“Believe in yourself,” the sensei said. “Be true to what you believe, to your ideals, and you will find your choice has been made for you.”
“Thank you, Sensei,” said Zane. “I believe I understand. By the way … what happened to the dragon fish?”
“Oh, he fled the shark and warned his brothers.”
“That is commendable,” said Zane. “His loyalty to his school was more important to him than his own interests. He must have been very proud of himself for making such a choice.”
“Indeed, he was,” the sensei replied, “right up to the moment that the shark ate him.”
Zane shuddered.
Cole approached, carrying the golden Scythe of Quakes, one of the Four Weapons of Spinjitzu. Like Zane, Cole was a pretty serious sort. He took being field leader of the ninja team very seriously. “Are you ready, Zane?” he asked.
“Ready for what?”
“I have not yet told him,” Sensei Wu said to Cole. Turning to Zane, he extended his hand. In his palm were the Shurikens of Ice, yet another of the valuable artifacts. “You and Cole have found your Golden Weapons. The time may come when you are forced to use them. I want you to go some distance from camp and train with them.”
“Wait,” said Zane, confused. “When we found the Scythe, you told us we must not ever use it. Isn’t it dangerous to practice fighting with these Weapons?”
Sensei Wu nodded. “Times change. The wise man changes with them. We have retrieved two of the four Weapons, and my brother, Garmadon, will be growing desperate. Anything may happen now.”
Zane barely heard his answer. All he could think of was what would happen if he gave the two Golden Weapons to Garmadon. Would that be enough to buy information about his past?
It wouldn’t be so bad, would it? he asked himself. As long as we get the Dragon Sword of Fire and the Nunchuks of Lightning, we can stop Garmadon. It would simply be a stalemate.
“Let’s go,” said Cole. “We don’t have much time.”
“No,” Zane replied. “I guess we don’t.”
Zane took the Shurikens. Something felt wrong about all this, but the image in his mind of his parents drove all other thoughts away. He rose in silence and followed Cole out of the camp.
They stopped walking when they reached an empty area. It wasn’t far from the cave where Zane had found Garmadon. If Zane had believed in fate, he would have surely seen this as a sign.
Cole was twirling the Scythe, being careful not to strike anything and unleash the Weapon’s seismic power. Soon, he was moving so fast that the Scythe was just a golden blur.
“Get started,” Cole ordered. “Try getting the feel of the weight and balance of the Shuriken. That will help you master throwing it.”
Zane did as he was told. That feeling that something was wrong kept nagging at him. What was it — something about the Shuriken itself, perhaps? He had held it only briefly when the team had retrieved it from the Ice Fortress. What could have happened between then and now? And was there more to the sensei’s decision to allow training with the Golden Weapons than the old man was letting on?
Something whistled through the air past Zane’s head. An instant later, Cole hit the ground, unconscious. Zane rushed over to him. He had been struck by a thrown rock. There was a big lump on his head, but the ninja team leader was alive.
A half dozen skeleton warriors stepped out of the surrounding woods, followed by another skeleton, this one with four arms. The Ninja of Ice immediately recognized this new arrival, and knew he was in serious trouble.
“Samukai,” breathed Zane.
The empty eye sockets of the ruler of the Underworld narrowed. “You flesh-covered types all look alike to me,” Samukai rasped. “But I remember you. You’re the one with no past. Well, I have news for you: You have no future, either.”
Zane glanced from Samukai to Cole, then back again. It was time to make his choice. He took a step away from his fallen friend and raised the Shuriken, as if preparing to throw it. Samukai moved back a little, but none of the other skeletons did. The four-armed warrior knew the legendary power of the Shurikens of Ice: Obviously, his soldiers had no clue what they faced.
A moment passed, then two. Combat or surrender? Loyalty to his team or betrayal on behalf of a life he could not remember? Which would it be? As he turned the Shuriken over and over in his fingers, he felt that sense of wrongness yet again. But this time he knew its cause … and he knew what he had to do.
Zane lowered his arm and extended the Shurikens toward Samukai. “Here. Take them. The Scythe, too — your master knows my price.”
Samukai didn’t move. His expression was wary. He had not become ruler of the massive Underworld by rushing into traps, and that was what this felt like.
