Lewa possessed an X-glider that allowed him to fly. He was about to take flight toward the Golden Mask when he saw hordes of spiders creeping toward the central dais, and also descending from the vines and branches that loomed over the hovering mask. Determined to evade the spiders, he leaped onto a massive, thorn-covered green root that encircled the dais, and let his momentum carry him across its surface.
Surfing the root as if it were a fixed wave, Lewa neatly dodged the spiny thorns as he swept toward his goal. Snatching the Golden Mask, he transferred it over his face and instantly felt its elemental power flow through him. He was still moving across the vine when he saw Vizuna was completely surrounded by spiders.
Lewa leaped from the root and flew toward his ally. Moving his swords against the mystical flight blades that composed his X-glider, he transformed the swords into a pair of battle-axes. The axes glowed with energy as he raised them. He bellowed, “I am the Master of Jungle!”
The spiders blew away from Vizuna as if they had been struck by a hurricane. As the spiders crashed and clattered against the shrine’s ancient trees, Lewa was surprised to hear a strange voice calling his name. He was even more surprised when he saw, in his mind, the sprawling ruins of an ancient city.
Pohatu, Toa of Stone, saw the spiders swarming toward Nilkuu, Protector of Stone, and was about to run to help his ally when Nilkuu shouted, “Forget about me, Pohatu! Fulfill your destiny while you can!”
They were at the bottom of a deep, long trench—all that remained of the Shrine of the Mask of Stone, which had been buried beneath the sand for many centuries. The trench ended against a high wall, where a pair of ancient stone statues of warriors stood on either side of a tall, carved-stone pillar, above which hovered a Golden Mask of Power. After having spent weeks fighting their way across desert dunes, they had finally arrived at the ruins just as an army of skull spiders also discovered the shrine.
As the invading spiders drew closer to Nilkuu, Pohatu made his move. Generating a tornado, he ascended up through the trench and seized the Golden Mask. Still soaring above the trench, he quickly removed his original mask and replaced it with the Golden Mask. He felt the Golden Mask’s power flow through his body.
Pohatu landed on the trench floor and drew his stormerangs. He whipped both stormerangs at the same time, sending them spinning over the spiders that had backed Nilkuu against a wall. The power of the Golden Mask combined with the stormerangs to produce a sandstorm with explosive force, and the sudden burst of wind and sand hurled the spiders away in all directions.
Nilkuu gazed in awe as the spinning stormerangs sailed back to Pohatu’s waiting hands. After Pohatu caught the weapons, he turned to Nilkuu and said, “Are you all right?”
Nilkuu nodded. “And yourself?”
Pohatu extended his arms and flexed his fingers. “The Golden Mask has filled me with incredible power. I feel as if I could take on the … the … that’s strange.” He rocked back on his feet and held his hands up over the sides of his mask. “I can hear someone. Someone calling my name.”
“The voice comes from within your mask,” Nilkuu said. “It is the voice of Ekimu, the Mask Maker.”
Nilkuu had told Pohatu about the two brothers, Ekimu and Makuta, and how their masks had shaped not only the history but the geography of the island. Pohatu said, “The mask makes me see something, too. I see … a magnificent city! It’s surrounded by clouds and mountains. And a long, stone footbridge appears to be the city’s gateway.”
“You see the city of the Mask Makers, where Ekimu is entombed. The city is in the southeast, in the Jungle Region.”
Pohatu gasped as the Golden Mask presented a sharper vision of the city. “All the buildings are in ruins. Something terrible must have happened there a long time ago. And I sense that something even more terrible is waiting there now.”
“The evil is growing stronger,” Nilkuu said, “and the Lord of Skull Spiders gains more power every day.”
“Then we must go to the city at once!”
Nilkuu shook his head. “Not us, Master of Stone. You must go there. Obtaining your Golden Mask was but your first step. The true quest is ahead of you. And where you must go, the other Protectors and I cannot follow.”
“You mean, I am to find the Mask Maker and confront the evil alone?”
“No, Toa Pohatu. On this quest, all six heroes shall unite.”
Pohatu and Nilkuu walked past motionless skull spiders and exited the shrine. Nilkuu pointed to a distant mountain range and said, “Go that way. The Golden Mask will guide you to the city of the Mask Maker.”
