#yipppeeeeeeeeeeee

Creating the Ender Dragon was a mistake.

You never should have underestimated the hubris of mortals. Countless souls fall victim to the glorified blood paywall that is the Ender Dragon, all for the rumors of riches that reside just beyond her domain.

The Ender Dragon was your feeble attempt at keeping the dangerous Outer End away from the prying, greedy, eyes of humans.

It worked. It worked almost too well. The humans of the Overworld drove themselves crazy over what could be hidden there, uncaring of the reason it was hidden in the first place.

Now, what feels like every other second, a mortal is throwing themselves at the claws of the Ender Dragon, and you just can’t keep saving them anymore. It takes too much of your strength. It distracts you.

You’re barely aware of it when another doomed soul enters the End. You can no longer watch your creations tear themselves to shreds.

You brace yourself for the chill that runs through you when the Ender Dragon does her job. You wait. You’re always waiting.

Something different happens. Instead of a chill, it’s like your body has burst aflame, an all-encompassing warmth spreading right down to your fingertips.

Curious, you peek into the End, searching for the soul of the Ender Dragon.

Your eyes fly open, your heartbeat beginning to pick up. You can’t find it. The soul of the Ender Dragon is gone.

Changing your approach, you search the End for the soul of a human. This time, you find it.

You can barely believe your eyes. There, in the desolate wasteland you created to house your deadliest creation, the Ender Dragon lay unmoving.

Perched atop her head, between her horns, is a human. A tiny, fragile, trembling human.

You wonder if this human knows about the final failsafe between him and the Outer End.

As you think that, the human rises on unsteady legs and leaps from the Ender Dragon’s head, hitting the ground running. He takes cover behind a pillar.

Your heartbeat becomes somewhat irregular. What does this mean? You can’t die. You don’t die.

You watch the Ender Dragon’s carcass explode.

You can feel the human’s pain in your chest when a flying piece of dislodged stone strikes him. It’s not enough to kill him. At this moment, nothing is enough to kill him.

You listen to the human’s thoughts as you collect your own. You can barely believe the Ender Dragon is dead, but this human can. This human accomplished what he came to the End for, and now he will fall into the Outer End.

You shake off the shock, congratulating the human on freeing the End of its tyrant.

Though, to you, it’s less of a congratulations and more of a thank you.

Thank you, for doing what I could not.

When the human gets to his feet, he takes off running immediately. It takes you a few seconds to notice that he’s headed in the wrong direction.

Not to him, he isn’t. You can feel his resolve as he charges toward the portal back to the Overworld. He has something to get back to. Someone.

For the first time in a long time, you feel powerless. Not that you can’t still change this world, but you must no longer protect it from yourself.