The Broken Flame

The darkness of the night engulfed a large forest to the south of Celina’s kingdom, a small fog seeming drifting between the large oaks and birches. There were no mobs this night in the forest, the only sound in the woods being the footsteps of a young miner walking in the grass. There was no light to penetrate this darkness, one could barely even see in front of them in the forest.

Steve let out a huff as he continued his walk, squinting his eyes in the darkness. He had no indicator of where he was in the large forest and there was no road leading him back to his home. The miner stopped his walk, frowning deeply. “Jeb damn it!” he said aloud. “I shouldn’t have used all my torches in the mines. Now, I can’t see anything, I’m completely lost, and I don’t even have a compass. I should’ve brought more torches!” 

The man scratched his head as he thought hard about what to do. He had gotten very turned around in the large forest and he wasn’t even sure where he was in relation to his village or the castle. There was no way he was going to be able to find his way back in the dark. Steve was either going to have to make shelter until the day, which could be dangerous, or just keep going.

Celina had offered him more torches and even a compass to use on his way home, but the miner had denied it, saying he would be fine. She had even offered to walk him home, but again, he denied the offer in favor of saying he’d be fine.

Now, look what that had gotten him. He was lost and had no indicator of where he was going. He was going to have to stop here until the sun came up or something.

Steve didn’t even notice the figure that was now standing at a tree not too far behind him.

Suddenly, something rushed past the miner with inhuman speed, nearly knocking him over in its wake. The miner quickly turned on his heels. “What in the Nether?!”

There was nothing there. Not a single sound from another living this was made.

Steve raised a brow. That was… definitely not normal. There was nothing that could run that fast that he knew of. Not any human nor any mob of any realm.

Unless…

His train of thought was interrupted again by the entity running rushing past him again, this time so fast he could feel a small gust of wind from it. The miner turned again to see what it was that had run by him, but he didn’t see any other forms. Only a long tear in the ground running in front of him. “What the hell…” Steve whispered. That looked like someone had dragged one of their tools through the dirt in front of him.

“Sttteeeeeeeevvvvveeeeeennnnn…”

A dark and echoing voice suddenly called his name and the young man froze in his spot. A chill moved up his spine and his blood ran cold. His violet eyes widened.

Someone was here in the forest with him.

Pulling his sword from his inventory, Steve held the diamond blade tightly as he looked around. He could barely see anything, only the tall forms of the trees against the light colored fog that seemed to glow the tiniest bit. He didn’t see any forms or human shapes. The miner’s voice audibly quivered as he spoke. “Who… who’s there? Sh--show yourself.”

“Steeeeevvvvveeeeeennn? What’s wrong, Steven?”

That voice echoed through the forest again and made the fine hairs on the back of Steve’s neck stand on end. His whole body shook as he tried to keep his blade close should this thing or person try to attack him. That voice was definitely not friendly. It was dark, intrepid, silky, but devious all the same. The worst part of it though?

It was familiar.

Steve jumped at the sudden sound of something scratching through the bark of a nearby tree. It sounded like claws tearing into the wood. He turned to look for the source, but there was nothing there.

Steve kept turning on his heels as noises came from all around him. Footsteps, whispers, scratching; all these sounds had him spinning to see where they were coming from but he couldn’t see anything. 

Steve tried to keep himself from whimpering as he held up his sword. His heart was pounding in his chest, his mind racing with possibilities, and sweat formed on his face. He didn’t know who was there but he knew someone was after him. And he didn’t plan to find out what it was. The miner wanted so badly to turn and run away, to see if he could find his way home. But his whole body was frozen in fear. He could barely control his rapid breaths at this point. Steve didn’t want to stay here, but he couldn’t will his legs to move. His fight, flight, or freeze response had kicked in and he was stuck in his place.

A loud cracking noise made Steve jump in fright. He listened as the cracking got louder and louder, until one sharp breaking sound made him turn around. He gasped aloud. A tree had been cut right through the bottom and was now falling towards him.

Steve screamed in terror, instincts kicking in, and he ran as fast as he could from the falling oak. The tree crashed to the ground and knocked him off his feet from the impact. 

The miner rolled a few blocks away before pushing himself up to sit on the ground. He somehow kept his sword in his hand and looked at the fallen oak, taking deep breaths. There was silence for a few moments. “Dear Jeb,” he thought aloud. “That tree could have crushed me… that was way too close.”

“You don’t even know how close you still are.”

That voice. It came again. And this time, it was right behind Steve. He knew that voice anywhere. It was the voice of his deepest darkest fears and worst nightmares. That voice had haunted him for years and now he knew who had been terrorizing him just moments ago. And now, he was more afraid than he had ever been. “No…” the miner whispered. He daringly turned his head, ever so slowly, to look over his shoulder.

