Legends of Ninjago: Book 3: The Four Fangs

Chapter 1: A Fiery Disposition

Lloyd felt his eyelids growing heavier and heavier every second, begging to go to sleep. Just as they were about to close, though, his head snapped to attention and he rubbed his face vigorously. There would be time for sleep later. Right now, he needed to keep his eyes on the purple Anacondrai in front of him.
Pythor slithered just a few paces ahead of Lloyd, swivelling his head this way and that, asking questions every few minutes.
"How many tombs have been opened?"
"Where are we headed?"
"What's that strange moving carriage?"
He was an awfully curious snake, but Lloyd guessed that was to be expected of anyone who had been locked away for his whole life.
The sun had set some time ago, leaving the troop to wander the desert in the darkness of night. The moon was a crescent, so its light didn't reach very far, and Lloyd was tripping over shadows and stumbling in the shifty sand. He tried to force his feet to be more steady, saying that they just needed to go a few more miles, but that only seemed to make himself more disoriented.
After they had exited the desert, and gone up and down some grassy hills, they were finally under some tree cover in a thin wood. By now, it was deep into the night, when even the bats were asleep. There were no fireflies or owls or even crickets. Only silence.
They stopped to rest a bit by some boulders and Lloyd could feel his brain drifting off, but just before he lost consciousness, a Hypnobrai shook his shoulder.
"Get up," he said. "We're moving again."
Lloyd groaned slightly and peeled himself up off the ground. How much further?
Right when it was beginning to feel like the road would just keep stretching on forever and ever, Lloyd caught a glimpse of light up ahead. He sniffed the air a few times and it bit back with the harsh smell of smoke and burning chemicals. He was suddenly very much awake.
It wasn't long before the source of the light and the smoke was revealed. Greta Junction was a tattered, flaming mess, but the worst part of all, was that it looked completely abandoned. Lloyd couldn't hear a single voice or footstep as he and his entourage entered main street. There was just broken glass, rubble, and flames as far as the eye could see.
"What's all this, then?" Pythor asked. "Where are we?"
"This is Greta Junction... isn't it?" Lloyd asked, turning toward his snakes. They nodded.
"What happened here?" One of them mumbled.
Lloyd didn't know what else to do, so he turned and tore up the stairs of city hall. He threw the doors open, looking inside while a strange feeling settled over him. The hall was abandoned as well. The lights were off, the map from the table had vanished, and there was not a single soul in sight.
"Slithraa?" Lloyd called loudly. "Mezmo? Hellooooo?!" The hall was echoey and cold.
Lloyd's insides began to squirm. What exactly should he do now? Had Slithraa deserted him? Had the Serpentine been defeated? Why did every single one of his plans have to end up imploding on him?! Was it too much to ask to have something go right for a change?!
Just then, he thought he heard something. There were voices coming from outside. Lloyd turned around and walked back out through the doors.
"There's no one inside—" he started, but then he froze mid-step. His snakes were still there, but they were accompanied by a platoon of other soldiers; both Hypnobrai and Fangpyres. "Oh, there you are..." Lloyd said, eyeing them cautiously. "Where did Chief Slithraa go?"
The snakes looked at one another in turn, a secret meaning passing between their gazes. Then one of them spoke up.
"Come. The Chief has-s-s reques-s-sted your pres-s-sence."
Lloyd stood up as tall as he could (his head only reaching the Serpentine's chests), hardened his face, and marched forward. Something truly disastrous must have happened if Slithraa had abandoned his position. Only one group of people came to mind. Curse those ninja!
A Hypnobrai led the way, slithering in the dark, meanwhile the other snakes stayed close to Lloyd's side.
"My, my, this isn't quite what I had expected," Pythor remarked. "Such a dreary bunch, aren't you?" Lloyd kept his eyes on the black ground. "And not much for conversation either, it would seem..."
They were taken to a place much further from Greta Junction than Lloyd would have liked. It was a murky, river cove in the middle of a mossy wood, and as far as Lloyd could tell, far away from any civilisation. The water from the river made the air cold and damp, and there were bats flying overhead catching unsuspecting bugs. On the banks of the small cove—like long, looming shadows—the Serpentine stood, whispering among themselves.
"My Chief!" The lead Hypnobrai in the group said. "We have returned with Lloyd Garmadon!"
