Shattering

Shattering is the fifth story in the Xaterex Multiverse Storyline.

Prologue
Six months earlier...

The massive Spire at the heart of Drakos Capitol that served both dually as a prison and a military base was a typical example of ordinary Ix infrastructure: simple, and practically built, yet with hidden layers of complexity. Nightwatcher's green eyes surveyed the chambers, knowing that here he would be able to claim his reward for the Glatorian Elementalist he'd captured.

The Ix high command usually met in the Ix Citadel, where the Ix's greatest plans were orchestrated. However, it was off-limits to any beings who were not Ix, and the high command had agreed that they would meet him here. Nightwatcher felt the thrill of grim satisfaction that always accompanied the completion of a mission rise within him.

He led the Glatorian, Kyhrex, down the narrow, winding corridors of the Spire, his claw clamped tightly around her throat. She'd given up struggling many days ago, and while Nightwatcher admired her bravery and devotion to a lost cause, he knew that there was no longer a place for Resistance in the multiverse.

"This is over." he said to her, pausing before the door. Kyhrex's expression was cool and composed, but Nightwatcher could sense her fear in the aura field. This Glatorian had nearly killed Flareus, an Elemental commander of the base known as the Circle. She faced nothing but death or imprisonment at their hands.

"Why are you turning me over to them?" she asked. "Is greed all that inspires you?"

"Not greed." hissed Nightwatcher. "Revenge, which is something that you can never hope to comprehend. Besides, in a few weeks, your Resistance will be no more. With any luck, you won't live to see the final battles."

As they entered the central chamber, Nighwatcher felt two heavy, cold presences in the aura field, one that he recognized, another he didn't. Nightwatcher's eyes met those of the Elemental Prince, whose eyes were burning. abyssal pits of cold rage. Of the other presence in the field, he saw no sign.

"Skorpix." he said, acknowledging the Elemental coldly and fearlessly. "I have brought you a prisoner."

"Is this being the Spirit Toa?" asked Skorpix, his voice cold. "It does not seem to be."

"No." said Nightwatcher. "I was...unable...to capture Toa Shardak. However, I have managed to take prisoner another being, one of his allies. This Glatorian Elementalist, Kyhrex, has known ties with the deceased rebel warrior Silencer, and is the being who nearly killed Flareus during the Spirit Toa's escape from the Circle."

Skorpix looked at the Glatorian with new interest, and Kyhrex almost flinched away from his aura, though Nightwatcher knew she could not sense the field herself. Skorpix's eyes fixed once more on Nightwatcher's, and for the first time in years, Nighwatcher felt a slight chill of apprehension run through him. Something was wrong, Skorpix seemed too confident somehow.

"What will you give me in reward for her?" asked Nightwatcher. "I don't come cheaply. I was promised twenty-four thousand widgets for the Spirit Toa, though I am—"

"Here is your reward." snarled Skorpix, and another being stepped out of the shadows. This being seemed almost as powerful as Skorpix to Nightwatcher, but different in some way. Skorpix was a powerful, heavy presence in the aura field, but this being's power seemed to be augmented by something else, something that had a malign intelligence of its own.

"Hello, Nightwatcher." Mordrax snarled. His body was twisted into a prothetic suit of armor, and raw power seemed to flow from his aura, power so great that Nightwatcher almost flinched.

"Mordrax." Nightwatcher hissed. His weapon was already in hand as he released his grip on Kyhrex and charged toward the powerful, twisted Kodax of Absorbation.

"Shadowdermis has returned to Xaterex, Nightwatcher." said Skorpix triumphantly, as Nightwatcher fell to the ground, bound in chains of Shadowdermis. Mordrax's strength held him still, and for a moment Nightwatcher wondered if this Kodax was even more powerful then Skorpix himself now.

"You have failed, Nightwatcher." Mordrax rasped from behind his helmet. "And we do not tolerate failure from anyone, not even you."

The last thing Nightwatcher saw before blackness closed in around him was Mordrax's bestial smile.

Present Day, 176 AYD.

The ancient, desolate city was built, seemingly abandoned, at the heart of the long-deserted planet. Massive spires that characterized much of the cities constructed by the mysterious beings known as the Ancients rose high above the two cloaked beings standing within, like grim avengers set against the bloodred skies.

"I wished to speak with you." said one being. His voice was low, quiet but sinister. The second being, who was taller and carried a massive ebon broadsword in one hand, nodded quietly, as though he had been expecting this already.

"Yes?" the second being asked. His voice was calm, but layered with dark menace. "What is it?"

"It's about Toa Shardak." said the being. "Time and time again, he has eluded the Ix, and often forced us to rework our plans. He has been a thorn in the side of the Empire for many years now."

"Do you believe that what happens to the Empire is any concern to us?" asked the first being. "Our plans have been laid, and nothing can disrupt them now. Soon another fragment of the Annulus will be in our posession."

"Yes, I know." said the second. "But there is—"

"Toa Shardak." the first being interrupted. "Has only survived so long because of his Ignika. And the fact that he has allowed his friends, who possess more skill then he will ever have, to do the fighting for him."

The being nodded, seemingly reassured. But the first being extended a dark probe in the aura field, confirming that he remained unconvinced. "You hesitate..." he whispered.

"No." said the second being. "I do not."

The first being surveyed the ruined cityscape before him, which was now illuminated in unnatural, callous bloodred light. The cold star that served as this ancient planet's sun was rising once more, and in the halflight, the streets seemed to be drenched in blood.

"You do." he said. "Wait until Varkanax returns from his current mission. Then we will strike."

"It is time?" asked the second being, a note of dark anticipation in his voice. "It has begun, Commander Velnax?"

"It has begun." confirmed Velnax, a note of triumph in his voice. "With our puppets installed in both the resistance and the Ix Empire, and the cloning project finally completed, we are ready. The final stage in our plan, a plan that has taken millennia to fulfill, is being laid, and nothing, not the Great Beings, the Toa, or the remnants of the Ancients can stop us now."

"But Shardak—" began the being, but Velnax cut him off silently, touching his aura again to show his displeasure.

"I know the Spirit Toa better then you might think, Omicron." said Velnax. "I know his strengths, his weaknesses, and much, much more. When the time is right, he will come to us."

Chapter 1
The great binary sun of Solis Magna rose above the Eastern Mountains, overlooking a scene of devastation below. The once-great city lay in ruins, corpses of unfortunate Matoran and Agori buried beneath the twisted fragments of rubble that were all that remained of the city once known as Gigas Nui.

Though he'd known what to expect, the massive devastation shocked Shardak to his core. Only four months ago, he had been standing in this same city, helping Fairon and Saren oversee repairs after the battle here that was now nearly seven months ago. Now, all that remained here was wreckage, scattered across the Fellsian border.

In other words, it was another sign that at least one of the Sarkanian clones had been here.

Over the past four months, the Shadowdermis-enhanced Sarkanian clones created by the Ix leaders Mordrax and Skorpix had been rampaging across the lower regions of the Fells, destroying towns and Resistance bases as they went. Recently, Parikon had ordered a complete evacuation of the city of Gigas Nui, though not all of the beings there had obeyed.

They had paid with their lives. Shardak's keen eyes, adept at tracking, saw signs that other beings had been there as well. Probably the clones' Ix masters, leading them through the city, though this was unusually sloppy of them. Usually the Ix left no trace of their presence. Perhaps they'd wanted to make a statement, a warning that rebellion was not tolerated. But most of the citizens who'd died there had not been rebels, merely beings suffering beneath the rule of the Ix.

They didn't deserve to die that way, but there's little we can do about it now. thought Shardak, turning to see two of his companions, Fairon and Flardrek, striding toward him.

"Any signs of survivors?" he asked them, already knowing the answer. The Ix would not allow any beings to escape and turn against them, they'd have eliminated every single being within Gigas Nui. So he was not at all surprised when Flardrek shook his head.

"We've scanned almost all of the central buildings in the city." said Fairon. "No survivors."

Shardak nodded, trying to keep the disbelief and hatred from once again overwhelming him. In his mind's eye, Gigas Nui was still intact, a spire-city now controlled by the Resistance. Despite the fact that all of his senses were telling him that Gigas Nui was gone, had disappeared forever, he still didn't believe them. To him, the wreckage before him was still surreal.

"We'd better go, then." he said. "Round up Artonix, Chameleo, Shardos, and the others. We'd better get back to the base."

Fairon nodded, calling over the rest of their patrol. Shardos was a tall, thin Glatorian, a veteran of many battles, Artonix was a powerfully built Agori warrior, who'd fought for the rebellion for years before Shardak had joined. Chameleo, native to the planet Noctxia Magna, was a Reptisapean, a reptilian being with clawed hands and feet. Four other Glatorian soldiers were with them, as well as one Veythari known as Veron, a grim-faced, slightly taciturn young warrior.

''How can we stand against these beings? They're simply too powerful to be defeated by beings such as us. We cannot even find out how Mordrax was able to bring Shadowdermis back to Xaterex.''

Shadowdermis was a semi-sentient virus created by Makuta scientists millennia before the Ix's rise to power. It had the ability to allow its users almost limitless power, provided they were strong enought to control the substance. The Sarkanian clones, with their limited intelligence, were controlled by the virus, compelled only to destroy anything in their path. It had taken them only three months to eliminate the Resistance's bases in Arden, then they'd turned north and rampaged through the Canyonlands and on to Gigas Nui.

Shardak suddenly heard voices in the distance, loud shouts in a nasal, indecipherable language. Fairon turned and looked at him, panic in his eyes. The shouts could only mean one thing. The Ix were coming for them. Shardak needed no further urging. Months of training, honing his skills with the Blade of Arcturas, took over as he tore the weapon free from its sheath and raced away, toward the smashed city gates. However, out of the corner of his eye, he could see arrows, flashing out of the darkness, flying toward them.

Shardak heard one whip past his Kanohi, missing him by centimeters. However, one of the Glatorian was not so lucky, and the arrow struck him in the neck, killing him immediately. The others all managed to dodge, though the Veythari was hit in the shoulder. Whirling around, Shardak saw that four Ix warriors stood before them, like ghosts in the darkness. All of them were wearing camuflage armor, and carried long dagger-scythes. Shardak looked around for any sign of the archer, but saw none.

"Limiters." hissed Fairon, his voice colder then the Fellsian winds at midwinter. "Stay low. We can't afford to allow them to kill you, not now."

Shardak nodded tensely, feeling horribly vulnerable as the Ix warriors advanced on Fairon, Artonix, and Chameleo. He could see two more, both carrying the same curved daggers, emerging from the shadows, these two wearing the same armor as the Limiters. However, Shardak could tell that neither of them were from the elite soldier detachment. One was male, the other female, and there were no female Limiters. Both wore helmets that shrouded their faces from view.

All of these thoughts raced through Shardak's mind in the blink of an eye. Then the battle had begun, two Ix warriors charging toward Chameleo, another engaging Artonix. Fairon fought three at once, his curved scimitar slashing one across the shoulder while the morning rang with the clash of metal as the scythes struck his shield. Still, Fairon seemed to be holding his own, and Shardak, Veron and Shardos behind him, charged into the battle.

A Limiter, faster then Shardak's eye could follow, whirled around to meet him, red eyes burning behind his skull-like mask. Once, the sight of this elite soldier would have terrified him. But Shardak now knew that unless he could fight them on their own level, he would die.

Most battles are won before the weapon is even drawn. Atarus had said to him. The mysterious golden-armored being had taken over his training after the death of his previous mentor, Arkhan. Shardak knew this to be true; if he did not believe he could win against the Limiter, his death was a certainty. He felt a slightly jarring clang as his weapon collided with the Limiter's massive scythe, and then the world seemed to desecend into clashes of weapons and shouts as more Ix sprang from the shadows.

As Shardak leapt to one side, dodging the Ix's swinging scythe-daggers, he saw one of the Glatorian was too slow to react, and fell to the ground as a spear, thrown from the shadows, ran him through. Shardak could see the Kranr's eyes gleam in the darkness as he drew another spear. The Toa charged forward, ignoring the Limiter who was chasing after him. The Kranr was aiming his spear at Artonix, and no one else was near enough to help him.

The Kranr had just enough time to whirl around, spear still raised, before Shardak slashed the iron tip from the rest of the weapon, Flames gleamed along the edge of the Blade of Arcturas, illuminating the startled features of his opponant as Shardak slashed him to the ground with two quick stabs. The Kranr fell to the ground, eyes glazing over.

Shardak whirled around, expecting the Limiter to be attacking him again any minute, but instead he saw Veron, standing above the Ix warrior's corpse, a bloodied scimitar in hand. Shardak nodded his thanks before turning once more to the fallen Kranr. Though he'd had to do a lot of it since the Ix had killed Arcturas, killing had never become easy for him.

That's a good thing. he had time to think. ''Even when it's necessary, killing should never be something taken lightly by anyone. It may not be much of a difference, but it's the only thing that seperates us from the Ix, in the end.''

Then his thoughts were cut off as he was once more in the midst of the battle, Chameleo and Veron by his side. Two Ix Limiters were still fighting, as well as several Kranr. Two Glatorian lay dead, one impaled by a spear, the other slashed down by an Ix's scythe. Shardos had also fallen, but Fairon and Flardrek were both alive, fighting two Ix warriors. Artonix was still alive, fighting a Kranr, his twin daggers flashing in the shadowy predawn light.

While he was now skilled enough to kill a Limiter in single combat, he couldn't fight three of them and expect to survive. He simply tired too quickly. What was more, the other Ix commander was still alive, and was fighting Veron now. One Ix Limiter fell to the ground, but the other was still alive, and she wouldn't surrender. Her long silver dagger met Shardak's, and, suddenly, with a jolt of recognition, Shardak found he recognized the runes engraved on the sword.

She dodged his weapon again, and Shardak looked up at his foe to see familiar emerald green eyes staring at him, and a familiar bow strapped across her back. Charging toward the Ix girl, angry now, he slammed into her, tearing the helmet from her face. The Ix warrior recovered quickly, however, and rose to her feet, her eyes meeting Shardak's.

"Valkyria." he whispered, surprised he hadn't recognized her earlier. Anger, and hatred that had been smouldering within him for more then six months returned, and as he faced his enemy once again, the enemy who had once been his friend, he felt energy spread through his body once more.

"Shardak." she said. Her voice was the same as before, though now coldly detached. Shardak felt a pang of regret, which quickly disappeared once again. "You should not have come here."

"Why not?" asked Shardak. "Let's finish this now. I've waited long enough."

For a moment, he could see real pain in Valkyria's eyes, and for a moment he felt guilty and mean for what he'd said to her. But then it vanished. He had every right to hate her. She'd betrayed him, and stolen a fragment of the ring known as the Annulus, which the Ix were searching for. If they assembled all three pieces, they would have more power then any other being that had ever existed before, and their enemies would be easily defeated.

"Do you think you can defeat me, blinded by anger?" asked Valkyria. "You'll die."

"Then maybe I'll be able to take you with me." said Shardak. He was no longer interested in talking to her. He just wanted this to be over, though in his anger he didn't know what he truly wanted. The Sword of Fire slammed against Silverblade, both weapons of equal strength and power. Valkyria followed her attack up with several Sila and Vauhti counterstrikes, forcing Shardak solidly onto the defensive.

For a moment, Shardak wondered if he could win. Valkyria was faster and could endure more damage then he could, but he was easily stronger then she was. With heavy Kracht and Lihtne attacks, he'd be able to easily counter her Sila, Lihtne, and Vauhti attacks. Though she was also quite good at Guokte—

Shardak felt weapon meet weapon as he was again forced a step back. Then he backed up further, all the while readying for a more powerful Napad attack pattern. Valkyria was prepared to counter his attack, but not prepared for the devastating attack that landed. He nearly ripped Silverblade from her grasp, then lunged forward, slashing open her shoulder.

Shardak felt anger burn within him as he remembered how he'd saved her life when she was hit in the shoulder by a poisoned crossbow bolt fired by mysterious assassins. He'd used a powerful aura technique to halt the poison and nearly died in the process. If he'd known what he knew now, he would have let her die.

''Would you? ''a small voice asked him from within, and Shardak felt a pang of regreat that he quickly pushed aside. ''Yes. She'd deserve''—

Then, suddenly, Veron charged toward him, his eyes flashing in the darkness as he raced to help Shardak. However, the Ix commander suddenly lashed out in the aura field, flinging Artonix to the ground. Chameleo and the surviving Glatorian were unable to help as the Ix warrior speared the Veythari through the back. Veron staggered backward, mortally wounded. The Ix warrior slashed open his throat, and, like a puppet with all its strings cut, Veron fell to the ground.

Now Valkyria was on the defensive. Shardak could see that Artonix, Chameleo, and the surviving were now fighting the Ix commander and two Kranr, but were forcing them back. Neither Shardak nor Valkyria could gain the upper hand, they were both equally good fighters. Shardak, however, was slowly beginning to tire.

But he would not be beaten by her. He could not be beaten by her. The anger he felt toward her was so palpable that Valkyria's seemed shocked. Her aura was different then he remembered, steel-gray with little traces of color. Then again, it had been like this during their first meeting, during the battle in the Sanctum of the Mind. He let his aura touch Valkyria's, allowing her to feel the full force of his anger, and she recoiled, seemingly shocked at his aura.

Suddenly the Ix commander hissed something at Valkyria, and she turned to face him. Shardak lunged forward, but she blocked his weapon easily, almost disdainfully. As the one remaining Kranr and the Ix leader retreated, she turned and faced Shardak again, and Shardak saw there was no trace of anger in her eyes, only regret and iron-hard determination.

"Go." he snarled.

"Shardak—" she began, but he cut her off.

"Another time, Warrior Rhai." he said, coldly. She opened her mouth to speak again, but Shardak cut her off. "There is nothing more for you to say, Valkyria." he answered. His hand reached for the Blade of Arcturas, and he could see Artonix and Chameleo were moving to stand beside him, as well as Fairon and Flardrek, only wounded slightly from their skirmish with two Ix warriors. If Valkyria waited any longer, she'd be killed.

The Ix warrior seemed to realize this. As Artonix charged toward her, she turned and followed the retreating Ix. Shardak watched her go, emotions warring within him. Now that the rush of battle was over, he felt sad and mad at himself for allowing Valkyria to see how real his anger was. Now she could and probably would use that against him somehow.

''Was it right? ''he asked himself. Or has my anger made me no better then the Ix?

''No. She lied to us, and betrayed us all. ''

"Should we go after them?" asked Artonix, eager to finish them off. Shardak shook his head.

"We don't stand a chance without Veron. There could easily be more Kranr or Ix warriors in the city, and we need to report back to Parikon and Atarus."

The fog was slowly lifting from Gigas Nui, and the sun began to shine once again through the clouds. But Shardak felt weak and tired and angry, all at once. So much death and destruction was happening all around them, and he was caught at the center of it. And the only hint his last mentor had been a cryptic one, something that only seemed to hint at still more danger.

''I was wrong. The Order will stop at nothing to see you dead. May Mata Nui be with you, Toa Shardak.''

Chapter 2
The resistance leaders were gathered within the command chamber, where Shardak had been summoned so many times in the past four months, when the war had taken a dark turn. They were all there, as usual. Some looked cheered to see that he'd survived, but their grim expressions said otherwise. The war effort was going far from well.

The Sarkanian clones had halted the rebel offensive into Arden, destroying nearly one hundred rebel warriors and scattering the rest. That left the remaining four hundred warriors in the Resistance's armies to guard the rebel bases in the Fells. Then, one clone had begun rampaging through the Fells, forcing the rebellion to abandon Gigas Nui completely so they could defend what little territory they still had. While thus far the clone had not attacked the Resistance directly, the rebellion was sure that any moment one or more of the clones would attack them.

Atarus, the leader of the rebellion, waved at him to sit. Beside him stood Freztrak, the Skakdi commander whose armies had been called back to the Fells after the fate of the southern armies.

Facing them sat Tiral, commander of the rebellion's spacefleet, and Saren Naghara, who looked even more grim-faced and gaunt since the last time Shardak had seen him. Saren had been leading the war effort against the clone, and while he had thus far been successful, they all knew it had been little to do with skill. The Ix had been biding their time, for whatever enigmatic reason only they knew.

Next to Saren sat Reid Vaethar, his body tensed like a highly strung bow. Of all of the rebellion's leaders, only one being was absent, Parikon, who had lead the Resistance in Atarus' absence. Shardak thought that was odd, but said nothing of it. Parikon was probably overseeing the defenses that were currently being put into effect against the Sarkanian clones.

Fairon and Shardak, who had decided to represent the survivors of their scout force, told, in halting tones, of their battle with the Ix warriors, the deaths of the two Glatorian soldiers, Shardos, and Veron. Finally Shardak told them of how he'd discovered that one of the Ix warriors with them was Valkyria.

At the mention of the Ix warrior's name, Atarus' already grim voice became even more grim. "She was there? You're sure of it?"

"Yes." said Shardak. "I am sure."

Atarus read his expression, and did not say anything more, but merely sighed. "These are dark times. I knew that the Ix would destroy the city, but to leave Ix warriors there to kill any rebel scouts is another matter. And that Valkyria is back again...I'm not sure what we can do to defeat these threats."

Not for the first time, Shardak wished Ion had survived. Without him there, the remaining rebel leaders seemed extremely vulnerable. Even Atarus, who usually seemed so powerful and unbreakable since he'd taken over as Shardak's main mentor, seemed weaker now, less confident that they could survive.

"The Veythari warriors will not surrender." Reid said harshly. "We will continue fighting, and defeat these Sarkanian clones. They may be powerful in the flatlands, but they're not accustomed to warfare in the Fells."

Shardak had fought the clones before, and he knew that Vaethar was right. The clones could not tear through the Fells the same way they'd torn through Arden and Gigas Nui. If they were reckless, they would be destroyed. But two or more of the clones could—

"We need to consider, also, what effects this could have on the Noctian front." said Atarus. "The Hand of Mata Nui, led by Ixtil, is still active on Noctxia Magna. The Ix may decide that it is easier to send the Sarkanian clones to Noctxia Magna, while they still have us bottled up here in the Fells."

Then Atarus turned to Fairon. "Commander Fairon, time and time again you have shown that you are highly devoted to the rebel cause. Thus, we have decided to send you to Noctxia Magna, along with a small fleet of warships, to meet with the commanders there and warn them of the threat that the Sarkanian clones pose to the Resistance there."

Fairon nodded. Shardak wondered why they'd wanted him to report as well, it seemed they'd covered as many defenses as they could. Maybe they'd send him to one of the bases on the edge of the Fells, where the majority of the Veythari warriors were now based, keeping a lookout for the Sarkanian clones, which had destroyed several of the smaller lowland towns in the past few months.

"I will do so." the Toa of Light said, his voice calm but edged now with worry. Atarus nodded.

"Good." said Saren. "Which brings us to you, Toa Shardak."

"Yes?" asked Shardak, apprehension in his voice. His status as the Spirit Toa had given him a pass to nearly every High Council meeting since his return from Xiost, but never had he seen the Council members look as grim as they did now.

"We have located another fragment of the Annulus." said Saren.

Emotions warred within Shardak first fear, then apprehension, and finally hope. He'd been told, what seemed like a lifetime ago, of the ancient ring of power known as the Annulus, which had existed before the Ancients themselves came into being. In the unthinkably far past, it had been shattered into three peices, two of which were now in the hands of the Empire.

The power source of the Annulus, the Shadow Orb, had eventually fallen into the hands of the Ix, and now half of the power source was kept safe by the rebellion, for fear that the Ix would one day get ahold of the stone again. The other half the Ix also had. If the final Annulus fragment had truly been located, the Resistance needed to recover it, or all was lost.

"Where?" asked Shardak, eager now. Once, recovering the Annulus had been an added benefit that could help to stop the Ix. Now, recovering it was a matter of survivalWe.

"My spies within the Ix Empire report that the Annulus fragment is hidden in an abandoned Great Being base on Noctxia Magna's moon Drakyr." Saren answered. "However, that is not all we have to tell you."

"We sent Parikon, as well as two Veythari warriors, to Drakyr one week ago. They landed safely, though soon after, communication was lost and they disappeared, presumed dead."

Shardak felt sadness rise within, more painful than a Shredsteel dagger wound. Parikon was dead? It seemed impossible. How could he be gone? The ancient being had seemed invincible, a paragon of the Resistance's best warriors. No wonder Saren looked both sad and weakened. Parikon had been one of his and Atarus' closest friends.

"A week has passed, and there has been no further communications from either of them." said Saren. We must assume the worst. At first, we believed it to be the work of the Ix, but no Ix ships have been sighted near Drakyr, and the Resistance is still in control of that area. Thus, the Ix are not to blame."

Shardak felt mounting dread rise within him once again. Saren's words had probably not been intended to echo Ion's cryptic hints that an organization known as "the Order" wanted him dead, but iit had sounded like that to him. He wondered if any of the Resistance leaders thought the same, as he had told them of what Ion had said before his death,

"Do you think the organization Ion mentioned, that he identified as the Order, could be behind this?" asked Shardak.

"Possibly." answered Atarus. "We have no idea. Whoever they are, they did not leave the planet using starcraft. Tiral has confirmed that no starfighters, of Ix origin or otherwise, have left or arrived Drakyr before and after their disappearence. Thus, we have decided to send you, Flardrek, Chameleo, and an elite team of Veythari warriors to investigate."

Shardak nodded, saddened for one moment. He almost wished he'd been sent to fortify the border now, where his friend Blast was currently stationed. However, it soon vanished, as quickly as it had come. Parikon could still be alive, and in danger, and he and Flardrek were being sent with an elite team of Veythari to find out if they could recover the Annulus.

"You will also, once again, be given the Shadow Orb." said Saren. Shardak opened his mouth to ask a question, but Saren answered before he could speak. "We spent many days locked in debate about whether we should give it to you. However, the Orb can be a potent source or auric power if you need it, and where you're heading, you will."

"We can't have you using your aura to hold together Starcraft now." Tiral said, referring to the time when Shardak had saved Chameleo, Artonix, and another of his friends by holding the starcraft together with his aura. It had very nearly killed him and depleted his power for days afterword. "You need all of your strength for the battles ahead."

Shardak nodded grimly. It felt so different from his first mission as a rebel warrior, when he'd felt so ready to set out to find the Annulus fragment. Now, all of the Resistance's hopes hinged on finding the last Annulus fragment and keeping it out of the Ix's hands.

''But the Order is out there as well. ''a voice seemed to whisper within Shardak's mind. Their motives are completely unknown.

Shardak wished that Ion had told him about these beings earlier. Then he remembered what Ion had said within the Void, what seemed like an eternity ago: ''I will tell you as much as I can. Some things, however, I will not tell you, not because I wish to keep secrets from you, but if you know them it will simply put you in more danger.''

"Will you agree to this, Toa Shardak?" asked Atarus. "As our only aura user in the Resistance, only you will be able to identify and find the Annulus. However, I will not put you in this posistion of danger unless this is what you truly want."

"There's no choice." said Shardak. "I will do whatever I can to help the Resistance win this war."

The Resistance leaders instantly seemed more relaxed, and Saren even smiled slightly for the first time in many weeks. "I am glad." he said. "We will arrange transportation for you to Drakyr immediately, you will leave tomarrow morning. Tiral has three or four transports available at the moment, I believe."

Tiral nodded once. "Yes. How many Veythari do you plan to send with them, Vaethar?"

"Seven or eight, that I will choose myself." answered Reid Vaethar. "You will be well protected, Spirit Toa."

Shardak nodded respectfully to the Veythari leader. The meeting then began to turn to the quanitity of troops the rebellion could muster if the Fells were invaded, then to the situation on Noctxia Magna. After a few more moments, the discussions ended, and finally the Resistance leaders began to depart. Only Saren remained, his almost hollow eyes staring into Shardak's.

"Yes?" asked Fairon.

"I have discovered who the traitor in the Resistance is." Saren began. "It was never Ion, but Freztrak. Freztrak has sold us out to the Empire."

Shardak felt as though Saren's words were an almost physical blow. How could Freztrak have sold out the Resistance? It seemed impossible, but...Freztrak was a Skakdi, and they could be horribly, ruthlessly cunning. It would be easy for Freztrak to have fooled them for so long.

A flame of anger began to rise within Shardak. If Saren was correct, then Freztrak had sent Ion to his death against Skorpix, and had possibly also been responsible for Veron's death as well. The thought that he could have sold them out to the Ix was no longer impossible.

"I have tried to find other possible traitors in the Resistance." said Saren. "But Freztrak is better placed then any other to have betrayed us. He's a low-profile council member who has little to lose if the Resistance is destroyed. He isn't a known enemy like me or Parikon, and when my friends discovered that he was a traitor and gave us ample proof, I had no choice but to believe them."

"What is the proof?" asked Shardak.

"I cannot show you. However, that's just it." said Saren. "It still wasn't conclusive enough for me to convict Freztrak. He'd have too many ways to deny it. However, I am warning you to trust no one. The word about the traitor was leaked, and the Resistance's inner command is beginning to disintegrate. Innocent Skakdi who probably have nothing to do with Freztrak's betrayal are being discriminated against. This cannot be allowed to continue if the Resistance is to survive."

"We understand." said Fairon. He seemed shocked by the revelation, but not surprised. Shardak guessed it was because Saren's words seemed so accurate, so persuasive. Shardak had lost a great deal of respect for Saren after he'd almost convinced him Ion was a traitor, but now he saw a being who was determined to hold the Resistance together, whatever the cost.

"Just remember there are people in the Resistance you can still trust." said Saren. "Such as Atarus and myself, who will help you in any way we can. I will also give you a list of some of my other friends, whom you can contact if I am not available."

Saren handed Shardak the list, and the Toa quickly skimmed over it. It included many of the sub-commanders and starfighter squadron leaders, many of whom Saren commanded indirectly. Many of them he recognized, though a few he didn't, and he guessed they were simply Resistance soldiers.

"I must go to fortify the defenses around the base now." said Saren, who looked tired but determined. "May Mata Nui protect you and guide you to the Annulus fragment, Toa Shardak."

Shardak felt new respect for the Glatorian rise within him. Saren's determination and tactical knowledge were exactly what the Resistance needed nowadays, and with Saren as Atarus' deputy, the Resistance would stand a chance against the Empire. Saren's steely determination had reignited Shardak's old firey strength. Despite Valkyria's betrayal and the current seige that the Resistance was under from the Sarkanian clones, he was once more ready to be a warrior of the Xaterex Resistance.

Let's end this now.

There is nothing more for you to say, Warrior Rhai.

Every one of Shardak's words had driven through her heart like a dagger. She'd tried to speak with him, tried to tell him that she wished that she had not had to take the Annulus fragment from him and return to the Ix, but the words simply wouldn't form in her mouth. Nothing she could say would make any difference to him, though.

Valkyria wandered the twisting corridors of the Ix Citadel, at the heart of Drakos I. She still carried her dagger in one hand and was still wearing her camouflage armor that she'd used during their mission to the ruins of Gigas Nui, despite the fact she, as an Ix commander, usually wore the dark robes common to high-ranking Ix when not actively participating in the war.

She'd already spoken with her direct superior, who had been slightly annoyed that they had failed but glad to learn that the Spirit Toa was alive. For reasons that Valkyria had never been told, the Ix wanted Shardak alive so he could do something for them, something that probably involved the Annulus fragment she had recovered.

She'd taken the Annulus fragment from Shardak easily. He'd been horribly weakened in an earlier battle, and it had been easy to ruthlessly crush his aura attacks and immobilize him. She'd left him there with a horrible, blank look on his face, and had forced herself to complete the mission, against her will, which wanted, more than anything, to accept Shardak's idea: she could actually betray the Ix.

In the end, however, the Ix blood which ran through her veins had won the battle, and her determination to complete the task she'd been given had overran what she herself wanted. Valkyria had returned to Drakos I with a massive amount of information about the Resistance's inner workings, as well as information about Shardak. And, of course, she'd brought the Annulus fragment. She'd been promoted to Ix Commander almost immediately after her return, and was now in charge of more Ix warriors then she'd ever been in the past.

Looking back once again, Valkyria realized that this had been the extent of her dreams during her time as an Ix apprentice: to be an Ix commander, based in the Empire's capitol city, and be known and respected as one of the greatest Ix warriors of all time.

Had that really been all she'd wanted? After living for nearly four months as a Resistance warrior, Valkyria had almost forgotten what it had been like to be an Ix warrior. Beings friends with Shardak had shown her the other side of the spectrum, and she'd been truly happy as a warrior in the Resistance, and had not needed to conceal how she felt behind a mask of impassiveness.

Shardak had never had to live his life carrying the weight of lies on his shoulders as she had. He'd actually cared about what happened to her, a concept completely alien to Valkyria. He hadn't questioned her motives, or distrusted her outwardly. He'd accepted her, something that no one had ever done since she'd become an Ix apprentice.

And where had that led her? She'd become a killer, a traitor, and a liar, all for a cause she was no longer sure she believed in. Shardak had trusted her, and she'd destroyed that trust, leaving nothing but anger, anger that had been so intense that it had shocked her. Had she really hurt him that badly?

Yes, Valkyria realized, she had. There was nothing, anymore, she could do, however. Looking around her, surveying the dim torchlight of the Ix Citadel and the black and white walls common in all Ix structures, she felt drained and saddened. But she'd chosen her path, and there was little she could do to change it now. The—

"Commander Rhai?"

A Kranr's voice, reedy and frightened, broke through Valkyria's thoughts. She turned to face the being, not at all feeling like an Ix commander at that moment. She felt vulnerable and weak, and had to remind herself that the Kranr could not sense the aura field.

"Yes?" she asked, keeping her voice calm but authoritative. She could sense in the Kranr's aura that he feared her, but was wondering what, exactly, she'd been doing at the time and why she still was disheveled, as if she'd just come back from Gigas Nui.

"Lord Skorpix wishes to speak with you." the Kranr guard said, still nervous. "Immediately."

"Understood." said Valkyria, speaking in Common. The Ix language was not understood by Kranr, nor could they speak it. "I will be right there."

"Lord Skorpix says...you are to come immediately, Commander Rhai." said the Kranr, still fearful. "No delays."

Valkyria kept her expression carefully neutral, but inwardly she was wondering what required her attention so urgently. "I understand." she said, following the Kranr into the heart of the Ix Citadel. Here, all of the greatest of the Ix's plots were orchestrated, such as the development of a new strain of Elimination that could affect Glatorian as well.

Valkyria felt another pang of regret. Despite the fact that her people had decimated Shardak's Toa Order, he'd still accepted her. She—

''Skorpix is one of the greatest aura users of all the Ix. ''Valkyria reminded herself. ''And he knows me better than most Ix warriors. I cannot allow him to discover this, or I will be killed.''

The Kranr opened the double doors that led into the heart of the Ix's sanctum, and Valkyria saw that the room was empty, except for the being standing before her. His jet-black armor gleamed in the torchlight, and his cold red eyes met Valkyria's. Valkyria lowered her head, knowing she was facing, perhaps, the most important person in all of the Ix's hierarchy, save the mysterious Hooded One himself. Skorpix's aura was a heavy, tangible presence in the field, far more powerful then Valkyria's.

"Commander Rhai." said Skorpix, acknowledging her briefly in the Ix's cold, nasal language.

Valkyria fought back her first thought which was, ''why have you summoned me? ''To ask an Ix Lord that question would not be appropriate for a mere Commander. Skorpix, however, read her aura easily and asked. "No doubt you are wondering why I have called you here. It is because we are ready to complete our plan. At last, the Ix will eliminate the rebellion that has resisted our rule for far too long."

"This is indeed momentous news." said Valkyria, unconsciously slipping into the same language. "Have we located the final Annulus fragment?"

"We have." said Skorpix, allowing a note of triumph to creep into his voice. "Our spy in the Resistance has confirmed that the fragment of the Annulus is hidden on Drakyr. We are sending an elite team of Ix Limiters out to stop them, and I myself will accompany them. You are to come as well."

"Yes, Lord Skorpix." answered Valkyria, voice calm now. A slight bit of her old anticipation began to rise within her, and for a moment she was once again the naive young Ix girl who had just begun training as an Ix apprentice. Then it was gone, and she was once again, as Shardak had called her, a traitor, liar, and murderer.

Was that what her Ix training had forced her to become?

"We leave within two hours. Be sure that you are ready by then. We will also go undetected, to avoid the Resistance ships that are currently in control of this sector. Three of our Corpse Fighters will divert the Resistance's attention from Drakyr, then we can land there."

"Yes, Lord." said Valkyria, wishing for a moment she could somehow feel more enthusiastic about the Ix's imminent victory. Yes, she still believed that the Ix were destined to rule the multiverse, but after four months with the Resistance, she didn't want to see them all dead.

She'd heard from Skorpix soon after her return to Drakos Capitol that Shardak's mentor, Arkhan, was dead, as well as Ion, another of Shardak's close friends. Arkhan had helped train her as well, and though there was little the white-armored Glatorian could teach her, he'd never argued with the other Resistance leaders to kill her, as Saren Naghara had once. He'd—

"Are you ready, Commander Rhai?" asked Skorpix, who had been telling her the final aspects of their plan. Valkyria nodded. "I will be ready within two hours."

"You are dismissed, then." said Skorpix, and Valkyria left the room, relieved that he had not seemed to notice her inner struggle. For nearly seven months now she had not healed inside, and seeing Shardak again and feeling his smouldering, raw anger had reopened all of her old scars that she'd tried so hard to put aside. Wasn't that how she'd suceeded before? By putting aside her own emotions for the good of the Empire? Wasn't that how she'd become an Ix warrior that her family had been proud of?

Valkyria knew there were no answers to any of those questions.

Deep within the shadowy caverns, the Hooded One lowered his head in supplication as a dark presence began to fill the shadows, an aura of raw shadow so powerful it made the Hooded One's own look weak and unskilled, though the being knew that he was one of the most skilled aura users in the multiverse.

Come. The voice seemed to whisper from the shadows. It sounded like a horrible, disjointed chorus of beings was speaking at once, a rasp that sounded like a knife scraping against rock. You wish to appear before us?

"Yes, master." hissed the Hooded One quietly.

What have you been doing to free us?

"We have nearly assembled the Ring of Power, and have almost recovered the power source." said the Hooded One. "Now all that is required is a second aura user, one who can use the power of the Ring."

'The Toa. Bring us the Toa.'

"Many attempts have been made to reach the Toa of Aura." rasped the Hooded One. "Still he rejects our calls. We will continue to try to turn him."

Bring him before us.

"...Yes." the Hooded One said finally, though hesitantly. "I shall."

You hesitate... hissed the voice from the shadows.

"But would it not be wiser to have him first assemble the ring, then free you from the Ancient Homeworld? Then, when we are done, we can simply kill him."

Perhaps you believe that, if turned, he would replace you and that is why you hesitate to bring him before us. The voice hissed.' He must come here. Only then will he free us from our prison.'

"Then it shall be done." said the Hooded One. "But—"

'Do not worry. We have not forgotten your service to us. the voice rasped, echoing through the endless darkness. When we are free, you will be rewarded. You know we need you to free us. Free us...and you will never... NEVER... lose us again...'

Chapter 3
Walking through the jungle city, full of pyramids and golden spires, Silver had never felt so confused. He'd been teleported to a dark cavern after being seperated from his friends Shardak, Valkyria, and Torak, and he and another Matoran, Dust, encountered a being that had identified itself as the Arcaean Entity. The being had decided to transport them to Arcaea, despite the fact Silver knew, as everyone on Xaterex did, that Arcaea had been destroyed during the first great civil war between the Toa and the Ix.

Then they'd encountered another being in Arcaea, which had somehow been restored to its former glory. He'd identified himself as Leviathos, and after a short discussion Silver had learned that this being knew nothing about where they were either.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by the appearance of a hooded being with a skeletal hand, who'd told them they were looking at the ancient, almost mythological, City of Light, which had been destroyed during the war. Then Silver and the others had looked again, and the being, as well as his Skrall-like companion, had disappeared.

At first Silver had been unsettled by this, but he'd been forced to accept that it was probably an illusion of some kind, created, perhaps, by the strange environment they were in. Silver knew little of Lost Arcaea, but he knew for sure that it no longer existed. Was it possible they'd somehow been pulled into the past?

No, he thought, that couldn't be it. But it was the only explanation for their current situation. As he walked through the City of Light, which was as real as Xaterex itself, the more Silver was convinced that this was real. He could see beings were on edge, discussing the political instability of Arcaea's current government, as well as the problems the Toa Order was facing. Silver could see beings of many types walking through the city, Vortixx, Glatorian, and even several Toa, garbed in Hand of Mata Nui robes.

"So this is Arcaea." breathed Leviathos. "Before the Fall."

Silver tried to remember the events before the Fall, and he remembered how the civil war had began: a rebellion started by the Ix for the common people that had led to the creation of a new set of tyrants. He could tell this was before the war; while many of the people he passed seemed on edge or uneasy about the current state of affairs in Arcaea, it was still relatively stable, still the paradise spoken of in the Matoran myths.

Suddenly Silver saw an insignia that made his blood run cold, the Imperial standard that the Ix used. He could see several Ix garbed in Arcaean robes bearing the Imperial insignia, and while their faces were hidden in the shadows of their robes, Silver could tell they were not wearing the customary skull-like mask favored by many of the Ix warriors.

"Ix." he whispered grimly to Dust, but Leviathos shook his head.

"In Arcaea, the Ix were often elite guards, honorary members of the Hand in their own right. These aren't the Limiters you know, these are the guards of the Hand, before the revolt."

Silver nodded. He'd learned that Leviathos was also an enemy of the Empire; he'd been taken prisoner and forced into the 174th Eternal Game along with Fairon, one of Shardak's friends and one of the few surviving Toa on Xaterex.

He'd eventually been knocked into the Void at the heart of the arena, then suddenly appeared outside the city, exactly where Silver and Dust had, a few minutes earlier, he'd said. Dust had told them that two and a half years had passed since the Fairon's Eternal Game had ended, and that Fairon had won. Leviathos had been exultant to hear that Fairon had won, though concerned about how much time had passed in the outside world while he was in Arcaea.

Silver's confused thoughts were suddenly interrupted by shouts, and a voice broke through the silence. "Mevon! There you are! The council is meeting, you need to be there!"

Silver turned to see a tall Toa racing toward him, heavily armored in gray and silver. His eyes were bright red, and his armor gleamed in Solis Magna's morning light. "What--"

"Don't you recognize me?" asked the Toa. "It's me, Atraks. The high council of the City of Light is ready to meet, and they need you before the meeting can begin."

"What--" Silver began, but Atraks cut him off.

"We can talk after it's over." the Toa said. "Now it is time for the council to meet."

Shardak could see that the surface of the planet known as Drakyr had begun to fill the viewscreens of the large transport, which looked as grim and forbidding as the gray wastes of Xiost had. However, Drakyr was mountainous, though also completely lifeless. It did have an atmosphere, which suggested that life had at one time inhabited the planet, perhaps during the days of the Ancients.

"We are nearly ready to land on Drakyr." a voice, Chameleo's, hissed through the commlink system. Shardak's hands, almost unconsiously strayed to touch the Blade of Arcturas. He knew that, if they were there, the Ix would probably be there as well. Though he'd encountered no Ix ships yet, it seemed unlikely that they were actually one step ahead of the Ix. They always seemed ahead, no matter how hard the Resistance tried.

Almost unconsiously, his thoughts strayed to Valkyria Rhai again. He'd been so filled with rage then he hadn't been able to think, and Saren's revelation had almost completely taken his mind off her, but now, alone and flying toward Drakyr, their battle was on the forefront of his mind.

He certainly still believed everything he'd told Valkyria, his hatred and rage had not deminished after seeing her again. However, he felt horrible about how he'd let his anger flow into the aura field. Now that Valkyria knew how furious he was with her, she'd be able to use his anger against him. She'd been dangerously good at playing with his emotions before. He'd actually believed that she was his friend.

That doesn't matter now. Shardak told himself. ''I can't let my anger blind myself to the dangers the Ix pose. Like Blast said, it almost isn't Valkyria's fault.''

''Yes it was. ''Whispered a second voice, the same angry, bitter voice that had spoken with Valkyria yesturday. ''She could have betrayed them. Now...I'm not sure how long it will be until one of us kills the other.''

Shardak vowed he'd be the one to survive. He had to live, for the sake of the Resistance. He—

Shardak felt the transportg glide to a halt, landing atop a small, craggy cliff. Below and above him, Shardak could see mountains, craggy and clifflike, rising above, and a small valley from which he could sense several auras, none of which he recognized. However, they were extremely strong. He knew they had to be, to reach this far. Only the most powerful auras could extend as far as these were. He could not, however, find any sign of the Annulus in the field, something he found odd.

Maybe it was hidden in a cave where auric powers couldn't penetrate, like the Annulus fragment on Xiost had been, Shardak thought. Climbing out of the hull of the Resistance transport, which dated back before the Fall of Aracea, Shardak saw Chameleo, Flardrek, and three Veythari warriors move to stand beside him.

He'd partnered with Chameleo on the mission to Xiost, and he and Flardrek had worked together in the Void and the 175th Eternal Game with Fairon, Valkyria, and the others. Both were loyal to the Resistance. While he knew little of these three Veythari, he knew that the Veythari formed the elite core of the Resistance military, and were some of the greatest archers and spearfighters in the history of the multiverse. They were extremely loyal and longtime enemies of the Ix, and Shardak knew they were loyal.

''All of the Resistance members are loyal. ''He tried to convince himself, but he simply didn't beleive that now. Tensions had risen very high since the Sarkanian clones' rampage across Arden, and Parikon's kidnapping had taken those tensions to another level as Skakdi, Veythari, Glatorian, and the other Resistance members began to turn on each other. And Saren's revelation that Freztrak was a traitor meant that there was also a network of Imperial spies within the rebellion, something that could prove to be even more devastating then even the fact that the rebellion had begun to disintegrate from the inside.

"There are beings in the valley." whispered Shardak, careful to keep his voice lowered. He had no idea how capable the beings were, and if they could sense them. Their auras seemed to be carefully controlled, leading Shardak to beleive that they were, in fact, aura users. "I can sense their auras, but I'm not sure who they are."

The lead Veythari nodded. "I understand. We'll proceed with caution."

Raising their bows, the three Veythari began to walk into the valley, which was a maze of twisting passages that led into the deeper ground. Shardak could see the massive cliffs rising above their heads, and knew that this would be an ideal place for an ambush, if the auras he sensed were indeed those of enemies.

"We're nearly there." Shardak whispered to the lead Veythari warrior, who gave a barely perceptible nod of the head. "I can sense the—"

Suddenly Shardak's words were cut off as he saw a flash of black armor in the shadows, as well as the slash of a scythe. The Veythari standing next to him staggered backward, blood spraying in all directions as the attacker hacked at his armor.

Before Shardak could even register what was happening, a Limiter appeared out of the darkness, slamming his scythe against Shardak's weapon with a massive clang as the Shredsteel met the hard firey metal. The Veythari had fallen to the ground, his eyes staring emptily at the cold, cloudy gray sky. The two other Veythari had reacted quickly, and two Limiters had fallen, one shot full of arrows, the other speared through the heartlight.

Shardak brought his weapon around in a complicated Sila attack pattern, forcing the Limiter backward. He then lunged forward, aiming for the Limiter's heartlight. Fortunately for the Ix, his reflexes saved him from being seriously injured or killed, and the weapon glanced off his shoulder without causing any serious damage. The Limiter then attacked with both scythes, his sheer agression and power forcing Shardak back toward the cliff.

The Limiter, sensing victory, lunged forward, switching his grip on the scythes and aiming to spear them through Shardak's body. Shardak raised the weapon, but knew already that it was hopeless. The Limiter raised the scythe—

Then fell to the ground. In his place stood Chameleo, breathing heavily but alive and well. Shardak opened his mouth to thank him, but then Chameleo turned, slamming into another Limiter. Two more Ix were standing at the mouth of the laybrinth, and Shardak charged forward.

One of them was a Limiter, and he slashed outward with a scythe, aiming to spear him through the heartlight. However, at the last minute Shardak heard Flardrek shout a warning, and he remembered the second Ix warrior standing behind him. As Flardrek slammed into the Limiter, knocking the weapon from his hands, Shardak whirled around to face the second Ix warrior. His weapon met hers, and he saw he was staring into familiar green eyes. Valkyria seemed just as shocked that he was here as he did that she was, but reacted quickly, bringing Silverblade around to counter his wild barrage of attacks.

Shardak fought back the anger that threatened to rise within him again as he faced this Ix girl. It seemed that the Empire and the Resistance were determined to force them to confront each other, this time to the death. He could see that Chameleo was being overwhelmed by two Limiters, but Flardrek was holding his own easily against his attacker. Of the two remaining Veythari, there was no sign.

Shardak had no time to worry about them now. Facing Valkyria for what they both knew was probably the last time, he said nothing, simply charged forward. He could feel the red haze of anger clouding his mind once again, but he forced it down. If he allowed his emotions to best him, then he would not survive. And he had to survive, or all hope for the Resistance was lost.

Slowly, Shardak began to force Valkyria backward, toward the cliffs. His steady, relentless attacks were easily countering Valkyria's Lihtne and Vauhti defenses. She didn't seem her usual self, she seemed off-guard and unprepared. Shardak had nearly forced her against the cliff wall now, hindering her movement. Soon he would be able to—

Kill her? Shardak's concentration slipped for an instant when he realized that was actually what he'd planned. He knew that there was no choice now, that either the Ix died or they did, but he—

Valkyria took advantage of his momentary slip in concentration, slashing Silverblade across his shoulder, drawing blood. Shardak staggered backward, and immediately Valkyria began to force him backward, toward the opposite side of the cavern wall. Still, Shardak knew now the Ix were doomed. Chameleo and Flardrek were both fighting the only surviving Limiter now, and he was beginning to weaken. As he watched, Chameleo lunged forward, and the Limiter brought his scythe down on Chameleo's back. With a sickening crunch Shardak heard Chameleo's spine snap.

"No!" he yelled, as Flardrek ran the Limiter through the heart. However, even now Chameleo's powers of regeneration were undoing the damage. Shardak felt his happiness turn to fear as Valkyria once again attacked him, but now Flardrek and Chameleo were both at their side, all fighting her. Panic shone in Valkyria's eyes now as she realized they'd trapped her against the cliffs. There was no way out, and against three opponents, she stood no chance.

"Shardak—" she whispered, but Shardak cut her off.

"There no other way." he hissed. "Let's end this now."

Valkyria seemed to understand, but she hadn't surrendered. Flardrek slashed open her shoulder, and Chameleo lunged forward, aiming to finish her off. Shardak, meanwhile, was forcing her against the cliffs, where she could no longer move fast enough to counter all three of their attacks.

"Stop!"

A new voice cut across the battle, and all of them were so stunned they actually obeyed, turning to face the speaker. Shardak gasped in shock as he faced the beings.

They were tall and thin, robed in black, but they were not Ix. Many of them wore ornate armor that was like none he'd ever seen before, and they all carried weapons. But it was the being in the lead that held his attention, the being in green armor and a cold green mask, the craftmanship like nothing Shardak had ever seen before. His eyes were startlingly green, almost yellow, and he carried a set of throwing knives. His eyes fixed on Shardak with recognition and not the slightest bit of surprise.

Shardak quailed beneath his gaze, but something about this being was strange, beyond his appearence. Something so alien that Shardak recoiled as he realized the truth— ''the being had no aura. ''

"This battle is over." said the green-masked being, eyes fixed on those of Shardak. "Come with us, and you will not be harmed."

"Who are you?" asked Shardak.

To his surprise, it was not the green-masked being who answered, but a tall Makuta standing behind him. The Makuta's eyes were cold red, and he gave Shardak a cold smile pitiless beyond imagining.

"We are the beings who haunt your darkest fears, your most grim imaginings. We are powerful beyond anything you have encountered before, and today our plans have taken a great step forward."

"Hello, Spirit Toa." said the first being. "We have been expecting you."

One month earlier.

The shadowy torchlight flickered in the darkness, illuminating the cold features of the massed group of beings below. All of them were heavily armed, and there seemed to be beings of many different species there, though the bulk of them were the cold, grim Ix soldiers known as Limiters, in their characteristic mottled camouflage. All had their eyes fixed on the beings standing atop the raised dias at the heart of the massive citadel.

He was tall, and carried a long, wickedly sharp silver scythe which gleamed in the shadowy halflight. A hood obscured all of his features, and only his hands could be seen, pale and tinged with gray, like those on a corpse. He seemed to have an almost physical aura of authority, that seemed to pervade the darkness and hold it in its thrall.

The Hooded One surveyed the beings standing before him, red eyes almost visible through the hood. Beside him stood a tall, dark-armored being, and a lithe silver female, carrying two long daggers in each hand. Both of the beings eyes were cold, and they lowered their heads before him, their auras subservient before his own power.

"Tonight..." the Hooded One whispered, voice carrying clearly over the beings below. "We begin anew.

