Entropy

"M'lady?" A male's voice entered Driniah's consciousness. "M'lady, please wake up. I have news pertaining our lord."

"Mmh?" Driniah opened her eyes slowly and blinked in the light of the hot noonday sun. General Malian stood before her, face flushed from his exertion. He had obviously run a good distance to reach where Driniah sat on one of the two benches in her garden. "Yes, general?" She rubbed the drowsiness from her eyes and reluctantly embraced the harsh reality of the real world, reluctantly forgetting her halfway pleasant dreams. "Did you get a report back from Lord Julien? They've been searching the Northern border, right?"

Malian shook his head. Sweat matted his blond hair to his forehead as he gestured to the path that led to the stables. "You are not going to believe me," he said. "But...Kaytake is back."

The Southern lady leapt to her feet with a gasp, all thoughts of sleep vanishing instantaneously. "How?" She asked. "Where? Is he all right?"

The general nodded and held out an arm. "Yes, m'lady," he replied. "He's in the stables putting his horse away. He told me to run ahead and inform you that he was-"

"Take me to him!" Driniah interrupted. Her breach in etiquette was the mast thing on her mind. "Oh, Malian. Why didn't he come and see me straightaway?" She accepted the younger man's outstretched arm.

Malian began to walk her toward the stable yard on the other side of the trees, his booted boots hitting the cobblestones rapidly as he struggled to keep up with the Southern lady's sudden burst of speed. "Who am I to make assumptions, m'lady?" He asked respectfully.

"Good answer," Driniah replied. Her heart was racing as she nearly jogged down the short path. It had been nearly a week since her husband's disappearance, and it was getting increasingly difficult to keep the commoners from realizing that their Southern lord was missing. Not to mention the fact that she felt about ready to collapse from the stress his kidnapping had placed on her already debatably unhealthy body.

The couple reached the stable in under two minutes, surprising both the general and his mistress. The pandemonium could be heard from afar; snorting horses, shouting men, and pounding footsteps as people ran back and forth, giving and taking orders.

"Driniah?" Kaytake's voice called out from across the stable yard.

The noblewoman's blue eyes quickly found her husband's face as it peered over the flank of a grey horse. Her face broke into a grin, and she let go of Malian's arm. "Kay!" She exclaimed.

Kaytake skirted around the horse's back legs, kicking up dust with his boots as he broke into a run. Before anyone in the yard could so much as blink, the two nobles were engulfed in a chaotic, euphoric, and entirely unrestrained show of affection. She threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing loudly into his soiled shirt. "Whe-ere were you?" She asked through loud hiccups. "You were g-gone so long!"

Kaytake clung to her much smaller body tightly and planted kisses all over her face. "I'm so sorry, love," he whispered softly. His voice trembled with emotion. "I had a run-in with Borg."

Driniah lifted her face and blinked up at him through teary eyes. "A-are you all right?" She asked. Her tiny shoulders shook with another sob. "Did he hurt you?" She noticed a week's worth of greying stubble on his face and neck and stroked it tenderly. On most days, she found the facial hairs to be unattractive and crude. But right now, she could not care any less as she pulled his face down and kissed him passionately on the lips, making every servant and soldier awkwardly fall into silence and disperse. Their masters usually weren't so outspoken with their affections.

After several seconds, Kaytake's eyelids fluttered open and he stared at Driniah with his warm hazel eyes. The courtyard was empty by then. "Well, I'm fine now," he said with a cocky grin. "I missed you so much, love."

Driniah made a strange noise that crossed somewhere between a hiccup, a laugh, and a sob. "I missed you too, Kay," she said. "Come inside and get cleaned up. I hate to have to pull us back to the real world, but you've got a lot of explaining to do. Garmadon and Julien haven't been very happy since your disappearance."

For many long miles, Cole ran without any sign of fatigue. Adrenaline helped to push his already athletic body into a fast sprint that, for over an hour, made the trees go by in a blur.

He hated himself for running. He hated himself for being so afraid of his pursuers that he bolted like a panicked deer instead of protecting Kai.

Kind of like how he had not protected Zane and Pixal, and how he had failed to protect his family all those months ago.

Why was it that every time he tried to do something halfway good, it backfired in his face?

"One week, about six months ago," Cole remembered his conversation with Zane and Kai on that first night with them as his captives. "Kozu brought in a couple from a small village in the Northern realm. Normally, he'd have us kidnap for information. But this one... It was wholly for sport. For the Overlord's entertainment, I suppose. Kozu told me to hurt the girl..."

