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Wandering Shade: http://imgur.com/JVXMl
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This is an enderman story that I shall slowly construct. I shall update the story, 1 chapter at a time, starting with the Prologue. Give me criticism, I can (Hopefully) take it. Now!! Press B to story start!!!!
Prologue
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It was nearing night when 3 men had finished their house. "Phew!" One Breathed, "Thank Notch that we finished in time!" and laughed. "Don't be so cocky." warned another, "Cockiness always leads to downfall. Remember what happened to those travelers near Crainton?". "Oh yeah..." the First Man recalls. "ripped to shreds in their bags. Didn't stand a chance". "That's right!" Snaps the Second Man, "Now shut up.". "Still..." says the Third, and eldest man, "We have shelter, while those travelers didn't."."whatever." mutters the Second Man, as he heads towards the window. "See anything?", asks the First Man. "not really" replies the second Man, "All the monsters seem to be- Wait." the Second Man spies something moving in the dark. "What?" asks the First Man."I see something moving. It is picking up blocks. It must be another Human!" exclaims the Second Man and runs out the door, the First Man following soon after. "wait!" cries the Third Man as he also run out the door. When all three men were outside they saw not a human, but a tall, thin figure with gleaming purple eyes staring directly at the Second Man. "Don't look away." warned the Third Man, "I shall conjure a spell to defeat it" and almost instantly, a glowing orb appeared between his hands. Curious of the glowing sphere, the Second Man looked away from the figure. The thing charged at break-neck speeds, making prominent the stone block in its hands. Panicking, the Third Man thrust his hands, and the orb with it ahead of him, making it form a circle. In this circle, an image appeared. A black snake with purple eyes. Seeing this, the thing stopped in its tracks, only meters from the men. it began to speak in a low-pitched voice "How does a mere human know of the symbol of my people?" it growled, the stone block under its arm. The Third Man looked at it and calmly replied "Ah, where I come from," began the Third Man "Your species is highly respected, friend enderman." The enderman looked confused "I am not your friend." he said "But I am curious of this group of humans that hold us in high regard.". "Good! Good!" the Third Man laughed, "Then won't you come inside? I can tell a story of your people if you wish.". The enderman sounded almost shocked "You will let me in your home? even though i just tried to kill you?". "Sure!" The First Man chimed, "just don't try to kill us now." and laughed. When all four were sitting around the table, the Third Man spoke. "Now," he started "I will tell you a tale. Of an enderman who fought very empires to find answers". He continued "And a powerful friend, who could be both human and wolf"
"This is their story"
Chapter 1: Greg
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Darkness. That is what first greeted me. Darkness and silence. What was going on? Where was I? Countless questions rushed into my head. Was there anybody else here? "Hello?" I called. My voice echoed back. "Nobodies here" I muttered. Suddenly,shapes appeared in front of me. Eight of them, all a gleaming purple. Eyes? I noticed something else. Four dimly glowing orbs, all of them growing closer. Fear overtook me. I tried to run, I couldn't move. Suddenly, a long, sharp pain filled my body .I tried to scream, I couldn't speak. Even faster, the pain ended. I could see more. Glowing coral, burning rocks, and tall, black creatures. I began to black out, and as I did, a deep, demonic voice rumbled "You asked for this. Enjoy!". The voice's laughter was what I heard as I slipped into the dark.
--
I woke up on a hill, the moon watching me like a sentinel. Now where am I? I slowly got up, dull pain greeting me as I did. When I was fully upright, I noticed more problems. For one, my memory was gone. All gone, except for one name. "Gregory". Was that my name? Might as well roll with it. My limbs felt light and Langley. I seem taller than I was. Also, I have a purple tint around the rims of my eyes. What in Notch's name am I?! I looked around for something, anything, even an animal. I spied something near a cave embedded in a mountain. A block of stone. Perfect in every way. I HAD to have it. I walked over and tried to pick it up. It was stuck. I pulled on it with all my might and it popped out into my hands. For some reason, I was happy to have this odd block in my hands. Now, where am I? I again looked around and now I saw something. A human? No, humans don't have festered flesh and sword wounds. "Who cares?" my mind screamed at me, "at least it's something!". "Yeah." I muttered in agreement. I walked over to the zombie and greeted it. "Hello." I said as I was about a meter from the zombie. It looked around and jumped at the sight of me. "Don't kill me!" it cried, cowering in fear. "What are you talking about?" I asked, confused at his fear. "Y-You mean you won't kill me?" It asked, standing upright. "No... why would you ask that" I asked, still confused. "Sorry! I just think that since you kill humans, you'd kill us as well..." he said, worried expression on his face. "That's crazy!" I cried, "Why would I kill fellow humans?. "You? A human? Haha!" he laughed. "I think you need to see your reflection" he said and walked over to to a pond, me following soon after. Looking back, I really wasn't prepared for what I seen. When I looked, I saw a blank face, empty except for two bright purple eyes. I cried out "This isn't possible!" and touched the reflection to make sure. When I touched the water, my hand felt as if my hand was on fire. I pulled back, reeling in pain. The water hurt me! The zombie stood there, thinking about the situation. This enderman, who believes he is a human, just touched the water and reeled back in pain. "Odd" he muttered. "So...what am I?" Greg thought aloud. The zombie cut into Greg's train of thought "Your kind have many names.'Enderman' seems most prominent with humankind, although some call you 'Farlanders'. we call you 'Shades'.". Greg remained silent. "Whats your name?" the zombie asked, "I'm Zaiveer". "G-Gregory. My name is Gregory" Greg responded "Greg for short". "Ah, well, nice to meet you, Greg!" Zaiveer said. "Now lets get to the caves, you don't want to be caught outside during day.". "Well, OK" Greg said as he followed Zaiveer into the mouth of a small cave.
Chapter 2: Hunter
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As night fell once again, I had learned more of the world I was now in. This land was inhabited by numerous creatures. Zombies, such as Zaiveer, Skeletons, ancient casters and masters of the bow, and Creepers, tall, green creatures who explode when provoked. "Interesting" Gregory pondered, "And Humans on top of that?". "Yeah." sighed Zaiveer,"But the humans have made it hard for us in recent years. Killing us, calling us monsters.". "You attack them also?", asked Greg, still deep in thought. "Yeah." replied Zaiveer, "But it is mostly in self defense.". "Mostly...?". "Yeah. But then it's for their trespassing.". "Then just stop attacking them when they enter the caves." said Greg. Zaiveer sighed, "If we did that, they would plunder our treasures and kill us all!". "I see..." Greg muttered. "Anyways." Zaiveer jumped up,"Night is here, lets go out!". "Sure." Greg replied as they headed out into the dark.
--
"Nice out tonight." Zaiveer said, looking at the moon. "Do you see something over there?" asks Greg, spotting a moving form near a lake. "Probably a human. Best not go near it." Zaiveer replied, eyes still fixed on the moon. Greg started down the hill. "Where are you going?" asked Zaiveer. "Going down to talk to the human." Greg said, getting further down the hill. "What?!" Zaiveer cried, "It'll kill you!". "By your stories, wouldn't be the other way around, with me killing it?".Zaiveer muttered something and sighed "If your going, I guess I'll come with you, for backup."Sure! the more the merrier." Greg cheered as both made it to the bottom of the hill. As they reached the bottom, Greg noticed something peculiar about the human. It had an orange glow. "zaiv?" Greg asked. "Yeah?" Zaiveer said. "Do you see an orange glow around that human?". "Orange glow?" Zaiveer said, confused. "I guess not." Greg responded. Then, the human did something that he would regret for a long time. He looked directly at Greg. Greg stood still, frozen by the human's gaze. The human stood likewise, unable to move. "Why can't I move?" Greg thought. When the human looked away, one thought filled Greg's mind "KILL KILL KILL!". Greg grabbed his stone block and ran at the human. *FLASH* Why am I closer to the Human? *FLASH* Why can't I control myself? *FLASH* Almost there! Why isn't he running? *FLASH* I'm behind him. I smack him with the block as he looks behind. He is on the ground now, screaming, pleading, begging. I only hear one thing "FINISH HIM!!". I smash his head with the block and he goes limp. His body lays there for a few seconds. Those seconds seemed to last eternity. As Zaiveer approached, the body disappeared with a puff of smoke. Zaiveer put his hand on my shoulder. He was laughing. "Why are you laughing?!" Greg screamed. "I killed an innocent human!". Zaiveer chuckled and said "Human? Yes, but not innocent.". "What do you mean?" Greg asked. "I mean, he has terrorized us for years. None of us could kill him. But then, you, an enderman who just got here, killed him with finesse!" Zaiveer laughed. A skeleton approached "Hunter Gregory" it said in a raspy voice. other creatures joined him in a chant, "Hunter Gregory. Hero Gregory.". Gregory remained silent, and got to his feet. He began to walk away. Some of the creatures protested his abrupt leaving, but Zaiveer stopped them "Let him rest" he said,
"Every hero needs rest."
Chapter 3: Farewells
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"Are you sure you want to do this?" Zaiveer asked Gregory. "Yes." Greg answered, "I can't look at this place the same way again. I must leave."."Well, okay."Zaiveer sighed, "But remember, You always have a home here." and smiled."Thank you, Zaiveer. That means a lot to me." Greg said as he shook his hand. "Wait, Hunter Greg!", A skeleton called out. In his hands, was a light blue gemstone. "Take this." he handed it to Greg. "What is it?" asked Greg."It is a diamond. it will grant you the ability to walk in the sun. It is our prized item, but it is the least we can do after you slayed the tyrant.". "Don't remind me..." Greg sighed, the memory of the human's body fresh in his head. "Well, I guess I'll be off.". Greg headed towards the cave entrance, the cheers of the crowd almost deafening. He walked out of the cave, and into the day. The sun was blinding when he stepped outside. He shielded his eyes, trying not to stumble off the hillside. His eyes adjusted, and Greg saw the land of the day. Birds chirped and chattered and the trees swayed gently in the wind. The land seemed sharper, and almost endless. "I need to go west..." Greg thought aloud. They had explained that a village to the west that had declared a truce with the local creatures. "Seems like a good place to start" Zaiveer had said. Lets see... Greg thought, If the sun comes up in the east. He looked at the sun. That was a mistake. It hurt his eyes. he looked away and buried his face in his hands. A few minutes later, when his eyes felt better, he thought again. "Guess doing that was stupid..." he thought, chuckling to himself. "lets try that again." Greg said to himself. "Sun comes up east, gotta go west. so, ergo, I need to walk with the sun at my back.". Greg began east, but looked at the cave one last time. "Goodbye!" he whispered and began his journey.
---
"Heh." The first man chuckled, "This Greg seems a hero to those creatures!". "He killed a tyrant, Brendan!" The second man sighed, "I would see someone as a hero if they killed a tyrant! And I know you would too!"."Aye," Brenden muttered, "No need to be snippy about it, Aaron.". "Wait a second." the enderman paused "So, if you're Brenden, and you're Aaron, what is your name, storyteller?" The third man remained silent for a few seconds, and finally responded "James. My name is James.". "It's nice to be acquainted with all of you." The enderman said, "You seem different than other humans I have seen.". All of them laughed."Yeah!" Brendan laughed, "And you seem much more polite than others of your kind."."Once you get to know us, we are quite polite." The enderman said,"Now, shall we continue the story?"."Of course!" James smiled,"Let's continue!"
Chapter 4: Aruarain Village
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After 2 days of walking, Gregory finally found the village. From first looks, the village looked small, with a few houses and a farm. Upon closer inspection, one would find numerous houses and a grand castle with towers representing the four elements. Greg approached a large, barn like house. "Where are the humans?" Greg muttered. Suddenly a man jumped down from the roof, sword in one hand, and fireball in another. "State your business, FarLander!" he growled. Greg stepped back, fearful for his own life. "I mean you no harm!" Greg stammered, cowering in front of the man. A loud voice boomed from the house and another man appeared. "Ice!" the second man shouted, "What have I told you about trying to kill guests?!". Ice signed, "Don't kill our guests?". "Exactly!" the second man said. A third man came out of the house "What's all the noise about?" he looked at Greg 'And who's he?". "We were about to find out, until Ice tried to kill 'em!" The second man looked at Ice. "I'm sorry alright?!" Ice cried, "I just... don't trust them, that's all.". "let us introduce ourselves." the first man said, "I'm Brick." he pointed to the third man, "That's Nom.", he looked at Ice for a second, "And you already met Ice...". Greg looked closer at the three men. Brick wore robes, like an assassin of sorts. Ice wore a blue shirt, brown pants, and had different colored eyes, one pink and the other green. Nom wore a green cap, had long, black hair, and had bags under his eyes, possibly due to a lack of sleep. "Welcome," Brick waved his arm in a long ark, "To Aruarian Village!". "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Greg." Greg replied. "Um, Brick?" Ice asked Brick. "Yes?" "Don't you think talking here is a little too... public?" "You're right, Ice". "Come, Greg!" Brick said as he grabbed Greg's shoulder, "We shall talk in the meeting room. Follow us!"
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The meeting room was not where Greg would've expected. It was situated high above the castle, Castle Equidistance was it's name. The room was completely glass, with wooden chairs and a large table. It was held up by a Large stone pole, which also operated as a staircase. Finally, the room is held in place by four, large chains, each connected to one tower. "What do you think?" Nom asked Greg. "It's amazing!" Greg replied, mesmerized by the sheer size of the tower. "Lets go in" Ice said, beginning to walk up the stairs. When all four were in the room, Brick spoke. "This is normally off-limits to everybody, but us, the founders.". "We founded this city," Ice began, "As a monument of the future. Creatures and humans, living in harmony.". "We want to reach that future, but it has been hard for us." Brick sighed,"No kingdoms want to help us. They call us crazy, they call us stupid!" he slammed his fist into the table, "But we shall show them! We shall unify monster and human.". "Please calm down, Brick." Ice sighed,"We don't want to scare him away. Remember what happened last time?". "Anyway," Nom said, "We would like to hear your story, mister Greg.". "Really?" Greg asked, a little confused. "Of course!" Brick laughed, "Do tell!". Greg paused for a second and said "Okay.". and began to tell the three founders of Aruarain Village his tale.
Chapter 5: Training
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"Interesting tale..." Nom said, lost in thought. "You killed a supposed tyrant, and left because of it?". "It would haunt me if I stayed" Greg said. "Anyway." Brick said, changing the subject, "Where you headed again?". "I guess I'll continue west." ."What?!" Ice exclaimed "That leads through Isolation ridge, you won't survive!". "I'm gonna go west." Greg said, "I'll go west until I find answers.". Brick laughed heartily "My friend! You have more guts than even I!". "Since you seem intent on going west, at least let us give you some help.". "I would appreciate that." Greg replied. "Then it's settled!" Brick clapped his hands, "Ice, you train him in some weapons, Nom, you arrange for the blacksmith to make his weapon of choice, and I'll take a nap!". Brick left the meeting room. "Okay, guys." Nom said, "You tell me what to forge and I'll arrange it. I'll be waiting here." Nom yawned and leaned back in his chair. "Let's start your training now." Ice said as he walked out of the room, Gregory following suit.
----
The arena was huge. Grand paintings of victories past adorned the halls. Ice lead him to a set of double doors. "These doors lead to the team rooms. since this is training, we should both go in the same door." Ice lead Greg through a series of prep rooms, showers, and racks of weapons. These weapons were made of wood, their points smoothed to prevent harm. "Pick a weapon. I'll help you find the one that suits you best!" Ice said,grabbing a wooden sword from another rack. Greg decided to pick the sword first. Round 1 didn't last long. Greg swung the sword too far and quickly had it knocked out of his hands. "Lets try another." Ice said, still optimistic. Greg tried the axe. It felt clunky and heavy. The first time Ice attacked, Greg blocked and the axe flew out of his hands. "Still some more, don't lose hope." Ice said. Greg tried the bow. His aim was off and his arms shook. Ice got close and called it round over. "Well... at least there's one more..." Ice said, obviously bored with Greg's lack of skill. Greg tried the final weapon, the spear. Greg did quite well this round. He blocked without the spear flying out of his hands, and dodged most of Ice's attacks. Ice stepped back, his feet firm on the ground. "Attack me!" he called. Greg charged at him. Ice moved to the side, but Greg had anticipated that. He swung the spear like a long sword, hitting Ice in the gut. Ice reeled back, surprised that he had landed a blow. "Time to finish this." Greg said and jabbed Ice with the tip of the wooden spear. The wooden sword fell out of Ice's hands. Ice reeled for a second and began to laugh. "You did it, Greg!" He cried cheerfully, "You did far better than I had anticipated!". "Well, I guess I'm good with spears." Greg said looking at the blunt object. "Well, lets get Nom to get you a Spear." Ice said. "Let's go!" Greg said, proud of his victory.
---
"Took your sweet time!" Nom said, waiting by the arena entrance. "Well, Sorry." Ice said sarcastically. "So, did you choose a weapon or not?". "Spears." Greg said, "I want a spear.". "Ok. Any specific material?" Nom asked. "I want it made out of this." Greg handed him his stone block. "Stone? Oh, big spender." Nom said. "Just do it, Nom." Ice retorted. "Ok, fine." Nom said, "Come get it in a few hours.".
---- 3 Hours Later
"It done?" Ice asked the blacksmith. "It sure is." The Blacksmith said as he handed Greg a spear. The spear's shaft was made of solid stone, hard and tough. The top was curved and not just pointed, similar to a candle flame and was a bright silver. "is this iron?" Ice asked, referring to the point. "Yes." The Smithy said, "We found a lot of iron in the block. "Thank you for your help, Blacksmith.". "I aim to please!" he said and laughed. "Do you want to name your spear?". "name it?" Greg asked, confused. "Yeah." Ice pulled out his blade. it was a pale blue and seemed cold in Ice's hands. "My sword's name is Icetail.". "Hmmm." Greg pondered ideas for names until he at last had one. "Ponderus. It's name is Ponderus.". "Interesting name." Ice replied. "Lets get the others and bid you off." Ice said. When all four were reunited, Greg said his goodbyes "Thank you all!" he said, "Your help is much appreciated. I won't forget your helpfulness." Greg Turned around. "This is goodbye...". "One more thing." Ice said as he pulled out a book. "What?" asked Greg. "This." Ice shot a beam from his hands into Greg. "What was that?" Greg asked. "It will allow you to use magic to craft." Ice said with a smirk. "Thanks Ice." Greg replied and began to leave. "Come back soon!" Brick said. Greg felt a weight in his chest, he had left new friends twice now. he should have stayed longer, he should have got to know Zaiveer better. Greg sighed. "Too late now..." he muttered, holding Ponderus in his hands. And thus, Greg continued his journey, ready for all that opposed him.
