The Complete Elementia Chronicles: Quest for Justice; The New Order; The Dusk of Hope; Herobrine’s Message

As the sun glowed bright over the pastel pink of the western horizon, Stan let out a shout of frustration. Charlie and Kat looked at him in concern.

“Do you have any idea where you’re going?” yelled Stan, the vein in his head pulsing and spit flying out of his mouth as he unleashed his anger at DZ.

DZ looked around unconcerned, apparently unaware that Stan was on the verge of sociopathic rage. He scratched his head innocently. “Well, now that I think about it, if the sun rises in the east and sets in the west … that means it moves … so if I keep going to the left of it … ooooh! Then I won’t be going southeast! I’ll be going in circles!” He laughed. “Wow! That was pretty stupid of me, wasn’t it?”

Only then did DZ come to the realization that all his comrades were staring at him with incredulous looks on their faces. Charlie was staring at him as if he had just stated that he was going to attempt a staring contest with an Enderman, and Kat’s mouth hung open, her eyes now wide enough to take up her entire face. Even Rex and Lemon were looking up at DZ, as if they too were aware that he had just done something remarkably dense.

Stan was the only one who was not looking shocked but about as ready as a lightning-charged Creeper to explode with rage. His eyes were closed, his teeth were gritted and the vein in his head was bulging.

“Do you mean to tell me,” said Stan in a quiet yet dangerous voice, “that we have been following you all day long, and you have been leading us in circles?”

“Apparently,” said DZ, shrugging. “Ah, quit worrying. It don’t matter much. We’ll set ourselves straight tomorrow.”

“And you are really still somehow oblivious to the fact that we have no food and no shelter, and that standing between us and daytime is night-time?” Stan yelled the last word so loud that Charlie actually fell backwards in shock. DZ just stood there with his mouth slightly agape and his eyes unblinking as Stan lashed out at him.

“You have been with us for less than one full day, and you have already caused us more trouble than you’re worth!” bellowed Stan. “We are now stuck in the middle of who knows where, and if tonight is anything like last night, we won’t survive! We have got it tough, you got that, DZ? We are trying to do something impossible! We’re fighting the King, we’re fighting nature, sometimes it feels like we’re fighting Minecraft itself as we try to do this thing! If you are not going to buck up and take it seriously, then it’s just as well that you get away from us so you can’t do any more damage!”

Stan was breathing heavily now, nostrils flaring, veins popping. Kat and Charlie were in awe. They had always known that Stan had a streak of recklessness and anger in him, but this display was far more violent than any they had seen from him before.

DZ stared at Stan with a new look on his face. It was a combination of shock, fear and sorrow. DZ looked Stan in the eye and sighed. “Hey, I’m sorry, all right? I’m doing the best I can. I’m used to being a nomad out here. I’m not used to finding places. I promise that I’ll try to take our job a little more seriously. But don’t forget to have fun, all right?” He gave a weak smile. “It is still a game, right?”

Stan gave a snort of derision. “This is more than a game, DZ. It gives people another life. You of all people should know that. And the King is making these people’s lives miserable, and it’s up to us to fix that. We can have fun after our work is done.”

DZ looked sadly at Stan. “I hear you, buddy. But just remember what they say: at the end of your life you regret the stuff you didn’t do more than the stuff you did do. So remember to have fun with what we’re doing, because out here, there’s no telling when our lives are going to end.”

The enormity, power, and sincerity behind this statement hit Stan like a shockwave, and he realized it was true. He could very well be dead by tomorrow in the middle of this desert, in the midst of this quest for justice.

They continued to trudge through the desert, nobody saying anything, and Stan looking downcast and humbled. The sun sank behind the desert hills, and the moon rose high into the star-speckled night sky. The optimistic view of the situation was that travelling was easier because of the lack of heat from the sun.

The pessimist’s view, and the view of all four travellers, was that they were out of food, they had no source of light, and monsters were materializing on all sides of them. The attacks of Zombies came in hordes, the Skeleton shot arrows from afar and the Spiders climbed up the cactuses that were everywhere and jumped down onto the players. Even the Creepers posed a threat. Lemon scared most of them away, but there was one point at which DZ was driven away from the main group by two Spiders and a Skeleton, and just as he managed to kill the second Spider, he heard the tell-tale hiss and was blasted into the air a second later.

