Island of Lost Masks

by Ryder Windham

  The effect of Onua’s hammer didn’t stop at the far end of the courtyard. The earthquake continued its violent journey all the way to the bridge that had delivered the heroes to the city of the Mask Makers. From where the heroes stood, they could see the bridge’s towers crumble and collapse.

  “There’s no way out,” Pohatu said.

  The skeleton archers above the gateway resumed shooting arrows at the heroes. Tahu raised his surfboard for protection again, and said, “Toa! Stand united!”

  As Kopaka shifted his own shield to deflect more arrows, he said, “Where is Lewa?”

  And then they saw Lewa, diving down from the sky. He extended his arms as he swooped fast behind the skeletons, using his arms to knock them from their perch. As the skeletons fell into the courtyard, the other heroes energized their weapons and swept forward. Lewa landed in the courtyard and watched as his allies made quick work of the skeletons, reducing the archers to scattered piles of bones.

  After all the archers were destroyed, Kopaka said, “What took you so long, Lewa?”

  “I spotted an arena,” Lewa said casually. “It could be fun.”

  Kopaka glowered. “We’re not looking for fun. We’re looking for Ekimu!”

  Gali studied the gateway’s closed doors and said, “We need to get past the gate first.”

  Pohatu walked over to a giant boulder that lay amidst the rubble beside the crevice he’d created. Using both hands, he lifted the boulder over his head and hurled it at the doors. The boulder crashed through the doors, sending them flying into the alley that lay beyond.

  Gali, Onua, and Tahu looked at Pohatu with admiration. Lewa looked at Kopaka and said, “So. What about the arena?”

  “We’re not going to the arena,” said Kopaka. “Follow me.”

  “I go where I want, freeze-brain,” Lewa said.

  Ignoring Lewa’s remark, Kopaka and the other Toa started walking for the open gateway, leaving Lewa behind. The Master of Jungle scoffed before he leaped into the air. Rising over the city, he angled off to the area where he’d seen the arena.

  It was a decision Lewa would soon regret.

  Lewa landed in a courtyard outside the arena that he’d spotted from his earlier aerial survey of the city of the Mask Makers. The courtyard was decorated with statues and monuments that were dedicated to long-dead heroes, athletes, and warriors.

  Walking up to a wall that was covered with vines, Lewa pushed aside the vines to reveal carved reliefs that illustrated the rules for ancient games. From what he could decipher, one game in particular could be played by only the strongest and the bravest islanders. He leaned forward so he could examine the illustrations more closely. From what he could see, the game required competitors to jump across hexagonal pedestals that rose and fell through holes in an arena floor. The pedestals appeared to operate by levers made out of stone.

  Without warning, the wall before him exploded outward and a clawed skeletal hand launched out, grabbed Lewa’s mask, and snatched it from his face. Lewa collapsed unconscious to the arena floor.

  Kopaka led Pohatu, Tahu, Gali, and Onua down an alley that ended with a closed door. Pohatu said, “This is the wrong way.”

  “No,” Kopaka said indignantly as he pushed the door open. “The wrong way was the one taken by—” The Master of Ice’s words caught in his throat. He saw that the doorway opened directly into a courtyard outside an arena, and he realized he’d accidentally led his allies directly to the place he’d intended to avoid.

  “Lewa?!” said Gali, who was first to see Lewa’s body lying beside some rocky rubble at the base of a wall that had a freshly punched hole in it.

  As the heroes ran to their fallen friend, they heard terrible laughter that echoed down from the top of a nearby stairway. They looked to the stairway and saw who was laughing. He was a fearsome skeletal creature wearing a highly stylized skull mask. Two arms extended from each side of his body, and three long swords were secured to his back. In his upper right hand, the creature held Lewa’s Golden Mask. He ran off, vanishing into a shadowy doorway.

  Pohatu picked up Lewa and saw the Master of Jungle’s eyes flicker open. “Lewa! What happened?”

  “I was looking at that wall,” Lewa muttered weakly as he gestured to the wall with the hole in it. “I was looking at the rules … for an ancient game when that creature with four arms stole my mask. He calls himself … Skull Slicer.”

  Kopaka said, “Come. We must go after him and recover Lewa’s mask.”

