The air is starting to get thinner. With the heat rising from the sand within the Badlands Desert, it was no wonder that, along with the imposing fortress that was The Ender Wall, stopping any who would attempt to reach the Ender Castle, noone dared to venture forth into the sandy dunes of certain death.
Kyren Reyes, a soldier of Ender, is standing at his post—almost a hundred 'blocks' from ground level. As the wall edges towards the sky, it can be seen that the height ebbs and flows, being higher in some areas and lower in others. Regardless, despite the winding wall, it towered over anything that happened to walk up to it. No matter where you stood, the wall was imposing and impregnable.
It was the twilight hour, the sun would rise in a couple of minutes, its glow teasing to rise from the edge of the horizon. From below, even the sounds of shambling bones from skeleton archers and the groans of zombified humans could be faintly heard. The man at his post tightened his grip on the sword at his side. He knew they couldn't climb up to him, even the spiders didn't bother with climbing the impossibly high wall to bother them; however, a chill still ran down his spine. He wanted to look ever the edge and see how many monsters were truly down there, but he knew better.
One wrong look at the wrong enemy could cause a huge problem. Skeletons and Zomebies, while dangerous in groups, could still be dealt with, but Endermen…
More and more Endermen have been sighted as of late. They were once a thing of myth, something you would read in a storybook or maybe a horror novel, but after the Huang Family defected and declared war on the Royal Ender Family, more and more have been popping up. Were they being summoned en masse to act as warriors for the Huang Family? How would one even control an Enderman?
Regardless, one look at the eyes of an Enderman would result in certain death for sure. Sure, he had his sword and shield, but it was a simple Iron Sword, and the shield was nothing to bat an eye at. Endermen were fast, cunning, evil, and relentless. One wouldn't stop just because he had a shield; if anything, it would keep attacking until it broke.
The chill down his spine grew into a glacier down his back now. He wanted to see the monsters, get a feel of how bad the Overworld has truly gotten after the Huang Family left and wreaked havoc on the rest of the land beyond the Ender Wall.
"Officer Kyren, the sun will rise in approximately 15 minutes. We'll conduct a sweep of the lower wall for supplies after all the monsters have been dispatched."
The soldier, Kyren, adjusted his stance and looked over to the younger ensign who stood at a salute. Breaking from his thoughts for a moment, he turned and saluted the ensign back before dropping his hand.
"Right. Any bones found need to be placed in the caravan to be taken back to Sand Gultch. Aether knows they need the fertilizer."
"Yeah, the fact that all of the Enderlands are deserts doesn't seem fair, but at least the castle has some semblance of grass and water. Why wouldn't they just build their farms there?" The ensign asked.
"Not enough room. The Badlands are unforgiving, but if you know what you're doing, you can still grow food, and it's a vast land. To be honest, we got lucky cultivating the land like we did." Kyren said.
"Yeah, but–"
The ensign's words petered off, and Kyren saw him looking out at the world before him. It was still all desert, but in the distance, if one looked hard enough, one could see trees. The grass, the water, and the life were out there, and none of it was granted to the people of Ender.
"It doesn't seem fair that the Huang Family gets to galavant in the Plains and forest biomes while we suffer here in the desert." The ensign finally said.
Kyren didn't say anything; he didn't know what to say. He had his qualms about the Ender King's decision to wall off the desert completely and cut off entry and exit to any Villager. In the end, he could agree that it was the best way to avoid spies, assassinations, espionage, and further betrayal; however, the heat and barrenness of the Badlands were starting to affect the men's morale.
"Nothing we can do about it…" Kyren finally sighed. "In the end, the King knows what he's doing."
Did Kyren have to halfheartedly convince himself of this fact? Possibly. But he was still loyal to the King of Villagers and would die for him if an Illager of the Huang Family were to come to the gates. He wasn't happy with the circumstances, how the Huang Family seemingly live in a lap of luxury within the Plains, surrounded by plentiful flora and fauna, while the Villagers of the Badlands scrape and scrounge for food.
"Right…"
The ensign shifted on his feet awkwardly. It was clear he had some pent-up anger and frustration, but he couldn't let it out. Not here, at least.
"There's still time before sunrise. Why don't you head to the training grounds further down the wall and let off some steam? The gathering afterwards shouldn't be too stressful after that." Kyren suggested.
The ensign nodded and smiled, "I'll take you up on that, sir! Thank you."
After another salute, the ensign ran off past Kyren and into a stairwell leading further inside the wall. Not only was the Ender Wall long, spanning the entire entry point into the Badlands, but it was also massively thick, unable to be mined through without consequence.
With the ensign out of sight, Kyren steeled himself and walked to the edge of the wall. It wasn't as if he wasn't allowed to look over; after all, reconnaissance and surveying your surroundings were an important part of the job. It was those damn Enderman…
Swallowing his fear, Kyren looked over. The sun was about to rise, and the light spilling over and creeping across the sand was starting to illuminate the area. It was just as Kyren expected, swarms of skeletons, zombies, husks, and spiders were all but crawling over each other. On one hand, when the sun came up, it would be a free-for-all on resources once the monsters burned up and died, but what of the spiders and husks? They never burned up in the sun and were just as dangerous during the day as they were at night.
Looking further, the glow of an enchanted bow caught Kyren's eye. A husk was holding it, its back folded over and twitching as if the strips of muscle still hanging onto bone were trying to flex. It was disgusting, but sad at the same time.
