Chapter 5

THE MEETING

“Maya was destroyed again,” explained Phoebe. “She was battling a wither skeleton and she just—well, she was destroyed.” Phoebe looked at Jane.

“It was an odd battle,” Jane added. “She seemed to give up very quickly.”

Lucy wanted to question Jane, but there was no time. An army of wither skeletons marched down the hall from the opposite direction.

“I guess we know the spawner has to be down this hall,” Eitan said as he used all of his energy to battle the many skeletons that were attacking them.

Lucy and her friends fought the mobs, but they were losing hearts quickly. The Wither effect was taking a toll on all of them.

Eitan struck two skeletons that stood in front of him and quickly turned to stab three that were behind him. With the students fighting the few remaining skeletons, the room was emptied of hostile mobs within seconds.

“Wow,” Lucy said, in awe of Eitan’s fighting. She had never seen such an accomplished swordsman. “That was fantastic.”

“I will teach you how to battle multiple wither skeletons in the next class. We have to get back to the academy or we will be late for dinner.”

“What about the spawner?” asked Lucy.

“We will have to destroy it on our next visit. I do hope you have a torch in your inventory by our next class. You must always be prepared, Lucy.”

Lucy knew her teacher was right. She had to take her education seriously, and that meant replenishing her inventory. Lucy followed Eitan and the other students through the Nether fortress and outside.

“We are going to craft a portal back to the Overworld. Lucy, do you have obsidian?” Eitan asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Before Lucy could answer that she didn’t, Phoebe took out some obsidian and offered it to Eitan. Lucy’s friend had saved the day again—she was so lucky.

As she waited her turn to step onto the portal, Lucy thought about what her friends had said about Maya giving up easily when the wither skeletons attacked her, and what she had seen when Maya had aggravated the zombie pigmen. Could Maya have wanted to leave the field trip and return to campus both of those times, and gotten herself destroyed intentionally? What could she be doing on campus that she needed to hide?

Lucy gasped. What if it had to do with the attacks on the school? As the purple mist rose around the class, Lucy decided that as soon as they were back in their dorms for the night, she was going to find Maya and interrogate her.

“We’re here,” Eitan announced as they spawned in the center of the campus.

“I’m hungry.” Jane said and, as if on cue, her stomach rumbled.

“Good news, because it’s time for dinner.” Eitan walked toward the dining hall and his students trailed closely behind him.

The group picked up their trays and filled them with food, famished from the battle in the Nether.

“That was a fun trip,” Jane said as they ate their dinner.

Lucy agreed. She swallowed a bite of chicken and was reaching for a carrot when she looked up to see Stefan walking toward the group.

“I hope you had a good day in class,” Stefan said to the trio. When they nodded, he added, “I was hoping you three could attend the first meeting for the talent show. It’s going to be held right after dinner.”

“Of course we will,” Lucy replied, and the others agreed. But she was disappointed; her plan to question Maya would have to wait.

“Fantastic,” Stefan exclaimed. “I’ll see you after dinner.”

After dinner, Lucy, Phoebe, and Jane walked across the campus to the Main Hall, where most meetings were held. Whenever Lucy walked past Isaac’s jail cell, she always looked in the window to check on him. Somehow, she just never trusted that he wouldn’t find a way to escape and cause more trouble for the school.

Lucy spotted Isaac looking out the window, and he called out, “Ready for another skeleton attack?”

Lucy didn’t respond. She turned her head and hurried to catch up to her friends.

When they entered the meeting, Lucy was happy to see her old friend Adam in the room.

“Lucy!” he called. “I’m so glad we get to work together on the show. I never see you anymore.”

Lucy agreed. She had been through many battles with Adam, and she was happy that they were finally going to do something fun together.

Stefan stood in front of the group. “Everyone, quiet down. I want to discuss our agenda for today’s meeting.”

As the group stood silently and listened to Stefan’s plans, Lucy noticed Maya slipping into the room to stand at the back. She was itching to question her about her mysterious disappearances and the skeleton attacks, but she forced herself to turn back around and pay attention. She would have to wait for a better time to talk to Maya alone.

“This talent show isn’t just a show to entertain,” Stefan was saying. “We are here to show the Overworld all of the skills we strive to master at this esteemed academy. After everything the school has been through in the last year, we hope this show will help potential students see the academy in a positive light again.”

Lucy was surprised. “Will people from outside of the school be invited to the show?”

“Yes,” Stefan replied. “Of course.”

“But how can we be sure it’s safe?” Lucy asked.

The headmaster walked in just as Lucy spoke. “I know it’s awful to think about the school being attacked, but we do need to open the show up to the public. We’ll just have to be extra careful.”

Stefan began to speak, but the lights went out.

“Get your torches out!” Victoria called out to the group.

The students began to place torches on the wall, but the light from the torches wasn’t strong enough to ward off another skeleton invasion. Lucy already knew she didn’t have a torch, and she wished for what felt like the thousandth time that she had restocked her inventory before the start of the term.

Click! Clang!

Lucy’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t even count the number of skeletons that marched into the classroom.

Students grabbed their swords and battled the bony beasts, and Lucy joined them. She destroyed two skeletons with her diamond sword while, beside her, Adam splashed potions on others. Yet no matter how many skeletons they destroyed, more spawned and came after them.

“Look behind you!” Adam warned Lucy.

Lucy turned around just in time to avoid being struck by a skeleton’s arrow. “Thanks!” she called out to Adam as she battled the bony skeleton. When the skeleton was destroyed, two more lunged at Lucy. She was almost overwhelmed, but the lights turned back on without warning.

Stefan asked the group, “Is everyone alright? Do we know if anybody was destroyed in the battle?”

Everyone looked around to see if any of their friends had been destroyed. Lucy scanned the room and noticed one person was missing. She announced, “Maya is gone.”