Herobrine's Message Page 8

  Now, the next day had come. It was early in the morning, and most of the recruits were groggy, having had to drag themselves out of bed to get their first-ever briefing by one of the generals of the Noctem Alliance. Not G and Jayden, though; the two councilmen were totally awake, well aware that at any point, they might pick up on a tidbit of information that would allow them to locate and rescue the hostages of the Adorian Village.

  Suddenly, the entire crowd snapped to full attention, as a player walked onto the elevated platform above the rotunda floor. This player’s upper body was covered in black leather armor, but the pink face and white ponytail down her back clearly distinguished this player as female. She had a no-nonsense look in her eye as she stared down the rows of new recruits.

  “Greetings, my brothers and sisters,” the player spoke in a voice that was neither overly hard nor overly cheery. Immediately, it rang in G’s and Jayden’s ears as the general who had led them from the battlegrounds of Element City back to Nocturia.

  “My name is General Tess,” she continued. “I am one of the three leaders of the armies of the Noctem Alliance, subservient only to the illustrious Lord Tenebris.”

  At the sound of the name, a shudder of excitement rippled through the crowd. They had all heard tales of the great Lord Tenebris, and were thrilled to finally be serving under him. Jayden and G, meanwhile, gave a shiver of dread as they imagined what the leader of the Noctem Alliance was like.

  General Tess smiled. “I can tell that you are all excited at the prospect of meeting the glorious Lord Tenebris. Let me tell you right now that your wish probably won’t come true. The exalted supreme commander of the Noctem Alliance will only address his generals, myself included. Furthermore, he is a being shrouded in great mystery. I have never before seen his face, only heard his voice. None but the founders of our great Alliance have ever laid eyes on the magnificent Lord Tenebris . . . and lived to tell the tale.”

  This time, the wave of fear that passed through the new recruits was not just limited to Jayden and G.

  “Nonetheless, in coming here, you have put your fate in the hands of Lord Tenebris and the Noctem Alliance. In doing so, you have already joined the ranks of those who seek truth, and shall therefore be saved. The magnificent Lord Tenebris has already led his armies to nearly conquer the uncivilized, lazy barbarians led by President Stan2012.”

  At the mention of Stan’s name, there were hisses and grunts of disgust throughout the crowd.

  “The Noctem Alliance has not yet been able to take back Element City, the greatest bunker of Stan’s resistance. This is because those rallying behind Stan won’t give up without a fight. They have unwavering faith in their belief that lower-level players of this server deserve to be pampered and babied. They believe that we, the hardworking upper-level players of Elementia, should go out of our way to help the lower-level players rise to equal our strength.

  “What they forget,” continued Tess, staying calm yet raising her voice to be heard above the angry grunts and roars of outrage from the crowd, “is that we, too, were once lower-level players. And we had nobody holding our hands as we endured the countless hardships, cruelties, and struggles that accompanied our rise to where we are now. But in the end, it was worth it, my friends! Elementia has transformed from nothing into the greatest server in the history of Minecraft! And the server has only us, the Golden Age Players, to thank for it!”

  A cheer burst forth from the crowd of new recruits.

  “King Kev understood this,” Tess went on, her voice dripping with earnest passion. “He realized that, as payment for our work, all we desired was the ability to live our lives happily, reaping the rewards of what we had worked so hard to build. So naturally, when the spineless new players whined that the game was too hard and that they wanted their cut of the wealth, King Kev wouldn’t hear it. The world is cruel, however, and King Kev was taken from us by the scum known as Stan2012. Just like that, the upper-level players of Elementia lost a great leader, who died with no crimes besides defending his righteous and honest beliefs. My friends, let us take a moment of silence to honor our fallen hero, King Kev.”

  Tess bowed her pink head to look at the ground, as did all the other recruits, including Jayden and G. While the two councilmen were clenching their fists to keep calm, the other new recruits around them seemed legitimately solemn. They even heard an occasional sob escape from the crowd.

