Chapter 8: The Dark Wizard


I finally remembered what they were called, not that it did me much good. The Dementors were coming closer. I was a child again, waking up to another regular morning. Only it wasn't. When I went into my parents' bedroom, nobody was there. Mom and Dad had left me. I was all alone.

"Expecto Patronum!"

I was back on the Mountain of a Million Steps. Zane was casting a small, bluish light that was just barely holding back the wave of hooded monsters. Every time one came forward, it would bounce off the pale blue shield. But every time, the light grew fainter. And the gloom grew stronger. In fact, it seemed like Dementors were only feeding off the shield.

I collapsed on the ground next to my friends and even Zane had fallen to his knees. His shield flickered, and then went out. I tried to pull out my wand.

"E-e…ex…Expect…expecto patronum," I sputtered with all the force I could muster, but not even a flicker of light came to my wand. I licked my lips and tried to fight off the despair that was engulfing me.

"Expecto" I faltered.

My vision was growing dark. We weren't going to make it, and Garmadon wasn't even here yet. The Dementors were coming closer. A mist began to descend over me. Cold, clammy hands latched onto my throat, forcing me upwards. Putrid breath coated my face. A voice told me that my sister and I would have to be separated. I was going to be alone. I would die alone.

"Expecto Patronum!" A deep voice bellowed. I lifted my head off the ground and looked up. A dark shape was standing in front of my friends and I, with a ghostly shark coming out of his wand. The hands let go of my neck and the cold left me. Now that I could breathe again, I looked up and watched the shark go to work.

It launched itself at the Dementors and they scattered before it, the shark decimating anyone who got in its way. It swarmed in all directions with its jaws snapping, and wriggling through the air. At last, all the hooded figures were gone, and I remembered the end of my memory. We fought and resisted the system and eventually, my sister and I got placed in a home, together.

I forced myself to sit up and look at the others. Everyone seemed to be getting more or less back to their feet, except—

"L-loyd!" Our rescuer shouted, shoving me back to the ground in order to get to the first year.

I pushed myself back up and glared at him. What was his deal anyway? And how did he know Lloyd's name? Or maybe he didn't know it, since he called him L-loyd instead.

After a painful moment of silence, the first year opened his eyes. The dark figure breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Lloyd gasped, then began forcing himself backwards along the ground. "Get away from me!" he yelled.

"Wait, Lloyd, he saved our lives," Nya tried to explain.

Lloyd panted on the ground and shook his head. "No…no, Garmadon would never…"

Garmadon? I looked back at our rescuer. I couldn't believe I didn't see it before. Dark figure, knew Lloyd's name, it was so obvious now.

I backed up away from the dark wizard and drew my wand. The others pushed themselves up to their feet and formed a weak circle around the warlord, who still hadn't moved from his position on the ground.

"Whatever you're planning, Garmadon, we'll stop you," I said with as much confidence as I could muster. To be honest, I was still shaken after the Dementor attack, and wasn't sure I could do much of anything against the warlord, and my friends didn't look much better.

The dark wizard pushed himself up with his lower two arms, and with one of his upper arms, he put his wand away in his cloak. What was he doing?

"Face it, you're using all of your effort just to hold up your arm, and you think you can stop me?" he asked.

I looked down at my wand, which had dropped considerably. Garmadon was right. I couldn't win, but I couldn't give up either.

"We won't let you hurt Lloyd," my sister insisted, picking up right where I left off. I grinned gratefully at her, even though she couldn't see me in the darkness. That's my sister.

Garmadon laughed. "If I wanted to hurt L-loyd, I would have just left you guys to the Dementors."

"So then what do you want?" Jay asked hesitantly.

"I want to see my son," the dark lord answered. "Especially now that he's a wizard like me."

"I'm nothing like you," Lloyd spat.

Garmadon sighed. "I suppose my brother told you that I'm an evil warlord who sided with the Overlord during the dark ages?"

What? "Are you saying Master Wu is liar?" I demanded. I pulled my ten-ton arm back up and pointed my wand straight at the man who dared to taint our professor's reputation.

The dark wizard blinked, extinguishing his red eyes for a brief second. "No. I did pillage several peaceful villages, conquered a couple cities, and I suppose I did serve the Overlord for a time. But, I doubt he told you the whole story."

"Uncle Wu told us enough," Lloyd snapped.

"Oh yeah?" Garmadon asked. "Did he tell you how I met your mother?"

