New Pets on the Block (Minecraft Stonesword Saga #3) Read online

  The pit had a purpose.

  Someone had dug this hole in the Minecraft dirt. Someone had trapped these animals on purpose!

  Chapter 3

  Out of the Pit. Into the Swamp! (I’ll Take Any Other Option You’ve Got, Please.)

  Jodi didn’t get mad very often. But when Morgan told her what he suspected, she was furious.

  “You think someone set this trap on purpose?” she said. She sputtered and shook. “But…but why would anyone want to capture all these poor animals?”

  A newly freed chicken clucked as it hurried past. To Jodi, the clucking sounded a little like “thank you.”

  “I don’t know who would do this, or why,” said Morgan. “I just know that hole didn’t look natural. There were loose blocks of dirt around the edges.”

  “Maybe a creeper exploded,” Theo suggested. “There could be a simple explanation.”

  “Maybe,” said Morgan. But he didn’t seem convinced. His gut was clearly telling him that something strange was happening here.

  And then they saw the butterfly.

  Butterflies were not a natural occurrence in the world of Minecraft. But when Jodi and her friends accessed the game with their headsets, the version of Minecraft they experienced was sometimes…a little different, or even downright bizarre.

  The strangest aspect of the game so far had been the Evoker King, an artificial intelligence who had lived here. He had been an enemy at first, then a friend…and then he had undergone a strange transformation. The Evoker King had split into six different mobs, each containing a piece of his programming and personality.

  And when those mobs were nearby, the kids often saw digital butterflies—mobs that were definitely not a feature in the Vanilla game.

  “Did you see that?” said Morgan. “A butterfly just flew by! We need to follow it.”

  “What? No!” said Jodi. “We have to find out who trapped these animals.”

  “Jodi,” Morgan said, using his most serious “big brother” voice. “That butterfly could lead us to the next piece of the Evoker King. That’s our mission, remember?”

  “It’s more than just a mission,” said Harper. “The Evoker King is our friend, and it’s up to us to put him back together again.”

  “I want to help him,” said Jodi. “You know I do! But I want to help these animals, too.”

  “Maybe we can do both somehow,” Po suggested.

  “We can’t do two things at once,” Morgan said, huffing. “Jodi, you just gave us all a big speech about how responsible you are. Don’t you see how irresponsible it is to get distracted from our quest?”

  Jodi suddenly wished that Minecraft avatars had laser vision. She knew one big brother who deserved a face full of laser right now. She settled for scowling at him.

  “Uh, guys?” said Theo. “I do not want to be in the middle of this. Not even a little bit. But—”

  “—the butterfly is almost out of sight.” Harper finished. “Are we going after it or not?”

  Jodi sighed. “Fine. But somebody mark this spot on our map. We’re not done with this animal mystery.”

  She tried to keep the frustration out of her voice. But she didn’t try very hard.

  * * *

  Morgan almost lost sight of the butterfly more than once. It fluttered between the trees of the forest. The sun was high in the sky, so the leaves cast dark shadows. But with all five of them on the lookout, they were able to stay on the insect’s trail.

  Morgan hoped that following the butterfly was the right decision. He knew his sister was worried about the animals they had found. He admired her kindness and compassion. But he wanted to put the Evoker King back together more than anything.

  Following the butterfly led them out of the forest and into a biome of dark, shallow water. “It’s a swamp,” said Po. He made a face as he pulled his foot out of a puddle.

  “It’s kind of creepy,” said Jodi, and Morgan agreed. Dark vines hung from oak trees, and the water was a murky green instead of blue.

  “It’s just like any other biome,” said Theo. “It’s programmed to look gloomy, that’s all.”

  “And there are some unique resources here,” Harper added. “See the lily pads on the water? You can only find them in swamps.”

  Po turned up his wolfish nose. “I am not going into that water,” he said.

  Theo plucked a light blue flower, and he handed it to Harper. “Blue orchids are unique to swamps, too,” he said. Harper accepted the flower with a shy smile.

