By the time the trio of Glatorian reached the village, it was too late. The once-proud village of Tajun was a pile of ashes, or soon would be. Kiina stood in the middle of the chaos, looking around desperately, stricken with grief.
"Looks like the Agori got away," said Ackar. "A daylight raid…one of their sentries must have spotted the attackers in time."
"The village…our homes…this is my fault!" Kiina cried. "I should have been here to help. Where's Tarix? And Gresh? We had a training session scheduled for today. He's just a rookie. He wouldn't be prepared for…"
"There!" yelled Ackar, pointing to the western side of the village.
Gresh staggered out of the smoke, clutching his shoulder. His armor was battered and one arm hung limply at his side.
"He's hurt!" said Kiina. She, Ackar, and Mata Nui rushed to his side.
"Easy, son," said Ackar, reaching out to support him.
Gresh pushed them away. "I'm fine. I'll be fine," he said, his voice weak. Then his face contorted and he grabbed at his injured shoulder. His knees buckled and only fast action by Ackar and Mata Nui kept him from collapsing.
"Just shut up, and let us help you," growled Kiina.
Ackar gave Mata Nui a brief introduction to Gresh. He was a young Glatorian from the jungle village of Tesara. Aside from his age and skill, another way in which Gresh differed from other Glatorian was that he was actually welcome to train in other villages besides his own. Normally, this was, at best, frowned upon, and in some places even forbidden. But because Gresh had so often aided Agori from Tajun and elsewhere, the village elders were willing to make an exception for him. He could often be found in Tajun, training with Kiina—much like the plan for today. Although new to the sport, he was highly skilled and had been fast gaining a reputation as a potential champion. But not even a veteran Glatorian could win against a Skrall war party.
"The Agori got away…" Gresh said through his breaths. "Escaped…hid in the desert…"
"We need to get him out of sight," said Mata Nui. "Kiina, your cavern—"
"Right," said Kiina. "The entrance is this way."
The party made its way through the thick smoke, moving as quickly as they could with the injured Gresh in tow. The young Glatorian, gasping for breath, was still trying to talk.
"Stay quiet," said Mata Nui. "We will take you to a place of safety soon."
"No," Gresh answered. "You don't understand…Skrall and Bone Hunters…they're working together."
"Impossible," replied Ackar. "They're rival tribes. Neither allies with anyone, least of all each other."
Gresh grabbed Ackar's arm. "No! I watched them destroy our village…I…" His eyes went wide for an instant, then suddenly closed. He sagged in Ackar's arms.
"Gresh!" said Kiina. "He isn't…?"
"He's still alive," Ackar reassured her.
"But not for long, if that savage sees us," Mata Nui said, gesturing back toward the Water village.
The others turned at his words. Moving through the smoke was a giant of a being, a warrior clad in spiked black-and-green armor and carrying a huge sword. Kiina had seen him only once before, but it was impossible to forget the sight.
"Tuma," she breathed. "Leader of the Skrall."
Now more figures appeared behind him, a combination of Skrall warriors on foot and mounted Bone Hunters. Kiina felt sick. This was every Agori's worst nightmare coming true before her eyes.
"The boy was telling the truth," said Ackar quietly. "The Bone Hunters have joined forces with the Skrall!"
Kiina pushed on a jutting piece of stone and a portion of the rock wall slid open. The group rushed inside and the door slid in place behind them. "They won't find us in here."
She led her friends down a gently sloping tunnel. The stone walls were marked with strange glyphs and symbols, carved with care in some ancient time. They were made using circles with lines and smaller circles inside them. Mata Nui found he could not take his eyes off them, despite the danger that surrounded him. "Wait," he said. "These glyphs…I…"
"Later," snapped Kiina. "First we have to take care of Gresh. The cavern is just ahead."
The tunnel opened onto a massive cave. The first thing that was obvious to all was that this was no natural formation. Huge, opaque, marble obelisks dominated the center of the space, illuminating a central area. Six entrances opened onto what looked like miniature ecosystems.
It looks like a…place of creation, thought Mata Nui. A lab, perhaps? But why create six environments in this place? For what purpose? If it was a test…what were they testing? As they moved farther in, Mata Nui saw more evidence for his theory. Tables made of stone were scattered about, covered with tools and machine parts. Someone had been working here and perhaps not so long ago—he noted disturbances in the ancient dust.
