Chapter 1: Mal[]
The story begins at Mal’s POV, who says that she lives in a town called Cornucopia and that she would do anything for her friends. Mal lives with her family on a cattle ranch (which she jokingly calls "Cornu-cow-pie-a"), usually waking up when the rooster crows and then taking the cows out to pasture. One day, Lenna, a friend of Mal who has "poufy brown hair", runs over to her, saying that Tok and Chug (the brothers that like to build and smash stuff, respectively) are cornered in an alley by Jarro, another resident of Cornucopia, and that Chug also has a garden hoe. Mal then says to the reader that Tok and Chug are "almost always in trouble for something". She then explains to the reader that Tok is "smart and creative, but he gets so excited that he forgets about rules and safety", while Chug is "all fists", preaching himself as "the king of comebacks", and always ready to stand up to bullies. Eventually, Mal and Lenna find the alley in the "Hub" (the name given for the center of town), and notice Tok up high on a staircase with his pet cat, Candor, and Chug being cornered by Jarro and his two "toadies", Remy and Edd. Jarro asks for Chug to put down the garden hoe and physically fight him, but Chug says that if he does, then one of Jarro’s "pet donkeys" will steal it. Chug then notices Mal and Lenna behind Jarro, so he waves at them, making Jarro turn around. Chug then tosses the garden hoe upward, only for Tok to take it, who hits Jarro in the belly. Jarro then focuses on Mal and Lenna, saying that he isn’t afraid to hit girls. Mal doubles down and says that she isn’t afraid to hit boys, and then asks Jarro if his mother hates it when he starts fights. Lenna then leaves the alley and checks the Hub to see if his mother is by Stu’s Store. As Remy and Edd watch Lenna leave, Chug decides to kick Jarro in the back. Eventually, Jarro, Remy, and Edd leave the alley, with Mal, Lenna, Tok, and Chug following behind. The latter four notice Jarro whispering to his mother, Dawna, so they scurry over to Tok and Chug’s pumpkin farm, serving as some sort of a base for them.
As Chug hands the garden hoe back to his dad, the dad scolds Tok for constantly breaking things for his inventions. He then has Tok and Chug weed out the entire south field of the pumpkin farm as punishment; Mal and Lenna decide to assist them to make sure it gets done as soon as possible. As the four (Mal, Lenna, Tok, and Chug) head over to the south field, Tok takes a look at one of his failed inventions, a machine that "was going to revolutionize weeding". Chug comforts Tok, saying that their dad will understand about inventing in the future. The four finally make it to the south pumpkin field, which is situated far away from town that two walls of Cornucopia meet in a corner. They begin their work, but Lenna soon wanders off toward the far corner of the field. Not long after, she screams, so the other three head off in the direction they last saw her. Mal arrives first and asks as to what is wrong. Lenna then points at some pumpkins in a corner of the field, which have become "a sick grayish green, with curling purple smoke", and "their vines going black and hard". Lenna then explains that she saw a "gray thing with wings" that "poured poison on the pumpkins and flew away–straight through the wall". Chug thinks that it was "an evil chicken", while Tok thinks that it was a bird that looked like a potion. Mal seems curious about it too, mentioning to the reader that the Founders of Cornucopia had the wall built when the town was founded, and that the wall never had any doors and was always lit with thousands upon thousands of torches. Although Mal herself is curious as to what could be beyond the wall, she knew that the Founders had built it for good reason, but even then, she still wondered as to how the gray thing with wings poisoned some of their pumpkins.
Chapter 2: Lenna[]
Switching to Lenna’s POV, she describes herself as the youngest and least reliable of a family with ten children, calling herself "a flibbertigibbet". She also mentions to the reader that she does get daydreams, dreams, and reality mixed up a lot, but says that what she saw was real, and that she was going to keep telling her friends about it until they believe her. Mal asks Lenna as to how the gray thing with wings got through the wall. Lenna explains that she was watching a bee when she heard the sound of a horn, and then she saw the gray thing with wings just flying there. As Tok scrapes off a piece of rotting pumpkin into his pocket, Chug asks as to what to do. Mal thinks that they should wait until tomorrow to see if any more pumpkins appear like the one that Lenna saw. Lenna eventually agrees, hastily getting back to work and pulling out a sapling from a row of pumpkins. The four eventually get done with weeding out the field and play for a bit before dinner. Mal and Lenna wave goodbye to Tok and Chug as they head back home. The former two then walk together until they arrive at a path of cobblestone that leads to Lenna’s family’s mine. Mal says to Lenna that despite what happened earlier, she was sure that everything would be OK, and the two part ways for the evening. Lenna eventually arrives back at her home by the family mine, which was "a big, pretty house, with a variety of rare stones making elegant patterns between the large glass windows". Entering the house, Lenna’s parents and the other nine siblings all turn to look at her from the dining room. The mother asks as to what happened. Lenna begins to mention the gray thing with wings, but the father says that the mother means as to why she is covered in chunks of dirt and pumpkin. Lenna then excuses herself to go wash up.
