Encounters in End City Read online

  Chapter 10

  THE WINGED BEAST

  A flash of blue sprinted by and Julia gasped. “It’s Hallie!”

  “Where?” Brad stood on the obsidian platform and scanned the area.

  “I don’t see her.” Mia looked in every direction.

  “I think you’re just imagining things because you’re nervous.” Emma also looked around the hostile world, but didn’t see anything.

  Julia was so nervous her eyes could have been playing tricks on her. In any case, she didn’t have too much time to think because the instant they stepped into the End, they were confronted by the Ender Dragon.

  Cayla screamed, “Watch out!”

  The Ender Dragon swooped down and emitted a cloud of purple smoke as it roared at the group.

  Julia reached for her bow and arrow, but she fumbled. She could feel something gnawing at her feet. “Endermites!”

  “Use your swords,” Emma instructed.

  The group slugged the endermites with swords while they tried to shield themselves from the Ender Dragon by hiding behind a pillar.

  The Ender Dragon was relentless in the attack. Brad was the first to lose a heart from the Ender Dragon. Julia looked up from the pool of endermites that surrounded her feet and raced toward Brad.

  “Drink this.” She handed Brad milk.

  As Brad sipped the milk, Julia traded in her sword for bow and arrow. She was pleased with her first strike, which tore into the dragon’s wing. The dragon roared and flew toward Julia. Using the pillar as a shield, Julia ordered her friends to strike the dragon with their swords. The gang repeatedly struck the dragon until it was weak, but the beast simply flew toward the Ender crystals, instantly replenishing its energy levels.

  “We have to destroy the crystals!” Brad hollered, but there was no time for strategies when they could barely survive in this inhospitable dimension. An army of block-carrying Endermen marched toward them, endermites swarmed at their feet, and the Ender Dragon was working at full energy. Arrows shot through the air at the Ender Dragon and the gang struck the Endermen and endermites with their swords, but they were overwhelmed by the battle. It took every weapon in their arsenal and every ounce of energy to not lose the battle.

  Julia focused on the Ender Dragon, which she felt was the biggest enemy. If you didn’t destroy the Ender Dragon, you’d never survive in the biome, and they’d never make it to End City. She stood behind the pillar shooting a barrage of arrows at the winged predator, but without destroying the Ender crystals, she was engaging in a useless battle. Julia had to make a decision. She would have to decide whether to leave the security of standing behind the pillar, and be exposed as she sprinted toward the Ender crystals and aimed her arrow. She knew she had to move.

  Julia took a deep breath and shot an arrow at the Ender Dragon, and raced toward the crystals.

  A loud piercing shriek surprised her and before she could hit the Ender crystals, Julia was face to face with two Endermen. She struck them with her sword, but they grabbed her and she lost two hearts. Julia only had two more hearts left, and she didn’t have the time to grab milk or a potion of Healing. She had to battle the Endermen that stood in front of her, with the Ender Dragon right behind her.

  “Help!” She could barely get the word out as she slammed her sword into the two Endermen. Julia was shocked when they were destroyed. Julia quickly turned around and leapt at the Ender Dragon with her diamond sword, but the dragon struck her and she was left with one heart.

  Julia raced toward the pillar. Once she was safely behind the pillar, she grabbed a potion from her inventory and took a sip. Her hearts were restored. Before she returned to battle, Julia saw something—or someone—sprint past.

  “Hallie!” Julia screamed out.

  There was no reply except for Emma, who screamed, “Julia, please. We need help. Hallie isn’t here. Don’t worry about it!”

  “We have a bigger battle to fight,” Mia reminded her.

  Cayla was destroying the endermites as they crawled on the obsidian platform. “Shoot the crystals!”

  Julia’s heart raced as she sprinted toward the Ender crystals and aimed. With one shot, she destroyed one of the crystals.

  Brad was in a one-man battle with the Ender Dragon, and he pierced the side of the dragon with his sword. Emma and Mia were surrounded by Endermen, and used their swords to survive in the middle of attacks from the lanky mob dwelling in the End.

  Cayla got the endermite situation under control. “Just call me the exterminator,” she joked, but nobody was listening. Everyone was engaging in their own personal war.

