The Last Garrison [Ch. 12]

King Miraz's Kingdom

Woodlands Biome, OverWorld

Nightmare had returned from wherever she had wandered off to. To mask her true appearance, she took on the form of a guardsman. That way, she wouldn't spark any aggression from the guards. Stealthy, stealthy Nightmare. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Quintin had remained in his quarters after she had left. When she returned and entered, she found him standing over by a window. His hands were behind his back. The moon's light casting a shadow of his body onto the floor. The first thing that stood out to her was that both of his arms had transformed into the same red, grey, and black colors. It was now spreading up to his neck.

She didn't even need to say a word to announce her presence. He sensed it, asking her his first of many questions.

"This plan of yours," he said, "it's going to work, will it not?"

"It will," she responded as she walked closer over to him. He still had his back facing her. She reverted back to her demon, transparent form. When she turned back, a thick cloud of black smoke briefly erupted around her body. The change happened quickly and briefly that the smoke quickly vanished and disappeared.

"I thought you didn't need my help?" Nightmare questioned, "why the sudden change of mind?"

"You never really–gave me a choice," Quintin responded, "you kind of just took over."

"Well… how do I say this…," she said, briefly pausing to think of how she was going to finish her statement, "your leadership experience isn't quite up to par with my expectations. The choices you were making, the orders you were delivering…well…weren't very good. And now look at the mess you've made."

"Mess?" Quintin questioned, repeating just that word back to her, "mess? You could've helped us; maybe even changed the outcome of the war. But what'd you do? You waited and waited, only coming here when I said no. Why was that?"

She flew over to him, now floating alongside him to his left. Turning her head slightly to her right, she glanced over at him.

"I was just having a little fun," she told him, "bugging and nagging at blockheads is something I enjoy. You were just an easy target."

Floating next to him, she could feel the warmth emitting from his entire body; from head to toe. On his neck, arms, and hands, there were glowing red and orange spots. Their glow pulsating like a beating heart.

"You're warm," she mumbled, "the transformation is almost complete."

Quintin turned his head to his left, glancing back over at her. When he did, she moved away from him. His left eye had been revealed; his eye now being the color red. The spreading was accelerating up his neck, now beginning to transform his face. It wouldn't be too much longer now.

"Oh jees, you really are looking ugly," she told him.

"I'm well aware," he responded with a sigh, "thanks for the reminder."

"They won't stand a chance against us," Nightmare began explaining, "with you, your father, and I, we'll be unstoppable."

Quintin rolled his eyes and smiled sarcastically. He shook his head and started to chuckle.

"You know, I've done some digging of my own about you and your Realm," he mentioned to Nightmare. "You're not entirely who you say you are. Eternal Darkness Realm is where you're from. A realm so far, it's unreachable from the OverWorld. You weren't always this way, were you?"

Nightmare had not expected him to start explaining that to her. She was momentarily shocked, but she didn't show nor express that feeling to him. She remained calm and attentive. She didn't bother asking any questioned; only listening to him talk.

"Your Realm fell after your Realm's Sun died, plunging your home into an eternal and forever darkness, hence the name," Quintin said, concluding telling her of his findings.

"Your point?"

"I now know more of who you are, and your background," Quintin answered, "one thing, however, caught my eyes."

"What's that?"

He leaned in close to her, whispering his only response to her.

"You're real name is… Nora," he whispered, "you weren't always a demon."

Woodlands Biome Garrison

Two Hours Until Dawn

Tensions were high and continuing to mount. The Admiral stationed at the Woodlands Garrison was furious with the news he'd just received. Furious to the point that he took his anger out on his on his men.

In total, there were fifty-eight male blockheads stationed at this Garrison. The entire squadron at the Garrison was awoken from a deep sleep, angering many. But leaving others curious and suddenly on high alert. Was an attack currently happening? Questions began to rise as the men flew out of their beds; preparing themselves for whatever's coming or already here. All were mentaly preparing themselves for a fight after their Admiral delivered shocking news. News that came straight from the Kingdom.

"Alright baby blockheads. Listen up," he said with his hands behind his back as he began pacing back and forth, keeping his sights set on his stationary men. "We've just received word from the King himself."

He paused briefly, waiting a moment or two to continue his delivery speech. He could see the curiosity growing in their eyes. All were armed to the teeth with lethal poisonous arrows. The signature armor that all soldiers were required to wear was gold armor. Not the strongest armor, but wearing golden armor showed enemies the wealth and power the Kingdom has–or dare I say it–had.

But wearing such armor would also give their positions away. Camo and able to blend in with the surroundings the gold armor was not.

