Fallen Skies Chapter 8: Remembrance

Steve and Abdiel exited the wooden house and went straight to the stable beside the house. When they were inside the stable, Steve handed out a few hay bales and told Abdiel to choose a horse he liked. Then Steve pulled out a handful of wheat and went near to his horse, Sierra. The horse was definitely splendid, with an impressive 20 bps(blocks per second) and a jumping height of 5 blocks. The silvery iron horse armor melted in with the colour of the white fur, making it half-horse and half-mechanic. The horse snuggled to Steve when he saw the miner and Steve immediately put a few grain on his hand and fed Sierra. After stroking the horse's head, Steve put the last piece of armor on Sierra's head and climbed up the horse, settling himself on the saddle. He turned to look at Abdiel, who had chosen a grey horse which the Aetherian named Storm. After teaching the basics of riding a horse to Abdiel, the Aetherian could easily guide his horse through different obstacles. They mounted their horse and rode out to the cave in the dim sunlight. The day had just started and the sun peered from the horizons. Dawn has approached.

They rode through the soft grass and finally came to a snow biome. Abdiel felt the temperature drop as they rode through it, and he shivered, despite the thick armor on him. The breath of the horses turned into small wisps of clouds as they ran. The hooves of the horses dug into the snow, leaving tracks everywhere. The powerful legs of the horses kicked up snow, which cascaded down into the snow-frosted ground. The snow fell steadily now, some hissing on the armor of the horses as they melt, while some other flakes lazily dropped onto the ground and started the painstaking job of covering up any human presence in the area, creating a scene of serenity for those yet to come. Suddenly, Steve stopped in front of a cave. ' We are there.' He annouced simply.

They tied Sierra and Storm on a fencepost Steve had set there before and they went inside the huge cave. As Steve disengaged the redstone security system which kept the base hidden and well protected from mobs and other people., Abdiel took a while to marvel the vastness of the cave. The ceiling is almost 15 blocks high and the end of the cave seemed to stretch for an eternity. The echo of his footsteps rebounded back to him and again, he was astonished again at the things that nature had the lock on the temporary base opened and Steve walked in, followed by Abdiel. The base, although devoid of anything soft, was indeed a great creation, but this time, by human hands. There was a crafting station, a forge and two storage areas which were connected to the lobby where they were in. A lava fountain sat in the center, and torches littered the area, making the base bright compared to the area outside. And a few chairs littered the area, along with some blueprints which sat on a desk. A small glowstone chunk served as a light and there were some packets on the table, labeled as 'Instant Coffee - Made with REAL cocoa beans'. Steve grabbed two of those packets and asked Abdiel would he want one too. Abdiel politely refused as he didn't feel like a drink now. After Steve fixed himself some, he poured it into a glass bottle, reserved for his potions usually, and sipped it as they sat on the seats. In the meantime, Steve told Abdiel about the dangerous mobs that he may see on the mining trip. After he had finished, they took a few pickaxes and food and left the temporary base.

Blood.

She knew what would happen. She had seen many, or even too many, deaths in her long life. First, her heart would pump faster in order to compensate for the rapid blood loss. Her blood pressure would drop and her skin would turn cold and pale, similar to those who had died. After that, she would start to hallucinate and her awareness would falter. Soon, she would lose conscious and later, when not enough blood flows to her vital organs, she would die.

Normally, she wouldn't simply die. Most people thought of Valkyries as superhuman, immortal, but that was not the case now. A mixture of Wither poison caused her blood-clotting abilities to fail, and that was thanks to the Dragon she encountered back on the Aether.

She was flying beside Falconcoast, the city she guarded. There had been reports of two sentries, one a Captain, who went missing. She blinked back tears as she thought of how her dear friends had fared when a sudden disturbance of airflow startled her. Valkyries are very sensitive to airflow changes, and she turned just to see a Dragon flying towards her, a certain kind of energy radiated from it. Several Valkyries flew out and she joined them to face the new threat. She loaded an arrow and let it fly, but the Dragon seemed to shrug off the arrows and continued straight for the city. Seeing the Dragon at a closer range suddenly jolted a faint memory of a notice which advised cities to be on the lookout of a certain Dragon...what is its name? There was no time as the Dragon surged through a group of Valkyries, melting their flesh on the way. It was utter chaos, with people screaming around and inside the city. Never had she felt a fear so immense in her, it surged in her body and grip her tightly in its grasp, rendering her immobile. She just had time to dodge the incoming Dragon and had sliced the Dragon with her sword. Instead of blood, a certain black particle seeped out, and the Dragon howled in pain. The Dragon swung its head back and came straight for her. She had avoided the attack but had received a glancing blow to her port wing. She looked back at her wings and gasped in horror. Her wing, white as the clouds before, turned ink-black as a agonizing pain took over in her wings. She knew what was that, it was the Wither Poison and there was only one way she could stop it from spreading in time.

She took a deep breath.

There was not much time.

The poison spreads quickly.

Then she sliced the infected wing off.

An excruciating howl escaped her mouth as she chopped her wing off, and she fell. She couldn't fly. But that was the only way she could have stopped the poison. She thought as she fell, away from the scared skies of the Aether into the Overworld. Another martyr at the onslaught of the Dragon.

A sudden shuffling noise startled her. Were they the green-fleshed monsters which bit her mercilessly? Or were they the skeletons which fired arrows at her? She just didn't know as she put her cold hand on the Aerodirt she had used to seal the small space she now resided, the Aether dirt leeching more heat from her. She just didn't care. She stared at the torch she put on the ground. The end wouldn't be long now.