Flames of Mana Read online

  Flames of Mana

  Matt Larkin

  Incandescent Phoenix Books

  Contents

  Skalds’ Tribe

  Dramatis Personae

  Terms

  Prologue

  Part I

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Part II

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Part III

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  For my daughter.

  Join the Skalds’ Tribe and get access to exclusive reader rewards like The Ragnarok Era Codex, as well getting free books like Darkness Forged and notifications on release dates and sales.

  https://www.mattlarkinbooks.com/go-ragnarok/

  Want maps, character bios, and background information on the Ragnarok Era? Look no further.

  Dramatis Personae

  People of Uluka‘a

  Haumea, the former God-Queen of Uluka‘a, now vanished

  Kū-Waha-Ilo, her mate, also missing

  Namaka, her eldest daughter, the Sea Queen

  Pele, her second daughter, the Flame Queen

  Kapo, her third daughter, who left for Sawaiki as an apprentice to Uli

  Hi‘iaka, her youngest daughter, still a child, raised by Pele

  Upoho, wererat foster brother to Namaka

  Aukele, Namaka’s third husband, from Sawaiki, son of Huma and Uli

  Lonomakua, kahuna to Pele and her mentor

  Moho, a spirit working with Pele

  People of Kuau‘i (The Garden Isle)

  Uli, a sorceress from Kahiki who came to Sawaiki fifty years ago with Kapo

  Huma, first husband to Uli, King of Lihue

  Kalana (deceased), brother of Huma, husband to Uli after she divorces his brother

  Hina, daughter of Uli and Kalana, wife to Hakalanileo

  Hakalanileo (Haki), King of Waimea, husband to Hina

  Kana, elder son of Hina and Hakalanileo

  Niheu, younger son of Hina and Hakalanileo

  Lonoaohi, Hakalanileo’s chief kahuna

  Kamapua‘a (Kama), a wereboar son of Uli and Kalana, raised by his sister Hina, now banished and living as a bandit

  Ioane, another bandit, now second-in-command

  Malie, a female bandit

  People of Mau‘i (The Valley Isle)

  Hinaikamalama, Queen of Hana, loyal to Poli‘ahu

  People of Vai‘i (The Big Isle)

  Poli‘ahu, a queen on Vai‘i, a kupua associated with Mauna Kea

  Nalani, her counselor

  Lilinoe, a snow akua, Poli‘ahu’s mentor

  Waiau, a snow akua subordinate to Lilinoe and bound to Poli‘ahu

  Kahoupokane, a snow akua subordinate to Lilinoe

  Naia, widow of King Kepawa, now an advisor to Pele

  Milohai, her younger brother

  Kamalo, kahuna to Queen Pele

  Makua-kaumana (Makua), a prophet kahuna from unknown lands

  People of Moloka‘i

  Kaupeepee, a raider based on Moloka‘i, working against the Kahikian invaders

  Ilima, one of his warriors

  Keoloewa, King of Moloka‘i, Kaupeepee’s brother

  Kupa (deceased) uncle to Keoloewa, responsible for the death of Kamalo’s sons

  Kauhuhu, King of the Nanaue ‘Ohana of mer

  Piika-lalau (Piika), a mo‘o serving Kauhuhu

  He‘e

  Rogo-Tumu-Here (Rogo), the legendary leader of the he‘e rebellion and originator of the Rogo War

  Mer of Mu

  Aiaru, Queen of Mu, Voice of Kuula ‘Ohana

  Hokohoko, a warrior of Kuula

  Kuku Lau, Voice of Dakuwaqa

  Nyi Rara, her sister

  Tilafaiga, her cousin, sister of Taema, a tattoo artist

  Taema, her cousin, sister of Tilafaiga, a tattoo artist

  Ake, Commander of the Dakuwaqan Rangers, younger brother of Taema and Tilafaiga

  Opuhalakoa (Opu), High Priestess and Keeper of the Urchin, Voice of Ukupanipo ‘Ohana

  Daucina, a diplomat, Ukupanipo ‘Ohana

  Deities

  Elder Deep, the mer name for the master of Avaiki

  Kanaloa, god of the ocean and of magic, god-king of the he‘e, enemy of Kāne

  Kāne, the highest of the gods who created the Worldsea with the Deluge but spared mankind through the line of Nu‘u

  Kū, war god, affiliate of Kāne

  La, a sun god defeated by Maui

  La‘amaomao, wind goddess

  Lono, agriculture god, affiliate of Kāne

  Manua, deified ghost king from the first wave of settlers to Sawaiki

  Maui, a kupua who brought fire to man, defeated monsters, found Sawaiki, and died trying to give mankind immortality

