Chapter 3

"Shardak."

The voice seemed to echo all around him, yet somehow sound distant at the same time.

"Shardak." The voice had spoken again, and this time, Shardak thought he recognized it.

Then, as he opened his eyes to pitch darkness, he remembered. The weight of Arcturas' horrible death at the hands of the strange soldiers had struck him to his core, and he had staggered away from the flames, looking for-

"Blast?" he asked. His voice sounded cracked.

"I've found the obsidian beings' tracks." came the reply. Shardak could see a light shining in the distance, and as it came closer, he saw his friend's helmeted face appear in the shadows, his green eyes shining in the darkness.

"Where am I?" he asked. His voice still sounded unfamiliar to him, as though the smoke had burned more then his armored body.

"I was standing near the edge of the inferno when you staggered out of the fire. You weren't burned badly, however, and I managed to guide you back to the city's center. You're in one of Kor's hideouts."

Kor, an enigmatic Glatorian who had befriended Blast and Shardak, lived in fierce competition with the brutal Intax gangs and always had a hideout on the outskirts of the city. He always allowed Shardak and Blast to use them, if necessary.

"Did you see what happened to Nightshade and Arcturas?" asked Shardak.

"I saw Arcturas fall after he was struck by a spear." replied the ebon Glatorian. "But I never saw Nightshade fall, or escape. However, I've found the obsidian being's tracks, as well as other, more slender footprints. Would those be Nightshade's?

Shardak stood up slowly, on unsteady feet. He still felt slightly dizzy, and the entire situation had taken on a sort of unreality, as though all that had happened was only a nightmare. Still, he knew how brutal, how deadly, and how true Arcturas' death had been on some level of consciousness.

"Yes!" he said in surprise as he examined the tracks. "They're Nightshade's. She's obviously been taken by the obsidian warriors." he said as he examined the tracks of two other beings, wider and larger.

"They're heading west, toward the Market District." said Blast. "It's highly likely they dwell beyond that though, on the outskirts."

Shardak wondered exactly who the assassins had been working for. Were they working for one of the gangs? The Kodax? The Empire? And why had Arcturas behaved as though he had met them before? The questions were endless.

"If they have Nightshade, I'm going after them." said Shardak. He looked around, startled to see that both his own tools and the Blade of Arcturas were missing. "What-" he began, but Blast cut him off, drawing the Blade of Arcturas. Without the fiery blade ignited, it appeared to be a normal weapon made of golden metal.

"I have your own weapons." he answered. "And you were carrying the Blade of Arcturas when you staggered out of the flames. I've gathered enough provisions for a short journey-"

"I can't ask you to come with me." interjected Shardak. "You've done enough as is, rescuing me from the fire and finding the being's tracks. This is my friend I have to save, and you saw what those beings did to Arcturas. I don't want to be responsible for your death."

Blast smiled. "Shardak, I'm your friend, and Nightshade's, too. If there's even a chance she and Arcturas survived and have been captured by these beings, whoever they serve, I'll come with you. Arcturas fought alone. We'll fight together."

His words, far from reassuring Shardak, made him remember his helplessness as he tried desperately to save Arcturas from the attackers. Still, he conceded, Blast had a point. If they fought together, they might stand a chance against the beings.

"I have no idea how powerful these beings might be, or whom they serve." said Shardak.

"They can't leave Intax." said Blast. "Unless they're working for the Kodax. And even if they are, they couldn't have gone far. It's only been twelve hours since..." his voice trailed off into silence.

Shardak nodded. "You can come, then. United, we may stand a chance against these murderers."

They're probably working for some gang in the outskirts. Shardak thought. Their tracks confirm they're heading in that direction.

Then he had an uneasy thought. But why haven't they hidden their tracks? Surely they didn't want to be discovered by Intax's authorities.

"We have to go now, then." said Blast. "They may eventually discover that several beings witnessed the attack, and cover their trail."

Shardak grabbed his cloak from a nearby table, and drew the Blade of Arcturas. Blast raised his scythe, an ancient weapon he'd found discarded outside Intax while the two Toa were foraging and hunting. Even outside Intax, nothing was safe from the Empire's infuence, as the entire wilderness was surrounded by outposts heavily guarded by Kodax warriors.

