Grayson's point of view-

I woke to the freezing cold. The ground was covered in a blanket of white, and the gray in the sky blocked out the warmth of the golden sun. I shook in the covers of my sleeping bag, with snow covering my face and stuck in my hair. Every muscle in my body ached from the intense shivering. As I laid there, I watched my foggy breath rise. I sat up, shaking the snow off of my head. It was so cold that my eyes were tearing up, freezing on my cheeks as they rolled down. I wiped my eyes, looking around at the sleeping forms of my friends. Mia had her entire body tucked in her sleeping bag, leaving no part of her body visible.
Drake on the other hand, had most of his body tucked in, with half of his nose, and everything above remained uncovered. I could see the distinct dark circles around his eyes. His skin was so pale, the human side of him looked like a whitish blue. His nose was runny, and he shook violently, chattering his teeth and letting out raspy breaths. He looked worse than any other time I had ever seen him. He looked ghastly in his current state, making me more anxious and uneasy. I had to debate with myself rather to wake him now or to wait. I didn't want him to stay out here any longer, but I wanted him to get as much rest as he could.

  "It's too cold to stay out here. For all we know, the mercenaries are around here searching for survivors of last night's attack." I said to myself. It was a force of habit that a lot of people in the badlands picked up.

I got out of my sleeping bag, rolling it up, and putting it away. I walked over to Mia, nudging her with my right foot.
  "Mia! Wake up, we have to go!" I said.

She grunted, uncovering her face, and looking up at me with tired eyes. "Five more minutes." She pulled it back over herself. I growled in frustration.

I rolled my eyes. "Mia, this is serious! The mercenaries are probably out there looking for us, and Drake's condition is getting worse!"

Mia got out and sat up, looking at Drake. She sighed. "He does look worse. Fine. Let's get going. I just hope that he doesn't start throwing up blood like he did the other day." I didn't like remembering that. The experience did frighten me.

She hugged her body, and looked around at the snow that covered the ground. "Yeah. We should definitely get out of this snow."

I laughed, telling her "I told you so. Now, we have to find a village, or even a cave will be better than this. We just need to get out of the cold."

I heard the sound of yawning come from the Enderman hybrid behind me. I turned around, seeing him rub his eyes, then stretch his arms and legs. He sniffed, and rubbed the mucus from his upper lip. I could tell that he wasn't feeling well.

  "M-morning. What a-are you guys t-talking about." He stuttered with his words, still shaking uncontrollably.

  "You're awake!" Mia said. "Good, now we can get out of here!"

Drake didn't look up at us. He held his knees to his chest, and held them close to keep warm. I noticed his eye staring to twitch, something I knew wasn't normal.

  "Drake? Are you feeling any better?" I knew that he wasn't going to say yes, but I just had to ask.

He shook his head. "Honestly, I feel so much worse."

I frowned. I went back and grabbed my backpack, putting a strap over my shoulder. I turned back around to face them.

  "Ready?" I asked.

I heard Mia reply, but I didn't really hear her. My focus laid completely on Drake. He got out of his sleeping bag, and put it away, then he just sat on the snow covered ground, looking blankly at the white flakes that fell slowly from the sky. I looked back at Mia, as she moved and put her things away.

  "So, how are we going to get breakfast?" She asked.

I thought about it. "I'll go hunting for an animals that might be out. Does that sound good to you guys?"

Mia nodded. I turned to Drake, who looked like he wasn't paying attention. He rubbed his head with his right thumb and index finger. His eyes now closed, but with small trails of tears going down his cheeks.

  "Drake? D-do you have another headache? You want me to get you some water?" I asked, getting ready to reach for a water bottle in my backpack.

He slowly nodded. "Yeah." He stood up, stumbling on his feet.

I took out the water bottle, and stepped up to him, reaching the bottle out to him. He flinched, as if expecting me to hurt him. He looked back and forth from me to the bottle, before he finally snached it away from me. Drake opened it, and drank it all in just a few seconds; drips of the liquid going down his chin. He closed and tossed it to me. I juggled it in my hands, then shoved it back into my backpack. He stood up, pulling his hood over his head.

  "Can we just get out of here now? I'm starting to get paranoid again." What was he talking about? He has paranoia? That doesn't sound like him at all.

