something. That always threw me off. I landed practically face first into the dirt.
Spitting out dirt as I got to my feet, I looked around. I had assumed Ellie would be waiting for me here. I was outside their village. It was just over the hill. Yet no one was here.
The bad feeling just grew as I got to my feet and brushed the dirt off my pants. I hurried over the hill and looked down at the village.
The entire village was on fire and swarming with what appeared to be wither skeletons. I gasped in alarm. What in the world was going on here? How was this place under attack?
I was glad I had brought my weapons. I pulled out my bow, wishing again that I had convinced Josh to make me a diamond one even though he had said he was too busy, and took off at a run down the hill towards the village.
The village was covered in flames that licked the sky. Wither skeletons had knocked down most of the walls that protected the village. I hadn’t been here since the night I had met both Ellie and John. To see it now, on fire and under siege, was scary.
I swallowed hard and shoved the fear down. I had to find Ellie and see if anyone needed help. As I ducked through a hole in the wall, a wither skeleton came out of the flames and lunged at me. I barely had time to roll out of the way, skittering out of the way of the flames.
The wither skeleton turned to face me. It was on fire and was staring me down. Wonderful. Just what I wanted to run into today. Flaming wither skeletons.
I turned around and took off in a run. I didn’t want to get bogged down in attacking wither skeletons. The most important thing was Ellie and the other villagers. I rounded a corner and saw a small child cornered as a wither skeleton headed towards him.
He was crying. In one swift motion, I notched an arrow in my bow and let it fly. It smacked into the wither skeleton, knocking it off balance. Instantly, I fired another arrow and it sent the wither skeleton to its feet before turning into a pile of ash.
I hurried over to the child and scooped him up in one arm. Okay. So now I had a kid with me. Even better, I joked to myself as I took off jogging down the street.
Maybe Josh had been right about going running in the morning. It was paying off now, for sure.
I was almost near Ellie’s place. As I got closer to the center of the village, there were people here. Some were fighting. Others were trying to get people inside the mayor’s house for protection.
A crying woman ran up to me and the child screamed for his mother. I let the kid go, relieved at not having to carry him anymore. He was sort of heavy!
“Have you seen Ellie?” I asked the woman but she shook her head and ran off with her child towards the mayor’s house.
There was no way that Ellie would be hiding out in the mayor’s house. I knew her too well for that. She would be neck deep in the battle. Knowing this, I turned around, and headed back into the middle of the village.
Here the fighting was the worst. The soldiers were trying to push back against the wither skeletons. All around us, the village was up in flames. I was searching for Ellie when one of the skeletons leapt out of the flames at me.
Alarmed, I reached for my bow but I was too slow. A second too slow. The skeleton pushed me back with its bony arms. Its fingertips pressed against the fabric of my shirt. I lurched backward before my shirt could be lit on fire.
The wither skeleton was grabbing its sword. I was too close to try to shoot it with my bow. As I fumbled for my sword, an arrow flew through the flames and knocked the wither skeleton down. It turned to ash in front of me and I let out a sigh of relief.
I looked around to see who had saved me. Out of the darkness came a figure. Their bow was shining from the flames.
“You used to move faster. A year in the cushy End City make you soft?”
“Ellie!” I exclaimed, going over to her.
I hadn’t seen her in a year. Now, she looked as if she had clearly been in a battle. She was covered in soot from the fires and her hair was a mess. There was dirt on her face and she was holding her bow, ready to fire at any moment.
“You came just in time. Thought you weren’t going to show up.”
“You said John went missing. Of course I was going to show up.”
“He is missing. Went missing this morning. I’ve been looking around in the hills for him. But I think someone took him. The same person who has currently filled my village full of wither skeletons.”
“We have to drive them out of here. Then we can talk about your brother.”
Ellie nodded, “There are only a few small groups left. Come with me. We need all the help we can get.”
I nodded and together we headed off towards where the fighting sounded the loudest. Working with the soldiers, the two of us pushed back the wither skeletons that were still around the village. It took a long time. By the end of the battle, I was exhausted. I hadn’t been expecting any sort of fight today.
