Chapter 10: Operation Warlord

"What do we do?" Lloyd whispered urgently in my ear. To be honest, I had no idea. I thought that maybe the world would explode or something more dramatic since we had just broke a major time travel rule, but instead I was left just staring back at Zane, who was still waiting for an answer.

I tried to mumble something, but all I got was a disgusting taste of a grimy palm. In response, Lloyd slowly moved his hand from my mouth to let me speak.

"We can't let him go back and tell the others about us," I whispered back. One thing was for sure, meeting our other selves did not happen in the other timeline. Who knows what would happen then?

Zane watched the two of us curiously. We needed to act fast, before the situation got any worse.

"Any suggestions?" Lloyd asked.

I thought for a moment and one popped into my head. "We're from the future—" I blurted. Lloyd's hand jerked, but this time I was ready for him. I pushed the first year away, never taking my eyes off my friend. There was no turning back now.

"—And we've come to rescue Garmadon before the minister can perform the Dementor's kiss on him," I explained.

Zane stared blankly at me. "How did you get here? And, why are we rescuing a dark wizard?" he asked.

"It's a long story," Lloyd interrupted me before I could tell him about the time-turner and the whole conversation with Garmadon.

"The point is," I said, glaring at Lloyd to get him to stop and let me handle this. "We could use all the help we can get. The Dementors are too powerful for us to handle, and—" I hesitated. I hated admitting my weaknesses. "You're the only one who can produce a patronus."

Zane shook his head. "My patronus is only non-corporeal. I do not have the ability to cast the charm properly."

"I'm sure you can figure it out," I assured my friend. "Besides, it's better than what I can do. I couldn't even get my wand to glow."

"It's more than just saying the incantation," Zane explained. "Master Wu described it to me. You have to think of a happy memory and let it fill your entire being, then say Expecto Patronus."

It was nice to know that my failure wasn't a lack of skill. But still, I was doing it wrong the entire time! Now that I knew what I was actually doing, I'm sure I could cast a patronus. I just needed a happy memory. Spending time laughing with Nya in meadow during the hot summer? Coming in the library for lunch after a long day to relax with everyone? Walking through the grand wooden doors of school for the very first time? Maybe? None of them seemed strong enough though.

I wonder what memory Zane used…

"Guys! Something's happening!" Lloyd whispered urgently.

Zane and I joined him at the edge of the rock. The minister was climbing the stairs. Other wizards were swarming the rock side. I extinguished my wand and hoped no one had seen us.

"There he is!"

My heart caught in my throat, then I realized they were talking about Garmadon. All this sneaking around was getting on my nerves. I wished everyone would go away and we could get this over with. The minister began to deliver his speech about Garmadon, and the Dementor's kiss, and you must come with me or else.

I heard myself yelling. My voice sounded a lot squeakier than it did in my head. So weird. The minister was drawing his wand. Lloyd and I knew what was coming, but Zane seemed to be frozen in shock.

Red flashes shot into the night. Garmadon called out Lloyd's name one last time before collapsing on the ground. So we are all caught up to the last thing I remember.

"The minister just stupefied everyone," Zane whispered, as if he didn't believe what he had just seen.

"He thought he was protecting us from a dark wizard," Lloyd said in the minister's defense.

"Doesn't make it right," I muttered. Now that we were out of the picture, the minister directed some of his subordinates to carry us away, probably to the infirmary. Meanwhile, the minister used magic to tie up the dark lord. Then he looked around to make sure he wasn't being watched. The three of us pressed our backs against the wall, hoping against hope that he couldn't see anything in the darkness.

"Stay there, Garmadon," The minister said. "You're going to pay for what you did to Akiko."

A cloak rustled. The minister sniffed. Then, footsteps echoed against the rock, and at last, silence. I peered around the corner again.

"Okay," I whispered. "Let's free Garmadon, before he comes back with the Dementors."

Zane and Lloyd nodded. As we inched our way across the mountain, I felt so exposed. There was no place to hide over here. If the minister came back, we were done for. At last, we were at Garmadon's side. Despite his helmet and warlord armor, he looked so helpless lying cold on the ground.

Ropes held the warlord's four arms captive. I pushed him on his back to see if there were any knots I could untie, but of course there weren't. I wish I had brought a knife with me. I sighed loudly.

I heard a click to my right. I turned and Zane had opened a panel in his arm. A spinning saw blade came out of it and cut the ropes.

"Whoa," Lloyd admired.

"When did you learn to do that?" I asked.

"My father has been teaching me a lot about myself these past few weeks," Zane replied.

That's cool. But Garmadon was still out cold. I heaved with all my might, but the warlord was seriously heavy.

"Help me," I said through gritted teeth.

Zane grabbed the wizard's feet and together we managed to lift him. My arms still felt dead. I was afraid I was going to drop him back on the hard rock. We weren't going anywhere fast.

"Guys," Lloyd warned.

Oh no. "Don't tell me the minister's back?" I groaned.

"Worse. Dementors."

Seriously?! That's the last thing we needed. "How close are they?" I asked.

"They're still floating up the steps."

Good. We still have time. "Faster, Zane!" I yelled.

