The memories swirled away again as Ronin ran on. This was not the first time he'd run directly into danger- though it was one of the few times he'd done it knowingly. But now he forced the thoughts from his mind- he had no time to think about the past now. He had a job to do.

Another wave of blazing heat descended on them, and glowing embers rained down amongst the ashes. Thick smoke swirled all around them, obscuring their view, and through the haze an orange glow was visible at the ends of some streets.

Skylor shook her head and slowed, disoriented. "They should be here," she murmured, pressing a hand against her forehead. After a moment she straightened, wheeling to her left. "This way!"

They took off down the street again. Ronin didn't have to ask to know that Skylor had discerned their friends' location with her mind powers. Yet as they approached the spot, both of them suddenly came to an abrupt stop.

There were at least several dozen shadowy figures flitting through the flames- and they didn't look friendly. Before either of them could react, several of the shapes spotted them and charged through the smoke.

A heated battle ensued, but the smoke made it nearly impossible for Ronin to get a good look at their adversaries. Two things were instantly clear, however- they were many, and they were strong.

Suddenly the others were there, fighting alongside them and beating back their mysterious foes.

"We need to get out of here!" Cole panted, "There's too many! We need to regroup... draw them out of the smoke!" He barely managed to parry a strike aimed at his head. A nearby building collapsed into a flaming mass with a roar, sending a flurry of embers into the air.

Ronin opened his mouth to agree, but before he could their attackers suddenly withdrew.

"What are they doing?" Nya gasped, glancing around.

Their enemies were silent for several moments, but then, softly at first, but growing louder and louder, they began a dark, haunting chant.

"Pyrus Vulcan!"

The words were low, dripping with hate.

"Pyrus Vulcan!"

The chant begun by just a few began to spread, until dozens of voices had picked up the cry.

"Pyrus Vulcan! Pyrus Vulcan!"

The air began to tremble, quivering with the sound.

"Pyrus Vulcan!"

As this last cry fell from the lips of the invaders, silence took hold. The watchers' voices stilled- the chant died away.

And a tall figure stepped from the haze to stand before them.

His armor glowed like molten steel, red as an iron freshly drawn from a furnace, and he wore a cape of dragon skin, which swirled down around his high boots. Smoke and ash whirled around him, and the mask of his metal samurai helmet shielded his face from view. But it was on the insignia emblazoned across his breastplate that Ronin's eyes fell- a dragon's head reared across the metal, spewing forth flames of burning red. On this crest his eyes landed, and in an instant the burning air was frozen with a fatal chill. Time spun to a stop as tendrils of ice frosted over it, and a blanket of silence severed the sound of the roaring flames.

Only the pounding of his own heart penetrated the stillness. His chest constricted. He couldn't breathe.

Old enemies...

His worst fears had come true.

The living nightmare stood before him, silent, emotionless, stiller than any living thing could stand. Yet Ronin knew that the man did live, lived only to strip him of the one thing he had managed to cling to for so many years-

His own life.

It was all they could take from him now. Month by month, year by year, he had watched as everything he'd ever loved had been torn away. Yet for so many years there had been silence, for so many years after only he remained... yet how had he ever dared dream that he'd escaped? His silent adversary sought only one thing, and would not stop until only one- or neither- of them remained.

Always, ever, he'd been on the run, but it was only now that the awful truth hit him-

His bane had cornered him at last.

His fists clenched as he stood, face-to-face with the man who had followed him so doggedly for as long as he could remember, destroying everything he'd ever fought for, waiting for a single mistake to leave him vulnerable. One day, Ronin knew, his time would run out- as everyone's did- but something within him grew hard and determined, and he vowed in his heart that today would not be that day. Deliberately he reached back, drawing his sword, and leveled it at the dragon samurai, bracing himself against the attack he knew would surely follow.

And follow it did. In a blinding whirl the man sprang at him, almost faster than what it seemed his heavy armor would allow. Ronin's sword clanged against the heated metal and twisted free of his hands, leaving little more than a dent in the chestplate. He staggered back, only just managing to keep his footing, and clenched his teeth to keep from crying out as the man's burning gauntlet seared against his left shoulder. Quickly he withdrew his Aeroblade with his right hand, slashing at the man's arm, and a sizzling plume of steam filled the air around them as deepstone met the blazing metal, sending a dark stain tearing down the armpiece as the near-molten armor rapidly began to cool. Then Ronin was thrust backwards, and a boot slammed into his shin, nearly throwing his balance. He lashed out with the Aeroblade, but this time his adversary anticipated the move and evaded it.

Inch by inch he was driven back, unable to counter the burning samurai's almost inhuman strength. He was losing ground- and realized that his friends faced a similar fate, overwhelmed by the sheer number of foes. If they stayed, they would surely be overcome. There was only one way out.

Summoning the rest of his strength, Ronin thrust forward desperately, ignoring the pain as his hands touched the man's armor. The man staggered back at the sudden push, and, in the brief respite that followed, Ronin caught his breath and gave a piercing whistle.

A whirring sound filled the air, and several of the warriors stepped back at the sound- but the dragon samurai remained. He lunged at Ronin with a low growl, too fast to avoid, and Ronin gave a gasp of pain as the blazing glove closed around his shoulder. The world reeled, and he forced all his concentration into staying conscious, barely managing to keep his footing.

