Chapter Seven

Makuta’s scream slowly died away into silence. Matoro wondered what had happened — had Karzahni’s power broken the villain, driven him mad… even killed him?

But a glance at the Maxilos robot Makuta possessed gave the answer. The eyes were fixed on Karzahni with a gaze that was made all the more frightening by the complete lack of emotion in it. After a long moment, Makuta spoke.

“You… made a… mistake, Karzahni,” he said. “You see, I don’t get nightmares…”

With one backhanded sweep of an armored fist, Makuta sent Karzahni sprawling. “I give them.”

Standing over his fallen foe, Makuta whispered, “Your shadow plays are impressive, tyrant — but never forget who is the true master of shadows.”

With that, Makuta plunged telepathically into the mind of Karzahni. It was a complex parchment of mad dreams, burning ambitions, twisted memories, and long-buried fears. Makuta considered all the subtle ways he could attack, and rejected them all. Karzahni had hurt him. Karzahni must pay in full.

Grasping Karzahni’s mind with his own, Makuta tore it to shreds. Then, with the merest sample of his magnetic power, he sent the dictator hurtling through the ocean until he was lost from sight.

Toa Lesovikk had watched the battle with Sarda and Idris. They had discovered the Ga-Matoran, mutated by the waters as Sarda had been, and recruited her in their task. Now both Matoran wondered if their quest was even necessary anymore.

“Karzahni doesn’t seem like he would still be a threat,” said Sarda. “Not after what Maxilos just did to him.”

“I’m not sure who this Maxilos is or what his powers are,” said Lesovikk. “But I once ran into a rock lion, half-dead from injuries received in battle, mad with pain. I thought it would be easy to end it and put the poor thing out of its misery.” He paused, then said, “That fight lasted three days… and the rock lion won. Don’t underestimate a wounded foe.”

Lesovikk began to swim in the direction Karzahni had traveled. “If anything, our enemy may be more dangerous now than ever before.”