It Wasn't Supposed to Be Like This

  It wasn’t supposed to be like this…

  Zoey wasn’t supposed to have been doing science behind his back, she wasn’t supposed to leave him; but it didn’t matter, right? He was better off alone. Everyone he trusted betrayed him, everyone he lo—liked… betrayed him.

  Rythian shook his head and got back to work, fiddling with his new weapons in preparation to face Duncan. He didn’t need anyone else, he was a mage; a loner by choice and by nature. Other people just caused trouble, got in the way; it had all been a distraction… she had just been a distraction. The mage sat on the edge of the guest bed after a fitful night tossing and turning, staring glumly at the cobwebs that festooned the corners of the small, plain, room. His purple eyes dully traced a tiny spider as it scuttled across the ceiling; spiders were fine, what did he care if there were spiders?

  Standing, the enderborn padded from the room and down the corridor, ignoring the faint tug of wispy cobwebs upon his cloak as he ghosted down the hall. Cobwebs were fine, they suited a mage’s home, it didn’t matter if the place was dirty. For a moment Rythian stopped, his head turning of its own accord so that he could gaze into the master bedroom. His void ring was forgotten in his hands. Part of the blue canopy was bellying inward under a load of dust from the roof, and the sheets were covered with debris from weapons testing. The mirror had grown streaky, and a lone spider’s web decorated the far right corner.

  The man was struck with the nagging urge to clean it, to straighten the coverlets and dust off the dresser; Z—she had always kept it spotless… No. It didn’t matter, let the room stay dirty, it wasn’t important. Why should he care if the room was messy? Yanking his gaze away from the bedroom, Rythian trudged past the rain-soaked books in the library and went down the staircase to the main level. The hall was a mess, the magic room had cobwebs everywhere, and the food in the kitchen had long since spoiled, but what did it matter? Mages didn’t have to eat; a life stone could easily remedy hunger. Eating was a social sport after all, meant to be done around a kitchen table with friends, laughing and teasing about how meat was delicious and…. Enough. Mages didn’t need to eat. Enough said.

  Though he studiously tried to ignore the trapdoor, Rythian still felt the inexorable pull of the secret lab that lay hidden beneath Blackrock Hold. He had gone there multiple times, unable to stay away from the place that could tell him about her, what she was doing, whether she was alright, whether she was coming ho—stop it. Stop it stop it stop it. That lab was evil. It was full of science, the substance that had lured Z—her away from him. Honestly it wasn’t just the science, it was the fact that she had gone behind his back. People didn’t go behind their friend’s backs unless they had treachery planned. Just thinking about it was like pushing a knife through his gut.

  When he stepped through the door to the lab, the alarm would sound; pounding through his skull and bringing to mind images of the old world, his old home. The last time he’d gone there cobwebs had been everywhere, covering the walls and floors, grabbing him with their ghostly strands as if to catch and hold him there in that nest of betrayal. The lone pig had still been trapped in the testing room, its eyes wide and frightened, and its body gaunt. Mushrooms still stood guard in corners and along the halls, and Rythian had actually found himself muttering “excuse me” to one of them that he had nearly trod upon.

  The room with all of the monitors had been the place he’d gone. The once bright lights had been dingy, the screens reporting error messages or cracked from the vibrations of weapon blasts. Only two lights had been on; one pink and one green.

  Scared Level: High

  What was happening to her? Was she alright? Why was she frightened? Stop it. She had betrayed him. Why should he care?

  I did it, Rythian. I saved our dinosaur!!

  Tee was with her? Tee had betrayed him too, but at least those two were together… someone could keep her safe. No. They deserved one another; he had no use for traitors.

  He hadn’t even glanced at the bottom vault, why should he? He already knew what was down there… How could she? How could she be targeting him too? Why would she need to know his threat level? Did she honestly think for a moment that he would harm her? Even now, with all that had happened, he couldn’t imagine bringing harm to Z—her.

  Weakness: Zoeya

  Notes: I’m sorry…

  Stop it stop it stop it! The mage’s hands rose to cradle his head, and for a moment Rythian hunched against the basalt wall, fighting against the tide of memories that threatened to overwhelm him. He repeated his mantra over and over again, trying to drown out everything else.

  Better alone better alone better alone bitter alone why why why?????

