Heirs of Mana Omnibus

by Matt Larkin

  They so often called the First Age a golden age. The height of Muian civilization. The height of mer civilization all across the Worldsea, she imagined.

  A society given in to decadence and corruption, undone by it.

  Almost, she felt the he‘e justified in their actions since. Entitled to the long-awaited vengeance played out in schemes and machinations and finally merciless violence. But then, justified or not, they themselves had become guilty of atrocities. Of pushing her people to the brink and forcing her to react in kind.

  So she did not spare overmuch pity for the hundreds of dead he‘e splattered amid the ruins.

  The city was dark. This close, the soft green glow of the wisp lights should have greeted her. But the he‘e were creatures adapted to darkness and had no doubt extinguished the lights throughout the city. The moon cast just enough light for her mer eyes to catch the city’s layout ahead of them.

  There were enemies everywhere, of that she had no doubt.

  Apokohai swam up beside her, and she caught herself wishing it was Ake. She couldn’t say whether it was better or worse that the other merman had understood and even apparently forgiven her. It was a small comfort that the mer spirit yet lived, that he would take another host and she would see him again one day. Be forced to look into the eyes of the one whose throat she had torn out with her own teeth.

  Lest petulance and grief weigh her down, she had better get on with this. She had chosen to join the smaller group of mer, the one attacking the eastern front. It was the most direct route from Red Coral Reef, and thus the most likely to be heavily guarded at this point. Besides which, the fewer other mer by her side, the fewer people she risked hurting if she needed to call upon the full extent of her power.

  The Dragon Kings now circled in the distance, trying to cut off any means of escape for her prey. She had come too far to allow Kanaloa to retreat and continue his schemes.

  Nyi Rara motioned to one squad of mer. “Go house to house, hunt down every last he‘e you can find.” She indicated another. “With me. We’ll take the kelp farms.” The open fields gave her more room to work her more aggressive uses of her powers. And at the moment, she felt a powerful need to hurt something.

  Summoning swirling currents around her hands, she dashed forward. The kelp farms were great fields of seaweed sheltered by the protective arm of Mu’s reef. The lowest in mer society were assigned to cultivate the kelp. The seaweed was considered a supplement to the diet, but it also had other uses, including encouraging crops of fish near the city.

  After ducking under a large coral overhang, Nyi Rara entered the first of the farm grottos. The kelp had turned brown, withered with neglect. Or perhaps even been intentionally poisoned, snuffed out as useless to the he‘e.

  Her mer soldiers poured into the grotto after her, some gasping at the destruction of the once-beautiful fields. One cursed the he‘e to Naunet. Its very mention sent shudders among the others, silencing them.

  Something disturbed the waters above, and Nyi Rara looked up to see a translucent form descending on them from the coral roof. Hundreds of stinging tentacles hung from a jellyfish the size of a small whale.

  “Get out!” Nyi Rara shouted at her forces.

  Too late.

  Already those tentacles had dropped among the mer, each firing countless near-invisible harpoons. Five of her people were clutching welts, screaming, flailing among the dead kelp. Some of her other warriors had fled at her command, lurking on the grotto’s threshold while brandishing weapons useless against such a foe.

  Nyi Rara darted among the kelp, grabbed one of the fallen, and then used water jets to fling them both free from the grotto. More screams echoed from the other kelp farms. Deep-damned he‘e had somehow lured giant jellyfish into the grottos, used them as traps. And she had swum right in, ordered her people into the farms.

  “Everyone, retreat!” she shouted. She dropped the merman she’d saved and he collapsed, barely able to move after being injected with so much neurotoxin.

  She had no easy way to kill a jellyfish short of slicing it to pieces. And doing so would still leave those stinging tentacles floating around. The one—the only—bright spot in this mess was it meant the farms were probably free of he‘e. But she could not push forward with half her forces crippled. Instead, she darted in and out of grottos, using blades of water to slice away tentacles and allowing her to rescue mer after mer.