  "What do you mean?"

Drake didn't answer. He looked away from me, and began to just walk off into the trees and shrubs. He put his hands in his pockets, and disappeared behind the vegetation.

I looked to Mia, as she asked, "He's acting weirder than usual. Are you sure that he's okay?"

I looked back in the direction that Drake had disappeared in. "Honestly, I don't know."

Drake's point of view-

Make them stop... Make the voices in my head stop already! All of the noises around me, the crunching snow underneath my feet, the sound of Grayson and Mia's voices, everything made my ears feel like they were bleeding, and made my head throb. All of the voices echoed, most of them being indistinguishable, but it could clearly hear just a few of their harsh words.

Worthless ...

Weak...

Failure ...

Mistake ...

Monster...

All of those words; those names that echoed in my mind. They hurt, because I knew that they were all true. I didn't want to talk or be around anyone for that matter. I wanted to just completely isolate myself and be alone. Usually I hate being alone, but that feeling just pulled at me. Why did all the voices begin to sound like my own? My vision was getting more blurry and white. I shook my head, as the deep laughed rung in my ears, the voices fading. I stopped dead in my tracks, my heart racing and my lungs hyperventilating. The glowing form of my former best friend stood there. His hair a mess, his were clothes burnt and covered in ash, and his flesh burnt. He looked up at me, with a psychotic laughter escaping from his wide shining grin. One eye had a faint cyan, and the other glowing a blinding white.

  Hey, "pal", not feeling too well, are ya?

He started to laugh again. I growled. "I'm just dreaming. Nothing you're doing now is real!"

He slowly began to walk closer, as I stepped back; the cold wind blowing behind me. I always hated it when he took Armen's form. It just reminded me of the fact that he was dead. Gone, all because of me and my selfishness. I shook my head.

  "Leave me alone!"

  This is no dream. You're breaking. The more you crumble, the closer I become to getting my new vessel.

He reached out his hand, stroking my cheek, but I felt nothing. I tried to push him back, but my hands phases right through him. I stepped back, and growled as the noises from birds and rustling leaves kept getting louder. My head still pounded, and the noise was making it worse. I looked back to Herobrine, as he spoke once again.

  I can now manifest myself to appear in the material plain, but really, I'm just an illusion reflecting from your mind. Only you can see and hear me. This is something I never got to try with your former self.

My vision started to get worse, as well as the aching in my head. I fell to my knees, gritting my teeth as I shut my eyes tight. Tears of pain going down my cheeks. I looked up as he let out an even louder deranged laugh. He faded, as he smiled down at me with his wide smirk. My vision became more blurry until I saw nothing but white.
...
My eyes hurt from the blurriness in my vision. I could barely understand what was going on, but I knew that I saw familiar faces filled with terror. I knew that I saw blood being spilled.

Kill...

Kill them...

Kill them...

I opened my eyes, finding myself lying on the snow covered ground. My head was still aching, but it wasn't as bad as before, but it still made me want to scream. I held back my cries, seeing the crimson pools on the white blanket. I sat up, my body beginning to shake again. I was filled with horror, seeing the ground covered in blood. I stood up, looking down to see a blood covered sword in my hand, and blood covering my body. It wasn't me that was injured, though. I could tell that much.

  "W-what happened?" I said with my trembling voice.

I took a step back, feeling my foot hit something. I spun around, my eyes widening of a gasp of horror escaping my lips. The sword slipped out of my hand, dropping to the bloody ground. Lying before me, were the murdered bodies of my best friends. Tears filled my eyes, going down my cold cheeks. No. This can't be real. It's another trick, that's all it is! Trick or not, I was horrified by the sight of Grayson and Mia lying on the ground, completely lifeless. Blood covered their body, with glazed over, wide open eyes filled with fear and the look of betrayal. Their blood was on my hands. I killed them... No. No! This isn't real! I refuse to accept it! A black mist appeared in front of me, moving behind me as I continued to look at the massacre. I couldn't look away from it.

  Keep telling yourself that this is a dream. A nightmare. Live your lies, but the truth can set you free...

