Descent Into Overworld: An Unofficial Minecraft Adventure by Liam O'Donnell

Whiner, their bony hands on their own swords.
    Whiner stepped back and let his blade fall to his side. “Okay, okay. No need to make threats.”
    “Then no more complaints from you,” Slashax said.
    Without a word, his band of skeletons resumed their march deeper into the caves. The scraping of the cage dragging along the ground echoed through the stone walls like a witch’s whisper.
    Jaina scrambled out from her rocky hiding spot and followed at a safe distance. Bones quietly trotted at her side.
    The rattling of skeletons marching bounced off the tunnel walls, just like the questions that bounced through Jaina’s mind. Why did Slashax want their diamond swords? Did Principal Whiner really know where to find Ant and Hamid?
    Through all this weirdness, questions about those diamond swords kept popping up. That red-headed weirdo in the villager costume at Mini-Minecon had given them those four foam swords. They each got one and Whiner took the fourth sword from Ant. That was when things went pear-shaped. Slashax showed up at their school, the swords exploded when they were all together. Next thing she knew, Jaina had blocks for hands and was trapped in the most realistic version of Minecraft she had ever seen. She wondered yet again if Ant and Hamid were also in this world. She hoped they were. The thought of being stuck here alone with Principal Whiner made her want to run far, far way. She couldn’t be alone. The guys had to be here too. Somehow it was all connected. The swords, the villager with the red hair and Slashax were all tied up in the mystery of how she got here. Hopefully, they would also show her how to get home.
    This whole mess was like a damaged redstone contraption. Jaina just had to follow the circuit along its logical path. The answer would be there, staring her in the face like a broken T flip-flop circuit.
    “Stop! I hear something.”
    Principal Whiner’s words snapped Jaina out of her thoughts. His voice sounded close. Too close. Whiner’s shadow moved along the wall, only a few steps away.
    Jaina ducked behind the nearest block, cursing her carelessness. She had been so lost in her own questions she nearly wandered right into them. Bones hurried behind the granite block and squeezed in beside her. Jaina crouched low, making herself as small as possible, and hugged the dog. Staying quiet was her only hope of staying hidden. She peered through the wolf’s fur, seeing around the block but not daring to move.
    Principal Whiner walked right past her. His ugly brown suit looked even uglier as a blocky Minecraft skin. His bald head and dark eyes peered into the shadows around them. The diamond sword in his hand reminded Jaina how dangerous her principal could be.
    “Relax, Mr. Whiner,” Slashax chuckled. “What you hear are the spiders who dwell here. They know better than to show themselves when I am near.”
    “I guess you’re right,” Whiner said eventually. He turned to join the others as they continued their march. “But I could swear I heard footsteps.”
    Jaina didn’t come out of her hiding spot until their voices had faded to nothing.
    Broken wooden beams crossed the low ceiling above her. Sections of rail track ran in a straight line on the ground into the shadows. She had followed the skeletons into an abandoned mine and hadn’t even noticed. The broken rail tracks led deeper underground. Slashax and his skeletons must be following the tracks. She could catch up to them easily enough. For now, the flashing drumsticks at the bottom of her vision told her she needed rest and food.
    Against the far wall, she spied the thing that could provide both.
    The wooden chest opened with a loud creak. Jaina smiled. Finally, her luck was turning around.
    A few loaves of bread and a torch. All that remained of the miners who once dug in these tunnels. Jaina grabbed it all and dropped them into her inventory. She devoured bread, sharing it with Bones, who happily snapped it up.
    Her chicken bones