Mending Torn Bonds {Book Four in the Four Winds series}

Chapter Fifteen

Kai, Zane, and Kyle looked at the scene before them in shock. They couldn't move; couldn't breath.

"You!" Lloyd roared and spun towards Sephtis. "You killed my son! I will kill you!"

Lloyd shot a huge energy surge towards Sephtis. Sephtis dodged and the tree behind him disintegrated. He began to look scared. Lloyd was shaking with rage. Sephtis decided to make a hasty exit. A cloud of purple smoke came up around him.

"No!" Lloyd yelled firing again but he was gone.

"Lloyd," Aira said gasping for breath.

She was hyperventilating from sobbing so much. Lloyd ran to his wife and daughter and wrapped his arms around them. Aira held James close and cradled him. She rocked back and forth sobbing. Lloyd was weeping too. Jacqueline couldn't help but feel that this was her fault. Aira assured her over and over again that it wasn't.

Several dragons landed but Lloyd didn't bother to see who it was.

"What the hell happened?!" Julia screamed.

She ran to her parents and bent over James's body. She felt his neck for a pulse. A hand flew to her mouth and she screamed silently. She began to sob hysterically.

"Why?! Why him?!" Lloyd yelled. "Why couldn't it have been me! I couldn't protect my family!"

"Daddy, don't," Julia hugged him close and cried.

Garmadon and Misako hurried forward. They gasped. Misako began to cry as well and Garmadon held her close. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks. Even Cole was crying.

"He was only eleven!" Aira screamed. "He shouldn't have to worry about dying! He should just run around and play! He should-"

"Shhhh," Lloyd said holding her head against his chest.

"It's not fair!" Julia yelled. "This is all Katrina's fault. That stubborn little bitch was so selfish that she ran away again. That made us vulnerable! I'm going to kill her!"

"Julia! This was no one's fault," Lloyd shouted. "The only person to blame is Sephtis!"

"Where are the artifacts!?" Aira yelled.

"That won't work," Stephanie said tearfully. "He isn't a ghost going to the cursed realm. Only cursed souls can be revived. It's not fair but it's true! That's why we couldn't save Emily."

"Dear God, please! My baby!" Aira screamed.

Skylor ran to Aira and helped her stand. Nya helped Jacqueline and Julia ran to Kyle. Lloyd just continued to sit there holding James's hand.

"Oh please no," a small voice said from behind the group. They turned to see Katrina.

"You!" Julia shouted furiously.

She lifted a hand. Katrina gasped and her hands flew to her throat. Julia began to close her fingers. Katrina flew up off the ground. Katrina was choking her from over a hundred feet away. Lloyd stared at his daughter in shock. Her eyes were flashing gold. She had the golden power!

Kai flew at Julia and hit her just enough ton cause her to loose focus. Julia hissed at him but did not attack again.

"Julia, revenge heals nothing," Aira said quietly.

"Lloyd, if she inherited you golden power then-" Misako gasped.

"It means I still have it too," Lloyd said quietly.

Skylor was helping her daughter stand. She was coughing and gasping for air. Julia walked up to her and Katrina stepped back in fear. Skylor placed herself firmly between Julia and her daughter.

"My little brother is dead because of you," Julia said in a dangerously low voice. "He will never play again! He will never hit puberty! He will never have his first heartbreak! He will never get married! He will never have children because of you! You selfish little bastard. I f***ing hate you! I will never forgive you, you f***ing bitch!"

With that she spat in Katrina's face and stormed away. Katrina began to sob but refused to let anyone near her.

Lloyd carefully lifted James's body and began to carry him back to the monastery.

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"James! No! This isn't fair! Why?!" Haden yelled in anguish. Aira held him close and he cried.

"Sephtis will pay for this," Lloyd said shaking with rage.

"We will all make him pay," Kai said angrily.

"As a family!" Zane said nodding.

"But don't you see!? My family is broken!" Lloyd cried in anguish. "My nightmares are coming true! I can't protect them! My son is gone! I can never hug him again! I can never tell him I love him again! I can't ever play ball or video games with him again!"

"Lloyd, please!" Aira begged. "Please stop!"

Lloyd hugged her close, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

He held her for a long time. They just cried. A parent should never have to loose a child.

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*two days later*

"Julia?" Kyle asked softly.

She didn't answer. She was lying in her bed holding her pillow close. Her eyes were swollen and red from crying.

"Do you want to talk?" Kyle asked.

"No."

"Do you want to be alone?"

"No."

Kyle stepped forward and laid down on the bed. He wrapped his arms around her and she laid her head on his chest. Soon she had fallen asleep.

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Lloyd was sitting next to his son's bed. James's body was underneath a long sheet. The funeral was planned for Saturday. Two days away. Only two days and he would never see his son again. He placed a hand over where is son's was. It felt cold and lifeless. Lloyd began to sob again. He stood up and kissed James's forehead. Life wasn't fair.

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Xavier sat on his bed staring blankly at the wall. Katrina had brought him the news of his little brothers death. She hadn't told him how though. He couldn't cry. He couldn't talk. He was too taken aback by the reeling news. He could only stare blankly at the wall, and try and wish him back to life. If only it were that easy. Or maybe it was? Xavier had a sudden idea. He jumped up and grabbed his things. He needed someone with magic. He needed the Dark Druid.

A/n- Maybe James will come back?!?!?!? Guys, I kid you not; I have been balling my eyes out from this. My sister keeps asking me why I'm crying. I am so sad right now! I hate killing my characters! They feel like my children! :'( but alas, this is how the story goes. -LL_17