She gave a cry of thanks to Laka, and embraced the taniwha, sobbing through her smile of relief. He remained lying on the ground, exhausted, but rubbed his head into the hug, returning the comfort that Kaimana gave him.
“What in the mother’s name is that racket?” Yam asked, having been awoken by Kaimana’s shout.
“He’s awake, he’s fine,” Kaimana said.
The god looked at Kaimana, eyebrow raised. “Didn’t I tell you? They are tough, the taniwha. They have to be. They attract trouble like flies to shit. Just look at what we’ve been through already.”
“No,” Kaimana shook her head. “This wasn’t Rakau’s fault, it was mine. I should’ve listened to you, to both of you. We shouldn’t have come here. Only your sister can hide us from Nakoa.”
Yam looked out from the mountaintop, across the empty waters of the Atoll, and his face darkened. “I don't want to interrupt this tender moment,” he said, rolling his eyes, “but we’ve got problems. He is close, Nakoa. I can sense him now, not far from us. I reckon a day’s journey, at the most. He must have found your trail. Well done on hiding it so well.”
Kaimana’s heart sank. She had known this would happen, but the timing was terrible. Rakau had still a long way to go until he recovered from yesterday’s battle.
She stroked the monster’s side, speaking to him softly. “We have to leave now, or he’ll catch us.”
Rakau opened a heavy eye to look at his friend. The taniwha sighed deeply.
“Not far to go. Look how close the volcano is. We’ll be there before evening, I bet, if we start now.”
Inside, Kaimana’s spark gave a yelp of fear at the thought of Leinani’s volcano, but Kaimana shushed it into submission.
Taking another deep breath, Rakau pushed himself onto his feet, and began to plod slowly back down the path to the canoe.
“I hope you’re feeling up to some exercise,” Kaimana said to Yam, her hand remaining on Rakau’s side as her friend struggled down the steep slope. “You’re rowing yourself this time.” She grinned at the indignant shock on the god’s face. “I’m travelling by taniwha.”
Yam remained in the canoe, and Kaimana rode on Rakau’s back. She argued this was so she could keep an eye on him as he recovered from his wounds. Although many of the cuts had now closed, and although it appeared that taniwha recovered considerably faster than most other creatures, Rakau was still noticeably weaker in his movements. Kaimana told Yam she was going to ride on Rakau’s back to keep an eye on him, but she also realised she felt safer close to him.
A deep dread welled up in Kaimana’s stomach as they approached the dark blue drop into the Inner Sea, and she reached her hand to her belt, this time to touch one of the Owl Queen’s daggers that she had secured beside her ocarina, in case of danger. Much like the last time, Rakau took her over the edge of the drop, and all of Kaimana’s knowledge of this part of the world was screaming at her to turn back, to jump off of the taniwha and swim to the nearest land she could find. Kaimana tightened her grip on Rakau and tried to fight off the sense of vertigo that she suffered from no longer being able to see the sea bed.
They travelled for hours on the dark waves. Before them always loomed the volcano that was Leinani’s home. The stories Kaimana knew about the goddess had Leinani taking many different forms. Sometimes she was a woman with red hair, in others she appeared as a person made of molten rock. Sometimes she was the volcano itself. Kaimana did not know what to expect when they saw her. She did know, however, some of the rules that were to be obeyed when mortals approached Leinani. One had to bring a gift. One also had to be certain to not eat anything on the journey to the goddess’ volcano, particularly the red berries that grew on her land. She told Yam and Rakau as much as they travelled across the water, doing her best to take her mind off of the dark below.
Yam sniffed at this information. “Most of us, the gods, can change shapes, as we wish to. It may not surprise you to know that I can turn myself into a yam at a moment’s notice.”
“Would that not have been a fantastic way to escape the Birdmen when their backs were turned?” Kaimana asked.
Yam was silent for a moment. “This is why we never spend too much time with mortals,” he grumbled eventually, then went back to paddling the canoe.
