The Accidental Minecraft Family: Book 14 Read online

  The Accidental Minecraft Family

  Book 14

  By: Pixel Ate

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the author.

  Copywrite © 2020 Pixel Ate. All rights reserved.

  Follow us at www.AccidentalMinecraftFamily.com

  Or our Facebook group- Pixel Ate Books.

  Disclaimer: This book is a work of fanfiction; it is not an official Minecraft book. It is not endorsed, authorized, licensed, sponsored, or supported by Mojang AB, Microsoft Corp. or any other entity owning or controlling rights to the Minecraft name, trademarks or copyrights.

  Minecraft ®/TM & © 2009-2020 Mojang / Microsoft

  Chapter 1

  The army of pillagers was a long way off from the village, but they were advancing. There were so many of them they filled the horizon, from one end to the other, as far as the eye could see.

  “Well that just seems like overkill,” Dad said, shaking his head.

  “I didn’t know there were so many pillagers in all of Minecraft!” Jack said, perhaps a little too excitedly.

  Mom’s eyes were huge. “We need to get to the village. Quickly!” She nudged Sweetie into a full run, kicking up dust behind them. Dad nodded to the kids and they followed, riding as fast as their horses- and donkey- could go. Within minutes, they came to a stop outside the little village.

  But the little village looked more like a little fortress. The walls around it were twice as big and strong as they had been when they left. It almost didn’t look like the same place.

  Three villagers they didn’t recognize walked along the top of the walls, watching the family approach.

  “Hello villagers!” Dad called out, looking up, waiving an arm.

  “Who goes there?” one villager yelled out. He put his hand above his eyes as if it would give him a clearer view.

  “You need to let us in!” Kate yelled. “Quickly!”

  “Please!” Mom added for her.

  “We don’t even know who you are!” the guarding villager shouted back. “Why would we let you in? Besides, you’re all very... strange looking.”

  “Excuse me?!” Mom shouted, anger tinted her voice. “My family is BEAUTIFUL.”

  Dad put his hand over Mom’s. “He just means different, dear,” he whispered.

  “Oh, right.”

  Dad pointed behind the village, even though the towering walls blocked their view. “Have you seen what’s coming? Behind you?”

  The villager eyed Dad as if he were trying to trick him. One of the other villagers turned to look, gasped out loud and pointed in shock, unable to say anything. The two others turned around then and panicked when they saw the oncoming horde of pillagers. They began shouting and running and flapping their arms all around, nearly knocking each other off the top of the wall.

  “Who are they?” Jack said, tilting his head and squinting up at the poor terrified villagers. “Do you think we’re even at the right place? I mean, these are some pretty impressive walls, and they definitely aren’t the villagers we-”

  A voice carried through the wall, cutting him off. “AAAAAAHHHHH WE’RE ALL GONNA DIEEE!!!”

  Jack laughed. “Okay, this is the right place. I would recognize Elijah's screams anywhere.”

  “Elijah! Double-E’s! It’s us, the Smith family!” Dad shouted with his hands cupped around his mouth to amplify his voice over the barrier.

  A few seconds passed while Mom and Dad shrugged at each other before the co-mayor’s head popped up over the wall. “Smiths?” Elijah said, looking down at the family. A huge smile spread across his face when he saw what he was looking for. “OOOOH!! Bruce!!! And his family!”

  “Meow,” Bruce said sadly. He was not a fan of being chased around by weird villagers who wanted to smother him in pets and snuggles.

  Chapter 2

  The gate opened with a creak and the Smith’s led their caravan through, all riding their mounts. Well, tried to ride their mounts through. The horses didn’t fit through the single gate. Waiting on the other side was Elijah, bouncing up and down as if he were on a slimepoline. “You came back! You came back!” When he noticed they couldn’t fit, he ran over. “Oh! Hang on!”

  He ran to the family and immediately punched the blocks around the gate out.

  Dad shook his head. “That’s one way to do it.” The family filed into the village and Dad quickly replaced the blocks so the wall was whole again.

