The Lair of Tanabrax, page 1
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CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter 1: The Village
Chapter 2: A Creepy Secret
Chapter 3: Bunch and Moody
Chapter 4: The Shadow Man
Chapter 5: A Puppet Problem
Chapter 6: Time to Train
Chapter 7: Into the Lair
Chapter 8: Brother vs. Puppet
Chapter 9: The Medallion
Chapter 10: Hearts of Gold
Epilogue
Glossary
Master Wu and the six ninja strolled through a village outside Ninjago City.
“Let me get this straight,” Jay said. “We came all the way to this village to stop a ring of chicken thieves and it turns out it was just a bunch of foxes?”
“Most of the time, the simplest explanation is the correct one,” Master Wu said.
“I don’t mind coming here,” Jay said. “It’s nice to have a break from training.”
Kai looked at the small houses, surrounded by rice fields. “Not much to do here, though.”
Cole sniffed the air. “Are those mooncakes I smell?” He followed his nose away from the others.
“Cole, we’ve got to get back to the monastery!” Lloyd called out, but Cole didn’t turn around.
Nya laughed. “I’m sure Cole’s on the scent of something good. Let’s check it out!”
They followed Cole through the twisting village streets to the town marketplace. Colorful decorations hung from the trees.
“Those look like…turnips?” Jay asked.
Zane scanned his database. “On this day every year, this village holds a Turnip Festival. There are games of chance, entertainment, and different kinds of food made from turnips, including their famous turnip donuts.”
“That’s what I smelled!” Cole said. “I have got to try those.”
Lloyd turned to Master Wu. “Do we have time?”
“I suppose we at least have time for a cup of tea or two,” the ninja master replied.
“Cool!” Jay said. “We should check out that traveling puppet show over there. It looks like lots of fun.”
“Puppets? NO PUPPETS!” Master Wu said sharply. The ninja all froze and looked at him with surprise.
“Please?” Nya asked. “I’d love to see the puppets just for a few minutes.”
Master Wu shook his head. “Isn’t there something else you’d like to do? I think I see a turnip-toss game over there. Anything but puppets!”
“Um, not to be disrespectful, Master Wu, but what do you have against puppets?” Kai asked.
A cloud came over Master Wu’s face. “It is a long story,” he said. “But one you must hear. Let us sit under this tree and I will tell you.”
“Wait! I’ll get us some donuts first!” Cole said, and he hurried away. Master Wu sat cross-legged at the base of the tree and the rest of the ninja joined him.
“Master Wu, does this story take place when you and your brother, Garmadon, were young, and your father sent you on that long journey?” Nya asked. “You know, the quest to find a special healing tea for Garmadon.”
Master Wu nodded. “Indeed. And we were very young at that time.”
“You never told us how that journey ended, Master Wu,” Kai said.
“All in due time,” Master Wu replied, stroking his long beard. “It was a long adventure, and quite an important one. And this story is part of it.”
Cole came running back. “Turnip donuts for everyone!” he said. “And I got you some tea, Master Wu.”
The old man gratefully took the cup from him and sipped the tea.
“Where to begin,” Wu said. “Garmadon and I had been traveling for several days when we came upon a village just like this one….”
“I spy…something green,” Wu said.
“Seriously?” Garmadon asked, rolling his eyes. “This is the third time you’ve spied something green.”
“Well, we’ve been walking through woods and fields,” Wu pointed out matter-of-factly. “Almost everything is green.”
Garmadon sighed. “Fine,” he said. “Is it the grass?”
“No,” Wu replied.
Garmadon pointed. “That tree over there?”
“Nope,” Wu answered.
“What about that tree over there?” Garmadon asked. “Is that it?”
Wu shook his head. “Uh-uh.”
Garmadon pointed behind him. “That one?” he asked loudly, agitated.
“No,” Wu said, grinning with the anticipation of winning. “Do you give up?”
“Sure,” Garmadon said.
Wu pointed to another tree. “That one! That tree!”
“I almost had it,” his brother replied flatly. “Do we have to keep playing this game?”
“No, but I can’t think of a better one,” Wu said. “It’s been five days since we left the Temple of Felis. We’ve talked about everything we can talk about. And I’ve sang every song I can remember.”
“I know. I heard you sing them all.” Garmadon kicked a stone on the path in front of him. “I don’t know why we’re still on this stupid journey, anyway. I don’t need any tea to ‘fix’ me. There’s nothing wrong with me.”
The boys’ father, the First Spinjitzu Master, had started them on this quest weeks ago. He was worried about the darkness he’d seen rising in Garmadon. He said that there was a tea plant growing on the shores of the northern ocean that could fix his son.
