Ninjago: The Cursed Crystal King (4)

Chapter 31: The Hidden Worlds - Part 2

Following instructions from Artemis, Kai and Aaron travelled through the vast biomes of the Light Valley. They made it as far as the Purple Jungle, a place, where dragons are found.

Kai felt increasingly tired, he could barely keep his eyes open. He had been using his energy for five hours now, constantly focused on creating a dragon. 

The red ninja had darkness before his eyes and closed his eyes for a moment. Suddenly he was snapped out of his calm state by Aaron's violent shout and a pull on his shoulders.

- Kai, look out! - he called out in terror. Kai grabbed the reins at the last moment and steered the dragon sideways to avoid colliding with a tree.

Flame was also tired, so he didn't pay attention as he flew.

- Enough!!! I have to land, because I'm losing my strength. - growled Kai and directed Flame to land on one of the large mushrooms growing in the jungle.

The dragon landed on the hat, a glowing mushroom, and immediately disappeared, causing both boys to hit the ground with a thud. They rolled over the hat and lay on their backs exhausted.

- I give up! I didn't sign up for such a thing! I need to rest, my whole body hurts and I can't move.- complained Kai, putting his hand on his sweaty forehead.

- Same, even though I was just sitting behind you. - agreed Aaron, raising himself to a sitting position.

- If I'd known we'd be travelling in another dimension, I'd have taken more stuff with me. - groaned Kai.

- Same thing.

- How long are we going to sit here?- asked Fox after a moment, looking at the exhausted Master of Fire.

- When I get some rest. For now, we're not going anywhere.

The green knight wheezed frightened, widening his eyes.

- W- wait! This... this is me not moving! For how many hours without moving!?

- Yeah. - replied Kai nonchalantly, who did not notice the horror on Aaron's face.

- No, no, no! I can't sit still like this! It's killing me! No, I have to have something to do! - he said, breathing faster.

Then the boy went pale and looked around in horror at his surroundings. The longer Fox sat still, the faster his breathing became. Kai, seeing his behaviour, looked at him like he was an idiot, and after a moment the realisation hit him.

Kai picked himself up and walked over to his future brother-in-law. He grabbed him by the shoulders, to focus his attention on him.

- Listen to me, buddy. Don't think about it. Breathe deeply...Calm down, just focus on me and on breathing, okay?