Chapter 6: Isolation Ridge
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The first wing of Gregory's journey went seamlessly. Not far from Aruarian stood a swamp, with shallow waters and small trees with vines hanging off. There, he noticed something. Something odd, something he has never experienced. Hunger. He looked at his stomach, confused about the dull desire that lay in his stomach. "Must be hungry.." Muttered Greg. Greg looked around for some kind of sustenance. Then he saw a small, fat, pink creature, with a snout protruding from it's face. A pig. "Perfect." Greg smiled as he readied ponderus. He snuck up behind the pig, and lunged. Greg's aim wasn't very good, so he only hit the fat pig's leg. The Pig squealed and began to run. Greg cursed under his breath and began to pursue the pig. The pig proved to be a considerable adversary, dodging Greg's spear thrusts. Finally, tired of this wild duck chase, Greg tossed ponderus at the pig with all his might. Success! The spear struck the pig, and the pig fell. by time Greg walked over to the pig, it was already gone, in a puff of smoke, leaving two pieces of pork. Greg picked up ponderus and the pork. "Raw," Greg said, "But it will do.". Greg then realized that he couldn't hold ponderus and eat at the same time. He looked for something that could act as a sheath. Using his newly given crafting abilities, he took some vines and constructed a make-shift sheath, which ponderus lay snugly in. "Well," Greg said, looking at the pork, "Time to eat!". Greg ate with his skeleton-like mouth, gnashing, gnawing and chewing the cold meat under a tall tree. When he was finished, and his stomach was content, he began to travel again.
---
"Is this Isolation Ridge?" Greg wondered, looking at the mountain range that lay before him. "I guess only one way to find out." Greg said and began to walk onto a path enclosed by two mountains. While walking, Greg began to notice figures. He would only see these figures from the corner of his eyes, and when he would try to look at them to get a better look, they would vanish, leaving only empty space in their wake. After seeing these figures for about the tenth time, he pulled out ponderus and began to walk cautiously. "Hello?" Greg called. No answer. Another figure appeared. Unlike the others, when Greg looked at it, it didn't disappear. Greg noticed numerous things about the figure. First, the figure was a male, seemingly without a shirt, and had Wolf-like ears and a long tail which started at his tailbone. Quickly, the figure disappeared. "Huh?" Greg said confused. Suddenly, a wolf came soaring out of the sky and onto Greg, knocking him to the ground. The wolf's face came to Greg's, and a voice emerged from the wolf's maw. "GO BACK." The Wolf growled. Greg used ponderus, all the while under the wolf paws, to push the wolf off. When the wolf landed, A blue aura surrounded it, and it became the same human that Greg saw. Greg stared at the Wolf-Man, dumbfounded by the odd thing that had transpired. The Wolf-Man seemed to see Greg's surprise and chuckled. "What?" The Wolf-man said, "You never see a Morphe before?". "Morphe..." Greg responded, puzzled. "Guess not." The Wolf-Man sighed and looked at Greg intensely. "What are you looking at me for?" Greg asked. "...You seem to have strength unheard of in your kind."The Wolf-Man said, "Oh, and call me Volg.". "Umm...nice to meet you, Volg." Greg said nervously. "Now, follow me." Volg ordered. "Follow you?!" Greg exclaimed, "You attacked me!". "Whatever, just follow me." Volg ordered, seriousness in his tone. "Fine...Just don't kill me.". "Cross my heart." Volg said.
---
I followed Volg to a community of the "Morphe", which apparently have the ability to change into wolves. Torches lined the path toward the community, and shadows, probably more of the Morphe, were watching me. As we neared the village, the shadows ran ahead, towards the community. The village was elevated, except for a round arena in the center of the town. we continued past numerous caves, likely housing for the Morphe. We approached a large hall, filled with warriors eating. When we entered, they all stopped and looked at me. Volg told me to wait, and walked toward a large wooden chair, and talked with the Morphe sitting there. Then the Wolf jumped out of the chair and in front of me. This one was much larger than the others, and had long, silver, bristling fur, and a wooden band round it's head. "IF YOU WANT TO PASS...YOU MUST DEFEAT ME!" It growled. I laughed "What kind of wolf-man would challenge a fully armed challenger?". The Wolf was surrounded by a blue aura and changed back into a human. Not a man, like Greg had expected, but a woman. "I am Nayilah, and I am no man!"
Chapter 7: Strike!
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The Morphe arena, lit with numerous torches, and watched by dozens of the wolf people, sat in the middle of the Village. This is where Gregory and Nayilah both stood. Greg shook fearfully, ponderus gripped in his hands. "The rules," Nayilah began, "Are simple. Two enter, one leaves.". She morphed into her wolf form, "THAT ONE WILL NOT BE YOU!". "Can't we talk about this?" Greg asked, obviously not wanting to fight. Nayilah
answered by lunging, claws outstreched. Greg flinched and jumped to one side. "YOU WON'T RUN FROM ME!" , Nayilah growled and lunged again.
----
The duel had an obvious outcome, with Nayilah on the offence and Greg trying to defend. Both parties stood at either end of the arena, Nayilah ready to strike. "THIS IS THE END!" she howled and lunged once more. Greg stood his ground, trying to brace for impact. As Nayilah and Greg were only meters from eachother, an explosion flourished next to Nayilah, sending her into the wall with a whimper. Her form puffed into smoke and a cry rang out "GHAST!". Greg stood dumbfounded, not sure what was happening. The wathing morphe had turned into their wolf formes and ran toward the shout. "What?!
You got rocks in your ears?" Nayilah's voice snapped, "C'mon!". She was next to the arena, hand outstreched. "Nayilah?" Greg asked, confused by her presence, as though she had just turned into smoke, "How did you-". Nayilah pulled him up and pushed him toward other explosions, "You really are stupid, aren't you?!" Nayilah growled, looking toward the morphe rushing out of the hall. "I'll explain if we're still alive after this! Now c'mon, double time!" Nayilah cried, rushing ahead. Greg followed, still dazed by the swiftness of this unseen danger.
---
The "Ghast" is truly an ugly thing. It was a perfect square, seemingly spectral with its
dirty white color. It had numerous tentacles extruding from its bottom. Its seemed that
of a human, but with tears rolling down its face. Every time it opened its mouth, it
launched a round object, which would explode on contact with the ground. It chirped and
screamed when it launched these "bombs", as if it caused it pain. Me and Nayilah hid behind a rock face, along with Volg. "Whats the situation?" Nayilah asked. "We've got a ghast, and a portal, Miss Nayilah." Volg called from the other side. She cursed, "And we have no arrows.". I looked out from the rockface, and the ghast began to stare at me. As with the human, I stood dead still, and we stood at a stalemate. It moved its eyes, and the voice returned. "MAAK NUUL" it screamed. I repeated it, "MAAK NUUL" and a black haze formed around my hands. I ran toward the ghast and, like an eagle taking flight shot off the ground, ponderus flying after me. I landed on the ghast, and it began to flail about, wailing. "Shut up!" I cried as I stabbed the ghast in the head. A white ooze sizzled from the wound, and the ghast began to fall. I pulled ponderus out and jumped, landing just before the ghast did. Its eyes went blank, and its tentacles went limp, but it didn't disappear like the others that I have seen die. "Why does it not turn to smoke?" I asked. All the morphe fell silent, except for Nayilah. "When they die in this world, their souls don't return to their dimension. They remain here, trapped." she explained. I walked over to the ghast's body and touched it. The body began to glow, disappearing into tendrils of light. The lights formed into a white orb, which hovered in front of me. I grabbed it, and was greeted by a vision.
---
There was a young boy, not nearly an adult, standing on a cliff of red rock. In his hands
shone an orb, pinkish in color. He chanted the words "Suuma ettay neeoh" and tossed the
orb into the lava below. The vision ended before the orb hit the lava.
---
I was back in reality. I looked at the orb, and then to Nayilah. "We must find lava."
"What? Why?" "I shall send this soul back to its home.". Nayilah sighed, "You are an
odd one. I shall ask my men, and then you can do your spirit mumbo-jumbo.". She went over to the others and spoke to them. She cam back and said "There is a lava pool north of here. You can do that there.". "Thanks." I said and looked around. "Where is north?" I asked. "Ugh." Nayilah sighed, "I'll accompany you, so you don't walk off a cliff or something." and began to walk north. "Thank you." I said and began to follow her.
Chapter 8: "Update"
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"Why did you volunteer to escort me to this lava pool again?" Gregory asked, trying to make conversation. "For two reasons." Nayilah started. "One, because you would probably end up on the other end of the world before you reached the pool. Two, I feel like I owe you something." Nayilah said. "What? For killing that ghast? That really wasn't problematic with that...thing I did." Greg sighed, still unsure of the origin of his burst of strength. "Hey," Nayilah said, "That thing would have killed a lot of us before it keeled over. You killed it before it could hurt any of us.". "What about when-" "It killed me?" Nayilah cut him off. "Um, yeah." Greg said. "When we die, we reincarnate, but not always in our original form." Nayilah pointed pointed her finger up, explaining her sudden revival, "Some humans become zombies, some creepers become dragons. Do you
get what I'm saying?". "Yeah, I think so." Greg said, "Your revival is nearly random. It was pure luck that you reincarnated back into your form now.". "Exactly." Nayilah said, looking ahead. "How long until we reach the lava pool?" Greg asked, bored with the seemingly infinite flat landscape. "About two days." Nayilah sighed "It's a long way..."
---
"You aren't going to tell us about their entire journey, are you James?" Aaron asked, obviously bored. Brendan sighed, "You always were impatient Aaron.". "I'm finding this tale rather interesting." The Enderman said, deep in thought, "Although, one question arises, is this 'Nayilah' the Wolf person you mentioned?". "Aah, brother enderman," James chuckled, "That is a question I would rather leave unanswered for the time being.".
"So, does anything interesting happen between their departure, and their arrival?" Aaron asked. "One thing," James said, "and this is rather important.".
---
A day into the journey and suddenly Greg became disoriented. Nayilah noticed this and became worried. "You ok Greg?" She asked. "Yeah," Greg said, clenching his gut, "Just a bit dizzy.". Almost as if he had jinxed it, the ground began to shake violently. "What's going on?!" Greg called. "Update!!" Nayilah screamed, frantically looking around. "Into the cave!" she called and began to sprint into the mountain opening. Greg, still confused, followed her onto the cave. He looked out of the mouth of the cave and saw an eerie sight. tendrils of light sprang up from the ground, and stretched into the sky, out of sight. These beams of light began to cover the land, including the cave. The light fromed a barrier around the mouth, sealing them inside. The shaking stopped and both Nayilah and Greg slumped to the floor, tired. "Whats an update?" Greg asked. "Updates are caused by Notch. He makes them to improve our world." Nayilah sighed, "As of recent, the updates had stopped. Guess our world isn't perfect after all...". "When will these light things leave?", Greg asked, referring to the tendrils of light covering the cave entrance. "A few days at the most." Nayilah sighed, "And we're stuck here until then.". "Well..." Greg pondered, "Why don't we look for an exit deeper in the cave?".
"May as well..." Nayilah said, "We may as well die by monsters instead of death by boredom."
Chapter 9: Ignored Warnings
------------------------------
The cave quickly grew darker as we went deeper. Luckily, the Purply-corner-of-myeye-thingy allowed me to see partially. Nayilah walked behind me, unable to benefit from such an ability. "How are you even able to see?" she asked. I then explained my ability to her. She began to laugh. "That has to be the worst name I have ever heard for anything ever!" She mocked. "Well, it's true!" I exclaimed. "For instance..." I said, glancing at Nayilah, "You have a...an...". "What?" she asked, noting my hesitation. "I can't see one of those aura things around you.". "Maybe it only works on humans." she said, "Well, lets put that aside until we can see natural light.". "Yeah," I sighed, "Nothing will get done if we stay here." We continued further in the cave, light becoming more scarce.
---
We reached an intersection of sorts in the cave, more caves branching out in many other directions. Figures appeared in the far left tunnel. "Who's there?" I called, "Show yourselves!". The figures walked towards us and revealed themselves. A zombie, possibly a leader, and two skeletons, acting as a guard of sorts. "Who are you?" the Zombie asked, "And why do you trespass here?". "We are only passing through." Nayilah said, reasoning with the Zombie, "We mean you no harm.". "Yeah," I said, "Do you know another way out of here?". The Zombie talked amongst his guards for a short while and then turned to us. "See that tunnel?" he said, pointing to a tunnel to our left, "Go through there and you should hit the surface.". "But," the Zombie said, his voice growing tense, "Beware the Bright-Eyed Snake". "Um...ok." I said, confused by his warning, "Thanks.". "I must go," he said, "But heed my warning!". "C'mon Greg," Nayilah said, "I've had enough of these caves."
---
We continued down the tunnel, the zombie's words echoing in my mind 'Beware the Bright-Eyed-Snake'. We finally reached a large, dome-like section of the tunnel and decided to rest. He we saw a peculiar sight. A snake, trapped under a single block of stone. This snake was different than others. It had gleaming purple eyes. It seemed to be calling out to me 'Help. Help.'. I walked towards it. "What are you doing?" Nayilah cried, "That is the Snake he warned us about!". "C'mon," I said, "It looks harmless.". I removed the block holding the snake, and it coiled up to my arm. i then proceeded to bite me, and slither away into a small hole. "Arrgh!" I cried, holding my arm, "That little bugger bit me!". "Harmless, eh?" she sighed, "Lets hope it wasn't poisonous.". "Well..." I sighed, "So much for our break.". "The faster we get out of here," Nayilah said, "The faster we get back to camp." And so, without a break, we continued forward.
?
---
"Sir! We just got a psy-link!"
"From who?"
"Saev, sir. He says he has been freed."
"Freed? By a human? Unlikely, even the cave dwellers don't set foot near him."
"Not a human, sir. By his report, it seems he was freed by a Shade."
"Shade? Not the most compassionate creature. What else did Saev say about this one?"
"His aura seemed...different. A simple Grey, if the report is to be believed."
"Ah, Grey, the base color. This one may be unique."
"Shall I give new orders, Sir?"
"Yes. Tell Saev to follow this one. Observe his behaviors. Maybe help when needed.
We have a choicee on our hands now."
Chapter 10:Surprising Savior
------------------------------
We walked further through the cave, hoping to see true daylight. For a while, I began thinking this was nothing more than an elaborate trap, and the snake was somehow apart of it. Such dark aspects of my imagination were almost instantly erased when we finally saw daylight. Nayilah ran up ahead, and I followed suit. There stood a door, silver in color and rusted. She began groping the door, looking for a way to open it. Frustrated, she banged one fist on the door, unable to find a possible solution. "it's shut tight.", She sighed, "Still seems in working order though.". "Is there a switch?", I asked. "The one in here," She said, pointing to a switch, its handle cracked off, "Is broken.". "And the other one?" I suggested. "It's out there," she sighed, pointing outside, "And just out of our reach.". I looked out the hole in the door, hoping that somehow, an answer would show itself. Like an agent of a deity, the black snake came into my vision, slithering along the ground. I called out to it. "Hey!" I yelled, "Could you open this door?". Nayilah laughed, "Greg," She began, "I know you have very little recollection of your previous life, but snakes can't understand us!". "Even if this one did,", she said, "What makes you think it would-". Her thought was cut off by the metal door swinging open, with the snake holding the switch between its tail. "Huh..." Nayilah said, dumbfounded by what had just occurred. "C'mon," I said, "I've had enough of these caves!"
---
"What?!" Aaron cried, "How is that possible?". "I agree," Brendan said, "That seems rather improbable.". "While I do agree that the snake is a witty creature," the enderman said, "That seems extremely unlikely.". "Trust me,", James assured the group, "This will all make sense later on in the story.". "Oh yeah," Brendan said, "Aaron, how close are we to it being day time?". Aaron walked to the window, noting where the moon stood in the sky. "We've got about 2 or 3 hours until daybreak." Aaron said. "Perfect!" James said, "Than I shall continue the story further!"
Chapter 11: Acquired Allies
------------------------------
As the light of day greeted me once again, I walked towards the snake, looking to thank him for his assistance. "Hey snake!" I said, "Thanks for getting us out of that.". "Do you really think he understands us?" Nayilah asked. "It understood us when we told it to open the door.". The snake then began to slither up my arm, reaching my neck. Then, quick as lightning, severed the string connecting the diamond. The diamond clattered to the ground, lifeless. "Gah!" I cringed, expecting to burst into flames. No such thing happened. Instead, a different feeling engulfed my body. Jitteriness seems to be a good word for it. Nayilah looked at me and put her had on my shoulder. "You Oka-". *FLASH* I teleported a distance away. surprised my this, I fell back, landing on the damp grass. "Interesssting." a voice hissed, seeming close to my head. "Who said that?" I said looking around sorely. Nayilah walked up to me. "Who said what?" she asked. "Something just talked." I said, "Snake-Like.". "So," Nayilah said, looking around, "I hear you saying that you think the snake is talking.". "Must be hearing things." I sighed. "Hey!" Nayilah exclaimed, "There's the lava pool!" and pointed behind me, where Heat ripples could be seen. "Then let's go!" I said, "The faster we get this done, the faster we can go back.".
