Chapter 9[]
Zetta meets with the twins, Rift and Rayne, on top of the rafters of the barn on her grandparents' farm in Sienna Dunes. She explains to them about the creature that hatched out of the egg, while also asking them to help her take care of it. The twins aren’t interested at first, saying that they need to help rebuild Sienna Dunes, but Zetta convinces them otherwise. The three then run toward the town square to purchase some food. Zetta pulls the loose at the neck of her tunic over her nose so she wouldn’t be recognizable to the townspeople. The three end up purchasing six loaves of bread and some sweet berries, and then head off toward the mountain. Eventually, they arrive, and Zetta prepares a shovel to use on the creature. However, she also notices broken cobblestone underneath her feet, and when she turns the corner to look inside the cave, it showed that the wall that she had built was completely destroyed. The twins question Zetta as to if the creature is real, and she inadvertently slips that it was a dragon. Just then, the three hear a moaning sound, almost like a zombie. With their weapons drawn, they turn the corner, only to find Ashton rubbing his arm. He explains to Zetta that he followed them here, but cooled off in a nearby lake, only to get bitten by a drowned. Zetta is furious at Ashton, saying that he is too young and inexperienced, and that he should’ve never followed her out here. Rift gives Ashton a compliment, which, surprisingly, gives Zetta some room for thought. She then decides to bring Ashton along, saying that he is ready for adventure. The four all agree that the creature they are looking for is an ender dragon, and go off searching for her. As day starts to turn into night, they eventually find the ender dragon taking shelter underneath some trees in a forest, but she had already grown to be the size of a ravager. The twins, Rift and Rayne, as well as Ashton, hide, with Zetta luring the dragon with a shovel before hiding as well.
Chapter 10[]
The ender dragon sniffs out Rayne, who is hiding in a tree. She claws at the tree in an attempt to shake him out of it, but it remains standing. Ashton then uses the shovel that Zetta had dropped to lure the dragon, who ends up licking his palm and face. The ender dragon also gently nibbles on the shovel as Ashton strokes the horns protruding from the top of her head. He thinks about naming her, but Zetta immediately objects. She and Rift then emerge from their hiding spots. Rayne decides to stay in the tree, with his bow at the ready. Zetta asks as to why the ender dragon grew so fast, and Ashton believes that it may have molted. He also mentions that the ender dragon is from a place called the End, showing Zetta a page from his notebook about it. Slamming it shut, she gives the notebook back to him, thinking that his imagination was running wild. Rayne then says that he sees something in a clearing in the woods, so Rift heads over to investigate, ducking behind a stone outcropping. Zetta wonders if Rift is okay, but he suddenly emerges behind her, holding a piece of molted dragon skin. Zetta is about to scream when she realizes it’s him, playfully punching him in the shoulder. She then asks Ashton as to how big the ender dragon is expected to get. He says that it’s expected to get "really big" as ender dragons "aren’t exactly known for being petite". Rift then strokes the dragon’s snout. Zetta tries to do the same, but it just sniffs it out and turns its head away, instead going back to gnawing on the shovel. Rift asks Rayne if he is coming down from the tree while punching wood from it, but Rayne says that he has a good vantage point from up here. Rift wonders if he is scared of the ender dragon, but Rayne says that he is just cautious. Zetta decides to build a shelter for taking shifts on watching the ender dragon; She and Ashton take the first shift, while the twins, Rift and Rayne, begin heading back to Sienna Dunes.
