The Settling Shadow
Chapter 9: The Book
Langu awoke from the previous day sore all over. He got out of his bedroll and went over to the place they had designated as the kitchen area for the base. Langu knew it wasn't much of a kitchen. It was just several rocks circling around a large rock they called a table. Right beside it was just a small underground pond.
Langu stooped down and cupped his hands together to get a drink from the pond. The water tasted stale and slightly gritty but it and the stone rats that scuttled by occasionally were all that they had, so he didn't complain.
He looked around the cavern everyone else was still asleep.
Off to his left he saw the entrance to the outside. The sun was shining dimly through. Langu knew it was probably morning. He looked to his right though and all he saw was more darkness. Darkness and tunnels that extended and branched off on all sides.
Langu had a sudden un Le-Matoran like urge to explore those tunnels. Out the corner of his eye he saw Turaga Jakop getting out of bed. He went over to speak with him.
"Turaga," he said "Would it be alright if I went to have a look around those tunnels?"
"I suppose," replied the Turaga, "But you must take someone with you."
Langu nodded and then went over to the catapults where Hafu and Onepu slept. He picked up a small piece of wood and jabbed at his friends until they began to awaken groggily.
"Five more minutes," mumbled Onepu.
Langu let out a sigh and went to catch stone rats to pass the time. After five minutes he went back over to them and began poking them again.
"Five more minutes," yawned Hafu
"No guys," said Langu, "You said that five minutes ago. Oh well it's a bad-shame that you won't be able to quick-see these dark-caves with me."
At the mention of caves one of Hafu's eyes opened. "And," continued Langu "I might just search-find an interesting Rahi." As soon as he said those words Hafu and Onepu sprang from their beds. They were geared up faster than even a Ko-Matoran could calculate.
"What are we waiting for?" said Onepu as he practically shoved Langu into the largest tunnel. As soon as Langu entered his mouth dropped open. There were much more tunnels branching off of the one they had entered.
"Good thing we brought several lightstones," muttered Hafu.
"Alright," said Langu "We'll take the tunnel on the far left. Onepu every now and then make a mark in the cave wall with a knife so that we don't get lost."
Onepu made a mark where they started and then they were off. They marched into the caves without taking out lightstones until it became so dark that it was required to use them. Every few minutes Onepu made a mark in the wall, if they turned a corner he made a bigger one. The three Matoran eventually came to a fork in the tunnel.
"Which way do we take?" asked Hafu.
"I don't know," replied Langu, He thought it over "How about we take the one on the right and after we explore around we the turn back for the one on the left."
Hafu and Onepu were in agreement and they started off down the tunnel. Nothing was particularly bad about the tunnel Langu thought. That was before they found the first skeleton.
"Ow!" Onepu yelped as he tripped and fell. Langu and Hafu stooped down and helped their friend up. "What happened?" asked Langu. "I tripped on a loose rock and fell," replied Onepu.
"I don't think you tripped on a rock," said Hafu nervously.
"What do you mean it wasn't a rock?" asked Onepu
"I think it was this," replied Hafu. The three Matoran crowded around the spot that he pointed to. On the ground was a skull. It was cracked in some places and the lower jaw was missing but it was definitely a skull. "Maybe we should go back," said Onepu.
"Why?" asked Langu "Where's your sense of adventure."
"Uh," replied Hafu "Back at the base."
"Fine," said Langu "I will go one alone and if I find an interesting Rahi or jewel I won't tell you."
Langu began to walk off by himself. Hafu and Onepu gave each other a look that said "He's crazy" and then hurried after their friend. As they progressed on they found things more disturbing. They saw skeletons backed into a corner, skeletons locked in embrace and just bones scattered all along the ground.
"Langu," said Onepu "I really don't like this. I think we should turn back."
"Just a bit longer," replied Langu "I see a light up ahead and I want to see where it leads."
Sure enough there was a speck of bright light signifying the end of the tunnel. Langu ran forward as fast as he could, trying to get past all the skeletons. When he got to the light he just stood there staring. Hafu and Onepu hurried up and stood their mouths open in awe.
In front of them was a mine deeper and greater than any had of them had seen. Lightstones hung in nets from the ceiling illuminating everything spectacularly, not that it needed lightstones. The room seemed to sparkle in and of its self. However the image was dampened by the fact that here more than anywhere else there were skeletons everywhere.
