Seven witches are destroying this world by raising an army of undead warriors. My job is to hunt and kill them. Perhaps killing these witches will restore balance to the world.

Six witches have been slayed: one more remains.

This is my journey. My only goal is to tell a good story.

Day 123

I had all the equipment I needed, plus information on the whereabouts of the last witch. This was my best lead in months, and I was prepared to end their tyranny. I headed west, straddling the mesas and the desert.

But it seems the witch was laying traps for me. First, I fell into a hole and got trapped on an overhang while riding Lightning. I was almost squished to death.

Then I had to cross a shallow sea. It was midday, not a single monster in sight, and yet I heard the growls and the snarls of somebody watching me.

Then, out of nowhere, a phantom started attacking me! Lightning was hurt considerably, and I almost lost her.

[Author’s note: Seriously, I’m not making this part up! Some invisible zombie started attacking me in broad daylight and I couldn’t do anything about it!]

I continued across the desert, and eventually found a temple that I had destroyed so many months ago. I must have gotten mixed up somewhere along the way.

Finally, night fell. Witches and monsters come out at night (usually). All of today’s travels was needed only to put me in the right spot. Hopefully this is the right time.

The monsters crawled out of the ground, and finally, FINALLY, I found the seventh witch!

I demounted from Lightning, then went on the offensive. Witches had to be killed fast, otherwise they poisoned you. I would not give this witch a chance to throw potions on me.

I gave her no last words. This ends now.

After the witch fell, her minions continued their assault. I had to fight off mob after mob, all of them reeling in insanity after their leader perished.

A creeper sneaked up behind me, but fortunately I was able to dodge his explosion.

All this fighting and commotion spooked Lightning, and she ran far from me. She was drawn to the light of a lava pool, and stood perilously on the edge.

Lightning, get away from there! That sand is unstable!

She slipped anyway, and fell into the lava. My horse for the past 100+ days! She followed me on this entire journey. I built land bridges specifically for her so she could get across the ocean.

And it all ends with a stupid mistake.

I needed a moment to compose myself, but now was not the time, for on the horizon, two more witches appeared!

This can’t be happening! The legends said there were seven witches harassing this world, not nine!

And then I figured it out. The final witch was the master of her coven. She had not one form, but three. To kill her, all three forms needed to be vanquished.

I’d never challenged two witches at once before. With Lightning gone and my strength draining away, I accepted the challenge. What did I have to lose? If I didn’t save the world, who would?

I let the arrows fly from my enchanted bow, and finally, the threat was resolved.

Day 124

The sun was rising, and I could see green on the horizon. Time to leave this forsaken desert behind and find a new life.

Life seemed to return to this world immediately. The air smelled fresher, the grass looked greener, and the animals more lively.

There would be no hero’s welcome for me. No ceremonies, no celebrations, no fanfare.

That was just the way I wanted it. This world might not know who saved it, or what, but I would know. And that’s enough.

I found a forest, a deep forest, and ventured inside.

The end.

[Author’s note: For those of you who’ve followed this story, thanks for sticking with it! It took me a lot longer to complete this arc than it should’ve, so your patience is appreciated! Game on, ~Dennis]

Seven witches are destroying this world by raising an army of undead warriors. My job is to hunt and kill them. Perhaps killing these witches will restore balance to the world.

Six witches have been slayed: one more remains.

This is my journey. My only goal is to tell a good story.

Day 120

I approached the village cautiously. Would this be one of those places that supported the work of the witches, or those fighting against them?

This village had some strange physics at work. How was this platform suspended? Perhaps the people here won’t so trustworthy.

I raided their library, taking all the books for myself. I would find a way to enchant my weapons yet, and these books would come in handy.

I carefully approached a villager and asked if he knew anything about the witches. He told me that a witch was near, and had been terrorizing their village for some time. They supported my work, and that gave me the encouragement I needed to continue with my quest.

At the edge of town was a black hole, leading to mysterious caves. Was this where the monsters were spawning from?

The people built their houses extremely high, perhaps to protect against the witch threat. I knew I was in the right place now. My quest would soon be ending.

In the mountains was a line of white rock, a sign of great importance. A cave entrance was nearby. I decided to try one last time to find diamonds.

I didn’t take me long to find a drop off and underground ravine. This cave system had been mined before. If people had dug this far into the ground, there must be some riches down here. Of course, the villagers are no longer mining, so maybe there are no valuables left.

Navigating the lavafalls and waterfalls took me to the bottom of the mine, where luck upon luck!, I found a diamond!

I went back to the mine and opened a chest in a mine cart. Sure enough, two more diamonds were inside! This was really my lucky day!

Time to get out of this mine as quickly as possible, before the monsters close in on me. Fortunately, the lava provided ample protection against the stupid undead, who walked right into it in their futile chase of me.

