Lights, fire, thunder, noise, chaos, THUD!
Ann had taken a misstep, and with Kai’s weight putting her off-balance, she toppled over. Thankfully, Zane and Nya were there to catch them, but as Ann straighten herself, she could’ve sworn that she had seen the most uncannily real image of Keaton, Jay, and Cole flying through some sort of void.
‘Just stress,’ she told herself, and carried on.
The horses were shrieking in fear and pulling against their restraints as the temple rumbled and creaked and cracked. There was no hope of calming them, so Zane carefully jumped passed them, opened the door, and then came back to break the rope tying them down with shards of sharp ice. The horses bolted through the door at the same time that the wall to their left came crashing in. There were bits of stone and plaster and dust flying everywhere, making the ashy air even harder to breathe in.
Wu did his best to keep Garmadon away form them, but even so, some of their attacks came dangerously close.
“Zane! Take Kai!” Ann ordered as she raced to his side. They carefully exchanged him and Ann was free to create a large bubble shield around them and Nya. She scooped them all up and launched them into another room, lit by bright torches.
“Garmadon, you must stop this!” Wu cried at one point, but they were all so distracted that it was difficult to tell where he was.
At the sound of his master’s voice, Kai’s eyes fluttered open. “What’s going on?” He asked slowly.
“Try not to move,” Zane told him. But that didn’t stop Kai from craning his neck around.
Wherever Ann moved them to, Garmadon and Wu were close behind. It kept pushing them further and further in to the heart of the temple, where the heat was strongest. Soon, Ann’s bubble was steaming.
“Where are we going?”Nya asked.
“Anywhere to get out of danger,” Ann explained.
They were now standing in a very large lava chamber, most likely the place where they had found the Sword, although the volcano had brought down several walls. The lava level had risen, and the back wall was one of the structures which had fallen, leaving an opening into an extremely large cavern, also oozing with lava. Most likely, it was a part of the volcano itself. There were many ledges and balconies high above the walkway, and from the ledge closest to the door of the room, Ann tried to think of a way to get them out of there.
“Wait,” said Kai. “Where’s Wu?”
When Ann didn’t speak, a loud scream below them answered for her. She released her bubble and they could see the world clearly again. Too clearly. Down on the stone walkway, Wu and Garmadon seemed to be at an impasse, and Wu looked especially thrashed.
“Sensei Wu!” Kai cried desperately, but his voice was too weak to reach very far.
“Get away!” Wu shouted at them, before his attention was drawn back to Garmadon. “Leave at once!”
Ann closed her eyes and clenched her fists, preparing them to escape; Zane looked on and wished his master good luck; Nya held onto Kai’s hand and tried to look anywhere else, but Kai couldn’t tear his eyes away for the scene that was unfolding before him. Garmadon had Wu cornered, pushing him back closer and closer to the edge of the path.
“No!” Kai screamed as Ann’s bubble returned, launching them up, up, up, through a hole in the ceiling which led to the outside world. He saw Wu standing there, holding the Sword, and then he produced his teapot from the folds of his robe and fell off the walkway, plummeting toward the lava. He couldn’t look away even after the temple roof had blocked Garmadon from view, or when the entire temple was blocked from sight by branches and leaves.
They had landed in the forest just outside the temple grounds, and Ann made it clear that they were not stopping. Kai was numb the entire time. He didn’t care where they were going, he didn’t care that the air was polluting his lungs, he just knew that he had watched his sensei probably die… and it was his fault.
“No!” Kai said again, his eyes becoming red. Zane tightened his grip on him, but they didn’t stop. “It’s all my fault… all my fault…” Kai was on the verge of tears.
“Kai…” Nya whispered. She didn’t quite know what to say.
After a while they paused to catch their breath, and to get a better look at Kai’s wound. Zane patrolled the area while Ann removed the dirty cloth from Kai’s chest and put on clean ones. Nya sat beside her brother and stroked his head again.
“All my fault…” he kept muttering.
