The rise of herobrine, p.1
The Rise of Herobrine, page 1
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Copyright © 2016 by Danica Davidson
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
Cover design by Brian Peterson
Cover artwork by Lordwhitebear
ISBN: 978-1-5107-0802-0
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-0803-7
Printed in Canada
CHAPTER 1
I WAS IN DANGER.
I was alone out here in the fields, but I felt someone nearby, watching me. It made the back of my neck prickle and my hand immediately went to draw my sword—and then I realized I was weaponless.
“Where are you?” I called out, though what I really wanted to ask was, “Who are you?”
All the trees were missing leaves. In the distance, I could see an ocean with buildings hovering over the sea. Everything was silent, so silent.
I turned around in a circle, straining my eyes. Monsters, also called mobs, were a real threat where I lived in the Overworld, but they could only come out in the dark. Right now it was sunny and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
So why did I sense a presence? And how did I know it meant to harm me?
I heard a loud sound behind me and I jumped. Then I realized it was just strains of creepy-sounding music. I followed the music to its source. Behind two dark, leafless trees, I found a musical disc sitting in the grass, spinning.
A music disc playing with no jukebox? I thought, confused.
When I reached to pick it up, a deep voice said, “It’s too late.”
There was some heavy breathing coming from the music disc. It sounded as if someone had been running. I heard footsteps, but there was still no one.
“It’s too late, Stevie,” the music disc said. “I have already been unleashed, and the Overworld is doomed.”
This time I grabbed the music disc for real, shaking it. “Who are you?” I demanded. This couldn’t be some pre-recording, because how did it know my name? And why did it say the Overworld was doomed? My best friend Maison and I had just saved the Overworld from a zombie takeover the other week, so everything should have been okay now.
That’s when I noticed a sign just a few feet away. How come I hadn’t noticed it before? When I stepped up close to the sign, I made out the words: I AM FREE NOW AND YOU CAN’T STOP MY PLANS.
There was a terrible laughter behind me. I knew who it was, then, because no one else could laugh in such an evil way.
“It can’t be,” I whispered.
I whirled around and there he was. He had eyes with no pupils, so all I saw were glowing orbs of skeleton white, and when he began to approach me, I let out a scream.
CHAPTER 2
STEVIE,” DAD SAID. “WAKE UP.”
When my eyes flew open, I didn’t think I’d ever been happier in my life to see my bedroom. Ossie, my cat, was sleeping by my feet, and Dad was standing over my bed, looking annoyed.
“Dad,” I sputtered, sitting up in bed. “I had another Herobrine dream! This time, I was in a field with no one around and there was this musi—”
“Stevie,” Dad said again. “Herobrine is just an old ghost story. You know he’s not real.”
Of course I knew that. When I was a little kid and Dad and I would go to the village, the village kids and I would each take turns trying to come up with the scariest Herobrine story we could. When we’d race on pigs, someone might say, “Last one gets caught by Herobrine!”
There were a million stories about who Herobrine was and what made him a ghost and the sort of evil deeds he might do. The stories were fun, because even though they were scary, we all felt safe knowing there was no Herobrine.
“It just seemed so real,” I said. That wasn’t the only thing that was bothering me, though. I’d started having dreams about Herobrine shortly after Maison and I had saved the Overworld, and now it had gotten to the point where I was dreaming about Herobrine every single night.
“I need your help today,” Dad was saying.
“He said the Overworld is doomed!” I said, unable to stop thinking about my dream.
Dad sighed. I could tell he thought I was being overly dramatic.
“The blacksmith from the village came to visit me while you were still asleep,” he said, as if I hadn’t spoken. “Lots of weird things are happening in the village. Trees are losing their leaves, and someone has been stealing people’s cows and horses. The blacksmith wants me to come help them investigate.”
“Dad!” I said. “In my dream, there were trees without leaves and—”
“And,” Dad said loudly, so I’d know to let him finish speaking, “I said I would go over this afternoon after Alex gets here.”
I had forgotten that Alex was supposed to be visiting.
Alex is my cousin and she is eleven, just like me. We didn’t see each other much growing up, and I think that mostly had to do with my dad and Alex’s mom, Aunt Alexandra. Aunt Alexandra and Dad were brother and sister, but they couldn’t be more different. And, boy, did they like to compete with each other.
Dad is a farmer, miner, and monster slayer. He prided himself in building the most, having the best farm, digging the deepest, and being able to defeat all the mobs with the diamond sword he made when he was only twelve. He was named Steve, and all the people around here called him “The Steve” because of how good he was at everything.
Aunt Alexandra is the mayor a few villages down, and the way my dad is “The Steve,” she is “Mayor Alexandra.” Even I wanted to call her that. Her village was thriving, they hadn’t had a mob attack since she was elected, and she always ran unopposed at elections because the people loved her that much.