The black mist came back around, taking Herobrine's form, with his body covered in blood. He grabbed onto my shoulders, and leaned close to me.

  ...but who is it going to set free? You...OR ME?!

His body flashed back and forth, from the Collin's possessed body, to Armen's. Finally, it stopped, resting on my own form, with glowing white eyes. I couldn't hold back my screams anymore. I fell onto the ground, crying that my friends were dead, crying that the demon standing in front of would soon become me. Their blood was on my hands. Armen's blood was on my hands. I was worse than a murderer, worse than a simple monster. I was becoming a demon.
...
I screamed as my vision became white again. My vision settled, allowing me to see Grayson and Mia looming over me. They shook me, yelling my name. I shot up, feeling stains of tears on my cheeks.

  "G-guys? You're okay!"

Grayson spoke. "Of course! What did you-"

Before he finished, my arms were wrapped around both of them, holding them tightly in my grip. I don't want to let go. I don't to open my eyes again a find that this was all fake, and that my only friends really were dead by my hands. I finally let go, rubbing my eyes.

  "Drake, you're far from being well. You just passed out! You..you had another nightmare, didn't you?" His voice went from panic to concern.

  "I did... I don't to ever have nightmares like that again!" That feeling of wanting isolation was coming back.

Grayson reached a hand out his hand, touching my shoulder. I didn't even notice the new tears going down my cheeks. They made me feel pathetic. I wiped them away.

  "Drake, this isn't like you." Mia said.

  "Drake, I.." He hesitated to continue.

I pulled myself away from him, and stood up, glaring at the two. Sorrow was turning into unwanted angry and guilt.

  "What? You want to try to help me? There is no help! There is no redemption! There is no...there is no way to save me..."

I fell onto my knees yet again, crying. I covered my eyes with my arm, and gasped for air the more I weeped. So what if I feel pathetic... I am pathetic. I couldn't even tell my friends the truth despite their lives hanging in the balance.

  "I can't... I can't do this anymore. It's wrong!" I looked up at Grayson and Mia, both of them looking at me in shock.

  "I-I have to tell you... H-Herobrine..." I didn't care that I was getting another bad headache from saying his name. I hissed and cringed, then continued with my confession.

  "...he isn't d-dead...he's still here...tormenting me. It won't end... It just won't end!"

Grayson reached out his hand once more, but I pushed it away.

  "Drake, we..."

I stopped him. "No! You don't get it! You just don't! You never will!"

I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up, and ran away from them. They screamed from to stop and wait for them, but I ignored them. The voices in my head were starting again, taunting me. My chest ached and burned from the inside like fire. I need to be alone... I shouldn't have left them. Why am I doing this? Why do I feel like this? I don't feel like myself.
Suddenly, my foot was snagged on a tree root hidden underneath the snow. My body fell forward, collapsing on the freezing snow. I sat up, sniffing because of the mucus coming from my nose. I looked up, seeing my sword lying there. I assumed that it had fallen out when I fell. The edges of my vision was getting blurry and white. My arm reached out for the blade, but I wasn't controlling my own movements. I wasn't reaching for it by will. My hand grabbed the handle, and aimed the blade at my chest. I felt myself gain a little control over my arms, stopping the blade for plunging into my chest. He was trying to kill me... It does make sense, I guess. Without my soul in the body, he will have full control with nothing to stop him.
I struggled trying to keep the blade at bay. My sweat rolled down my face, getting into my eyes, and dripping into my mouth. The tip of the diamond touched my chest, a drip of blood going down my chest and stained my already dirty shirt. The white in my vision grew more red, as the voices in my head returned, and echoed in my ears. I could hear Grayson and Mia getting closer and their shouts of alarm. Finally, the force pushing against my arms stopped. I tossed the sword away from me, just as Grayson and Mia grabbed my arms and forced them behind my back.

  "What the h**l is wrong with you?!" Mia yelled in fury.

I lunged forward, feeling that sick and familiar pressure in my stomach. I opened my mouth, as blood poured out. Mia screamed, fearing that I was successful in actual stabbing myself. 

  "Drake!" Grayson let go of my arm, and put one hand on my back, and the the other on my chest.

