Heirs of Mana Omnibus Read online

  Heirs of Mana Omnibus

  Books 1-3

  Matt Larkin

  Contents

  Skalds’ Tribe

  Dramatis Personae

  Terms

  Map

  Tides of Mana

  Prologue

  Part I

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Part II

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  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

  Part III

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Flames of Mana

  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

  Queens of Mana

  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

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Part III

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  For my daughter.

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  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

  Leapua, kahuna to Namaka

  Upoho, wererat foster brother to Namaka

  Milolii, a mo‘o (dragon) who raised and trained Namaka and Upoho

  Kahaumana, Namaka’s first husband

  Kanemoe, Namaka’s second husband

  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 Kaua‘i

  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

  Makani, a bandit, Kamapua‘a’s second-in-command

  Ioane, another bandit

  Malie, a female bandit

  People of Mau‘i

  Hinaikamalama, Queen of Hana, loyal to Poli‘ahu

  People of Vai‘i

  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

  Kepawa, King of Puna on Vai‘i, recently dead

  Naia, widow of King Kepawa

  Milohai, her younger brother

  Keanu, high kahuna to Kepawa and Naia

  Kamalo, second kahuna to Kepawa and Naia

  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

  He‘e

  Punga, he‘e ambassador to Mu

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

  Mer of Hiyoya

  Latmikaik, Queen of Hiyoya, Voice of Rongomai ‘Ohana

  Inemes, her cousin

  Matsya, an ambassador to humans, Rongomai ‘Ohana

  Mer of Mu

  Aiaru, Queen of Mu, Voice of Kuula �
��Ohana

  Hokohoko, a warrior of Kuula

  Ikatere, Voice of the Dakuwaqa ‘Ohana

  Kuku Lau, his eldest daughter

  Nyi Rara, his second daughter

  Tilafaiga, his niece, sister of Taema, a tattoo artist

  Taema, 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, including Sawaiki and Kahiki

  Kumari Kandam, a continent to the west that sank after a war with Old Mu

  Uekera, the Tree of Life

  Undersea Kingdoms

  Akakor, a mer kingdom in the Aethiopic Sea

  Baltia, a mer kingdom in the North Sea

  Cantref Gwaelod, a mer kingdom in in the West Sea

  He‘e Aupuni, the he‘e kingdom, located south of Mu

  Hiyoya, a mer kingdom that broke away from Mu

  Lemuria, a mer kingdom in the South Sea

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

  Ogygia, a mer kingdom in the Middle Sea

  Ryūgū-jō, a mer kingdom in the East Sea

  Beyond the World

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

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

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

  Bestiary

  akua, gods, including mer and menehune

  ‘aumakua (plural ‘aumākua), ghost gods and ancestor spirits

  kupua, demigods, including shifters and mo‘o

  lapu, angry ghosts (wraiths)

  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

  Tides of Mana

  Prologue

  Days Gone

  Moonlight barely filtered down through the waters to the seabed. A human would have called Tenebrous Chasm a place of utter darkness, but Nyi Rara’s mer eyes could make out a dance of shadows in the depths.

  A plethora of vibrant scents drifted on the ocean currents here. Fish, of many kinds. Mer, concealed within the chasm. And decay—rotting corpses far below being slowly devoured. No blood left though.

  It made her gills itch, nonetheless.

  “Easy,” her father said, swimming up beside her.

  Nyi Rara flashed a mirthless smile, not bothering to conceal that her shark teeth had descended in agitation. “This is a mistake. You cannot trust the Hiyoyans.”

  Her father peered into the chasm, then glanced back at his assembled crew. Merchants, mostly, though they had a pair of Rangers among them, and common warriors as guards. Father had left Nyi Rara’s older sister in charge of the ‘ohana while they were away, insisting Nyi Rara come along and witness this historic deal. A deal that was meant to heal the rift between Mu and Hiyoya, or at least begin the process.

  A reversal of the Sundering.

  That, Nyi Rara thought, sounded unbelievable. The two mer societies had held in tenuous peace—or even open skirmishes—for all the centuries since they’d split apart. Reconciliation would require forgoing vengeance for more than two thousand years of grievances. It was before Nyi Rara was born, before many of the mer now were born, but her father remembered the time when Mu was a single people.

  He leaned in close to her. “If this truly allows for a blending of societies, Dakuwaqa ‘Ohana may have the chance to reclaim the throne.”

  “‘Ohana is everything,” Nyi Rara intoned, hardly thinking about it. Their family had lost the throne so very long ago—retaining only the titles of prince and princess for her bloodline. So long, only a handful in the ‘ohana had lived back then. Still, she would enjoy putting the bitch queen Aiaru in her place.

  Would enjoy it … if it were possible. But Tenebrous Chasm was a no man’s land dividing Mu from Hiyoya to the south. Tales told that any who swam here failed to swim out again. Some claimed the he‘e—sentient octopuses—occupied the chasm, for it lay near enough to their Aupuni. Others believed the Hiyoyans themselves patrolled the depths, hunting for trespassers. Once, her cousin Tilafaiga had even told her a rumor that a taniwha lurked down in the darkness, though the great sea dragons were almost all gone now.

  The merchants carried shells filled with trade goods. Worked jewelry of pearl and gold, human-wrought iron—it didn’t last long, but it had numerous uses—coral knives, and some prize Father seemed especially convinced would entice even the most reluctant of Hiyoyan merchants into a trade.

  Nyi Rara grimaced, shaking her head. “I have misgivings. Severe misgivings.”

  Father had arranged this trade envoy with Queen Aiaru’s blessings, but if it went wrong, Dakuwaqa ‘Ohana would bear the blame for it.

  “It’s too late,” her father said. “They know we’re here. We cannot simply swim away. This is our chance to restore Dakuwaqa. Trust me.”