Destruction in the Desert Page 6

  Brian called out, “We have to find out where the new spawner is and deactivate it.”

  Nancy looked over at Veronica. She was in the middle of battling a husk. Nancy thought it was ironic that Veronica and her army were forced to battle these hostile mobs that they had spawned. There was no escaping these powerful mobs. Veronica was slamming her sword into the belly of a husk when Nancy confronted her.

  “Tell us where the spawner is located. Even you are losing energy battling these mobs,” said Nancy.

  Veronica destroyed the husk. She wanted to tell Nancy that she had no idea where the spawner was located and this attack had nothing to do with her or her army, but she didn’t want Nancy knowing that information because it would make her look weak. Instead of responding, Veronica swung her sword at Nancy, who backed away from the strike.

  “What is wrong with you?” screamed Nancy. “Stop this attack now!”

  Veronica hollered, “Never!”

  The husks continued to march into Sandy Vista, and the gang was tired. They weren’t going to last unless they got food. Jacques was the first one to say, “We need food, and I am going to get it for everyone.”

  “How?” King Jed questioned as two husks surrounded him. He swung his sword at one while the second attacked him. His voice was faint as he said, “We need every person battling these beasts.”

  Jacques slammed his sword into the husk that attacked the king. “If I don’t get apples for everyone, we will all be destroyed.”

  “He’s right,” said Queen Gail. “Go get us apples.”

  Colin and Jacques dashed toward the farm and battled two husks that stood by the entrance to the Sandy Vista Farm. Once they had destroyed the husks, they rushed into the farm and began picking apples. They ran back to the desert temple and began distributing them to the hungry fighters. As Jacques handed out the apples, one of Veronica’s soldiers asked if she could have an apple. Jacques didn’t know what to do. He knew she was hungry, but she was also his enemy. He couldn’t hand her an apple.

  “Please,” she called out. Her voice was weak.

  Jacques handed her an apple. “I can’t see someone starve, but you have to remember that we are not your enemy. This is a battle that Veronica has staged on her own, and you have a choice if you want it to continue.”

  “Thank you,” the soldier replied. She took a bite of the apple.

  A husk leaped at Jacques as he struck the beast and destroyed it. He looked out in the distance and saw a new group of husks making its way through the desert. Brian called out to Jacques, “Does it look like they are coming from the direction of the mountainous biome?”

  “Yes,” said Jacques.

  “Then I have to go there. We won’t be able to stop the invasion if we don’t stop the spawner,” said Brian.

  “I will go with you,” said Poppy.

  “Me too,” added Brett.

  Veronica watched as the trio made their way toward the mountainous biome, and when they were out of view, she sprinted in their direction. She didn’t alert any of her soldiers. She just quietly exited the temple and trailed behind them.

  Poppy felt somebody following them. She wanted to stop and look back. But they were steps from a large mountain, and Brian had located an entrance to a cave. “I think the husks are coming from here!”

  Husks were walking out of the entrance to the cave. One of the husks leaped at Brian, and he pierced the beast with his enchanted diamond sword, destroying it. He raced inside the dark cave as Brett pulled a torch from his inventory to help them see.

  “Watch out!” Poppy cried as she saw a pair of red eyes staring at them.

  “It’s just a spider,” said Brian as he destroyed the arachnid. “We have bigger issues. We have to find the spawner.”

  Two more spiders crawled toward them. Poppy slammed her sword at the spiders. She looked down at the ground. “Silverfish!”

  The ground was filled with silverfish. Brian said, “Just run over them. We can’t waste our time with insects.”

  The silverfish nibbled at their feet, destroying their energy. The gang shared a potion of healing to combat the attack from the silverfish as they made their way into the cave in search of the spawner.

  Brett clutched the torch. “It looks like it might be down this hall.” He flashed it down the hall as he tried to avoid the husks that marched down the narrow path.

  Poppy raced ahead. “It is! I see it!”

  “We have to destroy it,” ordered Brett.

