Islands of Fire Read online

  “Then who made the Kota`ianapahu?”

  Kuanutoa, Mokolo says. He was once a warrior, one who fought devils in his day. He was the child of the kakonu.

  “I thought you said the kakonu were all gone?”

  They are not all gone. Some remain. But before they were vanquished by the arrival of Mother Ocean, they created their own children. Kuanutoa was one of them. He made the Kota`ianapahu. He made the weapons with the flames of his ancestors and of Mother Fire.

  “The markings.”

  They are an old language that has not been spoken since before the gods.

  “So it is lost? No one can read it?”

  No humans can read it, Mokolo says. But the gods can.

  “How?”

  We are gods.

  “So what does it say?” Kina holds the pahi before her, looking at the strange runes. As always, they flicker from within, as a bonfire seen through dense forest.

  Mokolo tells her the sounds. The language is strange, harsh. Kina listens to these foreign syllables and attempts to repeat them.

  “Caxtu-wer-cennaug-cuial-inyx,” she ventures, saying the syllables over and over until, after a while, they start to sound familiar. Without knowing how, she somehow understands the meaning. It is an invocation, and calls to the Mother herself.

  And the moment she knows this, the flickering symbols on the pahi grow brighter and fire erupts from them, sheathing the entire blade in flame.

  Kina shrieks and drops the pahi. It clatters off the stones and plunges into the cool water of the newly-formed lake. Though it has been submerged, the flames still burn unabated.

  “I saw a bowl that did this,” Kina says. “It burned underwater. It was made of the same light obsidian as the pahi. Is it related? Is it one of the Kota`ianapahu?

  Bowl, Mokolo says, as if considering. There was no bowl. There was a shield.

  “A shield? No, it was a shallow bowl that…”

  Kina considers what Mokolo just said, trying to imagine the bowl. It had the same kind of symbols as the pahi. They could be seen glowing along the bottom of the bowl. Could it have been a shield all this time?

  She climbs down into the water, reaching down to pick up the pahi. The flames dance along the entire blade, leaving only the handle. When she picks it up, the handle seems cool, despite the heat coming off the fire.

  Kina says the syllables again, and the flame vanishes as if sucked back into the pahi. The strange markings are still flickering, as though she could see through them into a banked fire deep inside the obsidian weapon.

  “Are you still there?”

  Faintly, she hears Mokolo whisper, I am.

  “You said there were three Kota`ianapahu. The pahi, the shield, and one more. What is it? Where can I find it?”

  There is a helmet. Howe`a. Seek it there.

  “Howe`a? Does Puahiki have it? But Howe`a is a volcano. No man can go there. It is too deadly. How can I find it?”

  There is no response.

  “Mokolo!”

  I fade.

  “Wait, what about Hekalo? You promised him answers, too.”

  Ask.

  “What about his girl? How can he rescue her from the Lands Beyond?”

  Go to the cave. Only there can he come back.

  “Come back? What do you mean?”

  She hears only the wind.

  “Mokolo!”

  A shadow passes over her. Kina looks up the slope behind her at the crater lip. Nakali is standing above her, perched on the high rock rim, silhouetted against the afternoon sun. The priestess is drenched and panting with exhaustion, but holds a spear in her remaining hand.

  “It’s mine,” Nakali says. “Hand me the pahi.” As she speaks, several of her warriors scramble up beside her. They nock arrows into bows.

  Kina looks up at her. “You overheard us,” she says.

  “Did you think Mokolo spoke only to you? You’re more naive than I thought.”

  “So your people have the shield, and now you want the pahi,” Kina says. “Why not kill me where you stand? You have me overpowered.”

  “I don’t want to ruin your skin,” Nakali says. “I do believe I told you I’d make a drum from you, right? I’d hate to see such a dynamic spirit go to waste. No, your drum will have pride of place. And when we bring you forth, your ghost will lead our army.”

  Kina scans the crumbling rock embankment to her left and to her right, then turns to look out across the lake, looking for an escape route. In all directions, Nakali’s archers would have a clear shot. Kina is trapped.

  Nakali says, “Even now you look for an escape. Give up, Kina. You’ve been mine to claim since we first captured you, long ago. All you’ve done is buy yourself some time.”

  “I believe I’ve done more than that. I’ve given you information you didn’t have before. Without me, you would never know the true power of that strange black knife in your temple, and you would have gone to your grave never knowing about Mother Fire. It’s been me, all along. I’ve been the one leading you to knowledge. Surely that’s worth something.”

  Nakali visibly bristles. “I don’t need you for anything, and certainly least of all to lead me to knowledge! You think I wouldn’t have discovered these things on my own? I have kupuna seeking answers across half of Mokukai. Don’t try to make yourself into something you’re not. You’re just an escaped slave who, until now, has gotten lucky. But your running is over. Now, hand me the pahi, and accept your proper place.”

  A furtive movement along the crater wall catches Kina’s eye. Someone is moving in the gap in the crater wall.

