The Accidental Minecraft Family: Book 14 Page 2

  Jack opened his mouth to talk, an excited look on his face, but Dad raised his hand in front of Jack’s face to cut him off before he got out one sound. “We can talk about that later. Right now, we need to figure out how we’re going to get out of this mess.” Dad got down from the wall and everyone followed him to the ground.

  “We could send everyone into the mine?” Ethan said.

  Dad shook his head. “No, that makes me too nervous. If they found us, we’d be trapped.”

  “IF they can get through the walls,” Elijah said.

  Dad frowned. “Somehow, I don’t think the walls are going to stop them. The raid captain has red eyes and so does his ravager, and it's MASSIVE.”

  Birgitta’s normal-colored eyes went wide. “You mean to tell me that some of those pillagers have glowing red eyes?”

  Everyone in the family stared at her. “Yes...” Dad said, furrowing his brow. “Do you know something about that?” He squinted at the girl.

  Birgitta nodded. “I do. And... you said you have powers? What kind?”

  Mom cocked her head to the side. “Is this important? So important we have to talk about it right now?”

  Birgitta shrugged. “Maybe. Can you just tell me one of them?”

  “Sure,” Kate said, “I can tame any kind of animal really easily. I can kind of talk to them, and they understand me.”

  Birgitta’s eyes got even wider. “Can one of you make potions? A never-ending supply of potions, or food?”

  Mom gasped. “How did you know that?” she whispered.

  Birgitta nodded. “And one of you can taunt enemies, so they focus on you alone so you can defend just about any attack. And one of you can... bend the laws of luck?”

  By now Mom, Dad, Jack and Kate were all staring at Birgitta, their jaws hanging open. Fear and wonder in their eyes.

  “Just what is going on here?” Dad asked.

  Chapter 6

  Birgitta looked like she was going to answer, but a large BOOM sounded from behind them and the whole wall shook. Everyone jumped.

  “Little VILLAGERS! Let me in!” A booming voice sounded from behind the wall.

  Dad gasped. “How did they get here so fast? They were far away just moments ago!” he whispered.

  Everyone was quiet, looking at the wall, hoping the voice would just go away.

  BOOM! Something crashed into the wall again, and again the voice shouted. “Come out and PLAY, little villagers! My ravager is hungry!”

  “That’s not good,” Elijah whispered, shaking in fear. “That’s not good at all. I imagine a ravager could eat lots of villagers.”

  “I’ll handle this,” Dad said, turning to the wall.

  Mom grabbed his shoulder, face full of worry. “Be careful, honey.”

  Dad nodded, kissed her cheek, and climbed up the wall.

  As he got to the top, he could see what made the BOOM. There, on the other side of the wall, was the huge ravager and the red-eyed raid captain. But only the ravager and raid captain. The rest of the army was still in the distance, closer, but still marching.

  He watched as the ravager slammed into the wall again, and Dad had to crouch to avoid falling off the shaking blocks.

  As the ravager backed away from the wall, the raid captain looked up and noticed Dad. The raid captain squinted, looking closer, then his red eyes went wide and his mouth dropped. He recovered quickly from his shock and threw back his head, laughing. “BWAHAHAHA! Well, isn’t this a treat!? I had heard there were respawners around, and that this village might even know of them. But to have one show up right in front of my eyes? BWAHAHAH!”

  Dad crossed his arms. “What do you want, pillager?” Dad spat out ‘pillager’ like it was a bad word.

  “Pillager?” The red-eyed raid captain said, flinching as if the word physically hurt him. “Oh, ho ho. I am no basic pillager. I am Ortho, KING of the pillagers!” He punched his fist in the air, then lowered his voice slightly. “And you, my little respawner, are going to grant me immortality. Give yourself up to me, and I will leave this village in peace.”

  Dad looked down at Ortho, sizing him up. “Ha! I’ve fought worse things than you. What makes you think you stand a chance? If you know I’m a respawner, you know I am powerful. More powerful than you, I’d bet.”

