The Adventures of Steve (Book 2) – Journey Through Winterland

 

Day 49-50

It has now been fifteen days since Sam, Erik and I escaped from the evil villagers. We have been traveling north for over two weeks now. The villagers have been able to successfully track us, because of the footprints we left in the snow. Those villagers just won’t give up. A couple of days back, we stopped by a small village called “Lake-Ville” to get some supplies for our long journey.

We were only in Lake-Ville for couple of minutes before we saw a “wanted” poster with all three of our faces on it. The poster said “Wanted! Dead or Alive. Bring them back for a reward of fifty gold bars.” It seems like elder Tom, is really anxious to get us back. He even raised the reward price by thirty gold bars. Maybe he’s scared we might tell someone about him…well, in that case, he is right! We are going to tell everyone that will listen to us! He must be stopped once in for all! We had to leave the village right away, before someone spotted us.

We are almost out of food, and we have a long trip ahead of us. In case I haven’t mentioned, we have traveled deep into the north. It is beyond freezing over here, and the odds of us finding food in the frozen forest are very slim; everything is frozen in this part of the world.

We still have a long way to go. I’m afraid we’re going to starve to death. We only have a couple of steaks left for all three of us, and it looks like Erik is catching some kind of flu. It looks kind of serious. We need to get him to a doctor as soon as possible, or else it’ll only get worse.

We have been making routine stops to all the mines we could find, to gather some material. We have enough supplies to trade for food, but what good is it if we don’t have anyone to trade supplies with!?

It has been so cold that we have only slept a couple of hours in the past few days.

We kept having to go out and collect some wood to keep us warm. I just hope Erik gets better so we can keep moving. The only reason we haven’t frozen to death is because we keep moving at all times. Luckily, we could be out gathering materials all day and night. You see, all of the bad things have frozen. The creepy monsters are frozen. The zombies are frozen. The witches are frozen. Even the green blob things are frozen. We will be saving most of our food until the time comes where we really need it. For now, we will be taking shelter in a small cave-mine, we need to keep Erik warm the whole night. This whole trip has been a mess.

We need to find warmer land soon. While we were in the mine, we built a small shelter with a door, we even lit it with tons of torches, Erik will keep warm here. Even though we knew there were no monsters out there, we were still careful. We still wore our leather armor. We would wear our iron armor, but it just gets too cold. I told Sam that we should go explore the mine. You see, I wanted to build a bow, and I was pretty sure we could find some frozen spiders to get some string.

Steve: “Hey, Sam. Let’s get our stuff and explore the mine. We need to gather some more supplies.”

Sam: “Okay, but what about Erik?”

Steve: “He will be safe there, remember that all the bad guys are frozen, bro.”

Sam: “Yeah, ha-ha. You’re right. Let’s go!”

Steve: “I’m thinking about building a bow, I saw some juicy crows out there while I was getting wood last night, maybe we could eat them.”

Sam: “Eeeww! That sounds gross!”

Steve: “Yeah, I know but we need to get some food soon or we will starve. If I can mix the crow into a soup it shouldn’t taste that bad. I’m a pretty good cook you know!”

Sam: “Yeah, right!”

Steve: “Hey! Come over here, bring your sword!”

Sam: “What is it?”

Steve: “It’s a frozen spider, ha-ha dumb spider.”

Sam: “Look at its eyes! They’re so ugly!”

Steve: “Yeah, it looks gross! Let me see that sword. I’m going to take its string.”

Sam: “While you do that, let me set up a crafting table over here.”

Steve: “good thinking! Ha-ha, I got the string! Hey, let me set up some some cubes to block this spider. We don’t want it to sneak behind us.”

Sam: “Good idea, Steve.”

Steve: “Hey, you said you know how to make a bow right?”

Sam: “Yeah, all you need is three sticks and three strings.”

Steve: “What about arrows?”

Sam: “well, for arrows you need some flints, sticks and some feathers. Here, let me check my inventory, I think I have feathers in here…yes! Here they are!”

Steve: “Thanks, Sam. You’re a life saver! Ha-ha.”

Sam: “Any time, bro.”

Steve: “Hey, Sam. Can you do me a favor and build a furnace?

Sam: “Yeah, sure.”

Steve: “Here is some coal, fire it up ha-ha!”