"What could have happened to this place," thought Langu
Langu saw Onepu hurrying across a bridge to the other side of the mine. His destination was obvious. There was a room on that side that shone brighter than the mine itself. Onepu motioned to them to join him and they all stepped into the room together.
Inside was a trove of treasure that would have made the Shadowed One jealous. There were mounds of jewels and swords made of the purest protosteel. Hafu and Onepu uncovered several stain protoglass windows and a couple war helmets.
"So," said Langu smugly "Was it worth the dark-caves and the scatter-bones?"
"Yes!" replied Hafu enthusiastically. Onepu nodded in agreement.
They continued searching through the treasure until they were sure that they had seen it all.
"Hey," said Onepu. He pointed into a corner, "What's that?"
The matoran followed Onepu to a darkened corner of the room. In the corner was a skeleton. It was on its knees and its hands were clasped together as if pleading with someone. Beside it lay a book made of protosteel tablets. Langu picked up the book. It was surprisingly light for a book so thick. He leafed through it but found he couldn't understand a word it said. The letters were matoran letters but they were ranged in such a way that made it unreadable.
"I wonder if anyone can read this," thought Langu out loud.
"I can," said a voice. Langu whirled around to see three other Matoran standing in the entrance to the room. It was Weyre, Tifir, and Kapura. Weyre was the one who had spoken.
"What are you doing here?" asked Hafu.
"Turaga Jakop sent us to come after you," replied Weyre "You've been gone for several hours. As to that book I have studied about the Ancient Matoran who used to live on this island and I know their language. If it's any type of matoran I can read it."
"Well it certainly is Matoran," said Onepu "Here let's see what you can make of it."
Onepu handed the book to Weyre and Weyre began to read aloud.
My name is Furew. I was once one of the great Mikir race. I have been a coward and therefore I have disgraced myself. I no longer can count myself among them. After the tragic end of the Mikir I found this queer book. This book writes down on itself whatever someone says in its presence. It seems to have a mind of its own, for it only writes down select things, or basically it writes what it wants. Another thing about it is just when it seems like it has run out of pages there will always be another page for it to write on. If you are reading this guard the book well, for it is most precious to me. Now enough about the book, I will now give a brief summary concerning who the Mikir were.
The Mikir were the original inhabitants of Talla Nui. They were a group of biomechanical beings who loved to mine.
The Mikir were tall in stature but exceedingly stealthy and had excellent vision in dim light. They had the ability to pinpoint the location of a precious object with their minds, no matter where it was. None knew of their existence except the Ketongu, the Nynrah Ghosts and the Ancient Matoran who taught them to write and inhabited the surface.
Now that you know who the Mikir were I will recount a longer tale. A tale that tells of the Mikir culture and customs, the finding of the Nui Stone, the fall of the Mikir, the finding of the Suen Orb and finally the coming of Toa Tuyet.
"ROAR!!" A huge spider like Rahi burst into the treasure room as the Matoran were reading the book.
All the Matoran ducked for cover behind the mounds of treasure. As the Rahi sniffed around for the Matoran they escaped the room and shut the door behind them. The matoran gasped. All the bridges connecting the two halves of the mine had been destroyed by the Rahi and they were trapped on that side.
"Weyre, Tifir, Kapura, Hafu!" shouted Langu "Start barricading that rahi in that room. Onepu, come with me."
Langu led Onepu over to the side of the mine chasm. Langu pointed to one of the nets holding the lightstones and said, "Onepu, can you throw your knife so that it cuts the net. If you can we might be able to vine-swing across."
Onepu nodded and threw his knife with precision and accuracy. The cavern went dimmer as the lightstone fell into the depths. When Langu's eyes adjusted he saw a single rope hanging down from the ceiling, just within reach.
"Good work!" he said to Onepu and they clanked fists.
"Hurry up guys!" shouted Kapura, "The rahi is coming through."
"Leave that and get over here!" shouted Langu back, "We're going to vine-swing across."
The matoran hurried over, Weyre still carrying the book. Langu reached out and grabbed the rope, he then held out his hand for another to join him. Kapura grabbed hold and they swung together across the chasm. When they reached the other side Kapura jumped off and Langu swung back across.
