Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 51: Beneath Earth and Stone

The sound of Cole's scream haunted Liana for the rest of her life.

"Cole!" She heard Lloyd cry out in shock.

Raven Frost cackled. Someone in front of her sank to the floor. Surely Raven Frost hadn't—? No... Cole was still alive. His moans were echoing loudly throughout the stone tunnel—horrible, aching moans. From the sound of it, he was down on the floor, perhaps on his hands and knees.

What had Raven Frost done to Cole?

Matilda stumbled to her feet—Liana could hear her boots scraping across the stone surface—and then she cursed. "Cole!"

Someone made a move toward Cole—most likely Lloyd—but Raven Frost blocked his way. "You can't help Cole now, young one," he cackled.

"Liana!" Matilda cried. "Get Cole and get out of here—now!" She cried out the name of a spell in a strange language, and a loud bang made the walls shudder. Lloyd's energy balls whizzed loudly, and they were followed by Raven Frost and Sky Pelt yowling angrily. The battle between species was continuing.

Liana stood by, frozen with fear and indecision. If only she had her nunchucks... Maybe she could do Spinjitzu, and—

"Go!" Matilda shrieked at her. "Take Cole and go!"

Liana jumped. What in the world was she thinking? Matilda and Lloyd would take care of the werecat sorcerers; she would have to swallow her pride and help Cole away from the fighting. She gritted her teeth and reached out. "Cole?"

A low moan answered her call. Her wrist bumped into his forehead; he was kneeling, crouching over on the floor. She felt for his face. "Cole, you have to get up. Can you walk?"

Cole didn't seem able to hear her. He flinched away from her touch, but persistently she groped for his face. As soon as her fingers brushed against his cheek, however, she drew back with a horrified gasp.

Where her fingers had touched him, they were now warm and sticky with a wet, thick liquid, and she didn't have to see to realize that it was seeping down the front of Cole's face at an alarming rate.

Bile rose in her throat, and she choked. She was so close to him she could smell it. In her horror she put her hand to her mouth—and immediately gagged, now that the blood was on her mouth.

"Cole, please—!" She gritted her teeth and grabbed him by the arms, yanking him to his feet. "We have to run! Come on!"

"I can't... see..." Cole's voice was quivering and faint. "My eyes... they— he took my eyes... I can't see—"

"Neither can I, but that doesn't stop me, does it?!" Liana slipped her arm around his waist and began to half-drag him down the hall. "I can't carry you myself! Try to run!"

"I can't..."

Liana tried to ignore Cole's feeble protests and quivering moans. She knew he was probably in the worst pain in he had ever experienced in his life, but she had to get him away from the battle, before Raven Frost or Sky Pelt could finish him off.

Her heart raced frantically in her chest, so rapidly that it made breathing under Cole's weight painful. She had absolutely no idea where she was going. All she knew was that she had to get Cole away from danger; she had to protect him.

Liana and Cole both stumbled blindly down the corridor. Behind them the sounds of Matilda's spells, the sorcerers' curses, and Lloyd's energy blasts faded away, until no sound was left but the uneven pad of their own footsteps and the sound of Cole's blood dripping on the floor from his face: drip, drip, drip.