and clawed at the raiders.
I could easily drop TNT, light it and run, save my own life and escape .
The thought hit him hard as if someone else had put it there. One block of TNT, run, save yourself. But the very thought made Steve sick to his stomach; he could never sacrifice his friends even to save his own life. The adventurer continued to fight, staying close to Stephanie and protecting her with his life until the last remaining raiders fled for their lives.
Stephanie smiled as she caught her breath and hugged Steve. “We did it! We survived!” She laughed in pure joy that they had come through alright. She dequipped her bow and grabbed a white cloth from several of the raiders, placing one around her face and doing the same to Steve.
“Come on sweetheart, we can do this, we can save the world,” Stephanie said with her sweetest of smiles.
Steve knew he was lucky to have this woman; she would keep him going through this horrid journey. Together they continued through the desert, hand in hand while scoundrel wagged his tail, padding along beside them.
Ultimate Test
The desert soon gave way to grassy plains, sprawling land with hills rolling in every direction. Animals were thriving; multitudes of them roamed the land and paid very little attention to the group. Scoundrel chased rabbits nearby barking playfully at the critters. Stephanie could not help but smile at the beautiful land and when she spotted a nearby river she pulled Steve happily to it.
Dirty, thirsty and still horribly hot the group jumped into the cool water with a loud splash and a laugh. They bathed, drank, filled their bottles with water and soon continued on.
But they did not get far down the river before Steve heard something nearby.
“Steph, wait. Do you hear that?”
Stephanie stopped and listened. She nodded as she grabbed his arm. “It sounds like something in pain”
Sure enough Steve neared the edge of a small canyon and below them they saw a small bear cub crying, huddled against a wall as several creepers walked towards it. Stephanie gasped and looked away. “The poor thing!”
Steve didn’t hesitate. He hurried down the canyon until he found a way down to the lower level. Sliding down the dirt and landing hard with a roll he stood, rushing at the creepers with sword drawn.
Let them kill the cub, you are risking your own life for a stupid animal.
The voice came back to Steve’s mind. He knew now that it wasn’t his own thoughts, someone else was making these things come to his mind, but he refused to listen. If there was something he could do to help he was going to do it.
Shouting to get the green monsters’ attention he slashed the first one in half. The other began to throb, growing slightly as it hissed. It was going to explode and take out Steve with it. But he was too fast. Just before the beast could explode Steve spun, leveling his sword with the creature’s neck and cut the head clean off. The hisses died out slowly.
Stephanie cheered and Scoundrel barked on the level above him. Steve grabbed the injured bear cub and carried it out of the gorge, climbing with it in one arm until he reached the top. Stephanie took the cub and hurriedly helped Steve back onto solid ground.
“That was amazing! You risked your life for this little guy!” She looked at the cub and smiled.
Behind her a mother bear and three more cubs whined when they saw the cub in her arms and the injured bear struggled to get free. Stephanie set him down and he hurried to his mother. Steve watched as the large momma bear walked to him, sniffed him closely then growled in approval and walked away.
“I think she was saying thank you” Stephanie said with a smile.
Steve nodded and patted the dirt off his body. “I wasn’t going to let the little thing die while I could do something about it. Now come on, we have some time to make up if we’re going to