Chapter 7

Tetrack hissed in obvious annoyance. Brominax had escaped, and he'd wounded Velnax in the process. Now the Kodax was limping, and had slowed their progress to the volcano. His failure to eliminate Leviathos, Brominax, and Fyxan was causing him to be looked upon badly in the eyes of Antidax, and instead of helping his ally track down Brominax as they should be doing; he was chasing shadows on this volcano merely to keep them out of Antidax's way.

Velnax, Valtrahk, and Tetrack were all venting their rage on the unfortunate Fyxon. With nothing to show for his betrayal, all that Fyxon had accomplished was making himself look like a fool in front of his allies.

Night had fallen once more. It had been a mostly uneventful day Tetrack heard the booming voice of the Kodax announcer, saying there had been no deaths today. So Antidax had not caught up with Brominax.

"We'll make our way around the volcano's rim," said Tetrack as they climbed to the highest craggy mountains of the volcanic mountain. Already Tetrack could see the smallest slivers of lava seeping through the mountain. "If we do not find anyone, then we will retreat immediately."

Fyxon nodded, then said. "Okay. So Valtrahk and Velnax-"

"No," said Tetrack, a wolfish grin on his face. "You will go first."

Iruka could see the massive, hulking form of Tetrack making its way along the rim of the volcano. The massive Kyojin crouched silently beneath a massive, craggy outcropping, watching as the four Kodax slowly wound closer to him.

Tetrack was massively built, hulking and strong. Velnax was slightly smaller but no less deadly, as was Valtrahk. The fourth Kodax was big and brutish. Fyxon, Iruka remembered his name was.

Ordinarily, Iruka would have had his seven minions charge directly at the four Kodax, knowing that all of his allies were skilled and deadly in combat. But he knew that at the first sign of danger Valtrahk would activate his Mohtrek and the battle would be lost before it began.

Iruka gestured to Kouhiimaru. His second in command was crouched beside him, while Ghost stood behind, relaying orders to the remainder of his force. Iruka made a motion as though he was drawing a bowstring, then pointed at Valtrahk. Kouhiimaru nodded. He could hit an insect on a wing from fifty feet away. This was a simple task.

Kouhiimaru drew back the bowstring and was about to fire when all at once Tetrack's battle sense caused him to become aware of the danger. All at once he noticed Naraku and Alloy creeping up behind him.

"Enemies!" he shouted. Valtrahk immediately activated his Kanohi and leapt aside just as Kouhiimaru fired; the arrow missed the duplicate Valtrahk by inches and instead buried in Velnax's shoulder.

The element of surprise blown, Iruka leapt from his cover, followed at once by Ghost and Kawa. Velnax screeched a primordial Kodax battle cry, flinging himself at Naraku. Before the being was able to react, he'd hauled him down the side of the volcano. The two beings wrestled below, neither gaining the upper hand.

Tetrack raced forward, and Alloy, spotting the danger, charged at him. However, before either of the beings could strike out at him, Ghost raised his scythe and buried it in Tetrack's shoulder just as Iruka hit Tetrack dead two massive beings tumbled toward the edge.

Tetrack grinned and tore large gouges across Iruka's chestplate, sending them to the very edge of the cliff face. Iruka managed to jump away at the last minute, but Tetrack could not react quickly enough and the hulking Kodax lord plummeted over the edge. His twin chainsaw weapons broke his fall. As Tetrack hauled himself from the rim of the volcano, Iruka managed to leap aside in time, just out of reach of Tetrack's flailing chainsaws.

...Within the artificial volcano, the Lavawight saw it all. The ghost of a smile flickered across his face. "Lava lines," his hissed. "Engage..."

Alloy dodged a blow from a Valtrahk duplicate. The being went down, wounded badly, and then Alloy whirled on another duplicate, which leapt to one side, eyes widening. Alloy looked upward, wondering what had provoked such fear from the being, and ten thousand tons of molten lava hit him dead on, scalding him to death before he could even scream. His body, melted and drenched in molten lava, plummeted earthward.

Iruka reacted at once. As the deluge rushed toward him, he grabbed Lekhop, who cried out in surprise. As the lava bore down on him, he flung the Toa in the path of the oncoming lava. It didn't halt the flow, but gave Iruka time to dodge away from the molten rock. He watched impassively as Lekhop was killed instantly by the lava spill as Iruka spiraled down the volcano's side, desperately attempting to right himself.

Tetrack reared above him like a demon from Karzahni, dragging the leader of the Fallen Six over the edge of the cliff with him as the molten lava hit both beings. Tetrack was torn away from Iruka with a cry of rage disappeared beneath the volcano.

Iruka, wounded badly and barely clinging to the edge of the cliff, saw a hand snake out from beneath the rubble, and knew that Tetrack was still alive. The hand wrapped around Iruka's ankle, and suddenly Iruka plummeted earthward.

He fell four hundred feet of empty space toward the ground before another massive outpouring of molten lava hid him from view.

Above on the ledge, Kouhiimaru watched Iruka fall. The leader of the Six had dropped nearly five hundred feet beneath an avalanche of molten lava.

Nothing could have survived.

It was then that Kouhiimaru knew the battle was lost for the Fallen Six. With their leader dead, they stood no chance of recovering the initiative. Knocking another arrow to his bowstring, he fired, and a possible-future version of Valtrahk crumpled to the ground, dead.

But it did nothing to halt the tide of Kodax. Kawa and Naraku were pinned down by Kodax. It was only a matter of time before they were killed. Signaling Ghost, who had retreated back toward him at Iruka's fall, Kouhiimaru hissed to him as more Kodax charged at them. "Iruka's dead. We have to retreat at once."

"What of the others?" Ghost asked, gesturing to Kawa and Naraku.

"Leave them," said Kouhiimaru. "I saw Alloy go down, and those two are just about finished. They're all useless anyway, just more competition. The two of us together will take out the rest of the competitors."

"And what then?" asked Ghost. "There can only be one victor."

"We'll fight to the death after all of the others are slain," said Kouhiimaru.

"Then who will we kill?" asked Ghost. "The Kodax? They're too heavily armed."

"There will be a reckoning for this," Kouhiimaru promised. "But not now. There's too many of them. Deal?"

The Kodax had almost reached their hiding place. Kouhiimaru saw Velnax and several Valtrahk duplicates were searching for them in the darkness. In the distance they could still hear the clash of weapons.

"Deal," said Ghost quietly.

"And this seals it," said Kouhiimaru, knocking an arrow to his bow. He fired, and Velnax fell, an arrow buried in his throat.