They couldn't have gone far. The city's too heavily guarded. Exiting the rundown building and drawing their dark cloaks around them to conceal their weapons, the two Glatorian strode onto the desolate Intax streets.

Shardak noticed very few beings had emerged from the buildings yet, and only saw two Kodax, wearing the blue cloaks unique to Intax's police guard. One gave Shardak a long stare, and Shardak began to worry that the Kodax would speak to him. The guard only spoke to citizens when about to arrest them. Then, just as quickly, his features relaxed and he vanished around a block.

"Even more abandoned then last night." observed Blast, and Shardak remembered Blast's comment as they'd returned from the unsessessful hunting expedition that had led to the death of Arcturas. Even thinking about what had happened before the attack was painful.

Arcturas can't be saved now. Try to save Nightshade, who's probably expecting us to follow her. He reminded himself.

Turning down another street, Shardak noticed that it, too, seemed abandoned. Surprised, he looked around, expecting to see some signs of life, any indication that the outskirts were not abandoned. It seemed that the entire section of the city had been suddenly deserted.

Then he realized why.

"Oh, Mata Nui." Blast gasped.

Lying before them were the bodies of eight slain beings. Two bore one of the gang's insignias, the rest seemed to be civilians or upper-class merchants. Their bodies were tangled and drenched in torn armor and blood. Several of them were missing limbs, and one's head had been hacked off completely.

"What could have done that...to a living creature?" asked Shardak.

Blast merely shook his head as though he had no answers. For another moment, Shardak contemplated the scene of destruction with horror in his eyes.

"Who did this?" Blast wondered aloud, this time more forcefully. "Was it the obsidian creatures?"

Shardak nodded. "These are spear wounds. They were carrying stabbing spears." he said, pointing to the corpse of a slain Glatorian. "But some were injured by another type of weapon, perhaps a longsword." Years of watching the Kodax execute suspected rebels had given him a greater understanding of weapons. Arcturas had always told Nightshade and him that they should carry weapons as well, in case they were attacked, and taught them several basic combat moves.

"It makes you wonder what they did to them."

"Probably only got in their way." said Shardak. "Like Arcturas."

"The tracks." said Blast, trying to steer the subject away from the scene of battle before them. "They're here as well, heading off into the distance. Nightshade's still with them."

Shardak looked at the being's footprints, and noticed they continued on, past the bodies of the slain beings.

"So they were here. No wonder everyone's avoiding the Market District and the outskirts." he said.

Turning away from the gruesome scene before them, the two Glatorian drew their weapons, alert for danger now.

"I wonder if they stopped to rest during their journey." mused Blast.

"Probably not." answered Shardak. "We don't know if they're even alive. They seemed almost fully mechanical."

"The tracks stop here." said Blast. There seemed to be a note of surprise in his voice. "At this rundown building."

They were standing before what had once been a large building, its architecture dating back to the city-state era, before Intax came under the control of the Empire. Once again, it struck Shardak how little he truly knew about the Empire, and if it even existed beyond Intax. He'd never been beyond the city, and as far as he knew, no one but the Kodax had either.

"They've gone inside, then." said Shardak, wondering why. There had been far too many beings to conceal in a single building, no matter how large. They'd run themselves into a cul-de-sac.

"Let's go." said Shardak.

"Shardak!" yelled Blast. "You don't know anything about these beings. This could be a-"

But Shardak had already pushed open the door and vanished inside. The building was empty, the floor and walls covered in dust. There were no lights, and Shardak wondered briefly if he could use the Blade of Arcturas to provide illumination, as Arcturas had done during the battle. However, as he drew the weapon, he realized there was no way to turn the blade's power on or off.

How did Arcturas ignite the weapon? Shardak wondered, just as Blast stepped into the building cautiously, scythe drawn. Glatorian didn't control any elemental powers. Touching his own helmet, ancient and cracked, he wondered where Arcturas had gotten it. It didn't resemble any of the helmets he'd ever seen, not even Blast's.

"They've been here. I can tell even though most of their foot" said Blast, pointing to several tracks on the floor. "And Nightshade."

