Chapter 1

The Market

The Market: a place to sell your wares, weapons, and junk. The Market: a place to get rid of the clutter in your closest. The Market: the most shady place in the entire world.

Covering more than seven miles of ground, the Market was a large bunch of stands, tents, and even a few stone buildings. There was an assortment of species, such as Matoran, Agori, Skrall, Zephi, and Vortixx.

But hidden, covered in a cloak, stood a being in the shadow of a tall building. A pair of green eyes glowed from beneath the cloak, and a pair of long, sharp claws could be seen. He had been standing here for the past hour, and he was deciding whether or not to leave when the being he was to meet approached. Unlike the hidden figure, the being wore no cloak, showing off his green and black armor. A Kanohi Kiril, the Great Mask of Regeneration, covered his face, which had an arrogant smirk on it. He walked with swagger, and flashed a grin at a pair of attractive Glatorian. The hooded figure had dealt with such beings before, and had no patience for them.

The Toa spotted the hooded being and walked over. Once they stood before each other in the building's shadow, the Toa said, "So, I'm here."

"Took you long enough," the hooded one growled.

"Well, a...meeting...with another took longer than expected," the Toa replied, a humorous look in his eyes.

But the hooded figure had no humor in him. "Are we here to do business, or discuss your love life?"

"Ah yes, business. Boring thing, that." Noticing the growing look of impatience in the other's eyes, the Toa quickly said, "Anyway, I need to find someone who can steal a priceless artifact, murder someone, and leave no traces behind."

"Then I can help you," the hooded one said. "Come."

The Toa followed the hooded figure away from the shadow of the building, down a few streets, and into a bar close to the western entrance. The bartender, an old, dark-red Skakdi, looked up, noticed the two beings, and said, "Room D."

"Thank you," the hooded figure said, although there was no real gratitude in his tone, and led the Toa down an adjourning hallway near the counter. A drunk-looking Skrall looked up, growled, and dropped back to his drink as the Toa and figure passed.

They eventually arrived at a wooden door with the letter "D" in Matoran on it. The figure pushed it open, revealing a dimly-lit chamber, with a few chairs, a table, and a silver box.

"Take a seat," the figure said when they stepped inside, removing his cloak. The Toa caught the barest glimpse of silver armor and scratch marks before the door was closed, the dim light casting deep, dark shadows on the wall. The silver figure moved into the shadows as the Toa relaxed in a black leather chair.

"As far as you are concerned, Toa, I do not exist," the silver one growled. "This conversation has never taken place. Do you understand me? Otherwise, I shall kill you, here and now."

"I understand," the Toa said.

"Do you now?" the silver one replied. "I have three canidates that can help you. One is a Skrall that lives on an island on Hell's Sea. Another is a Ko-Matoran that lives in the Zerahna Front. The last is a Toa of Lightning in the Frozen Mountains."

The Toa leaned back in his seat, thinking it over. "May I see information on them?"

"Of course," the other replied. He tossed a few tablets from the shadows, landing before the Toa.

"Well, thanks," the Toa said, picking them up. In the dim light, he could barely make out what the tablets stated, but was able to decipher enough to get the gist.

"Hmm...I suppose this Toa of Lightning is good enough," the Toa said. "How will I find her?"

"You don't find her," the other replied. "She finds you."

Ta-Koro

The Ta-Matoran known as Thuka awoke aburptly in his bed. He panted heavily, the nightmare replaying itself over and over in his head. He wanted to cry out, sweat pouring down his mask, until, at last, he grasped where he was, what time it was, and that there were no shadowy creatures whispering his name.

His sundial said it was almost noon, marking that he had more than eight hours of sleep. Groaning, Thuka threw off the covers, got out of bed, donned his sword and shield, and emerged into the bright light of the day.

The sun relfected off his red and yellow armor, his Kanohi Hau, the Mask of Shielding, and his weapons. A few other Matoran called out in greeting, but Thuka only returned the greetings, not delving into conversation like he'd normally do. He was late, and Captain Iruke was going to chew him out for not reporting to roll call.

By the Great Beings, I can't believe I overslept! Thuka cried out in his mind. I haven't done that in years! Stupid nightmare...

After a few minutes, Thuka arrived at the giant structure that served as the Ta-Koro Gaurd base of operations. It was actually a few giant rectangular structures put together, but had enough room to store the entire village, with room to spare.

The three gaurds standing at the entrance stared at Thuka in surprise. "You're late," one commented as Thuka passed by.

The Ta-Matoran hurried to the barracks, where Captian Iruke and his assitant, Kaasha, were finishing up with asigning jobs for the members of the Gaurd. When Thuka arrived, Iruke and Kaasha looked up. Iruke glared at Thuka with scorn, while Kaasha looked on with sympathy; he knew what was about to happen.

"Thuka!" Iruke snapped. "Into my office, on the double!"

"Yes sir!" Thuka responded, walking through the door and into the giant office, ignoring the quiet chuckles from the other soldiers. It was round, with a desk at the far end, two seats in front of it, one behind. The place seemed recently cleaned, as the stone still had a particular shine to it.

Thuka sat down on one of the seats, placing his weapons beside him. The Matoran only had to wait a few minutes before Iruke stormed into the office, followed closely by Kaasha. Iruke had scratches all over his red and orange armor, with a damaged Kanohi Pakari, the Mask of Strength.

Sitting down in his chair on the other side of the desk, Iruke snapped, "Why in the name of Teridax's black heart are you late, Thuka? Thought today was a vacation today, did ya?"

"No sir," Thuka responded. "Overslept, sir."

