“Let me cool things down,” Kopaka said.
“Hey!” said Tahu, stepping beside Kopaka. “Fire is my element!”
Forgetting about the need for unity, Kopaka and Tahu sprinted up a staircase that led to the tower’s entrance, an open doorway that was bracketed by two broad columns. They ran alongside each other, and each was determined to be the first one into the tower. When they reached the doorway, their shoulders collided and both became stuck between the columns.
Skull Basher, a hulking figure with two long horns that extended from his head, was waiting inside the doorway. In each of his massive hands, he wielded a giant hook axe. Before Kopaka and Tahu could attempt to extract themselves, Skull Basher swung his powerful arms out at their bodies, knocking them out of the doorway and into the air. Kopaka and Tahu sailed over the heads of their allies and crashed to the ground behind Onua.
Onua leaped forward and ran up the staircase, ready to use his earthquake hammer against Skull Basher. He was just about to strike when Skull Basher quickly dipped his own head down, lowering his horns so that one horn’s sharp tip caught against the bottom of Onua’s mask. Skull Basher flung his head back, launching Onua backward and off his feet. Onua bounced down the staircase and rolled to a stop at the feet of his allies. When the other heroes and Ekimu looked back up at Skull Basher, they saw he held something in one hand.
Onua’s Golden Mask.
Onua groaned. Ekimu turned to face the other heroes and said, “Have you learnt nothing?! Skull Basher will defeat you one by one!”
Still at the top of the staircase, Skull Basher placed Onua’s Golden Mask over his own face. Onua immediately felt his own energy begin to drain.
Glaring at Skull Basher, Kopaka said, “Let’s give him a taste of unity.” Kopaka, Gali, Tahu, Lewa, and Pohatu stood close together and drew their weapons. Although Onua remained temporarily immobilized, they felt their elemental energy growing stronger within each one of them. Leaving Ekimu standing beside Onua, they charged up the stairway.
Skull Basher never knew who or what hit him. Knocked off his feet, his body flew back through the tower’s entrance, and he dropped Onua’s mask as he fell lifeless against the floor.
The heroes recovered Onua’s helmet and placed it back on his face. “Thank you, friends,” he said as he felt his elemental energy return. Rising from the ground, he lifted his earthquake hammer and said, “Now, let us stop Skull Grinder!”
Ekimu led the heroes into the ancient forge. They moved past Skull Basher’s body and proceeded into the main chamber that contained the furnace. The chamber was littered with dusty boxes and shelves stacked with scraps of precious metals as well as ancient tools used for the construction of masks and armor. Ancient masks and weapons hung on the walls. At the far end of the chamber, Skull Grinder stood with his back to the group, facing the immense furnace that was blazing away, kicking off so much heat that it made Tahu feel almost comfortable while making Kopaka feel the opposite.
Skull Grinder turned to face Ekimu and the heroes. In one hand, he clutched a long Mask Stealer Staff with three axe blades, the most feared weapon on the entire island. His other hand held the Golden Mask of Creation, and he appeared to be preparing to toss it into the furnace.
“Too late,” said Ekimu. “We will defeat you and get the mask long before it melts.”
Skull Grinder laughed. “I will have plenty of time, once I have destroyed you.” Lifting the Mask of Creation, he put it on. The entire forge grew suddenly brighter, and Skull Grinder looked as if he was drawing energy from the forge itself.
“Not good,” said Ekimu.
Lewa said, “What’s the plan?”
“Keep him occupied,” Ekimu said as he looked around at the cluttered piles of metal and tools.
Baffled, Gali said, “Is that it?”
“Just fight as long as you can,” Ekimu said. He ran over to a stack of boxes containing old, discarded masks and began digging through it, apparently searching for something.
The six heroes looked at each other. As Skull Grinder continued glowing with energy from the forge, the heroes powered up with their own elemental energy. And then they charged him, just as they had charged Skull Basher earlier, except Onua was with them this time. They felt invincible.
But they were no match for the evil wearer of the Mask of Creation. With a single solid swing of his long axe, Skull Grinder slammed the masks off all six heroes. Their masks shattered instantly and fell to the floor. All of the heroes’ energy drained and vanished, and they collapsed beside the remains of their broken masks.
Ekimu ignored the brief battle. He was thoroughly preoccupied by some bits and pieces of old tools that he’d found. Hearing Ekimu’s aged hands fumbling around in a box of metal parts, Skull Grinder turned, looked at Ekimu, and laughed. The elderly Mask Maker was busily trying to screw a metal handle into another piece that he’d found when Skull Grinder started walking toward him.
Lying on the floor, Kopaka saw Skull Grinder moving straight for Ekimu and muttered, “Must … stop him.”
“How?” said Gali, who had fallen near Kopaka. “We lost our masks.”
The six heroes thought of the Protectors, who had fought so bravely, without any thought of their own safety, and who also had placed so much faith in the Toa. Seeing Skull Grinder step closer to Ekimu, Onua reached out and grabbed Skull Grinder’s leg.
“We keep on fighting,” Onua said, “as long as we can.”
Skull Grinder looked down at Onua with surprise and a mildly annoyed expression. He kicked hard, launching Onua from the floor and sending him slamming against a wall.
Pohatu managed to push himself up from the floor and he grabbed Skull Grinder’s arm. Skull Grinder swatted him aside like an insignificant insect. Gali reached for Skull Grinder’s other arm and she was also knocked away. Lewa and Kopaka also grabbed for the villain in a desperate effort to slow his progress but he sent them sailing across the chamber, too.
Tahu was the last Toa standing when Ekimu finally found all the pieces that he’d been searching for. Skull Grinder brought his staff down on Tahu, driving the Toa to his knees, and was about to finish him off when he glanced at Ekimu and saw that the Mask Maker had assembled a large hammer.
Ekimu had re-created the Hammer of Power, the same hammer that he had used to defeat Makuta.
He held the hammer high over his old masked head. The hammer glowed and Skull Grinder felt a powerful force rumble through the air. The light from the glowing hammer expanded over Ekimu and his armor, and he was transformed from a frail figure into a powerful warrior.
Ekimu darted toward the startled Skull Grinder. Tahu was still on his knees, and Ekimu jumped up onto his back to gain elevation before he swung his hammer at Skull Grinder’s head, knocking the Mask of Creation off Skull Grinder’s face.
Skull Grinder collapsed onto the floor. Ekimu caught the Mask of Creation in midair, transferred it to his own face, and the entire chamber exploded with blinding light.
Tahu remained conscious just long enough to see Ekimu’s victory. When Tahu passed out, he was still smiling.
Tahu didn’t know how long he’d been unconscious. Lying on the floor within Ekimu’s forge, he was vaguely aware of feeling the heat from the nearby furnace, and believed he had also heard noises that sounded like metal hammering against metal. He wondered if Ekimu was building or fixing something. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Ekimu holding a Golden Mask for him.
“Wake up, Toa,” Ekimu said. “Never have I seen such bravery. You are worthy. Rise!”
Tahu got up and Ekimu placed the mask over his face. As Tahu felt mystical energy rush through his body, he turned to see the other heroes standing before him. Pohatu, Gali, Onua, Kopaka, and Lewa wore Golden Masks, too.
Tahu said, “We are all restored!”
“I still sense evil,” Pohatu said. “Makuta is out there somewhere, and his dark powers continue to grow. We must find him and stop him.”
Lew
a said, “I’m getting the impression that this adventure is far from over.”
Gali faced Ekimu and said, “Trust us to save the island. It is our duty. And it is our destiny!”
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First printing 2015
e-ISBN 978-0-545-91336-2
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