Tides of Mana

by Matt Larkin

  Shit, shit, shit. Ugly stinking pig shit.

  He spun around, back toward the cliff, and braced himself with both feet. Then he kicked off it, propelling himself as far away from the rocks as his legs—mighty legs!—could carry him. For a moment, he was flying.

  It kinda felt like falling.

  He hit the snow with such impact he was buried fifteen feet deep. Snow scraped his arms and legs and chest as he pitched downward. No rocks though. That was a blessing. He rubbed his nose. Shit, was it cold down here.

  He bucked and thrashed, managing to dislodge his legs while pouring a fresh helping of snow on his head. Yeah, there was no going straight up outta this hole. But maybe he could burrow like a worm. Grumbling, he dug his way upward at an angle. It was hard being a worm. Way harder than swimming. And colder. Worms must be cold little shitters.

  He dug until at last he breached the surface, then hefted himself up. No time to waste.

  “Pele!” He climbed to his feet and trudged around the snow. He stomped across the seemingly endless stretch of white. “It’s time to get hot for me, your royal emberness.”

  No answer.

  “Aloha! Fire Tits! Come light me up!”

  There was no way. She couldn’t be dead. Kama would shitting kill her if she was dead and he’d just thrown himself off a shitting cliff for her.

  He raced across the slope, stopping occasionally to rummage through the snow. Shitting shit shits. She had to be here somewhere.

  Running on, his foot slipped on ice and he spun around to land face first on a thick chunk of it.

  “Ow.”

  What was an ice block doing in the middle of the snowfield? And inside it, a shadow. A woman.

  “Pele …?” Kama pushed himself up on his arms to allow sunlight to reflect on the ice.

  She was trapped in ice. Did the Snow Queen do that on purpose? Or maybe Pele had melted the snow but it had refrozen around her. It was shitting cold up here, after all.

  Kama punched the ice block. The impact sent a shock coursing up his wrist and into his elbow. It split open his knuckles, but the ice cracked too. He pounded it again and again, his blood smearing the ice until he could no longer clearly make her out inside it.

  “Shit, well, that’s thoroughly incontinent.”

  Kamapua‘a roared, slamming both fists against the ice over and over. Shards of it embedded in his palms, his forearms. They flew free until he managed to break away a chunk of it the size of his torso. He tossed the chunk aside and kept digging, pounding, smashing.

  And then, impossibly, blessed radiance began to glow beneath the ice. The glow intensified and all at once the entire block evaporated in a cloud of steam that sent Kama tumbling down atop Pele.

  In an instant he had rolled over to look into her eyes. They stared up at the sky, not even seeing him. Her breath was faint, uneven. By the akua, she was gorgeous. Kama wrapped bloody arms around her and pulled her close, hoping to share his body heat with her.

  “Stupid Lava Girl. Gotta start a shitting avalanche. You should learn hula. It’s a way better use of your time than mass destruction. Or surfing, commune with the … well, you probably don’t commune with the ocean. Shit, even lava surfing would be better than burying yourself alive.” He shook her a little, but she had shut her eyes. “Your queenliness?”

  She gave no answer. But he could hear her heartbeat, too faint for his liking. The Flame Queen was out cold. And he couldn’t leave her here alone, which meant he had no way to easily go after Poli‘ahu at the moment.

  Oh well. For now, all he could do was try to keep Pele warm and safe.

  She was, after all, shitting beautiful.

  22

  Despite the fatigue, sleep would not come to Namaka.

  She could not forget the feeling of Ake, grinding her flesh on rough rock. Couldn’t forget, so instead she focused on what she’d seen before that. Anything to keep from thinking about what Nyi Rara had done to her.

  Images of the visions the Urchin had shown her played behind her eyelids, each so faint as to be ungraspable. The intangible realities of the past and future were a torment, but one she craved again. Of course the mer had built Mu upon such a wonder, eager to bask in the magnificence of primal life. The entity flowed with such mana that being in its mere presence had infused her with a fresh zeal for life.

  Maybe that was how mortals felt about being with a kupua. None of that mattered now, though. All that mattered was another chance to see, to understand. To stare into the unknown and begin to comprehend the mysteries of life.