  Suddenly the walls of Blackrock seemed to close in on him; a wave of claustrophobia swamped the mage and he scrambled out the door. Taking a deep breath of the rain scented air, Rythian took to the skies. It was time to go confront Duncan; it was time for that man to answer for his crimes. He had found Duncan’s castle earlier, great, ugly monstrosity that it was, and finding it again was simple. It looked like something from a tale, all huge and backed by the dramatic lightning which had chosen to make an appearance. What an ugly home, nothing like Blackrock, though the castle’s looks were mostly due to Z—stop. Back to the business at hand now.

  What on earth was that black box on the lawn? That hadn’t been there the last time he’d come. Curious despite himself, the mage landed atop it and began to inspect the strange object; it had working parts, what on earth was it doing out here? Strange, a little too strange; Rythian barely had time to think the word “trap” before buzzing sounded and the air around him became tinted. Over his head he could see a mass of blue and red current, and more blue current was under his feet, a force field! That sneaking cowardly scum! How dare he set a trap like this?!

  The scientist flew into view as if he’d been summoned, and Rythian could hear his amused chuckle over the rain as the man came closer. Duncan’s white lab coat was spotted grey by the falling water, and his blonde hair hung limply over his goggles. Flying upwards, the enderborn stopped suddenly as the sting of electricity zapped through him; so the red current was meant to cause damage…

  “Duncan.” The mage growled.

  His reply was disgustingly cheery. “Hello!”

  “Is this how you treat a visitor?” Rythian demanded, crossing his arms.

  “Well, as you can see, I was prepared for your visit.”

  Of course he was prepared, Rythian had left a note! The man gritted his teeth. “I didn’t come here to kill you, only to talk.”

  “Well let’s talk.” The scientist’s blue eyes were smug.

  Rythian swallowed his anger and sighed, he despised being caged. “Fine.” He snapped, launching into a speech about how Duncan’s acts in the old world required retribution.

  “Retribution?” Duncan raised one blonde eyebrow. “Can’t I just say sorry?”

  Rythian was speechless. Sorry? Sorry?! Sorry wouldn’t replace the old world! Sorry wouldn’t rebuild their homes, their lives, wouldn’t replace their pets, all of their hard work. All of his hard work, all of her hard work… The enderborn listened as Duncan gracefully slid the blame onto Sjin’s narrow shoulders. Sjin was partly to blame, but war was a two way street.

  Furious, Rythian pointed accusingly at the man. “All I know is you and Sjin were flying around and exploding things and killing everything and everyone! Including me, including Zoey, and pretty much everyone else.” Oh Notch how it hurt to speak her name, just saying it drove a lance of pain through his chest.

  Duncan listened to the rest of his tirade with an amused smirk before speaking. “You’re the only one who cares.”

  Grimacing, Rythian looked away; no one else was there, none of them remembered, and those that did had been the cause of it. He remembered though, the burning, the fire, the screaming as animals and humans alike fled the blaze and radiation. “I am the only one who cares! That’s what’s so insane about it!”

  Duncan removed one of his black gloves and examined his fingernails nonchalantly. “Zoey doesn’t care; she came and we had a nice little talk earlier.”

  Rythian’s flow of words stuttered to a stop.

  “We shared a drink together.” Duncan’s eyes glittered maliciously in the light from the force fields. “It was lovely.”

  Agony. The only reassurance Rythian had that his heart hadn’t broken was that it was hammering against his ribs; his stomach had seemingly dropped into his boots. She couldn’t have come here, not to Duncan, not to his enemy. No… no he had to be lying; yet the expression of pure triumph on the scientist’s face spoke volumes.

  The voice that emerged from his throat was small and rough. “She did?”

  Duncan smiled, glancing at his nails again one last time before replacing his glove.

  A small little sigh wound its way from Rythian’s lungs, could the rest of the world hear the sound of his universe breaking all to pieces? It sounded so deafening to him. “Okay.” He finally murmured. He refused to fall apart in front of Duncan; he refused to give his enemy that small victory.

  “You expect me to not care that you killed us?” Rythian crossed his arms again, this time it was to hold himself together.

  “Yeah, just get over it.” The flippant reply was so arrogant that it took Rythian’s breath away.

  “Get over it?! Get over you destroying the old world? Get over you imprisoning me in this?”