The crowd parted instantly as they approached, and although he couldn't quite see them properly, Lloyd could feel their eyes on him. He wasn't scared though. He was going to get answers.
"Chief Slithraa?" He called, moving through the crowd. He thought he caught a glimpse of gold up ahead.
Then, a gargled, raspy voice churned up the air.
"Chief S-s-slithraa... is-s-s no longer... with us-s-s..."
The final snakes had moved aside to reveal the leader of the Hypnobrai, and who should be standing there waiting for him but the misshapen form of Scales. Half of his face looked black and melted, as if it had turned to wax, and his red eyes pierced the darkness like flaming embers.
Lloyd gritted his teeth. Hard. "Chief Scales, I presume?"
He slammed the golden staff into the ground. "You dare addres-s-s me with s-s-such s-s-snide?"
"Little humans..."
"...they are such vile creatures."
Lloyd turned and instantly made out the two-headed silhouette of Fangtom, the Fangpyre chief.
"And quite..."
"...delicious, mmhhmhmh," the two heads finished.
Lloyd felt every eye on him tenfold, and it was only then that something truly registered; he was surrounded by snakes.
"S-s-slithraa may have taken pity on you, weakling," said Scales, "but I have no s-s-such frailty."
A hundred fangs, a hundred forked tongues, a hundred glowing eyes, and they were all pressing in around one target. Just as the first snake lunged forward, his jaw wide open, Lloyd shrieked and let loose an explosion of purple energy. One touch, and the closest Serpentine could feel their outer scales turning to dust.
"Not another step! I-I'm warning you!" Lloyd cried. Then he turned back to Scales. "Slithraa and I had a deal!"
"Yes-s-s... you did." Scales' gnarly voice made Lloyd's skin crawl. No, it made his skin burn! That two-faced, backstabbing, slimy little worm-weasel didn't deserve to be chief! He didn't deserve anything other than pain!
"What's-s-s this-s-s then? Are you going to throw a tantrum?" Scales taunted, noting the glowing red light in Lloyd's eyes.
That was it! "YOU WANT A TANTRUM!? I'LL GIVE YOU A—"
"GENTLEMEN! Gentlemen!"
Pythor, of all snakes, had just slithered in between them, narrowly avoiding Lloyd's death-grip. "Please! Let's not degrade ourselves by acting like wild animals! I'm sure there is a mutually beneficial arrangement that can be met, yes?"
"NEVER!" Scales and Lloyd both shouted.
"Come now, come now!" Pythor went on, as if he hadn't heard a thing. "Surely we can put our petty prejudices aside so we can fight our common enemy: Ninjago! They've hurt us all! They treated us like monsters—slimy, filthy, ugly, abominable, fowl beasts! They locked us away and promptly forgot! Their collective downfall is our endgame. An endgame that will not be realised if we throw away our greatest advantages."
"Like what?!" Scales spat.
"Master Garmadon knows the surface world better than any of us, not to mention he's powerful. His skills are invaluable." As Lloyd listened to Pythor speak, he could feel his anger subsiding. "And you need us snakes, young master! One boy does not an army make."
"His-s-s kind are nothing but trouble! By eating him now, we s-s-save ours-s-selves a lot of grief!" said Scales, glaring at the boy.
"And just what do you think that will do? Hmm? I'll tell you what..." Pythor slithered up close to the chief. "His death will spark newfound resolution in the rest of humankind—particularly his conniving father. If you kill him, you bring their full wrath down on all of us. The humans have more resources, and more numbers. If they mobilise quickly enough, they will overpower us. You kill him, and you kill us all."
All the Serpentine, even Scales, were starting to looked convinced, if not a little disappointed. Then Scales looked up at Lloyd again.
"Very well... we will not kill him..."
'Oh, goody, I suppose I should be grateful?' Lloyd thought.
"...but we will make him obedient."
CHOMP!!!
Lloyd's stomach practically swallowed itself. With a few shaky breaths, he turned his head to see a Fangpyre face pressed up against his neck, sinking its fangs deep into his flesh. He could feel them moving under his skin ever so slightly, while a burning sensation began to consume his body. When the Fangpyre let go, Lloyd's legs gave out, and he fell limply to the ground. He twitched and gasped, wanting to scream or cry from the strange pain he was in and the betrayal and anger he felt.
"Your time is-s-s up, human," said that slimy voice. "S-s-sleep now. You've got a big day tomorrow. Ha ha ha!"