Pohatu bowed to Nilkuu. “You are a brave warrior, Protector of Stone. It was an honor to fight by your side.”
Nilkuu bowed in return. “The honor was mine, Master of Stone. Now hurry to the city!”
Pohatu took several long strides away from Nilkuu before he generated a tornado that lifted him high over the desert and carried him toward the mountains. And while Pohatu traveled across the sky, he thought about the other heroes. He wondered if they had also obtained their Golden Masks and were now making their way to the city of the Mask Maker. He also wondered if all the heroes were fully prepared to fight whatever evil waited for them.
He imagined he would soon find out.
High in the mountains in the Region of Jungle, at the very edge of a cliff, a majestic gateway with intricately carved details served as the entrance to a long, monumental bridge that was the primary access to the city of the Mask Maker. The bridge spanned a deep chasm, and despite the bridge’s obvious age, the sharp edges of its towers had not dulled over time. The bridge’s foundation vanished into a river of clouds that flowed through the chasm, and the clouds created the illusion that the city was floating in the sky.
Green jungle growth had consumed most of the city, covering nearly every surface. The gateway and bridge were also adorned with incredibly large spider webs, made by the skull spiders to scare off or snare trespassers. At the center of the bridge, spider-spun cocoons, holding the spiders’ victims, dangled below an octagonal observation deck.
Onua, Gali, Kopaka, Lewa, and Pohatu arrived at the gateway at the same time. All were wearing their Golden Masks. They gazed at one another skeptically, unsure about what to say to one another, when Tahu, carrying his surfboard and also wearing a Golden Mask, emerged from behind the gateway.
“Greetings! I am Tahu, Master of Fire. The prophecy has brought us together under my command.”
“Your command?” said Kopaka as he shifted his grip on his frost shield. “Did your brain catch fire? I am Kopaka, and I work under no command!”
Tahu and Kopaka glared at each other. Hoping to break the tension, Onua said politely, “I am Onua, Master of Earth.” Pohatu, Gali, and Lewa quickly identified themselves.
Ignoring the others, Tahu and Kopaka snarled simultaneously, threw down their weapons, and charged each other. Fists clanged against armor as they fought in the gateway’s shadow. Grappling in their heavy armor, they toppled to the ground, and continued wrestling as Gali stepped up beside them, jabbed her harpoon between their bodies, and said, “Stop it, you idiots!”
Tahu and Kopaka didn’t listen. They kept hammering away until Onua leaned over and grabbed their heads with his massive hands. Onua lifted them up until their feet dangled beneath them, then shifted his hands to force Tahu and Kopaka to face each other. Onua let out a good-natured laugh before he said, “Don’t fight.”
In Onua’s grasp, Kopaka and Tahu looked like helpless puppets, but they continued to exchange menacing glares until Tahu said, “We still need a leader.”
Gali said, “We’ll have a vote, then.”
“I vote for Onua,” said Lewa. “He knows how to grab attention.” Lewa chuckled loudly.
“Quiet,” said Pohatu as he looked toward the bridge. “We’ve got company.”
The other heroes followed Pohatu’s gaze. Onua was still holding Tahu and Kopaka, and he adjusted his grip so that they also faced the bridge
. All were astonished to see something that resembled long, articulated black spears rising up over the edge of the bridge’s central observation deck. A cloud billowed across the bridge, temporarily obscuring the heroes’ view.
Onua released Tahu and Kopaka. Keeping his eyes fixed on the bridge, Tahu said, “What is that thing?”
And then the cloud cleared, revealing that the black spears were actually the six legs of an enormous monster with an armored exoskeleton. The monster’s wide, black head had four fiery red eyes that were set over broad, powerful jaws. Shifting on its sharply tapered legs, the monster opened its jaws to expose sharp white teeth, and released a hiss so powerful that the heroes could smell its wretched breath across the distance.
“The Lord of Skull Spiders,” said Pohatu. “We can’t outrun him.” Pohatu drew his stormerangs and readied himself for battle.
“Don’t worry,” Kopaka said as he raised his own weapons. “I can freeze this bug all on my own!”
