Hey everyone, Happy Friday and that means it's time for an update. Along with a soundtrack I've been wanting to use for a long time. Now I finally get the chance to use it. Type up the link on YouTube at watch?v=_D5H-VBLNd4 and when you see the mark, *, enjoy.
Chapter 19: Kuzca's Destiny
It has been over six months since Storm left to migrate and grow. But then again he would hate this weather as he's cold-blooded. It's February. But I tend to wonder if I'll ever see him again. But whenever I need to get something from Jamanakai Village or any other nearby village, my uncle would let me use my golden sai's to conjure my Spinjitzu Vehicle. But I still miss my dragon. But I like my vehicle too.
And for an unknown reason, I know how to make repairs to my bike and the ones the skeletons drive. Where did I learn to be a mechanic? The events of my week off have been fuzzy still. It's been six months since then and I'm still confused on what happened. I don't remember how I got my new sai's as I needed a new set and they were in my hands. I don't even remember how I got the burn marks on my suit. Was I in a fire? Did I save someone from it? I hoped I didn't reveal myself as a ninja to the world. Can't let my father know I exist.
The only thing I do remember was the glass jar of black powder and the leaves. I taken the pill capsules you would get from pharmacies and used a mold to have glass capsules forged and used the powder to have my own collection of smoke bombs. When in the tight capsule, the spark in the powder ignites everything to the point to where the glass capsules break and the smoke would last longer in the air. The leaves though, I find them effective as my pellets. I did a small experiment on myself to see how long the effects were and they last for a couple to a few hours. They really knock you out fast. Henchforth why I call them Knock-out Leaves.
Days have passed now and I'll never know when my uncle plans to escape the Underworld. He keeps talking to me and Samukai that he knows of a plan to escape, but he can't without a map. To what?
...
Rrrrrooooooaaaaaarrrrr!
I gasped as I dropped my pen. Could it be? Only one friend that I know would roar like that. He's back! I couldn't believe it. It's been too long since he left to migrate and grow. But he was finally back. "I'm coming, Storm!" I shouted excitedly and got up from my bed to perform Spinjitzu.
I stopped spinning to be dressed into my grey gi and pants without my mask, grabbed my sai's, and to make my uncle less angry, I slipped my shoes on. Once I was prepared, I didn't run for my door. No, I instead ran for my window, glad it had no glass or screen, and jumped out of it. As I fell, I performed Spinjitzu to make sure I landed safely so I didn't break my legs. A lesson I learned after I twisted my ankle from jumping out of a tree to reach another when I was fourteen. After I landed on the stone bridge, I was still excited to see Storm soon and ran across the courtyard to the keep.
Rrrrrrrrrooooooooaaaaaaarrrrrrrr!
I am coming, Storm. Just wait and calm down. I crossed the bridge and slowed down as two skeletons guarded the entrance and crossed their spears as I came closer. What were they doing? They can't do this to me. I am Lord Garmadon's apprentice and they have no right to block me from the keep. "Let me through, Jor and Myrite." I demanded to the skeletons. When you're in the Underworld for six years, you pick up a few names of the skeletons around you.
"Sorry Ninja." Myrite said coldly. "Under King Samukai's orders, we keep those that interfere out. Mainly you."
Interfere? For what? Storm's my dragon. I have a right to see him. Rrrrrrooooaaaarrr! I felt unbalanced as a strong gust of wind pushed me back. Storm must be angry about something. When he's angry, he flaps his wings to push me back to show me his anger. But why was he angry though? Oh wait it's because of the skeletons he hates. He's throwing a fit about it. But why keep me out? "Hold it down!" Samukai's voice bellowed. "Before it destroys our home!"
That does it. I'm going in. Screw the king's order. I pushed myself up to the guards, but they wouldn't budge. I felt bony hands grabbing my gi and saw Jor lifting me up with ease. Must've been a strong person before he died. Each skeleton was once human as Kuzca used to be. And once they joined Samukai's ranks, they still keep their physical strength as a bony skeleton. "Stay out, boy." Jor growled and threw me back.
