Ah, no review. Does this mean the story is dying? I'm sorry, this one just wasn't as easy as A Powerful Echo (sequels never are) but if the trend continues the final one (Pythor's Return) will be even better! That and I have school so typing is hard. I'm only allowed my iPod out in my advisory period and lunch and we all know lunch is the only time to talk to friends you don't have classes with. Hopefully I'll find some time after school before/after homework/Once Upon A Time. Yes I started a new craze, but only because Ninjago season 4 won't be here until Januray 18th, 2015 and Lego hates me anyway because 1) Coya. Who would ship that? Cole and Nya? SERIOUSLY?! and 2) *spoiler* They killed Zane! I get the whole in the computer thing, but still! Okay I'll stop ranting now and let you read. :)
Lucas led us down a series of halls and through rooms and I felt lost. How could one castle be so huge? We went upstairs and downstairs, twice. It was like the halls kept changing, but eventually we reached the room Nancy was talkin about. Tove pulled us all in—still creepy—and we hid on what seemed to be a balcony over a large column. It had wires and parts sticking from it, and tied to a stalagmite nearby were Nancy and Caleb. They both looked terrified, though who wouldn't be? Nancy looked up and saw me. She closed her eyes tightly and I felt another twist in my gut.
She's contacting me, I thought.
Alex nodded and pulled me down to a sitting position. She crossed her legs and sat up straight. Meditate, it'll help her out, she told me.
I nodded and mimicked Alex, clearing my mind of all thoughts. I was back in the changing landscape, but this time it changed to darker places. The Dark Forest, some cave with black stuff that looked like a chunks of night, and finally the Underworld.
"Echo!" Nancy said in a panic. "They're going to destroy Ninjago! That column is a four part bomb. The bottom layer will explode, sending the next one up. Then that'll go up, and then the next and then it'll trigger some kind of mines five feet below the surface of the city!"
"Then we're getting you out and stopping them!" I decided. "Did the skeletons say anything about how to stop it, emergency wise?"
"No," Nancy said, tears forming in her eyes. "Just hurry!"
The connection broke and I looked to the ninja. Come on! I yelled silently, jumping up. We don't have all day.
Echo wait–
We can't wait! I argued to Lloyd. We have to go now!
I ran down the stairs to where the skeletons were. "Get her!" one yelled.
As they ran at me, I put my hand out, feeling tornado like winds shoot towards them. The skeletons flew back and I ran over to Nancy and Caleb. I cut the rope and they both hugged me. Another skeleton came at us and we stumbled back. Next thing I knew, Lloyd was standing over us, using his elemental powers to protect us. The other ninja were disassembling other skeletons as the ran in to try and stop us.
"Does anyone know how to shut this thing down?" Lloyd asked, looking to the bomb.
Caleb raised his hand and ran over to it, pulling away a panel of rock to reveal a bunch of wires. Nancy and I ran over. "How do you know which to cut?" I asked. "Here are twenty wires!"
Caleb turned to me and signed, Easy. They said they connected the blue wire to the controls. So we cut the blue wire so they can't use it.
"But the orange one is connected to the actual bomb. Cut that!" Nancy said.
"Can't we just cut all of them?" I asked.
"No!" I looked over to Lucas. He ran to our side. "Most of these wires are probably decoys that will detonate the bomb if we cut them. So blue and orange."
Caleb pulled out the kunai I have him. He reached up to cut a wire when boney hands grabbed him. Suddenly, he, Lucas and Zoey were all on their knees.
"The Mark of the Underworld!" Sukeruton boomed. "It's beautiful really. Lucas has one from when he was brought here, Zoey has one from when she was built, and Caleb has one from when he died."
"When he what?" Tove questioned. "I'd think I'd know if this kid was dead."
"His life, sadly, was brought back to him by his stobbornness and modern medicine," Sukeruton mumbled, "but his soul still belongs here."
"No it doesn't!" I yelled. "No one here belongs here!"
Sukeruton looked to me and frowned, narrowing his eyes. "Don't think I'm afraid of you, little girl. Just because you took down the serpentine don't mean squat here."
I tensed up. How did he know about the serpentine? I took a step back, Nancy grabbing my hand as she stared at him. I couldn't tell if she looked scared or determined. She just kept me next to her as Sukeruton started towards us.
"Get away from them," Alex growled. Cole went to stop her, but she ran at Sukeruton. With speed that I couldn't follow, he knocked the two swords from her hands, grabbing her wrists, pulling one behind her, and pushing her to the ground. "Let go!"
No one seemed to know what to do. I tried going to attack him, which would've been reckless, so I'm glad Nancy was still holding my hand and keeping me next to her. She met my gaze and then looked to Caleb. "I talked to him, we need to help him," she whispered. "Lucas and Zoey have a higher tolerance but Caleb…"
I nodded and used my other hand to draw my kunai. I had to hit him right. I aimed and flung it, it struck between his rib cage. The brief moment he was distracted was long enough for Lloyd to get him off Alex. Nancy and I scrambled over to Caleb.
Fire, he signed. Shoulder. Fire.
I rolled up his sleeve and found a symbol: Ω. The mark of the Underworld. I put my hand over it, feeling the heat for a moment before I took my hand away to blow on it. I stopped as I looked at the new imprint on my hand. Somehow the mark went from his shoulder to my hand. I plance my hand back over the mark and bit on my lower lip as I let the heat surge into my hand and through my body. I kept thinking about how much I needed Caleb to be okay. After a moment I pulled away, the mark on Caleb's shoulder was gone. He smiled up at me weakly and Nancy helped him to his feet.
I stayed on my knees for a moment, looking to my hand. The Ω was a thin black line that glowed with red. It burned, but only from my wrist down. I stood and looked to Zoey and Lucas. I didn't think before running over and putting my hand on Lucas's shoulder. I thought about how much I wanted Lucas in my life. He was my brother after all. A moment passed and I pulled my hand away, studying it. The symbol was thicker and the red area spread. The heat scorched up to my elbow. Just one more.
"Echo, don't," Lucas whispered. "You can't touch Zoey." He gave me a stern look.
I gave a little smile. "I promise not to hurt her, and the pain isn't that bad."
"That's not what I meant," Lucas said.
"Well, I have no choice," I said. I moved over to Zoey and put my hand over her mark. My vision faded out, and the pain seemed to fade as a memory played in my head.
Um…review! XP