  “Yeah, it’s in the past.” Duncan gave an airy shrug.

  “Oh yeah, it’s in the past, right.” The enderborn’s voice was scornful.

  “Ah.” The scientist was silent for a time before he finally spoke again. “You’re determined to do this, aren’t you?”

  Now he was getting it; Rythian smirked to himself grimly. “All I want is conformation that it will never happen again.” His purple eyes took in the force field, the castle, the man before him. “But already I can see that you’re going down the same path again.” He snorted. “You probably have all sorts of weapons in there! Bombs, nukes—“

  “Ohhhh…” Duncan winced, “Well… when you come to mention it actually, there is a nuke… under your base…” he chuckled.

  Rythian froze in his hovering. A nuke? Under Blackrock hold?! How long had it been there? Had he and Z—had they been in danger the whole time without knowing?

  At the look on Rythian’s face Duncan had to stifle laughter. “I’m sorry but.. I needed to have, you know, protection.. So I may have put a nuke under your base.

  He had to get rid of it immediately! Rythian’s brain was racing; a weapon of mass destruction under Blackrock?

  As if sensing his thoughts, Duncan spoke. “Yeah… you won’t be able to get rid of it either.” Chuckling, he drew out a small white device from one of his pockets. “I’m not bluffing, this is the remote. If I push this your base goes.”

  “You’re not bluffing.” Rythian snapped. “Fine. I thought you were a decent guy, but I guess I overestimated you.”

  “Careful, Rythian.” Duncan’s voice was stern. “Wouldn’t want me to slip and accidentally press this button, would we?”

  Rythian went silent, his purple eyes boring into Duncan’s blue ones. Smirking, the scientist turned and began to fly away, wanting to get out of the rain; however, a noise caused him to turn. Laughter. Rythian was laughing quietly at him; Duncan could see his mouth turned up into a smirk under his facemask.

  “What?” he demanded. “What’s so funny?” Duncan could never abide being laughed at; he was the best, no one had any right to make fun of him.

  “You honestly think the threat of a nuke under my base is going to deter me?” Rythian chuckled one last time before becoming serious. “There is nothing for me there. You think I care about an empty pile of bricks? Blow it up for all I care.”

  Duncan held up the remote threateningly. “Watch it. I will if you push me; all of your work will go straight down the drain.”

  Rythian snorted. “All of my work—work for what? You and Sjin aren’t even worth my time. A so-called scientist who can’t even build a sorting machine correctly and you.” His violet eyes narrowed, scrutinizing the man before him. “You’re not using a jetpack to fly, you’re using magic. You’re a mad scientist, Duncan. Taking two things that don’t belong together and splicing them to create a monster.”

  “Stop it.” Duncan warned angrily.

  “A mad scientist with a superiority complex that has to be better than everyone else.” Rythian mocked. “They should have called you Frankenstein.”

  “SHUT UP!” The mad scientist shouted, “Shut up shut up shut up!” Glaring at his imprisoned victim, he brandished the remote. “You don’t care eh? Well here!” his thumb slammed down on the button.

  As far away as they were, Rythian could still see the light that bloomed on the horizon and left an afterimage on his retina. A minute later the dull whumpf of the explosion rolled over the grass to press against his ears. Blackrock was gone, and as much as he denied it, he still felt the ache of its passing. Duncan gave a bitter laugh above him and flew away from the cage.

  “Rot in there, for all that I care.” He tossed back over his shoulder.

  When the mad scientist disappeared from view, Rythian allowed himself to slump to his knees on top of the inner force field. His home was gone, his home was gone and she had gone over to the enemy. There was nothing left for him in this region any more. It was time to move on… but first he had to do something about this trap. After some inspection he discovered the thing was built using solar power; chuckling grimly to himself Rythian took some of the dirt from the ground within his trap and spread it over the glass. The machine would have just enough power to get through the night before needing to recharge during the day; the previous day had been overcast, so it was in dire need of power. How foolish of Duncan to ignore the fact that without light his trap was useless!

  It took until midway through the morning before the strength of the currents began to weaken. Rythian took little time in arming his fire ring and bombarding the force field with fireball after fireball until the signal broke altogether. From there he flew to Blackrock, wanting to see for himself what was left of his former home.

