Ender Dragon

We stood on a black obsidian platform.

An endless gloomy sky stretched overhead. Under the platform, too. The sky surrounded us from all sides.

The world, where the portal led, was a vast island of yellow stone hanging in the void. Instead of trees, massive obsidian pillars crowned with crystals towered here, and between them ... dozens, if not hundreds, of Endermen roamed.

"Friend, I understand everything now," whispered Steve. "We ended up in the End."

"How do you know? Did you already come here before?"

"No… But I... Know this." Steve said, his tone haunted, but firmly frowned and looked around himself.

"Let's look for a way out of here." He jumped from the obsidian platform to the Sky island and carefully, trying to keep an eye on the ground, started to look for a return portal. I followed closely in his footsteps.

Endermen mulled around us, watching us eerily with their purple eyes. Of course, with our armor and potions, it would not have been hard to kill them, but we did not, since they did not attack.

We crossed half-way across the island when Steve gasped and ran to one of the pillars. Near it scattered a whole number of objects. Coming closer, I discerned a set of iron armor, a sword, dried loaves of bread, a gold watch…

"Seems that they killed someone here." I said, puzzled. Steve slowly knelt before the bunch of items in shock.

"Someone?..." He reached with slightly shaking fingers to the gold watch. "Davis... I remember this watch. It belonged to me… I thought that I lost it."

"Maybe you dropped it somewhere and Herobrine left it here?"

"Not this time… Davis, I remember well how I met you and our journeys together. But I barely remember anything from before. Wandering around the Mainland… Its all foggy. I don't remember how I ended up on the Island, just like you… Curses!" Steve grabbed his head.

"I… don't quite understand what you're trying to say."

"These are MY things, Davis. This is the place where I died."

"That's nonsense! You are alive and well, standing right in front of me."

"Just think about it! You also don't remember how you ended up on the Island… What if its because we already died?"

"No! There has to be a reasonable explanation for all this." I cut off. Doubts rose again in my heart. Yet...

From the first time I met him, Steve repeatedly gave me reasons to doubt his sanity and each time it turned out that he was right. Could everything he just said be true?

My thoughts interrupted when a giant black shadow swooped from the sky. The Dragon. Lord of these lands. He was huge! And he intended to kill us, the uninvited guests, who so boldly invaded his Realm. The giant reptile made a sharp turn and flew back toward us, just above the ground.

Steve grabbed the enchanted bow and fired. The arrow only scratched the thick, scaly skin. We scattered in opposite directions from each other to confuse the dragon. I also managed to gouge his belly with the edge of my sword as it swept by. Dropping thick drops of blood, the dragon flew and soared up into the sky, and at that moment the crystals on the obsidian pillars came to life.

Rays of light beamed from them toward the reptile and the few wounds we dealt it began to close, healing.

"We won't defeat him this way." Steve once again pulled against his bow-string. "Davis, try to crash those things on the pillars while I distract the Enderdragon."

Easy for him to say "try". With difficulty, I climbed to the lowest, widest pillar and started beating at the crystal with my pickax. An explosion threw me off the pillar. Laying below, stunned for a moment, I blinked and realized that it had been the crystal bursting. The ray of healing light it cast toward the dragon ceased and the reptile made a loud, disgruntled roar.

Great! Instantly, a plan formed in my mind. I jumped to my feet and ran to the highest, narrowest pillar, which I began to climb.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Steve fire arrow after arrow, while dodging attacks of the flying monster, and it gave me the courage to go on. I could not let my friend down.

Reaching to the top of the pillar, I stood at what seemed to be the top of the World, with the whole land of the End stretched in my view.

"Let's get it over with."

I pulled out a bow and began to shoot the healing crystals of the dragon, one after another. Of course, I could not boast the same accuracy as Steve, but the arrows kept hitting their target. The crystals exploded one after another, and soon the dragon was left completely without their support.

"And for the final goal!" I shot the crystal next to which I stood.

The explosion threw me off.

In a normal situation, that would have been certain death. But boots, enchanted against fall damage, softened the blow. Still, I hit the ground so hard that I first had to drink a healing potion before I could move again. The dragon could have killed me, then, but it had flown so far away that at that moment it was out of sight.

"He'll be here soon, get ready," Steve warned.

"No… HE… is already here," I said in a fallen voice. With fear, I stared right at the obsidian platform behind Steve, where we stood when we first appeared here. Another visitor stood there now.

Herobrine had followed us to End.