The Broken Flame

Irona let out a worried huff as she looked at the treeline again, having been pacing back and forth for some time now. Queen Celina had left to find Steve nearly an hour ago and she was terrified. The golem hadn’t expected it to take this long, she was sure the queen would be back by now. And she still remembered what Celina had told her.

*****

“If I don’t come back within the hour… wait until morning to come find us. For now, please take care.”

*****

Irona didn’t want to believe that her dear master and friend wasn’t coming back, but she truly didn’t know if she was still alive.

“Lady Irona, are you alright?”

A voice caught her attention. Standing a few feet away on the gravel road leading from the castle was a young man. He had blonde hair with streaks of red in it, light skin, and red eyes. He wore iron armor with the rose and coal piece in a crest that represented the Creatoria kingdom on the front. The iron chestplate had small pieces of red and yellow cloth decorating it. He also wore iron boots over red pants and a pair of black gloves.

Irona turned to the young man. Matthew Redson. He was one of the kingdom’s most loyal and toughest guards, and she considered him a very good friend.

Irona let out a rapid series of clicks and squeaks to him, and he nodded in understanding.

“Why did Her Highness leave for the forest,” he asked. “Was she going to Miner Steve’s village?”

Irona shook her head and let out a few more creaks.

Matthew’s brows rose. “He what?”

Another set of clicks. 

“But… but who would be out there at this time of night to attack him?”

Irona raised a hand and opened her mouth to speak again.

“Irona!”

Irona and Matthew both turned towards the trees to the south of the kingdom, having heard a voice call to the lady golem from the distance. Matthew blinked in surprise, before turning to look at Irona. “That was Queen Celina’s voice, was it not, Lady Irona?”

Irona didn’t respond. Her red eyes were frantically searching the tree line for any sign of the queen or the miner. A small noise soon became louder and louder and she realized it was the sound of hooves on gravel. Then, the voice came again.

“Irona! I found Steve!”

A white horse suddenly ran from the treeline with a young girl on his back, a man in a pink cloak being carried in her arms. 

Matthew and Irona gasped. “Oh, my Jeb,” Matthew thought aloud. “Is that Miner Steve in her arms?”

Celina watched as the castle came into view, looking down at Steve as they got closer to her home. The miner’s eyes were shut and she was holding up his head with one hand, the man having passed out part way through their journey back. As they had rode back towards the castle, Steve had cried out a few times, having jolted when they went over a few of the bumpier areas. Celina had tried to keep him awake, but she knew he was too weak to keep his eyes open. 

The miner was unconscious now, his breathing shallow. He wasn’t even reacting to the fact that she had yelled to Irona when she saw the castle come into sight over the trees. The queen was worried, so scared that Steve had fallen asleep for good this time. She would have to act fast to save his life, and she’d need all the help she could get.

Irona watched Maximus slow his pace, eventually stopping by the corner of the Throne Room’s walls. Irona took off towards her, her steps hurried.

Celina carefully hopped down from her horse, holding tightly to Steve as she did so. She turned in the direction of nearing footfalls and saw her lady golem approaching and she looked up at her. 

Irona looked down to see Steve. He was unconsciously holding onto Celina’s shoulders. He had bruises and cuts littering his face and hands, and he was trembling violently. His eyes were closed, his whole form reading pain and weakness.

Irona gave a series of squeaks and creaks, asking where she had found the miner. Celina pursed her lips and answered. “I… I found him out in the middle of the forest. He… he’s heavily wounded and had a sword through his chest, pinning him to an oak tree.”

More creaks and clicks came from Irona.

Celina felt herself shudder. “He… he was attacked by Herobrine.”

Irona let a quiet gasp escape her lips, eyes going wide. She didn’t want to believe that the fabled being had attacked the miner, but there was no other logical explanation. Nothing else she thought of made sense.

“Queen Celina! Thank MinecraftChick you’re alright!” Matthew said as he came running up the path behind Irona. He stopped next to the golem, a frown on his face when he saw Steve.

“Matthew,” Celina questioned. “I thought you were on patrol with the others.”

“I was, but then I saw Lady Irona standing in front of the castle with great distress on her face.” He tilted his head and gestured to the miner. “What happened to Miner Steve?”

“He… he was… he was attacked by Herobrine,” Celina replied with tears forming in her eyes.

A gasp escaped Matthew’s lips. “He--Herobrine? But… but I thought he was--just a myth!”

A shake of the queen’s head was given. “He’s no myth, Matthew. He’s been haunting and trying to kill Steve for years. I… I heard Steve scream earlier, so I went out to find him. He had been pinned to a tree with a sword in his chest by Herobrine. I was able to pull the sword out and give him one of my Regen-Healing potions… but… guys, he was in so much pain…” 

Celina shuddered at remembering Steve’s cries and whimpers, and his shaking as he held onto her hand. “He cried out and held onto me. The pain was too much for him once the effects of my potion wore off. He passed out on the way here.” She sighed softly. “Steve needs a place to rest, bandages, and some more potions. I’ve done all I can, but we need to get him inside.”