Sam: “Okay.”

Steve: “I’m going outside for a while, I’m going to try to get me some crows for our soup!”

Sam: “I’ll start boiling the water for it.”

Steve: “Okay, thanks.”

I started walking towards the exit and immediately heard some crows making sounds in the area. I thought to myself ‘I should be very careful with these arrows, I only have four of them.’. I finally saw one flying above me. I drew back the bow string and took the first shot…uh, it was unsuccessful. I shot once again and I missed! I was getting so frustrated. I took the third shot and it was closer to hitting the crow. I only have one more shot, if I don’t make it we will go without food for a while. I focused so hard on my last shot…I drew the string back, I let the arrow go… and it shot right through him! Yes! I went back to the shelter inside the cave to see if Sam was done setting up the furnace.

Steve: “Hey, Sam. I’m back.”

Sam: “Did you get the crow?”

Steve: “Ha-ha, I got him.”

Sam: “Cool! Let me see.”

Steve: “Here.”

Sam: “Eeww, it’s so nasty.”

Steve: “Throw him in with the soup.”

The crow boiled for a while along with the soup, after a while it was ready.

Sam: “Let’s eat”

Steve: “Yeah, let me feed Erik first, he needs it more than us.”

Sam: “Yeah, you’re right. Hey, we are going to need to leave pretty soon, we need to keep moving.”

Steve: “I know, but Erik is still sick, we need a way to take him with us.”

Sam: “We should build a mining cart, that way we can pull him.”

Steve: “Good idea, but we need to add some sleds to the bottom, if not the wheels will have trouble moving on the snow.”

Sam: “We need some more iron to build it.”

Steve: “Yeah, I know. You know what, why don’t you get some rest and I’ll go find some iron ore.”

Sam: “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

Steve: “I can’t sleep, I’m too cold. Don’t worry, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Sam: “Okay.”

I went on my way into the mine and mined all night. I ended up with about twenty-five blocks of iron ore, a stack of sixty-four red-stone powder, two stacks of sixty-four cobblestone, two emerald, twenty-nine coals, six blocks of gold ore and three diamonds. I went back to our shelter, set up my crafting table and crafted all night. Most of our tools were almost broken, so I decided to build some iron pickaxes, shovels and axes. I also crafted myself my very first diamond pick-ax. It was almost morning so I decided I would try to get at least one hour of sleep.

During that hour of sleep I had a dream…no, I had a nightmare. In my nightmare, I was in a dark cave, I could barely see what was going on in front of me. All I knew is that I was holding my brand new diamond pick-ax. I felt a small breeze of cold air around me, it was almost like if there was something flying around me. I think it was either bats or maybe a dragon. No, dragons don’t exist! What am I talking about? Anyways, I was just standing there in the dark, and I suddenly began to feel fear. It was a fear so strong that the hairs behind my head began standing up.

I thought that I should leave the cave, I tried moving, but my legs were paralyzed with fear. I tried to move them with all my might, but they wouldn’t budge. The cold breeze began getting colder, it was chilling right to the core of my bones. All of a sudden, the light began turning on, it was very dim. I could still barely see. I closed my eyes to see if I could gather enough strength to move, my attempt was unsuccessful. I opened my eyes, and there was a shadow being standing right in front of me. Then the being opened his eyes, they glowed with a reddish-pink tint, he lifted up his arms and put them on my shoulder. He couldn’t speak my language, but somehow he was communicating with me using some sort of telepathy. it said, “Be still human, I am not going to hurt you.” I said “who are you?”

Being: “I am a friend.”

Steve: “Where are you from?”

Being: “Just like you, I am also not from this world.”

Steve: “Did you get stuck here too?”

Being: “No. I am here by choice.”

Steve: “Then why are you here?”

Being: “I am here to warn you about a being that escaped from my world. He is now here in the surface realm.”

Steve: “Who is it?”

Being: “You will learn soon enough human.”

Steve: “How does this concern you?”

Being: “I want him gone, he has destroyed a lot of our cities.”

Steve: “Why can’t I move?”

Being: “I have used a special potion on you, don’t worry it will wear off as soon as you wake up.”

Steve: “Wake up? You mean this is a dream?”

Being: “Yes, you are dreaming, and I am wide awake. Now, human. WAKE UP!”