So we haven't lost their trail. said Shardak, relieved. He'd begun to worry that their tracks had become confused or lost, as Intax was a busy city and the thousands of footprints that were scattered almost erratically across the city made it nearly impossible to follow any being's trail.

Following the tracks down a flight of stairs, Shardak could see that here the beings had tried to hide their tracks and almost succeeded. However, one of Nightshade's tracks confirmed this was the correct path. The two Glatorian paused as they realized the tracks had disappeared.

"Where did they go?" wondered Blast aloud. "Beings don't simply vanish into thin air."

Looking down, Shardak noticed several cracks in the floor, as well as three dark metal shapes.

No, not just metal shapes, he realized. Hinges. Reaching down, searching for the lever he knew must be there, he grabbed onto something metal and pulled. Slowly, the trapdoor swung open without any noise.

"What!" exclaimed Blast, then lowering his voice, said, "Where are these beings going? Haven't the Kodax realized there's a dangerous building with a route to an underground tunnel in a rundown fortress?"

"I don't know." said Shardak. "But they've definitely been here, I can see their trail. Most of it's vanished now, but this is, indeed, the tunnel they've disappeared into."

"You're absolutely sure that we didn't confuse their tracks and that this isn't a secret Kodax outpost?" asked Blast.

"I'm sure." answered the yellow Glatorian. "You've confirmed it as well, and your skills are better then mine."

"That's what I was afraid of." muttered Blast.

"We have to find them. They still have Nightshade with them, and we're on their trail. I think we'll be able to make it!" said Shardak, excitement palpable now in his voice. "We may actually catch them!"

The two Toa descended down the stairs, watching as the light began to vanish as the trapdoor slammed shut.

"Blast." said Shardak, suddenly frightened as the darkness closed in around them. "Did we bring any torches?"

"You can't see?" said Blast, surprised. "It's not dark at all."

"Not dark? It's darker then midnight!" said Shardak incredulously.

"Really?" said Blast, sounding puzzled. "It's definitely not dark at all. It's far brighter then nighttime, it seems almost-"

He broke off as Shardak stared at his helmet. It was glowing softly, illuminating the pathway before him. As he watched, the helmet began to brighten, and gleam with ethereal blue light. Shardak looked at him strangely.

"I didn't know your helmet could do that." he said. "The tunnel's clear." he added as an afterthought, his armored hand pointing down toward the tunnel snaking off in the distance.

"I didn't, either. It seems to have been activated on it's own." he shook his head. "Odd."

"We have to continue, then." said Shardak, pushing aside thoughts of Blast's strange new powers away for a moment. All of his thoughts were focused on the rescue of Nightshade. And while there was little hope, he still retained a small hope that perhaps somehow the obsidian beings had saved Arcturas and taken him captive as well. Then there would still be a chance to rescue him.

In his heart, he knew Arcturas was dead, however. No being could have survived a spear wound that fatal for long. If the beings had kept up such a brisk pace and they had come down here, they had obviously not slowed down. Nightshade could probably keep up with them, Shardak reasoned. She was in excellent physical condition.

Guided by Blast's strange new power, the two Glatorian descended down a flight of seemingly naturally occurring stairs. Continuing down the passageway, Shardak noticed that the passageway was beginning to slope downward, slowly getting steeper. Despite the faint illumination, Shardak found this place dark and oppressive. Slowly the two Glatorian continued down a steep precipice, landing on their feet before a massive chimneylike column of earth. A large hole, as well as many smaller holes, where punched into the apparently hollow structure.

"It's a naturally occurring phenomenon." said Blast. "Nothing like this could have been made by anyone from the surface."

"We're not on the surface anymore." said Shardak. "We still don't know what these beings are capable of." For the first time since they'd set out, Shardak felt a twinge of unease. Who knew how far this strange hollow structure descended. For a moment, he thought about returning to the surface.

It'd take at least four hours. More, since we're going up hill. We're far lower then any basement in Intax, maybe 400 bio. We've come too far down. Either we find the beings, or lose their trail.

"How are we supposed to enter that?" asked Blast. "Even if we can enter through the large holes punched through this thing, we'll certainly be forced to descend at least ten feet."