---
The walk was quiet, but quick. when we approached the pool's edge, I pulled out the orb, and held it in my hands, intrigued by it. "Are you gonna do whatever it is yet?" Nayilah said, obviously bored. "Alright, Alright..." I sighed, and held it up high. "Suuma ettay neeoh" I chanted, and threw the orb into the waiting lava. As the orb was submerged in the molten rock, time itself seemed to freeze. I couldn't move. Slowly, voices entered my mind. Their speech was nothing but high-pitched beeps. They paused, seemingly aware of my presence. A masculine voice spoke, this time, I was able to understand it. "Seek your answers in Grann". As quick as it stopped, time resumed, and I was left with nothing more than than it's words. "...What happened?" I said, instantly exhausted. "Nothing happened." Nayilah said, confused, "You threw it in and now you seem...tired.". "Do you know of a place named Grann?" I asked, regarding the voice's words. "Yeah, It is just north of here." she said, pointing towards the north. "We need to go there." I said simply. "Why?" Nayilah asked, confused once again. "I heard a voice that told me to go there to 'seek answers'.". Nayilah sighed. "Fine...", she said, "We'll go there. But when we find...whatever it is, then we go straight back to camp.". I got up "Agreed!".
Chapter 12: Grann
--------------------
As we neared the proximity of the city of Grann, the immense size of the walls became apparent. The walls-a dull silver in color, showing age-were at least three times the height of me. We approached a large gate, manned by 2 guards, one of which was asleep. The other saw us, and hits the other, waking him. The guard whispered "Wake up! We got people here!". "Hey..." The other guard said, "Isn't it that wolf chick? What's her name again?". "Nayilah.". "Oh" the other guard said, uncaring. The guard looked at me and raised his brow. "Who is that?" he asked. "I dunno." the other says, "If he's with her, then I doubt he'd wanna rip out our innards and wear them as a belt.". We stood at the gate, and Nayilah started talking to the guards. "Hello Larl." she greeted. "Hey Nayilah. What brings you to Grann today?" the Guard asked, "And who's your friend?". "This is Gregory." She began, "Really, he's the reason I'm here. He thinks there are 'answers' in this city that he needs.". "Well..." the guard said, "I guess you could talk to Sir Gayn. I'll send someone to inform him.". he made a gesture with one hand, and the gate opened. "Welcome to Grann!" he said, "Keep yourselves outta trouble!"
---
"How do they know you?", I asked as we walked the streets of Grann. "We have a 'Mutual Agreement'. We don't kill them, and they don't kill us.". "Sounds fair... sort of." I muttered, deciding not to talk for the rest of the walk. We soon came to the home of Sir Gayn. It looked the same as the others I had seen, the only difference being the word "GAYN" carved into the door. We opened the door, and on a wooden chair sat a man. "Hello Gregory." he said in a husky voice. "How do you know my name?" I asked. "The guard told me." he replied, "He also told me you were looking for answers of some variety.". "Indeed," I nodded, "I heard a voice in my head telling me to seek answers here.". "A voice?" he pondered for a moment, "It's either you're crazy, or you must be hearing-". BOOM! an explosion rocked the ground. "What was that?" I cried. "We are being assaulted." Gayn said, "We are being attacked by Demons."
Chapter 13: Demonic Assault
-----------------------------
"How do you know it's demons who are attacking us?" I asked, panicked by the explosion. "Simple," Sir Gayn explained, "nobody else bothers to attack us, so it has to be demons.". "Whatever!" Nayilah exclaimed, "We need to get out there and repel them!". "You coming, Sir Gayn?" I asked, almost out the door. "Me? No," he sighed, "I've grown too old to fight such swift enemies.". We burst out the door, and jumped into the fray.
---
The town was in a horrible state. Houses were broken, and weapons lay scattered on the ground. "Cmon!", Nayilah cried, "We have to group with the soldiers and retaliate!". Suddenly, a blazing chunk of rock soared through the air, and crashed into a house. The rock swiftly cooled down, it's bright red color turning dull. Part of the rock burst open, causing blood-red demons to jump to the ground. Each demon carried a small yellowed sword, and they all cackled uncontrollably. Another group of the laughing demons appeared from a side alley, and both groups surrounded us. Me and Nayilah stood back-to-back, and we conducted a small strategy. "I'll take the guys in front, you take the back." She whispered. She quickly changed into her wolf form, and I brandished Ponderus. Whether it was adrenaline, or some outside force, but my skill with ponderus spontaneously improved. A demon leapt into the air, and I knocked it aside with the shaft of ponderus, sending it into a nearby house window. Another charged at me, and felt the tip of ponderus in their gut as i lobbed them into the others. "Who wants some!?" I screamed, blood-lust consuming me. Killing the others, however, I can't truly remember. Their demise at my hands is hazy. Only when i snapped out of my rage-fraught dream, did i see the bodies of the demons at my feet. I looked at Nayilah, who was staring at me, impressed. "Never knew you had it in you, Greg." She said. "Nor did I..." I muttered. "Well," She said, "We should head to the square. We'll regroup with the guards there."
Chapter 14: Phaeton
---------------------
The square, at least, what was left of it, was the front line for both forces. Demons and Militia alike scrambled frantically, looking for an advantage they would never find. "By Notch," Nayilah gasped, "The square is ruined.". I looked for some sort of command center, and sure enough, there stood a command center. A ramshackle base of command, but a command center nonetheless. "May as well see if we can help." Nayilah sighed, "Now follow me.". She morphed yet again and dashed toward the base, with me straining to keep up.
---
The base was guarded by a small force of guards, so I assume it was of importance to the Grann defenders. A stout man stood on a pile of rubble, ordering soldiers while looking at a map. "We need people to take the main portal in the square." the commander said, not even looking up from his map, "But Phaeton will do most of the work.". "Who's-" I was cut off by a loud trembling from a pile of debris between two buildings. A giant bear crashed through the rubble, slashing at the demons who stood in it's way. A young man stood behind it, obviously the controller of the beast. He wielded a short-sword in his left hand, and his right hand had a peculiar leather bracer, which would glow when he relayed an order to the monstrous bear. "That's Phaeton." the commander said, still looking at his map, "So go and kill that portal."
---
The bloody path the bear carved was pretty easy to follow. Catching up to Phaeton, however, was one of the longest runs I have ever had. "Why are you tired?" Nayilah asked, noticing me catching my breath. "I'm not that fit." I said, gasping for air, "I should work on that.". Phaeton and the bear stood a short distance away from us. "You must be my help!", he called, "Too bad I don't need it.". "Ursa!" he commanded, "Destroy that portal!". The bear charged towards the portal. Suddenly, the beast was sliced in two, and a figure garbed in blood red armor landed behind where the bear once stood. The figure stepped forward, towards Phaeton and showed a golden blade. They parried for a small amount of time, then the demon used a fearful power. It became lightning fast, striking him time after time. "Hey!" I shouted at the demon, wanting him to attack me instead of Phaeton, "Don't you dare hit him again!". The demon, seemingly obeying my orders, stepped away from the bloody mass of Phaeton. I ran up to him, feeling hopeless, unable to heal him. *FLASH*
---
My eyes were somewhere else. The battle-scarred ground became a bumpy, pale stone, Phaeton became an enderman, his purple eyes dimming. A voice entered my head, as a snake appeared near my hand and began slithering up my arm. "He is vital...", it hissed, "Your energies must be sacrificed to heal him.". The snake bit into my shoulder, and vein-like entities became apparent in my arms. I placed my hands on the enderman, and the energy flowed into him. the once dim eyes of the enderman glowed ever brighter. *FLASH*
---
I was back in the regular world. I felt weak. I collapsed on the ground, as the demon spoke to me. "The first test..." it said, "Is of compassion.". "The first test has been passed." It boomed. The cold hands of unconsciousness grasped at me once more, as they had on my first days.
?
---
"Sir! We've detected an energy spike near the target's location."
"Are you sure it's from him?"
"Almost certain, sir!"
"What was this energy used for?"
"Healing, sir. I believe it was for someone...like him."
"Another of a Gray aura?"
"Indeed, sir. I believe he goes by Phaeton."
"Phaeton... how does he contrast to our target?"
"He shows great profession with mana, sir."
"While he shows little."
"What shall we do, sir?"
"First, send Bor to the town of Aruarian."
"And then...?"
"Second, send a tactical team to Isolation Ridge."
"The reason, sir?"
"We need to...ensure they meet with us. Not directly, of course."
"How will we do that?"
"Simple, we will first cause outrage, then cause them to search...for the one called Volg."
Chapter 15: Wrathful Betrayal
------------------------------
When darkness released me from it's cold grasp, a considerable amount of time had passed. It was mid morning. The light made me strain my eyes, and I ached all over. My vision was fuzzy, but the figure looming over me was obvious. Slowly, my vision became clear, and the figure was identified. Phaeton was the one who crouched next to me. I fidgeted slightly, the aching annoying me to no end. "Oh!" he said, jumping at my movement, "You're up...". "I feel as if I ran headfirst into a wall..." I moaned. Phaeton remained silent, examining his arms. On his arms, just beneath the skin, lay a sort of black "Skin" with a shiny sheen, very similar to mine. I in turn examined my arms. Numerous cuts, bruises, and scrapes covered my body, similar to the condition Phaeton had been in when I had healed him. Had that "healing" somehow transferred our wounds? I slowly got up, and Phaeton did as well. "Whatever you did..." Phaeton said, looking at me, "You saved my life.". "And so," He bowed at my feet, "My life is yours.". "I'm not sure what to say..." I said, confounded, "But, please stand up.". Nayilah walked towards us. "Good," she said, "Your up, now let's go.". "Go?" I asked, "Where to?". "Back to camp." she said, "We had an agreement.". "Oh yeah," I muttered. I turned to Phaeton. "Well," I said, "We'll be off.". "Wait!" he said, "let me come with you.". "Well," I sighed, "I'm game. What about you, Nayilah?". "Sure," she said, "Just don't let him touch anything when we get there."
---
Instead of the greetings of the wolf people, we were met with fires and death. The camp was under siege. Who was attacking, I couldn't tell. We immediately ran into combat, staving off our enemies. The ferociousness of the morphe was made apparent through this battle. Even if we hadn't helped, I think they would have been fine. As the final troop fell, Nayilah walked towards the center of the village and began talking to the people. "Why were we attacked?" she asked. "We are not sure, Miss Nayilah." one said. "Wait," she paused, and looked through the crowd, "Where is Volg?". "We haven't seen him since initial attack." Another said, "And none of us have seen him since.". She rummaged through the piles of armor, and found one with a small symbol on it. She grew angry and screamed to the crowd. "Brothers and Sisters!" she called, rallying the wolf-people, "The treacherous people of Aruarian have betrayed us!". "They have attacked us and now hold one of our brothers hostage!" she continued, "And now we shall get him back!". She roared onto the air, and the other morphe joined in soon after, producing a horrible roar of anger and wrath. "We shall strike them at sun-rise!" she called, "And so, we shall march tonight!".
Chapter 16: Long March
---------------------------------
Have you ever been forced to march with a platoon of blood-crazed creatures that can change into wolves? Have you ever been forced to fight with your friends, but against your other friends? Have you ever walked so long without rest, your feet felt as if they would fall off? Let me assure you, it isn't fun. Since Nayilah was busy at the front, quite literally barking commands at her troops, I talked to Phaeton for the majority of the march. "Any idea what's Nayilahs up to?" I asked, sore feet giving me an edge in my voice. Phaeton sighed, signaling that my question was idiotic, "She is going to raze Aruarian, or get her entire force destroyed trying.". "Are the morphe always like this?" I asked, confounded by Nayilah sudden thirst for revenge. "Throughout history..." Phaeton began, "...the Morphe have always been the people to seek revenge, and to horrifying extremes.". I was surprised, but not for long, "Would it be reasonable to assume that they have razed entire city-states for their petty revenge?" I asked, in a moment of overexaggeration. "Indeed," Phaeton sighed, his face growing dark, "They have also lost a large majority of their species to these wars for revenge.". "In fact," he said, "They are the last group of united morphe.". I gasped inward, "That means...". "That this seige will wipe them out, yes." Phaeton sighed, "It's pitiful really. They lust for revenge, yet they only gain extinction.". "Im gonna try to convince her to stop this." I said, walking faster, towards the front, "Maybe we can avoid this bloodshed."
---
"You must be insane!" Nayilah shouted, "We have to get Volg back!". I continued the arguement, "Don't you see? Your going to get wiped out!". "Enough of your chaff!" she yelled, "Were destroying them, and that's final!". She quickly walked ahead, leading the march once again. Phaeton came alongside me, "They are stubborn. This will be their downfall.". "We can't let them do this." I said, looking outward. "What do you suppose?" Phaeton asked, "They are determined to sprint to their doom. They won't listen to reason.". "Then we try to prepare the opposing team." I said, "We must warn Aruarian.". "How will we do that?" Phaeton asked. "Simple!" I said, "We decieve Nayilah.". We approached Nayilah once again. "If this is about us stopping our attack," she said, "Then don't bother.". "Actually," I began, "We were wrong to think this attack was unprecedented.". "We have decided to help you by scouting ahead." Phaeton joined in, " We just need your confirmation.". She thought for a moment, "Sure. Just don't get too close.". "Yes ma'am." Phaeton did a mock salute, and we both ran towards the city. "Nice plan." Phaeton said, "Now we just need to warn them."
---
"I've heard of the morphe." Brenden said, "Apparently they have even fewer numbers then they did a year ago.". "I have also seen the fury of the morphe." The enderman said, "I saw them raze a very large city, many of your human years ago.". "I wonder how they have survived thus far..." Aaron wondered, "...They seem too foolhardy to survive for so long.". "Perhaps," James said, "They have another purpose. A purpose still untapped.". "Aaron," James said, "How long until daybreak?". "Pretty soon." Aaron said, "Will we pause the story until night?". "That would be best." said the enderman, "I must be going. Good day.". "Seeya tonight!" Brenden laughed, "Bring your friends!"
Chapter 17: Battle Plans
----------------------------------
Thankfully, the group had expanded their house before night fell again. For when they opened the door to greet their enderman aquaintance, behind him stood two more creatures. One was a creeper, the other was a zombie. "I've brought along more to listen to the story." he explained, "I have also briefed them on what has happened in the story thus far.". "Well..." Aaron muttered. "Sure!" Brenden intervened, "More the merrier!". Once they were settled in, James began the story from where he lft off, with Phaeton and Greg running towards Aruarian.
---
If there is anything I hate more at this point than walking, it's running. "Are we almost there?" I moaned, legs burning like lava. "Yeah," Phaeton sighed, "We can walk the rest of the way. We're almost there anyway.". We continued walking until we reached a house furthest from the center. A man walked by, who seemed to be the owner of the house. "Hello," he greeted, "Can I help y-". He stopped, looked at both of us, screamed, and sprinted into the street behind him, screaming "Guards! Guards!". Me and Phaeton looked at eachother, and gulped. Almost instantly, a squad of guards dashed around the corner, each brandishing a large pike, far larger than ponderus. The captain, his rank made apparent by the large plume on his helmet, spoke. "Alright!" he called, "What are you doing inside city- wait...". He came closer, eyeing me, and then the weapon at my hip. "Gregory?" he asked. He took off his helmet, revealing Ice. "Hey Ice!" I said, "Nice to see you again.". "You know one of the founders of Aruarian?" Phaeton asked. Ice waved at the other guards, ordering them to lower their weapons. A sigh of dissapointment went through them. "Indeed he does.", Ice said, "What brings you back?". "um..." I stammered. "Your city will soon be under seige by the morphe." Phaeton said, "And we desire an audience with the other founders to form a Battle Plan.". Ice's eyebrows shot up, and he turned to the men again. "You heard 'em boys!", Ice called, "Tell the others to prep up. We've got wolves to hunt!". The guards ran off, a child-like glee in their eyes. Their seemed joy in killing unnerved me. "What's with them?" I asked. "Remember when Brick said we wanted to make a community where mobs and humans lived in harmony?" Ice asked, "Well, we're not off to a nice start.". "Can we go now?" Phaeton asked, impatient, "I'd much rather not be getting picked out of some morphe's teeth by morning!". "Oh yeah," Ice started, "Sorry about the whole guards thing.". "He's an enderman, and I look like a mad science experiment." Phaeton sighed, "It's only obvious that he would react like that."
---
We all were sitting in the meeting room. Me and Phaeton sat on one side of the large table, and the three founders sat on the other. "Why are thay attacking us?" Nom asked, "We've done nothing wrong.". Phaeton began to speak, "Due to a peice of armor found on the attackers bearing this city's logo, they assume you kidnapped one of their members.". "But we'd do no such thing!" Brick cried. "Well," Nom began, "Guilty or not, we need to prepare our defences.". He walked towards a small intercom, "Inform the people of a code orange.", he said, "And bolster the walls.". A voice rang through the air, "Attention citizens!" It announced, "We will soon be under attack. Please enter your homes until further notice. I repeat, We will soon be under seige. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill.". A rumbling rang through the air, and the ground departed near the borders of the city. Large pillars of stone sprang out of the ground, forming a wall. People came out of the houses, and began applying a paste to the walls, intending to bolster them. "I think now is a better time than ever to bring out our Magnum Opus.", Ice said, "C'mon, it's downstairs."
Chapter 18: Iron Golem
---------------------------------
We all walked down to a small room with one large glass wall. On the other side of the glass, there was a large room. Ice flipped a lever, and the lights in the large room lit up. Nom walked over to a intercom. "Please bring up Flinger for testing." He ordered. In the other room, a section of the floor opened, and out of it rose a platform with a peculiar construct on it. "This is a Iron Golem." Brick explained, "We made it from a blueprint that we obtained from a caravan of Testificates.". "What's a Testificate?" I asked. "A highly intelligent subspecies of human." Phaeton explained, he turned to Ice, "But I thought you said it was your Magnum Opus?". "Well, yes and no." Ice explained, "We didn't create him ourselves, but our supplies were needed to make it.". "If I could interrupt the tea party," Nom cut in, "Flinger is powered up and ready to test.". We all turned toward the glass wall. The Golem's eyes now burned a hellish red. He seemed bulky, but his long arms compensated for that. It's forehead seemed larger than most humans, and it had a bulbous "Nose". A training dummy appeared in front of the Golem. It lurched forward, moving slowly at the dummy. It swung one of its mighty arms, severing the head of the dummy. "Why do you call it 'Flinger'?" I asked. "Just wait." Ice said, grinning. The Golem picked up the headless dummy, and flung it into the air, where it hit the ceiling with a *POOF*. Nom walked over to the intercom again, "Please delpoy Flinger near the front gate, and prepare him for battle.". "We should go back to the meeting room to prepare the final aspects of our plan." Brick said, "As dawn approaches quickly."
