Chapter Thirty-Two: A Spark in the Darkness
Kai was still disoriented, shapes shifting and growing around him, the darkness that had been encroaching upon his peripheral vision slowly dissipated. He blinked a few times, hearing the breathing of what he assumed were his friends around him before he actually began to discern them from the man-made cavern's walls. "G-Guys?" There was still the lingering presence of an arm around him, supporting him, and the blacksmith felt himself slowly being lowered to the ground. Bright blue eyes stared down at him and Kai smiled. "It...it really is you then? H-How did you get down here?"
"Why don't you ask Jay?" came Cole's voice from the opening of the cave.
"We jumped, no big deal," the puppeteer answered, shrugging. "Glad to see you're okay, Kai." The auburn haired man grinned and gave his friend a hard pat on the shoulder, sending a wave of pain traveling through his muscles.
Kai clenched his teeth together. "Jay, stop," the blacksmith breathed, trying his hardest to hide his injuries. Zane walked in front of him, shooting Kai a worried glance before continuing his pacing. Out of nowhere, the brunet was searching the area around him frantically. "Wh-Where's Lloyd? Did Pythor kill him?" He was trying to get to his feet now, slipping back down against the wall supporting him as his leg gave out, setting off a red flag in the others' minds.
"Kai, please, calm yourself," the android said, taking a knee beside the blacksmith. "You are injured and should rest. Lloyd is fine. He is here with us."
"He is?"
Kai knew he was weak, but he couldn't help himself. He focused his will into the palm of his hand, creating a small flame that illuminated the cave. He looked around. There was Zane, studying Kai closely, as always. Then Jay, ready to jump in if the blacksmith's body began to slump forward. At the edge of the cave stood Cole, blocking the entrance. And off on the other side of the cave, closer to Cole, was Lloyd's small, beaten body.
"Lloyd!" Kai trotted forward, carrying his small, weakened flame close to his body. Once he was close enough, Lloyd's pale features revealed a small smile. Kai chuckled awkwardly, holding back the sudden emotion that felt like it was drowning him. He didn't know how worried he'd been about the little guy until now. "You're alright..."
"Yeah," Lloyd looked up at Kai. There was worry in the blacksmith's eyes, worry that was directed at him. Even after all he'd done. Lloyd closed his eyes, the knot in his throat growing as a couple of tears escaped from his eyelids. He'd been forgiven. After everything, his friends were still here, standing beside him keeping him safe. He really wasn't alone anymore. "So...I suppose you forgive me?"
"You're an idiot. And you're a brat," Kai hissed, then relaxed his face into a tender smile. He reached out towards Lloyd and ruffled the kid's dirt coated hair. "But you're our idiot. And you're our brat. We're not going to leave you alone. We took a vow to protect you back at the Temple of Light."
"Ah..." Lloyd looked away. Of course. It was the vow. Not friendship.
As Kai continued to study the Golden Master, one thing seemed overwhelmingly apparent. "Lloyd...you're covered in blood." Kai's light brown eyes widened as flashes of memories flooded his brain. Pythor using him as bait. The gleaming black knife in Pythor's grip. Lloyd's face when he looked down and saw the weapon protruding from his chest. Then, there was nothing but darkness. "I just...how are you not dead?"
"We could ask you the same question," Cole interrupted, stalking back from the entrance to the cave. It seemed as though the Great Devourer had given up on trying to force its was inside their sanctuary. For now. "Honestly, I would have thought the fall would have killed you before anything else did." The merchant studied Kai's reaction, watching the blacksmith take a step backwards, favoring his left leg. He was gathering that Kai was more injured than he was letting on, but he did not want to prod the situation any further. The blacksmith's pride was probably more broken than any part of his body. "You know what? Forget it. It doesn't matter. He's okay. You're okay. We're okay."
Lloyd tried to sit up a little straighter, but did not make any progress, "I...I'm not sure why I'm still alive," he answered honestly, watching the dancing ball of flame reflect in Kai's eyes. "As soon as Pythor pulled the knife out of my chest, everything just stopped. There wasn't any pain. No more bleeding. It was almost like nothing had even happened at all." The green eyed boy glanced down at his own clothes and gave a long sigh. "Well...almost..."
