An elder blockhead sat in a chair. His hands were tied, as were his feet. His mouth was kept shut. He couldn't say a single word no matter how hard he tried. Pacing back and forth in the room with him was the Demi-God known to many as NetherBrine.
His head was burning, and his eyes glowed red. The torches that lit up the room were extinguished. The room was almost entirely dark. The fire on NetherBrine's head gave off an eerie shade of light.
As NetherBrine paced back and forth, he was holding an ancient and powerful weapon. A sword to be exact. His sword was made from a rare resource called Netherite. The Netherite sword was the most deadliest weapon known to all blockheads. It was the strongest material; stronger than diamonds and emeralds combined.
NetherBrine was swinging the sword back and forth in his hands. He was trying to be intimidating towards his hostage. Every time NetherBrine took a step, the wooden floor creaked. The blockhead that was tied up was staring at NetherBrine.
"Why are you so quiet Scotty?" NetherBrine questioned as he stopped pacing. "For a blockhead who's lived alone almost his entire life, I thought you'd be very talkative?"
Scott just stared at him, unable to say a word. He jerked around in his chair, trying to snap the ropes and set himself free. But that didn't work. The ropes were tied surprisingly tight. Scott wanted to talk, but he couldn't.
"What?" NetherBrine said as he suddenly remembered why Scott was unable to talk. Earlier, NetherBrine had cursed Scott with the eternal mute spell. That spell came in handy for times like these. But it was mainly only used for interrogation purposes.
The tip of NetherBrine's sword buried itself deep into the wooden floor. He then clapped his hands together once to lift the spell he had cast on Scott.
"Why have you come here?" Scott asked. He was angered and outraged by what NetherBrine was doing. The last encounter these two had was almost forty years ago when Scott was still a cartographer.
"You have something I desire," NetherBrine said as he grabbed the handle of his sword and yanked it out of the floor. Shing!
Scott scoffed. "What could I possibly have that you want?"
"I desire many things. Gold. Wealth. A soul perhaps?" NetherBrine said.
Scott was confused. A soul? What did he mean by that? Was NetherBrine planning on killing him? Was he going to banish Scott to the UnderWorld? Make him a slave for all eternity? What could he mean by that?
"Are you planning on killing me?" Scott asked.
"Mmm," NetherBrine said as he shrugged his shoulders, "perhaps that is my intention."
"Whatever you've come here to do, just get it over with already!" Scott shouted.
"Shush!" NetherBrine shouted, "that's enough from you! You're quite irritating you know!"
Little did NetherBrine know, was that there was something moving around just outside of the house. Of course though, he was too occupied with Scott. Out of the corner of his eye, Scott saw a shadow of a blockhead walking on the roof of his house. Was someone on the way to help him?
"I've always wondered how you managed to see into the future. Like in this case. How did you know about the saviors Scott? Who are you really?" NetherBrine questioned as he suddenly stopped pacing and faced Scott. He raised the sword and pointed it directly at Scott.
Scott shrugged his shoulders. NetherBrine rolled his eyes dramatically. That answer wasn't good enough for him. As NetherBrine stood his ground, he saw a moving object from out of the corner of his eye. He looked over at the window.
The moon's light was shining bright, casting shadow's of things outside. NetherBrine walked over to the window and squinted his eyes. What was moving around outside that caught his attention?
As he turned around, he realized something was oddly strange about what was happening. He walked over to the chair he had Scott tied up in and growled when he found out that Scott was gone. Missing he was.
NetherBrine gripped his sword tightly with both of his hands. It was very quiet all of a sudden except for the creaky floor. NetherBrine moved around the room with caution. For all he knew, Scott could still be somewhere in here.
What is Nora going to do to him if he doesn't succeed in taking Scott out? What would she do to him? She wasn't known for giving second chances. If you blew your first chance, that'd be it. No do-overs. NetherBrine, as if this moment, was in very hot water. If one thing was for sure...it was that he wasn't going to let Scott escape that easily.
"Come out, come out wherever you are," NetherBrine said in a sort-of-friendly tone, "come out now Scotty!"
"That's not his name!" A female blockheads' voice shouted as she came running at him. Her arms were raised above her head. She was holding her enchanted golden sword in her hands.
She swung her sword. But just before her sword could hit NetherBrine, he managed to block her swing with his Netherite sword. The two metal swords clanged as they clashed. Scott's friend turned her head around and shouted.
"Run Scott!" She shouted, "I can handle him!"
Running out of the dark came Scott. As he ran for the door, he glanced over at NetherBrine. He smiled mischievously and then stuck his tongue out at him as well.
NetherBrine didn't know what to do. Continue fighting the girl? Or chase after him? He had to make a choice...and fast. Scott was more important than his friend. But his decision making was abruptly interrupted by another swing from the girl's sword.