Ann noticed Nya’s distressed expression and reassured her that Kai was just experiencing severe exhaustion and stress. Once he had some rest, and allowed his wound to heal, he would feel much better. Nya nodded sadly and did her best to believe that, but staring down at Kai in the state he was in made it very difficult.
They were moving again by noon, further into the forest where it would be more difficult to be captured, so that they might have some place to rest for the night. However, the thing was, as Ann observed the sunlit trees and bushes, there was a stunning lack of movement or noise. This went on for several hours, and the stillness was beginning to drive her mad.
“So now what do we do?” Zane asked, sitting on the soft grass. No one looked up. No one said anything, either. The silence seemed to be saying everything that was already on their minds.
Then Ann cleared her throat. “Without horses, we can’t travel very far, or very fast, and I can only take us so far in my bubble.”
“How come?” Nya asked in a small voice.
Ann squinted at the ground for a split second. Something about they way Nya had asked that question seemed... familiar? Whatever. It didn’t matter. “Well, my powers aren’t infinite,” said Ann. “And carrying all of us is... more intense than I think you realise.”
“Oh,” was all that Nya said in reply.
Then there a gentle breeze.
Twittering birds.
A woodpecker somewhere off in the distance.
A cricket that had began to chirp a little too early.
Leaves rustling.
“So...” Nya began with a shaky breath. “Are we... camping out in the woods tonight?”
“We’ll have to,” Ann said simply. “Kai shouldn’t move, and we won’t be able to get him across the boarder without being caught anyway.”
Nya hummed her agreement and went back to starring at the pile of dirt she had been absentmindedly playing with.
Kai had drifted back into sleep a while ago, giving them all a temporary rest from his constant self-belittling, but that wouldn’t stop Nya from worrying about him, at least a little. Ann admired that. Selflessness, in her opinion, was a great asset. A sign of a loving heart. And also a very hard thing to learn. It made her wonder about what kind of parents they must have. Defiantly good ones.
Zane shifted and then got up to look around again, but he came back a little while later saying that the coast was clear.
“Something isn’t right,” Ann finally said.
“I was thinking the same,” Zane agreed.
Nya sat up straighter. “What do you mean?”
Ann turned to look at her as she got up and stood next to Zane. “The Skulkens should have followed us. We should have seen at least one by now. It just... I don’t know what it means, but I’ve got a bad feeling.”
“What do we do?” asked Nya.
“For now, sit tight. I’ll do a wider search.” Ann nodded at Zane who sat down next to Nya.
The forest wasn’t particularly easy to navigate, and even harder to move through gracefully, but all of her wilderness training hadn’t been for nothing. She knew it was risky, but the first place she checked was the perimeter of the Fire Temple, and to her surprise, she still didn’t hear any noise. Either the soldiers had taken a vow of silence, or they were gone. She moved closer, going against her better judgement, until she could actually see the building in question to find it quite abandoned. The Skulkens and their strange vehicles were gone, the volcano had quieted, the air had cleared, and the lava had cooled—at least somewhat.
Ann stayed where she was for a long time, waiting to catch any sign of movement. Eventually she was forced to admit that it was very unlikely that there was anyone still here, and she moved even closer. She crept in through the—now demolished—secret entrance and quietly checked as many rooms as she could, including the sword room. All were empty.
* * *
“Oh, good! You’re okay!” Nya cried when Ann returned a little over a half an hour later. “What did you find?”
“Nothing,” said Ann. “The Skulkens are gone.”
“Well, what does that mean?” Nya asked, looking from Ann to Zane and back again.
“It’s impossible to tell,” Zane answered, looking very thoughtful.
“In any case, the temple will be a good deal warmer than the woods,” Ann said, lifting Kai up again. “Come on.”
The four of them made the walk to the temple in silence and arrived at sunset, when a warm breeze sprung up from the south. They were about to make camp in a small side room when Kai woke up, startled by the sound of a roaring dragon.
“RRROOOAOAAAAARRRR!!!”
“Take cover!” Ann ordered as the fire dragon reappeared and swooped down out of the sky. It cut them off from the temple and loomed over them, looking ready to eat every one of them.
“Zane! Ice barrier!” Ann ordered.
