Survival in a Strange World

Chapter 8: On the Road to War

His golden armour wasn't too heavy, but he was still unadjusted to moving with it on. He wasn't quite as dexterous as he preferred but it was better than getting impaled with a sword, axe or arrow. Shimmering golden sword and iron pickaxe bound at his side, rations packed into his pockets and the golden clock on the wall showed midnight. The mission began now!

Reaching up and gripping the ladder Stephen ascended, one rung, then another, reaching up to the trapdoor. He pushed it open and climbed out of the den, crawling out from under the wooden stairs. Part of him felt bad for making his base here. The once proud house, like the rest of the village Winchester, was in a depressing state of disrepair.

Once upon a time, this place had been a thriving market town. Its farming stands had been its most famous feature. Trading everything from carrots and potatoes to mushroom and rabbit stew. That was before the Illagers came, sweeping across the land like a flood of destruction. They had slain everyone they had seen, stolen everything they could carry and disappeared into the horizon, leaving pain and misery in their wake. The few survivors had had no chance to reclaim the peaceful lives they had once lived. And so had fled, seeking salvation in the southeast.

Not wanting to rely on the moonlight to see, he took a small bottle from his pocket, popped the cork and knocked back the dark blue liquid, consuming the whole thing in a single gulp, then pocketed the empty bottle. His eyes instantly attuned to the darkness, able to pick out even the smallest details at a distance as if it were the middle of the day. Exactly what he needed in the middle of the night.

He proceeded cautiously through the abandoned village, keeping low and alert in case of any lurking enemies. Just because he could see in the dark for now, didn't mean that monsters wouldn't try to attack him. He just hoped he got lucky tonight. After dodging around monsters and sneaking through the village, he eventually reached the north-eastern corner of the village and couldn't stop his gaze following the mass of stone before him up and up until it came to a point and pierced the sky high above. A great forest of titanic trees flooded the land beyond the peak and at its edge stood his target. A large wooden tower the Illagers used as a scouting base and storehouse. He was one hundred percent confident in his information. He had a very reliable source after all.

Continuing to the base of the mountain, a flat stone wall greeted him, and he paced alongside it, examining closely. There was a very particular spot he was looking for... somewhere around, there! A small indent in the rock wall. He knelt in front of it, then reached in and pulled. The block of grey wool popped out, triggering the hidden mechanism. To his right a section of stone retreated into the wall with a clunk, then was sucked out of view revealing the entrance to a secret tunnel through the mountain. He scuttled inside and turned to his left, following the line of glowing red dust that disappeared into the stone, found the return slot for the wool block and dropped it in. Once returned, the glow of the red dust extinguished, and a quick symphony of pistons clunked the stone blocks back into place concealing the tunnel entrance.

The interior of the tunnel was nothing special. A tiny grey shaft that normally was barely illuminated by red torches and seemed to stretch on forever; but with his night vision he could see the almost never-ending tunnel in its entirety. Sighing, he put one foot in front of the other, letting his mind go blank as he walked, accompanied only by the clinking of his armour and echo of his footsteps. He would have preferred a minecart track to ride in but the Mechanic obviously wasn't that considerate.

A while later he reached the opposite end where he found a copy of the door mechanism. Beyond this door, however, was the Illager's tower. His promise, his mission, it all came down to this. At first, he would have some cover from the large trees that surrounded the mountain's base, but after that he would be exposed in the open prairie. Removing the wool block for this door, the red dust illuminated followed by the rhythmic clunking of pistons pushing stone. He turned towards the opening, but a sudden explosion of light caught him off guard. Stephen instinctively covered his face with one hand, but it attacked his eyes, forcing his eyelids to droop and letting darkness consume his sight and mind.