CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN: SEPARATION
Kopaka felt like the last grain of rice in a bowl being shaken. Vilak was coming apart, or so it seemed, and Kopaka was caught in the middle of it. He braced himself against the opening he'd made in the Thought-River and pulled himself through, gasping as the tremors wracking Vilak's body got worse.
Outside, Vilak had gone from kneeling to twitching on the ground. Gali watched in horror as he began to bleed from his nose and mouth.
Kopaka wasn't finished with Vilak yet. The bastard had to die, and Kopaka was going to do it. He followed the Thought-River upstream until he found the Nexus where it all came from: a massive glowing crystal.
Who would have thought the inside of the mind could be like this… he thought, dismally, "Vilak," he muttered, "Leave me alone."
He slammed his fist into the crystal, only mildly surprised when the jewel absorbed him. The white Toa swirled in the blinding light that seemed to emanate from within the gem, and reached out his hands for what was undoubtedly the core. His hands closed around a second (smaller) crystal at the center of the larger one.
"Eat dung, Vilak!" he snarled, lacing his fingers together and switching to his Pakari. He slammed his palms together, crushing the smaller crystal into fragments.
Gali watched as Vilak let out a feral scream, blood gushing from every orifice in his body to stain the ground crimson-brown. She took several steps back as he began to change again, but this time it was in reverse. The wings shrank, becoming the familiar back of Kopaka Nuva. Gali wanted to race forward and hug him, but something didn't seem right.
Kopaka's twitching body emitted a ray of light that struck the peak of Ara-Nui's highest mountain. As soon as the light stopped, Kopaka lay still. Gali feared he was dead, and ran forward to check his pulse. Luckily, it was still there.
As soon as she let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding, the mountain exploded into flames. Kopaka's eyes flickered, filling with the familiar blue color. "Gali?"
He pushed himself up, ignoring the creaking of his joints. He looked toward the ghastly red light that was glowing at the top of the mountain. His eyes narrowed, twisting the scars that had been left exposed. The false mask, Gali noticed, had not survived the transformation.
"We failed, it seems," said Kopaka as a dark shape began twisting in the flames at the top of the mountain. "Vilak escaped."
She looked at him, "That's a good thing, right?"
Kopaka snorted in humorless mirth, "Normally, I'd have said yes. Unfortunately, when I was in his central mind, I discovered his true intentions."
Gali looked from the twisting shape in the red haze to Kopaka and back again. "What was it?"
A roar echoed across the island, and Kopaka clutched his head in his hands to avoid going deaf. As soon as it subsided, he turned to Gali.
"His goal was to fuse with Dakgor by using the power of the Shards of Akhar."
No sooner had he said it, the five shards clattered uselessly to the ground in front of him. He looked dumbly at them, noticing how they had lost their luster and shine. Dakgor/Vilak, in the meantime, was finishing his transformation. Kopaka picked up the shards, feeling a slight reverberation in his palm.
"Perhaps," he said, "We're not done yet."