He packed his provisions, including his trusty diamond sword, a bow and a quiver of arrows. He packed some food and supplies as well, and last but not least, the small round disk Notch had given him.

  He set off from the mountains, watching as Sordul's, or Notch's hidden training centre disappear, swallowed by the mountains in a sea of grey, brown and green. He was finally leaving the sanctuary for good, and would be able to see civilization once more.

  He visited a few nearby towns, but hadn't picked up on any trace of the God of Destruction. Two days had passed, and he was starting to think it was folley. How could Notch expect him to be able to find Herobrine, such a powerful being which must had been excellent at hiding?

  On the third day, he picked up on a trail.

  The village he had visited seemed normal enough at first glance, but what seemed fishy was that the villagers reported the dogs were going crazy the last few days, barking and snapping at some unseen foes. Deciding that the lead was authentic, he went to investigate.

  Dogs usually don't bark that much, not even at random zombies that happened to pass by. But it was reported that the village seemed to be strangely vacated of zombies, not that they were complaining, of course, but the dogs seemed more alert than ever.

  He followed one of the dogs west, following the smell of monsters, and it wasn't long before he picked up the ultra strong stench of dozens of zombies clustered together.

  He then camped nearby in a camouflaged hideout, to wait if anything fishy happens.
 
  Turns out, he almost dozed off when the figure appeared.

  A clap of thunder almost made him fall out of he tree he was in. And in the next second, a man was standing where a bolt of lightning struck half a second ago, completely unscathed. His glowing eyes surveying the environment for any potential threat, and Steve forced himself to stay still, so he wouldn't be spotted easily. Fortunately, the God of Destruction didn't appear to have seen him, and headed towards the group of mobs gathered there.
 
  The man appeared to be saying instructions to the mobs, while they grunted and growled, having appeared to understand what he was saying. Steve inched closer, but even he couldn't decipher what Herobrine was saying, or what language he used. Even so, judging from what Notch had said and what he could see, they couldn't be up to anything good.

  Steve nocked an arrow on his bow, and aimed at Herobrine's face. Once he turns around, he would shoot, and hopefully be able to dispatch of the being with the disk Notch had given him.

  When Herobrine turned his head, Steve let his arrow fly.

  Herobrine immediately noticed something was wrong. His head immediately whipped to the other side with superhuman speed that hardly seemed possible. But even he was too slow. The arrow still managed to graze his eye from the side.

  The God of Destruction howled in pain and fury as dark blood spurted out of his left eye. He cupped his hand over the left side of his face, while his right eye glaring murderously at where Steve hid, glowing like a miniature sun, the fury evident in it.

  Steve nocked another arrow on his bow to shoot at his other eye, but he couldn't shoot him right in the face, the arrow would penetrate Herobrine's skull, and would risk killing him. Could he be killed? Steve had no idea, but wasn't anxious to find out. Best to play it safe, or else he would have one other god angry at him.

  Before he could shoot, a blast of bright white light vaporized the tree trunk. Steve, along with the rest of the tree fell to the ground, while Herobrine and the mobs walked slowly towards him, like they had all the time in the world.

  Herobrine's hand fell away from the left side of his face, revealing a blackened eye, soaked in blood, in apparent contrast with his glowing right one. A diamond pickaxe shimmered into existence in his hand, as he prepared to make the killing blow.

  Steve raised his bow in a hasty gesture to defend himself, as Herobrine's diamond pickaxe connected, and split it neatly into two halves, the sharp edge coming dangerously close to his face.

  Steve managed to roll aside, dropping his useless bow and whipped out his diamond sword, before Herobrine's pickaxe locked onto his sword a millisecond later with unrelenting force, his undamaged eye terrifyingly frightening.

  He freed his sword and swung at Herobrine's glowing eye, but Herobrine anticipated the move, bringing up the reinforced handle of the pickaxe to block the blade, while kicking Steve hard in the stomach, causing him to fold like a deck chair, the sheer force causing him to fly backwards and smack the back of his head against a tree trunk.

  The sword slipped out of his grasp and he saw stars, but a glacial blue shape hurtling towards him forced him to roll aside before the pickaxe carved his head open. He picked up the blade, but suddenly Herobrine was behind him, as a sharp pain erupted at his lower back.

  He grunted, gritting his teeth to stop himself from letting out a scream. He held his sword in a reverse grip and the blade hit flesh. Herobrine hissed behind him, yanking the sword out of his flesh and out of Steve's grip, before leaping up and spinning in the air, his foot connecting with the back of Steve's head.

  Steve crumbled to the ground, groaning. Herobrine flipped him over, putting his foot on his chest.

  "Who sent you?" He snarled in that deep voice of his, which was practically like a supreme power learnt the power of language, his pickaxe in his hand, one of the tips stained with fresh blood. Steve's own blood.

  "I ain't telling you stuff, Herobrine," Steve snarled weakly, his hand slowly stealing towards where the small disk was.

