Everyone could only see red through the bloodshed. Armor clanged against bodies of evil. Swords sliced through skulls and skin. Sam was all in it. He kept slaying and slaying without thought or stopping. He felt an arrow ping off of his armor. His sword sliced through creepers, just barely stopping them from exploding. Golem charged in and hit them with all of his might. He whacked zombies, careful not to hit any of the villagers with expertise that could only come from a golem.
Steve was facing the same challenge except it seemed like all of the skeletons were aiming for him. Arrows were constantly sticking into his armor. They didn't penetrate it, the iron holding strong, and he was endlessly taking them down. It seemed like every one he took out was replaced with five more. Forester charged and became distracted by a few spiders. Alicia sliced a zombie and watched Forester defend himself against his foes. He was fast. She saw a creeper approach him. It felt like time slowing down. She took off after the creeper.
"Forester, look out!" She shouted over the mobs.
She extended her sword out right at the creeper. He glanced back and noticed too late what was happening. The creeper ignited. Alicia's sword impaled it, still being thrust upon, and the ignition slowed to nothing. When it stopped, she let it fall into a pile of gunpowder. She finally let out a breath and breathed hard. She couldn't believe she did that. She was so close to dying just now and lived. She slumped to the ground. Forester picked her up in his arms and ran her back to the village to a house. He gave her some water and food. He picked his sword back up and started going out the door.
"Wait, let me come with you," she said.
"No. It's too dangerous. I can't let you go back out there."
"You're not going to stop me."
"You saved my life, Alicia. Let me save yours."
He went out the door quickly and blocked it with cobblestone. She ran to the door and hit it with her fists.
"No! Let me out!"
She had no pickaxe and no tool to break away the wall to the house. She was trapped and would only know the outcome of the fight when someone, or something, decided to let her out.
Back at the wall, Bernard was having a hard time trying to focus. Marie's death was breaking him down. He wanted to give up, right here and right now, but he couldn't. He had all of his friends, the people that decided to give him a second chance, there that believed in him. He could hear Marie's voice telling him to keep fighting, and it was all he needed to keep going. He wasn't giving in.
He slashed a zombie, making its arm fall off. He slashed its head and killed it. He heard a shout and saw someone with an arrow in his head. He fell to the ground. Bernard's rage grew to a boiling point. He wasn't going to take it anymore. He pushed past the mobs, using his sword to force them away. They still pummeled him with various forms of damage. His health was dropping quickly. An arrow stuck in his arm, but he kept pushing. Finally, he had reached the wall. Constantly being hit, he started filling in the large hole with his cobblestone.
"Watch out!" Miner shouted.
A spider climbed over his wall he built and leaped for him. Miner shot it out of the air, and it fell back outside. He ran up to Bernard and took out his own cobblestone. He grinned at his friend.
"Looks like we both had the same idea," he said.
"It would seem so."
Steve grabbed Sam and pointed to the two trying to rebuild the wall.
"They're going to need more blocks," Sam said.
"And help," Steve added.
They came to a mutual understanding and started moving in their direction. Steve used his bow while Sam used his diamond sword. They managed to make it to them with minimal injury. Bernard looked to his left surprised to see them helping build up the wall while fighting off the mobs.
"Surprised?" Steve asked.
"Very."
Within minutes, they managed to completely cover up the hole. Archers continued firing at the mobs both inside and out. Just as the last bit of the wall was repaired, a skeleton's arrow hit Bernard's leg. He couldn't take any more pain. He fell to the ground.
"Bernard!" Miner shouted.
Steve shot at the mobs around them. When they were cleared out, Miner ran to Bernard and put his hand on his forehead. Two hearts. Too close.
"Help me move him," Miner begged.
Before Steve and Sam could help, some of the soldiers came and helped Miner carry Bernard out of the danger zone to a safe distance.
"Steve," Sam said. "Let's finish these mobs off."
"Let's do it!" He said, raising his sword.
"For Freedom!"
They both shouted and plowed into the mobs side-by-side. Steve took out a zombie that almost attacked a girl. Sam took out two spiders with a single swipe of his sword. They were winning. The mobs were thinning back out.
Just when they thought they were about to win, the endermen showed up unexpectedly. Steve looked up by mistake and met the eyes of one of them. It opened its mouth in a screech and charged him. The other endermen looked at him with open jaws and loud screeches. They moved in his direction.
"Steve, run!" Sam shouted, keeping a hand above his eyes.
He didn't argue. He took off like an ocelot in the jungle with the endermen close on his tail. He looked back, hoping he was gaining ground, but he was losing it fast. They could teleport to catch up to him. There was no way he could outrun them. He had to fight them off somehow.
"Steve, use this!"
Lucy. She threw him a water bucket from above. He snatched it out of the air. He ran to the wall and looked back at the endermen charging him. He dumped the water over the ground. He watched them try to grab him only to touch the water and teleport away. Wherever they went, the endermen were attacked by swords. Their screeching slowly faded away until there was only a few. Mobs continued to be taken down. Only a few remained in the village.
"Attack them!" Steve shouted. "Cluster!"
The soldiers grouped around the remaining mobs, hitting them with swords. The remaining endermen couldn't gather their teleport particles in time to avoid death. Steve scooped the water back up and dumped it over the endermen remaining and watched its magic. When the last of the mobs inside were gone, Steve pointed back up to the ramparts.
"Back to the top of the wall!"
They ran up and looked out at the open field. It was completely empty except for scattered mob drops. The moans of zombies were not present. The clinking of skeletons were gone. The hissing of creepers and spiders were no more. Even the screeching of endermen couldn't be heard. It was completely silent.
"Is it over?" Sam asked.
Steve checked the field once more. He cracked a smile.
"I think we did."
A large cheer erupted from the crowd on the ramparts. Some of them cried. Others hugged each other, also crying.
This was it. They had won.
~~~
"Argh!" Frank screeched from a distance.
He heard the cheering from the villagers. He had no more reinforcements. Calling the endermen was his last move, and they still managed to hold them off.
Unbelievable.
He looked at the girl tied up. The skeleton kept the bow aimed at her. She saw his gaze and started tearing up.
"Don't cry, little one. I won't hurt you. Not yet, anyway. I may have some use for you yet."
He had one more trick up his sleeve.
~~~
Bernard limped with the help of Miner up the stairs.
"I said you needed rest," Miner said.
"Stop it. I need to see it for myself. Is it true?"
Steve waved his hand over the demolished field.
"See for yourself."
He limped alone to a parapet for support. The wind blew through his hair as he scanned the field. He could see the mess the battle had caused. There were craters from creeper explosions and countless arrows from their archers and the skeletons. Bodies covered the field and inside the village. Bernard sighed, both of relief and despair.
"It's a shallow victory but one nonetheless," he said. "Everyone did a wonderful job defending our home, but there are some things we must take care of. There is a hole in the eastern side that needs to be repaired and remaining mobs that need to be dealt with."
"I'll take care of it," Sam said.
"Take some people with you. We already lost someone from it."
When he went down the stairs, Bernard looked at everyone else.
"We have some work that needs to be taken care of. First thing is first. Find the dead and bring them inside. They will need a proper ceremony. Fetch the children from the temple. Some of them need to say goodbye."