Lenna’s siblings are (in order of appearance):
- Letti
- Lugh
- Lia, Lugh’s twin brother
- Lars
- Luci
- 4 others
As Lenna returns to the dining room, she patiently waits until it’s her turn to talk about her day. When that does happen, she mentions about what happened with Tok and Chug, but her father soon thinks that the part about "breaking bones" is exaggerated. Lenna quickly agrees and explains the joke, but then quickly talks about the gray thing with wings as something that poured poison on pumpkins, and that the pumpkins started to smell like old fish. The whole family bursts out laughing, but the mother asks as to what Lenna had actually learned. Lenna then makes up a story about an invention that played "a crazy kind of musical fart sound" when placed on top of a pumpkin. The mother and father then gently scold her for playing with the supposed invention, and soon excuse themselves to the kitchen. The other siblings berate Lenna for ruining dinner, and wonder if she can ever become normal. Rage fills up in Lenna, but quickly drains out as Letti whispers to Lars about Lenna being "the baby of the family". The parents then arrive back with dessert, and they all finish eating in silence. As Lenna prepares to go to bed, she hears Letti and Luci whispering about her, saying as to how her and her group of friends are always called the "Bad Apples". Lenna responds by turning her back toward them, pulling her blanket over her. Eventually, Lenna crawls under her bed with her blankets and pillows and falls asleep. The next morning, she wakes up first and tidies her bed back to normal, soon leaving for Mal’s farm. As she eats some bread for breakfast, she notices someone named Inka talking to Stu, saying that the east field of melons was destroyed. Lenna quickly meets up with her friends as she hears that about a dozen more times, realizing that everyone’s crop fields had become rotten.
Chapter 3: Chug[]
Switching to Chug’s POV, he explains to the reader to not mess with him, his brother (Tok), or his friends, or he’ll beat somebody up. On that particular morning when the crop fields were rotting, Chug wakes up expecting the day to go normally (doing chores with Tok and then playing with Mal and Lenna), but upon heading outside, he hears crying from his mom over in the middle of the fields, which are overlooking the entire farm. The entire south field is rotting just like the pumpkin from yesterday. His dad gets visibly angry, quickly trying to blame the boys for something that they clearly didn’t do. Chug just mentions that they weeded out the field like they asked to. When his dad tries to blame Tok for allegedly mixing up potions, Chug intervenes and says that Tok doesn’t know anything about them, much to his own relief. Chug then says that it could’ve been the gray thing with wings that Lenna mentioned yesterday, but his dad swiftly dismisses the idea as a wild story and that the gray thing with wings doesn’t exist. The dad then says to the boys to not go out into the fields today, and to just go play and to not get into trouble. Reluctantly, the whole family decides to head to the Hub, wondering what can be done about the situation that had unfolded in the dead of night. They notice a wheelbarrow filled with black, rotting wheat from Fredd’s field, and Krog explaining a story about how his beetroots were destroyed. He notices Tok and Chug off in the distance, who scurry off, proclaimed by Krog as part of the "Bad Apples". Tok soon runs into Jarro without noticing. Jarro and Chug get into a light scuffle before Elder Stu breaks them up, who mentions that there is a town meeting at noon about the crop situation. Tok and Chug scurry off and meet up with Mal and Lenna by the fountain, with the former also mentioning that their family’s crop fields were destroyed. Mal also says that she mentioned the gray thing with wings to her mom, who had remembered a poem that Mal’s great-great-grandmother had sang, mentioning the gray thing with wings as a vex. Tok is surprised to hear that Mal’s great-great-grandma is alive, who is the oldest person currently living in Cornucopia; she is situated in a house built on the end of a forest.
Not long after, the town meeting starts. Elder Stu asks if anyone’s crops were left untouched. The entire crowd responds with an emphatic "NO". Elder Stu then asks if anyone saw anything suspicious. Dawna soon exclaims that the "Bad Apples" may have had something to do with it, but Tok and Chug’s dad shouts that they were home the entire night. Elder Stu then says that because they don’t know as to who, or what, caused the crops to rot, that the entire town would have to leave Cornucopia; he reiterated that a decision would be made at noon. Lenna is worried about what will happen, but Mal decides to head off toward the forest, with Lenna, Tok, and Chug following close behind. Mal explains to the group that her great-great-grandmother (now referred to as Nan) was the only person that was born outside of town. Chug asks Mal if Nan ever told her about what was outside the walls, but Mal says that never happened because she never asked her about it before.