They were both pillars in their communities who did very different things. And they were always trying to outdo each other, but there was no way of keeping track of who won. Because how do you compare running a village to fighting off mobs? They’re both important.
Sometimes Mayor Alexandra … I mean, Aunt Alexandra … would visit and bring Alex with her, expecting Alex and me to be best friends because we were cousins and the same age.
But the thing was, I always felt kind of competitive toward Alex, the way my dad and aunt were competitive toward each other. Alex was always so smart and she liked to go exploring and discover things. When I was a little younger and I could barely make wooden swords, she was already great at shooting with the bows and arrows she made. I knew Alex was hands down more impressive than me.
I especially didn’t want to see Alex right then, when I was feeling pretty uneasy and scared because of my dream. Alex would go trekking out in the night with her arrows, so she’d think I was a wimp for getting all shaken up over some silly dreams!
“How long is Alex staying again?” I asked. Dad hadn’t been very clear on that before.
“However long it takes,” Dad replied. “Your aunt Alexandra said that Alex has been acting up and making lots of problems lately, and she hopes Alex coming here will help set her straight.”
“Alex is in trouble?” I said in disbelief. I’d never heard anyone complain about Alex before.
“Alexandra thinks you’ll be a good influence on Alex,” Dad went on. “Your aunt is very impressed by how you saved the Overworld from that mob attack.”
Well, this was definitely different. Aunt Alexandra was impressed with me and wanted Alex to be more like me? I wasn’t still in dream land, was I?
“I’ll need you to entertain Alex today while I’m in the village,” Dad said.
As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Dad went to answer it and I quickly got dressed, putting on a turquoise shirt and purple pants. I could hear Dad and Aunt Alexandra talking, and Aunt Alexandra sounded as if she was in a bad mood. Picking up Ossie, I tiptoed down the stairs.
Dad and Aunt Alexandra were standing in the doorway, with Alex right next to them, a pained look on her face. She had her bow and arrows slung over her shoulders and she was carrying a bulky bag. It must have been the suitcase she packed for her visit.
“I don’t get it,” Aunt Alexandra said. “Alex never caused any problems, then all of a sudden she’s been nothing but a pain in the neck. She won’t listen to me, she goes out at night without asking permission or even telling me where she’s going. I’ve had it up to here with her!”
Alex flushed and looked down. I was pretty shocked myself. Aunt Alexandra was a no-nonsense
I felt Ossie stiffen in my arms as though something had upset her. “What is it?” I asked the cat. Ossie’s ears had gone back and she was starting to growl toward Aunt Alexandra.
“Ossie, no!” I said. She’d never growled at family before. Embarrassed, I put the cat down and shooed her out of the room.
“There you are, Stevie.” Aunt Alexandra was just now noticing me. “I’m hoping you can set Alex straight. Why don’t you remind Alex of what you did recently?”
I looked at Dad, uncomfortable. He nodded. It didn’t look like Alex needed to hear what I’d done, but Aunt Alexandra was staring at me with cold, Do-As-I-Say eyes. So I said, “My friend Maison is from another world and I found a portal to it. She and I were going back and forth between the portals, and something in her world called a computer works as her portal. Two cyberbullies named TheVampireDragon555 and DestinyIsChoice123 hacked … um, broke into … Maison’s computer and made their own portal.”
It was hard to imagine this had happened the other week, because it still felt so fresh. “TheVampireDragon555 used codes to make it night and unleashed zombies. I guess you could think of codes as computer magic. The village by us was turned completely into zombies. But then DestinyIsChoice123 thought it had gone too far and joined up with Maison and me to stop TheVampireDragon555. We were able to turn all the villagers back into humans and DestinyIsChoice123 and TheVampireDragon555 returned to their world.”
Aunt Alexandra nodded. “You see, Alex?” she said. “Your cousin Stevie saved the Overworld, but you’ve just been misbehaving.”
“Mom!” Alex said. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you! If we don’t do something, the Overworld is doomed!”
CHAPTER 3
MY MOUTH WENT REALLY DRY. “WHAT DID you say?” I asked.
“Not this again,” Aunt Alexandra said, rolling her eyes. “She’s been going on and on about dreams of the Overworld being destroyed …”
“It’s true!” Alex cried.
“I don’t want to hear another word,” Aunt Alexandra said. “I have a village to run. You’re going to stay here with Uncle Steve and Stevie until you learn the importance of being honest.”
“I am being honest!” Alex said.
Watching this, I kept thinking back to me trying to tell Dad how scary the dream was and how he wasn’t listening. Whatever Alex was trying to say, she was so earnest. I believed her.
Dad cleared his throat. “Stevie,” he said. “Why don’t you take Alex to the spare bedroom and get her settled? I’m going to talk with Alexandra alone for a bit.”