  “The Noctem Alliance,” Tess continued after a moment, “was founded out of fate. It was by fate that our founding fathers survived the Battle for Elementia. It was by fate that the glorious Lord Tenebris appeared to them, offering them the guidance and wisdom to destroy Stan2012 once and for all. And it was by fate that all our meticulous planning was carried out flawlessly. The Noctem Alliance has managed to take back nearly all of what was stolen from us by President Stan. And yet, the great Element City, which we built, which we were forced to fight for, and which contains our houses, is still occupied by Stan.

  “Many of you have left your homes in Element City to join the Noctem Alliance. Perhaps your realization of the vile nature of lower-level players is new, or perhaps you are just now willing to put your faith into the Noctem Alliance. For whatever reason, you have joined the Noctem Alliance quite late in the game, in the final stages of our operations. Regardless of this, you have done the right thing. Better late than never, as I always say.”

  There was an awkward pause before the crowd realized that they were supposed to find this funny. They then burst into gales of laughter. G and Jayden rolled their eyes as Tess smiled at the soldiers’ indulgence.

  “The road ahead of you won’t be easy,” Tess continued after the strikingly artificial mirth had faded. “It’s my job to transform you all from players into something more. The upcoming weeks of your training will not be pleasant. They will not be comfortable. I will treat you like the warriors you are expected to be, and mercy will not be tolerated. However, you’ll leave this program as soldiers, ready to storm the battlefields of Elementia and take back what rightfully belongs to you, your brothers, and your sisters!”

  Tess pumped her fist into the air. All the recruits followed suit, giving an animalistic roar of power and excitement as they did so.

  “And now, my brothers and sisters, the time has come for you to, once and for all, affirm yourself as a true member of the Noctem Alliance! Are you all ready?”

  “Yes, ma’am, General Tess,” all the soldiers responded in unison. G and Jayden shut their mouths in horror; they had been about to give another shout of agreement, yet that clearly wasn’t the right thing to do.

  Tess nodded. “Now repeat after me: I vow to fight for my rightful place in Elementia.”

  “I VOW TO FIGHT FOR MY RIGHTFUL PLACE IN ELEMENTIA,” the crowd responded almost robotically.

  “I vow to do all in my power to further the cause of the Noctem Alliance.”

  “I VOW TO DO ALL IN MY POWER TO FURTHER THE CAUSE OF THE NOCTEM ALLIANCE.”

  “I vow to submit to every command of the illustrious Lord Tenebris.”

  “I VOW TO SUBMIT TO EVERY COMMAND OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS LORD TENEBRIS.”

  “I hereby denounce President Stan2012, all his teachings, and all his followers.”

  As the group of players repeated the last lines back, G shuddered as he spoke the words. Although he himself didn’t mean a word of it, he couldn’t help but be terrified by the zealous fervor instilled in the crowd of players as they said this one particular line.

  “And I hereby surrender myself to the Noctem Alliance.”

  “AND I HEREBY SURRENDER MYSELF TO THE NOCTEM ALLIANCE.”

  “Long live Lord Tenebris!”

  “LONG LIVE LORD TENEBRIS!”

  “Long live the Noctem Alliance!”

  “LONG LIVE THE NOCTEM ALLIANCE!”

  “Viva la Noctem!”

  G grimaced. He had been wondering when he would be forced to say that hateful phrase, the slogan that he had despised since he
had first heard it at the Noctem rally more than a month ago. He took a deep breath, swallowed his pride, and belted out the motto of the Noctem Alliance alongside Jayden and all the Noctem recruits.

  “VIVA LA NOCTEM!”

  Kat’s eyes fluttered. Her head felt heavy and clunky. She recognized this feeling from many months ago, when she had been attacked by a horde of poisonous spiders in an abandoned mine shaft. Luckily, Stan and Charlie had been there to fight off the Spiders and heal her then. . . . Now, though, Kat could only guess at how long she’d been knocked out.

  She took a deep breath, and realized that she was sitting in a tiny, cramped cobblestone cell with an iron door in front of her. Kat grimaced as she forced herself to sit up straight, and realized what had woken her up. The shrill, irritating, upper-class accented voice of Cassandrix echoed through the space outside her cell. Kat pulled herself to her feet and put her ear to the door, listening to the conversation.

