The Half-Hearts Chronicles

by Kealohilani

  “Because of that, I’m sure he’s hoping that we will just try to force our way through. But, I don’t want to give him that satisfaction for the same reason that he would like it.

  “He is hoping we will lose Jharate. He knows what a blow that would be to our people— and to Alamea as a whole. And— according to Lani’s vision on the ship— we have at least one Half-Heart among us. Possibly more. We can’t risk losing even one just to get to Destavnia faster— even if we could win the battle against Drakne’s men, which we would.

  “Drakne will probably have the rest of his men go back along the shore of Lake Helasi and through the Trisaknen side so that he can fool the sanctuary into thinking that we are safe. As the mountains here are too steep to safely travel over— directly into Destavnia— it will basically be a foot race to see which party can get to Zenastra first.

  “If Drakne and his men arrive before we do, it will mean another battle. Luckily the Trisaknen way is normally about two or three weeks longer than the journey through the Trazanian Pass.

  “Wait a minute… they were somehow able to catch up to us at Asharen’s and overtake us on the path to Destavnia— even though we were making fantastic time. So that crazy mystery has to be considered…

  “But even if they are able to travel through that stretch at that same speed again, we should get there first— as long as they can’t maintain that speed the whole time. It might be a close call though. And we have to hope he doesn’t have people in Zenastra right now since they just took over Trisakne.

  “Long story short— in order to ensure that we keep whatever slight advantage we might have— we should probably only stay one night to enjoy the safety of this sanctuary. So make the most of it. That is all. As you were.”

  Arante sat back down to dangle her legs in the pool again and looked up as Erik came back to her side. He had just picked some fresh flowers for her. He brought them over with an embarrassed look on his face— looking down at his feet and shifting his weight as he handed them to her.

  She accepted them with a warm smile and delicately inhaled their scent. She suddenly stood up, dropped the flowers, grabbed his shirt by the collar with both hands, and pulled him in for a passionate kiss.

  “Wow,” Erik muttered as their lips parted.

  Erik staggered back, falling. Arante still had a hold on his shirt and the two of them tumbled together into the pond with a huge splash, sending the fish into frenzied chaos.

  When they resurfaced, Arante laughed happily and kissed him again, as they knelt in the water together. As they exited, the water sheeted off of them like they were made of glass. Their hair magically styled once more— although differently-styled than just moments ago.

  Arante turned and flashed a flirtatious smile at Erik, who took a misstep and fell back again into the shallow water. This time Arante did not fall down with him. She laughed freely like she had not laughed since she was a child.

  She leaned over and offered her hand to help him get out. He took it and stepped out of the pond. There were stars in his hazel eyes as he gazed at her.

  Erik had never expected this kind of luck in his entire life. He barely noticed that they were instantly dry the moment they stepped out onto the solid ground again. Nor did he notice her hairstyle change from the elaborate French braid with flowers woven throughout— which she had been wearing since they got into the cave— back to the high ponytail with ringlets that she usually wore. He certainly didn’t notice his own hair before or now— which had gone from a short tousled surfer look to a windblown-and-elaborately-coiffed-looking faux hawk.

  Erik leaned in and kissed Arante on the lips— his right hand gently holding the nape of her neck— his left hand cradling her waist. As their lips parted this time, Arante jogged away with a giggle and a girlish smile until she found a good climbing tree and beckoned for Erik to follow her.

  They climbed up to one of the topmost sturdy branches and sat on it together. She lifted his arm around her and put her head on his shoulder. They sat there, silent, just listening to the breeze and the crickets, for a long time. Arante conjured up an image of some fireflies to float around them as they cuddled. They continued to sit quietly, simply enjoying each other’s company.

  After a while, Arante abruptly broke the silence between them. “I think I want to go with you to your world.”

  “Really? But, this is your home.”

  “Yes, but I want something new. Everyone knows me here. I am part of the royal family of Trisakne and I am always recognized everywhere I go. I can never hide in a crowd.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “This would have to be after we find a way to defeat Vranah, of course. I could never abandon my world in a time such as this— or Jharate. But once the Kingdom of Trisakne is returned to him, there will be very little for me to do. I want to go with you if you ever find a way back home.”