  The answer was: not much. The ground where Blackrock Hold had once stood was nothing but a smoking crater; Rythian could feel the heat washing off of it in waves. The ground was vaporized, and what was left was black and dead; he could almost see straight down to the bedrock. Nothing remained of the wolf pens, the golem cages, or the mooshroom pen; Rythian felt a prick of guilt for that last one especially, they had been hers after all. The farm was decimated too, with only a charred cactus still standing off to one side.

  Hovering over the crater, Rythian could sense the radiation coming off of the singed basalt and marble. The exposure was beginning to make him feel dizzy, and his head was starting to ache, but he flew lower until he was in the exact center of the crater. The man dropped his armor into the hole, scoffing as he did. Infernal Armor, hah! Fat lot of good it had done him! Oh well, none of it mattered any more. He didn’t need armor, he didn’t need anyone or anything; just himself. For a while he simply hovered there, feeling the heat wash over him. Heat didn’t matter, he was a mage. He could take heat; anything was less painful than betrayal.

  The enderborn raised his hands and undid the clasp that held his cloak on his shoulders; holding it in front of him, he stared at the familiar fabric before letting go and watching it flutter to the ground below. It was time to move on; time to be by himself again. Rythian headed in the direction of his first camp; it was time to retrieve Enderbane.

  *****************************************************************************

  Zoey sat gloomily in her cell, head cradled in her hands. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She had been so close! So close to returning to Blackrock Hold, but at the last moment Tee had turned against her. She had to get back, the nuke was under her home! She could defuse it!

  The darn laser had run out of power so quickly, and to be fair Duncan had warned her of it, but she’d had to turn back after only a short time of messing around with the new weapon; maybe he’d let her recharge it? The rain had started just as the sun had set, turning the landscape into a mud-field and placing puddles all over the ground. It had only been by chance that Zoey looked up and caught sight of a shape that hadn’t been there earlier. She and Tee had crept closer, their natural curiosity overcoming their caution.

  “That looks like a force field.” She had whispered to the dinosaur as they stole through the trees. “Why would he need a force field in his front yard??”

  Tee raised his rifle and had looked down the scope before jumping up and down excitedly.

  “What is it?” she squinted through the rain. “It looks like there’s someone trapped in there! Funny, it almost looks like…” her voice had trailed off.

  Her sharpshooter companion had been forced to pick up the pace as Zoey sprinted forward, going to the very edge of the trees—dangerously close to where Duncan was floating.

  “Rythian.” The name was the merest whisper.

  Straining their ears, the two companions could barely make out what was being said.

  “…the only one who cares! That’s… so insane about it!” Rythian had been angrily snapping.
Duncan’s next words had frozen Zoey in her tracks. “Zoey doesn’t care; she came and we had a nice little talk earlier.”

  “Oh no.” Zoey shook her head. “No, don’t tell him that!”

  There had been no reply from Rythian.

  “We shared a drink together. It was lovely.”

  Even though she could barely see his face, Zoey had seen his shoulders sag for a moment. “No,” she would have stepped from the trees had Tee not grabbed her. “No, Rythian it’s not… it’s not the way he’s telling it!”

  This would hurt him worse than her betrayal, Zoey had known, the fact that she had gone to the enemy would break him. She had wanted so badly to run out there, to tell him that he had it all wrong; Jeff would have come after her though, and Duncan might just decide to kill Rythian if she interfered. She would make this right, she had vowed solemnly, she would fix this.

  The sound of Duncan’s voice had jarred her from her thoughts.
“Ohhhh…” He had sounded mockingly apologetic, “Well… when you come to mention it actually, there is a nuke… under your base…” he chuckled.

  A nuke, under Blackrock Hold? No! That was her home! Hers and Rythian’s! Zoey had turned to share a horrified glance with Tee, how on Minecraftia could Duncan do such a thing? Rythian had always said that property destruction was the lowest form of retaliation; now she understood why the mage mistrusted Duncan so.

  The man in question was speaking again.
“Yeah… you won’t be able to get rid of it either.” There was laughter in his voice. “I’m not bluffing, this is the remote. If I push this your base goes.”