"For too long we have been forced to lurk behind a curtain of impenatrable shadow. For too long we have allowed our enemies to force us to lurk in the darkness, working behind the scenes, controlling the battles now unfolding in the multiverse only subtlely.

"Tonight, the final stages of our plan begin. For our lord is awaking once more, the great ring will be made whole, and our Order will take its rightful place as the masters of the universe."

The chanting and cries of triumph from below grew louder. The Hooded One raised the scythe, shouting. "The corrupt rule of the Arcaeans will now come to an end! From this day forth—WE SHALL TAKE WHAT IS OURS! 

The soldiers yelled in triumph, and raised their weapons. The Hooded One raised the scythe, watching as the warriors vanished into the darkness once more, preparing their weapons for the days to come. The Hooded One turned to face the Elemental Prince standing beside him.

"Skorpix, I have a special mission for you. Return to the Ix Empire, and bring the Ix warriors to Drakyr, to delay them. Make sure the...being we were discussing...is among them."

Skorpix's eyes betrayed no emotion, though the Hooded One, skilled as he was in the aura field, saw his aura flicker briefly with surprise. "It shall be done, master."

"Good, good. And alert Commander Sxe'cahn that he must go to Drakyr. There the trap has been set. There, the Spirit Toa will come to us."

Chapter 4
Silver followed Atraks into a massive gathering chamber within one of the massive, golden pyramids, mind racing with questions. Why did this Toa seem to believe that he was a being known as Mevon? How could he and Dust and Leviathos be in Arcaea, when they were from the present day? And could Leviathos even be trusted? Silver felt as though evey time he came a step closer to figuring out the source of their current problems, another, more puzzling and potentially more fatal question assailed them.

Two Ix guards, clothed all in dark, crimson-red robes, stood before the entryway of the gathering chamber. Silver shivered under their gaze. Though he knew it was many years before the Ix's revolt, their cold, dead eyes always made him shudder.

Still, it was good to know they were protected. Silver knew very little of Aracea, but he knew in the waning days of its power the Twelve Elemental Kingdoms had been extremely dangerous. Not knowing what time period they were in, he couldn't even begin to analyze the situation in depth. He was hoping that, provided he could get through this meeting without revealing who he truly was, then he'd learn enough about where, exactly, they were to return to the Resistance.

But one question still nagged at him: ''who was the being with the skeletal hand? ''Something about him seemed oddly familiar, although Silver was absolutely sure he'd never seen him before.

"Mevon!" Atraks' voice rang through the gathering chamber. "The meeting has begun."

"Wait outside." Silver hissed to Dust and Leviathos under his breath. "With any luck, I'll be able to figure out where we are and how to get back to the Resistance."

"Be careful, Silver." whispered Leviathos. "You don't know anything about—"

"Mevon!" another voice called now. It belonged to a Toa of Water, lean and armored in silver-gray and pale blue. Her eyes were bright green.

"Coming!" Silver said, taking a seat between Atraks and another being, a Glatorian armored in ice-white. He reminded Silver slightly of Arkhan, one of the Resistance leaders. Thinking of Xaterex made him more determined to find a way out of this, despite how impossible it seemed. He scanned the room for signs that any of them doubted his identity, and some smiled or waved a greeting. None seemed to even slightly doubt he was Mevon.

"This meeting is now in session." said one of the beings, a tall, stern looking Glatorian. "Does anyone have any business to bring before the Arcaean Council?"

"I do." said one of the beings, the silver-blue Toa of Water. "Recently there have been a series of brutal attacks on travelers between our Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom. The Ix elite guard has been at loss how to deal with this problem, as they have not been issued Olmaks. We—"

Silver soon lost track of the discussion, as it dissolved into different beings discussing the interdimensional murders. Eventually, the discussion turned to safeguarding their borders against any threats, and the members of the council began discussing whether the murderers were from the Plant Kingdom or from another Kingdom within Arcaea, or even places as far away as Xaterex or Calos. He—

"Mevon?" asked Atraks again, and he was suddenly once again sitting around the table, facing the somber Glatorian leader.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Toa Taro was just asking you if you believe the attackers in Arcaea are from within the Earth Kingdom, as all of the attacks have been near dimensional portals leading from or to that location." said the Glatorian, slight impatience in his voice as he gestured to a tall Toa armored all in gray. "Or if you think they are from the Jungle Kingdom, or from somewhere completely different?"

"I believe they are from the Earth Kingdom." said Silver at last, hoping desperately he'd said the right thing. "However, we have inconclusive proof to confirm this. I think that opening negotiations on the topic of the attackers with the leaders in the Earth Kingdom is imperative."

"Agreed." said a Toa of Fire, ramming his red-armored fist on the table for emphasis. "We must also, however, continue searching our own Kingdom for these beings, and, if the attacks persist, bring the news before Lord Nex."

"Lord Nex has been far too busy to speak with us." the Toa of Water hissed. "We must try all other options before we bring this before him."

"Yes." the steel-gray Toa, Taro, concurred. "Nex cannot be bothered with trivial matters such as this, Korasaunt."

"This is not a trivial matter." said Korasaunt. "Citizens are dying!"

"I understand." said the ice-white Glatorian to Silver's left. "But Nex has been too busy to hear still more pressing things, and trusts us to handle the Kingdom in his absence."

"The use of one or more Kanohi Rodes would not be amiss, either." Atraks broke in. "Toa and Ix, working together, should easily be able to sort these murderers out."

Silver almost laughed aloud at what he'd said, it was so ironic. He wished, at that moment, he could tell these beings exactly what the Ix would do to Arcaea years later. But how could he, without surely being called insane and being sentanced to a prison he simply didn't see how.

''Would it be possible to alter the past? ''thought Silver. Or would it simply fail, or create another time stream that we would be trapped in?

Then, a worse thought— what if he was already trapped in a parellel world, with no way for him to return? Then that would mean that there would be no chance of them changing anything here, or in the present. Silver tried to concentrate on the discussion going on around him, knowing that the sooner it ended, the sooner he and Dust and Leviathos could try to figure out more about their surroundings.

"That will be all." said the Glatorian leader. "I shall call this immediately to a vote. Should a special team of Toa and Ix be formed to immediately investigate these attacks?"

Atraks, Korasaunt, Taro, the Glatorian leader, and the Toa of Water immediately voted yes. Silver hesitated, but the end decided to cast his vote to form the Toa/Ix team. Three more beings voted after they saw Silver vote for the Ix/Toa team, including the ice-white Glatorian. Only three beings remained silent.

"Excellent. That carries the vote. I will announce the council's decision for the leader of the team next week. For now, Taro and Korasaunt, you will lead, as well as Khazin Thaer, one of my Ix guards. Unless anyone has any objections?"

There were none. All of the remaining council members seemed content with the decisions, and were happy to have Taro, Korasaunt, and Khazin Thaer lead the—

Suddenly Silver remembered something Valkyria had told him once, during their journeys across the Fells. She'd mentioned one of her Ix commanders had been named Khazin Thaer, and Silver was sure he recognized the name. It had only been two days ago, after all. She'd mentioned Thaer for sure.

But that couldn't be right, Silver realized. They were trapped over 1,000 years into the past, in the middle of Lost Arcaea. Khazin Thaer couldn't still be alive.

Was there something else going on here that he wasn't seeing?

Silver's thoughts immediately jumped to the being with the skeletal hand, who'd confronted them in the jungle. He and his Skrall-like ally knew something about all of this, he was sure. There was some other force present, but he simply couldn't assemble the rest of the puzzle.

"If there is nothing more to be adressed here, then the meeting is ajourned." said the Glatorian leader. Immediately Silver rose to his feet, drawing curious looks from some of the other council members, though they didn't ask him anything. Slowly, the meeting began to break up, and the rest of the council members began leaving the chamber. Desperate to stay ahead of them, he almost slammed directly into Dust and Leviathos, who were waiting outside the doorway.

"Sil—" Dust began, then immediately stopped, remembering what Atraks had called him. "Mevon?"

"Yes?" Silver asked. "Come with me." he hissed under his breath. "There's something I have to tell you."

Stopping outside a small tavern once they were hidden among the crowds, Silver told Dust and Leviathos about what he'd heard in the council, as well as the Glatorian's puzzling mention of Khazin Thaer.

"Thaer?" asked Dust. "Valkyria mentioned him, yes, but they couldn't be one and the same, could they? After all, we're at least five hundred years in the past."

"Look!" said Leviathos, interrupting him. The afternoon sun had begun to set, and slowly streaks of gray were beginning to replace the bright lights of day. At twilight, the great binary sun's dying rays reflected off the pyramids' gold-plated summits, casting brilliant rays of light in many colors across the city below. Silver was left staring at the skies, speechless with wonder.

"No wonder the Jungle Kingdom was called the jewel of Arcaea's crown." murmered Dust, and Silver nodded agreement.

Then, like a perfect dream turned into a nightmare, Silver realized they had no place to rest for the night. He could try asking someone where Mevon lived, but if he ran into the real Mevon there, he had no idea what might occur. Still, with bandits on the loose, they couldn't remain out in the open, alone.

''Where should we go? ''Silver thought, asking no one in particular. He turned, and followed Leviathos and Dust to the edge of the city gate, where both the Noctian and the other Matoran were discussing the same thing. None of them seemed to have any idea of what they should do.

"I'm sure Arcaea has somewhere we can stay." said Silver. "Remember what the Arcaean Entity said, they're used to travelers. We should ask someone before night falls completely."

The sun was beginning to set, the lights slowly dying. Silver knew they didn't have much time left before the majority of activity ceased within the city.

"But what if they think you're Mevon again, like Atraks did?" asked Dust. "That will raise more questions then it answers."

"I know, but it may be our only chance. We—"

"It has already been taken care of." hissed a voice from the shadows. Silver, Dust, and Leviathos whirled around, and saw a shadowy figure wearing brown-gray armor leap from the darkness. Silver raised his weapon, whirling to face another blur racing past him. Then, suddenly, the world went black, and he knew no more.

The world was spinning all around him. To Toa Shardak, the world had become a shadowy void of purple-black nothingness, where the only things he could sense around him were auras and emotions. Gateways to millions of different realities spun before his eyes, and the myriad possibilities of the world flashed across his vision, close but always just out of reach.

Once, this would have been a panicking sensation for him, but now it was familiar, almost too familiar. In the void, he had no time to think about the fear of what his captors planned to do with them, or who they even were. He could only reach out in the aura field and attempt to read their auras.

He could feel Chameleo's aura, powerful, and intelligent, but with the slightly animalistic traits that all Reptisapeans possessed from their forerunners, the Gekkans. Flardrek's was there as well, steady and calm. He could feel Valkyria's, usually so carefully controlled, but now full of fear and guilt, neither of which he'd expected.

Reaching out beyond her, he could sense the presences of the Makuta and several other beings, but their auras were so faint he could hardly sense them, much less read them. For the first time ever within the teleportation field, Shardak felt a twinge of fear. If these beings could control their auras to that extent, then what could they do to them?

Of the mysterious, green-masked being there was no sign in the field at all. Shardak couldn't understand why the being didn't seem to have an aura. Was he even alive, then? Or a construct, like the assassins who had killed Arcturas, the Copies of Corpse?

No, he was definitely a living being. No construct could appear that real...

Suddenly Shardak felt the pull of the shadows once again set in, and the void began to slow. Suddenly, he felt his body becoming once again whole as the world blurred before his eyes, finally solidifying before him. Shardak was conscious of the green-masked being standing beside him, and could feel the black-armored Makuta's hands on his shoulders. The Toa took one look at his surroundings and gasped in shock, awe, and horror.

The skies of this planet were deep red, the clouds overhead blacking out the gray skies almost completely. The ground was flat all around him, so he could see the massive black fortress, forbidding, like an Ix Citadel, though the architecture was not anything like the Ix's. Nor was it modern or Ancient. It was somewhere in between, both new and old at the same time.

Shardak could see beings striding toward them, all armed with long scythes. Unlike the daggers Valkyria was carrying, these were full length weapons. The beings' eyes burned like torches in the shadows, and one stepped before the others to face the green-masked being, who was obviously the leader of the force.

"Commander Vor Sxe'cahn." said being with the scythe, acknowledging the green-masked being. Once again, Shardak scanned the aura field for any sign that the being had an aura, but found none.

"Lieutenant Shale." said Vor Sxe'cahn. "We have recovered the Spirit Toa, as well as two of his allies. I have also taken an Ix warrior as a prisoner as well, whose rank and purpose has not yet been determined."

Shale surveyed the beings dispassionately, his cold gaze raking across Shardak, Chameleo, Flardrek, and Valkyria in turn. When it reached the Ix girl, however, Shale whirled around to face Vor, and immediately began to speak rapidly in a harsh, grating language he didn't understand. He turned to look at Flardrek, Chameleo, and Valkyria, but they all looked as puzzled as he was.

Finally Shale barked what sounded like an order at Sxe'cahn, and Vor and his squadron led the Toa through the fortress gates. Shardak was eerily reminded of his capture by the Ix, all those years ago in the Circle, and knew immediately these beings could not be trusted. All of the seemed to be completely in control of their auras, but there was one thing that they all had in common: a dark shroud, not a typical aura, but a dark, crackling black cloud, seemed to envelop, or in Vor's case replace, their usual aura.

Shardak tried to reach out and touch the field of darkness and immediately recoiled at the raw, dark power held within. He felt as though if he reached any further into the darkness, he would lose himself in it completely.

The city itself was just like the outside walls: caught between the Ancient architecture that Shardak had seen in the Nameless City and Xiost and the more modern buildings that resembled the Ix Citadel in the Circle. The tall lamposts with red light orbs rather then the green of the Circle and the bloodred skies made it seem even more forbidding and dark.

A being caught his attention, and Shardak's blood ran cold. It was a tall Ix warrior, garbed in rust-red robes and a skull-like Limiter mask. Though he was not wearing the traditional Ix cloaks or Limiter armor, Shardak recognized the Ix immediately. Reaching into the aura, he found himself barred by the same shadowy presence as before.

Now Shardak was sure these beings were enemies. If there were Ix here, then this could only mean that, somehow, the Empire was involved. He had no idea, then, why he was still alive, or why there were so many beings here who weren't Ix, such as Shale and Vor. None of this made sense.

Ion's last words came back to him, the words he'd gasped out as blood poured from his mortally wounded body.

''I was wrong. The Order will stop at nothing to see you dead.''

Was it possible these beings were the Order Ion had mentioned? If so, then why hadn't they killed him already? And had they also captured Parikon? Shardak's mind burned with questions, and there was nothing more he wanted to do then ask his captors. But none of them even seemed the slightest bit approachable; all were veiled in dark robes and masks that he did not recognize.

The inside of the central citadel was ornate, yet practical. It was also heavily defended, with some weaponry that Shardak didn't recognize. Along the way they passed two more Ix, and several Makuta. All were armed to the teeth and patrolling the inner sanctum.

"All of your questions will be answered soon enough, Spirit Toa." said Vor, as though he could read his thoughts. The being's voice was harsh and accented with traces of another language, the same language that he and Shale had spoken at the gates. Shardak had no idea who or what this being was, and remained silent.

Passing by three more beings, Vor issued orders to them in the same language he'd used to speak with Shale. The guards bowed and murmered a short reply, and the green-masked being disappeared into the darkness, followed by the remainder of the group that had captured them.

Two of the guards roughly seized Shardak and Valkyria by the arm, leading them down a twisting passageway. The other led Flardrek and Chameleo through the darkness, scythe readied. Shardak tried to struggle, but the being's grip was like iron and their auras shrouded in darkness. There was no way for him to break their hold on his aura and on his arm.

"You will wait within your cell until further questioning." said the being. His voice was deep and authoritive, and he jabbed Shardak once in the aura field to emphasize his point. Then, turning away, the being shoved Shardak into his cell, then locked Valkyria in the cell across from his. Flardrek and Chameleo were led away, into the darkness by the other two guards.

"But I haven't—" Shardak began.

"That is immaterial." said the black-armored guard. "You will wait within your cell until questioning."

Then he was gone, leaving only the cold, flickering torchlight within the prison to light up the all-pervasive blackness.

The Hand of Mata Nui base reminded Fairon of something from the ancient Matoran legends. Massive stone columns, open air ceilings, and dilapidated gateways and walls that had been broken long before the Ancients themselves had set foot on Noctxia Magna were covered in thick layars of moss and vines. Fairon was half-expecting the fortress to collapse in on itself, but Artonix and the others who had come with him assured him it would not. Fairon could only hope this was true.

Walking through the fortress, Fairon paused to examine the ancient runes inscribed on the walls, many of them rendered illegible over the course of hundreds of years. Still, some were partially recognizable, such as fragments of the Fall of Arcaea or the War of the Great Beings, tales that had been told for centuries by Matoran and Agori alike.

Slowly Fairon tore himself away from reading the carvings, and followed Artonix, Saren, Tiral, and the rest of the Xaterex Resistance warriors through the halls of the base and into the open chamber. Fairon could see only one being was standing there, a lone Ko-Matoran wearing a Noble Iden. Fairon had never seen him before, but recognized him immediately from the description Shardak had given him: this was Ixtil, the commander of the Hand of Mata Nui.

"Atarus told me you would be coming today." said Ixtil, adressing Saren. "Greetings, Saren."

"Hello, Ixtil." said Saren, shaking the Matoran's hand. "You already know Tiral, I am sure. This is Artonix—" he said, pointing to the Agori. "And Toa Fairon."

"Welcome." said Ixtil to them both. "I calculated there was a 63.7% chance the Resistance would bring another Toa with them, but I hardly expected it would be you, the Toa who escaped the Eternal Game not once, but twice. I am pleased to make your aquaintence, Toa Fairon."

"As am I to make yours." Fairon answered, Ixtil waved for him to sit down around the table at the center of the room. Fairon could see sunlight streaming in from the roof of the fortress. It was midday on Noctxia Magna, and they'd left Xaterex an hour ago.

Saren and Ixtil began to discussing the tactical situation in the Noctxia Magna and in the Fells, and explained to Ixtil everything that had happened since the unleashing of the Sarkanian clones and the destruction of Gigas Nui and the Resistance armies in Arden. Ixtil's expression changed from shocked to horrified at Sarem's description of the devastation.

"We need to free Noctxia Magna from the Empire, and quickly. If we do not have the full support of your legions soon, then the Fells will fall and we will be in an even worse position then we were before Fairon's victory. The Veythari are willing to fight to the death, but our regular army has begun to desert us."

"I calculated there was an 63.72% chance the Sarkanian clones would damage our war effort." said Ixtil shakily. "But I didn't factor in their raw power and the affect that that their strength would have on your armies' morale. This could be even worse then before Fairon's victory, you're right.

"Fortunately." said Ixtil. "We will only be too glad to help you provided the Imperial invasion is defeated."

"That is what we're here to help you with." said Saren. "Two hundred elite troops, most of them Veythari warriors, have come with us to reinforce you as well. We've left the Fells mostly unprotected, which is a gamble, but one we have to take."

"I understand. It is a gamble that has a 47.3% chance of success, but we will simply have to overcome the odds, then." said Ixtil. "We will begin discussion—"

Suddenly Ixtil was interrupted as the doors were thrown open and an Agori scout raced into the room and gasped something to Ixtil.

"What?" asked the Matoran, unable to understand his shouts.

The Agori seemed to recover his voice, and between gasps for air whispered, "The Ix...they're coming. And— they have one or more of the Sarkanian clones with them."

Chapter 5
Fear.

Pain.

Hatred.

''All of these emotions and feelings raced through Nightwatcher's body and soul as he felt the pain begin again, the horrible torture of both aura and mind forcing the bounty hunter to writhe and tear at the Shadowdermis bonds that held him captive. His worst fear— that of helplessness, of being unable to act as the world ended around him, was holding him prisoner, trapped and held like a Muaka Cat on a chain.''

''There was no escape from the Ix's horrible torture. Nightwatcher might have been the strongest bounty hunter in the multiverse, but even he was rendered helpless by this horrible torture. There was no way to be freed. He could hear the voices of his torturers inside his mind, asking him question after question. Unconsciously, against his will, each time he replied.''

"Did you fight the Spirit Toa?" One asked.

"Where did you fight him?" ''said the other, his raspy, nasal voice cutting through Nightwatcher's powerful mental block like butter. Nightwatcher felt himself strive against the pull, not answering the question, but still they continued to throw more at him, relentlessly. Finally he began to answer, but the pain wouldn't stop''—

"Where is your Girahk?"

"Did you fight the Spirit Toa?"

"Where is your Girahk?" ''They asked again. ''

Girahk. ''The thought of the Rahkshi of Growth, the only being, mechanical or living, that Nightwatcher still cared for, emboldened him to strive against the bonds once again, lashing out with his aura. But each time the Ix overcame him with ease, their raw power— or that of the Shadowdermis— holding him captive.''

Let me go! ''he thought. ''I'll tell you nothing.

"Answer our questions." ordered the Ix in his mind. "And you will be released..."

''Then they began again, each word punctuated with a burst of pain. And Nightwatcher was helpless to stop them. ''

"Where is the Shadow Orb?"

"Does the Spirit Toa have it?"

"Did you fight the Spirit Toa?"

"Where is your Girahk?"

"Go to Karzahni, you vile—" Nightwatcher began to curse the Ix in a string of different languages. "You'll get nothing more from me."

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the nightmare had ended. Nightwatcher was still bound, still writing against his bonds. In the place of the two Ix torturers stood Mordrax.

"Well, hello." said the twisted Kodax of Absobation. "No doubt you have been enjoying our little game. I know I have."

"Mordrax." Nightwatcher grimaced under his breath. "You and your Ix will never break me. You'll never get any information from me."

Mordrax's one remaining red eye burned with intelligence. His horribly scarred face, an accident that millennia of study had not been able to heal, had never looked more sinister in the shadows. Standing over Nightwatcher, Mordrax looked like an all-powerful being, and his aura, amazingly powerful and augmented by Shadowdermis, made Nightwatcher's seem like nothing.

"Yes, we will." he said dismissively. "We have already gained far more from you then even you yourself know. And the small Shadowdermis chains? Nothing. This power makes me the most powerful being in all of the Ix Empire, except possibly Skorpix and the Hooded One himself."

Nightwatcher remembered the Hooded One, the dark avenger whispered by Resistance fools in fear, lest he crush them completely. It seemed that soon, the Hooded One would rule the multiverse, with the power of Shadowdermis and the clones of Sarkanian at his command.

"Not just this multiverse." breathed Mordrax, casually reading Nightwatcher's thoughts. "Them all. Every one of them, at our disposal, to be used at will. And there is nothing more you can do to stop us."

"I will." said Nightwatcher. "If you're not going to kill me, then I will destroy you and your vile master as soon as these Shadowdermis bonds are destroyed!"

He fired a massive blast of energy directly at Mordrax, but the Kodax waved a hand and it simply disappeared. "Tsk. Nightwatcher. So overconfident. The memories you have, the places you've been. I'm almost disappointed your journey ends here."

"I—" Nightwatcher began, but suddenly felt chains far more powerful then the ones binding his hands wrap around his throat, cutting off his voice.

Mordrax smiled. "And think of this, Toa Nightwatcher. Even with the raw power at my command, with this, with Shadowdermis, I am still only the second most powerful being in all of the Ix Empire, for the Hooded One is stronger still. And soon our power will be backed by something still greater—divine power."

Flashes of visions raced through Nightwatcher's mind, scenes of destruction so great that the Toa of Shadow almost winced. Scenes of a world made black with darkness, with Mordrax and the Ix standing triumphant over the twisted corpses of their foes.

"That will never happen." Nightwatcher managed to gasp. "You're insane, Mordrax. And if Skorpix and the Hooded One are planning to do this, then they're still more insane."

"Ah, Nightwatcher." said Mordrax, his voice almost concilatory. "On the contrary, I am perfectly sane. It is you who have been living in the past, you who have been lost in a world soon to end. A new age is dawning, one that will be birthed in death, darkness and Shadow."

"No." snarled Nightwatcher. "As long as I live—"

"You will not live for much longer, I assure you." said the Kodax. "But for now, enjoy yourself."

Then the world turned black and Nightwatcher was once again spinning through the depths of Karzahni.

The West Wall was at the edge of the country today known as the Fells, bordering the Ix Empire on the other sides. A small fortress and garison, stretched thin across the border, patrolled ceaselessly day and night along the edge, constantly vigilent for any signs of the Ix or their new superweapons— the Sarkanian clones.

Leiutenant Blast of the elite Fellsian guard stood atop one of the ramparts, his long scythe in hand. The cold wind raced through the trees, causing the Glatorian to draw his cloak tighter around his gleaming ebony armor as he watched the flatlands below. After two Ix raids on the lower villages in the past month, he was sure that they could not be too careful. If the Sarkanian clones came across the border from here, then the Fells could be doomed without a warning.

And that, he knew, would mean the end of the Xaterex Resistance.

Things were already extremely grim. Saren was away with Fairon and Tiral on Noctxia Magna with most of the Veythari warriors, trying to free it from the Ix's control. Parikon had vanished on Drakyr, and Atarus had been away for months, working on something in Arden that only he, Parikon, and Saren knew about. That left Freztrak and Reid Vaethar alone in charge of the Fells, with barely two hundred warriors, mainly Dargon, under their command.

More than a quarter of them were based here, the rest scattered throughout the Fells guarding against the Ix raiders or the Sarkanian clones. That left the Resistance base virtually unguarded.

Not for the first time, Blast wished that Shardak was with him. They hadn't seen each other for nearly three months, since he'd been assigned to the West Wall and Shardak, informally, to the Resistance's high council. The beings here were polite but aloof and rather cold, and he'd made no real friends among them. He missed Shardak, Flardrek, Jareroden, and Fairon greatly.

''You'll see them again soon enough. ''He reminded himself. Then he grim reminder of the Ix's ever-present threat returned. Assuming you survive.

Two beings walked up behind him, and Blast turned to face them. One, a Veythari warrior, was garbed in the traditional green-gray armor that the Resistance had utilized for years. The other was an Agori soldier, a veteran scarred by countless battles. One eye stared sightlessly at Blast, scarred over from where an Ix's scythe had slashed open his face. The other blazed with intelligence.

"Our scouts have spotted a group of Ix warriors coming toward us. There's over thirty of them."

"Thirty?" said Blast. "They should be eliminated easily enough."

"Yes, probably." agreed the Veythari. "However, there is a rumor going around that one of the Sarkanian clones is with them. If that is the case, we need to safeguard the West Wall against all incursions. I am leading a small scout team out to estimate the enemy force's numbers. You will come with us."

"Yes, commander." said Blast formally. He'd never seen this Veythari warrior before, but he had a Resistance commander's insignia on his cloak. He'd probably been recently assigned here in the wake of the Sarkanian clone's rampage in Arden.

Following the Veytahri and the Agori soldier down to main gate, Blast drew his mottled Veythari cloak around him until he was confident he blended perfectly with his surroundings. The Veythari, however, was a master at blending in with the Fells around him, Blast had a hard time keeping track of the being in the shadows of the trees and instead focused on following the Agori.

Blast raced as fast as he could through undergrowth, the cold wind whipping at his cloak and causing it to stream out behind him. Anxiety throbbed within him, growing fiercer and larger as he raced through the shadowy darkness. Now every tree seemed to hide a Limiter; every clump of bushes concealing one of the massive Shadowdermis-enhanced Sarkanian clones. Nothing seemed at all safe.

"There they are." hissed the Veythari commander to Blast and the Agori at last. Blast halted before a large clearing. "The Ix."

Blast looked down into the clearing and gasped in shock and horror as he felt a cold dagger of dread seep into his heartlight.

There were nearly one hundred Ix warriors there, all Limiters and all heavily armed. They easily had enough beings there to equal every one of the soldiers in the Fells in skill and strength. Blast knew that it was unlikely that they'd win, and even if they did, they would suffer massive casualties.

But it wasn't the Ix that froze Blast's heart, made him almost certain that the Resistance's cause was now doomed. For behind the Limiters, its gargantuan body coiled around an ancient tree, was one of the Sarkanian clones, its armor dull gray and red, its eyes blacker then the darkest, coldest night. It's eyes shone with a horrible intelligence, that of Shadowdermis, the sentient virus.

And its eyes fixed on Blast for one moment, then snarled a single hiss of warning to the Limiters.

Silver opened his eyes slowly to the same twilight skies outside Arcaea. The sun had vanished beneath the horizon, and the last pale streaks of daylight were still barely visible in the air, as though they were desperately trying to cling on to their last moments of existance. But Silver barely payed that any attention.

His hands were tied, and he could see Leviathos and Dust, regaining consciousness beside him. Both seemed startled, then as reality returned to them they exchanged glances of horror.

"Where are we?" asked Dust. Silver looked up, and saw, above the jungle foliage, the barest hint of the sunlight touching the pyramids. They were only a few miles outside the City of Light, then.

"Where you are doesn't matter." said a voice from the shadows.

Suddenly Leviathos stiffened in fear, fear that turned to horror as he saw the being who emerged from within the jungle, carefully concealed and hidden from view. Silver gasped in shock and horror as he stared at the being's features.

He was a Kyojin, heavily armored and covered in barely healed scars. One eye had been burned out, and his masked face had melted into his features, causing his breathing to become horribly nasal and his voice hideously raspy. He walked with a horribly bent, twisted gait, and one arm had been almost completely severed and lung useless at his side. In the other arm he carried a massive axe.

Still, it was clear from his reaction that Leviathos recognized him at once. "You!" he gasped. He turned to look at Silver and Dust, shocked disbelief in his features. "You told me Fairon had killed him! That he was dead!"

"He?" asked Silver. "Yes, Fairon won the Game. Therefore, all of the others have to be dead. Who—"

The Kyojin gave a hideously twisted smile. "It would take more then what Fairon did to me to finish me off." he hissed, cutting Silver off. "I am scarred, yes, but still I live on."

"Who are you?" asked Silver, scared by the maniac look in this being's one eye. Clearly this being had lost whatever sanity he'd once possessed. He was completely crazed, and couldn't— 

"This is the being who was Fairon's greatest enemy in the Game." whispered Leviathos, horror-struck. "This is Fairon's greatest foe, the most deadly competitor in the Eternal Game. This is Iruka, the leader of the Fallen Six."

Chapter 6
Fairon's scimitar slammed against the blade of an enemy Kranr's sword, and the Toa felt the flashes of darkness fired from the weapon of an Ix warrior slam against his armor, causing him to stagger backward in pain. Instantly emboldened, the Kranr charged forward, aiming to decapitate him with the massive weapon. Luckily for Fairon, his quick reflexes saved him and he was able to dodge the blow, tearing a massive arc across the Kranr's armorplate. The enemy soldier fell to the ground.

Leaping over the corpses of his fallen enemies and charging to meet a Limiter, Fairon felt his grip on the weapon falter as the Limiter slashed outward with his scythe, tearing through armor and then drawing blood. The Toa of Light winced and slashed out at the Ix warrior, missing him by centimeters.

Fairon lunged forward, aiming to finish of the Limiter before he could seize the offensive, but was unable to stop the Limiter's blindingly fast series of attacks and staggered backward as the Limiter executed an extremely complex Guokte/Vauhti maneuver and forced Fairon back across the plains before the fortress. Fairon felt his hands grow tired as the weapon was nearly torn from his hands, and knew that soon he would be too weak to continue fighting.

Suddenly there was a flash of darkness, and, like a Shallows Cat striking is unsuspecting prey, Saren slammed into the Limiter, his daggers raised. The Ix warrior staggered backward, falling to the ground as the Glatorian Resistance commander slashed open his neck.

Fairon suddenly became aware that all was silent. Their strike team was alone, and the Ix scout force had been defeated. Once again, he whispered thanks to Mata Nui that the Sarkanian clones hadn't been there. However, Fairon reminded himself, they were probably only hours away from the first attack force.

"Yes." said Saren, as though reading his thoughts. The Glatorian's bright, intelligent green eyes gleamed in the twilight darkness. "These were only an advance scout. However, I don't believe the Agori was lying. The Sarkanian clones are definitely within striking distance of the fortress."

Fairon, Saren, and six Noctians from Ixtil's personal guard had been sent to scout out the strength of the attacking Ix force. They'd expected hundreds, and at least one of the Sarkanian clones, but instead they'd only found a small force of eight Kranr and three Limiters. Saren had left the Noctians behind at the Noctxia Pass to make sure that these beings were not simply a diversion to allow the Sarkanian clones an easy gateway to the rebel base, and then he and Fairon had ambushed the Ix.

Now the attackers lay dead, and there was no sign that the Ix had ever been there. Suddenly a more worrying thought occurred to Fairon, something that he hadn't considered yet.

"Do you think they could have used the Shadowdermis to allow the Sarkanian clone to teleport directly to the main base?"

Saren thought for a moment, then shook his head. "The only Shadowdermis user I know of is Mordrax, and our intelligence indicates he's currently on Xaterex, light-years away. I doubt the clones would have enough control over the virus to be able to use it in that manner, from what Shardak said, the Shadowdermis mainly controls them."

Fairon nodded, uneasy still. Was there something they'd overlooked? Something more deadly? Saren's words, far from reassuring them, made Fairon simply more worried about the whereabouts of the Ix army. Unless the Agori messenger had been lying or had been insane, there was no explanation how an army of nearly one thousand Ix warriors could simply vanish into thin air.

Suddenly panic flashed in Saren's eyes. "Noctxia Pass!" he gasped. "That's it! The army's there."

"How did you—" Fairon managed to gasp, but Saren interrupted him.

"No time now. Follow me!"

Racing toward the pass where they'd left the Noctians, Fairon immediately became aware that something was wrong. The Noctian warriors were not standing at the pass, as they'd been when they'd left. And there was no sign that an army had passed though here. Though he wasn't an aura user like Shardak, his insticts, honed to perfection after winning two Eternal Games in a row, practically screamed to him that there was something wrong here.

"Look!" hissed Saren, under his breath. Nearing the mountain pass, Fairon saw the bodies of two Noctians, one shot by arrows and the other gored by Ix scythes, lying dead on the ground. Both wore expressions of shock and horror on their faces. As they passed through the caverns, Fairon saw the other Noctians' corpses strewn across the floors of the Pass, all bloody and none alive.

''Leviathos turned, staggering, away from Ghost and toward the edge of the Void. The demon slashed out again, backing Leviathos against the cliff face. Leviathos flailed desprately in his grasp, but was unable to stop Ghost's claw from cutting a second horrible wound across his chest. His dying eyes turned to lock with Fairon's, and he spoke his last words in a half-whisper before both he and Ghost vanished into the Void forever...''

Fairon shook his head, trying desperately to avoid the rush of horrible memories from the Eternal Game from engulfing him completely. Though it had been many, many months since he'd thought about the friends and enemies he'd left behind in the arena, sometimes certain images caused the flashes of memories to appear once again before him, as vivid as they'd been when they'd occurred.

Not for the first time, Fairon wondered what had happened to Leviathos after he'd fallen into the Void. After he and Jareroden and the other Toa victors had revealed that the Void was a prison, not a death trap, he'd encountered many of his foes from the games there, such as Millennium and Dredzek, the leaders of the Shadow of Ages.

It had only been about a year, but it seemed to Fairon like it had happened a lifetime ago.

However, he'd never learned what had happened to Leviathos, his Noctian friend, or Ghost, the demon who he'd dragged into the Void with him. He'd hoped that, during his travels in the Void, he would be reunited with his old friend—

Saren's voice brought Fairon back to the present. The Glatorian and Toa had crossed Noctxia Pass, and were facing the small cliffs that led toward the resistance base, which eventually led into the flatlands. Fairon knew that Shardak himself had been here, with Valkyria and Atarus, on their way to meet with the enigmatic being Moru Kul.

"There they are. Outside the fortress."

Fairon lifted his gaze and saw that Saren was correct. The Ix armies were massed directly outside the rebel base, their weapons all drawn like a field of scythes. Every one of the back ranks were Limiters, and the rest were Kranr and Copies of Corpse. There were nearly one thousand of them, all with drawn weapons. Fairon could see two of the Sarkanian clones were there as well.

"Holy Mata Nui." Saren breathed in shock. "They're massive."

Fairon had never seen the original Sarkanian, but he was completely aware that even one of these beings could completely destroy the Resistance base. Two would probably eliminate every one of the soldiers. The Ix were no longer playing safe; they were ready to annihilate the entire Hand of Mata Nui and the Veythari warriors in one stroke.

"They don't stand a chance." Fairon whispered. "We'll all be slaughtered. The Ix won't even have to attack at all."

Saren nodded. "We have to abandon the base. It's our only hope."

"But we can't warn them!" hissed Fairon. "We're trapped on the opposite side of a massive army."

"I know." said Saren. "I'll distract them. Buy you time to escape."

"But—" Fairon began.

Saren gave him a half-smile. "Your life is more important then mine. Go, warn the Hand."

Fairon nodded once, remembering how, in the Void, a Glatorian victor named Vorral had died to save his own life. At the time, he'd protested, but Treedaka, another deceased victor, had told him harshly that he was more important to the Resistance. Then, he'd been prepared to die for Shardak in the Games as well, but they'd narrowly escaped.

Now, another being was laying down his life for the Resistance's cause. Would the deaths never stop? "May Mata Nui be with you, Commander Naghara." said Fairon.

"And you." said Saren. Raising his voice, the Glatorian cried out. "I'm over here!"

The Limiters whirled around. "Go! Run!" whispered Saren to Fairon. The Toa hesitated for one second, then turned and ran into the shadows, racing across the cliffs and toward the Resistance base. The air rang with the clashes of weapons as the army turned and a group of Kranr led by a tall Limiter raced after Saren, scythe daggers drawn. Saren had turned and run, racing through Noctxia Pass, the Limiters hard on his heels.

Fairon threw open the back gate of the Resistance fortress before the confused Ix warriors could even draw a weapon to aim at him. By the time the Kranr had realized he'd escaped, Fairon was inside the—

Suddenly pain exploded across his shoulder. Fairon staggered to his knees as a second arrow missed him by an inch. Two Ko-Matoran had surrounded him, and dragged him through the doorway. Fairon could see the Veythari commander, Reid Vaethar's second-in-command, standing there, alongside Ixtil and the other leaders of the Hand.

"Fairon!" yelled Tiral. "Where are the others?"

"All dead. Saren stayed behind to delay the Ix warriors." Fairon gasped out. Now feeling much better, he sat down around the command table once again. He saw that the arrow had ricocheted off his armor, wounding him slightly but not causing any permanent harm. While it stil hurt, Fairon barely noticed it. His entire focus was on the Resistance leaders as he explained, in halting tones, that the army was about to attack.

Ixtil reached out and grabbed his commlink, and gave a few short orders to his generals. he turned to face Fairon and the Veythari leader. "Fairon, Zaxar, you lead the Veythari warriors. I must gather my own troops to oversee the defense of the base."

"No!" yelled Fairon. "We have to retreat! They have two of the Sarkanian clones with them! They'll destroy us all!"

Ixtil didn't even appear shocked. "They would not outright destroy us." he said. "There is a 2.21% chance that they will not kill us all. Still, you are right. As soon as our forces are mobilized here, we will leave the—"

Ixtil's words were suddenly cut off as a massive roar shook the building. Fairon had just enough time to raise the Blade of Arcturas and race toward the massing group of rebel soldiers before the wall collapsed and the Sarkanian clone tore its way into the fortress, the Ix close behind.

Fear.

Anger.

Hatred.

''But the overriding emotion was pain— excruicating, horrible pain as the Ix torturers continued their horrible work. Shardak was dimly aware that he was screaming, and he could see two beings, who looked simular to Vor Sxe'cahn, standing behind the Ix. They carried axes and several daggers, and they stayed completely silent and impassive as they watched the Ix do their horrible work.''

''Pain made it impossible for him to form coherent thought. The last time he'd felt such pain was during the horrible, excruiciating torture he'd suffered during his time as a captive of the Ix in the Circle. But this was still worse— they were not trying to keep his mind whole, they were simply trying to break him, whatever the cost.''

Questions. Suddenly the Ix were asking questions again, alaternating their questions. Each word ripped through his aura, twice as painful as the sharpest shredsteel. The Ix left nothing back, let nothing go. The pain, worse still then before, was merely made worse with each syllable they spoke, and, unconsiously, Shardak found himself answering.

"What do you know of the Annulus fragments?"

"What is your name?" one asked.

"What is your purpose?" asked the other, not even allowing Shardak time to answer before a stab of pain hit him once again.

"Name?"

"Purpose?"

''That time Shardak was able to answer, but no sooner had he spoken before the pain resumed again and he bagan to scream. They were still asking him questions, but he was no longer answering, they were simply ripping through every one of his auric guards with impunity. Their cold, drained auras touching against his felt like fingers on frozen steel, like flesh on flame. Mere words cannot describe the pain he felt as they tore his aura and soul searching for their answers.''

Then, as quickly as it had come, it was over. Shardak was suddenly once again in the small, darkened chamber, with the two Ix standing in front of him, faces hidden by skull-like Limiter masks. Both seemed completely impassive and untouched by the horrible suffering he was enduring.

"That will be all." one said. "You will return to your cell now." the two green-masked guards grabbed Shardak roughly by both arms and dragged him from the room. Shardak wanted desperately to ask the Ix guards where they were, and why the Ix Empire would have still had any interest in them, or who all of these other beings were, but the Ix sensed the intented question and crushed his aura beneath theirs mercilessly.

"No questions. All will be answered when you are finished with the interrogation. You will return tomarrow."

Confused and full of questions, Shardak allowed the beings to lead him back to his cell without any struggle. His mind burned with questions. That torture had been far worse then anything the Ix had ever done to him, and he was almost sure another session would break him completely. But even in his weakened state, Shardak was able to understand that something was not at all right here.

If these Ix were working for the Empire, why had they locked Valkyria in a cell as well? She was an Ix warrior, and should have been treated as their ally. And why did every being here seem to have a dark shadow imprinted over their own aura? None of this made sense.

"Iruka?" Silver gasped, staring at the Kyojin in shock and horror. "That's impossible!"

"What you believe doesn't matter." Iruka hissed simply. "You are as much a prisoner here as I am."

"A prisoner?" asked Silver, frightened now. "What is this place?"

"Surely you know?" asked Iruka. "Supposedly, we are in Arcaea. For a moment I actually believed I'd somehow been sent back in time, until...I saw Leviathos here as well. Another foe I faced in the Eternal Game. And when, soon after, I found Ghost, I knew it was true. Where are we?"

"I don't know." said Leviathos, ripping free of his bonds. "But I do know that I'm never going to answer you. I'll finish the job Fairon started."

Without warning he snatched his weapon from the ground and faced Iruka. Silver tore free of his bonds as well, just in time to see a flash of silver light fly toward Leviathos. The tendrils slammed into the Noctian, slamming him against the trees where he fell to the ground, stunned.

Another being appeared out of the shadows. His eyes were empty pits of nothingness, like those of an Ix Limiter, and his features were cold and impassive as he stared at Silver and Dust, contempt gleaming from his eyes. "Two Matoran, who I don't recognize, and a Noctian, which I do. It seems you were right after all, Iruka." Ghost's voice sounded like the harsh whisper of an Ix.

Iruka nodded with grim satisfaction. "It seems the Eternal Game still goes on, even now." he rasped in the horrible, hideous voice that frayed Silver's nerves. "Now, tell me Matoran, or you will die. Where are we? What is this place?"

"You both somehow survived the Games." said Silver, desperate to keep them talking as long as he could. "How?"

"Fairon kicked me, burning, into the flames. You have no idea how painful that was, how humiliating, exhausting, and painful it was as my burning, broken body fell into the Void. I remember spending what felt like hours trying to haul myself from the depths of the abyssal darkness, desperate to free myself from the Void and return to face Fairon. But every time I failed.

"Then, suddenly, when I was utterly spent and completely broken, I appeared here, my wounds healed. I met Ghost, another of my old servants who had fallen into the Void and was transported here. Moments later, I saw you three enter the city, and I sent Ghost to follow you. He confirmed you had Leviathos, another competitor of the Games, with you."

Iruka's single red eye, which burned with cold, calculated malice, stared into Silver's scorching his pupils. "And now I have triumphed. Only one thing remains. How do I escape this world?"

"I don't know!" protested Silver. "What makes you think I do?"

A flame of raw ranger lit in Iruka's flaming eyes, more fearsome then the flames that had crippled his body. "I saw you, with a Skrall, who were defeated long, long before the rise of Lost Arcaea, and another being, in a hood and a cloak. They pointed you toward the city, then vanished. What did they tell you? What is this place?"

"I don't know!" yelled Silver, panicked now. He was sure Iruka would kill them if he didn't answer, but what more could he say? If Ghost didn't pick up his lie, then Iruka surely would. His cunning mind, while unhinged, was still shrewd and horribly calculating. He'd know if Silver lied. "The beings said it was the City of Light, of ancient Lost Arcaea. Then they vanished!"

Iruka smiled. "I find that a bit of...reflection upon your lies will do you good. Ghost, bind them to the trees. With your elemental powers, this time."

Ghost said nothing, but raised his scythe, pointing it at the unconscious Leviathos and at Silver and Dust. Before Silver could even move, he was bound to a tree by ropes of pure darkness. Both Silver and Dust fought and kicked and struggled, but were unable to break free from the bonds.

"They say that nights in Lost Arcaea were far colder...far below zero degrees." hissed Iruka, his eye burning with sadistic pleasure. "I will be back tomarrow morning, unless you call me earlier. Otherwise, I will return tomarrow morning, and you will answer me."

Iruka turned and strode toward the trees, then turned around to face Silver. The Kyojin smiled, a hideous expression which froze Silver's heart. Amost as an afterthought, he added, "That is, provided you don't freeze to death first."

Then he was gone, vanishing into the darkening night as though he was never there. Silver watched the stars begin to become visible, and he and Dust sat in silence, pondering their plight. They had no way to get free. Leviathos was conscious now, and struggling desperately against the bonds of darkness that held them there, but they held fast.

Silver watched the moon rise, and saw it was the same moon that shone over Xaterex. It bathed the pyramid-city below in white light, giving it an ephermal, ethereal appearence. It was the same moon, though not scarred by the craters it had aquired many centuries later.

Then a second moon rose. Then a third.

Then a fourth.

Chapter 7
Blast slashed outward, tearing through the armor of a wounded Ix warrior. The Limiter fell to the ground, wounded mortally, but another Ix soldier, seeming even more deadly, took his place. Beside him, Veythari warriors charged the Limiter soldiers, but were quickly being forced backward. Archers rained hails of deadly arrows down on the Ix warriors, but were unable to finish the Ix off.

At the heart of the maelstrom, the massive Sarkanian clone fought, surrounded by a hard core of Limiter soldiers who had not fled into the woods or scattered by the Veythari archers. No being, Veythari or not, could stand against the Shadowdermis-enhanced beast. It fought using its entire body as a weapon, spitting acid and fire and shadow from its jaws. On occasion, even more frightening abilities manifested themselves, such as rays of shadow and flame fired from the creature's eyes.

Nothing could stop the being, it was like a massive, unstoppable colossus of destruction. Almost forty beings lay dead at his feet, and only around six beings were still fighting the Limiters. The Archers, seeing their weapons were no longer effective, charged forward to join the battle with their daggers and spears. However, Blast could already see this was hopeless. The Sarkanian clone was simply too powerful.

As a Veythari warrior charged forward, two Limiters lying dead at his feet. to bring his solid protosteel dagger down on the Sarkanian clone's iron-hard hide, it shattered immediately upon contact. The Sarkanian clone whirled around, and, with a single exhalation of fire and shadow, immolated the Veythari warrior, leaving nothing but ashes and twisted metal behind.

But as he did so, he left himself open to a strike from the opposite side. Blast could see another Veythari charge forward, aiming for Sarkanian's open maw with a massive spear. Blast saw the spear was on target, and there was no way it could fail—

The Sarkanian clone whirled around quicker then Blast would have believed possible. As the Veythari was about to spear the massive serpent through the mouth, the clone fired a single, concentrated ray of shadow from his eye, which simply vaporized the being completely. The noise the spear made as it fell to the ground was drowned out completely by the fighting.

Blast almost droppped his scythe as he stared at the clone in horror. He brought it around just in time to deflect a slash from a charging Limiter, and out of the corner of his eye saw the clone smash three Veythari to death with its massive tail.

"Corporal Blast!" a voice yelled from the furious mêlée. Blast recognized it as the Veythari commander, bloodstained yet still fighting. He was rallying the twenty or so soldiers, all wounded, that he still had under his command around him, readying to face the Limiters and Sarkanian once more. "Run back to the fells. Get help." he gestured to two Glatorian soldiers. "Narmer, Herex, go with him. Make sure that you warn Lord Vaethar and Commander Freztrak. The Fells must be held at all costs. Go!"

Once, Blast would have hesitated, protested that they should all flee, that no one more should die in this battle. But months of living and working beside the Veythari warriors had taught him that they were completely unafraid of death, that it was simply a nessassay sacrifice so the Resistance could continue. The few Glatorian still alive he was sending away as well, so that the Veythari would face the Sarkanian clone alone.

Then, before Blast could think any longer, the air exploded once more with the clash of weapons and the roar of the Sarkanian clone as the Veythari charged foward. Then Blast was racing through the Fells, Narmer and Herex ahead of him. Behind him he could hear the shouts of the Limiters, and the thunder of persuit. They were chasing after him. Blast swung his scythe wildly from side to side, using the raw auric power contained within to blast aside vines that would have impeded him otherwise.

A Limiter sprang from the shadows ahead of them, slamming into Narmer. The gray-armored Glatorian staggered backward, blood pouring from his throat as the Ix drove his daggers into his body. Herex whirled around just in time to counter the sweep of a second Limiter's dagger-scythe, and Blast raced toward Narmer's killer, swinging his scythe wildly. In the haze of battle, he thought he saw the Ix go down.

That was enough for him. Turning, he raced toward the Resistance base, Herex staggering behind. Blast could see the Glatorian was wounded, but kept running, neither asking Blast to slow or help him. The Limiters were still giving chase, he could hear their footsteps coming nearer and nearer.

Suddenly Blast felt a jarring crack as he was thrown bodily to the ground. Pain exploded through his body, followed by flashes of blackness. Herex raced past him, but a Limiter threw a second spear, which ran the Glatorian through. Blast could see his body crumple to the ground, his eyes glazing over. His sightless eyes met those of Blast, and Blast forced himself to stagger to his feet. The Limiters charged forward, and a spear missed him by less then a centimeter.

Blast tried to run, but he was simply too slow. His back ached from where the spear had ricocheted off of his armor, and his strides were growing smaller and his breathing heavier as he raced toward the rebel base. He could see through the bloodred haze of battle that the rebel base was just ahead—tantalizingly close, but horribly out of reach. The three remaining Limiters were catching up to him now, and another spear narrowly missed him, burying itself in a massive tree.

Blast began, just barely, to hope that he could reach the Resistance base. It was very near, but he was weakening. The Limiters were right behind him—

Suddenly Blast tripped over an exposed tree root, and he felt his body fall to the ground. Blast braced himself for death; knew there was no hope of survival, and he could see, out of the corner of his eye, the Limiter standing over him—

Suddenly the Limiter screamed in pain, and fell to the ground. Blast saw that two arrows had embedded themselves in his throat. The two other Limiters raised their shields, deflecting the oncoming projectiles. However, Blast could see a flash of weapons as a Veythari slammed into the Ix soldier, his dagger slashing open the Ix's throat. The dead being fell to the ground.

The other Limiter, meanwhile, raised his scythes and ran his ally's killer through. The Veythari fell to the ground, but the hail of arrows quickly killed the Ix soldier before he could realize his victory.

Blast could see Veythari were surrounding him, searching for any signs of more Limiters. Blast opened his mouth to tell them that there were no more, but the pain was too great. Flashes of darkness, growing larger, began to obscure the world around him, and finally the Glatorian surrendered to the shadows of unconsciousness.

The streets of New Metru Nui at night. Filthy, narrow, and deadly. A warren for hundreds of gangs all struggling to control the rubble-strewn back alleyways under the watchful eye of the dark-robed Ix overlords. A disease-ridden slum full of beings as ruthless as the Ix themselves, and some still more so.

This Atarus understood only too well as he strode through the inky blackness, the only light coming from the small Cold Fire torch he carried. He'd only seen two Ix so far all night, but he knew if the city authorities spotted he risked more then capture and interrogation, but a certain death sentance. And if one of the gangs captured him, they'd simply kill him on the spot for tresspassing on their territory, not caring that he was a wanted criminal throughout the whole of the Ix Empire.

But Atarus had lived here once; like Arcturas, he was often on the move, and had hidden here for a time after the Fall of Arcaea. He knew exactly where he was going, and who he'd meet with.

Once, this group had been almost completely eliminated during the days of Lost Arcaea. However, after the Fall, it had recreated itself from almost nothing, rising to be one of the few crime syndicates that the Empire had not completely destroyed. Their name was known across the Empire: Dark Talon. Atarus had known them only too well, indeed, he'd been a member for a time.

