"I can see Ninjago!" Lyra called. 

Of course, her voice was still too quiet for the other Elemental Masters to hear, so Lloyd, who was flying beside her, had to repeat what she said.

They were all on their dragons, swooping down to catch the wind and propel themselves forward. They were a beautiful rainbow of glittering power. Lyra had already committed the scene to memory so she could paint it later.

"Chen and his Anacondrai army have a day's start on us," Lloyd reminded everyone. "Be prepared for anything and everything."

"How did we lose so much time?" Kai asked. 

Skylor was behind him, arms wrapped around his waist. It was so cute, Lyra knew she and Skylor would be talking about it later.

Along with hundreds of other things, like why she betrayed us.

"You know, you took an oath to never leave a man behind," Darreth said from behind Zane.

Lyra wasn't sure what she thought of the self-proclaimed "Brown Ninja." He was weird. And egotistical. But at the same time, he was funny. In a totally accidental way, yes, but still.

"And we're not all quick learners," Jay added. Nya was behind him. "Mastering your power to create Elemental Dragons takes time."

"Well, we're running out of that!" Nya yelled. "There's Ninjago City. Hurry!"

"Hurry's my middle name," Griffen said, using his power to quickly soar ahead of everyone else.

Everyone else followed suit, and, before long, they were flying above the city. Pedestrians looked up in awe as they passed.

"Remember, whatever happens, we're stronger united!" Lloyd shouted. 

Lyra nodded. "We fight as one!"

"Let's do this!" Jay screamed.

They swooped lower, navigating around buildings. People gasped, watching the group.

They all landed on top of separate roofs.

A woman made eye contact with Skylor. "Serpentine!" she shrieked.

The crowd started to scream and run. It was absolute chaos. Lyra watched as a child tripped, only to be picked up by their older sibling and dragged into a nearby store.

"I wish I sstill had the power to change." Skylor buried her head in her hands.

Lyra watched as her sister tried not to cry. She didn't know what to do, what to say. She and Skylor were never the most vulnerable, and they rarely comforted each other. It didn't help that the two of them had become so different over the past week. 

Maybe a hug would help? Or would it make everything worse?

"You have changed," Kai told her. "You're with us now."

Thankfully, that seemed to make Skylor feel better.

Thank you, Kai.

A horn honked from beneath Kai's dragon. A tiny old lady stuck her head out the window of her magenta car. "Could you be a dear and move your dragon? Thank you, young man."

Lyra jumped off her dragon as the lady drove away, landing next to Lloyd and Garmadon.

"If we're the firsst oness they've sseen, where'ss Chen, and why hassn't he attacked?" Garmadon wondered aloud.

"We have to get you and my sister off the streets," Lyra decided. "Before we alarm everyone."

"I agree," Lloyd said. "Everyone else, stick together and watch over the people!"

Each dragon flew away in a blur of light.

~*~

The ninja, Garmadon, Nya, and Lyra walked into what Nya called "her Samurai X cave." It was well-hidden in the desert.

Lyra looked at everything in awe. There were so many half-finished vehicles, yet each one looked amazing. At the front, there were screens with maps and radars on them. Everything was glowing, to the point where it almost hurt her eyes.

An old man with a white beard, Sensei Wu, turned. "You're all back!" he walked toward them. "Zane, look at you! You're all...shiny!"

A woman with gray hair pulled into a braid hugged Lloyd. Lyra didn't miss how much he visibly relaxed into the embrace. "But where's your father?" she asked when they pulled away.

The ninja parted to reveal Serpentine-Garmadon. "It'ss me, Missako."

So that's Lloyd's mom? Lyra tilted her head as she studied the woman. Makes sense, I guess.

Lyra wasn't sure how she felt about Misako. She abandoned Lloyd when he was younger! And at the worst possible place in the world, too: a boarding school for evil children. Lloyd had forgiven her, but Lyra didn't quite know if she deserved the forgiveness or not.

Misako gasped, reaching a hesitant hand toward Garmadon. Lyra didn't blame her. Her husband was a snake.