REX pierced the smoke, descending from above, and the rope ladder dropped, allowing them an escape, but as the others began to move toward it the warriors, realizing what was happening, advanced. One leapt at the Ninja, but even as he sprang he gave a piercing cry as an arrow shot from the smoke and stuck in the shoulder armor with a sharp hiss. The glowing armor dulled, turning black, and ice spread over it from the icy tip of the bolt. The warrior within gave another cry as his armor hardened, fusing in place and leaving him locked within it. He toppled backwards and landed with a clunk, while sounds of his futile struggle filled the air. It would take more than the strength of bare hands to remove his frozen armor now...

"Ronin!" Skylor yelled from amidst the smoke, starting toward him as he writhed within the samurai's grasp. Before she'd even taken a step, however, another icy bolt shot from the smoke. A misty silhouette flitted from one rooftop to another through a gap in the smoke, and then vanished into the haze again. The samurai holding Ronin jerked back, dropping him, and avoided the bolt, which lodged in a nearby building. Ice immediately glazed the bricks, where it had stuck. Ronin crawled away, flinching every time he had to move his burned arm, and headed for the ladder. Skylor quickly grabbed his good arm and helped him to his feet, guiding him toward REX. "Go- I'll be there in a moment!" She thrust him toward the rope ladder and then lunged for the ice bolt stuck in the fallen warrior's armor.

"Skylor!" Kai yelled, but from his position at the top of the ladder he could do nothing to help. She ignored him, diving forward and grabbing the frozen bolt. It had stuck, however, and she yanked on it, trying to jerk it free of the warrior's armor. At last she got it free, just as a warrior dove at her from behind. Anticipating the move, she vanished into smoke, reappearing behind him, and took off for the ladder. "Pull it up!" she yelled as the warriors moved in behind her, starting to reach for the ladder. "Pull it up!"

Ronin gave a gasp and lay panting on the floor of the airship as the others heaved him in and then began pulling the ladder up. A few moments later Skylor vaulted inside, the frozen arrow in her hand, and the ship doors closed. REX soared off, out of the smoke and into the clear sky overhead.

All of them sat in stunned silence for several minutes, unable to comprehend what had just happened. The whole city was burning, and under attack from samurai in fiery armor. A mysterious archer had aided them, and then vanished as quickly as he'd arrived, and his arrows had been tipped with what seemed to be pure ice. It all seemed impossible, and yet... it was all real.

Finally Ronin pushed himself to his feet, meaning to take manual control of REX, but gave a gasp and sank down again as pain seared through his left arm. He winced, for the first time turning to see the damage. The samurai's glove had burned straight through his armor- he wouldn't be using that arm for a while...

Nya looked up, hearing his distress, and caught her breath. "We need to bandage that right away..."

He shook his head. "We don't have time-- we need to make plans..."

"If we don't deal with this now, it's going to get worse. The Sensei taught us some first aid. Now sit still-- I'm going to get the bandages," she told him firmly, and went looking for the first aid kit.

He moaned, but lay still, knowing she was right. His arm throbbed now, but his mind had gone so numb that the pain was little more than an empty blur.

Nya watched him with concern as she returned, as did Kai, who had come up behind her. Ronin looked away, not wanting to betray how bad his wound really was, and held back a moan of pain as Nya began her work. Fire lanced through his arm again, and he flinched, feeling nauseated. The room began to spin, and before he could gather his wits again a wave of blackness swept across his vision...

***

Cold chains bit into his arms, and he was thrust to the floor. He tried to fight his way to his feet again, but the butt of a spear struck him hard in the back and he cried out, lying trembling on the lavish carpets that paved the floor of his master's chamber.

"So this is the spy," a sharp voice muttered, "This is the one who aided our enemy... who betrayed us. I expected more of you, Ronin."

"Please!" he gasped, "Just give me one more chance- I promise it won't happen again!"

"The sun will flicker to ashes and the moon crumble to dust before I trust the word of a mercenary." The biting reply stung his ears. "Especially after he tried to betray me..."

"The serpent is always hungry," a cultist suggested. Ronin gasped, and then yelped as the spear struck him again- this time in the side.

"Then find something else to feed it." Dark eyes flicked momentarily from Ronin to the cultist, and then back again. He dared not meet their gaze. "You are fortunate, Ronin, that you are too valuable to dispose of. If you were any less skilled in your work... let's just say that this might well have been your last mission."

He caught his breath. "Y-you're letting me go?"

A derisive snort met his words. "Don't be a fool. You shall simply be more firmly bound than before... Clouse, you know what to do."

"Of course, Master," a new voice whined. Ronin didn't have to raise his eyes to reconize it as that of the Master of Magic...

Abruptly the scene shifted. Fire and smoke leapt up in whirling tendrils all around, and the roar of the flames filled the air. Rank after rank of fiery samurai marched through the ruins of Ninjago city, led by their master Pyrus Vulcan. But no- they were not merely marching- they were advancing on something he could not see. Something or someone.

He strained for a better look, but could not catch a glimpse of their quarry.

Then, from out of the midst of the sounds of destruction, came a voice- a woman's voice, soft, yet full of determination. "Ronin, are you there? I know you can hear me- and the time has come! The magic wears thin- your best chance is now! I cannot hold them off much longer- and they are coming for you. Get as far away from them as you can- do not let them find you... Find the lost years... find the time forgotten! Only then will you know what to do..."

The dream began to fade, melting into a blur of colors. Yet even as it slipped away, the voice called out one final time.

"Remember- you must remember!"