Day 4

The water temple was on the surface of the water but there was a bridge that was linking it to the shoreline. I hadn’t quite seen anything like that before. I stared at it for a few minutes, trying to figure out how in the world it had gotten here but had no ideas.

The only thing I knew was there was a gut feeling that all of this was somehow connected. I had no proof but…

I took a step onto the bridge, half-expecting it to blow up or start to sink. Nothing happened. The sky was so blue it was like there had been no storm at all. I started to walk along the bridge. The water would sometimes roll across it as the waves lapped against the sides. The water temple grew closer.

I noticed something in the distance. There were two dark shapes coming towards me. It took me a couple of seconds to realize why they looked so familiar: they were wither skeletons.

Great. Quickly, I took out my sword and got ready to fight them. It had been a long time since I had seen wither skeletons. Last time, it had resulted in me going to the Nether. Seeing them again wasn’t exactly putting me in a good mood.

The first wither skeleton approached me, raising its sword to attack. I ducked and an arrow flew over my head from the second wither skeleton. I raised my shield and deflected the blow from the sword. My arm vibrated.

I was out of practice. Since the adventures in the Nether and at the Moon City, I hadn’t needed to keep up on fighting. That and the fact I was injured was making me sloppy. I was barely dodging the attacks. It didn’t help that the bridge was so narrow. One wrong move and I’d fall into the ocean which would mean the wither skeleton with the bow could finish me off easily.

I ducked as another arrow flew. I needed to get rid of the archer wither skeleton. He was dangerous. The first skeleton with the sword was a bit slow. I think the sword was too heavy for him. I could dodge his attacks easily enough, even though I was out of practice.

But the archer was quick and I had only dodged his arrows by pure luck. Shoving the wither skeleton with the sword to the side, I raised my shield and approached the archer. The skeleton sensed what I was doing. An arrow lodged into my shield.

Behind me, the wither skeleton’s sword had thrown him off balance. He tried to regain himself but it was too late – he fell into the ocean. Well, that was some good luck. Now just the archer.

The archer took a step backwards and went to fire another arrow. But he had run out. I had made sure that he had used all his arrows on me before I reached him. Lowering my shield, I ran towards him. The wither skeleton looked around as if help might appear out of the ocean. But it was too late. I brought my sword down and he turned to ash at my feet.

I looked around but there didn’t seem to be any more wither skeletons. Why were they protecting this place? More questions and no answers. I hurried to the entrance. Up close, I could see that the water temple wasn’t quite in the good condition I had thought. There were barnacles all over it as well as seaweed clinging to the statues that hung off the entrance.

Had it been pulled up from the depths of the ocean? That was what it looked like. Whatever had pulled it up from the depths couldn’t be good news. The doors were decorated with gems that glowed in the sun. The doors were massive as if giants walked into this place. That would be just my luck, wouldn’t it?

I pushed the doors open. They grinded against the stones and a wad of seaweed almost fell on my head. I opened it wide enough so that I could slip into the temple. Was this a bad idea? Yes. But I was determined to see what was going on here.

I was in a small room, like a foyer. There were torches lit, illuminating the small space. There was also another door which had been thrown open. I could see a winding hallway leading deeper into the temple.

But in the middle of the room was Alex.

Alarmed, I ran over to him. I could hardly believe that he was here. As I headed towards him, the doors to the temple slammed shut. We were probably locked in here now. But I would check after. First I wanted to see if Alex was alright.

“Alex!” I said as I rolled him onto his back.

He was unconscious. I shook him gently and he began to stir. His eyes fluttered open and he looked confused.

“Where am I?” He mumbled.

“In a water temple. How did you get here?” I asked, “Are you hurt?”

Alex’s eyes focused on me and he shook his head, “Mike? What am I doing here?”

“I just found you. I’ve been searching for you since yesterday! How did you get here?”

But Alex looked around the room and shook his head, “I have no idea. I can’t…I can’t remember anything.”

“What is the last thing you remember?” I asked.

He frowned, “Us trying to stop the cows from running across the wheat.”

“What? But…how could you not remember how you ended up here? You’re by the beach. In a water temple.”

“In a water temple? What in the world am I doing here? I don’t want to be in a water temple!”

“Well, me either but here we are!” I exclaimed as I made sure he wasn’t injured.

Alex seemed to be okay. He was just out of it and looked tired. How had my friend ended up here? I tried not to sigh. Could I be upset with him when I had ended up here as well? There was still no sign of Beth.

“What are we going to do?” Alex asked me, looking worried.

“The doors closed behind me. We might not be able to get out. I’ll try.” I said.

But the doors are locked. Whatever had allowed me to open them earlier now refused to budge. After a few minutes, I gave up and sat down next to Alex.

“No way out. I suppose we can go farther in…” I trailed off, not wanting to head deeper into the water temple.

Alex sighed, “What a mess. I never wanted to end up here. Tell me what happened on your end. Maybe it will jog my memory.”

It was a long shot but I decided to try regardless. I told him everything that had happened since I couldn’t find him. Alex listened but looked surprised and confused the entire time. When I finally finished, he shook his head.

“Are you serious? This place just rose out of the water? How could that be possible?”

“Don’t look at me. I thought when I find you, I’d know what was going on.” I said and then winced.

“You okay? You should rest because of your head. Nap or something. We can make camp here, right? I mean, no use in hurrying if you are injured.”

“Thanks. Probably a good idea. I’m going to see if I have any health potions in my bag.”

Now that he had mentioned resting, I was feeling tired. We set up camp but before I could rest, I wanted to write in my journal. I wanted to get caught up.

I have no idea how Alex can’t remember how he got here, what is this temple or is there anything else going on. But we’re stuck in here and are going to make the most of it.