A bright light suddenly blinded the miner as he fully turned to face the one who had spoken to him. He closed his eyes and tried to shield them. The brightness died down enough so he could open them, and he looked up. There stood what appeared to be human, but Steve knew he was anything but that. He looked almost identical to Steve, down to the clothes and hair color. But this being’s hair was down past his shoulders, he lacked freckles, his build was much more healthy and strong, and his eyes… His eyes were white as snow and shined brightly in the dark of the woods. 

Steve made a sharp gasp. “Herobrine!” he shouted. He recognized those white eyes anywhere. This was the Demi-God who had haunted him most of his life and had very nearly beaten him to death several different times during his adult life. He knew now he was in for a world of hurt.

Herobrine could see the miner trembling in fear as he held his sword close to him. It was a feeble attempt to protect himself and he let out a dark chuckle. “Hello, Steven. Did you have fun with the little queen today?” 

Steve didn’t answer, he was stuff as a board and terrified for his life right now. He knew that this man hated him. What other reason would there be for all the fear and near death beatings he had instilled in the miner?

And Steve knew that he may not make it out alive this time.

The miner only now noticed Herobrine had his two crimson swords at his sides, the blades dark as redstone with flecks of red floating around them. He had seen the sheer power and mastery over those blades the ancient man had. He had flawless skills of battle and those skills made it a struggle to even fight the guy.

Steve kept his eyes on one of those blades as Herobrine put one in the strap that ran around his torso, in the part on his back. He took the other blade, holding it up and running a hand along the flat edge. The glow of his eyes shined in the reflective surface.

Herobrine chuckled again and looked back at the fearful miner, seeing how badly he was shaking. Oh, how he relished that fear. It was like a potion to him, something he was very much addicted to. And even if this would be the miner’s final fight, he would treasure that feeling.

The Nether Prince began a slow, menacing walk towards the human, the sword in his hand at his side. Steve’s body practically screamed at him and he began to scoot backwards on his behind, trying to keep distance between himself and the being. He kept his sword in his hands and gripped tightly to the leather on the handle. The miner began to speak to Herobrine, a tone of pleading in his voice. “Herobrine, please, don’t--don’t do this! I beg of you! Please, if I’ve done something wrong, let me fix it!” 

His plea stopped when he felt himself bump into the trunk of the fallen oak and he looked back. Oh, no, he was really trapped now. He turned his head forward again and saw the King of the Mobs wasn’t too far from him. He shook his head. This can’t be happening! This can’t be happening again! Steve began to beg once more, holding up a hand. “Herobrine, please, I don’t know--if--I--I did something wrong, but if I did, please, let me fix it! I just--please, don’t do this!”

Herobrine let out a dark laugh and he put a hand on one hip. “Oh, Steven, how naive you are… You really think your pleas will get you anywhere? You have no say in the matter of your life anymore. That fate is mine to decide now.” He made it within two blocks of the miner and stared him down. The Nether Prince brandished his blade and lifted it slightly, only to sheathe it onto his back. “Hmm… how about we have a little fun first, Steven?” 

Steve tried to scramble away as Herobrine slowly reached a hand towards him. He didn’t move far enough fast enough because the man clasped onto his forehead and held him in his spot. The miner squirmed around and clasped onto the wrist of the hand on him, trying to pry it off. “Let go of me!”

Herobrine only grinned wickedly and tightened his grip in response, making the miner cry out. He loved to hear that sound. His cries were something he savored. “You’re not going anywhere, miner. How about we play on my stomping grounds, hmm?” He closed his eyes and concentrated his powers into his hands, letting a white mist engulf him and the human. The miner stopped his struggles in an instant and he let the mist surround his form.

Steve had felt this energy before, it was strange and made his body feel cold and stiff. He knew what Herobrine was doing now:

He was going to pull him into the nightmare realm again.

Realizing this, the miner began to kick his legs out and grabbed onto the hand again. “No, stop! Not again! Please, don’t!”

Herobrine opened one eye to see his prey begging for mercy once more, but he let that devious smile of his cross his face as more of his powers flowed into the man’s head. He concentrated it more and let one intense bolt zap through his arm.

A sharp pain erupted from Steve’s head and he screamed, “AHHHHAAAAAHHHAAAA!” He tried to fight it, but there was nothing he could do. He struggled again and again, until he felt his body go numb and his head began to pound. His body went limp against the oak and he nearly fell from Herobrine’s grasp. He let darkness engulf him and everything went black. Steve’s eyes closed for only a few moments…

Then they fluttered open.