Because he had gotten lost inside his head, he didn't see the sword being swung at him. She had managed to strike him right in his left upper leg. He surely felt that. Scott opened the door and immediately ran outside and into the night.
NetherBrine's chances of recapturing him were now very slim. He should've known this would happen. There was one strange thing about this. How was it that these blockheads knew where to find them? The only blockheads that knew about this plan were himself, Nora, and EnderBrine. There was one theory however. What if there was a traitor to the throne? Or a spy for that matter? Unfortunately it was still too early to tell.
The girl swung her sword again. But instead of delivering another hit, NetherBrine had managed to block her swing with his sword. The two swords clanged once more. Both of them continued fighting with their swords.
"For someone like you, I thought you would've seen this coming," the girl said, "but how wrong I was."
"You're a vigorous fighter," NetherBrine said as he tried swinging his sword at his opponent. He was too slow though. She had blocked his swing. "But fear not...this fight will end soon with my victory."
She rolled her eyes dramatically and shook her head.
"Right," she said, "we'll see about that."
As they continued to fight, Scott was running as fast as he could. Running through the jungle sounded easier said than done. Trying to navigate through this dense terrain was difficult. Scott still continued to run. Nothing was going to stop him.
Close behind him, he could hear the sounds of footsteps chasing after him. He didn't dare look back over his shoulder. For one, he was already shaken up as is. Scott also knew that being outside at night was beyond dangerous. It was deadly. Anything could happen to him at that moment. But what could that something be?
"Stop running Scott!" A familiar female blockheads voice said, "it's me….Casey," she said.
Once Scott had heard her voice, he had stopped running. He stood still with his back facing Casey. Casey was accompanied by two other blockheads.
"It's okay Scott," Casey said, "you're safe now. I promise."
Scott turned around to face Casey and the other two blockheads accompanying her. He stared at them for a brief second. As much as he'd like to tell them things, he couldn't. Not unless the spell is lifted. As long as the spell is active, he won't be able to talk.
Casey couldn't understand why he wasn't talking. Neither could the other two. Bewildered they were. Never mind that though. All that mattered now was getting Scott to safety. Casey and the other two blockheads approached him.
"Let's get you back to HQ," Casey said, "then we'll figure out your "not being able to speak" problem, okay?"
Back inside the house, NetherBrine and the girl were still fighting with their swords. As their weapons clanged as they clashed, the girl had noticed that her golden sword was cracking. The crack was very noticeable. Even NetherBrine saw it.
"Uh-oh," he said, "that's not good."
"Doesn't mean I'm going to give up," she answered as she swung her sword once more. But her swing didn't accomplish what she wanted it to do. NetherBrine had blocked her swing, destroying her sword in the process. Now that she didn't have a weapon, he had the upper hand.
She should've known her sword was no match for his Netherite sword. Her sword shattered into chunks of broken gold. The chunks of what was her sword fell to the floor. She looked down at the floor. As she did that, she felt a pointy cold object pressing up against her stomach. It was NetherBrine's sword.
"If you so try to run, I will drive this sword right through you, is that understood?" NetherBrine said.
Instead of succumbing to his demands, she ignored them completely. When NetherBrine was least expecting it, she managed to punch him in his face, instantly dizzying him. He had dropped his netherite sword onto the floor.
Before NetherBrine could react, she grabbed his sword off of the floor. She held it tightly in her hands, pointing it directly at NetherBrine.
"If you move or take one step, I'll cut your head off!" She mentioned.
"Or what?" NetherBrine questioned, " you'll take me hostage and as your prisoner?"
"Something like that!" She responded.
"Who even are you? How come you're so good at fighting?" NetherBrine asked.
"Lindsey. And that's none of your—," Lindsey said as she suddenly began gasping for air. NetherBrine looked up and saw someone standing right behind Lindsey. Sticking out of her chest was the tip of an iron sword.
"You may be good at fighting, but you're stupid for not watching your surroundings. You didn't even hear me sneak up behind you," a familiar voice said, "isn't that right NetherBrine?"
NetherBrine recognized that voice. It was a male blockhead's voice. He thought of people this person could be. But only one name stuck out.
"HeroBrine?" NetherBrine questioned, "is that you?"
"In the flesh," HeroBrine said, "who did you assume would come into the house? Father? Nora? Who?"
"Your timing is impeccable brother," NetherBrine said.
"Nora ordered me to follow you here just in case things didn't go according to plan...which they didn't," HeroBrine said.
"Then why didn't you help me then?" NetherBrine asked. "We could've still had Scott as our hostage. When Nora finds out that—."
"She won't," HeroBrine said, "because we aren't going back to her castle empty handed."