---
"There are two aspects of our plan that we haven't touched on yet.", Brick said, "First; should we try to confirm that we don't have one of their own?". "It's quite unlikely they'll believe us," Nom said, "But it's worth a try.". "Second," Brick tuned to me and Phaeton, "Your roles in the defence of our city.". "Us?" Phaeton asked. "Yeah," Ice said, "We need all the help we can get.". "What are your combat aspects?" Ice asked. "You know that I use this spear." I said. "I an explosive magic novice.", Phaeton chimed. "What about that giant bear you controled during the demon attack?" I asked. "I used a scroll for that." He explained, "One time use, but pretty powerful.". "Here's how we'll be divided," Nom said, "each of us will take a part of the wall, and a section of the city. If the walls fall, then we all fall back to the castle.". "I hope that covers the whole plan," Phaeton said, looking at the mass of Morphe on the horizion, "Because our friends have arrived."
Chapter 19: Battle for Aruarian
------------------------------------------
We all rushed for our stations. I, along with Ice, were stationed at the front gate. I could see the eerie merriment in the guards as they carried on. "Don't you find it odd that they seem excited to murder an army bent on murdering them?" I asked. "They're Mercs." Ice explained, "They're sort of wired to act like that.". "By the way," Ice asked, "Is the snake on your arm okay?". I looked at the black snake coiled on my arm. It camouflaged almost perfectly with my arm. I prodded it with one of my thin fingers. It roused from its slumber. It looked around, licked the air a few times, and then went back to its sleeping. "Guess he is." I muttered. By time we arrived at the gates, Nayilah and her warriors were already there. She spotted me, above her on the wall, and shook her head. "You've dug yourself a deep hole," Nayilah growled, "And I'll be surprised if you ever see daylight again!". "We don't have your missing guy, Nayilah!" Ice called. "We have your armor as proff that you attacked us!", Nayilah called, as she held up the peice of armor, bearing the apparent Aruarian logo. "we've done no such thing!" Ice yelled, "Were being framed!". "Just accept your demise like a man!" She screamed, "Attack!". Her, along with the entirety of her forces, charged towards the front of the stone wall. Me and Ice both ran down the stairs, and stood in front of the rock wall. "Get ready." Ice said, holding a small orb. The wall began buckling, and we all got ready for the inevitable onslaught. Suddenly, the wall stopped buckling, and a hissing could be heard. "Get back!" Ice hollared, "It's gonna blow!". We all fell back a few feet, to avoid whatever was hissing. *BOOM* The wall exploded, sending hunks of rock towards us. Ice hit a button on the orb, and lobbed it into the breach. An explosion sprang up where the orb landed. "What was that?" I asked. "Fire charge." Ice replied, "Pretty good for taking out groups.". A stream of Morphe charged from the gap. Each mercenary charged headfirst into the fray, hollaring like madpeople. "Cmon!" Ice called, running into the fray. I grabbed ponderus, and followed suit. I charged spear first, landing a blow on an enemy, forcing it back with a yelp. I swung, landing another blow. A morphe leapt into the air. I barely dodged it, and tried to hit it. The morphe dashed out of the way of my blow, and tried to hit me from behind. I flinched, falling backwards. Ice flew though the air, striking the morphe and sending him flying back. Ice held out his hand. "Cmon!", "He said, "We're falling back."
---
Me, Ice, and the remaining troops fell back to the castle. The others were already there when we arrived. Brick brandished a large warhammer, and Nom held a crossbow with a glowing string. "How many kills?" Ice joked. "None," Brick said, "None of them even came to the south wall.". "it was obvious they wouldn't," Nom elaborated, "Why spread out, when you can attack en masse in one central area?". "I could note the obvious sarcasm in that sentence," Ice said, "But I'll leave it be.". "Incoming!", shouted a voice from one of the castle's towers. The morphe were marching towards us, and Nayilah was at the front. She stopped in front of us. "Can we stop this nonsense?" She asked, "We just want Volg back.". I steped forward. "They don't have Volg.", I said, "They're being set up.". "By who?" She asked sarcasticly, "Bandits?". I walked closer to her. "I don't know," I said, "But I know an honest person when I see one.". She grabbed ponderus, snapped it in two peices with ease, and tossed them over her shoulder. I grew angry, and tried to punch her. She grabbed my fist, and tossed it back to my side. I tried again. She stepped out of the way, and swiftly punched me in the gut. I reeled back, out of breath. I slowly recovered my breath, and stepped towards her again. She struck me again, this time in the chest. I reeled back again. I was furious. "Listen, Nayilah." I growled. I tried to punch her one last time. She then struck me three times in the head. I felt dizzy, and lightheaded. "Why..." I growled, "Won't you LISTEN?!", I punched her in the head. I teetered, and my vision blurred. Then, the ground seemed much closer than I thought.
Chapter 20: Departures
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I felt as if I was floating. Was I dead? A voice resounded through my mind. "You tried to reason with a morphe.", It said. I recognized it from somewhere, but couldn't put my finger on it. "Like trying to break a mountain with your forehead." chimed another voice. This one also sounded familliar. "He's trying to remember us..." The first voice said. "He doesn't?" asked the other. "Merely a temporary memory loss caused by numerous strikes to the head.". "Um..." I spoke up, "Am I dead?". "No, you are not dead.", the first voice spoke, "Only unconscious.". "What are you?", I asked. "We would rather not tell you such at such a young time." Said the second voice, "Circumstances state we not tell you until we think you are prepared to accept it.". "We shall wake you up now..." said the first voice. I felt like I was ascending, and could feel my body again. I began to regain conscious.
---
I heard muffled voices all around me. My head throbbed, and I felt slightly weak. My vision wasn't blurry like before, but it was shakey. Phaeton walked towards me, and knelt by my side. "Finally awake, I see. he said, "You were out for quite some time.". "How long?", I asked. "About a day...", He said, "Also, the founders wanted to thank you for not getting your head bashed in by an angry wolf woman.". I got up slowly, and noticed that my eye seemed to hurt. I covered it with one of my long, black hands, and slowly walked out of the room. We were in the castle, and all seemed surprisingly calm. We both walked up to the meeting room, where the founders sat waiting for us. "Glad you're not dead!" Brick laughed, "She really gave you a knocking.". "You wanted to talk to us?" I asked. "Yes," Ice began, "We want to reward you for your efforts.". "We've decided to make you co-founders," Nom said, "and you can help us govern Aruarian.". "I'm not sure..." I said, "I don't think such is right for me.". Everyone looked at me in shock. "You're saying that a seat of power isn't 'a good idea'?" Phaeton exclaimed. "Hey," Nom spoke up, "Before chairs a flung across the room, let's hear him out.". "I have a premonition that staying here will lead to a terrible event occuring to all of us.", I explained. The room fell silent. I spoke again, "And since you bound your life to me, Phaeton, you have to go with me.". "Great!" Phaeton mumbled, "I'm stuck with an idiot.". "Well," Ice said, "Can we do anything to repay you?".
---
"All you want is a new spear?" Ice asked. "Yeah," I replied, "That's all I'll need.". "You aren't going to name it like last time, are you?" Ice asked. "Why wouldn't I name it?" I asked. "It was supposed to be a joke." He explained, "Didn't know you would take it seriously.". Nom walked out of the forge with my new weapon. It looked different than my previous. Instead of having a pointed tip, it had numerous smaller points, and the sharp edge was more prominent. "Why is this different?" i asked. "I noticed your style was more for slashing, than stabbing," He explained, "So I made the appropriate adjustments.". "Thanks again." I said. "You sure about leaving here?" Ice asked, "Where are you going to?". "First," I said, "I'm gonna go talk to Nayilah. Then, I guess we'll just wander until we find something.". "I hope we will meet again, Gregory.", Ice said, "Goodbye."
???
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"What a nice night." Zaiveer declared. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits since Gregory killed that human. The moon was full, and the stars glittered like gold. A creeper walked up to Zaiveer. "Nice out, huh?" Zaiveer smiled. The creeper remained silent. "What's up?" Zaiveer asked, concerned by the creeper's silence. "I feel..." The Creeper began, "...Like something feels off tonight.". Zaiveer felt a chill go down his spine. "I feel it too." Zaiveer muttered. Suddenly, a loud flapping rang through the air. All grew silent. *WHOOSH* The source of the flapping whipped past above their heads, and became sillhouetted in the moon. The figure then descended gracefully, filling the air with its soft flapping wings, and a light tinkle. By then, numerous mobs had started watching the graceful figure, all looking dumbfounded. The figure was an angel. As it landed in front of him, Zaiveer could see the golden trinkets that adorned its armor. "Hello." It spoke, bringing a sense of ease unto the crowd, "Which of you is named... Zaiveer?". Zaiveer stepped forward, "I am.". ". "Good," The angel smiled, "I need to know something, Zaiveer.". "Yes?" He asked. "Have you seen..." he pulled a small peice of paper out of a small satchel, "One named Gregory?". "Yeah!" Zaiveer replied, "He said he was heading towards Aruarian.". The angel paused for a second, pulled another item out his satchel; an amulet. "This," he said, "Is for your troubles.". He handed it to Zaiveer. "Thanks." He said. He examined the amulet. It was a light blue, slightly lighter than a diamond, and gave off a faint glow. Without a word, the angel spread his mighty wings, and flew into the night sky, leaving all in awe. "Gregory..." Zaiveer muttered, "Why did that angel want to know about you?".
Chapter 21: Reunion
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Little was spoken as me and Phaeton journeyed to the ridge. Our silence to each other testified to our strained relationship at the moment. I passed the time by observing what was going on around us. The day seemed peaceful. Wild animals walked about the land, trees whispered in the soft wind, and the clouds sailed lazily along the blue sky. Lots to see, but not much to talk about. I examined my spear, which was swiftly corrected by Phaeton to be a naginata, for what seemed to be the hundreth time. Its blade gleamed in the sunlight, reflecting my ebony face. After what seemed to be an eternity-and-a-half, we finally reached the ridge. In the day, it seemed much different. It seemed less hospitable, less likely to be home to a group of short-tempered transforming creatures. "Were here." I said. Phaeton glared at me, but gave no responce. As we walked between the rock walls, the morphe once again stared at us. However, they weren't as stealty as before, staying in one place and watching us. As we got closer to the camp, the amount of morphe watching increased. All of them standing there, and watching. It was...slighty unnerving. When we finally reached the camp, two morphe approached us. "She wishes to speak with you." One of them said. "How'd she know we were coming?" I asked. "That is none of your concern," he said, "She wants to see you both, and you will do as she wills."
---
Nayilah walked out of the main building and swiftly approached us. She sported a small, but noticable bruise on her face, possibly from when I desperately struck her. "How did you know we were coming?" I asked. "Due to your memory loss," she bagan, "It would be easy to assume that you would cling to any new memories, or in your case, people, that you bond with.". "Is that why you dragged me along with you?" Phaeton asked. "It would be reasonable to assume that." Nayilah said. "That wasn't the reason," I exclaimed. "Then why did you bring me along?" He asked. I paused, "I...Don't know.". "Look," Nayilah said, "Could we scrap this for now and get going?". Me and Phaeton looked at her, surprised. "How did you know we were gonna ask you to come with us?" I asked. "It's rather obvious." she said, "You wouldn't just come here to apoligize, and with the clinginess theory, it makes it even more probable.". I spoke up, "If we are going to go together, then you should tell your people.". She looked over at the newly formed crowd, and looked back to us. "I anticipated your arrival, and had already told them the news." She said, "All we need to do now, is depart.". She turned to the crowd, and waved a farewell to them. We turned away from the crowd, and began walking. Now, the journey could begin.
Chapter 22: Capture
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We walked in a single direction for what felt like hours. Nothing of interest appeared on the landscape. "Not exactly a prime example of an exciting journey, eh?" Phaeton joked. "At least nothing has gone wrong." I sighed, "Although I hope something interesting does happen soon.". As late afternoon began, something caught our eye. Stone walls. "Is that a settlement?" I asked. "It's not one I've heard of..." Phaeton said, scratching his head. "Perhaps we should stay there for the night." Nayilah suggested. As we approached the gate, we noticed that the entire town was dead silent. "I don't like this." Phaeton mumbled. We walked into the town. No people, but it seemed to have been populated recently. The good condition of the houses pointed towards it. Suddenly, we heard a loud creaking. We turned to see the gate closing behind us. We were trapped. People poured out of their houses, bearing ropes and shackles. There were too many to fight, or even retaliate. They bound us, and tied us to large logs. We were then carried towards the town square. People looked out of windows, behind doors, and between houses, and joined the already large crowd, enjoying our transport like a child would a parade. When we reached the square, we saw a large stand with numerous large holes in them, presumably for the logs that carried us. All the buildings looked similar, except for one, which I assumed was a church. We were placed on the stand, and the crowd stood in front of it, glaring at us. The church bell rang, long and clear, and the doors opened. From the church came a middle-aged man in plain, white robes, carring a large book. The crowd parted for him, and he approached the stand. He turned to the crowd. "My brothers and sisters!" He called, "Today we have three new sacrifices for the great Notch!". "Hail Notch!" Screamed the crowd. "He has been very kind to us recently," He continued "It's only fair we repay him!". "Hail Notch!" Screamed the crowd. "How are we gonna get out of this?" I whispered. "I don't think we can..." muttered Phaeton. "I think We'll be fine." Nayilah said. We looked at her like she was crazy. The Man kept preaching his twisted religion, while the crowd cheered on. "And now," He said, "They will burn!".". As guards came to begin our slow demise, a noise sounded. It was a high pitched whistling noise, and it was growing closer. A large, glowing ball of energy slammed into the church tower, destroying it with a brilliant explosion. The gate buckled, and finally collasped, and from it, came a large metal behemoth. On its left side was a large cannon. The townspeople donned small, rusted weapons, and charged at the large machine. Their attacks did nothing. The goliath swat them away like little flies. Others came through the demolished gate, and assisted the machine in cutting down the villagers. One seemingly high ranking soldier hovered down from a rooftop and began freeing us. "You guys must have been quite unlucky if you stumbled upon these zealots." he said. "Who are you?" I asked, examining his dull silver armor. "I think we'd best leave that to when we get out of here." he said. We ran towards the gate, where the battle was taking place. Our savior pulled out a gleaming blade, and turned to us. "You'd best get out of here." He said, "I'll have some of my boys escort you to camp.". He then charged into the crowd, hacking and slashing the entire time. We ran towards the gate, where some more warriors were standing, each of them armed with a variety of weapons, and with the same dull silver armor. "We'd best be off to the camp." The head guard said, "Night is approaching fast, and we don't wanna be out with the creepers.".
Chapter 23: Preperations
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The camp wasn't far from the village, only a short walk from the main gates. Patrolling the camp were soldiers carrying spears and peculiar, blue burning torches. One of the guards looked in our direction, and stopped, signalling the others to do so as well. When all the guards were motionless, he nodded, directing us to go in. We walked towards a large looking tent in the center of the camp. A person came out to meet us. He didn't have any armor, nor weapons, just a pen and an intricate robe. "Welcome!" He said, "You must be our guests.". He pulled out a small leatherbound book, and flipped through the pages. "Hmm..." He muttered, "We have some vacant space in that tent.". He pointed to a tent near the partolling soldiers. Nayilah spoke up "Thank you for your kindness." She said as she walked towards the tent, "We'll set up there for the night.". Phaeton and I met eyes and exchanged confused looks. We both followed her into the tent. Once in, we were met by two soldiers, going outside. The one closest to us raised a brow. "Were sharing a tent with you?" he asked. He turned to the soldier behind him. "Guess were lucky to have watch tonight.". "Oh!" the farther soldier exclaimed, "We almost forgot our glasses.". Both put their hands into a small bag on their side, and pulled out a small, dull blue substance in a syringe. "Glasses?" Phaeton asked, eyeing the small sryinge. "We call 'em glasses because they are a sight enhancer." Explained the closest soldier. Both nonchalantly injected the needle into their arms. They blinked hard for a second, and continued out the door. "We'll see ya tomorrow!" one called, "Hope you don't mind snoring.". They both laughed, and walked towards the patrolling soldiers. We chose our beds, got comfortable, and eventually drifted off into sleep.
---
"Greg. Greg!" A voice called out to me. I jumped out of slumber. "Not so loud, you dolt!" Phaeton whispered. "What do you want?" I asked, groggily. "Just listen" He instructed, "I don't like how she seems to have a knack for predicting things.". "She?" I asked, "Oh, you mean Nayilah.". "No, I mean the queen of shut up!" Phaeton hissed, "Now, do as the queen commands and shut it!". I remained silent. "As I was saying." he continued, "Remember how she had predicted our return to her village?". "Didn't she explain that?" I asked. "You actually believed that?" He asked, "It was nothing but hot air. And what of her prediction of our rescue?". "Perhaps she was just trying to be optimistic." I guessed. "I guess you could assume that..." he muttered, "But I don't like it. I think we should keep an eye on her.". " If it helps you sleep at night..." I said rolling on my side. He left me alone after that, and I drifted into slumber once again.
---
And this is how far I have gotten in Wandering Shade. Leave a comment or something telling you opinion. Opinions, Criticism, Ideas, and other stuff? Leave it in a comment!
Wait, 2 guys ACTUALLY like this? Wow! That's 2 more then I would have anticipated! I hope to have the first chapter up tomorrow or the next day. Thanks again!