The rahi rammed the door to the room and the shoddily built barricade wasn't going to hold it off for long. To top it all off the rope was fraying each time Langu swung across to get another Matoran. After he finished swinging over with Weyre (who was still holding the book) Langu made to go get Tifir (who was last).
"NO!" shouted Tifir across the chasm. "If you come it will kill us both. If I stay here I can delay the rahi long enough for you to escape."
Langu knew what Tifir was suggesting. "I WON'T LET YOU!" shouted Langu, "I got us all into this in the first place."
Tifir looked back and smiled at his friend. "No," he said "It's my choice." With that he walked and placed himself firmly in front of the door that the rahi was pounding on.
Langu readied himself to go over anyway. It took all of his friends to hold him back. He was kicking and screaming trying to wrench himself free of their grasp. Then the rahi broke through the barricade.
What happened next seemed to pass in utter silence. The rahi leapt at Tifir who stood in its way and grabbed him between its jaws, shaking him side to side, his arms flailing limply. The rahi choked the matoran down slowly and then turned to leave, satisfied with its meal.
"NO!" screamed Langu, breaking the silence. The rahi turned and noticed the group of matoran on the other side. Langu didn't care however; he just wanted to get to the creature that devoured his friend.
The rahi let out a blood curdling roar and began to climb down the walls of the mine to the other side. The roar was so loud that it caused a cave-in burying the creature under mounds of dirt and sealing off the way to the mine. The rahi had eaten its last meal.
Langu knelt down sobbing as dirt piled up around him. "My fault, all my fault," he cried. He felt his friends dragging him into the tunnels and away from the cave in. He didn't resist. In fact he no longer had the will to live. His fault, Tifir died, his fault, was the mantra pounding through his head.
He didn't care as the other matoran coughed and spluttered from all the dust. It was his fault that he had lost a friend.
"Macura, move!" shouted Kenar to his friend. Macura jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a spurt of fire from the Kanohi dragon's mouth. Kenar hit the Dragon with a sonic blast making it disoriented. They had been going at it for hours and had made no visible progress. The Kanohi Dragon simply would not move back.
It swiped at Kenar with its left claw and punctured one of his wings. Kenar's mind screamed in pain and he felt someone carrying him away from the Kanohi Dragon. He opened his eyes to see that it was Ehller.
"Kenar," she said quietly, "Maybe we should stop. We are no closer to getting that Durna stone than we were yesterday. All of us are wounded and we're tired. We need to rest."
"No!" said Kenar fiercely yet weak "We need to get that stone."
"Maybe I can help you with that," said a voice from the shadows. Out into the light stepped a Dark Hunter with one hand. "My name is Amphibax, I'm a Dark Hunter and..."
"Get away," snapped Ehller "Before you force me to use my powers on you."
"No, listen," said Amphibax "We both obviously want the same thing."
"And what is that?" replied Ehller
"We both want the Kanohi Dragon gone," replied Amphibax "I was stationed here by the Shadowed One after we conquered Metru Nui. You probably thought that we left because of the stink, no, after all what's life without a little stink. Well one of our army solved the riddle imprisoning the Kanohi Dragon and set her loose. She rampaged around for quite a bit and then returned to her cave. I couldn't return to the Shadowed One in failure so I waited for something to happen. Then you came here and set her free again. I realized that this would be the perfect time for an alliance. You help us with the Dragon and we let you leave Metru Nui in peace."
Ehller looked at Kenar, he nodded. She looked back at Amphibax and said "We accept your proposal."
Amphibax nodded at her and then turned in the direction of the silver sea, leaving the two Toa behind in silence.
Kenar got shakily to his feet and walked with Ehller to tell Tavok and Macura what had happened.
They found the two Toa looking for them and calling their names.
"Hello brother and sister," said Tavok jovially "We were starting to get ever so slightly worried about you." He pointed at the Kanohi Dragon. "I think our reptilian friend was too."
The corners of Macura's mouth twitched but he soon became serious. "Where were you and what were you doing?" asked Macura without a hint of a smile on his face.