However, recently, there had been a schism between two factions of Dark Talon in the city of New Metru Nui. Atarus, who had connections within the syndicate, as well as many Resistance spies, had seen this as a perfect time to recruit the two branches of the Talon into the Resistance. He knew how they operated; he was confident he could get an audience with the Dark Talon leaders. Then, it was a matter of convincing them both to join.

''There are fewer then one hundred soldiers left scattered across Arden. ''Thought Atarus. ''These two branches of Dark Talon number nearly three hundred battle-hardened warriors and intelligent information brokers. With these beings on our side, we can rebuild the battered legions and regain the offensive. ''

Atarus was nearly there now, he could see, in the distance, the nondescript, dilapidated building that served as one branch of the Dark Talon's headquarters. He would certainly find one of the Talon leaders there. Turning down a narrow alleyway, Atarus was surprised and disturbed by the lack of Ix warrior's he'd ran into. Usually they'd be everywhere, alert for Resistance spies.

Suddenly the Cold Fire torch the Elemental carried reflected off steel-gray armor. Almost unconsiously, Atarus tore his weapon from its scabbard, and raised his torch to illuminate the features of the being he was facing. It was a male Zeverek, in his prime. He carried a blaster and a long scimitar, and his eyes gleamed with anticipation as he faced Atarus.

Atarus recognized the being instantly, and from the being's hideous smile he could tell immediately that the attacker recognized him as well. This was one of the most skilled bounty hunters on Xaterex, who had not been seen on Xaterex since Shardak's mission to Akkad, when he had nearly killed the Toa of Aura.

"Skorr!" Atarus snarled, charging toward the bounty hunter, weapons raised.

Skorr's grin grew even wider as his eyes met Atarus' "Hello, my friend." he said. "I believe there is a bounty on your head. A very large bounty. When you are dead, I will become a remarkably rich individiual. Good-bye."

With that, Skorr charged, blaster raised.

Hands bound, the two green-masked guards led Shardak down the winding corridors of the mysterious citadel. Shardak dreaded facing the Ix interrogators again, but he knew for a fact they were not yet done with him. They had not yet broken his mind, but each interrogation session was more painful then the last, and Shardak's body ached all over from where the Ix had torn at his aura.

''I cannot face this again. ''he thought as he saw the doorway to the room ahead. However, to his surprise, the guards did not stop at the door, but continued down the corridor.

"Where are you taking us?" asked Shardak. When the guards didn't answer, he said. "I know who you are. You're the Order, aren't you? What do you want with me?"

To his surprise, the guard smiled coldly. "You will find out soon enough."

Along the way, Shardak and the guards crossed paths with another group of guards, and Shardak saw, to his surprise, that they had Flardrek with them. The Glatorian met Shardak's eyes, and nodded once to tell him that he was okay. Then both groups of guards led them down the same corridors.

Soon, the four guards halted before a doorway. Tbe first guard stepped forward, pushing the doorway forward, then sliding it to the side, as all doors within this citadel opened. However, this door wouldn't slide open until the guard hissed a word in the same hideous, strangled language Vor and Shale had used outside the doorway.

Shardak stepped into the room and gasped in shock. The room was massive, with an opaque glass cieling and floors. The massive wall made of obsidian on the far side was the only thing in the room not formed from opaque glass, and the ceiling was far higher and the room more open then anywhere else in the Citadel.

But Shardak could barely take all of that in. He had only eyes for the beings standing there. Two of the green-masked guards were there, as well as Shale and Vor Sxe'cahn. But he barely gave them more then a small glance, he had eyes for only the two beings standing at the heart of the chamber.

One was tall and hunched over. His body was horribly twisted, and his eyes were small and red, twin pits of hatred Contempt was all to obvious in his eyes as he stared at Shardak. His armor was silver and green, and in one hand he carried a long dagger attached to a chain. A wickedly sharp looking weapon, Shardak was certain that in the hand of an expert it would be a lethal weapon.

His aura had the same shadow shrouding it the Vor's and Shale's had, that every being he'd seen except the guards had. The guards, like Vor, had no aura at all, but unlike Vor, did not possess the darkness that hid their auras from view.

The other being looked like Skorpix, with four legs and arms. He was an Elemental Prince, armored all in lime and emerald green. His armor shone like reflective gems, and his eyes were startlingly blue. He carried twin Ix dagger-scythes, and, like the first being's, his aura was shrouded in the same shadowy darkness.

"Welcome, Spirit Toa." said the first being. His voice was a throaty rasp. "We have been expecting you to come to us for so long."

"Who are you?" asked Shardak. He was so confused and bewildered that he wasn't sure, exactly, what else to say.

"More then you can ever hope to comprehend." said a new voice, smooth and perfect, but cold and impassive. Shardak turned to face the new speaker, who seemed to step out of the darkness to face him.

She was tall and slender, wearing silver armor. She was, perhaps, the most beautiful being he'd ever set eyes upon, her body lithe like that of a Shallows Cat and her features delicate and perfect, but when Shardak reached her eyes he almost gasped in horror. They were black, and horribly empty and devoid of any warmth. Her eyes met Shardak's, and there was a look of such absolute authority and power in them that Shardak shuddered.

She smiled, but it was as empty as the features of a corpse. Like the others, shadows obscured her aura, but even through the cloak of darkness, Shardak could feel her power.

The two other beings bowed their heads respectfully to the lean Ix female. "Welcome, Lyria." the Elemental said.

"Hello, Windeus and Nex." she said, nodding to the Elemental and the twisted being in turn. Then she turned once more to face Shardak, who flinched and looked away. He could not force himself to meet her cold eyes, but each time he tried to resist, he found he could not look away.

"Shardak." Lyria breathed, her voice soft as she whispered his name. "I knew you would come to us."

"I didn't." Shardak somehow found the courage to speak. "I was on Drakyr, and your servants captured Flardrek and I." he said, pointing to the red-armored Glatorian. He was sure that by now they knew his name from interrogation, or simply by reading his aura.

"You were searching for the Annulus. But we were one step ahead of both the Ix Empire and the Resistance, as we always are." said Windeus.

"I don't understand?" asked Flardrek. "If you're not the Ix Empire...then who are you?"

"Oh, I think the Toa knows." said Lyria, smiling conspiratorially at Shardak. He flinched under her gaze, but forced himself to reply.

"You're the Order, aren't you?" he asked. "Then why haven't you killed us both yet?"

"Killed you?" asked Lyria, and Shardak thought he heard genuine surprise in her voice for a moment. "Why would we kill you? We need you...for now."

"Need me? Why?" asked Shardak.

"If you truly are the Spirit Toa." said Windeus at last. "Then you are about to fulfill your destiny. The prophecy will be completed."

"Prophecy? What prophecy?" asked Shardak, though he thought he already knew. It was the same prophecy that the two Ancients, Darax and Niha, had hinted at on Xiost, the prophecy that pertained directy to the being known as the Spirit Toa.

"They really have told you nothing, have they?" Lyria asked. "All of the peices in our game have used you, Shardak. And we have maneuvered the peices into place at last."

"What do you want?" he asked, frustration and fear building up within him. He could tell there were still other forces at play here, but as he surveyed the somber group of green-masked beings who guarded every one of teh doors, he knew he was completely trapped by the Order, whose motives were still unknown.

Almost unconsiously Lyria's hand brushed against the wall of the cavern, and Shardak could see there were runes, written in a language that he could not understand, written on the wall. Flardrek saw them too, but he seemed to understand them, and gasped.

"That's the legend of Vahrikaan, isn't it?" he demanded of Lyria. The Ix female smiled coldly.

"Perhaps." she said. "You will find out everything soon enough, once we decide whether your friend is truly the Spirit Toa, as the Ix and the Resistance believe."

"What—" Shardak began, but Lyria was not listening. She, Nex, and Windeus had lowered their heads as two more beings materialized out of the darkness, beings he recognized.

Mordrax and Skorpix. Both beings stood before the others, their eyes burning coldly in the shadows. Their eyes fixed on Shardak with recognition and no surprise. Still, they said nothing. Shardak reached out, and saw that now both their auras were veiled in the same inky darkness as other being's were.

"But you're Ix!" he gasped. "So—"

"The Ix serve their purpose well." said Skorpix. "They mask the true masters from sight, Shardak."

Two of the Ix torturers, garbed in rust-red robes, stepped out of the shadows to stand beside Shardak. The Toa saw that the guards, Vor, and Shale were gone. Only Lyria, Skorpix, and Mordrax remained, their eyes cold as the Ix stepped forward and Shardak's mind was sent reeling once more into the depths of Karzahni.

Shardak, breathless, allowed himself to be led mutely back to his cell. He was unable to move, and the guards allowed him to fall to the ground in his cell before locking the door. Shardak searched their faces for any sign of pity, but their eyes were utterly ruthless and incredibly cold.

Then they shut the door, and save for the cold, shallow torchlight that still burned, the room went dark.

"Are you okay?" another voice asked. Shardak rose to his feet with a start. He'd forgotten that Valkyria was in the cell across from his. The Ix girl looked disheveled, and her wounds were still untreated. Her clothing was stained with blood from the recent battle. Shardak couldn't meet her gaze. He knew he should answer, but the last thing he wanted to do was talk to Valkyria Rhai right now.

"I'm fine." he said, the tone in his voice cold and resolute, hinting to her strongly that he didn't want to talk. He could have simply told her in the aura field, but he was worried if he did that then he'd lose the defenses he'd built up against his pain at her betrayal completely again.

Even in the darkness, Valkyria could see his face clearly, and she could tell how much pain he'd suffered at the hands of his torturers. But there was another kind of pain in his featuers as well, as though his anger at her had been drained away completely by the Ix torturers and replaced only by the pain of betrayal.

''I've destroyed his trust completely. ''Valkyria realized. Then she berated herself for even thinking that. Of course she had. She'd just hoped that something remained of their relationship they'd had when they were both warriors in the Resistance, but she knew that was a vain hope. She should have known that from the start.

For a few moments, Valkyria hesitated, wondering if she should ask him what she'd been thinking. But her nerve failed her. She could see Shardak staring at her, his expression unreadable. But even without touching his aura directly, he could feel his sadness and pain and smouldering anger in the field as acutely as though she herself were suffering it.

There was no way she could convince him. But it was her only chance of escape, and she'd done it before.

"Do you know who these beings are who captured us?" she asked finally.

"They call themselves the Order." said Shardak, not meeting her eyes. "They have Ix on their side, but they're not your Empire. Have you ever heard of the Order?"

"No." said Valkyria. "The Ix have never mentioned them before, nor has the Resistance."

For a moment Shardak was about to reply, then he seemed to remember who he was talking to and did not. Valkyria knew she'd said the wrong thing; reminding Shardak of what she'd done. Valkyria decided not to continue to discuss the Order. She'd told Shardak almost the whole truth, but not it all. She'd heard the name of the Order before once, but—

"What do you want?" Shardak asked her, jolting Valkyria out of her thoughts. Meeting his eyes, so full of hatred, was horribly difficult for her, but Valkyria forced herself to. She owed him that much, at least.

''What we had before, when we were both Resistance warriors. When we were friends, not enemies. ''

"Our original agreement." said Valkyria. "An alliance. I'm too weak, alone, to break free from the aura prison. But with your strength and mine, we could both—"

Shardak's expression looked as though she suggested he kiss a corpse. "What kind of fool do you take me for?" he growled. "An alliance? With you? After what you've done?"

"Only until we escape the Order." said Valkyria. "Then we do what we should have done at first: settle our arguement in battle, like we originally agreed."

Saying those words felt like stabbing herself with a Shredsteel scythe, but Valkyria kept her expression neutral. Helping Shardak and working with him after what they'd meant to each other before would be horribly painful for her as well, but it was her only hope of ever escaping the prison.

She was an Ix warrior. Ix warriors didn't surrender.

If only she herself even believed those words anymore.

"No." said Shardak. His voice was now under control, and it sounded detached and almost mocking. "I can't. Not after—"

"It's our only hope for escape." reasoned Valkyria. "We'll be trapped here forever, otherwise. Or until they kill us. I know what they're doing to you, Shardak. I can feel your aura, it's—"

"You really do think I'm an idiot, don't you?" Shardak growled. "Just because I acted the part when you were spying on the Resistance doesn't mean I'll fall into the same trap again."

"It isn't a trap. We'll settle our battle once we're free. The winner takes all." she said.

Shardak lifted his gaze and looked into her eyes once again. While once she would have found him easy to read, now it was hard for her to tell what he was even thinking. She held his gaze, reaching out tentatively in the aura field to show him that she was telling him the truth. She kept her feelings of pain and guilt to herself. He didn't need to know how hard it had been for her to say the last words.

Shardak gave her a crooked smile. "Well, then, Warrior Rhai." he said at last, in that detached, almost mocking tone that had become horribly familiar. "You might just have yourself a deal."

Chapter 8
"As far as I know, Xaterex has never had four moons in those positions." said Leviathos. "I don't know anything about Arcaea, but since it coexists on the same level as Xaterex, but on a different plane of existence, I am sure that Arcaea never, ever had four moons."

"Then...this isn't Arcaea." said Silver. Then, realizing the implications of his statement, he said in a rush. "Then if it's not Lost Arcaea, 5,000 years ago, then we haven't gone back in time at all, and there may still be a way back."

"But if we're not in Arcaea, then...where are we? And why did the Arcaean Entity seem to believe that this is, indeed, the Jungle Kingdom of Arcaea?"

"I'm not sure." said Silver. "But there's another force at work here. A force that has placed all of us—Iruka, Ghost, and us—here."

"Very good." said a new voice, a voice Silver had heard before.

Both Silver and Dust turned their heads, and Leviathos whirled around, his clawed hands nearly tearing through the bonds that held him imprisoned there. When Silver recognized the speaker, he gasped in shock and nearly fell backward. It was only the bonds that held him to the tree that kept him upright.

Standing in the shadows, concealed so well that Silver would have never seen him had he not spoken, was the being with the skeletal hand. His red eyes burned beneath his cloak, and his white finger was pointing at them. As though they'd been there all along, two other beings appeared at his shoulders.

One was the Skrall-like being they'd seen before, the other was a being that Silver had never seen before, only heard of in late night whispers. Still, there was no mistaking the yellow eyes which burned with feverish intensity, the organic green mask. Although this being carried weaponry of metal, Silver recognized his species immediately. It was a Vorgaan, one of the extragalactic invaders that had laid waste to the universe millennia before Silver had been born, after the collapse of the tyrannical Mindeater Empire.

"Who are you?" Silver asked the being, afraid now. He wasn't sure how long that the being had been watching them, for he was sure that the shadows could have hidden him for hours in the darkness before he'd spoken to them. Also, he'd seen this being vanish into thin air in broad daylight, and at night, where there were hundreds of hostile beings prowling the Jungle Kingdom of Arcaea and Iruka could be around every corner, he was desperate for answers.

"Do you mean my name, or who I am?" the being asked. His voice was hard for Silver to place, not cold, exactly, but definitely not friendly, Not deep, but not high-pitched either. He had a strange accent that Silver could not place, one that sounded almost Illieran, but was deeper and harsher. "I have many names. You may call me Varkanax, but to my enemies I am death, and to the Matoran I am fear."

"Then...do you know where we are, Varkanax?" asked Silver at last, summoning the courage to speak.

"The Jungle Kingdom of Arcaea, presumably." said Varkanax. "But really, you are in another plane of existence, one modeled after my memories of the Kingdom."

"You created this plane of existence? And all of the life here?" asked Silver, staggered by what this being was suggesting.

Varkanax's face was completely obscured by his hood except his burning orange-red eyes, but for a moment it seemed as though he smiled. "Not exactly. You, Dust, Leviathos, Iruka, and Ghost and my allies and I are the only real life-forms here. The rest are all simply pale imitations of life, like this world itself."

"They're not alive? But they seemed so real." said Silver, remembering Atraks, Taro, Korasaunt, and the other members of the High Council.

"This entire world is a perfect replica of Arcaea, exactly five thousand years before the Year of Darkness that precipitated the Fall, except, as you have noticed, the fourth planet." said Varkanax. "Even the beings here were alive at this point in space and time."

"So you were there?" Dust asked incredulously, "Five thousand one hundred and seventy-five years ago? How could you still be alive, then?"

"Like the Elementals, I age far more slowly then you would believe, and the time traveling I do allows me to live still longer."

"But you just said that we were not in the past, but simply in another dimension." said Silver.

"How do you think I was able to create this?" asked Varkanax. "All from memory? This dimension is out of sync with time, like the Resistance base at Void's Edge. I created it to be so. Nearly a year has passed since you entered this dimension, Silver and Dust. And for Iruka, Ghost, and Leviathos, nearly three."

"What?" asked Leviathos. "I've been gone for three years? How do you know?"

"I can observe the strands of time. I can travel along the past and, to some degree, the future, but only ever as an observer." said Varkanax. "Baterra Magnus here has the same power."

The being gestured with his skeletal hand to the Skrall-like being, who stepped forward. His armor shone like polished obsidian in the pale moonlight overhead. In one hand he carried a massive spiked mace. His eyes were red, but not as firey or cold as those of Varkanax.

"You still haven't answered my first question." said Silver. "What do you want?"

Varkanax's expression remained coldly neutral. "The Order has need of you. You will come with us."

"The Order? What Order?" asked Dust.

"The Order." said Varkanax. "You will see for yourself soon enough."

Suddenly the world around them vanished, and while Silver was still bound by Ghost's ethereal chains, he was no longer standing against a tree. The entire world had vanished around them, leaving nothing but darkness. Silver was no longer even held upright anymore, he was simply floating in nothingness, a horribly unnerving sensation. Slowly, the world began to reappear all around them, and Silver was once again standing in the forests of the Jungle Kingdom. However, the tree they'd been bound to was no longer there. It had simply meen removed from the scenery completely.

Iruka and Ghost were standing there as well. Ghost was snarling something at Varkanax, deanding answers. Iruka, on the other hand, remained silent, staring at Varkanax with an expression of fear and almost respect, though it was hard to read the hulking Kyojin's scarred features.

"Do you believe me now?" asked Varkanax, who raised his other hand, on which he wore a black armored glove. The tree appeared once more as though it had always been there, only this time it was a few meters back from where it had been before. "I am the master of this world."

"Is it even real, then?" asked Silver. Ghost was staring uncertainly at Iruka, but the Kyojin seemed to ignore him completely and simply stared at Varkanax, Baterra Magnus,, and the Vorgaan guard.

"What is real, exactly?" asked Varkanax. "In one way, no, it is merely a copy, a preserved remnant of all the hopes and dreams of Lost Arcaea, five thousand one hundred and seventy-six years ago. In one way, it is very much alive."

"Why did everyone believe I was a being known as Mevon?" asked Silver. "But didn't recognize any of the others?"

Varkanax's face remained hidden beneath his dark hood as he answered. "I little...altering on my part. I can control the thoughts of every being here. Making them think you were a being known as Mevon was easy."

"But why?" asked Silver. "What did you gain from holding us here in this prison?"

"Because I know the past." said Varkanax. "And I know some of the future. I know that you have a role to play in that future, bringing about the rise of the Order. As do these beings here." he said, pointing his skeletal hand at Ghost and Iruka. He looked into the Kyojin's remaining eye. Before, Silver had thought Iruka's remaining eye burned. But it was only smouldering compared to Varkanax's orange-red eyes, which burned and flickered like fire.

"You keep mentioning the Order." said Silver. "Who is this Order?"

"The unseen masters, the controllers behind your little war with the Ix." said Varkanax. His eyes seemed to brun still brighter.

"What role do we have to play?" Ghost snarled. "I am not your pawn."

"I think he knows." said Varkanax, waving his hand at Iruka. "Hello, Kinyami."

Another voice rose within the depths of Iruka's throat, a deeper, harder voice that burned with hatred. "Varkanax." he whispered. "It's been a while since I've last seen you." he nodded his heads respectfully to the Vorgaan, and to Baterra Magnus.

"Yes, it has, has it not?" said Varkanax. "You played your role well, Kinyami, in the Ix's Eternal Game. But that small game is over, another Game is beginning to end. And we are ready to eliminate the last of the threats to our rise."

The being within Iruka, Kinyami, nodded. "So I see."

"These beings we gathered are the beings that will complete my vision of the future, I am sure of it." said Varkanax. "Iruka, Ghost, Silver, and Leviathos. Kyojin, demon, Noctian, and Matoran. This will complete the strand of time I have foreseen, this eliminating one more piece from the Game."

"What are you talking about?" Leviathos snarled, tearing free from his bonds. He was unarmed, but it looked to Silver as though he planned to fight Varkanax, Baterra Magnus, Iruka/Kinyami, the Vorgaan, and Ghost all at the same time. "What Game? What do you want with us?"

Varkanax's expression was unreadable, as was Baterra Magnus'. Kinyami, however, gave a hideous smile from Iruka's scarred mouth.

"You will find out soon enough." said Varkanax. "Come, let us leave this world behind."

For one last moment Silver was standing in the moonlight of Varkanax's replica of the Jungle Kingdom of Lost Arcaea, staring at the moonlight reflecting off the pyramid. Then they were gone, falling into the spinning void of nothingness...they were returning to the real world again.

For a moment, time stood still as the Sarkanian clone's eyes, blacker then the bleakest, coldest night, surveyed Fairon. The Ix Limiters there as well, faced them, their expressions hidden beneath their demonic helmets. Only their eyes, cold and dead, could be seen as they stared at Ixtil, Zaxar, and Fairon.

Then, with a screech of rage, the Sarkanian clone leapt forward, slashing its tail from side to side. Fairon leapt to one side, and Zaxar's quick reflexes saved him from immediate decapitation. Fairon knew they stood no chance against the massive army alone. More Limiters were charging out of the darkness, armed with scythe-daggers and spears. The Sarkanian clone leapt forward, tail lashing from side to side. Ixtil staggered backward, the tail missing him narrowly.

Zaxar leapt forward, easily dodging the creature's bladed tail. The Veythari leader slashed his long scimitar upward, aiming for the serpent-being's eye. The Sarkanian clone lunged forward, faster then the eye could follow, and ripped the Veythari warrior apart with its teeth. Zaxar had no time to scream before his mangled body vanished into the monster's cavernous maw.

Racing to Ixtil's side, where the Matoran was using a makeshift club to hold off two Limiters, Fairon grabbed the Matoran's hand and pulled him down the corridor, racing away. A spear missed them by centimeters. ricocheting off the wall and falling, broken, to the floor at Fairon's feet. He could see out of the corner of his eye more of the Veythari warriors charging into the battle, but he knew it was hopeless. The Sarkanian clone could not be stopped by even a thousand Veythari.

Ixtil was alive, and he'd snatched a scimitar from a fallen Veythari and was issuing orders to a group of his Noctian troops. "Alert the Ossoona battleguards that we will be leaving the fortress immediately. We cannot stand against this force, they are too strong, and we are too unprepared."

"But sir." said the Noctian breathlessly. "A second Sarkanian clone has breached the back walls. The Veythari and several Ossoona are holding it back, and confused reports say there may be still more of these beings attacking."

"Get out whomever you can." said Ixtil. "Otherwise we will all be completely destroyed. If you do so, there is a 33.2% chance that—"

Whatever Ixtil was going to say was cut off by a roar as the Sarkanian clone, finished with systematically destroying the Veythari attackers, had begun on the Noctians. The Noctian commander barked an order to three of his troops, and they raced off into the shadows. The rest, panicked and scattered, were easy prey for the Sarkanian clone. As Fairon watched, he saw one was decaptitated by a Limiter and another vaporized by a ray of Shadowdermis fired from the clone's eye.

"Come on!" snarled Ixtil. "We need to spread the word that the Resistance and the Hand have to flee. They're all scattered throughout the fortress right now, fighting different groups of Ix and possibly more Sarkanian clones. We need to stop them. There's no way even an organized defense force could hold these parameters."

"I know." said Fairon grimly. He could hear sounds of fighting coming from two different directions, and saw ixtil race off toward one. Fairon could only hope that he'd stay safe, then he was racing through the fortress corridors, toward the sound of fighting.

The fortress was in even worse condition then it had been before; a second wall had been completely destroyed and another was leaning as the ceiling swayed ominously. Fairon saw several larger Cephalosapiens fighting desperately against the Sarkanian clone as it tore its way through the ranks, the Limiters following as they systematically scythed down any beings that got past the Sarkanian clone.

There were several Veythari there was well, armed with bows as they rained hails of arrows down on the Limiters. But the Ix soldiers were heavily armored, and they barely even affected the Sarkanian clone unless they hit it in the mouth, which only added to its rage. Fairon saw that the defenders were scattering, and he saw two Ossoona Commanders, lightning still crackling from their clawed hands, racing for the exit.

"Tell your troops to retreat! Ixtil has ordered evacuation of the fortress!"

One of the Ossoona nodded, calling an order to one of the Veythari. The warriors nodded and began to fall back, the Ossoona covering their retreat with hails of lightning fired from their claws. The Noctians had no such discipline, however, simply scattering, some joining Fairon's group and their commanders, most fleeing into the fortress.

"I'm going to bring the ceiling down on the Sarkanian clone and the Limiters." said Fairon, seeing that most of the Noctians had fled. "Would that damage the rest of the fortress?"

"Yes." said the Ossoona commander. "But not heavily enough for any other areas to be affected."

"With any luck, the rubble will be enough to dissuade any more Limiters as using this as an entrance." said Fairon grimly. Raising his scimitar, he channeled a massive burst of light energy through the weapon, slamming it against the collapsing ceiling. The ceiling swayed ominously for a few seconds, and the Limiters' insticts kicked in as the elite soldiers vanished into the shadows, hissing something in the scratchy Ix language at the Sarkanian clone.

But the being hardly payed them any attention, so intent on tearing apart the remaining Noctian fighters. The section of ceiling broke away from the rest of it and collapsed inward. The Sarkanian clone had barely enough time to scream once before hundreds of tons of rubble came crashing down on it, burying it and the Noctians, as well as any Limiters who had not escaped that section of the building completely. The wall swayed for a few moments, but the fortress remained standing. Fairon was staring up at the night skies, knowing that they had not stopped the attack.

"You...killed it?" asked the Ossoona shakily, as though unable to believe that the clone was defeated for good.

"Probably not. With any luck, I've slowed it down for a while. Even if I haven't, it will at least give us time to prepare to evactuate the fortress."

"I will spread the word immediately." said the Ossoona commander, vanishing into the shadows. The remaining Ossoona and Veythari warriors all either left to spread the word that they were abandoning the fortress or remained with Fairon, waiting for his orders.

"Follow me." he said to the Hand and Resistance members. "Let's get as many Hand members as we can to safety."

No sooner had he finished speaking did he see a massive burst of pure darkness obliterate nearly half of the rubble that held the Sarkanian clone. "Run!" Fairon ordered, and, not daring to look back, all raced down the corridors of the fortress. Along the way more beings joined them, until Fairon was leading a force of around fifty or so Noctians, as well as several groups of Veythari warriors. He could only hope that Ixtil was still alive, and supervising the evacuation of the Hand base.

Fairon had no more time to think before he was fighting once again, trading blows with a group of Limiters. The Veythari had switched from bows to daggers, and were fighting the Ix soldiers hand to hand. Fairon took advantage of the chaos, dodging the Limiter's swinging dagger-scythes and racing deeper into the base, the Veythari and Hand members behind him.

The heart of the Hand base was chaos. Ossoona shot lightning from their claws, killing many Limiters. But the Ix continued to pour, like an army of deathless phantoms, in from the fallen walls, unstoppable and brutally efficient as they systematically eliminated any being who stood against them. And the two other Sarkanian clones were there too, their raw strength and power destroying any being who stood against them.

Fairon could tell that the beings trapped there were finished. They stood no chance against the army of Sarkanian clones, and they would not survive for much longer. Their only chance was to flee before still more of the attackers stormed into the fortress and prevented the remainder of the Hand's escape.

"There's no hope." he said, as the last of the Noctian warriors began to scatter. "We have to find Ixtil."

Turning around, he raced through the fortress, the air ringing with the clash of weapons as Ix warriors raced through the shadowy corridors of the fortress. He could see another being standing in front of him, and raised his weapon as a fireball slammed against the wall, dissipating on contact.

"Hello, Fairon." snarled a red-armored Elemental from the shadows. Fairon didn't recognize him at first, but then remembered. His name and picture were on one of the list of known threats to the Resistance. He was once the ruler of the Fire Kingdom, during the Fall. He'd backed the Ix's takeover, and had been a servant of the Empire ever since, ruling over the underground Ix base known as the Circle.

All of those thoughts raced through Fairon's mind in the blink of one moment, then he and three Ossoona had charged toward Flareus. The Elemental's fire powers were strong, but the Ossoona were faster then he was, and Flareus screamed in pain and rage as the lightning tore through his body, fire exploding from his clawed hands and frying one of the Ossoona attackers to death. Fairon leapt forward even as the other Ossoona retreated, his weapon slashing across Flareus' leg. The Elemental unleashed a second blast of fire, but luckily for Fairon his aim was off and it slammed against the wall, where it simply vanished.

Fairon brought his scimitar around, using his elemental light powers to momentarily blind the Elemental Prince. Flareus managed to dodge his massive, decapitating strike and lunged forward, his claws aiming to tear Fairon completely in half. Fairon was ready, however, and, his fighting instinct returning once again, charged forward, trading blows with Flareus across the base while the air rang with the screams of the dying and the unyielding, unceasing clash of weapons.

"It's a shame I have to kill you now." said Flareus. His voice sounded like the gutteral snap and hiss of dying flames. "Before you learn what we have planned for your friend the Spirit Toa."

"What do the Ix want with him?" Fairon snarled. Flareus seemed surprised, then laughed hideously. "The Empire? What they've always wanted. But there is another plan going on here, Fairon, a plan that your mind could never even hope to comprehend."

Flareus' last words sent a chill of apprehension running down Fairon's spine. His words sounded horribly like those of Mordrax that Shardak had told him, when the twisted Kodax of Absorption had hinted that there was, indeed, another plan being formed behind the scenes, that even most of the rank-and-file Ix warriors knew nothing about.

"What do you mean?" asked Fairon, but Flareus was already charging toward him, his weapons at the ready. The Elemental slammed into Fairon, knocking the scimitar from his grasp. Fairon writhed against the Elemental's hold, but could not escape. Several of the Ossoona lunged forward, and the Veythari charged as the claws began to tighten—Flareus suddenly screamed in pain—

Then released. Fairon rose to his feet, whirling around as though expecting the Elemental to spring from the corridor at any moment.

"He's gone." said one of the Ossoona. "He fled down the corridor after we hit him with too many lightning bolts then he could stand. A group of Limiters covered his retreat."

Fairon snatched his scimitar from where it had fallen. "In any case, we can't pursue him. Thank you for saving me." he said to the Ossoona and Veythari. "We need to get out of here. There are two other Sarkanian clones in addition to the one we fought, maybe more. There aren't many Resistance or Hand of Mata Nui fighters still active, though, so I'm pretty sure that Ixtil's alive, and has succeeded in evacuating the majority of the civilians and fighters."

Racing through the shadowy passageways, Fairon could only hope he was right.

Shardak had finished telling Valkyria everything that had happened during his last interrogation session by the Ix, including his meeting with Lyria, Nex, and Windeus. He deliberately left out why he'd come to Drakyr, and everything about the Resistance that had happened since she'd left. She didn't need to know anything about their plans so she could tell the Empire later.

"Then Flardrek recognized some writing on the obsidian wall in the chamber." he said. "He asked Lyria if it was something called the Legend of Vahrikaan. Do you know anything about that?"

"Not much." said Valkyria. "I've heard before from a Matoran that the being known as Vahrikaan was an ancient enemy of the Forerunners, but nothing more."

"Forerunners?" asked Shardak.

"The Ancients." answered the Ix girl. "The beings who made the Annulus."

Shardak nodded, wondering what relevance that had to the Order, and why it was inscribed on the obsidian wall. But he quickly put it out of his mind. Returning once more to the present, he told Valkyria about the remaining dialogue with Lyria and Nex. Lastly, he told her about the arrival of Mordrax and Skorpix, and the revelation of their true allegiances.

Valkyria's face went pale as he mentioned Skorpix, and Shardak felt her shock and disbelief flash through the aura field. "No." she whispered. "It couldn't have been him."

"It was." said Shardak, confused. "I saw him. Skorpix was with Mordrax."

"It couldn't have been. You have to have been mistaken." Valkyria's voice was almost pleading.

Shardak was confused. He had no idea why she was taking this so personally, or why she'd be concerned that one of her commanders was here. He probed the aura field for an answer, but Valkyria had withdrawn to herself once again, and was once again wearing her usual cold, indifferent mask, though Shardak could tell she was badly rattled by what he had said.

''Maybe she thinks he'll execute her to keep the secret of his true loyalties safe. ''Shardak thought. But that didn't make sense. There was something else that he was missing.

Unsettled, Shardak asked her, "Who are those green-masked beings? Apart from the black shadows that all of the Order members have, they don't have any Auras at all."

"They're Vorgaan heretics." Valkyria answered. "They come from a small world, far away from Xaterex, and after the fall of the Mindeater Empire, waged war against the species now known as the Great Beings. Everything that they used was made of organic material, and believed that using anything else was an offense to their deities. They were defeated, and many scattered across the worlds beyond the Xaterex system, such as Drakyr. Many became heretics during the war, and these are not exceptions."

Shardak nodded. "So. Let's get out of here." he said to her, reaching out in the aura field to touch hers. Valkyria responded, raw auric energy melding together. Shardak knew they easily had enough to break through the bonds that held them there, and released the energy within, smashing open the doors to both his and Valkyria's cells.

Immediately he withdrew his aura to himself. He'd made sure that Valkyria had not sensed anything that he was thinking, and she'd done the same. But some things, such as anger and fear, were simply impossible to mask in the aura field. In Valkyria he'd sensed sadness, which he'd expected, and guilt, which he had not. Valkyria also immediately withdrew, her aura fading once more into its usual silver-gray mask.

"So, where do we go now?" asked Shardak, turning to the Ix girl.

"We should retrieve our weapons first." said Valkyria, turning to face him. He could barely meet her eyes. Standing so close to her and feeling her presence in the aura field again so closely was almost unbearable after what they'd meant to each other during their time as warriors in the Resistance, a bond that had been destroyed after her betrayal. Shardak had to force himself to remain calm. He needed to stay focused on escaping with Flardrek and Chameleo.

"The weapons are probably stored somewhere farther away, but I'm not sure. We'll need to find a guard, and interrogate him. They're the only beings who'd know where the weapons are held, and where Flardrek and Chameleo are held. Then we'll free the others."

Valkyria nodded once, seeming uncomfortable for one usually so confident. Shardak forced all of his confused thoughts about Valkyria out of his mind. He couldn't let her distract him now, not while he was fighting for his life, when around every corner there could be another member of the Order ready to kill or capture him. Theoretically, he and Valkyria were unarmed.

But aura field users are never unarmed.

Shardak crept down the narrow passageways, desperately trying not to make the slightest sound. Valkyria kept pace with him, treading silently and easily across across the fortress floors. Shardak felt his eyes almost unconsciously straying to her lithe, slender body and perfect features as she crept silently and effortlessly through the—

No. Shardak thought. He couldn't allow this to happen again. He forced himself to continue searching for any signs of Order guards or Ix. He knew there was probably no one watching them right now, but he had to make sure. He knew how dangerously adept at camouflage Ix were, and he was sure that all of the Order soldiers were highly trained as well.

He sensed that Valkyria had cloaked her aura almost totally in the field, so he could barely feel it himself. He did the same, knowing that the Order guards could be just around every corner.

Then, as though his thoughts had somehow triggered reality, Valkyria's hand grabbed his. He whirled around to face her, and saw she was pointing to two guards, who both appeared to be Glatorian. The Glatorian sensed them in the aura field immediately despite their carefully hidden auras, and whirled around. Shardak could tell by their expressions that they recognized them both.

"Stop—" one guard began, but Valkyria raised her hand. One guard fell to the ground, the other staggered backward, falling against the wall.

"You killed them?" Shardak asked, stunned. He thought she'd known they needed one alive for questioning.

"No, I overloaded their auras with power. One's unconscious, the other's just stunned." answered the Ix warrior, walking over to the fallen guard. Shardak followed her, the guard staring at them with hatred and vengeance in his eyes.

"Where are our weapons held?" asked Shardak. "And where are the Glatorian Flardrek and the Reptisapean Chameleo being held?"

The Order guard glared daggers at him. "I'll tell you nothing, Spirit Toa. Death holds no fear for me."

"Really?" asked Valkyria, stepping in to stand beside Shardak. "There are many ways to die. Imagine a slow death, your aura consumed by dark fire as you writhe in agony, unable to free yourself...and you know I never will."

"You're bluffing." said the guard, but Shardak could see real fear in his eyes.

"I'm an aura user." said Valkyria. "Do you see anything in my aura that says I won't carry it out?"

The Order guard looked into her eyes, but even Shardak could not tell what Valkyria was thinking. When he did not answer, Valkyria raised her hand—

"Okay! Stop! Stop!" he yelled. "The weapons are held in the room next to the command chamber. The Glatorian and Reptisapean are held within the cell corridors to the right of these."

"And where is Parikon being held?" asked Shardak, remembering the Resistance leader. "Do you have him prisoner, or did you just kill him."

"Parikon? I've never heard of him." blank incomprehension shone in the guard's features. It was impossible for Shardak to read his aura, but he could tell that the guard was telling the truth. He was scared that otherwise Valkyria would carry out the threat. "Let me go, let go, I—"

Suddenly the being fell to the ground. Valkyria turned to face Shardak again.

"Did you kill him?" the Toa asked, a little uncomfortable. The threat that Valkyria had made had unnerved him, mostly because he had no idea anymore whether or not she would have actually done it if he'd not answered her question.

"No, he's just knocked out." said the Ix warrior. "Let's go free your friends."

Turning down the winding corridors that were horribly reminiscent of the Ix Citadel in the Circle, Shardak saw to a second row of cells, two turns to the right from the cells that they'd been held in for the past day or so. There were more prisoners there then there had been in his cell block, Shardak saw an unconscious Glatorian lying in one cell. He looked around, searching with both his eyes and in the aura field for Chameleo and Flardrek.

"Shardak!" a voice hissed, disbelieving. "Shardak, is that you?"

"Flardrek?" Shardak asked.

"Over here." hissed the Glatorian. Shardak saw him lying between a Makuta and a Glatorian. Both were chained tightly and were half stunned, probably tortured into unconsciousness by the same auric torture the Ix had used on Shardak. Stepping forward, Shardak touched his hand to the door, and Valkyria did the same. Together, the combined strength of their auras shattered the cell door completely.

Flardrek stepped out, his eyes meeting Shardak's gratefully. "Thank you, Shardak, for—" he broke off when he saw Valkyria standing next to him. Recognition and rage gleamed in his eyes.

"You!" he snarled, lunging forward.

"It's okay, she's on our side!" Shardak hissed under his breath.

Flardrek whirled around, surprise evident in his eyes. "Really? You're working with this traitor again? The one who gave the Annulus fragment to the Ix?"

"It was the only way either of us could escape." said Shardak. "These doors are reinforced by aura guards, it takes two beings who can use the aura field to open them. We've agreed that once we've escaped the Order, then we'll settle our battles once and for all."

Flardrek nodded curtly, but Shardak could tell that he had only set the matter aside because he knew every moment they delayed raised the chance still further that they would be discovered by more of the Order's guards. Two of the other prisoners were beginning to stir as well.

"Over here." came Chameleo's voice. Shardak, Valkyria, and Flardrek turned to see the Reptisapean was held within a cell to the far left, wounded slightly from the battle with Valkyria and the Limiters, but otherwise unharmed. "I'm okay." he said, echoing Shardak's thoughts.

Valkyria and Shardak concentrated their combined auric power on the cell doors, destroying it completely and leaving the fragments scattered at Chameleo's feet. The Reptisapean smiled gratefully at Shardak, though he didn't acknowledge Valkyria at all. He edged slowly away from the Ix girl, as though she would kill him as soon as look at him.

"We have to recover our weapons." said Shardak. "The guard said they were held near the command chamber, where they took Fladrek and me. It's not far, but we'll have to proceed with caution. I don't know if this fortress has any defense mechanisms, like the Spire in the Circle. It could have hidden traps that we know nothing about."

Flardrek nodded grimly. Shardak knew that all of his companions were trained warriors, and probably didn't need reminding, but without weapons, Shardak knew that none of them were likely to survive an attack by the Order guards. Even he and Valkyria, who could use the aura field, stood little or no chance against an armed group of guards who were waiting in ambush for them.

Once again. Shardak found himself creeping through the shadows, Valkyria, Flardrek, and Chameleo following him as he led them toward the command chamber, where he'd met Lyria, Skorpix, and the other leaders of the Order. He could see the double doors ahead, barricaded once again. However, there were no guards there at all, something Shardak found ominous. Where were all of the guards they'd passed during their first day in the Order's fortress. Something was not right here.

"There it is." Shardak whispered. The others turned to the doorway, which was shut tightly but not locked. Shardak slowly pushed it open, stepping inside.

The room was not lit at all, and in the small firey light provided from the torch burning outside the open doors Shardak could see that this was an armory. It was mostly empty, but several shields and blasters were tehre, including a deadly weapon he'd first seen used in the Eternal Game: a Shattering Gun. The deadly weapon, upon impact, could kill almost any living being if it hit a vital area, the force of the pulses being so great it often blew apart the bodies of the beings it hit. Flardrek lifted it expermentally, but put it down when he saw it was not loaded.

Shardak's eyes adjusted to the darkness, and in the shadows he managed to locate the Blade of Arcturas, Valkyria's bow and quiver, and Flardrek's flame sword. He saw that Chameleo had taken two Ix daggers, for his only weapon otherwise was his claws. Valkyria was already carrying Silverblade, as well as her shorter Ix dagger that she'd used during the battle on Drakyr.

For the first time, Shardak had wondered where, exactly, they were. Certainly they were no longer on Drakyr, but this was neither Xaterex, Calos, or Noctixa Magna. Was it a planet beyond even the Solis Magna System? If so, then why were there Ix in the Order base?

He was certain that the Order knew all of his secrets, the Ix torturers had made sure of that. But he knew little or nothing about them, or what their true goals were. One thing was certain: these beings were the secret masters of the Ix, the shadowy figures that Silencer had made several oblique references to during his time as a Toa apprentice in the Circle. They—

"Put down your weapons." a new voice, cold as ice, cut across his thoughts like a knife-edge. Shardak whirled around to face the speaker.

Several Vorgaan guards stood there, standing behind a female Ix warrior. She looked like Lyria, except younger. She couldn't have been much older then Valkyria. Her features were perfect, and would have been exceptionally beautiful except for her jet black, empty eyes and contemptous glare. Like all of the Order members, her aura was shrouded in darkness.

"May we kill them now, Rulen?" asked one of the guards, his voice tinged with fear as he spoke to the Ix warrior.

"Not yet." the Ix girl, Rulen, answered. However, her eyes never left those of Shardak. "I knew you would come here." she said. "Trying to free your friend, the Great Being? Unfortunately, you came too late."

"Great Being?" asked Shardak, confused as well as terrified. There seemed to be no way out of this. Rulen and the guards were blocking the only exit from this room, and while they had several weapons here, he was under no illusions that in this confined space they could escape from their attackers. And even if they could defeat Rulen and the Vorgaan guards, then they would still be trapped within the Order's base, which could mobilize many times the force they had here to capture or kill them.

Rulen gave a small smile. "You really don't know, do you? On the other hand, we know everything about you. We have watched from the shadows and often tested your skills against ours, but every time you have evaded us...until now."

"Who are you?" asked Shardak. "What does the Order want?"

"We are the Order." said Rulen. "The Ix's rulers. Most of them know nothing about our plans, though all of them indirectly serve our purposes. Soon, I assure you, the plan will be completed. You will see it be completed. Too bad your friends can't say the same."

Rulen hissed something in the Ix's incomprehensible tongue. Though Shardak knew only the Ix could properly speak it, it was obvious that the Vorgaan guards recognized it. Two of them charged forward, weapons raised. Grimly, Shardak raised the Blade of Arcturas, feeling the fire flow through his arm once again as he readied to make his final stand.

The guard's weapon slammed against his, and Shardak was quickly forced to begin fighting for his life. The Vorgaan guards were skilled combatants, almost as skilled as an elite Ix Limiter. Their sheer strength and speed took him by surprise, and he was forced to step backward, narrowly avoiding decapitation by the Vorgaan heretic's axe.

Seizing the advantage, the Vorgaan continued, using a combat style that was completely unknown to Shardak. He'd been trained in the seven swordfighting combat forms, but never in axefighting, though he knew how to counter it effectively enough. Still, he was unable to stop the Vorgaan's offensive, he was too—

Suddenly the guard fell to the ground. Flardrek stood over the attacker's body, then vanished back into the battle. Shardak was immediately confronted by a second attacker, this Vorgaan guard carrying a spear. Shardak easily blocked his first attack, shattering the spear. The Vorgaan staggered backward, drawing a second weapon, an Ix dagger-scythe, from his belt. Shardak fought the Vorgaan across the room, neither able to gain the upper hand.

He could see flashes of the battle around him; Flardrek fighting three guards at once, Chameleo, whose armor was stained with blood, fighting several of the rust-red robed elite Ix warriors, who were even more skilled then the Limiters. Valkyria was fighting with both Silverblade and a dagger against two Vorgaan, and seemed to be holding her own.

Shardak raised his weapon, finally disarming the Vorgaan. As the guard staggered backward, Shardak lashed out in the aura field with enough force that he was confident it would knock the Vorgaan unconscious. However, the guard wasn't even injured.

Too late, Shardak remembered that the Vorgaan had no aura, and were invulnerable to any auric attacks. The guard took those moments to grab his fallen weapon and charge forward again, weapon raised. Shardak managed to counter the attack with a complex Sila defense pattern, but was unable to block his next strike, which tore open his shoulder. Shardak winced in pain as the old scar from the Stalker bite he'd suffered nearly three years ago was bleeding once more.

The Vorgaan, seeing he was wounded, charged forward again, but this time Shardak was ready. He raised the Blade of Arcturas, swinging it around in massive arc even as he leapt aside to avoid the Vorgaan's dagger-scythe. The Vorgaan fell to the ground, dead or unconscious. Two more Vorgaan charged toward him, and Shardak, unprepared, staggered backward. The Vorgaan raised his weapon, but Shardak could see that Chameleo was running toward him, weapon raised. The Vorgaan didn't seem to notice, and none of the other Order members were close enough to help them.

Then Shardak saw the danger, and he shouted a warning to the Reptisapean. But it was too late. Shardak gasped in shock and awe as Rulen moved so fast she was little more then a blur. The Ix warrior slammed into Chameleo with all the speed and power of an attacking spider. The Reptisapean staggered backward, falling to the ground, blood was pouring from several open wounds, and as he staggered to his feet, Rulen, both daggers raised struck so quickly that Shardak didn't even see her move.

Like a puppet with all of his strings cut, Chameleo fell to the ground. There was no doubt in Shardak's mind that he was dead. For a few moments he was paralyzed with fear. Rulen had killed Chameleo with such comtemptous ease that there was no doubt in his mind that it was over. They couldn't—

"Shardak! Over here!" Flardrek yelled. Both Shardak and Rulen, distracted momentarily by his shout, turned to face him. Three Vorgaan guards lay dead at his feet, and he was fighting the last remaining Ix guard at the doorway. As they watched, Flardrek slashed him to the ground. Valkyria, whose two attackers had been killed, had joined him at the doorway. Flardrek opened it, and raced out. Two Vorgaan guards leapt at Valkyria, but she deflected their attacks easily and raced after Flardrek.

Shardak ran to join them, all the while expecting to die or be recaptured. He turned around—

"Not so fast, Toa Shardak." snarled Rulen. "Don't think you can escape this time."

Shardak stood rooted to the ground, paralyzed with terror. He couldn't move, but he saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye—

Flardrek slammed into Rulen, knocking the Ix girl to the ground. Her dagger-scythe was swinging wildly, desperately trying to kill him as she writhed to escape his grasp. Flardrek brought his gloved hand down on her wrist, forcing her to let go of the dagger scythe.

"Look out!" yelled Shardak. Flardrek whirled around to see a Vorgaan racing toward him, spear raised. Flardrek released Rulen, and the Ix girl was quickly on her feet again, her dagger in hand. Not waiting for her to recover, Shardak raced toward the exit, Flardrek close behind.

Outside, Valkyria was fighting several more Vorgaan guards who were waiting outside. The guards whirled around just in time to see Flardrek's sword flash before their eyes. The guards fell to the ground, and Valkyria and Flardrek raced down the fortress corridors toward the exit, but Shardak hesitated.

Shardak wanted to follow Flardrek and Valkyria before Rulen or the guards killed him, but he was loathe to leave Chameleo's body in the hands of his enemies. It didn't seem right to leave a loyal warrior of the Resistance here, without any chance of a proper burial.

"Shardak! Come on!' yelled Flardrek, grabbing his arm. "Do you want to waste Chameleo's life?"

Before Shardak could reply, Flardrek had grabbed his hand, and they were racing for the exit. Several guards tried to block their way, but were unable to stop them. Shardak could see the exit in sight, could see the abandoned city outside the Order's Citadel. Against the odds, they had escaped the heart of the Order's power.

But they had not yet escaped the Order themselves.

Chapter 9
At the heart of the Order's massive Citadel, the Hooded One turned to face Rulen, then Lyria. In his horrible, ice-hold voice he whispered. "It is done? Have Toa Shardak and the Ix warrior escaped the Citadel?"

"Yes, master." said Lyria, lowering her head to the cloaked being. She, Rulen, Skorpix, Mordrax, and several other cloaked Ix lords were standing at the heart of the chamber, before the obsidian wall, where the Legend of Vahrikaan was engraved in Matoran lettering. All lowered their heads to the Hooded One, who as carrying a massive scythe made from a meterial still harder then Shredsteel itself.

"Good, good..." rasped the Hooded One. "Everything is proceeding as I knew it would. What of the Glatorian? Is he with them? Does he still live?"

"Yes, master." said Rulen. "I eliminated the Reptisapean, but was unable to finish of the Glatorian without putting the Ix warrior's or the Spirit Toa's lives at risk."

"He is immaterial." said the Hooded One dismissively. "Now that the Plan is so close to its fulfillment."

"Why did you let him escape?" Nex asked, confused. "Surely the fact that the Spirit Toa is free within our planet is not a step closer to fulfilling the Plan? Why are you letting him live? Surely I or another of the Order could track him down and eliminate him."

"Nex..." whispered the Hooded One, his voice quiet but carrying easily across the room. "Simply killing the Spirit Toa and crushing our enemies is not all that the Plan is about. It is about much, much more...once the Spirit Toa meets with our enemies, as we have planned, he will, thinking all the while he is one step closer to thwarting our plans...fulfill them beyond what you or I could ever hope to."

Nex smiled coldly, understanding spreading across his features.

"Of course..." hissed the Hooded One. "We must continue the charade that we want him dead or recaptured. Send the Serrakaan clones after him, under the command of Makuta Shale. Rulen, Mordrax, you know what your jobs are."

The Ix girl nodded in acknowledgement, and Skorpix smiled coldly.

"The Resistance is close to being crushed by the might of Shadowdermis. The Spirit Toa is ours. And our greatest enemies...will be eliminated by our greatest weapon, the weapon that we will eliminate Shardak with as soon as he has served his purpose."

"The Annulus will be made whole." the Hooded One whispered. "And we, the Order, will take our rightful place as masters of the universe."

Well outside the Order's desolate city now, Shardak finally stopped, out of breath. He'd been sure they'd have run into more Order guards outside the city, but it seemed to be completely abandoned, with no trace of Ix, Makuta, or Vorgaan. Shardak felt a twinge of unease. Something wasn't right here.

The sun on this planet was massive and bloodred, like the red clouds that shone during the day. Now, night had fallen, and no stars lit the way. The only light that Shardak had was the Sword of Fire's gleaming blade, as well as a torch that Flardrek had stolen from the heart of the Circle. Similarly, there was no moonlight, and even if there had been, Shardak known it was impossible to tell the distance between the Order's planet and Drakyr.

"What can we do now?" asked Shardak. Both Flardrek and Valkyria were trying to find a cave or small cliff, where they could wait out the night without fear of a flatland ambush, but it seemed impossible. They were in the middle of a massive, barren plain, with no sign of any shelter.

"We have to find a place to rest." said Flardrek. "We're well away from the Order's fortress, but they know this terrain and we don't, and it's likely that they'll send teams of elite Ix warriors after us. The Ix warrior, Rulen, is still alive, and she'll report that we escaped to her commanders. More then likely, she already has. We need a place to wait out the night."

