Chapter 1: Prophecy of Heroes
On the mythical island of Okoto, ancient Masks of Power were hidden away for only the strongest to find and claim. But, evil was rising, growing stronger by the minute, searching for the Masks.
The Region of Stone, thousands of years ago.
The island had begun to shake and crumble. A shockwave had then rolled across Okoto, turning the skies sour, and rain began to pour down. As they ran, they could still hear the echo of the shockwave, like a giant had clapped his hands together.
The Protectors of the time ran to where they had heard the blast come from. Their weapons clanging and their feet thumping against the ground. They came to a giant crater in the ground, and they saw the nearly lifeless body of Ekimu laying in the center of it, no Mask on his face, no movement.
There was, however, a voice. It was like a whisper, and it was coming from Ekimu. How this was possible, they did not know, but they listened, they listened to his words…
After they heard Ekimu cease to speak, the Protector of Water of that time spoke. “We need to bury him. But we have to do it in the City.”
The Protectors nodded in agreement.
They climbed down into and crater and lifted Ekimu and carried him out of the hole in the ground. They traveled through Okoto for several hours, eventually coming to the ancient city of Okoto, the City of the Mask Makers. The bridge to the city had been damaged by the shockwave, and the villagers had been evacuated. The city had become unstable, and was not safe for them. The ground had been soaked by the heavy rainfall just hours ago, making it even more dangerous to cross into the city.
“Alright, we’re going to need to be careful here,” the Protector of Earth from that time said.
They began to walk across the bridge slowly and steadily. They made sure to take small steps to prevent themselves from slipping and falling to their deaths. After what seemed like hours, they finally made it across the bridge and into the city. They carried him towards a graveyard.
The rest of the city was like a ghost town, with buildings broken and their fragments scattered everywhere.
They came into the graveyard, which looked like a place where evil hid. They came to a large mausoleum with a sculpture of the Mask of Creation over it. They pulled the door open and carried the unconscious Mask Maker inside. They brought him in and the end of the building laid a golden sarcophagus that was craved loosely in the shape of the Mask Maker, retaining the obvious shape of the Mask of Creation.
The Protector of Fire of that time went over to the casket and slid the lid off. The other Protectors hoisted Ekimu’s body into the coffin and stared at their former leader. The Protector of Jungle of that time went over to a carving on the wall that was shaped like one of their Elemental Masks that had been handed down to them from their fathers and from their fathers before them. The Protector pushed the carving inwards, revealing a secret hatch.
The carving lifted itself out of the way and revealed a blended gold and blue Mask just like the one of the carving. The Protector took out the Mask and walked over to the open casket, and the Protectors stood on either side of the the sarcophagus. The Protector of Jungle held the Mask above the Mask Maker’s face. The Protector of Stone from that time reached out and grabbed the other side of the Mask, and together they placed the Mask on Ekimu’s face.
The Protector of Fire pressed a carving-shaped button on the casket the the lid slide closed, their Mask Maker being laid to rest.
As they left the city that had once been the home of the two Mask Makers: Makuta and Ekimu and various Islanders. The Protectors looked back at their city as they stepped off the damaged bridge, several emotions flooding them.
But they remembered what Ekimu had spoken to them, the Prophecy of Heroes, and passed it down to their children, as a beacon of hope for them.
As a light in the dark.
Okoto, present day.
Lava bubbled and burped in the Region of Fire. Hot air ascended from the flames and up through the houses in the village. They had built their houses above the lake of lava, along with pretty much everything else. The houses themselves were built into the large rocks that jutted out from the ground. Nobody knew why, but the Fire Tribe Villagers ‘‘loved’’ being next to boiling lava.
The Protector of Fire looked down over the village, his blue eyes watching for any Skull Spiders that would attack their village. They had invaded the island in search of the three Legendary Masks of Power; the Mask of Control, the Mask of Ultimate Power, and the Mask of Creation.
Black clouds covered the skies above the Region, most of them caused by the three massive volcanoes that inhabited the island. The eruptions of these volcanoes shook the whole island, and even caused evacuations of villages if the lava flowed close enough.