A Garrison was built much like a camp. Tents made from wool were scattered about within the four cobblestone walls of the Garrison; all being the same color: dark brown. Lanterns were the only source of light inside the tents.

The Admiral and High Command tents were significantly bigger than the tents the soldiers slept in. Each tents could house upwards of eight. Some could, if requested, could accommodate ten to twelve men. There was a canopy tent set up near the center of the Garrison, with multiple tables situated in rows of ten underneath it. Lanterns also lit this area too. It was mainly used for serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But no one had the slightest idea that this would be their last time ever having a meal under the stars in this setting at least.

The nightsky was still miraculously clear; the moon's light shining down over the lands. The wind howled as it blew, the surrounding oak trees creaked, and the leaves rustled.

At every corner, there was a watch tower. They were mainly empty. But one soldiers remained at their posts to keep a lookout. THey must be cautious of their surroundings. What they didn't know, unlike the Admiral, was that an imminent attack was closing in; closing in fast. But with so much tree cover, it made seeing the ground difficult. Even with that, seeing much of anything was difficult too. they didn't know, unlike the Admiral does, was that the Resistance Army was closing in on their location, preparing to launch their surprise attack on the last standing Garrison. This Garrison was also the Kingdom's last. For as the Resistance and its brave and ierce fighters destroyed all the others.

Thus far, the Resistance has overthrown and destroyed all Garrisons except the Woodlands Biome one. This'll be the last line of defense against the ravaging and raging Resistance fighters.

If the attack does end in their loss, what then? What will defend the Kingdom then? It would be minutes before the attack would commence… and the striking thing is…is that troops and leaders stationed at the Woodlands Garrison had no idea the attack would begin early. So far, it's a calm and clear night. What's the worst that could happen?

Elsewhere, now entering back into the Plains Biome, Stanley's home came into view.

"Land down there Jack," Amelia shouted.

"I know where I'm going," Jack replied in his deep voice, followed by a sharp exhale.

As they swooshed down towards the ground, Jack spread his wings fully out, flapping them vigorously to slow his descent. Powerful gusts of air blew dust up into the air from the animal pens and pastures. BARK! BARK!

There he was, standing out in the open, barking loudly at Jack as they touched down. He retracted his wings and then laid down on all four. After doing this he lowered his head, which gave Amelia, Melinda, and Stanley a smooth glide down onto the ground. One by one they all slid down his neck and off of his head.

"Ruffis!" Stanley said with joy as he opened his arms and got down onto one knee. Ruffis, in turn, came running over to him. He whimpered and wined as Stanley began petting him and hugging him. But Max was nowhere to be seen. Stanley didn't realize it at first, but he wondered where Max was.

The lanterns inside the farmhouse were still burning, signaling to him that his parents might still be up. It was late. They're not the blockheads who stay up late. With chores and tasks to get done in the early morning hours everyday, they'd long be in bed by now… sound asleep. If they were asleep, the lanterns would be blown out. So, why weren't they?

"Where's Max?" Stanley said as he looked down at Ruffis. In response, he began barking non-stop again. He then backed away from Stanley, turning around to run off.

"Ruffis!" Stanley shouted as he got back up onto his feet, brushing off his knee, "get back here you devious mut," he continued to shout.

Amelia and Melinda stood over by Jack as Stanley ran off, chasing after Ruffis. Once he disappeared out of their view, Amelia finally spoke; breaking the awkward silence among the three of them.

"Something's off," she mumbled, "something doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean?" Melinda asked.

"She's onto something," Jack said, "I feel it too."

BANG! THUD! Those sounds came from inside the house. A loud shatter, like a glass window breaking, was heard. Amelia looked over at Melinda. Melinda looked back at Amelia. Jack looked down at the house, but wasn't able to see inside. Is someone home? Amelia and Melinda both began making their way around the corner to the front.

A shadow of someone walking around inside was cast onto the ground where there were windows. Amelia held her arm out to stop Melinda from walking any further. She pointed at the shadow as it moved.

"Someone's definitely inside," Amelia mumbled.

"Is something burning?" Jack questioned as he continued to smell the burning smell.

Amelia walked up to the front of the house, her back up against the siding. The crystal on her staff was so shiny, that it acted like a mirror.

"See anything?" Melinda whispered.

Amelia extended her arm out just a little more, angling her staff to try and get a reflection. A reflection that she could see and then report to Melinda and Jack. After adjusting her staff a bit, she suddenly caught a reflection of whoever was inside.

"What–what is that?" Amelia questioned, knowing she wouldn't get an answer from Jack and Melinda because they had no idea either.