Where are we? wondered Shardak, not for the first time tonight. "I'm going to take a look inside this thing." he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "There may be a way we can get down this."

Approaching the earth column cautiously, afraid, irrationally that something might attack him if he turned his back on the tunnel, Shardak stepped into the torn entrance and gasped as he looked down.

He was standing at the very edge of a massive cliff. The pit below seemed to spiral away into inky blackness. Faint, flickering illumination glowed from several clumps of moss that hung like silvery thread from the overhangs.

Light suddenly flooded his vision as Blast stepped next to him, his helmet illuminating the yawning chasm below. While steep, it was not smooth, and Shardak believed that they could climb down the cliff with some difficulty.

"I think we can climb down this for a few feet." said Blast. "But beyond that, I'm not sure."

As he spoke, the light from his helmet fell upon a white, dirty rope tied to a stalagmite. Shardak bent down on his knees, and grabbing the rope, saw it cascaded far into blackness.

"There's our entrance!" Shardak exulted, realizing that against the odds he was getting closer and closer to his goal. He turned to Blast, expecting to see his own enthusiasm reflected on his friend's face, but to his surprise Blast was frowning.

"I'm not sure if this is a good idea, Shardak." said Blast, his face grim now. "We don't know how deep this crevace is, and if it does end about ten feet down, the beings could still be thousands of miles away. We don't know how fast they travel, or what kind of beings live in this underworld."

"We're not too far from Intax." said Shardak.

"Not too far? We've been walking virtually nonstop for five hours!" said Blast. "This could be fatal."

"What are you suggesting?" said Shardak, a touch of despair coming into his voice. "If I leave Nightshade in the captivity of these horrific beings forever, never knowing what's happened to her or where she is, I'll never be able to think of either Arcturas or Nightshade again without feeling guilty. I made a promise, Blast. I promised Arcturas I'd take care of Nightshade. And if I don't honor that promise, I'll-" he broke off, unable to continue.

"It just seemes too convenient somehow." said Blast, but the tension had gone out of his voice. "It's unlikely that anyone could have followed them this far, but every good assassin would leave no trace like a rope hanging down a chasm. Anyone could follow that."

"It could be someone else left it." argued Shardak.

"Impossible." said Blast. "It's obvious they've passed through here recently, and this rope is fresh, though dirty. It's still strong."

Shardak knew that Blast was right. It had obviously been left by the obsidian beings, and this was their trail. Still, it also seemed unlikely that the assassins, who had been able to ambush both Arcturas and Nightshade, would have left such an obvious trail. He pushed the thought out of his mind. So close to their goal, it didn't matter know why the beings had left the rope. They'd regret it.

'We are in agreement, then." said Shardak finally. "We must continue. I know you want to return to Intax. But you live alone. These Glatorian were my friends as well, and I owe it to Arcturas to find Nightshade."

Blast nodded in agreement, but Shardak could see he was not entirely satisfied.

"I'll go first." said Shardak. "You follow." Blast nodded again, and Shardak began the slow descent.

At first, he was scared the rope would snap immediately. But as he lowed himself down the jagged cliffs covered in the shining silver moss and a cold iron metal, he began to relax. Slowly, minutes dragged by, but the chasm showed no signs of leveling out. It simply continued, deeper and deeper into the earth.

After around thirty minutes of climbing, Blast spoke, his voice echoing eerily around the abyss from somewhere above Shardak.

"I need to rest, Shardak. Let's take a short break here. We have plenty of rations."

Shardak wanted to argue, say they must continue onward, but every drop of vitality had been sucked from his body. He wanted to lie down and rest. His mind rebelled, but eventually he said, "We'll stop here."

The two Glatorian landed lightly on the edge of an overhang, leaving the rope hanging in the chasm. Shardak could tell the void went on for many more miles, and the rope ended very soon below them. A second rope hung snared on another outcropping below.

As Shardak began to relax for the first time since the death of Arcturas, he heard Blast scream.

"Shardak! Watch out!"

Shardak saw Blast's scythe flash once, and saw a large white creature slam into his friend, hauling him toward the edge of the chasm.

Then, looking up, he saw massive, milky white eyes stare at him for a few moments before the talons descended.