*looks at last chapter's intro* so I have no excuses. oof! Hope you enjoy this update!

Oh, and in other news, I'm going to be of the NNQ: Ninja Never Quit zine! It'll be coming out in January on Ninjago's 10th Anniversary, so look for me there!

sksks no one is going to remember what they commented form months ago BUT! there is a system and I must stick to it

ItsYoGreenGirl: thank you! Kai and Lloyd bonding is one of my favorite parts about writing this fic.

Watcher321: thank you!

SunSilver: I'm glad you liked the Misako reveal!

Anonymous Akita: I'm glad you like this fic so much! Thank you!

Kay Hau: Thanks! I remember talking about Misako a while back with White, and yeha, her canon-self isn't the greatest. Here's hope for a resolution with this set!

Kifo Entiegon: oh my gosh, there was originally a longer bit of the chapter between 7 and 8, I'm such a fool *facepalm*. I got rid of it bc it was boring technical stuff that overexplained, y'know? All you've got to know is that they learn how to spit :D

Guest: Zane is a little stealthy boi! His smallness does help him, especially in maneuverability exercises.

BlackKnight7605: Thank you!

0Shard0: thanks for giving this story a check-out and a full read-through! That's dedication and I always feel honored when someone gives my 150k+ wip a chance! I'm glad that the foreshadowing is working, you're really too nice! uwu


Previously on Skyward:

Lloyd arched above the lightning dragon, pale green wings glimmering in the light. The two sized each other up: the lightning dragon- bigger, with a crown of spikes and a forked tail- and Lloyd, smaller, with strong golden antlers tipping his scaled head.

Ever since he'd awoken, Lloyd had become aware of presences. Tiny balls of light bobbled at the edges of his consciousness, orbiting and recalibrating around him as he moved.

'I think I just found out a secret about my family,' Lloyd said quietly.

Kai's scales bled pink. 'About your dad?'

Lloyd shook his head.

A pause, then quieter: 'your mom?'

Kai stepped towards the edge, flaring out his wings. 'Alright, kid. Let's see what you're made of.'

Cole exhaled. 'I think it's time we went to the Temple of Light.'


'Okay. Would you rather have snakes for hair or snakes for legs?'

'What type of question is that?'

'A good one!' Jay protested. 'C'mon! This is some serious stuff!'

'Snake hair,' Kai said, giving in after a moment, 'How would snake legs even work? Do snakes even have bones?'

'We've been fighting them for months, I'm pretty sure they have bones.'

'All your hair, or just head hair?' Lloyd asked suddenly. 'Would your eyebrows be tiny snakes too?'

There was a moment's silence, then Kai and Jay both started yelling at once.

Several feet in front of them, Zane laughed softly to himself. Cole caught his eye across the way. The two of them shared an amused grin, rolling their eyes good-naturedly.

'Will they ever stop?' complained Cole through their private tele-link. He hoisted the coils of rope around his shoulder higher, as they started to slip down his arm. 'I swear, if I have to hear one more nonsensical question about werewolves on the moon...'

Zane smiled. 'They're doing it for Lloyd,' he said. 'Look at the way Kai keeps glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.'

Cole glanced back quickly, framing it as checking up on the group. Zane didn't need to look to know that Lloyd was sandwiched between their two pairs, hands tucked into the pockets of his robes and faced ducked to the ground. He was fighting off a grin as Jay and Kai argued behind him, but when he caught Zane looking he quickly schooled his features into a neutral expression.

Cole rolled his eyes again. 'Couldn't they cheer him up in a less annoying way for the rest of us?' he asked, but the action seemed more fond than anything.

'Something's coming,' Lloyd said suddenly.

All the bickering cut off immediately. The team froze, eyes darting around. 'Where?' demanded Kai, always the quickest to react.

'How do you know that?' asked Jay. 'I don't feel anything.'

Zane closed his eyes, calling on a quick burst of secondsight. The blue outline of a Stone Warrior appeared, some twenty feet away, and coming in their direction.

'He's right,' Zane said, reopening his eyes. 'A Warrior scout is heading our way.' He glanced around quickly, scanning for the best, least-obvious way to hide five people in some bushes. 'We need to hide now.'

'Too late!' Jay yelped. Zane's eyes shot up, zeroing on the Warrior who'd just rounded the corner. It faltered for a split second, bright purple eyes widening, before a snarl broke out on its face.

