Discover the origin story behind the villain determined to destroy the last safe place for native species in the Hawaiian Islands. Banished from paradise and driven by a thirst for vengeance, Mākaha the mongoose uses his gift of immortality to amass an army of invasive vermin to challenge the valley's protectors, the Menehune.
Will Mākaha succumb to the darkness that consumes him or embrace the chance at a new path forward before it's too late?
Perfect for fans of Redwall, Percy Jackson or The Spiderwick Chronicles series!
Discover the origin story behind the villain determined to destroy the last safe place for native species in the Hawaiian Islands. Banished from paradise and driven by a thirst for vengeance, Mākaha the mongoose uses his gift of immortality to amass an army of invasive vermin to challenge the valley's protectors, the Menehune.
Will Mākaha succumb to the darkness that consumes him or embrace the chance at a new path forward before it's too late?
Perfect for fans of Redwall, Percy Jackson or The Spiderwick Chronicles series!
The woman’s scream was nearly drowned out by the thundering noise of the waterfall that crashed through the valley and faded through the trees, but her son’s ears detected the faintest of sounds in the wind.
Mo’o Kuna, the vile lizard-dragon, towered over Hina, the goddess of the moon, standing close to fourteen feet tall—well over twice the height of an average man. Its posture was almost human with legs spread wide and arms reaching out, clawing towards the terrified woman cowering below. The creature’s body was entirely covered in thick scales, each one overlapping like armor. Its head, massive as a dining room chair, was equipped with rows of sharp, jagged teeth, some of which protruded even when its jaws were closed. A forked tongue flicked in and out rapidly, serpent-like, between leathery lips. From between its eyes, a ridge of barbs ran over its skull and down its spine, adding to its fearsome appearance. Each of its four limbs ended in wide, clawed feet. The claws, as hard as metal, extended from partway back on its clawed toes, tapering to points several inches long. With every angry swipe at the tree—which resulted in explosions of wood chips and leaves—the lizard-dragon’s rage was palpable and its intent to capture the woman was clear.
Kuna had approached Hina several times in his human form, but she had coldly denied his advances. This time would be her last.
***
In a canoe several miles downstream, her son Maui heard the scream and, fueled by rage and mythical strength, rocketed up the river to where she was trapped on a tree limb.
“KUNAAAAAAA!” Maui roared. From out of the shadows stepped a figure that towered over twelve feet tall with deep-brown skin covered from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet in tattoos that told the stories of his larger-than-life conquests. His jet-black hair was tight and wiry and grew out well below his shoulders.
Kuna whirled around, and his eyes flashed fearfully. In a tremendous moment of good fortune, he slipped on a wet rock in the river bed and fell backwards just when Maui’s spear would’ve pierced his heart. The hammered metal tip of the weapon grazed his face, cutting a deep slash across his cheekbone.
Snarling, Mo’o Kuna rolled to all four feet and with a desperate jump, leapt from the riverbed and onto the embankment, scrambling into a hole in the rocks. Hina clung to what was left of the tree, watching in horror as Maui tore into the side of the river valley hurling boulders, large rocks, and dead trees in a flurry of anger.
“Get out here, and fight me to my face!” Maui’s thunderous voice made every plant, tree, and bush in the valley tremble. It was to no avail. The slimy, hateful creature had disappeared deeper into the side of the valley that collapsed behind him, hiding his egress.
Kuna dug as if his life depended on it. He burrowed his way back into the side of the valley then abruptly turned to head towards the mountains, hoping he could throw Maui off and possibly escape. He’d only gone a short distance when he burst into a previously cleared opening. It was a den of mongooses that were dozing in the cool dark of the cave to escape the midafternoon heat. Viciously, he snapped at the mother and four of the babies, snatching them up in his mouth and swallowed their small bodies hungrily without a second thought.
The lizard didn’t notice the fifth infant mongoose that had found a spot at the opposite end of the small den. Hearing the commotion, it had awakened terrified with a small cry. Jerking his head around in the dark, Kuna stabbed at it with a foot, cutting a slash across the little rodent’s face and head with his sharp nail. Remembering he was trying to escape with his life, the evil lizard turned back to the task at hand and continued to burrow his way out of the den, licking the blood from his lips and teeth as he disappeared into the dark red clay earth.
Alone, the baby mongoose cried. He was not old enough to have opened his eyes yet and had no idea what had just happened. While the cuts on his body would eventually close and he would survive, one of his eyes would never open, instead healing permanently scarred shut.
***
Maui’s mind raced. What could possibly flush the wretched reptile from his hiding place? He knew Mo’o Kuna to be one of the most skilled excavators in all the islands. How could Maui compete with him? Pain filled his heart at the thought of Kuna getting away, living to haunt his mother another day.
It ends today. No more.
Maui’s deep-brown eyes flickered and from behind his irises swelled the brightest red-orange color, rising from a burning deep from within his soul. He turned and faced his mother. Instantly, she knew what her son had decided to do.