I grunted as my back made contact to the stone ground. My lungs ached for awhile and I sucked in a breath and slowly got onto one knee. Rrrrrroooooaaaarrrr! I growled as I slowly stood up to my feet and glared at the two guards. I'm getting in no matter what. I may not have my golden sai's with me, but I can still control my powers. I slowly raised my arms up and had my hands in front of them. "Let me through." I said through my teeth in anger. I felt a cool sensation running in my veins and two streams of pressurized water erupted from my palms. Jor and Myrite were surprised as I was too at the liquid coming from me. Usually I would have control on water when I train. But never have it come from my hands. I watched the liquid sail through the air and heard shouts from the two skeletons and stopped the water to have two orbs in my hands. The orbs slowly merged back into my gloved hands and left them dry and looked up to see the two skeletons disappear from where they were as their bones were scattered with drops of water. Without hesistation, I ran into the keep.
As I ran through the path to the large area of the keep, I stopped in my tracks to gasp as the dragon calling out wasn't mine. It wasn't grey. It was a light orange dragon. A dragon that looked similar to mine, but it was lean muscled instead of Storm's muscular body; so it was slender. Instead of a rounded snout, it had a hooked snout like a hawk would have. Eyes were a rich shade of it's scales with the pupils like Storm's. And by the looks of the wings, hers looked stronger than Storm's. That's right on what I said. By the looks of the dragon, she was a female dragon. Where did she come from though?
"Hold it down!" Samukai demanded.
The voice broke me out of the trance and watched the brigade of skeletons throw grapple hooks in the air. The orange dragon cried out in pain as the hooks pierced through her scales to have blood well out. No doubt that her orange shine could blend her blood as it was dark red. It made my heart ache. "What are you doing!?" I cried out.
The hunched king skeleton turned to my cry to growl. His red fire eyes burned through me like daggers as I disobeyed his orders and possibly killed Jor and Myrite with my powers. My anger lead me to that. I glared at him as he did on me. "Stay out of this, boy!" he ordered. I don't take orders from him. The skeletons pulled the ropes and the dragon lost her footing and fell. She could get up now and skeletons bounded her legs together. "This dragon is causing trouble and will destroy our home if we don't do a thing about it. It must be killed!" He raised a fist and it was followed by a shout of applause.
I growled at them. They don't deserve to kill a dragon. My heart ached still as I looked into her reptilian eyes as they were pleading for release. This has to stop. I don't care of the consequences from the king. "That 'it' happens to be female." I stated coldly. "And release her now!" Samukai ignored me and drew out a sword. I gasped as he slowly walked towards her. To deliver the kill. I made myself a vow to protect those that can't protect themselves. Mainly to children who get lost in the woods or help elderly people when I'm in a village. But with dragons, it must be released. By me. I drew out a deep breath and held my palms out at Samukai. Just like what I did to Jor and Myrite. "Water!" I cried out and the two pressurized streams of water erupted from my hands. Samukai stopped and turned to scream in surprised as the jets made contact to him and pushed him away from the dragon. I relinquished the streams and drew out my sai's. "Ninjaa-Goo!" I shouted and created my Spinjitzu.
I directed my misty tornado at the skeletons who held the ropes with hooks onto the dragon and severed the ropes. I stopped spinning to swing a kick at Whyplash. I blocked the swords as the skeletons charged at me to prevail me from releasing the dragon. I then throw my sai's at two more skeletons that held the orange dragon's legs down and struck them in the chest. I ran, ducked, and even jumped over the skeletons to retrieve my sai's and sliced the dragon's four legs free. "Go!" I shouted at her. "Get out of here!"
The dragon sprung to her feet and roared the loudest at the skeletons. An orangish glow emitted from her mouth and exhaled to have nothing come out of her mouth. I felt a gust of wind run through my grown shaggy hair as the skeletons were being slowly pushed back or blown away. What kind of dragon was this? The dragon stopped blowing...what ever she was doing and stood on her hind legs and flapped her strong wings. I felt myself skidding as her wings were creating a wind storm to push the remaining skeletons. She landed on back on all four her legs and swiped her front claws at the ones regaining their footing while I fought against the ones with swords and grapple hooks. I ducked as she swung her tail around to knock the skeletons down to scatter their bones and ran out of the keep with me behind her.
