CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: THE GUARDIAN OF TA-ARA
Kopaka snatched the remains of the tablet from the floor of the old library, diving towards the door in order to escape. He felt the island of Ta-Ara give a horrible lurch beneath him as he stumbled out into the city.
He could feel the heat of the lava as it began to eat through the stone that supported the island. The thought of plunging into the hot viscous liquid was more than he could bear. He shifted masks, donning his Miru, and lifted into the air. Gali rose beside him, and he nodded in her direction.
"We've got to get back to land – Malak severed the bridge."
They began to drift, leaving the sinking island behind them, when a roar filled the caldera chamber. Kopaka winced as the sound stung his ears, but turned to face the source of the noise anyway.
A hand, mottled with lava and age, rose spectrally from the lava. It sank talons as long as his body into the stone and heaved the dripping body of the Ta-Ara Guardian from the pits. A pair of gleaming red eyes leered at Kopaka, as if sensing he was the inferior element.
Kopaka was afraid, but his training as a Ko-Aran Matoran would not allow him to show it. He pushed Gali behind him, raising his spear to point at the half-submerged monster.
"Come on, then," he taunted, making a 'come here' gesture with his left hand, "I dare you."
Before the creature could react, a jet of water arced over Kopaka's shoulder and struck it full in the face. The magma that made up the visage hardened, and Kopaka saw the orange eyes glaring at Gali. In a split-second decision, he flew over to it and landed on its face. He took his spear and drove it deep into the left eye. Black fluid gushed out, coating him in a fine film of liquid as he transferred his spear to his right hand to repeat the process.
Gali fired another jet of water, this one larger, which bulled the Guardian back against the wall of the chamber. Kopaka followed it, spinning his body into a barrel roll as he went. He held his shield above his head, pointing his spear around it, and drove his full body through the Ta-Ara Guardian.
The heat was unbearable, and Kopaka could feel his consciousness slipping away as the ghastly haze ate as his control. He pushed deeper into the core of the creature, shattering bones and tearing organs as he dove. All around him, he could hear the steady thump… thump… thump… of a gigantic heart.
"Bastard," swore Kopaka, finding the blood pump at the center of the chest cavity. He focused all his remaining energy on the fiendish organ and blew through it with all of his might. The creature outside roared as its heart burst into fragments, and Kopaka quickly made an exit hole in the rear to escape. The Guardian collapsed into the lava that had once been its sanctuary, sinking slowly beneath the surface as Kopaka shot out of its back like a bullet from a gun. He turned, making sure it was dead, and nodded over at Gali.
"It's done – let's get out of here."
He looked back at the remains of Ta-Ara. Only a few rooftops were visible above the lava now, and the Great Temple that housed a shrine to the Fire Spirits was breaking apart. Kopaka flew in close, examining the head of the Fire Spirit Carving as it came apart. He reached his hand into the falling debris, snatching a piece of something shiny from within before secreting it in one of his hip pouches. He returned to Gali, nodding once. "I have the second shard – we should continue our current route through Po-Ara and Ga-Ara, unless you have an objection. We'll finish with Onu-Ara, and hopefully by then we'll have killed Malak…"
Gali nodded in return, "I'll drink to that, now are we going to get going or float above this infernal heat all day?"
"I'll drink to making ourselves scarce."