Cole cursed beneath his breath. 'No Weapons- alright. Step back, everyone!'

Zane jumped back, grabbing Jay's arm and pulling the lightning ninja with him. Cole stomped his foot. The ground beneath the Warrior rolled. A pit cracked open, but the Warrior was quicker. Before it could be swallowed up it was lunging for Cole, who stumbled back, tripping over tree roots and flailing to keep his balance.

Zane jerked forward. Kai shouted, hands balling into fists. But before they could send off their attacks, the Warrior jerked to a halt. Its arms were still outstretched, and one foot was off the ground, but some form of paralysis had seized it and it became instantly motionless. Slowly, the purple glow in its eye faded. In an arc of blue, it toppled over and smashed into the ground.

In the gap where it used to be stood Lloyd, hands outstretched and swirling with light.

For a moment, nobody moved. Jay stared in disbelief at the downed Warrior, mouth working uselessly. Cole, hands braced against the tree, looked from Lloyd to the Warrior and back, a furrow to his eyebrows. It was Kai who moved first, dropping his hands and rushing over to Lloyd.

"What did you do?" he hissed. "Lloyd!"

Lloyd didn't seem to hear him. He blinked slowly, eyes unfocused, the whites around his irises bleeding gold. Slowly, he turned to face Kai. 'Woah. This is trippy.'

'Is he okay?' asked Jay worriedly. 'Do I need to use my healing? I know we shouldn't outside of the Refuge, but I will if I have to.'

'No, no,' said Lloyd, 'I'm okay. I just feel weird.'

'Weird how?' asked Cole, drawing closer. Zane, with one last use of secondsight, made sure they were in the clear before moving in himself. His head was starting to ache from the repeat use, but his standard battlesight would still be helpful for spotting stray Warriors. Or so he hoped.

'Just… weird,' Lloyd repeated. Thankfully, he sounded more conscious now, more alert. He held his hands out. The green light that bloomed from his palms looked different than before. Before, the glow was faint and looked like flames. Now it was pulsing brightly, dozens of pinprick points of light outlining a sphere. 'It kinda feels like that one time I drank Nya's coffee and couldn't sleep all night.'

'Energy,' Cole said contemplatively. 'Well, I guess that tracks.'

'What do you do with it, though?' asked Jay. 'Are you gonna stay like this forever until it wears off?'

Lloyd frowned. 'I don't know. Maybe there's a way to transfer it.' He turned his unnervingly golden eyes on Zane. 'Maybe…'

Zane held out his hand without prompting. Lloyd smiled, pressing their palms together. Immediately, the headache bugging Zane eased off. He inhaled slightly, drawing back. 'Whatever you just did made me feel better.'

'I imagined giving some of it to you,' Lloyd said. His eyes were fading back to normal, and he looked pleased at his discovery. 'That's so cool!'

'Don't overdo yourself, Lloyd,' Kai cautioned. 'You don't know what your limits are yet, and you could seriously hurt yourself.'

Jay snorted. 'Strong words coming from you, Kai.'

Kai swatted at him. 'Let me be hypocritical in peace, alright?'

'You said that you could sense the Warrior?' asked Cole. The earth ninja's tone was brisk- he was in his leader-mode and it made the rest of them quiet immediately and pay attention. Lloyd perked up.

'Yeah! It was like a normal pulse, just blacker, if that makes any sense.'

Jay frowned. 'Aww, mine can't do that.'

Lloyd shrugged. 'I don't know. Maybe it was a stroke-of-luck thing.'

'I think it might be something else,' Zane said slowly. He turned to Jay, thinking back to what the lightning ninja had told them of his powers. 'Jay senses life-forces, correct?' Jay nodded. 'Perhaps you sense energy-forces instead.'

They were all silent for several seconds, digesting that thought.

'It makes sense,' agreed Jay. 'Warriors aren't really alive, you know? Dang, I wish mine did that too.' He grinned, though, bumping his shoulder into Lloyd's. 'Still, two sensors are better than one, right?'

'Right,' said Lloyd, grinning back shyly.

Cole glanced at the sky, or what little he could see through the trees. 'We need to keep going,' he said, shouldering his ropes again. 'It's getting late, and I bet none of you want your first-time mountain climbing to be in the dark.'