  “Bwahaha!” Ortho laughed. “You think I am without power, little respawner? My ravager? He is named Ultima, and he is the last thing you will see when he charges you. He can break through walls, charge faster than you can blink, and he will flatten you! Then you will be mine.”

  Dad was nervous but didn’t show it. He fought ravagers before, and they were tough. But letting Ortho know he was nervous would be a bad idea. Instead, he shrugged, pretending he wasn’t concerned at all. “Your overgrown pig isn’t going to know what hit him,” Dad scoffed.

  Ortho laughed again. “Maybe you have, but that’s just my mount's power. If the thing I RIDE is that strong, how strong do you think I am?!”

  Dad made a show of looking Ortho up and down. “You don’t look that strong to me. Kinda wimpy, really.”

  Ortho smirked and pointed a finger at Dad, a line of black smoke shooting out of it. Dad raised his shield, but the smoke wasn’t a damaging attack that could be stopped with a shield. Instead, when the smoke hit Dad, an icon popped into his view of a spinning illager face with red eyes and two axes crossed beneath it. This was different from the last time Dad had gotten a Bad Omen, though. This time, the red-eyed illager face had a crown on it and almost looked like it was laughing.

  Dad stared at the strange icon in his vision and when he focused on it, text appeared.

  Worst Omen: The Pillager King has cursed you! As long as this curse remains your respawn point is at the Pillager King’s banner and the Pillager King will always know where you are.

  Dad gasped while Ortho laughed. He was getting really sick of that laugh. “Now you are scared, aren't you, little respawner? I see the fear in your eyes. Give yourself up or when my army arrives, we will turn this village into nothing more than dust!”

  Chapter 7

  Dad backed away nervously. The heel of his foot slipped off the edge of the wall, and he windmilled his arms to regain balance, but it was too late, and he fell to the ground, his butt cushioning the fall. “Ow,” Dad said, rubbing his butt.

  “Bwahaha!” Ortho laughed from the other side of the wall. “Villagers! Give me the respawner and I’ll let you live! Give him up and you will live in peace for the rest of your days! You have until my army gets here to make your decision.”

  “What happened, Dad!?” Kate ran over to help her dad up.

  “This is bad. This is very, very bad,” Dad said.

  “What? What is it?” Ethan asked.

  “What’s going on?” Elijah asked. “Are we all gonna-”

  “We all have to get out of here.” Dad cut him off. “This pillager, he calls himself Ortho, he says he’s the king of the pillagers.”

  The blood drained from Birgitta’s face. “No, it can’t be. I thought he was long gone.”

  Mom looked at the librarian. “What do you mean? Do you know him?”

  Birgitta nodded. “He’s the one that destroyed my village. He came through with a raid and they destroyed so much. Everything. They kidnapped me for my knowledge. The last I heard he had gone far to the south in search of something. I didn’t think he was ever coming back.”

  “Did he have red eyes when you saw him last?” Dad asked.

  Birgitta shook her head. “No, why? Does he now?”

  “Yeah.” Dad sounded defeated.

  “I hate to say it, Dad,” Jack said, looking sheepish, “and don’t hate me for it. But I heard what he said. Why don’t you just go with him? Then he’d leave the village alone and you could just respawn.”

  Dad smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile at all. It was a super sad smile. “I’d be willing to, son. But-” Dad shoved out a breath. “He cursed me. If I respawn now, I’ll always respawn where his banner is
.”

  “WHAT!?” Mom and Kate and Jack all yelled at the same time.

  Dad nodded. “Yes, and that’s not all.” He hung his head.

  Mom walked to him and gently lifted his chin. “What is it, honey? We will figure this out together. We’re a family.”

  Dad gave her another fake smile and sighed. “As long as I have the curse, he’ll always know where I am.”

  Mom’s eyes nearly bugged out of her square head. “Well, how do we get it off?!”

  Dad shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  Birgitta cleared her throat and their attention snapped toward her. “I think I might know.” She looked a little embarrassed at everyone staring. “I read a book once. Well, I’ve read lots of books, but anyway, this one book, I thought it was just fairy tales. It had all these stories in it about red-eyed monsters and these five legendary heroes.”

