Luke's  POV (how long as it been since we've had Luke's POV?)

"So what should we get first?" Tim asked as we set out the next morning.

"The sugar should be pretty easy and we've already got bone meal and an enchantment table. We just need two more ender pearls, then we can get the other stuff," Zip said, consulting her list.

"Most big rivers have sugar cane lining the banks. All we need to do is find a river." Fury started walking through the forest.

"And uh, how do we find a river?" I inquired.

"We walk."

"Oh great!" I said sarcastically.

Luckily, we didn't have to walk too far to find sugar cane. It was on the other side of a big river that had a few zombies floating around in it.

"Do you want me to build a bridge?" Tim asked.

"Go ahead. Alex, watch his back."

Alex nodded to Zip and loaded his bow, eyeing the zombies who had started swimming towards us. Tim edged out and started building a small bridge, being very careful to not fall off. I started looking around the banks of the river, seeing if there was anything we could loot. A strange sound distracted me. It sounded like the distorted voice of a young child and it was coming from my left. I started to walk towards it, looking carefully around. Maybe a small child was hurt? I froze when a small poof sound came from behind me and the child-like voice started coming from there.

Oh crap. I know what this is, and I hate them.

"Uh guys?" I called out, not turning around.

"What is it Luke?" My brother called back.

"Could you please come here"' My voice wobbled with fear.

"Yeah, what is... oh. Uh Zip, Fury, bit of backup please?" Jade gulped.

"What's going on? Oh...right. Purple guy." I heard Fury's distinctive voice. "Shall we handle this Zip?" Swords rasped as the girls unsheathed them.

"On three?" Zip asked.

"Why wait?"

The sudden sounds of the enderman screaming sent me sprinting. When I got the courage to look back, I saw the enderman getting beat up by Zip and Fury until it finally died with a gurgle. Zip picked up the remains from the ground. 

"That's all the ender pearls we need," she said, holding up three green round pearls.

"It's good you got a looting enchantment on that thing," Fury commented, strolling back to where Alex was standing.

I followed them. Jade came to me and put a comforting arm around my shoulders. I always had a fear of endermen, ever since one had spawned in my room at night. When Jade and I reached the group, we went across the bridge Tim had made and cut down a few sugar canes while Alex made an arrow pincushion out of a zombie. 

"So we've got the sugar cane and the ender pearls," I said as Alex picked up a carrot from the zombies remains. "What's next?"

"All we need is the Zombie King's Axe, an Ender Crystal and glowstone dust." Zip crossed sugar and ender pearls off her list.

"One of those is in the Overworld, one is in the Nether and one is in the End. I think we should get the Axe first," Fury suggested.

"I think we should get the glowstone first," I objected.

"We still don't know where we need to end up. The Zombie King might know how the mobs became powerful and we need that information. I agree with Fury." Zip crossed her arms. 

"But how are we going to break in? It's a castle guarded by zombies!" I argued.

"I've been thinking about that and I might have an idea, but we need to find a witch's hut first," Fury said.

"Witch's huts are really rare Fury. How are we going to find one?" Alex asked.

"Actually, Wolf and I had an encounter with a witch a few years ago. Her hut had a really distinctive smell. Do you think you can find it again Wolf?" Fury looked at her dog. He barked and started sniffing at the ground. "All we have to do is wait until he has the scent."

I sat down. "Your entire plan rests on the fact that Wolf can find this particular witch's hut that you went to years ago?"

"It was only last year but yes," she corrected me.

We sat and waited for Wolf to find the scent. I was seriously doubting that he would find anything. Jade and Zip looked like they had the same doubts too. Alex and Tim were sitting a bit further off. They kept pointing to Tim's axe and I got the feeling that they were talking about it. A bark interrupted my train of thought. 

"Hey, Wolf's got the scent. Come on!" Fury jumped up and ran off towards her dog.

I struggled up to a standing position. "Is there anything that dog can't do? Next thing we know, he'll be digging up diamonds all by himself!"

"I've already taught him to do that!" Fury called back.

                                                                          -------------------------

The witch's hut was small and it reeked of rotten fish, stale water and decaying books. There wasn't much furniture in it, just a bed, a chest, a cauldron and a brewing stand. Fury had a quick look around and opened the chest.

"Good. It's got everything we need," she said, closing the chest.

"So what's your plan?" Zip questioned. 

"It's pretty simple really. Someone has a Potion of Invisibility and they sneak into the kingdom, grab the Axe and sneak back out."

We just looked at her.

"Really? That's your plan?" I stated.

Fury threw her hands in the air. "Do you have a better one Luke? One person is less likely to get noticed than seven people."

"Wolf is not a person, he's a dog." I told her.

"Whatever, I made my point."

"It's actually not a bad plan," Alex whispered.

"Thank you Alex." Fury glared at me. I sighed.

"Fine, but only because I have nothing better."

"Great. Now does anyone know how to make a Potion of Invisibility?" Fury looked at each of us. One by one we shook our heads, except for Alex who was searching his pockets for something. 