Once again, Lloyd was incredibly grateful for the way he shifted. As the other ninja huffed and puffed to ascend the cliff Cole had directed them to, all he had to do was turn his fingernails into claws, and voila! Homemade climbing hooks. He really had the coolest transformation.

'You don't have to be… so… smug about it,' Kai groused. 'Not all of us can be the Green Ninja and an Energy dragon to boot.'

'Yeah,' joined in Jay. 'Have some pity for the rest of us normal folk, will you?'

'I did this all the time when I was just human,' Cole retorted. 'You're just out of shape.'

Lloyd reached the ledge first, even with Cole's boasting. He clambered on top, retracting his claws and flopping over on his back. After several seconds of gentle panting, he sat up to see what was casting the shadow across his face. The sight made him sit up all the way, a soft 'woah' escaping from his lips.

A towering building of red and gold, hewn into the mountain and cast in soft shadows by the setting sun, loomed above their heads. Lloyd pulled his mask back from his face, mouth dropping open softly at the sight before him. Jay appeared at his side, expression a mirror of Lloyd's own. "This place looks-"

"Magical," Kai finished.

One by one, the rest of the ninja crowded in front of the temple. Two doors were in the center, framed by magnificent carvings in the panels. The knockers were tarnished bronze, worn down with age, and yet they and the rest of the building didn't look ruined even after a hundred years of no upkeep.

Cole and Kai shared a look. Together, they pushed the doors open.

The doors swung easily on their hinges. No noise came from them, and as they were thrown wide a cloud of dust swept out of the room. Lloyd choked, bending over to cough into his chest. Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the dim interior. Cole stepped forward, beckoning the rest of them silently with his hand.

Inside, it was also dusty. Lloyd watched his feet as he stepped, noting the dark imprints his boots left behind. Dust particles hung in the air as if crystallized in time. The last sun rays dappled the floor as it filtered through the windows above. The entire room felt unnaturally still, like one wrong move would break whatever spell shrouded the walls and pillars.

Of course, not one moment later Jay let out a loud gasp and shattered whatever might have been building.

"Look!" shouted the lightning ninja, jabbing his pointer finger at a wall he was standing in front of. "It's us!"

"What?" Kai ran over to see. "He's right!" he shouted. "Lloyd, Cole, come look at this!"

Lloyd walked over slowly. He turned in a slow circle in the center of the Temple, gazing up at the giant bell that eclipsed most of the ceiling.

"See?" Kai asked, gesturing widely. "Look- there's my power boost!" A blazing dragon filled up the background of the panel. In the center knelt two figures, one larger and one smaller, both leaning in close to the other.

"Awww," whined Jay. "How come you get your boost but I don't?"

"Hmmm. Maybe because I'm just that much cooler than you?"

"I think you mean hotter," Zane said absently, immune to the other two's sputtering as he ran his fingers down the wall. "Over here."

"That's Lloyd's birthday party," Cole realized, walking towards him. "Our last day at the Spirit Coves. Man. Those were the simpler times."

Five dragons looked down upon the scene below them, where Lloyd was surrounded by the ninja and their gifts. None of them had faces, but Lloyd was struck with the impression that they were laughing.

"I think about that party a lot when I'm down," Jay admitted. "It's one of the few days we've had that wasn't all danger and preparations. It was fun."

"Yeah," Kai said. He paused by a panel across the room. "Wait, I don't remember this one."

"That's because you weren't there, dummy," Jay said. "This is the Stone Warrior invasion." The panel showed an overturned bus, wheels to the side and smoke rising into the air. A Warrior notched his crossbow in the corner, grinning wickedly. Jay frowned. "I don't remember this part."

"There was so much going on that day," Zane said. "It's only natural you'd not remember everything."

But I remember this one, Lloyd thought, running his fingers down the side. That's when I saved those old people from the Warrior scout. I was terrified the rest of the time, but I wasn't then. Not when I had lives to save. I didn't even have my powers yet.

He stepped back. I didn't have my powers for any of these.

Something sparked on Lloyd's radar. He spun around, noting from the corner of his eye that Kai and Zane did the same.

"What's wrong?" Jay asked, looking nervously around the building. He fell in with the rest of them.

A light flared between the pillars across from them. Lloyd shielded his eyes, even as he charged up energy around his fingers.

"What is that?" demanded Cole.

The light flared. It was forming into something, something big, something shaped sorta like-

Lloyd's hands dropped to his sides, the power vaporizing away. "Goldie?"

