Tides of Mana

by Matt Larkin

  Nyi Rara breached the surface, a spout of water flinging her high into the air. The next moment the taniwha erupted from the waters beneath her, half the length of its body flying skyward. She could barely hear her own scream over the ringing in her ears. On instinct, she twisted the waterspout she rode and had it fling her out far to the side.

  The dragon’s jaws snapped shut over thin air and it crashed back into the sea, sending a wave washing over her. The current spun her around, and by the time her vision cleared, the taniwha was already swimming for her again.

  Nyi Rara swept her hands apart, then clapped them together, creating an undersea wave that slammed into the dragon and stalled its momentum, but only for an instant. Damn it. She didn’t have a good enough weapon against such a foe.

  She had to give Pele a line on the dragon.

  Nyi Rara felt her surfboard floating some distance away. She still needed to be up where Pele could see her. As the taniwha closed in again, she launched herself upward, out of the sea to land on her board, resuming her legs.

  THE BOARD ROCKED on Namaka’s landing and she spread her arms to steady herself, then immediately stirred up the waters beneath her, flinging herself forward so quickly it felt like she was flying across the sea.

  As expected, the taniwha was less than a heartbeat behind her, though it began losing ground to her incredible speed. But she didn’t need to escape from the monster. She needed to beat it. She glanced to the beach and saw Pele there, like a massive torch holding back the evening, her whole body ablaze.

  One chance was probably all they’d get—so she had to pray to the ‘aumākua one chance would be enough. She turned her board, circling the dragon, letting it draw a little closer.

  Everything she had done, all the mistakes she had made, the price those she loved had paid—they had been to give her this one chance. If she failed them now, then Milolii’s death, her sacrifice, all the deaths of her people, they meant nothing.

  Namaka jumped off the board and dove beneath the waves, pulling them along behind her as she did so.

  ALL THE MANA Nyi Rara had absorbed from Milolii’s loving heart she poured out into the sea, calling it. Demanding it bow before her. Her mana, her very life force surged around her until she hit the seabed. Then she spun, launching herself straight at the taniwha.

  It had created a small kai e‘e when it rose to attack her people.

  That wave was nothing compared to the one she summoned now. Anyone not in the mountains, not in the valleys, they’d be hurt by this maneuver. But she couldn’t think of that now. Couldn’t think of anything save ending this monster once and for all.

  The dragon snapped at her, but a beat of her tail and the surge of the waves carried her beneath it. Carried her, and caught the dragon in the current’s irresistible embrace, sucking the behemoth up in its wake. Nyi Rara surged upward in an arc that pulled that current into a single, high wave that rushed straight for the beach with Nyi Rara riding high above it. Looking beneath her, the taniwha tumbled about, end over end, visible only as a giant shadow through the curtain of water they rode.

  Nyi Rara roared defiance at the creature the instant the wave broke over the shore. She wrapped herself in a bubble and flew forward, ahead of the destruction. The kai e‘e swarmed over the beach, sweeping through trees and ripping out their roots, carrying away boulders in a cascade of devastation.

  The taniwha slapped the beach and rolled several times, crushing what rocks and trees the wave had not immediately swept aside.

  NAMAKA ROLLED OVER, having to use her power to help herself stand against the rushing current. The last of that power she poured into the sea, pushing it back, turning the tide as she’d done when the taniwha first attacked here. It burned through her veins until fire became ice and she grew cold from draining herself of such mana.

  The waters receded, turning back, leaving the taniwha stranded. It rolled over, pushing itself up on its clumsy legs, then shook its head. Looking back and forth between her and the retreating sea. Deciding whether to close the distance and consume her or return to its point of strength.

  Namaka fell to her knees as the water slipped away from the shore. Her arms dropped to her side. She had almost nothing left. All the mana she had absorbed from Milolii, all she could call upon from her own soul or Nyi Rara’s, all had fled. To push more might kill her. The taniwha must have seen it, because it began to slowly tread in her direction, pulling itself forward with legs not meant for walking ashore. But capable enough of doing so when forced to it.