  "A bluff," Herobrine snorted, and looked more closely at him," You have some guts, clone, if you think you can kill me."

  Clone?

  "What are you talking about?" Steve frowned.

  "He didn't tell you, I see," the God of Destruction sniffed in slight disdain, then shook his head," Ignorant lad. Run from this while you still can, but do not expect me to be quite so merciful if you cross my path again."

  To Steve's surprise, Herobrine removed his foot from Steve's chest. His words still rung in his ears. That tone, it sounded like Herobrine was talking down to him, like he was a lesser being. A nobody.

  He dug out the little disk, and was about to throw it at the God of Destruction, when Herobrine suddenly disappeared from his view, so did his surroundings. In a flash of purple light, he found himself in the middle of nowhere, in a cave full of lava, with himself sitting on a single elevated block above it.

  "Dammit," he cursed and searched for any blocks he could use to build a bridge out of the place.

  It took him two more days to finally find civilization. He was discouraged, yes, but he had more cause to persue Herobrine now. Not just for what Notch told him to do, but also what he was talking about when he called him a clone.

  Hopefully, his eye wouldn't self heal, and would make him weaker and easier to catch. And he desperately hoped that he would find the god before he managed to heal his eye.

  He commandeered a horse, and rode to the nearby villages, following any sign of clues. He dared not to think what would be the consequences if he failed to bring Herobrine to Notch. He still knew he had a lot of time left, but it was no excuse to be lazy. He was lucky to have stumbled on the god's trail, and it would be a miracle if another opportunity just happened to fall on his lap.

  He then worked feverishly without rest, riding from one town to another, hoping to chance upon his trail just for one more time. Even though he knew it was of a tiny possibility, he still had to try. He did not fancy the odds of going back to Notch empty handed.

**********************************************

  Two and a half months later

  He knew he was close. He had been chasing down his current lead for weeks now, he was sure that it was authentic. He needed it to be authentic.

  He found that Herobrine had been destroying several villages in random places. Or, it seemed to be random, until Steve went investigating.

  Turns out, Herobrine was destroying villages and towns that were more loyal to Notch than most, razing them to the ground, with little to no survivors.

  He dismounted as soon as he reached the village. Or rather, the ruins of it. Definitely one of Herobrine's work.

  The fires were still burning, but other than that, the wood, the ash, the remains of the buildings, there was nothing left. He was too late. Again.

  He ran to the village center, knowing that he would find something there. A trademark of Herobrine's that he would always leave at the center of the village.

  As he expected, five words were carved into a slab of stone, Never will the fires fade.

  Knowing it was more than random gibberish, Steve took out a book and copied down the lines. And when his pen just finished writing the word 'fires', he sensed movement behind him.

  He scrawled the last word swiftly, and closed the book slowly, like he had all the time in the world that he wouldn't look suspicious. His hand crept slowly towards the hilt of his sword, which he kept concealed under a traveler's cloak he wore when he wasn't fighting.

  A split second later, his keen instincts told him something was hurtling at him at a very high speed, and he would have to move quickly, even if it meant exposing himself of knowing of the attacker's presence.

  He rolled aside as a blast of energy pulverized the ground where he was on a split second before, sending up a cloud of ash and dust. He flung off his cloak in one swift motion and drew his sword, the glacial blue blade shimmering with a dangerous light under the sun.

  As he expected, the one attacking him was none other than Herobrine himself.

  The God of Destruction leapt from a tree, doing a somersault in the process, shadowing the flick of his arm. But Steve still caught the glint of crystal blue, and batted the mining tool-turned-weapon away.

  Herobrine landed lightly like a cat, and stretched out his hand. Instantly, the pickaxe flew back to his palm like it had a mind of its own, as lightning danced across the weapon.

  The two circled each other, while Steve studied his opponent. Herobrine's once damaged eye was healed, but was glowing weaker compared to his unharmed one. Lightning danced around his body in random places, flickering and disappearing, waiting for the right moment to strike.

  Herobrine then lunged, shooting electricity out of his free hand. Steve hurriedly dodged Herobrine's pickaxe and body, while meeting the lightning blast with his diamond sword.

  Thank Notch diamond couldn't conduct electricity, Steve thought, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

  Herobrine struck again, his strokes powerful and fast, that it took all out of Steve to evade and protect himself, while at the same time working out a plan to subdue Herobrine.

  Herobrine's pickaxe bit into the side of his chest, closing the distance between them. Ignoring the intense pain and the large torrent of blood gushing out of his chest, he lashed out with his sword, the side of the blade catching Herobrine's right eye from the side.

  Herobrine howled and staggered backwards, clutching his eye. And suddenly, he disappeared, as a sharp kick from behind Steve sent him sprawling.

  The tip of the pickaxe came down at his throat, intent on ripping his trachea open, but Steve saw that coming, and hooked his sword onto the pickaxe just in time, then in one swift motion, sent the pickaxe sailing out of Herobrine's hand before it could even prick the skin on his neck.