Zetta decides to watch Ashton from a distance. Within twenty minutes, he was able to make the ender dragon sit on command, as well as stay for at least forty-five seconds before playfully chasing him. Ashton would also try to get the ender dragon to lie down, but every time he tries to do so, the ender dragon snuffs out Zetta. He asks her for a bit more space, and she reluctantly complies, heading further into the woods and punching some trees. Eventually, Zetta builds a small shelter, complete with two bedrooms and a large commons area with a furnace and a chest, filling the latter "with all the food and water she had on her". She peeks out through the windows, now being able to keep an eye on Ashton without spooking the ender dragon. A little later, Zetta notices him taking a breather, so she heads out to give him the last slice of Aunt Meryl’s pumpkin pie. Ashton begins calling something "Meechie", leading to Zetta questioning him about naming the ender dragon, but Ashton says that it’s the name of the shovel that he and the ender dragon agreed upon. Zetta then heads up the mountain to fix up Aunt Meryl’s place, feeding the rabbits and chickens, and also cleaning up the mess that the ender dragon had made, as well as making sure it had odds and ends like having dirt in the floorboards. She then notices a brewing stand which was relatively undamaged, so she decides to make some potions of swiftness. Zetta is able to make six potions from the brewing stand before it died from clogged intake valves, but she was satisfied nonetheless. She then heads back down the mountain only to find Ashton and the ender dragon sleeping peacefully by a campfire.
Rift shows up behind Zetta, scaring her a bit. He then gives her a letter from her father, Carl, saying that he had heard that she was back in town. Zetta crumples the letter into a ball and tosses it into the campfire, knowing that she didn’t want to read it. She says to Rift that she’ll talk to Carl when she gets back. Rift then says that he said to Carl that Zetta was at her aunt’s place, making Zetta furious. She says that he could’ve made something up, like gathering dirt for the grandparents' farm, but Rift says that he isn’t as good at lying as Zetta is. The two begin to argue when Ashton wakes up, wondering if his shift is over. Zetta mentions to him that Rift and Rayne are here to take over for their shift, but immediately wonders where Rayne is. Rift says that Rayne is walking around the wall of Sienna Dunes for any hostile mobs, thinking that he is probably still nervous about being close to the ender dragon. Ashton then gives Rift the shovel, with Rift saying that the ender dragon "is in good hands". With the sun setting, Zetta and Ashton drink the potions of swiftness and begin heading back to Sienna Dunes; the former now with the dread of explaining to her father about everything.
Chapter 11[]
After walking Ashton back to his house, Zetta retreats to the rafters of the barn on her grandparents' farm, needing to calm herself from the swiftness potion. She relaxes on some hay, but when her eyes pop back open, the sun was peeking through the slats of the barn. Zetta hurried back to her house, hoping to catch Carl before he leaves for his mining shift. Incredibly, she does just as he closes the front door. Zetta apologizes to Carl for leaving, but he is rather interested in talking about her "responsibilities and your lack of respect for me and the bylaws of this town", bringing up Mayor Maxine, in which the invisibility effect she got from the splash potion took a few days to wear off. Zetta quickly changes the conversation to what she did while she was gone, such as tending to Aunt Meryl’s animals with help from her friends. Of course, that was a lie, but it rolled off Zetta’s tongue so effortlessly that Carl bought it. She says that she needs to get back to Aunt Meryl’s, but Carl says to Zetta that she needs to work on shifts in the mine as well. Thinking about it, Zetta runs off to Ashton’s place to say that she’ll be a bit late, but her grandpa notices her, inviting her in for some baked potatoes. Zetta reluctantly takes a few bites out of one before heading off to the mines. She meets up with Milo, described as "one of the town’s best miners", and the two get to work. Zetta mines a section of her own as thoughts begin to creep into her head, distracting her so much that she digs straight down into an open cave with lava. Although she notices a vein of gold ore, Milo quickly helps her out of the cave. Zetta is then greeted by Carl, who is disappointed in her. He explains to her that they are building four watchtowers into the wall for their archers, saying that they need more terracotta. Zetta tries to get back to work, but Carl snatches the pickaxe out of her hand, saying that she is no longer a miner. She objects, but he says that he is the manager for this shift and orders her to go home, which she reluctantly does so.