Day 51-52

I woke up one hour later and went to check up on Erik. It looks like he is still sick, we need to get him to a doctor as soon as possible. I went to wake Sam up and told him we needed to get going, so he immediately got up and helped me pack up our stuff. We both carried Erik into the mine-cart, he is kind of heavy. We tied to ropes to the handle of the mine-cart and Sam and I began pulling it out of the mine.

Sam: “Phew, this cart is heavy.”

Steve: “Yeah, I know, but we have to tough it out until we can find a doctor.”

Sam: “I know, but it might be days, maybe weeks!”

Steve: “I know, but we have no choice. We are already deep in the north. Where is this place that we are going to anyways?”

Sam: “It’s about ten days away from Winter-Land. We could have taken the easier route but we had to pass by the village, and the village elder has people looking for us all around. The only reason we chose this route is because no villager would dare come here.”

Steve: “There’s probably a reason they don’t come here and it’s because they are not crazy! Ha-ha.”

Sam: “Yeah, you’re right ha-ha!”

Steve: “Sam?”

Sam: “Yeah?”

Steve: “I need to tell you something.”

Sam: “Why so cryptic all of a sudden.”

Steve: “Well, this is going to sound kinda dumb.”

Sam: “I like dumb ha-ha!”

Steve: “I had a nightmare last night.”

Sam: “Okay? Nightmares are kinda common, aren’t they?

Steve: “Well, yeah, but this one seemed kind of real, no, it was very real.”

Sam: “What happened?”

Steve: “Well I was in this dark cave. I was paralyzed with fear for some reason. All of a sudden a tall, dark being appeared.

Sam: “Did it have reddish-pink glowing eyes?”

Steve: “Yeah! How did you know that?!”

Sam: “It sounds really familiar to the being they call Enderman!”

Steve: “Enderman?”

Sam: “Yeah! I’ve only seen it once in my life, they are really scary!”

Steve: “Well this being in my dream said it was from another world.”

Sam: “You mean like an alien?”

Steve: “Who knows? Well anyways it said it appeared to me so he can warn me.”

Sam: “Warn you about what?”

Steve: “It said that there was an evil being that escaped from his world and is now here in the Mine-craft world!”

Sam: “Wow that sounds really scary! But it was just a dream.”

Steve: “Yeah, I guess.”

Sam: “Just don’t think about it too much. Let’s just keep moving.”

We pulled the cart all day until it began to get dark. We stopped for a moment to take a rest and build a fire. Our hands felt like they were frozen, we could barely move them. Our feet were even worse, they felt so frozen that we were walking weird. While we were warming our bodies up near the fire, we heard one of the loudest growls of our lives coming from the forest behind us.

Sam: “Did you hear that too?”

Steve: “Yeah, that was so scary, what was it?”

Sam: “I don’t know, it doesn’t sound like any animal I’ve heard before.”

Steve: “We should build a shelter quick!”

I took out my shovel and began digging a hole as fast as I could, I was so scared that I almost forgot how cold I was. We pushed Erik’s mine-cart into the hole and we jumped in ourselves, and quickly blocked it off with some snow. While we were down there we heard the growl again. It sounded like it was getting closer. It looks like he found the spot where we built the fire because as it walked over the shelter you could hear the footsteps above us, they sounded so loud that I imagined this thing was as big as a tree.

Sam: “Steve?”

Steve: “Yeah?”

Sam: “We left some steaks up there, he’s probably going to take them.”

Steve: “We are in big trouble now. We are going to starve now!”

Sam: “I’m scared. We are going to have to travel only at daytime now, that’s going to slow us down!”

Steve: “Don’t worry Sam. Well get through this, we are strong!”

Sam: “I just want to go home.”

Steve: “We’ll be there soon, just be patient. Here, I was going to surprise you with these before that thing came.” I tool out some mushrooms from my backpack.

Sam: “Mushrooms! Cool.”

Steve: “Yeah, lets cook them up!”

Sam: “Let me set up the furnace.”

Steve: “Here, let me craft some wooden bowls.”

Erik: “Guys?”

Steve: “Hey! You’re awake! Are you feeling better?

Erik: “Wha….where are we?”

Sam: “We don’t know, we are lost deep in the north. We need to get you to a doctor.”

Erik falls asleep.