  One, a mermaid she dropped off, died in her arms. Her face and torso had become a bloated, swollen mess that looked ready to burst apart if pricked by so much as a piece of coral. So warped was the poor victim Nyi Rara couldn’t even recognize her.

  Trust the he‘e to find an even worse way to murder her people than strangling them with all those arms. She had to pray, for everyone’s sake, that the other force of mer was having more luck on the south side.

  High above the city of Hiyoya, an outrigger sailed round and round in circles as if it were caught in some maelstrom. As Nyi Rara helped nurse her wounded mer and prepare them for another press, the boat kept niggling at the back of her mind. What in the Worldsea was it even doing?

  The others couldn’t feel it disrupting the water as she could. She could sense everything. This close, she could even feel Kanaloa, his massive bulk worming its way through the palace. And, just beyond, a mer swimming rapidly in her direction.

  Nyi Rara patted the mermaid she attended on the shoulder. “You’re too weak. Go back to the back lines and report to Till Pimoe.”

  The mermaid grimaced, but nodded and swam slowly away. Nyi Rara was barely functional herself. She had expended so much energy at Red Coral Reef and after, saving mer from the kelp farms. Now it took all she had left to stay upright, stay strong in front of the others. If they saw her looking weak, they might break completely.

  Nyi Rara turned to meet the approaching merman. He had been with the other group on the east, with Kauhuhu.

  “Report,” she said.

  “Where is Commander Ake?”

  “His host died.” She managed to say it without shuddering. “Report to me.”

  “We took the academy, but with heavy losses. The Nanaue tried to press forward, but giant jellyfish formed a blockade around the city. All fronts have been stalled.”

  Nyi Rara ground her teeth. Nothing was going according to plan. And Nyi Rara was simply not versed in strategy on a smaller scale like Ake. She could not think of any approach Kanaloa would not anticipate. If she pressed on, she risked the deaths of every mer she had left. But if she retreated now, that was as good as admitting the kingdom of Mu lost forever. It would be the end, leaving them with only the final option to throw themselves upon Mu’s mercy. Given the long war, they could not even count on that.

  Maybe the only choice, then, was to let the Dragon Kings lay waste to Mu, and—in so doing—destroy what had endured for three ages of the world.

  “Go back, hold the academy as long as you can. Wait for my signal to attack.”

  “Signal?”

  “Trust me. If I send you a signal, you’ll know it.”

  Maybe it would be better to destroy the city than let the he‘e hold it.

  If she could find a way to get her strength back, though, she might be able to sweep away that jellyfish blockade. Kanaloa had pulled them from the grottos to stop the Nanaue advance, but that also meant they were in fairly open water. She could attack them.

  And still that damn boat was circling overhead. Whatever they wanted, they were likely to get themselves killed if they remained here when the final battle began. And that would be soon. After motioning for the others to wait for her, she swam straight up until she burst through the surface beside the outrigger.

  “Tail lady!” Kamapua‘a shouted as Namaka climbed onto their boat. The wereboar and Pele were in the outrigger, both staring at her.

  Her initial relief to find them alive was quickly snuffed out by the demands below her. “What are you two doing here?”

  Kama grin
ned. “We’re here to kill a shitting god.”

  Pele folded her arms across her chest. “I can’t let you face this by yourself.”

  “And what are you going to do? Swim down there and join the fight?”

  “Shit yes,” Kama said. “I’m gonna throttle that shitting shitter. I’ll rip off one of those arms and use it as a whip to smack him on his coconut.”

  Namaka ignored him and looked to Pele.

  The Flame Queen sighed. “There are undersea volcanoes near here. I could ignite them, damage your enemies. I just … I can’t direct it very well without being able to see my target. The undersea devastation could become immense, otherwise.”

  Now, Namaka raised a brow.

  “Well?” Pele asked. “Can you part the seas enough to give me a clear view?”

