Chapter Twenty-Six
Burn
The tension in the air was so thick anyone could have taken a sword and sliced through it. No one dared to say anything, but they all had the same thoughts. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Kai was the first to speak.
"I know," he said.
Nobody said a word. They only stared.
Kai said, "A villain we can't see is the worst villain to fight. We don't know where they are or what they can do, so all we do is wait, and in the middle of the worrying, the anger, and the fear, we don't realize that the enemy has already gotten to us".
The structure of the building set ablaze still burned with powerful heat and crackled as the support beams and whatever wood was left from its walls gave in and crashed to the ground. The group stood still and remained with all eyes on Kai.
"Um. I, um–" Kai searched for his words, "I'm angry, and I'm hurt".
Kai turns around and stares at the blaze. The dogs wag their tails and lick his palms. He says, "That–this is my villain".
Jay exhaled, "Does that mean–"
Zane interjected, "The demons we are fighting are within us".
Cole turned to glance at Rachel who nodded to him in reply.
"You didn't want to tell us this?" he asked.
"We couldn't," she replied. "We just found out not long after we got back from The Unknown, and we couldn't just tell you. It was something you needed to figure out for yourselves".
"All of this time we were chasing after an enemy and it doesn't even physically exist?" Jay asked.
"It's not something we can fight with our powers or training," said Cole.
"What about the note Amari found?" Jay asked. "And the group you guys told us about? If the enemy only exists within us, how do you explain those?"
"Those were sent to psyche us out," Rachel explained.
"It makes sense," Zane chimed in. "Those events only happened when no one else was around to bear witness".
"But the group appeared when Rachel, Amari, and Megan were together?" stated Cole.
"I think it's because we shared a common enemy," responded Rachel. "We're more vulnerable to things like that happening to us because of our holy position".
"Then that means," said Jay, "we're going to have to fight this by ourselves".
Suddenly, Rachel's hair took on a twinkling glow that spread from her head to her shoulders. Her outfit slowly faded into a golden-glowing white robe that twinkled with little sparkles in the fabric. She radiated with such a pure beauty that it brought peace to everyone who stared in awe.
Rachel turned to Cole and reached for his hand. Cole looked and saw a sight he never thought he would see again. Golden-white wings had sprouted from Rachel's back and stretched out each feather to its full extent. No one had noticed until they stepped forward that Lexis and the dog she traveled with had a pair of wings of their own.
"You have wings, too!" Lexis exclaimed. "Hey! I can talk again!"
"You never said a thing to me," said the star-struck male dog.
"Another talking canine?!" Zane questioned.
Cole looked to Rachel, now understanding what had just occurred. He whispered to her, "You're an angel again".
Rachel locked eyes with him.
"Will you leave?" Cole asked.
Rachel's gaze broke. She looked at her feet, "Our mission is complete now".
"Please," Cole breathed, "don't leave me".
Rachel intertwines her fingers in Cole's and pulls his hand up to her face, "I will be with you".
In one blink, Rachel and the two dogs were gone. The flames of the building fire crackling behind them was the only sound that filled the air and the only light that shone through the darkness of the black sky.
Cole sighed and turned to the rest of the team, "We're on our own. Let's go".
"But what are we supposed to do?" Jay asked.
"We need to split up," Kai replied.
"That's dangerous!" Jay exclaimed.
"We've split up before, we can do it again," assured Zane.
"Not with these things," Jay muttered while shaking his head. "Guys, I hate to say this but I'm scared. Up until now, we've just depended on Blaire and her friends. If it hadn't been for them and what they did for us last year, we wouldn't have known how to beat this enemy".
"We know what to do now," Kai said firmly. "We have to fight these things by ourselves, no help from teammates, no relying on others' powers. It's gotta be done".
Cole nodded and repeated while looking down with solemn eyes, "It's gotta be done".
He took a deep breath and straightened himself. His brain remained buzzed but he knew he had to maintain his composure for this next task. For all they knew, Lloyd was back at Garmadon's monastery fast asleep and unaware of what had just transpired. Someone would have to go back, fill him in on the details, and get him somewhere far away from the rest to avoid any casualties.
"I can travel the fastest to reach Lloyd and warn him about what we need to do", Zane chimed in.
"By yourself?!" Jay exclaimed.
"I will be fine," Zane said. His falcon flew down and landed on his outstretched arm giving him a nod.
"We are not alone".