Kidnapping on Kaua'i (featured by Wattpad 2014)

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

That night, I lay in bed, exhausted from the day of helping at Auntie's farm. I pulled the okala kernel out from under my pillow, where I've been keeping it safe, and held it against my chest. Every night since the hurricane, I wonder if I'll be whisked away to the Menehune village in my dreams, but every morning, I wake up dreamless. I wonder if I'll ever be able to return the kernel to Eleu.

After an hour, the breathing of the twins seemed far away. Lying in my bed, with my sheets wrapped around me, I couldn't tell if I was awake or not; I seemed to be stuck somewhere in the middle. Suddenly, I got the sensation I was falling. I saw pinwheels of light, Madam Chen's face and spiraling dragon bones against a black background. I felt water splash around me, and I found I was sliding down a rushing waterfall. The water pounded into the ground and spat me out in the middle of a heiau, the same ancient temple Pano and I had found hidden in the jungle near Rainbow Falls. I pushed myself up and saw it was no longer in ruins. The walls were smoothly finished now, each corner topped with a cairn built of perfectly round stones. Tall torches had been driven into the packed ground every few feet, and their firelight mixed with the fog rolling down the mountain.

"Eleu?" I called, whirling in the strange scene.

A cluster of bushes at the edges at the heiau came to life. It was Eleu, emerging from a hiding spot. I barely recognized her; she was thin, a starving thin with gallows eyes, and her hair was matted with leaves and dirt. She dragged herself into the heiau square as if her bones weighed a million pounds. "Leilani Leia?" she whispered, soft as a falling leaf. Then, she collapsed.

I knelt and cradled her head in my arms, as though she was a child. "Eleu, what happened to you?"

"This was my last call to you. You're finally here."

"Where is everyone else?"

"They were too weak to come." She sighed from the effort of speaking and stopped moving.

A tear slid down my cheek. "Please, stay with me-I have something for you."

I unfurled my palm while saying a prayer. The kernel I'd clutched in bed was there; it had crossed the threshold of my dreams. Instinct led me to push it into her palm and tuck her fingers around it.

Nothing happened for a minute. Finally, her eyes fluttered open. She gasped when she looked at her hand. "You got the kernel!"

Something amazing happened. The skin on her palm changed from a sickly gray to its normal warm brown. The color spread up her arms, like fresh blood through dry veins. As the color unfurled, so did the kernel. It grew before my eyes, sending out green shoots and curling leaves that multiplied by the minute.

When the color reached her face, Eleu sat up and looked into my eyes. "The kernel has been returned to its ancestral home, to it's rightful owners. Thank you, Lani."

I looked around the empty heiau. "Why did you all get so weak?"

"We used up almost all of our magic trying to get the kernel back ourselves, and then, by contacting you. When nothing happened, we had no choice left except to use everything except the very last drop of our magic to...."

"To do what?" I prompted.

"To summon Kaupe."

I swallowed hard. "The dog god?"

"Yes."

Suddenly everything clicked into place. I remembered the legend Tutu had told about the dog god who guarded the islands with the fury of a whirlwind, the one only the Menehunes could summon. They must have awoken him to protect the island-that's why the hurricane changed course at the last minute, and why a wind tunnel had come after the principal's boat.

"After that effort, we began to fade," Eleu continued. "We cannot replenish ourselves without the kernel to sustain us."

She reached forward to plant the growing kernel into the ground. Fruit burst forth from the leaves immediately, so plump and ripe the skin practically glowed in the moonlight.

The bushes rustled again, and the ancients began to crawl over the walls. They fell onto the dirt, exhausted, and Eleu rushed to them, feeding them. I searched the group, feeling a surge of relief with every face I saw revive. But one was missing. "Where is Hana, the elder?"

Eleu cast her eyes to the ground. "We lost her," she said softly.

Tears stung my eyes. "If only I had moved faster."

"Lani, please don't blame yourself. Princess Hanakapi'ai lived a long life. There was no way she could have been saved. Remember, we ancients don't die, we ascend back to our homeland. She is with her father again, and we will all see her some day in the Celestial Realm-together in paradise, forever."

I turned to the group, shaking with sadness. "I promise that I and the people will always protect you from here on out."

"Protect the land, and you will protect us."

My mind flashed back to Principle Aihue. He'd loved his land, but he'd given up on it. He'd been no match for Kapua, though. The land had won, but it had been a rough battle, with a terrible loss.

As the ancients recovered, they began to pray. They held hands and formed circle after circle around us, each layer moving in the opposite direction.

"How can we ever repay you for returning our precious kernel?" Eleu asked.

I paused while their faces swirled around me. The Menehunes are said to know everyone's lineage, I thought. If I asked, they could tell me where my parents are.

"Do you know-" I started. The question faded from my lips as Pano's face flashed before me: his face as a young child, trembling on the lānai, and his face as it is now, etched with flashes of hurt and wonder.

"Can you tell me who Pano's parents are?" I asked.

The End

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