4. Dark Sides: Rise of the Anacondrai

Chapter 11 - Abracadabra

A/N: *manifests from a sea of essays to toss you a new chapter before sinking back into the depths* Take it! Before it's too late! Save yourseeeeellllvvveessss....

. . .

Skylor blinked open her eyes, then squeezed them shut again as a stab of pain shot through her side. It spread to her chest, and finally settled as a pulsing headache. She groaned, wishing that she could go back to sleep until it went away.

"It's okay, Skylor, I'm right here."

"Misako?" Opening her eyes again, Skylor saw Misako standing before her, one hand holding Skylor's cheek, her eyes filled with concern.

"Yes, I'm here. Now you must listen. Don't focus on the pain, focus on releasing the energy inside of you. You have to let it go, or it will destroy you."

Skylor couldn't concentrate on much of anything at the moment. She was still trying to figure out where she was. When she tried to move she felt restrained and realized that her hands were chained once again. "Where are we?" she asked.

"In the catacombs beneath the island," Misako answered hurriedly. Looking around, Skylor recognized the caverns where her father had retrieved the crystal for his staff. The ground and walls were cut into uneven planes like that of a diamond. Light glittered off of every surface and lit the room, though the hollow air made it clear that they were deep underground. "Your father will be back any minute now to perform the spell, so we need to hurry."

Skylor took deep breaths and tried to force herself to relax. She imagined the power flowing through her and back out to its rightful masters. Instead of bracing herself against the splitting pain, she tried to let it be and not fight against it. Immediately it began to fade into a dull ache.

"Good Skylor, now release it!"

She imagined setting the power free, allowing it to slip away and race back to where it belonged.

Suddenly Misako was jerked away from her and Skylor's eyes flew open.

"Let go of me! I'm trying to help her!" Misako was struggling in the grasp of two of Chen's henchmen. Not far behind, Skylor saw her father and Clouse watching without a hint of remorse

"Chain her up over there! I've had enough surprises. No one is going to ruin this for me."

"It's killing her!" Misako protested as she was shackled to a column of crystal next to Skylor.

Skylor looked to her father, hoping to see at least some sympathy, but instead he just rolled his eyes. "Skylor will be just fine. Don't think I don't see what you are trying to do! My daughter is strong, she was born to possess all the elements. Now, the time has come for us to perform the spell, and there is nothing you can do to stop me."

Skylor didn't feel very strong. What if her father was wrong and she couldn't handle it? She already felt like the immense power was tearing her apart, she didn't know how much more she could stand. And all this talk of her dying wasn't helping her to relax any.

She watched with dread as Clouse opened up his ancient book. As he began reciting the spell Skylor could feel the energy surge inside of her, unsettled and wild. She had to clench her teeth to keep from crying out. She felt as if she was splitting at the seams, elemental power bursting from every part of her.

But there was something more happening inside, even beyond the elemental turmoil. Skylor realized with a sense of dread that her father's spell was working.

Without warning, the elements were ripped away from her. Skylor couldn't hold back any longer and let out a scream of agony. She would have collapsed had she not been chained to the column. The power rushed from her body as if it, too, feared the unnatural changes happening inside of her. When the last wisps of it faded, she was left feeling like all the warmth had been sucked out of her until she was cold as a corpse.

But it wasn't over yet. The spell had only just begun to do its work.

Misako was trying to say something to her, but Skylor couldn't hear over the haze of discomfort and the rush of magic flowing from and around her. She groaned. Her insides felt sick, her bones and her teeth aching. Her legs went numb and even her face felt like there was something very wrong. 

Before long, the air started to settle again. Skylor winced at the chains still straining against her wrists. Everything felt wrong and painful and terrible. 

"Now I am the most powerful warrior to ever rule Ninjago!" Skylor looked up as her father laughed in triumph and she gasped. His skin was purple, thick and scaly. His teeth had grown to sharp points, and his legs had been replaced with a long tail. Skylor could only imagine how horrifying she must look as well.

"Skylor! Are you alright?" Misako called.

Skylor ducked her head. "I'm alright," she answered, though her voice shook more than she intended. In truth, she felt weary and sore all over. She just wanted to go to sleep and dream this all away.

"Just hold on. We're getting out of here." Misako – somehow no longer chained – whipped out a knife and threw it at Chen. He lifted his arm and the blade glanced harmlessly off.

He hissed. "You think a little knife can hurt the thick hide of an Anacondrai?" With that, Skylor's father burrowed into the cavern floor.

Misako dashed over to Skylor and produced a key which she must have already nabbed from their captors. Clouse and the two guards were still recovering from their transformation, but she saw Clouse throw a nasty look at them, raising his hand to summon another spell.

Then Chen reappeared before them and tried using his tail to swipe Misako off her feet. Misako leaped out of the way and kicked him in the side. Skylor yanked her hand free as Chen scrambled to recover. They made a run for it, Misako supporting Skylor along the way.

"After them!" Clouse shouted.

But Chen got back up and said, "No, they are no longer important. It's time we leave this wretched island."

. . .

"Cole! Cole, wake up!"

Cole jerked awake. He scrambled to a sitting position and looked around. "What happened?"

Jay and Zane knelt beside him. The other Elemental Masters were slowly waking up and helping each other to their feet, looking as dazed as he felt. He glimpsed Seliel near the edge of the harbor, trying to wake her robotic friend.

"Chen took all of our powers and put them into Skylor and ran off to do the spell!" Jay explained.

"We still have our golden weapons," Zane added. "Though it doesn't appear that they have been affected. For the life of me, I can't understand how they work."

Cole struggled to process all this information through the fog in his brain. "And where's Kai?"

"Pacing." Cole followed Zane's gaze and saw Kai walking back and forth a few feet away, muttering under his breath.

Cole sighed. "Looks like Chen has outsmarted us again."

"Don't remind me," Jay said. "Wu's going to be furious when he finds out."

"He won't, because we're going to fix this. Chen will probably be performing the spell any minute now, and he can't have gotten far. He's still outnumbered, so if we hurry, we might be able to catch him off guard."

Jay cringed. "But if he's already done the spell, he'll be an indestructible snake monster! We don't stand a chance!"

"Come on, we've prepared for this kind of thing! It's just Chen and a few of his goons. He still won't be able to take on all of us."

He saw Zane's eyes widen. "But it's not just Chen . . . he said that anyone with the Anacondrai tattoo will be changed –"

Jay gasped right before Cole caught on. "The prisoners!"

Cole whipped around, peering past the front gate and into the courtyard. Something was happening at the doors to the palace. The palace were Chen's prisoners were being held – 

The doors burst open, and a horde of violet-colored snakes came pouring out, hissing and growling.

Cole's mouth dropped open. Even though he had been told about the spell, he still had a hard time believing it. Now there was no denying, Chen had gotten exactly what he wanted, and they were too late to stop him.