“Mm-hmm,” Wu said. He didn’t want to argue with Garmadon, but he thought their father was right. Something hadn’t been quite right with his brother ever since that day when they were just kids and he’d been bitten by a serpent.
Wu and Garmadon had always been opposites in many ways. As a young boy, white-haired Wu had been impatient and a little reckless. His dark-haired brother, Garmadon, had been thoughtful and caring. But after Wu had stolen their father’s scrolls of Forbidden Spinjitzu, Wu changed. He became the responsible one, and Garmadon started to take more risks.
That was what led Garmadon to climb over the wall of the monastery one day, where the snake had bit him. And ever since that bite, Wu had noticed a change in his brother. Garmadon would burst into sudden, stormy moods and flashes of anger. This frightened Wu, and if the tea could help Garmadon, he would travel to the scariest regions of Ninjago to get it for him.
“We should just turn back,” Garmadon continued. “Turn back and tell Father we’re not going on some wild chase for no reason.”
“You and I both know that won’t work,” Wu said. “We both want to become great masters of Spinjitzu, don’t we? We can’t do that without Father’s training. I’m sure it won’t take us too much longer to find the plant.”
“Mm-hmm,” Garmadon replied, and Wu knew that was his brother’s way of admitting that Wu was right. Garmadon let the subject drop, so Wu continued with the game.
“Your turn,” Wu said. “What do you spy?”
Garmadon stopped and squinted into the distance. “I spy several plumes of chimney smoke. It’s a village!”
“Hey, you’re supposed to let me guess,” Wu said.
Garmadon rolled his eyes. “You’re missing the point, brother. We’re almost out of food and we haven’t slept on a soft bed in a long time. A village is just what we need.”
“You’re right!” Wu said, and he broke into a run. “Last one there is a slimy snake!”
Garmadon and Wu charged down the path and reached the village at the same time. Small homes with neat gardens lined the stone streets. The brothers could see a marketplace in the center of the village, and they headed there.
But as they passed by the houses, Wu noticed something strange. A mother playing with her two kids stared at the boys, then shook her head sadly. They walked past another house and saw a man staring at them from a window. When they passed the next house, a man was watering flowers outside.
“Hello there,” Wu greeted him. “What’s the name of this village? We’ve traveled a long way, and—”
“There’s nothing much to see here,” the man replied. “You’d best be on your way.”
The man frowned. “Like I said, you need to keep moving.” And he went back to watering his flowers.
Wu and Garmadon looked at each other.
“Are you getting a weird vibe from this place?” Wu asked.
Garmadon nodded. “Yeah, nobody here seems to be very friendly.” Then he sniffed the air. “Mmm! What’s that delicious smell?”
Wu sniffed, too. “I don’t know, but weird villagers or not, I want to find out!”
They followed their noses to the marketplace. There were small stands of people selling fruit, vegetables, bread, and cooked foods, like dumplings and soup.
“Dumplings!” both brothers cried together. Without another word, they made their way to the dumpling stand.
“Let’s order a dozen of each kind,” Garmadon said, his mouth watering.
“I would, but we’re almost out of money,” Wu informed him.
“How much do we have?” Garmadon asked.
Wu took some coins out of his pockets and looked at the sign on the stand. “Enough for one dumpling,” he said.
Garmadon nodded to the gray-haired woman behind the counter, who was placing dumplings in a bamboo basket to steam.
“We’d like one dumpling, please,” he said.
The woman raised an eyebrow. “One dumpling?”
“That’s what I said,” Garmadon answered. “Is there a problem with that?”
“Only if you continue to be rude to an old lady,” the woman shot back. “One dumpling is kind of a strange order. People talk about my dumplings all over Ninjago. Nobody ever orders just one. They order six, or twelve, or a hundred!”
Wu held out his coins. “We can only afford one dumpling.”
She shook her head and clicked her tongue, but then she opened another steamer basket and used chopsticks to pick up a single dumpling.
“No, not that one!” Garmadon cried. “Can you choose the biggest one?”
“Really?” the woman asked. “They’re all the same size.”
“No, they’re not,” Garmadon insisted, and he pointed. “That one’s a little bigger.”
The dumpling seller was not convinced. “It is not.”
“Just give us the big one!” Garmadon’s voice got loud.
Wu sighed and put a hand on his brother’s arm. “It’s okay, Garmadon,” he said soothingly. “We can get a bunch of carrots instead. They’ll be easier to share.”
Then he heard a voice behind them.
“Grandma, give them a plate of dumplings.”
The brothers turned to see a girl who looked to be about their age, with short brown hair.