"Don't worry," Skylor told her. "We have reasson to believe the sspell may be wearing off."

"But if that's true, it only makes Chen more desperate to act now," Kai pointed out. "Everyone, this is Skylor, Chen's daughter."

"You're amongst friends, Skylor." Misako took Lyra's sister's hand and smiled.

She seems very kind for a woman who abandoned her son, Lyra thought. 

"Mom, Sensei Wu, this is Lyra." Lloyd nudged Lyra. "She's Skylor's sister."

"She's also the Master of Art," Garmadon told them.

Wu and Misako gasped.

"Of Spinjitzu?" Misako questioned. "Kartara..."

"The prophecy..." Wu whispered. 

Lyra frowned. "There's a prophecy?"

So all that stuff I was thinking about earlier...was it fate for me to meet the ninja? Lyra wondered. 

"Dad, why didn't you say anything about a prophecy?" Lloyd turned to his father.

"I was waiting until there was peace," Garmadon admitted. "Then, I could explain her powers, the Second Spinjitzu Master--Kartara--Aria, Stella, Lila, everyone. Everything."

"Uh...what? What does my mother have to do with my power? I thought I inherited it from my dad's side of the family!"

"Yeah," Skylor agreed. "Mom was the Master of Amber before me."

"Lyra, I swear when this is all over I will explain," Garmadon promised. He turned to his brother. "Thank you for taking care of my Misako."

Wu put his hand on Garmadon's shoulder. "As any good brother should."

"That's it?" Lloyd asked. He crossed his arms. "You're just gonna tell Lyra there's some big prophecy revolving around her, then just say you'll tell her later?"

Thank you, Lloyd. SOMEONE understands. Lyra knew there would be a better time for explanations, though.

"There isn't much time to talk right now," she pointed out, approaching the screens. She didn't understand anything that was playing on them. Even the map was a weird shade of blue that offset everything else. "Our friends are on standby, but we don't know where Chen will strike first."

"And if we're not all there to stop him when he first attacks..." Cole trailed off, not wanting to say what they were all thinking.

"Ninjago will succumb to war," Garmadon finished grimly. "Our greatest fear will come true."

"Then the greatest victory will be that which has no battle," Wu decided.

"But how do we prevent a war?" Jay voiced Lyra's thoughts. "How do we stop an enemy we know so little about?"

"Skylor, Lyra, do either of you--" Kai started, but stopped as they both shook their heads.

"Father worshipped the Anacondrai, telling of their glory in battle, but never got into detail," Skylor explained. "We know as much as Sensei Wu and Garmadon do."

Zane's falcon--which was apparently also a robot--swooped in and clicked one of the screens. Immediately, it switched to a picture of Kryptarium Prison.

"Let's find someone who does know," Wu said.

Lyra didn't question what he meant. She was pretty sure the old man was just cryptic in general, though it was annoying. Especially when he talked about a fucking prophecy she was in.

Lyra wanted to go home.

~*~

"Kryptarium Prison," Garmadon shouted. He was sitting behind Lloyd on his dragon, to the right of Lyra. "Home to Ninjago's worst of the worst."

Their dragons folded their wings and dove. Everyone jumped off at the last second, landing directly in front of the enormous building. 

It was almost the size of Chen's palace and had thick, concrete walls that were impossible to climb. Just in case, the top of each wall was covered in sporestone, a thick, red stone that absorbed high amounts of sunlight, making it burning hot. It would stop any prisoners from trying to escape via climbing. There was a red watchtower placed above everything else.

"I don't get it. Who's gonna help us here?" Cole asked as all the ninja pulled their masks on. 

I was thinking the same thing. Lyra pulled her dark violet hood up, concealing most of her hair.

"If one must learn how to fight a snake, one must talk to one first," Wu informed him.

What the hell does that mean?

Wu waved to the guard at the top of the watchtower. The guard waved back and opened the door with the press of a button.

They each went through machines that searched them for metal. Sadly, Lyra had to give up her Jade Blade, though the security guard searching her promised that she'd get it back as soon as she left the premises.

