Spirit's Awakening (Book 1 of Spirit's Calling)

Battle of the Corridor of Elders

A/n: I decided to make two shorter chapters instead of one long one for the last episode. Y'all know what happens next, so brace yourself. This season's finale is sad :(

Lloyd flew Y/n and himself towards the city. At one of the paths, they paused to let Neuro pull up next to them.

"They're heading west," Neuro informed. "I tried to stop them, but I'm just a mind reader. I couldn't help anymore."

"But you can help me," Lloyd returned. "Can you send a message to all of the fighters at once?"

"I can try," Neuro replied, pressing his hands to his temples. As Lloyd explained the message, Y/n heard it echo in her mind.

Fighters, head to the Samurai X cave in the desert. We will figure out what to do then, Neuro instructed.

He nodded to Lloyd, and both dragons swerved to the desert. When they arrived at the cave, many of the fighters were already present, and others appeared moments later. Skylor went over to Kai, the purple on her skin already fading slightly. Y/n immediately picked up on the tension between Garmadon and Wu, wondering when that had happened. Lloyd went over to Garmadon and they talked quietly, but Y/n didn't feel the need to find out what was wrong. It was clearly something between Garmadon and Wu, and she didn't need to get involved.

"Thank goodness you all got my message," Neuro said with relief.

"So why were we asked here?" Griffin demanded. "We should be fightin' snakes."

"Because anyone can fight," Wu replied evenly. "Only one side can declare victory."

Y/n nodded in agreement, realizing then that they must have a plan.

By the computer screen, which displayed a map with several red dots, Nya turned towards the elementals. "In the time it took you to get here, Chen has taken over the entire Eastern seaboard and is moving inland. With each village destroyed, they grow stronger." She pointed to the dots on the map.

So many...Y/n realized with despair.

"That's a lot of red," Karlof echoed Y/n's thoughts. "Karlof not like red." He pounded his metal fists together for emphasis.

"How are we supposed to stop them?" Gravis asked. "Not all of us can fight, not to mention we're outnumbered ten to one."

"Actually," Zane corrected, "Sixty-two point four to one."

Thanks for the pep talk, Zane. I feel so much better. Y/n crossed her arms, brow furrowed with worry.

"Look, I'm scared like the rest of you," Lloyd spoke up. "It may look like we've lost, but it's not over." He stood next to Zane and put a hand on the nindroid's shoulder. "When we thought we lost Zane, it nearly tore us apart." He looked back at the elementals. "But we didn't quit. We let it fuel us. We grew stronger."

Y/n looked at the computer, realizing she agreed with the other elementals. With the amount of red on the map and the number of snakes there were, how could they possibly win?

"There's hope," Wu added. "The Corridor of Elders." The map zoomed in where his staff pointed, showing a tiny gap between two mountain ranges.

"Corridor of Elders?" Shade echoed.

Wu looked back at the group. "I know we don't stand much of a chance taking on his entire army at once, but after he's controlled the East, he'll move West, tomorrow, and have to pass through the Echo Canyons." He gestured to the mountain ranges. "Our best tactical position is to make our stand where it bottlenecks: here, at the Corridor of Elders, the monuments honoring our ancestors." Once more, he pointed to the location on the map with his staff. "It's the narrowest channel, but our greatest chance."