lifting an
ipu
gourd filled with seawater over the altar covered in fruits and vegetables. If the
akua
accepted these sacrifices, they would have their answer and the Earth Mage chosen to battle O’ahu’s sorcerer would be revealed. Feeling a sudden panicked sense of unease, Makana began to back away as quickly as the numbness in his leg would allow. He made it almost to the edge of the crowd before the shouted words “
Amama ua noa!
” halted him in his tracks.
“Now the prayer has flown,”
he echoed in a strangled whisper. His leg began to throb so painfully that he almost gasped out loud, and a roaring filled his ears so loudly that he almost missed the name shouted out in triumph.
Almost.
“Makana Hinahele!”
* * *
“No, no, Kaiko. He’s just a child.” Tears flowing down her face, Makana’s foster mother shook her head vehemently.
“Kapali.” His foster father’s voice was thick with his own unshed tears as he wrapped her in his arms. “We’ve always known this day would come. Ka’ohu told us so the very night I carried him in from the sea. Hina gave him to us to raise, not to keep.” He turned. “Makana, come here please.”
Makana stumbled forward. On the family altar, he saw the red loincloth he’d been found in, but had never been allowed to touch, laid out beside a sacrifice of ’
ohua
fish, sea urchins, and coral, all sacred to Hina.
“Ka’ohu predicted that the day you wore this was the day you would leave us. I want you to put it on now.”
Makana backed up a step. “I can’t, father. Red is for
ali’i
. For the ruling classes. It’s
kapu
, not allowed.”
Kaiko smiled gently. “Why do you think you’ve been allowed to play with the boys of our own
ali’i
all these years, hmm? With Pono and the rest?”
“Because . . . because you’re a celebrated fisherman, and because . . . because Mother is the most talented
opihi
harvester on Kaua’i. You have great power.”
Both his foster parents smiled at that, but Kaiko shook his head. “No, Makana, it is because this design is that of the O’ahu
ali’i
.” He lifted the loincloth reverently. “And now it’s time for you to join them.”
“But I’m no Earth Mage,” Makana protested. His left leg began to throb again and he rubbed at it angrily, tears beginning to spring from his own eyes. “I can’t feel the rocks as Mother can.”
“No, but the earth is far more than just rocks; it’s plants, insects, animals, even birds and fish who dwell in the realms of air and water. Some of those you can already feel, yes.”
When Makana dropped his head with a stubborn expression, Kaiko touched him lightly on the chest. “Your power is young, untrained and untried, but strong,” He smiled again, this time a little sadly. “Very strong. We always knew that if we could just get you to pay attention to your lessons, you would make a powerful
kahuna
one day, or even it seems—” he indicted Makana’s leg, “—a powerful
kaula
. Numbness in the leg means a journey is imminent.”
“And a tingling scalp means someone is talking about you,” Makana answered mournfully.
“That’s right. You see, you do pay attention. I always knew you did.” Kaiko held out the loincloth. “Come now, there’s nothing for it. Take up your past and go to meet your future knowing that no matter where Hina takes you, you will always be
ohana
.”
“Always family,” Makana repeated woodenly. Kaiko waited patiently and after a long moment, he accepted the loincloth.
* * *
He made the journey to O’ahu in a fog of grief and self-doubt.
How can I possibly fight a sorcerer?
his thoughts demanded. He couldn’t even walk properly. Although the throbbing in his leg had eased, the loincloth was far too big for him, making him appear bow-legged, and the lei of
ki
leaves his foster mother had draped over his shoulders just before he’d clambered into Lolani’s canoe kept jabbing him in the arms and chest. The
M. S. Parker, Cassie Wild
Robert Silverberg, Damien Broderick