“No, Maui, no! Please! It isn’t worth it!” Her voice shook as sobs wracked her body.
Maui slowly turned away from her, faced the sky, raised a massive fist and brought it down onto the ground so forcefully that a hole more than thirty feet wide and almost six feet deep was struck into the earth. Maui lifted his bloody hand to the sky once again and looked up. Above him, the clouds began to swirl, covering the sun that glimmered through the green tropical treetop canopy. He stood absolutely still.
“Maui.” The voice came through the clouds first, then the dark-gray silhouetted face of a woman appeared above him as the valley darkened by the second.
Maui’s voice was strangely calm. He did not raise his voice, keeping it deep and methodical.
“Pele.”
The underside of the dark clouds above flickered red-orange, the same color as Maui’s eyes.
Then, the Goddess of Fire spoke in the native Hawaiian language.
“It’s dangerous to speak to me, you know. It looks like you have everything under control. Are you…wasting my time?” Pele’s voice started out soft and gentle, growing with intensity, the savagery in her tone apparent by the time she’d finished speaking. The red-orange lights reflecting off the dark skies above cast an eerie glow on the destroyed trees and stream bed below.
“No, Pele. I don’t care about you, and you don’t care about me. But we both care about my mother. This Mo’o Kuna nightmare must not continue. You have to finish this. I…cannot.” Maui stood facing upwards, shoulders relaxed, feet spread apart, completely fearless.
The female face in the cloud spat disgustedly, a plume of flames shooting into the river above where Maui stood, immediately turning the flowing water in that area to vapor.
“Mo’o Kuna. What a vile creature. Consider it done. And in return?” Pele’s voice echoed throughout the valley as the orange-red hue of light against the clouds burned brightly, flickering as she spoke.
Maui’s eyes swirled, the volcanic colors of his irises rippling expressively.
He nodded. He would give her ho’okupu, an offering, and in turn, she would save his mother.
Pele paused, as if waiting for something.
The wind suddenly picked up and tossed Maui’s long black hair to the side. Above him, the pulsing breeze shifted Pele’s features back to just a normal cloud for a brief moment.
Aloha, ke Akua, The Creator had given them permission to proceed.
“Enough. Get out. He’s mine now.” The silky woman’s voice from above spoke with a hard edge of warning. Maui didn’t waste a moment, springing immediately into action. With a single powerful leap, he jumped into the tree where his mother had been standing, watching, and listening, tears falling down her face. Maui’s left arm wrapped around her midsection—his forearm as thick as her entire torso. As easily as one picks up a pen, he swept her off her feet and took off into the thick tropical foliage.
No sooner had he taken his first two steps than a colossal wave of molten hot ā’a lava shot over the top of the valley. As it crashed down the slope, trees and bushes dozens of feet in front of the flow burst into flames from the hot air that swelled around the liquid rock at thousands of degrees.
Sensing danger, Mo’o Kuna sprung from his hiding place several hundred feet away, terrified. He darted nimbly across the river which was steaming violently from the terrific heat as the lava made contact with the water, obscuring his vision. As he made his way up the opposite side of the river bank, he was so distracted with the apocalyptic destruction behind him that he didn’t think to keep an eye ahead.
“Never again!” Maui yelled.
Mo’o Kuna turned and faced him in horror as the club came crashing down on him with one powerful blow, sending Kuna reeling backwards into the lava flow. Kuna could do nothing but stare hatefully at Maui as his black scaly body was enveloped by the liquid rock.
It was done.
The skies began to clear over the dismal scene that lay before Maui. The lava ceased its relentless spread and cooled. All was quiet.
Hina emerged from the trees and walked slowly over to her son who towered above her. Her clothes were tattered, and she was weeping silently, ashamed of the destruction she’d caused.
“It’s not your fault, Makuahine.” Maui spoke quietly, the Hawaiian word for mother rolling of his tongue gently, his huge hand gently lifting her chin up. “It had to be done. There was no other way.”
His mother opened her mouth to answer but paused when she heard a small whimper coming from across the creek.
“Maui, what is that?” she asked. “Can you find it and bring it to me?”
He nodded. In a few long strides, he’d made it to the other side and saw at the edge of the water a tiny animal lay curled in a ball covered in sticky mud and blood.
“It’s a mongoose. Foul creatures. They don’t belong here,” Maui said harshly. “How stupid are the foreigners who bring in these creatures to kill the rats when mongooses are awake during the day and that’s when the rodents sleep?”
“Maui!” his mother reprimanded him sharply. “He’s helpless. Kuna killed his family. Bring him to me.”
With a roll of his eyes, Maui complied, ever so gently lifting the small figure from the ground and carrying him back to his mother. “Here. I don’t want to see it again. I despise those things. They bring death wherever they go.”