  “I’d love to have you come with me,” Erik beamed, wondering if he was dreaming.

  “Tell me of your family on Earth. What are they like?”

  “I’m the youngest of four— the rest are all girls, which made me the victim of countless chick flick marathons and hairstyling sessions growing up.”

  “Chick flick?”

  “Never mind— it’s kind of hard to explain. They just did a lot of girly things to me. But I love ‘em.”

  “What about your parents?”

  “My parents aren’t together anymore.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry! Which one of them died?”

  “Neither of them died. They just split up. They aren’t married anymore.”

  “What?!” Arante asked in shock. “How is that possible?”

  “They’re divorced.”

  “Divorced? What does that mean?”

  “You guys don’t have divorce? Oh wow, well um… It’s a legal way to end a marriage on Earth. The two can split and not be together anymore… like, be single again.”

  Arante pulled Erik closer to her and held on tightly.

  “That’s terrible! I’m so sorry, Erik.”

  “Yeah, well, it was a long time ago. I was like fourteen. I was the youngest and I think they were going to try to wait until I was eighteen so it wouldn’t be so traumatic— but they couldn’t hack it.

  “My three older sisters were surprised it lasted as long as it did. I guess I never saw it coming. It was hard, but yeah. Whatcha gonna do? I’m over it now… mostly anyway.”

  Arante turned and kissed him gently, smiling sweetly at him. He grinned from ear to ear and squeezed her close, feeling better than he ever had before.

  Witnessing the whole thing from a distance, Justin, Raoul, and Kendra were so shocked that they just stood there gaping at the happy couple— completely silent.

  A Good Way to Get Killed

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Lani slowly opened her eyes, blinking carefully. How long have I been asleep? She looked around her surroundings— feeling very confused. Where had all these hammocks come from? Is that a white peacock?!

  She saw Jharate sitting upright in the hammock next to her. He looked at her with a worried expression on his face. She put her hand against her right temple and blinked deliberately a few times as she tried to stretch the stiffness out of her neck.

  “I have a huge headache…”

  “I am sorry, my love. I assumed you had been healed by the portal. I will ask Raoul to come see to you shortly. However, it is the opposite side of your head that you are currently favoring… Perhaps it is unrelated. Are you well otherwise?”

  “I think so. What happened? I remember a huge pain in my back coming through the portal and then… nothing. Did I black out?”

  “Not precisely… You truly remember nothing?”

  “Nothing… Wait… now I do. I was pouring my heart out to you and you weren’t answering. Why wouldn’t you answer me?”

  Lani waited for him to answer, but he only stared back at her. A few more lavender ripples appeared around
him in the air— but were gone as quickly as they had come.

  “Why aren’t you answering me now?”

  “What is wrong with you, Lani?”

  “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with ME?! I don’t know. Maybe I like being answered when I tell someone I love them!”

  All the fears and pain that she had felt from every relationship came rushing back to her— swirling through her mind like a giant storm. She felt betrayed. She felt abandoned. She felt rejected. She felt taken for granted. She felt stupid for believing he was different! A deep anger began to rise from the ashes of her broken heart.

  “Now you aren’t answering me again? Great! If you’re angry with me, you could at least tell me what I did! This is not only childish— it is cruel!”

  “Why are you behaving like this, Lani? I did nothing to you.”

  “THAT’S the problem! You didn’t do anything! You won’t answer me! You pulled your hand away from me! It’s like you don’t love me at all!

  “I heard Arante telling you not to ‘mislead’ me by letting me think ‘something’ I ‘shouldn’t.’ What was the secret? That you don’t care about me? That you were just taking pity on me?”

  “I do not know why you could ever think that I love you, Lani.”

  “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea…”

  The acid tears came all at once, falling in large streams. His harsh and mocking tone still burned in her ears. She felt as if the walls were closing in on her— threatening to crush or suffocate her— whichever came first.

