It wasn't so much the fall that bothered Pohatu. It was not being able to see where he was heading. The thick layer of mist and fog obscured everything below and made it hard to aim for a soft spot. Not that there are likely to be any, anyway, he reminded himself.

An image appeared in his mind of a place he had never seen. It was another fallen stalactite, smaller than the rest, its tip buried in the swamp. Its wide, flat end was not too far below, hidden in the mist. He suddenly realized he was seeing something Photok had seen some time ago—somehow, the Matoran's memories were in his head now as well.

Regardless of how he knew that, that stalactite was the best chance to break their fall. Pohatu strained against the pull of gravity to change his course even a few feet. It took almost all his strength, but he did it. Then the rocky surface of the stalactite was rushing up to meet him. "Hang on!" he yelled to Photok.

The impact was terrible, driving Pohatu and the Av-Matoran deep into the stalactite. The stone split in half with a loud crack, both ends starting to fall toward the swamp. And Pohatu and Photok were falling again….

X X X

Krika was the first to notice that the Toa Nuva were gone. Bitil and Gorast wanted to immediately pursue, but Krika waved them off. "Where can they run to? You know as well as I that they cannot leave the swamp without this," he said, raising his foreleg to reveal a keystone embedded between his spikes. With a casual movement, he tossed the stone to Bitil.

"What if they don't find the other five?" asked Gorast.

"They will," answered Krika. "They will because it's difficult, dangerous, and perhaps impossible to do…and because they are Toa."

"Be careful, brother," said Bitil. "You are starting to sound like you admire them."

"I respect them and their power," corrected Krika. "You would do well to do the same. Nowadays, people often seem to underestimate Toa. I merely am observing that we Makuta have been matched more than once."

Gorast looked at him. "And you know the reasons for that."

"Partially," argued Krika. "But there are other reasons as well, and they are due to their virtues and capacity. We have swept down like a plague and exterminated Toa wherever we found them. Those who have survived have learned to turn any mistake by a foe into a chance for victory."

"Then be careful," said Gorast, leaning in close and locking her gaze on Krika. "Be very careful that you make no mistakes, brother—not now, not when a universe is almost in our grasp."

Krika triggered his mask power. The Kanohi Crast, the Great Mask of Repulsion, sent Gorast hurtling away from him at high speed. She smashed into a nearby stalactite with a sickening thud and hit the mud, dazed. "I am always careful," said Krika. "And that is how I have survived."

X X X

Toa Ignika had watched the battle for some time. He was fascinated by the ebb and flow of it, first one side winning, then the other. When he had been just the Mask of Life, he had created warriors to fight for him, but never been in battle himself. The feelings were so overwhelming that he was too caught up in them to take action. That is, until he spotted Icarax's attack on Pohatu. That reminded him the Toa Nuva were both outnumbered and outpowered here. If he wanted them as allies and friends, he had better do something.

He steered his craft at Icarax and swung his sword, striking the Makuta with all of his might…with the flat of the blade. Startled, but unhurt, Icarax turned to see his attacker. "Oh, it's you," the Makuta said. "The one Antroz spoke of. Will you hand over your mask, or do I take it, and your life with it?" Toa Ignika said nothing, and simply readied his blade for another strike. "The silent sort, eh?" said Icarax. "Well, even if you can't talk, I am sure you can scream…and what sweet music that will be, if too short a tune."

Toa Ignika swung his blade. Icarax altered his body's density, allowing the weapon to pass right through. Then he altered it again to the hardness of protosteel and struck Ignika with an armored fist. The Toa flew off his vehicle, catching the end of it at the last moment before he fell. He clung to the edge even as Icarax drew closer. The Makuta reached down toward his mask.

Something inside the Toa Ignika suddenly flared to life. In all the millennia the Mask of Life had existed, no one had been allowed to touch it unless destined to do so. Those who laid hands on it were cursed. And now this Makuta dared to strike it a physical blow and attempted to seize it for himself.

That will not be, thought Toa Ignika. He hurled the power of Life at Icarax. Immediately, he sensed the Makuta was not like other beings he had encountered. Icarax was armor and energy only, with no organic tissue anywhere in his body. Had it always been this way? Or had the Makuta once been something other than simply pure power housed in black armor? Toa Ignika decided to find out.