The Protector hopped down from his perch and onto a bridge that spanned over over the lake of lava. Villagers who were walking on the bridge turned at his sudden arrival and he nodded to them and they kept walking.
He looked and saw his son running towards him, his blue eyes glowing bright. Narmoto, the Protector of Fire, knelt down to meet his son, embracing him in a hug. With the threat of Skull Spiders, he could barely get home at night. He often spent the nights either in the watch tower or just staying up all night, which wasn’t good for him. For now, it was good to be reunited with his family.
“Are there any Skull Spiders going to attack, father?”
“Not that I know of, my son, but they will come.”
Worry filled his son’s eyes. Narmoto saw this and comforted his son.
“Do not worry, my son. You are strong, you are brave, and you are loyal to your land. You will someday, after I pass from this world, make an excellent Protector. But for now, you must protect your mother from these beasts-.”
He was cut off by the sound several villagers screaming. He turned to see many villagers running in their direction, and behind them were about six dozen green Skull Spiders. The Protector stood up and said to his son.
“Get back to the house and protect your mother. I will get rid of these monsters.” His son looked up at him, fear over him. “Don’t worry, my son, I will push them back into the dark from which they came.”
His son turned and ran with the other villagers and towards his house, glancing back at his father as he ran. The Protector turned back towards the Skull Spiders. His Elemental Fire Blaster came from his back and rested on his shoulder. He ignited his two Flame Swords. As the Spiders got closer, Narmoto’s blaster began to spin. He smiled and unleashed hell upon the beasts.
The red beams of Fire energy destroyed the Skull Spiders, blasting them off of the bridge and into the lava below their feet. A few Skull Spiders survived his blasts and jumped at the Protector. He lifted his twin Flame Sword and knocked the Spiders away, leaving burn marks on their backs.
He turned to see Skull Spiders all over the village, looking for the Masks again. They kept raiding this village in search of the three Masks, every time they failed in their quest. He saw Skull Spiders crawling on his home. A rage suddenly filled him.
“The Masks of Power you seek are not here, Lord of Skull Spiders! Would the Protectors of Old be stupid enough to hide the most powerful Masks on Okoto in one of their villages? That would be putting their people in harm’s way. Now leave, you wretched beast!”
The Spiders turned to look at him, their red eyes glowing brightly. Far across Okoto, six eyes watched the Protector through a Golden Mask. It gritted its teeth in anger and ordered the Skull Spiders to abandon the village, because deep down, it knew that the Masks of Power were not there.
Narmoto watched as the Spiders abandoned the village, leaving the Islanders unharmed. The villagers came out from their huts and looked around the village. His son ran over to him and gave him another hug. He looked and saw his wife coming towards him as well. Together they embraced as a family, but it was not to last.
“I’m sorry, my wife, but I need to leave again. I need to gather the other Protectors and we must summon the heroes.”
“Do you what you have to do to rid our island of these beasts, Narmoto.”
“Thank you, my love.”
He turned towards the villagers.
“I need five volunteers to go and send word to the other Protectors to gather at the Temple of Time.”
After a lot of glances and murmurs, five villagers stepped out from the crowd.
“Good. Tell the Protectors that the time to summon the heroes and awaken the Mask Maker has come.”
The five villagers then left that place in search of the other five Protectors of Okoto to tell them that it was time to summon the Toa…
The young villager walked through one of the several villages in the Region of Stone. He looked around at the other villagers who looked slightly worried. He didn’t know why, but his guess was that it was related to those big blue scorpions that came to the village and made everyone run in fear. But not him, when he grew up, he wanted to be like his father, who protected the village when they came.
His father was walking beside him, holding his hand. He looked at his father’s Elemental Mask of Power, which was different from the other villager’s masks, because it had lime on it. It was very pretty, and he had always wanted to wear it someday.
But the duty of a Protector was a heavy burden and tough job. The battles were fierce and dangerous. He had seen his father fight, and he always had nightmares of his father fighting, and never coming back home to him.
He didn’t like to think about this, so he cast his young mind to other things. He looked around and saw something move fast out of the corner of his eye. He looked around and saw nothing. Again, he saw something move out of the corner of his eye, and when he looked, he saw nothing.