  Why couldn’t Rythian get rid of it?? There must be another force field in play here! Zoey hadn’t stuck around to hear any more. She knew programming! She knew computers! Rythian may not be able to defuse the nuke, but she could! The girl and the dinosaur had raced back to the rebel base, Zoey leading the way at a dead sprint. They had to tell Jeff that it was over, they had to get home!

  Well that hadn’t gone to plan. Zoey had gathered her things from her mush-apartment and had gone to check her computer. Rythian was sure to have escaped by now! If she could only get a hold of him! The connection hadn’t been able to patch through though; the computer at Blackrock must have succumbed to the trials of disuse. Quickly the girl had rushed to the council chamber to let Jeff know that she was off, but Tee had been waiting for her.

  Tee… how could he just betray her like this?? He had actually hit her as he was chivvying her along! Tee had never struck her, well apart from that first bit where he’d shot her with an arrow, but he’d never done it since! She felt so bewildered, how could someone go from being all nice to being all mean? You thought you knew someone and they just stabbed you in the….

  Rythian.

  “Oh my gosh.” Tears welled up in Zoey’s blue eyes, “Oh Notch, Rythian.” All of the pain, the confusion, the heartache that she was feeling in her little cell right now—she had done that to Rythian. For Rythian though, it would have been ten, no… a hundred, times worse. He had given her his trust, his oh-so-hard to win trust, and she had thrown it back in his face like it didn’t matter.

  “I’m sorry.” She wished that he could hear her. “I’m so sorry, Rythian.”

  Movement distracted her, and she looked up to see Tee sneaking into the prison with a block of TNT. Holding a claw to his lips, he set the TNT down right under the guard’s booth and lit it, scurrying away before the explosion rocked the room. Zoey watched in mute confusion as Tee jumped the gap and sprinted to her cell, opening the door for her.

  “Tee, what?”

  He waved her out of the cell.

  “Wait, you’re rescuing me??” she grinned as he nodded confirmation. “That’s awesome! C’mon, we have to get my stuff and then find Rythian!”

  Upon getting through the two iron doors, Zoey was faced with a hall full of mushrooms. As they saw her they began to release poisonous spores into the air; one lungful of those and she’d begin to stiffen up, becoming temporarily paralyzed.

  “Um, forget the stuff!” They turned and headed for the back wall of the prison.

  Tee used up the last of his TNT to blow up the wall, but after a short space there was another in their path. Behind them the mushrooms had advanced, and were now spewing their spores up the tunnel at the fleeing companions.

  “Oh man.” Zoey searched frantically for a way out. “I don’t know what to do!”

  A mechanical voice sounded from beyond the wall.

  “Target found. Johnny Iron initializing rescue protocol.”

  Tee turned and looked at the stone, an expression of hope pasted across his scaly face. Jumping back, Zoey watched as the wall began to crumble as someone knocked at it from the other side. She found herself staring at a familiar figure.

  “I am here following extraction mission orders.” The iron golem told her gravely.

  “Oh my goodness! Johnny Iron! And Gilbert!!” The snow golem was looking at her with a wide grin on his pumpkin face. He nodded happily as she recognized him.

  Zoey spun around to Tee. “This was you, wasn’t it?”

  Her best friend nodded as Johnny Iron stepped forward. “The rebel mushrooms shall be squashed by my fist.”

  The girl watched in confusion as Tee handed Gilbert what looked like an X-box controller, and then turned as Gilbert and Johnny Iron passed them and charged the mushrooms. Neither one of the golems was affected by the spores, and the rebel mushrooms screamed as the attackers bulldozed straight over them.

  “Wait!”  Zoey shouted after them as a wall of stone dropped down. “Where are they going?” Tee ignored her question and hurried her down the tunnel.

  The winding passageway seemed to go on forever, twisting and turning, sloping first down and then up again. Zoey tripped several times, but kept going doggedly onward; she had to find Rythian! An hour and a half later, they reached what seemed to be a dead end. Tee seemed massively confused by this, and backtracked slightly to see if they had taken a wrong turn. While he was busy Zoey pressed her hands up to the stone blocking the tunnel, it was warm, and to her surprise it was loose. This wasn’t a dead end, it was a cave in! Furiously she began to scrabble at the blockage with her hands, shifting soil and gravel to either side of her; Tee returned and , upon seeing her efforts, jumped in alongside of her. Zoey only had a fish harmonica in her inventory, but she dug with it until the handle snapped off. At last they cleared enough rubble from the top of the pile for them to scramble over it. Zoey went first, talking all the while.

