Chapter 2

When the Toa of Sonics awoke, he immediately felt the wiry bonds clasping his wrists and ankles. A hood covered his head, and, judging from the shockingly mute world around him, something was clamped tight over his audio receptors. Only distant, muffled sounds made it through.

He wriggled against his restraints. Seconds later, the hood was pulled off, as were the ear clamps. The Toa of Plasma backed a safe distance away and crouched beside Krakua’s sword. The Toa of Iron stood by a narrow window, his eyes sweeping the shoreline. Along the wall were murals of the six mythic Toa.

“Let’s say you aren’t Brotherhood… Krakua. Why are you looking for us?” asked the Toa of Plasma. Now that Krakua could see them more closely, he could tell they were no ordinary Toa. The halves of the Toa of Iron didn’t match, as if his left side and much of his face had been mutated by Hordika venom. The Toa of Plasma had various mutations and scars, and each part of his body looked like it belonged to someone else.

“I am a courier among the Toa.”

“By whose authority?” snapped the Toa of Plasma, gesturing around. “There are no Toa.”

“You said yourself,” Krakua replied. “There are fifty of us left.”

“Fifty Toa all in the same boat. There’d be more if those ‘heroes’ hadn’t decided to lay siege to Brotherhood fortresses and attack them head-on. No, when Toa gather together, we just make bigger targets.”

“Toa are stronger united,” Krakua said softly. “Three Toa make a Kaita.”

The Toa of Plasma laughed out loud. His companion smirked. Taking Krakua’s sword, the former weighed it, balanced it on his hand, and swung it.

“Every night for the past week, we’ve spotted Visorak scouts. Spies trailing us, sniffing the situation out. It’s not a matter of ‘if’ the Brotherhood strikes. It’s a matter of when.”

“There is one hope,” the Toa of Iron said. “Rumor has it that six Toa have come south from Metru Nui. The Hag—” The Toa of Iron stiffened. Leaning closer to the window, his eyes narrowed, then widened. Falling to the ground, he barely dodged a Rhotuka that shot through the window.

“This is it!” he said. “They’re coming!”

The Toa of Sonics focused his keen ears and heard them--scittering across the ground, dozens and dozens of metal legs scaling the great tower, threads of webs crisscrossing as they closed in.

Krakua’s bonds melted, and the Toa of Plasma tossed him his sword. “I’ll trust your stupid idealistic act. Maybe you’ll even impress the Visorak before they kill you.”