Monsters in the Mist Read online

  Books by Mark Cheverton

  The Gameknight999 Series

  Invasion of the Overworld

  Battle for the Nether

  Confronting the Dragon

  The Mystery of Herobrine Series: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  Trouble in Zombie-town

  The Jungle Temple Oracle

  Last Stand on the Ocean Shore

  Herobrine Reborn Series: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  Saving Crafter

  The Destruction of the Overworld

  Gameknight999 vs. Herobrine

  Herobrine’s Revenge Series: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  The Phantom Virus

  Overworld in Flames

  System Overload

  The Birth of Herobrine: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  The Great Zombie Invasion

  Attack of the Shadow-Crafters

  Herobrine’s War

  The Mystery of Entity303: A Gameknight999 Adventure

  Terrors of the Forest

  Monsters in the Mist

  Mission to the Moon (Coming Soon!)

  The Gameknight999 Box Set

  The Gameknight999 vs. Herobrine Box Set

  The Gameknight999 Adventures Through Time Box Set (Coming Soon!)

  The Rise of the Warlords: An Unofficial Interactive Minecrafter’s Adventure

  Zombies Attack! (Coming Soon)

  The Bones of Doom (Coming Soon)

  Into the Spiders’ Lair (Coming Soon!)

  The Algae Voices of Azule Series

  Algae Voices of Azule

  Finding Home

  Finding the Lost

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Microsoft Corp., Mojang AB, Notch Development AB or Scholastic Inc., or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in the Minecraft name, trademark, or copyrights.

  Copyright © 2017 by Mark Cheverton

  Minecraft® is a registered trademark of Notch Development AB

  The Minecraft game is copyright © Mojang AB

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Microsoft Corp., Mojang AB, Notch Development AB, or Scholastic Inc., or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in the Minecraft name, trademark, or copyrights.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

  Sky Pony Press books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or [email protected].

  Sky Pony® is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation.

  Visit our website at www.skyponypress.com.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

  Cover design by Owen Corrigan

  Cover artwork by Thomas Frick

  Technical consultant: Gameknight999

  Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-1887-6

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-1890-6

  Printed in Canada

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To my family, who continue to support my insane writing binges and continual nervousness about getting these books completed on schedule, I say thank you. Without your support and faith in me, I’d never be able to finish any of these books.

  To my son, Gameknight999, I have learned so much from you over the last couple of years. Your strength, resilience, and forgiveness are inspirations to me, and maybe one day in the future we will all look back at these days and smile.

  To all of my readers, thank you so much for taking my characters into your heart. Your excitement about Gameknight, Crafter, Hunter, Stitcher, Digger and Herder—and of course Tux—has been incredible. Thank you for embracing my books and making them part of your lives.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  As I say every time, this book was the hardest to write, and I wasn’t sure if I could get something really good put together for all of you. But now, seeing the finished story, I’m really excited about Monsters in the Mist. I hope you’ll all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  To all the young readers who send me emails on my website, www.markcheverton.com, thank you so much for your excitement and kind words. I try to reply to every email, no matter how long or how brief. I love hearing what you think about my books and which one is your favorite. Please keep the emails coming, but make sure you type your own email address correctly so I can reply.

  To all the young writers out there, thank you so much for sending me your stories. I love reading about what you create, whether it involves my characters or not. In fact, I don’t care if you’re writing your own Minecraft-inspired stories, or they’re something completely different. It doesn’t matter what you write … as long as you write. I post everything I receive (as long as it’s more than a single sentence) to my website. Cruise through the blog and see all the stories; there are almost 600 there now. If you click on the FOR TEACHERS tab, you’ll find the writing tutorials I’ve put together to help young writers with the process of writing. If you find these materials helpful, then share them with your teachers; maybe they can help more kids.

  The mod featured in this book, Mystcraft, is incredible, and you can run it a number of ways at home. Search the Internet and you’ll find countless recommendations on how you can download it (with your parents’ permission, of course). Be sure to check out Direwolf20’s Mod Showcase for Mystcraft on YouTube; you’ll see how incredible this mod really is. I’ve added a page to the Gameknight999 website to help you with exploring all the many mods to Minecraft. You can find these instructions and some images here: http://gameknight999.com/modded-minecraft/

  We’re going to try to add it to the Gameknight999 Server (IP: mc.gameknight999.com), but it has proven difficult in the past. I don’t know if we’ll be able to get it to work or not. If you are interested in Gameknight’s server, go to www.gameknight999.com to see more information. The great server architect and developer, quadbamber, will be adding many new features to the Gameknight999 Network by the time this book is printed, so come online, check it out, and say hi to Gameknight999 and myself, Monkeypants_271.

  Keep reading, keep writing, and watch out for creepers.