  Po also made a face at that.

  “Hey, look!” Jodi said. “Somebody built a house out here.”

  Morgan saw it. It was a boxy wooden structure, and it was built right above the water. Four wooden pillars like stilts kept the house above the muck.

  “It’s not a house,” he whispered. “It’s a swamp hut.”

  “Okay, sure,” Po whispered back. “But why are we whispering?”

  “Because swamp huts have another name,” Morgan answered. “They’re also called witch huts.”

  As soon as he said those words, Morgan saw a shape moving behind the hut’s windows. “And there’s someone inside,” he said.

  “What’s the big deal?” said Po. “We can handle a witch, right?”

  “An ordinary witch? Sure,” agreed Morgan. “But look.”

  Morgan pointed to the roof of the hut. The butterfly had landed right on top of it.

  Harper gasped. “Do you think the mob in that hut is one of the Evoker Spawn we’re looking for?” she asked.

  Morgan nodded. “Probably. And if it’s anything like the last two, it will be a lot more dangerous than your average mob. We’ll need to be quiet…and careful, and…Wait.” He looked around. “Where’s Jodi?”

  “Uh-oh,” said Po, and he pointed.

  Jodi was running at top speed, splashing through the shallow water. She wasn’t trying to hide. She wasn’t trying to be quiet.

  And she was heading right for the witch’s hut.

  Chapter 4

  Welcome to the Zoo! Come for the Pandas. Stay Forever….

  Jodi knew she was taking a big risk. The creepy house on stilts was obviously not the kind of place she wanted to be. But as she splashed through the shallow water, she wasn’t thinking about the hut. She was thinking about what she had seen behind the hut.

  “Jodi!” her brother hissed. He was quickly catching up to her, and the others were close behind him. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m helping,” she said. “I’m helping them.”

  Jodi stepped onto dry land, just a short distance from the swamp hut. There were fences there. Cages. They were built from the same spruce and oak as the hut. And they held just about every animal Jodi had ever seen in Minecraft.

  “Whoa,” said Po. “Check out all the animals.” He peered between the bars of the nearest cage. “Is that a panda? I forgot Minecraft even had pandas.”

  “They only spawn in jungles,” Morgan said. He leaned in closer. “It sort of looks like a jungle biome inside the cage, doesn’t it? There’s bamboo growing in there.” He frowned. “That shouldn’t happen in a swamp.”

  “And there,” said Harper, pointing at another cage. “The turtle’s cage is full of sand and water. It looks like a small beach.”

  “Someone is recreating the home biome of each animal,” Theo said. “There’s even an aquarium over there. It’s full of different kinds of fish.”

  “That panda is just a baby,” Jodi said. “It looks so sad!”

  “That’s just your imagination,” said Theo. “It can’t be sad. It isn’t a real panda.”

  Before Jodi could disagree, the panda sneezed. A glob of slime landed nearby.

  “Okay, that was somehow both adorable and disgusting at the same time,” said Po.

  Harper grinned, and she picked up the slimeball. “You never know,” she said. “This might come in handy.”

  “Harper!” said Po, looking grossed out—as much as an avatar in a wolf-sheep skin could. “I hope you know how to craft a sink, because you need to wash your hands. Like, right away!”

  “A little slime never hurt anybody,” said Harper, and she waved her blocky hands in Po’s face.

  While Po squealed and laughed, Morgan appeared lost in thought. After a long moment, he said, “It’s a zoo. But who would make this, and why?”

  “It’s not a zoo,” said Jodi. “It’s a prison! And whoever built it is obviously the same person who was trapping animals in a pit.” She hopped in anger. “It isn’t right. It isn’t fair. And I’m going to set them all free.”

  “Now, hold on a minute,” said Morgan.

  But Jodi didn’t listen. She flung open a gate. A goat stepped out, leaving the gravelly, mountainous landscape of its cage. “Be free!” said Jodi. “Get out of here. Hurry!” The goat bleated once, then hurried past them into the swamp.

