Hey everybody! Silver here! So, I saw the contest, and since I love writing, I really want to put something in! So here it is, The Fall of Illian, my short story entry!

Edgen Attlebrough wiped his brow, trying to focus. He needed sleep, badly. The past six days he had been up working on Illian's problem. All six days, all six nights. The map was laid out below him, and although his eyes saw it, they didn't seem to register it was there. Edgen had to keep himself from collapsing on the table, it took all his willpower to stay upright. His mind felt like pudding, processing everything slowly, so slowly. Somebody was talking.
"Are you alright, sir?"
Edgen thought on the comment, tearing his mind away from images of sleeping in a warm, comfortable bed. He took the words apart in his head. Ever so slowly.
"Sir?"
Reak. Reak was asking him something. What? Oh, of course.
"I am fine." Edgen answered. He of course, most definitely was not. Edgen went back to the problem at hand, managing to clear up his mind somewhat. "So where are Herobrine's forces now? You were saying they had moved, correct?"
Reak looked at him, concerned, then continued. "Yes sir. It seems they are setting up camp in the North. Mark me a fool, but I have no idea why Herobrine would make such a move. Our defenses are strongest on the North side of the city. The trenches are the deepest, and our siege works is stationed there, as are most of our barracks. We don't have to navigate our troops through the city to get to the East side. It seems he's trying to make it easier for us to succeed in holding off his forces."
Edgen thought on this. He'd had to think on everything that was told to him this night. Very much.
Why would Herobrine march up to our more defendable side? There was a chance they could actually beat him if Herobrine attacked from the North side. This question sparked some lucidity in Edgen's mind, and he looked back down at the maps with renewed vigor. Edgen looked back at Reak.
"Send a scouting group near the north-western caves. Set up a patrol and watch if any of these creatures that Herobrine has brought enter inside. The caves don't go under the city, but they do near the wall. A dangerous portion of the wall."
Reak nodded and hurried out of the room, and Edgen heard him talking to the messengers. Edgen didn't feel satisfied however. There was something that he was missing.

~~~

Steve sat back, lounging, as the sun began to set. Larel watched the caves, her face worried, her blonde hair a wreck. Earlier she had accidentally stepped in a mud patch and tripped. Her clothes were still dirtied.
"Steve, I think we should move the patrol back. If a squad does go to those caves, then they might see us. We'll be destroyed!"
Steve glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. Silly worrying Larel. But deep inside Steve felt her concerns. Of course, that didn't mean he'd listen to her. He didn't want to be the one blamed if they missed anything important, because the patrol was too far away. He wouldn't fail this mission. Not again.
Larel fidgeted next to him. She was still standing watching the caves entrance with wide eyes. Steve wondered why she had agreed to go on this mission with his patrol. It didn't make sense. Time after time again, Larel grew terrified on these late night missions. And yet, she almost always agreed to go on the next one. Why didn't she quit? Become a cook or something? Well, that's none of my business, Steve thought.
A nearby bush rattled, and Larel and Steve jumped. A figure stepped out of the darkness. Rowan. Steve sighed in relief, and looked at Larel again. She was shaking, staring at the bushes still. I'll never understand her, Steve thought, so why bother trying?
"Nothing has approached the caves yet," Rowan said in a low voice. He was a tan skinned man, with tousled brown hair and keen blue eyes. He sat down, ignoring Larel. He always ignored Larel. "But I did see some fires coming this way. Torches, maybe."
Larel shook more intensely. She was really, really scared. Steve turned to Rowan and leaned in.
"If one of the squads come this way, she'll freak. She might jepordize the safety of the entire patrol. Do you think we should get her out of here?"
Rowan's eyes flicked toward her. "No, we can't. Not now. One of Herobrine's squads are patrolling the way we came. We'll have to stay here until daytime, all of us, if we're to get back without getting caught. I would have told you earlier, but." He looked at Larel again. 
Steve silently cursed bringing her with them, again. But she'd insisted, and Edgen had let her, so there was nothing he could have done.
"I think--is that smoke?"
Rowan sniffed. "I think so. maybe we should--"
The darkness around them exploded with light and heat and the brush surrounding the group burst aflame. Erin, a small but quick girl who normally just stayed quiet during the patrols, screamed and jumped to her feet. She turned and ran the other direction, away from the fire. As she passed Larel, there was a slicing sound.
What?
Erin fell to the ground. Steve, frantic, stood, figures in the flames, coming toward him and the others. Rowan drew his sword, crafted with iron, infused with diamond. An incredible weapon. Steve couldn't fight though, he couldn't do much of anything. Steve grabbed Larel and started to tow her toward the unburned parts of the brush. Toward Erin's corpse.
"Help!" Steve yelled to the air, to the fire. Larel wrested herself out of his grip and Steve saw her expression again, expecting her to be terrified. She had stopped shaking. Her face was calm, controlled. She held a torch. She was smiling. She looked at Rowan, who stood in a defensive stance over them. Then she brought out a dagger and stabbed Rowan in the back.
Steve's mind blanked as Rowan fell over, gasping. Steve stumbled away as Larel swung the dagger at his chest. She dropped the torch in the lunge, and the grass below her burst into flame. The season was dry, and the fire spread like lightning. Larel gasped and jumped back, then started running another direction.
Fire was spreading through the brush. Steve turned and ran. He ran through the tall grass, heat all around him. He had to escape. He had to warn the other group. When Edgen had sent out the patrol, he had seperated them into two groups. Both on either sides of the cave entrance. The others could be dead already. A figure darted out of the bushes beside him, Larel. She pounched, waving her dagger. He ducked and she hit him, rolling over, slashing his arm. He screamed but kept running.
Steve reached the caves. Larel came at him again, and this time didn't jump. She barreled right into him, and sent him sprawling. He fell, but didn't hit the ground. Light was far above, pain, then darkness.