...Hurt her in a way a man should never hurt a girl. The Overlord had assumed that his filthy Dark Knight would find entertainment in this sport.

But what did Cole's refusal cost him? The cost was too great to bear without intense deterioration of the mind.

"The Overlord was furious..." His voice continued in his memory. "The amount of wrath that poured out of his purplish orb of floating light brought on a terror like I'd never felt before in my life...and I prayed that I would never go through it again..."

Please, oh please don't make me go back, he pleaded in his mind, even though he knew that no one could hear him. The Overlord will kill me. And it won't be a quick death, either. I'll be in fifty different pieces before the he lets my soul leave my body.

With this proverbial fire licking at his heels, he darted around the trees and bushes. Was he even going in the right direction? He hardly knew anymore.

An eagle screeched a high-pitched warning call above Cole's head, making him slide to a sudden stop, breathing rapidly through his mouth as he looked upward. The air was getting noticeably warmer as the sun continued to rise. That bird has been tailing me since before Kai was taken, he realized. Come to think of it, the eagle had been following me around for quite a while now; probably close to a week.

The eagle's cries suddenly rose in intensity, making the hairs on the back of Cole's neck rise. Something was definitely wrong here. He turned in a slow circle, still panting heavily as sweat trickled down through his wet, tangled hair that was pulled back in its usual style. Green eyes narrowed to slits, he examined his predawn-lit surroundings apprehensively.

He heard a distant noise behind him and felt his heart sink into his stomach. Stone warriors, he thought uneasily as he listened to the rough voices. They're a ways off, but probably coming this direction.

He had been foolish to think that the evil men of stone would be satisfied with just Kai. The Overlord had been expecting two noblemen and an obedient, broken henchman. Now nearly a week overdue, Cole knew that the Dark Lord was undoubtedly steaming paroxysmally in his dark prisons.

"Why don't you run away?" He remembered Zane asking. "Surely there is someplace where the Overlord would not be able to reach you."

Who would have thought that the Northern nobleman could be so naive?

"It's not that easy, Zane." Cole's voice had been fast, hushed, and fringed with panic. "There is nowhere to hide, if the Overlord wants you caught. I am his slave, and he is my master."

He was powerless to control his own life, so why was he trying? He belonged to the Overlord. Kozu had made that quite clear within the first week of his captivity.

If the Overlord wanted a man kidnapped, a village raided for supplies, or heck, a dancer from the Northerns broken, who could stand in his way?

No one.

So as the voices of the stone warriors drew closer and the bird's cries intensified, Cole came to a resolute decision.

He was done running.

"So..." Jay examined the small hut dubiously. "This is where the supposedly dead prince lives?"

Zane stopped breathlessly beside Jay with a nod. "Indeed," he replied. "I don't want to scare you, but he can be a little...weird."

Jay looked over at Nya, who stood next to Lloyd. She held a hand at her stomach as she gasped for breath. Jay realized guiltily that the sudden sprint with Zane had probably done some pinching in that wound Sir Cole had given her. "Are you all right?" The thief asked her.

Nya glared at Jay and let her hand drop back to her side. "I'm fine," she said sharply. "Why don't you go pick on someone your own size?"

Zane grimaced. "Ouch," he said as he beckoned them forward. "Nya, that hit a little below the belt. Be nice to the poor man. He did save your life, after all."

Jay processed Zane's words and paused mid-stride. "How did you know about that?" He asked.

Zane jerked a thumb behind him, gesturing to one of the bushes. "Her bird was in the cave with you two, watching everything you did."

Jay blinked. Does he not realize how perverted that could sound if taken out of context? He wondered. Watching everything Nya and I did in the cave...it's a little creepy.

Lloyd caught his eye and gave him a congenial nod. They had the same view when it came to those strange birds.

"But that aside," Zane continued without missing a beat as he gestured to the door of the chalet. "Ladies first," he smiled kindly to Nya, who nodded her simple thanks and entered the hut.

"Uh..." She backed up immediately and looked at each of the three men in turn. "Who's first?"

After exchanging glances with Lloyd and Zane, Jay reluctantly raised his hand. "I guess I'll go," he said. "What's the matter?"

Nya shook her head as if to clear it and made a guttural noise in the back of her throat. "Nothing," she said, left hand coming up to cup her right elbow as she stroked her cheek. "It's just...it caught me off guard, is all."

Jay was suddenly chary about entering the hut. But he could not back out now, so he took a deep breath, shot Lloyd and Zane unenthusiastic why'd you do this to me? glares, and stepped tentatively through the door.

