Captured!

Kai, Cole, and Jay stood on the deck of HQ, ready to launch off to Osobouros, Golden Weapons on their backs. Nya stood with them, waiting for Sensei Wu. He hadn't been seen all morning, which they were starting to get worried about.

"Where could he be?" asked Jay nervously. "We haven't seen him since last night." Kai shrugged, not intensely worried.

"I saw him in his room this morning. What's to worry about?" But Cole didn't say anything. He was staring off the deck into the sky, lost in his own thoughts. What if we're to late? what if Zane's alrea-NO. Don't think like that. He's fine. Cole couldn't STOP thinking like that though. Something just...didn't feel right today. Suddenly, everyone was rushing away, and he realized Sensei had appeared. He looked really tired, like he'd stayed up all night because of horrible news-whoa, what was his PROBLEM today? He had the oddest sense of foreboding, like...like he was gonna LOSE something. Or something. Right...he went up to Sensei, pulling a smile onto his face.

"Hey, Sensei. You've been missed. Where've you been?" As he looked at Cole, Cole swore, for a split second, that a flash of intense pain had crossed his face. Shut up! he yelled at the voice in his head. Everything is FINE!

"Oh, just worrying about Zane and Lloyd is all." Sensei responded, setting a hand on Cole's shoulder. "But I know you'll get them back." Cole grinned, even though he felt like yelling.

"You bet, Sensei." Then, Nya rushed over, smiling nervously.

"Alright, guys! We're over the drop zone!" They all said quick goodbyes to Sensei, and, in mere moments, they flew off the deck of the ship, grasping their Golden Weapons and hurtling to...something. Cole breathed in the earth-rich air deeply, but, oddly enough, today it held no comfort.

Zane heard the dry rustle of a snake general's tail, but he didn't look up. Again, intense need to scream. For a moment, all was silent. But just a moment.

"Boy, we have something of yours." Zane, breathing deeply, forced his head up, and blanched. Lloyd was tied to Skales, and he was pale and scared. In all the commotion, Zane had forgotten that he was here. Skales gestured to the nine-year old.

"Come with us." Zane didn't have much choice. Or do you... muttered the small voice in his head. He squeezed his eyes shut for a second, then got up and went through the open door to Skales. The snake motioned for him to go ahead, and he walked in front of them, guarded by the Fangpyere general. After a few minutes, they emerged in the room they were in hours before, only now, the entire Serpentine army seemed to be in it-though luckily not armed. Pythor was standing on the same dais as before, with an array of Venomari on his sides. Zane and Lloyd were walked up to him, with all the Serpentine staring mainly at Zane. For a moment, the two just stared at each other. Then, Pythor spoke.

"Do you believe me yet?" Zane kept his mouth shut, to-unsure-himself to answer. Pythor raised his eyebrows. "I take that as a no..." Zane again stood silent. Pythor sighed, and motioned to Skales. He slithered forward and handed Lloyd's bonds to Pythor. He pulled the trembling boy onto the dais, and looked down at Zane. "Then I guess we'll have to prove it to you. On a stand behind Pythor, a katana gleamed.

Jay snuck around the outer wall of Osobouros alongside Cole and Kai. They were approaching the front entrance, and Jay was slightly nervous. He checked out his teammates for similar signs of nervousness. Cole was focused and yet...he wasn't. It was like he was in his own thoughts or something. Jay was worried-they all needed to be focused and on their game. Kai was revved up and ready to go-he just wanted to get Zane and apologize, poor guy. The guilt had been on his conscience the whole time.

"Alright, guys. We're at the front doors. We're going in." The three tensed up, and flipped on into Osobouros.

Zane stiffened, and he felt the same odd rush again-like ice flowing flash-fast up his spine. He was suddenly standing directly in front of Pythor, fists clenched."Keep your filthy hands off of him."

Pythor scrambled backward so fast, he nearly tripped over his own tail. He reached slowly backward and grabbed for the katana. Zane flashed forward, but Pythor swung it directly at his face. He was forced to jump backward, right into the Venomari's waiting arms. He struggled as hard as he could, and was about to use Spinjitzu, when Pythor yelled out "Stop!" The katana was less than an inch away from Lloyd's throat, and Pythor was staring directly at Zane. "If this is the way to prove it...so be it." Zane screamed as the katana flashed.

Kai was leading the way across the massive slither pit in the city. Not one snake had shown its head, so he figured they must all be underground. They stopped in the middle of the circle, looking around. Nothing seemed to be happening. Kai was surprised. He thought Pythor was smarter. He knew they'd come after their friends-shouldn't he have a guard up?

"Guys, look!" cried Jay's voice. They followed him over to a stone wall that was bare except for a snake head sticking out of it.

"What?" asked Cole. "This is an interesting wall and all, but-"

"No, look!" He gestured to the sandy ground, and Kai soon got it. Hundreds of footprints led right to the wall, and then vanished underneath it. Jay confidently leaned over and pulled on the snake head, which twisted down. The wall groaned, and pulled upwards, opening.

"Alright, Jay!" cried Kai, grinning. "Now we're getting somewhere!" They slipped into the passage, and crept down a long dirt path for several minutes. After a while, Kai began to see light ahead, and hear voices. He motioned to the others, and they all came to a stop.

"Okay, now what? Obviously, there are a lot of them down there, so..." Jay asked. Kai nodded, and turned to Cole.