It stopped, and I gasped for air. I was lightheaded and dizzy, but I didn't want to pass out again. Not now when I had so much explaining to do. I put my hands on the ground and looked down, refusing to look them in the eyes. I can't.

  "I-I'm sorry! I d-didn't mean..." I choked. "I couldn't control myself. I-I couldn't... I tried... I-"

I saw a pair of boots step in front of me. I looked up, seeing Grayson kneel down in front of me. He didn't look angry at me, but there was anger in his eyes, yet I could tell it wasn't towards me. I flinched when he put his hands on my shoulders.

  "Drake..." He said calmly.  "I'm going to help you through this. I'm going to save you from this. I promise."

  "I-I...but..." I stuttered.

He shook his head, knowing what I was trying to say. "No! You're more important than a stupid dragon egg! You're way more important."

A small grin of joy creeped onto my face. They were always there for me, no matter the problem. No matter how difficult finding a solution would be. No matter how dangerous. I wrapped my arms around him. His body froze from surprise.

  "T-thank you... Thank you." He put his arms around me in return, the pushed me back gently.

  "It's no problem at all. We protect each other before anything else. Maybe we'll find something at the Drago hatchery!"

I sniffed. "Y-yeah. You're right. We protect each other. I guess we could try to find something at the Drago hatchery. It's worth a shot, I suppose."

We let go of each other, and stood up, the snow crunching under our feet. I was relieved that the voices in my head and all of the pain finally stopped.

  "So, are you feeling any better?" He asked, his hands on my shoulders once again.

I nodded. "Yeah. Still feel feverish, though." It was the truth, but I was still bothered. Could anything we do really help me?

He reached into his backpack, and handed me another water bottle. I opened it, and drank down half of it. I kept it in my hand, then slipped it into the side pocket of my backpack, knowing that Grayson wasn't too fond of having so many bottles in his backpack.

  "Come on. Let's get going before any mercenaries show up." He said, pushing me in front of him.

  "Thank you for everything. I don't know what I'd do without you guys."

He gave me weak smile. I knew that what I had done had scared him. I knew that he'd be reluctant to let me out of his sight.

Luke's point of view-

Yesterday, I had arrived at the town of Arngeir, and there I had received information by a boat filled with surviving mercenaries had encountered Grayson, the hybrid, and even the notorious Red queen on a ship. I asked them to take me too them, but they only took me to the wreckage of the captain's ship. I felt let down that my pray had possibly died, but then they gave me news that neither the body of Grayson, nor the hybrids body were found. So I asked them to let me off at the nearest body of land. So, I set up a camp, and as morning came, it began to snow. I set off right away, leaving my camp behind. Of course it had to snow. Of course there had to be something that could affect me in achieving my mission today. I stomped my way through the thick blanket of snow on my feet, holding my arm over my eyes to block the flakes from blinding me. I knelt down, putting my other hand into a pile of snow, and pulled it out to find my fingertips covered in black ash. Getting back up, I kicked the pile, letting ash from a burnt out campfire fly in the wind.

  "This was recent." I said to myself, looking around at the ground.

Footprints were on the snow; three sets to be exact. I followed them as far as I could, but they quickly faded as the whether conditions picked up. I shut my eyes tight, shielding myself from the snow. When I opened my eyes, I was a bit disoriented, but I regained composure, only to find that that I could no longer see the tracks.

  "F**k..." I cursed.

I continued to walk, dragging my hand across my face, feeling the bags under my eyes. Sleep hadn't come easy the other night, but somehow I managed. I closed my eyes, then, I heard rustling of leaves above me. I looked up, then jumped back with a scream. A familiar imperial spy swung down from a branch above me, hanging upside down as he looked at me, with his goggles over his eyes.

He laughed. "Wow! It's really amusing seeing you get frustrated."

I growled. "Xavier? How the heck did you follow me here?!"

This dude must really love hanging in trees and scaring people. He pulled down his goggles, revealing his green eyes. He had bags under his eyes worse than mine. He yawned, and shrugged his shoulders.

  "Well, first off, I have yet I haven't been following you. Secondly, I went on ahead of you to Arngeir and, surprise! Henry and his team were there getting stoned by their new ship. It was pretty cool, but not one of a kind."

