"The command block... it all makes sense now." Petra breathed, staring at the glowing object in front of her.

Petra hesitantly reached out her hands, feeling drawn to the pulsing machine. She jolted slightly as she lay her palms on the block's surface, a sharp memory of pain pulsing through Petra's system, the memory so real she nearly recoiled away from the block.

Pressure building inside her skull to a point where it felt like her brain was about to burst, her muscles contracting in agonising spasms.

Rascal whined, seeing the pain edged on his owner's face, despite the fact that none of it was real. He pawed at her leg, causing Petra's eyes to shoot open again. Pulled back to the present, everything Petra felt immediately reverted back to what it actually was; just memories.

"Petra!"

Petra didn't even blink at hearing Lukas's voice call her name, just staring down at the glowing block in front of her.

"Petra, we need to get out of here!" Lukas called, all of a sudden breaking through the wall of light and into view, one hand raised to shield his eyes. "More mobs keep spawning, its-"

His voice abruptly cut off when he saw the command block. His blue eyes widened, mouth slowly falling open.

"I was right." Petra said softly, her voice almost in a trance.

"Wait... you- you were expecting this?" Lukas gasped, still not looking like he could take in what he was seeing.

He carefully reached out a hand as well, but pulled it back with a shudder when he felt the block pulsing. Petra's eyes closed again, her hands remaining on the machine.

"Petra?" Lukas asked her, earning no response.

Rascal whined loudly, pulling his ears back all the way as he pawed on Petra's boot. When he didn't get a response either, Rascal suddenly grabbed the fabric of Petra's pants leg in his mouth, tugging at it.

Petra's eyes flew open, taking a step back and removing her hands from the block. She let out a slight gasp, blinking a few times.

"What just happened, are you okay?" Lukas asked her, worry swirling in his eyes.

"We need to get out of here." Petra said matter-of-factly, unsheathing Miss Butter. The sword quivered slightly in her trembling hands.

"Not arguing." Lukas agreed. "But once we get out there, you have some explaining to do."

"Whatever."

Mobs were beginning to file into the room as well, growling and hissing. Rascal circled Petra protectively, his lips curled back to reveal his sharp fangs as he snarled at the monsters.

Their target being the exit, Petra and Lukas fought their way through the horde. Aiming their blades at the creatures' heads, cutting down anything in their path. Rascal was in the lead, seemingly trying to keep anything from reaching Petra. Dark blood from the many monsters stained his grey coat, a hostile glow in his eyes.

"Here!" Petra called as she reached the exit into the hallway.

Immediately she bolted down the hallway, hearing Lukas's boots thud along behind her. Rascal's ears were pulled back flat as she sprinted beside them.

Adrenaline pulsing through their veins, Petra and Lukas barely flinched as they ran out into the drizzling rain. Simply throwing themselves onto the waiting horses, immediately fleeing into the trees with Rascal right on their heals.

A zombie stood in the entrance of the dungeon, growling in frustration as it watched it's prize slip out of reach. It aggressively swiped its claws at the outdoor air.

The un-dead mob tilted its head to the side with a low growl, looking down at it's bony green fingers. Realising that the rain outside was preventing it from burning.

It looked back into the dungeon one last time, before grunting again and stepping outside.

Lukas and Petra didn't stop galloping until they were home again, the horses' flanks heaving as they pulled up at the barn. Exhausted, Lukas and Petra slid out of the saddles, Lukas leaning heavily against his horse while Petra sunk down against the barn's wall until she was sitting on the muddy ground.

"What... even just... happened?" Lukas asked as he began getting his breath back.

Petra didn't reply, breathing heavily as she sat against the barn. Rascal came walking up to her, whimpering as he nuzzled her. She leaned slightly forward, resting both her hands on Rascal and leaning her forehead against his.

"Petra?" Lukas asked her, standing up straight again.

"Rascal saved me." Petra said softly.

"What do you mean?" Lukas asked hesitantly.

Petra took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "As much as I hate to admit this, I was drawn to that block. I was in so much of a trance that I didn't realise it was sucking away at my energy."

"Command blocks do that?" Lukas asked in astonishment.

"Not typically." Petra responded, her tired voice not matching her attempt at a sarcastic reply. "Not unless they're programmed too."

"Soren..." Lukas breathed. "The spell he cast on you, it was powered by the command block."

Petra only nodded, closing her eyes again as she inhaled slowly. "If I had my hands on that life sucking machine a second longer, I'm not sure if I would have had the energy to fight my way out of there." She said softly

"But you're okay now?" Lukas made sure.

"I suppose." Petra reply, heaving herself upright again. "Just... mega fatigued."

"Let's get the horses back in the barn then." Lukas said. "Once we're all together again, you can explain how in the world of wither skeletons you knew about the command block."

"Suspected, not knew." Petra correctly Lukas bluntly.