  Ascending the stairway to follow Skull Slicer, Pohatu carried Lewa while their allies stayed close beside them, protecting Lewa in his defenseless state. Moving through the shadowy doorway, they proceeded into the arena.

  The arena had high walls and a floor that was riddled with shifting tiles, height-adjustable columns, and large cantilevers that extended and retracted into the walls. Seeing their quarry, Kopaka pointed to one column and said, “There!”

  Skull Slicer stood atop the column. He removed his stylized skull mask and rapidly replaced it with Lewa’s Golden Mask of Power.

  Lewa went limp in Pohatu’s arms. Kopaka said, “What’s happening?”

  “There’s a special link between master and mask,” Pohatu said.

  Looking at Skull Slicer, Gali said, “So that thing is stealing Lewa’s energy?”

  Throughout the arena, floor tiles began spinning and columns shifted their heights and positions. A wide cylindrical vent released a burst of fire behind Skull Slicer, but as the skeletal warrior began glowing with elemental energy, he just laughed, ignored the flames, and leaped to the top of another column.

  Lewa appeared to grow even weaker. Gali surveyed the arena, tried desperately to make sense out of the moving tiles and columns, and then cried, “Lewa! You read the rules. What do we do?”

  Lewa mumbled incoherently. Onua said, “He is too weak.”

  Struggling to get words out, Lewa whispered, “Hit … the … lever …”

  Gali was unable to hear Lewa over the noise of the surrounding mechanisms. Leaning close to Pohatu, she asked, “What is he saying?”

  “The lever,” Pohatu said as he handed Lewa’s body to Gali. “Onua! Go bash!”

  To reach the lever, Onua saw that he needed to run between two of the large beams that were pumping in and out of the arena through slots in the walls. He ran as fast as he could, but as he began to pass between the beams, he realized they were about to strike from both sides. He closed his eyes as he braced for the impact, and was surprised when it didn’t happen. Opening his eyes, he looked up and saw Kopaka had jumped up above him, and had braced his legs against the two beams, preventing them from striking Onua.

  “You’re welcome,” said Kopaka.

  Skull Slicer looked at Pohatu, who jumped down to the base of a wall and flung his stormerangs at the mask-stealing fiend. The stormerangs struck Skull Slicer’s lower arms, pinning them to the wall behind him. With his upper left arm, Skull Slicer unleashed a whip that was tipped with a mask-grabbing claw. The claw went straight for Kopaka, but he elevated his shield, and managed to block the hook before he yanked the whip from Skull Slicer’s hand.

  Tahu charged Skull Slicer and knocked a sword from the villain’s grip, but Skull Slicer moved fast, grabbing him and holding him tight against his skeletal body.

  “Tahu!” Kopaka shouted as he advanced to attack. “You’re in my way!” He threw a punch and Tahu ducked, allowing Kopaka’s fist to travel straight into Skull Slicer’s head. Lewa’s mask fell from Skull Slicer’s face, Tahu was freed, and Skull Slicer’s body slumped forward with his lower arms still pinned to the wall. Kopaka quickly picked up Lewa’s mask.

  Onua charged. Carrying his earthquake hammer, he leaped and landed on top of Skull Slicer, using the villain as a stepping-stone to jump higher. Onua brought his hammer down on a lever at the top of a high column, which triggered the arena floor to shift, revealing deep, open pits. Skull Slicer lost his balance and fell down into one of the deeper pits.
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br />   The heroes quickly regrouped on the arena floor and gathered around Lewa. Kopaka put the recovered Golden Mask onto Lewa’s face, and Lewa said, “What happened?”

  “I hit the lever,” Onua said proudly.

  Lewa said, “Without breaking anything?”

  Before Onua could answer, the lever that he’d struck with his hammer fell away from the top of the column. The heroes saw cracks rapidly travel through the column, and the arena floor began quaking.

  And then the entire arena collapsed, and drove the six heroes down through the floor.

  Pinned under a boulder and what felt like a mountain of rubble, Lewa said, “Without breaking anything, huh?”

  Onua frowned. All six heroes were similarly stuck under large, heavy stones. Gali said, “We’re trapped.”

  “This is ridiculous,” said Pohatu. “I didn’t sign up for this mission!”

  “None of us did,” said Tahu with a sigh. Sounding slightly dazed, he continued, “We just seemed to fall from the stars. Not knowing our purpose. The villagers were in danger.”