"What? What do you see?" Melinda asked.

Inside the house, there were three figures walking around. Opening chests and digging through them. They held shiny gold swords in their right hands. Weapons of which Amelia had never seen before. Who were these things? And what are they?

"A pig with half of its skull exposed? Handling gold shiny weapons. Not sure what those are."

"A pig?" Jack mumbled.

"Yes," Amelia answered, "part of it looks like a zombie. It's walking on two legs. It looks like they're digging–trying to find–oh no!"

Amelia pulled her staff back closer to her. She looked over to her left at Melinda.

"What?"

"It saw me," she whispered.

The creature had ran over to the window, jumping through it. The window shattered, its remains falling onto the ground. The other two creatures followed, also jumping out of the window. Now all outside, they quickly focused their attention on Amelia and Melinda, but they ignored Jack for some reason.

"Ever heard of a door?" Melinda asked, "you should try using one sometime. You'll save a-lot of sand–."

GROWL, Jack did. He looked up into the sky at someone. Amelia and Melinda didn't notice the descending blockhead. They were holding their ground, preparing to defend themselves and fight these creatures.

"Greetings, my fellow chum," a deep male blockhead's voice said. Everyone looked up, all taking into account the descending blockhead. "Glad you could come by. You won't be needing that anymore."

Suddenly, an Enderman blipped into existence right behind Amelia. It extended it's long arm out, grabbing Amelia's staff. She tried stopping it from taking her only source of magic, but was overcome by its strength.

"Let's be civil, yes?" The floating entity said.

"Civil? I sense you don't mean well," Amelia said.

"I don't, you're right," it said, "now… bow before your king!"

Two more Endermen came walking out from around the corner of the house, with Stanley being dragged. He was unconscious. The Endermen threw his body onto the ground in front of Amelia and Melinda.

"You're no King," Melinda said.

"Actually, he is," another voice said. This one sounded much lighter than the other one; not as deep. But the blockhead behind the other voice, emerged from the clouds. He came down and floated right next to the other. "Or was I should say."

This blockhead's head was on fire, its eyes glowing red, and black smoke coming out of his arms, legs, and hands. It would seem as though his entire body was afire, but it wasn't. Only his head.

"Witches," the burning blockhead said, "meet… EnderBrine."

"Witches," EnderBrine said, "meet… NetherBrine."

Dawn was coming. The sky was already beginning to transition into day. But this process was slow-starting. Twinkling stars were still dominating the sky, as the sun's light slowly grew brighter and brighter. Still under the cover of darkness, the Resistance Army was arriving at their destination. A little behind schedule, but still making decent time.

Mileena was riding on one of the four leading horses, with her army of fighters trailing behind them. In total, they had brought two massive catapults that could launch extremely heavy rocks and boulders at the Garrison, and ninety-six fighters including Mileena.

Unlike everyone else, she didn't need weapons. She was a weapon of her own creation. The ability to transform into any animal and creature she wanted. A falcon was her most favorite form to be in.

"Commander!" A soldier shouted from the southern wall of the Garrison, "Enemy movement spotted inbound from the south."

"Prepare for battle!" The Commander shouted, "arm the cannons, light your fire arrows, and load the catapults."

The entire Garrison went into action. Soldiers scurried to their battle stations, arming the cannons, loading their bows with fire arrows, while the ground soldiers rushed to get the catapults ready. To think that the warning was a bluff was a mistake on the Commander's part. Should've taken it more seriously, especially because his Garrison was the last.

"Look at 'em all," a soldier mumbled to another. "We're outnumbered."

"Is that the Queen?" another soldier questioned.

"Queen Mileena?" one questioned as he scanned the nearby surroundings for the Queen. "Where?"

"Dummy, right there!" one pointed. "Now light my arrow."

"Resistance!" Mileena shouted as she turned her horse around to face her fighters, "On my word… we attack."

"One OverWorld United!" Her fighters all shouted back in perfect unison. Turning her horse back around to face the Garrison, she stared at the scrambling soldiers.

"Load the catapults," Mileena ordered, "fire when ready!"

After giving those orders, she looked over to her right at Merlin. He noticed this and looked back over at her. She reached into her inventory, pulling out the candy cane bombs she had taken from the last Garrison they defeated. Tossing them over to Merlin one by one, he caught them.

"Just don't hit me," Mileena said.

Merlin chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"It was one arrow, one!" Merlin responded. "I was just going along with the illusion."

"Still," she responded as she looked away from him, glancing ahead, "it hurt!"

"You're never going to forget that, will you?" He asked.

"Nope."