Hello, ladies and gentlemen of FanFiction! I apologize for taking a while to get the next story up, but I felt I needed a break. I'm busy and have other obligations, and I wasn't getting reviews so I'm anxious that a lot of people aren't liking it. So given those things, I took a break.
Anyway, this story is fourth in my "War for Creation Chronicles" series. It follows "Reformation," "Revelation," and "The Green Ninja's World." in chronology. I hope you enjoy, and please, do leave a review when you read.
God bless.
THE GUARDIANS.
Part One: The Eight.
Chapter I. Another Step.
Rikayla stood atop a mountain in the Realm of Madness. The Queen of Darkness held her weapon, the Hammer of Night, and looked at it with hope in her dark eyes. She spoke, seemingly to the weapon itself.
"A Guardian has been found and taken in, and now she will be trained. The Green Ninja will no doubt find the remaining two as easy as the first. And according to my scouts, Garmadon lives and is on Earth with them, and he is free of the venom of the Great Devourer. Tenebris fought one of the Guardians... he says they are becoming more powerful than was expected. Our fears realize themselves one after another. Perhaps it is time to depart, just slightly, from the rather plain path we have set for ourselves. Perhaps we shall take our own fear and turn it against our enemy. Their numbers grow... so shall ours."
She held the hammer in front of her body, and toward the sky.
"The Imperia have extraordinary strength and their unique ability to steal from Elemental Masters will decimate the Guardians in their final day. But now I need something different."
She turned around and crouched down, waving the Hammer of Night across the ground and watching it expel a dark substance onto the dark soil.
"I have immense strength in my ranks. Now I need a warrior of skill. Her skill will rip the Guardians apart before they can see her coming."
Rikayla stood; before her, a dark female warrior holding two katonas materialized out of purely black dust.
"Stay your swords, warrior," Rikayla commanded. "I am Rikayla, the Queen of Darkness. I created you; you serve me. Do you understand?"
"Yes... my queen," answered the warrior, bowing in respect and adoration. "What is my name, O mighty Rikayla?"
"Your name..." Rikayla thought for a moment. Swords... she has swords; that's her skill. Ferra! That's Latin for sword. That shall be her name."Your name shall be Ferra," the Queen of Darkness declared. "You shall keep up the practice of the blade so as to earn this name."
Ferra bowed in thanks and said, "Thank you, my gracious queen."
"Now..." said James, holding his hands out. "Concentrate, Zee."
James, Morro, and Zee were in the training chamber of the Elemental Temple. It was a large and tall square room with a fountain in the middle that spouted no water or anything else. Around the fountain were eight circles with a symbol for the Elements Wind, Water, Earth, Fire, Ice, and Lightning, as well as Lloyd's and James's symbols in their own circles. The three were around the Wind Circle, with Zee in the center.
In the week since she received the Guardians' Commission, Zee had become a powerful Elemental Master of Wind. She quickly connected with her Element and mastered powers and abilities she never dreamed of performing.
One ability she struggled to learn, however, was using Wind to lift herself off the ground.
"Why is this so difficult?" asked Zee, becoming a slight bit frustrated with herself. "I lifted that dump truck yesterday afternoon, and unless I've gained a lot of weight since the last time I checked..."
"I know it's frustrating, Zee," James replied.
"It's like the wind I'm moving just won't grab hold of me."
"Is it nerves, honey?" asked Morro, who had been helping his girlfriend learn her powers.
"I mean... I'm a little afraid I'm gonna drop myself."
"You must let this go," James said in a gentle teaching tone. "Fear is our enemy; fear and doubt will corrupt our connection to the Elements if we let it. Why don't you try again, Zee? But this time, don't think about making the wind grab you. Don't think about control. Reach out to your Element and let it reach out to you. When you've made contact, simply rest yourself in the wind's embrace."
"Alright, I'll try again..."
Zee closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She stretched her arms out to her sides, visibly more relaxed than her previous attempts. She slowly rose off of her feet and into the air. James and Morro wanted to celebrate but remained silent so Zee could concentrate. She hovered for a moment and came back down to the floor of the temple.
"Guys..." Zee said, opening her eyes slowly and starting to smile. "I did it!"
"Yes you did, Zee. You did it," James congratulated.
"Zee, I'm so proud of you," said Morro, hugging Zee tightly and kissing her cheek.
"Thanks. Thank you both. Thanks to you two, I can do things I didn't think were possible. And thanks to you, James, I can use a sword and daggers better than I ever thought I would be able to."
"You're quite welcome," replied the Green Ninja with a smile.
"Come on, get in here," Morro invited.
James joined in on what became a group hug.
"Alright," said James. "We need to go back to the house. I need to make an announcement. Zee... you'll like it."
"What is it?" asked Morro.
"Oh, you'll see..."
The three walked out of the Elemental Temple and back into the house by way of the passage in James's room and managed to herd the other ninja into the living room, where all waited to hear the Green Ninja's news.
"Ninja… it's August first and I sense the finding of the next Guardian is upon us. There's just one thing about the way we have to find the rest…"
The group looked at the Green Ninja in confusion as to what he meant by that.
"What do you mean?" Kai asked, voicing the question on everyone's mind.
"All of you, including Morro and Cole, even though you're 'ghosts,' have to start school at Billingsley School this fall…"