Risen Gods

by J. F. Penn

She took hold of the paddle again and together they plunged into the wild ocean, spray soaking them as they paddled harder, inch by inch towards the meeting of the oceans.

  "There!" Ben shouted above the wail of the wind, pointing with his paddle.

  As they rode the crest of a wave, Lucy saw it: a giant vortex in the ocean, a whirling mass of water that summoned all to its center, where it crushed everything down to the deep.

  And it was pulling them closer by the second.

  Creatures of the sea leapt as they tried to escape the powerful rip. Silver-grey flashes of huge sharks. Sharp spikes and purple sails of marlin and sailfish. All of them pulled in, inexorably downwards.

  Then, a huge fleshy tentacle emerged from the wave, hooked suckers clawing towards them as the giant eye of the mighty octopus fixed on its prey.

  Lucy's heart thumped hard in her chest. There was no way they could escape this.

  But then she felt the pull of the pendant – towards the center of the vortex.

  She lifted her paddle and rested it in the waka. There was no need to paddle anymore. They were caught in the whirling waters, and it would draw them in and down where they were meant to be.

  She thought of Amber and sent her love across the waves, hoping that somehow her sister would hear. Then she turned to Ben, scrambling over the seat to his open arms.

  Ben held Lucy close as they spiraled towards the center of the vortex. His breath came fast in anticipation of what the end would feel like. But this time, he would hold onto her. They would go under together.

  Offer the pendants now.

  The deep voice came from within, but it was strong and powerful. Lucy leaned away from him, and Ben could see that she had heard it too.

  The voice of Papatuanuku, goddess of the earth.

  They both pulled the pendants from around their necks. Hers was the manaia, the messenger of the gods of the air. His was Te Wheke, the creature of the deep, entwined with the shard of the great waka.

  Together, they bound land and sea. Together they represented Maori and Pakeha, male and female.

  Hands entwined, Ben and Lucy waited until the waka rode the very edge of the vortex. Until they felt the vertigo of looking down into the center of the ocean.

  They threw the pendants out into the waters, then watched as the taonga, the treasures of the people of the land, sank into the midnight blue.

  As the pendants disappeared beneath the sea, the wind struck even more powerfully, whipping them around as the black clouds descended. Ben felt the roar of Whiro in the gale, the anger of the god against those who would challenge his dominance.

  A huge wave struck the waka, and the pair were thrown to the floor. Water poured into the canoe, and they spun out of control. Ben grabbed for the paddle and tried to keep them upright. Lucy clung to the seat, her head buried against him.

  Then, a plume of foam erupted from the center of the vortex. A jet of water shot upwards and pierced the black clouds swirling about them.

  A deep rumble of thunder came from the land, an echoing groan from the deep ocean.

  The wind receded. The clouds cleared. The waters calmed.

  Ben and Lucy sat in the waka on a becalmed sea as a rainbow appeared in the sky. The treaty of the gods renewed.

  "We made it," Lucy whispered.

  Ben pulled her into his arms. Together, they watched an albatross circle above them, its call a promise of a new day.

  33

  Two weeks later.

  Ben hefted the sail onto its rack, and then stood back to admire how the boathouse looked. The outside was still smashed up and this rack was only the beginning, but it was just one way that Christchurch was starting to recover.

  The city would make it. Hell, the country would make it, because everyone was doing their bit in the aftermath of the disaster. The volcanic eruptions had calmed along with the ocean and it seemed that equilibrium had finally returned.

  With a bit of number 8 wire, she'll be right, Ben thought with a smile at the Kiwi can-do attitude.

  "What do you think of this?"

  Lucy's voice came from the front of the boathouse and Ben walked back out into the sun to find her. She held a paintbrush, her head tilted to one side as she examined the new sign for the Pegasus Bay Sailing Club. Amber sat on the grass next to her sister, staring out to sea. She was recovering slowly, but her cheeks had a touch of pink today and her eyes were brighter.

  Ben looked at the sign. The fresh green paint glistened in the morning light. Under the name, Lucy had painted a koru, the unfurling frond of the silver fern. It was a Maori symbol of creation and new life, of perpetual movement and change in the lifecycle of the earth.

  "Not bad," Ben said. "Might get you carving for the marae next. Maybe we can take something up for Rangi's tangihanga."

