Part 7 - "THE SOUTHERN TEMPLE"
Grinner proved his worth nearly five minutes out of Laxly’s.
“Don’t step there,” he said.
Kidoma froze. “What?”
“Your foot is hovering above an oblong mound made of sand and pebbles, correct?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s a Jaga nest.”
Kidoma jumped ten feet into the air. “And you just waited to tell me until now that there was a giant deadly robot scorpion underneath me?”
Grinner, who naturally stood hunched, leaned back and smugly adjusted his jacket collar. “I thought you’d know, bein’ a Toa and all.”
Shynali admired the Skakdi guide. She had always believed she was aware of her surroundings, but Grinner had seen the hill without even looking, it seemed. As far as she could tell, he had his gaze constantly fixed before them, watching the reddening horizon.
“Well, I spent most of my life being a fisherman,” said Kidoma. “I’d never actually been out of the Great White Shores before yesterday.”
Grinner chuckled. “And yet you were able to take on Captain Crau and his army.”
“Yeah… What? Was he your buddy, or something?”
Though Grinner had no lips, Shynali found it easy to tell when he was smiling. Now, however, it was clear he wasn’t.
“Far from it,” the Skakdi said. “Crau tore apart my home. Stole every coin, burned every house. Most of my village just up and joined him and his crew. Those of us with any shred of self-respect scattered like Cinder-Ants. I just happened to end up here.”
“Now that Crau is gone, have you considered going back?” asked Auru, who trailed warily behind the group. “You could rebuild.”
“Zakaz stopped being my home many years ago,” said Grinner. “My home is this.” He waved his arms wide and open, accepting the entire red desert into them. “The Wastelands. Here, nobody cares if you’re a criminal or a general. They just care about how honest you are, and if they can take advantage of that.”
“Well, excuse me, then,” said Auru. “I was under the impression that you might be a man of honor.”
“I can be,” said Grinner, smiling once more. He winked. “Some people pay an honorable man more.”
They traveled at a steady pace. Kidoma no longer seemed so obsessed about their speed, which was a relief to both Auru and Shynali. The older Toa lingered towards the back, sharing quiet comments and concerns about the journey so far. Auru believed that as long as Grinner had the reward of payment dangling in front of him, he’d play along with the adventure. The moment he got paid, he would leave them to whatever fate the Wastelands offered.
The wildlife of the Wastelands, unlike the landscape, was wild and vibrant. Scorpions and lizards scuttled beneath their feet, while in the distance, Grinner pointed out herds of camels and vultures. The occasional Rahi would appear, usually a Rama Fly blurring through the smoke. Once, when they caught a predatory Muaka prowling over a nearby hill, Grinner pointed out a short burrow to the Toa, and they ducked into it with frightened speed. Even inside, Kidoma shook and breathed so heavily that Shynali began to fear the tiger-like creature would hear.
“Hey, Blue!” hissed Grinner. “Quiet!”
Kidoma kept panting.
Next to him, Auru lifted one of his great hands and placed it upon Kidoma’s chest, over his core. Then, with his other hand, he pressed Kidoma’s head to his own chest, where he would be able to hear Auru’s corebeat. A moment passed. Then, Kidoma’s breathing began to slow.
Shynali’s eyes met with Auru’s. She smiled, and hoped he would be able to see it underneath her mask. The Toa of Earth had a good heart, one that cared for others and showed concern before anger, and forgiveness before blame. He was more than a good Matoran, he was a good person. She hoped that the other Toa would keep it in mind to listen to him. He had wisdom to share.
By the time the star was fully set, and the only light in the Wastes were the common burst of flames from cracks in the ground, the Skakdi proved true to his word, and they were at the foot of the Southern Elemental Temple.
The structure was made of a series of twisted black spires pointed towards one another, forming a massive dark cone. Its entrance was a mere tunnel, without a door or gate prohibiting access. A sickly green light pulsed from deep inside, and though Shynali refused to show it, her core was beating with fear.
“This is a vile place,” said Auru. His voice quivered. “I wish we did not have to go here.”
Grinner spat a glob of greenish oil into the sand. “Well, this is where you paid me to take you.”
