Chapter 7: The Dragon

The next morning, Garmadon was awake when his caretaker returned to his recovery room to change his bandages and tend to anything else the Dark Lord required. The burns looked the same as they had the day before, and just as he had done the day before, the Serpentine removed the bandages layer by layer and smoothed the salve over Garmadon's skin. He let the wounds breathe unconstricted for a few minutes as he disposed of the bandages before rewrapping the entire arm with multiple layers.

As the snake was packing up his supplies to leave, Garmadon asked, "Is the dragon still in the Slither Pit?"

"Last I heard, My Lord," the Serpentine confirmed with a nod. "It hasn't moved since the night it brought you back."

"And it still holds my golden weapon?"

"Yes, My Lord. It's been protecting the weapon fiercely."

"Take me to it," Garmadon instructed, rising from his bed.

As the snake was leading Garmadon down the hall, a voice called out from behind them. "Where do you think you're going?"

Garmadon exhaled in annoyance as he turned around to face Skales. "I'm going to see the dragon and retrieve my Golden Weapon."

"I'll take you to it," Skales told him. "We need to have that talk about what I brought up yesterday." He slithered over to the pair and waved the Serpentine away. "Leave us."

The white Hypnobrai rushed away, and Skales began leading Garmadon to the Slither Pit.

The dragon, though not as big as the ones Garmadon had dreamed about, was a massive creature. Despite the fact that it was lying down with its tail curled close to his body and ending near its head, Garmadon could tell the dragon was an intimidating beast. Its eyes were closed and its breath was slow and steady, but even in its sleep it protected the weapon. The Mega Weapon gleamed within the dragon's mouth, clutched between its huge pointed teeth.

Unsure of how to approach the beast, Garmadon took a moment to inspect it, walking around it in a wide circle. Almost all of its scales were black, save for the purple scales at the end of its tail, on its feet extending up its legs, and a line of purple scales extending from the top of its head to the tip of its muzzle and lining the underside of its jaw reaching down to spread across its chest. Its claws were slightly smaller than its teeth, and its head was bigger than Garmadon himself. Garmadon could see a rough circle drawn around the dragon, probably made by the dragon itself as a way of marking its territory. He didn't dare cross into the makeshift boundary as he returned to Skales, who was still standing near the dragon's massive head.

"So… Dark Lord… how do you plan to retrieve the weapon from this thing and live to use it?" Skales asked, staring at the dragon's viciously sharp teeth.

"You said that I conjured this dragon with the Mega Weapon?" Garmadon asked, paying no attention to Skales' question.

"Yes, My Lord. But I think you should know that almost a dozen snakes have tried unsuccessfully to retrieve the weapon since your return."

Garmadon ignored Skales as he moved forward, walking slowly into the dragon's territorial boundary markings. "You also said this dragon brought me and the weapon back here?"

"Yes. Those Serpentine who angered the dragon are in the infirmary now."

"This thing brought me back here… it saved me?" Garmadon circled around so that he was looking at the dragon's closed left eye.

"Yes, My Lord. The dragon gave a few of the snakes a broken-"

"Enough, Skales," Garmadon commanded the Hypnobrai leader with a severe look over his shoulder. Skales feel silent with no small amount of annoyance.

Focusing his attention back on the dragon, Garmadon backed up a few steps to take in the beast in its entirety. If he conjured this thing to protect him…

"Awaken, dragon!" he shouted before he could rethink anything. "Awaken, and return my staff to me!"

Its huge red eye opened immediately and focused on him. Its entire body began to move, two front legs pushing its front half away from the ground as its powerful back legs lifted up its back end. It suddenly pushed its front legs away from the ground and stood on its two back legs as its head lifted into the air. Opening its mouth, it let out an ear-splitting roar, somehow still holding the golden weapon in its mouth, and Garmadon heard the terrified shouts of the crowd of Serpentine that had gathered a good distance away to watch him confront the dragon. For a moment he felt a wave of fear ripple through his muscles, and fought against his own self-preservation instincts in order to hold still and not show his panic. Slowly, maddeningly slowly, the dragon turned towards Garmadon and drew its head high. And as the Serpentine behind him began to yell and scatter in fear, the dragon fell back to its front feet and lowered its head to rest in the dirt at Garmadon's feet, turning its head so that one eye was inspecting the dirt and the other was searching the sky.