Steve: “He fell asleep, come on, Sam, let’s eat this tasty soup. We need to warm up.”

Sam: “Do you think it will be safe to go out there in the morning tomorrow?”

Steve: “I don’t know. As soon as we wake up tomorrow we should go out there and make sure that thing is not out there before we bring Erik outside.”

Sam: “Good idea, Steve.”

Steve: “:Lets set up our beds and go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Sam: “Okay, I am dead tired.”

Day 53

Today was no different than any other day. We walked and walked, and it seemed to be getting colder as we walked further. My face was covered in snow, my eyebrows were frozen and my runny nose just made an ice mustache on top of my lips. I think Sam is right, we are going to die out here.

Today, we have officially ran out of food, and we have began to starve. I and Sam only have a half of heart left worth of life. We have been uncovering snow to see if we can find any more mushrooms, but we haven’t had any luck yet. I wish we could find a frozen lake at least, maybe we could catch a salmon. This is almost all flatland, we passed by some mountains in the beginning of our journey, at least then we could climb them and see what was coming up ahead. I’m beginning to think we should have just stayed close to where I originally spawned. We could have hidden underground. We would of had to be constantly running away from the villagers, but we would of at least had food. I am so hungry I could eat about ten steaks, no make that twenty!

Sam: “Hey, Steve. Do you hear that?”

Steve: “Hear what?”

Sam: “Listen closely! Sounds like it’s getting closer!”

Steve: “I think I hear it, it sounds like it’s coming from the woods.”

Sam: “I think that monster tracked us again!”

suddenly we hear a loud growl coming from the woods! It was so loud that it knocked the snow off from the trees.

Sam: “RUN!”

Steve: “Here, help me pull the mine-cart!”

Sam: “Okay.”

Sam and I grab the rope tied to the mine-cart and begin pulling it as fast as we could. We were to afraid to look back, I think that if we stopped for just one second to look back that “thing” would catch us! We must have ran for at least a quarter of a mile before we saw a man standing near a hole in the snow, he was waving us down and said “Over here, come fast!” we ran as fast as we could. As soon as we got inside, the man set two snow-blocks over the entrance and said “there, now that thing can’t see where we went.”

Steve: “Thank you so much, you saved us!”

Sam: “Yeah, thank you!”

Stranger: “You’re welcome, I’m sure you would have done the same for me.”

Steve: “I’m Steve, this is Sam, and your name?”

Stranger: “My name is Joe.”

Steve: “Thank you again for helping is out Joe. I’ve never seen a shelter like this before.”

Joe: “There are many shelters like this, you just haven’t seen them. They are camouflaged with snow blocks.”

Sam: “So this is some kind of igloo?”

Joe: “Yes, it is simple to build, durable and the ‘thing’ out there can’t see it.”

Steve: “What was that ‘thing’?”

Joe: “We just call it ‘thing’ because people say that if you say its name he will come get you…wherever you are.”

Steve: “That can’t be true.”

Joe: “Well it’s best if we don’t find out.”

Steve: “You’re right.”

Joe: “Who is this in the mine-cart?”

Steve: “Oh, that’s our friend Erik, he is very sick. We must get him to a doctor soon.”

Joe: “Well you must take him to Winter-Land, they have doctors there.”

Steve: “Yeah. I know, but I think we’re lost. I think the compass is broken.”

Joe: “Well using a compass is almost useless here in these areas. With all the blizzards going on outside, you are not going to be able to see it. Many people make the same mistake, they only travel by compass and get lost out here, because they never see it! You need to have a map. That way you can guide yourself by finding the landmarks. Now, Winter-Land is not far away from here. You just need to have the right tools. Here, I can make a copy of my map, but it’s going to cost you.”

Steve: “How much do you want?”

Joe: “I just need some supplies to get me through the month. I need some iron to make axes, I need some string to make a fishing pole, and I need some snow-blocks to build a fishing cabin.”

Steve: “No, problem. We have all that stuff here in our inventory.”

Joe: “Thank you! Nice doing business with you.”

Steve: “Have you ever seen the ‘thing’?”

Joe: “Yeah.”

Steve: “What does it look like?”

Joe: “Well all I can say is that it’s bigger than an oak-wood tree.”

Steve: “What is that ‘thing’?”

Joe: “Well, people say it comes from another dimension.”

