Bajan slashed at the dummy and its head flew off, rolling to a stop some metres away. Herobrine clapped as Bajan lowered the sword, breathing heavily and grinning.

"Well done Bajan," Herobrine congratulated.

I stood at the edge of the large room, watching Bajan. We were deep below Herobrine's castle, in an area that I had mistaken for another world when we first came down. There were many sections to the room: a forest, grass covered in snow, a deep pool, a mini desert, a grassy plain and the wooden platform that we were on now. Several dummies were scared on the platform, including the one that Bajan had just beheaded. In my hands I clutched the stone sword that Herobrine had given me. Sky came up next to me, holding an iron sword.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, noticing my nervous posture.

I nodded.

"You don't look okay."

"I'm just... nervous," I admitted.

"Hey that's fine. We were all nervous at the start, but it's not as hard as you think. And you don't have to be as good as Bajan. I swear, he was born with a sword in his hand."

"You can't get swords back at home," I told him.

"Yeah well Bajan did. He has life hacks or something."

I chuckled slightly at that. Sky seemed please that he had succeeded in making me laugh.

"Um... Sky?" I asked hesitantly. He hummed, letting me know that he was listening. I ploughed on before I could lose my confidence. "Why aren't you using your real name? I mean, assuming that Sky isn't your actual name?" I asked, trying not to suggest that I was a fangirl. Sky nodded at my question before answering.

"I don't know, it just feels right. We all tried to call each other by our normal names at first since we all know each other but we decided to go by our Minecraft name. My real name is Adam, just so you know. Bajan is Mitch, Jerome is Jerome because he couldn't be original with his Minecraft name and Sub is Matt." (I couldn't find Sub's real name so I made it up)

"My real name is Riley, but my Minecraft name is Xotda2586," I told him.

"Can I just call you by your real name?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

I chuckled again. "Sure."

"Riley, you're next," Herobrine called, beckoning me over to him.

I came slowly, my worries about my sword fighting practice all crashing back. Like Sky, Herobrine noticed this.

"Don't worry. You'll be good, I know it," he said smiling.

I tried to smile back but failed. He started to coach me in the art of swinging a sword. I was dismal at first, but once I understood the basics, I started to get better. At least, Herobrine said I was getting better. I still felt extremely clumsy. I tried to ignore the fact that the others were watching me, and the fact that there was a bat flying above me somewhere. Eventually Herobrine told me to stop and I did it gratefully, my sword dropping my by side and my breath coming in gasps. He patted me on the back.

"That's very good Riley. Especially since it's your first time using a sword," he encouraged as we walked to the others. Sub patted me on the shoulder when I reached him, his way of encouraging me.

"He's right. You're much better than Sky was when he first started," Bajan grinned.

"Shut up Bajan! You know that I don't feel comfortable with this sword," Sky shot back, gesturing with his iron sword.

Herobrine laughed softly. "Come on Sky."

I watched as Sky practised. He did seem awkward with his sword, almost dropping it a few times for no apparent reason. Jerome got bored of watching and he tried to balance his iron axe on the back of his hand. Bajan finally took it away from him after he almost killed himself for the 5th time.

Sky stopped training and came back over to us, dropping his sword in annoyance.

"It just doesn't feel right," he complained, wiping his hair out of his face.

"You'll get it soon Sky," Herobrine told him.

"How are you so sure?" Sky asked angrily.

"Because otherwise you wouldn't be here," was the answer.

"Why are we here Herobrine?" Bajan questioned. "You haven't told us anything, and I know that I for one am very curious."

Jerome and Sky echoed his thoughts. I kept silent and so did Sub (duh, he couldn't talk). Herobrine looked at each of us in turn, his eyes hovering on me for longer.

"Alright, I'll tell you. Upstairs."

He led the way up into the castle and took us to one of the higher rooms. Inside was a table with several chairs. We each took a seat and Herobrine started talking.

"Okay, I'l start from the beginning. A few years ago, a guy appeared in Minecraft. He wasn't a player, he was like me, but more dangerous and powerful. I couldn't tell if he was good or bad, so I left him alone. I now wish I had killed him the day I found him," he sighed.

"What's his name?" Bajan asked.

Herobrine glanced at him. "Have any of you heard of Entity 303?"

I gasped. Of course I had heard of him. "He's a hacker isn't he? Red eyes, yellow teeth, black skin with white and grey clothes? He hacks into people's worlds and corrupts them."

"That's him. I was keeping an eye on him until he disappeared about a year ago. Then things started going strange. I saw glitches happening for a split second and then going away. It was only about four months ago that I found out what he was doing. He's teamed up with someone called Null."

"Who's Null?" Sky asked. I slapped my head in annoyance.

"Seriously, how do you live? Null is a pure black figure. He doesn't interact with players but he watches them," I explained. "He can crash your Minecraft if you get too close to him."

"So he's a stalker," Sky said.

I sighed, slightly annoyed that Sky had put it so bluntly. "Sure, whatever."

"What's so important about Entity and Null teaming up?" Jerome asked.

"If I face them one-on-one I might be able to win. Might. But together, there's no way. They have teamed up to destroy Minecraft and trap or kill me. I can't let them take Minecraft."

"So where do we come in?" Bajan said.

Herobrine leaned forward as if telling us top secret information. "Each of you have a gift. Something that makes you powerful. If we work together, we can drive Entity and Null back, maybe even destroy them."

"So you want us to help you kill some super-powerful dudes because we have 'special powers'," Bajan summed up.

"Can I opt out?" Jerome asked.

"Same. I kinda have a wife and kid at home," Sky added.

I wanted to join them. I had a brother to think about, a friend who needed me and a family. And school too, I guess.

"If any of you leave, the rest of us don't stand a chance," Herobrine said simply.

Crap. That complicates things. I sighed and put my head in my hand. The decision should have been so simple. Say no, go back home and forget that this ever happened. But I couldn't, for several reasons. I would be leaving behind four YouTubers who would most likely die (if Herobrine was to be believed) and I would forever regret that decision. If all of us left, Minecraft would be destroyed and Herobrine would probably be killed. And I had the feeling that Herobrine would attack them no matter what we chose. I tried to imagine a life where I couldn't play Minecraft, and realised that a life without Minecraft would be like a life without happiness to me. 

"I can't think of a life without me playing Minecraft," Sky said, echoing my thoughts. "Okay. I'm in."

"Me too," I agreed.

"I'm eager to try," Bajan grinned, nudging Jerome. "What do you say biggums?"

"You're going to be in so much trouble if I'm not there to bail you out," Jerome grinned back.

Sub waved his hands to get our attention and nodded, giving two thumbs up.

My heart started beating a thousand times a second as I came to grips with this. It was going to happen. We, the six of us, were going to go up against two bigger-than-life figures. And I silently started to freak out.