  Gali said, “Skull spiders everywhere.”

  “Under evil Makuta’s control,” said Pohatu.

  “Even underground,” said Onua.

  Tahu said, “The Protectors would just keep on fighting for us, to get the Golden Masks.”

  “They gave us purpose,” said Onua.

  Kopaka said, “It’s our duty to save Okoto.”

  “I agree,” said Pohatu as he tried to wriggle his limbs from under the stones. “But we’re still stuck.”

  “Wait,” said Lewa. “I feel a breeze. There must be a tunnel behind these rocks.”

  “Breeze?!” Kopaka said. “What are you? The Master of Air?”

  Onua put one hand onto a rock and said, “Lewa’s right. Stand back!”

  Onua began charging with elemental energy. Seeing him glowing, Gali gasped, “How?”

  The surrounding stones exploded. The blast carried the heroes up, launching them through dirt and dust until they spilled out of a hole at the surface. Looking around, they saw the blast had delivered them to a sprawling graveyard. Kopaka said, “Look for Ekimu’s tomb.” Gali looked at a cluster of ancient tombstones and said, “I don’t feel like asking the neighbors for directions.”

  Lewa, his powers nearly revived, jumped on top of a tombstone. Pointing to a large mausoleum that overlooked the graveyard, he said, “We could just take a peek in the building with the huge Mask Maker sign.”

  The others looked at the mausoleum. A long flight of steps led up to the building’s massive doorway, above which rested a monumental stone sculpture of Ekimu’s mask. “Let’s go,” said Tahu. “No stopping us now.”

  They started walking but before they could reach the mausoleum’s steps, the ground began shaking violently. Glancing back across the graveyard, the heroes saw two gigantic Skull Scorpios emerge from the shadows. Each Skull Scorpio wore a silver skull mask and had red eyes. They had two arms with lobster-like claws, walked on six legs, and had long, jointed tails that curved up over their backs. The tails were tipped with articulated poisonous stingers. Pohatu had encountered the monsters during his journey across the Region of Stone, and he muttered, “I hate Scorpios.”

  “Beware of their stinger tails,” said Onua, who had also fought the creatures in the Region of Earth. But before the mighty Master of Earth could raise his earthquake hammer, he watched helplessly as one Skull Scorpio whipped its tail straight for Pohatu’s head and snatched his mask.

  Pohatu collapsed. Kopaka leaped to Pohatu’s side and activated his frost shield to protect his fallen ally in a sphere of energy while Gali and Tahu powered up their own weapons and charged at the Skull Scorpios. The monsters flicked their massive tails and sent both Gali and Tahu crashing into nearby tombstones.

  The Skull Scorpios went after Lewa, who leaped from one tombstone to another to avoid the monsters as their deadly tails smashed the stones. Grazed by a chunk of flying rubble, the still-weakened Lewa tried to fly away but veered off course toward the mausoleum, and smacked against a ledge above the mausoleum’s doors.

  Lewa pulled himself up onto the ledge and stood beside the stone sculpture of Ekimu’s mask. Turning fast, he saw the Skull Scorpios skittering up the steps, just below his position. One Skull Scorpio was carrying Pohatu’s mask.

  Kopaka was still protecting Pohatu when he saw the Skull Scorpios racing up the mausoleum’s stairway. Lifting his gaze, he was outraged to see Lewa ducking behind the sculpture of Ekimu’s mask. He said, “Stay and fight, coward!”

  The sound of breaking stone came from Lewa’s position, and Kopaka saw a large crack appear on the sculpture’s visage, splitting the monumental mask in half. The two pieces fell away from the ledge, revealing Lewa behind the sculpture’s base, holding his battle-axe, which he’d used to shatter the sculpture. The last things that the startled Skull Scorpios saw were the broken pieces of the sculpture, which crashed down upon the monsters, smothering them. The Skull Scorpio that had stolen Pohatu’s Golden Mask reflexively opened its claws and released the mask, which landed before the doorway.

  Lewa leaped down and picked up Pohatu’s mask.

  Impressed, Kopaka grudgingly admitted, “That was solid work, Lewa.”

  Lewa placed the Golden Mask back on Pohatu’s face, and Pohatu revived immediately. The six heroes faced the mausoleum’s doors. Pohatu said, “Time to meet the Mask Maker.”