Silence fell behind Garmadon as the dragon presented the weapon to him, the elaborately carved head just an arm's length away. He stared at the submissive dragon in surprise, momentarily unable to move as if the behemoth would change its mind and swallow him instead. The dragon breathed patiently, huffing out through its nostrils and raising little dust clouds at Garmadon's feet. Its eye flicked about idly, and then focused in on Garmadon as he raised a right arm towards the weapon. The red eye followed the hand as it reached for the golden weapon.

Garmadon paused, hand outstretched just short of the weapon, and realized that everything around him had gone still in anticipation. Even the dragon had fallen completely motionless, its warm breath no longer blowing dust over his feet. Slowly, he reached out the rest of the way and gripped the golden handle. The dragon opened its jaws slightly as he lifted the weapon out of its mouth. When Garmadon was holding the weapon again, the dragon righted its head and nudged him in the leg. He rested his uninjured left hand on the dragon's muzzle and ran a hand along the purple scales.

The Serpentine behind him suddenly broke out into cheers, only increasing in volume when Garmadon turned around and raised the Mega Weapon above his head, hand still resting on the dragon's muzzle.

From the center of the crowd, Skales sighed as the Serpentine yelled and jostled him around. He shoved his way to the front of the crowd and as he slithered up to the dragon tamer he hissed under his breath, "This small victory wins you nothing in the battle against your son."

Garmadon sobered suddenly, expression hardening as he came down quickly from his high of playing to the crowd. "Fine," he said. We'll go to my quarters to discuss our next move." Turning back to the dragon, he shouted, "Stretch your wings, Dragon!"

It immediately reared up onto its hind legs and opened its massive wings. The crowd of snakes gasped in amazement.

"Now fly! Soar the skies and return here by nightfall!"

With a roar, the dragon crouched low and then pushed away from the ground, its wings flapping down to give it enough lift to stay airborne. When it was high enough off of the ground, it began to fly away from the Slither Pit, letting out another roar as if in farewell. The Serpentine cheered as it grew smaller on the horizon, and turned towards each other in near-delirious excitement to talk.

As Garmadon began leading the Hypnobrai leader away from the crowd, Skales said, "That was quite a gamble you took, yelling into the ear of a sleeping dragon."

"It wasn't a gamble," Garmadon corrected. "I created the dragon to protect me, even if I didn't realize it at the time. It is loyal to me. I knew it would not attack, just as I know it will return here as I instructed it to and follow any command I give it," Garmadon told him as he inspected his newly reacquired weapon.

"But can it stand up against the ninja's four-headed dragon?" Skales reminded him contemptuously.

Irritated, Garmadon growled out, "It will, because it must. And if it cannot, I will make it able." He jabbed the pointed spear of the weapon into the dirt for emphasis.

"You shouldn't rely so heavily on that weapon, My Lord. A few of the Serpentine that were there that night told me that the staff empowered Lloyd when he grabbed hold of it."

Garmadon didn't remember that. But that wasn't something Skales needed to know. "Anything my son can use against me I will adapt to."

Skales shook his head and said," You're deluding yourself." In a quieter voice he added, "It will be the end of you."

Pretending as if he hadn't heard, Garmadon opened the door to his personal quarters and gestured for Skales to enter. He followed Skales in with a sigh, knowing the two would be arguing for a long while. But if Garmadon's visit to his son really had provoked the ninja, then he and his snakes had something to worry about. And as much as he disliked Skales, Garmadon knew he needed his help and his loyalty to ensure the ninja didn't have a chance at retaliation.


Despite the laughter and fond memories he had shared with his fellow ninja at the monastery, the night after the incident with his father Lloyd hadn't been able to sleep. He had barely gotten any sleep the next night either, or the night after that. Eventually, Lloyd stopped trying to sleep at all.

