Izotor cleared his throat. “Actually, the spiders won’t get here for several minutes. Your mask has a built-in binocular lens to magnify your vision, so you can better see things that are far away. I guess you forgot about that, too.”
“Oh,” Kopaka said. He readjusted his vision and the spiders became distant specks again. As he disassembled his shield into two skis, he said, “My memory loss is most frustrating. Perhaps I am not one of the heroes of your Prophecy. After all, if I’m meant to be the Master of Ice, why am I so cold … ?”
Izotor laughed as he stepped around Kopaka so they faced each other. “You only just arrived on Okoto, and you have already defeated many skull spiders. And when you thought we were about to be attacked by more spiders, did you run away or try to hide? No, you did not. You shoved me behind you to protect me, and you prepared to fight. I have no doubt about your courage or your identity. You are a Toa. You are Kopaka. You are the Master of Ice. It is your destiny to defeat evil and save the island!”
Kopaka attached the avalanche skis to his feet. “I appreciate your confidence, Izotor.”
“Good. But you put on your skis backward.”
Kopaka looked down at his skis. “I was just making sure they are durable.” He removed his skis, put them on correctly, and then flexed his legs to slide the skis back and forth. “The snow is somewhat slippery. Perhaps I should test these skis on a hill that is not too steep.”
“No time for that,” said Izotor. Stowing his own weapons, he darted around behind Kopaka and jumped onto Kopaka’s back, causing the Toa to bend his knees and launch toward a steep slope. The icy air rushed against Kopaka’s white-armored body as he hurtled down the slope with Izotor clinging to his shoulders.
Kopaka said, “We’re heading straight for some large rocks.”
Izotor leaned hard to his left, which sent Kopaka swerving around a tall frost-covered boulder. Izotor leaned to his right, steering Kopaka through a narrow gap between two outcrops that were covered with thick layers of ice. As they continued down the hill, Izotor said, “Getting the hang of it?”
“I think so,” said Kopaka as he veered toward a jagged outcrop. He leaned to his left to avoid the outcrop.
“Look out!” Izotor said before he leaped off Kopaka’s back, a split second before Kopaka plowed face first into a high snowbank. Izotor rolled across the snow and came up standing. He looked to the snowbank and saw a deep, hollow impression that was shaped like a silhouette of Kopaka. He was about to call Kopaka’s name when the Toa pushed himself out of the snow. Izotor said, “Are you all right?”
“Yes,” Kopaka said. “I was just learning how to stop.”
“Oh,” Izotor said. “You’ll catch on soon enough. But perhaps we should walk for a while before you try again.”
Kopaka removed his skis and transformed them back into a shield. As he and Izotor proceeded, the falling snow became less dense, allowing them to glimpse mammoth, shadowy structures on the horizon. Using his binocular vision, Kopaka could see windows and other architectural details on various structures. Some windows were open and exposed to the cold, but thick sheets of black ice and daggerlike icicles covered most. Kopaka said, “Is that a city?”
“It was,” Izotor said. “Like all the great cities in the other regions of Okoto, it is now an ancient tomb. Come. We must walk faster.”
The wind howled, churning heavy gusts of snow across the sky, and obscuring Kopaka’s view of the ruins. He said, “Did warring armies destroy the cities?”
“No,” Izotor said, “not armies, but a clash between just two brothers. The Mask Makers.”
“Who were the Mask Makers?” said Gali, a Toa clad in blue armor, as she spun her harpoon, whipping it to strike four skull spiders just as they were about to spring at her from a moss-covered rock at the edge of the river.
“Just a moment,” said Kivoda, Protector of Water. He aimed his torpedo blaster at an amphibious spider that was swimming toward him. The spider sank under the water. Kivoda saw more spiders coming. He jumped into the river and said, “Master of Water, we must leave immediately or we may soon be overwhelmed.”
“Which way do we go?” Gali said as she struck down three more spiders.
“This way.” Kivoda powered up the propulsion turbines at his back and dived into the water. Gali kicked out with her foot-mounted shark fins to leave the spiders behind, and dived after Kivoda.