"But we don't—" Shardak began, but a new voice broke in to the conversation.

"Who are you?" the voice asked, both curious and slightly harsh. "And what brings you to Var'kala? There's probably no more dangerous place in the universe for a Spirit Toa then here."

Flardrek, Valkyria, and Shardak all whirled around to face the speaker. In the cold, shadowy torchlight, Shardak could see he was tall, and his armor was golden-black. His eyes looked like twin pools of molten amber, that burned almost as intensely as the eyes of Skorpix. Shardak didn't recognize him, but he could sense his aura: fragmented and strangely tangled, though not because of any flaw. It was intentional, and reminded him of the aura of Moru Kul, the ancient being who had teleported him back to Xaterex from Noctxia Magna last year.

"I—" Shardak began, but Flardrek cut him off. "Who are you?" he asked, fear in his voice, something that Shardak had rarely heard before. The being turned the force of his gaze upon Flardrek, and touched the Glatorian's aura with his own.

"Fair enough." he said. "But you must understand that time is short, the Order could be here any minute."

"So you don't serve them?" Valkyria asked. For the first time, the being seemed to notice her. He drew his weapon, a long, curved scimitar whose workmanship Shardak didn't recognize. It certainly wasn't Arcaean or Ix, nor was it anything the Veythari had made.

"An Ix warrior." he snarled. Shardak blocked his way.

"She's not a member of the Order. She's on our side." he said.

"There are no good Ix warriors." hissed the being. "Stay back. I have to finish her."

"No." said Shardak. "I have an agreement with her, and we will finish our own battle once we have escaped from the Order. Until then, she's our ally."

The being looked almost disbelieving, but held his tongue. Instead he turned back to Shardak. "My name is Makour." he said. "The last Corbrarien of the final Caronex library."

Valkyria looked startled for a moment, and Shardak felt a slight twinge of fear flash through her aura. For one usually so excellent at concealing her thoughts and emotions, Shardak was worried. If the Caronex scared Valkyria, then it was—

"We can't talk more now." Makour hissed, real fear in his voice now. "There are Limiters everywhere tonight, and even some of the elite Vorgaan guards are scattered across the Great Plain, searching for you."

"How can we trust you?" challenged Shardak. "How do we know you're not leading us into another trap?"

"You can trust me." said Makour, something in his voice telling Shardak he wasn't lying. "I have fought the Ix nearly all my life, from the moment they invaded my homeworld. Now I am the last Caronex on Var'kala."

As he spoke, images raced through Shardak's mind, pictures of another time, another world...

''Limiters. Ix soldiers. Racing through the twilight. Raging flames surrounding them illuminated their dead eyes cold and impassive behind their skull-like masks''. ''There were more Ix there too, hissing orders to the soldiers as they raced through the curtains of fire... ''

''Only one other being was alive there. Makour. Wounded badly, but alive, vengeance gleaming in his eyes...''

"There are three of you, and only one of me." said the Caronex as the visions subsided. "How long do you think I'd last? Besides, if I wanted to kill you, I could have done so already while I watched you stumbling around in the dark."

Shardak still wasn't convinced; the being's aura was extremely powerful. But the vision he'd seen in the aura field was too vivid to have been fake. And if the Limiters were out there, hunting for him, then he knew the only chance he had of surviving out the night was to trust Makour.

"Quickly!" hissed the Caronex. "They could be anywhere. He raised his lantern, illuminating the land around him. Shardak saw they were standing in the middle of a massive, barren plain of red sand and rocks. Several massive cliffs rose above nearby, but that was all. He could see nothing more beyond the light of Makour's lantern.

Shardak felt exposed and unprotected in the middle of the flatlands at night. He knew that the Ix had perfect night vision; Valkyria could see all around her as perfectly as though it was day. But Shardak was half-blinded by the oppressive darkness which surrounded them all. He'd been raised in the Fells, and had never ventured into the flatlands until a year ago, on his way to Akkad to seek out the information broker Jekart.

There were plenty of opportunities for a fatal ambush in the flatlands, where there was nothing but rocks or sand to see for miles around. Shardak knew that if the Limiters ambushed them, there was little chance they'd survive to even recognize their killers.

Finally Makour stopped before a large cavern that led into the side of a massive mountain, so tall that, in the darkness, Shardak could not see the summit. Apprehensive, he, Flardrek, and Valkyria followed Makour inside the caverns, weapons ready. Torchlight provided shallow illumination for the entire room, Shardak could see there were several chairs within, as well as a large amount of stone tablets, with runic lettering enscribed upon them.

"Welcome to my secret lair, which the Order has yet to find. It also serves as a portal of sorts, so there's always an escape route if the Limiters find us."

"A portal?" asked Flardrek. His aura burned with mistrust; he could not sense the same visions that Makour had shared with him and Valkyria, and Shardak knew that, unless there really was a portal there, as Makour had claimed, they were trapped here unless they could fight their way out.

"Yes, somewhat." said Makour, not elaborating further. "I'm almost surprised the Ix Order knows nothing about this, it's uncharacteristically sloppy of them. Please, sit." he said, addressing Valkyria, Flardrek, and Shardak. "There is much I have to say, and very little time. I'm not sure if the Limiters will find us."

"Do you think that's possible?" asked Shardak, worried at the prospect of facing the ghoulish Ix elite in the winding, small tunnel with only Makour to help them.

"Yes." said Makour. "But I'll make sure you get out alive, Spirit Toa."

His eyes never met those of Flardrek or Valkyria; and Shardak wondered if he was the only one the Caronex really wanted to speak too. Flardrek was simply a Glatorian, and he could sense slight disdain in Makour's aura. As for Valkyria, she was a forgone conclusion— Makour wouldn't hesitate to kill her if she showed a single sign of hostility.

Not for the first time, Shardak wondered how he'd really feel if she died, either at the hands of the Order or Makour. He—

"I was young when the Ix first came to my homeworld, Corona Magna." began Makour, jolting Shardak once more out of his thoughts. "They'd come after the Fall of Arcaea, when the kingdom was dying completely. My people did not know what they learned during the Ix's subtle takeover, and allowed the Ix to have more and more say in their government.

"The Ix were fleeing the fall of their kingdom, trying to rebuild the battered remnants of their fallen Empire. After a few years, many Caronex became convinced that the Ix would bring ruin on their kingdom as well. For a long time the Ix, ignoring the growing hostility and using their aura control technology to manipulate the government, used my homeworld as a military base, to rebuild their strength so they could eventually take over Xaterex, the Arcaean remnants, and the rest of their current domain.

"Eventually, the Ix went too far. The Caronex went into open revolt, though by then the Ix were unstoppable. They had an entire fleet or Arcaean and Caronex starcraft under their command; we could barely find any who would oppose them. Before we could lauch more then a few starcraft to meet them in battle, they'd crippled our shipyards, eliminating any chance we could engage them there.

"Their Elite Guards, the forerunners of the Limiters, then attacked us. Our government did nothing to stop them, it was completely under the Ix's control. My city was one of the few that resisted. When it fell, I fled to the world that became the base of the beings you know as the Order— the overlords of the Ix.

"Var'kala wasn't their most powerful base then." said Makour. "But it was useful, as it was one of the greatest masterpieces of Ancient architecture— a mobile planetoid base, that the Ix could use to oversee their domain. For years and years, it was bound to Corona Magna, but the Ix warfleet destroyed it during the final battle. Now it is completely and irrevocably under their rule."

There was silence as Shardak took in everything that the Caronex had said.

"So Var'kala isn't a planet at all?" asked Shardak. "It's a mobile base?"

"Yes." answered Makour. "Though it hasn't moved for nearly twenty years."

"Why did you remain here, then, in the heart of the Order's territory?" asked Flardrek, after a few moments.

"It was the perfect place to keep an eye on their activities." said Makour. "I'd considered leaving, but most of the remaining Caronex culture is here— the Ix completely erased the rest from existance, as well as wipe out the majority of my people. Besides, where else would I go? Corona Magna? Never."

"Why not?" asked Shardak. "The Ix still don't—"

"The Ix still use it as a base." said Makour. "An extra military outpost, in case Var'kala is ever destroyed. Several of the Order's most elite lords are there."

"Where is Corona Magna?" Flardrek wondered aloud. "Why have we never heard of it before?"

"Corona Magna was inhabited many times, it was designed as a sort of "Crown World". Over time, many beings evolved there, but the main beings who came from there are known throughout the universe as creators of life, and they go by many names."

"Not—"

"Yes." said Makour. "Corona Magna was the homeworld of the Ancients. Not only did they design much of the architecture, they created us, the Caronex. We were to act as record keepers and scribes for their many creations, such as the later race of creatures who defeated the Mindeaters, the Great Beings.

"Unfortunately, the Order invaded. And they remain there to this day. The world is heavily guarded by starcraft battle-fleets, though there's little chance that any of your Resistance friends will ever find you here, so guarded is it, not only by traditional Ix fighters but by Corona Magna ships that the Ix force their Caronex slaves to make them."

"What's the difference between the Empire and the Order?" asked Shardak, confused now. "If these beings are the overlords of the Empire, then why don't they rule over it from Drakos Capitol, rather then remain in Var'kala?"

"They do rule the Empire. Have you heard of the Ix's ruler, the Hooded One, master of the Order? He rules both the Empire and the Order, and even I do not know where he is currently located. There is no real difference, except the members of the Order know the Empire's true goals, while the general Ix populace know nothing of it."

"Their true goals?" asked Flardrek. "The Ix want the Annulus so they can destroy the Resistance...don't they?"

Makour smiled, but there was no warmth in his eyes. "No. That's what the Ix believe, but it's not why they've ramped up their operations across Xaterex. They plan to seize the last remaining Spirit Toa, spoken of in the Ancients' Prophecies, and use him to assemble the Annulus and free their master."

Makour's words sent a shiver of apprehension down Shardak's spine. His words had echoed those that his old mentor, Silencer, had told him during his first days in the underground Ix Circle, when he'd mentioned that the Ix served still more powerful masters. It had been so long ago, Shardak couldn't remember his exact words, but he'd mentioned the Ix's masters, which he'd not identified but Shardak knew now to be the Order. He'd also mentioned—

"Their master?" began Valkyria. "My people do not have a master other then the Hooded One."

"Who—" Shardak began, but Flardrek appeared still more shocked by the revelation. "Not—" he began.

Suddenly another voice interrupted them. Makour, Flardrek, Shardak, and Valkyria whirled around to face the speaker. Seeing the beings standing there, Shardak gasped in horror, immeditately recognizing him as an Ix.

But though the being appeared to be an Ix—he was wearing one of their dark robes and his face was hidden in shadows— he was not an Ix, but something far more powerful. Shardak's aura recoiled from that of the other being's, so great and powerful was it. It was not hidden by the same shadowy darkness that the Order members had used to mask their auras, but throbbed with power rivaling that of Skorpix himself. Still, Shardak thought there was something missing from his aura, and Shardak realized it was memories. This being had no ideas, no concept of thought.

He only had one purpose—to kill.

Makour had drawn his sword, and Valkyria had knocked an arrow to her bow. Flardrek's eyes, however, were filled with fear and recognition as he faced the being, complete disbelief and horror on his face.

"Serrakaan?" he asked.

Suddenly two more beings, identical to the first, appeared behind the original being. Both were carrying Ix scythes, and Shardak was sure they were Order servants.

Two more of the beings appeared from the shadows, and Shardak knew there was no chance of escape.

The only way in or out of the cavern was blocked.

Skorr fired another round of bullets from his blaster, one narrowly missing Atarus. The golden-armored Elemental ducked, and the bullet whizzed over his head, ricocheting off a dilapidated building and falling at his feet. Atarus charged forward before Skorr could aim his blaster again, and the bounty hunter was quickly forced onto the defensive.

However, Skorr recovered quickly, The bounty hunter was a skilled user of both the Vauhti and Dag combat forms, the latter combining a sword with the use of a firearm. The blaster was of Ix make: one of the few that were still utilized on Xaterex after the rise of the Empire.

Skorr broke away from the furious struggle for a few seconds, firing his blaster again at Atarus. However, Atarus had anticipated this, and managed to narrowly dodge. Once again, he wondered why the blaster made no noise. There was no silencer of any type that he could see attached to the firearm.

''Probably some type of low-velocity ammunition. ''Atarus decided, closing in on Skorr once again. However, this time the Zeverek was ready, and followed up the shots from his blaster with a blindingly fast barrage of Vauhti thrusts, all the while trying to focus his firearm on Atarus.

Skorr's willingness to kill worried the Elemental. The Ix wanted him alive, no doubt so they could torture him for information. He was, perhaps, the most wanted individual on Xaterex, with the possible exceptions of Reid Vaethar and Saren Naghara. Skorr, however, didn't seem at all to care if he lived or died.

"So who do you serve now?" asked Atarus, parrying a blow from Skorr's long scimitar.

"Myself, as always." hissed the Zeverek, firing at the Elemental again. Atarus deflected the attack using his auric power. While he'd never been as skilled as his brother Arcturas, and was not equal to most of the Ix warriors in auric power, deflecting the bullet was a simple matter.

For a moment, Skorr seemed surprised that Atarus had survived, and he immediately seized the advantage, charging into the battle once again and nearly knocking the blaster from the bounty hunter's hands. Skorr, however, had not risen to the status as one of the most feared bounty hunters on Xaterex and Calos for nothing. He quickly recovered, and once again the Zeverek and Elemental were locked in battle, neither able to gain the upper hand as they fought across the grim, dark corridors of the city.

Atarus was almost certain that no Ix warriors would come looking. It was late at night; while the Ix were often patrolling the city at night, gang fights were nothing new, and the Ix preferred to simply allow them to fight amongst themselves. Again Atarus wondered why Skorr did not simply yell for the Ix, if indeed he was in their employ.

"You are a bounty hunter." he said as he and Skorr's weapons warred for supremacy. "Your life is spent serving others for money."

To his surprise, Skorr smiled coldly. "I no longer merely serve, Atarus. Don't you see? The Empire is merely a government to keep Xaterex under the Ix's control while they eliminate the last of their enemies. Once they're finished, they'll invade Xaterex and your pathetic Resistance."

"The Ix don't care about you." said Atarus. "If they win, they'll simply execute you. You're not one of them."

"On the contrary, killing you and completing my next tasks has guaranteed me not only unlimited wealth, but a spot with the new rulers of the universe, while you, the Hand of Mata Nui, and the Resistance all die painfully."

Atarus opened his mouth to answer, but then charged Skorr instead. However, Skorr had anticipated he'd do that, and as he charged forward, weapons raised, fired another round from his blaster. Atarus deflected them all except one, which grazed his shoulder. Atarus barely felt the pain, however, he was focused only on defeating the bounty hunter before him.

Skorr was ready by then for him, and immediately forced the Elemental back onto the defensive. Atarus immediately retreated several steps, knowing that trying to hold his original position would have meant death. Skorr, seeing that he was weakening, closed in slowly, like an Iron Wolf cornering an injured Rahi.

"I'm more interested about what you're doing here." hissed Skorr as Atarus narrowly escaped decapitation again. "Why would the leader of the Resistance, a being with arguably the largest price on his head in the entire Empire, wander alone in New Metru Nui? Apart from Drakos Capitol, this is the least likely place I'd think you'd want to be."

"That's precisely why I am here. Because no one would think to look for me here. But you did, Skorr. Your employers in the Order tipped you off, didn't they?"

Skorr's expression changed from confident to stunned. "They said—"

"That I knew nothing about the Order? Then they're wrong, or simply lying to you. Most likely the latter. Don't think I don't know what the Order is up to." Atarus hissed under his breath. "We'll stop them if it's the last thing we do."

"Who?" asked Skorr. "Your pathetic Resistance, forever locked in battle with the Ix Order's puppet government? Soon, not just Xaterex, but the worlds beyond, will forever belong to the Order. There's no way you can stop that."

"Not just the Resistance." said Atarus. "There are other forces at play in this battle, forces that will fight the Order until either it has fallen or the last warrior is slain. I know this to be true."

For a moment, Atarus' self-assurance distracted Skorr. Atarus seized the advantage and charged forward, forcing the bounty hunter backward, where his blaster was useless. Unable to get a clear shot at Atarus, Skorr instead attempted to fend off the Elemental with his sword.

"Oh, and Skorr?" said Atarus, almost as an afterthought. "I never travel alone."

There was a silver blur as another being charged from the shadows, carrying a large staff. Skorr whirled around to face the new attacker, and was immediately forced to stagger backward to avoid immediate death at the hands of Atarus. He raised his firearm, aiming for the new attacker, but was unable to focus on him long enough to get a shot off. The silver being's staff slammed into the blaster, knocking it from Skorr's hands.

Skorr was quickly being cornered by both Atarus and the new attacker. As he recognized his assailant, Skorr gave a hiss of recognition. It was another old enemy, one he'd last encountered during the civil wars that had plagued Xaterex after the Fall of Arcaea.

"Mersery." he hissed, meeting the silver Mersion's pale green eyes. The being moved with speed and energy, but his eyes told the real story: this being had suffered centuries of warfare and violence, yet remained a fighter for what he considered just. Skorr's eyes shifted contemptuously between Mersery and Atarus, but the Elemental could see that he would not continue fighting.

"Another time, Atarus." hissed Skorr once, before vanishing into the shadows. The only sign he'd ever been there at all was the pain from the minor wounds Atarus had suffered and the smashed, useless blaster lying on the ground.

"Perfect timing, as usual." said Atarus to Mersery. The Mersion scholar nodded once in acknowledgement. A member of the High Council of the Resistance, Mersery had chosen to accompany him, as he was one of the oldest beings still living; he'd been born either a few years after the Fall, or while the Fall was going on. Even Atarus was not sure. After the collapse of the Arcaean government at the hands of the Ix, Mersery fought to hold together the kingdoms as they disappeared one by one, and when it became hopeless, left Arcaea and joined what became the Resistance, fighting tirelessly to keep the Fells and Xaterex free from the Ix's rule.

He'd been good friends, and had become an unofficial mentor, for Atarus after the Fall, when Atarus, an Elemental of Arcaea, had been completely lost in the chaos that the Fall had precipitated. Mersery was not just a scholar, but a strong warrior and an experienced commander off the battlefield.

The kind of being Atarus wanted with him as he attempted to fracture the Empire permanently from within.

"Let's go, then." Atarus said at last. "To meet with the leaders of Dark Talon."

Chapter 10
Fear.

Pain.

Hatred.

''The three horrible, haunting emotions that had tortured Nightwatcher to the core were still roiling within him, but they were growing weaker now. Despite his best efforts to keep Mordrax and the Ix torturers from invading his mind and reading his thoughts, there was no way for him to hold his wracked mind together any longer. Nothing could stop the Ix now as they fired question after question at the bounty hunter.''

''There was no way for him to resist anymore. The Ix were simply too strong.''

''Nightwatcher had completely succumbed to their power, their torture, enhanced one thousand times by the raw power of Shadowdermis. He'd fought for a few more moments, but then once again lost the momentary control he'd gained as he strove to peice together the fragments that made up his existance.''

''They were torturing him with visions now. Visions of other times, other places. Visions where the Ix stood alone as rulers of the multiverse, with no Resistance, no Hand of Mata Nui to fight them any longer. Then,slowly, the visions warped and altered, and Nightwatcher was standing in a place that he didn't remember''. A place that he didn't remember, but that his mind felt he should...

Two beings, a Toa of Light and a white Kodax, prepared themselves to plunge a massive battle below. Nightwatcher's keen eyes surveyed the battlefield, picking out every detail as he saw three beings, all ancient remnants from another time, fighting to the death below.

"Girahk," he ordered his Rahkshi of Growth that lay in the palm of his hand. It was no larger then an insect.

"Follow them." Nightwatcher whispered. "Do not kill them until I give the command." He knelt down, not making the slightest sound, and lowered his hand to the ground. The creature scuttled off in the direction of the two beings.

Meanwhile, the battle continued. Neither of the three beings, who were all locked in combat, had yet begun to tire, and the battle most likely would have gone on for days if they were not interrupted. Nightwatcher's keen eyes surveyed them, and he knew it was time to step into combat. Releasing a blast of energy from his hand which stunned the beings for a moment, Nightwatcher stood over them, his familiar silver scimitar in hand.

"I hope you don't mind," he said coldly. "It's just that I love crashing parties."

The three beings formed a circle around him, the battle forgotten. With a roar, Maserix hurled a powerful wave of shadow at him, but Nightwatcher merely flicked his hand, and the energy was dissipated.

"Please," Nightwatcher laughed. "That's almost pitiful. I expected better from a Great Being."

''Great Being? Nightwatcher thought for a moment. He'd never fought in this battle. This was another vision then, designed to torture him. It couldn't be real...''

''Then his moment of concentration broke once again as the strength it took him to form conscious thought once again disappated, and he was once again the powerful Nightwatcher of the vision, undefeatable and confident as he faced his enemies, the stench of blood present in the air. ''

With a roar, the enraged attacker summoned a great globe of energy and hurled it at Nightwatcher, but instead of being disintegrated, he merely smiled and caught it, its energies still contained.

"You disappoint me, Maserix," smiled Nightwatcher, blasting the being with his own power. As he fell to his knees, the Great Being known as Maserix's shock was terribly evident on his face.

"No one..." he gasped... "No one... It's not possible..."

"I have killed Great Beings before," Nightwatcher said, looking around almost mockingly at the two other Great Beings, who stood there looking coldly at him. "Do you want me to prove it? I shall prove it as many times as you want... say, perhaps three will suffice for this occasion? Unless, of course, you care to fight me in another way..."

Nighwatcher drew his sword to make his point, smiling calmly as he looked around at his foes. Maserix smiled almost as broadly as he prepared his staff. "There is no one on Xaterex who can fight as well as I!"

The two other beings also answered the unspoken challenge, preparing their weapons. "Well, then," said Nightwatcher. "It appears we have a consensus."

Maserix yelled as he charged into the fight, holding no atom of his power back. Had anyone else been watching the battle, they would have seen a pair of blurs, one tall and black and one short and gray, clashing sliver blurs together at twice the speed of sound. Maserix's eyes were squinting sharply in rage as his weapon was thrust at Nightwatcher's.

The two other beings joined the battle, and Nightwatcher responded in turn, altering his strategy and his speed so that he no longer used his familiar double-bladed weapon; instead, he used two single-bladed ones, which held up against the beings' attacks just as easily. Maserix was a thunderstorm of rage, calling upon the shadow to guide his sword, and the other two beings were extremely skilled fighters as well.

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?" Maserix roared, his weapon moving so fast now that it could no longer be seen...

"As I said before," Nightwatcher responded, as exasperatingly calm as ever, "I was gifted by the Omega—"

"SHUT UP!" Maserix roared, all his efforts concentrated on silencing the awful voice that was resonating in his mind—

"Oh, by the way, Maserix," said Nightwatcher with a sneer, "I'm not from Xaterex."

And there Maserix made his fatal mistake. He had concentrated so much on his offense that a massive hole had opened in his defense, and Nightwatcher used the opportunity to, with one swift strike, end the long career of the Great Being Maserix. The other two beings had no time to react as Nightwatcher impaled them both with his twin swords, letting go of his weapons and pinning the two surviving beings to the ground with the swords in their chests.

"Now you see what a terrible, terrible mistake you made," grinned Nightwatcher, the great cauldron of force within him bubbling up to the brim as he looked down at his two helpless foes.

No! ''Thought Nightwatcher. ''Do not kill for the Ix's pleasure. But his limbs would not obey him, he was simply a puppet actor, forced to play the role of the murderer, and soon his consciousness was broken once more as the swirling dark lights that accompanied the Ix's torture destroying all possibility of conscious thought except the horror he felt at the image before him...

"And now... time to level the playing field." he said, casually, almost contemptously, though his mind screamed in agony against the words he was saying. "In the literal sense."

The Nightwatcher in the vision released the energy contained inside his body with a scream of triumph, just the Nightwatcher bound by the Ix—No, the vision-Nightwatcher was him, he realized, they were one and the same— screamed in horror and pain as the bodies of the three beings were pulverized in the white-hot blast...

And the Toa of Shadow watched as the massive explosion ripped through the landscape. Even though there was no possible way any being could hear (save himself) over the terrible noise of the blast, he laughed as he had never laughed before, a great, triumphant screech while his mind screamed within, drowned out by the Ix's raspy voices and the noise of the shockwave...

Victory was his at last...

...And Nightwatcher, trapped, bound, and weakened by countless sessions of the Ix's brutal, deadly auric torture, remembered.

Shardak was numb with fear. In that moment, he could not think clearly. His only thought was the imminent death that would follow as he, Flardrek, Valkyria, and Makour prepared to make their final stand. There were five of the black cloaked beings in total, all armed with Ix Limiter scythes, which were larger then the normal daggers and were carried in two hands.

That they would die was no question in Shardak's mind. If these beings were—

"Surrender the Spirit Toa." one of the Serrakaan clones hissed, a sibilant whisper that carried clearly and coldly throughout the echoing cavern. "Surrender Shardak, and you others will be killed painlessly."

"Never." said Flardrek, his voice carrying just as clearly as the voice of the Serrakaan clones, though Shardak was startled to hear the edge of fear in his voice. "We will not surrender Shardak. You will have to fight us."

The fear in his voice was so palpable it caused dread to grow within Shardak. If they didn't surrender him to the Order, then what would the Serrakaan clones do to them? He'd heard Fairon talk of Serrakaan as being one of the greatest opponents he'd faced in the Eternal Game, and that if forced to confront him directly he was sure he'd die.

The lead Serrakaan clone did not answer, but gestured to the four clones standing behind him. "Eliminate them all, except the Toa."

The other clones made no sign of acknowledgement, but unlimbered their massive scythes. Their eyes burned red, like blots of blood, and their hands were clawed and corpse-like. They reminded Shardak horribly of the Ix rulers of the Circle, the imperious, black-cloaked rulers who had been hunting him for so long. Now, it seemed, they had finally caught him.

The lead clone turned to face Shardak, looking him in the eye. Shardak froze, rooted to the spot. He could not move as Serrakaan lunged forward, faster then his eye could follow.

"Go!" yelled Makour, slashing at the Serrakaan clone. For a moment, the leader was taken by suprise, and Makour was able to slash open his shoulder. Serrakaan snarled in fury at his attack and blasted him backward, slamming the Caronex against the walls of the cave. Makour rose to his feet quickly, but the Serrakaan clone was faster, slamming into him and slashing Makour across the chest. The Caronex staggered backward, and the scythe landed again.

For a moment, Shardak was horribly reminded of Silencer's death at the hands of the Fury, when he'd held off the Ix commander so they could escape. Makour was standing facing Serrakaan, defiant to the end, while the clones followed, all of them eager to kill as soon as the Caronex was dead. One charged toward Shardak—

"Go!" ordered Makour. "Do you think I would lead you here if there was no other escape route? Run, Spirit Toa. May Mata Nui protect you, and remember—"

Whatever Makour had been about to say was cut off as the Serrakaan clone slashed him again. Makour charged forward, his two weapons blurs of light in the darkness as he desperately fought to stem the oncoming tide. But already Shardak could see it was hopeless, there was no stopping the Serrakaan clones, who were ripping him apart despite his skill with the dual blades.

Shardak could not hesitate any longer. He didn't want to leave Makour, but his friends had to come first, Makour had ordered him to leave, and it would simply be foolish to put his life at risk after what Makour had done for him. Turning, he raced down the passageway after Valkyria and Flardrek.

Looking back one last time at the Caronex, Shardak saw the Serrakaan clone run him through, and as Makour staggered backward, the clone raised his hand. Blood began to pour from Makour's body, and Shardak gasped in shock as the Caronex fell to his knees, coffing up still more blood that was flowing freely all around him. The Caronex was gasping for breath now, and as Shardak watched, Serrakaan waved his hand contemptuously

Makour's neck simply tore itself open, as though a weapon had slashed at his throat and torn it open. Like a broken toy, Makour's body simply collapsed, falling to the floor of the cavern. The Caronex was dead before he hit the ground, blood pooling all around him.

Shardak could not bear to look any more. He turned and raced down the corridor, as fast as he possibly could. He was sure now that the Serrakaan clones had been simply toying with Makour. How could they could kill that quickly and effectively from a distance? Was it an ability that the original Serrakaan—

Shardak's thoughts were interrupted as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around, and found one of the Serrakaan clones was standing behind him, holding him with one clawed hand. Shardak writhed and tried to pull away, but was unable to free himself. The lead clone and another duplicate appeared behind his attacker, both carrying scythes.

"Bring him back." ordered the leader. "I will deal with the remaining two Resistance warriors."

Shardak fought and kicked against the Serrakaan duplicate's grasp, but was unable to free himself. He tried to raise the Blade of Arcturas, but the clone's grip was too tight. Panic began to well up inside him, the overwhelming fear that he was trapped and could do nothing about it.

Suddenly there was a blur of red that flashed by Shardak's eyes. Flardrek charged into the battle, slashing at the Serrakaan clone leader. Hissing, the Serrakaan clone retaliated, and several of Flardrek's recent wounds began to reopen, more blood pouring from them. For a moment, Flardrek faltered, but he'd given Shardak the time to break free from the other clone's grasp. But the Serrakaan clone was fast, faster then Shardak had anticipated. His hand closed around Shardak as he raised his scythe. Shardak knew that the Order wanted him alive, but he also knew they wouldn't object if the Serrakaan clones lopped off a limb or two.

Suddenly the Serrakaan clone staggered backward, releasing Shardak. Buried in his throat were two of Valkyria's arrows. Shardak immediately expected the clone to fall to the ground, dead. But the clone simply continued his attack as though he'd not been wounded at all. Shardak was so surprised that he almost allowed the clone to grab him again, and narrowly ducked one of the other clone's scythe.

He saw that Valkyria was standing at the other end of the passagway, fending off the clones with two of her daggers. She appeared to be losing, she was bleeding from several wounds, and Flardrek was not doing much better. Shardak raced forward, momentarily distracting the Serrakaan that Flardrek was fighting. In that moment, Flardrek turned and raced down the passageway, Shardak and Valkyria following him.

There was no doubt in Shardak's mind that the Serrakaan clones were only centimeters behind them. If they faltered for even one minute, he would be captured. And Flardrek and Valkyria would both be killed. Their only hope was that Makour had been right: there was another way out of the caverns somehow.

As though his thoughts had suddenly been made reality, Shardak saw the passages opened up into a larger passageway, and Shardak gasped as he saw the portal spinning in front of him.

Rather then the purple-black vortex of usual portals, the portal was deep sapphire, and was mirrorlike, though opaque. Rather then being the usual gap in reality, this portal seemed to twist and writhe through the fabric of the universe, as though another plane of existance had broken through into the material world. Shardak could feel the power on the other side, and an unexpected, irresistable pull as his aura was drawn toward the portal.

Shardak struggled against it for a few moments, but was unable to break the hold it had on him, and felt himself being drawn closer to the portal. He turned to look at Valkyria, whose aura was also fighting against the pull. Flardrek was being pulled into it, and was standing on the edge of the portal.

The the Serrakaan clones were there. Shardak was almost certain they'd not recieved the Shadowdermis that the later Sarkanian clones had. These clones may have been created using the virus, but they were not at all in control of the vast levels of power that he'd seen demonstrated by the serpent-beings.

The leading Serrakaan raised his hand, causing several more wounds to appear on Flardrek's armor. Flardrek looked down at his wounds, and the Serrakaan clone raised his hand, ready to finish off Flardrek in the same way he'd killed Makour.

Nothing more then luck saved the Glatorian's life. For at that moment, Flardrek's aura lost the battle against the pull of the mysterious portal. Before the Serrakaan clone could use his horrific power to kill him, Flardrek's body fell into the blue vortex, disappearing into nothingness.

"Shardak! Go through the portal!" Valkyria yelled to him. She was holding off the Serrakaan clones, firing more arrows at them, and though many found their mark, they didn't seem to be halting the relentless advance of the Serrakaan clones. As he watched, one of the clones collapsed, covered in arrows. The other four clones did not pause even for a moment, but followed their leader, who was slowly cornering Valkyria.

At that moment, Shardak had an idea. Reaching out to Valkyria, he told her, using no words, what he planned to do. Valkyria acknowedged him briefly, and raced toward the portal. Before the Serrakaan clones even realized she'd moved, Valkyria had fired several arrows at them, one hitting a Serrakaan clone between the neck and the shoulder. However, the clone did not fall.

Unlike Shardak and Valkyria, the Serrakaan clones did not seem to be at all affected by the portal.

Raising the Blade of Arcturas, Shardak willed his elemental aura powers to work. He'd never done this before, he'd only worked on using the aura field to destroy smaller objects, but he was counting on this working. If it didn't, they would all die.

And there would be no hope to rescue Parikon or save the Resistance.

Feuled by those thoughts, Shardak allowed the energy within him to channel through the blade, and the cavern roofs were hit full on by the force of the blast. Immediately the ceiling began to crumble, and Shardak saw that he'd set off a deadly chain-reaction of destruction, exactly what he'd planned for.

As the Serrakaan clones, quickly spotting the danger, lunged forward toward the portal, Shardak allowed the the enigmatic blue portal to drag him into it even as the cavern collapsed around him. Fear, horror, and shock raced through him, and for a moment he wondered if the portal simply led to another horrible death.

Then he didn't feel anything anymore as his body vanished soundlessly into the blue void.

In an instant, Blast snapped awake.

Almost immediately, the memories of the battle with the Sarkanian clone and the Limiters came back to him. Immediately he rose to his feet, snatching the Scythe of Creation from where it lay on the ground before him. He then whirled around, and saw he was standing face to face with Freztrak.

The Skakdi commander's scarred features were full of determination, and in his hand he carried a his weapon of choice: a wickedly sharp and curved Jungle Scythe Spear. Behind him stood Reid Vaethar, High Commander of the Veythari Clans, and Areop, the leader of the Dargon tribes who had allied their armies with the Resistance nearly a year ago. All three had grim expressions on their faces, though they all looked relieved to see him alive.

"We are in your debt, Blast, for warning us of this attack." said Areop. "It has given the Veythari and Dargon patrols time to delay the Sarkanian clone and the Limiters long enough to mobilize our main defenses."

"Still, I have lost nearly half of the Veythari I still have under my command decoying the Sarkanian clone and a few Limiter patrols away from the base." said Reid Vaethar. "Leiutenent Zaxar has nearly all of the Veythari warriors under his command. I have only my elite guard left, which is made up of only forty Veythari in all. How many Dargon do you still command, Areop?"

"Around sixty. The rest are scattered across Arden, or currently on Noctxia Magna."

"That leaves only my standing guard of around thirty-five Skakdi, as well as the Glatorian guards, which can't number more then twenty or so." said Freztrak grimly. "That's a little over one hundred troops, and there are at least one hundred Limiters, and still more Copies of Corpse and Kranr soldiers."

"And, of course, the Sarkanian clone." said Vaethar, his voice grim. "Which could level this fortress by itself with no help from Limiters or Kranr. The Ix are just here to clean up after it."

"We need to immediately evacuate the Fells, then." said Freztrak. "If we do not, then we risk losing the entire Xaterex Resistance before the Hand even joins us."

"And leave our homeland to be despoiled by that mockery of nature?" snarled Reid. "Never!"

"Would you rather doom the entire resistance?" countered Areop

"No." said Freztrak, breaking into the arguement once again. "The Fells are easily defensible. If the situation becomes untenable, we can retreat to the Dargon camps, or to Akkad, which is still neutral territory."

"Not while a single Veythari warrior still draws breath." hissed Reid Vaethar, but his eyes told the truth; he agreed with Freztrak.

"We will do everything we can to defend the Fells." said Freztrak. "But surely you would agree that the safety of the Resistance comes first?"

Vaethar relaxed slowly, like an unbending bowstring. He turned to Blast. "Are you okay? Will you be able to fight? My best healers have been tending to you for the past two days, but they say that even with their elemental healing powers, you may not have yet recovered."

Blast, for the first time, remembered he'd been injured earlier. But apart from the dull throb he felt in his back, the injury did not hurt in the slightest. Besides, he'd fought with worse injuries then this, during the battles in the Void when he'd been possessed by the mad being Millennium. Blast still had nightmares about that day, when he'd learned that he'd had a life before Intax, and his presence in the memories of everyone he'd met before he met Shardak himself was a lie, created by Millennium's memory alterations

Millennium had tortured him with visions of the Eternal Game he'd competed in, the Game he could not remember. But after he'd come to the Resistance, they'd shown him the Game in all of its gory hideousness. He'd seen himself killing beings in ways he'd never done until he and Shardak had followed the murderers of Arcturas to the Circle and been captured by the Ix.

Since then, though, Blast had had little time to reflect on the life he might have led before Millennium and the Ix had interfered. But the only being who would ever be able to unlock the secrets of his past was dead. Millennium had been killed nearly two years ago in the Void, and the answers had died along with him.

"I'm fine." he answered at last, the reality of the present snapping him back into focus. If they did not defeat the Sarkanian clones, then there would be no tomarrow. "Where is the Sarkanian clone currently?"

Freztrak was about to reply, when a Skakdi leiutenant walked in. He spoke in the gruff but oddly militaristic tones used by all Skakdi, but Blast could detect fear in his voice. "Commander, there are Limiters at the gates!"

"How many?" asked Freztrak. Immediately Vaethar and Areop appeared alert, and Vaethar's fingers tightened on his bow.

"There's about a hundred or so!" yelled the Skakdi, real panic in his voice now. "And there are hundreds of Copies and Kranr there, as well as the 'arkanian clone. I've alerted all of the Resistance patrols guarding the fortress, as well as the 'eythari commanders to rally immediately."

"Gather as many warriors as you can." ordered Freztrak to Blast. "And see to it that all of the civilians are gathered and ready evacuate. If we can decoy the Limiters away from the back gates, you'll immediately evacuate the civilians, as well as your band of warriors."

"Seek shelter with the Dargon. I have enough soldiers still based there to hold the Plains if the Ix attack there next. If worst comes to worst, retreat into the underground tunnel exit routes and escape." said Areop.

"What will you do, then?" asked Blast. "And the Resistance soldiers?"

"We're going to hold this fortress." said Reid Vaethar, readying his longbow. "Whatever the cost."

Chapter 11
The swirling, flashing blue lights flashed all around Shardak, and for a moment, he was sure he'd completely miscalculated the danger posed by the portal, and they would all die. For a few more moments he was spinning through the dark azure skies of nothingness. Then, as though he'd been standing there all along, he landed on his feet, though the force of the impact knocked him to the ground.

Immediately he looked around him, and once again gasped at his surroundings.

The landscape all around him was an endless sea of blue crystal. Everything, from the plains that spread out before him to the collossal mountains that rose in the distance like forbidding sentinels, were made of this crystal, though there were varying shades of blue present in all of the crystals. For example, the plains were varying shades of iridescent dark blue, while the mountains were more blue-green.

However, there was also a dense mist covering the tops of the mountains, and a light mist even obscured Shardak's vision at times. It only covered the lower land they were standing on lightly, but on the top of the massive mountains, Shardak knew it would be completely impossible to see. Shardak marveled at the massive sapphire world before him. It was so different from the world he'd left behind that he was at once scared and transfixed by its cold beauty.

Valkyria rose to her feet, looking around. She nodded once with satisfaction. "We're in BlueSpace."

No sooner had she spoken when a jagged arc of lightning flashed across the skies, for a moment breaking through the enigmatic blue mist. But it flashed across the skies horizontally, arcing from one mountain to the next. Moments later, more lightning flashed above them.

"BlueSpace?" asked Shardak. He'd never heard the term before. "Was that how Makour intended us to escape?"

"It was the only way out of that cavern." said Valkyria. "Whether or not it was what he wanted us to find, I cannot say. But BlueSpace is a different plane then the normal world. The massive amounts of energy here allow portals to form, allowing beings and objects to travel between different dimensions of reality. Makour had a portal in the caverns he chose to live in as a last resort."

Shardak could tell she approved of the contingency plan he'd set in motion. Shardak also admired the old Caronex. "There's a way out of this." said Valkyria. "BlueSpace has many different gateways to other realities. We need to find one that's close enough to us that will take us back to our world."

"Where?" asked Shardak. "To the Resistance base?"

"Possibly." said Valkyria. "Hopefully I'll be able to find one in the aura field that will take us back to Drakyr."

"But what about Parikon?" protested Shardak. "The Order have the Shadow Orb now too, and they may even have the complete Annulus! We have to stop them."

"I agree." said Flardrek, his voice serious. "Makour almost was able to explain what they're trying to do, and why. But I can answer at least part of that question."

"What—" Shardak began, but was interrupted as a massive arc of lightning struck the ground again, destroying one of the crystals completely. The flashes of lightning had become more frequent now, and some were even striking the ground itself. Another slammed into a crystal just ahead of them, the sapphire glow momentarily blinding Shardak.

"Quickly!" hissed Valkyria, seeing the shocked expression on Flardrek's and Shardak's faces. "We need to find a portal. The raw energy in one of those lightning bolts is enough to obliterate your body completely."

Then she was racing across the plain, and Shardak followed her. Though he knew that BlueSpace obviously had no natural inhabitants, he was on the alert for any sign that the Serrakaan clones had somehow been able to follow them through the portal. Valkyria was carrying a curved Ix scythe-dagger in one hand, Silverblade in the other, and Flardrek was keeping a tight hold on his sword. All three of them were easily able to dodge the few lightning bolts that threatened their lives.

As they slowly began to climb upwards, Shardak could see that there was a thick electrical field above the land caused by the horizontal sapphire lightning bolts that flashed across the skies of BlueSpace. Every so often, I lightning bolt would flash downward, breaking through the mists themselves. Then the mist, which was growing stronger and thicker as they climbed upward, obscured the skies once again.

As he climbed higher and higher, the sapphire mists grew so thick it was becoming almost impossible to see. Knowing exactly how steep the mountains could be, Shardak worried that any minute he would fall, and plummet to his death.

"Concentrate on Valkyria." advised Flardrek. "She knows what she's doing."

Shardak knew from his own experiences that Valkyria was an extremely skilled aura user, but mistrust for the Ix girl bristled within him. Was it possible that Valkyria was leading them to their deaths?

No. Shardak thought. She wouldn't —

Then he understood it, as clearly as day. Both Valkyria and Flardrek were going to betray him, he could feel it with every fiber of his being. He could feel the intent so acutely it was shocking. They would both kill him. He didn't exactly know how he knew, but he—

"No!" yelled Valkyria. She was standing next to him now, but Shardak hadn't noticed that until a few seconds ago, the blue mist had hidden her completely. Startled, he raised the Blade of Arcturas, willing it to burst into flames.

Nothing happened. Instead the weapon simply gave a shiver, then faint blue mist crystallized on the Blade. For a moment, he stared at Valkyria, then raised the Blade of Arcturas, ready to fight.

"It's one of the affects of BlueSpace." said Valkyria, who made no move to defend herself. "Even if no one is watching, you can feel extremely paranoid here. It's—"

"And I should believe you?" asked Shardak. He was confused now. Was Valkyria telling the truth?

No. He knew that both Valkyria and Flardrek were planning to turn him over to the Order, he could feel it somehow. He had to strike first, before—

Suddenly Shardak staggered backward, shoved out of the way. When his vision cleared, he could see Flardrek was standing in front of Valkyria, his weapon raised. He was about to cut her down mercilessly. "Die, Ix traitor!" he snarled. "Get away from him!"

"No!" yelled Shardak. "You're the traitor! I was right!"

Shardak swung the Blade of Arcturas in a wide arc at Flardrek's head. Flardrek dodged, and soon they were locked in combat. Valkyria was fighting Flardrek now, and Shardak wondered for a moment who, exactly, was the enemy now. Flardrek was attacking Valkyria, yes. But were they both enemies?

Shardak realized, suddenly, that Flardrek had been defending him. For a moment, he stood still, completely confused. Flardrek took that moment to raise his Magma Blaze Sword, ready to run him through. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Shardak watched the Blade descend.

"Stop!" yelled Valkyria, her silver scimitar easily deflecting the Glatorian's weapon. "What are you doing?"

Shardak charged toward Valkyria then, suddenly wondering why he and Flardrek had been fighting. It was Valkyria who was the traitor, not him. He remembered it clearly. Why was she here, acting as though she was his friend again?

She'd tried to kill Flardrek. He had to defeat her before she finished him off. She was distracted; Flardrek was fighting her, but neither of them could gain the upper hand. He raised the Blade of Arcturas, which gleamed blue with the the crystallized flames which ran along the Blade, and charged toward Valkyria.

"Stop!"

Flardrek's voice jerked Shardak back into reality. Suddenly, the memories came rushing back to him, and he turned to see Flardrek had dropped his Magma Blaze Sword. Valkyria, seeing he'd recovered, said, "It's this place, it's not you or Flardrek. It plays with your mind and emotions."

Something in Valkyria's voice told Shardak that she wasn't lying. He could tell from reading her aura that she, too had to deal with the urge to attack Flardrek back, but had been able to resist. Shardak remembered the extensive torture he'd undergone at the hands of the Ix in the Circle, which had at one point seized control of his mind during his journeys in the Void. Valkyria had probably developed resistance to mind control techniques during her Ix training.

"We need to get out of here, then." said Shardak, shaken. He'd been on the edge of killing Flardrek and Valkyria. The urge within him had been unstoppable paranoia, paranoia so great he'd never felt anything like it before. "Before something else happens."

Climbing higher and higher, Shardak could now only see for a few feet in front of him, where Valkyria stood, guiding them through the maze and toward the portal. The Ix girl seemed confident that there was a portal there which would free them from BlueSpace, but Shardak was less then certain. He couldn't feel anything in the aura field except the massive amounts of raw blue energy surrounding them.

Shardak felt pain in his shoulder, where one of the Order's Vorgaan guards had slashed him. Though the wound had stopped bleeding hours ago, he was startled to see it reopen, and once again pour blood down his arm. "What—" he began, wondering if this was another feature of BlueSpace. But no one answered. He could barely see anything now, except Valkyria's faint outline ahead of him.

A hand reached out of the darkness, touching him. Shardak cried out in surprise, but relaxed when he heard Flardrek speak from the blue shadows. "We're nearing the top of the mountain. We're nearly there, and with any luck, we'll be back on Xaterex within the hour."

No. Shardak thought. They couldn't go back to Xaterex, not while they'd left so much unfinished. The Serrakaan clones could still be following them, as could Rulen, Mordrax or another member of the Order. Worse, Parikon was still imprisoned, and the Order had taken the Shadow Orb. They might even have the full Annulus itself now. He couldn't even feel the strange presence that Valkyria had described. The energy levels blotted out all other hints of auric power, it was impossible to even sense Flardrek or Valkyria in the field now.

Suddenly he, too, felt another presence in the void of blue darkness, and for a moment he wondered if this was the gateway out of BlueSpace that Valkyria had described. But he soon realized it was a being's aura, but like nothing he'd ever felt before. The aura that was probing him was like a dark, fragmented tendril of shadow that seemed to be at once nothing, and all at once all around him. It was alien; not at all like any aura he'd ever felt before.

It also throbbed with power. Power so great that Shardak could only compare it to the raw darkness he'd felt surrounding the Annulus fragment he and Valkyria had found on Xiost. The aura was indiscernible, Shardak could not tell who it belonged to, or if it was simply a manifestation of BlueSpace itself. But he soon realized it was not. This was living being, though a being unlike he'd ever encountered before. Like the blue energy that surrounded them all, this being's aura was without shape or form, and simply seemed to surround him, like BlueSpace itself.

'So you wish to return to Var'kala? 'a voice hissed from the shadows. Shardak gasped in shock and recoiled. The voice was raspy and incredibly cold, and when it spoke, it sounded as though not one being was talking, but a multitude of voices were echoing from the darkness, all of them cold and raspy, like a nail scraping against rock. That is not your destiny, Toa Shardak.

Who are you? Shardak thought. To his surprise, the cold voices answered. How can you know my destiny

'More than you can ever comprehend. 'The voices hissed. Shardak recoiled. The voice sounded cold and all-pervasive, as though it could read is innermost thoughts and secrets as easily as turning the pages of a book. 'And we know much about you, Toa Shardak. We know your true destiny.'

What is it? Shardak asked. What is my destiny?

'We know that you will find out soon enough. 'rasped the malevolent voice from the shadows. Shardak couldn't tell if it was one being talking, or many.

Tell me.Shardak insisted, despite the fear that threatened to overpower him. This being's raw malevolence startled him, but in the middle of the blue mist that obscured everything else, the voice was the only sense of clarity he had. And he was sure that this being knew something about his destiny, something that neither Atarus, Silencer, or Ion would ever tell him.

'When the Shattering begins, you will know your destiny. You will allow us to rise. You will bring us to life.'

Who are ''you? ''Shardak asked again. But this time there was no answer. The being's aura had vanished completely, as though it had never been there at all. Shardak was once again standing next to Flardrek, following Valkyria through the blue mists.

Then, as suddenly as it had happened, they were gone. Shardak had no time to speak with Flardrek or Valkyria about the voice that had spoken to him, the voice that had terrified him still more then Skorpix himself, the blue had faded to purple, and he and Flardrek were no longer in BlueSpace, but once again within the purple-black void of teleportation, where Shardak could no longer think of the raspy voice which had haunted him within the blue dimension.

Fairon stood atop the large cliff overlooking the wastelands below, where the remaining Hand members and Veythari warriors had massed after the devastating battle. Fairon, one of Zaxar's Veythari commanders, who was currently in charge of the remaining one hundred or so Veythari still under his command, Tiral, Ixtil were standing at the edge of the cliffs, watching the fires in the distance as the Limiters burned the fortress to the ground.

Fairon had no doubt that the Limiters were already out searching for them as well, to finish the job they'd started. If the Ix soldiers found them now, Fairon had no doubt it would be a slaughter. The Hand members would fight, but both they and the civilians would be easily defeated by the Limiters, who had everything, including time, on their side. And the Veythari, while they would fight to the end, would eventually fall in battle as well, as would the Ossoona.

"Are there any allies we can contact?" asked the Veythari commander. "We may be able to make shelter here for a few days, but eventually the Limiters will find us, and I'm sure it will be sooner, rather then later."

"No." answered Ixtil, his voice heavy. "There's nowhere else on Noctxia Magna that's any safer then we are now. We could try to flee to Xaterex, but the Limiters have destroyed every working starcraft under our command on Noctxia Magna, and we have no way to get in touch with the fleet above Noctxia Magna without revealing our position immediately to the Ix."

"Every one." said Tiral, her voice grim. She'd lost nearly all of the fleet she'd brought with her to Noctxia Magna in the ground battle, and the rest had been taken by the Limiters.

"How could the Ix know if we contacted the Hand fleet?" asked Fairon.

"Do you think the Ix would destroy all of the valuable gear contained in the ancient fortress?" asked Ixtil. "They'll keep it working, so the fleet command won't even know that anything's wrong at all."

Fairon knew the Ix were intelligent and ruthless enough to expliot the advantage they'd gained. Their impotence against their enemies made him feel like he was back in the arena once again. There was nothing he'd could do against the Sarkanian clones, and at least five hundred Limiters were hunting for the Hand fugitives across the entire Northern Continent on Noctxia Magna. Fairon was sure that, in a few days, there would be several thousand of the elite Ix soldiers all hunting for him.

The presence of so many of the Ix elite unstettled Fairon. He knew that it rarely took more then a division of Limiters and several Kranr to sort out trouble in the Ix Empire, but to see five hundred Ix soldiers storming the fortress with the Sarkanian clone seemed almost surreal. The Ix were no longer trying to keep the Resistance pinned down in the Fells. This time they were playing to win.

"We have to find a way to get the civilians through Noctxia Pass." said Fairon. "Then, maybe, they can seek safety in the towns until—"

"No." said Ixtil. "They'll be killed. The Limiters have taken over all of the cities now. They used to be independent, but now they're completely under the rule of the Ix."

Fairon sighed inwardly. There seemed to be no way out of this impossible situation. The Limiters had them pinned down on all sides, and it was only a matter of time before the Ix eliminated them all.

"Well, we can't just surrender." snarled the Veythari commander. "I know what the Ix will do to us when they catch us. They'll slaugher us all as a demonstration to quell the growing sense of revolt inside their own domain. Then they'll take over Noctxia Magna itself."

"And once they have Noctxia Magna, it's over for what's still free from their control, as well as the Resistance." said Ixtil flatly.

"We—" Fairon began, but was interrupted by a Veythari warrior who was walking over to him. The Veythari was armed with the traditional twin scimitars and longbow, and he wore the green armor favored by the Resistance elite. He carried a long, fresh scar on one shoulder, and an older wound had been reopened across his face.

"Commander Fairon, there is a being who wishes to speak with you. He has been most insistant." said the Veythari warrior.

"Tell him he has to wait." said Fairon tiredly. "I have to speak with Kharix and Jareroden first, to estimate how many of my warriors I've lost."

"He wants to speak with you now." said the Veythari. "He says it's urgent, and that it's about...Toa Shardak, the Spirit Toa."

