Okay, I'll admit it. I was terrified. Terrified of what Dianite might do to me and my friends. Terrified of Mot's unpredictable emotions. Terrified of Sir Jeriah's unpredictable actions. Terrified that I was going to mess up, right when the others needed me most. Who wouldn't be scared, honestly?

The only thing I could do was continue training and pray to the gods that everything will go well. I woke up one morning to train with Mianite, which had been scheduled for only twice a week now that he was getting busier and I was getting better at fighting. I went to wake up Mot, but he told me to leave without him.

"We're fighting our first wither today, though!" I said, bouncing up and down on his bed. "You have to come!"

He rolled over, facing away from me. "Tell them I'm sick. I'll fight it some other time." With that, he pulled the covers up over his face. My heart sank, but I left the room without any more objections. I grabbed my iron sword and headed out of the castle. The battle arena was so far away that Mianite had given me a white horse to ride, which I had named Daisy.

"Hey, Daisy," I greeted the horse as I walked into her stable. She waited patiently as I put a saddle and some iron horse armor on her to prepare for the trek. I fed her an apple before jumping onto her back and taking off into the open field.

When I reached the battle arena, Mianite was already preparing. "Ah, there you are, Alyssa. I was beginning to worry. Where's Mot?"

"He's... sick," I replied. Mot had claimed to be sick several times before, so I wasn't sure how convincing it would be.

Mianite frowned at me, but, thankfully, he didn't question me further. "Well, I guess we'll fight the wither without him. Do you have your bow and sword ready?"

I nodded and pulled out my iron sword and a bow that Mot had enchanted. "I'm ready!" I followed Mianite into the magnificent battle arena, and drew my bow back to prepare.

Mianite began to count down, placing down the necessary soul sand and wither skulls. "3... 2... 1... go!" He placed down the last skull and flew as far away as he could to let me handle the battle myself. I turned and ran away. I didn't stop running until I heard the explosion behind me. I spun around and fired my bow.

"Take that!" I yelled as arrow after arrow hit the beast. I quickly decreased it's health halfway, which meant that I needed to attack it with my sword. I took a deep breath and charged at the descending mob, pointing the tip of the blade at it's stomach. I dodged the bombs it sent flying at me, and was just about to attack it when it spoke.

"You really think you can fight back?" I knew that the voice was coming from Dianite's spirit, not the wither, but it terrified me anyway. "You think that training against this petty mob will prepare you for my wrath?" My hand started trembling, and I found it more and more difficult to swing.

"Go... go away, Dianite!" I yelled, hoping to intimidate him, but alas, beneath my shining armor and special sword, I was just a nine-year-old with a squeaky voice. Nothing that would scare away an immortal being, that's for sure.

The wither flew straight at me, and I heard Dianite scream "You absolute fool! You are nothing! You're a weak little girl! How could anyone possibly trust you? I should have this wither put you out of your misery before I do!" I might have been able to ignore him had his words not been my thoughts exactly. I could feel tears rising in my eyes, and I was suddenly unable to fight back.

"You... you don't know me!" I shrieked between sobs. Bomb after bomb struck me, and I collapsed onto the ground in a mess of blood and tears. I heard Mianite's panicked yells echoing in my ears as I lay face-down, wishing to be home. And by home, I didn't mean the green castle. I meant Ruxomar, where I was truly happy.

I heard an enormous roar of pain, and then silence. "Alyssa!" Mianite cried. "Alyssa, the wither's dead! Get up, please!" His voice got closer and closer, and I felt myself being lifted up.

"I... I'm sorry, Mianite," I whispered, crying into his shoulder. "I should have been able to kill it."

The god lay me down on one of the beds outside of the arena. "Don't apologize. It isn't your fault that Dianite ruined it for you. Are you well enough to sit on the bed and listen to what I do have to say?"

A lump of fear formed in my throat, but I nodded and sat and waited for him to tell me. "I could tell from the way you looked after Dianite spoke to you that you believed every word he said. Is that correct?" He looked deeply into my eyes, and I couldn't lie. I nodded.

"I'm only nine," I said, wiping away the tears that wouldn't stop coming. "I'm going to let all of you down. I... I'm not strong enough to do this."

"No, Alyssa," Mianite said firmly. "You may be smaller than everyone else here, but I can tell you this without a hint of uncertainty- you are the strongest one here. Your courage and determination is like nobody else's I know. There is a reason I trusted you with that sword." I looked down at the blood-soaked blade. "I don't hand a treasure like that over to anyone, you understand? You are far from nothing, especially to your father and I. You are special, and you will always be loved." He reached out and hugged me. "Just remember that, no matter what, you can trust me."

He went into a nearby chest and handed me a golden apple. "Eat this to heal back up. Then I can take you back to your father, and we can get you cleaned up."

I nodded. "Okay Mianite. And... thank you. For everything."

When I arrived back at the house, Mot was eating breakfast alone. "Umm... Dad? Please don't freak out," I said, entering the room. Of course, he ignored my words completely and freaked out, jumping to his feet and letting out a scream.

"How did this happen? Who did this to you?" His eyes widened in panic. "Jeriah?"

"No, Dad! No!" I couldn't blame him, though. I was completely covered in blood, even though my wounds had closed. "I... I was going to fight the wither when Dianite came. He spoke to me, and it distracted me so much that the wither almost got me. Mianite healed me though. It... it's okay." I backed away in fright at the look in my father's eyes.

"Dianite did this?" His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched at his sides. "I'll kill him."