Back at home, Zetta rummages through a chest in the closet, consisting of a saddle, a broken fishing pole, and some music discs. She decides to take one out and stick it in the player in the living room, surprised to hear that it was Carl and Aunt Meryl singing a duet together. Zetta then pulls the chest out into the living room, rummaging through it some more; it consisted of several stone buttons, some coal, a lead, and a pile of lime green dye. Zetta begins to push the chest back into the closet when she hears the floor of it creak, surprising her; it felt odd that the floor of the closet was the only area of the house with wood flooring, but she soon notices a trapdoor as well. Using a stone button from the chest to open it, Zetta finds another chest, consisting of her brewing stand, and a notebook with the word "Inventions" across the cover, immediately recognizable to her as Aunt Meryl’s writing. Zetta takes the blaze powder out of the brewing stand before looking through the notebook, which consists of several contraptions. Eventually, she comes across one known as the "Wither Destroyer", which is about sixteen pages long. Just then, the door to the house opens, so Zetta quickly closes the chest and trapdoor, and quickly pushes the other chest back into the closet, being greeted by Carl. She shows him the music disc, hoping that he’d be happy to see it, but instead snatches it out of her hands, asking where she found it. Zetta mentions that she found it in the chest in the closet. Carl says to her to never go through that chest again, but then tosses a gold ingot and iron ingot to her, saying that the gold ore she found led to eight more, as well as a vein of six iron ore. Carl also mentions to Zetta that she will be taking a session of mining training next week, making her feel relieved, but deep down, Zetta knows that the truth, and mentioning the dragon, would have to wait.
Chapter 12[]
Zetta and Ashton run back over to Rift by the clearing, who shows them a contraption that he built to launch shovels, as well as mentioning that he taught the ender dragon how to bring the shovel back and place it in the hopper. Rift then asks Zetta as to how things went with her father, but she mentions about the notebook she found, gathering everyone by the campfire. As Rayne tosses some raw salmon into the fire, Zetta shows them the pages about the "Wither Destroyer", mentioning that the arrows used were dipped in potions. She also thinks that Rift would be able to build something like that back at Sienna Dunes to help fend off the illagers, but he objects, saying that he’s more into pranks. Rayne celebrates this discovery by sharing some melon slices from a melon he found nearby. As they eat, Ashton wonders as to where the dragon is. Rift says that she went after the shovel, but Ashton says that the dragon should’ve been back by now. The four then venture off into the woods to find her. Fortunately, the ender dragon left behind so much destruction that her path was easy to follow. Eventually, the four stumble upon a roofed forest. Ashton and Rayne split off as they notice a mob walking through some underbrush, only for it to be a cow. They try to catch it, hoping to bring it back to Sienna Dunes, but are stopped short when Rift gives off a loud whistle. Rayne heads off toward him, followed by Zetta when she hears Ashton screaming. Eventually, Zetta and Rayne find Rift and Ashton, who were staring at the ground. Zetta soon realizes that endermen are nearby; one teleports to her and attacks her. The four then begin to run toward a clearing, noticing the ender dragon, but several endermen block their path, leaving them no choice but to run back to the shelter that was set up.