  The gang pulled their pickaxes from their inventories and began to break the spawner into pieces. After a few strikes, the spawner deactivated.

  “We did it!” exclaimed Brian.

  “Good job,” a cold voice called out from the corner of the cave.

  “Veronica, did you follow us here?” questioned Poppy.

  “Does it matter?” asked Veronica.

  “Why are you building all of these monster spawners? You are terrible,” said Brian.

  “I want to destroy you,” she replied.

  Behind Veronica a deep voice called out, “Don’t take credit for something you didn’t do.”

  The group was stunned when a man wearing a red jumpsuit and dark sunglasses appeared. Brett asked, “Who are you?”

  “I’m the one who created the spawner,” he replied.

  “Is this true?” Brian asked Veronica.

  She didn’t reply. She simply splashed a potion on her body and disappeared.

  16

  NEW PLANS

  “Who are you?” asked Brett.

  “I’m Ron,” he introduced himself, “and I want to apologize for creating the husk spawner. I actually believed this part of the Overworld was empty and didn’t have any inhabitants.”

  “Why did you craft a spawner?” asked Brian.

  “I’m new to the Overworld, and I was teaching myself how to craft monster spawners. I’m trying to acquire the skills to survive. I just learned how to build a house, and now I am going to mine for materials for a brewing stand,” Ron explained.

  “I need to do that too,” said Brian.

  “Let’s do it now,” suggested Ron.

  Poppy reminded them about the silverfish that lined the floor of the cave. “We have to destroy these silverfish. They are making us lose energy.”

  “Yes,” said Ron, “we must.” Ron slammed his sword at the ground, destroying groups of silverfish.

  As they made their way toward the area where they could mine, Ron asked them, “Where are you guys from?”

  “Different places,” said Brian. “I’m from Sandy Vista.”

  “Where is that?” asked Ron.

  “It’s not far from here, but it’s under attack,” said Brian.

  “I assume your town is being attacked by the woman who tried to take credit for my spawner, right?”

  “Yes,” replied Brian. “She is vicious.”

  “Why does she want to attack your town?” asked Ron.

  “Since you’re new to the Overworld, we don’t want to jade your view of life here, but there are many griefers who only exist to destroy your property. Veronica wants to be known for destroying towns. I know it doesn’t make sense, but these things never made sense to me,” said Brett.

  “I’ve met people like that before, which is why I was learning how to create a spawner. I want to be strong,” explained Ron.

  “Learning how to build a monster spawner doesn’t make you strong,” said Poppy.

  “Really? Why not?” asked Ron as he destroyed another silverfish that crawled on the ground.

  “You need to build friendships and help people. That’s what makes you strong. You don’t teach yourself how to craft spawners that create mobs that can hurt other players. I think that’s the opposite of becoming strong,” said Poppy. She added, “But that’s just my opinion.”

  The final silverfish was destroyed, and Brian said, “I agree with you Poppy, but we don’t have time to debate who and what is strong. At this moment V
eronica can be destroying Sandy Vista.”

  “And Meadow Mews,” Brett reminded them.

  Brian said, “We should mine for materials and brewing stands quickly so we all have them and can craft potions to battle Veronica.”

  “I agree,” said Brett. “If we can find them quickly, we should obtain them.” Brett climbed into the hole in the mine and banged his pickaxe against the blocky ground. Within a few minutes he unearthed materials for a brewing stand and pulled them from the mine.

  “Wow,” said Poppy. “Are there any other ones?” She climbed into the hole next to Brett and began to mine for more brewing stand materials.

  As the gang mined for materials for brewing stands, Nancy and Helen rushed into the mine and said, “There you guys are!”

  “Is Sandy Vista under attack again?” asked Brian.

  “Again?” Nancy was surprised. “The attack never stopped. It has been going on forever. After the husks were destroyed, Veronica had her army trap everyone in the desert temple. We were able to escape. You have to come back and help us save everyone.”

  “Hi.” Ron looked up from the mine. “I’m Ron. I will help you guys.”

