The quivering yet revolute woman was nothing but a sight to scoff at, was his master interested in toying with the girl, or was he just that bored? "My lord, why bother?" Kankaal sheathed his dagger and softly grunted in annoyance as he folded his arms. "It's not like she's going to be able to do anything to you, it would be wise to save your desire for her suffering for later, for the real fun. Breaking her tenacity right now might kill some of the excitement to come, you don't want to spoil the main event do you?"

"It'll only take a minute or two." He stepped forward and kept his gaze on his general. "Besides, I have a feeling it'll take more than the weight of hopelessness and defeat to fully break her. Seeing her brother in red would be far more impactful, that's not even including what I'll be doing to her. This frail woman does not have the strength or capability to scrape or mar my skin, I'm completely confident that she will not succeed in the challenge or even come close."

Stephanie's eyes narrowed and she gritted her teeth, she hated them talking as if she couldn't hear or understand them, speaking as if she were an animal or not even there.

"I'm going to have a little fun and then we'll proceed as planned." He turns his attention back to the Stonewall sibling. "However; she might be full of surprises like her brother was when we first met, I'm oddly curious."

"You're a monster." She whispered and tightened her grip on the handle of her blade. "I accept the challenge so long as my terms for victory are honored."

"I shall, should you manage to pull off the inconceivable feat of actually harming me. But just know this mortal, when I win, I will carry out my plans and I'll use you however I please and you must submit without complaint no matter what that may be. Whether to use you to torment your brother or for ... other things, losing will not bode well for you my delicate one. That much I promise."

He still wasn't going to kill her? Even now? Stephanie tensed up from the new predatory look in his eyes, that was a really bad sign of things to come. ... Yet... if she could manage to hurt him then she'd be free; her brother, her friends, and her entire village would be spared. But if she loses then there's no choice but to obey, her fears will be realized and she'd be living in a nightmare until her purity and life are cruelly stripped away from her.

Strangely, however; she felt a calmness come over her, there was a slight chance that she could do this, to beat Herobrine's challenge and wipe that smug look off his face. Then again, Herobrine might not be a man of his word and that truly terrified her, he is most nefarious after all as far as she was aware. "So all I have to do is just cut you? Or draw blood in any way?" She asked for assurance. "You'll keep your word? You'll leave me, my brother, and our village alone?"

The man tilted his head and folded his arms. "Yes human, I'll keep my word."

With that smirk on his face, Stephanie almost couldn't believe his promise, but she had no choice but to hope he'd comply. There was nothing more she could do as she wouldn't be able to fight him like Steve would and actually stand a chance against him, she just had to make him bleed and pray he kept his end of the bargain; which was better than being tied up and dragged away at the moment.

"Alright then," Stephanie said as she took a deep breath and steadied her blade in her hands, though her weapon was a damaged iron sword, it was still quite sharp and was all she needed. So she might not be an expert swordsman, she doesn't need the skill to cut, but something deep in her gut told her that this was not going to be an easy challenge and that winning it would not be as simple as it seems.

She exhaled softly and then broke out into a swift charge at Herobrine with her sword raised and aimed at his chest, the man's haughty smile never faltered.

"Predictable," Herobrine muttered quietly but did not move as the woman neared.

Stephanie swung her sword back and then forward with as much force as she could as she reached the man, she swung it out at him however; he moved his arm out and caught the blade in between two of his fingers in the blink of an eye. Steph blinked and stared in shock briefly then tried to withdraw the sword back, but even with two fingers the white-eyed man had a secure grasp on it and she could not budge it in the slightest.

"A sword is quite a boring weapon for this challenge, wouldn't you agree?" The man mused as the woman tried to yank her blade from his grasp, she tried and struggled and this made Herobrine chuckle. "Yes, I do think that weapons like this should be removed, after all, I'm not using one so neither should you." Herobrine then yanked it from the woman's grasp with his fingers and slung it up into the air, then it magically began to float high above them and hover.

The Stonewall sibling gaped as her sword was far from her reach, her only weapon against this lunatic. She glared at the immortal and took a step back away from him, she didn't have anything sharp but the sword. "How... how is this fair?" Steph spoke up and took another step back.

Herobrine snorted. "You know, your brother can be quite adaptable at times in our battles; so why don't you try and get creative and adapt yourself? Or are those eyes and the blood in your veins the only things that you share in common with him?" He relished in her faltering expression. "Unfortunately for you; I doubt there's anything you can do to someone like me with those puny arms and egregious skills ... or lack thereof. It's obvious that you are no fighter, so adjusting to this situation will be a challenge all on its own. Thankfully to your benefit, I'm not fighting back.

