"The last we've heard of Pythor," Nya was saying when Wu and I arrived, "he stole the map of the dens form Lloyd and now is on his way to open the last two Serpentine tombs. I heard Lloyd sigh remorsefully as he lowered his head. "Don't remind me."
"Pythor's our most dangerous threat," Wu said.
I nodded. "Pythor is somehow getting information from a powerful dragon named Princess Phantom," I explained. "If Pythor finds those tombs before we do, there's no telling what he'll do."
"But those tombs could be anywhere!" Jay sighed. "Without the map, we might as well just throw darts at a map."
Nya smiled. "Good idea. Why don't we?" The team watched as she pulled out two darts, throwing them straight at the screen we were watching right over Jay and Kai's heads, causing them to gasp and duck out of the way. She hit two specific spots on the map, each in different spots.
"These are the two locations of the Hypnobri and Fangpyre tombs," she explained.
Kai scoffed. "Show off."
"And this is Pythor's tomb," she said, throwing another dart on the map. "After many hours of ruminating on why the tombs were placed in these three precise locations, I discovered a secret pattern." I watched in amazement as Nya pulled out a flashlight and a piece of paper and lit it up, a snake appearing on the screen. "If you notice, all three are in line with the Ninjago symbol for serpent."
"So the last two tombs must be here and here!" Jay said, pointing at the screen. "You are so smart," he said smiling at Nya. I watched in amusement at the two and knew I was going to have to tease them about that later.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Nya asked back with a grin.
"There's little time," Wu explained. "Kai and Jay, you head to the Venomari Tomb. Cole, Liz, and Zane, you take the Constrictai Tomb."
"Wait, me?" I asked in shock.
Cole smiled. "Now's your chance to be a part of the team, little wolf," he said. "If you want it."
I nodded with a smile. "I do."
Wu nodded before pulling out an interesting flute of bamboo, the sacred flute, and handed it to me. "Take this, you might need it if you run into Pythor. Good luck, Ninja."
"What am I gonna do?" Nya asked, a hand on her hip.
"Yeah," Lloyd butted in, earning a glare from Nya. "What are we gonna do?"
"Nya, I need you here to make sure Lloyd doesn't get into any more trouble," he responded.
Nya sighed painfully. "Yes, Sensei."
"Let's go, boys," Cole said, earning a cough from me and stared at him with a look that made him stutter. "I mean... guys?"
I shrugged and smiled. "I really don't care."
With that out of the way, Cole smiled and raised his fist. "We got some snakes to club!"
I was running along side Cole and Zane as we rode out into the desert, the heat punching my pelt. The whole trip I was trying not to laugh at Zane's pink gi that stood out in the sunlight and instead looked out into the distance where I could see a big rock mountain. The tree of us skirted to a stop and I felt my heart race as we assessed the mountain. I don't deserve to be here, fighting with the Ninja, being apart of their team when I should be just getting my power and getting out. Not making friends and enemies. Well, I guess that ship has already sailed.
I looked at Cole and Zane and I took a deep breath. No, said that familiar voice. You more than belong here. With them.
Cole sighed, bringing me out of my trance. Right, I had to focus.
"Our vehicles won't traverse the steps, so we'll go the rest of the way on foot," he said.
"But this is the Mountain of a Million Steps," Zane noted, making my eyes widen.
"A million?" I repeated. "Aren't we pressed for time?"
Cole winked. "We'll take a shortcut. Zane and Liz, hop on my back."
The two of us tilted our heads and I scoffed.
"There's no way you could carry both of us," I said.
Cole just smiled. "Wanna bet?"
Zane shrugged as he got on Cole's back before I did the same to Zane's as I wrapped my arms around the pink ninja's neck and used my lower body strength to keep myself up. My stomach dropped in surprise as Cole started leaping up the mountain with the two of us on his back like it was no problem.
"Am I holding on too tight?" Zane asked.
"Light as a feather, Pinky," Cole replied. "Almost there."
I sighed as I tried not to look down and held on a little tighter. "We better be."
Soon enough, the three of us made it to the top only to find that the Constrictai tomb was already open. I hopped off of Zane who then hopped off of Cole as the ninja collapsed and breathed heavily.
"Looks like Pythor was already here," I noted, walking to where the entrance was and looking down into the dark abyss.
"Perhaps we should investigate," Zane said with a nod.
"Give me a second," Cole wheezed, gesturing us to go on without him with is hand. "Go on and start without me."
I chuckled and turned back to the hole where there was a long rope and started to climb down it. Zane was much quicker than me with his gloves and ninja agility as I relatively slowly inched down the rope with the white wraps on my hands, Cole and his second wind following after.
My feet hit the ground and I looked around to see nothing and no snake in sight. All that remained was a giant wall with drawings and symbols in front of us.
"Huh," Cole said. "Didn't momma snake ever tell them not to draw on the wall?"
"It's not just drawings," Zane said. "It's a legend. of the serpentine."
"And the wolves," I said, looking at the wall. Somehow, someway, memories flooded my mind and I gasped, seeing it all come together on the wall. "The Great Devour," I whispered.
"The what now?" Cole asked, turning towards me.
I pointed at the wall and the drawings, bringing together the story. "It's about the Great Devour. When all the Serpentine Tribes unite, they and the four fang blades can be used to release it.
"It? The Great Devour?" Zane asked.
I nodded, pointing at a giant snake on the wall in front of a crowd of snakes of all the tribes.