He tugged at his father’s robes, concern engulfing him. “Dad… I think I saw something-.” He couldn’t finish his sentence. A flash of navy blue soared through the air at the young villager. The youngling brought his hands up to cover his face and waited for impact.
Which never came.
In its place was a flash of bright light, the scream of a Skull Spider, and it falling to the ground. The young villager uncovered his face and saw that his father had removed his robe and was standing with his Sandstone Blaster in hand. He looked down at his son.
“Get out of here. Get ‘‘everyone’’ out of here.”
“Yes sir!” His son ran and gathered other villagers and got them inside the buildings. The village went from an inhabited place to a ghost town.
He scanned his surroundings, waiting for another Skull Spider to pounce. The current Protector of Stone was ready to once again defend his home and his villagers.
“Alright, you spiders! I am the Protector of Stone, and this is my home,” he said with confidence. He heard the hissing of a few Skull Spiders.
“These are my people, and I will protect them even if it means giving up my life for them. Now go back to whatever hell you emerged from!”
The Protector stood in the middle of the street for some time, waiting for either the Spiders to attack or to simply flee. After moments of listening to the wind howl through the desert, the Skull Spiders attacked.
The first of the pests came flying at his face, obviously trying to take him over. The Protector knocked the spider away into the sand. Another spider came flying at the Protector of Stone and he fired a blast of Stone at it and made it fly back about thirty yards. Several Skull Spiders came out of hiding and gathered about fifteen feet from the Protector.
“Right, I’ll give you one more chance. Get out of my village… ‘‘now’’.”
The Skull Spiders hissed again and jumped at the Protector. He was able to fend off the first few Skull Spiders, but it became too much for the older Protector. He tried to knock them away with his staff, but they began to cover him. They tackled him to the ground and consumed him, not a part of the Protector to be seen.
His son looked out the window of his hut to see his father consumed by the Spiders.
“NO!” He screamed. The Spiders looked up to the hut and saw the villager. One of the dark blue spiders screamed and the others who weren’t attacking the Protector were about to invade the house when a massive amount of sand began swirling around them. The foul beasts looked at the sand, their tiny minds puzzled.
After a few moments of the sand swirling magically in the air, a huge blast erupting from underneath the Skull Spiders that consumed his father. A bright light shone for a minute or two and then faded to reveal all the Skull Spiders laying unconscious on the ground, and his father standing victoriously above them, the ends of his Sandstone Blaster glowing brightly.
“I warned you.” He muttered to himself.
The villagers came out from their houses and gathered around the Protector. Some were congratulating him, others were thanking him, and some just remained silent, in awe of what their Protector had done. He looked around at the villagers and smiled, but that smile quickly faded as he realized that this was just a minor victory in the war against the Skull Spiders, a ‘‘very’’ small victory.
His son came up to him from the crowd and said to him: “What will you do now, father?”
“I don’t know, Ralack. I’m waiting for Narmoto, the Protector of Fire’s word-.” He was stopped by the arrival of a villager from the Region of Fire who cut through the crowd and came up to the Protector.
“Nilkuu, Protector of Stone! The Protector of Fire has summoned you and the other Protectors to the Temple of Time to use the Prophecy of Heroes!”
“Thank you…?”
“Helos, sir.”
“Thank you, Helos. You can rest here from your journey.” Nilkuu said as he put his weapon on his back and walked through the crowd towards the end of the village. As he walked his son came running up to him. They both stopped and looked at each other. The wise Protector saw what his son’s eyes held: worry and fear.
The Protector smiled. “I’ll come back. I will always come back to you.” He said and walked out of the village to the Temple of Time.
The Region of Water.
The dark clouds overhead promised rain. The mossy ground squished underneath his feet. Nothing had been the same since the fall of Ekimu, the Mask Maker, their wise leader. And it wasn’t the fact that they didn’t have new replacement Masks for ones that broke. It was they didn’t have his leadership, his ever-so-wise judgment. He was a beacon when times were dark, acting as a light in the shadows.