Day 121

I didn’t have enough diamonds for a sword–I was one short–but I had enough to craft an enchantment table. I would have to make due with enchanting iron armor and weapons.

I went into the great hall, the thirty-foot tall building overlooking the town. This would be the perfect spot to set up shop.

I went to enchant my armor and was dismayed to find that I needed one more ingredient: lapis lazuli! Will my problems never end?

I knew some was in the mine, so I prepared yet another venture below the surface.

Unfortunately, night had fallen and the witch’s army was back. The zombies chased the villagers, who foolishly remained outside instead of going inside.

I fought through the skeletons and spiders just to get back to the mine entrance. These people would have to survive the night on their own. I had to abandon this battle to win the war.

Once past the lavafalls and waterfalls again, I found lapis lazuli. Unfortunately, it was on the other side of a lake of fire!

I crafted a stone bridge across the lava, careful not to fall in.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve died and resurrected.

I exited the mine just as the day was dawning. I found off the remnants of the undead: the villagers survived the night without a casualty. Time to finally enchant my armor and weapons!

Day 122

I started with a new iron sword, placing it on the enchanting table along with the lapis lazuli. After speaking an incantation, the sword was imbued with power!

Next I enchanted my bow, and then my helmet.

Now I was ready. The witch clearly wasn’t here last night during the attack. She was likely somewhere close by, directing her minions from a distance.

I saddled Lightning up and said goodbye to the villagers. This quest ends now! Once night falls, the final witch will be in for a surprise.

Seven witches are destroying this world by raising an army of undead warriors. My job is to hunt and kill them. Perhaps killing these witches will restore balance to the world.

Six witches have been slayed: one more remains.

This is my journey. My only goal is to tell a good story.

Days 118-119

To face the last witch, I wanted to be as prepared as possible. Before I enchanted my weapon, I wanted to make sure it was a diamond sword, something more powerful than iron. To get diamonds, I’d have to venture into the caves.

I’ve heard of these deep caves, but have avoided them as much as possible in my journey. I’ve only briefly explored them to get coal and iron. But diamonds were at the very bottom, so I had to plan this trip carefully.

I put all of my valuable supplies in a chest—in case I died again—then put Lightning in a pen.

The desert was right next door to these plentiful plains. This cave entrance looked just as good as any.

The cave was deep. I planted torches to light my way, but I had no way of knowing if this cave system would lead me to my goal.

Immediately I found valuables like iron, but I had to ignore them.

Within the hour, I found an abandoned mineshaft! I’ve heard that people used to mine this world, before the rise of the witches, but I’ve never seen evidence of such a mine before.

Perhaps the village to the north, near my temporary home, was the owner of this mine. When I meet those people, I’ll have to ask.

To my dismay, this cave system was not entirely abandoned: the skeletal bodies of yesteryear’s miners haunted this place!

The skeletons spawned from a wire box: what was this black magick contraption? I destroyed it before it could spew any more filth.

I searched any chest I found, hoping to find a diamond stored for safe keeping, but found only useless effects, like dry bread and cobwebs.

I found another dungeon, a wire box generating spiders, and quickly destroyed it. I was getting sidetracked from my mission!

I continued deeper, deeper, and came across gold. The pressure was building in these rocks, but gold wasn’t my prize either. I had to press on.

How warped my desires have become to pass up gold!

Zombies were crawling around these caves as well. Thanks to my new supply of arrows, I could dispense with them safely from a distance.

I finally got to the bottom of the cave system. I went as deep as I could go, and saw lava, hot, boiling lava, covering the ground.

Diamonds had to be around here somewhere! The lava didn’t leave much room for walking, so I constructed stone bridges to get from one end of the lake to the other.

No matter how widely I searched, I found not a diamond. I had to leave this cave system. It was getting too dangerous traversing all this lava.

As I reluctantly climbed to the surface, I found an enderman blocking my path. He stared into my soul with those glowing eyes and initiated a battle.

I struck the creature down, and his death screams filled my head, causing me agony and despair.

I went back to the surface. It was night, and I had to cross a field filled with skeletons to get back to Lightning and my shelter.

Tomorrow I would enchant an iron sword—that’s the best I could do. Then I would introduce myself to the villagers.

I’m only hoping they can provide some direction in finding this last witch.

Seven witches are destroying this world by raising an army of undead warriors. My job is to hunt and kill them. Perhaps killing these witches will restore balance to the world.

Six witches have been slayed: one more remains.

This is my journey. My only goal is to tell a good story.

Day 115

The villagers didn’t take too well to my destruction of their temple! I should have known that my witch hunting would get me in trouble one day. They have a grip on this world, and the world isn’t ready to forge ahead without them.