I watched her run out of the keep and stretched her wings fully and took flight. She cheered in joy to be free as she flew in grace around the courtyard. I caught her eyeing me and roared to what I think was a thank you and started spinning like she was an orange blur. I knew what she was doing as it was the way Storm and I use to enter the Underworld from our flights. She was now using it to escape. I watched her fly up to the ceiling to see a vortex open up and she was gone. I don't know who she was, but I was glad to save her from death and slipped my sai's through my belt as I was done.
Suddenly I felt something grip my shoulders and something over my mouth and tied tightly behind my head. I tried to call out for help and only heard muffled noises from me. Perfect. I was gagged. I felt my wrists being tied behind my back and looked over my shoulders to see Samukai glaring fire at me. I broke Kuzca's warning. Never betray Samukai or suffer the consequences. "You must be taught a lesson, ninja." he growled with a sour tone. I glared at him as I was being dragged to the courtyard. I noticed the skeleton army gathering around as I was thrown in the center and watched him step back. "For once in two hundred years," he began to address the crowd. "We finally have a human who disobeyed my orders. Now this retched ninja has betrayed my orders and shall be punished. This shall be fun."
The skeletons began to slam the ends of their weapons onto the stone ground. They made it sound like a drum of steel as they slammed in unison. I tensed up as they were picking up with speed and gasped at the sight of a whip in Samukai's hand. The chanting stopped and echoed in the air as the hunched skeleton unraveled the coil and gripped the thick end. "This should teach on who you follow, boy." he growled and whipped his arm back and forward.
I quickly turned my head away to dodge the whip. Crack! The sound of the whip reminded me of thunder clapping in a storm. Samukai growled and drew his hand back to retrieve the whip and whipped it again. I rolled to the side as the whip came again. Crack! That was close. I watched him retrieve the whip back and whipped it forward again. In a quick reaction, I spread my legs open to make sure the whip didn't hit my legs and cracked on the ground. Correction, that was too close. I suddenly felt bony hands grip my shoulders and pinned me to the ground. I struggled to get up, but my hands were bounded and I couldn't get up. I lifted my head as Samukai retrieve the whip back and a wicked grin grew on his bony jaw. I closed my eyes as he whipped his arm at me to deliver the stinging pain I am about to endure.
Crack!
Huh? I heard it crack, but I didn't feel any pain. I felt the bony hands releasing me and I slowly opened my eyes to lift my head to gasp. In front of me was a skeleton dressed in red tattered robes with an expertly carved staff in his left hand while his right with a missing hand was raised up with the whip wrapped around it. Kuzca. He saved me. My friend gave the whip a tug to pull it free from a surprised Samukai and unraveled it from his wrist and knelt next to me and untied my gag and drew out a knife from his robes and cut my wrists free. "Are you alright?" he asked worriedly. I rubbed my wrists to feel a slight rope burn and nodded my head rapidly.
"Kuzca, what are you doing!?" Samukai shouted. "Return to the gates so I can punish the boy for disobeying my orders. That's an order."
Kuzca stood up without complaining about his cracked bones and turned to Samukai with a glare of his empty sockets. I carefully stood up and was starting to shake a little. What was he doing? "Never." he simply stated.
There was silence in the air. I looked around as the skeletons were surprised by Kuzca's retaliation. Even I was surprised. So was Samukai. "What!?" he shouted. "You dare disobey my orders again!? I am your king and leader of this army!"
*"I don't see a king here." Kuzca chastised. Then what does he see? I see an angry hunchedback skeleton. "No. I see a murderer and a thief that took everything from me and cursed me with this gatekeeper role. And I will not let you hurt this boy!" The blind skeleton turned his gaze away from Samukai to look at the skeletons. "You see what I'm doing!?" he addressed them with his voice raising up. "I am retaliating against this fool! I am sick of his ruling ways! I've spent two hundred years as his gatekeeper and I will not stand it longer! He took my wife from me and my son! And I will not let him do this to anyone!
My mouth dropped and so did Samukai's. Kuzca, what are you doing? "Stand down, Kuzca!" Samukai demanded and drew his four swords out. A fight was about to break soon.
