The Burning Princess

by Matt Larkin

  He wanted to eat Milohai. The ghostfucker was serious. His powers were horrifying, maybe unbeatable. But she was almost willing to test their limits. To fight him right now, despite the cold sweat running down her back. “Did you set a spirit loose to prey on that village?”

  “No.” With that, he turned away from her and descended back into the blood pool.

  That stopped her. Heart pounding so loudly he had to hear it, Pele backed away. Was he lying? In his extreme arrogance, he didn’t seem inclined to lie or make any denial of his crimes, didn’t seem to even consider them crimes. But if he had not sent the spirit … An angry hiss seeped in through the edges of the shadows even as Ku-Aha-Ilo disappeared into the pool. The ghost still lurked here. Had it actually fled from the demon? Feared him?

  Aumakuas protect her. As long as she stayed in this place, she was powerless. She needed time to think, or failing that, to flee back to the relative safety of Puako Village. At least there the kahuna could try to ward against this spirit. And its anger seemed to grow with each breath she drew.

  She turned and fled, scrambling out of the cave as fast as the darkness allowed.

  The sun had dipped low on the horizon when Pele stumbled from the cave, her whole body shaking. Her stomach lurched again, and she fell in the bushes and retched. Her childhood memories of her father were clouded, distant. But this was a fresh horror. He’d called her one of his brood. Kāne protect her. What did that even mean? She’d thought Ku-Aha-Ilo’s children mere byproducts of his lust. Were they actually intended? Did he want to create other kupua like Pele and Hiiaka? Why?

  She looked at the sky. Sunset would free the spirit. Pele would never make it back to Puako Village. Maybe she could ward herself with a large enough bonfire.

  She shook her head. Ku-Aha-Ilo was monstrous. She could only assume he’d devoured the owners of all those bones, perhaps drained them of their blood to fill that profane bath of his. He had all but confirmed the legends, that he absorbed mana from his countless victims.

  Pele wiped her mouth then rose and made her way back to the pool, where she washed her face. Beautiful and serene as this valley was, it housed a monster. He bathed in blood. Maybe she should just bury it all in a volcanic eruption. She could drive Mount Hualali into a grand detonation, cover this entire valley. Using her power on that scale would no doubt have horrific ramifications across the entire north side of the island. Whole villages might be endangered, maybe even swept away. The toxic residue would pour into the sea and kill the local wildlife. And she couldn’t even be certain she’d finish off Ku-Aha-Ilo.

  Besides which, she would likely destroy Puako Village as well. She couldn’t do that.

  “Find what you were looking for in that cave?” The haughtiness had crept back into Ku-Aha-Ilo’s woman’s voice.

  Something in Pele snapped. Her hair ignited and her hands glowed like they were made of living magma. The woman shrieked and fell as Pele rose to tower over her.

  “Who are you?” Pele demanded.

  “H-Hiilei.”

  “No. You’re a little bitch Ku-Aha-Ilo is trying to plant his seed in.” Pele grabbed Hiilei by the hair, but it turned to cinders almost instantly, filling the air with an acrid stench.

  The woman screamed again.

  Pele shook herself and let the fires about her dwindle. What was she doing, traumatizing this petty girl? This woman had no idea what she had gotten herself into. If Pele was a proper Princess she’d try to save the woman, not frighten her with a pointless display. Her father either wanted Hiilei as a place to sate his lust, or, as she had just claimed, to increase his brood.

  Either way, though, he did want Hiilei. Pele hesitated. Ku-Aha-Ilo was a monster. And if Pele truly wanted to defeat him, to force his help, maybe she needed to become one as well. How vile. To challenge her father she needed to become like him. And if that was the price to save her island, she would have to pay it. As Princess, she was the first and final line of defense for her people. Her father had called them inconsequential. He was wrong. The people were everything. They were a reason for her to be more than Ku-Aha-Ilo could ever hope to be.

  “Get up.”