Almost all of these monsters, save for the spiders and Creepers, were once Villagers. People who had families and loved ones. People who cared about them are now nothing more than shells of their former selves, their bones and meat used to fertilize the food for the rest of the Villagers.
Look out into the distance, where the faint silhouette of the trees could be seen, Kyren thought about the villages that couldn't be saved from the Huang Family. Villages that were currently being raided, Villagers being killed as he just stood here.
There was nothing he could do. All he could do was say a prayer to whatever Gods were watching over them now to protect them from further harm.
The Ender Family– Divine Leaders of The Overworld– and the Huang Family, who were the leaders of the Ender Army, were once closer than family. It was once said that the King and the Patriarch of the Huang Family were closer than brothers, that no matter what policy, decree, or rule went into place, the Huangs had a say in it as well.
It had gotten so bad that it was rumored that the King of Ender and the Huang Patriarch were once lovers, never taking on wives or even mistresses. They only had eyes for each other. The Overworld couldn't run without the other.
Whether this was true or not was none of Kyren's concern. All he wanted to do was keep the rest of the Villagers in The Overworld safe. How could he do that if he was stuck in the desert?
His thoughts were broken as the first glimmer of sunrise struck his eyes. Squinting, Kyren backed away from the edge of the wall, the first of the zombies and skeletons beginning to burn away. In about thirty minutes, the gates at the bottom of the wall would open and soldiers would begin clearing out the rest of the stragglers, disposing of husks, spiders, and Creepers, and collecting the remains.
Not to be buried, but to be reused, recycled. In a way, it was better this way. Villagers lived to serve. Everyone had a job in some way, shape, or form. Kyren could at least agree that if he were to turn into a zombie or skeleton, he would want his flesh and bones to be used to further advance the Villagers' comfort rather than just rest in the ground doing nothing.
Just as he was about to turn and head down the stairs to get to the gates, a 10-minute walk in its own right, the ensign from before bounded up the stairs, a fearful look on his face. In his fist was a parcel, already opened, and the papers crumpled in his hand. Kyren stopped, his blood running cold, waiting for the ensign to catch his breath.
"Sir… sir! Urgent news from up north!" The ensign breathed, handing over the parcel and letter, practically shoving it into Kyren's hands.
"What?" Kyren started, pulling the letter up to his eyes to read.
"This comes from a spy within the Huang Temple. The letter just got here, and it's rumored the spy is now dead. I don't know how true the words written are, but–"
Kyren looked up at the ensign and then back down to the letter, his throat growing drier and drier with every letter read.
"To the Crown of Ender,
I write this in haste, as I have been sitting within the Huang Chambers listening to every word spoken all at once. There have been talks, whispers of venturing further than The Overworld. While there is nothing more than the ocean and sea beyond our lands, it has occurred to me that the Patriarch did not mean The Overworld, but beyond that.
He plans to venture to a place only written in text. I didn't want to believe it, as it feels more like lore than fact, but I have witnessed with my own eyes a block of Obsidian delivered to the Huang Temple.
He plans to go to The Nether."
The letter ended there with a long line of ink wiped on the last letter, implying he was caught in the act of writing. How the letter left the Huang Palace, Kyren would never wrap his head around, and he couldn't assume this spy was still alive.
"Obsidian? I thought–" Kyren started.
"The second page, sir." The ensign said, voice shaking.
Sure enough, when Kyren looked back down, shuffling the pages, a photograph was plastered to the page. It showed a lavish chamber and a black, glossy block sitting in a glass enclosure. It was the Obsidian block, a resource so hard to find and procure, the only other block was found within the Ender Castle, belonging to the King.
Now the Huang Patriarch had one, and to go to the Nether, you needed ten pieces of Obsidian.
"Do you think he will come for the one in the castle?" the ensign asked, his voice shaking.
"There's no way they can get past the Ender Wall." Kyren mostly said it for himself, but his voice was wavering as well. "Where did they even find it?"
"It's believed to have been recovered from a raiding party from a village with close ties to the Castle. Springfjord, I believe," the ensign said.
"Springfjord? If the Huang family is already that far up north… it's only a matter of time until they reach The Autumn Valley." Kyren said.
"They would need to cross the ocean to do that. Not saying they don't have ships, but the Huang Temple is so far south in relation to the Autumn Valley Village. They would need to take Pheseoghana and build a port there." The ensign said.
"Pheseoghana…"
The name of the village ignited something in his brain just then. The northernmost Village in The Overworld, fortified within a valley and surrounded by mountains. It was the perfect place for soldiers to retire, far away from any politics. In fact, one soldier he knew ran away there after the fallout within the Castle all those years ago. He could've gone with him, but…
"Sir?"
Kyren was broken out of his stupor and looked at he ensign with a blank look on his face. It felt like so much was happening at one time, and he had only stood in one spot all night. The world was rotating too fast, and the only way to stop it was to take matters into his own hands. It was then that he decided to do something.
Shoving the letter into his pockets, Kyren walked by the ensign.
"Get ready for dispatch and retrieval. I have something I need to do." Kyren said.
"Sir!" The ensign saluted and ran the other way.
Kyren would more than likely never see that soldier again. Walking briskly, but as fast as he could, to the stables near a wall entrance, he took a stack of bread from the neighboring kitchen, procured a horse and saddle, and ordered the gates to be opened.
Riding as quickly as he could north, the burning skeletons and zombies shambled and moaned in his direction. Kyren kept his gaze forward, knowing he had a long way to go before he could reach Pheseoghana.
The old soldier from long ago would know what to do, after all, he was once the King's Right Arm Soldier.