"I carried Kenar away from the battle because one of his wings was wounded," said Ehller "I was talking to him when a Dark Hunter came up to us. He said his name was Amphibax and that he had a proposal to make. He said that if we helped them get rid of the Kanohi Dragon then we could leave the island safely."
"So basically you made a deal with a Dark Hunter that allows us to get the Stone easier and get off this horrible island without them killing us," commented Tavok.
"Yes," said Kenar nervously.
Tavok started laughing "Brother that is one of the best jokes I have heard from any of you in a long time."
Kenar and Ehller stared at each other. Tavok stopped laughing. "You're not joking, are you?" he asked.
"They most certainly aren't," said Amphibax as he stepped up behind Tavok and grabbed him by his chest armor and hoisted him off the ground. "Midnight, Coliseum, be there, get the point."
Tavok molded his hands into the thumbs up sign and flashed Amphibax a cheesy grin. Amphibax promptly dropped him on the ground and stalked off into the shadows.
"Wonderful guy," said Tavok as he dusted himself off "I can see why you're interested in him Ehller. Rest assured I give you my full blessing."
Kenar, Macura and Tavok all burst out laughing while Ehller flushed with anger. Behind his laugh though, Kenar was wondering, wondering if he had made the right choice and wondering if he would ever see his friends again.
A few minutes before midnight Kenar was jostled awake by Tavok. He sat up groggily forgetting why he had to get up this late. Then it came back to him. The Dark Hunters, the deal and the meeting. He hurriedly got to his feet, wincing at the small pain in his right wing.
He found the other Toa waiting for him outside of their camp. As he approached he heard Tavok call out. "As the Le-Matoran say we must quick-hurry or Amphibax will not be joy-happy." Kenar grinned and caught up to his already departing friends. They hurried at a brisk pace toward the Coliseum.
When they approached the Coliseum Tavok ran up to the doors and pounded his fist on them saying. "We're here!"
A voice from behind the doors called out. "What will you order tonight?"
Tavok thought this over in his mind before his over eager mouth spurted "I'll have the Fikou Surprise and the…"
"That's not a password," growled the voice. The doors opened and eight gruesome Dark Hunters hurried out and swiftly surrounded the Toa. Kenar couldn't believe it, they had been tricked.
As the Dark Hunters advanced in Kenar closed his eyes. Then he heard Amphibax's voice boom out, "Gate Watcher! What are you doing?!"
"Well, I caught several Toa trying to infiltrate the base so I sent out the guards to capture them," said the voice that had asked for the password.
"Didn't I tell you that we could expect some guests tonight? Didn't I?" Kenar heard something fly through the air and land with an audible crunch. Then Amphibax himself appeared at the gate. He called the guards off and led the Toa inside. When they passed the lifeless figure of Gate Watcher he muttered a quiet "Sorry about the mess."
Amphibax led the Toa straight into what had formerly been Turaga Dume's personal chambers, now it was a meeting place and conference room for the Dark Hunters.
Already present in the room, seated at the table, was a tall black and red figure that carried a large hammer.
"Toa, this is Zinoril, my most trusted lieutenant," introduced Amphibax "I hope you treat him with just as much fear and respect as you treat me. If you don't, it may lead to, unpleasant consequences."
Zinoril nodded at the Toa but otherwise made no acknowledgement of their presence.
"We are meeting tonight to discuss the matter of the Kanohi Dragon," began Amphibax, "Present are the Dark Hunters stationed on Metru-Nui and the Toa. Toa you may present your leader."
Kenar looked around at Tavok, Macura and Ehller. They were all staring at him. They wanted him to be their leader. Kenar reluctantly rose from his seat and stood before Amphibax and Zinoril. After Amphibax nodded Kenar sat back down, relieved.
"Now," continued Amphibax "We will discuss our plans to deal with this." Amphibax snapped his fingers and a miniature hologram of the Kanohi Dragon appeared on the table. "Zinoril, give us the powers of the specimen."
Zinoril stood and began to speak. His voice was not how Kenar had expected it to be. It was slow and very thick. "The Kanohi Dragon has the power to fly and breathe fire. It has incredible speed and strength and can access the powers of all the masks that it is using as armor." Zinoril sat back down.
