Delta 6 (The Pack)

Chapter 31

Warnings: Blood

~Jerome's P.O.V.~

     I belong here, unlike you!

     The words echo tauntingly in my mind, hot tears pooling in my eyes and threatening to spill. Adjusting Betty over my shoulder, I wipe them away. Don't be a crybaby, Jerome. You're literally the strongest being alive. You don't need to cry. I try to convince myself, even as a fresh batch of salty tears spring to my eyes and slowly drip onto my sweat laden fur. He couldn't have meant it. It was just.. an in the moment situation. People love you! Right?

      My thoughts are so preoccupied with the fight between Lachlan and I that I really am not paying attention to my surroundings. Which is a terrible idea, considering the pools of lava and spontaneous cliffs that litter this death hole. Before I know it, my foot is caught in a heap of soft soul sand, and the next moment my face is filled with the ghastly stuff. I growl in frustration, sitting back on my legs and roughly pawing at my face, clearing the dirt away.

       "Stupid ppft soul sand..." I grumble, spitting out clumps of bitterness. "All it does it get in peoples way."

         Already in a foul mood, my temper suddenly flares, and I pitch a fistful of soul sand into a nearby column of glow stone. The glow stone shatters, and a nebula of glitter swirls for a moment in its place, before dispersing on an invisible breeze. Feeling a tad calmer, I stoop down, reaching back to retrieve Betty who slipped of my shoulder when I tripped. My paw is left hovering over the handle however when I notice something... odd about the lump of soul sand I tripped over. I peer closer. What I thought to be an inconveniently placed formation of soul sand is actually... the shrivelled up, scorched, dismembered, and bloody remains of a spider, eyes dull and lifeless. A long deep gash caked with dry blood runs the length of the spiders abdomen, and the edges of the lethal wound are a sickly blackish purple looking colour. Wither poison.

        "What the..."

The thud of approaching footsteps sets off alarm bells in my head and I instinctively dive for cover, scrambling off the bed of soul sand and crouching low behind a mound of netherrack. Breathing as quietly as possible, I clutch Betty tightly, muscles tense as I cautiously peer around the corner. The second I lay eyes on the trio of mobs, my first instinct is to charge and knock their heads off. But the little voice in the back of my head compels me to stay down. I shrink back as they approach, eyes narrowed, observing.

The small party of mobs consists of an enderman, who's dull eyes, burnt and scathed body, and hopeless demeanour show that this poor mob must have recently been through a nasty battle. It is flanked by a red eyed wither skeleton, sword angled to strike the enderman at a moments notice, and a red eyed zombie, currently restraining the endermans arms and practically dragging it along. What business a zombie has doing in the Nether, I have no clue. But the red eyes give them away as minions to Herobrine, which means whatever is going on, it can't be good. The enderman puts up no fight whatsoever, seeming weak and defeated, and struggles as the mobs begin to trek over the soul sand. The zombie growls at the enderman as it slows, knocking it roughly on the back of the head and causing it to stumble forward. A brief flash of rage shines through the endermans eyes, but it quickly vanishes, and the enderman lowers its head, moving on. Realizing that if any one of the mobs was to turn back, it would see me, I retreat back a couple paces, further behind the netherrack... and I step right back onto a shard of glow stone from the cluster I had destroyed earlier.

My stomach drops as it crushes under my foot, the fragile stone creating a very audible sound. I freeze, unsure of what to do, as the mobs suddenly stop dead in their tracks. Acting quickly, I back up just in time as the wither skeleton turns, gleaming red eye sockets narrowing. Heart hammering, I hold my breath as the three mobs slowly begin to circle into view. I'm not afraid of a battle... I could squash them like a bug. What I am afraid of is losing a perfect chance to stalk them, and figure out just what is going on, and why there is an abnormal absence of mobs. And as an added stressor, there's the suspense of hiding in the shadows, not knowing what will happen next. The skeleton draw closer, bones rattling as it holds its sword poised to attack. Suddenly, just as I am about to leap out and destroy the skeleton, the enderman spots me. Our eyes lock for a moment, and I find myself silently pleading for its help. It's dull purple eyes trail down to my hand, where my white gem sits proud. Urgency flashes suddenly in the black mobs eyes, and just as the wither skeleton is about to discover me, it erupts.

Screeching with newfound purpose, jaw unhinged and black jaws gaping, the enderman rears back, eyes flashing as it tears itself away from the zombie. The zombie groans in alarm, stumbling back, and the skeleton whirls around, charging the tall spindly figure. The enderman ducks under a clumsy swing from the zombie, and used what little strength it has to teleport out of the way of the skeletons sword, reappearing in a cloud of purple particles a few blocks away. It bashes it's fist into the side of the zombies head, spending it sprawling in the soul sand, sickly dull blood splattering over its hand. However in its weak state, it is not nimble enough to completely avoid the second assault from the skeleton. It swerves to the side, but the tip of the blade still nicks the endermans bicep, and the enderman immediately shrieks in agony as the wither effect takes hold. As the zombie growls angrily, rising to its feet, and the skeleton advances, the enderman backs away. And a moment later, it's gone.

The skeleton stomps in frustration, flinging it's sword to the ground. Smacking the zombie across the face, red eyes gleaming in rage, it rattles it's bones angrily and stomps off on its original course. The zombie groans, retrieving the skeletons sword, and shambles after it. Once the duo is a fair distance I away... I too, follow. Confident in my stalking and fighting abilities, plus my gift of super strength, I pursue them with determination, certain that even though I know I am following them towards the major fortress of the Nether, I should not be in any serious danger.

If only I knew what awaited me.

~~~
Question of the chapter:

Where do you think the enderman went?

Hint: Chapter 29