A Thief's Two Shadows

A Thief's Two Shadows is a story written by Toa Pozico, and is the first story set in the Universe Unalryk Enkari.

Chapter 1
The Onu-Matoran Archivist sat in his office, waiting. He had been sent a message earlier that day that he was to examine an artifact that had been found that very day.

This was often his job, as he was an expert at determining an object's worth, whether by reading about its history, or, should it be harder to recognize, a series of tests checking for types of rare minerals and traces of Elemental Power.

His name was Jeruu. He had worked in the Archives for nearly all of his life, sorting objects, dissecting Rahi, until finally, several years ago, he was given the relatively high rank of Chief Artifact Examiner that he still occupied today. There were other Matoran who also examined objects found by workers in the city of Metru Nui above, but Jeruu was usually sent the objects which seemed more valuable or bizarre.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," said Jeruu. A guard stepped into the room, carrying a small wooden box.

A slight frown creased Jeruu's Kanohi Pakari for a moment. Guards weren't usually sent for something as simple as delivering an artifact. It was usually a trainee Archivist who did that.

The guard stepped towards his desk, placing the wooden box upon it. "I'm to wait outside until you've finished," he said, looking rather annoyed, "how long will this take?"

Jeruu felt confused. Since when did he need a guard at his door?

"It shouldn't be too long," he told the other Matoran, "although it really depends on what I've got to examine."

The guard sighed, and stepped out of the room.

Jeruu had seen many objects of great value or power. Weapons of great Toa, lost when their owner fell to some dark foe, found again by Matoran farmers. Rare Kanohi masks, dented and rusted over the years, but still worth a small fortune. But never before had a guard been sent to protect Jeruu as he worked.

There must be something of the likes he had never seen before in this small, dusty, wooden box.

Jeruu felt excited, sure he was about to see something more magnificent than ever before. His hand trembled slightly as he reached towards the lid of the box. He opened it, and peered inside.

What he saw, sitting at the bottom of the dusty wooden box, was a small, black torch. There was nothing unusual, let alone special about it.

He felt as though he had been let down. Was this some silly joke, thought of by his colleagues, or was there something about this torch that was not apparent at first sight?

He began performing the basic tests, weighing the object, checking for damage that could indicate if the object had seen conflict. After seeing nothing extraordinary, he moved on to more complicated things, such as checking what materials the object was made of.

Here he was surprised. He had never, in all his years, failed to recognize the substance of which the artifact was made. But, oddly, with this torch, he simply had no idea what it could be made of. It felt like metal, but did not feel cold, and it did not seem to shine as metal usually did.

Now Jeruu began to feel excited again. Although he was slightly disappointed that he could still not identify the object's material, he now knew that there was something bizarre about it. When he checked for Elemental Powers, he found that there was something there, but his many tools and instruments could not seem to decide what it was.

He next looked for historical references in his many books about ancient artifacts and long gone buildings, pulling the leather bound volumes, one after another, off his shelf. Not a single one mentioned a mysterious black torch.

He finally came to his very last book, and sighed. He felt that he would find a mention of the torch in there.

This book was probably the oddest in his collection. It was called The Mysteries of Relics from Ages Past, written by a half insane Matoran archaeologist many years ago. It was a pointless book, full of far-fetched stories and ridiculous rumours, and Jeruu had been tempted for some time now to throw it away, never having found a single useful fact inside.

But he could not help having a look for some mention of the torch, however ludicrous it might be. After all, this torch was bizarre, so maybe the book's writer had found some real information about it, being able to believe so many insane rumours.

Jeruu picked up the book, and began skimming through the pages. At last, he found what he was looking for. At the top of a page, there was a rough sketch of a torch, exactly like the one he had been examining. He began to read the text underneath the image.

''Of the many wondrous artifacts in our world, there is none so mysterious as the Black Torch, also known as the Torch of Truth, as it is rumored to reveal the true identy of whatever its light shines upon.

The Torch has been unearthed several times by Matoran, but it usually vanishes within hours of its discovery. There have been sightings of a shadow following the Torch, which, according to the legend, will attempt to join with the torch and possess it, creating a being of terrible power. Several Matoran have also reported seeing a huge, monstrous Rahi, near the time when the Torch was found.''

Jeruu stopped reading, and sighed again. Just the usual rubbish. But there was something odd. If none of this was true about the "Black Torch", why had there been a guard, sent to protect Jeruu while he worked. Was it to protect the Torch, or for another reason.

Jeruu had known for some time that the Head Archivist was becoming greedy and secretive. He had already started keeping the most valuable objects in his private study, and had increased security tenfold.

Payment was now needed to visit the Archives, and there had been a group of Matoran sent to visit other Matoran's dwellings, and convince them to "donate" their treasures to the Archives.

Jeruu wondered if the guard outside his door was to stop him from escaping with the Torch, although he could not see why he would do such a thing.

He decided that he would tell the guard that he wanted to speak to the Head Archivist, and he could tell him what the book had said. He knew nobody would believe him, but he thought he should mention it anyways.

He opened his door and stepped into the hallway, carrying the Torch in one hand.

At first, he could not see the guard anywhere. He stepped forward, stumbled over something lying on the ground. The guards body lay there, unmistakably dead, with a look of terror on his Kanohi.

And, when Jeruu looked up, he saw a shadow, with no source, flickering on the wall.

Chapter 2
Coming Soon...

Matoran

 * Jeruu
 * An Onu-Matoran guard

Trivia
Coming Soon...