Epilogue

Far to the north, six other heroes were facing troubles of their own.

At one time, these six Toa were known as Toa Mata, named for the Great Spirit Mata Nui, whose welfare was their primary mission. Now they were Toa Nuva, transformed by fate into more powerful heroes. Right now, they were very confused heroes as well.

“This is nuts,” said Pohatu Nuva. “The action is back with Matoro and the rest, fighting to save Mata Nui’s life. And where are we? Trekking back to our old stomping grounds because some kook with an axe says we should.”

“Worse than that,” added Kopaka Nuva, Toa of Ice, “is what he wants us to do when we get there. How do we know we can trust this Axonn character? What if this is all a trick?”

Tahu Nuva, leader of the team, wished there was not so much truth in what Kopaka said. After being freed from their imprisonment on the island of Voya Nui, the Toa Nuva had fully intended to join with the Toa Inika in their quest for the Mask of Life. Instead, they had run into two strange beings — one called Axonn, the other Botar — who informed them that a number of dangerous quests required their attention. They were the only ones who could do them, it was part of their destiny, but they had to leave now. And the first of these meant returning to the city of Metru Nui. Faced with the urgency of the situation, they had taken Toa transport canisters back to the outskirts of that island metropolis. Now they moved quietly through darkened streets, trying to avoid being seen.

“It makes no sense to me, either,” Tahu Nuva said finally. “But Axonn helped the Matoran and the Toa Inika on that island, and he claims to know the will of Mata Nui. We will take him at his word, until we have reason to do otherwise.”

“Right,” Pohatu said sarcastically. “The Great Beings know Toa are never deceived.”

“We’re taking a risk, maybe a big one,” Tahu replied. “And if it turns out we’ve been misled, then we have the power to deal with that… and with Axonn, too.”

Their argument had brought them to their destination, the recently rebuilt Great Temple in the Ga-Metru district. Destroyed by quake and fire 1,000 years before, it had largely been restored by the hard work of the Ga-Matoran. It was filled with some of the most ancient and valuable artifacts known to the villagers, kept there (or hidden there) for safekeeping. Tonight would test whether one such artifact was safe from the Toa.

“Can’t we just go to the Turaga and ask for what we need?” said Gali Nuva. “Is this mission so important it must turn us into thieves?”

“You know what would result, Gali — endless debate,” said Onua, Toa Nuva of Earth. “And in the end, unless we tell them how we know what we know, they will never agree. Makuta bones, we’re the ones doing this, and we don’t even agree on it!”

Lewa Nuva slashed his hand through the air. “Enough dark-talk, unless we want the Matoran to hear. We’re close enough now.”

“Then do it, Lewa,” said Tahu.

The Toa Nuva of Air nodded and triggered the power of his Kanohi Mask of Speed. Being a Nuva mask, its power could be shared with other beings in the vicinity. In a split second, all six Toa Nuva were now gifted with amazing speed. They took off at a run, flashing past the Ga-Matoran guards, too fast to be seen. Nor did they pause to open the temple gate, but simply vibrated their atoms so they could pass right through the massive door. They did not slow down until they were inside.

“From Toa to sneak thief, in one easy lesson,” Pohatu grumbled. “Maybe when this is over we should see if the Dark Hunters have any openings.”

“This way,” said Gali, leading them through the corridors and into a large, empty chamber.

“There’s nothing here,” said Kopaka. “We have been misled. This Axonn simply wanted us off Voya Nui for his own purposes.”

“You’ve grown too used to wearing a Mask of Vision, brother,” Gali chided. “You insist on seeing with your eyes. If our information is correct, there is more to this room than is plainly visible.”

She took three strides toward the center of the room, one to the left, two more forward, and then two to the right. “Here, Pohatu. This block of stone requires your attention.”

The Toa of Stone joined Gali. Bending over, Pohatu grabbed the part of the floor she pointed to, sinking his powerful fingers into the rock. Then he effortlessly pulled the block free.