Chapter 2 is out. Fun Fact:I originally wanted to introduce a new character, but decided against it. I didn't want to introduce another character when i can barely use the two I had!
Wandering Shade: http://imgur.com/JVXMl
This is an enderman story that I shall slowly construct. I shall update the story, 1 chapter at a time, starting with the Prologue. Give me criticism, I can (Hopefully) take it. Now!! Press B to story start!!!!
Prologue
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It was nearing night when 3 men had finished their house. "Phew!" One Breathed, "Thank Notch that we finished in time!" and laughed. "Don't be so cocky." warned another, "Cockiness always leads to downfall. Remember what happened to those travelers near Crainton?". "Oh yeah..." the First Man recalls. "ripped to shreds in their bags. Didn't stand a chance". "That's right!" Snaps the Second Man, "Now shut up.". "Still..." says the Third, and eldest man, "We have shelter, while those travelers didn't."."whatever." mutters the Second Man, as he heads towards the window. "See anything?", asks the First Man. "not really" replies the second Man, "All the monsters seem to be- Wait." the Second Man spies something moving in the dark. "What?" asks the First Man."I see something moving. It is picking up blocks. It must be another Human!" exclaims the Second Man and runs out the door, the First Man following soon after. "wait!" cries the Third Man as he also run out the door. When all three men were outside they saw not a human, but a tall, thin figure with gleaming purple eyes staring directly at the Second Man. "Don't look away." warned the Third Man, "I shall conjure a spell to defeat it" and almost instantly, a glowing orb appeared between his hands. Curious of the glowing sphere, the Second Man looked away from the figure. The thing charged at break-neck speeds, making prominent the stone block in its hands. Panicking, the Third Man thrust his hands, and the orb with it ahead of him, making it form a circle. In this circle, an image appeared. A black snake with purple eyes. Seeing this, the thing stopped in its tracks, only meters from the men. it began to speak in a low-pitched voice "How does a mere human know of the symbol of my people?" it growled, the stone block under its arm. The Third Man looked at it and calmly replied "Ah, where I come from," began the Third Man "Your species is highly respected, friend enderman." The enderman looked confused "I am not your friend." he said "But I am curious of this group of humans that hold us in high regard.". "Good! Good!" the Third Man laughed, "Then won't you come inside? I can tell a story of your people if you wish.". The enderman sounded almost shocked "You will let me in your home? even though i just tried to kill you?". "Sure!" The First Man chimed, "just don't try to kill us now." and laughed. When all four were sitting around the table, the Third Man spoke. "Now," he started "I will tell you a tale. Of an enderman who fought very empires to find answers". He continued "And a powerful friend, who could be both human and wolf"
"This is their story"
Chapter 1: Greg
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Darkness. That is what first greeted me. Darkness and silence. What was going on? Where was I? Countless questions rushed into my head. Was there anybody else here? "Hello?" I called. My voice echoed back. "Nobodies here" I muttered. Suddenly,shapes appeared in front of me. Eight of them, all a gleaming purple. Eyes? I noticed something else. Four dimly glowing orbs, all of them growing closer. Fear overtook me. I tried to run, I couldn't move. Suddenly, a long, sharp pain filled my body .I tried to scream, I couldn't speak. Even faster, the pain ended. I could see more. Glowing coral, burning rocks, and tall, black creatures. I began to black out, and as I did, a deep, demonic voice rumbled "You asked for this. Enjoy!". The voice's laughter was what I heard as I slipped into the dark.
--
I woke up on a hill, the moon watching me like a sentinel. Now where am I? I slowly got up, dull pain greeting me as I did. When I was fully upright, I noticed more problems. For one, my memory was gone. All gone, except for one name. "Gregory". Was that my name? Might as well roll with it. My limbs felt light and Langley. I seem taller than I was. Also, I have a purple tint around the rims of my eyes. What in Notch's name am I?! I looked around for something, anything, even an animal. I spied something near a cave embedded in a mountain. A block of stone. Perfect in every way. I HAD to have it. I walked over and tried to pick it up. It was stuck. I pulled on it with all my might and it popped out into my hands. For some reason, I was happy to have this odd block in my hands. Now, where am I? I again looked around and now I saw something. A human? No, humans don't have festered flesh and sword wounds. "Who cares?" my mind screamed at me, "at least it's something!". "Yeah." I muttered in agreement. I walked over to the zombie and greeted it. "Hello." I said as I was about a meter from the zombie. It looked around and jumped at the sight of me. "Don't kill me!" it cried, cowering in fear. "What are you talking about?" I asked, confused at his fear. "Y-You mean you won't kill me?" It asked, standing upright. "No... why would you ask that" I asked, still confused. "Sorry! I just think that since you kill humans, you'd kill us as well..." he said, worried expression on his face. "That's crazy!" I cried, "Why would I kill fellow humans?. "You? A human? Haha!" he laughed. "I think you need to see your reflection" he said and walked over to to a pond, me following soon after. Looking back, I really wasn't prepared for what I seen. When I looked, I saw a blank face, empty except for two bright purple eyes. I cried out "This isn't possible!" and touched the reflection to make sure. When I touched the water, my hand felt as if my hand was on fire. I pulled back, reeling in pain. The water hurt me! The zombie stood there, thinking about the situation. This enderman, who believes he is a human, just touched the water and reeled back in pain. "Odd" he muttered. "So...what am I?" Greg thought aloud. The zombie cut into Greg's train of thought "Your kind have many names.'Enderman' seems most prominent with humankind, although some call you 'Farlanders'. we call you 'Shades'.". Greg remained silent. "Whats your name?" the zombie asked, "I'm Zaiveer". "G-Gregory. My name is Gregory" Greg responded "Greg for short". "Ah, well, nice to meet you, Greg!" Zaiveer said. "Now lets get to the caves, you don't want to be caught outside during day.". "Well, OK" Greg said as he followed Zaiveer into the mouth of a small cave.
Chapter 2: Hunter
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As night fell once again, I had learned more of the world I was now in. This land was inhabited by numerous creatures. Zombies, such as Zaiveer, Skeletons, ancient casters and masters of the bow, and Creepers, tall, green creatures who explode when provoked. "Interesting" Gregory pondered, "And Humans on top of that?". "Yeah." sighed Zaiveer,"But the humans have made it hard for us in recent years. Killing us, calling us monsters.". "You attack them also?", asked Greg, still deep in thought. "Yeah." replied Zaiveer, "But it is mostly in self defense.". "Mostly...?". "Yeah. But then it's for their trespassing.". "Then just stop attacking them when they enter the caves." said Greg. Zaiveer sighed, "If we did that, they would plunder our treasures and kill us all!". "I see..." Greg muttered. "Anyways." Zaiveer jumped up,"Night is here, lets go out!". "Sure." Greg replied as they headed out into the dark.
--
"Nice out tonight." Zaiveer said, looking at the moon. "Do you see something over there?" asks Greg, spotting a moving form near a lake. "Probably a human. Best not go near it." Zaiveer replied, eyes still fixed on the moon. Greg started down the hill. "Where are you going?" asked Zaiveer. "Going down to talk to the human." Greg said, getting further down the hill. "What?!" Zaiveer cried, "It'll kill you!". "By your stories, wouldn't be the other way around, with me killing it?".Zaiveer muttered something and sighed "If your going, I guess I'll come with you, for backup."Sure! the more the merrier." Greg cheered as both made it to the bottom of the hill. As they reached the bottom, Greg noticed something peculiar about the human. It had an orange glow. "zaiv?" Greg asked. "Yeah?" Zaiveer said. "Do you see an orange glow around that human?". "Orange glow?" Zaiveer said, confused. "I guess not." Greg responded. Then, the human did something that he would regret for a long time. He looked directly at Greg. Greg stood still, frozen by the human's gaze. The human stood likewise, unable to move. "Why can't I move?" Greg thought. When the human looked away, one thought filled Greg's mind "KILL KILL KILL!". Greg grabbed his stone block and ran at the human. *FLASH* Why am I closer to the Human? *FLASH* Why can't I control myself? *FLASH* Almost there! Why isn't he running? *FLASH* I'm behind him. I smack him with the block as he looks behind. He is on the ground now, screaming, pleading, begging. I only hear one thing "FINISH HIM!!". I smash his head with the block and he goes limp. His body lays there for a few seconds. Those seconds seemed to last eternity. As Zaiveer approached, the body disappeared with a puff of smoke. Zaiveer put his hand on my shoulder. He was laughing. "Why are you laughing?!" Greg screamed. "I killed an innocent human!". Zaiveer chuckled and said "Human? Yes, but not innocent.". "What do you mean?" Greg asked. "I mean, he has terrorized us for years. None of us could kill him. But then, you, an enderman who just got here, killed him with finesse!" Zaiveer laughed. A skeleton approached "Hunter Gregory" it said in a raspy voice. other creatures joined him in a chant, "Hunter Gregory. Hero Gregory.". Gregory remained silent, and got to his feet. He began to walk away. Some of the creatures protested his abrupt leaving, but Zaiveer stopped them "Let him rest" he said,
"Every hero needs rest."
Chapter 3: Farewells
------------------------
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Zaiveer asked Gregory. "Yes." Greg answered, "I can't look at this place the same way again. I must leave."."Well, okay."Zaiveer sighed, "But remember, You always have a home here." and smiled."Thank you, Zaiveer. That means a lot to me." Greg said as he shook his hand. "Wait, Hunter Greg!", A skeleton called out. In his hands, was a light blue gemstone. "Take this." he handed it to Greg. "What is it?" asked Greg."It is a diamond. it will grant you the ability to walk in the sun. It is our prized item, but it is the least we can do after you slayed the tyrant.". "Don't remind me..." Greg sighed, the memory of the human's body fresh in his head. "Well, I guess I'll be off.". Greg headed towards the cave entrance, the cheers of the crowd almost deafening. He walked out of the cave, and into the day. The sun was blinding when he stepped outside. He shielded his eyes, trying not to stumble off the hillside. His eyes adjusted, and Greg saw the land of the day. Birds chirped and chattered and the trees swayed gently in the wind. The land seemed sharper, and almost endless. "I need to go west..." Greg thought aloud. They had explained that a village to the west that had declared a truce with the local creatures. "Seems like a good place to start" Zaiveer had said. Lets see... Greg thought, If the sun comes up in the east. He looked at the sun. That was a mistake. It hurt his eyes. he looked away and buried his face in his hands. A few minutes later, when his eyes felt better, he thought again. "Guess doing that was stupid..." he thought, chuckling to himself. "lets try that again." Greg said to himself. "Sun comes up east, gotta go west. so, ergo, I need to walk with the sun at my back.". Greg began east, but looked at the cave one last time. "Goodbye!" he whispered and began his journey.
---
"Heh." The first man chuckled, "This Greg seems a hero to those creatures!". "He killed a tyrant, Brendan!" The second man sighed, "I would see someone as a hero if they killed a tyrant! And I know you would too!"."Aye," Brenden muttered, "No need to be snippy about it, Aaron.". "Wait a second." the enderman paused "So, if you're Brenden, and you're Aaron, what is your name, storyteller?" The third man remained silent for a few seconds, and finally responded "James. My name is James.". "It's nice to be acquainted with all of you." The enderman said, "You seem different than other humans I have seen.". All of them laughed."Yeah!" Brendan laughed, "And you seem much more polite than others of your kind."."Once you get to know us, we are quite polite." The enderman said,"Now, shall we continue the story?"."Of course!" James smiled,"Let's continue!"
Chapter 4: Aruarain Village
-------------------------------
After 2 days of walking, Gregory finally found the village. From first looks, the village looked small, with a few houses and a farm. Upon closer inspection, one would find numerous houses and a grand castle with towers representing the four elements. Greg approached a large, barn like house. "Where are the humans?" Greg muttered. Suddenly a man jumped down from the roof, sword in one hand, and fireball in another. "State your business, FarLander!" he growled. Greg stepped back, fearful for his own life. "I mean you no harm!" Greg stammered, cowering in front of the man. A loud voice boomed from the house and another man appeared. "Ice!" the second man shouted, "What have I told you about trying to kill guests?!". Ice signed, "Don't kill our guests?". "Exactly!" the second man said. A third man came out of the house "What's all the noise about?" he looked at Greg 'And who's he?". "We were about to find out, until Ice tried to kill 'em!" The second man looked at Ice. "I'm sorry alright?!" Ice cried, "I just... don't trust them, that's all.". "let us introduce ourselves." the first man said, "I'm Brick." he pointed to the third man, "That's Nom.", he looked at Ice for a second, "And you already met Ice...". Greg looked closer at the three men. Brick wore robes, like an assassin of sorts. Ice wore a blue shirt, brown pants, and had different colored eyes, one pink and the other green. Nom wore a green cap, had long, black hair, and had bags under his eyes, possibly due to a lack of sleep. "Welcome," Brick waved his arm in a long ark, "To Aruarian Village!". "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Greg." Greg replied. "Um, Brick?" Ice asked Brick. "Yes?" "Don't you think talking here is a little too... public?" "You're right, Ice". "Come, Greg!" Brick said as he grabbed Greg's shoulder, "We shall talk in the meeting room. Follow us!"
----------
The meeting room was not where Greg would've expected. It was situated high above the castle, Castle Equidistance was it's name. The room was completely glass, with wooden chairs and a large table. It was held up by a Large stone pole, which also operated as a staircase. Finally, the room is held in place by four, large chains, each connected to one tower. "What do you think?" Nom asked Greg. "It's amazing!" Greg replied, mesmerized by the sheer size of the tower. "Lets go in" Ice said, beginning to walk up the stairs. When all four were in the room, Brick spoke. "This is normally off-limits to everybody, but us, the founders.". "We founded this city," Ice began, "As a monument of the future. Creatures and humans, living in harmony.". "We want to reach that future, but it has been hard for us." Brick sighed,"No kingdoms want to help us. They call us crazy, they call us stupid!" he slammed his fist into the table, "But we shall show them! We shall unify monster and human.". "Please calm down, Brick." Ice sighed,"We don't want to scare him away. Remember what happened last time?". "Anyway," Nom said, "We would like to hear your story, mister Greg.". "Really?" Greg asked, a little confused. "Of course!" Brick laughed, "Do tell!". Greg paused for a second and said "Okay.". and began to tell the three founders of Aruarain Village his tale.
Chapter 5: Training
---------------------
"Interesting tale..." Nom said, lost in thought. "You killed a supposed tyrant, and left because of it?". "It would haunt me if I stayed" Greg said. "Anyway." Brick said, changing the subject, "Where you headed again?". "I guess I'll continue west." ."What?!" Ice exclaimed "That leads through Isolation ridge, you won't survive!". "I'm gonna go west." Greg said, "I'll go west until I find answers.". Brick laughed heartily "My friend! You have more guts than even I!". "Since you seem intent on going west, at least let us give you some help.". "I would appreciate that." Greg replied. "Then it's settled!" Brick clapped his hands, "Ice, you train him in some weapons, Nom, you arrange for the blacksmith to make his weapon of choice, and I'll take a nap!". Brick left the meeting room. "Okay, guys." Nom said, "You tell me what to forge and I'll arrange it. I'll be waiting here." Nom yawned and leaned back in his chair. "Let's start your training now." Ice said as he walked out of the room, Gregory following suit.
----
The arena was huge. Grand paintings of victories past adorned the halls. Ice lead him to a set of double doors. "These doors lead to the team rooms. since this is training, we should both go in the same door." Ice lead Greg through a series of prep rooms, showers, and racks of weapons. These weapons were made of wood, their points smoothed to prevent harm. "Pick a weapon. I'll help you find the one that suits you best!" Ice said,grabbing a wooden sword from another rack. Greg decided to pick the sword first. Round 1 didn't last long. Greg swung the sword too far and quickly had it knocked out of his hands. "Lets try another." Ice said, still optimistic. Greg tried the axe. It felt clunky and heavy. The first time Ice attacked, Greg blocked and the axe flew out of his hands. "Still some more, don't lose hope." Ice said. Greg tried the bow. His aim was off and his arms shook. Ice got close and called it round over. "Well... at least there's one more..." Ice said, obviously bored with Greg's lack of skill. Greg tried the final weapon, the spear. Greg did quite well this round. He blocked without the spear flying out of his hands, and dodged most of Ice's attacks. Ice stepped back, his feet firm on the ground. "Attack me!" he called. Greg charged at him. Ice moved to the side, but Greg had anticipated that. He swung the spear like a long sword, hitting Ice in the gut. Ice reeled back, surprised that he had landed a blow. "Time to finish this." Greg said and jabbed Ice with the tip of the wooden spear. The wooden sword fell out of Ice's hands. Ice reeled for a second and began to laugh. "You did it, Greg!" He cried cheerfully, "You did far better than I had anticipated!". "Well, I guess I'm good with spears." Greg said looking at the blunt object. "Well, lets get Nom to get you a Spear." Ice said. "Let's go!" Greg said, proud of his victory.
---
"Took your sweet time!" Nom said, waiting by the arena entrance. "Well, Sorry." Ice said sarcastically. "So, did you choose a weapon or not?". "Spears." Greg said, "I want a spear.". "Ok. Any specific material?" Nom asked. "I want it made out of this." Greg handed him his stone block. "Stone? Oh, big spender." Nom said. "Just do it, Nom." Ice retorted. "Ok, fine." Nom said, "Come get it in a few hours.".