The one-room shanty was shady and cool, a verity that Jay was immediately grateful for. A single cot laid against one wall, folded and propped up to save space. A few crates were stacked against another wall. A small, round table was pushed up next to the crates, leaving the center of the shoddily tiled stone floor open for unrestricted movement.

On this floor sat two figures. Both watched Jay with mild curiosity as they held cups of milky liquid between their palms. The older figure looked up at him with sparkling green eyes and a smile that barely showed through his long beard. "Hello," he said in his old, frail voice. "What's up with Zane? Did my guest scare him off?"

Jay looked over at the 'guest' and felt his pulse spike. Green eyes very similar to the old man's, a black shirt, wet with sweat, and a squared jaw set below scowling lips.

"Afternoon," the man said, raising his cup to take a sip. "How long has it been? Seven, eight months?"

"Nope." Jay turned on his heel and bolted out of the hut. "Nope, nada, nuh-uh." He stomped through the sand and came face-to-face with Nya. "Are you trying to kill me?" He shouted abruptly.

Nya backed up a step, brown eyes blinking rapidly as she processed this sudden change in her usually low-keyed companion. "So you know him?" She asked.

Jay pointed to the scar on his forehead and laughed sarcastically. "Oh, yeah. We've been best of friends ever since he gave me this stinker!" He turned his back to her and clenched his fists. "Please," he said, voice a little calmer. "Can someone else go first?"

Zane raised a brow. "Is the prince really that upsetting to you?" He asked, not understanding what either of them was freaking out about. "Fine, I'll go first." He walked through the door. "Although I don't see...why you..." He trailed off. "Oh."

Wu's guest looked up at Zane and inhaled sharply, cup clattering to the floor with a splash. "Zane!" He shouted as he leapt to his feet, drew his sword, and pointed it at the Northern nobleman. "You're supposed to be dead!"

Zane held up his hands as the sword came dangerously close to his throat. "Cole," he said, addressing the darkly dressed man. "You're supposed to be in the Overlord's prison."

Cole's wide green eyes examined his former captive's impassive face. "What are you?" He hissed. The sword shook with his tense arm. "Some sort of spirit, come to torment me because of my failures?"

A frown appeared on Zane's face. "Failures indeed," he said bitterly. "You killed my sister. And where is Kai, by the way?"

Cole gingerly slid his sword back into its sheath, eyes narrowing angrily. "Why do you care about where that rotten Southern nobleman is?" He asked in a low tone. "I did you a favor, getting-"

"Enough!" Wu shouted impatiently. He set down his cup and got to his feet unsteadily, using his staff for support. "You are all acting like children." He gestured to the open door behind Zane. "Where are the others? I saw the Blue Knight a moment ago, but what about my nephew and your girlfriend?"

Zane breathed deeply and calmed himself. "Outside," he said. "Nya, Lloyd, and Jay are outside."

"I'm not his girlfriend," Nya interjected. She squeezed past Zane and examined Cole's face.

The Dark Knight's Adam's apple dipped with his swallow. "M'lady," he said. "I...see that you're making a good recovery."

Nya nodded. "Yeah," she said in a friendly tone. "No thanks to you, but...yeah...I probably won't even know it's there after another week."

Cole nodded and backed up a step. "Good for you," he said. He turned and looked at his spilled cup. "Do you have anything to clean that up with, Wu?" He said 'Wu' without any feeling or respect, as if he was addressing one of his captives instead of a prince.

The elderly man nodded and pointed to a crate. "In there," he said. "I have a few rags that you can use."

"Excuse me," Jay said. "Can someone please explain what the flipping-fruitcake Cole is doing here?"

Wu stroked his beard, his smile returning. "Cole just got here, actually," he said. "He was just telling me something about a laser-eyed eagle when you came barging in."

"Hmm," Zane grunted. "Drinking much, Dark Knight?"

Cole conspicuously ignored the question.

Jay cleared his throat loudly. "Cole?" He addressed the Dark Knight with a measure of uncertainty.

The Dark Knight did not turn around, seemingly preoccupied with the mission of finding a rag. "Yeah?" He answered.

"Will...you not kill me, please?"

Cole grunted as he took the lid off of a crate and set it aside. "Will you promise to shut your flap and not squeak another word for as long as you live?" He asked.

Jay swallowed hard. "Err...no?"

Sir Cole finally found a small grey rag and tossed it onto his spill. "There's your answer, pal," he said. "Err, no."