Chapter Seventeen: Double-Agent

The Shadowed One’s story amounted to this: he had once possessed the Staff of Artakha, but he had given it to the residents of the island of Xia as payment for a supply of weapons. He was willing to set the Toa free and tell them where to most likely find the Staff, in exchange for a small service. It seemed Roodaka, one of Xia’s “leading citizens,” had been selling the Dark Hunters information – and doing the same for their enemies, the Brotherhood of Makuta. The Shadowed One wanted her eliminated.

To everyone’s surprise, Tahu agreed.

So it was that the Toa Nuva left the fortress and, escorted by an amicable Dark Hunter named ‘Guardian,’ returned to the northern coast. Before long, they were back underway and well removed from Odina, marveling at the surreal few hours that had just passed.

“I don’t like him,” Lewa said when they were well to the north. “Every word of his drip-oozed with contempt.”

“Don’t worry about him,” Pohatu smirked. “I left a little present for him and his gang. Within the hour, every stone in the Shadowed One’s fortress was going to suddenly crumble to dust.”

“As they say: A house visited by Pohatu cannot stand,” Onua chuckled. “There’s only one thing I don’t get, Tahu. Why would you agree to help him out in the first place?”

“I have other plans for Roodaka,” he explained. “Plans for which I’ll need Lewa’s help…”

Lewa listened closely as Tahu explained his plan. With a nod, he started off.

The rest of the trip passed uneventfully, and it wasn’t long before they had arrived at their destination. Unlike the clean, pristine city of Metru Nui, Xia belched smoke and toxins, and it was covered in a perpetual haze. What’s worse, a massive beast called the Tahtorak was rampaging through the place, and an even nastier Rahi matching the description of the Kanohi Dragon was battling him. Buildings were collapsing, factories burning, even their famed Mountain had chunks torn out of it. It was utter chaos.

Tahu sent Onua tunneling into the island to find the Staff in its underground hiding place. The rest did what they could to rescue the natives and get them out of the way of the beast battle. It was Kopaka who had the “good fortune” to find himself saving Roodaka.

“Toa,” she spat, as if hating the taste of the word. “I don’t need your help!”

“Perhaps not,” Kopaka replied, with an icy smile. “But we are going to get yours.”