Rakau turned to Kaimana and gave her a quick grin. It made her heart soar to see the taniwha happy and healthier again, but she still hoped they would not encounter anything troublesome on this leg of the journey. If they were attacked by the creatures of the Inner Sea, Kaimana and Yam would have to rely solely on Rakau to protect them, and Kaimana could not predict what those dangers could be, or what condition Rakau was actually in when it came to being ready to fight.
Luckily, they arrived on the volcano without any encounters. At this point, the sky had grown dark. Kaimana was surprised to see so much greenery at the foot of the volcano. Looking at this place from a distance for the entirety of her life, Kaimana had assumed the island was just the volcano, and had expected to see black rock sprouting up out of the ocean. However, there appeared to be a wide circumference of forest between the beach and the mountain, and they would have to travel through it before beginning their ascent.
“Maybe she isn’t here,” Kaimana said upon disembarking, knowing that the gods of the Atoll often travelled.
“Oh, she’s here,” Yam said, without looking back. “I’ve felt her presence my entire life, and would have told you on the day we first met if she was not at home. Her power and energy shouts to me wherever I am on the Atoll. You can feel her too, I wager,” he said to Rakau.
The taniwha nodded solemnly.
Kaimana took a deep breath, and was about to declare that they begin to climb when she stopped, her sentence frozen in her throat.
Somebody was watching them.
Just beyond the tree line, Kaimana made out a shot of fiery red. A figure stepped forward from the trees. It was a young woman, probably about Kaimana’s age. Her hair was indeed a deep red, and she was dressed in an unusually long tapa dress, flowing all the way down to her ankles.
Kaimana’s first thought was that this was Leinani herself, but she quickly realised this was not the case. The girl’s hair was not naturally red - perhaps some dye made up from ochre paste - and she didn’t have the presence that Kaimana had come to expect from a god.
“My lady Leinani bids you all welcome,” the girl said to them, smiling softly.
A priestess, then. Kaimana had not known that any people lived on this island, although it did make sense that Leinani would call mortals into her service, like most other gods on the Atoll.
“Especially to her dear brother,” the priestess continued, indicating Yam.
“Don’t remember her showing any particular fondness to me,” Yam grumbled, not at all trying to keep the words under his breath. “You know, we only met once, at the very beginning. She didn’t really favour me in any particular way.”
“She told me you would be wanting to proceed straight to her,” the priestess continued, “although of course my order wants to make our services and luxuries available to you before you begin your climb.”
Kaimana was tempted. It had been a long time since she had enjoyed the pleasures of a warm bath, and her belly was indeed rumbling at the thought of food. However, despite the priestess’ pleasantries, the idea of being on Leinani’s island unnerved Kaimana, and she wanted to be done with this place as soon as possible.
“We would like to proceed, if that’s all the same with you,” she told the priestess. “That is, if you think the goddess would not mind us going before her in our present state?”
It was at this moment Kaimana realised how bedraggled the three of them must look. Yam and Kaimana were still covered in dirt and blood - both on their faces and clothes - from their escapade on the Broken Island. Rakau himself was worse, his decorative patterns now a patchwork of cuts and welts.
The priestess smiled. “It will make no difference to her. Indeed,
she told me she was looking forward to your meeting.”
This sentence both piqued Kaimana’s curiosity and made her stomach knot in anxiety.
“I believe you will be able to find the way yourself,” the priestess said, indicating a small but well-trodden path that left the beach into the jungle.
Kaimana thanked the girl and motioned to Rakau to follow her, which he did stiffly, his wounds seeming to be more difficult to bear on land. Yam followed both, looking up at the high mountain with a fair amount of trepidation.
The jungle quickly began to rise, turning into a mountain path soon enough. Kaimana was pleased to see the red berries of legend appear not long after the climb took them above the tree line, and she took satisfaction in reminding the others again not to eat them.
“Or apparently the goddess will bring down a storm upon us, and we shall be lost forever,” she said, repeating the tale once again.
“Bring down a storm,” Yam grumbled. “That isn’t even her area of responsibility. And how’s a storm going to get us lost up here anyway? There’s only one path - just keep heading up and we’ll be fine.”
