The Nether Queen - Herobrine x Reader

Chapter Twenty Three

Speak of the devil, he hears Null's voice echoing down the passage. Emptying the remains of the chest into his inventory, he moves to the doorframe and waits. Null's voice fades, and he hurries out of the room. He shouldn't have much more to search.

Herobrine creeps past a few more groups of mobs before making it to a dead end - a room filled with cages. Most are empty, a few have mob heads or skulls in them. Manfred is nowhere to be found.

Giving up, Herobrine turns around, and an arrow slams into his chest.

"Go on, shoot him." Null encourages as his posse of skeletons attacks, and Herobrine groans, teleporting behind one of the cages. Skeletons can't see through transparent blocks, he's safe behind the iron bars. Fingering the arrow through his heart, he contemplates his best escape route. Null can't teleport, as far as he knows, so he may be able to teleport straight back to Steve's base.

But he may be able to track him somehow, and Steve would never let him hear the end of it if he lead Null back there. He can teleport somewhere else and heal up first. Herobrine glances over his shoulder, then teleports elsewhere in the mountain, back to the caves where he and Notch had tried to defeat Null. Pulling a stack of steak out of his inventory, he eats one, watching as his body begins to mend around the arrow.

And then Null appears, an Enderman at his side.

Herobrine teleports outside, but Null and his escort follow. He can track him, just like the Endermen had before when he had tried to bring Y/N to safety. He has to kill him before Null takes him out. He teleports behind them, replacing the steak in his hand with a sword, but the Enderman teleports before he can run him through and Null parries his attack.

The arrow in his chest is getting in his way, so he teleports a good distance away and snaps it off at the base. Pain shoots through him at the action, but he tosses the shaft aside and readies himself for Null's next attack. His opponent isn't moving, but the Enderman vanishes in a shower of purple sparks and Herobrine throws himself aside just in time to avoid being attacked from behind. Null appears over him, and he rolls to avoid the sword that slams into the ground where he used to be. Teleporting a few feet away, Herobrine snaps,

"?mih rof gnikrow uoy era yhW" The Enderman doesn't answer.

"If you're trying to stall for time, it won't work." Null informs him. "And if you're trying to convert him, that won't work either."

"I don't recall asking you."

"Oh, you're still confident. Lovely." Null hurls a block of TNT at him, and Herobrine teleports out of range of the explosion. The Enderman can teleport as fast as him, if not faster. It will be difficult to sneak up on him.

Jumping through space in a series of short bursts, Herobrine attacks the Enderman, trying to land a hit on him while Null attacks him from behind. Neither of them can land a hit on their opponent, but Herobrine is outnumbered and his energy is draining quickly. If he has to, he can escape to Steve's base, but, as well as never being able to live it down, that would ruin the only shelter they had left. Only to be used as a last result.

Besides, he'd really rather not put Y/N in danger again.

Null appears beside him and swings at his head, but Herobrine ducks beneath the blade and lands a solid blow across his stomach. Null growls and tosses an Ender pearl behind him, appearing 20 feet away.

"Get reinforcements." He orders, and the Enderman vanishes. Herobrine considers trying to teleport back while he's gone, but decides the danger of being tracked is too great and stays put, eating another steak to regain some more of his health. A moment later, another group of Endermen appears, each accompanied by a skeleton. Immediately, Herobrine throws up an obsidian shield as they fire and waits for the sound of the arrows hitting the stone.

It doesn't come.

He waits a tick, then moves from behind his shield to see Notch standing between him and Null, all the arrows frozen in the air between them. The older man moves his hand, and the arrows fly back towards their origin, flying through the skeletons and killing them upon contact. Looping around, the arrows shoot towards the Endermen as well, but they vanish - one of them taking Null with him. Notch lowers his hand, and the arrows drop to the ground before he turns to raise an eyebrow at Herobrine.

"Where have you been?"

"I went to look for a friend." Herobrine disassembles his shield, stacking the obsidian in his inventory. "You came back?"

"My steward was quite insistent that you be brought back safely." Notch glanced at the remains of the arrow sticking out of his chest. "Let me remove that." He takes a step towards him, but Herobrine takes a matching one away. "Oh come on, what did I just say?" The nether king stares at him contemplatively for a few moments, then gives him a single nod and steps towards him. Notch reaches out and touches the broken shaft, and immediately it vanishes, the uncomfortable feeling in his chest disappearing.

"Thank you." Herobrine tells him blankly, not allowing any emotion into his voice. "Null can track teleportation, which is why I could not escape."

"Come, I don't leave the same traces that you do." Notch offers him a hand, and Herobrine gives him a cold look before accepting it. A moment later, the pair vanishes in golden sparks and the countryside goes still once more.