  Julia sprinted through the Central Island in the End to destroy the other Ender crystals perched on a pillar. As she sprinted a familiar voice called out to her.

  The Ender Dragon spotted Julia on the center of the obsidian platform, and flew toward her. Julia wasn’t sure which was more of a threat, the Ender Dragon or Hallie.

  Chapter 11

  WATCH OUT FOR CRYSTALS

  “I’ll take care of her,” another familiar voice called out.

  “Lucy!” Julia screamed. She was relieved that Lucy was in the End.

  “I have help,” Lucy said as Henry, Steve, Aaron, and Max sprinted toward her and leapt at Hallie.

  Hallie was surrounded and outnumbered by the faculty from Minecrafters Academy. Julia couldn’t watch Hallie’s demise because she was facing an immediate threat from the Ender Dragon.

  Julia could feel the purple mist from the Ender Dragon’s breath sting her eyes and she closed them as she swung at the Ender Dragon. She missed the dragon and almost fell off the obsidian platform into the darkness of the End, but she regained her balance.

  Cayla swung her sword at the Ender Dragon, diminishing its health, and called out to Julia, “Get the Ender crystals. It’s our only hope.”

  Julia raced toward the pillar with the Ender crystals, but her eyes were still sore from the purple mist, compromising her aim, and she kept missing the Ender crystals. She sent arrow after arrow flying through the air, but she kept missing the crystals.

  “I’m back!” Hallie screamed into Julia’s ear, and Julia felt an agonizing shooting pain through her arm. Hallie had struck her with a sword and the pain radiating down her arm was intense. Despite the attack, Julia was surprised when her arrow finally struck the Ender crystals and destroyed them.

  “I thought Lucy destroyed you,” Julia said.

  “She did, but I came back,” Hallie replied and struck Julia again.

  Julia turned around, ready to strike Hallie, but Hallie was too close to hit with an arrow. Julia grabbed one of her last potions from her inventory and splashed it on Hallie.

  Hallie’s hearts grew as she laughed “You splashed a potion of Healing on me!”

  Julia’s heart sank. She had used her last potion on Hallie.

  The Ender Dragon flew toward them and struck Hallie and Julia. Both lost hearts, but the impact wasn’t as lethal to the recently reenergized Hallie. Julia only had a few hearts left, and she knew she had to be cautious or she’d wind up in her bed at Minecrafters Academy.

  Julia used the distraction from the Ender Dragon to quickly trade her bow and arrow for a sword. She struck the blue-haired Hallie until she disappeared from the End.

  “Help!” Emma screamed.

  Emma and Mia were still surrounded by Endermen, but the lanky mob seemed to increase the size of their army.

  “I got one!” Mia beamed as she slayed the Endermen.

  “But more keep appearing.” Emma was terrified.

  “Just keep fighting.” Mia obliterated two more Endermen.

  Three Endermen surrounded Emma and she didn’t know which direction she should turn. She slammed her sword into one Enderman until it was destroyed, and she jumped back, trying to avoid being hit by the other two purple-eyed mobs.

  “Pick up the Ender pearls!” Mia reminded Emma, “We need those to get onto the End ship.”

  “If we ever reach the End sh
ip. This battle is impossible. We are just going to spawn in our beds,” Emma said.

  “We can do it,” Mia said. “I know it.”

  “Okay, if you say so.” Emma slammed her sword into a lanky Enderman, destroying it. She picked up the Ender pearl and placed it in her inventory.

  Julia wanted to cover her ears as she entered a zone of high-pitched shrieks. As Endermen spawned at their feet, Julia could hear Brad and Cayla screaming as they were slowly losing their battle with the Ender Dragon. Cayla hollered Brad’s name, and Julia knew he had been destroyed.

  When Julia couldn’t hear Cayla’s screams, she knew that she was also destroyed. Julia knew she was next. There was no way she was going to survive this battle with an empty inventory. She held her sword tightly as she struck as many Endermen as she could, but the battle was pointless. Within seconds, Julia was in her bed at Minecrafters Academy and couldn’t be further away from End City.

