Bernard was dozing off. The day had passed with no incident. Something disturbed him from his nap. He opened his eyes and rubbed them. He looked up at the sun, shielding his face with his hands. It was starting to dip low into the horizon. It was almost evening. The colors in the sky would change soon. He felt something again and looked at the ground. There were no mobs and no villagers making any noise. He looked at the soldiers. They were either dozing off or talking to one another. He felt a slight shake and looked back at the ground. The moat rippled every time he felt it.
"They're here! The Invasion is here!"
Steve yawned and sat up. The other soldiers groaned and yawned as they got up. They were all groggy from sitting in the sun. Someone smacked Steve's face hard enough to bring him to reality.
"What are you doing? Wake up!"
The blur diminished in his eyes. He could see Bernard.
"Wake up, Steve!"
He shook him.
"Wha... What happened?"
"You fell asleep. Everyone did! The mobs are here!"
Notch.
"Get everyone up! They're almost to the moat!"
"Right!"
He started going by each person, slapping their faces. It wasn't the nicest way to wake them up, but it would get them focused quickly on the battle. He got to Sam and slapped him. Sam shot up, holding his face.
"What the Notch? Get away from me!"
Sam pushed him. Steve grabbed the fence to keep from falling.
"They're here, you idiot!"
Steve shouting at him snapped him out of his temper. Steve ran off to wake more people. Sam looked over the edge. The mobs were already flooding through the trees. Sam couldn't count how many creepers there were. They were everywhere.
"Bows out!" Bernard commanded, pulling out his own.
They drew their bows and aimed at the trees.
"When you see a creeper, aim for the head," Steve shouted. "Just like we trained for. The spider's weakness is the abdomen. Zombies and skeletons are the same as creepers. Never look at an enderman in the eye."
They could hear the mobs coming through the other side of the trees. The sounds were so loud. Leaves crunched as they tried to make their way through the jungle. Several creeper explosions could be heard echoing off the walls. They could see the creepers moving through the trees. They were broken up enough to stop them from crowding.
"Fire!" Bernard shouted.
Arrows whizzed across the ramparts to the trees. They couldn't see the fast-moving arrows to move out of the way. Most of them were hit, but only half were hit in the head and died. More came out of the trees.
"Re-notch and give them constant fire!"
He put an arrow in his own box and hit one of the creepers that survived the first volley. He noticed three arrows going where he only fired one. He looked over and saw Lucy firing a fourth.
"You're really good at this."
"Thanks!"
The soldiers kept most of their focus on the creepers. As they kept coming, the archers managed to kill them before they could reach the moat. Steve kept watching them as he released his own arrows. They were slowly making it closer to the wall.
"Alicia, Sam, cover me!"
He ran down the stairs.
"On it!" Alicia said.
They notched their arrows and watched as he ran out into the field.
"Is he crazy?" She asked, trying to not pull her attention away from the fight.
"I ask myself that sometimes, but he knows what he's doing."
Steve ran to the double iron doors and hit the button. He ran out into the open field. His breathing was heavy. He looked around at the mobs spread out. He had to focus on the creepers. If they reached the wall, it would be his house all over again. He leaped over the moat and met a creeper with his diamond sword. It felt supercharged in his hand as it moved like a blur in the air. It cut through the creeper's neck like butter. A zombie tried to grab his arm, but Steve threw it off and hit its ankles with the blade. It fell, and he stabbed it in the head.
A lone enderman in the distance watched all of this unfold. Frank's green eyes saw the utter disgust of Steve destroying his army.
He is mine.
Using his teleportation, he moved in a series of rapid bursts in triangles around Steve too fast to be seen. He held a stack of a certain green item in his hand that could be crushed if held too tightly. He threw them on the ground after every teleport. Creepers appeared out of the eggs and immediately targetted Steve. When his hand was empty, he teleported a safe distance away and watched as Steve was being surrounded.
I warned you.
Steve heard it in his mind. He could see it all happening before him. It was all too real. The vision. It was here. It was overwhelming. He could hear the voices in his head.
We are many. We are one.
He grabbed the sides of his head, trying to block out the voices. They were strong. They were making his head spin. So many...
We are many. We are one.
He started to hear screaming, only to realize it was himself. But it wasn't enough to block out the voices.
"Steve!" Sam shouted.
The soldiers watched as the creepers closed in on him. Steve was now on his knees and screamed at the top of his lungs. The voices were overpowering him. He was growing weak. He was sweating over his eyes. He watched the creepers draw closer, their numbers growing. He knew it was it. He was done for.
We are many. We are one.
"What's wrong with him? Get up, Steve!"
He could hear the voice, but he didn't know who it was. It was faded. Everything was fading. The voices, the field, the light. It was all fading away...
