Prologue: “Dear Ahkmou”

Gavla could hardly believe it. She was staring out the windshield of a caravan vehicle, looking out at miles of open desert ahead of her.

She looked beside her. Ahkmou was in the driver’s seat, piloting the vehicle far away from the battle they had just escaped. Where they were going, who knew. What they were running from, she had even less idea. But she knew one thing for certain, since Ahkmou had made sure to remind her.

He was all she had to rely on.

At a time like this, it brought her some comfort. She was on her own again, cast out of the chaos in a world that had no place for her. But this time, she wouldn’t be alone.

She peered out the window, looking behind her. The vehicle caravan they had escaped from had all but dispersed, the airship leading the charge had crashed in a fiery mess of rubble and destruction. If anyone did manage to survive the crash, which was unlikely on its own, they would be stranded in the midst of the desert.

“It’s over,” she muttered to herself, sitting back in her seat.

Ahkmou grunted. “What was that?”

“It’s over,” she repeated. “They’re all dead. No one’s going to be following us this time.”

Looking out to confirm for himself, Ahkmou laughed in disbelief. He had been kept under close watch by Turaga Onewa for so long, forced to live a monotonous, ordinary life among the Matoran who hated him. But now, as he and Gavla traveled onward, he took pleasure in the fact that no one but her knew where he was.

He looked over to her with a smile. “It’s our decision from now on,” he said. “Where do you want to go?”

Gavla returned the smile, only for her expression to fade like a ghost. “Look out!”

Ahkmou snapped his head back, and saw a ball of fire plummeting to the ground just in front of him. Frantically, he yanked hard on the controls of the vehicle, veering it to the left just as the object crashed, sending shockwaves through the earth and rocking the vessel.

After a moment, the tremors ceased, and the vehicle slowly rocked back onto its wheels.

The two Matoran looked up, still somewhat shaken by the shock. A cascade of smoke erupted from the crater in front of them, blocking their path.

Turning her head, Gavla finally asked. “What now?”

Ahkmou sighed, and picked up a zamor launcher from the ground. “Stay on your guard,” he warned. “We’re going to check that out.”

The Matoran exited the vehicle and stepped out onto the desert sands, and came upon quite a horrific sight within the crater.

Claws and wings violently flailed about, as a creature tried desperately to escape the newly created pool of energized protodermis. Ahkmou recognized the limbs of the creature as that of the Kardas Dragon, the one that had been flying above the battlefield only minutes before. It had reaped a path of destruction through the desert, but now, both the beast and its rider had been consumed by the blast that struck them out of the sky. Tendrils of energized protodermis reached out, pulling the limbs of the Kardas Dragon further down into the pit.

Then, a hand emerged from the pool, one that did not belong to the dragon. Slowly, another figure’s head broke through the surface of the liquid, gasping in between guttural screams.

Roodaka, the former Viceroy of the Visorak Horde, was trapped.

Her screams were soon drowned out, as a flash of light enveloped everything. Ahkmou and Gavla shielded their eyes for several minutes, until it finally passed.

When it did, there was something much different waiting within the crater. Buried in rocks and dirt, it was difficult to discern what exactly had become of Roodaka and the Kardas. But one thing was certain, beneath its blanket of earth, the creature was still breathing.

“What… What do we do?” Gavla asked, uncertain what to make of these events.

Ahkmou was motionless for a moment. Then, he unsheathed his zamor launcher, and pointed it into the crater. “We can’t take any chances. If the energized protodermis didn’t kill her, the odds won’t be in her favor twice.”

Suddenly, the hand that had emerged earlier broke through the surface once more. Only now, it was larger, with vicious claws digging into the crust of the crater’s edge. Two crimson eyes peeked out, and the debris shifted with movement. Whatever this creature was, it was moving, albeit slowly.

“Wait,” came Roodaka’s voice, now weaker and hoarse, with a low growl underneath each word. “Please, don’t.”

Gavla frowned. “Why not?”

“I can help you,” the creature said. “I can give you whatever you want. You must spare me.”

“What do you know of what we want?” Ahkmou demanded.

The dirt shifted even more. Ahkmou held his launcher steady, but Gavla put a hand on it, warning him to hold off. He frowned, not wanting to take any chances, but he wanted to upset her even less, so he lowered the weapon.

The creature’s head slowly emerged, resembling that of a Voritxx, but with enormous fangs and narrow, crimson eyes, that stared down the Po-Matoran.

“I remember you,” the words escaped from the jaws of the fusion. “The Brotherhood knew of your folly. Teridax’s pet.”

Ahkmou placed a hand on his blaster trigger, but just barely held back from firing. “The Turaga say you freed Makuta from his seal. Had you not done that, he would not have rescued me.”

“Indeed,” Roodaka’s voice purred. “I know the Brotherhood. I know the plans Makuta had for you. I know the destiny that was stolen from you… And I have the means to restore it.”

His eyes widening, Ahkmou loosened his grip on his weapon. “What destiny?”

“You would have served Teridax, once,” she growled. “As a Matoran of Shadow.”

Gavla’s eyes widened, sparing a glance towards her companion before rushing forward to the edge of the crater. “You can turn us into Shadow Matoran?!”

Roodaka’s draconic maw curled into an unsightly smile. “That, and so much more.”