  And then the beach erupted into a succession of steam geysers beneath the taniwha. Its roar deafened Namaka, even before the ground ruptured completely, engulfing the flailing dragon in a torrent of magma spewed a hundred feet into the sky.

  The beach around the taniwha exploded in a shower of sand and dust and blood, scales flying free and landing all around her. The sound of the eruption was drowned out by another pained bellow from the monster.

  A flow of lava billowed down from Kīlauea in an unstoppable tide. It swept toward her, and it took all Namaka could do just to escape back into the sea. Lava hit ocean with a sizzle she felt more than heard, her ears still ringing tremendously.

  NYI RARA DOVE under the scorching waters, beating her tail furiously to bring herself further out to sea. Then she turned, taking in the fallen taniwha. Its flesh had melted and flowed away, leaving a charred, blistered husk that somehow had not yet given in to death.

  It had been nearly as majestic as it was horrible, and to see it brought to such an end almost made her sad. For all the destruction it had wrought, she’d had no choice. None of them did. But really, it was the he‘e and Hiyoya who had done this.

  As the haze cleared, she saw the creature, now reduced to a bloody mess. Its intact eye was now swollen shut, its jaw unhinged and trailing behind its head as though ready to rip off.

  Panting, Nyi Rara sank down into the waters, pulling on what little mana lurked in them just to keep herself awake. ‘Aumākua! She needed to get back somewhere more flush in mana, to absorb it and regain her strength.

  But first, just a few moments of rest down here …

  36

  P ele looked down into the sea. No. That would have been too easy. It was dark, and hard to make things out.

  “Is she going to be all right?” Hi‘iaka asked.

  “I told you, get back to the village,” Pele snapped at the girl. The taniwha might be dead, but they still had those hideous he‘e to worry about. Those, and hostile mer. Mer like Namaka had somehow become.

  Grumbling, Hi‘iaka did fall back.

  Bubbles rose from the water, accompanied an instant later by a ripple. Was there something down there? A moment later, Namaka rose from the depths, her head above water, eyes looking bleary. She had pushed herself to her limits, hadn’t she?

  Pele waited for her just beyond the shoreline, and when Namaka came up, she had human legs, though she seemed almost to limp, naked and bedraggled, as she made her way to where Pele stood.

  “It’s done …” Namaka said. “For now, at least. There’s more going on under the ocean than I think anyone realizes. A … a war for control of the whole Worldsea.”

  Pele nodded, not taking her eyes off her elder sister. This woman’s rage had ravaged Uluka‘a. It had carried her across the Worldsea for thousands of miles in pursuit of vengeance. And that was before Namaka found herself possessed by an akua from beyond Pō. No, it wouldn’t be over. Sooner or later, her sister would take up her lust for vengeance once more. Pele might never again find the woman so drained.

  “What is it?” Namaka asked.

  “We cannot change the past.”

  “No, I wish we—”

  Pele ignited flames in both hands and reached for the Sea Queen. Eyes wide, Namaka grabbed her forearms and bent Pele’s arms backward with impossible strength, until they both tumbled into the water, extinguishing her fires in a curtain of steam. Pele shrieked in pain at the other woman’s gri
p. She would not be cowed by her sister, be she human, mermaid, or anything else. Physical strength meant nothing to women with their powers.

  “You are a monster,” Pele spat at Namaka. “You awakened this taniwha! Your anger has nearly destroyed two civilizations! You are a blight upon our people! I will not allow you to threaten anything else!”

  Pele fed mana into the lava tubes running beneath the sea, splitting its floor and sending currents of steam and ash into the waters. The water’s temperature rose so rapidly the other queen screamed, releasing Pele and using a wave to fling herself up on land. Pele smirked, luxuriating in the steaming waters a moment before following Namaka onto the beach.

  The woman had retained her human form, though her flesh had turned red from the scalding. Pele stood, flung water from her hand, and reignited her fires. Namaka pushed herself onto hands and knees and glared at Pele. Good. Let her see it coming.