  She couldn’t stand it anymore— not another minute with someone who could be so cavalier about her feelings. She couldn’t breathe! She grabbed on to the hilt of her sword— still sheathed at her side— jumped out of the hammock, and ran out through the portal.

  “Lani, NO!”

  Jharate sprang to his feet and ran after her, disappearing through the glittering ring.

  Those left behind in the cave looked at the portal Jharate and Lani had just run through— utterly bewildered. Arante, however, looked extremely annoyed. She sighed a frustrated sigh.

  She supposed it was probably about time anyway. She gave Erik a quick kiss on the cheek and did a backflip out of the tree— landing on the ground with the grace of a cat.

  “Alright everyone, start packing up! I want seven people to come with me right now for a quick patrol— the rest of you stay here and get things ready so that the sanctuary will remain open. I know most of our things were lost when we had to battle Drakne, but if you happen to have duplicate items, keep the new ones the sanctuary made for us and leave the old ones here.

  “We’ll be back to help soon. Do not leave under any circumstances until we return. All of the Earth people— stay here.”

  “No way are we staying here when Lani’s out there! Besides, didn’t you say that the portal won’t let us out unless it’s safe? So it’s safe!” Justin insisted.

  “Oh alright,” Arante relented in an exasperated tone.

  All of the Earth friends came to Arante’s side along with three of Lani’s new rebel friends— Jaresh, Ja‘el, and Ka‘ern. Everyone else started packing up as Arante turned to face the portal and led the way out.

  Outside, Drakne looked up as he saw Lani run out of the sanctuary— crying— followed by a most distressed Jharate. A smug and satisfied smile crossed Drakne’s face as he continued to watch.

  “Please, Lani, I—”

  “Just leave me alone!”

  “I do not understand.”

  “That’s part of the problem! You just don’t understand. I thought maybe if you saw what I had been through you would understand that I need to know I am loved. But you just made it very clear that you don’t love me anyway, so fine!

  “I don’t need this! I am done with dead-end relationships. I want a serious one. One that will last… forever! Just let me go!”

  “Lani, you will die if you venture off alone.”

  “I don’t care! Death isn’t the worst thing in life! Besides, I can take care of myself for five minutes! Leave me alone!”

  Arante and the others came out of the sanctuary now. They glanced from Lani to Jharate and back again— baffled.

  They hadn’t heard what Jharate had said that Lani could be so upset about— but no one expected the two of them to have problems of any kind. They were so perfect for each other.

  Lani turned and walked off alone— still crying. The walk turned into a jog, which turned into a run. Jharate stood, dumfounded, until she vanished from his sight.

  She ran for a short time until she was sure she was by herself. She slowed her steps and turned off the main part of the pass into a box canyon.

  It was stark and empty, like she felt. She walked over the jagged pebbles and some small boulders up to a lone dead tree near the entrance to another cave in one of the canyon walls.

  She regarded the dead tree for a moment, not sure what she was thinking— or even knowing exactly what she was feeling. She pulled her sword out of its sheath and let out a primal scream. Her voice echoed against the walls and back again— as she swung it down on one of the dead tree’s thick branches, cleaving it in two with the force of her blow.

  Drakne had stepped into the canyon in time to see the power of her rage. He lifted an eyebrow at her exhibition of strength.

  Lani breathed hard as some of the adrenaline left her. She looked into the cave and gasped in fear as she saw two glowing yellow eyes the size of trashcan lids staring back at her.

  She backed up quickly toward the other wall of the canyon, but moved too fast. Again, her klutziness betrayed her as she tripped and fell onto the rocks— suffering several cuts and bruises.

  She hurried her hair out of her face and looked up in terror. An enormous pitch-black dragon emerged with a deep reverberating roar from the darkness of the cave. Towering at over a hundred feet tall, it looked down on her— its giant nostrils flaring.

  Drakne watched with interest. Perhaps his work was about to be done for him.

  Coming Soon

  The Story of the Half-Hearts Will Continue!

