Battle for the Nether by Mark Cheverton

Author:Mark Cheverton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Published: 2014-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

NIGHTMARES REVEALED

C

rafter and Gameknight crouched close together as they sped down the tunnel in the minecart. The heat from Malacoda’s fireball still filled the passageway, making beads of sweat trickle down their faces and sting their eyes. A subtle smoky haze filled the air, but gradually cleared as they sped down the tracks.

“That was close,” Crafter said, patting his friend on the shoulder. “Malacoda seemed a little upset at our escape.”

“Upset?” Gameknight snapped. “He was insane with rage, a killing rage that was focused directly on us, and probably still is. I don’t know if we’ll be so lucky next time.”

“Perhaps.”

Gameknight looked away, staring down the minecart tracks. The tunnel had led straight away from the crafting cavern, but was now slowly going uphill. The beat of the wheels on the crossbeams created a hypnotic effect on him, the ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk driving the horrifying images of Malacoda from his mind.

Then suddenly the minecart plummeted downward on a steep slope. It turned left then right, then left again as it jogged its way through the flesh of Minecraft. Gameknight knew that the tracks were going around sections of the rail network that had stopped working correctly, a portion of the system becoming visible to the users for some reason. When that happened, the NPCs converted that section of the track to an abandoned mine and filled it with the occasional chest of items: a sword here, food and tools there. It was what the NPCs did—kept the mechanism of Minecraft working. He wished they were just going straight, because the sudden turns were affecting his stomach and the rumbling didn’t feel so good. But just as he was about to complain, the track straightened out again. Sighing, he relaxed a little.

Quite suddenly, the stone wall of the tunnel curved away and opened up, showing a gigantic crevasse that stretched up to the sky, the bottom of it plunging far below the level of their rails. Looking up, Gameknight could see blocky clouds drifting across the narrow slice of sky visible through the opening of the crevasse. At the bottom he could see a narrow river flowing down its length, the occasional blossom of lava spilling into the watery stream. The combination of water and molten rock formed dark, midnight blue obsidian that sparkled with purple flecks in the distance. Shadows covered the floor of the valley; the sheer walls and narrow span shielding the crevasse from sunlight except at noon. These shadows allowed the monsters of night, the mobs of the Overworld, to mill about without bursting into flame. He could see zombies and skeletons clustering right next to the vertical walls, still fearing the openness of the floor and the burning sun that would emerge midway through the day.

The scene instantly reminded him of the dream he’d had days ago, the dream where Erebus had first appeared to him . . . the beginning of the constant nightmare. Shuddering, his face froze as the terror of that dream replayed itself through his mind, his eyes wide, mouth frozen slightly open.

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