Elemental Magic: All-New Tales of the Elemental Masters by Mercedes Lackey Read Free Book Online

tiniest shudder of hunger-driven movement touch his thoughts. His hand darted out almost by its own volition and the
opihi
lay in the bottom of his gourd.
    He grinned.
    By the time he and his foster parents made their way back to the village, he’d managed to harvest a full nine
opihi
, more than he ever had before. Each time he’d thought he could sense the hunger of the creatures just before they released their grip to feed. Bursting with pride, he almost missed the long, high call of a conch shell announcing that their guests had finally arrived.
    *   *   *
    The festivities lasted for seven days. Every morning the
kahuna
and
kaula
, priests and prophets, gathered to make sacrifices and read the signs in the clouds and on the waves. Every afternoon they joined Lolani-a-Ailana and the premier chief of Kaua’i and his family to watch the dancing and judge the games.
    Makana himself won three foot races and was named the fastest boy in his village. Presented with a lei by Nalunani herself, he felt a strange tingling make its way across his scalp and turned to see Ka’ohu, Kaua’i’s most senior prophet, watching him closely. He made himself scarce for the rest of the day but couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen.
    On the final morning before Lolani and Nalunani were to leave for O’ahu, Makana stood with a group of friends, craning his neck to watch as the
kahuna
and
kaula
gathered before the village altar. Unable to see over the heads of the adults in front of him, he elbowed a larger boy in the ribs.
    “What can you see, Pono?” he demanded.
    The other boy elbowed him back. “Your head about to be tossed off a cliff.”
    Makana ignored the threat with practiced ease. “And?”
    “Our chief and his family.”
    “What are they doing?”
    “Talking with Ka’ohu and the O’ahu prince.”
    “What about?”
    “How should I know?”
    “Come on, Pono. Your father is the chief’s
kahuna nu’i
councilor. You always know.”
    “Oh, all right.” Crouching down, Pono gathered the boys around him in a tight circle. “I heard my father talking with the other
kahuna
yesterday. Word is that O’ahu’s chief is deathly ill . . .” He paused. “. . . from an enemy’s sorcery.”
    The boys all gasped, and he nodded his head with grave authority. “This enemy is so cunning that none of the chief’s
kahuna
have been able to counter his evil magics or even find him,” he continued. “They were just about to give up hope when an
aumakua
ancestor came to Lolani in a dream and told him that only Air, Water, Fire, and Earth magics coming together, in secret,” he added in a harsh whisper, “could defeat this sorcerer. Lolani was to journey to the island of Kaua’i to ask Nalunani-a-Okalani to be his wife, and if she returned to O’ahu with him, the vast power of the ocean would follow in her wake. They say that Lolani himself is so beloved of the winds off the Wai’anae Mountains that a cooling breeze follows him everywhere he goes. That’s Water and Air.”
    “I heard,” one of the other boys now interjected, “that Nalunani’s cousin Keahi is to travel with her. She trained as a
wahine kaua
warrior and a fire priestess of Pele.”
    Pono nodded. “My father says she’s the most powerful
kahuna wahine
in generations. That’s Fire.”
    Once again Makana felt the strange tingling across his scalp. “And what about Earth?” he asked, rubbing absently at his left leg as it began to grow numb again.
    Pono watched the movement with a knowing look. “Earth is hidden,” he pronounced. “That’s why the
kahuna
and the
kaula
are gathering today, to ask the
akua
for guidance.” He straightened. “Now, hush all of you,” he ordered with all the arrogance a fifteen-year-old could muster. “They’re starting.”
    Around them, the people stood quietly, the silence broken only by the soft beating of a prayer drum. Makana could almost see the
kahuna pule
, the prayer priest,