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Once we were all awake, we had a quick breakfast whilst going over the plan of action for the day. We had all decided that there was only one way we were going to find out what that strange creature was guarding and it meant we would all need to be sure of what to do. We rekindled the fire and got it going again to be able to cook some meat, and have some light to see by.
"We're going to need to be quick and accurate with this. There's no room for slip-ups. We can't determine if those creatures are susceptible to the sedative in these darts, so we're going to need a backup plan."
"What do you suggest?"
"Well, it all depends on the number of creatures there are there. We only saw one, but that doesn't mean there aren't more. We go in expecting at least two or three, so if one has gone down, don't ease up. Me and THEXIS will be armed with the blowpipes, ready to take out any of the creatures that we see from the bottom of the stairs. If the creatures are still standing... Well, hovering with no signs of the sedative working, Syeonyx uses the bow and arrow to take them down."
"Wait, you want us to use violence now? You weren't that keen on it yesterday..."
"True, but after a long think I decided that there's only one way we're going to find out what's in that enclosure, but there are a few ways we can use to get past those creatures. We start with the first plan and fall back to the second if the darts don't work..."
We continued talking about possible circumstances that might arose, such as complications and specific scenarios, until we had finished our breakfast. Stamping the fire out, we collected our equipment up and headed down from the tower, through the maze of tunnels and passages back to the entrance.
We stood at the junction that split four separate ways on the bridge, silently monitoring the enclosure off to our right. A light source was visible, bobbing up and down, suggesting the possible location of the creature, although there was no sign that there was more than one of them... We could also only hear one set of breathing; the metallic sounds just audible off in the distance. We slowly and cautiously crouched and headed over to the base of the steps up to the enclosure. Stopping just before them, we waited for the creatures to react... There was no noticeable reaction to begin with; the sound of laboured breathing was still audible just ahead of us, and the light source didn't seem to move apart from the usual bobbing. Then came the sound of a sharp growl, and the light approached us. On the right side of the enclosure, the creature appeared, looking down, right at us, supposedly waiting for us to make a move. Luckily we were already ready; THEXIS and THEROS were set up with the blowpipes, and I already had an arrow pulled back with the bow.
I saw THEROS move his elbow to nudge THEXIS, and they both let loose with a dart! There was a slight plinking sound, as though the dart had hit a solid metal surface, but the creature remaining standing. One of the darts had hit, but whether it was doing anything remained to be seen... This time there was the same sound, but as though two hit it in rapid succession. The creature turned to look me; I was still holding the arrow ready, trying to move fro the strain of the bow. Then the creature suddenly dropped to the floor. We waited a few moments to see if there would be any further reaction, but nothing else happened. I slowly released the tension on the bow string, and stood up with the other two. THEROS motioned silently with his head towards the enclosure, and one by one we ascended the few steps to the top. There on the floor to the right was the creature, still breathing - the smoke appearing from it's strange appendages still being released at regular intervals - and it seemed as though the darts had worked. The four darts that had been fired were visible lying on the floor close to it, but none of them had stuck into it... THEROS bent down to touch the creature, but quickly withdrew his hand!
"That thing is incredibly hot! It's like it's made from lava!"
We left the creature alone and turned to look at the corner of the enclosure where we saw something that we had hoped we would never see in the Nether. An Affinitas cage sat in the corner, a strange creature rotating wildly stuck in the centre. Looking closer it looked like a miniature version of the one lying less than five feet away from us... How could this be?
"This isn't right... Why is this here?"
"I think we just found the reason for the missing creatures in the Nether... HoN Co. are luring them elsewhere..."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing...?"
"Potentially both... It means that there could be many creatures in certain places that we're likely to head off to, but on the other hand, it obviously means HoN Co. are trying to guard something from us..."
"We find the creatures, we find the Eyes of Ender?"
"Quite possibly... Which means there is an Ender Eye close by..."
Looking off to the left, we could see that the enclosure extended off to another bridge which was shrouded in a thick fog, making it impossible to see past. Heading towards it, we wondered what else we would find. THEXIS and THEROS were already ready with their blowpipes, and I had an arrow in hand, ready for whenever it was needed...
"If there is an Ender Eye nearby, we just have to find it... If we assume there's a link between the disappearance of the creatures and HoN Co. then it can't take long."
"True, but we've got to find it first. Remember, there are four more after this one... If we find this one..."
Squinting through the mist, I could make out the end of the bridge; buckled and broken, it seemed to end rather abruptly, as though a large chunk was missing. As the mist parted, I found that to actually be true; a massive chunk of the bridge was missing. So much so, the other side wasn't even visible.
"Nothing in this direction. We had better head back and look elsewhere. Wherever there are these strange creatures, we're likely to get closer and closer to the Ender Eye..."
Syeonyx signing off
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