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JOURNAL ENTRY: THE WHEAT FARM

Trip 5: Explorations on a Wheat Farm

Oliver and I were already covered in purple mist when the blue soldier jumped through our portal.

“Don’t hurt us!” Oliver cried out.

“That’s not my plan,” the blue man replied.

Before we could utter another word, we were back in the Overworld.

The blue man quickly broke the portal. “I’m being followed.”

“By Roger?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “I need help. I don’t want to be a part of their army.”

The portal had left us in the middle of a desert—there was sand everywhere. I spotted some water in the distance and what looked like a desert temple. It was different from the temple we had visited earlier.

“I think we should make our way toward the temple. Maybe there’s treasure in there,” I suggested.

Oliver began to craft a map. “This would be very valuable. People in the Overworld are always looking for desert temples. If I can lead them to the temple with my map, that would be fantastic.”

The blue man said, “That’s a good idea, but I’d like to change my skin first, if you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine,” I said, and then asked, “But who are you?”

“My name is Julian,” the man said as he put on a new skin. He had dark hair and wore a gray shirt. “I never wanted to be a part of that army. I thought Roger was going to lead us to victory over Charles and Thao, but he is even worse than they are. He wanted to take over once he destroyed them.”

“We’ll help you escape,” Oliver said.

Unlike Oliver, I was wary of Julian. Could we really trust him?

“Where do you want to escape to?” I asked Julian as we walked toward the desert temple.

“I’d like to go back to my wheat farm. I used to be a farmer.”

“We’ll help you get there,” Oliver reassured him.

As we made our way through the sand toward the temple, Julian cried out. “Ouch!”

“It’s Charles and Thao!” I shouted.

They stood beneath an arch near the desert temple and were shooting arrows at us. Their enormous army erupted from the desert temple and attacked. We didn’t want to be taken prisoner, so we fled the desert as fast as we could move.

“Take this.” Oliver handed us bottles of potion of invisibility, and quickly we were safely out of sight.

With nowhere else to go, we decided to take Julian home. When we reached Julian’s village, he was happy, but it was a bittersweet return.

He explained: “The town isn’t the same since Charles and Thao arrived. At first we were all excited for explorers to visit our town, but then they started recruiting people for the army. Nobody wanted to go, so they forced a group of us to join. The town was upset to see us go. I bet they’ll be surprised to see me back.”

Julian was right. The minute we walked through the small village, a librarian wearing a white robe called to him. “Julian!”

“Tess!” he shouted, running up to her.

“How did you escape?”

“It wasn’t easy.”

“What about the others?”

“I’m the only one I know who escaped. I just want to get back to my farm.”

Julian led us to his wheat farm. There was a small house. An ocelot purred and rubbed up against his feet. “This is Snowball,” he said, petting her gently.

We were exhausted—as we entered Julian’s house, night was beginning to set in.

“I know you’re happy to stay here on your farm,” I said to Julian, “but we could use your help to stop Charles and Thao. Once they’re defeated, we can become the explorers that we want to be, and then you can return to your wheat farm for good.”

“But how are we going to defeat them? They have an army. They’re so powerful.”

“I have no idea,” I told him. “Do you know any weaknesses they might have? You were in their army.”

Oliver added, “Yes, we all have weaknesses. Maybe they’re afraid of fire, like William.”

I glared at him. Again, Oliver was too trusting. Now that Julian knew my weakness he could use that against us. I hoped he really was on our side.

Julian thought for a moment. “I know that Charles is very afraid of going to the End—I think it’s because he’s afraid of the Ender Dragon.”

“Maybe we can summon Ender Dragons to attack them in the desert,” I suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” said Oliver. “We can do that with command blocks.”

“I think we should all get some sleep first,” said Julian. “We can attack them in the morning.”

As they both slept, I secretly wrote in my journal. As I write now, I am excited for our plan. I have never summoned an Ender Dragon before, and I think this attack on their desert headquarters might work. Then we’ll finally be able to continue our lives as true explorers.