Sensei had stayed true to his words from before the attack, and Lloyd had restarted his training at the most basic level. The ninja had all been supportive after retrieving him from the monastery, as was their nature, assuring him that his father would be okay and that he shouldn't hold himself responsible for what had happened. And while Lloyd appreciated their efforts at cheering him up, he couldn't quite convince himself that they were right. Though the others all made themselves available to him to talk, they didn't press the issue when Lloyd kept to himself, and for that he was grateful. He knew expressing his guilt in words would do nothing to comfort him; which was why, on the fourth night after the incident, Lloyd waited until the others had all fallen asleep and then snuck off the ship onto his dragon to fly alone to Ouroboros.

The flight through the desert from the ship to the Lost City took over an hour, and though it felt long while in the air, it almost felt too soon when the city finally came into view. Once they were close enough to view the entire city and yet far enough away that they wouldn't be spotted, Lloyd pulled on the reins and instructed his dragon hold their position in the air. He reached into a pouch attached to the saddle and pulled out a pair of binoculars. Raising them to his eyes, he scanned the entire city slowly, searching for any sign of his father.

There were all manner of Serpentine wandering the perimeter of the city, seemingly relaxed yet on the alert for anything out of the ordinary. They seemed to have the entire city covered well at all times, with no significant gaps between patrols in any particular section. Lloyd knew it would be impossible for him to sneak into the city undetected to search for his father within the buildings- he wasn't exactly the ideal ninja at the moment considering his continuing awkwardness. He would just have to sit and wait to check on his father until he emerged from wherever he was at the moment.

With a sigh, Lloyd lowered his binoculars. His hand moved to pet the dragon's neck, and he was about to instruct the dragon to land in the sand below them when a sudden piercing shriek from behind them made Lloyd whip his head around. The Ultra Dragon turned in the air suddenly, jerking Lloyd around in the saddle and making him drop his binoculars. He gripped the reins as he searched the black sky for the source of the sound, and was able to make out the outline of a huge black dragon flying directly at them.

His father's dragon.

The Ultra Dragon rose slightly higher into the air as the dragon flew towards them, letting out a roar as it reared to fight.

"No!" Lloyd shouted, frantic to avoid the fight which would surely attract the attention of the entire lost city. "Dive!" he commanded, giving the first order which came to his mind. The Ultra Dragon roared unhappily, but obeyed, nose-diving and drawing its wings in slightly as it soared towards the sand. Lloyd looked behind them to see the black dragon turning in the air as the Ultra Dragon soared under and past it, and began to follow the four-headed dragon, gaining on them quickly. The Ultra Dragon evened out, flying parallel to the ground at a speed which made Lloyd's eyes water. He glanced behind them again to see the black dragon still following them. It rose above them slowly until it was flying directly overhead, and then dove at them suddenly.

"Down!" Lloyd commanded instinctively. He looked back up at the black dragon in a panic, which was almost close enough to bite the Ultra Dragon's tail, and when he looked forward again, the ground was no more than twenty bricks away and coming at them fast.

Lloyd yelled out in fear, closing his eyes as his entire body tensed in anticipation of the impact, but when the Ultra Dragon hit nothing, Lloyd opened his eyes to find them flying through a dark cavern. The black dragon was still behind them, and both dragons weaved through the curving tunnel. Lloyd turned forward again, holding the reins in a white-knuckled grip as the Ultra Dragon swerved between stalagmites. A moment later the cavern ended, opening up to a cave so large it looked endless. The Ultra Dragon skidded to a halt on an island that seemed to be floating in midair, stopping so quickly that Lloyd was launched out of the saddle. He hit the dirt hard with a grunt and slid, his momentum propelling him across the tiny island until, suddenly, his face was hanging over the edge and he was staring into nothingness. He yelled in fright and dug his hands and feet into the dirt to slow himself, stopping a moment later with his chest hanging over the edge.

For a moment, he couldn't seem to make himself move, breathing heavily as his heart pounded and his wide eyes stared at the plunge he had nearly taken. His shaking hands moved to grip the edge of the island and he pushed himself up slightly to stare open-mouthed at what he could only assume was the Underworld.

AN: Would it be too expected of me to say I left you with a cliff-hanger? XD