Steve: “Huh? What is that?”

Joe: “Well the best was to explain it is that he is from another universe.”

Steve: “Well I still don’t get it.”

Joe: “So, why are you guys in such an awful place like this?

Steve: “Well, we are running away from an evil villager.”

Joe: “Do you mean Tom?”

Steve: “Yeah, how do you know Tom?”

Joe: “Well, it’s kind of a weird story.”

Steve: “Weird? Why?”

Joe: “Well, me and Tom used to be best friends. We ran a successful agriculture business together. One day he became…crazy. He started capturing people that would trespass our property and he began selling them as slaves. He became so rich, that it started getting to his head. Once I knew what he was up to I decided to sell my part of the business and retired. He was so crazy by the time I left that he now considered me an enemy.

Steve: “Why? You were good friends.”

Joe: “Well, since I didn’t approve of his new business ventures, he started hating me. I decided I was going to pack my things and leave the village. After he heard the news, he started telling people that whoever brings me back, he would give them a rewards of two-hundred diamonds.”

Steve: “Ha-ha that’s a huge reward! Maybe we should turn you in!”

Joe: “Please don’t joke about that. You have no idea what that evil man would do to me if he found me.”

Steve: “Sorry, I was only joking.”

Joe: “Yeah I know. Can I ask you a favor?”

Steve: “Sure, anything.”

Joe: “Please don’t ever mention anything about me to anyone that you may talk to. If they know where I am they will surely come for me.”

Steve: “Don’t worry, I won’t say a word.”

Joe: “Thank you. You guys must be freezing, let me throw some more wood on the fireplace.”

Steve: “Thank you. Sam, say thanks to Joe.”

Joe: “Looks like he fell asleep. So, you say you’re from another world, Steve?”

Steve: “Yeah, I was sitting in my room watching some videos on the computer.”

Joe: “Wait! What? Videos? Computers?”

Steve: “Ha-ha what? You don’t know what a computer and videos are?”

Joe: “No, I’ve never heard of such things!”

Steve: “Ha-ha you guys are weird!”

Joe: “Huh? Us weird?”

Steve: “Well, a video is a moving picture file.”

Joe: “I’m still lost, what’s a picture?”

Steve: “Well, first I’m going to tell you about cameras.”

Joe: “Cameras?”

Steve: “Yeah, cameras. A camera is a kind of a machine that is used to take pictures. You can use it to make sort of like an automatic painting. If I have a camera with me, I could point it at you.”

Joe: “Wait! Point it at me? It’s not dangerous is it?”

Steve: “Haha, no! I point it at you press the button, and a flash comes out. It will make sort of like a painting of you, and everything around you, automatically?”

Joe: “Wow! That sounds amazing! It’s like an instant painting machine, right?”

Steve: “Exactly! Now you got it!”

Joe: “What about the so called computer?”

Steve: “Well, the computer is a little harder to explain. It’s sort of like an electronic box, you can input data in it, like math problems, and it will solve them for you.”

Joe: “Now I just think you’re making things up!”

Steve: “Ha-ha no! I’m telling the truth!”

Joe: “Okay, Mr ‘computer’!”

Steve: “Well, to finish my story. I was sitting in my room watching some videos on the computer, and all of a sudden everything went dark. I think I passed out because when I woke up, I was here in the Mine-craft world.”

Joe: “Wow, you must have been scared.”

Steve: “I was beyond scared. I’m still scared, I have no idea how I’m going to get home.”

Joe: “Well, I’m very sorry to hear that. I wish I could help you.”

Steve: “Well, thanks for your concern.”

Joe: “Well, I’m going to bed. you guys are welcome to spend the night. There is some fish in the furnace if you guys are hungry.”

Steve: “Omg, thank you. We are starving.”

Joe: “Well, enjoy. I’m going to bed, if you need anything, wake me up.”

Steve: “Okay.”

Day 54

In the morning I was excited to get up and head on to Winter-Land. Well, now that we knew where it was. I set the map down on the table and began to study it. It looks as though we’ve passed by Winter-Land twice now…twice! I should have known something fishy was going on. I woke Sam up and told him we should pack up, I found a couple of fishing holes on the map and I wanted to get some fish before we left. We packed all our stuff and thanked Joe for being so kind to us and said our goodbyes.