The mention of his friend, the Toa he, Jareroden, Flardrek, and several other allies had met in the Void startled Fairon. Of all the things he'd been expecting, that had been among the last. But he knew it was important. No one would arrive here, at the makeshift Hand and Resistance camps, to speak with Fairon personally if it did not concern Shardak greatly; for all he knew, the Toa could be in danger or even dead.

"I'm coming, then." he said. After saying goodbye to the other commanders of the Hand/Resistance allied force, he followed the Veythari back toward the makeshift tents the Veythari had created to provide shelter for the battered and wounded soldiers and Hand members. He followed the warrior to the edges of the cliffs, where he saw a tall, black armored being standing between two young Veythari warriors. Both looked slightly fearful of the being standing there, and Fairon was immediately on guard. If this being was powerful enough to even slightly scare—

"Hello, Toa Fairon." said the being. His armor was a dull-gray black, and his eyes were deep blue and intelligent, gleaming with both age, youth, knowledge, and wisdom. However, his eyes were also filled with a startling urgency, something that surprised and somewhat frightened the Toa. "I have long been waiting to speak with you. I am Moru Kul."

Fairon almost gasped aloud as he heard the name. This was Moru Kul? The being that had attempted to steal the Shadow Orb from Shardak to use for his own purposes? The being who had transported Atarus, Valkyria, and Shardak back to Xaterex?

The being gave a small smile devoid of any warmth or happiness when he saw that Fairon recognized the name.

"Sit down, little Toa lackey." Moru Kul said, his voice calm, but also enigmatic and completely unreadable. "We have much to discuss."

In the very depths of the grand abyss known as the Void, a small patrol of Limiters crept silently through the blackness, scythes drawn. All of them were wearing standard brown-green Limiter camouflage, hiding them perfectly in the shadows that were ever-present in the abyss. All were alert and ready for battle; the Void carried many dangers, from its unique life-forms that had dwelled here for centuries to the beings who wandered the Void in search of another being to attack and kill.

But hunting for enemies was the last thing on the elite Ix warrior's minds today. They had their orders, and, following another Ix, who wore a black cloak, into the Void's lowest depths, their orders were the only thoughts occupying their minds.

By now, the Limiters had passed the Great Plain and were now even deeper than Seruamera itself, more commonly known as the Namless City. Very few beings ever ventured this far into the massive depths of the abyss, for the total absence of all light was unsettling and could be, more often then not, fatal to all but the most skilled beings.

Nothing about this bothered the Limiters. In comparison with their normal lives they led above the Void, this was so easily navigable it was almost second nature to the Ix warriors. The only beings they'd encountered had been several predatory Rahi, all easily disposed of, as well as a wounded Vortixx, which they'd easily slaughtered. Nothing in this Void had yet to pose a threat to them.

Halting suddenly, the cold red-black eyes of the Ix soldiers scanned the area around them. A massive gate stood before them, blending in almost perfectly with the darkness. But the Limiter's keen vision picked out every detail of the gateway, as well as the city beyond.

Two beings stood guard at the gates, hissing something to the lead Ix in an archaic form of Matoran not spoken since before the Fall. The beings appeared to be Glatorian, though the Ix warriors knew that they were simply hiding their true natures. The black-cloaked Ix responded in the same language, and nervously the two guards let them pass through, into the city.

On the other side of the gates, hidden in the shadows of the massive towers and other buildings within the city, stood several beings, all taller then the Glatorian-like guards outside. One, a being with almost insectlike features and green eyes, walked toward the Ix guards, keeping a safe distance. The Limiters could see his poorly disguised fear as he struggled to meet their gaze.

"Who are you?" the being asked. "What brings you here, to the New Brotherhood of Makuta? How did you find our city?"

The cloaked Ix at the lead threw back her hood, and the being gasped as he stared at her face. Her features were breathtakingly beautiful and cold. They were almost catlike, almost inhuman in appearence, but at the same time feminine and bewitching. The Ix locked eyes with the guard and he shivered under her gaze. Hers was a look of such authority, such controlling power that he recoiled in fear

"I come from the Ix Order." The Ix female said, her voice full of contemptous authority, completely unafraid as she met the Makuta's gaze. "And I have a proposition to offer you."

Nightwatcher stepped out of his prison cell.

The door, which had previously been locked, lay at his feet, destroyed by the sheer might of his aura. His eyes, alert despite their tired and battered look from the days he'd suffered at the hands of the Ix, scanned the room, alert for any signs that the guards had been alerted, or that he was being watched in any way. Satisfied that he wasn't, the powerful Toa of Shadow pushed the door open and walked into the wider corridors of the building.

Immediately he recognized the area: he was being held in the Ix Spire at the heart of Drakos Capitol, the same building where he'd brought the Glatorian, Kyhrex, to the Ix. Then they'd captured him and...he could remember nothing except the torture after that.

But he remembered so much more now. The Ix, in their effort to crush him forever by replaying the scenes of horror he'd forgotten, had reawakened all of the lost memories of the torture he'd suffered in the Eternal Game. The Ix had captured him, humiliated him, and forced him into the Game. Then, after he'd been defeated and dragged into the Void, he'd been memory wiped by the Ix, then hired by them as though nothing had happened. They'd made a fool of him, but worse, they'd toyed with him, and there was nothing Nightwatcher hated more then being toyed with.

Immediately using his aura as a cloak, turning completely invisible, Nightwatcher strode through the winding corridors of the Ix Spire as though he owned it, not as if he was an escaped prisoner. The bounty hunter turned down a narrow passageway into another set of holding cells, where the Ix held prisoners of lesser power or prisoners they needed for torture on a regular basis. The room was a mirror of his own prison, small and tight. It was also completely unguarded, something Nightwatcher found odd. It was uncharacteristically sloppy of the Ix.

Nightwatcher could see his Girahk was held there, bound heavily in chains. Nightwatcher recognized the chains immediately, he'd been forced to be bound in the same. They cut of and strangled auric and elemental power, barring off any forms of escape that utalized them. Nightwatcher, however, was simply too powerful, even after being tortured, to be held that long without devising a way to free himself.

How long had it been? Nightwatcher wondered. Seven or so months? It seemed like a lifetime since he'd brought Kyhrex to the Ix, but the Eternal Game only seemed a few moments ago.

Easily snapping open the lock with a small, concentrated burst of dark fire, Nightwatcher stepped inside the cell, shattering the chains. Slowly, his Girahk— the only being he had ever called his friend in years— lifted its head to look at Nightwatcher with bleary eyes. Why the Ix had left the Rahkshi of Growth intact, Nightwatcher did not know. Perhaps they were too busy trying to put down the Resistance, though Nightwatcher thought that was unlikely. Now that the Ix were using Shadowdermis again, the Resistance had probably been weakened badly, or even destroyed.

As the Girahk rose to his feet, shrinking smaller and smaller until it was merely the size of a small emerald insect, Nightwatcher gently placed the Rahkshi on his shoulder. He then turned to the other cell, occupied by Kyhrex. For a moment it crossed Nightwatcher's mind to leave her there, but it seemed unfair somehow to leave her. Besides, it would be still better revenge against the Ix. He unlocked the door.

An idea then began to come to Nightwatcher, a wild idea, an idea unlike any he'd had in years. Since he'd been captured, his thoughts had mostly been full of fear and pain, as well as hatred for his captors. But he'd been able to work with the Ix in the past, and he knew they had another plan, a plan in which all who were not loyal to the Empire would die.

Nightwatcher knew nothing about this plan. He knew nothing of the Ix's true goals, or whom they served. But he knew there were other forces at play here, forces that would rip the universe apart if it was not defended.

Once, he would have only been concerned about himself. But, ironically, the Ix's torture had removed any thoughts of simply himself from the picture. He knew he was a survivor, perhaps he could find a way to survive the Ix's plan. When he was being tortured, he cared about none of this. Now, he knew the only way to spite the Ix was to stop them, once and for all.

Now he was free. And he would make the Ix—and Mordrax— pay for what they had done to him.

Chapter 12
The fortress was burning. Flames crackled and leapt across the Resistance's base's ceiling and walls, raging with all the strength of a rampaging demon. Blast could see through the haze of battle that the Limiters had breached the gates, and were racing inside the fortress.

Thanking Mata Nui he'd had enough time to evacuate the civilians from the building, Blast raced over to Reid Vaethar and a small group of Veythari warriors and a larger group of Glatorian soldiers. The Veythari were raining shafts of death down onto the Ix below. Several groups of Resistance warriors were still fighting the Ix army, but the Limiters, as well as the Sarkanian clone, were completely unstoppable as they charged over the fallen corpses of their foes.

"Where are Freztrak? And the rest of our forces?" Blast yelled over the roar of battle. Vaethar turned to him. "Last I heard Areop was fighting with a second group of Ix warriors, on the other side of the fortress. He has several Veythari with him. Freztrak's still in the fortess with the rest of our forces."

"We have to get him out, then!" Blast yelled as the implications of Vaethar's words sank in. "He'll burn to death!"

"We can't risk more lives." hissed Vaethar. "Do you think Freztrak wants us to die for him? We have to keep the Ix warriors from taking the Fells, and if we have to withdraw from the fortress, then we will."

"But—" Blast began, but Reid cut him off.

"No. If we try to force through the Limiter lines, we will all die." Turning to the massed group of thirty or so Glatorian, Vaethar said, "Once the Limiters have forced their way into the fortress, they'll have to contend with Areop's Dargon and the rest of the Resistance army. Then we'll strike, and trap them between the fortress and the Fellsian cliffs."

"And what about the Sarkanian clone?" asked Blast.

"Once the Limiters outside the fortress have been dealt with, we'll try to free as many civilians and warriors still inside the fortress. Then we burn it to the ground with the clone still inside. At the very least, it will delay the serpent long enough for us to regroup."

Blast wanted to protest, or at the very least ask more questions, but there was too little time. He knew that Reid Vaethar was one of the most experienced of the Resistance's generals, and as leader of the Vaethar Clan and commander of all the Veythari warriors, his word was the highest form of authority currently present in the Fells, possibly barring Freztrak.

He had to hope that the Veythari leader's plan would work. It was, at this point, their only chance for keeping the Sarkanian clone caged for as long as possible, or at least until the forces on Noctxia Magna returned.

If they return. Blast thought. ''There are six other Sarkanian clones out there, all of them just as powerful as these. Two were sighed in Arden, but where the other four are is anyone's guess.''

He turned back to the fortress, where the Sarkanian clone, stained in the blood of the beings it had killed, had ripped down the gates. It was now hard at work dismantling the fortress, tearing down the door and smashing in the wall. The entire building was severely damaged, and Blast wondered if Vaethar would even need to burn it to the ground. It looked as though soon it would simply collapse, burying Limiters, Resistance warriors, and the Sarkanian clone beneath hundreds of tons of rubble.

"Now." hissed Vaethar, giving the archers the order to continue firing. Blast followed the thirty remaining Resistance soldiers under their command into battle, hoping that any minute Areop and the rest of the army would have finished off the rest of the Ix on the other side of the building.

A Limiter seemed to appear before his eyes, and before Blast knew what had happened, the Ix's scythe flashed downward, aiming for his heart. Blast twisted aside at the last minute, slashing the scythe at the Limiter's head. The Ix warrior snarled something unintelligible as the blade connected. Blast charged forward, taking advantage of the fact his scythe had a longer reach than the twin daggers the Limiter used.

The Ix warrior, however, was quick to recover, and charged forward. He was easily faster than Blast, and the Glatorian only had enough time to raise the Scythe of Creation before the Limiter's dagger slashed open his leg. Blast couldn't help it, he screamed in pain. The cold burning of the Shredsteel was horrifically painful beyond imagining, especially when the wound was severe. The Limiter lunged forward again, both scythes aimed now at Blast's heart. Blast readied to deflect them with his scythe, but the Limiter changed direction at the last second and aimed for his shoulder, driving the point of the Blade in deep.

This was far more painful than even the first blow. Blast felt his entire arm go numb, and he had to fight to keep from dropping the scythe. The Limiter's eyes, burning like flames behind his skull mask, met Blast's, and the Glatorian knew at that moment he was about to die. Two more of the Ix soldiers had closed in on him—

An arrow drove through the lead Ix warrior's neck. The scythe fell from the Limiter's fingers as he fell, but the other Ix barely gave him a glance as they closed in on Blast. More arrows rained down upon the Limiters, but the Ix warriors were too close to Blast now for the Veythari to get a clear shot without possibly hitting him.

Blast raised the Scythe of Creation weakly for a final defense. He—

Suddenly another warcry rang out over the battlefield. Startled, for a brief moment the Limiters hesitated. A gray blur flashed by Blast's eyes. With a roar, Areop slammed into the Limiter, whose scythe drove through his shoulder. However, Areop was unstoppable, his massive mace slamming against the Ix's armor. Blast took advantage of the momentary confusion and raised the scythe, slamming the blade into the second Limiter. The Ix soldier fell to the ground. Startled, Blast saw that he'd struck the Ix warrior in the neck and killed him instantly.

There was no time to reflect on his actions now. Blast saw the Dargon were fighting the Limiters, forcing them slowly backward, away from the fortress. To his surprise, he also saw Freztrak, at the head of a large number of Skakdi, fighting as well. All were heavily armed to the teeth with shields, maces, or war cleavers, and some even carried massive scythes. Reid Vaethar was fighting alongside Areop, the two of them creating an unstoppable wall of weapons that none of the Limiters could pass through.

Blast's eyes turned to the fortress itself, and he gasped in shock. The west wall had completely caved in, and the fires had only grown larger, orange against the blue Fellsian skies and the green trees and plants that surrounded them. The fires had also spread to engulf much of the areas around the fortress, and they were only growing higher. Blast could hear the roar of the Sarkanian clone as it demolished the Resistance base from within.

Then, like an unstoppable juggernaut, the Sarkanian clone came tearing from the gates, slamming into the center of the Dargon attack force with incredible speed. Areop's commanders had no time to react before the Sarkanian clone had crippled fourteen or so Dargon with a single sweep of his tail, and had torn several apart with its teeth. Immediately the Dargon scattered, but by now the Sarkanian clone was unstoppable. Tearing through the remaining ranks of Resistance fighters and leaving them all either dead or crippled, he then turned and began persuing the fleeing Dargon. Areop, Freztrak, and the other Resistance members at the heart of the battle were unable to help them.

At the same time, Freztrak had suceeded in breaking through the Limiter line. The Ix soldiers were beginning to scatter, and while they'd regained the offensive against the Dargon, Reid Vaethar's archers were still causing chaos at the heart of the battlefield as the Limiters were forced to spread out to avoid being picked off, one by one, by the shots.

"Retreat!" called Freztrak over the roar of battle, Blast saw the Resistance soldiers, breaking through the massed Ix warriors, had a clear path up into the mountains. The scattered Dargon were beginning to regroup, and the Sarkanian clone was about to head off to finish demolishing the Resistance base. However, one of the Limiters hissed an order at the clone, and it immediately halted. Blast guessed they wanted the base at least relatively intact so they could gain access to the Resistance's secrets. Then, in the Ix language, he issued orders to the rest of his troops.

Blast saw the Limiters ready to give chase. Then he turned and followed Freztrak and Reid into the gloom.

Within the small chamber at the center of Tiral's spaceport center a few miles from the Resistance base, Blast sat around the table with the remaining commanders of the Resistance. All looked grim, but resigned. Still, there were lights of determination in their eyes, and Blast was confident they would not surrender. Also with them were two Dargon commanders and several Skakdi guards.

"How many soldiers did you lose, Areop?" asked Freztrak, voice heavy. Blast had seen the devastation that had occurred, he braced himself for the worst.

"Of the one hundred and fifty Dargon warriors under my command, only around forty are still alive and fighting fit. Thirty or so are wounded. The rest were killed." said the Dargon leader, his voice vibrating with sadness for his fallen tribe soldiers. "First the disasters in Arden, and now this. The Resistance has brought death upon my tribes."

"We all knew the risks." snapped Vaethar. "Of the forty Veythari I had here, twelve have died. Still more Glatorian and Skakdi have fallen."

"Nearly sixty." said Freztrak his voice as grim as Areop's. "We cannot hold the Fells with these many troops. It's simply impossible, unless we resort to guerilla tactics of some type."

"The Ix have put a barrier between us and the virtually undefended villages of the Veythari, as well as the independent cities such as Intax." said Reid Vaethar. "Any other attack from us would be met with immediate retribution. Knowing the Ix, they'll slaughter all of the Veythari Clans, then move on to Intax and the other Fellsian cities."

"And then it's all over." said Areop. "We must leave the Fells. You can take shelter with the Dargon tribes remaining in the Wastelands—"

"And abandon the rest of the Veythari Clans and the independant cities to certain death?" hissed Vaethar. "Never!"

"All of the adults are trained warriors, Vaethar." said Areop. "They're skilled enough to defend themselves."

"Maybe against a patrol of Limiters, or even a division, but against the Sarkanian clone? They'll all be killed." said Reid, but there was a note of impatience in his voice.

"We'll split our forces." said Freztrak, breaking into the discussion. "We cannot afford to abandon the Veythari Clans to the east of our base, we must also break the Ix's power on Noctxia Magna so the Hand can help us defeat the Ix on Xaterex and, later, Calos. Defeating the remainder of their forces, which are currently operating on many different worlds and planes of existance will take some time, but breaking their invasion army at Noctxia Magna would force them firmly on the defensive.

"I propose that Commander Vaethar, as well as Areop and the Veythari warriors, remain here to protect the villages against the Sarkanian clone and the Limiter army." said Freztrak. "Blast and the rest of the armies will go to Noctxia Magna, to aid in defeating the Ix and tell the Hand of Mata Nui of the danger we're in here. I'll go with either."

"Agreed." said Vaethar. "And while there would be no one better Areop and I could have at our side in our battle, you must help Blast and Ixtil succeed in stopping the Ix before the Sarkanian clones can destroy the Hand and unite against us. The Ix won't leave a single one of us alive if we fail, you know. They'll once again enslave the Glatorian, Matoran, and other races, and this time their hold on power will be utterly unshakeable."

"Agreed." said Areop.

"Then it's decided." said Freztrak. "We must succeed this time. We cannot let the Ix defeat the Hand, we cannot let the Fells fall. We must succeed, because we have no second chances if we fail."

Shardak opened his eyes, immediately realizing he was no longer in BlueSpace or Var'kala. The dusk-gray sky and the bloodred sun of the Ix's mobile world had vanished, as had the flashing blue lights that had surrounded him during the travels through BlueSpace. The strange, supremely malevolent presence he'd sensed in the Void itself had likewise vanished completely.

He was now standing in the middle of a barren wasteland. As far as his eye could see, there were no signs of civilization. It was night, and the air was cold. Winds whipped from time to time across the plains as well, adding to the chill, Though the plain itself was lighted by countless stars. Shardak looked around for any sign of Xaterex, Calos, or Drakyr, but couldn't identify them.

''Who was that? ''Shardak wondered. Then a more pressing concern came to mind. Where are we?

"Hopefully, we're on Corona Magna, where Makour intended us to end up." said Flardrek. Shardak turned around, momentarily startled. He saw Valkyria and Flardrek walking toward him. Both seemed unwounded, though an old scar on Flardrek's arm had somehow been reopened. Shardak knew it was one of the strange affects of BlueSpace.

Valkyria nodded. "I think so. Makour would need immediate transportation here if he was in danger on Var'kala. It makes sense that the only BlueSpace gate in the area would lead to Corona Magna."

"This is Corona Magna?" asked Shardak. "It seems so...empty."

"You heard Makour, Corona Magna was devastated by the Ix." said Flardrek.

As he spoke, Shardak's eyes unconsciously strayed to Valkyria. As usual, it was impossible to tell what the Ix girl was thinking, though her aura was unfocused and strangely emotional, not its usual gray mask. Shardak did not want to touch her aura to find out what she was thinking, if he did, she would know, and given their less then friendly alliance, he didn't want to pry into what she was thinking.

Besides, all she'd done was hurt him. He didn't need her beyond their short alliance.

Flardrek and Valkyria were discussing where they could find shelter for the night. Shardak was honestly unconcerned, after his travels through BlueSpace and the battle with the Serrakaan clones, he would find sleep impossible. The voice that had spoken to Shardak in BlueSpace still haunted his thoughts.

Toa Shardak, you will bring us to life.

Shardak heard the voice in his mind once again, the horrible voice that sounded like a multitude of rasping voices speaking all at once. But he was sure he was simply remembering it. The voice hadn't spoken again. Had it?

Shardak had no answers now. The Order had raised so many questions, all of which he knew would probably never be answered if he returned alive to the Resistance. But this being who claimed to know his destiny was something else; an enigma that Shardak did not understand. Who was he? What did he want?

Mechanically, Shardak followed Valkyria and Flardrek, lost in his own thoughts about the Ix Order, the voice, and the Serrakaan clones.

"We need to make camp now." said Flardrek after a few moments of walking. "There's no sign of any civilization anywhere, and no mountains or caves."

"But what about the cities?" asked Shardak. "Makour said the Caronex were all in slavery to this day."

"They're not anywhere near here, though." said Flardrek. "There's no sign of anyone."

Shardak felt vulnerable in the flatlands. While he'd grown up in a city, Intax, it was at the heart of the Fells. Outside of the mountains, he felt horribly defenseless. However, he knew there was nowhere else they could go in one day without needlessly exhausting themselves. He and Flardrek needed rest, and even Valkyria looked slightly tired. Which, given her ability to hide her emotions so well, probably meant she was exhausted.

"Maybe Makour followed us through the portal." suggested Flardrek. "Maybe he defeated the Serrakaan clones."

"No." said Shardak. "They killed him. I saw it."

As Flardrek raised his Magma Blaze sword, calling on his elemental powers to light the fire, Shardak told them about how Makour had died, and the frightening abilities the Serrakaan clones had displayed. Flardrek's expression changed from worried to horrified as he described Makour's final moments.

Shardak shared his friend's horror, although, at the moment, his overriding emotion was one of frustration. Makour had answers for them, and in his world, where the balance of power between the Ix and the Resistance shifted quickly, and with bounty hunters, clones, and the Order all hunting for him, information was one of the most precious commodities. And again the Ix had snatched it away.

Then he remembered Flardrek's reaction to the mention of the Order's goals, before the Serrakaan clones had appeared and killed Makour. "What did Makour mean?" he asked the Glatorian.

"Mean?" echoed Flardrek, confused.

"When Makour was talking about the Order's goals, you looked scared for some reason. Why?"

"It's nothing." said Flardrek. "It's too strange to even consider."

"No, really." said Shardak. "Makour mentioned that the Order wanted to assemble all of the Annulus, for some purpose other then to take over the known universe with the power granted to them. What did he mean?"

"It's nothing to take seriously, but I suppose I should tell you, just in case the Order is planning something. Besides, I suspected this before Makour, though I'm almost sure it's just an Order trick now.

"Remember the Ix writing on the obsidian wall? Some of it was in Matoran, and I could recognize the title. It wad called the Legend of Vahrikaan, or something close to that."

"Who was Vahrikaan?" asked Shardak. "The founder of the Order?"

"No." said Flardrek. "It's an ancient Glatorian myth, originating from the days of the Mindeater Empire itself, so they say. The story goes something like this. The Ancients created the known universe—"

"They didn't." said Shardak. "They weren't even there first. Darax told me."

Valkyria looked questioningly at him, but Flardrek nodded. Darax was one of the Ancient spirits forever forced to guard the Annulus fragment against some unknown threat. Once Valkyria had taken the Annulus, they'd faded once the fragment was too far out of reach and their power was broken.

"I know. Most Agori do not believe the Ancients created the universe, many myths simply show them as settlers. But the Legend of Vahrikaan says that, no matter how the Ancients got there, they built a great civilization governed by a just ruling council. Eventually, the beings became so great and powerful that their glory was still greater than Lost Arcaea itself.

"However, the peace would not last, because eventually, another being—the Legand does not call him an Ancient, but it is widely assumed he is from their race— took power. His name was Vahrikaan, and after years—or maybe even thousands— of planning and scheming, managed to seize control of the government and turn the Ancient's civilization into an Empire under his command.

"Of course, not everyone accepted this. Many beings, the forerunners of the Mindeaters and the Elemental Princes, resisted Vahrikaan's takeover. But Vahrikaan had succeeded in another area where none of the beings had not— he'd found a way to increase his power beyond mortal limits, and become something else, something so powerful, so invincible, that for years, it seemed he had no equal.

"But eventually, another being, whom the Legend calls the first true Elemental—rose against him. His armies met with Vahrikaan's at the heart of the tyrant's Empire, and while the situation was serious enough to force Vahrikaan to confront the rebel army, he simply could not be defeated. Again, the story says he had made himself invincible, and could not be stopped.

"When his armies defeated the rebels, he, in front of all the surviving rebels, captured the First Elemental and bound him in chains of Dark Shadow—the chronicle is never specific on what "Dark Shadow" truely is— and tortured him brutally, using both the aura field and elemental power.

"However, the First Elemental's true plan was soon fulfilled. He'd somehow found the only way to defeat Vahrikaan— the tale is not specific, again, on what this actually is, but it says he 'shattered' the heart of Vahrikaan's power and overwhelmed Vahrikaan's Dark Shadow powers. The First Elemental then engaged the emperor in battle on even ground, and eventually killed Vahrikaan in battle, becoming the new ruler of the Empire, which was soon dissolved.

"Of course, soon after, the Legend ends, and later records are fragmentary. The next thing we have are the tales of the Mindeaters, and while they themselves are quasi-mythological, we have proof that their culture truly existed, unlike the Empire that the Legend tells us existed. The only reason I thought this has anything to do with the Order is because it appears on their victory inscriptions, and for one other reason.

"Many references are made in the tale of a ring of power, a ring that, supposedly, made Vahrikaan's power grow still larger. What happened to the ring after the emperor's death, is not known. The chronicle itself is fragmentary at best, so that was only one possible reconstruction."

Silence greeted the end of Flardrek's tale.

"Of course, the story is obviously anachronistic." Flardrek added hurriedly. "There's no evidence to belive the Ancients even had an empire, and even if they did, who's to say that Vahrikaan even existed? He's just a legend, like the First Elemental, and the Ancient's power is probably a reference to Lost Arcaea itself. Elementals certainly weren't in existance all the way back that far."

Shardak was turning over everything he'd heard in his mind still. The legend, while obviously anachronistic, could have some truth in it. Shardak thought back to when he'd spoken with Darax and Niha— they'd said that the Annulus had already been in fragments when they'd came to power, and made cryptic hints about a war between the Ancients.

"There could be some truth in that." said Shardak slowly. "Darax and Niha did mention a war between the Ancients, and Vahrikaan's ring could be the Annulus."

"I doubt it." said Valkyria. "I'm an Ix commander, never heard, once, this Legend of Vahrikaan, and I agree with Flardrek. It's just Glatorian superstition. Too much of it is obviously derivative of later legends and histories."

"But some of it isn't!" said Shardak, more excited now. "Not only could Vahrikaan's ring be the Annulus, but the power he mastered— the 'Dark Shadow' could be Shadowdermis! I wish I knew how the First Elemental defeated him, though."

"It's a legend, Shardak." said Flardrek. "And Shadowdermis wasn't created until after the rise of Arcaea—"

"But it could be true!" said Shardak. "And if it was, at least some of it, we might have a way to stop the Sarkanian clones! Without their Shadowdermis powers, they'd be much easier to defeat. And about the Annulus, Darax did mention directly of a war between the Ancients, and that it had indirectly brought about the end of their culture! Vahrikaan could have found and assembled the Annulus, and with that, and Shadowdermis at his power, he would have been unstoppable!"

"But Vahrikaan's a myth." said Flardrek. "You don't understand. He's the monster, the nightmare being from the dark stories you get told at night. He's the terror that haunts as all given a name and a story. He's not real."

"How do you know?" asked Shardak. "The reason I'm curious about this is if we know who created the Annulus, then we could be closer to finding out how to stop the Ix from attaining power, like Vahrikaan did!"

"I understand you think this could be the answer." said Valkyria. "But why would we care about some Ancient nightmare being from the distant past, beyond studying his tactics? While I agree it could be on their victory inscriptions because we want control of both Shadowdermis and the Annulus, and the Order finds parallels between Dark Shadow and the ring, I doubt that it ever happened. And even if it did, there's no way to stop Shadowdermis. I've seen it in action, and it's invincible. It can't be stopped, only temporarily halted."

"Temporarily? How?" asked Shardak, wondering if she'd even answer. Valkyria wasn't one to usually hand over the secrets of her people.

"By destroying the source pool from which the Shadowdermis itself came. That would immediately annihilate all Shadowdermis that had been created from that pool. However, the Ix have more then one source of Shadowdermis, and it would be impossible to eradicate them all."

Shardak was disappointed. The source pools were obviously hidden somewhere at the heart of the Ix Empire, where thousands of Ix warriors could easily guard them. And even if they could find one of the pools, destroying it would not even finish off all of the Sarkanian clones. Even if the one with Shadowdermis created from that pool was destroyed, there would still be six more.

That wasn't the answer. The only reason he desperately hoped the Vahrikaan legend was at least somewhat true was because he needed to find a way to stop the Sarkanian clones. That, and find out what the Ix were planning.

"It has to mean Shadowdermis." said Shardak. "The 'Dark Shadow'. I was inside the Ix's base in the Fells; and I saw the Shadowdermis chains which held the Sarkanian clones prisoner. It can be used to inflict horrible pain...it would make sense if that's what Vahrikaan had used to torture the First Elemental."

"But neither existed!" said Flardrek, looking exasperated now. "The only reason I ever thought the Ix were interested in the Vahrikaan legend was because Makour mentioned "their master" and it reminded me of the Legend! I wasn't thinking about Shadowdermis at all. Please, think of a more logical theory of how to destroy Shadowdermis, rather then the Legend!"

Shardak stopped for a moment, for the first time listening to Flardrek's words. Thinking for a few moments, he realized that it didn't make sense. The Legend of Vahrikaan, while it could contain references to Lost Arcaea, had little or nothing to do with Shadowdermis, beyond the "Dark Shadow" reference which, as Flardrek and Valkyria had pointed out, proved nothing.

Shardak immediately wished he hadn't taken the legend so seriously, but then another thought occured to him. "Speaking of powerful nightmare beings, did any of you feel the presence in BlueSpace I felt?"

"Was it the aura of BlueSpace itself?" asked Valkyria. "It's quite easy to sense in the field."

"No." said Shardak. He explained to them about the mysterious voice that had spoken to him, hinting to know his destiny.

"He said, 'When the Shattering begins, you will know your destiny.' Then, a few moment later, he vanished and we'd been transported here."

"I have no idea who that could be." said Flardrek, mystified. "What is the Shattering?"

Unconsciously, both of them turned to Valkyria, hoping she'd know. But the Ix girl shook her head, looking truly puzzled. "It has nothing to do with my people, as far as I know." she said, and Shardak thought she was telling the truth. However, it was impossible to tell with her.

For a few moments, Shardak stared at her, wishing once again that he could trust her like he once had. With a pang he remembered the last time they'd been around a campfire together, trading stories and laughing together, both friends, both warriors of the Resistance. Now, looking at her shining green eyes and perfect features in the ethereal firelight made him miss their lost friendship once again, something he knew could never happen again.

All he could do was fight her, like she'd said. Toa killed Ix. Ix killed Toa. Shardak knew that helping Valkyria had been his only chance of escape, but now, that they were once again fighting the Ix, he could not trust Valkyria to stand by his side and not betray them again.

Shardak's eyes met hers for a moment, and there were no answers there. He simply couldn't trust that, now that he didn't have the Shadow Orb— which the Order now possessed— she wouldn't turn on them, kill them both, and return to the Ix. She hadn't been able to finish him the last time they'd fought, but now, after nearly eight months of being an Ix Commander, he couldn't trust her.

He wished that he could. He wished that he was able to pour out his thoughts, his confusion, and his anger to her, and talk to her again as a friend. He wished...he wasn't a Toa, or he wasn't an Ix warrior.

''Don't think about it. ''thought Shardak. ''She's an Ix warrior. You can never be friends, or allies for very long. Forget her. ''

But Shardak found that it was impossible for him to rid himself of the memories of the three months they'd shared together as warriors of the Resistance, when the Sarkanian clones had not existed, the Order was nothing more than a faceless threat, and—

''It was all one of her lies. Forget it. But another voice whispered, No. It wasn't just that. She didn't want this either, did she?''

Shardak, of course, had no answer to that, like he had no answer to the question of Vahrikaan, or of the mysterious voice that had spoken to him in BlueSpace. There were no answers in his life at the moment. Makour had known something else, he was sure, that had not and now would never be known. And, while Shardak hoped that the Serrakaan clones had been killed when he'd collapsed the caverns, he somehow doubted they'd been that easily destroyed. It was likely that they'd escaped, and followed them into BlueSpace. And still there were some beings unaccounted for in the midst of this struggle. Rulen, for example, and the Vorgaan and Limiter guards. It was very likely that more of the elite Ix warriors had followed them to Corona Magna as well.

And if, truly, this gateway had led them to Corona Magna, they had nothing but still more Ix warriors ahead of them.

In the shadows of the dark, unknown place they'd been transported to, Silver, Dust, Ghost, and Leviathos, all held prisoner by the Order members, stood at the foot of the tower. When they'd first appeared there, Ghost had tried to reason with the being controlling Iruka, but it had all been in vain. Kinyami was not listening to them, deferring to Varkanax and Baterra Magnus. Darkness covered the land around them, the only light coming from the torches that Iruka/Kinyami and the Vorgaan guard carried.

Silver, however, was too full of fear of his captors to register even the darkness around him. The raw authoritive power that Varkanax and Baterra Magnus weilded made him fear them still more, and the fact that the being known as Kinyami had somehow taken possession of Iruka's body made him still more fearful.

Suddenly several more beings meterialized from the darkness. Silver gasped as he recognized them. Limiters. Ix soldiers. All heavily armed and dangerous. Now he knew the beings who'd captured them weren't friendly. His worst fears had been confirmed, the Ix were responsible for their capture.

Now only one question remained. What did they want from them?

In the rasping, nasal Ix language, Varkanax hissed something unintelligible to the Limiters. In response, one of their number stepped forward, a female in dark combat garb and carrying a dagger-scythe in one hand. She was young, only a few years older then Valkyria, and her features were almost eerily beautiful; almost catlike, inhuman, yet completely bewitching.

But as soon as Silver's eyes met hers, and he recoiled immediately. In them was a look of such great power and authority that he unconsciously lowered his head in submission to her as the Ix girl answered Varkanax in the same language. Six of the Limiters immediately surrounded the prisoners, and even Ghost stayed silent as the Ix girl's eyes met his.

"Take them back to the city." the Ix girl ordered, now speaking in Common. Then she reverted back to the Ix language and hissed a final order to the Limiters.

Varkanax nodded acknowledgement, and the Ix girl and her Limiters vanished into the darkness. Slowly, the other Ix began to lead Silver, Dust, Leviathos, and Ghost toward the city in the distance, a city so darkened that it had not been in view until a few moments ago.

Now, Silver knew, they were trapped more thoroughly then he'd thought was possible.

They had arrived on Var'kala, the heart of the Order's power.

Chapter 13
The group of Ix Limiters, led by the Ix female, followed the Makuta soldiers into the city itself. Behind the gate, the city was well-lit by many torches and lanterns, as well as several of the gleaming orbs of green light that were common in the Circle. The Ix female looked around the city, looking almost bored. The bright lights were growing still brighter, and at the heart of the city the artificial light was nearly as bright as dusk on the surface.

In the heart of the city stood several massive statues of Makuta lords, all of them proud defenders of their city in the Void for years. Now, once again, beings from the worlds beyond the Void had arrived. Several citizens, all of them Makuta, stared at the newcomers, but the Limiters ignored them, their eyes fixed on the massive statues at the center of the city. In the relatively small urban area, the statues seemed large and almost out of place.

If the Limiters recognized the Makuta pictured there, they gave no sign of it. Suddenly, the Makuta guards who had led them into the city halted before a large building at the very center of the city. Several other Makuta, all wearing the same drab guard uniforms, stood outside, their dead eyes taking in all of their surroundings but not acknowledging any of the beings there.

The Makuta guards whispered something to the other Makuta, who nodded and stood aside, opening the doors. As though they ruled the city, rather than simply visiting, the Limiters entered, following the Ix female.

Standing in the brightly lit room that they walked into was a single Makuta female, her eyes scanning the Ix warriors. Immediately the Ix, who were all aura users, could sense her fear, fear of the Limiters and their weapons, but even more strongly, fear of the Ix female who led them.

"Who are you, and what is your authorization?" she asked at last, her voice shaking slightly as she averted her eyes, not meeting the Ix female's gaze.

"We are expected to meet today with the ruler of this city." said the Ix female, her voice haughty and arrogant. "That is all that you need to know."

Immediately the female Makuta's eyes darted around the room; it was clear she wanted to get out of the presence of the Ix as soon as possible. "Yes, then. The leader of our Brotherhood is expecting you."

She waved them through the double doors at the end of the chamber, then turned away. One of the Limiters, obviously a leader of some kind, hissed an order to his soldiers, who halted at the doors. He and the Ix female, as well as two elite Ix guards, pushed open the door and entered the inner room.

The room, like all of the architecture in the city, was characteristically blank, with little sign of anything beyond practicality. However, the Ix female ignored this, instead focusing on the being standing before her.

He was tall, a good head taller than she was, but carried no weapons of any sort except for his clawed hands. His eyes gleamed red in the darkness, and his features were vaguely insectoid in appearance. His expression was easily readable; while he had less fear of the Ix then the Makuta guards, he was at the very least wary of them.

"Ah, yes, the Ix." he said, greeting them cordially, though, obviously sensing the Ix female was in charge, addressing his words to her. "My guards said you would explain why you have come to our city, and what your intentions are. I am Tarallus, leader of the New Brotherhood of Makuta."

Silence greeted his words. Neither the Ix female or the Limiters answered him.

"So...the Deep Shadows, eh?" he asked, a little nervously. He did not meet the Ix female's eyes, it was obvious he was uncomfortable under her authoritative gaze. "Apologies for not being able to see you sooner, I had to consult the tablets from the time of Arcaea, when we had dealings with the Ix. I trust that you have found your accommodations pleasing?"

"They have served their purpose." answered the Ix female, displaying no hints of emotion whatsoever.

An uncomfortable silence once again fell between them, as the leader of the Brotherhood grasped for the correct words to say next. "So, what do you want from the New Brotherhood?" he finally asked.

Whispering, in the Makuta language that had not been used outside of the Void for thousands of years, the Ix female told him.

"No...we can't." began the Brotherhood leader immediately. "You see, we're not their allies. At least, we weren't. You see, after we lost the war that followed the collapse of Arcaea, we abandoned the surface world forever. Our leaders and high command were all captured and executed by the remnants of the Arcaean government after we were defeated."

"Yet you survived." said the Ix female. "In this city."

"Yes...and no." said Tarallus. "Our high command had been captured and killed. Our leader, Icarax, killed himself rather than be captured by his foes on the battlefield when victory seemed impossible. All of our elite soldiers were either rounded up or forced into hiding, and what remains of them today dwell here.

"But we no longer seek conquest, like your people. We simply wish to be left alone, in our city. There's no—"

"So you've surrendered?" asked the Ix female, her voice contemptuous. "You let your people die, while you clung to life, scared to venture out, in the Void?"

"No, it—"

"Allow me to remind you of something." said the Ix. "We, under the codename "Deep Shadows" were your allies during the wars in Arcaea. After the Fall, we fought alongside you, and helped you nearly win the war. Although you didn't, you still owe us the debt that was created to seal the pact."

"But—" Tarallus began.

"There are no questions." said the Limiter commander, speaking for the first time. "Comply with our request, or several thousand Limiters— all trained warriors, like me— will invade your city and kill every single being within."

Tarallus' face changed from scared to terrified as he stared into the Ix warrior's eyes. They were twin pits of flame and darkness, like the windows into Karzahni itself. "I...I—" he stuttered, but couldn't get the words out. He turned to look into the eyes of the Ix female, but her gaze was cold and uncompromising. He immediately looked away.

"You will comply with our request." ordered the Ix female, as though she was speaking to one of her own subordinates, not the leader of a city. "And if this is completed successfully, you will be rewarded."

"Of course, of course." said Tarallus, under his breath. The Ix female could tell immediately that the threat had broken his will to resist. For a few moments he hesitated, then finally seemed to decide.

"What, exactly, do you want our armies to do, and when do we begin?"

Nightwatcher strode through the camps of the defeated and battered Hand of Mata Nui with impunity, seemingly unconcerned about the fact he was surrounded by Veythari warriors and other beings of all types. Nightwatcher was almost surprised by the lack of reaction from any of the Hand of Mata Nui members; Toa of Shadow would normally attract quite a bit more attention, especially Toa of Shadow being followed by a Glatorian Elementalist and a Rahkshi of Growth. He'd already spoken with the Veythari guards, and was now waiting for the Resistance leader, a Matoran known as Ixtil, to speak with him.

It had been extremely easy for Nightwatcher, once he'd freed himself from the Ix's prison, to find his weapon and that of the Glatorian, Kyhrex. He'd refrained himself from doing undue damage to the Ix Spire, while attempting to damage it was, admittedly, rather tempting, he knew it would bring more Ix down on him. And the Ix would, most certainly, kill him.

Nightwatcher did not like admitting that there were beings who could defeat him in open combat, but the Ix were one of the groups he was wary of. He needed to escape immediately, rather than sacrifice his life in retribution against his enemies. And the knowledge he'd glimpsed in Mordrax's mind during the tortures the Ix had subjected him to...he needed to find a way to use this information to defeat them.

Which brought him to the next, most important step in his plan to defeat the Ix. He needed to ally with the Resistance, and find out, exactly, what the Ix's goals were, beyond eliminating their most dreaded enemies with the Sarkanian clones. Nightwatcher knew that, even with the clones on their side, they'd still have a massive job on their hands to defeat the Resistance completely.

There was definitely another ingredient in their plan, and it was driving Nightwatcher mad to figure out what it was.

Nightwatcher's thoughts turned away from the Ix and once again onto the goal at hand as he sensed Ixtil approaching in the aura field. Moments later, the Ko-Matoran did so, followed closely by two Glatorian bodyguards. Ixtil faced Nightwatcher with no surprise and seemingly no fear, and Nightwatcher was surprised to find that Ixtil did not even register the slightest amount of fear in the aura field.

"Greetings." said the Ko-Matoran. "I am Ixtil, acting commander of the Hand of Mata Nui. And I am very pleased to see you here, Toa Nightwatcher."

Nightwatcher remained silent, tilting his head slightly to one side, but making no reply. Ixtil seemed completely unfazed by this, and opened his mouth to speak. However, before he could finish, Nightwatcher said, "We need to talk. There have been recent developments in the Ix Empire that require your attention."

"Recent developments?" asked Ixtil. "Does this have something to do with the Sarkanian clones the Empire has been using against us?"

Nightwatcher nodded. "Yes, somewhat. But I must talk to you outside the reach of your guards. As you can see, I have brought the Glatorian Elementalist I captured back to you, unharmed. Well, mostly. The Ix may have used some of their mind control techniques on her; I don't know."

"I don't think so." said Kyhrex, speaking for the first time. Nighwatcher turned to face her, amazed that the Ix had not broken her completely during the nearly seven months they'd spent in captivity. Most victims went insane from the sheer strength of the Ix's torture in weeks. "They didn't seem very concerned with torturing me."

"They don't seem too concerned with anything, if they're letting a Kodax run their Empire for them." said Nightwatcher.

"A Kodax?" asked Ixtil, alarm registering in his voice. Nightwatcher wondered if he understood the implications of that statement, or if he already knew that Mordrax was practically running the Ix Empire single-handedly, and had been for nearly three months now. "We need to talk. Guards, you may leave us. Kyhrex, I would like to speak with you shortly, but for now know that I am glad to see you alive. There are far too many dead now, and I calculated there was a .04% chance or less that you'd somehow survived Nightwatcher's trap,"

The two Glatorian guards nodded once, and then they and Kyhrex wandered off into the group of massed Veythari warriors still fit for fighting duty. Nightwatcher spotted, among the group of soldiers, his old enemies Jareroden and Galika, two Toa he'd once been hired by the Ix to capture. He wondered if Shardak, Blast, or Fairon, the other survivors from the Resistance team in the Void, were with him, or the Ix girl who'd, for some reason Nightwatcher had not understood, fought him twice, both times on the side of the Resistance rather than the Empire.

Now Nightwatcher and Ixtil were alone, though Nightwatcher could sense his Girahk nearby in the aura field, too small for Ixtil to notice with his eye alone. Nightwatcher followed the Matoran to the tents at the center of the makeshift camp. Ixtil led the Toa of Shadow inside the tent, and sat down, inviting Nighwatcher to do the same.

"So, what would you like from us, Toa Nightwatcher? You haven't come to kill us."

It was a statement, not a question, and Nightwatcher wondered how he was so certain. "How do you know?" he asked, though he knew the answer.

"Is someone paying you to?"

"No." said Nightwatcher.

"I thought not." answered Ixtil. "While I am anxious to hear the information, I assume you want something more from us as well. A bounty hunter of your power would not simply come to our makeshift camp to speak with us about the latest developments in the Empire."

"You are correct. I do want something from you. But it is not your spacecraft, armies, or anything such as this." answered Nightwatcher. "I wish to join your Resistance."

If Ixtil was surprised by this statement, he did not show it outwardly, though Nightwatcher caught a flicker of surprise flash through the aura field. "Explain." Ixtil said, after a few minutes have passed. "What has brought you here at this time and hour?"

"The Arden city-states are, one by one, either being ruled by newer, local rulers, or by criminal organizations such as Dark Talon." said Nightwatcher. "However, while the Ix still nominally control these cities, their level of control in the south seems to be weakening.

"My contacts in the Akkadian territories say that the entire territory in Arden, since the Resistance invasion seven months ago, has begun to deteriorate still further. The Ix, while cracking down on any city-states which have revolted, have not shown the level of power one would expect them to possess. It is nearly 177 years after the Year of Darkness and the Fall, and yet there has been no sign there will be any Eternal Game at all. All this I learned from the mind of the Kodax Mordrax.

"When I captured the Glatorian Elementalist, Kyhrex, I brought her to the Ix in exchange for a reward. Rather than reward me, they attacked, and two beings, Skorpix and Mordrax, overwhelmed me and tortured me. As I went through these torments, one by one, I remembered my role in the Eternal Game."

"You were in the Game?" asked Ixtil. "Here on Noctxia Magna, I rarely hear about these. Which one?"

"The 174th."

"But that is statistically impossible." said Ixtil. "Fairon won that Game, thus all of the other competitors—"

"I fell into the Void." growled Nightwatcher. "But apparently the Ix still had use for me, because one of their agents, a being with a skeletal hand, wiped those memories from my mind and, pretending that it had never happened, immediately sent me to the Void. I never realized that at least three months of my life had been missing; time runs differently in the Void anyway."

"Yes, the Void is not a death trap, as it is widely believed. It's a prison for the Ix's— and other beings'— enemies."

"I know." said Nightwatcher. "I hunted Shardak, Fairon, Jareroden, and their allies throughout the Void on the Ix's orders.

"Anyway, while I was being tortured, and forced to remember the month I spent in the Eternal Game, I also gleaned a great deal of information from Mordrax's mind. I learned that the Ix Empire on Xaterex is beginning to break apart, were it not for the fear of the Sarkanian clones, the Ix would have already lost control of most of Arden. The Akkadian cities are enraged by the destruction of Gigas Nui, and are ready to revolt— were it not for the power of the clones.

"And, as far as I know, nearly all of the Sarkanian clones are currently on Noctxia Magna, only one is currently on Xaterex. You would think that, given the Ix's reputation for cracking down on rebellions and possible rebellions immediately, they wouldn't tolerate Arden's revolts, or the Empire's enemies in Akkad and the surrounding free cities? But no, Mordrax knows that none of the Imperial leaders have been present in Drakos Capitol for nearly four months with the exception of the Elemental Skorpix, who rarely gives orders to the Kodax.

"The Empire's power on Xaterex, despite the fact that the Resistance in the Fells has been virtually crushed into nothingness, is weakening. And none of the Ix leaders seem to be doing anything to stop this. Even with the Sarkanian clones, they'll have a huge job on their hands tying up all of the revolts in Arden and Akkad unless they want hundreds of more rebellions breaking out across Xaterex."

"But why?" asked Ixtil. "Why is the Empire letting a Kodax run their capitol city and planet, if the disorder in the heart of their domain is so great? Are they that confident in the Sarkanian clone's abilities?"

"I've seen the devastation they can do, and I know that they could burn every city in Arden if the Ix wanted them to." said Nightwatcher. "But that would send the rest of the cities, as well as the beings who'd seen their cities burned, into revolt. No, the situation's not much better on Calos, either, so there's another ingredient in their plan. And it's driving me insane to figure out what it is."

Ixtil nodded. "The Ix are weakening. Were it not for the Sarkanian clones and the devastation they'd created in the Fells and on Noctxia Magna, we'd have taken Arden by now. I calculate a 97.5% chance that there's another ingredient in their plans somewhere, something that can turn the scales once again in their favor."

"The war is in their favor. It's the fact that the concept of the Empire is breaking down, and the fact that there are more Limiters then ever before seen scattered across Xaterex and Noctxia Magna makes the Ix Empire more like a massive traveling army. Either they're abandoning all other goals to crush your Resistance immediately, or they have something else planned."

"I was hoping you'd be able to tell me what that is." said Ixtil. "Because if we knew, we might be able to stop it. Of course, then, we'd still have to deal with the Sarkanian clones, which will destroy us all as soon as the Limiters regroup. It could be any hour now."

"They're still at your old base." said Nightwatcher. "Though whether they're simply looting and burning it or trying to do something else I'm not sure. There are at least two Elementals with them as well."

"I'll have to see if Commander Fairon is available at the moment." sighed Ixtil. "Maybe he'll have a solution to the problem of the Sarkanian clones. If we could stop them, and then find a way to stop their other plan, whatever it involves. I hope that Shardak has succeeded and that the last Annulus fragment hasn't—"

"Annulus?" asked Nightwatcher, immediately alert. "The ancient ring? Shardak's found a fragment?"

"Yes, on Drakyr." said Ixtil. "However, we haven't heard back from him and his allies since they landed, two days ago."

"The legends say that the bearer of the Annulus could be granted ultimate power..." mused Nightwatcher. "Perhaps that's what they're after. Though I think that's a legend, and the Ix don't usually believe in stories like that."

"Do you?" asked Ixtil.

"If the Ix are hunting it, that's good enough for me to believe in at least some of the legend." said Nightwatcher. "Whether it gives them ultimate power, or they're in persuit of something still more sinister...I'm not sure, but I have some suspicions."

"We need to stop the Sarkanian clones, then." said Ixtil. "If they're defeated, we have approximately a 45.7% chance of turning the battle for Noctxia Magna in our favor. I wish there was a way to stop them, however. They seem absolutely invincible."

"Oh, I can help with that." said Nightwatcher. "The original Shadowdermis was far weaker then the Shadowdermis used to create the Sarkanian clones. This was designed by the Ix, though the clones themselves were created by Mordrax. This Shadowdermis has the same power as the original— amplified hundreds of times."

Nightwatcher smiled. "And I took a little bit more than Mordrax's memories with me."

Raising a single black-armored hand, Nightwatcher snapped his fingers. A spark of the darkest shadows imaginable appeared on his hand, flickering silently in the half-light like a small tear in the fabric of reality.

"Mordrax bound me in chains of raw Shadowdermis. It was the only way to contain my power, but I absorbed it quickly. Now it flows through both our bodies, yet Mordrax does not yet realize this. With this power, I can destroy the Sarkanian clones."

The city of the Caronex was built beneath two jagged cliffs which rose above it like massive, grim avengers casting their shadows down on the city below. Even during the day, the city was shrouded in darkness, and now, in the dark of night, even the stars themselves could not penetrate the shadows cast by the massive mountains.

The twin cliffs were, Valkyria thought, the perfect place to build a city. It was a strategic defense position that would make this city almost unassailable without air support of some type. It was certainly why the Ix had chosen this location to build their city.

Following Shardak and Flardrek down the narrow, twisting backstreets of the city, Valkyria was tensed and alert for any sign that the Ix or Caronex had followed them here. While she doubted that any of them had noticed them here— they'd climbed down from the cliff above— she couldn't believe that there were no Ix patrolling such a large city at night, and no border guards on the city. It was unusually sloppy of them.

Thinking about the Ix's strategies, plans, and such was easier for Valkyria then contemplating her current situation. It was a welcome relief from Flardrek, who barely put up with her and did not trust her in the slightest, and Shardak, who was treating her like poison.