  “. . . will have you know that I am a high-ranking member of the hierarchy of Element City!” Cassandrix squealed. “If you don’t release me this instant, Element City will bear down on you with all its might!”

  Kat banged her head against the door in frustration. Did Cassandrix honestly think that she was in any position to make demands?

  “Ha!” a deep female voice replied from the outside hall, sounding amused. “Do you honestly think you’re in any position to make demands?” (Kat slapped her forehead with her blocky hand as she heard this.) “We know exactly who you and your little friend are, and believe me, General Spyro has some business with the two of you.”

  “I won’t tell you anything unless you set me free!” bellowed Cassandrix.

  The guard gave a chuckle. “Oh, we’ll see about that. You’ll find that we here at Mount Fungarus can be . . . well . . . rather convincing, shall we say.”

  Kat’s ears perked up. Well, she thought glumly, at least they had made it to Mount Fungarus in one piece.

  “What are you talking about?” demanded Cassandrix.

  “Well, allow me to put it this way,” the guard continued, clearly enjoying hearing Cassandrix sound so desperate. “When the esteemed Councilman Charlie first arrived at this prison, he wasn’t willing to talk either. But now . . . well, let’s just say that not only have we retrieved some very interesting information from that brilliant mind of his, but he also will probably never be able to walk properly again.”

  Cassandrix let out an audible gasp of horror as the guard chuckled yet again. Kat shuddered, trying to convince herself that the guard was lying, and that they weren’t too late. As Kat heard the footsteps of the guard walking away, she knew that they had to get out of their cells as quickly as possible. If the guard was telling the truth, and Charlie was being tortured to the point of becoming crippled, then they didn’t have a single second to spare.

  “Hey, Cassandrix,” Kat said, trying to be as loud as possible without attracting attention.

  “Oh . . . you’re here . . . ,” Cassandrix sighed from somewhere down the hall.

  Kat gave a grunt of frustration. “It’s good to see you, too. How long have you been up?”

  “Oh, I awoke as soon as the guard came, darling . . . what, did you just wake up? Well to be frank, I’m not surprised. What with your low intelligence and strength, it only stands to reason that I would be able to shake off the poison first . . .”

  Kat gave a roar of anger and punched the stone wall in frustration. “You’re infuriating, you know that? We get captured and thrown in jail, and still you can’t stop being so stuck-up!”

  “Well, pardon me, darling,” Cassandrix replied, sounding offhanded yet also angry, “but I seem to recall that it was your impudence that got us into this situation in the first place, so pardon me if I find it difficult to suppress my indignation!”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Kat spat in response, “pardon me if I actually tried to listen in to find out valuable information from those bounty hunters, and then didn’t take it lying down when you said that DZ’s death didn’t matter!”

  “Oh, stop being such a baby.” Cassandrix seethed in exasperation. “Honestly, you young players are all the same . . . thinking that you know what’s best, barreling headfirst into dangerous situations, letting your emotions get the best of your common sense . . .”

  “Excuse me,” replied Kat, deeply offended and disturbed, “but you’re starting to sound like a member of the Noctem Alliance.”

  “How dare you!” screamed Cassandrix. “I resent the implication that I am on the same level as those evil lunatics! I mean, do I resent the fact that since Stan took over, our city has devoted itself to pampering the younger, lower-level players into wealth and fortune with next to no work on their part? Of course I do! But never in a thousand lifetimes would I dream of discriminating against them or attacking them! It would be like attacking a toddler!”

  “WHAT?” shouted Kat. “You think that the new players have it easy? I’m sorry, but I seem to recall that my first few weeks in Elementia were spent fighting an evil dictator who was trying to kill me because of my level!”

  “Oh, but you succeeded, didn’t you?” Cassandrix shot back. “In a matter of weeks, you were able to upgrade your skills and materials until you were able to go toe to toe with the leaders of King Kev’s army, players who had been training and gathering materials for years! Do you think that I had an Adorian Village to teach me when I first joined Elementia? Do you think that Element City or the Adorian Village would exist today if the people of my level hadn’t struggled and toiled to raise it from the ground? And don’t get me started on the Spleef tournament . . .”