---- 3 Hours Later
"It done?" Ice asked the blacksmith. "It sure is." The Blacksmith said as he handed Greg a spear. The spear's shaft was made of solid stone, hard and tough. The top was curved and not just pointed, similar to a candle flame and was a bright silver. "is this iron?" Ice asked, referring to the point. "Yes." The Smithy said, "We found a lot of iron in the block. "Thank you for your help, Blacksmith.". "I aim to please!" he said and laughed. "Do you want to name your spear?". "name it?" Greg asked, confused. "Yeah." Ice pulled out his blade. it was a pale blue and seemed cold in Ice's hands. "My sword's name is Icetail.". "Hmmm." Greg pondered ideas for names until he at last had one. "Ponderus. It's name is Ponderus.". "Interesting name." Ice replied. "Lets get the others and bid you off." Ice said. When all four were reunited, Greg said his goodbyes "Thank you all!" he said, "Your help is much appreciated. I won't forget your helpfulness." Greg Turned around. "This is goodbye...". "One more thing." Ice said as he pulled out a book. "What?" asked Greg. "This." Ice shot a beam from his hands into Greg. "What was that?" Greg asked. "It will allow you to use magic to craft." Ice said with a smirk. "Thanks Ice." Greg replied and began to leave. "Come back soon!" Brick said. Greg felt a weight in his chest, he had left new friends twice now. he should have stayed longer, he should have got to know Zaiveer better. Greg sighed. "Too late now..." he muttered, holding Ponderus in his hands. And thus, Greg continued his journey, ready for all that opposed him.
Chapter 6: Isolation Ridge
------------------------------
The first wing of Gregory's journey went seamlessly. Not far from Aruarian stood a swamp, with shallow waters and small trees with vines hanging off. There, he noticed something. Something odd, something he has never experienced. Hunger. He looked at his stomach, confused about the dull desire that lay in his stomach. "Must be hungry.." Muttered Greg. Greg looked around for some kind of sustenance. Then he saw a small, fat, pink creature, with a snout protruding from it's face. A pig. "Perfect." Greg smiled as he readied ponderus. He snuck up behind the pig, and lunged. Greg's aim wasn't very good, so he only hit the fat pig's leg. The Pig squealed and began to run. Greg cursed under his breath and began to pursue the pig. The pig proved to be a considerable adversary, dodging Greg's spear thrusts. Finally, tired of this wild duck chase, Greg tossed ponderus at the pig with all his might. Success! The spear struck the pig, and the pig fell. by time Greg walked over to the pig, it was already gone, in a puff of smoke, leaving two pieces of pork. Greg picked up ponderus and the pork. "Raw," Greg said, "But it will do.". Greg then realized that he couldn't hold ponderus and eat at the same time. He looked for something that could act as a sheath. Using his newly given crafting abilities, he took some vines and constructed a make-shift sheath, which ponderus lay snugly in. "Well," Greg said, looking at the pork, "Time to eat!". Greg ate with his skeleton-like mouth, gnashing, gnawing and chewing the cold meat under a tall tree. When he was finished, and his stomach was content, he began to travel again.
---
"Is this Isolation Ridge?" Greg wondered, looking at the mountain range that lay before him. "I guess only one way to find out." Greg said and began to walk onto a path enclosed by two mountains. While walking, Greg began to notice figures. He would only see these figures from the corner of his eyes, and when he would try to look at them to get a better look, they would vanish, leaving only empty space in their wake. After seeing these figures for about the tenth time, he pulled out ponderus and began to walk cautiously. "Hello?" Greg called. No answer. Another figure appeared. Unlike the others, when Greg looked at it, it didn't disappear. Greg noticed numerous things about the figure. First, the figure was a male, seemingly without a shirt, and had Wolf-like ears and a long tail which started at his tailbone. Quickly, the figure disappeared. "Huh?" Greg said confused. Suddenly, a wolf came soaring out of the sky and onto Greg, knocking him to the ground. The wolf's face came to Greg's, and a voice emerged from the wolf's maw. "GO BACK." The Wolf growled. Greg used ponderus, all the while under the wolf paws, to push the wolf off. When the wolf landed, A blue aura surrounded it, and it became the same human that Greg saw. Greg stared at the Wolf-Man, dumbfounded by the odd thing that had transpired. The Wolf-Man seemed to see Greg's surprise and chuckled. "What?" The Wolf-man said, "You never see a Morphe before?". "Morphe..." Greg responded, puzzled. "Guess not." The Wolf-Man sighed and looked at Greg intensely. "What are you looking at me for?" Greg asked. "...You seem to have strength unheard of in your kind."The Wolf-Man said, "Oh, and call me Volg.". "Umm...nice to meet you, Volg." Greg said nervously. "Now, follow me." Volg ordered. "Follow you?!" Greg exclaimed, "You attacked me!". "Whatever, just follow me." Volg ordered, seriousness in his tone. "Fine...Just don't kill me.". "Cross my heart." Volg said.
---
I followed Volg to a community of the "Morphe", which apparently have the ability to change into wolves. Torches lined the path toward the community, and shadows, probably more of the Morphe, were watching me. As we neared the village, the shadows ran ahead, towards the community. The village was elevated, except for a round arena in the center of the town. we continued past numerous caves, likely housing for the Morphe. We approached a large hall, filled with warriors eating. When we entered, they all stopped and looked at me. Volg told me to wait, and walked toward a large wooden chair, and talked with the Morphe sitting there. Then the Wolf jumped out of the chair and in front of me. This one was much larger than the others, and had long, silver, bristling fur, and a wooden band round it's head. "IF YOU WANT TO PASS...YOU MUST DEFEAT ME!" It growled. I laughed "What kind of wolf-man would challenge a fully armed challenger?". The Wolf was surrounded by a blue aura and changed back into a human. Not a man, like Greg had expected, but a woman. "I am Nayilah, and I am no man!"
Chapter 7: Strike!
--------------------------
The Morphe arena, lit with numerous torches, and watched by dozens of the wolf people, sat in the middle of the Village. This is where Gregory and Nayilah both stood. Greg shook fearfully, ponderus gripped in his hands. "The rules," Nayilah began, "Are simple. Two enter, one leaves.". She morphed into her wolf form, "THAT ONE WILL NOT BE YOU!". "Can't we talk about this?" Greg asked, obviously not wanting to fight. Nayilah
answered by lunging, claws outstreched. Greg flinched and jumped to one side. "YOU WON'T RUN FROM ME!" , Nayilah growled and lunged again.
----
The duel had an obvious outcome, with Nayilah on the offence and Greg trying to defend. Both parties stood at either end of the arena, Nayilah ready to strike. "THIS IS THE END!" she howled and lunged once more. Greg stood his ground, trying to brace for impact. As Nayilah and Greg were only meters from eachother, an explosion flourished next to Nayilah, sending her into the wall with a whimper. Her form puffed into smoke and a cry rang out "GHAST!". Greg stood dumbfounded, not sure what was happening. The wathing morphe had turned into their wolf formes and ran toward the shout. "What?!
You got rocks in your ears?" Nayilah's voice snapped, "C'mon!". She was next to the arena, hand outstreched. "Nayilah?" Greg asked, confused by her presence, as though she had just turned into smoke, "How did you-". Nayilah pulled him up and pushed him toward other explosions, "You really are stupid, aren't you?!" Nayilah growled, looking toward the morphe rushing out of the hall. "I'll explain if we're still alive after this! Now c'mon, double time!" Nayilah cried, rushing ahead. Greg followed, still dazed by the swiftness of this unseen danger.
---
The "Ghast" is truly an ugly thing. It was a perfect square, seemingly spectral with its
dirty white color. It had numerous tentacles extruding from its bottom. Its seemed that
of a human, but with tears rolling down its face. Every time it opened its mouth, it
launched a round object, which would explode on contact with the ground. It chirped and
screamed when it launched these "bombs", as if it caused it pain. Me and Nayilah hid behind a rock face, along with Volg. "Whats the situation?" Nayilah asked. "We've got a ghast, and a portal, Miss Nayilah." Volg called from the other side. She cursed, "And we have no arrows.". I looked out from the rockface, and the ghast began to stare at me. As with the human, I stood dead still, and we stood at a stalemate. It moved its eyes, and the voice returned. "MAAK NUUL" it screamed. I repeated it, "MAAK NUUL" and a black haze formed around my hands. I ran toward the ghast and, like an eagle taking flight shot off the ground, ponderus flying after me. I landed on the ghast, and it began to flail about, wailing. "Shut up!" I cried as I stabbed the ghast in the head. A white ooze sizzled from the wound, and the ghast began to fall. I pulled ponderus out and jumped, landing just before the ghast did. Its eyes went blank, and its tentacles went limp, but it didn't disappear like the others that I have seen die. "Why does it not turn to smoke?" I asked. All the morphe fell silent, except for Nayilah. "When they die in this world, their souls don't return to their dimension. They remain here, trapped." she explained. I walked over to the ghast's body and touched it. The body began to glow, disappearing into tendrils of light. The lights formed into a white orb, which hovered in front of me. I grabbed it, and was greeted by a vision.
---
There was a young boy, not nearly an adult, standing on a cliff of red rock. In his hands
shone an orb, pinkish in color. He chanted the words "Suuma ettay neeoh" and tossed the
orb into the lava below. The vision ended before the orb hit the lava.
---
I was back in reality. I looked at the orb, and then to Nayilah. "We must find lava."
"What? Why?" "I shall send this soul back to its home.". Nayilah sighed, "You are an
odd one. I shall ask my men, and then you can do your spirit mumbo-jumbo.". She went over to the others and spoke to them. She cam back and said "There is a lava pool north of here. You can do that there.". "Thanks." I said and looked around. "Where is north?" I asked. "Ugh." Nayilah sighed, "I'll accompany you, so you don't walk off a cliff or something." and began to walk north. "Thank you." I said and began to follow her.
Chapter 8: "Update"
-----------------------
"Why did you volunteer to escort me to this lava pool again?" Gregory asked, trying to make conversation. "For two reasons." Nayilah started. "One, because you would probably end up on the other end of the world before you reached the pool. Two, I feel like I owe you something." Nayilah said. "What? For killing that ghast? That really wasn't problematic with that...thing I did." Greg sighed, still unsure of the origin of his burst of strength. "Hey," Nayilah said, "That thing would have killed a lot of us before it keeled over. You killed it before it could hurt any of us.". "What about when-" "It killed me?" Nayilah cut him off. "Um, yeah." Greg said. "When we die, we reincarnate, but not always in our original form." Nayilah pointed pointed her finger up, explaining her sudden revival, "Some humans become zombies, some creepers become dragons. Do you
get what I'm saying?". "Yeah, I think so." Greg said, "Your revival is nearly random. It was pure luck that you reincarnated back into your form now.". "Exactly." Nayilah said, looking ahead. "How long until we reach the lava pool?" Greg asked, bored with the seemingly infinite flat landscape. "About two days." Nayilah sighed "It's a long way..."
---
"You aren't going to tell us about their entire journey, are you James?" Aaron asked, obviously bored. Brendan sighed, "You always were impatient Aaron.". "I'm finding this tale rather interesting." The Enderman said, deep in thought, "Although, one question arises, is this 'Nayilah' the Wolf person you mentioned?". "Aah, brother enderman," James chuckled, "That is a question I would rather leave unanswered for the time being.".
"So, does anything interesting happen between their departure, and their arrival?" Aaron asked. "One thing," James said, "and this is rather important.".
---
A day into the journey and suddenly Greg became disoriented. Nayilah noticed this and became worried. "You ok Greg?" She asked. "Yeah," Greg said, clenching his gut, "Just a bit dizzy.". Almost as if he had jinxed it, the ground began to shake violently. "What's going on?!" Greg called. "Update!!" Nayilah screamed, frantically looking around. "Into the cave!" she called and began to sprint into the mountain opening. Greg, still confused, followed her onto the cave. He looked out of the mouth of the cave and saw an eerie sight. tendrils of light sprang up from the ground, and stretched into the sky, out of sight. These beams of light began to cover the land, including the cave. The light fromed a barrier around the mouth, sealing them inside. The shaking stopped and both Nayilah and Greg slumped to the floor, tired. "Whats an update?" Greg asked. "Updates are caused by Notch. He makes them to improve our world." Nayilah sighed, "As of recent, the updates had stopped. Guess our world isn't perfect after all...". "When will these light things leave?", Greg asked, referring to the tendrils of light covering the cave entrance. "A few days at the most." Nayilah sighed, "And we're stuck here until then.". "Well..." Greg pondered, "Why don't we look for an exit deeper in the cave?".
"May as well..." Nayilah said, "We may as well die by monsters instead of death by boredom."
Chapter 9: Ignored Warnings
------------------------------
The cave quickly grew darker as we went deeper. Luckily, the Purply-corner-of-myeye-thingy allowed me to see partially. Nayilah walked behind me, unable to benefit from such an ability. "How are you even able to see?" she asked. I then explained my ability to her. She began to laugh. "That has to be the worst name I have ever heard for anything ever!" She mocked. "Well, it's true!" I exclaimed. "For instance..." I said, glancing at Nayilah, "You have a...an...". "What?" she asked, noting my hesitation. "I can't see one of those aura things around you.". "Maybe it only works on humans." she said, "Well, lets put that aside until we can see natural light.". "Yeah," I sighed, "Nothing will get done if we stay here." We continued further in the cave, light becoming more scarce.
---
We reached an intersection of sorts in the cave, more caves branching out in many other directions. Figures appeared in the far left tunnel. "Who's there?" I called, "Show yourselves!". The figures walked towards us and revealed themselves. A zombie, possibly a leader, and two skeletons, acting as a guard of sorts. "Who are you?" the Zombie asked, "And why do you trespass here?". "We are only passing through." Nayilah said, reasoning with the Zombie, "We mean you no harm.". "Yeah," I said, "Do you know another way out of here?". The Zombie talked amongst his guards for a short while and then turned to us. "See that tunnel?" he said, pointing to a tunnel to our left, "Go through there and you should hit the surface.". "But," the Zombie said, his voice growing tense, "Beware the Bright-Eyed Snake". "Um...ok." I said, confused by his warning, "Thanks.". "I must go," he said, "But heed my warning!". "C'mon Greg," Nayilah said, "I've had enough of these caves."
---
We continued down the tunnel, the zombie's words echoing in my mind 'Beware the Bright-Eyed-Snake'. We finally reached a large, dome-like section of the tunnel and decided to rest. He we saw a peculiar sight. A snake, trapped under a single block of stone. This snake was different than others. It had gleaming purple eyes. It seemed to be calling out to me 'Help. Help.'. I walked towards it. "What are you doing?" Nayilah cried, "That is the Snake he warned us about!". "C'mon," I said, "It looks harmless.". I removed the block holding the snake, and it coiled up to my arm. i then proceeded to bite me, and slither away into a small hole. "Arrgh!" I cried, holding my arm, "That little bugger bit me!". "Harmless, eh?" she sighed, "Lets hope it wasn't poisonous.". "Well..." I sighed, "So much for our break.". "The faster we get out of here," Nayilah said, "The faster we get back to camp." And so, without a break, we continued forward.
?
---
"Sir! We just got a psy-link!"
"From who?"
"Saev, sir. He says he has been freed."
"Freed? By a human? Unlikely, even the cave dwellers don't set foot near him."
"Not a human, sir. By his report, it seems he was freed by a Shade."
"Shade? Not the most compassionate creature. What else did Saev say about this one?"
"His aura seemed...different. A simple Grey, if the report is to be believed."
"Ah, Grey, the base color. This one may be unique."
"Shall I give new orders, Sir?"
"Yes. Tell Saev to follow this one. Observe his behaviors. Maybe help when needed.
We have a choicee on our hands now."
Chapter 10:Surprising Savior
------------------------------
We walked further through the cave, hoping to see true daylight. For a while, I began thinking this was nothing more than an elaborate trap, and the snake was somehow apart of it. Such dark aspects of my imagination were almost instantly erased when we finally saw daylight. Nayilah ran up ahead, and I followed suit. There stood a door, silver in color and rusted. She began groping the door, looking for a way to open it. Frustrated, she banged one fist on the door, unable to find a possible solution. "it's shut tight.", She sighed, "Still seems in working order though.". "Is there a switch?", I asked. "The one in here," She said, pointing to a switch, its handle cracked off, "Is broken.". "And the other one?" I suggested. "It's out there," she sighed, pointing outside, "And just out of our reach.". I looked out the hole in the door, hoping that somehow, an answer would show itself. Like an agent of a deity, the black snake came into my vision, slithering along the ground. I called out to it. "Hey!" I yelled, "Could you open this door?". Nayilah laughed, "Greg," She began, "I know you have very little recollection of your previous life, but snakes can't understand us!". "Even if this one did,", she said, "What makes you think it would-". Her thought was cut off by the metal door swinging open, with the snake holding the switch between its tail. "Huh..." Nayilah said, dumbfounded by what had just occurred. "C'mon," I said, "I've had enough of these caves!"
---
"What?!" Aaron cried, "How is that possible?". "I agree," Brendan said, "That seems rather improbable.". "While I do agree that the snake is a witty creature," the enderman said, "That seems extremely unlikely.". "Trust me,", James assured the group, "This will all make sense later on in the story.". "Oh yeah," Brendan said, "Aaron, how close are we to it being day time?". Aaron walked to the window, noting where the moon stood in the sky. "We've got about 2 or 3 hours until daybreak." Aaron said. "Perfect!" James said, "Than I shall continue the story further!"
Chapter 11: Acquired Allies
------------------------------
As the light of day greeted me once again, I walked towards the snake, looking to thank him for his assistance. "Hey snake!" I said, "Thanks for getting us out of that.". "Do you really think he understands us?" Nayilah asked. "It understood us when we told it to open the door.". The snake then began to slither up my arm, reaching my neck. Then, quick as lightning, severed the string connecting the diamond. The diamond clattered to the ground, lifeless. "Gah!" I cringed, expecting to burst into flames. No such thing happened. Instead, a different feeling engulfed my body. Jitteriness seems to be a good word for it. Nayilah looked at me and put her had on my shoulder. "You Oka-". *FLASH* I teleported a distance away. surprised my this, I fell back, landing on the damp grass. "Interesssting." a voice hissed, seeming close to my head. "Who said that?" I said looking around sorely. Nayilah walked up to me. "Who said what?" she asked. "Something just talked." I said, "Snake-Like.". "So," Nayilah said, looking around, "I hear you saying that you think the snake is talking.". "Must be hearing things." I sighed. "Hey!" Nayilah exclaimed, "There's the lava pool!" and pointed behind me, where Heat ripples could be seen. "Then let's go!" I said, "The faster we get this done, the faster we can go back.".
