Guardian (Story)

Guardian is a short story regarding the summoning of the Toa in the Temple of Time.

Story
The Temple of Time stood on an island a day’s boat ride south of Okoto. The island had no name, for the only thing of interest on it was the Temple. Only a select few knew how to find it. Some speculated you couldn’t find it unless you were told where it was, but no evidence had been found to prove this theory.

On the other hand, nothing had ever been found to disprove it either.

The Temple itself was an odd structure. Two walls stood parallel to each other, towering over the rest of the island. A massive pendulum was swinging back and forth between the walls, an impressive bronze construct the likes of which Okoto had never seen. Impressive though this was, the important part of the Temple was nestled between the two walls underneath the pendulum, out of site from prying eyes.

Tonight the Temple had guests. Six cloaked figures, each about four and a half feet tall, approached the Temple slowly and reverently. Their movements were calm and measured, but there was an urgency to their every step.

The six reached the base of the structure, perring between the walls down into the Temple. A stone staircase led down to a floor that ran between the walls to another staircase on the opposite side. In the middle of the floor rose a circular dais, decorated with rings of ancient runes that ran along its side. Two more staircases rose up its the short sides, providing a way to ascend to the top.

The six entered the Temple in silence. They approached the dais with a measured pace, stopping at the top of the stairs.

In the middle of the circular platform stood a figure clad in gold and silver armor. He was no taller than any of the six visitors, and yet he radiated power and strength that dwarfed them. In his right had he held a sword, in his left, a scepter.

The six swear he had not been there a moment before.

For a moment no one spoke. The visitors stared at this mighty figure from under their hoods. He stared back at them, unmoving.

Then the first of the six visitors stepped forward. He pushed back his hood to reveal a mask that burned with the fires from which it had been forged. His eyes blazed with a fiery determination as he began to speak.

“Who are you?” he asked the golden armored being, his voice echoing between the walls.

“I am Umbra, Protector of Time and Guardian of its Temple.” Umbra’s voice boomed like a thunderclap, and one of the visitors raised his hands to cover his ears.

“The legends made no mention of any Guardian,” the fiery one said.

“As I wished it to be,” Umbra said.

The fiery one turned to his companions and conversed with them in hushed tones for several moments for addressing Umbra again.

“We are the Protectors of Okoto, and we have come to-”

Umbra cut him off. “'''I know who you are and why you have come. Your errand is an ignorant one. You have not considered the consequences your actions will bring.'''”

A second of the visitors pulled back his hood and stepped forward. His mask was as solid and his resolve as steadfast as the bedrock upon which the Temple was constructed.

“And what do you know of such things?” he asked. “If you guard the Temple then you have never been to Okoto! You know nothing of our plight!”

“'''I see all that is past and that which might yet come,” Umbra boomed. “There are few possibilities that do not end in death.'''”

The fiery visitor raised a hand to silence his companion. “We will do what we must, Guardian.”

Umbra bowed his head in concession. “I cannot stop you,” he said. “'''Mine is not to interfere with what is to come. But one day, when you see what destruction has been wrought upon your land, you will remember this day and that I warned you that day would come.'''”

Then he was gone, vanished into thin air. His words hung ominously in the air as the six Protectors removed their hoods and took their places along the edges of the dais. In unison they lifted their arms and released a stream of elemental energy. The six energies filled the crystal in the center of their circle, then blasted up into the sky as one beam.

From atop the Temple’s walls Umbra watched in silence. The deed was done. Toa had been summoned from the beyond, and they would be the heralds of what would follow, be it victory or desolation. They would decide Okoto’s fate.

As the night fell away to dawn, Umbra prayed history would not repeat itself.

Characters

 * Umbra
 * Protector of Fire
 * Protector of Stone
 * Protector of Water (Not mentioned by name)
 * Protector of Air (Not mentioned by name)
 * Protector of Earth (Not mentioned by name)
 * Protector of Ice (Not mentioned by name)

Trivia

 * considers Guardian to be a weaker story than New and is less pleased with its final version.