  “Julia.” Cayla and Brad stood above her bed.

  “We have to go back to the End,” Brad said.

  Julia agreed, but quickly sprinted to her closet. “Just give me a second,” she said as she filled up her inventory with potions she’d stored in her chest. As Julia replenished her supply, Lucy walked into the dorm room.

  “I’m sorry you have to deal with Hallie during your battle in the End,” Lucy apologized.

  “It’s very upsetting. It’s hard enough battling the Ender Dragon,” Cayla admitted.

  “We agree,” Lucy said, “and we understand that this is an additional challenge.”

  “We will take this into account as we grade you for this battle,” Max said.

  “Grade us?” Cayla asked.

  “Yes, you will be missing finals week, so this will count as your final grade,” Lucy explained.

  “Really?” Julia finished replenishing her inventory with supplies. She was conflicted about this new piece of information. Although she was relieved to miss her finals, she didn’t want to be graded on this failing battle. Before Julia could discuss her issues with this idea, the group was jarred to hear a noise in the hallway.

  A laugh echoed through Julia’s room. Everyone turned around to see Hallie standing in the doorway. Her dress was covered in diamond armor and one of her knee-high socks was bunched up at her foot.

  “Miss me?” she asked as she leapt at Lucy with her diamond sword.

  “What do you want from us?” Julia asked as she splashed a potion of Harming on Hallie.

  “This time you actually got it right,” Hallie snickered, despite losing energy from the potion.

  “Leave us alone.” Brad slammed his sword into her unarmored arm.

  “I don’t want to be in that bedrock prison anymore,” Hallie screamed as she plunged her sword into Julia’s leg. “And I want the people who but me behind bars to pay for their crimes.”

  “Crimes? You’re the one who committed a crime.” Julia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could Hallie think they had to pay for her crime?

  Chapter 12

  ARE WE ALONE?

  “You have to get back to the End,” Lucy instructed Cayla, Brad, and Julia. “We will take care of Hallie.”

  “So long!” Hallie laughed. “I’ll see you in the End.”

  “Don’t threaten us!” Julia screamed as she and her friends left for the End.

  They emerged in the middle of the End, on an island. It was pitch dark and they couldn’t find their friends.

  “Emma!” Julia called out.

  “Mia!” Brad hollered.

  There was no reply. Julia took out her compass, but it was broken. Brad looked over. “Your compass won’t work here.”

  “Neither will a map,” Cayla added.

  “But they have to be here.” Julia walked around the floating island and called out her friends’ names.

  “The End is a tricky place,” Brad said.

  “I know, but I just thought we’d find our friends.” Julia was upset. “I don’t even see the Ender Dragon.”

  “I’m kind of happy about that,” Cayla confessed. “I don’t see Endermen or endermites either.”

  “Where are we?” Brad questioned.

  They were on an island made of End stone. “We must be on an outer island,” Cayla said as she walked deeper into the End. “But I don’t see anything.”

  They heard a faint roar in the distance.”

  “I don’t think they were able to destroy the Ender Dragon. We have to find them,” Julia said as she raced toward the sound of the Ender Dragon’s roar.

  She heard a laugh in the darkness. Julia stopped.

  “Why are you stopping? We have to keep going!” Brad called out.

  “I thought I heard something. It sounded like Hallie’s laugh,” Julia said.

  “Lucy told us that we shouldn’t bother with Hallie,” Cayla reminded her.

  “This counts for our final grade,” Brad said. “We have to go.”

  Julia followed her friends toward the sound of the dragon’s roars and hoped they’d find their friends soon.

  “Get ready to battle!” Brad called out as ten Endermen met them.

  Julia grasped her sword and readied herself for battle.

  “Just look down,” Cayla said as she sprinted past the Endermen without making eye contact, and the block-carrying mob remained passive and didn’t attack them.

  Julia felt a few nips at her feet and she stomped on the endermites as she saw the Ender Dragon and her friends. Julia replaced the sword and picked up the bow and arrow. There were two Ender crystals atop the pillars and she knew if she didn’t destroy those crystals, they’d never destroy the dragon and make it to End City.