"You got all that from those little pictures?" Cole asked me. I just shrugged. "More or less."
"This gives me deep concern," Zane continued. "If Pythor's not here and unites all the tribes together before Kai and Jay find him-"
"Relax, Zane," Cole said. "They're a bunch of dumb snakes who believes in fairy tales. If anything, we've got all the-"
Cole was interrupted by a rumble in the ground, shaking under our feet from one side of the tomb to the other.
"Did you feel that?" Cole asked us. Another pass.
"There's something in the ground," I said. "Don't move!"
The three of us waited in silence before suddenly, a big figure came out of the ground, grabbing Zane with it's long black tail wrapping around him, holding him in place.
The large Constrictai general hissed as his grip tightened around Zane, Cole and I watching. "I've been waiting for you, lot," the snake hissed. "Pythor sends his regards."
"Did you stay behind just to tell us that?" Zane asked. "Pathetic."
The general rolled his eyes. "Look who's calling who pathetic, Pinky."
Cole grunted, getting ready to strike. "Only I call him Pinky," he said, punching the general in the face as Zane struggled free and I went to help Cole as he held the general still. "Zane," he said, "Go for the rope-"
The general then pulled Cole around before I could land a hit, brining him down into the hole the snake came out of, causing Zane to turn around. "Cole?"
Suddenly the sound of the flute could be heard as the general popped back out trying to cover his ears before strangling Cole again with his tail, causing him to drop the flute. I gasped and shifted to my wolf body to pounce quickly past the snake before shifting back and taking the flute in hand, playing it loudly.
The snake groaned before finally letting go of Cole and sinking back down into the ground and I smiled in satisfaction.
"Thanks," Cole said to me. "If he was expecting us, I think Kai and Jay are walking into a trap."
I nodded and went to follow Zane up the rope. "Come on. Let's get out of here!"
I felt the winds change as we left the desert quickly and into the Toxic Boggs where Kai and Jay were. Dogging all the toxic pools around the place, I followed Zane and Cole effortlessly as we traversed the area. I gasped when I heard fighting and commotion coming from the boys and some snakes as we went up a hill, the three of us jumping off the edge and into the circle of snakes in a circle and I shifted back into my Sunblood body. Protecting each other's backs, we landed right in front of the tomb entrance to the green Venomari snakes where Kai and Jay were getting cornered.
"Anyone order a little kick butt?" Cole asked.
I turned to Jay as he started laughing when the echo of Cole's sentence sounded through the open tomb and I sighed.
Suddenly before I could warn the Ninja, Pythor came from behind the tomb and smiled. "Boo!" he said, causing us all to jump and turn around. Zane quickly pulled out the Sacred Flute again after I gave it back to him and tried to play it. However, Pythor quickly reached and stole it from Zane before I could stop him and he tisked with his tounge.
"No, let's not let music ruin things, hmmm?" Pythor hissed.
The five of us quickly retreated back as more Venomari snakes started circling us more and apparently the only logical decision was to back onto a giant log floating in the toxic water. Perfect.
"I've got a sinking feeling this may be the last I see of you five,: Pythor laughed.
"That's it. I used to hate dragons, but now I officially hate snakes." Cole stated.
I snorted. "Maybe if we looked where we were stepping, we wouldn't be here."
Suddenly Kai gasped. "Wait, do you see that?" he asked us, pointing up. "A magic floating rope! We can climb to safety!"
Jay quickly grabbed Kai as he tried to step off the log and I sniffed. Instead of the usual strong scent I got from the red ninja, I got a weird acid smell instead.
"What happened to him?" I asked.
"Venomari Venom," Jay explained. "It's some powerful stuff."
"It makes you seen your worst fears," Zane said."
The snakes started to laugh as we sunk further and further and I held my breath.
"For what it's worth," Zane told us. "It was an honor to fight beside you all."
I nodded as my ears started to fall. "Me too. Thank you for taking a chance on me."
Cole smiled. "You're a natural. You would've made the best ninja-"
At the sound of Kai and Jay's gasps, we all turned to see a rope fall down and dangle in front of us.
"Hey, what?" Cole gasped in shock.
"The magic rope," Kai groaned.
"Everyone!" Jay shouted. "Climb on!"
Suddenly, a loud roar of an engine flooded my ears as a giant mech flew down towards the snakes and the five of us watched in shock as we clung to the rope.
"Oh, dear..." Pythor groaned.
"Target confirmed," the machine said. "Time to bag and tag." The machine then raised an arm as Pythor and the others quickly retreated. Before Pythor could get away, the giant warrior sent a dart and gets Pythor in the back, causing him to shout and slither away faster.
Once we were in the clear we landed on solid ground and I felt like I could breathe again. "Cole looked up at the machine with shock on his masked face as he looked it over. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Uh, how about the coolest thing I've ever seen?" Jay gawked.
Kai suddenly and violently gasped as he started to inch away from the mech and behind my back.
"Santa?" he asks, pointing at the mech. I just sigh as Zane walks towards the mysterious person and bowed.
"Thank you, mysterious warrior. I owe you my life for saving-"
Before we could react, the warrior released a gas out of his hand near Zane, causing him to fall forwards, making him unconscious.
Jay gasped and crossed his arms. "Now that wasn't nice!"
Quickly, we were also given the gas and I felt my mind leave me and fall down next to the other Ninja. However, just before I fully fell asleep, a bright light shone over head as Lloyd's voice rang in my ears and I passed out with a sigh of relief. We're going to be ok.