He stopped when he heard a sound to his left. Any other day he would just a assume it was a child playing, but now he knew for a ‘‘fact’’ that it wasn’t a child.
It was a Skull Spider.
The nasty little beast jumped out from behind a small slope and attacked the Protector of Water. The new Protector rolled out of the way of the Skull Spider. He landed and grabbed his Elemental Torpedo Blaster and located the Skull Spider. Firing several blasts of condensed Water at the beast, it managed to dodge a few of them, but got hit by the fourth one and was sent flying backwards, hitting a rock and being knocked out.
He waited a moment for any sign of another Skull Spider. For a while nothing happened, but about two dozen Skull Spiders jumped out of nowhere and approached him. The Protector lifted his weapon and fired at the Skull Spiders, hitting several of them. But they jumped at the Protector and he nearly dodged them before they got onto his face and took control of him.
The Protector dove into the water and towards the bottom. He landed on the ocean floor and looked up at the surface of the water. For several moments nothing happened. But then, the Skull Spiders jumped into the water after him and descended towards Kivoda. He opened fire on them again and hit several of them, their limp bodies floating to the surface.
He thought he was going to win this battle, but he spoke too soon because about four dozen of the creatures rose from under the ocean floor behind him and came at the Protector. The instant he saw them he knew that he couldn’t fight them off. All he could do was run, or more accurately; swim.
He activated the twin yellow turbines on his shoulders and the propellers spun around and around, propelling him forward just as the Skull Spiders got to him. The Protector of Water cut through the silver Skull Spiders and went through the water towards the closest village. Skull Spiders usually distracted the region’s Protector and then attacked the closest village.
An interesting tactic, yes, but not for their side.
A trail of bubbles were left by his turbines as they twirled around. He looked back as he sped through the waters of the Region to see about four dozen of the gunmetal-silver Skull Spiders chasing him. He fired a few stray projectiles from his blaster back at the spiders, but it was no use because the Skull Spiders just dodged the attack.
The wise Protector saw land up ahead and knew that he was close to a village. Just as he was about to hit the land, he jumped out of the water and onto the mossy ground. He glanced down and saw that a few of the Skull Spiders had hit the land and were knocked down. As he saw the rest of the Spiders ascending towards him, he quickly ran towards the village as fast as he legs could carry him. He was fortunate that his turbines were virtually weightless.
He saw a village begin to come into view, and he ran faster. Skull Spiders began to jump at him from behind. They were fast little beasts. He entered the village and looked around. All the villagers halted what they had been doing and looked at the Protector.
“Hide, now! They’re coming!” The Protector yelled to them.
They all glanced at each other and quickly ran into their homes. This was one of the few above-ground villages in the Region. Their houses, however, had a section that was consumed by water, and allowed them to go into the sea below their feet.
Once the villagers had cleared, the Protector pulled out his Elemental Torpedo Blaster again and turned to fire upon the Skull Spiders. He knocked a few away, but they dodged his attacks again. One jumped right at him and he launched one of his two torpedoes. It cut straight through the little beast, killing it instantly.
The Spiders began to overwhelm the Protector, surrounding him. He fired some more blasts but his weapon ran out of ammo. His eyes suddenly filled with fear as the Spiders were about to jump at him. But suddenly all their eyes flashed red and it seemed like they were in a trance. He looked around, trying to figure out what was happening.
They then snapped out of the trace and left the village, not even knocking over the food stands. The villagers slowly came out of their homes as the Spiders left. A child villager walked up to the Protector.
“Why are they leaving?”
“I think their master, the Lord of Skull Spiders, called them away. Why? I don’t know.”
A Fire Tribe villager came into the village and ran up to the Protector of Water.
“Kivoda, the Protector of Water! Narmoto, the Protector of Fire has summoned you to the Temple of Time.”
“It’s about time, too. Thank you. Stay hidden, stay safe.” The Protector said and he walked away from the village. He jumped into the water and swam towards the Region of Jungle.
Hopefully he didn’t run into any more water-dwellers along the way.