  Lucy smiled softly and tears sprang to her eyes. They had all lost so much.

  Ben wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to kiss her. He would take every moment to be close to Lucy now. Their shared memories of what they had seen would bind them together, whatever happened in the future. At least today, they had each other.

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  In the Time Before …

  Risen Gods is based on Maori mythology, particularly the creation story.

  In the Time Before, Ranginui, god of the sky, and Papatuanuku, goddess of the earth, were joined together in their love. This was the time of Te Po, the Great Nights of Coming into Being.

  But the sons of the gods could not flourish within the tight embrace of their parents.

  So the children thrust them apart.

  Ranginui's blood stained the skies of the west and Papatuanuku's blood dripped to the ground, forming red ochre. The tears of their grief became the rain and the mist.

  The brothers fought amongst themselves and their wrath shook the earth. Until finally, the gods of the rivers and the mountains were still and silent.

  For a time, it was quiet.

  But now, the gods of Aotearoa are rising again.

  Glossary of Maori and New Zealand Words

  We have attempted to use Te Reo – the Maori language – in appropriate ways throughout the book. Here are the words used and if any are wrong, we apologize for any errors. The use of the macron for long vowels, e.g. 'a' in Māori, was considered but the decision was made to omit it so as not to confuse international readers with pronunciation.

  Aotearoa - originally used as a reference to the North Island, now widely recognized as the Maori name for the country of New Zealand

  Hangi - traditional Maori way of cooking food on heated rocks buried in a pit oven

  Hapu - extended family, comprised of a number of whanau

  Hawaiki - traditional Maori place of origin

  Hokioi - huge mythical birds of prey

  Hongi - traditional Maori greeting where the nose and forehead are pressed together so the breath of life is intermingled

  Iwi - tribe, set of people bound together by a common ancestor

  Kai moana - seafood

  Kaitiaki - a guardian spirit

  Karakia - prayers, incantations

  Kaumatua - tribal elder

  Kia ora - greeting; hello, be well

  Koru - the unfurling frond of the silver fern. A Maori symbol of creation and new life.

  Manaia - mythical creature with the head of a bird and the body of a man. The messenger between the physical world and the domain of the spirits, used as a guardian against evil.

  Marae - meeting ground, a fenced complex of carved buildings
and grounds, the focal point of Maori community

  Moko - Maori tattoos

  Motuhake - special

  Pakeha - Maori name for white, non-Maori New Zealanders

  Papatuanuku - goddess of the earth. Together with Ranginui, one of the primordial gods from the creation myth

  Pounamu - greenstone, nephrite jade

  Rakahore - god of rock and stone

  Ranginui - god of the sky

  Rarohenga - the underworld and realm of the spirits

  Raukawa Moana - sea of bitter leaves. Maori name for the Cook Strait.

  Ruaumoko - god of earthquakes and volcanoes

  Taiaha - traditional weapon; a staff made of wood or whalebone

  Tane Mahuta - Lord of the Forest; a specific ancient kauri tree in Northland

  Tangaroa - god of the sea

  Tangata whenua - people of the land, Maori name for themselves

  Tangihanga or tangi - funeral rite held on the marae

  Taniwha - supernatural creature that protects certain physical places

  Taonga - ancestral treasure

  Tawhirimatea - god of storms and the weather

  Te Parata - a monster of the tidal ocean who caused the high and low tides by swallowing vast quantities of water and then spitting it out again

  Te Reo - Maori language

  Te Rerenga Wairua - the leaping-off place where the spirits of the dead enter the underworld. Cape Reinga, the northern tip of New Zealand

  Te Wharenui - the meeting house on the marae

  Te Wheke-a-Muturangi - mythical monstrous octopus

  Toroa - albatross

  Tui - a New Zealand honeyeater bird with a distinctive call

  Tumatauenga - the red-faced god of war

  Waka - oceangoing canoes

  Waka wairua - a spirit canoe

  Whakapapa - genealogy, ancestry

  Whanau - extended family

  Whiro - god of darkness and embodiment of evil

  Other New Zealand terms/slang

  Banana bread - particularly yummy banana cake often eaten for breakfast with butter

  Lemon and Paeroa - fizzy drink made in Paeroa, a town in the North Island

  Moro bar - chocolate bar with nougat and caramel

  Number 8 wire - New Zealand term that implies a can-do attitude and the ability to fix anything

  She'll be right - New Zealand slang meaning 'everything will be OK.'

