As Lestra weaved her way back through the crowd, she tried to keep her composure as calm as possible.
"No need to get others panicked," she said to herself.
She arrived back at the group of Toa to find Tsonclad and Onric bickering, the others watching in bemusement.
"What d'ye mean those dinna count?" asked the ice Toa, incredulously.
"I'm saying you can't count those things as enemies," replied Onric, his arms crossed in front of him. "We specifically agreed on 'foes,' not –"
"Oh come on!" exclaimed Tsonclad. "D'ye know what Ah went through to get those down?"
"What's going on?" asked Lestra, arriving beside them.
"Tsonclad claims he won their little bet," said Koth, "but Onric thinks otherwise."
"Well, what's the count?" asked Rysavy, who had by now been introduced to everyone.
"I've got seventy-six, and Tsonclad has seventy-five," replied Onric.
"Where's the discrepancy?" asked Tivari.
"Tsonclad wants to count the two war machines he took down, bringing his total to seventy-seven," replied Koth.
"Yes, but those weren't enemies, those were vehicles. We agreed –"
"Oh get o'er yerself, Onric. Those were –"
"Ahem," Lestra cleared her throat, interrupting the erupting discussion, "I hate to interrupt this…lovely banter, but we have bigger problems right now."
"Such as?" asked Koth.
Lestra bent forward and motioned for a huddle. The others followed suit, though still of what was going on. Once everyone was hunched over, Lestra spoke again, in a hushed voice.
"See that boulder over that way?" she motioned with her head. "I spotted Negurin going behind there, and she apparently has company, King Yuniro is holding her prisoner."
"What?" Tsonclad exclaimed, straightening up.
"Shh!" the others cautioned as Onric pulled him back down.
"Is this a friend of yours?" asked Rysavy.
The others nodded.
"I don't want to cause a panic by all of us rushing off at once," said Lestra.
"Maybe only a few of us should go," said Tivari. "I'm sure three Toa can handle one Menirun."
"Excellent point, Tivari," said Onric. "Lestra, take Tivari and Tsonclad with you, and be careful."
"We will," replied the Lighting Toa.
As they turned to depart, Tsonclad shot back at Onric, "Ah still won, ye know!"
Lestra shook her head as she led the other two towards the place where she had last seen the king and his hostage. When they arrived, Lestra activated her mask once more.
"They're gone," she said as she headed around the other side.
As they rounded the other side, they looked to see if there was any indication of where they had gone. Tsonclad bent down and examined the ground. After a few moments, he began walking in one direction.
"They went this way," he said.
"How can you tell?" asked Tivari, following the Ice Toa.
"Ah'm followin' their tracks," he replied. "Ye dinna survive in the Northern Mountains long if ye canna take a beast."
The trio followed the pair of fresh track that led away from the battle zone and the congregation of rebel forces. They soon saw they were heading for a small group of trees, and the tracks led right to it. When they arrived at the edge of the small grove, they paused as Lestra again activated her mask.
"No one's here," she said, "but there's something in there besides trees."
Intrigued, they entered the grove and, after pushing past a dense thicket, stopped dead in their tracks. Before them stood a large stone archway, an archway that looked exactly like the Vehle portals Negurin had told them about. After getting over the initial shock, Tsonclad bent down and studied the ground for a moment.
"They went through it," he said.
After a moment, Tivari moved towards the archway and began examining it.
"No wonder he went after Negurin," he said. "She's about the only one who knows much about these."
"Can you get it to work?"asked Lestra.
Tivari paused as he came across a hand-shaped indention in the archway. Hesitantly, he placed his palm on the smooth stone. The indentation began to glow a light blue, and moments later, the glow began to spread to the other symbols that were carved into the stone. Within seconds, the stone was covered with glowing blue symbols, and the image within its center began to change. The shapes and colors of the trees began to dim and blur until nothing remained but a deep, dark shadow within the archway. The Toa looked at each other hesitantly, before Lestra took the first step forward. Tivari held out his hand.
"Let me go first," he said.
The Lightning Toa nodded and allowed her purple-armored brother to go ahead of her. He paused at the archway and pulled something off of his robotic arm. He clamped it on the side of his mask and pushed a button. A beam of light radiated from the front of it, and he stepped through the archway, disappearing into the darkness. Moments later, he reappeared.
"It's safe," he said, motioning the others in.
The other two followed the Tivari through the archway, feeling a slight tingle run over their bodies as they passed the threshold. As they passed through, they found themselves in almost complete darkness. What little light passed through the portal was quickly dispelled by the overbearing darkness. Tivari's headlight only illuminated the air in a narrow beam, doing little to alter the atmosphere of the place. Drawing her sword, Lestra held in up and ran a strong current up its length.
"D'ye think this is wise?" asked Tsonclad. "We're practically sittin' ducks oot here, shinin' these lights around."
"Well, we can't exactly find them in the dark," said Lestra, adding a bit more current to her makeshift torch.
"Aha, that'd be true, speaking of which…"
Tsonclad bent down and studied the rocky ground under their feet. He then noticed the highly visible footprints leading away.
"That way," he said, pointing towards their left.