  Kina raises the pahi and turns to face the lake. “You can kill me, Nakali,” she says. “But not before I cast your precious pahi into the lake.”

  Nakali laughs. “What a terrible attempt at a threat. The lake is small, and the waters shallow. We’ll have the pahi before sundown. And you’ll still be our prisoner. Though perhaps you’ll have some new wounds.”

  Kina turns, trying to catch a glimpse at the person she had seen earlier. Her eyes rest a moment too long, though, and Nakali shoots her gaze that way. “It’s one of her allies,” she says. “He must have survived the flood. Get him!”

  The warriors at her side shift to point their arrows toward the gap, and Kina utters the strange syllables. Flames leap across the pahi once more.

  Kina cocks her arm back to hurl the pahi at Nakali, but before she can do so, there is a thunderclap explosion, and bodies and rock fly from the crater rim.

  A shockwave knocks Kina back into the water. She nearly drops the pahi, thrashing around in search of footing. When she comes back up for air, her ears are ringing.

  What happened?

  She looks up at the ridge but sees no one. A cloud of dust still lingers in the air, and a rain of tiny pebbles and debris comes down with a hiss all around Kina.

  Wading back out of the water, Kina scrambles along the stones until she reaches the gap. There, taking cover in the narrow crevice, is Pupo and Hekalo. Hekalo looks woozy, leaning against the rock wall.

  “You’re alive!” Pupo gasps upon seeing Kina.

  “Good to see you, too,” Kina says. “Will he be all right?”

  “It was the spell,” Pupo says. “I think it took a lot out of him. We need to get out of here.”

  Kina glances back out of the gap toward the spot where Nakali had been. The cloud of dust has nearly faded. There is still no sign of Nakali or her warriors.

  “I think he got her,” she says. “How could anyone have survived that?”

  “Help me get him out.”

  “No,” Kina says to Pupo. “Stay here for a minute.”

  She leaves Pupo and Hekalo, climbing up the crater rim to the top, then making her way slowly and cautiously to where Nakali had been. Two warriors are dead. Another has dragged himself away, two broken legs leaving a trail of blood. The other warriors are gone, as is Nakali.

  “You,” she says to the injured warrior. “Where is she?�
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  The warrior rolls onto his back, gazing up at the sky. “You and your sorcerer can be eaten by devils,” he says, voice weak. “Unlike you, I have a place in the Lands Beyond.”

  “Where did Nakali go? Answer me, and I’ll spare you.”

  The warrior looks at her. “It is your duty to kill me. Give me a warrior’s death.”

  Kina speaks the syllables and makes the pahi’s flame go quiet. “I owe you nothing.” She walks away, leaving the warrior to scream at her.

  “Gone,” she says to Pupo. “The snake is gone.”

  “She is favored by the gods,” he says. “They spare her life.”

  Kina shakes her head. “No, she’s just lucky. Let’s go.”

  The two of them carry Hekalo through the gap. On the far side, the flood created a fan-shaped sluice in the ground that still trickles with slowly draining water. Dead bodies of Burning Warriors lie strewn everywhere on the slope, slick with mud. Kina and Pupo ease Hekalo down in the windblown grasses on the slope, resting until Hekalo is able to stand and walk. Then, together, the three of them make their way down out of the mountains.

  Morning finds them walking along the empty beach. It has been a long journey, and everyone has been too absorbed in his or her thoughts to do much talking. Kina is looking forward to sleeping on a mat in one of the huts that survived the initial raid by the Burning Warriors. Already she is planning her next move.

  The smell of smoke still lingers in the forest down near the village. At first, Kina is a little surprised to find smoke still hanging on days later, but then she realizes it had already dissipated by the time the traitors had marched into the village and fought the Burning Warriors. This smoke is new. But where is it coming from?

  “Come on,” she tells the others, and they begin to jog down the sandy beach.

  Not far off, they discover the remains of the village. The entire thing has been burned, now, leaving only charred piles of wood, blackened palm trees, and the deeply burned remains of dozens of bodies.

  Kina stands there in shock for several minutes, taking in the scene.

  “Who has done this?” she hears Pupo ask.

  “It was Nakali,” Kina says. “She did it.”

  Then a terrible thought comes. She turns and runs through the still-warm ashes out to the beach. Here, she finds her fears realized. Every canoe has been hacked into pieces, dragged up on shore, and burned. Only the great war canoe was spared, and it is long gone.

  Kina staggers back to Hekalo and Pupo, wiping tears from her cheeks. “They’re gone. All burned.”

  “What is?” Hekalo asks, concern rising in his voice.

  “The canoes,” Kina replies. “They’re gone.”

  “The Burning Warriors stranded us here?” Pupo asks.

  Kina nods.

  “We’re trapped,” Hekalo says, his face blank with shock.

  Kina sits down beside him. “I’m sorry. I failed you.”

  Hekalo looks stricken. “I never got to ask Mokolo about Mai.”

