CHAPTER 9

THE ULTIMATE WEAPON

King Garmadon and Queen Misako were inside the throne room. They were waiting on an important guest who happened to be an old friend. In the times of a monarchy, most people relied on a wise person to help them when something wrong happens. It was their job to not only predict the future, but to ask the Great Sensei for help. Sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't. This particular wise man was known as Bin Ling. He used to be the wise man of the kingdom, but after seeing something fearful in one of his spirit smokes, he went crazy and the king sent him on his way and took him to a part of Nin where he could live the rest of his days in peace. It took a few years to find a new wise man that was fresh and young, but in a situation like this, even he wouldn't be able to figure it out. Bin Ling was their only hope. If he couldn't help them, then nobody could.

Garmadon paced around the room and kept looking out the window. "Where is he? I didn't send him that far away. He should be here by now."

"Stay calm, my dear," Misako said, "They will bring Bin Ling here soon. Why bring him all the way here, anyway? Your brother is exceptionally wise. He may be able to help us in this situation."

"Wu has tried so many times, but he can't seem to find anything." He sat down on his throne. "This may be our only chance to find our son. After spending so long in solitude, I'm sure Bin Ling might be able to figure out how to solve this mess. He is our only hope. I'm tired of being patient, Misako. I just want our son back."

"I have faith that our son will return to us." She placed her hand on Garmadon`s. "The knights will find him. I know they will. They have never failed a quest before and they won't start now. You just have to believe that they can do this."

"I believe they can do it, but what more can the future hold?"

The door to the throne room opened and the royal advisor entered. "Your Majesties, may I present to you, Bin Ling." He stepped out of the way to let an older man inside.

Bin Ling has changed since the last time anyone saw him. His long white beard was only a few feet away from touching the floor. He no longer wore the fancy robe that he used to wear. He now wore a blue robe that looked as though it used to belong to a peasant. His eyes had bags under them from the long years of working. He removed his straw hat and bowed in respect, showing his bald head. "Thank you for inviting me to the kingdom, Your Majesties. It's always a pleasure to see old friends again."

"The pleasure is all ours," Garmadon said, "We called you here for a reason, Bin Ling."

"Explain, Your Majesty."

"Our son has been kidnapped, but we don't know who it was that took him from us. We thought it was the rebellion at first, but now we know it wasn't them. We were hoping you could help us figure this out. Who is the real culprit?"

"My mind is giving me a vision." Bin Ling closed his eyes and held up his hands. "I see two different figures. They are both wearing black. One of them looks like a regular human. The other one looks like a gigantic creature because it has red eyes. My mind has given me the answer. These two figures are the one's that are responsible for your son's disappearance."

"A human and a gigantic creature? Can you give me any other details?"

"I've figured something out. The gigantic creature is a snake man. He is a Serpentine."

"The Serpentine has our son?"

"Not anymore. I'm getting another vision. That Serpentine took your son out of the prison that he was trapped inside and was thrown out into the cold. That is all I can see."

"Our son!" Misako cried, burying her head in Garmadon`s chest.

"Is there anything more you can tell us?" Garmadon asked.

"That is all I can see," Bin Ling said, "I can see no more. I can ask the Great Sensei. He is always watching over you and your family. I ask him to do so everyday, and he always does."

"You have always been a good friend to us. Thank you."

"Allow me to do what I must do, Your Majesty." Bin Ling closed his eyes again. "Oh, Great Sensei, here what I must say. The king and queen are worried about their son and they need your help. Where is the prince? Is he alright? Will you keep your eyes on him and help guide the knights to where he is?" Silenced filled the room as Bin Ling opened his eyes. "The Great Sensei has answered all my questions. You son is still in the Northern border. He is alright and has been found by the freezing lake where he was thrown towards. I'm not sure who has him now and is keeping him safe, but the Great Sensei said he will be home soon. The knights will be led by the path where the light shines. He promises to keep his eyes on your son. As long as he does so, the prince will be under his protection."

"Thank you, Bin Ling. We're glad you were able to help us."

"Of course, Your Majesty. It's always wonderful to see you. If you ever need anything, just send me a message and I will arrive shortly. By the way, there is something that I must tell you."

"What is it?"

"In the future, great things will happen. True potentials will be revealed, great powers will be found and the kingdom of Nin will shine like never before. For the past few years, I have kept that to myself, but I thought this was the perfect time for you to know."

"Will there be a journey to do these certain things?"

