

  “Can’t you see she doesn’t want to go?” Jaime screamed.

  “You’re forfeiting your chance if you don’t say anything,” Nick added.

  “Julia, what are you doing?” Cayla was annoyed.
/>   “This isn’t fair.” Emma’s voice quivered as she spoke.

  “You’re going to make us all give up our chances!” Mia shouted.

  Again, Julia just listened to her friends, but she didn’t say anything. She felt terrible. She wanted to walk onto the portal to the End and just go, but every time she stared at the portal, her heart pounded.

  Brad was the last to hop off the portal, “Julia, we really worked hard for this, and I know you’re scared, but Lucy is right. You have to try. You can’t let fear get in your way. Maybe you’ll win, maybe you’ll lose, but you have to try.”

  Everyone stared at Brad as he spoke, and as he realized it, his voice grew shakier. Julia saw it wasn’t easy for Brad to stand in front of the entire school and persuade her to travel to the End. By helping Julia, Brad was able to conquer one of his biggest fears.

  Julia didn’t say anything about Brad’s accomplishment; she simply stared at him and smiled. “Thanks,” she said softly. “I’m sorry for causing a scene. I will travel to the End with my team. Thank you again.” Julia walked toward the portal.

  The crowd was upset. Some of them wanted a new team to be chosen. Lucy tried to control the shouting. “Everyone, please wish them well on their journey to the End. I know everyone here wanted to be chosen, and I understand how you feel, but we have to accept the results.”

  Jamie was the first to call out, “Good luck, guys.”

  Nick said, “It’s going to be okay, Julia. You’re going to do a great job, I know it.”

  The students cheered as the gang stood on the portal. Lucy smiled and wished them a good journey to the End.

  Everyone huddled together and took a collective deep breath when they activated the portal to the End. When they were about to fade into the End, Julia could hear someone call out.

  “Hallie! Hallie is missing again!”

  “What? How?” Lucy screamed.

  Julia wanted to jump off the portal and help Lucy and the others find Hallie, but it was too late. There was no turning back. In seconds, she’d be in the End.