DZ landed on a cactus and found himself unable to move due to a shooting pain in his right leg. He looked down and saw that the cactus had torn into his flesh. He knew that he couldn’t fight any more without food in his stomach to heal him. Instead he drew his glowing diamond sword and swung it into the horde of oncoming Zombies now upon him. The blade barely ripped the monsters’ blue shirts, but the shock emitted from the sword was enough to throw the Zombies back into a heap, averting that danger for the time being.

DZ gritted his teeth. He knew that he had to do something quickly. His thoughts drifted to the cactus beside him. He drew an iron shovel out of his inventory and quickly hacked away the sand around the cactus, pulling himself into the hole and resealing it with dirt he had on hand. The Zombies, now on their feet again, mindlessly wandered towards him, but they found themselves walking straight into the cactus with no brains to tell them otherwise. They kept trying to walk straight through the cactus until they were eventually felled by the spines.

When the last of the Zombie noises had diminished from above him, DZ destroyed one of the dirt blocks and popped his head out, confirming that all the Zombies were dead. He then looked over at Stan, Kat, Charlie and the animals, all of whom were quickly being overrun by the mobs.

“Over here!” DZ yelled, gesturing for them to come into the hole. They didn’t need telling twice. All three players sprinted over to DZ and hopped into the hole. To say they made it in the nick of time was an understatement. Lemon’s tail had just vanished into the dirt hole when a Spider leaped towards DZ. He punched it back and placed the dirt block, securing the four players and two pets into the dark hole. Too tired to do anything else, DZ barely heard Kat mentioning something about dropping her sword outside before he keeled over asleep.

“Hello? Hellooooo!”

“Go away,” muttered Stan sleepily. His exhaustion from fighting off the mobs last night did not increase his desire to sleep as much as his present dream, in which he and Sally rejoiced after the fall of the King. Whatever mundane task the others wanted him for, he was certain it could wait.

“Helloooo! Anybody home? You dropped your sword! Hellooooo?”

“Wha … what?” came Kat’s groggy voice from the other end of the hole. “Someone found my sword?” she asked in a stupid-sounding voice.

“You were dreaming Kat,” yawned Charlie, “now go back to sleep.”

“Helloooooooooooooooooooooo?”

Stan winced as the hole flooded with light. Kat had punched through the dirt roof to find the source of the caller. “Hello?” Though Stan was now pressing his hands to his ears to block out the noise, he could still clearly hear her. “Did someone say they fou …”

Kat’s voice faltered for a moment. When it returned, it was with a shaky. “Oh. He-hello, there.”

There was something in Kat’s voice that made Stan pause. Suddenly quite awake, he grabbed his axe and jumped out of the hole after her. He turned his head and asked, “What’s going …” But his voice, too, faltered.

Kat was standing, looking extremely uncomfortable, next to the strangest-looking player that Stan had seen. At least, Stan thought it was a player. It definitely looked like a player, but it, or rather, he, looked more like a Neanderthal than a modern person. He was wearing a brown robe over darker brown trousers and shoes, and he was the same size as the players. His face looked absolutely ridiculous – his head was taller than Stan’s, he had green eyes with a brown unibrow, and his nose was gigantic. It actually fell down lower than his mouth. His hands were clasped together in front of him, Kat’s sword grasped awkwardly between them.

Stan’s immediate response was to blurt out the question of what this thing was, but as long as it, or, he, was still holding the sword, Stan felt that he’d better try to be at least a little sensitive. Charlie, on the other hand, who had just come out of the hole, went wide-eyed and blurted out, “Whoa! Kat, what is that thing?”

Stan glared furiously at Charlie, and his hand instinctively went to his axe, but the thing did not looked angry. In fact, he was looking around the desert, and looking, truthfully, rather stupid. The thing looked at Charlie.

“My name is Oob,” he replied. “I found this sword on the sand early in this morning. I have looked for its owner and now I have found you.” Oob spoke slowly, as if he had to think about every word that he said.

