8

NETHER AGAIN

“Snuggles!” Steve sprinted toward his ocelot and saw Rufus and Jasmine walking toward him.

“The wheat farm!” Alex was shocked. “How did we wind up here?”

Kyra stood eating an apple. She offered an apple to Alex. Steve and Alex didn’t realize how hungry they were and how low their food bars were after fighting the Ender Dragon.

“I guess you guys slayed the Ender Dragon,” said Kyra.

“How did you guys wind up here?” Steve asked Kyra and Will.

“Right after you left, we were attacked by a spider jockey. It took us by surprise,” replied Will.

“Just one?” questioned Alex.

“Yes, but we all had very low health and food bars. It didn’t take much to wipe the group out. We respawned here,” explained Will.

“Where’s Caleb?” asked Steve.

“I assume he respawned wherever he slept last,” said Kyra. “I hope we see him again.”

“Me, too,” said Will.

The group gathered in Steve’s living room. Night was setting and they needed their energy for their second attempt to travel to the desert.

“I can’t believe we had to start all over again. This is so annoying. I’m really worried about Henry, Max, and Lucy,” Steve said as he paced back and forth.

“Well there’s nothing we can do about it now. We need to get rest, and tomorrow we can start our trip to the desert,” said Kyra.

Will looked at the map. “I have an idea. If we go to the Nether, we can get to the desert and we won’t have to go through the swamp and the mountains.”

“The Nether,” said Kyra. “Ugh, I hate the Nether.”

“Nobody likes the Nether,” added Steve.

“I don’t mind it,” Alex smiled.

Two pairs of purple eyes crept past Steve’s window.

“We need to get to bed. It’s too dangerous to be in here,” Steve told them. The group walked to the bedroom and got in their beds.

“You never told us how you slayed the Ender Dragon,” Kyra said from her bed.

“Snowballs,” replied Alex. “Steve and I did it together.”

The group slept. When they awoke in the morning light, Steve filled up his inventory with potions and food.

“We need to be prepared,” Steve informed them. “I know we’ve all been to the Nether before, but it’s always a challenge.”

The gang gathered outside the house and began to work on the frame for the Nether portal. They used obsidian to build four corners.

“Who has flint and steel?” asked Steve.

Alex took some out of her inventory and made a fire to activate the portal. “This time we’re all going together,” Alex said as they gathered in the portal. The portal made a loud, creepy sound and omitted purple mist. They were on their way to the red lava–filled landscape of the Nether.

Within seconds of their arrival, two white ghasts with their eyes and mouths closed flew past them.

“Oh good, they don’t see us,” said Will.

One ghast opened its evil red eyes and shrieked.

“You spoke too soon!” Steve cried out and grabbed his bow and arrow.

The ghast shot a fireball at Steve. The flaming ball sped through the sky. Steve shot an arrow at the ball, deflecting it as it raced back toward the ghast.

Boom! The ghast exploded.

The other ghast made a loud noise, aiming a fireball at Alex. Steve jumped in front of Alex, shooting at the ball and again deflecting it to hit the ghast.

Ka-boom! The second ghast was destroyed.

“I can’t believe we’ve only been here a minute and we’ve already been attacked by ghasts,” remarked Kyra. “I told you I hate the Nether.”

Will looked out across a sea of lava. “I think I see a Nether fortress.”

“It could have treasure!” Alex was excited.

“What about the map?” Steve questioned. “I want to find my friends.”

“Maps don’t work in the Nether, remember?” replied Alex.

“That’s right.” Steve was upset. “How are we going to find our way?”

“It’s fine,” Will reassured him. “If we make it to the Nether fortress, we can create a portal over there and get back to the Overworld, and then we shouldn’t be too far from the desert.”

“If we make it to the Nether fortress,” Kyra repeated.

The gang walked slowly through the netherrack ground, stopping by a lava waterfall.

“I hate to admit it,” Kyra said, “but the waterfall is kind of pretty.”

The group agreed as they carefully avoided getting any lava on them. They didn’t want to wind up on the wheat farm, having to start the journey for a third time.

Glowstone blocks that grew on the underside of the netherrack landscape lit the dim skies in the Nether. They watched for the many lava pools they walked past on their trip to the Nether fortress.

“Look, we’re almost there,” Kyra said as the Nether fortress stood just a few feet away from them.

The group began to walk very slowly. “What’s happening?” asked Kyra.

Steve looked down to see a patch of soul sand, which affected people by making them move at a much slower pace. “Look down, guys,” he told them.

“We should use this to grow Nether wart,” said Will.

“No, we don’t have time. We have to avoid this patch, so we can sprint to the Nether fortress. Our friends are trapped,” said Steve.

The group sped up when they were far away from the soul sand, and soon they were just inches from the entrance to the Nether fortress.

“Go in,” Alex demanded as Will stood in front of the entrance.

“Will!” Steve shouted. “Look out!”

Four zombie pigmen walked toward Will, and he struck one with his sword, battling it until he defeated it.

Steve lunged at a zombie pigman with his sword.

“Alex, help!” Steve called out. He was struck by the zombie pigman and his health bar was low.

She sprinted over and struck the pigman with her sword until she destroyed it and saved Steve.

When the zombie pigmen were destroyed, they dropped gold nuggets. Alex picked one up and handed it to Steve.

Then two ghasts flew down. One shot a fireball at Will. He dodged the fireball, and it struck the zombie pigmen.

“We just have one more to destroy,” Kyra said breathlessly.

“And two ghasts,” Will added with an exhausted sigh.

There was no time to talk. It was all action. A fireball came toward the group. Steve shot an arrow at it and destroyed another ghast.

Boom!

Alex shot an arrow at the other ghast and it exploded. A ghast tear dripped down, but they couldn’t catch it.

“That’s so annoying,” Alex said. “We could have made a regeneration potion with that tear.”

Kyra battled the last zombie pigman using all her strength and her mighty diamond sword, and she was able to defeat the hostile mob. The group could finally enter the grand yet slightly creepy Nether fortress.

The fortress made of nether bricks had a large open area with a staircase and patches of soul sand growing near it.

“We need to find the treasure chest,” Alex said as she explored the indoor rooms of the fortress. “It has to be here somewhere.”

Will called out, “I think I found it!”

Will had found a room with a chest. But the room wasn’t empty. A pair of orange-and-yellow eyes glowed in the corner of the dark room.