  That was her plan? Let Namaka open the sea and expose Mu so she could bury the city in volcanic ash? She might have pulled that off before, but the sea was deeper here, and she was exhausted. In her current state, pouring that much mana into the ocean … the part of her that was Nyi Rara suspected the consequence. The mermaid spirit might survive, but it would be forced back to Pō. The human host, so completely drained, would wither away to nothing, just as Hi‘iaka once had. She could use all her mana in a single moment, give Pele the chance to accomplish her aim. Doing so would mean the end of her, though. If Pele knew that, she might not agree to try.

  Deep! Namaka didn’t want to die. She should have had centuries more on the Mortal Realm thanks to Nyi Rara, and maybe forever beyond it. But then … maybe destroying Mu and Kanaloa with it was the only way to save Sawaiki and the rest of the world from being enslaved to the he‘e.

  So many had given their lives for this. She could not be willing to do any less.

  “I spoke to Lonomakua,” Pele said after a moment. “He said …” Namaka’s sister seemed to choke on her own words.

  So, Maui had laid the truth at Pele’s feet at long last. The invisible currents that had swept each of them here. Having no words, she patted Pele’s hand, remembering a time when her sister had been a little girl, one Namaka had wanted to protect.

  At last, Namaka nodded. This was the only way left to her. “Try to spare as much of the city as you can. Turn the fires on the he‘e and their jellyfish. Yes—I said jellyfish. We have other mer down there. I think we can trust them to finish Kanaloa.” She sighed. “I need to get my strength back first. To rest, if only for a few hours.” And the slim chance she could live through this insane plan.

  Pele looked up at the sky. “It’ll be dawn soon. Why don’t you stay here in the boat and sleep? I’ll wake you.”

  Namaka nodded. Sleep sounded wonderful. To dream one more time. First, though, she had to inform her people of the plan, make sure they would be clear of the destruction and ready to sweep in and finish things once it was done. Once she was gone.

  47

  Pele stared into the early morning sun, trying to still her mind to the task at hand. The sun was a fire, perhaps, but not one she could see anything in. In moments like this, the instants just before such a terrible battle, she wished Lonomakua were by her side. Even were the kahuna in this outrigger, though, there would be nothing he could do.

  “She’s awake,” Kama said. The wereboar sat beside Pele’s sister.

  “Then it’s almost time.”

  Namaka groaned, then rubbed her face. “You two talking about me?”

  Kama helped her rise in the boat. “How’re you feeling, Fins?”

  Blinking against the sunlight, Namaka looked around, as if confused. “Better. I just …” Namaka swallowed, rubbing at her neck. “I have pushed my limits.”

  Pele watched her, not quite certain what to say. It was so unlike Namaka to admit anything of weakness, even the existence of limits. But if they had an opportunity now, then they had to take it. “We should move. If we’re going to do this, it’s time.”

  The mermaid opened her mouth, looked around again, and nodded. For a brief moment she stared into the deep. Could she see what was happening down there? Could she feel it?

  Before Pele could ask, Namaka turned back to her. “You won’t have a lot of time. I’ll keep the outrigger as safe as I can, but I’m not going to lie—this is going to be rough waters. You both up to this?”

  Kama snorted. “Part those seas and I’ll go punch that shitting he‘e god in the face.”

  With a roll of her eyes, the mermaid leapt over the side. Her legs fused into a tail as she hit the water, and then she disappeared beneath the surface.

  A pit opened in Pele’s stomach. The moment had taken on a sudden reality that stretched each heartbeat out too long. There was no turning back now. “I think we’d better hold on to something.”

  “I’ll hold you anywhere you like, Fire Tits.”

  “I told you not to call me—”

  The outrigger bucked like it had been kicked, and Kama gracefully fell on his arse. The only thing that kept Pele standing was her grip on the prow. They had gained speed, their boat racing through the waters. Or rather, being carried by waters that had begun to rapidly swirl.

  A vortex opened off to the side, one that expanded with each passing breath. Five paces across. Ten paces. Twenty. The sea had become a roaring torrent flinging their tiny boat around like kindling. Pele screamed. Never had she felt so insignificant.