“Hey, an NPC!” exclaimed DZ, as he climbed out of the hole after Charlie. “What’s your name, man? I’ve never seen you before, and I’ve been to most of the villages out here in the desert.”

“I am Oob,” the NPC villager said simply, and he began wandering around aimlessly. Charlie and Stan looked at Oob, wondering whether he was being inconsiderate or just extremely stupid. DZ just laughed, and then gestured to Stan and Charlie and muttered, so that Oob couldn’t hear, “Don’t worry, these NPC guys are pretty dumb, but after they get to know you a little they’ll take to you.” DZ approached the villager and tried to talk to him again. Charlie seemed very interested in Oob, but Stan had just noticed Kat.

She looked more ill at ease than Stan had ever seen her, including the time he told the Apothecary that she had tried to kill him and Charlie when they first met. The source of her discomfort was obvious. She kept acting all jittery every time the villager made the smallest move. She actually sneaked up behind him and snatched her sword back from him instead of asking him for it. He hadn’t seemed to notice.

“… because seven ate nine!” exclaimed DZ, finishing his joke and causing Oob to laugh hysterically. DZ had clearly spent a fair amount of time around NPCs and knew how to get them on his good side.

“I like you players! You are very kind to me and I become very happy when people are kind to me. Would you like to come and visit my village? We would be happy to have you with us,” said Oob to DZ.

“That’d be awesome, man!” replied Charlie before DZ could respond. “We’ve been out here for a while and we could really use some food. You seem like a nice guy, Oob,” said Charlie, and he gave Oob a friendly punch in the shoulder.

“Follow me then, my friends,” said Oob, and he walked out into the desert. Charlie walked right next to Oob, chatting with him and, judging by the occasional outburst of laughter, telling more stupid jokes. DZ was walking behind them, next to Stan, and he was smiling, but Stan was anxiously keeping an eye on Kat over his shoulder. She was walking behind them all, and the look on her face clearly said that she was dreading going to the NPC village, but Stan still had no idea why. He decided to find out.

He fell back next to Kat and she immediately made a noticeable effort to not meet his eye. “Kat, I don’t think it’s any secret that you don’t want to go to the NPC village,” Stan said.

Kat remained silent.

“When we first met, you told me that you found stuff in the chest of an abandoned NPC village. Judging by the way you’re acting, I’m beginning to think that that might not be completely true.”

Kat was still silent.

“Kat, what happened at that village?”

“I killed him.”

Kat had stopped walking. She had a look of incredible pain on her face. Stan was confused and disturbed by it. She looked like someone repenting for some awful crime. When she next spoke, her voice was detached and distant.

“I went to an NPC village, and all these villagers were being so nice to me. And I took their stuff. I took the sword, and I killed their blacksmith. And they all just stared at me. Then he told me to leave. Their priest stepped out of his church, stared at me, and told me to leave the village, and to never come back. And then … there was this stomping … and it got louder … and louder … and so I ran … I didn’t look back … I didn’t even have the decency to look that priest in the eye …”

Kat was staring down at the ground. She took a deep breath and then sighed. She looked at Stan. “I was a different person back then, Stan. I used force to get what I wanted, and I didn’t care what the consequences were, because I knew I could cancel out those consequences with more force.” Kat paused. “Just like King Kev,” Kat added in a mutter, echoing Stan’s thoughts.

“We’ve got to beat him, Stan,” said Kat. Her voice suddenly became serious, and she looked him straight in the eye. “After I met you guys, everything changed. I’m not the same person I was. You and Charlie are just so great. You get so legitimately upset over injustice, all injustice, even stuff most people just brush off. You’ve changed me. And I know that we’re doing the right thing. We have got to take this lunatic down and bring justice to this place. And you’ve got to lead it, Stan. You’re something special, and you’re the right one to do it.” Kat was now radiating that same power she had when she burst from the lava and attacked Becca at the lava sea. Every word that she said went straight to Stan’s heart. He felt empowered.

