Chapter 2

Chapter 2 DESERT BEFORE DINNER! ITS TIME HAS COME! A vast expanse of sand stretched out before them. Morgan's head swam--if that was the right word when one was standing in a desert biome. The voices of his friends filled his ears with questions. "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?" asked Ash. "Maybe we went through a different portal?" Harper suggested. "We might have gotten turned around in our rush." "No way," Po answered. "We scoped that whole area out. IF THERE HAD BEEN MORE THAN ONE PORTAL, WE WOULD HAVE

NOTICED." "We all know how this happened," Jodi said. "It's the Evoker King. It has to be." A moment of silence stretched among them. Finally, Morgan sighed. "Redirecting portals?" he said. "That is some madcap modding." Ash nodded. "IF HE CAN DO THAT, THEN HE CAN GO ANYWHERE IN THE OVERWORLD AT ANY TIME. He can secure any resource. Move mobs around. There may be no stopping him." "So why come here?" asked Harper. "If there's logic to his actions, I'm not seeing it yet." They stared at one another as they each contemplated the question. When no answers came, Po said, "LET'S LOOK AROUND." After being in the enclosed walls of the fake school, the desert felt huge. There were some low, rocky mountains in the distance. Everything else was sand and cacti. The square Minecraft sun was high above them. Morgan was grateful they didn't feel heat here or need fresh water. In the desert, they were more likely to find lava than water.

"Watch your step," he said. "No one walk in any lava." "LAVA?!" Jodi froze, scanning the sand around her feet. "Okay. What else do we need to know?" As a fan of Minecraft's Creative mode, she was often surprised by details of Survival mode. Many of the surprises were

unwelcome ones—at least to her. "Well," Morgan began, "you won't see many animals out here. Maybe some rabbits. Hostile mobs, on the other hand, spawn like crazy at night. We'll want shelter before the sun gets low." "The good news is you can really see the mobs coming," Ash said. "There aren't many places for them to hide in all this flat, open land." "OR FOR US TO HIDE," Po said. "I'm guessing we'll be building a burrow tonight." "Like the rabbits." Jodi laughed. "You need a bunny outfit, Major Po." Ash was still peering into the distance. "Is that…?"

She gasped, then gripped Morgan's arm. "EVERYONE TAKE COVER," she hissed, and she pulled him behind a cactus. "WHAT IS IT?" he asked. "What did you see?" "Something that doesn't belong here," she answered. "Do you see those mountains? Do you see what's right in front of them?" Morgan looked where Ash was pointing. At ground level, there was a cave in the mountains. It looked like an entrance to a mineshaft. And in front of it… "Are those vexes?" he asked.

Vexes were small, flying, ghostlike mobs. And Ash was right. They did not spawn in the desert. "Three of them," Ash said. "IT ALMOST LOOKS LIKE THEY'RE GUARDING THAT CAVE. THAT'S STRANGE, ISN'T IT?" "I think we left normal behind a few weeks ago," Morgan said. "And if they're guarding the cave, that must mean there's something worth guarding." Ash grinned. "Then we should find out what that something is." "Agreed," Morgan said. He looked up at the sinking sun. "Although it might have to wait. We should dig our burrow, set up our beds, and