“Who do you think you are trying to deceive, child?” said Samukai. “Some minor shade on his first visit back to Ninjago? One of my idiotic soldiers? Do you expect me to believe you are going to simply hand over two of the Four Weapons of Spinjitzu without a fight?”
“Believe it or not,” answered Zane. “You have thirty seconds to accept my offer. After that, you can try to take them, but I do not like your chances. Or you can go back to Garmadon and tell him you had the chance at half of his desired treasure and you turned it down.”
Samukai did some quick mental calculations. Garmadon was not his master, despite what this sniveling human thought, but Sensei Wu’s dark brother was a powerful ally just the same. It was doubtful Garmadon would take kindly to finding out the Shurikens and Scythe could have been had and were allowed to slip away.
Shoving one of his skeleton warriors toward Zane, Samukai said, “Give the Weapons to this one. He is too slow to know what to do with them, so there is no risk of betrayal. You said Garmadon would know your price — I would like to know it, too. I do not like to ‘purchase’ items without knowing the terms of sale.”
The skeleton approached. Zane handed him the Shurikens, then bent down to pick up the Scythe of Quakes. He gave that to the skeleton as well, saying, “Be careful with these. Dropping them would be … bad.”
“Answer my question!” snapped Samukai.
“That is my price,” Zane replied, “the answers to questions.”
Samukai took the two Golden Weapons from his warrior. A smile appeared like a crack in his skull. “Do you want us to strike you down now? You know, so that you can tell Sensei Wu you were attacked, defeated, and the Weapons stolen from you? I am sure we can make your battle damage look most convincing.”
“No, thanks,” said Zane. “Just give me what I asked for.”
Samukai cocked his head and paused, as if listening to something no one else could hear. Then he said, “Garmadon says, return to the cave. You’ll get what you need there.”
“What about my friend here?”
Samukai shrugged. “If we wanted him dead, we would have thrown a bigger rock.”
Zane couldn’t argue with that logic, twisted though it might be. He backed away from the skeletons, keeping an eye on them until they had all withdrawn into the woods. Cole was already beginning to stir. Zane turned and headed for the cave, hoping he would make it inside before his friend spotted him. He didn’t want Cole placed in any more danger because of him. What he had to do now, he had to do alone.
The cavern was still pitch-black inside, but now the darkness seemed alive with movement. More of Garmadon’s shadow ninja, perhaps? Zane stood still, waiting for the platform to descend and take him to the world below. But nothing happened. His host, it seemed, saw no reason to continue the tour of the Underworld.
“An impressive beginning,” said Garmadon, his voice slithering out from all corners of the cave. “I chose wisely, I see.”
“Not a beginning,” Zane corrected, “an ending. Give me the information you promised and our deal is done.”
“Do you think it is that easy?”
Zane stood his ground and said firmly, “I know it is. I have lived with my mysteries for a long time no
w and could keep doing it, if necessary. You have spent far longer trapped in the Underworld and cannot stand it. Seems to me that you need me more than I need you.”
Garmadon gave a soft chuckle. “Very well, then. A bargain is a bargain. Look, Zane.”
Once again, the portal appeared in midair. This time, Zane saw himself as a small child with his father and mother. Their home was a small shack in what appeared to be a little village. Zane was sitting on the lawn, playing with a stick, while his father chopped wood and his mother hung up washing.
“Your father was a woodworker,” Garmadon said. “He carved wood into axe handles, toys, plates, bowls, utensils, all sorts of boring things like that. Your mother was a seamstress, sewing new clothes and repairing old ones for others. Between the two of them, they made enough money to keep a little food on the table and take care of their young son.”
The scene shifted. Now a much older Zane was walking down a road. It must have been just past sunset, for the road was very dark. All at once, a horse-drawn cart came thundering around a curve, dangerously fast. It struck Zane a glancing blow and the young man fell unconscious in the road.
“You were on your way to purchase some supplies from a neighboring town,” Garmadon continued. “The driver of the cart never even saw you. The next morning, you awoke in the road with no memory of what had happened. End of story.”
“What?” said Zane. “What about my parents? Are they still alive? What village are they from?”
“If you want more, you must do more for me,” Garmadon replied.