  “You have earned this a hundred times over.” Pele stalked over and kicked Namaka in the ribs, sending the other woman into a crumpled heap. Namaka rolled over onto her back, groaning.

  Pele stalked in, hands blazing.

  Namaka twisted her wrist, yanking it toward herself.

  The sound of rushing air offered the only warning Pele had, but it was enough to tell her to fling herself prone. A spear of water launched itself through the air where she had stood and impacted a boulder with enough force to crack it. Pele rolled over, glaring. She was going to burn this bitch.

  The other queen jerked her arms outward and a wave followed them, slamming into Pele, sending her tumbling down the beach and back into the sea.

  The impact dazed her, gave her no time to hold her breath, and she sucked down a mouthful of water. Gasping, spinning underwater, she twisted to see the mermaid—or a shadow of her—swim around her at impossible speeds. Pele scrambled upward, unable to think of anything but air. Something hit her from behind, knocking her out of the water and against a rock. She caught a single breath before plunging back into the ocean.

  And then the mermaid was upon her, shoving her against the same rock, eyes glaring with hatred. “I gave you a chance!” Namaka’s hand closed around Pele’s throat, her strength Otherworldly.

  Pele beat against her arm ineffectively. She felt the heat build behind her eyes, lurking within her rage. She snarled even as her hair caught aflame. The fires spread to her hands and Namaka shrieked.

  The mermaid twisted around and flung Pele upside down. She hurtled through the air, everything whizzing by in a blur for the instant before sand hit her and blasted the air from her lungs.

  By the time Pele gained her feet, dazed and groaning, Namaka had risen from the sea and surrounded herself with swirling waters intersecting in a lattice like a fisherman’s net—one spinning so quickly as to be a near blur. Pele hesitated. No fire she threw would cut through that kind of protection. Which meant mere flame would not be enough in this case. She needed something bigger.

  She smacked her fists to the ground, calling up magma. The whole island shook, splitting apart as sulfuric fumes billowed forth, followed a heartbeat later by dozens of bursts of lava.

  “Stop!” someone shouted behind her. Hi‘iaka, no doubt.

  Pele didn’t spare the girl a glance. She had to end this. Hi‘iaka was one of the people she needed to protect.

  A jet of water shot out at her as she advanced on Namaka. Pele reached out to a volcanic geyser and yanked the lava in front of her, blocking the water. Lava turned to rock and water was vaporized. Without waiting to see Namaka’s next move, Pele summoned more lava, spinning it around her in a ring. She couldn’t quite mimic Namaka’s lattice, but she called up another ring, and another, until she had five hula-like rings encircling her, shielding her from Namaka’s spears of water.

  Namaka still stood with her own net of protection. She whipped her arms forward, sending dual arcs of water from her net streaming at Pele. Pele sent a ring spiraling outward to meet those arcs, the two forces obliterating each other. Pele countered by flinging one of her lava rings at Namaka, who doused it with an arc of her own.

  Another rock wave split them apart and Pele stumbled, almost toppling backward. “You can’t win! You’re too spent to use the force of your power.”

  Namaka spun, her net transforming into trails of water streaming from both hands like whips that stretched for forty feet each. She jerked her arms around in wide arcs, her water whips crashing into boulder after boulder, destroying each as Pele dashed about, seeking cover.

  Well, damn.

  If Namaka would push her limits that far, perhaps Pele could get her to burn off so much mana the bitch just died from it.

  The sheer force of that much water would cut through Pele’s rings, so she abandoned them, running for her life. She dove to the ground, turning as she did so, and sent an arc of lava cascading toward Namaka. The arc impacted one of the water whips, severing it. Namaka stumbled and fell face forward.

  Pele used the opportunity to dash behind another boulder, hopefully out of the Sea Queen’s awareness. She slumped down, panting. She pressed her palms to the ground. A few streams of lava wasn’t enough to give her the advantage here. She needed a river of it, even if it meant calling up another eruption of Kīlauea.

  “Stop it, please!” Hi‘iaka shrieked. Pele had to keep the girl clear of the chaos. She had to finish Namaka before Hi‘iaka got swept up in the elemental forces at play.