"What's Pythor doing up there now?" Kai held the smallest hint of regret in pushing for answers to so many questions. He just wanted to know what was happening. Feeling isolated from what was happening, even for the shortest amount of time, was almost nauseating. The blacksmith felt like a lifetime had passed between his fall and now.
"A metamorphosis," Zane said plainly from somewhere behind Kai. "I do not have all the pieces of the puzzle put together quite yet, but from what I have gathered, Pythor has plucked a malevolent force from Lloyd's body and is now fusing with it." The air grew silent and still as the weight of the android's words settled upon everyone. "It was foretold in the prophecy we discovered in the library. 'Darkness and light intertwine, so they form a single vine'." His blue eyes locked onto Lloyd's figure and he slowly approached. "It was talking about you, Lloyd. You have had something inside of you for...only the Creator knows how long. Perhaps it has been part of you since you were born."
Lloyd nodded, things slowly clicking into place. "I...I always thought it was just...a darker part of myself, pushing me forward to do things I didn't want to do. That voice was the reason I...I hurt you guys. It kept feeding me bad ideas, telling me I couldn't trust you..."
Jay shrugged, gently punching the Golden Master's shoulder. "Hey, you heard Cole. We're okay. That's what matters. Sure, we're in a terrible position at the moment, and we're further from saving Ninjago than we were before, but...we're still here."
"It's time to put everything behind us. Right now, we have to focus on getting out of here," the merchant stated, stepping into the role of leader, reeling in the group's attention. "We can't find a way out while the Devourer is roaming around planning to eat us each time we turn our backs. So we'll have to kill it."
The puppeteer couldn't help it. He laughed, loudly, his chuckles bouncing off of the cave's walls. "Oh, Cole...you're too funny. Killing the Great Devourer? Riiiight."
"I do not think he is joking," Zane said. "And I believe he is correct. We will not be able to accomplish anything while we have a creature like that on our tail."
"Great. Just...great," Jay whimpered, leaning against the rock wall. "We are so hooped."
Kai looked around at his teammates, the light from his flame creating flickering shadows upon their features. Beating the Great Devourer seemed impossible. But besting the Serpentine rulers of the four kingdoms had seemed impossible too. And they'd done it. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go kick some butt. I'm tired of sitting around."
"Oh no." Cole shook his head, blocking the exit with his muscles body. "You and Lloyd will stay here. Neither of you are in any shape to fight."
Kai felt his lip curl for a split second. "Who are you to tell me what I'm capable of doing?" The blacksmith advanced upon Cole, trying to hide the hitch in his step as much as possible, but by the time he had fully crossed the space of the cave, it took everything in his power to stay upright. The merchant placed a reassuring hand on one of Kai's shoulders before lending him his support. Kai begrudgingly accepted the help and hobbled back over to where he had come from.
"Like I said," Cole stated, his voice steel, "you're in no shape to fight. Give us some time to go scout out the surroundings and see what the Devourer's been up to since it's been...quiet for a little bit now."
"You guys are just gonna get yourselves killed if you go out there," Kai argued, sliding down the wall that he felt behind him. Looking up at Cole from the ground made Kai feel weak and useless. He absolutely loathed it.
Jay scoffed from the entrance of the cave. "Kai, you don't give us enough credit," the puppeteer pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. "We're still alive. We've come this far, so we should be fine for a few minutes out there."
With that, Zane led the other two out of the cave, a soft glow emitting from the android's skin.
Has he always been able to do that? Kai shook the thought from his head as he sighed loudly, letting the sound reverberate shamelessly off of the walls surrounding him. Never had the blacksmith felt so useless and trapped. Except, maybe when he could do nothing to stop his own sister from dying right in front of his eyes. This made him remember that Lloyd was still in the room with him, and the brunet turned his eyes upon the Golden Master.
