I followed closely behind Lloyd as thunder boomed through the forest. The trees flashed as we walked towards our next target. Lloyd insisted on making the Hypnobri pay for what they did to them and the only way they could do that was by releasing another tribe called the Fangpyre. As according to Lloyd, "If there's anything a snake doesn't like, it's another snake". The Fangpyre could turn anything into one of them. It could be people, objects, literally everything.
"Lloyd, are we there yet?" I groaned. We had been walking for what seemed like forever, but Lloyd insisted that we should not stop.
"I think we're almost there!" he responded. "AH!" Lloyd screamed, making me jump a bit as another bolt shout of thunder echoed around them.
I flashed a teasing smile and flicked my tail in amusement. "You're scared, aren't you?" I teased.
"Phffft. No!" Lloyd argued. "I'm the son of the Dark Lord! I'm not scared of anything!"
"Uh huh."
Lloyd glared me dead in the eyes, and kept walking to what seemed like a dead end, but not to us. Both of us knew that we had found what we were looking for.
"The Fangpyre," Lloyd grinned.
I stood by Lloyd's side as we looked down at the entrance of the tomb. It's haunting presence made me shiver as Lloyd reached for what looked like a lever. Once he pulled it, the tomb opened and out popped the Fangpyre snakes.
Lloyd and I ducked with a gasp as they shot out. It wasn't until a giant two headed General, staff held high, towered over the two trespassers. I gasped as I suddenly remembered the story about the snake that had accidently bit himself which caused the snake to grow two heads. His name was-
"General Fangtom!" Lloyd exclaimed. "I am Lloyd Garmadon, son of the evil Lord Garmadon and we have released you to get revenge on the Hypnobri and some Ninja too!"
The two heads both flicked their tongues as they took in Lloyd's mini declaration.
"'We'?" asked a head.
"Who is 'we'?" asked the other.
My ear twitched as she held my breath. "Lizabeth Wolfadeer, General. Daughter of-"
"Yes, yes, we know who you are," hissed the General. "Your mother is the reason we're stuck in here."
I deflated. I was fucked. Fangtom hissed. "This Ninja you speak of seems intriguing. As well as getting the revenge we deserve from the Hypnobri. We'll help you, but just to make sure we know you mean it..."
Before I could react, the General grabbed the my thin arm and I screamed as one of the heads pierced their fangs into my arm.
Lloyd lost it. "What are you doing?!" He yelled.
Fangtom let go of me and I tried to fight the urge to cry, and the rest of the Fangpyre snakes started hissing around them.
"We'll turn her back," he hissed. "But only if we succeeded in this plan to conquer the Ninja. Then we will march on the Hypnobri!"
The snakes cheered.
I panicked as I felt the burn of the venom in my arm.
"We're strong, but we can be stronger!" The General yelled. "We need to build an army!"
Lloyd gulped. "I think I know a place."
____________________
I was walking next to Lloyd as they walked towards the junkyard Lloyd had mentioned. Apparently, it was where Jay's parents lived and it would kill two birds with one stone by getting the Ninja here to fight with this new army the Fangpyre General wants. I started to feel uneasy. Not just about the plan, but I could feel the venom continue to take over my body. Lloyd had freaked out when my skin started turning green and my eyes started changing. My tongue changed too but I saved Lloyd the trouble from telling him and freaking him out more than he already was.
I squinted ahead with my new eyes and saw the junkyard in the distance as they continued along the what seemed to be never ending path.
I felt her blood pressure rise as they got closer and I could tell Lloyd was nervous to see how this would go.
"So, what's the plan?" I asked him.
Lloyd shrugged. "Just follow the snakes, I guess."
"That's not much of a plan," I teased.
Lloyd groaned. "Ugh, it is a plan!"
I laughed as she dodged his oncoming push, causing him to faceplant into the sand. Lloyd scrambled to get up and spit out the sand that got in his mouth.
"Not fair!" he yelled.
I purred as I bent her knees and dodged another attack and barreled into his side, taking him down again.
"Ha!" I laughed, sitting up. "No one can beat me- AH!"
I yelped in surprise as Lloyd pushed my back into the sand held my shoulders down.
"Defeated!" Lloyd exclaimed.
I growled playfully and used my feet to push him back as I stood up again and continued walking. Lloyd grinned at me as he shook off the remaining grains of sand from his hair and his hoodie.
"Do all the Moonbloods sound like you?" Lloyd suddenly asked.
I looked at Lloyd surprised. "I mean, yeah, most of them do."
"It's just that you sound a little different."
"I mean, I was always told I didn't have an accent."
"Yeah, well, you do." Lloyd chuckled.
I was about to speak when Fangtom slithered between the two of us and hissed.
