The Broken Flame

There stood the miner across from the Nether Prince, both men with swords in hand and defensive stances taken. Steve gripped tightly to the leather on the handle of his blade. He knew how strong Herobrine was, he had fought him many times before. This man wasn’t human and it showed. But he knew he couldn’t just let himself go down so easily. Begging was useless, so he had no choice but to fight. 

Herobrine and Steve walked in a slow circle, keeping their distance as they stared each other down. The Demi-God spoke, “You’ve surprised me, Steven. You were pleading for my mercy only moments ago. This is sudden, but you seem to know my ways well. You know how much I enjoy a good fight.”

Steve let a small scowl cross his features. “You made it clear, Herobrine,” he replied. “I can’t beg my way out of death, so you’ve given me no choice. I won’t let myself fall.”

“We’ll see about that.” And with that, Herobrine rushed forward with his blades in hand, raising one and keeping the other held at his side. He made a jump and brought the blade down into Steve’s now raised diamond sword, the sound they made echoing through the darkness. The being pulled back and swung his other blade and Steve leaned down to block the lower blow. He then swung as Herobrine readied for another attack, the being stopping his attack with inhuman reflexes. 

The two began to swing back and forth at each other, attack after precise attack with swords clashing each and every time. Steve would attempt to catch Herobrine off guard but the man knew all his moves and would stop him every time. And the Demi-God, to his surprise, wasn’t using all his strength, seeming to match the strength of the miner and keeping him on alert.

Steve was growing tired at this point, sweat forming on his face and rolling down his temples. He could feel his arms starting to tremble with every blocked attack. Why did he have to leave his shield at home? That would’ve helped a lot right now. 

The Demi-God stepped back, tossing his head back to move his long hair over his shoulder. The miner saw his chance, pulling his sword back and throwing a fist towards the man. Before he could even process what was happening, Herobrine dropped one blade and grabbed onto the human’s wrist. Steve gaped in surprise and tried to pull his hand back. 

However, the King of the Mobs dropped his other blade and held onto the mortal’s wrist with two hands. He turned on his heels, taking Steve with him, and began to spin in wild circles. The miner shouted as he was lifted into the air and his world spun and just kept spinning. He didn’t realize until it was too late that Herobrine then lowered him and let go of his wrist.

Steve screamed as he flew over the grass and he silently wailed when his back collided with a large oak. Loud cracking sounds followed the crash and he almost thought his back was broken, though the sounds were more wooden than bone. 

The miner’s sword fell from his hand and he dropped to the ground, on his rear end. He leaned against the tree and let out a loud groan of pain. His back throbbed in agony, it hurt so much. Steve almost thought the being had cracked some of his ribs or broken his spine. Tears began rolling down his cheeks and he felt a warm fluid slip from the side of his mouth. He was dizzy, he tried to see where Herobrine was but his vision was blurring in and out.

Herobrine chuckled darkly and began to walk to the groaning miner, picking up both of his swords along the way. He could smell blood and it was intoxicating. He knew something had to be broken in the man.

Steve managed to pry his eyes open as his body shook with pain and saw Herobrine walking towards him with his swords in hand. He tried to stand as he took a hold on his sword. He stumbled as he stood, nearly falling over in the process. He coughed and a few droplets of crimson fell to the grasses below.

“Aw, what’s wrong, Steven? Did that hurt,” came to being’s mocking tone. He couldn’t help but grin manically at the miner. 

Steve managed to shoot a weak glare at Herobrine and muttered, “Shut… your… mouth… I’m going to--to… keep fighting. Until… the--the very...end.”

Herobrine could hear how his voice trembled in weakness. “Oh my, I haven’t heard someone tell me something like that since… well, you already know, don’t you?”

Steve lifted his head to look at the Nether Prince. “What--what are you… talking about?” 

“Oh, you don’t remember,” Herobrine responded. “You remember how your parents were attacked by the Ender Dragon, don’t you?”

Steve’s eyes went wide at the mention of his parents. His eyes snapped open and he watched as Herobrine held one of his blades up, looking at his reflection in the shining surface. “Well, the dragon didn’t actually kill them.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Fighting until the very end… well… that was the last thing your mother said before I slayed her.”

Steve’s world seemed to come crashing down on him in an instant, and his mind flashed to that day.

*****

It had been a perfectly normal day for the miner. He and Stephanie had been sitting in their front yard. Then, two voices came calling from down the road. Two of his friends, Sam and Alex, came running and had told him that his parents home was now in ruins. They had heard news of an Ender Dragon attack in the Overworld and knew the area was right near the miner’s parents’ home. 

Steve had dropped everything and made his way to the mountain where his home was. His childhood home had been destroyed, there were remains of a large stone castle within the mountain that had also been torn down. But the worst part? His parents, Sandra and Jared. Their bodies lay atop the biggest rubble pile. Steve didn’t even check their wounds, he had just run to them in a frenzy of denial and hoped they were alive.

He still remembered his shout into the night sky, a wail of pure pain and sadness. His only family… gone with nothing he could have done…

*****

“No…” the miner whispered as he looked up at Herobrine. “No… no,” his voice began to get stronger. “No, you--you’re wrong. That dragon attack killed them! You’re lying!”

“Oh, quite the contrary, miner,” the Nether Prince spoke. “The dragon was simply a way to get past the defenses your mother built. I dealt with them myself.”

“No! That’s not true!” Steve shouted and held onto his sword so tight that he was sure it would break. 

“You should have heard her, Steven,” the being continued with no care for his words. “She was practically begging you to come home so she could see you one last time.”