  Sweet as - New Zealand slang for good, cool, awesome

  Tiki tour - scenic tour; a roundabout way of getting somewhere

  Author’s Note

  From J.F.Penn:

  Risen Gods is Dedicated to Nicky and Tim, Anna and Angus Raeburn.

  I'm British, but I lived in New Zealand for seven years and I hold a New Zealand passport. I support the All Blacks at rugby, even when they're playing England, and I'm married to a Kiwi. I've traveled all over the North and South Islands and experienced the wonders that they offer to adventurers. So I love New Zealand, and I hope that my passion for the country comes through in this story.

  You can see some of the pictures that inspired the book, including my own images at: www.pinterest.com/jfpenn/risen-gods/

  When I first arrived in Auckland back in 2000, I traveled north. I dived the Poor Knights Islands and visited Tane Mahuta in the Waipoua Forest. Then I went south, camping by the mud pools in Rotorua, and I also hiked the Tongariro Crossing. That steaming landscape was used for Mordor in Lord of the Rings. My fascination with the Pacific Rim of Fire began then and, although I wasn't in Christchurch when the 2011 earthquakes hit, I had friends there. So this story has been percolating for years and I'm thrilled it's finally made it out into the world.

  I've kept the landscape as real as possible, although distances have been shortened for the sake of speeding up the story sometimes. I've also tried to respect the Maori people, culture and customs in the book but of course, it is fiction, and should be taken as such. Maori traditions are primarily oral and differ by iwi, or tribe. All are similar in that they are holistic, entwining the earth and people with the spiritual realm, but there are differences in interpretation.

  The following books were used for research:

  Legends of Aotearoa by Chris Winitana and Andy Reisinger

  Land of the Long White Cloud: Maori Myths, Tales and Legends by Kiri Te Kanawa

  Maori Tales and Legends Collected and Retold by Kate McCosh Clark

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  If you like supernatural crime thrillers, join Detective Jamie Brooke and reluctant psychic Blake Daniel, in the London Psychic trilogy:

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  About J.F.Penn

  J.F.Penn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author. Her ARKANE thrillers have been described as 'Dan Brown meets Lara Croft,' and her London Psychic supernatural thrillers as 'the love child of Stephen King and PD James.'

  Joanna has a Master’s degree in Theology from the University of Oxford, Mansfield College and a Graduate Diploma in Psychology from the University of Auckland. She lives in Bath, England but previously lived in New Zealand, Australia and London.

  She is a PADI Divemaster and enjoys traveling as often as possible. Joanna is obsessed with religion and psychology and loves to read, drink Pinot Noir and soak up European culture through art, architecture and food.

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  About J.Thorn

  J. Thorn is a Top 100 Most Popular Author in Horror, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure and Fantasy (Amazon Author Rank). He has published over one million words and has sold more than 150,000 books worldwide. In March of 2014 Thorn held the #5 position in Horror alongside his childhood idols Dean Koontz and Stephen King (at #4 and #2 respectively). He is an official, active member of the Horror Writers Association and a member of the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers. J. is a contributor to disinformation.com and a staff writer for HeavyPlanet.net as well as a founding board member of the Author Marketing Institute.

  Thorn earned a B.A. in American History from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. from Duquesne University. He has spent the last twenty years researching mysticism and the occult in colonial American history.

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  Acknowledgments

  Thanks to Jen Blood for great editing and to Wendy Janes for proofreading. Thanks to Jane Dixon Smith for cover design and interior print formatting.

  The map of New Zealand/Aotearoa was designed by Brianne Ryan.

  Thanks to Aaron Compton for reading and giving feedback from a Maori perspective and to Jonathan Byron for reading from a geologist and vulcanologist perspective.

  J. Thorn would like to thank The Keepers and all of the readers who continue to support him in this crazy endeavor.

  J.F.Penn would like to thank all her readers, especially the Pennfriends and the listeners at The Creative Penn podcast.

  Copyright Page

  Copyright © Joanna Penn and J. Thorn (2015). All rights reserved.

  www.JFPenn.com

  www.JThorn.net

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is fictionalized or coincidental.

  For any inquiries regarding this book, please email: joanna@JFPenn.com

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.