Chapter 10

Cole didn't want to look, but he was forced to, no matter what. His eyes burned from staring at the battle. He watched as Pixal was held back by Zane and Nya by Kai. Nya was struggling with all her might and begging her brother to release her. Pixal, however, was doing her best to snap Zane out of his trance. Cole's hands clenched and he cried out, but of course, no one could hold him.

Lloyd walked up to Jay and bent down, his head shading Jay from the bright light of the sun. Lloyd narrowed his purple eyes in on Jay and shook him wild. "Get up," he scoffed. Jay squinted and felt himself being pulled up by Lloyd.

He's just… Cole thought and watched as Jay was held in between Zane, Kai, and Lloyd. Jay tried to step back but he was cornered on all sides.

"What's going on?" Jay blinked several times and looked from Lloyd to Nya, to Pixal. He noticed the female droid winking. Jay faked a smile, though inside, he knew what he was doing.

Cole stared, begging inside that Jay wouldn't die.

"Let me go, Kai!" Nya snapped and lifted her leg, sending it to kick her brother's leg. Kai groaned and stumbled backwards, letting go of Nya. "Jay!" she yelled to him.

Jay looked at Nya but was hit in the face by Lloyd. Jay rubbed his cheek and gazed into Lloyd's eyes. Purple was the only thing he could think of.

Pixal twisted her body to face Zane. "Zane, think about Dust and Jay. Know your enemy and know your friend," she told him.

She could feel Zane's grip loosening. Turning to Jay, Pixal nodded. "Great, Zane's coming through," looked at Kai and Lloyd. "Now we just need two more… Nya, I'm gonna need some help!"

Lloyd unsheathed his sword. "Help with what? We all know that this started because you tried to make Cole your friend."

Cole tensed. Did it really?

Jay dodged the swipe of Lloyd's blade and said, "So what, is making new friends a bad thing?" he gazed upon Lloyd with his blue eyes and smirked.

Cole watched as the scene shifted to Kai and Nya.

"Kai, listen to me, Dust is in there, he's playing with your head."

Kai slashed out his sword and gritted his teeth at Nya.

"No, he isn't, sis. He helped me, Lloyd, and Zane see it all clearly now… you're the one who doesn't understand. Once we finish Jay, you'll get it!" he stuffed the sword in front of Nya. "Help us."

Nya's mouth open. She stared at the sword and took it, but held it against Kai's neck. "I'm not going to hurt you, but you need to open your mind! Listen to me!"

The blacksmith let out a small laugh and used his leg to lean Nya forward. The sword dropped and he picked it up, joining Lloyd. "Sorry, sis; your loss."

Suddenly, the door slammed open and Cole's eyes shifted from the smoke to the figure standing at the door. His purple eyes locking with Cole's.

"My plan is failing miserably…" he sighed and walked towards Cole, the smoke disappearing. The cloth around Cole's mouth disappeared and he licked his lips. He struggled to back the chair away from Dust, but it was stuck in place. "Stop, squirming," Dust said, a belt strapping around Cole's waist.

"Get away from me! Ugh… please, please don't go after Jay…" Cole begged. Dust laughed.

Pretending like he didn't hear Cole, he continued saying: "I guess this is where you come in," and snapped his fingers, the belts releasing Cole. Cole stood up and swayed, but held on to the chair.

Cole felt his head clouding… "I'm not… I won't hurt him," he said softly, holding his head.

Dust clenched his teeth. Cole felt his magic getting stronger. "You can't resist, Cole… give up! I got your other friends already…"

Cole shot his leg out to kick Dust back, but a shield was surrounding the sorcerer and his leg bounced off. Cole opened his eyes and they shone a bright purple.

"Perfect," Dust flashed a wicked grin.

Jay backed up into a tree, his head darting from side to side, trying to find some sort of weapon against Lloyd. He wiped the sweat from his brow.

Squinting, he noticed a figure just a few feet behind Lloyd. "Cole?"

Lloyd barked and turned around. "Well, well, well, the outcast… glad you could join us, Cole. We were just about to kill your first friend, here."

Cole's brows furrowed in and he clenched his fists. They lit a purple fire, growing bigger and trailing behind him as he walked. Lloyd played with the sword in his hands, then, lifted it to Jay's neck. "Or should I just kill him now?"

"Cole, do something…" Jay said to him.

Cole smirked. "Don't worry, I will…" he glared at Lloyd. "I'll finish him off."

Jay jumped. "What?"

Lloyd stepped aside and Cole raised his arms, magnificent purple streaks flying out and gripping Jay. Jay gripped the purple and kicked his legs. "Let… me… go!" he said hoarsely, the purple gripping him hard around the neck.

Pixal and Nya gasped. Giving Pixal a quick look, she ran up and stabbed Jay on the leg without anyone but Nya to see it. Jay inhaled and collapsed in the purple. The shade faded from Kai, Zane, Lloyd, and Cole's eyes and Cole instantly dropped Jay. He lay there… dead?

Cole bit his lip and ran to Jay, kneeling beside him. "Jay, Jay buddy wake up!" He slapped Jay's cheek but his eyes didn't open.

Kai's eyes twitched. "You killed him! I saw you do it, Cole!" Lloyd looked up at Kai as his voice rose higher.

"No, we were all under Dust's control!"

Zane knelt down by Jay and Cole.

Kai kept speaking as if he didn't hear Cole. "Get out of here! Lloyd, do something about it! We can't trust Cole anymore… because of what happened, I'll never ever trust you."

Lloyd gave Cole a worried face. Did he understand what happened? Kai certainly didn't.

He bowed his head slightly. "I –" he looked at Kai who was fuming with anger, "leave and never come back –"

"And if you ever step foot in this village again, I'll make sure you never see the light again! I don't care whatever Dust does to you! Just leave!" Kai snapped and held the point of his sword to Cole's back.

Cole gulped and stood up, walking slowly out of the village. He gazed down as Kai was drawing something.

"There's the line. And never cross that if you want your life," he said darkly, his eyes flashing with anger. There was no use in telling Kai that he was in a trance to kill Jay too. There was no use for anything.

His whole life had fallen apart just then. He lost a friend. Then friends. And now, he was going back to the same old daily life he had always lived in: a puppet to Dust.

When he arrived "home" he skipped dinner and headed straight for the bedroom. Not bothering to change, he snapped his fingers, and he was suddenly in a pair of pajamas. Tucking himself under the covers, Cole stared up at the ceiling and sighed.

He closed his eyes.

Ok... SPEECH TIME!

No updates next week, so here's the final one until I think the week after next week. Then, it's no more updates because my laptop will be taken away on the 11th of June (its school laptop)

I will find a way to update from my home computer but that's when I have the time. So, right now, what I am going to do is type up the rest of the story and send it to my phone. That way, I can copy and paste from there - it'll be harder, but it'll work out somehow. Although I promise you, sometime when the summer starts, I will get a laptop - my dad promised me.

Thus, just for now, this will be the last story I complete until then.

You see, I have many many tests and school "things" going on next week since its almost the end of the school year. And around the last one to two weeks of school, I'll be busy cleaning up and making gifts for my teachers. And like I said, no more laptop for me on June 11th.

Although, summer isn't always the best time to update because summer is when you'll be spending time with your friends and family... then again - when is the best time? So, yes, thanks for reading! If I have anymore notes I forgot to add in - which I'm sure I do - I'll post a quick Author's Note. So keep the look out and it WILL include this brief summary.

R&R