From across the room, a golden dragon grinned wide. 'Thought you'd seen the last of me, huh?'

One by one, the other dragons appeared by each pillar. Jay ran forward with a shout, catching Blue around the neck. Kai met Fire halfway across the room, both of them shouting at the same time. Zane bowed to Ice, a grin splitting across his face before he too hugged her. Cole nodded at Earth, the two of them looking on with approval at the others.

Lloyd stepped forward. His mouth couldn't figure out what it wanted to do, and when he blinked he was surprised to feel tears running down his face. Goldie reached out, his big yellow eyes glowing with affection. Lloyd collapsed against his front, sobbing.

'Shh, it's okay, Lloyd. You're here! You made it!'

"I thought I'd never see you again," Lloyd hiccuped.

Goldie's wing settled over his back. 'But here you are, aren't you? A little bit of death, ocean, and worldwide destruction couldn't keep me away from you even if they wanted to.'

Lloyd sniffled. 'You say the weirdest things, but somehow they make sense?'

'It's a particular talent of mine,' Goldie agreed with a grin.

'Hey tail-brains, listen up,' said Fire, and all of them must have been conditioned to that tone because they all fell instantly silent. She nodded approvingly at their attention. 'A long time ago, Lightning's chosen asked how Energy was still here even though he wasn't tied to the weapons. Well, you'll have your answer now.' She gesticulated in a broad sweeping motion with her wing. 'It's true that the Golden Weapons were forged with the last of the Master's power. But the rest of it- the part between the middle and the end- where did it go?'

'Are you asking or being purposely cryptic?' Kai said, but his eyes were suspiciously shiny.

'The lack of respect,' Fire huffed, scales flashing pink.

'It's the second one,' Blue said helpfully. 'What?' she yelped, dodging the tail aimed at her. 'We have things to do! We can't just stand around speaking in riddles the entire time.'

'Fine,' said Fire. 'Tear down the entire illustrious history of storytellers while you're at it, why don't you?' She took a deep breath and then she huffed. 'You know what? Energy can explain this. I've had enough of being disrespected by you brats.'

Goldie laughed. 'Alrighty then. If you insist.' His gaze turned back to Lloyd, sobering a bit. 'How do I explain this- okay. The rest of our pack survived because they were bonded to the Weapons, right? Or more specifically, they were bonded to the Golden Power within them. For me, I just bypass that middle step.'

Lloyd tried to puzzle that one out. It was Zane who understood first, to no one's surprise.

'You have Golden Power yourself,' the ice ninja surmised.

Goldie nodded. 'I have the Golden Power of the Master. He stored it in me when I was bonded to him as a hatchling- stored it for you to be able to use now.' He pressed a gentle claw into Lloyd's chest.

'Me?' asked Lloyd. 'But how?'

'There's a ritual,' Goldie said. 'Do you see that bell in the ceiling?' Of course Lloyd had. 'Once you ring it, the transfer process begins.'

'Wait,' said Zane. 'But didn't you say the Power is what is keeping you here? If you transfer it to Lloyd-'

Lloyd looked sharply at Goldie. But the energy dragon was already shaking his head. 'No, the Power was just what originally kept me here. After a hundred years, my spirit's strong enough to keep hanging around on its own. When I transfer it to Lloyd, the worst I'll feel is a little bit woozy, promise.'

'That is where the rest of you come in,' interjected Earth. 'In order for Energy's chosen to complete the transfer of power, he needs you to send him your elements.'

'Send him our elements like…' trailed off Jay.

'Yep, by blasting him,' agreed Blue, sounding way too enthusiastic for just saying that Lloyd should get shot full of lightning.

'He'll be able to take it,' Ice said softly, at their horrified looks. 'His bloodline dictates that he must in order to reach his full potential.'

'So just blast him with a jet of fire,' Kai said incredulously, like he thought she was joking. By the looks on all of the dragons' faces, Lloyd didn't think they were.

'Oh!' said Blue, her head crests perking up. 'One more thing! Once Greenie hits that bell up there, you'll be given the elemental Blades. There are four: the Fireblade, Iceblade, Stormblade, and Stoneblade. They'll channel your elemental blessings so you can use them against the Stone Warriors.'

'So you're saying we get to fight?' exclaimed Cole.

Kai cracked his knuckles. 'I do like the sound of that,' he said. 'Alright. Lloyd, it's time for you to get roasted.'