  “Five legendary heroes?” Jack said. “That sounds cool!”

  “These heroes traveled across the world fighting the red-eyed monsters in lots of different stories. In one of them, a hero was cursed, and he had to go to the most powerful witch in all the world to have it removed.”

  “Is that how you knew about our powers?” Kate asked.

  Birgitta nodded. “Yes. The legendary heroes were: The Defender, a tough knight who drew the attacks of enemies to herself. The Healer, a man who could make never-ending potions of healing. The Ranger, a lover of animals who was a master of ranged combat. The Ninja, an unparalleled warrior who could plow through enemies like paper, and The Jester, a warrior who made enemies’ arrows miss just by looking at them.

  “Hey!” Jack said, “I’m a ninja, not a jester, whatever that is.”

  “Meow,” Bruce said, somersaulting off the ground and onto Jack’s head, landing perfectly. “Meow, purr.” Jack rolled his eyes.

  “Are you saying we are the legendary warriors?” Mom asked, gesturing toward herself and her husband and kids. “They have the powers with the wrong people, though.”

  “I thought they were just stories,” Birgitta said, “but maybe there's more to them than that. I don’t think it was about you specifically, but obviously it was about people just like you. I wish I knew more, but the last half of the book was ripped out and I never got to know what happened to them.”

  “Did the book tell you anything about how the red-eyed monsters got their powers?” Kate asked.

  Birgitta shrugged. “The heroes were chasing after someone. They were on a quest to stop three powerful siblings who gave the monsters the powers and set them loose.”

  Dad sighed. “But if I want to break this curse, I need to see a witch more powerful than Esmerelda. It looks like we are going to have to find this Baba Yaga sooner rather than later.”

  Chapter 8

  “Well, this is all very interesting,” Mom said, “and I would love to know more, but we should probably do something about THE ARMY THAT IS INVADING!”

  Everyone jumped back as Mom yelled. “Right!” Dad shouted, “we need to figure out what we are going to do.”

  “Well,” Ethan started, “I know one thing for sure. We are not giving you to them! NO HOW!”

  “NO WAY!” Elijah said.

  “Not happening!” the double-E’s said together.

  Dad smiled. “Thanks guys. Your loyalty means a lot to me. If I could just respawn like normal, I would go with him. But he took that away, too.”

  “Can’t we just escape out the back of the town?” Layla asked. “We could probably get pretty far before they realized we were gone.”

  “We could try it,” Dad said, and they all walked quietly to the back of the town. Dad peeked out the gate before opening it fully. Ortho came zipping around the wall on his ravager, Ultima.

  “Oh ho ho! Trying to escape, little respawner? You’ll never outrun Ultima!” Ortho shouted.

  Dad ducked his head back in the gate and slammed it shut. “Nope. Not that way. His mount is too fast.”

  “What are we going to do?” Charlotte asked.

  “I don’t know,” Dad said, “and their army will soon have this whole village surrounded.” He wiped his face with his hand then sighed. “You might have to give me up. If he has me, maybe the rest of you-” He pointed towards the other Smiths- “can dress like villagers and hide.”

  “NO WAY!” Jack and Kate said at the same time.

  Mom put her hands on her hips. “Do you really think that would work? Or that this Ortho person would really let the villagers go? He sounds like the kind of guy who would take you and then still destroy the village just for fun.”

  Dad shook his head. “No, I suppose not. But what else can we do?”

  “Maybe we should just give them of all us respawners?” Kate said. She didn’t look thrilled about the idea. “Maybe if they had all of us, they wouldn’t even think about the villagers. That would buy them time, then we could figure out how to escape later.”

  “That’s very brave of you, sweetheart,” Mom said, rubbing her daughter’s arm. “But that could be too dangerous. Especially since your dad couldn’t respawn away from them.”

  Everyone was quiet, the only sound the distant marching and occasional ramming of the wall.

  “I got it,” Jack said. Everyone looked to him. “We go through the nether.”

  “What?” Mom said. “The nether portal is too far away.”

