The Broken Flame

A rumble through the ground had Brine struggling to stay standing as he glared at Glistenia. A sudden yelp caught his attention and he turned his head towards Celina.

The queen stumbled and nearly fell over, still holding onto the miner as she tried to stay upright. 

“Celina!” Brine ran to her side and dropped one of his blades, wrapping his arm around the queen until the quaking stopped. He could see the newly strengthened mobs now coming towards them and he quickly looked to the queen. “We need to get Steve away from here before we start fighting. Follow me!”

Celina nodded as Brine took off, going at a human pace so the queen could keep up. The mobs all seemed to roar out as the queen and the Nether Prince took off, the Enders immediately giving chase. Celina could hear the monsters coming after them and she found herself crying out, “Brine!”

The being turned to her. “Keep moving! I know where we can take him!”

The two ran as hard as they could, the queen beginning to lightly wheeze from her tiring body. The Demi-God ran towards a set of large emerald block towers and he slowed a bit to put his arm behind her back. Brine suddenly pulled Celina to the side and they tumbled to the ground behind the towers. Brine could hear the Endermen coming and he stood and pulled a nearby lever. Walls of obsidian covered the openings on the sides of the towers, blocking out the mobs. 

Celina could hear hands slamming into the obsidian that now kept the mobs out. Brine turned to her and she asked, “What in the End is this, Brine?”

“It’s a small haven I made myself for when I had breakdowns. It’s just small enough so the Endermen can’t get in here, even if they teleport in. He should be safe here.”

Celina nodded, seeing the miner lying on the ground where she had nearly dropped him. “Brine, what are we going to do? I’m guessing you just telporting us out of this cave isn’t a good idea?”

“Unfortunately not, my friend. She knows where we live, and I don’t want to put your people in danger.” Brine closed his eyes and sighed heavily. “We have to fight her. If we can put up a fight against her and win, we can stop her and her rule over the mobs.”

Celina gulped silently, feeling herself beginning to tremble. “We’re… we need to fight her?”

Brine could hear her rapid heartbeat and so he knelt and put hands on her shoulders. “I know it sounds scary, Celina. I know. But I’ve also seen how strong you are and how you never give up. If we work together, we can do this. I just need you to trust me, okay?” He squeezed her a bit. “Do you trust me?”

Celina looked into the soft glow of his white eyes, seeing a seriousness and determination to fight like she had only seen in his memories. It was reassuring, somehow making her feel like she could do anything and everything. She felt herself giving him a determined smile. “I do… I trust you, Brine.”

“Then let’s show Glistenia what we’re made of.”

She grabbed onto Brine’s hand and he lifted her up through an opening in the top of the walls, floating out and to the ground below. Celina quickly pulled her blade from her belt as Brine resummoned his swords into his hands.

“Ahh, so you choose to fight, Herobrine?”

Glistenia’s words rang out and the two turned their attention to the approaching Enderwoman. She still had that blade in her hand and the duo raised their own blades in defense. She stopped several blocks away, making all the mobs in the vicinity cease their movements. Celina brandished her blade. “We’re not afraid of you, Glistenia! We will be the victors this day! You may have tried to lure us into our deaths, but it’ll take a lot more to take us down!”

Glistenia raised a brow. “Oh, so the little queen throws aside her fear to fight? How endearing.” She laughed darkly. “You really are throwing your life away, young queen. You don’t know what kind of power you are up against, and you really don’t know what kind of trouble you’re in.”

Celina glared at the tall mob. “I may not know what kind of power I’m going against, but I know who and what I’m fighting for. I won’t be afraid of you any longer if it means defeating you!”

Brine nodded. “We fight for humanity, not just ourselves! We will defeat you this day, Glistenia!”

“We’ll see about that!” she shouted back. “Kill them!”

Several zombies began to charge towards the two and Brine braced himself. When the zombies got close enough, he began to spin with his blades held out, slicing into the fiends with ease. He stopped as more of the undead began to move forward.

Celina held up her sword as the zombies moved and she saw Brine look to her. The two charged forward, the queen letting out a battle cry and raising her blades up as Brine swung his swords. Zombie blood was splattered across the ground as several of the mobs were sliced into. Arrows went flying as soon as the zombies were down, but Brine was able to dodge the spray of arrows and dive to get Celina out of the way. 

When the barrage was over, the queen ran forward with the skeletons trying to nock more projectiles. Brine followed her lead as she ran into one of the mobs, sword slicing into its spinal structure and sending bones to the ground. She turned to slice at another skeleton, barely being missed by an arrow as she went to slice a third bone mob. When another threatened to shoot at her, Brine kicked its spine from behind, causing it to shatter. He sliced down two more skeletons that tried to flee, making them fall to the ground.

The skeletons were nothing but piles of bones within a short time and the creepers were now charging forward. Celina’s eyes went wide. “Brine! Creepers!” 

The Demi-God nodded and summoned several fireballs in a circle around him. “Duck!”

