Rise of the Overlord

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lloyd hummed softly as the wind rushed through his hair, closing his eyes as the water droplets from the clouds soaked his face. He leaned against Kai as the Master of Fire nuzzled against him, feeling his heat warm through his ripped clothes and recently healed back, he felt bliss and joy at being free. Hearing the wind roaring past his ears. Shard's cold scales under his legs and backside. Zane sitting in front of him. Feeling Shard's muscles shifting with each flap of her wings.

"Lloyd, open your eyes," Kai said, his voice sending shivers down his spine.

Lloyd opened his eyes and gasped for underneath the dragons was the Turquoise Gulf, the waves crashing beneath them with their ivory crests. The reflections of the clouds rippled against the water below them as the dragons glided around the larger ones. Many miles to the East, Lloyd could see the black smoke billowing up from the volcano at the Fire Temple. To the West, he could see the dense forests of Hiroshi's Labyrinth.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Kai asked.

"It's amazing!" Lloyd whispered, his eyes constantly glancing between the water and the land in the distance.

"But I have to say it's not as beautiful as you," he murmured in his ear, gently pressing a warm kiss against his neck. Lloyd shivered at the feeling and gave a shaky sigh.

"Hey, Love Birds!" Jay called over from Wisp's back. "Can you keep the PDA down a bit?"

"F- off Jay!" Kai called back playfully.

"You're the one to talk!" Cole laughed. "Snuggling with Nya on the couch practically every day!"

Jay retorted, "What about you and Zane, huh?"

"Can we all drop this? We are all guilty of loving our special someone's," Zane asked, then he cracked a huge grin. "Besides; Cole and I are the cutest."

Cole burst into a loud fit of laughter while Jay, Kai, and Lloyd cried out, disputing Zane's claim that they were the cutest couple. The three dragons rolled their eyes at their descendant's argument. Garmadon and Misako looked at one another and softly laughed.

Garmadon decided to speak up, "Ah, young love. So pure, so feisty, so innocent. I'm sorry to say that none of you are the cutest, that title belongs to my beloved Misako."

Misako awed and said, "I love you."

The five-ninja became quiet, they couldn't argue against a man who fought to be with his family for over a decade and finally achieved being reunited with his son and wife. After a few seconds, a shy smile grew on Kai's face as he looked at his teammates on their dragons. He had been so lonely for the past month; constantly thinking about his corrupted teammates, thinking about Lloyd, thinking about the good days before everything became royally fucked up (courtesy of the Overlord). He watched Jay talking to Cole from his dragon, with Cole laughing at his joke. He looked at Zane as he enjoyed feeling the wind rushing through his blond hair, then down at Lloyd as he closed his eyes. His heart warmed as he hugged Lloyd tighter against his chest.

***

As the shining turquoise ocean changed into ashen gray rolling hills, the joy the group of friends felt faded away. The trio of dragons avoided the numerous scattered villages across the landscape as they journeyed deeper into the heart of Ninjago.

Shard connected to each of the ninjas and reported, "We have another day's flight ahead of us. We will need to land and rest for at least a few hours."

"Where do you recommend, Shard?" Zane asked.

"There is an abandoned monastery a few miles ahead. It is resting beside a waterfall and tucked within a forest."