So now what are you going to do? I'm curious. The minds of those in the Stonewall lineage must be quite sharp if Steve is as good as he is. Or is it just him? I would hope not, I only accepted this challenge from the start because I was simply amused. You only have a limited time to damage me, if I get bored too quickly then I'll just proceed with my plans. You wouldn't want that, would you... Stephanie?" He asked, his tone quieted as he spoke her name in a mockingly and affectionate manner.

Stephanie tensed up and scowled. His cocky and mirthful grin taunted her, all she had now was just her bare hands; nothing she currently had on her person would do anything to him.

Watching the woman's inner turmoil had Herobrine laughing inwardly to himself and enjoying his superiority over the mortal, he could never get over the wonderful sense of hopelessness, dread, and fear of his prey as they slowly come to terms with their fate. He thoroughly savored holding the fates of his victims in his clutches, watching as they caved into despair and begged for mercy before he crushed them in his palms.

Though he had to admit that Steve's sister being this underwhelming was quite a letdown, surely the Stonewalls and their resolve were much greater than this right? The woman just stood there, uncertain of what to do.

"Come on now Stephanie." Herobrine began more loudly. "I let you live to challenge me, but you're just going to stand there since I've disarmed you? Hmph, very well then. I'll just go and begin the slaughter, starting with Steve first. But don't worry, I'll make sure he lives long enough to see what I'll do to you."

Stephanie narrowed her eyes and lunged at him with a loud cry.

His goading worked. Herobrine noticed a change in her demeanor after saying those words; Steve was quite important to her, and now she looked determined to try without a weapon. Now things will be much more interesting. 'That was easy.' He thought.

Stephanie slammed into him and started swinging at him with her fists, she punched him in the chest multiple times and then tried to scratch his arm with her nails over and over again. When she saw that she wasn't doing anything to his flesh, she kicked at him a few times as hard as she could; but he was unmoved and not showing any signs of pain or distress.

"Is that all you've got?" The man shook his head. "Not good enough," Herobrine says as he laughs at her pitiful efforts, resisting the urge to shove her away.

With anger surging through her, Stephanie clenched her right hand tightly and directed her fist into Herobrine's nose as hard as she could; remembering what her friend Alex did for her when she was being bothered by a bully when they were still new to their village. To her dismay, however; she only hurt her fingers instead from the impact, she wasn't strong enough to give him a nosebleed it seemed. Steph winced and shook her aching fingers before bringing her hand to her chest and rubbing over the pained digits, hissing from the tenderness as she did. Was this being made of stone?

"Nice try human," Kankaal said and shifted his pose and a hand resting on his hip. "But it's not enough. So pitiable."

"I said to get creative, your nails and small hands will not be enough to damage me, not without more muscle than that. All you've managed to do so far is hurt yourself, but that was to be expected for someone of your stature." Herobrine mused with a scornful laugh. "Can't you think of something better than swinging your flimsy limbs at me?"

"You can ridicule me, but I won't give up!" Stephanie angrily countered, using her sleeve to wipe at the tears in her eyes caused by the hurtful mockery and the pain in her hand.

"Good," Herobrine said lowly. "I find those who so easily die or surrender like cowards to be deemed utterly worthless; even more than that of a tiny silverfish scurrying away to hide itself. The mentally weak die the death they deserve, I like my prey to show some tenacity and fight; something I just don't see often enough anymore. So what do you plan to do now, knowing that you have no physical strength to harm me? Hmn? So far you've only proved yourself to be like most mortals out there, boring, weak, and without skill or ingenuity. I expected much better of a Stonewall, you disappoint me."

Stephanie ignored his comment and began to think to herself, he's very resilient but not entirely; she remembered the stories her brother told her about how he injured Herobrine a few times before. One time he even wounded the immortal so badly that he thought the guy might die; that didn't happen obviously but he did do a great number on the demon. It was that wound with his sword and the force of his strength that brought upon the entity's hatred of him in the first place, Steve managed to stab the guy all the way through his chest once, making him bleed profusely and retreat. That was of course with a diamond blade, one of the rarest and the sharpest of minerals that took months to acquire.