Throughout the day following their first night on what they hoped was Corona Magna, neither of the two Resistance warriors had spoken with her beyond the usual necessities of finding food, water, shelter, and civilization. Flardrek simply made it clear that he did not trust her and would kill her if she made a single hostile move, and Shardak said nothing at all, either avoiding her or, when they had to speak, simply looking at her hollowly like she'd ceased to exist for him.

Valkyria held Silverblade in one hand, an Ix dagger-scythe in the other, contemplating her next course of action. She couldn't go to the Ix on Corona Magna— they were all working for the Order. But how else could she return to the Empire?

In truth, Valkyria was extremely confused, ever since she'd spoken with Shardak after they'd freed themselves from the cells. Despite the fact that the Order had given her tangible evidence that they were, indeed, directly controlling the Ix Empire, why had they imprisoned her? And why would the Ix listen to Vorgaan and Makuta, like Shale and Vor? It didn't make sense. Why hadn't any of the Ix told her this? And as for Shardak...

Valkyria felt like someone had sank a Shredsteel dagger into her heart and was twisting it around painfully, but kept her thoughts to herself. Simply looking at Shardak made her bone-deep guilt and sadness return, twice as painful as it had been before they'd met again on Drakyr. She'd known how much she'd hurt him by taking the Annulus and betraying the Resistance, but she'd been unprepared for his anger. She'd hoped—

''Stop thinking about what could have happened. ''she thought, annoyed that she was even thinking about the day on Xiost again. You're an Ix warrior. You're supposed to be able to control your distracting emotions. Shardak is immaterial. He has no place in the Ix Empire.

But she was no longer sure she even believed in the Ix Empire anymore. She'd barely believed in it after meeting the Resistance, but after coming face to face with the callous brutality of the Order, she wondered if it was all an illusion. If the cause she'd devoted her life to was not even real.

She'd been one of the greatest Ix apprentices, and she'd justified every one of her actions— killing the innocent Ko-Matoran in an Ix raid, killing the mutated Toa of Fire Melnox in cold blood when he'd refused to give her the information she needed, and finally betraying the Resistance and Shardak— the only being who'd trusted and accepted her— to the Ix once again.

Valkyria remembered, with a pang of sadness, the day on Noctxia Magna, after she'd been recovering from a crossbow bolt wound that had nearly killed her. Shardak had acted quickly, and managed to save her life by employing a complicated aura field technique that had very nearly killed him. She'd asked him, later, why he'd done such a thing, and why he'd want to risk his life for her.

''"If I was you, I would have saved myself and let you die, then." Valkyria confessed at last, seeming uncomfortable and almost guilty. "I didn't understand, and sometimes I still don't."''

''"We'll work on that." said Shardak. "I won't let you give up that easily." ''

And she didn't understand. All she knew how to do was destroy. Destroy lives, destroy trust, destroy friendships...

All for the Ix Empire. She'd justified all of her actions by saying that the Ix, as the superior rulers of the multiverse, deserved to rule by force. She'd crushed down those voices that whispered she was making a grave mistake each time, and achieved the goal of becoming an Ix commander...after she no longer cared what that position meant, only about what she'd lost to win it.

It was bitter irony. And now she knew the Ix Empire was founded on a lie as well, a lie that the Ix were superior to all other beings. During her time in the Resistance, she'd could not believe that lie anymore. The Ix were no more superior to the rebels than Glatorian were to Vortixx. All beings had the same hopes and fears and dreams.

She'd taken that away from the Ko-Matoran in the fortress, from the Toa of Fire in the prison. She'd destroyed the trust that Shardak and the Resistance had put in her, just like she'd destroyed the lives of the many beings she'd killed both in battle and in cold blood, and all the while the Ix were not fighting for a just cause. They were fighting for their own lie, just like the lies they told to other beings. They were no better than any of the others.

''But that is the mark of a strong Empire. ''whispered the Ix voices in her mind. ''They rule both by force and in secret. They''—

''But the Ix are wrong. ''Another voice countered. ''You're wrong. Wrong to think it was just to kill for the Ix, wrong to think it was right to betray the Resistance. ''

The true leaders of the Ix had not aided her people in the war, conspiring to achieve far greater goals that only they knew. They hadn't helped the Ix who knew nothing about these goals, who were concerned with taking the Annulus and ruling the Empire. They, hidden on their planetoid base, Var'kala, were more concerned with their own plans, plans that somehow involved the Legend of Vahrikaan, a tale she'd never heard of before.

And the other thing that Shardak had told her, that Skorpix had been with the Order...she couldn't believe it. He would not leave her in the cells to be tortured like a common prisoner. If he did, that would mean—

"There." whispered Flardrek, jolting Valkyria back into the present once again. "Caronex slaves."

Several Kodax were leading a group of Caronex slaves down the roads, toward the street they were on. The slaves looked like Makour, except they wore dull gray armor and no Kanohi. The Kodax were typical of the second-class Imperial warriors— armed to the teeth with scimitars and scythes. However, they were not wearing dark armor, but Ix cloaks without hoods. Their Kanohi, pitted and scarred, gleamed in the darkness.

"So we are on Corona Magna." breathed Shardak. "I wonder why there aren't any Ix around?"

Valkyria was wondering this as well. Usually a city this large would be filled with massive patrols of Ix soldiers and Limiters, like in Drakos Capitol or the Circle. But it seemed oddly empty, devoid of anything resembling an army. It was oddly unnerving that the Ix would allow a Kodax to lead the slave patrols, especially at night. Maybe Shardak was wrong. The Ix would not submit to the Order.

But Valkyria knew he was telling the truth. She'd seen the proof herself, when the Ix warrior Rulen had confronted them. She'd also seen a large battalion of Limiters inside the city on Var'kala, which proved the Ix were working with the Order.

However, Skorpix couldn't be working for the Order. That would mean—

Valkyria saw the Kodax were walking closer and closer. None of them seemed to be aura users, which was fortunate, because they'd have been noticed by now.

"Can you take them down?" asked Flardrek, gesturing to the Kodax. "Then we can ask the Caronex prisoners where we are."

Valkyria nodded confirmation. Here, like on Illiera and Xaterex, information was power. If she was to survive here, where her only allies were, really, her enemies, she had to learn what the Caronex knew about the Ix and their plans here, on Corona Magna. Only then would she be able to consider her next course of action, and somehow escape the Resistance and return to the Ix.

''But do you even want that anymore? ''asked the voice, cold and persistent. Valkyria pushed it aside. She needed to concentrate on the present now.

Lifting her bow, she aimed an arrow at the lead Kodax and fired moments later. The arrow embedded itself in the being's neck and he fell to the ground, dead. The Kodax had no time to react before two more arrows flew from the shadows, felling two more beings.

The Kodax immediately realized the danger, raising their shields and yelling orders and cries for help. However, Valkyria was a trained Ix warrior, and her reflexes were far faster than any normal being. Three arrows felled three more Kodax, and the others charged forward, raising their shields, in an attempt to locate the attacker.

That was a mistake. They simply made themselves easier targets. One arrow struck a Kodax in the shoulder, and as he staggered backward, his shield lowered just long enough for a second arrow to bury itself in his throat. The other two Kodax had no time to react before the arrows claimed their lives as well.

Immediately the Caronex scattered, knowing that, more than likely, the arrows would be coming for them next. However, they immediately froze in their tracks as Valkyria, followed by Shardak and Flardrek, stepped out of the shadows. As soon as the Caronex saw Valkyria, a look of panic and terror flashed across their faces.

"Ix." they whispered, bowing immediately and lowering their eyes so they did not meet her gaze. "What can we do for you?" they asked, not daring to ask why this Ix warrior had killed their superiors. Slaves of the Ix did not ask questions of the ruling class.

"Where have the rest of my people gone?" asked Valkyria, her voice imperious and cold. "Why are Kodax leading you."

The Caronex slaves looked confused as to why an Ix would be asking those questions when she clearly had to know already, but they were too terrified to ever question the orders of an Ix— exactly what Valkyria was hoping for. "They...left." said one Caronex, his voice scared, worried she'd kill him immediately if he said one word wrong. "We think they were headed toward the tower, about a day's journey away from the city."

Valkyria knew immediately from his expression that it was more than a guess— they'd gained valuable information. The Caronex recoiled when she did not respond, wondering if he'd said something wrong. The fact that Valkyria was wearing Limiter camouflage only added to his terror— he'd probably never seen any of the soldiers, and obviously didn't realize there were no female Limiters— but he obviously knew of the soldiers by their reputation.

"I—" he began, but Shardak spoke now. "Thank you, Caronex, for your help. Were those the only Kodax in the city, or are there more?"

"It's been completely deserted." said the Caronex, confused but answering, in case this was another Ix test. "Most of the Ix warriors have left to go to the Spire of Dreams, and the Caronex and Kodax went with them. We were here to make sure that the city wasn't—"

"It seems odd, though, that so many beings would leave the city at the same time, especially one as well defended as this." Flardrek thought aloud. "Do you know why the Ix have left for the Spire?"

The Caronex was now completely confused. Valkyria could read it in his aura. If the Ix girl was a Limiter, why didn't she know about the Ix's plan, and why they'd taken the Caronex from their city? He certainly didn't know, but he didn't dare to ask the Ix or her allies.

"I'm sorry, I don't know." said the Caronex, careful not to look at any of them as he answered. "I—"

"That's okay." said Shardak. "So, now that the Kodax are dead, the Ix certainly won't learn that somehow the Caronex slaves have escaped?"

"What?" asked the lead Caronex, too stunned to take it in. Then a look of horror flashed across his face when he realized he, a slave, had asked an Ix a question, and readied himself for some form of punishment. The Ix had always been brutal to their slaves, but in the past few months on Corona Magna, Valkyria saw that they'd been treating them even more harshly, then suddenly leaving the Kodax and their patrol of workers behind and taking the rest of the slaves and Kodax with them. "I'm—" he began.

"Don't be." said Shardak. "She's not working for the Ix. We're from Calos."

It was clearly a lie; Valkyria knew that if the slaves were recaptured by the Ix somehow, Shardak didn't want the Ix to learn that members of the Xaterex Resistance had been here. And besides, she was not even a member of the Xaterex Resistance, but an Ix warrior once again forced to cooperate with her enemies.

"You're—" the Caronex began, shock and fear beginning to flash across his face. Valkyria could tell that he was scared they were lying, that it was some test the Ix had set up for them.

"It's true." said Shardak. "We're not here to harm you. We've come to stop the Ix and the Order from carrying out their plan."

Valkyria wondered when he'd decided that was part of their plan; she'd thought they were trying to find a way to escape the Order and return to Xaterex. At first she was sure that there was no way she'd fight against the Ix again after the battle on Var'kala, but now she was wondering if that was her best course of action. She was an Ix commander, after all— a survivor. She wouldn't simply surrender— despite her initial skeptism of the Legend of Vahrikaan, she was beginning to wonder if it had some grain of truth to it now, after all. Besides, there were too many questions left unanswered— the voice that Shardak had heard in BlueSpace; his statement that Skorpix was a member of the Order.

She was still at least nominally a loyal Ix warrior, but she needed to find out the truth— if her Empire was built on a deception, and the Order were truly their masters.

"Where will we go, then?" asked the Caronex. "We can't leave the city."

"If we stop the Ix, then you'll no longer have to fear them as your masters." said Shardak. "We'll return, after we defeat the Ix in the Spire of Dreams."

Valkyria wondered how he could possibly promise that. It was more than likely that an Ix patrol would come along and force them back into slavery— or worse, kill them now that the Kodax slavemasters were dead. She could see from the expression on Shardak's face he knew this as well, yet knew they could not remain here, not while the Order completed their plan. And the chances that they'd come back were slim. Even if they survived, it could be days, weeks before they returned, and by then the Kodax or the Ix could have left the Spire and forced the Caronex back into slavery.

The lead Caronex seemed to realize this also. "We will stay. May Mata Nui protect you." he bowed, still not entirely convinced of their sincerity, then he and the other former slaves melted into the shadows.

"May Mata Nui protect you, as well." said Shardak, almost to himself. Then he turned and spoke to Valkyria and Flardrek.

"We have to go to the tower and stop the Order." he began. "I'm sure they have something planned— it seems strange that the Ix haven't simply destroyed the Resistance completely over the past eight months, considering the fact they have the Sarkanian clones at their disposal now, and the fact that Mordrax seems to hold so much sway over the Empire— the Ix are somewhere else, focused on another plan that we can't let be completed."

Outside of the Caronex city the ground slowly turned from wasteland into more mountinous territory. Shardak followed Valkyria and Flardrek up the slopes of a small hill, trying to conceal how tired he was. Flardrek was slower than Valkyria, but he was strong and could endure this long walk, though he too was beginning to show signs of tiredness. Valkyria didn't seem bothered at all, nor did she speak with either of them very much. Shardak tried to read her aura and figure out exactly what she was thinking, but the Ix girl's presence in the field was a guarded steel-gray shield.

Shardak was tired to the bone. He'd had no rest for nearly ten hours now, but he could not let them see he was weakening. He was the one pushing for them to continue, urging them onward according to the rough directions given by the Caronex in the city. However, now he wondered if they'd even come the right way at all, and he almost completely doubted it. This cliff was massive, and probably led to still more ceaseless climbing through the dark night. Unfamiliar stars shown above him, glistening cold and uninviting above their heads. Nothing on Corona Magna was their ally, the only beings he could trust were one Glatorian and a treacherous Ix girl.

You were the one who said we had to find the tower, not them. They'd probably go back through BlueSpace in an attempt to find a way back to Xaterex. We have to find out what the Ix are up to, and quickly.

'Really, little Toa? '

The rasping, cold voice tore through Shardak's mind like a knife scraping against metal. Shardak was so startled that he almost gasped aloud. 'We know you are looking for us. We know you want to stop us from Rising, But there is nothing you can do now. The Shattering will begin.'

''What do you want from me? ''Shardak thought, desperate now. Who are you?

'We are the Nightmare Lord. And you, Toa Shardak...you will bring us to life.'

''The Nightmare Lord? ''Shardak thought. What—

But the presence of darkness had already vanished. Flardrek turned to face Shardak. and saw his expression. "What happened?" he asked, concerned.

"The voice." gasped Shardak. "The voice from BlueSpace. It spoke to me again."

"What did it say?" asked Flardrek.

"I asked it who it was." said Shardak. "And it identified itself as the Nightmare Lord."

Flardrek looked mystified. "The Nightmare Lord? That's not a title I've ever heard."

"Nor I." said Valkyria. "Are you sure you didn't imagine—"

"No." Shardak insisted. "The voice spoke. It said 'We know you want to stop us from Rising, but there is nothing you can do now. The Shattering will begin.'"

"The Shattering?" asked Flardrek. "Again, I don't understand—"

"There's nothing we can do." said Shardak, both confused and annoyed. The being had sounded sure that Shardak would be able to identify him after hearing his title, but Shardak had never heard of the Nightmare Lord. For a moment, he wondered—

Then he saw the tower, and all thoughts of the Nightmare Lord disappeared from his mind as he stared at the massive tower built on the cliffs above. In the cold, forbidding starlight, the massive black tower was illuminated by both the lights above and the firelight beneath. Torches also illuminated the stark black gate that barred the tower off from entry. Two beings, features hidden by the darkness, stood guard at the gates, and Shardak could see more beings standing guard on the opposite side of the gates. He guessed they were Limiters, or possibly another branch of the Ix military.

"How can we get in?" asked Shardak. "There are too many of them for us to fight."

As he whispered, one of the guards at the gates— Shardak could see that he was, indeed, a Limiter in the baleful orange-red torchlight— turned toward them. Shardak froze as the Ix warrior's gaze turned and stared into his eyes. Immediately he hissed something in the rasping Ix tongue, and three other Limiters followed him, running toward them.

"Just play along with what I'm telling them." hissed Valkyria. "Flardrek, hold Shardak, like he's your prisoner."

Flardrek was too startled to comply immediately, but, as the Limiters drew nearer, grabbed Shardak and held him still. Valkyria walked over to the Ix Limiters, who lowered their weapons slowly when they saw she was an Ix. The Limiter's eyes met Shardak's, and he hissed something in Ix, surprised. Valkyria replied in the same language, and Shardak grew uneasy. He wondered if Valkyria was really still fulfilling the terms of their alliance, or if she was leading them into a trap. It was impossible to tell, for both she and the Ix's auras were completely unreadable, and neither he nor Flardrek could speak the Ix language. The only thing he could understand from their conversation was "Valkyria Rhai", her name.

Finally the Ix Limiter hissed a final order to his troops, and they melted back into the shadows, allowing Valkyria, Flardrek, and Shardak to pass. The other Limiters also retreated, and one opened the gate, lowering his head to Valkyria as she passed she hissed something to him in the Ix language, and he vanished into the darkness.

Approaching the tower door, Shardak saw that several unfamiliar runes, the same type of runes that the Legend of Vahrikaan on Var'kala was carved in, were carved onto the tower door. There were also several completely unfamiliar runes on the door as well that he did not recognize. As soon as she saw them, Valkyria's expression turned to shock.

"You can read them?" asked Shardak. "What does the writing say?"

"The first set of writing I don't recognize." said Valkyria, looking visibly shaken. "But the second is in Ix lettering. It reads: The Rising of Vahrikaan, the Nightmare Lord."

Shardak felt as though a shredsteel dagger had impaled him through the heart. Vahrikaan was the being who'd spoken to him? Vahrikaan was alive, and attempting to complete a plan called the Rising. Then, something known as the Shattering would follow. And worse— he now realized that some of Vahrikaan's plan made horrible sense to him. Inside the tower now, he looked around, but barely took in his surroundings. The shock and terror that Vahrikaan was, indeed, alive and would somehow find a way to return to life was terrifyingly real now.

"Vahrikaan is rising." Flardrek gasped, the horrible implications dawning on him. "Vahrikaan is somehow, somewhere, returning to life."

"We have to get in there." said Shardak. "The legend is real. The Rising is happening now, in the Spire of Vahrikaan."

"But—" Valkyria began, but a cold, slithering voice cut her off.

"Very astute, Toa Shardak." hissed a voice from within the tower. The speaker, a being in a dark cloak, stepped from the shadows. Shardak tensed, fingers tightening on the Blade of Arcturas as he recognized one of the Serrakaan clones.

Two of the other duplicate Blood Summoners appeared from the shadows. "Now, I think, it is time for you to free our master." said another, his voice the same cold rasp. Then, in eerie unison, all three of them spoke. "And time for your friends to die."

Chapter 14
"Please, sit." said Moru Kul, sensing Fairon's discomfort at his revelation. "Whatever your friend, Toa Shardak might have told you, I am not your enemy. I am not an associate of the Ix." He smiled slightly. "Though some of the Ix theorize that I am the source of the Illieran's myth about the so-called 'Keeper of Balance'"

"But who are you, then, really?" asked Fairon. "If you're not an ally of the Ix. You wanted the Shadow Orb!"

"Yes, I will have to talk with Shardak about that trick he played on me some time. I honestly believed he was telling the truth, and the Orb he gave me did have an aura of power..." said Moru Kul, ignoring Fairon's question. "Ah, well, it hardly matters now. We have far more pressing concerns then the Shadow Orb."

"What, exactly?" asked Fairon, suspiciously. "We already have the Ix and the Sarkanian clones to deal with, what could be more dangerous?"

Moru Kul smiled thinly. "Their masters. Shardak has encountered some of them before, but now, they are rising once again. And they have begun a plan so powerful, so deadly, that it must be stopped, or all of us will die."

"All of us?" Fairon asked. He'd heard before that the Ix planned to unite the fragments of the ancient ring known as the Annulus, which would, supposedly, give them ultimate power. Perhaps that was what Kul was referring to. "Do you mean the plan to reunite the fragments of the Annulus?"

"Yes." said Moru Kul. "But it won't give them ultimate power. That is a fabrication to conceal the truth, which is something far more dangerous and secret, and my friend, who gave me this information, paid with his life for this."

"What is it?" asked Fairon. "What do the Ix want?"

"I assume you are familiar with the Legend of Vahrikaan?" asked Moru Kul.

Fairon was slightly taken aback; of all the things he'd expected Moru Kul to say, mentioning the Legend of Vahrikaan had been among the last of them. Why did that matter to the Ix?

"Yes." he answered cautiously. 'Why?"

"Because the Ix's plan has something to do with the legend, but what none of the Resistance warriors realize is that the Ix are seeking the Annulus Ring. It will give them greater power, power so great that the Resistance could never stop it. The Annulus contains enough destructive energy to destroy an army of Sarkanian clones, and it will give the Ix something more. When the fragments are united, and the ring is made whole, it will bring their master back."

"Their master?" asked Fairon, confused for a moment. "Do you mean Vahrikaan? The legend says that the First Elemental killed him. He's dead, right? Vahrikaan cannot return to life?"

But Fairon thought he already knew the answer, and it filled him with the deepest dread.

Moru Kul smiled thinly. "That is what most of the world believes. That Vahrikaan was killed, the Elementals and the Great Beings and the remnants of the Ancients lived on Xaterex and the surrounding worlds until the Mindeater invasions.

"But Vahrikaan's life force is bound to the ring. As long as the Annulus— which is the ring of ultimate power he create to allow him eternal life and abilities beyond any mortal being— survives in any form, Vahrikaan cannot die. Formless, shapeless, filled with hatred for all other living things who do not serve him, he has been sealed in the fragments of the ring for thouands of millions of years, longing for revenge.

"And now the Shadow of Vahrikaan has returned, and darkness, raw shadow, similar to the virus you call Shadowdermis, covers the south of Arden in impenetrable shadow. I know this because I have seen it, and it is creeping further and further north with every passing day."

Fairon felt horror flash through him. To the people of Xaterex, unlike Flardrek's homeland of Noctxia Magna, Vahrikaan, while often considered semi-legendary, was also considered horribly real, the ultimate enemy who could only be vanquished by the Elemental. The thought of a return of the Dark Lord filled him with deepest dread.

"But that's impossible." he said, his voice quiet. "That can't be. How could he rise again? It's—"

"It is not impossible." said Moru Kul. "I know, better than anyone, that Vahrikaan can return. The Dark Lord's power was diminished after the shattering of the Annulus, but he remains a hovering, cold threat, a threat that has now returned to reality."

Fairon opened his mouth to respond, but the look on Moru Kul's face stopped him. "The truth is is that Vahrikaan was not one of the Ancients, but of a race that predated them. He created the Annulus to rule his own race, and the forerunners of the beings known as the Ancients. The Shadow of Vahrikaan was unstoppable and could not be defeated as it plunged what became Xaterex and Arcaea into what seemed to be eternal darkness. The Shadow and the Annulus gave Vahrikaan such power that he was completely unstoppable.

"Of course, you know the rest of the legend— how there were some beings who resisted, and in the final battle an enigmatic being called the First Elemental struck Vahrikaan down and took the ring. After that, the chronicle ends. But there is more to this tale. Vahrikaan's power was not diminished. He remained within the Annulus, spreading corruption, fear, and darkness. He remained a threat, and over time he gained enough power to return to a physical form. The Ancients, sensing this, gathered the Annulus and shattered it into three fragments, scattering them across uninhabited worlds such as Xiost and Drakyr.

"But Vahrikaan's spirit remained alive, though greatly weakened. He can communicate with beings who have a deep and strong connection with the aura field, or even beings who are extremely skilled at controlling their elemental powers. The leader of the Ix, the Hooded One, is a servant of Vahrikaan."

"The Hooded One?" asked Fairon, a chill running down his spine as he thought of the nightmares that had plagued him after his victory in the Game: flashbacks of the battles always followed by the appearance of a hooded figure carrying a scythe. "Why would he want Vahrikaan to return?"

"Because when the Annulus is made whole, Vahrikaan will need time to create a physical body for himself. More likely, he'll simply take control of another mortal being with vast amounts of power— probably the Hooded One himself. And if that happens, he will become the most powerful being in the entire multiverse. Meanwhile, the Shadow of Vahrikaan will continue to spread, and with the Annulus made whole once again, Vahrikaan will be completely unstoppable."

Silence greeted the last of Moru Kul's words. Fairon could only think of Silencer's cryptic warnings that Shardak had repeated to him, of the Ix's masters, who had ruled over the universe ages past and longed for that control once again. He'd never understood just how dangerously effective the Ix's plan was. If Vahrikaan rose again, it wouldn't matter if Arden was in chaos, if Mordrax was virtually ruling the Empire. The Shadow, the raw power of Vahrikaan given form, would soon bind them once more in the darkness, darkness that had not been seen for thousands of years.

"When your Toa friend, Shardak, as well as the being known as Parikon, went to Drakyr." continued Moru Kul. "The Hooded One knew they would look for the Annulus there. They'd claimed that fragment years ago, but it suited his purpose for you to believe that the Annulus fragment was still on Drakyr. When Parikon and Shardak arrived, they were both captured and taken to the Ix's base, a mobile planetoid known as Var'kala."

"Taken prisoner? Are they still alive?"

"Yes, I believe so. My ally, a being known as Makour, intercepted them on Var'kala. However, I've since lost communication with him."

"How do you communicate with him, if he's on Var'kala?" asked Fairon.

"I have my ways." said Moru Kul, refusing to elaborate further. "Makour said that Shardak, a red-armored Glatorian, and a female Ix warrior had escaped the city on Var'kala and were fleeing, pursued by Limiters."

"What?" asked Fairon, taking in this new information. The Toa was obviously Shardak, and the red armored Glatorian was Flardrek. There was no mention of either Parikon or Chameleo, and he had no idea why a female Ix warrior would be traveling with them. Could it possibly be that it was Valkyria with Flardrek and Shardak? No, it wasn't possible. He'd been there when he'd seen Shardak fight Valkyria in the ruins of Gigas Nui, and he knew that Shardak would probably never trust her, whatever she said. Maybe she lied to him again. thought Fairon. He'd known what Valkyria had meant to Shardak during their months together as Resistance warriors, and he knew that she was smart enough to use that attraction to her advantage. Somehow, she might have been able to get him to think she's on his side, and is spying for the Ix and the Order.

"I have to get to Var'kala." said Fairon, tersely. "I can't let Shardak face the Ix alone. And if the Order and Vahrikaan are after him...I need to stop his return."

"Brave words." said Moru Kul. "But you don't stand a chance without some help. The Hand and Resistance will, in all likelihood, be completely destroyed by the Sarkanian clones as soon as the Ix have finished dismantaling your fortress. The spacefleet won't know anything, the Ix have all or most of your technology intact, and have enough prisoners from the Hand to ensure that none of the fleet even know that anything at all is wrong down here. And on Xaterex...your Resistance is doomed. Arden may be fracturing into smaller city-states and revolting, but there is a Sarkanian clone loose in the Fells at this very moment—"

"There is?" asked Fairon, alarmed. "How—"

"It doesn't matter." said Moru Kul. "I am prepared to make you a deal, Toa. I am well aware that the Shadow Orb I possess now is a fake. It holds no fragment of the power of Vahrikaan. Nor do I want anything more then to see the Annulus destroyed and Vahrikaan stopped."

"What is your deal?" asked Fairon. "My friend's life is in terrible danger, and the fact that he's traveling with an Ix warrior is still more worrying. I need to get help to him, and quickly."

Moru Kul nodded, and Fairon saw the glint of understanding in his eyes. He realized that Kul knew about Valkyria's betrayal, and that he also knew, like Fairon, that Valkyria was the Ix girl traveling with Shardak. "I read both your Toa friend's aura and the aura of the Ix girl." said Moru Kul. "I knew that their friendship would end in sorrow."

"That doesn't matter now," said Fairon. "Where is Var'kala?"

"It was last seen near the planet Corona Magna, at the heart of the Xaterex system. It was created as a sort of 'crown world' by the beings before the Ancients, and the Caronex, a race nearly as old as the Forerunners, settled there and remain as Ix slaves to this day. Var'kala is currently nearby, watching what goes on below. At a guess, the Rising of Vahrikaan will take place on his homeworld— Corona Magna itself."

"We have to get there." said Fairon. "That's deep, at the heart of Ix-controlled space. We need a way to break through their fleet and attack Var'kala and Corona Magna. With enough starcraft and rebel warriors, we can stop the Rising and rescue Shardak."

''If he's still alive. ''Fairon added silently. He wondered if Moru Kul's ally, Makour, had saved them, and they'd escaped to Xaterex. Or if they, like Parikon himself, were once again held prisoner on Var'kala or Corona Magna- or dead.

"Possibly." said Moru Kul. "However, you risk destroying your rebellion completely. You have almost no power compared to the Sarkanian clones, which, while they cannot control the powers of Shadowdermis extremely well, it makes them no less dangerous."

"How can you help us, then?" asked Fairon. "Do you have a way to defeat the Sarkanian clones?"

"Not a way to defeat them, but a plan to stop Vahrikaan and free your friend, the Spirit Toa. Trust me, he is not dead- if the Ix got their hands on him, then they'd use him to complete the Rising."

"Complete the Rising? How?" asked Fairon, though, again, he worried that he already knew, and dreaded, the answer.

"The Ancients did not just protect the Annulus by scattering the fragments, Fairon. They hid the source of Vahrikaan's power, the Shadow Orb. And, most importantly, they sealed the Annulus fragments with safeguards, raw auric powers that would prevent the Annulus from being made whole." said Moru Kul. Now Fairon was certain he knew exactly what the enigmatic being would say.

"Only the Ancients can free them, or a being of their descent- such as Shardak, the prophecised last Spirit Toa. If he is recaptured by the Ix, then they will use him to heal the Annulus— and free Vahrikaan."

The Serrakaan clone's dark scimitar gleamed in the cold torchlight as it slammed against the Blade of Arcturas, the impact jarring Shardak's sword arm and almost causing him to drop the weapon. As it was, he was forced to stagger backward to avoid being impaled on the weapon. As it was, the scimitar grazed his shoulder, and Shardak felt the familiar, horribly cold pain of the shredsteel enter his body.

The Serrakaan clones took advantage of that momentary distraction, one charging toward Flardrek. The Glatorian staggered backward, but the Serrakaan clone raised a clawed hand, slashing it through the air. Moments later, blood began to pour from Flardrek's shoulder. The Serrakaan clone slashed down his sword, and Flardrek had to stagger against the wall to avoid being immediately decapitated. Shardak raced toward the wounded Glatorian, but the third Serrakaan clone blocked his path. He was powerless to help Shardak as the Serrakaan clone slashed open Flardrek's arm again, then closed in for the kill.

Three arrows buried themselves in the Serrakaan clone's throat in that instant, and he fell to the ground. There was no doubt in Shardak's mind the being had been killed. Seeing that their ally had fallen the remaining two Serrakaan clones charged toward Valkyria, who aimed and fired two more arrows at them. One of them hit a Serrakaan clone in the shoulder, the other missed by centimeters. Shardak raced toward the Serrakaan clones, Blade of Arcturas in hand. Not for the first time, he wished that he had a way to control his sword. He'd been able, amazingly, to wield the full power of the Blade of Arcturas during a battle with the bounty hunter Nightwatcher, but had never been able to gain the same level of control over the Blade of Arcturas since.

At the last moment, the Serrakaan clone turned around, weapon whirling through the air and slamming into Shardak's chestplate. The force of the impact knocking him to the ground. Moments later, pain exploded through his body, burning, intense pain that made him want to cry out. But he forced himself to stay silent. The Serrakaan clones wanted him alive, that much was clear. They'd always wanted him alive, the Ix, and Shardak still wondered why. He recalled Vahrikaan's horribly rasping voice hissing within his mind: 'Toa Shardak, you will free us. You will bring us to life. '

Was that why the Ix wanted him alive? To somehow free their master from his prison, whatever it was? Perhaps they even meant somehow using the Annulus. For a moment he remembered Darax's cryptic warnings—

Shardak staggered to his feet, Blade of Arcturas in hand. He could see Flardrek lying on the ground, motionless, and the two Serrakaan clones fighting Valkyria, who was bleeding from a wound on her thigh. The Serrakaan clones did not halt their attack because she was an Ix— the idea of surrendering was an alien concept to their minds, and they would not even submit to the Ix. For a moment, Shardak wondered why the Limiters had not heard the sounds of battle from within—

The black scimitar flashed above his head, and he ducked narrowly, avoiding decapitation by centimeters. For the briefest of moments, Shardak wondered if the Serrakaan clones were really planning on taking them alive. He deflected the attacking clone's next heavy blows, but winced in pain as the scimitar riocheted off his armor. Valkyria was still fighting the other Serrakaan clone, but neither of them could seem to gain the upper hand. Flardrek had not risen to his feet, whether he was even still alive, Shardak could not tell.

The Serrakaan clone charged toward him, weapon raised. At the last moment, Shardak leapt to one side, hoping that this Vauhti combat manuever would work against the clone. He knew that Serrakaan had mastered all of the classical combat forms, but that had required years of training. He was willing to bet that the Serrakaan clone had not been trained in any of the combat forms, but simply relied on its brutal abilities to kill.

The Serrakaan clone's weapon changed direction at the last moment, but Shardak charged forward, his sudden and unfamiliar assault taking the clone by surprise. Shardak slashed upward, ripping the scimitar from the Serrakaan clone's skeletal hand. The clone staggered backward as Shardak lunged forward, slashing wildly as the clone raised its other hand. The Serrakaan clone, blood pouring from its open wounds, staggered backward, raising its hand. Shardak felt pain begin to rise within him, pain as the Serrakaan clone's deadly abilities began to take affect. Panicked, he struggled to raise the Blade of Arcturas to finish the clone off, but was unable to lift his weapon.

''No. No. It can't end like this. It''—

But he didn't have enough strength in his limbs to raise the Blade of Arcturas one final time to finish off the wounded Serrakaan clone. The Serrakaan clone knew this, and continued to apply the pain, this time a little greater. Unable to stop it, the pain grew greater and greater. Through the read haze of agony Shardak saw Valkyria stagger backward, wounded by the scimitar—

No!

Desperation, raw, pure desperation, leant Shardak strength. Gasping for breath, he raised the Blade of Arcturas— and plunged the weapon into the Serrakaan clone's heart.

The Serrakaan clone staggered backward, the rage and hatred red eyes behind the mask being replaced by blind incomprehension as he stared at the wound. Then his eyes glazed over and he fell to the ground. The remaining Serrakaan clone, seeing that his last ally had fallen, turned and disappeared into the shadows. "We cannot be stopped, Toa. Vahrikaan will rise, and the Shadow will destroy Xaterex and your pathetic Resistance."

"The Shadow?" asked Shardak, but the Serrakaan clone had already vanished into the darkness, probably to get more help from the Ix warriors above, on the upper floors of the tower. As soon as Shardak realized the danger had passed, he raced to Flardrek. The fallen Glatorian lay unconscious on the floor, wounded badly but alive. Slowly, he rose to his feet, grimacing in pain.

"Are you okay?" asked Shardak, worried. Flardrek grabbed his Magma Blaze Sword. "I've been hurt worse." he said at last, grimacing again as he raised his sword arm. "We have to stop Vahrikaan. You heard what the Serrakaan clones said. You were right. Vahrikaan is rising."

"How are you, Valkyria?" Shardak asked. The Ix girl was still bleeding from the wound on her thigh, but looked otherwise unharmed.

"I'll live." she responded. There was no way Shardak could tell what she was thinking. Here they were, heading into battle with her own people, and he had no idea whose side she was on. Atarus had trained him, during the eight months since the battle on Xiost, how to detect and understand when an enemy was lying to him. However, Valkyria remained frustratingly unreadable. For now, she was respecting their terms of the agreement, but—

"Let's go." said Flardrek. "The Rising could happen at any moment now."

Shardak's eyes turned to Valkyria, who said nothing. "I have to stop Vahrikaan," he said. "But I can't ask eitehr of you to come as well. We could all very well die here."

"We won't die," said Valkyria, sounding almost playful. "Not while we still have to finish our battle."

"I'm fighting to the end." said Flardrek. "I don't want Vahrikaan returned to power any more than you do."

"Then we'll keep fighting." said Shardak. He raised the Blade of Arcturas, conscious that this could be his last day alive. Even though there was little chance of any of them surviving, he knew that he would not back down. He was a warrior of the Resistance, and would not surrender simply because the task seemed insurmountable. Now that he knew Vahrikaan's and the Ix's plan, he was determined to stop it, whatever the cost.

Racing up the stairs of the tower, Shardak saw a Limiter leap into his path, scythes swinging wildly as they slashed down at Shardak. The Toa of Aura blocked the Limiter's daggers and stabbed out at the Ix soldier. The Ix staggered backward and Flardrek cut him down with a single slash from his Magma Blaze sword.

Several more Limiters charged down the stairs, all armed to the teeth. These were the elite of the Ix military, and Shardak knew these would be harder to stop than even the Serrakaan clones. One of the Limiters slashed down, aiming to decapitate Flardrek. The Glatorian ducked, and then, in a classic Vauhti maneuver, slashed upward, slashing the Magma Blaze Sword across the Limiter's neck. The Ix soldier crumpled to the ground.

Shardak fought wildly, slashing, dodging, weaving through the battlefield, slashing down the Blade of Arcturas and dealing death to any Limiter in his path. The Ix soldiers, slightly unprepared for such ferocity, began to retreat in the face of Valkyria's arrows, which felled several of the attacking soldiers. Shardak raised the Blade of Arcturas, charging up the stairs and to the landing, where Flardrek was locked in combat with several of the elite Limiters. Neither could gain the upper hand as scythe clashed with sword and the air rang with the sounds of battle. Shardak slammed into a Limiter, slashing him to the ground. Valkyria suddenly appeared at his side, weapon in hand. Silverblade flashed iridecent in the torchlight, and a Limiter fell to the ground.

Shardak had no time to thank her before another Limiter was upon him, scythes flashing. He leapt away from the scythes, and raised his weapon to counter the Limiter's next blindingly fast series of blows. The Limiter hissed in surprise when he saw that Shardak was still standing, but only hesitited for a fraction of a second before swinging the scythe at him again.

This time Shardak was ready. Swinging his weapon around in a classic display of his blend of Sila and Lihtne, he tore the scythe from the Ix soldier's hand. The Limiter's second scythe spun around in the shadows, slashing downward at Shardak's throat—

Flardrek's Magma Blaze Sword insured that the Limiter's scythe never reached its mark.

Racing back into the heart of the battle, Shardak was startled to see several enemy archers had joined the fray. One was standing, half-concealed in the shadows, an arrow knocked to his bow. Shardak followed his line of sight until he saw where the arrow was being aimed. Valkyria had her back turned to the archer, fighting three Limiters at once.

"No!" yelled Shardak, but his voice was drowned out by the shouts of battle. As he fought his way through the massed group of Limiters, the archer raised the bow, took aim, and fired.

The arrow struck Valkyria between the shoulder blades, riocheting off and only drawing a small amount of blood. However, it was enough to break Valkyria's concentration for the briefest of moments, and he raised the scythe to deal a death blow—

Shardak blocked the scythe easily, then whirled around and, rage giving him strength, tore the scythe from the Limiter's hands and slashed him to the ground with two fatal strikes from the Blade of Arcturas. Racing to Valkyria's side, he saw the Ix girl had fallen to her knees, and was bleeding. Still, it didn't seem that bad of a wound.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Valkyria opened her mouth to respond, but at the last moment stopped. Her expression changed from fear to horror as she looked at Shardak. Wondering what he'd done wrong, Shardak was about to ask her when he realized Valkyria wasn't looking at him, but beyond him.

"Watch out!" Valkyria yelled, but Shardak could already feel the cold Shredsteel pressing against his neck.

"Surrender, Spirit Toa." a girl's voice, contemptous and arrogant. Shardak whirled around to face his captor.

The Ix girl was a few years older than Valkyria, lithe, beautiful, and deadly— like a Shallows Cat. Her eyes shone like twin polished rocks of obsidian, and she wore the same Limiter camouflage as the Ix soldiers standing behind her. However, she was obviously a commander of some kind. Shardak thought her features were beautiful in an almost inhumanly cold way, and her eyes gleamed with the same arrogant power that Lyria's had held: power so great it made him feel weak and insignificant under her gaze.

They were trapped. Shardak looked wildly around for Flardrek, and saw he was being held by two Limiters.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" asked Shardak, desperation at their current situation giving him the strength to meet her dark gaze. "Why haven't you just killed us? Why are you doing this?"

The Ix girl gave a knowing smile that made her look at once more beautiful and more deadly. "I am Reyna, High Ix Commander of the Citadel," she said. "Your question will be answered soon enough, Toa Shardak. When you stand before the Hooded One."

"The Hooded One?" asked Shardak, remembering, with dread, the horrible nightmares that had haunted him after Arcturas' death— of a hooded being carrying a scythe, urging him to take his hand. He also remembered Atarus telling him that the Hooded One was the dread leader of the Ix and the ruler of the Order. Shardak felt his last hopes of escape fade away. "The ruler of the Ix?"

"Yes," said Reyna. "The Hooded One will determine your fate, and that of your friends. But you will die, Spirit Toa. However, it would be a shame to kill you before you learned of exactly how we plan to destroy the Resistance."

At that moment, staring into Reyna's pitiless dark eyes, Shardak felt no fear, just desperation that they had been stopped, so close to their goal. He opened his mouth to speak again, but words failed to come. It was his fault that they were completely trapped. In his single minded hope that he could find out the truth behind the Legend of Vahrikaan, he had condemned himself, Flardrek, and Valkyria to death.

Reyna hissed an order to the Limiters, and the Ix soldiers grabbed Shardak roughly. They marched him, daggers pointed at his back, down the corridor of the Spire of Vahrikaan.

"And when you know the truth, and you know that your Resistance's reign in our Empire has ended," Reyna continued, fingers tightening around her dagger-scythe. "The Hooded One will decide exactly how you will be killed."

The meeting place on the cliffs of Noctxia Pass was packed with Resistance and Hand of Mata Nui commanders. It seemed to Blast that the entire Hand was assembled here in force, and now, with the massive groups of Dargon and Glatorian Resistance soldiers here, Blast realized that almost the entire strength of the Resistance army was here. Numbering over a thousand strong, the Resistance army was a mighty forced to be reckoned with, made up of Skakdi, Glatorian, Veythari, Vortixx, Kranr, and many other species, all fighting against the tyrrany of the Empire.

''And today it all comes to a head. ''the Glatorian thought, examining the Scythe of Creation. The Scythe was obviously of Ix making, made of silver steel. Not Shredsteel, but the design was obviously Imperial. Not for the first time, Blast wondered if the claims Millennium had made in the Void were true, and that he had, indeed, once been a servant of the Ix.

''It doesn't matter right now. The secrets of your past died with Millennium. ''thought Blast. Turning to the Resistance and Hand high command, which stood together above the massed armies, Blast wondered what news was so urgent they needed to call every single warrior from the Hand and the Resistance outside the makeshift base.

He could see that something had gone wrong only too well from the faces of the Resistance leaders. Ixtil's face looked grim, Tiral worried, and the Ossoona commander worried still more. Saren Naghara, appeared almost indifferent to the whole thing, though Blast knew he was worried.

Fairon had explained to him how Saren had led the Ix Limiters away from the base so that he could escape. When Saren had returned, a little less than an hour before, he, Fairon, and the other Resistance leaders had immediately held a private council, then assembled the full military stregth of the Resistance at Noctxia Pass. Blast's eyes turned to the Hand commanders, including Ixtil, an Ossoona commander, one of the ancient Enforcers of the Noctian Reign from the days before the Empire's invasion of Noctxia Magna and the Fall of Arcaea. He didn't recognize the being standing next to the Ossoona, the tall being in jet-black armor, but when he saw the being standing next to the black-armored being he gasped in shock.

Standing next to the being was the bounty hunter Nightwatcher, the being who had killed his friend, Kyhrex. The last time Blast had seen this bounty hunter, he'd taken them prisoner and forced them to compete in the 175th Eternal Game. Later, he'd attacked Shardak, and killed Kyhrex. Seeing him again made Blast's anger and sadness return in full.

But there was something more Blast felt, like he somehow recognized the bounty hunter from another place, another time. Desperately trying to remember the wiped memories of the 174th Eternal Game that Millennium had removed, Blast was unable to recall at what point in or before the Eternal Game that he'd met Nightwatcher. But, seeing the bounty hunter up close for the first time when he wasn't just returning to consciousness from possession, he was sure he recognized Nightwatcher from somewhere before his illusory life in Intax.

Questions raced through Blast's mind, all questions he knew he could not answer. What's he doing here? Why haven't the Resistance leaders killed him?

Suddenly, Ixtil's voice rang out over the gathered Resistance warriors, not overly loud, but clear and carrying. Immediately the talking stopped. Ixtil paused for a moment, fixing his grim gaze upon the gathered Resistance warriors below. "Warriors of the Xaterex Resistance and the Hand, we have learned of a new, greater threat to us than even the Sarkanian clones who destroyed our base.

"Nightwatcher, this former bounty hunter who—"

Murmerings of disapproval rippled through the crowd at the mention of Nightwatcher.

"Nightwatcher has returned one of our Resistance warriors, Kyhrex, alive, from an Ix prison." said Ixtil. "And he has warned us of a greater threat, and joined the Resistance itself. We have learned, from him, that an Ix army will be attacking us here in an hour or so."

Stunned silence fell upon the army.

"What is more, our scouts report three Sarkanian clones are with them. The force itself numbers nearly three thousand Limiters."

"We have also been warned, thanks to another new ally, Moru Kul— Ixtil gestured to the tall, dark-armored being— of the Ix's movements in the space battle above Noctxia Magna. A large Ix fleet has massed above Noctxia Magna, and our own starcraft forces are ready to engage them in battle.

"These are dark times. The new threats of the Sarkanian clones and Shadowdermis have driven the Hand and the Resistance together, to make a stand on Noctxia Magna against the Empire's army. But we will not surrender to the Ix. We will continue to fight against their order to our last breath, until the last soldier has fallen in battle. Long live the Hand of Mata Nui!"

The battlecry was taken up by the massed Resistance soldiers below, all of them ready to fight once again. Freztrak, on the left of Nightwatcher, raised his scythe-spear, catching the dying rays of sunset and causing the green and silver weapon to gleam in the sunlight.

Blast heard a voice whisper in his ear. "Come with me. We need to talk."

Fairon was standing before him, face grim. He led Blast toward the Resistance leaders, who were gathering their forces in preparation from the battle. However, as they saw Blast, Nightwatcher, Moru Kul, Saren, and Ixtil broke away from the group, walking toward Blast. Blast was surprised to see that Kyhrex was also with them. The Glatorian Elementalist smiled, relieved to see Blast was alive. She carried her laser crossbow in one hand.

"There's more to the war than just what we told the warriors." said Fairon grimly. "However, we've kept it hidden so it doesn't cause a massive panic among the soldiers. Our allies can explain."

"Yes, we have a problem." said Moru Kul. Blast was eager to see the being who had taken the fake Shadow Orb from Shardak, and Moru Kul's raw power only added to his air of mystery and power. However, Moru Kul's eyes were fearful, and as he explained to Blast the Rising of Vahrikaan and the Annulus, Blast began to realize what the Resistance leaders feared so much. Lord Vahrikaan was rising once again, and the Ix had all three fragments of the Annulus.

Finally, Moru Kul told Blast that Shardak was also on Var'kala, possibly being held prisoner by the Order.

"We have to free him." said Blast. "If the Ix use him to free Vahrikaan..."

He didn't need to finish that sentance. He knew what the consequence would be. They all did. It would mean the end of the Resistance, and the end of all free life on Xaterex. The Shadow of Vahrikaan would force them to obey, or they would be killed.

"I have developed a plan." said Nightwatcher. "A plan that will free your friend from Var'kala and allow us to attack the Order's base directly.

"The Ix fleet is currently surrounding Noctxia Magna. Our battle forces, led by Tiral, are going to engage them in battle. However, this is just a decoy for the real attack mission. A second, smaller, elite fleet, under the joint command of Moru Kul and Saren Naghara, will use the decoy to their advantage. While the majority of our starcraft are locked in battle with the Ix fleet, our elite starcraft will fly to Corona Magna and Var'kala. I doubt the Order has a massive spacefleet there, probably a smaller, elite guard. Our ships will be able to hold them off, and once Moru Kul has pinpointed Shardak's location, we'll send our Resistance warships down to attack them and free Shardak."

"Our forces will be large enough to stop nearly a thousand Limiters." Moru Kul warned. "The Ix have a massive army on Var'kala, and the location of the Rising is probably on Corona Magna, and guarded heavily."

"Why Corona Magna?" asked Blast.

"It is the 'crown world' of the beings before the Ancients.." said Moru Kul. "And Vahrikaan's home world. It is where the Ix have kept the final Annulus fragment for years, and he would want to complete the Rising there."

"I only hope we can get there in time." said Kyhrex grimly. "Before the Rising is complete. Then Vahrikaan would be unstoppable."

"We leave within the hour." said Moru Kul. "We cannot dely. If the Annulus is made whole once again, then it's all over for the Resistance and the Hand."

"Why are you helping us?" asked Blast, still distrustful of the mysterious being. "What do you gain from it?"

For the first time since Blast had met him, Moru Kul smiled, but it was a grim, empty smile. "Survival. If Vahrikaan rises, then the Ix will kill us all. None of us will live to see another day."

Chapter 15
The bodies of the slain had been scattered across the entrance to Noctxia Pass, the Limiter army charging over the corpses of the fallen Ix, Hand members, and Resistance fighters as they hacked, stabbed, and slashed their way through the massed ranks of Resistance warriors. However, each time they were forced back, the long spears wielded by the Resistance warriors guarding Noctxia Pass forcing them back each time. However, the Limiters' vastly superior numbers allowed them to hold their own against the Resistance, and the battle raged on as the skies grew dark, neither side able to finish off the other.

Blast stood at the heart of the maelstrom, carrying a shield and a spear. He had the Scythe of Creation in reserve as well, but at the moment he was finding the spear to be a more useful weapon. It had a longer reach than the Limiter's scythes, and was designed perfectly for the stab and defend fighting style the Resistance was employing. The Limiter's scythes, designed to slash at their targets, were not always able to defend them from the stabbing spearfighters at the front of the Hand and Resistance forces. There was still no sign of the three Sarkanian clones, something Blast found ominously worrying.

However, casualties on both sides were high. While the battlefield itself had nullified the advantage of the Limiter's superior numbers, it had not stopped the Ix forces, many of whose warriors were far more skilled than the average rebel fighter. The Limiters had learned quickly not to confront the Resistance spearfighters with their most elite warriors, and sent row after row of weaker Ix soldiers against them, slowly wearing the Resistance forces down and lowering their numbers. Blast found, to his surprise, the strategy was working. Where before he had stood beside the rest of the spearfighters, now he was all alone in a sea of Limiters. Two other Glatorian raced over to help him, but more Ix soldiers blocked their path.

Blast stabbed outward, feeling is spear drive through armor and bone. He pulled the spear free, raising he shield to deflect a second blow from another Limiter's scythe. He lunged forward again, running the Ix soldier through. Whirling around, he slammed his shield in the mask of one Ix soldier, then speared the remaining attacker through the heart. As the wounded Limiter began to recover, Blast finished him off.

The two other Glatorian had both fallen against a massive onslaught of Ix soldiers, but several Ossoona battleguards were facing the Ix soldiers now, one firing a burst of lightning from his clawed hands. A Limiter crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Blast saw more of his allies racing toward him, their spears cutting further and further through the Limiter lines. More of the Resistance warriors defending the pass rallied behind them, the combined strength of their assault forcing the Limiters backward. Several actually broke ranks, attempting to force their way past the weaker guard at the pass itself, but before Blast could even move, the Veythari archers eliminated the entire group.

Blast felt a twinge of unease seep into his thoughts as he speared a Limiter through the neck and slammed the hilt of his spear into a second Ix soldier's face. The Limiters were breaking ranks a little too easily, and their fighting was just a little less disorganized than he would have expected from the elite Ix soldiers. Were the Limiters leading them away from Noctxia Pass on purpose? Again, he wondered where the Sarkanian clones reported to have been with the force were.

There was no time to ponder this further. Blast's world dissolved into a maelstrom of slashing, stabbing, hacking, and spearing as more Limiters charged forward over the corpses of the slain, determined to break through the Resistances lines. More and more of the rebels and Hand memebrs were falling, and Blast, too late Slowly, the Hand commanders were beginning to realize they'd overextended themselves, and were falling back toward the pass. However, the Limiters were felling more and more Resistance and Hand warriors as they began their disorganized retreat, and soon Blast and his allies were once again fighting for their lives, desperate to keep the Limiters from taking the pass.

Nightwatcher was standing at the front of a reserve legion, watching Freztrak and Ixtil's command fall back in the face of the Limiter's overwhelming ferocity. The bounty hunter was studying the battlefield, as though he, too realized that something was wrong. The Limiters had the full advantage now, why didn't they call in their massive army of reserves and storm Noctxia Pass? Blast could see rank upon rank of Limiters standing in reserve, their red eyes and skull-like masks gleaming in the darkness.