Gali sped swiftly through the water, quickly catching up with Kivoda, who maneuvered his turbines to descend closer to the river’s floor. Long shafts of sunlight traveled down from the water’s surface, illuminating exotic vegetation and bizarre formations of coral.
Gali glanced back. “I don’t see any spiders behind us.”
“They’re probably already on their way,” Kivoda said as he guided Gali past the ruins of an underwater outpost. “Now that the skull spiders have seen you, their master, the Lord of Skull Spiders, must be aware of your presence, too. The spiders will be unrelenting until you find your Golden Mask.”
“Which reminds me,” Gali said. “You have yet to tell me about the Mask Makers.”
“Yes, of course,” Kivoda said. “Once, a long time ago, all lived in harmony on Okoto. The island was a fantastic place full of many wonders and beautiful landscapes, a paradise full of great forests, brimming with life. Even then, Protectors served the islanders by protecting them against wild beasts, wildfires, storms, and floods. From the island’s elemental forces, two brothers, the Mask Makers, created Masks of Power. Each brother owned a special mask. Ekimu owned the Mask of Creation, and Makuta owned the Mask of Control. Watch out for those fish.”
“What? Oh!” Gali saw that she was swimming toward a small school of fish, and she shifted her body to pass by them. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m new around here. Please continue, Kivoda.”
“The brothers,” Kivoda continued, “provided all islanders, including the Protectors, with many masks, but Ekimu’s were the most treasured. Makuta became envious and forged an evil plan. Although a sacred law prohibited creating a mask that contained the power of more than one element because such a mask would become too strong and dangerous, Makuta decided to create the most powerful mask of all time. The Mask of Ultimate Power.”
“What happened next?”
“When Makuta put on the mask, it took control of him, and the entire island began to shake and crumble. Ekimu realized what Makuta had done, and he managed to knock the mask from his brother’s face. This produced an explosion of cataclysmic proportions. Cities crumbled, and a great crater was left at the site of the explosion. A massive shock wave rolled across the land. Most of Okoto’s northern part was transformed into a barren wasteland. Earthquakes followed, causing landmasses to shift and volcanoes to erupt. An immense glacier and frozen mountains now dominate the island’s northern tip. In the south, three large volcanoes produce thick lava flows. The west is scarred with obsidian plains. Here, in the east, the land became swamps and marshy lakes. Only the southern jungles escaped cataclysm because the mountains protected them. Although thousands of years have passed since the explosion, the effects of Makuta’s dark deed are still with us.”
Gali said, “What became of the Mask Makers?”
“The shock wave sent both brothers into an endless sleep. It also scattered the Masks of Power all over the island. When the ancient Protectors found the nearly lifeless body of Ekimu, he whispered the Prophecy to them before they laid him to rest. Ever since, many generations of Protectors have made sure that the Masks of Power remained hidden in sacred shrines. And for all those many years, the masks waited for a time when someone would come to find and claim them.”
“I don’t understand,” Gali said. “If you and the other Protectors know that the Masks of Power are hidden in shrines on Okoto, why not claim the masks for yourselves?”
“Because the masks were created for only the strongest, for you and the other Toa. But as we realized that evil was rising and becoming more powerful, we
could no longer protect all the villagers, and our need for heroes became more urgent. So my fellow Protectors and I united at the Temple of Time to recite the Prophecy and hastened your arrival.”
“Tell me, Kivoda. Did Makuta’s spirit survive? Is he responsible for the rising evil?”
“Yes, or so we believe,” Kivoda said. “We also believe he controls the Lord of Skull Spiders and countless other monsters.”
“I wish I could remember my own past,” Gali said, “but I trust your faith in me and the other heroes, and I will do all I can to help your tribes.”
“I speak for all the tribes on Okoto when I say we are grateful for your help.”
Gali smiled behind her mask. “Is the Shrine of the Mask of Water much farther?”
“We’re very close now.”
“Then let us swim faster.”
As Kivoda guided Gali over the submerged wreckage of an ancient vessel, the waters became unusually warm. Looking down to the river floor, Gali saw something that resembled brightly glowing rocks. Pointing to the area, she said, “What is that?”