There was never any point trying to argue with Dad. I nodded and gestured for Alex to follow me. When we stepped into the bedroom, I saw that Ossie was lying on the bed and looking content. Before Dad had tamed her, Ossie had been a wild ocelot, though these days, she was just a sweet house cat. Now Ossie got up and rubbed against Alex, purring.
“It’s really weird that Ossie was growling at your mom,” I said, watching Ossie’s purr-fest. “My dad says that Ossie is an excellent judge of character.”
“No, it makes perfect sense,” Alex said bitterly. “You know how my mom said I’ve changed lately? That’s not true. She has. Ever since I went exploring and discovered a music disc, she’s been angry and mean. The other people in my village have been acting meaner, too.”
“Wait,” I said, something clicking in my head. “Music disc?”
“Here.” Alex set her bag down on the bed and reached inside. She pulled out a music disc, explaining, “I went exploring in some old ruins by my village. I’d never gone there before because Mom said it was too dangerous, but she said I was old enough now. And ever since I found this music disc, my life has been nothing but trouble.”
Then I realized the disc was spinning and starting to play in her hand, even though she didn’t have a jukebox!
First there were some strains of eerie music. My whole body tensed. It was the music from my dream! There was heavy breathing. Gasping. Running footsteps. A voice cried out for help. No, this music disc was a little different from the one in my dream. What was going on?
A harsh, deep voice began to speak. The words didn’t rhyme, but the voice made it almost sound like a poem, in some mystical, otherworldly way.
“The doom of the Overworld is upon us.
The great ghost-monster awakens.
You know his name and fear it.
He darts out of your nightmares
and leaves signs before you in daylight,
yet he remains out of reach.
Only five can stand against him.
A builder, a dragon, one finding her destiny.
The daughter of politics
and the son of the diamond sword wielder.
Without them together, all is lost.”
The music disc stopped playing.
“It’s a prophecy,” Alex said softly. “That’s all I can figure. Unless something is done, the Overworld will soon be gone.”
CHAPTER 4
I HAD CHILLS GOING ALL UP AND DOWN MY BODY. “WE have to tell my dad and Aunt Alexandra!” I exclaimed. As soon as they heard this, they’d realize that Alex wasn’t being difficult and that we needed to save the Overworld.
“You mean you can hear it?” Alex said, sounding shocked.
I was so worked up that I grabbed the music disc right out of her hands and went bolting down the stairs. Dad and Aunt Alexandra were sitting together in the den, their voices low and serious. They both turned when they heard me come in.
“Listen to this!” I said, but the disc had already begun to play. The eerie music filled the room, yet Dad and Aunt Alexandra kept looking at me as if I was interrupting them and they were annoyed. They didn’t even blink at the heavy breathing or cry for help. And when the harsh-voiced prophecy started, Dad said, “Really, Stevie, we’re talking here.”
“But it’s about the destruction of the Overworld!” I said.
“What are you talking about?” Dad said. “It’s an old, broken music disc.”
I was confused. “What do you mean, it’s broken?”
“It doesn’t play,” Aunt Alexandra said. “Alex keeps bringing it to me saying it has some prophecy on it.”
“It’s playing right now.” I had to raise my voice over the disc, though Dad and Aunt Alexandra were talking normally.
Alex had come slowly down the stairs and was watching the situation with a resigned look on her face.
“Alex, you’re not messing with Stevie’s head now, are you?” Aunt Alexandra said. “I can’t believe you brought that music disc all the way here with you. What’s worse is that you’ve pulled Stevie into your little game.”
Alex grabbed me by the arm and hauled me back up to the guest room and shut the door. She looked at me hard, searching my face.
“So you can really hear it?” she asked.
“Yes!” I said.
Alex exhaled loudly. “Then I’m not crazy! I played it for my mom, for her political cabinet, for everyone I could find in the village who would listen. They only hear silence!”
“Huh? Silence?” I said. The music and noises had been loud and clear as day to me.
She gripped my shoulders. “Don’t you get it, Stevie?” she said. “The music disc is a prophecy about the Overworld being destroyed, and it only wants certain people to be able to hear it. That must mean we’re part of the prophecy. Think about the wording it used!”
“You think you’re the daughter of politics because your mom’s the mayor, and I’m the son of the diamond sword wielder?” I asked. I thought of Dad’s diamond sword, sitting on the wall. I got another chill.
I looked down at the music disc in my hands. It had gone totally silent. “But … but what are we supposed to do with this?” I asked. “It doesn’t give us any clues!”
“That’s where I’m at a loss, too,” Alex admitted. “I kept trying to go back to the ruins to see if I’d find another music disc, but Mom forbade me from going anywhere. When she caught me sneaking out, she blew her top off and said she couldn’t deal with me anymore and I was coming to stay with you.”
That had to have been hard. I thought back on when Dad had been turned into a zombie. Aunt Alexandra was no zombie, though something was definitely off about her today.