“Then this is where we go,” said Kidoma quietly. He waved his staff out in a flourish and then leapt off the crest of the hill on which they stood, surfing on the dust to its foot.
Shynali, Grinner, and Auru each followed.
The closer they got to the temple, the more Shynali shook. She wanted to run, to flee, to be anywhere other than right here, right now. But here she was, and as the ghostly light began to shine upon her, she could feel something burn inside of her. She was repulsed by something
here, something she only knew how to describe as the presence of evil.
“Let me go first,” said Grinner.
“Why?” Kidoma asked.
Grinner sneered. “Because of the traps, like you said.” He began to stalk forwards, obviously expecting the Toa to follow.
“Are there actually traps?” Kidoma asked, tagging along.
“Of course,” he said. “If you created a temple to hide your treasures in, wouldn’t you want it kept safe?”
“But the Elemental Lords didn’t have treasure to hide,” said Auru.
Grinner scoffed. “If they ever did, it’d be gone by now. I really don’t know what you hope to find here.”
There was a faint sound, not much more than a breath in the tunnels of the temple, but it quickly faded. Shynali’s fingers tightened around her blade hilts. “It’s who we hope to find.”
The halls were various and irregular. Sometimes they split off and headed straight back, others were slanted and windy. There appeared to be no organization, but Grinner somehow always knew which one to take, simply holding his sharpened fingertips against the wall and dragging them along. How much time had he spent in these ugly halls? How long did his eyes remain adjusted to the dismal green light that came from no source? Just being in it made Shynali’s stomach chamber buzz with discontent. She was thankful she hadn’t eaten anything recently.
Some time in, either an hour or maybe three (it was not possible to tell), Shynali felt something ■■■■■. The hall looked the same, but her core still felt uneasy. The air was still, there was no sound but the steady footsteps of the party, but Shynali could sense… something. It was… beneath her feet. The dust that caked the walls and floor, which she had not noticed until now, began to move. First, it wasn’t enough to see. Then, it began to trickle to the ground like water, and form, of its own will, a puddle of dirt. It gathered in clumps, growing into larger and larger pieces as they built themselves on top of each other, forming hills.
“It’s her!” shouted Auru, slamming his steel gauntlets together. The whole temple trembled.
Kidoma waved his staff around the air. A bead of water stuck to its end, but not enough to form the typical speartip. There wasn’t enough water present.
Shynali, too, felt helpless in the elemental sense. There was no plant life in sight. She drew her swords and prayed for the best.
But the form the dust was building was not the Dark Wind. It was more solid, formed of stone that had been formed from the black dust, creating a figure of rock riddled with crack that glowed with violet energy. Two of these cracks formed divots in what would make up its head, creating unblinking, featureless “eyes” of light. Two horns like a Kane Ra’s grew from its skull.
“What in the name of Irnakk…?” gawked Grinner. For the first time since they met him, he was anything other than collected.
“Trespassers,” came a voice like the shifting of gravel. “Why have you come here?”
Auru stepped forwards. “Your mistress. She attacked us, in Aero City, without provocation. We came here to follow her.”
“Incorrect,” said the thing. “You have come here to fall at the hands of Terros!” Its arm snapped upwards with robotic, inhuman movement, and its hand shot off of its wrist as if fired. It hit Auru in the mask, knocking the sturdy Toa to his back and holding him there.
Kidoma ran at the Elemental Lord. It raised its arm again, and the hand floated back to connect at its wrist, and the beast began to run in the opposite direction.
“Wait!” shouted Shynali, but Kidoma didn’t listen before his foot fell in just the wrong place, and a section of the wall slid back. It slung itself outwards, pushing Kidoma into the other wall. This part then pushed back, and the trap threatened to consume the Toa behind the walls completely.
Kidoma reached out his arm, and the trap closed in on it. Shynali screamed. She ran to her friend, sticking one of her swords partway into the opening to try to lever it open. She pushed and pushed until she felt the blade begin to bend.
“Auru!” she cried. “Help!”
She heard the thundering footsteps behind her, but she didn’t allow herself to feel relief just yet. Auru slammed into the closing wall’s surface with his fists, and his fingers pushed into the stone. It broke under his power, forming handles for him to hold onto, and he began to push it back into the wall it sourced from. “Shynali! Grab him!”