  “Thanks. We need all the help we can get,” said Nancy.

  Helen pulled her red hair from her face. “I think we should go right now.”

  “Can we wait a second? We just found materials to make brewing stands. This will strengthen our people, and we can battle Veronica,” said Brian.

  Ron said, “I thought Poppy said that strength was helping other people and being a good friend. We don’t need these materials for brewing stands if your friends are in jail. We have to free them from Veronica.”

  “I like the way you think,” said Nancy.

  “Me too.” Poppy blushed.

  The gang was about to exit the cave when a cold wind blew through it. “What was that?” questioned Brian.

  Brett had only felt that feeling of extreme cold when he was near a portal. He paused and saw a hole in the ground next to the cave’s exit. He walked over and inspected it. “There’s a portal!”

  “What’s that?” questioned Ron.

  “If you jump in, you are transported to another point in time,” said Brett.

  Poppy looked at the portal. She wanted to jump in. She wanted to be transported back to her life in Meadow Mews, but she knew that she couldn’t abandon her friends. She stood and stared at the hole.

  “We have to go,” said Brian.

  “Poppy,” Nancy said, “you aren’t considering going down that hole, are you?”

  “Maybe one of us should go back to see if Meadow Mews is okay. We should find out if Veronica destroyed it.”

  “Poppy,” said Nancy, “we can’t.”

  Helen stood next to Poppy. “But what if we never see another portal again?” questioned Helen. “What if we can never go back home?”

  “We miss our home a lot,” added Poppy.

  “I know we do,” said Brett, “but I’ve had to make this sort of choice before, and I’m telling you that if you go down that hole, you will regret it. You have to help the folks at Sandy Vista. We can’t abandon them.”

  Poppy inhaled the cold air from the portal. If she just hopped inside this portal, this would all be over. There wouldn’t be any more husk attacks, and she wouldn’t have to battle Veronica and her army in Sandy Vista. She could concentrate on saving Meadow Mews and stopping Veronica if she had soldiers attacking their town too. She looked over at Brian, who stood right outside the cave. She stared at the portal and then walked toward Brian. She hoped she was making the right decision.

  17

  DESERT DUEL

  “You made the right choice,” Brett told Poppy. “You’ll see.”

  The gang sped toward the desert temple. As they approached the grand structure, they saw Queen Gail and Veronica standing across from each other. They weren’t dressed in armor, but they clutched diamond swords. Everyone surrounded them, as if they were about to stage a play. Brett called out, “What’s happening?”

  Colin replied, “There’s going to be a duel.”

  “What? A duel between Queen Gail and Veronica?” Brett questioned.

  Veronica answered, “Yes, we will duel. We are unarmored and on hardcore mode. We are dueling to the end. If I win, I will be the ruler of both Sandy Vista and Meadow Mews.”

  “Why do you have to be on hardcore mode?” asked Poppy. “That seems rather intense. Why can’t one of you just know you’re the loser and one is the winner? Why does it have to be the end of one of you?”

  Veronica eyed Queen Gail and wondered if she might be stronger or a better fighter and if this might be the end of her. She said, “Maybe you’re right. Perhaps we shouldn’t do this on hardcore mode.”

  Everyone was shocked when Veronica said these words. Veronica ordered one of the soldiers to destroy the command blocks before the duel proceeded.

  Poppy said, “Thank you. I am glad you came to your senses.”

  The soldier came back and announced the command blocks were destroyed.

  Jacques asked everyone to give Queen Gail and Veronica space as he announced that the duel was about to begin.

  “The duel will begin after I count to ten,” announced Jacques. His voice shook, he was nervous, and he feared that Queen Gail would be defeated and they would spend their lives under Veronica’s rule. He wondered if she’d want to wear Queen Gail’s crown. He hoped Veronica wouldn’t win. Life would be unbearable if she did. He began to count to ten. His voice cracked when he reached nine, and he felt like he was about to faint when he said, “Ten. It has begun.”