Chapter 13[]
Inside the shelter, Zetta scolds Ashton for attempting to sneak past the haunt of endermen. She then gets into an argument with the twins, Rift and Rayne, over the latter’s bow skills. The twins quit in protest and begin packing their bags, but Zetta quickly apologizes for being on edge, saying that they need to start building a smaller contraption. Rummaging through Aunt Meryl’s notebook, she comes across a TNT cannon and a contraption that slings arrows. Rift is immediately interested in the TNT cannon and plans to build one to test it out. Likewise, Rayne is interested in the arrow-slinging contraption. The twins then leave the shelter for Sienna Dunes, leaving Zetta and Ashton alone. The two then sleep for the night, but are greeted the next morning by the ender dragon, who had grown much bigger. Ashton pets the ender dragon on her snout, causing its tail to make a tremor which knocks the dispenser off of Rift’s shovel launcher. The shovels then launch out of the dispenser all at once, spooking the ender dragon, who ends up going airborne, which in turn makes Ashton interested in riding her. Zetta is very hesitant at first, thinking that he is putting himself in danger, but she relents. As Ashton rides the ender dragon, Zetta checks on Aunt Meryl’s house to feed the animals and tidy up the place. As she heads back down the mountain, the ender dragon lands gracefully beside her. Zetta attempts to ride her, even going as far as apologizing, but the ender dragon wouldn’t budge. Just then, she heads back to Aunt Meryl’s house and brews an invisibility potion, as well as a healing potion. Upon drinking the former, Zetta’s whole body completely vanished, sans the boots that she was wearing, which she quickly puts back in her pack so as to not spook the ender dragon. Zetta quickly heads back to the ender dragon as Ashton distracts it with hard pats to the head. She gets on right behind Ashton, and soon the ender dragon flies the two back to their shelter in the woods. Ashton gives the ender dragon some belly scratches, and the two then do some play-wrestling. Zetta asks Ashton if it’s time to calm her down, but he is busy doing a game of tug with the ender dragon. He then says to Zetta that "rough play is a great way to practice fighting skills", making her realize that she forgot about involving the ender dragon as part of their team. Zetta then asks Ashton if he could teach the ender dragon to be more destructive, but quickly forgets about it.
Chapter 14[]
Zetta had the thought of using the ender dragon against the illagers stuck in her head all night, barely paying attention during her mining training session. She also stayed up the whole night, running straight into a cactus on her run to the mountain the next morning. Eventually, Zetta and Ashton meet up with the twins, Rift and Rayne, and the ender dragon, at their hideout in the forest clearing. Rift asks as to why they took so long, and Ashton tattles that Zetta overslept. As he runs off to play with the dragon, Rift realizes that Zetta is tired, offering her to rest in an elevator that he built, consisting of slime blocks, pistons, and an observer. Her mind wanders, however, glancing over at Ashton, who was playing fetch with the ender dragon. He fakes a throw of the shovel, causing the ender dragon to sniff out for it. Zetta warns Ashton not to tease the ender dragon, but it was already charging back toward him. Ashton tries to apologize, but the ender dragon’s nostrils spill out dragon’s breath, making him struggle to breathe. Zetta, Rift, and Rayne immediately check on Ashton; Zetta gives Ashton the potion of healing that she brewed, which soon makes him feel better. Zetta and the twins agree that the ender dragon is too big for them to handle, planning to tell someone about it, but Ashton pleads with Zetta to give her another chance. Zetta tells Ashton to play over by the campfire, which he reluctantly does so, skimming through his notebook. Zetta and the twins agree to inform the mayor about the situation; Rift thinks that the dragon could be useful as a weapon against the illagers, but Zetta is flat out against it. Just then, Ashton gets stuck in Rift’s elevator, which begins moving up toward the sky. Although Ashton is able to free himself, he was too high up to jump down safely. Rift dumps a bucket of water on the ground, but Ashton is too scared to jump. Just then, Zetta orders the ender dragon to fly up and save him, in which it reluctantly does so without hesitation.