Sam: “goodbye, Joe! Thank you so much for everything.”

Joe: “You’re welcome! It was no trouble at all!”

Steve: “Thank, you. Joe! Hope it all goes well for you in this awful place.”

Joe: “You’re very welcome guys, and I’ll be fine. I’m a strong old man.”

Steve: “If we ever stop by this place again we’ll come visit you.”

Joe: “Okay guys! You can visit anytime! Bye!”

We walked away from his shelter. Joe blocked off the entrance with snow once again, and we were on our way.

Steve: “Hey, Sam looks like the blizzards are starting up again, lets get some snowballs, we need to create a quick fishing shelter.”

Sam: “Okay, cool. So…how does fishing work if the lake is frozen?”

Steve: “Well the process is kind of simple, you build the snow shelter, you break a small part of the ice and stick the fishing line inside.”

Sam: “Okay, a simple six by six shelter should work. Okay done!”

Steve: “Cool, let me just break a small hole in the ice here and we should be set.”

Sam: “So we just drop the line in the cold water?”

Steve: “Yeah, like this.”

Sam: “Hey, I think I got one!”

Steve: “That, quick? You must be lying!”

Sam: “No, here. Look!”

Steve: “Cool, lets cook it up!”

Sam: “Let me set up the furnace, you catch more fish.”

Steve: “Cool, sounds like a plan!”

Sam: “Have you ever ate fish?”

Steve: “No, this is my first time.”

Sam: “Cool, fish is really good around these places. Here, have a bite.”

Steve: “Mmmm, this is really good!”

Sam: “See! I told you so!”

Steve: “Here, I caught two more fish!”

Sam: “I am not hungry anymore. What about you?”

Steve: “No, let’s save these for later. I wish Erik would wake up so he could eat.”

After we were done fishing, went on our way to Winter-Land.

Steve: “So, what is Winter-Land?”

Sam: “Well…I’ve never actually been there, but I’ve heard some crazy stories about it.”

Steve: “Really, like what?”

Sam: “Well, they say it’s built like a huge fortress. The walls are like one-hundred feet high. Who knows why. They’re probably trying to keep someone or something out. They say they have about one-hundred guards at the gate, all equipped with iron armor, and they all have bows.

Steve: “Wow! That sounds crazy!”

Sam: “Well we should be there pretty soon, so you can see for yourself!”

When we were done chatting, we looked in front of us and we spotted the huge fortress about a quarter mile from where we were. Finally, after all we’ve been through, we are finally here. It looked just as Sam described it, but it looked like the walls were way taller than we expected. They’ve must have added more to it. We ran to the fortress and as we were approaching, we began to hear a bell, the closer we got the most they towed on the iron bell. As soon as we got to the gate one of the guards standing on the tower yelled “Stop. Right. There. If you even move a muscle I will command my men to fire their arrows.” I said “Wait! We are not your enemies! we are here because our friend needs a doctor, please let us in.”. The guard said “No, step away from the fortress or we will shoot.”

Right after he said that we heard footsteps behind us.

I immediately drew my sword and prepared for the worst. All of a sudden out of the snow storm a silhouette of a skeleton started appearing, when he finally got closer we saw a undead looking soldier. It was nasty looking, and it was equipped with full armor and a sword. Without hesitation, he took a full swing at me with his sword, but I managed to block his attack and hit him back. His armor was so strong that my sword barely made any damage.

We had to be smart about this so I told Sam to attack him from the back, so I can attack the part of his body that wasn’t covered by armor. Sam began swinging his sword at the creature as I drew my bow, my hands were shaking so back that I couldn’t aim properly. I took a deep breath and shot the first arrow and hit him straight in the eye.

When the creature was hit in the eye, he immediately crumbled into a fine powder and dropped his sword, and armor. I picked it up and equipped it. I will wear this armor as a badge of honor. Apparently the guards were so impressed with my courage that they decided to open the gate for us. When the gate was finally open, two men ready at the gate to take Erik to the hospital. As soon as we got there, we were greeted by a man who claimed to be the commander of the guards. He was so impressed with my fighting that he offered me and Sam a position as night-watch. I gently declined the offer, because I had other places to go. He said that if I changed my mind the gate was always open for me. We are so tired from the long trip, so I offered the commander some iron in exchange for a place to sleep. He said we can stay here for free, he didn’t want us out there with the skeletons. I am getting tired of writing, I just need some rest.