He got distracted and rambled on about details. "Yeah. Yeah. Anyways, how did you get here?"

  "Anyways, he took me over here after we heard about the hybrid being on a ship that had left not too long before I arrived. We set off to the wreckage, and ended up here."

I shook my head. "Wait so... He knows that he has to look for the hybrid as well now? I thought I had time!"

He yawned again, his voice getting sluggish. "Well, I sort have let some information slip."

Another yawn escaped his mouth, as he closed his eyes, and he let out a snore. Quickly, his legs unhinged from the tree branch, and he fell onto the ground. I stepped back, worried that he was hurt. He pushed himself up, rubbing the back of his neck and laughing.

  "Wow! I almost broke my neck!"

Why did he seem happy about that? I was slightly creeped out.

  "You're crazy!" I said.

He stood up, cracking his neck before he spoke. "I'm not crazy, just overly enthusiastic."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. So...does that mean that Henry is around here?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'll take you to him!" Suddenly, he grabbed my sleeve, and dragged me until we made it to a path.

  "This way!" He said, continuing to drag me along, making me nearly trip on my feet.
...
It took awhile, but we made it to the campsite, where my old "buddies" were at. There were about four of them at the camp. One of them stomped the fire out, while Henry watched. There were navy blue tents, with horses and carriages, and even multiple cannons on with at least one of each of the carriages. The emperor must have given them more supplies after he reported being attacked by the hybrid.

  "Hey, Heny! Look who I found!" Xavier called out as we walked up to him. I growled.

He turned to us, and put on his usual smug grin. "Oh, why hello Lucas! You know, I've been given the task of finding the hybrid in your place! I guess the emperor just doesn't trust his top assassin anymore."

I growled again. "Listen Henry. You better shut your mouth because I..."

Suddenly, a member of his team ran from the trees. He put his hands on his knees, and tried to catch his breath.

  "C-captain..."

Henry turned to him. "What? Spit it out!"

The man looked back up at us. My eyes widened and I gasped at what he said. "The hybrid... And the dragon egg thief... We've found them."

Third person point of view-

The three walked in the forest filled with snow. The Mage felt a presence around them but, he was starting to think that all of his senses were becoming unreliable. He didn't say anything to his friends, but he was starting to think that maybe he should have. That feeling was coming back, but he had felt like that all morning.

  "It's nothing, Drake. You're just losing your mind..." He hated saying that to himself.
  "What did you say, Drake?" Grayson faced the Enderman hybrid.

Drake scratched the back of his neck. "Nothing important. Just talking to myself. Force of habit, you know?"

Grayson looked at his friend with suspicion. "Yeah... But, still. We're here, Drake. There's no need to talk to yourself anymore. You have us!" He smiled, trying to comfort him.

Drake gave out a weak chuckle. "Y-yeah."

He turned away from his friends, and continued on, pulling his hood further over his head. Mia looked up at Grayson, holding herself to warm up from the cold.

  "G-Grayson? He really is scaring me."

Grayson looked down at her, the same concern in his eyes. "I know. He doesn't seem to want to talk about anything. It's like he's...distancing himself from us."

The ex-commander sighed, looking up at Drake. He further away, like he was starting to walk faster. Grayson shook his head, walking faster to catch up with his friend. His legs aching. Mia followed him, trying not to trip.

  "Drake! Wait up!"

The hybrid suddenly stopped, coughing and struggling to catch his breath.

  "L-leave...m-me...al-alone! Quite it!" He yelled.

Grayson stopped, misinterpreting his suffering friend's pleads as being directed at him.

  "Drake, I didn't do anything! I.."

The hybrid interrupted him. "Not you! Him..."

Grayson looked around for another person somewhere around, but he saw no one else besides Drake and Mia. The elf finally caught up.

  "Who's 'him'?" Mia asked.

The Mage didn't answer, but soon he gave in. "I already told you. Didn't I? No really...did I?" He couldn't even remember if he had confessed already.

Grayson opened his mouth to ask if it was about Herobrine, but Drake spoke before him.

  "I don't think we're alone." He reached for his sword, looking blankly into the forest.