"Sorry for confiscating your weapons," the prison warden apologized as they made their way through the halls. "Here, we try to foster what I call 'an environment of encouragement.'"

He flicked a switch, and two metal doors slid open to reveal a maze of lasers. Behind them were swinging, spiky metal balls, spikes, and even firewalls--in the literal sense. They all disappeared with the touch of a button.

The group made their way through the main prison area, where many prisoners were yelling and banging on the bars of their cells. 

Lyra caught the eye of a woman who looked only a few years older than her. She had extremely pale skin, black hair with two silver streaks in the front, and a scar on her cheek. She glared at Lyra with all the malice in the world, as if Lyra had killed her entire family. Her dark gray eyes held an entire storm within them, making Lyra shiver.

Wonder what she did to get in here. Actually, I don't think I want to know.

The prison warden followed Lyra's gaze. He visibly shuddered when his eyes laid on the woman. "That's Keres. No one knows her last name. Says she killed all her family. She's the Master of Air. We just barely caught her last month, and she killed three of our men in the process."

Well, I guess I know now. Lyra looked away as Keres snarled at her. That was one woman she definitely did not want to face in battle.

"I'll rattle your bones, Warden!" a skeleton yelled as they passed.

That's right, a skeleton.

The warden chuckled. "Very creative, Frakjaw. Love the puns."

"Pyjama-men!" a pirate yelled. He had a peg leg, an eyepatch, everything.

I guess their gis do kinda look like pyjamas. How clever. How is there an actual pirate, though?

"Easy, Soto, I'm the captain of this ship," the warden told him. He turned back to the group of non-prisoners. "Ninja aren't popular around these parts, considering you put most of them behind bars. But, who you're looking for, he hates ninja the most. It's the last cell on the left."

Lyra moved closer to Lloyd, shuddering as a few pirates stared at her with malicious intent in their eyes.

She wasn't sure what kind of intent it was, but she didn't want to find out. If she had her Jade Blade with her, she would've pulled it out. But she didn't. Her only real defence was a power she had limited control of and didn't understand at all.

Lloyd, noticing her discomfort, glared at the men until they backed away, then slipped his hand into hers and intertwined their fingers.

That 100% made Lyra feel better. She had to look at her feet to double-check she hadn't unlocked a new aspect of her power, because she felt as if she was floating.

I take it back, she thought. I have quite a bit of real defence. Pretty sure Lloyd counts as an entire army.

They opened the doors of the cell. Lyra looked around for the prisoner. "Um...where is he?"

All she saw was a Barbie's Dreamhouse in the corner.

Lloyd approached the house, Lyra in tow. He stuck his head next to the window. Lyra crouched down next to him, confused.

A tiny white snake, about the size of Lyra's middle finger, was sitting on the pink, plastic couch, talking to a mini basketball.

What the fuck?

"We need your help," Lloyd said.

The snake gasped, turned around, and closed the curtains. They were just ripped pieces of saran wrap coloured with brown marker, though, so they didn't do much.

"Help you?" he asked. "The ninja? You fed me to the Devourer, defeated every army I've ever aligned with, even forced me to swallow your shrinking pill! Haven't you done enough damage to my diminishing ego?"

He screamed as Cole opened the Dreamhouse up, revealing a very tiny Anacondrai.

"Oh, it that Pythor?" Lyra asked Lloyd. He nodded. "He's way smaller than I thought he would be."

"And who might you be?" Pythor huffed. "Lloyd's girlfriend? Well, heads up, he steals candy from babies. Not exactly a green flag. He also bullied kids when he was younger, which is definitely not husband material."

Lyra didn't dare look at Lloyd. They quickly let go of each other's hands and moved a few inches away from each other.

"I--what--she's not--"

"He isn't--I--"

"He stole candy?" was the first sentence Lyra managed to string together.

Jay, Cole, and Kai burst into laughter. At least Zane and Garmadon had the decency to hide their smiles behind their hands. 

A burst of heat rushed into her face, and she glared at them. Mainly Jay, because he was laughing the loudest. She was already planning her revenge. It had something to do with Nya, of course. Everything to do with her, actually.