"Noo!" Kuzca shouted and turned to face Samukai. I can feel tension of anger and hate rise in the air as the skeletons glared at each other. "I will not stand down to you! I will not bow to you like a slave!" he shouted, voice no longer creaky, but malice and steel. "I used to be human that had everything that I had love until you took it from me and made me immortal." Okay he sounds really mad. What made him this mad? Was it something that I did? Or Samukai? He sees me as his friend and I see him one too. And he also saved me from Sherra once because he was worried for me. Now that Samukai tried to harm me, Kuzca was now angry to retaliate him. "I am standing up against you as I am through with your kingly ways for I have the heart of courage to fight against you!" He lifted his staff up and slammed the end onto the ground.
He suddenly began to glow and I shielded my eyes to the white light as it was blinding to me until it died down. I removed my arms to see and gasped to what was in front of me. A skeleton with no missing rib bones or cracked bones or a missing right wrist. A full skeleton in front of me. The tattered red tunics were stitched and mended to have it clothed over his rib cage and legs. Leather boots climbed up to his mid-thighs with steel on the front to protect his shins. Behind him was a red cloak with the hood over his skull to hide his identity. The carved staff was still in his hands but on the tip was a spearhead. His staff was a weapon of a spear this whole time. And his eyes were no longer empty sockets of darkness, but were two blue flames of anger. Not red, but blue. The hottest flame there was. Kuzca could see now. My friend was no longer a blind gatekeeper for Samukai, but a savior and guardian to fight against the leader.
Samukai shouted in anger. He would not tolerate his subjects turning against him. "Very well then!" he shouted. "Prepare to die!" He gripped his swords tightly and charged at him with a battle cry. Kuzca shouted a battle cry as well and charged at the king. Both skeletons raised their weapons high and struck down.
The sound of thunder clapped through the air as both skeletons blocked the other's weapons. Samukai's swords were crossed to stop Samukai's spear from penitrating his rib cage. The skeletons removed their weapons to step back and Samukai charged back at my friend and swung his swords at him. Kuzca swung his spear like it was a bō staff and kept parrying the swords. Kuzca parried a sword to have Samukai stumble back and with a sly hand reached into his cloak to pull out two shurikens and twirled his body to throw them. The two pieces of sharpen metal sailed through the air like they were those plastic frisbee discs I would see the kids play in the village on the surface and struck Samukai in the chest.
The king cried out in pain. Bone fragments of his ribs scattered on the ground as the shurikens were buried deep into his sternum and near his collarbone. The hunched skeleton tossed one of the swords aside and gritted his teeth as he forcefully removed the shurikens from his bony body. "Very sly and clever, you fool." he complimented cold and harsh. "But you know that doesn't kill me. Unlike this dagger." He reached behind his back and drew out a dagger. The dagger was curved with hieroglyphics of their language on a black hilt. But the blade wasn't metal like most of the weapons around the Underworld. It was stone. Black stone from cooled down magma with a purplish ghostly aura. "The Reaper's Blade can kill you. Not just pathetic sword or spears. I shall use this to finish you off. I should've known you'd betray me since I let that pathetic, miserable wife of yours live and you wouldn't kill your son."
Kuzca shouted in anger and removed his cloak to reveal his skull. I can see the blue flames of his eyes burn with hatred like a bonfire. "You take back what you said, you murderer!" he shouted. "The one that shall be dead will be you for your crimes of cursing me and taking my family from me. This will show you that no skeleton fear you. They may fear you. But I don't."
Samukai chuckled wickedly. "Very well then." he laughed coldly. "Die like your pathetic family then." He shouted and charged at Kuzca. The once blind skeleton shouted too and charged at Samukai.
I watched as the two skeletons fought against each other in pure hatred. Samukai would use his swords to distract Kuzca so he could use the Reaper's Blade to kill him. But Kuzca would dodge the blade while attacking at Samukai with his spear. For someone who was blind for a long period of time, he fights well to have his eyes back to see and stood up against to the cold-hearted leader. Not one skeleton even interfere on the challenge as each one kept landing blows at each other. I should be doing something. "What is happening here!?" a cold voice shouted.