  “I can’t believe there was a cave in at the very end of the tunnel!” she scrambled up the rocky scree, trying not to send too much back onto her friend. “It’s just our luck!” After wiggling through the space at the top, she rolled down the other side. “Well, that’s done!” Dusting herself off she stood. “Now to find Ryth…”

  Zoey was standing on the edge of a gigantic hole. The ground before her simply fell away into nothing; looking up she saw that the walls of the hole were equally steep. Basalt brick and marble littered the crater before her, steaming and smoking; the air smelled horrible, like brimstone. If she looked up and craned her neck, she could just barely make out a skeletal frame of black brick.

  “No.” she sank to her knees as Tee slid down the rubble pile behind her. “This can’t be Blackrock.”

  Tee was looking around with a horrified expression, he could see the last rail of the mooshroom pen, and across the crater stood his tower—now bereft of most of its structure.

  Zoey stood and wildly began to glance around, her blue eyes wide. “Rythian?” she shouted as loudly as she could. “Rythian?!?!”

  Catching sight of something in the crater below, Zoey heedlessly stepped off the edge of their little platform and began to slide down the steep slope. The rubble was sharp, and her knees were scraped and bleeding by the time she reached the bottom. Her head was pounding, and the air seemed unbearably thick where she was standing; ignoring Tee’s frantic waving from the tunnel exit, Zoey raced to the glimmer she had seen. Whatever it was, it was red, and Zoey yelped when she touched it: the item was hot enough to burn. It took several long moments before she realized what she was seeing.

  A hurricane boot. One of the matching set that Rythian had last been wearing. The boot was warped almost beyond recognition by the heat, and as Zoey looked around she saw other pieces of the armor scattered throughout the rubble. Something else caught her eye, and she reached out to grab it. Fabric. Black, faded, worn, and agonizingly familiar: Rythian’s cloak.

  “Oh no.” Zoey pulled the scrap of material against her, holding it tightly to her chest. “No no no!” Ignoring the pain that was seeping through her body, the girl began to rock back and forth. “Oh, Notch no, Rythian…” she whispered.

  Tee looked down in alarm as Zoey threw her head back and let out an anguished cry.

  “Rythian!!!”

  The sharpshooter threw himself down the slope, ignoring the pain in his feet, and sprinted to her side. Tears were streaming down the girl’s face, and she looked up at him hopelessly.

  “The nuke must have gone off… and he… he was here.” She sniffed. “Rythian is gone.

  Tee tried to pull her to her feet; the radiation down here would kill her shortly if she didn’t move, but the girl was unresponsive.

  “He’s gone.” Zoey murmured brokenly, her mind in turmoil. Rythian was gone? Rythian couldn’t be gone. He was always there, always. She hadn’t even gotten the chance to tell him tha—oh Notch. A tremor racked through her body. “He didn’t know, he didn’t know that I was coming home.” Rythian had died broken hearted, believing that she had betrayed him. One hand rose to cover her mouth, she felt like she was going to be sick. He had died believing that she didn’t care about him.

  Tee shook her, trying to get his friend to move. They had to leave this place before the radiation killed them. Zoey looked up at the dinosaur with empty eyes.

  “Go on, Tee.” She said numbly.

  The sharpshooter frowned in confusion.

  “I said go.” Her voice broke.  

  Shaking his head, Tee backed up a step. He didn’t understand.

  “I’m staying here.” Zoey bowed her head, turning away from her friend.

  No. No this couldn’t be happening. Yet Zoey lay down on her side, curling around the scrap of fabric that was held between her pain-clenched hands. Oh Notch, she meant to die here. She was going to follow Rythian. The dinosaur couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. There was nothing he could do though, if he tried to move her she would fight him tooth and nail. Tee turned away from Zoey slowly, tears dripping down his cheeks, and began walking. He hated himself, but this was a fight he knew that he would not win.
Zoey closed her eyes as the sound of Tee’s footsteps receded, relieved that her friend had listened.

  “I’m so sorry.” Zoey allowed a sob to escape. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t mean it.
Please forgive me.” Darkness was pressing on the edges of her vision. “I’ll be there soon, Rythian.” She whispered, and let the pain take her.

