Herobrine's Message by Sean Fay Wolfe Page B

Stan, what happened? Stan started talking to himself, pacing around, and then he had left Elementia? Leonidas started to panic . . . He knew that the Noctem Alliance was gaining more strength by the day, and Element City was losing just as much. How could Stan just abandon them like that? Leonidas was almost ready to give a shout of fury at Stan for abandoning his people in the midst of this crisis.
    Then Leonidas took a deep breath, and tried to clear his mind. If he himself was to return to Element City, he would have to try to keep as levelheaded as possible. And as Leonidas released his breath, he realized that Stan would never abandon Elementia. He had probably just gone to a different server for a while . . . or maybe he had homework to do . . . or maybe had had to pee or something. In any case, Leonidas assured himself that Stan would be fine, and that he’d probably be returning any moment.
    Suddenly, it struck Leonidas what an interesting position he was in. Stan had temporarily left Elementia . . . but he would return eventually. And when he returned, he would be in the exact same spot where he had left. And if he wereto return right now, he would see Leonidas standing right in front of him.
    Leonidas sat down on the dirt-block mound and squinted his eye, trying to figure out what to do. On the one hand, he had been looking for the perfect time to tell Stan that he had abandoned the Noctem Alliance. Maybe here, on this island, with the two of them and nobody else, was the perfect place for him to do it. In any case, Leonidas didn’t imagine that a better time would be coming anytime soon.
    On the other hand, though . . . their last meeting had not gone particularly well. After that little fiasco, Leonidas had no idea how he was going to convince Stan that they were on the same side . . .
    Suddenly, Leonidas whipped his head up, the debate in his mind instantly vanishing. He could hear something. Ringing out of the dark sea, far beyond sight, was a song that he couldn’t quite make out. It sounded like a Minecraft song he had heard on the Internet a long time ago . . . and it was growing louder and louder. Leonidas ducked down behind a pile of dirt blocks. He peeked his head over the top, gazing far into the distance. Out in the sea, emerging from the render fog, Leonidas could see a small fleet of ships. He couldn’t make out the exact numbers, he guessed about six . . . but what he could make out quite clearly were the black tunics that each of the players was wearing.
    Leonidas glanced around in a panic, looking for a place to hide should soldiers happen to land on the island. His gaze locked on a small cave, not too far away, which led into the center of the dirt mound. With great grace and agility, Leonidas dive-rolled out from behind the dirt pile and into the mouth of the cavern. He peeked his head out the side, praying that the soldiers didn’t see him. Thankfully, they hadn’t seemed to notice. While they continued to head toward the island, there was no hint of recognition in their voices, just the continuing ring of the sea shanty.
    Leonidas sighed in relief. He could hide deep in the mine, and win through ambush if any of the troops should find him. He was about to turn back and begin his trek down into the cavity of rock when an alarming realization slammed into Leonidas like a train.
    Leonidas stuck his head out of the cave again, and glanced at the spot where Stan had despawned. He glanced back out at the ships and realized, with a wrench to his gut, that Spyro was at the head of this fleet of six boats. They had stopped their singing. All of them were on course to land on the island, right at the spot where Stan had sat just a few minutes ago.
    Stan would return to Elementia. Leonidas didn’t know when, but he didn’t imagine Stan would be gone for long. And when Stan did despawn, he would find himself right inthe middle of the squadron of Noctem troops, totally caught