A Friend For The Fallen King

The Minecraftian, now standing at the edge of a demolished turret, had been through a lot in the past years. His red robes fluttered in the breeze, mimicking the flags that once flew in the same place he was. He stared down at the distant ground, deep in thought. Should he go through, or should he stop himself? Not knowing what to do, the king sat on the edge of the damaged cobblestone and thought to himself about his past years…

TWENTY YEARS PREVIOUS

There he was, looking throughout the cave system for the one most coveted jewel: diamond. The king saw his younger self, dressed in a simple teal tee and blue jeans. Through the loops on his jeans were strung a shovel and an axe, both made of smelted iron. In his hand, he swung an iron pickaxe as he walked throughout the cave. Torches had lit his way along the stone path, yet he still had a feeling of present danger hanging around him.

Eventually, he reached a dead end. The young king slammed his free hand against the wall and rested his head against it. Another expedition, and still no diamonds were found. How could he make anything without using the best tools for the job? As he thought to himself, a quiet crunching sound rhythmically approached him, as if they were footsteps. The king turned around fearfully to find a hissing green creature the same height as him stare into his eyes with its own blood red ones. It had four legs, paired up into twos, and lacked arms.

The miner had barely enough time to magically pull out a sword made of stone from his pocket and slice at it, each hit drawing a pained hissing from the creature. Finally, he delivered the final blow, sliding the blade into the monster's chest and pulling back out swiftly. The creature made one final hiss before disappearing in a burst of smoke, leaving behind a pile of gunpowder.

The king knew how dangerous these monsters, called creepers, were. They would deliberately run to the enemy, then somehow start a chain reaction that would cause them to explode, damaging everything in its path. They also traveled in packs of two or three. If there was one right here, there were more waiting in the shadows.

There was only one thing to do: run. The Minecraftian started doing exactly that, back up the caves lined with waterfalls and pools of lava, past the dungeon where the mossy cobblestone stood out, and out back under the night sky. He didn't see any creepers around, but he knew it still wasn't safe. For now, though, the coast was clear, and that was the best he could hope for. The miner placed the stone weapon back into his pocket, watching it shrink and disappear and he leaned against the lamppost. Never had he felt so scared than right at that moment…

KSH-BOOM! A creeper managed to sneak up behind him and set itself off, the force of the blast throwing him against the side of the hill that stood twenty meters away. Pain erupted through his body as he impacted the wall of stone, then more pain as he fell onto the ground. His vision was blurry, and he was deafened by the sound of the blast. Nevertheless, he got to his knees. As his hearing returned, he heard a dog barking from inside the house he conveniently landed next to. He didn't care whose it was, he just had to get indoors before the other monsters of the night got to him.

After crawling for at least five minutes, the young king reached the door. To his surprise, when he opened it, nobody was home. He tried calling out, but his voice had failed him. Assuming it was an abandoned house, he shakily got up and limped inside, remembering to close the door behind him.

After a quick look, the only useful things the miner found were a single chest, which he had yet to open, and a crafting table. There was a bed there, but he knew it wasn't right to sleep in someone else's bed. Walking over to the chest, he opened it up to find the best thing all night: half a stack of diamonds and a single stick. He looked from the items, then to the crafting table, then back at the items. An idea struck his head as he looked back out the window at the amassing creepers…

Ten minutes later, the Minecraftian stood in front of the door, fully clad in the toughest armor and armed with the sharpest sword. It took a lot of work to craft these items, but it would pay off, and he knew it. With a forceful kick, he flung the door wide open, gaining the attention of the surrounding creepers. Immediately, the young king drew his blade and swung at the one directly in front of him, decapitating it in one quick slice. The remaining creepers watched as their comrade fell and immediately started walking toward the attacker.

The miner wasted no time, though, as he lunged for the next monster and stuck his sword through its chest. He then swung it around, releasing the creeper halfway around and following through with a blow to the side of another using the broad side of the weapon. The creeper fell onto its side as he hopped over it and headed to the last one.

However, the strike hadn't killed the monster, which used its last line of defense and blew itself up. The explosion sent the young king flying into the air directly at the last creeper. Thankfully, most of the damage was absorbed by the armor, leaving him fully able to expertly turn in midair and bring the diamond blade down through the creeper's head, killing it instantly. The miner, seeing no more enemies left, sheathed his sword and walked back to the house, satisfied with his work.

FIVE YEARS LATER

The city was bustling around the king, whose golden crown, which was encrusted with the finest emerald, and red robes made him stand out from the crowd. He took a deep breath of the fresh air in, then began to walk about the town. As he passed through the market, many of his citizens waved to him, and a few even stopped to chat. One child even gave him a beautiful dandelion, which he stored within his robes. When he reached the end of the market, he rounded the corner to find a little girl sobbing on the edge of the street. The Minecraftian knelt down to her, patted her on the back, then reached back into his robes to pull out the dandelion to give to her. Immediately, a smile was brought upon her face, and she wiped her face and skipped off to the market.

Eventually, the ruler had reached his destination: the prison. Two guards stood on either side of a barred carriage, which held a creeper inside. All it took was a flinch on the king's part to make the creeper panic and scurry over to the opposite corner of the cage. He then motioned the guards to send him off, to which the guards reacted with a salute, then with opening the two gates and bringing the carriage inside the prison walls. The king was sure that nothing could go wrong. It was the perfect land.

