Chapter Fourteen: Finding Fulfillment

“I told you this was a bad idea,” said Toa Kongu.

“Quiet,” hissed Toa Hahli.

“Is the Order sure of its information?” asked Nuparu.

“As sure as they can be, with things as they are,” replied Hewkii.

“Then we better get to work,” said Jaller.

The five surviving Toa Mahri were crouched on the western shore of the island of Zakaz, home to the murderous Skakdi race. Ordinarily, it wasn’t the sort of place any sane person wanted to visit, wracked as it was by a millennia-old civil war. Back when they were Toa Inika, Jaller and his team had battled six Skakdi, the Piraka, and barely escaped with their lives.

Their mission here was as simple as it was perilous. The Order had learned that Nektann, a powerful Skakdi warlord, had allied with Makuta Teridax and led his army on a journey south. Now it was vital to find out if any of the other warlords were going to follow his lead.

On top of that, there was a mystery to be solved. Following the widespread destruction on Daxia, the sea snakes that were once the evil Piraka had vanished. It had been believed they were just buried in the rubble, but rumors were flying they had been rescued and spirited away to Zakaz. For what purpose, no one could say.

To accomplish either of these, they had to get past the Skakdi guards on the shore. That was Kongu’s job. Using his control of air, he robbed the guards of anything to breathe until they passed out. Once they were down, the Toa Mahri advanced.

Their next obstacle was a small encampment of warriors, surrounded by a wall of thick stone. “Want me to bring the wall down?” asked Toa Hewkii.

“Just like we planned,” nodded Jaller.

Hewkii concentrated and extended his power over stone to the wall. The next moment, the rocks began to explode. The alarmed Skakdi, thinking they were under attack by another tribe, rushed to their defenses… but couldn’t spot the enemy.

After a few minutes of “bombardment,” they scaled the rubble and fled into the night.

Jaller turned to the Toa of Water. “Hahli?”

“It’s this way,” she answered, taking the lead. The Toa moved swiftly across the uneven terrain until they reached the mouth of the cave. By now, they could all hear the rushing of water. Hahli led them inside, where they saw an underground river.

“Perfect,” said Nuparu.

“The Order says that will take us right into one of the larger ruins,” said Hahli. “All we have to do is swim.”

“That again?” asked Hewkii, in mock protest.

The Mask of Life had transformed the Toa Inika into water-breathing Toa Mahri not long ago. Then it had changed them again, making them true amphibians. One by one, they dove into the river and began to swim through the cold, dark water.

After an hour or so, during which time Nuparu discovered that there were some very nasty fish under Zakaz, they emerged in another cavern. Just beyond the mouth of the cave was a large area of ruins, in which about 500 Skakdi were gathered. One, obviously a warlord, was addressing the gathering.

“The Brotherhood of Makuta is no more,” he bellowed. “The Dark Hunters are a battered ruin. The Toa are scattered and hiding like stone rats. Who is there left for anyone to fear?”

“The Skakdi!” yelled the crowd in response.

“I don’t like the sound of this,” said Hewkii.

“I think you’re about to like it less,” said Nuparu. He was crouched down, with one hand on the soil. “Something is moving underground, maybe 20 bio from where we are. Something big.”

“For too long, we have been penned up on this island, by the will of the Brotherhood,” the warlord continued. “And now one of their number controls our universe, and believes he controls us, as well. But we will show him he is wrong!”

“Okay, well, it doesn’t sound like he and Teridax will be playing kolhii together anytime soon,” said Jaller.

“And I think he’s just getting warmed up,” said Hahli.

“Let our salvation now rise,” shouted the warlord.

“Here it comes,” said Nuparu.

Now they could all feel the rumbling underground, and soon, they saw what was causing it. A huge tank was rising up in the center of the ruins. One glance and the Mahri knew all too well what was inside of it.

“That’s energized protodermis,” whispered Jaller. “How did they —?”

“Questions later,” said Kongu. “Look at who just joined the party.”

The Skakdi were hauling prisoners toward the tank. One was a Zyglak, the savage race of outcasts known for being virtually invulnerable to the elemental powers of Toa; next came a Vortixx, the crafty race that had spawned the evil Roodaka; and after that, one of the brutish race that served as laborers on Stelt.

“This makes no sense,” said Hahli. “Even if they throw them into the liquid, the three of them might just be destroyed by it… probably will be. So what’s the point?”

“None,” said Nuparu. “Unless… unless, somehow they know those three are destined to transform.”

“But the only one who could know that would be —”

“Teridax,” finished Jaller. “They probably don’t even know he put this idea into their heads. It’s another one of his sick games.”

“Just got sicker,” said Hewkii. “Or are those not the Piraka I see?”

The Toa of Stone was correct. Five Skakdi were carrying five sea snakes, each of the serpents gasping to breathe. At the warlord’s signal, the three prisoners and the five snakes were thrown into the energized protodermis tank.

The liquid began to froth and bubble. The Toa Mahri could see a shape forming in the silver fluid, something monstrous and horrible.

“Tell you what,” said Kongu, “call me when it’s over. I don’t think I want to look.”

“I don’t think the Order’s going to like this,” said Nuparu.