  The Earth responded to her call, rumbling first, then splitting apart in a crevice a dozen paces long and half as wide. Lava pooled up from it, pitching down both sides, one of which would pour into the sea. All she’d need to do now was—

  A blade of water slashed over her head, cutting through trees like an enormous axe. Wood splintered and exploded throughout the jungle.

  ‘Aumākua!

  Pele dashed for further cover, ducking and rolling as Namaka spun, another of her water blades racing overhead.

  Snarling, Pele called up a surge of lava and sent it crashing toward Namaka in a rolling wave. The Sea Queen raised her hands, dropping those destructive blades. Instead, the beach exploded in geyser after geyser, catching the lava wave and halting its progress in a curtain of steam and toxic vapors.

  “Stop this!”

  The very air was charged with the power of this fight. It had Pele’s hair standing on end, her skin tingling, her body feeling apt to burst apart at the seams. “Surrender to destiny!” she spat at Namaka.

  The Sea Queen responded by sending a blade of water along the ground in a slashing arc that tore through the beach, flinging sand in its wake. Pele jerked her arms up and raised a wall of lava to block the assault. The water blade impossibly sheared through the lava wall but evaporated before it could continue to slice Pele in half.

  “Stoooop!”

  Pele hesitated a moment, looking to her little sister, and even Namaka faltered. Lightning crackled behind Hi‘iaka’s eyes. It coruscated over her arms and resounded with a clap as deafening as the taniwha’s roar. It swirled around the screaming girl in a vortex that had begun to lift Hi‘iaka off her feet, so bright it stung Pele’s eyes and left blurred images flitting around her vision.

  A maelstrom of lightning that just kept growing and growing.

  Oh … fuck.

  “Hi‘iaka!” Pele shrieked. “Release it! Release it now, you’re not ready for—”

  Bolts of lightning erupted in all directions. They lanced into the jungle, detonating trees. They struck boulders and blew them into shards. Lightning rolled along the ground, dancing over the puddles left by Namaka’s fury. It jumped from one into Namaka herself and sent the Sea Queen hurtling through the air in a smoldering ball.

  The roar of thunder drowned out all other sounds. Galvanic arcs had set the whole jungle ablaze. And, though Pele could no longer hear the girl, her mouth was agape in a scream of pain and terror as she hovered five feet off the ground.

  Shrieking endlessly.

  Fuck.

  Pe
le scrambled toward her little sister but couldn’t come within a hundred feet. Even that close, the leaping blasts of lightning felt like they’d rip her skin from her bones. The storm raged over the jungle, over the sea, poised to swallow half the island in a galvanic cataclysm.

  Hi‘iaka was going to obliterate Vai‘i.

  And then the lightning erupted upward like a volcano venting a thousand years of pressure.

  A wave of energy flung Pele off her feet and hurled her into a patch of scorched sand.

  She heard nothing save a whine in her ears. Saw nothing save the afterimage burned into her eyes … Her beautiful little sister falling.

  37

  Breathing hurt. Namaka’s lungs felt charred. Her skin and scales bled from dozens of ruptures, even as she dragged herself back toward the beach. Blinking, Namaka took in devastation as complete as anything they had wrought in Uluka‘a.

  Despite her intention to find a truce with Pele, despite even managing to work together to destroy the taniwha, still her treacherous sister had turned on her. And unleashed this.

  And Hi‘iaka!

  Groaning, Namaka resumed her legs and crawled along the beach to where a form lay motionless. A young girl.

  No.

  No, no, no, this was not happening. Not her too …

  Grunting with the effort and leaving a trail of blood behind her, Namaka made her way to Hi‘iaka’s side. The girl’s eyes were closed. Namaka laid her head upon her sister’s chest.

  No heartbeat.

  She had done it. The fear that held back all heirs of Haumea. Hi‘iaka had burned through so much of her mana it had snuffed out her very life.

  Namaka couldn’t make herself rise. Couldn’t do anything save lay there, head on the girl’s chest, moaning.

  This wasn’t supposed to happen.