I couldn't see where we were going. My ankle twisted. What I thought was solid ground turned out to be a loose rock. I tumbled and dropped Garmadon's head. No doubt the evil wizard would wake up with a headache.

"Kai!" Lloyd screamed.

"Are you hurt?" Zane asked.

"No, I just tripped. I'll be alright." I stood up, but daggers shot into my ankle. The pain nearly brought me to my knees. Okay…maybe I wasn't all right. Zane lowered Garmadon and was quickly at my side, along with Lloyd. Soon, my arm was wrapped around Zane's shoulder and he was the only reason I was standing.

"What about Garmadon?" I asked them.

"You are more important," Zane replied.

I looked at Lloyd, who was staring at the dark wizard. For a second, I thought he was actually going to leave his own father behind. The first year pulled out his wand.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Garmadon's body began to rise and float ahead of us. "Let's go," Lloyd said to us.

Together, we began to limp toward the school. The Dementors were still coming behind us. I wished I hadn't stepped on that rock, or wasted so much time before moving on. We weren't going to make it.

The school was tantalizingly out of reach. The cold mist was already settling over me. Our pace slowed to a crawl. I found myself back on the ground. A haze clouded my mind. I thought I saw a thing of white standing between me and the hoard of monsters.

"Expecto Patronum!" A voice said.

A shield appeared. I shook my head to clear the mist. The Dementors were still coming. One bounced back only for another to take its place. Zane was going to get overrun. I mustered what little strength I had.

"Don't do it, Zane!" I couldn't let my friend sacrifice himself for me, but he didn't move.

"Expecto Patronum!" Zane repeated.

The shield flared white for a moment, then died back down to pale blue. Zane shook his head and tried again.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Despite the crowd of Dementors, Zane was still standing. His shield was fading fast, but he refused to give up. Arms grabbed me and tried to drag me away.

"No!" I cried. "Zane still needs us. We can't leave him! Stop it!" The arms kept pulling despite my protest. I squirmed and tried to get back to my friend, who had planted his feet and refused to move.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" He shouted with all his might.

This time, a falcon burst out of his wand and flew over the heads of the Dementors. They ducked and fled back down the mountain. Zane had done it. He had summoned a real patronus. The bird circled back to my friend, who offered his arm to the creature.

It perched for a moment and preened itself, before disappearing in a ghostly flash. Zane continued to stare at the spot where the falcon used to be. Meanwhile, Lloyd tried to pull me up, but I just crashed back to the ground.

"Zane, can you give me a hand?" Lloyd asked.

He snapped out of his trance and came back to help me. Once I was standing again, we continued to walk toward the school. There was still no sign of the minister, and finally we made it back without anything going wrong.

"Zane, you need to get back to the infirmary," I said as we limped along. "In the other timeline, you were with the rest of us when we woke up."

"But what about you?" my friend asked.

"I think I can handle him," Lloyd said. He was still holding Garmadon up with his wand, but the first year looked determined. I just hoped determination would be enough to get me back. Zane hesitated, then handed me off.

Our pace slowed dramatically, but at least I didn't fall. With one hand against the wall, and one around Lloyd, we continued back to the infirmary. Loud voices greeted us as we reached the door.

"Boys, calm down!" Nya snapped.

Lloyd set me down and lowered Garmadon to the floor. By silent agreement, we decided to wait until our other selves left. We half-heartedly listened to the conversation.

"By the way, thanks for choosing me to come with you," I said. The other Lloyd reminded me that I never got thank him during the craziness of our mission.

"You're welcome…?" Lloyd said uncertainly. "It's really no big deal."

"It meant a lot to me," I said. I smiled at the first year and ruffled his hair. "You're a good friend."

Lloyd smiled back at me. "You too."

"Well, isn't that nice?" a gruff voice muttered.

I looked across the room. Garmadon pulled himself up with a groan, one of his arms holding his head.

"What happened?" He asked louder. "Where's the minister?"

"We rescued you," I said. "And it wasn't easy, so you better be grateful."

Garmadon ignored me. "L-loyd, are you okay?"

Lloyd folded his arms. "We nearly got killed by Dementors, but–"

"Dementors! Did they hurt you? How did you escape?" The dark wizard demanded.

"No, I'm not hurt, but they gave me a weird feeling—"

"What kind of feeling?" the warlord pressed. By now, he was practically in Lloyd's face. Sheesh. He was a really overprotective father.

"Well, it was like I was in a memory or a dream. Someone was crying—I think it was a woman—and there was sound of crackling flames. Why?" Lloyd asked.

Garmadon finally leaned back and sighed. He covered his face, right before I caught sight of…fire?

"Oh, L-loyd," he whispered. "So they remind you of the day I left?"

He looked so sad. So… un-warlordlike. In fact, ever since we met the dark wizard, he didn't seem like that bad of a person. I looked at Lloyd and he met my gaze. Neither of us knew how to respond to that.

CREAK.

The infirmary door was opening. Master Wu walked out the hallway, noticed us and stopped suddenly. Then he looked at Garmadon, who glared at the old sensei.

"Hello, brother," Wu said.

Garmadon pulled himself up to his full height, glowering at the professor the entire time.

"Glad you could join us, little brother," he spat back.

AN: Garmadon and Wu come face to face-read on next time to find out what will happen next! Thanks for your support!