Darkness from Within #7: A Promise Broken (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 19

The world started to spin.

"No..." he whispered, gaze traveling back up to Lloyd. "Y-you didn't..." His throat tightened and he had to choke out the next words. "How could you?"

Grinning menacingly, the Baddie stalked past the blade, closer to the black ninja. "He was in my way," he growled softly.

Cole's breath caught in his throat. "I-in your way of what?" he whimpered, trying to move backward but finding his feet frozen to the ground.

"In my way of finding you," Lloyd snarled, drawing up in front of the black ninja.

Cole gasped, flinching backward. Somehow, he found the strength to move again and he began staggering away from the Baddie as he came closer.

"You should be proud," he cooed, although his tone was thick with malice. "He fought bravely. Seemed desperate to make his way back to you. But he wasn't strong enough," he added with a chuckle.

Cole's legs started to tremble. He didn't believe it. He couldn't. It wasn't true—it couldn't be! The man from the mountains, his friend—gone? He was here yesterday... He promised I'd see him again...

Lloyd went on rambling, but Cole was no longer paying attention. His eyes had fallen on the knife again. The blood on the blade. Raymond's blood. Lloyd killed him.

The sentence had barely passed through his mind before he was racing toward the weapon, ripping it out of the ground. Fury exploding inside of him, he whipped around to face Lloyd again and thrust the blade at him with all his force. Lloyd turned around, eyes flashing with alarm as he spotted the incoming danger, but it was too late. As he tried to dodge, the knife stabbed into one side of his stomach. Eyes glazing, the Baddie grunted softly and placed his hand on his injury, staggering on his feet.

With a screech of rage, Cole darted at him and barreled him to the ground, snarling as he grabbed the Baddie's suit and slammed him to the dirt. "How could you?" he shrieked, jerking his opponent. "How could you?"

Lloyd stared up at him, breathing shakily. With another grunt, he tugged the knife from his stomach and thrust it upward into Cole's. Gasping, the black ninja stumbled off of him, pain racing through him.

Blood spilling from his mouth as he cackled, Lloyd heaved himself upward, glaring at his opponent in satisfaction. "Hurts to be stabbed in the stomach, doesn't it?" he rasped out.

Coughing, Cole turned toward him, dropping the knife to the ground. He pressed his hand to his wound, feeling blood pour over his fingers. Dizziness swamped over him and he stumbled to his feet as Lloyd did the same, red streaming from both their sides. But Lloyd was still clearly stronger as he forced himself toward the black ninja again, drawing out That Sword. Cole's eyes widened in alarm to see him still armed and he fumbled backward, stopping when he found he was beginning to back into a corner.

A corner.

The dark place he was so accustomed to hiding in.

Feeling himself weakening, Cole desperately glanced from the corner to Lloyd, wondering what he should do. All his instincts screamed at him to curl into the familiar corner, but his mind must not have been thinking straight, because he wouldn't give in. It wasn't worth it. If he backed into the corner, he would be helplessly in Lloyd's clutches. And he couldn't go through that all over again. That wasn't what Raymond would want him to do. Raymond would want him to stay strong. But Lloyd was closing in on him, and if he hesitated any longer, he'd be trapped.

Barely giving himself time to think, Cole slid away from the corner and, in a flash, turned tail and ran.

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