Chapter 11

"Yori!" I yelled through the woods as I ran. No answer. "Yori!" I called again. Where could he be? I thought. He couldn't have gotten too far, it's only been a few minutes. "Yori!"

I had to find Yori. I had no clue where the he had gone, but he was my only way of finding the toa. Had he gone with them?

"Frost! Frost are you there? Where's a dragon when you need one?"

"Jaden?" a voice asked, coming softly from behind me. I looked to where the voice had come from, suddenly tense, but relaxed once I saw that it was only Kidril.

"Kidril, what are you doing here? And where's your dad? I could use his help."

"He went after Yori Yoi. He looked upset after what you said to him," he explained.

"Well, that's just great," I muttered sarcastically, wracking my brain for a new plan. I knew Yori wouldn't help me now, not after refusing last time, and if Frost was with him, that automatically meant he couldn't help either.

"Kidril, do you know where the toa went?" I eyed the small dragon curiously, "this is important."

"Well," Kidril began, "they said they were going after two matoran. There were reports that the both of them were heading towards the Kini Nui. They might be there now."

"That's just great," I cursed, throwing up my hands in exasperation. "How am I supposed to get there? I don't even know where that is, or what it is for that matter."

"I do," he chimed, "I can take you."

"Kidril," I simply stared at him, measuring the size of the tiny dragon incredulously, "this is dangerous. How old are you?"

"I'm seven; but I can do it," he defended, shifting anxiously on his feet. "Come, hop on, I'll take you there in a jiffy!"

"You're still a child!" I accused him, folding my arms across my chest and frowning down at him. "Frost would be pissed if he knew I voluntarily helped put you in danger."

"He doesn't have to know."

"You think he won't find out? What happens when you go missing for awhile? You think he's not going to notice?" I questioned, my voice high and tight, strained from the impossibility of the situation. I needed a ride, but I couldn't put Kidril in danger. I had no other way to get there, and he was my only choice. Where does need outweigh ethics?

"I'm old enough to take care of myself." Kidril told me, puffing out his chest to make himself seem bigger. "He doesn't worry about me like that anymore. So, do you want my help or not?" I truly doubted that last statement was true, but let it go unchallenged.

I raked my fingers through my hair, indecision running through my mind. He was just a child by human standards, but he was almost an adult by dragon standards. Was that supposed to make it okay?

"Okay," I conceded with a huff. "The only problem is I don't have a weapon. Tahu killed my bow." I winced at the memory.

Kidril merely blinked at me, "Can't you just make another?"

I shook my head. "Even if I knew how to make a decent stick bow, we don't have time or the materials needed."

"Then what do you have in mind?" he inquired, cocking his head in my direction as I thought. What could I use? If I tried going in empty handed, I'd only become a problem. But I couldn't just not go. They were my friends and for a reason I couldn't fathom at the moment, they had asked for my help.

"Well…" I trailed off, stepping into the underbrush, glancing around I scanned the foliage looking for something, anything that looked passable as a weapon. I caught sight of a sapling not far away that looked just thick enough to be used. "Kidril, give me a hand and cut this please," I said gesturing to the small tree with my hand.

Kidril flung out his tail to reveal a razor sharp blade on the end that sliced cleanly through the width of the trunk, the rest of the tree falling with a satisfactorily loud thump onto the forest ground.

"What exactly are you planning to do with that?" Kidril asked, sitting back and eying the tree as though he thought I had gone crazy. "It's a tree."

"I know it's a tree. I'm going to use this as a bowstaff," I told him confidently, snapping off the extra boughs. "It won't kill anything, but it'll definitely give me a better chance than nothing at all."

"Well," Kidril gave the bowstaff one last dubious glance, "We should hurry. The Rahkshi may already be there." As if to emphasize this point, he spread his wings, looking at me expectantly.

"All right," I said climbing onto his back, "let's go then."

He took off and flew over the trees, the landscape of the forest becoming increasingly clear as we gained altitude. And while Kidril's speed didn't compare to that of Yori's, he was still quite fast for one his size.

"Kidril," I said, raising my voice to be heard over the wind rushing past us, "when we get there, just drop me off and go. I don't want you getting caught in this fight."

He didn't turn his head, but the sudden jerk as his wings hesitated was more than enough to convey his feelings on the matter "But-"

"No," I snapped, cutting him off. "Your father is going to be mad enough. I'm not risking it any more than this." I knew that I could use a friend in the middle of the battle that we were headed to, but I wasn't willing to risk Kidril's life to do so, and as he lowered his head, I could tell he had accepted this fact.