But she was not strong enough to replicate that action even if she still had her inferior sword, Stephanie quietly huffed in her self-doubt; she wasn't Steve. It was going to be tough to draw blood if Herobrine's skin was as tough as iron, she would need more strength or something more sharp; or rather a combination of both. Yet she did not have either of these so physical force was off the table, unless he had a more vulnerable spot somewhere to take advantage of.

"He must have a weak spot." She said quietly to herself.

"Hmph, weak spot? Keep dreaming." Kankaal scolded.

Her eyes search her surroundings and she gets an idea. "Fine, I'll use a different weapon then if I can't use my sword." Steph says as she quickly paces over to the nearest tree and struggles, but eventually rips off a tree branch."

How entertaining. "You think that's going to work?" Hero mused with a light gesture.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Stephanie stared into Herobrine's eyes, they glowed softly. "Maybe." She said and then charged at him with the splintered end of the branch aimed at his head. "Maybe if I gouge one of your eyes out with it!" She said aloud as she rammed the stick right at his face.

'Hmmm, getting crafty, are we?' He thought. As she reached him, he let the branch come within an inch of reaching his eye before promptly grabbing ahold of it before it pierced him. "Well I must admit, this is a more creative approach to cause harm and would have worked well, but I'm simply not going to allow you to win like this. I do value my eyes, and though immortal and will not suffer permanent damage; I'm not entirely impervious to pain." He then slings the branch away from his face along with the arm attached to it. "So sorry to ruin this opportunity, but I'm not handing you a cheap victory this way. However, the approach to go for my eyes is a step in the right direction. Anywhere else is game, but my eyes are not."

Stephanie made a low 'oof' as she stumbled to the side and then looked back at Herobrine with anger and frustration. "You can't just call your eyes off limits! Otherwise, you'll just add more conditions or rules, which is unfair!"

"You ungrateful wench!" The general growled. "Lord Herobrine hasn't even attempted to end your life or even tried to attack back, he makes the rules here not you! You should be thankful he's even given this opportunity to challenge him in the first place, what he says goes."

Angered, Stephanie swung the branch and whacked the man with it as hard as she could, one time against his arm, another few against his chest, and even once against the side of his head. The immortal entity took each strike without hardly any reaction, only smirking in his arrogance. Stephanie then tried to jab the pointed end of the stick into Herobrine's flesh of his torso and even his arm, but she couldn't pierce nor damage him with it.

After a few more whacks Stephanie stumbled back a bit while panting, now feeling a bit winded from all of her attempts; she's not only physically weak, but she also has poor endurance as well as she's not much of an outdoors person. She's practically the opposite of her brother, spending most of her time around people unlike Steve who spends most of his time working hard and alone in the mines or out exploring the world for weeks on end; fighting mobs and enduring the harsh elements of some extreme biomes.

Stephanie began to feel her resolve crumble, her hope dwindled, her hold on the stick loosened and her posture sank; Herobrine was just too strong. She couldn't think of any weak spots he could have other than his eyes, the man was as tough as an iron golem and almost unmovable as one too. What could she do now? Did Herobrine have any soft spots at all?

Herobrine sighed and folded his arms, his smirk grew as he watched the woman begin to realize the futility of this challenge and began to cave into despair. He let out a loud huff. "Well, are you done yet, woman? I'm afraid that I'm growing bored with your wasted efforts, everything you seem to do amounts to nothing; you just aren't strong enough to harm me. You've given it your all, but I am tougher than the average mortal; you've seemed to have forgotten that I am a deity in comparison to your kind." He shakes his head.

"No." The woman softly said, her fears realized.

"I commend your attempts and the energy you've put forward, but this challenge was over from the very start." He now grinned more sinisterly. "Even without fighting back I knew you weren't going to do anything to me, not with those tiny arms; the fight is there but it's so underwhelming and lacking.

You lose Stephanie. Therefore; I'm just going to call this little challenge over and move along with my plans, with 'you' obediently in tow." He says, now reaching his arm out and taking Stephanie by the wrist.

'It's over? It can't end yet!'

"No wait!" The woman cried out and yanked her arm free, only because Herobrine let her go. "Give me another minute or two, please? I know I can do this!"

The white-eyed man laughed aloud. "Did you not hear me mortal? You were destined to lose from the very beginning because I knew you would, I'm a powerful immortal with far greater resistance to pain and damage; there is nothing that you can do to draw blood from me. This trial was rigged from the start, I knew that you couldn't win, but I was just curious to see what you could do. Sadly, I'm not too impressed. I will admit that it was a little entertaining if anything, but playtime is over. There's work to be done.

