Towards No End

[Pahrak Model ZX]

Sunlight poured into the jungle, finding its way to the orange and white Toa carefully pushing aside branches and bushes.  His armor was of a strange design, and the Mask of Emulation he wore was soft and organic-looking, almost as if it were alive.  Strapped to his back was a large, round, orange shield with concentric white circles along its surface.

 

He stepped forward into the clearing and saw a large object rising like a cliff face above him.  It was covered in moss, so it was hard to identify from a distance.  As he came closer, though, he could see the gleam of metal beneath it.

 

Finally.

 

Sukahu began to scrape the moss away.  He was a bit eager after spending so many weeks wandering across Bara Magna, but he quickly reminded himself that he had to be as careful as possible.  Once he had cleaned an area about his height, he pushed against the metal, testing how sturdy it was.  He kicked it once and sighed.  Kneeling, he pointed two fingers at one corner and clenched his teeth.  A thin, short beam of lightning extended from his extremities, producing heat that he could feel even from arm’s length, and pierced through the metal like it was nothing.  Sukahu slowly drew his arm up, then over, then down, before quickly deactivating his power and kicking the plate of metal inward.

 

A long hallway was visible, but its end was shrouded in complete darkness.  Sukahu drew his shield as he advanced.  With a mental command, the circles on the surface of the Neon Rondache lit up, allowing him to press further into the ruins.  A rustling sound reached his ear—he spun around, but there was nothing.

 

I suppose it was the wind…

 

He continued onward.  The walls were lined with ancient-looking screens and dials, most of them cracked and crumbling, some hanging on only by a few tight wires.  Eventually the hall ended in a staircase, which he ascended to the highest available level.  The room he came to was somewhat cramped and had a curved console on the far end.

 

This has to be it.

 

Angling his shield towards the floor, he surveyed the room, and from the corner of one eye he saw the light reflecting off something.  He turned and moved closer.  Lying on the floor was a weapon.  From its handle it split into two branches that curved out and then upward, and the inner tip of one branch then curved inward towards the middle of the weapon before curving out and rising into a long blade.  Sukahu’s jaw dropped.

 

It’s really here…the Sword of the Great Spirit…!

 

The Toa stepped towards the Sword, when suddenly something struck him in the back and launched him into the console.  He slumped onto the floor and shook his head, barely looking up in time to raise his shield against another attack.

 

“You have done well…but your journey has ended…”

 

The voice was a coarse whisper Sukahu could only just hear.  He looked up at the being it belonged to: a tall warrior made completely of sand, his body molded into the shape of armor and spikes lining the edges of his head.  His face was completely smooth save for two glowing orange eyes.  Clouds of sand circulated around his body, waiting at his command to resume their assault.

 

“Who are you?” Sukahu asked.

 

“I am one of those chosen by the Great Beings to embody the Elements.  Eons ago, I led the tribe of Sand in the Core War, only to be thwarted at every turn by not only my brothers, but the very planet itself.”

 

Sukahu thought back to the old legends.  “…You are an Element Lord?”

 

“I am the Lord of Sand.  Now that you have unsealed this place, I have come to claim the Sword of the Great Spirit for my own.”

 

Sukahu got to his feet, being sure to keep his shield forward.  “Ah.  You want its power.  Do the Element Lords struggle still to this day?”

 

The Sand Lord stood as still as a statue as he watched.  “On and on, throughout the years, until the end of time if a victor cannot be named.  The forces of nature are ever at war.  None can ever overtake the others, if left with their own ability.”

 

“And you think the Sword will allow you to upset that balance?”

 

“You must also know the legends.  Rumors that this Sword is imbued with the power of Life.  With such a power, the Vorox could be transformed into the ultimate army, and we could lay waste to the other Element Lords.  Our long war would finally, finally, be over.”

 

“And then what?”

 

“Nothing.  Nothing at all…finally, a long, eternal rest at the end of the endless struggle.”

 

Sukahu paused.  “I can’t let you take that Sword.”

 

The sands around the Lord began to swirl faster.  “I do not expect you to let me.  I know not why you crave the power of Life, but it is of no concern.  I will not miss the opportunity to finally end this.”

 

The Sand Lord slowly raised one hand.  Before he could react, Sukahu’s Kanohi flashed, and the sand suddenly compressed around its master, forming into bindings that dragged him back towards the stairwell.  Sukahu lunged towards the Sword and scooped it up.  The Sand Lord reasserted his control and sent the sand towards the Toa, but Sukahu activated his mask again, bringing the sand to a halt.  He could feel the will of the Sand Lord fighting against his own, but he held firm—he had finally found the cure he had wanted so long, and his willpower had never been stronger.

 

The stalemate dragged on for what felt like hours, Sukahu clutching the Sword and his shield while he and the Lord of Sand stared each other down, an army of confused sand particles hovering in the space between them ready to kill one commander as soon as the other wavered.  When the silence was finally broken, Sukahu was too focused to understand the question posed to him, so the Sand Lord repeated it.

 

“Why do you not simply end it?”

 

“I’m trying to.”

 

“I saw you enter this place.  Your powers could destroy me, and yet you instead turn my own against me.”

 

“…Toa don’t kill unless there’s no choice.”

 

“I am not giving you a choice.  You must kill me, or I will kill you.  Do you not value your life?  Do you not value the Sword, or what you intend to do with it?”

 

Sukahu grunted.  “I have important plans for this Sword, don’t you worry.  But I…it’s none of your business why I’m not using my powers.”

 

The Sand Lord stared at him.  Suddenly, he relinquished his hold on the sand, and it turned back upon him, punching a hole in the side of his torso.  Sukahu stumbled back in surprise.

 

“Was it the distraction?  Now you have been freed from it.  Take this opportunity to kill me, or I will kill you, and you will never get the chance to use the Sword.”

 

Sukahu looked at the Sword.  He started to raise his hand, but then he shook his head.

 

“Your plans must not be that important after all.”

 

“Shut up!  You have no idea what my plans are!”

 

“True.  But you have made me curious.  What reason is so important, yet not important enough to use your power for?”

 

Sukahu glared at the Sand Lord for a long time.  He then grabbed the Sword with both hands, locked his eyes on it, and shouted, “Sword of the Great Spirit!  Unleash your energies now—grant me what I desire!”

 

He closed his eyes.  After a few seconds, he opened them.  He felt no different at all.

 

“…What?  Activate!”

 

Nothing happened.  He tried channeling his thoughts into it like a Toa Tool, and yet still, nothing happened.  It felt like a simple tool—empty, possessing no powers whatsoever.

 

“No…no, this can’t be…”

 

He dropped the blade and fell to his knees.  “The legends were wrong?  It…doesn’t have the power of Life?”

 

The Sand Lord shouted.  His sand wrapped around the Sword and carried it towards him, and after holding it in his hands a moment, he threw it against the wall.

 

Sukahu looked at his hand, features twisted with rage.  “So what, then?  I’m stuck with this curse forever?  There’s no way for any of us to become normal?!  No way for me to escape this wretched destructiveness?!”

 

He punched the floor, screaming.  The Sand Lord watched him, still silent, his sand now lying in a motionless heap.

 

“…Are you going to kill me now?” Sukahu asked.

 

“Killing you would not end my struggle…but, would it end yours?”

 

Sukahu looked up into the Sand Lord’s eerie eyes.

 

Eventually, he stood up.

 

“I need to return to New Atero,” he muttered.  “If I don’t go back, then another Toa might come out here…it’s better they know now that this won’t work.”

 

The Sand Lord turned and left.  Sukahu walked over to the Sword and, reluctantly, picked it up.  Then he too made his way back outside.