"Look over there," he said, nodding straight ahead. I could just make out several structures and figures that I recognized as the toa.

"Get me in close to the matoran," I commanded him, shifting lower on his back as I spoke, glancing anxiously at the group of smaller figures. "The Rahkshi look fairly distracted by the toa." Kidril nodded and went in low, driving as close to the ground as he dared, and allowed me the chance to jump off his back. I rolled forward as I impacted on the tough ground, muscles in my back protesting as I came to a sudden stop in front of the matoran.

"Jaden? You're here!" Takua exclaimed with joy, laughter illuminating his mask for a moment before the gravity of the situation quieted him.

"Don't count your blessings yet," I muttered, turning to face them. "This fight is far from over."

Both Jaller and Takua's faces contorted with a look of horror. I turned back in time to see something red making contact with my face, sending ripples of hot, white pain across my body even as I slid back. A Rahkshi, I figured, finally managing to look back towards the crimson hued creature, my vision finally returning.

The matoran had tried to run, but Takua, caught up in whatever red energy that thing had shot at him, was effectively grounded. I forced myself to stand up, to fight against my vision that was still spinning, sending my surroundings into a kaleidoscope of senseless color and sound. But it was no use, and I couldn't fight against the pull of the ground as I slumped down, bowstaff completely limp in my hand.

I watched, vaguely aware that this shouldn't be happening, as Jaller charged at the Rahkshi and grabbed a hold of its staff, absorbing that same red energy before being shook off the staff and tossed aside. He lay there motionless, and that's when I felt the last straw go. That was it. I came to help prevent another death, but I had failed. I was tired of feeling like a failure, tired of watching my friends get hurt because I could do nothing. I felt the dark power from before begging to be let out but not this time. This time I wasn't going to rely on some outside power to handle the problem. This was going to be my fight.

I gripped my staff and charged at the Rahkshi, bashing it in the head as hard as I could with my bowstaff. It stumbled back before turning its wormy face on me and screeching, sending a wave of shivers down my spine. I charged though, ready to hit it again.

But this time it was prepared, and using its staff to block mine, it pushed me back before striking, slicing cleanly through my weaker wood bowstaff. It was about to strike again when I rolled out of the way. Taking what small opportunity I had, I kicked its feet from under it, sending it tumbling. I stumbled in my hurry to rise. I knew there was going to be a bruise for that later, but I wasn't going to worry about that now.

I grabbed half of what was left of my staff and pointed the now sharp, broken end towards its face, jabbing forward in a blind attempt to land a blow. But as I was about to stab it through, it shifted back and out of the way, using my momentary confusion to swing out again. I jumped away, avoiding the tip of its staff by a narrow margin, and it lunged again. This time though, I was better prepared, using the two halves of my staff to block its staff, and pushing it away from me before hitting it again in the head.

It shoved me back, and lunged again. It was as if I was infinitely far away as I saw the edge of the rod make contact with the center of my chest, sending a pain I had never felt before rippling through my body, as white hot as a fever at its highest point, echoing through my bones as it looked for a way out but found none

My breath caught in my throat, and I could feel something warm and sticky dripping down my front. My legs refused to hold me up any more as I fell to my knees, slumping even farther with every passing second. The Rahkshi, no longer interested in me, returned to its earlier business, stalking away towards the frightened matoran even as I saw black crawling from the edge of my vision. My heartbeat was loud in my ears, a hollow sound that terrified me, even as the scene faded from my view.

The last thing I saw before completely collapsing was that of Yori Yoi and Frost coming down with a feral roar on the unsuspecting Rahkshi. My eyes shifted, and I saw the bright blue sky, a feeling of cold numbness embraced my body. I no longer felt the tingle of that dark power at the back of my mind. For once, it had gone silent, and that was both peaceful and frightening. I was alone. I was going to die alone, and it frightened me more than anything else in the world.

I could see a figure in the darkness as everything else faded. The person was indiscernible as it walked towards me and was followed by two others, but I felt an odd sense of comfort that I finally realized was familiarity as the first face finally came in to focus, a face I knew I recognized, that wore comforting smile that I had only seen a few times. The two other people, I could now make out as a man and woman, stood behind him, smiles on their faces as well as they watched me.

"Dan?" I breathed, hardly daring to believe this.

"Jaden," he said, offering his hand to me, "There are two people that want to meet you."

I took his hand willingly, smiling at the familiarity of his palm against mine. "Who…who are you?" I asked of the others, wracking my memory as I tried to remember if I'd ever known this pair.

"Jaden," he said, "meet your parents."