Narzack

Played some more Minecraft yesterday.  Not long, but enough to scratch the itch.  I made the long trek to from my seaside cabin to the Cursed Lands.  It’s really only a day’s journey.  If you swing too far to the west, you’ll end up in a massive jungle, as I found out on the first leg of my trip.  The trees were so densely clustered that, for the most part, I traveled on the treetops.  I encountered a few spiders, which were swiftly dispatched by my enchanted sword of arachnophobia. 

As I passed through the jungle, I came across a deep chasm of stone, a few meters wide.  I peered over the edge, trying to see the bottom.  I barely espied it, hundreds of meters down.  Shivering, I backed away from the edge, marked its location on my map, and continued. 

Eventually, I exited the jungle and made my way through a brown swampland. As night began to fall, I was soon battling my way through skeletons.  I had one close call as I plunged into the swampy water, hoping for a shortcut.  As I trudged through the muck, I felt an arrow spang! into my armor.  From behind a tangle of vine, a skeleton glowered and notched another.  Enraged, I brandished my sword and plunged through the water towards him. He let fly another arrow, and it impacted with brutal force, knocking me backward.  Again I threw myself forward, and again an arrow bashed me back.  And again, and again.  I was quickly tiring, the savage impacts sapping my strength, and my body wearying from fighting the water’s resistance.

I knew that I would not be able to slay this foe with my blade, so I sheathed it, ducking a wild arrow, and drew my own bow.  It glowed with the enchantment I had bestowed it, gifting magical power to the string.  I notched an arrow and one of the skeleton’s struck me in the shoulder, sticking.  I bellowed in rage and pain and let fly.  The arrow was hurled from my bow with a hearty twang!, hurled with incredible speed and power.  It tore through the underbrush, skewered the skeleton, and carried it back until it hit the bank and exploded, bones and dust scattering.

Grateful for my armor and relieved that my wounds were not life threatening, I continued.  It wasn’t long before I was in desert and found myself in a pitched battle with a number of zombies.  Luckily, I found these a much easier foe to dispatch and did so quickly.  I narrowly evaded a creeper detonation which turned the surrounding area in a sizeable crater.  I made a note to be more vigilant for their vile green bodies.

I made it to the Cursed Lands well before sun up.  I rested for a time in my home there and met up with Haley.  She bade me join her on the rail and experience a new attraction she’d created.  I did so, remembering how my I enjoy the speed and swiftness of the rail.  We passed through civilized country and I felt myself relax.  This was an easy, kind land.  A pleasant country.  I remembered fondly my time spent here.

When we arrived at her creation, high above the ground, I marveled.  I stepped off the rail and followed the path to the entrance.  Snow Queen’s Palace, it said.  And it was, indeed, quite frigid.  I walked down the tunnel ice, glimpsing the ground far below.  The ice was clear and perfectly formed, so it looked like there was nothing keeping me in the air.  Vertigo quickly forced me to not look down.  The tunnel made a few turns, each time a sign telling me to beware the Ice Queen and tempting me with precious jewels to turn back.  I admit, I was tempted, but curiosity compelled me to continue.  I soon arrived at the Queen’s Palace.  It was grand and glistening, white and pure.  I entered, fighting the fear that began to rise.  There were a few rooms, empty and pristine.  They looked untouched, or rather, unlived-in.  In on room, I saw a door on either wall, opposite each other.  I decided to try the door on the right first. 

I walked to the door, my footsteps loud and echoing in the cold chamber.  I pushed open the door to a blasphemy.  Heads adorned the walls.  Skeleton, creeper, zombie, and even human heads. All glaring in macabre silence at me for daring to disturb their horrible rest.  Trembling, I stepped into the room and saw a cage.  It was occupied.  A villager, burbling and terrified, eyes wide and darting, was imprisoned in the cage.  I grabbed at the bars, trying in vain to break them, desperate to free him.  I drew my sword and hacked at it, doing little but dinging the blade. 

Exhausted, knowing I couldn’t stay long, I breathed a whispered apology and backed away.  The villager continued to squeak and dart about.  As I left the room, I realized, with crushing dismay, that he hadn’t even known I’d tried.   Across the room was another door and I opened it. 

It appeared to be her room.  I was fascinated.  Here was her resting place, this Ice Queen, this terrible creature.  A book lay on a chest and I opened it.  It was written in her hand, delicate and frail, sparkling like the glinting of ice.  She craved warmth.  And the warmth the craved was best, hottest, fullest when it came from a beating heart.  I shuddered and threw the book down.  I’d overstayed my welcome.  I quit room and opened the last door.  It led to a darkened hallway with two doors at the far end.  One of them promised life and sun, the other eternity with her. 

I admit that I was drawn to her.  I knew it would be my destruction, that all she promised she would deliver, but the thought of leaving her alone was a strangely unpleasant one.  With effort, I forced myself to the sun room.  I rode a rail up and out of the palace, my heart soaring with the sudden freedom.  It was only at the end, walking down the path that led back to the beginning and rails to SWARMtopia that I remembered it was just a game that Haley had created. I tipped my hat to her and boarded the rail home.

In other news, my cousin just had a baby.  Well, he didn’t, his wife did.  Congratulations, Andrew!  The baby is healthy and perfect.

Haley ran a really good scene last night for Changeling.  Now, I have to write a Writer interlude of him dealing with some of the emotional fallout.  I like scenes that make me realize I need to write something in response. 

Anyway, my hand is starting to cramp up from typing, so I’m out.