Roots of Earth

Chapter 4: Lost Friend and Forgotten Family
Dew sparkled in the bright green grass around the memorial. Philip’s gravestone sat silently in the ground, undisturbed by the breeze that made the leaves in the trees rustle and shift like ocean waters. Morning birds chirped and sang loudly, little bush warblers and robins flitting about the forest and undergrowth. The short iron gate surrounding the graveyard stood slightly twisted and uneven, as if the ground had shifted beneath the dark bars.
   Cole stood silently at the gate, gazing at the name of his friend carved elegantly onto the stone.
   The last I saw of you, you and your sister were riding across a great field to Stiix. We told each other we might see each other again. I looked forward to that. Because you were my friend. One of the only ones I had then.
   Now. . . now I will never see you again.
   Could Philip see Cole where he was? Was he watching him, or his sister? Cole bowed his head.
   When Day of the Departed comes again, I’ll light a lantern for you, Philip. I will never forget you again.
   He gripped one of the bars of the gate to steady himself. The more he thought of Philip, the more old memories returned, some of them fuzzy and silent images, but others were as vivid as what was happening now.
   Tunnels. There were underground tunnels. Cole shut his eyes tight. They were trapped in those tunnels. It was raining, and the water was rising. Philip and Cole were separated from Liana and a fourth traveler. Philip had been wounded by some animal that had attacked them.
   He could hear the water again. He could almost see the darkness in his head.
   Beside him Philip breathed heavily and clutched his wounded shoulder. Cole couldn’t see how bad the injury was in the dark, but from what he could tell from the teen’s painful gasps, it was pretty bad.
   Cole glanced back to where the creature disappeared. “You remember that skeleton we found earlier? I think we know what attacked it now.”
   Philip chuckled bitterly. “That’ll be us soon.”
   Cole whipped around and glared at him. “Would you quit talking about smashing?! We are not going to smash! There has to be a way out; there could be a hole in this wall, or a secret tunnel leading to safety, or we could find the river and let it carry us away!”
   He froze. “We could find the river and let it carry us away.” He repeated softly.
   “Dude, what are you talking about?” Philip asked incredulously. “I thought you were trying to live, not drown sooner!”
   “No, wait . . .” You could see the wheels and gears turning in Cole’s head. A corner of his mouth quirked up. “The river we saw. . . It must go somewhere, right? If it just stopped somewhere it would have flooded these tunnels long before we came along. So the river continues. . .” He couldn’t help it; he began to smile. “. . . And it could lead out of the mountain!”
   He looked back up at Philip. It was too dark to tell for sure, but he could have sworn Philip was grinning.
   “Shall we try it?” Cole asked.
   “We’re going to smash if we stay, so we might as well try it anyway.”
   “Let’s go.” The boys splashed away from the little cavern and entered one of the yawning tunnels, praying it would lead to the underground river. The gurgling water was rising up to their torsos; they had to move fast.
   Hoping they wouldn’t run into the predator again, they waded quickly down the corridor, trying to see through the stifling shadows. Behind him Cole could hear Philip gasping quietly in pain. It was a very long ten minutes of trudging through the river, fighting the current threatening to drag them away into the dark river.
   Of course, the river could just keep going underground where there’s no air, and then we would. . . Cole tried not to think about what would happen if he and Philip got stuck in the underground river.
   Finally the boys waded into the wide cavern where they found the river. The crack in the ceiling shone faint light into the cave, also letting in a torrent of rain. The black, churning rapids had risen up to the walls by this time, splashing water against the rocks. A current swirling deep to the right of Cole threatened to pull him away, and he grabbed a nearby boulder to steady himself. Now that he could see better, he turned to look at Philip.
   Philip’s left shoulder was mangled, his sleeve and arm torn and darkened in deep red. There was so much bl— Bile rose in Cole’s throat, and he turned away, feeling sick.
Resisting the urge to retch, he pointed down to the right and shouted over the sound of crashing waves. “Over there!” Down at the foot of the stone wall, the black water swirled and churned strangely, like when you unplug the drain in the bath tub. It looked like the place where the river would usually run, but it was difficult to tell in the dim light.
   The boys edged over cautiously, drawing closer to the turbulent waves. Cole stopped by a boulder sticking out, shielding him from the current. He looked at Philip in the eyes, trying not to look at his arm, and smiled grimly. Philip returned it with a good old grin, as if they weren’t in mortal danger.
   “Ready?” Cole rasped.
   “Let’s do this.” Philip held out his good hand. “Together.”
   “Right.” They grasped hands and gazed at the swirling river tugging on them. The water was rising dangerously fast, climbing up to the top of their chests.
   “If anything happens to me,” Philip shouted over the roar of the waves. “Will you care for Liana?”
   “I will!” Cole shouted back.
   The voices reverberated hauntingly in head, and Cole took a shuddering breath. Philip was gone. . . But Liana remained. His blind sister was all alone, save for the relatives she lived with. Perhaps it was time for Cole to make good on his promise.
   He sighed softly, then turned from the cemetery and walked away.
   Cole had slipped away from Steep Wisdom after morning chores and exercises, switching from his ninja gi to a dark hoodie to blend in with the citizens. He had flown to the park on his elemental dragon, but now he simply walked down the bustling streets of Ninjago City, content to let his feet do the work.
   Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the public gym. He stepped inside, drawing the hood back from his head. Several people were inside; some running on treadmills, some lifting weights, others stretching on yoga mats and more doing who-knows-what. Cole had only one person in mind, though, and further inspection of the gym proved his search successful.
   Liana was training in the boxing corner of the gym, swinging her nunchucks around the dummies like a pro. She was barefoot, wearing dark yoga pants and a white workout top. Sweat trickled down her face and torso, clear signs that she had been working long and hard. Though she looked exhausted, there was a happy, determined expression on her disfigured face.
   The sight of the girl working out brought a small smile to Cole’s face. His smile turned into a mischievous grin when he suddenly had an idea.
   Slipping off his shoes and sweater, Cole went to the supply closet and brought out his own pair of nunchucks. Quiet as a mouse, he snuck around the boxing ring and watched Liana, waiting for the right moment. When she stopped swinging for a moment to catch her breath, he attacked.
“Yaaahh!!”
   Nunchucks swinging in his hands, Cole leapt at Liana. With a startled yelp, she whipped around and instinctively parried the blow. She twisted her body around like a snake and kicked at his hands, knocking his weapons out of balance. Remembering his little training with nunchucks, Cole did a behind the neck pass, (swinging the nunchucks behind his neck with his right hand and grabbing them with his left), and responded with a L-strike, which forced Liana to back up a few feet.
   With a determined snarl, Liana crouched and showed her skill by an expert wrist roll, swinging her weapons over in one hand in a single, fluid motion. With hardly any hesitation, she did a shoulder-to-shoulder spin and sprung.
   The two of them battled for a long time, neither one of them willing to give in. A few people stopped what they were doing to watch the fight, which looked rather intense. They swung and grappled with each other for what seemed like hours, shouting and yelling in excitement as their weapons clashed.
   While Cole had the advantage of surprise and experience in real battle, not to mention the fact that he wasn’t as tired as Liana, it was the latter who had the upper hand. Her experience with nunchucks was clear when she rose as the victor. If they had been fighting with scythes or swords, the outcome may had been different, but seeing that Cole had never had much practice with nunchucks, he was the one who found himself at his opponent’s mercy.

"You shouldn't swear.  It's a sign of bad verbal skills."
She could still publish this stuff anyway!  (Could I be the editor?)

"You shouldn't swear.  It's a sign of bad verbal skills."
She could still publish this stuff anyway!  (Could I be the editor?)