We're halfway through the original book guys! That didn't take as long as I thought it would. *looks at original chapter* Wow, I finally wrote a 1000+ word chapter.

Zip's POV
Dax had led us to a barn out the back of her house to crash in for the night. When I woke up the following morning, I saw that everyone had crashed in the hay except for Fury, who was up in the loft, already awake. She turned her head to me when she heard me sitting up.

"Hey," she said.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" I asked.

"A bit."

Dax came to get us several minutes later and took us to the centre of the village, where people were selling fresh fruit and vegetables and eggs and all sorts of other items. Aaron met us in the centre and gave us each an apple for breakfast. He also somehow had a bone for Wolf, which Wolf was very appreciative of.

Fury took a bite of her apple. "So, where's your underground library?" she asked bluntly.

Dax sighed. "I've told you, you're not going to be allowed access to it. No strangers are allowed. In fact, I'm breaking the rules by letting you guys stay here."

"That bad huh?" Tim asked.

"You have no idea," Aaron told him.

"Why? Why aren't any strangers allowed?" I asked. It didn't make any sense.

Dax didn't meet my eyes. "I'm not the person to tell you that."

"Then who is?"

Dax didn't answer. "Finish your apples. The gate is in the north, you know the way. There's another village almost a full day's walk to the east. They'll take care of you." She went to walk away.

Fury grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop. "Dax-" That was as far as she went.

With her left arm, Dax drew a dagger from a hidden pocket in her back and slashed it at Fury's arm. Fury grabbed it with her other hand before it could touch her. Aaron started forward, his hand going for his axe but Fury saw him. Her right arm, the one holding Dax's arm, went to her sword on her back but she didn't draw it out. Her apple was lying forgotten on the ground.

"I can move faster than both of you," she threatened. "Neither of you will be able to land a hit on me."

By now, my friends and I had our hands on our weapons but I motioned for them to not draw them out. We were at a stalemate.

"I know you can't allow us access," Fury started. "So tell us who can, and we'll go talk to them."

Aaron looked at Dax. Dax and Fury had a staring contest, both assessing the will of the other. After a minute, Dax slowly nodded.

"If that's what you want," she muttered. Pulling her wrist and dagger from Fury's grip, she walked through the village. We jogged after her, sticking close as she went to a slightly larger house that was just outside the village centre. Inside, the house was warm, with lots of wood and soft carpet. Dax knocked on a door just to the left of the entrance. A male voice called out "Enter" and we walked inside.

The room was a study, with a few bookshelves on the walls, two chairs and a large wooden desk with a man sitting behind it in a black chair. He had the same wary green eyes as Dax, but his hair was short and black, and he was strong.

"Dax? Who are these strangers?" he asked, a trace of a challenge in his voice.

"I'm sorry Father, they insisted on seeing you," Dax told him.

"I told you, no strangers are allowed inside the village!"

"No one tells me where to go and when to leave," Fury said, her voice angry.

I put a calming hand on her shoulder. "Fury, just.... Let me handle this, okay?" I took Fury's eyeroll as a sign of agreement and turned back to the man. "I'm Zip. We need some information."

"I'm Styk, and I need you to leave." (Pronounced St-i-ke)

I narrowed my eyes slightly. Styk wasn't being very cooperative. I decided to try a different tactic.

"Why aren't you letting anyone into your village?" I asked, trying not to sound accusing. "What happened?"

Too late, I noticed Dax covertly shaking her head at me, but the question was already asked. Styk slowly stood up from his desk, his hand brushing the handle of the long axe that was resting against the wood.

"Leave. Now," he said.

"Alright."

Everyone, even Styk, looked at surprise at Fury. She shrugged and walked to the door, calling out over her shoulder as she left. "Good luck standing against the monsters when they come. They can take several hits to the chest and not die, so I don't like the look of your chances, but that's okay." She opened the door to leave.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Styk asked.

"You know. The monsters. They're somehow stronger than normal. The only way to kill them for good is to cut off their head... at least, that's the only way I've found. Stabbing their heart doesn't help, they just keep fighting."

"She's telling the truth, Father," Dax said. "I've seen them on our patrols. They're harder to kill than usual, even if the normal cycle is taken into account. And Elite skeletons have been spotted too."

Styk took a step back, a shocked look on his face. "Not possible," he whispered.

"It is possible, and it is happening," I said. "We're trying to stop it, but we don't know where to start or what to do. That's why we need access to your library. If anyone has information on this, you do."

"I'm not entirely sure about that," Aaron said. "I've read almost all the books down there, and I've never found-"

"There's books there."

I looked at Styk, trying to hide the hope I felt. Styk was looking at the floor, not meeting anyone's eyes. "There's books down there that can help you," he said softly. "That's how he found out."

"'He'?" Fury asked suspiciously.

Styk glared at her. I got the feeling he didn't like the young girl very much. "I'm not telling you anything else about that," he growled. "Dax, take them to Cave 998, isle 43. Atyi will get them the books they need. Then come back here, I need to talk to you about disobeying my orders."

"Yes Father," Dax mumbled, leaving the room. We followed her, Aaron closing the door after us with a click.

As Dax led us through the village again, Fury walked next to me, a smug smile on her face. I gave her a light glare.

"If you think I'm going to congratulate you for getting us here, you're wrong," I told her.

Fury shrugged. "Sometimes you've got to be blunt."

"You know, for someone who grew up away from civilisation, you're remarkably good at negotiations."

Fury shrugged again. "I haven't lived in complete solitude you know. I have met humans a few times."

Dax took us to a long, flat building that was filled with end to end with books. Fury told Wolf to sit outside the door and wait. Inside the building, people of the village were walking around, reading books or sorting books and putting them away. At the back of the single room was a staircase leading down. Torches set at regular intervals lit up the dark gloom as we went into the earth. At the base of the stone stairs was a solid wooden door, which was propped open. Dax led the way through and took us to a desk to the right of the door.

"Hey Atyi," she said to a woman wearing a long white cloak.

"Hello Dax," Atyi said, her eyes drifting to us. "Who are these?"

"My Father gave them permission to be here," Dax said. "He wants you to take them to Cave 998, isle 43. They need information on how the monsters became strong and how to reverse it."

Atyi nodded slowly. "Very well. Follow me. We'll take the mine cart down."

Dax said goodbye and Atyi led us to a track that went deep into the rock. I felt Fury pause beside me and I glanced at her face. Her eyes were fixed on the mine carts and she was shivering slightly even though it wasn't cold. I gently tugged on her arm.

"Hey, it's okay," I told her. "It's only for a short while."

She held my gaze for a moment, then nodded, wrapping her arms around her. Each of us climbed into a mine cart (With Atyi at the front) and we start off down deep into the rock. It became colder and colder the further we went, the lit torches along the walls doing little to penetrate the gloom. It took several minutes for the carts to finally come to a stop.

"How deep are we?" Tim's voice asked, echoing in the brightly lit cave we had reached.

"It's the lowest part of the library," Atyi said. She pointed to the other end of the cave, to where a heavily fortified steel door sat carved into the rock. "That is Cave 999. No one is allowed in there."

"Then why do you have it?" Luke asked.

"Because a day might come when that knowledge is needed." Atyi started looking around at the bookshelves that crowded the room.

"So, if someone wanted to find information on how the monsters became insanely strong and how to reverse it, that information would be.....?" Jade prompted.

"In this room right here," she said. "This was where he found the information."

"Who is 'he'?" Fury demanded, stamping her foot. "Why is everyone only calling him a 'he'?"

"We do not like saying his name."

"Why?"

"Wait wait," I interrupted, realising something. "A human made the monsters like this? Why would anyone do that?"

"He's not human anymore," Atyi said, taking down some books from the shelves. "In fact, his story is in that cave."

All of us glanced at the steel door. Whose story would be so dangerous, so deadly, that it would be locked in a room where no one could access it? Who used to be human but isn't anymore? Who wants the monsters to become stronger?

The answer was clear.

"Herobrine."

Atyi glanced at Luke before putting down the books she had on a nearby table and getting some more from the shelves. "He came in disguise one day, hurt and tired. We took care of him, never realising what he really was. He was polite, kind, patient, and had a way with words. He told Styk he was looking for a cure for a rare disease that was affecting his mother back at home. Styk took him here and helped him look, although he often came at night to look by himself. Another boy was staying here at the time, studying sorcery. That boy and Her- he, met a few times, just in passing, but the boy must have known something was up. He went to Styk and warned him, but Styk didn't listen. So the boy confronted him in front of the entire village. He must have found what he wanted because he revealed who he was, killed the poor boy and vanished into thin air. Since then, Styk's banned all strangers and hasn't let anyone into this room."

Atyi finished her story and placed several more books carefully on the table. "These are the books he was studying," she said. "Whatever you'll need will be in here. I'll come and collect you when it's sunset. Have fun." She walked out of the room and took one of the mine carts back to the surface.

All of us stared at the collection of books on the table, each dusty and old about a few hundred pages thick.

"Have I ever told you guys that I hate reading?" Luke asked.

I sighed. "Let's get started," I said, pulling over another table while the others pulled up chairs.

Chapter in original book: 18