 

Day 55-58

I woke up today fully rested and relieved that Erik was finally getting some medical attention. I began walking around the village to check out the scenes, they are really amazing. I noticed the bottom part of the wall was made mostly from obsidian. That seemed weird to me, why would they go through all the trouble of mining obsidian to build a wall? I decided to stop one of the guards and asked him why that was. What he said really scared me. He said the reason was because the “things” out there knew how to break the blocks, and obsidian was the only material they could afford to use. He said that if it was up to them, they would make it entirely out of diamond blocks.

I asked the guard “why do you guys have a base here in the middle of Winter-Land?”

Guard: “Well our job is to keep those ‘things’ from going outside of Winter-Land. If they were to go to others lands, they would destroy peoples crops, and houses.”

Steve: “Wow, so your job is really important?”

Guard: “Yeah, I’m really proud that I get to protect the country. We still haven’t found a way to kill them.”

Steve: “You haven’t?”

Guard: “No. Some people thought they were immortal.”

Steve: “Wait, are you talking about those skeletons or the ‘thing’?”

Guard: “I am talking about both.”

Steve: “But I killed one of those things!”

Guard: “Yeah, you did. Now we know the skeletons can be killed. I still think that ‘thing’ is immortal.”

Steve: “How often do the skeletons attack?”

Guard: “Well, if we have food here they come almost every other night. Last month one of them managed to break through the wall and took almost all our food supplies, we almost starved to death.”

Steve: “What can I do to help?”

Guard: “You can help us mine some obsidian. You can stop by the crafting shop and pick up some diamond pickaxes.”

Steve: “Oh really? I’m heading there right now. Thanks!”

Guard: “No problem.”

I headed down to the crafting shop, I took a quick look at their inventory and told the man to give me some diamond pickaxes. He took two out of the chest and gave them to me. He asked me if I had any arrows because I would need the obsidian mines. I said “Yeah give me a couple.”. He took a huge stack of them and gave them to me. It was a lot of arrows! When I was leaving the shop, the man warned me to be really careful, and that the mine I was going to was full of monsters. I just said thanks and left. I went and got Sam and told him to come with me, he agreed. I gave him a pick-ax and some arrows and we went on our way to the mines.

As soon as we got there we set up a safety shelter. I thought that if we got attacked by multiple enemies, we should have a safe place to run to. We did the usual in the shelter. We set up our beds, crafting table, furnace and chests. I think the man in the shop was right, the caves are full of lava, it’s almost as if we are walking on a volcano. The only way you can forward is if you set some cobblestone and make a path. We had to be really careful, one little misstep and we fall into the lava.

Sam: “Hey, Steve?”

Steve: “Yeah?”

Sam: “Do you have any cobblestone in your inventory?”

Steve: “Yeah, I have one full stack.”

Sam: “Well, I’m almost out.”

Steve: “We’ll be fine.”

Sam: “Do you hear that hiss?”

Steve: “Yeah. It sounds like it’s coming from behind us.”

Sam looks back and seen tons of creepy monsters coming our way “omg! Creepy monsters! Dozens of them!”

Steve: “Break the path so they can’t cross!”

Sam takes out his pickaxe and begins to break the cobblestone path behind us.

Sam: “Okay, it’s done!”

Steve: “Now we are stuck here in the middle of the lava, how are we ever going to get out of here?”

Sam: “Wait! Don’t we have the bows?”
Steve: “Yeah, but if we shoot all those creepy monsters there will be a huge explosion!”

Sam: “So what are we going to do?”

Steve: “I don’t know.”

Sam: “What if we can get them to jump into the lava one by one?”

Steve: “Good plan but how are we going to get them to do that?”

Sam: “Maybe if we rebuild the path we can get closer.”

Steve: “Closer?…for what?”

Sam: “No, you’re right. They will all just end up blowing up.”

Steve: “I guess we’re just going to have to wait this one out.”

Sam: “Guess, so.”