  The doors to Ekimu’s mausoleum opened with a loud creak. Daylight illuminated the tomb’s grand hallway for the first time in ages as the heroes entered. The hall was lined with colossal pillars and tall pedestals, which supported sculptures, large vases, and other ancient relics. The walls bore carved reliefs that illustrated events of the Mask Maker’s life and accomplishments, and a mural on the ceiling displayed symbols related to Okoto’s six regions.

  “You are close,” said an aged, disembodied voice.

  All the heroes recognized the voice of Ekimu. As they moved deeper into the chamber, Lewa said, “Okay. Let’s not break anything in here.”

  Onua sighed. He proceeded very carefully.

  At the center of the hallway they found a large, ornately designed sarcophagus. As they walked toward it, they heard Ekimu’s weary voice rasp, “When times are dark, and all hope seems lost, evoke the power of past and future.”

  The heroes pushed at the sarcophagus’s lid and it slid back. Inside the sarcophagus, Ekimu lay motionless with his hands draped across his chest. His small body was clad in armor that looked thin, brittle, and extremely old. Behind his mask, his eyes were closed. Although the heroes had never seen him before, all of them felt as if they carried clear memories of Ekimu.

  “Now what?” said Pohatu.

  At the same moment, the heroes remembered a line from the Prophecy of Heroes.

  United, the elements hold the power.

  Acting on instinct, the heroes extended their hands in front of the sarcophagus. Elemental energy began to spark and flow. A giant flash of light erupted from within the sarcophagus, temporarily blinding the heroes. When the light dissipated, they saw the elderly Ekimu standing in his sarcophagus. Behind his mask, his eyes were open. The heroes knelt and bowed their heads to Ekimu.

  “Brave Toa,” Ekimu said, sounding aged and weary. “You are … You are late!”

  Surprised, the heroes looked at each other for a moment before Kopaka boldly returned his gaze to Ekimu and said, “If you had called an army of real warriors like me, this would have taken no time.”

  “Your power comes not from numbers,” Ekimu said patiently as he stretched his legs. “Your power comes from unity. But duty awaits. We must hurry.”

  Ekimu jumped out of the sarcophagus and almost collapsed because his joints were so old and rusty. Onua grabbed Ekimu’s hand and helped him to stand upright. As Ekimu rose, he glimpsed the tomb’s open doorway. Despite his ancient joints, he shuffled fast to the doorway so he could see outside.

  Ekimu squinted at
the bright sunlight. Surveying the once great city, he saw smoke rising from the ruins and gasped. “Evil has destroyed so much.”

  “Actually,” Onua said, “some of it is—”

  Lewa clapped one hand over Onua’s mouth to stop Onua from admitting that he’d destroyed a number of structures since his arrival in the city. “So, Ekimu,” Lewa said. “You spoke of duty. What is happening?” Still facing the ruins, Ekimu replied, “He took it just before you arrived.”

  Gali said, “Who took what?”

  “They call him Skull Grinder,” Ekimu said. “He is under my brother, Makuta’s control. The Mask of Creation. My mask. He is on his way to destroy it. If he succeeds, all is lost.”

  Gali said, “You’re saying that Makuta has risen, too? That your brother is responsible for the rising evil on Okoto?”

  “I don’t know that he has risen physically, as I have,” Ekimu said, “but his evil has definitely survived and now manipulates others to accomplish his dark goals.”

  Pohatu said, “Where would Skull Grinder go to destroy a mask?”

  “There is only one place,” Ekimu said. “My forge.” He looked to a nearby hilltop, on which stood an unusual, angular tower. The tower had a flat roof, and the upper side of one wall jutted out, making the entire building resemble an enormous anvil.

  Ekimu ran away from the tomb as fast as his aged legs could carry him. He shuffled through the ruins, heading up the hill to the anvil-like tower. As the heroes ran after him, he said, “Watch out for Skull Grinder’s servant, Skull Basher. He could be anywhere!”

  Lewa said, “What does he look like?”

  “Very tall. And wide. And he has big, sharp horns.”

  When they neared the tower, they saw its upper windows light up. The light cast an ominous shadow of Skull Grinder against the windowpanes. Ekimu said, “He has started my furnace!”