“I don’t think anyone is,” said Jaller.

And then, before their eyes, a new and terrible form of life began to climb from the tank…

✴        ✴        ✴

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Within a deep and cold cavern, far beneath the wartorn surface of Zakaz, undying hatred seethed beneath dark, rippling waters. The Skakdi standing nearby saw nothing but an underground lake, but within that body of water moved the scattered remnants of a being long since broken beyond recognition.

Impossibly, unbelievably, and much to his chagrin, Zaktan was alive.

Dimly, vaguely, Zaktan sensed the nearby Skakdi’s energy. I was once like you, he hissed. I had limbs, and a body, and a face… but all of that is gone now.

He could still remember the echoes of the pain that Makuta had dealt him: the sonic waves that had ripped his body apart and would surely have killed him, if not for his sordid power. Instead of dying, he had been broken into smaller pieces yet. At first, he was merely molecules, strewn amidst the dust of the chamber. After a few days, he had been able to gather enough particles together to achieve a semblance of unity, but his control was tenuous. Even now, it took nearly all of his concentration just to keep his matter from drifting apart.

I am cursed to survive, Zaktan realized. No matter what misfortune or punishment befalls me, I will live. Even if something were to kill me now, I would somehow survive, in an even more wretched state. I am cursed… but is this truly a curse, or a blessing?

He had spent weeks in that chamber, gathering the strength to draw his disparate particles together - but that chamber was no ordinary room. It was a mind… the mind of Makuta, and the mind of this universe. Nestled within Makuta’s brain, Zaktan saw what he saw… thought what he thought… felt what he felt. He had waited, he had watched, and he had learned.

Zaktan did not recall how or when the idea had come to Makuta, only that it had. Hidden within the coded formulae and properties of protodermis was a tantalizing concept: a being more powerful than any other in history, formed by fusion in energized protodermis. Zaktan had watched as Makuta researched the destinies of his subjects, and he had seen his opportunity.

That the six Piraka were destined to fuse did not surprise Zaktan. In fact, it made sense of many things. It was no accident that we joined together under the Shadowed One, Zaktan mused, and it was not through luck alone that we survived our quest to Voya Nui. Destiny itself brought and kept us together… all for this day.

Through the rippling waters, Zaktan felt the Skakdi’s cheers. So, they have brought out the snakes, then. I almost pity them… poor little fools who thought they might have control of their own lives. But they never did. Only I will have control.

Zaktan willed his particles to rise from the lake. He knew what he must do. His destiny was to join with these fools to create a better whole, to enter a combination of different minds and become one. But destiny had overlooked one crucial, critical fact:

Zaktan had long since learned how to control a composite mind.

He rose from the lake and slithered through the air, far over the heads of the assembled Skakdi. In moments, I will have a body again… and power nearly unlimited…

Particles quivering with anticipation, Zaktan hovered over the vat of energized protodermis… and dove in.

✴        ✴        ✴

So engrossed were the Skakdi that they failed to notice a strange, greenish cloud that emerged from the nearby lake, hovered in the air a moment, and then plunged into the energized protodermis tank.

The Toa Mahri watched in shock as the new lifeform emerged from the tank of energized protodermis. A mixture of a Zyglak, a Vortixx, a Steltian laborer, and the five surviving Piraka, it had been created by the barbaric Skakdi in an elaborate ritual. And now it was free.

It was terrible.

It was beautiful.

Towering 12 feet high, with gleaming golden skin, powerful muscles, and piercing green eyes, it regarded the assembled Skakdi with the benevolent gaze of a creator. Only the vaguely reptilian cast of its face took away from its stunning appearance.

“We live,” it said. “And we hunger.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” said Jaller.

“I haven’t like the sound of anything in at least a year,” replied Kongu.

“Do you think… they’re going to be a meal?” asked Hahli.

“I wish it was that simple,” said Hewkii. “But somehow, I think it’s going to be worse.”

“You will feed me,” said the new creation. “And in return, you will be granted a wondrous gift.”

The Skakdi moved a little closer. They were not a cautious people as a rule, and the concept of someone wanting to give them something — as opposed to them just taking it — was a new and appealing one. As they drew near, their creation closed its eyes, an expression of rapture on its face.

“Is it… feeding?” asked Nuparu. “On what?”

“I don’t know, but let’s make sure we’re not the next course,” said Jaller. “The Skakdi are distracted, and so is that… whatever it is. Get ready.”

“Yes,” said the golden-skinned being. “So much to savor. And so much to give in return.”

“This is it,” said Jaller. “Whatever it’s going to do, it’s going to do now. So let’s… let’s…”

Jaller paused, confused. There was something the Toa Mahri needed to do, urgently. What was it? He knew it was important.

Suddenly, it became crystal clear. Why hadn’t he seen it before? It was so obvious, after all. “The Skakdi are the superior race,” he said to his teammates. “Stronger, smarter… we shouldn’t be opposing them. We should be following them.”

“Do you… do you think they would allow us to serve them?” asked Hahli.

“Even if they don’t… even if they kill us,” said Hewkii, “what better way to die?”

Throwing down their weapons, the five Toa Mahri rose and walked forward, ready and eager to obey the commands of their new masters.