  Mark

  Hating people takes too much energy to sustain. Instead, forgive them, even if you disagree. Learn what the other side thinks, and understand their perspective so that common ground can be found. Forgiveness is a great gift, and by forgiving others, you take hatred out of your life, and out of the lives of others.

  CHAPTER 1

  DECAYING AGE

  The blocky Minecraft world before them was wounded and suffering; with its green sun, blood-red trees and black grass, it looked as if a disease had spread across the land, consuming all that it touched, and then spread upward into the gray sky.

  Seconds ago, Gameknight999 and his friends had been in the massive chamber deep under the White Castle in the Twilight Forest mod, but now they stood in this suffering land, shocked by what they saw. They had followed Entity303 into this strange land through the use of a magical book from a mod, Mystcraft, which had been added to Minecraft’s servers by Entity303 and had allowed him to avoid capture. Mystcraft gave users the power to create these magical books and use them as gateways into new dimensions, or Ages. And that’s what Entity303 had done at the end of their last battle: used a magical book to es
cape into another dimension, fleeing the Twilight Forest just before being caught by Gameknight999 and his friends. And now, he was somewhere in this strange world.

  “Oh, this was a great idea,” Hunter said sarcastically, her normally bright red curls looking strangely brown in the light of the emerald sun. “We jump into a magical book and here we are, in a land that looks as if it came out of a nightmare.”

  “I know this looks confusing, but Entity303 came here for a reason, so we must follow him.” Gameknight said as he turned and surveyed the surroundings, a look of horror on his face. “You can see the damage that terrible user has inflicted upon Minecraft. He did something in the past that is ruining everything in the present.”

  “I only hope this damage can be reversed,” Crafter said quietly, his normally bright blue eyes dim and filled with sadness. Though he looked to be the youngest villager in the party, the wise NPC (non-playable character) had lived many lifetimes in Minecraft. “We must hurry and catch this terrible user, Entity303, before it’s too late.”

  Squawk, the penguin, Tux, added.

  Stitcher, Hunter’s younger sister, reached down and patted the little animal on the head, her bright red curls taking on the same strange, brown luster as her older sister’s.

  Gameknight glanced at his friends. Normally, their cubic heads, blocky bodies and rectangular arms would have looked artificial, but that had been when he was just playing Minecraft as a game. Now, with his entire being actually inside the game—thanks to his father’s invention, the Digitizer—there were a million features to each of them. Everything to Gameknight looked real from within the game, and felt real as well; he was really inside the game, but that made all the dangers real as well. He was a user, but really he was more: he was the User-that-is-not-a-user.

  “How are we gonna find your little friend, Entity303, anyway?” Hunter asked.

  “He’s not my little friend,” Gameknight snapped, then saw Hunter’s grin and relaxed a little, realizing she was joking. “We used the same book he used, so Entity303 should have appeared in this Age, right here, just like we did.”

  “Well, I don’t see him anywhere,” Weaver said.

  “I’m sure he’s here somewhere,” Gameknight said. “We have to catch him soon, before he can do more damage. Besides, only Entity303 knows the location of the diamond portal that will send Weaver back home into the past. Everything depends on us getting Weaver back where he belongs.”

  Young Weaver glared suspiciously at Gameknight999, his blue eyes narrowing.

  “You know what I mean,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said. “If we don’t catch this evil user, then all the damage to Minecraft,” he gestured to the surroundings, “cannot be repaired. Catching Entity303 and getting Weaver back into the past so all this damage will never happen is key to Minecraft’s survival.”

  “We know,” Stitcher said earnestly. “We’re with you, Gameknight … we’re always with you.”

  “I know,” Gameknight, the User-that-is-not-a-user, replied.

  Around them, the black grass stretched in all directions, but ended at the rough edge of the land. In places, the ground was completely missing, as if part of the terrain had just disappeared, somehow. Gameknight999 was about to ask about it when a large hill nearby shuddered for just a moment, throwing a cloud of dust and debris into the air, then fell away, descending into the void. The crashing and grinding of the blocks against each other sounded like some kind of massive, destructive waterfall of stone and dirt. The thunderous noise was deafening.

  The party moved closer to the spot where the hill had once stood. Now, a gaping wound replaced the feature, the gash in the ground stretching all the way through the land, leaving an opening that extended down into the terrifying darkness of the void. It exposed the ground beneath the surface of the land, showing only a dozen blocks or so holding up the black grassy blocks and undulating hills. The rest of the stone and dirt that should have been beneath the surface were just gone … having already fallen into the darkness.

  “This is not good,” the tiny gnome, Empech, said grimly. He was from the magical race of Pechs, and had joined the party on their last adventure in the Twilight Forest. “The land suffers, yes, yes. Our enemy must be caught soon, before it is too late.”

  “What do you mean, ‘too late’?” Digger asked. The stocky villager placed Tux on the ground to let the tiny penguin stretch its stubby little legs. “Can this get worse?”