Extending his power, he gave the Makuta a push back down the road of evolution. Swirling energy coalesced into solid matter; muscles and organs grew where they had not been for tens of thousands of years, but found no place exist. The current generation of Makuta armor was designed to hold energy only, not organic tissue. As the old form struggled to replace the new, the pain was, to say the least, excruciating. The sound that came from Icarax rebounded again and again off the walls of the mammoth cavern. For a moment, all the combatants were frozen in place, the battles halted by a sound.

No one could remember the last time they had heard a Makuta scream.

X X X

Far below, Pohatu abruptly found he could fly again. The tremendous pull of gravity had eased, as if Icarax's power had just been cut off. Smiling, he began to ascend again.

"Look!" said Photok. "Chirox is up ahead, fighting with Kopaka."

"Then let's give ol' frosty a hand," said the Toa of Stone. "I still owe him one."

"For what?"

"Well, we were in Ko-Wahi on an island called Mata Nui looking for Kanohi Nuva masks, and there was this avalanche, and he…oh, I'll tell you later."

X X X

Brutaka scanned the cavern with narrowed eyes. The glowing eyes of the insects all around made it feel as if he were trapped in some lunatic starfield. Behind him, he could hear Vezon humming softly to himself, as if out for an afternoon stroll.

"Do we fight our way out of here?" asked Lariska, hand on the hilt of her dagger.

Brutaka's answer was to turn to Spiriah. "Okay. You control Rahi and insects. Make them clear a path."

"On one condition," said Spiriah. "Once I do, I go free. I turn right around and march out, take the boat—if Takadox hasn't already—and leave. And I never see or hear from any of you, or anyone associated with you, again."

"I wasn't asking you," replied Brutaka. "I was telling you."

"I am a Makuta," Spiriah growled. "Disgraced, perhaps; a victim of jealousy and prejudice, most definitely. But I will not be dictated to by some obnoxious, insane—"

Brutaka hit Spiriah with a solid blow in the mask, knocking the Makuta over the side of the narrow bridge. Spiriah caught on to the span, just barely, and hung in space.

"I think this is what they call 'in no position to deal,'" said Brutaka. He triggered his mask power, opening a dimensional portal in space just below Spiriah's feet. "If I move that opening just a little bit further toward you, you'll find yourself in a dimension full of beings made of solid light. Know what they eat there? Shadow. You'll be a food bank for them, Spiriah, but I have to warn you—they're always hungry…and they don't close their mouths when they chew."

Spiriah said nothing. Instead, he reduced his density and floated up and away from Brutaka's portal. Then he drifted back down to the bridge and turned solid once more. "I'll do it," he said. "Then I leave. I advise you not to try and stop me."

The Makuta concentrated, triggering his power to control insect hordes. Nothing happened, other than restless stirring among the insects. After a few moments, Spiriah gave up in frustration. "They're already under the control of a more powerful will. It must be Miserix."

Brutaka gestured toward the wall of insect life that blocked the way they had come. "Then I guess you're not leaving." He turned to Lariska. "And that means we're fighting. You stay back with Vezon. Your knives won't do as much against these things as energy. Roodaka, Spiriah and I will lead the way."

On Brutaka's signal, he and his two powerful allies unleashed their powers at the insects who blocked the passage way up ahead. As quickly as the crimson creatures fell, more came to replace them. Worse, the ones behind were now skittering across the bridge, closing in on Vezon and Lariska.

"I have an idea," said Roodaka, summoning a Rhotuka disk into her launcher. She fired at the insects up ahead, the power of her disk mutating them into unrecognizable creatures. An instant later, the other insects fell upon the unfortunate victims of her attack. The mutated insects were dead in seconds, killed for being different than the rest of the species.

Seeing that her ploy had worked, Roodaka repeated the process, this time focusing on the insects blocking the end of the bridge. As the mutations took hold and their former allies turned on them, an opening appeared in the wall of living creatures. With a roar of triumph, she led a charge across the bridge and into the tunnel beyond. The team didn't stop running until they were well away from the cavern.

"Are they following?" asked Brutaka.

"They don't seem to be," Lariska answered. "Maybe they don't like to leave their nest."

"Or maybe they just know we have to go back out that way, so they can eat us then," Vezon offered, cheerfully.