"If you haven't noticed, we're here," he said.
I turned my gaze from the General and looked up at the giant junkyard. It wasn't bad, surrounded by a tall wall with open gates. Inside looked to be piles of garbage and junk. I could hear banging metal in the distance as we got up close to the gates, undetected.
Fangtom turned to me and smiled. "You. You're a trained assassin, right? I want you to go and retrieve whoever is inside the trailer."
I tiled my head at the giant snake. "The 'trailer'?" I asked.
"That's a trailer," Lloyd said, pointing at the metal thing with the lights on.
I nodded and quickly shifted into my wolf body and ran along the sides of the yard, the shadows becoming my temporary hiding spot. Moonbloods actually had the ability to shadow bend, but just barley. And I was terrible at it. I was told it got better with age but I've yet to see that happen. I felt sort of a thrill as I got closer to my target. It reminded me of the Graus I used to participate in back home. Those hunts were the best.
I spotted the source of the banging and say what I assumed was Jay's father working on a machine of some sort. I quickly snuck behind the trailer and shifted back to access my Sunblood legs and climbed up to the top of the roof, quietly moving across the roof of the trailer. Moonbloods didn't have "trailers" we only had houses or dens. I had read about different machines that Sunbloods use but I've never actually seen any.
I took a deep breath and opened the hatch that was on top and swiftly dropped in, landing on the smooth floor bellow me. I then came face to face with an older woman who looked very shocked. Jay's mother.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Not important, I need you to come with me." I took out one of my daggers and pointed it towards the woman. "Don't argue, everything will be fine."
"What happened to you?" She asked, sadly, gesturing to my new scales, and possibly my Moonblood attributes.
My ears fell a bit as guilt filled my belly. I could run away or fight the snakes and get out or... No, I had to do this.
"Nothing that can't be fixed. Now please, come outside and no one has to get hurt. I'm on your side."
The woman tilted her head.
"I'm a spy for the Ninja, I'm friends with Jay."
The woman's eyes brightened. "Jay? Oh, how's my boy doing?"
"He's fine but we need to hurry! I'll tell you stuff later."
She nodded. "I'm Edna," she said.
I nodded without replying and took Edna by the arm and lead her outside.
"Look terrified," I commanded.
Edna immediately screamed as the door opened and they found the snakes with her husband.
"Ed!" She yelled.
"It'll be alright Edna!"
"Now hold still," Fangtom hissed.
"What are you doing?" Edna asked as Fangtom slithered closer.
"Us snakes like to bite more than we chew." Screams filled the Junkyard as Fangtom bit both of Jay's parents, making me look away with a sigh.
"Where are the Ninja?" Lloyd asked them.
"I-I don't know!" Ed stammered. "Jay promised he'd visit tomorrow."
"Perfect!" Lloyd exclaimed.
"Lizabeth, you have first watch," the General ordered. "Now, we wait."
I nodded and lifted the parents to their feet and brought them over to where they could sit down for the night. Edna and Ed sat next to each other as they examined their new bites as I sat down in front of them.
"I'm sorry, I wish there was a better way," I said, solemnly.
"Who are you, dearie?" Edna questioned. "Why are you here with these snakes?"
I sighed. "It's kind of a long story."
"Lets start small then. What's you name?"
"My name is Liz. Well, my real name is Lizabeth but everyone just likes to call me Liz."
Edna smiled. "That's a beautiful name!"
I smiled a bit at the complement, I wasn't used to those.
"What's a little one like you doing out here? And so mature?"
I shrugged, wondering what made them think someone like me was "mature".
"I had to grow up fast. I've been trained as an assassin since I was much younger. I came here to train and I met Wu and the others. Now I'm here as part of their plan to get Lloyd and figure out what is happening."
"And you seem like you're not human..." Ed said, joining the conversation. "What are you exactly?"
Edna hit Ed in the side with her elbow and he yelped. "Sorry! Sorry!"
I shook her head. "It's fine," I said. "I'm a Moonblood. I don't normally look like a snake, this is just temporary. "
"Ah," Ed said, trying to find out what the hell a Moonblood was.
"Hey, Lizzy!" Lloyd said, running over to Liz. "Fangtom said you can come sleep now, he's sending some snakes to tie these guys up for tomorrow."
I hesitated to nod and stood up, wondering why my watch was over so quick. I turned to see Ed and Edna looking more worried now as I mouthed "sorry" and followed Lloyd to where he was planning on sleeping for the night.
I shifted to my wolf body and laid down on the ground, making it a lot better when I had all my fur to lay down on the hard as rock surface. Lloyd seemed to agree because the young Garmadon curled up next me and I smiled. I wrapped her tail around my companion the best I could for being around the same size as him and closed my tired eyes.
Everything will be fine.