The Witch's Warning

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Microsoft Corp., Mojang AB, Notch Development AB or Scholastic Inc., or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in the Minecraft name, trademark, or copyrights.

  Copyright © 2017 by Hollan Publishing, Inc.

  Minecraft® is a registered trademark of Notch Development AB.

  The Minecraft game is copyright © Mojang AB.

  This book is not authorized or sponsored by Microsoft Corp., Mojang AB, Notch Development AB or Scholastic Inc., or any other person or entity owning or controlling rights in the Minecraft name, trademark, or copyrights.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sky Pony Press, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

  Special thanks to Erin L. Falligant.

  Cover illustration by Grace Sandford

  Cover design by Brian Peterson

  Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-5107-2706-9

  EBook ISBN: 978-1-5107-2712-0

  Printed in the United States of America

  Interior design by Joshua Barnaby

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  CHAPTER 1

  “Fire! Take cover!”

  Will ducked, as if dodging flames.

  From the brewing stand in the corner of the room, Mina grinned. “We’re not making fire,” she said. “We’re making potion of fire resistance. Now get back here, would you?”

  Will faked fear as he tiptoed toward the brewing stand. “Well, there’s sure a whole lot of smoke.” The gray haze filled the room, curling up from the blaze rod in the center of the stand. Will pretended to cough—until he saw Mina plunk a few Nether wart buds into a glass water bottle.

  “Is that from Seth’s garden?”

  She nodded. “I can’t believe he grew Nether wart in a greenhouse. No more trips to the Nether!”

  What? No more trips to the Nether meant no more battles with ghasts or wither skeletons. Will was about to protest when he noticed the potion on the brewing stand bubbling.

  “Something’s happening!” he cried. “Is that the potion of fire resistance?”

  Mina shook her head. “We made awkward potion. That’s only the first step. Could you please hand me the magma cream?”

  Will reached for the glistening-wet ball on the crafting table. It looked like slime, except the green mass was streaked with red and yellow swirls. Was that from the blaze powder Mina had mixed in?

  “Whoops!” Will pretended to let the magma cream slip through his fingers and then caught it again.

  “Don’t drop that!” said Mina, her eyes wide. “This is serious business. We’re going to need these potions when it comes time for battle.”

  Will patted his side. “Not if I have my trusty sword.” He really, really hoped Mina would be done brewing soon. His whole body was itching to get outside and take on a mob or two.

  “There’s more than one way to fight a battle, Will,” said Mina thoughtfully as she slid the slippery magma cream into the awkward potion.

  When the liquid popped and fizzled, Will stepped closer. Orange bubbles drifted up and out of the glass bottle. Just as he reached out to touch one—

  Crack!

  A deafening sound split the room.

  This time, Will ducked for real. “Yikes! Was that the potion?” His wolf-dog, Buddy, whined from her bed in the corner.

  “No. Lightning, I think,” Mina whispered, giggling. “But we’re safe in here. Your brother’s house is rock solid.”

  “That’s right!” Will’s big brother, Seth, stepped into the room. He knocked on the stone wall with his knuckles. “Solid obsidian. So what are you two brewing?”

  “Potion of fire resistance,” Will announced. “Ta-da!”

  “Awesome!” said Seth. “Now if you could just brew me up a potion of lightning resistance, I could head outside and feed the animals some breakfast.”

  Will turned to Mina. “Is that a real potion?”

  She shook her head. “But I wish it were. Is it ever going to stop raining in Little Oak?”

  Seth let out an enormous sigh, his frustration bubbling over like potion from a bottle. “My fields are totally swamped with water.”

  That reminded Will of something. “Hey, I heard a story in town about witches, like the kind that live in the swamp. Did you know that lightning can turn villagers into witches?”

  “That’s not true,” said Mina as she lifted the potion of fire resistance up to the light.

  Seth shrugged. “It could be true, I guess. Lightning super-charges creepers. And it can turn pigs into zombie pigmen. So . . . who knows?”

  Will shot his brother a grateful smile.

  “Well, here’s what I know is true,” said Mina, searching her crafting table. “I’m running low on potion ingredients. As soon as the storm passes, I’m heading into town for more—and stopping by the swamp for some slime.”

  “I’m going, too!” said Will, jumping up and reaching for his sword. Finally, something was actually happening around here!

  Buddy lifted her head and whined. When it came time for adventure, she didn’t like to be left behind.

  But as another crack of lightning lit up the brewing room, Will slid his sword back into his sheath.

  It wasn’t time for adventure just yet. He sighed and turned back toward the brewing stand.

  “There’s one!” whispered Mina. She pulled Will behind the trunk of an oak tree. “Do you see it?”

  He narrowed his eyes and gazed across the swamp. He could barely see the outline of the house through the gently falling rain. It looked like a tree house built on stilts. “That’s a witch hut?”

  “It sure is.” Mina wrung the water from her long red ponytail. “And this is about as close to one as I want to get.”