“No! It’s okay!” Nya urged. “He’s friendly.”
Zane and Ann shared a dubious look, and then the dragon stooped down and grabbed Kai from Ann’s hands with its mouth.
“AAhhh! Woah, boy! Put me down!” Kai cried, trying to keep his lunch down as the dragon’s breath wafted over him.
“Give him back, you brute!” said Ann.
She leaped into action, attempting to rescue Kai, but the dragon was so big and so powerful that she barely seemed to be more than a nuisance to him. He turned away a bit and played Kai down on the ground. Kai still couldn’t move very much, so he couldn’t run away. In fact, he was clutching his chest in pain. The dragon lowered himself again and sniffed Kai, then it gave him the biggest, slobberyest, wettest lick you’ve ever seen, all from probably the largest tongue in existence.
Kai coughed and groaned and attempted to wipe the slime from his face, but the more he touched it, the more he realised that it was seeping into his skin. He gave a disgusted look as he peered down and saw that most of it had already been absorbed into him. Now that he thought about it, he could feel something different about his body. His exposed skin felt tingly and warm, and his muscles felt like they were thrumming or pulsing with some sort of energy. It was very weird to say the least, but also kind of nice. As well as… very tiring. Kai suddenly found his eyelids so heavy that he couldn’t keep them open any more. His head and torso followed, leaving him collapsed on the ground, sound asleep.
“Kai!” Nya yelled as she ran over. Ann and Zane followed her, and this time the dragon didn’t stop them. When she reached him, she fell to her knees and looked him over. “What did he do to him?”
Ann checked him too, but didn’t find anything wrong, aside from what felt like a fever. Other than that, his pulse was normal, he was still somewhat responsive; he was just asleep, but he also wouldn’t wake up.
Behind them, the dragon gave what sounded like a snicker as they attempted to wake him for the twelfth time.
“What did you do?” asked Nya, suddenly becoming very angry with the beast. “What did you do to him?!”
The dragon did not look intimidated in the slightest, but it did seem to understand her. It raised its left paw and pointed one of its long claws at its chest. The very same spot on his chest where Kai had been injured.
After a moment of squinting and confusion, Ann quickly understood and went to unwrap the bandages around Kai’s torso. Once his bare skin was showing, they all stared in bewilderment, because there was no wound to see anymore. There was a nasty scar, but no more blood.
No one seemed to know quite what to say after that. They all just sat around staring at Kai’s motionless body.
“Mmmm…. What happened?” Kai asked, suddenly opening his eyes and reaching for his wound. He did a double take when he didn’t feel it anymore.
“You’re fine,” Ann reassured him.
“The dragon healed you,” said Nya.
Kai frowned. “With slobber?”
Nya shrugged.
Ann moved closer to Zane and spoke in a quiet voice. “I don’t understand,” she muttered. “All the other dragons were hostile.”
“Perhaps it has no quarrel with us because its charge has been lost,” Zane suggested.
“But when we took the other weapons, the dragons just... disappeared.” She frowned and gave a quick glance at the fire dragon, who was leaning in closer to Kai.
“Except for the lightning dragon,” Zane reminded her. “It was nowhere to be found.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “Yet another peculiarity to add to the list.”
“Perhaps we should just accept the fact that we know nothing about dragons,” said Zane, and Ann turned to face him.
“Yet,” she clarified.
The dragon began breathing heavily and making odd—almost meowing—noises. It pawed the ground, tearing up the grass, and was getting more and more restless by the minute.
“I think he wants something,” said Nya, backing away.
“Or maybe he’s just hungry,” Ann suggested. “Anyway, we have more important things to worry about right now.”
“Like what?” Kai asked, lifting himself upright.
Ann stood up and began to pace as she said, “Like what we’re going to do next. I propose heading back and meeting up with the others. Then once we’ve regrouped, we can head back to the monastery and—“
“And what?” Kai interrupted. “Hide under our beds? Eat some soup and then maybe have a bubble bath?”
Ann’s eyes narrowed and her jaw stiffened. “That’s about all we can do.”