"Thank you Zinoril," stated Amphibax "This is our army." He snapped his fingers and more holograms appeared. In one group was about forty Dark Hunters complete with miniatures of Amphibax and Zinoril. In the other group stood holograms of the four Toa. The Tavok hologram was demonstrating his abilities to handstand to the Toa and the real Kenar found that quite amusing. "And this is our terrain." Again Amphibax snapped his fingers and the entire city of Metru Nui appeared like pictures in a pop-up book.
For the next few hours the Dark Hunters and Toa debated strategies on how to get rid of the Kanohi Dragon. Kenar's eyelids were beginning to droop and he stifled a yawn. Amphibax apparently noticed their weariness because he sent them off soon afterwards.
Kenar kept going over the plan in his mind. It would work, he thought, it had to work. When they reached their camp Kenar collapsed onto his bed roll. The attack on the Kanohi Dragon would commence that night. Kenar fell asleep. As he slept he dreamt. He dreamt of Toa in shining armor going on quest to rescue matoran from the lairs of dragons. The whole time however Kenar felt like he had to wake up, he had to wake up.
"YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!" Tavok was shouting. "Honestly, you sleep deeper than a lump of iron, and believe me I know iron."
Kenar propped himself up on his elbows, he noticed that it was quite dark. "What time is it?" he asked.
"Time to meet Amphibax and Zinoril for the attack on the Kanohi Dragon," said Tavok "The others are already there, or they should be. I stayed behind to wake you up. Now let's get a move on!"
Tavok raced Kenar to the meeting place. It was a testament to the fact that Kenar was still half asleep that Tavok won. When Kenar arrived Amphibax was not pleased.
"Why weren't you here earlier?" he growled.
"I slept in slightly," replied Kenar.
"Oh well," said Zinoril "What's done is done. We must commence on the attack now, if ever."
Kenar nodded and then joined the other Toa. The attack commenced in full furor. One of the Dark Hunters walked up to the archway and pronounced the answer to the riddle. Kenar heard the screams of the Dark Hunter as the Dragon ate him bit by bit.
Macura used his mask of Quick-Travel to teleport himself behind the Kanohi Dragon. He forced the Dragon out of the cave and out of the trench. Kenar soon joined him. They attacked with a combination of sonic blasts and thorny plants. Ahead of them on a large cliff Dark Hunters stood near large piles of boulders, among them stood Tavok and Ehller. When Kenar and Macura had forced the Dragon up against the cliff it was forced to fly.
As it spread its wings to do so all the piles of rocks came tumbling down the cliffside, injuring its wings. When they saw it was immobilized Tavok began encasing the Dragon in solid protosteel. When he was done Ehller used her abilities to electrify the protosteel so that the Dragon would constantly be electrocuted and therefore have no energy to escape.
The finished product was a life-size protosteel statue of a Kanohi Dragon.
Amphibax walked up to the Kanohi Dragon. "Is it really encased safely?" he asked himself. "You over there," he pointed at a Dark Hunter "Come and touch this."
The Dark Hunter did as he was commanded to do. As soon as he touched the protosteel shell he was promptly electrocuted. He fell to the ground, dead.
"It will do," said Amphibax, he pointed to several Dark Hunters "You get this loaded up and sent somewhere besides here. Maybe the Shadowed One would like a Dragon Statue. Make sure you wear proto-rubber suits while you do it though, when you're done with that supply these Toa with an Airship."
The Dark Hunters did as they were told. While the airship was being prepared Kenar went back to the Dragon's old cave. He reached down into the nest of eggs and picked up one that was small and clear. He put the Durna Stone in the pouch containing the other. He held the pouch to his heart light, remembering his friends, both those alive and dead.
Kenar walked out of the cave and onto the Airship as a new Toa, a Toa that had seen the dangers that he was up against and was prepared for more.
The Toa left the City of Legends in high spirits. As they flew up into the skies Amphibax turned to Zinoril. "Where's the nearest port?" he asked.
"Xia," replied Zinoril "But it's several thousand kio away. I made sure that their fuel was only half way full. They'll never make it."
Amphibax clapped his lieutenant on the back with his one hand and laughed. Ah yes, betrayal tasted so sweet.
