Ninjago - Heart of Stone

Chapter Nineteen: In the Name of Darkness

For a moment, Nya didn't react. She was staring at someone she knew— multiple people she knew— but she couldn't quite place where she'd seen them. She recognized spiky hair and tanned skin and ninja uniforms, but she didn't know where from, and something seemed to be drilling into the back of her head as she struggled to figure it out.

Then, the words enemies of the master slipped through her mind, and she began to move. She was halfway across the beach and still running at the enemies when they started moving too, gathering weapons and scrambling to their feet, backing away, calling her name...

"Nya!" The spiky haired one held up his hands, dropping his sword to the ground. What a fool. "Nya, it's me, it's Kai—"

Kai? She had a brother named Kai. She used to, at least. Whatever life she'd been living, it was dead now. Gone. That was what the voices told her when she let the darkness in.

"Kai!" Several horrified voices chorused as Nya launched herself at her former brothers face. He staggered back, toppling under her weight as she slammed into him full-force, grabbing the sides of his head and twisting. He screamed, but before she could snap his head around she felt someone grabbing her around the waist, hauling her to her feet and holding her away from Kai as he scrambled to his feet, aided by a man dressed in blue...

Jay. She recognized his face, and she knew the taste of his lips and what his hands were like intertwined with hers. Cursing, she kicked back and knocked over the man who was holding her, whirling around and pulling her sword from her belt. He leaped back, his own sword raised, but held loosely. He wasn't willing to hurt her. None of them were. Just as Lloyd has been stupid enough to submit, these people would die before harming a hair on her head. She felt Overlord's eye on her and she smiled. He wasn't helping because he knew he wouldn't have to. He trusted her.

"Nya, snap out of it!" That was Jay, and that was annoying. Nya whipped around and swung her sword at his chest. He didn't jump back in time, and her blade grazed his ribs, slashing through his shirt and leaving behind a streak of blood that oozed from the thin wound. He gasped sharply, and a man in white rushed to keep him on his feet.

"Nya, please," Kai cried, ducking out the way as she thrust her sword at his heart. She jabbed again, wasting no time in recovery, this time catching him in the shoulder. The wound wasn't deep, and she tore the sword out again quickly, but blood still spurted from the wound, and his knees still buckled and he fell.

Next came the old ones. Wu placed himself in front of Misako and Julian, and she swung at his neck, aiming to sever it from his head. At the last moment, Cole grabbed her again, this time her wrist, and turned her around bodily to face him. He looked more afraid than anything else, and Nya knew he wouldn't dare fight her. She could stab him until he was nothing but bloody ribbons, and he wouldn't even lift a finger to defend himself. Grinning, she tore her hand free from his and lifted her sword. He gasped, but he didn't move, paralyzed with fear, shocked at the sight of a woman who was once his friend about to deliver his parting blow. Nya breathed in deeply; she could feel Overlords gaze warming her.

A split second before she brought the sword down on his head, something slammed into her with the force of a freight train, knocking her to the ground and sending her sprawling. She and her attacker rolled across the ground, and she felt hands on her arms, pinning them to her sides and rendering them useless as her sword flew from her grip and got tangled up in a bush.

They came to a stop on the sand, inches away from where it ended and met dirt. Nya was on her back, looking up into her assailant's eyes. Lexi, her name was. That girl who was her friend, her sister.

Lexi pressed a dagger to her throat, and Nya went cold as she felt Overlord's gaze shift to her. She struggled, but Lexi kept her pinned to the sand, the blade sharp and cold against her exposed throat. She gasped, staring at Lexi with wide eyes.