  “Who?”

  “Mai. The one I told you about.”

  Kina looks at him. “I asked on your behalf. Mokolo said something about a cave. He said you can come back from there.”

  Hekalo looks stricken. “I see,” he says.

  Pupo asks, “What do you see?”

  Hekalo looks at him. “When the Burning Warriors were attacked by the dead, it was because we had awakened them. They were traitors, who had fallen for the lies by the devil To`o, and overthrown the rightful god of this island, Mokolo. Mokolo killed them all in a cave, and his power cut it off from the Lands Beyond. It’s the only place where the dead don’t completely vacate their bodies. I think he meant I can retrieve her there.”

  Pupo looks at him in horror. “You’re planning to do what?”

  “Her name was Mai,” Hekalo says. “She and I were lovers. More than lovers, actually. I’ve never known anyone like her, before or since. We were in love, and with her father’s blessing, we were going to be married. But then…” He stops, unable to continue for a minute. When he finally regains control of his emotions, he says, “We used to meet along the shore, at the same place, whenever we could. There were lots of rocks there, huge ones, but our favorite place was a spot where an arrow of beach jutted in between the stones. We could be down there and no okakonune would see us, no one would know we were there. We met there one day, and made love. And then some men came.”

  “Men?” Kina asks, though she thinks she knows where Hekalo’s story is going to end.

  He nods, again lost in an upwelling of sorrow. He chokes back a sob, and says, “They were from another village not far from ours. Apparently they had watched us several times before. Now they wanted something. They came down the stones and spoke to us, and they had clubs. They… wanted Mai. But she wouldn’t let them have her. She fought them and bit the leader, bit him very hard on his face. He screamed. The others were holding me so they couldn’t stop him. He brought his club down on her head. She was dead in seconds. Seeing what they had done, the others became scared and fled. The leader tried to kill me as well, but I escaped into the sea.”

  Hekalo stops for a while, so Kina asks, “What ever happened to the men?”

  “They were killed for breaking kapu,” Hekalo says. “But it didn’t matter. I just wanted Mai back.”

  “And you can do that? In the cave?”

  “I don’t like this,” Pupo says. “I have dealt with the dead for years. What you are asking goes against what is natural. Whether or not it was right, Mai has gone on to the Lands Beyond. That is where she belongs, now.”

  Hekalo turns to Pupo and spits, “What do you know of it, old fool? Leave your nose out of my business, or I’ll carve it off your face!”

  Pupo huffs and rises, storming off.

  Kina touches Hekalo on the arm. “He means well. You have to understand, he’s a ghost hunter. What you’re asking scares him.”

  “I don’t care. His feelings mean nothing to me.”

  “He’s a strong ally,” Kina says. “You’ll see. Tell me, though, about the cave. What did Mokolo tell you to do there?”

  “Die.”

  Kina blinks in surprise. “I thought you wanted to bring her back from the Lands Beyond, not go there yourself.”

  “The cave is cut off from the Lands Beyond,” Hekalo says. “If I die there, I won’t be gone for good. I can come back. You see?”

  Kina thinks she understands. “I can see why Pupo didn’t like this idea. But if that’s what you have to do, let’s go do it.”

  Hekalo thanks her. They rise, and Kina tells Pupo to wait for them to return. He begrudgingly agrees, sitting on a dune overlooking the sea while Kina and Hekalo walk off.

  They cross the stream then follow the rocky shore until they return to the sea cave. The tide is low, so they easily scramble across the stones, then wade across the lagoon until they are once more in the rocky tunnel. They swim through the drowned passage, coming up in the lonely chamber in the back of the cave. Nothing remains there, now, except some mouldering old clothing that fell off the bones of the traitors as they stood up. Kina is surprised, however, to see Hekalo’s magical fire still burning, right where he dropped it under the water. Kina snatches it and swims back to the surface, grateful for the light.

  “So where do you plan to do this?” she asks.

  Now that they have arrived in the chamber, Hekalo looks terrified. He scans the room, eyes wide. “I don’t know. Maybe you should just stab me with the pahi right here.”

  “Did Mokolo say anything about your body being damaged? Won’t it be hard to come back if your body is too injured to sustain you when you return?”

  Hekalo shakes his head. “He said nothing about it.”

  “Maybe you could drown yourself instead,” Kina says. “Then while you’re gone, I can pump the water from your lungs in the manner sailors are taught.”

  “Maybe,” Hekalo says, though he doesn’t seem convinced.
/>   “I have no better suggestion,” Kina says.

  “I wish we could ask Mokolo once more,” Hekalo says with a sigh. “I think drowning is no good. If it is too easy to return, I might not make it to the Lands Beyond.”

  Kina says, “Perhaps not.”

  Hekalo looks down at the dripping pahi in Kina’s hand. “Will you do me the honor? To be killed by a blade that has killed devils… At least, if this fails, I can claim that distinction in death. Better to die that way than with stagnant sea water in my lungs.”