So now, if you would come along?" He asked, holding his hand out to her.

Desperation was visible in her eyes. "No, I know I-. Please, just give me another minute?" Steph asked quietly and backed away a few steps. "I'll find a way."

Herobrine let out a small exhale, his grin still plastered on his smug face as his hand fell back to his side. "You're all bark and no bite, all beauty but no bronze. You just don't have what it takes, admit your defeat and save your breath; you're going to need it soon enough." He darkly chuckled with his eyes now narrowed and a devious look on his face.

Stephanie's mind was racing, this was about to become the worst and quite possibly the last night of her life, and though Herobrine said she wasn't going to win she couldn't stop now. Steph thought of what she could weaponize from what was around her, but there was nothing but trees and the branch in her hand was completely useless. She thought of her own abilities and skills, but they were all non-hostile and were mostly supportive and social skills with people or small crafts. The entity before her didn't appear to have any physical weakness at all, he wasn't human.

Stephanie's frown deepened as Herobrine's grin widened, she was no fighter, just a woman who liked to talk or help out her friends, read romance novels and books of legendary beings and tales, and work in the safety of a house; not whatever this was. Her hope of being able to do anything was slipping away, she couldn't think of any weak spot Herobrine could have. But even if he wasn't human he wasn't too much different from one; structurally speaking, his eyes were off limits and were one such weak spot as it was for normal humans. ... Which maybe... wasn't the only possible spot.

She blinked in realization as she stared at the grinning bastard, she then swallowed nervously as the other potential soft spot was staring back at her. If Herobrine was as identical to humans as she thought then... there still may be a chance, but pulling off the stunt she had thought about made her extremely nervous, terrified, and even a bit disgusted.

There was no longer a choice, if this doesn't work then it's over.

"Well now, I suppose time's up."

Stephanie held the tree branch out at her side and let go of it, the stick landed on the grass with a soft thud and she then began walking towards him.

"It's over human," Kankaal added.

'Oh? Given up now? Where's the despair, woman? Is she going to come and fall at my feet, beg for mercy?' Herobrine wondered as the woman neared, to his surprise, however; her determined look was unmoved. Then to his astonishment, the lady daringly reached out and grabbed the sides of his face with her hands and pulled him down towards her, he moved along with her out of curiosity as she strangely gazed fearfully into his eyes and touched him despite that fear.

Then the Stonewall did the unexpected, she gently pressed her lips to his, her eyes briefly bore into his surprised and somewhat amused glowing orbs before fluttering shut as her lips moved. Herobrine had never been kissed by a human before though he knew why they did it, it was some kind of display of affection mortals used to express themselves to another in an intimate way he figured. Either that or for the pleasure of it. Not that he ever cared, but the fact that this woman was engaging him in this manner now was interesting and quite bizarre. Very out of place, yet not unwelcoming.

It felt oddly nicer than expected.

"L-lord Herobrine?" The bony fiend gaped in shock.

They were enemies and yet she wanted to lock lips with him? For what purpose? Though the feeling so far was quite pleasant and enticing on his part, it wasn't going to earn her any mercy; though he decided to indulge in this strange and yet satisfying feeling just to have the experience. It somewhat amused him, so he joined in the act and mimicked her movements, and leaned more into her.

Long and thin fingers gently slid down his cheeks and rested comfortably splayed out at the base of his jaw and neck, Stephanie then lightly nipped at his lower lip until he parted his. Herobrine wasn't expecting her to take it all the way, but he was too curious and entranced to pass up the opportunity; so allured by her warm gentle movements and beauty. His heart raced at the interaction as it caused his body to tense and flare up with a pleasant stimulating sensation, a feeling never before experienced in this way. It was exciting like that of a chase yet as subtle as a breath of air, it was arousing. So small, so soft, so fragile was this woman, but also so pleasing.

She then delicately pressed into him a little more; her left hand now moving to his chest for support as she slipped a bit further into his mouth, he was expecting her tongue to meet and intertwine with his, to taste her, but then out of nowhere felt her teeth sink hard onto his lower lip.

"Master!"

"Mhuuaaaghhh!" Herobrine's eyes widened and he shoved the woman away after she bit him, he watched as Stephanie stumbled back several steps but managed to keep herself from falling. He blinked and stared when he noticed a thin layer of crimson on her lips, she wiped them onto her sleeve; staring back with that same determined look in those eyes. Hero then ran the side of his hand across his bottom lip and gaped as he noticed a small streak of blood on him. He frowned and stared for a long moment in disbelief.