  Hiilei did so, slowly, eyes locked on Pele’s hands. “If you hurt me, he’s going to …”

  Pele grabbed the woman by her shoulder with one hand and lit a torch in the other. She half pushed, half guided Hiilei back into the cave. Just what would Ku-Aha-Ilo do to protect his woman? Would he give up his secrets? Would he tell her how to save the villages? How to stop the spirit?

  Oh, but she had not forgotten what this demon had done to her mother. Maybe vengeance would have to wait. Now she knew where he laired. One day, she would return and make him answer for his crimes. Today, she had bigger duties.

  In the open cavern, Pele pushed Hiilei down to her knees. Then she lit a second torch, holding the flames on either side of the trembling woman’s head. “Ku-Aha-Ilo! I have your woman, monster. Show yourself!”

  The cavern remained still long enough Pele began to wonder if Ku-Aha-Ilo had left by some other exit. The place was so massive there could very well be a half dozen other tunnels leading from out. As she pressed forward, he came strolling toward her, dripping a trail of blood behind him.

  “Help me,” Hiilei whimpered.

  Pele glanced down at the woman, but Ku-Aha-Ilo did not. He never took his eyes off Pele’s.

  “You’re going to tell me what I want to know, or I will burn your woman’s face off.”

  “My woman?” He chuckled. “Three moons and still she bleeds. She does not appear primed to carry my lineage. I approve of your tactic, but you have vastly overestimated the bitch’s value. Burn her, by all means.” He waved a dismissive hand and turned away.

  “Ku-Aha-Ilo!” Pele shouted.

  “Oh,” he said without turning around, “you really should call me Father. I here it’s tabu to refer to your parents by their names.”

  Hiilei whimpered, though whether at learning Ku-Aha-Ilo cared nothing for her, or that the woman holding her hostage was his daughter, Pele didn’t know. Nor truly care.

  “You think I won’t harm her?” Pele demanded.

  “Oh, I hope you do. I’m certain it will make you stronger, more useful. Either way, I would have consumed her in a few days anyway.”

  “W-what?” the woman screamed.

  He waved his hand around the cavern. “Where do you think all these bones come from, you stupid bitch? Infertile, useless specimens. Not every woman has the strength to carry my seed, after all.” Without waiting for further reply, he walked back into the darkness of the cavern.

  Pele’s fingers contracted, constrained the flames, even as the land began to rumble with her rising anger. It was wordless, formless indignation that this creature could so dismiss human lives. His lover was—no. No, it soiled the word lover to use it in reference to Ku-Aha-Ilo or any of his victims. That’s what Hiilei was. A victim. She was no doubt born on this island. One of the very people her Princess should have protected. And Pele had instead burned half her hair off, then dragged the woman down here and threatened to melt her face. Whether Hiilei was seduced by Ku-Aha-Ilo’s power or merely seduced by him, she was innocent of any real crime save pride.

  And Pele couldn’t leave her here to face the horrors Ku-Aha-Ilo would no doubt visit upon her. With a sickening surety, Pele knew he had spoken the truth. He’d have fucked the woman, tortured her, and eaten her. If not tonight, the next night, or the next.

  “Get up,” Pele said. “Get up, we’re leaving.” She let one flame wink out and hefted Hiilei to her feet.

  Ku-Aha-Ilo was never going to help her or anyone but himself. Nor did she have anything to threaten him with save danger to his own life. Even if she could have beaten him in a fight—and she wasn’t sure she could have, even with the extra mana from Hualali—this woman would have been a casualty. How could she not be?

  Pele guided Hiilei back outside then pointed to the river. “Follow it long enough and y
ou’ll reach a village. Don’t ever come back here.”

  “You’re not going to burn me?”

  “I never was.” She hoped the woman couldn’t see through her lie. Pele wanted to believe it herself. “Now run, girl.”

  Even as the woman took off, Pele gathered kindling, anything she could find. She blew on her hands, sending sparks of flame onto the leaves and grass and branches, coaxing those flames higher and higher. All around her, she felt the ghost’s presence. Her breath frosted the air even on the warm night.

  Pele could only pray it would stay here, intent on her, rather than pursue Hiilei. She stared into the fire for a long time, waiting.