I fought back, but took no satisfaction in the violence.

Eight villagers fell total.

Now what should I do? There was clearly no witch in this area. My violence was for naught. I left Goroth for the bountiful fields.

I saw endermen patrolling the shore, but I had not the strength to attack them tonight.

I needed supplies, and for too long I have gone without animal products. I needed feathers for arrows, hide for book covers, and wool for bedding. These plains became killing fields as I slaughtered cow after cow, chicken after chicken, getting the valuable items I’ve needed for months.

For the first time, I found a bunny, and that gave me some small joy.

Day 116

I wasn’t going to let all this meat go to waste. Early in the morning, I started roasting the beef. It was much healthier to eat than the bread, so I would soon substitute my entire lot of bread for roast beef. All that work for bread, and now I was abandoning it so quickly.

Just over the hills I found another village. I would refrain from going there for now. First I needed to be prepared. Maybe word had reached these people of the attack on Goroth just a quarter mile away.

I found more cattle, and continued my harvest. It made me sick, but I needed those leather hides for a reason.

I built a house at night. I would be in this area for some time, so I might as well be protected.

Day 117

If I was going to slay the final witch I’d need a magical sword. I wasn’t going to take any chances.

To enchant my sword, I needed books. I’ve been carrying reams of paper for months; now I finally had enough leather for the bindings.

Once all the books were crafted, I put them away in bookshelves. I was getting close.

For too long skeleton archers have plagued me, firing arrow after arrow into my armor from afar. I needed to fight back. I had the feathers now for more arrows, next I needed flint. I dug through the gravel until I had enough.

I wasn’t going to enchant any old sword. Ideally, I’d magically-infuse a diamond sword. The only problem: I only had one diamond. My books and arrows stockpiled, my next mission was to go underground, to find another diamond.

Seven witches are destroying this world by raising an army of undead warriors. My job is to hunt and kill them. Perhaps killing these witches will restore balance to the world.

Six witches have been slayed: one more remains.

This is my journey. My only goal is to tell a good story.

Day 113

The crops were plenty bountiful, and now it was time to resume my quest. I still had one more witch to kill, and that would not happen if I stayed in peace forever.

I ripped up two rows of crops, saving the seeds for another emergency. I left two rows in place to aid the next traveler. If you give to the land, the land will also give to you.

My gear packed, I closed the doors of my house and set off into the sand. It felt good to ride again, and Lightning more than appreciated the freedom.

While riding along the coast, I found a school of squid, a least a dozen popping in and out of the water. Too bad they were no good to eat.

While this landscape may have been nearly inhospitable, it was beautiful.

I didn’t ride long before I started seeing patches of grass, and then sand. Such irregularities in the environment could only mean one thing: I was on the edge of a new landscape! I had high hopes of finding people again. Seventy-six days have passed since I’ve talked to a real human person. These months at sea, on islands, and in the desert have probably made me a tad crazed in the brain.

By nightfall, I left the rocky desert for a sandy one.

And not long after that, I found grassland! I’ve looked at cacti for too long! Grass and trees, these are what I’ve missed!

This land was brimming with life. I found chickens, and cattle, and sheep!

My sword hand grew lustful with desire. I needed feathers for arrows, cow hide for book bindings, and meat for energy (bread provides only a kind of sustenance). But tonight I killed nothing. I was too enraptured with the sight of so much life!

Now that I was in the grasslands again, I wondered if people would be nearby. Was there another town, anywhere I could go?

Sure enough. By 3 a.m. I saw the light of a small desert village, Goroth.

Day 114

As usual, I found the town overrun with monsters. A few slices of my sword ended their threat, and the town welcomed me.

These townspeople were deceived. They thought I was on their side, was here to support them, but then I found this:

A witch’s temple! I’ve never seen a temple constructed inside a town before! Crops grew in the temple’s backyard! These people were clearly allied with a witch, perhaps the final witch in my quest.

These people didn’t know who I was. I was the Witch Slayer, and this temple was coming down.

First I raided the temple. Witches never change. They always hide their treasure in the same spot. More important than a few bars of gold, however, was the TNT hidden beneath.

I’d been carrying stacks of TNT with me for quite a while now. With the TNT of this place, I had more than enough material to blow this temple apart.

As I worked, the townspeople paid me no mind. They assumed I’d entered the temple to worship at the feet of her filthiness. What a surprise awaited them when the TNT finally detonated!

Small sections of the temple remained, but this is how I liked it. I wanted the ruins to be a reminder to the witches and all of their supporters: do not corrupt this world any longer.

A lone villager surveyed the ruins. He seemed in shock, unable to comprehend how his religion had come crumbling down.

Perhaps I was a little too zealous for justice. Maybe these people weren’t ready to unplug from the witch’s coven.