Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 48: The Rescue Teams

"The coast's clear," Nya hissed.

Zane, Lloyd, Little Leaf, and Nya cautiously slipped out into the open of a wide, thickly-furnished corridor, glancing about warily.

"Smell anything, Leaf?" Nya whispered.

Little Leaf shook her head and shrugged, making Lloyd's sweater hop loosely around her shoulders. "No. But that doesn't mean there's no one there. This whole castle just reeks with smelly humans and weird liquids like the ones they had in that big room where the Moon Tribe warriors attacked." She wrinkled her nose. "Ugh. Your food can be really stinky, you know."

Zane scanned the hallway briefly and saw a large wooden door. "Perhaps that leads to the dungeons, where our friends may be held."

"It's worth a shot," Lloyd muttered. He glanced up and down the corridor once more. "Let's go."

Fortunately the group found the door to be unlocked, and they entered to discover a steep, narrow staircase. The crooked steps winded down into the depths of the castle. A faint light could be seen flickering from the shadows.

"There could be someone down there," Lloyd cautioned. "Be quiet."

"And don't be afraid, too," Leaf added. "We're done for if any of the warriors smell your fear-scent."

"Oh, great," Nya muttered. "The werecats can smell fear, too?"

"Shh." Little Leaf led the way, stepping silently on her bare feet—she had rid herself of Lloyd's shoes earlier, for they were much too uncomfortable for her taste—and the ninja followed.

They reached the end of the staircase and entered another hallway, this one lit only by a single torch on the wall by the threshold. Everything but the doors were made of cobblestone. Several leaks from the ceiling dripped the sides and onto the floor, and apparently had been for a long time, for here and there clumps of mold and moss grew between the cracks of the damp stones.

Leaf paused. "There's a fresh scent here. A tom. He was sitting in that chair." She nodded to a single chair sitting in the corner, beside a small wooden table. "I think he was the guard."

Zane offered, "Perhaps his shift for watching the dungeon cells has finished, and he has gone in search of a replacement."

"If a guard was left here, then obviously that means there are prisoners down here," Lloyd realized. He cupped his hands around his mouth and called loudly, "Cole! Liana! Eagle Talon! It's us! Are you here?"

There was no response from the still shadows creeping around the cold cell doors.

"They could have been given the Dark Sleep," Leaf murmured anxiously.

"I sure hope not." Nya trotted down the corridor. "Let's see if they're here."

The group began searching the cells of the dungeon. They opened door after door, revealing empty cell after empty cell. No voice responded to their pleading calls. As their anxious search began to prove fruitless, fear rose for their friends.

"They— they wouldn't have done something else to them, do you think?" Nya murmured as she stared despairingly into yet another empty cell. "What if Black Blood—?"

"Don't say it," Lloyd said, clenching his jaw. "Surely we would have heard something if the Moon Tribe had just... killed them."

"This one is locked."

Everyone turned and stared at Zane, who was standing at a door at the end of the hall. He was tugging on the handle. "There must be prisoners in here, if not anywhere else. Cole! Talon! Can any of you hear us?"