  By now, if the woman had half a brain, she was far away. The sun had long since set.

  Content the woman should be gone, Pele pressed her fingers into the stone around the cave. Maybe she could not bury this entire valley nor fill in the whole cave.

  But she could collapse the entrance.

  Fire bubbled inside her as she called forth the heat of the Earth. She screamed in pain and ecstasy from the effort until, finally, the tunnel cracked open. Blasts of lava spewed into the cave and poured down its steep slope, shot up into the ceiling. A river of lava tumbled inward, enough to cover the mouth. Pele sucked the heat and warmth out of that, forming igneous stone over the entrance. Finally, she collapsed on the ground, spent.

  Exhausted, she crawled back to the pool and lay down by her fire.

  17

  The truth was, Namaka stuck near the river as much for her own comfort as for the hope she would find some village that knew of the Waters of Life or this Place of Darkness. She had passed through several small settlements, but none had answers for her. The river didn’t call to her the way the sea did, but any water soothed her soul. To draw too far away from it felt like severing one of her senses, like trying to give up sight or hearing. It left her feeling weak, helpless. So she always came back to the river.

  Now, it had twisted so far it actually ran close enough that she could feel the sea once again, could feel the terrible longing for it. That was her place now. Her people needed her, they were falling to the he’e and to Mu. It was just … she had to find the Waters. She had to save her human people so she could dedicate her full attention beneath the waves. Or maybe her two sides would forever tear her in half.

  Ahead, a dozen or so grass huts dotted the riverbank. Not enough to even really call a village, but she was here and there was always a chance they might know something. Besides, night had already settled in. Maybe she could convince them to give her a place to sleep. Even with Nyi Rara’s spirit inside her, she needed rest from time to time, and she hadn’t paused in more than two days.

  After her fight with the Flame Princess she’d woven a new grass skirt, let herself close her eyes for a few moments after. Her mind had wandered to the World of Water, the realm Nyi Rara had shown her when they became merged. Had she truly seen it once again, as a byproduct of her connection to the mermaid, or had her exhausted mind just generated dreams? Either way, it had been beautiful and sparked a longing to return in her. Maybe one day, when the disease was cured and the he’e defeated, she could do so. Now, everywhere she looked waited another crisis demanding her immediate attention. Maybe she couldn’t afford to sleep tonight either.

  Or perhaps she could curl up against a rock under the river. The current should keep her from sleeping too deeply, but she might be able to rest, at least for a little while.

  Rubbing her eyes, she drifted into the settlement. “Aloha,” she offered the first person she ran across, a girl carrying a large gourd filled with water. The girl returned the greeting, then scurried off toward one of the huts.

  Strange. Most people were eager to welcome a traveler.

  Through the doorway she spotted a large number of people in that hut. What was going on? She made her way there and peeked her head inside. The villagers had gathered around a man in his thirties covered in some kind of herbal poultice. At the edges of it, she could see massive burns covered his body, though now he shivered as if chilled.

  She sucked in a sharp breath which drew the attention of several of the villagers. One of them, a young man who sat by the victim, hand on the man’s head, rose and walked over to her. He was probably a little older than her, with wiry muscles and more than a few scars. None of those scars disguised his handsome features. He motioned for her to follow him outside and Namaka did so.

  “Aloha,” she said. “What happened to him?”

  “There was an unexpected eruption this morning. Niheu was caught too close, burned by the fumes. Who are you?”

  Damn it. Her fight with the Flame Princess. That woman had been so intent on attacking Namaka she’d harmed her own people to do so. And, much as she hated the reminder, that meant she had more in common with the Flame Princess than she’d have liked. Most likely she’d killed the other Princess. It hadn’t really been her intent, but in anger—and maybe a little fear—she’d tossed her out to sea. By the time her temper had cooled, it was far too late to do anything about the Flame Princess.

  The man still stared expectantly at her.

  Really, she had no reason to hide the truth. “I’m Namaka, Princess of the Valley Isle.”

  The man’s mouth opened a moment, though he couldn’t seem to form words. Then he bowed. “Forgive me, Princess. I am your humble servant, Kana.”

