The Samurai and the Snake (NINJAGO)

Chapter 7

"As luck would have it, we're caught in a raging blizzard." Dareth complained as he trudged in the snow behind the group. "Could this get any worse?"

"It's obviously the monster's spell." Kai growled, shifting the bag of heavy supplies onto his other shoulder. "The whole castle's put under enchantments. I wouldn't be surprised if he whipped up a storm to keep us out."

Cole picked up the bag effortlessly from Kai's shoulders. "Here. Let me get that for you."

Kai huffed, seeing his breath in the cold. "I could have handled it." He glanced at the young lord, who was already carrying a large amount of supplies. "God." He breathed in disbelief. "You're carrying those as if they're nothing."

Cole chuckled sheepishly. "I guess I've always been this way, never knowing my own strength. Remember when we were kids and I climbed those trees easily?"

Kai laughed at the memory. "Or when you accidentally broke one of my mother's bowls, just from holding it?"

Cole flushed. "I'm still embarrassed about that." He admitted. "I'm just surprised I didn't cut myself on the glass."

"You were always tough as nails." Kai complimented. "I mean, look at you! You're wearing this fancy riding outfit and carrying more than half of our supplies in a blizzard and it's not even tiring you. You're strong, Cole!"

"Are you two finished?" Ronin rolled his eyes, turning around the face them. "If this was the path, we're going to have to go another way. There's a fallen tree blocking the path and the wagon won't make it over."

Kai returned to scowling. "That beast."

Dareth plopped onto the fallen tree, sighing in exhaustion. "Let's set up camp for a moment and recollect."

"What?!" Kai's eyes widened. "No, we can't stop!"

"Dareth's right." Ronin spoke, crouching down and drawing into the snow. "We can't stay long, because of the storm, but we do need to figure out a new path. I promise we'll be moving again in no less than twenty minutes."

"Fine." Kai grumbled, sitting down. "I'll start a fire, I guess."

Although they agreed not to stay long, Cole set up the tent to block the group from the snowfall, and no one seemed to protest. In the distance, they could hear the call of wolves and a strange sound, almost like the cackle of a man. Frightened, the men all huddled close, afraid to encounter what was coming next.
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"Do you know what he's hiding up there?" Nya asked Pixal as she helped her tidy up the grand ballroom. The room was the only place on the ground floor Jay had refused to have cleaned. 

"Besides the workshop?" Pixal asked, brushing away cobwebs. "I'm afraid I cannot say."

"Because of the spell?" Nya sighed dejectedly. "Don't worry, I understand."

"No, I just don't know what it could possibly be that he's guarding." Pixal's small head glanced around before leaning in close. "Even we aren't allowed to go in. If you thought this place was a shambles, I cannot even fathom what his chambers must look like."

Nya swallowed. "Do you have an idea of what it could be?"

"My only guess is the item that was given to him, the night the curse was enacted." She hesitated before answering. "It's an unusual rose, an orange rose, covered in dust of the same hue. It serves as an hourglass, I suppose." She closed her eyes, as if she was recalling a memory. "As each petal falls, time ticks away... and when the last one falls..."

"The spell is permanent." Nya half-guessed, half-finished for her. She somehow knew the result, perhaps from hearing stories of curses and spells from the village.