  1-HH

  Acknowledgements

  Jared Fotu, for loving me long ago and for inspiring me, and for so many other reasons— not least of which being that you were the first person ever to tell me that my work should be published.

  Roger Jellinek, for believing in me and helping me to realize my dreams, and for signing me even after reading what has become affectionately known as the “recall version” of my manuscript. I’m glad you didn’t kill yourself on the first read through (as you indicated the rough draft prodded you to do) and I’m glad that you knew exactly how to push me to become a better writer.

  Sean McNamara, Uncle Mark and Aunty Charisse Kubr, Dutch Hofstetter Sr., Dutch Hofstetter Jr., Tiffany Hofstetter, Udee Dahl, and Lisa Linsky, for helping me to believe in myself in the beginning stages of my writing and encouraging me not to give up.

  Nicholas Jones, for believing in my story and making the original publication of this book possible.

  Corbin Thomander, for helping to actually make me a number-one-best-selling author, for my very first time.

  Liz Requilman of North Shore Weddings and Flowers, for being the official florist of Alamea and using your magical skills to help maintain the image of The Half-Hearts Chronicles at all of its events.

  Dr. Randal Allred, Dr. Helena Hannonen, Dr. Duane Roberts, Dr. Michael Marler, Dr. James Tueller, Susan Wesley, and Daniel Skaf for going above and beyond the call of duty expected of professors and mentors, and for truly caring about me and my success.

  Mrs. Cashman, Mrs. Graham, Mrs. Palmer, and Dr. Ban Phung for pushing me to reach further than I ever thought I could, and for helping me to realize that I had a talent for writing, which contributed to my becoming the strong and independent person I am today.

  Aunty Sunday Mariteragi, Aunty Kela Miller, Uncle Bill Wallace, Uncle Kim Makekau, and Uncle Joseph Po‘uha, for being outstanding examples
of strength and character, and for their generous outpouring of unconditional love, and for passing down some of their knowledge and their great love of the various Polynesian heritages to me.

  My intrepid Copy Editors, who polished the Advance Release Copy like the true pros that they are, Julie Weekes and Ruby Cheesman. Plus, an honorable mention to those who acted as Copy Editors, even though they were only asked to tackle the task of reading the novel, J’nelle Uluave and Amanda Meredith.

  Lizette Baize, Anjeny Salts, Dawn Phelps, Don Sand, and my Grandpa, Earl Moroni Wallace, for reading the first draft of my novel despite its large size and dubious quality.

  Also, to William Dennis Kaufusi ‘Alatini, for not only reading the rough version, but for always believing that I will make it big someday and for comparing me to others who have already done so. And for loving me for many years. And for being my favorite ex-husband, lol. To quote Alexis Carrington, “A marriage might not last, but an ex-wife is forever!” All joking aside— I forgive you and I will always love you even though we have different Half-Hearts in our future now. I truly and sincerely wish you the best!

  In loving memory of Art Rivers for being a wonderful person, for inspiring me with his love of life and his kindness, and for being a very dear coworker and friend. Rest in peace.

  For many late night readings, editing, comments, inspirations (the good the bad and the ugly), discussions, and moral support— I have to thank, William Dennis Kaufusi ‘Alatini, my sister J’nelle Uluave, Martin Smith, Euta Lightsy, Drew Mierzejewski, Chris Schoebinger, Boyd Ware, Art Rivers, ‘Ofa Mataele, Steven Squire, Mario Wauneka, Joshua Tagaloa Smith, Spencer Deavila, Maika Tuala, Krishnan Apelu, Mayo Michihiro, Cody Mafatu Easterbrook, Joshua Aplaca, Carrie Currie, Liz Buckingham, Jodeen Enesa, Umi Jensen, Sariah Howard, Joseph and Paige Nemrow, Hiagi Wesley, Tevita “Tino” Inukiha‘angana, Dan Randall, Jonathan Dial, Elyse Kanda, Aubrey Olsen Bronson, Michael Cheney, Puanani Maneha, Seini Tautua‘a, Sariah Bunker, Andrew Paul Guerro, and Alexander Farrell.