Chapter Twenty-One: A Desperate Gambit

Gali stood amidst the bodies of her friends and teammates, not knowing whether they were alive or dead. Before her stood Makuta Icarax, Staff of Artakha in his claw. She was the only thing left standing between him and whatever nightmare was to come.

When the Toa arrived at the realm of Karzahni in pursuit of Icarax, they had found hundreds of Matoran, their spirits as crushed as their bodies were distorted. The victims of Karzahni had been inexplicably abandoned, for there was no sign of the realm’s ruler when they arrived, or the Manas he was said to command. With gentle words and a great deal of patience, Lewa and Onua were able to convince the Matoran to leave their prison and head north toward Metru Nui.

It turned out they had no need to search for Icarax – he struck at them from ambush. At first they thought he was the Makuta they had fought before, for he wore the Mask of Shadows. But he was, if anything, a more skilled and ferocious warrior, felling the team with swift, sure blows.

Now Gali found herself faced with a choice. Could she really do what she must to stop Icarax, risking her friends’ lives – assuming they even were still alive? Or would she let him escape?

“A Makuta blade, when used by a true master, strikes deep,” he gloated. “Mata Nui will fall, but he will fall to me.”

With grim resolve, Gali made up her mind. Summoning every last bit of moisture from the air for hundreds of kios around, she merged it together, bent it to her will, prepared to unleash all her elemental power in one single explosion of force.

And she did, she prayed a silent prayer that she would never have to again.

A wall of water a thousand feet high crashed into the realm of Karzahni, shattering buildings, leveling everything and everyone in its path. Gali strained to make the currents obey, but she could not snatch the Staff from Icarax’s hand. She did, however, in using her mask power to allow her friends to breathe water.

When the flood tide subsides, Icarax was gone, but the Toa Nuva had miraculously survived. Of Karzahni’s realm, nothing was left… nothing but a Noble Hau floating on the water, one which once belonged to a hero. Tahu plucked it out of the water, studying it and wondering if it was the same that Jaller had lost here.

As the Toa Nuva made their way to the coast, they left Gali looking around at the destruction she had caused, and wondering if too much has already been lost today.