A Fault in the Code

Chapter 12

I hear horrific sounds before I can even see where I am.

In the portal, everything looks warped, twisted and turned. Purple flooded my vision, different shades floating around me and spinning, making me dizzy. My arms feel stretched, my legs feel squished. Everything about me feels disproportionate to how it's supposed to be.

And the sounds. Oh, the sounds. If you can imagine a dying child being crushed under a boulder and being strangled at the same time and crying for help, that's what it would sound like. It's hard to imagine, yes, but it's hard to imagine these sounds without actually knowing what they sound like. They're unlike anything I've ever heard.

And finally, the purple starts to turn to a dark red, and then I can start to see my new surroundings.

The main block that makes up the environment is a multiple shades of red block, and when I step on it, it feels like packed gravel, or something like that. There is a red fog that lingers in the air. I look up to try and see the sky through the fog, but there is no sky. Only the red block. Jeff appears at my side. We stand for a while as I search my brain for more directions.

What I find are words that seem to rhyme, and I'm thinking it's maybe a riddle. I read the words, thinking as hard as I can.

Dangling legs, face pale,
Almost as big as a whale.
White tears down its face,
Crying but always wanting a chase.
Out its mouth come fireballs,
Make sure to get behind a wall.
As soon as this creature is slayed,
Collecting its tear is the only way.

And then the words vanish from my brain, and I start to panic and try remember the riddle that I saw.

Dangling legs, face pale, almost as big as a whale.

I look around but see none of these big, white things. The only cretures I see are things that look a little like zombies but with some pig in them. They're in groups all around me, and they each hold a yellow sword, which I can guess is made of gold.

Jeff and I start to walk, and I realize just how hot it is. Hotter than anything I've ever felt in a Texas summer. And that's hot.

I start to sweat, and as the surrounding details come into focus better, I see what is making everything so hot.

There are giant lakes of lava with lava falls coming from the ceiling and flowing straight into the lakes. There is no sky to let the heat escape from; only an uneven ceiling of the red rock. There are also big chunks of glowing stones hanging from the ceiling. I figure that these and the lava are the only light sources here since there is obviously no sun.

And then I hear the awful sound again. The sound of what I don't even want to mention because it's so terrifying. Except it's louder this time. And it's coming from behind me. And suddenly I hear a shriek that could tear my eardrums straight out of my head.

I turn around fast enough to see a giant ball of fire headed in my direction, and I leap out of the way just in time as it smashes to the ground and creates flames sticking to about a six-block diameter of red. Jeff quickly hands me a stone sword, though I don't know where he got it, and I hold it out in front of me, waiting for the next attack.

Another fire ball swooshes toward me, and I hit it like a baseball. I don't know where I got that idea from. It seems like a bad one to me, but my gut urges me to do it anyway. The fire ball immediately bounces off the sword and heads off to a distant wall many, many blocks away, then explodes into fire as the previous did.

I then see the source of the fire balls. It is the same ghastly creature that the riddle described, with the dangling legs and pale face, its large body structure flying through the air. But it has opened its eyes and mouth, and the color is a firey red with an orange rim. The fire balls escape from its mouth, somehow with terrific aim.

I dodge and deflect fire balls as I think of a way to kill the thing. Jeff is standing, watching the whole thing. I guess mobs made a pact where they don't attack each other. But Jeff and I are friends.

"Jeff! Get over here and help me!"

He just shrugs.

I sigh of frustration and continue to search my mind for more directions, but none come. The thought where I hit it back is helpful, but this thing doesn't seem like it's vulnerable to its own weapon.

Or is it?

It can't hurt to try, I mean the worst it'll do is not kill the creature. Or make it angrier, that's another option that seems ominous. But I hold my sword out, ready for any of the consequences I may get from doing this.

The fire ball makes its way to me, and I deflect it in the direction of the creature, but miss. I do it again and again, but keep missing.

I am breathing heavily but do not stop. I keep doing it until finally, I deflect it right toward the creature, and as soon as it hits the creature, the thing let's out an even more terrifying scream and falls to the ground. Is it dead?

I walk over to the figure and kneel down next to it. There are white tears coming from its eyes. I look through my backpack to see if I have anything that can hold the tear. I don't find anything, so I let the tear drop into my hand. It is icy cold and solid, as if it's frozen. How could something so cold be in an environment so hot? But I put it in my backpack.

"Jeff," I holler, "I got what we need. Let's go look for the next thing."

And I get another riddle, the words floating in my head. Too many things have been floating in my head today, but I concentrate as hard as I can.

In a castle, big and brown
A creature will be walking around.
Its body black, it's sword stone,
Made of many, many bones.
The sword will kill you in one hit,
So before it hits you, you kill it.
When the creature is finally dead
Do this to three and collect their heads.

As the words dissolve from my brain, I sigh deeply, then with Jeff following me, I start to look for the big, brown castle.

I notice out of the corner of my eye, the letter K.