He looked smaller than Kai had ever seen him, a hint of fear staining his features. Kai willed the flame that wavered in his left hand to grow larger, and the orange light cast harsh shadows across Lloyd's face. "We're of no help to anyone right now, huh?"
"Yeah," Lloyd answered, his voice soft. Kai might have forgiven him, but he still felt a bit of tension in the air between them. He wished the others hadn't gone. At least when they were here, he could sit back, unnoticed. But now it was just him and Kai. Nowhere to hide. "It's...kind of weird not to be with them, you know?"
The Golden Master looked at the blacksmith, his green eyes locking with Kai's before he shifted them back towards the ground. He couldn't bear to look at Kai. Every wound that scarred the man before him was there thanks to Lloyd's actions. Kai and the others had been nothing but good to him. And, yet, he'd allowed the evil within him to take control. The guilt in the young boy's stomach was almost unbearable.
Kai took Lloyd's words to heart. "They'll be back." Right? The blacksmith had not dared to let the sliver of doubt escape his mouth. This was not a group of Serpentine they were dealing with at the moment. In fact, Kai was almost certain that defeating an entire army of Serpentine single-handedly would be easier than dealing with the Great Devourer. But, Lloyd was right. Being separated from the others was odd. It made Kai's skin crawl and tore his bravado away from him, leaving him utterly exposed. They had all become a single entity. Whether Kai liked it or not, he felt as if he would crumble without the support of his new friends.
Of course, he was not completely alone at the moment.
Lloyd seemed a bit tense. The kid had been through a lot, there was no denying that, and Kai had not exactly been the nicest, most supporting member of the team. Well, he killed your sister, his thoughts hissed. Are you going to let him get away with that? The blacksmith gritted his teeth and forced the thoughts from his head. "Is...everything okay, half-pint?"
"I just...I just feel bad. I've been told to be a hero. But I messed everything up. How can I fulfill my destiny if I've made so many mistakes? We're all supposed to help each other, but all I've done is drag us down." Lloyd blinked rapidly, fighting the tears welling up in his green eyes. "All in all, I'm just a kid. A kid can't save Ninjago."
"Yeah, you made mistakes," Kai shrugged. "But so what? Everyone does. You can't keep clinging onto them and feeling sorry for yourself. You need to move on, Lloyd. We're here for you, and that isn't going to change. Now toughen up. Our journey isn't over yet."
"So..." Jay muttered, kicking aside a small pebble in front of him. "When we do find the Devourer, what exactly are we planning to do with it?"
Cole looked at Jay briefly, then shook his head. He didn't know how to answer that. It was clear that the Devourer had to be defeated, but how could you destroy something of that magnitude? They didn't even have any weapons. Sure, they had their elemental powers, but the snake was bound to have thick skin. How much damage would they actually do?
"We're going to kill it," the merchant finally answered in an annoyed tone. He didn't mind leading the small group of rebels, but having them look up at him for the correct answers was infuriating.
"And how do we do that?" Jay shot back, blue eyes shining with irritating curiosity.
"I don't know," Cole sighed. "Any ideas, Zane?"
The android felt a bit apprehensive. He had dimmed the light from his body so that the glow only embraced the tendrils of darkness around them within a small area. This was risky. The Great Devourer would undoubtedly be slithering around somewhere. The chasm extended far in both directions, and Zane could not sense the serpent's presence in the immediate area, but that could all change in the span of a single second. He did not like the odds of dealing with Pythor's pet. "I was never fully made aware of any weaknesses. It benefited Pythor to keep that information exclusively to himself." Zane scanned the darkness around them once more. Was this what it felt like to be paranoid? There was still no sign of the beast. "We must be patient and try to think about this. The only way to defeat the Great Devourer and make it out of here alive might be to stay back and study it for a little while."
Jay sighed loudly and then tensed up. Had he heard something move behind him? Probably just his nerves getting the best of him. "What if there really is no weakness?" the puppeteer asked hesitantly. He was certain that his words echoed everyone else's worst thoughts. They walked in silence for a few more minutes.
"No," Cole said, his voice steady and confident. "Everything has a weakness. We're going to figure it out, Jay. We just need to stay positive about it all."