The queen dropped into a crouch as Brine smacked the flaming projectiles, sending them flying out into the green mobs. Several hisses rang out as they all burned and flew back, some hitting a few of the towers scattered across the room.

Celina quickly stood, only for a dark colored arm to snake around her torso and lift her up. She shouted out and kicked her legs around to escape.

Brine heard her struggling and shouted, “Celina!”

The queen pushed her sword forward, before yelling out as she reeled it back into the Ender’s torso. The mob screamed and dropped her, before teleporting a few yards away. The queen quickly ran to Brine’s side again as more Endermen approached them, seeming to be trying to avenge the injured one.

Brine looked back at Celina as the Enders circled them. He told her, “Jump and hold your sword above your head!”

Celina did as she was asked, feeling Brine grab her ankles and begin to spin her around. She held her sword out as she spun and with Brine’s speed, the Endermen weren’t fast enough to dodge the swinging queen.

Glistenia looked on and her eyes went wide as all the Endermen were easily knocked down by the queen and the Demi-God. She watched in disbelief, before sharply narrowing her eyes. “ENOUGH!” her voice rang out in the cavern. “You idiots! You can’t even fight against a human without falling flat on your faces. You all are so WEAK!” She brandished her blade and got into a battle stance. “If you imbeciles can’t handle these two, I will deal with them myself!” She then disappeared from sight, before appearing before the duo. Brine had set Celina back down, but they were unprepared for the sudden swipe of Glistenia’s unarmed hand, sending the queen flying through the air and rolling to a stop several blocks away.

“CELINA!” Brine shouted. He went to make a run for his friend, but was stopped by the tip of Glistenia’s blade swiping across his face. The Demi-God stumbled, holding onto his cheek, before turning towards her with a low, guttural growl. A wound now laid on the left side of his face, dripping with purple blood. Glistenia just stood there for a moment, and Brine didn’t understand why until he realized something:

His wound wasn’t healing.

He touched the injury and saw blood on his fingers when he pulled them back. His brows rose and he looked up with rage at the Enderwoman. Without a second thought, he summoned his blades back into his hands and charged at her. He swung his blades out, only to be blocked with lightning reflexes. He then took a step back and charged again, only for his lower blow to be blocked.

Celina pushed herself up onto her hands and knees as she let out a soft grunt. Glistenia had hit her pretty hard and she found herself feeling slightly dizzy as she moved back onto her feet with her sword in hand. She heard a sharp cry and snapped her head up to see Brine stumbling away from Glistenia, a thin gash across his left arm. She gasped and shouted out, “Brine!” She then took off into a sprint to try and reach him.

The sound of something teleporting behind her caught her attention, and Celina quickly stopped and turned, only for another hand to smack into her face. She stumbled back for a second, before looking at the Enderman that had swiped her. She let out a battle cry and swung her blade out, managing to cut one of its arms off. The monster screeched in pain and teleported off.

The sound of a bow being pulled back had the queen turning and barely ducking in time to dodge the arrow of a nearby skeleton. A few of the boney mobs moved towards her and Celina braced herself. She took one step back, before running forwards again.

Brine barely managed to block a blow that was heading for his left side from the Ender in front of him, and she reeled back before trying to hit his right side instead. He swung his swords down and blocked it, the impact knocking him back a step. When the tall mob reeled back, Brine snarled at her. “So, you were luring me into a trap?! By kidnapping my brother and attacking my best friend’s kingdom and people?! Just so you could try to kill me?!”

Glistenia scoffed at him. “You’ve obviously let yourself fall from your throne, Herobrine! You let yourself fall so far as to sympathize with the beings you once hated! I no longer need you to rule over my mobs! Therefore, you will die on my blade!” Glistenia swung her sword out again and Brine dropped into a crouch under it. She growled out and spun on her heels to make another blow, catching Brine off guard when he got up. He felt the blade slice across his leg and he hissed in pain.

Celina smashed another skeleton apart with her blade, sending the last of the bone mobs crashing into the ground as a pile. She panted and looked behind her as a groan came from her back. A group of zombies were now fumbling towards her and she sighed in aggravation. This battle was taking a toll on her now aching body and she didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to keep fighting these monsters. Her lungs ached, her legs ached, her arms were growing tired and sore. She was only human and she knew she was growing weaker and weaker by the second. 

But she also knew she had to keep fighting.

For the sake of everyone she knew, she had to keep fighting.

The queen took a deep breath, getting into her defensive stance as the zombies and a few spiders neared her.

Brine shouted out as he took a leap into the air and brought his blades down at the Enderwoman. She swung her blade up to push him back as their weapons collided, sending Brine flying through the air. He managed to land on his feet and snarled, all the cuts he had received stinging and hurting. Brine knew he wasn’t healing, he knew that this Enderwoman knew what could kill him and how to kill him, and he knew one wrong move would end everything for him. He very well could die here, but Brine wasn’t going to let himself get cut down so easily. He was going to keep fighting, for his friends and his brother.

Fight a good fight, until the very end.