  Elijah shouted as he bounced and ran around them in a circle. The family dismounted and he greeted them each with a big hug. Mom held onto his hug a beat longer than the rest, kissing the top of his head. She’d missed him and didn’t think they’d ever see them again.

  His eyes lit up and he smiled. “Bruce!” Bruce had not dismounted and stared at Elijah from his post high up on Dad’s horse.

  “Here cat cat cat!” Elijah squealed, reaching his arms toward Bruce. “Come here! I missed you!”

  Bruce did not miss Elijah. As his hands got too close for comfort, Bruce jumped onto the horse’s head, who whinnied in surprise. He shook his big, muscular neck, his mane flowing, and Bruce went flying. He tried to dig his claws in to keep his balance, but that only made the big horse shake harder. Bruce landed on the ground hard- on all four feet, of course- right next to Elijah. He didn’t lose any hearts, but his pride was bruised, and he didn’t even try to run when Elijah scooped him up and smooshed his face into the cat’s fur.

  “Oh you silly cat,” Elijah said, petting Bruce all over.

  “Elijah,” Mom said, interrupting him from attacking Bruce with love.

  “Huh? Yeah?” Elijah asked.

  “Where’s Ethan? And the rest of the village? Who are these new people?”

  “Oh! Sorry. You know how I get around cats.” He set Bruce down but wiggled his fingers at him like he wanted to pet him more.

  “Meow,” Bruce said. “Grrr, hiss, meow.” He flexed his claws in and out and Elijah remembered how sharp the cat was and took a step back.

  “Anyway,” Elijah said, “Ethan is in the mine. He loves working down there. I think it’s gross and dirty because, well, because of all the dirt.”

  Mom pointed to the three villagers standing next to them. “And these are...?”

  “Oh! These are our new villagers!” Elijah said with a grin and a bounce.

  Kate’s face lit up. “New villagers?” She remembered how much they wished for more villagers to fill up their homes again.

  Elijah stood a little taller and smiled. “Yeah! Once you saved us from the pillag-” He stopped, the proud smile melting from his face as he turned, looking at the opposite end of town. “I FORGOT! More pillagers are coming! WE’RE ALL GONNA D-”

  “Elijah!” Dad shouted, cutting the co-mayor off and putting a hand on his shoulder. “Nobody is going to die. Not on our watch.”

  Elijah looked at Dad and nodded. “Sorry, it’s just... that’s a pretty big army out there.”

  “Please introduce us to your new villagers, Elijah,” Mom said gently.

  Elijah nodded, pointing to each of the villagers. “This is Fred, he’s a weaponsmith.” The villager with an eyepatch waved. “That’s Flynn, he’s a fletcher. He makes arrows! We’ve all gotten really good at shooting; we’ve been practicing a ton. I even hit a pumpkin I was aiming for once! Then this one time-”

  “Elijah,” Mom said.

  Elijah facepalmed. “Sorry! I’m nervous about our impending doom.” He pointed at the last villager. “That’s Layla. She’s a... uh... Layla, what do you do?”

  Layla waved at the family. She looked like a typical villager except she had
a headband on that looked like it gave her round, fuzzy, yellow ears with black spots, like a cheetah. “I’m a shepherd. I love animals. Those are some beautiful horses you have... may I pet them?”

  Kate smiled and grabbed Layla’s hand. “Yes! Come meet Lady Starbeam the Magnificent. She’s the best horse there ever was. She’s super smart and kind, and easy to ride.”

  “Hey!” Jack shouted, “Lady is cool, but she can’t fight like Midnight Sword.” He chopped at the air. “Hiyah! Hoowah! Heeyoh!”

  “Midnight Sword?” Mom asked, her eyebrows raised.

  Jack turned red.

  Chapter 3

  “Where did you get that cool headband, Layla?” Kate asked as they were petting Lady. Lady, unlike Bruce, loved the affection, and nudged them back with her long nose.

  Layla shrugged. “I just spawned this way I guess.”

  “Elijah,” Dad said, his tone serious. “Round everyone up, and we’ll meet at the village center. We need to have a meeting.”