  **************************************************************************

  Rythian looked up and frowned. Something was wrong. The mage had the sudden sensation that something somewhere in the cosmos had just been knocked violently askew. Uneasily the enderborn took to the skies, turning his face right and then left in a search for what was amiss. Getting more of an eerie feeling from the left, Rythian turned in the direction of Blackrock Hold and began flying. Something had just happened, and he needed to find out what it was.

  He passed the signal fires, a few of which had gone out, and squinted as Tee’s tower hove into view. What was going on? What piece of the universe had just been moved here? His sharp purple eyes searched the ravaged landscape for a sign of anything, and finally settled on a bright object at the epicenter of Blackrock Crater. Rythian practically fell he was going so fast. No, please no it couldn’t be what he thought it was.

  Zoey was lying on her side in the debris, curled up into a loose fetal position, hair fanned out around her. Her clothes were rumpled and filthy, like she’d been digging in the mud. Scarlet blood oozed from scrapes in her knees, and there were clear tracks down her cheeks where tears had been flowing. The enderborn landed beside her, sinking to his knees in the rubble.

  “Zoey?” the name slipped into the silence without his permission.

  She gave no response, and he reached out, turning her over and lifting her limp form into his arms. “Zoey?” The mage worriedly pressed his ear against her chest.

  Silence. She was gone.

  No. Nonononononono not Zoey. Not his Zoeya. This couldn’t be happening! Why was she here? What on Minecraftia had she been doing at Blackrock? Rythian caught sight of something in her grip, and gently freed the piece of material. Part of his cloak.

  Oh Notch. This was his fault. She had thought… oh Notch. He didn’t understand though, why had she been here in the first place? Why did she come back? She had left, she didn’t care about him anymore! Unless… she had. She’d been trying to tell him before they went to rescue Tee. She had still wanted to be his apprentice, she had still wanted to stay, but he hadn’t listened. Oh Notch this was all his fault, it was his fault that Zoey was dead. His mind was spiraling out of control, why hadn’t he listened? Why had he been so cruel? She thought that he hated her, and she’d died thinking it.

  “I’m so sorry, Zoey.” He squeezed her tightly. “I don’t hate you, I never did. I’m so so sorry.” His eyes were stinging with tears. “Please forgive me.”

  This was it. His whole world, unraveling right in front of him. There was a gaping hole in the universe where Zoey used to be, and nothing could ever fill it. Rythian felt numb clarity wash over him, and he looked down at the girl in his arms.

  “You’re not going anywhere without me.” He whispered, before leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.

  Setting her down before him, Rythian reached to his side and drew the Screaming Blade from its sheath. Enderbane gleamed in the evening light, and its sting was a welcome sensation to the mage’s steady hand. The man took a moment to admire the irony, him dying by Enderbane, the Queen would have a field day. Glancing down at the girl in front of him, Rythian held the blade so that its razor sharp point rested against his chest, slightly to the left of center. His purple eyes scanned the crater and drifted up to take one last look at the brilliant sunset before dropping to fix on Zoey.

  “I’ll be there soon.” He promised, and drove the sword downward.

  *************************************************************************

  It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Tee raised his bow and sent the fire arrow arcing through the night sky towards the crater. He never missed a shot, and he knew that his arrow would stirke true, so he lowered the weapon and traced the comet-like path down into the hole. The flames would create a pyre to send his two friends on their way, on their final journey together. Though Tee had seen Rythian arrive, he had done nothing to stop the tragedy at hand; there was nothing he could have done, nothing he could have said. Rythian could not exist without Zoey, just as Zoey could not exist without Rythian. The lone bowman watched as the bright flames licked higher and higher, taking what was left of his friends and giving them back to the earth.

  This had gone all wrong. They were supposed to be together again, a happy family, with Tee in his tower and his two friends reunited. Tee hoped they were together now, wherever they were. The dinosaur planned to find Nilesy after this, to tell him about all that had happened. He would need a paper and quill to get his story across, but he would do it for Rythian and Zoey. The world needed to know exactly what Duncan was capable of.

  As the sharpshooter turned away from the pyre, he did nothing to stop the tears that were flowing freely down his scaled face.

  It wasn’t supposed to be like this…