  Kate pointed at Jack, nodding excitedly. “No Mom, he’s right. We can build a portal here, then go into the nether with everyone. Remember how I said when you move in the nether you move much further in the overworld? That’s what we do!”

  “I still don’t understand the whole overworld and moving further thing...” Mom said, scrunching her face.

  Kate sighed. “You’ll just have to take our word for it and see for yourself how it works.”

  “Didn’t you say that we’d have to mine really deep to get obsidian to make a portal?” Dad asked.

  Jack nodded. “We would, or we could get some if we had lava.”

  Alex looked at Ethan, and Ethan looked at Alex. They both grinned. “We can help with that!”

  Chapter 9

  “We have to hurry!” Mom’s face was a mask of worry. “We’re nearly out of time.”

  “Come with us!” Alex waved everyone to him.

  They went down into the mine, and the same mine that Dad and Jack had been working on before was now a huge underground complex. Smack dab in the middle of it was a good-sized lake of lava.

  “Perfect!” Jack said.

  “What are you going to do with the lava?” Alex asked, curious.

  “We’re going to pour water over it, and it’ll make obsidian!” Kate said, clapping her hands.

  “There's a problem, though,” Mom said, “won’t they just follow us through the portal?”

  Jack smacked his forehead. “I didn’t think about that.”

  “Can we destroy it once we’re inside?” Dad asked. Nobody knew the answer since none of them had been to the nether before. “I guess we’ll just have to see.”

  Jack and Kate ran out and filled buckets with water, then poured water along the edges of the pool of lava. The water rushed over it, and with a loud hiss, every block it touched turned to a black stone. Jack tried to scoop up the water source block with the bucket but kept missing, so in frustration he plopped down a dirt block right inside it, the water draining away. He repeated this at all the water blocks and soon they were left with a large layer of obsidian on the ground.

  Dad pulled out an iron pick and began mining away. Kate held up her hands. “Dad! I think you have to use a diamond pick for that.”

  Dad frowned. “Really?”

  She nodded. “It’ll go faster, too.”

  “Alright then, Jack. I think you're the only one with a diamond pick, right?” He gestured to the obsidian on the ground.

  “Yep!” Jack smiled, feeling a little hopeful, and pulled out a diamond pick. Ethan and Elijah and Alex stared at it in wonder.

&n
bsp; “OOOOOOhhhh,” Ethan said.

  “Shiny!” Elijah said.

  “So powerful!” Alex said.

  Jack took a swing at the obsidian, and in a few chops, it exploded into pieces. He mined up the entire floor, coming away with 38 obsidian blocks. “Nice!” he said, “this should be plenty to make a portal now.” He frowned. “But I have to admit, I’m a little nervous about going into the nether. I heard it's super hot and there are all kinds of weird monsters down there.”

  “Weirder than what we fight all the time here?” Kate asked. “Like a giant machine-gun egg-shooting chicken?”

  “Or a drowned that gets bigger when it eats other drowned?” Dad asked.

  “Or a goat with a head bigger than it's body?” Mom asked.

  Jack held up his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright! Maybe not weirder than what we’ve fought up here.”

  Ethan and Elijah had been staring the whole time, their eyes getting bigger with each monster named. “You’ve actually fought all those things?” Ethan asked.

  “And lots more. The world is getting weird,” Kate said.

  “Alright, let’s get out of this mine and go build a portal,” Dad said. “We’re running out of time.”

  Chapter 10

  “Okay, guys,” Dad said, “we’re going to build a portal into the nether to escape this army.”

  Mom pulled out her shulker box, setting it down. “Go get everything you think is important. I can help you carry it in this box, but we need to evacuate NOW.”

  “What about our animals?” Layla asked, pointing towards the pens. Marigold nodded in agreement, her eyes puffy and red.

  Dad sighed and put his hand on the girl’s shoulder. “I don’t think we can bring them with us. I’m sorry. We don’t know what it’s going to be like once we are in there.”

  “We can’t leave the horses or Dirtymud behind!” Kate yelled. The look she gave her dad would have gotten her in trouble in any other situation.