  No, she wasn’t going to sleep now.

  She had to know.

  Had to keep that as her focus.

  Slowly, she made her way back to Kuula Palace. Most of the mer, save the guards, had long since drifted off to sleep in communal grottos.

  Nyi Rara made no objection to Namaka’s journey back toward the Urchin.

  She knew the mermaid could hear her, feel her intent, but said nothing. Probably that meant the mermaid needed to understand the truth of the visions as desperately as Namaka herself did. That or, perhaps, Nyi Rara was ashamed of herself for what she’d done.

  Oh, the mermaid should be ashamed. By taking such liberties without bothering to ask, Nyi Rara had effectively raped her.

  You are a host!

  And Nyi Rara didn’t want her to forget it, did she? Not even if it took casual cruelty to remind Namaka that Nyi Rara was not remotely human.

  Well, no forgetting that now.

  She forced the thoughts down, trying once more to focus on the Urchin’s visions.

  Maybe the Urchin had shown Namaka the he‘e because of the value of their alliance. She had seen … something. A he‘e the size of a small mountain. Was that Kanaloa himself? She didn’t even know if what she was seeing was something happening as it was revealed to her, had already happened … or would yet unfold.

  There were too many questions.

  The way back to the gorge was winding, confusing. Or would have been, had Nyi Rara not suddenly seized control of her body when she took a wrong turn. Silent once more, the mermaid guided them on, diving deep. Was she wondering all the same questions? Or had the visions differed for her?

  They are different for everyone.

  And what had Nyi Rara seen?

  The mermaid princess made no further answer, just dove into the gorge without hesitation. Down the long descent and through the tunnel the only sound Namaka could hear was the swish of her tail and the increasingly rapid pounding of her heart.

  Wait … had Nyi Rara done what she did because of her visions?

  The mermaid offered no answer.

  They broke into the Urchin’s massive chamber to find the priestess waiting for them. “I wonder which one of you started the journey here?”

  “I did,” Nyi Rara said, using Namaka’s mouth.

  “Did you? You play a dangerous game with your host, child. You dart between dominance and partnership, do you not? Toying—if only that—with the idea of symbiosis.”

  “To allow that would be … disgraceful.”

  Disgraceful. Namaka mentally growled at the mermaid inside her. Compared to what, disgraceful?

  “It has been done,” Opuhalakoa said. “On the rarest of occasions. In the old world, men used to use the Art to attempt just that. Or even to try to draw a spirit inside and master it. They sought the powers of the Spirit Realm without paying the price. Most, of course, paid far more than they could have imagined.”

  “But it would be my choice. I allowed this human such an indulgence.”

  The priestess nodded. “You know you cannot achieve what you want here.”

  “I need to see it again, understand better.”

  All right, what in Milu’s dark domain were the two mermaids talking about? Namaka pounded against the sides of her skull, trying to take control. The mental backlash Nyi Rara sent at her was like being slapped by Milolii’s tail, full force. It left her so dazed she missed whatever Nyi R
ara said next.

  She caught the priestess’s answer, however. “The Urchin shows you what it will, when it will. You cannot command an answer from it, Princess.”

  Damn it. Namaka needed to know what it had tried to show her before.

  Be still.

  A thought hit her then … The visions, hard as they were to interpret, represented a power perhaps greater than even Namaka’s kupua power. And that had to be why Hiyoya was pressing their borders so determinedly. They wanted to control the Urchin. Their people could grow flush with its mana and their rulers wise off its shared knowledge.

  You are more intelligent than you first seem.

  Funny, she felt a fool for not having seen all this yesterday. She was one piece in a complex game being played out across all the Muian Sea.

  But you are a valuable piece.

  The Urchin had shown Nyi Rara something of symbiosis, hadn’t it? The mermaid’s silence answered her question for her. The Urchin didn’t give answers, only helped a person to understand the questions. To see connections.

  Whatever Nyi Rara had seen had terrified her. To the point she felt the need to prove herself superior to Namaka …

  And did that mean everything the Urchin had shown Namaka was also connected? Her people, their deaths. The he‘e, Mu, even … the rest of it. All part of a larger whole that, if she could but understand the connections, she might begin to unravel.