They were mostly quiet as they cooled down the horses and stabled them. Rascal lied down on a hay bale, watching them lazily. After locking the barn for the rest of the afternoon, Petra, Lukas and Rascal walked back to the tree-house.

Conveniently, Jesse, Axel and Olivia were all in the living room – Jesse and Olivia each reading a book, while Axel steadily worked his way through a jar of cookies.

"You're back!" Jesse gasped as they stepped inside.

"What happened?" Olivia asked, lowering her book as well. Her eyes widened. "Look at you!"

"Yeah, I suppose we don't look the greatest." Lukas replied with a chuckle, sheepishly looking down at his armour – smeared with rotten zombie flesh and bits of... just about everything.

Not seeming to mind the state her armour was in, Petra got ready to sink down on the couch. Olivia quickly pulled her away from it. "Armour off first!"

Petra muttered something under her breath, quickly loosening the straps on her armour and discarded it in a messy heap on the wooden floor. Olivia still didn't seem happy about Petra's damp clothes on the couch, but didn't say anything.

"What happened?" Jesse asked, looking between Petra lying on the couch and Lukas who was still taking his armour off. She frowned a bit. "You're really pale, Petra."

"I'm fine." Petra brushed her off, waving her hand at Jesse. "You'd be pale too if you were there."

"What happened?" Axel asked, still chewing.

"Petra, care to explain?" Lukas added, taking a seat as well.

"Yes, yes." Petra grunted, sitting upright again. She took a deep breath. "The command block."

"Wait what?" Jesse asked in horror, while Axel choked on his cookie.

"You're joking right?" Olivia said as she slapped Axel on the back.

"No, she's dead serious." Lukas said, pulling his hand through his hair. "Found the thing behind that iron door, large as life, pulsing and glowing and all."

"It's turned on at that?" Olivia asked in horror, grabbing at her black hair with her hands. "Bad, bad, very bad."

"Are you guys done reacting so I can go on?" Petra asked bluntly.

"Sorry, go on."

"The reason I had this hunch." Petra went on. "Jesse and I were talking yesterday night, and it made me really think back to the whole battle with Soren. More specifically how sick Jesse was after the battle."

"I don't understand." Axel said, putting yet another cookie in his mouth.

"No, Petra's on to something here." Jesse said softly. "I can't remember it all that well, but what happened to me in that cave... it felt exactly the same as those weeks in bed after the battle."

"I couldn't help but get suspicious that it's connected." Petra said. "As far as I understand now, Jesse and I are the only ones in any danger of the command block, because we both were affected by Soren's powers, so to speak.

I'm only in danger if I make physical contact, like this afternoon. The blow Jesse received on the other hand, was so much raw magic directly to her unarmoured body, that only being close to the command block is enough to revive the sickness she had."

Petra pulled off her bandanna, raking her fingers through her red hair. "Though that is where my line of knowledge ends." She said, pulling her bandanna back on and falling back down onto the couch. Rascal whined, licking her one hand.

"This is... bizarre." Lukas said, scratching the back of his head.

"Olivia?" Jesse asked, turning to her friends. "You and Ellegaard studied command blocks, right? Any light you can shed on the situation?"

"Soren clearly has this command block protecting itself." Olivia said. "He must have it programmed to spawn these crazy mobs to encourage people away from it. The fact that the command block is still affecting both Petra and Jesse, means it has been running for long over a year now.

This is highly dangerous, command blocks are unstable and can get out of hand if left to go for too long."

Olivia took a deep breath, chewing her nails. "So this is bad."

She turned to look at Petra. "You sad you touched it this afternoon and it did something?"

"Don't rub this in, okay, but it almost hypnotised me." Petra said, sighing. "Sucking away at my energy without me even realising-" She cut herself off, stifling a yawn.

"She'll be okay though, right?" Lukas asked Olivia.

"Theoretically, yes." Olivia said. "But for safety's sake, just try not to over exert yourself in the next few days, okay Petra?"

"Yeah, well, we have to do something about the command block." Petra responded, propping herself up on her elbow. "And you all know why that's a problem, right?

Because the only weapon ever enchanted to destroy it, was Jesse's diamond sword."

___

This is probably one of my favourite chapters and I don't know why. I just like the way I wrote it.

Anyway, some questions answered! We now know - somewhat - the story behind the dungeon, and why it's affecting Jesse. But what is this going to lead to?

We have two very exciting chapters up next that I'm really looking forward to!

I'm also considering adding an A/N chapter for people who didn't read the prequel, to clear up some stuff. I don't expect anybody new here who hasn't read it, to go back and read it because it's honestly just... a big downgrade in quality. It was really special and all being my first book, and this might just be because I'm the author because I lot of people loved it, but that aside, tell me what you guys think. Should I catch up anybody here who might have some trouble understanding the plot?

Anyway, moving on! Theories are welcome!

I'll see you all in five days with chapter 6!