  Will scoffed. “What do you mean? With your potions, you could take on a witch any day.”

  But Mina didn’t seem so sure. “They brew even more powerful potions,” she murmured. “And they know how to use them.”

  Was she speaking from experience? Will wanted to ask her. But through the sound of the rain plopping onto the soggy ground, he heard something else.

  Squish, slop, squish, slop, squish, slop . . .

  Something was coming closer.

  Something wet.

  Something slimy.

  And something very, very large.

  CHAPTER 2

  Splat!

  The giant slime hit Will from behind and knocked him to the ground.

  He slipped and scrambled in the mud, trying to get his footing, just as Mina slashed at the slime with her sword.

  Three or four smaller slime scattered across the ground. Squish, slop, squish
, slop, squish, slop . . .

  As the bouncing mobs circled around Will, he pulled his sword from his side. But before he could strike, a streak of gray fur darted in front of him.

  Buddy!

  She snapped her jaws around a mini slime and shook her head until the slime burst. Gooey green globs fell from Buddy’s muzzle, bouncing onto the ground below. Then she crouched low, ready to attack again.

  “No! Don’t let her eat them!” cried Mina. “We need the slime balls for magma cream!”

  “She’s not eating them,” said Will. “She’s killing them. She’s helping us!”

  But as Buddy swallowed the next slime whole and licked the green ooze off her muzzle, Will cleared his throat, hoping Mina hadn’t seen.

  “Buddy. Sit!”

  The dog whined, but she obeyed.

  Squish, squish, slop, squish, squish, slop . . .

  Mini slimes were everywhere now.

  With each strike of his sword, Will created more gooey little mobs. They stuck to his pant legs and squished under his feet.

  Finally, nothing was left but a moss-green carpet of sticky slime balls.

  “Yes!” Mina pulled out her sack. “Help me pick them up.”

  Will grabbed them by the handful, shaking his fingers to force the gooey balls to fall into the sack. “Ick.”

  When Mina wasn’t looking, he let Buddy lick his fingers clean. Then he glanced back at the witch huts in the distance.

  Slime were too easy to kill. When would the real battles begin? He stared at the door of one witch hut, willing a witch to come out. But it didn’t open—not even a crack. And Mina was already heading down the trail toward town.

  By the time Will and Mina had finished trading with villagers in Little Oak, storm clouds were brewing again.

  “What did you get?” Will asked as they hurried across the courtyard.

  Mina rattled off her trades on her fingertips. “Pufferfish from the fisherman—good for potion of water breathing. Gunpowder from the miner to make splash potions. Redstone from the priest for extended potions. And . . . what was the last one?” She tapped her finger on her chin. “Sugar! For potion of swiftness.”

  As thunder rumbled overhead, Will checked the sky. “Do you think any mobs will spawn? It’s so dark out today!”

  Mina shrugged. “I’m not thinking about mobs. I’m thinking about books. I need to check out a book from the library. C’mon!”

  Will made Buddy sit in front of the stone building. Librarian Wick had a strict “no dogs allowed” policy. She had even posted a warning sign:

  So Buddy lowered herself onto her belly with a sigh and rested her chin on her paws.

  Then Will followed Mina up the creaky steps and onto the dimly lit main floor. Bookshelves filled with colorful, leather-bound books marched in tidy rows from the front of the library to the back.

  As Mina turned down an aisle of books, she ran her finger across the spines. “Ooh, this looks new.” She slid a thin leather-bound book from the shelf and showed Will the red cover. He had to squint to read it in the darkness: Advanced Potions for Master Brewers.

  “Sounds about right,” he said. He was pretty sure Mina could write a book on brewing by now.

  She set the book down on the checkout counter next to Jack o’ Lantern, the librarian’s orange tabby cat. “Hi, Jacko.” The three-legged cat purred as Mina stroked his head.

  But when Will reached out his hand, the hair on Jacko’s back stood up. Will stepped backward. “Sorry. I probably smell like wolf.”

  Everyone in Little Oak knew that Jacko had lost his leg in a battle with a wolf. So even though Will had tamed Buddy long ago, all dogs smelled like “wolf” to Jacko.

  “Ms. Wick?” Mina called. Her voice bounced off the high walls and ceiling. “She’s never at her desk.”

  “I know. I’m pretty sure she likes books more than people,” Will joked. Together, they began searching the shadowy walkways between the bookshelves.

  Sure enough, they found the white-haired librarian sitting on the floor like a villager child, reading a thick book with yellowed pages.

  “Ms. Wick?” Mina whispered.

  The woman didn’t budge.

  “Ms. Wick?”

  “Oh!” The librarian jumped up, nearly dropping her book. “My goodness. Will and Mina. What are you doing here?”

  Mina raised an eyebrow. “Um . . . checking out a book?” She hid her smile. “I’d like this one on potion brewing.”