~~~

Steve didn't believe he'd woken up. He was dead. He had to have been dead. But why was there pain? Why had Larel killed Erin, Rowan, and tried to kill him? Where was he? What had happened to the other group in the patrol?
His brain answered the questions for him. Larel had been a spy. Herobrine's spy. She had come on every patrol, waiting to strike. She had been acting this whole time, playing the innocent, scared girl who tripped over her own feet. But where was Steve? Darkness, light far above him. Steve was in the caves. He had been passing the entrance when Larel had rammed into him. The caves.
The caves had been in the early stages of Illian. It had been partially explored, until the last scouting party the council had sent in hadn't returned. The caves led underneath part of the wall, but further than that, it hadn't been mapped. Steve stared up at the light far above. He was in the caves. Could he call for help? He doubted it. He did anyway, and his voice echoed around the cavern. Nothing. Steve stood, his right arm in such pain he couldn't move it, and looked up, waiting. Nothing. Getting desperate, Steve tried to climb the rocks to the entrance high above. But even if he had had another working arm, he doubted he could climb up. Resigned. Steve sat back down. He would just have to wait.

~~~

"They're attacking! Lord Attlebrough! Herobrine is attacking!"
Edgen nodded, horrified at the sight before him. Rows and rows of creatures, creatures of the Nether, charged toward the wall. A lump of bile formed in his throat, as he watched the thousands of monsters begin the battle. His body ached. He'd had only four hours of sleep the night before. It would have to be enough. Edgen turned toward Reak. Being the second in command of the military force, Reak would relay Edgen's commands. "Get the troops ready, get the archers behind and on the wall. Have Maib set up our catapults, if the engineers fixed those. Quickly! We don't have much time!"
Normally, Edgen would give an inspirational battle speech before something like this. But today, there wasn't any time. All he could do was watch as thousands of creatures besieged the city.

~~~

Light. The light was getting brighter. Steve watched, stunned, as something glowing descended from the cave entrance. What was it? Was it rescue? Was it Larel? It seemed to be floating, descending slowly. And it was aflame. A raspy groan resonated through the cavern. Then fire rained from the sky.
Steve started to run as more fire creatures descended. He tried to go deeper into the caves, but every turn and direction he went, the things followed. Fire shot past him, condensed into balls of heat. He went right, left, left, left, right, but he couldn't lose them. Oh Notch, he couldn't lose them! His legs ached from running, and fatigue plagued his body. He stumbled over uneven ground and fell, skidding across the rocky surface. Terror racked his body. Steve's body rammed into a cave wall, and pain shot up his leg. Steve closed his eyes, waiting for the fireballs to consume him. But nothing came. He opened his eyes and looked. The light was retreating, and fire creatures were gone. The groans grew softer and softer until there was nothing to hear. Steve waited, back in darkness. When he was sure the things were gone, he tried to get to his feet, but fell, his leg giving out beneath him. Now his leg and his arm were useless.



Hey guys, Silver here. So my writing muse has died down for now. But I'll try to add more later! Give a diamond if you feel so kind! And yes, although nothing makes much sense right now, trust me, when I finish the story, it will all make sense. I'll try to tie up loose ends. :)
Also, please try to remember, if there are grammar mistakes, errors, or just loopholes, this IS the completely unedited version which I decided to post. As soon as it's done, I'll go over the draft.