Chapter II: Fortress of Fire
Tacky finds himself inside a small chamber, in the center of which are the stairs that he has just come down. Ahead of him is a corridor; behind the stairs is another corridor. The young explorer decides to take the latter corridor. Before he can reach the end, he finds himself faced with a spinning mass of fire. Suddenly, the mass begins firing fireballs at Tacky, and it becomes evident that this is actually a sentient being, which Tacky coins a “Blaze.” Leaping out of the way of the fireballs, Tacky fires four arrows into the Blaze before it falls to the ground and its flame peters out. He continues along the corridor until he emerges out into the open. He observes the fortress-like nature of the structure he is in, and he also spots numerous Zombie Pigmen and Skeleton Warriors patrolling the walls; several Blazes float near the ground in the distance.
Tacky continues along the wall, slaying any creature that gets in his way, until he reaches a corridor. Walking down this corridor, he quickly discovers that the corridor has fallen apart not far in, as it simply drops off. The young adventurer creeps up to the edge and sees a ledge to the right on the other side of a gap in the fortress—perhaps another fortress?—that leads into another corridor. Tacky takes a running leap to the other side and continues his expedition.
Eventually, he finds himself in a dark, narrow corridor. He is startled when he walks straight into a wall of Netherrack; he has reached a dead end. He turns around and heads back to the previous corridor junction and takes another corridor. Tacky realizes that this part of the fortress was built into a nearby mountain of Netherrack, or at least its construction into the mountain was started but left unfinished. He quickly reaches another dead end, turns around, and heads down the third and final corridor at the junction. As soon as he does, a horde of Zombie Pigmen, accompanied by at least four Blazes, bursts around the corner with obvious intentions: eliminate the intruder, Tacky! Tacky quickens his pace into a sprint, running for his life until, as he is shocked to discover, the corridor drops off just beyond the shore of the lava ocean. A second later, he realizes that there is a small Netherrack island nearby and makes a quick decision. Before the creature horde can lay its hands (or fire) on him, Tacky dives off the corridor, pushing off with all his might so that he may reach the island.
Tacky lands, shaken and bruised. He looks up to see a lone, active Nether Portal standing in the center of the island. Since he has no other way off the island, anyway, he steps into the mysterious Portal.
Played out in-game on 1/13/2013. Written 1/13/2013 and 9/20/2013.
Sorry for the extremely long wait!