Lewa snickered. “You’re too slow, Kopaka.” And then Kopaka launched away from the group, tearing through the gateway and onto the bridge, sprinting straight for the Lord of Skull Spiders.
Gali raced up behind Lewa, shoved him aside with her harpoon, and said, “I’ll flush it away!”
Seeing Gali’s approach, the monster spat hard, releasing a gob of its sticky web fluid. The gob struck Gali, instantly coating her with webbing that pinned her arms and legs. She stumbled and collapsed onto the bridge. As she wriggled to free herself from the webbing, she saw Onua, Kopaka, and Tahu run past her, each determined to be first to attack the monster.
Pohatu generated a tornado and blasted past the others, knocking them aside, and nearly sending Tahu off the bridge. Moving fast toward the Lord of Skull Spiders, Pohatu drew a stormerang and flung it at the monster. The monster responded by flicking up one leg, which struck the stormerang and knocked it into the sky, and then spat another gob of web fluid.
The gob struck Pohatu’s head with so much force that it lifted him up and out of his own tornado, launching him backward in a high arc above the bridge. As his tornado rapidly vanished, he crashed down on top of a very surprised Kopaka. A moment later, Pohatu’s stormerang returned to him, striking him hard against the side of his Golden Mask.
“Make way for the Master of Fire!” Tahu said as he bounded past Pohatu and Kopaka with his fire blades held out before him. As he neared the Lord of Skull Spiders, the monster raised its two front legs to block his attack.
The fireblades clanged loudly against the monster’s armored legs. Tahu struck again and again, but his blows had no apparent effect. He was not prepared when the monster flicked its front legs hard, flinging him into the air in the same arcing trajectory as Pohatu had left the monster. As Tahu felt gravity tug him back toward the bridge, he braced himself for a rough landing. To his relief, he landed not on the bridge but in Onua’s outstretched arms.
Tahu saw the other heroes were on their feet, and that both Gali and Pohatu had removed the webbing from their bodies. He looked up at Onua. Onua said, “We must work together.”
The other heroes nodded in silent agreement. Onua lowered Tahu to stand beside him, and they all faced the Lord of Skull Spiders. The monster gazed back in defiance and hissed again.
As the heroes readied their weapons, they felt their elemental powers building within them. The six heroes sprang forward, moving as one toward their enemy. Although they had never fought as a team before, they moved like a veteran tactical group.
The Lord of Skull Spiders spat an ugly gob at the approaching heroes. Kopaka caught the gob on his frost shield and kept running. Lewa took to the air at the same moment that Pohatu ascended by tornado.
The monster’s four eyes were unable to keep track of each hero. Gali’s harpoon struck the monster first, followed by Lewa’s battle-axes. The combined assault knocked the monster off its feet, and its head crashed against the bridge with a sickening thud. Before the monster could rise, Pohatu whipped a stormerang that smashed into the monster’s head, at the central point between all four eyes.
Tahu channeled his power into a punch that sent the monster flying into the air. The monster came crashing down on the far side of the observation deck, landing on its back. Tahu shouted, “Onua! Now!”
Onua swung his earthquake hammer and brought it down directly in front of his feet, smashing the observation deck’s stone surface. The impact created a massive crack that traveled across the deck and around the monster, and then the entire broken chunk of stone beneath the monster dislodged from the bridge. The chunk fell away into the clouds below, taking the Lord of Skull Spiders with it.
Pohatu’s stormerang returned to him and he plucked it from the air. The six heroes stepped up to the edge of the broken area of the deck and peered down at the clouds. Gali said, “We did it! United, the masks hold the power to defeat evil!”
“I knew we could work together,” said Onua.
“And by defeating the Lord of Skull Spiders,” said Pohatu, “we’ve released all the islanders who were under his control!”
Lewa said, “I don’t mean to sound like a spoilsport, but despite our victory here, does anyone else still sense evil in the air?”
“I do,” said Kopaka.
“We all feel it,” said Tahu. “It seems our senses are also united by the Golden Masks.”
Pohatu noticed a cylindrical podium on the observation deck. “I wonder what used to be here.”
“Shh! Quiet,” said Tahu. “I have that weird voice in my head again.”
The other heroes heard the voice, too. Sounding very old and weary, the voice said, “I am Ekimu the Mask Maker. You have all shown great courage. You are true heroes. But now you must hurry, and find my resting place.”