Irona and Matthew nodded. The knight responded with, “Don’t worry, Your Majesty, I’ll get some of the others knights to patrol outside the castle with me. We’ll protect the doors to keep you and Miner Steve safe.”

“Okay, thank you, Matthew.” Celina watched him nod before heading down the path leading into the town square. She then looked up to Irona. “Irona… can you hold Steve? Just until I get a bed set up and some bandages for him?”

The lady golem tensed a bit. Steve looked so fragile. He was still shaking and his breaths indicated how hard he was trying to cling to life. She was afraid of hurting him with her strength. However, she could see the pleading in the queen’s eyes. She sighed, before holding her arms out and taking the miner. She cradled him close to her chest, like a mother would her child.

Celina watched Irona for a moment, before nodding to her. “I’m gonna set up a bed for him and get some of my supplies. When I call you in, bring him inside.”

Irona nodded, watching the queen move up the steps to the castle and through the double doors. She then looked down to Steve, watching his movements, making sure he was still breathing. The golem couldn’t even begin to imagine all the pain the miner had just been through. He looked so weary and tears still clung to his cheeks.

Out of curiosity, she carefully moved the miner so she was cradling him with one arm, moving her other hand up to move the cloak a bit. Her eyes widened at seeing the mess of wounds that littered his torso. They were all very deep cuts, but the one that made her cringe was the large wound on Steve’s chest. It was very, very bloody, and she could tell that it opened on his back. 

Irona heard the miner whimper, so she rewrapped him with the cloak and held him close again. He had probably started to get cold with his wounds exposed to the cool night air again.

“Irona! Bring him in!”

Irona heard the queen call for her. She took one more look down at Steve, before making her way to the steps and moving inside the doors.

*****

Steve couldn’t see anything, there was no more pain, no more fear, just a deep, soothing black that encased him in safety. There was nothing wrong here, there was no fear of Herobrine here. He didn’t want to leave the darkness, just being able to stay here a while longer would be nice.

“Steve? Stevie? Are you awake?”

A small groan escaped Steve’s lips as a voice stirred him from his rest. The black began to fade and pain began to flood his form. He could see colors and shapes coming into view, the black fading in small spots. He blinked to get the blurriness to go away, and when it did, he saw a gray stone-brick wall in front of him. It was lined with chests, bookcases, and flowers sitting in flower pots on colorful blocks. There were also magenta and blue banners hanging from the wall. The place he was in was very decorated.

A small movement came from his left, and Steve managed to move his eyes to see a young girl in bright clothing sitting next to him. He took a moment to look at her with his half closed eyes, before speaking up to her. “Ce… Celina? Is that you?”

Celina sighed in relief as she took her crown and put it back on her head. She had set up the bed and all her supplies for the miner when Irona brought him in, then had him laid on the bed and tucked in. She had then treated as many of her wounds as she could, pouring some of her potions into and wrapping up all but one on his arm and the chest wound. 

The queen then waited, sitting by Steve’s side to make sure he was still breathing and seeing if he would wake up. She had almost feared he wouldn’t, and she had even cried as she waited, wiping her eyes only when the miner began to stir in his sleep.

Celina spoke, “Thank Jeb. I was afraid you weren’t going to wake up. I didn’t know what else to do but wait for you to wake up.”

Steve blinked as he looked at her, before slowly wiggling his fingers and curling his hands to see if he had any feeling in them. He then tried to push himself up with his arms when he realized he could feel them. He grunted and propped himself up, asking, “Where--where… am I? I don’t… remember--”

That was when a sharp twinge of agony ran through the miner’s chest and arms. “OW! OW, OW, OW!” He shouted and closed his eyes tightly, bowing his head. “Ahhh! Everything hurts!”

Celina frowned, before taking her hands and carefully pushed him to lay back down on the mattress she had set up for him. She then grabbed the ends of the blanket and pulled it up to his chest. “Easy, Steve,” she told him. “I know you’re hurting, just lay down so you don’t make your wounds worse.”

Steve nodded and took deep breaths to try and alleviate the pain in his chest. He tried to himself from crying out as his hands lightly clutched onto the sheets. It was only then he realized he was lying on a soft mattress with a thick red blanket over him. A few fluffy pillows were propping up his head, he noticed. Steve let out a little sigh and looked back over to Celina, looking into her big gray eyes. “Celina… what--what happened? I’m… I’m not dead?”

The question broke the queen’s heart. Steve was in so much pain that he thought he was dead? She shook her head. “No, Steve. You’re alive. Thank goodness you are. I was terrified that you weren’t going to make it out alive.” 

Celina looked over his face, seeing tears rolling from his eyes again as he tried to keep them open. “I set up a bed for you here in the castle and had Irona bring you in. I made some more potions and used them on you. I’ve patched most of your wounds up, but I still need to get one on your arm and the big one on your chest.” She pulled a roll of cyan bandages from her inventory, unraveling a bit of the roll. “I’m gonna have to use more of the potion on your arm and your chest wound.”