Chapter 2

Freedom. Gaining it was easier said then done. Once out of their prison the boys ran straight into the woods with their enemies not far behind. They hadn’t gone very far when Drew cried out, “I’m caught!” His foot was caught in a pool of quicksand. Noah quickly came to pull him free but got caught himself. Henry sent a laser blast into the quicksand drying it up. Their enemies were right behind them now and there didn’t seem to be anywhere to hide. All of a sudden, “Watch out!” The three boys ducked as an eight foot log rolled through the air over their heads. It crashed into their enemies’ front ranks crushing many of them under its weight. The rest of them slowed for a moment then leaped over the log, firing their rifles. But the boys had disappeared.

“So what happened to you?” Henry asked Louis.
“Well, after you were frozen I flew up just high enough so as to be out of sight. Then I started following the vans to the river where two boats were waiting. At least they looked like boats until they left the shore and went under water. After that I went a little crazy. I flew in the direction the river was flowing as fast as I could when all of a sudden I heard a voice say,
‘Where are you going young man?’ and I stopped. On the shore was a man in a black, hooded cloak holding a straight staff of wood.
‘Why do you ask?’ I answered.
‘You are not a ninja,’ he replied.
‘Are you?’ I asked.
‘Yes. Come.’ He walked away from the shore and into the woods. I flew to the shore, landed and followed him. After some time we came to a small village. As we came close a man in a black ninja suit jumped out of a tree and said, ‘Greetings Fawl. Who is this?’
‘One of Them, Rang,’ Fawl replied. Rang looked at me with wide eyes and let us pass. We entered the village and went straight to a large hut. Inside was a long table with ten seats around it. Fawl pulled a rope near the door, ringing a bell. Soon nine ninjas walked into the room and sat down on chairs. ‘Tell us your name and why you are here,’ Fawl said. So I introduced myself and told them the story of what happened to us. When I finished the ninjas were silent for a while, then Fawl said, ‘We know where they took them.’
‘Where?!’
‘Dark Tide Laboratories,’ Rang said. ‘It’s a secret research plant.’
‘How do I get there?’
‘Hold on. First we’re going with you and second….’ Rang got up and went to a closet and took out a glowing blue ball which he brought over to me. I can’t really explain what it did but it made me know all my powers. After that we went through the woods until we came within sight of Dark Tide.”
“Who threw the tree?” Drew asked.
“Me,” said Louis. Noah suddenly noticed that Louis was wearing a sword with a silver hilt and a green grip in a leather sheathe.
“Who gave you that?” he asked.
“The ninjas,” Louis answered. “Watch this!” he drew the sword and almost immediately the blade burned with a bright green fire.
“Cool! Say where are the ninjas now?”
“Not far,” said a voice behind them. The boys whirled around and saw Fawl standing behind them. Fawl held out the blue ball and a cloud of blue energy surrounded them. Instantly the boys knew their own powers but it was Henry who thought of the next idea. “We’re going to need training if we’re going to learn how to use our powers and fight. Fawl could you?” Fawl nodded his head laughing quietly.