"Of all the people I could've chosen to hang out with, why this group?" she asked herself, sighing.

"Anyways," Pythor said, reminding them that they had a job to do, "I suppose that this is about that culturally insensitive noodle baron and his ilk that are now Anacondrai. Imposters, if you ask me."

That's one way to describe my father, Lyra noted. Much more creative than calling him a bitch that can't pull any women without using magic. I guess they're equally effective, though.

"You're the last remaining Anacondrai," Jay pointed out. "You gotta know how to stop them!"

"I'm not going to say another word until you can figure out how to return me to my original size." Pythor crossed his arms and turned away. "And don't ask me to trust a ninja."

"Would you trusst a ssnake?" Garmadon hissed, showing off his scales.

"Garma-condrai?" the snake squeaked. "Oh, now my interest is piqued. Let's make a deal, shall we?"

Lyra slipped away, following Zane as he stepped out of the cell. 

"Chen?" he whispered.

"Are you talking to Chen, the girl in your head, or referring to me by my last name?" Lyra asked. "Because if it's the last name one, I much prefer Soun."

"I was talking to Pixal. The girl in my head, as you called her. She believes we might be expecting unannounced visitors."

"I really hope not," Lyra murmured. "But what are the chances a nindroid is wrong?"

"In this specific situation, about 4.7%," the Master of Ice told her.

"How lovely." Lyra let her hands glow a bit, ready for whatever would happen next.

Just then, the PA system screeched, "There's been a breach in Sector 2! They appear to be Anacondrai and--uh oh, they're coming my way! They see me talking on the intercom. Oh, boy, here they come. Why am I still talking on this thing?"

The prisoners all cheered, banging loudly on their bars.

"It appears you were correct, Pixal," Zane said.

"I mean, with a 96.3% chance of being right, it can't be too difficult," Lyra pointed out.

"Don't you mean a 95.3% chance? Because 100 subtract--" Zane was cut off.

"I'm not good at quick math, okay?" Lyra crossed her arms. "Why are we even talking about this when people are breaking in as we speak?"

"You're right. It's counterproductive." 

They ran back into the cell. 

"You led them to me?" Pythor shrieked, slithering around in circles. He reminded Lyra of those spinning tops they used to give away at the noodle house. "What have you done? There's no escaping an Anacondrai!"

He grabbed the lampshade, which was a paper mini baking cup, and put it on his head.

Honestly, I'd buy a lamp that looks like that, Lyra decided. Wait, Lyra, you gotta focus.

"Tell me!" Garmadon shouted. "How do we sstop them?" He lifted the lampshade off Pythor's head. "What is their weaknesss?"

"Don't you get it?" Pythor screeched. "There is no weakness! They're Anacondrai!"

"Guys, we've got company!" Kai turned and looked at the prison doors.

Anacondrai were slithering in, their extremely sharp blades in hand. Meanwhile, Lyra's group had no weapons whatsoever. 

"I'll handle this," Cole boasted. He flipped over the railing, twisted midair, and punched the stone wall. "Earth!"

The rocks he punched out flew at the Serpentine. They dodged them easily, and the stones bent some of the prison bars. The prisoners cheered louder.

"Ugh, we're trying to keep the inmates in, not let them out!" Jay yelled as he and Kai joined Cole.

Garmadon grabbed Pythor. A bead of sweat dripped down his scales and almost hit his hand.

"No!" Lyra lunged and grabbed Pythor, shielding Garmadon from the sweat.

"Lyra, what's wrong?" Lloyd asked.

"Let go of me!" Pythor shrieked, to no avail.

"If the sweat touches him, he'll be a snake forever," Lyra murmured. She furrowed her brows. "How do I know that?"

An image of Clouse's spellbook was replaying in her mind. It was open to a page she didn't remember seeing before, yet she could read the words, stating that the Anacondrai sweat would make the change permanent, so clearly.

"It must've been one of your memories that Clouse wiped," Garmadon concluded.

