Chapter 11
CAPTURED
Lucy crawled out the bed she had slept in the night before. She wasn’t sure what to do. She wanted to head back to the mine, but she knew it was probably better if she went back to the academy and explained everything to Victoria and Stefan. They had to know that the Overworld was under attack by an old enemy, the rainbow griefers.
As Lucy walked out of the small house and into the thick of the murky swamp biome, she could hear a noise coming from behind her. It sounded like someone was calling her name.
“Lucy,” the voice called out. “Are you here?”
Lucy rushed back to the house. “Maya?”
“Yes.” Maya walked out the door. “I was also destroyed by a creeper.”
“What happened to the others?”
“They were captured by the rainbow griefers right before I was destroyed. We have to save them!”
“How? Do you know where they are?”
“I don’t, but we can’t leave them there without any help.”
Lucy agreed, and the two sprinted back to the cave. They were exhausted when they reached the side of the mountain. Lucy looked over at Maya. “Where do you think they are?”
Maya walked toward the mine, taking slow steps and watching her surroundings. “I don’t see them over here.” Maya entered the mountain and took out a torch to place on the wall.
“I think I hear something,” Lucy said, pausing to listen.
There was a muffled sound coming from behind the wall of the mine.
Lucy crept closer. “I bet it’s a stronghold, or a hidden room on the other side of this wall.”
Maya joined Lucy and pressed her ear to the wall. “It sounds like someone is calling for help!”
“It sounds like Phoebe,” Lucy said. She banged her pickaxe against the blocky wall, trying to break through.
“Stop,” Maya exclaimed. “We don’t want to be that obvious. We can’t just break down a wall. We need to sneak in.”
“But how?” Lucy asked. “Do you think there’s another entrance?”
“I’m not sure, but this isn’t the way to get in. We need to look around for a hole or something.” Maya walked along the wall, inspecting the area for any holes.
After a short search, Lucy called out, “I think I found something.”
But Maya didn’t reply. Lucy looked up, but she couldn’t see Maya—her friend had gone missing again.
Before Lucy could search for Maya, an arrow grazed the side of her arm, and she cried out in pain.
“I thought you were destroyed by a creeper,” said the pink rainbow griefer, aiming an arrow at Lucy.
“I have the other one,” an orange griefer announced, stepping out of the shadows. He held a diamond sword against Maya’s back.
“You must join your friends, our prisoners!” the pink griefer told Lucy.
“I’ll never be your prisoner,” Lucy yelled at the pink griefer.
He shot another arrow at Lucy. It struck her left arm, and she felt a horrible pain shoot through her body. She was losing hearts.
“I will keep shooting you until you are so weak, you’ll have no other choice but to do what I say,” the pink griefer laughed.
Lucy reluctantly walked toward the griefer. The two griefers led Lucy and Maya through a tunnel that led to a large cave dwelling. Lucy saw Jane, Phoebe, and Isaac at the end of the tunnel.
“Do you see your friends?” the orange griefer asked the girls. “You’ll be joining them soon.”
The pink griefer laughed. “In jail.”
Lucy was devastated. She was afraid nobody would ever find them, and they would spend the rest of their days trapped in the cave.
“Yes, we have a nice, large jail cell for you.” The orange griefer smiled. “No more studying for you now, girls. School is over.”
“But this isn’t fair,” protested Maya.
“You shouldn’t have tried to stop us,” said the orange griefer.
Lucy and Maya met their friends at the end of the hall. The pink griefer led the entire group into a dark room. “This is your new home. Enjoy.”
The pink griefer closed the door, and the group could hear the orange griefer laughing as they walked away.
Two red eyes peered at them from the darkness deep in the cell. “It’s a spider,” Lucy cried out as she used her diamond sword to destroy it.
“Oh, no!” Isaac looked at the ground. “Our cell is covered in silverfish.”
The group used their swords to destroy the pesky insect infestation.
“I see another,” Phoebe pointed out, and Jane destroyed it.
“I’m exhausted,” Jane announced.
“I don’t have any food in my inventory,” Maya said nervously, “and my health bar is dangerously low.”
“How long do you think we’ll be trapped in here?” asked Jane.
“I don’t think we have any chance of escape,” said Phoebe.
“That’s an awful thing to say, Phoebe,” Lucy cried. “We will find a way out of here. We have to.” Lucy put on a brave face, but she wasn’t sure she even believed the words that fell from her mouth.