  Ms. Wick adjusted her glasses and studied the book in Mina’s hand. “Oh, yes, that’s a good one. A very good one, indeed.” She held the book as if it were a baby and then squeezed it to her chest. “But I’m afraid I’m reading that one right now. Let me find you another one, dear.” As they passed the checkout counter, she placed the red book on a teetering pile marked, “Reserved.”

  Will caught Mina’s eye and grinned. Ms. Wick’s books were her babies!

  Suddenly, a clap of thunder rattled the walls of the library.

  Yeeeowl!

  Jacko flew off the counter and darted in front of Will. At the same time, the front door to the library swung open. As a brown-robed farmer stepped inside, the tabby cat made a beeline for the doorway.

  “Jacko! No!” Ms. Wick tore after the cat, nearly tripping over her robes.

  When Jacko hit the front stoop, he crouched low in the rain. Ms. Wick scooped him up in her arms just as the lightning bolt struck.

  In the light cast by the brilliant, jagged streak, Will saw Ms. Wick’s white hair stand straight up.

  And then she was gone.

  And a white-haired witch stood in her place, holding a very freaked-out tabby cat.

  CHAPTER 3

  “Ms. Wick!”

  Will and Mina hit the doorway at the same time, squeezing past each other to get out onto the stoop.

  But Ms. Wick was gone.

  And now the witch was, too.

  Buddy bounded up the staircase toward Will, stopping to sniff each step.

  “Did you . . . see that?” asked Will. He rubbed his eyes, wondering if the lightning had played tricks on him.

  “Y-yes,” said Mina in a wobbly voice. “But I don’t believe it.”

  “See what?” asked the farmer, scratching his head.

  “Um, nothing,” said Mina, giving Will the look that meant “stay quiet.”

  They waited until the farmer had gone into the library before speaking again.

  “I told you!” Will couldn’t help saying. “Lightning can turn villagers into witches!”

  “That’s ridiculous,” said Mina, starting to sound more like her old self. “She’s around here somewhere. Ms. Wick!”

  Mina shaded her eyes from the rain and searched the gloomy courtyard. Buddy searched, too, nosing the gravel around the base of the steps. She woofed and wagged her tail.

  “Buddy found something!” said Will.

  He crouched near the dog, trying to see what Buddy saw. But the dark clouds overhead crowded out what little daylight was left.

  “Here,” said Mina, pulling a torch from her sack and lighting it.

  In the flickering light, they could make out paw prints. “Cat prints?” asked Mina.

  “I think so,” said Will. As he followed the tidy path of prints, he noticed a pattern—two prints, and then one, two prints, and then one. He sucked in his breath. “It’s a three-legged cat. It’s Jacko. Let’s go!”

  But even with Buddy in the lead, Will and Mina couldn’t catch up with Jacko. The cat’s trail led them through the courtyard of Little Oak, past the cobblestone well, and right out the other side of town.

  When they couldn’t see the paw prints anymore, Buddy led the way, following her nose.

  And soon enough, Will knew exactly where they were going.

  Mina did, too.

  She turned toward him, her green eyes wide, and mouthed the words. “The swamp.”

  As Will slogged toward the swamp, trying to keep up with Buddy, wetness seeped i
nto his shoes.

  In the shadows ahead, he saw nothing. He tripped over vines and dodged sugar cane as if the tall stalks were skeletons preparing to pelt him with arrows.

  “Ms. Wick!” Mina’s voice rang out again.

  Will was glad to hear Mina’s voice behind him. But no one answered.

  Then, as the sky lit up with lightning, he saw her up ahead.

  Ms. Wick.

  Witch Wick, her long white hair flowing out from beneath her black hat. She held Jacko tightly in her arms, and the cat’s eyes glowed yellow in the darkness.

  Buddy saw them, too. As the dog growled and lunged forward, Jacko sprang from the witch’s arms.

  Fear and anger rolled across the witch’s face like storm clouds. In an instant, she held a potion in her hand. Glass shattered. And Buddy yelped.

  “No! Buddy!” Will ran toward the whimper. “Where are you?”

  He nearly tripped over the dog, who stood still as a statue in the tall grass.

  “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

  Mina was suddenly beside them with her torch. She held the light up as Buddy took a slow step forward. And then another. “Potion of slowness,” Mina said. “She’s not hurt. Just scared.”

  “She can’t move?” Will wanted to lift the dog in his arms, but Buddy was too heavy. She looked up at him with dark, fearful eyes and whimpered again.

  “It’ll pass,” said Mina. “Let’s wait with her.” She squatted beside Buddy on the wet ground.

  But Will’s sword was already in his hand. “You wait,” he said. “I’ve got a witch to battle.”

  “Will, no!” Mina reached up to grab his arm. “It’s Librarian Wick!”

  Will yanked his arm away. “She’s Witch Wick now. And she hurt Buddy!”

  “Only because she thought he was going to hurt her cat,” Mina said quickly. “Think about it. She could have thrown a potion of harming at you. Or at me. But she didn’t. She just slowed Buddy down a little. Remember, Will. There’s more than one way to fight a battle.”