Kiina gestured to one of the tables. "Lay him down over here."
Ackar and Mata Nui laid the still form of Gresh on the table. His breathing was steady, but one arm was badly injured. Mata Nui felt helpless. He knew nothing about how to care for another being. He wasn't even certain how serious the damage to Gresh might be—would he die from this wound? Or was this the kind of injury Glatorian received in the arena all the time? He guessed not, given how worried Kiina appeared to be.
The keen ears of Ackar picked up a sound from the shadows. He drew his sword in a flash, saying, "Show yourself." After a second of silence, he emphasized, "Now!"
There was a long moment of stillness and silence. Then a villager clad in blue armor stepped into the light. He was short and his body seemed to be in constant nervous motion. He held his hands out defensively, looking from Ackar to Kiina and back again.
"Okay, okay, relax," the Agori villager said. "Everything's okay. It's just me—Berix." Unwilling to part with his collection of items, Berix was the only Water Tribe Agori to stay in Tajun during the Skrall-Bone Hunter attack. He'd hidden down here until the Glatorian arrived.
Now Kiina had her trident in hand, pointing it toward Berix. Her features were tight with anger. "You filthy little thief! I told you if I ever caught you down here again, I'd—"
Berix ducked behind Mata Nui's legs. He had long felt unappreciated. While Agori and Glatorian would come to him for repairs, no one really treated him like a valuable member of the community. As a result, Berix was naturally defensive and sensitive about his activities. "This place doesn't belong to you. And I'm no thief—I'm a collector." He glanced up at Mata Nui then, noticing his "protector" for the first time. "Ooh…like your mask. Can I have it?"
The villager reached up to touch the Mask of Life. But before his fingers could make contact, Berix spotted Kiina rushing toward him. He withdrew his hand quickly, as if the mask might bite him.
"Come here, you!" snapped Kiina.
Berix sidestepped, keeping Mata Nui between him and the enraged Glatorian. "l have a right to collect anything I want. It's just so much junk anyway."
"Then why do you want it?" asked Kiina.
"'Cause I like fixing things, and I'm real good at it too," said Berix. He gestured at the lights on the ceiling. "Who do you think got those lights working?"
"I was wondering about that…" Kiina grumbled. Light without fire was an impressive feat on Bara Magna.
Berix looked up at Mata Nui again. Spotting the Scarabax perched on the warrior's shoulder, he took a step back. "Hey, you've got a—"
"He knows!" Kiina and Ackar said in unison.
There was too much anger in this chamber, Mata Nui decided. It wasn't helping Gresh or anyone else. "Berix, have you ever fixed an injured Glatorian?"
"Oh, no," Kiina said immediately. "No way. He's not touching Gresh."
"The boy needs help, Kiina," Ackar said quietly.
Kiina started to say something, then stopped. Slowly, the tension left her body. Ackar was right, she knew. Gresh was in bad shape from his injury—she would not be able to help him on her own. It was beyond her abilities to heal him, too.
Berix gestured to his own battered armor. "Well, I've had to patch myself up a few times."
"Right," said Kiina. "Like every time you've been pounded on for stealing."
Berix moved to the table to take a look at Gresh, but couldn't resist snapping back to correct her. "Ahem… Collecting! Maybe you should let me work on your ears next, Kiina."
"Enough," Mata Nui said. "Can you fix him?"
Berix shrugged. "Yeah. Okay, yeah I think I can." In truth, Berix had a unique mix of skills. In addition to knowing how to patch and repair weapons, armor and vehicles, he has also picked up a knowledge of herbal healing from friends in Tesara. The Agori tapped his arm. A small panel opened in his armor. Inside was a compartment stuffed with various tools, wires, and odds and ends. He reached inside and took out a crude knife.
"Gresh better pull through," Kiina said, grabbing Berix's arm and pulling him close. "You got that?"
"Great," Berix muttered quietly. "No pressure or anything." He took the knife and sliced off a portion of a strange vine that grew on the nearby wall.