Whoa. Low blow from the dark wizard. We all looked at Lloyd, whose conflicted face glowed eerily from the light of Garmadon's eyes.

Lloyd sighed. "No."

Garmadon smirked, revealing a row of pointed teeth that glinted in the darkness.

"That's what I thought." He paused, almost like he was waiting for something. A reaction from Lloyd perhaps?

Silence buzzed in my ears. Even the ambient nighttime sounds had fallen quiet, as if they too were waiting. The first year didn't give his father the satisfaction of a response, but the tension in the air was tangible.

The warlord broke first. "It was during a raging war," he began. "I was pillaging a peaceful village. Spells were flying, aurors were everywhere, and that's when I saw her standing across a crowded battlefield. She was fighting for good, and was looking great doing it. I summoned all of my courage to approach her. I asked her if she fought here often, and she said, 'I do.' And let me tell you, L-loyd, when our eyes met, sparks flew, literally. I loved your mother, more than I can ever say. We were a true power couple. I thought we were going to rule the world together, but then, we had you."

I was so confused. Lloyd's mother was an auror? And they fell in love even though they were opposite sides? None of it made sense.

Garmadon continued. "When you were born, your mother and I got into our first real fight. Would our son grow up to be a warlord like me, or a noble wizard like her? Those were some of the darkest days of my life. In the end, your mother won, like she always did. But in order to raise you as a wizard, I had to give up my evil ways."

Well, obviously that didn't work out. The dark wizard was standing right in front us.

"So, what happened?" Lloyd asked slowly. Seemed curiosity was getting the better of him.

Garmadon sighed. "The Overlord didn't take to kindly to my decision. He threatened you and your mother's life if I didn't come back to his side. I tried to fight him, even though the prophecy said only the Green Wizard could defeat him."

Green Wizard? Like the one in my dream? So the shadow was the Overlord and not Garmadon after all?

"But in the end, I was too weak. I had no choice, but to join the Overlord again. Not long after that, he was defeated, but I couldn't face Koko again. Not after what I had done. I had never felt so helpless in my whole life. I hated that feeling, and so I vowed that I wouldn't come back until I was strong enough to protect my own family," the warlord finished.

"So why have you come back?" I asked him.

Garmadon looked at me, taking his eyes off Lloyd for the first time. "I heard that my son was coming to this school. After training for eleven years, I'm finally ready to come home."

"That's convenient," Lloyd said sarcastically. "Now you want to be my dad after all these years?"

"Yeah, how can we trust you?" Jay demanded. "You're an evil warlord!"

"Lying is probably second nature to you," Cole added.

Garmadon sighed. "Yes, it used to be, but I assure you I'm telling the truth."

"Prove it!" I snapped.

"Ask my brother. He officiated our wedding."

"But what about the end of your story?" Lloyd asked. "How do we know you're not lying?"

"I saved your life. I'm telling you, I've changed!"

"Sure," I answered, not believing him.

Garmadon looked around at all of us, his eyes gazing on Lloyd last of all. "L-loyd, I—"

"There he is!" a voice cried.

Strange figures quickly surrounded us on all sides, with the Dementors behind them. Dark memories began to flood my brain again. Then the minister himself arrived in a flourish. Smoke and sparks billowed everything.

"Not one more word out of you, Garmadon!" he huffed. A Dementor hovered by his shoulder.

"Curse these things," the minister muttered. "Expecto Patronum!" The Dementors scattered, then disappeared, leaving us alone with the wizards.

"Don't worry, dark wizard," the minister mocked. "You'll be seeing them again soon enough. Once we rescue these children, they'll want to kiss you goodbye."

Garmadon's red eyes widened. I didn't know what that meant, but it didn't sound good. And we hadn't even finished talking to the warlord yet.

"We don't need rescuing! He was just telling us valuable information!" I exclaimed.

"Ridiculous!" The minister waved our concern aside. "He must have used the Confundus Charm, poor kids. Come along now. Nasty thing, the Dementor's kiss. Hate for you to get caught up in it."

Anger boiled up in my chest. "We're not Confunded and we aren't leaving!"

The minister frowned. "Yes, I'm afraid you are." He pulled out his wand. "I didn't want it to come to this, but, Stupify!"

A flash of red light was the last thing I saw before my body crumpled, sending me crashing to the ground.

Faintly, I heard someone screaming, "L-loyd!" Then I lost consciousness.


AN: Oh no! What will happen to Garmadon? And the rest of gang? Tune in next week!