“Lava,” Kivoda said. “Molten rock. It comes up through thermal vents, which I believe are connected to the volcanoes and lava rivers in the Region of Fire. Keep your distance from lava. It’s so hot, it’s deadly!”
Gali tried to imagine what a lava river looked like, but she stopped thinking about the Region of Fire as soon as she saw amphibious skull spiders in front of her and Kivoda, blocking the path to the Shrine of the Mask of Water. Kivoda saw the spiders, too, and said, “Remember your destiny.”
Gali readied her harpoon. With Kivoda at her side, she swam straight for the spiders.
“Don’t these spiders ever let up?” said Tahu, Toa of Fire, who wore a red mask and armor.
“No,” said Narmoto, Protector of Fire. “Since your arrival to Okoto, the Lord of Skull Spiders has released even more of his minions to search for the Masks of Power.”
Tahu and Narmoto had been traveling up a steep grade of a dark volcanic mountain when dozens of skull spiders attacked. Tahu was armed with two golden swords and also a pair of fire blades that could be combined into a lava-proof surfboard. Narmoto wielded a fire blaster and two flame swords. As their swords slashed at the spiders, Tahu said, “We must reach higher ground.”
“This way,” said Narmoto. He leaped over several spiders to land on a rocky ledge that jutted out beside a heavy stream of lava. Tahu jumped up after Narmoto, and the vicious spiders turned fast and began crawling up toward the ledge. Without hesitation, Tahu drew his fire blades and held them at an angle against the lava, diverting the flow of molten rock so it fell down upon the spiders. The spiders screeched and tumbled away.
Clouds of smoke billowed up past Tahu. “That smells terrible.”
“Keep moving,” said Narmoto, who was already scrambling up the steep wall of dark stone. Tahu followed Narmoto up the wall until they arrived at the base of two enormous pillars that appeared to be carved out of the volcano before them. Narmoto said, “This is Okoto’s greatest volcano. You are close now.”
Looking to the top of the pillars, Tahu saw they supported a high platform that extended to a shadowy doorway. “The shrine is that way?”
“It is.”
“How do we get up there?”
“You’ll climb.”
“What about you?”
Narmoto jumped up onto Tahu’s back. “I’m all set,” Narmoto said. “Start climbing.”
As Tahu began his ascent, he wondered if the other Toa had also reached their destinations, and what dangers awaited within the shrines.
“We are very near the Shrine of the Mask of Earth,” said Korgot, Protector of Earth. Korgot was leading Onua, Master of Earth, down rough-hewn steps in a large tunnel, deep below the Region of Earth on the island of Okoto. Bright purple crystals grew from the cave’s walls, illuminating the stairway with eerie light. Korgot added, “We might have gotten here faster if we hadn’t run into those green skull spiders, the ones that can see in the dark.”
Onua said, “May I ask a personal question?”
“Go right ahead,” said Korgot as she continued down the steps.
“Back in your village, shortly after my comet fell to Okoto, didn’t one of your tribe’s elders say that all the Protectors wear sacred Elemental Masks that have been passed down through the generations from father to son?”
“Well, yes. That’s how the tradition usually works. But how is that a personal question?”
“Forgive me if I sound ignorant, and please keep in mind that I have no memories before my arrival to your island, but”—Onua cleared his throat—“You are female, aren’t you?”
Korgot chuckled. “Yes, I am.”
“I thought so,” Onua said. “I doubt I would have been so confused if your elders had said that the masks could be passed down to daughters, too.”
“Remind me to tell them that,” Korgot said as she came to a stop before a wall of solid rock. “The shrine is just beyond this wall.” Hoisting her star drill, she said, “I’ll use my drill to bore through it.”
Onua studied the wall and flexed the turbo shovelers that were clamped over his hands and lower arms. “I think I can reach the other side of this wall faster than your drill.”
Korgot lowered her drill. “Be my guest.”