  “Yes, yes, much worse,” Empech said. “If the fabric of Minecraft is stretched too far, it will tear, as it is doing here. Too many tears and it falls apart, completely.”

  “That doesn’t sound very good,” Hunter said.

  The gray-skinned pech shook his head. “Minecraft is in great danger, yes, yes.”

  Suddenly, a group of tiny blue creatures—Gameknight remembered them being called Kobolds—came running toward them, charging out from a collection of small mounds that they now recognized as huts; it was likely their village. They each had spiky white nails at the end of their stubby fingers, and their teeth were sharp and menacing.

  “Weren’t those things in the Twilight Forest?” Stitcher asked.

  “They’re called Kobolds,” Gameknight explained. “And yes, they were there. All of these mods overlap, so things in the Overworld or in the Twilight Forest will also be here.”

  “You mean the Hydra might be here?” Digger asked with alarm.

  “No, not the bosses, just the monsters.”

  “Just the monsters?” Hunter asked. “You make that sound so positive.”

  Gameknight shrugged.

  The wolves that guarded the company growled, then moved into a circle, ready to protect the villagers, penguin, gnome and Gameknight999.

  “Herder, keep your wolves close,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said. “We don’t know what’s happening here. Everyone else, take out your bows and get ready.”

  Herder bent and whispered into the ear of the wolf pack leader. The majestic creature then barked a series of commands, causing the twelve wolves to draw into a tight circle around their friends.

  Gameknight cast a glance at Digger, then motioned to the little penguin.

  Digger nodded. “I’ll take care of him,” the stocky villager said. He bent down and scooped up Tux, then placed the little animal securely under his arm.

  Squawk, Tux protested.

  Gameknight smiled, then pulled out his enchanted bow and drew an arrow back, ready to fight.

  “Wait, look at their faces,” Stitcher said. “They aren’t angry, they’re afraid.”

  Suddenly, small meteorites fell from the sky, flames streaming behind the falling stones like fiery tails. They crashed into the ground, exploding in showers of sparks. Many of them plummeted down upon the village, flattening the mounded huts and causing many to burst into flames. With each impact, the ground shook, small earthquakes radiating out from the point of impact. The terrible meteors tore the community apart as if it were made of paper, some crashing down farther away, pounding on the land with a relentless fist.

  The ground under the crushed village seemed to lurch to the side, then fell away, the landscape crumbling, falling into the void.

  The kobolds, with their large, floppy, elephant-like ears and short stubby legs, ran past the party of NPCs and headed for an opening in the ground. Each wore a tattered brown shirt and equally disheveled shorts, their arms and legs covered with scratches and scars; it was likely they were miners. They streamed down into the dark tunnel, their bright red eyes filled with fear.

  Gameknight grabbed one of the creatures; this one wore a nicer vest, its edges lined with gold stitching.

  “Tell us, what’s happening here?” Gameknight asked.

  “Stone tears falling again … stone tears falling!” the kobold said in a shrill, difficult-to-understand voice.

  “What’s going on here?” Crafter asked, putting a hand on the creature’s shoulder, hoping to calm him.

  The kobold pu
lled away as if his touch were poison, then turned toward Empech.

  “A Third,” the creature mumbled. “You must help us. The Third must help, it is the law of the Ages.”

  “What’s he talking about?” Crafter asked.

  Empech shook his head, a confused look in his blue, crystalline eyes.

  “What do you mean?” Gameknight asked the blue monster.

  “The world has been crumbling for a while,” the monster said, his high-pitched, screechy voice filled with fear. He glanced nervously up to the sky, watching the deadly meteors destroy his world. “It was slow at first, but its speed has been increasing recently. The world will not survive long, … My family … my friends …”

  Just then, a gigantic section of the land began to crumble and fall. The kobold watched the land shudder and writhe in pain, then the creature wept for his family and his world.

  “Entity303’s work, yes, yes,” Empech said, a sad expression covering his gray, oversized face “Speed is important. The enemy’s trail must be found.”

  Gameknight glanced at Herder. The lanky boy just shrugged, an angry expression on his square face.

  “The wolves can’t sense anything other than the acidic smell of this black grass,” the lanky boy said.

  “Shadow grass, yes, yes,” the pech said. “Poisonous stuff.”

  Gameknight turned back to the kobold. “Did you see a user like me pass through here?”

  The little blue monster shook his head, then ducked as a meteor fell nearby, crashing into one of the few red-leafed trees still standing, causing it to burst into flames. Before Gameknight could ask another question, the creature turned and ran for the dark hole that plunged underground, following the rest of his community.

  “Wait, stop!” Gameknight shouted, but the creature was already gone.

  “Leave him be,” Empech said. “That kobold must tend to his people, though there is little that can be done to help the creatures of this world.”

  In the distance, they saw a huge meteor, the size of a mountain, crash into the landscape. It made the ground quake, causing blocks here and there to crumble into dust.