Shynali grabbed the emerging arm and pulled Kidoma out from the wider opening Auru had created. As soon as he was out, Shynali patted Auru on the back, and the Toa of Earth let go, leaving the trap to close shut, and their path was blocked.
“Is it safe to say we should leave?” asked Shynali.
Kidoma fell to the ground and wheezed. He was a wreck. His armor was scratched and battered, and the arm which had been caught in the trap now hung limp.
“No, it ain’t,” said Grinner, pointing in the direction they had come from. A silhouette of flame with a snake-like dress instead of legs was slithering towards them. Everywhere it touched the ground, flames burst, even though it crossed over stone.
“They look fun,” panted Auru.
“Kid.” Grinner kneeled at Kidoma’s side. He held, pinched between two claws, a tiny bead of green light. He shook it. “I need you to summon your power. Any drop of water you can, put it into this.”
Shynali stared as she held her unbent blade at the ready. “What are you doing?”
“Do it!” Grinner shook the sphere again.
Kidoma held up his hand and, slowly, a drop of water began to materialize in the base of his palm.
“Poor Toa,” the fiery thing said in a woman’s hissing voice. “Trapped like mice in a box.”
Grinner looked back at her. “Hurry!”
Kidoma’s hand nearly held a pool, now, which Grinner dropped the sphere into. The water seeped into it, turning its hue into an oceanic blue as every drop vanished from Kidoma’s hand. As soon as it was dry, Grinner grabbed the sphere and fitted it into the silver shooter holstered to his hip. He drew the long-barreled weapon and pointed it at the fiery creature. He gave himself a second to aim, one eye closed, and pulled the trigger.
It was a burst of blue, so bright that the temple’s eerie green aura faded entirely as the projectile hurled through the air. It landed in the dead center of the creature’s face, extinguishing the flame into- well, air. Nothing remained behind her fiery composition.
She howled as she collapsed to the ground, and fire began to spew everywhere from the cavity in her form. It soaked the hall and raced towards the party.
Auru grabbed pieces of the stone masonry and began tossing them up. The earth bent and built and created a new wall between them and the creature. For now, they were safe.
“Is it gone?” asked Kidoma from the ground.
No one knew what to say.
Then, the wall behind them shot forwards, pushing them rapidly towards the one Auru had just made. The Toa of Earth held his arms out and caught the other side, holding it open just wide enough to keep the heroes from being crushed. Shynali pushed too, if only to ease a part of Auru’s burden.
“We have to get out of here!” yelled Grinner.
“Not… without… Dark Wind,” said Kidoma, shaking as he leaned against his staff to prop himself back up.
“I stand with Grinner,” said Auru, his arms beginning to quiver under the weight.
Kidoma’s eyes fell upon Shynali. If she voted against him, then they would retreat. They would have traveled this far for nothing.
But remaining here, on the Elemental Lord’s turf was more dangerous than they had imagined. And if any of them were lost… then it would be worse than nothing.
“We need to leave,” she said. “We won’t win.”
Though she could imagine his disappointment, Kidoma nodded. He must recognize the dire situation for what it was.
“Can you get us out?” she asked Auru.
He lifted one arm, and with less to push it back, the wall inched closer to crushing them all. Auru slammed his hand back in place. “I don’t think so. Someone’s pushing it on the other side, and they’re strong.”
Kidoma was hurt, Auru was occupied, and Grinner didn’t have much more than a shooter. They were helpless. Shynali was helpless.
“Okay, I get these two,” said Grinner. He pointed a finger at Shynali. “What do you do?”
“I’m the Toa of Jungle,” she said. “But seeing as there is no plantlife anywhere to be-”
“The jungle ain’t just plants, lady.” Grinner knelt down, and set his fingers upon the floor. “Feel that.”
Shynali mirrored his movements. “Feel what?”
“The shaking.”
She looked around. The whole hall was shaking.
“Not in here,” said Grinner. He tapped a finger against the stone. “Down there.”