Sam and I sat on the cobblestone for a very long time. We thought that if we waited long enough the creepy monsters would leave…we were wrong. We have now been sitting here for days—it seems like. We are literally starving to death. We have no way to communicate with the outside world, and worst of all we never told anyone we were coming to the mines. Nobody knows we are here. I think this is the end for us. I sat there looking down at the bubbling lava below me, sad. I closed my eyes for a second, and when I opened them I couldn’t see…like someone turned off the lights.

Steve: “Sam, is it just me or are the lights really out?”

Sam: “I can’t see anything either. Even the light of the lava is gone.”

Steve: “So now we can’t see anything!”

Sam: “I don’t want to scare you but…there are some pink glowing eyes behind you, John.”

Steve: “Whaaa?”

Sam: “Ye ye yeah look behind you!”

I looked behind me and got the scare of my life. I must have turned to pale that it lit the room. It was a tall, slender, looking being, with pink glowing eyes, I think that it was the “being” that I saw in my dreams. He stood there looking at Sam, and I. He was holding an obsidian brick on his arms. Before we had a chance to react, he lifted up his arms and handed me the block. As soon as I grabbed the block, the being disappeared, and the lights turned on again, then, when they turned on, the whole lava field had been converted into obsidian. It was like some kind of miracle. The creepy monsters were all gone. Sam and I mined obsidian all night long. we collected at least three stacks of sixty-four blocks each.

Day 59

 

We arrived at the fortress in the morning. We did our secret knock on the gate, one of the guards peeked through the side, and opened the gate for us. While we were entering, we were stopped by two guards. They had a concerned look on their faces, they asked us “where have you been! You’ve been gone for days now!”.

We told the guards that we had taken a trip to the local obsidian-mines. One of the guards said, “Next time you decide to run off like that to the mines, you should tell someone first!”

They said, “It’s really dangerous there at the mines, we have lost many men there. Don’t ever go alone!”. As the guards were talking to us, the Commander walked in to greet us. He was really impressed that we were able to get out of the mines alive. He said, “You two are some of the bravest people to ever come to Winter-Land, we  need more soldiers like you.”

We both said thank you. We told the commander that we had gathered a ton of obsidian. He told us that he was thankful and that he would give the order immediately to put them on the wall. The commander took me aside to talk to me in private.

Commander: “Steve, I need to talk to you.”

Steve: “Sure, what is it?”

Commander: “It’s about your friend, Erik.”

Steve: “What’s wrong with Erik?

Commander: “I’m afraid his condition is getting worse. The doctors are doing everything they can, but he is just getting worse.”

Steve: “What can I do to help?”

Commander: “Well you can do anything for now. The doctors still don’t know what virus he is carrying.”

Steve: “Thank you for everything you’re doing.”

Commander: “You are welcome. Steve, I would like to ask you a favor.”

Steve: “Sure, anything.”

Commander: “Two of our best men are sick, they can’t watch the gate today. Will you and Sam watch it today?”

Steve: “sure I’ll go get Sam.”

Commander: “Thank you. I’ll give the order for the guards to follow your commands. I will also equip you guys with armor, and arrows.”

I immediately went to where Sam was staying and told him that the commander asked for our help. He was happy to help out. I told him that the commander will be providing us with armor and arrows, and that he shouldn’t bring anything with him. We walked back to the watch-tower, and the guards greeted us and they gave us our gear.

We took our guards posts up in the watch-tower. We stood there for most of the night. For hours, nothing happened.

Sam: “This is really boring!”

Steve: “I know, but I promised the Commander that we will watch the gate tonight.”

Sam: “Sigh. It’s really cold! I want to go to my cabin!”

Steve: “Well, if you’re that cold, do some exercise!”

Sam: “How would that help?”

Steve: “It is a proven fact, that if you move your body will warm up. Go ahead, try it!”

Sam: “Wow! This really works!”

Steve: “Told you so.”

Sam: “You’re just a big know it all!”

Steve: “Sigh!”

Sam: “We have been here for hours and nothing’s happened yet!”

Steve: “There we go again! Just sit down and relax for a while!”

Sam: “Steve?”

Steve: “What!”

Sam: “Don’t get mad at me, come over here, I’m serious! Look out the window!”

Steve: “What is it?”

Sam: “It looks like there is something or someone moving out there!”

We both stood up and began looking out the window. It sounded like someone was marching toward the tower. After while we saw an army approaching! There was hundreds of them! The skeletons were back! And there is a whole army of them!