My feet burned from the cold and harsh snow, my soft skin becoming frozen and pale from the blizzard punching my face. Lloyd said he knew where this random tomb was and promised we were heading in the right direction. However, my faith dies more and more in my new companion with every step. It's been a day or so now and this storm wasn't looking to let up anytime soon.
"Lloyd," my voice shook, trying to beat the sound of the snow storm. "Please tell me we're close."
"We're close, Liz! I can feel it!"
That's what you said last time.
I felt like I could parish at any moment now. I assumed Lloyd might be the same. But with the adrenaline pumping through this boy's veins was probably what kept him from feeling the pain from the falling snow.
I risked a glance at my bare feet, and they were showing dangerous signs of frostbite. A common misconception about my kind was that the Sunblood body of a Moonblood acted like a normal Sunblood but that's not true. The Sunblood and wolf form of a Moonblood pretty much acted on their own accord, ignoring the true biology of either species. This caused my body in my Sunblood form to have wolf looking ears and tail and in my current advantage, the trait of naturally having a much warmer body temperature. However, I didn't know about such misconceptions until Lloyd started bitching about it. This "ability" could only do so much and with time, I would be in danger of getting frostbite and hypothermia. If I was getting this close, then Lloyd had to be struggling. Sure he had much better clothes but that was it. He is a Sunblood, not a Moonblood. Sure adrenaline would help but not that much.
The more I thought about it, he smelt different, he felt different, he seemed different. At least different from the small group of Sunbloods or "humans" as they call themselves
I met yesterday.
What if he's not human?
I decided to push the intrusive thought away and forced myself to feel concerned for the young boy. Sure he was bad but he was just a kid longing to be like his father. I couldn't relate, I never got to know my father. It's a shame he died.
Sighing, I strutted closer to Lloyd and put a hand on his shoulder, his body shivering and I felt that weird sensation again. The spark. Odd. Lloyd looked back at me with that same stubborn, determined expression he had before. My gaze softened.
"Lloyd, you've got to be freezing," I said.
Lloyd violently shivered as he shrugged and brushed my hand of his soldier. "I'm fine! I'm the son of Lord Garmadon!"
That you are.
I watched as he shivered again and rolled my eyes in annoyance with a loud sigh.
"Come on Lloyd, I bet you money that even Garmadon himself had to shelter from the cold at some point."
Lloyd scowled at the Moonblood but I could read him easier than a book. He knew it too.
Lloyd opened his mouth to say something but it was replaced with a yell as he fell face first into the snow with distinct metallic sound timing in our ears.
"Ow," Lloyd groaned.
"That's what you get for not listening to me, silly," I commented as lifted Lloyd to his feet, brushing away the snow by his feet with my tail.
My breath showed in the cold and I huffed at the sight. A metal door?
Lloyd stepped in front of me with an evil grin wide on his face. "We're here."
I couldn't help but shiver but not because of the cold. Because of the fear. Lloyd talked about his plan with these things called... Serpentine. Apparently they were locked away a long time ago, but they won't be for much longer.
I knew what a dragon could do but not what Serpentine can do. All that name did was ring a bell of stories my mother would share about something related to snakes. But I was sure that only the dragons had well known names.
I guess we're going to find out.
Lloyd was able to open the hatch with relative ease and a large cloud of smoke rose from the tomb. I failed to comprehend how Lloyd's smile could get any bigger.
"See?" He mocked, turning around. "I told you we'd-"
"Lloyd!"
Lloyd grabbed my outreached hand as he started to fall down the hole that was opened by the door, pulling me down with him. I couldn't breathe, couldn't scream as we fell down to the devil's tomb.
Both of us groaned as we both hit the ice floor with a thud. I slowly pushed herself up as I took in our surroundings. All I could see was ice. There were ice pullers, ice walls, ice everything. I turned to Lloyd, now sitting up and brushing himself off. He gave a little shiver, it was not any warmer in here than it was out there.
"Where are we?" Lloyd asked.
I swallowed loudly. "The tomb of the Serpentine."
Just as I thought we were alone, I was quickly proven wrong.