The trio walked off slowly, following the very evident trail. Dust lay think on the ground, once they had gotten further away from the gate. The trail led onward, until they saw a glow in the distance. The orange light flickered and shimmered.
"It's a fire," said Tivari, once they had gotten closer.
They continued closer until they found themselves behind a boulder, with the fire just on the other side.
"That'll give us an advantage," said Tsoclad. "With them near the fire, their eyes will hae adjusted tae the fire's light. They won't see us comin'."
"Oh, is that so?" said a voice behind them.
The Toa turned as one and jumped away just in time to have three daggers fly through the air where they had been standing.
"So, Yasec sends his Toa goons to finish the job," said the voice, mockingly.
"Who's there?" asked Lestra, arcing more energy down her sword.
"I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting," said the voice, seeming to come from everywhere at once. "I am King Yuniro."
"Where are ye?" Come oot an' fight, ye coward!" cried Tsonclad.
The king replied, "Oh, and I suppose this is the part where I drop my invisibility and say, 'I'm no coward. I don't have to hide to defeat you.' Please, I'm no fool."
A sudden blow to Tsonclad's chest launched him backwards into Lestra. The shock of the force caused Lestra to drop her sword, a few sparks sputtering off the end as it hit the ground. Tsonclad rolled off her as she activated her mask. She "saw" a fourth body now moving towards her. She flipped over quickly and launched a lightning bolt at the spot. A cry of pain rang out as a tall Menirun sputtered into visibility, his deep grey armor reflecting the fire's light. He glared at the Toa.
"Should have taken that mask from you first, missy," he said, his voice flat with annoyance.
He silently pulled a pair of daggers from his sides and twirled them in his fingers. He beckoned to the Toa, essentially saying, "Bring it on."
The Toa hesitated for a moment.
"Is this really fair?" thought Lestra. "Three on one?"
Her question was answered when one of the daggers buried itself in Tivari's shoulder. As the Toa of Gravity cried out in pain, Yuniro smirked.
"Do you think I made this far by playing fair?" he asked, pulling another dagger from his belt. "Come on!"
Lestra's eyes grew bright with anger as she grabbed her sword and blasted another bolt at the Menirun. To her surprise, he bent backward too fast for her eyes to follow.
"Rahkshi Dodge," said Yuniro, quietly.
Tsonclad fired dozens of ice blocks at the king. He sliced through each in turn, forcing them all away from his body.
"Naxan Slicer," he said.
The king hurled a dagger at Lestra. She managed to barely dodge the flying blade, only to be impaled by a second as she came to rest. Lestra's cry of pain almost drowned out Yuniro's voice.
"Cuartan Anticipation."
By now, Tivari had managed to get up, the pain in his shoulder still throbbing. He reached out with his elemental powers, trying to increase Yuniro's personal gravity, but to his surprise, he felt as though his powers had deserted him.
"Surprised?" asked Yuniro. "These blades are coated with Vorzhic venom. I'm sure you know what that does."
While lying on the ground, Lestra tried to fire a bolt of lightning with similar results.
"They're also coated with another concoction," said Yuniro, brandishing another pair, "that will force you into unconsciousness in less than a minute. Your friend over there learned that the hard way."
The Toa looked and, for the first time, noticed the prone figure of Negurin, resting by the fire.
"You spawn of a Kavinika!" cried Tsonclad as he launched himself at the king.
With grace and ease that could only be seen to be believed, Yuniro dodged every attack Tsonclad threw at him and landed blows on the Toa's body, all the while naming off his executions.
"Cuartan Tri-Spin, Naxan Wolf Strike, Aviena Wing Defense, Menirun Thunder Kick, Protodrake Punch, Phase Dragon Slide."
"Shut up, shut up, shut UP!" cried Tsonclad, as he tried in vain to fight the Menirun, even as his mind began to slip away from him from the venom-laced wounds on his body.
"I think it only fair to tell you," said Yuniro, deftly dodging another feeble punch, "that I achieved the highest rank of Menirun reflexes years before I became king. I have trained to become even better throughout my time as ruler and have studied the martial arts of every known culture and race."
Yuniro looked down at Tsonclad as he collapsed on the ground, trying in vain to hold onto consciousness.
"It's a pity though," he said, bending down to put his face in front of Tsonclad's mask. "I was hoping for more of a challenge. It's a real shame that you won't live to see my triumphant return to Diagirr. That little extra reinforcement trick you rebels pulled was…unexpected, but nothing I can't handle. No, this just proves how low you rebels are willing to go, tricking your adversaries into a false sense of security. This war isn't over, not while I still breathe."
"Den maybe," said a new voice, anger seeping into every syllable, "it is time you stopped bread'ing."
Yuniro turned around in shock. Crouching by the fire was another Menirun, cradling Negurin's head in his arms. His green armor seemed to shine with an unnatural shade in the red glow of the fire. And when Yuniro's gaze fell to the Menirun's eyes, he saw the light of hatred so fierce, that he took a step backwards in apprehension.
"Wh– who are you?" he asked, a slight tremor tainting his voice.
"My name is Rhenton," said the Menriun, gently laying the unconscious Negurin on the ground. "You killed the woman I love. Prepare to die."