“Mountains Crumble”

Pohatu was the first of the Toa to reach his own village. Po-Koro was located in the barren, rocky desert. The Po-Matoran had built sturdy dwellings of rock and sand that blended in with the desert's craggy peaks and blowing dunes.

As he drew near Po-Koro, Pohatu realized that the land before him looked much different than the last time he'd come this way.

“Bohrok,” he muttered grimly. The village was in danger — even from this distance, he could see the Bohrok swarms moving along the Path of Prophecies, closer and closer to the gates of Po-Koro.

Pohatu raced forward. “So we’re playing host to the Pahrak, eh?” he murmured. “Well, I’m not feeling very welcoming right now.”

He leaped over a fallen monument and looked around. Turaga Onewa was struggling against a Pahrak, trying to keep in from knocking over another monument. But the insectlike creature hardly seemed to notice the blows. It pushed past the Turaga and crashed against the tall carved stone.

“Stand aside, Onewa!” Pohatu cried, racing toward the Pahrak.

“Pohatu!” Onewa exclaimed with relief. “It is good to see you. Especially now.”

Pohatu flashed a rueful grin. “It’s good to feel so loved, my friend,” he quipped. “Quick now — the monuments are already lost. We need to focus on protecting the village itself.”

Onewa nodded. “I will alert the others. We will protect the village gates — whatever it takes.” With that, he hurried off.

The Toa turned back to the Pahrak. They were everywhere — too many to count.

“Gather the krana,” he reminded himself in a murmur. “That’s the key. We need those krana.”

Pohatu leaped onto the back of a nearby Pahrak. He held on tightly as the Pahrak bucked and leaped, trying to dislodge him. Its moves were slow and easy to manage — until it marched toward one of the monuments, an intricately carved arching stone. The Pahrak ducked beneath, scraping the Toa off on the overhanging stone.

“Oof!” Pohatu cried as he hit the ground. “Alright, so you want to play dirty, eh, Pahrak?”

The Pahrak took no notice of the Toa or his words. It was already trying to topple another monument. Dusting himself off, Pohatu raced past the creature. He stood on the other side of the Rahi Stone and leaned against it. The great stone trembled against his hands as the Pahrak on the other side shoved at it.

Taking a deep breath, the Toa of Stone stepped back and then leaped forward, aiming a powerful kick at the center of the stone. The great monument toppled forward immediately, and there was a shriek of surprise from the other side.

CRAAAASSSSSSSH — KRUK!

The enormous stone crashed to the ground — with the Pahrak trapped underneath.

“Sorry, my ugly friend,” Pohatu said, stepping forward and wrenching the headplate off the creature. “I’m afraid you have something I need.” He carefully lifted the glowing green krana from within. He was pleased to see that it was slightly different in shape from the one they’d found back in Ta-Koro. Good — that was one more toward the set of Pahrak krana they needed.

He tucked it into his belt and leaped back into action, heading for the next Pahrak.

Pohatu wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he heard a shout from above.

“More are coming!”

He glanced up and saw that the shout had come from the lookout post atop the village gates, where a villager was scanning the horizon.

The Toa of Stone hooked his climbing claws into the gate and swung himself up to the lookout. Another swarm of Bohrok was heading toward the village. They were Lehvak, judging by their bright green color and the way they melted everything in their path by shooting acid out of their curved claws.

“What should we do?” the Matoran asked.

Pohatu’s heart sank. Though he had been successful in gaining a few more krana, he’d been unable to drive off the Pahrak swarms. And now there would be more…

But his voice was steady as he replied, “What else can we do, little brother, but let them come, and fight them when they get here?”

Then he leaped down to meet the Lehvak, ready to defend his village and his people.