All of the sudden, an arrow shot out from the darkness within the forest, hitting Grayson in his shoulder. He screamed, and held the wound, with the arrow still lodged in him. Drake ran in the direction the arrow came from, using his magic to make himself faster, not caring anymore that using his magic was now hurting him. In fact, using his magic was slowly killing him. He was blinded by the emotions being forced onto him, making him forget just how much he was putting at risk with one simple spell.

  "Die! Die! Die!" He yelled, repeatedly stabbing the mercenary that had shot Grayson.

His body trembled for more reasons than one. Illness, coldness, anger. He sat there, with the sword still in the body. He covered his left eye, feeling it twitching. His breathing became heavy and raspy. Pulling the sword out, and putting it away, he stood up, and walked back to his friends.

  "You alright, Grayson?" He asked.

Grayson pulled the arrow from his arm, blood squirting out. He kept his hand over the wound, drawing out his sword with the other arm. Drake gasped and choked.

  "G-guys... I d-don't..."

He began coughing again, covering his mouth as small specks of saliva and blood came out. He took his hand off, looking down at the the blood on his palm.

  "Drake! A-are you..?" Mia said, but before she could finish, another arrow was shot at them, narrowly avoiding her feet.

One arrow after another began to make their way towards the trio. Grayson grabbed his friend's shoulders, and pushed them.

  "Run!" He yelled, as they all made a run for it.

They ran up a mountain, where the path lead into an open area surrounded by hills. As they turned the corner, with arrows still flying at them, one penetrated Mia in her hip. The boys screamed, as she fell off of the path, and rolled down the mountain.

  "Mia!" They both yelled, running down after her.

Her body rolled far from the bottom of the small mountain, leaving them in the open, and easier to spot. The arrow snapped, leaving the arrow head stuck in her right hip. Tears filled her eyes, and streamed down her cheeks as she held the wound on her side, too scared to try to pull the arrow head out. Drake and Grayson crouched down next to her, looking at the injury.

  "It's fine! you're going to be fine!" Grayson tried to assure her.

  "I-it h-hurts..." She choked out.

They looked back up, as mercenaries lined up on the path, but none dared to charge down and attack them when they were weak. Cannons were loaded, and aimed at them, ready to fire. Grayson looked at all of them, and spotted two faces the he loathed.

  "Luke? Henry?" He scowled and growled.

Suddenly, Henry raised his hand, and brought it down. "Fire!"

They gasped, as fire came out of the cannon, and a ball of iron came hurtling towards them. Grayson and Mia looked away, waiting for their end. Their lives flashing before their eyes. They heard the loud crash roar out, shaking the ground, but death didn't come to them. They opened their eyes, gasping when they saw their friend standing in front of them, with his arms out stretched to the sides, with his hands glowing a bright purple. A dome of purple magical energy was around them, protecting them from the projectiles. They exploded around them, but not a single shard penetrated the dome. Drake looked over his shoulder, an expression of pain on his face, yet he smiled.

  "I can't...h-hold this m-much l-longer! You guys h-have to ge-get ready to r-run." He looked away from them, coughing. Blood splatter on the inside of the magic dome.

Grayson and Mia stood, as the purple energy flickered. It disappeared, as the hybrid collapsed onto his knees. Before they had time to even take a single step, a cannon ball exploded in front of them, breaking the ground and making them fly back.

The assassin stood on top of the mountain next to his rival. "What the h**l are you doing?! You're going to kill him!" He pushed Henry.

Luke pulled out his sword, and began to make his way down the mountain. It was time he took this fight into his own hands. If all of those cowards wouldn't face them to get the task done right, then he would have to do. It was his job in the first place, anyway.

  "Oww." Mia pushed herself up, putting her hand back over the painful wound.

Drake stood up again, feeling his knees wobble. He fell yet again, and vomited blood. His eyes moved upwards, as his lids closed. His body fell over, unconscious on the snow covered ground.

  "Dr-drake!" Mia crawled to him using one arm.

Luke ran to his unconscious and vulnerable prey. Grayson pushed himself off of the ground, looking up to see Luke getting closer and closer. He quickly stood up, pulling out his sword as he ran to stop him from getting any closer to his friends. He jumped ahead of him, and put up his sword, blocking Luke's, and stopping the assassin in his tracks.

