Into the Storm

Into the Storm is a short story written by user Echo 1 for the Spring Writing Contest.

Story
Amahain stood on the edge of a cliff, watching as the ships carrying her fellow villagers set off westwards toward the horizon. The suns hung low in the sky, framing the great ships against their twin red forms.

Seagulls called in the dimming sky. She adjusted her armor as the cold night began to fall. Clouds were gathering to the east. The first, harsh storm of spring was beginning to brew further inland. A crack of thunder sounded in the evening.

She grabbed her gold Kanohi Hau and placed it back over her face and turned towards the storm. Blue-white lightning flashed against the clouds. She began the long walk down the stone staircase that framed the mountain, heading inland towards her home village.

The walk down the mountain was a long one. She pulled a scarf over her mouth as winds began to pick up. Her armor began to pinch the flat area on her left shoulder where her arm had once long ago been. She pulled at it, relieving the pain.

The clouds were overhead now, their grey forms blackening the dusk sky. A purple streak of lightning lashed against the dark, quickly followed by a tremendous roar of thunder. Amahain shuddered as the rain began to fall. First it was only a drizzle, but the water quickly began to fall in heavy, grey sheets. Her brown and gold armor was quickly soaked by the storm.

She reached the bottom of the carved stairs and stepped down on to the grassy trail, heading towards her village. The town was in ruins. The small wooden huts where her friends had once lived in were destroyed. Some of the dwellings were aflame, casting harsh orange lights in the darkness. The nearby mountains now silently mourned the village.

The female Toa silently thanked Mata Nui that her friends had left on the boats. She prayed they would make it to safety. The bioquake that had totaled the village had been enough. Why did he have to come here as well?

The sound of something moving in the wreckage emanated from her left. Amahain whirled like a zephyr, drawing her blade. She sent a blast of raw elemental energy hurdling in the direction of the noise. A moment later, the screech of an injured Rahkshi sounded from the dark. The hideous creature, clad in blue armor, emerged from one of the ruined huts, a smoldering wound on its left leg. The beast’s piercing orange eyes fell on Amahain. She stared back, expressionless. Fearless.

The Rahkshi’s helm opened, revealing the hideous kraata within. It let out a piercing screech and charged, energy crackling along the staff it held. Amahain dodged it and delivered a strike to its back. The Rahkshi growled and responded with a blow to her gut, sending the Toa flying. She landed in pile of rubble. The blue-armored Rahkshi approached her, raising its staff above her head.

With an impressive amount of willpower, Amahain sent a rock flying at the monster with her elemental powers. The boulder connected with the Rahkshi’s skullcasing, rendering it unconscious.

The female Toa of Stone stood up and continued walking. She eventually reached the main street that ran through the village’s center. There, she stopped, staring into the pouring rain. Winds howled, blowing her cape behind her. She pulled the scarf further onto her face and waited. Rain pattered against her mask, but the Toa did not flinch.

A terrifying, lonely howl emanated from the rain in front of her. Eventually, a being emerged. He was massive, easily four masks taller than Amahain, and clad in thorny, white and red armor. He wore a long, spiked Kanohi mask and held no weapons. Two massive, equally spiked wings extended from his back. The being regarded her with two red eyes, filled with a mixture of malice and pity. Her protector turned executioner. The Makuta of her home.

Amahain had so many questions she wanted to ask. Why did he have to attack? What had happened to the world? Why had the other Toa been killed? Another blast of thunder sounded. Amahain raised her blade. She could hear the howls of Rahkshi begin to sound from the mountains around her.

She glared at the Makuta with her harsh green eyes. Hate towards this being began to storm within her, mirroring the tempest around her. With a feral roar, filled with the rage against this being for destroying her people, her home, and even the lives of some of her friends, she charged the Makuta. Krika, Makuta of the Northern Continent, opened his palms, which crackled and sparked with chain lightning.

Amahain held her sword forward and straight, ready to plunge it into the Makuta’s gut. Thunder sounded, lighting flashed, and rain fell as the Toa of Stone charged towards her doom.

Trivia

 * The story was originally inspired by the song Into the West from The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The opening scene is based on the song's lyrics.
 * The story is non-canon to Echo 1's storyline.
 * The Krika that appears is in a pre-mutation form, and is thus based on what Echo 1 believed he may have looked like prior to being transformed by the Karda Nui swamp.