  Namaka snickered. “Thanks, but you’re not my servant and I’m not your Princess. Your Princess is the one who created that eruption in the first place.”

  Kana nodded as if the news surprised him little.

  “Listen,” Namaka said. “I’m looking for the Place of Darkness.” May as well be upfront about it. The local hesitated, mouth crooked oddly. “You know of it?”

  “Why would you want to go there?”

  So he did know of it. Finally, someone who could help her. “People have gotten sick on my island. There’s a legend that … there’s supposed to be Waters there that can cure any ailment.”

  Kana glanced back at the hut they had just left. “Could they heal my brother?”

  This Niheu was Kana’s older brother then? In truth, she had no idea if the Waters could save the man. From the look of him, he had only a day or two left in him. His brother was desperate for hope, any hope, however frail. Namaka knew the feeling. “They might.”

  Did she give Kana false hope now? Would it be better to let him make his peace with his brother’s demise, say goodbye? Sometimes goodbye was the most important thing one could ever say to one’s family. Nyi Rara had given her that chance, let her say goodbye to her father’s ghost in a way most people could never manage.

  “Then I will take you.”

  “Take me? No, just tell me where to find the Waters and I’ll bring them here on my way back.”

  He shook his head. “This is my brother. I am going to find the Waters. If you want to come, Princess, I welcome your company. It’s a long walk, near the heart of the island.”

  Namaka sighed. The man was determined to do anything to save his family. Who was she to deny him that? She was doing the same damn thing. “Fine. But you should … Kana, say goodbye to your brother, just in case. Trust me on this.”

  The man nodded and slipped back into the hut. Yes. Nyi Rara had allowed Namaka to say goodbye to her father. And it was not enough. It would never, ever be enough. In this place, I can finally tell you how much I love you, Daughter. It was everything she’d needed to hear. And it had ripped her heart out. Ten days had passed and it felt like she had seen him yesterday. Goodbye was never enough, the words so small and insignificant in the face of a lifetime separated from one’s family. Not enough, but still something, the only thing she had left to hold on to.

  Tears blurred her eyes and she blinked them away. She couldn’t even afford to grieve, couldn’t give in to despair, or she would lose her mother as well. Namaka choked down a sob and walked over the river, bent to wash her face. A moment later she heard footsteps
approaching and turned to see Kana there, carrying a satchel.

  “Let’s go.” His face had turned ashen, probably weighed down by his own brush with loss. He stood on the tip of it, like a man surfing a wave that any moment might swallow him. Just like Namaka, trying to save her mother, trying to stay atop that wave.

  Namaka rose and nodded, then followed where Kana led, traveling away from the river. With each step she passed farther from the sea and the power it granted her. Countless rivers and pools and waterfalls dotted the island, of course, and she could draw some solace from the feel of them. But her true strength came from the ocean, and if the Place of Darkness lay in the island’s heart, she would face it without that strength.

  For hours they walked, often uphill, Kana talking about his days as a hunter and how much he had learned from Niheu. Despite the circumstances, he had an easy smile, and such undisguised admiration for his brother, Namaka couldn’t help but enjoy his company.

  After several hours of nothing but moonlight to guide her, she began to stumble on the rocks and roots.

  After her third stumble, Kana paused to help her up. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m tired.” Exhausted was more like it, and hungry. Were they near a river, she’d have stopped for a fish. Instead, she’d swiped a few berries and had had little else to eat.

  Kana pointed to a large banyan tree nearby. Its roots broke free from the ground to form arches and a small alcove. He dropped his satchel and climbed under the roots, then curled up, arm beneath his head. “Well, come on,” he said after a moment.

  Rest. Aumakuas, did she need rest. She’d never slept beneath the roots of a banyan, but she’d spent most of her nights in a cave, so she supposed it would be fine. She crawled under the roots and lay down near Kana. “You’ve been there?” she asked after a moment.

  “To the Place of Darkness? No. I’ve seen tunnels that are supposed to lead there. Niheu and I went exploring there years ago.”