  "Why can't you die already, you greedy b*****d?!" Grayson yelled, as their blades grinded against each other, setting off sparks.

As the two fought, Mia shook Drake, trying to wake him up. "Drake! Drake! Please, wake up!"

He gasped, and breathed heavily, as he pushed himself up, regaining consciousness.
  "How many times must I have to tell you..." He said, with a voice like a whisper.

Mia pulled her hand away from him, and backed up. What was he talking about? She screamed, as his left eye cracked open to look at her. His white eye glowed, as a white glowing mist rose up from the sides of his lips. His hand shot up, grabbing the elf by the neck.

   "...He's MinE!"

Mia struggled to pry his hand off of her. Her face turned red, from the lack of oxygen getting to her brain. The possessed Drake stood up, lifting her three feet off of the ground. He tossed her into the air, her body slamming hard onto the ground. She coughed to catch her breath, but found herself to be in too much aching pain to pull herself back up. The wound in her side began bleeding even more. She hissed as she rolled onto her side, silently crying from the pain as she held the bleeding injury.

  "Mia!" Grayson yelled, but he was too entwined in his battle to be able to go and help her. If he put down his sword now, Luke's blade would slice deep into his chest, and kill him.

Drake laughed hysterically, as his feet rose off of the ground. The cloudy skies filled with lightning, crashing down on the mercenaries. The ground exploded below the strikes. The cannons exploded, and mercenaries burned to death. The carriages exploded, leaving behind flaming wreckage in its wake. Some of the men were able to escape, including Heny. Xavier was the last to remain there, waiting for Luke to return. Finally, he knew that he would die if he stayed there, so he made a run for it, parts of his clothing getting burned as he jumped through a wall of fire in order to escape. Both Luke and Grayson stared at the possessed hybrid in horror and awe. A ball of white fire lit in his hands. He smiled at the two malevolently.

  "WhAt's wRong, GraYson? HavE a pRobLem wiTH Fire?"

Those words hurt Grayson. How could Herobrine have even known? The demon possessed man shot the ball of flame at them, turning into a ray of fire. Luke and Grayson jumped away from each other, getting separated from the blast. Luke looked at Drake, as he let out another hysterical laugh. He sweat, feeling fear. He shook his head.

  "No." He whispered. "I refuse to be a coward any longer!"

He ran at him, holding his blade close to his side. The demon looked at him, his wide smile not shifting. Luke ran up to him, swinging his sword, as Drake lifted up his arm. The blade collided with his forearm, but left not a single scratch. Everything seemed to go in slow motion, as the blade snapped in half as it touched his skin. Luke looked up into his glowing eye in horror. The vessel laughed again, as he balled up his fist, and swung it into Luke's chest. His armor chest plate shattered from the force, and knocked the wind out of him. Blood came out of his mouth, soaking into his mask. His body was sent flying into the mountainside, where he fell unconscious. Grayson watched, then turned back to his possessed companion.

  "Drake!" He called out, hoping to get through to his friend.

The lightning in the sky flashed, nearly blinding. Grayson shielded his eyes from the light, and the blinding reflection bouncing off of the white and red stained snow. Drake's body rose higher into the air, as his smile faded, as his glowing eye dimmed. He closed his eyes, the lightning stopping, as his body collapsed back onto the ground. Grayson looked at Mia, and ran to her aid. He put his hand under her back, helping her sit up.

  "Mia? Are you okay? Can you stand on your own?" He asked, worried.

She sat up, cringing at the pain. "Y-yeah. I think I can stand on my own."

He helped her stand up, then looked at her wound. It looked really bad. He cringed, then looked up at her pained face. He looked a his own injury, then to Drake's motionless body. They had to find shelter fast. Grayson ran to Drake, scooping his body in his arms.

  "We have to get out of here, quickly and tend to these wounds."

Without letting another word be said, he ran off into the continuation of the forest. He kept looking behind himself to make sure that Mia was still following him. She fell behind a couple times, but Grayson always stopped and waited for her to catch up. Eventually, they got to another mountain far from the other one that they were attacked at. They stopped, trying to catch their breath.

  "We have to find a cave around here." Grayson said, adjusting Drake in his arms.