"You're a long way from home," boomed a voice. "Little ones."
Lloyd and I turned around, shocked to see a giant snake with blue, white, and yellow scales. A snake, not a dragon. Mother's stories were coming back. The snake held a large golden staff with a big blue gem in it, the staff in the shape of a snake. It looked like the Queen crystals that I studied during Dragon class. This must be their leader. I was dumbfounded as I stared into the large red eyes of the snake in front of me. It felt unreal.
I noticed the way the snake eyed my wolf ears under my hat and I glared at the snake, taking a subtle step closer to Lloyd, feeling him relax from the warmth I was radiating.
"Moonblood," the snake hissed. "You could be useful..."
Lloyd looked over at me, his green eyes laced with concern.
"You'll never get my blood. I'll never let you lay a scale on me," I snapped, my voice laced in venom.
The snake narrowed his eyes. "Believe me," he hissed. "I have ways of getting what I want."
The snake's eyes glowed as he stared into my eyes and my soul.
"Look into my eyes," he hissed. I use my hand to protect Lloyd, pushing him back until we hit an ice pillar. Shit.
"I will control you."
I reached for my daggers but as soon as I gripped them, Lloyd and his clumsiness, slipped on the ice, bring me down with him. I ground in frustration and pulled out my daggers to get ready for the snake to attack again.
"Wait, Lizabeth no!"
I faltered as I felt Lloyd's hand pull on my arm. I gave him a look of confusion but then followed his gaze to the snake staring dead into the ice pillar, his mind melted. Lloyd grinned.
"No," he said to the snake, standing up. "We control you from now on!" My hand grabs his as he reaches to pull me up and I sheathe my daggers again.
"What is your name, my servant?" Lloyd asked the snake.
"General Slithera, my master." answered the snake.
"I order to you help me and my friend take down the Ninja and make them pay for what they did to me!"
"What shall you have us do, Master?" Slithera hissed.
I flashed the snake a look of confusion. "Us?"
Just then, the walls started to move as snakes with a similar color scheme came out of the shadows. It disturbed me to know that every snake but the general walked on a pair of two legs.
"A whole army of snakes!" Lloyd exclaimed. He threw his arms up and did an evil laugh as I looked around at all the snakes in deep regret. My blood was one of the most important things every Moonblood must protect and damn it was going to be hard to do so when surrounded by fangs and powerful snakes. All I could do was pray that I could make it out of this hell hole alive.
________
I shivered as another wave of cold passed through my back where I was leaning on an ice pillar with my legs crossed. I was starting to get pretty used to the cold now, but Lloyd hadn't. Whatever he was doing before to keep him warm wasn't working anymore. I took a piece of ice from the ground and started sculpting with one of my daggers. I tried not to wince at the torn up handle it had and started to carve.
I still can't believe we just took over the Hypnobri General. And that there's four whole other tribes out there.
Lloyd was beside me, talking non stop about all the different Serpentine Tribes that he learned in stories. Apparently some could make you see your worst fears. Others can even turn you into a snake. I was kinda only half listening, my mind else where. It's soul focus right now was to try and learn about this whole they fell into. But Lloyd somehow managed to bring me back to the present.
The snakes knew that Lloyd and I couldn't survive in the cold like the snakes could and they tried many attempts to make it so the General's masters wouldn't die. But they failed every time. Lloyd violently shook as the cold continued to haunt his veins. I definitely knew a way to help but I really didn't want to have to resort to it. But then the voice came back with it's commanding voice.
You two must stick together. Survive.
I sighed at the voice, whoever it was. Maybe it's that wolf I keep seeing in my dreams. And Wu sees her too? I'll have to figure that out later. Right now, Lloyd is my priority.
"Cold?" I asked, copping off a chunk of the ice.
"Phft, n-no," Lloyd snapped.
"I'm taking that as a yes," I smiled, continuing my project.
I tried to read Lloyd's expression as I tried to see if he'd even want her warmth. But by the looks on his face, he did.
"Come here." Shifting so Lloyd could have more access, patted a spot beside me.
"I'm fine, thanks," He reluctantly denied.