“Thank you,” Wu said. “My name’s Wu, and this is my brother, Garmadon.”
The girl smiled. “I’m Hana, and that’s my grandmother.”
“Call me Obachan,” the woman said gruffly, and she piled eight dumplings on a plate and passed it to them.
Garmadon looked at Hana. “Why are you doing this? You don’t even know us.”
Hana shrugged. “You look hungry. And Grandma and I like to feed people.”
“We’ve been traveling for weeks,” Wu explained. “And we’re running out of supplies. Do you know of anyone looking for an extra hand? Maybe we could stay the night here and do some work in the morning to earn money so we can buy more food.”
“You do not want to stay the night here,” Obachan said dryly.
Wu frowned. “Another guy told us that, too.”
“Why can’t we stay?” Garmadon asked. “It’s not a bad little village.”
“It is an excellent village!” Obachan snapped. “But it is not a good time for visitors to stay here.”
“I don’t get it,” Wu said. “You have great food, and the flowers are in bloom. If we weren’t on a journey, we’d stay for a few days.”
Obachan looked at her granddaughter.
“These are nice boys,” the woman said. “Should we tell them?”
Hana nodded. “Our village is in danger, and they should know it.”
Garmadon perked up. “Danger? What danger?”
“People have been disappearing,” Hana explained. “My own brother went missing two weeks ago. Some said he left to move to the city, but he wouldn’t have left us without saying goodbye. More people have vanished since then. The villagers swear that—”
“Enough, Hana,” Obachan said. “That is all these boys need to know. They should leave before night falls.”
“And where will they go?” Hana asked. “The next village is nearly a day’s journey away. They’ll be safer here.”
“Well, we’re ninja and we’re not afraid,” Garmadon informed them, and he spun into a dashing ninja kick to prove it.
Hana looked them over. They each wore a gi—loose pants with a lightweight shirt on top tied in front, perfect for ninja battles.
“Is that what you are?” she asked. “I wondered why you were wearing pajamas.”
“These aren’t pajamas!” Garmadon snapped, his voice rising.
“Yes, we’re ninja,” Wu said. “And my brother’s right. We’re not afraid to stay here. Do you know of any place we could sleep tonight?”
“You could sleep in my brother’s room, right, Grandma?” Hana asked.
Obachan snorted.
“Come on, Grandma. If they are what they claim to be, they’ll be fine. And maybe they’ll even help keep us safe, too,” Hana added.
Obachan finally agreed.
“It’s settled!” Hana said. “You’re staying with us. Now eat your dumplings before they get cold.”
The brothers didn’t argue. They quickly downed the delicious dumplings. When the sun began to set, they helped Hana and Obachan pack up the market stand and brought it back to their cottage. The pretty white house had a flower garden in the back. Hana led them inside and up to a room on the second floor.
“There’s only one bed, but there are extra blankets, so one of you can have the floor,” she said.
“Thank you,” Wu said. “We really appreciate it.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Garmadon echoed. Then he jumped onto the bed. “Mine!”
“No fair!” Wu jumped in next to him. “You can’t just call it like that.”
“Can too,” Garmadon said.
“Well, this bed is really comfortable. I’m not leaving,” Wu said. “We can share.”
“Fine,” Garmadon said.
“Fine,” Wu echoed.
The brothers squeezed onto the bed, back to back. But as tired as they were, they couldn’t seem to fall asleep. Wu kept running the conversation with Hana and Obachan over and over in his mind.
“Do you really think something weird is happening in this village?” Wu asked.
“Probably not,” Garmadon said. “This place is in the middle of nowhere. I bet everyone really is just leaving for the big city.”
“Hana didn’t think that was what happened,” Wu pointed out.
“Well, she probably just doesn’t want to believe it,” Garmadon said with a yawn.
Then the five days of walking caught up to them, and the brothers drifted off to sleep.
Wu dreamed.
He and Garmadon found the tea plant—a huge plant with leaves that wriggled like snakes. They cut the plant at the stalk and stuffed it into a tea kettle full of water. Then they boiled the tea, and Wu poured some into a cup and gave it to Garmadon.
“Drink up, brother!” Wu said. “You’ll be better in no time.”
Garmadon sipped. Wu waited.
“Did it work?” Wu asked. “Is the evil gone?”
Garmadon didn’t answer. His eyes glazed over red. They began to glow. Then Garmadon began to grow bigger…and bigger…and bigger…
“Oh, no! Brother, what’s happening?” Wu cried. “Somebody, help! Help! Help!”
Wu woke up shaking. He looked over at his brother, who was snoring peacefully next to him. Then he heard:
