WAR OF DARKNESS CHRONICLES
Book Two: A New World
Part Three: Golden Weapons
Chapter VI: Ditch and Desert
Country Diner; Clanton, Alabama
Earth
Saturday October 20, 2018…
Autumn was finally in swing in Alabama: the leaves were falling from the trees and the temperature was dropping.
As the sun reached its peak on a beautiful clear Saturday, Mack sat alone reading the news off his phone at a table for two at one of his favorite spots: the Country Diner in Clanton.
"Can I warm you up, sweetie?" a waitress asked Mack.
"Yes, please," Mack replied with a smile. The waitress topped off Mack's mug with coffee.
"Still waiting for your date?"
"She's not late; I'm early. I just wanted some time to clear my head before seeing her."
The waitress nodded in understanding. "Alright, hon. Just holler when she gets here and we'll get you taken care of."
"Yes ma'am; thank you."
After a few moments, a new voice from across the table spoke. "So polite."
Mack looked up from his phone and found himself looking at the Queen of Darkness seated at the table across from him.
"Having a nice weekend?" Rikayla asked, her face void of any expression.
Mack looked around the restaurant and asked, "Should we take this outside?"
Rikayla chucked. "How noble of you, but they can't even see me."
"Ah," Mack smirked. "You're not actually here. Just projecting an image of yourself to me. Clever—and cowardly."
Rikayla returned the smirk. "The things I'm working on require more energy than I would like to expend traveling back and forth to your world.
"That's why I stopped sending my scouts to follow you when they reported that you were looking for the Golden Weapons."
As Mack squinted his eyes, Rikayla continued. "Yes, I know that's why you are in the realm of Earth. I know you're seeking the Golden Weapons, because you need them to unveil your own weapon, which you believe will give you the power to stop me."
"And I know that you are going to try to overwhelm the Apex at the Sea of Sand on November 21, and that's when we will face you and stop you. Since you know all these things about us, you also know that once I have the Super Bolt, it becomes a certainty that we will defeat you, don't you?"
Rikayla impulsively grinded her teeth in response to this. "The scroll my scouts stole from Cloud Kingdom last year claims that the 'Super Bolt,' as you called it, will 'balance the universe.' But whoever wrote that scroll clearly didn't understand the extent of the powers of darkness."
The Queen of Darkness leaned in slightly over the table and whispered, "I am not concerned by any quantity of power you amass, Green Ninja. I will fulfil my destiny, and I don't care if you bring a million Guardians to face down my army."
Mack actually laughed, to which Rikayla became visibly agitated.
"How dare you laugh?" she fumed.
"You're afraid of me, aren't you?"
"What?!" Rikayla quickly stood up. "What did you say to me?"
In contrast to Rikayla's boiling rage, Mack remained seated and calm. "You're feigning arrogance, trying to get in my head. But I'm not a fool. Your fear is plain on your face."
Rikayla growled and Mack continued, "That's why you won't face me yourself until the Apex—you have to project this image instead. I'm afraid this little visit wasn't very productive for you, Your Highness. If you don't mind, my date will be arriving soon."
Breathing heavily like a rabid animal, Rikayla resigned to a vague threat.
"Be wary of my growing power, Green Ninja," she snarled. "Enjoy your date."
Rikayla then disappeared into thin air. As she did, Mack's girlfriend Anna arrived at the restaurant.
Mack stood to greet Anna with a hug. "Hey," he said.
"Hey," Anna replied as the couple sat down at their table. "I'm glad I could see you."
"I'm sorry we don't spend as much time together as we used to," Mack said as he waved toward the waitress from earlier.
Anna responded with a gentle smile, "No, it's alright. You have a lot of pressure with your mission and everything. How is all that going?"
"We've found two of the Golden Weapons—Cole is searching in meditation for the third."
"That's great," Anna beamed.
Mack nodded. "And we're making her nervous—Rikayla, I mean."
"Nervous?" Anna cocked her head to the side. "How?" she asked.
"Well," Mack replied, "she projected an image of herself to me, trying to act tough. But she knows that once we have all the Golden Weapons—especially when I get the Super Bolt, she will lose."
The waitress came to the table at this point and took the couple's orders. "We'll get that right out for y'all," she said before leaving.
When the waitress had gone, Anna reached across the table and took Mack's hands in her own.
"You're gonna win, Mack," she said softly. "I know it—I believe in you."
Mack smiled in response. "Okay, enough about all that. What's going on for you?"
The Hut; Billingsley
When Mack returned to the Hut after a very pleasant date, he was surprised to see all of the ninja plus Garmadon gathered in the common space.
Before Mack could ask what was going on, Jay blurted out, "Cole found the Scythe!"
"Dude!" Cole smacked Jay in the back of the head. "Let the man get in the door before hitting him with that."
"Jeez, sorry," Jay rubbed his head.
"How was your date, man?" Cole asked.
"It was great—where's the Scythe?" Mack rushed with wide eyes. "And how did you find it?"
Everyone rolled their eyes good-naturedly at Mack's insistence on getting down to business.
"I found it by meditating in the gravel pit on Highway 22," Cole replied. "It's in a giant canyon in a desert."
Mack nodded. "The Grand Canyon; that's in Arizona."
"Why didn't y'all call me?" Mack asked after a few moments.
Kai snorted. "And take away your precious time with your girl?"
"No way, bro," Danny said. "You deserve spending time with her."
"And getting away from this mission for a while," Lloyd added.
Mack smiled in response. "Well, I appreciate that. Let's go get the Scythe, then I'll tell you about mine and Anna's date when we get back."
"Sounds like a plan," Lloyd held up his hand for Mack to fist bump.
Mack fist bumped Lloyd and turned to Cole.
"Cole," he said, "teleport us to the Scythe."
Cole held out his hand. "Alright, all hands on deck."
The Grand Canyon; Arizona
The ninja appeared at the bottom of the enormous canyon, and before them stood a cave.
"It's a big ole' ditch, ain't it?" Mack observed as everyone craned their heads back to look up toward the top of the Grand Canyon.
"A ditch?" Morro asked, exasperated. "Isn't that understating it?"
"Absolutely," Zane replied. "Geological activity and erosion from the Colorado River eroded this 'ditch' over the six million years, meaning we are looking at six million years of Earth's geologic history in the mile or so of rock layers."
When all heads turned toward Zane, he quickly responded, "I did some research while we were waiting for Mack to return from his date."
"Well," Lloyd said after a moment, "let's get the next one."
"The Scythe is in this cave," Cole said. "I feel the pull."
Mack nodded. "Lead the way."
As Cole and the rest of the group at his back entered the cave, they were plunged into almost complete darkness. The only light came from far ahead: a faint golden shimmer that could only be emanating from a Golden Weapon.
As they approached near enough to see the shape of the Scythe of Quakes standing on the bottom of its long hilt, Cole slowed to a stop, as did the rest of the group.
"What's up?" Kai asked.
"Lloyd, give us some light," Cole said.
Lloyd created an orb of brilliant golden light in his hands, and an enormous gap in the cave floor became visible only a few steps in front of Cole's feet.
"Whoa," Jay exclaimed. "Good instincts, Cole."
"Thanks," the Black Ninja replied. "How do I get to the Scythe? The ceiling is too low to use my dragon."
"Then use your element to reach it," Mack instructed. "Earth is all around you."
Cole was silent for a moment and then held out his hands in front of him, over the gap.
The cave trembled slightly, and a narrow bridge ascended from an unknowable depth within the gap and situated itself to allow crossing to where the Scythe rested. Cole crossed the bridge he had summoned and took the Scythe of Quakes.
As with the other Golden Weapons, once it had been retrieved the Scythe teleported the ninja back to the Hut.
"That's three down," Cole said.
"Now it's my turn," Kai smirked. "But first…"
Kai put his arm around Mack's shoulders. "Tell us all about your date."
Mack's Family Property
Sunday October 21, 2018…
The next afternoon after the ninja attended Mack's church, Kai insisted on building a giant bonfire so he could meditate and find the Sword of Fire. He was rather adamant, saying he felt "an intense need to meditate near fire."
So, the ninja worked for about an hour to assemble a massive pile of firewood, and Kai set it ablaze. The Red Ninja then climbed up and sat on top of the burning mountain in cross-legged meditation position.
In the next few moments, the fire grew so hot that it incinerated the pile of firewood into a much smaller pile of ashes with Kai laying spread-eagle in the middle of it.
"It's in some place called 'Death Valley,'" Kai cried out before standing up. "I saw a road sign in a desert, like how Kasey saw clues on that beach."
"Death Valley?" Jay exclaimed. "Why couldn't it be Candy Valley or Kitten Valley?"
"Death Valley, California is pretty much recognized as the hottest place on Earth," Mack said, ignoring Jay's comments.
"Makes sense for the Sword to be there," Danny thought aloud.
"Did you see anything else? Any other clues?" Mack asked, directing his question to Kai.
Kai nodded. "There's a patch of glass in the desert. At high noon it gets so hot that a little bit of it vaporizes. I think the Sword will be revealed when that happens."
"High noon? What time is it now?" Morro asked.
"1:46," Zane promptly responded.
"Great," Morro rolled his eyes. "So we have to wait 'til tomorrow to go get it."
"Actually, we can go now," Mack replied. "California is in a different time zone, so over there noon will come in fourteen minutes."
"Thirteen," Zane corrected. "The time is now 1:47."
"Okay, so let's get going!" Kai beamed.
"Wait a second," Mack halted. "We're all dressed for fall weather. Death Valley still hits a hundred degrees just about every day this time of year. Everyone, take five minutes and put on some cooler clothes or we'll be totally miserable out there."
After changing, the ninja and Garmadon met back in the fountain room of the Elemental Temple and Kai teleported the group away.
Death Valley; California
As the ninja appeared in the middle of a great desert, they quickly discovered that the fall weather in Death Valley was hotter than even the hottest summer day in Alabama. The patch of glass Kai mentioned was right in front of them, and a sign that read "DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK" could be seen a little ways in the distance.
"Let's get this over with," Zee groaned. "I hate sweating."
"Then just don't sweat," Morro teased.
Zee playfully shoved Morro. "We can't all be ghosts, you know."
"We can't 'get this over with' for another five minutes," Kai said. "The sun will shine on that glass and reveal the Sword at noon."
"Thanks for the reminder," Jay snapped. "I needed it, since the heat is MELTING MY BRAIN!"
"Calm down, people," Mack appealed as Kai rolled his eyes. "We'll only be here for a few minutes—don't let the heat get to you."
When noon finally came after what seemed like an eternity languishing in the heat, the patch of glass in the sand began to glow brightly. After a moment, it emitted a beam of golden light into the sky.
"This is it," Kai said, barely above a whisper.
Kai then reached his hand into the beam and felt something solid.
"I've got it!" he cried. "I got the Sword!"
The beam faded, and all could see Kai holding the Sword of Fire before being teleported back to the fountain room in the Elemental Temple.
The Ninja Residence; Ninjago City
Ninjago
the same moment…
Sensei Wu's midday meditation amid the Spirit Smoke afforded him an unusually clear view across the Ethereal Divide and into the events taking place in the realm of Earth. When his meditation session concluded, he exited his chambers and entered the kitchen for lunch where Nya and Misako were waiting.
When they saw the smile on his wise old face, Misako voiced what they both were thinking.
"What's got you in such a good mood?" she asked.
Wu simply replied, "They're close to coming home."