The dark green colored being named Kiro was running as fast as he could down the darkened streets of a great city. A Dark Hunter holding a zamor launcher passed by and Kiro pressed himself onto the wall, hoping that the shadows would hide him. Life as a Nynrah Ghost was hard these days, especially for Kiro.
The Dark Hunters had arrived on the Nynrah Isles months ago. They promptly enslaved the entire Nynrah Population. The Nynrah were forced to work every day. Normally this would not bother them but the Dark Hunters forced them to do things that they did not want to do. They made them build gigantic monuments to the Shadowed One and do other such things like feeding the Hordika Dragons.
Every day a Nynrah was randomly chosen to be fed to the Hordika Dragons. It was supposed to be a way of keeping the Nynrah in check. If any of the Nynrah revolted or reviled the Dark Hunters would feed, not the Nynrah who had disobeyed, but one of the Nynrah's family to the Hordika Dragons and everyone was forced to watch. Kiro was the very unfortunate person who had to feed the Hordika Dragons.
Now many of the Nynrah would spit at him or threaten violence if he passed them in the streets. They thought that he did it willingly, even though Kiro had to lead his own mother into the Hordika Dragons' pen. It was then that Kiro had decided to take a stand against the Dark Hunters. Part of that stand involved risking a whipping by running to a secret meeting after dark.
Kiro and what was left of his family, his brother Gruru and his father Tyrin, had joined a society that secretly opposed the actions of the Dark Hunters. It taught the ancient Nynrah crafting skills to those who still wanted to learn (The Dark Hunters had prohibited the teaching of it) and it secretly sabotaged the Dark Hunters efforts to gain complete control over the Nynrah.
Kiro quickly hid himself whenever someone passed and made his way down the street. He eventually found the place that he was looking for. He ducked into a shadowed alleyway and knocked twice on the last door to the right.
"Who dares to enters the Gorge?" asked a voice. Kiro smiled, The Gorge was a very sacred place to the Nynrah. Out of respect they had named their meeting place after it.
Kiro spoke the proper response. "It is I, a Ghost that has seen the light."
The door swung inward and Kiro stepped into the homely light and warmth of the Nynrah dwelling. The house was owned by Dytyr, the former mayor of the city, and now the leader of the secret group.
The Nynrah who had opened the door closed it behind Kiro after he stepped inside.
"Mata Nui! Kiro," said the Nynrah, whose name was Qwint "Thank goodness it's you. In the last hour I have had several Dark Hunters come knocking on this door. I think that we will soon need a change of password and of meeting place. They know where we are."
"I know," replied Kiro "I passed at least ten of them on my way here. Getting out won't be easy."
Dytyr walked into the room along with several other Nynrah, the rest of the group. Kiro soon found himself extending several greetings to all the others. When everyone had entered and was seated Dytyr started the meeting by taking attendance.
"Kiro," he called out "Where are your father and brother?"
"My father's sick and Gruru is staying to take care of him," replied Kiro.
"Alright then," said Dytyr "We regret to announce the death of society member Rewod. He was randomly selected to be fed to the Hordika Dragons," a few of the Nynrah gave Kiro icy stares, Dytyr continued "Kiro; did he say anything before he died?"
"Yes," said Kiro as he stood up, "He said; Don't let them have the good spoons."
No one laughed. The last words of a Nynrah are taken very seriously. The society would guard Rewod's spoons to the death.
"Thank you Kiro, you may be seated," Dytyr said "Now we must turn to other matters. The Dark Hunters know that we exist and they know where we are. We need to move our meeting place."
Kiro stood up again and before he had known it he had pledged his house to the service of the society.
"Are you sure, Kiro?" questioned Dytyr.
Kiro nodded and then sat back down. The rest of the meeting was a blur to him. There was debate on sabotage and who should hide who but Kiro wasn't listening. The magnitude of his decision had finally hit him.
When the time came to leave Kiro took his customary place at the back of the line. The Nynrah had to leave one by one to avoid the risk of them all being caught at once, Kiro was usually last to leave. Dytyr spotted this and then pulled Kiro to the front.
"I think that you deserve this after the sacrifice that you made," whispered Dytyr to Kiro. Then he gave him a light push out the door.
Kiro set out for his home, dodging Dark Hunters everywhere he went. He had pledged his life to protect his friends and he was very proud of it.