"You will have to wait and see, Your Majesty. I cannot tell what will happen, but I know that it will be good when the bad comes in. Things will change for the better. Do you believe all that I say, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, I do. Goodbye, Bin Ling."

"Goodbye, Your Majesties. I hope to see you again." Bin Ling walked away from the throne room and continued on his way back outside.

"He is not like I remember him, but being older has its advantages," Misako said.

"I hope all he said is true," Garmadon said.

"We'll just have to wait and see what happens next, darling."

At that moment, both the king and queen sat on their thrones. If all Bin Ling said was true, the prince would return home safe and sound and everything would be normal again. No matter how patient they could be, all the two wanted was their son back. Right then and there, Prince Lloyd was more important than anything else.

Morning has arrived in the Eastern border as the men set out to continue their journey. It wouldn't be long now before they entered the Northern border. They were traveling through the woods, but Sir Jay kept looking around, fear showing in his eyes. He was being truthful about never wanting to come back, but there was something that he hasn't told the others about. In his village, most people do not forgive others very well. If a noble ever entered the village, then they would be knocked off his horse, stepped on and having to lie there until help arrives. He's seen it plenty of times before. Being raised a middle class child has its lessons in life.

"Sir Jay, try to keep up," Sir Cole said, "What is with you?"

"Sorry, I never planned to come back here," Jay said, "I still have those thoughts of what those villagers might do to me."

"They can't do anything to you. If anything, you can hold them back. We can't just keep traveling through the woods forever. We need to find a village, refill our food supply and get ourselves to the Northern border by this afternoon. Let's get a move on, men."

After spending another half hour roaming around in the woods, a village was shown through the trees. It was quite large and had a lot of unique inventions to get work finished faster. This village may get a lot of lightning storms if it has this much technology. The Eastern border has always been known to be one of the most genuine places in Nin. The men stared at it in awed. When Jay saw it, he backed away from the trees, almost falling off his horse. His breathing became rapid, like he was hyperventilating.

"Jay, are you alright?" Sir Zane asked.

"What's wrong with him?" Kai asked.

"I guess Sir Jay saw something he didn't wanna see," Cole said.

"I saw a lot of things that I never plan to see," Jay said, "That's the village I grew up in. You plan for us to go through there?"

"What's the name of it?" Cole asked.

"Levine Village, but there is no way I'm showing my face around there again."

"I found something on the map. Your village is a shortcut to cross the borders. This may be our chance to finally get to the north. We're just so close. Looks like we have to go into that village."

"You guys can go down there if you want. I'm turning around and going back to the kingdom."

"What are you doing?" Cole walked up to Jay and blocked him from going further. "You can't just turn around and give up. What's the one thing the king always tells us?"

"I don't care about that. It doesn't matter to me. I just can't do this."

"He always says that no matter what life throws at you, you just have to go through it. You can't just give up. You have to keep going, no matter what it is or where it is."

"Listen, the people in my village don't forgive easily. It doesn't matter if they know you or not. They'll do anything to get revenge on a noble. I've seen it happen plenty of times before. We can't go through that village."

"Well, looks like we'll just have to dress like peasants."

"That won't be a problem. Peasants aren't very common in a village for middle class citizens, but in my village, they think of them as regular people. People that need help. Oh, some of them can't afford horses, though."

"We can. We'll just tell them that we bought them for a reason. If they ask, though."

"Okay, so what do we have that we can use to dress like poor people?"

"I have a few cloaks." Kai removed some out of his bag. "Take your pick."

"I think we should be glad that we brought a peasant along with us," Jay said.

After putting on the cloaks, the knights headed out into the village. Since Kai was already a peasant, there was no reason to wear a cloak. Jay had the hoodie up over his head. He didn't want the villagers to recognize him. They started off good, though. Nobody even recognized them as nobles. Once they got to the center of the village, they stopped and found a store. Cole climbed off his horse.

"I'll go inside and get what we need. You all just stay out here. Keep an eye on Rocky for me. I'll only based a minute." Cole walked inside the store.

Kai looked at Jay, who was keeping himself hidden as much as he could. He walked up to Jay. "Must you hide yourself from the shadows?"

"I can't let anybody see me,"Jay said, "If one mistake is made, I'm a dead man. They'll kick me off my horse, throw me on the ground and step on me until all the bones in my body crack. I've seen it happen a hundred times."

"Listen, just let me do all the talking. I'll keep you guys safe."

"I'm not sure Cole will like that. How can you keep us in the shadows?"

