Rise of the Overlord

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The five young men were awoken at dawn by Garmadon and Misako. Zane noticed that the two had a sense of unease around them, he was ready to ask what was bothering them but was distracted when Cole leaned against his shoulder, mumbling about wanting to head back to sleep. Under the cover of morning mist, the Elemental Ancestors changed into their dragon forms and allowed their descendants to climb on. Cole and Zane rode together on Rocky, Jay rode on Wisp, Kai and Lloyd rode on Flame, and Garmadon and Misako rode on Shard.

Cole dozed off in Zane's lap, his snores drowned out by the rushing winds. Zane's gaze varied from the Master of Earth's calm face to his other teammates to Garmadon and Misako murmuring to each other to the gray and desolate land storming below them.

His thoughts, though, remained on one topic; how did the situation become this volatile? The Prophecy foretold that they would win, or at least the Green Ninja would've defeated the Dark Lord. He figured that they should've realized there would have to be casualties, that things would've gone wrong, but to the extent of this? That 98.6% of Ninjago Island was corrupted by the Dark Matter? That, to Zane's knowledge, everyone but the seven of them under the Overlord's control?

Zane's icy blue eyes shifted back over to Lloyd and Kai; the Green Ninja was smiling and laughing at something the Fire Ninja had said, his artificial heart warmed at Lloyd's joy. The young man had given so much for the team, for Ninjago: his time, his energy, his blood, sweat, tears, his future, and most importantly, his childhood. To see him smile, even the smallest bit, eased the tight knot of guilt that was coiled in his stomach.

"I... I don't remember anything..." He thought about what Cole said when they awoke in the Spirit Coves. Zane, on the other hand, remembered everything under the Overlord's control. It took a while for his memory to recover, but everything came back to him. Zane remembered every screaming match with Cole, Jay, and Nya, every time Lloyd was tortured by the Overlord, every horrendous blood-curdling scream. He couldn't escape it. The memories haunt him. It was one of the few times he wished that he was human, that he could forget what can't be forgotten.

"Something's bothering you," Cole murmured, his sleepy green eyes filled with worry. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," he replied, giving him a soft smile.

Cole looked unconvinced but decided to change the subject, "What do you think the Temple of Darkness looks like?"

"I am not sure," Zane replied. "I have no knowledge on such a temple existing in Ninjago."

"Well we didn't find out about the Dark Island until a week before traveling there," Cole chuckled.

Zane's smile grew forced, he didn't want to think about the Dark Island and the events that transpired there. Cole wondered about his sudden change of emotion, but before he could ask Garmadon called out that they were almost there. Cole sat up and immediately felt Zane's arms wrap around his chest, he gave a content sigh and looked down at the ground hundreds of feet below them.

The rolling gray valleys faded behind them, slowly being replaced with a rocky mountainside, thick evergreens, and mist rolling over every jagged boulder. The low hanging clouds covered most of the mountain, hiding the temple from view. The four dragons were guided through the cloud cover, skimming the mountainside until they broke through the top, revealing the sapphire sky and the carved-out area where the temple rested. The five Ninja were distracted by the glorious view, relishing the color they had been starved of, feeling the warmth of the sun on their skin. They were shaken from their stupor when the dragons landed in the stone courtyard.

The courtyard consisted of cracked stone, weeds and grass creeping out from between the cracks, slowly taking over the stone. A fountain was still spouting fresh water in the center of the yard, the basin was covered in vines and weeds. The Temple of Darkness was built identically to match the Temple of Light on the Dark Island. The temple towered over the Ninja, soaring over forty feet high, though the peak of the mountain was still another sixty feet above it. The only difference that the Ninja could see was the color scheme; where the Temple of Light was red, white, and gold, the Temple of Darkness was gray, purple, and black. The Pillars were ashen gray and black, the walls were mostly violet but with black accents. The massive doors had a gray trim and black center, chipped and faded violet dragons were painted on the front.