The team woke up early as they had gotten used to it back at the Monastery. After breakfast, Lloyd and Harumi had decided to ask for directions from Sorla so they could start their search for Zane.

"Your friend, Zane, is imprisoned here, in the Ice Emperor's Castle." Sorla pointed to the landmark on the red map she laid out for the two. "There are only two paths through the mountains. This is the safest." She pointed on the map again.

"A pass?" Lloyd asked.

"In the old tongue, it is called 'Mala-Wojira'." Sorla stated.

"Mala-Wojira?" Harumi repeated her words.

"Wojira's Wrath." The old lady explained. "But you must be careful, you cannot make a sound in this place. You cannot speak or whisper. Even your footfalls must be like a gentle breeze."

"Why?" Lloyd inquired.

"What would happen if we do make a sound?" Harumi added.

"Wojira would strike you down." Sorla answered with hand motions.

"Okay, but what is it?" Lloyd was still confused on the dangers that Sorla was trying to warn them about.

The old woman inhaled and exhaled in a loud way which made the two look at each other.

"Uh, alright. Thank you, Sorla." Harumi said in a bit of a rush.

"Okay. Great, well, I guess we'll just be quiet." Lloyd answered as he rolled up the map.

The two left the house and joined the rest of the team who sat on the snow while they waited. Nya continued to fidget with the tracker while Jay and Kai played with something they placed on their feet.

"Any luck?" Lloyd inquired towards Nya as they took a seat beside her.

"Nothing. It's really weird. The signal keeps coming in and out." Nya reported.

"Huh. Maybe the cold is interfering?" Lloyd suggested.

"Cold shouldn't matter. It's like the signal is weak but the mech had a brand new battery. It makes no sense." A small square appeared on the screen and then disappeared.

"Maybe it got destroyed when it was sent here? Like when the bounty fell off a cliff. Maybe something happened to it." Harumi interjected her ideas.

"I hope we find out soon." Nya sighed.

"Hey, guys! Have you tried these?" Kai called from in front of them as he started jogging around the pads he and Jay were wearing. "You gotta try them! You can walk on top of the snow."

"I think that's the point." Cole stated.

"What will they think of next?" Jay laughed from behind him.

"Alarm, alarm!" Uthaug, one of the village fishermen yelled from afar as he ran towards the village. "They're coming!"

The team turned their attention towards the man who got closer to the village. The man placed down the pole of fish he was carrying and proceeded to tell the people the news.

"Blizzard Samurai. On the march!" He started as the team got closer.

"Heading for our village. We saw them coming down the pass." The man named Boma continued.

"I heard them first, Boma's hearing isn't as good as--." He got cut off by the man.

"Don't start that again." Boma threatened.

"Boma, Uthaug. Are you sure you saw this? You saw them?" Sorla arrived at the scene and stopped them before they could beat each other up. The boys nodded and Sorla sighed. "Gather the elders. There's no time to lose."

The people were gathered inside Sorla's house along with the ninja. Everyone was talking amongst themselves as they waited for instructions.

"What's going on?" Kai asked Lloyd who stood in one spot of the room.

"The Blizzard Samurai is on his way here." He explained.

"What do we do?" One of the villagers inquired with worry. "The pass is only a few hours away."

"We have to hide. We must abandon the village." An old man with grey hair suggested.

"And leave the fire behind?" Another villager spoke. "Are you mad?"

"What choice do we have?" The first villager stated. "I say we hide in the village of the Formlings."

"I won't go there, not after what happened." One of the elders in the village said.

"What's a Formling?" Harumi asked around but no one seemed to answer her question.

"That place is cursed." One of the villagers declared which made the people talk amongst themselves once more.

"We cannot abandon the fire. The fire is life. We must protect it." Sorla stated as she got tired of the murmurs and the whispers.

"I don't understand." Kai started. "Can't you just light another?"

Silence answered him and Kai took this as a sign to explain further.

"You know, with matches or something?" The villagers did not respond but instead talked to each other.

"They are new to our realm, they do not know." Sorla defended. "The winters have grown too cold. It is impossible to light a new fire. We have kept this fire going by adding wood every morning and every night. It had burned for decades."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Kai apologized as he watched Sorla add a block of wood to the fire.

"The fire is life. If the fire dies, so will we." Sorla stated.

"What if we moved it somehow?" Lloyd suggested. "Maybe we could transport it with torches?"

"The risk is too great. The hearth fire is the heart of our people." Sorla explained. "It keeps the darkness at bay and give us hope. If the fire goes out, our hope is lost. No. We must stay and protect it. We must fight."

"Then we will fight with you." Lloyd informed them and the villagers bowed. Some started thanking them immediately.

"Go! Prepare yourselves." Sorla instructed the villagers and the team was the first ones out the door. All except for Kai.

"What's your plan, Lloyd?" Cole asked as they watched the villagers start the preparation.

"We need to assist in the defenses. Do whatever you can to help." Lloyd instructed and the team nodded as they began to work.