  “So we don’t die?” Elijah asked. “Because of the enormous unstoppable army of pillagers?”

  Dad rolled his eyes. “Right.”

  “Okay!” Elijah sped off to the center of town.

  “Don’t mind him,” Flynn said, “he's a little excitable.”

  “Oh, we know,” Dad said, shaking his head but smiling. “Nice to meet you, Flynn.” He held his hand out to shake.

  Flynn looked at the hand, then back to Dad. “Is something wrong with your hand?”

  Dad chuckled, forgetting Minecraft people didn’t know about shaking hands. “No, it’s just a greeting. How long have you been here?”

  “Dear,” Mom cut in, “we should probably hurry and figure out what we are doing about the army on its way here.”

  Dad cleared his throat. “Right, right.” He nodded curtly at Flynn. “Let’s go. We’ll talk to everyone at once.”

  They walked to the center of town, where the family had made a gathering area with the garden and barbecue and plenty of benches before they left.

  “YAY!” Marigold and Charlotte screamed as soon as they saw the family coming in. They dashed over to hug Mom. Mom’s face lit up with joy.

  “Marigold! Charlotte!” She hugged them back fiercely. “Oh, I missed you girls! Have you been okay?”

  “We’ve been wonderful, Mrs. Smith!” Charlotte beamed. “Look at how good our garden has turned out!” She waved her hands in a circle. The garden that Mom and the girls had worked so hard on long ago was even better. It had clearly been well tended to, and now was bursting with food of all kinds and much bigger. They had even built multiple layers to the garden beds.

  “This is so impressive!” Mom took it all in with wide-eyes and a wide-smile. She’d never trade her kids in for anyone else, but neither of them had shown interest in her favorite hobby of gardening. So she felt extra happy and proud that these girls had learned from her and shared her enthusiasm and talent.

  Charlotte grinned. “Thank you! We love it, too. The double-E’s built the layered garden beds, and Marigold and I planted all the food. We check it every morning and night, just like you taught us.”

  Mom beamed with pride.

  “Come see!” Marigold said, taking Kate's hand. She pulled Kate in another direction, and beyond the garden were several animal pens filled with happy looking chickens, another filled with sheep, and even one with wolves. “See?” Marigold said proudly.

  “Oh, good job Mare Mare!” Kate said, clapping. “You were able to breed wolves?” Marigold nodded, still shy and quiet.

  “She’s the best!” Layla said. “We get to work together every day. She likes animals almost as much as me!”

  “What’s going on out here?” someone shouted from the village center. Ethan walked out, dirty and covered in soot from working in the mine. Alex the illager was with him, just as dirty. “YAY! You came back!” Ethan shouted again as he realized who was there. He ran over and high-fived Jack.

  “Ethan!” Jack shouted. “Alex! We missed you guys!”

  “Where’s Birgitta?” Mom asked.

  “She’s probably got her music on so loud she can’t hear all the commotion. I’ll go get her,” Charlotte said, and ran off to one of the houses.

  “Double-Es!” Jack said. “I have so much to tell you! We’ve fought mutants, and seen witches, and made friends with more illagers, and saw a weird pumpkin guy, and made a slimepoline obstacle course and...” Jack went on breathlessly, with the double-E’s looking more excited with every word.

  Dad strode up to Alex, the illager. “Alex, my man! How have you been?”

  Alex nodded at Dad. “I’ve been good. This village has really become home for me. I’ve finally been able to do things that make me feel fulfilled.”

  “EEEEEEEEE!” Birgitta and Charlotte came charging back. “KATE! Mrs. Smith!” They wrapped their arms around each other in a group hug and spoke so loudly Dad wondered if anyone could even understand what was happening. The girls were telling Mom and Kate about all the things they’ve done around the village, and Jack was telling Alex and the double-E’s every detail about their adventures.

  Dad cleared his throat, but everyone was so loud nobody heard him. He was happy they got to reconnect and glad they got along so well. But they didn’t have time right now. He sighed, shaking his head, and fished out a firework rocket Kate had given him, and lit it. It launched into the air and exploded in a shower of red lights. Everybody stopped talking to look at Dad.