Zane shook his head. “No. Never.”
“Then I have half of the Four Weapons, and you have half the story, and that is how it is,” said Garmadon. “It cost you the trust of your friends, your honor, and your pride. It cost me … hmmm … the hour or so I needed to make up that story.”
At first, Zane felt like crying out in anger. Everything Garmadon had told him about his past — it had all been a lie. His parents, his home, all of it, nothing more than a trick to get him to betray Sensei Wu. Yet instead of raging at Garmadon, Zane actually smiled.
This seemed to annoy Garmadon. “What are you smiling about?” he demanded.
“Oh, I was just thinking about bargains,” Zane answered. “You do get what you pay for, don’t you? You gave me a phony past … and I gave you phony Weapons of Spinjitzu.”
“What?!?” roared Garmadon, loud enough to shake the cavern.
“I can’t take the credit,” Zane explained. “Your brother must have sensed what you were up to. He gave Cole and me fake versions of our Golden Weapons, suspecting they might wind up in your hands. I didn’t know, at first. But when I got ready to throw the Shurikens of Ice at Samukai, I realized they were too light. True gold is very heavy, and this felt more like iron, painted gold.”
Zane turned and started walking out of the cave. “I am afraid, Garmadon, you traded a lie for a lie. Our business today has ended.”
Three skeletons appeared in the mouth of the cave. Behind him, Zane could feel the shadows taking form as ninja. He was surrounded.
“It is ended when I say it is ended,” Garmadon snarled. “No one makes a fool out of me.”
There was a blur of movement at the entrance to the cave. Something smashed into the three skeletons, bowling them over. An instant later, Cole stood alone in their place.
“No one has to, Garmadon,” Cole said. “You do such a good job of it by yourself.”
The shadow ninja charged. Zane dove forward, landing on his hands, and lashed back with both feet. His kicks staggered two of the ninja. Before the rest could close in, he rolled into a somersault and sprang to his feet next to Cole.
“How did you find me?” asked Zane.
“I saw that rock coming a mile away,” Cole replied. “It grazed me … well, maybe a little more than that … but I was awake the whole time. I would have shown up sooner, but I had to see what you would do.”
The shadow ninja rushed out of the cave. This time, their movements were more fluid, their blows harder, and their imitations of the young ninja more accurate. But this time, Zane was not facing them alone. He and Cole worked like a perfect team, ducking and dodging and then striking hard. Cole confused a foe by dropping to his back and then landing a kick in the shadow ninja’s midsection, sending him flying through the air. Zane saw a shadowy being coming and leaped high, coming down with a two-fisted slam that smashed the dark ninja into the ground.
After a short but furious battle, the shadow ninja started retreating into the cave. Zane started in after them, but was brought up short by Cole. “No, let them go. We need to get back to the sensei.”
“But —”
“Come on. It’s over, for now. There will be another day, I promise you.”
Sensei Wu was waiting when they got back to camp. He motioned for Zane to join him by the fire. “You guessed that the Weapons were fake, and so you gave them to the enemy.”
Zane nodded.
“And if you hadn’t known they were frauds? Would you still have handed them over to Samukai? You feel you are not sure of the answer to that question, and it bothers you, does it not?”
Again, Zane nodded, his eyes on the ground.
“Fortunately for us both, I do know the answer,” Sensei Wu said, smiling. “I may not know your origins, but I am certain of what is in your heart. Just like the dragon fish, when the time came to make a choice, you would do what is right … even if it cost you your life. That is why I chose you. That is why you said yes.”
“Thank you, Sensei,” said Zane quietly. “But I wonder … will I ever know about my past? Will I ever meet my parents?”
“I truly hope so,” the sensei replied. “And when you do, tell them the tale of this day … tell them how you did their memory honor, even when that memory was lost to you.”
Cole walked up to the fire. “Sensei, you said we need to get moving. I have the others packed up and ready.”
“Yes, indeed,” the sensei said, getting to his feet. “We have a third Weapon to find, but it is not a long journey. Just to the edge of the world and beyond. There are more mysteries to be explored, my young ninja … and, perhaps, some answers to be found along the way.”
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First printing, August 2011
e-ISBN 978-0-545-76598-5
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