  Jodi didn’t stop there. She ran down the line of cages, throwing open one door after another.

  “Jodi, stop!” said Morgan. “We need to talk about this.”

  Just then, an eerie giggle rang out. Jodi froze, confused. The sound was coming from the cage that she had just opened. Inside it, a colorful bird sat atop a log.

  “Dude,” said Po. “Did that parrot just laugh at us?”

  Jodi saw the worry on her brother’s face. “What is it?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “Well…parrots make different sounds depending on what other mobs are nearby,” Morgan explained. “They hiss when a creeper is close. They groan when a zombie’s around. And that giggle…it sound
ed like…”

  “Like what?” asked Jodi.

  Morgan answered: “Like a witch.”

  Jodi turned to look at the nearby hut. A menacing figure loomed in its open doorway. It wore a pointed hat and a dark cloak. And it was watching them with bright green eyes.

  It was a witch. It laughed—a wicked, haunting cackle that sent a chill through Jodi’s avatar.

  And then it attacked.

  Po was the first one to be hit. He didn’t even have time to draw his sword. A potion struck him square in the back. He flashed red and fell to his knees.

  Just one hit, and he was out of the fight.

  “We’re under attack!” cried Harper, and she fired an arrow. It struck the wood hut with a thunk.

  “Where did the witch go?” said Theo, and he gripped his sword. “It was right there a second ago.”

  “Behind you!” yelled Morgan. But his warning came too late. The witch leapt from the shadows, hurling potions at Theo and Harper. As they fell to their knees, the witch disappeared again, fading into the gloomy darkness of the swamp.

  “The witch is too fast,” said Morgan. “It shouldn’t be able to move like that—or that fast. That’s no normal mob.”

  Jodi pressed her back against his. “Just keep your eyes open, big brother,” she said. “The witch can’t sneak up on both of us.”

  Morgan and Jodi turned in a slow circle, back to back. They gazed out into the swamp and down the aisles of the strange, swampy zoo.

  But when Jodi heard the witch’s cackle, it wasn’t coming from either of those directions. The sound was coming from above them.

  Jodi looked up in time to see the witch peering down from atop the nearest cage. The mob hurled a flask at them. It shattered against Morgan, splashing him with its foul liquid.

  And now Jodi stood alone. She held her sword in one hand and her shield in the other. “I’m not afraid of you,” said Jodi. “I’m going to save these animals you’ve captured. You can’t stop me.”

  “Stop you, hrm,” said the witch. The voice was strange and shrill. The mob took a step back, fading into the darkness.

  Jodi turned to her brother. “Are you okay?” she asked him.

  And then the witch’s shrill voice sounded just behind her. “Stop you, hah!” said the mob.

  Jodi felt a splash potion shatter against her back. It didn’t hurt…but it had a strange and immediate effect on her. Jodi felt suddenly weak—weak, and so, so tired. She dropped to her knees. She couldn’t even summon the strength to stand.

  “What…what is this?” she asked.

  “Some kind of sickness,” Morgan said beside her.

  Standing above them, the witch cackled in triumph. “Cursed, you are,” said the mob. Its speech was odd, full of pauses and purring sounds. “Fix you, hah, I can.”

  “Do it, then,” said Harper. “Lift this…this spell or curse or whatever it is you’ve done to us.”

  “A price, hrm, you must pay,” said the witch. It leaned in closer. This mob moved her arm as she talked. That definitely wasn’t like any normal Minecraft witch. “A mooshroom of brown. You bring one, hah, to me.”

  “You want us to bring you…a brown cow?” asked Po. “That’s your price?”

  “We won’t do it,” said Jodi. “We won’t help you hunt any more animals!”

  “Help me, hah, you will,” said the witch. “For the cure you seek, hrm, is the stew that, hah, the mooshroom makes.”