"Maybe there's another way out up ahead," said Brutaka.

"Or maybe we'll get to like it here," said Vezon. "A few grass mats, some cave drawings, the heads of my enemies mounted on the wall…it could be quite pleasant."

"Brutaka!" Roodaka called from up ahead. "I think you had best see this."

The team rushed through the tunnel to join Roodaka. She was standing at the tunnel's end, looking out at another vast chamber. More specifically, she was looking at the largest occupant of the chamber, a massive dragon-like beast chained to the stone floor. All around it flew much smaller Rahi, darting and dodging the shadow hand that occasionally shot out from the creature's chest.

"What…is that?" asked Lariska.

Brutaka shook his head in amazement. "Well, it's about 40 feet tall, red and silver, with four legs, a tail, and a nasty disposition—and it's who we're here to rescue."

"Miserix," whispered Spiriah.

"Alright, fine…we can take him home," Vezon decided, "but don't expect me to clean up after him."

X X X

Bohrok. It was a word the Toa Nuva had heard all too often over the last year, and one they had hoped not to have to hear again. Shortly after their arrival on the besieged island of Mata Nui, the Toa had been faced with a swarm of the insectoid mechanical beings. The Bohrok cut a path of destruction across the island, annihilating forests, mountains, rivers, and anything else that was in their path. It took a desperate effort by Tahu and his team to slow them down and eventually defeat the queens of the swarm. Only recently had the Toa discovered that the Bohrok did serve a benevolent purpose, just with bad timing—while the island was still populated by the Matoran—and the heroes themselves ended up making it possible for them to be unleashed again. Just why the island of Mata Nui needed to be "cleansed" of so many of its natural wonders, the Toa Nuva still did not know.

Now, here they stood, watching what had once been a dozen Matoran of Light rise from the earth as new Bohrok. They lacked Krana, the small creatures that provided direction for the mechanoids, but in other respects, they looked like every other Bohrok the Toa had ever encountered.

"This is insane," said Gali, horrified. "It can't be true…were all the Bohrok we fought once Matoran?"

"Maybe it's not so farfetched," answered Onua. "I remember reading a theory in the Metru Nui Archives that the Bohrok had once been biomechanical life and evolved into fully mechanical, artificial life. Isn't that what we just saw happen?"

"It is the way of things," said their Matoran companion. "As the first Bohrok sprang from the first Av-Matoran, so shall the next generation spring from us. As Bohrok, we serve the will of Mata Nui just as you do. From being merely beings you must protect and look after, we become truly your brothers."

"Of course," muttered Tahu. "When we attacked the queens of the swarm, remember…they asked how we could dare to oppose our 'brothers.' We never suspected…"

Before Gali's still-startled eyes, the twelve Bohrok faded away. "Where have they gone?"

"To join the others and be fitted with the Krana that will guide them the rest of their lives," the Matoran replied. "They now have a new role to play…as do you. And yours requires this." The Matoran dug into a pouch he carried and produced a keystone. He handed it to Tahu. "You will need all six to enter the Codrex. Once there, you will know what needs to be done."

"Codrex?"

The Matoran gestured back the way they had come, toward the strange spherical structure Tahu had discovered. "The place of your beginning…and your probable ending."

Tahu wanted to ask him more questions, but the Av-Matoran had begun to transform. In a matter of moments, the intelligent being before him had become a mechanized Bohrok. Then it was gone, transported by some unknown means to one of the many nests beneath the island of Mata Nui. And it wasn't the bizarre sight of this change, or even the revelation of the Matoran-Bohrok connection that left Tahu feeling strangely empty—it was the realization that he had never thought to ask the Matoran his name.

And now, he no longer has one, thought the Toa of Fire grimly. Another sacrifice in the name of the Great Spirit…and why? Does Mata Nui have so grand a purpose in life that it warrants so much loss? Or are we all so small in his eyes that he doesn't even notice when one of us is gone?

Dark thoughts for a dark place, he decided. Tahu sensed a vague memory, buzzing around in the back of his mind like a fireflyer. Someone was speaking to him, a very long time ago, and saying something that proved to be all too true: "This universe, like all others, demands a price from its heroes." Tahu understood what that meant. But as he looked around at the now-empty swampland, he wondered again why the price had to be quite so high for quite so many.