Chapter 10

HIDDEN IN THE MINE

“We have to save Isaac,” announced Lucy.

“Save him?” Phoebe asked. “But he’s evil.”

“But it’s our job to bring him back. And …” Lucy couldn’t believe she was saying this. “Maybe he isn’t the one behind these attacks.”

“But he’s still evil!” Jane insisted.

“Still, we have to take him back to Minecrafters Academy.” Lucy aimed her bow and arrow at the griefers, but she wasn’t sure she was close enough to get a good shot.

“How are we going to get Isaac? The rainbow griefers seem really scary.” Jane was shaking.

“We’re just going to have to do it. There’s no other option,” Lucy said as she put her bow and arrow away and grabbed her sword instead. “Are you guys ready?”

Phoebe and Jane followed Lucy as she sprinted toward the rainbow griefers, ready for battle.

“Isaac!” Lucy called out as she leapt at a rainbow griefer and struck him with her diamond sword.

“Lucy?” Isaac was shocked.

Phoebe took out a potion of harming and splashed the two griefers while Lucy and Jane hit them with their swords. One of them released Isaac and charged at the girls. As Phoebe dodged a blow, Jane rushed in and struck him, giving Phoebe the chance to pull another potion out of her inventory.

Lucy ran at the griefer still holding Isaac, but as she raised her diamond sword, he clutched Isaac tighter, pushing the sword into his chest. Lucy backed off, raising her hands to show she wasn’t going to attack. But Jane and Phoebe came to the rescue; they’d just finished off their rainbow griefer, and they took the griefer holding Isaac by surprise, attacking him from behind with their bows and arrows. With a cry, he was destroyed.

“Isaac, you’re coming with us,” Lucy demanded.

“Okay,” Isaac said.

“Really?” Phoebe asked, stunned. “You’re just going to come with us that easily?”

“I’d rather be in jail at Minecrafters Academy than with the rainbow griefers,” Isaac admitted. “They helped me escape, but I wasn’t sure why they wanted me to be free.”

Lucy interrupted. “Was this the first time you met the rainbow griefers?”

“Yes. They just showed up outside my window and told me they would get me out of the jail. How could I refuse such an offer?”

Lucy asked, “But what did they want in return?”

“I didn’t know at the time. But now I can tell you that they wanted me to help them stage an extreme attack on the Overworld.”

Lucy wasn’t sure why Isaac was confessing all of this information to them. She assumed he was just in shock and was happy to be saved, but she didn’t know if they could trust what he told them. Still, she asked, “Why didn’t you want to join them? You love plotting griefer attacks.”

“Yes, I do,” Isaac admitted. “But I didn’t trust the rainbow griefers. Once we left the campus, they were very mean to me, instead of treating me like an equal partner. I think they just wanted me to help them attack the Overworld, and once the attack was over and they didn’t need me anymore, I think they were going to have me destroyed.”

The group walked silently toward the mountain next to the school, noticing a large hole carved into its side as they approached.

“This looks like it might be a mine.” Jane peeked her head into the darkness of the cave.

“It’s too bad we can’t explore, but we need to get Isaac back to the academy,” Lucy said with a sigh. If they found diamonds in the mine, she could trade them for supplies to replenish her inventory. She was about to walk away when the whole group heard someone crying.

“Do you hear that?” Phoebe asked.

“I guess we should find out who’s in there,” Lucy said. “Does anybody have a torch?”

They were all surprised when Isaac said, “I do. Should I light it and place it on the wall of the cave?”

“Yes,” Lucy replied. “That would be very helpful.”

The mine was very dark, and even with the light coming from Isaac’s torch, it was still hard to see. As they walked deeper into the cavern, the cries grew louder.

“Who’s in here?” Lucy asked.

“We are here to help,” added Phoebe.

Jane spotted someone in the distance. “I think I found them! Follow me.”

Jane reached the end of the tunnel first and crouched over the person who was crying. “Maya? What are you doing here?”

Lucy ran forward. “Maya? Are you okay?”

Maya stood and backed up to the wall of the cave, taking a deep breath and trying to hold back her tears. “You’d better watch out. This place is filled with cave spiders, and there must be a creeper spawner somewhere, because I’ve seen about five creepers. I’m lucky I didn’t explode.”

“But how did you wind up here?” asked Phoebe.

Maya moved into the light, and shock crossed her face when she saw Isaac standing behind Lucy. “What is he doing here?”

“We just found him. We are taking him back to the academy,” Phoebe explained.

“But you haven’t answered our question,” Lucy said. “What are you doing here, and why are you so upset?”

Maya took a deep breath. “When we were in the swamp, I woke up earlier than you guys. I realized my inventory didn’t have any food in it. I’ve been lazy since we started school, and I only eat my meals there. I used to be very good about having all sorts of food in my inventory.”

“Okay, that’s fine, but how did you wind up here?” Lucy pushed.

“When I went to search for food, I was attacked by two odd-looking people. But I was able to escape, and I ran in here to hide. It’s been terrible, though.”

“Can you describe these odd-looking people?” asked Lucy.

“They were rainbow-colored. And they were very mean.” Maya began to cry. “They took almost everything from my inventory. I was lucky to escape.”

“The rainbow griefers!” Isaac called out. “They also attacked me.”

Lucy told the group about the rainbow griefers and how a man named Daniel led them. “I guess they’re back, and we’re going to have to battle them again.”

“Let’s just get back to the school and tell Victoria and Stefan what we know,” Phoebe said. “We’ll deal with them when we have to.”

Everyone nodded and turned to leave the mine.

But as they wound their way out of the cave, Lucy spotted a large hole in the ground not far down a side passage. It was glowing blue.

“Diamonds!” she called out. “We have to mine!”

Phoebe and Jane reached for their pickaxes, but Maya hesitated. “Watch out for spiders,” she called, striking two cave spiders with her diamond sword as they skittered toward the group.

“Despite the spiders, and the fact that we have to return Isaac to the school, we should try and unearth these diamonds. We’d be crazy to pass up such valuable resources.” Lucy hopped into the hole. She gathered the diamonds as quickly as she could with Jane and Phoebe, and eventually Maya and Isaac, at her side. When all of the diamonds were found, Lucy was the first to climb out of the hole.

Her heart skipped a beat. An army of rainbow griefers surrounded the exit.

“Oh no!” she called to the others. “We’re trapped.”

She didn’t notice the silent green creeper floating up behind her until it exploded.

Kaboom!

Lucy respawned back in the swamp. She was completely alone.