Chapter Nine

Sure enough, the entrance to the Great Archives was web-infested and crawling with Visorak. The main doorway sat in a huge chamber, with arcing ribs on either side creating a pathway. In front of it were records on scientific data, technology, or written information on Rahi, stored in cases and cases of shelves. Of course, those cases were recently covered in webbing for the Visorak to have easy navigation of the area. Right now, two crawled around, patrolling the vicinity.

Behind the end of one of those bookcases, Whenua waited silently. His black and silver armor helped reflect only minimal light, as any surface in the Archives would. He waited for the Roporak guard to crawl by, then darted to the next bookcase and jumped on top of it. A passing Suukorak glanced in his direction, but when its eyes lighted the top of the shelf, it saw nothing—he had already moved between another pair of cases.

Silhouetted, the Toa of Earth passed by the Roporak again to the rib-like structures marking the way to the Archives, jumping from spire to spire. Finally, he dropped down and walked slowly through the door. It did not take a master of the Archives like him much longer to find the area that concealed the Makoki Stone. Stealthily, he made his way there.

Whenua found the Makoki on a pedestal in the middle of a room. Admiring the sight of a legend come true, he picked it up. Just a second after he did, the pedestal descended a bio into the floor.

“That’s weird,” he muttered. He looked up at the sound of an overhead machine activating. He saw a giant hammer swinging toward him. Casually, he ducked underneath it, thinking, Too easy!

Then the hammer smashed the wall in front of him. Uh-oh… he thought. The wall, which had been made of glass, instantly fragmented, fracture lines spreading out from the hammer’s impact. From the hammer’s center, liquid protodermis started dripping.

“Uh-oh…” he said aloud.

From another convergence of cracks, liquid protodermis started leaking down the face of the broken glass. Then a tiny stream of high-pressure liquid protodermis started shooting outward into his room, while the other leaks created a puddle on the floor.

“UH-OH!” Whenua shouted, turning too late to run away.

The glass broke, a trapped and prepared river of liquid protodermis now free again. It washed out into the main area of the Archives, carrying the Toa Hordika of Earth with it. He tumbled and spun, floundering as he tried to find some way to get his bearings. He knew the floodwaters would take him to the underground protodermis canals, but not much beyond that. Sure enough, he felt a falling sensation that lasted about three seconds before landing in a larger body of water that picked up speed.

Finally, Whenua was able to right himself and tread water, seeing where he was going. He was in the underground water system, heading for a very long drop to who knew where. Only green rings lighted the tunnel journey. Desperate, he turned around and began paddling, trying to swim back the way he had come, but the waters were moving too fast.

With a clenching feeling of fear, Whenua dropped over the edge of the waterfall into the pit below. His vision seemed to move in slow-motion then. He watched the break of the waterfall slowly move away from him as he fell. He wished he had full control of his earth powers to help save himself.

All that was still moving slowly, which was why it seemed very fast when he was impacted from the side, caught and then carried to safety on a nearby platform in the subterranean system. To his credit, his Rahi side helped him land on his feet, despite the abrupt change.

Next to him, his rescuer landed as well. “Hello, Whenua,” she greeted, turning to face him. “I thought you might need a hand; was I right?”

Whenua chuckled and caught his breath. “Yes, you did well. Thank you, Nokama!” He held out the Makoki Stone he had retrieved. “Without your help, we might have lost this!”

“A Makoki Stone!?” Nokama cried, coming closer.

Whenua smiled, letting her handle it. Apparently, she knew of the Makoki as well, due to her time in the schools, no doubt. The only thing known was that it was used for special purposes, usually of security or guarding other artifacts. “Yes. Rahaga Norik has set us on a mission to find the Mask of Light.” He handed off the map to the Toa Hordika of Water. “Go to Ga-Metru and find the fourth Makoki Stone. I will go back above to find Bomonga and begin regrouping the others.”

Nokama smiled. “I will be there before you can get out of this place.” With that, she jumped back into the proper currents to take her to the water district.