Kai helped with the walls that the people were building as he carried blocks of ice. Jay gathered all the weapons and even made some arrows for the people to use. Cole and Lloyd created the barriers and added some other materials into place. While Nya and Harumi taught the people how to use their weapons more effectively. The sunlight began to fade as the people prepared for battle.

The night time soon took over when the people had finished their defenses. The ninja went to their battle stations as they waited for the Blizzard Samurai. Cole, Lloyd, and Harumi were on one of the ice walls they had created as they kept a look out.

"There doesn't seem to be anything for miles." Cole yawned as he started to grow bored.

"Keep your eyes peeled, Cole. They could be anywhere." Harumi nudged him awake.

A whistling sound broke the silence which made everyone jump in surprise. Arrows flew down from the sky and everyone went to take cover.

"Look out!" Lloyd yelled as he ducked under the tower with Harumi in his arms. He covered her head to shield her from any of the arrows.

"Cole! Get down." She yanked his arm and brought him down with them.

The arrows had managed to hit the ice towers that they had created along with some of the villagers who were on the ground but they had managed to avoid it. The samurai army approached the village as they were led by a man in a red suit, his face and left arm were covered in ice. The blizzard samurai pulled out his twin blades as he stood in front of the towers. The arrows stopped coming which made everyone poke their heads out from hiding.

"They're here. This is it." Lloyd commanded. The villagers started panicking at the announcement as they ran around the place to get ready.

"There are so many." One of them commented when he saw the sight of the army.

Harumi got up and prepared her spear. They had lost their weapons when the bounty fell from the cliff so they had to make use of what was around them. She took a deep breath right after the Blizzard Samurai had charged at them along with his army.

"We can take them!" Lloyd yelled.

"Yeah. Just get ready to bring it." Cole agreed.

"Take what? Bring what?" A villager asked from the bottom of their tower as he stood there confused.

"'It'. You know, like uh, let's rock." Cole tried to explain. "Throw down. Brawl." He even did some hand gestures while speaking.

"I don't get it." The villager responded.

"Oh, never mind. Just follow my lead." Cole said in defeat before pulling his hood over his head and activating his lava arms.

More arrows flew in as Harumi and Nya spun their weapons to block them. Jay struck some soldiers with his lightning powers and it managed to break them into ice cubes.

"Are these guys made of ice?" He inquired as he watched what had happened.

"Some of them are frozen warriors, others are just ice." Cole explained from the other tower.

The army of the Blizzard Samurai got passed their first line of defense and started climbing the tower. Harumi got a crossbow to try and stop them from climbing but more and more just kept coming.

"What about these guys?" Cole asked as he watched them climb up.

"They're all ice, Cole!" Harumi responded as she shot an arrow which made the soldier break into ice blocks.

The villagers in the tower beside them got out their bow and arrows to help. The army now had ladders which made it easier for them to get up the tower. Lloyd started his spinjitzu which managed to knock down three warriors at once. Jay was on the other side using his fists and lightning to keep the soldiers away.

There were some ice soldiers that had managed to get past the towers and near the village. They approached two villagers which were saved at the last minute by Cole with his earth punch. Lloyd tackled another to the ground and he noticed that the man reverted to his old self but turned into a soldier once more. He threw him over his shoulder and stood beside Cole.

"Woah. Did you see that?" Lloyd asked in disbelief.

"I saw it!" Cole agreed. "It's like the ice was controlling him."

"A little help!" Harumi yelled from the top of the tower as she kicked back some of the ice warriors.

"Got it." Kai responded as he started kicking back some more warriors.

The Blizzard samurai's army had managed to make their way in the village. The people ran away from them but the ice warriors had managed to catch up.

"Oh no." Harumi gasped as she looked down.

"Go! I can handle this." Kai informed her before punching another warrior. Harumi nodded and climbed down the ice tower.

A group of ice soldiers were chasing a small family through the village and Harumi used her spinjitzu to defeat them.

"Thank you." The mother held her hand which made Harumi smile.

"You better get to safety. We'll handle things out here." She informed them and took off as she saw Kai get thrown off the tower.

"You dare defy the Ice Emperor?" The Blizzard Samurai called from his feet and charged at him with his axe. Kai had managed to roll out of the way before it hit him. "You will obey or perish!"

Kai had managed to grab a hold of a long stick which the warrior had easily chopped with his axe. Kai threw the last piece at him and braced for the impact of his axe. He opened his eyes when he felt that it never came and found Lloyd and Harumi shielding him from the axe with their weapons.

"Oh, hey guys." He greeted as he watched them throw him backwards.

"Heads up!" Cole warned before using his earth punch to send him flying. The Blizzard Samurai hit the side of a house before landing on the ground. His ice axe just a few feet away from him.

"It's over. You've lost." Lloyd declared as he removed the hood on his face.

"You sheltered the newcomers." He answered with a grunt. "You should have known not to defy the Ice Emperor."

The Blizzard Samurai grabbed his axe and made a run for Sorla's house. The ninja were confused at first why he didn't choose to attack them until Kai pointed it out.

"The fire! He's going for the fire." He announced which made the team follow his trail.

"Stop him!" Nya yelled from the top of the tower while she and Jay continued to hold off the soldiers.