When the game world rendered again, Lonnie reappeared next to me, holding my hand. In his other, he had a shulker box. Then Esme and Anton reappeared, looking none the worse for wear.

“That was insane!” Anton whooped. “I’ve never teleported with an enderman before!”

“I don’t think that’s what happened,” I said cautiously, remembering the thought—the command—I had before we’d disappeared.

“Ugh, I feel dizzy,” Esme complained. She plopped down on her back to stare at the sky. “Give me two seconds.”

I looked around for a moment, terrified. But luckily, the enderman didn’t reappear with us. Whatever mod or cheat A.J. had put in this game must’ve required my command to be more specific, and I was calm enough now to be thankful for that. We were near a river. It was like no part of the world I’d encountered so far, with a lush forest of tropical trees and flowering plants in reds and oranges. It curved around on both sides, making me think it was some kind of island, rather than one huge landmass. There was a boat in the river, and off in the distance was another shore, which I guessed was the mainland.

“I don’t recognize this place at all,” Anton said. “Where are we now?”

“It’s definitely a jungle biome, wherever it is,” Esme added.

“Great, I love getting lost in the jungle!” I sighed, took a breath, and tried to rein in my frustration. “You okay, Lonnie?”

Lonnie nodded and surveyed the landscape around us. Then he moved forward and started cutting down trees, making a shelter. I didn’t want to jinx it by saying something, so I just helped. He was always better at making things than I was anyway. It was better to follow.

“Good idea, we should put up a base as soon as possible,” Anton said, acknowledging Lonnie’s actions for once. “When we go over into the Nether, we need to protect the portal on both sides from mobs.”

“Good going, Lonnie,” I said loudly, emphasizing his participation to both Anton and Esme. Esme rolled her eyes as Lonnie got to work on crafting a table, and a bed, which would be handy if we wanted nights to go faster. So far, we hadn’t used that tactic enough.

“We should check our inventory. Did we lose anything?” I asked. I was worried that maybe we had suddenly reset the game without meaning to. I calmed down once I saw that all my food remained intact. I moved my extra flint and steel to the front of my supplies. We would need it to reactivate the portal from the other side to get back to the Overworld.

Then I went to count up my obsidian. I should’ve had a huge amount from what we’d collected up to this point. I should have had enough for three portals, really. So my stomach twisted in a sudden panic as I saw that all those inventory slots were now empty.

“Oh no,” I said. “No, no, no!”

“What is it?” Esme asked.

“My obsidian! It’s completely gone!” I racked my brain for how it could have happened. My thoughts immediately went to the scarred enderman that had attacked us. Could he have done it? Could endermen steal now?

Anton opened the shulker box to inspect the goods. A.J. had stockpiled it with a lot that was useful. Food, flint, redstone, a couple of pieces of obsidian—though not enough for a nether portal—some triggers, wool, and paper.

“Well, there’re some blocks here.”

I wanted to burst into tears. I had worked so hard for that obsidian and now we had to start all over.

“It’s okay,” Esme said, seeing my face. “Obsidian’s not so rare. I’m sure we’ll find some more in this biome. And once we do, we’ll make the portal and get what we need from the Nether, no big deal.”

She was right. I nodded and tried to calm myself down.

“Okay, so we need blaze rods to eventually make eyes of ender, nether wart for potions…” Anton’s voice trailed off as he and Esme wandered away, lost in their planning. I let them go, taking the moment alone to focus on my own next steps. I needed to find obsidian.

As soon as Lonnie was finished with the inside of the base and I was sure he’d be safe there alone, I moved to another part of the island to hunt for obsidian. Anton and Esme had disappeared, probably still talking through every detail of the Nether run. I explored and mined, finding coal easily enough, and dug through a tunnel that seemed to lead under the water. Eventually I chose to stop rather than risk hitting a rock that would flood the entire thing with me in it.

I got back to the house, telling Lonnie about my finds: more coal, some flint, and redstone. He nodded and made some grunting noises. I was excited. He was improving. Even Esme and Anton were noticing it. A sudden wave of exhaustion swept over me, and I staggered to the side of the room and leaned against a wall. We’d been going nonstop, and I needed a rest.

Lonnie came over, looking worried. It was the first time I recognized real emotion in his face.

“Hey friend,” I said. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

Lonnie made a sound, like he understood, or was trying to communicate something.

“I just needed a minute,” I said. “I know we have to get moving.” I took a breath. “Where do you think the obsidian is on the island, Lonnie?”

Lonnie made a sound again, which of course didn’t help at all, but I was grateful that he was there, at least. And I was glad that the others hadn’t managed to convince me that this wasn’t him. He was coming around. This was working. Now all I needed to do was get us out.

“I’m going back out there,” I said. “I won’t be long.”

But the island was larger than I’d thought. As I moved along the terrain, mining as I went, I thought it might not be an island at all. It might be a long peninsula. I moved methodically side to side, but as far forward as I went, there was no other shore. I moved into a thick growth of bushes and trees, and began to dig down. The island seemed to have nothing but coal, and a few cuts of diamond. I had enough to craft a diamond pickaxe, but there was no obsidian to use my diamond pickaxe on.

I didn’t realize how long I had been out of the house. Darkness descended quickly and I was forced to make my way back. I was exhausted, and wished for real, actual sleep. The kind where I could close my eyes and see nothing at all. My brain felt like it was alight with fire. I thought that was my imagination until I saw a burst of flame ahead of me. I was under attack.

I turned toward three witches that laughed at me from a tree above my head, raining down potions in vials of purple and orange. They burst ahead of me. I ducked under another tree and ran, trying to draw them out. The first one took the bait. It dropped to the ground and began to chase me.

Since I’d scoured the landscape earlier, I knew exactly where to go. I ducked behind a short, squat tree as the witch ran past me, then I got behind the witch and started hacking. I almost laughed out loud when I saw what she’d dropped: a fire-retardant potion, and glowstone dust.

I doubled back and started to look for the second one, but I had gotten turned around while going after the first witch. As I stepped through the trees and grass, I came upon a tall, sharp hill. There was no way to climb up without digging out steps; then I saw that the other two witches were on either side of me. I was cornered. The first witch had probably been a decoy. And I had fallen for their trap, thinking that they had fallen for mine.

“Smart,” I said out loud. But that didn’t stop them from coming.

They pelted potions, and I warded them off with my sword as best I could. Then I charged the closest witch—the one on my right—slashing until it died, dropping sticks and glass bottles. I turned to the last witch. It seemed to be smiling. It came at me with such force that I got knocked over onto my back. The witch kept coming, hitting me with everything it had, until I couldn’t move at all. I wished I hadn’t gone out by myself, and as the witch prepared to strike me again, I flinched. But the witch never attacked.

I could hear a scuffle nearby, and when I got up, I saw Lonnie delivering a hard right hook to the witch before she dissolved. He grabbed my hand, and we ran the rest of the way to the house.

As soon as we got inside, we piled into the beds, and in seconds it was daylight again. Lonnie had saved me. For a third time.

He got up first and came over to where I lay. He held out his hand and pulled me up. I felt the warmth of it against my own palm.

“Thank you,” I said.

He squeezed my hand and nodded.