All six Toa gathered around to see what was there. After a moment’s stunned silence, Gali reached in and retrieved the unfamiliar object. It consisted of two short, round staffs made of wood, and rolled around them was a thin white sheet of a substance none of the Toa had seen before.

“Odd,” said Kopaka. “What do you think it is?”

“Axonn said we would find a vital message,” Tahu said. “I expected a carving of some sort.”

Gali shifted the object in her hands, and it suddenly unrolled. Now all six Toa Nuva could see that there was Matoran writing on the sheet, just like the language found carved into stone tablets all over Metru Nui. But this was not carved, rather it was painted onto the sheet in some way.

“Well, that’s dumb,” said Pohatu. “Why use this when there are perfectly good rocks everywhere you look?”

“We can worry about their choice of stationery later,” said Kopaka. “I am still trying to digest what this says. Is it some kind of monstrous joke?”

“Do you hear anyone laughing?” Tahu replied. “It says these actions must be taken to wake the Great Spirit. But some of what it asks… how can we be expected to do such things?”

“No one said being a Toa hero would be a bowl of bula berries,” said Lewa. “Now let’s get out of here — it looks like we have a lot of unpleasant work to do.”

The first item on the scroll was, on the face of it, the easiest… and at the same time, one of the hardest for the heroes to bring themselves to do.

A journey of several hours had brought them to their destination, the site of their first major battle as Toa Nuva. Here in this rock-hewn chamber, they had battled enemies called Bohrok-Kal to keep even greater threats imprisoned. Now they were here to set two of their most powerful opponents free.

The Bahrag were still where the Toa had left them, imprisoned in a cage of solid protodermis. When they were free, they had led the Bohrok swarms who threatened to devastate the island of Mata Nui. For reasons that were never clear, the Bohrok were determined to destroy every mountain, forest, and river, and return the island to a barren state. But the Toa had beaten them and the Bahrag and saved Mata Nui and the Matoran from that fate.

“And now we’re just supposed to let them go?” demanded Pohatu Nuva. “Check that list again; maybe Makuta signed his name at the bottom.”

“Pohatu’s exaggerating… maybe,” said Gali Nuva. “But, Tahu, how can this be the right thing to do?”

“Axonn said everything was not how it seemed,” said the Toa Nuva of Fire. “If this will somehow help the Great Spirit to awaken, then we have to do it.”

“And if it doesn’t?” asked Lewa Nuva.

“Then we beat the swarms before, and we’ll beat them again,” Tahu replied. “Now join your powers with mine.”

Hesitantly, the six Toa Nuva pooled their energies and sent them out in a single beam. It shattered the Toa seal that kept the prison intact, and seconds later, the cage itself had collapsed. The Bahrag were free once more.

“Why have you released us?” asked one of the two monstrosities.

“Because someone we… trust… says it is the order of things,” Tahu Nuva replied. “The Bohrok were not meant to be on the island when they were, and so had to be beaten back. But now…”

Tahu stopped, remembering the whole-scale destruction of the last swarm attack. No, he couldn’t bring himself to say the words, even if Axonn was correct. He couldn’t believe the Great Spirit would want this.

“Now the signal will be given,” Onua Nuva said. Tahu turned to look at the Toa Nuva of Earth, but Onua’s eyes were focused on the Bahrag. “The Bohrok will be awakened, and they will carry out their task. Do you understand?”

“We do,” said the Bahrag in unison. “The island of Mata Nui shall be as it was in the before-time.”

“What have you done?” Pohatu Nuva said, mask to mask with Onua Nuva. “We have to cage those two up again — now!”

Onua Nuva shook his head. “I believe I’ve done what I had to do,” he said. “I’ve taken the first step toward the future. No one ever said the trip would be an easy one.”

The air was suddenly filled with a shrill sonic tone — and in countless nests, hundreds of thousands of Bohrok came to life, ready to resume their mission of destruction.