"I-impossible!" Kankaal growled, then began trudging towards the mortal. "It doesn't matter, you don't have to honor this wench's part of the deal; we'll take her anyways and proceed with the attack."

Stephanie then looked at the skeletal general and began to back away in horror, she should have known better than to trust that Herobrine would keep his end of the deal; she made him bleed and was going to suffer along with her brother and village regardless. She should have seen this coming, her attempts were nothing but sick entertainment. "N-no." She whispered and quivered in place.

"Go and withdraw the troops."

His echoing voice causes both the woman and the mob general to look back at the white-eyed man, despite losing the challenge he now has a big grin on his face.

"But-"

"You heard me, we'll attack another day, perhaps a week from now. I'll keep my end of the deal."

"Wait, you're coming back?!" Stephanie asked, eyes now wide.

"Yes, I still plan to continue my takeover and get back at your brother. Though I must say; you surely are something woman, I never expected that you'd do something so personal just to get the advantage. I never thought you'd do ... that." Herobrine gently huffed and folded his arms. "I suppose my eyes aren't the only weak spots that I have; my lips are a little softer than I imagined and I never even considered them in the first place. Well played, luring me in out of curiosity and taking me by surprise. Deceptive lips." He beamed with excitement and was surprisingly not angry that such an action cost him the challenge that the mortal had no other way of harming him.

"Clever girl. I knew there was something about you Stonewalls, so full of surprises. Even the weakest one." He then unfolded his arms and gestured the way the woman came. "You are free to go, Stephanie, as promised."

"Like that?" She asked, wondering if this was some trap, wondering if she would turn her back on them and then get shot by an arrow for doing what was supposed to be impossible for her.

Herobrine nodded.

"B-but you'll come back, I... I'll get everyone to leave before then!" She said aloud, expecting the white-eyed man to laugh or say something about it.

"You could, but that's not going to stop my army from marching, we'll eventually get you no matter how far you run. Of course, alerting your brother to me in this area right now wouldn't be so smart if I were you, you'd only send him to his grave a little earlier than expected. He's not a coward and he trusts you mortal, he'll come out here to hunt me down, but I'm more than ready to remove him from the face of this world. Then again... should you remain quiet and do another challenge of mine and succeed; I may decide to spare him and your people a little while longer."

Kankaal shook his head in disbelief. "Sir? W-why?"

Herobrine shot the general a side glance. "Well, it's not like the villagers of her town are going to believe her anyway. The miner will, and maybe her closest friends; but the others likely won't since they didn't believe in the recent rumors. So there's nothing to worry about our target location, the residents there aren't going anywhere. However;" His glowing white eyes meet the violet-blue gaze. "I have found this woman to be quite interesting, I would like to see her face another challenge. I want to see if she didn't just get lucky and if there's more to her than just making shots in the dark. I was the one to let my guard down after all, she exploited my curiosity."

"I'll be ready then," Stephanie said nervously with a slight sweat. "If there's a chance you'll stop your conquest and leave my village alone for good then I'll accept your next challenge."

"Again demanding from me, from Herobrine?" He lightly laughed. "That's asking for quite a lot mortal considering my plans for human extinction, but... I'll consider it; depends if you can impress me enough." Herobrine mused. "Now go, before I change my mind."

Stephanie took cautious steps back towards the woods, keeping her eyes on the two should they attack her while her back was turned.

"I can't wait until we meet again human, I look forward to seeing what you'll do next time."

And as soon as she was in the tree line she turned her back and bolted through the woods as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Wait. ... To stop your dream of taking over and wiping them all out?" The general gaped at Herobrine. "Master, you can't be serious?"

"I've never had such fun with a mortal before, it was something quite different from what I'm used to; I find myself wanting more. You know that I always get what I want. Besides, there's only so much that woman can do, she'll never have enough to stop my goals, but I am very interested to see just what she'll do to survive, and how far she'll go to try and stop me. Don't worry Kankaal, the attack will happen, just not right now. I want to have more fun with this... Stephanie."

"Good my lord, don't trouble me like that." The skeleton archer shook his head. "I can't believe she kissed you just to get at your lip; the only possible place other than your eyes that she could injure, the nerve of that human."

Herobrine chuckled darkly. "Well, I did say that I like a little bite." He said as he licked the blood off of his bottom lip, now staring at the back of the woman in the distance disappearing into the trees.