  Silence fell over the group. Jodi wanted to argue—she wanted to fight. But she could barely crawl.

  “Quest for me, you will,” said the witch. “Over land, hah, and sea, hrm.” She opened the gate of a nearby cage. Inside it was a row of neat beds. “But first…heh. You rest.” She cackled, then added, “Hah-hah-hrm. Rest well…my pets.”

  Chapter 5

  Suspicious Stew: Is the Cure Worse Than the Disease?

  Theo felt a chill as he removed his VR goggles. Was it the library’s air-conditioning? Or…could it be the curse of the witch?

  He shook his head. Surely the witch’s magic couldn’t affect them here, in the real world. Even so, Theo was thoroughly creeped out. The witch was an adversary unlike any they had faced before.

  Although…that was only half true. The witch was faster, more menacing, and much more talkative than a typical Minecraft witch. There was only one explanation for that. Just like the monstrous Enderman and the mind-controlling cave spider before her, this unique mob must be one of the Evoker King fragments. And that meant, even if they could fight it…they probably shouldn’t. They would need a unique approach to the problem.

  “I think we have to do what the witch says,” Theo said to his friends. “We need to find a mooshroom and bring it back to her.”

  Po sighed. “That sounds like a lot of work. But we definitely need the cure.”

  “It’s not just about the cure, though,” said Theo. “If that witch is one of the Evoker Spawn, then we need to show her that we aren’t her enemies.”

  Jodi gripped her goggles tightly. “There has to be another way. We can’t do her dirty work for her. Not if it means capturing another poor animal. Who knows what’s she’s up to?!”

  “We don’t have a lot of choices,” said Morgan. “We’re her prisoners…because somebody ran into danger without a plan.”

  Jodi scowled at him. “You’re the one who runs off every time a butterfly floats by!”

  “Blaming each other won’t help us right now,” said Harper. “Instead of pointing fingers, we should focus on what we can do next.”

  Po scratched the top of his head. “Maybe we can figure out the cure by ourselves,” he suggested. “What did the witch say about soup?”

  “Stew,” Theo corrected him.

  “And not just any stew,” said Morgan. “Suspicious stew. Believe it or not, you can get it from mooshrooms.”

  “That does not sound delicious,” said Po. “But does it mean we could cure ourselves? Could we get this…suspicious stew…and not give her the mooshroom?”

  “Or could we make the stew ourselves?” suggested Harper. “I’m certain it can be crafted.”

  “We don’t have enough information,” Morgan said, shaking his head. “Suspicious stew is unpredictable. It can have all sorts of different effects on a player. And when you get it from a mooshroom, the stew’s exact effects depend on what the mooshroom has eaten.” He shrugged. “So the witch only told us part of the cure. We know it’s suspicious stew, but we don’t know what kind.”

  “We’re really trapped, then,” said Harper. “We have to do what the witch says.”

  “Easier said than done,” Theo said. “Brown mooshrooms are extremely rare. They’re even rarer than the red variety.”

  “What about breeding one?” Morgan suggested. “If you pair two red mooshrooms together and they have a baby, there’s a chance the baby will be brown.”

  “Yeah,” Theo said, scoffing. “A one-in-1,024 chance, to be specific.”

  “Never tell me the odds!” Po replied, having no idea exactly how good or bad those odds were.

  Theo dragged his feet as they all walked up to the front of the library and turned in their headsets. He was a programmer, so he couldn’t help but think of the odds. And the odds really were not in their favor this time.

  As they left the library and stepped out into the sunshine, Jodi said, “I still don’t like it. I wish we knew why she wants a mooshroom. Does she really just want to keep it in a cage?”

  “Does it matter?” Theo said. “It’s not a real animal.”

  “But they seem real,” said Jodi. “They eat food, and they have babies, and they run away from you if you hurt them.”

  “They do those things because they’re programmed to do them,” said Theo. “They’re just little bits of code. They don’t have feelings.”