Stupid Clouse. How many memories am I missing? Five? Ten? Seven thousand? Two million?

"That must be why they've come for Pythor!" Zane realized. "He holds the key to making their transformation permanent!"

"Thank you for saving me from that, Lyra." Garmadon nodded in respect. "I'd rather return to my human body when this is all over than be stuck in this horrid Serpentine one."

"It's just the right thing to do," Lyra said. "Now, we gotta get Pythor out of here."

Lloyd nodded. "If he's the key to preventing a war, we can't let him fall into the wrong hands. Literally."

Lyra snickered. She knew it wasn't the time, but still.

"Oh, I get it," Pythor drawled. "It's literal because of my size. Ha, ha, very funny. But I'm a little sensitive to all the size references?"

"A little sensitive?" Garmadon asked.

Lyra, who'd still been snickering, burst out laughing. Lloyd grinned.

"Okay, I stepped right into that one," Pythor admitted.

"Zane, keep them busy," Wu ordered.

"What do you think we've been trying to--" Kai got thrown into a wall by an Anacondrai, which shut him up pretty quickly.

"Ugh, get out of here already!" Jay yelled. "It's not like we can hold them off all day!"

Zane landed on the ground and punched a warrior, only to be immediately punched 10 times harder.

The alarms started to blare and the metal door at the front of the prison was slowly sliding shut.

"If we don't find a way out, we may never esscape," Garmadon said.

He, Lyra, Lloyd, and Wu ran to the front of the room and slid under the door just as it fully shut. Lyra had to pull on her leggings to free them from the door. They ripped, turning one pant leg into capris and scratching her leg, but she had bigger problems to worry about than her new fashion statement.

They raced through the hallway, dodging random blasts of fire. Lyra hissed in pain as her other pant leg singed. These poor leggings need a break.

Lloyd grabbed her hand and pulled her away as a spike almost impaled her hand. She did the same for him when a laser tried to burn his leg.

"Oh, some heroes you are, fleeing from the fight," Pythor muttered. 

Lyra was tempted to throw him at the spikes and watch as he turned into a snake kebab.

"Sensei Wu said the greatest victories--"

"Have no battle," Pythor interrupted Lloyd. "Blah, blah, blah. Well, if those Anacondrai are imposters, you guys are cowards."

"And what are you?" Wu asked, turning around while running. "There's a reason we never trust a snake." He took his rice hat off and threw it at a button, stopping the metal spikes from crushing them. "First the Anacondrai betray the truce in the Serpentine War, then you tricked Lloyd--"

"Are we sstill talking about the Serpentine War?" Pythor threw his hands up in the air. "The Anacondrai had every intention of honouring the truce. It was Chen who told us your kind was going to betray us. We had no other choice but to attack."

Garmadon used his tail to turn off the laser maze. "Chen ssaid you were going to betray uss!"

"Sounds like Chen was playing both sides," Lyra muttered. "I'm not even surprised at this point."

They slid under another metal door. This time, it caught on Lyra's singed pant leg, making that side into capris, too. And ripping off a layer or two of skin, but Lyra was too hyped up on adrenaline to feel the pain.

They were in a basketball court, surrounded by walls. On top of those walls were many, many Anacondrai warriors, some in mechs or Blade Copters.

"Again I say..." Pythor burrowed deeper in Lyra's hand. "Cowards."

"Do you want to go in my pocket?" Lyra asked. "There's a zipper and everything. It'd be more hidden."

"No, you fool!" he hissed. "I wouldn't be able to breathe!"

"Okay." Lyra shrugged. "It's your funeral. No one will even attend it."

"Protect Pythor!" Wu ordered.

Lyra handed him to Lloyd, not trusting herself with him. 

"Ninja, go!" he yelled.

He pulled his mask on and time appeared to slow. His powers swirled around him and he began the enrapturing dance again, forming a small tornado. Lyra almost forgot to breathe as she watched him knock down warriors with ease, particles of green surging from his hands.

Wait, his hands are empty.

"Where is he?" Lyra asked.