Shouting came from everywhere in the village. A noble on a horse ran until he finally stopped. "Villagers, please. I'm looking for the knights. Stop startling my horse."

"Stop," Kai said, walking up to the crowd, "Give me the message. I'll give it to the knights when I see them. Trust me." The noble gave Kai the message and ran off. The villagers left the crowd and went back to their work. Kai walked back to the knights when Cole walked out of the store, a surprised look on his face. Kai looked down at the black knight. "Don't worry. I took care of it."

"You were right, Jay," Cole said, climbing back up on Rocky, "Those people chase after a noble like they chase after a pig on the loose. Good thing we have peasant with us."

"Looks like we need to leave this village as quick as we can," Kai said, "I fear that these people will harm you if they figure out who you guys really are. We need to leave quickly."

"I had the same idea," Cole said, "By the way, what did you say to those people to get them away from that noble?"

"I didn't say anything to the people. I told the noble that I would give the message to you all. Although, I didn't say out loud that you guys were the knights, so don't worry about that. Plus, middle class citizens always listen to what a peasant says."

"That makes me feel a little better. Alright, I've restocked our food supply, so we should be good to go. Let get out of here."

As the men were walking towards the end of the village, a man came out of a store with a wheelbarrow of apples, Jay`s horse, Wisp, went crazy and ran towards the wheelbarrow. When the man saw it, he screamed and ran off, leaving the wheelbarrow full of apples on the road and giving Wisp a chance to snack on them. Jay pulled on Wisp`s rope to get him up, but he was kick off his horse and landed on the ground, his hood falling off and his face revealed in public. The man that had the wheelbarrow saw him and yelled something in Ninjian. Soon, all the villagers came out and ran up towards where the knights and Kai were.

"Looks like we've been caught," Cole said, "Sir Jay, put your horse in gear. We've got to get out of here."

Jay scrambled to get back up on his horse as the others started racing off. He kicked his horse in gear and ran off from the other villagers. He made sure the people in front of him screamed in terror as he ran towards them. After a moment of escaping, Jay made it into the woods. The others were blending into the trees, waiting for him. He ran up to them. "I made it out alive. Thanks for waiting up."

"You did blow your own cover," Cole said, "It's time you get that horse of yours under control."

"Wisp has control. I just give him a lot of apples after I finish training him. That's why he went nuts."

"It doesn't matter. Kai, do you still have that message?" Kai handed Cole the message and read through it. "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is the king and queen aren't so worried because they know that their son is still alive. They talked to someone about it. Also, it tells us who really kidnapped the prince."

"Who was it?" Kai asked.

"That's the bad news," Cole said, rubbing the back of his neck, "They don't know the identity of the kidnappers. They know that one is human and the other is a Serpentine."

"So the Serpentine are behind all of this?" Zane asked.

"That explains the other snake from yesterday," Kai said, "Is there anything else that the message says?"

"Let's see." Cole gasped. "They took him out of his imprisonment and threw him out into the middle of nowhere. Luckily, he's safe. Someone found him, but they don't know who it is. Let's just hope it's someone that will take care of him until we find him."

"What do we do now?" Jay asked.

Cole sighed. "The best thing to do is find the kidnappers first. We need to stop them so this never happens again. Here's my question. Where do we start?"

"I guess we just start heading to the border that crosses to the north," Kai said, starting off without them, "Looks like that's the river to cross. Let's move out."

The knights decided to follow the peasant. Something strange was going on with him. For some reason, he was starting to act like the leader. None of them ever saw this behavior before. Perhaps it was part of the changes that he was going through. Either way, something was up and they wanted to know. For now, they decided to let him lead the way.

THE KING AND QUEEN WERE WORRIED ABOUT THEIR SON SO MUCH, THEY HAD TO SEND OUT FOR THE OLDEST WISE MAN THAT EVER LIVED. GOOD THING THEY FOUND HIM. HE WAS ABLE TO TELL THEM ALL THAT THEY NEEDED TO KNOW. I WONDER WHAT GREAT THINGS WILL HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE. WELL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE.

JAY TRAVELED THROUGH HIS HOME VILLAGE AGAIN, BUT HE SHOULD'VE KNOWN THAT WEARING A CLOAK WAS NOT GOING TO COVER IT. LUCKILY, THEY ESCAPED JUST IN TIME. WHY IS KAI SUDDENLY ACTING LIKE A LEADER? THAT'S REALLY STRANGE.

BEST STORY SO FAR.

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OH, AND BIN LING WAS THE ULTIMATE WEAPON. WEIRD, HUH?