The dragon pawed the ground harder.
“That’s it? We’re just giving up?” Kai continued, rising to meet her gaze.
“Well, what do you think we should do?” Ann snapped. “We have no lead, no goal, no resources, no guidance, nothing! We don’t even know where Garmadon is right now!”
“Then we find him,” said Kai with an air of confidence. “I still have unfinished business with that slimy cretin.”
“Kai, I admire your enthusiasm, but I know how these things work. Right now, we’re sitting ducks. Just because there’s nobody here right now, doesn’t mean more troops won’t show up soon. Getting back over the boarder means getting back to safety, and regrouping ensures that we are at our strongest.”
“We have a dragon, don’t we?” Nya pointed out. The dragon, however, was looking more aggravated than ever.
“And you saw how long he lasted against Garmadon.” Ann’s words were swift and matter-of-fact. “I’m the senior officer in this scenario, and I say we make an orderly retreat.”
“I agree,” Zane chimed in.
The dragon became louder now.
“And you expect us to walk all the way back?” Nya cried.
“A little walking never hurt anyone,” Ann replied.
“A litte? It’s at least fifteen miles! I had to walk for about five hours, and my feet are still sore!” Kai exclaimed.
Ann sighed in frustration. “Fine, if you want to stay here and get captured or killed, be my guest! Come on, Zane!” She was about leave when the fire dragon suddenly bent down and grabbed her carefully. “Let me go!” The dragon didn’t listen, and plopped her onto his back. Then he grabbed Kai and Nya, placing them beside her. Zane got the message and leaped up by himself as the beast began to stretch out his wings.
With only the large spine scales to grip on to, they began shooting up into the sky, higher and higher.
“WHAT IS HE DOING?!” Nya shrieked.
With the rushing wind filling their ears, nobody could hear her.
The dragon suddenly came to a stop and they all looked down at the temple which was like a small speck beneath them. From up here, they could see the ocean in every direction, and Ninjago suddenly looked very small.
Then, Kai’s stomach felt like it had lurched up into his chest as they began to plummet toward the ground. The dragon was nose-diving, wings tucked, and they were gaining speed. Then the spinning started, and Ann was sure that she would vomit. Faster and faster and faster and faster, then,
BOOM!!!
There was a flash of bright light and suddenly they weren’t in Ninjago anymore. There was fire in millions of different colours and what sounded like thunder, and a million other things that wizzed by. Then,
CRASH!!!
The four of them hit the cold, stone ground hard and none of them had the strength to get up.
“What… on earth…” Kai breathed, gasping for air.
“Where are we?” Ann asked, her voice suddenly sounding very small.
They looked around and everything they saw was completely alien. There was no sun, only an endless blackness, like the night sky, but there were no stars or moon. Thick, white fog covered the ground which felt like stone in some places, and in others felt damp and squishy. Around them, little balls of light danced and floated. Some were turquoise, some were red, and some were white. There was also a terrible stench that was almost like a mix between a cow pasture and… you know that smell you sometimes find in your refrigerator when some of the produce your mom bought has expired and it starts to leak that icky brown liquid? It was something like that, but far more potent. All in all, it smelled like death.
“Where did the dragon go?” Nya wondered, slowly getting up and rubbing her back.
They all began to look around again, but the fire dragon had, indeed, vanished.
“…thing over there. Maybe another platoon…”
“Someone’s coming!” Ann scream-whispered. “Get down!”
They all fell flat on their backs, hoping the fog would keep them hidden.
“I bet it’s old Captain Femur and his ‘Skeleton Crew.’”
“Will I sure don’t remember hearing that anyone was coming through.”
“Your clipboard is upside down, dummy!”
“Well, your helmet is on backwards, numbskull!”
“Oh yeah? Well…”
The voices began to slowly disappear and Ann lifted her face just enough to see if they were still around. She caught a glimpse of two very tall Skulkens bickering with each other as they walked down some sort of tunnel, followed by purple balls of light. She held her breath and didn’t dare say a word until she was certain that they were alone again.
“I think... I think we’re in the Underworld.”
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