  A few months ago, she had thought to smother Namaka in lava. Thought her own the greatest power in the Worldsea. But here, caught in the arms of the ocean, one could not help but gasp at the scope of Namaka’s potency, at the sheer magnitude of her domain.

  The maelstrom had spread to a thousand paces, at least. They were caught in its current, spinning round in an arc that threatened to swallow them. The wind engulfed her screams, tore her kihei from her shoulders, and almost yanked her from the outrigger. And still the maelstrom grew larger, larger. Exposing more and more of the benthic depths that were meant to be a mystery to mankind.

  Pele wrapped both arms around the prow and held on for all she was worth. Stone and coral, sharks, thousands of fish, mer and he‘e, all were caught in the maelstrom just like her boat. Farther and farther it spread until at last she was granted a clear view of the undersea city in all its magnificence. Hundreds of he‘e and numerous giant jellyfish lay atop the exposed seafloor or spread out over algae-crested stone buildings of grander craftsmanship than she had ever imagined. The sight only added to the feeling she was an unwelcome interloper here, glimpsing a world not her own.

  And at the center of it all, the structure that could only be the royal palace—by far the largest structure she had ever seen. And the site where that god-king must dwell. The god of the deep had not shown himself yet, however, and Namaka had already warned her she wouldn’t have much time.

  Kama was shouting something, but Pele couldn’t make out his words over the roaring sea. The mermaid had asked her to turn her fires on the he‘e and jellyfish, to trust her people to deal with Kanaloa. If that was what she wanted …

  Pele fed mana into the magma running beneath the seabed. It heeded her call, rumbling far below. She could feel it pulsing in her soul, though the sea already shook them so much there was little visible indication. But she needed her hands to direct the lava when it breached.

  “Kama!”

  He probably couldn’t hear her.

  And yet, he looked to her.

  “Kama, I need my hands free!”

  She beckoned to him with one hand, then snatched it back around the prow when she nearly toppled out of the boat. Already, they listed to one side. The wereboar must have understood, for he scrambled over and grasped the side of the boat with one hand while wrapping the other around her waist. If he lost his grip, she would fall a long, long way. But if she didn’t let go, didn’t trust him, this was all for nothing.

  She had to trust him.

  That thing inside him was monstrous. Unforgivable. But he had lent her aid in restoring Hi‘iaka and several times since then.
And now …

  She released her grip on the prow. Immediately she toppled forward, caught only by Kama’s impossible strength, hanging in open space. Fear choked her. There was no time to indulge it, however. Her hands and hair caught fire and drew up more and more magma. It built beneath the surface of the city. No volcano lay within the city itself, but today, Pele would make her own.

  Screaming, she released the pent-up power. The seafloor between numerous buildings exploded in showers of ash, lava, and debris. Three geysers she summoned, calling their fires up, so high they reached her eye level.

  Did the he‘e know fear?

  Did those unfathomable masses of arms and alien intellect feel the way humans felt? She hoped, at least in this instance, they did.

  “Burn in the inferno!” she spat at them.

  Hands waving, she directed the falling streams of lava, scorching through jellyfish left and right. Another mighty stream she turned upon a building she saw he‘e trying to sneak off to. It exploded, stone foundations buried under molten rock. Far below, more he‘e were fleeing to the shelter of other buildings.

  She felt her mana burning away, the chill growing inside her as her life fled in great heaving gasps, engulfing the underwater world in flame.

  Namaka had asked her to spare the city, but this was all for nothing if she failed to defeat the invaders. And so, she dropped two tons of lava over the house.

  Kama was squeezing her waist even tighter, shouting something in her ear. She looked down to the outrigger. It was trembling, pulsating and warping at unnatural angles. What the …

  The outrigger broke apart, shards of wood slashing her face and arms. A sensation she quickly forgot. Without the boat, they fell into the vortex, flying through open air toward the volcanic wasteland she had created far below.

  They were both going to die.