Defeating Steve Book 3: The Nether's Edge

By Mark Mulle

The Nether is known as one of the scariest places a Minecraft player can go, but what would happen if villagers were forced to explore it?

In this installment of the Defeat

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark Mulle
• Release date: Jul 19, 2024
• ISBN: 9798330293476

Book preview

Author’s Note

Hello friends, this thrilling Minecraft adventure was first published in Amazon’s serialized reading app, Kindle Vella as episodes. This book is the third arc of the story which features episodes 22 to 31

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Author’s Note

The Warped Forest

Good Company

One Shot

The Whispering Witch

The Nether’s Edge

In the Distance

Back in the Fields

The Roast

No Place Like Home?

Gotta Stop Meeting Like This!

The Warped Forest

This is ridiculous, Karl grumbled.

We were standing about ten blocks away from the piglins – Karl and Alma and I – trying to figure out a plan. Alma pretended to be listening to the conversation, but I could see the way her body was tensed up. Her eyes looked wildly around, and as the eerie sounds of the Nether played out in the distance, she flinched every-so-often.

Look, Karl, I said. Things aren’t looking too good. They’re not going to free Bonesy and Casper unless we get them some gold.

We should just fight them, Karl whispered. I have my axe. You have your sword. Alma has…

Alma readjusted her witch hat. She had been looking away, and her eyes still looked like they were trying to find some unknown threat.

Potions, I assume, Karl said.

It’s not that, I said. Think, Karl. Say we bust Bonesy and Casper out of that hole. That’s the easy part. But how are we supposed to get out of here? Do you remember which way we’re supposed to go?

Karl pointed confidently in one direction, then after a few moments of consideration, pointed the other way.

It’s either to the left or to the right, he said.

That’s not good enough, I said. Let’s get them their gold and maybe they can help us get out of here too. Maybe there’s another portal we can find along the way. Right, Alma?

Again, Alma looked at me anxiously. Her hands were locked together under her purple robe, and even then, I could tell they were shaking.

Dearie, Alma said. I think we should try and find the portal first. Surely, it’s easier to get gold in a place we know, rather than one as foreign as the Nether?

Karl nodded victoriously, happy that Alma agreed with him.

Who knows, Alma started saying. Maybe Casper is better off in the hole.

I gave her a shocked glance. Surely, she couldn’t be serious?

He seemed to like it, Alma said. Well, he seems to hate it, but he’s a poet at heart, and poets love suffering. It makes for good art.

Alma, I said flatly. I know that you’re afraid of this place, but we’re not leaving them behind.

Alma seemed to realize how mean she sounded, wanting to leave our friends stuck here, and her gaze dropped down to the ground.

It’s frightful, she said. I know I’m supposed to be a witch, but unimaginable horrors walk these lands.

Wait, wait, wait, Karl said. I think I know what’s going on here.

I gulped, Karl’s attention no longer on Alma, but on me.

"Steve, Karl said. Last time we saw Steve he ducked into a Nether portal. You want to try and find him too, don’t you?"

I bit my lip. Obviously, my priority was saving my friends. I didn’t want to get lost, because there was no way the two of them would manage to free themselves from captivity… but could I lie? A part of me felt like it was fate that we had been brought here; that we could do both. Save Casper and Bonesy, and maybe even find Steve while we were at it.

Karl suddenly burst out in laughter, making Alma jump back in fright.

I see how it is, he said. Fine, we’ll stick around. We can keep an eye out for something golden, and the other for something blue. Right, Alma?

Alma shook her head.

Oh dearies, she said. Oh, no. Oh dear.

***

So how does a witch even make potions if she’s scared of the Nether?

Between the heat and the terrible sounds emerging from the distance, I wasn’t in the mood for Karl to cause any more problems. He was looking straight at Alma, addressing her, and I shot him a mean look, telling him to cut it off.

What? Karl asked me. I’m just making small-talk. After all, Alma and I have barely gotten to know each other.

Alma gave a slow, shaky gesture my way.

It’s fine dearie, she said. He’s right to ask.

I kept on walking, feeling the crunchy texture of the Netherrack below my feet.

So, Alma said. "When your little brother Anders met me, I was fairly stocked up on potions. Most of which I had stolen, erm, borrowed, from my sisters. It is awfully difficult to make any of my own. I have a brewing rack, sure, but I require something called awkward potions."

Awkward potions?

A silly name for a useless thing, Alma said. But making awkward potions allows a basis for the concoctions of all kinds of other, non-useless potions. And other than the glass to hold the water, an awkward potion requires one crucial ingredient. Nether wart.

Karl nodded.

So, without Nether wart, you can’t make any potions?

Correct, Alma said. I’ve managed to get some by way of trading, but supplies are limited.

Then we should get you some more, Karl decided. Where would we find some?

I… I’m unsure about that, dearie, Alma admitted. My sisters are much better at this stuff than I am. Besides, it’s not just Nether wart I’d need. I’d need blaze powders and the tears from a ghast and a whole mess of other things you can only find in this wretched, wretched place.

Karl nodded. Where are your sisters, anyway?

Last I saw them? Alma asked. Thousands of blocks away, maybe less down here. I took what I could and ran for the hills. Don’t get me wrong, dearie, witches are a wicked folk. But those two are something else.

What do you mean less down here? Karl asked.

Don’t you know? Alma asked. "Distance is different in the Nether. It’s called the one to eight ratio. A single block of travel here means you are eight blocks further from where you started in the normal world. The Overworld, if you wish to be academic."

Karl looked down, keeping on walking, counting something on his fingers.

So, if we traveled just a hundred blocks down here… he said slowly.

We’d be 800 blocks away from our portal of entry, Alma said. Dearie, do you understand why I wish to leave now? Why, it doesn’t matter if we find another portal by some miracle? We’d be far, far away from where we wish to go.

I listened to the two of them half-heartedly. I tried to keep an eye out for some gold, and especially for signs of a man in a blue shirt, but we were running out of space. I could see that in a couple of minutes we’d reach the edge of the path we were walking on. The Netherrack ground ended suddenly, revealing a sheer cliff.

Then, by some miracle, I spotted it.

Look, I said, pointing upwards.

A hill of Netherrack rose to a big wall, and although it was hard to make out, tiny specks of something yellow were peeking out.

* * *

Karl told Alma to keep watch for any monsters, and with that, the two of us climbed up the hill.

Touching Netherrack felt even weirder than walking on it. It crunched as we got on all fours, climbing the sheer hill, and trying to make it where we spotted the gold. It felt dry under my hands – drier than anything you’d find in the normal world.

The normal world. That got me thinking.

What do you think it is? I asked Karl, putting one arm over the other to scale another block.

Think what is?

I gestured behind us to the expanse of nothingness, where the Netherrack finally became overwhelmed by the red mist.

I think… Karl said, looking up. It’s gotta be a cave, right?

I don’t think it is, I answered.

"Then why’d you ask me what I think it is? Karl said harshly. Alma said the place we come from is the Overworld. Over, as in, it’s above us."

I rolled my eyes. Speaking was hard in the Nether. It was like whatever was in the air, it got inside your nose and mouth. The heat wasn’t just around you; it was inside of you. It made the spit evaporate from your mouth, leaving only the gross taste of ash.

It can’t be a cave, I said. You wouldn’t need a portal to get to it if it was. You could just… dig down.

It could still be a cave. Just… not in the same world as we came from.

I nodded. Karl made a good point, but I didn’t want to think about just how far we were from the normal world. I was starting to abandon the thought of finding Steve. Alma’s terror was starting to get to me. I wanted to get the gold, get Casper and Bonesy, and get out of the Nether as soon as possible.