'Gee, Kai,' complained Lloyd. 'I'm really feeling that big-brotherly love right about now.'

Goldie laughed. He put out his wing and Lloyd let himself be directed into the center of the room. The rest of the dragons and his pack moved back towards the walls. 'Okay, Lloyd,' he said quietly, across the tele-link only they could hear. 'Here you go, kiddo. Strike the bell, and fulfill your destiny.'

Lloyd took a deep breath. Goldie stepped back, giving him a look of such fond approval that Lloyd had to look away.

He flung out his wings, leaping into the air as the green light washed over him. The bell loomed in his face. Lloyd flipped back, kicking out at its shell. Dust flew up in a cloud. A low tone reverberated through the whole temple. He fell to the floor.

Light spilled from the center of the bell. Lloyd stood, willing himself back to a human. His feet left the ground; he hovered in the air. From across the room, Goldie beamed.

Light struck out from Lloyd. It bounced off the crystals in the corners of the room and turned the pillar by Kai a soft glowing red. Light shimmered across his body. His plain dark-colored gi shifted, gaining shining red highlights and a fiery dragon that wrapped around his arm and shoulder. A metal casing appeared in his outstretched hand.

The light rebounded to Jay. His pillar glowed blue, the same shade as the new color of his gi. It traveled to Cole and Zane. Their pillars lit up in orange and pale blue. A gleaming dragon appeared on all of their gis, over the stomach, legs, and shoulders respectively. Three metal objects fell into their open palms.

Still Lloyd hovered, bathed in the light from the bell above. Something was building in his chest, some feeling he couldn't put into words. Was it tension? Anticipation? Both of them and neither at all. He squinted against the light. The building reached its peak.

The Blades exploded into existence. One second the four ninja were holding empty hilts, then they all jumped back as their elements sprang to life. Fire blossomed from Kai's sword, and he swung it experimentally. Jay whooped at the lightning crackling around his. Zane's blade misted the air puffing from his lips and Cole's gleamed like a gemstone in the reflecting lights.

Lloyd had to close his eyes. The colors of the elements always enthralled him, and here, in their concentrated state of pure raw energy, it was all he could do to not go blind by their brilliance. Even with his eyes closed, he could still see the outlines of their auras. Could still feel them calling to him. He stretched his arms out to the sides.

"Send him your powers!" Kai shouted.

Fire slammed into him first. Lloyd gasped. Or maybe his breath was stolen away from him. It was all the same. In its raw form, fire devoured. It lapped away at all his desires, all his fears, all his hopes and dreams and pains. Lloyd grit his teeth and thought of Kai, of the fire ninja's honesty, passion, and convictions.

Being a master of fire meant facing your feelings head-on and not shying away. It meant forcing yourself to evaluate yourself every day, to be confrontational and ask, 'is this who I want to be?' over and over again.

Lloyd clenched his fists, and fire escaped from his fingers.

"Me next!" Jay called.

Lightning was the feeling you got after stepping off of a roller coaster, the jittery dance your bloodstream did when something went well, went amazingly. Lloyd bit his lip and thought of Jay, of the lightning ninja's jokes and smiles even when the light didn't quite reach his eyes.

Like Energy, lightning connected the universe together. What goes around comes around, and to encourage someone else was the same as encouraging yourself. Being a master of lightning meant noticing all the other people around you. It meant being unapologetically brave, even if you were terrified, even if you were hurt or sick, and greeting the world with a wide smile and a friendly voice.

Lloyd breathed in, and lightning flowed with him.

"Lloyd, are you ready?" Cole asked.

Lloyd nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

Earth was solid in the way the other two elements had not been. Lloyd felt instantly grounded, stable, like he could take on the world and never falter once. When he thought of Cole, images of the earth ninja as the steady backbone of their team flooded his mind. Cole was always dependable, always there to help whenever Lloyd or anyone else had issues.

Being a master of earth meant stepping up to the plate even if you didn't want to. It meant being a leader even when you would rather be anything but, even when you don't feel qualified to do so, because you saw a need and you knew you were able to help.

Lloyd unclenched his fingers as earth steadied his soul.

"This is the final element," Zane said.

Ice moved subtler than all the others, wrapping around him like a chilling blanket. Lloyd shivered at how rigid it felt, unable to reconcile its frigidity with Zane's eternal patience and kindness for a moment. But then he thought of the rest of his team, and he realized.