  Milu, queen of the damned, mistress of mist

  Mo‘oinanea, progenitor queen of the mo‘o

  Toona, an ancient taniwha killed by Maui

  Wākea, the sky god

  Terms

  General

  aikāne, intimate often sexual relationships between members of the same sex

  aloha, “love” used for “hello” and “goodbye”

  heiau, a temple

  kai e‘e, a tsunami

  ki‘i (tiki), carved wooden masks representing gods

  kilu, a game like quoits where a gourd is spun to hit a spoke, often earning one sexual favors

  kōnane, a game like checkers

  mahalo, “thank you”

  mana, spiritual energy, but also life force

  mele, a chant

  mo‘olelo, tales, legends, and genealogies that contain within them a kind of mana

  ‘ohana, family including extended family

  pahu, wooden drum topped with sharkskin

  tabu, sacred proscriptions

  ‘ūkēkē, stringed musical instrument

  ali‘i, the chiefly class, including royalty

  kahuna (plural kāhuna), a member of the educated class of priests, shamans, and teachers

  Places

  Uluka‘a, an island off the coast of Kahiki

  Kahiki, an island (Tahiti)

  Sawaiki, an archipelago north of Kahiki (the Hawaiian islands)

  Savai‘i, an island (in Samoa)

  Old Mu, a continent that sank and left behind various archipelagos

  Mu, a mer kingdom centered on the sunken ruins of Old Mu

  Hiyoya, a mer kingdom that broke away from Mu

  Avaiki, the World of Water, native world of the mer

  Pō, the Astral Realm (e.g. the Penumbra), literally “night”

  Lua-o-Milu, the “pit of Milu,” an underworld of ghosts

  Uekera, the Tree of Life

  Bestiary

  akua, gods, including mer and menehune

  ‘aumakua (plural ‘aumākua), ghost go
ds and ancestor spirits

  kupua, demigods, including shifters and mo‘o

  lapu, angry ghosts

  menehune, Earth akua

  mer, Water akua (e.g. mermaids and mermen)

  mo‘o, smaller dragons descended from the great taniwha of old, sometimes able to take human form

  Nightmarchers, spirits of darkness or possibly ghosts that steal souls (The Wild Hunt)

  taniwha, sea dragons

  Clothing

  malo, a man’s loincloth

  kihei, a shoulder wrap

  pa‘u, a woman’s skirt

  tapa, cloth made from tree bark

  Food

  awa, a narcotic drink

  imu, an underground oven

  poi, paste made from taro root

  Prologue

  Days Gone

  On the slopes of Haleakalā the early morning sun stung Maui’s eyes. Up here, above the clouds, it was brightest. Brilliant and beautiful enough he could have almost forgotten his purpose and the reality behind it.

  Save for the gasping of La lying before him, legs broken and lassoed with an orichalcum chain—probably the only one of its kind on these isles—that stripped his powers and prevented him from Sun Striding away from Maui. Once, in another era, the so-called sun god had called himself Ra and ruled a land as a god-king. And here, on this island Maui’s people had named after him, he had tried to repeat his temerity.

  Maybe Maui should have let him. He’d had no desire to climb this mountain nor fight this spirit, but Hina had begged him, claimed already La’s demands grew oppressive, made their new home intolerable.

  And so now, he and La were on this mountain slope, flesh burnt, exhausted, and come face to face once more after so many years. Unlike most etheric beings, Sun spirits had adapted to daylight, even learned to harness it. They could, were they so inclined, prove a force of beneficence toward mankind.

  Unfortunately, Maui had rarely seen them thus disposed. All self-proclaimed gods seemed forever given to megalomania, perhaps even solipsism, and La had proved no exception.

  With a sigh, Maui wiped blood from his split lip. His injuries would heal soon enough. Minor inconveniences. He crawled over to lean in near La’s face. “Far to the east, in the vestiges of Hy-Brasil, Quetzalcoatl has established himself as lord among the people, a sun dragon, in a land you might find welcome. If I release you, I will have your word you will go there and leave the Sawaikians be.”

  The would-be god scoffed. “Release me now, bow down, and I won’t tell your precious humans just who and what you really are, titan.”

  Maui sighed again and shut his eyes a moment. The morning sun cut through his eyelids, painting them red and hot. It really had been the wrong answer, even if La didn’t understand half so much as he thought he did. When he opened his eyes once more, Maui moved to kneel upon La’s chest, to wrap his hands around the Sun spirit’s throat.

  La’s host’s throat, really, and killing this body would not solve the problem. Sooner or later, this being with a taste for worship would find its way back across the Veil and try to claim another body.

  Not here, though, Maui hoped.

  He squeezed until his fingers dug through flesh, met vertebrae. La’s eyes stared defiance, even as his neck collapsed beneath Maui’s fingers. Even as his blood poured out in great cataracts, streaming down the mountainside. In those eyes lurked a warning he would return.

  With a sniff, Maui at last rose and flung the blood from his hands.

  He withdrew the orichalcum chain and wrapped it into a loop to hang from his malo. Still somber, he descended down through the cloud level, walking and walking until he could at last make out the lush green valleys below and the endless Worldsea beyond.