  Dad cleared his throat again. “Guys, we have a big problem.”

  Chapter 4

  “WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!” Ethan shouted when he saw the incoming army from on top of the wall where they stood.

  “Stop that!” Dad shouted, then sighed heavily. “Nobody is going to die.”

  “What are we going to do then?” Ethan asked. “Do you have a plan? I remember how hard it was to fight off the raid last time, and there are WAY more of them now.”

  “Yeah,” Elijah agreed. “Way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way-”

  The family and villagers just stood there watching him.

  “-way, way, way, way, way, way-”

  Was he ever going to stop?

  “-way, way, way, way, way-”

  “Elijah!” Mom threw her hands in the air.

  “... way more,” Elijah finished.

  They stood on the wall, watching as the army approached. They were getting close enough to hear the marching of all the feet. Thud, thud, thud.

  “Well, the walls should hold them off, at least for awhile,” Dad said, “then we can figure something out. In the meantime, tell me more about what you guys have done here. Maybe there’s something we can use to help.”

  Ethan nodded. “Most of the improvements we made were ideas from Alex and Elijah- the bigger walls and layered gardens. I’ve been working hard in the mines, to get as much stone as we need and anything else I can find.”

  “Have you found anything cool?” Jack asked.

  “Oh, I don’t know, does an AMETHYST GEODE count!?” Ethan shouted while jumping in the air.

  “Whaaaat?!” Jack shouted back, high-fiving his friend.

  Alex nodded vigorously. “We also found some copper, and I made one of THESE!” He pulled out a spyglass, showing it off.

  “Oh goodness!” Mom said, “I wanted to see what those looked like. May I try it?”

  “Sure.” Alex handed her the tool. “I have tons of leftover copper. I could help you make one.”

  “That’s so kind of you, Alex,” Mom said, taking the spyglass and putting it up to her eye. “This sure is nifty!”

  “Can I try it?” Dad asked.

  “Go ahead.”

  Dad took it from Mom and walked to the wall facing the oncoming army without saying a word. He held the spyglass up to his face, the gold and brown tool almost gleaming in the sunlight. Dad kept looking through it, not smiling, not talking. He stood still and silent. Mom had a worried look on her face. “Are you alrig
ht, dear?”

  Dad didn’t say anything, just frowned. He slowly moved the spyglass back and forth across the land. “There’s so many of them,” he whispered to himself. He scanned the enemy lines to get a good idea of what kind of danger they were in. His frown continued to deepen with every pass.

  The spyglass magnified the scene through a smaller, square viewpoint. There were hundreds of regular pillagers. Dozens of vindicators and ravagers. Groups of ravagers with riders on their backs. There were black-robed evokers with flying vexes surrounding them, and in the very front, riding a ravager twice the size of any others, was a raid captain, his banner flying behind him. The face on the banner had red eyes, the same red as those of the captain and his mount.

  “Oh boy.” Dad sighed. “This might be bad.”

  Chapter 5

  “What is it?” Ethan asked after Dad finally lowered the spyglass and moved back to the group. “You don’t look very happy. Are we all gonna die?”

  “What is it with you two? There will not be any dying.” Mom shoved out a sigh. She had forgotten how exasperating the double-E’s could be, no matter how much she liked them.

  Dad blew out a breath. “I’m not going to sugar coat it; it’s terrible out there. There're hundreds of pillagers.”

  Jack whistled. “I didn’t even know that many illagers could be in the same spot at the same time.”

  Dad shrugged. “There seem to be a lot of differences between what you knew about the game Minecraft, and this Minecraft world we are in.”

  Jack nodded. “I’ll say.”

  “What are we going to do?” Mom asked, the wrinkles on her forehead showing her worry. “We can't fight them all and win, can we?”

  Dad shook his head. “I know we have some awesome powers now, but-”

  “Wait, what?” Elijah asked. “You have POWERS? That’s so cool! Like what!? Tell me! Tell me! I gotta know!”