Night had fallen, and the moon was high in the sky. In the palace far above, the court jester was doing all sorts of things to entertain the king's family, ranging from dancing, to juggling, and even more. However, things were not quite as fun down at the prison gates, where a single guard was posted to keep watch. He sighed and sat down on the grass, not expecting anything to attack anytime soon.

CLUNK! A diamond pickaxe delivered a painful blow to the guard's helmet, which dazed him as he tried to unsheathe an iron sword. His head still spinning, the guard turned around to see an intruder, whose glowing white eyes contrasted from his completely black garb. The assailant leaped at the guard and sunk one of the ends of the pickaxe into his chest, cutting easily through the skin and muscle. He used his other hand to cover the guard's mouth to muffle his pained scream and his dying gurgle.

When he was sure the guard was dead, the hooded assassin removed his pickaxe and hit the lever to lift both gates guarding the prison. After he got inside, he rolled behind the cover of a turret's base as another guard passed by, who was easily dispatched with a swift swing of the insurgent's weapon. However, the assassin knew the place was filled with guards, which meant he had to hide the body. Seeing no immediate spot, he simply dug into the ground with his pickaxe and buried the body. Then, he dashed off to the other side of the gravel path that led to the barracks.

Finally, the assassin had reached his objective. He rummaged through his pockets until he found a stack of TNT. Without a single trip in his step, he carved out a trench at the base of the wall and filled it up with the explosives, then threw his pickaxe into the center block and ran away. Moments later, there was a rumbling explosion that completely demolished the prison wall, which had held a number of zombies, skeletons, and creepers. They were finally free to roam the land once more, and they were angered beyond words.

Slowly, they flooded into the empty streets of the city, where families began to notice the freed monsters roaming the gravel paths. A few citizens that were armed with bows tried to fight back, but they were easily dispatched by a pack of skeletons, who then stole the ranged weapons. Zombies bit the defenseless and turned them into more soldiers for the army of creatures. Creepers exploded everywhere and caused complete chaos, driving families out of homes for the other monsters to kill.

Meanwhile, the court jester continued to make a fool of himself for the amusement of the king's family. All had been fine until a guard ran through the castle's threshold, screaming in pain. Before he could reach the king, though, he dropped to the ground, showing the large amounts of arrows sticking out of his back. The king swiftly stood up and ran to the archway, where he saw the destruction taking place. He ran back and grabbed his trusty diamond sword from one of the statues that stood on either side of the room. Then, he switched out his regal crown for the diamond helmet he entrusted with his life many years ago. Turning back to his family, he motioned for them to stay where they were, then he ran outside.

The king climbed slowly down the steps, his legs not what they used to be. An arrow flew by his face as a skeleton took another arrow and readied it. Taking the challenge, the ruler jumped forward and fell into the undead archer, reducing it to a pile of bones. The king groaned, his body aching all over, but he still managed to get up. He looked out at the army of monsters now heading towards him, then turned around and ran back up to the palace.

When he got inside, the ruler immediately dropped his sword and grabbed his wife and daughter, running off to an adjoining hallway. In front of them, two creepers had dropped down from the stairwell and made their way to the royal family. The creeper in front decided to set its fuse early and blew up half of the hallway, knocking the other creeper over and revealing the deep drop down below. Afraid for his life, the king inched his way across the remaining part of the bridge with his family, trying to not to alert the fallen creeper. His efforts were for nothing, though, as the creeper had been able to look over its "shoulder" to see the people.

The world seemed to move in slow motion for the king. He could see the creeper begin to expand before the explosion ripped apart the remaining piece of the bridge. The ruler had been separated from his family, the force of the blast throwing them in different directions. He hit the floor of the farther side of the bridge, causing his helmet to fall off. He then got up and looked back, seeing his wife and daughter helplessly surrounded by zombies. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he continued on to the spiraling staircase, not daring to look back.

When he reached the top, the ruler found himself at a dead end on top of a turret. There was nowhere to run now, with one way leading to a long fall, and the other leading back to the zombies. The king weighed his options, then made his decision. He knew that, if he died under the right circumstances, the whole world would be deleted, freeing the poor souls who have died.

When the zombies reached the top of the staircase, they found the king standing on the edge of the turret. He gave them a quick salute before turning around to jump off. As he turned, though, he heard a hissing come from behind him. He managed to turn around completely in time to see a third creeper detonate, sending him soaring off the edge. Time slowed once more as the ruler fell down to the ground below, hearing the wind whistle in his ears. However, instead of landing on the ground, his plunge was prematurely ended as he slammed into the wooden roof of a building. That was the last thing he felt before he passed out.

PRESENT DAY

The king was ashamed of himself. He held in his hands the crown he once wore to show he was the ruler of this kingdom, its use now gone. He stood up again, ready to finish the job correctly this time. There was no way he could live with himself anymore with all the blood of those innocent would on his hands. Balancing on the edge of the turret, he aimed himself at the ground where he knew he would be killed and leaped. Knowing what good he was doing, he smiled and closed his eyes, happy that he could finally end his suffering.

Suddenly, the king felt a strange sensation envelop him, as if he was slowing down. He opened his eyes to find his face inches away from the ground. Suddenly, he was set right-side up, where he saw the most beautiful creature he had ever saw. It was of a pure white, with the most royally colored mane and eyes a color that could rival the sky in beauty. Its shape was very odd, as it somehow managed to not have a single flat plane on its body. It was as if it were made up of trillions of tiny flat planes made to form the edgeless features. The king knew there was a word for this, but he couldn't quite think of it. Finally, to top it all off, the creature spoke with a silky feminine voice.

"You must be more careful, darling, you could hurt yourself like that!"