Despite the yam god’s words, he left the berries untouched.
About two thirds of the way up the mountain, the path ended at the opening of a large cave. It was just wide enough for Rakau to fit through, and no more. Wordlessly, the three of them stood there, catching their breath after the steep climb, but also contemplating what might lie inside. Kaimana put her hand on Rakau’s side, both to steady her wounded friend and to calm her own nerves. She turned to Yam and was surprised to see that the god had turned white and was shaking. She smiled, and without speaking offered him her other hand.
Yam looked at it in surprise, and took a deep breath as if to speak, face turning red in anger at the suggestion that he would take comfort from a mortal. However, after a moment’s pause, he exhaled and took hold of her hand, grasping tightly. One by one, hands firmly joined, the three of them entered Leinani’s lair.
Inside, Kaimana found it difficult to breathe. The massive cavern hidden under the mountain was lit by molten rock, the goddess’ fire. The lava flowed in a river, in a crescent arch cutting the companions off from the furthest wall. There, hanging from the rocks of the mountain, ten times the height of even Rakau, was the fire goddess.
Leinani was asleep, or so it seemed. She had taken the form of a giant stone woman, looking almost like a colossal, sleeping statue. The goddess was bald, and completely naked. Her still form was embedded into the wall of the volcano, with her waist disappearing into the stone surface.
Kaimana hesitated, and Yam laid his hand on her shoulder. “You’re up, mouse. I’ll speak to my sister for you,” he whispered to her, “but this is not my tale any more. You’re going to have to greet her first.”
Kaimana knew this was true. She gulped, beckoned to Rakau, and stepped forward.
When she had learnt that Yam was a god, her reaction had been to laugh. For so long she had wondered what it would be like to meet a god - most people of the Atoll do so at some point in their lives - and the mundanity of the encounter with Yam had shocked her. This time, however, the experience meeting this deity was exactly what Kaimana had feared. This beautiful, powerful being sleeping in front of her was terrifying. Kaimana had no doubt that she was an insect compared to Leinani, and the thought of being treated and dealt with as such, terrified her.
But this is the only way I can think of helping Rakau. Nakoa is almost upon us, and until Rakau has a chance to heal I can’t let him near the war god. Leinani is our last hope.
Kaimana moved forward to a small altar that had been erected in the cave, beside the lava flow. Somebody - Kaimana assumed the priestesses - had left some flowers here, and they had been burnt into black husks by the heat of the cavern. Kaimana sat on the warm altar, took out her ocarina, and gave Leinani her gift.
She had known for a while now what she would give Leinani. Perhaps this had been why the infant song inside her had been so afraid of approaching the volcano, because it knew where it was destined to be first played. Since beginning to spark again on Yam’s island, Kaimana had had little time to practice, especially since Rakau had been wounded. But in the back of her mind, throughout all of her trials, Kaimana’s Knack had been hard at work completing her masterpiece.
Except it was no longer hers. The story had been originally inspired by Kaimana’s adventure with Rakau, their first meeting and subsequent adventures. Yes, Kaimana was going to dress it up as Queen Alisi’s story, or perhaps one of the other heroes of the Atoll, but she knew it would always be hers, and those close to her would be able to draw links between the movements in the tune and Kaimana’s own experiences. Yet now, as she played her song for an audience for the first time, the memories in the tune changed. Where Kaimana had once pictured herself creeping towards Rakau’s cave, heart beating wildly at the thought of what might lay inside, she was no longer there. Instead, eyes closed, Knack taking over her actions as the song breathed through her ocarina, Kaimana pictured a young god, fire in her hair, as she walked softly through the forest towards the man who would become a god himself so that he may love her. The fast paced sequence that had once been Rakau chasing Kaimana out of the cave now became a man chasing a woman, the goddess finally willingly submitting to this creature who had raised himself up to be worthy of her. And the final, piteous close that would have been Kaimana nursing Rakau’s wounds on the Broken Island was now the volcano goddess, watching her lover from afar, heart breaking with sadness at what his rage had made him become.
