Hearts of Heroes

Hearts of Heroes is a story series that chronicles the constant stuggles of two Matoran: Gravak and Distrex.

Chapter One
'1,300 years ago…'

As the Le-Matoran known as Gravak struggled against his captor’s grip, only one though echoed through his mind:

How could this have happened?!''

''

He struggled to remember how he had ended up in this situation.

He had been employed by a Toa of Plant Life to spy on the activities of the Brotherhood of Makuta. The Le-Matoran had been observing them for a few months when he was finally discovered by a Makuta named Kylla. While she had been commanded to execute the Matoran, Gravak had learned enough about Kylla to know she never made things that easy.

She would most certainly go out of her way to make Gravak’s life as miserable as possible.

Now, she was winging her way to an island south of Metru Nui with the struggling Matoran in tow.

“Let go of me, you witch!” demanded Gravak as he made a futile attempt to break Kylla’s grip.

The female Makuta simply chuckled. Matoran were so pathetic when they tried to sound tough. “Don’t fret, little Matoran.” Kylla replied as she pointed to the island below. “Our time together is almost at an end.”

The Matoran stopped struggling long enough to take a look. They were descending toward a bowl-shaped canyon in the center of the island. Dotting the canyon were what appeared to be forges and furnaces, while in the center was a huge, crumbling fortress. Scurrying this way and that were Matoran… but not like any Matoran Gravak had ever seen. They had smaller, weaker bodies, and were wearing Kanohi with designs he had never seen before. Swarming the walls of the canyon were giant, crab-like creatures.

“What is this place?” Gravak asked with a mixture of awe and fear in his voice.

“A place you will never leave alive.” Kylla replied as she landed on a ledge. She then smiled and said, “Welcome to Karzahni, Matoran.”

Gravak gasped. He had heard horrible tales of the realm of Karzahni. It was said to be a legendary place of death and torment no Matoran ever left alive.

“I bid you farwell, Matoran.” the Makuta said as she released her grip on the Matoran. Gravak dropped like a stone. Before he could hit the ground, however, Gravak felt his speed decrease to a safer level. He still hit the ground hard, but not hard enough to cause serious injury.

The Le-Matoran lifted his head just in time to see Kylla give a slight chuckle before vanishing from view, via her power of teleportation.

“Well, well, well.” came a voice. Gravak got to his feet and whirled around to see a black-armored Matoran standing a few yards away. He was similar to the other Matoran who were gathering around Gravak, but didn’t have the same look of fear and resign in his eyes. Instead, his scarlet eyes gleamed with menace and a small hint of madness.

“Who are you?” asked Gravak.

The black Matoran gave a sinister chuckle. “The name’s Distrex.” the Matoran replied “Now, let me be the first to welcome you to Karzahni. Oh, have you met this land’s ruler? I’m sure you would like him. He has a very… interesting personality.”

To be continued…

Characters

 * Gravak


 * Kylla


 * Several Matoran of Karzahni


 * Distrex


 * Several Manas

Trivia

 * Both Gravak and Distrex's names were suggested by a member of YouTube.com known as Kualos337.