A Winter Without Ice

Chapter Seven: Caved In

     The next day, Kayla and Austin spent the day training together. Austin was trying to come up with a strategy to fight together. Physical attacks and special attacks. Kayla's element was water and her weapon was a bow. Austin's element was air and his weapon was a bo-staff.

     The stranger that captured Luke took off the hood. It was a snake. A white snake with purple highlights.

     "So this is what Lloyd raised as a child? Pathetic," he said. "I guess it is like him as a child..."

     "Let me go!" Luke demanded.

     "Ooh... feisty too," the snake chuckled.

     Luke looks at the snake with an angry look.

     "The Overlord has a special plan for you..." The snake says as he slithers away.

     Luke remembered stories that Lloyd told him. How the serpentine seemed evil at first, but it was all just to warn them about The Overlord. Luke remembers the one Serpentine who had never joined them and had a hunger for leadership and bad things. Luke starts to cry softly. He doesn't know what was going on and he missed Lloyd.

     "Stop sobbing, child," Overlord says. "I'm going to tell you what I am going to do."

     Luke looks at the screen.

    The Overlord chuckles. "First, I am going to possess your body, then use your skills that Lloyd taught you, and then I am going to finish the ninja, once and for all."

     Luke doesn't like that idea. He keeps telling himself that Lloyd  and the ninja will come for him.

     "Just remember who created you and what for..."

     At home, the ninja are worried not only about Luke, but Lloyd as well. He hasn't come out of his room in a while. Kayla and Austin were still having fun and training together.

     "Hey, wanna see something cool?" Austin says.

     "Well..." Kayla hesitates.

     "It's really cool," Austin smiles.

     "I guess so," Kayla replied.

     Austin took Kayla by the hand and started running to the lake that wasn't frozen.

     Kayla sighed and ran with him. "Is this about Zane?"

     Austin shook his head, "Nah, it's about you."

     Kayla giggled as she kept following him.

    Austin let go of Kayla's hand and walked in front of a cave by the lake, "Here we are!" He pushed some vines out of the way.

     Kayla gasped, "Wow..."

   Austin smiled, "Like it?" The cave was covered with vines inside and out, but beautiful on the inside. There was a pond inside, some lanterns, and a couch made out of wood covered in deer skin.

     Kayla was speechless. She smiled and walked inside.

     Austin sits on the seat. Kayla sits on it beside him and cuddles up next to him. It was surprisingly comfortable. Austin sighed and put his arm around her. Suddenly they heard something. A sound that was strangly familiar. They knew that they heard it before, but don't remember what it was.

     Kayla gasped. "That sound..." she looks to the entrance of the cave.

     Austin looks that way as well. "It's familiar..."

     The cave started to rumble and before they knew it, snow was covering the only way out. There was no way to escape the paradise.

     "I remember now," Kayla says. "Nindroids."