| Something
dark moved in a cave far underground. Makuta, evil spirit and
Lord of Mata Nui’s shadows stood up.
“So…” he said to himself (he talked to himself a lot), “they have
found one of them… He cannot succeed if I send my evil henchmen
after him, he cannot lead the others. Yes… Waiti! Tetehi!” Makuta
snapped.
Two Nui-Rama, one orange and one a sickly lime green swooped down
to him from their nest of the wall of the giant cavern.
“Yes boss?”
“Go to Ta-Koro. Go into the temple. There you will wait, in the
main cavern… for a Tohunga. Kill him.”
“Sure thing boss… er… what’s a-”
“Yes…?” Makuta said, his tone of voice sharper, deeper.
“Um… nothing boss! You want us to bring back the body? Or… can
we have it?” Waiti grinned nervously, as far as a Nui-Rama is
capable of doing. Of course, Waiti and Tetehi were infected Rahi.
They didn’t want to work for Makuta, it just sort of happened.
Waiti and Tetehi were the names given to them by Makuta, but they
were very dumb even for Nui Rama and often got them mixed up,
which lead to their favourite past-time: arguing.
“Bring it back… mask and all.”
“Aww boss please…?”
“NO! Get out you filthy animals!” boomed Makuta, sending echoes
around the caves.
“We were just leaving…!” they chorused, then flew off down the
cave. Makuta in a bad mood is not the sort if person you want
to send any time with.
“Time to wakeup Mr Kaiwera sir,” said Rahlli,
poking Kaiwera in the side.
“Not now Rallki, can’t you see I’m alseep?!”
“Notreally sir no. You appear tobe engaging me in conversation,
somethingthat not many people who are asleep can-”
“Yes! YES! Alright I’m awake. Why, may I ask, am I be woken at
this hour?”
“Time tostart your jouney, Vakama says, sir.”
In one movement Kaiwera had leapt out of bed and was standing
next to Rellka, staring at him.
“Vakama?”
“Yessir.”
“Jouney?”
“I think he saidso, sir.”
“Breakfast?”
“In the lobby, sir.”
“Bags? Weapons? Gear?”
“In the stablessir, all packed up foryou.”
“Right.”
With that, Kaiwera turned on his heel and went down the stairs.
When he had had some food he went to the stables to check out
what Rellka had packed him. He was expecting a shoddy bag made
from Husi hide, a few potions and supplies, and perhaps a hard
boiled egg or two. He did not expect to be greeted with a very
durable Vaku skin rucksack, inside of which was a cloak, some
very expensive healing potions, antidote roots, awareness medicines,
bandages, dried meats and hard bread, a compass, some snow shoes,
a very small and slim lava surfboard, a set of hammers, a shovel,
some cups and pans, a light and heat stone, and last of all a
serviceable dagger. It was slim, slightly longer than usual and
newly sharpened. The blade was a bit wonky and covered with dirt,
but Kaiwera felt safer knowing he had it. He also started to worry
what he had let himself into… what sort of things would he be
going up against if he needed all this to survive? There was enough
equipment and supplies in here to walk half way across Mata Nui,
with specialised tools to get him through every terrain. Regardless,
he set off towards the temple at a fast pace.
“He comes near… hahahaha! Your precious Chosen
cannot save you now Tahu…”
Kaiwera lay panting on the side of the earth beaten
track. He had encountered no less than 12 Fikou on his very short
trip through the forest. “Either there’s more of them,” he mused,
“or they’ve been commanded to attack me…” He walked on.
Now fell upon him the shadow of the Ancient and
Sacred Fire Temple, cracked with heat, encrusted with the dirt
of ages, in some places collapsing in on itself. Kaiwera edged
around the huge doorway, more than 10 bios up. The doors were
fused and rusted into place, open. Kaiwera looked around. In the
gloom he could see corridors leading off a main lobby, and he
decided to follow the lobby. As he walked, he saw for himself
how old the building and it’s interior really was. Carpet was
turned to dust under his feet, doors leant off their corroded
hinges and foul smelling water dripped though the ceiling. Holding
his lightstone aloft, Kaiwera made his way further in to the belly
of the crumbling temple. Fikou scattered from the light of his
approach, suddenly filling the dank corridor with the sounds of
scuttling feet. Kaiwera whipped round, and continued walking,
backwards. He touched a wall, sprang round and nearly fell over
in surprise. The most beautiful carvings he had ever seen wrapped
themselves up and down the giant pillars, either side of a huge
doorway. They seemed to Kaiwera to be formed of gold, but it wavered
at his gaze, almost like fire had been wrought into the metal
itself. It was in remarkably good repair. Then he noticed in long
curly carving, what it said on the door. “Touch this stone with
a blade of fire, and the road ahead will open.” Kaiwera looked
around, and saw a smaller, less obvious trap door in the floor.
Carefully he prised it open, and peeked inside. The room was small
and damp, but in one corner lurked a large chest. Kaiwera took
his shovel out of his bag and knocked away the rusty lock from
the front of the chest. He opened it to find… a brilliant red
sword, longer than he was, curved like a bolt of flame, with sharp
edges and a lethal air about it. He picked it up, and the smallest
of sparks leapt along the blades on either side. This seemed to
be the sword. He clambered out of the cellar and looked at the
door again. There was a hole he hadn’t noticed before in-between
where the two doors met. On a hunch, he rammed the sword into
it, and was rewarded by the clinkings and clunks of a lock opening
on the other side… |