  Seven Seas.

  Seven mer kingdoms.

  But Hiyoya lay within the Muian Sea. That’s what the Sundering was, wasn’t it? A civil war within Mu, one that had lasted for more than two thousand years.

  Yes.

  Opuhalakoa grinned, revealing her shark teeth and apparently all too aware of the inner struggle going on inside Namaka’s mind. “You have not yet gone to see Daucina.”

  “I’ll meet him at the next moonrise. Surely he sleeps now.”

  “You’d be surprised how late into the day he works. Go to our estate and meet him now.”

  SHE SWAM toward the Ukupanipo Estate, which lay on the city’s southern reach, in caverns left by empty lava tubes. Above the caverns, a vibrant reef grew, teeming with a rainbow of fish, anemones, seahorses, and skates. And, Namaka thought, probably eels.

  The Urchin had shown her something of the he‘e, but not enough to know what to offer them to intervene on Mu’s behalf.

  Had it shown something more useful to Nyi Rara? She was still trying to piece together what she could of the creatures. She had seen a giant he‘e, that was sure.

  Kanaloa? Their god-king.

  Namaka had suspected as much.

  There was another, a direct descendant of Kanaloa, who led them during the Rogo War. Rogo-tumu-here, called Rogo, led the he‘e in revolt against Dakuwaqa.

  So Mu had enslaved the he‘e.

  Long ago, after the Deluge, when we came from Avaiki into the Mortal Realm, we found them here. Spawn of Kanaloa, a threat to our supremacy. We turned the taniwha upon them until they bent to our will.

  Spawn of Kanaloa. So the Ocean God had created the he‘e. And had he always existed?

  Whatever the answer, it felt as though Nyi Rara had thrown up a wall in her mind, one behind which Namaka could have sworn she detected an undercurrent of fear. Kanaloa scared the mer, too, did he?

  The god of the deep, Namaka had always thought of him.

  Ukupanipo guards met them at the tube entrance, crossed tridents barring passage.

  “I’m here to see Daucina,” Nyi Rara said with Namaka’s mouth. The princess didn’t bother introducing herself, perhaps trusting all of Mu would have heard of her return by now.

  The mer guards slowly withdrew their tridents, and one of them guided Namaka through tunnels lit by wisp lights. They passed through numerous halls before coming to a massive cavern with the walls carved to resemble kelp and a vaulted ceiling that cast echoes from the prayers of numerous singing mer.

  They were worshipping what Nyi Rara had called the Elder Deep. Some god back in Avaiki, she assumed.

  Perhaps you may as well know. It is an Elder God. The Lord of Watery Abyss, Naunet. The Leviathan itself.

  So now they were speaking to each other in truth once more? Regardless, Namaka still wasn’t quite certain she understood. No kahuna had really explained or even knew, so far as Namaka could tell, just what truly lay beyond Pō.

  Pō, the Astral Realm, is just the beginning. Beyond it lies the Spirit Realm, of which Avaiki is one world. One from which come the mer, the first dragons, and countless other spawn of the Elder Deep.

  Their guard guided them past the large cavern—a heiau, Namaka assumed—then on to a grotto carved yet deeper under the seafloor. A curtain of kelp blocked off the entrance, but the guard pushed it aside, ushering Namaka into the room.

  Within rested a yellow-tailed, striped mer with slightly opalescent eyes and hair streaked with a few strands of gray. The merman rose, twirling his tail and bowing to Namaka. “Princess Nyi Rara, welcome, my friend, welcome.”

  “Daucina,” Nyi Rara said.

  The merman beamed, his smile seeming almost human while his shark teeth remained hidden. This was a priest?

  More of a diplomat, though he is of Ukupanipo ‘Ohana.