Stand.
The voice that hit him was powerful. More than the creepers. He got on one knee and forced himself to stand.
They are many.
He knew.
You are one.
He knew that, too.
But you have the power of many. That is your strength. Use it. Control it. Wield it.
Steve somehow understood. He looked at his hand. The powerful voice had truth in it. He was strong, even when he was alone. Because he was never really alone.
His entire life proved that.
Suddenly, he was back in the field, amidst all of the creepers. They were still chanting
We are many.
"But I am one."
He pulled out his iron sword. The chant had no effect on him anymore. The creepers closest stood and ignited.
Steve kicked off the ground and spun, holding out his swords. They connected with the igniting creepers, either chopping off their heads or cutting up their bodies. The damage was too much for them, and most were killed instantly. Both of the blades hummed as he twirled in the air. They tried to flank him, but he was spinning too fast to sneak up onto him. He felt himself getting dizzy, but with the increasing horde, the only other choice was death. He spun even faster, barely touching the ground. It was a constant hiss, slash, thump. It was turning into a rhythm.
He eventually found there were no more creepers. He had survived. Steve dropped to the ground, dizzy and exhausted. His swords fell out of his hands. His vision blurred again.
"Get... ... ...urry... ... ...e got y.. Steve."
His mind could only pick up pieces of what was being said. He could hear voices, he knew that. It sounded like Sam and Alicia, but it was all fuzzy. When his vision returned, he saw he was being carried through the iron doors back into the village. That's why he felt wet. The following few minutes, he had blacked out. When he woke up, he was inside one of the houses in a bed.
"Steve? You okay?" Sam asked.
"I'm fine."
He sat up.
"Steve, I'm not what just happened, but you can't go out there risking your life like that. If you had died, I would have... I wouldn't have liked it, so don't do stupid stuff and get yourself killed, okay?"
"I'm sorry. It all felt like a dream. I heard this voice. It gave me strength. I don't know what it was, but it was enough. I was able to kill them all."
Alicia came through the door.
"We need you back out here," she said. "They're getting close to the wall."
Steve could hear the battle going on outside. He stood up.
"Do you need to rest?" Sam asked.
He grabbed his swords and put them on his back.
"Not when there are people that need me."
Sam smiled.
"Let's finish this."
Steve and Sam ran up to the ramparts and fired arrow after arrow at scattered creepers. Skeletons fired back with their own. An arrow hit the parapet Lucy was behind. She saw the culprit and ended it a second later. More skeletons approached and fired at them. Spiders were multiplying like mad and started climbing the wall.
"Swords ready!" Bernard shouted.
They took out their swords and stood firm.
"Knock those spiders off!"
Sam could hear the hissing as one jumped up from behind, tackling the soldier next to him. He brought his sword down and hit the spider off the ledge.
"Ah! My arm!"
One of the archers shouted. A skeleton had gotten too close and shot him in the arm as he was pulling an arrow back. He was taken down and put on a bed on the ground. She gave him an apple, and he ate it. The arrow dropped from his arm to the ground.
"Stay here and rest for a bit," she said.
Meanwhile, the spiders were still climbing the wall. There were screams and yelps from soldiers who were pounced by spiders. Steve risked looking down and fired his bow at the climbing spiders. The armor did its job well. The spiders tried to bite the soldiers, but the armor protected them before they killed the spider. Steve felt lucky. So far, there were no casualties.
There was a quick shout next to him. The man collapsed to the ground. Lucy saw it and rushed over to help him.
"Is he okay?" Steve asked.
She looked at him and shook her head. Steve saw the arrow in the man's head where the helmet didn't protect it. It was a lucky shot from a skeleton. He growled and found the skeleton that took the shot and loosed an arrow. Even more skeletons were showing up, returning fire more and more. Some of the arrows hit the spiders climbing the wall. Normally, the spiders would have turned on the skeletons that shot them, but they were ignoring each other and only focusing on the villagers. Steve slashed at another spider that tried to climb over.
Young Forester was growing more nervous. He couldn't help but wonder if the mobs had made it to any other walls. The question was hitting his brain. He couldn't ignore it. He left his post and dodged arrows running down the north rampart to the east one.
"Where are you going?" Bernard called.
"To check the other walls!" He shouted behind him.
Bernard moved to follow when four spiders jumped off the wall into his path. He took his sword and charged them. They hissed in response.
Forester didn't stop. If they were at one of the other walls, he needed to find out and warn the village. He ran down the east wall and started running down the staircase when he heard the sound of zombies. He looked down and couldn't believe his eyes.
There were a group of zombies fighting a little girl with a stick.
What the Notch...?