After we patrolled and made sure there were no more wither skeletons, the soldiers worked on putting out the fires. As they did that, Ellie dragged me to the mayor’s house.
“Come on,” She said to me, “We need to talk about everything going on.”
The mayor’s house was full of the villagers. Some were patching each other up while others were trying to sleep. The mayor himself was trying to organize everyone in the middle. Ellie yanked me up the stairs, past the Do Not Enter sign.
“Uh, it says –”
“Please.” She snapped over her shoulder as she opened up a bedroom and pulled me inside.
With the door closed, I looked around. A bed was pressed against the corner with a crafting table. There was a creeper head displayed in the window here. With a shudder, I looked away.
“Can you tell me what is going on?” I asked her.
“So, John isn’t with you?”
“What? No. Why would he be with me?”
Ellie crossed her arms and sat down on the edge of the bed. She looked exhausted and blew a lock of hair out of the way of her face.
“John was talking about visiting the End City. I told him I didn’t want to go. No offense, but I went there when you went back and I don’t really want to see it again.”
“Yeah, I remember. You said it felt as if you were trapped down there.”
“Right. Anyway, so he was talking about going to see you and then the next morning, he was gone.”
“Why did he want to see me?” I asked her.
“He didn’t say. I just thought it was for a visit. We’ve been busy up here, working with King Liam and helping out in the village. No time for a visit.”
“I haven’t heard from him. I didn’t get any sort of message or anything.”
“Yeah, I thought it was off. John just leaving like that…well, you know John. He isn’t like that. I had been exploring the hills just in case he was out there somewhere. When I came back, the village was under attack.”
“Any idea who set up the attack?”
“No. But I can’t help but feel as if John disappearing and the wither skeletons attacking our home is somehow connected.” Ellie replied.
“So, what now? Any clues as to where John could be?”
“None. If he isn’t in the End City, then maybe he went to see King Liam. I don’t know. We have a portal here now installed to go to the King. But no one saw John use it.”
“He could have snuck through it.” I suggested.
“Yeah. But why? I’m going to talk to the King. Someone has to report this attack. Stay here. I’m going to go talk to the mayor.”
I nodded and Ellie moved past me, closing the door behind her as she went to go speak to the mayor. I looked around the room and then went over to the window. I could see the soldiers putting the fires out.
Where had John gone? Had someone taken him? Things had just gotten way more complicated. Someone had attacked this village. There was a lot going on and yet I had no answers.
Ellie was taking so long that I ended up pulling out my journal and writing in here as
quickly as I could. Once again, I can’t help but feel as if this journal is important. I want to log everything that happens.
Day 3
Ellie came back thirty minutes later. She had a tray of bread and milk.
“Wow, room service.” I joked and she rolled her eyes.
We ate quietly in the corner. Both of us were starving. Finally, after we finished dinner, Ellie leaned back in her chair.
“We leave for the King’s in the morning. We have to clean up and get some rest first. As much as I want to go now…”
“Mayor said no?”
She nodded, looking annoyed, “In any case, we can report to Liam about the attack and ask about John.”
“What if Liam hasn’t seen him?”
Ellie looked determined, “Then I’ll talk to Marketh.”
I looked up, surprised, “You’re going to talk to Marketh?”
Ellie’s father, Marketh, was a touchy subject for her. She knew that he wasn’t a good guy and that her mother had smuggled John and her out of the End City to protect them. For a long time, neither one of them knew who their father was. To find out it was Marketh, the man who wanted to cover the Over World in Ender Men, wasn’t exactly a great feeling.
Ellie usually pretended Marketh didn’t exist. It was John who always wrote about him in their letters. He had gone to see him a few times as if to try to understand why their father did what he did.
I hadn’t thought about going to see Marketh. Mostly it was because I wanted to forget about him. I didn’t like thinking about what he had done to the End City or what he had put everyone through. It was easier to just think about him sitting down