Shynali shut her eyes, and imagined a haze growing around her, blocking away the distractions of her physical state. She reached down with a mental limb, plunging deep beneath the earth, seeking something to grasp onto.
It found something. She wasn’t sure what it was, but it breathed.
“Can you help us?” she asked it, in some language she did not know, but knew was not her own.
The breathing thing froze. After a second of waiting, it began to rise, and Shynali felt herself returning to the temple hall.
“Did you feel it?” asked Grinner.
“What was it?” she asked.
“Something that can help, if you can get it to.”
“What’s happening?” asked Kidoma.
The ground began to shake, and not just from the strain of the tightening space. It came from below, increasing in energy and proximity as whatever Shynali had summoned was making its way up.
“Well, I guess this is a cool way to go out,” Kidoma said as he leaned against the wall, beginning to shut his eyes.
“Kidoma!” shouted Auru. “Don’t give up on us yet, friend!”
Then, the ground gave way.
Shynali wasn’t certain what exactly happened. She was falling, and then suddenly not. It wasn’t for another few seconds that she noticed the dark furry arm that wrapped around her, pinning her to a dark furry form. Rock and rubble fell in pieces around her, but when she looked up, she could see the soft glow of the eyes of her companions. Then, above her, the stone gave way to the sky, and she finally saw what it was that held them.
It was a great, eight-legged beast, much like a massive rodent, with quills emerging from its tough shelled back, and thick tusks from its pig-like muzzle. It gained its footing on the slanted temple roof, and released the four individuals it held onto. They each fell to the cone-shaped structure, and gathered their own footing as the examined the beast.
“Thank you,” Shynali said to it in the same language she did earlier. Whether she vocalized it or merely thought it, she wasn’t sure, but either way the beast seemed to hear it, as its milky blue eye fixed on her and it gave a happy snort.
“A Tunnel-Brute,” said Grinner. “An animal that lives its entire life underground, if it can. Majestic, fast, and able to overpower just about any Rahi the Wastes can throw at it.”
“How did you know it was down there?” asked Shynali.
“The temple.” He pointed a bony finger at the structure below. “It wasn’t built by whatever fiends we just fought. It had the appearance of a Brute’s mound, which is created when a Brute builds its den far below the surface, pushing the rock up to create that. Your foes just modified it to their own needs.”
“I’m surprised you stuck with us,” said Auru, once he had regained just enough air to say so.
Grinner shrugged. “I also wasted a Zamor sphere on you fellows. Not happy about that, but…” He exchanged a look with each of them. “…I guess I’m a sucker for adventure.”
Auru shook his head. “I think you’re a better man than you pretend to be.”
“Fool,” Grinner said back. Then, he looked up, and paused.
“What is-” Shynali followed his gaze, and saw that, on the ground, stood three figures. Two they recognized as the Lords of Earth and Fire. The third could only be the Elemental Lord of Jungle. This one was made of twisted, thorny vines that knotted into a human shape with four arms, covered in enticing but surely poisonous violet flowers.
There was a fourth figure floating above the Elemental Lords, one nearly invisible in the dark night and the gloomy smog, but it held two brilliant spheres that shone over the group. It drifted towards the Toa, and a now familiar dark chill enveloped them each.
“Dark Wind,” said Kidoma almost mockingly, despite his weak state.
“I have instructed them to wait,” she said, coldly ignoring the taunt. “We want the people who call you ‘heroes’ to see your fall. You will meet us where this all began, in the city where I first met you six insults to Matoran kind.”
“We don’t want to fight,” said Shynali. “Whatever you’re trying to prove, you’ve proven it.”
The Wind started laughing, and it caused a shrill, sinister echo to sound through the Wastes. “Toa, we haven’t yet begun.”
The Tunnel-Brute roared and leapt at Dark Wind, claws and tusks bared.
She flew back with great speed, and let the Brute slide down the rest of the temple. Before it reached the ground, the Jungle Lord raised one of its arms and the Brute’s eyes filed with a red mist. It lost control of its body and limply fell to the ground, lost in some sort of comatose trance.
As Shynali raced to its side, she watched as the Wind and her three allies sped into the distance, towards Aero City. And now, even more than she had in the temple, she felt the drowning weight of helplessness.