I sighed and then shrugged, turning my attention back to the ice. "You're loss," I said. But I still left the spot open to him, allowing him to come to me if he wants. But not even five minutes later, I felt the weight of Lloyd's body lean against mine as he rested against her shoulder. I smiled and continued to scratch the ice along the old dagger.
I almost sworn I could feel a little bit of heat radiating off of Lloyd. Maybe I was right and he's not human? But it couldn't be true. Right?
I decided ignored the thought again and if Lloyd himself hadn't said anything about it, he must be a normal Sunblood. It was interesting how Sunbloods could live in the cold this long. But then again, I wouldn't know how cold it is to a Sunblood since I wasn't one. A few minutes of silence had passed before Lloyd spoke again, the shape of a wolf taking form in my ice ball.
"Why would the General want you blood?" he asked, his voice a little less shaky than before.
I frowned and rested my arms down.
"My blood is something everyone wants," I whispered. "A Moonblood's blood is very different than one of a non-Moonblood."
"How is it different?" Lloyd asked.
"Well, when you get a lot of my blood into one's blood stream, it can give you certain abilities a Moonblood has. We like to call them Bloodpaws."
"So, they're Moonbloods but not?"
"Pretty much," I answered. "Bloodpaws however are much more out of control than a Moonblood. They're more effected by the moon, they can't shift into a real wolf, only a monster. They also have awful side effects, depending on how much blood you get your hands on. One of them being death."
"Really? Why would anyone want to be one then?"
"Well, it gives you increased strength, better senses, and stuff like that. It's mainly a thing people want so they can be powerful and strong."
"Well, I'll never let them lay a finger on you!" he said with confidence.
"I'm sure you won't," I chuckled.
Footsteps ended our conversation as a snake approached us. But not just any snake. It was Skales, General Slithera's Beta, or as Lloyd politely corrected me, his number 2.
"Hi," I said, cautiously.
Skales flicked his tongue. "The General is ready for you, Masters," he hissed with venom in his voice.
I flattened my ears and Lloyd stood up from beside me. I followed soon after and we headed towards the Hypnobri's War Room.
The room was like a large dome with a table made of ice in the middle. You could fit most of the tribe in here probably. Skales found his seat next to the General while Lloyd and I were ushered to the front by the table with the rest of the snakes surrounding them.
"Lloyd and Lizabeth," boomed the General's powerful voice. "You have come to us and we have made you our Masters. You come with the intention to defeat the powerful Ninja of Ninjago in exchange for our freedom on the surface. We brought you here so we could come up with a plan that will make us succeed."
I stood up as straight as I could and nudged Lloyd's arm to do the same.
"I am Lloyd Garmadon! Son of the evil Lord Garmadon! And we will succeed in taking over Ninjago!" The snakes cheered. They all did but one.
"And how would we do that, Lloyd Garmadon from the surface?" Skales hissed.
"I am Lizabeth Wolfadeer from Molotoke, daughter of Foxstorm Wolfadeer! I have a plan! But we need to follow it to every detail."
The snakes grew close as her voice echoed through the dome, some of their eyes were wide open. Skales stood up in anger. "Foxstorm? That Moonblood was one of the ones that put us down here in the first place!"
"Enough!" Slithera roared. "It doesn't matter where she came from, she is going to get us out of here and we will rule Ninjago as planned. Do you understand?"
Skales blinked at his General.
"Do you understand?"
"Yes," Skales said. "General."
"Lizabeth, please continue."
I smiled and I put my hands on the table. "Here's what we're going to do. Slithera, you will be next to Lloyd and I as we enter Jamoniki. The Ninja will come pretty quickly and we need to take over the small villages first and hit the Ninja where they're weak. They're chaotic, out of sync. We can take the easily." I stood up on the table and yelled with a fist in the air. "The village will be ours!"
The snakes all cheered and I looked over to Lloyd who was cheering with them. Skales however just stared me down with his red gaze.
I smiled. Sure they might be out of control, but they're stronger than they know, stronger than the snakes know, and the snakes will suffer a sad loss. Hopefully this goes to my plan and not the snake's.