“Hush,” Maui’s mother said, cradling the infant mongoose in her hand. “Aloha, little one. I’m Hina. You’re safe now,” she whispered, holding him close. “Your life nearly ended before it had truly begun. I’m so sorry that I brought this tragedy upon you.” She traced an insignia on his heart with her fingertip and kissed the top of his tiny little wounded head. “Because of that, I will give you the lifetimes of your family, their children, and their children’s children to live on their behalf. And your name will be…Mākaha.”
Disgusted, Maui stepped into his canoe and made his way back downstream as the moon peeked out from behind the clouds above. He wanted nothing to do with the mongoose. As far as he was concerned, keeping it alive was a big mistake. He paddled back down the river slowly. As he reflected on the events that had just occurred, he couldn’t help but sigh with relief that the despicable Mo’o Kuna was finally gone for good. With a few powerful strokes, he was gliding across the top of the water, his canoe barely touching the surface, at an unbelievably fast pace. His mother was safe, and Mo’o Kuna was dead.
Hina walked to her home. No sooner had she vanished into the tropical forest than a shadowy figure slunk from the edge of the trees and made its way to where the outline of Mo’o Kuna’s figure could be seen cast in lava rock.
Kuna’s companion and lifelong friend Mo’o Kiha had taken the form of an elderly woman with deep-brown skin, jet-black eyes, and long dark hair. She had wrinkles that gave her face a strangely cruel expression. The old woman bent down and listened for a moment, a forked tongue flicking in and out of her mouth as she tasted death that had not yet settled on the air.
She couldn’t hear a thing. Mo’o Kuna was dead. He would’ve done this for me, she thought. She took a sharp rock and cut her hand, letting the dark green blood drip onto the porous surface of the black ‘ā’a lava that had cooled.
“Half my heart to him so that someday he can be reawakened,” she chanted in a low, snake-like tone.
Kiha instantly felt her body grow weaker. She’d cut her own mortality in half, a sacrifice granted to those Mo’o willing to share their life with others. The lava rock surrounding Mo’o Kuna cracked and heaved slightly as somewhere below he was breathing.
Mo’o Kiha’s work here was done. She trotted off on all fours in the direction she’d come, her body shivering, legs and arms trembling. Her mind far weaker than it had been only moments before. She was hungry. Maybe she’d get lucky and find some Nene eggs. If not, she’d grab a bite to eat from her fishpond, Lokowaka.
Prior to reading this lithe and lively middle grade fantasy, my familiarity with Hawaii was pretty much limited to James Michener, Don Ho, Five-O’s McGarrett, and Magnum, P.I. So when the opportunity to read and review this book came along, I jumped on it. Glad I did. Here’s why;
The first thing you need to know about this book is that “Makaha” is a mongoose. Yep, a mongoose. As in, small carnivorous mammals found mainly in Africa, southern Asia, and southern Europe. They are known for their attacks on highly venomous snakes such as king cobras. (Hi, Rikki Tikki Tavi.) Mongooses were introduced to Hawaii in 1883 by the sugar industry in an attempt to control rats in the sugar cane fields. Oops. Mongooses aren’t native to Hawaii. In fact, they’re considered an invasive species to the island paradise. Well. Everything kind of goes sideways from there, as this quick and engaging story illustrates. Cuz Makaha is on a mission to crush the Menehune and take back the Hidden Valley. Like:
“The time of the native creatures is over,” says Makaha. “It’s our turn. In that valley, the humans won’t be able to touch us, so we can build a force to take over the rest of the island.”
See? Told ya everything goes sideways.
Will Makaha succeed? Will the island paradise fall to Makaha and his evil plan? If so, then what? Can anyone stop Makaha? Who? And how?
This story is just Too. Much. Fun! Packed with adventure, action, and intense battle scenes, Makaha is masterfully told. Evocative prose will grab readers from chapter one and keep them turning pages until the very end. Bonus points: The author skillfully blends Hawaiian legend, lore, culture, language and traditions into the story. There’s also mahi-mahi. Hickam Air Force Base. A haole boy and girl. Shape shifting (very cool). Pearl Harbor. “Little one.” Pele, goddess of volcanoes and fire. Lightning.
We also meet all kinds of Hawaiian flora and fauna, including guava trees and kukui nuts, mynas, albatross, rats, cats, and bullfrogs. Also a really bad lizard dude named Kunu. You sooo don’t want to mess with Kuna. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.
Makaha skims along briskly from chapter to chapter as the story sudses from one action-packed scene to the next. Footnotes explain Hawaiian terms that may be unfamiliar to some readers. (For some reason, the placement of the numeric footnote always appears in front of the word it references, rather than at the end of it. This is incorrect.)
This story will no doubt be a hit with the target audience of middle grade readers. So move over, Michener & Co. There’s a new kid in town. Name's Eldridge. James Eldridge. Remember that name. Cuz he’s goin’ places.
Makaha: The Pacific Chronicles is Book 2 in The Pacific Chronicles. Without giving too much away, let’s just say Makaha ends on a cliffhanger. I was like, Aaaaargh!
I can’t wait for the next installment! Mahalo!