A vision came to all the heroes through their masks. They saw the interior of a shadowy tomb that held a golden coffin, and the coffin was decorated with symbols that represented Ekimu.
The vision vanished. The heroes gazed down the length of the bridge to the cloud-shrouded city that awaited them. Lewa leaped to the sky and glided over the group, watching for any sign of danger as they proceeded across the bridge.
They arrived at a street made of interlocked octagonal stone tiles that led into the city’s outskirts. The once-smooth path had become overgrown with weeds and trees. The surrounding buildings were mostly pyramidal ziggurats, rectangular towers with sloped sides, and flat terraces that could be reached by open stairways.
Flying overhead, Lewa saw many moss-covered ruins but not a single skull spider. Because green plants and massive thorny vines covered nearly every structure, it was difficult to distinguish one building from the next, and Lewa imagined it would be easy for his allies to get lost. He spied several stone statues and clusters of obelisks that made him realize he was flying over an expansive graveyard.
He watched the other heroes enter the graveyard. Bordered by a high wall, the graveyard contained many tombstones and burial chambers, and its stone-tile paths were overrun with roots and vines. As Lewa descended to rejoin the group, he heard Gali say, “We need to find Ekimu before the forces of evil.”
Lewa touched down on top of a stone obelisk. “Finding anything in this mess is harder than finding a needle in a hay stack.”
“The masks will guide us,” said Onua, sounding jovial and remarkably unconcerned.
Pohatu surveyed the jungly graveyard. “I don’t like this place. Something evil is hiding here.”
Lewa jumped down from the obelisk. The six heroes pressed on, staying on the stone-tile path as they entered an enclosed courtyard filled with rubble. The path extended to an open gateway. None of the heroes heard the sound of breaking stone tiles from behind, or saw the skeletal metal hand that had thrust itself up through the tiles from underground.
“Careful,” said Pohatu. “I smell a trap.”
The heroes were only halfway across the courtyard when Tahu stepped on a loose tile, accidentally triggering an ancient hidden mechan
ism. At the far end of the courtyard, the gateway’s doors suddenly slammed shut, and an intricate array of locking mechanisms clacked across the doors, sealing them tight. Instead of admitting responsibility, Tahu said, “No problem. I’ll think up a plan.”
“That would take forever,” Kopaka said testily. “Follow my lead instead.”
Tahu’s eyes blazed with rage. Scowling behind his mask, he let out a low, angry snarl as he took a threatening step toward Kopaka. Onua moved fast to position himself between the Master of Ice and the Master of Fire. Onua said, “United, remember?”
Pohatu gestured for the others to lower their voices. “You’re loud enough to wake the dead.”
“Pohatu’s right,” Gali said. “Be quiet. We don’t know what’s behind that gate.”
“Ask nicely,” Lewa said, “and I might tell you.” He sprang and soared up over the area to get a better view.
Lewa was still ascending when a sharp-tipped arrow whizzed past Tahu. He raised his surfboard, holding it up like a shield, and said, “We’re under fire!”
“I hate fire,” said Kopaka as he held up his own shield.
More arrows rained down from the sky. Dodging and ducking the projectiles, Onua, Gali, and Pohatu quickly took cover behind Kopaka and Tahu. They looked to the roof above the inner gateway and saw a group of metal-boned skeleton archers. The skeletons immediately released another volley of arrows.
Kopaka activated the elemental energy in his frost shield, which projected an energy sphere over him and his allies. As dozens of arrows pinged and shattered against the shield, Gali glanced back across the courtyard, searching for an escape route.
Gali saw more skeleton archers moving behind the heroes’ position. Some skeletons pushed their way up through the ground. Others lurched out from the rubble in the courtyard. Gali said, “Bury them, Onua! They’re blocking the way out!”
Kopaka deactivated his frost shield, letting the energy sphere vanish and allowing Onua to move freely. Onua raised his earthquake hammer and slammed it down into the ground in front of the approaching skeletons. The impact created a huge crack across the courtyard, jolting the ancient structures and knocking the skeletons off their feet. The crack rapidly expanded into a deep crevice and the skeletons tumbled into it.
Island of Lost Masks Page 3
