The Master of Wind

Spellbound

Lloyd's P.O.V:

Early in the morning, the remaining eight contestants and I were ushered into a blimp above Chen's Island.

The sky, as brilliantly blue as any other summer day, was impervious to the turmoil happening inside me. It was a cruelty, an evocation of summers past when the team was whole and young, not decimated by this senseless conflict, not discovering shocking truths every day of the week. Kai and Jay had not taken the news of Aia's capture lightly, and with Nya being out of reach, the atmosphere was tense as we waited to arrive at the destination. The thought of Aia still filled my mind, but I tried not to let it consume me too much - I had to gain strength to defeat that son of a bitch, Master Chen.

"Ugh, I've had enough of this. I can't stand heights!" Neuro unbuckled and got out of his seat, heading for the door to the control room. "Where's Chen?" He opened the door to the control room, but much to our surprise, there was no pilot. Instead, a large screen on the control panel flickered on, showing a very dissatisfied Master Chen.

"Ugh, hello, final eight. I apologize for the late introduction - Clouse was having trouble with the equipment. " He shifted in his chair, peering at us with curiosity. "Mmh, I see you are all eager for the tournament to commence so one of you can win my Staff of Elements. But instead of fighting for a Jadeblade, today you will be fighting for something different - " The picture on the screen shifted to a video of Nya cutting her way through the dense undergrowth of the jungle, completely unaware of being watched.

Kai gasped at the sight and he looked at me with concern.

"You know that girl?" Skylor asked.

"It's my sister. She must still be holding on to the proof that will stop Chen."

Chen was smart, pitting us against her like this. The other contestant's determination to win the Staff of Elements came before their goodwill. She wouldn't stand a chance alone.

"We have an uninvited guest on the island," Chen said. "Find her and you will automatically move on to the final round."

"He wants us all to hunt her down?'" Jay had unbuckled and was pacing back and forth like a caged tiger. "She won't stand a chance!"

"Then we have to find her before anyone else does," I said. If only we could reach her in time and get the information we needed, we would finally have the upper hand against Chen.

Chen cleared his throat, regaining our attention. "In ten seconds, the bottom will drop. But to show you I'm not a bad man, I've given you eight parachutes. " Everyone rushed to grab a parachute from the stack by the entrance, but I could tell something was up by the tone of Chen's voice.

"What about my father?" I asked.

"Oh, Garmadon is here? Unfortunately, there are only 8 parachutes." He cackled as the bottom of the blimp opened, and everyone scrambled to hold onto their parachute as we fell out of the aircraft and into the open sky, gone like photographs crumbled and spun away by the wind. "Good luck!"

I dropped the parachute and felt the cold air hit my face like a truck as I accelerated faster and faster towards the island below.

"Lloyd, use your Energy Dragon!" Jay yelled but I could barely make out a word with the wind in my ears, body twirling and jerking as I fell. The wind in my face made it impossible to focus, I felt like I'd suffocate before I ever got the chance to generate my dragon.

"I can't! I can't do it!" I panicked as the contestants around me slowly got their parachutes to work. I attempted to slow my fall but the tension grew in my face and limbs, my breathing becoming rapid and shallow.