Ackar took Kiina's arm gently and led her a few steps away from the table. She never took her eyes off of Berix, watching him with the look of a mother Sand Stalker ready to spring to the defense of its young. "What if he's the traitor?" she whispered, anxious.
"Then he'll pay…" Ackar replied, darkly.
The two Glatorian moved to join Mata Nui, who was examining the cavern with undisguised curiosity. He moved hesitantly, as if he were trying to capture a memory that was just out of reach.
"Something wrong?" asked Kiina.
"I don't know," Mata Nui answered. "There's a familiarity about this place."
"Hm. Must have been created by the old rulers of Bara Magna," said Ackar, looking around.
"The Great Beings," nodded Kiina.
Mata Nui's head snapped around at the sound of the name. "The Great Beings were here!?" It was too incredible to believe. The Great Beings were at the core of Mata Nui's earliest recollections. They had constructed the massive robot body that had once belonged to him. They had created his consciousness and placed it inside that body, and then sent him forth to do…something. He still did not recall. That had been more than 100,000 years ago and he had given up hoping he would ever find them again, and reinstating his mission. It might have been chance that brought him to this world, where the Great Beings had once walked, but he preferred to think it was destiny.
It was obvious that Kiina did not share Mata Nui's reverence for the Great Beings, though. "Great Beings?" she scoffed. "Great Destroyers is more like it."
"Why do you speak against the Great Beings?" demanded Mata Nui.
"Why? They wrecked our world, that's why," Kiina shot back. Gesturing toward the six chambers containing mini-environments of fire, water, jungle, underground tunnels, ice, and empty but fertile land, she continued, "This was Bara Magna before the Great Beings left us here to rot."
"You have no proof of that, Kiina," said Ackar. "They could have just as easily ended up buried in the ruins. A lot of others did, you know."
"No," Mata Nui said, shaking his head. "The Great Beings did not fall here. Of that much I am sure." He walked deeper into the cave, examining every inch of the walls, until he came to a great door. Inscribed on it was a symbol—three dots flanked by two doubly curved lines. Mata Nui had seen the symbol before, for it had been inscribed in all sorts of places on his old robotic body as well. But he did not know what it stood for. "What lies beyond here?" he asked.
"No idea," Kiina replied. "Never been able to get it open."
Berix had been eavesdropping on the conversation as he worked. Now he called over his shoulder, "Me, neither! But I bet there's something good back there."
"Keep dreaming," Kiina said sharply. "And pay attention to what you're doing…thief."
Berix muttered something in response. Kiina couldn't hear what it was, but guessed it included 'collector' somewhere.
Mata Nui stepped close to the door. As he did so, his mask began to glow, casting golden light on the inscribed image. "I recognize this symbol," he said softly. He reached out and touched one of the three dots. As soon as he did so, it began to glow, and there was a loud click, as if a lock was coming undone. The symbol rotated beneath Mata Nui's hand, and the two halves of the door began to slide apart. In surprise, he drew his sword, unsure of what would happen next.
"It's opening," said Kiina. "You did it!"
Behind the door there was a stone staircase leading down. Mata Nui and the two Glatorian followed it into an antechamber farther beneath the earth. A variety of symbols covered the walls, most of them circles with lines or other circles inside of them. Kiina and Ackar examined these as Mata Nui moved farther into the chamber. Then they heard him cry out, "It cannot be!"
Ackar and Kiina were at his side instantly.
"What's wrong?" asked Kiina.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," commented Ackar.
"l have," replied Mata Nui, his eyes riveted by the carving.
He was standing in front of the far wall. Carved into the wall were what looked like building plans for a giant being made of metal. It was clear from the dust all around that the carving had been made long, long ago. Around the drawing were more annotations written in the strange language of circles and lines.
"You know that thing?"
"Yes. A gigantic mechanical being," Mata Nui said, his tone filled with frustration and anger. "Just like the one now enslaving my people."
"Wait," said Kiina. "You think the Great Beings had something to do with that? Did they harm your people too? Is that terrorizing their planet?"
"No. The responsibility lies on my shoulders alone," said Mata Nui. "And their plight is a more complicated one than can be discussed now. But this place…these symbols…we are on the right track to my people's answer."