---
The walk was quiet, but quick. when we approached the pool's edge, I pulled out the orb, and held it in my hands, intrigued by it. "Are you gonna do whatever it is yet?" Nayilah said, obviously bored. "Alright, Alright..." I sighed, and held it up high. "Suuma ettay neeoh" I chanted, and threw the orb into the waiting lava. As the orb was submerged in the molten rock, time itself seemed to freeze. I couldn't move. Slowly, voices entered my mind. Their speech was nothing but high-pitched beeps. They paused, seemingly aware of my presence. A masculine voice spoke, this time, I was able to understand it. "Seek your answers in Grann". As quick as it stopped, time resumed, and I was left with nothing more than than it's words. "...What happened?" I said, instantly exhausted. "Nothing happened." Nayilah said, confused, "You threw it in and now you seem...tired.". "Do you know of a place named Grann?" I asked, regarding the voice's words. "Yeah, It is just north of here." she said, pointing towards the north. "We need to go there." I said simply. "Why?" Nayilah asked, confused once again. "I heard a voice that told me to go there to 'seek answers'.". Nayilah sighed. "Fine...", she said, "We'll go there. But when we find...whatever it is, then we go straight back to camp.". I got up "Agreed!".
Chapter 12: Grann
--------------------
As we neared the proximity of the city of Grann, the immense size of the walls became apparent. The walls-a dull silver in color, showing age-were at least three times the height of me. We approached a large gate, manned by 2 guards, one of which was asleep. The other saw us, and hits the other, waking him. The guard whispered "Wake up! We got people here!". "Hey..." The other guard said, "Isn't it that wolf chick? What's her name again?". "Nayilah.". "Oh" the other guard said, uncaring. The guard looked at me and raised his brow. "Who is that?" he asked. "I dunno." the other says, "If he's with her, then I doubt he'd wanna rip out our innards and wear them as a belt.". We stood at the gate, and Nayilah started talking to the guards. "Hello Larl." she greeted. "Hey Nayilah. What brings you to Grann today?" the Guard asked, "And who's your friend?". "This is Gregory." She began, "Really, he's the reason I'm here. He thinks there are 'answers' in this city that he needs.". "Well..." the guard said, "I guess you could talk to Sir Gayn. I'll send someone to inform him.". he made a gesture with one hand, and the gate opened. "Welcome to Grann!" he said, "Keep yourselves outta trouble!"
---
"How do they know you?", I asked as we walked the streets of Grann. "We have a 'Mutual Agreement'. We don't kill them, and they don't kill us.". "Sounds fair... sort of." I muttered, deciding not to talk for the rest of the walk. We soon came to the home of Sir Gayn. It looked the same as the others I had seen, the only difference being the word "GAYN" carved into the door. We opened the door, and on a wooden chair sat a man. "Hello Gregory." he said in a husky voice. "How do you know my name?" I asked. "The guard told me." he replied, "He also told me you were looking for answers of some variety.". "Indeed," I nodded, "I heard a voice in my head telling me to seek answers here.". "A voice?" he pondered for a moment, "It's either you're crazy, or you must be hearing-". BOOM! an explosion rocked the ground. "What was that?" I cried. "We are being assaulted." Gayn said, "We are being attacked by Demons."
Chapter 13: Demonic Assault
-----------------------------
"How do you know it's demons who are attacking us?" I asked, panicked by the explosion. "Simple," Sir Gayn explained, "nobody else bothers to attack us, so it has to be demons.". "Whatever!" Nayilah exclaimed, "We need to get out there and repel them!". "You coming, Sir Gayn?" I asked, almost out the door. "Me? No," he sighed, "I've grown too old to fight such swift enemies.". We burst out the door, and jumped into the fray.
---
The town was in a horrible state. Houses were broken, and weapons lay scattered on the ground. "Cmon!", Nayilah cried, "We have to group with the soldiers and retaliate!". Suddenly, a blazing chunk of rock soared through the air, and crashed into a house. The rock swiftly cooled down, it's bright red color turning dull. Part of the rock burst open, causing blood-red demons to jump to the ground. Each demon carried a small yellowed sword, and they all cackled uncontrollably. Another group of the laughing demons appeared from a side alley, and both groups surrounded us. Me and Nayilah stood back-to-back, and we conducted a small strategy. "I'll take the guys in front, you take the back." She whispered. She quickly changed into her wolf form, and I brandished Ponderus. Whether it was adrenaline, or some outside force, but my skill with ponderus spontaneously improved. A demon leapt into the air, and I knocked it aside with the shaft of ponderus, sending it into a nearby house window. Another charged at me, and felt the tip of ponderus in their gut as i lobbed them into the others. "Who wants some!?" I screamed, blood-lust consuming me. Killing the others, however, I can't truly remember. Their demise at my hands is hazy. Only when i snapped out of my rage-fraught dream, did i see the bodies of the demons at my feet. I looked at Nayilah, who was staring at me, impressed. "Never knew you had it in you, Greg." She said. "Nor did I..." I muttered. "Well," She said, "We should head to the square. We'll regroup with the guards there."
Chapter 14: Phaeton
---------------------
The square, at least, what was left of it, was the front line for both forces. Demons and Militia alike scrambled frantically, looking for an advantage they would never find. "By Notch," Nayilah gasped, "The square is ruined.". I looked for some sort of command center, and sure enough, there stood a command center. A ramshackle base of command, but a command center nonetheless. "May as well see if we can help." Nayilah sighed, "Now follow me.". She morphed yet again and dashed toward the base, with me straining to keep up.
---
The base was guarded by a small force of guards, so I assume it was of importance to the Grann defenders. A stout man stood on a pile of rubble, ordering soldiers while looking at a map. "We need people to take the main portal in the square." the commander said, not even looking up from his map, "But Phaeton will do most of the work.". "Who's-" I was cut off by a loud trembling from a pile of debris between two buildings. A giant bear crashed through the rubble, slashing at the demons who stood in it's way. A young man stood behind it, obviously the controller of the beast. He wielded a short-sword in his left hand, and his right hand had a peculiar leather bracer, which would glow when he relayed an order to the monstrous bear. "That's Phaeton." the commander said, still looking at his map, "So go and kill that portal."
---
The bloody path the bear carved was pretty easy to follow. Catching up to Phaeton, however, was one of the longest runs I have ever had. "Why are you tired?" Nayilah asked, noticing me catching my breath. "I'm not that fit." I said, gasping for air, "I should work on that.". Phaeton and the bear stood a short distance away from us. "You must be my help!", he called, "Too bad I don't need it.". "Ursa!" he commanded, "Destroy that portal!". The bear charged towards the portal. Suddenly, the beast was sliced in two, and a figure garbed in blood red armor landed behind where the bear once stood. The figure stepped forward, towards Phaeton and showed a golden blade. They parried for a small amount of time, then the demon used a fearful power. It became lightning fast, striking him time after time. "Hey!" I shouted at the demon, wanting him to attack me instead of Phaeton, "Don't you dare hit him again!". The demon, seemingly obeying my orders, stepped away from the bloody mass of Phaeton. I ran up to him, feeling hopeless, unable to heal him. *FLASH*
---
My eyes were somewhere else. The battle-scarred ground became a bumpy, pale stone, Phaeton became an enderman, his purple eyes dimming. A voice entered my head, as a snake appeared near my hand and began slithering up my arm. "He is vital...", it hissed, "Your energies must be sacrificed to heal him.". The snake bit into my shoulder, and vein-like entities became apparent in my arms. I placed my hands on the enderman, and the energy flowed into him. the once dim eyes of the enderman glowed ever brighter. *FLASH*
---
I was back in the regular world. I felt weak. I collapsed on the ground, as the demon spoke to me. "The first test..." it said, "Is of compassion.". "The first test has been passed." It boomed. The cold hands of unconsciousness grasped at me once more, as they had on my first days.
?
---
"Sir! We've detected an energy spike near the target's location."
"Are you sure it's from him?"
"Almost certain, sir!"
"What was this energy used for?"
"Healing, sir. I believe it was for someone...like him."
"Another of a Gray aura?"
"Indeed, sir. I believe he goes by Phaeton."
"Phaeton... how does he contrast to our target?"
"He shows great profession with mana, sir."
"While he shows little."
"What shall we do, sir?"
"First, send Bor to the town of Aruarian."
"And then...?"
"Second, send a tactical team to Isolation Ridge."
"The reason, sir?"
"We need to...ensure they meet with us. Not directly, of course."
"How will we do that?"
"Simple, we will first cause outrage, then cause them to search...for the one called Volg."
Chapter 15: Wrathful Betrayal
------------------------------
When darkness released me from it's cold grasp, a considerable amount of time had passed. It was mid morning. The light made me strain my eyes, and I ached all over. My vision was fuzzy, but the figure looming over me was obvious. Slowly, my vision became clear, and the figure was identified. Phaeton was the one who crouched next to me. I fidgeted slightly, the aching annoying me to no end. "Oh!" he said, jumping at my movement, "You're up...". "I feel as if I ran headfirst into a wall..." I moaned. Phaeton remained silent, examining his arms. On his arms, just beneath the skin, lay a sort of black "Skin" with a shiny sheen, very similar to mine. I in turn examined my arms. Numerous cuts, bruises, and scrapes covered my body, similar to the condition Phaeton had been in when I had healed him. Had that "healing" somehow transferred our wounds? I slowly got up, and Phaeton did as well. "Whatever you did..." Phaeton said, looking at me, "You saved my life.". "And so," He bowed at my feet, "My life is yours.". "I'm not sure what to say..." I said, confounded, "But, please stand up.". Nayilah walked towards us. "Good," she said, "Your up, now let's go.". "Go?" I asked, "Where to?". "Back to camp." she said, "We had an agreement.". "Oh yeah," I muttered. I turned to Phaeton. "Well," I said, "We'll be off.". "Wait!" he said, "let me come with you.". "Well," I sighed, "I'm game. What about you, Nayilah?". "Sure," she said, "Just don't let him touch anything when we get there."
---
Instead of the greetings of the wolf people, we were met with fires and death. The camp was under siege. Who was attacking, I couldn't tell. We immediately ran into combat, staving off our enemies. The ferociousness of the morphe was made apparent through this battle. Even if we hadn't helped, I think they would have been fine. As the final troop fell, Nayilah walked towards the center of the village and began talking to the people. "Why were we attacked?" she asked. "We are not sure, Miss Nayilah." one said. "Wait," she paused, and looked through the crowd, "Where is Volg?". "We haven't seen him since initial attack." Another said, "And none of us have seen him since.". She rummaged through the piles of armor, and found one with a small symbol on it. She grew angry and screamed to the crowd. "Brothers and Sisters!" she called, rallying the wolf-people, "The treacherous people of Aruarian have betrayed us!". "They have attacked us and now hold one of our brothers hostage!" she continued, "And now we shall get him back!". She roared onto the air, and the other morphe joined in soon after, producing a horrible roar of anger and wrath. "We shall strike them at sun-rise!" she called, "And so, we shall march tonight!".
Chapter 16: Long March
---------------------------------
Have you ever been forced to march with a platoon of blood-crazed creatures that can change into wolves? Have you ever been forced to fight with your friends, but against your other friends? Have you ever walked so long without rest, your feet felt as if they would fall off? Let me assure you, it isn't fun. Since Nayilah was busy at the front, quite literally barking commands at her troops, I talked to Phaeton for the majority of the march. "Any idea what's Nayilahs up to?" I asked, sore feet giving me an edge in my voice. Phaeton sighed, signaling that my question was idiotic, "She is going to raze Aruarian, or get her entire force destroyed trying.". "Are the morphe always like this?" I asked, confounded by Nayilah sudden thirst for revenge. "Throughout history..." Phaeton began, "...the Morphe have always been the people to seek revenge, and to horrifying extremes.". I was surprised, but not for long, "Would it be reasonable to assume that they have razed entire city-states for their petty revenge?" I asked, in a moment of overexaggeration. "Indeed," Phaeton sighed, his face growing dark, "They have also lost a large majority of their species to these wars for revenge.". "In fact," he said, "They are the last group of united morphe.". I gasped inward, "That means...". "That this seige will wipe them out, yes." Phaeton sighed, "It's pitiful really. They lust for revenge, yet they only gain extinction.". "Im gonna try to convince her to stop this." I said, walking faster, towards the front, "Maybe we can avoid this bloodshed."
---
"You must be insane!" Nayilah shouted, "We have to get Volg back!". I continued the arguement, "Don't you see? Your going to get wiped out!". "Enough of your chaff!" she yelled, "Were destroying them, and that's final!". She quickly walked ahead, leading the march once again. Phaeton came alongside me, "They are stubborn. This will be their downfall.". "We can't let them do this." I said, looking outward. "What do you suppose?" Phaeton asked, "They are determined to sprint to their doom. They won't listen to reason.". "Then we try to prepare the opposing team." I said, "We must warn Aruarian.". "How will we do that?" Phaeton asked. "Simple!" I said, "We decieve Nayilah.". We approached Nayilah once again. "If this is about us stopping our attack," she said, "Then don't bother.". "Actually," I began, "We were wrong to think this attack was unprecedented.". "We have decided to help you by scouting ahead." Phaeton joined in, " We just need your confirmation.". She thought for a moment, "Sure. Just don't get too close.". "Yes ma'am." Phaeton did a mock salute, and we both ran towards the city. "Nice plan." Phaeton said, "Now we just need to warn them."
---
"I've heard of the morphe." Brenden said, "Apparently they have even fewer numbers then they did a year ago.". "I have also seen the fury of the morphe." The enderman said, "I saw them raze a very large city, many of your human years ago.". "I wonder how they have survived thus far..." Aaron wondered, "...They seem too foolhardy to survive for so long.". "Perhaps," James said, "They have another purpose. A purpose still untapped.". "Aaron," James said, "How long until daybreak?". "Pretty soon." Aaron said, "Will we pause the story until night?". "That would be best." said the enderman, "I must be going. Good day.". "Seeya tonight!" Brenden laughed, "Bring your friends!"
Chapter 17: Battle Plans
----------------------------------
Thankfully, the group had expanded their house before night fell again. For when they opened the door to greet their enderman aquaintance, behind him stood two more creatures. One was a creeper, the other was a zombie. "I've brought along more to listen to the story." he explained, "I have also briefed them on what has happened in the story thus far.". "Well..." Aaron muttered. "Sure!" Brenden intervened, "More the merrier!". Once they were settled in, James began the story from where he lft off, with Phaeton and Greg running towards Aruarian.
---
If there is anything I hate more at this point than walking, it's running. "Are we almost there?" I moaned, legs burning like lava. "Yeah," Phaeton sighed, "We can walk the rest of the way. We're almost there anyway.". We continued walking until we reached a house furthest from the center. A man walked by, who seemed to be the owner of the house. "Hello," he greeted, "Can I help y-". He stopped, looked at both of us, screamed, and sprinted into the street behind him, screaming "Guards! Guards!". Me and Phaeton looked at eachother, and gulped. Almost instantly, a squad of guards dashed around the corner, each brandishing a large pike, far larger than ponderus. The captain, his rank made apparent by the large plume on his helmet, spoke. "Alright!" he called, "What are you doing inside city- wait...". He came closer, eyeing me, and then the weapon at my hip. "Gregory?" he asked. He took off his helmet, revealing Ice. "Hey Ice!" I said, "Nice to see you again.". "You know one of the founders of Aruarian?" Phaeton asked. Ice waved at the other guards, ordering them to lower their weapons. A sigh of dissapointment went through them. "Indeed he does.", Ice said, "What brings you back?". "um..." I stammered. "Your city will soon be under seige by the morphe." Phaeton said, "And we desire an audience with the other founders to form a Battle Plan.". Ice's eyebrows shot up, and he turned to the men again. "You heard 'em boys!", Ice called, "Tell the others to prep up. We've got wolves to hunt!". The guards ran off, a child-like glee in their eyes. Their seemed joy in killing unnerved me. "What's with them?" I asked. "Remember when Brick said we wanted to make a community where mobs and humans lived in harmony?" Ice asked, "Well, we're not off to a nice start.". "Can we go now?" Phaeton asked, impatient, "I'd much rather not be getting picked out of some morphe's teeth by morning!". "Oh yeah," Ice started, "Sorry about the whole guards thing.". "He's an enderman, and I look like a mad science experiment." Phaeton sighed, "It's only obvious that he would react like that."
---
We all were sitting in the meeting room. Me and Phaeton sat on one side of the large table, and the three founders sat on the other. "Why are thay attacking us?" Nom asked, "We've done nothing wrong.". Phaeton began to speak, "Due to a peice of armor found on the attackers bearing this city's logo, they assume you kidnapped one of their members.". "But we'd do no such thing!" Brick cried. "Well," Nom began, "Guilty or not, we need to prepare our defences.". He walked towards a small intercom, "Inform the people of a code orange.", he said, "And bolster the walls.". A voice rang through the air, "Attention citizens!" It announced, "We will soon be under attack. Please enter your homes until further notice. I repeat, We will soon be under seige. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill.". A rumbling rang through the air, and the ground departed near the borders of the city. Large pillars of stone sprang out of the ground, forming a wall. People came out of the houses, and began applying a paste to the walls, intending to bolster them. "I think now is a better time than ever to bring out our Magnum Opus.", Ice said, "C'mon, it's downstairs."
Chapter 18: Iron Golem
---------------------------------
We all walked down to a small room with one large glass wall. On the other side of the glass, there was a large room. Ice flipped a lever, and the lights in the large room lit up. Nom walked over to a intercom. "Please bring up Flinger for testing." He ordered. In the other room, a section of the floor opened, and out of it rose a platform with a peculiar construct on it. "This is a Iron Golem." Brick explained, "We made it from a blueprint that we obtained from a caravan of Testificates.". "What's a Testificate?" I asked. "A highly intelligent subspecies of human." Phaeton explained, he turned to Ice, "But I thought you said it was your Magnum Opus?". "Well, yes and no." Ice explained, "We didn't create him ourselves, but our supplies were needed to make it.". "If I could interrupt the tea party," Nom cut in, "Flinger is powered up and ready to test.". We all turned toward the glass wall. The Golem's eyes now burned a hellish red. He seemed bulky, but his long arms compensated for that. It's forehead seemed larger than most humans, and it had a bulbous "Nose". A training dummy appeared in front of the Golem. It lurched forward, moving slowly at the dummy. It swung one of its mighty arms, severing the head of the dummy. "Why do you call it 'Flinger'?" I asked. "Just wait." Ice said, grinning. The Golem picked up the headless dummy, and flung it into the air, where it hit the ceiling with a *POOF*. Nom walked over to the intercom again, "Please delpoy Flinger near the front gate, and prepare him for battle.". "We should go back to the meeting room to prepare the final aspects of our plan." Brick said, "As dawn approaches quickly."