Chapter 4: Tok[]
Switching to Tok’s POV, he has a lot of questions on his mind from time to time, but the most important question to him right now is "why are the plants dying, and how can we stop it?". The four (Mal, Lenna, Tok, and Chug) soon arrive at Nan’s house, a small wooden cottage backed right up to a wall. They also notice that the trees and flowers surrounding the cottage had also become rotten, and that one tree had fallen right in front of the cottage, barely missing it. Mal knocks on the door, but gets no response. Chug then picks up a huge stick to defend himself as the four hear wood being chopped. To their surprise, its Nan, who is using a diamond axe to make a hole in the side of the cottage. She greets the four, and wonders if they are here to chop down the tree that had fallen. Nan then gives Mal the diamond axe, who soon gets to work on chopping down the fallen tree. Mal then asks Nan as to what was causing everything to rot, and Nan says that it might be a witch. Mal quickly shoots it down, saying that witches aren’t real, but Nan exclaims that they are real, along with zombies, enderman, ghasts, vexes, and the like; she describes vexes just as Lenna described them: gray things with wings. Nan then sings a song:
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Tok politely asks for Nan to sing the song again, but she instead offers him a book that has the song. Tok and company then stack up any remaining wood from the fallen tree that hadn’t gone rotten by Nan’s woodpile, and the rest of the wood that had gone rotten was pushed up against the wall. Eventually, Nan’s front door becomes visible, and the five enter the cottage, along with Tok’s cat, Candor. As Nan heads off into another room, Mal seems skeptical about the mobs that were mentioned in the song, believing that they were all made up. Lenna concurs, although says that the info is "awfully detailed". Nan soon returns into the main room with a book containing information on mobs, showing information on one in particular: a skeleton horseman. After reading the information about it, Tok and company have several questions, but he specifically asks as to what other information is in the book.
Chapter 5: Mal[]
Switching to Mal’s POV, she appears to be excited about the information that had just been shown, and dreamt of her and company being at Nan’s house for hours, asking more information about the book. Nan then explains to the group about a horse, and also shows off some other items such as a bow and arrow, an iron helmet, and a crafting table. Asking if there are any more questions, the group tries to ask them in an excited manner, but Nan grimaces and instead decides to open up a door to the back room of the cottage, motioning for Mal and company to follow. They do so, entering the dark room. Nan then pulls a lever, making some blocks move aside to reveal a window that shows the world beyond the town of Cornucopia. Mal and company gaze out through the window, describing it as having ridges of stone with white stuff on top of it, a flat ground with grass and flowers, and some trees. Nan then explains that the Founders built the wall around Cornucopia to make it seem like it was impossible to leave; they also stopped talking about anything that hadn’t been brought into town. Nan also mentions that its actually easy to leave Cornucopia, giving Mal a wink. Mal then says to Nan that the Elders mentioned that all of the townspeople of Cornucopia would have to leave, and wonders if they can stop the vex problem. Nan then heads back to the table and looks through the book, with Mal and company following close behind. Nan then finds info on the vex, with Lenna immediately recognizing it, albeit using a potion instead of a sword. Turning the page reveals information about an evoker, a type of illager that summons the vexes who live in woodland mansions. Nan says that the only way to stop the vexes from appearing is to kill the evokers, but even then, she says that is isn’t easy because the Founders of Cornucopia got tired of fighting and didn’t want their kids' lives to be dominated by violence. Nan also believes that Mal and company aren’t ready to go after the evokers, so Tok suggests that they let the Elders know about what is going on. Mal refuses, saying that they’ll never believe them, and so she brings up the idea of going after the evokers themselves. Lenna, Tok, and Chug all agree to do so. Nan also gives Tok a spare crafting table and a recipe book, gives Lenna a set of bow and arrows, and says to everyone that she’ll have a lot to teach. All five then prepare to raid a woodland mansion.
Chapter 6: Lenna[]
Switching to Lenna’s POV, she mentions her great-great-grandmother Lizbet, who has lived in the attic of their house for a long time and would rather live in the mine because of the sun. Lenna and company then prepare to leave Cornucopia for the woodland mansion; Tok uses his crafting table to craft a garden hoe, Chug is in a full set of armor and learning how to wield a sword, Mal is packing some bags whilst learning on how to tame and ride horses, and Lenna practices using a bow and arrow. Not long after, Lenna and company have some cookies and milk inside Nan’s cottage, and Mal suggests that she runs back to the Hub to check if the Elders had made their decision yet. Nan snorts at that idea, instead suggesting that Lenna and company leave Cornucopia now to find a woodland mansion. Nan also says that Lenna and company should find the closest village, which is marked with a beacon created by the Founders, and then trade some emeralds with a cartographer for a map which marks said mansion. Lenna does mention that emeralds are rare in the family mines, but Nan decides to give her a bag with over a dozen emeralds inside, trusting her to keep them safe. Lenna and company then prepare to leave through the window in the back room. Just as Mal gets a foot out, Nan shouts that she forgot something, quickly leaving and returning with a diamond pickaxe for her, saying that it’ll serve her just like how it served Nan’s mother when Cornucopia was built. Eventually, Lenna and company all leave through the window into the vast Overworld. They wave goodbye to Nan before she closes up the window. Mal then finds the beacon and the four begin walking toward it, but Lenna is worried that they might not make it before nightfall.