Being a master of ice meant always behaving and treating everyone the same way, indiscriminate of one's personal opinions. It meant being willing to sit back and observe while others charged ahead, being willing to accept opposing ideas with a smile, and to forgive readily, even if the person you're forgiving has hurt you many times before.

Lloyd breathed out, and ice coalesced on his breath.

As all four elements settled within him, Lloyd forced his eyes open just the barest of cracks. His packmates stared up from below, their faces a mix of encouragement and fear. Lloyd sought out Goldie, finding the Energy dragon standing a little ways apart from the rest.

'Here it comes,' he said softly. 'Lloyd, are you ready?'

Lloyd nodded. The next second, he screamed.

Power flooded Lloyd's veins, worse than anything he'd ever felt before. It tore through his limbs like his power-boost, liquid fire and molten metal. Lloyd clenched his fists and grit his teeth, scream trailing off into a long low groan. He could feel the power reacting to the elements. Each element seemed to wrap around a part of it, and slowly the pain began to ease. After several moments, the only thing he could feel was the aftershocks running through his nerves. The light faded. Exhausted, he crashed to the floor.

"Lloyd!"

Kai was at his side first, hands fretting over his skin. "Are you okay?" he demanded. "Lloyd, can you hear me?"

Lloyd groaned. He didn't want to open his eyes. Gold seared his eyelids, and when he finally blinked them open it filled his vision as well. "Yeah, I think." He pushed himself into a seated position, aided by Kai's hand on his back. "Did it work?"

"You tell us," said Cole. "Lloyd- that was crazy, whatever just happened."

"Yeah," echoed Jay. "When you started screaming- it nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Imagine how I felt," Kai groused. "I could feel his pain as it happened, it was- Lloyd? Lloyd, what's wrong?"

Lloyd had tuned out of their conversation several seconds ago. His body felt the same- and by the same, he meant like it had gone through a blender- but there was something pulsing beneath his skin. Some untapped well of power.

"I can feel it," he breathed. "It worked. I have the Golden Power."

The ninja erupted into cheers, jumping and hugging each other. Lloyd grinned, infected by their excitement.

"Wait a minute, where're your swords?" he pouted. "I wanted to see them up close."

"My sword?" Kai asked, looking around too. "I don't know. I dropped it when I came for you."

"Did you lose yours already?" Cole asked, incredulous.

'You shouldn't have,' Fire said, coming over to the pair. Lloyd braced himself for one of her disapproving glances, but it never came. She looked down at both of them, mood scales glowing a soft blue. 'The Elemental Blades were said to be tied to the souls of their bearers. You can't get rid of one that easily.'

'So like you guys.'

'Stretch out your hand,' Fire said. 'Concentrate on summoning it.'

Kai did so, face screwed up in concentration. About ten seconds later, the gold hilt of his sword materialized in his palm. His arm dropped from the sudden weight, but he recovered quickly and activated the blade part. 'Woah. That's seriously cool.'

"So they all do that?" Jay asked. He put out his hand, grinning when the Stormblade fell into it.

A violent buzzing erupted in the back of Lloyd's head. He twisted around quickly, wincing when it set off a round of throbbing pain.

"What is it?" Cole asked, immediately alert. He called the Stoneblade to his hands, it's unearthly glow pulsing softly in the darkness.

"Stone Warriors," said Zane, peering through the window. Goldie nodded beside him. "I can't tell how many, but they're heading our way."

Lloyd's radar pulsed with a hundred lights. The Warriors were still some distance away, but they weren't being subtle about the way they were climbing the mountain. That's probably how Zane was able to see them even now.

'They can't find you here,' Goldie said. 'Lloyd especially isn't in any state to fight right now, but neither are the rest of you.'

Cole looked at the glowing blade in his hand. Lloyd could tell that he was torn, but after a moment's pause, the earth ninja banished his blade. "Energy's right. We have to go. Lloyd, are you okay to walk?"

"We'll carry him if need be," said Zane. He pulled Lloyd to his feet, Kai hovering behind them.

Lloyd probably could have walked on his own, but it felt nice to have the others caring for him like this. Surely he was allowed to indulge just once. He leaned against Zane's strong shoulder, waiting for what Cole would say next.

'Go learn to use your new weapons,' Earth said. 'We'll be waiting for you when you are ready.'