The Broken Flame

Celina’s eyes went wide, before she thought about Brine’s words a little more. “...She sent mobs to spy on you after you didn’t come back from killing Steve. Because you never actually killed Steve. You fought me, held up your end of the deal, and then I changed you.” Everyone looked to Celina as she spoke. “She saw this when you didn’t come back, and… Brine, could she have kidnapped Steve to get you back to your throne?”

Brine’s eyes slowly widened as her words sunk in. “I didn’t even think about that. You could be right. She may have sent mobs to spy on me and saw that Steve was still recovering from his wounds. If she did, she would have known that he couldn’t defend himself yet.” Brine felt his insides beginning to boil and he furrowed his brows tightly.

Celina seemed to notice this and she carefully put a hand on his shoulder. “Brine, now’s not the time to get angry. We have to figure out where Glitsenia took Steve if she really sent those mobs to take him. Once we figure that out, we have to go save him.”

Brine looked down at the queen and nodded softly. “You’re right. We should head back to the castle and see what we can figure out.” He looked to the guard whose memories he had seen. “Thank you for your help, Lucy. I’m forever in your debt.”

Lucy smiled softly. “It’s no trouble, Lord Brine. Please be careful out there.”

*****

Brine pushed open the doors to the throne room as Celina followed behind him, shutting the doors once they were both inside. The queen looked up at Brine as he furrowed his brows again, seeming to be thinking deeply about something. She folded her arms in front of her chest. “What are you thinking, Brine?”

“I’m thinking about where Glistenia could have taken Steve,” he responded, putting hands on his hips. “There’s only a few places I can think of: my castle, a few bases we have in some old ruins scattered around the Overworld, the End. But I somehow feel like those are too obvious…”

Celina tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“Those are places we talk all the time in. It seems a little too easy for her to take Steve to one of those places, because she’s smart enough to know I would look there right away.” Brine tapped one of his feet as he talked. “Knowing her, she’s probably taken him somewhere I would never look, never go to, never even think about going to.” 

It was like Celina could see the repeaters in his head clicking and working, but after a few minutes, Brine still hadn’t said anything. Celina opened her mouth to speak, but the sudden sound of something hitting the ground had her jumping in her place.

Brine’s head snapped to the noise, only to see a tall black form had fallen down and was now lying on the ground outside of the castle. He bared his sharp canines and immediately teleported outside, appearing in front of the mob with his hands curled into fists at his sides.

The Enderman shrieked in terror, though to anyone else, it would have sounded like an inhuman screech. Before the monster could try and escape, Brine surged forward and grabbed its neck, his hand threatening to crush its throat. Brine held onto the mob as it attempted to claw its way out of his grasp.

Celina had seen Brine appear outside and she rushed out the doors and followed him around to the side of the throne room. She ran around the corner and made her way to Brine’s side, watching in slight terror as he shook the mob to stop its struggle. Celina looked over the mob, seeming to recognize it. 

“Brine… it’s missing part of its arm.”

The Demi-God looked down at the monster’s arm at her words, realizing the queen was right. There was part of its other arm hanging at its side, the end looking to have been healing.

Celina saw Brine turn to look at her, before slowly turning his furious gaze back to the Ender. It hissed softly at him. Brine scoffed. “You,” he spoke in the tongue of the tall black mobs. “You were the one I saw holding onto her neck. You were the one I told to tell the rest of the mobs to never step into the kingdom again.”

The monster spoke back to him, a detectable accent in its stuttering. “A--And? Wha--what of it?”

Brine snarled. “I told you to never step into this kingdom again! If you don’t leave right now, I will crush your neck and throw your body into the nearest ravine!”

Celina could see her friend’s hand shaking and after a second, she realized something. He was going to kill the mob, but--

“Brine, wait!” she shouted.

The Nether Prince turned his head to meet the queen’s gaze.

“Brine, that was the Ender that grabbed me! If they’re really working for Glistenia, they might know where she is and where she has Steve!”

Brine slightly loosened his grip at her words, letting the mob take in a bit more air. He thought about Celina’s words before turning back to the Ender. He took a deep breath, trying to cool his heated rage. He spoke slowly in the tongue of the Enders. “Now… listen closely, because I am only going to tell you this once. I saw you holding this human by her neck, and I saw you in the castle. I know you were here during the attack. You are going to tell me who sent you and where they are. And if you do not, I will personally tear you to shreds and throw what’s left of you into the lava oceans of the Nether.”

The Ender seemed to smirk and this made Brine angry to no end. “WHAT ARE YOU SMILING ABOUT?!”

The Enderman chuckled a bit. “I’m surprised, Herobrine. You don’t yet recognize me, do you?”

Brine’s rage subsided for a moment, before his eyes narrowed. “Aaron.” 

“That’s right.” He chuckled again. “And knowing who I am… do you really think I would tell you anything?”

Those words made Brine snap and he barely kept himself from crushing Aaron’s neck on the spot. This mob had been one of his most trusted advisors, and now, that was all gone to the Nether. He suddenly screamed out, “I WILL KILL YOU RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, IF YOU DON’T TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW!”