Stan had not said one word throughout Kat’s entire monologue, but he knew that she was right. Kat was certainly a very different person than the girl who had ambushed them from the woods with a stone sword, and he knew that it was he and Charlie who had influenced Kat for the better. Furthermore, though he wasn’t sure how he felt about it yet, he knew that he was somehow special. He had been sure that some otherworldly power had possessed him to win his two-on-one fight at the sword fighting dojo, to effortlessly destroy that Snow Golem with the axe, and to shoot that arrow at the King. He had felt it again the previous night as he yelled at DZ. Those actions did not feel like they had come from him, but from some higher level of thinking, as if the universe itself was calling him to act.

Stan remembered how, a million years ago, a million miles away, in an Adorian Village not destroyed by hatred, Sally had asked him if he believed that he was special, and Crazy Steve had given him a calculating look. They knew. They had sensed something about him, some aura. In retrospect, they showed it, too. Sally had made him fight Kat and Charlie two-on-one, and had Crazy Steve not been killed in the midst of their talk, Stan was sure that he would have mentioned something about this sixth sense to him.

Stan had all these thoughts playing around in the back of his mind, but as the silhouettes of buildings appeared on the desert horizon against the rising square that was the sun, the prospect of food convinced Stan to store these thoughts away for later contemplation.

“Oh muhn, I nuvr tawdied misdah tashtah bredsamush,” mumbled Kat through a mouthful of bread. Stan agreed. The bread that the villagers had given to them was indeed a vast improvement over the hunger they had endured for the past day. The sun showed that it was almost noon, and while Lemon and Rex sat outside, Stan, Charlie, Kat, DZ and Oob were all sitting in Oob’s house in the NPC village.

The village itself, Stan found, bore a fond similarity to the Adorian Village. The majority of houses were made out of wooden planks and cobblestone, with glass pane windows and wooden doors. The entire village was centred around a cobblestone well with gravel paths branching out around it. Behind most of the houses were miniature farms that consisted of rings of wood blocks, inside of which were alternating rows of water, and dirt blocks with wheat crops growing from them.

Two buildings stood out from the houses. A tall cobblestone building with multiple stories was the tallest thing in the village. Oob had pointed it out to Stan as the church, where their priest, also their leader, lived. Next to the village was a wide building with the entire left side exposed, revealing two furnaces and a pool of lava. This building was called the forge, Oob said, home of the blacksmith who kept the villagers’ tools in good repair.

“We are very happy to have you here. It has been so long since we have had players act kindly towards us,” said Mella, Oob’s mother, who lived in the house with her husband, Blerge, and Oob.

“What do you mean, Mella? Have other players done stuff to you guys?” asked Kat.

“Oh, yes,” she replied, a grim look taking over her face. “Long ago, before Oob was born, the forces of the one named King Kev forced those in our village to pay a tribute of wheat from our farms. There were often shortages, and many of us starved.” Mella started to wander around the house again. Stan had realized that this was a quality of all NPC villagers – they all had a tendency to wander aimlessly regardless of what they were doing.

“What happened? Why did the King stop bothering you?” asked Kat encouragingly.

“What? Oh, yes,” replied Mella, as though she had momentarily forgotten that they were there. Stan suspected that she actually had. “Not long after Oob was born, a player made a deal with the King that in exchange for that player’s services, the King would no longer collect tribute from our village. We have seen no players since they took that brave player away.” And with that Mella again began to wander.

Seeing that she was obviously out of it, Stan chose to ask Oob, rather than Mella, the name of the player. Oob’s face took on a kind of elation in response.

“Oh, we have vowed to never speak the name of the Sacred One again! We have received a sign from the almighty Notch that in repayment for his sacrifice, we are never to speak the name of the Sacred One again!”

“The almighty Notch? Who is Notch?” asked Charlie, just as the back door opened and Blerge, Oob’s father, walked in from tending the farm.

“He’s the guy who created Minecraft,” hissed DZ under his breath to Charlie, out of the hearing of Blerge, whose face showed utter disbelief.

“You do not know of Notch, the Creator? Without the almighty Notch, life as we know it could not exist! At the beginning of time, Notch created this village, which protects our people from the evil mobs! Notch makes the sun rise and set, and he is the master of all the creatures of this world! Without him, we would all be at the unchecked mercy of Herobrine, master of evil and destruction.”

As Blerge kept on talking about the almighty Notch, Stan found himself intrigued. Did these villagers really worship the guy that created Minecraft? Well, it makes sense, he thought, their entire world is this game. Personally, he couldn’t see himself worshipping the guy, even though Stan thought Notch was pretty awesome for creating such an excellent game.