Wind rustled the leaves of the tall trees in the Region of Jungle. Long vines reached down to the forest floor and some into the swampy waters of the region. The young villagers walked through the forest, sticks in hand. They were explorers, walking in their ancestor’s footsteps. A lot of Okoto had been explored in the past, but they were heading for the unexplored swamps that divided the Region of Jungle from the Region of Water.
They knew the swamps were dangerous, but they wanted to explore their homeland, and maybe make a safer route for travel between the Regions that was now hard to have.
As they left the woodlands they came into a large field, tall grass consuming it. The grass was taller than any of the five villagers and they would surely get lost in there, either that or get possessed by a Skull Spider, ‘‘or both’’. One of the five grabbed a blade off his back, a farming tool, and began to cut down the grass, making a way for the others.
The stomped down the grass to the ground as they walked. The other four were tense and had their weapons ready to fend off any Skull Spiders that wanted to jump out at them. After several minutes of walking through the tall, dense grass, they finally made it out the other side and were met by the outskirts of a swamp.
Now that the easy part was over, came the hard part. There were various insects, creatures and deadly plants in there. And that was just the first forty feet in. There had been explorers in the past, but they didn’t make it very far, and very few of them came back out.
Admittedly, they were taking a huge risk by going into these swamps, but for the past few thousand years after Ekimu’s fall, the bonds between the villagers had been falling apart and better connecting them would help their broken relations repair. The only real force keeping the villages together were the Protectors. But as the rise of the next generation of Protectors grew closer, the villages grew even further apart. Balance had to be restored.
They were ready to enter the swamp when they heard something behind them. They turned with their weapons at the ready. The young villagers’ eyes surveyed the area, watching for any movement. For several moments they heard nothing, but they heard the sound of a twig snap, the screeching of a Skull Spider, and then the scream of one of the villagers as the Skull Spider latched itself onto his face.
The others tried to stab the Spider with their spears, trying to kill it before it possessed their friend. But before they could get a clean shot, several more, about six, Skull Spiders jumped from the trees and surrounded the villagers, their pincers snapping open and close, drool foaming at their mouths.
The beasts closed in on the villagers, their end drawing nearer. Their friend was also walking towards them, weapon in hand and controlled by a Skull Spider. The villagers closed their eyes and waited for the Skull Spiders to attack.
Nothing happened.
They suddenly heard the sound of energy being discharged from a weapon, and green flashes through their eyelids. They opened their eyes and saw that several of the Skull Spiders were now laying on the ground, unconscious. One of the villagers looked up and saw hanging on the large trunk of the tree, Vizuna, the Protector of Jungle.
The Protector jumped down and a Skull Spider jumped at him. He knocked the Spider away with one of the flames on the side of his Elemental Flame Bow and burned it. The possessed villager ran at the Protector and swung at him, and the Protector nearly dodged it.
The Skull Spider had probably only been on the villager for about a minute, so that meant it was going to be fairly easy to knock off. But the hard part was trying not to harm the villager in the process. The villager lunged at Vizuna with his staff again, chipping off a piece of the Protector’s armor. The Protector readied his weapon and aimed at the Skull Spider on the child’s face. His weapon was extremely accurate. All he needed to do was shoot.
The villager charged at him with the staff in hand. The Protector pulled back on his weapon, it glowing brightly. He let go and a neon beam of energy flew through the air and hit the Skull Spider in the center of it’s face. The child fell backwards and hit the ground hard, the Skull Spider getting launched off his face and into the air. The Protector quickly fired another blast of Air at the Spider, launching it backwards into a pool of swamp water. Bubbles formed as it sank below the surface, never to be seen again.
The Protector came over to the villager and helped him up, the child holding his head with his hand.
“I am never doing that again… ‘‘ever’’…”
“It’s okay, little one. I’m sure none of us want that.”
“So what now?” one of the villagers asked the Protector.
Vizuna turned towards them. “I believe it’s time to summon the heroes.”
The Protector of Jungle began to walk there, and the villagers followed at a distance. The Protector figured Narmoto, the Protector of Fire, would probably have sent a messenger to find him and tell him to assemble at the Temple of Time.
By now Narmoto should know I don’t need messengers. the Protector smiled as he headed towards the Temple.