"I say travel in shadows. Edge of the pack, slip around to the lower levels, if the guys aren't already in there." Cole offered. Kai agreed with him, and the three quietly went up to the door from which torchlight was spilling. Voices came from inside, some loud, some softer. Then, there was a yell. As quickly and silently as possible, they went in-and stopped dead. They had a clear view to the dais on which Pythor was standing-with a katana to Lloyd's neck. Kai stiffened and gasped. He felt the others do the same. A split second later, they saw Zane struggling against some Venomari, fury filling his face.

"If this is the way to prove it...so be it." Pythor said. For one second, the world stopped. Everything in it...froze. And then Pythor twitched. The light caught the katana just as-Kai eyes flinched shut despite himself. A scream filled the room-a scream of horror, of shock, of pain, of...guilt. Then silence. Kai forced his eyes open, ripping them away from the dais and toward Zane. His face was frozen in a mask of revulsion and horror, as Kai imagined his was. Zane looked up at Pythor slowly, his eyes hardening already.

"You...you...no..." Zane started to tremble. Kai suddenly forgot about Lloyd. About Sensei. The guys. All he could see was...Zane. His eyes began to glow, and the snakes holding him screamed and flew backward. He began to glow, and his fists clenched. He seemed to almost flow forward, glowing evermore brightly, and heading straight for Pythor.

"You...monster. You will pay for that. You will pay for EVERYTHING." Kai felt, for the first time in his life...real fear in his chest. He didn't say a word. He just backed up.

Lloyd was dead because of HIM. Lloyd was dead because of his failures. But he wouldn't fail. He wouldn't fail ever again... he stepped forward, towards the snake. The rage that was in him was indescribable, it was so huge. He felt the cold grow around him, and the room seemed to turn away, to nothing. All that was there was him. The snake. He seemed so small now, so silly. Easy to destroy. He moved again, and he was right in front of him, and he felt the cold in his core wrestle its way to the surface. He had said words, but they didn't matter. All that mattered was getting the cold out, onto him, onto all of them. And he let it. It was a feeling of pure ecstasy as the rage came out as cold. For a moment, he let it out all over, but then, he felt the three things. They felt...oddly familiar, as if he knew the things from somewhere. He didn't want to hurt those three-he could sense the goodness, the innocence in them. He let the cold go around them. Then he ignored them. He remembered someone in red-he'd healed him, hadn't he? So he HAD to heal Lloyd. NOW. The cold was out-the rage was gone. He gently reached down and picked up Lloyd, cradling him in his arms. The wound was serious-he was dead. Zane reached down deep. He felt for it, everywhere and nowhere. Ah, there it was. He pulled it up, the light swirling around them both, and he felt the little green light sink back into the boy through his chest. For a second the boy remained still. Then, he was sitting up, his throat restored. He looked around, and his eyes met Zane's. They widened, and a small sound came from the mouth of the boy. But the world was going dark, and sound held no meaning. The world was going dark...

Cole woke up in his bed. For a minute, he didn't believe it. It had been a dream. A crazy dream. Not true...couldn't be. And then he saw the falcon. It was standing on Zane's bedpost, looking at him. For a moment, the two stared at each other. Then, Cole got another shock.

"Well, if you're asking, it's real. All of it." Falcon said calmly. Cole reared back in surprise, but after a second, he shrugged and nodded.

"Figures you can talk. O.K., bird, tell...wait. That...all...happened?" Falcon nodded.

"Come on. We've been waiting for you. I've got quite a...presentation...to make today." And with that, he flew out the window, leaving Cole to get dressed with his thoughts.

Nya, Jay, Kai, Cole, Sensei Wu, Falcon,...and Lloyd sat around the table on Destiny's Bounty. They knew. All of it. Everything. And, to put it lightly, they were shocked beyond reason.

"I know this is a lot to take in right now, but it's all the truth. Sadly." Falcon said. Nya looked up, eyes full of tears.

"So...will Zane ever...come..." they all wanted to say it, but they just couldn't, Jay least of all. Falcon had told them that after Zane had ressurected Lloyd in the caverns, he had 'faded'-left this plane and had gone to the astral plane, supposed home of the gods. No one, not even Falcon, knew if he would return. Jay had been silent all morning-he was to sad to talk much. Zane was gone...as good as dead. Part-god? That was crazy! But he'd seen with his own eyes what Zane had done. How he'd...made the light-the freezing cold, glowing, screeching light-go around them. That, and only that, gave him comfort. Did Zane still remember them...still care for them? Maybe. Maybe... he heard Cole begin to speak, so he looked up.

"You know, I had the oddest feeling that we...were gonna lose something today. I thought that was fulfilled when I saw Lloyd killed." Cole looked at each of them-Nya's tear-streaked face, Jay's hopeless eyes, Kai's and Lloyd's still-shocked and incredibly guilty features. He then looked to Falcon, who was staring back at him with a mixture of guilt and resignation. "But I realize now what we lost today was Zane...what we lost today was...a brother."

And all is silent on the ship known as Destiny's Bounty.

FIN

END OF BOOK ONE

Oh, yeah! CLIFFHANGER! I love 'em!(= But don't worry, you'll find out what happens in Book Two: Revealed! I'm making it a series. See ya next time! And thanks again for all the great reviews!