“That sounds really interesting, Blerge,” said Charlie. “So now I have a question. We’re trying to overthrow the King – you know, the guy who used to force you guys to pay him stuff?”

“Oh yes,” said Blerge, with his unibrow knitting over his eyes. “That man caused my people much suffering. I should be most happy if four kind players such as you were to take his place. You treat us very kindly, while the one called King Kev believed us to be inferior.”

Stan opened his mouth to interject, but he quickly caught himself. It was very hard to say that he was equal in any way to this race of NPCs, especially considering that since he had joined the village he had seen two villagers wander straight into cactuses and almost kill themselves. But Stan still had respect for the people, and that, he thought, was the difference between King Kev and himself.

“So,” asked Charlie to Blerge, “would you be willing to let us use your village as a base? We still have to collect six Ender Pearls in order to get to the End, and we could use a place to stay until we’ve killed enough Endermen.”

Blerge had begun to wander again before Charlie had finished his request, so it was Mella who answered Charlie, “I am sure that it would be fine for you to stay with us for as long as you need, my friends. However, before we may tell you certainly, we must consult Moganga, the priest and leader of our village. She will tell you whether or not you may stay. Come, I shall take you to her.” And with that, Mella started to the door. Oob followed her while Blerge still wandered around the house.

“Wait,” asked Kat, speaking for the first time in quite a while. “This is your house. Why does this Moganga lady get to decide if we stay or not?”

“Because the almighty Notch commands it,” Mella said, and she exited the house, as if this were a satisfying response. Oob and Blerge left behind her, followed by Charlie and DZ, then Stan and, after a moment, Kat.

CHAPTER 22

THE SIEGE

As the group walked down the gravel street towards the tall stone church, Stan was vaguely aware of Charlie, DZ and Oob chatting in front of him, while he himself kept a careful eye on Kat.

Ever since Kat had confessed to Stan what had happened to her in the last NPC village she had gone to, she had been very calm and pensive, quite in contrast to her usual self. She had also seemed much more at ease around the villagers after she had gotten her crime against them off her chest. Now, however, Stan did sense a diminished version of her previous tension as she approached the church. Still, she entered, and after Stan explained to yet another villager, this one named Libroru, that walking into a cactus would hurt, he followed Kat inside.

The church was made entirely of cobblestone, with a ladder on the side leading to the upper stories. There were torches on the walls, and a cobblestone altar sat in front. A villager in purple robes stood facing the altar. When the players, led by Mella and Blerge, entered, the priest turned towards them.

“Hello, players,” said Moganga, gesturing to Stan, Kat, Charlie and DZ. “Oob has told me of your arrival. Welcome.” She turned towards Mella and Blerge. “With what may I help you, my brother and sister?”

“These four players have requested the use of our family’s house as an outpost for their hunting of the Endermen,” replied Blerge in a powerful voice. “I appeal to you to ask the almighty Notch as to his judgement on the matter.”

“I see. I will attempt to connect with the almighty Notch, my brother,” replied Moganga. Her eyes closed, and her single eyebrow began twitching. She remained this way for about two minutes, and by the time her eyes reopened, Blerge and Mella had begun to wander around the church. Oob stepped forwards.

“What is the word of the almighty Notch, Mother Moganga?” asked Oob with a serious face.

“The almighty Notch has spoken to me,” replied Moganga, and Oob’s face lifted. “The almighty Notch has blessed the endeavours of these players and calls us to offer them refuge, provided that we are able to cope with the evil that will befall us beneath the full moon tonight.”

“Oh God,” muttered DZ. “Are you saying that the full moon is tonight?”

Moganga nodded, and Oob and DZ looked crestfallen. Charlie asked, “Wait, what’s the big deal about the full moon?”

A grim look passed over DZ’s face as he replied, “A siege is the big deal. Every full moon, if there are players staying in an NPC village, a giant horde of mobs will attack the village. And I mean giant. Makes the ones we killed off back at that sinkhole look like nothin’. And even though they’re mostly Zombies, you get plenty of the other kinds, too.”