"Oh, poor Thuka didn't get enough sleep last night?" Iruke replied with a sneer. While he treated his soldiers like trash, he still cared for them, in his own odd, twisted way.

"No, sir."

"Then why oversleep, hm, soldier?" When he didn't receive a reply, as Thuka didn't want to talk about a nightmare, of all things, to his commander, Iruke added, "Then scrub the barracks, and you can clean the swords in the armory, in addition to guard duty in the Burning Forest for a week. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir," Thuka replied.

"Then get moving!" Iruke snapped. Thuka hurriedly donned his weapons and sprinted out, hoping to avoid anymore of the Captian's yelling.

Ga-Koro, the Beach

"Hey Cahli, come here! Look!"

Cahli, a dark-and-light blue armored Ga-Matoran, looked up to see her friend, Euza, waving her over to a small group of palm trees that were swaying in the breeze. She rose from where she had been sitting by the ocean waves, walking over to her friend. A light breeze made the plants sway, shifted the white sand, and created small ripples in the water.

"Look at this," Euza said once Cahli had arrived, pointing excitedlty to a few small, growing plants among the trees. Cahli leaned in close to gaze at them, and soon realized what they were.

"Harakeke!" she exclaimed.

"The first of the season!" Euza added, nodding.

"The Weavers will love this," Cahli said.

"And so will the Sailors," Euza stated.

"Let's go and inform the village," Cahli stated. Euza nodded, and the pair walked off together.

Once they were on the path to the village, Cahli noticed something amiss. She always had this ability, knowing when something was wrong. The birds weren't chirping, and no small Rahi were running across their path.

"Hold on, Euza," Cahli said, holding up her hand.

"What is it?" the other asked.

"Something's not right," Cahli answered, pulling out her sickle. Euza did the same, pulling out her sickle.

The two walked forward slowly, cautiously, until they heard a faint cry. It sounded distressed, but the cry was immediately silenced.

The two friends glanced at each other. "Something's going on," Eazu stated.

The two crept into the trees that lined the sides of the path until they arrived at the source: a Ga-Matoran and a white and red Skakdi, standing in a clearing. The Skakdi had the crying Matoran pinned beneath his foot, his drill over his head.

"I won't ask again, you pitiful Matoran," the Skakdi snarled. "Where is the Artifact?"

"I swear to Mata Nui, I don't know," the Matoran pleaded. "Just please let me go."

"Liar!" the Skakdi bellowed. "I know that you know the location of the Artifact; you Ga-Matoran always seem to know! Where in Karzahni is it?"

Cahli turned to Eazu. "Go to the village and alert the village. I'll go and hold off the Skakdi until you return."

"Right," Eazu said. She began to turn to leave, but then handed her sickle to Cahli. "You'll need all the tools you can get." With that, Eazu raced off.

Steeling herself, the Arthron-wearing Matoran emerged from the trees and commanded, "Move away from her."

Both looked up at her, and the Skakdi laughed cruelly. "Or what? You'll use your little fish hooks against me? My employer is a busy one, so I'll ask: Where's the Artifact. Either tell me, or I kill your friend here."

"I don't what you're talking about," Cahli said, raising the sickles. "Let her go."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, wrong answer, Matoran," the Skakdi stated, and, before Cahli could react, he drove his drill into the pinned Matoran's head. Blood was hurled out of the Ga-Matoran's head, covering the ground and sickening Cahli. The unfortunate Ga-Matoran was able to scream for about two seconds before the drill cut her off from life.

"No!" Cahli hurled one of the sickles, which bounced off of the Skakdi's armored arm. The Skakdi smirked, which was a disgusting expression, before leaping off his kill and barreling into Cahli. The Matoran lost her grip on her other sickle as she was carried off her feet and slammed into a tree. She slumped to the ground, dazed, before the Skakdi grabbed her throat and slammed her into the tree, holding up a knife.

"Where is the Artifact, you pathetic waste of armor?" the Skakdi growled. "Tell me, and I might be gracious enough to let you go."

"Go to Karzahni," Cahli growled. "I don't know of any Artifact."

"Lies," the Skakdi growled. "I know that the Artifact arrived in your village not one month ago. Where is it?"

Cahli blinked in confusion. What in Mata Nui's name was he talking about? Noticing her look of confusion, the Skakdi sighed and raised his knife slightly higher. "Where is it?" he asked, impatience on his face.

Without warning, an arrow zoomed out of no where and buried itself in the Skakdi's arm, the one holding Cahli. He let out a scream of pain as he released the Ga-Matoran, who scrambled a few paces away. Two more arrows shot out of the surrounding trees. One missed the Skakdi by inches, the other entering his leg. He let out a quieter scream of pain as the paralyzation poison that covered each arrow flooded through his body. A third one was released for good measure, burying itself in his spine. The Skakdi gave an extremely quiet scream before collapsing, his limbs unmoving.

Five members of the Ga-Matoran Gaurd stepped out of the trees, followed by several other villagers, Eazu among them. Eazu raced to her friend while the other villagers removed the drill from the dead Matoran and carried her off. The warriors stripped any weapons they could find on the Skakdi before carrying him off.

"Cahli, are you alright?" Eazu asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Cahli said. "Just a little...tired is all."

In truth, the sight of how the Ga-Matoran had died was weighing heavily on her mind. All she wanted to do now was get home. She had seen death before, but nothing this gruesome.

From the safety of a giant, tall tree, a figure with red eyes watched the procession move on before emerging into the clearing, picked up the two abandoned sickles, and smirk.