River and Wood, A Minecraft Tale

Chapter Fifteen, Ancient Voices

The stronghold sent an array of shivers throughout her body. The air grew dense, moist with the scent of what smelled like rotten flesh. Something about it made her heart thump uncontrollably. Picking up the eye of ender from the cracked stone floor, she said, "This has to be it... if Elder Adair was right this was where last of my ancestors hid from the Wither." Saying it felt agonizing. The dark hallway in front of them was daunting enough to scare away the bravest of men. The mossy walls and eerie drips outlined every ounce of abandonment this place held. Wood thought for a moment before grabbing an old, unlit torch. "Do you have flint and steal?" He asked. "Yeah, one second." She replied, pulling it out of her satchel. "It might be hard since it's all wet." River sighed shakily. "We'll manage." Wood answered. River held the torch up while he rubbed the two items together. As quick as he could, he created a spark. It landed on the very edge of the wooden stick, almost lighting up. River took the lead and blew at it lightly with a warm breath. Just like that, the flame grew until it was strong enough to light up their surroundings. Wood smiled, holding the torch ahead of them, "Shall we?" his tone tried to lighten the mood. River nodded.

They began to walk into the darkness. She drew her diamond sword just in case anything were to pop out and surprise them. The farther they walked, the sounds of the Ravine faded into the mist. The sun was likely not far from setting, and both couldn't help but feel like something was about to happen. "Do you think we'll know when we see the portal?" River asked, peering around another empty hallway filled with cobwebs and dust. "I think you'll know... wait, why are some doors open?" Wood wondered, pausing in his tracks. River followed his gaze, tilting her head. To their right, where the firelight shined, were two sets of single doors. One was creaked wide open while the other was halfway closed. "Are we not the only ones here?" Wood asked, chills sent down their spines. River's heart dropped for a moment, but in the end it was her bravery that caused her to inch closer. Her fingers gently touched the rotten wood, tracing along its every crease and crack. It was so old, it collapsed to the floor with a loud thud that echoed throughout the stronghold. "No." She ended up saying. "Whoever was here left a very long time ago." She peered through the doorway, face going white. "And it looks like they were in a hurry." Her words made Wood curious. He approached the doorway as well to see what she meant, only to pause once he saw it. The room in front of them was wider and darker than any hallway they had passed. Inside were cells lined up against each side of the wall that had corroded iron bars and rusty iron doors. Wood stepped in the chamber first, torch lighting up their path. "Unbelievable..." He breathed. "I-Is this where they kept people that got infected by the wither?" River asked, grimacing at the sight before them. Behind the cell doors, a few undead skeletons looked up at them. They didn't have their usual bow and arrow, however. Instead they just... sat there staring as if too tired to move.

River's heart ached as she saw their faded red eyes follow her. Some were laying on the floor, others leaned against the bars with their bones hanging freely on the outside, and some simply leaned against the wall. Their bones were withered and almost black, decaying farther and farther towards death. Whatever these creatures were, they used to be just as alive as River. "You poor things..." She breathed, walking up to one of the cells. Wood protested, "Get back! We don't know if they'll hurt us." He took her hand. River was about to heed his instruction until something unthinkable happened. "Wait! Wood- look!" She pointed at a cell in the far corner of the room. They turned their heads to face one of the skeletons that held onto the bars with both hands. However, this creature was different from the rest, because it moved. That fragile undead being slowly reached outside the bars as far as its grotesque hand could go. River and Wood watched in silence as it pointed a bony finger towards the very end of the hall. "It's trying to tell us something." River said. Wood remained quiet, almost afraid to speak. They had never seen anything like this. No one in Minecraftia had seen anything like it in a million years. "Hello?" River tried speaking to it. It didn't respond. It only kept staring in the direction it was pointing. "Who are you?" She asked. Again, there was no response. They walked closer to it to see what it was pointing at. "It's pointing to a dead end, I don't see anything." Wood said.