  Queen Gail’s heart raced. She had never been in a duel, and she wasn’t a skilled fighter, but she knew that the fate of Sandy Vista depended on her winning this duel. Queen Gail looked over at Nancy, who smiled at her. She remembered how scared she was in the Nether and how Nancy had taught her to battle a ghast. She knew that she could do things that she was afraid of and that she was stronger than she believed. Despite all of these thoughts, she was still frightfully nervous about partaking in a duel.

  Veronica sprinted toward Queen Gail, but the queen stopped her. Queen Gail was the first to swing her sword at Veronica, slicing into her arm. Veronica cried out in pain but quickly stifled her cries because she didn’t want to appear weak. Veronica leaped at Queen Gail, but Queen Gail dodged the strike and lunged at Veronica.

  “Ouch!” Veronica cried as tears streamed down her face. She wanted to wipe them, but she couldn’t let go of her diamond sword. Veronica took a deep breath, leaped at Queen Gail, and struck the queen’s arm with her diamond sword. Veronica was confident after getting one strike in, and she hoped that she’d be able to defeat Queen Gail.

  Veronica slammed her sword into Queen Gail two more times, leaving her with only two hearts, and Queen Gail was beginning to worry that this was the end. Queen Gail used all of her energy to pierce Veronica’s belly, which left Veronica with two hearts. The duel was tied. They were both equally weakened. Queen Gail swung her sword at Veronica, and Veronica tripped and dropped her sword.

  “Oh no!” Veronica said. “My sword.”

  Queen Gail stood above Veronica as she slammed her sword into Veronica’s arm, leaving her with one heart. Queen Gail looked at Veronica and said, “I don’t have to destroy you. You have no weapon. It would be cruel to destroy you. I want you to know that you have caused a lot of trouble in our town, and you need to understand that your actions have hurt a lot of people.”

  “You don’t want to destroy me and be declared the winner?” asked Veronica. She was weak and weaponless and confused.

  “No, I don’t get satisfaction out of destroying other people,” said Queen Gail. “I get it by helping people. I’d rather have you promise that you have changed and that you will become an active member of our community than simply destroy you and know that I have won.”

  Veronica was surprised by this reaction. She couldn’t imagine not destroying someone when you had t
he chance, but as she listened to Queen Gail talk, she tried to make sense of her logic. “You will let me live and stay here if I promise not to attack you. You mean you would end this duel and walk away with not winning?”

  “Yes,” Queen Gail said. “Winning and losing aren’t as important as how we can change the way we view each other. I don’t want you to be our enemy and I want you to be able to live here and not destroy Sandy Vista.”

  “You want me to stay here?” questioned Veronica. “Nobody ever wanted me to stay in their town before.”

  “That’s because you were probably attacking the town,” said Queen Gail.

  “That’s true,” said Veronica.

  “I know you have the capacity to change. Will you try, and we can end this duel?” asked the queen.

  Veronica put out her hand and said, “Yes, I will try.”

  Queen Gail picked up Veronica’s diamond sword and handed it to her. “You can take this back. I know you won’t attack me with it.”

  Veronica smiled and placed the sword back in her inventory. “Thanks for letting me stay.”

  Ruby walked over to Veronica. “Can we be free from your army?”

  “Yes, Ruby,” said Veronica.

  “You know my name?” Ruby was shocked.

  “I know all of your names,” confessed Veronica.

  “We should have a celebration,” said King Jed. “We will host a large feast tonight.”

  “Can I come?” asked Ron.

  Brian said, “Yes, and you can stay in Sandy Vista.”

  “Everyone can stay in Sandy Vista,” declared King Jed, and there was a loud cheer amongst the group.

  Helen and Nancy looked over at the other folks from Meadow Mews. Nancy said, “I’m afraid we can’t stay. We have to go back to Meadow Mews, but we don’t know how to get back there.”

  “We saw a portal,” exclaimed Poppy. “Maybe it’s still active.”