Lloyd stopped and looked around as time returned to its usual pace. "Uhh--I don't know! I lost him!"

"What do you mean you lost him?" Garmadon dodged a dagger that had been thrown at him. "Find him!"

An Anacondrai warrior grabbed Lloyd by the neck. Another one raised its blade, ready to cut him into two.

Lyra felt a surge of her power. Or maybe it was just anger. She tackled it to the ground, shooting bursts of power into its eyes. He dropped his blade and held his head in his hands.

She turned and wrestled the spear of the one holding Lloyd out of its grasp, relying on pure adrenaline. She threw it at a different one, pinning its tail to the ground, and helped Lloyd up.

Lloyd stared at her, shock and an unreadable emotion in his eyes. "That was awesome."

Lyra blushed. "I know, but let's get out of here before the adrenaline runs out." She saw something over his shoulder. "Got him!" she pointed to Pythor, who was trying not to get trampled by basketballs that Wu accidentally knocked over.

The two rushed toward him. He was yelling something about being small. 

An Anacondrai picked him up, looking ready to eat him.

Do they not need his sweat? Lyra wondered. How would eating him help with that?

Wu hit the Anacondrai in the face with his wooden staff, cracking one of its fangs. He caught Pythor on the staff in one swoop.

"Wu! My saviour," Pythor cried.

Suddenly, a piece of prison wall flew out of place. Cole stepped out of the hole, the other ninja in tow. He'd obviously punched his way through every prison wall to arrive there.

"Do you have him?" Kai asked.

These idiots--

The prisoners weren't far behind them, cheering.

"We can't let them escape!" Cole yelled as the Anacondrai stole Pythor, turned invisible, and fled.

Wu turned to face the prisoners. "No, we can't let them escape! No more smashing walls!"

You'd think that's common sense, but these ninja really enjoy proving me wrong.

"Leave that to me! Ice!" Zane created a staircase made of ice that stretched past the prison walls.

When everyone had made it up, Kai turned to face the prisoners. "Well, I'd hate to let anyone down, but...fire!" he shot fireballs at the staircase, melting it. 

The prisoners fell on the ground. Soto shook his peg leg to get rid of the fire on it.

"I encourage you to go back to your cells!" the warden yelled, an entire police force behind him.

One of the security guards turned. She smiled at Lyra, waved, then tossed the Jade Blade to her. Lyra caught it and waved in thanks.

None of this would've happened if we'd just grabbed Pythor and ran, Lyra thought, sheathing the dagger and then climbing on to her dragon. But noo, we just had to be civil human beings and talk to him first. Now,we gotta be ready for the end of the world.

She pushed down her shudder at the thought of fighting her father. Emotions could wait until later.

~*~

"We got here as fast as we could," Kai said as the rest of the group filed in the Samurai X cave behind him. 

"Twenty-one Noodle Trucks have been spotted heading toward Ninjago City just 50 klicks away," Nya informed them.

What the hell is a klick? Lyra wondered. Wait, not the time for that. Don't think it's too important.

"Let me guess, they ain't hauling noodles?" Cole muttered.

"Twenty-one trucks could hold 200 Anacondrai," Zane told them. "If they get to the city before we do, the city will be theirs."

"And they'll have achieved the pivotal firsst foothold in the war," Garmadon added. 

"We have to stop them!" Lloyd cried.

"I've already warned the others to head them off at the pass," Nya said. "They should be able to hold the line until you offer support. I had them equip themselves so we could communicate."

Just then, Shade's face appeared on-screen. Behind him were a few cliffs. "We're in position. If they show up, we'll be sure to put up a fight."

"They're coming to your location soon," Nya reported. 

Shade looked up. "I see them."

They watched as the Elemental Masters summoned their dragons and prepared to fight, only to freeze and stare at the trucks.

Shade looked down at the phone. "The trucks. They're going every which way."

"What do you mean?" Jay put his hands on his hips. "Aren't they going to Ninjago City?"

"I don't know where they're going, but they ain't going together," Shade replied.

Misako pointed to the screen with a map of Ninjago. "There are over 12 densely populated villages within a 10-klick radius."