Kaimana was crying openly as the final note from the song left her lips, as she felt her spark leave her, its job complete. All memories of the former tune - of the tune about her meeting and becoming friends with Rakau - were now gone. Only Leinani’s tale remained.
Kaimana opened her eyes to see the fire goddess looking back at her. At some point during the song Leinani had awoken, and had pulled herself away from her stone bed. The goddess was still colossal, she was still embedded in stone, but she was no longer asleep. Where she had once been cold and grey, she was now alive and on fire. Her skin was the rocks of the mountain, but beneath the rocky disguise, through the cracks and faults that formed as the goddess moved, Kaimana could see red molten rock flowing beneath the surface, the true heart of her body. Leinani was no longer bald - now a full head of flame had ignited.
The goddess was smiling at Kaimana. In her hands she held an amber light, which Kaimana vaguely recognised as the song she had just given birth to, the spark that had just left her. Leinani was playing with the light, allowing it to run along her fingers. The goddess was staring at the amber spark in wonder.
Kaimana’s heart was straining, and she involuntarily threw herself to the ground, lowering her eyes. The goddess was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen.
“That was… it has been some time since a mortal has given me a gift such as that,” Leinani said. Kaimana had expected the goddess’ voice to be hoarse and rocky. Instead it flowed like warm honey, soothing Kaimana’s ears.
Kaimana bowed, blushing. “Thank you, my lady. I have been working on it for some time, for you.”
“Not always for me, I think,” the goddess replied, “but it fits me well.” Leinani lowered herself from the wall of the chamber, bringing her glorious, terrible face down to the level of Kaimana and Rakau.
Kaimana took another look at the goddess and found herself bewitched by the bright flames of Leinani’s eyes. Kaimana had never imagined that such beauty could exist in the world. She reached out with one hand as if to touch Leinani’s face, but then withdrew it, both because she could feel the deadly heat radiating from the goddess, but also because she was certain she would not be permitted to do so.
Leinani smiled throughout all of this. The goddess looked over Kaimana’s shoulder. “Ah, my brother. Well met.”
Yam stepped forward sheepishly. “Uh, hello there, sister. It’s been a few ages since we set eyes upo
n each other.”
Leinani nodded, smiling, but Kaimana could tell her attention was already wavering. “Yes. You have been up to some mischief recently, have you not? I shall have to tell Mother, she will be most interested.”
“She speaks of me?” Yam asked, shock in his voice now. The small god disguised as a man looked so out of place in the same room as this massive being.
“You? No. But she expresses an interest in all of her offspring. She will listen when I tell her of your recent story.”
“I have a story already?”
“Not quite yet, not in the way that you wish. But the seeds have been sown. I daresay it shall not be too long until your name means more to the people of the Atoll than a fat child to laugh at.”
Yam blushed, Kaimana assumed through anger, but he wisely chose not to respond.
The goddess’ attention returned to Kaimana. “So, little one,” she said, soothingly. “I assume there is a very good reason you have convinced my brother to lead you and this beast to disturb me?”
Kaimana swayed, somewhat hypnotised by the goddess’ words and movement. “Yes, my lady. I mean, this is no beast, my lady. This is Rakau, a taniwha. My friend.”
Leinani’s swaying motion ceased. The indifference on her face disappeared, and she lowered herself to look at the pair. Kaimana now stood side by side with the massive taniwha, her hand on his jaw, the only part of his face that she could reach without standing on something.
“You have made friends with this monster?”
Kaimana was a bit surprised at how Leinani spoke of Rakau, and also a bit annoyed. “My lady, I do not feel it is fair to call him that. A monster. That’s the same phrase I would use to describe one of my kind who had committed horrible crimes. But Rakau is kind, gentle. He has protected and saved my life - and the life of your brother - many times in the short space of time I have known him in.”
Leinani looked thoughtfully at the taniwha. “You would use the word monster to describe a human that kills his own kind. Does this taniwha not kill, then?”
Where the Waters Turn Black (Yarnsworld Book 2) Page 16