The Enderman seemed to visibly grin a wicked smile and Celina didn’t even have to understand their conversation to know what it was smiling about. She huffed and closed her eyes to think for a second. Think, this Enderman seemed to want to die before telling them anything, and if they killed it, they would lose their one lead to wherever Steve could be.

A redstone torch seemed to go off in her head. Celina asked, “Brine?”

Brine turned his head to look at her. 

“I have an idea.” She looked at him and said, “Brine, you can give people nightmares, right? Realistic and scary ones?”

The being thought for a few seconds, before he nodded and looked at the Ender. His eyes began to glow just a little brighter and that was when Aaron’s more confident expression began to fade. Flashbacks to the last time he failed Herobrine filled his head. He knew exactly what the Nether Prince was doing and it suddenly filled him with panic. He suddenly began to claw at the Demi-God’s arm and hissed out, “No! I won’t go back into that nightmare realm!”

“Then I suggest you tell us where Glistenia is hiding, Aaron,” Brine whispered in a dark voice. “Unless you want to relive your worst fears… again?”

“ALRIGHT, I’LL TELL YOU!”

The glowing in Brine’s eyes died down and he loosened his grip on the Ender’s neck just a little more. 

Aaron took a few breaths before telling Brine, “The forbidden cavern, the one where you first met Glistenia. That is where she is, and that is where she’s taken the miner. She has a plan for him, but she had only told us mobs to attack the kingdom and kidnap the miner. She didn’t entail what was to become of the miner after we brought him to her. I swear on the End, that’s all I know.”

Brine nodded, before letting the mob slip from his grasp. Before Aaron could move, however, Brine summoned his blades and sliced off the head of the mob, sending his body to flop to the floor. The head rolled a few blocks away, before any trace of the monster vanished in a puff of dust.

Celina looked at where the mob once sat, before turning to Brine. “What did it say? Who was that anyways?”

“That was Aaron. He was one of the Enders I appointed as an advisor. He helped with organizing the monsters for attacks and spying on people I deemed of interest.” Brine turned to look at her. “He told me where Steve was taken.”

“Why did you kill him?”

Brine looked into her big gray eyes. “He told me Glistenia sent the attack on the kingdom, and ordered them to take Steve. I’ve known him for some time, and knowing that, I figured he would report back to Glistenia if I didn’t slay him.”

Celina nodded in understanding. “So… where did they take him.”

“...To the cave where I first met Glistenia.”

Celina’s eyes went wide. “Wait… the one where… Tulip…”

Brine nodded, visibly tensing under her words. “I know where it is, but I can’t teleport us there.”

“Why not,” the queen asked.

“If what Aaron said was true, if I teleport us to the cave, Glistenia will be able to detect my energy from the teleportation. She can sense energy signatures, and mine is especially powerful when I use my abilities. If I teleport us there, she might sense me and kill Steve. She may be holding Steve for ransom to get me back on my throne. But she will not hesitate to take a life for her own gain.” He turned to Celina. “I have to go there by foot and find Steve.”

Celina looked at him for a moment, slightly shocked, before putting on a more serious face. “If you’re going to go find Steve… I’m going with you.”

Brine blinked in surprise. “Celina, I don’t want you to get hurt--”

She shook her head. “Brine, I know you don’t want anything to happen to me. I know. You’re my best friend, and I care about you as you do me. But Steve is also like a brother to me. I care about him, he’s helped me through a lot. I’m not letting some cocky Ender hurt him and just take him away from me without a fight. And you need to remember: You mean a lot to me too. I don’t want anything to happen to you if I can help it.” 

Brine sighed. “Celina, the mobs that work closest to Glistenia and guard her are strong. They’re stronger than you think, stronger than any mob you’ve faced here. And she knows powerful magic. I don’t know if--”

Celina held up a hand. “I don’t care how strong they are, or how strong her magic is. I’m not going to let her just take Steve and kill him without putting up a fight. Besides… she betrayed you. She betrayed my best friend. She hurt my people and scared them. I’m not going to let her get away with that.” She took one of Brine’s hands in her hands. “She’s gone too far with what she did, and I’m going to show her that I’m not afraid of her. She has to pay for what she’s done.” Celina smiled. “Besides, do you really think I’d back down from someone who took a good friend of mine and tried to hurt my best friend?”

Brine could almost see his wife standing there, determined to stay by his side no matter what and help him through everything. He chuckled and shook his head. “You’re so much like her, Celina. More than you realize.” Brine smiled. “You’ve got all the determination in the world and are more loyal than you know.”

Celina grinned. “I’m going with you, Brine. I’ll prepare myself so we can leave as soon as possible. I’ll need to get some supplies for us to put into my inventory, and I’ll need to let Irona know that I’ll be gone for some time.”

Brine nodded in response. “I’ll let you do just that. Thank you, Celina.”

Celina looked at him with a sparkle of determination in her eyes as she squeezed his hand. “Let’s go save Steve.”