  “I’m so glad we have this opportunity to catch up. You’ve been long away, after all, and a great deal’s happened here in Mu. Come, come, come.” He waved her closer, waiting until Namaka settled onto the floor beside him. “Now, my dear, I’m sure you must be positively starved for news of all your friends and the gossip of the town. You have heard, I assume, that your dear sister even proposed seeking out Nanaue ‘Ohana.” He chuckled. “Can you even imagine the scandal? I rather expected my own cousin to vomit out her gills. That, or eat Princess Kuku Lau.” The mer’s face fell a little at Nyi Rara’s expression. “Ah, yes, that was in poor taste. I did hear the Hiyoyans tried something like that with you. My sincere apologies, princess.”

  And Daucina’s own ‘ohana had done so with Nyi Rara’s father.

  Was it an honest mistake, or did this Daucina want to see if he could provoke a response from Nyi Rara? Either way, the princess didn’t rise to it, though Namaka felt her chest tighten.

  I don’t think Daucina makes mistakes.

  “Think nothing of it,” Nyi Rara said. “Opuhalakoa asked me to aid you in searching for … something.”

  “Ahhh, yes, my dear. Opu looks out for me, from time to time, at least.” Daucina waved her closer as if inviting her into some conspiracy. “You know of the Great Pearls, I trust.”

  “The Chintamani.”

  Wait, what now?

  Daucina held up a webbed finger. “When I was young, I heard a tale that the Chintamaniya come from the Elder Deep itself, coalesced manifestations of its power with enough mana to warp reality or reshape a living being. This tale claims there were once a great many of these stones, but by the time of the Sundering, only a handful remained in Mu. We know that the he‘e stole some of these, and some believed they stole all of them when they rebelled. I, however, have a different theory. You see, King Dakuwaqa himself knew the end had drawn nigh, and I believe he secreted away at least one of the pearls before his fall to Rogo-tumu-here.” Daucina’s smile was so sweet it churned Namaka’s stomach. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about where your grandfather might have enshrined his cache, would you?”

  Namaka could have sworn she felt Nyi Rara mentally wince, though the mermaid princess gave nothing away. A shame, because Namaka felt she had no fucking clue what the merman was even talking about. Great pearls? Stones of mana?

  The Chintamaniya were flaming pearls. The prized treasures of Mu. They all vanished during the Sundering twenty-four centuries ago.

  No, not all of them. Nyi Rara held something back didn’t she? She already knew something of what Daucina was saying. Did she know where her grandfather had hidden one?

  It’s gone. Stolen by Hiyoya when they destroyed my previous host.

  Huh. That made c
ompleting Daucina’s search rather … complex.

  “Princess?” Daucina asked, after a moment.

  “My grandfather’s cache has no Chintamani stone in it. In fact, little remains at all now, as we’ve spent much of that wealth in trade over the centuries.”

  “Hmm, a shame, a shame.” Daucina shook his head while offering a knowing smile that made Namaka want to slap him. “Well then, we must search elsewhere, yes. A source of that much mana might well turn the tide of the war with Hiyoya. Where else should we look?”

  “How do we know Rongomai ‘Ohana didn’t take any with them when they fled Mu?”

  Daucina raised a finger. “A good point. We don’t know, exactly, but it stands to reason that we would have had some sign of such power in the unfolding centuries since they fled.”

  A sign … hadn’t Hiyoya been winning the war? Wasn’t that a sign?

  Probably. Daucina supposes they would use the Chintamani in some dramatic gesture, calling up taniwha or enslaving other behemoths to their will. But perhaps they found no taniwha to call anymore and thus have turned to more subtle uses of the pearl.

  “We have more immediate concerns,” Nyi Rara said.

  “Deeper concerns than the power to win the war?”

  “Related, I should say. Perhaps the he‘e themselves hold one or more Chintamani stones.”

  Daucina chuckled. “Tales that they fed them to their god-king aside, perhaps they do. No overture for their return has ever produced anything other than a stalemate and recriminations of a past neither side is proud of. We cannot reclaim the stones from the he‘e short of outright war with the damn octopuses, and we have no resources for such a conflict.”

  “Nor does Hiyoya.”

  Daucina cocked his head. “You mean … Ah, my dear … You think you can persuade our own Ambassador Punga to intervene on our behalf? What, though, would you possibly offer to entice such an action from our enigmatic friend?”

  “You’re the one with fins in every grotto across the city. Can you not tell me?”