Onua dug his massive fingers into the wall and began clawing through the rock, quickly reducing the first layer to rubble. He dug faster, burrowing deeper into the wall, and then swung both arms forward to break through the final layer of stone, making a hole that emptied into another cave. As Onua shoved the rubble aside and stepped through the passage he had created, Korgot said, “Your method of tunneling may be messy, but you get the job done.”
Korgot followed Onua into the next cave, which led to a broad ledge that overlooked a deep chasm in an immense underground chamber. The entire chamber was lined with giant, glowing crystals, and one towering crystal, a natural obelisk that grew up from the floor. Onua and Korgot saw a single golden mask hovering in the air directly above the top of the tower.
Korgot said, “You must scale that tower to obtain your mask and fulfill your destiny. I’ll remain here and watch for skull spiders.”
Onua left the ledge and scampered down to the chamber’s floor, taking care not to break any of the glowing crystals. As soon as he arrived at the base of the crystal obelisk, he began climbing up, moving hand over hand until he reached the top. Pulling himself up to stand on the obelisk, he glanced back to the ledge where Korgot stood, watching him. Onua saw that Korgot wasn’t alone on the ledge.
Dozens of green skull spiders had snuck up through the corridor behind Korgot. Korgot raised her star drill and also drew one of her throwing knives. From where Onua stood, he could see that the Protector was greatly outnumbered, and that she had nowhere to run.
Korgot shouted, “It’s too late for me, Onua. Fulfill the Prophecy!”
Onua removed his own mask as he reached for the Golden Mask of Power, and slapped the Golden Mask over his face. He was almost overwhelmed by the incredible surge of power that came with donning the Golden Mask. Moving faster than thought, he instinctively transformed his turbo shovelers into a broad-headed hammer and leaped from the obelisk, vaulting over the chasm to land on the ledge beside Korgot.
The green skull spiders were about to pounce on Korgot when Onua swung his hammer, bringing it down hard upon the ledge. Charged with elemental power, the hammer’s impact blasted the spiders, smashing their bodies against the cavern’s walls.
Korgot gasped. “You created the earthquake hammer, just as the legends foretold!”
But Onua didn’t hear Korgot. He only heard a strange voice that seemed to be speaking from within his own head.
And the voice was calling his name.
“Listen, Lewa,” whispered Vizuna, Protector of Jungle, as he adjusted his grip on his flame bow.
Lewa, Toa of Jungle, cocked his green-masked head to the side and said, “E
xcept for those bright bugs flying around my golden mask, I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly,” Vizuna said. “It’s too quiet.”
After cutting through thick woodlands and fighting numerous skull spiders, Lewa and Vizuna had finally arrived at the ruins of the Shrine of the Mask of Jungle. Enormous trees bordered the ruins, and the central area was filled with bizarre, luminescent roots that snaked around a tall dais. The Golden Mask of the Jungle hovered above the dais, which was surrounded by glowing, buzzing fireflies that were apparently attracted to the mask’s power. It almost appeared as if the strange life inside the ruins emanated from the Golden Mask itself.
Looking around, Vizuna said, “I sense this shrine is filled with many dangers.”
“Oh?” said Lewa. “Is that your brain talking, or your tail?”
Vizuna groaned. Shortly after Lewa had arrived on Okoto, the Toa had inquired about the green articulated tail that was attached to the base of Vizuna’s lower spine. Vizuna had explained that the tail was equipped with built-in sensors that detected environmental fluctuations and enabled him to find water and predict the weather, but Lewa simply found the tail amusing.
“Joke about my tail all you want,” Vizuna said. “It has served me well in the war against the skull spiders.”
A loud snap came from behind Lewa. He drew both his swords as he spun fast at the waist and brought the swords down quickly through a cluster of broad green leaves. Lewa’s swords crashed against the back of a large blue skull spider that had been skulking across the jungle floor. The spider stopped moving.
“I told you I sensed danger,” said Vizuna.
“I wish you’d sensed it a little sooner,” Lewa said as he pulled his swords free. He heard more snapping sounds throughout the ruins. “Sounds like this critter brought all his pals along.”
Readying his bow, Vizuna said, “Go for your mask, Lewa. I’ll hold off the spiders!”
Island of Lost Masks Page 2