Again, what's a klick? Lyra wondered. This is why someone as dumb as Clouse shouldn't be educating me.

"They aren't planning to launch one attack. They're planning multiple!" Kai yelled.

"What do we do?" Shade asked. "You told us to stay together."

"Chen knowss he can't take you all on at oncce," Garmadon said. "He'ss trying to ssplit you up."

"But even if just one of those trucks makes it to a village, the people won't be able to defend themselves," Misako pointed out.

"We have to protect the people," Lloyd said. "Tell the Elemental Fighters we have to split up. We'll each intercept a truck and stop it from reaching those villages."

"I don't like this," Lyra murmured. "It feels like a trap."

Skylor nodded. "Chen's most likely trying to draw everyone away from the city. Then he'll attack."

"And if he isn't?" Zane asked. "We must protect the people."

Lyra knew he was right. It didn't make her like the plan more, though.

"Whatever happened to 'we fight as one?'" Jay asked.

"Thiss issn't a vote, Jay," Garmadon hissed. "Thiss iss sstopping the end of our world as we know it."

Or starting the end of it, if it really is a trap, Lyra thought.

Everyone raced out the door. 

What's my father up to?

Lyra summoned her dragon and flew off, following the other ninja until the third fork in the road, where they each took off in different directions.

While scouting for the truck, she unsheathed her dagger and cut the lower half of her left pant leg off. She tied it tightly on both the wound--which was still bleeding--and the burn mark. She did the same to her other leg. They'd have to do until she had access to real bandages.

Now she was wearing weird shorts.

She saw a glint of red in between two hills and urged her dragon forward. Her hood flew back and her long hair whipped around in the wind.

She flew in between different hills, then dove in front of the truck. The Anacondrai warrior tried to run into her dragon, but Lyra threw her power into its eyes. It cried out in pain and hit the brakes, then crumpled to the floor. The truck rolled to a halt a couple feet in front of Lyra.

Lyra wasn't exactly sure what happened when she did that, but it was effective. She forced the door open, grabbed the snake's head, and smashed it into the ground, effectively knocking it out.

She took its sword. She shattered it, making sure none of the pieces hit her, then threw the pieces off the hill they were on.

I really hope that doesn't count as littering, she thought, unsheathing her Jade Blade and opening the back of the truck. It's to help save the world, so it shouldn't. Right?

There was nothing there. Every inch was empty.

"No..." she took a step back. 

I was right. Not that this is time for an "I-told-you-so."

"Everyone, come back now," Wu yelled from the communicator-watch-thing Nya had given Lyra. "It was all a trap."

Lyra immediately summoned her dragon and hopped on. Her burned leg scraped the side of its scales as she did so. She yelped in pain, and the dragon disappeared.

That's when the panic set in. Her breaths became shallower and quicker as she tried again and again to summon the dragon.

She crumpled to the grassy ground, legs and lungs burning. She found no tears make their way to her eyes. Instead, all the colour from the grass, truck, and road around her began to seep into her hands, leaving them a faint white colour.

She let the colour filter into her body, curling up into a ball and shaking in silent, tearless sobs, all her suppressed emotions finding their way out of her body in a scream that made birds nearby take off.

The new Serpentine War had just started. Her father was on the opposite side. Her sister was an enchanted Serpentine.

And Lyra was stuck sitting on the ground, pathetic and helpless.

We're almost done this seasonnn. I'm so excited for the next chapter you have no idea. Anyways, any thoughts on this chapter?

Word count: 5.1k (I've written 8k words today please help me)

QOTD: If money wasn't an issue, what would be the first thing you'd buy for yourself? (for yourself, meaning no being a good person and getting stuff for your family or a charity or anything)

A: Probably a gym so I can practice all my sports (mainly volleyball, badminton, and running) in peace, especially in the winter when it's too cold to go outside, and when it's too windy to play badminton.

Please do comment and vote because it really does help with motivation and motivation=frequent updates

Please remember to drink water, eat food, and get an appropriate amount of sleep for your age<3

~Aspen