Chapter 5
Takanuva had seen a lot of strange sights, but even he had to admit being disturbed by the sight of the Forest of Blades. At first glance, it looked like the trees had arms, but closer inspection revealed that the arms were those of warriors, fused with the trees, only their arms jutting out, still holding their weapons.
He’d heard of something like this once before. During the Toa Metru’s journeys, they’d encountered a creature whose energies were so powerful, they’d fused Matau to the rock wall. Fortunately, Toa Onewa was able to use his power over Stone to free Matau. Could these warriors still be alive, and if so, could a Toa of the Green free them?
But when he voiced these thoughts to Tarduk, the Agori simply shook his head. “The Lord of the Jungle holds sway here. Even if those warriors could be freed, I think he would have to do it.”
“We’re not going to… be absorbed by the forest too, are we?” Takanuva said.
“If you went into the forest, you might be,” Tarduk said. “Fortunately, the first time we came this way, Kirbold burned a part of the forest, leaving a path to the river.”
Takua followed Tarduk along the edge of the forest, his eyes on the trees, wondering what it must feel like to be fused with a tree like that. Perhaps it would be better for the soldiers if they were dead.
“Oh, I should warn you,” Tarduk said. “Try not to look around too much.”
Takanuva was about to ask what the Agori meant when he saw the burned forest up ahead. Mixed in with the ashes of burnt trees and plants were the charred, blackened remains of warriors, burnt arms, parts of other body parts fused with the burnt wood. It was a disturbing sight, and Takanuva heeded Tarduk’s advice, looking at it as little as possible. Focus on getting through to the other side.
Past the forest, they came to the edge of the River Dormus. “The first time we came this way, we were attacked by the Element Lord of Water,” Tarduk said. “But when I came again, he was gone. Here’s hoping our luck holds.”
Takanuva drew one of his blades and warily walked to the edge of the river, glancing down at the flowing water. Tarduk had described how a hand of water emerged and grabbed one of Tarduk’s companions when they got too close, but nothing like that happened here. The only challenge, then, was crossing the river. Takanuva was no Toa of Water, but he could cross the river… assuming it didn’t come to life.
“Look out!”
At Tarduk’s cry, Takanuva turned to see the shocking sight of a rock by the edge of the river transforming into a robotic creature. The creature leapt at him, brandishing shard bladed claws, and Takanuva barely managed to block with his own blade.
The creature vaguely resembled a Bohrok, but more humanoid, with white and blue armor. It was entirely mechanical, with a blank, unreadable face; there was no Krana discernable behind it. Its arms each ended in bladed claws, and it slashed at Takanuva again, forcing the Toa of Light to take a step back in order to dodge, toward the river.
“What is this thing?” he cried.
“I don’t know!” Tarduk replied. “They didn’t attack us before!”
The creature slashed again, and Takanuva was barely able to block. The creature was faster than he was, and before he could react, it slashed with its other arm, its claws raking across his shoulder. He stumbled backwards, closer to the river.
The river – it might be his only hope. Maybe the creature wouldn’t be able to swim, or the water would at least slow it down. Quickly, he turned and dove into the water, swimming away from the shore. After a moment, he risked a glance back, and saw the creature swimming after him. The water had slowed it down, but not enough.
Behind the creature, Takanuva saw Tarduk still standing far from the shoreline. Behind him, one of the trees transformed into another of the robotic creatures. Takanuva expected the creature to attack the Agori, but instead, it ran past the Agori toward the river.
Takanuva remembered what Tarduk had said before, that the creatures hadn’t attacked him or his companions. So why were they attacking the Toa of Light? What was different about him?
“Drop your weapons!”
The cry came from the opposite side of the river, and Takanuva turned to see a figure standing there, their features obscured by a dark brown robe. The stranger carried no weapons that Takanuva could see.
“Trust me!” the figure repeated. “Drop your weapons, and the Baterra will leave you alone.”
Takanuva didn’t know who this person was, but he wasn’t about to discard his weapons because some stranger told him to. But perhaps he could make it seem like he had. Placing his weapons against the surface of the water, he focused his power on the light around them, and they changed color, matching the color of the water. It was far from perfect – any close inspection would reveal that he was still holding something – but it brought the Baterra swimming toward him to an abrupt halt.
Behind him, the stranger spoke again. “Baterra, this being is no longer a threat. Further threats may lie to the south; seek them there.” The two creatures turned and left, disappearing into the jungle.
Takanuva waited until they were gone before dropping the illusion, making his weapons reappear. He turned to the stranger who had saved him. “How did you know how to stop those creatures?” he asked.
“They are programmed to kill anyone wielding a weapon,” the figure said. “Once they no longer recognized your weapons, they no longer saw you as a target. Your Agori companion is not armed, so they ignored him.”
Takanuva thought for a moment. That did make sense, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to trust this stranger. “Who are you?” he said. “And what brings you to this place?”
“The same thing that brought you here, I imagine,” the stranger said. “Perhaps, in return for saving your life, you will show us the way?”
“Us?” Takanuva said. “And just who would I be travelling with?”
“People who held power like yours once,” the figure said. “And we intend to get it back.”