  Now it was Herobrine's turn to be kicked. He staggered backwards, but before he could teleport, Steve thrust out his arm in a swift motion that he spent hours of numerous days practicing.

  The small, sharpened piece of stone buried itself in the god's remaining eye. The glow in it instantly went out, as Herobrine stumbled backwards, blood flowing freely from both his blinded eyes. He snapped his fingers, as a small fire burned to life next to Steve, but was quickly extinguished in the wind. Herobrine fell to the ground, gasping loudly while fumbling for something to grab onto, and stretched out his hand to call his pickaxe back.

  Before he could do that, though, Steve threw the small disk at him.

  The small disk glowed gold, and with a hiss, it attached itself to Herobrine's torso. Herobrine yelped in surprise and pain, as the disk glowed even more brightly.

  "What is this devilry?" He gasped. For once, Steve could clearly hear fear and surprise in his voice.

  He then screamed and jerked, as white wisps of smoke began drifting from his body to the disk, while it grew brighter and brighter, before Herobrine finally slumped to the ground and went limp.

  Steve couldn't help but feel pity for the man, who was passed out cold, limp like a dead fish. He had been perfectly fine a few minutes ago, and probably had no idea why that was the way things could turn out the way it did.

  Steve advanced cautiously towards Herobrine, and shook him slightly.

  No response.

  Steve took that as a good sign, and whistled for his horse to come over.

  He found some rope, and tied up the unconscious God of Destruction, in case he ever woke up and tried to book it. Just a precaution, even though he knew Herobrine could probably snap those ropes without even breaking a sweat.

  He was wrong, though. When Herobrine came to a couple days later, he was utterly confused about his whereabouts, his posture hunched over and weak atop Steve's horse.

  "Where am I?" He groaned weakly, that it was barely audiable.

  "On my horse," Steve said cheerily, like he was commenting on pleasant, sunny weather," Oh, and by the way, good that you are awake. I have some things I need to know."

  Herobrine snorted, but it sounded more like a huffed sign," Please, do you really think these bonds can-"

  A look of utter confusion came over his face," What-"

  "Happened to your powers?" Steve asked innocently," I don't know what happened to them, man, but while they are going on holiday, I am going to ask you a few questions."

  "You are crazy to think I will ever cooperate, clone," Herobrine snarled weakly, practically spitting the last word out with as much venom as he could muster, tugging at the ropes binding his wrists together, and his arms to his body.

  "Why did you call me clone?" Steve asked.

  "Because you are one," Herobrine sneered," You are one of his puppets. And you are a fool for not knowing."

  "I am a clone?" Steve frowned, it just didn't make sense.

  "You think it is a coincidence that we look alike so much?" Herobrine snarled, "Only an idiot will think that."

  "I am ignorant, not an idiot for not knowing things, thank you very much," Steve rebuffed.

  Herobrine snorted, then cleared his throat,"Where are you taking me?"

  "Where Notch wants me to be."

  Herobrine cursed and squirmed in his bonds,"You little-"

  "What are you aiming at, Herobrine?"

  "I do not need to explain myself or my plans to you," Herobrine growled," And since Notch is going to kill me anyway, I have no reason of telling you. You can't and you won't help me, you are pretty much useless."

  "I will kick you off this horse," Steve warned with a growl," So you better cooperate."

  "You don't scare me," he sneered," I have faced the Great Demons of ancient times. If you want information, you might well as pry it out of the mouth of my dead body."

  Steve inwardly facepalmed. He sucked at that part of the job.

  "Tell me," Steve said," Considering you are going to die anyway."

  Herobrine didn't respond.

  Steve sighed," Fine. Then what happened between you and Notch?"

  "Why should I tell you?" Herobrine sneered.

  "Because, if you are not mistaken, you are currently my prisoner."

  Herobrine then did the unexpected. He laughed out loud.

  "Out of eons trapped in the Nether, now I got imprisoned by a mere, powerless clone, on a prison which is a horse?" Herobrine laughed, then his expression turned solemn, and he glared at Steve with those bloody, blackened eyes, jerking against his ropes in a swift motion that caused Steve to jump in his saddle.

  "Prisoner?" He asked softly, but the malice was clear in his voice," Do you know what Notch is going to do after you bring me in, hmm? Do you want to know what happened to them other clones?

  "Oh, they failed. One by one. Killed off. Some died by my hand, others by Notch. Do you really think you are that special? That you are chosen by some higher force in that stupid race?"

  Steve's pulse quickened. How did Herobrine know about the race?

  "You were planted in the race, clone," Herobrine snarled," You were going to win. No matter what. The other students were just a distraction. They were expandable variables. Nothing. Notch doesn't even care about them. All he cared about was getting me. He doesn't even care about you. After you bring me in, he is going to kill you, like he killed all those other students. And you were going to be sitting there like an idiot, ignorant as a pig lined up for slaughter. Then when the blade comes down," the god smiled thinly, which was made even more eerie by his blinded eyes," You will never even know it."