"Yes!" he said, pulling out a small brown book that had Legends: Fact or myth?  printed on the front in gold letters. He started flicking through it. "I think it's...here!" The page had a witch on it, along with lots of words and diagrams.

"The Witch of the Gate?" Zip read over his shoulder.

"The most powerful witch in all of Minecraftia! He's crazy awesome and can create potions in a few seconds!" Alex's face was alight with enthusiasm. 

"Okay, but does it say how to make an invisibility potion?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's got the ingredients and the boosts too. You need a water bottle, nether wart, a golden carrot, a fermented spiders eyes, redstone and glowstone dust," Alex read off, barely breathing.

"So stuff that we need to get from the Nether," I summed up.

"Nope. It's all here." Fury pulled out stuff from the chest. "Glass bottle, nether wart, a glowstone dust and a fermented spiders eye. All we need is the carrot."

"Oh, I've got one that the zombie dropped." Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out a carrot. 

"Alex, you're on a roll today. How do we do this?"

Alex took charge, always referring to his book. We gave him some gold that we found in the mine and he turned the carrot into a golden carrot. Next he filled up the bottle with water and placed it in the brewing stand, with nether wart on top. When that was made into an 'awkward potion', as he called it, he put the golden carrot inside, then the fermented spiders eye. The water changed first to a dark blue, then to a light purple colour. Finally, he added a piece of redstone and a piece of glowstone.

"There!" he said, showing us the bottle of light purple liquid. "A Potion of Invisibility. You'll have ten minutes before it wears off."

"So this makes us completely invisible?" I asked.

"Yes, but you can still see what you're holding and you can see the armour if you're wearing it."

I glanced down at my iron armour and swallowed. "So whoever sneaks into the Zombie Kingdom won't be able to have a weapon or armour?"

"That's right."

"That's it, I'm not going." I stepped back.

"Same here." Jade mimicked my movement.

"I can't sneak, so I'm out," Tim said.

"So out of me, Fury and Alex, I think it should be Alex." Zip glanced at him.

"What? Why me?" Alex exclaimed.

"Because if Fury or I go in there, we'll probably start beating up zombies," Zip said.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Fury admitted.

"Wha...But..." Alex stuttered.

"Alex, you're our best option. Out of everyone here, you're the most likely to succeed." Zip put her hand on his shoulder. "Please?"

He sighed. "Fine."

Fury looked out the door of the hut. "From what I remember, the Kingdom isn't too far from here. If we leave now, Alex will have enough time to get in and out before night comes."

"Okay, let's go."

Fury led us away from the smelly witch's hut and into a birch wood forest. The tops of a large, stone brick castle came in view and Fury stopped us. 

"I'll lead Alex closer to the castle and I'll wait for him to get back." We mumbled in agreement, knowing that she was the best at sneaking, having lived in a forest most of her life. Alex took off his armour, left his bow with me, picked up the Potion of Invisibility and went with Fury.

Alex's POV

I tried not to freak out as I sneaked behind Fury, coming closer and closer to the Zombie Kingdom with each step. I attempted to grasp what I was doing: breaking into the zombie castle, dodging heaps of zombies, finding the Zombie King's Axe (which will probably be guarded) and getting back out again, all without being spotted. And trying to find information on where we were supposed to go to reverse this 'curse' thing. Fury stopped at the edge of the forest, hiding behind a tree. I mimicked her movement then examined the castle itself. It was a squat building, built out of stone brick with cobblestone columns and had a large dark oak wood door at the front. Zombies patrolled the wall.

"I have to get into that?" My voice shook with anxiety.

"Yeah." Fury locked eyes with me. "If anything goes wrong, get out of there. Don't worry about the Axe, we can always come back later."

I nodded. "Okay."

"I'll be here when you get back. 10 minutes right?"

"10 minutes," I confirmed. I took a deep breath and drank the potion. Tingles erupted all over my body and I shivered as what felt like freezing water dribbled down my spine. When the sensation stopped, I slowly raised my hand. And I couldn't see it.

"Alex? You here?" Fury asked.

"Y..yeah. I'm here," I stuttered back, not totally at ease with being invisible.

"Better get going. Be back before 10 minutes is up."

I nodded then remembered that she couldn't see me. "Yup. Wish me luck."

Without a second thought, I ran across the wide open space between the forest and the castle door. Part of me thought 'What the Nether am I doing?' but the rest of me was just thinking 'Runrunrunrunrunrun'. I reached the door, panting, adrenaline coursing though my body. 

'How am I going to get in?'  I thought, gazing up the tall, heavy door. 'Ummmmm...'. I raised my hand and knocked three times on the door. And I waited.

The door creaked open. A zombie with a few shreds of hair on his head pocked his head out.

"Gggrrruuunnn?" he grunted.

Nothing stirred. The zombie grunted again and withdrew his head. The door closed with a bang, but by that time, I was already inside.

Wow. That chapter was just over 2000 words long! I know that it wasn't very exciting but the next chapter will be more interesting, I promise.