The battle once again became a simple struggle to hold the line, except this time the Limiters didn't seem overly concerned if the Resistance continued fighting. Blast could see several Limiter commanders hissing orders to their legions, and saw several groups of higher-ranking Limiters abandon their assault, leaving the weaker and smaller legions against the Resistance. Soon enough, Blast, the Hand warriors, and the Veythari archers had eliminated the whole group, but more Ix simply took their place.

A scythe flashed above Blast's head, and he felt pain explode through his shoulder as the Shredstreel sank deep into his armor. He slashed upward with the spear, but this time, the Limiter was faster. the scythe smashing the spear's hilt to shreds. The Ix soldier closed in for the kill—

Then fell to the ground. Blast saw Ixtil was standing over the corpse of the fallen Ix soldier, a long dagger in his hand. He gave a nod to Blast, then vanished into the battle once again, leading the remains of his battered legions against the Limiters, who seemed to be attacking in full force once again. However, Blast could tell they were still holding back, content to keep them pinned down in Noctxia Pass.

"Something is wrong." Blast said to Nightwatcher, withdrawing with the remains of Freztrak's legion to the pass. "Why haven't the Limiters simply finished us off by now?"

Nightwatcher shook his head. "Not sure. I can think of no reason they'd hold back, unless—"

A roar of primordial rage drowned out the former bounty hunter's last words. The resistance warriors, Limiters, and Hand of Mata Nui all froze, their weapons momentarily lowered. Nighwatcher and Blast whirled around toward the source of the scream.

From the opposite side of Noctxia Pass, where the Resistance guards were scattered, virtually leaderless, and disorganized, came the Sarkanian clones— and a small patrol of elite Limiter warriors. All were heavily armed and armored in Shredsteel. Their scythes, longer and more wickedly curved than the standard daggers of a Limiter soldier, were held in both hands, and they wore silver helmets.

For one moment, the Sarkanian clones faced the Resistance warrriors, who were now trapped between the clones and the Limiter army. Time seemed to stand still.

Then all Karzahni broke loose as the battle exploded once more into open combat.

Reyna's Limiters led Shardak, Valkyria, and Flardrek through the Spire, their scythes pointed at their backs. Shardak had allowed himself to be disarmed easily by the Ix soldiers, watching as the Ix warriors carried away the Blade of Arcturas, Valkyria's bow and scimitar, and Flardrek's Magma Blaze sword. As they walked up stairs and walked down winding, mazelike passageways, Shardak barely was able to take in the world around him. The only thought that occupied his mind was the crushing realization of the truth.

He had failed.

Believing he could attack and defeat Vahrikaan on his own, he'd failed, once again, to account for the cunning of the Ix. It had never even entered his mind that their escape from Var'kala and their journey to the Spire had been nothing more than another Ix trap: a ploy to lead him to Corona Magna and complete the Rising. He still wondered why the Order had even let them escape Var'kala in the first place, and he wondered briefly if the Ix would tell him before his death.

Shardak didn't understand what the Ix wanted with him. He knew they wanted to recreate the Annulus, and also somehow free Vahrikaan, but he didn't understand why they needed him. One thing was certain, however. He would not go through with it. He would not die with his last act being completing the Rising of Vahrikaan. He would die fighting the Ix, like Arcturas, Silencer, Ion, and Arkhan had.

The Limiters halted before double doors, where an insignia that Shardak had never seen before was carved in red and black. It depicted a red eye, gleaming beneath a hood which hid the rest of the being's features. Reyna hissed something in the Ix language and the door swung open. Shardak, surrounded by Limiters, stepped inside the room and gasped in shock.

The room was massive, and rose to a domed glass cieling that showed the stars themselves above. The walls were made of transparent Protodermis, unlike the opaque glass that was used to make the walls below. Shardak could see that they were at the very top of the Spire, and through the transparent walls he could see the ground, dizzyingly far below them.

But that barely held his attention for more than a few moments. Cold torchlight was the only illumination in this room, and in the baleful orange-red light Shardak could see several Limiters standing at the base of a raised dias. Skorpix standing beside the Ix soldiers, and he could see Nex and Lyria were there as well, standing on either side of Skorpix. None of those beings held his attention for very long, however. The flickering torchlight illuminated the being standing on the raised platform, and Shardak felt his heart almost freeze.

The being was tall, and wore a hooded robe which obscured his features completely. Only his clawed hands could be seen, pale and gray, like that of a corpse. In one hand, he carried a massive scythe nearly as tall as he was. What was worse, however, was that Shardak recognized him— it was the being from his dream.

"Commander Reyna." the Hooded One rasped. Shardak recoiled in shock. Apart from Vahrikaan's, the Hooded One's voice was the harshest he'd ever heard, like an Ix, except far worse. Cold and rasping, it sounded like a knife scraping against bone. "You have brought the Spirit Toa?"

Reyna lowered her head in deference to the Hooded One, replying in the Ix language. When the Hooded One turned to Shardak, he raised the scythe. "Toa Shardak..." rasped the master of the Ix under his breath. "We have long been expecting you. Time and time again, you have evaded capture since the death of your father...but now, you will not escape us again."

Then Shardak noticed the other being in the room, bound and chained to the wall.

"Parikon?" he gasped in shock. The being turned to face Shardak, panic in his eyes.

"You! What are you doing here? Run—"

"Your friend the Great Being cannot help you." hissed the Hooded One. "He is bound well by our power, and cannot escape us."

"Great Being?" asked Shardak. "I—"

Shardak could not look at the Hooded One without flinching away. He was a cold, heavy presence in the aura field, an aura far stronger and darker than any he'd ever encountered before. It made Skorpix's and Mordrax's look like nothing. The only aura he could feel that rivalled the Hooded One's in power were the three fragments of the broken ring in the Hooded One's hand— the Annulus.

"I..." Shardak began. But, facing he Hooded One, he found that words failed him. His gaze flickered between Skorpix, the Limiters, Nex, and Reyna, all pitiless and emotionless. He saw Valkyria and Flardrek, both being held prisoner. Valkyria called out something in Ix to Skorpix, but the Elemental silenced her with a rough hiss in the same language.

"Now, Spirit Toa, finish it," ordered the Hooded One. "Set our master free."

"Master?" asked Shardak. "How? I—"

"During the great war of the Annulus, the ring of Lord Vahrikaan was shattered into fragments," said the Hooded One, his voice cutting across Shardak's, silencing the Toa immediately. "One fragment was taken by Vahrikaan's allies, the Ix. Another was lost, eventually discovered on Corona Magna. The third, the fragment on Xiost, was protected by the power of the Ancients— the race who fought Vahrikaan. No being can break the aura guards they've placed around the fragment.

"But the Final Prophecies recorded during the rise of Arcaea record that the last Spirit Toa can break the Ancient's power that keeps the Annulus from being reunited," continued the Hooded One. "And Vahrikaan's spirit, imprisoned in the Annulus, will once again be freed."

Finally, it made sense. The reason why the Ix had hunted him, why they'd killed Arcturas. They needed him to complete the Annulus, so their plan could be fulfilled. So they could destroy the Resistance and the Hand, who were fighting for their lives in the Fells and Noctxia Magna against Mordrax and the Sarkanian clones. So there would be no hope for any rebellion, ever again.

And he and his friends would die.

Shardak had resigned himself to the fate he would be executed if he refused to reunite the fragments of the Annulus, but at least, if he couldn't save himself, then maybe he could save the Resistance, Fairon, and Valkyria, by denying the Ix what they wanted most.

Like Silencer, Melnox, and Ion had done.

"No." he said at last, preparing himself for his death at the hands of the Hooded One. "I will not recreate the Annulus, or free your master."

"Really, Spirit Toa?" asked the Hooded One, his voice softer now, but just as cold. "You will condemn your friends to death. If you do not free Lord Vahrikaan, we will kill them both."

"You'll kill them anyway," said Shardak. "You'll kill all of us, as soon as Vahrikaan is free."

"That's true." said the Hooded One. "But there are many ways to die. Painless and quick, or horribly slow. We can make you suffer more excruicating torture than you can possibly imagine— all the while killing you slowly. Can you watch your friends die before your eyes, slowly and painfully, knowing that they would have suffered less pain if you had listened to us?"

Reyna's dagger was pressed against Flardrek's throat. Shardak had seen how fast Ix could move; even if he had a weapon and could attack the Ix girl, she'd be able to kill Flardrek long before he was able to attack her. Valkyria was trying to break away from the Ix, but was being held back by a group of Limiters. Shardak looked at her, desperate to free herself, and knew that soon she'd pay the ultimate price for helping Shardak— torture to death by her own people.

For a moment, Shardak turned to look at Parikon, who was fighting desperately against his bonds. The Great Being's face was anguished as he watched the events unfold before him, but he was powerless to break free from the bonds holding him.

"And besides." hissed Skorpix, speaking for the first time. "We will kill all of your Resistance friends anyway, whether or not you release Vahrikaan. Except thousands more will die as well."

"What are you planning?" asked Shardak, feeling his last hopes begin to fade away. "Have the Sarkanian clones attacked them?"

Skorpix smiled coldly, extending a clawed hand. The Elemental held two vials filled with liquid, both made of clear glass. They were both exactly identical, except one was marked with a dark red symbol, the other with a black symbol.

"Do you know what these are?" he asked, his voice a low, triumphant whisper. Shardak saw that all of the other Ix warriors had their eyes fixed on the scene unfolding before them; Reyna's face was alight with triumph as she stared at the vials.

"No." Shardak answered, trying to keep his mounting dread hidden. "What are they?"

"Our new strains of the Elimination Plague." said Reyna. "Far, far more deadly than the original. The red vial does not only target Toa, but Glatorian, Skakdi, Matoran, Caronex, Kranr, Agori, and many other developed life forms— but not Ix. The black vial is, if possible, still more deadly.

Reyna smiled coldly. "Can you imagine what would happen if the contents of these vials were released into the atmosphere of Xaterex? Or Calos? Or Noctxia Magna? Nearly every single developed life-form on the planet would die within a few days, and there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. Like the original Elimination, It's made of pure Shadowdermis, and there's no cure."

"Could you live with that, Spirit Toa?" asked the Hooded One. "Could you live with the fact that billions of innocents will die because you refused to free Lord Vahrikaan? That their deaths were your fault?"

"No." breathed Shardak, horrified of the implications of what the Ix were suggesting. "No, you'd never do that, you're bluffing, or lying. You'd never use the plague."

"Why not?" asked Reyna, sounding completely indifferent whether billions lived or died. "We have enough servants in the Circle, Corona Magna and Var'kala, all of them loyal and obedient to our will."

"We will make you a deal, however." said the Hooded One. "If you free Vahrikaan, we will grant you and your friends a quick death. And we will not use the Elimination Plague."

Shardak ran all of this through his head in the span of a few moments. He knew that the Ix were lying. Whether or not he freed Vahrikaan, the Ix would still use the Elimination Plague, and they'd still kill him and his friends. There was no chance any of them would survive. But the Hooded One had trapped him. He knew that Shardak could not stand by and do nothing while he watched Reyna slowly kill Flardrek and Valkyria, or while Skorpix unleashed the Elimination Plague.

Maybe if he cooperated with them, there was still a chance he could escape. It was his only hope. But then Shardak remembered he would have to face Nex, Skorpix, Reyna, and the Hooded One himself if he was to escape with Valkyria and Flardrek alive. It was an impossible prospect; Shardak knew that, even alone, Skorpix could easily overwhelm them all. With the Hooded One and the other Ix leaders there was well, they stood no chance of escape.

Sensing the change in his aura, Reyna's dagger sank into Flardrek's throat. The Glatorian made no sound as a thin trickle of blood began to run down his armor, but his eyes gleamed with terror and panic. However, he did not even make a single move to escape the hold of the Limiters. He knew that he'd be dead the moment he did more than breathe.

Then Reyna stepped over to Valkyria and raised the dagger-scythe.

"Please don't kill them." Shardak begged at last. "Please stop. I'll free Lord Vahrikaan."

The Hooded One displayed no signs of emotion, even satisfaction, merrely whispered. "Come, then, Spirit Toa. Allow my aura to work through yours. Together, we will free our master...and the Resistance and the Hand will be no more."

Shardak knew the Hooded One was lying about the Elimination Plague. If they really had such a powerful weapon, then they would not hold back from using it against Xaterex, Noctxia Magna, and Calos. However, he could not watch Reyna kill his friends, and watch as the Ix sealed the deaths of billions of lives. Besides, if he played along with the Ix, for a little longer, maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to find a way to somehow stop the Rising and escape.

Shardak hesitantly stepped forward, toward the altar upon which the Annulus lay in three fragments. He could feel the raw power of Vahrikaan’s aura beneath the aura of the Annulus, sensing the other fragments of his soul nearby and attempting tearing free of the bonds that were holding him. Yet he was still unable to free his essence from the ring. Shardak allowed his aura to reach out and touch that of the Annulus, and he felt another dark, heavy aura— that of the Hooded One. To Shardak’s surprise, he found he could simply bypass the Ancient’s auric defenses around the ring as though they were not there at all, and he felt his aura touch Vahrikaan’s.

Like flesh thrust into flame, like a tongue on frozen steel, Shardak recoiled from the darkness held within. Vahrikaan’s aura was a dark vista of burning heat and impenetrable, incredible cold, and he staggered away from the Annulus. It was only the power of the Hooded One’s aura that kept him standing upright.

"Finish it," ordered the Hooded One, voice cold. "Free Lord Vahrikaan."

Shardak felt the Hooded One’s horribly twisted, maddened aura once more tearing through his body, negating his auric defenses and assuming control as though he was not even trying. The Hooded One’s consciousness directed Shardak’s body to stand once more beside the altar, and forced his aura once more into the screaming rage and cold fury contained within the Annulus.

Shardak felt pain at this new torment, but he could not cry out, for the Hooded One was controlling his body. Still, he could not prevent the momentary shudder of pain passing through Shardak’s body as the aura of Spirit Toa and Dark Lord met. Shardak felt his own aura, subjected by the Hooded One, forced into the Annulus, the raw power of the Hooded One’s aura and Shardak’s combined forcing down the last remnant of the Ancient’s defenses around the Annulus fragments.

Slowly, of their own will, the fragments of the Annulus were moving closer together, and as they grew closer, the darker they became. Shardak could see the Shadow Orb, a burning, pulsing stone of flame once again made whole, returned to its place within one of the Annulus fragments, was burning ever brighter as the Annulus was once again coming together.

Though Shardak tried to fight the power of Vahrikaan, the Hooded One held him back, and he was forced to watch, a prisoner in his own body, as Vahrikaan’s power brought the Annulus fragments inexorably closer together.

Slowly, a coil of darkness arose from the Annulus, and it began to grow larger, until it was a writing tendril of solid elemental shadow. Shardak knew this was Vahrikaan’s aura, and he grimaced as it touched him, probing every aura in the chamber. Even Reyna and Skorpix recoiled at the touch of Vahrikaan, though the Hooded One remained still, scythe clutched in both hands as he lowered his head.

Slowly, the shadow began to disperse as the Annulus fragments drew closer together on the altar, and Shardak saw that, slowly, they were being replaced by a faded, blurred outline of a being standing on the other side of the altar. He was still insubstantial, but Shardak could feel Vahrikaan’s aura burning around it. He could feel the Hooded One adding both of their auras to the power, and Shardak then realized, with a horrified start, that Vahrikaan was using the power of the Annulus— and his own— to create a physical body for himself. Otherwise he’d simply be a spirit who could not act upon the physical world. Shardak knew that creating something that complex was took a massive amount of auric energy, something that he doubted even the Hooded One possessed. But with his own power, and the power of the Hooded One, the Annulus, and a Spirit Toa, Shardak realized that Vahrikaan did have enough power…and his Rising was drawing nearer.

Shardak looked around wildly, searching desperately for some way to escape. He could see Reyna still had her dagger to Flardrek’s throat, and the Limiters were holding his friends back, forcing them to watch as he went through with the Rising. Valkyria had a look of pure desperation on her face as she watched Vahrikaan’s body begin to reform itself, slowly at first, but enhancing in clarity and power as the Dark Lord’s aura grew stronger.

On the other side of the altar, Shardak saw a single red eye stare into his, burning like the depths of Karzahni itself. Vahrikaan’s gaze met Shardak’s, and Shardak saw the being’s half-formed mouth move. No sound came for a moment, then a thought-voice, cold and powerful, rang through the chamber, a hideous rasp. It was the same voice that had spoken to Shardak within BlueSpace, but at the same time it was different— more complete. It no longer sounded like a disjointed chorus of beings was all talking at once, but as though only several were. Shardak knew that as soon as the Annulus was whole and Vahrikaan’s body had been reformed, the Dark Lord would be as strong as he’d been millennia before.

'Welcome, my servants. 'Vahrikaan’s voice rasped.

"I", not "we," Shardak noted.

'Long I have waited for this, the return of my power. 'Vahrikaan’s blurred red eye fixed on Shardak, and he found that he could not meet the abyssal glare. 'Long I have waited for the last Spirit Toa himself, the Spirit Toa of the Final Prophecies, to pledge me his loyalty, and now, he has set me free. '

Vahrikaan’s eye fell on the Hooded One. 'The moment is upon us. Let the Shattering begin.'

The Annulus’ three fragments fell into place, once again binding themselves into one ring. The Ring of Vahrikaan.

NO! yelled Shardak silently, lashing out with all of his might—

Fairon felt the low hum of the starcraft's engines as he flew alongside the small, elite fleet mobilized by the Resistance toward the heart of the Solis Magna system. Already Xaterex was a blue-green sphere in the distance, and he could see the smaller planets, Calos and Noctxia Magna, both distant blurs. Fairon knew that, at that moment, two major battles for the fate of the multiverse were being waged, but he was surprised at how small and insignificant it seemed in the expanse of stars around him.

But even the stars themselves were prowled by enemies. The Ix starcraft and their fleet were currently locked in battle with the Hand fleet, along with the hundreds of new reinforcements provided by Tiral. The rebels were holding their own thanks to Moru Kul's power, but Fairon knew that the battle could go either way at any moment. A third battle being waged, this one among the stars.

And now Fairon and his allies would add a fourth battle to it, as they flew into the heart of Ix space and confronted the Order, the leaders of the Ix, and Vahrikaan himself. Fairon had no idea whether this was a battle they could win, but he, Saren, and the Resistance's commanders were willing to risk it. If they didn't stop Vahrikaan now, no one would be able to.

Fairon saw the many different kinds of starcraft gathered together, around forty altogether, all of them made by different species— he could see Ix warcraft, Veythari starfighters, old ships that predated the Fall of Arcaea, and some of the newer Arcaean ships outfitted with the latest technology. All of them were powerfully built and equipped, but their small army could never hold out against a force as large as the Resistance and Hand starcraft above Noctxia Magna now faced. Fairon hoped that the fleet would not be decimated in its attempt to buy him and Saren time to attack Var'kala and Corona Magna.

There was a crackle of sound, and Saren's voice spoke. "We have sighted enemy ships. Prepare for battle."

"Are they Order ships?" asked Fairon, worried now. If the Order knew they were coming already—

"No. Ix Destroyers." said Saren, his voice outwardly calm, but betraying a tremor of fear underneath.

Fairon understood now. Ix Destroyers, while not always the strongest ships, were far faster and more mobile than almost all of the ships in they controlled. Even the lighter Arcaean ships could not hold up against an army of Ix Destroyers.

"How many?" he asked.

"Sixteen, at least." said Saren. "But they're all elite ships. Not the average fighters."

Fairon could see the large Fighter-class Ix starcraft that served as Saren's flagship, the Rebel Stand, was drawing closer to his own ship, a smaller, well-equipped Arcaean transport. "Prepare for battle. Maintain control and—"

Saren's voice was immediately cut off as a rattle shook the ship, and flashing lights exploded across Fairon's vision. Fairon could see several of the Noctians who were serving as crewmen rising to their feet, returning the fire. Fairon could tell the worst of the attack had missed them, and the pulse had simply riocheted off of their shields. However, it had been a more devastating hit than he'd expected, which obviously meant Saren was not wrong— the attacking ships were elite starcraft.

Fairon could see that the ship that had fired on him, a large Eliminator-class destroyer, was turning to avoid several beams of energy fired from the ''Rebel Stand. ''At the same time, however, another destroyer was assaulting the left wing of their fleet, several blasts slamming into an Arcaean transport and causing the ship to drift dangerously to one side, shields decapitated.

"Fire!" Fairon screamed into his commlink. One of the Noctians gave a nod of acknowlegement, and his own pulses slammed into the hull of the attacking destroyer. However, this did not seem to deter the attacker for even a minute, who opened fire on several smaller Arcaean ships that had moved to protect the ''Rebel Stand. ''

One ship managed to avoid the worst of the blasts, and escaped with only several of its shields damaged, but the other was not so lucky. A barrage of pulses, fired rapidly, all slammed into the ship at once, ripping through the shields as though they simply weren't there. Stripped of its defenses, the Resistance starcraft, damaged probably beyond repair, drifted off, its crew all obviously having been killed during the massive explosions that had ripped through the hull.

More Resistance ships, more heavily armed, charged forward to confront the Eliminator- class ship. To Fairon's surprise, however, the ship made no move to defend itself. For at that moment Fairon noticed the threat Saren had been overlooking while the destroyer continued its relentless attack on Fairon's ship and on the ''Rebel Stand. ''

Attacking the point of the fleet, where the guards were weakest, were several smaller Corpse Fighters, smaller than the Destroyers but no less deadly. More ships were there as well, elegant and powerful, more delicate yet faster and more heavily armed— Valkyrie-class Starfighters. These ships made up for what they lacked in raw frontal power with the speed and agility to dodge and avoid almost any attack. Fairon knew from tales told by the Resistance's starcraft pilots of how dangerous these fighters could be.

Within moments, the battle had dissolved into a furious Ix attack, with the Resistance ships either fighting or scattering. Wildly, Fairon looked around wildly for any sign of other Resistance ships, but saw there were none near enough to help as more Ix ships bore down on him.

They were blocked from continuing on to Var'kala.

In the shadowy half-light provided by the torches across the battlefield—where the battle still raged with unrelenting ferocity as the Sarkanian clones slaughtered their way through the Resistance's ranks— Nightwatcher's keen eyes picked out the figure standing at the heart of the Ix command: Mordrax. Nightwatcher felt his blood burn with fury as he remembered the Kodax's horrible tortures he'd been forced to suffer through while a prisoner in the Ix Spire, and the Kodax's sadistic laughter at is impotence.

As he watched, he saw Mordrax give an order to the Ix General commanding the Noctxia Magna army, then disappeared into the night. For a moment, Nightwatcher thought nothing of it, but then he saw, to his surprise, that Mordrax was heading toward the Resistance camps in the midst of the battle, where the civilians and wounded soldiers rested. Then, as he drew near Noctxia Pass, he turned away and once again vanished into the night.

Nightwatcher wondered where Mordrax was going. He wondered if the Kodax had more Sarkanian clones hidden somewhere, in case the battle somehow turned against them. If that was the case, he needed to fulfill his promis to Ixtil and stop him. Three Sarkanian clones were dangerous enough, but if more arrived, than the already wavering Resistance and Hand warriors would be completely annihilated.

Nightwatcher could not let that happen. Too much was at stake here for Mordrax to destroy the Hand and the Resistance. If they were destroyed, and Vahrikaan was allowed to rise, than the Dark Lord would have no opposition, except Reid Vaethar and the remnants of the Veythari, fighting another Sarkanian clone in the Fells. Nightwatcher had heard from Moru Kul that the Shadow of Vahrikaan was already present on Xaterex and only growing in power.

Mordrax's insanity had to be stopped. He needed to rid the universe of the power-mad Kodax, once and for all.

"Lead the Resistance." Nightwatcher ordered Freztrak. "I'm going after Mordrax."

Then, before the Skakdi commander could respond, Nightwatcher raised his scimitar of cold iron and vanished into the night.

Chapter 16
Fairon felt the entire Arcaean starcraft shake dangerously as a ray of laser bullets fired by a Corpse Fighter slammed into the hull of the ship. His starcraft returned fire, their pulses hitting the Fighter's wing. For a moment, the Fighter wavered, than fired once again. However, this time Fairon and the Noctian crew were ready, and Fairon knew their starcraft had dodged the bullets this time.

All around him laser pulses and bullets were being fired as the Valkyries, Fighters, and Eliminators attacked the Resistance ships. Fairon saw the Rebel Stand, surrounded by several smaller Arcaean Fighter-class warships, was fighting the massive'' Eliminator. ''Neither could gain the upper hand. However, all around him, scenes of battle were being played out as a Corpse Fighter fired on one battered Resistance ship. The starcraft exploded into flames, completely annihilated.

The Resistance ships had broken formation, save the elite guard surrounding the ''Rebel Stand. ''It was every starcraft for itself now, and Fairon, unskilled at this type of warfare, could only hope that his allies were competent enough to keep them all alive.

Two Valkyries appeared before him. One aimed at another starcraft, but the other fired directly on Fairon's ship. The pulses missed by centimeters, once ricocheting off the hull but leaving the ship itself undamaged. Fairon returned fire, their bullets slamming into the side of the Valkyrie. However, the missiles were deflected by the warcraft's shields, and it returned fire. The second Valkyrie, now that it had finished the smaller ship, was once again on the offensive, and Fairon felt the ship rattle dangerously again.

"Our first shields are down!" one of the Noctians shouted to Fairon over the transmitter. "We have two weaker shields, but—"

He was abruptly cut off as the first Valkyrie fired a second barrage of missiles at their ship. Fairon returned fire, but missed the Valkyrie, instead damaging one of the Corpse Fighters behind it. Fairon saw the Fighter, already damaged badly, explode into flames.

Satisfied for a moment, Fairon was immediately brought back to the present as the second Valkyrie returned fire. This time, the shields were able to deflect the pulses, but at what cost, Fairon did not know. He knew that his ship, while heavily armed, did not stand a chance against these two, well-armed starfighters. Any minute now, he would make a critical mistake, and the Valkyries would destroy him.

Fairon felt the second level of shields go down as the first Valkyrie fired again, and their ship was sent spiraling away from the starfighter. At the same time, the second Valkyrie fired, and Fairon felt the ship rattle again. This time, their ship was heavily damaged. Fairon could hear the yells of the Noctian pilots as they fought to return fire. Fairon knew, however, they would not reach it in time. The first Valkyrie was already aiming to fire once again—

Fairon pulled down hard on the lever before him, willing the ship to fire. Moments before the Valkyrie fired on him, a blast of white-hot energy slammed into the Ix starcraft, even as the enemy ship's pulses, blue and red, flashed before Fairon's eyes. The Valkyrie, heavily damaged, spiraled away, its hull in flames.

However, Fairon suddenly realized he'd left their unprotected side— where they had no shields— open for attack by the second Valkyrie. The starcraft had him at point-blank range, and knew that he was completely unprotected. At any moment it would fire, and their lives would be over.

Fairon saw a blur, and there was a sudden explosion of flames as the Valkyrie vanished, a second, greater explosion blinding him momentarily. The force of the impact was enough to send their ship spiraling out of the way, and by the time he could see again, Fairon realized that another starcraft, a Resistance ship, had rammed the Valkyrie, destroying both ships. The Valkyrie, however, had time enough to fire, but its attack had struck the Resistance ship, instead of Fairon's. Fairon watched the damaged wreckage of both starcraft spiral away, still burning.

He could see the battle was still raging, but the Ix ships were beginning to withdraw from attacking Fairon's wing of the fleet. The damaged Valkyrie had also recovered, and was attacking the Rebel Stand, seeking to down the ship through sheer force and power. To Fairon's horrified surprise, they were beginning to succeed. Saren's ship was beginning to withdraw, leaving the wreckage of the seven or so ships that had fallen defending it. The cluster of smaller, weaker Resistance ships would be no match for the Ix starfighters, and no challenge for the Valkyries.

Fairon saw the Noctians had recovered, and as a Corpse Fighter flew toward them, white pulses engulfed it, destroying the ship within minutes. As the Fighter vanished from view, wrapped in white flames, another took its place. This Fighter aimed at Fairon's last remaining shield, but missed and instead damaged another ship, a former Ix fighter now belonging to the Resistance. The Resistance ships returned fire, and before Fairon could even give an order to them to fire, the Fighter had been destroyed.

Fairon felt the shop move faster, charging in toward the rebel stand. The damaged Valkyrie had just enough time to whirl around and aim its blasters before a barrage fired from the Resistance ships slammed into it, destroying its shields. Now still more damaged, and close to losing its final defenses, the Valkyrie vanished from view.

Another ship, this time another Corpse Fighter, took its place. However, before Fairon could give a single order, the other ships behind him destroyed its shields. A single laser blast fired from the Rebel Stand finished it off. However, at that moment, Fairon saw a burst of light, followed by a small explosion as an Arcaean ship next to him burst into flames.

To Fairon's shock, he saw the attacker was the damaged Valkyrie itself. "Fire!" yelled Fairon. Artonix, the Agori commander of the ship relayed the order to the Noctian guards, who fired on the attacking Valkyrie. This time, the ship wasn't fast enough, and it exploded into red-white fire.

The damaged remnants of the Ix fleet were beginning to withdraw now. Fairon saw, to his relief, that the Rebel Stand was not dangerously damaged, and that there were still twenty or so of their ships still fighting fit. Another five were damaged badly, and the rest had been destroyed completely. Fairon could see that they were nearing their destination. Corona Magna loomed ahead of them, a red-brown world with few oceans and woodlands. There was no sign, anywhere, of Var'kala.

Before Fairon could ask any questions, however, he saw the starcraft. There were around forty of them, some Arcaean, some Ix, and others of designs he'd never seen before.

All were armed to the teeth with the latest, most powerful destructive technology, designed for annihilating shields and crushing even the hardest protosteel. All were powerfully built and well-shielded, so that even the Rebel Stand would have trouble even denting the ships. Every one of the ships bore the same insignia— that of a single cold red eye.

Fairon felt exceedingly vulnerable in the Arcaean transport, with only one weak layer of shields. He looked at Corona Magna, so close, yet never farther away. The chances they'd make it through the powerful ships were small.

The Order had known they were coming.

And, once again, they were trapped.

Nightwatcher surveyed the area around him, tensed and poised to strike, like a mighty bird of prey. The former bounty hunter had followed Mordrax's trail around Noctxia Pass, past the Resistance guards, and to an ancient, disused mineshaft a few miles away. Disused mines were no uncommon on Noctxia Magna, but Nightwatcher wondered why this location had been chosen. The nearest mine was at least eight miles away, making this an entrance unlikely ever used by a Matoran miner. The oddness of the location, coupled with the fact that Mordrax had vanished into it, made it important that he attack and eliminate Mordrax as soon as possible.

There were several reasons why he'd prefer to finish of the Kodax within the mineshaft, mainly because it allowed less room for the massive elemental attacks Mordrax was adept at. Within the depths of a mine there was little room for any fancy maneuvers, and Nightwatcher was sure he'd be superior to the Kodax in hand to hand combat.

Also, if Mordrax was going to get reinforcements, than this was where he had to stop him. The odds were that Mordrax was searching for the other two Sarkanian clones, to bring them onto Noctxia Magna to finish off the Resistance. Now that Mordrax knew that Nightwatcher was with the Resistance, the odds of the battle could possibly tip in favor of the Resistance, and possibly end in the destruction of some of the Sarkanian clones. Mordrax would possibly unleash the remaining Sarkanian clones upon the Resistance in the hope that they could stop Nightwatcher.

''And they might be able to. ''Nightwatcher thought grimly. Defeat was an option he rarely considered, but even with his newly enhanced Shadowdermis powers, facing the Kodax and five Sarkanian clones, all with the same control over Shadowdermis. Despite his skill, he'd eventually be overwhelmed by the sheer force and power of the attackers, and then the Resistance would break.

Nightwatcher only hoped that Freztrak, Ixtil, and the other Hand and Resistance commanders were competant enough to hold off the three other Sarkanian clones while he finished off Mordrax.

It was extremely easy for Nightwatcher to follow Mordrax's trail, the centuries-undisturbed layars of dust that coated everything exposed his tracks plainly. An accomplished bounty hunter, Nightwatcher readed his weapon for the battle, feeling the usual icey power run through his arm and body as he grasped the scimitar. The weapon gleamed with blue light.

''Let's finish this, Mordrax. ''Nighwatcher thought. ''You can't hide from me, you can't run from me, and you can't stand and fight me. This ends here.''

Remembering the pain and humiliation he'd suffered at the Kodax's hands did little to deter Nightwatcher from his goal. Yes, he was angry, but like all accomplished bounty hunters, he was able to stay focused on the task ahead. When Mordrax was safely dead, he could gloat over the Kodax's corpse.

Nightwatcher continued down the grim, choked, narrow passageways of the tunnel. Eventually he turned a right, following Mordrax's path, and came to a barred steel door. Nightwatcher's instincts, honed to a keen edged blade as deadly as the weapon he carried, warned him of the dangers ahead. Without a doubt, Mordrax was behind that door. Or another enemy was.

Nightwatcher raised his weapon, which now gleamed with an eerie blue and silver light. He brought down the weapon on the door, and with a creak, it swung open. Nightwatcher stepped inside and almost gasped aloud in shock at what he saw.

This room had obviously been designed to hold the many stone tablets that still stood, undamaged for centuries, on the shelves. It was massive and tall, designed to hold all of the ancient tablets, written in runic languages that predated Lost Arcaea, or were of Arcaean origin. However, the room had recently been converted for another purpose.

The storing of Shadowdermis.

Nightwatcher saw a massive pool of the liquid substance dominated one side of the chamber, and it was only spreading. There were cracks in the floor, and Nightwatcher knew that they were probably not natural— the Shadowdermis was seeping in through the layers of dirt beneath the floor and causing it to slowly disintegrate. For a few moments, Nightwatcher took this all in, but soon he only had eyes for the being standing in the center of the room, his back turned to the bounty hunter.

Mordrax. The Kodax was bent over slightly, reading from an ancient stone tablet. Nightwatcher raised his sword, aiming it at the Kodax's back. One good hit, and Mordrax would be dead.

Without warning, the Kodax whirled around, the stone tablet crashing to the floor, where it shattered into several fragments. Mordrax's eyes, black and empty, gleamed with unspoken malice and dread power.

"These prophecies are...interesting." said the Kodax, his voice as harsh and cold as any Ix's. "A shame you will never learn what they contain. Perhaps if you knew, you could have even helped your allies survive."

Nightwatcher didn't give Mordrax the satisfaction of an answer. He didn't deserve one. Raising his blade, he prepared to attack. The Kodax appeared unarmed, but Nightwatcher knew that an aura user that powerful was never really weaponless.

Mordrax's blackened features twisted into a smile. "Don't want to talk?" he asked. "Very well. In a few minutes, you will want to. You know just how...persuasive I can be."

"Go to Karzahni." Nightwatcher hissed, for the first time letting his emotions get the better of him. "I'm not going to surrender."

"Really?" asked Mordrax. "When you know the truth, you will."

Without warning, the Kodax struck.

Nightwatcher leapt backward, dodging Mordrax's burst of pure Shadowdermis. The Kodax growled in frustration and lepat forward, this time aiming to tear through Nightwatcher's body with a scythelike whip of darkness. Nightwatcher ducked, weapon missing him by centimeters. Seizing his advantage, Nightwatcher retaliated, slashing at Mordrax's leg. The Kodax's auric defenses stopped the blow before it came close enough to deal damage, but Nightwatcher was able to drive the Kodax back several yards.

Mordrax aimed a second blast of Shadowdermis at Nightwatcher, this one dissolving into thouands of smaller particles of darkness. Nightwatcher knew he could not block them all with his sword, and winced in pain as several drove into his body. However, within moments the Shadowdermis was absorbed, adding to his power. For a moment, Nightwatcher feigned weakness, only to lash outward when Mordrax attempted to seize his advantage. Nighwatcher aimed a blast of darkness— but not Shadowdermis— at his foe, striking Mordrax in the chest. The Kodax staggered slightly, but did not fall.

Nightwatcher lunged forward, dodging all of the blasts of Shadowdermis Mordrax threw at him. One particle of Shadowdermis drove through his leg, but moments later, the pain vanished. Mordrax's eyes betrayed surprise that his foe was still standing, but did not falter, slashing upward with another scything blade of Shadowdermis. Nightwatcher dodged to one side, then heard Mordrax give a muted snarl of pain as Nightwatcher's sword drove through his armor.

"You have irked me for too long." snarled Mordrax, stepping away from Nightwatcher. His eyes were filled with hate. "Goodbye, Nightwatcher."

This time, Nightwatcher knew, there was no blocking the blast— at point blank range, Mordrax could hardly miss. He was counting on this to be the crushing final blow, for his body to wither and vaporize like the victims of the Sarkanian clones. A massive burst of dark energy enveloped Nighwatcher, and with a cataclysmic explosion ripped through the chamber. Nighwatcher could see nothing, but he heard the smashes and clatters as the stone tablets fell from their shelves and onto the ground.

But when the darkness cleared, Nighwatcher was still standing. For a moment, shock, awe, and fear played across Mordrax's face as he saw the grinning bounty hunter standing before him.

"How did you survive?" he asked, his voice shaken. "That would have killed any other being."

"I am not any other being." said Nightwatcher. "I am Nightwatcher, the greatest bounty hunter in the Xaterex Multiverse. You bound, cuffed, and tortured me with Shadowdermis for eight months, and all the while, I absorbed it, fed on it, until finally..."

Nighwatcher raised his hand. Mordrax stood watching in horrified fascination, not making a single move to attack.

The bounty hunter smiled. "I control it. It can't kill me. Your greatest power, the power that created the Sarkanian clones, the power that allowed you to defeat me before...is mine."

Nighwatcher released the massive amounts of Shadowdermis he'd absorbed, a massive explosion of darkness tearing through the room and flinging Mordrax against the opposite wall of the cavern. There was a sickening crunch as bones shattered, and Mordrax screamed in rage and pain. However, he slowly staggered to his feet, glaring at Nightwatcher with even more hatred than before. Nightwatcher heard a crack as Mordrax's bones began to heal themselves, and soon the Kodax had straightened up to his full hight.

"I will enjoy gloating over your corpse." snarled Mordrax, than returned Nightwatcher's attack with a massive blast of Shadowdermis that would have killed any other being. Nightwatcher simply absorbed the energy and flung it back at Mordrax. The Kodax dodged, and retaliated with another burst of lightning. The bolts ricocheted off Nightwatcher's chestplate.

"Are you going to keep flinging Shadowdermis at me?" asked Nightwatcher. "Or will you fight me hand to hand?"

Mordrax did not answer, but a flickering, wicked looking onyx scimitar appeared in his hands. Faster than any nromal being could move, the Kodax charged at Nightwatcher, his black blade slamming against the silver-blue gleam of Nightwatcher's.

Shadowdermis fought the elements. For what seemed like an eternity Nightwatcher and Mordrax stood locked in that position, their weapons vying for supremacy. Neither could gain the upper hand as their weapons fought. Nighwatcher felt Mordrax pouring more and more power into his weapon, but stll he could not defeat the blue-silver blade.

"It's not possible." gasped Mordrax. "How could you be using it. That weapon was lost for centuries. It was last seen during the Fall."

Nightwatcher gave a grim smile as he continued to strive against Mordrax's Shadowdermis sword with all his might. "Aquaros, the Sword of Elemental Water." he said. "I recovered it on one of my bounty hunting missions. I've been using it ever since. The Elements are more powerful than your Shadowdermis, Mordrax. Water can sustain life...but it can also kill."

Before Mordrax could open his mouth to respond, Nightwatcher blasted him with several bolts of icey power. Mordrax staggered backward, and Nightwatcher lunged forward, slashing open Mordrax's shoulder, then denting his chestplate. The Kodax, wounded badly, staggered back further. Nightwatcher raised Aquaros, ready to deal the killing blow—

There was a blur of darkness, and something flashed past Nightwatcher's vision. Whirling around, he slashed his scimitar at this new attacker, but at that moment realized what he'd done wrong. He'd slashed at an illusion created by Mordrax. The Kodax, seeing this, sent several bolts of dark lightning flying at Nightwatcher, flinging him to the ground. Aquaros clattered to the floor beside him.

Nightwatcher grabbed the Sword of Water, but Mordrax hissed something unintelligible, and chains of Shadowdermis wrapped around his wrists. Mordrax raised his hand, the chains pulling Nightwatcher to his feet.

"Too easy." the Kodax gloated. From behind them, Nighwatcher saw, for the first time, the liquid Shadowdermis begin to stir. Rising from the depths, scales dripping with liquid Shadowdermis came the two remaining Sarkanian clones. Nighwatcher gasped when he saw their twisted appearance. The Shadowdermis had not only strengthened their power, but changed them to adapt better to their circumstances. They now had legs ending in long, clawed talons. Their seemingly impenetrable scales gleamed with an opaque, almost liquid brilliance, and their eyes were empty onyx gemstones devoid of any light or emotion.

"But I don't just have the Sarkanian clones." hissed Mordrax. Nightwatcher staggered backward, away from the Shadowdermis pool, but Mordrax easily immobilized him once again. "Windeus and I, as well as all of the greatest scientists in the Order, have worked long and hard on developing the perfect minions for the Dark Lord when he rises...and I believe that it is time they are unleashed."

Several smaller beings stepped out of the shadows. They were tall, lean, and walked upright, but Nightwatcher could tell they would be just as skilled walking on four legs. Their eyes were catlike and red like those of an Ix, and their scales resembled those of the Sarkanian clones. Long, curved spikes like the blades of scimitars ran in a single line down their back, and their tails and claws ended in scythelike blades. However, the most shocking thing about the creatures were their fangs dripping with acidlike venom.

"You see, these creatures can undo your power." said Mordrax. "These creatures were created in case the Dark Lord's experiments with Shadowdermis went awry. These beings feed on Shadowdermis."

More emerged from the darkness, and Nighwatcher saw the ceiling of the cavern come alive with smaller, snakelike creatures. As one of the snakelike creatures fixed its empty stare on Nightwatcher the Toa of Shadow realized the truly horrifying thing about them. They were miniature Sarkanian clones.

Mordrax gave a hideous grin as he bound Nightwatcher in more layers of the Shadowdermis chains.

"What are you going to do now?"

—Shardak felt the raw untapped power of his aura explode outward in desperation as he saw the Annulus reform. Like he'd been submerged in ice-cold water, the Hooded One's control over his mind vanished. Immediately Shardak snatched the Blade of Arcturas from where it had fallen, swinging it at a Limiter. He felt the Blade of Arcturas slide through the Limiter's body, and the Ix soldier fell to the ground.

Valkyria took advantage of the chaos, kicking at the Ix soldier holding her. The Limiter staggered backward, dropping Silverblade. Valkyria grabbed the weapon, and slashed out at a second Ix soldier. The Limiter fell to the ground, dead. However, another immediately took his place, this one carrying a massive scythe. Valkyria sidestepped his first blow and slashed open the Limiter's throat.

Shardak searched the rapidly developing battlefield wildly for Flardrek. The Glatorian had taken advantage of the momentary chaos to escape Reyna, and even the Ix girl had not been fast enough to stop him. Flardrek was staggering backward, avoiding a Limiter's scythe. However, he didn't see the real danger until far too late.

Shardak had no time to even shout a warning as he saw Reyna leap forward and, with such phenomenal speed and grace, cross the distance between herself and Flardrek in less than a second. Her dagger-scythe flashed for a moment in the half-light, the next moment Flardrek was staggering backward, blood pouring from his throat. The Glatorian fell to the ground, blood still flowing freely from his wounds.

"No!" yelled Shardak, racing toward Reyna. But the Ix girl again, moved faster than Shardak would have beliveved possible, sidestepping his attack neatly and driving her curved dagger through his shoulder. Shardak cried out in pain as the dagger scraped against bone, and he realized as he staggered backward that Reyna had missed his throat by centimeters. Had he not moved to one side slightly at the last second, he would have died the same way Flardrek had.

The pain of the shredsteel was so great that Shardak, blinded by pain, was sure that any moment Reyna would finish him off. However, when he again opened his eyes, he saw that Reyna was now fighting Valkyria. Both Ix warriors seemed to be evenly matched, though Valkyria was weakening. Reyna, on the other hand, still seemed fully at ease as she toyed with the other Ix warrior.

Shardak's thoughts immediately returned to the Annulus. The half-formed figure of Vahrikaan was growing clearer, and Shardak could hear his voice hissing, 'Stop! Lay down your weapons!'

Shardak saw the reformed Annulus, lying on the altar. It gleamed with power, and, despite the battle raging all around them, Shardak saw the Hooded One was standing above the altar, watching Vahrikaan reform. The being was no longer speaking even as his form grew clearer, and Shardak realized it no longer mattered whether they fought. Once Vahrikaan returned, it was all over.

Racing to the altar, Shardak swung the Blade of Arcturas downward at the Hooded One. The being's aura shields blocked the attack long before it even drew near to him, and Shardak was forced to stagger backward to avoid being skewered on the end of the Hooded One's scythe. The Toa realized that, now that the Annulus was once again whole and Vahrikaan was rising, the Ix no longer needed him alive.

Shardak slashed outward again, but this time the Hooded One did not attack, simply assumed control of his mind and immobilized him. All the while Shardak could feel the spirit of Vahrikaan's cold gaze upon him, making him feel very weak and small in the face of such power.

"You think you can fight me?" hissed the Hooded One. "The billions of innocents on Xaterex will die as well, because of you."

"You'd have killed them anyway." snarled Shardak, surprised to realize he could still speak. The Hooded One obviously wanted to hear what he had to say before he— or Vahrikaan— killed him.

"You think I'll kill you?" the Hooded One said. "You, the last Spirit Toa? No, you're far more useful to me alive. Once you have sworn your allegiance to me and to the Dark Lord, there is no reason you should not live on."

Shardak did not answer, but tried to fight against the Hooded One's massively powerful aura lock. It was all in vain, however.The Hooded One's aura strength was so vast, so powerful, and so great that there was no way Shardak could break free. Unlike most of the Ix and other aura users, the Hooded One's aura felt strangely different, in ways Shardak did not understand. Shardak tried to use his own aura to read the Hooded One's emotions, and Shardak was startled to find that he really felt nothing at all. Nothing save an insatiable craving for power. His will turned Shardak's to stone, and Shardak could no more fight his grasp than a fly could hold back the sea.

Shardak stared at the Annulus, lying upon the altar. Vahrikaan's physical body was growing slowly less distorted, and a blurred hand was reaching out to take the Annulus. Shardak knew that, as soon as Vahrikaan touched the reformed ring, he would never again be bound by the power of the Ancients. Shardak wished, desperately, at that moment, there was something, anything he could do to resist.

He fought, kicked, writhed, and screamed, and the Hooded One let him, but the being never let him leave his place. His mind simply wouldn't comply. He could see Valkyria, being held back by Skorpix and Nex, and Reyna and the Limiters, who looked amused at his pitiful struggle against the raw power of the Hooded One. Parikon was still bound tightly to the walls, powerless to stop the Rising no matter how much he struggled.

Shardak's aura reached out, looking for any power, anything, he could use against the Hooded One. But he saw nothing, except the Annulus, lying upon the altar. Vahrikaan's incorporeal hand was slowly solidifying upon the ring—

"No!" Shardak yelled, both with his mind and with his voice. He reached outward, for a moment breaking through the power of the Hooded One, and snatched the Annulus from the altar. He could hear Vahrikaan's snarl of rage, but as he raised the ring, the Hooded One immobilized him once again.

Shardak felt his entire body freeze, immobilized. He could barely breathe, the suffocating pressure of the Hooded One's power was too great. Reaching into the Annulus, desperate for anything he could use against the Hooded One, he lashed out with the power contained within.

The Hooded One snarled, for the briefest of moments, his hold faltered. Shardak kept fighting, striving against the Hooded One's power. For the first time, the Hooded One's power began to falter and weaken further, and Shardak, drawing on the Annulus once again, allowed his power to flow freely through the ring and tear through the Hooded One's own auric shields, Shardak forced himself to concentrate all of his power together, the power of the aura he knew he had, to tear through the Hooded One's massive reserves of power.

For one moment, he felt the Hooded One's power fail, and as he and the Hooded One fought for control, Shardak used the last of his willpower, the last of his strength to raise the Annulus above his head— and throw it to the floor, shattering it into fragments.

Vahrikaan's scream of rage was the most horrible and painful Shardak had ever heard. The distorted echo of the ancient Dark Lord began to undo itself, and the body the spirit had created for itself began to unravel, tearing itself apart as its power once again was broken. Before Shardak's eyes Vahrikaan's body, growing more and more distorted, simply vaporized, the aura of the dark lord vanishing once more into the fragments of the ring.

The Hooded One staggered away from the altar, toward the stunned Ix warriors standing in the chamber. However, as he stepped away from Shardak, the Toa felt his aura once again gain in power.

"You have not stopped us," the Hooded One snarled. "Merely slowed us down. Once, we would have wanted you alive. Now, you will die for this."

The Hooded One raised a corpse-like hand, flinging Shardak backward, against the altar. The Toa collapsed in a broken heap, and he thought he heard a rib snap. Pain greater than he'd known in a long time ran through his body, and though the haze of pain he saw the Hooded One step back, behind Skorpix and Nex.

Shardak staggered to his feet. He raised the Blade of Arcturas. "I will not surrender." he snarled. He saw that Nex and Lyria were still holding Valkyria. He knew they'd probably kill her if he attacked. But if he did not stop them, the Rising would begin once again. And thousands would die when the Elimination Plague was unleashed.

Skorpix smiled grimly. "Really?" he asked. "You have been defeated, Spirit Toa. You could never stop us, you could never hinder our plans. You could only ever flee. And today that ends."

Skorpix raised a hand, flinging Shardak to the ground. Shardak felt Skorpix's aura bind him there, and wondered what torture the Elemental had planned for him. The Blade of Arcturas clattered to the ground.

"Commander Rhai," said Skorpix. It took Shardak a moment to realize that the Elemental was referring to Valkyria. "Step forward."

Shardak could see Skorpix and Valkyria were standing above his fallen body. Valkyria looked confused and scared, something that frightened Shardak. Never had he seen her so emotional. "Yes?" she asked quietly.

"We intentionally made sure you were selected to be taken to the mission to Drakyr, even though you know full well now that we knew there was no Annulus fragment there. We made sure that you were captured and chained with Shardak, in the hope that we could learn exactly how well you could work together. I must say, even though we let you escape, you preformed extraordinarily well, bringing him here to us."

"I didn't—" Valkyria began, but Skorpix cut her off.

"You didn't consciously." Skorpix corrected. "But it was the perfect opportunity to discover exactly where your loyalties lay. However, even the test was still inconclusive.

"However, I have devised the perfect test for you. It is your final chance for you to demonstrate to all of us, in front of the rulers of the Empire, where, exactly, your loyalties are. If you complete it, you succeed, and your loyalty is no longer in doubt. If you fail, you will die."

Shardak realized suddenly, exactly what Skorpix would say. Dread filled him, obliterating all thoughts of pain.

"Kill him." said Skorpix, gesturing to Shardak. "Prove to us that you care nothing for this Spirit Toa."

Chapter 17
Snarling in pain, Nightwatcher slashed off a claw of one of the attacking Shadowdermis-eating creatures. The being hissed and vanished from view, but another took its place, fangs slashing at Nightwatcher's shoulder. Under normal circumstances, Nightwatcher could have dodged the attack, but Mordrax was continually wrapping new chains of Shadowdermis around him, hindering his movement. The chains were more of an annoyance than anything else, but Nightwatcher knew that with him slowed down, the Shadowdermis-eating beings and the miniature Sarkanian clones could destroy him, without even having to fight the larger Sarkanian clones and Mordrax.

Hatred for the Kodax rose within the bounty hunter. He knew Mordrax was simply torturing him slowly, watching the beings slowly devour him, but he was forced to ignore the burning rage within him as he raised Aquaros and swung it at a miniature Sarkanian clone, slashing off its head. This was just another bounty hunting job, and when it was done, he would collect his pay...from Mordrax.

''And he won't like it. ''Nightwatcher vowed. For a moment he lowered Aquaros, leaving his guard open. On the other side of the room, Mordrax smiled, sending three more chains of Shadowdermis flying through the air. They wrapped around Nightwatcher as though they had minds of their own. Though he could, Nightwatcher did not raise Aquaros to counter the attack. Sensing weakness, one of the Shadowdermis-eating beings leapt forward.

At that moment, Nightwatcher unleashed the pent up burst of energy he'd been building within. The blast of Shadowdermis laced with ice slammed into Shadowdermis-eating being, killing it instantly. The Shadowdermis chains wrapped around Nightwatcher shattered, and three of the other attacking beings fell to the ground, dead. Several miniature Sarkanian clones did as well.