  “What does Spleef have to do with anything?” Kat demanded.

  “Oh, don’t make me laugh, darling,” Cassandrix replied with a bitter, forced chuckle. “I’m referring to players like you, Kat.”

  “What are you—”

  “I have worked for as long as I’ve been in Minecraft to become the best Spleef athlete in the world,” Cassandrix spat, an almost imperceptible catch in her voice. “And all throughout King Kev’s reign, I was never able to achieve any success. I was the best player in the league, but despite my hard work, it never amounted to anything. When Spleef returned after the fall of King Kev, I realized that, finally, I would have my chance in the spotlight and become the undisputed best Spleef player in the world. At long last, my hard work would pay off.

  “And yet, all around me, I saw that new players, who had only been in Elementia for weeks, were playing Spleef alongside the best of us. While I was still the best Spleef player in the league, I was still barely ahead of these spoiled newer players, whose lives have been so easy that that they’ve been able to pick up the art of Spleef almost effortlessly. And right at the forefront was you, Kat . . . fighting alongside Ben and DZ, two older players who had put in just as much effort as I had. And yet, despite all your inexperience, you still equaled them in skill, while surpassing them handily in arrogance.

  “So, yes, Kat, I do have a few problems with lower-level players. I hope that you can forgive me from up there on your high horse.” Cassandrix sighed bitterly.

  Ordinarily, Kat would have jumped on the opportunity to scorn Cassandrix for her insults, but now, she felt no such desire. In fact, Kat wasn’t sure what she was feeling. Obviously, she knew that many of the things that Cassandrix had just spouted out were wrong and misguided, but . . . there also seemed to be very real elements of truth to them. And furthermore, Kat suddenly found herself in the inexplicable position of feeling sorry for Cassandrix. Kat hadn’t realized just how much Cassandrix had been keeping bottled up, nor how unprepared she had been to see it erupt.

  Suddenly, Kat heard footsteps coming from down the hall, and she snapped out of it. This wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things. Their only priority had to be freeing themselves, and then finding Charlie and Commander Crunch.

  Kat glanced out the tiny window of the steel door and saw the guard, totally obscured by a ma
sk and her black armor, stop outside the door to Cassandrix’s cell. Her hand went down to a lever outside the door.

  “You in there,” she grunted in Cassandrix’s direction. “Back to the wall. You’re coming with me to see General Spyro. If you cooperate, you won’t be hurt.”

  Kat’s heart skipped a beat. They were coming for them already? It had been less than five minutes! Kat’s mind raced wildly, trying to formulate a plan.

  “And don’t even think about trying anything funny,” continued the soldier, drawing an iron pickaxe from her inventory, “or I’ll lodge this pickaxe into your back.”

  Suddenly, a thought struck Kat. Quickly, she glanced down the hallway. It was narrow but she was pretty sure that he’d be able to make it, wherever he was.

  The soldier pulled the lever, and Cassandrix stepped out into the hallway. Kat saw that, although her white and golden flowing clothes were stunning, Cassandrix’s white face was downcast and depressed. Kat only hoped that Cassandrix would take advantage of the opportunity that Kat was about to give her.

  “Walk forward,” the soldier commanded.

  Kat took a deep breath, and gave a two-note whistle. Instantly, Rex appeared in the middle of the hallway. The soldier whipped around just as the wolf’s eyes locked onto her.

  “Sic ’em, boy!” Kat shouted.

  Instantly, Rex’s eyes glowed red, and he barreled down the hallway toward the soldier, snarling and barking like mad. She gave a shout of surprise before dropping into a fighting stance, and raising her pickaxe to strike. Rex leaped through the air toward her, and before the soldier could deliver the blow, Cassandrix body-checked her from the back, sending her smashing into the wall and tumbling to the floor.

  The pickaxe went flying through the air and landed in Cassandrix’s hand as Rex landed on top of the soldier, pinning her to the ground. Cassandrix brought the pickaxe above her head and drove it directly into the center of the soldier’s leather armor. Immediately, a ring of items burst out from around her, signifying her demise.