Excerpt Twenty-Two

The Toa Nuva had been defeated, for the first time in their history. But they would rise again — believing them to be no threat, the Bohrok-Kal had left them alive.

In the days that followed, the Toa Nuva would try every stratagem they could think of to stop or slow the Bohrok-Kal’s quest. All failed. Matoran scouts reported that the Bohrok swarms were on the move again, returning en masse to their nests to wait for a new call that would not be long in coming.

With time running out, the Toa Nuva trailed the Bohrok-Kal to a chamber below the one in which they had last seen Cahdok and Gahdok. There they saw a sight to still the bravest heart… the Bahrag were there, still imprisoned by protodermis, with a glowing cube hovering in the air before them. Their cage was guarded by the six suits of Exo-Toa armor, empty yet operating on their own. And confronting the armored guardians were the Bohrok-Kal.

Again, the struggle was brief. It took mere seconds for the Bohrok-Kal to disable or destroy all six Exo-Toa. Now they had merely to fit the six Toa Nuva symbols into their niches on the cube and the Bahrag would be free once more.

It was in this moment of greatest danger that Tahu Nuva made a desperate choice. Invoking a power none of the other Toa Nuva knew he had, he called forth the legendary Vahi… the Mask of Time.