  Julia sprinted toward the pillars, but she was stopped when the Ender Dragon’s wing struck her side and she almost fell back. She steadied herself, but the dragon lunged at her again, and she wasn’t able to regain her balance.

  “Help!” Julia cried.

  Cayla sprinted toward Julia, slamming her sword into the dragon’s side, but Cayla was also struck by the dragon and lost a heart. The gang crowded around the dragon, piercing the beast with their swords, but the dragon flew toward the crystals and replenished its energy.

  Julia sipped a potion of Healing as she aimed at the Ender crystals, destroying one perched high atop a pillar. She only had one more Ender crystal to destroy when she heard laughter in her left ear. Julia turned around to see Hallie. “What are you doing here? Leave us alone!”

  “Never!” Hallie screamed, hitting Julia’s left arm with a diamond sword. Before Julia could retaliate, Lucy spawned and skillfully obliterated Hallie with her diamond sword.

  “Thanks,” Julia said.

  “Just get back to your battle,” Lucy said.

  Julia aimed at the last batch of Ender crystals and shot her arrow, destroying them. “Good job,” Lucy called out before she disappeared.

  Lucy wasn’t there to see Cayla defeat the Ender Dragon with two strikes from her diamond sword.

  The friends cheered when the dragon was destroyed. Emma exclaimed, “Wow! End City, here we come!”

  “Too bad Lucy wasn’t here to see you defeat the dragon,” Brad said, “since this is a part of our finals.”

  “What?” Emma asked.

  “Lucy told us this battle will replace our finals,” Julia explained.

  “Yes, obviously Lucy was here to see Julia destroy the final batch of Ender crystals. You’re totally the teacher’s pet,” Cayla said.

  “What?” Julia was upset by her friend’s comment.

  “You heard me,” Cayla said.

  “No, I don’t think I did.” Tears filled Julia’s eyes. “Repeat it.”

  “It’s no shock, but everyone thinks you’re the teacher’s pet,” Cayla said.

  “Really? Why?” Julia tried to hold back the tears.

  “It just seems like you’re always getting commended by Lucy. She was the one who asked you to help with Hallie,” Cayla explained.

  Julia yel
led, “Stop! She doesn’t commend me and the only reason she wanted me to help with Hallie is because I was Hallie’s roommate and I had to deal with Hallie when she was trying to destroy Minecrafters Academy and the Overworld. You can ask Emma and Mia, because they were there. They remember when Lucy didn’t even believe me and I had to prove that Hallie was the dangerous one. Lucy once thought I was to blame for all of the horrible attacks on the campus.”

  “She’s right,” Emma said. “Julia was in the middle of Hallie’s attacks and she had to prove herself to Lucy. She isn’t a teacher’s pet.”

  “I don’t think Julia’s a teacher’s pet,” Mia said. “I think it was just bad timing that Lucy couldn’t see you destroy the Ender Dragon, but we’ll let her know about it when we give our report on the trip.”

  “The report.” Sweat formed at Brad’s brow. He was worried about the report. He had almost forgotten about that part, and now he assumed it was a part of their grade.

  “Are you still worried about public speaking?” Julia asked.

  “Yes,” Brad replied.

  “But you did such a good job convincing me to travel to the End, in front of the entire school,” Julia reminded him.

  Brad admitted, “That was very hard for me.”

  “I know.” Julia smiled.

  Cayla walked over to Julia. “I’m sorry, I know I must have come across as a really mean person, but I was just so annoyed that Lucy was there to see you destroy the crystals. Also, if you didn’t destroy those crystals, I’d never have been able to destroy the Ender Dragon.”

  “We work well together and I don’t think anyone is a favorite. We all have to complete this challenge,” Julia said.

  “Yes, we have to work together or we’ll never finish this test,” Mia said.

  “This counts for our final grade,” Brad said.

  “We all did so well at Minecrafters Academy that it would be a shame if we get a bad grade because we start fighting with each other. We have to work together,” Julia said.

  “We have to work together, but remember, the person who comes up with the most loot wins,” Emma reminded them.

  “Does anybody want my loot?” Brad joked.