  Who would have ever imagined the world could become thus?

  Even now, millennia after the cataclysm others called the Deluge, Maui could not help but find himself caught aghast at it all. Despite the cycle of eschatons, if anything should have remained inviolable, he would have thought it the landscape. And yet now, the four great continents themselves had vanished as surely as the four great cities of Faerie.

  Did such devastation fall upon his shoulders?

  The rise of the Leviathan, even temporarily, had nearly destroyed the Earth itself.

  All that remained were these archipelagos here, and hints of continents to the far east. For the people of Savai‘i, he’d wanted to believe these new islands, heretofore untouched by man, might offer succor. A place to live out this era in relative peace, secure from the expanding influence of Hiyoya and the wars among Manua’s brethren across the sea.

  But there was no peace.

  Manua had established his kingdom on Vai‘i, yes, and along with the pyromancers Maui had given him, he hoped the man would rule well. Except the new king found himself constantly beset by spirits from beyond Pō. The menehune raided Manua’s villages for slaves and hosts, and now, without the Sun god checking their power, that problem might well grow yet more dire. Mist spirits lurked in the fringes, no doubt eager to draw hapless mortals in with their whispers.

  And Kanaloa remained ever a threat, a remnant of the Leviathan’s passage.

  Not for the first time, Maui caught himself wondering if the whole cycle might come undone. If the destruction last time was so great that mankind might never recover, that no Destroyer would rise again and cleanse the world. If everything Maui had ever done would prove for naught, in the end.

  Or maybe finding himself forced to murder La had left him maudlin. There was always the temptation to give in to despair. Repugnant as the cycle sometimes seemed, the alternative was too harrowing to even consider.

  It was afternoon by the time he made his way to the base of Haleakalā, where his family’s house lay. A simple hut, really, sitting beside a river that ran down to the sea if one followed it far enough. The burble of waterfalls feeding the river relaxed him and—more importantly—Hina and their son.

  Maui paused on the lower slopes of Haleakalā, uncertain quite what he was seeing. The whole house had collapsed as if a great wave had slapped up against it. Netting lay strewn over the riverbank. A plank of timber was stuck in the mud, standing up at an angle. The palm leaf roof was blown into …

  There.

  Halfway back into the jungle, Hina lay unmoving in a puddle of mud, the two girls clutching her tight.

  No.

  No, this was impossible. He hadn’t seen this. No vision had revealed this, not like this.

  Wailing, Maui raced to her side and dropped down, knees squelching in blood and muck beside his family. Nanamaoao’s eyes were open, staring at nothing, face a mask of pain and terror, his little hand twisted in an awkward angle. And Hina … Maui rolled his wife over to reveal ribs crunched inward as if some enormous force had punched her. She’d died in agony, her insides collapsing.

  His roar of pain and defiance reverberated off the valley.

  Not this.

  Not again.

  Maui collapsed into the mud, unable to form thought. Nothing, save that he would look into flame, see the end of his beloveds, and see who had wrought this. Someone would suffer for this.

  Suffer so very desperately.

  Part I

  Third Age of the Worldsea

  1

  Just offshore a sea turtle swam through the crystal blue waters around Sawaiki. From the rocks where she sat, Namaka could feel the turtle, could feel the fish, could feel the children surfing atop the waves, trying to master their boards. Over the past two days, the villagers of Puna had already begun to reconstruct their destroyed homes, to rebuild the boardwalk that would once again support them, connect them to the sea. The ocean was almost as much a part of the islanders as it was of her, and she was a mermaid and the Sea Queen.

  Except, much as the Sawaikians loved the endless Worldsea, now they had reason to fear it, even if they did not yet understand those reasons. Farther offshore, leagues away in the great reef, the mer city of Mu had fallen to
the he‘e. Once, Namaka had thought the octopus people near mythical and far removed from humanity. All that had changed. Now, through their betrayal of Mu, and through Hiyoya, she knew the he‘e controlled much of the world behind the scenes. Their motives were hard to guess, their very thought patterns and speech alien. But she had to assume they intended to dominate all the Worldsea.

  She would need to liberate Mu, and soon. But before she could spare time for such things, a more immediate crisis on Vai‘i demanded her attention.

  Hi‘iaka was dead.

  They had to save her.

  The Waters of Life might do so, but every moment wasted reduced the chances for restoring Namaka’s youngest sister.

  “You’ve been staring at the ocean for an hour,” Upoho said. The wererat had arrived that morning—Namaka had sent for all their allies to come here, to Vai‘i, so she and Pele could begin this search in earnest.

  “I’m absorbing mana.” On visiting Mau‘i she’d briefly soaked in the Sacred Pools to replenish the energies she’d lost fighting first the taniwha and then Pele. It was hardly enough. “I cannot say what ordeals lay ahead of us. The first time Pele and I found a spring of the Waters of Life, it lay deep underground beneath the mountains on Uluka‘a. And it was guarded by a he‘e.”