Hero's Bane

Chapter 51: For Trust

Everywhere Steve looked he saw contorted faces of sorrow and pain slowly moving about with loud sobs and shrill wails, every face he could see was distinctly different from the other though almost all of the shapes closely resembled each other. Their cries of anguish continuously flooded his ears, many voices at once; so many that they all seemed to meld into something inhuman just continued to sound in the room to the miner's growing despair. Now that his eyes had mostly adjusted to the dark he could see more than he wanted and the portal's glow just highlighted some of those whirling faces of torment.

Steve brought one hand up to his chest and clutched the fabric over his heart tightly, he didn't know why those souls made his chest hurt but they did. Every last groan and cry made him feel weak inside, he couldn't help them no matter how much he wanted to. These were people like him once, people with their own lives, families, jobs, hobbies, goals, and dreams. Young or old, man woman and child. Innocent people who once smiled, cried, laughed. This was most likely his final destination, a tormented world of grief. The miner squeezed his eyes shut for a brief moment and grimaced.

He had a nightmare of being in that sand but it was probably far worse to be in there in reality, Herobrine's presence already made the dreams life-like but it would be just agonizing to experience being in that murky stuff in real life itself.

It wasn't long before he found himself getting weaker, the heat was finally catching up to his exhausted body and now his legs were starting to give in. Steve looked down at his feet to see a pretty good spot to rest upon, it wasn't too big but he needed to conserve his energy and relax his aching and burning muscles. He slowly lowered himself down onto the hot Nertherbrick, being extra careful not to accidentally slip and touch the sand only two blocks away. Once he found a decent sitting position he pulled his knees up against him and held them close; using them to relax his heavy head on. Sleep was the first thing to cross his mind in the dark room, but the voices were too loud and too disturbing to ignore. He was too afraid to fall asleep anyway, he could have a similar nightmare of being in that sand and with actually being so close to the stuff already; would only make it feel more realistic and worse then the first.

The miner glued his eyes shut once more as he spotted a pit of the soulsand just a block away, one of the souls had stopped moving and looked directly at him with it's eyeless form; it just floated there in that one spot gazing silently with a deep frown like that of a creeper's. After a few seconds, Steve bravely peeled his eyes back to see the same soul still quietly staring. He immediately wondered if the spirit could see him, in his nightmare he could see from the sand but that was just a dream so there was no telling if those forms could actually see him. But then wouldn't they be after him then? Steve blinked and shook his head, the little soul just stayed there in that spot and as seconds passed it was becoming unnerving.

"Go away." Steve said in a soft manner. "Please leave me alone."

Help... Me...

Steve immediately lifted his head and crawled back a space in a rush. "Wha-" He stared in horror at the soul gazing back at him, he couldn't believe that it spoke to him... HIM! The voice was that of a young girl but it was distorted and sounded injured.

Please... Help me... I beg-

"I can't!" The miner quickly replied and inched back just a little more. "Just leave me alone!"

Am I ... dead...?

Steve's eyes widened. "She doesn't even know that she's dead?" Steve whispered quietly to himself. Knowing that was just depressing. Herobrine must have taken her life when she wasn't aware; like she was killed in her sleep or taken by surprise or something and so now she's a lost soul, probably wondering where she was at. Just thinking about that was just heartrending. She sounded almost like a young teen, maybe one around ten or eleven years old. Steve violently swayed his head back and forth, it was painful to know that Herobrine was also taking souls of the innocent young ones. It was revolting. Knowing this kind of revelation did not do anything but shoot down his confidence in becoming friends with the powerful man, If Herobrine was cold enough to take the lives and souls of children then he was probably cold enough to take the life and soul of his friends. That thought alone plagued his mind now.