Yet still more took their place. This time, however, Nightwatcher was ready. He used the power of his aura to deflect the attacks from Mordrax, allowing him room to attack the other beings. Like a silver-blue blur, Aquaros flashed faster than the eye could follow, hacking, tearing, stabbing, and slashing at any being who dared attack him. Even without Shadowdermis, Nightwatcher could still hold his own.

However, soon he knew he would need the power of the virus— power that flowed through every vein in his body— to fight Mordrax and the massive Sarkanian clones, who were watching the battle. Mordrax continued to hurl blasts of Shadowdermis at the Toa of Shadow, but Nightwatcher's aura shields and Aquaros together formed in impenetrable barrier of defense that Mordrax could not penetrate. Slowly, but with increasing speed, Nightwatcher fought his way across the room, nearly reaching the back wall where Mordrax stood.

The Kodax seemed to realize that the Shadowdermis-eating beings could not halt Nightwatcher's offense on its own. Raising his black Shadowdermis sword, he sent a crackling bolt of dark energy flying at Nightwatcher. This time, the bounty hunter was not fast enough, and staggered backward, pain exploding across his body. Immediately, the Shadowdermis-eating creatures pounced, one of them tackling Nightwatcher. The being's venomous fangs were inches from Nightwatcher's Kraahkan.

Two others leaped onto him, one tearing at his leg, the other clawing at his chest. However, Nightwatcher barely noticed him, his eyes were fixed on the clone that had tackled him. He could feel the beings, as they drew blood, also leeching the Shadowdermis from his bloodstream, and he knew that he had only one option left.

Raising Aquaros, he brought it up in a flashing arc, slashing of the creature's arm. The being roared in pain and brought its fangs down at Nightwatcher's mask, but in doing so had left itself open. Nightwatcher raised his scimitar and ran it through the creature's body. The Shadowdermis-eating being stiffened for a moment, then staggered backward and fell to the ground. Nightwatcher staggered to his feet, warding off the other two attackers with his scimitar.

As the two remaining attackers recovered, Nightwatcher lunged forward, running one through. Then, in the same motion, decaptitated the remaining being before it even knew what had happened. Turning, once again, to face Mordrax, Nightwatcher stared coldly at his enemy.

"Are you going to fight me now?" he asked. "Or will you hide behind more of these creatures?" the remaining Shadowdermis-eating beings and miniature Sarkanian clones had retreated well away from Nightwatcher, toward the pool of liquid Shadowdermis.

Mordrax snarled something to the Sarkanian clones, and both of them began to walk toward him, from different directions. Mordrax himself raised the Shadowdermis sword, and closed the distance between himself and Nightwatcher. Both Toa and Kodax threw the full force of their physical, elemental, and auric power behind the attack, so when their swords meant, darkness, ice, and flames exploded between them. Despite this, neither of the two combatants even gave a centimeter. Both were locked in combat, their blades flashing so quickly they would have been little more than a blur to the average Agori.

Nightwatcher brought Aquaros down on Mordrax's shoulder, drawing blood. Mordrax retaliated with a blast of Shadowdermis, which Nightwatcher absorbed. However, Mordrax did not falter, bringing his Shadowdermis sword down on Nightwatcher's arm. Blood began to flow from his wound.

Nightwatcher, however, did not move or attempt retreat. He could see that both the Sarkanian clones had yet to attack, and he felt Mordrax's formidable mental sword drive through his mind's defenses. Slowly, Mordrax was beginning to overcome him, and Nightwatcher was forced to take a step back from Mordrax in order to escape being immediately killed.

Instantly, Mordrax seized his advantage. His black blade flashed in the darkness as it slashed down upon Nightwatcher's side, drawing blood once again. Nightwatcher was forced to stagger backward, and only his lightning-fast reflexes saved him from instant decapitation. Mordrax was forcing him backward, closer to the wall, his sword flashing down over and over again, each time Nightwatcher barely avoiding death.

Then Nightwatcher lashed out. A blast of ice and shadow flew from the tip of Aquaros, slamming into Mordrax's midsection and causing him to stagger backward. However, this did not stop him. He simply absorbed the energy moments later and raised his sword.

However, those few moments were all the time Nightwatcher needed. Lunging forward, he forced Mordrax back, Aquaros gleaming with ethereal blue light as Mordrax's blood stained the silver blade. Mordrax tried to recover his offensive, but Nightwatcher was now unstoppable, his weapon whirling through the air faster than ever before and slashing at Mordrax. Each time the Kodax countered the blows, but this time it was Nighwatcher's turn to force the Kodax back, toward the Shadowdermis pool.

At that moment, Nightwatcher saw a movement from a being nearby. One of the massive Sarkanian clones charged toward him, and Nightwatcher was forced to leap to one side to avoid being torn to death instantly. As the clone lunged down toward him, Nighwatcher blasted him with a ray of Shadowdermis.

Unused to being confronted by his own power, the being hesitated, more puzzled than hurt. That gave Nightwatcher all the time he needed. Raising Aquaros, imbuing it with his own Shadowdermis powers, he raised the Sword of Water and drove it through the creature's left eye.

The Sarkanian clone screamed in rage, and Nighwatcher saw it open its mouth. Although he knew what would happen next, he continued to drive the blade deeper into the creature's skull, causing it to scream louder and louder. Nightwatcher staggered backward as acid splashed across his armor, some of it weakening his aura shields and scarring his armor, but held Aquaros in place. As ice, water, and Shadowdermis from Aquaros surged into the creature's body, the Sarkanian clone began to weaken even faster than it could heal. The Sarkanian clone screamed again in pain as Nightwathcer brought down his scimitar upon the creature's neck, again shattering the scales and drawing blood.

"The Sword of Fire could wound the original Sarkanian in the Void." said Nightwatcher to Mordrax, as the other Sarkanian clone charged toward him. "The Sword of Water can do the same."

The wounded, half-blinded Sarkanian clone staggered backward, and Nightwatcher ignored it as he fought Mordrax once again, this time not physically, but with a battle of wills. Mordrax continued to force more of the Shadowdermis-eating beings at him, and the Sarkanian clone continued to bear down on him, but Nighwatcher held the position, focusing some of his power on holding back Mordrax— but most he kept building up for his final plan.

It had to be timed perfectly, or it would fail. But Nightwatcher had not become the best bounty hunter by being a weakling. His reflexes were as good as any Ix's, probably better. He could easily handle a massive, slow Sarkanian clone. However, while slow, it was very strong, and would require more power than he currently had.

An idea began to form in his mind. He let his aura shields drop.

Instantly Mordrax released a massive blast of raw Shadowdermis at Nightwatcher, so powerful it could have obliterated an entire legion of Resistance fighters. Nighwatcher's shields were down, and at that moment Nightwacher realized that, if this gamble failed, he was dead. Raising Aquaros, he countered the Shadowdermis, forcing it backward. His power and Mordrax's collided with the force of a lightning bolt, and the resulting explosion momentarily blinded Nightwatcher. However, his power, greater than Mordrax's overwhelmed it, and Nightwatcher sent the massive roiling burst of raw power flying headlong into the charging Sarkanian clone.

The clone screamed as the force lifted it off its feet, sending it flying toward Mordrax, who had staggered backward after the explosion and was standing at the very edge of the pool of Shadowdermis. The Kodax's scream mingled with the roar of the Sarkanian clone as the massive serpent being and the raw power of the energy flung them both backward. Nightwatcher heard bones snap and bodies crunch sickeningly as both the clone and the Kodax disappeared beneath the opaque liquid Shadowdermis.

For a few moments, all was silent. Nightwatcher stood at the edge of the pool, beside the half-blinded Sarkanian clone and the remaining Shadowdermis-eating creatures. However, the bounty hunter did not relax. He still felt Mordrax's aura beneath the waves. Somehow, the Kodax had survived. And his job wasn't finished until Mordrax was dead.

Slowly, the Kodax staggered up from the pool. Liquid Shadowdermis ran down his smashed, dented, and twisted armor, but his obsidian eyes still gleamed with hatred. Nightwatcher saw that the Shadowdermis had healed the worst of his wounds, and Mordrax raised his hand to point at Nightwatcher. In that hand, the Shadowdermis blade flickered to life once more.

"You know nothing at all, do you?" he asked Nightwatcher, his rasping voice contemptous and full of hatred. "This is no ordinary pool of Shadowdermis. This is the source of it all, the source pool from which I created the Sarkanian clones. This pool controls all other Shadowdermis that was created from it, and now you have given me the same power. And since you have Shadowdermis in your blood created from this pool, that includes you."

Mordrax raised his hand, and Nightwatcher felt a strange sensation fill his body, as though the Shadowdermis within him was fighting his blood. Every nerve in his body vibrated with pain, increasing slowly as Mordrax's power grew. Nightwatcher tried to resist, but he could not fight Mordrax's power. Blood began to pour from his wounds as they reopened.

"Just a taste of what's in store for you." laughed Mordrax. "Ordinarily, I'd want to torture you longer, but you've wasted enough of my time as it is. Goodbye, Nightwatcher. I assure you that this time, you will not survive."

Mordrax threw a massive blast of Shadowdermis at Nightwatcher. It struck the bounty hunter dead-on, and he crumpled to the ground.

"You fool, to think I'd be fooled by the same trick twice." snarled the Kodax.

Then, to his surprise and shock, Nightwatcher groaned, than staggered to his feet, Aquaros still clenched in one hand.

"How—" Mordrax gasped, too stunned to even attack again.

"I was not the fool." said Nightwatcher. "You were."

"How?" demanded Mordrax. "See, I can break you. You might have survived once, but you cannot survive another attack that powerful. Die!"

Nightwatcher remained standing, despite the fact that Mordrax was trying to tear the Shadowdermis out of his body once again. He did not move or falter, simply regarded the Kodax standing in the pool of Shadowdermis with his green eyes.

"What—" Mordrax began, but this time Nightwatcher cut him off.

"You thought I knocked you into the Shadowdermis to try to kill you. On the contrary, I knew you'd grow stronger; I'd already known that this was the source pool. I just needed you within the Shadowdermis pool. It's you who are the fool, Mordrax, you who don't learn from your own mistakes. You tortured me with Shadowdermis, and I absorbed it. Then you used your new powers from the Shadowdermis pool against me, by attempting to kill me with a blast of the liquid Shadowdermis you'd absorbed.

"But it didn't kill me. It didn't kill me because I absorbed it, just as I'd absorbed the original Shadowdermis."

Nightwatcher raised Aquaros, pointing the Shadowdermis-enhanced scimitar at the pool in which Mordrax stood. Mordrax's eyes widened in shock and horror. "You wouldn't do it." he said. "You're bluffing. You'd kill yourself."

"On the contrary, I will be fine." said Nightwatcher. "I certainly didn't absorb enough of it for it to be fatal. In fact, it destroyed the rest of the Shadowdermis in my body when you tried to kill me, leaving only the Shadowdermis contained within Aquaros. Since I absorbed it, I control it. And that means..."

Nightwatcher released the last of his Shadowdermis power, the liquid Shadowdermis he'd stored within Aquaros as well as the remainder that was still in his own body. He aimed the Shadowdermis directly at the pool, fueling the attack with ice and water.

"NO!" Mordrax screamed, racing toward the shores of the Shadowdermis pool—

He didn't make it out in time before the entire pool exploded in a massive conflagration of shadow, fire, and water. The explosion rocketed upward, slamming into the ceiling of the mine. For a moment, all was still, then the ceiling collapsed inward even as the explosion grew larger—

Nightwatcher watched coldly as the mine caved in on itself, burying the Sarkanian clones, the pool of Shadowdermis, and the miniature clones and the Shadowdermis-eating creatures beneath hundreds of tons of rubble. Nightwatcher saw hacked and twisted remnants of the bodies of Mordrax and the Sarkanian clone that had fallen into the pool scattered across the chamber, and knew that the mission had been completed.

As the caverns rumbled again, Nightwatcher knew that any moment this entire chamber would be buried forever. He wanted nothing more, for a moment, to salvage something, anything from the chamber of the prophecies, but knew that if he delayed any longer, he too would die. The bounty hunter raced up the tunnel, rocks falling behind him.

Shadowdermis had been destroyed, and Mordrax was dead. His mission was complete.

In the battlefield on Noctxia Pass, the battle had become a rout. The three Sarkanian clones had destroyed nearly all of the Resistance's main warriors and elite command, leaving the scattered remnants of Freztrak's and Nightwatcher's command alone in a sea of enemies. Several other scattered battalions of Resistance warriors were still fighting, but for the most part, they'd all surrendered or been killed.

Blast stabbed a Limiter through the heart and slashed down a Copy, but there were simply too many of the enemy for them to stop. He saw the three Sarkanian clones were at the head of the attacking Limiters, tearing through Nightwatcher's and Ixtil's legions and decapitating any being who stood in their path. Blast felt crushing despair obscure all other thoughts.

It was over.

They had lost.

Suddenly, the three Sarkanian clones all froze in place. The Resistance warriors and Limiters alike, all fearing some new and more powerful attack, withdrew. However, the Sarkanian clones did not move, simply stood there shaking from head to tail. Then there was a burst of darkness, and for a moment Blast could see the faint silhouette of the Sarkanian clones. Then they were simply gone, their bodies vanishing as though they'd never been there at all.

For a moment, everyone, Limiters and Resistance warriors alike, stood frozen.

"Resistance warriors, to me!" yelled Ixtil, charging into battle once again. The Limiters, robbed of their greatest advantage, began to slowly retreat. Blast raised the Scythe of Creation, and charged into battle, ready to fight once more.

Time seemed to stand still as Valkyria, Silverblade held tightly in her hand, stood above the helpless form of Toa Shardak.

Thousands of thoughts raced through her mind. If she killed him now, she would once again be an Ix warrior. If she did not, she would die along with him. Either way, he would die. Either way, her double life would end moments from now.

She turned to face the other leaders of the Ix high command, but all of them wore the same blank expressions. She turned back to Shardak, and she could sense Skorpix's aura, reveling in her discomfort. There was no sympathy, no emotion from any of them. All of them were simply waiting, for the moment she made the decision.

She couldn't kill him.

She had to kill him.

Time ground to a halt as she stood above Shardak, Silverblade ready to deal a death blow.

She looked into his eyes. There was fear there, and hatred for his enemies. But most of all, there was a desperate pleading in his eyes, that said to her that, while he knew he couldn't trust her, he desperately hoped that she would not be the one to end his life.

She could read his aura clearly. He needed to escape, but what was the only chance he had for survival? His fate was in the hands of an Ix girl, one who had betrayed him and betrayed his cause. And while he was so close ot death, he still hadn't abandoned all hope for their survival. He knew he was the Spirit Toa, and he knew who he was. He'd made his choice, and would not side with the Ix.

Who am I?

The question leapt, unbidden, to the forefront of her mind. In that question, somewhere, she was sure, there was the answer to her question, the answer to which side she'd choose. Unlike Shardak, she knew they stood no chance of survival. But she was not afraid of death.

Who am I?

Somewhere in that simple question, she knew there was the answer to the question which side she was really on, the answer that had eluded both Skorpix and Shardak. She thought back to her years growing up in Illiera, when she'd been raised in the tradition of the Ix, trained in their ways, and finally selected as an Ix apprentice. She remembered her training, which had turned her from an ambitious young girl into a cold, battle hardened dagger of the Ix. She remembered the Ko-Matoran outpost, when she'd first taken a life.

Valkyria then thought of the years as an Ix warrior, and finally to the mission in the Void, when she'd first met Shardak. She remembered the Sharidir and Sarkanian, and her forced alliance with Shardak that had eventually become friendship...and led her to become a spy within the Resistance. She remembered with a pang of regret those three months as a warrior in the Resistance, when Shardak had slowly brought her away from the rigid confines of Ix life, but finally she thought of her betrayal and the taking of the Annulus fragment, which had brought her back to the Ix and, indirectly, aided in the Rising of Vahrikaan.

Valkyria looked at the shattered fragments of the Annulus ring lying on the ground, and thought back to the Rising. She remembered what it had been like as a member of the Resistance, when she'd lived without the Ix's influence over her every action. Then she thought back to the callous brutality of the Order, when they'd treated her like just another prisoner to test her loyalty. She'd known nothing about Lord Vahrikaan and the Rising before encountering the Order on Drakyr. She wondered how many of the Ix also knew nothing of this plan to destroy the lives of billions of innocents.

Once she might have said this was a sacrifice to allow the Ix to rule. But now, she no longer believed it. The final remnants of her ambition disappeared.

Under the Ix she'd fought, killed, and ruined lives for a cause she was no longer sure she believed in. It had all been a lie. Looking at the Hooded One, Nex, Skorpix, and Reyna, she knew that all of them were simply watching her to see what choice she'd make. Either way, none of them cared that it had been a lie, none of them cared about ''her. ''She was another tool to be disposed of at will, just like Shardak.

But Shardak had shown her the other side of the coin. She hadn't understood why he'd saved her life in the Void, or again on Noctxia Magna. But she understood now.

Who am I?

Suddenly, Valkyria knew the answer to that question.

Her eyes met Shardak's once again, and Valkyria knew who she was, and what she had to do.

She turned to face Skorpix, meeting his gaze. "You were right. I'm not an Ix warrior, not anymore. I won't let you kill him."

For a moment, time once again stood still as the Ix high command stared at her. Of them all, only the Hooded One remained still. She felt Skorpix's aura touch hers, and he knew she'd made her choice.

"You traitor!" snarled Skorpix. His voice was filled with such rage and hatred that Valkyria recoiled. "You would rather die with this pathetic excuse for a Toa than serve Lord Vahrikaan and the Empire? Die, then!"

Faster than even Valkyria could move, Skorpix struck.

Shardak watched helplessly as Skorpix's blade slashed across Valkyria's shoulder, drawing blood. Skorpix's face was contorted with rage, and his aura burned with hatred and— Shardak was surprised to discover— pain. Skorpix's massive broadsword slashed downward, too fast for Valkyria to dodge. The weapon sank into her arm, but she was able to tear away before Skorpix could finish her off.

However, Skorpix was too fast and strong for her to fight. She raised Silverblade to counter his next attack, but a single fluid slash of his dark broadsword tore the weapon from her hands. The momentum carrying him forward, Skorpix slashed the broadsword across her leg, causing her to stumble and almost fall.

No! Shardak thought as he saw the sword flash in the dark halflight once again. Valkyria staggered backward, bleeding now from several wounds. Skorpix's next glancing blow missed her entirely, but before she could move, Skorpix raised his broadsword and stabbed her in the side. The blade sank in several centimeters before Valkyria pulled away, and Skorpix tore the blade free. Now blood poured freely from her wound, and she staggered backward. The wound was bad, and Shardak knew it would eventually kill her if she didn't get help.

At that moment, Skorpix's control over Shardak faltered. Immediately given the opportunity to break free from the auric bonds that held him, Shardak rose to his feet, even as Skorpix lunged toward Valkyria once again. Valkyria managed to dodge to one side, avoding his scimitar. Hissing in annoyance, Skorpix charged toward her, slashing at her again and opening several more wounds. Valkyria's remaining weapon, a Limiter dagger-scythe, fell to the ground. Suddenly Skorpix whirled around, noticing Shardak had been freed.

The Elemental hissed something in the Ix language, and as Valkyria staggered away from Skorpix, Nex leapt at her, his claws tearing at her shoulder. Skorpix himself raced toward Shardak, and the Hooded One and the Limiters followed. Shardak snatched up Valkyria's fallen dagger-scythe, using it to ward off the attackers.

Nex slashed with his long, curved sword at Valkyria again and again, until it became painful for Shardak to watch. The Ix girl's wounds were serious, and Shardak knew that, if Nex didn't kill her first, then she would die from blood loss. Raising his Shredsteel sword, Nex slashed downward, the weapon sinking deep into Valkyria's thigh. Valkyria fell to her knees, two near-fatal wounds still bleeding. Nex raised his scimitar to deal the final blow.

The Hooded One's scythe flashing before his eyes brought him at once back to his own situation as he darted sideways to avoid Lyria's scythe, stabbing outward with the Blade of Arcturas to drive the off-balance Ix commander back. He turned to look again and saw Nex standing above Valkyria, his sword held in two hands as he raised it to deal the final blow.

"Valkyria!" he cried in anguish, and hearing him, she turned, her green eyes meeting his own. In that moment, as time seemed to freeze, he remembered everything they'd been through together.

Everything they'd meant to each other.

And he knew, in that moment, he couldn't let her die like this, even if it cost him his own life.

Raising the Ix dagger-scythe, weighing it in his hands, and remembering the years of hunting with Arcturas outside of Intax, he threw it at Nex.

The blade caught Nex under his raised arm, driving in all the way up to the hilt. For one moment, all was still as Nex's mouth formed wordless gasps of shock. Then his eyes glazed over and he toppled and fell to the ground, his scimitar falling from his hands and clattering to the floor.

Everything seemed to happen in that one moment. Reyna leapt forward, Skorpix charged toward Valkyria, and the double doors burst open and a group of beings charged into the room. Most were Noctians, but one was an Agori and the other was a Toa he recognized.

"Fairon?" Shardak gasped in shock as the Toa of Light charged into the battle, his sword raised as he charged toward Reyna. The Ix girl avoided his sword with catlike grace and slashed out with her scythe, but Fairon deflected it at the last moment. Two of the Noctians charged toward Lyria, one of the lead Noctians firing a bolt of lightning from his claws that caused her to stagger backward. As three more Noctians joined them and Lyria began to recover, the five Noctians all combined their powers to send a massive bolt of lightning directly at the Ix female. Lyria fell to the ground and did not get up.

Skorpix, however, was far more resilient to the Noctian's powers. He slashed one of the beings to the ground with a single swipe of his broadsword, then, before the others could react, ran two more through in turn. The fourth Noctian was a bit more wary, but Skorpix quickly overwhelmed his defenses and crushed his aura around him, snapping every bone in his body. The Noctian fell to the ground.

However, Shardak quickly realized another threat. The Serrakaan clones. They were there as well, all five of them, hacking and slashing at the Noctian attackers and felling one after another. And, of course, there was the Hooded One, who had immobilized the Agori, Artonix, and several other Noctians.

"We have to get out of here!" yelled Shardak. "There's too many of them!"

Fairon nodded in acknowledgement, grabbing Artonix and hauling him toward the exit, where the Limiters were locked in combat with Resistance soldiers. The rebel warriors were taking horrible casualties, but each of them were determined to fight to the end. Shardak grabbed Valkyria's hand, helping the wounded Ix girl to her feet. She looked gratefully at Shardak, as though she wanted to say something. However, at that moment, Skorpix charged toward them.

"Well, well." snarled the Elemental. "The traitor and the Spirit Toa, fighting together. How very noble of you. However, I think I'm going to have to—"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. Fairon slammed into him, his broadsword driving deep into Skorpix's side. The Elemental staggered backward. Immediately remembering the Elimination virus, Shardak leapt forward and grabbed both vials from Skorpix. Perhaps if he brought these vials to the Resistance, they'd be able to find a way to halt the Ix plan.

Then he remembered the Annulus. As Fairon, Artonix, and Valkyria raced for the door, Shardak remembered the Annulus. Diving at the foot of the altar, Shardak grabbed one of the fragments of the Annulus from the floor. Without the completed Annulus, Shardak knew the Ix could not begin the Rising once more.

Suddenly, he remembered Parikon. The Great Being was still bound in chains, and Shardak realized it must have been his power that had allowed the Hooded One to recreate Vahrikaan's physical body so easily. The Great Being had broken his chains while the Hooded One was distracted during the Rising. Now he was fighting on the other side of the room with the Hooded One and Reyna, but there was no way Shardak could reach him in time to help him escape.

Shardak knew he could not delay any longer. He could see the Hooded One had nearly finished off the Resistance attackers, and that if he didn't follow Artonix, Fairon, and Valkyria, he too would die. He wished, for a moment, he could have found a way to save Flardrek's body.

There was no time to think about that any longer. Shardak raced down the stairs of the Spire, which was littered with the corpses of Resistance members and Ix alike. Several smaller groups of rebel warriors were still battling against the Limiters, but Shardak knew they wouldn't last much longer. It'd be lucky if any of them survived.

An Ix warrior appeared before him, and Shardak slashed at it with the Blade of Arcturas. As he raced down the stairs, he thought he saw the Ix go down. At the door of the Spire, Shardak could see the fallen corpses of still more Ix and Resistance fighters, and knew that the Resistance had payed a terrible price for allowing him to escape. However, their attack had probably saved the lives of billions.

Outside the Spire, Shardak saw several groups of Limiters still fighting a group of Noctians. He also saw seven small starcraft had landed there, all of them battered, as though they'd been engaged in a much larger space battle earlier. All were Resistance starcraft, save for one larger Ix ship. He remembered the Order's massive fleet on Var'kala, and wondered if, even now, a battle was still raging above them, in the stars.

"Get in." said Fairon. For the first time, Shardak remembered Valkyria. The Ix girl was leaning against the starcraft, and she looked pale and weak from loss of blood. Her eyes had lost their usual gleam as well.

"Valkyria needs help." said Shardak. "She'll die otherwise."

"You'll need to explain everything to me." said Fairon. "Once we're off the ground, we'll have enough time for you to use your aura powers to heal her. Artonix, take the helm. I'm taking my own, smaller ship, you fly the Ix transport."

The Agori nodded, then stepped inside. Shardak looked around, and realized that they'd been the only Resistance warriors to make it out of the Spire alive. Nearby, the Limiters had killed every one of the Noctians, and were charging toward the starcraft. Shardak leapt inside the small, mostly defenseless vehicle as it began to rise off the ground. He knew that soon he'd have to put on the protection needed to survive in space, but while they remained in the atmosphere of Corona Magna he needed to focus on healing Valkyria, if she could still be saved.

"Fire on our other ships." said Fairon through the inter-ship commlink system.

"But—" Artonix began.

"I know, it will stop any of our allies from escaping." said Fairon, his voice agonized. "But the Limiters will give chase if we don't."

Artonix nodded, understanding now, and Shardak saw, far below, the six abandoned starcraft explode into flames. Slowly, the realization that they were the only beings who'd escaped sank in. No other member of the Resistance's attack team would be able to now.

Parikon. Shardak thought. He remembered the Hooded One's sudden revelation that he was a Great Being, and treasured the faint hope that he'd somehow been able to teleport away during the battle. However, when he thought about it, it was doubtful. They'd only barely escaped the Spire themselves.

As they slowly rose higher and higher above the Spire, following Fairon's smaller ship, Shardak focused his aura on healing Valkyria. He'd never attempted such a complicated healing before. Healers took on the wounds of their patients in order to heal the other. Valkyria's wounds were so deep Shardak knew there was a risk he'd kill them both.

But, at the same time, she was an Ix. They could heal far faster than any other being Shardak had encountered, with the exception of the Sarkanian clones. Slowly, with that hope in mind, he concentrated on slowly healing each of Valkyria's minor injuries, before focusing on the two major wounds in her side and on her thigh. To his relief, the thigh wound hadn't gone far enough to sever the major artery there, and he was able to repair it with less trouble, though he could feel her pain, and it was far greater than he'd anticipated.

Than he concentrated on the real wound in her side. He worked from the inside up, slowly reknitting muscle tissue and healing her wounded aura. However, it quickly became apparent he did not possess the strength to heal the whole wound. It was too great. He stopped, finally, when they both shared about half of the pain of the wounds between them.

Valkyria rose to her feet unsteadily. She still looked tired, and her eyes were still half-closed, but she would survive. "Thank you." she said at last. For a moment she remained there, staring into Shardak's eyes. No words passed between them, but he could feel her aura, happier than he'd felt it in a long time, touch his, and he smiled slowly.

Then Artonix's voice came over the commlink. "We will be leaving the atmosphere of Corona Magna within a few minutes. Make sure you are wearing the space armor in case of an emergency."

"We'll talk later." said Shardak, and Valkyria nodded slightly in acknowledgement. Shardak saw Corona Magna growing smaller and smaller beneath him, until, at last, they'd passed out of the atmosphere and into the stars beyond. He'd escaped the Ix and their masters once again, but this time he'd done more— he'd defeated them and stopped their plans, at least temporarily.

And he and Valkyria were both still alive.

Shardak turned his attention back to the world of the Caronex, which soon grew smaller and smaller, finally becoming nothing more than another planet in the midst of many, lost in the light of the thousands of stars.

Chapter 18
"Do not try to fight us."

The eloquent voice laced with a tint of menace rang through Silver's head once again, the voice he now recognized as Kinyami's. The demon was now possessing the body of one of the Vorgaan guards on Var'kala, the last Silver had seen of Iruka, the Kyojin had been hauled off by several Ix Limiters. What his ultimate fate was, Silver was not sure. He also had no idea what had happened to Dust, but he hoped desperately his friend was still alive.

All he knew was that, for the past two days, he, Ghost, and Leviathos been forced to answer every question that Kinyami had asked him. The questions, surprisingly, had been little in the way of the Resistance's strategies and tactics, but more about ''him. ''For reasons that Silver could not begin to guess at, Kinyami wanted to learn everything he could about him as an individual, such as why he'd joined the Resistance, or what he wanted to do if, indeed, the rebels won the war.

But, at the same time, the Ix torturers held him in their grasp, and Silver could not fight it. He found himself replying, almost unconsiously, each time, to every one of Kinyami's questions. At first he could not fight it, but after two days of questioning, he didn't want to answer anything anymore.

"You cannot win." said Kinyami. "Even now, your Resistance is being destroyed. You can only obey our plans. I assure you that the you will be better off if you do. I would hate to have to break your mind before you learned the full extent of our plans."

"I won't answer anything more!" yelled Silver defiantly. "You've got all that you'll ever get from me!"

The Vorgaan's mouth twisted itself into a smile. "Is that so?" Kinyami's voice asked. "I am sure, now, that you three are, indeed, the beings we wanted. Iruka too, but we need him for another reason."

"What do you mean?" asked Silver, a touch of fear once again present in his voice. "I don't understand—"

"You will find out when you have pledged to serve us." answered Kinyami. "However, don't think that you are so valuable that we need you alive at all costs. Indeed, you are quite...expendable. So do not displease me. Because I don't want to see any of you broken. I want to see you survive, though perhaps not in the way you think."

"I'll never serve you." spat Silver. "I don't understand what you and your Order and the Ix want, but I will never submit."

"As you wish." said Kinyami, motioning to the Ix torturers with the Vorgaan's hand. "Perhaps your friends will be more...open to persuation."

Then Silver could see no more as his mind and body were sent reeling once more into Karzahni.

"Please, join us." said Atarus, surveying the crowd of Dark Talon loyalists that had surrounded him. "We would find you very useful allies in our war against the Empire. Not only will your organization and command structure remain intact, you will be granted full citizenship provided we defeat the Empire, and either way will no longer have to fear being slaughtered or disbanded by the Ix."

There was no reaction from the crowd of the Dark Talon warriors. One Skakdi, obviously the leader of this faction, surveyed the Elemental. He looked hardly impressed, despite the fact that they were both a good head taller than they were.

"We...will think on it." said the Dark Talon leader at last. "But you cannot influence our decision any further."

Atarus sighed. The other Dark Talon faction had been much easier to deal with. Being battered and weakened constantly by the stronger faction of the crime syndicate and the Empire, they'd agreed to join, and had prepared their legions for the march north. Mersery was working with them, and was planning to bring them to the Fells within a few days, provided the Ix didn't interfere.

However, this more powerful Dark Talon faction was not as easy to sway. They already held a massive amount of influence in New Metru Nui, for all intents and purposes ruling the poorer areas. No Ix had been seen in weeks in the backstreets, or in several of the other cities in the Empire at all, and Atarus knew that several of the old Arden city-states were once again reasserting their independance. How long it would last, he did not know.

''Until we're completely destroyed by Sarkanian clones. ''Atarus thought grimly. The existance of the massive, destructive clones of the giant world-razing serpent was one thing he'd not mentioned to either of the branches of Dark Talon.

"Very well." he said, concealing his disappointment beneath a mask of courtesy. "Please keep in touch. I'll be in New Metru Nui for five more days."

The Skakdi warlord nodded curtly. Then he lifted his head, and he smiled a wide, Skakdi grin. "No, you won't. In fact, Atarus, I believe you're leaving right now."

"How—" Atarus began, but the Skakdi cut him off.

"Now!" he yelled.

Black-cloaked Ix warriors leapt from every side of the room. One grabbed Atarus roughly. "Thank you for handing him over." the Limiter said, his voice a nasal rasp.

"You are welcome." said the Skakdi, bowing low. "Now, about the pay—"

"Ah, yes." said the Limiter. "You will certainly recieve your just reward."

As soon as the words had left the Ix's mouth, Atarus knew what would happen next.

The Limiter raised his hand. More Ix appeared from every corner of the room. "Kill them." the lead Limiter ordered. "Let none escape. I have a prisoner to return to the Empire."

The last thing Atarus saw before unconsciousness claimed him was the Ix running down toward the mostly unarmed Dark Talon warriors, their scythes raised. He struggled and kicked for a few moments, but then the darkness fell over his eyes and he knew no more.

"Sir!" the reedy voice of the Ossoona fleetmaster commanding Saren's flagship, the Rebel Stand, broke through the Resistance commander's thoughts. They'd defeated, against all odds, the small Order fleet that had attacked them, and, a half an hour before, they'd sent down eight of the remaining twenty ships at his command to stop the Rising of Vahrikaan if they could, or, at the very least, recover Shardak and the Annulus.

''Not that I'd ever want the Toa to return. Better that the Ix killed him.''

Saren enjoyed being alone with his thoughts. It allowed him to drop the false identity of the kind, caring Resistance commander and revel in his own plans and schemes. Once, he would have been completely ambivalent to the fate of Toa Shardak. But not since Arcaea.

Arcaea. Saren had forgotten much about his first home, but still he remembered that horrible day, that day when the Toa had taken everything dear away from him—

"Yes?" Saren responded through his commlink. Such pleasures such as Shardak's death would have to wait.

"Fairon is returning!"

''Another annoying Toa I need to dispose of. ''Saren thought.

Saren looked out, into the viewscreen, and saw that, indeed, Fairon was flying toward them. He was piloting a small transport alone, though behind him was an even smaller, defenseless ship, one with the Order's symbol embolzened clearly on the front.

Then Saren saw who was within.

Artonix, one of his own warriors. Shardak the Spirit Toa, and the Ix warrior Valkyria. Saren felt a plan form within his mind, and satisfaction rose within him. It was perfect! The Spirit Toa in an Ix ship, flying Ix colors. There would never be a better chance then this.

Saren smiled coldly. "Open the inter-ship commlink with Fairon."

As soon as he was sure Fairon could hear him, and was once again in line with the rest of the fleet, he ordered. "This is Commander Naghara, to Toa Fairon. Fairon, there is an Ix transport flying toward our fleet. I order to to immediately and unconditionally fire on the Order's transport."

"Sir, I understand he's flying an Order transport, but—"

"It is immaterial." said Saren coldly. "I order you to immediately and unconditionally fire on the Order transport."

"Sir, that is Toa Shardak inside the transport. I recovered him personally, and I can verify that it is indeed him."

"I assure you, Fairon, that I know that Toa Shardak is not within that Order starcraft. If he is, he is surely a prisoner, for there is an Ix warrior in there as well."

"But—"

"That is immaterial." said Saren, an edge of anger touching his voice. "By my authority as Resistance commander and acting leader of the rebellion, I order you to fire on the Order transport, or you will risk losing your rank and position."

On visual, Fairon could only react with complete disbelief to this turn of events. He could see Saren's face, cold and uncompromising, and he could see that Saren had a full view of Toa Shardak, and despite the distance, Fairon could tell that Saren recognized Shardak, and that he could see that Shardak was certainly not a prisoner. With one press of a button, Fairon made sure that Shardak, Artonix, and Valkyria could hear this exchange as well. If Saren wanted Shardak dead—

''Why would he want Shardak dead? ''Fairon thought, completely confused. ''Saren's a loyal Resistance commander. He almost died fighting the Ix to save my life. How can he be a traitor?''

"Commander Naghara." said Fairon. "I'm sorry, but I cannot fire on the Order ship. I ask that you grant us at least time to close with the Rebel Stand so that at least one other ship can verify—"

"By Karzahni, if you do not blast that transport to shreds, you will be exiled from the Resistance." snarled Saren, raw, undisguised venom in his voice. "And I will blast you and Toa Shardak into oblivion."

Fairon could hardly believe his ears. There was no mistake, no misunderstanding. Saren really did know it was Shardak, and he wanted him dead. He was sure now that no one other than himself and Saren were supposed to hear this. He wished, for a moment, that he could somehow get the entire fleet to hear— a vain hope. He didn't see, however, hwo Shardak knowing Saren's intentions could save him. The Ix transport he was on had no defenses whatsoever, and Fairon had one damaged shield left.

Against a ship as powerful as the Rebel Stand, they had no chance of survival.

"So you know it is Shardak." said Fairon, his voice cold with anger. "Yet you still are ordering us to fire on him. What do you want? Why have you betrayed us?"

"Betrayed us?" asked Saren, his voice rising higher in anger. "I have not betrayed us. You are the traitor! I gave you an order, and for the last time, I am calling you to obey it. Destroy the Order transport!"

"No." said Fairon. "I will not fire on Toa Shardak, our ally and the Spirit Toa."

"Very well." said Saren, and fired.

Fairon felt his ship rattle as the pulse slammed into his remaining shield, damaging it badly. He felt it rattle a second time, this time far more dangerously, as three weaker laser bursts slammed into the hull of the starcraft, this time sending it listing dangerously to one side. Still, he'd blocked every one of the pulses intended to eliminate Shardak.

"Remain in line." Saren ordered the remaining Resistance ships. "Toa Fairon has betrayed us and joined the Order. If he comes in range, fire on him."

Too late, Fairon realized Saren's horrible cunning. The Resistance ships could not see or hear any of this. As far as they were concerned, he'd violated a direct order from a superior and helped an enemy ship escape destruction.

They didn't know that the real enemy was Saren. Fairon's gaze fixed on the Rebel Stand, burning with hatred for the evil commander within. Saren obviously had other plans for the Resistance, though what had motivated him to enact this sudden betrayal, Fairon could only guess.

"What's going on?" Shardak's voice broke through the commlink, worried now. "Why are the Resistance ships firing on us?"

"Stay behind me!" Fairon ordered. "There's a traitor in the Resistance, and we have to get back to Xaterex."

"I know! I heard! What does Saren want?"

"Not sure." said Fairon, banking to avoid several pulses fired from the Rebel Stand at him. "Is there any way you can help us get the Karzahni out of here?"

"I'm trying!" came Shardak's voice moments later. "My aura's exhausted!"

Fairon heard Valkyria's voice, then saw Shardak nod. "We have a way. Can you distract Saren for a few minutes?"

Fairon dodged another long line of pulses intended for him and this time returned fire on the ''Rebel Stand. ''However, every one of the pulses was deflected by the massive ship's shields. One stray pulse missed Shardak's ship by centimeters, Artonix banked to one side at the last second to avoid the ship's instant destruction.

However, now every ship in the fleet had been convinced that he was a traitor. Fairon could hear Saren's voice over the commlink, giving orders to the Resistance ships. Suddenly, as the Rebel Stand began to descend upon them, like a bird does opon its prey, Shardak yelled, "It's done!" over the commlink.

Fairon saw a gleaming green shroud of light descend over his ship. "Flee!" yelled Valkyria through the commlink, her voice distorted as the Rebel Stand's next attacks destroyed the very last remnant of Fairon's shields and damaged Shardak's Ix ship badly. Fairon complied immediately, multitasking furiously. His ship shot forward, so fast that Fairon was flung backward against the seat. He saw Artonix's ship do the same, heard Saren's scream of rage over the commlink; abruptly cut off as they went out of signal range.

''Four of us left. ''thought Fairon, once again remembering the Eternal Game, with all of its betrayals, twists, and turns. But nothing could have prepared him for the betrayal of one of the leaders of the Resistance, one of the beings he'd trusted.

Once again, they had escaped, and this time they'd even thwarted the plans of the Ix. But Fairon knew that now they were more alone than ever before as they drifted through the stars in the general direction of Xaterex.

Saren had betrayed them.

He, Artonix, Shardak, and Valkyria were exiled from their allies, unable to return to the Fells, or to Noctxia Magna.

They were alone.

Epilogue
Two weeks later...

Shardak stood next to Valkyria, watching dawn break cool and cold over Xaterex. The sun had just risen, but it was cold and distant, the pale shades of red and pink glowing dully beneath the gray shroud that hung over Xaterex.

After Saren's shocking betrayal, they'd landed their damaged starcraft in the middle of the Akkadian mountains. Neutral territory, where neither the Resistance or the Ix would be expected to look for them. Fairon had left before dawn to gather information about the current state of the Resistance, but Shardak wasn't expecting good news. Even if the Resistance had won the battle on Noctxia Magna, that just meant that Saren would be after them even sooner.

Shardak still didn't understand the Resistance leader's reasons for his betrayal, but he knew that Saren had played them all. All of his talk of a traitor in the Resistance, and the misdirection that the traitor could have been Ion, Valkyria, or Freztrak had masked the real traitor so well that Shardak had been shocked to discover the truth: that the traitor in the Resistance, the being who wanted him dead, was the acting high commander of the Resistance himself.

Far to the west he could see the Shadow of Vahrikaan looming, reminding him of the ever-present threat that the Ix provided. He still had one of the three Annulus fragments with him, as will as the two vials that contained the deadly Elimination Plague— the Ix's bioweapon that would have rendered Xaterex a wasteland of corpses by now.

And to the north lay the Fells, where the Resistance, if they still survived after the battle of Noctxia Magna, was regrouping. Fairon had told him of Moru Kul's revelations about Vahrikaan and of Nighwatcher joining the Resistance, but he still doubted that they could have triumphed over the might of Mordrax and his Sarkanian clones.

"So, we're alone now." said Valkyria at last. "Hunted by both the Resistance and the Empire."

"We won't surrender." said Shardak. "If we can find Atarus or Parikon, if he survived, and warn them about Saren. Maybe then—"

"Fairon's returned!" Artonix called. The white-armored Agori looked weak and disheartened after their exile, but also looked both glad and shocked to still be alive.

Shardak relaxed, glad to know that the Toa of Light had escaped alive. He'd wondered when Fairon hadn't returned nearly an hour ago if he'd run into trouble in Akkad. As the Toa of Light climbed over the ridge he gave them a weak smile, but his eyes hinted he had other news as well.

"I have good news, and bad news." said Fairon. "The good news is that the Hand and the Resistance won the Battle of Noctxia Magna. The Sarkanian clones and Mordrax were destroyed. Likewise, the Sarkanian clone rempaging through the Fells had also dissappeared.

"However, there's no news that any Resistance leaders other than Freztrak, Ixtil, and Saren survived the battle. Reid Vaethar's alive as well, but Saren's played the cards well. Freztrak, Ixtil, and Vaethar will be heavily occupied integrating the Hand troops with their own military that Saren will still have free reign over the Resistance as a whole. Still no news of Parikon or Atarus."

"Is that the bad news?" asked Shardak, but he had a feeling there was more.

"No." said Fairon heavily. "Saren has declared that you, Shardak, are on an undercover Resistance mission with Atarus. At the same time, he's also declared that a being posing as the Spirit Toa is at large on Xaterex. He has patrols in Akkad even as we speak, hunting for the 'imposter'"

"That would never work." said Shardak, shocked. "How can Vaethar, Ixtil, and Freztrak not see the truth?"

"They're busy consolidating their victories, and setting up a new government for Noctxia Magna. Saren hopes that the troops loyal to him— and him alone— will apprehend and kill us before they're able to turn back to the Xaterex campaigns."

"What's motivating him to do this?" asked Shardak, now truly worried. It looked like, more then ever before, they were alone, cut off from their friends, with nothing to guide them. And now the Ix would be after them as well, because he had the Elimination Plague and the Annulus fragment. "Why does he want to kill me?"

"I don't know." said Fairon heavily. "It seems so...sudden and unexpected, but now, thinking back to it, I can see where the trap was laid all along. He tried to get us to mistrust Ion, Freztrak, and even Valkyria...while all the while it was he who was the real traitor."

"So he is working with the Ix?" asked Shardak.

"I don't know that, either." said Fairon. "Like everything else about him, it remains a mystery."

Suddenly Shardak heard a shout, and heard the hiss of a Limiter's voice. He saw Artonix was staggering up the hill, wounded badly. A patrol of several Limiters was chasing after him.

"Help!" yelled the Agori.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." hissed another Ix as Shardak raised the Blade of Arcturas.

Shardak saw another group of Limiters appear out of the shadows.

"You ''failed?" ''

The Ix female's voice, harsh and increduoulous, ground in Jekart's ears like a dagger-scythe itself. He was standing on the second floor of the tavern known as the Skull in Akkad, where many beings daily came to ask him information. He rarely gave it, of course. He was the best, and he was extremely expensive.

Skorr was also standing in the room, his head lowered before the Ix female. She had a coldly beautiful, icey look about her, but Jekart didn't like her one bit. The way her eyes stared at him, like he simply didn't matter...it made him shiver. She was obviously a commander of some kind, and carried two curved daggers in either hand.

Jekart had seen many different Ix give Skorr orders, but he'd never seen an Ix female in person before, and he'd certainly never seen such a high-ranking Ix present in Akkad.

"Yes, Commander Reyna." said Skorr. "Atarus had enlisted the help of another being, the Mersion known as Mersery. Another powerful enemy of the Empire. He has proved...resiliant."

"Are you telling me that a mere Elemental defeated the great Zeverek bounty hunter Skorr?" said Reyna, her eyes widening mockingly.

"I will go back for him. Rest assured that I—"

"No, you will not. You failed, and my people do not look highly on failure. However, I will give you one more chance to prove your worth to the Ix."

Skorr lifted his head, hopeful now. "Yes?"

Reyna whispered something that Jekart didn't catch, but Skorr's eyes brightened. "I will complete the task." said the bounty hunter. Then, without any further talk, the bounty hunter left the room, blaster raised.

Reyna then turned her attention to Jekart. This being, a hardened, battle-weary, ancient information broker who knew thousands of secrets about the Ix and their Empire quailed under her gaze. Slowly, he lowered his head in deference to the Ix female.

The Ix hissed something to the Limiters following her, then spun around and, without giving Jekart another glance, vanished into the night.

Jekart returned to his manuscript, catalouging the latest business dates and money he'd obtained. However, the job didn't seem as appealing as before. While he was under no illusions how brutal the Ix could be, he'd just seen one of their number threatening Skorr.

One of their most valuable bounty hunters.

Jekart had heard many rumors circulating in the past few weeks. Some of imposters posing to be Toa, others that the Ix had embarked on a campaign of genocide. And he himself was only too aware of the shadow to the west, spreading further north with every passing day.

Jekart was no warrior. He wasn't about to challenge the Ix. But such rumors as these required some more looking into. He certainly couldn't just let all of these events pass by without having a hand in things.

The information broker called for assistance, and a small yet battle hardened Matoran stepped into the room. The Matoran's eyes were wide and fearful, Jekart knew he must have seen Skorr and the Ix as they'd passed. Ignoring the beings, discomfort, Jekart set the pen aside and said,

"Send for Arzok."

Atarus could remember nothing of the journey to the building in Iskar.

The last thing he remembered was the Dark Talon leader's betrayal, and how the Ix had captured him. Had he been captured? Was this building a prison? Startled by the thought, he opened his eyes to shallow candlelight, and saw the being standing in the room.

"You." he said. "Why did you help me again?"

The other being nodded greeting. "Careful, Atarus. The backstreets are my territory, and you can't simply walk into them and expect to not attract the attention of the Ix. Next time, I won't be able to get to you so quickly."

"I couldn't let the Resistance down." said Atarus, his voice ragged. "The Shadow of Vahrikaan's returned, and I'm sure the Ix have worse planned. For all I know, they still have Shardak! They could—"

"I know their plans." said the being. "And I can assure you that the Spirit Toa is alive and free, though there is other information you may not like as well."

Atarus nodded. "I understand. But you have to help me." he said, more a plea than a request. "If Vahrikaan's returning, after all these years, what happens next could be even more catastrophic than the Fall of Arcaea."

"I will help you, then." said the Limiter at last, his skull-like mask gleaming in the twilight. "I will help you save Shardak and stop the Ix."

"Enter." Saren's voice rang from the double doors of the building in Parikon's ears. The great being stood, alongside Freztrak and several other elite Veythari warriors, at the doors into the room of the Resistance high command. Now that the threat of the Sarkanian clones had passed, and the Fells were safe, repairs to the base were already underway.

Parikon stepped into the chamber, and saw that Saren was all alone, sitting in one of the chairs around the table. The Resistance commanders eyes looked worn and tired from many sleepless nights, but Parikon felt no pity for him. He needed to find out the truth of what had happened.

He knew he was lucky to be alive. After Shardak had undone his bonds, the Great Being had fought his way through the Ix leaders until he was outside of the Spire and able to teleport away. For now, the fact that he was a Great Being was still secret from all of the Resistance save Freztrak, Ixtil, and Saren, but Parikon knew it was only a matter of time before they all realized the truth of how he'd escaped Corona Magna.

"Please, sit, my friends." said Saren calmly, waving them to their chairs. All of them declined, and remained standing. Saren looked slightly surprised at their refusal, but his calm, cold, demenor did not change.

"One of your fleet commanders told me about Fairon's betrayal." said Parikon, his voice cold. "He said that you ordered Fairon to fire on a defenseless Ix transport."

"I did." affirmed Saren. "And when he did not, and his intent became clear to help the Ix escape, I exiled him from the Resistance. However, the Ix and Fairon both got away."

"There's more." said Parikon. "The same commander also says that he had a clear view of who was inside the Ix ship. That it was Toa Shardak, the Ix warrior Valkyria Rhai, and Artonix, one of our own warriors."

"I'm afraid that these lies have hurt you badly." said Saren, the picture of innocence. "Why would I want Shardak dead? This fleet leader, whoever he is, is making it up."

"That's surprising." said Parikon. "Because this report came from your own deputy."

For a moment, Saren froze in place. shocked and fearful. Parikon could read his aura as easily as a book, and he knew for a fact now that Saren was indeed guilty.

"Why?" he asked Saren. "Why, old friend?"

Saren's eyes burned with a maniacal intensity as he rose from his seat, confronting the Veythari warriors, Freztrak, and Parikon. "Don't you feel it?" he asked. "The darkness...growing stronger. We can't win against it. We can only serve it."

"Saren, you blasted fool!" snarled Freztrak. "What are you thinking?"

"I've seen the truth." said Saren. "It would have been more conveniant if the Spirit Toa was already dead, that I or Fairon had killed him above Corona Magna, but the truth is that it doesn't matter. Once I have the Annulus, even Vahrikaan will fall before my might."

"You cannot defeat Vahrikaan." said Parikon. "You can only serve him."

"You're wrong." said Saren. "I already had doubts that we were wrong to want the Annulus destroyed, and when Shardak came to us with the Shadow Orb, and you entrusted it to me, I knew the truth. There is no honor, no nobility, to our cause, Parikon. There is only power. The power of the Annulus. And I intend to use it, and make myself the most powerful being in the universe, more powerful than even Vahrikaan."

And still he faced the Veythari, Freztrak, and Parikon calmly, even though every one of the Veythari had their bows trained upon his heart, and Parikon's sword was drawn halfway out of its sheath.

"Something's wrong." hissed Freztrak in a whisper. "He's too confident. He's got something else up his sleeve."

"So, will you join me?" asked Saren. "No need to answer, I already know you will never abandon the idea that we can defeat the Ix and Vahrikaan without the Annulus. So, I'm afraid, in my world of power...there is no place for you."

Saren snapped his fingers, and every one of the beings froze in place, as though time itself had ceased to move around them.

''What have you done? ''Parikon's voice yelled within his head.

"However, I am not without mercy." said Saren. "For the sake of our friendship, Parikon, I will not kill any of you. You'll enjoy a few millennia in temporal stasis, until I see it is fit to free you."

"What—" Parikon began, but Saren waved a hand and the beings slammed against the wall. Immediately, the illusion that it was solid gave way, and the secret door swung open, into a small, airtight chamber. Parikon struggled to his feet, facing Saren, who was now standing at the doorway.

"Don't try to scream for help, no one will ever hear you." said Saren. Parikon felt time moving steadily slower. Soon, he knew, it would stop entirely.

"And don't try to plot escape. My power now far outstrips your own, Parikon, and you are a Great Being. There's no way you'll ever leave this chamber without my consent."

Saren raised his hand, and time ceased to move for Parikon, Freztrak, and the Veythari.

"Of course, in stasis..." said Saren, even though he knew that none of the beings could hear him anymore. "In stasis, you won't even be able to think."

To be continued in The Final Prophecy...

Trivia

 * Annulus is Latin for "ring"
 * The character of Vor Sxe'cahn, the Vorgaan and Caronex species, BlueSpace, and the planet of Corona Magna were created by, who very kindly allowed to use them in the Xaterex Multiverse Storyline.
 * Shattering is the 5th longest page on the wiki.