I turned my head away from the brawling skeletons to face my uncle. I didn't respond to him as I was worried for my friend. Staying silent, I turned my head back to the skeletons. "Kuzca is fighting against Samukai for this boy's safety." Kruncha stated harshly. My uncle looked at me to see if it was true with a glare. And in my reply, I nodded sadly. I heard a growl escape his throat as I got personal with a skeleton. A rule he told me when I was fourteen. Never get personal with the skeletons for you'll never know if they'll turn against you. Not Kuzca though. He was a person that was forced to be a gatekeeper for his entire life. A skeleton who hates Samukai as much as I do.
I watched Samukai parry Kuzca's spear from thrusting into his chest and watched him stumble back. The king switched the stone blade to have the blade pointed downward and struck it into Kuzca's rib cage; above where his heart was. Kuzca cried out in pain while clutching his chest after Samukai removed the blade to have a ghostly vapor escape from his wound. Was he...bleeding!? "Kuzca!" I cried out and tried to run to defend him, but was stopped as something grabbed my arms and wrists. I looked to see a small group of skeletons gripping my arms to prevent me from interfering with them as I couldn't escape their group. I was worried for my friend now.
Samukai watched as Kuzca whithered in pain to the Reaper's Blade and sheathed the stone blade. When the shuriken struck him, he wasn't bleeding that ghostly vapor unlike Kuzca. What black magic was this dagger? Samukai knocked Kuzca's spear away and kicked him in the chest to knock him down. Kuzca prompt himself up with his elbows and looked at Samukai with a scared, but hateful look. "Kuzca," Samukai spoke up while sheathing his swords. "For the betrayal of fighting your kind and disobeying my orders and befriending with a human, you are hereby sentenced to death. Any final words?"
Death? Was it possible since he's already a skeleton? Kuzca didn't look scared as Samukai loomed over him. He turned his head to me to smirk and then to the hunched leader. "No matter what you'll do, it will never change anything." he said powerfully. "I may have retaliated against you for the boy's safety, but one day, you'll betray yourself for power." He lifted his chin high with his chest out. Waiting for death to fulfill.
My lips started to quiver with a few stray tears slicking down my face. "Do not look away." Garmadon commanded. I nodded as I couldn't in the first place. Samukai raised a fist high and penitrated it through Kuzca's rib cage. Kuzca didn't even cry out in pain. Samukai brought his hand out from the ribs with a blue flame in his palm. Must be Kuzca's heart. The king looked down at Kuzca as he was still alive by a thread and extinguished the flame in his fist. It almsot sounded like shattered glass.
Kuzca gasped and sucked in a breath, but couldn't. He slowly collapsed back as his death has come upon. A whirlwind surrounded the skeleton's body and slowly turned his bones to dust and ash. All except for his skull. The whirlwind stopped blowing bone dust into a pile and the blue flames of his eyes flickered away to nothing.
Kuzca, my friend, was dead. No longer immortal. Dead dead. Samukai picked up Kuzca's spear and tossed it into the ash and robes of my friend's body and walked away in victory.
I felt my arms loosen from the skeleton's grip as they slowly walked away as if nothing happened. "You did well." my uncle complimented and walked back to the fortress. I was now alone with my friend. A pile of ash and bone dust. And the tears poured down my cheeks as he was gone.
I slowly walked up to the pile and fell to my knees next to the pile. I couldn't believe it as he was gone. My vision began to feel fuzzy and cloud up and slowly returned to normal. The sound of thunder made me raise my head to feel a down pour of rain fall on us. My emotions were effecting my powers. I not only have the power to manipulate water, but I can control and create storms like my uncle once said. I felt soaked to the bone as the rain poured down and washed Kuzca's ashes away with his skull slowly dissolving to ash as well. I even caught him smiling as he died as I figured it out why. He was finally going to join Mylee and his son. It was what he would have wanted.
After his ashes were washed away, I picked his spear up and his robes and slowly stood up. I gave him a smile as he was now free and slowly wiped my tears away. This was what he would've wanted. To be free and keep me safe. "Thank you, Kuzca." I said quietly with tears. "Rest in peace."
Poor Kuzca, but it's what he wanted though. To be free from Samukai. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed the soundtrack because I thought it was perfect for the part of Kuzca's retaliation. Have a wonderful weekend and see you all next week on Lucas' adventures. :)