---
"There are two aspects of our plan that we haven't touched on yet.", Brick said, "First; should we try to confirm that we don't have one of their own?". "It's quite unlikely they'll believe us," Nom said, "But it's worth a try.". "Second," Brick tuned to me and Phaeton, "Your roles in the defence of our city.". "Us?" Phaeton asked. "Yeah," Ice said, "We need all the help we can get.". "What are your combat aspects?" Ice asked. "You know that I use this spear." I said. "I an explosive magic novice.", Phaeton chimed. "What about that giant bear you controled during the demon attack?" I asked. "I used a scroll for that." He explained, "One time use, but pretty powerful.". "Here's how we'll be divided," Nom said, "each of us will take a part of the wall, and a section of the city. If the walls fall, then we all fall back to the castle.". "I hope that covers the whole plan," Phaeton said, looking at the mass of Morphe on the horizion, "Because our friends have arrived."
Chapter 19: Battle for Aruarian
------------------------------------------
We all rushed for our stations. I, along with Ice, were stationed at the front gate. I could see the eerie merriment in the guards as they carried on. "Don't you find it odd that they seem excited to murder an army bent on murdering them?" I asked. "They're Mercs." Ice explained, "They're sort of wired to act like that.". "By the way," Ice asked, "Is the snake on your arm okay?". I looked at the black snake coiled on my arm. It camouflaged almost perfectly with my arm. I prodded it with one of my thin fingers. It roused from its slumber. It looked around, licked the air a few times, and then went back to its sleeping. "Guess he is." I muttered. By time we arrived at the gates, Nayilah and her warriors were already there. She spotted me, above her on the wall, and shook her head. "You've dug yourself a deep hole," Nayilah growled, "And I'll be surprised if you ever see daylight again!". "We don't have your missing guy, Nayilah!" Ice called. "We have your armor as proff that you attacked us!", Nayilah called, as she held up the peice of armor, bearing the apparent Aruarian logo. "we've done no such thing!" Ice yelled, "Were being framed!". "Just accept your demise like a man!" She screamed, "Attack!". Her, along with the entirety of her forces, charged towards the front of the stone wall. Me and Ice both ran down the stairs, and stood in front of the rock wall. "Get ready." Ice said, holding a small orb. The wall began buckling, and we all got ready for the inevitable onslaught. Suddenly, the wall stopped buckling, and a hissing could be heard. "Get back!" Ice hollared, "It's gonna blow!". We all fell back a few feet, to avoid whatever was hissing. *BOOM* The wall exploded, sending hunks of rock towards us. Ice hit a button on the orb, and lobbed it into the breach. An explosion sprang up where the orb landed. "What was that?" I asked. "Fire charge." Ice replied, "Pretty good for taking out groups.". A stream of Morphe charged from the gap. Each mercenary charged headfirst into the fray, hollaring like madpeople. "Cmon!" Ice called, running into the fray. I grabbed ponderus, and followed suit. I charged spear first, landing a blow on an enemy, forcing it back with a yelp. I swung, landing another blow. A morphe leapt into the air. I barely dodged it, and tried to hit it. The morphe dashed out of the way of my blow, and tried to hit me from behind. I flinched, falling backwards. Ice flew though the air, striking the morphe and sending him flying back. Ice held out his hand. "Cmon!", "He said, "We're falling back."
---
Me, Ice, and the remaining troops fell back to the castle. The others were already there when we arrived. Brick brandished a large warhammer, and Nom held a crossbow with a glowing string. "How many kills?" Ice joked. "None," Brick said, "None of them even came to the south wall.". "it was obvious they wouldn't," Nom elaborated, "Why spread out, when you can attack en masse in one central area?". "I could note the obvious sarcasm in that sentence," Ice said, "But I'll leave it be.". "Incoming!", shouted a voice from one of the castle's towers. The morphe were marching towards us, and Nayilah was at the front. She stopped in front of us. "Can we stop this nonsense?" She asked, "We just want Volg back.". I steped forward. "They don't have Volg.", I said, "They're being set up.". "By who?" She asked sarcasticly, "Bandits?". I walked closer to her. "I don't know," I said, "But I know an honest person when I see one.". She grabbed ponderus, snapped it in two peices with ease, and tossed them over her shoulder. I grew angry, and tried to punch her. She grabbed my fist, and tossed it back to my side. I tried again. She stepped out of the way, and swiftly punched me in the gut. I reeled back, out of breath. I slowly recovered my breath, and stepped towards her again. She struck me again, this time in the chest. I reeled back again. I was furious. "Listen, Nayilah." I growled. I tried to punch her one last time. She then struck me three times in the head. I felt dizzy, and lightheaded. "Why..." I growled, "Won't you LISTEN?!", I punched her in the head. I teetered, and my vision blurred. Then, the ground seemed much closer than I thought.
Chapter 20: Departures
--------------------------------
I felt as if I was floating. Was I dead? A voice resounded through my mind. "You tried to reason with a morphe.", It said. I recognized it from somewhere, but couldn't put my finger on it. "Like trying to break a mountain with your forehead." chimed another voice. This one also sounded familliar. "He's trying to remember us..." The first voice said. "He doesn't?" asked the other. "Merely a temporary memory loss caused by numerous strikes to the head.". "Um..." I spoke up, "Am I dead?". "No, you are not dead.", the first voice spoke, "Only unconscious.". "What are you?", I asked. "We would rather not tell you such at such a young time." Said the second voice, "Circumstances state we not tell you until we think you are prepared to accept it.". "We shall wake you up now..." said the first voice. I felt like I was ascending, and could feel my body again. I began to regain conscious.
---
I heard muffled voices all around me. My head throbbed, and I felt slightly weak. My vision wasn't blurry like before, but it was shakey. Phaeton walked towards me, and knelt by my side. "Finally awake, I see. he said, "You were out for quite some time.". "How long?", I asked. "About a day...", He said, "Also, the founders wanted to thank you for not getting your head bashed in by an angry wolf woman.". I got up slowly, and noticed that my eye seemed to hurt. I covered it with one of my long, black hands, and slowly walked out of the room. We were in the castle, and all seemed surprisingly calm. We both walked up to the meeting room, where the founders sat waiting for us. "Glad you're not dead!" Brick laughed, "She really gave you a knocking.". "You wanted to talk to us?" I asked. "Yes," Ice began, "We want to reward you for your efforts.". "We've decided to make you co-founders," Nom said, "and you can help us govern Aruarian.". "I'm not sure..." I said, "I don't think such is right for me.". Everyone looked at me in shock. "You're saying that a seat of power isn't 'a good idea'?" Phaeton exclaimed. "Hey," Nom spoke up, "Before chairs a flung across the room, let's hear him out.". "I have a premonition that staying here will lead to a terrible event occuring to all of us.", I explained. The room fell silent. I spoke again, "And since you bound your life to me, Phaeton, you have to go with me.". "Great!" Phaeton mumbled, "I'm stuck with an idiot.". "Well," Ice said, "Can we do anything to repay you?".
---
"All you want is a new spear?" Ice asked. "Yeah," I replied, "That's all I'll need.". "You aren't going to name it like last time, are you?" Ice asked. "Why wouldn't I name it?" I asked. "It was supposed to be a joke." He explained, "Didn't know you would take it seriously.". Nom walked out of the forge with my new weapon. It looked different than my previous. Instead of having a pointed tip, it had numerous smaller points, and the sharp edge was more prominent. "Why is this different?" i asked. "I noticed your style was more for slashing, than stabbing," He explained, "So I made the appropriate adjustments.". "Thanks again." I said. "You sure about leaving here?" Ice asked, "Where are you going to?". "First," I said, "I'm gonna go talk to Nayilah. Then, I guess we'll just wander until we find something.". "I hope we will meet again, Gregory.", Ice said, "Goodbye."
???
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"What a nice night." Zaiveer declared. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits since Gregory killed that human. The moon was full, and the stars glittered like gold. A creeper walked up to Zaiveer. "Nice out, huh?" Zaiveer smiled. The creeper remained silent. "What's up?" Zaiveer asked, concerned by the creeper's silence. "I feel..." The Creeper began, "...Like something feels off tonight.". Zaiveer felt a chill go down his spine. "I feel it too." Zaiveer muttered. Suddenly, a loud flapping rang through the air. All grew silent. *WHOOSH* The source of the flapping whipped past above their heads, and became sillhouetted in the moon. The figure then descended gracefully, filling the air with its soft flapping wings, and a light tinkle. By then, numerous mobs had started watching the graceful figure, all looking dumbfounded. The figure was an angel. As it landed in front of him, Zaiveer could see the golden trinkets that adorned its armor. "Hello." It spoke, bringing a sense of ease unto the crowd, "Which of you is named... Zaiveer?". Zaiveer stepped forward, "I am.". ". "Good," The angel smiled, "I need to know something, Zaiveer.". "Yes?" He asked. "Have you seen..." he pulled a small peice of paper out of a small satchel, "One named Gregory?". "Yeah!" Zaiveer replied, "He said he was heading towards Aruarian.". The angel paused for a second, pulled another item out his satchel; an amulet. "This," he said, "Is for your troubles.". He handed it to Zaiveer. "Thanks." He said. He examined the amulet. It was a light blue, slightly lighter than a diamond, and gave off a faint glow. Without a word, the angel spread his mighty wings, and flew into the night sky, leaving all in awe. "Gregory..." Zaiveer muttered, "Why did that angel want to know about you?".
Chapter 21: Reunion
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Little was spoken as me and Phaeton journeyed to the ridge. Our silence to each other testified to our strained relationship at the moment. I passed the time by observing what was going on around us. The day seemed peaceful. Wild animals walked about the land, trees whispered in the soft wind, and the clouds sailed lazily along the blue sky. Lots to see, but not much to talk about. I examined my spear, which was swiftly corrected by Phaeton to be a naginata, for what seemed to be the hundreth time. Its blade gleamed in the sunlight, reflecting my ebony face. After what seemed to be an eternity-and-a-half, we finally reached the ridge. In the day, it seemed much different. It seemed less hospitable, less likely to be home to a group of short-tempered transforming creatures. "Were here." I said. Phaeton glared at me, but gave no responce. As we walked between the rock walls, the morphe once again stared at us. However, they weren't as stealty as before, staying in one place and watching us. As we got closer to the camp, the amount of morphe watching increased. All of them standing there, and watching. It was...slighty unnerving. When we finally reached the camp, two morphe approached us. "She wishes to speak with you." One of them said. "How'd she know we were coming?" I asked. "That is none of your concern," he said, "She wants to see you both, and you will do as she wills."
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Nayilah walked out of the main building and swiftly approached us. She sported a small, but noticable bruise on her face, possibly from when I desperately struck her. "How did you know we were coming?" I asked. "Due to your memory loss," she bagan, "It would be easy to assume that you would cling to any new memories, or in your case, people, that you bond with.". "Is that why you dragged me along with you?" Phaeton asked. "It would be reasonable to assume that." Nayilah said. "That wasn't the reason," I exclaimed. "Then why did you bring me along?" He asked. I paused, "I...Don't know.". "Look," Nayilah said, "Could we scrap this for now and get going?". Me and Phaeton looked at her, surprised. "How did you know we were gonna ask you to come with us?" I asked. "It's rather obvious." she said, "You wouldn't just come here to apoligize, and with the clinginess theory, it makes it even more probable.". I spoke up, "If we are going to go together, then you should tell your people.". She looked over at the newly formed crowd, and looked back to us. "I anticipated your arrival, and had already told them the news." She said, "All we need to do now, is depart.". She turned to the crowd, and waved a farewell to them. We turned away from the crowd, and began walking. Now, the journey could begin.
Chapter 22: Capture
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We walked in a single direction for what felt like hours. Nothing of interest appeared on the landscape. "Not exactly a prime example of an exciting journey, eh?" Phaeton joked. "At least nothing has gone wrong." I sighed, "Although I hope something interesting does happen soon.". As late afternoon began, something caught our eye. Stone walls. "Is that a settlement?" I asked. "It's not one I've heard of..." Phaeton said, scratching his head. "Perhaps we should stay there for the night." Nayilah suggested. As we approached the gate, we noticed that the entire town was dead silent. "I don't like this." Phaeton mumbled. We walked into the town. No people, but it seemed to have been populated recently. The good condition of the houses pointed towards it. Suddenly, we heard a loud creaking. We turned to see the gate closing behind us. We were trapped. People poured out of their houses, bearing ropes and shackles. There were too many to fight, or even retaliate. They bound us, and tied us to large logs. We were then carried towards the town square. People looked out of windows, behind doors, and between houses, and joined the already large crowd, enjoying our transport like a child would a parade. When we reached the square, we saw a large stand with numerous large holes in them, presumably for the logs that carried us. All the buildings looked similar, except for one, which I assumed was a church. We were placed on the stand, and the crowd stood in front of it, glaring at us. The church bell rang, long and clear, and the doors opened. From the church came a middle-aged man in plain, white robes, carring a large book. The crowd parted for him, and he approached the stand. He turned to the crowd. "My brothers and sisters!" He called, "Today we have three new sacrifices for the great Notch!". "Hail Notch!" Screamed the crowd. "He has been very kind to us recently," He continued "It's only fair we repay him!". "Hail Notch!" Screamed the crowd. "How are we gonna get out of this?" I whispered. "I don't think we can..." muttered Phaeton. "I think We'll be fine." Nayilah said. We looked at her like she was crazy. The Man kept preaching his twisted religion, while the crowd cheered on. "And now," He said, "They will burn!".". As guards came to begin our slow demise, a noise sounded. It was a high pitched whistling noise, and it was growing closer. A large, glowing ball of energy slammed into the church tower, destroying it with a brilliant explosion. The gate buckled, and finally collasped, and from it, came a large metal behemoth. On its left side was a large cannon. The townspeople donned small, rusted weapons, and charged at the large machine. Their attacks did nothing. The goliath swat them away like little flies. Others came through the demolished gate, and assisted the machine in cutting down the villagers. One seemingly high ranking soldier hovered down from a rooftop and began freeing us. "You guys must have been quite unlucky if you stumbled upon these zealots." he said. "Who are you?" I asked, examining his dull silver armor. "I think we'd best leave that to when we get out of here." he said. We ran towards the gate, where the battle was taking place. Our savior pulled out a gleaming blade, and turned to us. "You'd best get out of here." He said, "I'll have some of my boys escort you to camp.". He then charged into the crowd, hacking and slashing the entire time. We ran towards the gate, where some more warriors were standing, each of them armed with a variety of weapons, and with the same dull silver armor. "We'd best be off to the camp." The head guard said, "Night is approaching fast, and we don't wanna be out with the creepers.".
Chapter 23: Preperations
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The camp wasn't far from the village, only a short walk from the main gates. Patrolling the camp were soldiers carrying spears and peculiar, blue burning torches. One of the guards looked in our direction, and stopped, signalling the others to do so as well. When all the guards were motionless, he nodded, directing us to go in. We walked towards a large looking tent in the center of the camp. A person came out to meet us. He didn't have any armor, nor weapons, just a pen and an intricate robe. "Welcome!" He said, "You must be our guests.". He pulled out a small leatherbound book, and flipped through the pages. "Hmm..." He muttered, "We have some vacant space in that tent.". He pointed to a tent near the partolling soldiers. Nayilah spoke up "Thank you for your kindness." She said as she walked towards the tent, "We'll set up there for the night.". Phaeton and I met eyes and exchanged confused looks. We both followed her into the tent. Once in, we were met by two soldiers, going outside. The one closest to us raised a brow. "Were sharing a tent with you?" he asked. He turned to the soldier behind him. "Guess were lucky to have watch tonight.". "Oh!" the farther soldier exclaimed, "We almost forgot our glasses.". Both put their hands into a small bag on their side, and pulled out a small, dull blue substance in a syringe. "Glasses?" Phaeton asked, eyeing the small sryinge. "We call 'em glasses because they are a sight enhancer." Explained the closest soldier. Both nonchalantly injected the needle into their arms. They blinked hard for a second, and continued out the door. "We'll see ya tomorrow!" one called, "Hope you don't mind snoring.". They both laughed, and walked towards the patrolling soldiers. We chose our beds, got comfortable, and eventually drifted off into sleep.
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"Greg. Greg!" A voice called out to me. I jumped out of slumber. "Not so loud, you dolt!" Phaeton whispered. "What do you want?" I asked, groggily. "Just listen" He instructed, "I don't like how she seems to have a knack for predicting things.". "She?" I asked, "Oh, you mean Nayilah.". "No, I mean the queen of shut up!" Phaeton hissed, "Now, do as the queen commands and shut it!". I remained silent. "As I was saying." he continued, "Remember how she had predicted our return to her village?". "Didn't she explain that?" I asked. "You actually believed that?" He asked, "It was nothing but hot air. And what of her prediction of our rescue?". "Perhaps she was just trying to be optimistic." I guessed. "I guess you could assume that..." he muttered, "But I don't like it. I think we should keep an eye on her.". " If it helps you sleep at night..." I said rolling on my side. He left me alone after that, and I drifted into slumber once again.
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And this is how far I have gotten in Wandering Shade. Leave a comment or something telling you opinion. Opinions, Criticism, Ideas, and other stuff? Leave it in a comment!
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EDIT: I edited the chapters to make it easier to read. Don't blame me, blame notepad!