Chapter Eleven

A stream of molten and solid rock poured over the lip of a tall rock formation in Ta-Wahi, raining heat and light in a stream between two walls of igneous rock. As the viscous liquid-solid mixture tumbled over, it fell below into one of the several lava-carved paths on the mountain. As it descended, the soft glow of the molten liquid illuminated a narrow Ta-Wahi bridge and casting hard lights across the armor of the two Matoran that walked along it.

“I spent a long time wandering alone,” Takua said with a smile, glancing at the hot surroundings. “It’s good to have company in the wilderness.”

Jala nodded. The time that Takua was referring to really wasn’t all that long ago. It was a time when every Matoran needed to travel in fear due to the Rahi’s aggressive behavior, caused by their enslavement to the dark oppressor, Makuta. With them freed and the Bohrok War over, there was much to be thankful for on Mata Nui.

“Well, I’m glad to be getting back to Ta-Koro,” he answered. “It’s nice in Ga-Koro, and I enjoyed getting to know Hahli, Huki, and Maku, but I have been away from my people for too long.”

Their pathway curved along the wall of the mountain, yet as they moved, Jala suddenly felt a growing sense of alarm, and a cold feeling on the back of his neck.

As if on cue, a small boulder came crashing down before them, rolling to a stop on the path. As they kept walking, their happy conversation was brought to a halt as a rock fell from above. They looked up the slope to see where the rock had come from… but saw nothing.

“What is it?” Takua asked in a hushed whisper.

Jala crouched slightly, his hand instinctively reaching for a throwing disk, “We are being watched…”

The captain’s eyes darted across the face of the mountain, scanning for any signs of life. His instincts were never wrong, and when—

There was a large crash behind him, and Takua shouted in surprise. Jala whirled, rearing back to throw his disk — and then exhaled in relief.

Takua was pinned to the ground, flailing beneath the weight of a large Ussal Crab. “Puku!” he exclaimed, grinning. “What are you doing here, girl!?”

Jala relaxed, putting his disk away. Puku was a welcome sight, but somehow he didn’t feel any less anxious. “Come, let us hurry,” he told the two. “The fires of Ta-Koro are near, yet there is a strange chill in the air.”

Puku didn’t know the words, but she understood the tone. Stepping away, she waited as Takua picked himself up and climbed on. Together, the three resumed their return to the fire village.

So neither of them were present to see two dark eyes watching them from above.

✴        ✴        ✴

As Takua and Jala crested the path into the village, the walls of Ta-Koro’s fortress appeared to rise up to greet them. The black and grey stone work contrasted darkly to the bright glow of the surrounding lava below, though the frequent torches on its faces also lit up circles of glowing light. Its iron gate remained closed, and the moat impassable.

From the battlements, Nuri the guard spotted Jala’s yellow-gold mask approaching. “The Captain!” he cried. He turned around and called down to the gatekeeper. “The Captain returns! Open the gates!”

Jala and Takua approached the edge of the moat just as the stone slabs leading to the village rose out of the lava for them, and the main gate lifted.

✴        ✴        ✴

Moments later, the two Ta-Matoran were in Vakama’s hut, debriefing the Turaga on the final battles of the Bohrok Wars. Vakama listened intently, staring deep into the large fire that resided in the center of his home.

When they finished, Vakama turned to face them. “Your tale of the events in Ga-Koro is a fine one, Chronicler,” he said. “You all behaved valiantly.”

“Turaga, if you will excuse me,” Jala replied, “I must take my leave to conduct my rounds.”

“I’ll tag along,” Takua offered, “it’s a decent night for a stroll.”

Jala nodded, and the two bowed to their elder. “Turaga.”

As the two stepped into the Ta-Koro streets, Jala side-eyed Takua, “You might be ‘strolling’, but I’m still on duty.”

Takua shrugged.

The first stop on Jala’s patrol was not far. The two approached the Ta-Suva, eager to see their own patron hero’s Toa symbol, which they knew must have appeared as Gali’s had when the Bohrok were defeated. “Ho, Guardsmen,” Jal hailed through the dark night. “How goes the Watch?”

As the two stepped within view of the guardpost, they were shocked…though not as much as the posted guard.

Indeed, the Suva guard was hovering in the air, stunned and jolting in a cage of lightning, the bolts running through his form. Behind him, a form was standing in front of the Suva, silhouetted by the shrine’s energies.

“What?” Jala exclaimed.

Takua squinted, struggling to make out the silhouette in the night. “A Bohrok?!”

The Bohrok turned. In its hands was Toa symbol from the Suva. The energies of the icon lit up its face, revealing red and silver detailing in a strange symbol, different from any other Bohrok the Matoran veterans had ever seen. It eyed the icon in its claws with pride before putting it into place on its back.

Takua pointed. “Tahu Nuva’s symbol!”

“Alarm!” Jala shouted, even as a loud horn blew on the fortress wall. The Captain drew his disk and hurled it at the thief.

But the intruder was unfazed, bringing its shields together and creating a lightning ball between them. When it pulled its shields back apart, the ball flattened into a wave of electric energy, blasting outward.

The wave knocked the disk off course and continued toward Jala and Takua. Jala reacted before Takua did, shoving his friend out of the way to safety and sustaining the brunt of the blast. When he did, he found himself paralyzed, helpless as the nimbus of electricity surrounding him stung like the bites of a thousand Nui-Kopen. “Can’t…move!” he said weakly.

Takua pushed himself back up onto his feet and started forward. “Jala!”

Two other guards, Keahi and another, ran up beside him and cornered the powerful Bohrok against the Suva. Without missing a beat, the Bohrok leaped over the three Matoran and sprinted for the entrance. It moved fast, almost too fast to see, reaching the entrance before it suddenly stopped—another figure blocked its path.

“Halt, creature.”

The tall figure was difficult to see with the bright glow of lava behind him in the archway. As he stepped forward, the light revealed a double-ended staff sheathed on his back, layers of armor, and—most importantly—the shape of a Hau Nuva.

“I believe you have something of mine.”

Tahu Nuva rose to his full height.

“And I want it back.”

The Tahnok-Kal responded with another electric blast from its shields. Tahu drew and separated his staff into his two blades to absorb the energies, but the blast had not been directed at him. Instead, it hit the stone arch of the wall above him. The structure cracked as the heat from the lightning fragmented it into falling debris.

“You throw rocks at me?” Tahu laughed. He called forth his elemental power of unlimited flame, causing a ring of fire to explode around him, ready to incinerate several times the load about to fall on him. The blades of his swords, too, lit red-hot, and the flame-shaped metal work on their backs similarly ignited. His new metallic armor beautifully reflected the bright, dancing flames in a bent, distorted picture. “I am Tahu, Toa of—”

Then it was gone. The immense heat, the flames, the livelihood of his blades, even the colorful red of his Kanohi Nuva—it all vanished in an instant. For the first time since arriving on the Ta-Koro beach, Tahu suddenly felt powerless. He looked down at his blades and arms, confused.

“—Fire?”

He looked back up to the coming attack, just in time to see a barrage of rocks fall onto him, burying him deep under the mound of rubble.

The thief did not even look in his direction as it bounded out of the village, into the night.