“Shut up!” Steve yelled, his voice hoarse but infuriated. 

“She was begging for mercy. And what you said about fighting until the end? Well, that was the last thing she said before I slit her--”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!” And with that, the miner rushed forward, raising his blade above his head. He let out a battle cry as it came down, only to be blocked by Herobrine’s crimson blades. Steve stepped back after the strike and snarled at the Nether Prince. “That’s it, Herobrine! You’ve gone too far this time! You’re gonna pay for what you did!”

“We’ll see about that, miner,” the being chuckled. He saw the man swing at him again and he blocked it again. They continued as they had before but this time, the miner’s swings were slightly more reckless and feeble. This left him open for a few attacks and he now had several small cuts all over his arms and legs and one good sized one on his chest.

Steve was getting weaker with each swing, with each blocked attack and he could feel his body trying to shut down as he tried again and again to hit Herobrine. He took several steps back after one last failed strike and he growled and hissed. Everything hurt, but his anger was fueling him to keep going.

This madman had killed his parents and for what reason? Steve didn’t want to know. All he wanted was to make Herobrine pay for what he did. 

Steve tried one last time to land a blow against the being and was blocked again. He just couldn’t get through his defenses. This was annoying at this point.

Herobrine could see how heated the mortal was becoming and he grinned darkly. Maybe it was time to ramp things up a bit.

He sheathed one of his blades into his back strap and held out a hand, letting the heat of the Nether concentrate into it. A fireball suddenly formed and he slung it towards the miner. 

Steve’s eyes went wide and he barely dodged the flaming projectile, turning to see it crash into a nearby birch. “Whoa! What in the Aether--”

“Oh Steven! Catch!”

Steve turned in time to see Herobrine with three more fireballs, spinning in his place and stopping to let them sling out of his hand. Steve barely managed to move down to dodge one fireball, the others heading straight for him. He held up his sword and waited only a moment. He then swung, sending the flaming charges flying off into two other trees.

Herobrine blinked in surprise. Ah, so the miner knew the “Return-to-Sender” trick many humans knew from Ghast fireballs. Well, no matter, he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

The Nether Prince put his other sword on his back. “Impressive, Steven. Very impressive. You may know many of my tricks, but this is one I’ll bet you haven’t seen yet.” 

Steve huffed and held up his sword. His body was so weak, so tired, he was worn out to the bone. His adrenaline flow was just about up and all the pain from his many wounds was slowing him down. He could feel his legs shake, the miner knew he didn’t have much fight left in him. He’d probably bleed out before he would defeat this man, despite that his blood wasn’t running as much as he thought it would. 

Steve spit some of his coppery life fluid from his mouth and looked Herobrine dead in those white eyes. “Do your worst.”

“As you wish, miner.” Herobrine closed his eyes, held his arms out to his sides, and began to whisper in the ancient tongue of the gods. He let the feeling of fire in his veins surge into his palms and when he opened his eyes again, flames danced within the white surface. Orange and blue fires began to dance between his hands.

Steve jumped in shock when he saw the man’s eyes. “What the Nether?!”

Herobrine shot a sharp glare to the man, before closing his eyes and raising his arms over his head. “ERIF FO GNIR!”

The area around the miner and the Nether Prince suddenly burst into flames, a large ring of it surrounding the two and lighting up the forest in a bright orange light. Grass and wood began to crackle and snap in the heat. 

Steve turned on his heels over and over, almost falling in the process, to see the flames around him and Herobrine. He was trapped. There was nowhere to run without running into the flames and he realized that there was nowhere to run. “What the--he’s gonna burn the forest down!”

“Oh, Steven?”

Steve snapped his head back to Herobrine, but the being had vanished in a cloud of purple dust. He stayed in his place, perfectly still. He couldn’t hear anything, see anything, and he froze. Oh, dear Jeb, where did he go?

A sudden kick to his back had the miner falling to the ground, his sword flying from his hand. He laid there for a moment, before rolling onto his back and weakly pushing himself up with his arms. Violent coughs escaped Steve’s lips and blood dribbled from the corner of his lips. He barely opened his eyes to see Herobrine standing there, sword fading into tiny particles that floated and disappeared into the night sky. 

Herobrine watched the weakened miner lay on the ground. His breathing was shallow and rough and his whole body quivered in agony and terror. Herobrine walked towards him, knowing that he couldn’t run now. “Well, Steven, you certainly put up a good fight. Too bad it was all for naught.”

Steve coughed again, before his hoarse voice came through over the crackling sounds of the fire. “Hero--Hero...brine. Please… I beg of you. Don’t… don’t--do this.” Despite his pleas, the Demi-God walked ever so closer. Through his half-closed eyes, he saw Herobrine take his sword into one hand, and when he reached the miner, that other hand wrapped around his neck and lifted him a few inches off the ground. Steve wanted so badly to try and free himself, but all his strength was gone, and he could see his vision starting to go black at its edges.

Herobrine looked into the violet eyes of his prey. The man was ever so close to falling out of consciousness and he couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re so foolish, Steven,” he said in a low voice full of mischief. “You really thought you could win that fight. You used all your strength for nothing. You… are… pathetic.” He raised Steve’s own diamond blade up, and squeezed the miner’s neck tighter. “Say goodbye, Steven Mindrall.”

Steve’s mind was panicking, but all he could manage to do was put an arm up and try to grab onto the hand around his neck. “He--Hero--brine! Please--don’t do this! Please! HEROBRINE! NOOOOOOO!”

*****

Only a moment later, a loud scream of agony echoed through the forest, into the night sky, and into the castle of a young queen and her iron golem.