They looked around, searching for an entrance into the mountain. Mia turned a corner, seeing an opening, mostly blocked by a giant bolder.

  "Grayson!" She called. "I think I found something!"

Grayson turned his attention to her voice, and ran in its direction. He made it to her side, looking at the hole, covered in vines. It peeked his interest.

  "This might be good. Here, take Drake."

He handed Mia the unconscious body. She got on her knees, holding him in her lap, being unable to stand with the weight in her arms while she still had that arrow head in her side. Grayson went, pulling a dry branch off of a tree. He reached into his backpack, pulling out a piece of flint and steel. Holding the stick between his legs, he rose his arms up, holding the flint and steel in his hands. He smashed them together on top of the stick, letting off sparks, and lightning the top of the sick on fire. Putting the materials away, he put his backpack on again, and grabbed a hold of the torch, trying not to burn himself. He held it up high, being careful not to burn the vines as he entered the cave, and pulled out his sword.

  "Hello?" He called, his voice bouncing and echoing off of the walls.

He turned around, lifting the vines, and walked back to the two. "I think it's safe."

Grayson handed Mia the torch, and picked Drake back up. His injured arm hurt as he lifted up the weight. Mia held the vines up, letting Grayson enter the cave first. Grayson set Drake down, with his back on the wall. His body still shook, and his breathing was once again becoming unsteady. Grayson touched his forehead, feeling it burn the back of his hand. Grayson removed his cape, his scarf still covering the bruises on his neck. He placed the cape over Drake, an attempt to keep him a bit warm from the snow, but not warm enough that he'd burn up from the additional heat coming from his fever.

  "Grayson..."

Grayson turned to Mia, who was sitting on the stone ground. She lifted up a part of her dress, allowing the wound to be more visible. Grayson crouched down next to her, looking at it, and seeing a small bit of the arrow head sticking out.

  "Alright. I can probably pull it out. I don't think that you'll need stitches, so that's good."

She let out a wine, as he placed his fingertips on the revealed metal. "Okay, just take in a deep breath. This might hurt just a bit."

Mia nodded, taking in a deep breath, and shut her eyes tight. Grayson slowly and steadily pulled the arrow head, trying not to let it cut her anymore. Finally, it came out, covered with her blood.

  "Alright. It's out." Grayson said, tossing it out of the cave.

Mia let out her breath, relieved that she wouldn't be in as much pain anymore. Grayson took off his backpack, pulling out bandages and health potions. He took off his jacket, looking at his own wound.

  "Mine's not too bad. I've definitely had worse..." He began wrapping the bandages around her.

  "...trust me." After that, he handed her a bottle of health potion.

Mia shook her head. "You should really save that for Drake."

  "Just drink a little bit. It will help stop an infection from setting in."

The elf looked down at the bottle, slowly taking it from his hands. She opened it, taking a drink, then handed it back to Grayson. He wiped the saliva off, then took a sip before closing it and putting it away.

Mia sighed."Thank you."

It became quite, until Mia spoke. "He's not fine, Grayson. You saw how he acted today. You saw what happened to him!"

She looked up into Grayson's emerald eyes. "His nightmares, his illness, his...bad attitude that isn't like him...it...isn't him! Herobrine must have some sort of influence on him, other than possession. It's the only explanation!"

Grayson sighed, looking at his half Enderman friend. "I... I know. We'll find a way to help him, somehow. We have to at least try! We can't let him suffer like this!"

They stopped talking to each other again, until the silence was broken by Mia's growling stomach. She blushed, and held her legs close to herself in embarrassment.

  Grayson chuckled. "You still hungry?" Mia nodded.

He walked up to entrance of the cave, holding the vines up. "Alright then. I'm going to go hunting. Stay on watch for any mercenaries or...Luke. If Drake wakes up..." He pulled a health potion out of the pocket of his bag, handing it to her.

  "Give him this."

Mia took it, setting it beside her. "Alright. Be careful."

Grayson pushed the vines aside, and left the cave, holding his sword tight in his grasp. He didn't want to leave when they were vulnerable, but Mia still needed to recover, and Drake, well, he was eliminated from the options of course. Grayson just hoped that they would be okay while he was gone. He wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to his only friends.