Chapter 15[]
Back on the ground, Zetta decides to put the ender dragon on "probation", warning that one more similar incident would make it "gone for good". Ashton suggests that they bring the ender dragon closer to Sienna Dunes so that they wouldn’t have to run as far, and everyone seems to be in agreement. Rift and Rayne, the twins, start tearing everything down that had been built, returning the forest clearing to its original shape. They then opt to run back to Sienna Dunes instead of riding on the ender dragon. Zetta and Ashton decide to ride her back to Sienna Dunes, just far out enough so the townspeople wouldn’t get too suspicious. Eventually, Ashton finds a cave big enough for the ender dragon to sleep in. As the two play-wrestle, Zetta begins to work on crafting arrows. Ashton mentions to her that the grandparents are preparing a chicken float for the Eve of Hostile Mobs, saying that he’ll have tons of feathers for him. He heads back to Sienna Dunes as Zetta digs up some gravel to craft arrows. She then wonders about how tipped arrows are made, pulling out her healing potion. Dipping an arrow in the potion did nothing, so Zetta sheepishly says to the ender dragon that she’s missing an ingredient. Incredibly, the ender dragon huffed out "flecks of purple poison", so Zetta carefully collects them in every empty bottle she had. She then heads back to Sienna Dunes to sleep for a bit. The next morning, Zetta discovers two iron ore veins during mining class, giving her enough ingots to make an iron pickaxe. Afterward, she sneaks her brewing stand out of the closet at home, successfully brewing a lingering potion. Zetta then heads back to the cave, noticing that Rift had set up an arrow contraption just like her aunt had made, and that Rayne was teaching the ender dragon to dive-bomb with her snout. Zetta questions the latter as to why he is teaching the ender dragon to fight, and he says that they should at least consider doing so on the illagers. She then gives some arrows to Rift to use for the arrow contraption. He wonders as to where Ashton is, and Zetta says that he is helping the grandparents with stuff for the Eve of Hostile Mobs. Rayne then asks her as to where the tipped arrows are, and she says that she plans to get them ready soon. The twins then head home, with Zetta using the shovel thrower as a means of playing with the ender dragon. She lulls off to sleep, but when she wakes up, the ender dragon is nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 16[]
Zetta frantically searches for the ender dragon, eventually hearing some cooing noises coming from the barn on her grandparents' farm. She runs toward it only to notice that the door latch to the barn is locked. Ashton then opens it, letting Zetta inside, revealing to her that the ender dragon was inside the barn. Zetta asks Ashton if anyone saw it, and he says that grandpa almost did; Ashton was working in the fields with grandpa when he noticed the ender dragon flying toward him, so he distracted grandpa by asking him to sharpen the garden hoes, allowing Ashton ample time to hide the ender dragon in the barn. Zetta then suggests to use a potion of invisibility on the ender dragon, but Ashton suggests to leave it here as he is "worn out" from running back and forth between Sienna Dunes and the cave. Zetta questions Ashton about this, but he was busy folding a piece of paper until it resembled a flower. After some confusion, it dawned on Zetta that the Eve of Hostile Mobs was in a few days, so she asks Ashton if he plans to make a float about the ender dragon. He says that he does, even going as far as saying that they’ll have to tell the town about the ender dragon, showing how useful it could be during a raid. Zetta hesitates at first, but allows Ashton to go through with his plan, saying that although it’s risky, that she trusts him. The two then begin working on the ender dragon float late into the night when the twins, Rift and Rayne, show up. Zetta allows them inside, but Rayne immediately questions as to why the ender dragon is here. She explains to him that he was right about the ender dragon helping them defend the town of Sienna Dunes. Rayne then leaves the barn for some "fresh air", while Rift is curious as to how the float will work. Ashton explains that it involves using some leads and sticks tied to the legs and wings of the ender dragon to make it under the impression of the townspeople that they were operating the "float". Rift hesitates at first, but after testing one on the ender dragon’s leg, he decided to join them in making it. Zetta then leaves the barn to find Rayne, who was firing away at flower pots on top of fence posts. The two then have a conversation, with Rayne saying that his parents are obsessed with the float just like every single year, and that nobody is talking about the raid anymore despite the fact that the illagers could come back at any time. He also wishes that himself and his friends could go back to how it was before, like just running into an odd creeper when out on adventures. Zetta then lays a hand on Rayne’s shoulder, saying that it’s okay to be afraid, asking if he remembered how scared he was of the ender dragon at first. Rayne says that he vaguely does, but he doesn’t seem to see it as scary anymore. He also compliments Zetta about Ashton’s idea for an ender dragon float, saying that Ashton is looking for ways to impress her. Zetta then asks Rayne to help with operating the "float", saying that if he does, that their "names will go down in Sienna Dunes history".